//------------------------------// // Time Troubles part 13 A Comforting Friend // Story: Within The Nightmare: Side Stories from the Living Nightmare universe // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Part 13 A Comforting Friend ___________________________________________________________ As we drop out of the portal we narrowly miss a beam of Starlight’s magic. We turn to see her on a cloud above us. “Up for another race-ending fight, Twilight?” she jeers down at us. We fly up; myself giving Starlight a death glare. I want to make her suffer so much for all the pain she’s caused to those alternate versions of the ponies I love. I want to hurt her so much! As we land on the cloud opposite Starlight, giving us a good bird’s-eye view of where the race will happen, Twilight lowers her head. “No.” I almost fall of the cloud. WHAT did Twilight just say? “You were right,” she goes on, lifting her head to look at Starlight. “I can’t stop you.” Um... what? Can somepony please explain to me what the heck is going on? Why in Equestria is Twilight giving up?! That’s not like her, not like her at all! Starlight charges her horn and fires a spell. Before I can do it, Twilight quickly erects a magical barrier around as, stopping the spell cold. “But you can’t stop me from trying,” she says, glaring at Starlight. Okay. So, Twilight isn’t giving up? “And we could be stuck doing this for all eternity!” Whoa, wait, what? We’re gonna have to do this for eternity? Well, no. Now that I’m thinking about it, we won’t. Twilight, Spike and I are pretty much immortal. True, Spike isn’t immortal per say, but he’ll live for thousands, maybe millions of years. The oldest dragon to ever been known to live was over four million years old and Spike’s the first real magical dragon in far longer than that time, plus, he's still just a baby dragon right now, so who knows how long he’ll live. Starlight, however, is just a normal unicorn. An incredibly powerful and magically gifted unicorn, true, but still just a normal unicorn. She’d die long before we did. Though, I’m not sure how Twilight, Spike and I will have dealt with the emotional trauma from each altered and horrible future we’d return to by the time Starlight was too old to cast the spell. “If that’s what it takes to keep you and your friends from getting your Cutie Mark connection, then I’m game!” she finishes by firing a blast of magic at Twilight, who deflects it again with her magical barrier. Did she seriously just say she was alright with going back and forth like this til the end of her days? She does realize she’ll die long before we do, right? Every time she’s brought back by the spell when Twilight casts it and does her best to stop the Rainboom, those are more seconds and minutes off of Starlight’s lifespan. Sure, it doesn’t seem like much, but those small bits of time will eventually add up and whilst Twilight, Spike and myself are in technical terms for Alicorns and dragons, young, myself maybe as big as Mama by then, Starlight will become as old, if not older, than Granny Smith in time. And she seriously just said she’s okay wasting her life away like that? Sweet Celestia, this girl really is bonkers. “What you’re doing goes way beyond just Cutie Marks,” Twilight explains, pulling some nimbus over with her magic and shaping it like a hill, a small ball of cloud and a tiny house down the bottom of the cloud slop. “Everything we do here in the past, even the smallest change, can snowball into an avalanche of trouble for the future.” As she says this, the little ball of cloud moves down the slop, quickly growing bigger, before it reaches the bottom, destroying the cloud house. A blast of magic destroys the whole cloud causes us to look to Starlight in worry. “Oh,” she scoffs. “Next I suppose you’ll tell the fate of all of Equestria hangs in the balance.” “It does!” Twilight and I say in unison. “Spare me your overblown ego,” Starlight rolls her eyes. “No group of friends, not even Princess Twilight’s is that important.” She finishes this by firing a beam of magic which strikes a currently passing Rainbow Dash, suddenly her rocketing off into the distance. “You idiot!” I yell, glaring daggers at the unicorn. “The only pony with the overblown ego is you!” Starlight doesn’t answer as the Time Portal opens up above us and starts pulling, Spike flying off Twilight’s back. I glance at Twilight. “Remember what we were told should we fail!” She nods, before looking to Starlight with grim determination. “I don’t know how important other ponies’ friendships are to the future, but I can show what the world is like without mine!” With that she leaps forward towards Starlight. The unicorn tries to move, but I turn into a cloud of star and wrap around her limps, giving Twilight time to jump her. Once Twilight has a hold on Starlight, I return to physical form and we’re pulled into the portal after Spike, myself getting a very bad feeling about the next altered timeline we’re about to face. ___________________________________________________________ When my eyes adjust after the flash of Time Magic, I look around, only for my heart to sink, heavier than ever before. We’re standing in a waste land, there’s literally nothing around save us and the map, save the odd dead tree and rocks. There’s a wind blowing, those it carries nothing back the felling of nothing. I can’t even tell what time of day it is. The sky is dark, but it doesn’t look like night and there’s an eerie, sickly glow on the horizon. Looking around, I see Twilight looking dejected as is Spike (him and I are currently standing on the map whilst the mares are on the ground), not that I blame them. Using my magic to try and sense anything nearby, I can sense no magic, none from anything living anyway. Starlight seems to be taking in what’s around her. She turns around, glaring at us. “Where are we?!” “The future,” Twilight says quietly, putting a hoof on the map, “or rather, the present.” “But, there’s nothing here,” Starlight says, holding up a hoof and glancing around. “I wish I could say I was surprised,” Twilight says, her voice still carrying the sadness and quietness that I feel within myself. This world just feels... dead and it hurts, “but every world I come back to is worse than the last. I don’t know why my friends and I are so important to Equestria, but we are.” Starlight just returns to her glare, pointing a hoof at Twilight. “I don’t believe you!” “You stupid foal!” I growl, causing Starlight to turn to look at me, only now actually seeming to take in my appearance. “You are just like the many spoiled nobles! Thinking only of yourself and want you care about that you don’t even consider the possibility that what you’re doing is going to hurt others!” “Come on, Starlight, look around,” Spike says, indicating to our bleak surroundings that actually make me long for that timeline where Sombra was waging war against Equestria. Sure, it wasn’t a happy time, but at least it had life. Starlight does look around again. “You are so blinded by your own ambitions, Starlight Glimmer, that you have caused several timelines in which Equestria has faced disaster or ruin on some level,” I say, before teleporting off the map and reappearing in front of Starlight, glaring up at her. “Because of you, we have been to several worlds in which Equestria has suffered, all because of your desire for revenge. I have seen battles no filly my age should ever have any experience with knowing. It even became so necessary for our survival, that Nightmare Moon’s spirit and my own had to become one again, just to ensure our safety and return to try and stop you.” She backs up a step, looking down at me as I glare up at her. “Like I said,” Twilight says, taking a few steps closer, “everything in the past affects the future, even the tiniest act. And what you’re doing leads here.” “This is the future you caused last time you stopped the race,” I snort, holding out a hoof to indicate around us. “Was it worth it, Starlight Glimmer? Was it worth Twilight and her friends never getting their special connection, even at the cost of Equestria becoming a dead waste land? You’ve felt it, haven’t you? You’ve tried to sense even the smallest hint of magic from another living being save the four of us and felt nothing, right? Is this what you wanted? Does this justify your stopping Twilight and her friends from ever becoming friends?” Starlight looks up at the sky, then down at the group, uncertainty entering her eyes for the first time since this whole mess started. “I know I can’t stop you,” Twilight murmurs, her ears lowering, “but I thought showing you all this might change your mind.” At once, Starlight expression changes to anger again, taking me off guard as she turns, glaring at Twilight. “Change my mind? You don’t know anything about me!” She leaps forward, forcing Twilight back against the map. “I was perfectly happy until you and your friends ruined what I built.” “You mean a town where nopony had freedom?!” I growl, teleporting onto the map again, standing in front of Spike in case I need to protect him. “You were the one in charge of that town you built, Starlight and you forced everypony, even those just visiting, to conform to your ideals, even against their will, just like with Twilight and her friends. They didn’t want to give up their Cutie Marks and live in your town, but you just forced them into it anyway, never even once asking them, not even giving them a choice! How is that fair?! How is that the equality you claimed to care so much about and that your town was founded upon?!” “Like a child like you could ever understand something so important.” The unicorn turns her glare onto me, but I just return. “Seeing as, thanks to you putting us in a situation where Nightmare and I had to become one just to survive, giving me more than a thousand years worth of memory, yeah, I think I can understand. What you did was wrong on more levels than I can even begin to explain, Starlight Glimmer. I’ve have memories of tyrannic rulers who did just the same and do you know how history remembers them? As monsters. Is that what you want, Starlight? To be remembered as a monster?! What would those you cared about and cared about you in the past say, huh? Would you parents or foalhood friends be happy, knowing the monster the little filly they knew has turned into?” “I know that Stellar has a right in some of the things she’s saying, having memories she shares with Princess Luna,” Twilight says, shaking her head. “And I don’t know what happened that led you create your village without Cutie Marks, and I’m sorry my friends and I had to take it away. But Stellar makes a point. If you just enforce something onto somepony, it’s not really their choice. How many of the ponies in that village chose to live there before you took their Cutie Marks away and left them to listen to the things you forced us to, just to make us think we’d want to stay?” Starlight’s glare becoming deadly and she teleports away, to appear on top of the map. “You wanna know what happened to me?!” she yells, casting the Time Travel Spell, causing the portal to open. “I’ll show you!” ___________________________________________________________ When the light fades, I blink in confusion. We appear to be in a small village, a lot like Ponyville, only with a slightly more medieval look to the roofing of the buildings in tile design. “Where are we?” Twilight asks the question on mine and I’m sure Spike’s mind. “That map of yours is connected to every part of Equestria,” Starlight explains, moving towards one of the nearby buildings. “And this part is my home.” Wait. We’re in Starlight’s hometown? But, what could have happened in this nice seeming place that could’ve caused Starlight to become the way she is? I mean, it's pretty much like Ponyville as far as I can tell. The three of us glance at each other, before following to Starlight to look through a window. Inside it is a living room, where there’s a large tower of books in the centre. On either side is a foal. One, a colt with a yellow coat with a white patch on his nose and hooves and a redish-orange mane and tail. The other foal... looks like a younger, Cutie Markless Starlight. I have to admit, she looks pretty cute, especially with her mane done up in those two pigtails like that. Starlight explains to us how she and Sunburst, the young colt, would always play together and how she couldn’t remember them ever being apart... until today. As soon as she finishes explaining, the younger Starlight tries to pull a book out from the tower, which causes it to start collapsing. Instinct to save the younger Starlight almost makes me cast a spell to stop the books, but it’s like Starlight knew I would do so, because she holds a foreleg out in front of me, breaking my concentration. At the same time, Sunburst’s horn glows brightly as he stops all the books, before they spin around him in a circle, before they all fly onto the bookshelves, fitting perfectly into place, followed by a bright flash. When it fades, Starburst has a Cutie Mark like an orange sphere with a few blue diamond-like objects around it and lines coming from the sphere that make me realize it’s a sun. The colt whinnies loudly, before running off... leaving Starlight behind as he goes and tells his parents who are outside. All the villagers congratulate him; a stallion that I can guess is his father levitating him into the air and carrying him off for them all to celebrate... whilst little Starlight just sits in the doorway. I vaguely listen to Starlight saying how she never saw him again, but I’m watching her younger self cry softly and walk back inside. Glancing at the others and seeing them caught up in a conversation, I turn into a cloud of stars and zip inside. I follow young Starlight to her room, where she falls onto the bed and starts crying into her pillow. I... I feel bad for her. This... this isn’t fair. I don’t like Starlight, but nopony can watch a young filly crying like this and not feel bad about it. At least, not anypony with a heart. “Stellar!” I’m pulled out of my thoughts by Twilight’s terrified voice and shoot back through the house to catch up to them, only to return to my physical form and stare in horror as the portal finishes closing. My legs give out under me as the full weight of that settles on my shoulders. Starlight took Twilight and Spike back to Cloudsdale. I’ve been left in the past, a past of was never meant to be a part of. Suddenly I hear a sniffling from behind me and a small voice call out, “Starburst? Is... is that you?” In a panic I turn back into a cloud and shoot out the window and hide in the bushes nearby. Starlight walks up to the door, her face stained with tears. She looks around, before her expression saddens again and she walks back inside. I feel my heart twist with pain. I just made her feel worse? Damn it! I put my head in my hooves, a try to stay calm. Okay, Stellar. You won’t freak out. Yes, you’re a filly, but you’re now a filly with a lot more maturity thanks to the many years of memory you possess. You will stay calm and not freak out. Oh, who am I kidding? I’ve every single right to freak out! I’m stuck in the past from crying out loud! Anything I do here will affect the future! Damn it, Starlight! Why did you have to be so cute as a filly that I couldn’t help wanting to go see if I could comfort you and cause your older self to leave me stranded in your hometown, which I don’t even know the location of, in the past?! “Is somepony there?” I freeze up at hearing this new voice and quickly use a power I used back when I wasn’t whole to intimate Chrysalis and change myself to look like somepony else. The last thing I need is for news of a filly Nightmare Moon to go around Equestria before... Aww, buck! I don’t even know when in time I am. Is the race with the Rainboom today, or is it several months into the future? Gah! I hate time travel! The bushes are parted and I look up with worry, before my eyes narrowing. It’s an Earth Pony stallion with a chestnut brown coat, darker brown mane and tail and an hour glass for a Cutie Mark. “Well, look at that,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “First on the moon and now in this little town.” I blink, cocking my head. “Huh?” He smiles down warmly at me, before winking. “Don’t worry, Princess Stellar. You’re secret’s safe with me.” My eyes widen and my mouth drops. WHAT? How in Equestria could this pony know who I am? I quickly conjure up a mirror before cursing as I look at my reflection. I only turned into a unicorn filly with a purple mane and tail. My eyes are still the same and so is my Cutie Mark. I make the mirror disappear, before looking back to the stallion, who’s just smiling. I frown, realizing something. “Wait. How do you know who I am? Nopony should even know I exist. How do you know my name, when it won’t even be thought up for over a decade or round about that?” He just chuckles again. “Because this isn’t the first time we’ve met.” I blink again. “Huh?” “Well, I suppose it is for you, maybe,” he says, scratching his chin with a hoof. “By chance, have you come across a pony matching my appearance or with a similar Cutie Mark before?” I cock an eyebrow, going over my memories of Ponvyille. If I did meet this guy before, it wouldn’t be in the over a thousand years of memories I have, just the last couple months or so, so I don't pay attention to those. I blink, before frowning again. “Minuette?” He just blinks a me. “Um, excuse me?” I shake my head, before pointing at his Cutie Mark. “My big sister has a friend from her days in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns called Minuette and her Cutie Mark looks just like yours. I sometimes see her around Ponyville.” He cocks an eyebrow. “Her? You mean, a mare? But, for you to have a met a pony with my Cutie Mark that’s a mare that would mean...” His eyes bright and he leaps into the air, whinnying. “I’ve more regenerations? Yes! Mark my words, I’ll be ginger yet! Wait, why would I call myself Minuette? What’s wrong with The Doctor?” I cock my head. “Um... what?” He settles down, clearly his throat. “Ah, yes, right. You’re not supposed to be here, princess. But, not to worry, your ride will be here shortly. Just give it a few hours.” “Huh?” What the heck is this stallion blabbering about? “You’ll see,” he smiles, tussling my currently purple, non-ethereal mane. “Just change your eyes and go have fun at Sunburst’s cute-ceañera, but be sure to be around this house when he and his father leave the party, or you’ll miss your ride. Oh, and make sure not to be seen be young Starlight if you can.” Before I can ask further, a Pegasus mare with a light-purple coat and red mane flies over, landing next to him. “Doctor, we need to get going? She just warped her way out.” The stallion sighs. “Should’ve guessed. The Master always was a slippery one. I doubt Missy is any different.” The Master? Missy? Who the heck are they talking about? “Well, it was very nice meeting you again for the first time, Princess Stellar,” he says, bowing to me. “But I’m afraid this is where we part ways for now. Give my regards to Mr. Rich’s wife and her daughter.” With that the two hurry off, the stallion running and the mare flying after him. I just sit there, staring after them. ... What... just happened? ___________________________________________________________ I sit on the roof of Starlight’s house, watching the path. It’s late now, the sun has set and clouds are covering the sky. I’m thankful I can’t see the night, to be honest. I don’t want to see the moon, not whilst Mama and technically myself are still stuck up there. The sound of laughter comes from up the path and, a few minutes later, I see Sunburst riding on his father’s back as the older stallion trots down the road, the two of them laughter lightly. “I’m so proud of you, son,” Sunburst’s father’s voice carries up. A sob-gasp, causing me to glance down. Starlight is standing in the doorway, watching as the two walk by, sobbing, tears trickling down her face. I watch with sad eyes, looking from her to Sunburst and his dad as they move further away, neither even glancing in Starlight’s direction. That actually makes me really angry. Starburst and Starlight are meant to be the best of friends, yet Starburst is so happy about getting his mark he hasn’t even questioned why his best friend wasn’t at the party. I didn’t go, by the way. I couldn’t bring myself to, not with Starlight being so unhappy. It aggravates me that I can’t comfort her without risking changing the past. Maybe, if she’d gotten some comfort, she wouldn’t have turned out as she did, but, to change that, I’d be changing the future and I can’t do that. I have mentioned how much I hate time travel, right? When Starlight closes the door, I turn into a cloud of stars and slid in through some cracks in the door, then remain hovering in the air as a cloud and watch Starlight from above. “I’ll never see him again,” she sobs and I feel all the worse for not being able to help her. Damn it. Why does keeping all the other ponies I care about mean I have to let one filly suffer? It’s not fair. “Wh-where’s my Cutie Mark? M-maybe I’m just not special.” Oh, for the love of...! Why? Why must I leave this filly to suffer like this! It’s. Not. Fair! Suddenly there’s a flash of light, causing both Starlight and myself to turn. If I had eyes right now, they’d be bulging. It’s Starlight, older Starlight. What in Equestria? Why is she here? Why’s she interfering with her own timeline like this? This could be more dangerous than anything else she’s done! “Huh?” younger Starlight asks, confused. “Wh-who...? Who are you?” Starlight moves forward and pulls her younger self into a hug. “I-I’m a friend. It’ll be okay.” Little Starlight begins sobbing into her older self’s shoulder. I slowly lower myself down and take my normal, physical form again. Something... something’s different about the older Starlight. I... I don’t sense any of the animosity she had before. And... her voice sounds... it sounds... kind... and sad. “You’ll see,” Starlight continues, stroking her younger self’s mane gently. “And you are special. You’re very special.” I just stand and watch... feeling like I’m intruding on something as I watch this tender scene... my mind trying to understand what’s changed in Starlight since she took Twilight and Spike back to when Dash was racing. Just... what happened when they left? After a long while, little Starlight has fallen asleep in the warm embrace of her older self. I watch as Starlight stand up, holding her younger self close and moves off toward the direction younger Starlight’s room is. I follow quietly and watch from the doorway as Starlight tucks her younger self into bed, before running a hoof through the filly’s mane. “We don’t have to worry,” she says quietly, sounding sad. “My parents won’t be back from the party for another few minutes.” I wonder why she’s telling this to her younger self this when she's already asleep. What’s going on? Suddenly she turns around, smiling warmly and sadly at me. “Ready to go home, Princess Stellar?” I almost topple over. “You... you knew I was watching the whole time?” She nods, her smile becoming a little less sad. “You didn’t speak with my younger self, but you did watch over me whilst I was upset all day. Thank you for that.” “Um... sure, Starlight,” I say, not really sure what’s going on. "Come on,” she says, leaving the room and starting down the hallway. “Let’s go home.” I follow after her uncertainly, moving through the home and out the door, which she closes behind us. We walk for a few minutes, until we’re a bit outside the village. “Can’t have anypony see me cast the spell, can we?” I just stand next to her, frowning up in confusion. “What... happened?” She closes her eyes. “I finally learned what you three were trying to tell me,” she says, her horn glowing. “Now, let’s go. I promised your sisters I’d bring you back safely.” The Time Portal opens above us and we’re pulled in. ___________________________________________________________ Before the light has fully faded, I’m tackled on all sides, finding myself in a massive pony pileup. “I’m so sorry!” “Did anything happen?” “Did you get hurt anywhere?” “Are ya feelin’ alright?” “Did anypony see you?” “How did you like Cheese’s work at Starburst’s party?” I push everypony off, my mind caught on that last question and turn to the pink mare who asked it. “Wait. Cheese Sandwich planned Sunburst’s cute-ceañera?” Pinkie nods vigorously. “Yeah. I just didn’t realize who Starburst was until Twilight told us about him and then I was like, hey, Cheese told me about a cute-ceañera for a colt named Sunburst that he planned back when he was a colt. Then I thought, could that be the same pony? And then I was like, well of course it was! It’s rare for ponies to shares names when—” Pinkie gets cut off when Applejack sticks her hoof in the pink mare’s mouth. “Stellar!” I wilt at the stern tone in Twilight’s voice as she stands in front of me. “What in Equestria made you think it was smart to move away from us?! If Starlight hadn’t remembered the mare that comforted her that day and realized it was herself and I hadn’t remembered enough of the spell well enough to create it again with Starlight’s help, you would’ve been stranded in the past! Why did you do that? You had me worried sick! I don’t even want to imagine how your mother would’ve reacted!” I look down. “I felt bad when I saw Starlight as a filly so upset. I... I wanted to comfort her.” “And did you?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. I sigh. “No, ma’am. You called out if fear because you were heading back to when the race happened before I could.” “So, how did you know to be in my old house when I came back?” Starlight asks, looking uncertain. I shrug. “Some weird Earth Pony with Minuette’s Cutie Mark told me to be at Starlight’s house by evening, when Starburst and his dad would be coming by.” Everypony looks at me with confusion, none more so than Twilight. “You mean... another pony had Minuette’s Cutie Mark? That’s not possible! Nopony can have the same Cutie Mark as another pony.” “Um... the Cutie Mark Crusaders have the same mark,” Fluttershy murmurs. “Technically, they have similar Cutie Marks, not identical ones,” Twilight points out, in a voice that makes me worry she’s about to go into lecture mode. “Um... can I say something?” We all turn to Starlight, myself glad she saved us from a lecture about Cutie Marks. If I’d wanted to hear about that, I’d have gone with Twilight to Canterlot before this whole time mess started. That’s when I frown, looking from the unicorn to eveyrpony else in the room. “Somepony mind explaining a few things to me about why Starlight was the one that brought me back?” Twilight closes her eyes, her horn glowing and a fresh scroll hovering into the air, but i notice it has the altered version of Starswirl's Time Spell on it. "I'll let Starlight explain it to you, Stellar. I need to go put this in the vault so nopony else uses it." With that she walks off, leaving us all to turn to Starlight. She sighs. "Okay. Where do you want me to start?"