Fireflight

by Tangent

Prologue: Taking a Sledgehammer to Causality

FIREFLIGHT

Yet another MLP:FiM SI by Tangent

Whose alternate SI's keep messing up causality

Beta-readers: Angelform, Baran3, and W34v3r

Prologue

Firefly glided gently among the clouds, enjoying the peaceful sensation of the air flowing across her body and through her control feathers.

A far cry from when she had first appeared in Equestria four years ago in a flash of lightning above Los Pegasus. If the vacationing couple who ended up adopting her hadn’t spotted her fall in time to catch her, she probably wouldn’t have survived hitting the ground.

Granted, it probably would have been quick, and Firefly had already been barely conscious at the time, so a lot of the fear from anticipation had been absent as well, but it still wasn’t a pleasant thought.

In any event, Burning Sky and Dragonfly had taken her in, named her, and diligently helped her ‘regain’ her ability to manipulate things with her wings, hooves, and mouth. Two years ago, when they noticed her clumsy first attempts to fly, they helped her improve her technique and train her agility, speed, and stamina in the sky.

One day, she was going to be in the Air Guard, just like Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Hornet (Daddy's side of the family had a lot of bug related names), and like Grandpa Strato used to be before he retired.

For now though, she was just going to enjoy what private flying time she managed to get at the Junior Speedsters’ Flight Camp.

And try not to get in the way of the events unfolding around Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

Well, at least she knew when roughly in the timeline she was now, since they were all in Flight Camp together. Dash had just made friends with Gilda the other day, and Fluttershy…

Seriously, what had Fluttershy’s parents been thinking when they signed her up for the Junior Speedsters’ Flight Camp? Maybe they had made a mistake and thought that they had sent her off to Sky Dancer Camp? It would have suited the timid filly’s temperament better, and she certainly looked like the type that would come out of that awkward growth phase more graceful than she went into it.

Granted, Firefly did realize that she might be being a little biased due to the vague memories she retained of the show whose setting she found herself living in. Not that everything lined up completely with what she remembered so far, but enough had that she was reasonably sure that some of the big events were set to take place in a few years.

All she had to do was stay out of it all and let it happen while serving her new country in other ways.

When an odd flash caught Firefly’s attention, she found herself looking at the arrival of Twilight Sparkle and Spike as they fell out of a complex looking bubble of magic.

Which meant that Starlight Glimmer was around here somewhere, getting ready to prevent Rainbow Dash from performing her very first Sonic Rainboom.

In a way, it was very liberating for Firefly, knowing that it didn’t matter what she did or didn’t do because it was all going to be wiped away when causality was corrected.
Which was why, when Firefly spotted Starlight Glimmer getting ready to cast a spell at Rainbow Dash, she decided to deliver a flyby buck to the head on her way down to save Fluttershy.

Yeah. Screw trusting the ability of a swarm of butterflies to catch a pegasus. Firefly was going to make sure that Fluttershy made it to the ground safely.

All she had to do was reach her first…

*O o O o O*

Starlight Glimmer groggily shook her head in an attempt to clear it as she fell uncontrolled through the clouds on her way to the ground below.

What the buck had just happened?

Desperately, she recast her flight spell, which barely flickered into place but slowed her fall to a gentle drift nonetheless. This wasn’t good. If Twilight Sparkle caught her while she was still recovering from whatever hit her, that would be it for her little revenge scheme. She had to act quickly, even though she doubted that she’d be able to use enough control to just stop the filly gently. Still, it had to be done, and if one little filly just happened to get hurt in the course of her revenge then what of it?

When the Sonic Rainboom came, Starlight almost fell out of the sky again because it came from below her instead of from wherever the the young racers happened to be in the clouds above.

And the color of the transonic aura wave-front was all wrong. More of an alternating pink and purple rather than being the colors of a rainbow.

Something else had gone wrong other than what Starlight had planned on, and she wondered what it meant for the spell that she could feel getting ready to pull Twilight Sparkle back unto whatever future was forming from this change of events.

And then a second Sonic Rainboom happened among the clouds above.

And causality, just like her spell, shattered.

*O o O o O*

Two pegasi fillies looked up at the rainbow colored shockwave spreading across the sky.

"Three guesses who caused that one," Firefly commented lightly, even as she wondered why this version of reality hadn't unraveled yet. Did she screw up somehow when she bucked Dimlight Dumber on the way down to rescue Fluttershy?

"I think we both know who that is," Fluttershy replied as she turned her attention back towards her new friend's sprained wing. Sure, it was nice of Rainbow Dash to defend her honor by racing against the class bullies like that, and the second rainboom was an indication that her chromatic friend had most likely won, but it was Firefly who had noticed that she had fallen and had broken the sound barrier first when she flew down to intercept her before she hit the ground. Unfortunately, Firefly's immature wings couldn't quite take the strain of pulling out of that dive while also carrying the added weight of another filly, forcing the pair to angle for a softer water landing near the shore of a pond.

Neither of the two downed fillies would be returning to the Junior Speedster's Flight Camp until someone noticed that they were missing and came down to look for them, which might take a while. In the meantime, Fluttershy tended to her injured friend as best as she could, improvising makeshift splints for her wings.

"So, uh, Fluttershy?"

"Yes?"

"While we're waiting, would you mind listening to an idea about a story I'd like to write someday? I'm calling it 'Battleship Archipelago'."

"Okay."

Neither filly noticed that they had acquired their Cutie Marks until after they had been found.

*O o O o O*

Fizzlepop Berrytwist stared in wonder at the bouncy pink Earth Pony who, against all prior experience with every other filly or colt her age, seemed to be determined to be her friend despite the bursts of uncontrolled magic caused by her broken horn.

Yes, her broken horn was dangerous, but Pinkie Pie insisted that was all the more reason that she needed a friend to cheer her up and help her through the hard times. A friend who was unafraid of the risks involved with approaching a filly with uncontrolled magic. A friend whos dream was to travel Equestria, spreading joy and laughter to any and all who might need it.

It was inspiring, and Fizzlepop felt as if a great weight had lifted from her heart.

She resolved to follow Pinkie Pie and help her any way she could as they traveled across Equestria and beyond.

Oddly enough, the two eventually ended up on Mount Aris on the far coast of the Bone Dry Desert, where they managed to start up a much needed resistance cell that helped the hippogriffs repel the forces of the Storm King with their unique abilities, becoming national heroes of both Hippogriffia and Sequestria.

But that's another story entirely.

*O o O o O*

Princess Celestia cautiously glided towards the two ponies whose duel had wrecked a sizable portion of what had been a camp for young pegasi fliers. One of them did indeed appear to be an alicorn as the initial reports had claimed. One who bore a suspiciously close resemblance to her newest personal student, Twilight Sparkle, right down to her having the very same Cutie Mark and young dragon companion of the same coloration as baby Spike. The other was an angry lilac colored unicorn who was showing signs of severe magical strain and possibly a concussion. Not that the alicorn didn’t also look tired, but the unicorn definitely looked to be the worse off of the pair.

Noting that she hadn’t been noticed yet, Princess Celestia motioned for her guards to land quietly as she did, and approached the pair in silence. This appeared to be a natural break in whatever conflict the pair were engaged in, and if she was lucky she might find out what they were fighting about before she intervened.

And, as luck would have it, she did indeed seem to have arrived during the more verbal portion of whatever argument they were having.

“...I had given them true friendship! And you took it all away!”

“You took away their Cutie Marks, Starlight! Of course they turned on you when they found out that you had retained your own! You were lying to them!”

“I had to! I’m the only one who knows the Cutie Mark Removal spell! I’m the one who created it!”

“Why would you make such a horrible spell?”

“You want to know why I invented that spell? Fine, Princess, I’ll tell you! Because Cutie Marks destroyed the only friendship I ever had! Because Sunburst got his Cutie Mark and I didn’t, he got sent away to Magic School and I didn’t. I never heard from him again!”

“But...”

“And when I had finally, finally, made my own little utopia, a village without Cutie Marks, a village where everyone was the same and Cutie Marks couldn’t destroy friendships, you and you and your friends came along and ruined everything! You took away my friendships, so I’m going to make sure that you never get yours, Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

“You’re crazy!” the young dragon interjected.

“I AM NOT CRAZY!”

“You brought us all back in time just to rub it in our faces as you made sure that the one event that Twilight credited as connecting the Elements of Harmony before they even met each other didn’t happen as part of a twisted revenge scheme. Sounds crazy to me,” the dragon snarked.

“Spike has a point,” Twilight Sparkle agreed, revealing the young dragon’s name and confirming her own identity as the (or rather a) future version of a certain little filly back in Canterlot.

“I agree,” Princess Celestia stated, deciding that it was time to reveal her presence to all involved.

“Princess Celestia!” If anything, the sheer look of joy and relief on the dragon and new alicorn, and the look of trepidation on the unicorn, only served to further confirm what she had already found out.

“Princess Twilight,” Celestia responded formally, acknowledging the status of the other alicorn as revealed by the preceding argument. The somewhat hurt expression this caused spoke of the deeply personal relationship the other alicon must have had with her. “And you must be Spike. Or at least older versions of the young filly and dragon I had just met earlier today. Now who are you, Starlight...”

“G-Glimmer...” the unicorn stammered. “Starlight Glimmer.”

“Before we continue,” Celestia announced, "I need to know one thing: Can you reverse your spell and return Princess Twilight, Spike, and yourself to the portion of Neverwhen from whence you came?”

“Ah… No? I mean, the spell broke when the event I came back to prevent happened anyway. Twilight and I should have already been automatically projected back into the future, but we’re still here.”

“So you are truly cut off from your native causality, and this is a new branch of time rather than a closed chronological loop?”

“Oh no...” Twilight Sparkle visibly paled, immediately realizing what Princess Celestia was implying. A moment later the young dragon looked ill as well.

“Ha! Yes! That’s right! I still win!” Starlight Glimmer cackled gleefully.

“No, Starlight Glimmer of Neverwhen, you do not ‘win.’ You stand before me, guilty by your own admission, of the crimes of attempted genocide by means of temporal manipulation; of attempted regicide by means of temporal manipulation; and deliberately breaking causality and risking an extinction level event. Normally, I would sentence you to Tartarus for crimes of such magnitude, but I do not believe it to be secure enough to hold a unicorn that can create spells that can manipulate time to the extent that you have demonstrated. Starlight Glimmer of Neverwhen, I hereby declare you to be Despair of Loneliness and sentence you to the Palace Gardens. Your case will be reviewed again at some point in the future when the full extent of the actual damages you have caused and how they might be corrected or compensated for has been determined, but for now: To Stone With You!”

“But...”

But no further protest came from the now petrified Starlight Glimmer as Princess Celestia moved to comfort the grieving alicorn and dragon.

*O o O o O*

Several hours later, after Firefly and Fluttershy were discovered to be missing and eventually found and recovered from the ground under the Junior Speedsters' Flight Camp, Firefly could only express her disbelief about what she and Fluttershy had missed while they were gone...

Author's Note:

Just a bit of a heads up on how and why Princess Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike the Brave and Glorious didn't return to their future when Rainbow Dash successfully performed her very first Sonic Rainboom.

It's because Princess Twilight and Spike got sent forward when a divergent event happened before the key event took place. Which is to say Firefly's Sonic Rainboom. However, the three also stayed behind in the 'past' as a sort of Schrödinger's Echo, not that any of them realize this. When the 'key' event that Starlight's causality loop was focused on happened anyway, the last vestiges of the spell shattered, stranding them in the past because they were already in their proper future.

Mind you, none of them have anyway of knowing this, and for all this version of Princess Celestia knows Starlight Glimmer may have destroyed her native reality. She won't know for certain until she depetrifies Starlight on or after the original date the spell was cast once they catch up to it and takes a reading.

Celestia, being Celestia, hasn't told Princess Twilight this bit for several reasons. Only one of which being not to get the other alicorn's hopes up in case Twilight's native causality is indeed no longer there to find.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

How is this a self-insert story? You aren't Firefly.

[Tangent]

8647670
Burning Sky and Dragonfly named the falling filly they found (my self insert) Firefly.

[titanhades70]

Typical. Another Starlight hater that doesn't understand the character. You clearly don't understand how time travel works or about the MLP universe in general.

Like the fact that time travel and changing history are not actually crimes, which means Celestia would be in the wrong here, thereby being the real villian.

Plus the fact that the alternate timelines existed before Starlight traveled through time. If Twilight had stayed in her own time nothing would have happened except for Starlight going to an alternate reality.

And if that's not enough, it is obvious the map let this play out because it knew there was no danger. It already showed it could have taken the scroll at anytime and gotten rid of it. This whole sceneries was cooked up by it to help Starlight Glimmer.

The multi-verse is confirmed to exist in MLP.

[Tarot Duelwield 2]

Really well done. but be careful with temporal stories what you might want to do is tell every one the rules before going on because all time travel fans will be on your case if you break them. but I enjoyed this and I am waiting for the next chapter.

[Tangent]

8647713
Points of order:

1. I don't hate Starlight Glimmer as either a pony or a character. Yes, she is redeemable, but you'd have to break through her self delusion first, and that hadn't happened yet at this point in her battle against Princess Twilight. That makes it a valid divergent point for an Alternate Universe story such as this one.
2. I'm going by what was shown in the show (which I have seen every episode of), not the comics (of which I have read very few). Yes, I'm aware that the comics had Starswirl traveling back and forth through time. I'm also aware that the show itself contradicts several "facts" put forth by the comics. In either event, it doesn't matter as this story is tagged as an Alternate Universe and follows the rules I set for it.
3. Princess Celestia is, at this time, a Monarch. She has the authority to make or repeal laws as she deems fit. The book with Starswirl's time travel spell was in the Forbidden section of the Royal Library, even though the spell itself is arguably 'safe' since all it does is create a stable loop in time. It's probably kept there to prevent overly clever unicorns from getting ahold of it and doing exactly what Starlight Glimmer had done: which was to modify it into an 'unsafe' time travel spell in order to manipulate causality.
4. Regardless of whatever Starswirl knew or didn't know about time travel magic, all Princess Celestia knows is that it is risky and there are 'safe' and 'unsafe' versions. 'Safe' versions either cause stable causality loops or create bridges to alternate timelines or realities that can be safely revisited again and again. 'Unsafe' versions disconnect the travelers from their native causality, and it is currently unknown if their former reality even still exists. So, for all Princess Celestia knows, Starlight Glimmer may have just destroyed the reality that she, Princess Twilight, and Spike had just come from. Thus the harsh initial sentence. However, she doesn't actually know whether or not their home causality still exists, so Starlight's fate is essentially being kept 'on hold' until she actually finds out. As it happens, the best way to find out is simply to wait until time catches up to the date that Starlight had cast the initial spell and then depetrify her and take a reading. Princess Twilight and Spike have a bit of a wait coming. And Celestia is being Celestia and not saying anything lest they get their hopes up.
5. The Map of Harmony is not perfect. That said, Starlight Glimmer, Princess Twilight, and Spike the Brave and Glorious did return to their future (or rather, Twilight and Spike looped a few more times and then all three returned to their native causality). The problem is, they also stayed behind. The split occurred with Firefly's Rainboom, not Dash's, which is why Starlight misidentifies what had actually happened. The three are on the other side of a Schrödinger's Paradox - they are the other event that happened.

If it helps, think of this version of Starlight Glimmer, Princess Twilight, and Spike as being temporal clones or echoes. If and when they ever do manage to return home, they will find that they are already there.

[Tangent]

8647810
Done.

I posted an author's note at the bottom of the chapter.

[Canary In The Coal Mine]

I quite enjoyed this, and wonder what the story will actually focus on. Firefly, or the alternates that didn't return to their time. It seems to me that if these are copies left behind, it is irrelevant if their original timeline survives, because they are already there. I mean, the logic of her punishment would qualify even in canon, because of all the alternate timelines created and rewritten.

[Easysnuggler]

I like to see Celestia portrayed as hard ass enforcer of justice. The mailed fist within the velvet glove as it were.

[Crescent Glaive]

GIVE ME MORE TO READ!!!!!! I NEED MORE OF THIS FIC TO READ!!!!

[I Wrote A Story Once]

8647713
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/689/319/4f2.gif

[I Wrote A Story Once]

I don't know why I enjoy self insert wankery, but I do. I will be keeping an eye on this one.

[Dusk Star Shine]

Sweet new story, you got three different self-insert stories now, one as a Unicorn, another as a Thestral/Bat-Pony and now this one as a Pegasus, all you need is an Earth pony self-insert story and you will have the four main ponies done, I can't wait to see what you got planned for Firefly next and what will happen to Alicorn Twilight and older Spike now that they can't get back to their time.

[CroisSunnyPlay]

Sunset demands moar.

[raven618]

8648388
You. Calm down.
8648582
You. Why the duck? snrk Of all the My Little Pony characters that could have been in that GIF, you choose, gah a DUCK! HAHAHAHA!! You know what never mind, It's too funny.
Tangent, You have made something very intriguing. However I am scared of how advanced your knowledge of Temporal Mechanics is.

[FluffyNevyn]

Dont usually read SI types of stories....but damn if that isn't a good start....Definitely going on my fav's list

[Crescent Glaive]

8648690
media.giphy.com/media/UtKJ10JiiEWC4/giphy.gif
Neverrrr......

[Falx_of_Lume]

Holy crap this is a fantastic start! Like! Fave! Tracking! Follow!

[Falx_of_Lume]

8648690

You. Why the duck?

I believe the phrase you're actually looking for is...

What the duck?

*ba-dum chsh*

[I Wrote A Story Once]

8648690
OP is a duck.

[resonance]

raw.githubusercontent.com/secretshipfic/Core-Deck/master/cropped-images/Pony_Freedom%20Fighter%20Pinkie%20Pie.png
never thought i'd actually get to use that image. does this mean she's been written out of the story?

8648655
i hope they don't go back. i for one welcome an alicorn that could just be a deus ex machina for the author to just throw at problems / plot holes. plus spike could could be hilarious as a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern type character.

soooooooooooooo, i also see that sunset shimmer tag you got there...

[Midknight Defender]

Your case will be reviewed again at some point in the future when the full extent of the actual damages you have caused and how they might be corrected or compensated for has been determined, but for now: To Stone With You!”

Tangent, I love you. Soooo much. Right now.

[Eroraf86]

Consider me intrigued. Liked and tracking.

Side note, that Firefly vector reminds me of Firesight's story, The Rise of Firefly. Ever read it?

[Prismmirror]

Huh. I like it! Hope you'll continue it to see if it can become a full story. I like it more than your other fics I've read (not that they are bad - this just feels more cohesive). Nice that you didn't beat around the bush with the whole 'used to be human' backstory. If it's not relevant to the plot outside of some quirks in her personality/knowledge, no need to waste time on details.

[Ranakastrasz]

Ignoring any justifications or whatever for Starlight's actions, I have to say, I understand interrupting her. Not at the least because I at least, in that situation, would have no idea whether or not the timeline would collapse should the fight continue and I would effectively die/Cease to exist.

This is at least an interesting method of creating an alternate timeline. There have been quite a few, but I haven't actually SEEN one where someone else interrupts the time-fight (Mainly because its kinda a fight in a temporal loop and the combatants are the only ones with ripple-effect proof memory)

Following

[nightmaster0]

Awesome to see another story from you. This we see Tangent or Firefly in this universe become a pegasus. We also see her pretty much throw all the events of canon away with a kick to Starlights head.

So yeah things are most certainly off to a very interesting start.

I have to admit I've really become a big fan of all your SI stories. But i'm curious about something, one thing in common in all your stories is Tangent either replacing one of the Elements like the apparent plan for Batty, or is at least a close of theirs like her Crystal Synergy counterpart.

But i'm just wondering if there's any chance of seeing a future SI where Tangent somehow ends up becoming a enemy of the Mane 6? I mean she would make a pretty awesome recurring antagonist don't you think.

Cue scene of Tangent sitting on a dark throne being fanned by Grubber, while General Tempest and spy mistress Trixie give reports.

[River Road]

8649178
Some may say that it is a mercy. She was petrified while in her prime, before they turned her from one of the most dangerous villains of the show to one of the most behated heroes.
(I personally have nothing against Starlight, but I'm never one to pass up the opportunity to make fun of a character's vices).

[megabyte97]

Oh wow... I actually just found this story on Spacebattles... Glad I came back here today seeing as this site is much more reader friendly.

Now then... Thoughts on the chapter:

...

*Rereads the chapter*

Hmmm... I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this, on one hand you have the premise of an interesting story, how your self insert would interact with the world and change what we know about canon and see the world you create... On the other hand, this reads more like an interlude than a prologue. With how many focuses there are it is difficult to see just what this story is going to be about.

The story has my curiosity, but how will you grab my attention?

[Tangent]

8649033
Well, Pinkie's not completely out of the story as such, as I expect to include brief snippets about what the Pink Fizz team are up to from time to time.

And, oddly enough, Sunset Shimmer will be having a key role in the actual Chapter One. One of my Beta Readers refers to her and two of the other cast members as "The Unicorn Three."

8649265
No, but now that I have a title to search for, I probably will fairly soon...

8649278
Well, Fireflight is my first story to have a team of Beta Readers from the word go.

And yeah, I don't see the point in retreading the 'discovering how to pony' plot arc covered by so many other self inserts that transform the author's avatar into a pony. At least not when the adaptation arc itself isn't going to be one of the main plot elements.

8649281
In the case of the Twilight/Starlight Time Battle, they also appear to be the only adult ponies in the immediate area.

Hmmm... I wonder if I should include a note sometime about what happened to the camp councilors who had left the campers alone for so long and had not even made any noticeable attempt to get their young charges away from the area of the duel.

Not to mention that nopony noticed that two of the pegasi fillies were actually missing for a while.

Princess Celestia was not impressed.

8649329
Well, there is a sort of running joke among the readers in the story thread for Distorted Resonance back in SpaceBattles that some of my apparently many pony SI fragments scattered up and down the general window of time I seem to be using probably went insane and took up villain roles.

One such actually ended up being named Crystal Synistar by the readers...

[Scorch215]

8647939
Going to point out that your #3 is wrong, the time travel spell wasnt kept in any forbidden section of the archives. It were kept in the "Starswirled the Bearded" section of the archives which was behind an unlocked door....so...yeah the show makes it clear its not seen as a big deal and anyone can access the spell at any time. rest of the point is more or less spot on just that detail sort of unravels it.

[Tangent]

8649423
The Starswirl the Bearded section is, in fact, in a room with a barred door in the most secure building of the Canterlot Archives.

One of the guards even unlocked the door for Twilight.

While I'm not too impressed with the security, given that it was bypassed twice, it is in fact there.

Point number three stands.
Its About Time - Infiltrating the Secure Archives

I have watched every episode.

Which, arguably, should be less important in a story where the stations of cannon have been shattered, but given that it is a key plot point...

[Scorch215]

8649463
yes i have watched them as well, and at no point is it refered to as forbidden. libraries keep rare or old books that are old and delicate in the same sort of set up as that shelf. behind a bared locked door. i admit i did forget the door was locked but the security is the same as would be found for a rare books or delicate books archive.

as for why there were guards....it was the middle of the night....the place was probabaly closed.

still there is no evidence that it was a forbidden section, sepcilly since they just allow Twilight to bring other in. Forbidden section only allow those who are authorized. Pinkie as a random civilian most likely wouldnt have such authoraization.

this is what one has to do to be given accese to the NYC public Libraries Rare Books Division.
https://www.nypl.org/about/divisions/rare-books-division/access

[Tangent]

8649526
Okay, it may not specifically say that the Starswirl Room in the secure section of the Canterlot Archives is forbidden within the episode, but Twilight's behavior during the infiltration is a pretty clear indicator that she believes that this is in fact the case. Even if the guard's response to her presence... after hours... with Spike and another pony... and all three of them wearing black bodysuits... seems to indicate that Twilight's security clearance for the archives was still pretty damn high...

If Twilight thought that she could simply trot right in at any time, even if the archives she wanted were in the secure section, she would have. Ergo, since she behaved as if the section was Forbidden, and she had obviously been a frequent enough visitor in the past that the guards were still granting her free access, it most likely actually is a 'forbidden' archive that she only had access to because of her station and status as an agent of Celestia.

Seriously. Starswirl the Bearded created a lot of spells and experimented with dangerous magic. Even if his room in the archives isn't directly labelled as being forbidden, it should be taken as such.

The point stands.

It's just that the security for the section sucks.

[Detsella Morningdew]

Oh my... That pun in the cover photo.

That is the Fyre Flyte armor from Legends of Equestria.

Seriously, talk about obscure references.

Now that I think about it, that reference may not have been made by you, but instead by Equestria Prevails, but it's still golden.

[Billblok]

That's a rather lengthy author's notes. A little word of advice: The author's notes are not where I want to hear the opinions of characters, motives, etc. Show, don't tell.

[Tangent]

8649719
Fair enough.

I trimmed the author's note back down to the time travel notes that Tarot Duelwield2 requested be placed there, and moved the pic of Firefly's reaction to the end of the actual prologue.

[Thunrain]

It would be interesting that FireFly and rainbow dash become rivals, I imagine them competing to see who is faster, that's a good friendship. Another thing that can happen is that rainbow dash try to convince firefly to become a wonderbolt.

[Scorch215]

8649585
Twilight also was having a massive panic attack like 90% of the episode trying to prevent a non-existant threat/disaster. when she gets like that her behavior is wildly irrational and she thinks minor things are a huge issue and will get her in major trouble despite the fact she knows otherwise.

her actions at that point are not the best judge for what is and isnt a major area. Starswirl's spells are irreplacable seeing as he was thought dead at the time. there for his work would be protected like any valubale tomb that cannot be replaced easily.

the fact the guards saw her dressed like that and basicly ignored it opening the door shows her being there after hours is completly authorized.

as for te spells, think about it. if StarSwirl's spells are just in a normal rare manuscript archives.....what sort of spells would be locked up in the real forbidden section? we have seen Dark Magic is indeed protected based on the episode that Introduced Sombra seeing as Twilight wasnt the most famialr with it till it was explained. this leads us to safely assume it is such spell and magic that would be locked up in such a section.

there most likely is a forbidden section but Starswirl's spells have not been judged to be dangerous enough to be in it.

does raise the question of what would indeed be in the section.

also based on the episide it seems Equestian Time is rather easily fixed since all it never created double of Twilight, Spike or Starlight despite how mny ties tey went back to the same point. it suggest the spell basiclly keeps the timeline stable and easily repaired since all it took to fix everything was simply stopping Starlight from stopping the Sonic Rainboom and everything proceeded as normal.

which means its not as dangerous as most time travel snce it cleans itself up as its used and resets each time its used.

[Ariel Schnee]

8647713

You're a jackass.

[Ariel Schnee]

Is Celestia going to look up the younger version of Starlight and try to prevent her from going crazy in the first place?

[Tangent]

8649950
Starswirl's time travel spell, or at least the version that Twilight could get at in the secure section of the Canterlot Archives, is a 'safe' time travel spell. It is literally designed to be brief, only going back in time for a limited window, and deliberately creates a closed loop scenario.

It was apparently also, according to Pinkie Pie's search of the Starswirl Room, the only time travel spell stored there.

Just because that spell happened to be 'safe' doesn't equate to Starlight Glimmer's modification of it being just as 'safe.' In fact, Starlight's version of the spell is deliberately 'unsafe,' as it is intended to manipulate time and change history. Starlight didn't incorporate the Map of Harmony as an anchor as a safety feature - she did it to force herself to always appear just slightly farther in the past than Princess Twilight did when Twilight inevitably started to try leapfrogging back farther than the base spell in an attempt to counter her. Starlight wanted Twilight to do this, so that her rival would get frustrated and she could gloat over it. The other reason Starlight incorporated the Map was because using it as a focus allowed her to choose her physical destination in the past, with the base default being set as that specific flight camp.

The spell was purposely designed as a way to torment Princess Twilight by spinning off multiple timelines to send her back to different futures over and over again, with Starlight intending to break the spell and trap them both (and Spike) in the past once she herself had had her chance to gloat over her inevitable victory and rub it in Twilight's face.

A 'safe' spell of that nature would default to cancelling itself out if it was broken so that everyone involved got ejected back into their proper future, not strand them in the past.

Sure, the fact that Starlight used the Map of Harmony as the anchor for the spell probably allowed all for the correctional adjustment once the key event that the spell was intended to prevent happened anyway, but that's why the author's note explains that the three did in fact return to their proper future once the Rainbow's Sonic Rainboom happened despite the fact that Firefly performed one first - which hadn't happened in the original timeline.

That pull that Starlight experienced, thinking that she and Twilight were about to head back into the future again? That was them actually going and staying behind simultaneously. A Schrödinger's Echo effect spawning temporal copies in the new timeline, with Starlight Glimmer misinterpreting what the sensation actually meant when the spell finally broke with them remaining in the past.

The three trapped in the past have no idea that they had also travelled forward again, with the new timeline being a sidereal spinoff branch now separated from its parent loop cluster.

Oh, and you can bet that if Starswirl's time travel spell wasn't in the Forbidden Archives before, it certainly is now. Both in the originating causality and the new branch.

[Tangent]

8650017
You'll see what happens with the younger Starlight Glimmer in the actual first chapter. This was just the pre-timeskip prologue setting the story up.

[Conflicting views]

I don't really like raining on your parade, the idea is nice and it look like it could be fun, but this probably should have gone through one last editing phase at least.

-The introduction is just a bit too fast. I understand you did not want to focus too much on the boring part of the story, when your charater yet have to do important thing, but you still should've given her some room to breathe and introduce herself to us properly.
-What is it with that pinkie pie non-sequitur? Or that last part with Firefly and Fluttershy being found? Were those "part" really a necessity?
-The scene with Celestia was oddly paced and Celestia herself was kinda bland at best, kinda ooc at worst.
-The summary should be improved. Right now it tell us what the story is rather then showing it, if you follow my drift.

So yes, I like the idea, you do have a lot of imagination so it can be a good story, but I really think that this was rushed. It is not all bad, but it could certainly stand some improvement to make it something really worth reading.

[ErikPhantom]

So, a few questions:

Firstly, why did Pinkie and Tempest's (Fizzlepop's) events diverge already? From the looks of it, Pinkie had her mark already(?), found Tempest, and cheered her up regardless of the double Rainbooms. Then they went to the hippogriffs for some reason I guess?

Secondly, by the Author's note, every time they repeated the loop, Twilight and Spike would have been duplicated?

It's because Princess Twilight and Spike got sent forward when a divergent event happened before the key event took place. Which is to sayFirefly'sSonic Rainboom. However, the threealsostayed behind in the 'past' as a sort of Schrödinger's Echo, not that any of them realize this. When the 'key' event that Starlight's causality loop was focused on happened anyway, the last vestiges of the spell shattered, stranding them in the past because they werealreadyin their proper future.

As Twilight and Spike got sent to the versions future whenever the divergence occurred, but they also remained behind as echos, who would then be pulled along after Starlight when she time-traveled again. What happened this time is Starlight's spell broke, stranding them, but the rest prior to that still happened.
So there's a Twilight and Spike in 6-ish years post-NMM's return, plus the ones here in the present (past), plus a spare pair stuck in a ruined future for each time they all did it prior either from the ones following Starlight (the 'echoes') or the ones displaced to the altered timelines future (canon Twilight and Spike?)

God. I hate time-travel shenanigans...
It throws causality completely out the window, which is kinda key to a coherent plot.

Still, I am liking this, faved.
(Also, good to see Celestia actually doing something and being decisive for once.)

[Emtu]

This is gonna be one hell of a trip.

[Tangent]

8650259
To answer the first question, the early first Rainboom caused by Firely didn't actually change all that much for Pinkie, but seeing two of them so closely together gave her even more inspiration, which butterflied into her randomly choosing a different path to follow once she left the rock farm.

Her encountering Fizzlepop Berrytwist and them teaming up as a result is just my way of showing that Pinkie's butterflies are going to have a huge impact on the world even when she's no longer part of the actual story.

As to the reason for the Schrödinger's Echo effect happening in this particular causality when we see little to no evidence that it happened this way in the episode? Here's a big clue: Firefly isn't supposed to be there. At all. A glitch occurred when Starlight Glimmer, under the effects of her own spell, came into physical contact with someone else originally from a different region of the Neverwhen than she, Twilight, and Spike are from.

Not that anypony knows this, as certain facts about Firefly's origins and how she came to be adopted by her current family aren't public knowledge. Even Burning Sky and Dragonfly, the pegasi couple that adopted her, don't know where she fell from when they caught her. They just assume that she had been struck by lightning after flying away from whoever her original guardians were. They ended up adopting (and subsequently naming) Firefly because literally nopony else stepped forward to say that they were the little filly's family.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

8647713

Typical. Another Starlight hater that doesn't understand the character. You clearly don't understand how time travel works or about the MLP universe in general

Fact is that IRL nobody knows how time travel works. Starlight's spell is clearly VERY different from the one that Twilight used in Lesson Zero. As far as I can see, the author can decide for himself . As for hating SG, there isn't enough shown to decide that.

Like the fact that time travel and changing history are not actually crimes, which means Celestia would be in the wrong here, thereby being the real villian.

You don't know that. The show never addressed that point. IMO that means that the law is what the author says it is

Plus the fact that the alternate timelines existed before Starlight traveled through time. If Twilight had stayed in her own time nothing would have happened except for Starlight going to an alternate reality.

Where episode says that? The show doesn't cover it, so IMO the author can set it how they want.

And if that's not enough, it is obvious the map let this play out because it knew there was no danger. It already showed it could have taken the scroll at anytime and gotten rid of it. This whole sceneries was cooked up by it to help Starlight Glimmer.

You've got a point
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
The ONLY point I'd argue about is "How the heck is Firefly able to do a Sonic Rainboom?" Rainbow Dash can't do it for again for about 10-12 years (until S1 E16 Sonic Rainboom). AFAIK, even by S7, the other Wonderbolts can't do one, & they're the best in EQ, it's still unique to Dash

[Tangent]

8650424
While their motivations at the time were different, both fillies were highly motivated to push themselves past their previously known limits.

Dash was trying to win a race and enjoying pushing the limits of her speed when she had her epiphany that this was what she wanted to do with her life.

Firefly was trying to intercept Fluttershy before she became dirt pizza.

Yeah, in the show, Fluttershy's fall had been broken by a swarm of inexplicably helpful butterflies, but given the option to freely try to rescue the falling filly once she noticed the three time travelers, Firefly actually had even less reason to expect that Fluttershy wouldn't just hit the ground instead.

So both fillies were highly motivated by circumstances.

Not that I'm saying that it won't also be years before Firefly performs another Sonic Rainboom, And Dash might just be able to pull it off more consistently once she can do it again, but for all practical purposes Firefly is physically an incarnation of Firefly. She looks like she does for a reason.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

The big problem for the future is: Timing on the events shown in The Cutie Mark Chronicles. As shown, Rarity will still get her mark. The rock will crack & reveal them a little earlier, she'll just see them when she gets there not afterwards. HOWEVER, Rarity did NOT tell the truth about her Cutie Mark
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a clip. However, by her account, the show was the next day. Yet, her horn dragged her for countless miles of wilderness. Up & down hills, for days on end she travelled to find her rock. Then, she had to
1) Get back to Ponyville
2) Arrange transportation. Presumably, this involved getting adult permission to take a cart & maybe adult help hauling it (Easier if she thought to take some gems back with her to prove her story)
3) At least 1 trip out to the rock & back to haul in the gems
4) Make the costumes
5) It seems likely that her parents wouldn't let her pull an all nighter, so get some sleep.
How was there time for all this? No, clearly the gem rock must have been very close to her house & Rarity greatly exaggerated the difficulty involved. This means that there were other ponies around & it would be pretty tight timing for her to claim the gems before someone else. This means that if it is too much earlier, Rarity won't get the gems & thus won't get her mark. IMO, Rarity won't stay a designer if she doesn't think that she can excel at it. Maybe she'll go into music (Milli Vanilli Filly) or become an actress?

Twilight clearly spent a fair amount of time trying to hatch the egg, a little earlier shouldn't hurt too much.

Apple Jack is maybe the most time critical. If she isn't looking out the window at the right time, will she still go bck to Ponyville? Or will her stubbornness drive her to stay in Manehatten?

IMO, the events in Return of Harmony show that almost anyone can use the Elements. However, "How strong are they?" depends on
1) How closely does the Bearer match their Element?
2) How close is their friendship?
First time they tried to use the Elements, the answer to both these questions was "Not very much" & so it was too feeble to affect Discord. However, they did activate. This shows that almost anyone can use them, the only question is "Will they be strong enough to affect Nightmare Moon?". If they can't cure her, can they at least send her back? The Crystal Empire War segment implies that the answer is "Yes"

[Tallinu]

This sounds pretty interesting so far... Story-stalking time!

[Ariel Schnee]

8650478 wrote : " Apple Jack is maybe the most time critical. If she isn't looking out the window at the right time, will she still go bck to Ponyville? Or will her stubbornness drive her to stay in Manehatten? "

Rainbow still pulled off her Sonic Rainboom at the same time as she did in canon too. So Applejack will still see Rainbow's Rainboom. Thus that event remains unaffected and canon.