Twilight hurried down the street to the art museum, her hooves sinking into the snow and slowing her down. A few minutes ago (for her at least), she managed to sneak away from the crime scene after having an idea. Clearly she had arrived shortly before the ‘shooting’ had occurred, so she thought she might be able to prevent it if she went back a few minutes in time. She only hoped she wasn’t too late already.
The lavender mare soon breathed a sigh of relief as she slowed her pace. Miriam was walking down the street a short ways ahead of her, her horn surrounded by a light blue aura as she levitated her baby close to her. Twilight approached her from behind, saying, “Hi, excuse me.”
Miriam came to a stop and turned to look at Twilight, asking, “Yes?”
Twilight hesitated for a moment; she could be blunt and tell the mare she was walking into danger, or she could say something else in order to show the dark orange unicorn she was friendly before warning her. She decided on the latter when she noticed Miriam’s baby, a little bit of the light brown foal poking out of the blanket he was wrapped in. She smiled, “Your baby is really cute.”
Miriam replied, “Oh, thank you.” She then smiled down at her son and rocked him back and forth.
Twilight asked, “Listen, if it’s not too much trouble, could you take a different way?”
Miriam looked up at her and asked, “What?”
Twilight spoke, “It’s dangerous ahead. Please.”
Miriam replied, “O-oh, I see. All right, thank you.” She turned and started walking again, tending to her baby as she went.
Twilight called, “Please, be careful.” She sighed when Miriam turned and started to walk down a side street, listening to her advice. With that, she turned and started walking away. As she walked, she thought to herself, “That was easy enough. She should be fine as long as she stays off of that street. I wonder why Mr. Brum isn’t with her, though. And who tried to kill her before I intervened? Well, they won’t have a chance now…”
*THWACK*
Twilight immediately came to a stop at that sound, her eyes going wide and her blood chilling. She whirled around and exclaimed, “What?!” She quickly ran back down the street, hoping this didn’t mean what she thought it meant.
Unfortunately, it did. When she arrived on the scene, she found Miriam lying on the ground, the crossbow bolt once again sticking out of the back of her head. The green unicorn stallion she’d seen before walked over to her and kneeled next to her. He used his magic to extract the bolt from her and shook her, saying, “Sweet Celestia! Lady, are you okay?!”
Miriam once again looked up at him and then around, moaning, “Where… my baby… he…” She then rolled over onto her side, becoming still.
Twilight whispered, “No… she’s gone again…”
The green unicorn shook Miriam, saying, “Come on, lady, hold on!”
The light blue earth pony stallion came up behind Twilight and, upon seeing Miriam on the ground, asked her, “What’s going on? Somepony hurt?”
Twilight looked back at him and said, “I don’t know. But please, can you get a doctor?”
The light blue pony nodded, “You got it!” He then turned and ran, heading for the nearest doctor’s office.
As Twilight turned back to look at Miriam, she noticed the dark blue unicorn had shown up. He asked, “Is she all right?! What happened?”
The green unicorn asked, “Hey wait, isn’t this Eckart’s wife?”
Once again, Eckart came running moments after the unicorn had asked that, exclaiming, “Miriam!” Once again, he pushed the green unicorn aside and shook his wife before picking her up in his forelegs, saying, “Miriam! Stay with me, hold on! Oh no, where’s Dante, wasn’t he with you?!” He then looked at the ponies gathered around and asked, “Did anypony see a baby?!”
Twilight absently said, “I don’t know…”
The dark blue unicorn raised an eyebrow at her and asked, “Hey, you were just talking to this lady, weren’t you?”
Twilight looked back at him, startled, and started, “Well, yes, but…” Suddenly, she noticed a sudden pulsing coming from her saddlebag and inwardly gasped. It was the same thing the Z-pad had done the first time she traveled back to 400 years ago. It was the warning glow; she needed to leave soon or she wouldn’t be able to leave at all. Slowly, she began to back away from the ponies who were staring at her.
“Hey!” the green unicorn exclaimed.
“That mare…” Eckart said.
The dark blue unicorn looked at the green unicorn and said, “I’d say she’s acting suspicious.” The green unicorn nodded and they both approached Twilight.
The green unicorn reached Twilight first and put a hoof on her shoulder, saying, “Hey! Where do you think you’re going?!”
The dark blue unicorn asked, “You trying to make a quick getaway?”
Twilight looked at him and asked, “A getaway?! I haven’t done anything!” The green unicorn took his hoof off of her shoulder, but he didn’t back away. Once again, the Z-pad gave off that pulsing glow and she looked down at her saddlebag, muttering in her head, “I know, I know. But I can’t let them see me time travel. Especially not right now…”
The green unicorn spoke, causing Twilight to look up, “Then stay here until the Princess’ royal guards get here!”
The dark blue unicorn nodded, “We’re talking murder here! You’d better not do anything irresponsible.”
Twilight looked down and thought to herself, “I can’t stay here that long. I need to get back to my time before it’s too late.” Looking back up at the two unicorns, she sighed to herself, “I guess I’m just going to have to play the guilty card…” In one swift second, her horn lit up and released a bright purple flash, blinding the two unicorns for a moment. While they were unable to see her, she quickly summoned the Z-pad and activated it. By the time they could see again, she was gone.
________________________________________
Twilight looked down as her time bubble carried her through the passage of time, her failure weighing heavily on her mind. “I can’t believe it happened again… She must’ve acted like she was going down that side street to get me to leave. I should’ve kept watch from afar,” she thought to herself, her ears drooping.
They stood up straight again when she heard a familiar voice ask, “Now really, what are you up to this time? Are you trying to win the Prized Pony Award?” Twilight whirled around to see Homunculus floating there, giving her a disapproving look. Before she could reply, he shook his head, “Didn’t I tell you? Fate makes a powerful opponent. It’s tough enough changing your own fate… you can’t do much to another pony’s. Doing it over again doesn’t mean you’re going to get it right anytime soon… You may put yourself through the pain, the tears again and again.”
Twilight looked down as he floated upside down and went on, “You should focus on changing your fate as quickly as possible. I’m saying this for your own sake. Goodbye for now…” Twilight looked up and realized he was already gone.
________________________________________
Twilight appeared on the road near the art museum, dropping to the ground after being released from her time bubble. Looking forward, she noticed the three unicorn mares were approaching the spot on the building where the movie poster was plastered. In a few seconds, she was going to have to go talk to them or risk being run down again. But she wasn’t worried about that right now.
Twilight brought the Z-pad out of her saddlebag and looked at it. She could still travel back in time to ten years ago, so she could probably travel back and try again before it started pulsing at her again. But did she really want to try and risk failing again? “Can that mare be saved?” she asked herself. She looked back up at the other unicorns for a second before looking back down at the Z-pad. She nodded to herself, “I have to try!” She then levitated it up and pressed her horn against it. Once again, she disappeared.
________________________________________
Miriam was walking along the street with her baby when she heard Twilight call, “Excuse me, ma’am.”
Miriam stopped and turned to look at the lavender unicorn coming towards her. “Yes?” she asked.
Coming to a stop in front of her, Twilight decided to be blunt with her, seeing as being nice with her hadn’t worked. So she said, “Don’t go that way. It’s not safe. Please, will you take a different route?”
Miriam looked back at her and asked, “Excuse me…?” Turning around, she levitated her baby closer to her chest and shot Twilight a look over her shoulder before she started walking again.
“W-wait!” Twilight exclaimed, stepping towards the dark orange unicorn. At the sound of her voice, the older unicorn looked back at her before breaking out into a run, heading down the nearby side street. Twilight immediately started running after her, not caring what anypony who saw her would think. “I’m not letting her out of my sight,” Twilight said to herself as she ran.
The mist made it hard to see very far and the snow slowed her down, but Twilight was able to keep up with Miriam as she ran. Twilight kept an eye on her, the bookworm’s gallops fiery and fierce. She was determined to get it right this time and wasn’t about to let anything derail her. Miriam led her around the block once before returning to the street they had been on, still running as she headed for the art museum.
As she approached the spot where Twilight knew she would be shot, she saw a glint out of the corner of her eye and slowed down slightly. It was coming from the side street they had run down earlier and Twilight could make out something holding what was no doubt the crossbow. Upon seeing this, Twilight ran as fast she could towards Miriam, who had come to a stop a little further up. As she neared the older mare, she yelled, “Watch out!” She then dove forward, her front legs outstretched in front of her. Her hooves met Miriam’s backside and she pushed forward, causing the aura surrounding the unicorn’s horn to vanish as a loud *THWACK* filled the air. They both landed face first in the snow.
The green unicorn and light blue earth pony appeared on the scene as Twilight pushed herself up off the ground. Thankfully, she hadn’t been hit by the bolt herself, but she didn’t know if Miriam was okay. Standing over her, Twilight asked, “Are you all right?!” Miriam groaned as she pulled her head out of the snow. She was initially angry at the purple unicorn, but she felt all that anger leave her system as she looked up and gasped. Twilight looked where she was looking. There was the bolt, sticking out of the side of a building rather than Miriam’s head.
Miriam pushed herself up with her hooves as Twilight walked around to her front and looked at her in concern. The dark orange unicorn looked at Twilight and breathed, “You – you saved me…”
Twilight was still worried even though Miriam had said that. She spoke, “Maybe… Are you hurt anywhere?”
Miriam looked down at her forelegs and then back up at Twilight, saying, “I… I scraped my legs, but otherwise I’m fine. You really were trying to help, weren’t you? I’m sorry…”
Twilight replied, “That’s all right. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Miriam nodded, but then she looked around in a panic. “W-wait, where is he? My baby?” she asked.
Twilight’s eyes widened at that. She stood up straight and looked around. She then gasped, “Oh no! The baby!” She couldn’t see the little foal anywhere. “Did Homunculus already get him? What does he want with her baby anyway? I thought he said he wasn’t going to pick up a baby again anyway,” she thought to herself.
The green unicorn spoke, “I don’t see a kid anywhere around here. Are you okay, lady?”
Eckart soon came running through the mist towards the scene. As soon as he saw his wife on the ground, he gasped, “Miriam!! Are you all right?”
The dark orange unicorn replied, “I’m all right, but…” She then looked down at her hooves.
Eckart gasped when he saw the red near her hooves, “You’re bleeding!” He quickly rushed to her side.
As he dropped down next to her, Miriam said, “That doesn’t matter! I’m all right!” She then looked at Eckart and exclaimed, “Where is he – where is our son?!” Eckart immediately began to look from left to right around the street at that.
Twilight noticed a familiar glow coming from her saddlebags and, after checking to see if anypony was looking at her, turned and started to walk away. The light blue earth pony noticed her leaving and asked, “Hey, where are you going?”
Twilight stopped and looked back at him. She then said, “Oh, um… It sounded like that shot came from over here. I thought I’d see if anypony around here saw anything.”
The earth pony nodded, “Okay, then I’ll go get a doctor to make sure she’s all right.” Twilight nodded back as the pony left.
Going back to the side street where she had seen the glint from, Twilight looked around a little as she walked down it. There was nobody there, as she expected. The archer probably took off immediately after firing the bolt. She sighed to herself, “There’s nothing more I can do here.” She summoned the Z-pad from her saddlebag and pressed it up against her horn, muttering, “I saved her here. I guess it’s all up to fate now.” She was lifted off the ground a moment later and disappeared almost immediately afterwards.
________________________________________
The three unicorn mares that asked Twilight if she wanted to go to a party Moon Dancer was holding the day she was sent to Ponyville were walking along the street near the Brum Museum. The blue unicorn, who was walking a little ahead of the white unicorn and yellow unicorn, noticed something stuck to the side of the building they were walking next to. “Hey look, it’s a poster for that new movie,” she called back to her friends.
Her friends trotted up alongside her, the white unicorn asking, “What’s it about?”
The blue unicorn looked at the poster for a moment before saying, “Looks like it has something to do with time travel. I like stuff like that, don’t you?”
The other two unicorns looked at the poster and, after seeing it, agreed with her. The yellow unicorn looked to her side and noticed Twilight walking towards them, a small box perched atop her saddlebags. She called, “Twilight! Is that you?”
Twilight looked up in surprise as the other two unicorns looked in her direction. She had seen them, obviously, but she figured they wouldn’t want to talk to her after brushing them off the last time she had seen them, so she had planned to just walk past them without saying anything. “Oh! Hey girls. What, uh, what’s going on?” she asked.
The white unicorn replied, “Come over here and check out this movie poster.”
Twilight trotted over and stood between the yellow unicorn and the white unicorn. She looked up at the poster and read it aloud, “‘Trip for Two: A mare with the power to defy time itself uncovers the truth behind a grisly serial murder’. Huh, that sounds pretty cool, actually.”
The blue unicorn nodded, “I know, right? Hey, I didn’t know you watched movies, Twilight.”
The white unicorn added, “Yeah, I thought all you did was study.”
Twilight replied, “Well, sometimes I do other things, especially nowadays.”
Before any of them could ask her what she meant, they all heard Applejack call, “Hey Twilight! What’s going on?”
They all turned to see the orange earth pony and the rest of Twilight’s friends coming around the corner. Twilight smiled, “Spike, girls, come look at this!”
They all came over to the group and looked at the poster themselves. As soon as Rarity saw Oleg’s name on it, she squealed, “Oh, this director? I am such a big fan of his movies!”
Pinkie Pie gasped, “Oh wow, you too, Rarity? That’s so amazing!”
Fluttershy smiled, “A love story? I don’t know about the part about the serial murder, but I’d like to see it if it has a happy ending.”
Applejack nodded, “Fer sure!”
Rainbow Dash said, “I’d definitely go see it for the plot!” Spike nodded at that, agreeing with her.
As the group’s conversation continued, Oleg was peeking out from behind a building, looking at the gathering around his movie’s poster. He nodded in satisfaction, “All right! I’ve got a good feeling about this one too.” Pulling his head back around the corner, he leaned back against the building and said, “Another major hit, no doubt about that! Really!” He looked up suddenly when a pony wearing a black cloak suddenly galloped past him, using its magic to make a nearby abandoned carriage make a sharp turn, the kind they weren’t supposed to make. He called after the retreating carriage and pony, “Hey! Watch what you’re doing!!”
A couple of minutes later, the three unicorns departed after having a long, enjoyable conversation with Twilight and her friends. It went from talking about the new movie to talking about what Twilight was up to with her friends in Ponyville. As they left, the white unicorn called back, “Sorry we have to leave like this, but we already had plans for tonight. But we should totally hang out next time you’re in Canterlot, Twilight!”
After they left, Pinkie Pie walked over to Twilight and said, “Ooh! You got the cupcakes, Twilight!” She then used her forelegs to grab the box off of Twilight’s back. “Hey, the box is kind of wet!” the pink pony exclaimed.
Twilight gulped at that; she had completely forgotten about it the whole time she was in the past. “Oh shoot, really? I didn’t even notice. I hope the cupcakes aren’t ruined,” she said.
Pinkie Pie smiled, “Oh, I’m sure they’re fine! Water doesn’t get into these boxes easily!”
Applejack asked, “What were ya doin’ that ya didn’t even notice that the box was wet, Sugarcube?”
Rainbow Dash spoke, “Aw, who cares, Applejack? Come on, we’ve got everything else! Let’s get back to the castle; we don’t want to leave the princesses waiting for the party to start, do we?”
Applejack replied, “Well, Ah reckon not, Rainbow. Ah guess it doesn’t matter anyway, so long as the cupcakes are fine.”
Pinkie Pie spoke, “No worries there, Applejack!” She then turned to Spike and said, “Here, Spike. You can carry these!”
The baby dragon replied, “Uh, okay.” Before he could reach up and take the box from her, he suddenly felt the familiar sensation of his stomach tensing up. A second later, he let out a stream of flames that Pinkie Pie hopped back from, the flames floating up and a scroll appearing with a pop.
As the scroll dropped down, Rarity noted, “That doesn’t look like Princess Celestia’s seal.” Indeed, the seal holding the scroll closed looked rather plain compared to the seal everypony was used to seeing.
Twilight levitated the scroll up and unfurled it, using the light from her horn to read it. Her friends watched as she raised an eyebrow in confusion. Rainbow Dash soon asked, “What does it say, Twilight?”
The lavender unicorn looked up and said, “It’s from Mr. Brum. It says he needs the book he lent me back.”
Applejack raised her own eyebrow, “Already? Ya ain’t even had it a whole day. What’s so important that he needs it now?”
Looking back down at the scroll, Twilight said, “I don’t know. All it says is that something’s come up and he’ll be waiting at the museum tower.” Glancing back, she said, “As long as I’m right here, I might as well return it now.”
Fluttershy asked, “Do you want us to come with you?”
Rainbow Dash said, “Don’t be silly, Fluttershy. All Twilight needs is go to the tower and return the book. That’s simple; she doesn’t need help doing something like that. She can run this errand and we can head back to set everything up for the party.”
Pinkie Pie cheered, “Yay! We’re gonna party with the princesses!” She then dropped the box on the ground and started hopping away, the other ponies beginning to follow after her.
Picking the box up off the ground, Spike looked up at Twilight and said, “I’m gonna go with them and help them set up. You can take care of this, right?” He then turned and started to follow after the girls.
Twilight reached a hoof out towards him and exclaimed, “WAIT!” Spike immediately came to a stop and turned around to look at her, confused. Rarity and Fluttershy, who were just about to turn the corner, also turned and looked at her. Gathering herself, Twilight lowered her hoof to the ground and said, “I mean… Yeah, you’re right, Spike. I… I can take care of this. It’s not like anything’s going to happen, right?”
Spike raised an eye at her for a second before saying, “Oooookay then. I’m just gonna go, I guess. Unless there’s a reason you don’t want to go alone?”
Twilight giggled, “Who, me? No, no, it’s fine. You can go ahead, Spike, and I’ll be along in a bit.” Spike, with his eye still raised, turned and followed after Fluttershy and Rarity, none of them sure what to make of Twilight’s outburst. The lavender mare sighed to herself and started walking towards the hill leading up to the museum. As she walked, she thought to herself, “I have to keep it together! I can solve this myself and not put them in danger or anything else unpleasant that could come with telling them. Besides, I’m just going to return a book to a friend. Nothing is going to happen… right?”