Five Minute Difference

by carefreedude

Preventative mistakes

Despite the exhaustion that Twilight claimed to have been experiencing, she still stayed up late into the night studying the book she requested. Spike on the other hand spent the majority of his time brooding over his missed opportunity at the Tasmot before finally becoming too tired to stay awake. The next morning, Spike awoke to find Twilight missing from the bedroom.

"Huh?" Spike yawned out. "She can't still be awake, can she?" He received his answer when the scent of coffee hit him. The young dragon let out another yawn as he made his way to the staircase.

Upon reaching the basement where the machine was kept, he found the purple alicorn setting up an old video camera they had in storage. Set up in a nice pile next to the camera was a collection of video tapes. Next to those was a small television and a VCR. Spike scratched the back of his head with confusion of the display. He then turned his attention to Twilight.

The young princess had a small grin on her face. She looked, for lack of a better word, tired. The bags beneath her eyes and the mug of coffee on the nearby table were clear indications of her lack of sleep.

"So much for getting rest." Spoke Spike, attracting Twilight's attention.

"Oh, hey Spike." Began Twilight with a long yawn. "What are you doing up?"

"It's seven in the morning." Replied the dragon, causing Twilight to look at the wall clock. The time depicted on it said 7:03. "Did you even sleep last night?"

Twilight let out another yawn. "Can't say I did much of that, Spike. I've been up all night reading. Then I had to take the late train to Canterlot for all this." She pointed a hoof at the new electronics in the room. "I got home around a half hour ago or so." Letting out another long yawn followed by a deep stretch, Twilight levitated a video tape from the pile and placed it in the recording device.

“So what exactly are you going to do with all this equipment?” Inquired Spike as he rubbed his eyes a bit.

Letting out another yawn, Twilight answered the dragon. “I am simply going to make a recording of us doing various random tasks before and after using the Tasmot, and then use the recordings for my research.” Twilight levitated her mug to take a swig of her coffee before continuing. “A video recording would be far more reliable than simply writing everything down. This way, both my current and past self won’t risk leaving out important information.”

“Makes sense I suppose.” Spoke Spike as he poured himself his own cup of Joe. “But how would you be able to compare video tapes? Wouldn’t the current you make one copy and then past you would just make a new copy when current you goes back in time to become past you, making the past you's tape the current you's tape before you leave past you and… I’ve confused myself again.”

The princess levitated over a bowl of sugar for Spike before answering. “I believe I understand what you are asking, and I already figured out a solution.” She then gestured to the open book on her desk. “That book I asked you to retrieve for my yesterday has the answer. Recordari is a book about spells involving the conservation of scrolls.

“For the most part, the spells simply involve keeping books and scrolls in pristine condition. I’ve used such spells to keep my old library to high standards. But there were a few spells describing how to transfer writing from one scroll to another, and it was among these spells where I got the solution I was looking for. You see, many many years ago, a unicorn named Light-“

“I’m sure this is very interesting Twilight, but can you just describe the spell please?” Interrupted the scaly assistant, obviously too tired to listen to this tale.

With a look mild annoyance, Twilight complied with the dragon’s request. “I suppose long story short, there is a spell within the book that lets one take an entire novel and place its contents within one’s mind. Kind of like filing it away, so to speak. Now while the book is in the pony’s mind, it can only be accessed again by placing it on a new source of pages. I performed a few experiments last night with the spell, adding my own modifications to it, and was able to recreate the results with video.”

“So now you and your past self can just watch the video instead of trying to leave notes to each other?” Spike asked after finally understanding what Twilight was speaking about.

“Correct Spike.”

“Does that mean it’s finally my turn?!” Asked Spike with more than a little bit of excitement in his voice, almost spilling his coffee in the process.

“Sorry Spike, but I’m gonna take one more test run myself before I let you give it a try.”

This was obviously not something the small dragon wanted to hear, as he let out some smoke from his nostrils and folded his arms across his chest. “This isn’t fair. We had a deal that said I would get to go after you, but now you are going back on that promise.”

Twilight let out a sigh as she placed her mug on her desk. “Spike, I promise you that once you get your turn, it will be worth it. I have a special surprise that will make up for all of this.”

Still not fully convinced, Spike did concede to the princess’s wish. “Fine, but you promise for real this time that it will be my turn after this?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly.” Responded Twilight, making the gestures with her hoof as she did so.

“Alright, so are you going to get in the Tasmot now?”
“Not quite yet.” Twilight hit a button on the camcorder that caused a red light to turn on. “We need to make the recording first. Didn’t I just get done explaining this too you?” Spike only responded by frowning at her slightly.

“Hello past Twilight." Spoke the princess, looking directly into the camera as she did so. "The day is the twenty fourth of September. The time right now is 7:07 am. Over the next five minutes Spike and I will be recording our thoughts for you to view. You will be able to compare the two recordings after I leave you a copy.”

Twilight made her way back over to Spike. “Alright Spike, is there anything you would like to share with your past self at all?”

“You still don’t get your turn buddy.”

“Oh come on Spike. You’ll get your turn, now is there anything else you would like to say at all?”

“This is going back to the same time that we are in right now, correct?” Asked Spike.

“Yes it is.”

“Then I don’t think there is any new information that I wouldn’t already know.”

“Well, it’s only been about a minute, I’m just trying to waste time. We still have another four minutes to kill after all.” Explained Twilight.

Spike sighed as he tried to bring up a topic of discussion. Finally, a thought did occur to him. “So is your time in the past going to be five minutes every time then? Or did you do that on purpose last time, and we can actually stay in the past longer?” Spike took another swig from his mug.

This question caused Twilight to light up a bit with more energy. “I’m glad you asked. You see, that was another quandary that kept me awake for a while, and I have an answer. You see, many years ago, a unicorn named Cranium Maxi-“

“Can we skip the story again please?”

“No no, Spike, not this time. I’m still trying to kill time here and,” She snuck a peak at the wall clock, “we still have another three and a half
minutes.”

Spike emptied the last of his mug and started making his way back to the pot. “Alright, but can I at least get the abridged versiON!” Spike let out a mild shriek as he tripped over a fold in the rug, causing his empty mug to shatter on the crystal floor.

“Are you alright?!” Asked Twilight, quickly making her way over to her favorite assistant.

Spike picked himself up and dusted himself off a bit. “Yeah, I’m fine. I can’t really say the same for the mug though.” The dragon sighed a little. "That was my favorite mug."

Twilight levitated a broom and dustpan from a nearby closet and began to clean up the mess. “It’s okay Spike, accidents happen.” She snuck another peak at the clock and then one at the camcorder. “Although, this does pose a good opportunity for us.” She emptied to mug shards into the nearby trash can before moving back to her spot in front of the camera.

“What do you mean by 'good opportunity?'” Asked Spike.

“Well, I was thinking that if we used the Tasmot properly, then we may be able to use it to actually fix past mistakes. We could potentially take problems that have occurred and make it so they never happened at all. I would say that preventing that mug from breaking would be a good test, don’t you think?”

Spike pondered this for maybe two seconds before responding. “Sounds pretty good to me.”

Twilight took another peak at the clock. “Alright, that should be five minutes right there.” She turned to face the camera. “Alright past Twilight, I hope you and I will get some good data from this experiment.” She then pressed a button that caused the red light to turn off and for a video tape to eject itself from the back.

“Now all I have to do now is just place the contents of this video in my mind and we will be set to use the Tasmot.” Twilight’s horn began to glow and caused the video tape to float in front of them. Twilight squinted hard as a black stream began to leave the tape and make its way to her forehead. Spike watched in amazement as the information began to dissolve through the mare’s skull. After roughly thirty seconds, Twilight gently placed the tape on the ground and turned around to Spike.

“And now we can go back in time.”

Ten minutes later

Twilight once again sat on her stool with the helmet on her head. The machine was abuzz with flashing lights and a mild hum. Spike stared at the screen as he input the data needed to send the mare on her journey. Once finished, he turned on his seat to face the princess.
“Alright, we are all set. I’ll initiate on your mark.” He hovered his claw over the enter key as Twilight stared at the clock, waiting for the minute hand to tick its way back to the twelve.

Round 2 Twilight. This time we are going to get some serious data.

The clock ticked away past the ten.

Alright Twilight, just breath. You have already done this once.

‘Tick’
‘Tick’
‘Tick’
“Now!”

Just as before, Spike dropped his claw on the button and activated the machine. The bulbs began illuminating in random patterns as Twilight’s horn began to glow brightly. Twilight clenched her eyes shut as the same pain from before began to engulf her.
Once again, Twilight floated in an endless yellow void. Twilight tried to make out anything within but found herself unable. Before she could hopefully bring things into focus, she was suddenly shot back into reality.

Breathing heavily, Twilight found herself standing next to Spike in front of the video camera. A quick glance at the clock revealed that she arrived at the desired time of 7:07, right when she began recording.

“Spike.” Spoke Twilight through heavy breaths, trying to get the annoyed dragon’s attention.

“What? Do you want me to say my thoughts or something?” He looked directly at the camera. “You still don’t get a turn buddy.”

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at this. “No no, you are the past one. Well I suppose you are the current one, but soon enough, you are going to be the past one. Or actually, you would become the future one, but you will remain yourself as the current one. Eventually though, there will be a past, present, and future one.”

Spike merely tilted his head at what she had to say. “If you are going to be talking like this, then I’m gonna need more coffee.” He then began making his way over to the coffee pot, heading straight for the fold in the carpet again.

Acting on the memory of what happened before, Twilight quickly grabbed Spike with her magic and levitated him over the fold.
Spike, not knowing why she was doing this, remarked “I appreciate the help, but I think I can walk five feet to get coffee.”

“So you think. But I just saved you from making the same mistake as before.”

“What mistake?”

Twilight chuckled some more. “You will understand as soon as you watch the vid- Oh! I almost forgot.”

The princess grasped an blank video tape with her magic and began to perform the same spell as before. This time however, a green stream of information began to flow out of Twilight’s head and into the video tape.

Once the spell was complete, she levitated a marker from the desk and marked the front of the tape as DATE: SEPTEMBER 24 TIME: 7:07 FUTURE VERSION

“And with that, my past self can now compare the two tapes.”

“Wait wait wait. Are you future Twilight?” Asked Spike, his unbroken mug still in his grasp.

“Yes I am.”

“Awesome! Now that means it’s almost my turn! What’s the future like anyways?”

“It’s not much different than now, it was only about twelve minutes from now, give or take.”

“Ah. Still, you got the machine work twice now. Are you going to be sticking around longer than five minutes though?”

“I’m afraid not Spike.” Spoke Twilight, sneaking another look at the clock. “As a matter of fact, my time is almost up. So I need you to do something for me.” Before the dragon could respond, Twilight continued. “Soon I will begin acting like I don’t know what just happened. I need you to simply explain to me that I came from today at 7:22 and that I should review both tapes and record my thoughts. I will give you more instruction later. Okay?”
“I guess. I suppose I will see you soo-“

The end of Spike’s sentence was cut off as the yellow void once again flooded Twilight’s vision. Just as before, Twilight was unable to make out anything within the golden abyss before being forced back to reality.

Upon returning, she was staring at Spike, who was currently sipping at another cup of coffee from his still unbroken mug. Noticing that the princess was just staring at him, Spike swallowed the contents within his mouth and began to speak.

“Ah, this must be future you again. Past you told me to tell you to stop the camcorder.” The dragon finished by gesturing over to still recording camera.

Twilight quickly stopped the recording and retrieved the tape. On the desk nearby, there were two more tapes. Both had the same label scribed on to them, the difference being one said FUTURE, while the other said PAST. On the tape that Twilight had, she noticed it had the same date printed on it, but instead of past or future, it simply said REACTION.

“Good. Past me did things exactly as planned. Spike, thank you for doing everything you were told.”

“Thank you for preventing me from breaking my mug.” He took another sip from the cup. “This is one of my favorites.”

Twilight simply let out a small giggle. “Well Spike, I just want to review this last tape here and then you will finally get what you want.”

Spike’s eyes widened as he tried to forcefully swallow the liquid in in his mouth. “Did you mean.” He managed to get out between coughs.

“Yes Spike. I finally mean that it’s your turn.” Twilight smiled, as she finished his sentence.

“Woohoo!” Spike exclaimed as he accidentally spilled the remainder of his cup on the floor. “Oops, I’ll clean that up.”

Twilight was once again about to laugh until a yawn escaped her mouth instead, reminding her of how much she has not slept. “Actually Spike, your turn is going to wait till tomorrow.” She said as she yawned a second time. “I really do need to get some sleep now.”

Spike, who was in the process of retrieving a washcloth for the spill, was frozen from what he had just heard. He was about to protest before seeing the tired mare sluggishly walk past him and to the steps. “Alright, I can wait one more day.” As Twilight ascended the steps, Spike got to work wiping up his spill.

Author's Note:

I suppose it's been a while since I last wrote hasn't it. Sorry about that.

Comments

[hawthornbunny]

Interesting! This is nicely confusing so far. Hope you write more of this! :)