Twilight Sparkle looked at the clock.
“What is time?” she wondered aloud. Spike, her dragon assistant, heard this question and decided to respond.
“Gee, Twilight, that’s actually a good question. When you stop and think about it, time gets all confusing and—” Spike shook his head. “—and, well, confusing. You’ve got some books on time, don’t you?”
“Three-hundred and fifty-seven, actually,” the unicorn confessed. “And yet, I’m nowhere closer to finding out what it really is! I always obsess over it, trying to make the most of it, letting it rush me by, what what is time?”
Spike shrugged, and continued to shelve some books on silverware polishing. Twilight rubbed her temples, groaning.
“Ever since I used that time travel spell, I’ve been experiencing this nagging feeling about time; now, it’s finally boiled over! I need to find out just what time is!”
“Well, how are you gonna do that?” her assistant asked, swatting away a thin purple spider which was attempting to live behind a poorly-written book.
The unicorn sighed. “Well, it’s still the late afternoon. I can leave and go talk to my friends about it, I guess. Get some outside perspective.” Levitating a quill and a sheave of parchment over to the table she was sitting at, Twilight mumbled to herself as she transcribed ink onto the parchment.
“Alright, I’ll hit Sugarcube Corner first since that closes soon to talk to Pinkie, and then I’ll swing by the Carousel Boutique so I can get Rarity’s view. Then, down to Sweet Apple Acres for Applejack, who, if I plan this right, will be in that downtime just after finishing apple-bucking and just before eating supper with her family. Finally, I’ll head over to Fluttershy’s cottage.” Twilight tapped her quill to her chin. “And I guess I’ll just have to hope Rainbow Dash is out and about doing something so I can talk to her.”
After writing down this list, Twilight rolled it up and put it in her saddlebag, along with a small bottle of ink and a few extra quills. “Spike, I’m heading out,” she announced, and the dragon turned to look at her.
“You know, I don’t get why you don’t just write to Princess Celestia about this whole thing. I mean, she’s old! She probably knows a lot about time.”
Twilight gasped, slightly shocked and somewhat mortified. “Spike! I can’t just write to Princess Celestia asking about that sort of thing! It’s rude! Especially in the way you put it, honestly...”
“I think a bit of Rarity is rubbing off on you,” Spike said. “And not the good part,” he added under his breath with a grumble.
“At any rate, Spike, I’m off,” Twilight said with a sense of finality, and with that, she left the library.
Outside, the sun was just beginning to set, causing the shadows to elongate. It was moving into Twilight’s favorite part of the day, twilight. Twilight was always good for a good chance to curl up and read a nice book, maybe make some tea to accompany it.
Fortunately, both of the establishments the unicorn planned on visiting stayed open for about an hour more or so, allowing for her to accomplish her goals.
“Why is it always I who has these questions in my head?” Twilight murmured to herself. “Really, I seem to always be the one who thinks about things in a grand, existential scale.” Realizing just how pretentious that sounded, she decided to never talk about that certain thought ever again.
Reaching her first destination, she looked at the outside of the sweet shop Pinkie Pie worked at. It looked like a giant gingerbread house, which prompted Twilight to imagine numerous scenarios, all of them involving ants.
Opening the door, the arrival bell chimed as she entered. There was only one customer inside, a chubby stallion who was putting away a large chocolate cake. He looked quite satisfied with it, and Twilight smiled. Something about happiness is rather infectious, especially when you’re in an open-minded mood.
Heading up to the counter, Twilight found herself staring at the back of Mrs. Cake, one of the shop proprietors, who was bent over cleaning up a dropped cupcake.
“Good evening, Mrs. Cake,” Twilight said kindly. Mrs. Cake jumped a bit, and then straightened up, blushing slightly.
“Oh, hello Twilight! I didn’t notice you had come in, I was a bit preoccupied... are you here to get something or are you looking for—”
A pink blur flew down from the upstairs of the shop, crashing into Twilight with extreme force. The two bodies rolled across the floor for a moment, before coming to a stop underneath the chubby stallion’s table. Pinkie Pie had Twilight in a tight embrace, squeezing the air out of the poor mare.
“Of COURSE she was coming to visit me, silly! I could tell just from how she walked into the shop! She had the ‘it’s-time-to-be-serious-and-talk-to-Pinkie-about-serious-stuff’ face on!” Pinkie gasped, and put on a serious face. “Ok, Twilight! Let’s get serious.” Pinkie Pie giggled slightly.
Twilight brushed herself off, and took a few deep breaths. The stallion who had been occupying the table slowly backed away, and escaped out the front door. Neither pony under the table payed much attention to it, as Twilight was engrossed in her thoughts with Pinkie.
“So, Pinkie,” Twilight asked. “Remember when I went back in time using that time spell?”
Pinkie rolled her large blue eyes, her smile never wavering. “Oh course I remember that! We were all sneaky and ninja-y! It was so much fun! We should sneak around more, that was great!”
“Well,” Twilight went on to say. “Ever since then I’ve had an... interest with finding out more about time. I mean, just what is it? It passes by, and I had a chance to rewind it once for just few moments and...” Twilight sighed. “I just needed get some perspective on this. So I thought I better ask my friends.”
Pinkie Pie was now staring at Twilight intently, her eyes searching the unicorn. Twilight felt a sense of unease, as on the rare occasions Pinkie Pie did this, good things usually did not follow. So it was to Twilight’s eternal relief when Pinkie Pie answered in her usual upbeat tone.
“Well, I don’t worry about it myself! Time is just time, you know? It’s the thing that lets us know how much of a party we can have, the thing that measures how fast I can eat sweets...” Pinkie thought for moment before continuing, “And it’s what I love to spend with my friends!”
Twilight smiled. She couldn’t exactly say she expect much different from Pinkie. However, she was very surprised at what came next. “And Twilight, remember; don’t be sad that the party’s over, just be super-duper happy it happened!”
Twilight gave the smiling pony an odd sort of look. “I’ll... keep that in mind. Thanks Pinkie.”
“Bye, Twilight!” Pinkie said with a wave as Twilight trotted out the door. Once outside, the unicorn levitated her checklist and quill out, and marked off Pinkie Pie’s name.
“Alright, next stop is the Carousel Boutique. I’m sure Rarity will have a very... interesting outlook on this.”
Twilight trotted through the streets of Ponyville, the sun nearly having set fully. After a few moments, she spotted the apparel shop, and darted to the door. Opening it slowly, she walked inside, where she found Rarity cleaning up some fabrics.
“Hello, Rarity!” Twilight said brightly. Rarity turned around and smiled at her friend.
“Oh, hello Twilight! I was just cleaning up the shop, closing up for the day and all that. Please, do have a seat anywhere you like. Wait, not there!” Twilight jumped up from where she was about to sit, on a couch that had several pieces of cloth that blended in with the piece of furniture very well.
Twilight stood in front of a different couch, and when Rarity smiled at her, she plopped down on it. “Well, Rarity, would you mind if we talked for a moment?
“Anything you want to talk about is fine by me, darling.” Rarity levitated a large bundle of cut cloth strips to a basket behind her.
“Well, you remember the week when I traveled back in time and ended psyching myself out, right?”
Rarity giggled. “All too well, I’m afraid. Why, did something else happen related to it?”
Twilight shrugged. “Well, not exactly. But ever since I went back in time and encountered that I’ve taken an interest in time. Like... what is it? How does it work?”
Rarity was quiet for a moment before muttering. “Oh, I see what this is about.”
Twilight frowned. “What do you mean?”
Rarity sighed. “Twilight, this is my stance on time: we’re all going to grow old eventually. I, of course, plan on aging as gracefully as possible, but that’s not what concerns me the most.”
“Huh? What concerns you the most then?” asked Twilight, intrigued on how Rarity had taken her question.
“What concerns me most is that in time, all of my hard work will be gone; disappeared, lost forever. Be it moments after I eventually pass away, or years and years after that...” Rarity sighed again. “One day, all of my beautiful dresses, scarves, hats, my building, my foals, assuming I have any... they’ll all be gone. That’s one thing that defines time to me.”
Twilight was silent for a moment. It was true, what Rarity was saying. One day, all of her accomplishments would be forgotten as well. But something about what Rarity had said in the beginning, and the way she had talked about aging...
“But, there’s a lighter side to this, of course. There always is, darling,” Rarity said with a wink. “You lose all your hard work to time, such is the nature of time. But in the spirit of generosity, you must lay down the foundations for the next generations to live off of. I must give to the next generations my ideas... which I think is why having inspired just one pony to enter the fashion business should be proof enough that I’ve made some sort of impact.”
Twilight’s mouth fell open slightly. “Well, that’s rather... deep, Rarity.”
Rarity grinned. “You say that as though you were surprised, darling! What, I didn’t seem like the sort of pony to think into the future like that?”
“Well,” Twilight grinned sheepishly. “At any rate, this has opened my eyes greatly. Thanks for the little chat, Rarity.
“Not a problem at all, darling.”
Before she left, she quickly pulled out the parchment that contained her list and her quill out of her saddlebag, and marked Rarity’s name off.
Twilight left the establishment. So far, both of her conversations hadn’t gone on for very long, but had delivered just what she needed to know... yet, she still needed to get all of her friends’ perspectives on the matter. It was getting dark now, so she had to hurry. Time is a rather tricky thing, as it was.
Guess I’ll go visit Applejack now, Twilight thought to herself. The night air was peaceful, but not for very long. The peace was quickly decimated by a familiar rough voice.
“Hey Twi! Where you going so late?” Twilight looked up to see Rainbow Dash swooping away from a long hanging cloud, which had turned purple from the nearly set sun.
“Oh, I was just going over to Sweet Apple Acres to talk to Applejack,” Twilight told the pegasus. “You’re free to tag along, I wanted to talk to you as well.”
“Hehe, shoot your questions at me, egghead!” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle, lazily drifting along in the air on her back.
“How could you be so sure I wanted to ask you a question?” Twilight said with a smug little smile.
“When ponies want to talk, they always ask question,” Rainbow said with a roll of her eyes. “Duh.”
Twilight laughed. “Well, you caught me. I’ve already asked Pinkie and Rarity, but... Dash, what do you think about time?”
Dash flipped over so that she was flying right-side up. “What about it?”
“Well, ever since that whole time travel incident... I’ve been really into time. What is it?”
“Time’s an annoyance,” Rainbow Dash said simply. “Gets in my way.”
Twilight knew she could expect a simple, to the point response from Rainbow, but still was taken aback by this. Her friends were really surprising her today.
“Time’s an... annoyance?” Twilight asked, giving Rainbow Dash a look. “How so? Elaborate for me, Rainbow.”
“Time is the enemy!” Rainbow Dash said with vigor. “Every day, I get a bit older, and a bit closer to getting slower! Once I get all old and achy, I won’t be able to do the awesome tricks I can do now! Not to mention, every day that goes by is another day that I’m not a part of the Wonderbolts. Time’s making fools of us cool ponies, Twilight. I know you eggheads can get lost in big dusty books to waste your time, but I’ve got to push harder against a running clock!”
Twilight’s brow furrowed. Age had been brought up yet again. “But is that enough to make time your enemy?”
“Is for me. Simply put, age is a hindrance; time is what makes you grow older. And as time passes, you miss chances and opportunities to do amazing and awesome things! You’ve gotta race against time!”
“I guess that makes sense,” Twilight agreed. “So you really believe that?”
“Why do you think I go so fast all the time?” Rainbow asked Twilight. Twilight didn’t have a response to that.
“Well, gotta get up early tomorrow for another race against the clock, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said with a yawn and a stretch. “Good luck with your ‘time-search’!” She sped off in a rainbow blur, leaving Twilight with three odd ideas about time bumping around in her head.
Repeating the action she had done with her other two friends, Twilight got out her checklist and a quill, marking off Rainbow Dash’s name.
Absently wandering the path to Sweet Apple Acres while dwelling on her past conversations, she didn’t even notice Applejack until she trotted right into her.
“Ow! Sorry, Applejack,” Twilight said, having fallen right on top of the orange earth pony. The two untangled, and Twilight levitated Applejack’s hat right back on her head. “Say, what are you still doing out this late? I’d have figured you would have finished with you apple-bucking already.”
“Some colts from in town were tryin’ to steal some apples, so we had to deal with that earlier. Put a crimp in the schedule,” Applejack explained.
“Must have been quite the waste of time,” Twilight said slyly.
“Not really. We taught the colts a good lesson about not taking things that aren’t theirs, so there’s that. Worth more to me than havin’ to head into have supper an hour later than usual.” Applejack smiled widely. “So, what brings you down to these parts, Twi?”
“Funnily enough, I wanted to ask you about time.”
Applejack squinted and cocked her head. “What about time? Do Ah have time for you? Do you need to arrange some time with my brother? Just time in general?”
“Time in general, I would think,” Twilight said. “Ever since that whole going back in time fiasco, I’ve been drawn to know more about time. So I was thinking maybe you’d be able to help me understand it a bit better.” She scuffed her hood through the dirt below them. “I’ve already seen Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash and talked to them about it. After you, I’m gonna go to Fluttershy. Get a full perspective from all my friends, you know?”
“Well, Ah’d reckon that makes sense,” Applejack said thoughtfully. “Well, not too sure what I know about time. I know I’ve spent most of mine on apples, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s been time well spent.”
“But what do you think time is?” Twilight asked inquisitively.
“Well, it’s how we get through the days, I guess. There wouldn’t be days without time.” Applejack looked at Twilight, a somewhat sympathetic expression on her face. “And y’know, Twi, everypony gets old in the end. That’s what time does as well. With enough luck, we’ll be able to get to good ol’ Granny Smith’s age, livin’ a nice full life. And even if you don’t get that far, if spend your time right, that’s really all that matters. Ah mean, look at my parents. At least they were able to raise their foals right.”
There was a moment of silence, neither pony talking. The sun was sending its very last rays over Equestria, the orchard casting long shadows over the Acres. Applejack was first to speak again.
“It’s just natural cycle, Twi. Time is never time at all, it’s whatever you make of it. Don’t worry too much about what time should be, but rather what you can use it for. That’s what Ah’ve been doing, and look at me! Got a great family, amazing friends, and Ah don’t think I could be happier. Besides, you're still young, Twi.” Applejack smiled at Twilight. Twilight smiled back, but underneath her grin was an odd feeling. Why did everypony keep coming back to the age factor?
“Well, Applejack, your wisdom is always appreciated,” Twilight said in a somewhat professional manner. “In fact, you’ve given me quite a bit to think about.”
“Glad Ah could help, Twi. Gonna head inside and eat supper with the family, they’ll be missin’ me and all. Plus, Big Mac’s making food tonight, his is always the best.” And with a tip of her hat, Applejack trotted off.
Twilight checked off Applejack’s name from the list, and set her gaze on the rising moon. “Guess Fluttershy’s the last one left...”
Twilight trotted off up the path the path that lead to Ponyville, and after a few more path switches, was on her way to Fluttershy’s woodside cottage. The little house was bathed in the beautiful moonlight, and the sound of sleeping critters and nocturnal animals set a soothing feeling about Twilight.
Knocking lightly on the door, she waiting a few moments until a shy voice called out, “W-who is it?”
“It’s me, Twilight!” Twilight announced.
“Oh! Please, Twilight, come in!” The door creaked open, and Twilight walked inside, making sure to step over several sleeping badgers.
Twilight and Fluttershy sat down on the couch. Fluttershy was in her bathroom, holding a cup of tea. “Angel went to sleep earlier tonight, so I figured I’d make myself some tea and read a nice book to pass the time. It’s rather interesting.”
Normally, Twilight would have asked about what book Fluttershy was reading, but she had a bit more of an important matter to attend to this evening. “Fluttershy, what can you tell me about time?”
“Well, I’m not sure what is you want to know. I’m sorry...” She added hastily.
“Oh, it’s fine, Fluttershy,” Twilight told her friend kindly. “What I was just wondering about what you think of time. What do you think it is?” Twilight refrained from speaking her next sentence which was to be How much time do you think we have left?
“Well,” Fluttershy said, “I know from working with animals that time is different to every creature. The butterflies and months and other insects aren’t around for as long as we are, but they still enjoy their time, and feel as though it was very long. And the animals that live longer than us, such as the turtles, think the rest of us spend our time too fast.”
Twilight nodded, and this prompted Fluttershy to go on. “I actually quite like the idea of growing old. Losing youth isn’t a problem, it’s how you spent the time how it really matters. Time is something that you’re given to spend, and as long as you’re nice to other ponies with how you spend it and you’re happy with what you’ve done, then I think that you’ve done it right. I can’t wait to grow old myself, have a peaceful old age...” Fluttershy smiled dreamily.
What is with all these ponies and growing older? Twilight though with a bit of a scowl.
“Are you okay, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, obviously seeing the strange look on her friend’s face.
“Yeah... yeah, I’m fine Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “Look, sorry that I have to leave so soon, but I really have to get going. Thanks for your input.”
“Oh, no problem at all Twilight,” Fluttershy said, leading Twilight to the door. “Enjoy your night!”
“Thanks, Fluttershy,” her friend said, and with that, she left.
Wandering slowly back to her home, she was in for the biggest surprise of her night. She would have thought that by now she would have become accustomed to surprises. But she was most certainly not expecting to see Princess Celestia standing in front of her home.
“Princess!” Twilight gasped in shock. “Why are you here? I mean, I’m glad you are but... why?”
The Princess smiled warmly. “A certain dragon told me about how you thought that it would be rude to ask me about time. As I don’t usually do anything during the night, I thought I could come visit my most faithful student and help you out with your investigation.”
Twilight pulled her teacher into a hug. “Oh, thank you Princess! What can you tell me of time?”
Celestia smiled an odd sort of half-smile. “I’m not quite sure I can’t tell you anything you haven’t heard before. Time is what you make of it, Twilight. Just make sure you do your best. And truly, time IS never time at all.”
Twilight recalled that being the general gist of what her friends told her. “Do you have anything else?”
Celestia’s wings rustled. “Maybe if I have some time to think on it. Don’t you agree that we should get some sleep, my faithful student?”
Twilight didn’t realize just how tired she was until that moment. “Yeah, I guess so...”
“Climb onto my back, we’ll fly up to your room,” Celestia said softly. Twilight climbed on up, and Celestia glided silently up to the ledge right outside of Twilight’s room.
“Where will you sleep, Princess?” Twilight asked with a yawn. “You can have my bed if you want...”
“Oh, I don’t think that’ll be necessary...” Celestia said. Twilight yawned once more, and allowed herself to put put into bed and tucked in like a foal. “Sleep well, my student.”
Twilight did not have a dream that night.
When she awoke, she was feeling very confused. As she blinked the sleepiness from her eyes, she noticed the Princess on the other side of the room, her back turned. “Princess?”
Celestia turned around. “Ah, you’re awake! Did you sleep well, Twilight?”
Twilight nodded. “Yes, yes I did, thank you... but you said that you had more to talk to me about time? It’s the morning now, after all...”
Celestia smiled, as she so often did. “Yes, Twilight. One thing about time you must know; it is not to be worried about. In fact, it’s somewhat of a nuisance after a while.”
“That’s what Rainbow Dash said!” Twilight said with a shocked tone of voice.
“Did she now?” Celestia asked.
“Well, she referred to it as more of an enemy, but...”
Celestia laughed in a light manner. “Do not mistake ‘nuisance’ for ‘enemy’, time is far from my enemy. But it does get... tiring, after a while.” Celestia sighed, her expression much more sombre. “Do not fear growing older, Twilight. Everything goes along with time.”
Twilight was feeling vague pangs of annoyance. “Why is everypony so concerned with age and growing older? Hoenstly, that’s pretty much what they all went back to! Except Pinkie Pie, for whatever odd reason, although she hinted at it...”
“Life’s full of little mysteries,” Celestia said. “Now, how about getting out of bed?”
Twilight hoped out of bed, entered her bathroom to freshen up, then opened her door to go downstairs. “I’ll help Spike make breakfast for you, Princess—”
“SURPRISE!” Twilight was dazzled by the sudden light as the downstairs burst into life. Most of the ponies in town were there, and all of her friends were waiting for her. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around, excited as usual for her party that she had thrown for Twilight. Large banners wishing Twilight a happy birthday were spread about, and her desk was covered with presents for her.
“Happy Birthday, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Celestia said to her student. Twilight was stunned, but a happy kind of stunned. She was stunned a second time when she realized why all her friends and her mentor were talking about age.
She knew they did her best to comfort her, and it helped in many ways, but she still felt odd. Another year of her life gone, another year closer to...
No, no she didn’t need to think about that. There was nothing to fear from growing older. Nothing to fear from time... she needed to make the most of it.
Twilight Sparkle looked at the clock.
