Ponyland, the place where it all started. The land of a generation long gone. Gusty the Great overlooked the country she loved with all of her heart. She would give her life to defend this place in a heartbeat and she has. She did give her life, didn’t she?
Her gaze went back onto the thriving community below. Ponies of all kinds mingled, exchanging gossip, goods, and pleasantries. A rainbow of colors blended together to create quite the visage. It was harmonious and it was beautiful.
Applejack, Surprise, Firefly, Glory, and Posey were all having fun outside of the castle, their giggles making their way to Gusty’s ears. She smiled which quickly turned to a frown when she noticed one of her friends was missing.
“Gusty? Twilight trotted up next to her. There she was.
“Yes?”
“I had a strange dream last night.” The unicorn looked a little disturbed, a forehoof dragging across the ground as if anxious. So she wasn’t the only one.
“Me too, but it’s okay. It’s just dreams.” Gusty tried for a smile. Twilight looked surprised and gave a confused look. “It’s just dreams, Twilight.”
“Alright…if you say so.” Twilight casted one last concerned look in her direction before teleporting off with a hint of, “I wish, I wish, I wish,” in the wind.
The remaining unicorn looked back down on her ponies. On a normal day, she would think this day insignificant, she would also call Twilight a scaredy pants for being scared of dreams. But, today was not normal. She knew this because it already happened, or, it was going to happen, or perhaps, history was rhyming once again.
From her vantage point, Gusty made out a white portal open up outside the castle, but before anypony could investigate what it was, it disappeared with a crackle. It was ominous, but it gave Gusty a huge wave of relief. Her ponies are safe.
***
Ponyland, the same place, yet entirely different. A place of another generation, but with the same values and creatures. Here, kindness and having fun reigns supreme. Instead of a large castle, the setting is one of a normal looking town with shops, houses, and even schools.
But nopony is at school at this hour, no, everypony is out and about, having fun. It was at this moment that Starlight, Sweetheart, Melody, Bright Eyes, Patch, Clover, and Bon Bon are having quite the lovely picnic. Lots of refreshments were spread out over the tarp, available for anypony who wishes to take something.
Starlight made sure that everypony got enough food before focusing on herself, that was what she did. But…she’s not doing it now. The mare tilted her head, somewhat confused. She’s been here, doing exactly what they were doing right now. Then a few more details leaked into her head and she went rigid.
“Are you alright?” Sweetheart, bless her, always trying to help.
“I’m fine.” Starlight tried for a smile. She wasn’t too sure it worked. “I’m fine, just…remembering a dream. Yes, that’s it. A not so nice dream.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, no. Thank you, though.” Sweetheart beamed at the praise. The others who were looking at her with some concern, some more than others, went back to chatting after Starlight smiled softly. The smile turned more genuine when she saw her friends having fun.
But the dream persisted. It sat in the back of her head like an itch. Then, without any warning, a white portal appeared nearby. There were some reactions, especially from Patch who shouted excitedly. But before anypony could do anything, the portal dissipated and left no trace of it ever existing.
“Oh…that’s disappointing. “ Patch muttered, eyes cast low.
Starlight was too busy dealing with her joy and relief to comfort her fellow friends. The portal closed, it never happened, the dream will never become reality!
***
The land had no name, was there supposed to be a name? Ponies live here with content and their problems may seem miniscule, but they truly have major consequence if not resolved. However, the story does not take place in this country, it takes place in a small village.
Ponyville, not the one of of recent past, no, this Ponyville is a generation before. Today, the biggest celebration in pony history will happen right here, the Rainbow Celebration!
Princess Rarity has been preparing this one for who knows how long! Everypony was excited but not as much as Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo. At least, Pinkie was excited. Then she had a dream, a terrible dream. It was exciting at first, she was experiencing something new! A hyper-realistic dream.
Then it went sideways.
The fun became terrifying. Nature became upended, things left unsaid happened, the world turned black and red. The pink pony shook her head, enough with the dreams. She wanted to experience the festival and have fun!
She was prancing along when she stumbled into some of her other friends. Scootaloo, Cheerilee, StarSong, Sweetie Belle, and Toola Roola.
“Pinkie Pie!” They shouted. There, the six of them chatted away, munching on some of Sweetie’s cookies, and overall having a good time. Then, from out of nowhere, an earth pony bumped into Pinkie.
“Oh I’m so sorry, darling,” Rainbow Dash apologized. “Completely my fault, I…Pinkie Pie!”
Pinkie grinned. She was happy. All of her friends were here and safe. Safe. Where did that come from? She frowned, memories from the dream whirling through her head. Terrible ones. The happy chatter from her friends slowly faded away as it was replaced with screaming, roaring, and spell fire.
Then with a whoosh, a blue portal appeared.
“Ooh!!” exclaimed Toola Roola and made a bid for it, but before she could jump in, it disappeared. Cheerilee trotted over with a sigh and patted the disheartened earth pony.
As for Pinkie, she was back to being happy. She didn’t jump in! Happiness will remain in this town and nothing would ever ruin it.
***
The magical land of Equestria, ruled over by Princess Twilight Sparkle. Throughout the generations, this land was the most populated and the most harmonious, but in turn, it was also the most dangerous.
Twilight flew faster and faster. She went back in time to reset everything, make the apocalypse never happen in the first place. But time magic was finicky, she had no idea what the outcome would be. Did she actually save all of them?
She put on another burst of speed. Canterlot was speeding towards her and if she did not do something soon, she would crash. But, she wasn’t the Element of Magic for nothing. Despite being frantic and teetering on a panic attack, Twilight was able to cast a teleportation spell and landed inside the castle. Several guards flinched and readied their spears for an attack but then paused when they noticed who they were.
“Starlight!” Twilight all but yelled. “Has anypony seen Starlight!”
She galloped through the halls, asking and looking for her friend and protogé. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed some uneasy glances from the guards and staff, she even saw somepony mouth the word, ‘Twilighting’.
It was only when Raven Inkwell interrupted her with a polite cough. Twilight was unfortunate enough to get hit by it directly and was forced to look at her. Raven’s ‘cough’ has been honed by many years of being Celestia’s aide and now had the power to direct attention no matter how quiet.
“Your Highness, Starlight Glimmer is at the School of Friendship. She’s been there for the past year, teaching.”
“...right. Right!” Twilight grinned, some might even say crazily, before teleporting once again.
This time, she appeared in Ponyville. The quaint rustic village has been quite through a lot in the past ten years and has gotten several upgrades because of it. A crystal castle guarding over the town as well as a huge school that hosted several lessons and gave tutelage to many creatures. There was no bias and was open to all.
Twilight made a break for it. She abandoned all reason, forgoing teleportation and wings to gallop straight into the lion’s den. Several of her Ponyville friends waved or called out her name, she ignored them all.
Thank Celestia the doors were enchanted else they would’ve been ripped off its hinges when Twilight burst through them. She looked terrible, her mane and tail a mess, most of her regalia were missing, and her eyes looked a bit bloodshot. There were even hints of magic burnout evident on her horn. But it was all worth it.
Starlight Glimmer, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy looked at her like she’d gone crazy under the stress of ruling the kingdom. It didn’t matter. They were safe!
***
Equestria. It’s been a generation since it’s been seen last. It looked very different, some might not approve of what it looks like or what it represents, but it’s the present. It’s a gift that should not be taken for granted because the last one was better. This Equestria might not focus on friendship and harmony, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.
Sunny Starscout trotted up a hill far away from any of the pony civilizations. Her friends, Izzy Moonbow, Pipp Petals, Zipp Storm, Hitch Trailblazer, and her newest friend, Misty Brightdawn. They were following up on a lead Zipp had found in one of Argyle’s books and the journey had taken them to a cave.
They had to land the Marestream down the mountain because they couldn’t land it anywhere else and forced the ponies to travel by hoof. It had Sunny reflect on a certain dream she had.
It was a month ago and it had filled her with such dread. Maretime Bay no longer felt safe and she was seconds before galloping towards Hitch’s station when a giant blue portal opened up in the Crystal Brighthouse. Before anypony could figure out what to do, it disappeared. Normally, Sunny would’ve questioned what was happening, but she could only feel relief.
“We’re here!” Zipp called out, interrupting her thoughts.
Sunny looked up and saw a yawning cave mouth. She could feel the excitement flowing through her veins, she was at a spot her father had researched and searched but never found. She turned on her alicorn power so the glow would be able to light up the darkness and trotted forwards.
It took a while for her eyes to adjust but once the did, it was astonishing.
“Wow.”
“Nooo, I wish I could’ve recorded that!”
In front of them lay a carved out hollow with drawings on the walls. Beneath the drawings, there were some hints of spell fire and magical tampering, but Sunny was too focused on the drawings. Specifically the ones that depicted her and her friends’ cutie marks. As she expanded her glow so they were able to look at everything without much difficulty, the more impossible it became.
In the center, a carving of a beast more terrifying than anything else, but to the left and right were more depictions, one of a robot army and another one of a large construction in the sky. All three looked murderous, but the most disturbing thing was that those exact things had appeared in her dream.
“Sunny, look!” Zipp pointed at another picture, this one of a large group of ponies. To the right, she saw herself and her friends. To the left, there were other ponies, one group she recognized as Twilight and her friends, but the other three, she had no idea.
“What do you think it all means?” Hitch asked.
“I think…this was our past.”