//------------------------------// // To Turn Back the Clock // Story: Equestria's Twilight // by Sapidus3 //------------------------------// Chapter 14 - To Turn Back The Clock It would have been an understatement to say that the fallout of her time without sleep was unpleasant. Twilight first realized that things were going to be rough when she discovered that she could not drink the soup Fluttershy had brought without vomiting. All of her friends had been upset by that, but Rainbow Dash was particularly unhappy with the discovery. Once everypony, or at least Dash, had been cleaned up, they had all talked. Her friends had convinced her that she needed to step back and rest. Applejack had handed her a letter. When Twilight recognized it, her first reaction was to feel upset that the pony had gone through her things, but then she read the letter over again. It was the letter Twilight had written Princess Celestia after the first time she had helped Applejack during applebucking season. The earth pony had learned a lesson about accepting help from other ponies. It was not hard for Twilight to connect the dots. The point had been a good one then, and it was still worthwhile. Twilight nodded her head with tears in her eyes. Her body felt miserable. The aftershock of the time without sleep and the sudden absence of the stimulants in her system left her feeling ill. However, her tears had nothing to do with her physical condition. Soon she found herself in the middle of a large group hug. She stretched her forelegs, trying to wrap them around the three other ponies, and used her magic to pull them closer. Rainbow Dash was pressed against her chest with her two other friends on either side. That was when she had needed to vomit again. Rainbow Dash was even less happy that second time. Her next few days was basically a constant repeat of those first moments awake. Her body was repaying the enormous sleep debt it had accrued and at the same time dealing with the withdrawal of chemicals from her bloodstream. Twilight was now willing to believe what Celestia had said about drug abuse. Equestria did not crumble to pieces during that time of bedrest. The machinery of her kingdom kept ticking away even without her. Unfortunately, some of the gears did grind to a halt. Twilight was not particularly pleased that the magisterium seemed unable to reach any decisions without her. During her convalescence after becoming an alicorn they had been just fine. Now they seemed concerned that if they did anything she might be upset with them. Apparently her behavior leading up to her ‘nap’ did not help to convince them they had nothing to fear. The only one of her responsibilities that she managed during her ‘rest’ was that of the sun. While she was gone, ponies died. Ponies always did. Some of the deaths were likely ones Twilight could have prevented. Her presence with the Night Guard would make them much more formidable. There were ponies in hospital emergency rooms that she could bring back from the brink of death. There were so many deaths, but she could not prevent them all. However, she now realized that she could not do everything. She was just one pony. However, that did not mean she was going to sit idly by while ponies suffered. What it meant was that she would need to take a different approach. Already plans were forming in her mind. She was Twilight Sparkle. She would protect Equestria. It turned out that Fluttershy was still as good as ever at taking care of sick ponies. Between Applejack’s grandmotherly concern and Fluttershy’s natural talent, the two had made an alicorn-care super-duo. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash kept herself at split ends trying to juggle some of Twilight’s normal duties. Luckily word of her ‘problems’ did not spread outside of the palace. As always her ponies were discreet. It made dealing with the embarrassment of her behavior much easier. She still blushed when she thought about how she made a foal of herself in front of the visiting duke from Fetteton province. Glumly Twilight looked around her room. Fluttershy and Applejack had departed, the worst of her recover over with, but Rainbow Dash was still constantly checking in. She felt fine, but was currently confined to “bed rest.” She still snuck out, of course; there was too much to do otherwise. However, she had to be careful. If Dash or any of the guard caught her trying to any real work she would be escorted right back to her room and be given a firm lecture. The last time Applejack and Fluttershy had taken the train up from Ponyville and joined in on explaining to her the importance of not rushing her recovery. Twilight was right that sleep brought with them new nightmares. She realized that they were an entirely new world of horrible. They were not a replay of the day she lost Princess Celestia. That would have been a mercy of sorts. At least it would have been a pain she was familiar with and had learned to cope with. Instead each night as she slept the beast from the Everfree would smash its way through her mind. She would kill Little Pinkie over and over again, only it wasn’t always Little Pinkie. Sometimes it was Moon Dreamer, other times it was one of her friends. Worse still were the nights when it was Celestia. Other nights she would remember her parents, but twisted and distorted. At the moment Twilight was sleepily sketching ideas for the latest aspect of her project beneath the mountain. She propped her head up with her hooves as her magic continued to move quill across paper. Her eyes drooped and opened again. Daily Vigil would be by soon to ensure she went to sleep, and she was determined to get as much work done until then. Her eyes fluttered shut. She was an alicorn, a princess true and true, but she was in the old classroom that Princess Celestia would use to teach her the most difficult and potentially dangerous of spells. Twilight was on her knees begging, pleading for just one thing. The Princess just looked at her with pity. “I am sorry my precious student. There are some things even beyond my power.” Only it was not pity, it was disdain. Twilight had been struggling with her metamorphic spell forms, too distracted by the tragedy slowly unfolding in her life. Only bad ponies did not try their best in school, and bad ponies did not get rewarded. Twilight realized she had to crane her head to look up. She was a filly again and her crown and peytral were all far too large. She was in a sterile white room. There was a mare in the bed and her father was leaning over the bed sobbing. He looked up at her, desperation distorting his face into a twisted mockery. “Of course she can help… She’s the Princess for Light’s sake. Did you do something to upset her? Have you been good in your studies? Please ask her again.” A piercing tone began blaring. Twilight tried to cover her ears. Twilight was in her bed, in her home. The Princess had told her to take some time off and spend it with her father until she was feeling better. Really the Princess just didn’t want such a bad pony around. Instead she was alone in her room crying herself to sleep just like she deserved. The light was rapidly fading as her door was closed. From the other side came the words. “I hope you’re happy.” The room was plunged into darkness, but in the corner of the room- Twilight was jerked awaked has her head slammed into her table when her head slipped from her hooves. She flung herself backwards tipping her chair over as she tumbled in an undignified squawk. “Your highness, is everything alright?” A voice called out from the hallway. “Yea- Yes. Everything is just fine.” Twilight was glad that guard was not able to see her as she extracted herself from the tangle of limbs and wings she had become. She looked at her hooves trembling. The dream had been a new one. It hadn’t been how it happened of course, but even still Twilight was glad it never reached its conclusion. It had been a parody of her life, and she knew how that particular chapter ended. She remembered the swinging shadow in the Everfree and suppressed a shudder. Twilight looked at her sketches, and saw that she had continued to draw in her sleep. Twilight was far from an exceptional artist, but she easily recognized a dark representation of her bedroom as a filly. There was more ink on the page than not. Twilight could make out two ponies. One was a lump, asleep in the bed. There was another featureless pony standing in the shadowed corners of the room. Twilight looked at it in confusion. The other pony’s mouth was open as if it was whispering. Unbidden a word came to Twilight’s lips, “mother.” Three short raps rang out against her door, and Twilight called her expected visitor in. “Princess I commend you for setting the sun on time tonight without any reminder. However, if we are to raise the sun tomorrow at a decent hour while still partaking in the proper amount of sleep, it is time for you to go to bed.” “Yes, Daily Vigil.” Twilight tried to resist rolling her eyes. She tried to keep the snark out of her voice. She failed miserably at both. “Hmm.. Oh, I forgot to mention. The Captain Commander told me that if you should give me any trouble, that she has had Silver Heart prepare an emergency strategic teleport to bring in Ms. Fluttershy. Something about a ‘stare,’ I think it was.” Twilight puffed her cheeks out at Daily Vigil but climbed into her bed anyways. The nerve of the stallion. She was old enough to be his dam. “I’m going to sleep.” Twilight began to climb up into her bed with some reluctance. “Yes, perhaps I should bring my son in to learn from your shining example.” Twilight flung a pillow at the royal time keeper hoping to wipe away his sardonic grin. Instead he just ducked out of the way. Twilight crossed her hooves and used her magic to pull her blankets up with a pout. Satisfied that his Princess was not going to circumvent her curfew, Daily Vigil stepped out the door and extinguished the lights. However, before the door closed all the way, he caught it in his magic. “Princess… I hope you sleep well tonight, but... If you find that you can’t sleep I think it would be fine if you went to gardens.” “Than-” the word caught in her throat. “Thank you Vigil.” “And please remember. We are all here for you should you need anything. You need but call.” And then the door shut. Twilight snuggled into her bed feeling oddly content. However, a certainty that the nightmares would return settled over her. Since the funeral the only time she had managed to hold them at bay was when she snuck off to have Celestia sing to her. Her eyes settled close, and once again sleep had claimed her. Things continued like that for a few more days. Eventually, however, she was back on her hooves. The business of ruling Equestria returned to normal. Rainbow Dash was happy to turn her duties back over to her princess. Some things were different of course. Her work days were much shorter now, and she had less energy to work with. Hopefully her experiments would soon produce real results. A few of those changes had been for the better. The best change had been with Fluttershy. When Twilight finally resumed her normal schedule, she had mentioned the new care facility that was being built. The pegasus had seemed interested and so Twilight had offered her a job. Fluttershy had accepted. As painful as it had been, she had done the right thing. At least that was what she needed to believe. Unfortunately, not all of the changes were pleasant. The royal time keeper had decided that in addition to waking her up in the morning, having her go to sleep at night should be a permanent part of his job. Having Daily Vigil enter her study and tell her that it was time to go to bed made her feel like a little filly and not in a good way. The pony seemed to feel that Twilight’s sleep deficiency had been his fault. Now he was carefully charting what time she went to sleep and woke up. The worst part was, if Twilight was in Daily Vigil’s position, she would do the same thing. Twilight was in her study. It was late, but not so late that Daily Vigil would be pounding down her door. She had removed her regalia and had it laid out on her desk. She was just one pony. Removing sleep had been foalish. Reducing sleep could, at best, only linearly increase the amount of things she could accomplish in a day. Even if she increased her waking hours by fifty percent, it only mean she could accomplish fifty percent more. Equestria needed more than that. Twilight needed to exponentially grow what she could accomplish. Each additional iota of effort needed to produce greater and greater results. Her research with the clocks and Moon Dreamer’s amplification matrix were both possible ways to achieve that end. However, the one could end up being a pipe dream and the other might never be finished if she never found a competent pony to carry on her student’s work. She simply needed help. If only there were more of her the problem would be solved. Her focus was on the chestplate that she normally wore. She had carved a rune on the inside of the metal. It was a link. The symbol was normally used for communication spells, but she had made some major modifications. Twilight had also used her own blood to etch the rune into the golden surface. That had not been necessary, but it had felt somehow fitting. She flipped the breast covering over and looked at the large purple gemstone embedded in it. Now she needed to miniaturize a large number of projection runes and weave them into the gem. Thankfully the linking rune on the inside of the piece of regalia meant that was all Twilight needed to do for her new project to be complete. The dozens of Twilights running around her visualization of Ponyville had been her inspiration. In particular the working of the Great Orrery and furnace that powered it had spurred her down a train of thought. If she could have some of her thoughts constantly working, could not other ponies - or things - do the same, and why not then take that to its logical conclusion? There were a number of other matters that needed her attention. Just a short time ago she would have stayed up late to deal with them. Now she was just going to meet with one last pony and work on the regalia before going to bed. Everything else would need to wait until the morning. The most pressing issue she would need to deal with was a report a guard had filed. The pony had supposedly seen a bright flash of white light and a form standing in a glowing sphere before it disappeared in a pulse of telekinetic force. Twilight immediately thought of the child Rainbow Dash never had. She had told the guard not to mention it to the pegasus captain. A guard knocked and stuck his head into her study. The guest that she was expecting had arrived. “My Princess, how are you? It is a pleasure to see you again.” “I’m quite well, and you? How’s Rarity?” Stone Edge’s face was hard cut. He was all sharp angles, deserving of his name. His coat and mane were colored like granite. However, when he smiled at her question, he seemed like the softest pony in the world. “I’m doing well. I just had my latest follow-up earlier today actually. The doctors tell me that I’m healthy, no sign that it’s come back. As for my lady wife... She asked me to let you know that she regrets having not met with you in some time, though I’m sure you already know that. Helping to plan for the wedding has been taking most of her waking hours and these past few weeks she’s been out of Canterlot altogether.” “I’m sure you’ve been missing her while she’s been away on that fashion tour.” Stone Edge barked a laugh. “Well I miss her, but I certainly don’t miss serving as a model while she works on her designs. When she’s upset, I think she is intentionally hard with those needles.” “So how are the wedding plans going?” The pony looked horrified. “I have absolutely no idea. I’m leaving it all to the mares - they’re crazy I tell you. I made the mistake of suggesting that I had heard chocolate cake was currently in fashion... Never again I tell you. I've decided I’m not even going to attempt to balance the checkbook until the whole affair is over. Of course, then the fact that you’re going to be in attendance has just put my wife into overdrive.” Stone Edge’s eyes suddenly widened and his already pale face went ashen. “That’s not why you wanted to meet with me is it? You’re not canceling your RSVP? Don’t make me the bearer of that bad news, Princess. Rarity will-” “No no no. I still plan on attending.” “Oh, thank goodness.” The pony slumped to the floor in stunned relief, his gavel cutie mark pressed against the floor. “Those mares are crazy.” Twilight could not help but giggle. “So is Justice handling things any better than you are?” “Not really. Only, I think he’s even crazier than my wife and his fiancée because he still persists in giving his opinions about the wedding.” The two ponies spent a fair amount of time reminiscing and laughing. Because Rarity and her husband lived in Canterlot, Twilight had been able to see the two of them fairly often. They shared many of the same social circles, and she also found that she had a lot to say to them. Nearly half an hour had passed before matters turned to more serious issues. “By the way. We really missed not being able to attend the last Grand Galloping Gala. When Diamond Justice came and told us about his engagement, the gala just flew out of our minds. But we are definitely looking forward to this year’s gala.” “Oh Edge! You had mentioned that you needed to tell me something about Manehatten.” “Ah yes... A colleague of mine from the city mentioned a case he is involved in. It has a number of ponies rather upset, and I suspect you are going to hear about it sooner or later. It occurred to me that it might help if you’ve had some time to think about it before it reaches you.” “Go on.” “It’s about several ponies who are a part of... well a cult. They’ve been worshiping what they call the Destroyer - some sort of a 'dark reflection of an alicorn.' They say that the Destroyer was the monster that... the monster that slayed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Now they are saying that the Destroyer is returning - or has returned, that’s not exactly clear - to kill the last of the immortals and bring about the end of Equestria. There’s more, but it’s all utter rubbish. Unfortunately it has upset a lot of ponies. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that they burn food at their meetings.” “Well... I can’t say I am happy about any of that. However, as far as the law is concerned, isn’t it all rather clear cut. A pony has the right to believe whatever they want, and while the waste of food is horrible, if they bought it, it’s their right...” “Well I should also add that it’s not just an issue of them acting in private. They’ve been trying to spread their nonsense on the streets. Most ponies were just ignoring them, however. When it got to be a problem was when the filly of one of the cult members began talking about it at school. That’s really what lit the flame. A lot of Manehatten ponies are saying that a law should be passed to prohibit the wasting of food and disallow the cult.” “You're right. I’m going to need to think about how to deal with the situation. Thank you though for bringing it to my attention early. Hopefully, there might be something I can do to head this all off, rather than just needing to react once ponies have become more outraged.” “Not a problem. Hopefully it resolves itself, but I thought you might want to know... By the way, why did you ask me here to see you Princess? It's starting to get late, and I want to make sure we have time to discuss it, if it's important.” Twilight was startled. She had nearly forgotten why she had called the pony to meet with her in the first place. “Thank you for reminding me. I have a proposition for you - I guess you might call it a job offer. How do you feel about the magisterium?” +++ Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of her convalescence was how much energy she now had after getting so much rest. Twilight was eager to throw herself back into her research with a fresh mind. On the way to her clock tower, Twilight stopped in front of the statue of Discord. Since she had returned to sleeping like a normal pony, the statue had not talked to her again. She still would greet the statue when she went by, but now there was always the tiny seed of hope that he would talked back. “I guess it was all in my head huh? Still it had been nice in a weird sort of way to talk with you.” Twilight walked by towards the door of her tower. “Oh it was almost certainly in your head. That doesn’t mean you are a crazy pony though.” Twilight spun back around staring at the statue. Where its lips turned up in a smirk. She glanced at her guards and saw them standing by the hedges that led back into the garden. They had not seemed to notice. “You’re real?” She hissed. “Of course I’m real. Was that ever a question?” Why was he talking so loud? Why weren’t the guards reacting? “I mean, you’re really talking to me?” Twilight sidled up to the statue and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “No, maybe? I’m certainly the last draconequus to be calling anypony crazy… It’s a bit of a secret, but some ponies think I’m insane. Oh and don’t worry about those guards. If this is real, I’ll keep them from noticing and thinking you are a crazy pony. If I’m not… well then this entire conversation is probably happening in your head and they probably just see you standing there staring at me. Worst case scenario they see you talking to yourself, and its not like Equestria’s last Princess doesn’t already do that a lot.” Twilight sat down staring up at the unmoving statue, “How could… I’m… My mind should be functioning fine right now. I’ve been getting plenty of sleep and there isn’t a trace of those drugs in my system.” “Maybe you broke something?” Twilight winced when she thought of the brief moment the orrery had ceased to function. “What do you mean I broke something?” “Do you have any idea what all those chemicals were or how they really affected you? Maybe they permanently changed something in how your brain is wired.” “I don’t think that’s it.” “Then maybe the stress of killing an innocent pony has finally gotten to you.” Twilight could have sworn the statue blinked when she flinched backwards at her words. “I’m sorry, is that topic off limits.” “I… I would rather not talk about it if that’s alright.” “Very well, there is a third possibility for you to consider Princess, other than this all being real of course.” “And what would that be?” “How old was your father when he-” “I’m not crazy.” “Very well, if her majesty say it’s true, then it must.” Twilight shook her head. “I was wondering if we could talk a little.” “About what my dear?” “Well a lot of things actually, but mainly about what you said last time.” “And what did I say last time.” Twilight sighed, wondering if the Spirit of Chaos was purposely being infuriating. “You had been talking about how the immortals get to write the rules, and about how… about the nature of chaos.” “Was I? Well chaos is something that I always love to discuss. You see, it’s not what most ponies think. It is disharmony and disagreement, but that means so much.” “Like what?” Twilight expected that she looked skeptical. “It’s not just you and your friends arguing. It’s about different perceptions not matching up. It’s about the heart and the mind disagreeing. Logic and the truth not matching.” “What do you mean? Different perceptions?” Twilight circled the statue, and was certain that its head turned to follow. “Yes, my dear Twilight Sparkle. Say you look at some events. A, then B, then C. Perhaps I see it differently. Perhaps for me, I perceive like in a mirror. I see C, then B, and then finally A.” “How is that chaos.” “We see exactly the same thing, we can even agree that there is a B, C, and A. But if we try to compare notes and put them in order? That, THAT is chaos.” Twilight shook her head. “I’m not sure I get it.” “I have another example of differing perceptions. What color is an apple?” “Red, or green I guess. Depends on the apple.” “Good. I think we both agree on that. We both call the color of an apple red. But how do you know that what red looks like to you is the same as what red looks like to me. Given that there are differences in our physiologies, it is actually incredibly unlikely, that when we both see red, that we both experience the same thing.” Twilight blinked. “That is actually… I had never thought about that.” “Yes. In fact, how do you know if any of this is real?” “What?” Twilight said. “I don’t mean just this conversation, I mean everything. Do you really think it is plausible that some strange creature killed Celestia and then you sent it away with just a word? Or that in a single night you discovered the true power of friendship and saved Luna from Nightmare Moon? How do you know that all of this hasn’t just been…” Twilight could imagine the statue waving its hand, even as it stood motionless. “Just a dream?” She snorted. “Where do you come up with stuff like this?” “From my mother actually.” “You had a mother?” Twilight tried not to let the surprise bleed into her voice. “Of course. Even chaos has to begin somewhere. I will admit our relationship did not involve all of those disgusting biological elements that so many ponies believe is important, but our relationship went much deeper.” If Discord was actually talking to her, she was being offered a unique perspective on history. She could not afford to pass it up. “Who… Who was your mother?” “The Empress of Equestria if you would believe it.” “I don’t. For one thing Equestria has never had an Empress.” “Your loss. I suppose technically I’m royalty of somesort.” “Do… Do you miss her?” Twilight was shocked that she was having a earnest conversation with Discord of all ponies. “Very much. She’s not the same pony she used to be.” “Used to be? She’s still around? I thought you said that I was the last immortal.” Twilight was certain the accusation came across in her voice. “I did?” It did not sound like he was taunting her, only that he was confused. “Don’t play with me Discord.” “Maybe I did… I will admit, something has been changing. The… order of things is not as clear to me as it once was.” Something sounded off about his voice. “You mean you’re going mad.” Concern laced her words. “Or perhaps I’m going sane...” When the statue said nothing more Twilight got up from where she had sat down to go to her statue, only to be stopped one more. “Twilight Sparkle… I know I might not even be real, but…” Discord’s voice sounded hollow and far away. “Thank you for talking to me, and saying a few words when you go by. I have a request though. I miss your lullaby. If you could sing it to me sometimes…” “How do you know about the lullaby?” There was no response. Twilight looked over to the guards who were still standing impassively. There was indication that they had just heard their princess talking to herself. Either they were better trained than she thought, or the exchange had happened in her head. Twilight made her way up into her tower to work until sunset. She had not been counting, but Twilight would suspect that she had poured hundreds of hours into her recent research. With each passing moment she had considered giving up. Her time was valuable, even more so now that she was sleeping again. Every moment she spent in her tower, was a moment away from her little ponies. Recently, she had begun to feel despondent. If all of those hours had been wasted... Twilight sat in her tower glaring at accursed clock, but something was different. The magical energies of her most recent spell were still dissipating, but she thought she could see the results. She stared at the clock, and then she glanced again at the glass orb sitting on a small wooden pedestal next to the clock. The alicorn looked between the two again and her brow furrowed. She considered calling in one of the guards to double check, but when she looked again, the doubt was gone from her mind. The pony clopped her hooves together in glee. She was not a crazy pony. Twilight now had proof that everything had not just been in her mind. She now had definitive proof that it had not all been in her head. Since the moment she had commissioned the clock she had feared that she had imagined all of the little clues, but her hunch had paid off. She had discovered an entirely new field of magic, one unlike any other. Unfortunately she still had little idea on the full ramifications of her new temporal magic. If her hopes eventually turned out to be true, it would be far too dangerous to tell anypony, with the possible exception of Celestia, about the new magic. The alicorn felt a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach when she thought about how proud of her discovery her mentor would have been. She looked at the clock and the image of the second clock next to it. They were the most accurate clocks in existence. It should have been decades if not centuries before they fell out of sync. Instead the clock in front of her was a second behind. She had slowed the passage of time. She remembered Discord’s words to her. Twilight still did not know if the experience had been real or not. However, there had been some wisdom, if misdirected, in what he had said. It had been an issue of perspective. She had the strength of will and the desire to change the rules. If she wanted time to go slower, it would. Now, the question was if she could get the clock to tick backwards.