//------------------------------// // Responsibility // Story: Timeless // by palelordhiphis //------------------------------// A migraine that hurt worse than the one she'd had after ten nights of cramming for the final exam in magic school was accompanied by cloudy shapes that seemed to dance with each throbbing pulse of blood through her muddled head. Despite this, Twilight slowly gathered her wits and forced herself to focus on the world that seemed to swirl around her. "Time travel," Twilight muttered to herself, "is always a pain." After her migraine had subsided to a dull throb, she took note of her surroundings. She recognized the scent of Sweet Apple Acres orchard in the distance and could just barely make out the top of the barn over the hills. She decided to keep to the less frequented paths on her way to Ponyville, just in case. "You three head east and spread out. We don't have enough ponies to cover every square inch, but I want as much of the area checked as possible," Twilight heard a voice that she couldn't quite place giving orders. "Yes, Princess Twilight," the deep voices of several guards replied. "Oh no," Twilight thought to herself, "That's me! The past me. I've need hide!" She looked around, spotted a small cave, and quickly ducked inside. Beads of sweat ran down her brow as hoofsteps approached. "Once you've searched your section, report back to me. I'll be flying between the designated meeting points to keep track of the search." Twilight peered out from the cave and looked at her past self. She hadn't aged in the last twenty years, though she'd changed her main a bit, a little magic could easily set her locks to the old mane style. "Do you think that dragon knight can be trusted?" one of the guards asked. "Spike trusts him and he saved Rarity - and that's all I need." "Yes, Princess." Twilight heard the hoofsteps and conversation grow quieter as they went into the distance and waited a few minutes longer to be sure that the coast was clear. "He really did it. He saved her. But it sounds like they don't know that he's from the future or that he's Spike. How am I going to fix this?" she asked herself as she continued towards Ponyville. She figured the first step was to gather information and since her past self was out looking for the pale blue unicorn, the town would be safe enough for her to walk around. She cast a spell to set her mane to the old style as she approached the edge of town and took a deep mind clearing breath before moving forward again. Ponyville and the land around it hadn't changed a lot over the years. The same small houses, the same dirt roads, the same families running businesses that they'd run for generations. It had an order to it, an order that mucking about with time travel could decimate. She stopped for a moment just outside of the Cake's shop, Sugarcube Corner, and let old memories of wash over her. The stucco made to look like thick white frosting, the shingles crafted to look like giant cookies, and even the massive cupcake with three candles at the top hadn't changed over all the years. She'd been buried in so many responsibilities that it had been three or four years since she'd last visited the Cakes and most of the work was handled by Pound and Pumpkin in her time. "Princess Twilight, I thought you were searching for the unicorn that attacked Rarity," Mrs. Cake's voice pulled Twilight out of her reverie. "Mrs. Cake... I, um, yes of course. I was just going to check up on her before heading back out," she lied. "Oh, but, why are you in Ponyville? She's still in Canterlot, at the castle, isn't she? I heard that she wasn't ready to be moved," Mrs. cake said as she furrowed her brow. "Yes, I, Uh..." she tried desperately to come up with a lie to cover for her confusion, but lying had never been one of her strong points. "Oh, you poor dear," Mrs. Cake said an sighed, "You must feel just terrible. The stress must be getting to you. Would you like to come into the shop for a cup of tea?" "Thank you. You're right. It's the stress. I'd come in for tea, but I should really get back to looking for Rarity's attacker." "Of course, dear, but keep in mind that Rarity wouldn't want you to get hurt," Mrs. Cake said and smiled while tilting her head a little to the left. "I'll keep that in mind," Twilight said and then spread her wings and took off into the sky. As she flew close to the ground to avoid being seen by too many ponies she spoke to herself. "She's in the castle. That means guards and more importantly it means that I might have to deal with both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. But what am I really going to do? Rarity died... it's the past. The way the past has to be to keep the future, my present, the way it's supposed to be. I don't think I have any other choice..." An hour of flying over small houses, fields, trees, and rivers brought Twilight to the edge of Canterlot. The city streets were packed, but far less than they would have been in her time. More ponies had moved into the city itself as magical farming machinery started to increase the yield of the farms, making it far less important for there to be as much farm land in Equestria, and giving more of the citizens time to pursue more artistic and intellectual pursuits. She landed lightly just inside the parapet of the balcony on the east tower. She figured that Rarity would be fairly close, since this was the tower where the royal physician's office was located. If Rarity was too injured to be moved to Ponyville, as Mrs. Cake had said, then it was entirely likely that she'd be kept close to the physician. "Princess Twilight, you've returned," a guard said as she stepped into the tower, "have you captured the villain that attacked Rarity?" "No, there's no sign of him so far," she said, "I've simply come to check on my friend. Could you take me to her?" "Yes, Princess, of course. Right this way," he said and started walking down a long hall in front of her. "She's inside, but I believe she's still sleeping. Would you like me to summon the physician and have him wake her?" he asked when they reached a large, ornately carved, wooden door. "No. No thank you. I just want to look in on her. There's no need for her to wake up," Twilight said and swallowed at a lump in her throat. She slipped past the guard and into the room, closed the door behind her, and hoped he hadn't noticed the tears in her eyes. When she was inside sh cast a spell on the door to keep it locked and to reinforce the wood, just in case the guards caught on before she was done. Twilight approached the bed slowly, each hoofstep seemed to echo through the room no matter how lightly she tried to walk. Rarity breathed slowly in and out in a peaceful rhythm. Twilight felt tiny pulses, like magic bolts, racing through her muscles. "It's been a long time," she whispered to Rarity, "a very long time. I'm sorry it has to be like this. When I lost you the first time... if Spike hadn't been so... if he hadn't needed me to be strong... I would have fallen apart. I have to do this or else, or else everything that exists could fall apart. I'm sorry." Twilight's horn began to glow with a vicious red and black energy as tears rolled down her cheeks. Just as the energy began to leave her horn a large purple arm wreathed in fading green fire wrapped around her and through her back to the wall. "Stay way from her, Twilight Sparkle," Spike shouted as he stood to his full hight between Twilight and Rarity. "How did you know?" she asked. "When I went back into Ponyville to gather more ponies for the search, Mrs. Cake said she'd spoken to you, but I'd been with you, the other you, the whole time." "So you knew where I'd have to go." "Yeah, I know what you think you have to do, but you don't, Twilight, you don't have to do this," he said as he looked her in the eyes and then gritted his teeth. "No. I do. It's my responsibility to make sure the timeline stays in tact. I have to make sure that all those ponies. All the ones that have lived their lives with the past as it is are protected. I have to protect the world. I don't have a choice!" she shouted back as the black and red energy coalesced around her horn again, "Now move, or... or I'll have to make you move." "Twi, you don't have to do this, you have a choice-" "I said MOVE!" she shouted as a beam of energy leaped out from her horn and crashed into Spike, diving him several feet back before he fell to one knee. He clutched at the burns on his scales for a moment and then slowly rose to his feet again. "No, Twilight, I won't move. You have to choose. The future or Rarity - the world or your friend." "It's not a choice," she said and let loose another beam of energy. Spike stumbled for a moment, but then drew himself back up and took a step forward, then another, and another, always slowly forward. The beam of black and red energy spilled off the scales on his chest in all directions, breaking furniture and burning the wall around them, but still he inched forward. "Spike! Stop! Stop! You have to get out of the way or-" His large claw reached up to her horn, took hold of it, and the dark energy flowed down his arm, sparking along the entirety of his body. His muscles twitched, tears flowed from his eyes, and blood began to fall from his nose. "Your friend or the world," he said as he fell to his knees but still held onto her horn. "I," Twilight let the dark energy fade, "I... I choose my friends. I choose my friends," she said as she fell to her knees next to Spike and nuzzled in close to him. "Twilight? And, Kairos, was it? I thought I heard you talking to Spike... What's going on?" Rarity asked as she sat up on the bed. "It's nothing," Spike said, "We were just checking on you?" "What happened to the room?" Rarity asked as she looked around and then laid back against the pillows again. "We, uh, there was an incident, but it's over now. Get some rest and we'll send someone in to clean this up," Twilight said and smiled at her once lost friend.