Another Timeby master18ChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1“Starlight? Starlight, where are you?” Twilight walked slowly down the hall of her castle, looking in the doors of each room, looking for Starlight Glimmer. “Starlight? The girls and I were going to go watch the meteor shower! We wanted to see if you’d join us!” Twilight noticed the door to the map room was ajar and trotted forward. “Starlight?” she asked, pushing the door open slowly. Starlight was standing at the map with her back to the door, her hooves gripping the edge of the table as her horn glowed intensely. When the door opened, she turned her head. “Twilight? What do you want?” she asked quickly, her magic not fading. Twilight stepped into the room carefully and walked slowly towards Starlight. “The girls and I are going to watch the meteor shower. We wanted to see if you’d come with us. What are you doing?” Starlight bit her lip. “I’m sorry about this, Twilight,” she said as her horn flashed and a blast of magic knocked Twilight to the ground at the foot of the door. Twilight winced as she crashed into the door but stood quickly, preparing a spell of her own. “Starlight, what are you doing!” she cried as Starlight finished her spell. The familiar runes of Starswirl the Bearded’s time travel spell surrounded the map as the air hummed with power and Starlight began lifting herself into the air. Twilight fired a blast of magic, but Starlight deflected it with a shield spell as the portal opened. “I’m sorry Twilight, but I need to do this!” she called down as she levitated herself up and through the portal. Twilight extended her wings and took to the air quickly as the portal began to close. She raced towards it and made it through just as the portal closed, leaving the present behind. Twilight groaned and pulled herself up from the grass where the portal had dropped her. “Ugh, where am I?” she wondered aloud, shaking herself to dislodge the clods of dirt that had stuck to her when she fell. “Or rather, when am I? “This is the Royal Gardens Park in Canterlot.” she realized, recognizing the well-manicured grounds. She turned and confirmed that when she saw the clock tower in the front of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. “Excuse me, could you tell me what day it is?” she asked, trotting towards a tan pony she noticed sitting on a park bench. “It’s Monday,” he replied without looking up from the book he was reading. “I’m sorry, I meant the date,” she asked, smiling at him. He lowered his book slightly and gave her an odd look. “September 28th?” Her smile became slightly forced as she worked up the nerve to say “And the year?” He lowered the book and continued his odd stare. “Miss, are you feeling alright?” “Yes, everything’s fine. I’m just a little lost.” she said with a nervous chuckle. He started at her for a full three seconds before saying “1523?” “Thank you!” she said cheerfully before trotting away quickly. She could feel the stallion’s gaze following her curiously, but she adamantly refused to look back. Why would Starlight come back 15 years? This is the year before the girls and I got our cutie marks! she thought to herself, looking for clues as to where Starlight had gone. The clock tower struck four and she watched as fillies and colts poured out of the school, excited to go back to their dormitories after a long day of school. As she watched, she noticed somepony she recognized. “Sunburst?” she asked herself quietly. Sunburst walked out of the school with a filly and a colt Twilight didn’t recognize. They were laughing about something as Sunburst put a book into his saddlebags and closed it. Twilight smiled as she watched the three friends talking, remembering her years at the school fondly. A fourth filly walked towards them and Twilight gasped as she recognized a young Starlight. She was slightly older than the time Starlight had shown her losing her friend and Twilight realized this must have been a year or so after. Sunburst looked excited to see her and raced forward to hug Starlight. Twilight trotted closer, staying out of sight as she watched Starlight return the hug cautiously. The two separated and Sunburst waved his other two friends on. “I’ll catch up with you!” Twilight heard him say as he turned back to Starlight. “I’ve missed you so much! What brings you to Canterlot?” “I was in the city and I wanted to come see if you remembered me!” young Starlight replied, smiling. “Of course I remember you! You’re my best friend!” he bumped her shoulder with a hoof. “Come on, let’s go to Donut Joe’s and catch up!” “Actually, I was hoping you could show me the school,” Starlight replied, smiling nervously. “I was thinking about applying next year, and I thought maybe you could show me what it’s like.?” “That would be so cool!” Sunburst exclaimed. He turned and they walked back towards the school. Twilight followed the pair into the school, keeping her distance so they wouldn’t know she was following them. Sunburst talked all about the school and how great it was to be learning advanced magic and Twilight smiled as she watched them. Finally, they stopped at the fountain in the courtyard at the back of the school. Twilight hid in one of the bushes surrounding the courtyard and continued watching. “It’s really great to see you, Starlight. I’ve missed you a lot,” he said, smiling at her. “I saw you made some new friends,” Starlight said, smiling back, but her smile looked forced. “I’m sure they’re pretty great too.” “Oh yeah, Moonbeam is in an alchemy class and she was telling us about how-“ he broke off as Starlight scowled. “Sounds like you don’t need me anymore, now that you’ve got you cutie mark and new, better friends!” she said menacingly, her horn lighting up as she took a step forward. Sunburst took a nervous step backward. “Starlight? It’s not like that, I don’t think I’m better than you!” “Sure, you don’t think you’re better than me!” she said mockingly, gripping him with her magic and lifting him into the air. “You just have your cutie mark, so you are better than me.” Twilight watched, horrified, as Sunburst twisted and groaned in pain while Starlight’s magic began peeling away his cutie mark. Suddenly, a blast of magic struck Starlight in the side and she was knocked to the ground, the spell dissipating. Sunburst fell to his knees but recovered quickly and ran towards the school, calling for help. Twilight followed the line of magic back to where it had come from and saw the Starlight from her time standing in front of the bushes, her horn smoking from the spell she just cast. “Starlight!” she cried out, stepping out the bushes and running towards her. Both Starlights looked at her. “W-who?” asked young Starlight, her eyes widening slightly when she saw her older self. “Twilight? You shouldn’t have come!“ said older Starlight as Twilight tackled her to the ground. “What have you done?” shouted Twilight, pinning Starlight beneath her. “I- I had to fix it!” she cried defensively as the time spell opened the portal above them and began pulling them both up. “Starlight, you don’t know what this could do to the future!” she shouted as they passed through the portal to their own time. Author's Note My reasoning behind choosing the year: 1523 AD (After Discord). The sisters ruled for 534 years before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon and was banished for 1000 years, putting the start of the show canon in the year 1534 and the previous season in the year 1538 Chapter 2The portal opened and dropped Twilight and Starlight in a heap on the map table. Twilight untangled herself from Starlight and jumped off the table. “How could you do that, Starlight? You don’t know what you’ve done to the future!” Starlight stood shakily and stepped off the map table. “Twilight, I knew it was wrong, and I know you’re going to lecture me, but I had to go back. I had to make things right.” She looked around. “And besides, look around. Your castle is still here, so it can’t have changed much, right?” Twilight looked around at the familiar castle. Starlight was right- everything was the same. Or, almost the same. “My memory chandelier is gone!” she said, pointing up at the empty space above their heads. Starlight looked up and winced. “But, it can’t be that different, can it?” Twilight shook her head. “No, we need to go back and let the past happen like it did.” Starlight backed up to the map table protectively, lighting her horn with magic. “I- I can’t let that happen Twilight, all I did was stop myself from doing something horrible as a filly. How could that make the future bad?” Twilight lit her own horn and put a hoof forward. “Starlight, step away from the table. I need to fix the past.” Starlight shook her head. “No, I won’t let y-“ She broke off as the doors to the map room opened. “S-sunburst?” she asked hesitantly, her magic fading. Twilight turned and saw Sunburst standing in the door, except something was different: he was an alicorn! “Who are you and how-“ He broke off and locked eyes with Starlight. “Starlight?” Starlight pushed past Twilight and ran towards him. “Sunburst, I’ve missed you so much! I’m so sorry-“ Suddenly, gold magic flared around her, freezing her in place. “Sunburst?” “I don’t know how you escaped, but this time I’m going to make sure you stay in prison for the rest of your life.” he said, stepping closer and casting a magic inhibiting spell on her. Twilight froze as he turned on her. “And what are you doing here with an escaped felon?” “She- a felon?” Twilight asked, taking a step back. “Come quietly and I’ll just have the guard ask you a few questions. Resist and you’ll end up like poor Starlight here.” His magic grew slightly brighter around her as he spoke. Twilight looked at Starlight and locked eyes with her. Starlight’s eyes were wide and terrified and clearly said ‘run’. “Sorry about this,” muttered Twilight, casting a blinding spell at him and teleporting behind the table. Sunburst dodged the spell and lashed out wildly with his magic, but it slashed through the space where Twilight had been standing. With the precious few seconds left to her, Twilight began casting the time spell, but she was thrown backwards by a wave of golden magic as Sunburst cried “ENOUGH!” and stamped his hooves down, extending his wings as he did so. Twilight was powerless to stop him as he wrapped her in golden magic as well and cast a magic inhibitor spell. He lifted her and levitated her to him. “Guards!” he called, turning and trotting out of the map room, Twilight and Starlight in tow. “Prepare the dungeon!” Twilight and Starlight were both fitted with magic inhibitor rings and thrown into a cell made of solid stone beneath the castle. Two royal guards stood at attention outside the cell door. Twilight stood and walked over to where Starlight was lying on the ground. “See what you’ve done, Starlight? You’ve changed the future again! What were you hoping to accomplish?” When Starlight didn’t respond, Twilight sat down in front of her and lifted Starlight’s head with a hoof. A few tears were leaking out of Starlight’s eyes. “Hey, we can still fix this, Starlight,” said Twilight, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I fixed things, though,” Starlight mumbled, more to herself than Twilight. “I fixed things. Why are they worse?” “What were you trying to do?” asked Twilight gently, trying to calm Starlight down. “I was trying to stop myself from getting my cutie mark,” she replied plainly, wiping away a last tear. “And I succeeded, “I was so angry with Sunburst,” she continued, lost in memories. “I spent so much time thinking about how awful him getting his cutie mark was, and how it was his cutie mark’s fault that he left me, that I created a spell to remove cutie marks. And I thought, maybe if I take it away from him, things could go back the way they were. “And so I did. I came to Canterlot, got him alone, and took it away from him. Then mine appeared, and I realized I couldn’t stay with him. I turned and ran. I ran and ran until I reached the ends of Equestria.” Starlight looked up at Twilight. “I only wanted to stop myself from doing it again. Stop myself from taking his cutie mark away. I thought maybe, if I could, we could be friends again.” “Starlight, no matter what happens in the past, no matter how awful it is, the past has to stay there,” Twilight said gently. “You may have had good intentions, but look at how different the future is because of your one tiny change.” “I know it was a silly dream, but I just hoped…” Starlight trailed off, looking at the ground. “Starlight, even doing what you did, things turned out alright in the end, right? I mean, you have us now.” Twilight smiled at her. “And I wouldn’t want to trade that for anything. “You’re right,” Starlight said, taking a shuddering breath. “How do we fix this, then?” “We need to get to the map and go back in time to make sure the past happens like it’s supposed to.” Twilight said, standing and turning to look at the cell door. “First, we need to get out and to get these inhibitor rings off.” Twilight looked around the bare cell and noticed a few small rocks in the corner of the cell. “Come here,” she said, trotting over and picking one up with her hooves. Starlight walked over and sat down while Twilight lined up where she wanted to hit the ring. “If I can get the right angle, it’s possible to disable the latch on these rings.” she slammed the rock against the ring, causing Starlight to wince. “Sorry,” she said, lining it up again. “That’s probably why they didn’t bother getting rid of these,” she added, hitting the ring again. “Anypony trying to do this to themselves would probably brain themselves.” A third hit caused the ring to split along the seam and clatter to the floor of the cell. Starlight quickly used her magic to take Twilight’s ring off. “Alright, grab onto me,” Twilight said, preparing a spell. “I’m going to try to teleport us as close to the map room as I can.” Starlight put a hoof around Twilight and the two of them disappeared in a flash of light. Moments later, they rematerialized standing on the map. “Now cast the spell quick-“ They froze, staring in shock at the five ponies and Sunburst, who were sitting around the table. The other six seemed just as surprised and were frozen as well. “Get them!” shouted Starburst, recovering and firing a blast of magic at them. “Cast the spell!” shouted Twilight, raising a shield to block the spell while simultaneously pushing the grey earth pony that leapt at them away. She raised a bubble shield around the table and expanded it outward, throwing all six of them away from the table. “Got it!” called Starlight as the portal above them opened. Twilight dropped the shield and grabbed Starlight, flying up with her into the portal as Sunburst cried “Stop them!” Chapter 3Starlight and Twilight tumbled in a heap onto the grass of the Royal Gardens Park. “All we need to do now is make sure that the past happens like it’s supposed to,” said Twilight, pulling herself up and starting walking towards the school. “Twilight, wait! We can stop me before I even get to him. We can still prevent this!” “Starlight,” said Twilight, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “You have to let this happen. I know it’s hard, but nopony can change what’s happened in the past.” Starlight hung her head. “You’re right… I just hoped I could make things right.” “You will somehow, Starlight, just not like this.” Starlight nodded. “Alright, let’s go.” The two of them took a few steps towards the school when they heard the portal opening behind them. They turned and watched in horror as it deposited an angry Sunburst in a heap on the ground. The clock struck four and they heard the chatter of fillies and colts leaving the school. “We have to get him away from here!” shouted Twilight, blasting him backwards with a quick spell. “We can’t fight him here or we might alter the future!” The two of them took off as fast as they could, Twilight flying and Starlight galloping full tilt. They heard Sunburst shout behind them and turned in time to see him take off after them and dodge a spell he fired at them. The two of them raced out of sight of the school just as young Starburst left the school with his friends. The three of them raced through the back alleys and streets of Canterlot, occasionally pausing to exchange a flurry of spells before continuing their chase. “It’s nearly 4:30!” shouted Twilight to Starlight as they ran past a clock tower. “We need to put him out of action to get back and make sure the past happens so we know when we’re safe to leave!” Starlight simply nodded, too out of breath to respond with words. The two of them turned a corner into an alley and ran about halfway down before turning, Twilight raising a shield as Starlight prepared a spell. Sunburst turned into the alley and Starlight fired, catching him in the shoulder and taking away the momentum of his charge. He returned fire, but Twilight’s shield reflected it and Starlight knocked him down with another spell. The two of them approached the fallen alicorn, wary for tricks, but he didn’t move. Twilight cast a spell to create some rope and they tied him up the best they could. Starlight shot one last spell at him to make sure he’d stay down, and the two of them hurried back towards the school. A few minutes later, they arrived and hurried around back. As they neared the courtyard, they heard young Starlight’s voice shouting “Sure you don’t think you’re better than me!” The two of them crept to the corner of the building and peered around at the edge to see Starlight holding Sunburst in the air and shouting “You just have your cutie mark, and so you are better than me.” Starlight buried her face in Twilight’s shoulder and she put a hoof around her, comforting her as young Starlight’s magic peeled Sunburst’s cutie mark off of him like an old sticker. She was smiling nastily as she dropped Sunburst to the ground in a heap and levitated a jar out of her saddlebags. She unscrewed the top and put the cutie mark inside, securing the lid on top after she did so. “Now we’re equal,” she said, standing over his crying form. “Now neither of us is better than the other! Now we can go back to the way things were!” She stomped her front hooves with the last word. Suddenly, soft white light surrounded Starlight and lifted her into the air. “W- what’s happening?” she asked nervously, looking around with fear. The intensity of the light grew brighter and brighter until she was invisible behind it. After a few seconds, the light faded and she settled back on the ground. On her flanks were her cutie mark. “N- no! This isn’t right!” she cried out, stepping backwards. “We’re supposed to be equal now!” She turned in circles a few times, staring at her cutie mark before breaking off and running. The present Starlight lifted her head off of Twilight’s shoulder and Twilight could feel tears where it had been. “So now you know,” she said quietly, sounding as though she were still holding back tears. “I never found out what happened to him. I threw the jar in a stream and I don’t know if it ever broke open. If he ever got it back.” Twilight hugged her. “Starlight, thank you. I know it was hard, but you had to let it happen again. Nopony can change the past.” “I know,” whispered Starlight, her face buried in Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight pulled back and looked Starlight in the eyes. “But we can change the future.” Starlight wiped the tears out of her eyes. “What do you mean?” “You never found out if his cutie mark ever got back to him or not. What if we could use the map to find where you left it?” “And bring it back to him!” Starlight finished, hope glimmering in her eyes. “Do you really think we could do that?” “I know there’s nothing we can’t do if we do it together,” Twilight said definitely. Together, the two of them cast the spell and flew up in the air towards it to return to their own time.
Chapter 1“Starlight? Starlight, where are you?” Twilight walked slowly down the hall of her castle, looking in the doors of each room, looking for Starlight Glimmer. “Starlight? The girls and I were going to go watch the meteor shower! We wanted to see if you’d join us!” Twilight noticed the door to the map room was ajar and trotted forward. “Starlight?” she asked, pushing the door open slowly. Starlight was standing at the map with her back to the door, her hooves gripping the edge of the table as her horn glowed intensely. When the door opened, she turned her head. “Twilight? What do you want?” she asked quickly, her magic not fading. Twilight stepped into the room carefully and walked slowly towards Starlight. “The girls and I are going to watch the meteor shower. We wanted to see if you’d come with us. What are you doing?” Starlight bit her lip. “I’m sorry about this, Twilight,” she said as her horn flashed and a blast of magic knocked Twilight to the ground at the foot of the door. Twilight winced as she crashed into the door but stood quickly, preparing a spell of her own. “Starlight, what are you doing!” she cried as Starlight finished her spell. The familiar runes of Starswirl the Bearded’s time travel spell surrounded the map as the air hummed with power and Starlight began lifting herself into the air. Twilight fired a blast of magic, but Starlight deflected it with a shield spell as the portal opened. “I’m sorry Twilight, but I need to do this!” she called down as she levitated herself up and through the portal. Twilight extended her wings and took to the air quickly as the portal began to close. She raced towards it and made it through just as the portal closed, leaving the present behind. Twilight groaned and pulled herself up from the grass where the portal had dropped her. “Ugh, where am I?” she wondered aloud, shaking herself to dislodge the clods of dirt that had stuck to her when she fell. “Or rather, when am I? “This is the Royal Gardens Park in Canterlot.” she realized, recognizing the well-manicured grounds. She turned and confirmed that when she saw the clock tower in the front of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. “Excuse me, could you tell me what day it is?” she asked, trotting towards a tan pony she noticed sitting on a park bench. “It’s Monday,” he replied without looking up from the book he was reading. “I’m sorry, I meant the date,” she asked, smiling at him. He lowered his book slightly and gave her an odd look. “September 28th?” Her smile became slightly forced as she worked up the nerve to say “And the year?” He lowered the book and continued his odd stare. “Miss, are you feeling alright?” “Yes, everything’s fine. I’m just a little lost.” she said with a nervous chuckle. He started at her for a full three seconds before saying “1523?” “Thank you!” she said cheerfully before trotting away quickly. She could feel the stallion’s gaze following her curiously, but she adamantly refused to look back. Why would Starlight come back 15 years? This is the year before the girls and I got our cutie marks! she thought to herself, looking for clues as to where Starlight had gone. The clock tower struck four and she watched as fillies and colts poured out of the school, excited to go back to their dormitories after a long day of school. As she watched, she noticed somepony she recognized. “Sunburst?” she asked herself quietly. Sunburst walked out of the school with a filly and a colt Twilight didn’t recognize. They were laughing about something as Sunburst put a book into his saddlebags and closed it. Twilight smiled as she watched the three friends talking, remembering her years at the school fondly. A fourth filly walked towards them and Twilight gasped as she recognized a young Starlight. She was slightly older than the time Starlight had shown her losing her friend and Twilight realized this must have been a year or so after. Sunburst looked excited to see her and raced forward to hug Starlight. Twilight trotted closer, staying out of sight as she watched Starlight return the hug cautiously. The two separated and Sunburst waved his other two friends on. “I’ll catch up with you!” Twilight heard him say as he turned back to Starlight. “I’ve missed you so much! What brings you to Canterlot?” “I was in the city and I wanted to come see if you remembered me!” young Starlight replied, smiling. “Of course I remember you! You’re my best friend!” he bumped her shoulder with a hoof. “Come on, let’s go to Donut Joe’s and catch up!” “Actually, I was hoping you could show me the school,” Starlight replied, smiling nervously. “I was thinking about applying next year, and I thought maybe you could show me what it’s like.?” “That would be so cool!” Sunburst exclaimed. He turned and they walked back towards the school. Twilight followed the pair into the school, keeping her distance so they wouldn’t know she was following them. Sunburst talked all about the school and how great it was to be learning advanced magic and Twilight smiled as she watched them. Finally, they stopped at the fountain in the courtyard at the back of the school. Twilight hid in one of the bushes surrounding the courtyard and continued watching. “It’s really great to see you, Starlight. I’ve missed you a lot,” he said, smiling at her. “I saw you made some new friends,” Starlight said, smiling back, but her smile looked forced. “I’m sure they’re pretty great too.” “Oh yeah, Moonbeam is in an alchemy class and she was telling us about how-“ he broke off as Starlight scowled. “Sounds like you don’t need me anymore, now that you’ve got you cutie mark and new, better friends!” she said menacingly, her horn lighting up as she took a step forward. Sunburst took a nervous step backward. “Starlight? It’s not like that, I don’t think I’m better than you!” “Sure, you don’t think you’re better than me!” she said mockingly, gripping him with her magic and lifting him into the air. “You just have your cutie mark, so you are better than me.” Twilight watched, horrified, as Sunburst twisted and groaned in pain while Starlight’s magic began peeling away his cutie mark. Suddenly, a blast of magic struck Starlight in the side and she was knocked to the ground, the spell dissipating. Sunburst fell to his knees but recovered quickly and ran towards the school, calling for help. Twilight followed the line of magic back to where it had come from and saw the Starlight from her time standing in front of the bushes, her horn smoking from the spell she just cast. “Starlight!” she cried out, stepping out the bushes and running towards her. Both Starlights looked at her. “W-who?” asked young Starlight, her eyes widening slightly when she saw her older self. “Twilight? You shouldn’t have come!“ said older Starlight as Twilight tackled her to the ground. “What have you done?” shouted Twilight, pinning Starlight beneath her. “I- I had to fix it!” she cried defensively as the time spell opened the portal above them and began pulling them both up. “Starlight, you don’t know what this could do to the future!” she shouted as they passed through the portal to their own time. Author's Note My reasoning behind choosing the year: 1523 AD (After Discord). The sisters ruled for 534 years before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon and was banished for 1000 years, putting the start of the show canon in the year 1534 and the previous season in the year 1538
Chapter 2The portal opened and dropped Twilight and Starlight in a heap on the map table. Twilight untangled herself from Starlight and jumped off the table. “How could you do that, Starlight? You don’t know what you’ve done to the future!” Starlight stood shakily and stepped off the map table. “Twilight, I knew it was wrong, and I know you’re going to lecture me, but I had to go back. I had to make things right.” She looked around. “And besides, look around. Your castle is still here, so it can’t have changed much, right?” Twilight looked around at the familiar castle. Starlight was right- everything was the same. Or, almost the same. “My memory chandelier is gone!” she said, pointing up at the empty space above their heads. Starlight looked up and winced. “But, it can’t be that different, can it?” Twilight shook her head. “No, we need to go back and let the past happen like it did.” Starlight backed up to the map table protectively, lighting her horn with magic. “I- I can’t let that happen Twilight, all I did was stop myself from doing something horrible as a filly. How could that make the future bad?” Twilight lit her own horn and put a hoof forward. “Starlight, step away from the table. I need to fix the past.” Starlight shook her head. “No, I won’t let y-“ She broke off as the doors to the map room opened. “S-sunburst?” she asked hesitantly, her magic fading. Twilight turned and saw Sunburst standing in the door, except something was different: he was an alicorn! “Who are you and how-“ He broke off and locked eyes with Starlight. “Starlight?” Starlight pushed past Twilight and ran towards him. “Sunburst, I’ve missed you so much! I’m so sorry-“ Suddenly, gold magic flared around her, freezing her in place. “Sunburst?” “I don’t know how you escaped, but this time I’m going to make sure you stay in prison for the rest of your life.” he said, stepping closer and casting a magic inhibiting spell on her. Twilight froze as he turned on her. “And what are you doing here with an escaped felon?” “She- a felon?” Twilight asked, taking a step back. “Come quietly and I’ll just have the guard ask you a few questions. Resist and you’ll end up like poor Starlight here.” His magic grew slightly brighter around her as he spoke. Twilight looked at Starlight and locked eyes with her. Starlight’s eyes were wide and terrified and clearly said ‘run’. “Sorry about this,” muttered Twilight, casting a blinding spell at him and teleporting behind the table. Sunburst dodged the spell and lashed out wildly with his magic, but it slashed through the space where Twilight had been standing. With the precious few seconds left to her, Twilight began casting the time spell, but she was thrown backwards by a wave of golden magic as Sunburst cried “ENOUGH!” and stamped his hooves down, extending his wings as he did so. Twilight was powerless to stop him as he wrapped her in golden magic as well and cast a magic inhibitor spell. He lifted her and levitated her to him. “Guards!” he called, turning and trotting out of the map room, Twilight and Starlight in tow. “Prepare the dungeon!” Twilight and Starlight were both fitted with magic inhibitor rings and thrown into a cell made of solid stone beneath the castle. Two royal guards stood at attention outside the cell door. Twilight stood and walked over to where Starlight was lying on the ground. “See what you’ve done, Starlight? You’ve changed the future again! What were you hoping to accomplish?” When Starlight didn’t respond, Twilight sat down in front of her and lifted Starlight’s head with a hoof. A few tears were leaking out of Starlight’s eyes. “Hey, we can still fix this, Starlight,” said Twilight, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I fixed things, though,” Starlight mumbled, more to herself than Twilight. “I fixed things. Why are they worse?” “What were you trying to do?” asked Twilight gently, trying to calm Starlight down. “I was trying to stop myself from getting my cutie mark,” she replied plainly, wiping away a last tear. “And I succeeded, “I was so angry with Sunburst,” she continued, lost in memories. “I spent so much time thinking about how awful him getting his cutie mark was, and how it was his cutie mark’s fault that he left me, that I created a spell to remove cutie marks. And I thought, maybe if I take it away from him, things could go back the way they were. “And so I did. I came to Canterlot, got him alone, and took it away from him. Then mine appeared, and I realized I couldn’t stay with him. I turned and ran. I ran and ran until I reached the ends of Equestria.” Starlight looked up at Twilight. “I only wanted to stop myself from doing it again. Stop myself from taking his cutie mark away. I thought maybe, if I could, we could be friends again.” “Starlight, no matter what happens in the past, no matter how awful it is, the past has to stay there,” Twilight said gently. “You may have had good intentions, but look at how different the future is because of your one tiny change.” “I know it was a silly dream, but I just hoped…” Starlight trailed off, looking at the ground. “Starlight, even doing what you did, things turned out alright in the end, right? I mean, you have us now.” Twilight smiled at her. “And I wouldn’t want to trade that for anything. “You’re right,” Starlight said, taking a shuddering breath. “How do we fix this, then?” “We need to get to the map and go back in time to make sure the past happens like it’s supposed to.” Twilight said, standing and turning to look at the cell door. “First, we need to get out and to get these inhibitor rings off.” Twilight looked around the bare cell and noticed a few small rocks in the corner of the cell. “Come here,” she said, trotting over and picking one up with her hooves. Starlight walked over and sat down while Twilight lined up where she wanted to hit the ring. “If I can get the right angle, it’s possible to disable the latch on these rings.” she slammed the rock against the ring, causing Starlight to wince. “Sorry,” she said, lining it up again. “That’s probably why they didn’t bother getting rid of these,” she added, hitting the ring again. “Anypony trying to do this to themselves would probably brain themselves.” A third hit caused the ring to split along the seam and clatter to the floor of the cell. Starlight quickly used her magic to take Twilight’s ring off. “Alright, grab onto me,” Twilight said, preparing a spell. “I’m going to try to teleport us as close to the map room as I can.” Starlight put a hoof around Twilight and the two of them disappeared in a flash of light. Moments later, they rematerialized standing on the map. “Now cast the spell quick-“ They froze, staring in shock at the five ponies and Sunburst, who were sitting around the table. The other six seemed just as surprised and were frozen as well. “Get them!” shouted Starburst, recovering and firing a blast of magic at them. “Cast the spell!” shouted Twilight, raising a shield to block the spell while simultaneously pushing the grey earth pony that leapt at them away. She raised a bubble shield around the table and expanded it outward, throwing all six of them away from the table. “Got it!” called Starlight as the portal above them opened. Twilight dropped the shield and grabbed Starlight, flying up with her into the portal as Sunburst cried “Stop them!”
Chapter 3Starlight and Twilight tumbled in a heap onto the grass of the Royal Gardens Park. “All we need to do now is make sure that the past happens like it’s supposed to,” said Twilight, pulling herself up and starting walking towards the school. “Twilight, wait! We can stop me before I even get to him. We can still prevent this!” “Starlight,” said Twilight, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “You have to let this happen. I know it’s hard, but nopony can change what’s happened in the past.” Starlight hung her head. “You’re right… I just hoped I could make things right.” “You will somehow, Starlight, just not like this.” Starlight nodded. “Alright, let’s go.” The two of them took a few steps towards the school when they heard the portal opening behind them. They turned and watched in horror as it deposited an angry Sunburst in a heap on the ground. The clock struck four and they heard the chatter of fillies and colts leaving the school. “We have to get him away from here!” shouted Twilight, blasting him backwards with a quick spell. “We can’t fight him here or we might alter the future!” The two of them took off as fast as they could, Twilight flying and Starlight galloping full tilt. They heard Sunburst shout behind them and turned in time to see him take off after them and dodge a spell he fired at them. The two of them raced out of sight of the school just as young Starburst left the school with his friends. The three of them raced through the back alleys and streets of Canterlot, occasionally pausing to exchange a flurry of spells before continuing their chase. “It’s nearly 4:30!” shouted Twilight to Starlight as they ran past a clock tower. “We need to put him out of action to get back and make sure the past happens so we know when we’re safe to leave!” Starlight simply nodded, too out of breath to respond with words. The two of them turned a corner into an alley and ran about halfway down before turning, Twilight raising a shield as Starlight prepared a spell. Sunburst turned into the alley and Starlight fired, catching him in the shoulder and taking away the momentum of his charge. He returned fire, but Twilight’s shield reflected it and Starlight knocked him down with another spell. The two of them approached the fallen alicorn, wary for tricks, but he didn’t move. Twilight cast a spell to create some rope and they tied him up the best they could. Starlight shot one last spell at him to make sure he’d stay down, and the two of them hurried back towards the school. A few minutes later, they arrived and hurried around back. As they neared the courtyard, they heard young Starlight’s voice shouting “Sure you don’t think you’re better than me!” The two of them crept to the corner of the building and peered around at the edge to see Starlight holding Sunburst in the air and shouting “You just have your cutie mark, and so you are better than me.” Starlight buried her face in Twilight’s shoulder and she put a hoof around her, comforting her as young Starlight’s magic peeled Sunburst’s cutie mark off of him like an old sticker. She was smiling nastily as she dropped Sunburst to the ground in a heap and levitated a jar out of her saddlebags. She unscrewed the top and put the cutie mark inside, securing the lid on top after she did so. “Now we’re equal,” she said, standing over his crying form. “Now neither of us is better than the other! Now we can go back to the way things were!” She stomped her front hooves with the last word. Suddenly, soft white light surrounded Starlight and lifted her into the air. “W- what’s happening?” she asked nervously, looking around with fear. The intensity of the light grew brighter and brighter until she was invisible behind it. After a few seconds, the light faded and she settled back on the ground. On her flanks were her cutie mark. “N- no! This isn’t right!” she cried out, stepping backwards. “We’re supposed to be equal now!” She turned in circles a few times, staring at her cutie mark before breaking off and running. The present Starlight lifted her head off of Twilight’s shoulder and Twilight could feel tears where it had been. “So now you know,” she said quietly, sounding as though she were still holding back tears. “I never found out what happened to him. I threw the jar in a stream and I don’t know if it ever broke open. If he ever got it back.” Twilight hugged her. “Starlight, thank you. I know it was hard, but you had to let it happen again. Nopony can change the past.” “I know,” whispered Starlight, her face buried in Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight pulled back and looked Starlight in the eyes. “But we can change the future.” Starlight wiped the tears out of her eyes. “What do you mean?” “You never found out if his cutie mark ever got back to him or not. What if we could use the map to find where you left it?” “And bring it back to him!” Starlight finished, hope glimmering in her eyes. “Do you really think we could do that?” “I know there’s nothing we can’t do if we do it together,” Twilight said definitely. Together, the two of them cast the spell and flew up in the air towards it to return to their own time.
