Future's Past

So, I guess I jumped out of the frying pan straight into the fire. First a cramped cockpit, now a prison cell on a space station orbiting whatever remains of my homeworld.

I’m not even sure if I took my ID with me onto that fighter, since this whole debacle would have been the last thing even remotely within the realm of what could actually happen during that space skirmish.

But I’m usually so organized, a trait that hasn’t worsened over the years. Or at least I thought it hadn’t, or I would probably not be in this mess. Then again, who’s to say that the local authorities would even accept a passport from the 22nd century? Probably the same people who wouldn’t question the fact that I successfully got a money management tool from this time period to run on a smartphone manufactured in 2140. I really need to figure out how that worked once I get out of here. That of course assuming I manage to escape this mess by somehow proving to the authorities that I actually exist.

Still exhausted, I turned away from the small window and slowly scuffled over to the metal frame endowed with old rags they call a bed and threw myself on it, the back of my head resting against the way too small pillow.

Gee, Twilight, this really isn’t your best day. Right now, I can only hope that I’ll be able to prove my existence somehow when they take me in for questioning tomorrow. Who knows what may happen when I can’t? I’ve already been thrown into prison simply for not having an ID, something that leaves all sorts of possibilities for even worse fates open.

I could try to sleep again, but I slept for around three days straight on that long-distance flight, and I don’t exactly feel tired right now. Okay, yes, it was an 8-hour flight from my perspective. I’m sure the pilot mentioned something about time compression.

While I’m waiting for my interrogation, I might as well try to reiterate exactly what happened between my coronation and my involuntary time travel.

The day of my coronation to Princess of Friendship was easily one of the happiest days of my life, and while there of course had been several major crises in the time after that, such as the Plundervines Discord had released several thousand years ago, the Equestria Games in the Crystal Empire, the attack by Tirek or that strange town Starlight Glimmer had established with the ultimate goal of archiving a Soviet-union-style dictatorship under everyone’s muzzle, overall, life was peaceful, or at least peaceful enough that little major damage was dealt to Equestria or its citizens.

At least until the Third Eternal Night. Since the spirit of Nightmare Moon had never been fully destroyed and instead was only forced out of its two hosts, namely Luna and Rarity, it was still lingering in the darkness, waiting to return. And return it did, as one fateful day, it once again forced itself onto and took control of Princess Luna.

This time, Nightmare didn’t just want to plunge Equestria in eternal nighttime, it also wanted to make sure that no one would be able to stop it from doing so or from maintaining that night-which-shall-last-forever.

What followed was the worst conflict Equestria had ever experienced in its several-thousand-year history. Ponies were forced to attend to crops that would barely grow from the lack of sunlight and to maintain a society that was guaranteed to last no longer than a few years, all out of spite from a dark spirit seeking revenge for having been defeated thrice. Whomever dared to resist was abducted into makeshift prison camps or worse, killed on the spot.

But Nightmare was “kind” enough to grant anyone a more comfortable lifestyle who joined Nightmare’s “peacekeeping forces”. Many Ponies actually accepted that twisted offer. Suddenly, Ponies who we thought were our friends were poking at helpless workers with their spears for fun or even took them in as their personal slaves, all with consent from Nightmare itself.

But my friends and I and many other Ponies and even inhabitants of other realms on Equus were brave enough to resist. What initially was just an assortment of small resistance groups eventually turned into an organized rebellion against Nightmare’s forces, with us being able to seriously hinder its operations across all of Equestria, sometimes even from multiple fronts at a time.

After a long and tiresome struggle, we finally had them cornered. This was it, the final battle for the fate of Equestria, and by extension, the entire planet. All of our forces were assembled, and off we went. Unfortunately once again, things didn’t go so well for us. While we were able to quickly free Princess Celestia from her prison at Canterlot Castle, the ensuring battle left large parts of Equestria in ruins.

While it did go in our favor,  Princess Celestia knew that the only way to finally destroy Nightmare for good was for her to face the entity directly, and even though I did try anything in my power to dissuade her from this move, for fear over losing her, she had made up her mind, and was off to confront Nightmare.

To this day, I’m not sure what happened to her or even where she is, but I fear the worst, especially since the sky abruptly began bursting apart, turning night into day in a whim.

And indeed, this move allowed the rebellion to claim its victory. But it was a pyrrhic one. Significant amounts of the Equestrian infrastructure had been destroyed and large swaths of land devastated.

What hit us the hardest, however, were the number and diversity of casualties the war had demanded. Both I and my five closest friends had each lost at least one family member. I had lost both my mother and my brother, whom had sacrificed himself to protect a group of civilians at the Battle of Manehatten, Rainbow had lost her father, Rarity had lost both Sweetie Belle and her mother and Applejack had lost Big Macintosh and Granny Smith. I’m not sure about Pinkie and Fluttershy, however, since they both refuse to mention it to this day, but I presume it had hit them equally hard, if not worse, though I do know for a fact that Maud Pie had survived, as I saw her walking down the street in New Canterlot a few years after the war, with the same empty expression she always maintains, a matter I actually find somewhat disturbing given the circumstances.

There wasn’t a lot of time to grief, however, since Equestria had just lost both of its primary rulers, and with Cadence having to oversee the rebuilding of the Crystal Empire, I found myself in the position of power over the rest of Equestria. And the odds were stacked against me, since not only was the soil of the land significantly damaged from both the war and its fallout, the weather and day-night cycle had suddenly fallen out of our control and began going its own way.

It seemed that whatever had allowed us ponies to previously control the climate and daytime had been disabled or destroyed by Celestia’s and Nightmare/Luna’s confrontation.

Still emotionally bruised by my loss of family, I went ahead and gathered the surviving parts of the Equestrian council, in order to come up with an interim solution to the crisis we were faced with.

The solution appeared to be quite simple at first. We would just have to follow the signs of the times. The war had caused a shift in sentiment on how the country should be ruled, and that everyone should be able to add their opinion to the mix and decide what ultimately is best for everyone.

The destruction of the Equestrian infrastructure proved to be both a blessing and a curse during the transition to a parliamentary monarchy that the citizens sought to establish. On one hoof, the rebuilding process allowed us to create a new infrastructure tailored specifically to this new political system. On the other hoof, progress was rather slow and many crucial facilities took weeks, months, sometimes even years to be rebuilt, causing further problems and even some civil unrest, which only worsened the situation.

But eventually, 4 years after the war ended, the rebuilding process had progressed enough to truly kick the country back into high gear and resume standard operations. Well, as “standard” as a war like that would allow us. Many wounds never truly heal, after all.

But at least it turned out that we had made the right choice. A system where everyone could make a contribution regardless of social standing, Cutie Mark, birth family or any of the sort. It comprised a House of Commons whose members were elected by the people and whom were organized into several political parties, each with their own stance on how the country should be lead; a Senate that gave each city in Equestria an opportunity to influence politics on a federal level; and finally a Supreme Court that would be the highest court of law in the country. I personally was the leader of the Senate and had the right to veto any bill that came through, unless I was overruled by both the Senate and the House of Commons by a 2/3 majority. This in turn made me the official Head of State, and I was directly competing with the President, whom is the leader of the House of Commons and of the most powerful political party represented there.

“Miss, we must ask you to follow us.” The prison guards suddenly came walking into my cell and broke my daydreaming. Well, having to manage so many things at once for so long can cause you to become a lot more alert, even if you are one of those ponies that would otherwise be entirely unfazed by disturbances. Well, I suppose I have little choice, especially since that one human in the back was pointing a gun at my general direction. What kind of methods are those?

They led me into a room with two chairs and a table. Nothing conspicuous. They pointed me to one chair, while one of the human guards took the other one.

“Okay, miss, do you know why you’re here?” the guard asked.

“Not exactly.” I responded, looking around the room for anything that was out of the ordinary. It seemed like a completely normal but rather dark interrogation room. Great job, Twilight, you went from a whole castle all the way to an interrogation room. What went wrong with you?

“Well, you should be aware that it is illegal for inhabitants of the autonomous regions to the north to enter the primary United Systems sectors without a valid ID. And not only that, but you also entered the Core Systems, which in itself is a felony without a permit. Something that, of course, you didn’t have, either.” The guard said in a tone that somehow felt both flat and intimidating at the same time. I starting getting nervous.

“I honestly didn’t know. But you need to believe me, I don’t have an ID, I traveled to this world from the distant past and got stranded out in deep space! I wouldn’t be able to show you a permit even if I wanted, which I really would.”

The guard placed his elbows on the table and began resting his head on the back of his hands.

“Well, miss, that’s certainly a story I have never heard before. Ever. Not in a thousand years. Oh, wait, actually, that’s the exact same story I heard from some mare with a yellow and red mane a few months ago. Didn’t have a permit either. However, authorities had her released once it came to light that there were no known charges against her and that she apparently didn’t even exist. No one I know of has seen her since. Personally, I would have left her in her cell to rot, but I’m just a petty prison guard and not one of those government freaks who think that they can solve any problem with money and talking.”

Suddenly, there was a weird noise coming from somewhere inside the walls, as if someone was running past, laughing.

“Did you hear that?” I asked, slightly startled.

“Hear what?” The guard asked, somewhat mad from having been interrupted. “There’s nothing there, this room is soundproof. Also, I’m the person talking here, not you, Horse. Don’t interrupt me. As I was saying-“

“Wait, why did you just call me ‘Horse‘? Aren’t humans and ponies working together? Isn't that like me calling your kind ‘Monkey’?” I responded, regretting it immediately after.

“I SAID YOU SHAN’T INTERUPT ME!” the guard yelled at my face, giving me a whiff of his breath. It smelled like he hadn’t brushed his teeth in years.

“As I was saying, you need to be absolutely relentless towards your enemies. Don’t show them mercy. If they start begging for mercy, hit them harder. If they beg you to stop destroying their home, destroy more of it. If you rape them and they urge you to leave them alone, do it again. But never show any mercy. It only gives them time to recover and overwhelm you.”

I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This man was nothing like the humans I’ve met before. This was a feral creature with not a shred of empathy in his voice. Was he trying to intimidate or disgust me on purpose? Or did he really believe the things he was saying?

Again I heard a weird noise from inside the walls. This time, it sounded like someone was screaming in agony, but really muffled.

“Did you hear that?” I asked again? The guard looked at me in disbelief. “I told you already, this room is soundproof. Nothing can come in and nothing goes out, except a recording of our conversation here. Oh yeah, surprise, surprise, our conversation is being recorded, and don’t even try to get me fired for my views, because I won’t be. I’m a certified prison guard and you are a criminal. I can just tell the authorities that these views are just my methods of interrogating people. Who do you think the authorities are gonna believe? Me or you? Of course, they are going to believe me. Also, my colleagues won’t blow the whistle on me, either. They are too afraid of me, yet they also value my high success rate in the breaking of suspects.“

That confession settled it, this guy really meant what he was saying. I had to believe it, even though I didn’t want to. What went wrong in the development of the Terran race? How could people as vile and wretched as him still exist?

“Well, now you know what I will do to you if you don’t start talking.” The guard said to me in a really frightening tone.

“Talk? What do you mean, ‘talk’? I already told you, I don’t have an ID!” I said, slowly becoming legitimately terrified.

“Then what are you doing in the main United Systems, and by extension, the Core Systems? Only criminals come here without a permit.”

I tried to reason with him.

“Well, yes, perhaps that may be right, but shouldn’t-“

The noise in the wall came back, and this time, it sounded like it was screaming out to me.

“Don’t you hear that? Someone is being attacked. We have to help them!”

The guard again looked unconvinced.

“But I can’t just let them die!” I yelled, desperate to help whoever was out there.

“No one dies in this prison without me knowing about it. Also, are you deaf, or just crazy? I told you there’s nothing there.”

You can’t believe him, Twilight, he’s a monster. Someone is in danger out there, and you need to help him, her, it, whatever it is. Problem is, I am unarmed, so the only one who would be able to help that poor thing was the guard that claimed that nothing was there. I wanted to get up from my chair, but immediately I saw myself looking down the barrel of a gun.

“Don’t you dare moving from that seat. There’s nothing out there, and you better quit worrying about it, it’s starting to really annoy me. So, since you don’t have an ID, I’m gonna need a name. After all, I need to write down something into the protocol once you’re dead. Don’t care what it is, just give me any name and I’ll note it down. It could be ‘Sunset Shimmer’ for all I care.”

Wait, ‘Sunset Shimmer’? Now I was curious.

“You know Sunset Shimmer?” I asked, my spirits slightly lifted.

The guard’s response dashed my enthusiasm really quickly. “Yes, I remember. I had some mare with a red and yellow mane sitting on that very same chair you’re in a while back, I had mentioned her a few moments ago. When I asked for her name, she claimed it was ‘Sunset Shimmer’. Never saw her again once she left this room. Didn’t care, either. Actually, I did care, as she was a criminal that would leave this room unpunished. And I’m not going to let that happen again, especially not when I have yet another weak little horse sitting in my chair. So, what’s your name?”

“What if I don’t want to reveal my name?” I responded defiantly.

“Then I’m going to write down ‘Purple horse’ in my records and proceed with killing you.” The guard responded, completely unimpressed. I was running out of time, and it seemed like there was no end to the downhill race for me.

“Fine. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” I said in the same stern tone Captain Starlight had used on me a few days ago.

“Right, another one of those generic names with no clear meaning. Are you horses into that sort of thing again lately? Doesn’t matter. I’ll note it down.” The guard pulled up a holographic interface and typed something in. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell what it was, as the interface was somehow blank on my side, even though I could still see through it and into the face of that monster that was that prison guard.

“Oh, and don’t think I’m a monster, Miss Sparkle. I just have a very special worldview that sadly is sorely missing in today’s world.”

Suddenly, the door slid open and in walked five mares. Five mares I knew exceedingly well.

“My friends! Oh, am I happy to see you!” I ran over to them, completely disregarding the guard’s earlier threat against leaving my seat and being overjoyed at seeing my friends.

“No Twilight, go away.” Rainbow said.

“What?” I said, being caught completely off-guard and stopped in my tracks.

“Sorry Twi, but you did something ah never would‘ve expected you’d do, sugarcube.” Applejack said, head raised and eyes closed.

“How could you have done this, Twilight? How could you have broken the law? After all these years!” Fluttershy said with her head lowered and visibly close to tears.

“No, it’s not what you think it is! It was entirely beyond my control!” I replied. These are my friends, they have to believe me!

“I as well can’t find myself able to believe that a ruler of an entire country for over 100 years would suddenly descend into petty crime.” Rarity affirmed.

“Sorry Twi, I know I may not have always been perfectly clean myself, but this is low even by my standards.” Rainbow put forth with a scolding face I didn’t even know she was capable of.

Pinkie, finally, was just completely quiet, but her mane had noticeably lost its usual poofyness, instead falling flat down her head.

“But, guys, I can explain!” I begged, desperate.

“Sorry Twi, but we don’t want no explanation. You’ve shown us what you really are, and we don’t want anything to do with you no more!” Applejack replied sternly.

They left as they came, and the door closed.

And I was in tears. No. This did not just happen, did it? Please tell me this didn’t just happen! They can’t just leave me! They just-why?!

“Oh you poor horse, look what you have done, even your friends don’t want anything to do with you anymore.” The guard added to the mix, adding further insult to injury.

“Why would they do this? How can they leave me, just like that? I thought we were friends?” I screamed.

“Well, no one wants to be associated with a criminal, Twilight. You should have considered that before committing a crime. Now, since you have lost everything else, anyway, might as well add your life to the mix as well. I have conjured up the perfect method for a horse like you, and I waited a long time to test it. Check this out.” The guard said in a disgustingly amused tone. He touched something on his holographic interface and a hidden hatch on the ground began to slide open.

What emerged from the hatch was nightmarish. It was a grating with six fetlocks and several Plundervines wriggling about it, presumably attached to the back of the unit.

I have been on the Internet long enough to know what this device’s concept is, but I would have never expected anyone to actually create a device that would utilize that horrific concept.

“Now, I’ll assume from your face that you know what’s about to happen, so I’ll make this quick. The killing process could take anywhere from minutes to days, not sure. I only read about the origin of these creatures and the way they kill you, not how long it actually takes.” The guard said gleefully.

He forcefully grabbed me, blindfolded me and strapped me back first into the horrific torture device, with my legs spread away from my body, my head forcefully being held up by the fetlock and some weird clamping mechanism going into my mouth and holding it open.

I felt the vines taking ahold of my body, as if I wasn’t already restrained enough. One of them wrapped around my tail and moved it behind the unit.

This was it then.

The vines began moving about my body-

“WAIT!” I heard someone bolt into the room.

“What is it now?” I heard the guard saying in a slightly mad tone.

“You can’t kill her! We verified her identity! This is Princess Twilight Sparkle!” Oof, someone was here to rescue me from my horrific fate! Thank you, Celestia!

“Why should I care? She’s a criminal!” The guard replied, apparently worried that he would lose someone he could torture otherwise.

“Do we need to release those recordings of you constantly spewing your hatred? I'm sure the public would really fancy your remarks.” The other person responded.

“Oh, fine then, take her away! She was too easy to brake, anyway.” The guard responded, audibly disgruntled.

“Shoo! Go away, you wretched creatures!” said the guy, scarring the vines away. He took off my blindfold and released me from the stretch.

“We’re terribly sorry, your highness, it was an accident. I’m not sure whose great idea it was to put you onto death row, but I will personally see that he or she be sacked.” The new guy, a stallion, said, his head moving in motions that suggested he was genuinely sorry for what happened.

Having no other options I was inclined to buy into his gesture. Also, what did the guard just say? I was easy to brake? Hey, then maybe my friends didn’t abandon me, after all! Maybe that weren’t even my friends, but just my mind playing tricks on me! Oh boy, I haven’t been this happy in, I don’t know, how much time has passed again? 1800 years?

Another pony walked into the room, this time a mare. “Your highness, please follow me. We will escort you directly to the surface of Equus, the President herself has requested meeting you in person.”

“Request granted.” I replied formally.

“Alright then, we’ll lead you back into the hangar.”

***

The past few days may have been truly terrifying and confusing. But at that moment, I knew that everything would be back to normal very soon. Or at least as normal as possible, since, I was still over 1800 years away from home. But I guess this will suffice for now.