Part 1: A Ruined Tomorrow
Twilight ran down the long corridors of the now empty Canterlot Library. Blood ran down her cheeks from her now nonexistent right eye and the deep cut on her forehead. The clothes she wore to merge with the dark of the night were ruined, but still wearable. Upon arriving her destination, the Starswirl wing, she closed and magically locked the gate. She took a deep breath, one thing she wasn't able to do in the past few days. From her saddlebags, she levitated an eyepatch and a white piece of cloth; she covered her hurt eye with the eyepatch and wrapped the cloth on her forehead, which soon got stained with the unicorn's blood.
"I know it's here somewhere." Twilight thought aloud. "The time travel spell I used months ago was Starswirl's first successful attempt. The improved version got to be here as well!"
Twilight levitated a bunch of scrolls and checked all of them, carelessly dropping one by one on the floor; she had no time to treat the spells with the respect they deserved.
"Where is it, where is it, where is it?" she levitated and checked two more bunchs before squealing in delight. "There it is!" she soon covered her mouth with her forehooves. Her ears twitched as she heard growls and groans, soon followed by the sound of glass being smashed to pieces.
In front of a broken window stood a pony; but it wasn't a normal pony, it was a pony black as the darkest night with eyes as white and bright as the moon. Its lips and sharpened teeth where stained with blood.
"Uh-oh..." was all Twilight managed to mutter before the dark pony sprinted toward her, foam and spit dripping from its mouth. The monster-pony's teeth were inches away from her muzzle when she erected a purple barrier between them. Foam, spit, drops of blood and a sharp, stray tooth slowly slid down the magic wall.
Twilight magically unrolled the scroll and read it as fast as she could. Once she was finished, she dropped the scroll on the floor with the others and closed her eyes. Her horn started glowing and a few seconds later she was gone in a flash of white light.
TWO WEEKS AGO...
NEW PLANET DISCOVERED! "I THOUGHT THERE WAS SOMETHING NEW ON THE SKY!" SAYS TWILIGHT SPARKLE, DISCOVERER OF THE NEW PLANET
PRINCESS CELESTIA NAMES THE NEW PLANET AFTER HER STUDENT AND DISCOVERER OF THE PLANET "I'M FLATTERED, BUT I'LL JUST CALL IT TS-01!" CLAIMS TWILIGHT SPARKLE, SAID MARE
ROBOT EXPLORERS SENT TO EXPLORE TS-01, THE TWILIGHT PLANET. THE SOIL IS FERTILE!
PRINCE BLUEBLOOD SHOWS INTEREST IN TWILIGHT PLANET. "WE WERE LOOKING FOR A SPONSOR TO OUR LITTLE SECRET PROJECT!" SAYS TWILIGHT SPARKLE, DISCOVERER OF TWILIGHT PLANET
"I WILL SPONSOR THE 'PROJECT TWILIGHT' AS LONG AS THEY CHANGE THE NAME TO 'BLUELOOD PLANET'!" DEMANDS PRINCE BLUEBLOOD. "THE OFFICIAL NAME WILL STILL BE 'TS-01'!" REPLIES TWILIGHT SPARKLE
"PROJECT TWILIGHT" REVEALED: A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS WILL VISIT THE BLUEBLOOD PLANET. "I WILL ACCOMPANY THEM, JUST TO MAKE SURE MY MONEY IS BEING PUT TO GOOD USE!" EXPLAINS BLUEBLOOD
Spike closed the scrapbook and looked at Twilight, who was lying on her bed, reading a book about space travel.
"Are you sure about this, Twilight?" he asked. "I mean, nopony has ever been to TS-01 yet!"
"I know, Spike! Isn't that exciting?" the unicorn mare asked, not moving her eyes away from the book. "So far, ponies only managed to visit and study the moon. I was given the chance to study something completely new to everypony, just like Marigold, the first mare to visit the moon!"
"Yeah, right, but..." he jumped on the bed and lowered Twilight's book, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Nopony knows what's in there! And I have this nagging feeling that something will happen..."
"This is why the robot explorers were sent months ago; to study everything beforehoof, so there's nothing to worry about when we arrive there."
"I know, I know. I just don't want you to get hurt! What if that planet is full of aliens, wanting to lay eggs in pony stomachs?"
"Spike, if there were aliens in TS-01, the robot explorers would have noticed. Do not fret, I'll be alright!"
"I wish I could go with you."
"I wish you could too, but the decision was unanimous: only scientist ponies will board the rocket, with the sole exception of Prince Blueblood."
Spike hugged Twilight, who immediately hugged him back.
"Promise me you will be careful up there, Twilight!"
"I will, Spike. I promise!"
* * *
A few days later, in the Project Twilight Launch Site, hundreds of ponies were there to watch the rocket being launched. Since they were too busy cheering and waving at the nine ponies boarding the rocket, all of them failed to notice a cloaked pony standing behind the last row of excited ponies. Well, almost all of them; Applejack was staring at the pony with a raised eyebrow, but she then just shrugged and focused on the astronauts.
"Our little Twilight is about to go down in history!" Applejack said with a proud smile.
"Tell me about it. Our friend is an astronaut! How cool is that?" said Rainbow Dash.
"Too bad she said she didn't had time for a 'Happy Travel To The New Planet' party!" Pinkie said, while happily bouncing.
"I still have this nagging feeling..." Spike mumbled to himself.
"Oh, you too, Spike?" Fluttershy asked; somehow, she managed to hear him.
"They're going in!" Rarity said. "I guess this means it's time for us to leave; rockets tend to be rather... Destructive while being launched."
As if on cue, Celestia, who was standing right outside the door of the rocket, summoned her Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice, so she could be heard by all of her subjects standing there.
"Alright, my little ponies, I'd like to ask all of you to leave the area. The rocket will be launch in a few hours and we don't want anypony getting hurt."
The ponies obeyed their ruler and started boarding the trains and carriages that brought them there. Applejack looked again at where the suspicious-looking pony was, but he or she was no longer there. She raised her eyebrow again.
"Where did he go?" she thought aloud.
"Who, darling?" Rarity asked.
"The pony who-- Nah, nevermind. Ah must be seeing things."
Two and a half hours later, the seven ponies boarding received the message that the rocket was about to be launch. They wore their helmets and fastened their seat belts.
Hiding in one of the rooms was the suspicious-looking pony, inside a purple sphere of magic, with her hooves magically attached to the floor. She removed her cloak, revealing her true identity: Twilight Sparkle.
Part 2: A Ruined Expedition
TS-01. Twilight Sparkle was sitting on a chair in the main room of the ship. She was looking at a screen, which was showing three ponies wearing spacesuits exploring the grounds of the planet.
"We're returning to the spaceship, miss Sparkle." said one of the ponies. "Permission to board with samples?"
Twilight smiled and approached her mouth to a microphone, then pressed a button and spoke:
"Permission granted. Good work, gentlecolts!"
The first pony nodded to the two other ponies and they slowly walked back to the spaceship due to the lower gravity of the planet. They were carrying two plastic recipients, one containing a sample of the soil and the other containing samples of rocks. Once inside the ship, they went straight to the research room.
"Might as well go join--" Twilight's sentence was interrupted by a certain demanding pony entering the room.
"Ugh! How long are we going to stay in this stupid rock?" Prince Blueblood asked. "We've been away from home for far too long. I need my daily sunbath. My coat is losing its shine and I need a proper bath!"
Twilight sighed. "It was you who decided to come along, Prince Blueblood."
"I'm starting to regret my decision."
"I already regretted it the moment Princess Celestia told me you were going to be our sponsor." she muttered under her breath.
"Did you say something, miss Sparkle?" he asked, glaring at her.
"No, nothing!" she laughed nervously. "Smile, Twilight, smile." she thought. "If you offend him we'll be without sponsors and the whole project is doomed!"
The Prince huffed and stroked his mane. "Besides, what would the Planet Blueblood be without the great Prince Blueblood himself?"
"A much better place, I'm sure of that..."
Blueblood then walked toward the door. "And now, with your permission, I'm going back to my bechamber. The only refined place in this filthy spaceship!"
"And where you spent over 25% of our budget, so please stay there until we're finished and ready to go back home!"
* * *
Twilight slowly woke up. Both her head and her empty eye socket were hurting. She got up with difficult.
"Need to work on the fixation spell." she said, rubbing her forehead. "Bless Celestia for the shield spell. Now, where am I?" she had no chance to take a look around, for she heard the sound of hoofsteps coming from her hallway. The only nearby hiding spot was under a luxurious bed.
The automatic door opened and a white stallion with golden mane and tail, his Cutie Mark a compass rose walked in. Twilight felt both joy and disgust for seeing him one more time.
"That Twilight Sparkle is truly an uncouth ruffian." he said to himself after lying on his bed. The hiding Twilight frowned. "She thinks I didn't heard that? Well, I can't wait for us to go back home, so I can give my auntie a list of one thousand reasons of why the project can't go on anymore. The days of your little project are numbered, Twilight Sparkle!"
"I never liked you too, Blueblood." Future Twilight Sparkle thought, rolling her eyes. "Now, how am I going to get out of here? I can't let this moron spot me, otherwise he will think I'm the other Twilight and bomb me with questions about why I'm here!" she quietly sighed. "So much for saving Equestria..."
* * *
A young, dark purple earth pony mare with a long blue mane and wearing a lab coat walked in the research room.
"Impressive..." said the earth pony stallion, Dr. Greenhoof, looking at a sample of soil through a microscope.
"What did you discovered?" she asked, approaching him.
He moved away from the microscope. "The soil itself isn't fertile as the robot explorers first analyzed. From all the experiments we conducted so far, the only results we got were that the soil is as dead and dry as the bones of a traveler who got lost in the desert!"
"Does that mean the robots were defected?"
"Wait, that's not all! We split one of the rocks in half and it was stuffed with some kind of... Dust or sand we've never seen before. And here it's where the best part starts: it's alive!"
"Alive?"
"Yes! The material it's full of microorganisms that move on their own. We believe they are what keep the soil fertile, for the inside of the rock was more fertile than any orchard in Equestria I've studied! Of course, we still have to confirm if they're really the cause, but this can wait. Dr. Eclipse, we have officially confirmed the existence of life outside Gaia!"
"This... This is wonderful!" the mare, Dr. Eclipse said, her eyes glowing with excitement behind the lenses of her glasses.
"Please, can you inform miss Sparkle of our discovery, Dr. Eclipse? We still need to conduct a few more experiments."
The delight in Eclipse's eyes immediately faded. She nodded. "As you wish, Dr. Greenhoof." she then left the room. Even after the door automatically closed, she could still hear Dr. Greenhoof repeating the word "impressive".
Still in the research room, Dr. Cyclone, a scientist pegasus stallion, was studying another sample of thee "living dust"; he wasn't able to keep his wings from flapping in bliss. This caused a gust of wind that sent the material flying all over the room.
"DR. CYCLONE!" shouted Greenhoof when he noticed what was causing the breeze that blew his sample away. "Can't you keep your wings under control? At least this time?"
The pegasus stallion gave the unicorn a crooked smile and blushed in shame.
"Ow, it got in my eye!" said a pegasus mare before starting to rub her left eye with a forehoof. Greenhoof sighed.
"For the thousandth time, Dr. Starry Skies, you're supposed to use goggles when studying something like that." he pointed his hoof at an unicorn stallion. "Dr. Goldmine, can you please help Dr. Skies wash her? And make sure to examine her thoroughly afterwards. Who knows what those beautiful little creatures can do to a pony?"
The unicorn saluted Greenhoof and guided Starry Skies, who was still rubbing her eyes, to the toilet right outside the room.
"You should really stop rubbing it!" Goldmine said.
"But it hurts!" Skies replied in a whiny tone.
* * *
"They never let me research with them." Eclipse thought while climbing a steel ladder. "Is it because I'm the youngest and they think I will mess everything up? Well, I'm far more careful then many ponies with many more years of experience than me. Specially Dr. Cyclone!" once she finished climbing the ladder, she took a deep breath. "Since they won't let me do anything, miss Twilight could at least turn off the artificial gravity and let me have some fun."
The automatic door leading to the main room opened and Eclipse walked in.
"Yes, Dr. Eclipse?" Twilight asked, looking away from the screen, which was showing a pictures of the planet taken by the robot explorer.
"Dr. Greehoof sent me. He wanted me to tell you that living microorganisms were found in the samples."
Twilight fell off her chair.
"A-Are you being serious?!"
She nodded. "We still need to investigate a little more, but we can almost say for sure that they are also the reason the soil is so fertile."
"This... This is incredible! I need to see it with my own eyes."
Twilight dashed past Eclipse and climbed down the ladder. Eclipse followed her.
"Life outside Gaia? This is the greatest scientific discovery of the century-- No, of the millennium!"
For a second, the lights of the whole spaceship flickered. Twilight and Eclipse stopped.
"What... What just happened?" Eclipse asked.
"I... I don't know! But we can check this later. We have something far more inportant on our hooves."
Twilight and Eclipse stood in front of the automatic door, but nothing happened.
"That's weird." Eclipse said "This door was working five minutes ago!"
"Twilight." called a third voice coming from behind them.
Twilight and Eclipse immediately turned their heards and gasped. Standing there, in front of a removed panel on the wall with cut wires, was a purple unicorn mare wearing a black suit, an eyepatch and with a white cloth with a red stain on it wrapped around her head.
"It's... It's you.." Twilight said at the mare that looked exactly like her.
"We need to talk."
Part 3: A Ruined Spaceship
"Wha... What are you doing here?" Twilight frowned. "It isn't about another disaster that is not going to happen, is it? I mean, you're dressed exactly like the first future me I met!"
"No, Twilight. This time we have a serious problem in the future. A problem that starts right now..." she pressed her hoof against the locked door. "...and right here!"
"What do you mean with 'right here'?"
"Eclipse, your team just discovered a microscopic life form inside a rock, right?"
"Yes, they did." Eclipse said.
"Well, they're not only that; they are also parasites. If you inhale it or if it touches a sensitive part of your body, such as your eyes or a wound, you're doomed. Just like those poor bastards in there."
"Are... Are yoou serious?" present Twilight asked.
Future Twilight nodded. "Would I lie to myself about something that dangerous?"
Eclipse ran as fast as she could toward the ladder and climbed. The Twilights looked at each other then shrugged before following her.
Eclipse entered the main room and looked at a screen connected to the camera in the research room; she covered her mouth with a forehoof, shocked.
"What's wrong, Dr. Eclipse?" present Twilight asked. The earth pony mare pointed her shaking hoof at the screen. Twilight looked at it; the ponies in the research room were hitting and biting each other. Their coats had acquired a darker shade. "What... What are they doing?"
"Trying to disseminate the parasite." future Twilight said, pressing a few buttons on the main panel. "Once infected, the parasitic spores go straight to the brain. After that, they take total control of the body and do the only thing their biology tell them to do; propagate."
"But... How?"
"Once housed in the brain, the spores start to produce even more spores. They have spores in every organ and bodily fluids. Right now they're only on their first stages of infection, but give them a few days. The more developed ones are even able to exhale clouds of spores!"
"That's... Terrifying!"
"Tell me about it. I had to kill one in order to survive!"
"You have been through some hard times, huh?" Dr. Eclipse said.
"I thought my missing eye was clue enough."
Present Twilight gulped. "So... You're really are..."
Future Twilight rubbed her past self's cheek. "Don't worry, Twi! I'm here to fix things. I will not let anything injury you."
"There you are!" called a male voice. They turned around and saw Prince Blueblood. There was a bump on his head. "Mocking me wasn't enough, so you decided to assault me, huh?" he closed his eyes and shook his head. "My head is still a little fuzzy after you hit me, I'm seeing two of you."
"You hit him?" present Twilight asked. "Not that I'm complaining, but why?"
"I accidently got into his room and he was in there. If he saw me he would probably lock the room, thinking I'm you, and ask me lots of questions. I was pretty beat after the travel, so I couldn't teleport out of the room. Had to knock him out in order to save you in time!"
"But if you're alive, then this means I didn't died there. So, why?"
"You're right, I'm here. But here's anotherr question: is Eclipse here too?"
Present Twilight looked at Dr. Eclipse, who immediately hugged future Twilight.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Don't thank me! I'm just trying to save the ponies I couldn't in my first time!"
"I'm not seeing things." Blueblood said, still aprroaching. "There are really two of you! Is cloning part of your little Project Twilight? I don't remember anypony mentioning a side project in the contract I signed! Auntie Celestia will hear about this misuse of my fortune, Twilight Sparkle!"
"Please, Prince Blueblood, we have a bigger problem here than your stupid money being wasted." Future Twilight said, pressing a button, which made the whole spaceship shake. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible!"
The engines of the spaceship started and soon they were out of the planet, on their way back to Gaia.
"So, we're just going home taking this room full of contagious spores?" Eclipse asked.
"We can't just storm in there and buck them all to death." Future Twilight said. "Once we arrive, we quarantine the whole ship and blow it up to smithereens!"
"Then it's a plan!" present Twilight said.
"What in my auntie's name are you talking about?" Blueblood asked.
"Don't mind us, Blueblood." future Twilight said. "All you need to know is that I'm saving your stupid rump, even though I'm not sure you deserve it!"
"My auntie Celestia will heard about this, Sparkle."
"Well, I hope she does, because that would mean we managed to go back home safely!"
"Wait a second..." Dr. Eclipse said, looking at the screen showing the research room. "There were four ponies in there when I left the room. Dr. Greenhoof, Dr. Starry Skies, Dr. Cyclone and Dr. Goldmine! Where is Skies?"
"What?" future Twilight looked over Eclipse's shoulder and at the screen. "Curses! She must have left the room before I locked the door. She can be anywhere! This ain't good." she turned around. "Be careful, mares and Blueblood. We have an infected among us!"
"What are you talking about?" the prince asked.
"All you need to know is that if you see a pony that isn't any of us, you warn us and run! Don't let it bite you, or it's game over for you."
"I knew coming here was a bad idea. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"
"Not so proud of having a planet named after you anymore, are you?" future Twilight asked while grinning.
"You shut up!"
"I'm your only chance of survival, Blueblood! Make me angry and I'll leave you behind in case we need to slow the infected down so we can escape."
Blueblood crossed his forelegs and looked away, grumbling.
Present Twilight nudged future Twilight. "I... I think we may have a problem."
Blueblood, future Twilight and Eclipse turned around; standing in front of the main door was a pegasus mare with dark grey coat, black mane and white eyes.
"Curses! I forgot the infection is much faster when the pony is in contact with the original parasite." she looked around, but there was only one way out of the room. "I'll distract it!"
"You what?!" present Twilight shouted. "Are you crazy?!"
"I have nothing else to lose except you. My future is ruined. My friends and family are all dead. My Equestria is a big mess. The only thing left for me to care about is you!"
"I... I think I understand, but I still don't feel comfortable about that!"
Future Twilight took a deep breath and charged at the infected pegasus. She jumped over her and ran. Apparently the parasite wasn't really bright and ran after her.
"I'll meet you in Blueblood's room!" she shouted.
"You heard her! Me! Whatever." Twilight said before running, being followed by both Eclipse and Blueblood. A few minutes later, future Twilight arrived.
"Alright, I think we're safe. For now!"
"What do you mean with 'for now'?" the prince asked.
"Well, at one point one of us need to get out, slow down the ship and set the course back to Equestria, otherwise we will just crash and die! And I came back here to save the future, not doom it more than it's already doomed!"
A few hours passed. Blueblood was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Both Twilights were walking in circles around the room. Eclipse was looking through the window at the endless space and its stars. She placed her hoof on it.
"So much to explore, so little knowledge waiting to be expanded..." she thought, then slammed her hoof on the reforced glass. "Everything ruined because of a stupid parasite!" she blinked. "Hey, guys. I can see Gaia from here!"
Both Twilights looked through the window too. It was indeed the little blue sphere with green and brown spots they came from.
"Finally, we're almost there!" future Twilight said, then approached the door. She took a deep breath. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck!" present Twilight said with a smile.
"You can do it, Twi!" Eclipse said.
"Yeah, whatever, get us out of here." Blueblood said, waving his hoof dismissively.
Future Twilight sighed and pressed a button on the wall and the door opened; the moment the metal door went up, the infected pony jumped on top of her. Present Twilight shouted. Future Twilight pressed the side of her foreleg against former Starry Skies' neck, who was biting the air, trying somehow to extend her muzzle in order to bit her prey's.
Without thinking twice, Eclipse tackled the infected pony. Prince Blueblood screamed. The three ponies looked at him; he had a jaw clenched on his left foreleg. The four ponies just stared as the former pegasus chewed on his leg.
"I-I'm so sorry, Blueblood." Eclipse said. "I-I didn't meant to--"
"You killed me." he said, staring at her with a blank expression. "YOU BUCKING KILLED ME!"
Eclipse took a few steps back, before leaving the room and running. The Twilights looked at each other before running too.
"RUN, COWARDS! RUN! I WILL FIND YOU! AND WHEN I DO, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU ALL SUFFER THE SAME DESTINY I DID!"
"Princess Celestia is going to be so mad at me..." present Twilight said.
"There was nothing we could have done, Twilight. Princess Celestia is a very understandable ruler." she sighed. "I wish I had known that when she was still alive..."
"Where is Eclipse going, anyway?"
"Probably the main room."
Future Twilight was right. Eclipse entered the main room and started pressing adjusting the route back to Equestria.
"Home. I have to go home. I need to go home. I want to go home!"
"We can't stay here, Eclipse!" present Twilight said, placing her hoof on the doctor's shoulder. "This is a dead end. Standing here, we're easy prey!"
"But I need to send us back home. I already bucked things up once, I can't buck things up again!"
"Let her do it, Twilight." future Twilight said, standing on the doorway. "I'll warn you at any sight of danger!"
"By the way, I wanted to ask you something: why are you still here? I mean, last time this happened you barely managed to stay a minute in the past, but now it's been hours and you're still here!"
"Oh, that. Well, you see, the spell I-- We used last time was an incomplete one. The perfected version of the spell is in the same shelf. I'm using it right now!"
"Oh, that's interesting! I'll look for it when I get back."
Future Twilight smiled. "I'm glad to see you're optimistic!"
Present Twilight smiled back. "Things aren't going very well, but at least we're managing to keep what we can under control!"
Future Twilight was shoved to the side and fell on the floor. Standing near them was Prince Blueblood. He was levitating a bloody spear and the body of the infected that attacked him, which had a hole on the chest.
"Bl-Blue... Blood!" present Twilight stuttered.
"I told you..." he said with a raspy voice. "I told you I would find you!" he dropped the body beside future Twilight and limped to where Eclipse was looking at him, terrified. "You killed me. It's only fair that I do the same to you!" he levitated the spear as high as the ceiling allowed and brought it down.
Luckily for Eclipse, both Twilights were quick thinkers and magically pushed her out of the way. Unfortunately, this didn't stopped the spear and it hit the console. Prince Blueblood smiled and proceeded to laugh.
"Well, look at that, you can't go home anymore! I told you that you would suffer the same destiny I did and I meant it!"
His laughter was interrupted by coughing. He kept laughing and coughing at the same time, until he proceeded to cough blood. He fell to the floor, blood slowly streaming from his mouth as he silently chuckled.
"As I said, it affects the brain." future Twilight said, getting up and removing the spear from the controls. "Dammit! The damage was pretty serious."
"So, does this means we can't...?" Eclipse asked, looking down.
"We're still going home." present Twilight said, then sighed. "But that doesn't mean we're going to survive the trip! And the saddest part is that once we crash, the parasite will spread and everything will start all over again!"
"Except that this time there will be no Twilight to go back in time and warn her past self." future Twilight said, tears forming on the corner of her eye. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I tried to fix everything, but all I did was make things worse."
Present Twilight hugged her future self. "There's nothing to be ashamed of, Twilight. You did what you could, and that's all that matters. Maybe there wasn't a way to save the future. Maybe this was meant to happen!"
Future Twilight hugged her back. "I... I supposed you're..." her eye widened. "Wrong!"
"Uh... What?"
"There is still hope!" future Twilight smiled, then let go of her past self. "There's one thing left to do! We can still fix this, Twilight."
"What are you talking about?"
"How could I be so forgetful? I'm so glad Blueblood is an idiot!"
"Explain, Twilight!" Eclipse said. "What are you talking about?"
"Remember how Prince Blueblood spent 25% of the budget in his room?"
"Yes, I do! Why are you asking?"
* * *
Future Twilight pressed a few buttons of a keypad hidden behind a loose panel. One of the biggest panels moved aside, revealing a small door.
"I checked the blueprints of the whole spaceship a while after returning to Gaia and found this! Ladies, I present you..." she opened the door. "Blueblood's escape pod!"
Present Twilight crawled through the door and found herself inside a small metal sphere, big enough for a single stallion to fit in there. "This... This is..."
"Oh, Blueblood, thank you so much for being stupid!" Eclipse said, looking at the pod through the open door.
"But... There's only room for one pony!" present Twilight said, crawling out of the pod. "And we're three!"
"Correction: there's only room for one stallion." future Twilight said, still smiling. "Two mares can easily squeeze in there!"
"I guess you're ri-- Wait, two mares? So, you mean to tell me that...?"
Future Twilight's smile turned into a concerned smile. "Yes, I'm not going with you. I need to make sure this spaceship never reaches Gaia!"
"No! No, I'm not leaving anypony behind! Two mares can easily squeeze in there, right? Well, then we can hardly squeeze a third."
"Twilight..."
"No, shut up, Twilight. You're either coming with us or I'm not going any--" future Twilight hit the back of present Twilight's neck, making her fall to the floor, completely paralyzed. "...where... What... What did... You do?"
"Martial arts books! You should spend some time reading those too, they are really helpful. Dr. Eclipse, get her into the pod, we don't have much time." Eclipse nodded as future Twilight levitated her past self and placed her on top of the researcher. "TSee that big, red button in the middle of the console? It will start to flash once you're in the correct distance from the ground. Press it right away and you will land safely. Understand?"
"Yes, miss Twilight! But what about...?" she wiggled her rump, making the Twilight on top of her shake lightly.
"Don't worry about Twilight, the paralysis only lasts a couple of hours. Stay safe! Oh, and Twilight? Once you're in there, can you do me a favor?"
* * *
Eclipse was sitting on the chair of the pod and Twilight was curled up on her lap due to the small space of the pod. Future Twilight closed the door.
"Are you ready to go?" future Twilight asked, using the intercom located near the keypad.
"I am!" Eclipse said.
"I'm... Not..." present Twilight said. "Please, Twilight..."
"I'm sorry, Twilight. I can't! But think about it: by saving yourself, you will be saving me as well!"
"But..."
"Say no more, Twilight. I'm sending you two back to Gaia. And don't forget about that favor!"
"Goodbye, Twilight." said Eclipse. "And don't worry, I'll take good care of her. You. Oh, you go it!"
Future Twilight giggled. "Please, do!"
Eclipse pressed the "Launch" button on the console and the escape pod left the spaceship, falling toward Gaia.
Twilight's smile disappeared. "Now, to finish this..."
She slowly trotted toward the main room. There she found a black pony with white, glowing eyes. It had a long horn and it was wearing a tuxedo with a blue bowtie.
"Hello again, Blueblood." she levitated the spear she was carrying. "Why were you keeping a spear in your room? Afraid somepony would betray you?"
All he did was groan.
"Well, I'm glad you're paranoid. Now I can protect myself from you!"
He ran toward her. She just pointed the spear at him and he impaled himself. He whimpered when he felt the blade piercing through him.
"Poor, poor Blueblood. Killed by the thing he brought to protect himself!"
The infected prince fell to the floor. Twilight just jumped over him, removed the spear from his chest and climbed down the stairs, until she reached the main engine room. She took a deep breath and levitated the spear again. "Live, Twilight!"
She pierced the main engine. And again. And again, until she heard the sound of something abruptly stopping. She closed her eyes, smiled and started to sing:
I was prepared to do my best
Thought I could handle any test
For I can do so many tricks
But I wasn't prepared for--
The engine exploded before she finished the verse.
* * *
DAYS LATER...
"Are you sure you're ready for this, Twilight?" Eclipse asked.
"I'm fine, Eclipse! Don't worry about me. You can move on, already. You've been really helpful in the past few days, but you have a life too!"
"But I told your future self that I would take care of you, and that's what I'm doing."
Twilight chuckled. "Spike is getting pretty jealous, you know. He thinks you're going to replace him!"
"But I could never replace him. He is your assistant, not me! I just take care of you."
"I know, I know!" she looked at the scroll she was levitating in front of her. "Well, time to go. Wait for me, Eclipse! I'll be right back!"
"I'm not going anywhere."
Twilight closed her eyes. Her horn started glowing and a few seconds later she was gone in a flash of white light.
A FEW MONTHS AGO...
Twilight was in her bedroom inside the tree that served as her house in Ponyville, also known as the local library, the Golden Oak Library. It was dark outside and she was stargazing with the help of her telescope.
"Is... Is this what I think it is? Spike!"
"Yes, Twilight?"
"Bring me the astronomy book that is on the table downstairs, quickly!"
The baby dragon ran downstairs and returned a few moments later, carrying the thick book on his claws. She levitated the book and read a few pages. Each page read meant her smile growing wider.
"I'm right! That is not mentioned on the book! Spike, I think I just discovered--"
A bright flash in the middle of her bedroom interrupted her from finishing the sentence. Standing right in front of her was... Herself! Except that this time she wasn't wearing weird clothes or an eyepatch. She looked... Normal.
"Twilight." she said. "We need to talk."
