Thoughts of Another Time

Twilight slowly opened her eyes. She felt a breeze as her mane gently swayed. She felt dust and sand softly colliding and sticking to her coat. The ground felt very coarse and hard, like a rock.

Where am I?

Twilight looked down. The ground was stained by only one color. Brown. It reminded her of a desert. It expanded for a very long while, seemingly never ending. All along the ground there were cracks, and heat rose into the air, causing the surroundings to have a morphing feel to them.

On the horizon she saw a few buildings. A town. She stood up, and tried to walk. After one step, her body buckled. It was so tiring, but she didn't stop. Again, she rose, only to fall after two hoofsteps. She sighed.

What happened?

Again she stood, but did not move. Deciding to take it slow, she stretched her muscles, starting with her forehooves, then with her hind legs. Finally, when she was satisfied, she tried to walk again.

She did not fall.

I can't remember anything.

She looked up at the sky, the sun was at a low point behind her. It was about to set, and darkened the sky greatly, but still giving off much light, enough to see.

Remembering the town she had seen earlier, she set off. It was very far, but she was determined. If she did not remember anything, perhaps somepony else would.

After what felt like hours to the mare, she finally reached the settlement. It was rather huge, much to her disbelief. It had looked much smaller from a distance.

The whole town was surround by  a giant solid and sturdy wall. The unicorn had come across a gate, matching the height of the wall. Around the gate were two ponies, one on each side, dressed in what looked like a uniform.

It didn’t take long for one of the stallions to notice her. Trotting towards her, she could finally see what he was wearing. It was not a uniform, but armor. It was made of seemingly heavy metal, even heavier than those that Celestia’s guards wore. The stallion spoke.

“What is your business here, ma'am?” He asked in a demanding tone.

“I... I don’t know.” she choked.

“What is your name, then?” he asked.

“Twilight Sparkle.” she tried to mutter, but the dryness of her voice made the sentence unintelligible. She tried to speak once again, but still failed.

“Hey, go get this mare some water.” the stallion commanded the other guard.

“Yes, sir!”

It didn’t take very long for him to get back. After taking a drink from the cup, the mare tried to speak once again.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she said.

“Mhm. And what business do you have here?” he asked sternly.

“I don’t know... I can’t even remember how I got here. I just remember waking up about a mile or two that way,” she said while pointing a hoof in the direction she had just came from. The guard stared at her in disbelief.

“You don’t remember anything?” he asked, trying to intimidate the mare.

“Only waking up. Where am I?” Twilight asked, trying to change the subject. She didn’t like the commanding voice of the stallion.

“This is the city of Vaerul.” he replied.

Vaerul? I don’t think I’ve heard of this place before... Twilight thought.

“Do you have anyone who can help me?” she asked with concern in her voice. The guard just stared at her for a second before answering.

“I guess you could try the priest. He usually knows what to do in a situation like this.” he finally responded.

Motioning the other stallion over, he spoke again. “Take her to the priest. He might be able to help her. But make sure she doesn’t do anything she would regret.”

“Yes, sir.”

Soon after the gates opened, both the guard and Twilight entered the large city. It looked different to what the mare would have imagined. There were many ponies, griffons, even young dragons all over the place, making it very crowded. The buildings were built out of worn stone, but still had some breath taking designs.

“Be sure to stay close. You can’t be too sure of who may try to hurt you, or worse,” the stallion said.

With that, Twilight trotted even closer to him. Being in a different and unfamiliar environment was bad enough, but knowing somepony may willingly hurt her made her heart jump slightly.

The walk was not very long. Most of the buildings she had seen looked similar in one way or another, but each a different size. They were made of the same worn out stone as usual. However, there was one building that looked different as they approached it.

It was made of a more sturdy stone. Almost the same material as the the other buildings, but with a more dark color, maybe brown, unlike the more grey versions of the others.

“That is the priest’s house. I’d be careful if I were you, and don’t wander off. Just tell him what’s wrong and he will help as much as he can.” the guard said. “I will take my leave now.”

“Oh, thank you.” the mare said as he trotted away. As least he was nicer than the other stallion at the gate.

Twilight walked until she reached the house. It wasn’t the most intimidating place she had ever seen, but the feeling of being in an unusual place made the building seem much taller and foreboding than it actually was. Taking in a deep breath, the purple mare somehow found the courage to knock on the door.

It only a few seconds, but soon the door opened up with a slow creek. Much to the mare’s surprise, what greeted her was an old, fragile unicorn, with a coat of solid blue and a mane that was white from his old age. On his flank, he held the cutie mark of a red cross, much like the ones she had seen on nurses at hospitals.

“As much as I don’t mind such a young mare giving me an eye, you look like something is bothering you,” the old unicorn chuckled. “Why don’t you come in?”

Hesitating, Twilight stepped into the building. Surprisingly to her, it was much smaller than the outside suggested. The room she stood in looked like it could only hold a handful of ponies, and even then it would be very crowded.

The room itself was very bland. It lacked almost any decoration aside from two bookshelves on one of the walls, and one bench on each of the other three. To the left, there was a small hallway, although she could hardly consider it a hallway. It wasn’t very long and only connected to three other rooms. To the right there were two more doorways. What was inside she could not see.

“So what is it that you need, young mare?” the old stallion asked.

“I-I’m not sure. The guard just kind of led me here. I don’t exactly know where I am either.” she told him.

He looked puzzled for a minute, trying to think. “What do you remember last?”

Twilight thought for a while. What had she been doing last? For some reason the thought couldn’t come to her.

“I can’t remember. All I remember right now is waking up in the desert,” she finally said.

“Hmm...” he sighed, “that doesn’t help me much.” he stated. “Do you at least remember where you came from?”

Twilight thought for a long while before speaking. “A small little town called Ponyville.”

“Ponyville, huh? Must be quite a distance. I’ve never heard of it.” the old stallion replied.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. It is a very small town.” the unicorn added.

“What were you last doing there?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. I remember writing a letter to the princess-”

“You know the princess?” he gasped, slightly shocked.

“Of course I do. I was her own personal student, too.” she said with a little bit of pride in her voice.

“Go on, then. What was the letter about?”

“I don’t know. A spell, I think. I wanted to show her one.”

“What next?” he spoke, regaining a seemingly calmer demeanor.

“Hmm,” Twilight paused again. What did happen next? “I got a reply. Celestia wanted to meet me in Canterlot.” she added.

“Is this ‘Celestia’ a friend of yours?” he inquired.

“You could call her that, I guess.. but I don’t really think of a teacher as a friend.” she said with a bit of a disappointed tone.

“I thought you said you were the student of the princess though?” the unicorn questioned, puzzled.

“What do you mean? Celestia is the princess. The princess of the sun.” she stated matter-of-factually.

“Unless there has been a recent change in the past few days, which I’m sure there hasn’t, then she isn’t our princess.” the old unicorn dead-panned.

Twilight looked at him in shock. Not the princess? But that didn’t make any sense. Everyone should know Celestia, princess of the sun. Before she had the chance to speak again, the stallion spoke.

“No, our princess is Princess Solar Flare.”

Solar Flare? Twilight was sure she had heard of the name somewhere before. Solar Flare. Vaerul. Both names sound familiar. I remember reading them in- no. No no no. This can’t be possible. she thought.

“Is there something wrong?” the old pony asked, waving a hoof in front of the purple unicorn. It didn’t work in trying to capture her attention.

If the princess is Solar Flare, then that means...

Suddenly Twilight understood. It felt like the whole world was collapsing in on itself. Her head began to ache, and her thoughts wouldn't form properly. Realization finally struck her.

“I’ve traveled back in time,” she finally spoke, bewildered.

Moments after hearing the sentence come from her mouth, she heard another sound. One that sounded like something dropping to the floor in a really fast pace, with a loud thump.

“Are you okay?” she could hear the older unicorns voice as it slowly faded away.

She traveled through time.