Lost Time [Prologue]
By McSqueakers
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The sun was shining its last lights across Equestria, its crimson rays glowing over the horizon in a blaze of colors that matched the leaves of the autumn trees. A few stars began to appear overhead, their light no longer obscured by the sun, which was barely peeking over the treetops of the Everfree Forest. On a hill were the silhouettes of two unicorns walking back into town, the smaller one hopping playfully ahead while the taller staggered on with her head hung low, as if she had just hiked across a desert.
“Sweetie Belle please. If you keep hopping around like that, you are going to get positively sweaty. We still have so much to do and so little time.” Rarity had been eyeing the position of the sun as she tried to pick up the pace. “Oh my. It’s almost night time and we still haven’t even made it back to Ponyville.” Rarity made a gesture with her front hoof as if to look at a watch that wasn’t there. “I was sure that we would at least have gotten back by now,” Rarity said, clenching her jaw as she shot a cold look at her little sister. Sweetie Belle winced as she felt the tension in Rarity’s voice.
Sweetie Belle had stopped in her tracks and pawed at the ground as Rarity struggled to catch up. “I... I just thought that maybe I could get my cutie mark if I picked some pretty flowers to match your dresses. Maybe it would... be… a… flower.” She looked up only to meet the icy cold stare of Rarity’s blue eyes.
“A cutie mark won’t do you any good if you get hurt or worse out there! You’re just lucky I found you before you got too far out!” Rarity snapped angrily before turning her attention back to getting home. “Now you’ve gone and made me late.”
“I didn’t know I was out so far! I just kept finding more flowers! I just wanted to help!” Sweetie Belle cried, choking back tears.
“Quiet. I don’t want to hear another peep out of you tonight! Do you hear me?” Rarity shouted, her face becoming flushed with rage. “Once we are done, you are going to go straight to your room because you are grounded! INDEFINITELY!”
Sweetie Belle couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. “YOU AREN’T MY MOMMY!” Sweetie Belle screamed, tears pouring down her cheeks. “I WISH SHE WAS HERE AND NOT YOU!”
Rarity stood there, mouth agape as if to say something, but no words came out. All she could do was watch as Sweetie Belle sat on her haunches and bawled into her hooves. Unfortunately, their shouting match didn’t go unnoticed by the resident of the library they were now in front of.
The door flung open to reveal the lavender pony who trotted out nervously. “What in Celestia’s name is going on out here?!” exclaimed Twilight, who had been rigorously studying, at least until her peace and concentration had been interrupted by the cacophony that the two sisters were making. “Rarity?” Twilight looked at Sweetie Belle with a worried look on her face. “Why is Sweetie Belle crying? Did something happen?”
“Indeed, something did happen and Sweetie Belle is now grounded. Nothing to concern yourself with.” Rarity’s words had a little more sting than Twilight was prepared for. “I’m very sorry to disturb you Twilight. However I must be on my way. I have much to do.” She said doing her best to regain her lady-like composure now that eyes were upon her. “Come now Sweetie Belle. We have work to do.”
Sweetie sniffled as she stood up and then trailed behind Rarity, not once moving her focus from the ground directly in front of her. She kicked at the air as she followed her sister to Carousel Boutique.
-----
“Mommy!”
“Sweetie Belle! Where are you!” cried out a worried voice. The mare weaved in and out of the foliage that covered the path, her only goal to head towards the little voice that called out to her. She pushed aside a low laying branch to reveal a clearing. There was a bush in the center with a swirly pink and purple tail poking out from behind it. “OH SWEETIE BELLE!” cried out the mare, her voice swelling with relief. She galloped down to the bush and swept up the filly in her hooves. “I’m so glad I found you!”
“Mommy! I was so scared!” cried Sweetie Belle. She was shaking violently in her mother’s hooves.
“Shhh, shhh. Mommy’s here. I’ve got you.” she said, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. “I thought I lost you.”
I’m… I’m s...s...so sorry. I didn’t know I had wandered off. I thought Rare was right behind me and I just wanted to see all the pretty birds but they kept flying off…” her voice trailed off, muffled by the sound of her sobbing. “I’m so sorry!”
The mare nuzzled her filly and placed a hoof to her lips. “Shh shh. It’s okay Sweetie. You’re okay and that’s all that matters.” Her worried tone had been replaced with a soothing one that almost seemed to sing every word to her. “Now let’s get home before it gets any darker.” The mare lowered her filly which clung to her leg as they trotted back to the main path.
The sun had set as they reached the door to their house which was promptly opened by an eager white filly with an expertly styled indigo mane. “Didja find her? Huh? Huh?” Young Rarity inquired. Sweetie Belle peeked out from behind her mother and then bounded up to her sister, wrapping her hooves around her as far as they would go.
“I thought I’d never see you again!” Little Sweetie Belle cried as she held her sister wiping tears into her white coat.
“I thought I lost you.” Rarity’s tone quickly shifting to scold the little filly. “Why did you run off! We were worried sick and….”
The mare had cut her off short. “Rarity, it’s okay. She’s safe and that’s all that matters. Now go get ready for bed. I have to give Sweetie a bath.”
With that, Rarity headed off to her room. The mare led Sweetie Belle to the bathroom and lowered the plug into the drain as she filled it with warm water. As the water began to rise, she placed Sweetie Bell down into the tub, the dirt in her coat quickly mixing with the bathwater, giving it a light brown hue.
“Sweetie, please don’t run away from your sister like that again. We were worried sick about you. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you.” the mare said, her voice more relieved than tense. Sweetie Belle didn’t say a word as she lowered her head as if to cry but only gave a nod instead. The mare began carefully washing Sweetie Belle, and then with a bucket of fresh water, poured it through her mane which fell flat over her face. The mare had let out a chuckle as if she was cherishing every extra moment she was given with her little filly. Sweetie Belle parted her hair away from her face and looked up at her mother whose radiant smile and azure eyes shined down on her, lighting up her entire world. Sweetie Belle laughed and smiled back as she splashed at the water.
After the bath was done and she had dried her little filly off, the mare sat on the side of the bed as she tucked Sweetie Belle in. Sweetie Belle looked into her mother’s azure eyes which gave of the distinct sheen of tears. Suddenly, Sweetie Belle began to weep as she sat up and wrapped her hooves around her mother, the feeling of guilt overwhelming her.
“I’M SO SO SORRY MOMMY! I’M SORRY!!!” she sobbed rubbing her face into her mother’s chest.
The mare wrapped her hooves tightly around her filly nuzzling her gently. “Shh, shh, Sweetie. Everything is okay. I’m not mad at you.” She said in her soothing tone. With that, she laid the filly back down and tucked her back in. She looked her in the eyes as she started to sing with the voice of an angel.
“Hush now, quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed
Drift, drift off to sleep
Exciting day behind you
Drift, drift off to sleep
Let the joy of dreamland find you
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed.”
With that the filly lay asleep gently sucking on the tip of her hoof. The mare leaned over and gave her a kiss on her forehead and tucked her back in. As she stood up off the bed, she heard one last peep from Sweetie Belle.
“Mommy?”
“Yes dear?”
"I love you.”
“I love you too.”
-----
Suddenly Sweetie Bell bumped into Rarity snapping her out of her daydream. They had arrived at their home. Rarity turned her head to Sweetie Belle, and gave her a sneer. “Please pay attention to where you are going.”
Sweetie Belle said nothing.
“Go wash up. I will not have you all sweaty and dirty while you wear this material. It is quite expensive and I am not going all the way back to Canterlot to get some more.” Rarity gestured towards a roll of fine silk that she was levitating out of her bags. It appeared to sparkle like the stars, even with very little light shining on it. Rarity’s eyes widened as she cooed at the sight of it. “This order is for an extremely high class stallion for his daughter’s cuteceñera. I will not have anything but perfection for this piece.”
Sweetie Belle sighed and turned towards the bathroom, wiping a tear from her eye as she turned.
"Maybe I was too hard on her," Rarity thought. "I should make it up to her somehow, but first..." She focused her attention on the fabric laid out in front of her. She squinted for not more than a second when her eyes lit up with a sparkle not much different than the likes of the fabric. “IDEA~” she sang. Her horn began to glow with a pale white light as a paper and pencil lifted itself in front of her and she began to draw. The figure of a filly was drawn on the paper as the rough form of a dress began to appear around it. Soon the dress had taken on ruffles and lace in tasteful quantities while on the head, a tiara was traced, faceted with gem stones that complemented the sparkle of the coveted fabric. Her meticulous attention to detail played itself on this piece of paper until finally, Rarity let out a sigh of relief. “My masterpiece is complete. When I’m done here, I might just have to make one for myself. Surely with the price he’s paying, I could afford to have one of my very own.” She placed a hoof up to her mouth and let out a notably unlady-like squeal in excitement. A moment of joy cut short as Sweetie Belle walked in, freshly bathed but still wearing a face that showed the sadness of the conversation they had shared not too long ago.
“Rarity…”
“Sweetie…”
Their voices came out in unison.
“Oh, you first…” again, they both said in words shared.
“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity’s voice chimed in. “I’m really sorry for how I acted back there.” Rarity’s voice had lost all façade of elegance. Now she was talking to Sweetie Belle not as an elder, but as her sister. “I was scared. I got so worried about you. I just didn’t know what I’d do if I lost you too.” Her voice took on a much more sullen tone at the last statement. “I was angry, not at you, myself because I thought that I had lost you. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“No. I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have said… what I said. I didn’t mean it. I miss mommy but I still have you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Sweetie Belle’s voice was sounding more mature with every word. “I don’t hate you Rarity. I just miss mommy so much.” She said as she began to weep into her hooves.
Rarity swept in to embrace Sweetie Belle. “I know Sweetie. Me too.” She said, wiping tears and running mascara from her eyes. “Me too.”
They held each other for what felt like an eternity even though it had only been about thirty seconds. Sweetie Belle stood back wiping more tears from her eyes but this time with a smile on her face. “I guess we should start on the dress, huh?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“We still have time. The cuteceñera is two days away.” Rarity said, thinking about her sister’s fragile state. “I’m sure I can have it done and in Canterlot by noon that day.” Rarity gave her little sister a sheepish smile. “We’ve both had a long day. Why don’t we just, ‘hit the hay,’ as Applejack would put it.”
“Or Applebloom!” Sweetie Belle burst out, putting on her first genuine smile of the night.
“Yes Sweetie.” Rarity said, returning Sweetie Belle’s smile. “Now let’s go to sleep. Tomorrow we have to work extra hard, okay?” Rarity said as she began playfully chasing Sweetie Belle to her own bed. Rarity picked her sister up and swung her playfully on the bed and then hopped in herself. She tucked both her and her sister in and rested her arm around her.
“How did I end up with the greatest sister in the world?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“That’s funny. I was just about to ask you the same thing!”
Sweetie Belle gave her sister a wide smile. “Good night Rarity.”
“Good night Sweetie.”
As she laid her head down for the night, she heard one last peep from Sweetie Belle.
“Sis?”
“Yes dear?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
-----
The morning sun was beginning to shine over the mountains in the direction of Canterlot. Inside Carousel Boutique, a commotion was stirring. The sounds of crashing could be heard while Rarity’s voice shouted at the top of her lungs. “OPALESSENCE! YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!”
The cat darted under the bed, eyes wide as saucers and shaking uncontrollably. Opal was never one to fear her owner, but this was no longer her old owner. What chased after her was a demon of pure rage, spawned from the tatters of a certain sparkling silk that lay in shreds before her.
“LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE DONE!” Rarity shouted upwards to her ceiling as she stomped her hooves in frustration. She turned around and stormed out of the room and into her shop. “Now I have to get more.” Rarity stammered before dropping to her haunches and letting out a wail. It took a whole minute for her to regain her composure. “Sweetie Belle!” she called out to her sister who was already by her side having heard the commotion. “Oh…’ Rarity said nervously twisting the curls in her hair. “How… uh… how long have you been there?”
“Since you started crying. Is everything okay?” Sweetie Belle looked up to her sister who had turned to hide her shame. “What was all that noise about?”
“Sweetie, there has been an incident with the fruits of yesterday’s labor.” Rarity was now gesturing towards the remains of the silk.
“Oh... That means we have to go back don’t we?” Sweetie Belle looked down at the ground, looking as sad as ever. “But I was going to go Crusading tonight after we finished remember.” She looked up to her sister giving a pleading look. “It was supposed to be our turn to host the slumber party. Scootaloo can’t because her parents are going out tonight and Appejack and Big Mac are off in Appleoosa. Granny Smith has enough trouble with Applebloom alone.” Sweetie Belle’s voice took on a pleading tone as she made puppy eyes to her big sister. “PLEASE?” Neither Rarity nor Sweetie Belle herself knew quite just what she was begging for but she knew she would have to cancel the slumber party if she just said nothing.
“I’m sorry Sweetie. Tonight just won’t do.” Rarity tried her best to sound as comforting as she could. “I would gladly help you find somebody to babysit you while I work but, you see, I need your help making these dresses. You know I don’t have any filly manikins. I don’t often get orders for fillies.”
Sweetie Belle lowered her head towards the ground. “I guess I’ll just tell the Crusaders that there’s not gonna be a sleepover tonight...”
Rarity’s eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope as she thought up a new idea. “What if I let you stay, under careful supervision of course, and you three could go Crusading while I go back to Canterlot for the silk?
Sweetie Belle’s eyes lit up at the brilliant plan. “Hey yeah! There are way more safe things we can do during the day!” Her eyes then dropped suddenly. “At least if… uh… Scootaloo isn’t in charge of the plans.”
-----
“Uh… I’m sorry Rarity. I… I... I’d love to watch them for you but… I have to take care of so many sick animals. Poor Thumbelina over here…” she gestured to a small field mouse sporting a fresh cast over her left front leg “…had a little accident and there is a terrible gas down in Froggy Bottom Bog making all the froggies sick. I... I just won’t have enough time and…” her voice trailing off.
“Say no more Fluttershy. I completely understand. Good luck to you.” With that Rarity gave her friend a hug and went off on her way.
“Maybe next time?” The butter-yellow pegasus called out.
-----
“No way Rare. Not after what happened last time!” The rainbow maned pegasus scoffed at the bold request by the unicorn.
“I still don’t know how you can still suggest three fillies set your home on fire. I don’t even think that is physically possible without magic, and Sweetie Belle here has yet to discover her talent for it. Plus how they would have gotten up there is beyond me, since Scootaloo can’t fly.” Rarity raised an eyebrow at the bold insinuation her friend was making about her sister and her friends. “The only pony capable of such a feat is Twilight and, unless you think she is an arsonist, then I think what happened is nothing more than a freak accident.”
“Well I’m not going to do it. Freaky stuff happens around them.” Rainbow Dash gestured in the direction of Sweetie Belle. “Besides, I have a lot of practicing I need to do. I’m so close to mastering this new awesome trick I made. It’s gonna be sweet!”
“Very well.” Rarity said. “Good luck.”
-----
“Sure I can watch them! Last time I hung out with them we pulled of some pretty cool pranks and we even found a way to make a BURNING CLOUD!” A shower of confetti flew seemingly from nowhere, startling Rarity. “I was like ‘Hey this isn’t possible I’ve tried.’ And Scootaloo was like ‘What about with that?’” Pinkie had gestured to a strange bottle with a fire symbol on it. The bottle, seemingly from out of this world, was constantly leaking a dark purple smoke and giving off a ghoulish moan as it appeared to suck all the light from around it, leaving only a dark aura in its place. “But I was like, ‘I dunno. I’ve never tried that.’ And before we knew it we were flying through the air and Dashie’s house was on fire. I really do owe her an apology for that. OH I KNOW! I’ll throw her a PARTY!” Pinkie took a whole second as if to await a response from Rarity.
Seizing the opportunity, Rarity quickly shoved Sweetie Belle behind her out of Pinkie’s sight. “WELL, I see you have your hands full with your… plans, so I won’t keep you any longer.” With that Rarity dashed off leaving a unicorn shaped cloud of dust where she once stood.
“OKIE DOKIE LOKIE!” chirped the party pony.
-----
“I’m sorry Rarity but I have an awful lot of studying to do. The Princess assigned me to study a new theory that was just released on Temporal Physics and Quantum Dynamics.” She pointed to a book titled “Theoretical Physics and Temporal Paradoxes.”
"Temporal? That means time right?" Rarity thought to herself, scratching her chin as she formulated a plan. “What if you put some of those theories into practice? I mean what better way to learn than by doing, right?” she raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to suggest to Twilight that she had some idea. “You see, I am a little short on time with this project, and I have an idea that could benefit both of us.” She sang as she tried to put on her best innocent face. “If you could use your knowledge to perhaps ‘extend’ the time I have left…”
Twilight extended a hoof in front of her friend to interrupt her train of thought as she opened the front cover and pointed at large bold faced text. ‘All statements in this book are theoretical and have not been performed under laboratory conditions. Do not attempt to reproduce any of the results obtained through the experiments expressed in this book.’
“But...” Rarity interjected, her words falling on deaf ears.
“I’m sorry Rarity but I just can’t.” She said, her voice becoming sullen. “I would if I knew just what I was dealing with, but this is all very powerful magic and potentially very dangerous. Nopony knows what could happen if I tried this and I have yet to receive Princess Celestia’s permission to perform anything in this book.”
A sinister grin came across Rarity’s face, the obvious sign of a devious plan being formulated, surprisingly missed by the scholar. Rarity knew that Twilight was a sucker for flattery and a pushover when it came to disappointing other ponies. “Oh but Twilight, I could not think of another pony more qualified than you to put these theories into practice. You are Princess Celestia’s personal protégée. The most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria!” she boasted, mocking Trixie, the show pony that fell into their bad graces not too long ago. “Besides, Celestia never said not to perform any, did she?”
Twilight blushed at the praise she was receiving. “I g… guess. But…” she started to say before she was interrupted.
“I’m just asking because I’d hate to disappoint little Sweetie Belle here. She was so excited to go crusading tonight but some ‘unforeseen circumstances’ have made it simply impossible.” She said lowering her head. She raised one eyebrow and peeked an eye out for a better look at the unicorn she was trying to manipulate.
It worked.
“Well I guess you’re right. But I haven’t gotten too far in the book. I can’t extend the time you have left but I have come across a spell that could send us forward and backwards in time. It is pretty complicated and I will need my full concentration.” Twilight was a little worried; however her pride had overshadowed her rationality. “Plus I can only target one pony so Sweetie Belle will have to stand aside for this.”
“That is fine. I won’t be going anywhere. Just getting a chance to undo some mistakes that have made me lose so much time.” Rarity said as she wore her most innocent face for Twilight.
Twilight nodded as she opened the book to an earmarked page and began to read to herself. ‘To perform this magic, you must draw the circle in figure 2.3 and place a round-cut diamond in the center. When casting the spell, you must point your horn in the direction of the sun or the moon to go forwards or backwards through time, respectively. Then you must focus your energy into the diamond which, due to its even cut, will refract the energy evenly across the circle. For travel distance remember the simple formula P=3t where P equals power, measured in watts, and t equals time measured in seconds.’ “Well it doesn’t seem too difficult.” Twilight said as she started to trace the lines of the circle with some chalk onto a large empty spot on her floor. “Rarity, do you have a round-cut diamond on you?” she asked.
“Hmm... I do have these earrings.” She said, removing one of her diamond studs. “They are only one carat each. Will that be alright?”
“Well the book doesn’t say anything about size.” Twilight said, the diamond exchanging between the grips of the unicorns’ magic. “This should be good.” She confirmed, carefully removing the gold backing from the diamond. She placed it in the center of the circle, which was drawn with the precision of an artist, as she stood directly over it. “Okay the moon should be directly below since it is almost noon,” she said almost to herself. She stood directly over the diamond and pointed her horn down over it towards where the moon should be. As she focused her magic, her horn began to give off a pale white light. The outer ring began to glow, darkening the room around them. Twilight could sense that she was now in control of a type of magic that she had never felt before. Suddenly, two ribbons made of light came from where Rarity and Sweetie Belle had been standing. Twilight reached out with her magic and focused on the one that she somehow knew was Rarity’s. It gave off a bright glow and soon Rarity had materialized in its place, now within the glowing circle that had become the only thing visible in the void of blackness. Twilight pushed harder now, bright sparks flying from her horn as the rest of the inner circles began to shine.
Suddenly, a powerful blast of rainbow light pierced the blackness and roared with an ethereal ringing that caused Twilight to snap her head up out of instinct. Realizing her mistake, she tried to cancel the magic but it was already too late. Her eyes glowed bright white as her horn pulsated with magical lightning. Rarity ducked in shock. Twilight could feel her control slipping away much like it did at the Academy entrance exam so many years ago. The untamed magic encircled her causing her body to outstretch and lock in place, much like Leonardo DaVincolt’s Peruvian Mare. Her horn glowed brighter than before, spraying out a shower of sparks as it pointed up.
Up towards the sun.
Suddenly a bright light had enveloped them tossing them both violently back and forth through what looked like a tunnel of arcane energy that they were falling down. Twilight’s shock snapped her magic loose long enough for her to regain control of it, a bright light appearing at the end of the tunnel as she did so. She grabbed Rarity by her hoof and pulled her close. “BRACE YOURSELF!” She screamed through the deafening roar of what sounded like wind and lightning, as well as Rarity’s screaming.
Suddenly they felt the impact. While the shock had hurt quite a lot, the impact wasn’t as hard as they expected. Twilight looked up at Rarity with a splitting migraine and a severe case of double vision. “Are you alright?” She mumbled out.
"Y-Yes... I'm... Quite f-fine..." Rarity stuttered, shaken. The extent of her condition wasn’t nearly as bad as Twilight’s.
Suddenly they heard a thumping noise that sounded like someone running down the stairs. Twilight looked up, her vision returning to normal, to see an eerily familiar but noticeably teenage dragon with shiny purple scales and green spines standing above her.
“T…T...Twilight!” He called out in a raspy voice.