More About Time

by SilverStar7


Chapter 6: Unexpected Sunrise

“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.” - Rick Warren

Twilight Sparkle's life had been full of unexpected moments. She'd have to give the request from the Princess to travel to Ponyville and make friends the top spot. Second place needed to go to finding out that her brother was getting married the week before the wedding. She wasn't exactly sure where "Rainbow Dash knows about my time travels" would fit on her list, but she knew it was in the top ten.

Something that happened in her last trip had given her the confidence, or worse, the need, to share her changes to the past. It took quite a while for all of this to register in Twilight's mind.

"Uh, Twilight? Are you alright?" asked Rainbow Dash, getting up off the cloud floor.

Twilight shook her head to clear it and then cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, well, how did you...? What I mean to ask is: When did I tell you...?" Twilight stopped and took a deep breath. "Rainbow. When did I tell you that I have been traveling to the past?"

Dash raised an eyebrow. "Uh, last night. That was why you came over to my house, remember?"

"I remember that, but I don't..." Twilight didn't want to admit she hadn't told the past Dash, but that was unavoidable at this point. "The thing is, in my version of events, I never got up the courage to actually tell you. We went to sleep on the floor talking about Soarin' and I never mentioned that I'd changed the past."

Rainbow Dash gave a wide smile. "This is so cool."

"What's cool?"

"You just changed history again, that's what! So what did you do this time?" Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. "Did you give Rarity that job working for Sapphire Shores?" Twilight shook her head. "Hmmm... did you give Fluttershy the courage to help finish that hurricane to get water to Cloudsdale?" Another shake. "Oh! Oh! Did you help Pinkie Pie become friends with that donkey?"

"No," said Twilight. "I went back and changed Applejack's past. I made her become business partners with the Flim Flam Brothers."

After seeing Dash's reaction to that statement, Twilight wondered if she needed to do more reading on pony anatomy. She never knew how wide somepony's mouth could open until Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped at the mention of what she had done. "You?" said a flabbergasted Rainbow Dash. "You were the one that got AJ that deal? I thought it was Rarity!"

"I convinced Rarity to help them, but it was my trip to the past that made it happen. In my version of events the two brothers got driven out of town and everything went back to normal. Is that a big deal? What happened to Applejack?"

"It's just..." Rainbow looked for words. "Okay, you know how Filthy Rich used to be the richest pony in Ponyville?"

"What do you mean 'used to be?' He..." Twilight stopped herself. Then a grin rose on her face. "How rich is Applejack?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "However rich the Riches were compared to everypony else, the Apples are that much richer than them."

Had Twilight had a mirror, she would have also been prompted to check up on how wide a pony's eyes could open. "I did that?"

"Yeah, you did!" Dash gave Twilight's shoulder a push with her hoof. "Doin' more good work. I gotta hand it to ya Twilight: you really know how to make the most of this time travel stuff. First making yourself an author, then making me a Wonderbolt. Now you make AJ the most successful apple grower in Equestria. What are you gonna do next?"

"To be honest, I haven't really thought that far," said Twilight. This was a much different reaction than she was expecting. AJ had been quite cautious, but then again, Rainbow Dash was a bit of a dare-devil when it came to physical stunts. It also then seemed reasonable that she would be a bit of a dare-devil when it came to magical stunts. Twilight made a note not to let Rainbow near any of her experiments in the future.

"Well, I'd love to work on that with you," said Dash, looking out the window. "But I need to get ready to go practice for the Equestria Games. Spitfire would make me run a hundred laps if I showed up late after my day off."

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, and I should get back to Ponyville and check up on AJ." She imagined all the awesome changes that could have taken place on the farm in her absence. That saggy old roof and plow were probably sparkling new. Not to mention how Granny Smith could probably walk well again on a replacement hip...

"Uh, aren't you forgetting something?" said Rainbow Dash. Twilight looked at her, confused. "You said you were gonna go visit Princess Celestia today."

"I did?" Apparently my conversation with Dash went to more places than I thought.

"Yeah, you said you wanted to make sure that she got those spells safely."

"You mean, Spike already sent them?" Could this future really be that different?

Dash nodded. "You said he sent them before you came to visit me."

Twilight gave a "huh," then said, "Well, I guess I need to go to Canterlot then... It was good to see you, Rainbow Dash."

"Good to see you too, Twilight." The pegasus gave her a salute and then flew up her stairs to get ready.

Twilight heaved a long sigh. I guess a lot changed in this trip. I wonder how my changes to AJ affected so much of what I did with Star Swirl's spells... Well, she would have the entire flight over to Canterlot to think about that.

<> <> <>

During the trip, Twilight was able to make some conclusions about why she would have sent the Princess those spells. She thought that Applejack may not have been in the marketplace selling apples like before, so then she would have returned to the library and asked Spike where Rainbow Dash was. She imagined that Spike would have bothered her to send the spells to the Princess and, considering how she was feeling then, she probably would have agreed to it. Obviously Twilight would need Spike himself to fill in the details, but that assumption seemed reasonable.

Whatever happened, it doesn't matter for now. I've got to go see what Celestia knows about these spells. It may have only been a day, but Princess Celestia was not the sort that would leave something this important to wait. In a way, she was probably just as intrigued by these spells as Twilight was. She'd even known Star Swirl personally, and that probably made it all the more exciting.

Upon arriving in the shining capital city, Twilight made her way to the Princesses' castle and was again met with a royal greeting. She landed at the top of the staircase leading to the front doors and the guardponies atop the walls on either side bowed to her. One of the captains then made his way forward.

The dark gray earth pony bowed yet again and Twilight gave a polite head bow in response. He then spoke. "Princess Sparkle. How may we be of assistance to you today?"

"I am here to see Princess Celestia."

The captain took a breath and did not respond immediately. Twilight had gotten used to what that meant - it was him buying time to think of the best way to say "No." She sometimes wished that they would just tell her a straight "No," but it would be improper for a pony of his station to directly refuse a princess. Still, it didn't matter how polite he was. Twilight would not be speaking with Celestia today.

"The Princess may not be available at the present time," he began. "She has many things to attend to today." But as he thought about how to explain, a large white pony with pastel rainbow hair and wings emerged from the double doors. This elicited another bow from the captain. "Your grace, I was just explaining to Princess Sparkle that your schedule today will not permit a visit."

Celestia gave a graceful nod. "I did ask not to be disturbed today." Then she turned her eyes to Twilight. "But I always can find time to talk with Princess Sparkle."

The guard gave a deep nod and stepped aside, allowing Twilight to approach her former teacher. "Princess Celestia," she said. "If you're busy today I can come back later." While she did want to know about what happened with the spells, Twilight was still quite curious to see what happened with Applejack. Besides, is she had been that busy there was even a possibility no work was done with Star Swirl's trove of spells in the last day.

But Celestia shook her head. "There's no need for that. On the contrary, you are one of the ponies with whom I need to speak. I was just about to send you a letter when I noticed you flying into Canterlot."

So she does have news about those spells. "What did you want to talk about?"

Celestia held a hoof toward to the doors and the two walked in together. They shut silently behind them and the two began to walk toward Celestia's chambers. As they walked through the halls, Celestia spoke. "I was quite surprised by your last letter and all of the scrolls that accompanied it. To think that Star Swirl the Bearded would have left behind more spells is something I've often suspected. Yet as time wore on and nothing was discovered, I will admit that I had begun to believe that his legacy was complete with the spells found in Canterlot's archives.

"I have commissioned a team of historians and magicians to examine the documents. In just this one day of study, the team has found several promising spells. Most are too incomplete to make attempts at casting them for now, but one of the spells did seem to be finished."

"One was finished?" Twilight attempted to sound surprised. The two entered Celestia's bed chambers at that point. It was a simple room. Somepony might have expected it to be covered in exotic paintings and other decor, or to overflow with shelves of books. Instead, it held a simple lectern on one wall with a fireplace on the other wall and a cushioned mat near the center of the floor for a bed. Sometimes Twilight wished her mentor would give herself more comfortable quarters, but usually she just admired how a Princess was willing to live with such a modest arrangement of furniture.

Celestia walked over to the lectern and Twilight saw that one of the scrolls was resting on it. She recognized it immediately and gave a gulp as Celestia spoke. "This seems to be another time spell. I have been examining it personally."

Examining it personally... "So, um, what have you found out about it?" asked Twilight.

"Some of our best unicorns have examined the spell but, while it might be finished, it does not appear to be functional."

This statement concerned Twilight. "How long ago did they test the spell?" What if they just haven't gone to sleep yet?

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "They did so yesterday. Why do you ask?"

Twilight froze, but only for a moment. "I read that one. From the wording of the spell and the description it sounded like you might need to fall asleep for the spell to work."

Celestia's mane flowed continuously as she thought about Twilight's words. She raised up the scroll and looked it over again. "I see. Although it is not explicitly stated, I can understand why you would think this. However, none of the researchers noted any affects this morning, and they believe the reason is because the spell requires too much power."

"Too much power? You mean the spell requires multiple unicorns?" Do I really have that much magical ability?

Celestia shook her head. "No. They believe that the spell requires alicorn magic to function."

"Alicorn magic?" Twilight said. No wonder I could cast it. "But Star Swirl never became an alicorn."

Celestia nodded. "Yet he still constructed this spell. A spell that, considering Star Swirl's experience, he would have known required an alicorn to perform." Celestia placed the scroll back on the lectern. "I am now afraid that perhaps the only reason Star Swirl so strongly pursued becoming an alicorn was to allow him to use this spell."

"That doesn't seem right," Twilight said. "Star Swirl was interested in all kinds of magic. Everything I've read suggests he wanted to become an alicorn so he could experience more magic."

"Until I read this I would have agreed with you. Perhaps that is the case. But this line here concerns me." The white alicorn brought the scroll to face Twilight and pointed to the middle of the spell. "He wrote 'And I will not press through.' It seems to be a reference to a conversation I had with him. A conversation where I gave him advice about his past.

"Star Swirl would come to me from time to time in his efforts to learn more about magic. One day, he came to me speaking about his past. He said that he wished he could have been able to save someone. A friend he lost. He said that he needed to be able to correct his past mistakes. He needed to be able to go back in time. I told him that this desire was misplaced. That he should focus his energies on his present and future, not his past. That he needed to press on and press through.

"But this line... It shows me that Star Swirl was attempting to undermine my advice to him. Despite my best attempts at persuading him, he came back to me several weeks later, upset about another failure. He had created a time spell - one that would allow him to go back for a few moments, but only once.

"You, of course, are aware of Star Swirl's first attempt at a time spell. The letter you sent to me a year ago where you detailed your own experiences attempting to correct a mistake involved using Star Swirl's spell. As you found out, it was not a particularly successful spell."

"It didn't change anything," Twilight said. "If anything it just made things worse for me."

Celestia nodded. "Star Swirl had a similar problem. I again told him to press through toward tomorrow. That this was not worth the pursuit. When he left, he seemed to understand. I had assumed that, following this failure, he had learned his lesson about tampering with the past. I truly believed he had, but upon reading this, I was sad to discover he had not. Evidently, my words of advice were not enough for him." Celestia levitated the scroll up to herself, looking at the lines again. She then set it back atop the lectern. Celestia closed her eyes and faced the floor, her expression somber; something that Twilight was not used to seeing there.

She isn't excited about these spells at all, thought Twilight. All they do is remind her of Star Swirl; of a friend that she lost. "I'm sorry these spells upset you."

Celestia opened her eyes and shook her head, although she did not raise it up. "It is true that looking through these spells of his has brought back much of the heartache I felt for Star Swirl. Yet I am not sorry that you sent these to me. Sometimes we may feel upset about our past - loss is always particularly painful - but a sad past does not prevent us from moving into a joyful future. I will not forget the very advice I gave to Star Swirl all those years ago.

"No matter how badly I want to, I cannot change yesterday." Then Celestia looked up at Twilight and gave a broad smile. "And that, my faithful student, is where you came in." Celestia had not referred to Twilight as her "faithful student" since the day of the coronation. Twilight felt the warmth of those words resonating through her body. "You, Twilight, were the future I was looking toward. I pressed through to that day in the upper room of the castle where you unleashed your raw magical abilities. And there I saw a young filly brimming with potential. Yet it was not until later that I saw your potential beyond magic.

"When I sent you to Ponyville I was putting the fate of Equestria on your shoulders. You did not realize it at the time, and even I did not truly understand how lost I would become upon Nightmare Moon's return, but you did not fail to see what Star Swirl had missed. You found friendship. You found love."

Twilight smiled at that. She thought of her friends and remembered their group hug from a few days before. She almost forgot that it had never happened. Almost... Her smile weakened slightly.

Celestia looked back over at her lectern, shaking her head. "I knew that Star Swirl was frustrated at the end of his life. Frustrated by his failure to master alicorn magic mostly. He did not understand that alicorn magic is about more than simple magical ability. I had hoped he could learn from his friendships and become an alicorn as you did. I fear that the desire to use this spell may have been a key reason that his judgement was so flawed. Whatever the reason, it was not meant to be."

Those words affected Twilight. The idea of what was and was not meant to be was clear in her mind. What was not clear now was the practical side of that idea. She held in her the potential to choose what could and could not be. What was actually meant to be did not matter--at least, it didn't have to.

Celestia turned back to Twilight and continued. "I am so proud of you, Twilight. How much you've learned. And more than that, how much you've grown! I am so grateful for your continued pursuit of what truly matters. You no longer seek things like magic and organization that crumble during the first signs of trouble. Instead, you seek the joys of friendship that last for a lifetime."

It was as if somepony had taken a wrecking ball and smashed it against Twilight's heart. Does Celestia know? Is she saying these things to me because of what I've already done?

"Whether Star Swirl pursued alicorn magic for its own sake or for the sake of this spell, I do not know," said Celestia. "But it is part of the past now. What matters is today. And today you are standing before me having achieved Star Swirl's dream. Yet you did so in the right way and for the right reasons." Celestia then came toward Twilight and gave her a hug. Twilight of course returned it, but was not sure she deserved it.

When they parted, Celestia said, "Thank you for being my student, Twilight. And for making the friendships that you have."

"Thank you for believing in me." Twilight graciously said. Then she thought, But I'm more like Star Swirl than you might think...