Celestia’s pronouncement rang in the conference room for what felt like hours.
“So what do we do?” Raven asked, finally shattering the silence. Her eyes were down, staring at the picture of the supposed time travelers. “I’m sorry, I mean, what do you do? This is a bit beyond me, Princess.”
Celestia slowly shook her head. “There are ponies with a gift of time magic, but none come close to replicating Starswirl’s spell. The most they can ever do is a day.”
“Your Majesty, you’re the Princess of the Sun!” Raven protested. “You have to be able to do something.”
“The power to move the heavens does not give me the power to move the sands of time, Raven.”
“One of these ponies did it.” The desperation in Raven’s voice forced Celestia to swallow a lump in her throat. “You have all of Equestria available to you. You could assign the greatest minds to studying Starswirl’s spell and finding a way to—”
“No, Raven.” Celestia shook her head again, tapping the opening to the wormhole. “Time magic isn’t the only factor. Harmony magic was bound into that spell.”
“You’re talking about the Elements of Harmony, aren’t you?”
Celestia nodded, fighting back a tear. “Since... that night...” She composed herself. ”They have not responded to me. I cannot wield them. The only reason I could wield them in the manner which I did was because—” Celestia’s voice cracked. “—she had already abandoned everything they stood for. They were never meant to be used by a single pony, even one such as me. But even Harmony knew what would happen to the world if—”
Raven nodded, making it clear Celestia didn’t need to continue.
“There has to be something we can do,” Raven insisted.
“There is. We bait the trap.”
“I’m sorry?”
“The scroll containing Starswirl’s temporal research is currently locked away in one of Starswirl’s high-security workshops. The one connected to the central hourglass of the Starswirl the Bearded Wing. Tomorrow, I will have it moved to be placed in the Restricted Section.”
“But anypony could break in there if they tried hard enough, Princess.”
“Precisely.” Celestia nodded. “With the right wards in place, I will know the instant anypony attempts to enter. I’ll be able to instantly teleport inside and… handle matters from there.”
“But…” Raven frowned. “If that Twilight Sparkle didn’t have our Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark… it means that whoever took the scroll won’t necessarily take our version of the scroll…. right?”
Celestia beamed at her. “I’m impressed, Raven. Theoretical magical applications was never your strong suit.”
“I do my best,” Raven replied, holding her head. Celestia understood. She could feel a headache coming on herself.
“You’re right,” Celestia said with a shrug. “It may be pointless. But perhaps whoever stole it in the other timeline will attempt to do so here. It’s a long shot, but it’s the only precaution I can think of.”
“There is another,” Raven pointed out before hesitating. “You could investigate Twilight Sparkle.”
“That won’t be necessary. I made her my student alongside Sunset. I plan on keeping a very close eye on her. I know Sunset and Twilight now possess a powerful bond. I hope that bond leads them to simple friendship, for Sunset’s sake. Ironic that I tell Sunset to teach Twilight about friendship, while asking them to take it slow in their own personal relationship.”
“However, one thing is certain.” Celestia glared at the document. “I did see this report eight years ago. At the time, I had thought it to be little more than an elaborate hoax. It wouldn’t be the first time somepony has had photographic evidence of an alicorn who turned out to be a regular pony. But after seeing Twilight today... I was all but certain the alicorn in this picture was Twilight.”
“You knew this whole time?”
“I hoped I was wrong,” Celestia admitted. “I still wish I was.”
“What about the flying unicorn?”
“Send her picture quietly to the head of every Guard division in Equestria. I will not allow them to make this a ponyhunt. If anypony matching that description is discovered, I am to be notified immediately and the pony is to be monitored at a safe distance. I will handle the matter personally.”
“Princess… you sound more worried about Twilight than you do about the other unicorn. From their expressions—what I can make out at least—Twilight’s the one who’s upset, while the other one seems… happy?”
“I know,” Celestia admitted. “Apparently, Twilight is to become an alicorn.”
“Shouldn’t that make you happy?” Raven asked. “You were absolutely ecstatic when you discovered Cadance.”
“I know another alicorn will ascend soon,” Celestia muttered. “I’ve been working on it for over a decade.”
Raven’s eyes went wide. “I’m sorry, Princess. I had no idea that was—”
“Do not think too much of it,” Celestia replied. “That is my responsibility. I fear for Sunset should she ever learn of this. I fear it would drive her to rash action. She came so dangerously close to the abyss eight years ago. I… I can’t bear to lose her. Not only for my sake, but for the sake of Equestria… and most of all, for her sake.”
“Wait… eight years?” Raven looked at the date stamped at the top of the interview with Sunglint. “That’s…”
“I know,” Celestia admitted. “I fear something happened eight years ago in Cloudsdale and shifted things to put Twilight on the path to ascension instead of Sunset. I hold no ill will against Twilight, but at that time… Sunset was on the edge. If something had moved Sunset from the path I had set her on… it would have destroyed her.”
“I see,” Raven murmured.
Celestia didn’t need to say it twice. Raven had been there during that difficult period. She had seen what Sunset had almost become.
“Sunset cannot learn of this,” Celestia said. “Nor can Twilight. Not yet. Other matters must be handled first. You, more than any other pony, know what’s at stake.”
Raven nodded. “You have my word, Princess.”
“You didn’t even need to give it, my dear Raven,” Celestia said, reaching down to put a hoof on Raven’s shoulder. “But I thank you for being here for me. This was not something I wanted to face alone. I… I shouldn’t have had to. I was... never meant to.”
“And Harmony willing,” Raven said with an encouraging smile, “the day will soon come where you don’t have to.”
Celestia’s eyes fell once more upon the picture. “At least we can be confident in one thing.”
“What’s that, Your Majesty?”
Celestia lifted the photograph in her magic and held it before the two of them.
“If these two were involved in a plot to change history,” Celestia felt herself stand a little straighter. Now that she had shared the weight of the secret, she felt stronger, more alive. “Then this is their new timeline. When they return to whatever they consider to be the present, they’ll return to this timeline.”
“And then?”
Celestia’s horn flared as she let a little emotion through her mask. Just a little. The magical aura around the photograph became as the flames of the sun, though the photograph was not harmed. Still, Raven took a step back from the suddenly fire-wreathed picture.
“Whoever is responsible for threatening my little ponies will come to know the depths of their mistake. I am still Princess Celestia. While I may not control time, I will not allow somepony to ruin the lives of the ponies under my charge. When they appear, be it tomorrow or ten years from now, we will find them.”
“Princess… what do you intend to do?”
Celestia’s eyes narrowed in on the smug face of the flying pink unicorn.
“I will fix it.”
Never have I been more terrified of the Rapairpony.
Damn it, this is getting so good!
I want more! Ugh do I have to wait for it... I do don't I? Fine...
Hope it's not too long of a wait... if you continue this that is...
PS: read your blog and I see that u have a lot planned! So thank you for this story!
And when Twilight and Starlight reappeared, they were in the Deadquestria timeline.
Ghost Celestia, "I knew I shouldn't have bargained with that lime-green Shoggoth who used to hang out with Discord..."
... Ohhh starlight you're screwed if you want to go for equality ...
7649401 Fear the Celestial Wrench of Justice!
7649858 Ayep! Much more is on the way, but indeed, you shall have to wait. I do have a job and a family to care for after all. However, I know that many authors tend to leave projects unfinished. It's one of the reasons I don't publish stories that are incomplete (and because my editing process makes that pretty much impossible). It's a personal goal of mine to see this through to the end. Not all the stories may be told, but those that won't be, you haven't even seen yet.
7650456
7650816 She is seriously hosed. Good thing she lives out in the middle of nowhere... oh wait... that's in the main timeline...
i wonder if each glimmer suffered celestia wrath in each alternate timelines?
Oh, I do love the factual incorrectness of some of Celestia's assumptions.
Another excellent story. I'm slightly sad this "trilogy" is over, but looking forward to the actual Nightmare Moon battle, although the real climax of this timeline will probably be whenever Twilight and Spike show up again. At least I hope Spike shows up and doesn't just vanish from existence, but who knows with all this time travel.
Really nice to see behind the "mask" Celestia wears, as well as to get an idea of how many plans she has in motion. From Luna's return to Sunset's reformation, and now this. Interesting to confirm that here cutie marks can differ, I was always disappointed the season five finale didn't bother to show the Mane Six with any different cutie marks (especially after how those were kind of a focus that season).
Hm, I wonder if Sunburst will mention his old friend to anyone important enough to recognize the description. Not to mention the disturbing implications that destiny is off-course, and what to do about it, if anything can be done. Looking forward to more whenever you post.
PS- I kind of hope we hear more about that "eternal cake" story someday. That would make the perfect present to Celestia. Nice to hear that Celestia does regard Sunset as a daughter, though being practically family also means a lot of baggage sometimes.
7651028 You shall see! (I would say "We shall see," but since I already know... )
7651158 Hence, one of the biggest twists: you know so much more than the characters (at least... you think you do! ).
7651956 I have plans for Spike, don't you fret! However, I don't think Sunburst will get a chance to say anything (You may want to re-read the third chapter of Applications about him ). The real question is... when time itself is altered, can destiny be said to be off-course?
(Why yes, I am going for cryptic, why do you ask? )
Thank you kindly for the comments! You have no idea how much they mean to me (Hint: A lot).
7653577
You are enjoying this far too much.
Go on, give us a good cackle! You know you want to.
I'm really not following all this time-line stuff. Why would they return to this time-line, and not any of the half dozen others created? Why is this "alternate" time-line their new one? Does that mean the canon series timeline is destroyed instead?
Also, I just realized the reason no one saved Fluttershy as she was falling was because everyone was all busy looking at Twilight.
7653577
7651028
I can already tell I am going to enjoy this story immensely as it continues.
Oh, Sunbutt! Your alternate other student that never was but could be again some time ago has appeared!
*poof*
Where is she? And that snarky little unicorn, too?
7653610 Well, if you insist. derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/5/17/898018__safe_twilight+sparkle_rainbow+dash_pinkie+pie_rarity_clothes_screencap_cute_princess+celestia_smiling.gif
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/5/24/332463__safe_solo_animated_discord_laughing_lol.gif
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/10/1/111243__safe_animated_spike_hub+logo_laughing_moustache_ei_owl%27s+well+that+ends+well_evil+laugh_dastardly+spike.gif
7654281 Since Starlight and Twilight returned to the same fixed point in time in every instance where time was altered, each universe has it's own "particular" version of the events in Cloudsdale. Therefore, any timeline shown with them in it is the current timeline for them when they return to the present.
Or... you could go with this explanation:
7654889 "I believe the other one is hiding under the dining table. She has been cowering there for some time. I told them you'll be with them when possible."
"Excellent."
7651028
Nah. She can also suffer Discord's! After all, a spirit of pure Chaos is unbound by such piddly things as causality, but will certainly take an attempt to unmake his Fluttershy and thus his relationship with her... poorly. Chaos is not known for having a pleasant taste in appropriate response.
7656748 ...that's utterly terrifying. Note to self: find a way to ship the two anyway. Somehow.
7650456
I was going to say that it'd be pretty funny if the two never came back to this timeline, and Celestia became more and more of a paranoid wreck waiting for the other shoe to drop.
im now worried how this story will go i dont want it to lead to a depressing end
The confrontation with mainline Twilight could be interesting. Under ordinary circumstances Twilight is Lawful Good enough to accept that almost everypony she knows turned out alight and are reasonably happy and content and that trying to change things back to what she knows could be dangerous to the timestream.
The key word in that is almost. Because in this timeline Spike doesn't exist. I'd imagine that she'd be willing to fight for him every bit as hard as Celestia is willing to fight for Sunset Shimmer. How far would they go to protect their surrogate children? Could we see Midnight Sparkle vs. Solar Flare at some point? With Spike and Sunset Shimmer caught in the middle for the fate of the timestream.
Wouldn't it be something if this is the timeline where everything is a wasteland?
shivers
Lord, I hope not. That would be so sad.
Those are high goals, Celestia. Especially considering that you do not know whether the other timeline results in a better future.
It also seems that you trust the alicorn Twilight implicitly, although you do not know how her ascencion came to be. There is the small chance that that unicorn went to alter time in hope to change their future to something better.
There is also one crucial thing missing from the report: Who won the race?
---
Having left that, I have to say that I very much enjoyed this story. So the spotlight and the "hot" are very much warranted.
7660921 It’ll be fine… it’ll all be fine…
i.imgbox.com/kYYRqTpR.gif
7665328 There are SO MANY THINGS I could say to this. Tease you? Assure you? Torment you? I… I just can’t decide!
7666423
Ambassador G'Kar - Babylon 5 - Mind War
7666470 Oh come on. Everypony knows that particular one was a fluke that got sent to the Fallout: Equestria timeline 200 years in the future.
7666561 Celestia is a creature of control, of infinite planning and plotting. That being said, I think their expressions said a lot, however, out of context, you’re right… they could mean anything.
After all, she doesn’t say how she’s going to fix it.
So thank you kindly!
Ok, now I want to read more of this AU (already read the two prequels)
7670353 I'm writing! I'm writing! Yeesh. Bunch of slavedrivers, you lot.
I hate this story, because I loved Wavelengths as a nice separate happy AU where Sunset and Twilight get to be friends and students and everything is great.
I love this story, because it's terrifying and things are going to get terrifying and please God never stop. Not now that this exists. There's no turning back. I have... I have Feels.
I love this story.
That means I'm doing my job.
After all, there's a reason I started my Clousdale Retrospective with the following:
However, I will leave you with one particular quote. While it's not the same as the book, I've always found that the movie version was quite poignant. (Not the part about "great stories," but the part about hope.)
Seems to be a bit of an AU of an "AU", given the cutie marks changing between timelines (which is almost certainly not possible in the actual show), but other that that, great story.
Just found and finished the five stories currently published, and I was utterly hooked from the start. But I did not anticipate the knowledge of future Twilight's existence! I'll be eagerly anticipating additional releases...
7788044 I would disagree with that. The whole point of Starlight's attack was to prevent them from getting their cutie marks together, though it's safe to assume that they would still get them eventually. After all, we don't see the cutie mark of any of the Mane 6 in any of the alternate timelines. (When we see AJ, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, they're all actually changelings, so it's suspect.) Tirek's theft of magic caused cutie marks to vanish and Starlight had the ability to remove them with their special talent as well. In Magical Mystery Cure, the Mane 6's cutie marks are swapped around entirely!
With these facts, I think it's quite plausible for alternate timelines to develop alternate paths of life as Celestia theorized. But even she admits she doesn't know everything!
7793272 Ayep! Everyone seemed to love that particular twist. I do hope you enjoy the rest of the tales as well!
Oh ho. This changes everything. Now the question becomes just which timeline they're in. Who will reign supreme by the time Twilight Prime emerges? Is this even one of the temporal offshoots we saw in "The Cutie Re-Mark"? You have me even more deeply engaged than before. Also, very nice portrayal of Celestia. Wise and resourceful, but not unassailable. Given the possible fate of this Equestria, she can't be.
7825537
As to your questions, of course I'm not going to answer them! That would be silly. Thank you very much regarding Celestia. Celestia's a fascinating character to me. She's not perfect. She's made plenty of mistakes. But she's got an immense amount of experience and wisdom. In the end, there are some things beyond her control. While she might have this goddess-like vibe, I've always considered there to be a far greater weight on her shoulders than anypony ever sees, just because she's so practiced at hiding it.
As for the future... who can say?
(Well, besides me, I mean )
I have reviewed this HERE.
7656430
I actually saw every jump as creating its own alternate time line, Starlight sabotaged the race at different points in each jump, she would not have a need to sabotage the same race several times when the first time she already managed to do it.
Also the fact that later they are sent to "closer" to the starting point with things like NMM's return and takeover, the changeling invasion, and Sombra and the return of the Crystal Empire.
So they wouldnt/couldnt return to any of those timelines since after changing them they would be locked out of them if every time the spell fires up it sends them to/creates a new alternate dimension.
EDIT: Well thinking about it, just because we know what we know, Celestia doesnt know, so she can therize whatever she wants.
Wonder what Starlight will be in this world, probably still a cult leader but with no goody four-horseshoes princess to stop her she probably just keeps being one.
One theory, when Twilight prime emerges, in this AU at the table, she will meld with this Twilight and the memories will merge so there is only one Twilight. Otherwise there could be a time paradox. However, she is protected by the spell at the instant she returns which means she can still correct it. Ultimately there can be only one Twilight
Or I could be completely wrong
7667641
So, we know how Celestia gets into the ESS offices. What do the actual ESS staff do to get into the offices? There's got to be some other entrance(s).
8235670
I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.
This is by far my favourite story so far in Wavelengths. The others are good and had some nice character moments but I never felt a strong sense of direction to the plot. But the intrigue in Cloudsdale Report made it a real page turner. I hope there's more like it in the future of this series.
8482176
Cloudsdale was always intended to be the "big revelation" for the audience, though our heroines don't fully grasp what they're seeing yet. A lot of Wavelengths is about how the characters will become who they need to be, so there's a lot of development... but there's plenty of intense story too! (Especially coming soon!)
Hmmmm....
Except that unless this is an alternate universe, Celestia doesn't find Princess Twilight and Glim-Glam when they come back to the "present" of the episode. Actually, she might find Glimmer, because we never see her in the "present", and during the time Twilight's exploring the destroyed world, Celestia could have found and captured her. But Twilight was never in an alternate timeline for long, and surely Glim-Glam would have mentioned being captured and/or interrogated by Celestia. Besides, she didn't seem to realize how much she was destroying the future, and that would be the one thing Celestia would make very clear upon finding her.
Furthermore, if the timeline gets "fixed", we know that it's Princess Twilight who does it. We also know that this world will probably disappear upon the resolution of the timeline, something I'd be very sad to see indeed. The thing to remember is that while Twilight was hopping around through time very quickly, the events of "The Cutie Re-Mark" did happen in a chronological order: Starlight and Twilight go back to the Rainboom, the consequences of that play out for several years, Twilight arrives in the altered present, and then goes back to the Rainboom, where the universe changes again. Rinse and repeat until she convinces Starlight she's wrong, the Rainboom happens, and they return to a (probably, mostly) unaltered present. It's possible that the alternate timelines still exist in alternate universes of a sort, but it's also possible they're all part of one timeline, and one universe, which so far looks like what this series is shaping up to be.
Like I said before, you'd better have a damn good plan.
8717518
It's a risk.
That's definitely a possibility.
I like to think I do. Considering this started with me originally writing the finale and then working backward from there.
However, there's one assumption that you made in this line of logic. I, of course, can't tell you what it is. I'll just say that things aren't nearly as cut and dry as all that.
(I can't give you anything really good to riff off of here! Not like I'm going to show my master plan in the comments (or PMs, don't even try)!)
Hoo, boy, looks like this... Is the Sombra timeline. Unless you go off the rails. The intervening time, though, could be interesting. How does Celestia deal with the return of her sister? Hmm...
Oh Celestia, you read so very much of it correctly, and yet you got some of the most key points wrong. And those really important bits make all your correct deductions oh so very pointless.
She would be so very upset if someone explained the event in question from the other point of view, and the events of the canon timeline.