Episode 15: To When… (Part 1)
Cozy Glow and I waved goodbye to Chrysalis and Tirek, who were both leaving to go on a personal overnight vacation. Once the doors were closed, Cozy Glow stated the obvious.
“So… we’re still on our Winter Break from school… I don’t have any work days for the time being… Chrysalis and Tirek are gone… Starlight, Sunburst, and Trixie are out doing who knows what… we don’t really have much to do.”
“Yeah. Everything can get boring pretty quickly,” I said. “Offline phone games… reading… and card games are more fun when there’s more than two of us around.”
“I’m with you there,” Cozy agreed. “Maybe we could go watch a movie at the theater?”
“Nah, I’m not interested in any of them…”
“We could go shopping.”
“I suppose. There aren’t as much eye-catching stuff unlike what Earth had, but I am getting interested in the comics Equestria has an offer. I wouldn’t mind going out to get some more.”
“And the arcade! Don’t forget that!”
“Yeah, that’s right. I could grab some bits.”
“See, there’s plenty of things we can do when we leave the castle!” Cozy exclaimed.
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go grab some money.”
I ran off to get the bits, but as I made my way to my room, I could of sworn I heard a door close. I looked behind me, but there was nothing there.
I approached the door. I could have sworn I saw or heard it shut. But when I opened it, there was nothing there. Just a bunch of loose items and boxes… dang closets.
Still unsure about what just happened, I closed the door, and went to my room to get my bits. I grabbed the money, and made my way back to Cozy Glow, taking a quick peek at the door on my way back.
"Are you ready to go?" Cozy asked.
"Y-yeah."
"What's wrong?"
"I could have sworn I heard a door shut..." I said. "But when I checked, there was nothing there..."
"Strange..."
"Should we be worried?"
"I mean, we could double-check, but if there's nothing there, then maybe it was just... wind, or force?"
"Duh! Silly me! Why wouldn't it be? Okay, I... guess we can go out."
We both grabbed and put on our winter gear. In spite of sounding more or less confident when saying that, I still had that small nagging feeling that something was amiss.
...
*Intro*
...
It was fun while it lasted, but Cozy Glow and I soon decided to return home to the castle. But on our way back, we couldn’t resist stopping by to greet Apple Bloom, who was taking care of a mobile apple stand (complete with some apple treats suitable for the season) a block or so away from the castle. From the looks of it, she was nearly done putting everything away.
She spotted us the moment we got to her stand. “Cozy Glow! Leo! How goes it?”
“Nothing much,” Cozy replied. “We’re just on our way back after spending a couple of hours in town. What are you up to?”
"Nothing much. Just fillin' in for Big Mac and Sugar Belle while they take a break from the business."
"Oh, nice," I nod. "How are they doing?"
"They're doin' pretty good... taking care of their kid very well, maintaining the farm pretty well..."
"Cool."
"Hey guys!" a fourth voice piped.
Cozy and I stepped aside when Diamond Tiara showed up at the stand.
"Diamond Tiara? What are you doing here?" Apple Bloom asks.
"I thought I'd come by and say hi," she replies.
"Huh... Twenty one years later, and it still feels weird when you're genuinely nice."
"I'm sure its weirder with me and the other two," said Cozy Glow.
"You're right on that part."
"Winter afternoons like this sure are beautiful, huh?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Yeah. I myself am a fan of cloudy days, with fresh snow all around," Leo replied. "Though it's better before Hearth's Warming, I'll tell you that much."
"Eh, it's alright," Apple Bloom shrugged.
Diamond Tiara started talking, but that's when I noticed Cozy Glow space out. Far off in the castle window, she could see a faint red and yellow glow coming from one of the windows. Although it was faint, she could make it out very well. When I (and then the other two) noticed, they stopped talking as well.
Cozy took one glance at me, and said, "We have to go!"
Without giving me a chance to respond, she darted off to the castle.
"Cozy! Wait!"
I took off after her, running as fast as I possibly could (though still not using all my effort). When Cozy Glow finally made it to the castle, she stopped once she got inside. I caught up to her, panting.
"Cozy... *huff*... what's the big idea?..." I wheezed.
"What are you talking about, Leo? You saw it too!" exclaimed Cozy.
"A little notice would have been nice..."
"Well excuse me for assuming you thought there was danger."
"... Well-"
Out of nowhere, Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara barged through the doors.
"AH-" I yelped. "What are you two doing? What about the stand?"
"Ah' already got it all put away, anyway," Apple Bloom replied.
"You seemed pretty concerned with whatever was going on, so we decided to come over," Diamond explained.
"You didn't really need to, though..." said Cozy. "This may or may not be your place for this."
"We insist," Apple Bloom said.
"Just let them hang out..." I told Cozy. "Maybe what we're expecting is something that they can have a role to play in, or maybe it's legitimate danger that you and I have to handle like always. We'll just have to see."
"Of course, we'll help if we need to!" Apple Bloom piped.
"We will?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Listen, the longer we sit around, the longer it takes for us to know what's even going on," said Cozy Glow. "Let's go."
We all followed Cozy Glow down the hall, since we expected her to know which room the commotion ensued. However, we soon came across the map room, which we were originally going to pass. But Cozy Glow ended up coming to a stop, and the rest of us did too.
Starlight Glimmer stood in front of the map, across from the doorway. Staring.
Cozy Glow walked into the room, and we followed her.
"Welcome, dear friends..." Starlight greeted in an odd manner.
"... Starlight?" Apple Bloom asked. "Are you okay?"
"Never better!" she smiled. "Why don't you all come closer?"
We all started to back away.
"Actually, we have some things to do..." Diamond Tiara lied.
"I said... come closer!"
The doors slammed behind us, and we were all dragged over to the table. Although it was magic, I don't think Starlight's horn was lit... and the magical aura was red.
"What's going on?" Apple Bloom squeaked.
"I'll tell you what's going on..." Starlight... and what appeared to be a second voice... simultaneously said. I looked up, and that's when I saw a familiar red face peak out from behind the tree roots hanging from the ceiling. The pony flew down, and landed next to Starlight, holding a scroll in his magic. "... you simply arrived at the perfect time."
"Sephtis!" Cozy exclaimed.
Starlight's eyes suddenly flashed red, and she passed out. Sephtis must have had her under his control!
"Of course, I wish Chrysalis and Tirek were here, but... I could make do with this, I suppose," he cooed.
"What is that?" Cozy pointed at the scroll.
"Why don't you all find out?! This may be familiar to some of you..."
Laughing, Sephtis blasted the scroll, and it raised up high above the table. Red magic began to swirl around the piece of parchment paper, and then absorbed into it. The scroll then shot a laser of it's own right smack in the middle of the table. The magic spread all around the table, exposing the whole map of Equestria.
I knew what he was doing. And so did Cozy Glow, as she was told the story quite a few times. We both squirmed to try and stop Sephtis, but his magic was too strong. In fact, he even chose to add insult to injury by pinning the four of us against the wall.
"This time..." the red Alicorn snarled. "... I'll make sure you don't use this."
Sephtis tore up the scroll into many pieces. He glared at the table, and with the sudden raise of his body, the table began to emit pinkish magic. Rings continuously emerged from the table and faded away when they were close to the ceiling, forming a barrier of sorts. In spite of being pinned to the wall by magic, I started to feel an indoor breeze. Finally, to cap it all off, there was a sudden spark, which formed into a ball of light, which then formed into a blue portal, looking like a gaping hole that had little to no end. I don't think I need to describe the rest of it to you... I assume you all know where this is headed.
Sephtis waved goodbye. "Have fun..."
He teleported away, leaving behind a small echo of his laughter. Once he was gone, we all fell to the ground.
"What is that thing!?!?" Diamond Tiara shrieked.
"We'll explain later!" Cozy replied. "But we need to get out of here!"
"Wait!" I exclaim. "Starlight!"
Meanwhile, I could see Starlight begin to stir, slowly standing up. I saw the realization set in as she discovered what was going on.
"Wuh... what?... Oh... oh no... what is going- AGH!!"
We all gasped. Out of nowhere, Starlight was whisked right into the gaping hole of reality. You'd think that we'd have time to get out of there.
But no. The moment Starlight was taken, Cozy Glow was also swept off of her hooves, and sent into the portal. Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom were next, but a rare moment of reflex took over, and I grabbed both of their hind hooves. That ended up being futile, as it only made it quicker for me to get dragged in as well.
...
...
It was like a flippin' rollar coaster! Travelling through time felt somewhat similar to when I visited the Mirror World, but something about the different situation made it seem more surreal.
Fortunately, it finally came to an end, and I flew out of the portal. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could serve as a crash pad, so I was in for a rough landing. But hey, at least I was in a position where it wouldn't hurt as bad or break anything important, so that was a plus.
Diamond Tiara and Cozy Glow also had it easy. Apple Bloom and Starlight? Not so much. Apple Bloom easily dusted it off, but Starlight was still dazed and shocked.
"N-NO!!" Starlight panicked. "What the hay happened?!"
"You don't remember?" Apple Bloom replied. "We saw some suspicious activity comin' from the castle, and when we all went to investigate, you were just sittin' at the table. Then this red Alicorn that looks like Leo came along and did... this!"
"He sent us through time... that's what happened," Starlight answered. "He went through my memories, found the spell I wrote, and used it against all of us!"
"Wait, we time travelled!?!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed. "Okay, I'm dreaming. There's no way this is real..." She started to hobble around, clearly shocked that she got roped into something this extreme. "...I'm just a regular Ponyville citizen that's the daughter of very rich parents... hehe... I don't get into situations with time-travel, red Alicorns, crazy magic-"
Apple Bloom grabbed Diamond Tiara and shook her.
"Will... you... snap out of it?! This is real. Ah'm not a time-traveler either, but this is real!"
Diamond shook her head vigorously. "Okay... okay... I'm good, but... Starlight, how did you manage to make a spell this extreme?"
Starlight sighed. "A long time ago, I was an enemy of Twilight's just like Cozy Glow. Before I changed for the better, I used time travel as an attempt to destroy Twilight's friendship with her friends. Even though the experience has made me a better mare, I still feel a little uncomfortable with the subject..."
"Well, there's nothing you can do about it now," I replied. "What's done is done. And how do we fix what's been done? We just have to rewrite the spell in order to get back to our time."
"Easier said than done," said Starlight. "We need some parchment paper, and I need to refresh my memory on what the spell exactly was..."
"Wait, you don't remember the spell?" Cozy asked.
"When Sephtis searched my memories for the spell, I'm pretty sure he erased all my memories about what it was, because now I know nothing about it!"
"So what do we do?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I don't know... But maybe if I find the original spell by Starswirl, it could either jog my memory, or at least give me something to work with."
"Then that's what we'll work with," Cozy proclaimed. "So... where are we, anyways?"
"Technically, it's 'when' are we," Apple Bloom pointed out. "But 'where' works too."
Of course somepony was bound to say that.
"I think I may know where we are," said Starlight. "We're-"
"Hey!" Diamond Tiara piped. "I can see a village from here!"
We all joined up with Diamond Tiara. I could hear Starlight say "What she said..." before joining us.
We all looked over the ledge, and could see a village not too far away. It had two rows of the same building, and at the end of the village was a bigger house. I recognized it. And so did Starlight.
"My old village..."
"Wait, you had a village?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"There's a lot you don't know about her," said Cozy.
Starlight's horn lit, and her eyes began to glow blue.
"... what's she doin'?" Apple Bloom inquired.
"A sight-amplifying spell," Starlight answered. "It's sort of like turning your eyes into binoculars."
"Oh yeah, I remember that spell!" Cozy exclaimed.
I watched as Starlight studied the village, before she blinked, ending the spell. She did not look too excited.
"I know what time we're in..." she started. "This was back when I was in charge... back when I stole the cutie marks of that entire village!"
"Okay, now I really need to know your story," said Diamond Tiara.
"There's no way any of you are going there."
"Does it really matter?" I replied. "I mean, we can't be seen either way."
"This is different, though. Being seen by a pony comes with a consequence that can easily be reversed. But being seen by any of the villagers, especially my past self, will make it harder, maybe even impossible, to get back!"
"Listen, Starlight, I get that you don't want anything to do with this, but does the village have parchment paper and ink?" Cozy Glow asked.
"Yes, but-"
"Do you have any spell books from Starswirl?"
"Do I... wait a minute, I think I remember having some hidden in the floor. But I-"
"Then I'll be right back!"
Cozy Glow flew off.
"Wait, Cozy!" Starlight shouted, before stopping herself. She then turned to me. "Someone needs to go get her."
"But none of us can fly," I said.
"Don't you have wings?" Apple Bloom pointed out.
"Yeah... and I know nothing about using them!"
"We can't let her risk getting caught!" Starlight declared.
"For the last time, Starlight, you're overreacting!" I exclaim. "She's saved the world from Grogar, and evil clones. I'm sure she'll do just fi-"
I was cut off when a large chunk of the ground underneath me crumbled, and I started sliding and rolling down the rocky hill, screaming. At some point, I bounced off a rock and then bounced on my wing, before the rolling continued. I finally reached the bottom, but it definitely felt like I've seen better days. Groaning, I stood up. Cozy Glow must have noticed, because she landed on the ground the moment I got back up on my hooves.
"Are you okay?"
"Never better..." I whimper. "Come on, we need to go back."
"Why?"
"Come on, Cozy! You're smart. You should know that approaching Starlight's village when it was in it's equality period is a bad idea."
"Well... yeah! But as you said... I'm smart! So that means I can easily be crafty in this kind of situation."
"You're not listening..." I mumble. "You-"
I quickly stopped myself when I noticed something from the distance. That's when I realized that we were gonna get into some trouble unless we did something.
"Hide."
"What?"
"Incoming crowd. Hide!"
I pointed, and Cozy Glow looked. There was a bunch of ponies making their way down from a path on the hill, advancing to the village. We couldn't see them, but we could see their shadows, which were getting bigger by the moment.
"Where would we hide?" Cozy hissed.
"Do you know any invisibility spells?"
"Do you?"
"Well... no... I haven't practiced that part just yet."
"Shoot... wait a minute..." Cozy peered to the side of the hill. "Hide behind that rock!"
I looked, and she was right. There was a rock there. We both ran over to the rock, ducked behind it, and peeked. We hid just in time... Starlight's past self was the first pony to show herself, and the rest of the crowd followed her... all of them were grinning wide smiles. Up until now, I never found it disturbing, but I guess witnessing events in the flesh with your own eyes changes things.
We watched as Past Starlight and the others advanced closer and closer. We both decided that it was safer to quit peeking, and wait for the crowd to pass. So we ducked down, and listened. The hoofsteps got louder, and we held our breath. But then the steps came to a sudden stop.
Cozy Glow and I exchanged looks. The hoofsteps stopping could only mean one thing. I moved to look, but when I turned, I was met face-to-face with the past Starlight Glimmer. Her muzzle was only a couple inches from mine, and she had a wide smile.
"NYAH!" I yelped.
"Hi there!" she greeted. "Wow, what do we have here? I've never seen a stallion Alicorn before!"
"Well, I'm not really royalty or anything, but-"
Cutting me off, Past Starlight spoke to Cozy Glow.
"...and you must have ascended early."
"Well, sort of, yes, but I'm not royalty either."
"Non-royal Alicorns? Then how did you get your wings?"
"Magic," I shrug. "Listen, we're kind of busy right now, and we need to get goi-"
"Nonsense!" Starlight piped. "We'd love it if you'd pay our village a visit!"
I was about to pull the 'This is an emergency!' card, but one of the villagers already got to talking. I knew who this guy was, too... it was Double Diamond.
"We always get excited when we meet new travelers, and we want our town to be one of the most welcoming places you could find!" he grinned.
I was getting antsy. I could tell Cozy Glow was too. I don't know what the others are doing, but I hope they're getting ready to help us out.
"Perhaps giving them our 'welcome' song will do just the trick!" Past Starlight beamed. "Come on, everypony!"
Past Starlight started to coax us into unwillingly coming with her, while the town started their song (even though we weren't even in the village yet). Cozy Glow and I had no choice... we had to come with them.
*Top of the cliff*
"No, no, no, no..."
Starlight carefully watched over the cliff as her past incarnation, along with the rest of the village, started to sing their song, while guiding her friends to the village.
"This is what happens when nopony listens to me..." Starlight mumbled through closed teeth, before turning to the others. "We need to do something!"
"Don't ask me!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed. "I just got roped into this."
"Diamond, if we're gonna work together to get out of this, you're going to have to play a part. Both of you. It doesn't matter whether you both belong in these situations. You're both here now, and doing nothing won't get us back."
"She's right, y'know..." said Apple Bloom.
"I know..." Diamond mumbled.
Starlight glanced over at the crowd again. While the villagers were heading for the town, they continued to sing, and she could see a few of them dance or try to make the song more lively.
"Well, now we might as well steal from my old home... since those two are in some hot water already..." she mused. She faced the other two mares. "Hm... I mean, I want to send you two down there, but I'm risking your safety."
"Would it be safer if you went?" Diamond asked.
"Maybe..." Starlight shrugged. "Though... we don't have the makeup or brushes we need to change my mane or make me look younger..."
"There's no magic for that, or anythin'?" Apple Bloom asked.
Starlight shrugged. "If there is, then I'll need to think about that..." She peered over the cliff. "We may have to give it a chance... if all goes wrong, I'll have to choice but to take some risks..."
...
...
By the time Past Starlight and the villagers finished their tune, we were already in the belly of the beast. Cozy Glow and I were seated at the bakery where Sugar Belle used to work... I had to refrain Cozy Glow from recognizing her out loud. Past Starlight and Double Diamond actually stuck around with us, since they never really got to explain the whole story for a while (because they dove right into the stinkin' song instead of giving us time). While Sugar Belle baked our muffins, Past Starlight concluded the story about the village.
Until now, Cozy and I never brought up the whole cutie-mark thing, and since Past Starlight didn't yet entirely, so I went ahead and did it.
"Ah. So that explains the... cutie marks."
"Right on!" Past Starlight exclaimed. "Here, in our town, we feel that equality is one of the best solutions in order to achieve harmony and peace across the village. And what better way to express and take part in it, than getting rid of our cutie marks?"
"Riiiiight..." Cozy replied.
"You don't sound too convinced," said Double Diamond.
"Let's not worry," Past Starlight replied. "I think if they stay, they'll warm up to it really quick."
"We still really need to go-"
"We'll stick around and think about it!" Cozy Glow cut me off.
"Wonderful!" Past Starlight clapped. "I'll leave you two on your own! Enjoy yourselves!"
Past Starlight and Double Diamond left, finally allowing Cozy and I to return to our thoughts. For the most part, the villagers went back to doing their own thing. So far, Cozy Glow and I have mostly been roped into what Twilight went through, and if it carries on any longer, we're toast. While Sugar Belle made the muffins, Cozy Glow and I went through with discussing our plan... quietly.
"Why, Cozy... Why are you bringing us deeper into this situation?"
"Relax, Leo," the filly assured. "Once I get the spell and parchment out of Starlight's home, we'll make our getaway. We'll even erase some memories, if we have to!"
"I get that," I said. "I know you're just trying to help. But you can't always be so... complex, or daring, or risky to pull something off! Sometimes, it's just easier to go easy on things."
"I'm not like that all the time, though."
"I know. But in a situation like this? Don't be like that. How will you steal from Starlight's old home, anyway?"
"Hel-lo?" Cozy Glow tapped her horn. "I'll make myself invisible, sneak in, and swipe everything as fast as I could."
"Well, if you follow through, you better make it quick. Otherwise, we'll lose our cutie marks, and everything... our fate, our plan, and the future... is hosed."
Cozy Glow nodded, and as she did, Sugar Belle returned, smile still wide, and she placed a plate of dull-looking muffins on our table.
"Here you are..." she set down the plate.
"Wow, that was fast," I admired.
"Thank you," Cozy thanked.
"You're welcome. I'll admit, I'm not that much of a good baker... but I hope you enjoy them anyway... after all, I'm not any better than anypony else..."
I could of sworn she said that last sentence to Twilight.
"We'll enjoy them to the fullest extent!" I lied.
Sugar Belle smiled, but even though nobody was watching us (*cough*, Double Diamond), I could still see the worry in her eyes. "Well... enjoy the village! I think you'll both love it here..."
Sugar Belle then left Cozy Glow and I to our own thing. At first, I wondered why she didn't stick around as long, ask us questions about our friendship or bickering, or even try to get us to go to the basement! But then I remembered something... she witnessed Twilight and her friends expressing their friendship to the fullest extent, from disagreement, to reconciliation. She decided to give them more time. Cozy Glow and I... she never caught us doing anything. Plus, we never gave her a long introduction either. She took part in the song, we were brought to the bakery, we ordered the muffins, and that's it. And honestly... it's for the best.
Anyway, that bit of info was unnecessary moving on!
Cozy Glow raised a muffin, ready to eat it.
I stopped her. "Don't eat that."
"Huh?"
"Trust me. Pinkie said cardboard tasted better."
"Okay then..." Cozy Glow set the muffin down. "So... we'll follow through with the plan?"
"I guess so... but I want you to remember something... don't always take the daring route, because you'll end up getting in more trouble than you barg-"
"Hello!"
For the second time, Past Starlight caught us both by surprise.
"Oh!... Um... Hi, Starlight!" Cozy Glow waved.
"Have you two been enjoying your stay, so far?" Past Starlight beamed.
"I mean, we've been at the table this whole time, but yes..." I nod. "Yes we are."
"Great!" Past Starlight then nudged her head over to the direction where her house was. "Why don't you two come with me?"
Cozy raised a muffin. "But... the muffins!"
I had to give Cozy Glow credit there. Using muffins as an excuse to stay.
"Oh, my apologies! I don't mean to interrupt your meal!" Past Starlight lifted the plate. "We can just take them with us."
"But don't we have to pay?" I ask.
"I'll cover for you," Past Starlight insisted. "Come on."
She turned away and left. I quickly glanced at Cozy Glow, gestured to my horn, and quickly made a sleepy face. She understood. When we looked at Past Starlight again, she was looking back at us with a grin.
We got up and we followed her. If there was the slightest chance that my secret message was confusing, here's the scoop... Cozy Glow and I were going to cast Past Starlight into a sleep spell. We'd deal with the other villagers later, but Past Starlight is our first target.
We arrived at her home finally. She opened the door for us, and we all walked inside. She then closed the door behind her, leaving us all on our out.
I couldn't help but keep wondering about what Starlight and the others were up to. Whatever they were doing, I hope they have a good reason as to why it was taking too long, because if Cozy Glow and I fail, then it's all on them to save us.
*To Be Continued*
Stats
Page generated in 0.034 seconds
Total duration
883 users online
564,800 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Spooky
11055815
Yeeeee...
11055820
Good job
11055916
Thanks.
11056203
No problem. Love you.
11056211
👍
11056220
👍
“The time is coming it is simply a matter of time until we finally proceed our plan”
-Gizmos having a secret pct with Lillith to create a schism