Time Explorers

by ArtHeart

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Alternate Universe
Length: 3026

Twilight meets her unicorn self, and causes the time to destroy.

Princess Twilight Sparkle has been rather trapped in her studies lately. She finds a mysterious spell buried under a pile of books, and travels back in time only to encounter her unicorn past-self. The spell could only be used once, so she calls upon Starlight Glimmer for help. Will the three be able to travel to different times and save all of Equestria?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-29 21:40:01 UTC

The Spell

Princess Twilight looked up from her pile of books down to the shiny floor of her castle. She had lots of studying to do, obviously from all the piled up books. She was sitting on top of one of her history books: Starswirl the Bearded's childhood Magic. She was exhausted from the ridiculously large amount of reports Princess Celestia had requested. The one she was currently working on was a report of dark magic effects on objects.

With one out of the many paper scrolls piled up next to the lavender alicorn, she continued to write where she left off an hour ago.

....dark magic is also effective a few days after applied to the pony and/or object. This depends on how much of it is applied, time of day and type.

With the 5th paragraph out of 9th finished, she flew down from the massive book pile for a little bit of a break from reading all the words and writing down the results of the research.

As Twilight flew down, she suddenly cracked her left wing, causing her to fall into the pit of hardcover books. She noticed some scrolls, all spells. They were all different, but one particular spell was Twilight's favorite: Starswirl's time travel spell. It took her back to the memories when she tried to stop time, but failed in the process. Good times. She decided to set it aside and study it later.

...

Twilight informed Spike that he might want to travel with her, just in case she wouldn't return. "Alright, Spike," she said with a soft tone. "I don't know where- er, when this will take us, but this will work safely."

Spike disagreed, and spoke back. "I don't think we should do this," he said nervously, building up anxiety. "What if we mess up time COMPLETLY?!"

"It'll be fine, Spike."

Twilight surged power from her horn, causing a blinding blast of light overcoming the room around them. A magical dome spawned above them, and got sucked into the wormhole.

Pink, blue and green lights nearly blinded both of them, but they quickly got sucked into the time from the spell, completely unknown. With too much speed and pressure, Twilight blacked out.

...

"Uh..T-twilight?"

Twilight could hear Spike's voice echoing through her spinning head. She had no idea what was going on. With blurred vision, she felt she was in the middle of a pitch black void. In time, her strength and energy returned to her, and she stood up. Spike talked to the pony, who was in total shock.

"Can you believe it, Twilight? It's you as a unicorn!"

Twilight could not believe what she saw in front of her purple eyes. It was her past self as a unicorn. She wondered how far back that they had gone. She had rememberd one of Starswirl's quotes on time: the farther you go back, the tougher it is to return.

She finally brought out the courage to speak to her past clone. She opened her mouth with fear, wondering how she would react.

"Umm...how long have you been living in Ponyville?" She asked.

The unicorn replied calmly, as if she was already explained what had happened. "Oh! Me and Spike have lived here for only a few months. Why?"

Twilight realized that she and Spike had traveled back almost 5 years into the past. She looked over to the calendar, reading the date May 16th, 2011. She knew it was rude to leave on the spot, but the more time that they wasted, the harder it was to return home. She didn't waste a minute longer and told Spike that they had to leave her old library.

"Spike," she said. We're leaving, come on."

"Twilight, I forgot to tell you," the dragon replied. "You've been knocked out for an hour, so the spell can't work."

Twilight nervously picked up the scroll scripted with instructions on the spell, reading it inside her head.

Focus on the magic of your horn, and ignore the electric surges around your body. One time use only.

"HOW IN EQUESTRIA DOES THAT MAKE SENSE!?" Yelled Twilight. "Now we can't go back! Oh, I wish we could warn Starlight Glimmer...."

The unicorn Twilight immediately spoke up at Twilight's distress. "Actually, I have a spell somewhere that can send a letter to anypony in any timeline!"

Princess Twilight broke into a grin, happily cheering at her delight. "Thank goodness! I thought I was lost forever! Ohmigoshihmigoshomygosh I can't waittostudymagicwithyoumynewstudentand-"

Spike scilenced the babbling princess, returning her to the situation. "Twilight? Letter?"

Twilight nervously grinned back. "Heh heh....riiiiiggt.."

...

Starlight Glimmer, in her newly bought house in Ponyville, was sleeping soundly in her warm bed. She had lived in Ponyville for a few months, and was completely forgiven for her evil sins of her destiny.

Suddenly, a bright, nearly blinding light snapped herself awake out of slumber. The light illuminated the room, slowly fading and revealing a written scroll. She rested the scroll into her pink hooves, carefully unwrapping it with care. She read the contents written in ink.

Starlight Glimmer,

I know this isn't the best time, but me and Spike are stuck in the past! I tried everything I could to get home, but the spell I used could only be done once. I know a pony like you can do those spells, so come to our timeline as soon as possible.

Your greatful mentor,

Twilight Sparkle

Starlight quickly responded by taking action immediately. She did her spell just as before, as she had memorized it when she used it last time.

Her horn lit up an aura of magic, and created a wormhole which sucked Starlight inside. She was on her way to Twilight's location of time.

...

"Oh, when is Starlight going to get here? Do you think she got the note?" Asked Princess Twilight.

"I'm not sure," replied unicorn Twilight. "It's nighttime in our world, and it should be in yours too. She couldn't have woken up from-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Starlight Glimmer emerged from the back of the library. She stood, trying to keep her balance onto the wooden ground. She stood in shock at the sight of two Twilights.

"You've must've travled back to the past," announced Starlight. "I see you used to be a unicorn. And.. Where's the other Spike?"

Just as she said that, the other Spike came from the upstairs portion of the library. He stood surprised of how many ponies were in the room, including a clone of himself.

"Twilight.. Did you invite guests?" Asked the past Spike. The present Spike facepalmed at his past stupidity.

"Actually, we're from the future," added Princess Twilight. "A spell failed and we can't get home."

"And I was asked for assistance," added Starlight. "But my spell would take us to different times. We might be here for a while."

Suddenly, unicorn Twilight had an idea. "Follow me," she said. The princess, unicorn and two dragons followed her to her laboratory. It was freshly cleaned out.

"You're lucky I've cleaned this out," said unicorn Twilight. "With Starlight's time spell, we can make it possible to travel to alternate manipulated times, depending on the changes of the past. It'll take us a while to set time back to normal."

Starlight loved the idea of using her spell more often, and added to Twilight's idea. "Maybe we could build a base? You know, to keep track of everything?"

"Great idea," replied unicorn Twilight. "Let's get started."

They took action of setting up the new lab, of what they would spend time in for a while.

The First Quest: Part One

The pairs of Twilight, Spike, and the one Starlight Glimmer, were in the process of making what was known of their "Time Lab". There were many books on time travel on the dusty bookshelves, data charts, massive timeline notes on the board attached to the wooden wall, and the spot where they all would travel to different timelines with Starlight's time travel spell at work.

They were almost ready to go on their first time quest. As said in a discussion a few days before, the two Spikes would stay behind and make sure nothing went wrong. Anything could happen in an alternate manipulated future, but they were all very prepared with their powerful, gifted magic.

As soon as they were finished with the Time Lab, the Twilights and Starlight collected extra supplies including time spells, books, bits, and lots of magical maps to navigate almost any area they may appear in.

With all that being done, the three ponies stepped up to the portal area, ready to travel back to the present.

Before Starlight started the spell, she gave a few warnings about the magical power it would pressure on them all.

"Just a warning to you both," said Starlight strongly. "This is a different kind of time travel spell, so the pressure might be a little different. Also, seize your eyes from the blinding lights."

With them all warned and taught, Starlight preformed the spell, making all the ponies get swallowed by the massive dome above. The pressure on all of them was unbearably tight, but soon faded as they had gotten closer to the new present. Soon, they all fell out only to see the new present.

...

Princess Twilight stood up to see Ponyville destroyed in pieces. The sky was a deep red, almost brown. The clouds were scattered into every corner in the sky, with noises of magical lasers shooting in front and back of her. It almost sounded like two alicorns were battling each other.

Except they were. Twilight could see Sunset Shimmer and Trixie....as alicorns? It seemed as they were battling with very powerful magic. She realized after a few minutes, that she was staring out the window of Canterlot Castle, in Celestia's throne room. Wait...it wasn't Celestia's anymore. It was Sunset Shimmer who owned the castle, judging by all the flags and guards dressed in orange and red with sun symbols of her cutie mark.

Twilight noticed the stained glass windows looking a lot different then she could remember. The Elements of Harmony were not her friends, but yet six ponies by the names of Derpy, who was Magic, Lyra was generosity, Sweetie Drops  was laughter, Doctor Whooves was honesty, Amythest Star was kindness, and Roseluck was loyalty. She had heard of these ponies before, but didn't know much about them at all.

They used the elements to defeat what looked like a corrupted Trixie, which could explain her fighting Sunset Shimmer in battle. Twilight tried to look for her friends, and eventually she found something she could never have imagined.

She and her friends were servants of King Sombra. They appeared as shadow ponies, surrounding the Crystal Heart with darkness. Twilight appeared to be his dark princess. Fearing her reputation around this Equestria, she snapped back to reality when the others finally had gotten up.

"My head..." Spoke Starlight softly. "Where are we..and who is THAT?"

"Sunset Shimmer," Twilight explained. "An old friend of mine, but from another world. I have no idea what she is doing here."

"Another world?" Asked Starlight.

Twilight jumped back in to prevent wasting time. "No time to explain, let's head outside."

With unicorn Twilight finally waking up, she faced the signs of the orange and red pony she had never heard of before. In total confusion, she asked her future self what was going on.

Twilight explained just as she did to Starlight, but shorter. "Sunset Shimmer..old friend. Trixie...old firend/enemy."

Unicorn Twilight didn't question anything, instead following the two others from the castle straight to Ponyville.

...

They encountered some guards who surprisingly let them pass. They all thought they would get either thrown into the dungeon, or killed the second they passed by. Starlight Glimmer spoke up after a few moments of dead silence.

"Why did you let us pass?" Asked Starlight. "We're intruders!"

Both of the gaurds chuckled, making the ponies surprised of their reaction. "You jokers.." One of them spoke, partly laughing. "You ponies are all princesses of Queen Sunset Shimmer!"

"Queen Sunset Shimmer?" asked Princess Twilight. She was wondering why there was a good queen in Equestria, from Queen Chrysalis being a queen who was pure evil, feasting on the love of Equestria.

"Don't play dumb with us," said the guard. "Don't you know she defeated both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" The three were in panic. This present was not making any sense. "Also, Princess Cadence was defeated by- wait..."

Twilight grew nervous, just as she remembered that she was in place of Sombra's dark princess. She got ready for any punishment that she deserved.

One of the guards finally spoke again. "Are you two good versions of Sombra's princess? I forgot about that!" He was apparently talking about the two Twilights.

Starlight Glimmer quickly thought of a little white lie before Twilight could speak. "Um...well....yes! We three here are princess of Queen Sunset Shimmer....just as you said so!"

To her surprise, that lie was very true in this world. "Alright. Sunset Shimmer will talk it over with you three. Follow us to the door if you please."

...

After a long walk which seemed like forever, the three finally had arrived to Queen Sunset Shimmer's meeting room. The guards quickly escorted them inside the glossed door with many jewels.

The three ponies walked in nervously, taking caution of where they walked. They didn't want to step into any mysterious "decorations".

Sunset Shimmer was completely covered in shadows, with the new Elements of Harmony standing behind her back. She finally stood up and confronted the ponies, with her wings standing up straight with her orange body. She spoke to the three in a rather serious tone.

"I have been expecting you."

The First Quest: Part Two

Sunset Shimmer arose from her polished throne seeing her three princesses bowing before her. Twilight wondered if she was evil in this present world, although she did see the glass earlier honoring her royal bravery. But why was Princess Celestia and Luna the bad ones? Where they apart of eternal night?

She snapped out of her thoughts when Sunset Shimmer began to speak to the three once again, this time a little softer. "We have been expecting you," she announced. "As it did say in my book: Prophecies and Predictions, you three will be my princesses arriving from the past."

"That's the book I had when I first came to Ponyville.... Twilight thought, remembering her book of when she learned about Nightmare Moon. Sunset began to tell them what was going on.

"I've seen you've possibly encountered a memory wipe spell," she spoke firmly. "So my faithful student will helpfully explain the history of this world's destiny." Derpy stood up in a proud position, reading from Sunset Shimmer's scroll, which she recited with complete ease.

"Ahem," coughed Derpy, ready to tell everything.

Princess Celestia, along with Princess Luna, was out on revenge for respect against Queen Sunset Shimmer at the Sun Summer Celebration. I, Derpy Hooves, from Canterlot City, luckily moved to Ponyville aware of what was going on. After meeting my friends, we were on a journey to stop Princess Celestia and Luna. After we defeated them with the Elements of Harmony, Queen Sunset Shimmer announced for me to return to Canterlot with my friends, spending the rest of our lives defending Equestria from the evil princesses and King Sombra.

Twilight was very surprised. Not only did Derpy, yes, Derpy Hooves, take her position, but also have a different purpose in life. This was completely different from what she would have imagined, so she must have messed something up in the past.

"Are you ready to explain your side of the story?" Asked Sunset Shimmer.

"Yes, of course," Princess Twilight replied. "But this might sound crazy."

"Go ahead," Sunset replied, as she didn't mind.

"Me and my pet dragon, Spike, used a time travel spell just for fun. We accidentally ran into our past selves, and we came back to this messed up present. We're trying to get back to the past to write down some data, and figure out to get time back to normal."

"Easy enough to understand," added Sunset Shimmer, who seemed interested in her speech. "I can help you get home, but it'll take a little while. Come on, follow m-"

She was suddenly interrupted when King Sombra emerged from a huge blast of dark magic surrounding the room. He was laughing evilly as usual, with his six minions getting ready to attack. Sombra signaled an attack straight toward the two Twilights and Starlight, reading their magic against the shadows.

Unicorn Twilight spoke up, never showing fear. "Come on, girls! Get-"

"We will handle this," Derpy interrupted, readying the Element of Harmony. "Follow Queen Sunset Shimmer while we hold them off ourselves."

The three ponies obeyed, following Sunset Shimmer to a secret room underground from the castle. She quickly used the time spell to return them home. She spoke her final words before they all returned.

"Go. Save our world from terrible war on Sombra, Trixie and the princesses." Sombra was running toward them, right before they had gotten swallowed by the dome above once again, returning back to the past.

...

As soon as they got back, the Spikes were piled over data paper and new information. Unicorn Twilight picked them up and studied the results.

"Hmmm...." She began to read the paper. "We arrived in a world which had no Nightmare Moon at all, just the princesses at war with Sunset Shimmer. Now that was confusing."

"I'm just glad it's all over with," added Starlight. "I don't even know any of those ponies judging by I come from a different part of Equestria."

"We'll just sleep it off," Princess Twilight announced. "Time traveling is very hard work when you get used to it. Let's all go to bed."

They trotted upstairs with both Spikes, and slept through the night, ready for the next timeline they might travel to, no matter how weird.