Chapter 21: It’s About Time (S2:E20)
My Little Pony: Nine Elements
Book 2
Written by Brandon Nell and Blake Hawkins
Chapter 21: It’s About Time
Two days after Fluttershy found the balance between kind and assertive, it was Monday, August 15th. On this particular day, she and Pinkie were carrying party supplies through town. With Fluttershy learning to be assertive in her own way, she managed to convince Pinkie so that they each would carry an equal amount of supplies.
“Remind me what this party’s for, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said.
“I told you earlier,” Pinkie explained. “It’s for a pony named Parry Dot.”
“A newcomer?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yep,” Pinkie said. “I would have brought my welcome wagon, but, it was giving me problems.” Suddenly, a purplish blurr raced past them.
“Whoa!” Fluttershy yelped. “What was that?”
“All I could tell was that they were in a hurry,” Pinkie said.
“Should we check if they need help?” Fluttershy asked. “That blur kind of looked like Twilight.”
“Let’s follow it,” Pinkie said.
So, Pinkie and Fluttershy followed the blur, the supplies were still on their backs. It didn’t take long for other citizens of Ponyville to notice and they had gathered to see what was going on. The blur was indeed Twilight, who was out of breath.
“Twilight, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, offering her a bottle of water.
Twilight drank from the water. She took her breath, but, it was still evident that she was worried about something. She cleared her throat to the town.
“Everypony, you have to listen!” Twilight said. “I got a visit from myself from the future and she warned me that there is a huge disaster next Tuesday morning!” Most of the ponies wore blank expressions before all but five burst into hysterical laughter.
“Why is everypony laughin'?” Applejack asked. “Twilight’s tellin’ the truth, ah can tell!”
“You have the Mystic Eyes of Truth,” Rainbow pointed out. “They don’t. Either way, I’m not letting this slide.” She and the other Guardians of Harmony stepped up to Twilight.
“We want to help you, Twilight,” Rarity said. “Please, tell us what happened.”
“Yeah,” said Noteworthy. “It’ll be good for a laugh.”
Rainbow turned to face the crowd, took a deep breath, inflating her chest like a balloon, and shouted, “KNOCK IT OFF!!!” Her shout created a powerful howling gale as the crowd suddenly went quiet.
“Thank ya, Rainbow,” Applejack said, rubbing one of her ears. “Now, ah know Twilight’s givin’ us a hard pill ta swallow, but, she’s tellin’ the truth.”
“Even if she’s not,” Rainbow said. “The last time Twilight’s concerns weren’t taken seriously, practically the whole town got into a full-on brawl over a doll!* You really want to chance something like that happening again?”
The other citizens of Ponyville considered this and they had looks of embarrassment.
“Didn’t think so,” Applejack said sternly. “Don’t make the same mistake we did. That happened ‘cause five ponies brushed her off. If’n a whole town don’t take her seriously, somethin’ worse could happen.”
The ponies shuddered with worry about what worse could happen.
“Unless you’re willing to chance it,” Rarity said. “I propose listening to what Twilight has to say.”
The ponies gulped and nodded.
“So, Twilight,” Fluttershy said. “Please, tell us what happened. You said you got a visit from yourself from the future. What did she say?”
Twilight began explaining.
Flashback to the previous night…
“Well, I was up late last night figuring out my schedule for this month, when I began to schedule next month. As I was finishing up, there were flashes of white light. Papers flew all around the room and myself and sparks surged. In a flash, my future self appeared. But, she looked different from me. Her mane was frazzled, she had a bandage wrapping around her head, a cut on her left cheek, an eyepatch, and a black skintight suit with cuts and scratches.”
Twilight looked at the figure in disbelief. Future Twilight shook her head and hustled up to Present Twilight.
“Twilight,” Future Twilight said. “You’ve got to listen to me!”
Present Twilight, however, was too baffled to listen. “How is this happening? You’re me, but, I’m me as well. How is this even possible?!”
“A time travel spell from the Star Swirl the Bearded section of the Canterlot archives,” Future Twilight explained.
“Incredible,” Past Twilight said. “But, what happened to you? If you’re from the future, then, it must be really awful!”
“I’m actually from next Tuesday morning,” Future Twilight said.
“Really?” Past Twilight asked. “Is time travel fun or does it hurt? Oh, I have so many questions that I could spend all night talking to myself about-”
Future Twilight magically zipped her past self’s lips.
“Listen!” she said. “I don’t have much time!”
“Whuff goy gah?” Twilight asked, muffled.
“Whatever you do,” Future Twilight said. “Don’t—”
But, before Future Twilight could say anything else, she disappeared in a flash of white light faster than she appeared. Present Twilight was shocked as she realized that her curiosity cost her potentially important information. She magically unzipped herself.
“Oh, no,” Twilight said. “What have I done?! What was Future Twilight trying to worry about? And why did she look like that?” Twilight gasped. “If I wasn’t so engrossed in how she looked and her time traveling, I would have figured that out! Oh, what am I going to do?! I’ve got to warn everypony!”
Back to present day…
“So, I ran as fast as I could, came here, and you know the rest,” Twilight finished explaining. “I know this is hard to believe. Truthfully, I can barely believe it myself.”
“So,” Fluttershy said. “If we don’t know what’s to come before Tuesday morning, how are we going to prevent this disaster?”
Spike suddenly made his way to Twilight. He was gasping for breath and sweating. “I’m… so… out… of… shape…” he panted.
Fluttershy gave a second bottle of water to Spike so he could rehydrate.
“Did you make that list I told you to?” Twilight asked.
“What list?” Spike asked. “The last thing you said at the library was, ‘I’ve got to warn everypony,’ and you bolted out the door.**”
“Oh,” Twilight said. “Well, we’ll just have to improvise if we’re going to prevent whatever disaster could befall Ponyville. Come on, Spike. We’re going around Ponyville to look for things that could cause a potential disaster.”
“Hopefully, slower than that veritable blur you were earlier,” Spike said. He climbed onto his unicorn mother’s back.
So, the citizens of Ponyville got to work disaster-proofing Ponyville. They tightened loose bolts, filled in cracks with cement, and made sure to fill in holes in roads. Soon, Pinkie saw something on the list even she found odd.
“Trim my bangs?” Pinkie asked. “Not that I don’t want to be helpful, but, why that, Twilight?”
“They could weigh down your mane and cause you to trip,” Twilight explained. “Who knows how things could escalate from there? I’m not taking any chances.”
“Well, when you say that,” Pinkie said. “Then, okie dokie lokie. I can’t guarantee things will go smoothly, though. Remember that slumber party?”
“I do,” Twilight said. “But, that was with curlers. Not scissors.”
“I’ll make sure to help the salon ponies,” Rarity offered. “Just in case.” She ushered Pinkie to the spa.
“Thank you, Rarity,” Twilight said gratefully.
“That’s another thing off the list,” Spike said.
“Excellent,” Twilight said. “Where to next?”
Some time later, after more safety precautions were set into place, Pinkie and Rarity returned, the former’s bangs noticeably shorter.
"Pinkie's bangs are under control!" Rarity proudly reported to Twilight.
“Excellent,” Twilight smiled. “Fluttershy, any creature problems to report?”
Fluttershy shook her head. "Zecora says the forest is as quiet as can be."
Rainbow flew down from the sky. “The weather team gave us the all-clear from Baltimare to Las Pegasus.”
“That’s everything,” Spike said. “You can relax now, mom. You warned the town and they listened.”
“I do appreciate everypony’s efforts and yours,” Twilight said. “But, I can’t help but feel we should be worrying about something more than loose bolts or out of control manes. Future Twilight looked terrible. Whatever disaster she traveled through time to warn me about must be very serious.”
Suddenly, a large three-headed dog entered town and roared.
“Okay, everypony,” Pinkie said. “Follow my lead.” She cleared her throat and let out a scream of fright. She and other citizens of Ponyville began to run around in a panicked frenzy.
“What in Equestria is that?!” Rarity said.
"That's Cerberus," Twilight explained. "We studied him in Princess Celestia's school. He's an immortal three-headed hellhound who’s supposed to be guarding the gates of Tartarus. You know, the place where they keep the worst criminals, the ones convicted of crimes against Equestria."
“If he’s here,” Rarity gulped. “Does that mean that an escaped convict is on the loose?!”
“Not likely,” Twilight said. “If that were the case, the princesses or the Royal Guard would’ve sent a note. I don’t think they even know he’s not at his post.”
“So, what are we going to do?” Spike asked.
“I’ll talk to him,” Fluttershy said.
“Be careful, Fluttershy,” Twilight said with caution in her voice.
Fluttershy flew up to the three-headed hellhound and stared at the middle head for a few seconds, causing it to submit while the other two heads looked at it in confusion.
“Hey!” the head on the far right said, the voice echoing. “Snap out of it, Midi!”
“Yeah!” The head on the far left said, his voice also echoing. “Why would you let that pony treat you like a puppy?”
“I can’t help that she has the Mystic Eyes of Submission,” the middle head, Midi, said, also with an echoing voice.
Needless to say, all those witnessing this were surprised that the creature could speak Ponish.***
“Did anypony else know that Cerberus could speak Ponish?” Rainbow asked.
“I didn’t know of his existence until literally minutes ago,” Rarity said. “How can I be expected to know whether he could or couldn’t speak our language?”
“Hmm,” Rainbow considered. “Good point.”
Fluttershy plucked up courage. “Cerberus, you have your own responsibilities to take care of and that could lead to a lot of trouble if you’re not there. So, why don’t you go back to your position at guarding Tartarus and please be more careful, okay?”
“But, we haven’t found the ball yet,” Midi whined.
“If I helped you find it,” Fluttershy said. “Then, will you go back?”
“Please,” the right head said. “It’s the only way Midi will cooperate. It’s his fault we’re not at our post.”
“Don’t blame me, Righty,” Midi said. “You know I can’t help it when balls are thrown in our general direction.”
“Calm down, boys,” Fluttershy said sternly. “Now, what does this ball of yours look like?”
“Half red, half white,” Midi said.
“Seems easy enough,” Fluttershy nodded.
So, while making sure to keep Cerberus calm, Fluttershy helped to find the ball.
“Wait,” Spike said. “Half red and half white?”
“Kind of sounds like a beachball,” Twilight considered.
“I was woken up this morning by a ball of that description breaking through our bedroom window,” Spike said.
“What?!” Twilight exclaimed in surprise. “We’ll have to go and grab it and then, we can return it to Cerberus so he can return to his post.”
“Uh, could you take care of the latter part?” Spike asked. “Going near Tartarus frightens me.”
“Alright,” Twilight said. “But, I will have to ask Rarity to look after you while I take care of that. I don’t want you to be left alone and I could be gone for a while.”
“I’ll look after him, Twilight,” Rarity said. “You know I love having him around.”
“I do and I trust you to keep him safe,” Twilight said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
While Twilight lured Cerberus away, Rarity levitated Spike onto her back.
“Would you like anything, Spikey-wikey?” Rarity asked sweetly.
“How about we grab some lunch,” Spike suggested. “All that work that we did by disaster-proofing everything built up my appetite.”
“What would you like?” Rarity asked.
“Well,” Spike said. “Last night, I had a dream about ice cream.”
“Alright,” Rarity said. “But, you can’t have too much. You know what too much dairy does to you.”
“Right,” Spike said. “It gives me stomach aches and constipation.”
Twilight was gone for the rest of the day and into the night. Rarity did her best to provide for Spike and just in general to be there for him when he most needed a shoulder for emotional support. It was early the next morning when Twilight finally returned to the Golden Oak Library. She saw Rarity sleeping next to Spike’s basket bed and her dragon son sleeping soundly in it.
I’ll let them sleep for now, Twilight thought to herself. They’ll know soon enough that I’m home.
Spike and Rarity soon woke up and saw Twilight there.
“Mom!” Spike said happily as he hugged Twilight. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”
“That letter really made a difference,” Twilight said.
“What letter?” Rarity asked.
“Well, the ball wasn’t the only thing we went to the library for,” Twilight explained. “Before we left, we wrote a letter telling Princess Celestia that Cerberus was near Ponyville and to send some royal guards available to not only help me escort Cerberus back, but, to do a headcount of the prisoners in Tartarus. They’re working on the latter as we speak.”
“Ah, that’s wonderful,” Rarity said. “Things went well over here as well. Spike was no trouble at all.”
“I was worried something terrible might happen to you,” Spike said. “Not that I don’t believe in you, of course.”
“As you can see, I’m alright,” Twilight smiled. “And I’m confident that our efforts prevented the disaster that’s going to happen next Tuesday morning.” She then looked in a mirror and her smile faded. “Oh, no!”
“What’s the matter, Twilight?” Rarity asked concernedly.
“I have a cut on my left cheek!” Twilight said. “The same spot as Future Twilight!”
“Oh, dear,” Rarity said. “I have some liquid bandage that can help to heal that up. We’d best take care of it so it doesn't get infected.”
“That’s not what’s important!” Twilight said. “It means I haven’t prevented whatever disaster Future me was trying to warn me about!”
“So, if that’s the case,” Spike said. “What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know what I can do at this point!” Twilight said.
Throughout the day, Twilight was pacing in worry.
“Mom,” Spike said. “It’s not that I’m unsympathetic towards your worries, but, do you think you can take a break from pacing? You’re wearing a groove into the floor.”
“This is serious, Spike!” Twilight said.
“I know it is,” Spike said. “But, if you keep pacing like that, you could find your way down into the center of the earth.”
Suddenly, realization hit Twilight.
“That’s it!” she said. “Future Twilight was saying not to do something before she was pulled back to her own timeline. So, maybe it’s not what I do that prevents the disaster, but, what I don’t do!”
“You’re not making sense, mom,” Spike said.
“It’s simple,” Twilight said. “I’ll stand perfectly still here until next Tuesday morning! This way, if I don’t do anything extreme, there won't be a disaster!”
Spike was incredulous. “Seriously?” Spike said. “You’re going to spend the rest of the week doing nothing?”
“Well,” Twilight said. “I’ll still need to eat, sleep, and use the bathroom if needed. But, other than that, I’ll be standing right here.”
“So, it’ll just be me doing all the chores around here again?” Spike said sadly before sighing. “Well, I guess I should be used to that at this point.”****
Twilight, suddenly overcome by a sense of guilt, decided to snap herself out of it.
“No, Spike,” Twilight said. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure we were all safe so that this disaster doesn’t happen.”
“I’ll just get started on the chores,” Spike said. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“No, Spike,” Twilight said. “You don’t have to.” She hugged him tightly. “I’ll help with chores. I guess we all need to ease up a bit after all the hard work we did before. And disaster or not, I’m not going back on my promise to do my fair share of the chores instead of leaving them all to you.”
Hearing the genuine nature of Twilight’s words made Spike feel better. He reciprocated the hug.
The next day, the two were cleaning up the library when Rainbow came in.
“Hey, Twilight,” Rainbow said. “Hi, Spike. How’s everything going in here?”
“Not too bad,” Spike said. “My mom almost chose to stand still and do nothing until next Tuesday morning yesterday.”
“Nothing?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. “Not even eating, sleeping, or even using the bathroom? She wouldn’t even read books?”
“I would’ve eaten, slept, and used the bathroom as needed,” Twilight said. “But, then, I realized that’d leave Spike doing all the chores and that wouldn’t be fair to him. I’ve done that for too long already.”
“You’re a real peach, Twi,” Rainbow said. She absentmindedly swung around, swiping dust with her tail at Spike, who was beginning to sneeze.
“Huh…” Spike sniffled. “Heh… huh… hah… Haah-CHOO!” He sneezed a ball of green fire at Twilight. She wasn’t seriously hurt, but, something had happened.
“Bless you,” Twilight said.
"Oh no!" Spike exclaimed as he held his face with his claws. “Mom, I’m so sorry!”
“What?” Twilight asked. “What happened?” Spike reluctantly showed her a mirror. Twilight looked into it, seeing that Spike’s fire sneeze had caused her mane to be mangled. Twilight gasped in alarm. “Oh, no! This is the same mane that Future Twilight had! We still haven’t prevented the disaster from happening!”
“Uh, if the mane is an issue, you could just brush it,” Rainbow said.
“That’s not what mom’s worried about,” Spike said.
“I guess it couldn’t hurt to try,” Twilight said. She levitated a hairbrush to try to brush her hair back to its normal shape, but, no matter how many strokes she used, it remained stubbornly in place. This caused her to panic a bit. “Nothing’s working!”
After that, the other guardians hadn’t seen or heard from Twilight for days. She didn’t venture outside the library (or if she did nopony ever saw her) and the few who tried to access the library to find out what was going on were all turned away. So, they decided to take it upon themselves to see Twilight so they could help her. Most of Ponyville was relieved the ordeal was over and were convinced Twilight had stopped obsessing over that future self and was no doubt wrapped up in some other pursuit. The guardians, however, knew better.
“Ah don’t like this one bit,” Applejack said. “Twilight’s been too quiet these past few days.”
“She’s really worrying about the disaster that will happen next Tuesday morning,” Fluttershy said. “Hopefully, Spike is still able to help keep her afloat.”
“I’ve barely seen Spike since Twilight got back,” Rarity said.
“Well,” Pinkie said. “Whatever help they need, we should offer it up to them.”
"Are we sure she hasn't simply given up and was too ashamed to admit she made a big ordeal out of nothing?" Rarity pondered.
“We’re not totally sure,” Rainbow said. “But, we all know how frantic Twilight gets sometimes. Ordeal or not, we should make sure that she’s okay.”
"But, how do we find out what she's been up to and, more importantly, how do we get her to come to her senses?” Fluttershy asked. “Whatever bad thing happens next Tuesday morning, it couldn't have been that bad."
“What makes you think it’s not that bad, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked.
Fluttershy simply explained, "Don't any of you think that if whatever happens by next Tuesday morning is so important that Future Twilight wants the outcome changed, she would've traveled back in time again to send a proper warning?"
The others considered this. “You have a point there,” Pinkie admitted.
Applejack, however, wasn’t convinced. “Maybe so, but, this is Twilight we’re talkin’ ‘bout here. After the Smartypants Incident, ah ain’t takin’ no chances. That happened ‘cause we brushed her off n’ we didn’t actually try helpin’ her ‘til it was too late. Ah still carry the guilt every night.”
The other guardians looked guilty about this.
“That’s an even better point,” Rarity said. “So, we should go check on Twilight. She may turn us away, but, we should at least make an effort to be there for her.”
“Ah think it’s best that only one o’ us checks on Twilight,” Applejack said. “She’d git suspicious if’n we all check on her.”
“How do we choose?” Pinkie asked. “Do we draw straws? Hmm, maybe it should be me. I’m not that good at drawing.”
“Well, looks like we got us a volunteer,” Applejack said.
“When I get word of how Twilight’s doing,” Pinkie said. “I’ll let you guys know.”
Pinkie made her way to the Golden Oak Library. She knocked on the door, only to discover it was slightly ajar. She opened it fully and saw a huge assortment of maps, charts, graphs, and big telescopes. Something was most definitely up with Twilight, the only question now was what.
“Twilight?” Pinkie called. “Spike? Are any of you home?”
"Oh good, you're here!" Twilight fondly exclaimed to Pinkie (the party pony found it hard not to notice her friend's bloodshot and beady eyes and the bandage wrapped around her head). "I already know your 'Pinkie Sense' can't tell me what's going to happen on Tuesday morning, but, that got to me thinking, Pinkie: Doing things didn't work, not doing things didn't work, and I know I had no way to predict the future. So, that left me with but one option. Monitor everything, and I DO mean everything!"
“Everything?” Pinkie asked. “So, that’s why we haven’t seen you in a few days. It looks like you haven’t even slept.” Pinkie suddenly sniffed the air. “Or bathed.”
The unicorn gave off a goofy laugh. "You're so silly, Pinkie! I haven't slept a wink since Future Twilight showed up! Far too much to worry about to get any rest! Believe me, I've tried!"
“Hopefully, you’ll be able to get some rest after tomorrow,” Pinkie said. “It’ll be Tuesday morning then.”
That caught Twilight’s attention. “What?!” She teleported over to one of her giant telescopes. "Have you recalibrated and readjusted the telescope observing the dark side of the sun?"
“The sun doesn’t have a dark side,” Spike pointed out.
“Also,” Pinkie said. “I haven’t touched your telescope since I came in here.”
"Thanks for nothing," the unicorn grumbled and began to move the telescope. But, she ended up looking into as it was aimed directly at the sun. The glare struck her eye and she let out a cry. "Gah, my eye!"
“Don’t worry, mom,” Spike said. “I have an eyepatch from the first aid kit. It’s one of the spares that Fluttershy let us have.”
So, Spike put the eyepatch over Twilight’s right eye. Twilight looked in the mirror.
“The eyepatch over the right eye,” Twilight said. “Another sign. Nearly all of the signs have come true thus far. We haven’t done a thing to prevent the disaster! If tomorrow is Tuesday, then, I’ll just have to stop time!”
"Is that even possible?" Spike wondered aloud.
“If there are time spells in the Star Swirl the Bearded Wing in the Canterlot Library,” Twilight said. “Then, it must be.”
“But, those’ll be guarded at night,” Spike said. “Even the dumbest of the Royal Guards are smart enough to keep any living thing out.”
“You’re right,” Twilight said.
“So, how are you going to get into that wing?” Pinkie asked. “Sneak in under the cover of night wearing skintight black uniforms?”
Twilight was surprised by Pinkie’s admittedly logical idea. “That’s…” she said. “Actually a pretty smart idea.”
Hopefully she doesn’t get into too much trouble for this, Spike thought to himself.
Late that night, the entire city of Canterlot was asleep. No lights shone in the buildings and the city street lights were the only source of illumination. But, none would've thought anything of a train pulling into the station. If they had been looking though, they might have seen three figures cloaked in black, flexible stealth suits depart. Those figures were Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike.
“Okay,” Twilight whispered. “The Canterlot archives are this way. Let’s move.”
As they stealthily moved, Spike felt uncomfortable. “Can you remind me what the point of these stealth suits was again, mom? It’s not illegal to sneak around Canterlot at night. This isn’t a prison.”
“It’s like you said,” Twilight explained in a whisper. “The Canterlot archives are heavily guarded at night, so, if we’re to sneak in without any of them seeing us, we must take advantage of the shadows of the night. Sneaking into the Canterlot archives may not exactly be breaking any laws, but, stealing a time travel spell from it certainly is.”
“Good point,” Spike said. “I’m still worried about this, though.”
The three made their way through Canterlot in silence, but, Twilight kept insisting on weaving through branches and bushes to avoid being spotted by any stray guards. Before long, they were able to reach the archives only to find the front door guarded by Flash Sentry and one of Luna’s thestral guards.
“Makes sense that they would be on patrol,” Spike whispered. “It’s night.” Suddenly, there was a deep growling noise, which caught the attention of the guards.
“You hear that?” Flash asked the thestral.
“We better investigate,” the thestral said before both guards left the entrance to the archives while the trio snuck in through an open window.
“Quick,” Twilight whispered. “While they’re preoccupied.”
They made their way through the window and gently set themselves down.
“What do you think that noise was?” Pinkie whispered.
“Uh, I already know what it was,” Spike whispered in an embarrassed tone.
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked. Suddenly, as the same noise from earlier was heard again, Spike’s stomach seemed to ripple beneath his skintight suit, causing the young drake to blush more. “I packed some snacks for you in my saddlebag.”
Pinkie reached into it and grabbed a random gem that she quickly shoved into Spike’s mouth. The young drake swallowed it whole so as not to make loud chewing noises.
“Thanks,” Spike whispered.
“Time’s running out,” Twilight whispered. “We have to find the Star Swirl the Bearded wing.”
They soon made their way to the outside of the Star Swirl the Bearded wing, careful not to make too much noise. However, before they reached it, Spike noticed something in the hallway.
“Uh, guys?” Spike whispered. “We have company!”
The unicorn mare began to panic. "Oh no, a guard!" she gasped in fright. "And there's nowhere to hide! We're trapped!"
The guard walked closer to the three. “Twily?” the guard said. They all looked to see Shining Armor, Twilight’s older brother.
"B.B.B.F.F.?" Twilight nervously replied, worried that her brother might rat her out.
“What are you, Spike, and Pinkie doing here?” he asked. “And what’s with the getup?”
“Well,” Twilight said. “It’s a bit complicated.”
“Still trying to kick the habit of sneaking into the archives?” Shining surmised.
“We need to get in there for an important reason,” Twilight explained. “Specifically, the Star Swirl the Bearded wing.”
“Well,” Shining said. “I guess I can help you find it. But, you have to promise you won’t take anything from it and you’ll put everything back the way you found it before you leave.”
“I promise,” Twilight said. “Thank you.”
Shining guided them and unlocked the door to the Star Swirl the Bearded wing. “Remember,” he said. “Nopony else is to know about this.”
The three nodded and ventured inside the wing.
Once inside the wing, Twilight happened to pass by a mirror and finally saw for herself that she looked just like Future Twilight. "Oh no, this is terrible! It's like I've become Future Twilight herself!" she nervously commented with worry.
“Uh oh,” Pinkie squeaked. “This is bad.”
“We’re running out of time!” Twilight said.
“Twilight Sparkle,” said the familiar voice of Princess Luna.
Twilight gasped, turning to see Princess Luna looking at her. "P-Princess Luna!" she stuttered. "I know what you think but this isn't what it looks like! I was just... just..." She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
“Just entering a place with restricted access after dark?” Princess Luna said. “My sister said you always were the curious one and that you’re certainly not the first student to do this.”
“The only reason I’m here,” Twilight began to explain. “Is that I was given a warning a week ago from my future self about a disaster that’s to fall before this Tuesday morning.”
“Well,” Luna said. “It’s morning now.”
Twilight gasped. She looked out a nearby window and saw that Celestia was raising the sun. Birds were twittering in the sunlight. Twilight, however, braced for the incoming disaster.
“This is it!” Twilight said in alarm. “Disaster incoming!”
“Uh, nothing’s happening,” Pinkie said.
Twilight unfurled from her self-bracing. She looked around and saw that everything was indeed calm.
“I guess the only meltdown that happened…” Twilight said at last. “Was mine.”
Suddenly, Spike started groaning in pain and clutching his stomach.
“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed. “Are you alright?!”
Spike ended up forcefully spitting out the gem Pinkie fed him earlier.
“Ohh~” Spike groaned. “Even if it would have meant us getting into worse trouble, I really should have chewed that.” He then sniffed the air. “Wait a minute.” He picked up the gem and sniffed it. “Sea salt? This is a magic gem! No wonder I had so much trouble keeping it down!”
Twilight gasped. “Oh, Spike, I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t realize that it was a magic gem. They’re hard for me to tell apart from ordinary gems.”
“Am I missing something here?” Pinkie asked.
“My stomach can’t digest magically active gems,” Spike explained. “They give me stomach cramps and force me to barf them out.”
“So, do you think that was the disaster?” Pinkie asked.
“Looks like I took things out of proportion,” Twilight said. “I got all of Ponyville worked up over something that’s my responsibility alone. And it was all because I couldn’t stop worrying and didn’t allow the future to handle itself.”
“Sterling predicted there would be disasters this year,” Luna said. “But, not on this particular day.”
“If only I had learned that a week ago,” Twilight said. “A lot of trouble could have been avoided.”
“I, too, have used the time travel spell in my youth,” Luna said. "If the spells here ever fell into the wrong hooves, talons, or other extremities, we'd all be in serious trouble. That's why knowledge of this section is on a strict, need-to-know basis. I'll overlook your trespassing in here, seeing as you were just being curious. But, next time, my sister and I expect a heads up before you go snooping around the archives. Just because you're my sister’s student doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Do I make myself clear?"
“Yes, your highness,” Twilight said, genuflecting with respect.
Pinkie bumped one of the shelves and a scroll landed in her hooves. She carefully unfurled it and looked it over. “Hey, Twilight, I think I found what you were looking for.” She showed the scroll. “It doesn’t stop time, but, it does let you go back in time. It’s only good for one trip and only lasts a few minutes.”
“That does help, Pinkie,” Twilight smiled. “This way, I can go back in time to last week to warn me that there never was an extreme disaster.” She lit up her horn and disappeared.
Back to one week ago, Twilight appeared before herself from the past and spoke to her.
“Twilight,” Twilight said. “You’ve got to listen to me!”
Past Twilight, however, was too baffled to listen. “How is this happening? You’re me, but, I’m me as well. How is this even possible?!”
“A time travel spell from the Star Swirl the Bearded section of the Canterlot archives,” Twilight explained.
“Incredible,” Past Twilight said. “But, what happened to you? If you’re from the future, then, it must be really awful!”
“I’m actually from next Tuesday morning,” Twilight said.
“Really?” Past Twilight asked. “Is time travel fun or does it hurt? Oh, I have so many questions that I could spend all night talking to myself about-”
Twilight magically zipped her past self’s lips.
“Listen!” she said. “I don’t have much time!”
“Whuff goy gah?” Past Twilight asked, muffled.
“Whatever you do,” Twilight said. “Don’t—”
But, before Twilight could say anything else, she was magically materialized back to her own timeline.
“Let Pinkie feed Spike the gem… you packed…” Twilight said, slowly losing steam. “Because it’s… magically… active…” She facehooves herself. “I can’t believe it! Now, my past self is going to worry herself sick all week about next Tuesday morning and the major disaster that’s never going to happen!”
“Yeah,” Pinkie said as she rolled up the scroll and put it back into its original place. “But, now past Twilight will learn what to do about it because of what’s happening now.”
“Wait,” Spike said. “I just thought of something. If my mom went back in time to her past self and changed the future, wouldn’t we cease to exist?”
“That’s the problem with interacting with your past self,” Luna said. “Your past self is often too baffled to listen to what you have to say, which prevents the future from changing anyway. A self-resolving paradox.”
“Boy,” Pinkie said. “Time travel is weird. No wonder this wing is restricted.” She then remembered something. “Wait, have you used that particular spell before? Multiple times?”
“Yes,” Luna admitted. “I managed to circumvent the one-time use limit by making copies of the scroll.”
“Well,” Twilight said. “We’ll make sure not to use these particular spells again.”
“You’re wiser than I was at your age,” Luna said. "Trying to mess with the flow of time can produce all kinds of ripple effects. It can be possible in some cases to create entirely different timelines."
“Thank you,” Twilight said. “But, we should really get home now and I owe all of Ponyville an apology.”
“That would be a good idea,” Luna said.
So, Twilight levitated Spike onto her back, bid goodbye to Luna, and she and Pinkie walked out of the restricted wing. While Pinkie continued on, Twilight and Spike noticed Cadance. The pink-coated alicorn noticed them and smiled.
“Hi,” Cadance smiled. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” She took note of the way they were dressed. “Or looking like that.”
“It’s a long, embarrassing story,” Twilight said with a sweatdrop. “But, we’re on our way back to Ponyville.”
“Before you go,” Cadance said. “I have some wonderful news for you.”
“We know you’re being married to my brother,” Twilight said. “He sent the letter back on Hearts and Hooves day.”
“That wasn’t the news I was talking about,” Cadance said. “The news is that our wedding will be here within the next month!”
“Great!” Twilight said. “We wouldn’t miss it!”
Cadance hugged her future family members gently, but, lovingly.
On the way back to Ponyville, Spike had a contemplative look on his face. Pinkie noticed.
“Copper bit for your thoughts, Spike?” Pinkie asked.
“Well,” Spike said. “Since it took my mom pretty much a whole day getting Cerberus back to his post, it’s possible that at least one of the prisoners got out.”
“If that was the case,” Pinkie said. “Who or what could it have been?”
In a remote region of Equestria, a cloaked figure could be seen.
“I’m finally free after all these centuries,” the figure said in a raspy voice. “My time in Tartarus has left me weak and frail while Celestia and Luna retain their strength. No matter. I’ll simply bide my time while regaining my strength. Even if it takes me a year or so, I will succeed where my Grandfather Tirac failed. And this time, there’s no Megan Williams to stop me!”
He laughed wickedly to himself as his piercing yellow eyes glistened from under his cloak hood.*****
End of chapter.
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I REALLY like this way of explaining why the one we see later on is different from the G1 version, especially since you have established G1 as somewhat canon here.
I also like the actual mentioning of the finale's events now, rather than it being a random surprise.
Finally, the reason Twi wanted to go back in time is REALLY wholesome here, I love it.
Another villain is coming
Really amazing! And oh boi that foreshadowing! It’s gonna be so interesting to see that getting build up to it when the time comes. And the mention of the wedding coming up as we get closer to the finale was a nice touch.
Next week is probably a VERY highly anticipated episode that a lot of us been really interested in. That being Dragon Quest.
With the way you’ve been doing Spike with this series, really interested on how things will play out this time around
I love how you did this chapter. It was way better than the episode was ever was. And I love how you did Spike pinkie pie and the main six. And how you change Twilight time traveling saying. And I love how you didn't have her standing still but help out Spike with the house work. And I love how you include signing armor on this and princess Luna instead of Celestia. And cadence. And have cerberus talk. And I love your stories keep up the good work.
Hey there. REALLY good job on the dialogue, characterizations and future chapter set-up as usual. REALLY liked the modification of Twilight thinking to have the guards do a headcount of the Tartarus prisoners while she was helping get the missing ball back as well as the chat with the three heads of Cerberus. At least they will be LESS surprised when Tirek eventually emerges. Luna mentioning making many copies of the spell in the past is also a logical addition. Also appreciated you liking one of my ideas (the chat with Cadance) enough to use it. Ironically, even though the magic gem might have been a minor emergency, if Twilight would have waited a few weeks before doing the time-travel spell, she would have had a REAL emergency to warn her past self about - Cadance getting foal-napped and replaced by Chrysalis, which hasn't happened yet, but will happen soon. And Tirek, it's actually going to be around TWO years (give or take a couple of months), not one.
VERY MUCH looking forward to more of this.
11817120
Two actually - one just much sooner than the other (though that one hasn't been foreshadowed yet).
11817148
Okay
11817117
Thanks.
11817120
Yep.
11817125
Thanks.
11817141
Thanks.
11817145
Thanks.
11817148
Two?
11817165
Believe they’re referring to Chrysalis being one of them
Excellent work. With how everything was handled. And nice touch including Shining Armor as the guard who let them in. Better the pony who knows Twilight best rather than the dim guard. And it's good Luna was there to explain things to Twilight about the dangers of time travel. And now Tirek is free and will emerge in the future. And For a long time I always thought the original version from Gen was was spelled Tirek too, but it was 'Tirac'. But it's a good way to differentiate. and that Tirek is Tirac's descendant while his father King Vorak was Tirac's son.
11817158
And in 2 weeks is gonna be the original chapter. I been REALLY excited for that. As you can go 1 of two routes
Route 1) a full character reveal of ones that have been tease (like the pony in Ice being thawed out fully) or do something else with the S2 villain chrysalis herself as it’ll be close to the finale
Or Route 2) something involving Spike or the main 6 themselves for the season or upcoming seasons
Either way, the 2 weeks for it will definitely be worth the wait
11817166
Okay.
11817169
Thanks.
11817170
Yep.
Great chapter! Thanks for the mention of me and my suggestions!
Grandfather Tirac? That was unexpected. I thought Tirac and Tirek were the same character but from different generations.
Can't wait to see what you've got for "Dragon Quest"!
11817281
I figured since they're generations apart, it'd make sense for them to be related.
Pretty neat adaptation of the episode as per usual.
Nice touch with the rest of the Mane 6 + Spike making more of an effort to accomodate Twilight's "Twilighting" spiral here, due to not wanting a repeat of Lesson Zero's events. Sense that's gonna be the case for them (plus Sunset, Starlight, and Trixie when they join) in general for the other times Twilight goes in "Twilighting" mode in later seasons too.
Interesting idea with G4 Tirek being the grandson of the G1 Tirek, looks like he's gonna be in for a surprise when encountering the Guardians (plus the new member/friend they gained during the interim) in two years.
Nice details on Shining Armor and Flash Sentry showing up among the castle guards. As well as having Luna be the one who discovers Twilight in the archives instead of Celestia (due to Luna taking the night shift duties).
More foreshadowing of the wedding with Cadance's appearance here (though she definitely hasn't been captured by Queen Chrysallis at this point).
Next week: Spike attempts to learn about his dragon roots in the Great Dragon Migration.
So since Cerberus actually talks in this version, who do you imagine as his hypothetical VA?
11817311
Yep. Thanks.
11817312
I’m thinking Midi’s voiced by Ian James Corlett, Righty’s voiced by Scott McNeil, and Lefty’s voiced by Richard Ian Cox.
Judging from Luna mentioning this isn't the first time one of Celestia's students went into the restricted section, does this mean Sunset also went into the restricted section at some point before she left, presumably being how she learned and found out about the mirror (though she definitely wasn't holding a grudge on Celestia over this like her canon counterpart)?
I always find the episode funny with Twilight going crazy about the 'disaster" coming.
11817336
Yeah.
11817399
Okay.
So I guess you're gonna come up with an explanation for the shadow figure who appeared at the end of Castle mania when you get to that episode, people say that that was Terek but evidence suggested it wasn't I personally prefer the nightmare remnant story and if you were going to adapt the nightmare Rarity Story from the comics it would be a wonderful opportunity.
11818202
I’m not sure.
STORM: "Grandfather Tirac"? ...do centaurs live for millennia? Because there's 5,000 years between G1 & G4.
11818377
BRANDON: Why not? Tirek canonically tried to overthrow Equestria before Luna was banished.
Hm
I hope That a certain unicorn learns that
Indeed
And even if you do listen? Your Future is reluctant to change
[FILE ACCESS: CRONO TRIGGER]
i saw it personally in one world
You have to be Extremely Persistent to change the future Badly
And Even still it would take a incredibly powerful Pony to change it and im sure not many have that talent
And also? Paradoxes are Paradoxes usually because we dont have enough information to solve what occurs
For example the grandfather paradox? Well if you did that? You'd just cease to exist And you DONT come back Even if you not coming back Returns the timeline to normal
So yeah
HOORAY!
oh and cadance Please Remember to Not get yourself captured by Kathleen Barr okay?
I mean What she's done it a lot!
What's she done? Well she's Turn some muses to Stone once(Hehe barbie and the diamond castle reference!)
So yeah watch out
...!
...
Dear Princess Celestia, i just felt a disturbance in the forces of Harmony...i dont think its much but i suggest we prepare
11818472
Starlight?
11818473
Okay.
11818474
Wait and see.
11818478
He’s laying low.
11818482
(I dont know that)
Its just a feeling alright?
Sometimes they are wrong but we shall see
11818479
Yep
11818544
Oh, she learns that altering time can have serious consequences.
11818596
Good
11818596
So, will Celestia and Luna ever be finding out about Starlight trying to tamper with time, albeit with Twilight, Sunset (who I assume will also be traveling in time with Twilight and Spike), and Spike vouching for Celestia and Luna to let Starlight off on a lighter sentence under their supervision?
11820502
They find out alright. Sunset (who does time travel with Twilight and Spike) takes responsibility for Starlight’s actions and vows to make amends with Starlight to ensure that such a thing never happens again.