The Time Thief

by Reading4HalfMyLife

Loop 1

Monday.

Waking up was always the hardest part of Astral's day. It seemed as if the entire universe was conspiring against her, saying "no, it's totally cool, you should just sleep in." And today was no exception. Upon waking up, Astral's first thought was to go right back to sleep, and, had she not glanced outside her window, she probably would have.

I'm late! Again!

She took her steps three at a time, and threw herself off the last six, skidding on the marble floor of the castle. Upon righting herself, she took off once more, and hurried through the kitchen, the quickest way to the exit.

While going through the kitchen, she saw her mom eating an apple, and reading a letter from her friend Sunburst. "Mom!" Astral yelped as she grabbed an apple and stuffed it into her mouth. "Where's mom? She was supposed to wake me!"

Starlight looked like she'd been punched in the stomach. "I knew I forgot something," she muttered, facehooving hard. She pulled her hooves away from her face to say "Astral, Twilight's gone to Canterlot, remember? To see your brother?"

Astral had been nearly out the door at this point, but stopped, eyes narrowed. "Didn't she do that earlier this week?" She asked, and Starlight squinted at her.

"What? No, sweetie, she hasn't seen Alchemy for a month, that's why she's going. It was my job to wake you up. I'm sorry, and I promise I will make it up to you." While delivering this short speech, Astral glanced at the clock, and saw she was five minutes late now.

"Okaythanksmom,bye!"

She reached the schoolhouse not five later, sweaty and panting, but was still reprimanded by Ms. Cheerilee, who gave her a detention, again. "But, miss, you gave me a detention yesterday," she protested, bringing out her journal to prove it, only to find nothing.

"Astral!" Miss Cheerilee said sharply. "You know I do not approve of liars! Sit down, now!"

Confused, Astral did just that.

Astral grew more and more confused as the day progressed. She remembered doing all these, things, and yet nopony else seemed to! Was this some sort of prank? Or maybe it was just that déjà vu thing Alchemy once lectured her on.

Well, if it was déjà vu, it certainly grew stronger as the day progressed, with Starlight taking her out to milkshakes, and Pinkie and Misty serving them their two usual's on the house.

It's not that odd, she told herself. These things can happen all the time. I come here for milkshakes all the time, and that is my usual. It was probably just a weird dream.

---

Tuesday.

"Today class, we are going to be learning about flight or fight," Ms. Cheerilee said, pointing to a diagram on the board, while the class feigned interest. "Every living being has one or the other, otherwise they would completely die out! Every living being has one or the other, otherwise they would completely die out! The fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. In response to acute stress, the body's sympathetic nervous system is activated due to the sudden release of hormones " As she spoke, Cheerilee was starting to draw diagrams on the board, while Astral payed careful attention. She had woken up that day feeling nervous for some reason, and that feeling had never truly gone away.

So, she was focusing on the diagrams and the teacher with pinpoint precision, trying to ignore the voices in the back of her head telling her something was wrong and to get help, now! Feeling a headache coming on, she put a hoof to her head and concentrated even harder.

---

Wednesday.

"Today is the day we get our cutie marks!" Apple Jam cried, waving her hoof in the air as the other two crusaders standing in front of her.

Butterscotch, frowned up at the list of things they'd already tried. "I think we've done almost everything there is to do in Ponyville!" He said, dramatically flopping down to the ground. "Unless . ." Jam trailed off suggestively.

"No!" Butterscotch said . "I was a dumb idea, and you shouldn't of talked us into it."

"Yeah, well, we all agreed that the hydra was perfectly well trained at the time." Jam sniffed, rolling up a map and putting it away, before clapping her hooves together. "Now! Who's up for some hang gliding?"

Astral frowned, tilting her head. "Didn't we do that last week?" She asked, and the other two turned to stare at her.

"No, last week we tried swimming " Jam pointed to the picture of a duck with a red cross going through it. Astral glanced at Butterscotch, but he was nodding too.

"Oh," Astral said weakly, trying to make sense of it all. Was it some kind of elaborate prank? "In that case, hang gliding sounds great."

Unsurprisingly, hang gliding was a bust, and, also unsurprisingly, the three were grounded for breaking Mr. Whistles window. Astral also had to sit through a two hour lecture from her moms about how fire was dangerous, and next time, run away from the flames, alright?

---

Thursday

"Hello class!" Ms Cheerilee greeted, and a chorus of "hello Ms Cheerilee"'s followed by soon after. "Now, today is Thursday, and you know what that means" she lifted up a stack of paper, "tests." Reactions from the class were mixed. Some just groaned, while others realized they did absolutely no studying for the History of the Wonderbolts Test today.

The feeling of dread was back, and only grew stronger when she read the questions.

What was the name of the guard formed to protect Celestia after Nightmare Moons Banishment?

Who gave the Wonderbolts their name?

Describe, in detail, how they got their name.

Who's flight choreography do we still use today?

Who founded the Wonderbolt Academy?

What were the effects of the Wonderbolts founding?

Feeling sick, Astral picked up the pen in her mouth, and started to write the answers she already knew.

As expected, Twilight came to walk her home, and Astral listened to the same stories she had heard before. "Hey, mom, I was, uh wondering" her mother turned to regard her. "Have you ever, I don't know, hadthisrealstrongsenseofdeja-vu?"

It took Twilight a moment to decipher Astral's words, but when she did, she gave a small smile. "Why yes, of course." She puffed out her chest and pulled out her lecturing voice. " Déjà vu is a very common symptom when you do the same thing, week in week out," she gave her a stern look. "Which is why I think you should try and make new friends."

Astral opened her mouth to explain the past week, but stopped. How could she describe something she didn't know about? Instead, she just mumbled a "there's nothing wrong with the friends I have."

"Oh, sweetie, of course not, but there's also nothing wrong with making new friends."

Actually, there were several things wrong with making new friends. They might expect her to go out to social gatherings or parties, or she might start neglecting her old friends, like her mom did with Aunty Moondancer. Or her friends could leave and never look back, like Uncle Sunburst.

But she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to get into a fight today, and nodded instead. They walked on in silence for a bit, before Astral decided to change the awkward subject. "So, um, I read the telekinesis section of Newbies guide to Magic and Mysteries."

Twilight visibly brightened, and a smile appeared on her face. "Really? Any progress?" She asked eagerly, and Astral instantly regretted treading this ground. "Well, I managed to turn a page in the book, but I couldn't do anything more than that," her ears flopped against her head as she remembered the disappointment she had felt.

Despite being the child of not one, but two very powerful ponies, Astral unfortunately had almost no discernible talent for magic, at least from what she could see.

Her mom, however, clearly thought otherwise, as she gently nudged her with her wing. "You know," she said, rolling her eyes skyward. "When I first started, I could only turn a page too." Astral glanced up at her, searching for any dishonesty.

"Really?"

"Really."

---

Upon kissing both her mom's goodnight, Astral spotted the three marbles on her desk. They were good for practicing levitation, though she hadn't even been able to lift one so far.

She grit her teeth and concentrated, her horn sparking as she stared at a blue marble. Lift! She told it. Lift!

It didn't lift, instead rolling a millimeter backwards, before going back to it's original resting place. Astral felt a headache staring to grow from the amount of effort she had put into it. And all just to move it a little, she thought bitterly.

Without further ado, she climbed into bed, and fell asleep.

---

This time, she actually woke up five minutes before her mom usually woke her, and decided to lie in bed and wait for her. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but after last week . .

She shook herself, and glanced at her alarm. 7:12. Her mom woke her up at 7:15 and Twilight Sparkle was nothing if not precise.

This was stupid. In three minutes, her mom would walk in, and wonder why she wasn't getting ready if she was up early. 7:15. Any second now . . .

Nothing. A minute passed, then two, then three, until it was 7:30, but still Astral didn't move. Her chest felt strangely tight, and the sheets constricting as more and more time passed, and still her mom didn't come in.

Oh no.

Author's Note:

Sequence of events;

Monday
Astral wakes up, late for school
She is told off by Miss Cheerilee not only for being late, but also for lying
Starlight & Astral go out for milkshakes

Tuesday
Learning about Fight or Flight
Astral concentrates in class

Wednesday
Hangs out with Crusaders
Objects to hang gliding
Decides to do hang gliding anyways
Astral is lectured because of it

Thursday
Cheerilee gives out tests
Astral already knows the answers
Astral asks her mom about deja vu
Twilight & Astral talk about friends and magic
Astral practices her magic, but it doesn't do much