• Published 31st Oct 2017
  • 3,390 Views, 73 Comments

Twilight's 1000th Birthday Blowout - Cyndaquil



A time travelling Spike is inviting all Twilight's closest friends to her one thousandth birthday.

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6 Total Recall

If Fluttershy did not know that she had gotten onto the waterslide known as Bone Crusher, she knew now. It started with a 40 hoof vertical drop. The only time she had ever experienced anything remotely like this, Rainbow Dash was there to catch her (performing her first sonic rainboom in the process). That might not happen this time. In fact, she vaguely remembered her friend Dash cheering her on when she saw Fluttershy get onto the slide. Rarity and Spike had tried to warn her not to do it.

The slide was open faced for most of the drop, but then it turned into a tunnel. She quickly missed her opportunity to leap away and fly to safety. Now she was in darkness. The slide was frictionless. She might have moved just as fast without the continuous stream of chlorinated water.

Fluttershy screamed. She screamed so loud that a certain draconequus on the other side of the park turned his head and said, “Hey, that sounds familiar.” Her scream was unyielding and constant. One might wonder how she went so long without air. Then her descent slowed. Fluttershy realized that she was now moving at a crawling pace. She stopped. Suddenly there was a light in the tunnel, it was a familiar and brilliant violet luminescence.

The water continued to cascade, giving Fluttershy a warm shower as Twilight pulled her back up the slide with her horn magic.

When she reached the surface, she looked around seeming confused.

“Are you okay, Fluttershy?” Rarity and Applejack dotted on her.

Fluttershy looked her own body over, and shook a few limbs. “Yes,” she finally answered.

“See, I told you so!” Announced Twilight. Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “Sorry to pull you up. These mares got it in their heads that you went down the wrong slide. They think you just meant to go down the Gentle Slope. We know that’s not true, Right, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy was about to say something when Twilight spoke first.

“You’re so brave, Fluttershy. I wish I wasn’t too afraid to go down this slide.”

That was a surprise. “You’re afraid?”

“Oh yeah, I’m totally chicken. Although maybe I’d be okay if we went down together.”

“Gee, I don’t know.” Fluttershy was now finding it hard to tell Twilight that she was afraid to go down the slide herself.

“Please, Fluttershy!” Twilight gave her a pleading look up adorable kitten eyes. “It’s the only way I can do it.”

“Are two ponies even allowed to go down together?”

“My park, my rules. Just try not to kick on the way down.” Twilight grabbed Fluttershy in a tight embrace.

Suddenly they were both going down the vertical drop together. Twilight lit the tunnel with her horn light as they descended down the spirals and around the loop. Fluttershy screamed again, but it was a more wild, excited scream. To her credit, she never kicked Twilight, though she wanted to. Before they knew it they were under water. They came up in an olympic sized pool.

When they got up, the two playfully splashed water at one another.

Back at the top of the slide, Rainbow Dash asked Spike, “Was Twilight really afraid to go down herself?”

“She went down the slide three times this morning.” the dragon answered.


As they were all drying off, a pony ran up to Twilight. She was a blue mare with a petunia cutie mark. She gave a quick “hello” to everyone and even added an “it’s an honour to meet you”. Then she turned to Twilight. “Let’s go!” said she. “Come on Twilight, you promised.”

Twilight gave her friends a quick bow, then said, “See you later,” and she just left.

They were a little surprised by that. Fluttershy seemed to be the only one who had thought of this before. She had met a pony named Minty who claimed to be Twilight’s closest friend in her own era. This place was full of ponies she invited from all across time. They had all been close to her at some point. Maybe the Mane Six were not even the most special ponies here for her.

Eventually they moved on, figuring they’d all have their very own Twilight to go home to when this strange trip the the future was complete. As they all wanted to try different things, some of them went their separate ways.


“Now let’s do something really future-y,” said Rainbow Dash.

“I think you mean futuristic.” Spike corrected.

“Yeah let’s do that. Something we could never do back home in our time.”

“I don’t know. The things we have in this time might be a little too intense for you.” Spike still remembered how to ruffle Rainbow Dashes feathers.

“What? I can take anything you got,” The Pegasus insisted.

They were interrupted by a screeching noise. The pony and the dragon looked up to see sparks fly as the wing of the dark blue starfighter grazed against the dome of the space station. Pay attention folks, I just wrote the most awesome sentence in history. With one wing destroyed, the dark blue starfighter spiralled out of control. Still not giving up, the pilot of the dark blue starfighter fired a shot at the white starfighter every time it turned in the spiral to face its opponent.

“How about we fly some of those?” Asked Rainbow Dash.

“Another day; it’s a half day excursion to ride those things.”

“How long are we here for?”

“Who knows? That’s up to Twilight.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at that statement. The Twilight she knew would have an exact timeline for everything.

“When are we meeting Twilight again?” Pinkie asked.

“It’s hard to say. She’s having dinner with her old buckball teammates…oh, and a sleepover with Minty. They’re gonna talk about sock designs.”

“Sock designs?”

“Yeah, one odd thing you’re going to find out about Twilight is that she loves socks. She’s been everywhere, and done every job in Equestria, and she never loses interest in socks.”

“Socks.”

“Hey, I’m not defending it. I’m just telling you what is.”

This got boring quickly, so they soon shifted the conversation back to Rainbow Dash's wish to do something future-y.

“Don’t you have, like, games that are so real it’s as though you become the characters?” Rainbow Dash did a flying loop while talking; she was so excited.

“How’s that futuristic? We had magic Power Pony comics back in your time.”

Even though Spike seemed to be shooting down Rainbow Dash's ideas; it soon became clear that the dragon was leading them somewhere.

They came to an arcade. At first Applejack and Rarity turned their noses. Video games seemed like such a boyish thing to do. Spike insisted that he had something good for them. He led them to the back, where there were three machines. There was a control panel to the left. Some sort of headgear hung from the ceiling, and below the floor was a treadmill that could move in any direction.

Rainbow Dash was the only one who seemed excited, and the others needed some prodding. Still they were all going to try the headsets.

They scrolled through some of the different games they could play on these devices. Spike waved them aside and started pushing buttons on the panel. “There are special games here, that Twilight designed just for you three.”

“Cool!”

“Now hold on. I should warn you, these ‘games’ really are intense.”

“Bring it on.”

“There’s more. These games, they can change you if you let them. If you don’t want them to then nothing serious will happen, but if you want them too, they can change your whole outlook on the world.”

“Okay, sugarcube, hyping something up is fun and all, but enough is enough.”

“Yes, darling, this is becoming a bit too much.”

“Ah, don’t chicken out. This is something Twilight made for us. I’m sure it’s gonna be awesome.” Rainbow Dash was still psyched.

Spike carefully, almost lovingly helped each of them into the headgear. He initialized the program, and hit the activation switch.

First there were calming sounds, followed by pretty colours, then a voice that was calm yet authoritative. It was the voice of Princess Celestia.


Hello my friends.

We are going to go on a journey.

Please, don’t get up.

Stay right where you are.

This is a different type of journey.

It’s not your hooves or wings that will take you somewhere.

This is a journey of the mind, and perhaps the spirit.

Think of the ponies you love the most.

You can picture their faces, can’t you?

They are going to join you on this journey.

You will have some adventures together.

This may seem different at first,

It may seem like you are looking at the world from another ponies perspective.

Different perspectives are good.

They keep the world interesting; Don’t they?


Rainbow Dash looked around. She was in the Castle of Friendship, sitting in one of the thrones that circled around the cutie map. However, it wasn’t the usual crowd and she wasn’t in her usual place. Scootaloo sat in what was supposed to be her spot.

Now Rainbow Dash loved Scootaloo ‘as’ a sister, not just ‘like’ a sister; even if they were not technically sisters. That still gave her no right to steal her preferred spot. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof to object, then immediately noticed that the coat on her hoof was purple-pink. Is this the game? Was she experiencing something from a character's point of view, in the first person?

Sweetie Belle sat in Rarity’s place, and Appleboom sat were Applejack should have been. Their elder sisters were not present.

So going around the table you had Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Lily Valley, Roseluck, herself, Spike, Starlight Glimmer and Twilight. It was quite the cast. There was still the question of who she was. Based on her coat colour, and the rest of the flower trio being present, she guessed Daisy. Why Daisy?

Twilight had frazzled hair and baggy eyes. She seemed stressed. This somehow made her more like the Twilight that Daisy/Rainbow Dash knew, then the one from the future.


Daisy’s mind flashed back to some time before. Twilight was in a hospital being observed after her ‘accident’. She brought Twilight a bouquet. Lily Valley had some darjeeling tea and light pastries, while Roseluck brought a kettle and tea set. They planned to visit for a while if they could.

Daisy left her bouquet by the wall, with the many others. She remembered being the one to sell most of these flowers, at the Flower Trio’s little shop in Ponyville.

Daisy told Twilight, “If there’s anything we can do to help, please just name it.” What she said could have been taken as a pleasantry, practically every pony had said the same words to Twilight. Only this time there was a deeper sincerity in her voice. Twilight nodded her head, seriously considering the prospect.

Roseluck cut in. “We spoke with the other you, Twilight. We spoke with the you from the future. She says there is something we’re supposed to do.


Back to the castle. Twilight addressed everyone in the room. She started by talking about what they already knew. The ponies of Ponyville had been caught in a predestination paradox. They were taken to the future, where, and incredible as it seemed, they attended Twilight’s one-thousandth birthday party. Everypony talked about having an amazing time, and not knowing that anything was wrong. However, when they returned, five ponies were not with them. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash were missing. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo lowered their heads in grief as she repeated this part.

“I brought you here today because I’m working on a new spell. I want to give a gift to my friends, if… I mean when I see them again. Though it could take me minutes to complete.”

“It could take years to complete.” Spike corrected. Twilight tended to mix those terms since her accident.

Applebloom was the first to ask, “You’re still trying to get them back sooner, aren’t ya?”

“Of course,” answered Twilight.

“Then what sort of gift is it?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“One that will mean a lot to them, although the feeling may be bittersweet.” Twilight closed her eyes for a second. Rainbow-Daisy recognized her look. It was the look of the Twilight who was eager for approval, fearful of rejection. Whatever crazy thing Twilight was about to say, Rainbow-Daisy knew she had to at least hear her out. Finally she continued to speak. “I need all of you to make memories together. Make all sorts of memories, but mostly happy ones, and do this for the rest of your lives.”

“What!… Happy memories?” The three CMC spoke in unison. They looked at the other ponies in the room, who were practically strangers. The Flower Mares didn’t seem nearly as shocked. Confusing as it was, they already expected this due to a chat with Twilight’s future self.

“Yes, I’m going to record those memories, and give it to the girls as a gift.”


“Roseluck, you make memories with Applebloom, and I’ll copy them to Applejack.”


Days went by. Applejack was in the game for about an hour. The days seemed no shorter then a day was supposed to be, yet never long enough.

Applejack experienced these days in a first person perspective and through the eyes of Roseluck. Sometimes when making breakfast or cleaning house, she was very pleased with herself. Other times, like when doing chores or working with tools, she was disappointed, feeling her body was weak and her skills were lacking. This was because it was Roseluck not her, yet her body never felt like a puppet as she lived out the flower mare's memories.

So it was that the days went by. Some days were more exciting, like the Sister Hooves social, the yearly camping trip, or the Apple reunions.

One day she was doing Appleboom’s hair. Applebloom was dressed in a wedding gown. She watched herself brushing the hair in a mirror. Their coats were both yellow, though the shades varied slightly. They both had red manes, the same red. She briefly wondered if people ever mistook them for mother and daughter.

Applebloom sighed.

“Are you nervous?” Roseluck asked.

“Naw!”

“Do you wish Applejack was here?”

“Yeah, I wish her and my mom were here…. but I’m glad you’re here. And thanks you, Applejack won’t have to miss this.” She smiled.

Roseluck smiled.

“Hey ya know what?” said Applebloom.

“What.”

“We look like family.” She looked at the two of them side-by-side in the mirror, and she smiled


Lily, you make memories with Sweetie Belle, and I’ll share them with Rarity.


Somehow the two of them ended up with the duty of caring for Fluttershy’s animals. The cottage was like a clubhouse for the two of them, et al.

She wasn’t the best choice for the job. She carried on Fluttershy’s duties adequately. Lily kept the animals fed, and clean, and together they kept them feeling appreciated.

Sweetie also took Fluttershy’s place on the Ponytones, a barbershop style quartet. Lily never missed a concert, and all this was passed on into the mind of Rarity.


"Daisy, you make memories with Scootaloo, and I’ll give them to Rainbow Dash.”


“Hold on, this is nuts. Why are you wasting your time with this? You should be looking for a way to get our sisters back! Or is your noodle too fried to even try another time travel spell?”

Everypony was shocked at Scootaloo’s outburst. Scootaloo stormed out of the castle.

After that, nopony knew where Scootaloo went, and many began to worry.

Daisy took Pinkie’s old balloon, to try searching Cloudsdale. Everypony figured Scootaloo might want to go there; the only reason nopony had checked already was because Scootaloo couldn’t fly. Well, she could still walk on clouds, and maybe the little Pegasus was more resourceful then they thought.

She hadn’t been on many outings with the balloon, so Daisy was quite proud of herself when she made it there without any problems. Too bad for her, earth ponies still can’t walk on clouds. Daisy tied a piece of rope to her torso, and tried to jump to what she thought would be a good anchorage point.

Daisy climbed to the edge of the basket, and braced herself for the jump. Unfortunately, the balloon shifted slightly. She missed her anchorage point and landed on pure cloud. Mist was in her face for only a second as she fell right through the cloud. Now she had a view of Ponyville, as she dangled from a rope. When she fell to the end of the rope's length, the rope went taut. Daisy’s torso felt a sudden and painful jerking feeling.

Daisy screamed for help. She screamed for a good three minutes before somepony started to pull her up. It was Scootaloo.

The experience had scared Daisy. She wouldn’t call it a trauma exactly, yet it did leave her in a vulneralbe state. This made Scootaloo willing to open up and talk to her.

And what did they talk about?

“You can’t replace Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo told her.

“I know,” said Daisy. It’s no use trying. Then she smiled at Scootaloo. “I guess you’ll have to be the cool one.”

Fast forward a few years later. Daisy held Scootaloo’s hoof as she awoke from surgery. Doctors had fixed a clot they discovered that had stunted her wing growth. It was still a year or two until her wings were strong enough to take flight, and three years before she passed the trials at Wonderbolt Academy.

She never did perform any sort of rainboom, but she did fairly well for a Pegasus who’s childhood nickname was dodo.


That was quite the journey, wasn’t it?

It was more then an adventure.

It was a life.

You’ll never really forget what you’ve experienced.

These were your experiences, after all those mares gave them to you.

For now let these memories fade into your subconscious.

They’ll still be there, they just won’t be accessible for the time being.

You will awaken remembering only the emotions you felt.

If you need to remember something, then let your imaginations fill in the blanks.

What you imagine is not real, but these memories are.

They are yours.

When you need them the most, these memories will return to you.

I promise they will.

When they return, you will be able to decide if you wish to keep them.

If you don’t wish to keep them that’s okay,

The memories can just go dormant again.

Nothing will be forced on you. The memories are a gift.

Now awaken.


Tears flowed from Applejacks eyes. She asked herself, ‘Why am I sobbing.’ At first Applejack was embarrassed, afraid that her friends would see her like this. Then she saw that Rarity was also crying her eyes out.

“Oh, darling, I’m sorry. It was just so moving.”

They looked to Rainbow Dash, wondering if she would have the same reaction. Rainbow dash lifted the helmet from her eyes, and leapt from the booth. “That was awesome!”

Rarity and Applejack both looked at her.

“Did you see that? Tell me you saw that! All the loops, and spirals, and the speed, and the colours and that big Kapow at the end.”

Applejack and Rarity looked at one another, then back to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, darling, don’t you feel moved? What I saw was the most touching, endearing…” Rarity grabbed a tissue. She had to blow her nose.

“Moved? Heck no! We must’ve been playing different games. All I remember is the excitement.”

“You don’t feel anything else from the game?” Spike asked.

Rainbow thought for a moment. “Huh, now that you mention it there is something.”

“Yes.”

“I can’t stop wondering…”

“Yes.”

“Did I remember to water my flowers today?”

Spike slapped himself in the forhead.

“Rainbow Dash, what flowers? You don’t have a single plant in your home. Even your lawn is made of clouds.”

“No plants, huh?” Rainbow furrowed her brow in confusion. “Maybe I should get some. I really feel like watering the flowers is important.”

As they left, the arcade, Rainbow Dash spotted a flower bed. She started removing the weeds and pruning the flowers. Starlight Glimmer appreciated the attention.