//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Time Shenanigans 
// Story: Time Crusade 
// by Fervidor 
//------------------------------//

Applejack was the first to break the silence. “Now just wait a darn minute! Yer telling us that Pinkie Pie is gonna cause an epic pony war in the future?”
Pinkie gasped. “I'm going to do whaaaaaat?”
“Of course she ain't,” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Don't be silly, the only war Pinkie Pie could start is a food fight. Ah meant the baby. It's Pumpkin Cake who ends up makin' a mess of everythin'.”
Pinkie Pie sighed and wiped her forehead with her hoof. “Phew! What a relief!” Then she gasped again. “Wait, Pumpkin Cake going to do whaaaaaat?” She faced the small foal, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears. “Oh, Pumpkin! How could you? You're such a sweet and innocent little girl. Why? Why must you turn to evil?”
“Abwawa,” Pumpkin Cake replied and tried to eat her bib. “Nam nam.”
“Calm down,” Apple Bloom said. “She turns out just fine.”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo muttered under her breath, “if by fine you mean a cocky, entitled little...” An elbow from Sweetie Belle silenced her.
“Y'all probably noticed by now,” Apple Bloom carried on, “but Pumpkin here ain't exactly a normal foal. Neither's her brother, granted, but Pumpkin is really somethin' else.”
Almost as if to demonstrate, Pumpkin Cake's tiny horn lit up and she causally levitated a nearby napkin into her mouth. “Nam nam nam.”
“See that?” Apple Bloom gestured at her. “That's what Ah'm talkin' about. Twilight, would ya say that's normal for a unicorn her age? The magic, Ah mean, not the napkin.”
“Well, no, not at all,” Twilight said. “I always did think that was strange. Sudden surges in magic are pretty common, but most unicorns can't cast even simple spells until they're much older. I've never even heard of a baby unicorn actually levitating something on purpose.”
“Not to mention walking through walls,” Pinkie added, gently separating the napkin from the baby. “Or flying, or making her toys come alive, or...”
“Right,” Apple Bloom interupted. “That's because she's a genius. An' Ah don't just mean that magic is her special talent – it's that too, but Ah mean she's a genuine, bona fide genius.”
“Pumpkin Cake is so good at magic, she doesn't even think about it the same way other unicorns do,” Spike explained. “She experiments. She changes spells around to make them simpler and better, or finds new applications for them. She's even invented her own spells.”
“And that's when she's not on a sugar rush,” Sweetie Belle added. “When she is, oh boy!”
“That's... amazing!” Twilight said, looking at the infant in awe. “Wait, you said you were from ten years into the future. You mean she's done all this by the time she's ten?”
“Well, she'll have a very good teacher,” Future Spike said, grinning slightly. “The best, in fact.”
Twilight's eyebrows shot up. “You mean... Princess Celestia?”
“Nope.” The grin widened. “Even better!”
Twilight frowned. “But... who's better than the princess? She's the greatest magician in all of Equestria! I've studied magic since I was a little filly and I can't think of a single pony who'd make a better teacher than...” She paused. “...It's me, isn't it?”
“There you go!” said Future Spike. “I knew you'd figure it out.”
“I'll...” Twilight looked at Pumpkin Cake again. Her face suddenly lit up in a big, goofy smile. “I'll have my own personal student?”
“Um, Twilight, darling?” Rarity said. “Please try to focus. Epic pony war in the near future, remember?” 
“I know, I know,” Twilight said, still smiling. “It's just... I'll have my own personal student! And she's brilliant!”
Future Spike nodded. “You two create a lot of great things together: Teleportation gateways, medical advances, boxes that are bigger on the inside, neat stuff like that. It's kind of a magical renaissance.”
“So eventually Pumpkin Cake got a hold of the time travel spell,” Apple Bloom said. “And, bein' Pumpkin Cake, she did what she always did: She improved it. Her version lets ya travel in time as many times ya want, and it doesn't send ya back after just a little while.”
“Funny thing, it was almost as if Star Swirl had put some kind of arbitrary restrictions on his time travel spell.” Future Spike's voice dripped with sarcasm. “In hindsight, maybe we should have wondered a bit more about that?”
“We learned that it is possible to change history by altering the past,” Sweetie Belle said. “It just takes some effort, usually, because the timeline will try to resist it. That's why the original spell only worked for one minute. It only let you make small changes that won't matter much, because time tends to correct itself by forming stable loops. But the longer you stay displaced in time, the bigger changes you'll be able to cause, and if you manage to change something really important the timeline can't handle it and starts to break apart into several alternate timelines instead.”
“We call that a Fray,” Apple Bloom said. 
Spike suddenly raised his arm. “Wait, hold on. There's something I have to ask future me, or it's going to bother me for the rest of this conversation.”
Future Spike glanced at Apple Bloom, who simply shrugged. He sighed. “Well, if you insist.”
“You said something about hindsight,” Spike said. “That made me wonder, shouldn't you have known about this all along? I mean, if you're me from the future, doesn't that mean you remember hearing all this now?”
”Not exactly,” said Future Spike. ”It doesn't work that way.”
”But...” The younger dragon frowned. ”But you're me, and I don't think I'm going to just forget all this, so...”
Future Spike groaned. ”Listen, I'm going to teach you the Golden Rule of Time Travel. It'll save you a lot of headache in the long run. Here goes: Time travel does not make sense. Okay?” He looked around at the ponies by the table. “Did you all get that? Because that's all you need to know. Time travel is messy and confusing and never makes sense, so don't try to figure it out. Just accept it and move on with your lives.” He turned back at Spike. “Understood?”
“Um,” Spike still looked very doubtful, but nodded. “I guess?”
“Good,” Future Spike cocked his head. “Now, where were we?”
“The Fray,” Scootaloo said. 
Future Spike nodded. “Right. We call it the Fray because whenever we go back and change the past, the timeline keeps unwinding like a fraying thread. At first we didn't really mind. Heck, we thought it was better than before. We were in control of our own destinies, and if something went bad we could just go back and fix it.” He grimaced. “We were arrogant. At the time we didn't realize just how serious an issue it was, and once we did it was too late.”
“I'm guessing this is where the war comes in?” Twilight asked.
”Yeah,” Apple Bloom said. “See, we ended up fightin' this alicorn princess named Morning Star. She's kinda-sorta but not really an evil version of you, Twilight.”
Twilight arched an eyebrow, making a mental note of asking them for more detail on that. ”And this Morning Star pony is the cause of all this? Did she take over Equestria or something?”
”Actually, we defeated her,” Spike said. ”She wasn't even that tough. Not the first time anyway.”
”The problem,” Sweetie Belle continued, ”is that both sides were doing a lot of time traveling back then and somehow Morning Star managed to create an alternate timeline where she won. And then that version of her figured out how to travel to our timeline, so we had to fight her all over again.”
”An' again,” Apple Bloom said. ”An' again.”
”Apparently she's decided to keep trying until she's conquered every timeline there is,” Scootaloo said. ”And she just gets stronger and more cunning every single time. She's kind of an obsessive perfectionist.”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “That does sound kinda like Twilight.”
“Hey!” Twilight shot her an annoyed glare, but all her friends just giggled. 
“....It's not funny!”
The giggles stopped. Scootaloo, having just slammed her hooves at table, hung her head and gritted her teeth in frustration. “Morning Star is just as smart and powerful as Twilight, but she's also ruthless and completely unrelenting. She won't negotiate for peace or accept any terms except complete surrender. She keeps using the Fray against us. No matter how much we fight, no... no matter what we sacrifice, we can't beat her. And the more we try to fix everything that goes wrong, the worse the Fray gets. It's a never-ending war that nopony can ever win. But Morning Star will never stop, because she just doesn't care.”
Sweetie Belle put a comforting hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. A heavy silence rested over the table. Even Pinkie Pie was frowning. 	
“You're right,” Twilight said, her expression grim. “That's not funny.”	
Fluttershy, who had been quiet for the whole conversation, suddenly spoke up: “Um, sorry, but what about Discord? With his powers, couldn't he help you stop her?”
”Well, see, turns out Morning Star has a Discord too,” Future Spike said. ”So whenever we send our Discord into battle, she sends hers. Then things get... weird. Like, really weird.”	
”We call it MAD,” Apple Bloom said.
Twilight frowned. ”MAD?”
”Mutually Assured Discord,” Sweetie Belle clarified. ”It never goes over well. Basically it's just a constantly escalating exchange of pranks until they reach a stalemate and everything is covered in chocolate milk and cotton candy.”
Spike nodded. ”After a while, both sides kinda decided not to involve the Discords in the war if at all possible. They're just too unpredictable.”
“Okay,” Rainbow Dash said, “so if I understood all that correctly, we're all fighting evil Super-Twilight in the future, and because of a bunch of confusing time shenanigans, we're not doing so hot. But I still don't understand what this has to do with you guys coming back here.”
“It's simple, really,” Future Spike said. “Since we can't beat Morning Star within the Fray, we just have to prevent the Fray from ever happening in the first place.”
Twilight frowned. “You mean...”
“We go to Canterlot an' destroy the scroll with the original time travel spell,” Apple Bloom said. “If there's no spell, Pumpkin Cake can't perfect time travel, which means no Fray. If there ain't no Fray, there ain't no war. Simple.”
“Wait...” Twilight considered this, scratching her mane as she went through everything they had said. No matter how much she thought about it, it didn't add up. “No, that doesn't make sense.”
”Here we go,” Future Spike muttered. “I told you.”
Twilight ignored him. ”If you destroy the time spell, you will be changing your past by interfering with our timeline. If I understand you correctly, that would just cause another Fray at this point in time. You can't go back in time and remove the whole reason you went back in time, that's a paradox.”
”Yeah, we thought about that,” Apple Bloom said. ”That's why we ain't gonna destroy the spell ourselves. We were actually thinkin' we'd convince Princess Celestia to do it for us, since she's a Constant.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. ”A constant?”
”A Constant is anything that remains the same no matter how much time passes,” Sweetie Belle explained. ”That gives them so much temporal momentum that the whole timeline bends to follow them instead of Fraying. The downside is that it's much harder for Constants to travel in time. Princess Celestia is an immortal who's been around for thousands of years, and she hasn't really changed at all in our time. As far as we know, she's by far the most powerful Constant in the world. If anyone can reset the timeline without causing a Fray, it's her.” 
“And the best part is that since Morning Star doesn't belong to the original timeline, she and her forces can only time travel within a Fray,” Scootaloo said. “So she can't follow us this far back. We're going to erase that whole stupid war from history and there isn't a damn thing she can do about it.”
“I didn't understand any of that,” said Rainbow Dash with a grin, “but it sounds awesome!”
Applejack scratched her mane, looking at bit confused herself. “So... if y'all do get to Canterlot and get the princess to destroy the time travelin' spell, then what's gonna happen to you four?”
“...Well, we go back to our own timeline, of course,” Apple Bloom said. “Then we can all get on with our lives and everypony is happy.”
Twilight's eyes narrowed. Apple Bloom had hesitated for just a moment, and she had looked away from her sister as she answered. Not only that; Applejack's question seemed to have made the other three uncomfortable as well. There was something very sad about their expressions, if only for a moment. They're hiding something, Twilight thought.
Applejack didn't seem to notice, though. “Huh, that does sound like a solid plan.”	
Twilight nodded, pushing her suspicions aside for the moment. ”One more question. Is this,” she gestured to her friends and herself, “going to be a problem? Us knowing about this? Won't this cause a Fray in itself?”
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nah, we're okay for now.” 
“Fraying are always a risk when you travel in time for longer than a few minutes,” Sweetie Belle said. “That's why we wanted to avoid meeting any of you if possible. But it doesn't seem like getting you involved is going to make much difference, or we would have caused a Fray already.”
“How do you know you haven't?” Twilight asked.
“It's a time traveler thing,” Future Spike said. “It's a bit hard to explain but since we're displaced in time we can sorta feel changes in the timeline. Currently, the future is our past, so anything that could drastically change the future will resonate with us. Trust me, if there was a Fray right now we'd know about it.”
“What we really need to worry about is running into ourselves,” Scootaloo said. “Spike is one thing, but the three of us meeting our past selves would be... bad. Like, really, really bad.” She suddenly got a paranoid look in her eyes and turned around, as if the Cutie Mark Crusader might burst into the shop at any moment. “Wait, we're not nearby are we? We should be at school or...”
“Don't worry,” Rarity said. “By now the three of you should be in Canterlot with Cheerilee and the rest of your class. You won't be back in Ponyville until tomorrow.”
For a few moments, the four time travelers just sat there, blinking.
“The field trip!” Apple Bloom yelled. “That was today? Ponyfeathers, we could've popped out right in front of ourselves!”
“Well, well!” Sweetie Belle suddenly looked rather smug. “Looks like my spell got us to the right place after all!”
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo dryly, “by accident.”
Sweetie Belle stuck her tongue out. “Still counts.”
Twilight hid a chuckle behind her hoof. “All right, I think I've heard all I need to hear for now. I have a proposal: Why don't you four stay in Ponyville for now? You can spend the night at the library with me and Spike. That should keep you from running into anypony else who might recognize you. Tomorrow we stake out the train station and wait for your younger selves to return. While Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow distract them the rest of us hop on the next train to Canterlot. Getting an audience with Princess Celestia will be a lot easier if you're with me, plus you might need some help convincing her to destroy an ancient priceless magical document.” She smiled. “What do you say?”
Apple Bloom cocked her head. “That's actually better than our original plan.” She turned to her companions. “All for?”
“I'm in,” Scootaloo replied.
“Me too!” said Sweetie Belle.
Future Spike nodded. “Same.”
Apple Bloom turned to Twilight. “Princess, ya got yerself a deal.”
“Great!” Twilight smiled. “Sounds like we're having a slumber party tonight.”
That should give me plenty of time to find out what you aren't telling us.
“Woohoo! We're going to Canterlot again!” Pinkie Pie cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. “Oooh! Once we get rid of that pesky scroll and stop the future epic pony war, you guys gotta to have a big party with us to celebrate!”
“Um...” Apple Bloom hesitated. “That'd be great, Pinkie, but Ah don't think we'll be able to stick around once the job's done. Time shenanigans, ya know?”
“Awww...” Pinkie's smile fell and her ears flattened. But then she suddenly perked up. “Wait, I've got it! I just have to wait ten years for you to come back, and we can have the party then!”
The four time travelers exchanged glances, and Twilight spotted another flicker of sadness in their eyes. “Y-Yeah... That's a great idea, Pinkie,” Apple Bloom said. “Let's do that.”
“Yay!” Pinkie spontaneously produced a tray of milkshakes out of nowhere. “Milkshakes for everypony!”
As they all partook in the chilly treats, Rarity sighed: “It is a real shame we won't be coming along this time, though. I do so hate missing an opportunity to visit Canterlot.”
“Meh, they're just going to have a quick chat with the princess,” Rainbow Dash said. “Sounds kinda boring.”
“Boring is good,” said Fluttershy. “I wish more of our adventures were boring.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Future Spike chuckled.
Rarity turned to him. “I've been meaning to ask. You make it sound like you four do this sort of thing a lot?”
“Of course,” Future Spike said. “We're the Crusaders.”
“It's pretty much what we do,” Scootaloo said. “Apple Bloom builds stuff, me and Spike kick the flanks, and Sweetie Belle sings the theme song.”
“Hey!” Sweetie Belle crossed her forelegs and huffed. “I pay the bills.”
“Wait, back up,” Spike looked at his future self. “You... I mean, I actually join the Cutie Mark Crusaders? How did - does that happen?”
“Long story,” said Future Spike. “And we're just the Crusaders. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are the junior division.”
“Yeah, we grown-ups just crusade in general,” Apple Bloom said. “You know, helpin' ponies in need, fightin' injustice, savin' Equestria. That sorta thing. We've got chapters all over the country.”
“We're pretty much the worst secret society ever,” Sweetie Belle laughed. 
“Wow,” Spike now looked at his older self in wonder. “That sounds awesome! I bet in the future, I'm some kind of famous dragon knight adventurer or something, huh?”
Future spike coughed and nervously scratched his spines, looking a bit embarrassed. “Actually, I'm the curator of the Canterlot Archives.”
“Oh, Spike!” Twilight gasped. “That's wonderful!”
“Aw, come on!” Spike exclaimed. “I become a librarian? I knew it! I knew all those books would have a bad influence on me!” He glared at Twilight. “I blame you for this.”
“Aw, don't feel bad.” Sweetie Belle smiled at him. “If it makes you feel better, you'll also be dating the prettiest, richest, most famous pop star in Equestria!”
Future Spike glanced at her, and there was a sudden look of panic in his eyes. “Um, Sweetie...”
Spike blinked in confusion. “I'm dating Sapphire Shores in the future?”
“That old has-been? Of course not!” Sweetie Belle laughed, then threw her forelegs around Future Spike's neck in a loving embrace. “I'm talking about me, silly!”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes and Apple Bloom facehoofed. Around the table, the other ponies all reacted in various ways: Fluttershy hid a small gasp behind her hoof, Rainbow and Applejack nearly spat their milkshakes out, Pinkie Pie tilted her head and went: “Aawww!” with a huge smile, whereas Twilight and Rarity just stared at their respective sibling in open disbelief. 
Spike had a somewhat shellshocked look on his face. “Me and Sweetie Belle?” 
“Sweetie!” Future Spike hissed. “He is so not supposed to know about that!”
“Oh, come on!” Sweetie Belle kept clinging to him. “You didn't really expect me to keep my hoofs off you for a whole day, did you? He would have found out anyway.” She turned to the still speechless Rarity and winked. “And let me tell you, sis, you really missed out on something.”
“Her husband might disagree,” Scootaloo mumbled into her milkshake.
Rarity's jaw practically hit the table. 
“She's married?” Spike whispered, still staring into nothing.
“I'm married!?” Rarity almost threw herself across the table. “Who is he? Tell me! I must know!”
“Okay, no!” Future Spike cried, quickly untangling himself from Sweetie's embrace. “That's quite enough knowing your own future! Geez, you two!” He glared at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “I think you just traumatized my younger self.”
“I'm... I'm okay,” Spike said in a slightly distant voice. “This is all just so sudden. I... I think I need some time alone.” 
The baby dragon left the table in a daze and made a beeline for the door. As he ran outside, Rarity frowned and made a move to follow him. “Spike...”
A gentle talon on her shoulder stopped her. Future Spike shook his head. “Better not. Let him sort himself out first. Don't worry, I'll talk to him.”
Rarity sighed. “I never wanted to hurt him. Oh, Spike. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“I know,” Spike said. “I don't blame you, Rarity. You were always nice to me. Probably a bit too nice. Who knows, maybe it's better this way?”
While they were talking, the door to the shop opened and the Cakes stepped inside, having returned from their errand. “Is everything alright?“ Carrot Cake asked. “We ran into Spike on the way in and he seemed a bit oh my goodness, is that a dragon?”
“Wait! It's okay!” Pinkie Pie quickly bounded over to the baker couple. “It's just Spike from the future! He was rampaging just a bit before but he's not rampaging now so the babies are just fine. You see, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are time travelers and came back from the future to make sure time travel isn't invented so there won't be an epic war in the future and Spike came along because he's a Cutie Mark Crusader in the future, I think, so now there's a small Spike and a big Spike but they're both the same dragon and we're going to Canterlot tomorrow and talk to Celestia so everything is going to be just fine!”
Pinkie finally stopped to catch her breath. Carrot and Cup looked at each other, then at Spike, then at Pinkie.
“Oh,” Cup said. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “All that, and all you have to say is 'okay'?”
Cup Cake smiled. “Sweetheart, we live in the same house as Pinkie Pie.”
“Yeah,” Carrot Cake said, “we're pretty desensitized to this sort of thing by now.”
“Oh, and guess what?” Pinkie carried on. “Pumpkin Cake is really super-duper good at magic in the future and she's going to be Twilight's personal student and make all kinds of neat magic stuff! Of course, she kiiinda-sorta caused that epic future war I mentioned, but we're totally going to fix that so you don't need to worry.”
“Huh. A double whammy,” Cup Cake said.
Carrot Cake nodded. “Must be a Tuesday.”





Spike hugged his knees, huddled up in a ball in his hiding place high up in the crown of the library tree. After leaving Sugarcube Corner he'd run straight for home but rather than curl up in his basket or lock himself in the bathroom, he'd gone through the upper balcony and climbed to one of the higher branches. Most ponies weren't very good at climbing trees and the thick foliage shielded him from the eyes of passing pegasi. It was a good spot for when you needed some time alone and you didn't want anypony to see you crying.
Not that Spike had been crying. The wetness on his cheeks was just liquid confusion.
By the time he'd calmed down somewhat, he wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there. Judging from the sun shining through the leaves, it was already past noon. Spike was starting to feel hungry, but he still didn’t feel up to facing the others. His insides were a jumbled mess of thoughts and feelings, and he only felt sure of one thing: He was really starting to hate time travel.
There was a rustle in the leaves and Spike caught sight of movement in the corner of his eye. Future Spike swung himself up unto the branch next to him with the litheness of a true predator, digging his claws into the bark for support. “Hey.”
“How did you know I was here?” Spike asked.
“Well, you know,” Future Spike shrugged, “I just thought: If I was Spike, where would I go? And...”
“Right,” Spike rolled his eyes. “Stupid question.”
“So, you okay?” Future Spike asked.
“Not really,” Spike muttered. 
“Want to talk about it?” Future Spike prodded.
“It's just...” Spike groaned. “Look, I'm not stupid. I know I'm just a kid with a crush. I always kinda knew it might turn out this way, but I... I just never expected to find out like this.”
“Hm.” Future Spike nodded. “...Still, better than orange goop.”
“I guess so,” Spike chuckled mirthlessly, then sighed deeply. “I never really had a chance with Rarity, did I?”	
“Weeell, I wouldn't go quite that far.” Future Spike grinned. “I like to think I could have won her over. I mean, Sweetie's got a point. We are a really good catch.”
“Heh.” This time, Spike's chuckle sounded a bit more genuine. Despite everything, he had begun to feel a bit better. “Yeah, we're pretty awesome, aren't we? But, seriously, does this mean I have to fall in love with Sweetie Belle?”
“You don't want to?” Future Spike asked.
“I don't know,” Spike said. “I've just never thought about her that way before. It's not that I don't like her, but don't I at least get a choice? Or is it like my destiny or something?”
The older dragon shrugged. “Honestly, you're better off not thinking too hard about that. Whatever happens, it still happens. If you start asking questions like 'Am I doing this out of my free will?' or 'Is this my destiny?' you'll just end up more confused than when you started.” He made a face. “See, this is why I really kinda hate time travel.” 
“I guess you're right, I probably shouldn't be overthinking this,” Spike said. He shot his older self a sideways glance. “I still don't want to become some lame librarian, though.”
“Hey! I'll have you know I'm an awesome librarian.”
“Laaame!”
They shared a laugh, and Spike felt that maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.
“Oh, there you are!”
The two dragons looked down, seeing Twilight Sparkle watching them from the balcony below. “Sorry if I'm interrupting something,” she said, “but I thought the two of you might be getting hungry. Applejack figured the Crusaders didn't bring any food along from the future, so she brought lunch for everypony.”
“I could eat a whole orchard,” Future Spike declared. “How about you, kid?”
“I guess I am pretty hungry,” Spike said.
Future Spike presented his tail. “Hop on.”
Spike climbed onto the tail and from there to his counterpart's back. Rather than climb all the way down, Future Spike just swung himself from the branch and let himself drop, landing neatly on all fours next to Twilight. 
“You sure have gotten more athletic,” Twilight commented. 
Future Spike chuckled. “Yeah, hanging out with Scoots and Apple Bloom will do that to you.”
Dismounting, Spike gave his future body a critical look. “It kinda sucks I still don't have any wings in the future, though.”
“Meh.” Future Spike shrugged. “Turns out wings are pretty overrated.”
“Are they, now?” Twilight giggled. “Don't let Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo hear you say that.” 
“So, why do you have a cutie mark?” Spike asked, studying the spiral flame emblem on Future Spike's thigh. “I didn't think we dragons could have them.”
“What, that?” Future Spike seemed to hesitate for a brief moment. ”Oh, it's just a pair of tattoos. They're, uh, symbolic. I got them from Zecora.”
”Cool!” Spike turned to Twilight. “Hey, can I...”
”No.” Twilight glanced at Future Spike. ”Not as long as you're smaller than me, anyway.”
”Figures,” Spike muttered. 
Future Spike laughed and gave him a pat on the back that almost knocked him over. “Come on, kid, let's go grab some of Applejack's cooking. I'm starving.”
Twilight had to smile. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn they were brothers.





No matter how many times she saw it, Twilight always found herself in awe of Applejack's ability to conjure up vast amounts of delicious food seemingly out of nowhere. After only a brief trip back to Sweet Apple Acres, she had shown up at the library with a cart full of apple pies, fritters, tarts, dumplings, crisps, crumblers and all other sorts of of apple-based cuisine. Twilight was grateful – cooking for two dragons and four ponies would have been quite a chore otherwise.
Before long the table was set and they all dug in. Some of their friends were missing, of course; Rarity and Pinkie were busy at their respective shops, Rainbow Dash had weather duty and Fluttershy had animals to tend. But even so, it seemed unlikely there would be any leftovers – the Crusaders all ate with gusto, especially Future Spike who never seemed to get full. 
“Hey, leave some for the rest of us, will ya?” Apple Bloom joked as the dragon helped himself to a fifth serving of apple pie.
“Where do you put it all, anyway?” Scootaloo asked. “It's like shoveling food into a furnace.”
“Dragon metabolism is no joking matter,” Future Spike retorted. “Besides, somepony's got to help you girls keep those lovely figures of yours.” This earned him a playful punch on the shoulder from Scootaloo and a blushing giggle from Sweetie Belle.
As they ate they chatted among themselves. Twilight and Applejack, unable to keep their curiosity in check, asked several questions about life in the future. The time travelers seemed to have learned their lesson after upsetting Spike, however, and offered only a vague outline of the age to come.
“In the future Equestria, traveling is fast and easy,” Sweetie Belle explained. “Even a trip from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire is just a quick walk through a gateway, so ponies who live far apart can still stay in touch. Magical education has also improved, so unicorns know more spells on average than they do today. It's a good time to live in. Aside from the war, anyway.”
Once they'd finished eating, Scootaloo got up from the table and headed for the door. “I'm going outside for some air.”
“Hey!” Apple Bloom said. “We're supposed to keep outta sight, remember?”
“I just need to stretch me wings for a bit,” Scootaloo replied. “You know how I get if I stay on the ground for too long. Don't worry, I'll be careful.”
Watching the pegasus leave the building, Apple Bloom frowned. “When have ya ever been careful?” she muttered.
“Hey, Apple Bloom?” Applejack said.
“Yeah?” Apple Bloom turned to face her sister...
...and found herself looking at Applejack making the most ridiculous face she could. She pulled her cheeks, rolled her eyes and waved her tongue around. “Blaaaurgh! Aarghablargha blurgh! Hurp hurp!”
“Pffffffffh!” Apple Bloom nearly exploded in laughter at the sight. “Wha-ahaha-at was that for?”
Applejack stopped making faces and grinned. “There ya go, Ah knew ya still had a real smile in ya.”  When Apple Bloom gave her a puzzled look, Applejack continued: “See, it's been buggin' me all day and Ah just figured it out. Since ya showed up this mornin' Ah haven't seen ya smile once. Not for real, Ah mean, with yer eyes an' everythin'. Ah was startin' to get worried y'all forgotten how to do it.”
“Huh...” Apple Bloom's expression turned doleful, her ears drooping. “Ah... Ah guess Ah did grow up into kind of a sourpuss, didn't Ah?”
“Hey,” Applejack stepped closer and gently rested her forehead against Apple Bloom's, looking deep into her amber eyes. “Ah get that things are rough back where yer from, but we're gonna fix that, right? So please try to smile some more. Even if we happen to be the same age right now, yer still my baby sister. Ah like to see ya smile.”
“Ah'll try,” Apple Blooms said. Her eyes were tearing up a bit. “Thanks, AJ.”
Twilight watched the scene, and as touching as it was something still bothered her. She came to a decision. 
“Right,” she said, “we might as well get everything ready for tonight. We don't have enough beds for everypony, but there are some spare mattresses down in the basement. Apple Bloom, Big Spike, would you two mind helping me get them?”
“Sure thing!” Apple Bloom said, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes. Future Spike gave Twilight the slightest frown, but nodded wordlessly and followed them downstairs.
“I'll get started with the dishes, then,” Spike declared.
“We'll help ya out,” Applejack said. Sweetie Belle lit her horn up and started levitating plates and eating utensils. 
Once they'd carried all the dirty dishes into the kitchen, Applejack looked around. “Spike, where ya keep the dish soap?”
“It should be right here...” Spike suddenly recalled something. “Oh, right! The noodle incident last Sunday. It's probably still in the basement.”
“Ah'll fetch it for ya,” Applejack said. “Maybe Ah can lend Twilight a hoof while Ah'm at it. Be back in a jiffy!”
Once she had left the kitchen, Spike suddenly became acutely aware that he was now alone with Sweetie Belle – his alleged future girlfriend. Sensing the potential for awkwardness, he cleared his throat. “Well, guess I'll start tapping up the water in the meantime.” Then he found that Sweetie Belle was looking at him with a big smile on her face.” ...What?”
“You are so cute!”
“Um...”
Before Spike could properly react, Sweetie had thrown her forelegs around him in a powerful glomp. “Whooah!” he cried. “S-Sweetie Belle, what are you doing!?”
“I'm hugging you, of course,” Sweetie cheerfully replied. “I never realized how small and adorable you used to be.”
Spike blushed furiously, feeling her warm breath on his cheek. Oh, this is bad! This is sooo bad! And soft. Wow, she smells good... No! Bad brain! Bad! “I-I'm not sure I'm completely okay with this!”
Sweetie ignored him, giggling into his ear: “You're so cuddly, I wish I could hug you forever.”
Spike struggled against the hug for a few more moments, then relented. Still blushing, he sighed. Curse you, time shenanigans!
Meanwhile, oblivious to the scene acting out in the kitchen, Applejack made her way down the stairs to the library's basement. She'd never been down there before and marveled at the sheer size of the place – an artificial cavern dug directly under the roots of the great tree, filled with bizarre machines and scientific equipment she couldn't even begin to make heads and tails off. As she descended, she could hear the others talking.
“You lied to Applejack, back at Sugarcube Corner.”
Applejack froze. They were talking about her? Somepony had been lying to her? They didn't seem to have noticed her yet. As their conversation carried on, she resisted the urge to reveal herself and demand an explanation. Instead she snuck down the rest of the stairs as quietly as she could, ducked behind one of the larger mechanical contraptions, and listened.





A few minutes earlier.

“Wow, this takes me back,” the older Spike said, taking a moment to look around the basement. “I haven't been down here since I moved to Canterlot. Feels like ages ago.” 
“So where's 'em mattresses at?“ Apple Bloom asked.
Twilight pointed at a pile of random supplied at the far end of the room. “Oh, they're in the corner over there.”
Apple Bloom trotted over to the pile and started digging through it. Spike, meanwhile, turned to Twilight. “So, you do realize you could have just levitated or teleported them, right? It's not like you need our help, they're only mattresses.”
“True,” Twilight said. “But then I wouldn't have had this chance to talk to you two in private.”
Apple Bloom stopped tugging at her mattress and turned to give the princess a surprised look. Spike just huffed. “I figured it was something like that. Alright, Twilight, let's hear it.”
“As I said, I fully intend to help you with your mission,” Twilight said, “but I can't help you if you aren't straight with me. I want to know why you keep lying to us.” 
Apple Bloom and Spike exchanged an awkward look, but didn't speak. Twilight carried on: “Oh, I'm pretty sure most of your story is true, but some of the details are off. For instance, Spike, your scales are hard as iron and you shed them on a regular basis.” She pointed at the symbol on his thigh. “So I'm guessing that's not really a tattoo, is it?”
Spike sighed and massaged his lore. He recognized her tone of voice and knew better than to argue. “No. No, it isn't. The truth is, there's a reason I kinda look like a pony now. We dragons are shape shifters. Not like the changelings, though. We always keep our basic characteristics, but our shapes and sizes depend a lot on our state of mind, especially for dragons my age.”
Twilight considered this. She had seen Spike in adult form twice: First on the day she hatched and accidentally aged him, the other when he'd gone on a greed-fueled rampage through Ponyville. It had always seemed odd to her that he'd looked so different the second time. She also recalled the teenage dragons Spike had encountered on his quest of self-discovery, and how varied in appearance they had been compared to the adults. ”...That actually makes a lot of sense. So you mean to say you have a cutie mark because in your mind, you are as much a pony as you are a dragon?”
“Something like that,” Spike nodded. ”It's true that dragons normally don't get cutie marks, but I'm not a normal dragon. I was raised by ponies and I think like a pony. This mark is proof that I belong with you. It's proof of who I am.”
“Oh, Spike,” Twilight had to smile. “But why didn't you tell him?”
“Because he doesn't need to know,” Spike said. “He won't earn this mark easily. In just a few years, he's going to go through a growth spurt. He'll grow bigger, stronger, more dangerous. Ponies will start to fear him. That will leave him unsure of who he is and where he belongs, and his body will constantly shift to reflect his confusion. It'll be a very difficult and painful time for him.” Spike looked up at the basement ceiling and smiled slightly, as if he'd just heard something amusing from upstairs. “That kid's got enough to worry about. The less he knows about the future, the better.”
Twilight cocked her head. “Hm. Well, I guess that is an adequate enough reason.” She turned to Apple Bloom. “But then there's you. You lied to Applejack, back at Sugar Cube Corner. And then you lied again to Pinkie Pie.”
“Me, lie?” Apple Bloom made her best attempt at an innocent smile. ”Good ol' Apple Bloom, the most honest and dependable of ponies?”
”Nice try,” said Twilight dryly. ”Applejack may be honest to a fault, but you? You I'm not so sure about. You said the four of you would go back to your own time after you destroy the time spells, but that doesn't make sense! Even if everything happens exactly like you said it would, how can you go back to a timeline that can't possibly come to be?” She turned to Spike again. ”Then there's you. You seem to be the one most concerned about keeping the timeline undisturbed. But if that's so, what are you even doing here? Three mares from out of town wouldn't have turned any heads in Canterlot, but a teenage dragon? That would attract attention no matter how careful you were. So why did you come with them?”
Spike frowned and turned his eyes away. Even now, with all the years between them, Twilight could see right through him.
”It has something to do with Sweetie Belle, doesn't it?” she guessed.
”I wanted to...” Spike sighed. ”I had to stay by her side. All the way.”
”What's going to happen?” Twilight demanded. “What is so serious you'd take that risk?” 
Apple Bloom's features had darkened. “Twilight, please. Don't go there.”
“I'm sorry,” Twilight said, “but I have to know the truth. No more lies. What is really going to happen to you once the time spell is destroyed?”
Apple Bloom hesitated, then sighed. ”Honestly? We don't know fer sure. You an' Pumpkin an' Time Turner argued 'bout it a lot. Y'all were talkin' about stuff like existential momentum and abstract causality and hyper-time whatchamacallits. Ah don't get all the technical jargon. But... probably...”
”Yes?” Twilight prodded.
Apple Bloom shrugged. ”...We'll disappear.”
Twilight gasped. ”You...”
”YA'LL WHAAAT!?”
They all turned in surprise as Applejack stormed out of her hiding place, unable to keep quiet any longer. Apple Bloom groaned. “Darnit, AJ. Haven't anypony taught ya it ain't nice to eavesdrop?”
“Don't ya it-ain't-nice me, missy!” Applejack growled, getting up in her sister's face and glaring furiously. “What do ya mean ya'll disappear? Disappear to where?”
“Nowhere,” said Apple Bloom calmly. “We'll just vanish. Poof. It'll be like we never existed inna first place. Look, it ain't no big deal.”
“No big deal?” Applejack looked absolutely horrified. “Yer tellin' me yer just gonna poof outta existence and that ain't a big deal? Apple Bloom, why the hay didn't ya tell us 'bout this? Why did ya lie to me?” 
“Ah lied to ya 'cause Ah knew you'd just try to stop us!” Apple Bloom snapped. “'Cause yer always like this! Ya never listen to reason!”
“Yer damn right Ah'm gonna try to stop ya!” Applejack said. “Ah ain't just gonna stand by and watch my own sister run off on... on a suicide mission! There's gotta be another way!”
“There isn't,” Spike said. “We've gone through all the scenarios already, over and over, and this is the only one that works. Even our Twilight couldn't find a better solution. There simply is no other way to stop the Fray.”
Applejack sat down on the floor, her eyes brimming with despair. “It ain't right,” she mumbled. “That ain't fair. Y'all were supposed to fix the future, but if ya do this ya won't even have one!”
“But we will,” Apple Bloom said, giving her sister a sad smile. “Don't ya see? Your Apple Bloom, the lil' filly who's over in Canterlot right now, will get to grow up in a world without war. She won't be me, but at least she'll be happy. At least she'll be smilin'. If we do this, everypony gets a new chance to live their lives the way it was supposed to be. It'll be better that way.”
“Maybe you're right,” Twilight said. “But there's still something missing, isn't there? Even with everything you've told us, this all just seems too... desperate, somehow. Even with the war, the future you describe doesn't sound that bad, but you talk about it as if you've completely lost all hope.”
Apple Bloom sighed. “Maybe we have? Ah guess we're all just tired of it. We always won in the end, even if we had some close calls, but we just don't have much fightin' spirit left in us. Not since...”
She fell silent and shook her head. Spike clenched his teeth and scraped his claws against the floor, as if enduring great pain.
“Since what?” Twilight asked. “Apple Bloom, what happened?”
Apple Bloom looked at Twilight, her eyes full of unbearable sadness. “...we lost Rainbow and Pinkie.”





Scootaloo flapped her wings, rising high above Ponyville. She loved flying. It had taken her so long to finally get off the ground, but now the sky was without a doubt her true element. At this height, with the whole world spread out underneath her and the heavens stretching out for as far as the eye could see, all her fears and worries seemed so small and far away. Some days she wished she could just soar through the endless sky forever. 
Once she reached the apex of her climb, she leaned back and folded her wings, savoring the brief feeling of complete weightlessness just before gravity took over and she plummeted head first towards the ground below. She grinned all the way down. 
Once she reached terminal velocity she deployed her wings again and pulled up hard, narrowly avoiding the rooftops below and swooping upwards at breakneck speed. She let out a loud hoot and rolled a few times, leaving a trail of purple lightning in her wake. To burn off the excess velocity she turned and circled the library a few times, flying so close that she could feel the leaves against her side. Finally she set her sights on a low cloud, made one last upturn above it and topped it off with an elegant backflip before casually dropping down on the white patch of vapor.
Being a pegasus was awesome.
“Wooo! Look at you go, girl!” cried a familiar voice.
Scootaloo turned to see a multicolored flash circle her cloud. She smiled. “Rainbow! I thought you had weather duty.”
With a light flutter of her blue wings, Rainbow Dash touched down next to her. “Oh, I did, but it was no big deal for somepony as fast as me. I could have cleared those clouds in my sleep.”
“Oh yeah,” Scootaloo chuckled. “I almost forgot, you're awesome.” 
“I'm not the only one,” Rainbow said. “I wasn't kidding when I said you had some sweet moves.”
Scootaloo blushed. “I had a pretty awesome teacher.”
“I can tell.” Rainbow grinned. “That was a nice Filly Flash you pulled off back there, and you did a perfect Buccaneer Blaze earlier. I think I can pretty much guess who taught you those.” She leaned back slightly to look at the symbol on Scootaloo's flank – a purple rising star with a lightning bolt tail. “So, you finally got that cutie mark, huh?” 
“Yeah,” Scootaloo smiled. “Turns out my talent is acrobatics. Who'd a thunk, huh? Kinda makes all that messing around with zip-lining and rabble-rousing seem pretty silly.”
“It's a really awesome cutie mark,” Rainbow said. She flashed her trademark grin. “Almost as awesome as mine.”
Scootaloo laughed. “Coming from you, that's one heck of a compliment.”
“Heh.” Sensing the relaxed atmosphere between them, Rainbow Dash decided to stop dancing around the issue they'd both been avoiding: “...Speaking of compliments, do you really find me attractive?”
Scootaloo made a little croaking sound and instantly tensed up. “Ah, w-well, about that...” she started nervously scratching the back of her head, her cheeks glowing red. “I was kinda hoping you'd forgotten about that.”
“Hey, it's okay,” Rainbow assured her. “You just surprised me, that's all. I mean, you've pretty much always been my number one fan but I didn't know you felt that way about me.”
“Technically, I won't for another couple of years,” Scootaloo said. “Hormones and stuff, you know? Anyway, I really, really shouldn't have said that back there. It's just, you know, seeing you like this all of a sudden, and we're both the same age and everything... It just kinda slipped out.”
”Well, I guess I can't blame you,” Rainbow said. ”I mean, you're hardly the first pony who's had the hots for me. And I'm flattered, really. It's just that... Well, I'm not actually a, you know...”
”I know.” Scootaloo raised a hoof to silence her. ”I know you don't swing that way. You, um, you kinda already told me once.”
”Oh?” Rainbow Dash momentarily arched an eyebrow, but then her eyes widened as she connected the dots. ”Oooh.”
Scootaloo's blush intensified. ”Yeah.”
Well, this is awkward, Rainbow thought. ”I, um, hope I let you down gently.”
Scootaloo nodded. ”Yeah, you were totally cool as usual. More than I deserved, really.”
”Okay, I know that's not true.”
”No, it is. You've always meant the world to me, Rainbow. You were always there, as an idol and a mentor and as a pretend sister. I... I shouldn't have asked for more. As for today, I guess I just got carried away seeing you again.” Scootaloo let out an embarrassed chuckle. ”You know how it is, you never forget your first crush.”
”Yeah.” Rainbow allowed herself to relax a bit. They seemed to have cleared the emotional minefield for now. ”Anyway, there's plenty of birds in the sky, right? I'm sure you'll find your special somepony one of these days. Well, once you go back to the future, I mean.”
Scootaloo got a strangely distant look in her eyes. She turned away slightly, but Rainbow could still see her smile. ”Yeah...”
”Oooh?” Rainbow leaned closer and grinned. ”I know that look. You've got your eye on somepony already, don't ya?” 
“Kinda.” Scootaloo started blushing again. “Yeah.”
Rainbow laughed and gave her a playful punch on the shoulder. “And you still hit on me? You sly little minx.”
”I-I wasn't hitting on you!” Scootaloo stammered. ”Anyway, its not like that. She's... She doesn't know I have feelings for her.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. ”So? Why don't you tell her?”
”It's complicated,” Scootaloo said. ”Her and me, we sorta have a history together. A long, convoluted, not entirely pleasant history. Things were already kinda awkward between us and I couldn't risk making it worse. Heck, I don't even know if she's into mares.”
Rainbow Dash mentally went through what she'd just been told. ”Is this anypony I know?”
”I don't think so,” Scootaloo replied. ”I mean, I can't imagine why you would.”
“Huh,” Rainbow shrugged. “Well, you're a big girl now so I guess it's up to you how you want to deal with this. But for what it's worth, if I were you I'd totally tell her. Life's too short for regrets, you know? Sometimes you just gotta go by your gut even if it seems kinda stupid.”
Scootaloo smiled wryly. “Like we say in the future: What Would Rainbow Dash Do?”
“Get outta here!” Rainbow said. “You guys actually say that?”
“Nah, I just made that up,” Scootaloo admitted. Then she suddenly looked thoughtful. “Though, maybe we should be saying that?”
“Might be worth keeping in mind for when you get back.” Rainbow stood up and stretched her wings. “Well, I need to find me some grub. There's this new hayburger joint I've been meaning to check out, wanna tag along?”
“Thanks, but I'm pretty stuffed,” Scootaloo said. “Applejack brought us lunch.”
“Aw, I hate to miss out on her cooking,” Rainbow sighed. “Oh well.” 
She seemed just about ready to leave, but before taking off she turned to Scootaloo again. “You know, it's too bad you're leaving tomorrow. There aren't a lot of pegasi around here who can actually keep up with me and chasing you around town was pretty fun. Maybe later when I've eaten we can go flying again?”
Scootaloo managed a weak smile. “Sure. I'd like that.”
“Great!” Rainbow spread her wings and took off. “It was nice talking to you!” she yelled over her shoulder while gliding through the air.
Scootaloo watched her fly off for a few moments. Then she collapsed backwards, ending up lying with her back against the cloud, staring into the sky. Her heart was pounding, her ears were burning and she felt a bit dizzy. "Dammit, Rainbow. Why do you have to be so awesome?"
Why did the world have to be so cruel?
“This isn't right,” Scootaloo whispered to herself. “I haven't thought about her this way for a long time. Why is this happening now?”
A treasonous little voice inside her said: You know exactly why.
Scootaloo covered her eyes with her foreleg and groaned. The peace and inner calm she had felt while flying was long gone and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't think straight. “What am I supposed to do?”
The voice inside her said: What would Rainbow Dash do?
For few more heartbeats, she just lay there in silence. The whole world seemed to hold its breath.
Scootaloo sat up with a jerk. “Oh buck it!” She threw herself into the air and flapped her wings as hard as she could. “Rainbow! Wait up!”
Rainbow had been gliding near the ground. When she heard Scootaloo cry out she touched down and turned around. “Changed your mind about those hayburgers, huh?”
“Nevermind that!” Scootaloo said as she landed in front of her. ”Rainbow, how many times have you made a sonic rainboom?”
Rainbow frowned. ”Where did that come from?”
”Just answer me!” Scootaloo pleaded. “It's important!”
Rainbow tilted her head to the side, thinking back. ”Well, there's the one I did when I saved Rarity and the Wonderbolts during the best young fliers competition – which was totally awesome by the way – and then I did one by accident when AJ asked me to smash up her old barn, 'cause I got a bit carried away. Aaand Princess Celestia had me do one when Cadence and Shining Armor got married. So that's three. No, wait, four counting that first one when I got my cutie mark.”
Scootaloo put her hooves on Rainbow's shoulders, looking intensely distraught. “Rainbow, you have got to stop doing it! Never make a sonic rainboom again!”
“What?” Rainbow looked at her as if she'd gone crazy. “Why not? It's my best move!”
“It's dangerous!” Scootaloo said. “I mean, it's really dangerous. The sonic rainboom isn't just a light phenomenon, it's... it's a kind of rip in the fabric of reality. Whenever you make a rainboom, you punch open a hole to something called the Bifrost.”
”Bifrost?” Rainbow cocked her head, looking slightly confused. ”What's that?”
Scootaloo shrugged. ”We don't know for sure. Another dimension, or a place between dimensions. Whatever it is, it's full of raw magic energy. Twilight suspected it might even be the source of all magic.”
Rainbow's eyes widened. ”Woah! That's awesome!”
”No it's not! Listen to me!” Scootaloo's tone grew ever more desperate. ”The glowing shockwave from the sonic rainboom is like a tiny bit of that power bleeding out into our world and for a split second you're right at the center of it. Every time you do it, it changes you a bit. We didn't notice it at first and by the time we figured out what was going on you only had one more rainboom in you before...” Scootaloo fell silent and clenched her teeth. ”...You have to stop using it, Rainbow. If you don't, then sooner or later the Bifrost energy will whittle away your existential integrity and completely dislodge you from this reality!”
”You're starting to sound like Twilight now,” Rainbow said, frowning. ”Slow down. What exactly are you saying?”
With tears in her eyes, Scootaloo shouted: ”I'm saying that if you keep using the sonic rainboom, you're going to disappear!”
There was moment of silence. Rainbow blinked, as if the words didn't immediately make sense to her. “...I will?”
And then Scootaloo staggered as if something struck her. “Aaaargh!” Unable stand on her hooves she collapsed into a sitting position and started hyperventilating, cradling her head in her hooves. 
“Woah, what the hay?” Rainbow cried. Putting a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder, she could feel the young mare's body shiver and her muscles tense. “Scoots, are you okay? I think you're having a seizure or something.”
“Oh no,” Scootaloo mumbled. “Oh no. Oh no. I messed up. I messed up big.”
“What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked. “What just happened?
“I've ruined everything.” Scootaloo turned her head up and Rainbow Dash could now see the look of panic on her face. “I'm sorry, Rainbow. I just caused a Fray.”