Twilight Sparkle and Inner Light remained in Unicornassus for the next three weeks. With Willow's help, they moved freely among the populace, undisguised. They were met with reactions ranging from disbelief to curiosity to suspicion, but slowly, Inner Light spread his newfound talent through the unicorn populace.
What none of them had expected was its capacity for self-propagation.
For every ten unicorns Inner Light bestowed with a Cutie Mark, twenty more developed Cutie Marks all on their own. Traders from the earth and pegasus tribes came into the city and left forever changed.
After their time in Unicornassus, they traveled to Fort Pinion, the Pegasus castle in the clouds. They were not welcomed as openly as they had been by the unicorns, but they persuaded the pegasi to listen to them, and Inner Light spread his magic among the pegasi.
Two weeks later, they ventured to the earth pony lands. By this point, word of the Cutie Mark Miracle had spread far and wide, and more earth ponies had Cutie Marks than lacked them. Many were still confused; many thought the unicorns had ensorcelled them. Twilight spent every day, from dawn to dusk, moving among the earth ponies, teaching them about the meaning and magic of Cutie Marks.
Every night, at whatever lodgings they ended up sharing, Inner Light and Twilight would cherish one another's company. Each grew more and more fond of the other; with each passing day, Twilight found herself unable to deny the very real love and affection she felt for a stallion she had only met by a twist of fate.
It was well into summer by the time they returned to their home in the valley, with a promise to return to the equine tribelands in a year's time.
As the summer wore on, Twilight found herself with a completely unexpected surprise to share with Inner Light.
* * * * *
"Umm...excuse me...Your Highness?" Fluttershy trailed behind the other pegasi and Princess Celestia as they ascended to the tree cover above the valley. "I...I don't think I should be, umm..."
Celestia paused in midair. "You want to remain behind with the others?"
"Oh, well...y-yes," Fluttershy said. "I mean...Rainbow Dash and Ms. Do are...are much better at this sort of thing than I am, and..."
Celestia drew up in front of Fluttershy. "I understand you're scared," she said softly. "And if I didn't need you, I'd have left you behind with the others. But what's happening right now is very important, and I need everypony I can count on."
"But...your guards..."
"The guards are sworn to follow my orders to the best of their abilities," Celestia said. "But you, Fluttershy, would do anything to help your friends. Time and time again, you've surpassed your own limits and faced your own fears when your friends were in trouble. Right now, Twilight Sparkle needs her friends. I need you. Please, I beg you. Help me help Twilight." She frowned. "If...if we even can..."
Fluttershy swallowed heavily. "A-alright," she said.
"HEY! What're you slowpokes hangin' around down there for?" Rainbow Dash cried. "We've got a minotaur to mangle!"
Celestia and Fluttershy flew after Rainbow Dash and Daring Do.
When they emerged from the tree canopy, there was no sign of the airship or the guards. "Oh no," Fluttershy whispered. "Which way did they go?"
Daring scratched her chin with a hoof. "Dongnocc has a villa in Neighpoli," she said. "I'm willing to bet that's where they're headed."
Celestia nodded. "Then let's move."
* * * * *
"Have you enough blankets, my love?"
Twilight rolled her eyes as she lay upon their bed, cocooned in a deep pile of blankets. "I think so," she said dryly. She sipped her warm cider, savoring its spicy aroma, and turned a page in her book.
Inner Light stared out the window. "Were it not winter, I would travel to Unicornassus and fetch a doctor—"
"What for?" Twilight asked. "I'm perfectly fine."
"But I—"
Twilight lightly smacked Inner Light with her book. "It's a perfectly natural process," she said. "Pregnant mares don't need to be looked after by a doctor all the time. Heck, in olden pony times, they didn't even have midwives! It's not necessary."
Inner Light sighed and paced around. "I just worry for you. For our child."
Twilight smiled. "I know, and that's sweet," she said. She shook her head and giggled. "I never would've imagined I'd wind up stuck in the distant past, pregnant with the foal of the alicorn who created Cutie Mark magic." She frowned. "I really hope this isn't completely ruining Equestrian history or anything."
Inner Light nuzzled her. "I can see no possible way in which this miracle can end in ruination," he said softly.
Twilight nuzzled him back. "Come to bed," she suggested. "It's cold. You should snuggle up under the blankets with me."
* * * * *
"Hey Fluttershy?"
"Yes, Rainbow Dash?"
"So uhh...who's lookin' after Tank if you're here and Spike's not back in Ponyville?"
"Oh, don't worry," Fluttershy said. "I have Cheerilee, Big Macintosh, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders taking turns checking on and feeding the animals until we get back." She smiled. "I do have a system for when I have to leave Ponyville."
"Oh. Okay. Cool."
"So who's Tank?" Daring Do asked.
"My pet tortoise," Rainbow replied.
Daring raised an eyebrow. "Tortoise? A pegasus with a tortoise?"
"A flying tortoise," Fluttershy said with a smile.
Daring scratched her head. "Huh?"
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Now that you mention it, I've heard of the infamous flying turtle in Ponyville, but I have yet to see it with my own eyes."
"Oh, well...Twilight rigged up this magical harness thingie that lets Tank fly around. I'm...not really even sure how he steers it, but it works." Rainbow shrugged. "It just makes him awesome."
Daring shook her head. "A flying turtle. Good grief."
"What about you, Miss Do? Do you have any pets?" Fluttershy asked.
"Nah," Daring said with a dismissive hoof wave. "I live alone out in the middle of nowhere, I'm gone more often than I'm home..."
"Oh. Yes. I suppose that's a good reason..."
* * * * *
For lack of anything better to do, the earthbound group ventured into the tomb. "Wow, look at all these ancient carvings!" Pinkie Pie said. "It's exactly like something out of a Daring Do book!"
"Well, I suppose that makes sense, since Daring Do was here exploring this tomb," Rarity said.
Twilight Velvet scratched her chin with a hoof. "I wonder what brought Daring and Dongnocc to this tomb?" She slowly trotted along the walls, lighting the engravings with her horn. "Huh. This language is ancient," she muttered.
"Can you read it, Miss Velvet?" Rarity asked.
Velvet shook her head. "Nopony alive can read this except Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," she said. "This is the ancient script of the alicorn race."
Rarity blinked. "I beg your pardon. Did...did you say the alicorn race?"
"There are very few surviving samples of this writing," Velvet said. "Several moons ago, Daring Do showed up at my house out of the blue with this ancient book she couldn't translate. She wanted access to the Canterlot Archives to try to figure it out. We spent an entire week researching, but we never found anything. Then one day, by chance, I passed Princess Celestia in the hall at the Archives. I took a chance and asked her if she recognized the language in the book. That's when I found out about the language of the alicorn race. She was amazed a book that ancient even still existed."
"Yes, all well and good, but...alicorn race?" Rarity repeated.
"All Princess Celestia could tell me about them was that they predated Equestria by thousands of years, and they created the three pony tribes." Velvet shrugged. "Celestia and Luna are the last True Alicorns in existence."
"I...I see," Rarity said.
"Hmm," Pinkie mused, rubbing her muzzle with a hoof.
"What is it, Pinkie Pie?" Spike asked.
"Weeelllll...I can't read this old writing, but if you look at the pictures, doesn't it seem an awful lot like this is the story of Luna and Celestia losing their mommy and daddy? And this whole place is their daddy's tomb, but it just says their mommy...well...left. Oh, and she had Twilight's Cutie Mark."
Everypony stared at her, blinking.
"Or it could be a recipe for alicorn cake," Pinkie added with a shrug. "Eh."
Rarity frowned thoughtfully. "Hmm. I wonder..." She marched up and down the lines of engravings, horn lit. Velvet stood still, chewing her lip, her brow furrowed.
* * * * *
Twilight Sparkle stared down at the beautiful white alicorn foal that lay atop a pile of blankets, still damp from being birthed. Her wings were stunted and hadn't fully grown in, and her short, messy mane and tail were a bright salmon pink. Her legs were longer than most foals Twilight had seen, gangly and slender. The little foal blinked sleepy greyish-pink eyes up at her and yawned.
"She's beautiful," Inner Light said in a soft, wonderous tone, staring down at their daughter.
"Yes, she...she is," Twilight said, eyes wide. "But...but this is...this is impossible..."
"What is, my love? That our daughter is an alicorn? Because, well...we are both alicorns."
"No, not that," Twilight said. She studied the little foal intently. Even in this tiny, undeveloped form, the pony she had just given birth to was unmistakeable.
*But...but how...?*
Inner Light nuzzled her. "I have seen you perplexed about many things, my love. Today is not a day for puzzlement. Today is a day for jubilation. We are a family now." He gently floated the tiny foal up into the air; she fussed and fidgeted at the unfamiliar sensation of floating. "Come, beloved. Name our daughter."
Twilight stared at the foal, her heart hammering in her chest. With a deep, shaky breath, she whispered the only name that could belong to this impossible foal:
"Ce-Celestia."
5954218
Eh, wouldn't be the first time. MLP: FiM's version of time travel can't really change anything.
And thus the loop is closed.
called itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled itcalled it
Whaaaaat the fuck is going on. But as always another good chapter my friend.
Oh that is awesome I love this story
5954218 Not at all. Twilight was born a unicorn to Velvet and Nightlight in the modern day, ascended, then traveled back in time thousands of years to give birth to Celestia and Luna. At no point has this caused a paradox, the loop is pretty simple and it's closed at this point.
5954218
Nope. While Twilight is Celestia's mother, Celestia is not Twilight's ancestor.
Oh, wait, I see it now. This story is called Biomom and is about Rainbow Dash's biomom, yes, but it also has to do with Celestia and Luna's biomom as well. So many biomoms.
Well....this has gone from paradox to paradox.......and I can't tell which one....the Grandmother paradox? The Bootstrap Paradox? The Paradox Paradox?!
Holy. Shit.
reactiongifs.com/r/mog1.gif
This morning, while taking a shower (no joke), I imagined this kind of scenario playing out.
5954218
5954461 The word you're looking for is ontological paradox. The grandfather paradox is one example of an ontological paradox, but it isn't THE end-all of it. And this is NOT a grandfather paradox, as another reader has explained: Twilight has not caused her own existence.
5954622
While yeah that is true (my knowledge on paradoxes is basic at best) I do still find it to be a bit paradoxical. Honestly I was being a goof when I was posting as I was just pondering the situation in my head and was confusing myself to high heaven ahaha. But honestly though it's a great story and I hope it keeps being one. You workings with the timelines is quite refreshing.
5954642 Well yeah, it's a paradox. Hence the term "ontological paradox." It's just not the grandfather paradox.
5954650
Haha Well I guess I'll just have to wait then to see its extent eh? Well I wont bother ya anymore about it an author never reveals more than he has to I say. Well good luck mon ami and I hope you keep up the good work!
Huh. Bootstrap paradox. Not quite someone going back in time to give himself plans for the time machine, but the information still has no clearly defined origin.
And yeah, this was pretty clearly going to happen. After all, we've seen how time travel works in this setting. It's a single immutable timeline. Everything that happened is going to stay happened. All time travelers do is help ensure that it happened, whether that means half-finished warnings or getting stranded with an attractive member of the opposite gender.
As for Twilight's fate... Well, it does only say that's it's just Inner Light's tomb. She might be taking the long way back. Pinkie will need to take a look at the rest of the tomb's carvings to know for sure.
I called it!
Not quite a grandfather paradox, but its still a form of ontological paradox. If Celestial had never been born, Twilight would not have become her student. This in turn would mean that she doesn't ascend to alicorn-hood and would thus have been unable to activate the tomb and travel to the past.
I'm guessing Twilight does return to the present (mostly because the story lacks a 'Sad' tag).
5948168
Well, if Cadance was not adopted and is actually biologically related to Celestial, this still does some strange things to their relationship. In this scnario, Twilight would be both Cadance's sister in law and grand aunt and Shining Armour would be both her brother and grand nephew (in-law). The relationships would still apply even if Cadance was adopted (at least I think it does), just less screwy due to the lack of blood relation.
I CALLED IT I SOOOO CALLED IT
On another note how sad is the chapter gonna be when Twilight has to go back to her own time and leave a little filly Celestia and Luna?
5954890
Twilight does return to the present. Pinkie translated the runes without meaning to.
The father died...but the mother - Twilight - just left. Back to the present.
So she's gonna be a decade or so older when she comes back to the present.
I so totally CALLED IT!!! Please give us more!
5954995
I imagine its going to be very sad indeed. Not only will filly Celestia and Luna be left without their mother for a very long time, Twilight and Inner Light will likely never see each other again
5955624
Then she will immediately be reunited with her now grown up daughter and mentor Celestia. How much you wanna bet the first words out of Celestia's mouth are either "Hello Mother." or "I missed you so much"?
5955633
I'm betting that there will be plenty of tears and hugs involved. Followed by the inevitable wtf reaction when they explain what's going on.
: And i thought finding out that Daring Do is my mom was crazy...
You know something really strange? This is actually the second time I've seen a story where Twilight goes back in time and becomes Celestia and Luna's mother. I hope this one turns out better, the other one ended with Celestia and Luna crying together about her death after sending her back to make it happen.
Also, a side effect of that other story was that I saw this coming a mile away. If--when she gets back, this could get really interesting. As in, even more interesting than it already is.
*Glances at comments*
I might get some flak for this, but I don't think it's really worth the effort to type "called it," when something has been hinted at this obviously.
But I totally (kind of) called it regarding that cutie marks had their origins with Twilight's adventure into the past.
5955894
If you're referring to the story I think you're referring to, I believe this one will have a happier ending. Like I mentioned earlier, this story is noticeably lacking the 'sad' tag unlike that other story.
5955980 Meh, we'll all do it anyway. People like to feel smart.
Yup, we may have all called it... but the joy in reading lies in how the story gets there and where it goes from there! Can't wait to read more!
I'm gonna throw in a prediction of my own (totally enjoying this story, by-the-by).
Twi's probably already back, just no one knows it yet, and most likely including Celestia and Luna. I'm gonna keep the full thought to myself though on the how. (feels like a pretty good guess though)
5956400
Now that is an example where I believe it was worth it, because it wasn't obvious to most readers for quite a while.
(I have fallen really, really, really far behind... )
5956206
Even though I say it isn't really worth it when it's this obviously hinted, I've still been guilty of doing so myself.
5957532
About 5 minutes
No way, Twilight is Celestia's mother, and likely Luna's as well?!
was wondering why i was getting a que sera, sera vibe from this .
IL: "Come Twilight, name our foal!"
T: "Uh, J-Jenkins! Her name is Jenkins!"
5954461
I think this is a predestination paradox, meaning Twilight was always meant to come back in time to inspire Inner Light to create cutie marks, and then foal Celestia and Luna.
6260490
Bootstrap Parodox i had to Google it
IL: "Come Twilight, name our foal!"
TS: 'You bit...! I went to your castle, and you sent me to the tomb anyways! Well FINE!' "Molestia. Her name is Molestia."
6169311 ALL HAIL PRINCES JENKINS
5965336 i think you'r the only one who didn't see that coming
Wait wut
I clicked on this thinking it would be a cute Little story about Darin Do and Rainbow Dash... but this is a wole lot more.
I nearly fell out of my chair laughing
6952120 f@&$
7898568
Knew it. The hieroglyphs on the cave wall gave enough away.
"Ce-Celestia"
Well, I do hope somebody gets that phone - BECAUSE I F*CKING CALLED IT!
I saw it coming, and this is still the best version of "Twilight is Tia and Luna's mom" I've ever seen.