//------------------------------// // [Chapter 1] Changes // Story: Lost Time // by McSqueakers //------------------------------// [Chapter 1] Changes ============================================================================== “T...T…Twi?!” the purple dragon stuttered out. His jaw hung low and his face took on a dull hue, as if he had just seen a ghost. “Ugh. What… Spike?” Twilight mumbled, still woozy from her unexpected trip. “What… what happened to you?” Spike stared back, annoyed at the question. “To me? What about you? Where have you been? What happened to YOU?” Spike’s head was spinning at the sudden appearance of Twilight. “I want to know what happened! Where did you go!?” Spike stamped his foot down at the ground with a force that caused nearby objects to shake. Twilight stood shocked at the sudden outburst from Spike. Not once had he ever spoken to her that way. She looked up into Spike's eyes, but as she began to formulate words, she noticed something. He was crying, tears pouring out from his eyes and dripping off of his cheeks onto the floor. Suddenly, he rushed over to her and embraced her, holding on as tightly as he could. Twilight’s mouth fell open but she couldn’t find any words to say. She was overcome with a feeling of guilt as the dragon held her, apparently crying over something that she had done. She wrapped her hooves around him as she began to cry. “I missed you so much! I thought you were dead. We looked everywhere for you. For both of you.” He tilted his head from Twilight’s shoulder to take a look at Rarity, who had been standing patiently, waiting for their moment to pass. “Where did you go?!” He shouted, sobbing heavily into Twilight’s coat. “Spike. I don’t know what happened,” she said, trying to catch a moment to console the dragon, “But just how long have we been gone?” She knelt, bringing Spike down with her as she placed her hooves on his shoulders. She could feel her heart beating faster and her breath becoming labored as she waited for him to stop crying. “Fifteen years to the day.” Spike said in a somber tone. “I was just getting ready to go to your memorial service.” “FIFTEEN YEARS!” Both ponies exclaimed in unison. “SWEETIE BELLE! What happened to her?! Is she okay?!” Rarity’s voice was becoming hysterical as she began to hyperventilate. “I was all that she had left! Where is she?!” Rarity put a hoof to her chest as she began wheezing for air. Spike rushed over to Rarity and led her by her hoof to a chair. “Rarity, I don’t know how to say this...” Spike broke eye contact with Rarity as tears welled up in his eyes. “It’s not easy for me to say but…” “NO!” Rarity shouted, tears and mascara running down her cheeks. “NO SHE CAN’T BE! SHE ISN’T!” Rarity got up to run but Spike quickly grabbed her by the hoof. “She isn’t!” Spike cut in “Well we don’t think so, but we aren’t exactly sure. We haven’t seen her in twelve years.” He looked deep into Rarity’s eyes as she tried in vain to look away. “I know this is a lot to take in, but a lot has happened since you disappeared.” Spike was about to say something but something else caught their attention. Suddenly, Twilight’s knees buckled and she fell to her side. The effects of the adrenaline that was rushing through her blood from earlier was starting to wear off. She now felt just how sore and tired she actually was. Every muscle in her body screamed in agony.. Her vision began to blur as the whole world around her began to spin. Her head ached, as if someone had placed a vice on her temple and was slowly tightening it. She was in excruciating pain, more than she had ever known before. “Twilight!” Spike shouted. He grabbed a pillow from the couch and rushed over to her side. Carefully, he lifted her head with one hand and slipped the pillow underneath. He could feel beads of sweat dripping from her forehead and mane. “I’ll go get some ice. Rarity, can you keep an eye on her?” Rarity knew she had recovered enough composure to handle this assignment so she gave a quick nod. As she watched Spike rush off to the kitchen. Rarity leaned down to Twilight, levitating a handkerchief from her bag and dabbing it across her forehead. “Twilight dear, what’s wrong?” Rarity inquired, as she brushed her bangs from her face. Twilights eyelids hung only slightly open as she began to mumble. “It’s… nothing. I’m… just. tired…” Slowly, she shut her eyelids and she slipped out of consciousness. “Twilight!” Rarity placed her hoof on Twilight’s cheek and shook her gently. “Twilight! Please wake up!” She shifted her hoof up inches away from Twilight’s forehead when she felt an unnatural heat coming off her horn. By the heat coming off it, she knew that it was hot enough to burn her own flesh. “SPIKE!” She called out. “Please come quickly with that ice!” Spike rushed back in with a bag of crushed ice as Rarity levitated it out of his hands and placed it below Twilight’s horn. Almost immediately, the ice began to melt as steam rose from around the bag with an audible sizzle. “Magical discharge.” Spike flatly said to Rarity. “What was that?” “I’ve seen this before. Whatever magic she used that got you both here could have easily killed any normal unicorn.” Spike was looking more worried with every word. “I’ll explain later. Right now we have to get her cooled down or she might have a stroke. Stay here and keep that ice on her. I’ll go fill the tub with cold water.” Spike rushed off up the stairs while Rarity tended to the lavender unicorn with an already half melted bag of ice. Less than a minute later Spike came rushing down the stairs back to where Rarity and Twilight were. “Stand back. I’ll carry her up to the tub.” Rarity moved over as she curiously watched Spike lift Twilight’s unconscious body with great care. “So this is magical discharge? I’ve never even heard of that before.” “Most unicorns wont ever experience it in their lifetimes.” Spike said as he carried her up the flight of stairs. “But Twilight isn’t your average unicorn. The amount of energy she must have let off to put her in this state could have rivaled the Princess’ herself.” They reached the tub that had been slowly filling and he gently lowered Twilight in. Steam began to rise from the tub as her body made contact with the cold water. “What ever does that mean?” Rarity asked with a concerned look on her face. “Is she going to be alright?” Spike paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. “You see, when a unicorn uses that much energy, not all of it can be focused on the spell or else they will overheat. That could cause some serious brain damage. That’s when instinct takes over and casts a protection spell around the horn.” Spike filled a cup with cold water from the running faucet and poured it over Twilight’s forehead. “The more power, the stronger the spell. Unfortunately, the protection spell is primal, unrefined magic. It doesn’t deflect magic backlash but rather stores the energy to be released slowly. The problem with it is the stored energy is really hot itself.” He poured more water over Twilight’s forehead. Rarity looked impatiently over at Spike. “But is she going to be alright?” She asked as she raised an eyebrow. “It’s hard to say. If we had taken any longer, she most certainly would have had some permanent damage. Maybe even… died.” Spike looked down at Twilight and took a deep gulp as if he had something lodged in his throat. “But assuming that we got her up here fast enough, then she should only get better from here.” He said looking more confident than worried. “Well that is good to know.” Rarity wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a sigh of relief. “But please Spike, while we wait for Twilight to cool down, can you tell me what has happened to my sister? Where is my Sweetie Belle?” Spike looked down at his feet as he let out a sigh of sadness. “Shortly after you disappeared, Celestia came and ordered her guards to look after Sweetie Belle in your absence.” Spike couldn’t look Rarity directly in the eyes out of grief. “After about a month, the search was called off, but they couldn’t just keep looking after her. They sent her off to a foster home where she stayed. We wanted to take her in ...trust me, we did... but Applejack couldn’t. Her farm was just no place for Sweetie Belle. Of course, Rainbow Dash couldn’t, what with clouds and all. Pinkie Pie couldn’t. I mean, she still needed Mr. and Mrs. Cake to look after her. Fluttershy wanted to and even took her in for a while, but after a month, she couldn’t keep up with all the animals and a child. She had to give her up.” Spike began to tear up as he recounted her story. “Spike. What happened to her? I mean surely they took care of her. Celestia wouldn’t send her to a bad foster home, would she?” Rarity was certain that Spike was just over analyzing how bad her situation seemed. Spike stayed silent for a moment as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “She started getting into trouble. Fights, stealing; you know, real delinquent stuff. They sent her to counseling but she didn’t seem to improve.” Spike began to choke out his words as if they were fighting to stay in. “Then one day, about twelve years ago, she set her foster home on fire. Everyone got out okay but she just disappeared. We haven’t seen her since.” Rarity put a hoof up to her mouth and let out a gasp as more tears began to stream down her cheeks. “But Sweetie Belle wouldn’t… She couldn’t do something like that!” She fell to her haunches and buried her face in her hooves. “A lot of ponies changed with you both gone.” Spike said putting his hand on Rarity’s shoulder in a poor attempt to console her. “Sweetie Belle took it the worst though. She went through a lot of sadness. She even tried to….” Spike stopped himself before he let his words slip. “She what? Spike. What did she try to do?” “She… she…” Spike couldn’t bring himself to tell her what had happened. He looked around frantically as if a different topic was going to fall off of a shelf. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Spike let out a deep sigh of relief when a familiar voice called out. “Spike! What in tarnation are you up to? We missed you at the service this mornin’. Ain’t like you to miss somethin’ like that. Are you alright in there?” “COMING!” Spike shouted. He quickly turned to Rarity and gave her a quiet shush. “You should stay up here. I think it might freak AJ out if she saw you here without fair warning.” He turned and started running towards the stairs, grabbing a coat on the way down. Rarity gave Spike a puzzled look as she remembered that Spike had said they disappeared 15 years ago on the day, which would make it Autumn in Ponyville; certainly not the coldest of seasons. Rarity placed an ear to the bathroom door to try and listen in on her friends. The door swung open with a creak and the sound of wind rushed in as she heard Applejack’s hooves clop on the wooden floor. “Spike. What in tarnation made you sleep in today of all days?!” “Something happened. You aren’t gonna believe…” “And what could be more important than Twilight’s memorial. What do you think she would say if’n she knew you gone and forgot about her?” “AJ, please. I need to tell you something and there’s no easy way to say it.” Suddenly Rarity heard a groan come from behind her. She quickly turned back to her friend and grabbed the cup to fill it with cold water. As she poured the water over Twilight’s head, she heard a loud shriek, followed by the stamping of hooves up the stairs. “Wait AJ!” she heard Spike call before the door burst open, revealing a mare in her mid-30s wearing a thick brown work coat and her trademark ten-gallon hat. The mare began to pant heavily from her shock as she stared down into Rarity’s eyes and then slowly over to the unconscious Twilight in the tub. She walked slowly right in front of Rarity and placed her hoof on her cheek as if to see if she was solid. “I…i…is it really you?” She muttered out. Rarity looked into Applejack’s aged eyes and gave her a firm nod. With that, the workhorse embraced her with all her might which, while painful, was also warm and comforting. Rarity suddenly felt wetness on her back as she heard the sounds of sniffling and sobbing. “I thought y’all were dead! Nopony knew where you went. Why did y’all leave us?!” Applejack took a step back as she held on to Rarity’s shoulders. “We missed you. I missed you!” Rarity was at a loss for words. Twilight was better at explaining things than her. “I… I don’t know. I haven’t the slightest idea what happened to us.” “Why, you haven’t even aged a bit! What’s your secret?” Applejack joked, forcing a smile through her tears. She quickly turned her attention to Twilight. “Is Twilight okay? She don’t look to hot.” Rarity rolled her eyes at the irony of the statement. “She may not look it, but she is actually burning up. This is, as far as I know, the result of everything that led us here.” Rarity began running more cold water through her mane and over her forehead to both keep Twilight cold, and to demonstrate to Applejack the amount of heat that Twilight was emitting. The water steamed off of Twilight’s face as the rest bubbled down her neck. It wasn’t as dramatic as before, since she had cooled off considerably since it started, but it was enough to convince Applejack that her friend was indeed, ‘not doing too hot.’ “Don’t you think we should take her to the hospital? It looks mighty serious.” Applejack walked over to the side of the tub and reached her hoof out to feel Twilight’s head. She stopped her hoof only inches away as she felt the burning heat radiating from her horn. “The best thing we can do for her is to keep her from overheating.” Spike quickly interjected. “They will do the same thing for her over there. I’ve seen it before.” Spike went over to the tub and reached over to touch Twilight’s head. Brushing her bangs out of her face, he placed the back of his hand right below her horn. “Well her temperature has really gone down. I don’t know how long the discharge should last but it shouldn’t be more than a couple of days. She'll probably just feel like she's had a bad fever or something...” Spike was trying his best to put Applejack and Rarity’s fears to rest. Spike’s maturity and intelligence reminded Rarity of Twilight. “I see you have certainly kept up with your studies, Spike. You sound much like a doctor.” Rarity said, making an attempt at flattery. “Thanks Rare.” Spike nonchalantly said as he quickly turned to speak with Applejack. Rarity gave a confused look to Applejack as if Spike had just said something rude to her. She was used to Spike becoming love-struck even just at the sight of her, let alone at any form of flattery, but Spike just turned as if she wasn’t even in the room. In fact, she began to recall that Spike had hardly even given her much attention since she got there. “Hey AJ. I need you to do something for me.” Spike said. “Sure Spike. Whatcha need? “Well I know how complicated this whole situation is, but we can’t just keep hiding them from everyone.” Spike explained as he pointed in Rarity and Twilight’s direction. “I need you to tell Fluttershy to get Rainbow Dash home from Cloudsdale. Tell her it’s urgent but don’t tell her anything else. I think we should just tell everyone at once.” “Well Spike, I can try but ah don’t know if Fluttershy can convince Dash ta break practice with the Wonderbolts. Ya know she’s mighty timid and Dash is as stubborn as a mule.” Rarity gasped as she put her hoof to her mouth. “Rainbow Dash made it into THE Wonderbolts?” “Not just made it in! She’s their Captain!” Spike exclaimed. “Yup. Happened ‘round ten years ago. She was prancin’ about like a schoolfilly when she got home from the tryouts.” Applejack beamed, proud of her friend’s success. “It took that girl three tries just to make it in. She was mighty disappointed each time she failed. But she gone and done real good for herself. ‘Bout six years ago, they bumped her up to the main squad and then two years later, she’s co-captain.” “But just last year, she got promoted to Captain when Spitfire retired!” Spike cut in. “She’s been pretty busy since then.” “Well I’m sure we’re all proud of her and we still got a lot to fill you in on,” Applejack cut back in, with a hint of urgency in her voice, “but don’t you think that there are some mares that’d be excited to hear of their friends’ return?” Spike turned towards Applejack and gave her a nod. “Sorry, I’ll let you go. I’ll try and get Pinkie.” “Thank you muchly.” Applejack nodded as she turned to head down the stairs. Rarity and Spike followed her to the edge of the balcony and watched as she came to the door. She reached her hoof out to grab the door knob but before she opened the door, she turned to Rarity. “Oh and one last thing.” Applejack ordered up to her. “Don’t go disappearing before I get back.” With that, she turned the handle and braced herself for the rush of wind and snow that filled the entryway of the Library. It was dark out, not only from the gray clouds that covered the sky, but it also appeared to be night. The howling of the wind echoed off the walls of the tree with a ghostly wail that chilled Rarity to the bone. It wasn’t like any weather she had seen before. Even the worst winter she could remember had felt temperate compared to this. Something about this cold just didn’t feel right at all. Before Rarity could ponder her suspicions further, Spike started to walk down to the door. “Rare, can you watch Twilight while I go get Pinkie?” He asked. “This late at night and in this weather?” Rarity scoffed. “Night? But it’s…” “Spike?” Called out a weary voice. Rarity and Spike both rushed in to see Twilight with her eyes slightly open, leaning her head against the rim of the tub. “I think I wet the bed again.” She said, her mind numb from the heat. Rarity turned away quickly as she put her hooves over her mouth to stop a laugh from bursting out, but she only managed to keep it to a highly unflattering “PFFFT.” Spike shot her a dirty look as he reached over to brush Twilight’s bangs from her face. He noticed that there were tears forming in her eyes, clearly out of embarrasment. “No, no Twi. That time was just an accident.” He said as he held her hoof to try and sooth her. “You’re in the tub right now. It’s just magical discharge. You’ll be okay.” Twilight felt a wave of relief, at least until she noticed Rarity snickering in the back of the room. Instantly, her eyes shot open and she let out a high pitched “EEP!” Her whole face turned a shade of crimson through her lavender coat. Rarity took a second to take a deep breath and compose herself before turning back to face her friend that she had just embarrassed. “Twilight, how terribly rude of me. I know very well that such a situation is no laughing matter. Will you please accept my sincerest apologies.” Rarity tried her best to keep her lady like composure while making amends to her friend. Twilight slumped down in the tub to where the water came up to her nose. She let the breath out of her lungs which bubbled out in front of her face in disapproval. “Twilight, you have my word that this conversation will stay between you and me.” Rarity said impatiently. “Besides, we have more important things to be concerned about. We had a visitor since your little ...incident... but she just left not a moment ago. However, she will be back with more company in no time and I would think we should at least look presentable for our fifteen year homecoming.” Rarity reached over to feel if the heat from Twilight’s head had dissipated. Sure enough, her horn had cooled down considerably, and even though it was still hot, it was safe to touch.. “How are you feeling? Do you think you can stand?” Twilight gave Rarity a look that conceded a stalemate between the two of them as she slowly lifted her body up from the water. She felt a powerful sensation fill her head which, while not exactly painful, gave her a feeling similar to being washed away by a strong current. It knocked her back, luckily into the waiting arms of Spike, but suddenly her vision started fading to black followed by a sharp stabbing pain in her temple. She sat back down in the tub, trying to regain her composure. “Hey Twi, take it easy. You don’t want to over exert yourself,” Spike said as he helped Twilight down. “I’m okay. Really.” Twilight lied as she made another attempt to get up. This time, she was able to stand up and bring herself out of the tub. She felt like everything was moving in slow motion as she stumbled around for a few seconds. Rarity levitated a towel over to her so she could dry off. “Wha… what happened? All I can remember is… is...bright lights.” Twilight’s eyes traveled all around the bathroom but, while she could tell it was her home, everything seemed different. Not only was the room bigger than she had remembered, but there was a feeling in the air, or rather lack of, that set Twilight on edge. She put a hoof to her head and winced in pain. Obviously, due to her current condition, heavy thinking wasn’t going to be possible. “Ugh… Spike, how long was I out?” “Just a few hours,” he said with a relieved smile on his face. “You really had us worried for a second there.” Spike had been extra cautious with his long lost friend because, throughout his learning, he had seen magical discharge a few times, but the cases often left the patients with permanent damage or even proved fatal. Through the time of Twilight’s absence, Spike had gone back to Canterlot to further his education. He had picked up quickly, much like his mentor, and excelled in all of his subjects. Soon, he was able to gain admission into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, due to his relation to Twilight and Princess Celestia herself. It was there that he found a passion for medicine. Eventually, he even made his way to the top of the class, much to the resentment of his fellow unicorn classmates. Unfortunately, his degree had been cut short after the school closed down two years ago indefinitely due to the ongoing blizzard that had covered all of Equestria. Luckily, his medical training had proven useful for this fateful occasion. Twilight now had the towel draped over her shoulders as she cautiously walked, with the aid of Rarity and Spike, to her former study. As she approached, she noticed that the room had increased in size by at least twofold, while the walls and shelves that once adorned astronomical and magical tomes were now replaced with medical reference books and guides. “Wow Spike!” She said in amazement. “Is all this… yours?” “Sure is. I’ve been keeping up with the place while you’ve been gone, as well as adding my own little… personal… flair.” Spike held his chin up with pride as he gave Twilight an extremely brief tour of his study. “As you can see, most of this is medical stuff. I’ve really taken an interest in it. Oh I wish you could have been there when I got accepted into Celestia’s School!” Spike beamed as he reminisced. “You would have been so proud of me!” “I’m sure I would. I am right now. This is all amazing…” Twilight paused, suddenly shifting tones, “But how did you get in? The Academy was a school for magic exclusively for unicorns.” “Oh It wasn’t that hard, Twi. All I really had to do was mention your name and that I studied under you and they let me in with a full scholarship. You were real famous up there.” “Well it sure is nice to know that my reputation is so well received.” Twilight made her way to the bed as she eyed various devices and silver tools which, even though they had once served as important medical tools, were simply outdated and only served as decorations for the study. Exhausted and mentally drained, Twilight plopped down onto the bed and laid back, rubbing her hooves across the sheets. They were new sheets; she could tell from their softness- but while the bed was hers once, it now took on the smell of Spike. The feeling of unfamiliarity had crept back up to Twilight as she recounted all that she had experienced that day. The library she had once called home had changed. It was bigger and redecorated to an extent that it felt like she had just walked into a stranger’s home. Even her friends could not have withstood the toil of time. Spike had grown: he was taller than Twilight now and was, in fact, older than her theoretically. He had changed. He was intelligent, confident, and strong. He was a stranger. She could only imagine how much her friends must have changed, aged into their thirties by now. But what of the Princess? Maybe her friends have aged but surely Princess Celestia had withstood millennia before Twilight. What was fifteen years for a being that could survive for an eternity? Celestia was Twilight’s rock, standing firm throughout the test of time. Twilight sat back up on the bed, and despite the rush of blood that almost caused her to black out once again, she stood firm. She was determined. Celestia could bring them back to their own world. “Spike!” She called out with strength and confidence. “Yeah Twi? Is everything okay?” Twilight nodded. “I need you to take a letter to the Princess. ‘Dear Princess Celestia…’ Twilight began to recite. “Uh… Twi…” Spike stuttered in. “I… I can’t do that.” “What?! Why not? Surely the Princess would love to know…” “Twi…” the dragon quickly interrupted. “The Princess… Princess Celestia…” “She’s dead.”