TS-01

"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."