Generation Trapped

by Element6147

Rating: teen
Tags: Spike, Comedy, Other, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Main 6, Princess Luna
Length: 29169

While doing a chore for Twilight, the children of the Mane Six end up with a lot more work than they bargained for.

Following the rules of the site, this is a rewrite of a story I did a while back called "Mistake of a Generation" that now excludes my OC, and I think it's turning out better than that one, anyway. In any event, this is Generation Trapped!

Did you know that Twilight's castle has a basement? Over the years, Twilight and her friends placed potentially dangerous items from their various adventures in the basement for safekeeping, as well as old memorabilia from their younger days. Now, Twilight needs the basement cleaned because it's cluttered. What better time to get you and your friends' children to spend time together than cleaning an old dusty basement? Fun, right? Nothing bad can happen. It's not like anything down there works anymore.

Right?

This is a kilalaverse story, the next generation universe created by kilala97. I hope fans of this verse enjoy it.

Rated T for the use of the "a" and "d" word. Possibly the "h" word, too.

Published 2015-07-02 17:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-09-21 00:23:32 UTC

Chapter 1

Ponyville was a quaint little place but a few miles from the Equestrian capital of Canterlot. Why is a town like this even on the map? It was one of the places that began Equestria, founded by earth pony farmers. Thanks to the Apple family, Ponyville grew quickly and prosperous, and many ponies of all races came to live there for a quiet, comfortable life. After that, there wasn’t much to make this pillar of Equestria stand out. Until Twilight Sparkle came. Some view the “Coming of Sparkle”, as it came to be known, as a boon. After all, Twilight Sparkle was the personal protégé to Princess Celestia.

“This will boost the town’s economy!” Mayor Mare had said.

She was right. It did boost the town’s economy. Subtly. The increase in the amount of bits in Ponyville’s coffers had to be discreet, or Twilight Sparkle would investigate. Thanks to the influx of tourists who had come to see the wonder that was Sparkle, some of whom stayed in Ponyville after being swept up by the town’s rustic charm and quiet lifestyle, Ponyville sat comfortably. However, Ponyville never accounted for Celestia’s long-reaching plan for her student. Ponyville never accounted for Nightmare Moon’s return. Ponyville never accounted for Twilight Sparkle making friends.

Normally, a pony making friends was a good thing; it was still a good thing in Twilight Sparkle’s case. It was Twilight’s learning what a friend and friendship was (not to mention her experiments, both magical and scientific) that hurt Ponyville financially. This was on top of the many incidents that followed after Sparkle and friends defeated Nightmare Moon. You name it, it probably happened. Ursa Minor? There’s a contingency plan for that. Parasprites? Musical instruments are at the ready. The Great and Powerful Trixie? Eh, she’s cool now.

Ponyville, despite its denizens cringing instinctively every time Twilight Sparkle met up with one or more of her friends, grew to appreciate the six ponies who caused so much havoc. They saved Ponyvillians and the town on multiple occasions, saved Equestria four times over, and were ultimately good friends to everyone. That was why Ponyville didn’t mind Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie could be debated, but there was no denying what an asset to the quality of life she was.

It was also heralded as an achievement when Twilight Sparkle became the fourth Princess of Equestria. After she had cast Starswirl the Bearded’s misguided spell, something went horribly wrong, and her friends had their destinies changed. In the face of this, she rallied herself and managed to turn her friends back to their old selves, at the same time figuring out how to finish, or rewrite rather, Starswirl the Bearded’s unfinished spell, creating new magic and triggering her ascension into alicornhood. The “Mane Six”, as Twilight and her friends had come to be known, thanks in no small part to a suggestion from Pinkie Pie, spent even more time together after that, helping Twilight adjust to her new position, role, and wings. There were many misadventures, mishaps, and the like that took place during Twilight’s first few months as Princess. Then Tirek happened.

Worse than Nightmare Moon. Just as, if not more cunning than Discord. Leagues more dangerous than Queen Chrysalis and her changeling army. Tirek was the biggest threat Equestria had faced in years. Before Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence decided to pool their alicorn magic into Twilight, they had entertained the idea of fighting the centaur on their own. Fully armored, and Celestia with her Solar Halberd, Luna with her Nocturne Scythe, and Cadence with her Crystal Love Spear. They had deemed it too much of a risk.
So Twilight took their magic, and when Tirek found out about her, they had an epic battle in and around Ponyville. It looked like Tirek was going to win, but to attack Twilight directly, he had the brilliant idea to destroy Golden Oaks Library, which had only been in the way. There are two things you never attack in battle or in war. The first is hospitals; attacking the sick and wounded is cowardly and immoral. The second is schools; institutions of learning are the pillars of civilized society. In Twilight’s mind, there’s a third thing. That is libraries. Libraries were wondrous places of knowledge and words that opened worlds and gave valuable information. When that library is also your home… Tirek done bucked up.

This was the first and possibly only advent of the Royal Alicorn Magical Beatdown. During the Beatdown, Twilight fought Tirek to a standstill, at which time Tirek offered Twilight a deal: relinquish her magic and free her friends that he had captured, or continue fighting and possibly destroy Equestria in the process. Twilight chose the former and let Tirek absorb her magic. It was a necessary sacrifice, because this choice granted her and her friends a new power: Rainbow Power. It is much cooler than it sounds. Using this power, they defeated Tirek and sent him back to Tartarus, becoming heroes once again. Oh, Twilight also got a magnificent crystal castle. That happened, too.

All of this was years ago. 25 years, give or take a few. Since then, the Mane Six managed to downplay their celebrity status and carry on normal lives, all but one finding love along the way. Ten years after Tirek, Twilight finally relented and allowed herself a Royal Guard, the Friendship Guard. The captain of the Friendship Guard was one pegasus Flash Sentry. During two adventures into another world she doesn’t like to discuss, before the battle with Tirek, she had developed a crush on a human doppelgänger of Flash, which had translated back into her own world. The crush escalated into love over the years, and after getting to know the pony Flash Sentry, they married and had a unicorn son, Night Light (the Second) and pegasus daughter, Starburst, bringing the total number of royals to ten. This is because Princesses Celestia and Luna also once again tried their hooves at love and succeeded. Celestia was courted by and married Discord, producing one draconequus-pony son. Luna was courted by and married the captain of her Lunar Guard, producing a bat-pony daughter. Prince Shining Armor, Twilight’s older brother, and Princess Cadence, his wife had a child around the same time as Twilight, being the only royal couple to produce a pure alicorn. Luna’s daughter would too qualify, but being part bat-pony reduced that a bit.

Applejack settled down with Caramel, a light brown earth pony that had been helping the Apples since before Twilight came. There was a lot of back and forth between the two before they realized they had feelings for each other, and Applejack insisted she made the first move (she did, but Caramel enjoyed saying that he had). They had a son, Golden Delicious, not much longer after they married.

Rainbow Dash joined the Wonderbolts main team and quickly developed relationships with Vice Captain Soarin’ and Captain Spitfire, eventually taking Spitfire’s captainship once the fiery mare retired. However, Rainbow and Soarin’ found they shared a connection and rhythm, a bond that quickly led to love, and soon after, marriage and two sons, Prism Bolt and Icy Storm.

For a few months, it seemed like Pinkie Pie wouldn’t follow her friends and get married and have children. They didn’t even know if she had her eye on somepony, adding yet another mystery to the existence that is Pinkie. But, being ever the surprise, Pinkie revealed her special somepony to be Pokey Pierce, a unicorn whose talent appeared to be the ability to rein Pinkie in, since dating him reduced the party pony’s eccentricities to a minor degree. She was still Pinkie Pie, though more subdued. Despite not knowing Pierce very well, the Mane Six accepted him, especially after Pinkie told them almost everything about him. Even things they didn’t necessarily need to know. More surprising than that was Pinkie and Pierce’s wedding was quiet… until the reception.

This became known as the Great Wedding Sweets Battle of Ponyville. Ponies and buildings discovered frosting and bits of sweets in places they didn’t even know existed. Some fillies and colts remember the reception as the best party they’d ever been to. Other fillies and colts barely remember the party. The same could be said for the adults, although for different reasons. This was also one of the few parties ponies had ever seen Princesses Celestia and Luna, the portraits of regality and sensibility, let loose. Much like with the party itself, ponies saw events they had never seen before. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash worked together to encourage both the Princesses and the nobility to let go of their usual decorum, and seeing as it was a Pinkie Pie Party, where anything was possible, some of the nobility and the Princesses took the suggestion to heart. To this day, the nobility is now divided between the “cool” and “uncool” thanks to this event. Princess Celestia ordered everypony there to never speak about what they saw her do that day. The order didn’t take; after all, nopony had ever seen any one pony inhale that much cake at one time, not even Pinkie Pie. On the other hoof, it was universally agreed to never let Princess Luna near anything with sugar ever again. Some ponies still see her near-indescribable ungodly and most decidedly un-princess-like face and that in their dreams and nightmares. I, the narrator, will leave what that is to your imagination.

Rarity made both a move and a decision few expected and one had hoped for. Out of nowhere one day, a few weeks after Twilight and Flash began dating, Rarity subtly asked Spike on an actual date. Needless to say, he eagerly accepted. Spike’s crush on Rarity had actually grown into real love over the years, and Rarity had noticed. In pony years, Spike was realistically around five years younger than the mare of his affections, but the beautiful mare saw no reason a real relationship couldn’t work out. Truth be told, even with her boldness, Rarity wasn’t sure if she would truly love Spike back the way he did her. But, through a series of events and dates that played out much like heartfelt and cheesy romantic comedies, Rarity did end up falling for the young drake. They wed two months after Twilight and Flash, Rarity’s ring set with a diamond the two had found together.

Past the small fights and the like, the couple experienced one other dilemma: making children. With Twilight’s help, they researched if and how a pony-dragon hybrid could be created. It was a long process, but Rarity and Spike completed their research and Rarity birthed the world’s first draconies. They had a daughter, Crystal Clarity, and a son, Turquoise Blitz. Crystal Clarity, or Claire, as most everypony called her, was like a unicorn and a dragon, in that she had not one, but two horns; ivory horns behind her ears that allowed her to cast magic. This magic was not very strong due to the dragon blood coursing through her veins, but it did allow simple levitation. The rest of the power went to her ability to breathe fire, a trait she and her brother shared. Turquoise Blitz, on the other hoof, was more like his father. Though younger than Claire, he grew to be two heads taller than his mother and one head taller than Claire. Another difference he shared with his father was the ability to fly. Spike had turned out to be a breed of dragon whose wings appeared began growing later in life, and by the time Claire was born, he had grown so much, the entirety of the structures of the buildings in and around Ponyville (minus Twilight’s castle) had to be expanded and reinforced just to accommodate him. Turquoise’s wings were visible from the beginning, leading Twilight to speculate that he gained a trait from Spike’s actual parents. Doing further research on dragons also revealed that older dragons of all breeds were extremely resistant, if not totally immune to unicorn and even alicorn magic.

Fluttershy was the only one of the Mane Six who didn’t marry. That was to be expected. As the shyest of the group, it was almost a given that she wouldn’t actively seek out a special somepony, and early on, Rainbow Dash and her friends protected her from suitors. Rainbow even took a collection of clouds and kept watch over Fluttershy’s home, acting as a security guard, or the mother she was to become. She permitted very few stallions to try and date Fluttershy; there was one she really approved of and Fluttershy liked as well, yet for a reason neither of the pegasi remember, Fluttershy and the stallion broke up. That isn’t to say Fluttershy didn’t end up happy. She adopted a unicorn filly named Anthea, and they live together comfortably.

Where were are now, the children of the Mane Six are teenagers and young adults, experiencing many of the problems their parents had when they were their age, though nowhere near as magical, outlandish, and crazy. And so, though it’s cliché, this is where our story begins.

Prism Bolt, son of Rainbow Dash and Soarin’… was bored. You would think a pony with such famous parents would find himself busy. If his parents were celebrities, then he would be, too. He should be fighting off the mares with a stick. Or something you generally fight mares off with. Not the point. The pegasus was bored, and he knew just sitting in his room wasn’t going to change that. No, it wouldn’t do at all. He had to… he had to pull a prank. Perfect. Yes, that was what he needed to do. He grinned mischievously as a list of potential targets rolled in his mind. There was one pony in particular he hadn’t pranked recently, and for what he was cooking up, he needed help. Help that could also give him breakfast, possibly in the form of a donut. With that in mind, he leapt from the window in his room in his cloud home that he shared with his parents and made a gliding beeline for Ponyville.

Sugarcube Corner was the place for anything sweet. Of course, there were other sweets shops and stalls in Ponyville, but Sugarcube Corner was first. Much of its charm came from the faux-gingerbread and frosting exterior, which already made you feel like you were about to walk into a cavity-inducing wonderland. The rest of the charm and popularity that made “The Corner”, as the cool kids called it, a hotspot was how well every single item sold there was made. Always fresh, never stale, and delicious beyond belief. Sugarcube Corner expanded over the years, partly to accommodate for Spike, and partly because Ponyville had grown, which meant more customers. More tables, a wider counter, and a few modern upgrades translated into an even more prosperous Corner. It was a place Prism Bolt and his friends loved, and one they hoped would remain standing for a long time. Sugarcube Corner also had an upper section where the owners and proprietors of the establishment lived. As per the will of Mr. Carrot and Mrs. Cup Cake, they left their sweets café to their twin son and daughter, Pound and Pumpkin Cake, and live-in employee, Pinkie Pie. However, unlike his sister, Pound Cake found his calling in demolition, and now runs a successful demolition company. Pumpkin followed in her parent’s hoofsteps and runs Sugarcube Corner along with Pinkie Pie.

Prism landed near the door of the Corner with a small skid, making small flaps to dust himself off. Trotting inside, he heard the pleasant ringing of the café’s bell above him and smiled at the young candy blue, pink-and-white maned mare at the counter. She was Cotton Candy, Pinkie Pie’s daughter.

To say Pinkie had produced another her was an understatement. Candy was like her mother in almost every way, right down to the cheeriness she gave everypony when she was around. She was essentially an extension of the PinkiePie.exe program. While Pinkie’s main talent was to make ponies smile and laugh, usually through parties and pranks, Candy was able to do the same, albeit on a bigger scale. She even received her cutie mark after successfully organizing and setting up a carnival for all of her friends to enjoy, and her mark was, or is, a stick of cotton candy, which was more than fitting. Prism counted himself lucky; it was still early in the morning, so there weren’t many ponies in the café, and even better, no one in line at the moment. He approached the counter with his usual swagger, a confidence gained from his mother.

“Hey, Candy,” he greeted her. “One chocolate-glazed donut.”

“What’s the magic word?” Candy sing-songed.

“Alfalfa.” he replied.

“Wow, you actually got it right today. What’s the other one?” she smiled innocently.

“Do I have to say it?” Prism groaned.

“No, but if you don’t say it in the next five seconds, I’m doubling the usual price.”

“Come on, Candy, that’s not a deal,” the pegasus groaned. Candy continued to smile back at him. “Ugh, fine. One chocolate-glazed donut, please.”

“There you go!” Candy disappeared behind the counter and popped back up with his order. “Two bits.”

Prism fished into his mane and removed the payment, placing it on the counter.

“Got any plans for today?” he asked as he took the donut and took a bite out of it.

“No, not really,” Candy answered. “Why? Do you have something planned?”

“I was thinking of pranking Star today,” Prism nodded. “Want to help?”

“You know getting at Star is never a good idea, Prism. She’ll just yell at you all day.”

“Not if she doesn’t know it was us,” he grinned.

“Star’s great at putting two, four, and six together, Priz.” Candy warned him. “She’ll figure it out.”

That got Prism to raise a brow.

“What’s with you?” he asked. “You love pranking ponies with me.”

“I dunno,” Candy shrugged. “It just doesn’t seem good right now. Pranking Star is…”

“Pranking me is what, exactly?” Prism stopped mid-bite when he heard Starburst behind him.

“Plain glazed like always?” Candy asked the newly arrived orange pegasus princess.

“Yes,” Starburst affirmed. She glanced at Prism as Candy collected her order. “You were saying?”

“No, Candy was… c’mon, Star, it wouldn’t have even been that bad.” Prism whined.

“It doesn’t matter; I’m wise to your plans now,” Starburst said triumphantly as she took her donut and paid for it.

“Killjoy,” Prism snorted. “I can help you work on the Filly Flash to make up for it.”

“That’s going to have to wait until later,” Starburst said. “I need the both of you. Candy, can you ask your mom to give you the rest of the morning off?”

“Uh… sure!” Candy replied. “What for?”

“Mom says the castle basement needs to be cleaned, and I can’t do it alone,” Starburst answered. “Nighty’s with dad in Canterlot, and the basement is way too big for any one pony to clean on their own.”

“You’re making us do chores? Really?” Prism groaned for the second time that day. “Did anypony teach you what fun is?”

“It’s just one chore!” Starburst exclaimed. “Besides, with all seven of us working together, we’ll be done in no time. Plus, there are potentially dangerous items down there that could cause problems if something shifts wrong.”

“Seven of us?” Prism raised a brow again. “Oh, you’re dragging poor Claire into this, aren’t you?”

“Claire doesn’t mind going to a place that’s a little dirty. It’s being spooked she doesn’t like.” Starburst smirked. “You should already know.”

“I know, I know,” Prism rolled his eyes. “Don’t frighten Claire. I learned my lesson.”

“I’ll go talk to Mom,” Candy informed her friends. “I’ll join you if I can!” She bounded off into the kitchen.

“So, are we going to get the others now?” Prism asked Starburst.

“No, they’re already waiting at the castle.” Starburst stated proudly.

“Alright, then! Let’s get moving!” Candy came prancing back into the café proper. “Mom says I can go!”

“Let’s not keep the others waiting, then,” Starburst nodded, beginning to walk out of the store while finishing her donut. “We’ll be back soon, Mrs. Pie!”

“Oh, Star, you know you can call me Pinkie.” the older pink mare giggled as she exited the kitchen. “Have fun!”

“As much fun as cleaning a basement can be…” Prism muttered.

“It’s just a little work, Prism,” Starburst sighed. “Mom said there are a few things that everypony’s parents couldn’t keep at home down there, kind of like a vault. We’ll need to organize that from the junk.”

“Shouldn’t you be telling us this after we’re all together?” Prism asked skeptically as he took to the air and downed the rest of his own breakfast. “It’s all of our parents’ stuff.”

“I thought you might want to see your mom’s bigger trophies. Didn’t you say your mom told you the trophy the Wonderbolts won for that aerobatics competition was huge?”

“It was ridiculous,” Prism chuckled. “The whole thing couldn’t fit in the picture she showed me.”

“What else do you think is down there?” Candy asked. She suddenly gasped. “Maybe Princess Twilight is keeping a horrible monster locked up!”

“Please,” Starburst scoffed. “Mom wouldn’t do that. Everypony agreed that no one should keep magical creatures for observation. Especially after that… apparently second parasprite incident.”

Candy shivered. “Yeah. I’m not going near those things again. It’s not my fault I smell like my namesake.”

“Actually, it is,” Prism pointed out. “You should really stop buying that shampoo.”

“But I like cotton candy!” Candy exclaimed.

“Everypony does.” Prism said flatly. “That goes for you and the food.”

“Are you sure you can take the morning off, Claire?” Turquoise asked his sister.

“Of course!” Claire laughed. “Tuesdays are usually slow anyway. I won’t be losing a lot of business. Thank you for your concern, though.”

“Ah’m interested to see what we’ll find down in that basement,” Golden Delicious commented. “There ain’t much we don’t keep at the farm. Can’t imagine what Ma and Pa need tucked away.”

“I’m curious, too,” Anthea nodded in agreement. “Mom doesn’t keep anything dangerous. Except knives, but those are for cooking.” She blinked as a multitude of colors entered her blurry vision. “Oh, are those the others?”

Turquoise followed her line of sight and smiled as he recognized his friends.

“Yeah, that’s them. Good eye, Annie.” He grimaced at his words. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Anthea giggled. “I’m getting better at recognizing everypony’s colors.”

“It’s about time,” Claire huffed. “I expected Starburst to be punctual, which means that Prism held them up by sleeping in.”

“It’s 9 AM, Claire,” Del observed. “You can hardly call that sleepin’ in. But, he does usually sleep till 10 if he ain’t got much to do.”

“Hey, everypony,” Starburst greeted her friends when she, Prism, and Candy approached. “Thanks for helping me with this.”

“Oh, it’s no problem, dear,” Claire smiled. “It will be a good chance to get a look at our parents’ pasts past what they’ve told us, and–”

“Gah! Sun’s in my eyes!” Prism reeled back suddenly, holding his forehooves to his eyes and dropping to the ground. “For the love of Celestia, Star, why does your house have to reflect light?!”

“It’s not my fault it’s made of crystal!” Starburst snapped at him. “There’s a reason I don’t fly out in the morning.”

“Starburst, what are you yelling about? You don’t need to – oh, hello, everypony.” Princess Twilight had opened one of the large doors to her home, looking out at the commotion. She blinked after spotting Prism on the ground, writhing in pain. “He was flying high when he got close, wasn’t he?”

“It still burns!” Prism yelled out.

“I told everypony not to fly more than five feet above the ground near the castle until 10 o’clock years ago,” Twilight sighed. “You forgot what your mom told you, didn’t you, Prism?”

“Yeah, I did!” the pegasus stallion whimpered. “Help, please?”

Twilight sighed again and shook her head.

“Come inside, everypony. Prism, let’s get you an ice pack.” She began thinking back while she led the children in. “Your house makes one pegasus crash, and you have to make a no-fly zone around it. Stupid chest… Dash was flying into my house way before this dumb castle sprang up…”

“What?” Prism asked.

“Nothing,” Twilight replied. She quickly teleported away and returned into same fashion with an ice pack in tow in her magic, levitating it over to Prism. “Hold this on your face for a few minutes. The pain will fade. Follow me to the basement, everypony.”

“Mom, why are you just now asking to have the basement cleaned?” Starburst asked.

“The truth is, I kind of forgot we even had it,” Twilight admitted with a giggle. “The castle has so much space, it’s hard to remember there’s still a gigantic room underneath our hooves. Like I told you, your dad, Spike, the girls and I thought it’d be best to put some old relics down there so they wouldn’t cause any harm. When I decided to go down to reminisce, I realized how cluttered it was. Then I thought it would be a good idea for you to clean it because you might find some surprises. Some of the things are so old, I don’t even remember what they were supposed to do anymore.”

“Does that include that Chocolate Ray you helped Uncle Discord make?” Starburst asked.

“Nope. That tool of delicious destruction is in your Aunt Luna’s vault that’s also inside Aunt Celestia’s vault. It is never coming out again.”

“Did you ever notice that Mrs. Twilight’s mane frays the longer she talks about some of the stuff Uncle Discord’s done in the past?” Turquoise whispered.

“Yeah, not to mention that creepy smile,” Candy nodded. “It reminds me of the look my mom gets when she’s lonely. It scares me…” She shivered.

Twilight stopped in a room where only a set of stairs that led down to darkness lay.

“Whoa, talk about ominous,” Del commented. “Jus’ lookin’ at them stairs gives me a bad feeling.”

“Do you think you could light the way for us, Mrs. Sparkle?” Turquoise suggested. “You know Annie doesn’t like the dark.”

As if to prove his point, Anthea had scampered from the front of the pack to the back, taking shelter under the dragon-pony’s wing.

“Don’t worry,” Twilight smiled. “I already placed an automatic light spell that will light the way as you go down. I would help you clean, but Prince Shining Armor, the other Princesses and I need to conference on the situation between the Griffon Kingdom and the Minos Empire.”

A spark grew in Starburst’s eyes. Unfortunately for her, her mother caught it and gave her a caring smile.

“I know you want to help, Star,” she said as she nuzzled her daughter. “But the best thing you can do right now is be with your friends. You’ll be helping us protect the world before you know it.”

Starburst returned the smile, yet even Twilight could tell it wasn’t genuine. She felt for her daughter, she really did, what with the Royal Guard Academy turning her away multiple times because of her status, gender, and size. Twilight had petitioned both the head of the Academy and the Princesses and even wrote a letter herself to get Starburst into the Academy, but every response stood by the reasoning that Twilight herself had made one of her only decrees that, on paper, read this exactly:

“Under no circumstances, even should I revoke this decree, will the children of the Princess of Friendship or the Elements of Harmony, be given any special treatment by anyone across Equestria or wherever they may choose to live throughout their lives.”

Starburst had only heard this decree once Twilight had told her herself after Prism had tried to exercise his family’s fame at Flight Camp a few years back. It shocked her, since she had believed there were so many royals about, ponies saw them all the time and felt no reason to treat them any different. It was frustrating, but she would have to keep trying. The Academy was open for applications next month. She’d surely get in then.

“A-achoo!” Starburst blinked. She’d been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t realized she followed her friends down the stairs. But what had she heard? It sounded like a sneeze, but it was meek and diminutive, almost as if Fluttershy was with them. She looked amongst her friends in the admittedly dim magic light of the dusty basement and found they were all staring at her. Prism’s face was scrunched up, trying to hold back laughter, and Del was similar, carrying a smile that betrayed mirth. “What?”

Prism couldn’t hold it anymore and burst out laughing.

“What the hay was that?! It sounded like a breezie sneezed, it was so tiny!”

“Oh, be quiet, featherbrain,” Starburst growled. “That’s how I sneeze.”

“It’s adorable,” Prism continued laughing. “Wittle Star has a wittle sneeze.”

“I will punch you so hard!” Starburst yelled, face reddening.

“Stop it, both of ya’ll,” Del cut in, stepping in between the two pegasi. “Star, your Ma gave us a job ta do and we’re gonna do it. Prism, if you can stop teasin’ Star for one minute, maybe we can get somethin’ done.”

“Y’know, sometimes, you can sound a lot like your mom,” Prism told Del. “Pretty creepy if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask ya,” Del said.

They all took a moment to gauge the task ahead of them. Given the size of the room, it wasn’t that big of a job; only two walls had been completely covered. The majority of old and dusty items appeared to be… well, junk. Things that may have had a use at some point but were now useless or broken beyond repair. Prism groaned loudly, but was silenced from complaining by Claire.

“So… where do we start?” Candy asked her friends.

“Let’s get that big TV on that little pile out of the way,” Turquoise suggested, pointing at a television that couldn’t have been more than 50 inches wide. “Claire, could you…?”

“Turquoise, please, I can’t levitate something that heavy, and I doubt Annie could, either.” his sister apologized. “I’m sure you boys can handle it.”

“Alright,” Turquoise nodded. “Prism, fly around to the back of it. Del and I will get the front.”

“Gotcha.” Prism mock-saluted. He flew swiftly around the television, stopping short once he got behind it. “The back of this thing is huge, guys. I’m pretty sure it’s heavier than it looks. Hey, Candy, could you help us out?”

“Y’okay!” Candy chimed. She climbed the little junk pile and arched her back to begin lifting the TV. “Wow, okay, Prism was right. This TV is heavier… than it… looks…”

“We’re counting on your dragon strength, T,” Prism said as he helped begin lifting. “If we move… wrong, Candy and I are going to… ungh… pull a muscle… or get crushed… whichever comes first. You two got it?”

“Yeah, we – wait, it’s sliding too much this way! Del, move, now!” As Del dove out of the way, Turquoise slammed into to the junked electronic with all his strength, making it lurch left to the floor, where it slid a few feet before coming to a stop near the middle of the room.

“Del, are you okay?” Starburst gasped, rushing over to him.

“Yeah,” he nodded as he got to his hooves. “Didn’t think that would happen. ‘Least it’s moved.”

“Okay, let’s be a bit more careful,” Starburst advised everyone. “There are still dangerous artifacts down here, so if it looks like it might do something, let Claire or Annie handle it. We’re not touching anything like that with our hooves, just to be safe.”

“Good idea,” Claire nodded in agreement from near the top of another junk pile. “Star, dear, could you help me? I can’t quite get this… I think it’s a banner, out of here.”

“Alright,” Starburst flew up to the pile and began helping Claire tug the banner. It actually slid out of the junk rather easily and fluttered to the floor face-up.

“‘Welcome Princess Celest’?” Del raised a brow at the words. “Who’s Princess Celest?”

“Oh, I remember this story!” Candy exclaimed. “Long ago, when Equestria was just–”

“No, that’s not it,” Starburst laughed. “Mom told me what a near-disaster the first Summer Sun Celebration hosted in Ponyville was. The ponies back then got the banner measurement wrong. Hence, this. She said Ponyville was actually a real mess before she came along.”

“I guess there are a lot of old memories in here,” Anthea smiled. “But why would Mrs. Twilight keep all those memories in her dusty basement?”

“Because she needs the room for more books?” Prism guessed. “Like, five rooms in this place are the library.”

“There aren’t that many books here,” Starburst grumbled. “Prism, don’t touch that!”

“What?” Prism had just finished pulling a small golden, ruby-eyed dog-like statue from a junk pile on the far side of the room. That caused a chain reaction which toppled the pile towards Anthea.

“Annie!” Turquoise and Claire gasped and dashed for their friend together, loosing teal and emerald flames at the pile. The ashes of the vaporized junk fell on Anthea’s coat, staining her pristine pale pink fur with dirty blackness.

“Huh? I’m alive?” Annie cautiously opened her eyes that had screwed shut when the junk had started falling toward her. She found her face extremely close to Turquoise’s, which, even with her very blurry vision, she could tell was full of nothing but worry.

“Are you alright?” Turquoise’s mouth was still smoking. Anthea sniffed. Blueberries. He had probably eaten sapphires that morning.

“I’m fine,” Anthea replied. Instead of looking into the dragon-pony’s eyes, she cast her gaze around him, in the direction of junk-turned-ash. She blinked as Turquoise began brushing her coat, trying to get the ash out of it. “What is that thing?”

All heads turned to the “thing” in question. What they laid their eyes on was the strangest machine they had ever seen. A brownish-colored construction created sort of an arch over a large, oval, jeweled mirror. At the top of the arch, in a rectangular slot, was a clear rectangular crystal that seemed to be a replacement for an original component, whatever it was. Near the base of the mirror machine was a lever just begging to be pulled.

“Star, do you have any idea what that is?” Del asked.

“Yeah, this is… Mom showed this to me when I was younger. It’s a portal. She used to use it to go to a world full of… humans, I think she called them.” Starburst said, cautiously stepping towards the device. “According to her, it was… an experience. She met Dad there. Or his doppelganger. The world through there is kind of like a parallel universe, only with more advanced technology and things like that. She thinks there’s copies of everypony over there.”

“Even us?” Prism asked hopefully.

“Probably,” Starburst shrugged. “There’s no way to be sure.”

“Then why don’t we find out?” Candy suggested. “This mirror-portal thingy might be old, but it looks like it still works!”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Claire interjected nervously. “I may not be Princess Twilight’s part-time student, but even I know it’s never a good idea to experiment with magical devices you know nothing about.”

“Let’s just turn it on, then,” Prism said. “If it works, then we can ask Mrs. Sparkle to take us through later. What can it hurt?”

Starburst suddenly found all eyes on her.

“What are you looking at me for?” she asked, her face twisting in confusion.

“It is technically your portal, Star,” Del told her. “Prism’s right. If we’re just turnin’ the doohickey on, Ah don’t think much can happen.”

“Why are you going along with this?” she shot at him accusingly, wings flaring. “We’re supposed to be cleaning here!”

“Ah’m as curious as they are!” he argued. “We’re only seein’ if it works; if it doesn’t, oh well.”

“F-Fine.” Starburst grumbled. “I think I remember her saying something about the portal needing magic to work. Anthea, could you aim your magic at the white box at the top? I’ll get the lever.”

As Starburst reached the lever, Anthea lowered her horn.

“Am I aimed right?” she asked.

“Almost,” Turquoise said. “Raise five degrees and to the right three.”

“Got it.” Anthea acknowledged, moving her head in that same instant.

“Alright, I’m pulling the lever,” Starburst announced. “Fire, Annie.”

The lever fell with a ka-chunk, and the portal apparatus activated once Anthea’s green-tinted magic impacted on the clear white crystal.

“Great, it works,” Starburst said. “Let’s get back to cleaning. I’m turning it off.” As she reached to the lever again, she stopped when spotted a pile of abnormally large sticky notes on the floor, some purple, some an orange-ish red.

“Dear Twilight,

I know this is weird, communicating through sticky notes, but I think it saves us both the trouble of lugging around heavy books and taking them out like giant cell phones. I posted this in the book so I could ask you to find a way to make these our new cross-world communication medium.

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer

P.S.: Buy extra-large sticky notes.”

“Dear Sunset,

This was actually a good idea! I sent back an original sticky note along with the new magically enhanced ones. Can you believe it only took me three days to find a solution? Anyway, I have to get back to you. Spike just came back with Wild Berry Pop-Tarts!

Forever your friend,

Twilight Sparkle”

“Dear Twilight,

I’m writing this as I go back to my world after stealing your Wild Berry Pop-Tarts. Friends don’t deny friends Wild Berry Pop-Tarts. Besides, they don’t sell them in my world any more. I’ll pay you back.

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer”

“Dear Sunset,

I have placed passworded alarm wards around my Wild Berry Pop-Tarts. You’re not stealing them again. Take that, Shimmer!

Ha hah,

Twilight Sparkle”

“Dear Twilight,

Try to come up with a better password than “password”. It was the first thing I tried.

Stealing your Pop-Tarts again,

Sunset Shimmer”

“Dear Sunset,

The mirror is going in the castle basement, which I didn’t know I even had until a few days ago. Also, I took the book off the mirror so you can’t come through anymore and replaced it with quartz. As you know, quartz is a very unstable magic conducting agent, and any attempt to charge the mirror from either side would result in an explosion of some kind. I do want to make up, so please don’t steal my Wild Berry Pop-Tarts again. I’ll open the portal again when I have the time.

Still a little angry,

Twilight Sparkle”

So that’s why we don’t buy Wild Berry Pop-Tarts… Starburst mused. Wait a minute! Starburst whirled around, desperation etched onto her face. “Annie, can you get the magic out of that quartz?! I have to shut the portal down!”

“I shot quartz?! Every unicorn knows how dangerous that is to do!” Anthea gasped, lighting her horn again.

“You’re my mom’s student, and I’m a pegasus! I wouldn’t know!” Starburst yelled back. She bounded back to the lever on the machine, attempting to push it up to no avail. “Go up, darn it! Somepony help me before this thing explodes!”

“Turquoise, Prism, get the quartz block! Candy, Del, let’s help Star!” Acting on Claire’s orders, the other six ponies leapt into action. Turquoise flew with Prism and grabbed ahold of the now violently shaking quartz.

“Are you pulling, T? This thing isn’t budging!” Prism exclaimed.

“I am!” Turquoise almost roared. “It’s like the block is stuck fast!”

“We’re not doing much better!” Candy informed them. “The lever slot’s rusted!”

Anthea gasped again. “I have an idea! T, eat the quartz! Your dragon physiology should negate the magic!”

Turquoise obeyed, but just as his teeth cracked the mineral, arcane sparks shot from it, forcing both him and Prism away. The sparks also forced the others away, making them jump to avoid the wildly whipping magic. Thinking quickly, Prism re-located the golden statue he had found and threw it at the mirror, causing the portal to crack. This ultimately proved to be a bad idea as all seven ponies were suddenly blinded by a searing white light. When it dissipated, a swirling violet vortex was in the mirror’s place.

“Uh-oh.” Candy blinked as the vortex blew her mane and tail around.

“Ahem, Starburst, I think you should get your mother before this gets worse than it already is.” Claire told her friend, unable to tear her eyes away from the magical catastrophe.

“Yeah, I’m – I’m going.” She took to the air, but instead of heading towards the stairs like she wanted, she actually found herself flying sideways, getting closer and closer to the vortex. “Or not. Help! It’s pulling me in!”

“I’d love to, but I think we’re all in trouble, darlin’!” Del exclaimed, trying to keep his hooves on the ground. “Annie, a little magic would be appreciated!”

“I can’t do anything against that!” the unicorn screamed, digging her forehooves into the floor for what little support it gave. “I – wah!” She shrieked as she was flung back, helpless against the pull of the magic tornado. In desperation, she lunged in the air for a flash of green that passed her vision, latching onto Turquoise’s tail with her mouth.

Claire was in a similar situation, biting down on Prism’s tail while he held Del’s barrel, each doing their best to escape what they believed to be their doom. Then, all at once, their resistance failed and the children were sucked into the vortex. Starburst went first, then Claire, then Candy, then Prism and Del. Turquoise and Anthea held out for the longest, Anthea managing to use her best friend as somewhat of a shield after she maneuvered to his front claws. In the end, though, the dragon-pony’s strong wings could not fight the vortex, and they finally succumbed to its grasp. The vortex continued trashing the basement for a few more minutes before disappearing with a pop.

Outside her castle’s conference room, Twilight was taking a short recess with the Princesses, rubbing her temples while also trying to drink some calming chamomile tea.

“I’ve been at this for years, but it never gets any easier. How can Queen Gilda be so unreasonable?”

“You were thinking it would be easier since she’s a friend of Rainbow Dash’s?” Celestia asked evenly. Luna nodded silent agreement.

“I don’t know, somewhat,” Twilight sighed, bringing her tea to her lips. “I never even mentioned their relationship. Besides, we’re on her side. We all know the Minos Kingdom is overstepping its bounds.”

“Yes, they are.” Luna again agreed. Her gaze shifted past Twilight and down the hall, as did her ears’ positioning. “Twilight, you set our honorary nieces and nephews on the task of cleaning your basement, correct?”

The purple princess noticed Luna’s body language and glanced behind her. “Yes. What about it?”

“You didn’t feel the magical disturbance just now?” The Lunar Princess’s face was beginning to show motherly and princessly worry.

“Luna, please, anything I have down there hardly does anything anymore,” Twilight laughed. “Your senses might be getting away from you.”

“I may have aged, Twilight, but we are all immortal,” Luna stated. “My senses will never dull. You may be concerned about politics right now, but I am concerned about our future.” The dark blue princess set her tea down and began cantering down the hall. “You are welcome to join me!”

Twilight and Celestia shared a look and nodded. Celestia lit her horn, sending one pre-written message to the Queen of Griffonstone and King of the Minos Kingdom, as well as Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor in the conference room. Then, she and Twilight both lit their horns and teleported, falling into the same hurried canter alongside Luna.

“What do believe happened, Lulu?” Celestia asked her sister.

“I do not know, Tia,” Luna answered. “I simply have a bad feeling.”

Once they reached the basement entrance Twilight was the one to raise a brow.

“Everything seems fine. The lights are still on.”

“Shouldn’t we be hearing them moving the artifacts and items; maybe arguing and the like?” Luna pointed out.

“Yes…” Twilight answered slowly.

“Twilight, are you sure you left nothing overly dangerous is in your basement?” Celestia used her “teacher voice”.

“Of course, Princess,” Twilight assured her former mentor. “The only thing that could remotely cause a problem down there is the old mirror portal, but the machinery should be so rusted by now that it wouldn’t work even if I put the book back in place. I put quartz in the book’s place to remind myself not to open the portal again.”

“Didn’t you make up with Sunset Shimmer?” Luna inquired. “Why would you block the portal off?”

“She kept stealing my Pop-Tarts!” Twilight whined.

“Ah. A good reason, Sparkle.” Luna nodded sagely. “Friends do not steal friends’ Pop-Tarts, especially s’mores flavor.”

“It was Wild Berry.” Twilight deadpanned.

“Even more so.”

“I believe we should go down and check, just to be sure.” Celestia said, beginning to briskly trot down the basement stairs.

“Ah, Princess, wait for us!” Twilight swiftly glided down after her.

Luna sighed and lit her horn, teleporting into the basement in lieu of walking. She blinked as she popped back into existence.

“This is very messy, Twilight,” Luna remarked, stepping over a pile of papers. “I can see why this place needed to be cleaned. Now, where are the children?”

“I don’t know…” Twilight said, ears drooping. “Starburst would keep them here until they were done…”

Celestia opened her eyes after having cast a life-detection spell.

“They’re not in the castle.” she announced. “Come, together, let’s cast the life-detection spell again.”

Luna and Twilight did as they were told and lit their horns alongside Celestia, increasing the spell range to the whole of Equestria.

“Oh, no!” Twilight gasped. “They’re not even in Equestria! What could have…?” She didn’t want to think it, but turned to the alicorn sisters. “Check for residual magic.”

Almost immediately, lavender, golden, and dark blue magic swept the basement once, twice, and a third time.

“The magic I detected is similar to that of the mirror portal.” Luna said.

“Yes, but the magic felt… violent, in a way.” Celestia added.

“Then, what could have…” Twilight trailed off when she spotted a tiny piece of a clear crystal: quartz. “Quartz? But the only quartz that was down here was on the… oh, no.”

“I see. The children found the portal. Somepony must have gotten curious and activated it.” Celestia mused. “The quartz allowed the portal to turn on, but without magic, the glass would have stayed solid.”

“Then somepony must have convinced Anthea to feed magic into the quartz without knowing what it was.” Luna again nodded in agreement.

“An explosion. While a quartz-based magic explosion is dangerous, it wouldn’t have vaporized them.” Twilight said while turning the tiny piece of quartz over in her hoof. “The magic in the quartz must have reacted with the magic in the portal to send them somewhere. But the question is…”

“Where?” they said together.

In a brilliant flash, the children of the Elements of Harmony were spit out of another magical vortex outside a little ways outside Ponyville. Starburst tumbled through the air, falling to the ground and skidding on her back. Prism and Del were ejected similarly, though Prism had let go of Del, who landed on his side a few feet away from his pegasus friend. Candy and Claire were tossed a short distance and landed on top of each other. Turquoise and Anthea were last, still holding fast to each other as they hit the ground beside Starburst.

“Ow…” Prism groaned, grimacing at a stinging pain in his wing as he sat up. “Is everypony alright?”

“I will be…” Starburst replied, dusting her back off. “Once I kick your ass!”

“Wait, what?!” Prism jumped. “Why? I didn’t do anything!”

“You found the portal. You wanted to see if it worked. This is your fault!” Starburst stomped closer to Prism with every accusation.

“Del and Candy had a part in it, too!” Prism defended himself. “We were all curious!”

“We wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t grabbed that statue.” the petite pegasus growled.

“So that makes it my fault?” Prism shot back. “I was helping clean, as much as I didn’t want to. Do you even know where we are?”

Starburst stopped short in her advance, wings still flared. She scanned her surroundings, eyes widening each second she took in the sights.

“This is Ponyville. The portal only took us outside. We can just go back and apologize!” She laughed gaily and did a loop in the air.

“Oh, yes,” Claire agreed, attempting to rise to her feet. “Er, Candy, could you…?”

“Whoops, sorry,” Candy giggled. She rolled off her friend. “You’re pretty comfy, Claire.”

“I’m going to ignore that,” the smaller dragon pony smiled, tail swishing amusedly. “A quick apology is better than none. That will teach us to avoid magical items.”

“Or listen to our own suggestions,” Anthea added. She looked up at Turquoise, who was still holding her in his claws. “Um, T, you can let me go now.”

“Sorry,” Turquoise apologized, lowering his friend to the ground. “Del, you okay?”

“It’s nothin’ I can’t walk off.” he assured as he stood up. “Let’s head back into town. Mrs. Twilight will probably be lookin’ for us if the meetin’s over.”

Suddenly a sound like fireworks brought the kids’ attention to the sky. Orange sparks lit up the late morning sky, followed by yellow, pink, baby blue, and finally a brilliant white. What made these fireworks interesting wasn’t that they were coming from Princess Twilight’s castle in the distance, but the fact that five distinct cutie marks had been blazing with them.

“That’s Mom’s emergency alert signal!” Starburst exclaimed. “That’s good, she knows we’re missing. But for some reason it seems like overkill. We’re just outside Ponyville. She should be able to find us by the locator spells on us.”

“She might be panicking, Starburst,” Anthea pointed out. “After all, we kinda did just vanish. Should I send out a response signal?”

“Go ahead,” Starburst nodded. “At least she’ll know we’re nearby.”

Anthea’s horn shone with a green aura, then launched seven magic fireworks into the sky, all to represent each of them. The response was almost immediate. The children had been taught to understand Morse code so Anthea could send back responses if they ever ended up in this situation. Until now, they’d never thought they would have to use those skills. Purple magic popped in a specific sequence several times in the air.

“Message… and location… received… we are… on our way.” Turquoise translated. “‘We?’ Oh, right, she called our moms.”

“Think we’re going to get grounded?” Prism asked.

“I don’t believe we should,” Claire said. “It was an accident. We shouldn’t be faulted for being curious.”

“But the portal’s gone, and that’s our fault!” Candy exclaimed. “We could get in trouble for losing Mrs. Twilight’s access to humans.”

“The important thing is we’re safe, dear,” Claire smiled. “That should trump everything else.”

“I guess…” Candy reluctantly agreed. Then she brightened. “Maybe our moms will help us clean the basement!”

“Better than punishment.” Prism added.

“Exactly,” Del nodded. “I suggest we get our story straight before they get here.”

“Hey, Twilight. You mind telling us what the heck that was?” Rainbow Dash asked as she followed her friends leaving Ponyville proper.

“What is ‘that’, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight questioned her friend.

“That bunch of fireworks!” Rainbow threw her hooves up as she flew. “I know the emergency alert thing, but after that. What was going on?”

“Well, I called all of you after seeing a big flash outside Ponyville and wanted you to help me investigate,” Twilight began. “But before I left, somepony from that same direction fired rescue response magic. Based on the number of lights, there are seven individuals who need help. I told them we were coming. I do find one thing strange, though.”

“The response magic?” Rarity guessed.

“Precisely,” Twilight confirmed. “The unicorn who fired the response magic didn’t give any more information other than his or her fur colors and the colors of their companion’s fur, as if…”

“You knew them?” Spike, who was also with the Mane Six, offered.

“Yes!” Twilight replied. “I know I have a lot of friends now, but the only ones I know who get into serious trouble are, well, us! And the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but that’s on an almost weekly basis.”

“Maybe they’re new friends!” Pinkie Pie squealed. “Ponies with a dark and mysterious past, or maybe they have a huge secret they can’t tell anypony and we have to figure it out!”

“That sounds pretty awesome.” Rainbow remarked.

“It also sounds crazier than goin’ up against–”

“–a pack o’ Timberwolves trussed up like a turkey.” Applejack said.

“Whoever they are, I hope they aren’t hurt too bad.” Fluttershy said hopefully. “I think a signal like that is used when somepony can’t move.”

Starburst’s ears flicked the moment she heard Fluttershy’s voice.

“They’re here!” she exclaimed. “Look alive, everypony!”

“We’re ready, Star, geez,” Prism groaned, once again wincing at pain in his wing. “Play guardspony some other time.”

“I wasn’t trying to – ugh!” Starburst huffed and turned just as Twilight came over the hill. She stood stoically as she and her friends’ mothers approached. She wasn’t scared, simply nervous. Depending on how panicked she was, a punishment from Twilight could range from chores for a few weeks to not being able to help Del with his work. Starburst’s mother approached with a smile on her face; the little pegasus couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad sign.

“Hello!” Twilight greeted her. “You were the ones that called for rescue?”

“Uh…” Starburst blinked. “Yes… Annie launched the signal… and I think Prism’s right wing is hurt…” The pegasus princess could only trail off. This was odd. She and her friends made a big mistake? Check. Their parents come and get them. Check. Reprimand for making that mistake? Un-check. Understandable; telling them what they did wrong could wait. Uncle Spike is a baby dragon? Check. Wait, what? She looked back at her friends. “Guys? Help. I’m very confused right now.”

“Starburst, please,” Claire chuckled as she plodded up to her friend. “We’re–” Taking in her father’s new size did not take long. “Oh, dear Celestia.” Claire fainted right then and there.

“Claire, are you–?” Del also stopped upon spotting the diminutive dragon. “Uh, y’all are gonna want to see this. And T, come get your sister.”

One by one, the children locked eyes with the dragon they once knew; Candy was rendered speechless; Turquoise took one look at his father and silently collected his sister, where Anthea opted to help revive her. Prism did the same as Turquoise, but instead of staying silent, he burst out laughing.

“Sweet Celestia! Is – is that Mr. Spike?! I mean I’ve seen the pictures, but still! He’s tiny! What happened?” A newly-irritated Starburst smacked Prism on the back of his head. “Ow! What the hay, Star?!”

“This isn’t the time to be laughing!” Starburst scolded him. “Uncle Spike’s a baby dragon, I don’t think Mom knows who I am, and this situation is still extremely confusing!”

“Uh, girls, I don’t think these ponies are right in the head.” Rainbow hissed. “One, that mare just called Spike ‘Uncle’, and two, there are dragons with them. Tell me that doesn’t sound weird.”

“Hush up, Dash,” Applejack rolled her eyes. “We’ve seen weirder things. Ah’m sure if we get the mare ta stop and think, everything will be right as rain.”

“Please, calm down!” Twilight tried consoling the new ponies. Claire was rousing slowly at this point, and at Twilight’s voice, the kids halted. “Thank you. Now, what happened? How did you all end up here?”

“We were cleaning the basement…” Starburst began.

“Uh-huh,” Twilight nodded.

“And we found the portal to the other world…” the pegasus continued.

“Go on,” Twilight again nodded.

“Then we turned it on, Annie used magic on some quartz, the portal exploded and now we’re here! We made a mistake, and we’re all extremely sorry! Right, Prism?” Starburst shot an icy glare at Prism.

“Oh, come on!” Prism groaned, half in pain and half in irritation. “You can’t still be blaming me! All of us, we didn’t think before we acted. Lesson learned. Can we go home now?”

“No,” Twilight said firmly. “I’m still confused here. Who are you? Who are these dragons? Why is Spike an uncle to you?”

“What?” Starburst stepped back. “Don’t you recognize me?”

“While I do have to admit you look a lot like a friend of mine, should I recognize you?” the purple alicorn asked.

“Yes!” Starburst exclaimed. “I’m your–!” She looked back at her friends. “Group meeting! Now!” She quickly cantered to her friends, where they huddled in a circle. “Okay, what the hay is going on? Mom doesn’t know who we are!”

“Could the portal have done some weird magic thing when it exploded?” Candy guessed. “Like, it gave them all amnesia?”

“I think they would need to be in range of the explosion for that,” Claire pointed out. “Besides, it doesn’t explain why Turquoise and I’s father is a baby dragon. Magic shouldn’t affect him now!”

“It’s almost like we’re in the past,” Turquoise agreed, taking a quick glance out at the Mane Six and Spike from the huddle. “This is too weird.”

“If we are in the past, the quartz must have done it,” Anthea said. “I’ve never heard of a quartz explosion making rips in space-time, though. Maybe the magic in the portal contributed to it.”

“Much as Ah understand magic, Ah think Annie might be right,” Del agreed as well. “Claire’s got a point, too. No way would our parents forget us. Question is, what do we do? Princess Twilight can’t know that much time travel magic at this point.”

“We could lie.” Prism suggested.

“Gosh dang it, Prism, that is the–!” Del started.

“Best idea you’ve had all day,” Star finished.

Del looked at her incredulously. “Star, darlin’, Ah don’t mean to sound rude, but Ah will. Are you crazy?”

“No, think about it. This is the past; our entire lives might change if we tell the truth now,” Star explained. “Worse than that, we might even end up not existing. We’ll stall until it’s a good time to reveal the truth. Sound good?”

“Ain’t got much choice,” Del sighed. “Ah don’t like it, but this is for our future. Come on.”

The children turned with a rather apprehensive confidence, walking back to their mothers and Spike.

“So, do ya mind explainin’ your behavior?” Applejack asked. “Nopony’s that jittery if they don’t got anything to hide.”

“Well, we kind of have something to say, but here isn’t the best place to say it.” Claire answered. “Might I suggest ho- I mean, Carousel Boutique?”

“But my castle is–” Twilight started.

“I would be delighted to host you,” Rarity interjected. “I’ll admit, it might be a little tight with seven of you, but everything can be arranged to be comfortable. Though, as with any guest, I’d like to know the names of who I’m taking in. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Ah, yes,” Claire smiled. “My name is Crystal Clarity. You can call me Claire.” She gestured to Turquoise. “This is my little brother, Turquoise Blitz.”

“Little brother?!” Spike gasped in disbelief. “He’s twice your size! He’s twice my size!”

“He was smaller than I was when I was born,” Claire laughed. “I suppose something else made up for that.

“My name is Starburst,” the orange pegasus introduced herself. “It’s… uh… nice to meet you. This is still so weird…”

“You seem frightened,” Twilight observed, offering a friendly smile. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“No, I’m not scared,” Starburst shook her head. “Just trying to wrap my head around all this.”

“My name is Anthea,” Anthea smiled. “Most ponies I know call me Annie.”

“Ah’m Golden Delicious,” Del offered a short bow. “Call me Del if my name’s a mouthful.”

“Or Goldie!” Candy giggled. “Oh, my name’s Cotton Candy. You can call me CeeCee or just Candy.” She laughed as Pinkie actually began sniffing her.

“Oh my gosh!” Pinkie gasped. “Girls! She actually smells like cotton candy! I wonder if–!”

“Pinkie, do ya remember when ya met me?” Applejack interrupted her. “Just because a pony happens to have a food in their name does not mean they taste like it. Ya shouldn’t be tastin’ ponies any – Pinkie!”

Pinkie clearly hadn’t been listening and was frozen near Candy’s backside, her maw inches from the new earth pony mare’s tail.

“Aww, but it looks so good!” she whined. “It’d be a totally new thing! Twilight didn’t mind when I tasted her. It tasted purple! I was expecting grape, or maybe blueberry, but nope, it was purple! Did you know purple has a flavor?”

“I don’t taste like anything!” Twilight exclaimed. “Wait a minute, when did you taste me?!”

“Really? Twi, you don’t remember when you switched our minds with our pets so we could know how they were thinking?” Rainbow asked.

“Hee-hee! That was fun!” Pinkie cackled. “No one even knew I wasn’t me that week!”

“I still don’t know how Gummy played you so well,” Spike commented. Then he snapped his claws. “Oh, yeah, you kept biting everypony’s tails. You were on Twilight’s the longest.”

“How does purple even have a taste?” Fluttershy wondered aloud.

“Pinkie’s thing wasn’t nearly as hilarious as what Opal did in Rarity’s body,” Rainbow laughed. “Rarity, want me to find a mouse for you to–”

“Alright, I think it time to get going!” Rarity interjected once more, beginning to quickly trot off.

“Ya had ta mention the mouse thing, didn’t ya, Dash?” Applejack asked her friend dryly.

“She can still do it,” Spike said. “Twilight had me catalogue all of the pictures from the experiment.”

“Rarity, um, convinced me to destroy her pictures.” Twilight said sheepishly.

“You switched your minds with your pets?” Prism asked.

“I hope you’re not still talking about it!” Rarity called back.

“Might as well get going,” Rainbow sighed. “Rares will get even more annoyed if we don’t follow her.”

“What happened to you all?” Twilight asked the children as they began the walk back to Ponyville. “From what it seemed like, a teleportation spell dropped you where you didn’t want to be.”

“You… could say that.” Starburst answered slowly.

“You must be pretty powerful if you can move yourself and your friends, Anthea,” Twilight continued in admiration. “It took me a year just to learn how to teleport myself and Spike at the same time.”

“And now she pops everypony around like there’s no tomorrow!” Spike said, throwing his claws up.

“I don’t teleport everypony around that much,” Twilight huffed indignantly. “I’ll admit, I do it to myself a lot–”

“Especially when you’re going crazy.” Spike cut in. Twilight gave him an icy glare.

“But it’s just to save time,” she finished. “Some things can’t wait.”

“Well, um, you could try to cut down on your magic use just a little,” Fluttershy suggested. “I think you’ve already learned that magic doesn’t solve everything. In your case, it kind of… makes things worse sometimes.”

“Since when have I used magic to solve a difficult problem? Name one time!” Twilight challenged her friends.

“One word, Twilight: tardy.” Rainbow deadpanned.

“That doesn’t–!”

“Ooh, ooh! Me! That super fun time we had sneaking into the Starswirl the Bearded wing in Canterlot Castle library to find a time travel spell because you thought you needed to warn yourself of a disaster but you were actually warning yourself not to stress so much!”

“That was–!”

“The first Winter Wrap-Up with us.” Applejack chimed in.

“Okay, I get it!” Twilight groaned. “At least I know to ask you guys for help now.”

“And we’ve learned to recognize when you’re stressin’ about something.” Applejack nodded. She turned her attention to Ponyville’s newest visitors while they entered the town. “Ain’t much farther now, y’all.”

It surprised the children to see Ponyville appear so small. There were much fewer buildings than in their time, and those that were there were smaller than they were used to. The only constant was Princess Twilight’s towering Castle of Friendship shining at the far end of town. It might have been a better idea to use the castle as a meeting place, mainly due to Turquoise’s size, but no one but Twilight had objected and Rarity had insisted after Claire’s suggestion. Rarity might have wanted to have practice hosting foreign parties since she was close friends with a princess, or probably because she was tired of always gathering at Twilight’s home when an incident occurred. It was that thought that brought Twilight to a halt, swiveling her head to Ponyville’s visitors.

“How do you know about Carousel Boutique?” she asked in a skeptic tone. “You just got here.”

“Uh... doesn’t everypony?” Starburst said nervously, fiddling with her hair ribbon. “I mean, it’s famous, right? You – I mean, my mom ordered my ribbon from there, and Claire and Turquoise sometimes… er, order gems from the boutique, too.”

“Not outside Ponyville or Canterlot,” Twilight shook her head. “I mean, sure, Rarity has business in Manehattan, too, but she’s never mentioned anything to do with dragon customers. Well, besides Spike, but he gets most of his gems for free as rewards.”

“Word of mouth, then?” Candy offered.

“I guess that makes sense.” Twilight agreed, and they all began walking again. She was still skeptical, but decided to leave the issue for the moment.

Rarity had gone ahead to await her friends at her home and business. Accounting for… what was the bigger dragon’s name? Ah, yes, Turquoise Blitz. Nice name. Accounting for his size, Rarity moved around and spaced the lobby and her home’s furnishings so that nothing of value was in danger of being knocked over. Claire (such a nice mare) was also bigger than she was used to, but she was much closer to… a pony’s size. That was odd. Spike was slightly bigger than the Crusaders, of course; she knew that, but none of the other dragons she had ever seen, especially those from the Dragon Migration were even close to a the size of a normal pony, yet Claire was much closer to her size and even walked like a pony. It didn’t escape a pony as detail savvy as her – Claire had a gait like a pony, while Turquoise’s was less equine. The winged dragon moved more like a four-pawed animal, like a cat. Why would a dragon walk like a pony? Spike walked like a biped, so that wasn’t much to go on, and it wasn’t like she could ask him. The only quadruped dragon she knew of was the one in the mountain near Ponyville. While now cooperative because of Fluttershy, it would take far too long to make the trek to him. But then, she could ask Twilight for more books on dragons. After all, while his efforts were still childish at best, Spike really was trying to woo her. Getting to know more of his draconic tics would help her make her decision on letting him continue. Her mind kept drifting to Claire. She walked like a pony. Rarity had only read one book that mentioned a dragon-pony hybrid, but even then, it was only a snippet of information. Hybridization was possible…

Rarity was jolted from her thoughts by knocking at her door. Opening it revealed her friends and their new acquaintances.

“Hello, dears,” she greeted them as she allowed them in. “I’m sorry if the layout seems a bit off. I had to account for Claire and Turquoise’s sizes, you see.”

“No problem, Rares,” Applejack said, tipping her hat slightly. “Ah’m just glad we got these folks from outside.”

“Thank you for allowing us into your home, Mrs. Rarity.” Starburst said gratefully.

“Oh, Starburst, just call me Rarity,” the fashionista giggled. Then she blinked. “Pardon, but did I hear you correctly? Mrs.?”

“No! Uh, I mean, I’ll go get something for Prism’s wing.” Starburst dashed into the kitchen.

“Do you need any–?” Rarity winced along with everyone else when they heard crashing coming from the kitchen.

“I’m good!” Starburst called.

“She seems… um, nervous.” Fluttershy blinked.

“She’s worried about a friend, is all,” Claire assured her with a nervous giggle.

“Um, okay…” Fluttershy could easily tell that wasn’t the truth, but didn’t attempt to pry further.

When Starburst came back with a bag of ice, she shoved the bag under the unfortunate pegasus’ wing.

“Oh, geez, that’s cold!” Prism hissed. “Don’t be so nervous, Star.”

“Not helping,” Starburst whispered back. “I can’t help but be nervous. We’re lying and I almost screwed up!”

“You’re lucky she misheard,” Prism commented. “Probably would have made this go faster, though.”

“I think it’s almost over, anyway,” Starburst subtly pointed at Twilight. “Look, my mom’s head is swiveling. She’s in analysis mode. When she finishes, she’ll find holes in our story. At least Del will be happy we don’t have to lie anymore.”

“Looks like the rest of our parents are taking it in, too,” Prism nodded. “I think you jump-started their brains with your slip up. Maybe. I don’t even know what CeeCee’s mom is doing right now.”

Pinkie Pie appeared to be copying Twilight, following the princess’s head movements and shadowing her as she began to examine the children.

“Girls, Spike, will you follow me to the castle, please?” Twilight asked suddenly.

“Why?” Rainbow questioned her.

Twilight only inclined her head and gestured to the door with it

“Oh, private, right. C’mon, ‘Shy.” Rainbow started for the door.

“But I want to ask – eep!” Fluttershy squeaked after she was pulled out of the boutique by Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, dear, it appears we have a group meeting,” Rarity said with an apologetic bow. “Please, make yourselves at home until we return. Come along, Spike.”

“R-Right.” Spike hurried after Rarity.

“Ya’ll play nice now. We’ll be back in a few.” She affirmed her words with a firm nod before galloping after her friends.

Pinkie looked around the now much emptier lobby.

“Eh, I got nothing.” With that, she pranced out the door, closing it with her tail.

Author's Note

Okay, first chapter, second chance! Feedback is appreciated, and likes are always welcome. I have chapter 2 written, but I won't post it until I get some words from you guys. Kilala fans, please tell me if I should change the children's expressions, reactions, and dialogue to fit them better. I want to write the best story I can.

Chapter 2

The Elements of Harmony and Spike entered Twilight’s home with more than a few questions swimming in their minds. This large group of assorted pony races had just appeared due to ‘a spell gone wrong’ according to the lone unicorn of the party. While extremely believable, mainly due to the Elements’ own experiences with magical mishaps (often directly or indirectly caused by one of them or a closely related outside source), there were some things that just weren’t adding up. The seven friends simply sat on their thrones pondering this for at least ten minutes, trying to come up with at least one logical answer.

“Okay, I’m just gonna come out and say it: I felt a connection with those guys; a strong one,” Spike said, sitting up from a slumped position. “I can’t explain it, but I just feel like I know them. I can’t get it out of my head.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth, Spike.” Rainbow agreed with a nod. “I mean, the only other pony I know with a rainbow mane is my dad, and then this guy shows up! And he’s a pegasus! What are the odds?”

“Indeed!” Rarity stomped a hoof lightly. “Surely this link we feel with those ponies isn’t just a one-off sensation. That pink and purple dragon-pony… her name is Claire, if you remember. I saw something in her eyes that reminded me of, well, me. It’s hard to put my hoof on it, but it was definitely there. Wouldn’t you agree, Twilight? Twilight?”

The purple alicorn princess blinked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, right.” she nodded.

“Is something the matter, dear?” Rarity inquired.

Twilight shook her head, probably in an attempt to clear it.

“Sorry, Rarity. I’m thinking, just like you all.” she apologized. “There just has to be a reason why they all seem so familiar.”

“Ah’ve been wonderin’ the same thing,” Applejack agreed. “Now, Ah know almost every single member of the Apple family, close and extended, and Ah also know Ah ain’t never heard of this Golden Delicious fella, neither. But there’s somethin’ about him that makes me want to treat him like family.”

“Could he be a cousin you never met at a family reunion before?” Fluttershy suggested.

“It’s a possibility,” the farmpony shrugged. “Like Ah said, Ah don’t know everypony in the Apple clan, just most of ‘em. No offense to you two, Twilight, Rarity, but Apples never mess with magic unless they have to. Poor guy must’ve just got caught in his friend’s teleport without meanin’ to.”

“That’s the thing, though,” Twilight spoke up once again. “A normal disruption of a teleportation spell would make a pony either stop casting or send the target to a place other than the desired location. Plus, there are like, seven of them. None of the mass-teleportation spells have that big of a flash. The only way a large number of ponies could have gotten from one place to another like that isn’t magic… but a magical device! Well, at least we solved one mystery; we know how they got here.”

“But we still have no idea who they are!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Normally, I would have thrown them a party right away, but something told me to stop. Huh, I never stop myself from throwing a party…”

The girls and Spike all nodded in agreement with Pinkie’s statement, more over that she wouldn’t throw a party for new ponies than anything else.

“But, Twilight,” Rarity raised a hoof slightly, as if she were asking a question in a class. “What magic device could those ponies possibly have used? The only one in existence is the mirror to that other world. Well, it became a device after you… for lack of a better word, even though it isn’t a word at all, ‘scienced’ the mirror into a machine.”

“That’s an excellent question, Rarity!” Twilight replied with a smile. “I’m beginning to think this is a case of science and magic combining. Again. Maybe; I don’t know. Come on, everypony. Let’s go ask our mysterious friends a few questions.”

[Line Break]

“Ah really don’t think not tellin’ the truth to our parents was the smartest thing we coulda done back there.” Del remarked as he paced the lobby of Carousel Boutique. “Star, ya know your mom’s going to figure this out in the next few minutes. We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Calm down, Del,” Starburst sighed. “We were all a little frazzled. We can tell them the truth once they get here.”

Despite not necessarily needing to, Anthea blinked.

“Mom’s going to faint.” she said bluntly.

“That goes double for us,” Claire agreed, nodding once in unison with Turquoise. “I believe both Mom and Dad are going to hit the floor once they learn the truth.”

“The rest of them will probably freeze in place, or in Starburst’s mom’s case, freak out.” Prism guessed.

“Mom does not freak out every time she doesn’t understand something!” Starburst jabbed a hoof at Prism.

“What about the time she found out you passed out at Sweet Apple Acres?” Candy asked.

“That was the first time it happened!” Starburst argued. “Of course she’d be overly worried.”

“The only thing we can do is deal with it when they get here.” Turquoise said.

They didn’t have to wait long. In the following minutes, Starburst had taken to using her special talent to stop Prism from teasing her, Del and Candy had gone into the kitchen to make snacks, just simple crackers and sandwiches, Claire was examining the clothes her now young mother had on display on the mannequins, and T and Annie were anxiously watching the door. While this was going on, Twilight, Spike, and the girls were fast approaching the boutique, and neither side knew what to expect.

When the door to the boutique swung open, Del and Candy were coming back from the kitchen with trays of food on their backs, Starburst had stopped terrorizing Prism (though she wouldn’t admit it, she was having fun), Claire had politely turned around, and T and Annie stood from where they were sitting on the couch. It was quiet as Del and Candy slid the snack trays onto the coffee table, but of course, because of the tension, the food wasn’t touched. Somepony on both sides coughed, and as the tension began to die down a bit, everypony sat down.

“Anthea, I wanted to ask, what sort of device were you using when you all were transported here?” Twilight was the first to break the silence, after which everypony breathed an internal sigh of relief.

“It was a portal.” the blind mare answered calmly. “I told you already; there was an explosion, and when we all opened our eyes, we ended up here.”

“Where were you trying to go when it happened?” Twilight asked.

“I’m not sure.” Anthea said. “We just activated it, and then, when we tried to turn it off, it exploded.”

“When the portal exploded, there was a swirling mass of magic.” Claire spoke up. “It looked like a funnel, or something out of T’s comic books.”

“A wormhole!” Twilight exclaimed, clapping her hooves together like a schoolfilly. “It makes so much sense! That would explain why you ended up in a completely different place entirely! Of course, there’s the astronomical chance you could have ended up in the exact same place, but that’s extremely unlikely.”

“Uh, Twilight? What the hay do worms and holes have to do what happened?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight resisted the urge to facehoof, or at least chastise Rainbow Dash for not reading more.

“A wormhole is a sort of ‘passage’ through space and time that’s extremely unpredictable. Anything or anypony that enters one could end up hundreds or thousands of miles from where they were, and that’s not counting if they don’t wind up in another time, dimension, or universe. And, in a theoretical case, if you’re really unlucky, you could be, well, you know, not living once you set hoof into one.” Twilight explained.

“In other words, something science-y and magical happened and the seven of them wound up here.” Spike surmised.

“That’s all well and good; we definitely know the who, the what, the why, and the how, but tell me, dears, what is the ‘when’?” Rarity inquired. “Are you from the past? The future? Or is it like Twilight is guessing, that you’re simply miles from home and don’t know how to get back?”

“Or another dimension or universe?!” Pinkie so helpfully added. It really was a good question.

“What we mean to say is, darlings… who are you?” Rarity finished.

The Mane Six’s children looked at each other. Their parents were eager to learn about them. Or, judging by Twilight’s beaming smile and the fact that a quill and notepad had magically materialized, at the very least, Twilight was, and it didn’t seem likely they’d shy away from anything they were told. So, the kids looked to Anthea and partially at Del, who they knew would reveal the truth.

“This is kinda gonna be hard to believe, but we all know y’all have dealt with things like that.” Del began. The Mane Six and Spike gave him a questioning look and Del simply gestured to Pinkie. All seven heads nodded in understanding. “That wormhole you talked about, well, it brought us from the future; ‘bout 25 years. O’course, that’s just a guess. But the short of it is–”

“We’re your children.” Annie finished for Del.

The other Mane Six kids tensed while their parents’ mouths dropped open.

“Um… surprise?” Candy offered.

The next couple minutes were silent as the main cast imitated fish out of water. This moment of quiet in the town of Ponyville was rare. It was no secret that many of the often loud events that made the little town the capital of strange were caused by the Elements of Harmony. So, yes, when looking back, the townsponies were glad for this small moment of muteness. That moment was immediately shattered by the next with one word.

“What?”

“Del, Annie, you broke our moms.” Prism said as he watched his mother continue to imitate the most common aquatic animal.

Then, all at once, the six ponies and dragon blinked and shook their heads, albeit still with varying stages of shock on their faces.

“Did… did we hear you correctly?” Twilight asked.

“I dunno, Twi,” Rainbow said. “There aren’t a lot of words that sound like ‘children’.”

“Rainbow, please,” Twilight shot a glare at Dash turned her gaze back on the kids. “Could you answer the question?”

“You heard right,” Annie nodded. “We’re your children.”

“Oh, okay, well, good…” the purple alicorn sighed. “I’m going to scream now.”

Ears pinned back against heads as Twilight screamed like Spike realizing he ate the gem ingredients to a jewel cake he was making. This scream lasted for a good three minutes before Applejack and Rarity simultaneously closed the manic purple mare’s mouth with magic and hooves. The alicorn glanced at her two friends.

“Now Twilight, I know this… er, revelation comes as a shock, but this is hardly the way to react.” Rarity told her.

“She’s right, sugarcube,” Applejack gave a nod to Rarity. “Ya don’t need to go and make us deaf, now.” She felt Twilight relax in her grip. “Ya gonna act like a sane pony?” Twilight nodded, and the two other mares released her. She then let out a long breath, bringing a hoof to her chest and then out.

“I’m sorry, I usually have that under control,” the Princess of Friendship apologized, blushing. “Ahem, so… you all are our children?”

“Last we checked.” Prism answered.

“Okay, wow,” Twilight breathed. “That’s a lot to take in.”

“Quite,” Rarity agreed. “Well, if we’ve taken you this far, I can only say that we’ve done admirably. Or will do admirably, as the case is.” It was the kids’ turn to beam. “Though, if I may ask, Claire, Turquoise, who is your father? If he was a dragon, one of us must have been quite taken with him to get to this point.”

“Mom, since you’re already sitting, I think you might want to lie down.” Turquoise advised.

Rarity smiled along with Claire, because with Turquoise’s words, it was clear she was their mother.

“I don’t see why you’re asking me to lie down, dear,” Rarity laughed a little. “I’m sure I’ll be delighted to hear who the lucky dragon is.”

“I’ll give you a hint: his name starts with an ‘S’, and he’s standing right next to you.” Claire smirked.

The white unicorn froze, as did the little dragon.

“Whoa! Way to go, Spike!” Rainbow exclaimed, jabbing the drake in the side.

“Is that Twilight calling me? Coming, Twilight!” Spike made for the exit, but only ended up slamming into a lavender magic wall.

“I’m right here, and you’re not going anywhere, buster.” Twilight levitated him back to his position beside her.

Spike immediately tried again, but this time Rarity took him in her magic and placed him beside herself.

“Spike, I know you know better than to run from problems.” There was an edge in Rarity’s voice that made the young drake stand stock still. “These are your – our children. I will not let you make them see you run off like a–”

“Wuss?” Rainbow supplied.

“–Coward.” Rarity corrected her prismatic-maned friend. “I’m sorry for the harsh word, but it needed to be said.”

“I understand,” Spike sighed. “I shouldn’t have tried to run away like that. I just got scared.”

“Oh, Spike, I was scared, too,” Rarity cooed, nuzzling him. “I still am a little, honestly. But I didn’t run, and I’m not going to run now. To tell the truth, I’m actually a tad confused.”

“About what?” Spike enjoyed the nuzzling, but not the change in Rarity’s tone.

“Well, I apologize for how I’m wording this, but… how does, er…” Rarity gestured to herself, Spike, and their children. “…this work?”

Before Spike could speak again, a lavender magic soundproof bubble suddenly surrounded him.

“Rarity, I thought you and I already researched this together?” Twilight came to stand beside Rarity. “Don’t tell me you actually weren’t listening.”

“I was, dear,” Rarity whispered. “I’ll admit, some of what you said went over my head, but I understood the basics. I’m just a little unsure of the process after the… ahem, deed.”

Twilight sighed. “If you want to know the process, look at the results,” She gestured to Claire and Turquoise. “Obviously it works, and they’re clearly happy. It might be confusing now, but if those two are any indication, it works out.”

“You’re right, Twilight,” Rarity smiled. “I guess I’m a little flustered by all this. It’s not every day you learn you’re going to be a mother in a few years.”

Spike, meanwhile, was banging on the magic bubble, inaudibly yelling to be let out. Oddly enough, the bubble wasn’t very strong, and it began to crack under the little dragon’s strength. Then, seeing his opportunity, Spike sucked in a breath.

“Twilight!” The number one assistant watched as alicorn in mention shot into the air in surprise, at which Rainbow, Prism, Candy, and Pinkie snickered. “Geez, Twi, try not to go through the ceiling.”

“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed as she fluttered back down. “Don’t – wait, how did–?”

Spike punched the bubble, and a piece fell away.

“Haste makes waste, Twilight.” he said, poorly imitating his guardian.

“Don’t use my own words against me,” Twilight dispelled the bubble and turned back to the children. “Now, where were we?” The quill and pad rose again.

“You were asking how we ended up here,” Del replied. “To tell the truth, it’s kind of all of our faults.”

“How could this accident have been all of your faults?” Twilight asked, immediately intrigued.

“We were cleaning the basement, and then we found the mirror,” Starburst spoke up. “So… after discussing it for a bit, we decided to turn it on to see if it worked.” She shot a pointed glare at Prism Bolt. “We wouldn’t be in this situation if he hadn’t screwed up.”

“All I did was grab a little statue!” Prism shouted. “You were the one who agreed to turn the thing on!”

“So how does that translate into you going back in time?” Twilight asked. “Wait, the castle has a basement?”

“The book powering the portal was replaced with a block of quartz,” Anthea answered. Her gaze fixed to the floor. “The others didn’t know, and I would never have been able to tell them; I’m blind. We only found out it was quartz from some nearby notes. We tried to stop it, but it just exploded. You actually taught me that quartz was dangerous with magic, Princess. I should have been able to sense it was there.”

Turquoise draped a comforting wing over her.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Annie,” he told her. “I don’t think any of us knew what was going to happen.”

“Hold on, I’m still lost here,” Twilight spoke again, stepping forward. “My portal device was made to go exclusively to that human world where Sunset Shimmer is. The thaumaturgical and temporal pathways would have had to intertwine and span out in several different directions and then coalesce at this specific point in time. That alone is–!”

“Twilight, you’re being an egghead again,” Rainbow Dash interrupted her flatly. “Could you use words we all understand?”

Twilight coughed.

“I’m basically saying that Anthea and the others were really unlucky, or lucky, to have ended up here,” she explained. “What’s amazing is they experienced one-way time travel and weren’t whisked back away to their original position. I’d love to study the residual magic from where they appeared, but… that isn’t what we should be… focusing on… sorry.” Twilight withered under the gaze of her friends. As exciting as magical studies were, learning about it was the last thing on their minds.

“Ain’t it possible to recreate the conditions that made the time vortex in the first place?” This time, all eyes turned to Applejack. “What? Ah figured Ah might as well study a little science and magical mumbo-jumbo with Twi becoming a princess and all. Ah knew more crazy things would happen. Nothin’ wrong with takin’ a little initiative.”

At that, Anthea sighed.

“I should have asked what the conducting agent was first. If I hadn’t shot the quartz-!”

Turquoise silenced her once again with a comforting wing.

“We’ll figure this out, Annie,” he assured her. “I bet it won’t take long at all.”

“So what do we do?” Starburst asked. “We have to get back home and we can’t just make an accident happen like that again.”

“I’ll talk with your mom to see how we can fix this,” Anthea replied. “But I have no idea what the rest of you guys will do.”

“I wish I knew more about magic to help you, Annie,” Claire gave her friend an uneasy smile. “I can only do so much magic in the way you do, anyway.”

Both Twilight and Rarity blinked and fixed their eyes on Claire, or more specifically, her forehead.

“Claire, dear, you can cast magic?” Rarity asked. “How?”

“My horns are my magical conduit,” Claire answered, pointing up to her twin ivory horns. “I can do weak levitation, but most of my magic is actually in my dragon-fire.”

“That’s fascinating,” Fluttershy suddenly gasped in awe. “I didn’t think pony and dragon physiologies would mix like that.”

“That’s what the doctors said when each of us were born,” Turquoise spoke up. “They were really surprised when I was born with wings.”

“How is that possible? I don’t even have a sign of wings growing.” Spike commented.

“They came in as you grew – that’s what you told us, anyway.” Turquoise said.

“If’n ya don’t mind me askin’, we know who Romeo here ends up with,” Applejack pointed at Spike. “But what about the rest of us? Ya’ll had to come from somewhere.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Applejack.” Twilight cut in. “My reason being, the butterfly effect.”

“The what?” Her friends asked together. All of them, that is, except Pinkie Pie.

“The butterfly effect: The theory that something small, such as the insignificant flapping of a butterfly’s wings, can affect the outcome of any event across the multiverse, whether in its past, present or, future.” Mouths dropped open yet again as Pinkie finished speaking. “What? Did you think I didn’t understand my own randomness? I read books, too!”

“Then why hasn’t anything happened?” Rainbow asked. “If something like this is supposed to change the universe, shouldn’t we be seeing its effects or something by now?”

“I… suppose,” Twilight said, tapping a hoof on her chin. “But since nothing has happened, at least not yet, we can assume meeting our children doesn’t have much of an impact on the normal timeline. That also means we fix this and get the seven of them back home!”

“I’m almost afraid to ask, but, um, what will happen if we don’t?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“Every one of our children will die a horrible, horrible death at some random point in time so that no copy of the same pony exists in the same timeline. It’s the law of existence.” Pinkie explained. “I don’t know why the deaths have to be so gruesome, that’s just how it works.”

The other four of the Mane Six looked to Twilight.

“She’s… right, actually. Surprisingly.” the alicorn admitted. “Just before Claire and the others are born in the future, the ones here in the present will be killed in some way so multiverse doesn’t go into whack.”

“So we don’t hook up with whoever we hook up with,” Rainbow nodded with finality. “Problem solved. They can stay here!”

“But then they won’t exist at all, Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed. “Problem not solved! Problem still here!”

“Twilight, use your words.” Spike warned.

“Ahem! Right, sorry.” the princess blushed.

“So, back to my original question, y’all; which stallions make us catch the love bug?” Applejack redirected attention back to the children.

“No offense, Ma, but Ah don’t think it’s a good idea to tell ya, kinda for the same reason as Mrs. Twilight.” Del told her. “’Cordin’ to the stories you’ve told us, it took a while for you to even start datin’. We tell you who our Pas are now, you might never get with ‘em.”

The girls looked a little downtrodden, but nodded in understanding.

“I bet it won’t take long for me,” Rainbow declared cockily. “Nopony can resist The Dash.”

“They won’t need to resist ya if you keep callin’ yourself ‘The Dash’,” Applejack countered with a smirk. “‘The Dash’ will make the stallions dash away.”

“Says you!” Dash stuck her tongue out at her.

“Don’t have to say anything,” Applejack whipped her tail teasingly. “The results will speak for themselves.”

“Please don’t start, you two.” Rarity groaned. “You’re setting a bad example.”

Rainbow scoffed.

“Nah, I’m being cool. Right, ah… Pro… Pre… what was your name again?”

This time, Twilight did facehoof. It had only been a few hours since the two parties had been introduced.

“It’s Prism Bolt.” Prism deadpanned. “And, no, Mom, you needed to be about twenty percent cooler. Actually, that was bad. Real bad.”

“Well, Ah don’t know ‘bout ya’ll, but Ah want to get to know my son a little better.” Applejack smiled. “Might as well, seein’ as they’ll all be here a while.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Anthea and I can talk while we’re fixing this.” Twilight nodded in agreement.

Annie blinked. “I’m not your daughter.”

A frown appeared on Twilight’s face, though the quill and notepad still floated in air.

“You said I taught you advanced magic.” she said in worry.

“Yes, and I also keep referring to you by name,” Anthea replied. “I’m sorry for being blunt, but that should have been a clue.”

“Then who…” The princess’s voice dropped as Anthea raised and pointed a hoof at Fluttershy. Or in her direction. The unicorn was about three inches off. Surprisingly, the butter yellow Pegasus didn’t shrink back, faint, or even flinch. Instead, she smiled.

“I’m adopted.” Anthea announced firmly. “I don’t know my real parents, but I’m glad I have Mom. I’m just very good at magic; more soothing animals and nature than powerful base magic, but I learn quickly.”

Twilight appeared to be a little disappointed, but smiled as well. She noted what Anthea said and magicked the notepad and quill away.

“So, let’s get started, shall we? Um… Starburst, come on home with me. I can’t wait to hear more about you.”

Star’s feathers ruffled ever so slightly in a gesture of mild irritation, a fact only Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Prism caught. Starburst had always been a little upset that she sometimes couldn’t connect to her mother through the one thing her mom had that she only had in her wings: magic. Even now, she couldn’t help but feel the old jealousy of her little brother Night Light because he was a unicorn and so much more like her mother bubbling up. Instead of blowing up at her young mom for assuming Anthea was her child, she bit down her jealousy and raised her pride as a princess and a pegasus, marching behind Twilight as she turned to leave.

“Golden Delicious, ya comin’, boy?” Applejack asked, beginning to leave as well.

“Yeah, Ma.” Del nodded, and he trotted to his mother. “Hey, Star, if ya get bored, you’re always welcome ta come to the Acres!” He called after Starburst. Starburst gave a wave back and continued on.

“So… are you a good flier, kid?” Rainbow asked Prism.

Prism looked up at his mother hovering over him.

“You and Dad taught me personally, and I have your skills. I’m awesome.” He met his mom in the air, grinning at her with full cockiness.

“We’ll see about that,” Dash grinned back. “Last one to the town hall is an egghead! Readysetgo!”

Prism blinked as his mom bolted out the door of Carousel Boutique. Then he smiled widely and shot after her.

“Mom! We should totally get a party ready, right?!” Candy squealed.

That elicited a trademark gasp from Pinkie.

“You’re totally right!” she exclaimed. “Come on! We’ll make this the best ‘Our Children Came from the Future’ party ever!” The pink party pony grabbed her daughter and they disappeared out the door almost as quickly as Rainbow and Prism had.

Finally, Anthea was able to sigh.

“I need a break from all this crazy, and I think I need some tea,” She turned her gaze in Fluttershy’s direction. “Can we go home, please?”

Fluttershy again smiled and extended a wing to Anthea. While initially annoyed since she knew both the boutique and Ponyville very well, she accepted the pegasus’ help.

As they left, Fluttershy closed the door, leaving Spike, Rarity, Turquoise, and Claire alone.

“I’m sorry, dears. It seems everypony forgot about the refreshments you made with all of this hullabaloo.” Rarity apologized. “Why don’t we eat and talk? It would be a shame to let this go to waste.”

“Sounds good to me!” Spike exclaimed, immediately stuffing a bunch of cheese and crackers into his mouth.

“Spike! Please, we may be family – er, in a few years – but I would appreciate a little bit of decorum right now.” Rarity cringed at Spike’s actions, yet couldn’t help but smile at how well and quickly he had adjusted to the sudden expansion of their friend and family circle. He wouldn’t act this way if he was more concerned.

“Deco-what?” He swallowed. “Oh, yeah, Twilight said I had to have more of that now that I’m an assistant to a princess.”

“Claire, please tell me he isn’t like this in the future,” Rarity groaned, pinching the bridge of her snout.

“He gets better,” Claire giggled. “Why don’t we go gem hunting? T and I are pretty good at finding gems. Besides, I think it’s going to take more than these snacks to fill us up.”

Spike burped. Rarity facehoofed. Sweetie Belle opened the door. Rarity gasped, screamed, and threw Sweetie Belle into a closet with her magic.

“Rarity, this is the third time you’ve thrown me in a closet this week.” Sweetie’s muffled voice came from the closet. “I understood the first time; you didn’t want me seeing my special dress until it was finished. The second time, you didn’t want me seeing your dress. I don’t even know what this one is about. Please don’t be crazy, Rarity.”

“I-I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity laughed nervously. “It’s just that I have very important… ah, friends over. They came suddenly, and we were just about to go out.”

“What does that have to do with throwing me in the closet? I can be sophisticated, too!” Turquoise and Claire were doing their best to hold back giggles and chuckles. As they knew her, their Aunt Sweetie Belle had a smooth, flowing, and slightly deeper tone of voice that very nearly matched her amazing singing talent. This squeaking foal was most definitely not that.

“It’s not that, Sweetie, it’s… give me a moment.” Rarity gave a little false grin to the closet as if her little sister could see her through it.

“Okay!” Sweetie called cheerily.

Rarity whirled on her children.

“Turquoise, Claire, for the love of Celestia, play along,” she hissed. “When Sweetie Belle sees you, she will not stop asking questions. If she figures out the truth, all of our futures could be ruined. Now, you’re dragon-pony hybrids from the border of the Dragon Lands. You’re staying with us because… we know Spike so well; yes, yes, that will do nicely.” She turned back to the closet before the two had a chance to object. “Sweetie Belle, you can come out now! I just had to explain a few things.”

Sweetie had gotten better at magic since spending time with Twilight. She magicked the closet door open, wriggling out of a pile of coats and exiting the closet. Upon seeing Turquoise and Claire her eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

“Wow! I’ve never seen dragons like you before!” she squeaked. “Heck, I’ve never seen any other dragons besides Spike, period! You’re Rarity’s friends?”

“New friends, yes,” Claire smiled in a way she hoped was believable. “Mo- I mean, Rarity was generous enough to let us stay with the both of you. And D- Spike.”

“Why is Spike here?” Sweetie Belle glanced at the little dragon, who was sweating bullets. “If you’re dragons, shouldn’t you be with Twilight?”

“We’re from the Dragon Lands,” Turquoise answered. “Princess Twilight thought it would be best to have us stay with Rarity so we could have a less stressful time here, plus more ready access to gems.”

It took a few more seconds of observation for Sweetie Belle to discover something else about the guests.

“You… look kind of like ponies, too. Why is that?”

“They’re dragon-ponies!” Spike told her proudly. “Or draconies for short. I’m here so they’ll feel more at home.”

“Huh? We can do that?” the filly raised a brow.

“Ahem, ah, yes…” Rarity answered. “It’s not very common, dear, but it does happen. And as it so happens, they are siblings as well.”

“Cool!” Sweetie exclaimed. At that point, her eyes fell on the draconies’ flanks. “You don’t have cutie marks! You’re older than I am!”

“Well, I’m more pony than dragon, and my brother’s the opposite, but we both have enough dragon in us so that we don’t get cutie marks.”

Sweetie Belle frowned and looked at her bare flank and Claire smiled sympathetically.

“You’ll get yours eventually, Sweetie Belle.” she assured her.

“But most of the other foals in my class already have theirs!” Sweetie whined. “My friends and I are the only ones who haven’t found their special talent yet.”

“Have either of you pushed her towards singing yet?” Turquoise asked his parents quietly. “You both know that’s her talent, don’t you?”

“Of course!” Spike hissed in answer. “I’ve been trying to get the Crusaders to do stuff related to their real talents. They’re getting more interested, but Twilight Time has them thinking about what they do there. Apple Bloom is great at potions, and Scootaloo can build and fix all kinds of sports equipment, but since they haven’t gotten their marks in that yet, I don’t think that’s it.”

“If nothing else, they can make a secondary career in that,” Rarity nodded. “You know… there will be a singing competition in a few months, and I’ve already agreed to be one of the judges, and if I’m there, Sweetie will definitely want to impress me. I encourage her to enter, she wows me and the other judges, and hopefully by the end of the day, she’ll have a cutie mark.”

“Hopefully,” Turquoise agreed. His stomach rumbled. “Oh, we better go. I’m getting hungrier by the second.”

“Right, I’ll send Sweetie Belle to Applejack while we’re gone.” Rarity smiled. “Sweetie Belle, I need you to go play with Apple Bloom for an hour or so. Turquoise Blitz and Crystal Clarity want to see where I find my gems.”

“Who and who?” Sweetie asked.

“Those are our guests’ names, dear,” Rarity replied. “I’m sorry, introductions slipped my mind. We must be going. There’s only so much daylight to burn.”

A brown window washing Earth pony hummed happily as he squeegeed the outside of the upper windows of the town hall. Celestia’s sun was beginning to lower and the sky was gaining a pinkish hue, but it was still a fine day. As he finished cleaning a pane so that he could see his reflection in it, his pupils suddenly shrunk to pinpricks. In the reflection, he saw not only his admittedly handsome self, but a rainbow speck that was rapidly growing larger, and… wait, there were two of them. Two rainbow specks! Sweet Celestia, she multiplied. Rainbow “Window Smasher” Dash had somehow multiplied. Was this related to the Mirror Pool incident a year back? That was a bad Tuesday. There was so much… pink. He’d seen a face that day that made him have nightmares for weeks. On that same subject, only the Window Smasher would clone herself to see if she could win a race against herself.

In preparation for the inevitable glassy accident, the window washer prayed to Luna, his one true princess, squeegeed a small section of the window one last time, and dove to the floor of the balcony he was on. After a minute, instead of hearing the destruction of glass and his paycheck, the Earth pony felt two whooshes of wind pass around him. He was lucky. This was one of the times Rainbow hadn’t crashed; he was doubly lucky since he knew there was two of them now. Suddenly, another much stronger gust knocked him onto his back. At the same time, he heard his paycheck shatter into a million pieces, and he cried for the first time in his adult life.

“Wow, way to go, Prism! You actually beat me!” Rainbow congratulated her son as they came to a hovering stop on the other side of town hall.

“I totally did!” Prism laughed. “Maybe you’re already getting old!”

Rainbow Dash’s face went red. “I am not! One more race, double or nothing!” She looked all around for another point B to race to. Her eyes finally settled on a cloud high in the sky near the edge of the Ponyville market. “That cloud! Winner takes all!”

“You’re on, Mom! Readysetgo!” Prism was off like a rocket, quickly climbing towards the cloud.

“Hey, no fair!” Rainbow accelerated after her son. That was a mistake on Prism’s part, because now his mom wanted to win. And when she wanted to win, she wanted to win. Prism seemed to sense that and pumped his wings harder to reach the cloud. But it was too late. He’d heard the sound countless time before and had seen the act countless times before. His young mom bulleted past him in a Sonic Rainboom-boosted blur, beating him to the cloud by more than a few seconds.

“Hah hah! Victory is mine!” Rainbow cheered. In celebration, she moonwalked in the air and strutted on the cloud. “Who’s old now?”
Prism could only laugh. His mom still loved to brag and gloat in his time, but it was much more toned down. Seeing her move so energetically was a pleasant surprise. He sat down on the cloud, thumping his tail on the fluff to get his mother’s attention.

“Yeah, I’m awesome, take caution~… what?” Rainbow stopped. Prism smirked, trying to hold back a laugh. Rainbow Dash blushed and stopped her mid-air showboating, sitting down next to her son. “You’re awesome, too, kid. Are you really set on not telling me your dad is, or are you just going to listen to the farm colt?”

“Normally, I’d tell you in a heartbeat,” the darker blue coated pegasus admitted. “But I really think Del and Mrs. Twilight are right. Knowing the future isn’t all that great.”

“But you’re my future!” Dash exclaimed. “Why wouldn’t I wanna know who else I spend it with?”

“Mom, let me ask you something. Do you really want to go through all that drama right now?”

Rainbow’s expression was blank for a moment. Then she grimaced. “Yeah, I see your point.”

“Alright. So, can we, uh, go back to the ground now?” Prism was in a position that reminded Rainbow of Fluttershy.

“You want to race to the ground?” she questioned him with an eyebrow raised. “What are you, an Earth pony?”

“N-no,” Prism stammered. “I just want to go back down.”

Dash snickered. “Nice try, buddy, but you’re not gonna fool me. I let you go and you’ll be at the ground before I can blink.”

“Mom, please.” The prismatic mare blinked. That tone reminded her of Fluttershy, too. A Fluttershy that was…

“I can’t believe I’m asking this, but Prism, are… you afraid of heights?”

“Yes, I’m afraid of heights,” Prism said almost inaudibly.

“What?”

“I’m afraid of heights,” Rainbow’s son repeated with slightly more volume.

“I must have cloud in my ears,” Rainbow gasped. “You can’t be serious. My son, afraid of heights? You just flew all around Ponyville and up here with me.”

“It’s not something I like to talk about,” Prism admitted. “I mean, I’m mostly over my fear, but sometimes it just… triggers, you know?” He took a breath. “I’m fine now.” He peered over the side of the cloud again, smiled, and pointed. “Hey, look, there’s Princess Twilight and Starburst. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Rainbow Dash joined her son in observing their friends. The two were speaking and walking in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage, it seemed, and while clearly aware of their ground based surrounding, as evidenced by their moving around ponies and stalls, not once did they look up to the sky. The rainbow-maned mare grinned evilly.

“Yeah, you’re totally my son. This cloud’s pretty saturated. Help me push it down over them. This is going to be sweet!”

The two pegasi rose into the air, making sure to let the cloud continue to conceal them, and began pushing it closer to the ground in a controlled pattern to make it seem like a normal cloud adjustment. Within minutes, mother and son were in position. They were so focused on executing the prank, they didn’t notice the cloud flash purple. Both of the pegasi came down on the cloud with all four hooves, intent on soaking the princesses.

Instead of hearing water hit the ground and the ponies below, what Rainbow and Prism got was a sudden shower, also from below. Continuing to cough and sputter, they looked over the side of the cloud to see Starburst giggling and Twilight giving them both a satisfied smirk.

“What the…! You counter-pranked us!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You shouldn’t have been able to hear us coming!”

“Being an alicorn gives me more perks than being able to fly and cast magic at the same time.” Twilight informed them. “I’m also more in tune with ponies’ magical signatures, which can give away location and intention.”

“So, what? You sensed us coming?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Precisely.” Twilight nodded. “I also knew what you were going to do, so I cast a spell on the cloud to give you a taste of your own medicine.”

“Then how did you make the water go up?” Dash questioned her. “I may not be an egghead, but even I understand gravity.”

“I used a gravity reversal and water pressure spell,” Twilight explained. “Perfect for an underhoof shower.”

“Huh. You’re cleverer than I thought, Twilight,” the prismatic mare complimented her friend. “And you said you didn’t know pranking.”

“A better way to put that would have been to say I was ‘more clever’ than you thought,” Twilight offered. “But thank you anyway.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Always the egghead. Where are you two headed?”

“Starburst wanted to check on Golden Delicious, and after that we were going to go to Fluttershy’s to talk with Anthea.” Starburst lifted off the ground in two strong beats of her wings.

“You go on to Miss Fluttershy’s, Mom,” the orange pegasus was already looking towards her destination. “I’ll go see Del myself.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come along?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Yeah; I help Del out all the time. It’ll be fine.” Star confirmed.

“You just want to be with Del alone,” Prism teased her. “You know, he might not want a short-stack.”

Starburst glared ice and daggers at her friend, unaware of the redness and heat on her cheeks growing. “I’m going to help Del finish his chores. That’s all.”

“Okay… guess you won’t mind if I tell him you’re coming to spend some quality time.” True to his name, Prism bolted from the cloud and towards the Acres.

“Get back here, you ass!” Starburst flared her wings and shot after him.

“Wow. It looks like everypony we know is either in or wants to be in the Apple family.” Rainbow commented as she watched her son and Starburst go. She glanced down at Twilight. “Should we be worried? ‘Cause it kinda seems like the Apples are taking over Equestria with good looking ponies everypony is raising their tails for.”

“Rainbow! You really could have worded that much more tactfully.” Twilight chided her blunt friend.

“Great, you’re turning into Rarity,” Rainbow groaned. “Look, I’ll come with you to Fluttershy’s. If you’ve learned anything researching all that magic and science crud, I’ll fly and tell everypony when you’re done talking.”

“Alright. But no more dirty talk.” Twilight began trotting towards the outskirts of Ponyville.

“Can we at least talk stallions?” Rainbow asked as she followed her low in the air. “I have a pretty good idea who Prism’s dad is, but I’m completely lost on you. Do you even like anypony like that?”

Twilight's ears flopped down.

“Unfortunately, no,” she replied, shaking her head. “If I have any suitors, I probably haven’t been paying attention to them. There was one guy in the human world I developed a thing for abnormally quickly, and from what I understand from Sunset Shimmer, except for the technology… and hands… this world and that one are mirrors. I mean, we have doppelgangers. If I fell for the human Flash Sentry so fast… oh, my Celestia.” Her pupils grew huge and shrunk to pinpricks all in the span of two seconds. “It makes sense now. I know a pony’s coloration sometimes isn’t similar to their parent’s, but most of the time…”

“Twilight, I know what you’re thinking, and I know this is going to lead you to do something that’ll make me and everypony else scared or uncomfortable, so I’m going to ask you to stop right now.”

“I’m gonna go back home. Got a lot of research on getting our kids back home to do!” Twilight lit her horn as her mane began to fray and she gained a too-wide smile.

Acting quickly, Rainbow Dash smacked Twilight’s horn. Now, it’s dangerous to forcefully stop a unicorn’s casting, especially a teleportation, but Rainbow “Danger-Window Smasher” Dash is not all that smart. This time, she was lucky nothing happened, but that still left an irate Twilight.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight exclaimed, swatting her away and holding her horn. “Don’t do that! It’s dangerous, and it hurts!”

“I’m not gonna let you ruin our future, even if you think you’re going to help,” Rainbow Dash stated firmly. “No matter how much you plan, organize, or use magic, you’re just going to have to let your relationship with this Flash Sentry guy happen. I know I sound like Rarity right now, and I may not know a lot about… ugh, romantic relationships myself, but when you plan stuff out, it’s gotta be with the other pony or something like that. Or… you never do something alone. I don’t know. Just don’t be Twilight about this. I mean, be Twilight, but don’t be Twilight. It’ll work out that way, trust me.”

Twilight blinked. “That’s… actually really good advice, Rainbow. Thank you. And I think you’re right; I would have made a bigger deal out of this than it needed to be. You might have just saved our future single-hoofed.”

“Well, of course,” Rainbow beamed. “It had to be up to the most awesome pony to keep an awesome future safe. So, again, mind if I come with you to ‘Shy’s? I’ve, uh, got some questions about Tank.”

Twilight noticed the sudden hesitance in her multi-hued friend, but didn’t question her on it. It wasn’t time. Rainbow Dash was the type to keep things in. If she wanted to come with her to Fluttershy’s, it was something that could be worked out there.

“Sure!” she smiled instead. “Even if I’m not her mother, I taught her, so Anthea could really give me some ideas on how to fix this.”

Applejack was in the middle of harvesting the west orchard when a rainbow streak flew overhead and into the barn. She smirked as she bucked another tree and the fruits fell into the waiting baskets below. Rainbow Dash thought she could get her with a prank while the farmpony was taking in the apples. The pegasus wasn’t as good at stealth as she thought she was. She was bright baby blue and rainbow for Celestia’s sake! Her usual spot to prank Applejack was from the loft above the apple barrels. Applejack made a mental note to kick one of the beams holding the loft up to shake Rainbow down. If she broke the beam, it could easily be repaired. When she moved to another tree, Applejack happened to look up again, and saw an orange pegasus enter the loft as well. At this, she chuckled.

So RD and Scootaloo were racin’. Heh. She does that filly good. She smiled to herself. Then she frowned and raised a brow. …Wait a minute. Scoots can’t fly yet. Who…?

“Del! Come with me to the barn! RD’s doing somethin’ in there, and I want ya to see what I deal with on a daily basis!” she called down the orchard.

“Okay, Ma!” Del called back.

Applejack actually counted herself lucky that her family wasn’t around. Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were off in Appleoosa helping Braeburn with his orchard, and Apple Bloom, at that point was inside the house. She and Del were a good distance away from the humble abode, so it was unlikely Apple Bloom had heard them. Not to mention it would be very hard to explain where Del came from without outright lying.

Once at the barn, Applejack slowly opened one side of the barn doors, cursing silently when it creaked, which had no doubt alerted the prankster pegasus.

“Dash, ya’ll gotta get better at sneakin’ in here,” she called. “I saw ya fly in. No way can ya get me this time.”

“March, buddy!” came a commanding tone from the loft. It reminded the farmpony of Twilight, but with a less bookish air to it. She then heard a small grunt accompanied by a “Move it!”

At that, Applejack again raised a brow, and turned to look at Del, who was holding back a good bout of laughter.

“Alright, I’m going, Princess,” said a voice with a groan. “Geez, I’m sorry. It was wrong to tease you.”

Applejack looked up again to see Prism Bolt jump from the loft and rapidly flap his way down. Starburst followed shortly after, albeit with longer, slower flaps to compensate for her oversized wings.

“Prism? Starburst? What the heck are ya’ll doing here?” Applejack asked.

“Did Prism tease ya again?” Del guessed.

“Yeah,” Prism answered. “Bad idea.”

“Prism had the bright idea to tease me about coming to help you,” Starburst growled. “I had to teach him a lesson. Again.” She punctuated her words with an icy glare at Prism.

“I said I was sorry, Princess, give me a break.” the dark blue pegasus whined.

“Don’t call me ‘Princess’!” Starburst snapped at him.

“Ya got somethin’ against bein’ called a princess?” Applejack probed. “You’re Twi’s daughter, ain’t ya?”

“Star doesn’t like to be defined by who she comes from,” Del explained. “She hardly even uses her title, if she can help it.”

“Makes sense,” Applejack nodded, if truthfully, a little confused. “You help here at the farm?”

“Yeah,” Starburst nodded back. “I help Del with his chores.”

“Sometimes even if Ah don’t want or need the help.” Del chuckled.

“Hey, I’m only trying to make it easier on you.” Starburst blushed.

“Ah know, and I’ve been tryin’ to tell ya that ya don’t need to push yerself so much when yer helpin’, Star,” He looked to Applejack. “Sometimes she works so hard, she collapses. Ah usually take care of her till she’s at least fit to walk again.”

“I can’t thank you enough for doing that, too.” Starburst said gratefully, her blush growing a little.

Aww, the filly’s got a crush on Del! Applejack thought, fighting to keep a hoof from going to her heart. Looks like the Sparkles will be joinin’ the Apples in the future. Heh, an Apple princess. Imagine.

“Well, Ah’m sorry to disappoint ya, Starburst, but we’re just about done with everything for today,” Applejack told the pegasus princess with an apologetic smile. “You and Prism can join us for supper, though. ‘Sides, Ah think we’ll need help explaining things to Apple Bloom.”

“Sure!” Starburst smiled. “Let me fly and tell Mom where I’ll be.” Starburst took off in two strong wing-beats and soared out one of the upper windows.

“I better go, too. Wouldn’t want to get in trouble my first day here.” Prism shot out of the barn faster than Starburst, leaving a rainbow streak behind him.

“Do you know what we should tell Aunt Bloom, Ma?”

“Ma? Aunt Bloom? What are ya’ll talkin’ about? Who’s this pony, Applejack?”

Applejack gasped and whirled around with Del to face the newly arrived and wide-eyed Apple Bloom. “Ah came to find ya since you shoulda finished buckin’ the west orchard by now. Then Ah heard some weird things. Like–”

“AB, why don’t ya go get ready for supper?” Applejack interjected. “Ah’ll be inside soon.”

“But Ah–!” Apple Bloom started.

“Now, AB.” Applejack turned to her stern tone. She didn’t like to use that tone since it sounded like she was punishing her little sister, but right now, it was necessary. It hurt even more to see Apple Bloom’s ears and bow droop as she turned away, almost as if she had punished her. It hurt too much. There was a huge risk, and she wasn’t sure if Apple Bloom would even understand, but something inside her wouldn’t let the situation sit. “Apple Bloom, wait.” Her tone softened considerably as she gathered her resolve. Apple Bloom turned, her dejected expression now mixed with curiosity. “I’m gonna tell ya somethin’ that’s gonna sound strange, but ya know me; Ah never lie.”

“Does it have to do with how yer bein’ so defensive?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yeah; let me talk, ‘Bloom,” Applejack answered. “This mornin’, the girls, Spike and Ah met some ponies…”

“So I never got to ask, how did, or will I, adopt you?” Fluttershy asked her daughter as she poured some tea. “Oh, wait, is that bad to ask? I didn’t ruin our future, did I? I’m sorry.”

“I don’t remember much of it,” Anthea shrugged as she sipped her tea. And that’s putting it lightly. I don’t even know my actual parents. “You adopted me when I was… five, I think.”

“Oh dear! Were you abandoned?” Fluttershy gasped.

“I think so. That’s what Amber told me, anyway.” Anthea looked down as she felt something soft brush against her coat. From what she could make out, there was a small, white, long-eared lump in front of her with two black dots that she believed were eyes. Angel Bunny. She remembered Angel Bunny the Third from her time. It wasn’t a wonder that the rabbit had reproduced, seeing as he seemed to be the leader of an entire mafia of bunnies, and thus had his pick. She also remembered he was, to put it bluntly, an asshole. Not to her, at least. He was actually nice to her, thanks to her talent to soothe animals, but for whatever reason, he loathed Prism and Starburst. She remembered coming home one day when Twilight and Starburst were over. From her experience, the demon was able to chuck nuts and carrots discreetly. Of course, Starburst was able to at least reduce the amount of abuse she received by intimidating the white menace.

“Who is Amber?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“Amber Lily; she was kind of like my friends’ and I’s older sister or mom before you adopted me,” Anthea answered. “She, and my other two friends at the orphanage, Lucky Star and Hot Head, and I were always together. They were both happy and sad to see me go, but I still go see them from time to time.”

“They’re still in the orphanage?” her mother blinked.

“Oh, no,” Anthea responded with a little giggle. “Amber worked her flank off to buy a house and move them out of the orphanage. She kind of informally adopted them as their older sister. And–”

She was cut off by measured knocking at the door. Fluttershy knew that could only be Twilight or Rarity, because Rainbow usually opted to use a window, Applejack always knocked twice strongly, and Pinkie always somehow let herself in.

Fluttershy hovered over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it to reveal Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

“Hi, Fluttershy!” Twilight greeted her butter-yellow friend cheerfully. “I did a little research on time travel, and I need to talk to Anthea to compare notes.”

“Oh, of course!” Fluttershy smiled. “Come on in. Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow waited until Twilight was deeper into the cottage to speak.

“I think I know who Prism’s dad is,” she whispered. “It rhymes with ‘candy cane’.”

“Thunderlane?” Fluttershy gasped.

“Shh! Don’t say it! The butterfly effect thing!” Rainbow hissed. “I mean, Thunderlane’s pretty cool, and I work with him a lot – well, him and Blossomforth – not the point. Besides, I think I’ve seen him looking at me more recently. He probably hasn’t made his move yet considering how great I am, but it’s gotta be him!”

“Did you ever consider that Prism’s other parent might be Blossomforth?” Fluttershy asked.

“You’re kidding, Flutters.” Dash responded flatly.

“No, I’m not,” Fluttershy shook her head. “You and I both know you like stallions and mares, and with Twilight’s knowledge of magic, not to mention a direct line to Princess Celestia–”

“But Blossomforth and I are both mares, ‘Shy. There’s something wrong with your logic.”

“I reiterate; Twilight could use her magic to change Blossomforth. At least for… you know, the, um, time you need.”

“No way,” Rainbow shook her head and waved a hoof. “Blossomforth is cool and all, but there’s no way I’d put a friend through that, even if Celestia was doing the whole gender change thing. Besides, I’m pretty sure she’s got a thing for Cloud Kicker. She’s always asking to be assigned jobs with her.”

“Oh… well, are you going to, um, go after Thunderlane?” Fluttershy probed further.

“I dunno,” Rainbow shrugged. “I don’t really see me and Thunderlane clicking, ya know? I’ll run the course, though, see how it goes. And if it doesn’t work out, so what? I’ll find my special somepony eventually.”

A tiny panicked squeak broke the two pegasi from their conversation. Turning their attention to Twilight, they saw Angel leveling a carrot at the alicorn, who was clearly miffed. Her horn was alight, but there was no aura around anything. It seemed Twilight was preparing to do something to Angel, and the mischievous bunny was mounting what would ultimately be a futile defensive attack.

“Angel, I’m giving you one more warning,” Twilight advised. “Throw that carrot, and we’ll find out what a bunny looks like when it flies.”

Angel drew his paw back, preparing to lob the nutritious projectile.

“In the stratosphere.” the alicorn finished.

Angel could see he wouldn’t win this battle, especially now that he saw that the yellow one was watching. While he was sure his flying owner would stop the magic purple one, the idea of being launched thousands of feet into the air wasn’t appealing. He decided to relent and dropped the carrot, opting instead to go back to the new pink pony lying on the couch. She was magic, too, and of course, new, but there was something about this pony that felt comfortable; familiar. That didn’t much matter now, though. It was time for a nap. He quickly drifted off while the ponies began another conversation.

“Anthea, I went over the notes of when I went back in time a while ago. It was a pretty complicated spell; I was only able to stay in the past for two minutes. Suffice it to say, that spell is unstable.” Twilight explained. “I haven’t tried it since. I also believe it’s far too dangerous to try and mix a time travel spell with quartz to attempt to recreate the conditions that brought you here. It’s tricky, and with you here, there’s a lot of danger of the butterfly effect triggering if it hasn’t already.”

“Are you saying there’s no way home?” Anthea asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t say there’s no way home,” Twilight answered sheepishly. “The chances of recreating the accident on purpose without the portal are extremely low, and I’m sorry to say, Sunset Shimmer still needs me. I can’t risk losing the mirror now. I want to get you home, I really do, but the mirror’s too important.”

“What do you suggest we do then, Twilight?” Rainbow asked her. “My son’s totally awesome and all, but if I’m not going to see him grow up, I’m going to be mad at you.”

“Twilight, please tell us you have a solution.” Fluttershy nearly begged.

“Look, this isn’t something I can do alone,” Twilight said. “My research could only take me so far. I had to get more heads to help, so I actually contacted Princess Celestia and Princess Luna before coming here. They replied back asking us to come to Canterlot so we could discuss this together. Plus, they know more ancient spells that might solve this, too. I was coming to gather everypony to tell them so we could get ready to go. You were the first stop, Fluttershy.”

“So Starburst knows, too?” Anthea inquired.

“No,” Twilight shook her head. “I was planning on telling you all once I told the girls. I have to get to Sweet Apple Acres now, then. Starburst… eh, chased Prism there.”

“I can imagine what happened,” Anthea giggled. “Oh, you should tell Pinkie and Candy to hold off on the party plans before they rope us into it.”

“Of course she’d do that…” Rainbow groaned. “Twi, you get AJ, Starburst, and Del. I’ll dash over to the Corner and stop the party. Fluttershy, you go tell Rares what we’re doing. Annie, you gonna be okay on your own?”

Anthea rose from the couch and stepped onto the floor.

“I’ll go with Mom,” she said defiantly. “The more ponies around Turquoise and Claire, the fewer looks they’ll get, that is, from the ponies that are still out.”

“Cool,” Rainbow Dash nodded, ignoring the blind unicorn’s tone. “Gotta jet. We’re going to Canterlot tomorrow, right Twi?”

“Yes,” Twilight affirmed. “Tell everypony to get some rest.”

Rainbow gave a salute and soared off. Twilight smiled at the remaining ponies and teleported away.

“You really don’t like being left out, do you?” Fluttershy asked her daughter.

“You’ll see what it’s like when I’m younger,” Anthea admitted. “I hate being seen like I’m helpless. Uncle Discord helped with that a lot.”

“Uncle… never mind, that sounds like something he would do.” Fluttershy smiled. “Let’s hurry to Rarity’s. It’s getting late.”

Once Fluttershy opened the door, Anthea cast a light spell.

“Right behind you.”

“Since when do you keep sewing needles in your mane?” Spike asked Rarity as he rode atop the gems in the gem cart Turquoise was pulling.

“Well, ever since the incident with the Diamond Dog ruffians, I saw it fit to have a little extra self-defense at my disposal,” Rarity told him proudly. “I’m no damsel in distress; a modern lady knows how to handle herself in difficult situations. Though it’s a mystery to me as to why they tried abducting me again. After their first kidnapping, I thought they couldn’t stand me.”

“Maybe they forgot?” Spike guessed, reaching down to the gem pile.

A blue aura brought Spike’s arm back to his side, at which he harrumphed.

“It’s possible,” Rarity answered, reactivating her light spell. “Diamond Dogs are cunning, but they aren’t all that bright. I think I was too harsh on that small one. He might be able to see for a week.”

“That’s nothing compared to Claire,” Spike laughed. “I’ve never seen anyone run away with their butt on fire like that!”

“Ugh, Dad~!” Claire whined. “That’s no way to praise the daughter who saved you.”

“I could’ve burned him, too.” Spike grumbled, huffing out a lick of flame. “Say, Turquoise, you ever think about becoming a royal guard? The Dogs hardly even tried to touch you.”

“I’m leaving that job to Starburst,” Turquoise chuckled. “I’m not cut out to be a guard. I can’t even stand blood.”

“Oh my,” Rarity gasped. “I can see how that could be a problem. Anywho, once we get home, it’s off to bed for the both of you. It’s late, and that little fight made us take much longer than we should have.”

“But–!” Spike started.

“You too, dear,” Rarity quickly added. “I can keep up the charade for Sweetie Belle, so you need to get on home.”

“You’re kicking me out already?” Spike asked, half joking.

“Spike, we’re not even going out right now.” Rarity replied with a small smile. But when will we? Our children have us thinking about it, but I’m sure all six of us are far too busy right now to let… well, anypony know we’re available.

They two shared a good-natured laugh before looking up to see a pale green light headed toward them.

“Rarity!” Fluttershy called.

“Oh, Fluttershy!” Rarity dimmed her own light spell to see her friend better. “Hello, Annie. What are you two doing out here?”

“Twilight sent a letter to the Princesses telling them about what happened,” Fluttershy explained. “With their help, we might just get the children back to their own time. We’re leaving for Canterlot in the morning.”

“Oh my,” Rarity gasped. “You really must get home then, Spike. You know how Twilight gets about the Princesses. Even if she’s the one asking for help, there’s a high chance she’ll blow the whole situation out of proportion and start over-worrying.”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded. “Hey, T, mind giving me a lift home?”

“No problem,” Turquoise smiled. Before unhitching himself from the gem cart, he asked his family, “Will you two be alright on your own?”

“Yes,” Claire giggled, hitching herself to the cart. “Come home quickly. We can’t be late tomorrow.”

Spike jumped off the pile of gems onto Turquoise’s back, after which the larger dragon took to the sky, gliding on the warm night air.

“You’ll have a great family,” Fluttershy smiled at Rarity. “I can’t imagine what Spike will look like when he’s bigger, but I think you’re making the right choice.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy.” Rarity said, nuzzling her friend. “And thank you for telling us about the plan. Since we’re going to sleep as soon as we get home, there won’t be all that much time to pack, but I assure you, I won’t make us late. You have my word.”

Rarity forgot to account for the fact that she was a lady. She also forgot to account for how giddy she got when it came to Canterlot. Long story short, the fashionista and her children were 40 minutes late that morning to the Ponyville Train Station, with 12 more bags than they needed. Twilight was lucky the conductor and engineer respected her as a princess to wait for Rarity, though neither of the two were keen on allowing the unicorn to disrupt the rail schedule. Again.

“Rarity, did you seriously have to pack that much? It’s like you’re overthinking, and that’s usually Twilight’s deal.” Rainbow told her friend with crossed forehooves as the train began moving. She was looking across the aisle from her seat at Rarity with quite the unamused frown on her face.

“Hey, I don’t overthink that much!” Twilight protested.

“Yeah, you kinda do.” Spike deadpanned.

“I’m not going to respond to that.” Twilight shot back.

“You already did.” Spike said.

“…Shut up!” Twilight exclaimed, her face growing red.

She turned her head when she heard Starburst giggling.

“You fighting like that reminds me of home,” she smiled. “You’ll always get in at least one fight when Uncle Spike comes home. It’s almost like a tradition.”

“Since when is fighting a tradition?” Applejack raised a brow.

“Oh, Applejack,” Rarity tittered. “They’re just like siblings. You fight with Apple Bloom, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but–” She gave a short laugh in realization. “Hm, yeah, it does makes sense.”

“I hate to bring down the mood, but will we really find a spell to get us back home with both of the Princess’ help?” Claire spoke up. “What we did was an accident. How do you recreate that?”

“How can the Princesses not help?” Rainbow asked. “They know everything!”

“Not everything, Rainbow,” Twilight corrected her friend. “It just seems that way. Even so, they’re our best bet for getting everything back to normal.”

Anthea whispered something to Turquoise and he began leading her to another car.

“Where are they going?” Fluttershy asked, looking a little worried.

“The little mare’s room,” Claire said quietly. “She most often asks him to take her, since she trusts him the most.”

“Turquoise is quite the gentledrake, isn’t he?” Rarity smiled.

“That’s just how he is,” Claire answered. “He’d still do it even if they weren’t dating.”

“They’re what?” Fluttershy uttered in a rather uncharacteristic deadpan tone. “Why didn’t they tell me?”

“It wasn’t important?” Starburst offered. “Our real problem is getting home, Miss Fluttershy.”

“I’ll try not to bother them, then.” the butter yellow pegasus settled back in her seat when Turquoise and Anthea returned to the party’s train car, but she kept her eyes locked onto them.

“So, can we really not have the ‘Our Children Came from the Future’ party?” Pinkie asked, staring directly at Twilight. “Candy and I were almost done setting it up!”

“Maybe we can, Pinkie. Let’s see if we can’t get our kids home first. Then we can have a ‘Future Children Send-Off’ party!”

“That sounds super fun!” Pinkie gasped. “I could get my Party Cannon Mark III and–!”

“We are not shooting our children out of a cannon.” Applejack stated firmly.

“I don’t know; I think it might be fun.” Anthea smiled innocently.

“This mare knows what I’m talkin’ about!” Pinkie laughed, slapping Anthea on the back. The unicorn yelped and her horn sparked in startled reflex. “How would you know if being shot out of a cannon is bad? Have you ever been shot out of a cannon, Applejack?”

“No, but my guess for your idea with that cannon is to shoot our kids into the portal back home,” Applejack answered. “There’s a difference between ‘fun’ and ‘safe’.”

“And you’re using that as an excuse to miss a chance to send our kids back in one of the most awesome ways ever?” Rainbow scoffed. “Magic is cool, but magic with a cannon makes it even cooler.”

“Totally!” Pinkie agreed. “Twilight didn’t mind when I used her as a Gatling cannon!”

“Auntie Pinkie used you as a weapon?” Starburst raised a brow.

“Yeah! I held Twilight’s tail and went ‘ra-ta-ta-ta’ and the changelings went ‘blargh!’ – wait, not ‘blargh!’ because we didn’t kill them – they more groaned and went ‘Oh, the pain! It hurts!’ and–!” Pinkie Pie pantomimed her words while she explained before she got cut off.

“Pinkie! We get it!” Twilight exclaimed. “But I don’t remember you using me as a Gatling cannon.”

“I do!” Spike chimed in. “Or at least I know what Rainbow Dash told me. She said you all kicked flank in the Battle of Canterlot! Even Fluttershy!”

“The Battle of Canterlot?” Claire asked. Then she snapped her claws. “Oh, right, we learned about that in school, didn’t we?”

“Uh-huh,” Prism nodded. “The ponies that didn’t run and hide fought the changelings with whatever they could find or hoof-to-hoof. Mrs. Octavia said she fought over a dozen. And Miss Sparkler said she fought alongside her mother to protect Dinky.”

“How do you remember everything with violence, but you fall asleep durin’ other lectures?” Del jabbed his friend in the side.

“Heck if I know,” Prism shrugged. “The Battle of Canterlot was cool. My parents were in it! How could I not pay attention?”

“Fair enough,” Del said. “Didn’t stop me from havin’ to tutor ya.”

“For just one week!” Prism blurted out quickly. “It was just one week!”

Rainbow Dash laughed out loud.

“There’s no shame in being tutored, kid,” she smiled at him. “The egghead here–” She gestured at Twilight, who rolled her eyes with a smile. “–got the whole town to teach me in time for the Wonderbolts Reserves exam. I owe my success to her.”

“Wow. I never thought of it that way.” Prism said.

“There aren’t many ponies who’ve achieved great feats without help,” Twilight nodded. “I wouldn’t have become a princess if it weren’t for your mothers.”

Applejack and the others voiced their agreement as the train entered the tunnel, marking the halfway point to their destination.

“Ah!” The train was only in the tunnel for half a minute, but it was enough to send Anthea into Turquoise’s claws. She blinked and blushed once the light returned.

“Afraid of the dark?” Fluttershy asked knowingly.

“For as long as I can remember.” the pink unicorn nodded. “But it’s more over the fact that I can’t see anything in the dark rather than the dark itself.”

“But you said you were blind yesterday.” Twilight pointed out.

“I can see vague shapes and colors,” Anthea clarified. “I basically see the world in blobs of color. I’ve learned to recognize all my friends’ voices and coat colors, and Ponyville is so familiar to me, I hardly need help getting around town now.”

“I could find a spell to–” Twilight began.

“Stop,” Anthea interrupted the lavender alicorn, waving a hoof in a cutting motion. “Uncle Discord already taught me that sight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’m fine how I am. Besides, I don’t want to see things I can’t un-see.”

“She has a point,” Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. “There are a ton of things I wish I hadn’t seen. Like that one movie last month. Or the way Twilight eats brownies.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Do I eat brownies in a weird way?”

If any of her friends had collared shirts, they would have pulled at the collar after suddenly being put under the lamp.

“Er… no.” Dash answered nervously. “You totally don’t. Right, girls?”

“Right?” Fluttershy more asked another question than gave an answer.

“I agree with Rainbow Dash. There’s… nothing wrong with the way you eat brownies.” Rarity insisted.

“Ah have no comment.” Applejack averted her eyes.

“You haven’t noticed? I mean, that picnic we had two weeks ago made all of us feel so creeped out, it was like–!” Rainbow Dash shoved a hoof into Pinkie’s mouth with a sheepish smile.

“We’re talking about this later.” Twilight growled.

“Hey, Star, you eat brownies in–” Candy started.

“I do not!” Starburst cried.

“There’s a reason we don’t let you eat brownies in the store anymore.” Candy told her.

Starburst clicked her tongue, but didn’t say anything more on the subject.

The rest of the trip was spent in relative silence, with everypony unable to find anything to talk about after the conversation had turned to the Sparkles’ brownie eating habits. It was early afternoon when the train arrived at Canterlot station, and the Mane Six and their children quickly exited the train after awakening from short naps, much to the shock of the Canterlotians, who immediately cleared the way for them, more out of fear of the two large dragons of the group than out of respect for Princess Twilight. A nearby Royal Guard pegasus quickly lifted off and headed for Canterlot Castle to inform Princess Celestia of what he had just witnessed.

Princess Celestia sat on her throne, going over the notes from the morning day court written by her assistant, Raven. The first orphanage in Manehattan needed an overhaul. Doable; the city’s finances were substantial, and they were being managed well. Blueblood had told her that Queen Chrysalis had requested a redrawing of the border between the Badlands and Equestrian kingdom. That would be a difficult decision, as many of the nobles still didn’t approve of or much less trust Chrysalis, mostly because of the Battle of Canterlot three years ago. How Luna had slept through it all was beyond her. There was also a letter from Princess Cadence telling her that the popular opinion of her niece had fallen in her empire. She wanted advice on how to make it rise again. Celestia wrote a quick letter to tell her to look to her husband; Cadence couldn’t keep coming to her every time her rule faltered. As she set that letter down, a pegasus guard glided through a window and set down in front of her with a bow.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight has arrived in Canterlot,” he said after raising his head. “She has come with…”

Celestia raised a hoof to silence him.

“I know, Corporal Sharp Breeze,” she said. “They’re here to see my sister and me. Wake Luna and inform the guards at the inner and outer gates to let Twilight and her friends through.”

“Of course, Princess.” Sharp Breeze bowed again and set about his task.

“Thank you, Private.” Twilight thanked the guard at the inner gate to the castle. She shivered with excitement as they walked in. “I can’t believe I still get chills whenever I come to the castle.”

“It’s hard to believe we were here for the Gala just last month,” Rarity agreed. “There’s certainly a different air compared to then.”

“A lot less Smooze-y, too,” Rainbow scrunched her face in disgust. “Where did Discord even find that… thing?”

“Who knows and who cares?” Applejack shook her head. “Ah’m just glad that whole party ended well, despite Discord.”

After being sent or brought to the throne room so many times, the Elements of Harmony knew the route to it like the backs of their forehooves. When they came to the final hall leading to the throne room, each of them (and Spike) couldn’t help but glance and smile at the stained-glass windows that depicted their major victories and accomplishments over the past couple years. Twilight audibly growled at the window showing her and her friends’ defeat of Tirek. The other five looked at each other sympathetically. Twilight was still bitter that the centaur had destroyed her first home in Ponyville. No matter how much they furnished the castle, it wouldn’t feel like home for a while.

The Elements’ children on the other hoof, marveled at the windows. Each of them had only been to Canterlot Castle a handful of times, so none of them knew everything that the place had to offer. What they were looking at now, their parents had only told them short stories about. This was their legacy. Starburst in particular wanted to have a stained-glass window depicting her defeating some great threat to Equestria, just like her mother. Her eyes shone with the ambition and courage to do it, but until she could actually join the Royal Guard, her dream was a long way off.

Before they knew it, the party was at the throne room doors, where the unicorn guards there opened the doors with their magic and shut them behind the group slowly. The guards by the throne tensed at the sight of Turquoise and Claire, but Luna calmed them with a sweep of a wing. Celestia then stepped off her throne to meet her friends and guests.

“Welcome, Twilight,” she smiled. “My, your entourage has grown.”

Twilight blushed, shaking her head in amusement.

“Thank you, Princess,” the lavender alicorn smiled back. “These past couple days have been crazy. I never thought something like this would happen.”

“Yes, finding out you’re going to be a mother must be quite a shock. You said you couldn’t lose the portal?” Celestia asked.

“That’s right,” Twilight affirmed. “If the children came out of a vortex that appeared on both sides of the timeline, it’s pretty safe to assume the same thing would happen if we recreated their accident. I don’t think any of us can afford to lose access to the human world right now. Sunset Shimmer still needs me; and you too, Princess.”

“And I want to see her on good terms eventually,” the alabaster alicorn nodded. She looked to the Mane Six’s children. “Our problem now is getting you all back to your own time without disrupting the timeline further.”

“Twilight, do you believe you could create a second device?” Luna inquired.

“In theory,” Twilight answered. “I’d need a second magic mirror with the exact same properties.”

“But Starswirl created the mirror so we would not clutter Tartarus with our more dangerous adversaries and have a place to send them to,” Luna mused. “T’would be impossible, or very difficult to find the components once more.”

“So what do we do, your Majesties?” Applejack asked. “Much as Ah love mah son and want to spend time with him now, he can’t stay here, and neither can the rest of ‘em. Ah don’t want to see my son kick the bucket ‘cause of this time junk.”

“I see your concern, dear Applejack,” Celestia gave her a tight smile. “This will take some deliberation, so there isn’t much we can do at this point.”

“So we have to wait?” Starburst jumped forward. “Aunt Celestia, there has to be something you can do.”

Princess Celestia actually balked at the way Starburst referred to her. Nopony except for Princess Cadence and Prince Blueblood had ever called her “Aunt”. Instead of letting it get to her further, she shook her head.

“I’m afraid so, my little pony. Perhaps, at the other end of the timeline, I, my sister and your parents are also looking for a solution. We’ll do the same, but, yes, for now, this will be a waiting game.”

Starburst’s wings fell limp and she turned away dejectedly.

“Give us an hour, Princess,” Twilight said, going to comfort her daughter. “There must be a solution to this. Like I said in my letter, four princesses are better than one. When will Cadence arrive?”

“She will arrive by the end of the day,” Luna said. “Your leave is granted, Princess Twilight.”

Twilight nodded and guided her friends and family out of the throne room. The alicorn sisters shared a look

“Sister? What do you make of the situation?”

“I think we’re getting old, Lulu.”

“You know that is not what I meant. Can all we really do is wait?”

“You were always more well-versed in the magical arts, sister. Half of what I learned came from you. If we can’t figure out how to get Twilight and her friends’ children back to their own time on our own, we will have to wait for our future selves to show the answer to us.”

“Sister?”

“Yes, Lulu?”

“I believe I have won our bet.”

“Luna, now is not the–”

“You must take both the day and night courts for the next week.”

“Lu–”

“I have many comics and games to catch up on, sister. You should know better than to bet against me.”

“It’s not my fault Cadence’s shipping chart was wrong.”

“T’was not wrong. You just chose a loose thread. Sparity was meant to be!”

“AppleDash seemed like a sure thing,” Celestia sighed. “I concede. We are still getting old, Luna.”

“Hah! Come now, Tia! You cannot say that until your 2000th birthday. Though it is not far off…”

“Two hundred years, Luna.”

“Denying your age now? Mother would be disappointed.”

“Your cheekiness is only matched by your cunning, dear little sister.”

“On a serious note, I will begin looking into the old time travel spells. I’ll bring what I find to our impromptu meeting.”

“And I’ll see if I can find a substitute portal medium. Good luck, Lulu.”

“You too, Tia.”

Two similar flash-pops lit up and sounded in the throne room, and the room was empty, except for two Royal Guards.

Back in the future, Rarity paced the throne room in the Castle of Friendship. She had been doing this for four hours.

“Why aren’t Twilight and Flash back yet?” she whined.

“Calm down, Rarity, it’ll be fine.” Spike assured his wife.

“Fine?” Rarity turned on her much larger husband. “Fine?! This isn’t one of our little mix-ups or, Celestia forbid, a friendship problem! Our children are gone, Spike! Whisked away to who knows where! How can you be so nonchalant about this?!”

Spike was glad to now be mostly immune to many of Rarity’s expressions, but the ones he couldn’t ever develop a resistance to were the ones of anger, pain, and sadness. Right now, she was giving him all three.

“I’m worried, too, Rarity,” he relented. “But it’s hard to actually get really worried when we always solve these problems so quickly; with hardly any repercussions!”

“I hate to say it, Spike, but I’m with Rarity here,” Rainbow Dash said, hovering near his head. “They were messing with that portal, and they didn’t even use it right. If they just went to the human world, I’d be fine, too, but the thing exploded. I want to know where they went!”

“But where did they go?” Fluttershy asked. “If the children just went to the human world, Twilight and Flash would be back by now. They know that place like the backs of their hooves.”

“I do, too,” Spike nodded in agreement. He was doing his own research, a book sized for him on the floor. “Now, if–” He was cut off by a small rumbling in his throat, which caused him to open his mouth wide. A small puff of smoke exited his mouth, curled in the air, and formed into a scroll that dropped onto the pages he was reading. “Okay, that’s strange. None of the princesses have done that in years.”

Rarity took the scroll in her magic, opened it, and read it silently. She initially held a smile, indicating good news, but as her eyes beheld the words, her smile began falling.

“Er, dear, everyone… it appears the princesses and our big family have found the children.”

“What’s with the tone, Rarity? That’s great news,” Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Where’s mah son?”

“Well, they’re, um…” Rarity trailed off as Soarin’ flew behind her to get a look at the letter.

“They went back in time?!” he exclaimed. Everypony zipped around Rarity to read the letter for themselves. Fluttershy bordered on fainting. Rainbow’s ears fell in worry and Soarin’ held her in comfort. Applejack and Caramel’s faces hardened, determined not to show emotion. Pinkie and Pierce frowned at the revelation.

“They accidently went back in time while trying to use the portal… perfect.” Spike threw his claws up in frustration. “I knew it’d come back to time travel. Ever since Twilight tried time travel all those years ago, I knew it’d come back to bite us all in the plot.”

“So… how do we get the kids back?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Does Twilight have a time machine?”

“It says here that the princesses have just found a spell to travel through time. However,” Rarity said, reading over the scroll again. “Our counterparts on the other side of whatever time we’re going to must find the same spell. If our children are in that certain time, our past selves must be doing the looking for the spell as well. If they’ve figured it out.”

“What if that spell doesn’t exist in the past?” Caramel asked.

“The spell’s really old,” Spike explained, peering at the scroll. “It was recorded when ponies started to record stuff. There was a pony who wanted to know the future and created the spell to see what it was like. It was… Starswirl the Bearded. Of course.”

“Well, the good news is they’re close to finding the spell. They’re all scouring the time travel section of the Canterlot library as we speak to find the exact spell designs.” Rarity said, reading the scroll again. “Once they have it, we’re to use the teleportation spells on our seats to go directly to Canterlot Castle.” She rolled the scroll up, levitating it to Twilight’s outbox pile. “We haven’t had to use the magic in our seats here for a while either. Stored magic degrades over time; I hope Twilight thought to preserve the spells.”

“It’s Twilight. What could go wrong?” Soarin’ chuckled.

“You still don’t know Twilight like we do, Soarin’.” Rainbow put a hoof around him. “She’s great with magic, but even after all these years, there are a million things that could go wrong. But I’m pretty confident in the magic she puts in her own castle is super safe. Meet us in Canterlot, Spike?”

“I’ll be right behind you, Rainbow,” Spike nodded. “Hopefully we won’t have to wait long.”

Spike’s wishes were answered in the next hour. The second the parents got another, significantly smaller letter telling them it was time to go, they dropped what they were doing and rushed to their positions. The little thrones lit up in response to the mares’ cutie marks and whisked them away in colored flashes of light. Seconds later, the thrones lit up again and the husbands, except for Spike, followed. Spike pressed a button on the wall then watched a large skylight slide open right by the tree root chandelier. With one strong beat of his leathery wings, he took off and flew out of it, toward Canterlot.

“Whew! Being teleported is still a rush!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as soon as she popped into existence in the Canterlot Castle throne room.

“I thought you said being teleported felt like being torn apart and then put together really fast.” Pinkie, who had blinked in before her, asked.

“It does!” the prismatic mare exclaimed. “It’s still a rush!”

“I can’t believe you’re still seeking thrills, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity sighed. “Honestly, it’s like you haven’t changed at all. At least try to let your age affect you.”

“Like you are?” Rainbow scoffed. “I’m so sorry I can’t look like I’m in my 20s again. Maybe I should go buy some anti-aging cream; oh, wait, you already bought every jar in Equestria!”

“Don’t start, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy warned her old friend, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “We’re aging – we can’t fight that. Let’s just deal with it in our own way. If Rarity wants to keep her old looks, that’s fine. Besides, she has a point. You’re not as resilient as you were, Rainbow. I don’t want you to break any bones.”

“She’s already broken over a dozen, ‘Shy,” Applejack shook her head. “She’s only got a few more times her bones can be fixed with magic. Y’all gotta be more careful, RD.”

“At least I still look sexy without makeup.” Rainbow flashed a smoky look at her husband, Soarin’, who grinned back. “That kinda beauty only comes with hard work.”

As much as Rarity loathed to admit it (out loud, though she never did), Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked the best out of their 40-something selves. They were toned, lean, and still strong, though Rainbow’s bones were a bit more brittle, being a pegasus. “That kinda beauty only comes with hard work.” Rainbow was right; the difference was, she and Applejack were active in their work. Rarity often sat or paced around, maybe took a walk around town, waiting for inspiration to slap her in the face like the cruel mistress it was. Also, the two athletic ponies’ age showed the least. Faint age lines graced their faces, and Father Time was still working hard to affect the rest of the bodies. Because of their working lifestyle, Rainbow Dash and Applejack still appeared to be in their early 30s.

Fluttershy was a close third, since her lifestyle was largely healthy. As the one who ate the least sweets since she had to keep her animals healthy as well, she managed to keep a young mare’s figure and a rather young-looking face even as she aged, thanks in no small part to her trips to Aloe and Lotus’ spa with Rarity and exercise with Rainbow Dash.

Being in fourth wasn’t bad, at least Rarity thought so. True to form, Rarity was terrified of her diminishing looks as she aged, so, like
Rainbow had said, she bought many anti-aging creams (some magical) as the ravages of time began their assault on her. Underneath her makeup and creams, there were age lines. Most of them, Rarity claimed, were and are from dealing with Spike and their children. But, no, it was simply age. Sure, a few of those age lines were from family reasons, but age was faster. So, Rarity constantly appears to be in her early 30s, but sometimes she forgets to do her daily routine and then she looks old.

Pinkie Pie grew to look like the typical mom; a little pudgy, but still attractive, and her mane done up in a rather conservative style. Age lines marked her face and body, yet her exuberance and bubbly attitude kept her feeling and even looking young.

Twilight was ageless; literally. She didn’t know until Celestia and Luna told her, but since becoming an alicorn, Twilight ceased to age. She was immortal; forever 21. Most would say Flash was lucky, having a young wife for life, but it didn’t feel that way. That was because Twilight crafted a spell that simulated aging, so that she wouldn’t be reminded that she wasn’t growing old like the rest of her friends. She was reminded of that every so often when she managed to beat Rainbow Dash in their bi-monthly races, or every time Applejack asked for help at the farm, which she almost never did when they were younger. She also crafted an immortality spell that had to be re-cast every three years, but her friends refused the offer, knowing they would just hurt themselves in the end by becoming immortal.

“I’m glad you’ve all arrived,” Princess Celestia gave a short bow to the ponies before her. “As all of we princesses wrote to you, we found the spell that we can use to collect your children from the past. Provided our past selves can find the same spell, we should have the children back by the end of the day.”

“I’m really sorry, everypony,” Twilight apologized. “If I had just supervised their cleanup instead of going to that meeting–!”

“I keep telling you, you didn’t do anything wrong, Twilight,” Cadence frowned at her sister-in-law. “The meeting was important – we prevented a war!”

“But we lost me and my friends’ children in the process!” Twilight exclaimed, her wings flaring out. “Was it worth that? You know we could have stopped the war in like two minutes. I–!”

Cadence sighed and walked towards Twilight while she continued her tirade. She then scratched Twilight behind her left ear. Twilight’s wings snapped shut and she fell quiet. The purple mare looked to her older sister-in-law.

“I hate you.” she said. Then Twilight flopped over onto her side, struggling to get up.

A familiar laugh rang in Canterlot Castle’s throne room.

“Hahaha! That was hilarious! Cadence, what did you do?”

Cadence rolled her eyes at Rainbow Dash’s mirth.

“Twilight’s always had this thing where you can just shut her up when she’s being all ‘Twilight’. One scratch behind her ear and there you go, one unicorn on the floor. Or alicorn, as it is.”

“But why did she just flop over like that?” Applejack asked.

“Whatever the ear scratch does upsets her balance and motor skills,” Celestia explained. “Her ‘flopping’ is a result of that.”

“Starburst has the same quirk,” Flash spoke up. “Though, it’s both of her ears. We had to do it a lot when she was younger and unruly. It was adorable.”

Twilight found her control a minute later and returned to her hooves upright.

“Was I really being that bad?” she asked Cadence.

“You were getting there.” Cadence answered.

“Let us focus on casting the spell,” Luna interjected. “Rarity, Pierce, we will need you as well.”

“Us?” Rarity asked.

“This spell requires at least one pony related to the time one intends to access. It will be easier if the pony is a unicorn. Two will make it twice as easy.”

“I apologize, Princess Luna, but while both of us have learned a little bit more of arcane and base magic thanks to Twilight, Pierce and I are hardly the ponies to aid in casting a spell such as this.” Rarity said worriedly. “Could either of us be a medium of sorts?”

“You only need to add your magic to more easily access the past 25 years, not much more.” Princess Luna assured Rarity.

“Very well,” Rarity sighed. “But I want to wait for my husband. He should be here for this.”

Celestia’s horn glowed, and she magicked one of the room’s window open. Spike flew in with a rush of wind a moment later.

“Spike, you’re late.” the solar princess said simply.

“A downdraft kept me from going my fastest,” Spike said as he landed among his friends. “The mountains always make it hard.”

“The point is, you’re here, Spike,” Twilight said as her horn lit up. “Applejack, everypony else, stand back; this might create a bit of a vacuum.”

Sky blue, dark blue, gold, deep blue, and pink joined Twilight’s violet horn glow as the fabric of time and space began to ripple. Then all at once, with a giant roar, a shining blue portal through time tore open in the middle of the throne room.

“We did it!” Twilight beamed, raising her voice over the dull roar of the portal. “If we opened it so easily, we must have done the spell on the other side, too! Come on, girls, we’re going in!”

“Can’t we come too?!” Flash called, gesturing to himself and the other stallions.

“It’s too risky!” Twilight called back. “If our past selves see you, they might freak out and avoid you for the rest of their lives! I’m not losing my daughter to a mistake like that!”

“I don’t like it, but alright!” Flash relented.

“It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes! Let’s go, girls!” With that, Twilight jumped into the portal, disappearing in an instant.

Surprisingly, Fluttershy was the next one through, followed quickly by a determined Applejack and then Pinkie Pie. Not wanting to be last, Rainbow Dash launched herself into the portal with a literal flying leap. Rarity rolled her eyes and trotted in after her.

On the other side, Future Twilight’s hooves hit the floor of the castle in a quick clip-clop. When she turned back to the portal, she was surprised to have to scream and duck when Future Fluttershy soared in, only to breathe a sigh of relief when Future Applejack came through normally. As expected, Future Pinkie Pie exited the portal in a cartoonish fashion, tumbling in and popping to her hooves like a pastry out of a toaster. Future Rainbow Dash streaked out of the portal, coming to rest in a hover near Future Fluttershy. Future Rarity exited with as much grace as a mare in her 40s could, which was to say, a lot.

“Good, we all made it!” Future Twilight nodded with a smile. “Cadence, Celestia, Luna?”

“Hello, Twilight,” Celestia bowed to her. “I’m relieved the spell worked. And, if I may say, the years have done you well.”

Future Twilight turned, smiled and gave a courteous bow in return.

“It comes with the territory of immortality,” she said. Then she took a look around. “Where are our past selves and our children? They should be here.”

“The spell turned out to be a little more violent on this side,” Cadence answered, stepping forward. “We had everypony leave so we could stabilize the portal. They’re right outside the throne room.”

“It’s safe to come in now, everypony!” Luna called.

The throne room doors opened slowly. Past Twilight came into view first, giving a knowing and satisfied smile to her future self. She led the rest of the families inside, both sides eventually coming face-to-face.

“So, you look like you aged,” Past Twilight told her future self casually.

“Simulated aging spell,” Future Twilight smirked back. “Don’t start making it until 15 years from now. The thaumaturgical matrices we need to create it won’t be made until two years earlier.”

“Noted.” Past Twilight nodded. “Husband?”

“Not telling.” Future Twilight replied quickly.

“Dang.” Past Twilight stomped a hoof. “Please tell me it’s not–”

“It isn’t.” Future Twilight replied.

“But I’ve seen her chart–!” Past Twilight argued.

“He’s our husband in Parallel World LOP-D1TT34Y. Telling you that doesn’t affect our timeline. Besides, her chart has a 48.662% margin of error. If she manages to fix it in our eternity–”

“I get it.” Past Twilight put up a hoof. She glanced over at Past Rainbow Dash and Rarity, gaining a deadpan expression. “Please stop admiring yourselves.”

“But I’m gorgeous!” Both Rainbow Dashes and Rarities exclaimed in protest.

Both Applejacks raised opposite brows.

“Let me guess; we’re still gonna be dealin’ with that in a dozen years.” Past Applejack groaned.

“And more. Ah’ll need some cider after this. Still can’t wrap my head around Twilight’s more obscure magic.” Both Applejacks turned as their next generation entered.

“Mom!” Starburst bounded into the throne room, stopping just short of Future Twilight. “I am so–”

Future Twilight put a hoof on her daughter’s head to silence her.

“We can discuss what happened later, sweetheart. I’m just glad you didn’t end up hurt.”

“It was Prism’s fault.” Starburst accused her friend.

“It was not!” Prism whined.

“Can it, both of you.” Future Rainbow Dash managed to pull away from her past self to “mom up”. “Twi just said we’ll play the blame game later.

“But–!” both young pegasi started to argue.

“No buts,” Future Twilight cut in firmly, pointing at the gateway home. “Portal. Now.”

Starburst and Prism hung their heads and trudged towards the portal, though they held the smallest of smiles on their muzzles. It had only been two days, but it felt like longer. They were going home.

Past Rarity smiled cordially at her future self.

“I suppose you must be going,” she sighed. “It was nice meeting… well, me.”

“Likewise; do remember to not fuss a lot. It will give us wrinkles.” Future Rarity smiled back. Before turning for the portal, Future Rarity saw her past self make a gagging face in jest at the wrinkles comment, at which they both giggled.

Future Fluttershy gave a quiet wave to her past self and followed Future Rarity. Both Applejacks tipped their hats to each other, then Future Applejack trotted off to join the others. The Rainbow Dashes hoof-bumped each other and Future Rainbow Dash lazily flew towards the portal.

“Pinks, CeeCee, let’s go!” Future Rainbow Dash called to the Pies.

Future Pinkie Pie and current Cotton Candy gave final hugs to Past Pinkie and quickly cantered towards the portal.

But, as Future Twilight raised her hoof to go back the way she came, the portal emitted an earsplitting roar, forcing everyone to pin their ears to their heads. As soon as the roar ended, the portal closed in a blinding flash, disappearing in an instant. Everypony stood dumbfounded, now staring at the throne room’s western wall.

“H-How did that happen?” Luna gasped. “The spell was supposed to last until everypony went back through.”

“I – I don’t know…” Celestia said, just as lost as her sister. “Everything was going fine until now.”

“This sucks!” Future Dash exclaimed. “The magic had to go wonky right when we’re going home!”

“Uh, Mom?” Both Pinkies looked at their daughter. “Can I say that curse word now?”

They nodded.

Author's Note

I’m pretty sure this chapter is twice as long as the last one, probably because there are a lot of head-canons or possibly needless explanations. Or both. Rutabaga. That’s another word. I don’t know why I typed it.

By the way, here’s another head-canon: Surprisingly, it’s Pinkie, not Fluttershy (though Fluttershy does to a degree) that abhors swearing, especially in public. Why? Because swearing makes ponies uncomfortable, and you can’t have fun or laugh genuinely if you’re uncomfortable. Naturally, this means that Pinkie did all she could to keep Candy from hearing swearing, but you can’t keep words out when you’re two of the most social ponies in Equestria. Candy learned all of them in a year.

As always, please tell me anything I can do to improve the story. I think the quality dropped because I put so much into the chapter; plus, I believe I need to break part of Chapter 2 into Chapter 3. Tell me if I need to do that. Points for you if you know what the second to last line is from!