End of Time: A New Life
Princess Celestia was nowhere to be seen when Starlight stepped into the small lounge that she and Twilight had been using for the lesson. There was a collection of notes scattered about on a wooden table that sat in the center of the circular room, and Twilight Sparkle could be seen looking over all of them with a furrowed brow and quirked lips.
Starlight closed the door behind her, trying to keep it down, but it gave off a heavy clunking sound all the same. Twilight glanced up at the noise, her eyes settling on Starlight. her expression lit up just a little bit with recognition and, perhaps, a little bit of relief. “Oh, Starlight. You’re here,” she said, her voice reflecting her expression.
Starlight nodded and strode over to the table, her eyes idly roaming over the notes. They were quite detailed and very elaborate, and a lot of what she was seeing made no sense to her. “Yeah, I am. Where’s Spike?” she asked after a few seconds, her eyes returning to Twilight.
The alicorn’s ears drooped at the drake’s name. “He… went to be with Rarity and Sweetie Belle. He said he had a few last-minute confessions to make…” she explained in a quiet and somber voice before a tiny smirk appeared on her face, and she let out an amused, albeit half-hearted, chuckle. “I think she already knows what he’s going to say… but if nothing else, he should get some closure.”
Starlight hummed quietly in understanding, recalling the absolutely hopeless crush that Spike had on Rarity. She’d seen plenty of it when she’d been spying on them, after all. To be honest, how he had managed to convince himself that it was at all a secret was beyond her. She then glanced back at the notes again, her muzzle scrunching up. “So… what’s all of this?”
“Notes on the spell,” Twilight replied without missing a beat before trotting over to Starlight’s side. She looked over the notes herself for a minute. “It’s really complicated, and I’m not going to have very long to do it. We’ve got maybe forty minutes left, so I need to get started.”
Starlight frowned and looked away ashamedly. “R-right… I’ll get out of your way, then…” she mumbled before dragging herself over to the other side of the table and sitting down on her haunches. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her mind wander.
A heavy silence hung in the air for several minutes while Twilight went over her notes one last time. She expected Twilight to start casting the spell any minute. But, instead, all movement came to a stop, and Starlight began to feel like she was being watched. She opened up her eyes and saw that Twilight had stopped studying her notes to look at her in thought.
Then, to Starlight’s rapidly swelling confusion, the alicorn began to trot over until she was face-to-face with her. The two looked into each other’s eyes, and Starlight began to feel a little uncomfortable under the scrutiny.
She shifted on her haunches while her expression turned inquisitive. “Twilight?”
Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, a single tear slipping out of the corner of her eye. She then suddenly leaned down and pulled Starlight into a tight, warm hug. Despite being used to receiving impromptu hugs from ponies that day, Starlight was still taken aback from the display of affection.
“Wha?! T-twilight?”
Twilight didn’t answer immediately. She pulled Starlight a little closer and held her there for several seconds. “Thank you for coming…” She finally said in a hushed voice before leaning back, more tears in her eyes and a sad smile on her lips. “I… I didn’t want to die alone…”
Starlight’s jaw fell open in shock. She wasn’t able to do anything but stare at Twilight for several seconds while her mind caught up with what the alicorn had just said to her.
She then set her jaw and shook her head. “You’re welcome, but we’re not dying, Twilight, you know that,” she rebuked in a disapproving voice. Despite that, though, a smile still appeared on her face. “But… I didn’t want to go alone, either… so thank you for giving me a place to call home…” her expression turned wistful and dry. “Even if it only lasted me a few days…”
Twilight patted Starlight on the shoulder a few times before rising back to a full standing position and trotting back to the table. “You’re very welcome, Starlight. It’s my pleasure…” her eyes fell to her notes, and her expression and tone became serious. “I need to focus. Quiet, please…”
Starlight nodded and clammed up, just watching as Twilight got to work. Time began to pass as the princess read through her notes and practiced the fundamental components of the spell one at a time. She spent almost ten minutes on this, just getting it memorized in her head, leaving them with only thirty minutes before the end.
Once Twilight was satisfied with her grasp of the form of the spell, she found a spot off to the side of her table. She spread out her stance and took a deep breath. She shot Starlight a small smile. “Alright, first try. Wish me luck.”
Starlight was about to do just that when a thought crossed her mind. Her brow furrowed with consideration, and she stood up slightly to shuffle closer. “You know, I don’t actually know what your spell is. I just know that somehow it’s supposed to help us… do you have time to explain it to me?” she asked, an undeniable glint of scholarly interest in her eyes.
“Eeeehhh…” Twilight droned out, looked back and forth for a moment while tapping a hoof thoughtfully to her chin. “Well, I mean, it’s a really complicated spell, but… uh… the bare bones basics is that I’m going to be projecting an image of myself through the Chasm and into the mind of my past self while she’s asleep so I can talk to her and give her a message.”
Starlight’s eyes widened slightly, her interest growing. “Wow, really? That’s possible?”
“From everything we know, it should be possible in theory. Celestia’s probably doing it up in Canterlot right now. We’re trying to make sure that the new timeline doesn’t veer too far off from this one. Celestia’s giving her past self direct instructions, while I’m just… planting a seed. A little nudge that will, hopefully, put things on track,” Twilight explained before setting her hoof down and spreading her stance a little more. “Now back up, please. I’m not sure how this first try’s gonna go, and I don’t want you to get hurt by any mistakes I make.”
Starlight reluctantly did what Twilight asked, and backed a little further away. She watched while holding her breath as Twilight’s horn sparked into life with magenta light, and the floor beneath her hooves began to glow in a circle around her. A few seconds passed, a bead of sweat forming on Twilight’s brow. Her face twisted and contorted with strain, and she gave off a few grunts of effort before cutting off her flow of magic. The spell dispersed with a pop and a small gust of wind, disturbing the notes on the table.
That didn’t look right. Starlight raised an eyebrow and took a few concerned steps forward. “What went wrong?” she asked, running through the failed attempt in her mind to try and find something that stood out.
“Ugh, it’s just a really long distance to throw my magic…” Twilight assured while pressing a hoof to her temple. She let out a huff as her face relaxed back to normal. “I can do it, it’s just gonna hurt until my mind is linked with filly me.”
Starlight’s brow furrowed, and she stepped forwards a little more. “Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe I can give you a power boost or something?” she suggested, her horn already glowing.
Twilight smiled at Starlight but shook her head. “Not a good idea. This is a really loose spell, so any outside tampering, even just an additional source of power, could throw off any number of its components and make casting it impossible.”
Starlight’s frown deepened, and an edge of desperation slid into her voice. “But I want to help! I want to at least do something to make up for what I’ve done! Please, just-”
“Starlight…” Twilight cut her off gently while lifting a hoof. She then gave her a small, gentle smile. “Trust me, just being here with me is more than enough…”
Starlight’s ears stood at attention at that. She took a second to let those words sink in, swallowed heavily, and backed away again. “R-right… well, I’m here if you need me…” she reminded in a murmur before settling back down onto her haunches and watching the scene unfold.
Twilight’s smile grew just a little. “I know.”
Without another word, Twilight plunged back into the spell, and this time held it for far longer. She winced and groaned with pain, and all Starlight could do was watch, wait, and hope with all of her heart that this worked. More than once, Twilight would visibly display signs of intense discomfort and pain, and Starlight had to stop herself from trying to lend a hoof.
It was getting harder and harder to sit still, though. The spell was taking a long time to go through, and the clock was ticking. They were running out of time. Starlight could hear the rumbles of the Chasm even through the thick crystal walls of the castle, now, and she could feel the vibrations in her chest. By her estimate, they had maybe ten minutes left, fifteen at the very most.
But then, Twilight’s pained grimace began to morph into an odd combination of pain and joy. “Aha! There it is! I’m almost there!” she declared, her eyes briefly opening up and flicking over to Starlight. “Try not to say anything while I’m talking to her, okay? I don’t want to lose focus.”
Starlight nodded silently. She watched Twilight continue to struggle, and then finally, with a snap of magic and another rush of air, Twilight’s pain faded. She relaxed, her eyes beginning to glow a bright white. She looked around for a few moments before giving a small nod. She then looked down, and her eyes widened. “...That’s me…” she whispered, and Starlight realized that Twilight must have been seeing another place.
After a few seconds of shifting on her hooves to get used to being a projection, Twilight began to speak to somepony Starlight couldn't see or hear.
“Twilight? Twilight can you hear me?”
She fell silent for a second and took a few cautious steps forward while her wings fanned out behind her. Starlight, noticing that Twilight was about to walk into the table, subtly moved it to one corner of the room with her magic, giving Twilight plenty of free space to move.
An effort that ultimately proved unnecessary, as Twilight came to a stop just shy of where the table had been and continued to talk. “It’s hard to explain, Twilight. And I can’t say much.”
Another moment of silence hung in the air before Twilight raised a hoof and put on a small, reassuring smile. “It’s okay, Twilight… Trust me, it is. I just…” she set her hoof down, her posture sagging. Her smile fell away, and a resigned sigh fled her lips. “...I just wish I had enough time left to see it.”
Starlight had to actively stop herself from saying a word when she saw tears welling up in Twilight’s eyes all over again. She bit down on her tongue, set her jaw and narrowed her eyes. “I can’t interfere,” she reminded herself. “This is her mission…”
“I can’t tell you anything except this: You need to be brave, Twilight. Things have changed for you, and those changes are going to make your future… uncertain… But I know you can do this, Twilight. Just… please…” another few tears fell down Twilight’s cheeks as she spoke. “keep your friends close. Whatever this world throws at you, you must keep your friends close.”
Another pause and Twilight sighed and gave off a humorless chuckle, no doubt as her younger self said something in response to her cryptic message. “I know that’s how you feel. But I also know you’ll change your mind. I had to, after all…” a nostalgic look came over her, and her smile returned. “...I wish I could, Twilight. Just be strong, okay? For our sake…”
Another tremor ran through the castle, and the hairs on the back of Starlight’s neck stood on end. Somehow, in her mind, she just knew. Their time was up. Suppressing the dread she was feeling, she slowly rose to her hooves and cleared her throat as gently as possible. “Twilight?” she called in a soft whisper. “We’re out of time. The Chasm is here.”
Twilight’s eyes flew up to her, and her face contorted as if to protest. She stood motionless for several seconds before she gave a slow, resigned nod. “I’m sorry… I’m truly, truly sorry,” she whispered to Starlight before looking back down. “I’m out of time, Twilight… all of it is yours now. Use it wisely…”
With those parting words, Twilight let the spell fade. The glow vanished from her eyes, and she gingerly ran the back of her hoof over them to wipe away the tears that had accumulated.
After a few seconds, Starlight could bear the silence no longer. “So… that’s it, huh?” she began, taking a few steps closer to Twilight. “Now we just… get to wait for everything to stabilize and hope that that was enough?”
Twilight sighed, and in an exceedingly tired voice, gave her answer. “I’m afraid so…”
Starlight gave off a sigh and screwed her eyes shut before hanging her head in defeat. This was it… the end of the line. Already she could hear the castle outside starting to crumble and fade away. Everypony outside of it was gone, now. It was just them…
Suddenly, the door to the room swung open, and Starlight looked up to see who the intruder could possibly be. Her eyes went wide, as did Twilight’s as they saw the new arrival. “What the?!” Starlight gasped as the sight fully registered within her mind.
Standing there, right in front of them, was another Twilight Sparkle. But something was different about her. She was a few inches shorter than the alicorn Starlight knew, and she was wearing the element of magic on her head. More than that, though, was the striking lack of a pair of wings at her sides. Her form was partially transparent, flickering and distorting periodically. Her eyes flew between Starlight and Twilight, looking just as shocked and confused as Starlight felt.
Starlight turned her eyes to the alicorn in the room, who had just lifted a hoof to cover her chest. “Twilight, what’s happening?!” she asked, her heart hammering in her chest.
Twilight, however, as she gazed at the unicorn, slowly began to relax, her expression shifting from confusion to curiosity, and then to relief. She set her hoof down on the floor and slowly began to walk forwards. “I think I understand,” she whispered, more to herself than anypony.
She came to a stop in front of the unicorn, who looked up into Twilight’s eyes in disbelief and awe. “You… you’re me…” she breathed in awe.
Twilight simply nodded in response. “Yes.”
The unicorn licked her lips, finding her voice a little easier. “...You were just talking to me when I was a filly, weren’t you?”
Again, Twilight nodded, this time without saying a word.
The unicorn fell into a momentary silence, looking like she was connecting a series of dots in her mind. Then her eyes widened and her voice went from awed to desperate for answers. She took a step forward. “What’s happening? What did you mean about, well, everything you said back then? What do you know about what’s been happening to me and Rainbow-”
Twilight rolled her eyes at the rush of questions before lifting a hoof, silencing the unicorn mid-speech. She then closed her eyes and set her hoof down, taking a deep breath. Starlight took this chance to look between the two, and notice a few more differences.
The unicorn was in much better physical shape compared to Twilight, though she still looked to be leagues behind somepony like Rainbow Dash or Applejack. There was also a collection of scratches and scrapes all over her body, as well as a large and nasty bruise on the side of her barrel. Her mane and tail were both a little messy, and she overall looked tired and weary.
“Are things in the new world worse?” Starlight thought fearfully, opening her mouth to say something, to ask if everything was alright. Twilight beat her to it, though.
“...I don’t have time to tell you, Twilight,” she said simply before opening her eyes and looking out and into the hallway behind the unicorn. Another rumble tore through the air, and Starlight’s eyes widened when she realized that she could see the Chasm closing in on them. The castle was crumbling away and vanishing into time…
“But, since you’re here, I think it’s safe to say that you used my time wisely…” Twilight continued, sounding far more at peace than Starlight felt.
The unicorn looked back over her shoulder and gasped in alarm when she saw the Chasm’s approach. She took a fearful step back before Twilight spoke again. “You kept your friends close?”
“Huh?” The unicorn asked, turning back around to face Twilight.
“I told you to keep your friends close. Did you?”
The unicorn looked unsure of herself, and she took a nervous step back. “I… I think so, yes,” she replied slowly.
Twilight’s eyes wandered up to the crown upon the unicorn’s head, and her eyes began to shimmer with tears of fond remembrance as she beheld the Element of Magic one last time. “You found the Elements of Harmony? Became connected to them?”
This time, the unicorn seemed more comfortable making a confident answer. She gave a simple nod of her head. “Yes,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Twilight stared at the unicorn for a moment longer before a sob tried to slip out of her. She lifted a hoof up to her muzzle to try and silence it, though she was not able to stop the tears that were now freely running down her cheeks.
Starlight, seeing this, and still not really understanding what was happening, took a hesitant step forwards. “Twilight?!” she called before her eyes shot up to watch as the Chasm began to consume the very room they were in. The walls were beginning to dissolve away into the white void, and she could see the current of time itself in the distance.
“It’s okay, Starlight. She did good…” Twilight assured her before resting all four of her hooves on the ground and spreading her wings in a regal manner. Her eyes locked onto the unicorn again. “I wish I could ask you all about it, but… well…” the crystal floor beneath her dissolved into dust that swirled and vanished into the void, leaving her floating in the air. “...I’ll just have to settle with the fact that, in a way, I already know…
The unicorn looked around, her own expression becoming fearful as she, too, was left suspended in the void. “What are you talking about?! What’s happening?!”
Twilight closed her eyes as her own body began to dissolve, wisps of color drifting off of her and flowing towards the unicorn. “Celestia will know… and it’s time she told you…” she said softly.
And then she disappeared.
Starlight had to resist the urge to scream out and reach for her as Twilight dissolved into purple colored dust, all of which drifted into the unicorn, merging with her and making her glow. Her physical appearance stopped flickering, and she became solid in the world.
The floor beneath Starlight faded away, and then the unicorn, too, disappeared.
That was it. There was nothing else...
Starlight was left all alone.
...Of course she was the last one to go. She’d been the one to cause all of this, after all. It started with her, it might as well end with her. It was just such a pity that that meant she had to spend her final moments all alone… just like she had been before all of this began...
...Karma was a cruel mistress, wasn’t she?
Starlight slowly turned in place, looking around while desperately panting in terror. Her eyes followed the current of time, and she tried to move, to swim through the void towards it, but there was nothing to move through. Tears started falling from her eyes, though they merely vanished into the void as they dripped from her cheeks. “Is anypony else there?!” she called out, frantically searching for a sign that she wasn’t alone. “SOMEPONY, PLEASE SAY SOMETHING!”
There was no answer, and her own voice echoed around her. She turned in place again, her eyes flying up to look at the current of time as it began to stabilize and repair itself. She reached out for it, crying hysterically. “P-please, don’t do this to me!” she screamed as loud as she could, her throat starting to go raw. “Don’t leave me all alone! Not like this! Not again! PLEASE!”
The void around her shuddered, but beyond that, there was no response. Starlight fell silent, her ears perked up and listening for something, anything else. However, there was nothing. Just silence.
Beginning to sob, Starlight screwed her eyes shut and slowly curled up into a ball, wishing the void would hurry up and claim her already. In the depths of her mind, she couldn’t help but feel a spark of jealousy and envy over how Twilight had gotten to go. She’d looked so happy… peaceful...
“Hey,” a voice, familiar and solemn, suddenly cut through the oppressive silence. Starlight went rigid, her heart skipping a beat in her chest. With a tremor starting to creep into her body, she uncurled her body and rotated in place until she saw two ponies appearing before her.
To her shock, the first one she saw was herself, albeit looking a little different. It was her mane, mostly, and how it had been parted off to one side in the front with a stylish curl, giving her a more demure and kind appearance, as contrasted with the flat and uninteresting bangs that Starlight had not done anything to change yet on her own head.
The other pony was…
“S-sunburst?” Starlight choked out, a whole new wave of tears streaming down her cheeks at the sight of the stallion.
It was really him… all grown up. Starlight hadn’t seen him in so many years since they were both just a couple of little foals... but there was no mistaking the orange hue of his coat, or that white patch of fur on his muzzle, or those geeky glasses he always wore, or his bushy eyebrows… it was him. It was him. Sunburst was here!
But… why?
“...How?”
Starlight’s double and Sunburst shared a questioning look. They then looked back at Starlight and shared a smile. “In all honesty? We have absolutely no idea,” Sunburst said, and Starlight felt weak in the knees on hearing that voice again.
Her double spoke next. “All I know is that I heard somepony crying out,” she began, lifting a hoof to her chest. “I recognized it as my voice, but it was you...” she said softly, before reaching out a hoof to Starlight.
Starlight’s body began to turn wispy and faint, but that did little to stop the tears streaming out of her eyes. She sniffled, and with a trembling lip, began to drift forward with her own hoof reaching out. She hesitated a few inches away from her counterpart, though. Her eyes drifted over to Sunburst and saw the kind and reassuring smile he was giving her. She swallowed the lump in her throat. There was one thing she needed to know before it ended. She looked at her double and met her gaze.
“Was I alone…?”
Starlight’s other and Sunburst shared a sideways glance, and the two of them gave the other knowing grins. Then they looked back at Starlight.
“Not at all,” her double said softly.
Starlight took a moment to process this… and a crooked smile appeared on her face. Something between a weep and a laugh bubbled up and out of her before she reached out and took her other’s hoof in her own.
And just like that, Starlight Glimmer disappeared, dissolving into dust and stepping into a new life…
And so ends the
End of Time Arc.
Not gonna lie, this chapter almost had me tearing up while I was writing it, especially the ending bit with Starlight in the void. Heavy stuff.
IMPORTANT: As Little Memories has FINALLY gone live here on Fimfiction for everyone, I will be slowing down my work on this anthology to focus much more heavily on that mainline entry. I may come back here to Fragments to put up one-shots every so often, but until Memories is concluded, Fragments will be on the back burner.
For those of you who missed it, Little Memories is the fourth story in the Little Flashes series.
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Love to see the other perspective!!!
Men you re on a streak launching all this chapters (I'm not complaining tho)
Huh, so that's what Celestia's message spell looked like from the outside. I kinda figured the "sender" would also go to the...let's call it "astral plane" like we've seen Twilight and Celestia when they got the message, but I guess not.
And wow, unicorn Twilight showing up at the end completely threw me off-guard. I did not remember that happening in Glimpses, but I checked and...yeah, there it was. Thing didn't quite end up being the end there but with the Crystal Empire saved and the Changelings defeated, I'm not sure what other Flashes would come up. Season 4 was Starlight's original appearance, yeah? Well those arcs definitely aren't happening in this universe.
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Season 5, actually.
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... Right. Getting things mixed up. 4 was...plunder vines and Tirek, then
REALLY good work on the last chapter of this arc. Loved how Twilight managed to get those last two messages to her past selves. And, yeah, Sunburst and Starlight reuniting in the empty void was appropriately bittersweet. Of course, we KNOW the NEW timeline's versions of both of them will be MORE than all right, but that's beside the point.
The point remains that this was appropriately emotional and you did a REALLY good job on the exchanges, characterizations, arc finale and main universe/future story set-up in all the right places.
I'll most definitely be looking forward to the next arc after Little Memories is complete.
Fate really gave Starlight a low blow in this timeline. At least she didn't have to... end(?) alone.
Grim.
So many onions...