Let's Do the Time Warp Again
Ponyville, a simple little town located on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Though it could barely be called a town right now, as was just a collection of stores with apartments built on top of them. The same could be said for Sweet Apple Acres, a small apple farm on the edge of the town, with another farm focusing on pears beginning to set up shop, which was the cause of the small town's creation.
Many buildings were still under construction, but would soon be set to become mainstays of the town upon completion. This included a bath house for ponies to clean the dirt and grime of the day away, which would one day evolve into a spa after bathrooms became a thing for all homes, along with a large building that would one day become the town hall and a newly planted oak tree that would eventually grow to be remodeled into the town's library. And one building that had recently been completed was about to open for business: The town's post office.
In the town's post office, an earth pony stallion was manning the front desk. He and his small crew of pegasus postal ponies were ready to deliver any letter that might come their way, though they didn't expect any incoming and outgoing to go far, especially given the small population they currently had in town.
But as the earth pony sat behind the desk, noticing some stationary was missing from a stack, the chiming of a bell made him look up and see somepony step into the building. Whoever they were was dressed in a brown trenchcoat with a hat on his head. He seemed to be doing his best to keep from having his face seen, the post pony raising an eyebrow as he stepped up to the counter. "Hello. I'd like to send a letter, please." He removed a large brown envelope from his coat and placed it on the counter. "But there are very specific instructions about where...and especially when."
"Of course, sir." The post pony picked up the envelope and smiled. "You know what they say: Not rain nor sleet or dark of night." There was probably more to that speech, but he cleared his throat before adding, "We'll take care of your delivery."
But when he looked down and saw the location it needed to be sent, he saw it was a castle in Ponyville. Except that there was no castle in Ponyville, nor any plans to build one. And then he saw the date it had to be delivered on and realized that by the time that day came, he would either be retired...or dead.
"Hey!" He yelped, "What's the big idea?! Is this some kind of joke you're-" He looked up and saw that the pony was gone, making him sigh, "Well...I guess it's our responsibility now." He stepped into the back, "The others are gonna get a kick out of this." He went to the special delivery section and placed the envelope into the box, leaving it to sit until the allotted time.
And so the years passed, with the letter remaining where it was, gathering dust. And with ever new post pony that joined the force, the story of the mysterious letter was passed down. Slowly, the letter turned from an odd thing to a letter of legend that the postal workers were excited to learn about. And as it got closer to the date, Ponyville began to become the focal point of many weird events that threatened to destroy the town. It was a miracle the post office was never destroyed, though times like Tirek's attack and the bugbear problem almost caused it.
But eventually, the day arrived for the letter to be delivered. And out of all the ponies that had safeguarded it over the decades, the one who finally got to take it out of the box was none other than the clumsiest post pony to wear the uniform. "Finally!" Derpy exclaimed, "It's D-day!" She blew the dust out of the box, coughing as she did so, then removed the letter and turned to the rest of the ponies that worked there. "Now, who wants to make a delivery?" The ponies all raised their hooves, desperate to be the ones to finally send the letter and uncover its meaning.
Spike sighed as he flew through the castle, the drake having nothing to do for the weekend. Twilight was busy working on something magical, which meant he was free to do whatever he wanted. And he intended to spend his day reading a bunch of comics and snacking on gems, only to hear a knock at the door.
"Special delivery!" Derpy announced as he opened the door, the mare holding out the envelope in her hooves, "Very special delivery!" Spike looked behind her and saw every postal pony in town was standing there, looking just as excited as Derpy.
"Obviously..." Spike whispered as he took the envelope while staring at the large group of ponies. "Slow day at the office?"
Derpy smiled as Spike now stared at the envelope, seeing it was addressed to Twilight. "That envelope has been sitting in the back for almost as long as the post office has been open. Generations of post ponies have watched over it. To make sure it was delivered on this exact day. It's become sort of a legend."
"Uh-huh," Spike was barely listening now.
"I know it's not really our place," Derpy scratched the back of her head. "But...could we see what's inside it? It has to be important and we've all wondered what was inside since our first days on the job." The other post ponies nodded in agreement, but Spike didn't hear her question.
"Thanks." He shut the door with his foot and the post ponies all groaned, each one walking away with frowns.
As this happened, Spike flew through the castle and eventually arrived at the library, heading inside and finding the alicorn there alongside two other ponies. Starlight and Trixie were both looking over a book with Twilight, who was writing something in a book.
"Twilight!" He called out, "You got a letter!"
"I'll read it later!"
"You sure?" He asked, "It's marked urgent."
"Please," Trixie waved her hoof at him, "That's what they put on all junk mail." Spike sighed and decided to leave it on a nearby table, flying out of the room as the three ponies continued their work.
Meanwhile...
At Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was doing some cleaning in the house as everypony except Apple Bloom was out. The earth pony was sweeping in the living room when she accidently knocked one of the bookshelves, causing a photo album to fall out of the shelves. "Oops." She quickly picked it up and when she saw what page she was looking at, a frown now appearing on her lips.
The picture was one of her family many years ago, around the time Apple Bloom was first born. In it, Pear Butter and Bright Mac were surrounded by Granny Smith, Applejack and Big Mac while Apple Bloom was in her mother's hooves. The family looked so happy with one another, completely unaware that two of them wouldn't be around much longer. Applejack stared at her parents and felt like she might start crying. Even after learning so much more about their parents when meeting their grandfather, the memory of what happened was still hard.
"Applejack?" The mare jumped at hearing Rogue's voice, quickly wiping away the few tears that were starting to form before turning to him. "You okay?"
She quickly closed the photo album. "Ah'm fine," Applejack muttered out, "Just...got some dust in ma'h eye." She put the book away and got back to sweeping, Rogue blinking at her.
Applejack kept sweeping while trying to keep the thoughts of her parents out of her head, only for Apple Bloom to come downstairs, having finished her homework. "Ah'm heading out."
"Where yah goin?"
"Scootaloo's decorating her new room today. Sweetie and I said we'd help." Apple Bloom ran off without saying anything else as Applejack nodded. Misty Vail and Trial Blazer had finally gotten their housing situation sorted out, meaning they were able to have Scootaloo stay over in preparation for when Flash had to leave for Canterlot. It was a pretty exciting time for everypony.
Applejack continued cleaning with Rogue helping get some of the high up spots she would have a hard time reaching. But as she did this, somepony flew down and knocked on the door, "Hey, anypony in here?" They spun around to see Flash at the front door.
"Howdy Flash!" Applejack smiled, "What's up?"
"You two got time to see something?" He asked, leaning against the top of the dutch door. "Twilight's working on something and told me to get as many of our friends as possible. She's really excited about whatever the heck it is."
"You don't know?" Rogue asked, Flash shaking his head.
"Trixie showed up last week and had a meeting with her and ever since, them and Starlight have been working on it. But whatever it is, they think it's something that'll change Equestria forever."
"Seriously?" Applejack asked, "Now that ah gotta see." She turned to Rogue, "You comin?" Rogue nodded, the two doing the last bits of clean up needed before heading out.
A little while later...
In the Everfree Forest, a dark shadow flew through the trees, making anything that got close to panic and run away as it reached the edge of the woods before reforming into the living armor, Armalum. The dark monster stepped through the trees, only to see the castle and school in the distance.
"At last...the castle." Armalum commented, "But there's bound to be security that'll get in my way. I'll need a distraction. Perhaps I can do something similar to the Summer Sun Celebration?"
As he said this, he saw Flash, Heart, Soul, Grand, Rogue and the rest of the Mane Six make their way to the castle. He turned into his shadow form, stretching it out so that he could slither through the grass without being seen like an extra-long snake.
"So what's Twilight wanting us to see?" Rainbow asked.
"Not sure," Flash replied, "All I know is that she's really excited about it. She said that if it works, it could change how things are done in Equestria forever."
"Oh, this is gonna be good," Grand laughed.
And as he said this, they all walked into the castle, not seeing a small shadow cloud right behind them that slipped into the door's top before Flash shut it. "Twilight?" Flash called out, "You in here?"
His voice echoed through the castle, only for a flash of light to appear in front of them. "Great!" Twilight cheered as she appeared, "You're all here!" She surrounded them all in her magic and in a flash, they were teleported back into the library.
There they saw Trixie and Starlight, working on something on the ground. "Alright," Flash hummed, "What are you girls doing?" He focused on Twilight, "The last time I saw that giddy expression, I was cleaning slime out of my mane for a week."
Twilight looked smug as she, Trixie and Starlight stepped aside. "Fillies and gentlecolts, let us introduce the future of Equestria." They all looked down and saw what looked like a Rune Gate, but something about it was different. "The Temporal Scroller!"
The ponies who knew what that word meant all went wide eyed. "Temporal?!" Grand yelped, "You're messing with time travel again?!" The others all screamed in terror and staggered back, "Twilight, what are you thinking?!"
"You're the one who's always talking about the dangers of time travel!" Flash added, "And you wanna mess with it again?!" He turned to Starlight, "Did you put her up to this?!"
"It wasn't my idea," Starlight shook her head, "Trixie was the one who came up with it."
The ponies all glared at the former show pony, who let out a tiny laugh. "I can explain."
"Would you all relax?!" Twilight chimed in, "We're not traveling back in time."
"You're not?" Pinkie asked, halfway through putting on a red life jacket and golden shades. "Then what is it? Come on! Tell us! Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" She would have continued, but Trixie grabbed her mouth in her magic and kept it shut.
"The Temporal Scroller is a device to send messages into the past," Starlight responded, "We write something on a scroll, then put it through the scroller and it appears in the past."
"Ooookay," Flash asked, "Why is that so groundbreaking that it could change Equestria forever?"
Twilight and Starlight smiled at Trixie, the mare smirking. "I got the idea after the Summer Sun Celebration. After everything that went wrong and all the work we had to do to fix it, I thought to myself: If only I could go back in time and warn my past self that it was going to happen, then I could have stopped them. Then I realized that through that time travel spell, I could totally do that."
"Haven't we run into this issue before?" Rainbow asked, remembering Twilight's future self coming back in time and setting a whole bunch of stuff into motion.
"Which is exactly what I told her," Twilight chimed.
"Yes," Trixie nodded, "But then I had another idea. Instead of sending myself to the past, I could send a letter to my past self with everything that was going to go wrong. That's when we had this revelation."
"So you wanna start sending messages to the past?" Rarity asked, "Why?"
"It's not about sending the messages," Starlight replied, "It's about receiving the messages." The ponies all blankly stared at her, making her sigh, "Think about it. Let's say the Ponyville Dam had a crack in it and nopony noticed until the whole thing exploded and sent water crashing everywhere, destroying the town." They all gulped at this, "Now imagine if before the dam burst, a scroll appeared out of this device that told us the dam would break and when."
"We could stop the disaster before it became a disaster," Grand continued.
"Exactly," Twilight clapped her hooves, "And then, once the dam's fixed, we write a scroll with the same message and send it through the scroller. That scroll becomes the scroll we originally received, telling us about the dam that's about to break."
The smarter members of the group were all able to follow this, only for Heart to moan out, "My brain hurts."
"I know it sounds complicated," Starlight giggled, "But this device could really help Equestria. And not just for preventing disasters. Imagine if you got a scroll warning you of a bank robbery that was gonna take place. Or if one of us had an illness we couldn't identify or didn't know the cure of. The scroll would appear and tell us exactly what we're dealing with."
Twilight nodded at this, "I know we can handle anything that's thrown at us, but we've been hit by surprise so many times that it's not funny anymore. With this, we'll never be taken by surprise again."
"Yeah," Flash nodded, "Maybe it could tell us when Chrysalis is gonna attack next? Or if there are any long forgotten big bads from thousands of years ago that we need to stop." The others nodded, "Alright Twilight, I'm with you. How are we gonna test it?"
Twilight smiled at this, "Follow me." She headed out of the library and everypony followed, only for a shadow to appear on the ceiling.
"This isn't good." Armalum commented as he shifted out of the ceiling, "If they complete that, any chance to get the drop on them could be ruined." But as he siad that, he let out a chuckle, "Then again, I think I've just found my distraction." He fired his magic at the Rune Gate-like device, the symbols and runes on it starting to turn black before they began to pulse with a new energy before retaking his shadow form and flying back into the darkness of the room. And as he did this, the device's light grew brighter and brighter.
"Here we are," Twilight said as she showed them all a cardboard box with a small hole in it.
"What's that for?" Soul asked as Twilight pointed to another box with a bunch of differently colored balls. One by one, she put them into the other box that made it impossible to see inside.
"This is how we're gonna test the Temporal Scroller," Twilight replied, "When we get back, the scroller will send a message back that'll have a list of different colors. If all goes according to plan, we'll end up pulling the balls out in the exact same order that the list has."
"What'll that prove?" Flash asked.
"That there's nothing that could throw our plans for it out the window," Starlight responded, "Time being malleable." This made everypony's head tilt, only for her to continue, "We still don't know that much about time travel. If sending messages through time causes some kind of ripple effect that can change the outcome of the message, we need to know that."
They just stared at them at this, only for the entire castle to suddenly shake. "WHOA!" Heart yelped, almost falling over as Flash stopped him. "What the heck?!" They ran out of the room and headed for the nearest window or door, soon reaching a balcony to see a bunch of blue lightning exploding into the sky. And when they traced the lightning back to its source, they gasped seeing it was coming from a light pillar that exploded out of the castle's roof.
Seeing this, Twilight's horn began to shine, only for Flash, Heart, Rainbow, Applejack, Rogue and even Rarity all leap over the edge of the balcony. "Where are you going?" Twilight asked as the flying ponies grabbed the non-flying ones and lowered them to the ground.
"We gotta get to town and make sure everypony's safe!" Flash yelled, "Scootaloo and the others might be in danger!" Twilight nodded as they quickly went for the town as the alicorn grabbed everypony else in her magic and teleported them to the library. When they arrived, they weren't shocked the see the Temporal Scroller was indeed the thing causing the light pillar as it was blasting the light through the ceiling and into the sky, causing the lightning.
"What's it doing?!" Grand yelled.
"This doesn't make any sense!" Starlight cried, "We didn't even give it any magic yet!" As she said that, a bolt of lightning exploded off the pillar and flew for them, all screaming before leaping away. The lightning missed them, but stopped in midair before seemingly starting to cut through reality itself. They all gasped at seeing this as a tear in the fabric of existence appeared in the library and started creating a sucking motion. Screams came next, all trying to run away, only for another bolt to fly out and rip open another portal.
This one hit right beside Fluttershy, Pinkie and Trixie, sucking all three in instantly. "NO!" Twilight screamed, only for another portal to be rip open behind her, sucking her in along with Starlight and Grand.
Soul screamed as she held onto the ground as best she could, turning to the Temporal Scroller and praying for something to happen, only for the Temporal Scroller to spark several times before exploding, sending pieces of rock flying everywhere. This caused the pillar to disappear along with the lightning, the tears then beginning to close. Soul no longer felt the sucking motion and fell to the ground, panting as she did. She laid there for several moments, trying to process what had happened, only for the library doors to fly open. "What the heck happened?!" Spike cried, running in while carrying a comic. "I can't even read a comic around here without the castle shaking and the sky being torn apart!"
Soul picked herself up and looked over the destroyed pieces of the Temporal Scroller. "Twilight's invention went nuts. It...it sent them all away." This made Spike blink at her, "At least it's stopped."
"I wouldn't count on that," Spike replied, only for the drake to point at the hole in the roof. She looked up and went wide-eyed. Whatever the Scroller had done had torn a large hole in the sky, lightning now pouring out of it.
"Oh no."
The ponies in town screamed as lightning blasted all around them, Flash, Rainbow, Applejack, Rogue and Rarity all reaching the town. "Twilight better fix that thing and fast," Flash commented as a large bolt of lightning shot down. They watched as the bolt tore through the fabric of space and time and opened up a tear, causing them to jump back.
In that moment, Iron and Lightning arrived on the scene after having helped other ponies escape. But as they got there, an elephant sized creature standing on four legs that looked like a lizard but with spikes sticking out of its body walked out of the portal. it was a mix of grey and brown, with a black spike sticking out of its head and each cheek. It also had an anchor shaped black blade on its tail , whilst its back was covered in a bunch of red crystal-like blades
"What is that thing?!" Iron yelped, Lightning gasping.
"It's a kkraa. We learned about them in school. But they're supposed to be extinct!" As he said that, the kkraa swung its anchor covered tail and smashed through a building next to it. Flash flew at it next, summoning some of his Sacred Light as he grabbed the tail, Iron now slamming his spear into the ground, causing a large pillar of metal to fly up under the beast's body and knock it into the air. Flash then swung it around by the tail and sent it flying back into the portal, seconds before it closed.
They all sighed in relief, only for more rips to start appearing all around them. "This is nuts!" Flash cried, only to hear screams, making them turn to see the CMC running for their lives from a bunch of giant tentacles coming out of a portal. "Hang on!" He shot forward at high speed and grabbed the girls, zooming away from the tentacles.
But as he did this, another hole suddenly appeared right in front of him. They all gasped, Flash trying to stop, only for the portal to suck him in. "NO!" Heart, Applejack, Rainbow and Rarity screamed as the four disappeared.
And before they could do anything else, another portal opened up right next to them, causing them to also get sucked inside. Heart ignited his hooves and used them to push away from the portal, but Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity weren't so lucky. Rogue tried to fly up and grab them, but he was eventually sucked in as well. They all screamed as they disappeared, the tear closing up behind them as they did.
Heart was suddenly propelled forward by his flames, taking a few seconds to correct himself as more tears opened up to start dumping things from throughout time. More prehistoric creatures, landmarks from the distant past that looked brand new, and ponies from times gone by who had fallen into this strange new world. Heart flew down to Lightning and Iron, the knights just staring at the sight, "Ooookay," Lightning turned to Iron, "So what does it say in the Royal Knight handbook about how to shut down gigantic rips in time?!"
"How should I know?!" Iron yelled, "This is Twilight's territory!"
"Don't worry." Heart chimed in, "Twilight's gone to fix whatever's wrong with the Temporal Scroller. She'll have everything back to normal in no-"
"PROBLEM!" They spun around and saw Spike and Soul running up to them, "There was an accident in the castle!" Spike had to duck to avoid an arrow being fired at him by a pony that looked to be from Starswirl's time. "Twilight and everypony else were sucked into portals!"
"Everypony?!" Iron cried, realising that likely included Fluttershy. "Oh, horseapples. Where are they?!"
"More like...when are they." Soul gulped.
Fluttershy, Pinkie and Trixie screamed as they fell through the time portal, the three managing to grab hold of each other to prevent themselves from getting lost. And as they reached the end of the portal, the cried out as they collided with the ground, moaning as they lay there. "What happened?" Pinkie asked, pushing herself to her hooves and finding her mane back to front.
As she spun it back around, Trixie rubbed her head before glancing around, "I think we got sucked to another place in time."
"But when in time?" Fluttershy asked, only for the night to suddenly be filled with light. They all yelped at this, the trio staring at it a second later before getting up, soon walking toward the light as the pegasi of the group gasped as she recognized a few of the trees, "This is the Everfree Forest!"
"Why would we end up here?" Trixie added as they the edge of the trees and came out at the edge of a cliff. Stopping at this, Pinkie almost going over the edge before zipping back, only for the trio to see the light was coming from two sources. One light was bright blue while the other was gold mixed with a rainbow of other colors. It was then that they saw a pony in each of the lights, both tall with wings and horns.
And as their eyes got used to the light, they gasped as they recognised the ponies. "Celestia!" Trixie exclaimed, only for Pinkie and Fluttershy to grimace at the other pony, one they had only met once and prayed to never meet again.
"Nightmare Moon," Fluttershy gulped, the two ponies now firing more beams of magic at each other. The two lasers collided at this, pushing against one another before the golden beam overpowered the dark blue one and completely surrounded Nightmare Moon.
"What's going on?" Pinkie asked.
"Celestia and Nightmare Moon only fought once. And we all know how it ended." Trixie commented as they then saw Nightmare Moon let out a roar as she was blasted up into the sky. The three were blinded for a moment, and when the light died down, they saw the moon was now glowing and had the image of a pony on it. They had just seen a great historic event unfurling before their eyes, only to see Celestia fly down, heartbreak all over her face.
Twilight, Starlight and Grand yelled out as they fell out of their own portal, also surrounded by trees. Grand landed first and ended up as the cushion for the mares, groaning at this, "Ow." The mares saw this and gasped, both getting off and apologizing. "What happened? Where are we?"
"Not where," Twilight gulped. "When." She then heard movement and followed it through the trees, stepping out of the woods and finding herself looking at...not the Ponyville she knew. "Sweet Celestia."
"What is it?" Starlight followed her, only to go wide-eyed, "No way. We've been transported back to when Ponyville was still new!"
Grand gulped at this, "That isn't good. We're trapped decades in the past and have no way home." He turned to glare at Twilight, "What the heck happened with that Scroller device of yours?!"
"I don't know!" Twilight cried, "This shouldn't have happene!. The device wasn't even magically charged!"
"So something or somepony must have messed with it," Starlight chimed in, "But who? Who could have charged the scroller up and make it do this?"
"That doesn't matter right now," Twilight replied, "Right now, we need to focus on getting home and fixing what's happened."
"How?" Grand asked, "The only ones who know how that thing work are you two and Trixie, and Trixie got pulled into the portal just like we were!"
Flash yelled out as he and the girls fell to the ground, the four feeling themselves hitting concrete and letting out a moan. "What happened?" Sweetie asked as they began to pick themselves up, Flash noticing they were in some kind of back alley.
"Flash?" Scootaloo added, "Where are we?" Flash told the girls to stay calm as he walked out of alleyway and saw ponies walking around, the way they were dressed giving Flash a pretty good idea of their location.
"We're in Canterlot," he sighed, "Though when in Canterlot I'm not sure." This made the girls stare at him, only for Flash to look up and see something around the city: A shield. "That looks like Shining Armor's. But when did he need to..." He facehoofed at this, "Oh geez."
Applejack, Rogue, Rainbow and Rarity screamed as they were thrown out of their portal, the four rolling along the ground before coming to a stop on a dirt road. They picked themselves up at this, only to see that they were on the road between the town and Sweet Apple Acres.
"Great," Applejack groaned, "What did that weird portal do?"
"It sent us through time," Rogue guessed, "But when are we?"
As he said that, another voice called out. A voice only one of them vaguely remembered. "Whoa, you strangers okay?" They spun around and when they did, their eyes went wide at the sight of a tall strong looking yellow earth pony with a red mane and tail along with a familiar looking hat. "I don't think I've seen ya'll around here before." The four ponies could only stare at him, all knowing who he was from photos. And slowly, they turned to the one pony who had the biggest reaction.
"Da...da..."
The pony tilted his head, "You okay there? You look like ya'll just seen a ghost." Applejack tried to speak up, but the stallion just shrugged, "Anyway, name's Bright Mac. Nice ta meet ya'll. So, yah new around here?"
"Kinda," Rogue nodded, "We um...we're a bit lost at the moment."
Bright smiled at this, "Well then, why don't ya'll come with me. Sweet Apple Acres is always happy to help those in need." He marched off and the ponies could only stare at him, Rarity turning to her cowpony friend.
"Applejack, are you okay?" Applejack didn't say anything, instead just staring at the retreating stallion. "I know this is hard for you, but we can't risk doing anything that could affect history."
"But...it's my dad. And if he's alive...my mom..." The others grimaced at this, and before anypony could say anything, she cut into a sprint, the others quickly trying to follow.
It wasn't long till they reached the farm, only to spot a much younger Granny Smith talking to her son. "Oh," she turned to them, "So you're the ponies mah boy found wandering around."
"Um...yes ma'am," Rogue nodded. He didn't know a lot about time travel, but he had a feeling using his real name would be an issue with someone he would know in the past. "I'm Banshee." The girls looked at him in shock, "This is Cloud, Gem and Dusty." The girls glared at him at this, but he didn't notice, "Thanks for letting us stay. We don't know how long we'll be here, but hopefully we'll be out of your hair in no time."
"Oh, we're happy to have you here." They all turned to another voice, Applejack's heart stopping at seeing Pear Butter walk out of the barn holding a foal in her hooves. "Sweet Apple Acres is a place anypony can call home if they've got nowhere else to go. I know that better than anypony."
Bright walked over to her. "This here's my lovely wife, Buttercup."
"So nice to meet you," Buttercup smiled before looking at Applejack, only to squint her eyes, "Have we met before? You look...familiar." They all panicked as Buttercup took a close look, likely seconds away from realizing she was looking at an older version of her oldest daughter...only to pull away and shrug, "Can't place you. I'm sorry, you probably have one of those faces."
"Yeah..." Applejack nodded, "One of those faces."
Granny Smith then spoke up, "Sorry to break up this session, but we've got work ta do around this farm. And if ya'll wanna stick around, you gotta earn your keep."
"Oh, we're fine with that. Right gang?" The others nodded, most grimacing as Bright Mac lead Applejack and Rogue toward the orchard while Buttercup gave Apple Bloom to her grandmother and lead the others to the barn. The four shared a look at this, gulping at what could possibly happen next.
The Present...
Iron and Lightning were continuing to fight against the many insane creatures and ponies that were popping up in the city. Spike, Soul and Heart were helping as best they can, Spike using his magic to create fire claws that he used to grab an extinct flying creature and throw it back into a portal. Heart was shooting fire at the ones that looked armored and Soul did her best to grab things in her magic and toss them back in.
Lightning panted as he looked around, seeing portals still opening everywhere. "Prehistoric time windows. Hundred year old time windows. Can it get any weirder?" It was then that another portal opened up right in front of them, this one not letting anything out, only for them to all go wide-eyed at the sight inside.
"Yeah it can," Iron nodded at the sight of...himself.
Another time's Iron and Lightning were fighting against a bunch of changelings, but ones that existed before Thorax and Hiveena took over. They watched as a tiger armored Iron slammed a changeling with his hammer tail before noticing the portal.
"Guess we should have expected this!" He yelled at Lightning, "You're up!"
"Huh?!" The other Lightning turned to the portal, "Oh, right!" He ran up and got up to the portal without being sucked through. "Hey everypony, it's us...err...you...from the future." He shook his head, "We don't got time to explain, but get back to Twilight's castle! There's a package there that'll help!" He ducked under a changeling and zapped them with his lightning, while Iron continued.
"And don't forget to tell yourselves...your past selves, I mean. Us...we...just...give us this exact same message when you see us...yourselves...oh, my head hurts." That was everything he got to say before the portal closed, the present day Iron and Lightning staring at each other.
"Did your brain just snap?" Iron asked as Lightning rubbed his head.
"A little, yeah." He shook his head, "Come on. Let's get the others and get back to Twilight's castle." Iron nodded right as an arrow hit a barrel that they were next to that had been launched by some screaming viking-like ponies.
Trixie, Fluttershy and Pinkie stared in awe at the sight of what had just happened. "We just saw Nightmare Moon's banishment," Trixie whispered, "I can't believe it."
"Me neither," Pinkie added before she accidently stepped on a twig. The snapping sound filled the air and caught the attention of the pony in the sky, who spun around with the Elements of Harmony around her.
"Who's there?!" She then saw the three, "Ponies?! What are you doing here?!" The three looked at one another, clearly unsure about how to proceed. Celestia turned to look up at the moon covered sun, the sight of it causing her to look somber, only to cast her magic and moved the moon away from the sun, blinding the three for a moment. She put the sun down and flew toward the ground, staring at the trio at the same time.
"There is something about you three that seems...odd." They all flinched at this, "You have some kind of residual magic on you. What is it?"
The trio shared a glance, only for Trixie to whisper, "It is Celestia. Maybe she can help." The other two nodded and Trixie turned to her. "Basically, we're from the future." This made Celestia raise an eyebrow, "We fell through time due to an accident and now we're stuck a thousand years in the past."
"I...see." Celestia hummed.
"You believe us?" Pinkie asked, Celestia nodding.
"Why wouldn't I? It's the truth, isn't it?" They sighed in relief as Celestia looked up at the moon. "You say you're from the future, so you should have knowledge of the future." This made the younger mares flinch, "Tell me, does my sister return? Will I ever get to see her again?"
Again, the three shared a glance, two of them biting their lips while Fluttershy looked back at Celestia. She saw the giant frown on the alicorn's face, taking a deep breath before saying, "Yes...she'll return." Celestia glanced back at her, making the mare flinch, only to add, "But not for a thousand years."
Celestia went wide-eyed at this, looking like her heart was breaking. Her magic stopped and the Elements of Harmony fell to the ground as her legs gave out, the mare now breaking down and crying. Fluttershy rushed to her side and placed her hooves around Celestia's neck. "It's okay. It's okay. I know it's hard. Just let it all out." Celestia cried louder and louder at this, the other two slowly going up and hugging her as well.
Twilight, Starlight and Grand were carefully making their way through town, hoping they didn't draw attention to themselves. Twilight was currently using an illusion spell she had gotten from Trixie to hide her wings, not daring to tempt what an alicorn suddenly appearing in the past might do to the timeline.
"So...what exactly is the plan here?" Grand asked as the three made their way to the building they hoped was there.
"Starlight and I will write some instructions on how the Temporal Scroller works and how to both fix and alter it to pull us back in time. All we need to do is get them to our friends in the future." They arrived at the street with the post office, Twilight smiling as they carefully moved over to the window. Starlight looked inside and spotted a bunch of stationary, which she teleported to them when the post pony wasn't looking.
Stuff in hooves, the three rushed into an alley behind the post office, "You really think this is going to work?" Grand asked, "Who'd even have the know-how to follow these instructions?"
"Hopefully, nopony else fell through time." Twilight started writing as Starlight prepared the envelope. "I'll try to make it as simple as possible so that even Flash could understand it."
"That's a tall order." Grand commented, "Make sure to use small words."
Everypony had rushed back to Twilight's castle and started looking for the package. Spike had told them about a strange envelope that had arrived earlier in the day, the ponies having a theory it might have been what they were looking for. The only problem was, they couldn't find it. "You're sure it was in the library?" Lightning asked as rummaged from the destroyed room.
"I'm sure of it!" Spike cried after surfacing out of a pile of books. "Twilight was working on that scroller thing, so I put it on the table for her to read later."
"So then where is it?" Iron yelled as Heart dived into another book pile.
"What if it got sucked into a time portal like the others?!" Soul gulped, the group all grimacing at that.
"I found it!" Heart's hoof shot out of the books with the envelope, everypony cheering as Lightning took it in his magic and quickly opened it up to reveal a bunch of old paper.
He read the first page and gasped, "it's from Twilight. She sent it through the mail back when Ponyville was first founded!" The others went wide-eyed at this as Lightning read the letter. "To whomever may be reading this, you're the only one capable of returning us to our proper time and stopping the whole space time continuum from exploding!" They all shared a look at this, their eyes shrinking in fear at the thought of that.
Meanwhile...
Armalum was in the throne room, his hoof tracing over the map.
He remembered what Storm had told him and after cross-referencing with locations on the map, he smiled as a certain location appeared. "Excellent. Now to find them." He heard a loud roar at this that shook the castle, likely due to some kind of creature appearing from out of the temporal tears, the armor chuckling at the situation he had caused. "I wonder how they intend to fix this...and what Sentry might be doing at this moment."
Flash stared up at the shield as it began to flicker, the pegasi gulping as he realized what was about to happen. "We need to get out of here," he told the girls. "We've been sent back to when the changelings invaded Canterlot." The girls gasped at this, only for the shattering of Shining's barrier to fill the air. "Oh, great." As the barrier vanished, hundreds of black insect ponies flew down toward them.
Flash and the girls ran, but several changelings flew over, all diving down for the attack. "Stay behind me!" Flash ordered as he held up his sword and slashed at the changelings. The light blade knocked them back, only for more to start coming, "I really did not miss this!" He grunted as he slashed and kicked the changelings away as the girls cowered behind him.
Applejack and Rogue were helping Bright Mac in the orchard, the cowpony showing her years of crafted skill as she bucked the apples out of the tree.
"Wow," Bright smirked, "You're good. You ever work on an apple farm before?" Applejack flinched at this, opening her mouth to answer, only to close it as sweat began to appear on her face.
"Yeah," Rogue chimed in as he put an empty bucket down, "We've worked on a farm here and there to make a bit when we need it."
Bright nodded at this, "Well, if ya'll ever want a place to settle down in, Sweet Apple Acres is always in need of hard working farm hoofs."
"That sounds...nice," Applejack replied as Bright began to push the full buckets toward the cart. As he did this, Applejack watched him and thought about what could happen any day now. The thought of it made her heart break while Rogue walked up to her.
"Applejack, you know you can't."
"Can't what?"
"You're gonna warn your parents about what happened. What...will happen. You're gonna try and save them."
"Yeah, so what? Why shouldn't ah save mah parents lives?"
"We both know that's not what happened. I know its hard, but you can't risk changing the future like that. You don't know what consequences it'll have."
"Mah parents 'll be alive. What other consequences could there be?"
"That's the thing. We don't know. What if them being alive causes a massive disaster, or turns you into somepony else entirely? It's not like we can control how to go back in time. What if you save them, only to find out doing so completely ruins the future?"
"How could it ruin the future? Mah ma and pa are just ordinary ponies. They're not gonna do anything that'll destroy Equestria."
"But you're not ordinary. You're an Element of Harmony. One of the ponies that has saved Equestria a hundred times over. And you were only able to become that pony because you had to take on a bunch of responsibilities at a young age. If you didn't, you wouldn't be the pony you are today and might not have been able to wield the Element of Honesty. And who else could do it?"
"My dad's honest," Applejack responded, "Really honest. He could take the mantle."
"Yeah, but the Elements need more than just that one attribute. They need a connection between the wielders. Swap you out with Bright Mac and do you really think he and the others would call one another friends. Maybe they'd been nice to one another, but would Flash and the girls really call him their friend?"
Applejack opened her mouth, only to close it again. She now remembered what Twilight had done before with all the time travel, explaining what kind of disasters that could happen. But despite that, she glanced back at Bright, the sight making a giant frown appear on her face. "Oh horseapples..."
Spike and the ponies were doing their best to try and repair the Temporal Scroller and return their friends to the present. Luckily, Twilight had included all the instructions on how to make it from scratch. This was good, because the device's destruction meant they would need to make a new one from scratch. The bad news was that they barely understood any of it.
"Integrate the temporal matrix into the warp gate program and interlock the two magical pathways in order to generate a stable temporal warp and..." Heart tried to read the next part, but let out a cry, "Why are these words so big?!"
"This is hopeless!" Lightning added, "I'm the one with the most magical knowledge and I have no idea what any of this is supposed to be!"
"Perhaps we can be of assistance." The group spun around at a sudden voice, only to go wide-eyed at the sight of Celestia and Solid Script in the doorway.
"Princess!" Iron bowed, "We're glad to see you. But how did you know to bring Script?"
Celestia looked up through the hole in the roof at the lightning that was still exploding in the sky. "Let's just say, I've seen that lightning before. And when I recognised it, I knew only one pony who could possibly fix the problem."
Script stepped up and took the instructions, the pages flying around him as he read them at light speed. "Amazing design. Impressive work." He looked down at the remains of the scroller, "But somepony clearly messed with it."
"Can you fix it?" Lightning asked.
"Can you bring the others back?" Iron added.
"And can you fix the holes in the sky?" Spike pointed at them.
"I can," Script nodded, "But it won't be easy. First I'll pull everypony that's fallen through time back here. But when that happens, it'll open a bunch of rifts that could bring anything else through. You guys will need to protect us until we can finish fixing them."
The others all smiled at this before nodding, "Let's do it!"
Trixie, Pinkie and Fluttershy followed Celestia over a chasm, soon seeing a destroyed castle. Celestia had recovered from her breakdown, still looking upset but at least gotten over the worst of it. She was carrying the Elements with her, the group soon arriving in the room with the giant planetarium. "A thousand years," Celestia put them back inside the stone orbs. "At least that gives me plenty of time to repair the castle."
"Repair the castle?" Pinkie glanced around, "But what about Canterlot?"
"Canterlot?" Celestia turned back to them, "What are you talking about?"
The three flinched at this, all glancing at each other before Trixie spoke up, "Well...history states that after you defeat Nightmare Moon, you create a new city called Canterlot. It's located on the side of a mountain in the middle of Equestria."
Celestia blinked at her before glancing back at the castle, "I...see," She let out a long sigh, "Maybe that's for the best. This was Luna's home as well as mine. I couldn't live here without her."
"Don't worry," Fluttershy assured her, "She'll be back. But you'll need to leave the Elements of Harmony here."
"What?!" Celestia gasped, "Are you insane?! I can't just leave artifacts of such significance in a destroyed castle. What if something attacks Equestria and I need them?!"
"Trust us," Pinkie added, "Those Elements won't be needed again until Luna returns. But they need to be here so the ponies that'll use them can go on an important journey in order to find them, allowing them to form a bond of friendship so strong the Elements will be more powerful than ever."
Celestia stared wide-eyed at them, glancing back at the elements for a second before Trixie spoke up, "Trust us. You don't need the Elements anymore. You'll grow into an amazing pony that will protect Equestria and shape it into the amazing place we all call home."
The others nodded as Celestia stared at them, only to sigh. "Very well then."
Twilight sealed the papers inside the envelope as Grand returned with a trenchcoat and hat. "You know what to do?"
He nodded, "Drop off the envelope and tell them it has very clear instructions." He took it, but frowned as he looked at the hat and coat. "Why exactly do I need to wear this stuff? I get it's a good idea not to have anypony see an alicorn, but I just look like a normal earth pony. I'd probably stand out more with this stuff."
"It's better to be safe than sorry," Twilight replied, Grand nodding before heading toward the post office, the mares hoping their plan would work. Neither remembered if the post office actually received any damage in the years it was open, most likely given Derpy worked there, but prayed their plan would work.
Applejack, Rogue and Bright Mac had finished bucking apples and had returned to the farmhouse, only to find Buttercup feeding Apple Bloom with a bottle as she sat on the front porch. "You mind taking the cart to the barn?" Bright asked Rogue, who gave Applejack a worried look before nodding.
As he took the cart, Applejack looked over at Buttercup and smiled seeing the cuter version of her younger sister. "Isn't she adorable?" Buttercup asked, Applejack nodding back.
"Yeah. Cutest little sugarcube ah ever saw."
"Do you have any kids?" Bright asked, Applejack shaking her head.
"Nah. Maybe one day. But I've got experience raisin' fillies."
"Really?" Buttercup asked, Applejack slightly flinching at this.
"Mah...mah parents passed away when ah was young. Mah grandma had to look after mah siblin's and me, but ah spent a lot of time lookin' after mah baby sister."
"Oh," Buttercup frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's fine," Applejack waver her hoof, "It...it was a long time ago. But...sometimes ah wonder what they would have thought of how ah did lookin' after the family."
"I'm sure they'd be proud of you," Bright replied, "I mean...is your family safe?" Applejack nodded, "Are they happy?" She nodded again, "And were you able to help them when they needed that help?" Applejack nodded one last time. "Then I think they'd be more than proud."
"Agreed," Buttercup smiled as she hugged her foal. "I know I'd be happy if my children lived like that. So long as they're able to be happy and do what makes them happy, I'd be happy."
Applejack couldn't help but smile as tears appeared in her eyes. In a way, her parents had just told her they were proud of how she had done everything. "You okay?" Bright asked.
"Ah'm fine," Applejack nodded. "Ah'm...gonna go make sure mah friends are alright." They nodded as the mare spun around, wiping her tears at the same time.
Script had finished reconstructing the Temporal Scroller. "Alright," he told the others. "It's now or never. Get ready, because things are gonna get crazy as soon as I power it up." They all nodded and got into a fighting stance as Script lit his horn and unleashed a blast of magic that struck the device. Doing so caused it to light up, growing brighter and brighter.
Everypony was on edge as the device unleashed a burst of light through the whole in the castle and hit the storm above their heads. They all shielded their eyes as lightning started exploding out of the light and opened portals around them.
Twilight and Starlight spotted Grand as he left the post office and walked over to them. Once there, he removed his hat and asked, "When will we know if it worked?"
Twilight hummed at this, "If the post office is as reliable as they claim, then we should know right about-" A blast of lightning opened up in front of them, making them smile as the portal formed.
It then launched bolts of lightning, which struck the trio. "What's happening?" Starlight cried.
"Don't fight it!" Twilight yelled, "The temporal magic we were stained with on the way here is reacting to the portal! It's acting as a lifeline to our real time."
And a second later, the three were pulled into the portal.
Celestia had lead the ponies out of the castle right as a burst of light made them look up. The portal formed above their heads and unleashed the bolts of lightning, hitting the trio. "Looks like you're heading home," Celestia commented, "Thank you for helping me through this."
"Don't mention it," Trixie smiled as they were pulled up towards the portal. "Just remember. You're gonna make a lot of mistakes. This leading a kingdom thing isn't easy. Just don't worry about the mistakes and do your best to learn from them and you'll be the best ruler Equestria could ask for."
"I will," Celestia nodded as they were pulled into the portal.
Flash was seriously getting exhausted right now as he kicked away another changeling before launching a Flash Force at several more. That is, till a burst of lightning made them look back and see another portal opening. "Go!" Flash told the girls, knocking the changelings away with his tail. "I'll be right behind you!" The CMC nodded as they rushed for the portal, the lightning grabbing and pulling them into it.
"You're not going anywhere!" One of the changelings yelled, but Flash slammed his sword into the ground and unleashed a wave of light that knocked them all back.
"No, I think we're done here." he quipped before spreading his wings and leaping at the portal.
Applejack stepped into the barn and found her friends sorting the apples. When they noticed her long frown, they moved over to hug her. "It's okay," Rarity whispered, "I know it's hard, but it's what's for the best."
Applejack whimpered at this, only for a burst of light to make them all look up and see a portal opening. They all gasped, three of them smiling while the fourth gasped. "No," she stepped back, "Ah'm not ready." She turned to run away, but the bolts of lightning flew out and hit them. They were all pulled toward the portal while Applejack struggled to try and break free. "NO!" She screamed, but it was no use and they were all pulled inside before the portal closed itself up.
Moments later, Bright and Buttercup ran in. "What's going on?" But then he noticed the four strangers were all gone. "What? I know they were in here..."
"Why would they leave for no reason?" Buttercup asked.
Everypony watched as the portals began to open up, ponies flying out of each. First was Trixie, Fluttershy and Pinkie. Twilight, Starlight and Grand were next with Flash and he CMC quickly following. Then, Rogue, Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack were the last to arrive, all hitting the ground with a thud.
"YES!" Twilight cheered, "It worked! I love the post office!"
"NOOO!" They all turned to Applejack, the mare now about to cry again, "It's not fair!" The others turned to her, only for more portals to form around them.
"No time for hellos!" Script yelled, "I need help fixing this thing!" Twilight, Starlight and Trixie quickly ran over to help while the portal began to spit something out of them.
"Look out!" Flash cried as a bunch of changelings appeared and landed in the library.
"What is this?" The lead Changling asked, seeing the ponies before spotting the one they had just been fighting. "Take them! The queen will enjoy feasting on them!"
"Oh great," Flash gulped as he, Heart and Iron transformed into their battle modes. "Everypony, keep them away from the others!" Everypony nodded and charged, the changelings transforming into the ponies they were facing, only for Heart to launch a stream of fire that forced the changelings back. This allowed the ponies to fight against their own doppelgangers and not get confused. And with a few hits and zaps, they were knocked back and unable to maintain their disguises.
Iron and Lightning were side by side as a portal opened up next to them. When Lightning looked into it, he saw other versions of them and realized what point in time he was seeing. "Guess we should have expected this!" He stated before looking at Lightning, "You're up."
Iron looked up, only for Pinkie to call out. "Hold on you two. The readers have seen this bit." She pulled a remote out of her mane and hit fast forward, causing time to move in super speed until she hit play.
"Oh," Lightning finished, "My head hurts." The portal quickly closed and the two started to focus on the changelings again.
Bright Mac and Buttercup continued to search for the strangers that had disappeared. There was no sign of them and as Apple Bloom began to get fussy, the pair wondering if they had hightailed it for no reason. However, they were about to find the truth was stranger than fiction.
Suddenly, a portal appeared above them in the barn. The couple cried out at its sudden appearance and were unprepared for the sucking force, which caused Apple Bloom to fly out of her mother's grasp. "NO!" She cried, attempting to grab her, only for the foal to be sucked in, "NOOOOO!"
Applejack was taking her frustrations out on some changelings when she heard the cry of a baby, making her look up and gasp. Baby Apple Bloom fell out of a portal just a few steps away, some changelings seeing this and licking their lips. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Applejack roared before barreling forward and knocking them over like bowling balls before taking the foal in her hooves.
She then looked up at the portal she had fallen out of, "Rogue!" She yelled, "Get me up there!" Rogue screamed away some changelings before nodding, the thestral diving down and letting her grab his tail before being pulling up toward the portal.
"Applejack!" Twilight cried as she and the three unicorns were blasting the Scroller with magic. "We can't keep the portals open! If you're not back before they closed, you'll be trapped in the past forever!" Applejack nodded as Rogue threw her through the portal.
Bright Mac and Buttercup stared at the portal in shock, having just seen their daughter fall through it. Bright growled and was about to chase after her, only for something to fly out and hit the ground rolling. They both gasped at seeing the earth pony from before with Apple Bloom in her hooves.
"My baby!" Buttercup rushed over and grabbed her as the mare stood up. "Thank you."
She smiled, but Bright stepped up at this, "Who...who are you?" The mare flinched at this, only for the portal behind her began to close.
"It's working!" Script exclaimed as the Scroller began to pulse with magic. Out in Ponyville, the portals were starting to suck those that had been pulled into the present back to their own times. Once all the time travelers were sucked through, the portals started to close up.
The same was true for in the library as the changelings suddenly found themselves being hit by the lightning. "What is this?" The lead changeling cried as Flash ran up to him.
"Time for you to go back to where you belong!" He dealt a strong kick to his chest and pushed him back into the portal, the many other changelings also being dragged back home. Slowly, the portals started closing. But as they did, everypony focused on the one Applejack had leapt through.
Applejack stared at her parents, knowing this would be the last time she would ever get to see them. There were so many things she wished to say, and not enough time to say them. Her parents simply stared back at her, confusion on their faces before a voice called out, "Applejack!" She glanced back to see Rogue through the portal. "Come on! The portal's closing! Hurry!"
"Applejack?" Bright asked, looking at the mare that shared his daughter's name and appearance. "Wait...don't tell me."
Applejack looked down at the ground, as the portal grew smaller. "Come on!" Rogue yelled, "Before it's too late!"
Applejack remained where she was, unable to move. That is, till a Bright exclaimed, "Go!" She looked up at her father, "You don't belong here! You need to go back to where you belong before it's too late!"
"But..." She whispered, "But you..."
The pair stared at her, Buttercup shaking her head, "It doesn't matter about us. You need to return home. Back to those who are waiting for you." She held up the baby, "Do you really want her to lose her sister?"
Applejack grimaced at this, then looked back at the portal and Rogue. He was begging her to come back and after giving her parents one finally look, she ran and leapt into the portal. Rogue was there to catch her as she crashed through it, the two hitting the ground as the portal shrank so small that she never would have fit through it.
Applejack quickly got up and looked back at the portal as her parents stared back at her. Tears filled her eyes as she called out, "I LOVE YOU!"
The parents smiled at this before the portal vanished into nothing. And at the same time, the Temporal Scroller unleashed one final burst of magic, the lightning covering the town disappearing while the remaining portals all closed. The Scroller then retracted the light, and as it did, it pulsed several times before exploding into a million pieces. Luckily, Twilight and the unicorns were able to shield the others from being hit.
A few minutes later, everypony stood there, panting after the hard day they had had, seeing the destroyed library and damaged castle, also wondering what kind of damage had been done to Ponyville. Apple Bloom then moved over to her sister, who was still crying. "Applejack?" she placed a hoof on her shoulder, "Are you okay?" Applejack didn't answer, only continuing to cry.
Ponyville was working hard to fix the damage done to it. Despite everything that had happened, the destruction was actually at quite the minimum. Nothing Twilight and Celestia couldn't fix with their magic. "Thanks for helping," Twilight told her mentor. "If you hadn't shown up with Script, we might have never gotten home."
Celestia giggled at this, "I was just returning a favor from long ago." As she finished fixing a house, she spotted Trixie, Fluttershy and Pinkie walking over to them, "Thank you for your kind words so long ago. If you hadn't been there, I might never have been able to rule on my own for so long."
"No need to thank us," Fluttershy shook her head, "We were happy to help." The other two nodded before Trixie's eyes went wide.
"Wait...so the whole time you knew us, you also knew we would one day travel back in time and meet a past version of yourself?!"
This question shocked the other two as Celestia chuckled. "Well, I didn't remember every detail about you. It was a thousand years ago. I remembered what you did for me and how kind you were, but I couldn't remember exactly what you looked like or your names. It actually wasn't until I saw the lightning above Ponyville that the memories came back in full force." The other three nodded at this as Twilight continued fixing up a building. "Twilight, about your little invention?"
"I know what you're going to say," Twilight nodded, "We shouldn't make another Temporal Scroller. At least, not yet."
"Really?" Pinkie asked, "Why not? This was an accident."
"And it wasn't because of something we did," Starlight pointed out, "Somepony messed with the Scroller, whoever that was."
"Maybe," Twilight sighed, "But who's to say somepony else won't mess with another one if we remake it? You saw the havoc it caused. It's too dangerous to mess with time, even in the little way we were planning on. We'll have to learn about the future the old fashioned way. By living through it and overcoming whatever surprises show themselves."
The others sighed, but knew she was right. None of them wanted to go through this again. That is, till Trixie asked, "Do we have any idea who messed with the scroller?"
Armalum made his way through the woods. It would take a while for him to get to his destination, but when he did, he would find the ones he seeked.
"Tempera, Wingill, Salix and Terror. Don't worry. When I find you, I'll restore the memories that were stolen from you." He chuckled at this, "Then I'll use them to fuel the hatred I'll take for myself." He began to laugh, looking forward to the utter carnage he would bring about after taking their hatred. And once he had it, he knew he would be strong enough to achieve his ultimate goal.
Sweet Apple Acres had survived the time storm mostly unscathed. A few ancient ponies had tried to pillage the place, but Granny Smith had somehow seen them off with a swing of her walking stick. Now it was just a matter of cleaning the place up.
Rogue finished placing the last of the broken fence in the barn, Mac already working on fixing it, sighing in exhaustion as he made his way out of the place. He headed over to the farmhouse next, and when he got there, he found Applejack sitting at the kitchen table, looking at a photo album. Stepping into the room, he saw the photo was of her family before she lost her parents. He sat down beside her and stared at the picture.
"You made the right choice," he told her, "Your parents wouldn't want you to live in the past. Both figuratively and literally." Applejack couldn't help but chuckle at that. "It's okay to miss them, but if you're always looking back at what was, you'll end up missing what is and what will be."
Applejack sighed and shook her head, "You're right." She shut the book, "I can't let what happened in the past stop me from having a future. That's not what they'd want."
Rogue nodded, "But it's okay to miss them every now and then." Applejack nodded back as Rogue had an idea and opened the photo album. "I think I might have an idea."
Rogue's idea involved getting all her friends together. The Mane Seven, Trixie, Starlight, the CMC, Big Mac, Lightning, Grand, Iron and Granny Smith. Together, they all stood in front of the barn like in the picture Applejack had been looking at. As they did this, Applejack and Apple Bloom were holding a picture of their parents as Spike prepared the camera. "You all ready?" The dragon asked, everypony nodding as he set the timer before flying toward them. They all smiled as Spike joined the group and a bright flash filled the air.
The picture taken would sit beside the other one, showing that even though the Apple Family had lost two members, it had gained many many more. And it would always be a reminder that despite the family's loses, there was so much to enjoy about the future
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Very unexpected but I glad you gives Applejack a closure regarding her parents.
Out of this episode, I think Applejack's relationship with her parents got to be the most interesting since she is tempted with the idea of preventing their death but at the same time, doing that would radically changes the future which made it hard for AJ since she missed her parents.
Very sad.
Here's highlights
I do find it ironically that it was Twilight who send the letter to herself who dismissed the letter!
Oh dear, I had a feeling this is going to be sad one for AJ.
Oh no, not him!
Wow! How original of you, Rogue!
Oh shit! He knows where the remaining members are!
Celestia and Script are here to save the day!
Ha ha ha ha ha! Pinkie is breaking the fourth wall again!
Oh! You got to be kidding me?!
Awwwww….
Oh shit!
You know what makes this one even worse is Flash and others will have no idea what happened to the remaining former Cult of Shadow members.
Also, I thought his name was Wingill, not Wingust.
Man, poor AJ was put though the wringer in this chapter but at the very least she was able to make peace with what happened to her parents.
Also Twilight really needs to listen when Spike comes in with a letter marked *URGENT* next time around!
Couple that with Junkpile messing around in the background & finding out Shadow Team whereabouts and you have a recipe for disaster! 
Oh hey, there was a Highlights page included in Twilight's instructions, let's check it out! :
Well........now that's interesting!
This is gonna bite you in the flanks later, isn't it?
Just part of the norm dragon buddy!
Just one piece of trash comes to mind!
You guys are not the only ones!
Poor Celly really needs lots of hugs right now!
Hate you.....so very very much!!!
Dang this is rough!
Think the concept of *small words* was lost on Twilight when she wrote this!
*waves at 4th wall* Oh hey old friend, haven't seen you in a while!
Dang, lots of comfort hugs on this chapter!
Here's hoping Junkpile partially fails on this one at least!
Now that was sweet!
A heartfelt chapter with a dash of action, great work Banshee!
Wait...I just realized something...this was almost a reference to the 2003 TMNT episode, Season 6 episode 16, Timing is everything.
This came as a surprise. But, as we near the end of this series and seeing what the future has in store, it feels symbolic in a way to take a look back at the past and how far everyone has come.
Unfortunately, this chapter just further seems to enforce that 95% of the time, nothing good every comes from time-travel. It almost felt nice that Starlight seemed to have moved past her trauma with it enough to work on this project, but Armalum just had to go and ruin it all. What's worse is my fears from last chapter are confirmed. He's going after the other former cultists so he can restore their memories and drain their hatred of Flash like he did with Storm Blade.
I liked Applejack's little storyline here of mourning over her parents' death. I know that anyone would probably jump at the chance to see a dead relative again, and the chance to possibly get them back permanently can be tempting. But, like Rogue tried to explain, it isn't worth the risk. When you screw around with time then nine times out of ten it usually finds a way to screw you back. If Applejack had tried to save her parents then it is possible something worse might have happened, like what Rogue said with her not becoming an Element of Harmony, or someone else might have died in their place, or they might have just died at a later time. What's important is Applejack got to see them one more time and can look to her future instead.
The other time-travelers had fun adventures too, even if Applejack's was the most important. Trixie, Fluttershy, and Pinkie meeting Celestia after she banished Nightmare Moon was a surprise. It is interesting that they were the ones who put the idea of Canterlot in her mind, and convinced her to leave the Elements at the Castle of the Two Sisters. Flash and the CMC traveling back to the Canterlot Wedding was also fun. They didn't encounter Chrysalis or any of their friends during their time there (for better or for worse) but wouldn't it be funny if the lead Changeling they fought turned out to be Pharynx?
That was kind of rude of Spike. He's normally a lot nicer than that (at least in later seasons).
I would have thought that would be a good chance for Rogue to use his birthname, Nightscreech.
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Wait a minute. I have an OC named Storm Blade from the Eric Sparkle series.
I presume this is an entirely different character with the same name.
Another great chapter Banshee. It was full of action, humor, and all the feels. Highlights include:
Huh?
…Oh!
it’s a time travel episode duh
. It’s also nice to see the Golden Oaks Library, or what would become the library, again.
You accidentally wrote “ever” instead of “every”
D-DAY!? TAKE COVER EVERYONE!!!
Damn it Spike!
Did you mean to say “Making anything that got close to IT panic and run away.”
Uh oh, here comes trouble
Ok now THAT’S a story that I wanna hear
Where did you get the idea for the name?
This feels like a reference to something, but what?
Cool, a time loop. Don’t worry Heart you’ll understand it eventually
Did you mean to say “surprises” instead of “surprise“?
Did you mean to say “different” instead of “differently”?
Did you mean to write “it” instead of “it’s”?
Hold on while I Google this……I think I found it images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/6c1c0c25-4313-430c-b002-712ca0af1556/deer6rv-682857b3-880a-4583-b6e8-6ecb6dea919e.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzZjMWMwYzI1LTQzMTMtNDMwYy1iMDAyLTcxMmNhMGFmMTU1NlwvZGVlcjZydi02ODI4NTdiMy04ODBhLTQ1ODMtYjZlOC02ZWNiNmRlYTkxOWUucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.N1vA26q69-tGgfotSn5VYE9jRIS2sBw1_DQpNRCIZJ0
There’s a Royal Knight handbook?
Also is this a reference to something?
Pinkie Pie must be related to Daffy Duck. I always knew she was part Loony Tune
You forgot to add an “s” to “work”
Oh crap! It’s the Canterlot wedding/invasion!
Oh boy, it’s gonna be one of those chapters. *Pulls out a box of tissues* I’m ready.
HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THIS?! YOU NEVER EVER SAY “CAN IT GET ANY WORSE”?!
You accidentally wrote “got” instead of “have”
Oh burn!
You forgot “they” between “as” and “rummaged”, and wrote “from” instead of “around”
Exhibit A “The Flashpoint Paradox” storyline from DC Comics
I was kinda expecting Rouge to say that he and Applejack could have never met which would’ve been an interesting conversation.
YES! I called it! I knew Solid Script would be able to help. Wasn’t expecting Celestia though
Wait so then does that mean they influenced Celestia’s decisions? Ugh time travel hurts my brain
Hey! Be nice to Derpy!
You accidentally wrote “whole” instead of “hole”
Wow I think this is the first time we’ve seen Pinkie break the 4th wall in this series
You do NOT want to mess with mama bear Applejack
Poor Applejack
Now that’s something I gotta see
Overall this was a really great chapter. Can’t wait for next week, I’m hoping its “Dragon Dropped”🤞
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That actually would be pretty funny and if Pharynx showed up during the final battle I could imagine him saying “Hey, I remember you!” Or “Do I know you?”
things like this way they say don't mess with time
emotional chapter for applejack
Yeah, no matter how seemingly innocuous, messing with time travel is never a good idea.
Oh, I want to see that story unfold 🤣 Granny Smith, scourge of those who dare trespass on her farm