Princess Twilight Sparkle just sat there, stunned and utterly speechless. She probably thinks I'm crazy, just another senile pony making grandiose stories up. I can't really blame her either. The majority of the time we've known each other I've played the fool. Well, a part of me is a fool, but on the off occasion that I've been serious, it was rare for me to be taken seriously. If it quacks like a duck... well, you get the idea.
"So. Let me see if I'm understanding this." Twilight started, placing a hoof on her temple, a rare act that meant she was actually having a difficult time with something. "You found this rock that fell from the sky..."
"Yes."
"That killed your sister at the age of 7, who lived into her late sixties..."
"Yes."
"And you think this rock has given you the ability to go back and change the past."
"Give the mare a gold star," I said with a playful tone, reaching into my mane, but instead of pulling an actual gold star sticker, I produced the gem in question. Presently it was in the shape of an octahedron. Twilight made a move to pick up the gem, but I pulled it away. "Don't touch it," I told her, in a quiet solemn voice. "Not even with your magic."
"But..."
"No buts. The last pony who picked this up was driven insane by the visions it gives." I told her, meeting her gaze with all the seriousness I could muster.
"Why should I believe any of this? The amount of magic it would require to enchant an object to do what you're telling me... would... it would destroy the pony casting it, And that includes the Princess' and I!" Twilight rambled, now pacing.
"Because we've had this exact conversation before; twice, in fact."
Stopping mid-stride, Twilight turned once again to meet my gaze. "Prove it," the alicorn said, her tone giving into exasperation.
"Forty-three years ago you had a brief love affair with your Captain of the guard." I began, and when the realization dawned in Twilight's mind, the blood drained from her face. "You and Flash Sentry had started to make plans to be married when you found out you were-"
"Stop," Twilight said, choking on the word.
"with foal, but there was a problem with the chi-"
"I SAID STOP!" Twilight screamed; her voice amplified not only by her magic, but her anger as well. I physically recoiled in genuine fear. Never had I seen Twilight lash out in this way; but I understood why. The anger in Twilights eyes flashing to abject horror at what she had done; then to grief, only confirmed it. The pain and grief had never truly healed.
Collapsing onto her haunches, Twilight just looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me; or any of us?" she asked, pleading with me.
"Because none of you believed me, Rarity and Fluttershy laughed it off as some prank I was pulling," I explained. "But what really made me keep it a secret was when I told Rainbow Dash and Applejack. They called me insane and a liar. The embodiment of loyalty and honesty did that to me. So I kept it to myself."
"Why would they do that?" the Princess said, shocked that two ponies she knew very well would do something so uncharacteristic.
"I didn't have the proof then like I did just now. That was something you hadn't told a soul, never recorded it in your journal."
"But if I didn't believe you, why would I tell you something so private?" Twilight inquired.
"You didn't believe me, but the scholar in you, the part of you who is open to facts and evidence won out," I explained. "You did make me Pinkie promise not to tell anypony else though," I said with a wink.
"This is an amazing thing, Pinkie. All the good that could be done..." Twilight began, starting off on a rambling tangent.
"Is it, Twilight? Really? You of all ponies knows the dangers that come with messing with time." I said in admonishment. "For me to do the good you're thinking about; for me to stop the terrible from happening: they have to happen first." I let the statement sit for a moment in Twilight's mind as the realization started to sink in.
"Oh."
"You don't remember the time the sign for Quills and Sofas fell on Scootaloo, paralyzing her, or finding Zacora crushed by a tree after a bad rainstorm," I said with a sob. "I've watched almost everypony I know at one time or another get hurt or worse." Unable to hold it together any longer, I begin to cry uncontrollably. Twilight pulled me into her warm embrace and cooed softly until I finished.
"I'm sorry." she said.
"Sorry?" I responded through the tears. "For what?"
"That you had to carry this burden for so long. I take back what I said. This isn't amazing, it's a curse." She explained, then paused for a long time. "If you've been going back in time, changing the past to prevent ponies from being hurt, then what about all-"
"Twilight, I know you've read Starswirl's treatise 'Time travel: A Theory for Disaster', right?"
"You've read it?" Twilight asked in amazement.
"Duh! I read it when I was fourteen. Didn't understand it all then, still don't today, really. Too many words, not enough pictures. Anyways, out of all of his theories, one of them stands out to me. Time is like a rubber band. The more you push on it, the harder it'll snap back. You can, however, push gently, a little at a time, the band doesn't snap back" I explained. "But one thing I am certain of is that the bigger the change you try to make, the worse things get. What happened to Rainbow Dash taught me that."
"Pinkie, there was nothing that could have been done, it was just an accident," Twilight said, trying to comfort me, but there was something off in her voice, I knew she was lying.
"Griffonia destroying one of its own satellites intentionally to destroy the International Space Station does not qualify as an accident," I told her.
"How do you know that?" She asked, I just raised my eyebrow in a knowing stare and held up the golden gem in my hoof. It changed shape from a heart-shaped diamond to a cube.
"I'm sorry, I should have known. It's just that there're only a hundred or so ponies who know the truth. Even now if word got out, it could start a war."
"I'm surprised you haven't asked me yet."
"Asked what?"
"How it all works, silly filly," I say, changing the subject and eliciting a laugh out of the Princess. "Its quite simple really, I only have to hold the gem between my hooves, close my eyes and POOF!, I wake up back in my bed in the morning of that day. It's as simple as that."
"Huh... I would have thought there would be more to it." Twilight said, pondering.
"Twilight?" I say, getting her attention. "I thought this was supposed to make me feel better..." I admit.
"I don't know if anything can. But that's not going to stop me from trying. One thing I can tell you though; is that you're not alone in this anymore, and that will make it easier."
"Is everypony there?" a scratchy voice echoed over a radio.
"Not everypony, commander. Applejack couldn't make it and Rarity is in Manehatten. Fluttershy and Pinkie are here though." Twilight Sparkle spoke into the microphone. The atmosphere in the EASA mission control room was grim.
"That's alright, mission control, I know you tried. Fluttershy?"
"Yes? I'm here." The yellow pegasus replied, choking back sobs.
"Take care of Macintosh for me. He didn't show it when I talked with him, but he's not going to take this well." Rainbow Dash told her with a calming serenity in her voice.
"You know I will." Fluttershy sobbed, falling apart. Twilight rushed over and held her distraught friend.
"Rainbow?" I say, speaking into the microphone, not able to hold back my tears. "I'm going to miss you."
"I know Pinkie. I know. But it won't be all bad. You'll still have the memories of all the awesome parties we had." An alarm from one of the control stations in the room sounded, getting everypony's attention. "I guess I don't have much time left huh. Goodbye Mission Control, I know you did your best. Oh, Celestia, it's getting hot in he---*static*"
Sitting on my haunches, I watch the memory fade away. Wiping the tears away from my face, I turn around to face the presence I knew had been there for some time. "Hello, Princess Luna."
"We never knew you were so skilled at the art of lucid dreaming. When Twilight told us of what transpired today, we knew that we had to speak to you ourself."
"When I was a filly, I suffered from nightmares, my parents brought me to a doctor, the ones that work with your noggin. She taught me how to control my dreams, and slowly the nightmares stopped, but not always."
"The Visions. Twilight mentioned you said that; but failed to inquire about it." The Princess of the Night stated. "We do recall you occasionally having what seemed like nightmares, but we were not concerned because when they happened, things would eventually get happy in your dreams. You were hiding these visions from us."
"Yes," I admitted flatly.
Before the two of us, a scene unfolded. I was sitting at the kitchen table in Sugarcube Corner with Pumpkin sharing our afternoon tea. We were laughing and carrying on. On the wall was a calendar showing that it was the twenty-third day of summer in the sixty-ninth year of The Age of Harmony. The clock on the wall read three fifty-six. I knew what was coming, but Luna watched intently, and when it happened, Luna didn't flinch, but her bottom lip began to quiver and a single tear fell from her eye.
"Oh, little one, you should have told us."
"I know," I said, staring off into the blackness now that the vision had faded away. "You know, until today, my husband was the only one who truly knew me. When I told him, he accepted it without question and he helped me carry on."
"Noteworthy was an exemplary stallion. You were a blessed mare to have him in your life."
Before them, another scene unfolded, but this was a happy memory. Before a crowd stood two ponies, A blue stallion donning a dashing tuxedo; and a pink mare, blushing in a brilliant white dress.