Causation

by Lyraah

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Colgate, Dark, Alternate Universe, Sad, Roseluck, Romance
Length: 6814

They say, to leave your past behind is to leave everything behind. But deciding to leave is much easier than knowing where to go. One pony is willing to leave her past behind, but she is not alone. The journey up north presents a time for reflection.

Minuette sits in a cabin in a train to the Crystal Empire. She was leaving for good. She will, she has, and she had. But she is not alone, and yet, she is. The pieces are coming together, Minuette will finally understand what she has failed to a long time ago. All will be clear, yet all remains so blurred. When realities clash, how will she know which one is real?

Published 2015-01-01 21:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-01-01 21:00:02 UTC

In Time

Goodbye.

I've said that word much more than I can remember. Probably because the nature of my work requires me to be polite when my patients leave. I'll usually end it off with 'have a nice day' or 'see you again in six months'.

This time, a simple goodbye will do.

I've always looked ahead of time, thinking where I'll be, what I'll be doing later. I've never thought of where I'll be in the next few years. Would I be living the life I wanted? Or would I go back? Does it matter? I won't know, so why keep looking ahead of time if you could just focus on the more important things in front of you. The things that you have. Many ponies think I could control time; but the idea of bending it is a little far-fetched. Time is definite, the arrow of time travels in a straight line.

So... there is a theory that if the arrow of time were to go back in time, the path that it left would still be there, presenting a window for time travel. The theory of time travel is that energy disperses and objects equilibrate throughout the dimensions, they say, because of the way elementary particles exist in different spacial fields. They become intertwined when they interact. A sort of entanglement exists between the two objects, or two ponies, in the same time field. A possible example would be the futility of going back in time to kill your own self. Or destroying an object that you possess while going back in time to destroy it. Those two 'same and existing' objects are bounded together by a force. Time. Unless, this is not true when the multiverse is concerned. And... it's not a theory if it has been proven, right?

What am I saying? Just listen to me rambling on and on... The concept of time always fascinated me. I would say I have an affinity for time, which would explain my cutie mark. The first spell I'd ever learnt was to slow down time. Well, not really. The perception of slowing down time is incorrect, that would require manipulation of the existing arrow of time, which you will need to be a god of the universe or something to accomplish. I merely speed up the time extension field around myself, allowing me to see things in a more faster 'environment'.

Time is precious to me, as it is for everypony else. No two time fields exist in a single universe. Now that time had come for me, I shall fulfill what I really want for myself. I am still young, time is still something I can clasp loosely, there is no rush. There is never is any rush. Friends around me, including newly coronated Princess Twilight Sparkle, were impressed by my understanding and perception on the abstraction in time and on time. They urged me to write about it, publish a book on the theory of time. Maybe, that's what I'm here for.

Perhaps, I will do it. After leaving everything behind. No... Not everything. I still have myself, and her. I'll always have her, right by my side. In time, in space, existing in my life.

I felt her gently nuzzling my shoulder, a warm sensation spreading from it like wildfire. Her pale cream fur combed over my own as a tingling feeling rose from my chest. It was pleasant.

"You look really distant in your thoughts, staring into the trees." The mare beside me says, an amorous smile pulling from the sides of her muzzle. She closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek wearily on my shoulder.

"I was thinking about what could have been. That's really foalish of me." I shut my heavy eyelids, taking a deep breath. There had been things I wanted to do, before I leave, that is. To go on no notice was a little too selfish. But time had took its toll, and here I am. On a train to somewhere far, far away. I had given up on myself, my friends, my home. They don't deserve this. There was no turning back. Once I'd left, I won't be back for a long, long time. Maybe things will be different when I come back. Maybe the town will change, our homes will change. The feeling of loss... will be amplified with the notion of being extrinsic. Being sequestered from who I really am; where I belong, where I stand. All will fade in the blankets of time. Until then, it is too late.

"Nothing will change. No matter what you choose, I will always follow you." Rose gently nudges me, breathing lightly into my fur.

Nothing will change. These words hit me in a way that it's sad to admit the truth of it. And yet, this is all there is. Nothing and change are not mutually exclusive.

Nothing will change. Maybe nothing will change into something more, something I can exist with. Something I can be a part of to make a difference. Maybe all will be different.

Nothing will change. Perhaps, nothing will change at all. Across the planes of time, I would still be here. Lost. Maybe, I will be alone. Maybe, I wouldn't exist at all. Though existing between an infinite number of worlds, nothing will change as long as nothing will change.

"I exist between infinite worlds, there's no way of knowing whether leaving will make any difference." I say, wrapping a forehoof around the mare.

"Me too, right? Everypony exist in different worlds, that's what you said anyway. If that's the case, me being here will make a difference, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." I manage to pull a smile, knowing that Rose may be right. Maybe things will be different. Not only are ponies spread out through different worlds, but they, like everything else, are quantized through time in any given world. Time is a straight, fixed line, and a pony who exists at a moment exists there forever in four-dimensional spacial field, rather than being transformed continuously through the flow of time. To alter the fabrications of reality, one must exist in at least two of them.

After pondering for a while, pulling ciphering thoughts together and such, I decided to go ahead. Turning, I lightly pried the glued mare from my side. She looked up at me, her eyes were half-closed, her smile was radiating. A mix between contentedness and tiredness, a peaceful and innocent look. My eyes slid down onto a small necklace hung around her neck. It was a small hourglass, the very creation of time itself. It was my own magnum opus, believe it or not, made from different pieces of reality, pulled from the fibres of time. Ironically, it took up years of my time; through intensive researching and experimenting, I finally managed to piece everything together. I called it the 'Causation Controller'. I will explain that later.

The hourglass began shimmering gently, its warm glow of blue coruscating on Rose's chest. She noticed it me staring deeply into it, and quickly leaned forward, planting a small kiss on my cheek. I promptly shot out of my daze, blushing. I found myself smiling, and so did she.

"Can I borrow the necklace?"

"Yeah, it's yours anyway." Roseluck wrung her hoof around the string of the necklace and took it off, laying the hourglass on her forehoof. Before I can do anything, she threw it around my neck.

"I'll return it to you." I whisper, pulling the earth pony closer to me, burying my muzzle in her long luscious mane. Rose nodded, resting her head on my neck.

The tears. The doors I've opened. They shall never be closed, left exposed between dimensions, no real path to follow. Through time and reality, it is hard to pinpoint the location of cause. But knowing is indefinite. Time is of the essence, time will follow me; through dimensions, through life, through knowledge.

I shut my eyes, taking in the serenity and tranquility of my thoughts as they slowly sunk to the bottom of my head. Like dust settling on a piece of mantle. I start to lose feeling of the surroundings. My sense of touch, smell and hearing fades gradually. My soul rests in a shell, only I can free it. A gentle glow of blue light envelopes my already dark world, slowly turning to white.

I could hear the clockworks in my mind working, ticking away sporadically. I felt my horn heating up, then I felt nothing. Gravity yanked me into the perpetual depths of the void, pulling me through several layers of time and space itself, hurling me into another world. A world of infinite possibilities, a world where I exist.

When I opened my eyes, a piercing flickering image forced me to shut them again. I blinked several times, then slowly began to take in the surroundings again. I was sitting in some sort of train cabin, much like the one I was in, with Rose.

But she was gone. I was alone.

My heart sank.

The cabin was, different. It has wooden paneled walls and a heavy mahogany door. The seats were soft padded, and there was a small bed on the other side of the room, backed against the wall. On the table, there was a mountain of books and research papers. I briefly scanned through the dusty stacks of notes. I did not remember writing any of this. There was something about Time Dilation, amongst other convoluted topics which I had been studying all my life. I flipped through the archives of my memories, picking out on something about the significance of epistemology on a quantum scale.

Knowledge is universal, and it remains so regardless of worlds. They are spread out in a network of copies pertaining to, well, me. All these notes and papers, they are all plucked out from my own mind, my dimension of knowledge, all dictated in words as they are. These notes were written by me, and not. I wrote them, and didn't.

I ran a hoof along the table, chancing upon a familiar necklace laying on top of it. I felt my chest and around my neck, the hourglass was gone. And there is was, on the table - mine, and not mine.

Then, something about the Causality Effect hit me, which I had already applied into the Causation Controller. Known simply as cause-and-effect, causation plays an important role in the stability and interaction of the arrow of time. The necklace exists in multiple worlds and timelines, and doesn't at the same time. I floated it up to eye-level, skimming through the grooves and pattern. I threw it around my neck. If I were to smash it, there wouldn't be a scratch on it, for time has already marked out its fate. It remains impervious, protected from the barrier of time. Of course, that's knowing that time and reality are deterministic in nature.

There was no knowing how far I traversed the longitudinal planes of reality. Was it just another tear? Did it bring me to another... me? It didn't make any sense. I glanced around, looking for signs of interference, but nothing. This can only mean one thing.

I am a variation.

Copy and variation. Same yet different. Same and different. There was always me, there was always her, and there was always a necklace that binds me to the worlds. But more usually than not, there was always something different, yet the same. The choice to bend it is up to me. Copies of me either wrote the notes, whilst others didn't. Variations of me never even left in the first place. A leads to B, without A, B will not exist, and never will it.

I trotted up to the door leading into the main hallway of the carriage. Putting my full weight on it, I pushed it open-

-and ended up in another cabin. This time, it was much more different than the one before. The table was clean, the walls were padded with soft wool instead of the hard wood. The hourglass had gone from my neck; it laid on the seat, light reflecting into my eyes. The tons upon tons of research notes and books were gone. I retrieved the necklace once more, gently plopping my flank onto the soft woolly seat. The moment of peace was transient, for the soft patters of rain fell from the sky, linting the window with streaks of droplets, all racing to reach the bottom.

I gazed out of the window, catching my own reflection on the glass. I look like... myself. Yet, I'm not. I saw my eyes glowing a gentle blue, or was it light from my horn? As I blinked, the glow was gone. As the droplets of rain trickled past my reflection, I could see myself better. In a different light. A light of its own. And yet, me.

"Hello." An almost freakishly familiar voice rang out from the door. silvery and light, just like mine. I turned slowly, only to see 'me', standing in the doorway. I gaped at the figure, she seemed so prosaic, yet so unique. I was staring at myself, from a different perspective. Not even time or reality could bend that will.

"You are...?" My words tremble before even leaving my muzzle. Then I saw it, a necklace hung from her neck, a small hourglass, shimmering blue. That was without a doubt now. It all seemed so clear.

"I am you." The mare replies, as my nerves shattered one at a time.

"Y- your name?" I ask, still dumbstruck by all that had presented before me.

"Colgate." Her reply was succinct, and my astonishment rose with every passing second. Something was not right. The pieces do not add up. No. This can't be.

Variation... Copy.

I am a variation.

Personal identity carries over between realities, as do personality and memory.

"But... my name is Minuette." I say, my mind reeling, horn pulsing.

"You are Colgate, you haven't forgotten, you just can't remember." The mare stated, her voice was calm and sultry. She must have caught me staring at her necklace, for she smiled and opened her muzzle to say something. "The necklace, have you forgotten?"

"What about the necklace?"

"They wanted the necklace, and they'll kill you just to get their hooves on it."

My eyelids started to twitch, a pang struck me, piercing into my head, neck, lungs. My whole body was convulsing as the weight of her words dragged me deeper into the unknown. Then, I saw it. I saw myself, a quick flash, a blinding flash, and, nothing.

"Who wanted to kill me?" I say. I have to make sure if my fears were right. I can't let this pull me under, I need to know!

"You have forgotten, have you? Let me show you." The mare reached out a forehoof and beckoned me to the door. "Open it, and all will be clear."

I got up and shuffled over to the door, planting a forehoof on the handle. Just then, Colgate stopped me. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes, I'll find out what they've done to you. And I will try to make it right." I say, forcing every single word. I was trembling inside, I was broken. If I can't undo what I had done, the least I can do is try to answer for what I've done.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed through the door.

Huh?

It was different. I wasn't in a cabin, I wasn't on a train. I was in some sort of garden, a pretty grand one at that. I remember this place... This was where it all begun. This was where I left, and didn't. The willow trees surround the fountain in the middle of a path. Creepers twined around the mounting bracket. Its chrome spigots spouted water into the fountain. The door behind me was gone when I turned around, and so was she. The soft chirping of birds and sweet scent of the flowers overwhelmed my senses. I feel empty.

"Do you remember this fountain?" I turned around, only to see me standing beside the marble brackets. I hesitated, knowing that this could be one of the possible millions of realities unfolding before me. There was no way of knowing, and yet, I found myself being drawn to the fountain, as if some external force is pulling me towards it.

"Yes... I do." I admitted, glancing at the blood in front of the fountain. It had stuck to the stone path, oozing through the cracks, caking in the grass. Why was there blood? There never was any blood. I was about to open my muzzle in question when I stopped myself, for lying amongst the crimson was a small necklace. Hourglass. Glowing blue like the hue of the afternoon sky. "W- what happened here?" Every growing second made me more confused. What was the significance of the necklace here? Was there any significance?

"Do you recall what happened that day, Colgate?" The mare spoke, driving her words into my being like a drill in my head. I- I really can't answer that. I have no way of knowing what I did experience.

But my mind did the work for me, piercing deeper, smashing through irrelevant information, reaching in and pulling the fibres of my memories. It all happened so long ago, and yet I could see everything so vividly. It still haunts me, but I did not regret what I did. For all I knew, I was a variation. I've ventured into the beyond, there was no knowing how far I went. For her. I did everything I could.

The world around me started to upend as the features of my vision stated to whirl around. Soon, I lost all feeling of my limbs, and Celestia knows, whether I have lost consciousness or not. It felt like it. But I felt pretty much, alive.

When I regained most of my senses, I found myself back to where I was - sitting in the cabin, the table was clean, Rose was huddled close to me. It all seemed normal. I returned the nuzzle warmly, taking a deep whiff of her rose-scented mane. Roseluck giggled, "Colgate, you know how much I love you when you do that."

I managed a smile. Still confused, but my heart warmed nonetheless. My eyes trailed down to her chest, eyeing on a particular hourglass hung around her neck. I almost clasped a forehoof onto my muzzle when I caught sight of the necklace. "Do you still remember what happened back there?"

"Back where?"

"Back when I- the... Causation Controller."

"You saved me."

"I- yeah. I did." I said involuntarily. It's like my head was on overdrive, trying to piece my memories together, memories from different fibres of reality. They were different, yet the same. I could remember... No. I was a variation, there was no knowing which memory is real. I could only remember one of them. But one was enough.

"Why did you come back for me? You could have left. They wanted the hourglass, but you came back knowing that. You could've died." Roseluck squeezed her eyes shut and rested her head on my chest, her grip of my forehooves tightening.

"I came back because I loved you. Knowing that leaving meant leaving you to die was too much to bear. I had to save you, even if it meant giving up on the Causation Controller."

"But the hourglass is still here." Roseluck affirmed.

"It was always here."

The world faded away again, this time almost forcefully. It was like being hurled into a tornado, blindfolded. My ears were ringing with an annoying and incessant blare. It was horribly unpleasant. The worst thing was I could feel every molecule of discomfort generating from my already uncomfortable disposition.

I awoke, finding myself lying on hard stone. A soft splashing of a fountain rustled my ears as I began to find feeling in my hooves again.

"The hourglass was always there."

I looked up, and saw myself again. Sitting on her haunches against the bracket of the fountain, her expression was distant, the necklace was dangling from her neck. She looks so... peaceful, that was something I wish I had; her serenity, her calm. I got up from the ground, staring at my forehooves. I was just about to flex my limbs when I chanced upon the necklace around my neck.

I quickly stood upright and stared at the bloody stone pathway. The hourglass had gone from its midst, but the crimson, wet blood remained. It was fresh. "Whose blood is this?" I ask,

"Yes." A short, quick answer. That singular word didn't make any sense, and yet, it did. It was so vividly painted right in front of my eyes.

"You mean..." I remember what happened that day, I remember every scene clearly! Surely, my eyes aren't playing tricks on me. Please don't do this...

"Yes."

"But I saved her! No!" My eyes went wide. I refuse to believe her. I felt my hooves go numb.

"Minuette." The mare spoke, gently nudging me. I was on the ground, shivering. It felt... so real. And yet, my memories told me otherwise. No. "You remember the Causality Effect?"

I shot up. My eyes fixed onto my own. My vision blurred from my tears, which was flowing down my cheeks in streams. My face remained hard and unyielding. "A leads to B. Cause and effect." I managed to cough up my words.

"Exactly. Do you get what I mean now?"

"I think I do. But something doesn't add up!" I wiped off my tears and reached out to grab onto myself.

To my surprise, she reached out her hoof, pulling me onto my hooves again. "There is an infinite number of worlds. You and I, we both come from different realities. You said that A leads to B. What if there's no A to begin with?"

"Then there wouldn't be an effect..."

"There are worlds where you hadn't made the Causation Controller, and those that you have. But you plucked out pieces from different realities to create this hourglass." The unicorn expounded.

I see. "They get entangled in a split time line and fabrics of reality?" I made the necklace to demonstrate my theory of the multiverse and the arrow of time. I didn't really think that It will screw up so bad. On top of that, some ponies are dying to get their hooves on the hourglass. I hadn't a clue.

"Yes. The necklace is perpetually split between worlds, there is no way to actually destroy it. Unless..."

"Unless what? And... why would I even want to destroy it?" I ask, feeling more and more flustered by the second.

"Unless, it never existed in the first place." The mare says. I glance down at my necklace. It was gone! I didn't even notice it, but it was gone. Frantically darting around, my eyes set upon the shiny pendant on the ground, in the middle of the caked streaks of viscera.

"There were worlds where you left, and others where you didn't. They were worlds where you saved Roseluck, and others where you didn't. There were worlds where your story should've ended here." Colgate pointed to the blood-stained stone.

"But it didn't." I look up.

"All these events are made possible because of the pendant. It binds us together through universes, and made all these causes effectual. Rose, me, you, the hourglass. They are all interlinked throughout the fabrics of reality via this piece of interference."

"The hourglass..." I mutter, eyes swiveling to my own necklace. It was so clear now, yet the remnants of my memories still hung hazy. The source. The choice was clear from the beginning. "I have to destroy the pendant." I affirm, looking up at the mare.

"How would you know how far back to go?"

There's no way of knowing. There never was. Maybe the answer lies right in front of me, but I am certainly not seeing any. "I'll have to go back to when I had just made the hourglass, and destroy it." I mumbled towards the end.

"It won't work." The mare got up and says with a forlorn look on her face.

"It will. I know it will." I held Colgate by her shoulders, eyeing her necklace as it swung from side to side. "Take me back, or I'll do it myself."

Colgate sighs, her eyes fell upon the cracked floor. "As you wish. I hope you are mentally prepared..."

"I will do anything to make this right. Please, let me undo what I'd done to you." I rasp, freeing my warm tears from its seams. They boiled of anger and resent, but to what? I don't even know anymore.

"Come." Colgate stood up and trotted past me, further away from the fountain. I push myself to my hooves, and turned around. There was a door. A simple plain wooden door, its stylized grooves cut deep, leaving a wavy pattern in the form of dark markings on its surface.

I walk ahead, laying a forehoof on the knob. Going deeper; it's easy to lose track of yourself the deeper you venture into the unknown. All I wanted was the crystalline truth, however, the further I delve, I find myself losing my bearings, my senses. All that is logical becomes foreign, the simplest truths become shrouded in deceit and lies.

I looked over my shoulder, Colgate was waiting.

I turned the knob, and dove in.

The switch between tears was disorienting, I found my head swimming for a second before being pulled onto the ground. The notion of belonging was ripped from my being, I felt like an alien. I ended up in a room, my room. Not a train, cabin, or garden. The place closest to my heart felt all wrong to me.

I took a quick glance around. Yes, this was my room. I haven't forgotten, I just can't remember. I remember the stacks of notes on my desk, books, manuscripts littered the expanse of the wooden top. And there it lay. The hourglass. Gleaming with its usual blue hue.

I felt my neck, and sure enough, it wasn't there. Colgate was gone. The door had disappeared when I looked back. That's fine, I can end this myself. Only I can end this interdimensional nightmare.

I float the pendant to my nose, feeling a tinge of remorse and enmity rising from my chest. I'll just have to shatter it; to free the mirrors, the doors will be shut, all fibres of time shall return to normal. Time will be rewritten. In Time.

The burdens shall be lifted, not just mine, but everypony I'd ever wronged. That's the least I can do, to alleviate the broken tears in reality. I will know the truth.

With a quick gasp and last look, I forcefully bent the pendant with my magic. Right down in the middle. My horn was flaring, my eyes watering. I squeezed my eyes shut and trembled. With a last surge of energy, I sent a mental slice through my spell.

However, the hourglass simply jerked free and darted onto the floor. I felt my horn fizzing, and when I opened my eyes, dizziness and tears overcame me. I fell onto my haunches, staring at the pendant as my vision slowly focused itself.

No. Impervious. Colgate was right. There wasn't a single crack on its surface. I brought the hourglass too far ahead of time. Now, the arrow of time had bound it permanently to the strands of reality, rendering immutable for as long as it exists. But whence and where? There was no way of knowing.

The door leading to the study swung open, and Colgate stood in the doorway with a sad look plastered across her face. "It won't work. You've forgotten, haven't you?"

I clasped the hourglass in my forehoof and hung it around my neck. "What have I forgotten?" I hiss painfully.

"You want to remember. The truth. You wanted to forget, to leave everything behind. Yet, you came back for answers."

"I only wanted to free you, from this nightmare. I've hurt you, and I wanted to mend those scars I've burnt on you. Colgate. Tell me." I grab my double by the shoulder, hoping, just hoping, for everything to be revealed. I want it to end. But I lost track of the end; past and present looked the same even in between tears.

"I'll only tell what I know. The rest, only you are able to remember." Colgate reply in her usual calm tone. It was unnerving, but everything seemed serene. It was all but a facade, a reality split between two different, yet similar beings. Me, and you. Me, and me.

"Back in the garden... who does the blood belong to? I want you to tell me, a clear and direct answer." I emphasize.

"It was yours."

My eyes widened, my mind reeled. Memories flood my cranium, flashing through like a slideshow. I shut my eyes, and soon, I fell onto the floor. My limbs went numb, my mind slumped onto the bottom of my head. I felt alive, yet dormant. I was a useless shell, playing puppet to an extralocal consciousness. My thoughts were vivid, yet empty. I haven't forgotten, I just can't remember.

You gave your life in place of hers.

You are bound in oblivion, rejected from the void.

You and I, are unalike, however similar we are.

There are worlds where you saved her, and those which you didn't.

Copy and variation.

She gave her life in place of yours.

"You died here. Your story ended here." I mumble, and didn't.

"And you did not. Your story lives on."

"I am Colgate."

"You were."

With an agonizing push, I peeled my leaden eyelids open. I felt a pair of strong hooves seize me, and I jerked back to the world. Colgate smiled, and it was the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. My memories settled, and flatlined across my brain. "What happened?" I look around, only to see the same fountain from before. I was lying on the jagged cobble path, where the blood spread from before. But this time, there was no blood. The stone was clean.

"Time is like a train ride, we may start at different stations, but we always end up on the same destination. The same final stop that binds us together. Different trains lead to different stations, but the goal of moving forward always remained true." Colgate says.

"Then I should remember where I got off, right?" I ask desperately.

"You remembered, you haven't forgotten." Colgate beamed again, a contented curve on her muzzle.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Ask yourself. You are recycling new memories from old ones, pulling the strings. You know what happened. You haven't forgotten anything. You just forgot who you were." Colgate said.

"What happened after... you, I..." I struggle to complete my sentence.

"You remember the hourglass? It was impervious to time, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I know." I reply.

"And you. Minuette, you were bound together by the hourglass. You should've ceased to exist, the hourglass will set you free. But due to it's properties, you were transmuted into a different being, in a different reality, here." Colgate sat on the fountain, swinging her legs to and fro.

I finally understood. "I am... Colgate. I'm so sorry..."

"No. You are Minuette." Colgate direct her words at me.

But there was no hiding from true revelation. I hesitatingly opened my muzzle. "I am both. Copy and variation. I am just a variation."

"Yes."

"I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I wish I could just-"

"It's okay. my job is to guide you. My task is complete. Thank you, Minuette. Thank you for listening..." Colgate whisper, loud enough to me to hear. My lips quivered, my body shivered. Tears streamed down my cheeks, this time, I didn't bother to hold it in. When the tears flowed, they flowed fast and free. For the first time in my life, I felt free. The burden had finally lifted from my chest. But something still caught me in a tangle of fear and unease.

"What will happen to you?" I ask fearfully, trying not to choke on my words.

"Don't worry, you needn't know."

"The hourglass. You haven't told me how to reverse this." I held up my pendant, its glow was everlasting, never faltering.

"You should know. I can't help you with that." I should know? Maybe the answer was there all along. I should have smashed it when I had the chance. No. The answer was clear. There never was any complication. The answer lies with me. Only I know the real way to end this vicious cycle.

I stood up and edged towards me. "Can I... give you one last hug, Colgate?" I said meekly.

"Of course." Colgate smiled, and she invited me for a warm embrace. I threw my forehooves around her, feeling her fur tingling my own. For the first time in my life, I felt complete. Completely, me. For that, I am grateful. I had been given a second chance, and that was a chance I will not lose hold of.

"Thank you..." I whispered into Colgate's ear.

We pulled away, staring at each other for a brief moment until Colgate broke the silence. "Cherish her. Your chance doesn't come easy. Promise me you'll take care of Rose."

I nodded tersely. "Yes, I will. That is without a doubt. I love her, and I will do anything for her."

Colgate chuckled. "Of course you will. Thank you."

"Will I see you again?" I asked wistfully.

"Depends on how true you remain to yourself." Colgate rested a forehoof on my shoulder, her reassuring nature brought a relieved smile to mine. It was clear what she was trying to say. I nodded. "The door is open for you, whenever you are ready."

I looked back, where another door had appeared out of thin air. My exit, my last stop. Involuntarily, I stepped towards it, without hesitation, without qualm. Colgate gave me one last smile, a sad yet appeased look spread across her face.

"You can't come with me? Do I really have to leave you?" I ask, one last time.

"Yes." Her face remained blank and serene. I searched for signs of betrayal but I could not see, or feel any.

Her decision was final, as was mine. With a single nod of confidence, I pushed the heavy door open. The world beyond the tear blurred, cackling and writhing like shadows in the night. Like the ripples of a pond, the world started to take shape. It took a while, it took shorter than expected. The door clapped shut, and I was in a train cabin. The one I remembered. The one far more different than any of those in the tears, yet similar.

The cabin was empty. Roseluck was nowhere to be seen. I felt my neck, brushing past the shape of an hourglass. There was nothing else for it, no going back, no going forth. The answer lies within, it should've been clear from the start. Now, it was coherent.

I sat down on the soft padded seat, gazing out of the window, watching as the skyscape rolled past the train. Alpine trees stretched across view, rolling hills had turned into barren plains and snowy mountains. The destination neared. To turn back was not an option. But to move forward, was to let go.

I wrung the pendant from my neck and held it in front of me. I studied it carefully, for one last time. A single tear brimmed in a eye, tinting my vision in the glow of blue. I created the hourglass for a reason, and I'll destroy it with a reason. No matter the selfishness or purity of that reason could change my decision.

"Minuette? You're awake." My ears perk up, my heart wrenched. Rose's sweet voice drifted to my ears. I looked at the door, where the beautiful mare stood. She ambled towards me, her smile ever-radiating through my pores. Roseluck sat down beside me, leaning on my shoulder. "You were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you."

I nuzzled my partner lovingly. Nothing could change where we stand. The threads of fate brought us thus so, it would be pointless to go back. "Rose." I say, wrapping a forehoof around her neck. She looked at me with large green eyes, awaiting my words. "I feel... No, I know that the hourglass is the cause of all this. I tampered with something I shouldn't have, and now we're paying a price for it."

"No, the hourglass saved your life. Haven't you forgotten about her? The castle, the garden." Rose gently pokes me with a hoof. Her? That was two years ago, when I was just a humble little dentist. Who am I kidding? Of course, nothing is as it seemed.

"It might have saved my life once, but once is enough." I say. " Although it took me quite a while to create this, it doesn't belong to me, neither does it belong to anypony else. The best bet is to not let anyone have this. We don't need a repeat of the incident."

Rose shirked back slowly. There was no sign of disappointment in her eyes, only acceptance, and comprehension. "The choice is yours, at least we still have each other, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." I planted a small kiss on her cheek. With a heave, I pushed myself from the seat to lean against the window. The train was still speeding along, leaving the scenery in constant hightail. The frigid draft stung my skin under the fur, whistling sharply. I held the necklace on the flat of my hoof, focusing my magical energy on it once more. The answer was directly at eye level. I shut my eyes, enveloping the hourglass with a second layer of thicker energy. I clasped it with a vice-like grip, never letting it slip again. Ever.

I sucked in a gasp of air, and forcefully bent the hourglass. Maybe I used too much force, maybe I needn't use that much force; the pendant snapped in half. That snap, it was music to my ears, the broken pendant more so pleasing to my eyes. I did it.

I believed.

Because I am.

Because I choose to.

Because nopony else will.

I was free. I turned to look at my love, she smiled, and so did I. I lost the hesitation, I lost the reluctance. Calmly, I tossed the remnants of a broken artifact out of the window. I lost sight of it as got carried in the gale, strewn over the thick snow, never to be found again. Gone.

"Minuette."

"Yes?" I sat back down, in the comfort and loving embrace of Rose.

"How is it like in the Crystal Empire? You've been there before, right?"

"Yes. There are numerous sights I would love you to see. We will live a new life, with you beside me. Together." I answer cheerfully.

Rose beamed. "I love you, Minuette."

I never felt any happier.

"I love you too."

Maybe, one day, my presence will be called forth again. Perhaps, I hadn't really left my past behind. I would pick up the pieces I'd left. They would look for me again. When a new evil had appeared across Equestria. When the time is nigh. A star shall fall from the empyrean, and I would end it again, like I had done before.

Not now. Not today.

In Time.

Author's Note

At first, I was planning to write a simple traveling scene with emotional bridges. But I scrapped the idea ten minutes in and decided to build more bridges instead. Oops. There is a reason why Minuette gave Roseluck the Causation Controller. Think about it. I've written up to a point of which I lost track of where this is going. Well, doh. I've dug too deep. How you perceive this small scene is up to you, for there are unlimited possibilities of what it could mean. That's the beauty, there is no true ending; you mould the ending based on your own understanding and perception.

Somehow in the midst of writing this, an idea of a prequel popped up, but it was a weird one. Kind of like those prequels where you don't have to read to understand this one. It will also be in third-pony perspective. I shall dig in to that.

And, I almost forgot. Happy New Year to everypony!