Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash come across a mysterious figure who sends all three of them on a wild ride far into the past, where they meet a familiar face, and a threat that could pull Equestria into ruin.
Twilight was fast asleep in her castle. Sometime in the middle of the night, she was woken up by the Cutie Map, as well as Rainbow Dash. They were sent to a house in Canterlot, which was left abandoned and an absolute mess. But they soon find a threat. A threat that reveals information about something that could destroy Canterlot, and Equestria as they know it.
This fan fiction is about Equestria's past. The story is lightly inspired by Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages but is not a retelling, or even too heavily based on it. Oh, and I had probably better mention that this takes place between the finale of Season 4 and premiere of Season 5.
As of now, that's really all I have to say about this fan fiction. So read, and enjoy.
I've studied it for years. How the time paradox works, concepts of time itself, and of course, how to travel through it. Past or future, regardless of how many years into the past.
I've read quite a few theories on the subject, and it's shocking to see how few have ever even attempted to find ways to travel through time. Maybe it's just one of the things that sound so far-fetched that nopony wants to experiment with it. But not me. For I believe I have created a working spell that can send me to any time in history at will.
All I need to do now is test it.
With this being said, I realize there are countless ways this could go wrong. I could be sent to an alternate universe. I could be trapped between the fabric of time and space. I could even age backwards or forwards too quickly, depending on if I travel forwards or backwards of course. The risk is high, but the reward will most certainly be worth it.
In my eyes at least.
I have lived in Canterlot my whole life, and I've traveled to other cities in Equestria for study purposes. This includes Ponyville, Manehattan, and Phillydalphia. I've learned quite a lot during my ventures to those cities, and they were also quite nice just to visit. But in my opinion, Canterlot is much prettier than any of the cities I listed. But on the other hand, it is quite dull around here. In the other cities, something of interesting is almost always happening. Especially in Ponyville. But here in Canterlot, it's much more peaceful than other places in Equestria. In fact, the most exciting thing I can remember is the time when changelings flooded the streets and towns like a river of black oil. I remember it like it was yesterday...the monsters were everywhere. Tearing down signposts, chasing others, and even disguising as other ponies to confuse. It was like nothing I had ever seen. Thankfully, I had been inside the whole time. And if it were just a few changelings, I would have had no problem taking them down all by myself, for I've studied more than just time travel. I also know quite a few spells to defend, attack, and confuse. It would be foolish to limit my knowledge of magic to just one subject. Besides, my time travel theory and spell was just getting to halfway complete at the time.
Seeing that there were hundreds of changelings, I closed the curtains to my window, hoping none would see me. I did get a glance of one cangeling staring straight at me as I closed the blinds. Its eyes glowed bright green just like all the rest of them, but this particular one frightened me because it was looking at me. Directly into my eyes. So I ran and hid under the table out of instinct, as I figured it would try to break down my door and get me. Again, I would have had no problem taking down just that one. In fact, it would have been good spell practice. But I was afraid that if others saw one trying to bust down a door, others would join in. Then if an army of changelings got into my house, I wouldn't have had much chance. Immediately after retreating under the table, I knew it was a stupid idea. I should have run to the closet or bathroom or anywhere that would make myself hard to find. But I was frozen with fear. I stayed there, waiting for it to break down my door, but it didn't. I could swear that five minutes passed by with me cowering under my table, thinking about how I would handle the situation of changelings flooding my house. My heart pounded as I felt a drop of sweat slide down my face. But nothing ever hit the door. Sure, maybe a bump here and there, but besides the noise of thousands of wings beating outside, I heard nothing. No bang on the door, or even a knock. I guess it didn't care enough to go after me. But whatever the reason, nothing tried to infiltrate my house.
I later heard the full story, and that it was a plan by Queen Chrysalis to take control of Canterlot by taking magic from Shining Armor at his wedding day with Princess Cadence or some craziness like that. I know it sounds like I was complaining that such a crazy event happened in my own town, but I honestly wasn't. Though I'll admit, I was scared out of my wits, the thrill of it all was amazing. Nothing like that had ever happened, but it was nice to feel a huge surge of adrenaline like that.
This time however, I'm creating the adventure.
I put away my book that I had been reading. It was an old spellbook, with information on unsuual spells, such as a spell that can change one's emotions, send them to different dimensions, and even change genders, strange as they all sound. It wasn't well known either, oh no. In fact, it's so far from well known, that mine is the only copy on the face of Equestria. It's a book that was written by one of my ancestors from centuries ago. It's been passed down, generation by generation, and eventually made it to me. Therefore, only my direct ancestors know that this book exists, as well as half the spells in the book. I read this book more than any other when I'm looking for information on spells. In fact, I've had it for 16 years and I still have not fully read it all. There are two reasons for this.
The first reason being that it has 800 years of spell information in all its pages, so it would the pure amount of information written is overwhelming. The second reason is that there's a particular subject in the book that I tend to study more than all the others.
Can you guess what it is?
If you thought time travel, then congratulations. You're correct.
I've read many books that mention time travel, but none like this book. Other books do mention time and time travel every once in a while, but all they give is small talk about how time works, occasionally tells stories about other ponies who have attempted time travel but failed and gave up, and the very basics of time travel in general. My book, however, shows experiments, stories, theories, and so many more informative subjects about time travel. Almost all my information came from this book, and it surprises me that I'm the first in my family to experiment with it.
As far as I know, anyway.
After I set my book on my shelf, I grabbed my black coat and shopping bag and stepped outside. It was late Autumn, my favorite time of year. The air has a certain freshness to it, and the sky looks completely different from the Summer, Spring, or even Winter sky. In a good way, of course. I've also always loved cold weather more than warm or hot weather. My opinion on the seasons is unpopular, as almost everyone in Canterlot prefers Summer more than any other season. Spring is the second most favored season, with Autumn being third. That obviously leaves Winter last, which I can't understand. Winter is my second favorite season. I guess I'm unique.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, leaving my house. I still needed a few materials from around town to complete my spell. What's difficult about my time travel potion is that it requires a potion. A paradox brew, to be exact. I must drink it while performing the spell, or else it won't work. I don't know why, but I have nopony to ask, so I'm just going to go with it. Like the time travel information and spell itself, the paradox brew is unknown, almost unheard-of. To my knowledge, I'm the only living being who knows the formula exists. But what's amazing is that a paradox potion requires shockingly simple items. I wrote down a list of ingredients, and it includes the following: 1 dragon scale, 2 phoenix feathers, 5 Everfree Forest tree leaves, 1 ounce of gold, and a medium glass of raw mystic water. The dragon scale, forest leaves, and ounce of gold will be simple. Dragon scales and Everfree Forest leaves are somewhat common in stores, as well as somewhat cheap, strange as it sounds. This is because these materials are quite common in potions, therefore it's not unusual to see them at markets and being sold by other means. And the ounce of gold will be even easier. Four bits weigh exactly one ounce, so all I really need to do is gather four bits, which I have. And since I already have three phoenix feathers within my home as leftovers from previous potions, that leaves me with mystic water.
Mystic water will be a bit of a problem. This liquid is found in the Everfree Forest, and rarely anywhere else. It's not even water, contradicting the name. It's called 'water' because it's clear and glassy like water, as well as being just as thick as water. It even has a similar texture. What makes it different is that it has the slightest purple-pink tint, it sparkles, and it's extremely powerful. It's a magical substance, and a dangerous one at that. Even the creatures of the forest refuse to drink it. This is because it soaks into the mind and soul of anypony who drinks it. It is only used in potions, and only in a specific way. Unless you prepare it by adding other materials to it, it will turn you into a monster. A dangerous, cold-blooded, heartless monster, as it not only soaks into your soul. It absorbs it. It changes your reasons for living into thoughts of pure evil. And that's not all, oh no. This part only effects unicorns, but it turns them into power-hungry demon. Not literally, but almost. Words literally cannot describe how evil it makes a unicorn. It boosts their magic capabilities, as well as making their mental state even more evil. The last pony who drank raw mystic water attempted to overthrow Princess Celestia herself, and almost succeeded. It was about 1,087 years ago, two years after Celestia became our ruler. A unicorn whose name is unknown drank raw mystic water for unknown reasons. He became an indescribable monster, as I have mentioned the effects before, and caused chaos. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were able to defeat him, but just barely. If the story is correct, it was actually Luna who dealt the final blow with a powerful spell that penetrated the unicorn's shield spell after he took out Celestia. I have no idea what spell Luna used, and I also have no idea if the unicorn knocked Celestia unconscious. It's all an old pony's tale, and some believe different outcomes than others. The two princesses have never told what really happened to this day, and probably never will. I will never know, nor do I care to know. One thing however, is for sure. The evil, tainted soul of the unicorn was drained from its body and sealed in a container made of enchanted obsidian glass. Nothing can escape something made of enchanted obsidian glass, as some contain entire dimensions. I will not go on to explain what enchanted obsidian glass is, as there is no point.
As I left my house to buy the few materials I needed, I pondered the reason for using raw mystic water. That would be extremely risky, and unless the recipe is an automatic purifier for mystic water as well as making my time travel possible. You probably have guessed that I'm a unicorn by now, and with that being said, this spell and potion will be the most dangerous act I will ever attempt. But I'm willing to take that risk.
I stepped outside and smelled the fresh Autumn air, as a cold breeze brushed across my face. I felt it travel through the sleeves of my coat. I started to walk down the street. I looked around at the other ponies walking down the street as well. Nobody seemed to pay any mind to me, for I was just a normal pony walking down the sidewalk minding his own business just as anyone else. But for some reason I always felt like they did. I felt like I was always being watched. Even when I was inside. I knew it was just paranoia, but I didn't know why, and I had given up trying to figure out what it was that I always felt years ago. So I went to the marketplace in Canterlot, just a few blocks away from my house. I had 241 bits in my pocket, which was just over enough money for the ingredients. The dragon scales and leaves I imagined would cost me 26 bits total at most, and a somewhat expensive price for raw mystic water. Probably ending up costing me 200 bits for a medium glass. And then just four bits to put in the mixture, plain and simple.
After purchasing dragon scales and Everfree Forest leaves, I looked around for a much fancier stand that sold raw mystic water. I actually would have been surprised if I had found that material in the marketplace. I would most likely have to go to a fancier store and then I would still be lucky at best, but much luckier than a normal, everyday tent.
I looked around the entire marketplace for a stand that sold raw mystic water. I even asked some ponies if there was a stand. A few of them gave me peculiar looks, as if I had just randomly asked them to follow me to my house. The reason why I preferred the marketplace over an indoor shop was because potion ingredients were typically cheaper at the marketplace than in higher quality shops and stores. The last pony I asked replied with, "What do you need it for, sir?"
"I'm making a potion." I didn't describe anything, I wanted to keep my intentions secret.
"Oh," She said. She looked somewhat young, probably no older than fifteen years of age. She was a light blue pegasus, quite tall and lanky, and was wearing a navy blue jacket, similar to mine in size, shape, and design, and a black scarf. "Well, I doubt there's a stand that sells something that powerful over here."
"Okay." I replied. "Thanks anyway..."
"Wait." She said before I could walk away. "Depending on what you're working on, I'll bet I could still help."
"Really?"
"Yeah. There's a stand over there that sells purified mystic water." She looked back and pointed to a stand with a dark green tent, and a table with a black tablecloth, as well as about 7 open boxes full of an array of different items. Including bottles full of liquid. Liquid that looked like purified mystic water.
I thought about it for a moment. The recipe specifically called for raw mystic water, not purified. But there were also countless dangers to using the raw substance. Dangers that I was fully aware of. I began to think, it's obvious that raw mystic water has dangerous effects, while purified mystic water cancels them out. Besides, it's a base material. I figured that there would be no harm in using the safe material instead of the hazardous material.
"Sure," I said. "I can use that. Thanks for the help, ma'am."
"Ah, anytime!" She replied with a smile. She then continued shopping, and I walked to the stand. I felt my heart beating in excitement. After all these years, I was finally going to get the final material I needed for making my dream come true. When I got to the stand, I saw the salespony. He was an elderly unicorn, with dark gray hair and dark blue skin. Almost exactly like the young mare I met earlier, except a darker coat of the exact same color. When he saw me, he smiled and said, "Welcome to my shop, my friend. Is there anything you would like to buy?" His voice was deep and kind of raspy.
"Yes sir," I said. "Do you have any purified mystic water?" I already knew the answer, but I asked anyway.
"Certainly." He replied. "How much do you want, my friend?" For some reason, when he said 'my friend' I felt uncomfortable. It was probably just the social awkwardness I've always had. It was still strange, though.
"A four ounce glass." I knew the book said 'a medium glass' but I also knew that the size didn't matter too much, unless it was insanely huge or insanely small.
"Yes, of course." He picked up a four ounce glass of bottle using unicorn telekinesis, just like I requested. "That'll be ninety bits."
Ninety bits? I was expecting to bring only 30 bits back home at most, assuming the price of raw mystic water would cost me up to 220 bits, but only ninety? That was certainly much more convenient than I hoped. I must have smiled when I heard him say that, because his smile slightly widened after looking back up at me. I grabbed ninety bits out of my pocket and set them on his table. He took the bits and gave me the bottle. I put it in my bag.
"It was nice doing business with you, my friend." He said, still creeping me out with the two words, 'my friend' for some reason. "Have a nice day." He waved goodbye as I nodded my head and left. I walked back home without haste, for I was more than ready to start time travel.
When I got back home, I set my bag on my table, being careful not to spill my ingredients everywhere or break the bottle and have my purified mystic water spill everywhere. I grabbed my book back off the shelf and went back to the page showing me how to create the potion. After the ingredients, it showed how to actually make it.
Step 1: Start a fire. I blinked at reading how simple starting it would be. But I wasted no time. I walked to my fireplace and pushed some coal inside. I started a spark using magic, and directed it toward the coals. Within seconds, a steady fire ignited, and I had completed the simple start to my potion.
Step 2: Add all solid ingredients to the raw mystic water, then shake the mixture. For some reason, my heart sank when it said 'raw mystic water' again. I knew that at this point it meant raw mystic water, and specifically raw mystic water. I stood there for a second, but then convinced myself that I was doing the smarter thing by using a safe material rather than an extremely dangerous one. I grabbed my bottle out of the bag and set it on the table. I opened the cap and it let out a soft fizzing sound, though it didn't bubble. Purified mystic water is visibly purple-pink instead of raw mystic water, which only has the tint. I took the dragon scales and Everfree leaves out of my bag and set them next to the bottle. I then grabbed four bits from my coat pocket and then took two phoenix feathers from the box on the shelf and set them all on the table with all the other ingredients. I then proceeded to add the solid ingredients into the liquid. After everything was added, the ingredients started dissolving, and the liquid turned purple. I assumed I was doing things right, as it also started to slightly glow.
Step 3: Pour mixture into a small metal pot and place it over the fire. Let it stay there until it turns orange. Orange? The mix was already purple, and orange seems to have quite a contrast from purple. No matter, it was too late to turn back. Besides, I didn't want to stop. I wanted to at least see where this would go. I looked in my cabinets for a small metal pot that I could pour the mixture into. It didn't take me too long at all to find one, so I immediately poured the liquid into the pot and set it over the fire. I waited for the potion to turn orange, the excitement was almost overwhelming. After a moment, it started to smell strange. It smelled like fresh fruit, which was surprising, but of course, the smell of fresh fruit is great, so I took a big whiff of it in enjoyment. Not too long after, there was a cloud of purple smoke over the pot and fireplace, and the fire went out. I was quite shocked by how sudden it was, so I felt the pot. It wasn't hot nor cold, and the smell was even stronger. I looked in the pot and the liquid was now yellow-orange. I expected it to be just orange, but this was close enough to me. I levitated the pot carefully back to the table, and still using magic, I poured the potion back into its bottle. I went to the book to see what else it said.
Step 4: Drink the paradox brew. Please note that this potion will have severe negative effects if used without the time travel spell. The ony reason why it even exists is to make the time travel spell work. Otherwise it's poison. Immediately after drinking, wait between 30 seconds to a minute and then use the spell. If you know how to use the spell, you will know what to do next.
My heart pounded faster than it had in a very long time. Probably not like this since the time changelings attacked our town, as I told you before. This time in excitement, not fear. I instantly started thinking where in time I could visit when the spell works. Maybe I could go back in time and watch Princess Celestia be crowned ruler of Equestria, or maybe I could go into the future and see what wonders await me there. I hesitated no longer, and used levitation to lift the bottle to my mouth to drink it.
This is it, the moment of truth, and words can't describe how excited I am right now. I will fulfill my lifelong fantasy, and do something nopony else has ever done. I, Shadow Star, will be the first pony to travel through time.
Shadow Star instantly drank the potion, and started to wait out the thirty seconds before performing the spell itself. He felt accomplished, as if nothing could make him lose spirit at this point. He would complete a great achievement when the spell works and he visits any time in history.
Five seconds had passed since Shadow Star chugged the entire brew, and his stomach started to feel funny. He thought nothing of it, and just figured it was supposed to happen. But as every second passed, he felt more and more queasy. Once ten seconds had passed, he fell to the floor, as he felt too sick to stand any longer. He knew something was wrong. Seconds passed by and he decided not to perform the spell, as he knew he messed up on the potion. He then realized something. The purified mystic water. Of course! Maybe if he hadn't cowered over an 800-year-old spell book being incorrect, he wouldn't be in this agony, and who knows what else next.
A whole minute passed, and Shadow Star felt worse than he had ever felt in his life. He started feeling sleepy, but too nauseous to sleep. Two minutes passed, then three, then four. The longest five minutes of his life passed by, and he still lied on the floor, feeling like death. Finally, he felt something different. The sickly feel didn't fade away, it instantly jumped to something else. He felt powerful. He felt like he could do anything. He dared to stand up, and he did without collapsing. Although he felt all this power, his emotions were different. He no longer felt excitement. He no longer felt fear, or regret, or sadness. All he could feel was a burning passion, but couldn't tell what passion it was. He went to the mirror by his door to look at himself. When he did, he was shocked. His naturally green eyes were now bright red, and glowing too. The room was somewhat dark, but his eyes were like lights. But there was one thing that stood out. He felt many times stronger. Shadow Star instantly knew something had happened to him, but he liked it. He liked it a lot.
He went to the fireplace again to create another spark. But instead of creating a small spark, he created a flame on the very tip of his horn. He accidentally let the flame loose, and it fell on the wooden floor and immediately started spreading. He felt the heat of the fire and stepped back. Thinking fast, he decided to create a burst of air with magic to blow the fire out. He meant to create a small gust because the flame wasn't very big yet, but instead he made a large wind right inside his house. It set the fire out, but also knocked down some furniture, made his bookshelf fall, and even made a few glasses from top shelves fall and break on the floor. His house was now a mess. Tables and chairs turned over, part of the floor was burnt from the fire, and there was broken glass all over the floor from the bottles that fell. Shadow Star grinned, as he knew his power had increased dramatically. He slowly trotted back to his door, and picked up his jacket that had fallen on the floor in the incident, and not losing speed at all, walked to the door through the shards of broken glass. He didn't feel the glass sinking into the bottom of his hooves, nor did he even feel any pain. He stepped outside once again, this time with a devilish grin on his face. His normal deams of going to the past and meeting a great accomplishment no longer meant anything to him. His whole life had been behind him, as a new goal filled his mind, for at that moment he knew what he wanted to do. He knew what his new passion was.
He was going to overthrow Princess Celestia. But first, he needed another paradox brew...
Princess Celestia lowered the sun into the horizon while her sister, Princess Luna, raised the moon in place of the sun. For it was the end of another day in Equestria. After this, the two sisters went to sleep in their bedrooms in Canterlot castle. Though almost everypony else in Equestria was already asleep. In Ponyville, the lights were turned off in every home, and everypony asleep in their comfortable beds. However, this was not entirely the case in the princess of friendship's castle. Spike and the mane six were already fast asleep in the castle, as they all decided to stay there for the night, except for Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship herself. At this early hour, she was preparing to read.
It was not unusual for her to read, as reading was one of her favorite things to do. She had at this point been a princess for quite a while, and therefore had many responsibilities. This left her little time to herself, so she often stayed up later than everypony else reading in the comfort of her own bed.
The night had just started moments before. Twilight Sparkle was walking down the hall of her castle, her hooves making a 'clop clop' sound on the shiny floor below. The night sky looked beautiful through the tall windows of the castle, and the chandeliers were still on, reflecting on the floor. Besides the sound of her own hoofsteps, it was completely silent. After about a minute of walking, she made it to the door of her bedroom. She opened it with her magic, and walked into her room, closing the door quietly behind her. She walked to her bed and slumped down on it. The alicorn let out a short sigh. She was happy to be in her cozy bed, as it wasn't all the time that she was able to lay down in it and just relax. She levitated a book from her nightstand titled Canterlot: Equestria's Capital. Twilight had bought the book from a bookstore in Ponyville the previous day, but was just getting to read it that night, since she was busy the night before. The book was quite big, which made sense. It was also a book about Canterlot's history, written as a storybook, which is what the shop owner had told her when she bought it. Twilight hadn't read much about Canterlot's history in quite some time. At least, not like this. The last time she remembered having to recite Canterlot's history was in school when she was just a filly. It was going to be nice to catch up on a subject she had not had anything to do with in many years.
Twilight lit the candle and opened the book with her magic, starting on page 1, which was just about on who wrote the book and when it was made and other various pieces of information. She didn't care about that, so she turned to the next page, which revealed the table of contents. It was a long list that went on for four pages. The first chapter started on page 12, so she skipped to that page. The candlelight shined dimly on her book. Not so dim that it was hard to see, but not so bright that it lit up the entire room. When she got to that page, it showed the title of the chapter, which was named Existence. She read the chapter, which went on about how Equestria came into existence. It was an interesting read, as it showed that a deity named Tarvas created what would later be called Equestria and all its beings by turning most of its power into the land of Equestria and all other lands, which were mysteriously caged off from Equestria, and as the book said, ...the other parts of the world will not be covered nor mentioned again in this book. Then Tarvas went on to create all its creatures, starting with plants, then land animals, then sky animals, then ocean animals, and finally, ponies, which were created in his own image, as well as to be superior over the other creatures. He created three races, and made himself unique from all the rest.
After reading this chapter, Twilight was very interested. It was a moderately long chapter, and she was starting to get tired, but she wanted to see what would come next. So she continued.
The next chapter was titled Hearth's Warming. Twilight already knew what Hearth's Warming was, but she continued anyway. It said that the three main races, earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, did not get along at first. The pegasi were responsible for weather, but in order to do that, they wanted food that earth ponies grew, which required weather control and some magic, which only unicorns could provide. But the unicorns demanded from both races. And on top of this, Tarvas, who was an alicorn, was the king of Equestria and did nothing to stop the conflict between the three races. Mistrust festered between the three races, and one day a mini ice-age, causing uncontrolable blizzards and making the races stop cooperation altogether. Famine hit, and the three tribes began fighting, which was not something they normally did before. Eventually the conflict and source of blizzards was stopped when the tribe leaders found out that monsters called windigos were feeding off their races' negative energy, and decided that fighting among each other did no good to any side. They bonded as allies, and created the Fire of Friendship, which did away with windigos and uncontrollable blizzards. The races created the nation of Equestria, and every year they celebrated the bonding and made the holiday, Hearth's Warming, which is Equestria's oldest holiday.
At this point, Twilight was feeling tired. The two chapters were long, and it was at least midnight. She decided to read more tomorrow if she had time, or just do what she normally did and read more the next night. She closed the book and levitated it back onto the nightstand and blew out the candle. She snuggled into her covers then closed her eyes, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Twilight Sparkle woke up with a jolt, instantly waking up. It felt like somepony was pushing against her flank. She looked down and there was a light coming from there, shining through her blanket. She instantly pulled it off, revealing that her cutie mark was flashing.
It was from the map.
She hesitated no longer and got out of bed. She only felt slightly tired, despite it being about 3 in the morning. She walked out of her room, and shielded her eyes from the blinding light. She squinted her eyes and then went into a slow run down the hall, then downstairs, to the throne room, where she was surprised to see Rainbow Dash down there as well, with her cutie mark shining as well.
"You woke up with your cutie mark flashing too?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah." Rainbow Dash replied. The confusion in her voice showed that she was just as weirded out by this as Twilight was.
"I guess the map has a mission for us."
"Maybe we should look at it?"
"Certainly." Twilight said as she slowly trotted to the table. Rainbow Dash followed behind, flying just a few feet off the ground. They got to the table and a map of Equestria appeared on it. Soon after, it showed where they needed to be. But this time, it did it in a strange way. It zoomed into a group of houses in Canterlot. It then proceeded to pinpoint a certain house.
"Canterlot?" Rainbow Dash asked, still sounding confused.
"I guess that's where we're supposed to be."
Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes. "Alright then. I guess we had better get moving."
"Okay." Twilight said, sounding tired. "But first I'm going to write a note for the others. We wouldn't want them to wake up and find us missing."
"Okay, makes sense." Rainbow Dash sluggishly flew to her throne and sat down. "Whenever you're ready."
Twilight took a sheet of paper from a drawer in the table. She always kept paper in there, in case of a situation where she needed to write something down. Now was that time. She grabbed a feather pen and ink from the same cabinet and used magic to write down a quick message to the others.
If you find Twilight and Rainbow Dash missing, don't worry. We were woken up by the cutie map in the middle of the night and sent to Canterlot on a mission. We will be back as soon as possible. Sincerely, Twilight.
"Okay, I'm finished. Now lets go." Twilight put down her note on the table, and place the feather pen and ink back in the drawer.
"Right behind you, Twi." Rainbow Dash got up from the throne and followed Twilight out of the palace.
Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash stepped outside the enormous doors of the castle of friendship. A blast of cold wind nearly knocked Twilight off her feet, and almost made Rainbow Dash fall down on the ground below.
"Brr!" Twilight shivered. The wind made the already cold temperature even colder.
"I know I'm not going out when it's this cold!" Rainbow Dash said with her teeth slightly chattering from the cold wind. "I'm going to grab my coat real quick."
"That sounds like a good idea. I'm going to grab mine too."
The two friends quickly stepped back inside to grab their coats off the rack next to the tall door. They quickly put them on, and in just a few seconds, they were ready to go back outside into the cold of the night.
"I wonder why the Cutie Map called us on a mission so early in the morning." Rainbow Dash said. She spoke a bit louder than normal to talk over the wind.
"I don't know either." Twilight replied. "But whatever it is, it has to be pretty important. Why else would it want us to get up at this time?"
"Makes sense."
Twilight and Ranbow Dash walked through Ponyville. It was still dark outside, and the streets were completely deserted, only accompanied by the sound of the howling wind. The two had never experienced Ponyville like this, so it was a bit unnerving. Almost as if they were the only ponies left in Equestria. They both ignored this feeling, too tired to completely think about it, and too worried about what mission they would be sent on.
"Maybe if we hurry, we can catch the train to Canterlot." Rainbow Dash broke the silence between the two with her question.
"Agreed." Twilight responded. "We'd have to go a bit faster though."
"Alright then, let's go fast!" Rainbow Dash no longer sounded tired as she started fly quickly. Twilight started flying to catch up to her friend. She knew she could never match Rainbow Dash's speed, but by the way she soon caught up to her, Twilight knew that Rainbow Dash was intentionally flying slower than she normally would so that her friend could catch up. The two flew over the houses of Ponyville. It was weird to be the only ones in the air at the time. Normally there would be other pegasi roaming the sky along with them, but they were all asleep in their homes. The lonely feeling was stronger than ever.
******
"Well, it looks like we're here." Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash had finally made it to the train station. It was currently 3:28am, and the next train to Canterlot was scheduled for 3:40am. They were 12 minutes early for the train, so that meant 12 minutes of waiting in the freezing weather.
When the two got to the bench to wait, there was already somepony there on the bench. He was alone, just like Twilight and Rainbow Dash were, except they had each other. The colt looked up at Rainbow Dash, not really paying any mind to Twilight.
"Well," The colt said in a friendly, soft voice. "It's nice to see that I'm not the only one who's up at this time." He looked to be a middle-aged colt, probably not much older than Twilight and Rainbow Dash. His fur was a light brown, and his mane and tail were deep black. He was wearing a brown fedora hat. He was an earth pony, unlike either of them.
"Tell me about it!" Rainbow Dash said. "It's like Ponyville is completely deserted!"
"Yup." The colt adjusted his hat slightly, pulling it back a little and ever so slightly bumping it to he right. "Nopony moving for miles. Well, not anymore, now that you two just showed up."
"True." Rainbow Dash sat down next to the colt. "So what'cha doing here so early?"
"Business reasons." The colt said. "I can't talk about it too much, but whatever." He stuck his hoof out to Rainbow Dash for a hoofshake. "I'm Comet."
"Rainbow Dash." She happily took his hoof and gave him a hoofshake. "Nice to meet ya! This is my friend, Twilight Sparkle!"
"Twilight Sparkle?" Comet looked behind Rainbow Dash to see the alicorn. He did a double take as he realized that it was Twilight Sparkle. The Twilight Sparkle. Twilight gave him an awkward smile and waved her hoof at him. Comet stared at her for a moment, and then put Rainbow Dash's hoof down and walked to Twilight.
"No way!" Comet said excitedly. "You're Twilight Sparkle!? The princess of friendship?" He instantly took her hand and shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, your highness! My name is Comet!"
"Uh, hi..." Twilight said in her awkward voice. She still wasn't entirely used to her fame, and being the book nerd she was, attention completely unorthodox, not counting attention from her best friends, of course. "I'm Twilight...I mean, I guess you already knew that. Heh heh..."
"I honestly never thought I'd be shaking the hoof of royalty! Especially at a train station at 3:30 in the morning!"
"Heh, yeah..." Twilight blushed and was at a loss of words, as her awkward side took over. She looked over to Rainbow Dash, who just looked annoyed. She was just ditched by the pony she was talking to, so it made sense. "No, seriously. I'm not that great, I mean..."
"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Comet finally left go of her hoof and looked quite embarrassed. "Sorry for that. I kinda went starstruck there. Shall we try this again?"
"No thanks," Twilight said. "There's nothing to worry about. I get that reaction often."
Comet turned around to see Rainbow Dash was patiently waiting for Comet to come back to his senses. He noticed how annoyed she looked. "Oh, Rainbow Dash, is that right? Sorry about that!"
"No biggie!" Rainbow Dash let go of the situation and pretended like it never happened.
"So, what brings you two here to the train station at such an early time?" Comet asked the two friends.
"We still have no idea. The situation is really weird" Ranbow Dash replied.
"Okay," Comet adjusted his hat once again, this time tipping it slightly forward. "Strange. But it would be rude of me to pry into your business."
The three sat down on the bench. "I assume you two are going to Canterlot?" Comet asked.
"That's correct." Twilight replied.
"Cool, I am too! I've only been to Canterlot a few times. I technically live in Manehattan, but I'm hardly there anymore. My job has me everywhere."
"Sounds pretty crazy." Rainbow Dash said.
"You don't know the half of it!" Comet said. He then looked at the clock above them. "3:38am. In two minutes the train should be here. Unless, of course, it's late. Or early."
Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked up at the clock with him. "Looks like it." Rainbow Dash said.
A gust of wind hit the three with a loud 'woosh'. Comet grabbed his fedora just in time to keep it safe from being stolen off his head from the grip of the air. "Woah!" Comet said while still hanging onto his hat. "That was cold! Nearly blew off my hat too!"
"That would have been a shame!" Twilight said. She snuggled further into her coat to keep warm from the cold wind that was now steadily blowing.
"You two are lucky to have coats!" Comet said while shivering. "All I got is this fedora. It looks cool, but it doesn't do anything to keep somepony warm in weather like this."
"That's quite unfortunate." Twilight said with empathy. She took off her coat and levitated it with her magic towards Comet. "Would you like mine?"
Comet looked up at the coat, then at Twilight. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes widening with every second passed. "The princess of friendship is offering me her coat!?" He then snapped out of his starstruck trance. "Sorry, but I can't accept. I don't need it that much. You keep it."
"No no, I insist! You're cold, please take it!" Twilight gave him a warm smile.
Comet slowly took the coat. He smiled back at her, probably the warmest smile of the morning between the three. "Thank you very much! I really didn't need this!"
"It's my pleasure to help someone in need!" Twilight responded, still keeping her smile on her face.
Another pony walked to the station. It was a mare unicorn. She looked to be middle aged like the others. Her fur was light pink and her mane and tail were purple and white. Comet turned around with a huge smile on his face. "The princess of friendship just gave me her coat!" He said with extreme excitement in his voice. The mare just awkwardly smiled and went to sit down on the bench, never saying a word. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "That Comet guy is pretty weird." Rainbow Dash whispered to Twilight. Twilight just smiled, while her friend was wondering what Twilight was thinking in that moment.
Moments later, the train finally arrived at the station. It's lights shone in the four ponies' faces. They all blocked it with their hooves until it stopped at the steps. The conductor yelled "All aboard!" and the four ponies did not hesitate to step into the passenger car. Comet glanced back at the clock for a brief second, and then turned back and boarded onto the train with the rest. Once inside, there were a total of five other ponies sitting in the seats. Two were obviously a couple, as it was a colt and mare snuggling with each other while they seemed to be falling asleep. Another was an elderly colt, and the other two were two mares, just chatting happily but quietly among themselves. The pink mare from the train stop sat alone at one of the random seats, still staying expressionless as she did since she sat down after being greeted in the strange way by Comet. Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat down together at an untaken seat in the back, Comet following them.
"Is it alright if I sit by you two?" Comet asked Twilight and Rainbow Dash, his eyes kept on Twilight while he asked. The two friends looked at each other briefly, then looked back at him.
"I don't mind." Twilight answered, keeping an expressionless response. She turned to look at Rainbow Dash. "Is it fine by you?"
"Uh, yeah." Rainbow Dash said slowly, as if she was completely weirded out by Comet's question. "I guess."
"Awesome." Comet sat at the end of the seat. "Sorry if I'm coming across as unnerving. I just don't get to talk to many ponies during my business trips. It's been nice talking to you two."
"Seems reasonable." Twilight responded. "It's always nice for me to talk to new ponies every now and then. After all, that's how I met my best friends. Right Rainbow Dash?"
"Yup!" Rainbow Dash responded with a smile. "Remember when I cleared the sky in ten seconds flat?"
"How could I? It's still amazing just to think about it today, in all honesty!"
"You should have seen the look on your face!" Rainbow Dash let out a short laugh. "It was priceless!"
"That sounds like quite a feat!" Comet said. "Ten seconds flat?"
"Ten seconds flat!" Rainbow Dash proudly said.
"Is she for real?" Comet looked at Twilight. She nodded her head. "It still sounds a bit far-fetched, but I'm sure the princess wouldn't lie, right?"
Twilight lightly blushed and shrugged. Ponies would use the fact that she's a princess to believe her or listen to her, which was still foreign to her. Just about all the perks of being princess were foreign to her at the time.
"I remember this one great friend of mine." Comet said. He readjusted his hat for the third time, this time with both hooves. "First time I met him, he ran headfirst into me."
"How'd that happen?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I was in Canterlot on another one of my business missions." Comet started his story. "At the time, I was walking down the street trying to find the building I was needed in. When I heard the sound of somepony running as fast as they could behind me. I turned around, and wham!" Comet smacked his hooves together. "Head-to-head collision."
"That's sure a painful way to meet someone." Twilight said. "Were you okay?"
"Not entirely." Comet continued. "I was knocked out, and so was he. He hit me square in the chest, and after he hit me, he tripped and hit his head on the sidewalk. I also hit my head on the sidewalk after falling down from the collision. We were both sent to the hospital, and after we met each other in the hospital, we've been best buddies ever since." He lightly tapped his hat once again, bumping it to the side a notch. He smiled a new smile. It was mysterious, which was weird for his nature, and first impression. "To this day he's never told me why he was running so fast."
"Never heard a story like that before." Rainbow Dash said. "Pretty interesting way to meet somepony, though."
"Very true." Comet said.
The three ponies talked for the rest of the hour long train ride to Canterlot. They chatted about their friendships, their families, stories that they had heard before, and all sorts of different things. It didn't take long for Twilight and Rainbow Dash to start treating Comet as a normal friend, as they were outgoing ponies. Some stories were sad, some were happy. Some were funny, and some were serious.
******
After a while, the train arrived at the Canterlot train station. "Alright, we're here in Canterlot everypony." The conductor yelled. "If this is your stop, better get off now!"
"I guess that's us." Twilight said. The three got up from their seats and walked out of the passenger car. They stepped back into the cold weather, feeling another cold gust of cruel wind.
"Welp, it was nice talking to you two." Comet said. "I really have to get going now if I don't wanna get yelled at for being late."
"I understand." Twilight said. "Well, we don't want you in trouble either, so go on. Take care!" She shot him a warm smile.
"Okay, see ya around!" Comet stepped back and then stopped for a brief second. "Wait, here's your coat, Twilight Sparkle!"
"No, it's fine. You keep it!"
Comet did the exact same thing as he did when Twilight offered him her coat in the first place. First a moment of staring at her, then puppy eyes, then the huge smile. "Really?" Twilight nodded. "Well...thank you!" Comet tipped his hat at the two mares and said "Farewell!" As Comet walked away, Twilight noticed his cutie mark for the first time. It was a small notebook with a feather pen. It went well with his fedora hat.
"Well that's an interesting guy." Rainbow Dash said to Twilight.
"I agree." Twilight responded. "Now we had better get moving."
"Yeah, lets go."
The two friends stepped off the station, and towards the town. Twilight walked while Rainbow Dash flew a few feet off the ground next to her. They had no idea what adventure the map would lead them to. But they were nervous. Extremely nervous.
Twilight's decision to give her coat to Comet didn't prove helpful for the rest of the morning. For the rest of the way she and Rainbow Dash walked to the location that the map sent them, the freezing wind felt like small needles poking into Twilight's skin.
"If I r-remember correctly," Twilight spoke above the wind to Rainbow Dash. "Our destination is three blocks from here. Th-third house on the block." The two had been walking in a straight line down a street for about five minutes, and had spent at least an hour walking to the town. At the time, it was probably about 5:40, and they were both glad to know that their location was only three blocks away.
"That's good to know!" Rainbow Dash said. "I'm getting cold, but you must be freezing!"
"Y-you don't even know!" Twilight said.
"I still want to know why it directed us to somepony's house. It would be weird to just go into a stranger's house and be like, 'Hi there! We were sent to your house, pony we've never met or heard of before!' right?"
"True. But we h-have to at least check."
They were silent for the rest of the way down the block. Just like in Ponyville, all the houses were unlit, and nopony walking the streets. For some reason, it felt completely desolate. Just like in Ponyville. The sun was just starting to come up, and the faint silhouette of Canterlot Castle and the mountain it was perched on the side of came into view behind the rising sun. The dark purple of the sky was beginning to turn lighter.
After another ten minutes of walking, the two friends' cutie marks started flashing, just as they had earlier that morning. They looked at each other, then turned to their left to see that they were right in front of the house they were supposed to be at.
"I guess this is where we're supposed to be." Rainbow Dash said to Twilight.
Twilight let out a short sigh. "I hope this goes well." She slowly trotted to the door, and then knocked on it with her hoof. Not so loud that it sounded like somepony was trying to break down the door, but not so quietly that nopony could hear it from the inside. Then they waited. A half minute passed, then a whole minute.
"I don't know." Twilight said. "I'm going to knock one more time, then I'll have to see what I can do."
Twilight began knocking on the door with her hoof again. But on the third knock, they heard something that sounded like small pieces of metal clashing. The two both flinched at the sound. No sooner had they heard the first time, it happened again. Then a second time, and a third time. Twilight and Rainbow Dash both stepped back, as the door jolted downwards, then leaned towards them, eventually falling to the ground right in front of them. The sound they heard was obviously the hinges breaking. Inside, it was pitch black. Their hearts started beating twice as fast as before.
"Y-you go in first, Twi." Rainbow Dash said. She sounded quite scared. "I'll be right behind you. Promise."
"Alright..." Twilight's voice sounded just as scared as Rainbow Dash's. But without hesitation, she took a step into the house. But before she could even take her fourth step into the house, she jumped back, keeping her right forehoof off the ground. She let out a loud 'ow!'
"What happened?" Rainbow Dash jumped back as well, sounding even more scared.
"There's something sharp on the floor!" Twilight said as she lifted her hoof to see what is was. On the bottom of her hoof, there was a big shard of glass sticking into it. Twilight instantly lifted it out with her levitation magic, cringing in pain as she did it. Blood started slowly oozing out of her hoof. The cut wasn't major, but the smart choice was to find a way to treat it.
"Maybe whoever's inside can lend us a bandage." Rainbow Dash said. But they both knew that there was probably nopony inside. And if there was, they probably wouldn't lend them a bandage.
"Hold on." Twilight said, still keeping her injured hoof off the ground. "I'm not going to blindly stagger around in the darkness. I need light." She created a light with her horn. It was just enough light to show them what was in the house. "Now let's both go in."
"I agree." Rainbow Dash said, keeping close to Twilight.
As the two walked into the house, the light uncovered a terrifying sight. It looked like a battle royale had just taken place in there, as there were chairs overturned, a table leaning on a corner missing a leg with random materials dumped off the side of it. Tons of books were in front of a bookshelf, disorganized just like if they had all fallen off. Another bookshelf beside it was completely overturned. A few glass bottles broken on the floor, which was the source of the broken glass that Twilight stepped on. And it was everywhere. Trying to dodge the glass would be a real challenge. Besides the light from Twilight's horn, there was none, obviously, which just added to the unnerving vibe.
"The Cutie Map wanted us here?" Rainbow Dash said, keeping her voice down in case somepony inside had no good intentions.
"It must have." Twilight answered. "Nothing else would explain our cutie marks' reactions."
Just then, the two heard hoofsteps behind them. They didn't move a muscle, and Twilight was too scared to turn off her light spell.
"Excuse me, ladies." A colt's voice said from behind them. "Mind if I ask what you're doing in my house? I know you didn't break in. The door caved in from the inside."
Twilight and Rainbow Dash, frozen with fear, both tried to force words out of their mouths, but were barely able to. Rainbow Dash eventually broke the silence by answering. "Um, n-nothing." She forced out, tripping over her words. "W-we were sent here b-by somepony...I mean...it's a long story...see-"
"Turn around so that I can see you!" The voice demanded. "Both of you!"
Twilight and Rainbow Dash instantly turned around. They saw who the figure was, revealing to be a unicorn with brown fur and a deep black mane and tail. But what scared them the most was his eyes. They were bright red, and glowing in the dark of the night. After they turned around, the colt set his eyes on Twilight first. He looked surprised for a brief second, then that look changed to amusement. He let out a short, loud laugh.
"Twilight Sparkle? The princess of friendship herself, in my own house." He said. "That's certainly something you don't experience every day."
"Okay, we're sorry we intruded into your house." Twilight said, still shaking with fear, but at the same time, keeping calm. "But we were sent here for on a business problem. No offense, but it does seem like there's been a problem here."
"Problem?" The colt said, letting out another short laugh. "Quite the opposite has happened here, your highness."
"Um, would you mind telling me what happened?" Twilight sounded very confused.
"I would mind." The brown colt said, a devilish grin stuck on his face. It looked like the kind of grin Discord would give every now and then, but it was not reassuring. Not one bit.
"I'm sorry sir, but we must know. It's very important. Plus, I refuse to believe that all this," Twilight pointed at the mess. "Is a good thing, without you telling me why."
"Oh, but it is." The colt said, his grin beginning to disappear from his face. "You're just going to have to take my word for it."
"Now I definitely know something's wrong." Rainbow Dash said before Twilight could speak again. As soon as she finished her first sentence, the brown colt's grin completely vanished. "Look. We're sorry we barged into your house while you weren't home, but we were sent by a map telling us something was up here. Now if you'd just tell us what's going on, we can help out and pretend nothing ever happened, alright?" By this time, the brown colt's face morphed into an angry frown. His eyes flashed brighter, and without hesitation, he levitated Rainbow Dash into the air, and then violently slammed her into the wall. The impact shook the only standing bookshelf, but didn't completely knock it over. Rainbow Dash didn't get up.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled. She quickly flew to where her friend was tossed. "Rainbow Dash, can you hear me? Wake up!" Rainbow Dash didn't respond at all. The impact knocked her out.
"Well," The brown colt said. "That took less effort than I thought. Now are you ready to leave me alone?"
Twilight turned to look at the colt who had just beat up her friend. She gave him an extremely angry look. Twilight was done trying to be reasonable at this point, as she knew if she didn't act soon, then she would fail her mission. She knew that this pony was the problem that the map sent them to solve. "Alright," She said. "If it's a fight you want, then that's what you'll get."
The colt began to smile. Then he laughed. He laughed long and loud. And then he stopped, and shot her a confident glare. "Go ahead." He said. "Ladies first."
Twilight hesitated no longer. She immediately shot an attack spell at the colt. With expert reflexes, he didn't even bother using a shield spell, but instead stepped to the side, dodging with perfection. He started laughing again, as Twilight shot more attack beams at him. He dodged every one. Every single one.
"It's hard to believe you're the one who defeated Tirek." He mocked. "Now my turn." He started another beam spell. But he charged this one. He charged it for quite some time. His horn glowed an electric blue, and sparks started hovering around it. The glow got bigger and bigger the longer he charged it. Twilight stood her stance, readying a shield spell. Finally, the colt leaned forwards to shoot his beam. Sparks pulsed throughout his horn, and then he was ready to let the beam go. But then, he stopped it. He faked his spell. In an instant he teleported behind Twilight, and then pushed her forward with a quick air spell. It pushed furniture everywhere, scattering the mess in all directions. Twilight fell to the floor. Then the colt used his magic to push a bookshelf beside the alicorn onto her. Then the colt shot a bolt of lightning at Twilight in an instant. "Want more?" He said. "Try and escape and I'll give it to you."
"I don't want to fight you." Twilight said. She was struggling to breath under the bookshelf. "I'm j-just trying to help."
"I already told you, I don't need help!" He raised his voice. "I don't need help from you, or her," He pointed at Rainbow Dash. "Or even Celestia herself! In fact, my goal is to end her, and nobody can stop me!"
Twilight Sparkle's heart sank when she heard the words said by the mysterious colt who had just overpowered her. The fact that he had just admitted to having a goal to overtake Princess Celestia was crazy. At first thought, she was confused. Why would he directly tell her that he was going to do such a villainous deed? Then she thought how this would be possible. No, he must have been insane. He was having a mental breakdown, that had to be the solution. But, that couldn't be it. His eyes were red, as well as glowing. That was not normal at all, and Twilight decided it had something to do with this pony's abnormal behavior.
"Now," the colt said, breaking Twilight's thoughts and making her listen. "Are you interested in seeing it all happen before your pretty little eyes, princess?"
Twilight could barely force any words out of her mouth. Once again, fear had overtaken her. "I..."
"Well?"
Twilight still had her mouth agape, moving it like she was about to say something, but she stayed silent.
"Suit yourself." The colt gave her his devilish grin once again, then shot a beam at Twilight, making her glow with a light green outline. He then levitated the bookshelf off her. Twilight used this time to take action, but had a feeling that the spell he had just used on her was for a reason. She prepared to blast a lightning spell at this insane colt, but collapsed to the floor in pain the second she tried even charging the bolt with her horn. The spell was to block her magic! Of course! How could someone like this have so much power, yet she had never even heard of him, or met him until just that day? The colt kept his smile and levitated a glass bottle out of a box that was among the junk that had fallen off the broken table. It was full of a glowing orange liquid.
"If you don't want to watch it alongside of me," he started. "Then I'll make you a prisoner instead. If you choose that path, I've already won." He then levitated the table back onto the floor, using two boxes from the mess to hold up the missing leg. After that, he set the bottle on the table, and looked at Rainbow Dash, who was still unconscious, and then proceeded to levitate her into the air once again.
"Don't you do it!" Twilight yelled, a mixture of fear and anger caught in her voice.
"Oh, you have nothing to worry about, your highness." The colt said in his normal, soft voice. He then sent an electric shock into Rainbow Dash that immediately snapped her back awake. She let out a short scream as she woke up from the unpleasant surprise of being shocked, then realizing she was floating. Not by flying, but by levitation magic. Rainbow Dash started panicking for a brief moment, then turned around and saw the figure lifting her in the air.
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash screamed in hope that her friend could save her. "Help!" She redirected her focus to the colt and spoke once again. "Please don't hurt me!"
"That's for your friend to decide, miss." The colt looked at Twilight. "Your friend will be my prisoner, and there is nothing you can do so don't even try. Now, her fate is your decision, princess. Your two choices are coming with me and your friend will be safe for as long as she's in my hooves, or you can be my prisoner, and then I will end your friend." His smile widened. "And eventually you as well."
"I don't understand though." Twilight said. "Why would you hope that I don't make the decision that would make your plan easier?" Twilight didn't entirely care, but at the same time, she wanted to know what was going on in the mind of this psycho.
"Convenience." He said with no emotion in his voice, but with the unnerving smile still stuck on his face. "It would make my plan easier if you decided to be stubborn and sacrifice your own friend, but it's much more risky. Besides, murder is a last resort. I'd never make that my first plan...but I'm not afraid to do it."
Twilight let out a sigh, and then spoke once again. Tears began to form in her eyes. "First, I need you to give me your word that she'll be safe if I go with you."
"Oh, but of course, your highness." The colt said. "I always keep a promise, no matter what."
"Are you sure I can trust you?"
His smile widened. "With my life." He said slowly, but surely. There was a certain level of trust in his voice that was unsettling, but sounded as honest as could be.
Twilight paused for a split second. A tear finally ran down her face and her voice broke. "Alright..." she started. "My best option is to go with you. Just, please don't hurt Rainbow Dash!"
The colt finally let out a long, loud laugh. Twilight noticed that Rainbow Dash was crying too. The two girls were scared half to death of what this psychopath would do. After his laugh, he began a new sentence. "You have my word, princess Twilight." He stressed the words 'princess Twilight.' Nopony besides her friends had ever called her 'princess Twilight.' Ponies whom she never met before would call her 'Twilight Sparkle' or 'princess' or 'your highness' or even 'princess Twilight Sparkle,' but never 'princess Twilight.' He then let go of Rainbow Dash and said "You'll both regret it if you even dare to escape." Rainbow Dash backed up next to Twilight, and the two stayed close beside each other, tears running down both their faces. The colt took the glowing liquid off the table once again. "You two might feel a bit, ahem, sick, during this journey."
"J-journey?" Twilight asked in confusion. Her tone made it obvious that she was still scared half to death.
"You heard me." The colt hesitated no longer and started drinking the liquid. Within just a few seconds, the entire bottle was completely empty of its contents. Within just a few seconds, the colt's eyes started turning white, and glowing even brighter. Before, his irises were red and his eyes were glowing, but now they were gone, and the room came to light as if all the candles were lit. After a few more seconds, his horn started glowing in the way it would if he were starting a spell. Exactly like he was starting a spell. He started walking straight towards Twilight and Rainbow Dash, until he was literally standing right in front of their faces. He gave them a smirk and said "Get ready."
A wind started up in the room. Papers flew from everywhere, books were tumbled and tossed around, chairs were pushed around, and an ear splitting howl of the rushing air filled the three's ears. The colt's horn let out a dome above their heads, acting similarly to how a shield spell would. The colt began laughing even louder than he had anytime before that they'd met him. It didn't sound evil, but insane. Twilight and Rainbow Dash never felt more uncomfortable standing next to somepony else. Then the two friends turned to look at their surroundings. They were shocked by what they saw. Everything around them looked like space. There were also thousands of suns, all in multiple lines, completely even. Behind them all was a sun that made the thousands in front of it look like small midgets. A swirl of all sorts of colors were emitting from this giant sun. Twilight had no idea what was going on, and could only focus on this sight that would not originate from her wildest dreams, accompanied by the sound of the colt's mad laughter that was echoing throughout the stars. Twilight turned to her friend, who looked more shocked than anypony she had ever seen.
******
About a minute passed by, and then Twilight noticed that the three of them were all rotating around this insane part of the universe. The swirl of colors, however, did not change position. It was always behind the giant sun, no matter how far they moved to the side. The colt's laughter only sounded like it was getting louder, and Twilight and Rainbow Dash could not stand it any longer.
Rainbow Dash screamed as if someone were pulling her flesh off. "Make this all stop!" She yelled. "I can't take it!" She started twitching uncontrollably as tears covered her face, and her screams continued on through the air around them, piercing the ears of Twilight. The alicorn could barely stand to see one of her best friends losing her sanity in front of her very eyes.
"How much longer will this go on?" Twilight yelled to the colt, trying to speak over her friend's cries, and over his mad laughter. But he didn't answer. He didn't even pause, or look at her. He just kept laughing. Twilight had a hard time deciding which of the two were louder, and just as hard a time deciding which sound was most disturbing.
Twilight then began to hear a ringing in her ears. It almost blocked out the sound of the colt and Rainbow Dash, but they were still audible in the back of this ringing. Twilight covered her ears at the sound of this. She looked around her and started to see the sight of the thousand suns and the mammoth star begin to slowly fade away into blackness before her, as well as the swirl of color and the depths of space behind it. Eventually, all that was visible were the other two ponies right near her. But no sooner had space around her disappeared, Rainbow Dash and the insane colt started fading into the same blackness. Soon, they were gone too. But the indescribable insanity of those two minutes got no stranger as after the two were out of her vision, their voices could still be heard, and even louder and the echo of them banging around in her head harder and faster. The ringing did not cease either. At this point, Twilight lost her mind too. Just like Rainbow Dash, it was too much for her to handle. She started screaming and crying in just the same way Rainbow Dash had. This went on for a half minute, the sounds getting even louder and more unbearable by the second. Then, it just stopped. All the sounds, the echos, and even the ringing came to a complete halt. Twilight noticed it stop, but then suddenly felt tired. She wanted to go to sleep, and she had no idea why.
So she did.
******
A light breeze blew through Twilight Sparkle's mane. The smell of flowers and grass filled her nose, and the cool air felt nice on her fur. She felt like she could sleep there all day, and didn't even feel like opening her eyes. She wondered why she even woke up in the first place. She felt the grass below her rub against her stomach, which felt even more comfortable. She cleared her mind so that she could go back to sleep, when suddenly a voice snapped her out of her tiredness.
"Excuse me, miss." The voice said. "Mind explaining what you're doing sleeping in my field?"
Being waken up by a stranger's voice asking why you're sleeping in their field is sure to wake you up instantly. It did for Twilight, as she jumped up from her rest at hearing this voice speak to her.
"Huh?" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. She looked directly above her, revealing that she was under a tree, lying on the ground below it. She turned to her right and saw that a middle-aged light-blue mare who was wearing a straw hat was standing in the shade of the tree staring at her. She looked quite annoyed.
"I said," The mare repeated. Her voice was somewhat higher pitched, but not like that of a filly. "What are you doing sleeping in my field?"
"I..." Twilight stood up instantly. She felt a sharp pain in her forehoof, the same one that she stepped on the glass shard with. She let go of her weight on it and continued. "I'm so sorry, ma'am! I didn't mean...er...you see, it's a long story, but I didn't mean to intrude..." The mare interrupted her before Twilight could continue.
"That makes no sense, miss."
Twilight tried remembering what happened, but it was very blurry. She didn't remember stepping on broken glass, barely remembered the demented colt who she had encountered earlier, and had no idea why all that even happened in the first place. But there was one thing she remembered clearly, which was the trip through the alternate dimension. She remembered the thousands of suns lined up around the monstrous star in the middle. She remembered the blackness of space and the swirl of the entire light spectrum behind the behemoth. And the clearest memory was Rainbow Dash and whoever in Celestia's name the insane pony who sent them all there in the first place was. The laughter of insanity made by the colt, and the wails of her friend Rainbow Dash made her shudder and instantly shun just the thought of the entire experience. Speaking of Rainbow Dash and this crazy pony, where were they? Twilight turned to look everywhere around, and sure enough just as the mare who just woke her up said, she was in a wheat field. Despite this, Rainbow Dash wasn't around, and neither was the colt. Twilight instantly turned back to the mare and said, "Where am I?"
"I already told you, you're in my field." The mare said, looking more annoyed by the second. "Now scram before I force you out myself."
"Where are my friends?" Twilight raised her voice in a worried way. She took a step closer to the mare. Tears began welling up in her eyes. "One of them is a cyan mare with rainbow colored hair, and the other is brown with black hair! I must have lost them, I don't-"
The mare interrupted her again. "No idea what you're talking about. You must be crazy. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them, but this is your last chance to get out of my field before I go grab my sickle and chase you out of here myself, miss."
Twilight knew that when she said the colt was her friend, it was false. But she didn't take it back, because then she would have to explain the unbelievable story, which would only make her look even crazier. She paused for a brief second, and then let out a short sigh and spoke again. "Okay. Thank you, ma'am." Twilight limped out of the shade of the tree and into the blinding light of the sun, reflecting its light on the golden wheat around her. She made sure to keep her weight off of her injured hoof, while the mare just stared at her until she left. After Twilight got out of the field, she immediately knew she wasn't in Canterlot. The first thing was that it was dirty. The houses and environment just looked dirty and unclean, and the streets were literally made of dirt instead of the cobblestone roads. The houses were entirely made of wood with wooden beams instead of the plaster, bricks, and some stone bricks. They were also much further apart instead of practically touching. The only thing that was similar was the population. Just like in Canterlot, there were ponies walking around all the time. Not so many that it was overcrowded, but not so few that there was hardly anypony walking the streets. Just like in Canterlot. But as she walked down the streets, she immediately noticed something wasn't normal. There were beggars and hobos. In fact, she couldn't even go one block without seeing at least one pony sitting on the sidewalk begging for bits or something else, laying in rags that were probably used to keep themselves warm during the nights. Another notable thing was the technology. Normally, wooden wagons would be used to carry things, but this wasn't the case. Most ponies were carrying things around in old-fashioned bags, and some even having other ponies carry their stuff for them. This was extremely rare in Canterlot. Then another thought hit Twilight, and it wasn't a good thought. If she was teleported to a completely different town and Rainbow Dash and the colt weren't with her, then they could literally be anywhere. For all she knew, Rainbow Dash could be at the border of Equestria, and the insane colt could be all the way in the Crystal Empire! This thought made Twilight's heart sink. Maybe she could somehow find her friend, and then find the colt. And hopefully in that order. But she couldn't be sure. She kept walking aimlessly, staring at the air in front of her, dust from the streets following behind her hoofsteps, completely alone with her thoughts. She looked into the sky in front of her, and noticed a tall mountain with a castle. She thought nothing of this for a moment, but then she snapped out of her dreamworld and looked back at the mountain and castle. Everything she thought was strange about the town now was confirmed to be off, but also debunked previous theories about what just happened. For the mountain and castle was the exact same mountain and castle in Canterlot.
******
A chill ran down Twilight's spine as she just stared at the castle. How could this be possible? The town was nothing like Canterlot, but it was in the exact same location as the Canterlot they were in before! Something obviously happened, but Twilight couldn't tell what. She just stood there, staring at the castle, trying to conjure up an idea. Her heart raced faster and faster. Then she thought of something. What if she was taken back in time? Maybe the interdimensional warp sent her back in the days of olden Canterlot. It seemed likely, and again, any idea was possible at this point. But this still begged the question, where was Rainbow Dash and the colt that they were sent to take care of? She couldn't lose him, or else the quest that the Cutie Map sent them on would be failed, and she certainly couldn't lose Rainbow Dash. She also wanted to test this theory that they had traveled through time.
Then she thought of something. She thought back to Nightmare Moon, and the time it took. Back home, it had been about two years since Nightmare Moon was defeated, and Nightmare Moon had been stuck in the moon for exactly one thousand years, so that would mean if Nightmare Moon was still on the moon, or even still living in the castle with her sister, that would mean they did indeed go back in time.
Of course, she had to go and find out.
Twilight searched for a place that might provide useful information, like a shop, or even just asking somepony random if she had to. Then she spotted a diner on the other side of the street, which was as good a place as ever. Besides, she was starting to get a bit hungry. Twilight trotted across the dusty street toward the small building, dodging the traffic of other ponies along the way.
She pushed open the door of the diner, and walked in. The diner certainly looked like something from hundreds of years ago, with old-fashioned decoration on the walls including small banners and shiny blades, and long tables meant to seat multiple ponies at once. In the back was the counter where one would order, and had a snow-white mare with a long, crimson red mane and tail tending the bar and taking orders from the line of ponies waiting to get theirs. A few other ponies had already been seated, and some of those already eating. The smell of fresh food filled the air in the building, making Twilight realize just how hungry she was.
Twilight stepped up into line, nearly forgetting what she was originally there for. After about a minute, the line shortened down to her. The white mare began taking her order.
"Hello, miss," She said, forcing a smile, "What would you like to eat?"
Twilight looked at the menu above. The first option was a salad, so she decided to take that.
"Let's see," Twilight said, looking back at the mare. "I'll just have the salad."
"Okay then," The mare used her magic to lift a feather pen and write something down in a small notebook. "That'll be two bits."
Then Twilight remembered that she didn't take any bits with her. How could she have forgotten? She looked around, and then, too embarrassed to look back at the mare, told the truth.
"Um, sorry," She started with a cough, "But I forgot to bring any bits."
The mare just gave her a weird look, and then tore the page out that she had just written in. "Okay then, come back when you have bits, I guess."
"Hold on," Twilight said. "I was going to ask you a question. And as weird a question I know it'll sound, I need you to answer it."
"Um, okay..."
"Who's ruling Equestria right now?"
The mare looked at Twilight like she was an alien. "Um, that would be Prince Galaxy, miss..."
Twilight's heart sank. So it was true. She wasn't in the same time period as she had been in before. She was so far back in time, Princess Celestia wasn't even their ruler yet! Twilight tried to hide the look of sheer bewilderment on her face, but the the mare seemed to have noticed it.
"Are you okay?" The mare asked.
"Uh, yeah," Twilight said slowly. "Sorry."
"Oh, and just in case you don't know, Prince Galaxy won't be ruler for much longer. There's the next Crowning of Equestria ceremony coming up in two months. Tomorrow is also the last day for anypony who's interested to sign up and take the Test of Royalty."
Twilight remembered this from previous history studies. But it also stated that this came only once every 1,500 years. The shock factor of her being in a time before Celestia was the ruler was almost overwhelming. Twilight stepped away from the front of the line and left the diner. The smell of dust replaced the smell of food, but Twilight almost didn't feel hungry anymore. Twilight's mind raced with even more thoughts as she leaned on the wall of the building. Her mind wandered back to her previous thoughts and questions, like why were they here? How would they get back? Where was Rainbow Dash?
Rainbow Dash jolted awake in a cold sweat. All she could hear was her heavy breathing and the loud thumping of her own heart. She thought she had gone blind, but soon realized that she was in a dark room as her eyes started adjusting. There was a barred window revealing the dark blue night sky, painted with stars. She slowly stood up and tried walking, but saw that all four of her hooves were chained to the floor.
"H-hello?" Rainbow Dash moaned. "Anybody there?"
She tried pulling against the chains, but they were tight on her hooves, causing them to rub and burn her skin with every tug against them. The only way they'd come off is if they were taken off, or broken off. There wouldn't be any way for her to pull away, and there was no way to break them. She also had no key, so she was stuck there.
Rainbow Dash tried not to panic, but she was in total shock. Just a few minutes earlier, she was being tortured. She remembered being rotated around hundreds of flaming balls like suns and hearing an eerie ringing noise relentlessly penetrating her sanity. She also saw images of silhouettes of other ponies in crazy places. Most of which she couldn't remember. All she knew was that what she was seeing was greatly disturbing, and she was just recovering from it. The more she thought of it, the more she panicked. She could no longer hold it in.
"Somepony," Rainbow Dash cried, "Help me! Please!" She started trying to fly away in all directions, but the chains kept her down. They rubbed against her skin, but Rainbow Dash could hardly feel the pain any more. She just wanted to get out of that place. She began sobbing loudly, feverishly moaning for help every few seconds. But after about two minutes of constant struggle, she gave up. Rainbow Dash dropped herself to the ground.
She began to softly cry, hardly loud enough for even herself to hear. She never felt more helpless in her life. Being trapped, bound to chains like a prisoner, but had done nothing wrong. And just before that, she felt like her ears were being pulled off, her skin stuck to burning flames. It all had happened so suddenly. She wondered, was she dreaming? Was all this a disturbing figment of her imagination? Her thoughts jumped from idea to idea, and were suddenly interrupted by the echo of hoofsteps coming from outside the room.
The 'clop, clop' sound of hoofsteps could be heard from down the hall. Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief. Somepony had finally come to save her, or at least interrogate her. A white mare with an inky black mane appeared from behind the wall, and walked down the staircase towards her. She was carrying a sword with her magic. The mare stopped about five feet from Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash stood slowly stood up.
"You must be Rainbow Dash," The mare said. She sounded young, even younger than her. Her voice was soft, but unsympathetic.
"Um...yes," Rainbow Dash stuttered, "I am. Who are you?"
The mare pointed her sword towards Rainbow Dash. "My name and my reason for being here is of no importance to you right now." Rainbow Dash stepped back. The mare paused for a brief second, and then lowered her blade. "I need to know where you are from and why you fell out of the sky."
Rainbow Dash gave her a confused look. Then she started to give an answer to this strange question. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you sure-"
The mare stepped forward, holding her sword just inches away from Rainbow Dash's throat. Rainbow Dash took a half step back, too frightened to take a full step.
"Don't you dare play dumb on me, Rainbow Dash," The mare threatened. "I was ordered to end you here and now if you give an unsatisfactory answer." There was a look of calm anger in her eyes.
"Wait!" Rainbow Dash protested. She took another full step backwards, but the mare stepped closer. "I swear I don't remember anything about falling from the sky! I actually just woke up a few minutes ago!"
"The reports say you were first discovered falling from the sky, and you landed in a cart full of hay. When soldiers arrived to investigate, us unicorns detected powerful magic emitting from your eyes, wings, and chest. I can't sense anything now, but again, I was ordered not to take anything you say for granted. Explain to me."
Rainbow Dash felt herself slowly walking backwards. The mare stepped with her, getting closer every time. Soon Rainbow Dash felt the chains tug against her once again. She had run out of room, and the mare was just a foot away, with her sword just as close as it was before.
"Okay, I'll tell you everything that happened!" Rainbow Dash nervously said. "I was checking out an old house with Twilight Sparkle because we were sent to see what was going on there. And there actually was something. It was some crazy colt who beat both of us up, and teleported us to some crazy place...where..." Flashbacks of the place they were sent to for what felt like an eternity came back. She held back her tears, immediately shunned those memories, and tried continuing with her explanation. "...I don't remember anything else after that..."
The white mare gave her an indifferent look. Rainbow Dash never broke eye contact, and tried ignoring the sword hovering right at her neck that could end her life if the mare found one thing to be unconvincing. But to her relief, the mare lowered her sword once again. She gave Rainbow Dash a threatening look.
"Can't say I'm convinced," She started, "But it seems possible, to say the most. I'll spare your life for now, but you will have to explain to Prince Galaxy about the dilemma. If you can't convince him..." She raised her sword a final time, no more than an inch away from her face. She held it there for a second, and then lowered it. "You'll be out of those chains before 15 minutes are up."
The mare walked out of the room and back up the stairs.
******
A large crowd gathered around the center of a street. Twilight Sparkle looked up. She decided she would go take a look and see what was going on. In the center of the street, royal guards stood atop a large podium, waiting for somepony else. A large crowd gathered around. Twilight patiently looked around, her mind now focused on the question of, "what's going on?"
After a few minutes, somepony from the crowd yelled, "The prisoners are here!"
Prisoners? Back in the future Canterolt, the one Twilight lived in, crime was one of the more uncommon activities. And when it came to war prisoners, that was unheard of in their current culture. The latest war had happened years before Twilight was born. Twilight looked to the left, which is where everypony else turned to look, and sure enough, four carts full of what was apparently full of the prisoners were being pulled toward the podium by more guards. Soon, the guards escorted every single prisoner up onto the podium. Then, the guards bound each prisoner's hooves to chains.
Twilight looked around at each prisoner. They all looked scared, or angry. Or both. They came in all shapes and sizes, all colors and genders. Twilight wondered what they all could have possibly been convicted of. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed what looked like a familiar face. It looked almost twice as frightened as everypony else up there. But when Twilight made it out, she could hardly believe her eyes. She did a double take.
