Back to Equestria

That wasn’t quite the entrance I had expected it to be. Celestia mused to herself as she slowly made her way back to the throne room. Outside the palace walls, hundreds of startled ponies were struggling through a confused crowd.

It shouldn’t really have flown through the center of the festival, I don’t think. He would have mentioned that. The princess of the day arrived in her study, and promptly sat down in some of her favorite cushions. And I am almost certain that it flew into the wrong window. How peculiar.

                She took out a quill and parchment, and began an official account of the festivals happenings. Before Celestia could become fully absorbed in her work, a strange nagging feeling filled her thoughts. That’s... odd. She recognized the nagging, but she had not felt it for centuries. We haven’t used FlameFax Lanterns since 677.

She rolled her eyes. Somepony must have broken into the library in the panic. A grin plastered itself over her face. And I know just how to teach them a polite lesson in respecting old wisdom.

                After a small moment of concentration, and a tiny tongue of orange flame escaped the tip of Princess Celestia’s horn, as she overloaded the magical flame capacitor at the other end.

                She waited a few moments. Eventually, another flame came swirling in through her stone fireplace. This flame was green, flecked with purple. IT swirled in front of the regal princess for a moment.

                A moment longer than she expected. It swilred and swirled, getting smaller and smaller until it was almost impossible to see.

                And then it exploded.

                A massive ball of flame erupted from the center of the concussive blast. Celestia shook her head, clearing the ringing in her ears, and glanced at the center of her scorched study.

                Two peculiar beings stood there. One, the shorter one, appeared to be a young dragon. This caused a mild alarm to the princess, as she did not know of any successful dragon hatchings in the century. The second being was taller, completely garbed in clothes, with a gryphon instrument slung across its back. And was one whom she recognized almost immediately.

                Nopony in the room spoke. Celestia could find nothing to say. This is not supposed to be happening.

                Luckily, she didn’t have to break the silence herself. The taller creature, a human, fell to the ground clutching his head, screaming in agony.

                Applejack stood in a small, deserted wing of the palace, staring at a spot of scorched earth on the ground.

                The orange mare said nothing. For a moment.

                “What the Buck?!?!”

                She leapt into the blackened stone, scouring the ground for any remains. Nothing. She was not particularly a pony to fret over many things, but she was definitely panicking over this.

                “Okay...” she told herself, struggling to hold her voice calm. “Spike n Marty just got flamed something awful. But that’s okay!” She broke into an uneasy smile. “They’s likely just got sent off someplace, like Twi does with all those letters. So that’s great!”

                The cowpony began to pace circles around the small room, leaving sooty hoofprints on the ground. “Okay, they’s probably went off to the Princess. That’s good! The Princess kin-”

                ...Anything you do in the past can alter the future...

                “Horseapples!” She sat down in the center of the room, and began to think.

Marty’s pretty smart, she thought. And he seems t’know what he’s doin. Between him an Spike, Ah’m sure they’ll work somethin out.

Applejack gave the DeLorean an uneasy glance. It rested, undamaged, among the wrecked room. Eyeing the vehicle reminded the orange mare about her friends. Dash n Pinkie Pie!

She began to pace around the room again. Okay. So, the boys’ll probably be tied up fer a bit in gettin outta whatever fix they’re in. So, I betcha it’s up t’me to find Rainbow and Pinkie.

She gave an uneasy glance at the shattered window. AJ trotted over, glancing over the side. There was a short drop, with a large amount of soft shrubs at the bottom. She could make it easily.

Well, Ah guess Ah gotta start somewhere.

                Applejack launched herself from the window. A brief moment of weightlessness, and then she landed with a thunk, and a crashing of branches. Moaning, she pulled herself from the shrubbery. Tain’t as soft as Ah reckoned it would be.

                The orange mare made her way through the crowd, and began to pull over ponies, asking after her friends. How hard could it be t’find a pegasus with a rainbow mane?

                The venture proved almost fruitless. Not a single pony there could recall a rainbow-maned pegasus. (She did notice, however, that Dash might not stick out so much in a crowd, with the crazy outfits all of these ponies seemed to be wearing). One pony, however- a brown earth pony, with an hourglass cutie mark- was quite loudly remarking on the rambunctious pink pony that threw a cupcake at him.

                Applejack leaned in closer. Apparently, the pony (whom AJ assumed was Pinkie Pie) was ‘super-duper excited’ to be ‘way back a million years ago’. She had caught the last public sky-carriage to Ponyville before traffic was stopped.

                The orange cowpony winced. She spoke up, among the ponies listening to this stallion’s story. “S’cuse me, but did this pony say anything ‘bout who she was gonna go n see?”

                He nodded. “Yep. She was going to see all of her ‘wittie-bittie’ best friends.”

                AJ slapped a hoof to her face.

                Far in the reaches of the wilderness of Equestria, outside of the Equestrian Valley, a small blue unicorn filly rode inside a covered wagon. She was playing with a hat and cloak, purple and covered with stars. They were much too big for her.

                The covered wagon, which bore the name “PRESTO & CO” on the side, suddenly lurched to a halt. The small filly was sent tumbling across the inside. She righted herself, stuck the large pointy hat on her head, and boldly stepped outside the front.

                A cream-colored unicorn stallion stood there, pulling the wagon. The filly hopped on his back, causing him to give a small ‘oof’ of discomfort. “Whas wrong, Papa?”

                The stallion shook his head. “I’m not sure, Trixie. You see that tree?” He raised a hoof, pointing. One tree stood out among the others. It was black, and the tip of each branch was covered in a small bundle of silver leaves.

                The young Trixie used one of her hooves to raise the oversized hat from her eyes. “Mhmm. What is it?” The filly spoke with adorable innocence.

                “Lune Quercus, a Moon-Tree. They’re supposed to be extinct.”

                Trixie’s eyes lit up with delight. “Is it magic?”

                Presto turned to face his daughter, a small smirk on his face. “Yes, it is, but I don’t want you touching it, okay?”

                “But I wanna!” As the smaller unicorn stamped her hoof, the hat atop her head abruptly fell down, covering her eyes completely. Her father laughed.

                “Maybe later, kiddo. Once we read up on this, we’ll come back, okay?” The young filly begrudgingly accepted the compromise, as she fumbled with the hat.

                As the Great and Powerful Presto pulled his wagon away from the odd, impossible tree, he failed to notice another one, coming into existence beside it. It started as a transparent image, barely visible in the light. It grew more and more substance, before finally becoming completely solid.

                After the second tree made its way into existence, another ten followed it.

                Marty had never really understood why pain was associated with the color red. Sure, blood was red. But that hardly connected it to a physical sensation.

                At this moment, however, the connection became apparent. The pain that wracked his entire body felt red, it was red. His vision was perfectly fine, but entirely obscured by red.

                Pain was red, and red was Marty.

                He writhed on the marble floor, unaware as to how he got there. He felt small hands with spikey fingers, trying to calm him down, but they did nothing. He tried placing his hands behind his neck, as he had before, but it had a very little effect.

                The pain was just too much. In a small corner of his mind, the human vaguely wondered how long he could stand it, how long he could hold out. Then he wondered why he was holding out at all. Why not give in?

                Marty McFly blacked out.

                Applejack Apple sat in the back of a sky-carriage, mulling over her peculiar situation. The buildings of Ponyville were rapidly approaching, and in a few moments she would land.

                AJ thought back to Twilight’s incident with time travel. Alright, so, Twilight met herself, an that made her get all loopy an nervous an such. She scratched her chin with her hoof. Well, durin the Summer Sun Celebration in 985, Ah was off in Manehattan with Aunt an Uncle Orange, so Ah don’t have t’worry about that.

                The carriage sat down in the town center, and the orange mare stepped out.

                “Ahem.”

                She faced the impatient pegasus driver, bearing a sheepish grin. “Ah don’t suppose you could take thirty bits, as opposed t’ forty?” The other pony only stared.

                “Thirty-five?”

                No change. Applejack sighed, and then hoofed over the full price. The last time Ah ever take a sky-taxi, dangnabbit. Mourning her newfound lack of bits, she turned and looked around the town.

                Initially, she thought the taxi driver had dropped her off at the wrong place. She was about to call after him again, when she noticed the Town Hall.

                It was exactly the same as the old town hall, with all the holes in it. Except this one, instead of peeling and cracks everywhere, looked brand new, with a shiny fresh coat of paint. Gaping at this, Applejack turned to the rest of the town once again.

                After a second look, she realized it was Ponyville. Only, Ponyville that was missing a third of its houses. Thankfully, most of the streets were still the same. The cowpony trotted aimlessly, her eyes wide.

                A large number of the ponies were wearing the same extravagant outfits she had seen at the fair. Bright colors, zig-zags, and polka-dots. Platform shoes, as well. Almost everypony towered above her, and the variety of colors was the perfect camouflage for both of her missing friends. Sighing, Applejack slowly made her way to higher ground.

                As she walked, she was dismayed to find not a single familiar face. Ah don’t know what Ah was expectin, she sighed to herself. Ah dun know that many old folks ‘asides Granny.

                The orange mare continued walking up the road, until she found herself arriving at the schoolhouse. Mildly curious, she took a moment to look at the rambunctious foals, playing in the yard.

                Applejack’s face broke into a smirk, which quickly evolved into a wide grin. She could recognize and name each and every one of these fillies and colts! Why, that there’s Caramel an Davenport an Carrot Top an Junebug an-

                “They’re quite a sight, aren’t they?” Cheerilee’s voice came from beside her.

                “Heh, you said it Cheer-” AJ started, whirling to look at the teacher. “Cheerilee!?”

                The purple mare smiled. “I’m sorry, have we met before?”

                The cowpony just stared. Standing before her was Cheerilee, exactly as Applejack knew her in her own time, seventeen years in the future. Granted, the teacher was wearing an… electrifying outfit, but was still the same smiling pony.

                Cheerilee’s look turned to one of concern. “Say, you happen to look just like one of the students. Are you one of Applejack’s relatives? I’m sorry to say, she was withdrawn from school, just last week.” She peered at the cowpony. “Are you her mother?”

                AJ paled. “N...naw, Miss Cheerilee, Ah-” Horseapples! Fiddlesticks! Shootdang! Buck! “-Ah’m little Jackie’s cousin.”

                “Oh! Of course.” Cheerilee smacked a hoof to her face, smiling again. “You must be lost. Here, I can help you out.”

                The purple mare started merrily trotting down the lane, a bewildered Applejack tailing her.

                Marty McFly opened his eyes.

                ...and immediately shut them again. “Bright”, he moaned.

                “My apologies, Marty McFly.” There was a pause. “Is this better?”

                The human slowly forced his eyes open again. Instead of the blaring white glare, there was a softer, red glow. His eyes came into focus.

                The white unicorn princess he had met from the castle stood before him. She was at eye level, perhaps one foot away from his nose. The red light emitted from the tip of her horn.

                A small voice echoed from below. “Y’alright, dude?”

                Marty glanced down and jumped. Metaphorically.

                The teen was floating in mid-air, several feet off of the ground of the throneroom he had seen when he came to Equestria.. He was enveloped in a soft golden aura, and the marble floor was covered in the same crimson light. “What the hell!”

                Spike snickered. Celestia shot the dragon a dirty look, and slowly lowered Marty to the floor. As his feet touched the ground, the glow that enveloped him vanished, causing another twinge of pain, this time in the center of the humans forehead. He put a hand to the location, rubbing disconcertedly.

                The sun princess looked at him. “Your third eye hurts.”

                He shrugged. “Yeah, I-” the teen blinked, looking up. “Wait what?”

                “Your third eye,” the regal alicorn continued. “Primary cranial focus point of thaumatic energy, along with your two actual eyes. Every sentient being has one.”

                Marty stared up at her. “What?”

                Celestia ignored the question. “Tell me, have you been feeling ill, or odd pains, at odd intervals recently?”

                The human looked around the massive throne room, glancing at the windows, the floor, and Spike. He returned his gaze to the princess.

                “...what?”

                Celestia’s face softened, and she spoke, again, with a calmer tone. “My apologies. I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. Your friend here tells me your name is Marty.”

                He nodded. “That’s... right. Uh, we’re-”

                “From the year 1002.” The alicorn cut him off.

                Marty turned and scowled at Spike, who shrugged apologetically. “Your highness, I don’t know what-”

                “Please,” The Princess failed to hide the irritation in her voice, “just ‘Celesta’. And I am more than aware that you are from the year 1002, Marty. Your time device crashed in the far West tower.” the teenage human couldn’t help but notice that her tone did not reflect any annoyance that the DeLorean had crashed, but more where. “I am very well-tuned to perceive any temporal occurrences through magic, and do my best to regulate them. You, Marty, are quite the temporal nexus.” She leaned down to face the time-traveler directly, “You did something wrong.”

                Marty paled. He was astonished to find himself quite intimidated by the large, white pony. More confusing, however, was her expression. The teen time traveler had only known any ponies for a day and a half, but in the time he could tell that their two species were remarkably similar.

                Princess Celestia had gone from being angry and annoyed, (which was very stunning in and of itself) to looking lost, and sad.

                But just for a moment. She hardened her features and again raised herself to her full height. “There are many things we must discuss,” she continued, “but firstly. Those pains you have been feeling. When did they start?”

                “My pains?" influenced by the urgent nature with which she spoke, he wasted no time elaborating. "I've been getting them ever since we came to, uh, here. Equestria.

                Celestia nodded. “And have you noticed any correlations with these pains and, say, things that are happening around you?”

                Marty frowned. “Uh, not really.”

                The sun alicorn arched an eyebrow. Wordlessly, she activated her horn, enveloping the unawares Spike in another golden aura, lifting him from the floor.

                The human cringed, rubbing his hands together, as another wave of tingling sensations shot through them. He did not even bother looking at them, and still said nothing.

                Annoyed, Celestia set to shaking the baby dragon back and forth, rapidly. “H-heey!” Spike called out, but he was ignored.

                Marty once again rubbed his hands, shaking them out a few times. However, to the Princess’ dismay, he was still oblivious. Sighing, she set her horn glowing at a much brighter intensity.

                There was a pop, and Spike turned into a purple pegasus. “What the hell?!”

                “Aah!” Marty gasped as a fresh jolt of searing pain shot all the way up his arms. “What the...” He looked up, understanding. “Oh! It’s the magic!”

                Celestia nodded vigorously. “Yes, Marty Mcfly. It’s the magic.”

                “Why?”

                The regal alicorn set the ponified Spike upon the ground, where he immediately fell over. No one paid him any mind. “You see, at some point during your journey into Equestria, you must have come into contact with an-” she put a large amount of emphasis on the word “-immensely powerful magical supply. It awoke some long-dormant magical structures in your body, making you as sensitive to magic as any unicorn would be.”

                Marty shook his head in disbelief. “Are you saying that you all feel this, whenever you guys do magic? Twilight must’ve done magic, like, thirty times in the first hour I knew her!”

                Celestia took on a puzzled expression at the mention of Twilight’s name, but continued. “No. You are experiencing, I believe, the equivalent of horn rot, a not unheard of ailment in unicorns. It occurs when an overload of magical energy enters the natural magical structures in the body, overloading the infected and preventing them from generating their own natural magic.”

                The time traveler nodded, as he began to understand. “So, that surge of magic, it-”

                “-entered your Third Eye, awakening, overpowering and congesting it. Marvelously, it did not kill you, thought I cannot say why. It is no small wonder you felt the pain you did after you were transported here.”

                “Yeah!” Spike the Pegasus spoke up. Both Marty and the Princess turned to look at the young dragon.

                Spike now resembled a pegasus colt, with a purple coat and a spiky green mane. “I didn’t even mean to do that! And it hurt like hell! What was it?”

                The Princess of the Day chuckled. “Well, I don’t know how much things will change in the next seventeen years, but FlameFax has fallen into disuse. When I detected an unregistered conduit, I overpowered it to bring it to me. Now that I think about it, dragon assistants are also quite out of use. Who is your master?”

                The baby-dragon-turned-colt looked puzzled. “Master? Well, she’s more like my ‘sister’, but her name is Tw-”

                “-NOT anything you should be concerned with.” Marty spoke over his friend. “Your majesty.” He added.

                Spike gave him a panicked look. “What are you doing! She’ll throw us in the dungeon or something!” he whispered.

                The human whispered back. “I thought you said you knew her, and that she was actually nice?”

                “Yeah, but I don’t know the her from seventeen years ago!”

                Marty once again turned towards Celestia. “You’ll have to excuse me, Your maj-”

                “Just Celestia, please.”

                “Celestia, then. You’ll have to forgive me, but no-one should know too much about their own future. I speak from personal experience.”

                She sighed. “Yes, as can I. You can unwittingly find yourself doing things you know you should not, just to save someone from a fate they can not escape.” The princess once again grew morose. The human and Spike glanced at each other.

                She brightened again. “But! There is no time to waste. In arriving here you have brought disastrous changes, and you must go about righting them. Which you cannot do with Horn Rot.”

                Marty nodded. “Okay, let’s do that.”

                “Right. First-”

                “Wait! What about me?” Spike moaned. “I don’t really feel like being a pony at the moment.”

                Celestia informed the young colt (in a very motherly tone) that there were no baby dragons currently in Equestria that served ponies, and that being a pegasus would be a marvelous way to go undetected. “And as soon as you get back to the future, I’ll fix you up, good as new!” Spike grumbled, but conceded.

                “Now, Marty, by some marvelous force of nature, you survived having a massive magical charge stuffed into your head and having your millenia-dormant Third Eye opened. By all rights, you should be able to cure yourself.”

                The human scoffed. “Cure myself? Really?”

                “Indeed. All you need to do is expel the excess energy in the form of a spell.”

                “Wait,” the time traveler marveled, “are you saying that I have to do magic?!” The alicorn nodded. “Then what?”

                “Well, I see no reason for your third eye to go dormant again. You should be able to perform basic spells with a certain proficiency.”

                Marty nodded, rubbing his temples. “Right.”

                Applejack followed Cheerilee down a winding Ponyville road, not paying attention to where she was being led. She could not stop gaping at her friend.

                Cheerilee looked exactly the way she had when AJ knew her in the future. True, her clothes were different, and this Cheerilee talked in a much different way, but they were undeniably similar.

                “Uh, s’cuse me, Cheerilee...”

                “Yes?”

                “Well, uh...” Applejack rubbed a hoof behind her head. “Ah was just wonderin, you seem like you'd be good with kids. Are you one of the teachers?"

                The purple mare laughed. “Oh, not yet. I’m just here in Ponyville for a week-long aide session. I need at least 100 hours of real-world experience to graduate.”

                The cowpony nodded. “Oh, so you’re just comin outta college, then?” Cheerilee nodded. “If y’all don’t mind mah askin, how old are you?”

                The teacher smiled knowingly, but obliged. “Now, Miss Apple, you should know that it’s impolite to ask a pony’s age. However, it’s no great secret that I’m twenty.”

Twenty? So, twenty, plus... AJ scratched her chin, “... seventeen years, an that makes...”

                “Thirty-seven!” the orange mare said aloud.

                The purple collegiate glanced at her companion. “What? No, I said-”

                “Twenty, right. Ah didn mean to offend, Miss Cheerilee.” Applejack quickly covered her tracks. “Ah just meant t’ say that you’ll be lookin as well as you do now, even when yer thirty-seven. If you don’t mind my sayin.”

                Cheerilee blushed. “Th-thank you, M-miss...?”

                “Uh, Braeburn!” The cowpony blurted. “Miss Braeburn, that’s me.” She glanced shiftily in either direction. “Heh.”

                The teacher didn’t notice her odd behaviour. “Right. Well, here we are, Miss Braeburn. I hope to see you again sometime.” She said the final sentence shakily, her blush strengthening.

                Applejack looked with concern at her friend. “Miss Cheerilee? Are you ok-”

                “I-it was nice meeting you!” Cheerilee turned and galloped back down the road, leaving AJ standing in the dust.

                The orange mare stared after her, confused. “Huh.” She turned to look at where the teacher had led her.

                Her gaze swept over a plethora of familiar sights. A red barn, a little gate, acres of trees… Applejack’s mouth fell open in horror as she realized she stood directly in front of a seventeen-years-younger Sweet Apple Acres.

                Stunned, the temporally dislocated cowpony glanced down. There, working in the fields, was a small, skinny colt, with a red coat, and a yolk around his neck. The colt looked up, and turned his face to look at Applejack.

                Little Macintosh’s face lit up in joy, and he began galloping towards her. As he approached, however, he squinted his eyes at his younger-now-older sister. The red colt’s face fell, and he slowed to a miserable trot, stopping directly in front of her.

                Staring angrily at his hooves, Little Macintosh spoke. “Welcome t’ Sweet Apple Acres. How can Ah help you.” His young voice was laced with apathy and misery.

                AJ stared at her brother, fighting as hard as he could to resist the urge to hug him. “Hey there. Ah’m here t’visit the Apples in Ponyville?” she spoke with enormous amounts of concern, her quest to find Pinkie Pie forgotten.

                Little Macintosh nodded. “ ‘kay. Fraid these apples are rotten, though.”

                Applejack bit her lip, her eyes glossing over. “And why’s that?”

                The colt kicked a hoof at the dirt, mumbling his words. The older mare almost missed him say, “ ‘cause the best part’s missin.”

                Unable to resist any longer, the future cowpony swept her tiny brother in an enormous bear hug, tears escaping her eyes. “Oh, Big Mac! You are so sweet an adorable an you should never be left alone ever an Ah-“

                Little Mac struggled against this odd intruder’s strong forehooves, gasping for air as he dangled helplessly from her hug.

                “-the Oranges ain’t never ever gonna be nuthin!” Applejack released him from the hug, and he stumbled about on his hooves wordlessly before falling over. The elder cowpony helped him up.

                “Uuh, scuse me, Miss, but who are yah? An why did’ya call me ‘Big’ Mac?”

                The orange mare opened her mouth to explain, but she caught herself. Ah can’t go around confusing him. “Ah’m cousin, uh, Braeburn, from… Neigh Jersey. Ah was droppin through town to find a friend o’ mine, an Ah couldn’t do that without stopping by t’say howdy. An Ah called you “big” Mac, cause…” she thought for a moment. “Cause you’ve jus gotten so big! Yeah, that’s it.”

                Macintosh nodded, not speakin. An just how long has he been this quiet? Some things just aint gonna change. Applejack thought.

                After a moment, the young colt spoke. “I’ll go tell Granny yer here.”

                “Gran-?” AJ started. “No!”

                Little Mac stared at her. “I mean, uh, you shouldn’t do that. If Ah remember correctly, then-” time t’ polish yer lyin skills, missy! “-Great Auntie Smith is takin her nap about now. If you could just help me find mah way back in t’town, y’kin tell her Ah said hello.”

                The younger earth pony thought it over for several minutes. Finally, he nodded his head. “Eeyup.” He squeaked, and began the trek into town.

Applejack could barely contain her laughter at his tiny voice.

As they walked into town, Applejack tried to coax her older-now-younger brother into talking about, well, anything. However, every time she approached a subject, he said naught but a word or two, then fell back into silence.

The pair was not five minutes from town before the orange mare hit upon something that Macintosh was willing to talk about at excess: her.

“An then! There was that time she found a rattler out behind th’ barn, an Ah came up, still wearin my yolk an such. Almost like a uniform! Ah was like one of th’ Royal Guard, protectin a princess. Well, Ah felt mighty proud to shoo that snake back into the trees. But Ah’d never say that t’her face, it’d be too embarrasin. Oh! An then ther was that ONE time…”

Applejack listened in awe as the young colt expounded upon the many flaws and fortunes of his little sister, spewing out story after story of memorable events, almost none of which AJ had ever paid any mind. Ah wonder if he still feels this way, in th’ future…

“… with her tail! Well she was mighty brave, an Ah-“

“Hey, McTosh!”

A young, brown stallion, standing beside the café, interrupted the oddly lopsided conversation between the two Apples. He wasn’t much older than sixteen, but the earth pony already stood taller than the orange mare. “I thought I told you never to come by here again, McTosh! Stay on your little farm, crybaby!”

Applejack was stunned at the language this older colt was using on her brother. “Who th’ hay is that?”

“That’s the bully, who keeps me out of town so Ah don’t beat him at hoofwrestling, an a whole bunch a other stuff. His name’s Filthy Rich.”

At the mention of his name, the teenaged filthy Rich stomped the ground, enraged. “I told you, McTosh! Nopony EVER calls me ‘filthy’!”

He shot a dirty glare at Little Macintosh, fury written all over his face. “I told you, McTosh…”

“…you call me Fiff.”