Changing Time

I knew it wouldn't take long for Luna to find, and capture my mom, but just the thought of going back into hiding made me die inside. I hated hiding, especially since the only ponies scared of me are the ponies in my class. I tried to think of a way out of this, and after an hour of sitting in my bed all alone, I had one idea that I kept coming back to. The first time it crossed my mind I knew it wouldn't help me with this at all, but I knew it would help me in the future. I got off of my bed, and limped over to the part of the lab that was actually meant for science. I put on my pink lab coat, put on my little bow tie that John had given me once I calmed down the night before, and got to work. John was on a trip, so according to my calculations, I had a good twenty four hours to work.

After about twelve hours of my time, my creation was ready for it's first real test. I was just a little smarter than John, especially since I can learn what every pony has learned just by changing into them, so I was almost certain that this wouldn't blow up in my face. I entered the proper code, pressed the button, and I was off. Once I put the device in my saddlebag, I put it down and ran to the calendar. My invention was a success. I was in the lab, only ten years later. I turned eleven a week ago, when I was still trapped in the hive, so I was twenty one in this future. I was about to grab my stuff, when the door to the lab opened. I quickly pushed my saddlebag behind a machine, and flew out the window before any pony saw me.

"Hello?" I heard some pony say, it was a familiar British accent, only much lower than I was used to. "Hmm, must have been a bird or something. Well, back to work!" I slowly took a peek in the window, I stood there shocked as I watched an older, and obviously more productive John, standing next to a red phone booth of some sort. I expected to see new machines, but not that thing, whatever it was. I crawled through the window as silently as possible, and ducked down behind the machine where my stuff was. I barely reached my saddlebag, and dragged it over to me. I almost opened it without making a sound, but then the door to the lab opened once more.

I couldn't help but gasp as I saw an older version of myself. "Hey did you here that?" the older me said as her ears perked up. I knew she sensed the presence of another changeling, because I did. The older John looked curiously at her, as she limped in my direction. I frantically opened my saddlebag and took out my device, once I entered the code, the older me stuck her head around the corner to where I was hiding. I luckily pressed the button and was back in my own time before she saw me.

I limped over to the sink where I kept my potion for burns. The device had a tendency to burn you a bit after using it, but not too much so I won't call it a problem. I thought about what had just happened. I didn't expect to see any of that, not an older John, certainly not an older me! I was still trying to wrap my head around it all as John limped in. His limp was getting better, but it was still noticeable. He saw my burn marks and seemed a bit concerned.

"How did you get those?" he asked me, I didn't want to tell him about my device so I thought of an excuse rather quickly.

"I was experimenting a bit, the test was a fail but I'm alright. Just a couple burn marks." I lied.

"Oh, well be a bit more careful next time. I don't want you to get hurt." John said. He limped over to the machinery in the lab and started to work a bit. As for me, I went back to my bed and quietly looked at my new device. In terms of appearance the device was similar to John's scanner, similar enough that I felt safe looking at it while John was working. I wondered if what I saw was meant to be, or if I just screwed up the future. Either way, I was still thinking of what I saw.

I barely slept that night, I was thinking of what I saw...wondering if I answered my own questions. I didn't see a cutie mark, but only because she, or rather I, had my lab coat on. So that question remained. I wasn't sure how many others got answered, but even more arose. What would I be like? Would I still have my doll? Will I still need my dream machine? I thought all night about these questions and many more.

I woke up to a bad headache. I stumbled out of bed, knowing John would see that something was up. I saw that he was still asleep, so I got myself a potion to make me look and feel like I got a slightly better nights sleep. After taking a sip, John woke up. He yawned, and sitting up in his bed he looked over at me.

"Good morning Candy, did you sleep alright?" John asked me.

"It could have been better, it took a while for my potion to take affect. You know, the one that takes away my burns." I didn't lie that time, the potion I had for burns did take a while to work.

"Oh, alright. Well sorry it kept you up, if you need more sleep I won't judge." He said before starting his work. It still baffles me how long he can go without eating or sleeping, but that wasn't on my mind right now. Right now I was focused on two things, my future, and getting some sleep. The former was going to take a while to think about, but when it comes to the ladder, I was out like a light.