Episode 39: The Time Travel Arc Part 1 - The Nightmare Timeline
Starlight Glimmer was waiting for them. Standing on the Cutie Map, Starswirl’s notes on time travel clutched in her magical aura, and a smug grin plastered across her face.
“Welcome home, Twi…” Starlight had to stop to deflect a blast of fire from Spike. “My-my, your dragon’s got quite the temper.”
“What are you doing, Starlight?” Twilight demanded.
Starlight laughed. “I’d tell you, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
Her horn flashed, and some sort of portal opened up above them. Tossing aside Starswirl’s notes, she leaped into the portal.
“No you don’t!” Spike yelled, launching in after her.
“Spike, wait!” Twilight screamed, looking back at their rapidly approaching friends.
But Spike had already gone through. And with the portal closing rapidly, Twilight had no choice but to snatch up Starswirl’s notes, and dive after him, the portal shutting tight behind her, and leaving the others stuck in the present.
##
If Twilight hadn’t jumped through, Spike would’ve fallen.
The portal had opened at Cloudsdale. And despite his bigger bulk, Spike still didn’t have wings.
As he plummeted through the clouds and into open air, Spike briefly saw a yellow pegasus similarly falling.
But… he blinked. Could his brain be messing with him out of fear? That was Fluttershy, and yet… it was also a really young version of her.
Before Spike could figure out what was going on, Twilight’s aura enveloped him, and she pulled him out of his free fall. Swooping down on her alicorn wings, she noticed Fluttershy as well, and caught her, depositing both Spike and Fluttershy gently on the ground.
“Spike,” Twilight stammered, holding him close. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” Spike said, before indicating Fluttershy. “But… what happened to… her?”
Twilight turned, as the young Fluttershy shrunk down, whimpering under their gaze.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight stammered. “But… how did…” She looked up. “Were we in… Cloudsdale?”
“But Starlight doesn’t even have wings,” Spike protested. “Why would she come here?”
Twilight looked back at the young Fluttershy, her mind racing. “You… don’t have your cutie mark yet, do you?”
Fluttershy meekly nodded, her tail covering her mark-less flank.
As the dots connected in Twilight’s mind, Spike looked up, and saw a streak of rainbow and blue soaring across the sky… only for a pink burst of magic to intercept it.
With a yelp of protest, a very young Rainbow Dash was knocked out of the sky, stopping the Sonic Rainboom that…
Spike’s eyes widened in pure horror. “What has she done?”
Twilight looked back as Starswirl’s notes began to glow. “I think we’re about to find out,” she whimpered.
Fluttershy yelped and jumped away from them, as Starswirl’s notes opened up another portal, sucking Twilight and Spike through to who-knew-where.
##
The alicorn and dragon landed with a thump on something crystal-hard. Twilight groaned as she struggled to her hooves.
“I don’t know what Starlight’s up to yet,” she said. “But we better figure it out before it’s too late.”
“Um, Twilight,” Spike whispered. “I think it already is.”
Twilight gasped as they saw what had happened.
The Cutie Map now stood in a forest clearing. In place of Ponyville, what looked like trees from the Ever Free forest grew all around them. Shadows bathed the world in black, silver and purple hues. And when Twilight and Spike looked up, they saw a star-covered night, with the full moon shining down.
“Why would the map bring us back to a different time of day?” Twilight wondered.
At that moment, branches began to snap. Glowing green eyes glared out from the shadows at them.
Spike stood, flexing his muscles and preparing his fire breath. “Let’s figure that out later,” he said. “For now…”
He prepared to fight, but just before he could, Twilight gasped.
“I wouldn’t try that, friend,” a voice - a familiar voice - declared.
Spike spun… and his brain nearly fried in conflict.
Twilight had been grabbed by the neck, caught in a chokehold and held up like a pony shield. But the one who was holding her…
“S-Star Wing?” Spike stammered.
It had to be her: the same mixture of dragon and pony traits. The same electric green eyes. The same black scales studded with star-like spots.
But there were also differences: The various red scars that poked up under her scales. The addition of purple and blue armor that she had never seen fit to wear before. And worse… the light of suspicion in her eyes as she watched him. As if he was an enemy that had to be destroyed.
“How’d you know that name?” she growled, tightening her grip on Twilight’s neck. “Speak fast: I’d hate to hurt your little friend here.”
Spike’s dragon instincts screamed for him to burn this strange doppelganger of Star alive. But his friendship with her held him back. He raised his arms carefully. “Listen…” he said. “I’m not sure what happened, but… last I knew… we were friends.”
Star Wing hummed, looking him up and down, specifically at his muscles. “I won’t lie,” she admitted. “I wouldn’t mind having a friend like you.”
The way she wiggled her eyebrows gave Spike pause: usually she derided him as being too young for such things.
A flare of anger rose in his gut. Starlight is going to pay for this.
“Unfortunately, I can’t exactly say that I’ve met you before,” Star continued, glaring at Twilight. “Though I am pretty sure I’ve seen you.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked. “What happened here?”
Star chuckled. “You really don’t know?”
“I don’t,” Spike insisted. “You said it yourself; you’ve never seen me, and I’ve never been here. So… what’s going on. Please, tell us.”
Star regarded him with a hum, before whistling. From the underbrush, several timber wolves marched out, their green eyes eerily similar to Star’s. They bared rock-like fangs at Spike, but with another whistle from Star, the only thing they did was nudge him towards a path.
“C’mon,” Star said. “If you’re new here, you’ll have to meet the Queen.”
“Queen?” Twilight’s eyes bulged. “You don’t mean…”
Star laughed. “Now I know you’re not who I think you are. Round these parts, the top dog is Queen Nightmare Moon.”
##
By the time Spike managed to get his voice back from shock, Star Wing and her timber wolves had dragged the two to the Castle of Two Sisters.
But it no longer lay as ruins. Instead, it rose strong and powerful, decked out in silver and white quartz. It seemed to catch the moonlight; bathing in its iridescent glow. A single point of light over a darkness shrouded land.
“What…” Spike finally managed to stammer out. “How did she… how did your mother…”
“I’ll admit, I was surprised myself,” Star admitted. “There I was, having lived as a simple mercenary for centuries, thinking I’d never be able to go home… and all of a sudden, the sun gets put right out of the sky.” Star mimed snuffing out a candle. “The moon came up, and it stayed up. Some of the more day-faring creatures weren’t happy, but night-mongers like myself weren’t too affected.”
“B-But…” Twilight stammered. “How are plants surviving? How is anyone not freezing to death.”
“I’ll admit, I was curious about that,” Star noted. “And in exploring, I discovered my mom had returned.” She looked up at the castle lovingly. “She got revenge on those nobles that had abused us. On the sister who abandoned her.” She tried for a smile, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “And she welcomed me back. Gave me the chance to be by her side again. As her Nightmare Knight.”
“But… surely you don’t… agree with this,” Spike insisted. “The Star Wing I knew believed in being a hero! She…”
“And what constitutes being a hero in your eyes, buddy?” Star asked. “A hero to one person is a villain to another. My mother was willing to let me be her hero, where everyone else just dismissed me as already a villain.” She gazed at him. “Why shouldn’t I agree with the one that considers me a hero?”
Spike didn’t get the chance to answer, as they entered the Castle of Two Sisters. Awaiting them - on a throne that had replaced the two thrones of the alicorn sisters - stood Nightmare Moon.
Spike had never gotten the chance to meet her, and part of him wished that had remained so: pitch black fur, covered by dark blue armor. Her face was like Luna’s, but twisted with suspicion and hate. Her eyes were a bright greenish blue, with dragon-like slit pupils, and vampiric teeth. The smile she gave was more like a wolf baring it’s teeth.
“My Knight,” she purred, gazing at Twilight. “What has Ms. Sparkle done to incur your wrath?”
“What have I done?!” protested a voice - dangerously familiar. Spike winced as he saw another Twilight walk in. This one dressed in midnight blue robes and glaring at the alternate Twilight with suspicion. “I have been nothing but loyal ever since Nightmare Moon gave me the chance I should have had at the School for Gifted Unicorns! Who dares besmirch my reputation!”
“Relax, Twily, this isn’t you.” Star replied. “From what they’ve been telling me… they seem to be time travelers.”
Spike’s heart skipped a beat, but Star laughed at his horror.
“C’mon, kid; I may not be completely like the ‘Star you knew,’ but I’ve read more than my few shares of time travel adventure books. I recognize cliches when I hear them.”
“Time travel, you say?” Nightmare Moon mused, stepping off from her throne to join them. “Now that’s something I would like to see.” She glared at Twilight and Spike. “Tell me how you came by this magic to travel through time.”
“This isn’t possible,” Twilight was whimpering. “Celestia…”
“DO NOT SPEAK HER NAME!” the alternate Twilight snapped. “She was a foul ruler who couldn’t recognize greatness when she saw it!”
“Peace, my loyal Sparkle,” Nightmare Moon said with a laugh, before turning to the original Twilight with a grin. “My sister has been imprisoned in the sun for years. It is no less a fate than she sentenced me to, after all. Now…”
She glared at Star, who nodded before tightening her grip on Twilight’s throat.
“The Queen of the Night asked you a question,” Star said. “And unless you want to join your sun-loving princess, you’ll tell her what she wants to know.”
Spike looked back and forth. They had to escape this timeline. They had to…
“Alright,” Twilight squeaked out.
“Twilight!” Spike protested, but at that moment, several guards stepped forward. One of them looked just like Rainbow Dash, and in that moment of hesitation and confusion…
“We’ve got no choice, Spike,” Twilight insisted.
“She’s right, you don’t,” Star noted, before noticing Twilight was gagging from lack of air. “Whoops, sorry.”
The Knight released her. Rubbing her throat, Twilight looked to Nightmare Moon. “A pony from my time used a spell to travel back and change the past. I was able to replicate the spell to follow her…”
“And now you are going to give this spell to me,” Nightmare replied. “With it, I will ensure that the Elements of Harmony are never found, and my reign lasts forever.”
“One problem with that,” Twilight replied. “It requires a device that is in the Ever Free Forest. One that only I know how to operate.”
Nightmare Moon and Star Wing (or was it Nightmare Knight, Spike wasn’t sure) exchanged glances. Star nodded loyally, and Nightmare Moon huffed.
“Find this device, my Knight,” she said. “Learn how it works. And if they even think of trying to escape…”
Quick as a whip, Star shot behind Spike, putting a blade to his throat.
“I’ll make sure it has an unfortunate end,” she replied. She leaned towards Spike’s ear. “Don’t resist, handsome. I’d hate to have to show how good I am at slicing through scales.”
Without much choice, Spike let himself be dragged back to the forest, as Twilight led Star and her wolves back to the Cutie Map.
Nightmare Moon thankfully stayed back; likely believing the Cutie Map could be brought to her. With her absent…
“Star…” Spike whispered as they walked. “Nightmare Moon isn’t the mother you remember.”
“She’s the mother that fate was kind enough to give back to me,” Star replied firmly. “Don’t try to make me think of betraying her now.”
“But what if we told you there was a way to get her back even better,” Twilight offered.
The timber wolves snarled, giving an ominous background to Star Wing’s laughter. “And what could be better about her? She brought justice to the ones that hurt us. She let Celestia see exactly what it was like to be trapped in space.”
“And is that what your stories told you?” Spike argued. “That the right path was one of revenge and hate? There’s a world where Celestia made sure she was brought back as Luna. A world where Celestia apologized for everything. A world where she fell before you and Luna and begged your forgiveness. Isn’t that better than a world where she was merely defeated or tossed to space?”
Star grimaced, her knife point slipping from his throat.
“There’s a world where Luna and Celestia rule as one,” Twilight claimed. “And where you and Spike are the best of friends.” She looked over as the Cutie Map came into view. “And I promise you… we will do everything in our power to bring that world back.”
Star’s eyes narrowed in confusion, before Spike sighed.
“Sorry about this,” he whispered, before head-butting her hard.
As Star fell back, clutching at a broken nose, the timber wolves barked and rushed them.
Blasting them back with a wave of flames, Spike joined Twilight on the map as she whipped out Starswirl’s notes, and cast the spell once more.
Cursing, Star blasted a spell at them, but Twilight and Spike dodged right into the time portal, returning to Cloudsdale, with Twilight thankfully catching Spike before he could fall through the clouds again.
As they rolled to a stop, Twilight glared around. “Okay,” she said. “All we have to do is find Starlight and…”
Suddenly, the two were zapped and frozen in crystal. Starlight flapped around them with a smug grin.
“Finding her will be easy,” she claimed. “But stopping her will be harder than you think.”
Spike snarled from within the crystal.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Starlight continued. “But I created that spell to send myself back. So even when you cast it, I still get sent back here. So you can watch me ‘erase’ the one thing that linked you with all your friends.” Her smug grin shifted to rage. “My village was a sanctuary of equality! Where no pony’s cutie mark allowed them to feel superior! It was a special place, and you and your friends took it away!”
Spike desperately struggled against the crystal, feeling it cracking against his muscles. But not fast enough.
“Now it’s my turn to take something special from you,” Starlight was continuing. “Without the Sonic Rainboom, you and your friends will never form your special cutie mark bonds. Cutie marks for cutie marks. Seems like a fair trade to me.”
With that, she let the crystal fall through the clouds again. But at that moment, Spike burst out with a roar… only to nearly fall again. Luckily, Twilight was able to catch him, and once again deposit him on the ground.
“Thanks, Twi,” Spike mumbled.
“No problem,” Twilight said. “At least now, we know exactly what we have to do.”
“Stop Starlight before she creates another bad future,” Spike muttered, cracking his neck. “Why not? What’s the worst that could happen, right?”
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11726810
How long is this story if you don't mind me asking?
11727002
To be fair, it would have probably happened whether he said anything or not.
11727002
Tempting Fate for Irony's Sake.
11727018
I was planning to stick to MLP canon, so part of me wants to get to Grogar eventually, but I've also been curious about whether or not I should start splitting this up into seasons or end this and make a sequel.
It might be a bit late in the running for 'seasons,' considering that we're technically in Season 5 of the show, but I was worried that this was kinda starting to drag.
Your thoughts?
Again, this is a really good job on the latest chapter to this story. Definitely liked the work going into the dialogue, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up. Certainly appreciated the work going into the start of the Season 5 finale, especially with the alternate version of Star/Night as well as including an alternate version of Twilight as one of Nightmare Moon's followers. And main Twilight wondering why the world hasn't frozen to death during eternal night makes a lot of sense as well. Of course, now I have to wonder which one of the other alternate timelines is going to be next and how long it will take Spike to get close enough to Starlight to give her the beatdown she deserves.
But, anyway, really looking forward to more of this.
I'm actually wondering what kind of futures there will be. Will it just be ones from the show, or will there be ones that include the added in stuff?
11727018
39 chapters
11727130
Thus far, and it will get even longer (I would say MORE THAN 32 chapters, given the eight-episodes- a-season average and the fact we've got four more seasons after this finale is done PLUS the fact that the finale isn't done yet AND we are likely going to also have the movie)
11727078
I'm hoping to include a timeline where the dragons and ponies went to war due to Spike losing his temper and beating the crap out of Starlight, making pegasi think dragons are dangerous.
I'd also like to show how the dragons affected some of the other timelines, although I'm not sure how many alternate timelines I'll be able to include before the whole 'get back to the past only for Starlight to send them back' gets stale.
11727041
Really happy you're enjoying.
Ironically, while I'm not sure how many timelines I can include before the whole formula gets stale, I did have a plan for how Spike would get to give Starlight a proper beating, only for it to lead into a new timeline. One with some pretty interesting consequences that help Spike's development.
Really looking forward to sharing more soon.
Until then, thanks as always for reading.
👍