Time and Space in Harmony

by Inkspots

Chapter 1

Time and Space in Harmony

by Inkspots

Chapter 1

Twilight Sparkle looked out across her kingdom, the kingdom she ruled with an iron hoof, and felt dismay. Cheerilee had brought her entire class of students to the Ponyville Library. After lunch.

“Now remember everypony, you’re looking for one fiction, and one non-fiction book that you’ll enjoy reading over the summer,” Cheerilee called over the babble. “No, Snips, you already read that. We went over it in class. Well you were supposed to have read it, pick another one.”

Spike came out of Twilight’s room carrying a letter, but Twilight didn’t look away from the children. She was fairly certain some of them were covered in jam. In her library.

“Hey Twilight, Celestia sent you a letter,” Spike said. When she didn’t respond, he tapped her on the shoulder. Still nothing. “Is everything okay?”

“Spike, you might as well get the cleaning supplies now. And write me a note. Next year, she should bring her class by before lunch,” Twilight said, grimacing as two fillies fought over the sixth Daring-Do book.

“They both need to be appropriate books for your reading level, remember you’re going to have to write a report on both and hand it in on the first day of class next year. Yes, Diamond Tiara, I know you’re switching schools next year, you don’t have to write a report,” Cheerilee explained.

“Well, I guess you can read the letter later, I’ll put it on your desk, okay Twi?” Spike asked.

“No, no it’s fine. I need to not watch this,” Twilight said. She levitated the scroll out of Spike’s hands and opened it up. It was very short, and written in Celestia’s flowing, archaic script.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

In ten days time, Star Swirl the Bearded will be arriving in the Star Swirl the Bearded Section of the Canterlot Library. Please come to Canterlot at least twenty four hours in advance and bring a gown that fully hides your wings. Come alone, and tell no one who you are meeting.

Your Friend,

Celestia

The yelling children became a distant, remote thing. Twilight tried to wrap her mind around the content of the letter, and the phrase time travel floated across her mind, which just raised more questions than it answered.

“You’re sure this came from Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked, trying to buy her mind time to think.

“Oh I’m sure, I’m pretty familiar with the taste of that spell by now. What does it say?” Spike asked, peeking over Twilight’s shoulder. “Oh, it’s blank? Why did she send a blank scroll?”

“It’s enchanted, only I can read it,” Twilight said. She thought for a moment, yes that had to be true. So she could still think. It was a small victory.

“Oh, royal business eh? Well I won’t stick my nose into it then,” Spike said.

“Alright, Twilight, we’re ready to check out, everyone form a line over here, and have your books ready,” Cheerilee said.

Twilight came down from the balcony and started stamping books, doing her best to smile, greet the students, and act normal. She wasn’t sure she was doing a good job because when Sweetie Belle walked up with her two books, she asked Twilight if she was feeling alright.

“Uh, oh I’m fine, thank you Sweetie Belle. But, um, can you do me a favor actually? Can you tell your sister I need a gown that completely hides my wings,” Twilight said.

“A what?” she asked.

“Completely hides my wings, yes. Enjoy the books.”

* * * * * *

That evening Twilight went over to Carousel Boutique after it closed and knocked on the door. After a moment Rarity came to the door and unlocked it.

“Twilight, darling, is Sweetie Belle telling the truth? A gown that hides your wings?” Rarity asked as they walked upstairs from the store to the workshop.

“She is,” Twilight said.

“Whatever for?” Rarity asked.

“Well, I actually can’t tell you,” Twilight replied. “It’s uh, Princess business?”

“Well I will simply have to get it out of you later with a bottle of wine,” Rarity said with a laugh. “In the meantime I am so glad she was telling the truth. After I got over the oddity of the whole thing it turned out to be a particularly fascinating challenge. I tried looking at the gowns pegasus actors use when portraying different kinds of ponies, and those work if you’re twenty feet away from a stage, but they are just no good face to face. Then I thought, corset darling! I talked Fluttershy into putting a few on but they were simply unbearable. The boning is a nightmare on the wings. Eventually it was Rainbow Dash of all ponies who had the right idea. She came over with Fluttershy, and suggested I use the material that flight suits are made out of. It’s stretchy, but taught and comfortable against feathers.” Rarity pulled a sheet off of her creation. “And Viola! Magnificent, yes?”

Twilight had expected the gown to have a massive bustle to hide her wings, but it was actually quite sleek.

“I can’t believe how far along you are already, it’s very pretty,” Twilight said.

“Now, Sweetie Belle didn’t say if this was for a formal occasion or an outside engagement or what have you, so I can modify it if needed, but I went with an evening gown just to be safe,” Rarity explained. The dress was black with blue and purple accents.

“Well I am meeting an important pony, so I suppose a formal gown works well,” Twilight mused.

“Oh, an important pony? The clues begin to appear,” Rarity said. “A date, perhaps? You are always so secretive about your love life. But the gown... perhaps a date with a pony you haven’t seen in awhile?”

Twilight frowned at Rarity. “I really can’t say anything more, please.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll be patient. But back to the dress, I won’t lie, dark colors were the obvious choice for a deceptive gown. Now let’s get you into it! I used the measurements I had down from your Best Mare dress but in truth it’s all just pins and magic holding it together.”

Rarity and Twilight made small talk as the seamstress measured and sewed and wrapped Twilight in the gown. Her wings rested in sleeves beneath the outer layer of the dress, and once it was on, Twilight looked like a unicorn again. It was more shocking than the first time she had seen herself with wings because for a brief moment she felt relief: she was finally back to normal. Then the reality of what normal now meant came crashing back down. She didn’t really expect to start crying.

“Twi? Twilight dear what’s the matter?” Rarity asked. She summoned her fainting couch and brought Twilight over to it. Twilight put her head in Rarity’s lap and had a good long cry, doing her best to ignore the stabbing pain of the pins from the incomplete dress. Rarity didn’t say anything, just stroked Twilight’s mane in silence.

When the tears finished Rarity gave Twilight a scrap of spare cloth to dab her eyes with.

“Now I know this isn’t about the dress, because let’s be honest, it’s me, the dress is fabulous,” Rarity said. Twilight couldn’t help but smile. “There, that’s what I wanted to see. Now, Twilight dear, can you tell me what this is about?”

“I just, I just had to finally admit to myself that everything is different now,” Twilight said.

“Well that’s simply not true,” Rarity said. “And I suspect there are a handful of ponies who feel the same way.”

* * * * * *

Eight days later Twilight arrived in Canterlot. She had hired a Pegasus Chariot, so the flight only took two hours. They landed just outside Canterlot Castle. Twilight tossed the two pegasi a few extra bits each and made her way through the gate. Celestia was waiting for her just inside. As the pair talked they walked through the lush, blooming palace gardens.

“Hello Twilight Sparkle, how are you my dear?” she asked.

“Very, very confused,” Twilight admitted.

“Well we can talk about that in a moment. First, did you follow my instructions?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, Rarity made me a dress that hides my wings, and I didn’t tell her why. I didn’t tell anyone,” Twilight said.

“Good. After this is over, this might all seem slightly unnecessary, but we felt it was better to take the precautions just in case,” Celestia said.

“We?” Twilight asked.

“Star Swirl and I,” Celestia replied. “Come, let’s head up to my tower, we can talk there.”

They had reached the base of Celestia’s tower, where the princess’ private quarters were. The two alicorns spread their wings and took to the air. The floral haze of the palace gardens gave way to the thin, mountainous air as they rose above the palace walls. They touched down on the balcony of Celestia’s tower, then stepped inside her laboratory. They sat down on floor cushions and Celestia waited for Twilight to get her thoughts together.

“So, does this have to do with time travel?” Twilight asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay, but he can’t be using the spell I used, that only allowed you to go back in time,” Twilight replied.

“Indeed, that spell was an early product of his research into time travel. It is mostly useless, and suffers from all the problems that the Praxial Bridge model imposes on temporal magic,” Celestia said.

“But it also confirms his theorem, doesn’t it? The energy that flows along the Praxial Bridge goes forward in time, making the act of going backwards in time exceedingly difficult as the magical energies that you expend to do so are quickly overcome by the flow of time, and you’re pushed back along the Praxial Bridge to your original time, and you’re deposited there instead of further in the future because the magical expenditure that sent you back in time creates a temporal flux that makes it the most energy efficient point to remove you from the flow of time,” Twilight said.

“And the implications for going forward in time?” Celestia asked.

“It requires less energy, but once you’re further along the Praxial Bridge going back to your original time is just as difficult as any attempt to go back in time, and also temporary, making it essentially a one way trip,” Twilight replied.

“Very good, Twilight,” Celestia said. “Now, what would be the implication of a device that allowed you to simulate a Praxial Bridge, and thus actively affect how time flows along it?”

Twilight was silent for a moment, trying to guess if Celestia was asking simply to test her, or if she had such a device tucked away somewhere. “It would allow, if it existed, for a pony to go forward in time without it being a one way trip, and go backwards in time without expending so much energy, you could go back incredibly far. Princess, did Star Swirl build something like that?”

“Indeed. Though he had some help from a certain Princess,” she replied. “However, despite our best efforts it did not allow us free reign over time, to go where we wished at whim. And in truth that is probably for the best. We had the knowledge, what we lacked were materials. It was more than a thousand years ago, and we just didn’t have the magical components needed to create a device like you described. I could have waited, but Star Swirl couldn’t. He was already getting old at that point. So we made the best device we could. Then it was simply a matter of deciding where to go. We quickly agreed that we would make no attempt to change the past, simply observe it. So we eventually decided we would send him back to Harmonia.”

Twilight was tired of being confused. She was so rarely confused. “But that’s just an old mare’s tale!”

“Like the Mare in the Moon?” Celestia asked.

Twilight blushed. “Okay, good point.”

“What do you know about Harmonia?” Celestia asked.

“Just the bedtime story every pony knows: The Kingdom of Harmonia existed long ago, and was a beautiful place where everypony was happy. Then, after thousands of years of peace a pony, either a wizard or general, or something, arrived and tricked the Queen, stealing her throne and ruling over her subjects as a tyrant. All the ponies began dying, and soon there were barely any ponies left. The final pony or ponies then rise up and defeat the evil tyrant, sealing him away, and leaving the kingdom,” Twilight said. “But I never heard of any evidence that it actually existed.”

“Thousands of years ago the story was told a little differently. Luna and I heard that story, and when Discord threatened the world, we followed its clues, searching for the power the heroic ponies used to overthrow the tyrant king. Out investigation led us to the Elements of Harmony. We found them in the Everfree Forest, just like you did,” Celestia explained. “We suspected then that Harmonia really had existed, but we had little to go on. If these ponies had created the Elements of Harmony, then they would have had to of had remarkable magical knowledge, power, and an understanding of unity and friendship, which begs the question: how was their kingdom destroyed? These were the questions we hoped to answer. However, because we didn’t have the best of components, we couldn’t create a perfect simulation of a Praxial Bridge. We made, more of a spiral. For a trip that far into the past he would need to then travel into his future, so he would end up back in his original time without any extra energy trying to distort the flux point where he exited. That is why he will appear here briefly, before returning to his original time.”

Twilight’s brain made an heroic effort keeping up. “So, why in the Star Swirl the Bearded Section?”

“He will arrive next to the device, the hourglass in the middle-”

“Wait that’s a device, I thought it was a sculpture!” Twilight remarked.

“No, it is a device, a Praxial Bridge Simulator,” Celestia said.

Twilight’s head hurt. “I’m not even sure what words to use for this.”

“Yes, he always said the problem with time travel was grammar.”

* * * * * *

The next day Twilight had a maid help her into her wing-hiding evening gown and headed for the Canterlot Library, feeling a little bit ridiculous, but also nervous because she was about to meet the most famous wizard in Equestrian history. The butterflies in her stomach kept her preoccupied until she got there. She found Celestia sitting in the Star Swirl the Bearded section, waiting. Twilight sat beside her, and in the silence, suddenly a host of questions rose out of her roiling stomach.

“So, Princess, why do I need this gown?” Twilight asked.

“Star Swirl will only be in our present for about an hour. I do not want to distract him with the knowledge that you are an alicorn. If he asks, you are simply my most prized student, here to take notes,” Celestia replied.

“Oh, okay,” Twilight replied. She pulled out the parchment and quill she had brought along and cast a spell on the quill so it would record every word it heard. They then returned to sitting in silence. After an hour, Twilight asked her second question. “Don’t you already know what he says? After he shows up here, he’s going to show up in... his present, and you’ll be there, and you must have talked about his findings.”

Celestia did not respond. She did not look at Twilight. She simply stared ahead.

“I’m sorry, it’s none of-”

“No Twilight, I’m sorry. I haven’t been completely honest with you, and I haven’t told you the whole truth because it is so hard to say. Yes, you are here because Star Swirl will appear and might just answer one of the most important archeological questions ever asked. You are also here for another reason. After Star Swirl leaves our present, he will return to his present. There, the device will malfunction, and he will fail to exit the temporal flow through the proper flux point. As the Praxial Simulation collapses around him, he will cease to exist. This is your second task: I cannot tell him. We will speak only of his findings. If I show weakness, if I cannot control myself and try to warn him, you must use whatever magic you see fit to stop me,” Celestia said. “When he arrived in his present, he did not know the device would malfunction. Which means I don’t tell him now, which means you won’t fail.”

“Princess, I’m not sure I could use magic on you like that,” Twilight said.

“Perhaps you won’t. Perhaps I will make it through the meeting. But if you must, you will.”

They lapsed back into silence. Twilight tried to imagine what spell she would even use. She tried to imagine using, for instance, a tongue swelling spell. But almost as soon as she thought of it, she was mortified at the idea. Time passed, perhaps another hour. The section was silent, library silent.

The enormous hourglass that Twilight thought was a sculpture began to vibrate, then started to turn slowly. As it did so the base opened up to reveal a complex network of magical crystals and runes. Finally, the hourglass completed its turn, and with a flash, a pony appeared before them.

He was not wearing the cape and hat all the stories described, and his beard did not drag the ground, but was perhaps two feet long, still longer than any beard Twilight had ever seen on a stallion. His mane was steely grey with a hint of blue, and his coat was white and shaggy.

“I must say, I’m still not used to that sensation,” he said, shaking his head.

“Hello, Star Swirl,” Celestia said.

“Oh hello darling, and who is this?” he asked.

“She is a student, here to take notes for us,” Celestia replied.

“Really? You must be quite the student to be invited to this little meeting,” Star Swirl said with a chuckle.

“She is my brightest pupil,” Celestia said, casting a warm smile at Twilight.

Twilight blushed. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t want to give anything away. Celestia had no doubt gone over this meeting thousands of times in her mind, but Twilight was thinking on her hooves.

“It’s really an honor to be here, Star Swirl,” Twilight said. She didn’t think he could discern anything for that statement.

“Very carefully put my dear,” he said.

“Do not try to pry any information out of her, she is far too well read to reveal anything you shouldn’t know,” Celestia said.

“Well read you say? I would imagine so to get this far, but you’re right, tricking pupils must wait. I, well, in truth, I really don’t know how to preamble this: I have walked the streets of Harmonia!” Star Swirl exclaimed.

“So it really did exist?” Celestia asked.

“Oh yes it did. And it was beautiful. Deep in the Everfree Forest, every street lined with ancient trees, the houses towering above those. On every street corner the lamp posts shine like they house captive stars, and the sky never quite gets bright enough to be day, and not terribly dark at night,” Star Swirl waved his hooves around as he spoke. “But the Elements of Harmony! When I arrived I headed for the center of the city, to a giant domed palace. There, in the main hall, sat the Elements in their physical form, resting on an elaborate stone fountain. Based on all the evidence I could see they did indeed create them, their magical signature matched the fountain perfectly. Well, we can talk over all of this when I get back to-”

“Oh I know, but everything is fresh in your mind, we should try to get as much of it down right now, just in case,” Celestia said. Twilight watched her face. She was smiling, but her eyes were looking into the space beyond Star Swirl.

“Your academic integrity is matched only by your beauty. Very well,” Star Swirl spoke at length about the types of cutie marks he saw on the ponies, the architecture, ponies drinking water from the Fountain of Harmony. He tried to relate as many words from their ancient language as he could remember hearing and seeing. Celestia had dozens and dozens of questions ready, and Twilight’s magical quill raced to record it all. And looming over all of them was the hourglass. Twilight glanced at it as Star Swirl recounted the appearance of the military uniforms of the guard ponies. How much time did he have left, fifteen minutes?

Eventually the academic focus of the questions began to waiver. Twilight felt like an intruder. It was shocking at first, how much they loved each other. Twilight had a hard time thinking of the Princess as a pony like any other, who wanted somepony special in her life. Then it felt sweet, it felt right. She blushed at his compliments, they made obscure in-jokes for each other. Then, in the final minutes, it was almost too painful to watch. These were the last peaceful moments they would have together, before his sudden death, hundreds of years ago.

“And their queen, was she more beautiful than me?” Celestia asked quietly.

“Now you’re just being silly,” he said, but all the same he leaned in to kiss her. Twilight looked away, at the sand silently pouring through the hourglass.

“Star Swirl, I-”

“Princess, did you want to go over any of the astrological questions?” Twilight asked.

Celestia steeled herself. “You’re right, of course.”

“Oh we can talk about it later. Besides, I’m sure I’m around some corner feeling absolutely jealous that I stole a kiss from you,” Star Swirl said with a laugh at the absurd nature of the sentence.

“You know I can’t tell you that,” Celestia said.

“There’s no need. I’m fairly certain I’m one, maybe two spells away,” Star Swirl replied. “And when I meet you on the Astral Plane, this time travel nonsense will seem like child’s play.”
Twilight remembered that Star Swirl had been working on the magic of friendship, trying to unlock that mysterious field of magic and transform into an alicorn. She pictured it in her mind, Celestia and Star Swirl, king and queen ruling over Equestria across time. She suddenly felt like a thief, like she had stolen his work and taken his place on the Astral Plane.

“Star Swirl, enough, you know I can’t,” Celestia said.

“I’m sorry dear, I’m putting you in an unfair position,” Star Swirl said. He glanced behind him at the scant moments he had left, then turned to Twilight. “Thank you for your assistance, faithful pupil. Do you have any questions for me yourself? Maybe something modern Star Swirl would never admit to?”

Twilight had to unclench her throat, which was knotted with guilt, and thought for a moment. “Is there really no spell you’re bad at?” she asked.

“Teleportation,” he replied in a matter-of-fact voice. “I throw up, oh practically every time. I never use the spell now, I stick to gravity manipulation,” he said with a grin.

The hourglass behind him began to turn, creaking on its hinges.

“I’ll see you in a moment my dear. This has been an exhausting couple of days. But I suppose it’s a small price to pay for travelling thousands of years across the Praxial Bridge,” Star Swirl said.

“I love you, Star Swirl. You’ve done an amazing job,” Celestia said. Twilight watched her, wondering if she would begin to cry.

“I love you too. And I’ll see you soon!” he called as the magical energy began to arc around him. And then, in a flash, he was gone.

Once he was gone the device began to power down. In the silence of the library, each click and hum of the magical device was audible until its final moment. Then, as the room became quiet and still, Celestia let go. Twilight watched the strongest, most powerful pony she knew, collapse in on herself. And just as Rarity had done for her, she held her mentor silently, running a hoof through her ethereal mane, which always felt like silk and water. Everything was different now.

Author's Note:

Just a heads up, I have written this entire story out already. (It's 12 chapters, approx. 65k words) However I'm revising as I go. New chapters will likely be posted every week on Tuesday. Hope you like it and thanks for reading.

Comments

[The sprawl infectors]

Hmm... Pretty good. And now we wait