//------------------------------// // Chapter 01 (Twilight's Test) // Story: The Mane Six Meddle with Time // by Alticron //------------------------------// On a calm and fairly sunny day in the small town of Ponyville, a certain purple alicorn in the basement/laboratory of the Golden Oakes library was concentrating all her mind on the enchantment she was placing on a small golden bracelet with a violet gem in the centre. Her purple drake assistant soon came down carrying a tray with buttered toast, oatmeal and orange juice. “Uh… Twilight, what exactly are you doing with that bracelet?” The curious baby dragon asked. “Spike, I already gave you a very detailed and articulated explanation several days ago about what I’d be doing this morning.” Twilight replied. “No, you started giving me an overly complicated lecture that made me fall asleep after fifteen minutes. I woke up three hours later and you still weren’t finished!” Spike huffed. “Oh, fine. I was doing research in the study of temporal and spacial transportation, as posited by…” “In plain equish, Twilight.” Spike interrupted. Twilight growled. “I was reading up on time travel, like what Star Swirl the Bearded wrote about.” “Oh, why didn’t you just say that in in the first place? It would have saved you some time.” Twilight’s left eye started to twitch before she continued. “Anyway, since Star Swirl’s time travel spell can only be used once, I decided to attempt to create a new method of time travel that could be used repeatedly.” A large grin started to cross Spike’s face. “That does sound pretty cool, but wouldn’t it take years to create a spell like that from scratch?” Now Twilight was smiling proudly. “Exactly, which is why I started by reverse engineering magical properties of the original spell to use as the basis of my prototype enchantment.” “And what’s the bracelet for?” Spike asked while pointing at said bracelet. “I decided that would be best to make an enchanted object to for my prototype. I set it up for multiple purposes such as magical energy efficiency…” Spike decided to stop her to prevent another coma-inducing lecture. “Yeah yeah, but how would you get back to our time if something goes wrong?” Twilight walked up to her number one assistant and gave him a comforting pat on the back. “Don’t worry Spike. I’ve built the bracelet to act as a tether to bring me back to when I left to within one second. I can return manually, and it’s set-up so that it would send me back if anything would imminently impact the wearer enough to cause serious injury, be it either magical or physical impact.” “Sounds like you’ve thought of just about everything to keep yourself safe. So, when do plan on taking that thing for a test run?” “In about two minutes. I just need to make some final preparations before I head to Canterlot several years in the past.” Twilight then peered into the page of a book she had left open. “What?! B-but Twilight, wouldn’t the sudden appearance of a new alicorn out of nowhere in the middle of Canterlot impact on the timeline or something?” Spike asked while shaking nervously at the thought of would what could happen to both history and his big sister figure. “Way ahead of you Spike, I’ve already come up with a disguise for this.” Twilight’s horn started glowing and Spike looked on the illusion being place before him. Twilight’s wings seemed to disappear as her coat became a pale green. Her eyes turned blue while her mane and tail became a fiery orange. The last change was that her cutie mark of multiple pink and white stars was replaced with the image of a ball of fire. “Tada! Introducing Firecracker Burst, expert pyrotechnician. What do you think of how I look, Spike?” Spike stared slack-jawed for a moment before rapidly shaking his head. “It looks pretty good for a recolor if you ask me, just be really careful Twilight. I don’t want to have something like you being your own grandmother to deal with.” “I will Spike, I Pinkie Promise.” Twilight proceeded to perform several hoof gestures before jabbing her foreleg into her right eye. “Ugh… Every frickin’ time.” She slid the bracelet onto her right foreleg and held down on the gem, causing it start glowing brightly. After a few seconds, there was a bright flash and Twilight was gone. In a secluded section of the Rosedust Memorial Park, a bright flash appeared for less than an instant, leaving behind the disguised and slightly disoriented alicorn. After giving her head a quick shake, Twilight managed to get her bearings. She remembered this place from all the times her and Shining Armor would play here when they were foals. “Alright, I’ve made it to Canterlot. So far, so good. Now I just need to find out today’s date.” Twilight headed toward the park’s exit. She was able to find a newspaper dispenser on the street near the exit. With a quick glance, she spotted the date. Upon reading the date, her eyes shrank slightly as she reeled back at her discovery. “I… I’m about thirty years in the past… I only meant to go back five! Okay Twilight… Deep breaths… Deep breaths…” After doing her breathing exercises and calming down, Twilight started to assess the situation. “Okay Twilight, don’t panic. Though you did overshoot how far back you wanted to go, the tether enchantment is still intact and able to take you back home any time. You are safe as can be in a time travel scenario. Since you’re not in any danger of being trapped in the past, you might as well explore and see what your home town was like long before you were born.” And with that, she set off. Twilight started her journey by going down the familiar street and seeing how different things were. Several being were either smaller or painted radically differently. In place of one of her favourite restaurants was an empty building with a small sign in the window that read, “Coming soon: Joe’s Donuts”. After fifteen minutes, she came across a store that held much more nostalgic value to her, so much that her eyes were practically glowing. The marquee read, “Night Light Book Binding House”. “Wow, I didn’t know that Mom and Dad’s shop even existed back then… or should I say now? I’ve just got to check it out.” Twilight quickly galloped to the door, being careful enough to not tear it off its hinges as she entered. Upon entering, Twilight spotted many things. Rows upon rows of bookshelves filled to the brim along with racks filled with magazines, but what caught her eye the most was the young stallion standing at the register. His coat and mane were different shades of blue and his mane was spiked in a very odd style, but Twilight still easily recognised him. It’s so… weird seeing Dad looking so young. I think he may even be younger than me at this point. The blue stallion spotted and waved to her. “Welcome to the Night Light Book Binding House. I’m Night Light, how can I be of assistance?” “Oh, hi. I… just arrived in Canterlot was wondering if you had a certain book.” Twilight said as she poorly tried to hide her nervousness. “Well, you’ve come to the right place. All I need is a title and I can find it in the index I’ve got, miss…?” “Oh, my name is Firecracker Burst. Do you have a copy Safe Spells of Shrinking by DawnChaser?” “Give me a minute and I’ll see, Firecracker.” Night Light quickly flipped through index while Twilight glanced around. “Sorry, it doesn’t look like we have that one. But if you’re interested in advanced magic, we did just get some copies of Emerald Lamp’s Guide to Creative Constructs.” “Aw shoot, I just remembered that I left all my bits at home. Sorry.” “That’s okay. Hey, I’m about to go on lunch break soon. How about I show you some of the sights and get us both something to eat?” “Hmm…” Twilight lifted her hoof to her chin and tapped it several times. “Sounds like a like plan to me.” “Alright, just give a one second.” Night Light turned his head towards the back of the store and called out. “Dad! I’m heading out for my lunch break!” A loud voice from somewhere in the back replied, “’Kay son, just remember to pick up some milk before you get back!” And with that, Twilight Sparkle and her future father headed out into the grand city. After two minutes of silence, Twilight decided to break it. “It’s pretty nice that your dad named the store after you.” Night Light turned to look at the mare as they continued to walk. “Actually, the store’s named after my grandfather, but it’s nice of you to say that. Hey look, we’re here!” Night Light pointed at the snack stand they’d arrived at. “I’m going to get some corndogs, what would you like?” “I’ll have the nachos with cheese and get us a table. Thanks for all this.” Twilight wandered off while Night Light placed their order. By the time Twilight took her seat, Night Light had started heading to their table with their food levitating close behind him. Twilight started to ponder something. I wonder if he’s dating mom yet. “So… Night Light, do you have a girlfriend?” Night Light looked up with half a corndog filling his mouth. After swallowing the morsel, he replied. “Nope, but there is this one mare I’ve had my eye on. The only reason why I haven’t asked her out yet is because… she’s just so damn intimidating.” Twilight couldn't help but smirk a little while eating her nachos. Yep, that’s Mom alright. “So how about you, Firecracker? Do you have a have a special somepony?” Night Light inquired. “Well, not really at the moment. It’s… complicated.” It involves alternate universe counterparts and changing species. “Oh, well. I’m just going throw this out there. You’re really cute.” Night Light didn’t seem to notice either Twilight’s eyes bulging or her nearly choking on the mouthful of nachos she was eating. Oh no! This is bad, very bad! Quick Twilight, change the subject! “Oh… well… ugh… My dad always said I was a cute filly.” Good thinking, talking about parents always steers the subject away from se… “Oh, a “Daddy’s girl”, huh?” Night Light leaned uncomfortably close to her ear and whispered, “I’ll be your daddy.” Before giving her a smirk and a wink. “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Twilight fell over in her chair and accidentally unleashed a huge burst of magic directly at Night Light. She quickly got back up try make an excuse for her odd behavior. “I’m sorry! It’s not you; it’s just that I… I… I…” Twilight’s eyes bulged out and her pupils became pinpricks as she saw that instead her father sitting in the chair was a smoldering pile of ash. “Oh no no no No No No NO NO NO NONONONONONO!!!” Twilight screamed out as she slammed her hoof on to the bracelet to return to the future and disappeared in a flash.