//------------------------------// // Prompt #468-Check Your Work // Story: Ponywatching // by ThunderTempest //------------------------------// The sound of scribbles and frantic page-turning, as well as the sparkling poof of frequent teleportation echoed throughout the library. The sun had long since set on the lone occupant’s quest for knowledge, giving way to the moon, and soon, the moon would do likewise for the sun. “Eureka!” cried Twilight Sparkle, throwing her hooves up in the air, and letting her magic fizzle out. Unfortunately, she also forgot about the eighteen books that she had been supporting. They hit the floor with a loud bang, and it was this which woke up Spike. “Twilight?” he muttered, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up in his small basket, “What are you doing?” “It’s brilliant, Spike! I’ve figured it out!” “Figured what out, Twilight?” “Well, you remember yesterday, how I was researching Pre-Diarchy history, right?” “Yeah,” said Spike, as Twilight bounced in place with barely contained enthusiasm. “Well, I had an idea. What If I could directly view history? That way, I could get a much better sense of the context in which some decisions were made.” “I dunno,” said Spike, “That sounds an awful lot like time travel. You remember the last time you tried to mess with time?” Twilight’s eye twitched as she remembered the events surrounding that frankly weird week of her life, but she composed herself. “The spell has only got tangential time-travel aspects, at best. There’s no chance that anypony casting it could be accidentally pulled back in time by it. I triple checked it.” “Well, if you’re sure it’s safe...” muttered Spike, stepping back as Twilight’s horn lit up. “Right. I’m hoping to see the decision to make Equestria a Diarchy. It’s a nice starting point.” Twilight’s horn continued to glow, building in intensity, and pulsing at regularly decreasing intervals. Then, with a massive flash and what looked like Pinkie Pie’s party cannon firing in reverse, Twilight vanished. Twilight’s final thought was that she hadn’t calculated what would happen if an alicorn cast the spell. ***** Her vision was fuzzy. And her horn hurt. Those were the first two sensations that came into Twilight’s notice. The third was that rather than the cool stone of the Canterlot Library under her, it was hard-packed dirt. “Oh, my, dear sister! Look, a poor pony, passed out on the road!” The voice was deeply familiar to Twilight, missing only the mysterious weight of the experience of more than a thousand years. “Careful, Lulu. She’s got scorch marks all around her. Somepony tried to kill her, and recently. Best just to move on.” This voice was closer to what Twilight had grown to know and love, but colder, not filled with the same love and warmth that she had experienced. “I’m awake,” Twilight managed to cough out as she struggled to her hooves, “I’m alright.” “See, Celly? She’s fine, and not getting killed. Perhaps she can even help us.” “Nonsense. What could a mortal pony know about the affairs of running a country, or rulership?” “More than you might think, Celestia,” muttered Twilight, not intending to be heard. However, both Luna and Celestia heard her. [Time] Celestia stepped forwards, “State your name, pony. Who are you? What do you know?” Twilight jerked her head upwards, seeing Celestia’s stern face, and already glowing horn, and too late remembered that in this age, addressing the future Princesses by name was akin to treason. She teleported out of the way just as a beam of pure solar magic slammed into the ground where she had been standing. It was almost instinct, formed of countless magic drills that Twilight had never fully understood the purpose of until now. As Celestia readied her second shot, Twilight twisted on her hooves, spinning around in a full circle, and drawing the earth up around her in a protective ring. The beam slammed into the protective ring of earth. Letting her spell dissipate and the earth fall back down, Twilight then teleported once again. She appeared behind Celestia, and levelled her own glowing horn at Celestia, ready to fire. The blast of magic slammed into Celestia’s side, throwing her sideways several metres. At the realization that she had not only hit Celestia, but potentially injured her, Twilight clapped her hooves to her face in shock, and nearly didn’t dodge the next strike from Celestia, only avoiding it by throwing herself to the side. She could hear the sizzle of her tail hairs as the magic passed by. “STOP!” cried Luna, and both combatants froze, horns still glowing, “Sister, Celestia. Hold your magic a moment. And you, please hold your magic as well!” Celestia let her horn flicker out first, and Twilight attempted to follow suit. However, her magic was almost spiralling out of her control, a somewhat common problem after a full magical duel, as the magic was tied into the adrenaline system. But most didn’t have the sheer power that Twilight had at her disposal, and so Twilight channelled her rampant magic into the first thing she could think of that wouldn’t harm the princesses-her botched viewing history spell. With a flash, Twilight vanished back into the weave of time and space, leaving behind two very confused princesses.