//------------------------------//
// A Link To The Past 
// Story: Timeless Harmony 
// by Barrier Pavise 
//------------------------------//

Timeless Harmony
Chapter 2: A Link To The Past
(Mane 6 P.O.V.)

“Never? As in 'Never Ever'!?”
“Yes Pinkie, never ever” stated Twilight to her party loving friend.
“But that doesn't make any sense!” screamed Pinkie as she began pacing back and forth through Twilight's library. “How could you never have had a cupcake!?” Twilight shook her head at the sugar driven earth pony. She understood where she was coming from though. Pinkie's cupcakes were legendary throughout Equestria and for anypony to have missed out on the joy of eating one was nothing less than a crime.
“I know!” hollered Pinkie, leaping into the air at the thought. “I'll just take Zecora some cupcakes! She'll be all super mega happy for 'em!”
“That's a great idea Pinkie. I'm sure she'd be incredibly grateful.” Twilight trotted away from Pinkie and retrieved a small woven basket. “Here, you can use this.” The skilled unicorn used her magic to place the empty basket on the newly quest given earth pony's back.
“Thanks Twilight! Now...ONWARD FOR CUPCAKES!” announced Pinkie as she began to charge for the exit.
“Hang on Pinkie!” called out Twilight just before the over excited party pony placed a hoof out the front door. “What did you need to talk to me about in the first place?” asked the unicorn, not entirely sure why her friend had come over to begin with.
“Oh, I just wanted to know if you knew anything about the two new ponies in town. But that can wait! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!” Pinkie turned back around and continued out the door and headed for Sugar Cube Corner to load up on sweets. Then, she was off again, determined to spread the joy of sugary goodness out to a friend in The Everfree Forest.
---
“Giggle at the ghosties, guffaw at the grossly” sung Pinkie to herself as she happily hopped through the Everfree Forest, completely undisturbed by the terrifying scenery. It wasn't before long that the oblivious cupcake deliverer tripped over what felt like, to her, a small rock.
“Owie!” cried Pinkie as she regained herself from her fall, rubbing her hoof on her pain-filled head. “Who the heck leaves rocks lying around in the middle of the forest for Pete's sake!?” Pinkie trotted over to the area where the accursed rock had caused her to drop her precious cargo of sweet delights, only to find what seemed like the corner of a cube.
“What kinda rock is this?” asked Pinkie, bringing herself down to 'eye' level with the strange object. With curiosity eating away at the fun loving pony, Pinkie began to rapidly dig at the foreign item. It was only a matter of seconds before she had reached her goal and claimed her prize; a small black box.
The confused earth pony examined her newly found treasure. The box didn't seem like much to look at; barely more than a small black cube with strange designs carved in and a single small circular opening on its side.
“Ooh! I found a box!” exclaimed the excited pony. “I wonder what's inside!” Pinkie shuffled the box around in her hooves, searching for some method of opening it. But none were found. “Oh c'mon you darn box!” pleaded Pinkie. The struggling pony then started to gnaw at the object. Determination took hold of Pinkie, as she then grappled and rolled around with the impossible cube. She tossed and wrestled around in the grass with the clearly dominant item.
“Oh c'mon! This darn box just won’t open!” complained Pinkie, seemingly giving up on her attempts to open the indomitable cube. “I'll just take it to Twilight, she's super-duper smart and will know what to do!” Pinkie then grabbed the small box in her mouth and launched it to a balancing point on her head.
And so her quest of the sugary crusade was abandoned. Pinkie began to happily trot back towards the exit of the dark forest, but something stopped her. A feeling of somepony watching her. The now slightly frightened pony turned her head over her shoulder just to see that her hunch was right, for directly behind her was a light tan colt she had never seen before.
Pinkie gasped insanely loudly and began to run away from the mysterious stranger. She didn't seem to be running in fear, but her speed was incredible nonetheless. She knew very well that the newcomer was giving chase as he called out for her. Now, being the clever pony she is, Pinkie made a sharp right turn from the path and then hid in a nearby collection of bushes. There she waited, the black box still managing to maintain balance atop her head. It wasn't long before the chasing pony came down the path that the pink trickster had taken and was tackled by Pinkie.
“Gotcha!” she called out in triumph over her pinned stalker. Pinkie examined the pony beneath her. He was a brown earth pony with a slight blush forming in his cheeks.
“Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie! I haven't seen you around before, are you new in Ponyville? Or do you live in the forest or something?” Pinkie removed herself from atop the brown colt and offered out a hoof to help him up.
“Uh, my name's Stalwart” introduced the downed adventurer as he took Pinkie's extended hoof to regain himself.
“Ooh, and you have swords for a cutie mark!” called out Pinkie as she pointed a hoof at Stalwart's flank. “That's sooo cool! What are they for!?”
“Huh? Oh, that” stated the pony named Stalwart as he fixed the western style hat that was resting on his head and adjusted the wooden sword by his side. “It’s 'cause I'm a swordspony. It runs in the family. And no, I don't live in The Everfree. I just moved into Ponyville from Canterlot”
“Canterlot!? Really!? Last time I was there I was with my friends and it was kinda a mess.” exclaimed Pinkie, thinking back to her times in Canterlot. Both The Gala and Twilight's birthday ended up in mayhem.
“Yeah, I lived with my mother. My father was one of the guards for Princess Celestia herself.” Pinkie hung on to every word that her newly found friend said, completely interested in what he had to say due to her love of meeting new ponies. But she couldn't help but notice the small frown that stretched through Stalwart's face.
“Hey, what's with the sad frown all of a sudden?” asked Pinkie, lowering her head to be equal with her fellow earth pony. She looked into his eyes; they were brown and full of both loyalty and faith.
“Oh, nothing. Sorry about that!” apologized the light tan pony as a slight blush clouded his cheeks. “Well, um... I gotta go.” Pinkie looked over the colt that stood before her, knowing there was something up. But she dismissed it, for thoughts of randomness that always flooded her head and the need to figure out what was in her new box had crept into her mind.
“Okie dokie lokie! I'll see ya around” said Pinkie as she waved goodbye to the young colt who retrieved a branch that was lying next to him and began to trot away. “What was with that branch?” Pinkie thought to herself. That thought was shrugged off as the party pony abandoned her quest for cupcakes and replaced it with a new one; Operation- Get That Box To Twilight.
---
“Twilight!” called out Pinkie as she galloped through Twilight's front door which was almost always open during the day. The new guest was greeted by a small baby dragon and a talented unicorn.
“Hey Pinkie Pie” greeted Twilight, approaching the insanely random earth pony. “How did Zecora like those cupcakes? I'm sure she was very grateful.” Twilight beamed a smile at her kind friend.
“Oopsies, I kinda forgot about her” admitted Pinkie, slightly embarrassed
“What?” questioned Spike. “Wasn't she the whole reason you went out into The Everfree in the first place?”
“Well, yeah, but I found something that just looked super-duper LUPER important!” exclaimed Pinkie, bouncing the strange box on her head.
“Um, Pinkie, what's with the box?” asked Spike, scratching his head in wonderment.
“I have no idea! That's why I brought it here. At first I was like 'Hey lookie, a box! I'm gonna open it!' But then I was like 'This thing isn't opening! I'll take it to Twilight!' And now I'm like 'I'm here! I wonder why Twilight hasn't tried to open the box yet'.”
Twilight rolled her eyes at her overexcited friend and levitated the foreign object off of Pinkie's head. Twilight scanned the odd item while slowly turning it with her magic. When it appeared she had reached a conclusion, she called out to Spike saying, “Spike, grab me my copy of ‘Technology Throughout The Ages’.”
Spike happily followed his friend's orders and ran as fast as his little dragon legs could carry him to grab that book. The assistant dragon didn't take long. He was gone no more than a minute before he returned with a rather large and dusty book held in both of his claws.
“Thank you, Spike” thanked Twilight as she relieved the poor dragon of his heavy load. “Okay, let's see what we got here” said Twilight as she began rapidly flipping through the pages with her magic. “Aha! Here it is. Well, it doesn't have a name but it's under the title 'A Link To The Past'.” Twilight continued to read the dusty pages in silence, leaving Pinkie and Spike in the dark as to what the object floating in front of them did or even was.
Once Twilight had finished reading, she lowered both the book and box and looked at her companions. “We need the others.”
---
It wasn't long before the remaining Elements of Harmony filed into Twilight's library. It was still only high noon so everypony was already in town going about their business, making Spike's job of gathering them much easier.
“Alrighty Twi, y'all pulled us away from what we was doin'. So watcha need?” asked Applejack with slight annoyance.
“Yes dear. I'm pretty sure we all had rather busy schedules” pitched Rarity.
“Alright, alright” began Twilight, pacing in front of the five ponies. “Girls, it appears Pinkie here has discovered an intensely unique item.”
“Well what the hay is it?” asked Rainbow, demanding something good at the cost of being pulled away from her aerial practice. Twilight nudged her head toward Spike who produced the black box from behind him.
“Um, Twilight? What is that?” asked Fluttershy in her timid little voice.
“Ladies, this box is a magical item of extreme purpose. This single black cube has the power to change time itself!” Every other pony looked around in confusion.
“Wait, wait, wait” interrupted Rainbow Dash. “What exactly does that mean? Are you saying we could go back in time!?” Rainbow's eyes got a slight shimmer in them.
“Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying” stated Twilight. Everypony gasped in shock
“Well Twilight, are we going to use this wonderful opportunity we've been given?” asked Rarity, eyes glowing with ideas.
“Hey! It's MY box! I found it! Finders keepers losers weepers!” chipped Pinkie.
“Whoa Whoa whoa! What if I wanna use it to make myself look cooler for the WonderBolts back at the Gala?” barked Rainbow.
“Girls, Girls!” called out the purple unicorn. Everypony ceased their bickering and returned their attention to Twilight. “We can't even use this object, and for two very good reasons.”
“Well what are they then!?” asked Rainbow, demanding to know why her dreams were being deprived of her.
“Well, first of all,” began Twilight. “Only an Alicorn or unicorn with an immense amount of magic can activate this box's power and use its abilities.”
“Well shucks Twi, that'd be you!” accused Applejack. “Y'all are darn near unmatchable with that der magic!” Twilight gave a slight blush at the compliment but quickly dismissed it.
“Why thank you Applejack, but this is not the time for flattery. Besides, we can't disrupt the flow of time. And that brings me to the next reason. We can't run the risk of paradox.
“What the heck is a para-puradama- … that thing!?” asked Pinkie, clearly struggling with the new word that found its way into her vocabulary.
“A paradox, Pinkie, is what happens if you mess up the past. Two of the same pony can never EVER meet. If they should, then the very world may be torn apart. Although I've done it once before, that was only for a few seconds. And I have no idea what laws apply with this thing. So if we used this box to go back, we run that risk.”
“But what if we’re extra super-duper mega ultra-extremely careful!?” called Pinkie. “'Cause I reeeaaalllyyy wanna go!” Every other pony pitched in with the notion as they began discussing what they would do with such an opportunity. It was more than obvious that Twilight was being outvoted.
“Girls!” called out Twilight again. “This decision is one of immense proportions. Should we go through with this, and we make a mistake, the world as we know it may be ruined.”
“For the WonderBolts? That's a risk I'm willing to take” stated Rainbow, very sure of herself. Everypony nodded their heads in agreement. The choice was unanimous; Time travel was a go.
“Alright, alright. I suppose I could at least try” said Twilight, pretty sure she couldn’t even get The Link to work if she tried. Twilight lifted The Link closer to her face with her horn before she asked a question. “Well, anywhere specific you guys want to try?” asked the unicorn with the object floating a few inches from her face.
“Well, um. If you don't mind, I'd like to see my little filly self. You know, just to relieve the joy of when I got my cutie mark” suggested Fluttershy. This idea was quickly accepted throughout the ranks of ponies, except for Rainbow Dash.
“No offense Fluttershy, but don't you think that might be just a bit boring for the rest of us?” questioned the blue pegasus. Fluttershy looked down at her hooves in embarrassment and slight failure.
“Oh, I guess so. Well what would you like to do Rainbow Dash?” asked Fluttershy, still as kind as ever.
“Well, I was thinking we should all go watch the original Sonic Rainboom!” No argument was brought up on this idea. Even Fluttershy piped up at the thought of seeing the beautiful event up close and personal.
"Okay, I guess I'll give it a go" surrendered Twilight. The Elements Of Harmony all cheered with joy as Twilight placed The Link on a podium with her magic. Twilight looked around in slight nervousness as she moved her horn closer to the opening on the cube. She saw the happy grins and looks of hope spread across the faces of the other ponies in the room. She knew she had to try.
Twilight slowly placed her horn into the small indent on The Link, coating it with magic as it entered. As the magical essence began to flow between the unicorn and the black box, the strange designs and symbols that were spread across the cube glowed in a color that mimicked that of Twilight's horn.
The Link started to glow incredibly bright as it blinded the ponies in the room. Everypony shielded their eyes from the cube's blinding white light, but Twilight kept her horn firmly in place as she struggled with the magical energy being produced in the room. The pure light felt white hot as it seemed to lift the very being from each pony. Spike ran as fast as he could away from The Link a he began to feel hi very scales ripped from his body.
Everypony shrieked as the immense energy consumed them all in its blinding light. And then...they were gone.