Spike’s eyes opened, his sight returning just a step ahead of his hearing. It took him a moment to realize where he was.
A hospital.
Princess Celestia was in a conversation with the rest of the Friendship Council, but he didn’t hear the words. Alarmed, he looked at his body. To his relief, there were no needles in his arms, just a few sensors on his chest, reading his vitals into the nearby machine.
Then he remembered what had happened. He looked at his claws. They were clean. Purple, not red. Red...
“Was it a dream?”
He hadn’t realized he had spoken out loud until six faces turned to look at them. The five mortals’ faces were bloodshot and red. They had been crying.
It had been no dream.
Pinkie was by his bed in a shot, wrapping her forelegs around him. He wasn’t crying this time. He wasn’t mad. He was... not empty. It was more like his brain couldn’t process what had happened. It was trapped trying to comprehend this fact so emotions could be attached to it.
Fluttershy nuzzled him. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity looked at him with concern.
“It... it weren’t a dream, Spike,” Applejack said. “We... we pulled the memory outta ya. We saw what happened.”
Spike blinked. What? But... He looked at his claws. They were free of blood, but now he felt it again. The sign of what he had done.
“...Starlight...”
“She’s okay,” Pinkie said. “The doctors say she’ll get better.”
“Unfortunately,” Rainbow Dash said, so bitterly that nopony dared challenged her opinion.
“...Her horn...”
“She’s not using magic any time soon,” the cyan Pegasus said. “Or ever.” Pain was clear in her voice. There was anger. There was a desire to cause pain.
Spike’s claws sat in his vision. Bloody, even when clean.
And the dam opened. He cried, and cried, burying his face in Pinkie’s mane.
“Mom... Mom...”
He cried. How long, he didn’t know. But at some point, he heard his sobs in sync with others.
They were all crying.
He didn’t want to see it. He buried his face deeper. Twilight was dead. There’d be no more writing so much he got a wrist cramp, no more reshelving days, no more of her esoteric organization system. There’d be no more stargazing with her and having her point out all the different constellations. There’d be no more opening presents the night before Hearth’s Warming. There’d be no more leaning on her side and reading comic books while she worked. There’d be no more riding on her back while she trotted down the street or flew through the sky.
There’d be no more climbing into her bed after having a nightmare, like the week after the Crystal Empire when Sombra’s spell projected his worst fear, or when he was feeling down on himself like after his rampage through town or the Royal Wedding, or just when he wanted to not be alone, like he had done multiple times.
Starlight was alive, but damaged, thanks to him. She should be dead. He had wanted her dead, even if it was just for a moment. Did he still want her to? He didn’t know. He didn’t want to think. He wanted to cry. He wanted Twilight. Not Pinkie, Twilight. He wanted his mother.
He couldn’t have his mother. Never again. He cried.
“It’s true then,” a new voice said.
Spike tensed up. He recognized that voice, and he looked up just long enough to register the speaker before burying himself into Pinkie again. This was the last one Spike wanted to deal with.
“Discord...” Celestia warned.
“Hey, I’m not here to make remarks,” Discord said. He actually sounded defensive. “Twilight...”
“Wait!” Rainbow Dash said, suddenly sounding very happy. “Discord, you can bring Twilight back to life, can’t you? I’ve seen you bring several things to life!”
Spike suddenly shot out and looked at Discord. Hope welled in his chest. He hadn’t thought about that.
Then his heart sunk. He saw Discord float there, folding his mismatched limbs behind his back and looking awkward.
“Well... no.”
“What?” Rainbow Dash was in his face. “I know you can, I’ve seen you! You have to! You...”
A muzzle poofed up on Rainbow Dash’s muzzle with a snap of Discord’s talons, effectively silencing her. The Pegasus stopped in shock. Then, in a rage, she flew at Discord. Another snap of the fingers and she was suddenly in a chair, her legs clamped down.
“I can’t give life. You’ve seen me make things move, repeat patterns, do preprogrammed things. But not give life. I could make Twilight’s body move, but it would be nothing more than a puppet to my magic, not the real thing.”
There was an uneasy silence. Seeing that Rainbow Dash stopped struggling, Discord released her.
“Wait, the time travel spell!” Applejack said, perking up. “Can’t we just use it to go back and stop Starlight from travelin’ into the past in the first place?”
“Hey, yeah!” Rainbow Dash said, perking up. “We just need to...”
“If it were that simple I would have already done so.”
All eyes turned on Celestia. She looked calm, collected.
“Did it strike you as odd that every timeline we saw in that flashback got progressively worse? That there was no outcome but a horrible one? That was no coincidence.”
“What do you mean?” Rarity asked.
“She means Time is a stickler for not having His work changed,” Discord said. “He always makes sure to punish everyone who tries by making the world they come to worse than they left. If we save Twilight, He’ll make things worse.”
Celestia went on. “Didn’t you find it a little odd that Starlight managed to alter such an advanced spell? The truth is Starswirl did most of the hard work. Anyone with an understanding of magic could unweave the safety measures and failsafes he had installed into it. He meant for it to be merely an observational tool, not an altering one.”
“It’s that dangerous?” Rarity asked. “And Twilight simply cast the spell when she first found it?”
“It was written in the official Equestrian format for spells, and in official records. Twilight cast it while following all instructions, she had every reason to trust it.”
Rainbow Dash spoke again. “Then why don’t we go talk to this Time guy and...”
“Please,” Discord said. “He’s beyond Celestia and Luna’s power to reach, and me... well, he doesn’t like me too much. I could try to go talk to him, but I doubt he’ll even give me the time of day.”
Fluttershy was in front of him with surprising speed. “Please, Discord, please try. I... I want my friend back. Please!”
Fluttershy was crying. So was Spike, again he realized.
“...Okay. But don’t get your hopes up. I seriously doubt I’ll even get in to see him.” Discord disappeared with a snap of his claw.
There was silence in the room. Spike buried his face in Pinkie’s mane again. He wanted to believe Discord would succeed, that any second now a perfectly okay Twilight would walk through the door and ask how he was.
But that look Discord had. He wasn’t playing around and making strange things happen. He was in genuine shock. That wasn’t an easy mood to get him in.
And the tears started anew.
Clocks everywhere. Oh, how original, Discord couldn’t help but think as he floated through the corridor, the constant ticking started to wear on him already. Still, he bore it, walking through to the large core room Time sat in.
He was an Alicorn... of course, most Spirits were unoriginal enough to take that form, and Time was nothing if not a Spirit with something rather large shoved up His rear. He looked like He might be related to Starswirl: same beard, and blue fur. His black hood and cloak covered Him, obscuring whatever cutie mark He had given Himself. He was on his stomach, looking through several monitors of whatever.
You didn’t knock, his voice said in Discord’s head, causing him to roll his eyes. Always with the ominous tone with this guy.
“I take it you know why I’m here?”
I take it you’ll know I’ll refuse, Time said.
“She died trying to fix your timeline,” Discord pointed out.
And? A mortal in a sea of trillions. Just another face gone in the blink. What meaning is it to me?
Discord felt anger well up in him. “Just a... you fool. You Creator-damned fool. You have no clue, do you?”
Discord felt Time’s laughter in his head. He actually was laughing. Oh Discord, you pathetic fool. It was sad enough when you were running around the mortal realms, playing childish games. Now you’ve actually let the very mortals who were your playthings collar you with their ideals. Hard to believe you’re really a spirit.
Discord clenched both of his mismatched fists together. He opened his mouth...
No Time said. And then Discord was gone.
Spike had stopped crying, but only because there were no more tears. He clinged to Pinkie as if she would disappear at any moment. Pinkie held him close.
The others watched silently. All except Celestia, who was talking to her aide.
“Have you started looking for a lawyer for Starlight? We'll find one. Offer them enough to retire if that’s what it takes. I will not make a mockery of the court system, even in this case. Any word on any previous contacts of hers? Well, bring it by Twilight’s castle. I’ll be staying tonight. Have everypony keep a lid on this. The hospital staff has signed non-disclosure agreements? Good. We’ll reveal it soon. No need to cause a panic before we can get the full story out.”
She then floated up a sheet of paper and turned to the group. “One of you needs to sign this.”
They all looked at her. All except Spike, still clinging to Pinkie.
“What is it?” Applejack asked.
“Temporary custody of Spike,” Celestia explained. “Twilight was his legal caregiver, and he’s too young to be on his own. Will one of you take him until more permanent plans can be made?”
They all gave each other a glance, a quick, private conversation playing out among the five of them. It was decided.
“I’ll take ‘im fer right now,” Applejack said, moving to grab a pen. “Sweet Apple Acres is more than big enough.”
As Applejack moved to sign, Rainbow Dash spoke. “I thought you’d take him,” she told Celestia. “Or Shining Armor. Or Twilight’s parents.”
“Perhaps after we can really work out everything. But none of Twilight’s family even knows yet. This can’t wait.” She floated the now signed form to her assistant and waved him off. “And I think the five of you will do him some good. And vice-versa.”
They all looked at the baby dragon again. He just moaned occasionally now.
“Take care of him. I must... I must attend to something.”
Celestia left.
She walked out of the hospital and flew. Shooting through the skies of Ponyville, it wasn’t long until she landed in Twilight’s castle.
She cast her spell. A shield went up around it. Nice and soundproof. Modified to let Spike or the other members of the Friendship Council in.
She walked through the halls until she found Twilight’s room.
Once inside, she closed the door. She was alone. Far from the eyes of the subjects who worshipped her. Far from the ponies and dragon that needed her to be strong.
As she walked to the bed, her regalia fell off, piece by piece. Even her crown fell haphazardly, rolling across the floor.
She collapsed on the bed.
And she wailed. Her sobs would have carried across Equestria if not for the shield. She cried, and cried, and cried.
A hand on her. She snapped up.
Discord.
“He said no,” he said flatly.
At that moment, it didn’t matter that she had faced Discord and seen him do horrible things. Her forelegs went around him, her face burying into his chest. His arms went around her.
“She’s gone. She’s gone! Oh, Twilight! My shining star! Oh Twilight...”
The Spirit of Chaos and the Princess of the Sun held each other throughout that first painful night.
Time's a stickler for order, even moreso than Celly herself.
Biotiful
Whoa. That was heavy.
Considering the tone of all this, you might want to correct that.
Heavy feels in this chapter, and we haven't seen Twilight's other family members yet... I look forward for the next part with moistened eyes...
Two questions.
1: Given there are fics that have people reacting positively to Princess Twilight's death (assassination of Twilight Sparkle for example), will there be anyone like that in fic?
2: Will the E.Q verse get involved? Not as a major part, but will someone tell the Humane 5 and Sunset?
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo celestia's kinda daughter is dead
them feels
What a jerky time spirit. I don't blame Celestia for her breakdown at all, though I can only imagine how horrible this is going to be once Twilight's family learns what has happened.
At least he tried...
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Damn it. Where is that one dude from Danny Phantom when ya need him. Clockwork I think his name was. He'd have been much more open to listening to Discord.
Hey there. Thanks very much for getting this next chapter up. I really appreciate you going to the effort. Excellent job on the exchanges, emotional content and future chapter set-up in all the right places. And, yeah, Starlight is LUCKY Celestia is benevolent enough to make sure she still gets a fair trial. And, once Sunset and the others hear about this on the other world, they're probably going to be EXTRA protective of THEIR world's native Twilight. Also, I wonder if Celestia's grief is at least partially because she knows that, the next time a REALLY major villain hits Equestria, she and Luna are actually going to HAVE TO handle it themselves (owing to the fact they are the only ones powerful enough to stand ANY chance against said major villains without the Rainbow Power [which is useless without the complete set]).
Anyway, half-joking aside, Moondancer and Twi's family, at the very least, will definitely take it REALLY hard once they all find out. I will definitely be looking forward to more of this as soon as time and inspiration will allow.
which one of these is supposed to be Rarity?
Tragic
Well with no way to bring Twilight back now, it seems that Starlight is officially a dead mare. I'd say for fun, let her walk away actually. In return, she will have a bounty on her head so high, that anypony that catches her alive will be able to have enough bits to buy a planet.
Or, better yes, she could have a bad time.
45.media.tumblr.com/a3487250a13066365465c2e380c99ecc/tumblr_nx9c2nTgzJ1tt272lo4_500.gif
That ending...
...At least
was funny.
The synopsis says it's about Spike and the 5 mares who will raise him. I don't think EqG will be in there (and I personally hope it won't)..
Spike is an hero in the Crystal Empire. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Consort Prince Shining Armor could take him in and raise him.
And thus was the war between Equestria and Time Itself begun.
Poor Spike and Celestia, especially.
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Yes they could but it'll most likely be mane 6 or something
Ouch, in a way this chapter is even more painful than the first since here we start seeing everyone's reactions. Not to mention closing just about all the possible loopholes, like Discord's reality warping or time travel (and I like your explanation for how Starlight messed with the time travel spell).
Things will probably get even worse when the rest of Twilight's family and friends find out (wouldn't be surprised if Shining Armor went near-crazy). Celestia might want to be careful and double the impartial guard around Starlight just in case once they hit the anger stage. I almost hope Sunset will eventually show up, she'll probably be done with her own crisis by now, though seeing human Twilight will probably not help with the angst.
First called it on the Legal system was going to play a role in this.
Second love all the emotion coming of the characters.
Thread personally I would love a story with Spike being raised by the Crystal Couple am share the crystal ponies would love Spike has there adopted prince, Celestia raising him would also be cool too who doesn't love Mamatia, or Twilight's parents. But if will agree this story works with Spike being raised by the main 5. I really hope that there will be parts of the story where their taking turns, let me refraise that when Spike is stay with them there will be a lot of cute moments of their lifes with Spike added in. Like when Dash as to go to a Wonderbolt thing she talks Spike with her, same with Rarity going to her some in Canterlot or a fashion show. Or Spike being part of the Apple family reunion.
Finally I really hope Spike takes Twilight's place so that the rainbow power isn't lost.
I'm going through lots of handkerchiefs right now. Poor Twily.
Maybe sunset could come back to live in equestria again ... maybe help twilight's friends to get over twi's death.
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Fixed
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Yes to both questions. the EqG will not play a big part, though.
6981151
That will be addressed.
6980657
Fixed.
Shortly after reading the first chapter, I pictured Spike sleeping with Applejack. If she took a very affectionate tone and talked about some heavy emotional stuff, she could take a lot of weight off the poor guy. I'm gonna hope for a scene where Spike leans against her and asks her to tell him about her parents.
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Spike the Dog won't give two shits, of course, so nobody'll tell him. Same goes for Sci-Twi.
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I personally haven't any interest in EqG, but up to you if you want to add its characters.
6982885 I know that. You caught I said Humane 5 and Sunset, right. I did not mention Sci-Twi at all.
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Considering Twilight couldn't help during that movie because of mentioned Time Travel Shenanigans, it is safe to say the EQG World problems are just about done right now.,
I just had a thought. Since Spike, I'm assuming, will be staying or interacting with each of the remaining Mane 5, does that mean he's going to go through the Five Stages of Grief with each of them? Like with Applejack she'll be helping him through the first stage, denial? Just a thought.
Your portrayal of Time while brief was spot on for what it represents
Time is neither an entity of objective good or objective evil. It exists solely so the Universe's existence can be witnessed in a fashion which is understandable.
Time is as neutral of a 'Spirit' as it can be. Regardless of who Twilight is, he sees her as being no different than to the countless other mortals who lived their brief lives. To fight that would be like scolding the weather for letting it rain.
Well, I'm late to this party. Still, given how many pivotal events Twilight has involved herself in, I'd think Time would at least acknowledge her as of some interest. Yes, he has the ultimate outside perspective, but given all of the hissy fits he threw when Starlight messed with Rainbow Dash, surely someone who has toppled gods, crossed worlds, and ascended to a higher state of existence is at least worth a bit more than "just another mortal."
I know, I know, you need to tie up every loose end so people don't badger you about them rather than focus on the actual story. Still, that felt more like a boilerplate response than anything with consideration behind it. I suppose Time considers the matter beneath him, no matter who the unfortunate happens to be. On the other hand, she wouldn't be dead were it not for someone meddling in Time's domain, so it could be said that he's obligated to resurrect her...
Yeah, either this justification backfired horribly, I'm thinking about this too much, or Time is just an asshat. I'm going to assume both the second and the third until further notice.
Hmmm, a young purple character that grows bigger after that tragic loss of their mother and has a thing for gems.
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/steven-universe/images/e/e3/Betterforyou.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150713232132
Gonna just take a big gulp of the feels now.
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It's probably taking all of Celestia's Restraint to not kill her or at least or the remaining members of the Mane Six to do this in the meantime
After reading THIS
for about the umpteenth time, it got me to wondering:
IS she going to be brought back at some point in this story?
If not, that's fine by me (it would probably cheapen what's going on IN the story IF you did that).
It'd also probably negate whatever the Equestrian Courts would do to Starlight, and I want to see her suffer for what's she's done even MORE than she has already.
If so (meaning IF you find some way TO bring her back that doesn't mess up the major storyline), I'm cool with that, too.
Small problem here, I could be remembering wrong but I think Nightmare Moon winning was the first alternate timeline. Which would mean the thing with Starlight ended prematurely before any other timeline was visited.
7953838 No, in the show Nightmare Moon's timeline was the 3rd, after the Sombra timeline and Chrysalis timeline in that order.
7953844 Wasn't Nightmare Moon's the second-to-last timeline they visited?
While I get that the Spirit of Time doesn't want time to be messed with... he's going out of his way to be a jerk.
Jerk.
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Nope. It was the third. After that came Tirek, Discord, Flim Flam, and oblivion. In that order.
I’m surprised that there’s no comments about the sniping fuel at the end.
Wait...
I'm crying that is so much
Mate.... this is beyond heartbreaking also I love the relationship between discord and Celestia (why wouldn’t they have a relationship) something I’ve been thinking for awhile that I just find a bit hilarious (not just in this story but the established cannon) is how discord could basically destroy exsistence itself let alone the mane six or Celestia and Luna/nightmare moon he just chooses not to for his own amusement
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Lol