//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Crossing Streams 
// Story: Mother and Child 
// by AlicornPriest 
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Chapter 2 – Crossing Streams
Time travel, or “chronomotion” as it is also called, is a dangerous and greatly untested process. Even now, the majority of time travel spells are creations of the famous unicorn magician and alchemist Star Swirl the Bearded. His notes are a labyrinth of thoughts, concepts, and theories, not unburdened by his use of a complex cipher later in his work. Some translated spells from the ancient High Unicornian include “Stepback,” “Return to Point,” and “Walking Through Time.” As Star Swirl chose not to take part in the Pony Exodus, one could only wonder at the spells he may have devised between then and his assumed death. As it stands, it is still widely unknown how time travel actually occurs. While Star Swirl the Bearded fully believed in the creation of “stable time loops” and a single, unchangeable timeline, modern chronomotion theorists prefer such concepts as parallel timelines and 10-dimensional space. Only time (and further evidence) will tell.
~Magical Phenomena, section 7: Travel through Time and Space

“Uhh... Time Travel?”
“Right. These are definitely β-string tachyons! This is the discovery of the century, Pinkie! No, the millenium!” Twilight sobered up. “But it also means there's something you're not telling me. This wasn't a simple theft. Who would travel through time just to steal the Child? What is the Child, really?”
“We don't know. We were waiting for it to mature before we would do any measurements. I'm sure it'd be super-duper awesome, though!” Pinkie said. 	
“That's not the point. It apparently must be important if someone traveled through time to get it. Who has access to that kind of magic?”
“Ooh, ooh, I know! You do!”
“I've done time magic once, Pinkie, and that was just a simple jump back a week or so. It definitely didn't do enough to cause a β-type schism.”
“Twilight? You're losing me. What's a θ-type schism?”
“β, Pinkie. It means... well, let me try to simplify it a bit.” Twilight knelt down and drew a picture of a line in the dirt, then drew an arrow swooping back. “Suppose I went back in time and told myself to eat an extra muffin for breakfast.”
“Mmm! Muffins are delicious!”
“Right, but it wouldn't have a terribly significant effect on the timeline. I would just be slightly less hungry the rest of the day. As long as my interference was minimal, nothing out of the ordinary would happen.
“But suppose I went back and made it so that my parents never met. What would happen?”
“Your hoof would start disappearing, and you wouldn't be able to play 'Earth Angel' at the high school dance, right?” 
“That's... uh, one theory, but no. I'd create a paradox. If my parents don't meet, then I won't be born. But if I won't be born, then I won't go back in time to keep them from meeting.”
“And if you don't keep them from meeting, then they will meet, and you will be born, but then you will go back in time, and you will stop them from meeting, and aaaah!”
Twilight set a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. “Exactly. In order to keep that craziness from happening, the theory goes that the universe splits into two strings: one where you are born, and one where you aren't. So if we're in the normal timeline, or α for short, then when the thief went back in time, they did something so bad that it caused a divergence, creating a β timeline! Now do you understand?”
“Yup!” Pinkie replied. “We just need to jump over to that silly string and get the Child back!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Pinkie! You can't do that!” Twilight said.
“What? Why not?” asked Pinkie.
“It could be super dangerous! We have no idea where the thief went, or when, or even if you can get it back!”
“But I promised my mom that I would find it,” Pinkie said.
“That was before we knew it was in another time period!” Twilight shouted. “I'm sure she'll understand.”
“I promised, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie always keeps her promises.”
“But it wasn't a Pinkie Promise--”
“Every promise is a Pinkie Promise!” Pinkie told her. “Now send me back to that gem, Twilight, hop to it!”
“That's not the only issue!” Twilight let her head drop. “If you go over to the β string... I might not be able to bring you back.”
“You don't have to!” Pinkie replied cheerfully. “The way I see it, someone had to send the thief here, right? All I have to do is persuade them to send me back! How hard could it be?”
“Pinkie, that idea is so nonsensical, I don't even know...” Twilight shook her head. “Pinkie, why don't you just ask your mother whether she wants you to go or not?”
“Go where, exactly?” Cloudy Quartz had appeared behind them while they were talking.
“Aha, perfect. Mrs. Quartz, could you please explain to your daughter why going back in time is a terrible idea?”
“Go ahead,” she replied simply. “Will you be gone long?”
“It's time travel, Mother. Theoretically, I could be back five minutes after Twilight sends me,” Pinkie responded.
“Pinkie! Mrs. Quartz! What are you--”
“Twilight.” Pinkie turned to her and tipped her head. “I know it doesn't make sense, but... I have a feeling I'll be back. The magic of friendship will bring me back home. Do you trust me?”
“I...” Twilight's voice faded away for a moment. “I do, Pinkie. I'll send you back. But please, come back home. With or without the Child, okay?”
“All right! Goodbye, Twilight.” She shook Twilight's hoof, then turned to Cloudy Quartz. “Goodbye, Mother.”
“Goodbye, Pinkamena.” She nodded her head once, then asked Twilight, “Can you do it, Twilight?”
“I think so. Here goes nothing.” She passed her magic through the particles, and, as she expected, they responded by imitating the spell she'd used in the library. A great ball of light began to form around Pinkie; then, with a sudden crack, the spell disappeared, leaving a second whorl of sand where Pinkie had stood. Once she was gone, Twilight said, “And now we wait. Mrs. Quartz,” she started, “why did you tell her to leave? Aren't you scared she won't come back?”
“Perhaps,” she said. “But Pinkie chose a long time ago to live her own life. It isn't my place any longer to tell her what she should or should not do.”
“What happened back then, Mrs. Quartz? Why won't you talk to her?”
“...She grew up, Miss Sparkle. That's all.”
Twilight turned back to the spot in the sand waited for Pinkie to return. It was ridiculous, impossible... but Pinkie had said it might take only five minutes, so she began to count down from 300.

---

Pinkie opened her eyes. The world had changed completely around her. She was standing in the middle of a road, though she didn't know exactly where it was. Here and there were scattered small snowbanks, and the sun shone through the clouds. It was so cheerful and bright Pinkie couldn't help but start singing a song. It was lively and bouncy, and before too long, she'd started hopping back and forth and singing happily:

I've got myself in some new escapade,
this ancient world I'm passing through.
But I'm not worried cause I've got it made!
This is all I need to do:
I'll just keep on singing all day long,
staying cheerful with my song!

I am always happy,
no matter where I am.
And my song is catchy;
at every step I can
I'll spread it high and low
through song and dance and show
I'll bring my joy and laughter where I go.

Just as she was about to launch into the second verse, she heard a rustling in the bushes next to her. Curious, she headed over and looked at whatever was there. It was the little filly from her dream. Her faded white coat was nicked and bruised from the bush's thorns, and her purple mane and tail were twisted with twigs and leaves. When she saw Pinkie looking over her, she curled up again and wouldn't look her in the eye. “Hey, hey, shh... it's okay,” Pinkie told her. “I'm not going to hurt you.”
The filly paused for a moment, sniffed, then got to her hooves. “Dikolpi ihn. Ih lege yoa zengen,” she said.
Pinkie wasn't sure what to say to that. If it was Equestrian, it wasn't words she recognized. “Do you speak Equestrian, kiddo? I'm looking for that ruby you took. Do you have it anywhere around here?” She looked around. “I don't see it anywhere.”
“Hwas zane dichen yon?” said the filly. She tipped her head to the side and looked at Pinkie quizzically.
“What do I do, what do I do...” Pinkie said to herself. “I've got it!” She pointed to herself and spoke really slowly. “My name is Pinkie Pie.” She pointed to the filly, then to herself. “You, me. Me, Pinkie Pie.”
“Ata. Ih those ki il kenna,” the filly replied.
From the way the filly responded, that sounded like a confirmation. Pinkie hazarded a question. “My name is Pinkie Pie. What is your name?”
“Iya... nom...ze Prinzina Arginasa,” the filly said, just as slowly as Pinkie had.
“Prinzina? You're Prinzina?” The filly nodded. Pinkie cheered. “Haha! Take that, time travel!” She turned her attention to another question. She took a stick nearby and drew a small picture of a house. Next to it, she drew a little stick figure of Prinzina and an arrow into it. “Where do you live?” Pinkie asked slowly.
After a few seconds, Prinzina took the stick and added little parapets to the house. Then she pointed behind Pinkie's head and said, “Ih vit en der kastiler hy hiore.”
“Der kastiler? The castle?” She turned around and saw the huge castle nestled against the side of the mountain. It wasn't Canterlot Castle; what castle could it be?
Prinzina looked at her with liquid eyes and asked, “Tokome yos mid ihr, O Pinki? Ih ze terronet.” 
“Of course!” Pinkie said. She wasn't sure what she'd just agreed to, but whatever it was, it certainly made Prinzina happy. She immediately jumped to Pinkie's side and hugged her tight. Then, she pointed her small steps to the castle and trotted along. Pinkie fell quickly in step. As they walked along, Pinkie noticed that Prinzina was trying to whistle the song she had been singing. She laughed to herself; things were already feeling like home.