Everything that had happened recently was a clusterfuck in Twilight's mind. She was so precise and methodical that it bordered on Obsessive-Compulsive disorder. Her parents had tried to get her help when she was a filly but she always seemed to outsmart the physicians and psychiatrists that she had been sent to over the years. The one event that finally broke her was Rainbow's death. Celestia had done the best she could to console the mare. She tried to tell her that Rainbow would want her to keep living.
Three ideas had come to her in the middle of the night after Rainbow's death. Time Travel, moving on, and even suicide. Most thought the latter was something that was unconscionable in the eyes of most of her friends. Even Celestia had tried to tell her and it wasn't something she wanted to do. It was best to move on and live the life Celestia had told her to. Rainbow would want her to be happy. She didnt feel the same way and laid out her thoughts.
Twilight rebuked her former mentor. She all but said out loud that she didn't want to live anymore if Dash wasn't in her life anymore. She couldn't bring herself to feel like she'd be unfaithful if she decided to move on with her life. She desperately needed Dash back in her life. To hold her in her hooves. To feel her body against hers again every night. She had become obsessed with bringing her back to life somehow.
She managed to break the veil of death one night while performing a summoning spell and had briefly brought Rainbow back, even if she was only visible in a spirit form. Rainbow Dash had the most haunted and pained look on her face. She couldn't believe that she had been brought back like this. Even if it was temporary.
"Seriously Twilight," Rainbow said as she smacked her face with a hoof," what the hell are you doing?!" She scoffed. Even in Death she was stubborn and annoyed to no end. She stared at Twilight before asking her a simpler reason for doing this right now.
"Damn it Twilight, why do this to us?" she asked Twilight, who was still in shock that her spell had worked. She told her everything that had happened since her death. That Twilight needed her for just one more night. She explained that she was having a harder time moving on then she had realized.
"I can't do this Rainbow. I can't live without you," Twilight muttered in between sobs. It was painful for her to just let her go. Rainbow reached out a spectral hoof and placed it on Twilight's cheek. She had to exert some effort in doing so. As a spirit, her interactions with the mortal world had to be brief.
"Look, I can't stay here for much longer Twi," Rainbow brought her face to Twilights," you know spirits cant exist for extended periods after passing on." She was still calm even after death. It was another one of life and death's mysteries that couldn't be fully explained. Rainbow tried to do the best she could.
"Whatever comes your way, I'll always love you Twilight. And I'll always be waiting for you no matter what."Rainbow kissed her on the cheek before fading back to the netherworld. Twilight could only sit there as the summoning spell faded and Rainbow Dash disappeared. She was an utterly broken mare. As she sat there wondering what to do next. Something darker was stirring inside of her. A number of thoughts crossed her mind. What if she could just use a ressurection spell? No, those were dangerous if miscast. That and Celestia had banned the use of magic of that caliber decades ago.
There was always Time travel. She could just time the spell to take her back to the day of or before the incident and stop Pinkie from hurting Rainbow that way. She could stop Pinkie and get to the bottom of why the mare had attacked one of their own friends. Twilight didnt know that her family history was much darker then she been told by her parents. Some of her ancestors were part of a cult that worshipped a dangerous entity. One that could grant immortality throuogh unholy means. It required turning the pony in question into a Vampony. Of course she was never told that she was descended from a being that was once a subspecies of Unicorns.
They were called the Wraith. They were from the northern edge of the Crystal mountains in a village that no longer existed. AK Yearling had found evidence a years ago that it might have existed at one point but whatever was left was buried under snow and ice. Twilight decided to use that time to collect her thoughts. Before making a decision like this she'd visit this place herself.
She packed a few things including her Winter wrap-up scarf and told Spike to keep an eye on the Library while she went out of town to calm herself. He said he understood and that she'd be happier if she took some time off from this place. Twilight knew he meant well, despite the worried look she had.
"I'll be back in a month or two Spike, I just need an extended vacation," She said as she patted him on the head before hugging him. She snuck out of town to the Trainstation and booked passage on the next carriage ride to the Crystal Empire. She decided not to involve her other friends for now least they try and bug her to let them come with her on this.
Twilight felt she had to do this on her own without their involvement. At least for right now. She cracked open a book as she took her seat on the train. It was a crime drama that Rarity had loaned her a while back. Twilight thought it was kind of nice that Rarity was into mystery novels like she was. One of the mare's favorite authors was Shadow Spade. There were alot of film noir movies that had been released in the last few years that had been based on her works. Within a couple of hours the conduct chimed over the intercom that they had reached the Crystal Empire train station.
Twilight got out and headed towards the Empire's Library and historical archives. She had been here before when Her and Spike had defeated King Sombra and recovered the Crystal Heart. When she got inside she noticed that there was a near Librarian. There was something odd about him though, Twilight swore she knew him from somewhere else but just put in the back of her mind for now.
"Hi, Im looking for a map to the Northern Fringes," she told him. The stallion told her to follow him and they traversed a couple of rows of bookshelves before he located what she was looking for. After retriving it the Stallion turned and looked Twilight right in her eyes before whispering in her ear.
"This should be what you need Twilight Sparkle." That voice was both deep and crisp. That was when Twilight froze and realized where she remembered that voice. Sombra she thought to herself. She turned her head to make sure no pony else was around before she said anything back to him.
"How are you alive," she stuttered. With that he gestured to the top of his head where she could see that his horn had been broken off before it was able to reform over time. When he had trapped her in that crystal prison she had gotten the sense that he didn't want to really harm her. In fact it was more that he wanted to make Twilight Queen regent of the Empire. He told that he would have spared her friends, but she didn't believe him at the time.
"You are so much more powerful than Celestia even realizes," he said," Why do you think I let you go with the heart Twilight? I couldn't be harmed by it, much less killed. All I do is reform my body after each use. I became like this through the study of dark magic my dear. I know for a fact that you could not only dominate all magic, but you could also make death irrelevant." Before she could say anything else he turned to shadow and disappeared into the ground.
A thousand questions began to flood her mind. All of them focused on saving Rainbow's life. She smashed the picture that was sitting next to her bedframe out of malice. The only picture that contained both her and Rainbow sitting with Pinkie Pie. She stared at the shattered frame as it lay on the ground.
"Why did you take her from me Pinkie,"Twilight told herself before going to bed that night. She had a lot of planning to do the next day to try and take her mind off of this. It wasn't going to be as easy as she had thought though.
She couldnt put it out of her mind any longer. She had the spell she needed, she just had to get over the uneasiness of what she was contemplating. Celestia had warned her not to take the spell, that it wouldnt bring Rainbow Dash back to her. The Princess of the felt it neceessary to suspend Twilight from being her student and protege until the unicorn mare could learn to cope with this loss.
"Oh, what do i do,", Twilight thought to herself. Spike was in Canterlot on business as far as she knew. She had told him that she needed time alone to process everything that had happened to her within the last few years. She had sunk into a deep depression over Rainbow's death. She couldn't bring herself to confront Pinkie. Or more apt Pinkie's grave. This was the only thing she could bring herself to do. She was going to travel back in time and stop Pinkie from killing Rainbow Dash. She didnt even care at that moment what it might do the timestream.
All Twilight Sparkle could think of was her marefriend. Those magenta eyes she used to lose herself in, that smirk that Dash always got when she was up to something mischievous.
As she began to charge the spell, she thought she saw Rainbow's Face staring at her, a hoof extended pleading with her not to do this. Pleading with her to just let go.
"I can't let go, I can't lose you, you were my life, Dash," Twilight realized as the spell began to take form and swirl around her that she had been speaking to a chair.
There was no way in Tartarus that she was going to let history repeat itself, there was no way she was going to let her marefriend die this time, least of all to the hooves of a deranged friend of their's. She had consulted her other friends before deciding whether or not to go forward with her endeavor. She was going to travel back in time and stop Pinkamena/Pinkie Pie from killing Rainbow Dash. She was going to stop her from killing the mare Twilight had planned to marry.
The Day Before
Of all the ponies to support her decision, Rarity was the first to speak up about it. She was in full support of Twilight's idea to go back and stop Pinkamena before the nightmare was allowed to escalate. About a month ago, Pinkamena had gotten her hooves on Rarity and tried to have her killed by mercury poisoning. Applejack had shown up to take Rarity to dinner when she found her unconscious with Pinkie just staring at her with a crazed grin creeping over her face.
"After that dreadful incident last month believe me Twilight when i say that the rest of us fully support your decision," Like always Rarity was the most supportive of what Twilight wanted to do. She had lived through something horrific. If Applejack hadn't been there she might have died because of what Pinkie tried to do to her. It was both painful and heartbreaking that one of their own friends tried to take another pony's life.
What she didn't tell them was that she had summoned Rainbow's spirit in order to try and talk to her. Necromancy was something that was frowned upon. If Celestia had known what she had done it would have been enough to confine Twilight to the dungeons for fifty years at most.
Rarity and Applejack shared their own horror story with Twilight. She hadn't known that Pinkie had tried to kill Rarity as well. What's more, she and Applejack had been dating for some time and both had been considering backing the idea that they should live together. Applejack was waiting for the right moment to ask Rarity to marry her. Both she and Applejack decided that it was best if they started living together after that. That way AJ could always make sure she was safe from any future harm.
"It was like she has a completely different pony Twi," Applejack recounted to Twilight what had transpired over a month ago. It was the hardest thing for her to do. Pinkie was such a bright soul that AJ could have never imagined that she was capable of killing another pony. And by poisoning them for that matter. That just seemed so despicable. Applejack continued with her description of events.
"I had gone in to see what was takin' so long and that was when I saw what Pinkie was about to do,",Applejack could see that just talking about it was making Rarity nervous. She pulled her in and kissed her on her head to assure her things were ok. Seeing that made Twilight remember one of the times that she and Rainbow had shared Dash's bed in her cloud home. Twilight had remembered to use her cloud walking spell to make sure she didn't fall through the floor.
AJ had turned around and done a complete 180 spin and bucked her right in the jaw, the force tossing the pink mare halfway across the Carosoul Boutique and right into the adjacent wall. The force of the impact almost snapped Pinkie's neck, sending the pink pony's body crashing to the floor. Twilight had to make sure her calculations were precise. If the spell worked, none of this would have happened, and Rainbow Dash would be alive, and Pinkie would be locked up or at the most, executed for what she attempted.
That and Twilight would still be Celestia's student. Her mental breakdown after Dash was murdered nearly destroyed half of the town. Even though Pinkie tried to kill Rarity too, the one pony she avoided at all costs was Twilight. Part of Pinkie that was still sane knew that if they crossed paths, there would be no escaping her wrath. She knew how Twilight and Rainbow Dash felt about one another, and that the pain of her death had caused Twilight into a downward spiral of insanity that nearly destroyed most of Ponyville, and forced Celestia to suspend Twilight's position as her student because of it.
Twilight looked at her friends and turned back to where the spell was lying and cast it with no regrets. She had altered it to take her back farther then a week. As she felt herself being lifted, she opened to see the traces of the time tunnel she was traveling through before coming out the other side of it. She opened her eyes again to reveal the floor of the Library and looked around to see that there was no sign of the damage she had caused to it when she had her self destructive stunt.
She opened the door to see Rarity walking towards the Library, she remembered that they were going to Sugar Cube Corner to see what was taking Dash so long. The three of them had planned a picnic together.
"We need to get over there fast, I think something's wrong with Pinkie,", Twilight couldn't exactly tell Rarity the real reason for her worry. How would her friends think of her telling them she traveled back in time? Probably about as well as when she tried to get their help in solving a friendship problem during the Want it Need it Incident.
"Ok..", Rarity said, unsure of what was making her unicorn friend panic like this.
Twilight walked in the door to Sugar Cube Corner to see Rainbow Dash about to take a bite out of a cupcake, a cupcake Twilight knew was laced with a sedative. She knocked it out of Dash's hooves before she could take one taste of it, causing Dash to jump back a bit. She looked at Twi, with an annoyed look in her eyes. Until she turned to see Pinkie trying to come at her with a kitchen knife, to which she dodged the incoming attack.
Twilight lit her horn, and enveloped Pinkie in a purplish aura and threw her into the wall jutting out of from the kitchen, which knocked the pink mare unconscious, without killing her this time.
"Twi.. Twilight,", Dash stammered, " How did you know she was going drug me?", Dash stared at her with those magenta eyes, those eyes that Twilight had missed so much, the same eyes she had imagined losing herself in every night.
"Because, I came back in time for you.", She didn't care if they believed it, It was the truth. She had traveled this far back to save the one she loved more then anything else in the world. She turned back and walked over to where Pinkie was laying and used some masking tape to bound her hooves together. She then got a pen and quill and wrote a letter to Celestia, asking her to send four Royal Guards to Ponyville immidiately. Somepony had tried to kill her and Dash, and was being restrained at the moment.
The Guards arrived to take Pinkie into custody while Twilight and Rainbow decided to investigate the basement of Sugar Cube Corner. They both wished they hadn't as they were left utterly speechless to the scene arrayed in front of them. There were numerous organs done up in pastels hanging from the ceiling like party favors. on the other side of the room was a door that led to another area. It was littered with bodies from the other ponies she had done this too before targeting one of her friends. Twilight nearly became sick when she spot a familiar mint green unicorn strapped to a metal table.
"Lyra.", she said as tears started to well up in her eyes, that was until she noticed.. movement. There were no cuts or anything, just a needle mark under Lyra's neck where she had been injected with a sedative. She immediately unchained Lyra from the table and helped her to her hooves. Lyra turned and wrapped her hooves around Twilight, pulling her into a deep hug.
"Thank you for finding me Twilight,", Lyra sounded so modest and relieved that somepony, most of all a dear friend, had found and rescued her from this horrible torment she had been subjected to. Twilight helped walk Lyra to the door of the bakery. Twilight held her friend in a hug that seemed to last forever. Both of them were grateful that the other was there to comfort Lyra.
With some help Lyra was able to go back to a semi-normal life. She still experienced nightmares though. What Pinkie had tried to do her would stay with the mare for the rest of her life. But at least she had Bon Bon and Twilight to help her through this. She was grateful for that at least.