Thoughts of Another Time

by Warvyn

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Alternate Universe
Length: 5769

Somehow, to her own disbeilief, Twilight wakes up in the past. With her memories blurred, she must find a way back to her own time.

Twilight never really believed in time travel. Not until the day she herself came back through time of course. After the incident, she decided to study in the field as much as possible. But when an unexpected result happens, she finds herself hurled into the past, with her memories blurred. Now trying to remember how she ended up there, she must adapt to the new style of life while trying to find a way back. But sometimes, fate has a different plan.

This is a new try at a story that I had written but taken down, straight from the beginning. Tags are susceptible to change.
Also, if anyone can give me the source for the pic (or is willing to draw one for me) that would be great, but please pm it, don't put it in the comments.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-11-27 21:04:25 UTC

Prologue

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.

Chapter One

Twilight awoke with a jolt. She searched the room, trying to remember where she was. The walls were a dull stone grey, and looked very worn, as if they would fall apart at any second. There was a glassless window to her right and she could see that is was dark out.

What happened? she tried to remember. She never knew remembering stuff could be so hard.

“So you finally woke up?” came a voice that startled the mare. “You have slept the whole day.”

Twilight turned her head to see the older blue unicorn staring at her. Next to him was a small, younger mare with a very light purple coat and a dirty smoky mane. Her eyes were the color of ivy.

“You fell to the floor soon after we started talking.” the older unicorn continued.

I fainted? she thought to herself before blushing a light scarlet. The purple mare started to remember now. She came into town to talk to a priest about something.

“I think I’m fine.” she spoke, trying to convince herself.

“With a drop like that, I wouldn’t say fine.” the stallion chuckled. “You should rest for now, though. Once tomorrow arrives, it will be a busy day. And we may need to ask you more questions as well.” he added.

“I need to get home though,” Twilight blurted out. “I can’t just leave my friends and family like this.”

The other two ponies looked at each other quizzically.

“No. Rest is more important right now. It may clear your mind of things. We will allow you to use the guest room until then.” the blue unicorn argued.

Twilight mumbled. He was right. She could use the rest. Maybe that was what she needed to remember how she had traveled here.

“Thank you,” was all she could manage to say before resting her head and trying to fall into a very deep sleep.

Twilight stepped off the train. The sun was low, but high enough to still cast very bright light that mimicked the daytime. She could smell the sweet foods from nearby stalls and vendors. It made her salivate at the thought of eating some. That wasn’t what she came here for, though. Shaking her head, the unicorn moved forward.

“Hopefully Celestia will be happy with this new spell. Maybe it will show her how much I have grown up since I was her student,” she said with a slight smirk and a small blush. Her teacher meant very much to her. She was not only who she considered her second mother but also her closest friend and beloved teacher. This was her chance to prove herself.

Canterlot hadn’t changed much since her move to Ponyville. It still had the same atmosphere, with the grandest of sights and posh looking ponies all around. She had to admit to herself that she quite liked moving. Canterlot just wasn’t her type of place, except for all the knowledge it contained.

She could see many of the same buildings still standing, such as Joe’s Donuts, The Chocolate Cafe, some general stores that she used to frequently visit, and most importantly, the Books and Binds bookstore. The unicorn loved every one of these places. Surely a visit to one couldn’t hurt?

Making her decision, she walked straight into the bookstore. It was a surprise to see the same design as when she had lived in here. It was a very tall, two story library, with marble walls and stone tiled floors of black and white. The width of the building, however, was very small. It was enough for comfort, but also enough to make one feel a little claustrophobic.

She trotted up to the front desk. Staring into one of the books was a young stallion. He seemed content in what he was reading, and Twilight really didn’t want to bother him, but she knew exactly who the colt was.

“Hey, Paper Bind,” she greeted in a low voice. The stallion looked up, startled. At first his look was that of annoyance, but soon turned into one of wonder.

“Twilight?! What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you since the royal wedding a few months ago.” he asked.

“Well, I’m here on important business with the princess, but I thought stopping by to visit one of my favorite friends would be nice,” she smiled.

Paper blushed a little. He knew that the mare didn’t mean what she said, but it still made him wish sometimes.

“O-oh. So, are you looking for anything specific?” he stuttered.

“Not really. Like I said, I’m here on important business. Do you have anything you’d recommend though?”

The stallion thought for a minute. “I do have one thing, but I don’t know if you would be interested.” he finally stated.

“If it is a book, you know I can read it.” she convinced.

“Okay. Here it is!” he practically yelled, showing the mare the book in his hooves.

Twilight looked at it. The Myths and Legends of the Past. It did seem like a book she wouldn’t want to read, but if her friend Paper Bind himself would suggest it, then she would try to read it.

“Okay. I’ll give it a try. How much for a copy?” she asked.

The stallions face lit up. “For you? Free, of course. This one is my own personal copy, and I have another at home.” he said.

The mare quickly tried to decline, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“I insist. You always come here for your books. There is no harm in taking one.” he tried to reassure.

“If you say so, but you know I will pay you back somehow,” Twilight giggled.

“I know, but let me glorify this moment for a while,” Paper laughed.

After receiving the book, Twilight trotted out of the store after thanking her friend. He was always very nice to her, though she could never understand why. Leaving the building behind, she set off towards the castle.

It didn’t take her long to decide where to go next. The main square of town was the easiest place to navigate from, so she instantly darted in that direction. The small area was exactly the same as it used to be. There were small flowers budding in every direction, ponies sitting on benches with their families and loved ones, and animals scurrying in all directions. Twilight sighed at the sight. While she enjoyed the life at Ponyville more, she still envied the beauty of the city sometimes.

Shaking her head, Twilight set her sights on the castle. It wasn’t that far away, but she still dreaded the walk. It would take about twenty minutes to get to the building.

After what seemed like a very long and nervous walk, she reached the castle gates. She took a big gulp and walked up to one of the guards.

“Excuse me,” she began, “I’m here to see the princess.”

“Twilight? I haven’t seen you in a long time. Very well. You will find her in the usual place. Be careful. She seems a bit paranoid today.” he warned.

Taking in the information, she nodded and stepped forward as the gates opened. Paranoid? that didn’t seem like Celestia to her. She was only paranoid when something heavy was on her mind. Hopefully it wouldn’t detract from the reason she came in the first place.

Walking through the courtyard, she turned and walked to a doorway that lead to another outside part of the castle. It was still a breath-taking view.

There were columns in the middle of the small area. On the sides there gates that dutifully tried to stop ponies from falling off of the extreme height to the land hundreds of feet below. The most beautiful of flowers grew around a small pond to her right, and two small trees could be seen on the left. The sun looked beautiful with the scenery, leaving a very faint orange glow in the background. Twilight smiled as she could see the view of a white, pastel colored pony, with long, beautiful hair flowing to one side, and her coat swaying in the breeze. If the sight of the garden wasn’t beautiful enough, then Celestia surely took the purple mare’s breath away.

“Twilight. I have been waiting for you.” the princess spoke.

“I’m sorry. I stopped at a bookstore on the way here. I didn’t mean to take long.” the unicorn apologized. “Is something wrong, princess?”

“No, it is nothing you need to worry yourself over. Shouldn’t we be making our way to the building now?” Celestia said bluntly.

“Oh, right! Come on, princess!” Twilight yelled in excitement.

Celestia’s smile was torn into a brief frown for a split second, only while the mare was turned around. Soon, she recovered, quietly sighing.

“Be safe, my most prized student.” she whispered.

Twilight woke up. She was sweating from the heat of the day. From the small hole in the wall, which she could only determine as a window, she could see the sun rising slowly.

What a strange dream. the unicorn thought. It must have had to do with how she had ended up here. It seemed so vivid and so real.

“Where am I?” she asked aloud, albeit unintentionally.

“The same place you were last night.” came a feminine voice from her side.

“Oh, right. I’m sorry, I never introduced myself,” Twilight started. “With all that has happened, it wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. I am Twilight Sparkle, student of the princess herself.” she stated before she had the chance to regret it.

“The princess?” the mares face lit up.

“Not your princess. I... I’m not sure how, but somehow I ended up traveling back through time. The princess I know will not rule for another thousand years.” she said, becoming more depressed with each word. She needed to find a way back.

“That isn’t a smart accusation, you know.” the mare replied. “You should keep that kind of thought between me and First Aid.”

“First Aid?” Twilight asked curiously.

“The older unicorn you talked to earlier, before fainting.”

“Oh.” the purple mare sighed. She certainly owed the old stallion a thank you for letting her use the guest room on such short notice.

“Sorry for being rude. My name is Ivy, like the color of my eyes. Are you feeling all right now?” the newer mare asked.

“Much better. I think the sleep helped.”

“I hope so. First Aid usually knows what he is doing, and when he doesn’t, somehow he can think of the best solutions.” Ivy stated.

Twilight sighed. At least these two were willing to help her.

“Now that I know you are better, get up.” the mare demanded. “We are about to have breakfast, and as our guest, you should eat with us. Then we can all properly introduce ourselves.”

The purple unicorn groaned. If she ate with them, then she would wasting time instead of trying to find a way home. But when she felt her stomach trying to grind her insides, the mare gave in. Perhaps some food could help her think as well.

Settling her hooves on the ground, she followed the light colored mare to another room. The place seemed so small compared to quite a few of the other buildings, but the inside was actually really nice.

They came out of one of the two doors she had seen when they came in. Trotting alongside the mare, Twilight followed her into another room, one of the ones that were down the ‘hallway’. It led to an actually decent sized room. It didn’t have much in it, which made it feel very spacious.

Next to a table in the middle of the room, which was made of stone, Twilight could see the older unicorn. Watching the mare sit down, she noticed the stallion motioning his hoof at her. Understanding, she sat down on one of the rough stone seats.

“It is nice to see you are awake. I think I should finally introduce myself.” the stallion said. “My name is First Aid, the priest. My special talent is with medicine.”

“And my name is Ivy. No last name. I am the priest’s apprentice. My special talent is with herbs. It is nice to meet you!” Ivy chimed in.

“Oh, um... I’m Twilight Sparkle. My special talent is magic.” the mare nervously let out.

“Just magic? No special kind?” Ivy asked.

“Nope.”

First Aid spoke up, “That must be pretty useful then. To have the ability to use magic without restriction.”

Twilight thought about that. It was true. Having a talent defined as ‘magic’ was very vague on what she could and couldn’t do. And she knew all kinds of spells, ranging from healing, to offensive, to simple and advanced levitation and teleporting.

“It does come in handy a lot.” she managed to mumble.

“I would assume so. Now, why don’t you tell us a bit more about you? You say you come from,” the priest paused for a brief moment, “from far away, correct?”

“Yes.” Twilight said after taking a while to understand what he meant by ‘far away’. “I come from Equestria.”

“Equestria, hm?” was all he managed to say.

“What is it like there?” Ivy asked.

“Very pretty and lively if you live in the right places. I was born in a city called Canterlot. It was very beautiful, but full of very... interesting types of ponies. It is the only place that is so rich with knowledge.” the mare sighed. She missed her home.

“But I moved out of Canterlot to a small town called Ponyville. Not really my choice, but I don’t regret it. The scenery is nice, the sights are beautiful, and there are many nice ponies living there.” she added. The other two ponies sat in silence. It made Twilight uncomfortable.

“You understand that you should not tell anypony else any of this, right?” Soft said, in a more serious tone than the statement sounded. But the stallion had a point.

If I told anypony else this, I guess they would think of me as crazy. Twilight thought. Maybe I should keep this to myself.

“Thank you for the meal, but I should be going now.” the mare insisted.

“Aww, why?” Ivy pouted. “We never have company...”

Soft spoke up, “Now hold it, filly. You can't just go walking about with no idea where you’re going. Stay here for a while until you can get your bearings straight.”

Twilight sighed. As much as she did want to go home, a free room with free meals wasn’t something she could deny. She was definitely smarter than that. Maybe she could learn a thing or two while she was here anyway.

“If you will be that insistent, then I won’t deny. Thank you for letting me stay a bit longer.”

“Now that is one smart filly. Never turn down help when it is given.” the stallion stated.

Much of the day went on as needed. Twilight was at a loss on what to do. She had no possessions, bits, food... anything, really. She couldn’t pass the time with reading, seeing as how she had most of the knowledge for this age in her brain already.

If only I could think of a way to get back home. Or at least something to do. Sitting around here is just going to bug me the mare thought. Maybe I should ask those two if I can help.

Asking didn’t lead to much better. They steadily denied her help, telling her to try and rest or to make herself comfortable. Twilight couldn’t help but notice the amount of ponies and other creatures that would walk through the doors. There weren’t too many, but still enough to raise her concern.

I didn’t know that it was this bad back then. I have heard stories of all the sickness, but never actually witnessed it first hand. the unicorn thought. Maybe this could be a good chance for me to learn something.

She couldn’t help but think about Celestia. The white mare had shown her so much of the history of Equestria, but she hadn’t lived it like her teacher. It could only make her think of how much she missed home.

----

”Twilight,” came a sweet voice, “Are you all right? You’ve been staring off for quite a while now.” the white teacher giggled.

The mare blushed. “I was just thinking about you, princess. Not many ponies know much about alicorns, seeing as how there are no books on them, and only three exist that we know of.”

“There is not much that we know of ourselves either. Even in the long years that my sister and I have reigned, we have come across no one like us. We have had no other source of knowledge but our own.”

“What* do *you know about alicorns, then?” Twilight asked.

“Not much. We know that alicorns are the mix of a pegasus and a unicorn, and while we have the elements of an earth pony in us, we are mostly known for our appearance as the others. We have the use of extensive magic, flying, and connection with the world. Our lifespans are also very prolonged.”

“Prolonged? I always assumed alicorns were immortal. You and Luna have been around for thousands of years.”

“No, Twilight. We are by no means immortal. We live and die just as you would. It just takes us... longer to do so. Sometimes, however, it feels as if the world will never stop for us. We are to just stand idly by while we watch everypony else fade away. It is hard sometimes, but Luna and I know that we must be strong and vigilant. We have, and always will, do our best to protect our subjects,” Celestia lectured. Her face was hinting strongly as her sadness with each word.

“Princess...” Twilight tried to comfort. But instead, her teacher began to talk again.

“We asked for this, though. My sister and I both knew what would happen when we allowed ourselves to become such creatures.”

“Allowed? You weren’t always this way, then?” Twilight asked with curiosity.

“Correct. As you have said, only three of us exist. We can only be made, and are not born. Or at least, none that we have met have been purely born alicorn. No, we were both just simple earth ponies, strange as it may be to think. We were granted our shapes from a special pony. A* very *special pony.” The mare smiled, although her sadness had not faded.

“Special?”

“Yes, Twilight. Special. A pony that I had decided to give my life to. Sadly... just as all that we have known, she died before me. Our lives did not mix, but we tried. We made it work. I was young, then. I did not understand the concept, nor the consequences, to my lifespan. She is the only one I have ever loved as such, and the only mare I will ever love again. Thousands of years may have passed, and yet her face... I can still see it, as if she had never left.” A few streaks of tears slid down the alicorn’s face.

Twilight sighed. While she did not understand, the princess’s words had hurt, leaving her with the feeling of a giant lead weight in her stomach. She wanted to cry. To wish she could not hear her teacher say such things, but there was nothing she could do.

With everything on her mind, she wanted to just go and think. Standing up, she trotted out of the room, running towards her own. That night as she fell asleep, only two things tried to comfort her. A pillow, and warm streaks of tears rippling down her mane.

Twilight blinked back into reality. The time had passed by immensely. The sun was already beginning to fall, and shadows could be seen filling up the night’s streets.

“About time you came to,” First Aid chuckled. “You’ve been asleep for a while there. Poor mare, you must be pretty worn out.”

“A little,” Twilight tried to laugh. It helped a bit. “I just don’t know what to do now. I want to go home but I know that without time, I can’t remember how I got here in the first place.”

“Just relax, filly. Like you say, time will help your memories reveal themselves.”

“But I don’t have time. Everypony is probably worried about me. My friends, my family, my teacher...”

“It will be all right, you’ll see. You should get some more rest. While I normally don’t recommend a pony, or anything else for that matter, to sleep for such long periods of time, your body must still be drained from the effort it went through to come back here,” First Aid suggested.

“You mean... you believe me?”

“I never said that.” He winked. Twilight smiled. Maybe she did happen to find the right ponies to end up with. “Besides, tomorrow, I want you to come with me. I need some more supplies for the place, and I could use some help carrying them. Ivy will stay here and look after everything.”

The mare smiled again. A place to stay. A friendly pony. A meal to eat. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay just a little longer, to let herself remember with time instead of force, and to let both her body and mind rest, instead of trying to tire it out.

“I would like that.” She finally spoke.

“Good, good. I need you to wake up early. I wouldn’t want to roam around the districts during the late day for fear of the more... shady ponies, and who knows what else, out there. As long as we are careful, though, we should be fine.” The stallion informed.

Twilight winced a little at the thought. She wanted to be helpful, but the sound of unfamiliar ponies and other creatures still made her feel uneasy, as if her insides would cough up at any moment. But she needed to do this. These two had been kind to her so far, so she felt that she needed to return the kindness.

“When is early?” Twilight asked.

“A little after the sun rises. Who knows how long we will be out though. I’d get as much rest as possible.”

“Okay. I’ll head to sleep now, then.” The mare said as she stood up to trot towards ‘her’ room.

She hoped that sleep would bring back some more of her memories. At least she now knew that time was on her side rather than against her. Looking out of the window, she could see the stars in the night sky. They were different than those that she was used to. She didn’t know how, but they were. It made the mare think of Luna. It may not be her sky just yet, but Twilight could not help but silently thank the alicorn for such sights.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all Twilight thought to herself before drifting off into a deep sleep.

Not far away from the kingdom, a malicious being was sitting on a throne. ‘Throne’ wasn’t the right word, exactly. While it was definitely fit for a king, it was only fit for a certain king.

“Now, now, what can I do? I grow so tired of all this... normal nonsense. Nothing is fun, or different. Maybe I should add some life to this boring game. But how? I could... no, no, that won't work. What if I... not chaotic enough. Hmm. Why don’t I just think as I go? Oh, yes, that sounds like a plan! A new game with no goal in site! Amazing, simply fantastic! How could I not be impressed with myself! As for now, though, I think a nap would be very appreciated. After all, one can't rule chaos without a night of sleep.” the being chatted in monologue.

Taking his time to fall asleep, he plotted. All the things he could do, all the laws he could break. Bending the world to his design would make things much more interesting, wouldn’t it? Soon he could make the chaos capital of the world.

“Chaos capital? I like the sound of that!” he said excitedly as he finally shut his eyes.