“So that brings the total count of ‘Fillies having weird visions’ from two to three,” Rainbow remarked with a small frown, looking around the restaurant booth at the ponies she was with. Rarity was at present seated directly across from her, awestruck by Celestia’s mere presence and attention. Celestia, upon her arrival at the scene, had asked the owner of the nearest establishment to let them handle this discussion inside the building for the sake of convenience and the ease-of-mind of Rarity. The little filly had enough on her mind, Celestia wagered.
Besides them, Twilight Sparkle sat next to Rainbow, who herself set next to Princess Celestia in one of the main booths of the restaurant. Rarity and her parents sat opposite of them, each looking either confused, concerned or, in the case of Rarity, both. Numerous questions had been asked once they had been seated and, for good measure, Celestia ran a rudimentary scanning spell over Rarity to ensure she was mentally and physically sound. She was. Now, she couldn’t bring herself to meet the eyes of the ponies before her, fidgeting anxiously in her seat. Twilight was the one to break the silence.
“What I want to know is, why us?” she said with a thoughtful look on her face. “What’s making the three of us have these weird visions? What’s the pattern?”
Celestia furrowed her own brow in thought before closing her eyes. After several moments she opened her eyes and looked directly at Rarity. “I hope you can forgive my use of a faux pas, but Rarity, how old are you?”
“Huh?” Rarity looked up at Celestia with a confused twist coming onto her face. “Well, that is, your majesty, I’m eleven, but… I’m afraid I don’t see how that’s relevant to this phenomenon...”
Celestia nodded slowly and patiently. “I ask because the only other two ponies I know of who have had these visions are nine and eleven years of age. Those are, as you know, my daughter and Twilight Sparkle, respectively.”
“So it’s only happening in foals?” Rainbow asked with a tilt of her head. She then flopped back in her seat with a frustrated sigh. “That doesn’t exactly narrow it down by a whole lot. How does that even make any sense?”
Celestia shook her head slightly, her frown growing. “Without more examples to draw a clearly defined pattern from, it doesn’t,” she lifted her eyes to meet those of Rarity’s parents. “But with all three of our current examples existing in fillies around your age range, it at least gives us a starting point. A common thread we can use to find more examples more easily.”
It was at about this point that Rarity’s father opted to speak up. “With all due respect, Princess, just so I know for sure, our darling Rarity here is fine, right? These ‘vision’ things won’t hurt her in any way?”
Celestia shook her head with a comforting smile. “Rarity should be fine. It has been over a month since my faithful student’s first flash and, much to our combined relief, she is none the worse for wear. I have no reason to believe it will be any different with your daughter.”
The atmosphere on the other side of the table visibly relaxed, the family sharing a relieved embrace. Celestia smiled softly before gently nudging Twilight so she could get out of her seat. “With all of that said, I don’t believe you have need of the appointment at the mental health clinic.”
Rarity grinned widely in gratitude, nodding her head happily. “Thank you, your highness.”
“It was my pleasure, miss Rarity,” Celestia said with a small play-bow, earning a delighted gasp out of the little unicorn. There was an air of ease and a rapid loss of tension, one which everypony was happy for. For a moment, Celestia smiled at them before turning to go, Rainbow swift to follow.
“Oh, uh, may I trouble you for just a moment longer?” Rarity abruptly called out to them while hopping out of her seat. The three ponies turned to face her while she cantered directly up to Rainbow Dash. “Now, I mean this with every ounce of possible respect, but… what happened to your mane?”
Rainbow glanced up to the aforementioned messy mass of prismatic hair, her eyes crossing slightly as she did so. “Uh… what are you talking about?” she asked in confusion.
“Well, it’s just… I mean, look at it!” Rarity said, her reservations with being in the presence of royalty swiftly fading away at the crime against mane cuts before her eyes.
While it was nothing new to Twilight, Celestia or even Rainbow herself, said mane was… a disaster, to say the least from Rarity’s point of view. Uncombed, only barely trimmed, whatever shampoo had been used that morning had been rendered completely obsolete and useless by layers of sweat and extreme blasts of air from high-speed flying. It was like a rats nest.
“What’s the big deal with my mane? It’s how I like it.” Rainbow pointed out bluntly before puffing out a breath that caused a stray lock to go out of her face.
“What?!” Rarity squaled in alarm before reaching out and grabbing Rainbow’s head, so absorbed in her fabulosity episode that she completely forgot that she was grabbing royalty without permission.
Her parents cried out in alarm and fear at this, but this soon gave way to uneasy chuckled when Celestia herself began struggling to hold in an onslaught of delighted laughter.
“Hey! Lemme go! Get outta my hair, would ya?!” Rainbow whined in protest, trying to fly back and away from this crazy filly, but Rarity’s own hold with her hooves was remarkably strong.
“Disregarding that shameful pun, I will be out of your hair just as soon as I have fixed it!” Rarity declared as if it were her solemn duty, sworn by oath. It might as well have been for how tightly she was holding Rainbow’s face.
“Ngh! Twilight, Celestia! Little help here?” Rainbow pleaded, gradually being pulled down to the floor by the determined white unicorn. Celestia simply laughed openly, no longer able to contain them. Twilight, however, didn’t respond at all. She watched the occurrence blankly, her eyes going distant and unfocused.
Rainbow noticed almost instantly that Twilight was completely unresponsive. “Rarity, I mean it! Let me go! NOW!” she snapped before swatting the other filly’s hoof away. Rarity gasped in surprise from the smack before she realized what was happening - and what she had just done. Instantly she blushed profusely.
Rainbow didn’t care, though, cantering up to Twilight, whose hind legs had just given out, causing her to fall to her haunches. Rainbow looked her over and gave Twilight a gentle shake. “Hey, Twilight? You alright in there?” she asked carefully, worry in her voice.
“She’s having another flash…” Celestia said in realization. Immediately the entire room went silent, anxiously awaiting Twilight’s waking mind to resurface. As they waited, everypony couldn’t help but curiously wonder what the lavender filly was seeing right now…
“Beautiful…” a much older Spike whispered in awe and amazement from Twilight’s side, looking past the checklist in his claws with a red tint slowly coming over his cheeks. Twilight didn’t notice this at first, trotting forward into the large central room a well-decorated building of a rustic architectural style. Her mane bobbed irritatingly on her head from how poofed up it was, but she was determined to just get this over with.
‘Get what over with?’ Twilight asked herself with curiosity as she watched the vision play out before her.
“Yes, the decor is moving along nicely. This ought to be quick and I’ll be at the library in no time. Beautiful, indeed.” she said out loud and meaning it wholeheartedly. Whoever was in charge of the decorations for the Summer-Sun Celebration this year had done an amazing job.
“Not the decor… HER.” Spike said while pointing past Twilight at a pearly white unicorn who was currently looking through an enormous collection of various ribbons of different colors and materials. Upon her flank was a cutie mark of three masterfully cut diamonds. She frowned slightly while moving a gold ribbon up and looking it over with a critical eye.
‘Rarity?!’ Twilight thought in shock as she saw the unicorn in question.
“No…” another came forward, this one blue. “No…” Another, green. “No…” she carried on like this while Spike stared on, the red tint in his cheeks growing exponentially.
“How’re my spines? Are they straight?” he asked abruptly while touching his claws to the spines on the sides and on top of his head, straightening them out as much as he was able. He then gazed ahead at the unicorn as if he was in love. Twilight simply rolled her eyes at the little drake and trotted closer to rarity.
“Good afternoon,” she started, only for Rarity to cut her off.
“Just a moment, please! I’m in the zone, as it were.” Rarity said before finally settling on a red ribbon with sparkling materials all across it, tying it to the support pillar in front of her. “Oh, yes! Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why Rarity you are a talent,” she then gradually turned to Twilight. “Now, um, how can I help yoouwaaHAAHAAAA!!” her innocent inquiry turned into a panicked shriek.
Twilight blinked in confusion.
“Oh my stars, DARLING! Whatever happened to your coiffure?!” she asked in shock, as if she were gazing upon some horrifying disfigurement or wound.
“Oh, you mean my mane?” Twilight asked, supposing she should have known this would happen. “Well, it’s a long story. I’m just here to check on the decorations and then I’ll be out of your hair.”
“My hair? What about your hair?!” Rarity asked before hopping down and jabbing her horn into Twilight’s back, pushing her along with great purpose.
“Wait, where are we going?! HELP!” Twilight asked in growing concern as Rarity pushed her out of the town hall, Spike dutifully following along with that lovestruck expression never once leaving his face.
Twilight snapped back to reality and shook her head to clear away the fogginess in her head. “Woah, that one was a bit more vivid than the first one…” She mumbled groggily, putting a hoof to her head and rubbing circles into her temple.
“You alright?” Rainbow asked abruptly, shaking her friend very gently. “And what’dya see?”
Twilight shook her head one last time before glancing up to Rarity, who instantly perked up and looked around as if to find some other pony that Twilight may be looking for. Twilight then pointed at her. “Um… you, Rarity. I saw you, oddly enough. It was… it was like we were meeting for the first time but… well, we were adults, like in the other hallucinations.”
Celestia’s brow furrowed in thought. “What was it that caused this flash? What event here sparked it?” she asked firmly. Twilight thought for a moment.
“It was when Rarity started fussing with Rainbow’s mane, I think. Around the time she said something about ‘fixing Rainbow’s hair’ is when it happened. I guess my mane was kinda messed up in this flash because Rarity wanted to fix it immediately upon seeing it.
Everypony shared uneasy glances for several long seconds. Celestia’s horn lit up, a medical and mental scan spell swiftly going into motion. Twilight turned to her, mouth open, but Celestia beat her to the punch. “I searched for any magical energies in you that were foreign and I found one.”
“What’d it tell you?” Twilight asked hopefully, leaning forwards slightly with an eager smile growing on her face.
Celestia shook her head and ended her spell, satisfied that Twilight was alright. “Nothing, I am afraid. The foreign energy was faint to a point that if I had tried to prod it for it’s origin point, I would have broken it. I don’t know how these flashes link with the mind while they are in progress. If I had disturbed it, it may have caused severe disorientation and possibly even mental damage. I am not willing to take that risk with you,” she looked to Rainbow Dash. “Either of you.”
Rainbow sighed along Twilight before helping her back up to her hooves. Twilight nodded in thanks before glancing up at Celestia. “Well, at least now we know one pony can have more than one.”
“How does that help us, exactly?” Rainbow asked with a frown.
Celestia smiled confidently. “It means we may yet have more opportunities to discover the source of these flashes…”
And it's a point, there this flashes lead Celestia to Poniville.
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wot
now... MASTERFULLY cut is a big word.... ;P
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MASTERFULLY.
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CUT.
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The second one looks painful...
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SEE? MASTERFUL!
(I'm suffering from insomnia right now; cut me some slack.)
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Visions affect ponies, whose life been affected by Twilight/Starlight actions. And most of this ponies live in Poniville.
Once again, excellent job on the latest chapter. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Yeah, I have to admit that WAS some excellent timing on Twilight's second "glimpse".
I wonder if Twilight will get a third "flash" when she sees that Spike has eaten too much candy while she was gone (akin to Spike overdoing it on the ice cream in a certain Season Two episode [which was the first time Twilight time-travelled in canon]).
Or if Rainbow will get another "flash" telling Spike her Cutie Mark story during Spike's second birthday as PART of a (probably MUCH) later arc.
Or if both Twilight AND Rainbow will get "flashes" watching the Hearth's Warming Play (that show both of them as well as Fluttershy, Rarity AND two earth ponies all as adults in the six lead roles) sometime in the next arc (or possibly next TO next [I just figured that, considering that this one is taking place toward the tail end of Night Mare Night, it would be logical to have either the next or second-to-next arc take place around Hearth's Warming]).
Of course, part of the fun of this is we DON'T know for absolutely certain.
At any rate, I will very assuredly be looking forward to more of this, but will also be quite willing to respect the fact that real world concerns have to come first.
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Only Twilight's friends, not any other ponies. And even then, it's the Main 6 only, not Moondancer or Twilight's other canterlot friends.
It's only effecting them because Destiny has changed. History has Changed. The 'Influence' that Celestia felt is most likely the Tree of Harmony, which is connected with all Timelines, is connected to them in most timelines.
by the way rainbow still does not know shining armor, it would be interesting that rainbow begins to see him as an older brother xD.
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Would Kid Starlight get visions to?
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I don't think so, cause only the Destiny of the Main 6 got changed. The only difference to her, would be at the point of Season 5 opening, Twilight and the others not showing up and Starlight continuing on.
The Main 6 are only getting flashbacks right now cause their lives are already changed, their destinies are changed.
I'm waiting for Fluttershy to send a letter describing the same thing.
Nope, the fact you are foals, Dash, has nothing to do with it.
Ever the image of decorum,
A good old temporal anomaly.
Just had a thought. Is Starlight Glimmer also having flashes? I assume not, since she's not connected to the Tree of Harmony in any way, though she was the one time jumping with Twilight and Spike (though in the same vein, Spike hasn't had flashes).
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What about Minuette? I'm pretty sure she didn't know Rainbow Dash originally, let alone be friends with royalty. And what about the adults? Are you saying that Celestia's destiny hasn't changed? The Wonderbolts will never meet Rainbow's parents...Scootaloo's relationship with Rainbow Dash would be different...and then there's Spike...the Changelings...Nightmare Moon's return...Daring Do...Wonderbolts Academy...Just one small change can affect a lot more than you think. It's called the butterfly effect.
and then the elements of harmony is created
though, it would follow that they could use the information in the dreams to find the other ponies. Could nab Pinkie like that...
If someone around their age has had multiple visions, they could be tracked down. Regardless of how poor or politically insignificant someone is, having multiple vivid hallucinations like this would eventually become news worthy. Though, I don't envy anyone who is made to wade through countless newspapers and the like.
A few things.
1. The visions are triggered when something relates to the main timeline in terms of meetings, I’m calling it now.
2. The mane 6 will probably will have already met each other by the events of the first episode of MLP FIM. Well, rainbow and twilight will have met them.
3. This story is AWESOME!! You are doing a FANTASTIC job keeping me intrigued. And that’s not an easy feat.
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Minuette Talking rainbow out of the Moondancer prank was close enough to when pinkie did the same in ‘griffin the brush off’ (just replaces Moondancer with Fluttershy)
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No offense or anything, but it would probably be wise to not go replying to comments that are from 2017. A lot has happened since then, so I'd say it'd be a good idea to ensure you're all caught up before much else.
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I think your a butt person.