Shades of the Past

A light shined through the window of the Tree-Library, nestled in the heart of Ponyville, a peaceful community on the edge of the great Everfree Forest, the mighty Capital City of Canterlot overlooking the small community. Inside, the sleeping figure known as Twilight Sparkle stirred, her wings tangled in her blankets. She muttered a curse at her inability to control her new appendages, yawning as she sat up and proceeded to use her magic to help remove the offending object from her body.

The new Princess had been given a few weeks to adjust to her new body and to prepare herself for the next level of studies she'd be assigned to by the Princess, all the worries and questions she'd escaped from in the realm of dreams returning to haunt her as she got over the disorientation of sleep. Twilight yawned again as she brushed her mane and tail back into their usual shapes, soon satisfied with her much more orderly style, save her wing which were so difficult to control, even still after a good three days since the coronation.

Still; she figured reading would take her mind off all the issues, it usually did. She carefully walked downstairs, so as not to disturb the still-sleeping Spike, exhausted after a day of chores yesterday; Pinkie Pie's latest prank-gone-wrong leaving the library a total wreck. That was all in the past now, however; the Alicorn Princess smiling as she looked over the library, restored as if nothing wrong had ever happened before.

She spent quite a bit of time searching, trying to decide which book would be best to lose herself in. Eventually; she came across one regarding the existence of Pocket Dimensions where one could theoretically store anything of any size in a realm where time meant nothing, able to recover it at any given time almost entirely as they left it. Twilight found herself fascinated by this concept, but had never been powerful enough to tear the fabric of Dimensions, as was required to access a pocket dimension.

After a good hour or so of reading, it finally dawned on her; what if, with her powers being amplified as an Alicorn, she could access a pocket dimension? Her curiosity getting the better of her, she set down the book and began to cast the spell. It seemed, at first, there was no effect; then a slight discoloration appeared as the veil between worlds opened itself; this event being exciting to Twilight, she put a little more effort into it than intended. The tear suddenly became much larger than she wanted it to; an entire stack of books falling in and remaining motionless in the seemingly colorless dimension as Twilight panicked, once again pouring much more energy than was necessary into the spell. In a desperate attempt to resolve this issue, she began to cast a reversal spell also covered by the book, the tear sealing as the books disappeared, leaving no trace they'd ever been there.

"T-twilight...?" She heard from upstairs, the sound of Spike's claws clacking on the floor heard as the Baby Dragon walked towards the stairs, stopping at the top and looking down at her. "What's going on?" The exhausted dragon/assistant of Twilight's asked.

"Oh; it's nothing, nothing at all, Spike. No need to worry." The Princess replied, giving a nervous smile as she couldn't help but wonder what sort of effects her meddling could have had beyond the library... Then again, she hadn't put that much energy into her spell... Right?

"Well, okay; if you say so." The Dragon replied, starting to walk downstairs.

"Oh; you can sleep in today if you want, Spike. I'm going to go see what the others are doing today, maybe train a little with Rainbow Dash; if you need anything I'll likely be with one of them." Princess Twilight said to her assistant as she began to walk out the door.

"Okay... Thanks, Twilight. Have a goos time." Spike said, grateful for the opportunity to sleep a little more, still very tired from all the work yesterday.

Twilight walked away from the library, her mind troubled by even more questions, fears, doubts; all the tension eating away at her from the inside. What if she'd done something to horribly upset the balance of the world as it was? Then again; things seemed to be fine as she walked through the streets of Ponyville... This reassured her, somewhat; deciding to wait for the Newspapers rather than assume everything across Equestria was fine as well. Her troubled thoughts soon took a backseat in her mind as she saw Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack all gathered in the Town Square, conversing with each other. They soon noticed Twilight and waved over to her with smiles, their friendly faces reassuring Twilight that all would be well and that if she had made a catastrophic mistake; that her friends would be by her side as she worked to correct her errors, as had been the case many times in the past.

"Oh! Twilight! DidItellyouabouttheCupcakeEatingContestIwonjustafewminutesago?Wait,noIdidn't,'causeyou just got here. Anyway..." Pinkie Pie said, talking fast and excitedly as usual, the other three listening patiently as Pinkie went over the details of her morning, each surprisingly having events to share, albeit ones that were in no way, shape, or form dangerous, and some of which were quite Comical; such as Fluttershy attempting to negotiate peace between her favored pet, Angel Bunny, and a family of Gophers which were being nursed back to health by the animal-loving Pegasus after a particularly nasty series of accidents.

While life went on as usual for the ponies of Ponyville, Twilight's experimenting did indeed have a great impact on Equestria. Outside the city of Cloudsdale, the residents watched in confusion and curiosity as a tear in the very fabric of dimensions opened, wide enough for hundreds of Pegasi Warriors, flying under an Archaic Banner with weapons and uniforms of a long bygone era shining in the rising sun, as they poured through in greater and greater numbers, the breach in the dimensional barrier closing as a full legion of Five Thousand now stood outside the cloudy gates of Cloudsdale.

"Hurricane, you traitor! You and your Unicorn Allies could not keep me trapped forever! Your weakness will not condemn Pegasus-kind to its doom, I would sooner die than swear my allegiance to this foolish vision of 'peace' you would ruin as all with!" A Crimson-coated mare adorned in Gold-Decorated Armor shouted in an older, though still understandable dialect of Equestrian, the confusion ponies felt before turning to fright as this mad-mare ranted. "Charge!" She shouted, a cry rising up among the ranks of her Legion as they drew their blades, flying in full force towards the City of Cloudsdale, now thrown into a panic as the army approached, blades drawn and violent intent clear as they stormed the walls of the great Pegasus city...