//------------------------------// // Pause and Effect part 1 // Story: Paradoxes, Timelines, and Consequences // by Frost Bear //------------------------------// “The haste spell is a basic enhancement spell that stimulates a pony’s adrenalin gland,” Starlight read, “Those who cast the spell feel as though time moves slower.” Starlight pondered on her studies. ‘If I amplify the amount of energy the haste spell uses, what would happen?’ Curiosity got the best of her. Her horn glowed with radiant light. “Starlight! Breakfast is ready!” Spike yelled. “Great! What are we having?” Starlight asked right behind him. Spike jumped with a yelp, “How long were you there?” “A few seconds. I think I might have found a way to do the time stop spell.” “Really? That’s awesome!” “What’s awesome, Spike?” Twilight wondered in. “Starlight thinks she’s close to her time stop spell.” “That’s amazing!” Twilight’s stomach growled, “Um, let’s talk over breakfast.” Twilight and her family sat around the dining table. Nightlight and Velvet were at the head of the table. Spike sat at the foot. Twilight and Starlight sat at the sides. Breakfast consisted of pancakes with rich maple syrup and melted butter. “A hast spell?” Twilight raised her eyebrow, “I’ve heard theories but I didn’t think it would actually stop time.” “Well…” Starlight played with her fork, “It doesn’t stop time. What happens is that it makes me go so fast that everything is slowed down from my perspective.” Twilight and Starlight seemed to be the only ones at the table to understand their conversation. Spike picked up a little bit of what was being said. Nightlight and Velvet, however, couldn’t comprehend their daughter and granddaughter’s conversation. They still listened while eating their most important meal of the day. Thankfully, their exchange didn’t last too long and the grandparents could speak to them. “We missed out on a lot, didn’t we?” Nightlight smirked. Twilight’s ears fell back, “er, yeah, sorry about that.” “Well that just means we have to start making up for it,” Velvet sang. “What do you say, kiddo? Tour around Canterlot with your old man while your grandmother prepares a party?” “Dad… are you sure you can handle Starlight on your own?” Twilight teased. “Mom,” Starlight groaned, “I’m not a villain anymore.” “I know, I know, Just don’t give dad a heart attack with an experimental time spell, ok?” Starlight rolled her eyes, “You’re not going to make me Pinkie promise are you?” Twilight gave her a stern glare. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my- OW!” Starlight grumbled as she performed the ritualistic gestures. Spike and Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “Ok, you can go. I’ll stay here and help mom. Spike, do you want to stay or go with your sister?” Spike chomped on his pancake, “I’m going to stick with Starlight. Grandpa might get in trouble with her.” “Alright, have fun you three!” Twilight waved them goodbye as breakfast finished up. Velvet and Twilight took the dishes away while Nightlight and his grandkids went through the front door. “So where do you want to go first?” “I kind of want to see the old library house mom had when she lived in Canterlot,” Starlight gazed towards the castle, “There’s also that museum we passed by yesterday. Could be interesting.” “The Equestrian Natural History Museum? Bleh, come on, Star, we could find better places to go,” Spike whined. “Oh yeah? Any suggestions bro?” “The market is always a good place to visit but I think that’s best saved for lunch time,” Spike thought for a few moments, “There’s a hoofball game in Canterlot Coliseum later. Ugh, why does all the good stuff happen late?” “There we have it!” Starlight cheered, “Mom’s old house, here we come!” Starlight galloped off. “Starlight! That’s the wrong direction!” Nightlight went chasing after her. “This is going to be a repeat of the sock store incident,” Spike facepalmed as he went after them. Starlight galloped down the road. She didn’t want to ask for directions right away. She wanted to enjoy all the time she had with her grandfather and brother. She’d enjoy nothing more than to make this moment last forever. “Starlight, get back here now!” Nightlight shouted. Starlight blew raspberries at him and focused energy into her horn. Time slowed down. Starlight took in the slow moving pigeons. The view she had was bright and vibrant. Rooftops as far as she could see. Each a slate grey angled perfectly to run across. Starlight looked back at her slow moving relatives. An idea came to her and she giggled. With careful planning, she set up an obstacle course out of random junk lying around. Nothing too serious. Just something that would make the two boys trip and roll into a barrel of hay. Starlight noticed a little charcoal and took a piece of paper with it. She wrote “timeout” on the paper and stuck it on Spike’s face. Satisfied with her set up, Starlight focused. 3… 2… 1. Her horn flickered before everything went back to normal. Spike was taken back by the paper in his face and fell on top of Nightlight. Nightlight in turn tripped over a log and caused the two of them to roll straight into a barrel. The barrel wobbled over the hill and rolled down at high speed. At the bottom was a chicken coop. When they crashed, chickens flew away clucking indignity. Starlight laughed madly as Spike clawed his way out of the barrel. “Very funny,” Spike grumbled, “How long did it take for you to set all this up?” “For me, quite a while, but for you a few seconds.” “Don’t start abusing your power, dear,” Nightlight pulled himself out of the barrel, “Why is there hay in this barrel?” “I was thinking the same thing,” Starlight rubbed her chin. “Alright, you had your fun. Now we’ve going to have to walk several miles to get to the library!” Spike scolded. “Can’t we take a cab?” “After what you pull?” Nightlight snorted, “Sorry, young lady, but it’s either walk or I tell my daughter.” Starlight’s eyes became pinpricks, “I guess I could use the exercise…” After a few miles, Starlight huffed and puffed from exhaustion. Spike handed her a water bottle which she happily drank from. Once they finally reached the library, Starlight knocked on the door. Moondancer answered the door immediately. “Can I help you?” Moondancer asked, surprisingly friendly. Starlight smiled, “Hi, my name is Starlight Glimmer, Twilight Sparkle’s daughter.” Moondancer raised a brow, “uh huh… Let me guess; you want to check out your mom’s old house and take some heirlooms?” “Hello Moondancer,” Nightlight greeted. “Oh! Mr. Nightlight! I didn’t see you there,” Moondancer glanced to Starlight, “She’s with you?” “Yeah, she’s OOomph!” Nightlight was blasted by a beam of magic. Moondancer tackled Starlight with a snarl, “Getting a changeling to steal my friend’s father’s identity is low. Even for scum like you.” “Yo! Moondancer, chill!” Spike picked the angry pony up. Moondancer responded by blasting his face, “And who are you? Some dragon getting paid in ‘royal treasures’? Buzz off! All of you!” Nightlight weakly picked himself up, “Moondancer, it’s really me…” “We’ll see what the dispel spell says about that,” she lit her horn. Energy collected around her. Within seconds her spell spread across the area, disabling all magic being used. She snorted as she looked around. Then her eyes widened. “Oh… it really is you,” she ran over towards Nightlight, “I’m so so so sorry I hurt you! I was just trying to protect Twilight’s old place from leeches and scavengers.” “Leeches and scavengers?” Spike echoed. “Ponies have been coming here since Twilight defeated Tirek. Mostly Canterlot unicorns.” “And they use changelings to help them?” Starlight questioned. “All the time! One even posed as me. ME!” Moondancer stomped fiercely, “What did they think was going to happen? ‘Oh I guess they’re ok since I said they’re ok’ Come on! You’d have to be incredibly stupid to think that.” Starlight and Spike helped Nightlight up while Moondancer had her rant. “Then there were these colts in dresses claiming to be the royal sisters and Cadence. They could’ve at least had the dignity to put on a pair of fake wings!” “You done?” “…yes.” “We good to go in?” Moondancer growled, “Fine. But don’t take anything!” “Mom has some strange friends,” Starlight whispered to Spike. Spike chuckled, “Moondancer’s actually the normal one.” Starlight gawked at that. The three of them walked into the old library house with Moondancer. “So who’s you’re friend, Nightlight?” “My granddaughter.” Moondancer looked at Nightlight with confusion, “You’re not joking, are you?” Nightlight shook his head. “Mom had a little time travel episode,” Starlight squeaked. Moondancer rolled her eyes, “Whatever. Twilight disappears all the time. I don’t care if she suddenly comes back as a hairless ape in a mini skirt.” Spike loudly dropped a book. “Be careful with that!” Moondancer snarled, “That’s a third edition copy of Clover the Clever’s-“ “Tome of Tricky Tricks, I know. I re-shelved it for years,” Spike groaned, “I know I look a lot different but it’d be nice to be recognized without me telling you who I am.” Moondancer levitated the book to her, “I’d hoped being around Twilight for… how many years you’ve been with her… taught you how to treat a book.” Spike waved his arms in the air and walked away. Nightlight followed him to see what was troubling him. Starlight went over to Moondancer as she was putting the book in its proper place. “So… mom left you this entire building?” “And everything inside,” Moondancer turned around, “If you’re looking for any ‘family jewels’ you’re not going to find them here.” “I really have no interest in that kind of stuff.” “Then what brought you here?” “I wanted to see were mom was before she came to the past.” “Seriously? That’s all you want?” “Unless you have a book on time magic, yes that’s all I want.” Moondancer pulled a few books from the top shelf. The books levitated in front of Starlight. One was regal gold with a compass rose on the cover. The second was a deep blue with three stars on the cover. The third book was beige and slightly damaged, looking more like a discarded journal than anything else. All three of them had locks forged on them. “These are all that remains of Starswirl’s last spell research. He was obsessed with time in his later years so these little guys will most likely have what you want.” Starlight’s mouth hung open, “You’re… giving them to me? Why?” “Consider it an apology for attacking you earlier. Also, I… can’t open them.” “You’re giving me books that can’t be opened,” Starlight deadpanned. “I wrote to Twilight about them once. She said Celestia trusted her to keep them safe and that she’d be allowed to read them when she was ready.” Starlight took the books, “Well, it’s the thought that counts most. Thank you. I truly appreciate it.” Moondancer smiled. Spike and Nightlight waltzed in. “So how’s it going with you two?” Spike smirked, “Getting along ok?” Starlight levitated the three book, “Moondancer gave me a few books to keep.” “Ah, so she’s your new best friend,” Spike snorted. “Is that a jab at me or you?” Moondancer asked. Spike looked at Moondancer then to Starlight. “I think both?” Starlight shrugged. “It was always funny to see someone act like our little Twilight,” Nightlight said, “Now it looks like someone is acting like our little Star!” Nightlight laughed obnoxiously. “This is still considered a library,” Moondancer glared. Nightlight shut his mouth. Spike mumbled something under his breath. And Starlight snickered. “So is this all there is to mom’s old house? Just books and… nothing else?” “Of course not,” Moondancer pouted, “There’s also an observatory, bedroom, kitchen, and practice room.” “Majority of the space is dedicated to research so most of the house is books,” Spike explained, “Even Twilight needed basic needs like food and rest. The observatory was her favorite. I think a few constellation notes are still up there.” “And the practice room?” Moondancer grinned, “Best place to show off a new spell. Want to check it out?” “Magic duel?” Spike pipped. “Magic duel?” Starlight peeped. “Magic duel,” Spike nodded. “Um… what are you guys doing?” “Preparing to kick your butt at magic,” the adopted siblings yelled in unison. “Oh! Oh yeah?” Moondancer laughed. She teleported everyone to a room that looked similar to a dojo. Moondancer manifested a purplish outfit with matching helmet. A similar outfit, in white, manifested on Starlight. Moondancer grinned at her opponent. “Show your moves,” Moondancer said with a salute. Starlight released a concentrated beam of arcane might. Moondancer swiftly rolled out of the way and countered with a beam of her own. Starlight summoned a shield around her and bounced off the wall. She didn’t have time to register Moondancer’s fireball. “Hey, careful! This isn’t a death match,” Starlight yelped as another fireball impacted next to her. “Relax, I do this all the time,” Moondancer lobbed a third fireball at Starlight, “Magic duel tournament participant. Half year and going.” “You never won a tournament?” Starlight ducked to avoid an arcane beam. Moondancer teleported behind Starlight and slammed her hoof in her side, “I’ve only been in two!” Starlight flung across the room. She looked up and saw Spike and Nightlight munching on popcorn. “Where’d you get the popcorn?” Spike pointed to the popcorn machine directly next to him. Moondancer grabbed Starlight with telekinesis. She pulled Starlight to her, hanging her upside-down like a caught fish. Moondancer smirked as she reeled her hoof back. And booped her on the nose. “I win the first round,” she said with a giggle. Starlight dusted herself off, “I wasn’t prepared for that. Why do you have a popcorn machine in this room?” “I usually got hungry when I watched Twilight practice,” Spike mumbled through mouthfuls of kernels. “Round two!” Moondancer charged Starlight in a fiery glow. Starlight managed to get away with minimal damage. Her leg got the worse of it but she could bear with it. Starlight shot a crystallization spell at Moondancer. She was momentarily frozen in a giant gem. Moondancer shattered her short term prison and assaulted Starlight with the shards. Starlight held a shield up as best she could. She was running out of options. The rapid fire of Moondancer’s spells made it difficult to think. Most of Starlight’s spells either took too long to perform or didn’t work against Moondancer. ‘Time for an experiment’ Starlight thought. As Moondancer’s next spell was heading toward Starlight. Starlight’s horn began to glow dimly. The spell was up against her face before the spell was casted. Silence enveloped the room. Starlight was frightened to open her eyes. She timidly opened them slightly to peek at her demise. Moondancer’s spell was an inch away from her. Starlight jumped away on instinct. She looked around the room. Spike and Nightlight were stuck gripping their bags of popcorn looking at the fight between Starlight and Moondancer. Looking at her opponent, Moondancer, she noticed that Moondancer was moving. However, she was moving so slowly it appeared that she wan’t moving at all. Starlight sighed with relief, ‘Ok think. How can I beat her? There’s got to be something… OH of course. All I have to do is boop her nose and I win the round right? … I think… We never went over the rules’ Starlight rubbed her head, ‘She probably thinks I know how a magic duel works. Mom didn’t want me hurting the other kids so I never learned. I’m going to have to point that out to her’ Starlight concentrated on restarting time. Her horn flickered and went out. ‘Uh oh’ Starlight started to panic. She used a lot of mana while fighting Moondancer. ’N-No biggie, I’ll just… wait until I get some energy back! Yeah, I could use a breather after that,’ Starlight looked at Moondancer with interest, ‘How did you of all ponies get into magic duels?’ Starlight sat, watching Moondancer slowly cast her spell. The display was oddly entertaining. Starlight watched a frozen Moondancer slowly creep towards a now empty space. The magic fire enveloped around her horn in a gentle glow. It was almost like watching a photograph move. ‘How am I going to get out of this?’ Starlight thought to herself. She paced back and forth, trying to start her magic. Her effort was in vain. What felt like hours pasted and Starlight couldn’t use any magic. Not even simple telekinesis! She searched for a clock and found one behind Spike’s head. It was barely a minute to when they started the duel. Starlight groaned with impatience. With nothing left to do, she just lied down and slept. The sound of an explosive impact woke her up. Moondancer had launched her spell at nothing. Starlight stood up, noticing things were moving faster than before. Moondancer blinked with a stunned expression. “How did you?” she trailed off, “That’s… What sort of spell was that?” Starlight stretched, “I amplified a haste spell. It amplified every molecule in my body to the point where my perception of everything was slowed down.” “Sounds like time magic,” Moondancer hummed, “I thought Star Swirl was just crazy.” “Didn’t you just give me Star Swirl’s last research notes?” “You’re Twilight’s daughter.” “So? Are you saying me and my mom are cr-“ Starlight’s eye twitched when she suddenly realized something. Moondancer slapped a smug look on her face, “boop.” Starlight screamed in frustration and flailed around. “Looks like I win,” Moondancer chuckled, “Maybe you shouldn’t pick a fight with someone who has experience in dueling.” “I was taught by the princess of magic!” Starlight cried. “It’s actually friendship,” Spike pointed out. “And friendship has no place in a fight,” Moondancer smirked. Starlight humphed while Spike and Nightlight laughed at how cute she looked. “You really picked up a lot of Twilight’s habits,” Moondancer stated, “Try not to copy all of them.” “What’s that suppose to mean?” “She abandoned out friendship in favor of a conspiracy theory she had.” “To be fair, we wouldn’t have Luna back if it wasn’t for that conspiracy theory,” Spike scratched his nose, “What? Just saying.” “Look, if you have friends from the past, don’t take a few years to get back to them.” Starlight let the thought go through her head. Twilight had lectured her on the importance of making friends. Starlight remembered the flower trio she met in Ponyville. She remembered the ponies she knew in the town. Then she remembered Sunburst. “I’ll… keep that in mind,” Starlight half heartily said. “You gave it your best shot, kid,” Nightlight reassured, “Can’t win everything, can we?” Starlight smiled, “Thanks grandpa.” Moondancer frowned, “I still can’t get used to that. You look too young to be a grandfather.” Nightlight laughed, “Velvet would take that as a compliment! I suppose you’re right though. Time travel causes some weird things to happen.” “I could only imagine,” Moondancer grumbled, “So you want to check out the observatory before leaving?” “Absolutely!” Starlight chimed. The group headed up stairs. Moondancer lead them to a room holding a giant telescope. It was ever astronomer’s dream. Charts, books, papers, coordinations, sketches, etcetera laid all over the room. Starlight was wowed by the whole room. “I took a look at some of the stuff Twilight’s done in here,” Moondancer confessed, “Plenty of notes and not much else. Think this was a hobby of hers? I’ve always known her to be a regular night owl.” Starlight shifted through papers while Spike and Nightlight checked out the telescope. “Say, Moondancer,” Starlight called, “Have you and mom ever done stuff together?” Moondancer blushed, “That question can be taken in certain ways,” she coughed, “and no… we’ve never had time with each other… alone.” “Sorry, It’s just… you make it sound like she hurt you.” “She kind of did,” Moondancer shifted her eyes, “I wanted to be her best friend. Set up a party and everything. But… she put her studies before anything else.” Starlight hummed, “She was a different pony back then.” “Then she had you? Who’s you’re dad?” “I’m adopted,” Starlight grumbled. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Moondancer squeaked. “It’s ok… Are you interested in my mom?” Starlight accused. Moondancer blushed and put her hooves over her face. Starlight wrinkled her nose, “You could just tell her.” “N-No! No, I don’t think Twilight swings that way.” “Fine, but I want you at the part later.” “Really? You’re not going to set me up are you?” Starlight gave her a stern glare. “Alright, I’ll go. Where is it?” “Grandpa’s house 8:00,” Starlight pointed to Nightlight. At the moment, Nightlight and Spike had gotten into a nearby alchemy cabinet and started turning silver coins into gold. Moondancer growled. “I’ll be there. Don’t tell Twilight anything!” Moondancer demanded before attending to the two misbehaving boys. “I won’t tell only if she doesn’t ask,” Starlight said to herself with a wicked grin.