Last Sparkles Of Time

by torrentialCAM

Mares On A Mission

For the past half-hour after her sister took leave, the Moon Princess had observed Twilight Sparkle in the upper chambers, pacing laps around the halls. Not even some open books – first editions from hundreds of years past, skillfully preserved – on tabletops nearby had drawn her eye, which was the first tip-off that something in that unicorn’s mentality was severely unbalanced. Twilight barely paid a glance to the spellbooks strewn about, even if one of the spells within had caught her gaze briefly:

Phoenix Star spell

A spell whose very existence is disputed amongst unicorn and alicorn scholarly wizarding circles. There is no record of its successful performance in the scrolls of old; arcane rumours tell that the wizard who activates this spell will send an immense wave of magical energy radiating outward, and may in fact destroy themselves by doing so. It is, then, understandable as to why there has not been a vast deal of hooves-on research into the subject.

“Mm.” Twilight mumbled, turning away from the page. Had she been in any other mood than ‘manically worried’, she would have been all over the research of an enigmatic spell like this, but here it was simply pushed to the back of her mind. Luna, observing, took this as the definitive cue that this little pony was in need of warmth, if nothing else.

For all that Twilight had done for Luna, it was the least she could do to lead the young unicorn to a quiet place.

“I understand why you’re scared,” Luna said, with only faint traces of the Royal Canterlot tone, “Death is something unknown to mortal ponies, yet ubiquitous.”

“It’s not that…” Twilight said, “I just…I just don’t want to leave my friends. I don’t mind dying, when the time is right…I tried not to think about it, but when I did, I imagined it years later, when I…when I had done all I had set out to do. I would lie down in bed, with a hot tea, a good book…I would close the book and finish the cup, close my eyes, and…that’d be the end of the story. Or, at least…the chapter.”

Luna stared at her for a moment. She turned her gaze slightly downward, “Twilight Sparkle…hast thou ever been alone for a full day?”

“I, well…” Twilight tilted her head in remembrance, “Oh – yeah. When I was a filly, my parents had to go out on important business all day, but I had my books. I used the time to finish a story I had started earlier that week. When my parents came home the next morning, they had bought me a brand-new anthology to make up for being gone so long. I still have it.” Twilight said, hints of a wistful smile creeping over her face.

“Your parents sound like very loving ponies.” Luna said, though she did not smile as Twilight did.

“I…I guess you could say that,” Twilight said, nodding.

“Then…thou hast never been alone, with only but your thoughts, for an entire year.”

“Of course not, I-“ Twilight started, but she quieted down when she realized exactly what Luna was getting at. Respectfully, she took a step closer, in silence.

“Do not mistake me; I and Celestia are genuinely trying to protect you, and to prevent this dark future of doom and chaos from coming to pass…” Luna said, meeting the lavender mare eye to eye, “But you should understand that there are things in this world worse than dying.”

“Luna, I…” Twilight sighed, “I know it must have been so…so hard for you…”

Luna smirked, seemingly at her own foolishness. She paused, feeling the inner contours of her own mouth with her tongue as she prepared to practice a more colloquial, ‘casual’ form of speaking, “You know, when I first found myself on the moon, I figured that my sister needed some time to cool down. I should have explained to her that I just wanted our subjects to see my moon, see the intricate beauty of my stars, for a little while, at which point I would let them bask in the day once more. But by the time blows were exchanged, it was too late for rational thought. So as the days passed – at least, the way I figured them, because how can you tell time on a place where there’s nothing but rocks? – I held on to hope that she would take me back at any time. I had an apology to give to my sister and my subjects, after all; I even rehearsed the lines to myself.”

Twilight cast her eyes down.

“I can’t pinpoint exactly when it was that I began to lose hope…but being alone – so utterly alone that you want to scream, just to have something happen – it changes you, Twilight. I know that Nightmare Moon had corrupted me, yet it was still me, inside…it had to have been hundreds of years before I finally understood.” Her voice plumbed depths of fragility that Twilight hadn’t thought Luna was capable of, “I was completely alone in the universe, for far longer than your mortal mind could ever imagine…it was as though I had no mouth, and desperately needed to scream. Hope turned to realization, realization to despair, despair into agony…I wanted to die, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna felt some fresh tears brimming in her eyes, “Agony…turned to anger. A part of me really did begin to hate my sister for the cruelty of her punishment, against the meagerness of my crime…and the corruption of Nightmare Moon was allowed to take over.

“Even after I was restored to my place as the Moon Princess, I stayed out of the sight of my subjects until that one Nightmare Night…how does one adapt to being thrown back into society after a millennium of having nobody, nothing, no existence except your own mind tearing itself in two from within? Even in Canterlot, it seemed as though the world was passing me by in a haze…I knew, deep down, that Celestia was sorry. I found out that the magic she used to imprison me, the binding spell, did not reach its half-life for a thousand years…therefore, Twilight, if she wanted to bring me back, even after a week of my sentence…she could not. She told me something that I would like you to know…she told me that if situations were reversed, and our citizenry did not appreciate her days as much as my nights, and she had allowed the corruption to seize her…she would have reacted in much the same way I did. Despair, longing, regret, that void that draws a hole in the soul…we all face it. Even us Princesses of the Sun and Moon.

“Twilight, I know you are afraid, but…do not let fear transform you into something you’re not.”

“Thank you, Princess Luna, but at the same time…please try to keep some kind of hope alive in your heart.” Twilight smiled softly at her, “You’re at a point now where you’ve reconciled with your sister, and the people of Equestria do love you, both on your own merits and as a necessary counterpart to Celestia…and if you had given up, just sunk into despair, none of that could have happened. Hope is…a kind of magic all its own, I think.”

Luna blinked, her mouth hanging open lightly. She had expected to try and reassure Twilight about the dark future awaiting, yet it seemed the Moon Princess was she who left the conversation with a weightier heart.

Twilight was silent for the longest time after this. But the two soon were interrupted by the royal guards peering into the oft-unused hall, “Twilight Sparkle? There’s someone here to see you.”

The unicorn stood, cocking her head in confusion, before the zebra walked in between the guards, clad in a brown cloak, seemingly so as to not attract attention for her exotic appearance here in Canterlot, where even the homestyle treats of Ponyville’s own Sweet Apple Acres were considered by some to be ‘common carnival fare’. Zecora smiled lightly on seeing Twilight, wasting no time.

“Twilight Sparkle! A puzzling query you tasked of me, yet many things beyond imagination dwell in the Forest of Everfree.”

“What?” Twilight stepped forth, “You actually…?”

Zecora let down the firmly-bound bag she was carrying around her neck, “There is a plant that grows in the far, appearing much like an emerald star. It has a defense mechanism most oblong, in that it manipulates the air around it quite strong.”

“Um…” Twilight typically had a way of decoding Zecora’s riddles once she set her mind to it, but this time, Twilight encountered a mental blight.

“In simple speak: my new mixture will give future-time a hearty peek.”

Is that, like…a tic? Does she even realize she does it? Twilight thought to herself, but Zecora carefully undid the bundle and brought forth a covered broth, in what seemed to be a miniature cauldron. She opened the top by clenching it between her teeth, and produced a spoon from the bundle.

“I, um…huh?”

“You would like to harness the energies of time, I think? For that, you must take a drink.”

“Well, um, okay…” Twilight said, using her magic to scoop the spoon through the broth – which did, indeed, carry physical impressions of some star-shaped plant – and let it pass her lips.

“Oh, horseapples! YUCK!”

Zecora grinned good-heartedly, “Come now and drink, don’t be shy, though a complex brew as this may not taste of apple pie.”

Twilight looked cockeyed down at the brew. The taste that hung in her mouth reminded her of some ungodly mixture of sour medicine and tree sap. None the less, she drank until Zecora informed her – in her typical fashion – that she had consumed enough.

“And…what does this do, exactly?”

Zecora took a deep breath, and opened her mouth.

…

Twilight made a mental note after several minutes: never, EVER let someone who habitually speaks in cryptic rhyme give you a lecture on meta-scientific chronophysical biology.

But after managing to slot the various explanatory terms into their places, Twilight got that the gist was thus: the Starleaf plant, growing deep within the Everfree Forest, was an incredibly unique specimen in that if a predator was planning to eat it, it would initiate several reactions into the air (for, Zecora explained, the plant had a degree of sub-sentience, and at this point, even Twilight, who would have otherwise been highly critical of that idea, was ready to just roll with it) which would slow down the movements of anyone in the vicinity, while it escaped at normal speed. (Plants…escaping? Twilight had opened her mouth to say something, but once again decided it best to just roll with the punches)

By mixing fragments of this time-altering plant with several chemicals at Zecora’s disposal that not even Twilight could wrap her head around, the zebra had concocted this brew that she was evidently quite proud of: the next time one of these visions flared up, all Twilight would need to do was use any spell – even a simple levitation charm would do – and, to quote Zecora, “Whoever is sending you these sights, will get quite a fright.”

It was a few hours after Zecora left that Twilight had congregated with the other Elements in the throne chamber of the Princesses, where Luna had given them passage past the royal guards. They couldn’t recall exactly what they had been discussing when it had happened; somewhere between Rarity gushing to Luna about wanting a tour of Canterlot Castle’s crown jewels, and Rainbow Dash rambling something about wanting to find some kind of royal backstage pass to the next Wonderbolts performance, Twilight’s horn started glowing pure white, of its own volition.

“H-Hey!” Twilight shouted; her horn was undergoing something very similar to what had gripped Celestia’s horn in the suite. Slowly, an image just like last time began forming in the air between them, emanating from Twilight’s horn.

Twilight still had the Starleaf brew and its various chrono-physics components flowing through her system, and she remembered Zecora’s words. She wasn’t sure what spell she worked in the heat of the moment – maybe a quick levitation, which would explain why Pinkie Pie suddenly giggled as she was lifted three feet from the ground – but soon, a great snapping sound resounded through the chamber.

What in Celestia’s name was-

What in the world?

Did you just-

…oh, it…it’s…it’s you…

Slowly, the seven in the throne chamber began to recognize the voice, to their incredulous ears. Their suspicions were confirmed when the image of the white, purple-maned unicorn popped up in the vision.

“Rarity?!” Twilight bucked back on her hind legs, “So you’re…” But her eyes drifted from the Rarity in the floating visage, to the flabbergasted Rarity standing near her on the floor, “…I’m…confused.”

“Twilight…” The Rarity in the vision-vortex said, her eyes growing wider, “I – I’m sorry, it’s just…” She broke into a strained smile, “It’s been far too long, darling…” She looked on Twilight as though she had just seen a shooting star, her eyes taking in every moment of the special sight.

“You were sending us these visions, then…” Twilight said, “I can’t believe I’m asking this, but you’re…Rarity, from the future?”

“I suppose you could say that…please make yourselves comfortable. I have a story to tell.”

“Oh, I love stories!” Pinkie Pie grinned widely, bouncing. The Rarity in the portal looked at the pink pony, seemingly with wistful nostalgia in her gaze. The Rarity of the present, meanwhile, said nothing, seemingly caught in the midst of various contrasting reactions with every passing moment. After all – what exactly was she supposed to say? Just trying to wrap her head around the circumstance was proving difficult.

“If I sent this right, then Celestia will have left to smooth things over with the gryphon Chancellor earlier this morning. Well, those negotiations will go south quite quickly. The gryphons have no intention of backing down from this land dispute, but Celestia will be reluctant to use her powers for a sheer show of force, knowing that even a fraction of her strength would cause far more death than she would be prepared to shoulder. Fighting begins to escalate over the Ragged Mountains…eventually, things spill over into Ponyville, even though we wanted nothing to do with it. We – you – us – we just wanted the fighting to stop, but…”

The Rarity on the other side of the time-rip closed her eyes. After a pause too long for comfort, she continued, “There were battles. And losses. One of those losses, Twilight…was you.”

The lavender unicorn cast her eyes down slowly. It still wasn’t getting any easier to keep hearing this, but she could no longer hold back the deep pit in her gut, “Rarity, I have to know…how does it happen?”

“Erm…” The Rarity in the vortex blinked, turning her eyes away in a moment almost involuntarily, “Twilight, please…do not make me tell you the details of your own…” She trailed off, “It’s not right.”

“Rarity…” Twilight said softly, slowly approaching the portal, “I need to know. I don’t want to, and I know it will hurt to know, but…I don’t have any other choice. I wish I did, but…please.”

As much as Rarity was against it, she couldn’t argue with the determination and desperation in her friend’s eyes. With a resigned nod, Rarity’s image sunk away, being replaced in the vortex with an image of the Ragged Mountains. Contrary to their name, most days they were a peaceful sight, but now, the hills and valleys of the Mountains were alight with the winged blitzing of gryphon soldiers. The sky was painted a garish crimson; the old adage of the Pegasus tribes had been, ‘Red sky at ‘morn means souls for to mourn’, and it was clear in Rainbow Dash’s disconcerted eyes as she watched the vortex.

The view closed in on a gryphon legion, laying siege to one of the old temples in the Mountains; rumours persisted that these structures had been built by some of the earliest tribes in the paleo-pony period as worship to the Goddesses. And inside the marble structure, amidst the ancient stones and carvings overgrown by centuries of flora, those same six ponies had barricaded the entrances, but knew it could not hold for long.

“HOW did we get roped into this?!” Rainbow Dash cried out, sweat beading her body as she darted about the chamber, making sure every board was in place to take the gryphons’ arrows, “Don’t these maniacs know soldiers from civilians when they see it?!”

“Maybe if you had stopped introducing yourself as ‘the winged warpath’ to everyone we met on the way, the gryphons would have been less inclined to assume we were a militant troupe!” Rarity grumbled. Dirt stained her face, along with flecks down her front, indicating that she had fallen head over heels at one point. Yet, although she clearly hated her state, she understood against her every instinct that they were mired in far more dire things.

“I don’t think they’re surrounding the west corridor,” Twilight said, planting her hooves firmly in the dirt facing the large, stone doorway, “You guys, go! I can put up a magical barrier if they try to break through, until you’re clear!”

“What?! Nice try, Twi, but we’re gettin’ six sets o’hooves outta here, right now!” Applejack said, right before grasping Twilight’s tail and pulling, causing the unicorn to leave distinct trails in the dirt as she was dragged.

All of a sudden, such a deafening burst roared from outside, sending tremors through their very being, that the five ponies on their hooves were knocked to the ground, while Rainbow Dash spun over in midair, nearly crashing into the wall.

“What in Celestia’s name was that?!” Rarity shouted.

“You’re asking me? RUN!” Rainbow Dash replied. As the sound began to fade from their minds, Twilight was slow to start running. She felt as though her horn was dealing with some kind of presence, like there was a new energy brimming within that she could feel seeping out its tip, but couldn’t quite account for…none the less, she ran.

Yet, it seemed as though the temple walls were crashing about them; their position betrayed, gryphon arrows streamed from the cracks in the walls. But without a clear line of sight, the archers could only do so much.

But then, came the one burst, streaming through the cracks in the wall, that made all the difference.

It was not a gryphon arrow; it seemed to be composed purely of energy. But whatever it was, Twilight turned her head as it careened for her – her pupils dilated, mouth releasing a fragile gasp – and then –

And then, the vision faded.

As the vision melted into itself, the haggard then-Rarity continued, “After that…everything changed. It was the dark of night when we realized that Discord had, somehow, broken free from his stone…lightning cracked the sky in droves that night. We just knew something was wrong! He took on the two Princesses in Canterlot Castle, and…we awoke the next morning to find out everything was wrong.

“It was as though some kind of wave of negativity spread through Equestria. The battle was no longer limited to gryphons and ponies; now, the races of ponies were beginning to turn on each other. We knew it was his influence. That, and the fact that the streets had gone simply lousy with ponies walking upside-down and candy clouds.

“We puzzled over how we could seal him away again…Twilight, when we retrieved the Elements of Harmony, your crown, it was…it was cracked, dulled and rusted, as though the very element it represented had fallen from grace.”

“But – wait,” Rainbow Dash swept in front of future-Rarity’s sight, “How did Discord rise again in the first place? We gotta know so we can keep it from happening!”

“We…we don’t know!” Future-Rarity shook her head, “It has something to do with you, Twilight, but…we don’t know much more than that.”

“Wait,” Twilight spoke up, “So you’ve been sending Celestia these visions back through time? How…” She tilted her head, “Wow. I guess I just never knew you were that powerful.”

“I’m not, dearie…” Rarity said. As she did, the others could see how fatigued she looked; how there was a shade of unnatural paleness to her even given her natural white colour, “You are.”

“Wh…?”

“You were struggling to draw breath, Twilight, dear…” Rarity said wistfully, “You performed a final spell that transferred as much of your powers as you could, to me, the only other unicorn in the area. Though, I must admit…” She said with all the air of a high-class socialite about to pass out in a public space, “I haven’t been taking it as well as you have…my body is finding it quite the hassle to maintain without bursting into a quintillion pieces across space and time, I’m much afraid.”

“Cool…” Rainbow stared ahead, only to find Applejack’s hoof swinging about the back of her head, “Yow!” The action hadn’t been altogether that hard, but Rainbow still stumbled forth a few steps…and came to bump into future-Rarity’s hoof, hanging over the side of the seam.

“…no way.” Twilight said, slowly opening her mouth. Carefully, reverently, she approached the tear, “You guys – this isn’t an image. This is a portal.”

“Speaking of, how did you manage to turn my little videography into a looking glass…?” Future-Rarity looked down at Twilight and Dash.

“It must have something to do with that brew Zecora gave me…” Twilight puzzled, but wasn’t about to try and recollect all that the zebra had said about her complicated mixture.

“At any rate,” Said the Rarity in the vortex, “I don’t remember having this conversation at all.” She gave a cursory glance to her past-self, standing awkwardly on the floor.

“That’s because we’re swapping around the future just by knowing about it,” Twilight said, authoritatively asserting some semblance of control, real or imagined, over her circumstances, “But Rarity…time? Really? How did you even – I mean – messages through time?! And why here? Why now? Why not send them back to when Discord was…well, whatever passes for a foal with draconequuses, and let the powers-that-be do what they needed to then?”

“I knew this was going to come up…” Future-Rarity sighed vehemently, “Twilight, dear, as much as I know you would be overjoyed to sit down with me and study, I simply don’t have the time nor the scientific knowledge to give a twenty-hour explanation on the complications involved with all this ‘quantum chronology’ and ‘time-stream parallel causality’ stuff. The fact is – I can contact you here, and now, or not at all.”

“Well, I reckon…” Applejack stepped forth, “I reckon you aughta tell us more about what happened. Is gonna happen.”

Future-Rarity simply nodded, and the view behind her in the portal-come-vision shifted to a frigid, icy landscape: windswept gulches howled as frostbitten, dead trees hung as grim sepulchers over the mountainous lands. There was nary a pony in sight on this stretch, yet it appeared vaguely familiar…after a few seconds, realization sunk into the hearts of the six: this was one of the mountain passes between Canterlot and Ponyville. Where once it was rich with life, both flora and fauna, now only a cold numbness ravaged the air.

“Discord’s very presence caused chaos to erupt in the hearts of folk everywhere…and with discontent and strife having forced its way back into the world, the Windigos began to push onto the world once more. I managed to find my way into the Canterlot Archives – though it had fallen into disuse since the beginning of the chaotic reign, it had not been destroyed – and began reading Clover The Clever’s scrolls from the early Equestrian period…I must say, Twilight, Starswirl’s apprentice was almost – almost – as overjoyed by cataloguing everything as you are.” Twilight blushed and chuckled a little, darting her eyes back and forth sheepishly as Rarity continued, “Took me forever to find the right stuff; it’s a wonder Discord’s enforcers didn’t find me while I was leafing through modern translations of his scrolls. Apparently, the spell used to dispel the Windigos during the founding of Equestria did not obliterate them; it was a spell that fed off of the positive energy in Equestria. See, according to Clover, every time a pony did something out of the goodness of their heart – a helping hoof to somepony in need, a gift expecting nothing in return…with every friendly deed, the spell strengthened. Clover made it so that friendship really was magic, denying these eldritch monsters their frigid prize (as Clover put it)…and when the bonds of kinship shattered in Equestria, the spell weakened, allowing those torrid beasts to return.”

She continued, “We didn’t know what became of the Princesses…as for the five of us, well…” Future-Rarity’s voice seemed close to breaking down, “That fellowship didn’t get to last. For various reasons.” She seemed hesitant or unwilling to elaborate, but her words sunk deep into the group: the way it had been implied in this dreadful future, their bond of friendship had evaporated like so much smoke on a windy peak.

“Rarity…” Twilight cringed, “Please tell me that I’m the only one who…”

“I know for a fact that Applejack is still alive,” Future-Rarity said, “Although I must say…I’m not sure which is worse, with her.”

“Whassat s’posed to mean?” Applejack lifted the brow of her hat.

“It means that when the blizzards came, very little of the land was left to till; Discord’s agents started rounding up any ponies who could till the soil. Quite an uncouth circumstance, really…no bits to be paid, just their continued survival if they keep their noses to the dirt…” Future-Rarity continued, “As for Pinkie…well, that took a turn for the weird. But she’s alive.”

“Well, girls,” Twilight stepped up, “Here in the present, the Elements of Harmony ARE complete. We can get them, dive through that portal, and take the fight to Discord.”

“Uh, Twilight…” Rainbow flitted in front of her, “I might not be too experienced with this whole ‘leaping through a wormhole in time’ stuff, but…how would beating him there, fix the, uh…stuff that happened before then, but after now?” The Pegasus held a hoof to her face, “I’m getting a headache…”

“Thing is,” Future-Rarity said, “It seems that when Discord rose, he…ripped a hole in time, for lack of a better term. That’s how I was able to contact you in the first place, using Twilight’s magic excess.”

“What? How?” The six before her, including her past-self, asked at once before Applejack followed up, “Now, how in tarnation did he do that?”

“Don’t ask me, he’s Discord!” Future-Rarity said, flustered, “The point is, once you’re here, you’ll be able to get into the rip in time, and…” She thought for a moment, “And fix what went wrong.”

“Great. Where is this ‘rip in time’?” Twilight asked.

“That would be…Canterlot Castle. Or, shall we say…it’s not really called Canterlot Castle any more, so the rip is technically located in Castle Chaos. I say, as monstrous as he is, he’s not the most creative with his names.”

“…Not great.” Twilight said flatly, but shook herself out of it, “C’mon, girls; the elements shouldn’t be far!” She broke into a gallop; the others, even Fluttershy, followed suit.

As they ran, Applejack called out, “Twi, are you sure about – well – any o’this?!”

“Not a one!” Twilight shouted back enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, future-Rarity waited for a few minutes more at the portal. She was just in the midst of a yawn when the six burst back, only to find…

“Rarity! What are you doing out of the portal?!” Twilight’s mane stood on end as the six screeched to a halt, to find one of their future-selves standing on the floor here in the present time. The five behind her had their necklaces of the Elements on, and Twilight bore her crown.

“Oooh…” Present-Rarity started worriedly tapping her hooves against the ground in an odd little dance, “Paradox, paradox, paradoooox~…”

“Hmph! You think I LIKE being a serf of that ‘Dis-topia’?” Future-Rarity shot back, “That’s right, a serf! The once-proud Rarity, now reduced to a common maidservant…it’s unacceptable!” She noticed the horrified look on her past-self’s face and said, “What, did you think Discord would have us designing the new spring line for all those Diamond Dog ancestors he brought up from the distant past, back when they weren’t so stupid? Oh, speaking of…you’ll want to watch out for those. Discord has turned them into his enforcers through Equestria.”

“Well – alright, I suppose…” Twilight said with a gulp, stepping up to the portal. Its churning contours and strange colours entranced her for a moment, but she shook out of it and spoke, “Alright, girls, this is it! I have to admit, I’m probably more scared than any one of you, but…” When she turned to find Fluttershy having somehow curled up into herself, hiding behind her own wings, she had half a mind to retract that statement, but she continued nonetheless, “I…I don’t like this any more than you do. A part of me wants to just run back to the library, and try to forget about all of this, but I know I can’t.” She lowered her gaze, “I don’t want to die…I have to be honest – the thought makes me shiver. I’m…I’m not ready.”

Though there was fear, and fragility, in the lavender unicorn’s voice, there was also resolve.

“But this isn’t about me. This is about a force we thought we had dealt with…and unless we step up to the plate, hoof, horn and wing, Discord is going to take this world – the place we’ve grown up in, where we’ve learned to love, and laugh, and live – and twist it to his own will, until there’s nothing left for us but pain – nothing left in the world but chaos! I know you don’t want to face this, but…but…” Twilight seemed to be looking for the words to say, only to find the orange hoof on her shoulder.

“Sugar-cube, none of us want to face this,” Applejack said, “But we’ll face it with you. For you.”

Twilight’s determined, staunch expression soon melted into a soft smile, “Nothing he does can destroy the Elements of Harmony; we proved that to him before.”

“Oh, Twilight…” Future-Rarity called out from behind the pack, “And all of you…and, well, me…please don’t be alarmed at what you’ll find there. It won’t be the Equestria you know.”

It was well beyond a question of, ‘are you girls with me’. They were, hoof, horn and wing. However shy, or headstrong, they may have been, they were in this together: to save the life of their dear friend, to save Equestria itself from a future doom…

Elements in tow, the six leapt through the portal: beyond the event horizon, into the belly of the beast.