> Three Hundred and Fifty
>  by Void Chicken
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Three Hundred and Fifty


A bush at the edge of Ponyville hid a young filly, its leaves providing the barest of concealment. She was still as stone, barely breathing. A bead of sweat formed on her brow. If she had been seen, any number of terrible, horrible things might have happened, like losing her chance at a cutie mark in stealth. Her eyes scanned the view, searching for any threats. Yes, Sweetie Belle thought to herself, nopony can find me here.

A pair of hooves came down on her shoulders. "Gotcha!" a voice shouted from above.

The unicorn filly screamed and jumped out of the bush in shock. She panted, holding a forehoof to her chest. "Don't scare me like that! How did," Sweetie Belle wheezed, "you find me?"

"Your horn was sticking out," Apple Bloom replied, indicating the offending body part.

Sweetie Belle looked up. "Dumb... horn... I don't see... Scootaloo with you... did she win?" she asked between gasps.

"No, but I'm going to go check the barn and the orchard again. I thought I heard Winona sneezing, but then I found her with Applejack in town, so I figure Scootaloo's around there somewhere."

"I can... help you look."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "You sure about that, Sweetie? You don't look too good. Maybe you should go take another break, catch your breath."

The unicorn slowly turned. "That... sounds good... I'm going... to go see... if I can help Rarity... with her dresses..."

She plodded off towards Carousel Boutique.

"Sure been needing a lot of breaks these days," Apple Bloom commented to herself.

---

Sweetie Belle's hoofsteps stumbled as she passed the library. Her head swam and her chest felt like somepony had put a saddle on her and strapped it too tight. She looked at the Boutique in the distance, then the library nearby. Sweetie Belle dragged herself to the library, her head pounding.

Twilight Sparkle was in heaven. In one corner of the library, a wooden crate hid a wealth of knowledge. A tome effortlessly slid from the container in the magical grasp of its new owner. Four hundred pages of wisdom passed in front of her approving gaze and nestled itself on an empty shelf, where it awaited more of its kin. A second book was making its way across the room when a door opening broke the librarian's reverie.

Twilight looked over at her visitor. "Oh, hello Sweetie Belle. Can I help you with something?"

"Hi... Twilight... I just need... to sit down... for a..."

Sweetie Belle wobbled for a moment, then collapsed.

"Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle!" The precious book dropped to the floor, instantly forgotten.

Twilight rushed to Sweetie's side. Twilight nudged the filly's head, which flopped over. She lightly shook the limp filly. "Sweetie Belle?" Twilight's eyes darted around the room while her mind raced.

"Spike!" she barked up the stairs. "Find Rarity and tell her I'm taking Sweetie Belle to the hospital!" Sweetie Belle floated up and onto Twilight's back. Without looking back, the mare bolted out of the library.

---

Hooves thundered down the dirt road as one unicorn carried another. Ahead, Ponyville General Hospital came into view. On Twilight's back, the filly stirred.

"Mmm... Wha... Twilight?"

Twilight slowed to a trot. She looked back at the white filly. "Oh thank goodness you're okay!"

Sweetie Belle raised her head. "What happened? I was going to the library and felt real dizzy."

"You passed out. But we're on our way to the hospital. The doctors will find out what's going on, all right?"

Sweetie nodded weakly.

Twilight smiled at her. "You'll be back on your hooves in no time."

Sweetie Belle lay her head down between Twilight's shoulder blades, too tired to care about the mare's trot rocking her back and forth.

---

The doors to Ponyville General Hospital opened. Hurrying in, Twilight gently set Sweetie Belle down on the floor.

Nurse Redheart looked up. "Good afternoon, how can I help you?"

Twilight replied, "Sweetie Belle passed out in the library ten minutes ago, and I got worried about her, so I took her here as fast as I could. She's woken up, but I'm still concerned about her. This isn't right for a filly her age."

The white earth mare kneeled down in front of Sweetie Belle's prone form. "Sweetie Belle, how are you feeling? What doesn't feel right, dear?"

Sweetie tried to prop herself up on her forelegs, but fell back onto her stomach. "I'm really dizzy... and my chest hurts."

"Oh dear. Let's get you to one of the exam rooms so we can see what's wrong, all right, Sweetie?" The nurse put Sweetie Belle on her back and took her deeper into the hospital, leaving Twilight to wait.

Moments later, the front door burst open.

"Where is my sister?!" Rarity boomed. "What happened to my dear Sweetie Belle?!"

"Rarity, this is a hospital! Keep your voice down!" Twilight hissed from her seat in the waiting section.

Rarity paced to the seat next to her friend before dusting it off with her tail and sinking into it. "Oh when I heard from Spike that Sweetie Belle was here, I just rushed over as quickly as I could! Is she all right? What happened, Twilight?"

"Sweetie Belle passed out, and when she came to, she complained about dizziness and chest pains."

"Oh... oh dear." Rarity became lost in thought. "It couldn't be... she's too young..."

Twilight peered over. "Rarity?"

Rarity waved her away. "No, no, it's nothing, I'm sure. I'm just being paranoid. She's too young, after all." A moment passed. "I do wish I'd brought the address of the hotel Mom and Dad were staying at; they picked a fine time to go on vacation."

"Spike should show up sooner or later. I'm sure he wouldn't mind looking through your things to find where you put it."

Rarity glared at Twilight.

Twilight closed her eyes and grinned nervously. "I mean... I'm sure Spike wouldn't mind asking Fluttershy to look through your things to find where you put it."

Rarity smirked. "Better. In fact, Twilight, you don't have to wait here. She's my sister after all."

Twilight laid her hoof across Rarity's. "She's my friend's sister. I'm worried about her too."

"Thank you, Twilight."

Nurse Redheart poked her head out of a door. "For Sweetie Belle? Come on back; she's in one of our rooms."

Rarity stood up. "Yes, yes, let's go see her."

---

"Sweetie Belle! How are you feeling? Is everything okay?" Rarity yelled, rushing to her sister's side.

Sweetie Belle slowly craned her neck up, looking at her sister with droopy eyes. "Tired."

An off-white earth stallion entered the room. "Good afternoon, I'm Doctor Tenderhoof. How are you feeling, Sweetie Belle?"

The filly looked over once again. "Still tired."

Twilight peered across the bed. "What's wrong with her?"

Tenderhoof replied, "Sweetie Belle's developed some disturbing heart murmurs. It's unusual to hear them in a filly her age. Sweetie Belle, have you had any recent fevers or throat infections?"

Rarity looked to her sister, who drowsily shook her head.

The doctor looked at a clipboard on the end table next to the bed. "Any family history of heart issues then?"

"Oh my, do you think that's it?" Rarity said. "I mean, there have been problems in my mother's side of the family—we lost our dear grandmother Sparkler to a heart attack last year—but nothing in anypony as young as Sweetie Belle. I personally have been lucky enough to avoid anything serious." Rarity rapped on the end table with her hoof. "But she's young, and she'll bounce back, right?"

"We're waiting on the results of the x-rays to be sure, but she'll need some major treatment in any case."

Nurse Redheart poked her head in the door. "Doctor Tenderhoof, I have the patient's x-rays ready in the hallway."

"Thank you." He motioned out the door. "Would you like to discuss them out there, Miss...?"

"Rarity. And I certainly would."

Twilight settled in next to Sweetie's bed. "I'll keep Sweetie Belle company."

Rarity and the doctor left the room.

---

Sweetie Belle had just nodded off when Twilight heard a loud thump against the wall and the unmistakable noise of a shouting unicorn.

Twilight smiled. "On second thought, I'm going to go see what's going on."

Twilight exited into the hallway, eyes narrowed. "Rarity, what on earth has gotten into—"

Rarity was busy being restrained by the nurse, her earth pony strength only barely blocking sisterly rage. "You... you... you charlatan! You quack!"

Twilight moved to help the nurse hold Rarity away from Tenderhoof's throat. "Rarity!"

"This... this fraud is telling lies about Sweetie Belle!"

Twilight decided to ignore her. "Doctor, what is it?"

Doctor Tenderhoof tried to straighten his coat. "I'm sorry, but she has a severely malformed heart valve. It's much worse than we first thought. There's nothing we can do."

"LIAR!" Rarity's mascara ran down her face.

Twilight's own eyes began to water. "How long does she have?"

"Two, three months at the most. I'm sorry."

Rarity choked through her sobs, "L... liar..." Twilight pulled her into a hug, and the two sank to the floor.

"Rarity... I'm so sorry..." was all Twilight could think to say as her friend sobbed into her shoulder.

---

The closed curtains muted the sunlight shining into the hospital room. Applejack slowly pushed the door open, letting two of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, as well as a blue pegasus, into the room.

Sweetie Belle looked up. "Hi girls."

"Morning, sugarcube." Applejack chuckled. "I see Pinkie Pie's been through here already." One corner of the room had ceased to exist, being replaced by balloons, streamers, and enough confectionaries to feed the entire hospital.

"Fluttershy came by with her bunnies, too. They bounced all over me and we snuggled a bunch." She made a vague hugging motion with her forelegs. "It was really nice."

Applejack stepped around Rarity's sleeping form and sat by the bed. "How do you feel, Sweetie?"

Sweetie Belle hesitated, then turned her eyes to meet Applejack's. "Scared."

Applejack nodded. "It's only natural to be scared, Sweetie Belle. But you have to be brave, for your friends' sake."

"It ain't fair!" Apple Bloom shouted, stomping her forehoof. "You told me everypony gets their cutie mark someday! This ain't right!"

Applejack moved next to her sister, eyes on her. "Some things happen that aren't right, Apple Bloom."

"Unless Sweetie Belle magically gets better and... uh..." Scootaloo drifted off. "Sorry." She sniffed away a tear.

Rarity lifted her head and half-heartedly adjusted her frazzled mane. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice you all coming in: Applejack, Rainbow, girls."

Rainbow Dash shoved her way to the bedside. "Hey, when's the last time you've seen Twilight, Sweetie Belle?" she asked.

Sweetie's eyes swept the ceiling. "Um, last week I think, when I got here."

Rainbow threw her forelegs up. "Exactly! Why the hay hasn't she been by? Doesn't she care anymore?!"

"Rainbow!" Applejack glared at her friend. "Everypony deals with grief differently. It isn't our place to tell Twilight how she should handle her feelings."

"She shouldn't be abandoning Sweetie Belle either!" Rainbow yelled back. "I'm going to head over to the library and knock some sense into her!"

"Rainbow, don't you da—" Applejack started, but the pegasus was gone.

---

Buildings whirred past the pegasus as the library quickly filled Rainbow Dash's view. She landed at the front door and banged on it several times.

"Twilight! I know you're in there!" Rainbow banged on it again.

When the door did not immediately burst off of its hinges, Rainbow swung it open. She found her anger knocked out of her by the potent stench of fresh coffee. Rainbow ducked her head under an impromptu book archway as she uneasily entered. Books were scattered on every horizontal surface, and a frazzled librarian sat at a desk with her back to the pegasus.

Rainbow's ears dropped back, along with the rest of the mare. "Uh, Twilight? What's with the—"

"Studying! Busy studying! Have to be fast! Have to get it soon! No time to waste!" Twilight giggled. "Time! Get it?" She turned around, cup levitating near her bloodshot eyes.

Rainbow shifted backwards. "Geez, Twilight, when's the last time you've slept?"

"Sleep? Can't sleep! Not yet!" Her ear twitched several times.

Rainbow Dash slowly backed away. "Oookay, I'm just going to go now and let Sweetie Belle know you're busy, then."

"Yes! Sweetie Belle!" Twilight paused. "Canterlot!"

"Canterlot?"

Twilight sprung to her hooves. "Spike!"

A baby dragon entered the room, carrying a pot of coffee. "Another cup, Twilight?"

Twilight darted around the library, pulling books from the shelves. "Write a letter to the Princess! Tell her I need every scroll in the Starswirl wing! I've done it before I can do it again! But bigger! But I need more scrolls, more books! And tell the Princess to have more coffee ready! Next train leaves in an hour! Better pack fast!" Twilight produced a pair of saddlebags and began shoving her books into it.

Rainbow stared at the unicorn, while taking the opportunity to reverse out the door. "Yyyeah, I'm going now."

She backed out of the library, slowly closing the door. A moment later it burst open again, and a unicorn trotted out, followed by a hovering procession of three cups, eight books, and one dragon.

Rainbow Dash could only stare.

---

Two months, one week, and three days. It had been two months, one week, and three days since Sweetie Belle's diagnosis. When Rarity had closed her eyes the previous night, she knew that when they opened, her sister's might not.

In her dreams, Rarity was on a ship, tossing in a storm. Her sister was overboard, being swept away by the waves. She could only watch Sweetie Belle be taken from her, as the ship rocked back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...

Rarity awoke with a start. She felt a set of small claws on her shoulder, shaking her. The room was dark, the midnight sky outside.

"Spike? What could it be at this hour?" She shifted on the pillow she lay on.

"Sorry, Rarity," the dragon said, "but Twilight wants you to come visit her. She says it's really important, and to bring Sweetie Belle."

Rarity's eyes pointed to the floor. "Well, no offense Spike, but Twilight hasn't been... herself lately." She looked up. "Or perhaps she has been herself far too much."

"But Twilight thinks... she thinks she has a way to save Sweetie Belle. And... I think I believe her."

Rarity looked back and forth between her sister and Spike. "I'm just not sure it's a good idea to move her in her... condition."

"Please, Rarity." Spike took her hoof in his hands. "Do it for me?"

"Well... I suppose it can't make her worse... in the end." Rarity stood up and walked to where her parents were sleeping. "Mom? Dad?" She gently pushed at them.

Rarity's parents awoke. "Rarity?" her mother asked. "What is it?" She gasped and put a hoof to her mouth. "Sweetie Belle hasn't...!?"

"No, not... not yet." Rarity looked at the sleeping filly, just to be sure. Sweetie Belle's chest rose and fell, her mind off in dreamland. "Twilight thinks she can do something, and I trust her, so we're taking Sweetie Belle on a little trip."

"Rarity," her father started, "I don't think it's a good—"

Rarity stood up straight. "I am not going to sit here while there might be a way to save my sister's life! We are taking her to Twilight and that is final!"

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes. "Rarity? Mom, Dad, what's going on?"

"Oh, Sweetie Belle! Good, you're awake!" Rarity chimed. "We were just about to take you to go see Twilight! Doesn't that sound fun?"

The filly slowly nodded, closing her eyes. "Mm-hm. I'd like to see Twilight... one more time."

"See? It's settled!" Rarity proudly levitated Sweetie Belle off of the bed and pranced out the door.

---

Outside, Rarity and Sweetie Belle found their friends.

"All of you?" Rarity asked.

"That's right," Applejack responded, "Twilight wants us all to come and see what she's got cooking."

Apple Bloom yawned. Scootaloo was asleep on Rainbow Dash's back.

Applejack continued, "And some ponies wanted to come along and watch. Here, I got a wagon so y'all don't have to carry her." She tossed her head behind her at her cart.

"So where is Twilight, anyways?" Rainbow asked. "Last time I saw her, she was running off to Canterlot."

"Tell me about it," Spike said. "She's been running me ragged working on that project of hers." He walked in circles waving his arms. "Spike get me this book, Spike get me that scroll, Spike get me half the Canterlot vaults. And now she's going to be mad at me for taking this long to round you all up. So if we can just get to the train station so I can be ordered around some more...?"

"Spike," Applejack said, "the train don't run this time of night."

"The Princess arranged for a special trip, now come on before Twilight teleports here to yell at us or something."

---

After a train stop in the middle of the route and several minutes' walk, the ponies and dragon found themselves looking at a set of tall crystals jutting out of the ground.

Six crystals, each over forty feet tall, sat in a circle with a multitude of faintly glowing gems floating in the air between their tops. On the ground, a wooden stand and a purple unicorn stood on a sunken crystal slab. A staggering number of circles and runes on the ground around the collection completed the effect.

Twilight trotted over. "There you are! Spike, what took you so long?" This elicited only an eyeroll in response.

Rainbow looked up, eyes wide. "What is it?" she asked.

"It looks... scary," Fluttershy added.

"This," Twilight said, "is a trans-temporal transportational apparatus, designed to jump along the fourth dimension, while remaining stationary relative to the planetary gravitational field, of course." She smiled and clapped her hooves.

"What is it?" Rainbow asked.

Spike sighed. "It's a time machine."

Applejack snorted. "A time machine? How could—I mean in two months you—" She paused. "So, what, you're going to go back in time to before Sweetie Belle got sick? We couldn't exactly heal her then, either."

"No," Twilight said. "That wouldn't be possible anyways because I didn't arrive then. I can't change the past, after all." She paced around the magic lines in the grass, each blemish vanishing as soon as she stepped away. "Everything that's happened so far, will always have happened. That's why I knew I had to finish quickly because I haven't appeared from the future to help Sweetie Belle."

"So what's the point of this thing then?" Rainbow asked.

"Simple. Sweetie Belle and I are going to go to the future. I'm sure that medicine two centuries from now will be able to heal her. Then we come back!" Twilight beamed at the group.

"So..." Apple Bloom looked up at the towering crystals. "We can be Cutie Mark Crusader time travelers! I bet nopony's ever gotten a cutie mark in time travel!"

"We can go see the future!" Scootaloo hopped, wings fluttering. "There'll be undersea cities, and mechanical ponies, and invisibility suits, and flying carriages! It'll be so cool!" She turned back and forth between the adults.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Rarity asked.

"I've tested out most of the individual spell components, and I'm almost completely certain it'll work!" Twilight trotted to her creation and held her head high. Then she drooped slightly. "All right, it's a little dangerous. But it's the only way I can think of to save Sweetie Belle."

Rarity looked from Sweetie Belle to the apparatus. "Oh, I would feel much better if I could come with you."

Twilight walked up to her friend. "I'm sorry, Rarity; it only has room for two."

Rainbow looked across the large crystal slab at all the empty space between the pillars. "This can only hold two?"

"Oh," Rarity said, deflating slightly. "Mom? Dad?"

Rarity's mother slowly replied, "If... if it'll help Sweetie Belle... then I can't say no." Her father just nodded.

Twilight walked over to the cart where Sweetie Belle was barely awake. "Sweetie Belle? I'm going to take you to a time where they can heal you, all right?" Sweetie Belle nodded and Twilight levitated her to the center of the apparatus before following her. "Girls? You might want to stand back for this."

The ponies moved away before turning to look back at the two unicorns.

"Be careful, dear!" Rarity called, raising a hoof.

"And stay safe!" Applejack added.

"Bring back something cool!" Rainbow said.

"What she said!" yelled Scootaloo.

"Come back soon!" Apple Bloom said.

"Ooh!" Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing on all fours. "When you get back I'm going to throw a super-duper 'congratulations on going through time and being okay Sweetie Belle' party!" She jumped to complete the effect.

"I'll look forward to it, Pinkie Pie," Twilight responded. She gave one last look around. The gate crystals were aligned and the magic circles were drawn properly. Ahead of her sat the Nexus of Starswirl the Bearded, the artifact that made the whole apparatus possible. Twilight swallowed.

The magic circles on the ground illuminated and the floating gems began to swirl. Power crackled up the tall crystals and down into the unicorn's raised horn. The gems swirled faster and faster, becoming glowing blurs. Soon, swirling energy obscured the forms of the two ponies. The spinning lights within the energy flashed and winked out, and the energy itself faded, leaving nothing within.

The six pillars evaporated from their tops down, leaving only drifting smoke behind. The magic circles on the ground faded into the grass. All that remained was a hole in the ground, as if an Ursa had taken up golfing and failed.

Applejack looked at the hole. "I sure hope she knows what she's doing."

"Ooh! I'd better start baking for that party! There's no telling when she'll get back!"
> Welcome to Tomorrow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first rays of the rising sun shone across the cloudless sky. In an empty field, a rabbit foraged for its breakfast. A particularly good-looking blade of grass caught its eye. It bounded over for its meal.

Then the grass blade disintegrated. Strips of cyan fire burst from the ground. The rabbit ran as fast as its legs could carry it, away from the lines and circles burning their way into the brush, zipping across the field.

Energy burst from six locations on the ground, and blue balls of lightning rose, leaving crystalline pillars in their wake. Once complete, the lightning formed a ring connecting their tops. The ring of power collapsed into a point, then shot into the ground, blasting grass and dirt away.

Energy swirled between the pillars, darkening to opaqueness. Bits of grass, dirt, and gravel shot out of the maelstrom and across the field. Several bright flashes heralded the arrival of spinning lights within.

The energy faded, revealing two figures at the center. Gradually, the entire collection came to a halt.

Twilight Sparkle stood, legs wobbling, coat drenched in sweat, gasping for air.

"I think... I think it worked..." A motion above her caught her eye. "Wh—Sweetie look out!"

Twilight flung herself across Sweetie Belle and covered the back of her neck with her hooves. The gems above their heads fell, crashing against the base slab. Sparks of residual energy jumped over the two ponies, arcing off the crystalline surfaces. A pillar split with a loud crack, its top crashing less than a foot away from Twilight's hind leg.

Twilight grabbed the back of Sweetie Belle's neck with her mouth and ran away from the apparatus, narrowly dodging another falling pillar. In a gap in the magic circles, she set the filly down and watched the apparatus destroy itself in a shower of sparks and crystalline shards.

Twilight panted heavily. "That... was a close one, right Sweetie Belle?

"Sweetie Belle...?"

The filly didn't move.

"Sweetie Belle! No no no, not like this, not now. Come on, Sweetie Belle, wake up!" Twilight shook the filly. Tears filled her eyes. "Please, Sweetie Belle! Please!"

Twilight desperately searched the horizon. On the side of the mountain, the city of Canterlot stood in the dawning light. The city was more expansive than she remembered it being, and its buildings substantially taller. Twilight closed her eyes, grit her teeth, and concentrated on her horn, completely exhausted. A couple sparks came loose.

"Come on, come on... just one more... just one more...!"

Twilight strained, sucking air through her lungs, horn burning. Then a wave of purple washed across the two ponies and Twilight found herself and Sweetie on the side of a street. She looked around in confusion. She had either never been to this section of Canterlot before, or it had changed beyond recognition. Unfamiliar buildings loomed over the unicorn, the rising sun only illuminating their tops.

A nearby unicorn ran up. "You just... appeared! How di—"

"You have to help her!" Twilight motioned at Sweetie Belle. "She needs to get to the hospital right away, and I don't know where it is!"

"Oh uh, sure, I'll take her! You can follow behind me." A pair of transparent wings opened on the pony's back. "Canterlot General is the closest place."

The unicorn levitated Sweetie Belle onto her back, then took to the sky. "After me!" She flew off towards the city.

"Thank... you..." Twilight said between gasps. She tried to run after the flying pony, but her legs would only let her walk.

---

Strange streets greeted Twilight on her way to the hospital. She passed bright glowing crystals perched atop metal poles, giving light to those parts of the streets as yet untouched by the rising sun. Despite a trek through the downtown area, nothing struck Twilight as familiar. The city was Canterlot only in name. Twilight had to ask passing ponies how to navigate her own childhood home.

Twilight forced her protesting legs to take each step, to find the hospital. At length, she found a large building with the thankfully familiar cross and hearts on its face. She saw a set of windows with "Entrance" printed above it. Twilight approached, and as she reached the glass, a hole appeared in its center. The shimmering edge expanded until it was wide enough to admit the pony. Twilight dragged her aching hooves through.

Twilight looked at the reception desk. "Where's... Sweetie Belle...?"

The nurse moved around the counter to face Twilight. "Easy there, ma'am, what's the problem?"

Twilight panted. "I'm fine... but... a pony brought in a filly... a unicorn... and..."

"The unicorn filly that just came in? She's been taken to the emergency room. Are you her mother?"

"Sister... she's my friend's sister..."

"All right ma'am, just take a seat. Your friend's sister is in good hooves with us."

Twilight sat down, and finally took the opportunity to look around at her surroundings. The lights overhead sparkled with flowing magic instead of fireflies. And the fact she had walked through a pane of glass to get in didn't escape her either. The nurse wore a purple and blue amulet around her neck, and had a transparent horn to go with her transparent wings. "About the pony who brought Sweetie Belle in... where is she? I want to thank her properly for saving Sweetie's life."

"She left as soon as she dropped the patient off. Said she was missing an important meeting. But can you give us some information about Sweetie Belle? What happened before she passed out?"

Twilight scratched her chin. "About, well, let's say two months ago, Sweetie Belle was diagnosed with a congential heart valve defect. We're from, um, very far away where we had no way of healing her, and I, uh, figured that Canterlot might have some way. It took us, um, a while to get here, and Sweetie didn't have long to live, so I'm reeeaaaally hoping that Canterlot General can heal her." Twilight grinned.

While Twilight talked, the nurse's phantom horn levitated a clipboard and pen. She raised an eyebrow at Twilight's story. "All right, I'll get this information to the doctor, Miss...?"

"Twilight Sparkle. And thank you, so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

The nurse smiled. "We get that a lot, Miss Sparkle."

---

Waiting. Waiting was the hardest part. The uncertainty of whether Sweetie Belle lived or died. Twilight knew she should logically be analyzing her surroundings and work out exactly how this future was, or think of how to start repairs on the temporal apparatus, but she could only think of Sweetie Belle.

"No news is good news," she whispered to herself. "No news is good news."

A mare poked her head out of the door to the hospital's interior. "Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight jumped to her hooves. "Yes! I mean, how is Sweetie Belle? Is she all right? Can I see her?"

"Come right this way." The pegasus lead Twilight through the halls. Twilight couldn't help but sneak a peek inside the rooms she passed. Most of their interiors were obscured by partially-open doors and drawn curtains. What she did see defied comprehension. She got glimpses of odd shapes and strange magical glows.

"Sweetie Belle is in critical condition, but we've managed to stabilize her. I'm Doctor Sun Shine, by the way." Doctor Shine nodded at the unicorn.

"Twilight Sparkle. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The pair reached a small room with a very tall ceiling. The pegasus looked up and opened her wings before glancing at Twilight's wingless back. An awkward look flashed across her face before she smiled and lit up her transparent horn. A wheel on the side of the room magically spun and the floor lifted, sending the ponies several stories up.

They entered one of the hospital rooms. In the middle, Sweetie Belle lay on the bed: on her side and completely limp. A tube ran from some machine on the wall and down her throat, the filly's tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth.

Floating around were several gems wrapped in twinkling gold wire. Each had a thin blue beam leading from it to some part of Sweetie Belle's head or torso. A few of the gems were green, but most of them showed yellow. The wall behind her sported a slowly moving rainbow of colors.

Twilight walked to the filly's side. "Oh, Sweetie Belle..."

Doctor Shine shook her head. "In her present condition, I doubt Sweetie Belle will last another forty-eight hours."

Twilight looked into the pegasus's eyes. "But you can heal her, right? This whole trip wasn't for nothing, right?"

"We need to replace her aortic heart valve as soon as possible. We'll remove the defective valve and place one of these in its place." The doctor levitated a small circular valve to Twilight, who took it in her own magical grasp.

Twilight peered through the tiny device. It was small enough to fit up her nose if she tried hard enough. The flaps within were very finely crafted, and moved easily with her magic. "This is going to go in her heart?"

"That one is just a model, but yes. Alternatively, we could place one made of spare tissue inside, but they need replacing every decade or so, and Sweetie Belle is much too young to have to put up with those surgeries for her whole life. Personally, I strongly recommend the mechanical valve."

Twilight still stared through the tiny artificial valve. "Yes, yes. I can't see her being able to come back here very often."

"There is one problem." The pegasus levitated a clipboard in front of her. "Since Sweetie Belle is a minor, I'm legally required to obtain parental consent to perform this operation. You said you were just a friend of hers?"

Twilight's face dropped. She fell to her haunches. "Oh no. I... I can't go back for that. Not in forty-eight hours. It'll take too long!" She dropped entirely onto the floor, and grabbed at the doctor's coat. "I don't have the time to do it! Please, you have to save her! There has to be something I can do! Anything!"

The doctor scratched her chin. "There's no record of either of you in our files, so I think... yes, well, the receptionists do tend to make errors from time to time." She nodded at the unicorn. "We'll get your daughter prepped for her operation right away."

Tears ran down Twilight's face. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"I'm just doing my job." She smiled. "Let's get you back in the waiting room so we can start on Sweetie Belle. I have some reading material concerning what to expect out of the heart surgery, too." The pegasus levitated a small collection of pamphlets over to the unicorn.

Twilight tried to sniffle away her tears. "Of course, yes. I'll get to reading these right away. I could use something to read."

Twilight made her way back to the waiting room ready for some quality reading time, choosing to teleport down that shaft rather than trying to figure out how to operate it.

She had spent the last night testing the apparatus. She had spent every ounce of energy running it. She spent even more in the panic to get Sweetie Belle to the hospital. And she was monumentally relieved that everything was going to be all right. Twilight's eyes closed and the unicorn fell fast asleep.

---

"Miss Sparkle?"

Twilight rolled over and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight propped her front end up. "I'm sorry, I must have dozed off. What is it?" she asked, opening her eyes.

Doctor Shine replied, "We have a pony who wants to see you."

She led Twilight through the corridors, up the shaft again and into the hospital room, where Twilight found two bright green eyes looking back at her.

"Sweetie Belle!"

"Twilight!" Sweetie Belle sat up on her bed, a constellation of green gems around her. A patch of hair on her chest had been shaved, framing a line of stitches. And she was smiling. Sweetie Belle was smiling.

Twilight ran to Sweetie Belle and swept her up in a hug.

"Easy there, Miss Sparkle," the doctor said. "She still needs to recover."

Twilight released the filly. "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy that she's all right!"

"And I got my new clicker! Doctor Sun Shine let me listen to it." Sweetie Belle pointed at her chest. "It's right over here, listen to it go."

Twilight pressed her ear to the filly's chest. Within, she could indeed hear a faint clicking with every beat of Sweetie Belle's heart.

She pulled back and looked into Sweetie's eyes. "That's amazing!"

"I'm part mechanical now!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"And as soon as I fix the apparatus we can go home, Sweetie Belle."

The pegasus fluttered over next to them. "We're going to keep Sweetie Belle in the hospital for a week, just as a precaution against any complications that may happen. After that, we can give Sweetie her prescription and send you two on your way."

Sweetie Belle tilted her head. "What was that about the appar-thing? Did it break?"

Twilight patted Sweetie Belle's head. "Don't worry about it, Sweetie Belle. We'll just be staying for a little longer than I planned." She pondered for a moment. "Of course! Sweetie Belle, I'm going to head out into town for a while, but I should be back soon. Be nice to Doctor Shine and do what she says."

"Yes," the doctor added, "listen to your mother."

Sweetie blinked. "Huh?"

"I'll explain later," Twilight said on her way out.

Outside of the hospital, Twilight looked up the Canterlot mountainside. Buildings sprawled much higher up the mountain than they did back in the present. Twilight spotted the highest building of the bunch, and made her way up the hills of the city at a brisk trot.

She knew exactly who she wanted to talk to.
> Catching Up with the Sun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mid-afternoon was tea time. The afternoon tea had been an addition to the schedule for over a decade. Every day, the castle staff would supply the Princess with her royal tea set and leave her alone.

Princess Celestia poured herself a cup of tea, hovering it nearby as she paced in her throne room. The tea always had helped soothe her nerves. Today, she looked over the stained glass windows.

The glass workers had promised beautiful, moving pictures in the stained glass, installed in the latest iteration of the room. Unfortunately, all of the motion served as little more than a distraction during affairs of state.

They also had a tendency to malfunction and detonate. Thankfully, nopony had ever been seriously injured. Over the course of twenty-four months, all but one of the moving windows had blown out and been replaced with old-fashioned, stationary versions.

The remaining enchanted glass was the most powerful of the set. When its counterpart across the room had blown, most of the window ended up embedded in the front door, which happened to be opened at the time. Four ponies owed their lives to that door. The last intact window had a curtain placed over it, lined with armor of course, as a precaution for when it eventually failed. Forty years later, she was still waiting.

Various rumors and urban legends had sprung up surrounding the mysterious hidden window, about what terrible things it undoubtedly depicted that the Princess had to censor. She did not have the heart to disillusion them.

The Princess's eyes moved down to the drainage groove that ran the length of the room along the wall. This was the first throne room in six hundred years without a water feature, although not on purpose.

Behind her seat, a thin waterfall used to run. When the light struck it, it projected a beautiful, moving rainbow across that entire section of the room. However, whenever anypony opened the door too quickly, the change in air pressure redirected the waterfall directly onto the throne.

Princess Celestia took a sip of her tea. She doubted that she would ever forget the Griffon Peace Talks.

Ordering the doors to only be opened slowly worked for a short time, specifically until her sister discovered why. Princess Luna then came down with a tragic case of acute selective amnesia, forcing the waterfall to be shut off permanently.

There was a thump outside the door. Princess Celestia ignored it in favor of pouring herself another cup.

She began to reminisce about the time the so-called 'innovative' columns in the room forced an evacuation and a refit when the thump occurred again, along with the sounds of shouting and a scuffle.

Celestia sighed and set down her tea. She made her way to the door, making a mental note to have the guards disciplined for allowing such a disturbance this deep within the castle.

The Princess straightened herself up and magically flung open the doors.

"What is the meaning of this?"

A guard saluted. "Princess! There is an intruder in—"

A purple unicorn ran into Celestia's field of view, before vanishing under an armored dogpile. A flash of purple light later, she stood on top of the guards.

"Princess Celestia! I've been trying to get to you but—"

A guard tackled her to the ground.

Princess Celestia gasped. "Twilight?" She cleared her throat. "Guards! Stand down!"

Immediately, the castle guards stood up and saluted. "Yes, Your Highness."

Twilight Sparkle walked to the Princess's side. "Thank you! I've been trying to tell them, but some ponies"—She narrowed her eyes at the guards—"wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise."

Princess Celestia wordlessly led Twilight into the throne room. As soon as the doors were closed, the Princess dropped to the ground, wrapping her wing around her prized student and pulling her to the floor as well. "Twilight Sparkle! It has been such a long time! I was beginning to think I'd never see you again!"

Twilight looked up at her mentor's tear-filled eyes. "Princess, has it been that long?"

Celestia looked down at her. "Twilight Sparkle, you have been gone for three hundred and fifty years."

Twilight looked away. "Three and a half centuries? I guess I overshot a little with the apparatus." She giggled. "But just last week, I was talking with you, but... I guess it has been longer for you."

Princess Celestia got to her hooves. "A very long time, Twilight. We have a lot to catch up on. Would you like some tea?"

"Certainly, Princess." She took a sniff of the proffered brew, then closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Mmm, is that masaddle chai and earl grey lavender? That's my favorite blend."

The Princess added a dollop of cream on top. "Have as much as you like, Twilight."

Mentor and student drank together in silence. For the first time in over three centuries, Princess Celestia enjoyed tea time with her best student.

The two ponies' moment was interrupted by the door opening. An aide stuck her head in. "Princess Celestia, the time for your tea recess has ended. Would you like this afternoon's agenda now?"

Celestia turned to her aide. "Cancel the rest of my appointments for today. I have a personal matter to attend to."

The mare nodded. "Yes, Your Highness." She began to close the door before Celestia interrupted her.

"And inform Princess Luna that Twilight Sparkle has returned. She will know what you mean."

"Yes, Your Highness." The aide backed out of the throne room, closing the door.

Celestia heard giggling behind her. As she turned to look at Twilight, the sitting unicorn broke into a full laugh. The Princess raised an eyebrow at her student. Twilight, grinning, licked the tea's cream off of her own nose. Celestia rubbed her snout with her foreleg, leaving a spot of cream on her own shoes. Twilight laughed again. Celestia smiled for a moment before chuckling herself.

After the two had calmed down, Twilight looked up. "You mentioned Princess Luna? How is she doing these days? I'd love to meet her again, too."

Celestia sighed and averted Twilight's gaze. "My sister has been spending her time on the moon lately."

Twilight gasped, raising her hoof to her mouth. "The moon? What happened? Did she... turn back?"

Celestia's eyes widened slightly and she shifted backwards before she relaxed again. "Oh, oh no no, nothing like that. Luna has simply preferred to spend her time at the lunar colony lately. I haven't spoken with her for a few years now."

Twilight blinked several times. "Lunar... colony...? Oh, I mean, why haven't you talked with her?"

Celestia put on her best reassuring smile. "We have simply drifted apart. It is nothing to worry yourself about, Twilight. This isn't the first time that this has happened since you've left. She will come around again. I'm sure of it."

Twilight's ears drooped. "But years? That's terrible. I can't imagine why she'd leave you for so long." She perked up again. "I know! I can head to the moon and ask her! We can do that, right? Oh, it sounds so much fun! I bet Sweetie Belle would love to go, too!"

"Sweetie Belle?" Celestia's face lit up. "Of course, Sweetie Belle. She had completely slipped my mind. She was the reason you came, after all. I take it that she has recovered, then? Modern medicine can do so much these days; I am very impressed at today's doctors. It has been quite a while since I've seen Sweetie Belle, too. Do you think she would mind if we visited her?"

Twilight stood up. "Not at all. I'm sure she'd be happy to see you too."

---

Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up when she saw Twilight Sparkle enter the hospital room. "Twilight!" She looked past the unicorn. "Princess Celestia?"

Doctor Sun Shine was examining Sweetie Belle's chest with her stethoscope. Upon her patient's question, she turned, noticed the Princess, and bowed. "Your Highness."

Celestia nodded slightly. "You may stand, doctor. Your patient needs your attention more than I do. Sweetie Belle, you are an incredibly lucky unicorn to have a friend like Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight blushed. She noticed the doctor levitating her clipboard. "Oh! Princess, I'd forgotten to ask. How is it that the doctor can use magic? Isn't she a pegasus?"

This drew a strange look from Doctor Shine. Twilight sheepishly grinned back.

Celestia replied, "Of course, she is a natural pegasus. But do you see that amulet that she is wearing?"

Twilight looked at the purple amulet around the mare's neck. "I was wondering about those. Do they have something to do with it?"

"Yes, Twilight, they do. We have learned quite a lot about how a pony's body processes its natural magic while you have been gone. You see, that amulet allows its wearer to redirect the power that would normally be used to fly, and use it for unicorn abilities instead."

Twilight gaped. "That's amazing! And the pony at the reception desk—"

"—was an earth pony, whose amulet gave both unicorn and pegasus power."

Twilight thought for a moment. "Princess," she asked, looking at her mentor, "what would happen if I put on the doctor's amulet?"

"Nothing. You are already a unicorn, Twilight. It cannot make you more of one. Neither can it enhance your power. In fact, Doctor Shine has access to only the most basic of spells. You are still the most powerful unicorn I have ever known, Twilight. No trinket can change that."

The purple unicorn scratched her chin. "But I've seen artifacts that could enhance a pony's power, and enable greater magic than she could normally use."

Celestia smiled. "But they all corrupted their users. We know now that they interfere with a pony's natural magic, which does not take kindly to being tampered with. These modern amulets simply guide magic along another path, not artificially force power into a body not meant to take it."

"What about—"

Celestia raised her hoof. "Twilight, I could talk all night about how the amulets work, and give explanations which some ponies find rather dull." She motioned to the bed, which held a snoozing filly. "Or I could show you what a pegasus amulet does to a unicorn."

A wide smile slowly spread across Twilight's face.

"But not tonight," the Princess finished. "I think it is about time to go back to the castle. I will have a guest room prepared for you, Twilight. Doctor Shine, please tell the hospital staff to send all of Sweetie Belle's legal and financial paperwork to the castle. I will ensure that this situation is taken care of." She walked towards the exit, pausing in the doorway.

The pegasus bowed slightly. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Goodnight, Sweetie Belle," Twilight told the sleeping unicorn. She walked to Celestia's side, taking one last look at Sweetie Belle before the two ponies walked away.

---

Twilight climbed one of the many spiral staircases around the outside of the castle to find her room waiting for her at its top. It was finely decorated with paintings from a time Twilight missed adorning the light blue walls, as well as a picture window giving a gorgeous view across the moonlit landscape, down to the base of Canterlot Mountain and beyond. Twilight angled herself below the window to look at the moon, searching for any sign of the colony that the Princess claimed it held, but the orb was exactly the same as the one that she had extensively studied, with no little twinkling lights to betray habitation.

The entire ceiling glowed with a soft light, providing even illumination for the entire room. On a table sat a plate of steamed vegetables, garnished with sweet clover, which Twilight consumed with delight.

After her meal, Twilight headed into the bathroom. She stepped into what she assumed was the shower to find that there was no nozzle. Each wall was covered in tiny holes, including the one that doubled as the stall's door. There were no knobs, no levers, no way that she could see to turn the water on.

Twilight looked around the shower for a moment. She sighed. "I'll figure it out tomorrow," Twilight said to herself, walking out. The bathtub was spacious and inviting. It also lacked any visible form of control.

Her eyes moved to the sink, dreading what she may find. There sat a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, a mane brush, and a shedding rake. There was also a sink and a faucet, but no controls.

Twilight gazed at the sink. "What kind of future is this where a pony can't even brush her teeth?" She stomped out of the bathroom. At least the bed looked straightforward.

She crawled into the bed magically pulling the incredibly soft sheets over herself. Yawning, she looked for the switch to turn off the glowing ceiling. She couldn't find it. Neither switch nor button sat on the walls. Twilight sat up.

"How do I turn the lights off?" she asked to nopony in particular. Looking around, there was no sign of anything that resembled a light control. "Maybe it's voice activated." She cleared her throat. "Lights off."

Nothing.

"Room, turn off? Lights out? Off?" She paused. "Please turn the lights off?"

Twilight grunted and banged the wall in frustration. The light remained on.

"How the hay do I turn off the light?!"

The light didn't answer. Twilight stuffed her head under her pillow.

---

The light from the ceiling was overwhelmed by the light of the sun rising through the empty sky.

Twilight awoke and once again failed to operate the bath or the shower. After a breakfast of alfalfa flakes, found outside the door, she managed to activate the sink by placing the toothbrush in it. Having conquered this small piece of the future, Twilight Sparkle was ready to seize the day.

After checking up on Sweetie Belle at the hospital, Twilight visited the most sacred place in Equestria: The Canterlot Castle Library.

White arches supported the high ceiling of the new library, which glowed with the same power that had befuddled the unicorn the previous night. Occasionally a pony would fly by, in search of some piece of wisdom.

Twilight closed her eyes and breathed deep. Despite three and a half centuries' difference, the library still smelled the same. Memories of a filly with her nose buried in a book for hours on end flooded back.

She opened her eyes. A new library meant new knowledge. She trotted past the shelves, picking out books. Many of these she had read not two months previous, care keeping them preserved across the ages. She took the opportunity to choose some newer tomes that looked promising as well. Just because the apparatus used old magic didn't mean that new magic wouldn't help.

A little over two hours later, the unicorn levitated a pile of books that weighed twice what she did to the front desk.

Twilight smiled at the librarian. "I'd like to check these out, please!"

The librarian looked over her glasses at the stack. "Ma'am, you can only check out three books at a—Wait. One moment, ma'am." She levitated a small card, then looked between it and the unicorn. "The Princess has got to be kidding me," she said under her breath. "All right, Miss Sparkle, just let me..." She sighed. "...stamp all these."

---

Twilight pranced through the castle, the locomotive in a train of hovering books. The unicorn ignored the strange looks and muttering she received from the guards, lost in literary bliss. The route between the library and her room became the sight of pony traffic jams, as the staff were forced to overfly her cargo and surface-bound carts sat idle.

Soon the line of books stretched across the courtyard and up the stairs, past the pony sitting by her door, watching every one file into her room. Hundreds of books floated past Twilight, guided by her careful magic into neat piles inside. Dozens of scrolls and a half gallon of ink finished the procession off.

Twilight followed her new prizes in. She picked up one of the books, took it to a desk, and sat down for some quality browsing time.

"Let's see," she said to herself. "It took two months to make the apparatus last time, but I should be able to refresh my memory sooner. Shoot I forgot to get quills. I wish Spike was here to go get some—Spike!" She stood bolt upright. "Oh my gosh I forgot about Spike!"

Twilight ran from the room, her studying forgotten.

---

For the second time in as many days, Twilight ran up the stairs to the highest room in Canterlot. Her hooves clacked on stairs alternating between gold and silver. She ran under the domed archway with the depiction of the sun and the moon to the throne room door, which held the two heavenly bodies among the stars.

At the door, the guards crossed their spears. "Halt! Who goes—oh it's you again. Proceed." An earth pony guard magically opened the door. Twilight trotted in.

"Princess Celestia!"

The Princess looked at her student. "You are here earlier than I expected. What is the matter, Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight tried to maintain her composure. "Spike! I mean, Spike is still around, right? Dragons live longer than that, don't they? Where is he? I'd love to see him again."

"Spike is presently the Equestrian ambassador to the Dragon Nomads. He keeps me up to date on their doings, and has been instrumental in keeping our relations civil."

Twilight walked to the throne. "Oh that's wonderful! When does he get back?"

"The next scheduled break in his assignment will be in about ten years."

The unicorn took a step back. "Ten years? I can't wait that long! Can't you recall him early? Send him a letter or something?"

Celestia shook her head. "If I recall him, the Dragon Nomads will take it as an insult. I cannot cause a diplomatic incident, not even for you, Twilight. As for sending him letters..."

The Princess paused. "You left a long time ago, Twilight. Spike has already moved on, and he has his own life to live now. If he knew you had returned, but could not see you, it would simply re-open that old wound. I think it is better that Spike not know, don't you? He would be happier that way."

Twilight lowered her head. "I... I suppose he would. I'm sorry, Spike. Thank you anyways, Princess." She turned to leave.

"One moment, Twilight. I have something for you." Celestia brought out a small wooden box.

Twilight levitated it over and opened it. Within was a blue amulet, with small swirls etched in its front. She gasped. "Is this...?"

Celestia smiled. "Yes, Twilight. It's yours. Try it on."

Twilight brought the amulet to her neck, magically closing the clasp behind it. Immediately, she felt as if a pair of saddlebags had been placed on her. She turned to look at her back to find a pair of translucent wings, the same color as her coat.

"That's amazing!" she said.

"Now, concentrate on your wings like you would your horn. Then, try to move them like you would any of your muscles."

Twilight imagined her new wings opening. She put her mind to her back. Her wings twitched, then slowly unfolded. She closed them, then opened them again. She flapped them down. She could feel air rushing down her sides, and an upward tug on her shoulder blades.

"Now Twilight," Celestia started, "there are a few things you should know. First of all, your amulet redirects your magic; it doesn't create any. While you will still be at your full power on the ground, your spells will become substantially weaker while in the air. I recommend practicing your magic while low to the ground, to get used to this effect.

"Secondly, the amulet does not give you a pegasus's lightness or agility, so you will not be able to fly as well as a natural one."

Twilight, who hadn't taken her eyes off of her wings, gave them a mighty flap, putting herself into the air. She immediately pitched forwards and landed on her face.

Celestia magically set Twilight back on her hooves. "It does not give you a lifetime of practice either, my faithful student. Don't go to any high altitudes until you are comfortable with your wings, and don't fly upside-down unless you are very sure your amulet will not accidentally fall off. Many ponies also choose to take their amulets off at night, although there is no harm in sleeping with it on. Finally, while these amulets are not hard to obtain, my accountants will have my crown if I give too many of these away."

Twilight chuckled. "I'll try not to lose it, Princess." She massaged her nose. "Princess Celestia, can I walk on or move clouds?"

The Princess slightly tilted her head. "Yes you could, Twilight. But what clouds?"

"The clouds that were..." Twilight stopped. She could not remember having seen a single cloud since she had arrived in the future. "There's... there's got to be clouds in the future, right?"

Princess Celestia stood up. "Come with me, Twilight."

The two ponies walked out a side door to the balcony outside of the throne room. Below them, Equestria stretched out in a field of green to the horizon. Above them stretched a field of blue, with no clouds. Princess Celestia sat down at the edge, her student beside her.

Twilight looked at the sky. "But how can there be no clouds? How do you water the fruit trees?"

"What trees?"

Twilight gaped. "What... what trees? There are no trees either?! Where do the birds—" She came to the answer herself. "I mean, how do we eat, then? Where does the food come from? Ponies still eat in the future, don't they?"

Celestia nodded at Twilight. "Of course we do. Food is simply grown in magiponic farms now." She saw Twilight's look of confusion and continued, "Fields where food is grown in specialized tanks, given water and nutrients in a controlled manner, and guided by spells. A magiponic farm can be maintained by a very small number of ponies while feeding a large population."

Twilight looked down. "But... what was wrong with the old way? We had plenty of food then, too."

Celestia put her wing around Twilight. "Only through the efforts of a great deal of ponies. Take Sweetie Belle's doctor, Sun Shine, for instance. She is a pegasus, of course. If she were born two hundred years ago, Miss Shine would have been a weatherpony. She would have spent her whole life moving clouds around to ensure that everypony could eat. A useful role, but ultimately unfulfilling.

"But without the need for clouds, Miss Shine was able to pursue a higher calling, and now she helps save lives. Millions of ponies like her are no longer forced into a life of menial labor simply because of what they were born as. Isn't that an improvement, Twilight?"

Twilight touched her hoof to her amulet. "When you put it that way... I guess. But, it's just so... different."

Celestia chuckled. "It isn't so bad when it happens over centuries. Besides, a pony from a thousand years ago would say the same thing about your world, Twilight, how you could possibly consider not having children at every opportunity, when so few live to see their cutie marks." She closed her eyes. "I remember a time when I ruled from a little hut made of living trees, on a throne of piled rocks and grass. It was very drafty, and leaked terribly whenever it rained. And the ponies made me wear this absolutely ridiculous set of gold armor." She laughed.

"Very few ponies even knew my coat color, much less saw my face. Seeing my cutie mark was supposed to carry the death penalty. I never did get a straight answer on whether or not anypony had ever actually been executed for it. The nobility back then was very bloodthirsty, so it would not surprise me if they used it as one of their excuses. I hate to imagine what it would have been like if you were around back then, Twilight; a mortal with your powers would have been very dangerous."

Twilight was lost in thought. A minute later, she asked, "So what happened to the armor?"

Celestia shifted her weight. "I took it off, piece by piece, over the centuries. Maybe one day I'll finish." She raised a forehoof, the golden shoe shining in the sunlight. "But not in your lifetime, I think."

Twilight looked at her teacher's throat. "Your necklace!"

"Seventy-five years ago. It's with the rest of the set now, collecting dust in the vaults."

Twilight looked at the cloudless, treeless landscape ahead of her for a moment. "I understand, Princess, but I'd like to go back to my own time anyways. Thank you."

Celestia did not say anything as Twilight began to walk away. The unicorn then turned back. "Actually, Princess, I do have one more question."

The Princess looked at her student. "Yes?"

"How do I turn on the shower?"

---

Days worth of research and note-taking followed the purple unicorn through the hallway to the throne room. A good flap of Twilight's wings gave the mare a head start up the stairs, taking four at a time with the help of her new power. She opened the door at the top, and glided the length of the room to Princess Celestia's seat.

The Princess looked down at Twilight. "I see that you are taking well to your amulet."

Twilight twirled on her hind legs, wings extended. "This is the best magic that I've ever experienced! It's a shame I'll have to leave it when I go back. Speaking of which, I've finished my research and I'm ready to rebuild the apparatus. I should be able to recycle most of the old one, too." She smiled at Celestia.

Celestia did not smile back. "Twilight, show me the old apparatus."

Twilight's face dropped. "Uh, all right. It's a little outside the city."

Celestia stood up without saying anything else and followed Twilight out of the room.

---

Twilight Sparkle led her Princess across the treeless field, under the cloudless sky. Neither said a word, but Twilight occasionally glanced backwards at Celestia's unreadable face.

Soon enough, they reached what was left of the apparatus. It was just as Twilight had left it. The magic circles had faded entirely and all but one of the tall pillars had cracked. Three had shattered entirely, one had split vertically and fallen to the grass, and the last lay whole across the crystal slab. A spiderweb of cracks ran across the surface of the base. Crystal gravel was all that remained of the former floating gems.

"It'll need... a few new parts, but I've gotten all my notes in order."

Celestia lowered her head. "I see. Twilight, before I say anything else, I just want to tell you that I am very, very proud of you. In a short amount of time you created the most sophisticated magical device Equestria has ever seen, and you risked your life to use it, to save one filly. You have more than exceeded every expectation I've ever had of you. I just wanted you to know that, Twilight."

Twilight stared. "Th... thank you, Princess! But... why are you telling me this now?" She shifted backwards.

Celestia didn't look up. "Twilight, before you left, those centuries ago, you took something from the castle vaults."

Twilight stood straight. "That's right. It was the Nexus of Starswirl the Bearded."

"Where is it?"

Twilight began to turn. "It should be right over—" Her eyes met the fallen pillar. The blood drained from her face. Twilight darted to the pillar, stepping on a wood shard as she arrived.

"No no no. This can't be happening." The unicorn flared her power, lifting the pillar and tossing it aside. Underneath, among the broken stand, was a flattened sheet of silver, with gold foil splayed around it. But what got her attention most of all was the light blue crystal shards scattered around.

"No no no no no. The Nexus can't be broken." She poked a larger chunk with her hoof. With a pop, it bounced away, popping again on each impact with the slab until it landed in the grass with an unceremonious thud. Twilight desperately looked to the princess. "It... it can be rebuilt, right?"

Celestia still didn't look up. "You should know as well as anypony that nopony was ever able to fully decipher its secrets. Scientists spent centuries studying the Nexus while it was intact. Not even you can make use of the destroyed one, Twilight."

Twilight gazed at what was left of the Nexus of Starswirl the Bearded. "But... I worked out what the apparatus would have had to have been like without using it. It would have to be the size of a city... the pillars would crack under their own weight. The base would have to be far larger than any crystal known to ponies. And it would need power orders of magnitude beyond what I'm capable of. It just can't be done."

Twilight looked to her mentor. "Princess, how do I get home?"

Celestia avoided her student's gaze. "I'm sorry, Twilight."

"No..."

"When you left three hundred and fifty years ago... you never returned."

Twilight paced back and forth. "That... that can't be right. There has to be a way back."

"You can't change the past, Twilight. You've learned that lesson already."

"I don't care about my lessons!" Twilight shouted back. "I want to go back! I want to see my friends again!"

Celestia still hadn't moved. "Your friends lived long, fulfilling lives, before they met the same fate that all ponies do."

Twilight placed herself in front of the Princess's nose, forcing her to look at her student. She looked into Celestia's eyes, her own filling with tears.

"There has to be something I can do! Anything, Princess Celestia! Name it and I'll do it, as long as I can go home! Anything!"

Celestia blinked away her own tears. "I'm sorry. You built the apparatus prepared to sacrifice yourself for Sweetie Belle... and you have."

"Sweetie Belle... what am I going to tell her? In fact, what am I going to do at all? Where will I live? How will I find work?"

Celestia drew herself up. "Twilight, you are going to be my High Magician, at my side in the throne room during affairs of state, and free to research what you wish otherwise, to advance the study of Equestrian magic. As for lodging, I have selected a house near the castle for you to live, provided you approve of it. I will also have you legally registered as Sweetie Belle's adoptive mother, since you are the only adult she knows in this time, unless you wish to place her into foster care instead."

Twilight moved to Celestia's side. "No. I'll take care of Sweetie Belle. And when I have time to research, I will find a way home. I don't care what the past is, I am going to see my friends again."

Celestia smiled. "I would not expect any less determination out of of you, my most faithful Magician."
> A New Home, an Old Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last rays of the setting sun shone into the hospital room, shining its light on a pegasus with a horn, a unicorn with wings, and a filly with a new lifespan.

Sweetie Belle busied herself with the task of testing her upgraded cardiovascular system by running laps around the room and climbing over the bed.

"Here are the discharge papers for Sweetie Belle," Doctor Shine said. "Her heart valve should last the rest of her life, which will be as long as either of ours, Princess willing. She did have major surgery, so she should avoid any strenuous activities or long-distance travel for at least six months."

Twilight glanced upward. "Like the moon?"

"Especially the moon. In fact, I think she shouldn't go there for nine months at the bare minimum."

At mention of the moon, Sweetie Belle zipped over. "We can go to the moon?! What's it like? Is it cold or warm? Is it made of cheese? Can we eat it?" She punctuated each question with a bounce.

Twilight stilled Sweetie by setting her forehoof on the filly's shoulder. "Now, now, you heard the doctor. We won't be able to visit the moon before we go. I'm sorry, Sweetie, I was looking forward to it, too."

Sweetie peered upwards. "Twilight? When are we leaving?"

Twilight shuffled her hoof. "Well, there's been a slight delay, so it'll take just a little while longer to put the apparatus back together. The Princess gave us a place for us to live until it's fixed, though. And I'm technically your mother now." She gave her 'daughter' an awkward grin.

Sweetie stared back. "What? How can you be my mom? Isn't my mom my mom?"

"Well yes, but somepony needs to take care of you until we go home. It's just to make the paperwork easier with us living together."

Sweetie scratched her chin. "I don't have to call you 'Mom,' do I?"

"Not if you don't want to, Sweetie Belle." Twilight paused, then tousled the filly's mane. "But you still have to do what I tell you."

"Before I leave you two to your familial bonding," Doctor Shine said, levitating a pill bottle, "I have Sweetie Belle's prescription here. Her mechanical heart valve creates a risk of forming a blood clot, which could break loose and produce a stroke or heart attack. As a precaution, I've prescribed her a blood thinner to reduce her ability to form clots. Any minor cuts and bruises Sweetie gets will still heal on their own; it will simply take a little longer." Doctor Shine pointed at Twilight's amulet. "However, I can't recommend that she fly. Any crashes could lead to internal injuries that could be life-threatening, especially since she doesn't have the durability of an earth pony, or the natural crash-avoidance or bracing instincts of a pegasus."

Twilight took the bottle with her levitation and peered at its contents. "How long will she need to take these?"

"Once a day for the rest of her life, of course."

Twilight pondered for a moment. "I don't think that'll be an issue, but I'll add that research to my checklist for when we go."

"What?!" Sweetie Belle stomped her hoof. "I have to take those dumb pills forever and I don't even get magic wings? No moon and no wings... this future stinks."

"We'll be leaving it soon, Sweetie Belle." Twilight smiled at the filly. "And Doctor Shine, thank you, so, so much for everything you've done. I can't begin to imagine what I would have done if I'd lost Sweetie Belle."

"It's been no problem at all, Miss Sparkle. Come back if you need anything, or if you have any questions, and have a safe trip home."

"I will!" Twilight walked out of the room with Sweetie Belle.

---

The rising moon peeked over the side of Canterlot Mountain, its light illuminating a pair of unicorns walking to their new home.

Sweetie Belle looked up at the stars. "So... no clouds?"

Twilight looked back down at her foster child. "None in Equestria, no."

"Where do the pegasi sleep, then?"

"In beds like the rest of us do, I suppose." Twilight looked at the house they'd arrived at. "This must be the place."

Sweetie Belle looked out over the short, grassy lawn at the dark house. The moonlight reflected off of the rounded white walls and its conical yellow roof. The modest residence sat at the edge of the city, away from the tall buildings of downtown.

Twilight's horn illuminated briefly and a strip of light on either side of the front walkway appeared. Another flash of her horn lit the underside of the house's overhangs.

The filly trotted to the front door and pushed it open. Within, she found a furnished living area. An unlit fireplace sat against the wall, and the opposite wall was flush with books.

Sweetie ran upstairs to explore. Twilight shouted after her, "Don't touch anything you don't understand!"

Upstairs, Sweetie Belle found a bathroom and a pair of bedrooms. She understood beds very well, so she duly complied with Twilight's instructions and began bouncing on hers. Twilight found her soon afterwards.

"Sweetie Belle, we just got that bed; please don't wear it out."

"Aww." She climbed down.

Twilight levitated a scroll in front of her face. "I've checked out the house, and everything appears to be in order. Princess Celestia left instructions on how to operate the appliances, as well as a full pantry and my first month's pay. As for you..." A few bits hovered over to Sweetie Belle's nightstand. "Here is your allowance for this week." Twilight produced a quill and checked off a box.

Sweetie Belle looked at her money. "...eight, nine, ten bits? Mom and Dad gave me fifteen."

"Oh, they did? Here you go, five more bits." Twilight paid the filly. Sweetie Belle gave a giant grin and hugged Twilight's foreleg.

Twilight referred to her checklist again. "Next on the list... dinner! Of course. I'm starving. There are some cookbooks in the dining room; the Princess certainly knew what I wanted in a house." She giggled. "I'm in the mood for some vegetables."

---

Sweetie Belle sat at the table, which was made out of some dark wood she didn't know the name of. Above her hung a modest silver chandelier, whose clear gems shone with some magical power. The walls were painted with a hint of yellow, with white trim and stronger yellow curtains blocking out the night.

Sweetie absent-mindedly poked at the cloth placemat in front of her. It was cotton, pink with a purple edge, and had grapes on it. In the center of the table, which was slightly too large for just two ponies to eat at, was a white round mat. The whole setup was more style than her parents fed her on, but less than her sister did. It was disconcerting, in its own way.

Before Sweetie Belle had a chance to examine her surroundings further, Twilight Sparkle came in levitating a bowl of fruits and steamed vegetables. She set the bowl down on the center placemat, and a plate at their respective seats.

"Here we are, Sweetie Belle. An arrangement of apricots, olives, and grapefruit, with a side of ginger root. I've never had this combination; they're not in season at the same time." Twilight closed her eyes and smiled. "But I guess with magic, they can harvest all year!"

"What season is it, anyways?" Sweetie asked.

"It's late spring."

"Oh."

Sweetie had to climb halfway across the table to reach the bowl to serve her plate, while Twilight used her magic to fetch her meal. They began to eat.

"You should take your hooves off the table, Sweetie Belle," Twilight instructed. The filly sat back in her chair.

The pair ate in silence for a few minutes.

Twilight decided to break the ice. "So, Sweetie Belle, how was your stay at the hospital?"

"Oh, there was lots of magic lights and gems and stuff... Doctor Shine was nice. And yesterday they brought some dogs to cheer the patients up... that was nice too."

More silence.

Sweetie looked across the table. "How was your day, Twilight?"

"Well, I got some of my research done, and I took a look at the apparatus that we took here. It's been damaged, so we'll be here a little while until I fix it. But we'll be home in no time. The Princess has made me the High Magician, just as a way to cut the red tape between me and the research materials. But I'll be heading towards the castle tomorrow, so you'll have the house to yourself. You've been left unsupervised before, so you can take care of yourself, right?"

"Oh sure, of course, Twilight!"

"And you'll have plenty to read, too!" Twilight smiled at the filly.

Sweetie rolled her eyes. "Joy." 

After the two finished eating, Twilight again produced her checklist. "Next up, do the dishes. Here you go, Sweetie Belle." The bowl, plates, and silverware situated themselves in front of her.

Sweetie looked at the dishes. "Um uh, ooh! I know! What about dessert?"

Twilight tilted her head. "Dessert?"

Sweetie gestured dramatically. "I mean, I was just in a hospital, fighting for my life with my heart cut open and stuff like that." She angled herself so that her stitches were plainly visible to the older mare. "I'd think I deserve just a little dessert, right Twilight?"

"I didn't think of it that way. I'll see what we have." Twilight went into the kitchen. "How about ice cream?" she called back.

"Ooh! I'll take some vanilla!"

Twilight returned with a bowl of frozen sweetness. "Here you are, Sweetie Belle."

Sweetie Belle dug into the ice cream like a filly having ice cream for the first time in three and a half centuries. She looked up. "Twilight, why don't you do the dishes while I'm eating? That way we can get to bed sooner."

"That makes sense. Good idea, Sweetie Belle." Twilight took the dishes into the kitchen. Sweetie Belle's victory was cut short by the ice cream's freeze taking its terrible toll through her brain.

A few minutes later, there was another bowl to wash. Twilight took it to the kitchen before returning. "Next on tonight's list is... giving a filly a bath."

"But Twilight—"

"No buts! It's on the checklist! I'll get the water started."

---

Twilight tested the bathwater with her hoof. "Perfect! Get on in, Sweetie Belle."

"Oh no." Sweetie clasped her hoof to her chest. "My poor heart." She closed her eyes and staggered a step. "It can't handle the idea of taking a bath. I guess I'll just have to skip it tonight." She snuck a peek at Twilight.

"Aww that's too bad, Sweetie. But do you know what the doctor recommended for a speedier recovery?"

"Lots of candy?" Sweetie tilted her head, staring at Twilight with a hopeful smile.

Twilight Sparkle's horn illuminated. "Warm water!"

Sweetie Belle rose into the air. The flailing of her legs was useless against the power of the mightiest unicorn in Equestria. The bathwater swirled around the filly, soaking her coat to her skin. A strange concoction entered the bath, filling it with bubbles. Sweetie supposed that she already knew what a bubble bath was, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

The prisoner splashed water back at her aggressor, catching her off guard. The purple unicorn's face dripped with suds.

Twilight wiped herself off. "Sweetie Belle, you don't have to make this difficult." She levitated a sponge into the water and began to scrub the filly.

Seeing her chance, Sweetie Belle broke free from the wicked sponge and bucked a mighty wall of water towards the purple one. Alas, it struck an invisible wall and ran back into the tub. Sweetie Belle sulked in the bubbly water, defeated.

The filly made several more attempts at avoiding soap, shampoo, and overall cleanliness, but she was ultimately overcome by her far more powerful opponent. Having completed her foul work, the purple one drained the tub and magically lifted Sweetie Belle out of it. Being rubbed all over with a towel simply added insult to injury.

"I'm going to take a shower myself, Sweetie Belle, so why don't you brush your teeth and get ready for bed?"

Sweetie Belle grumbled her way to the sink while Twilight took her amulet off and started a much less arduous pony cleaning.

---

The clean filly lay in her bed, looking out the window at the starry sky beyond. Twilight Sparkle entered the room, with a towel wrapped around her head, and another around her tail.

"Are you ready to go to sleep, Sweetie Belle? You've had a long day."

"Yeah..." Sweetie Belle yawned.

Twilight tucked the white filly in. "Goodnight, then." She began to leave the room.

"Wait. Twilight?"

The mare turned around. "What is it, Sweetie Belle?"

"Can you read me a bedtime story?"

Twilight walked to a small bookshelf in one corner of the bedroom. "Of course. Here's one." She sat by the bed, book levitating in front of her.

Twilight Sparkle began to read: "Once upon a time, there was a little red earth filly named Riding Hood. Now, this filly lived in a village by the Everfree Forest..."

---

"...and then the lumberjack cut the timberwolf apart and Riding Hood and her grandmother tumbled out. And the three ponies burned the timberwolf in their fireplace and enjoyed the basket of sweets. And they lived happily ever after. The End." Twilight closed the book.

Twilight Sparkle looked at Sweetie Belle, who was fast asleep. She smiled. "Goodnight, Sweetie Belle."

Twilight leaned down and kissed the base of Sweetie's horn. She slowly left the room, turning off the light as she left.

---

The next day, Sweetie Belle awoke. She yawned and stretched her legs while her mind caught up to where she was. She wandered out of her room, finding her way downstairs to the dining. Upon the table, an unfurled scroll caught her attention.

Sweetie Belle,

I'm sorry I didn't wake you up; I had to leave early for my first day as High Magician. You have the house to yourself, so try to keep it clean. Don't try to turn on the stove or the oven by yourself. There are plenty of books around the house for you to read.

I've made a checklist of things you should do today:

Morning:
☐ Eat your breakfast. I've written another list of potential meals and have placed it on the refrigerator.
☐ Take your heart pill. The bottle is on the counter.
☐ Brush your teeth.
☐ Comb your mane and tail.

Sweetie didn't read any farther. She looked up at the chandelier, then around the walls for a switch to turn it on. She didn't find one. Neither did any of Twilight's notes leave instructions.

Sweetie Belle scratched her head. "How do I turn on the light?"

---

Twilight Sparkle stood at Princess Celestia's side in her throne room. Orange light filtered into the stained-glass windows as the sun rose. A beam of sunlight also shone straight down onto the throne. Twilight couldn't figure out what spell made it do that, but at the moment, she was busy with her nose in a copy of Duration Skewing: The Long and the Short of It, one of Starswirl's earlier works.

"Twilight," the Princess said, "we will have our first guest soon, and it is impolite to read while we have company."

"Oh, sorry Princess." Twilight set the book down and pushed it behind her with her hind leg. "Is the outfit necessary, though, Princess? I'm wearing more than you are."

Twilight was clad in a moderately elaborate dark blue robe, lined with white stars. While it covered her cutie mark and magic wings, a pair of cloth cutie marks had been sewn into it in the appropriate places. She also wore a short pointed hat with a wide brim. It too sported the star pattern.

Twilight patiently waited for the first appointment of her new office. Her hat tilted forwards. She pushed it back into place. It fell forward again. She tilted it back. It shifted again. Twilight noticed a quick yellow glow.

She looked at Princess Celestia, who had suddenly become fascinated by the alternating sunbeam and starfield pattern on the ceiling.

Princess Celestia's crown tilted to the side. She looked at the unicorn, who met her with a grin. Twilight's hat popped off of her head, and the Princess's crown turned backwards.

Twilight's hat landed on her head again, then made its way towards her rump. Celestia's crown launched itself across the room.

The throne room door opened inches away from the golden crown. A pair of flashes instantly brought the headgear back to their rightful places, and the two ponies were the very image of dignity.

"Ambassador Chestnut of the Donkey Kingdom is here to see you, Princess."

"Send him in," Celestia replied.

The door opened fully and a donkey entered. Chestnut's mane was well-groomed, and he wore a black suit with a white shirt beneath and a black tie.

Ambassador Chestnut crossed the room and bowed before the Princess. "Princess Celestia," he said, "it is an honor to meet you again." He turned to Twilight. "And you must be the new High Magician I have heard about. Twilight Sparkle, is it?"

Twilight nodded, trying to act as formal as she could. "That's correct."

"Allow me to satisfy my curiosity. I hear rumors that you are a sorceress of immense power and beauty from the distant past, struck down in her prime, and resurrected to serve the Princess yet again. From your appearance it must have been quite the prime indeed."

Chestnut hooked his foreleg around Twilight's, lifting hers up. Twilight nervously glanced between him and the Princess. He leaned down towards her raised hoof.

Princess Celestia loudly cleared her throat. "Ambassador Chestnut, I assume you have not traveled all this way from your land to court my Magician."

The donkey backed away from the unicorn. "Of course, Your Highness. My apologies, High Magician Sparkle."

Twilight subconsciously rubbed the front of her foreleg against the back of her other one. "It's no trouble at all, Ambassador."

"Now," Princess Celestia started, "what brings you to my castle?"

"I have come to negotiate the sale of the experimental amulets for my homeland. I am prepared to offer eight thousand two hundred bits per unit."

"Eight hundred and twenty thousand bits total? That is quite a sum, Ambassador. However, as I have told your king in my letters, the amulets are not for sale."

"Surely granting the powers of flight and magic to more equines can only do good, Princess. Perhaps a sum of nine hundred and eighty thousand bits would be more amenable, Your Majesty?"

Celestia's expression didn't waver. "My answer is still no, Ambassador Chestnut."

The donkey turned to Twilight. "Perhaps the stunning High Magician could give her opinion."

Two sets of eyes pointed at the unicorn. Twilight glanced at her mentor's face. "Well... I believe that even a small number of amulets would improve donkey society more than no amulets would."

Princess Celestia closed her eyes and turned away, exhaling. Twilight's ears dropped.

Ambassador Chestnut moved back in front of Celestia. "I see you have chosen an advisor as wise as she is beautiful. And you would be wiser still, Princess, to follow her advice."

Celestia opened her eyes again. "They are not for sale, and that is final, Ambassador Chestnut. You may leave us now, and I wish you a safe return to your homeland."

The donkey bowed and backed away. "As you wish, Princess Celestia. It was a pleasure to meet you, Magician Sparkle." He backed out of the throne room, closing the door.

Twilight paused for a moment before looking up at the Princess. "Princess Celestia... did I do something wrong?"

Princess Celestia looked back at Twilight. "No, Twilight, you did not know. You see, Twilight, while the amulets work very well and are quite reliable on ponies, we have had less success adapting them to other species. While most of our efforts have gone into giving magic to the griffons, the donkey amulets have proven the easiest to develop. Even then, the amulets are unreliable and prone to failure."

Twilight looked down, her mind in motion. "So if a flight or magic amulet fails..." She touched her flight amulet.

"...it could prove disastrous, or even fatal. You have nothing to worry about, Twilight. You are a pony, and the pony amulets are perfectly safe. But you see why we cannot give them to the donkeys yet."

"But wouldn't it be better to warn them of the dangers, and let them help test the prototypes?" She looked back up.

"As the non-pony amulets are rare, they tend to... get lost in the mail, so to speak. And the black market is rife with them. Some are legitimate prototypes, some are pony amulets with amateur spells applied, some are merely rocks with a glitter finish. But none are safe to use by unwary buyers. And I do not wish to encourage their illicit trade."

"I see. I'm sorry for doubting you, Princess. But I suppose that I won't be here in the future long enough for it to really matter."

Princess Celestia stepped off of her throne, walked to Twilight's side, and wrapped her wing around the unicorn. "Twilight, you need to stop thinking of this as the future. You are in the present. I appreciate your sentiment, but you must face the facts: you will never see your time again. None of us will.

"Instead of thinking about the Equestria of the past, you should be thinking about the Equestria of the future. Centuries ahead from now, not from then. With your power and your knowledge, you can be very influential on how Equestria will look in another three hundred and fifty years. You can do a great amount of good for ponykind if you set your mind to it.

"You cannot change the past, Twilight. But you can change the future."

Twilight shuffled her wings beneath her robe, taking a moment to think. "I... I understand what you mean, Princess. But I've sent plenty of letters to you about how wonderful it is to have my friends, and I don't intend to abandon them now."

Princess Celestia turned away. "Very well, Twilight Sparkle. Research what you wish," she said, walking back to her throne.

Twilight paused, then brought her book back out and continued to read.

Her hat tilted forward.

---

The afternoon sun found Twilight Sparkle in the castle courtyard. She spread her wings and ran across the grass, flapping vigorously. She could feel her hoofsteps lightening.

Her hind legs left the ground first, leaving her forelegs to take her remaining weight, efficiently shifting her center of gravity to a position not at all conducive to flight.

Twilight picked herself up and brushed the dirt off of her body. She smiled awkwardly at the gathered onlookers and waved them off.

She steeled herself for her next attempt, pawing at the ground. She took a deep breath. Twilight broke into a sprint, concentrating on her wings, which flapped furiously. This time, she carefully balanced the load on her front and rear halves.

Twilight Sparkle left the ground. She pulled into a steep ascent to clear the wall. A smack to her right hind leg signaled her failure to make it entirely over. Twilight sucked air in through gritted teeth.

She started to turn her head to look, but she nearly lost her balance. Twilight moved her leg back and forth; nothing felt broken. She could only hope that she didn't crack her hoof.

At two attempts, this was her most successful takeoff to date. Tuesday had been just embarrassing, for instance. Twilight was sure that flying would be exhilarating if it wasn't so difficult.

Soaring gracelessly over Canterlot, Twilight looked out over the plain, spotting in the distance a multitude of colored buildings. Ponyville sat on the edge of the Everfree, the only trees in sight, with thick black clouds obscuring the view of the forest's interior, as if to compensate for their lack of kin in the pony-controlled lands.

From the air, Twilight could also see rows of long buildings, and shimmering blue lines criss-crossing the town.

She looked down, refreshing her mental map of Canterlot. She descended to her house at the edge of town, and braced herself for the most difficult part of any flight. The lawn rose to meet the pony pulling out of her dive too late.

Twilight smacked into the grass, rolled across the lawn, and impacted the side of the house.

Moments later, Sweetie Belle ran out. "What was—Twilight! Are you okay?!"

Twilight wavered in and out of awareness. "Hey Sweetie Belle did you know that the average adult female pegasus can hover for approximately four hundred consecutive seconds while carrying a load of twenty kilograms I should really learn how to do that."

"Twilight?"

Twilight braced her forehooves against the wall and pushed, releasing with a pop. She looked back at the lawn. Brown gouges marked her landing strip. She was sure that would grow back. Twilight looked at the wall. Her horn had left a narrow but deep indentation in it. She didn't think that would grow back.

Twilight shook her head and got to three of her hooves. "Rainbow Dash has a saying... 'Any landing you walk away from is a good landing.'" She took a few steps. "Yup, that was a good landing." She rubbed her horn, which was still intact. "So, what have you been up to today, Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie turned slightly towards the house. "Oh, you know, reading, books, more reading, more books, some more books, and some reading, since there's nothing else to do in there."

"Did you read anything interesting?" Twilight smiled.

"Oh yes, the books were simply fascinating." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "I can't wait to read some more."

"I was planning on taking the train to see Ponyville, but if you'd rather—"

Sweetie Belle zipped in front of Twilight. "No no no! I want to see Ponyville! Let's see Ponyville!" She peered at Twilight's hind leg, which hovered slightly off the ground. "But are you sure you'll be all right?"

Twilight shook the leg in question. "This? I'm sure it'll feel better once I can sit down on the train."

"But what about the walk to the station? Won't you—"

Twilight's horn lit up and a wave of purple swept across the pair of unicorns.

---

Twilight stood with Sweetie Belle on the platform, lightly loaded with saddlebags. She had to make another trip back to get the train fare, but everything had worked out. The refreshingly familiar sound of a steam whistle echoed in the distance.

"Next train to Ponyville approaching on platform two!" a conductor called. "Please stand back!"

The whistle sounded again, closer this time, and Twilight could see the locomotive coming around the curve. Strangely enough, the train looked just as she'd remembered: only a few rounded corners indicated that it hadn't traveled through time with Twilight. It wasn't until it approached the platform that Twilight noticed that the train did not have wheels.

The rails on the ground looked the same, the train simply hovered above them with a faint magical glow. The train silently slid up to the platform. The conductor magically opened the doors and ponies filed out of the train.

"All aboard to Ponyville!" the conductor called.

Twilight limped onto the train, Sweetie Belle beside her. Twilight situated herself down on one of the seats. She noticed that it was a lot softer than the seats she remembered were. The train car tilted ever so slightly as it accelerated out of the station.

Sweetie Belle stood with her forehooves propped on the window, watching the scenery go by. Twilight busied herself massaging her leg and inspecting the interior. It was very similar to the trains back in her time. She half-limped up and down the car, more confident in her ability to walk.

A minute later, Sweetie Belle piped up. "Hey, we're almost to Ponyville!"

"Sweetie Belle, it takes longer than this to get to Ponyville," Twilight replied. She turned towards the filly and opened her mouth to continue, but her words died in her throat. Outside, the landscape blurred past. The horizon rose as the train banked around a curve. Nearby shrubs flicked past outside the window before the train returned to level.

"It's amazing, Twilight! I've never gone this fast in my life!" Sweetie's eyes were glued to the glass.

The train began to decelerate. "Next stop, Ponyville!" a conductor shouted. "Please make sure to take your belongings with you as you depart!"

Twilight looked out the window at a long building passing by. It was white with large windows showing a field of red, with the occasional green poking through.

Before she could analyze it any closer, the train came to a stop, letting its passengers off. Twilight tested her weight on her hind leg; it still hurt but seemed acceptable to walk on. She and Sweetie Belle exited the train.

"All aboard for Las Pegasus!"

The two unicorns left the train station. Twilight turned around to get a better look at the building she had seen earlier, the train gliding away in front of it. The red she had seen turned out to be floor-to-ceiling fruit. At the top of the building, in large blue letters, was the phrase SWEET APPLE ACRES. The building next to it held oranges. The next, grapes. If her view from Canterlot was any indication, the entirety of the fields had become these magiponic farms.

Twilight could only imagine the words that Applejack would have if she'd seen those.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle had wandered over to one of the blue lines, which turned out to be an aqueduct. Water rushed through the stone-lined ditch, and Sweetie hung on the railing at the edge. Twilight quickly hobbled over and pulled her down.

"I was just trying to get a better look." Sweetie Belle pouted.

Below them, the artificial river brought water to the farm buildings. Curious, Twilight began to follow it towards its source, beckoning Sweetie Belle to come along. Twilight thought that she knew Ponyville by heart. In the distance to the right should have been Sugarcube Corner, but a furniture store stood there instead. As they walked, they passed where Carousel Boutique should have been. It was a sports equipment store now.

Her library. Twilight had spent countless hours there, with her friends over for everything from slumber parties to organizing the next seasonal change to saving the world.

There were no more friends to have slumber parties with. No more seasons to change. And a world that did not need to be saved.

Twilight Sparkle could not bear to look at where her home had once stood.

Soon, the ponies reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. The air ahead was thick with magic. The aqueduct continued past the glowing haze and into the woods.

An earth mare came up to them. "Can I help you, misses...?"

"Twilight Sparkle, and my..." She suppressed a giggle. "...daughter, Sweetie Belle."

"Riptide, Ponyville Waterworks. Is there something you needed?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just"—it pained her to say it—"new to Ponyville, and I was curious about what all these channels are for."

"They take the water out of the Everfree Rainforest, of course. It rains there, we collect it, and distribute it, primarily to Sweet Apple Acres. The remainder is magically injected into the aquifer."

Sweetie looked up. "So this is how all the grass gets watered?"

"That's right!" Riptide began to address the filly instead. Twilight was thankful to avoid the embarrassment of having to be lectured on how the basics of the world worked. "Although most of our water goes to Sweet Apple Acres. The coastal cities provide most of the water to the rest of Equestria. They take the salt out of the ocean water first, of course." The mare winked.

"Of course!" Sweetie winked back.

"Has your mother shown you how to use the dowsing spell?"

"No. I... can't do magic yet." Sweetie turned away with an embarrassed flush.

"Here, let me show you then." Riptide dug in her saddlebag, producing a purple amulet. She put it on and the familiar translucent horn appeared on her head. She walked away from the aqueduct. "First, you get a sense for the water below..." Her horn lit up. "Then you... oof... nngh... pull it... up to... the surface... there!" A jet of water squirted out of the ground at the panting mare's hooves. "It's a little tricky for us amulet-users to get it, but you're a natural unicorn; it'll be a lot easier for you. You can dowse anywhere in Equestria like that if you find yourself in need."

"Wow, Twilight!" Sweetie Belle turned to her. "Isn't that great? I bet that's how they get the water up to Canterlot!"

"That's right!" Twilight hoped that was right. "Thank you, Miss Riptide. This was very educational... for Sweetie Belle, I mean."

She turned to leave, but she saw something that made her freeze in her tracks. She looked at a hill. Empty except for the grass, it looked like any other hill. But Twilight knew that hill. That was Fluttershy's hill. The one her house used to be on. The one her animals frolicked around. Now bare. Twilight's friend would never sing there again.

"Twilight?" Sweetie Belle tugged at her foreleg. "I'm getting tired. Can we head back home?"

Twilight looked down at the filly. "Yes, Sweetie Belle, we'll go home.

"I promise."

---

The train glided back into Canterlot Grand Central Station as the sun sank below the horizon. Outside, Twilight was surprised to find Princess Celestia waiting for her.

"Pardon my coming to meet you here, but I needed help with the national budget and I'd heard that you had left the city. How was your trip?"

Twilight bowed slightly. "It was... a learning experience, Princess. Actually, on the way back, I got to wondering: is there such a thing as an earth pony amulet?"

"They are certainly possible, Twilight. Although there is little use in having one: they grant neither strength nor durability."

"I know, Princess. But can you get me one? A combination earth and pegasus amulet, if it's possible."

"I shall see what I can do."

Twilight, Sweetie, and the Princess walked out of the station. "Did you learn anything of interest in Ponyville, Twilight?" Celestia asked.

Twilight stopped.

"Yes, Princess, I have. I learned... that the town I visited was not Ponyville."
> A Tree in Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two months of work had created the original temporal apparatus. Three months of work had failed to recreate it. The summer days had gone by, Twilight Sparkle had settled into her role as High Magician, and Sweetie Belle had taken up a hobby that involved less reading.

A pincushion in Sweetie Belle's room held a sewing needle. The eye of the needle met the eye of the filly. Sweetie carefully picked up the thread in her mouth, maneuvering its tip into her field of view. She inched the thread towards the needle, keeping her head as steady as she could. The end of the thread brushed against the needle's eye.

A loud knock downstairs broke her concentration. Sweetie Belle spit out her thread. She marched out of her room and down the stairs. Naturally, Twilight hadn't heard it. When she was in the basement with all of her books and crystals and powders and runes and circles, she'd miss a sonic rainboom in the front hallway.

Sweetie Belle reared up and pulled open the front door. Outside, she found a pair of burly griffons.

"Good morning," the griffoness said, looking down at the filly. "Is your mother home? We have a delivery for her." She motioned at a cart parked on the road.

"Sure, I'll go get her." Sweetie Belle closed the door and trotted to the basement.

She opened the basement door. "Twilight?"

Crystals crackled around Twilight Sparkle, magic flaring around the basement. The gems hummed with energy, and unnamable powers ebbed and flowed through the magic circles drawn on the floor, ceiling, and every wall. Eyes locked on a tome of ancient secrets, the High Magician of Equestria bent reality to her will.

Sweetie Belle sighed and walked across the room, stepping over the lines on the floor. She tugged the mare's tail. "Twilight."

Twilight turned to face Sweetie and the magic quickly dissipated. "I'm sorry Sweetie Belle, I didn't hear you come in. Is something the matter?"

"There's some griffons outside with a cart. They said they have a delivery for you."

Twilight perked up. "Oh! It must be my order from Griffonia! Thank you, Sweetie Belle." She pranced upstairs and out of the basement. Sweetie Belle returned to her room.

---

Sweetie Belle successfully threaded her needle. She took a sheet of fabric that her generous allowance had purchased and carefully laid it out on her table next to another sheet. She ran a hoof along the crease line, working out the wrinkles. Then, propping her hooves in place to hold her work steady, she took the needle in her mouth and carefully began to sew.

Stitch by stitch, her work progressed. Suddenly Twilight opened the door to her room.

"Sweetie Belle, come see what I put in the front lawn!"

Sweetie jerked, sending the needle into her leg just above her hoof. "Ow!"

Twilight rushed over. "Oh my gosh, are you all right, Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie raised her leg. "I got my pastern with the needle. Ow ow ow."

"Stay right there." Twilight hurried out of the room, quickly returning with a roll of gauze, which she began to wrap around the filly's leg. "Sweetie Belle, you need to be careful with your needles. You bleed easier than you used to, remember?"

"I know, I know. I just... I want to make a dress. For when we go back. I can wear it when we go home, and Rarity will see me in it, and it'll be so beautiful, and she'll be so proud of me..." She teared up. "And... and I miss her. I just want to see Rarity again. She never knew whether we made it... whether I made it. And I want to tell her that I'm okay."

Twilight pulled Sweetie Belle into a hug. "I miss Rarity, too, Sweetie Belle." She pulled back, and looked Sweetie in the eyes. "But I'm going to get us home. And you can wear your dress, and Rarity will love it."

"Y-you think so?" Sweetie sniffled.

"I know so."

Sweetie hugged Twilight again, wincing slightly. Twilight took Sweetie's forehoof in hers, then leaned down and kissed the gauze over her wound. "A kiss makes everything feel better, right?"

Sweetie giggled. "Yeah, thanks Twilight." She paused. "Wasn't there something outside you wanted to show me?"

Twilight stood up. "Oh yeah! Follow me; I have a surprise!"

Sweetie Belle trotted after Twilight down the stairs and out the door. Outside, on either side of the front path, stood a pair of saplings.

Sweetie looked at the plants, hardly taller than she was. "Trees?"

"Apple trees, to be exact. I had to write to every corner of Equestria to look for them," Twilight said. "Eventually I discovered that Griffonia still has all of its larger plant life, so I had them shipped internationally. And now they're here!"

"And you're going to grow them with..."

"This!" Twilight pointed to her amulet, which still had the familiar blue on its upper half. However, its lower half was green, with stylized leaves carved into its face. "The plants feel... I have to show you, Sweetie Belle."

Twilight's amulet hovered off of her neck and placed itself around Sweetie's. Immediately, white wings appeared on the filly's back. Sweetie looked at them, moving one up and down.

"Now, Sweetie Belle, touch the tree and concentrate on that leg."

Sweetie took her eyes off of her wings, walked to the nearest sapling, and gently placed her hoof against the springy trunk. She closed her eyes, unsure of what she should be feeling for. Then, gradually, she began to feel it. Life flowed under her hoof, from the roots to the leaves. The slow growth of the wood, the joy of the sunlight on the young leaves.

An imbalance in the plant. Sweetie, eyes still closed, slid her hoof to one of the larger branches. The tip felt dull and lethargic despite the light. Sweetie tilted her head. If she could just shift a little of the life force... there.

She opened her eyes in time to see two leaves sprout. She took a step backwards. "That... that was..." As she shifted her weight, the grass underneath her flexed, the little leaves bending and snapping. A breeze blew the grass in an elaborate dance, revelling in the power of the sun. "Is this... what it's like to be Apple Bloom?" The same breeze flowed around her phantom feathers, every tiny eddy as clear as day. "...or Scootaloo?"

"Did you feel the tree, Sweetie Belle?" Twilight took her amulet back. Sweetie's wings vanished, and with them her connection to the plants and the winds.

"Yeah! It was... wonderful!" She shuffled her hoof through the grass, remembering what it felt like from below. "Twilight, I know I can't fly, but can you get me one of the earth pony amulets? I want to be able to do that again." She looked back at the four young trees.

Twilight thought for a moment. "It took a few weeks to get this one, so you might have to wait, but I'll see if I can get one custom-made for you, Sweetie."

Sweetie Belle hugged Twilight's leg. "Thanks, Twilight."

"Don't thank me quite yet, Sweetie Belle. I have another thing for you to try out back."

Sweetie hopped in place. "There's more?" she squeaked.

Twilight walked around the house. "Come and see."

Only grass met the two ponies behind the house.

"Where is it, Twilight?" Sweetie looked around.

"Stand over there." Twilight pointed to the back of the house, then walked to the center of the backyard. She took a deep breath and her horn lit up. Water sprayed out of the ground in several jets ten feet high. Twilight took off, flying straight up among the streams. Hovering at their peaks, she reached out and touched one with her hoof. As Sweetie watched, the spray transformed into a white fluffy mass. Twilight turned, converting each of the streams into clouds, until there was a single, large cloud hovering close to the ground.

Twilight landed in front of her cloud and pulled a hole open in the side, revealing a hollow interior. "Here, Sweetie," she said, bringing out her old solid blue amulet and placing it around the filly's neck. Sweetie's wings reappeared on her back.

"But Twilight," she replied, looking at her new appendages, "the doctor said I'm not supposed to fly, remember?"

Twilight raised a hoof. "No, the doctor said you shouldn't crash into the ground. She didn't say anything about bouncing around a padded room." She picked Sweetie Belle up and set her inside the cloud. The white mass beneath the filly's hooves flexed slightly under her weight.

Sweetie Belle gave an experimental hop, then a larger jump. Soon she was jumping as high as she could on the fluffy trampoline. She opened her wings and began to flap. She quickly tumbled out of control, but the soft clouds easily caught her.

"Thank you, Twilight! This is the best thing ever!" She ricocheted across the ceiling. "Whee!" Sweetie Belle laughed, beating her wings. She could barely control where she was going, but she didn't care.

Twilight vigilantly watched the clouds, eyes peeled for any developing weak points. She saw Sweetie Belle smile; she heard her laugh and shout in glee. Twilight Sparkle found herself wearing a large smile on her face, and tears forming in her eyes for reasons she couldn't explain.

---

The sun sank below the horizon. Twilight finished dismantling the makeshift bouncy castle, the clouds returning to the water from whence they came. She looked at the final remaining cloud for a moment, then moved it out front.

Sweetie Belle entered the house, pulling off the pegasus amulet. Twilight Sparkle entered through the front door.

The filly exhaled. "That was a lot of fun, Twilight. Thanks."

"It was no trouble at all. How did it feel?"

"It was like... I could feel the air. Feel how the wind flowed." Sweetie clumsily attempted to pantomime with her forelegs, waving her leg like a flag. "It was like nothing else I'd ever felt before."

Twilight scratched her chin. "I wonder... do you want to try one more thing, Sweetie Belle? I'm not sure it will work, though."

"I'm pretty pooped, Twilight. Can it be done sitting down?" Sweetie didn't wait for the answer and parked her rump on the floor.

"Yes, Sweetie, it can." Twilight chuckled. Her horn lit up and a small book levitated over, setting down just in front of the filly.

"A book?" Sweetie prodded it with her hoof.

Twilight laid down next to Sweetie Belle. "It's not the book that's important; it's you. Do you remember how the air felt around your wings?"

"Yeah, like I said, it was amazing! It's a shame I can't fly for real." Sweetie looked at Twilight. "Why?"

Twilight pointed at Sweetie Belle's horn. "What I want you to try, is to concentrate on your horn. Search for the same feeling, or one a lot like it."

"But Twilight, I can't—"

Twilight placed her hoof on Sweetie Belle's mouth. "Just try."

Sweetie Belle closed her eyes, putting her effort into her horn. She steadily breathed in and out. In the stillness she could just barely feel the clicking of her heart valve. Then something happened on her forehead. Her eyes snapped open. "I felt it!" she exclaimed. "I felt something!"

Twilight smiled at her. "Good, good, try it again."

Sweetie excitedly nodded before holding still. "There! There it was again! It felt like... like the wings did, but on my face!"

"Good job, Sweetie Belle! That's the flow of magic in the world you're feeling, Sweetie. It flows around us just like the wind on your wings. I knew I recognized the feeling when I first put my amulet on. Now, Sweetie, when it pushed on your wings, you started pushing back to fly. I want you to try to push back on the magic." Twilight motioned at the small book on the floor. "Push it at the book. Don't worry about the details, just move the magical 'breeze' towards the book."

Sweetie stared at the small paperback, splitting her concentration between it and her horn. The new feeling of magic on her horn flickered around her consciousness. She grunted from the effort. A hoof-full of green sparks jumped off of her horn. Sweetie Belle gritted her teeth.

The book shifted an inch.

Sweetie Belle gasped. "I did it, Twilight! I did magic!"

Twilight swept Sweetie Belle into a hug, squeezing her tight. "You did! I'm so proud of you, Sweetie Belle!" She sniffed away a tear. "Do you know what this means?"

Twilight's eyes met Sweetie Belle's, which had tears of their own.

The filly thought for a second. "Ice cream?"

"Ice cream!"

---

Sweetie Belle fell. Air rushed past her face, and her eyes watered.

The blue amulet fluttered next to her, just out of reach. Sweetie desperately grasped for it with her hooves. She tried to use her burgeoning magic to bring it to her, but her horn would only sputter. If she could just get it around her neck, she could stop falling.

The ground rushed up, getting closer.

And closer.

She pressed her eyes closed and screamed.

Sweetie Belle jerked upright with a shout. She was in her bed, in her house in Canterlot. Outside, the moon shone its light across the landscape. Sweetie wiped the sweat off of her forehead, taking several deep breaths. She unsteadily climbed off of her bed.

She walked to Twilight's bedroom and looked inside. The bed was empty.

Sweetie Belle made her way downstairs and to the basement, pushing open the door.

"Twilight?"

Twilight Sparkle had her back to her, and hadn't noticed Sweetie's entrance.

"...has to be some way to do this. I can't believe that I can't get this right. Why can't I get this right?! I have over a millenium of knowledge more than he did! I'm supposed to be the most powerful unicorn ever, aren't I? Then why can't I reproduce the Nexus? What did he know that I don't? Why is it supposed to be impossible?"

Sweetie Belle froze in place.

"Why did the Princess say I never returned? What am I missing?" Twilight snarled.

The filly whispered, "We can't... we can't go back? Then... that means..."

Twilight didn't hear her, continuing her rant instead. "This is a big joke, isn't it? Starswirl thought it would be hilarious to die before copying any of his notes! And a mule thought it would be the funniest thing in Equestria to kick over a lantern in that library the week after Starswirl died! Well HA, HA, HA! You got me good, Starswirl! I bet you're having a big old laugh at this mare's expense!"

Sweetie Belle walked closer. "T... Twilight?"

Twilight whirled around. "WHAT?" Sweetie jumped back. The anger dropped off of Twilight's face. "Oh I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle; I didn't mean to do that. What are you doing up at this time of night?"

The filly hesitated, shifting her weight. "I... I had a bad dream... can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

"Of course you can, Sweetie Belle. I'll be right up; I don't think I'll be getting any more work done tonight anyway."

Sweetie Belle hugged Twilight's leg. "Thank you...

"...Mom."
> The More Things Change
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door to Sweetie Belle's room opened. The sun had just begun to peek over the horizon outside, shining its light against the closed curtain.

"Sweetie Belle, time to get up!" Twilight's voice was far too cheerful for the time of morning.

Sweetie Belle grumbled and rolled over.

"Come on, Sweetie Belle, aren't you excited for your first day of school?"

She looked at the wall. "No."

Twilight took a step closer. "Don't you want to meet new classmates?"

"No."

"Do... you want to learn about everything we've discovered in the last three centuries?"

"No!"

"Do you want your bed to remain level?"

"No—what?"

Sweetie Belle's bed tipped sideways, sending a pile of blankets and a filly to the floor. She flailed around in the mess of fabric before surfacing.

"Oh good, you're up!" Twilight smiled. "We're having scrambled eggs and french toast for breakfast. Come pour your juice."

Sweetie Belle descended the stairs, yawning and grumbling her whole way down. The smell of eggs and french toast met her at the bottom. She fetched a cup, then plodded to the refrigerator, pulling out the carton of juice.

Sweetie attempted to levitate the carton to pour, but she was too tired to do more than sputter some sparks at it. She resorted to using her mouth, then sat down at the table.

"Why do I have to go to school anyway?"

"To learn like everypony else, of course." Twilight levitated Sweetie's breakfast to the table in front of her.

"Aw, isn't there some funny helmet I can put on or a spell you can zap me with to stick all that learning in my head instead?" Sweetie took a bite and began to chew.

Twilight sat down with her own breakfast. "No, Sweetie, the only way to get an education is still to go to school. But it'll be a good way to meet foals your age; just keep in mind we'll be heading home soon."

Twilight looked down to take a bite. Sweetie Belle shook her head. "If you say so, Twi—I mean Mom." She continued to eat.

"If you keep calling me 'Mom,' I'm going to start actually thinking of you as my daughter," Twilight said with a chuckle.

Sweetie Belle ate slowly, lost in thought. Eventually, she said softly, "And I'll think of you as my mother."

Twilight looked up from her meal. "I'm sorry Sweetie, I didn't hear you. What did you say?"

"I said... well... I just want to call you Mom, okay?"

Twilight smiled and nodded. "If it'll make you feel better. Now finish eating so you can get ready for school."

---

Sweetie Belle's half-lidded eyes watched the clipboard and quill hovering in front of Twilight.

"Have you eaten your breakfast?" the mare said.

Sweetie sighed. "You saw me eat it, Twi—Mom."

Twilight checked a box. "Taken your heart pill?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Brushed your teeth?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Combed your mane?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Packed your lunch?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Well, I think you're about ready to—oh my gosh, I forgot the time. You spent much longer getting ready than I'd allotted for. I don't think you have enough time to walk to school before it starts."

Sweetie turned to the stairs leading to her room and began to prance towards them. "Oh well, I'll just have to skip the first—"

Everything became purple. Sweetie Belle then found herself standing outside of a schoolhouse.

"Twiiiliiight!"

---

Sweetie Belle stood in front of a class of about twenty foals, most of which were unicorns.

The teacher, a green unicorn with a light blue mane, addressed the class. "Good morning, everypony! I hope you all have had a fun summer vacation. Most of you had me as your teacher last year, but for those of you who are new, my name is Miss Chalk Dust. I look forward to working with you all."

This was met by assorted grumbling and moaning.

Chalk Dust went on, "But first, let's all welcome a filly who moved to Canterlot a few months ago. She's an exchange student from Tailvalu, one of Equestria's smaller colonies across the ocean. Let's all give a warm welcome to Sweetie Belle."

There was as much of a warm welcome as Sweetie Belle expected from a group of foals on the first day of school. She averted her eyes from the class. "Um, my name is Sweetie Belle, I moved here from where she said to get my heart fixed. My Mom works for the Princess, so I'll be... living here in Canterlot from now on. And... that's all."

Sweetie Belle shuffled towards an empty seat and sat down.

Miss Dust started, "We'll be starting with history today. Now, I hope you've all read your assignments over the summer. And like I said before you all left, I'm giving extra credit to anypony who visited one of the war memorials and can turn in an essay about your experience there.

"But first, let us have a refresher. Sweetie Belle, I'm not sure how much you've learned in Tailvalu, but I'm sure you can tell us something about President Blackbeak."

Sweetie's face blanked. She had never heard that name before in her life. "Um... she was... a president... and uh... I..."

A unicorn filly in the back raised her forehoof. Miss Dust looked over to her. "Yes, Pretty Penny?"

Pretty Penny stood up. "Mister Blackbeak was the general in charge of the Loyalist forces in the Griffon Civil War. He personally led the charge in the Battle of Bluefeather's Pass, where he routed the rebel forces. And General Blackbeak was later elected as the first president of the re-unified Griffonia." She looked at Sweetie Belle. "Any school-filly knows that."

"Thank you, Pretty Penny, although that last part was uncalled for."

Sweetie Belle groaned and put her head in her hooves. This was going to be a long day.

---

Sweetie sat at the edge of the playground, eating her lunch and gazing up the mountainside at the castle above. Names and events swam around her head. Generals, battles, spell developments, lunar colonization attempts, nations rising and falling. All things that should have happened after she was dead. Which, Sweetie supposed, she technically was.

Sweetie Belle closed her eyes.

"Friends and family,
"Smiles and laughter,
"They're so far behind me.
"But I'll never forget
"The times that we shared,
"Since memories are now
"As close to my home
"As I'll ever get."

Sweetie hummed a few more bars before she heard hoofsteps and whispering behind her.

"Did you hear that? That was beautiful."

"Let's ask her."

"Go ask her, then."

"I asked the last one; it's your turn."

Sweetie opened her eyes and turned to see a new pair of ponies: a unicorn colt and an earth filly. "Ask me what?"

The colt approached her. "Well, you see uh, we were just passing by, you know, and we just so happened to overhear—"

The filly sighed and pushed her friend out of the way. "What Spot Light is trying to say is that we're forming a foals' theatre group, and we could use a female lead for our musical numbers." She pushed an orange strand of hair out of her face. "And you have an awesome singing voice. I'm Apple Crisp, what's your name?"

"Sweetie Belle. But... you want me to sing? Like, in front of a crowd?" She shifted backwards. "I-I couldn't. Wait." She looked at the pale yellow filly. "Your name's Apple Crisp? As in, the Apple Family?"

Apple Crisp rolled her dark blue eyes. "Ugh. Yes, I'm an Apple. Yes, I've been inside one of the magiponic bays. No, I don't know how they work. No, I can't get you free food."

Sweetie raised a foreleg. "No no no! I didn't mean anything like that. I just... I knew an Apple. She was a very good friend of mine. She's... gone now." She looked down.

"Oh. Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. Um, see you around then." Apple Crisp turned to leave.

Sweetie Belle's eyes stayed on the ground, moving back and forth. She looked up. "Wait. I wouldn't mind hanging out with you sometime. But I'm not saying I'll sing for you, all right?"

"Cool, let's meet up after school." She walked away with Spot Light, whom she elbowed in the ribs. "Told you we'd find a singer."

"You think so?" he replied.

The school bell rang out, summoning the foals back to several more hours of boredom.

---

Sweetie Belle left the schoolhouse, feeling stupider than when she had entered. Outside, many of the foals began their walks home, while the more well-to-do had carriages waiting for them on the street. Many foals had parents standing around waiting to pick them up instead. Upon scanning the crowd, Sweetie discovered that she was among them.

"Sweetie Belle!" Twilight said, approaching her. "How was your first day of school?"

Sweetie gagged. "I have all this new history to learn and it stinks. And now I have to write five hundred words on why Equestria fought in the Griffon Civil War. Hey Mom, do you think you can get me an interview with Princess Celestia? Tonight? I bet I'd get extra credit if I got the answer from her."

"I think your teacher would prefer that you use your textbooks." Twilight looked towards the road. "Are you ready to head home?"

"Actually, I was going to hang out with a couple of ponies I met at lunch. In fact..." Sweetie looked around. "There they are! Apple Crisp! Over here!" Sweetie waved the filly and colt over. "Mom, this is Apple Crisp and, uh, Spot Light! That was it!"

Apple Crisp looked at Twilight. "Hey. You're the Princess's new High Magician, aren't you? Didn't know you had a kid. Nice to meet you."

Spot Light bowed and avoided Twilight's gaze. "P-pleasure to meet you... M-M-Magician Sparkle," he stuttered.

Twilight grinned and raised a hoof. "You don't have to act like that or anything. Outside of the castle, I'm just Sweetie Belle's mother." She tousled Sweetie's mane.

Sweetie disengaged from Twilight's hoof. "Anyways, I'm going to have fun with Apple Crisp and Spot Light for the afternoon."

"I suppose if I'm going to be a responsible mother, I should ask where you're going to be."

Apple Crisp tossed her head towards downtown. "We're just heading to the C. About four blocks east from here. I'm going to show Sweetie Belle around the place, see if she's interested in joining up with the Proper Pony Performers. Working title."

"That sounds like a great idea, Sweetie Belle. It'll be great for you to be able to play with foals your own age again. I'll come by at sunset if you're not home by then. I don't want you to be wandering Canterlot alone at night."

"Yes, Mom. Come on, Apple Crisp and Spot Light, let's go see what you wanted to show me."

The three foals ran off.

Twilight looked towards the school house. "I wonder if I should study a little history myself. Or would that risk a paradox when I got back?" She scratched her chin.

---

A few minutes' walk brought the trio to the complex. When they rounded the corner, Sweetie Belle froze. There were many brick buildings around the complex, some with chimneys, most without. All had windows of varying sizes. Some were small, others very large. Stone pathways ran between them, with neatly-trimmed grass filling out the area. To one side, the fields for various sports sat, with foals using one to play some game. On the other was a simple, yet sizable playground. On the far end, Sweetie could see something mechanical, although she couldn't identify it at that distance.

But what captivated her was the sign at the front. It was of a blue shield with a yellow silhouette of a filly superimposed on it. The text underneath read: "The Cutie Mark Crusaders".

Sweetie just stared at the sign, at the logo she herself had designed centuries before. "It's... it's..."

Apple Crisp walked in front of the sign. "What, you've never heard of the Cutie Mark Crusaders? They're this big organization that's all over Equestria. They set up complexes like this one, filled with all sorts of stuff. If a foal thinks she can find her special talent, the Crusaders are there to help. Like the science building over there." She pointed at a modestly-sized building with multiple chimneys and small windows. "Most foals don't have access to microscopes and potions and fancy magic crystals and unicorn amulets; just can't afford that stuff, you know? So somepony comes here, gets to use the Crusaders' equipment, and maybe she gets to walk away with a cutie mark in science."

Sweetie looked at the buildings, mouth agape while Apple Crisp went on: "There's the science building, the art building, the carpentry building, the mechanic building—they have an old train back there—the hoofball field, the big pool... But the place I want to show you is the theatre."

Apple Crisp and Spot Light led Sweetie Belle past the buildings. Sweetie looked around in wonder at what her club had created. Foals fresh out of school filtered into the buildings to seek their talents.

The trio approached an open area with a small amphitheatre at one end. Sweetie walked on autopilot, marvelling at the complex. Soon, they reached the building attached to the theatre. Sweetie Belle stood just outside the doorway. She placed her hoof on the brickwork, feeling its texture.

"Hey Sweetie Belle!" Apple Crisp called from within. "You coming?"

Sweetie snapped out of her reverie. "Huh? Oh, yeah!" She trotted inside, where she found a small congregation of foals and one grown mare.

"Girls, guys, this is Sweetie Belle. She's considering becoming our female lead singer. Great set of pipes on her. Sweetie Belle, this is Miss Wingnut," Apple Crisp said, motioning to the adult. "She keeps us out of trouble and handles all the boring grown-up stuff. I'm the director, naturally. Spot Light is our lighting colt—he does amazing things with color..."

Apple Crisp went around, introducing the rest of the cast. At the end of the introductions, Wingnut kneeled in front of Sweetie. "Hello, Sweetie Belle. You're interested in becoming a singer?'

Sweetie Belle looked around. "Well... Apple Crisp overheard me singing and wanted me to come by. I don't know if I want to sing for anypony though."

Wingnut smiled. "I'm pretty familiar with Apple Crisp's recruitment style. But she knows what she's doing most of the time. If she doesn't get her cutie mark in directing, she could well get it for talent scouting. Do you mind letting me hear? How about letting us hear a few lines?" Wingnut picked up a sheet of paper from a nearby table and set it down in front of Sweetie Belle.

"I guess I could try..." Sweetie Belle cleared her throat.

"Hold it!" Apple Crisp shouted. She pointed at her friend. "Spot Light! Give me a lavender!"

Spot Light nodded and trotted to the table, where he procured a pegasus amulet. He took to the air, flying up towards the rafters. His horn flared and the curtains closed, sending the room into darkness.

A beam shone down from the colt's horn onto Sweetie Belle, illuminating her in a soft pool of light.

Sweetie Belle stood in the glow, her mind catching up to what had just happened. "Um..."

"It's all right," Wingnut's voice said, just beyond the edge of the darkness. "She likes to do that. Just go ahead and sing."

Sweetie Belle read the page, swallowed, then cleared her throat again.

"Everything..." Her voice faltered. She took a breath.

"Everything changes, old things are gone,
"As much as we may try, time always marches on."

"Lights up!" Apple Crisp commanded. The dark curtains opened, again flooding the room with light. She turned to the assembled cast. "You hear that? Beautiful! We've got to get some of that on the stage!"

The crowd murmured general sounds of approval, interspersed with light applause. Sweetie Belle turned red.

"That was very nice, Sweetie Belle," Wingnut told her. "You have a lovely voice."

Apple Crisp pranced over to Sweetie Belle and hooked her foreleg around the unicorn's neck. "Lemme show ya the script we got going. It's called The Hybrids. It's about this powerful unicorn and her friend who find themselves turning into these vicious monsters and have to find a way to undo their curse before it's too late..."

---

Twilight Sparkle wandered through the Cutie Mark Crusaders complex after dark. Soft lights on the sides of the buildings lit up the path. Coming to another intersection, Twilight looked left and right.

"I wish Apple Crisp had told me where in this place she had taken Sweetie Belle. Knowing her, she could have gone looking for her cutie mark anywhere in here." Twilight scratched her chin. "Wait... didn't she say something about performing? I should look for any performance arts buildings."

Fifteen minutes more of searching brought Twilight to a door. She slowly opened it and stuck her head in.

"Pardon me, but I'm looking for my daughter, Sweetie Belle. Has she come in here?"

A mare walked up to her. "Sweetie Belle? Yes, she's here." She called into the room, "Sweetie Belle, your mother's here! I'm Miss Wingnut, by the way, one of the Crusaders' volunteers."

"Twilight Sparkle. It's a pleasure to meet you. If you can indulge my curiosity, I'd like to know more about the Cutie Mark Crusaders; for instance, how they are funded."

"Of course. The Crusaders run mainly on volunteer effort and donations of money and equipment, mostly from alumni, but the government gives them subsidies and tax breaks as well. For instance, I grew up in a rather poor part of Canterlot. If it hadn't been for the Crusaders, I might never have discovered my talent was crafting machinery." She indicated her flank, which bore two interlocking gears. "So I give back by helping the next generation find theirs. My first love is my machines, but plays have always held a soft spot for me, so I signed up to oversee these little rascals."

Twilight looked at Wingnut. "So ponies find their talents with the Crusaders, then when they grow up they help the organization that helped them. Sweetie Belle must be so proud!"

"Speaking of..." Wingnut turned back towards the room. "Sweetie Belle! Your mother's been waiting for you!"

Sweetie Belle walked up to the two mares. "I heard you the first time; I was getting out of that costume. Hi, Mom. Here already?"

"It's time for you to be headed home. You have homework, if I remember correctly. But the sooner you finish with it, the sooner we can have some more practice with your magic." Twilight smiled.

Sweetie Belle thought about what would happen if she said no. "Oh, all right." She began to walk outside.

Apple Crisp ran up behind her. "Hey Sweetie Belle! You coming back tomorrow?"

Sweetie Belle looked into Apple Crisp's eyes, then up at the building and around at the Cutie Mark Crusaders' complex.

"Yeah, I think I will."
> A Performance to Remember
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pancake batter sizzled in the pan under the careful gaze of Twilight Sparkle. At just the proper moment, she levitated the pancake up, turned it over, and carefully set it back down. Soon, the oil in the skillet ran low, and Twilight hurriedly added more.

Behind her, she heard the sound of a filly descending a staircase, slightly quicker than her typical gait.

"Good morning, Sweetie Belle," Twilight said, eyes still on the pan.

"Morning, Mom!" came the reply. "It's my big day! Aren't you excited?"

Twilight looked over at the grinning filly. "Hm? Oh, yes! Your play. You'll do great, I'm sure." She went back to monitoring the pancakes. "Go get your juice, Sweetie Belle; breakfast is almost ready."

She hovered the pancakes onto the plates she had set, doled out an appropriate amount of syrup on each, then took them to the table. Sweetie Belle dug in.

"So what's your play about, Sweetie Belle?" Twilight asked between bites.

Sweetie Belle swallowed. "It's called The Hybrids and it's about me and this other pony turning into changelings." She paused. "I could have sworn I've told you before." Sweetie shrugged and went back to her meal.

"It sounds delightful, Sweetie Belle. I made sure to get the best seat in the house to watch. I have the ticket..." She looked around. "...around here somewhere."

Sweetie Belle polished off her meal before Twilight had eaten half of hers. She jumped up from her seat. "I'm going to go to the theatre early today. Gotta get everything all practiced!"

"After you take your heart pill, Sweetie Belle." Twilight produced the pill.

"Yeah, yeah." Sweetie snatched the hovering pill out of the air and finished off her orange juice. "Now can I go, Twi—Mom?"

"Brush your teeth, mane, and tail and you may leave." Twilight went back to eating.

Sweetie Belle ran upstairs, spent far too little time up there for proper hygiene, and ran back down and out the door. "Bye, Mom! See you tonight!"

Twilight Sparkle chuckled. "Mom. Oh, Sweetie Belle." She glanced at Sweetie's abandoned plate, a pattern in the syrup's remains catching her eye. "Hm, an inverted nine-point circle with non-prime runes... that's a thought."

---

The Cutie Mark Crusaders complex's food court was staffed by both volunteers and the potential chefs of Canterlot. Ponies young and old sampled the experimental foodstuffs, while hoping that theirs was the product of a successful test and not a failed one.

Three foals trotted away with their successful extra-large churros in their mouths. They passed the buildings the Cutie Mark Crusaders had built, and traveled to the grassy area in front of the amphitheatre. Suddenly, Apple Crisp tripped over a rock, dropping her cargo.

Sweetie Belle's horn flared green and the churro hovered inches above the grass.

"Thanks, Sweetie Belle, I almost lost my lunch there," Apple Crisp said. "Sort of."

Sweetie grinned through the teeth that were holding her own food, her head low and her horn still glowing. She grunted under the strain and beads of sweat appeared on her face.

"Oh whoops." Apple Crisp leaned down and retrieved her churro before Sweetie's magic gave out.

The three lay down on their backs, heads together, setting their churros on their stomachs.

Apple Crisp took a bite. "That was an awesome save, Sweetie Belle. You just snapped that spell on like pow! Eight months ago, you struggled to pick up the script."

Sweetie Belle gazed up at the empty sky. "Eight months. With the time before I met you, that makes it... almost a year since I got here. Hanging out with you two makes it a lot more bearable, though. I would have gone nuts if I was stuck with all of Mom's books for a year." She put on her best impression of Twilight's voice, "Here, Sweetie Belle, read this book on a thousand uses of belly button lint!"

Spot Light finished chewing and swallowed. "Um, pardon me for asking, but... what was it like, back where you're from?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you? I'm not actually from across the ocean; I'm a time traveller from three hundred and fifty years ago who came to this time to be saved by today's medicine. I'm really one of the three founders of the Cutie Mark Crusaders." Sweetie took a bite.

The other two stared at her for a few seconds. Apple Crisp cracked up. "Hahaha, you had me going there for a second, Sweetie Belle. Time travel!"

Sweetie Belle giggled. "Well the part about coming here for surgery was true; I had to get my heart fixed. Thing is..." Sweetie thought for a second. "After I left for here, something... really bad happened. Everything I knew... everypony I knew was gone. My Mom is the only pony I have now. She isn't my actual mother, either, just a good friend of my big sister's."

"Wow," the yellow colt said, looking up at the sky. He paused. "I knew you lost somepony, but I didn't know you'd lost everypony. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's okay." Sweetie didn't take her eyes off of the sky. "I miss them, a lot, but there's no use in worrying about the past. Something that some ponies could use to learn." She sighed. "Aww, I didn't mean to bring you all down. Um..." Her forehoof wandered to the green earth amulet around her neck. "Apple Crisp, you're an earth pony. You can feel the grass and stuff better than I can with this, right? What's it like?"

"Hm?" Apple Crisp ran her hind hoof through the grass. "I dunno; I never really thought about it. Sure, I can feel the sun on all of this." She waved across the field. "I guess it's like you and your horn. The times I get to put on a unicorn amulet, yeah it feels like my forehead... I can't really describe it, but it's real strong. But I bet you hardly notice yours."

Sweetie could feel the magic coursing past her horn, the trickle of power running up its groove, waiting to be directed. "I guess I don't notice, not when I'm not using it."

Apple Crisp wiggled on the grass. "Exactly. I'll just have to make do with my natural strength and durability and my ability to turn magic or flight on and off. Poor me, only having my rich and powerful friends." She motioned to Spot Light and Sweetie Belle respectively.

Sweetie finished off her churro and sat up. "He's rich?" She paused. "I'm powerful?"

The colt's green eyes moved away. "I don't like to talk about it," he mumbled.

"Why not?" Sweetie asked.

He rolled over, facing away from her, shifting his black tail. "Mom and Dad dress me up. They take me to their 'little get-togethers.' To see other rich ponies. Rich ponies are snooty. I don't want to be snooty too. Don't want to be 'that rich colt.' I like it better if others don't know."

Listening closely, Sweetie noticed for the first time the barest hint of a posh accent betraying her friend's heritage. "Oh, I see. And what about me? How am I powerful? I can barely hold a churro with my magic."

"Not like that," Apple Crisp said. "I mean, look. You're wearing a custom-made, one-of-a-kind amulet that has no practical purpose. How hard do you think it was to get that made?"

Sweetie looked down, trying to get a look at it. "Um... I don't know, I just asked Mom for it."

"Exactly. I've never gotten to wear an amulet that wasn't borrowed. And think about the play's premiere tonight. Everypony's parents are going to be there. Spot Light's rich parents could well be there; some of the nobility likes to come and watch. But who did you say got the ticket for the front-and-center seat?" She pointed at Sweetie Belle. "Your mother. What does that tell you about her?"

"I never thought of it that way. I wonder if Mom knows."

Apple Crisp, having finished her lunch, stood up. "Well, there is one way I'm more powerful than you are." She turned towards the stage. "All right, lunchtime's over! Everypony back to rehearsal! Set up the props for the forest chase scene!" She grinned at her friends.

"Awww," the two said in unison.

---

Sweetie Belle stood at her position on the set. Prop trees created the illusion of a thick forest, at least from the angle of the audience. The effect was lost from the performers' perspective. A large red curtain hung closed behind the set, and another hung open in front of it. To the side, sets of chairs and music stands awaited their band. Somepony had left a tuba. The afternoon sun produced a short shadow over the front rows of the stands.

Up above, Spot Light adjusted the stage's lighting, flicking individual bulbs on and off. Scores on the wooden floor marked where heavy props of old had been hurriedly moved during some performance, years before. Sweetie Belle mentally ran through her path and hummed her part.

Apple Crisp walked across the front of the stage, her single horseshoe loudly clacking as she moved. "All right!" she said. "It's our last rehearsal before showtime tonight, so show me what you've got. And remember, move with the band! If they go too fast, then you will be going fast, too. The synchronization is more important than the exact timing. Places!"

She stamped out a beat with her shod hoof. "Five six seven eight!"

Sweetie Belle and her counterpart, High Note, ran across the stage, zigzagging through the props. When they reached stage left, they stopped and turned to meet the half-dozen ponies that had pursued them.

"We're not like you!"

"You are like us!"

"We can't join you!"

"You will join us!"

"We're not like you!"

Sweetie turned to High Note. "If we can't go around them, we'll go through them!" She threw a punch past the nearest actor, who reeled away. High Note followed suit. Seeing their opening, they ran past the ponies and across the stage again.

After the scene, Apple Crisp stamped her hooves. "And scene! Beautiful! Do it just like that tonight!"

"Yeah," Sweetie said. "Tonight." She swallowed.

Sweetie Belle looked out across the seats that would be filled with ponies that night. She shivered. Sweetie walked towards the backstage.

Wingnut intercepted her. "How are you feeling, Sweetie Belle?"

"N-nervous. But also kind of excited. I want to go out and sing but I don't want everypony to watch me. But I feel kind of good about tonight too, like... like I'm meant to be out there. But I'm so nervous about going out there! I just want to get it over with!"

The pegasus wrapped her wing around Sweetie Belle. "It's all right. It's your first big appearance; it's only natural to be nervous. I bet Apple Crisp is nervous, too."

"Her? No way. She doesn't even have to get out on stage. I have to be the star of the show!"

"Apple Crisp has to make sure that you hit your spots at the right times. She has to make sure that you sing your lines the exact way you should. She has to make sure each scene flows into the next. And she has to manage everypony, and everypony will be seeing the result of her work."

Sweetie looked down. "I didn't think of it that way."

"You're going to do great out there, Sweetie Belle." Wingnut smiled.

Sweetie Belle hugged the pegasus's leg. "Thanks, Wingnut."

---

Sweetie Belle paced back and forth. On stage, the props for Act 1 Scene 1 stood ready, hidden from the audience by the closed curtain. Her heart pounded loud enough for her to hear her valve over the pre-show preparations. Part of her mind wondered if the rest of the cast could hear it, too.

The sounds of chatting ponies wafted across to the stage, as did the broken melodies of the band warming up. Sweetie took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She stood on her mark, trying and failing not to fidget. Sweetie hummed one of the show's tunes.

Something in her blood called for the stage, for the spotlight, yet she dreaded answering it.

"I can do this. I practiced for months. I can do this," she said to herself. She took a breath.

Apple Crisp's voice called out from the other side of the curtain. "Fillies and Gentlecolts, it is my honor to present The Hybrids, as performed by the Pony Thespian Performance Troupe, a tale of change, and of a friendship that remains strong through the worst of adversities. So sit, my fellow ponies, and enjoy tonight's performance."

Apple Crisp walked off the stage and past Sweetie Belle. "Break a leg, Sweetie Belle. And sing your heart out."

Sweetie swallowed and nodded.

The curtain opened and the band began to play. On cue, Sweetie Belle trotted out onto the stage. Her eyes flicked across the ponies watching her, then landed on the front row.

The center seat was empty.

Twilight Sparkle was not in the audience.

Sweetie Belle froze, staring at the gap in the audience. There was nothing else. No stage, no props, no lights, no band faltering at the lack of a singing accompaniment, no director hissing her line. Just Sweetie Belle and the empty seat. Then hundreds of eyes faded into her awareness, all watching her.

She trembled, then broke into a run, fleeing the stage. She didn't hear Apple Crisp's hurried command to close the curtain, nor her hasty assurances to the audience that the play would continue shortly.

Sweetie ran to a corner of the backstage, then curled up, sobbing. Apple Crisp ran to her a moment later.

"Sweetie Belle, what's going on?!"

Sweetie looked up. "I can't! I can't do it!"

Apple Crisp stomped her hoof. "Come on, get out there! The show must go on!"

"I'm sorry! I can't go out there!" Sweetie cried.

Apple Crisp grit her teeth. "Argh! I don't have time for this!" She turned towards the cast. "Hey, the performance is still on! Get back to your places! Foot Loose! You're playing Sweetie's part tonight! Get on your mark, now! Somepony tell the band to get ready to play again!"

The cast hurried back to their places, all except for the filly crying in the corner. 

Sweetie Belle heard the band starting again, the actors and actresses going out on stage. She heard Foot Loose's inexpert singing, fumbling over the songs that Sweetie should have sung. She heard the cast going through the backstage, changing costumes and preparing props. The intermission came and went, with Sweetie's tears long exhausted. Finally, the closing notes of the play came before the curtain call.

Sweetie Belle took the opportunity to stand up and slink out the back door. She dragged her hooves on the long, dark walk home.

---

Twilight Sparkle busily traced a crystal along one of the lines in her latest magic circle, lost in thought. The basement door burst open.

Twilight turned around. "Swee—"

"Twilight! Where were you?" Sweetie Belle stomped down the stairs. "You said you had a ticket to the play! To my play! You said you were going to be there!"

Twilight shifted backwards. "I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle, I must have lost track of time. You see, I discovered something that might lead to a breakthrough in my research and—"

"Your research?" Sweetie Belle stood on her forelegs. "Your research?! I embarrassed myself in front of six hundred ponies because of your RESEARCH?!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Twilight raised her foreleg. "Sweetie Belle, this research is important and—"

"I don't care about your research!"

"Sweetie Belle!" Twilight admonished, "This research saved your life!"

"You're right, Twilight, it did save my life. And do you know what I'm doing with that life?" Sweetie pointed out the door. "Living it! Spending it out there, with my friends, with the theatre! Not abandoning my family! Not wasting my time in some cramped basement full of gems and crystals, trying to find a way back that will never happen!"

Twilight backed up a step. "S-Sweetie Belle, I promised to find a way—"

"There is no way! We're not going back! Even I can see that!"

Tears formed under Twilight's eyes. "No, that's wrong. Don't... don't you want to see Rarity again?"

"Don't you dare bring up Rarity! We're not going to see her again!" She choked up. "We're not... going to see any of them again. I just want to see you again, Twilight... Mom. I want you to be there for me. Is having a mother too much to ask?"

"Sweetie Belle..."

Sweetie Belle started up the stairs. "You know what? Forget it. I understand. I'll leave you alone with your beloved research."

She walked up the stairs and closed the door behind her.

Twilight Sparkle stared at the door, then turned and looked down at her table. Unfurled scrolls littered the surface, covered in scrawled notes and calculations. She looked at the softly-glowing magic circles she had spent months drawing and refining. She looked at the crystals she had bombarded with every spell she could muster. She looked at her books, piled in each corner, reaching to the ceiling.

Twilight Sparkle walked away.

---

Twilight slowly pushed the door to Sweetie Belle's room open. A lump was under the bed's covers.

"Sweetie Belle?" Twilight asked, slowly walking in.

"What do you want?" the lump responded.

Twilight sat down at the bedside. "Sweetie Belle, I'm sorry."

"Yeah right." The lump shifted.

Twilight set her hoof on her best estimate of where Sweetie's shoulder blade was. "I mean it. I didn't realize that you felt that way about me. I just thought that you... that you didn't really mean it when you called me Mom. Oh, Sweetie Belle, if I was supposed to be your mother, then I've failed, haven't I?"

She looked at the pathetic creature under the blankets. "Here I am, tasked with raising you, giving you what you need to be healthy and happy, and I spent my time neglecting you in favor of..." Twilight sighed. "The Princess was right, wasn't she? It's not happening. And I made you suffer for my foolishness. I am truly, truly sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

The lump moved again. "Twilight... do you hate me?"

"Why would I hate you, Sweetie Belle?"

"If... if it wasn't for me... if I'd died back then... you wouldn't have gone through time. You wouldn't have gotten stuck here. I'm the reason you'll never go home. You hate me for it, don't you? You wish that you'd left me to die, don't you?"

Twilight leaned in. "Sweetie Belle, if I had another chance, I wouldn't hesitate to do it again."

Sweetie's head emerged from the blankets, her green eyes meeting Twilight's purple ones. "Do you really mean it?"

Twilight pulled her into a hug. "Sweetie Belle, I... I love you."

Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and sniffled into Twilight's mane. "I love you too, Mom."

"I'll be your mother from now on, Sweetie Belle. I don't know how well of a mother I can be, but I'll do everything I can to make you happy. I promise."

Twilight Sparkle squeezed her daughter tight against her chest.

---

"What happened?" Apple Crisp demanded.

Sweetie avoided eye contact. "I... I lost my head. I'm sorry. I just... couldn't handle the crowd."

The earth filly paced. "So is that it? After months of practice you quit, just like that? I don't have any other fillies that can sing like you, and I can't find and teach one the play by next week!"

Sweetie stood tall. "No. No, I'm staying on. I'm going to sing. I'm going to do the play."

"Are you sure, Sweetie Belle? I can't have a repeat of last night. I can't do another last-second replacement with a pony who can't sing."

Foot Loose looked down in shame.

Apple Crisp looked at her. "Uh, sorry, Foot Loose. But I brought on Sweetie Belle for a reason." She looked back at Sweetie. "All right, I don't have much of a choice. You'll stay in the lead role, and I'll hope I'm not making a big mistake."

"You can count on me, Apple Crisp. I can do this..."

---

"...I can do this."

Sweetie Belle stood at the edge of the stage. The moon had come up and the audience had sat down. The props were out, the curtain was closed, the lights were on, and the band was warming up.

Apple Crisp walked up to Sweetie Belle. "Last chance, Sweetie Belle. Are you absolutely sure you can play?"

Sweetie nodded. "I'm sure, Apple Crisp. I will sing."

"All right. I'm counting on you. Break a leg, Sweetie Belle."

Apple Crisp walked out in front of the curtain. "Fillies and Gentlecolts, it is my honor..."

While the director introduced the play, Sweetie Belle steeled herself. She imagined the audience looking at her and swallowed. Her heart pounded in her chest. She closed her eyes.

The curtain opened and the band began to play. Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and trotted onto the stage. She glanced towards the audience.

The front and center seat was occupied. Twilight Sparkle sat with a camera around her neck. She smiled at her daughter, eyes gleaming with pride.

Sweetie Belle looked up, at the hundreds of eyes watching her, and took a deep breath.

"Such a place! (Such a place!)
"Full of splendour and grandeur,
"Where etiquette and elegance are simply de rigueur!
"Such a place! (Such a place!)
"Oh, I want to see the sights!
"The fountains, and the gardens!
"The castles and the lights!
"Such a place! (Such a place!)
"Oh, wherever do I start?
"Perhaps a local café
"Or the gallery of art..."

---

"Though our looks might be alarming,
"Even scary or disarming,
"We assure you we’re quite charming
"After all we have been through.
"And we’ve learned a simple lesson:
"If you fall into depression,
"Accept yourself for who you are
"And to yourself stay true!"

Sweetie Belle and High Note held the last note as the music swelled. Then, on cue, they stopped and the band went silent.

There was a second of silence, then the audience exploded into applause. Ponies stomped their forelegs and cheered, Sweetie's mother the loudest of all.

The curtains closed.

Apple Crisp moved through the set, followed by the stagehooves and the cast. "Curtain call in fifteen seconds! Get the props out of the way!" The ponies hastily moved the props out the way, making room for the assembling cast.

Apple Crisp moved offstage. "Open!"

The curtains opened to reveal the audience, still applauding. Sweetie Belle looked over the ponies, clapping for her, cheering for her. Sweetie Belle looked, and she knew. She knew that this is what she wanted to do. She wanted to sing, to entertain, forever.

Something flashed behind her. Sweetie Belle turned to see, on her flank, an image of a silver bell with a pink ribbon. Forgetting herself, she spun in place to see it, inadvertently showing her new cutie mark to the audience. They erupted into even greater applause. Twilight jumped up and down cheering, face beaming with pride, and occasionally remembering to snap a picture.

Sweetie Belle stopped and faced her audience. With tears running down her face, she looked up, over the crowd, at the stars shining down on her.

After three centuries, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had finally achieved their original goal.

"Apple Bloom, Scootaloo..." she whispered.

"...Thank you!"
> Old Friendships
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train glided noiselessly over the tracks in the late morning sun. Three foals watched the landscape blur past outside.

"Thanks for paying for the trip, Spot Light," Apple Crisp said. "I don't have the money to run across Equestria on a whim."

"I wouldn't have minded paying for Sweetie too," he replied.

"No, Mom has the bits for this. I just had to tell her why I wanted to go."

"Must be one heck of a reason," Apple Crisp said, waving at the train car, "to be allowed to get on a train unsupervised. What about you, Spot Light? What'd you tell your parents?"

"They don't have any of their 'get-togethers' today. They don't care what I do when they don't need me." He didn't take his eyes off the window. "What about yours?"

"They don't know!" Apple Crisp responded joyfully. "Speaking of not knowing, where exactly are we going, Sweetie Belle?"

"I told you: Ponyville. There's something I have to show you. Something that explains why I sing." She watched the scenery slow as the train approached the station.

"You couldn't just tell us?"

"I could, but I have to see it too. If it's there."

The train glided to a stop. The Sweet Apple Acres magiponic farm loomed outside the window.

"Come on," Sweetie Belle said, walking out. "It's this way."

"I hope it's not the farm," Apple Crisp said. "Those buildings stink of fruit."

---

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders complex?" Spot Light asked. "What was wrong with the one in Canterlot?"

Sweetie Belle walked past the sign. "The Canterlot complex didn't have it."

He walked in front of her. "Have what?"

"The reason I sing."

Apple Crisp moved to her side. "I don't get it. I'll just follow you around. But we'd better not be going to every Cutie Mark Crusaders complex in Equestria looking for whatever it is."

"We won't. If it isn't here, it isn't anywhere."

The Ponyville complex was similarly built to its Canterlot counterpart. The complex was smaller, though, and lacked sports facilities or the large amphitheatre. It did have its own magiponic building, with a dedicated aqueduct.

Sweetie Belle led the other two around, weaving a convoluted path among the buildings. "Come on, Apple Bloom," she said quietly. "You had to have left something. Where did you put it?"

Spot Light tilted his head. "Um, who's Apple—"

"There it is!" She pointed at a gleaming brass statue, at an intersection near the administrative buildings. The three foals ran to it.

The statue was of a unicorn filly, life-size, rearing up with a smile on her face. Spot Light looked from the statue to Sweetie Belle. "She looks just like you."

"She is me. Look at the inscription." She read the text embossed on the base:


In memory of Sweetie Belle
Lost to us, but not forever
May you have a long, healthy and happy life
Wherever you are

Cutie Mark Crusaders for life
Apple Bloom
Scootaloo
Sweetie Belle


"But," Spot Light said, still comparing the brass Sweetie Belle to the flesh and blood one, "how can this be you? This looks like some kind of memorial."

"So you're dead?" Apple Crisp asked.

"No," Sweetie Belle answered. "I'm not dead. Even if I should be. Do you remember when I said I was a time traveller from the past? I was telling the truth. My heart was failing, and the doctors said it was incurable. My Mom found a way to take me to this time so I could be healed, but something broke and it can't be fixed, so I can't go back. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and I... we founded the Cutie Mark Crusaders. My Mom, Twilight—she isn't my real mother. She's a... I mean she was a good friend of my big sister's."

The foals stood in silence before Spot Light spoke up. "You know," he said, "when my parents take me to their little gatherings, I hear the rich ponies talk about her. I heard that she just appeared out of nowhere one day and the Princess made her High Magician on the spot. If they knew each other from the past... yeah. Yeah, I could see her being from the past. And with that statue, I could see you going with her."

Apple Crisp looked at the memorial. "So you showed us this so we'd believe you? All right, if you and Spot Light both say so, I can buy it. So you sing because you're from the past, huh?"

Sweetie Belle touched the statue's hoof with her own. "It's more than that. When I was in the hospital back then, I felt so weak. I could barely lift my head. I was going to die. I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do about it. The only thing I could do was lay there, and wait. I had to wait to die. I've never been so scared in my whole life.

"That's why I joined the troupe and decided to sing for the shows. I sing because I can. Because I didn't die in that hospital bed, back then." She looked up at the statue's eternally-smiling face. "I know that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo must have still cared, after I left. Sometimes I like to imagine that they kept the Cutie Mark Crusaders alive and started this whole thing, just so they could help me someday." She sniffled.

Sweetie Belle found herself pulled to the ground by a pair of yellow forelegs wrapped around her. "That's really sweet," Spot Light said.

Apple Crisp added, "They sound like awesome friends. Maybe as awesome as we are. Maybe."

Sweetie Belle smiled. "Thanks. Let's head home before we miss the next train. Let me tell you about the time we tried to take up river rafting. See, Scootaloo's wings were getting better at pushing, so Apple Bloom came up with a plan to get our cutie marks..."

The three foals left the memorial statue.

---

Twilight Sparkle walked through the Canterlot Gardens. It was a bright and sunny day. Every day was a bright and sunny day. Twilight felt that it should have been cloudy, perhaps raining, but the sun shone all the same.

She made her way to the rear of the gardens, through the back gate, past the standing stones, to where the Princess had told her. There, she found it.

A hexagonal platform, with a statue atop each side. Six stone ponies with six familiar faces. Twilight unsteadily approached the stone slab in front of the monument and began to read.


Equestria honors six heroes
who risked themselves to save ponykind
Here lie the bearers of the Elements of Harmony
who have found peace at last


Twilight shakily approached the monument, looking up at her friends' faces. "I'm sorry I didn't visit you all earlier," she told them. "I was planning on seeing you again, but, you know... not like this." She walked to the nearest side of the memorial.


Here lies Applejack
Bearer of the Element of Honesty
"Good hard work is always its own reward."
Rest In Peace


She looked up at Applejack's smiling face. "Oh, Applejack. You were going to show me your new north field, weren't you? You sounded so proud of it. I'm sorry I never got to see it. I should have had more of that cider you wanted me to try, too. I'm sorry, Applejack."

She dragged herself to the next side.


Here lies Fluttershy
Bearer of the Element of Kindness
"Be kind to everypony, because nopony deserves otherwise."
Rest In Peace


"Fluttershy. You had a new arrival of otter babies. I was looking forward to seeing them. And your bird choir, you had a new song you were teaching them. I'm sure you finished it at some point. I'd give anything to hear it, Fluttershy. I'm sure... it was beautiful."

Legs shaking, she walked to the next.


Here lies Pinkie Pie
Bearer of the Element of Laughter
"Don't cry when you read this. I want you to laugh instead!"
Rest In Peace


Twilight couldn't help but chuckle weakly. "You knew just what to put, didn't you, Pinkie Pie? You must have been yourself to the very end." She sniffed, trying her best to follow the epitaph's instructions. "You were going to throw me that big party when I got back, weren't you? I'm sorry I disappointed you, Pinkie."


Here lies Rarity
Bearer of the Element of Generosity
"No gift is greater than seeing other ponies happy."
Rest In Peace


"I did it, Rarity. I saved Sweetie Belle. She's alive, and she's happy. She even made some new friends. She got her cutie mark, too. Sweetie Belle's going to be a great singer. I bet she'd look stunning in one of your dresses. And I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to be her mother from now on. I know, I know, but she needs a mother more than anything else. Your sister is in good hooves, Rarity. I promise."


Here lies Rainbow Dash
Bearer of the Element of Loyalty
"Never abandon your friends. Nothing worthwhile can come of it."
Rest in Peace


Twilight exhaled. "How did you take it, Rainbow? Did you patiently wait by where the apparatus was for me? Did you zoom all over Equestria in the hopes that I simply came back in the wrong place? Did you ever stop to do anything for yourself? I hope you still became a Wonderbolt like you always wanted. And I'm sure you showed them the best flying Equestria's ever seen."

Twilight walked to the final epitaph.


Here lies Twilight Sparkle
Bearer of the Element of Magic
"With your friends, no obstacle is insurmountable."
Rest in Peace


"Sounds like something I'd say," Twilight said. "Of course there has to be six. It has to be complete and organized... just like how Twilight would have wanted it, right?" She looked up at the statue's face, her own face. "If I have a grave here, but nopony knows who I am... then how long has it been since anypony has even been here? Who was the last pony to see you girls? Your children? Your grandchildren? But after them... we've been forgotten, haven't we? Nopony even remembers us. Nopony knows what we did.

"It doesn't even matter if we're forgotten. Being remembered by you is enough. But I just want to see you all, to hear you all, one more time. Just one more time."

Twilight lay down on her own grave. "I miss you all... so much... I tried so hard. I did everything I could. I'm so sorry."

In a forgotten corner of the cemetery, where few ponies ever visited, a unicorn cried.
> A View Like None Other
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetie Belle stood in the early afternoon sun. In front of her was the entrance to a tube, large enough for a pony to fit in, its black interior falling away to unknown depths. A steady roar emanated from within. Apple Crisp and Spot Light stood behind her.

"See you at the bottom!" Sweetie Belle shouted, then jumped in.

She slid down the tube, swept along by the water running through. Occasionally, an opening revealed flashes of the outdoors. Sweetie Belle yelled in delight. Soon she reached the bottom, where she flew several feet through the air before splashing into a large pool.

Sweetie Belle swam to the end, where her mother waited for her. Shortly afterwards, the sound of Apple Crisp's voice preceded her arrival, and the earth pony splashed down as well. Finally, Spot Light exited the water ride.

The trio climbed out of the pool and shook themselves off. Twilight shielded herself with her foreleg from the thrown water.

"Worth the wait?" Apple Crisp asked.

"Worth the wait!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"Definitely," Spot Light added. "Where are we going next?"

Twilight chimed in, "I'm in the mood to sit by the wave pool." She began to walk.

"Aww, c'mon, Mom, you can't go to Horseshoe Rapids and just sit around!" Sweetie pranced in front of Twilight. "Let's go for a swim!"

"I'll be fine watching you three, thank you."

As Twilight walked away, Sweetie Belle motioned for her two friends and whispered into their ears. "Hey Apple Crisp, Spot Light... I have an idea..."

---

Twilight lay on her back by the pool, where the park's workers busily pushed the water with their magic. The sound of foals playing drifted past her ears. She looked up into the empty sky, deep in thought.

"Five years..."

"Hey, Mom!" Sweetie Belle called.

Twilight looked over to her daughter, who was half-submerged, with her forehooves propped on the edge of the patio around the pool.

"Can you come here for a second?"

Twilight got up and walked to the edge. "What is it, Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie extended her foreleg. "I just need a hoof getting out."

"Sure, here you go." Twilight smiled.

Twilight reached down, hooking her foreleg around Sweetie Belle's. At that moment, the adolescent filly braced her hind hooves against the underwater wall and pulled as hard as she could. Twilight toppled forwards, then vanished in a purple flash. She re-appeared standing at the edge again.

"I saw what you were trying to do, young mare, and it won't—WOAH!"

Twilight Sparkle fell in the pool. Behind where she had been standing, Apple Crisp and Spot Light bumped hooves.

"Cannonball!" Apple Crisp called, jumping in. Spot Light dove in after her. The three teenagers popped up around Twilight and got to work splashing her.

Twilight raised her foreleg in a futile attempt to block the incoming water. "All right! All right! You got me!" She laughed. "Stop it!"

"I don't know," Apple Crisp said. "Spot Light, what do you think? Should we make her ride the Mega Horseshoe Splasher?"

Spot Light looked at Apple Crisp. "Me? Um, yeah. We should."

"I got the hind legs if you got the forelegs, Spot Light."

"Sweetie Belle!" Twilight playfully called. "Help me, they're taking me away!"

Sweetie Belle pretended to be fascinated by a group of colts on the other end of the pool. "Sorry, Mom, I didn't catch that." She waved dismissively. "Have fun on the Mega Horseshoe Splasher."

The grown foals dragged Twilight out of the pool and towards her destiny.

---

The door opened on the rented studio, and Apple Crisp entered with her two friends. A few ponies were milling about, practicing their roles. The room was just big enough to fit one scene's worth of space. Support pillars blocked the most convenient paths through the room, and it all smelled of wood. Some dirty windows provided a view of the building across the road. Props and backdrops had been wedged in any free corner.

"All right," Apple Crisp announced. "I hope you've all had a fun day; I know I have. I'm going to entertain myself with some paperwork and bills, then we'll be going over The Equestrian Guard. Until then, practice whatever while we wait for our slow-ponies to show up."

Apple Crisp took the mail and entered her office, which was made up of spare backdrops propped up against the corner.

Spot Light went to an empty spot on the wall and began projecting patterns. Sweetie Belle took a copy of the script and sat herself down on the mostly-upholstered couch. Her magic suspended the paper in the air, and she began to page through it.

Sweetie Belle found the section she sought. She hummed a few bars to warm up, then cleared her throat.

"We—"

Apple Crisp ran into the center of the studio. She spit out a letter. "Hey! Hey guess what? I got a big surprise for all of you!"

The assorted ponies looked at her.

"You see, I wrote a few places asking for sponsorship, and one of them said yes! Somepony from there saw one of our shows and had the place agree to host us for a night for free! Part of an upcoming stars event they have going. It's only one performance, but this could be our big break! And we got the best place ever!"

Sweetie Belle interrupted her. "Where? Where are we going?"

"We're going to play at Earthshine!" Apple Crisp jumped up and down, her hooves clacking against the wooden floorboards.

Sweetie Belle scratched her chin, searching her memory for that name.

Spot Light piped up. "Earthshine Amphitheatre? You got us Earthshine? We're going—?"

Apple Crisp shouted, "We're going to perform on the moon!"

---

The train sped noiselessly across the Equestrian landscape. Within, excited teenagers and their chaperones anticipated the farthest trip of their lives. Outside, the moon moved up the sky, awaiting its latest visitors.

The walls of a stone-lined tunnel whisked by outside the window. Once it passed, Twilight looked out the window at the moon, trying to wrap her mind around the idea of traveling there in the immediate future. Sweetie Belle could hardly remain in her seat.

"We're going to the moon can you believe we're going to the moon you said we could go to the moon and now we're going to the moon I never thought I could go to the moon!" She stopped to take a breath. "How are we going to the moon Mom will the train fly up there or maybe Princess Luna will go poof and we'll be there?"

Apple Crisp laughed. "Our time traveler's not used to the idea of the moon, huh? I've never been, myself. You been up there, Spot Light?"

Spot Light looked into Apple Crisp's eyes for an instant before diverting his gaze. "Oh, uh... twice. First time I was too little to remember. Spent two weeks. Doctors say infants shouldn't for that long, but you know. I was all right, I guess. Second time was, um, eight years ago now. Spent about six hours there. It was okay. I fell down a lot."

Apple Crisp threw a foreleg around Spot Light's neck. "I guess I'll just have to hold you up, then."

Spot Light looked at the filly's leg. "Okay."

Apple Crisp suddenly disengaged and pressed her face against the glass. "There's Manehatten! We're almost there!"

Sweetie Belle was at the window in an instant, pushing Apple Crisp into Spot Light. "Manehatten! That's where the moon is, right? I mean, that's where we're getting to the moon! Where's the moon getter going thingy? Is that it glowing?"

The train glided into Manehatten Grand Central Station. Sweetie Belle was the first out the door. She bounced in place. "Where is it? Where's the moon? Where do we go to the moon at?" She squealed in delight.

"Easy there, Sweetie Belle," her mother said. "The moon will still be there if we walk."

A saddlebag hit Sweetie Belle in the face. "And somepony needs to carry the costumes she forgot to give the movers in her excitement yesterday," Apple Crisp added.

Sweetie Belle sheepishly levitated her cargo onto her back, then immediately forgot herself again. "The moon!"

Spot Light levitated a map of the city in front of himself. "That's right. I remember now. It's by the north ports."

Apple Crisp loudly whistled towards the train. "All right, get your flanks off the train already and remember your stuff! Props team, get the dungeon models because we're not going back if you forget them. We have a moon to walk to!"

---

The ocean water lapped around the immense platform floating on the north edge of Manehatten. Upon it was the way to the moon. The sign above the entrance carried an image of the Moon and the words "Manehatten Lunar Transport" in large, glowing blue letters. The smell of salt filled the air. The foals and their escorts milled around in the lobby building.

The building held a tall ceiling, with a glass roof to capture the moonlight. While the granite floor was well-lit by lamps on the bottom of the support pillars, the upper half of the cavernous room stood in the darkness of the night. Twilight Sparkle, curious, made her way out the other end of the lobby to the open platform. When she saw the lunar transporter, she froze in her tracks.

Two tall cyan crystals stood on either side of a crystal slab. Magic circles had been drawn on and around the transporter. Six hovering gems slowly orbited within. Behind it, two more transporters just like it stood in the moonlight.

Twilight found herself breathless. "It's the apparatus..."

A unicorn came up to Twilight. "I'm sorry ma'am, you need to head back—oh, High Magician Sparkle, I didn't recognize you." She bowed slightly. "How may I help you?"

High Magician Sparkle didn't take her eyes off of the transporter. "Can... can I have a closer look at... those?"

"Certainly, Magician Sparkle." The worker motioned to the nearest transporter. "Your performing friends are our next scheduled trip, so it should be safe as long as you don't accidentally activate it."

"I'll be careful." Twilight walked towards one of the towering gems, one of the combination focusers and stabilizers, she recalled. The temporal apparatus had required six; this device only had two. The magic circles she stepped over were engraved into the stone flooring, instead of being magically drawn. They lacked many of the complex patterns the apparatus possessed.

Twilight reared up and placed a forehoof on the stabilizer. Her eyes closed and her horn illuminated. She moved her hoof up and down.

"This is a much simpler device. It's missing... quite a bit. It's incomplete, actually." She studied the magic fields some more. "I see. There's another one of these up there. That's why. Two transporters, linked to each other, instead of one mobile one. Is that a safety cutoff they added? But no temporal capability. Only has to do the easy part." Twilight sighed and opened her eyes, looking up the familiar column. "Had to get my hopes up, didn't you?"

"Mom?" Sweetie Belle had come up behind her with a few of the other performers. "Isn't that the thing we got here with?"

Twilight dropped back onto all fours. "No. No, there's nothing here I don't already know. What are you doing out here, Sweetie Belle? Is it time to go up?"

Sweetie Belle bounced. "Yeah! See I'm jumping because that's how you get around on the moon!" She demonstrated repeatedly.

One of the facility's workers yelled, "Listen up, everypony! My name is Night Shine and I'll be explaining what we'll be doing today. Despite there being three transporters, two of them are reserved for emergency use at any given time, so we'll only be using number two tonight." He pointed at the transporter in the back left. "The most important thing to know is that the moon has less gravity than the earth. Normal walking or running won't work like you're used to.

"Anypony with wings: don't use them until you are comfortable with the new gravity. Anypony with a horn: the flow of magic is different up there, so don't use large-scale magic until you have plenty of practice.

"The transporter can only accommodate about a dozen ponies at a time, so you'll be going up in trips. We will wait about two minutes between transports, so you have that long to get off the pad once you are on the moon. Otherwise the safety forcefield will give you a rather unpleasant ride. Now, unless there are any questions that have to be asked down here, I'd like the first ponies to head to transporter number two."

"Ooh! Ooh! Me me me me!" Sweetie Belle jumped so high that Twilight suspected she was already experiencing the lower gravity.

"I think my daughter will explode if she isn't one of the first up, so I'll be taking her, if you don't mind," Twilight told Night Shine.

"As you wish, Magician Sparkle."

Twilight Sparkle, Sweetie Belle, and an assortment of other adults stepped onto the transporter's crystal slab, their hooves clattering against the smooth surface.

Night Shine stood just outside the transporter. "Everypony, keep all four hooves on the floor and don't move around too much until the transport is complete. See you when you get back."

His horn illuminated and the transporter hummed to life. Power crackled up the pillars and the floating crystals spun faster and faster. Twilight Sparkle held one hoof around Sweetie Belle, not heeding the worker's instructions. Purple swirling energy obscured the view outside. The floor shifted and everything went black. There was a little over a second of pitch-black silence and the sensation of falling, then a whoomph noise and the return of the light.

Twilight's could feel weight on her hooves again, but substantially less than normal. The swirling energy subsided and the transporter spun down.

"Mom... Mom! Lemme go!"

Twilight realized she had Sweetie Belle in a death grip. "Sorry, Sweetie Belle, I just got a little nervous and..." She looked up. The sun hung just above the horizon, but no blues or oranges were painted across the sky here. Instead, the stars shone through the blackness of the day. Around her, the other two transporters sat idle, and beyond them were a series of brightly-painted stone buildings. The place smelled faintly of spent fireworks.

A pony softly landed just within the transporter. "Fillies and gentlecolts, if you could clear the pad for the next arrivals. Bounce on all fours, just like this. Nice and gentle. Take your time, but don't be too slow." She pushed off of the surface, following a shallow arc away.

Twilight crouched, then pushed. She found herself readily rising up and away, then falling again. She tilted forwards in midair, and flailed at the steadily approaching ground. Her forehoof hit the ground, slipped, and Twilight Sparkle experienced the most drawn-out faceplant of her life.

A pony touched down near her and extended her forehoof. "Here you go. You must be Magician Sparkle." She helped Twilight to her hooves with surprisingly little effort. "It's okay; a lot of ponies miss their first time." Twilight stood up, feeling the air catch her mane and tail hair and slowly let them fall.

"Thank you. I hope Sweetie Belle is having better luck getting used to this." She looked around for the filly.

Sweetie Belle jumped down from the nearby roof, landing gracefully on all fours. "I'm on the moon can you believe I'm on the moon! This is the best place ever!"

Twilight turned towards her. "Yes, Sweetie Belle, we're here."

Around the transporters, the workers helped the new arrivals get used to the gravity, with varying degrees of success. Transporter number two came to life again. A force dome grew from its center to encompass the device and the crystals whirred. Energy blocked the view inside and the now-familiar whoomph signaled the arrival of the next set of ponies. The force dome dissipated along with the swirling energy, and the transporter again idled.

Spot Light pushed off with his two right legs, landing on his left legs and springing off again. He landed next to Sweetie Belle. "Still remember. It's quicker to move like this, just a little harder to get the hang of." He turned around to see his remaining friend struggling to cover any ground. "Oh geez, I gotta get Apple Crisp."

Fortunately, he was able to rescue her before the next transporter activation. Soon enough, the entire troupe was assembled at the terrestrial transporter station. Apple Crisp stood unsteadily, using Spot Light to prop herself up.

"All right, listen up!" she announced. "Enough horsing around. Let's get our gear to Earthshine, then you'll get some free time before rehearsal. And we'll need a lot; a lot of our stage motions will need to be modified for the gravity. Whoops." She stumbled. "Let's get moving."

The collection of teenaged foals and their chaperones began hopping their way out of the area. Spot Light pointed into the sky. "Apple Crisp, Sweetie Belle, look."

The three foals looked up. Twilight followed their gaze. Suspended in the sky was a blue and green orb, mostly lit by the sun. Clouds wrapped around its surface, breaking across the green of Equestria like water around a ship. A bright spot of light glinted off of the ocean.

"It's so small." Twilight put her hoof over her mouth.

Sweetie Belle stared, wide-eyed. "It's beautiful."

Apple Crisp whistled. "What she said."

Twilight tore her eyes away from her home world. "You should go practice your play, Sweetie Belle. I'm going to have a look around the moon. I've never been here before, after all."

Twilight left the group and hopped her way among the stone buildings. All the bouncing made her feel like a school-filly again. She noticed that the buildings were painted in bright colors, and large signs advertised the wares of the shops gathered around the transporter. These markets offered rocks, items carved from rocks, books, posters, fashion wear, novelty items, and more. All of it was moon-themed, and most of the shops were closed. What shops remained open advertised prices considerably higher than what comparable items would have cost in Equestria.

Twilight eventually reached the edge of the garish tourist trap of a city. She reached the edge of the shimmering dome covering the entire area and met a heavy-looking hatch, sitting open. She made her way through a tunnel, apparently made of the same material as the large domes, past another hatch, and towards her destination.

---

The guard pushed open the large basalt door. Beyond, the room was built of the same dark stone. Thin stone pillars supported the reduced weight of the solid ceiling. The sun had not noticeably moved in the previous hour, and it still projected long shadows across the smooth floor. Beyond the pillars, spots of bright light on the landscape contrasted with the absolute darkness of the areas in the shade.

"Your Majesty, High Magician Twilight Sparkle is here to see you."

Princess Luna nodded. "Send her in."

Twilight bounded across the dark throne room. "Princess Luna!"

Luna stepped off of her throne, gracefully glided to the unicorn, and embraced her. "Twilight Sparkle. It has been a long time."

Twilight looked up into the Princess's eyes. "How have you been, Princess Luna? You never came down to visit. I was starting to wonder."

Luna looked away. "I fear that if I were to return to Equestria, I would be tempted to shout at my sister again. I would stay here in preference to quarrelling with Celestia."

The unicorn moved herself into Luna's view. "But why are you arguing? What happened?"

"It is merely a heated disagreement of ours. My sister will see things my way in time. Until then, I am content to wait."

Twilight looked out the archways at the starry sky beyond. "There has to be something I can do. I've helped you before and it's always gone so well." She looked back to the Princess. "I know, I can sit you both down over some hot, relaxing tea and you two can talk it out. What's your favorite blend?" She paused. "What's Princess Celestia's favorite blend? Is it still the one with the lemon and ginseng?"

Luna shook her head. "I am sorry, you do not have the power to end our quarrel. Trust me, Twilight Sparkle, Celestia will see reason, even if it must be driven through her thick skull!" Her wings ruffled. "We have spoken enough of this!" Twilight fell backwards onto her haunches. Luna took a deep breath, then exhaled it. "Let us speak of happier things, Twilight. How have you been these past years?"

Twilight pushed herself back up, then nervously cleared her throat. "Oh, well, the apparatus broke—I guess you knew that already—but Sweetie Belle got her operation."

Luna smiled. "Hearing of Sweetie Belle's safety is excellent news indeed!"

"So Sweetie Belle lives with me now in Canterlot. She joined up with a performance troupe and she got her cutie mark in singing! And she's getting so good with her magic, I know she'll be great at it!" Twilight clapped her forehooves. "Oh, she's performing at the Earthshine Amphitheatre in a few days, which is why I'm here."

"I shall be sure to attend. In addition, Twilight, you sound as if you are a proud parent."

Twilight turned red. "Well... I've been her mother since we got here." She stood tall. "And I am proud of her. Sweetie Belle's growing up into a beautiful young mare. I can't wait to see her on stage on Broadneigh once she's old enough. Look at me; I'm being the proud mother again. What about you, Princess? What about all this?" She waved at the lunar architecture. "How does it work? What's the moon really like?"

"You are forever the curious student, I see. Very well, I shall indulge you. The moon is an inhospitable place, unfit for life. I alone am able to withstand the environment unaided. For instance, the days here are exceedingly long, and the nights equally so. It would become lethally hot and lethally cold were it not for our diligent use of magical protection. The domes you see covering the colony are what makes pony habitation possible.

"The domes are constructed of special layered minerals, infused with magic. They block harmful radiation, withstand micrometeor impacts, and resist breaks and tears. They keep us cool in the long days, and warm in the long nights. They are truly a triumph of modern magic. Although most ponies still flee to Equestria at night, wishing to escape the darkness..." A smile flashed across Princess Luna's face. "...as usual. Twilight, are you feeling all right?"

Twilight Sparkle rubbed her horn. "Yeah, my horn's just been feeling funny since I got here."

Luna nodded. "I understand. The flow of magical power on the moon is different than that on the earth, and your body is simply getting used to the new sensation. You will adjust to the different magic, provided you remain long enough. Until then, I recommend that you not perform any of your more advanced spells. The consequences of a faulted cast could be..." She looked out over the airless landscape. "...dire."

Twilight followed Luna's gaze, then her face went white. "I... I see. I'll be careful." She shook a very unpleasant thought from her head. Twilight looked at the earth hanging in the sky past one of the arches. "Oh, I remember something I wanted to ask. Isn't the moon always opposite in the sky from the sun? But it looks from here like it's at an angle or something. And how do you raise the moon while standing on it?"

Luna chuckled. "Ah yes, that question. The explanation behind this phenomenon is somewhat complicated. You see, Twilight..."

---

Sweetie Belle bounded through one of the rear hallways of the Earthshine Amphitheatre. Carrying a script in her mouth, she hummed a show tune. The brilliant light of the low sun poured in through the spacious windows, bathing the hallway in its glow. Along the walls sat props new and old, costumes, backdrops, armor, and faux mystical artifacts.

Sweetie Belle passed a doorway before a colt's head popped out of it. "Psst. Sweetie Belle."

She stopped and turned around to see Spot Light. "Mmm?" she asked.

"C'mere. I need to ask something." He looked left and right. "In private."

Sweetie Belle bounced into the closet and spit out her script. "What do you need?"

Spot Light looked at her. "I uh, need advice. I mean, you're a filly, so, uh... shoot I'm ruining this."

Sweetie Belle just tilted her head.

He shook his head. "Let me start over. The thing is... me and Apple Crisp... I mean..." He shook his head. "We've been friends for a long time, but I want to not be friends, you know what I'm saying?"

Sweetie Belle's ears dropped. "Aww, why don't you want to be friends with her anymore?"

"No no no. Augh, if I'm screwing up this badly with you, how am I ever supposed to say anything to her?!" He took a deep breath. "I have a crush on Apple Crisp! I mean she's pretty, she's nice, her mane has this lovely bounce to it—not to say that you're not pretty or nice," he added quickly. "But, you know, I just like her. Like, like-like her."

Sweetie Belle smiled. "That's so sweet, Spot Light. So what are you going to do?"

He threw his hooves up. "I don't know! That's why I'm asking you! What do fillies like? What do I get her? What do I say?"

She scratched her chin. "Um... flowers! Flowers are always good. Wait, do they have flowers on the moon?"

Spot Light turned in circles. "But how many? If I get too few she'll think I'm being cheap. If I get too many she'll think I'm trying to use my money to buy her affection. Same with chocolates or a big teddy bear or—"

Sweetie Belle interrupted him. "What about, uh, taking her out to dinner? After that you can go for a nice walk through the, uh..." She looked out the window, shielding her eyes from the intense glare of the setting sun. The desolate, meteor-blasted landscape outside the dome was almost entirely pitch black, with peaks of brightness catching the remaining light. "You really should have picked a better time to ask."

"And it's going to be awkward every time I see her or talk to her until I figure out what to do!"

"Ooh! I know!" Sweetie Belle hopped a foot in the air. "I can ask her what she wants! That's a great way to find out!"

Spot Light stuck out a foreleg. "What? No! You can't just ask her! She'll find out I have a crush on her and then it'll be even more awkward until I do something!"

"Relax, Spot Light, she won't suspect a thing. Trust me, I'll find out just what you need to win her heart!"

Sweetie Belle picked up her script and bounced away. Halfway down the hallway, she looked down at the script in her mouth, shrugged, and dropped it next to the props. The pages landed next to a fake crystal ball.

As the filly bounced off, the bright light of the sun refracted through the ball and onto the papers. A thin wisp of smoke slowly rose into the air.

---

Sweetie Belle found Apple Crisp attempting to balance on her hind legs in the reduced gravity. She stood in the grass that served as Earthshine's viewing area. The amphitheatre itself was built of white stone, lined with dark wood. Thin scaffolding, only possible in the lower gravity, held the catwalks above the stage. Below, the closed dark blue curtain obscured the view of the stage. The front of the stage was faintly lit with the light reflected from the Earth. The very top of the structure caught the light of the sun setting behind it.

Apple Crisp took a tentative step, then slipped on the grass, landing on her rump. She pushed herself to her hooves. Meanwhile, a white glowing grid began to inch its way up the dome covering the theatre and the park that served as its viewing area.

"Shoot, I almost had it that time." She looked at the approaching unicorn. "Hey Sweetie Belle, what's up?"

Sweetie Belle nonchalantly edged towards Apple Crisp. "Oh, you know... the usual... reading the script... practicing my singing... wondering..."

Apple Crisp raised an eyebrow. "Wondering? Wondering what?"

"Well..." Sweetie Belle watched the artificial light climb the domes. "Let's suppose—hypothetically—that somepony was interested in you—had a crush I mean, and also hypothetically. What—hypothetically—kind of thing would you like—hypothetically—as a gift from him... hypothetically?"

Apple Crisp just looked at Sweetie Belle. "Spot Light?" she asked flatly.

Sweetie Belle grabbed Apple Crisp's front. "Nooo, you weren't supposed to find out! He's going to kill me!"

The earth filly sat down, disengaging Sweetie Belle. "It's all right; I've wondered about him for a while now. Not quite what I had in mind to find out for sure, though." She looked up at the stars shining steadily overhead. "Me and Spot Light, huh? Can't say I haven't thought about it. But I'm so used to having to work for every bit I have, and now a rich stallion wants to be my special somepony? I picture myself with him, then a voice in the back of my head tells me that I'm just after his money." She sighed. "I don't know what to do, Sweetie Belle. What do you think?"

"I think you'll make an adorable couple!" Sweetie Belle smiled and closed her eyes.

Apple Crisp smiled back. "You think so? Maybe I could—wait, what's that?"

A slowly rising black cloud occluded the white grid above the amphitheatre. Orange light briefly lit up the black landscape beyond.

Apple Crisp stood up, then turned to a nearby filly. "Get a moon worker and tell her the theatre's on fire! Hurry!" As the filly bounded away, Apple Crisp turned looked at Sweetie Belle. "Is anypony in there?"

Sweetie Belle frantically searched her memory. "Um um um I only saw Spot Light."

Apple Crisp sucked in air through gritted teeth. "We have to get him out of there! Sweetie Belle! Come with me; I might need you."

"O-okay!"

The two hurried towards the burning building.

---

"...are you satisfied with this explanation, Twilight?"

Twilight Sparkle grinned and clapped her forehooves. "Yes! It's so obvious in hindsight! I feel kind of embarrassed I didn't think of it myself."

Princess Luna nodded. "It is quite understandable, Twilight. Few ponies even think to ask. Are there any other inquiries I may answer to sate your curiosity?"

Twilight looked around. "Hmm... oh, what's that?" She pointed to a dome.

"That is how the moon's colonies are lit after the sun sets. A similar spell to some of the more sophisticated forms of lighting on the earth."

"No, no, no. What's that?"

Luna narrowed her eyes. "The theatre is on fire. I must attend to this at once. Pardon me, Twilight."

Princess Luna opened her wings, took to the air, and vanished in a dull blue flash.

Twilight stood dumbfounded for a second. "A fire? The theatre!"

She leapt towards the exit.

"Sweetie Belle!"
> Fire in the Sky
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apple Crisp and Sweetie Belle hopped across the stage of Earthshine Amphitheatre. Their hooves clopped against the wooden floor on every jump. Sweetie Belle looked up. Above her hung the catwalks and rigging, all made out of wood, and all with thin supports made possible by the lower gravity. Thin enough to burn quickly, Sweetie noted.

The pair arrived at one of the closed doors backstage.

"Wait," Apple Crisp said. "Do you hear that?"

Sweetie Belle cocked her head and flicked an ear. At the edge of her hearing, the unicorn could hear a faint, steady hissing. "It sounds like..." Sweetie Belle started, then the hissing intensified, becoming clearly audible. "Is it coming from the dome?" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter; we have to get Spot Light and get out of here."

"If he survives this I'm going to kill him," Apple Crisp muttered before turning and bucking the door in. Smoke billowed out of the doorway. The two fillies ducked under the cloud of soot. "Come on, we have to get to him," Apple Crisp ordered.

The pair slowly walked through the smoke, holding their heads as low as they could. The gravity slowed their progress, as their hooves had too little friction on the smooth floor to walk at a normal pace.

Apple Crisp's hind hoof slipped out from under her and she fell onto her rump. Sweetie Belle propped her head under Apple Crisp and pushed her back to her hooves.

"Thanks," Apple Crisp said. "But we're taking too long here. We've got to find him."

"It was..." Sweetie Belle peered through the smoke. "...this way."

She led Apple Crisp to a door and pulled it open. On the other side was the rear hallway. Short flames covered the ceiling and ran down the supports. The hissing was louder than ever, mixing with the crackling and the popping of the fire. The last remnants of the setting sun shone brilliantly through the large windows. Every costume, prop, and spare piece of refuse in the hallway was aflame.

"Spot Light!" Apple Crisp called. "Where are you?!"

From down the hallway, a voice answered, "Apple Crisp? Is that you? I need help!"

The fillies hurried down the hall to a fallen rafter. The flaming wooden beam blocked the path between Apple Crisp and Spot Light, who had made his way to the other side of it.

"Sweetie Belle!" Apple Crisp turned to her. "Unicorn!" she barked. "Magic! Move it!"

Sweetie Belle concentrated on her horn, sweating from the heat and squinting away from the flames. Her magic felt strange. Different. She grunted in frustration as the beam refused to move. Her friend was trapped, and she couldn't rescue him.

---

Twilight Sparkle leapt through the streets, frantically making her way to the dome containing the theatre. In the distance, fire licked at the pressure dome. A tiny jet of what looked like steam sprayed into space where the fire hit it. As Twilight approached the tunnel leading to the dome, the jet swelled into a larger stream of escaping air.

Twilight came to the hatch, which was closed. Around it stood several lunar employees and the performance troupe. Three were missing.

"Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle, where are you?" Twilight scanned the crowd, then moved to the pony at the hatch. "You have to let me in!"

The worker looked back at Twilight. "Sorry, ma'am, but there's no entry into the theatre dome until the fire is extinguished. We can't open the hatch until the air leak is repaired. It isn't safe."

"Please, my daughter is in there! I have to help her!" Twilight looked into her eyes.

"Ma'am, calm down. Princess Luna is personally seeing to the leak. As soon as it is safe to enter, we'll get your child out."

Twilight hopped in place, eyes on the escaping air. "Oh Princess, please hurry up!"

---

Sweetie Belle ignored her ears popping, concentrating on the flaming beam laying across the hallway. "Something's wrong! I can't..."

Green flickers accompanied the orange flames. The beam lurched into the air, then swung directly towards the fillies. Apple Crisp and Sweetie Belle ducked under it. The magic released, and the beam crashed to the ground behind them. As the wood split apart, the flames exploded outwards, singing the ponies' tails.

"We're not going out that way," Apple Crisp noted.

Spot Light moved to their sides. "The other ways out are completely blocked, too. What are we going to do?"

Sweetie Belle frantically looked around, then her eyes settled on the view outside. "See if you can break a window!"

"I tried one," Spot Light said. "Nothing heavy enough to throw through it."

Sweetie took a deep breath before coughing it out. She lowered her head, breathing in again. Her horn flared green. The strange magic fought her, but Sweetie grit her teeth, determined to survive. Sparks sputtered around her horn.

She groaned from the strain, then yelled as loud as she could. A green bolt shot from her horn, smashing through the window. It impacted the dome just beyond. The glowing grid rippled from the impact as Sweetie Belle's magic bolt sailed out over the lunar landscape.

In an instant, a powerful wind swept through the room and out the window, threatening to pull the foals off of their hooves and through the hole Sweetie Belle had put in the dome.

---

As Twilight watched, a small green bolt popped through the dome. Ripples from the impact spread across the dome's entire surface. An immense cloud of vapor shot out from near the theatre.

"Sweetie Belle! No!"

Twilight frantically turned to the hatch worker. "You have to let me in! Now! There's no time!"

The mare raised a hoof. "Ma'am, like I said, the air leak—"

"Is going to kill my daughter!" Twilight took a step forward.

"Ma'am, calm down. Everything is going to be all right."

"No! It isn't!"

Twilight grabbed the worker and slammed her upright against the hatch door. Twilight's horn glowed with unfocused maternal rage, pointed at the worker's throat.

"I am High Magician Twilight Sparkle, and you are going to open this hatch right this instant!"

"M-Madam Magician... even if I wanted to... it can't be opened against the pressure difference... and somepony would have to close the other hatch in the tunnel before we can safely open the valves."

Twilight dropped the lunar worker, who landed on her side. "Why is that even allowed to happen! What happened to the moon being perfectly safe?! How can that..." She pointed at the damaged dome, venting its contents. "...be safe?"

The worker just groaned.

Twilight propped herself up against the inside of her dome, looking out across the landscape at the theatre.

"Sweetie Belle! Sweetie Belle, please make it!"

---

The foals screamed. The blowing air fanned the flames towards them, forcing them closer to the gaping hole in the dome.

"What do we do? What do we do?!" Sweetie Belle shouted over the howling wind.

"I don't know!" Apple Crisp shouted back.

A dark figure moved against the stars outside. Princess Luna, lit by the fire, hovered in the vacuum just above the air leak. Her horn lit up and the hole in the dome squeezed smaller, but not entirely closed. The Princess's mouth moved as if she were shouting, but no sound reached Sweetie's ears. Luna gritted her teeth under the strain of magically holding multiple air leaks back. She waved her forelegs, motioning to the foals.

"I think she wants us to jump out," Apple Crisp said.

"Sounds good to me!" Sweetie Belle lept out of the window, followed by her friends.

Outside, they tumbled to the ground in front of the edge of the dome.

Sweetie Belle looked at Princess Luna. "Thank you, Princess!"

Luna frantically motioned the fillies away.

"Oh yeah!" Sweetie Belle shouted. "Let's get out of here!"

---

Sweetie Belle jumped across the field in front of the theatre, her friends trailing behind her. She stumbled, then fell to the grass, gasping. Her legs felt too weak to stand on. In fact, her whole body felt as weak as it had all those years ago.

"I can't..." she gasped out. "I think... my heart... it's giving out on me again."

She felt Apple Crisp's head behind her rump. "If it's your heart," the earth pony said, "then it's mine, too." She took a few deep breaths. "We're almost to the hatch. We'll be all right when we get to it."

With Apple Crisp's help, Sweetie Belle pushed herself to her hooves. Spot Light held out his foreleg, helping to steady her. Wheezing in the thinning air, the three pulled themselves to the airlock.

"Get that..." Sweetie Belle gasped. "...hatch shut."

The foals grasped whatever handles and protrusions they could find. Bracing their hooves against the threshold, they slowly swung the heavy door shut. Apple Crisp rotated the large handle to secure the hatch, sealing the airlock.

Finally, the three fell to the ground, gasping for air. "Now... what?" Sweetie Belle asked, splayed out on the floor.

A loud thunk answered her question. Air rushed in, a small cloud of dust blowing out of the vents surrounding the hatch leading to the rest of the colony. Sweetie Belle's ears popped again in the rising pressure.

The air pressure equalized and the hatch swung open. In the next instant, Sweetie Belle was in her mother's embrace.

"Sweetie Belle! Oh Sweetie Belle, I was so worried about you! I thought I was going to lose you!" Tears ran down Twilight's face. She squeezed her daughter tight, kissing her forehead.

"It's all right, Mom. I'm all right. It was pretty scary, but I'm all right, now." She hugged her mother back.

Nearby, Apple Crisp and Spot Light watched the fire die down in the thinning atmosphere. The dome slowly sagged as it deflated.

"There go the props," she said.

"Yeah." He didn't take his eyes off of what was left of the theatre.

"And the costumes."

"Yeah."

"So much for our big break. I wonder if Earthshine will ever let us come back." She turned to Spot Light. "All right, be honest. Did you make me rescue you just to bring us together romantically?"

Spot Light spun towards Apple Crisp. "What?"

"Come on, I'm a director; I know how this works." She waved her hoof. "Two ponies in a life-and-death situation end up falling in love with each other. It happens every time. It's in the script and everything."

"Um... I really was trapped in there."

"You still did it wrong, you dope."

"What do you mean?"

"The handsome, dashing young stallion is supposed to rescue the mare he pines for, not the other way around." She sighed dejectedly. "We'll have to reset and take it from the top."

"Um... I'd rather—"

Spot Light was interrupted by a pair of lips pressing against his. He relaxed, closed his eyes, and enjoyed their mutual first kiss.

After an all-too-short moment, the two separated. Spot Light shifted his weight. "So, uh... I guess I should buy you dinner or something."

Apple Crisp put her hoof to her chin. "Hmmm... I guess I could live with that, if it's from you."

"I could cover replacement props and costumes, too."

"I suppose I don't really have a choice, there."

"And a bigger practice studio? Please? The old one smells like something died under the floorboards."

Apple Crisp wrapped her forelegs around his neck, and her dark blue eyes gazed lovingly into his green ones.

"Don't push your luck."
> One Last Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle flew on magical wings through the evening sky over Canterlot. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the rising moon. On that orb, the last of the first-generation domes was deflating and its replacement being set up, if the newspaper was to be believed. Twilight didn't care. She'd long resolved never to go to the moon again. Not after nearly losing her daughter to it, those years ago.

She fluttered down to the castle courtyard, landing gracefully upon the grass. She walked through the familiar halls towards the throne room, greeting the staff as she passed them.

Opening the throne room doors, she found the room empty. Twilight turned to a guard. "Pardon me, but where is the Princess this evening?"

"Magician Sparkle," he replied, eyes still forward, "Princess Celestia is meeting with the ambassador to the Dragon Nomads on the east side of Canterlot Mountain."

"Ah." Twilight nodded. "In that case, I can wait for her to—"

She froze. Her eyes widened. "The... the ambassador... the dragons... it's been... already?"

Twilight Sparkle turned and shot down the corridors as quickly as her wings could take her.

---

The grass blurred past under Twilight's hooves. The unicorn flew just off of the ground, rounding Canterlot Mountain. Twilight crested a ridge, then she found what she sought. Ahead, a large, purple and green figure dwarfed the white one standing in front of it.

A voice boomed across the landscape: "Ten years? She's been back for ten years? And you didn't tell me this whole time?"

Twilight could not hear the Princess's reply.

"I would have wanted to know! We could have written!" A pause. "That was not your decision to make! Do you have any idea what it's like not to know? What I've wanted to say to Twilight?"

As Twilight landed behind Spike, he reared up and unleashed a jet of green fire, which engulfed Princess Celestia. Twilight shielded her face from the heat, wincing at the feeling of the grass burning. The fire faded, and the Princess stood unscathed on the scorched earth.

Princess Celestia pointed her hoof. "Tell her, then."

Spike turned to face Twilight. His eyes widened and his snarl vanished. "Twilight!"

The dragon reached down, scooped up the unicorn, and held her to his chest. "Twilight! Twilight! I've missed you so much!" He teared up. "I was starting to think you'd never come back!"

Twilight wiggled free from his grasp, then sat on top of his hand. "Wow, Spike, you've..." She propped her forehooves against his chest, looking up at his head above. "...grown! I've missed you too, Spike. It's been a long time since I've seen you. Although it's been longer for you, I suppose."

Spike lowered his head. "Too long, Twilight. Too long."

Twilight looked away. "I'm sorry I didn't come back, Spike. I tried to find a way, but it just wasn't possible."

Spike gently patted Twilight's body with his free hand. "I know, Twilight. I know."

Twilight peered over the edge. "Princess Celestia," she called down, "how long is Spike staying in Equestria?"

The Princess flew up and hovered next to her student. "Barring any emergencies, Spike should be able to remain for several decades. I see no pressing reason why he could not live with you for the duration of his stay."

Twilight hugged the nearest claw. "Oh, that's wonderful! But wait, how am I supposed to get a dragon his size into the house? Or in Canterlot at all?"

"Have you not learned any age spells in the past decade, High Magician?"

"Oh yeah, duh. Spike? Do you mind?"

"For you, Twilight? No, do whatever you want." Spike gently set the unicorn down.

"All right. Three centuries' worth of age spell on a dragon. Piece of cake." She lowered into a bracing position, pointing her horn at Spike. Twilight licked her lips. Energy flowed out of her and into the dragon. Magic swirls surrounded Spike, and his entire body glowed purple.

Twilight grit her teeth and closed her eyes. Spike shrunk smaller and smaller. Twilight snuck a peek. "Almost... right about... there!"

She released her spell. Spike stood on all fours, slightly smaller than the pony who'd cast her magic on him. Around him, gouges in the grass marked the journey of his feet. "Wow, Twilight, you're still—"

"Hold still! It's not done yet." Twilight circled Spike, horn aglow again. "A little bit here... one of those there... ooh, need to lock that part down... and... done! That ought to hold for a few years."

Spike held a hand out in front of him. "That's amazing, Twilight! Boy, this brings back some memories, like the time—"

Twilight interrupted him with a hug. "I hope you don't mind I made you a little bigger than you were, Spike."

Spike patted her shoulder. "Not at all, Twilight. Not at all."

Twilight released the dragon. "Let's go home, Spike."

---

"...and then when I got there, it turned out that Chief Thunderwings had died five years earlier and nobody had bothered to tell the Princess. So there I was, expecting a nice calm elder to deal with for my first assignment and instead I get this young brute by the name of Blackflame. Between you and me, his fire was more of a dark turquoise, but he'd take your head off if you ever said it..."

The pair walked under four tall apple trees, whose branches were filled with ripe fruit. A smattering of clouds hovered near ground level around the yard. One had gotten caught in a tree, leaking water down its trunk.

"Here we are, Spike," Twilight said, waving her hoof. "This is our home."

The two walked to the front door, which Twilight opened. Within, a white mare with a pink and purple mane danced around the living room, humming an upbeat tune.

Spike gasped and raised a hand to his mouth. "Rarity...?" He looked down. "No, Rarity's... Rarity's gone."

The mare noticed the dragon and paused for a moment before a flash of recognition crossed her face. "Spike? Spike, is that you?!"

Spike smiled. "Sweetie Belle. Of course."

Sweetie Belle bounced over to the dragon. "Spike! You're back! This was the best possible day and it just got better!" She squeezed him tight.

Twilight peered around the dragon. "Better? What happened, Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie released Spike. "Oh Mom we were at rehearsal today and at the end Spot Light asked Apple Crisp to marry him and she said yes! He was really nervous but then they kissed and everypony was clapping and it was amazing!" She squealed.

Spike turned to Twilight. "Whoever those two are, but that does sound pretty happy..." He prodded Twilight's side. "Mom." He laughed.

Twilight turned red. "N-now Spike, I've been raising Sweetie Belle for the last decade, and she needed a mother, so—"

Spike gave her a light push. "Lighten up, Twilight; I was just messing with you. And Sweetie Belle, you've grown so much from when I last saw you. You've become a beautiful mare, just like your older sister was."

"Aww, thank you, Spike," Sweetie said. "Ooh, Spike, I became a singer." She showed Spike her cutie mark. "And I'd love for you to hear me perform in Vanhoover next month. Think you can come with Mom to watch?"

"I'd love to, Sweetie Belle." Spike paused. "That is, if your Mom is okay with it."

"Spike!" Twilight shouted.

Spike laughed. "That's never going to get old!"

---

The shadow of the Vanhoover Playhouse spread across its lawn. The light of the setting sun bathed the theatre and its surroundings in its orange glow. On the edge of hearing, the sounds of the ocean waves accompanied the smell of salt in the air. Within, the cast prepared for that night's performance, but outside, a unicorn and a dragon talked.

"...So get this, Old Scalebelly was complaining about nightmares, and I think, 'hey, I know somepony who can help there,' so I write Princess Celestia. Two days later, Scalebelly tells me he saw a pony in his dreams! I didn't get it, because I dream about ponies all the time, but he was so embarrassed about it I thought he was going to cry! He made me swear never to tell a soul. Except I just told you, didn't I? Uh, don't tell the dragons." Spike grinned nervously.

Twilight cracked a smile, then looked into Spike's eyes. "Spike. There's something I need to know. What happened after I left?"

"Oh, you mean when I became the Ambassador? I already told you about Blackflame and how he—"

Twilight raised a hoof. "No, Spike. I mean right after I left. What happened with my friends?"

He avoided her gaze. "I, uh, I don't like to think about that."

Twilight put her hooves on either side of Spike's head and turned it back to her. "Please, Spike. I need to know. What did they do?"

Spike pointed his eyes away. "Um, well, for the first week or so we were all excited about seeing you and Sweetie Belle again. But then months started going by, and we worried that something might have happened. About, uh, four months later... we were all thinking it, but Applejack was the first to say it. That maybe you weren't going to come back. Then Rainbow and Pinkie started yelling at her. Rarity and Fluttershy cried a lot. But time went on, and they eventually just... accepted it."

Twilight swallowed back some tears. "What about you, Spike?"

"I... I kept the library clean and tidy for you. I kept everything organized, so it'd be there when you came back. Then one day, Rarity came in. I can still hear her voice. 'Spike, It's time to go.' That's all she said. I set down my duster, followed her out... and that was that. I helped her with her work until... until I didn't."

Twilight set her hoof on Spike's hand. "I'm sorry I left you, Spike. You know I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry I put you through all that."

"Nah, you saw me out there! I'm Spike, the big mean purple dragon! Who isn't afraid of anything... who... doesn't get hurt... who... who..." He lunged forward, squeezing Twilight. "Twilight! I... I promised myself... if I ever saw you again... I'd savor every moment!"

Twilight patted him. "It's all right, Spike. It's all right. I'm here now." She looked at the setting sun. "Let's get inside and get to our booth. We don't want to miss Sweetie Belle's singing."

---

The magical glow of the elaborate hanging chandeliers brightened, and the curtain closed in front of the actors. Twilight and Spike joined the audience in cheering for the finished play.

Spike wiped away a tear. "She was amazing. I wish I could have seen all of her performances."

"You'll be able to see her future ones." Twilight stood up, pulling her foreleg out from under his hand. "We both will. Come on, let's get to the lobby and catch her before the crowd gets there."

Downstairs, the pair waited at the door to the backstage while ponies shuffled past. Soon enough, the door opened and Sweetie Belle exited.

"Oh, hey Spike. Hi Mom."

Spike suppressed a snort.

"Another great show, Sweetie Belle," Twilight said, hugging her for a moment.

"Thanks, Mom. What did you think, Spike?"

"It was wonder—"

"Oh my gosh it's Sweetie Belle!" a voice called out through the crowd.

A young pegasus colt pushed his way through the thinning herd and stood in front of the unicorn.

"Oh-oh my gosh you're Sweetie Belle! I-I mean, you're really pretty a-a-and your voice is really pretty too!" He craned his head up to look at her.

Sweetie Belle smiled back. "Aww, thank you!"

Spike nudged her in the ribs. "Looks like you have a number one fan."

The colt stuttered. "U-um, Sweetie Belle, c-can I have your autograph?" He pulled a notebook from his saddlebag.

Sweetie Belle took it with her magic and opened it. The first page was blank. "Do you have a quill and ink? I didn't think to bring any with me."

"O-oh yeah! I-I've got uh..." He fished through his bag before pulling out a quill and a stoppered ink bottle. The bottle slipped from the bag, but Sweetie's magic caught it. "S-sorry Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie Belle held her smile. "It's all right." She uncorked the ink and dipped the quill. "Now, who am I making this out to?"

"F-Feather Foot!"

Sweetie wrote. "To my biggest fan, Feather Foot. Thanks for watching, Sweetie Belle. How's that?" She softly blew the ink dry.

Feather Foot took the book back while Sweetie Belle returned the ink and quill to his bag. "Perfect! Oh thank you thank you thank you Sweetie Belle!" He squeezed the book to his chest. "This was my very first autograph and when I saw you I wanted you to be it!"

"How sweet! But I'll tell you a secret..." Sweetie Belle leaned down, then looked around conspiratorially. "Between you and me," she whispered, "this was my first autograph, too."

The colt's eyes widened as he gasped. "Oh my gosh, really?! I-I-I don't know what to say! T-thank you, Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie tousled his mane. "You're welcome, Feather Foot. Now go find your parents before they start to worry about you." She glanced at her mother.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Feather Foot bounced away, wings buzzing.

Twilight sniffed. "My little Sweetie Belle's growing up. Her first autograph!"

"Mom, you're going to make me blush." Sweetie already was. "Let's head back to the hotel." They began to walk towards the exit, then Sweetie Belle stopped in her tracks. "On second thought, I need to use the restroom. Excuse me." She headed towards the nearest bathroom.

Twilight Sparkle's eyes drifted around the room. Through a gap in the ponies, a small painting in the far corner of the lobby caught her eye. She wandered over, Spike following behind her.

The painting, covered in a glass case, depicted a unicorn stallion in an outfit not unlike Twilight's own High Magican robes. He stood on a tall hill, with a large tree on either side of him. Above him, the night sky held small painted stars.

"Who's that?" Spike asked.

Twilight glared at him. "What do you mean, 'who's that?' It's Starswirl the Bearded!" She waved her hoof at the painting. "Vanhoover was his home town before the Princess made him her High Magician. Didn't you ever pay attention when I taught you history?"

"Geez, Twilight, that was three hundred and sixty years ago."

"That's no excuse! I've even travelled to Vanhoover a few times while researching him. But I've never seen this particular painting before. I wonder what the theatre's doing with it." She studied the painting. "Something seems off about this..."

Twilight paused for a minute, lost in thought.

Sweetie Belle walked up behind them. "What's going on?"

Spike sighed. "Twilight found an old painting, and from the looks of it we're going to be here until she's done."

"I got it!" Twilight shouted. "The stars! They don't match any real constellation!" She smiled, self-satisfied.

"So the artist didn't bother getting the stars right. Big deal," Spike said.

Twilight turned to Spike. "It is a big deal! Starswirl would never have a painting be made of him that wasn't technically accurate!"

"Maybe Princess Luna changed them since then. It's been over fifteen hundred years since he was alive, you know."

"No, it doesn't match the last iteration of the constellations either."

Spike turned her away from the painting. "Come on, Twilight, nopony really cares if their painting's stars aren't perfectly accurate." He looked at Twilight's face. "Almost nopony."

"Exactly!" Twilight pushed herself away from Spike and turned back. "How could he let it happen? There's something I'm missing." She sat down and stared at the painting.

Spike turned to Sweetie Belle. "Better see if the concession stand is still open; we're going to be here a while."

Sweetie hadn't made it halfway across the room when Twilight spoke up.

"I got it!" She jumped to her hooves. "It's a pattern! See, you connect the dots and get... something. I'll have to try a few line combinations out at the lab back home. But that's what it has to mean! There's something magical about it, I can feel it."

Spike stood up. "Finally. Can we go now?"

"Yes, Spike, let's head back. Right after I copy down the starfield!"

Spike groaned and put his face in his hand.

---

In her house's basement, Twilight looked at the candidate patterns on the floor. Spike stood at the side of the room. She lit her horn, passing it over each in turn. Next to her, a stick of chalk bobbed in the air, occasionally scratching out some line or circle.

Twilight walked sideways, eyes locked on the patterns. "Sample five, again no reaction."

Spike jotted down a note. "No reaction, got it."

"On to sample six." She lowered her horn to the pattern, letting some of her natural energy flow into it. Immediately, the air around it distorted and Twilight could feel something attempt to twist her horn off of her face. She released the spell and jumped back. The chalk clattered to the floor.

Twilight rubbed her horn. It felt okay. However, the chalk stick had been twisted into a complex curved shape. Twilight cautiously walked over to it, lifted it, and peered at it.

"Sample six appears to be some kind of... matter warping rune or symbol. It seems to have some recursive, possibly fractal, effect. Further study will be required to ascertain its operation. Spike, get a scroll. Draw a grid on it."

Spike produced a scroll and busily sketched on it. Twilight pondered the rune. A thought crossed the back of her mind. She tried to shake it out, but it persisted. "Spike... the scroll."

Spike added one more line. "There, I got it." Twilight's magic yanked it out of his hands. "You're welcome," he added, then smiled. "Just like old times."

Twilight Sparkle briefly smiled back, then laid the scroll over the rune. Standing back, the unicorn activated it with a gentle touch of her magic. She shifted her magic around, watching the grid distort and form smaller and smaller shapes.

"This appears to be able to produce small patterns in material... very small... possibly microscopic." She paused. Twilight set aside the twisted chalk and fetched a fresh piece. She erased the failed designs and began to draw lines and circles around the new rune.

"Hm. It may be possible to produce a favorable reaction with the proper focus..."

The chalk danced around the floor, bending to its master's will.

"Perhaps it might be possible to... no, no. That isn't possible." The chalk paused in its path. "Why not? It should just be a matter of..." An eraser scrubbed away a line. The chalk found a new course. "It can't be... that isn't possible. But everything fits. It all fits together..."

Several more pieces of chalk flew from the shelf and surrounded Twilight. All of them found the floor and began to draw.

"Spike! Get my old books and scrolls! And some coffee!"

---

The next morning, Sweetie Belle sat at the dining room table. She idly hovered her oatmeal to her mouth while her eyes busied themselves with the morning newspaper. Sweetie took a sip of her orange juice, then idly hummed a show tune.

The door to the basement burst open and her frazzled mother emerged, hovering a scroll. On it were elaborate designs and runes, surrounding a depiction of a crystal shaped like a book.

"Sweetie Belle! We're going back!"
> You Can't Change the Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun poked above the horizon on the outskirts of Canterlot. Beneath the cloudless sky, Spike busied himself digging a wide, shallow hole. Several massive wooden crates held large crystal spires, awaiting their proper placement. Another box held a collection of not-yet-floating gems. Next to the hole in progress was a massive crystal slab, rounded underneath. Some wood repurposed from its packaging held it steady as Twilight Sparkle walked on top of it.

She slowly walked around the top of her slab, horn lowered. A stream of magic emitted from it slowly carved a fresh magic circle in the crystal. Twilight's eyes darted back and forth between her carving and the scroll hovering next to her.

She stopped to double-check her work.

"Twilight Sparkle."

She looked up to see a white figure approaching. "Princess Celestia! I—"

"What is the meaning of this foolishness?" Celestia's eyes were thin and her jaw set.

Twilight hesitated. "I found a way to recreate the Nexus, Princess Celestia. I'm going back to the past."

Princess Celestia walked to the edge of the slab that Twilight was standing on. "Did I not say that you did not return to the past? Did I not say that it was impossible? That this is all an exercise in futility?"

Twilight walked to the edge, her platform letting her look down on her Princess. "But... I double- and triple-checked everything. All the magic works out. Every contingency has been eliminated or accounted for. I've even made some minor improvements on the design. There's no way it can fail!"

Princess Celestia turned away. "You are going to send these components back to where you got them. You will return to Canterlot and you will cease these childish flights of fancy. I will not hear any further discussion on this topic."

Twilight sat, open-mouthed, as Princess Celestia walked away. The Princess flew into the sky, leaving her Magician in shock for several minutes.

"Twilight?" Spike asked, leaning on his shovel.

Twilight shook herself back to reality. "Spike..." She looked at the crates containing the pieces of the new temporal apparatus. Twilight closed her eyes. Faces burned into her memory crossed her mind's eye. She mentally replayed their smiles, their laughter, the sounds of their voices.

"Keep digging, Spike."

---

That evening the sun set on a pony and a dragon in the backyard of their house. The yard was filled with magic lines and circles. Large glowing gems had been carefully arranged to properly focus the magical power. At the center, a brilliant purple light shone from the impromptu magic forge.

The light of creation dimmed, and Twilight Sparkle walked to the center. Careful not to cast any stray spells in the heart of the forge, she picked up a piece of craftsmareship and took it out. She then brought a new piece of carefully ground amethyst crystal to the center, placing it in its stone stand. The High Magician exited the circle and lit her horn, activating the forge and producing the brilliant light once more.

A minute later, the next piece was complete. Twilight removed it from the forge. She looked over her inventory of twisted and compressed gems. "Spike," she said, "help me configure the forge to final assembly mode."

Spike nodded. The two moved focuser gems and redrew circles without saying a word. Once done, Twilight took the pieces that had been made and set them in the center, arranging them carefully to the pattern she had worked out.

"It doesn't look like much," Twilight said, pointing to the mishmash of gems and metal, "but it'll become Sweetie's and my ticket back."

Twilight started her spell, then stopped. "Spike... before I forget. Thank you for helping me out with this."

Spike smiled. "I wouldn't be your number one assistant if I didn't!"

Twilight shook her head. "No no, I mean, I'm going to leave you again. This time it'll be forever."

"Which is why I'm spending the time I have left with you doing what makes you happy, Twilight." Spike wiped away a tear. "I'm not going to keep you away from the ponies you care about."

Twilight smiled back. "Thank you Spike. It means a whole lot to me."

She cast her spell. The forge lit up brighter than ever. Magic coursed along the lines and through the foci as Twilight Sparkle's greatest invention came into being.

---

One slab sat buried in the earth. Six crystal pillars rose above, the midday sun casting short shadows. A plethora of magic lines surrounded them. Spike arranged dozens of loose gems around the base.

The temporal apparatus was again complete.

Twilight paced around the device, double-checking the components' places. When she next looked up, she saw her daughter approach, a lightly-burdened saddlebag slung over her side.

"Sweetie Belle," she said, "we really shouldn't take anything with us when we go back."

"It's all right, Mom." Sweetie looked at her bag. "I think this is important enough to go."

"I don't think—"

"Twilight Sparkle!" The voice boomed across the landscape. "I thought I told you not to pursue this foolish notion!"

Twilight, Sweetie, and Spike turned to see Princess Celestia land.

"Princess, look!" Twilight held up her creation. It was not the Nexus of Starswirl the Bearded. The object that she held was still shaped like a book, with a white cover, rimmed with gold. Unlike its long-destroyed predecessor, this Nexus had pages of amethyst instead of topaz. It had been crafted by the greatest unicorn to ever walk Equestria, who now held it: the Nexus of Twilight Sparkle.

"See? I did it! I'm going back!"

Twilight set her Nexus on the stand in the center of the apparatus. Light pooled out through the slab, across the magic lines, and up the pillars. The loose gems rose into the air and slowly began to orbit.

"It works. It works! Princess Celestia, it works!" She began to hop in place. "I'm going back!"

Princess Celestia stomped the ground, putting an immediate end to Twilight's celebration. "You are not going back, Twilight. You did not return. Do you understand me? There is no way back to your time."

"Princess Celestia."

Twilight had opened her mouth to reply, but it was not her voice that answered. She turned to look at the new arrival.

"Princess Luna? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

"I am here to see you off, Twilight. Celestia, don't you see? She has attained what she has sought. You failed, Celestia."

Twilight interrupted. "What do you mean, failed? And how did you know I had rebuilt the apparatus? Did Princess Celestia tell you?"

Luna turned to Twilight. "It was simple, Twilight. When you returned to your time, I noted the time that you were away. When you reappeared here, it was trivial to calculate the date of your departure."

"Luna," Princess Celestia said. "You have gone too far!"

Luna grit her teeth. "No, Celestia. Your planning has failed you. Twilight Sparkle will return to the past, just as causality dictates."

Twilight looked down, eyes darting around the ground. "My return? So... I did come back? But then... how could..." She trailed off in thought.

"Twilight Sparkle." Celestia kept her authoritarian tone. "I forbid you from using that apparatus! You will remain in this time. Do I make myself clear?"

"Celestia." Luna softened her voice. "You cannot change the past, sister. It is over."

"No." Celestia's eyes moistened. "It is not over. I am not changing the past; I am changing the future."

Twilight looked between the princesses. "Did I go back or not?" She then looked to the dragon. "Spike? You can tell me, right? Did I come back?"

Spike looked down. "Princess Celestia told me... she used a bunch of big words I didn't understand. Said that if I said you came back it would break time or something. I wanted to tell you, Twilight. That you'd see your friends again. Honest."

"But then..." Twilight looked around, bewildered. "How can Princess Celestia think that I didn't?"

"Indeed," Luna added, smirking at Celestia. "Do tell, sister. I rather distinctly recall you spending an inordinate amount of time with her after her return."

Celestia did not answer.

Twilight thought hard. "Then... the only explanation could be..." Her eyes went wide. "You lied?"

Princess Celestia avoided eye contact. "I'm sorry, Twilight."

"How could you lie to me, Princess?! I trusted you! You... you convinced me to give up on going back! You kept me here for a decade! Away from my friends! If I hadn't seen that painting, then I might never have found the way back!"

"A painting?" Princess Luna raised an eyebrow. "It seems you missed something, dear sister."

"But why, Princess Celestia? Why? You taught me about friendship, how important it was to have friends, and then you took them away from me! How could you do this to me, Princess? I need to know! Why?"

Princess Celestia continued to look down. "Because Twilight... you died."

Twilight took a step back. "D-died? I died? How? When?"

Luna stepped in. "Knowing the time or manner of your death will only serve to drive you mad, Twilight. Suffice it to say, you are mortal and will not see this era again."

"But Princess Luna, why didn't you tell me that I went back? Maybe I could have gone back sooner if I'd known about the painting."

"It would not have affected anything. You were fated to leave today, not five years ago. I would only have granted you anxiety. And you never told us how exactly you created your Nexus." She looked sidelong at Celestia. "I am fairly certain as to why."

"And... I didn't see anything in the magical journals about me. Didn't I do anything noteworthy for the rest of my life?"

"A result of some rather creative, yet thorough, editing from my sister." Luna glanced at Celestia again.

Twilight's eyes widened. "You had me erased from history? What, did I actually invent this?" She removed her amulet and threw it to the ground, the wings vanishing off of her back. "The magic lights? The transporter? Am I the first unicorn on the moon?"

"Do not worry, Twilight. The original texts are retained in my personal library, and I have taken great care to preserve them. I will personally see to their duplication and redistribution. You have my word."

"But... Princess Celestia said I died. Everypony dies someday. Surely she's lost others before me. Why me?"

"Twilight." Princess Celestia spoke softly. "You have always been special to me. I had always prepared myself for the day you'd leave me. But when you left, all that time ago, I did not know whether you had lived or died, whether I'd see you again. I spent ten years in uncertainty, not knowing if I'd ever see you again. When you returned, I felt relief like I never have before. Then, as time went on, you grew old, then left me again. I have lost you twice, Twilight Sparkle. I do not wish to lose you a third time. Please, Twilight, do not leave me."

Twilight took a breath. "So that's it? This was all for your own benefit? Ten years without my friends? The friends that you insisted I make?"

"Twilight, please—"

Twilight stomped the ground. "No, Princess Celestia. I am not bowing to your whims just because you want to keep me on a leash. I am leaving!" She turned away.

Celestia hesitated. "Twilight." She looked at her Magician.

"What?" Twilight whirled around.

Celestia looked away again. "When you return, and see me again, please do not hate me. My past self did not have this scheme against you. I have many happy memories of us together. Please do not taint them with the knowledge that you had anger in your heart. And Twilight, please forgive me."

"I don't know if I can, Princess." Twilight looked at Celestia with narrowed eyes.

"Twilight Sparkle, I beg you." Celestia looked into her eyes. "I cannot stand the rest of eternity not knowing whether you forgive me."

"I... I can't decide. Not now." She thought a moment. "Princess Luna. I'll go back, and have the rest of my life to decide. When I do, I can tell you, and after I leave, you can tell her. Does that sound good? Did that happen?"

Luna said nothing, but nodded.

"There. See? Everything's taken care of." Twilight closed her eyes, took a breath, and exhaled.

She put on a smile. "It's been swell seeing the future, but it's time for me to go. I figure I can take the apparatus back to the moment I left and at least save my friends the trouble."

Luna spoke up. "It did not happen that way, Twilight. You were gone for ten years."

"What? But this is my Nexus, and my apparatus. There's causality, and there's silliness. Why can't I just tell it to go whenever I want?"

"Accuracy, Twilight. It has been a long time, but I recall you aiming for an initial jump of approximately two hundred years. With an error as large as it was, can you guarantee that you will even arrive within your friends' lifetimes on your next trip? Can you afford another breakdown, one that may damage something less replaceable than Nexuses and crystals?"

Twilight opened her mouth. "I... don't know." She closed her eyes to think. "I need... some way to target the right time." She could feel her heartbeat in her ears. Twilight opened her eyes. "I know. My heart, and theirs. The time jump brought them out of sync, so all I have to do is aim for synchronization, and I will arrive with them... but with the same passage of time. Oh Princess Luna, I'll have left them for ten years, too?"

"I am sorry, Twilight."

Twilight sat down, fixing her eyes on the gems swirling in the apparatus. She imagined her friends spending the years without her that she spent without them. Images of shouting and crying ponies filled her head. She imagined seeing their parents as young foals, or their children as elders.

Twilight sighed. "I can't think of any other way. I guess this is goodbye, Princess."

Luna nodded. "You will see me again in the past, Twilight, but for me this is farewell. I remember you well. You will become a great pony, and the world will remember you for a long time, once I set things right."

Twilight looked to Celestia, then snorted. "I'll see what I can do about you in the past, Princess. Ask Princess Luna once I'm gone."

Celestia choked up. "Farewell, Twilight Sparkle, and please forgive an old, foolish mare's selfish desires."

"Sweetie Belle?" Twilight looked for her daughter.

Sweetie Belle sat off to the side next to Spike. She rolled up a scroll she had been writing on and placed it in her bag.

"Sweetie Belle?" Twilight repeated, getting her attention. "Have you said your goodbyes?"

The mare walked up to her mother. "Not yet." She squeezed her eyes shut, then jumped forwards into an embrace. "Goodbye, Mom!"

Twilight pulled her off. "Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie Belle stood, looking into her mother's eyes. "I'm not going back. I'm staying in this time."

"What do you mean? Why aren't you going back? Princess Luna." Twilight turned to her. "Sweetie Belle came back too, right?"

Luna replied, "I will not influence her decision."

"I can't go, Mom." Sweetie Belle put her hoof over her heart. "You belong in your time, and I belong in this one. I have my friends here, and my career, and the troupe. And I have Spike. We've talked, and he's going to live with me from now on. So we can take care of each other."

"But," Twilight started, "what about Apple Bloom? Or Scootaloo? Aren't they your friends, too? What about Rarity? Don't you want to see Rarity again?"

Sweetie Belle blinked back tears. "I do want to see her again... and I miss her. But if I go, I'll miss Apple Crisp and Spot Light and the rest of the troupe. I made my decision, Mom, which is why I brought this." She levitated her saddlebag off of her back and onto Twilight's. "Give this to them when you get back."

"Sweetie Belle!" Twilight swept her into a hug, tears running down her face. "I don't want to leave you behind! You mean so much to me!"

Sweetie Belle nudged Twilight backwards. "I know, Mom. But I have to stay behind. I'll look up as much as I can about you. And I'll have plays written about you. And I'll sing about you on stage in every corner of Equestria, so the whole world knows how great of a pony you were! And I'll plant trees! Lots of trees! All over! I'll show them what it means to sit under a tree in the summer, or have an apple right off the branches! And maybe, one day, medicine will let me fly. And when I do, I'll make as many clouds as I can. I'll make beautiful patterns in the sky, and encourage everypony else to make some too! I'll make Equestria somewhere you can be proud of, Mom!"

"I love you, Sweetie Belle!"

"I love you too, Mom! Thank you! Thank you for everything you've done for me!"

When they released, Twilight found herself standing at the center of the apparatus. "Sweetie Belle... I'll miss you. I love you, so so much, Sweetie Belle."

"I love you too, Mom." Sweetie fought back tears as she backed up off of the slab.

"Spike?" Twilight looked at the dragon. "There's room for one more. Do you want to come back with me?"

Spike shook his head. "I'm already in the past, Twilight, happy at finally seeing you again. There doesn't have to be two of me. Besides, Sweetie Belle needs someone to keep her out of trouble with you gone."

Twilight sniffled. "I don't know if I'll ever say it in the past, so... I do love you, Spike. And I appreciate everything you've ever done for me."

"I know, Twilight. Say hi to past Spike for me. And... I love you too. Now don't keep your friends waiting any longer."

Twilight looked between the two Princesses, to her daughter, and to the dragon.

"Goodbye, all of you. I'll make sure to give you plenty of happy memories."

Twilight's horn illuminated, and the temporal apparatus powered up. Then, she was gone.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Energy swirled around Twilight Sparkle. Six beams of light emanated from the Nexus, leaping to the pillars above. The floor glowed with power, and the crystals overhead spun at a blur. Twilight concentrated on the spell, on seeking the right point in the timeline. To her surprise, it was easier than she remembered, ten years ago. Where leaving her time felt like pushing the apparatus up a hill, returning felt like going down it. The apparatus settled on a time like a record needle settling into a groove. The crystal floor glowed bright, along with the spinning gems, brighter and brighter, blinding. Twilight squeezed her eyes closed.

Everything was white.

The light faded, along with the magic. Twilight peeked her eyes open. The spinning gems slowed, and the landscape beyond came into view past the swirling energy.

Slowly, steadily, the apparatus came to a stop. Twilight suddenly found herself wet. Water cascaded down onto the unicorn. She looked up. Rain poured from the black clouds in the sky. A flash of lightning flickered overhead.

She walked off of the apparatus's slab, magically picking up her Nexus and wedging it into the saddlebag that her daughter had given her. The floating gems descended to the ground, landing softly in the new puddles. Twilight looked out towards Canterlot, its lights dotting the spires barely visible in the haze. She turned towards Ponyville. Her Ponyville.

She took a deep breath, then let it out. Twilight Sparkle concentrated on her horn. A wave of purple swept her across the miles.

Twilight looked up at where she had arrived. Rows of apple trees greeted her, rain streaming off of their leaves. She looked along the path she stood on. Ahead was a red barn with a small farmhouse, windows aglow, next to it.

She walked towards the house.

She trotted towards the house.

She galloped towards the house.

Her hooves thundered through the puddles, splashing mud across her belly. Her eyes saw the farmhouse approaching; her heart saw its contents.

Before she realized, before she knew what to do, she found herself standing at the door. Shaking, Twilight raised her hoof and rapped on the door.

She shivered at the sound of a voice. A voice she'd thought she would never hear again.

"Now who in tarnation could it be in this weather?"

The door unlatched and swung open. And Twilight saw her. Orange coat. Blond mane. Green eyes. Brown hat. Dropped jaw.

"Applejack!" Twilight sprang forward, embracing her friend.

"T... Twilight? Is it really you?" Applejack reached her foreleg around Twilight's neck. "It is you. It is you! Twilight! You came back! Am I dreaming, Twilight? Tell me this isn't a dream!" Tears mixed with the rainwater on Twilight's neck.

Twilight sniffled. "It isn't, Applejack. I'm home. I'm finally home." She pulled back. "We need to tell the girls. I need to see them again, too."

"Oh, right. Here..." Applejack turned, and came back with an umbrella. "Let's go find them."

The pair trotted through the rain away from the house and towards the town. "Oh Celestia, it musta been ten years since you left, Twilight. I thought we weren't ever going to see you again. What the hay happened, Twi?"

Twilight took a breath. "Let's wait until we're all at the library. I mean, the library's still there, right?"

"Yeah yeah, of course it's there. I'm sorry, it's just... I still can't believe it. All of a sudden it's you, and you're here... Celestia's sake, Twilight." Applejack shook her head. "Wait'll I tell Apple Bloom and—"

Applejack stopped. "Wait a second. Twilight, where's Sweetie Belle?"

---

Rainbow Dash raised a hoof. "Whoa whoa whoa. Okay. Time machine, sure, I saw it happen. Mechanical heart, maybe. Flying trains? I've seen weirder. I guess. But no clouds? That's it, you're making stuff up."

"I am not making anything up. The future didn't have any clouds."

"Then how did anything get watered? I know Applejack wouldn't like it if I didn't make it rain on her trees or anything."

Twilight Sparkle looked at Applejack. "Maybe I shouldn't say anything else."

Rainbow flung up her hooves. "See? Ask how it works and she goes quiet. Told you Twilight was making it up. I bet it looked just like how it is today. Maybe a little shinier. Hey Twilight, do you think you could take us to the future, so we can all see how awesome it's gonna be?"

Twilight looked at her Nexus, which she had sat in the corner. "I'm sorry, but I think I've had enough time travel for one lifetime. And I don't want to risk anything happening again."

A explosion of confetti interrupted the conversation. A cake the same color as Twilight's coat landed on the table.

"Twilight's back! I knew you'd come back! We even left a memorial for you to see but your time machine kind of blew it up when it came back."

Twilight eyed the cake. "Pinkie Pie, how did you find the time to bake this already? This is fresh, right?"

"Of course it's fresh, silly! I made this just for you!"

Twilight took a bite. It was the best tasting cake she had ever had. Outside, the rain beat against the windows.

"Hey, Twilight." Rainbow Dash hovered near the ceiling. "If I'd known you were coming back, I would have cleared the skies out for you. This weather really doesn't suit the mood. I can go out and clear this up in a snap, though."

"No, Rainbow." Twilight looked out the window at the dark clouds filling the sky. Thunder rolled past the library. "Keep it. I like the rain. Come on, girls, I want you all to have a slice. Together."

Rarity sniffled. "I just can't stop thinking about my poor dear Sweetie Belle. I wanted to see her again, too. But she's alive, and she's happy, and... that's all that matters. I'm sorry, Twilight, I appreciate what you've done and I'm happy to see you again, too."

Twilight looked at her slice. "It's all right. Sweetie Belle... I had adopted her. Raised her. Sweetie Belle became my daughter. She called me... she called me 'Mom'."

Spike rolled on his back laughing. "Mom?! That's hilarious! Just try to imagine it!" He laughed again until he noticed the glare of two unicorns. "Oh, uh... I'll keep dusting the shelves."

Rarity turned back to Twilight. "I hope you don't mind, but Spike has been helping me around the shop while you were gone. And I do hope you don't expect me to refer to you as my mother too, Twilight. I prefer to think of you as my friend."

Twilight cracked a smile. "It's all right, Rarity. Sweetie Belle became a stage singer. She's a very beautiful mare, and I'm very proud of her. I know she'll go on to be a great pony. Here, Rarity, Sweetie Belle wanted you to have this."

Twilight opened the bag Sweetie had given her. She withdrew a large book and two scrolls. She gave the book and a scroll to Rarity, and saved the other for when she saw the two former Cutie Mark Crusaders again.

Rarity opened the book. Within, the pages were filled with photographs. Pictures showed Sweetie Belle playing in the magic sprinklers, learning how to use her own magic, practicing plays with her friends, and more. The photograph of Sweetie Belle's new cutie mark was on a large print, on a page of its own. As the book progressed, Sweetie Belle grew older and older, culminating in the full-grown mare that Twilight had left her as. Teardrops fell onto the last page.

"Twilight... thank you so much for taking these. I can't... I'm sorry, I need a moment alone."

Rarity excused herself, moving to a far corner.

The library door opened and two figures, dry despite the rain, entered. Twilight looked up.

"Princess Celestia."

Celestia swept into the room before kneeling down and embracing Twilight. Her sister stood by a shelf. The remainder of the room shifted away from the un-princess-like behavior.

"Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia cried. "You've returned! I had become so worried about you!"

Twilight hesitated, lost in thought.

"What's the matter, Twilight?" Celestia pulled back. "Are you not happy to see me again?"

"Oh." Twilight looked at her. "You were, uh... still there three hundred and fifty years in the future."

Celestia smiled back. "Then this is my reunion and not yours. And I know I have something to look forwards to now."

Twilight flinched, then sighed. "Yes." She paused. "Yes, you do."

---

Dear Apple Bloom and Scootaloo,

It's funny how I remember you as fillies, instead of the grown mares you must be reading this. I bet you both got your cutie marks in something you love. I got mine for singing, and I drew it at the bottom of the letter for you. I know you heard me sing before, so imagine that but better. I'm going to be a big Broadneigh performer, too. That reminds me, I should try to find out what cutie marks you two got. I think I know how.

Oh yeah, I don't know how far you've gotten by now, and I need to preserve the timeline or something like that, so I'll just say to keep up the dream. It'll be worth it, I promise. You two have done something incredible.

Cutie Mark Crusaders for life.

---

Dear Rarity,

I'm sorry I didn't get to see you again in person. I hope all those pictures Mom took will be enough to remember me by. I got my new heart valve and I'm okay. The doctor said I'll live a long time with it. And by the way, Twilight was my Mom for the past ten years. I hope you don't mind. Don't let Spike give her too much trouble over it.

The Princess preserved a bunch of the fashion magazines with your designs in them. I haven't read them all yet, but the dresses I've seen are beautiful. I don't know if you'll believe me, but you're going to get even better at making them. I am definitely going to try to get some of these made into costumes. Or just to wear and feel pretty in.

And Rarity, when the fashion photographers take your picture, make sure you smile as big as you can, because your little sister will be smiling back.
> Author's Notes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------