A Split in the River

by Bed Head

... and That Has Made...

Castle of Friendship...

Twilight caught herself looking up at the crystals dangling from the ceiling again. While each jewel was valuable to be sure, what they contained made them all the more precious. It was an unspeakable relief to see each of the pictures they held were exactly as she remembered them.

Check

"Twilight?"

The voice startled Twilight, drawing her eyes down again. Right to a pair of worried green ones that were staring from the seat near hers.

My friends... Che—

"Twilight, yew sure yer alright?" Applejack spoke up again, hopping out of her crystal throne to trot to the princess's side.

Twilight sighed, pushing her mental checklist aside. Even old, comforting habits had their time and place. Sitting at the crystal map, under the worried gazes of her closest friends, was not one of them.

"I'm fine, Applejack, really," Twilight tried to assure the farm pony. "Neither Spike nor I got hurt—"

"Yew know that ain't what I mean," Applejack interrupted.

The Princess of Friendship's wings slumped a bit. Somehow, she'd known the orange mare would want to cut right to the chase.

She knew they meant well. Still, Twilight couldn't help the discomfort she felt with the way the others looked at her. The mixture of shock, worry, and sorrow Fluttershy's eyes held; mirrored almost perfectly by Rarity and coupled with a few brimming tears to boot. Rainbow Dash had been listening with rapt attention, but her excitement over the story had quickly drained near the end. The Wonderbolt hopeful who had seemed on the edge of bragging about the importance of her fillyhood achievement now just sat in a very uncharacteristic silence. Even Pinkie Pie was sitting still, her mane looking a bit deflated after hearing about the final confrontation with Starlight Glimmer.

The room was utterly silent as Twilight's friends awaited her answer. Broken only occasionally by Spike's gentle snoring, the baby dragon having given into exhaustion halfway through the retelling of their adventures. That didn't change the fact that Twilight's stomach felt like it had a knot in it as she lowered her gaze from Applejack's sympathetic eyes.

"I... I'm not sure..." she admitted.

An orange hoof gently placed itself on her shoulder. Before Twilight was even sure what she was doing, her wings and forelegs reached out. If Applejack had any protests to being suddenly embraced, she didn't speak them. She simply patted Twilight's back as the princess drew in a shuddering breath.

"I just... I wanted to help Starlight. She showed me what happened to her and..." Twilight's voice hitched as she struggled to find the right words. "I don't know if it justifies anything but... but she was hurt! She needed help and... and..."

"And you tried." Applejack's voice was gentle. Soothing. "Even after everything she put yew through, y'tried to help her."

Twilight swallowed hard. She managed to draw in another breath.

"I thought it would be like it was with Moondancer," Twilight said as she slowly broke away from the hug. "I'm the Princess of Friendship, after all. But in the end..."

Her gaze was drifting down to her hooves. She could still hear Starlight's final, maniacal laughter ringing through the time stream.

"In the end it feels like I let her down." The words were heavy as they left her mouth.

The unexpected feeling of feathers brushing her back caused her to turn her head instead. Fluttershy was there, a reassuring smile on her face.

"Twi, Ah can git taking yer job and title seriously. Yew've given plenty of baddies more of a chance than they probably deserve," Applejack spoke up again. "But Starlight made her own choice, and yew can't blame yerself fer that. Not after all y'did."

Looking around, Twilight could see the other three gathering around her as well. Even Spike had stirred from his sleep, a mixture of confusion and worry on his tired face. Twilight sniffled a bit, rubbing at her eyes as she nodded.

"You're right," she admitted with a small nod. "I just can't help feeling that if I had one more chance—"

"Well, why can't you?" Pinkie Pie suddenly spoke up.

The earth pony was up on the table before Twilight could blink. Pink hooves were pointing from the magical image of Canterlot and up towards the ceiling as their owner jabbered on.

"Starlight was using Starswirl the Bearded's spell, right? We know where that is!" Pinkie was practically bouncing, somehow returning to Twilight's side without visibly walking. "We could go get it and make the same changes she did—"

Amazing even herself, Twilight managed to get one hoof on Pinkie's mouth and stop her talking. The alicorn did her best not to wonder how she'd managed the feat. She simply shook her head and let out a weary sigh.

"It's not that I wouldn't want to try, it's just..." Twilight could already feel the numbers and magical diagrams pouring through her mind. "Starlight somehow coupled the time travel spell with the Tree of Harmony's power through the map. Even if I could duplicate it..."

She could still remember the parchment and its myriad of formulas. Even as the half that had travelled with her and Spike crumbled to dust. Twilight knew she could copy it, likely fill in the missing portions, possibly recharge the spell.

But no matter how she sorted through the problem in her mind, it only led to one conclusion.

"Even if I could duplicate it, I wouldn't know where or when to go," Twilight explained, putting one hoof on the map. "After getting swept away like she did, Starlight probably isn't even in the same history as the rest of us."

Her leg lowered back to her side. Her friends were looking at her, probably expecting some epiphany. A moment of clarity that would give their friend the solution she sought, and one which Twilight knew was not going to come. All she could do was shake her head as the map continued to glitter.

"There's millions of possible Equestrias out there. One for each way she could have changed the past," Twilight said, just as much to herself as the others around her. "I just hope, whichever one she's in, she's finally happy."

Comments

[TheGoodShank]

*Reads next chapter*

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA...... Oh, I'm sure she got exactly what she wanted Twilight.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I hope she's in her own personal hell. ;)