Twilight's 1000th Birthday Blowout

Chapters

2 Arrival
3 And We Have Our Villains
4 The Big Entrance
5 Not All Alike
6 Total Recall
7 Sock Party!
9 It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Part 1
10 It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Part 2
11 Interlude
12 It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Part 3
13 13th Chapter on Friday the 13th. What Can Go Wrong?
14 Prequel - The Early Life Of Screwella Lucille Ball
15 Plots and Schemes
16 The Wedding
17 The Beggining of the End
18 A Little Experiment
19 It All Goes To Tartarus
20 No More Princesses
21 The End.
1 Prologue
8 Prelude To 'It's All Coming Back To Me Now' (Meatloaf, Not the Dion Cover)

2 Arrival

“Is it safe to open my eyes yet?” Fluttershy asked.

“It is sugarcube,” came Applejacks comforting assurance.

The yellow mare uncurled herself from an almost fetal position, and looked around. Gone were the swirling lights and the psychedelic colours of the time vortex. Now they were supposedly in the future. “That was a pretty scary ride,” Fluttershy confessed.

“It wouldn’t have been so bad if someone hadn’t been reciting that creepy poem while we were travelling through the vortex.” Applejack glared at Spike.

“Sorry.” Spike gave a meek shrug. “That was the scary tunnel poem from ‘Filly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.’ Twilight thought Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie might get a kick out of it.”

Chants of “Again,” and “That was awesome,” came from the aforementioned mares.

Fluttershy began to look around. Since she kept her head down, the first thing she noticed was the floor beneath her. It was made up of large tiles, each square big enough for two ponies to stand on. In the distance she saw tiles hover upward and carry ponies from place to place. Jets of blue magic, or something like magic, erupted from beneath the flying floor tiles.

When she lifted her head, she saw open sky. At least that’s what appeared to be there. Surely there was a dome or force field or something. She’d have to ask about it later.

They were in a town square-type area. There was a fountain in the center. The fountain had beautifully crafted statues of Princess Celestia and Luna as the centrepiece, with the Mane Mix on the outer basin.

Her eyes came upon a sign which showed a map of this strange place. Spike had mentioned that after the party, this station would become an amusement park. Fillies and adults alike danced around the map, telling each other what they wanted to try.

“Here is the list of restaurants. They have funnel cake with strawberries and ice cream on top, caramel apples, a Tasty Treat, Sugarcube Corner, hay fries, and spaghetti dinners.”

“Oh, and look at the shops, they have: gift shops, dress shops, jewellery stores, and antique stores.”

“The hotel looks so luxurious in the pictures.”

“Forget food, look at all the activities: hoof-painting, wild west dances, mild west dances, hayrides, Some kinda workshop were you customize your own equestria girls dolls.”

“I wanna see the petting zoo, and the aviary.”

“Waterslides for me!”

“I should take my special sompony to the Tunnel of Love.”

“What about the thrills? This place has a rock climbing wall, a haunted castle, roller coasters, go carts, and… Hey is this real? It says theres a shuttle bay for starfighter battles.”

“No way they let fillies play with starfighters.”

“What do you know, in your era starfighters are just science fiction!”

“Maybe they’re just VR simulations, or it’s like laser tag and the ships have proximity sensors that make the autopilot kick in if you’re about to crash.”

“Could be, but knowing Twilight, they might really be starfighters.”

“Look at the map. Different groups of shops and rides have different themes like in a theme park. There’s Discord’s Realm of Chaos, Chrysalis’s Changeling Horde, and… aw, this one must be for the babies; Breezie Village.

“Hey you think Discords in the Discord area?”

“Are you kidding? This is Twilight's park! I bet they even have Chrysalis.”

“Coolest Princess ever!”

This place was overwhelming and Fluttershy questioned if it was truly real. The residents of Ponyville were not the only guests, for ponies started appearing from all across time. Ponyville was unique in that Spike brought all its citizens to the park. Aside from Ponyville, Twilight seemed to have about two to seven close friends for every ten to thirty year interval, plus the ones who were parents brought their foals.

She saw Rainbow Dash be approached by a whole group of ponies dressed as Wonderbolts. One of them asked her, “Are you Rainbow Dash, the pony who held the fastest flyer record for over two hundred years?”

Rainbow knew every flyer in the Wonderbolts history ( except maybe ones from the future ). The part about two hundred years stuck out in the speedster's mind. “That’s me! Only who breaks my record in two hundred years.”

“Twilight, of course, she’s our team captain.”

Rainbow Dash wondered if she heard right. Does Twilight become captain of the Wonderbolts? Another Wonderbolt from further into the future joined in.

“Man that must have been incredible. Twilight was only a regular member for about twenty years. In my time she just makes a few honorary appearances when the fans beg hard enough.” The pony pressed her hooves to her cheeks and blushed, “She’s so awesome.”

Over in another direction, Rarity complimented a pony on her exquisite dress. It was quite interesting, white with splashes of colour that would change their pattern from time to time. “Thanks,” said she. “I hope Twilight notices. It’s the one she made for me in my time.”

One adult mare hugged her mother. Fluttershy didn’t mean to pry, but she overheard their conversation. Apparently the mother died when her daughter was just a filly, her last words were a promise that they’d meet again at Twilight’s birthday.

“Whoa, Nelly!” declared Applejack, “Pretty soon somepony here’s going to be telling me that Twilight is Equestria’s top apple grower.”

A voice replied from the crowd. “No, but she did find a way to make zap apples bloom all year round.”

There was a mare who slouched next to the sign, and looked close to crying. Fluttershy approached her.

“What’s the matter?” She asked.

The mare timidly looked up at Fluttershy. “Hello. I’m sorry to be such a downer. My name is Minty. I don’t know anyone here. Twilight is my best friend and I’m glad she invited me. I’m just sad because I can’t stop thinking, ‘what if she doesn’t remember me?’”

“Oh, I don’t think Twilight would forget a friend.”

“If this is her thousandth birthday then she would be,” the girl started counting on her hooves “463 years older then when I last saw her.”

“463.”

“Yeah, what if I was just on a list somewhere, and she doesn’t even remember who I am?”

Fluttershy started to wonder if that could happen to her as well.. “I’m sure that’s not true. What sort of things do you do together as friends?”

“She helped me get my business started, selling custom socks for Hearths Warming Eve.”

“Don’t you mean stockings?”

“No, socks. Nice warm socks. They’re, like, the perfect gift; fillies all love them.”

Fluttershy gave her an incredulous look.

“Of course it doesn’t hurt that Twilight models the socks. Fillies really love her.”

“I’m sure Twilight will remember you. My friends are all excited to meet new ponies right now, so maybe we can hang out until Twilight shows up.”

“Really, you seem so nice.” Minty took a closer look at her new friend, then her eyes lit up, and she practically jumped.

“Ohmygosh, you’re Fluttershy. I’ve heard of you.”

Spike appeared in front of the Golden Oaks Library on Equestrian soil. It was actually the second library, which grew in the location of the first. Twilight planted the tree the day after Starlight Glimmer passed away. Spike remembered thinking that was a nice sentiment at the time.

Twilight would check up on the tree quite often; sometimes Spike would even see her speak to it. Once, when it was still a sapling, an animal trampled the trunk. Twilight was furious. Despite all that the tree grew strong.

When it was tall, it seemed a little more wild then the old Golden Oaks, though Twilight never let on if she noticed. The tree grew hollow on the inside; it was no secret that this was influenced by alicorn magic. This allowed Twilight to make the tree into a new library. It was an unusual extravagance for Twilight to have two homes in the same town, though Spike knew that she didn’t think of it that way.

“Hey. Tree,” he asked, “is Twilight home.”

“Yes, Spike she is.”

Spike shuddered. The voice of that tree still creeped him out. He hadn’t heard that voice for centuries, then suddenly there it was. It was a young voice. The voice had been raspy and old before it belonged to a tree. Twilight claimed that it was a smart home system and such things did exist in this time. However, that lie would have been more believable if electrical service actually ran to the Golden Oaks Library.

“So how you doing Glimmer?”

“This unit is functioning well within operational parameters.”

“Still keeping up the act, huh?”

The door opened for him, and Spike the dragon made his way up the stairs. He was a little surprised that Twilight was not still in the library, sifting through curious volumes of forgotten lore. Upstairs, the room looked just like the one he and Twilght had shared when Spike was still small enough to sleep in a basket. Even the basket was sitting in the room, despite Spike having grown before this new tree existed.

Twilight was behind a changing curtain, putting on her horseshoes. It was a type of shoe Celestia introduced her to, which didn’t need to be nailed on. She also had a necklace and a crown, and everything she wore was adorned with her cutie mark. Twilight was, for the first time in her life, accustomed to dressing like a princess. Doing so was probably just a passing phase, though tonight was a night that warranted dressing up.

“Are you almost ready, Twilight?”

“Be with you in a minute, Spike.”

“You remember where we’re going right?”

“Sure do. The library told me this morning.”

Spike somewhat hoped she had remembered on her own. None-the-less, all was going well.

“You know who’s going to be there right?”

“Everypony will be there.” Her answer was a little coy.

Spike crossed his arms, and gave a little grunt, “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.”

“Yeah,” Twilight acknowledged, not sounding all that interested. “Hey, grab that notebook on my dresser. I have some great new sock designs I want to show Minty.”

“You heard me right? You’ll be seeing them for the first time in more than nine hundred and a half years.”

Twilight stepped out from the changing curtain. She sat down on her bed, and raised her head, as though thinking about what Spike just told her. “They time travelled here, Spike. In their minds they saw me this morning. It’s not like they’ve had time to miss me.”

“And in your mind.”

“In my mind,” she thought for another moment. “In my mind the Hearth's Warming Eve Pageant was just one sleep ago. You know how my mind works.”

“I do. Your mind has been that way since the accident.” It was hardly an accident. Spike was of course referring to the time Twilight drank Starlight's overpowered version of Zecora’s potion. When her friends disappeared, Twilight was desperate to find them. So desperate was she, that she drank a potion which was supposed to induce visions. Nopony is quite sure what that potion did to her. The potion is like another form of time travel, allowing an alicorn to astrally project herself in order to witness past events. Some speculate that the visions were so intense they burned a part of her. Another theory is that her brain formed defences to reject the harmful visons, and those defences remained after the offending images stopped. Whatever it did, the result was a permanently altered state of consciousness that still affected her to this day.

Spike checked his pocket watch, thinking once again about the party, and Twilight decided to take a look. She leaned in. “Which one is the day hand again,” she asked?

“There is no day hand. There are hours, minutes, and seconds.”

“Right,” Twilight nodded, not getting it at all. Maybe day was just some word she made up.

“Geez, Twilight. This must be some subconscious mental block you put on yourself. There’s no way the accident did something so weirdly specific as make you forget how to tell time.”

“I know, but I’ve been trying for weeks.”

“You’ve been trying for centuries.”

“Whatever.”

“You know you used to love schedules.”

“Me?” Twilight laughed at the very idea of that.

“You don’t remember.”

“Isn’t that the other consequence of my,” she made hoof quotes, “accident. My long term memory only keeps the good stuff.”

“Yeah, and scatters it all over the place. Do you really think the Hearth's Warming Eve Pageant was yesterday?”

“Maybe it was, and everypony else is remembering in the wrong order.”

Spike sighed, and lied down on the bed.

“Why are we talking about this now?” Twilight spoke. “It’s been this way for…which one is it? Hours, seconds.”

“It’s been like this for centuries. I think we’re talking about this because your oldest friends are the only ones in Equestria that don’t know about your condition.” He turned and faced Twilight, gently brushing a hair out of her eye with this claw. “Are you afraid to tell them?”

“Not really. I'd be surprised if someone at the park hasn't blabbed it to them already." One thing about being friends with ponies, you have to forgive a little bit of gossiping. "I’m more worried about telling them they can’t go home.”

“Are you sure they can’t?”

“C’mon Spike, you know me and Starlight worked this out together. It’s a pre-destination paradox.”

“Yeah. You understand that and artificially intelligent robots, but you can’t figure out an egg timer." he turned his head. "Starlight,” Spike called, “explain this to me again.”

“I’m not Starlight Glimmer, I am Twilight’s smart home.”

“Just explain it.”

“We can’t send Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, or Pinkie Pie back to their time. We know this because they never did go back. If we tried to send them back, something would have to go wrong. We know this because the outcome is predestined. That’s why it’s called a predestination paradox.”

“But how do these paradoxes get started? That part doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s why it’s called a paradox. They don’t make sense.”

“Look on the bright side,” Twilight teased. “You’ll get to be with Rarity again.”

“Shut up. That was a kid's first crush.” Spike checked his watch again. “Well everyones waiting. I guess you better go make your big entrance.”

3 And We Have Our Villains

A hideous gargoyle leaped out at Spike. Of course it was only a wax figure on a mechanical tram inside the haunted castle attraction of the amusement park. Spike stepped behind the gargoyle, and pressed on a latch to enter a secret room.

What would Twilight think if she knew this room existed? He’d snuck it into the blueprints while delivering them to the robot construction workers. The workers just built the room without asking any questions. They probably thought it was just another of the many secret rooms Twilight was building into the park anyway.

No one else knew this place existed. He flicked the light switch.

“Hello, Spike.”

Spike leaped at the sound of her voice. At his greater size, the stomp made a fair bit of noise. “Glimmer.” He looked around. All he found was a small cactus on the table. He leaned in and looked closer. “Glimmer, is that you?”

“Yes, Spike, it’s me.”

“You’re a cactus now? How did you get in here?”

“My main consciousness is still in the Golden Oaks library. I just sorta connect with other plants if I want to.”

“Great, now I can never pee behind a bush again.”

Starlight Glimmer laughed. It’s funny because it’s true.

“Hold on Glimmer. There are trees and flowerbeds on every sidewalk. I thought I was sneaky just building this room, but you’re spying on the whole park.”

“Oh Spike, if I wanted to, I could spy on a lot more then just this park.”

There was a playfulness to her brand of creepy. Starlight knew the whole haunted tree thing made the big dragon squirm, and she loved to tease him about it. Still, it was the teasing that came from a sort of sisterly love, and not a vengeful ghost type of teasing. She would reserve that for others.

“Does Twilight know you’re doing this?”

“Of course! I’m like her gal Friday. I’ll be with her to make sure everything goes perfectly.”

“But that’s not why you’re really here.” As he spoke, Spike took out a broadsword and started sharpening it.

“No, I’m here for the same reason you are. I’m here to answer the questions that have been haunting us for so long.”

“You’re the one being haunted.” Sarcasm was in Spikes voice.

She was of course talking about the predestination paradox. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash.
They both knew the mares wouldn’t be able to send them home simply because those ponies never returned home. Other ponies made the trip and returned. Most returned the moment they left. The residents of Ponyville returned after one month with no idea why they were so late. Still, five of the Main Six never did come back.

There had to be a reason, aside from just fulfilling the predestination paradox. There had to be an enemy. After so long waiting for this enemy to appear, Spike had to admit his expectations were high. He expected Sombra, Chrysalis, The Pony of Shadows, Xenomorphs, all of the above, and he would be ready for any and all of them.

“Hear ye, Hear ye, We call this meeting to order.”

Order was called by a yellow coated stallion with a red moustache and a candy cane mane. The stallion wore a pinstriped suit, which he thought looked mayoral. He preferred to be addressed by his title of First Chairpony, possibly because in the past thousand years his family name had somehow become synonymous with con artists.

Next to him sat his brother, the Second Chairpony. Twins ran in the family. Over to the right were the treasurer, the secretary, and a few rich ponies who probably had some title or other. Finally sitting at the opposite end of the table was princess Flurry Heart.

Flurry Heart looked very young for a council member. It turned out ponies who are born as alicorns age slowly; who knew? Since her stature still did not yet reflect her level of life experience, she’d gone through a petulant phase about six hundred years ago, and argued that ponies never took her seriously enough. When Celestia made her the new headmistress of her school for unicorns, she thought it was just to keep her out of the way. It was only in the past five hundred years that she began to feel shaping the minds of young ponies was more important than these silly council meetings, and nowadays attending them was the hassle.

The table of the meeting room was much larger then the desk in Flurry Heart’s office. It was also clear of knick knacks, reference books, electrical devices, and the various articles of paperwork she told ponies to just put on her desk when she had no intention of ever being bothered with them. This made the table an ideal place to grade student essays and book reports. Her fellow city councilmen just wished she would not do this during their meetings.

“The first order of business.” The First Chairpony scanned his paperwork. “Oh, this again,” he spoke with not too well masked annoyance. “Mares and colts, as you know Celestia originally groomed Twilight Sparkle as a protege. She was supposed to hold a much higher position in Equestrian government then she currently holds.” The First Chairpony drank some water to clear his throat. “After her accident it was decided that Twilight Sparkle was not fit to rule.”

Flurry Heart looked up from her papers, seeming ready to object right there. However, she allowed the Chairpony to continue.

“As per Celestia’s wishes, extra powers were awarded to the local government with the understanding that these powers would be returned to Twilight Sparkle when she is cured of her condition. My friends, she is not cured. I don’t know if anypony is even working to find a cure. Therefore I motion that we keep our extra legislative powers for another year.”

At this point Flurry Heart stepped in. “First Chairpony, it is my belief that you are misrepresenting the wishes of the late Princess Celestia.”

“What a surprise, you object again; just like you do every other year.”

“Actually this is slightly different then my past objections.” Flurry Heart put her hooves on the table and spread her wings to show authority. It was times like these she wished she were taller. “I’ve reviewed Princess Celestia’s statements with regard to Twilight Sparkle's accident, and at no point did she ever say that Twilight needs to be cured.”

The First Chairpony tugged at his collar. "Where did she get those statements?" he wondered. It was technically true. Celestia only said that Twilight had to be capable of ruling, not cured of her condition. For a long time the general public believed that she did say "cured". Today it was common knowledge that she did indeed say "capable". There’s an interesting story about how it became common knowledge actually. The controversy itself of whether she said "cured" or "capable" became popular. This was because conspiracy and time travel enthusiasts cited the controversy as proof of something called the Mandela Effect; which was nonsense, at least in this case.

What actually happened is one of the Chairponie's predecessors (who was elected and not one of his descendants) was a wealthy colt who bought his way into power and funded a secret smear campaign to keep power. He manipulated the media to make ponies believe that Celestia said "cured". He also tried to get ponies to refer to Twilight as the Broken Princess. Even the current Chairpony felt that was just mean. It never really caught on. Though a few adults of the time did use the term ‘Broken Princess’ the younger colts and fillies all preferred the title: Coolest Princess Ever. Thanks to the many friendship emergencies the cutie map sent her to handle giving her a closer relationship with her subjects, some ponies even preferred most lovable princess.

“Mere semantics my dear, Celestia may as well have said 'cured'. Surely no pony thinks she can do our jobs with her condition.”

“Actually, sir,” came the voice of the secretary, “polls show that 7/10 ponies think she can. There is also a concerning trend where 1/10 ponies think we are an illegitimate government keeping power away from their rightful ruler.”

“She can’t tell time. She would need to be told to go to every appointment.”

“Sounds familiar,” said Flurry. The First Chairponie's appointment keeping secretary giggled at that comment.

“What about the complexity of the job?” the chairpony smirked.

“I heard Twilight just finished building an amusement park in outer space.”

“Oh, big deal! We’ve been putting ponies on the moon for over two thousand years.”

“What about her inability to retain bad memories?” This time it was the Second Chairpony who joined in. You might think it’s fine for a pony princess to be all sweetness, innocence, and rainbows; but this was actually the biggest concern. If anything bad happened, she would remember for a time, long enough to grieve maybe, but not for years. She would sometimes try to visit ponies who had been dead for decades, upsetting their families. If Twilight had not heard from a dangerous enemy for some time and they came knocking on the door, then she’d usually start by offering them tea and pastries. Then of course there was the infamous “Let them eat cake,” statement spoken on her visit to Prance; though some claim she never said that and the myth was a product of the smear campaigns. The Second Chairpony actually had a good case there.

The Treasurer cut in. “Well, uh…what about festivals, and entertainment events? Surely Twilight can take a more active role with those.”

“Those make up two-thirds of our budget.”

“TWO-THIRDS!” some pony yelled spitting out his coffee.”

“Yes, we’re all magical ponies. It’s kinda our thing." This was not the first time the Council Treasurer had to justify that to somepony. "Anyhow, Twilight could take a more active role in managing those events.”

A few ponies nodded their heads.

“My brother and I are going to take a short recess, we’ll be right back.” Said the moustached chairpony. He wrapped an arm around this brothers shoulder, and they trotted off together.

“We can’t let her give two-thirds of the budget to Sparkle.”

“Of course not. Especially since that’s the easiest part of the budget to embezzle from.”

“Brother Flam, maybe Twilight needs to have another one of her famous and very public embarrassing incidents.

“I agree completely, brother Flim."

Author's Note

I didn’t expect to have another chapter out so soon. The weather didn’t agree with my other plans for the day, plus this was just going to be a small piece of a chapter where the mane 6 start exploring the park, but I noticed it was close to 2000 words and thought it might be better to fit it in-between the two chapters.

4 The Big Entrance

Once upon a time, Twilight asked all her friends to join her for a meteor shower. Even alone, the tapestry of seemingly moving stars would have enthralled her. Of course, Twilight never doubted It was better having the girls there with her.

The picnic lunch was delicious, and Pinkie made that joke about the punch being Spiked. You see, she said that because little Spike was asleep in the punch bowl.

Maybe you had to be there.

Twilight thought back to something that happened a few nights after the accident… Hold on, that’s not right. It couldn’t have been nights 'after', as in 'after' the night. Night is when the stars come out. Maybe it was days after the accident. Days, days, that’s a funny word. I was wondering around in a daze. That’s it, that’s why the clock has no day hand, Twilight realized.

Anyway, sometime, just sometime, Twilight sat outside and waited for a meteor shower.

It was late, and very cold. She had to take off her thumbless mittens to make some fine adjustments to the telescope, and in that short time her hoofs grew stiff and ice cold. The snow seemed cold enough to be dry, yet when she picked up her mittens they were all wet.

No matter, she thought. She could warm up once the meteors pass. She waited and waited.

Finally Spike saw her. Spike was little that day, so it must have been before he was big.

“What are you doing Twilight? It’s freezing out here.”

“Don’t worry Spike. I’ll come back in after the meteor shower.”

“Meteor shower?” The dragon looked unsure.

Twilight held back the feeling that her eyes were beginning to water. “Did I make a mistake again?” She asked.

Spike told her she hadn’t. He said that he just had one thing to do, then he would join her for the meteor shower. The dragon went back inside the castle. Twilight watched Spike through the window for a minute or two. He wrote a fast letter, then sent it off via dragon fire mail. He put on a scarf, and came back out.

About fifteen minutes later the sky exploded with lights. It was astonishing.

Twilight wasn’t dumb, even if she couldn’t understand time. She knew what that letter was. Luna was out in the night sky, kicking space debris around or possibly moving the actual stars just to give her a show.

Maybe that’s why Twilight started dreaming about her special amusement park. When her friends disappeared, all she could do was wait. She waited for an answer, or a cause for their disappearance. When Luna caused the meteor shower, she realized she could cause the predestination paradox.

Better her be the cause then some villain, right? Or was she the villain now?

She never forgot that moment or the hope she felt, even if it meant remembering they were gone. The feeling of hope made it a good memory.

Her vantage point overlooked the place where everyone was gathered in the park. She checked with binoculars. Sure enough, she recognized everyone. These ponies were Twilights closest friends in the past millenia. She always had a few close friends. Maybe it was necessary, being the Princess of Friendship and all. It didn’t feel quite right to say it was in her nature, part of her would always be an introvert; she just needed them anyway. Twilight had some beautiful memories with every pony there, and not one name did she forget.

Well, that’s enough of being nostalgic, she thought. Time to put on a show.

“So how ya holding up Fluttershy?” Applejack asked. They were all gathered together in this one-of-a-kind place. If Applejack was overwhelmed, then who knew how the mare who had the word shy right in her name must feel.

“Oh, I’m okay, Applejack,” she said in her whisper of a voice. Fluttershy introduced Applejack to Minty. “Minty and I were just talking to our new friend, Silver Streak.”

“Silver Streak. Who’s that and where is he?” Applejack looked left then right.

Silver Streak turned to Applejack, or rather he rotated his head and flashed some lights on his face panel to indicate that he was Silver Streak.

Applejack leapt backward. A moment ago she’d thought the third member of their group was just some futuristic trash can. He was cylinder shaped, and honestly not quite as advanced looking as ponies might have expected when they heard that robots built this amusement park. Silver Streak was a robot.

Inside Silver Streak’s body was a simple magical levitation crystal, and mechanical shutters built at various ports allowed the machine to control how much light from the crystal was released, allowing him to fly about. His face was actually a 16 x 16 array of small lightbulbs in a square, and he could light them up in any order he wished, usually to make a simple smiley face. The robot's arms were pistons and gears, and his wrists looked like the heads of a multi-bit screw driver. There was a port that opened on his body to reveal different detachable connections. Inside the port was a hoof, several tools, a water gun, one with feathers for tickling, and some really odd looking thing with five different sized digits.

The robot spoke by using the lights on his face to spell words. He told them about his amazing electronic brain and how with only a control structure of operational amplifiers, Twilight had beaten digital technology in producing a thinking machine. He was quite proud of the mother unit, even if he and his brethren did try to overthrow her that one time.

The robot kept going on about how great his mighty electronic brain was, and how vastly superior it was to all other sapient life. Applejack was trying to hold back a yawn when suddenly all lights went out in the gathering area.

It was dark for a moment, then the robot's face lights lit up to form a number.

10.

“Oh I hope she’s about to do a sonic lavender-boom”, came the voice of somepony from the crowd.

Suddenly the dome of the space amusement park was transparent once again. The stars were visible, in a brilliance impossible with even the smallest amount of light pollution. Lights danced across. Some asteroids hit the dome and exploded into a spray of ice. Light was produced in the impacts which reflected and refracted into a multitude of brilliant colours.

Everypony watched transfixed at the spectacle.

All were staring at the light-show, when Rainbow Dash heard a voice and felt a tap on the shoulder.

“Psst… Rainbow Dash, you go that way,” Twilight pointed in one direction, “I’ll go that way,” Twilight pointed in another direction, now crossing her arms. “On the count of five we rush towards one another, then at the last instant you do a rainboom, and I’ll do a lavender boom.”

Rainbow Dash turned. “Twilight is that really you?” It looked like her. She was decked out in princess garb, which wasn’t very Twilight like, yet fit the occasion. Her hair seemed fuller and more lustrous, her eyelashes teased and made big in a manner Rarity spent far too much time doing to herself.

“Sure it’s me; now let’s do this. You go that way and I’ll go that way.”

“Wait, what’ll happen if we do that?”

“It’ll be twice as awesome of course.”

Rainbow Dash flew in the direction she was told. She believed she was flying high and east, though who is to know if east has any meaning in this place? She turned her shoulder only once and was surprised to see that Twilight was already in place and waiting for her. "Probably teleported there," she told herself. "There is no way Twilight’s gotten that fast."

How do I know when to start counting? She wondered. Suddenly tiles on the ground lit up, to form a giant number.

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and leaped out into flight. She rushed towards the center of the gathering area.

She had to time this just right. This was unplanned, unrehearsed, and so unlike Twilight.

Okay, if her speed was right, she’d rainboom around the center of the gathering area. It looked like Twilight was trying to do the same.

She felt the G forces. It pulled back her lips and eyelids, twisting her face into an excited smile. Of course that’s the face she would have been making anyway. Don’t think; just do it, Rainbow Dash told herself.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle flew past one another, only a few meters apart. There was a booming noise. The sky turned violet and glittery. Rainbow coloured stars formed and exploded outwards contrasting with the backdrop.

As the pegasi and the alicorn slowed from their mach speeds, they each turned to view the spectacle which they had both outrun and so was still going on behind them. “Nailed it!” Each of the two declared with glee.

The ponies watched in amazement.

They flew towards one another, fast though not fast enough to make it happen again. When they reached one another, it wasn’t clear if it was a hug or a tackle. The two spun together in mid air.

“That was awesome!” Rainbow Dash declared. “Best sonic rainboom ever.”

“You mean best sonic lavender rainboom ever.”

“Totally.”

Holding hooves, the two descended to the ground in a twirling motion. Before they reached the ground, ponies rushed in, throwing them back into the air and cheering for the greatest Wonderbolt's show stunt they would ever see.

5 Not All Alike

Twilight was practically swimming in a crowd of all the ponies she had ever called friends. When she, figuratively speaking, came up for air, she saw that Spike was hard at work writing in a scroll.

“What are you writing Spike? We’re in the greatest amusement park ever. You can put down the scrolls for today.”

“I know you wanna spend time with everyone and do lots of activities, so I figured you could use a schedule.”

Twilight snubbed her nose at that word. “That’s nice,” she tried not to sound unappreciative, “but won’t it be more fun if we’re spontaneous?”

“Spontaneous!” Applejack looked sternly at the lavender princess. “Who are you and what did you do to Twilight?”

Twilight looked back, shocked.

After a few seconds Applejack broke into a grin. Twilight smiled, and soon they were laughing together.

”So did I really used to like schedules?” Twilight wondered. She was only pretending to get the joke.

Spike did most of his planning around Fluttershy, though he didn’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her so. He figured he had to keep her occupied while the others got to enjoy the roller coasters and waterslides. At the same time, he had to find activities Twilight could do with Fluttershy; maybe the aviary or petting zoo. Restaurants were a given, though it was too early to eat.

Fluttershy surprised everyone when she said she wanted to try the waterslides. She didn’t even say it in her usual, trying not to be a wet blanket sort of way; rather she looked excited.

That was fine of course; the only problem was that Spike's initial plan was to split up the group and have Fluttershy take the CMC and some of the younger fillies of Ponyville on an excursion while Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie headed straight for the roller coasters. It was Twilight and Pinkie combined who threw the biggest wrench in Spike’s plans. “I swear they do that on purpose,” he grumbled. They heard what was intended for Fluttershy’s group, and both wanted to join in.

So it was that after a quick ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl, and a stop for cotton candy, they went to the Build an Equestria Girl Workshop.

“You know, this would work better near the end of the trip,” Spike complained, “not as a big finish, but to get a memento for your time here. Also, it’s kinda an activity for the younger colts and fillies, the ones too small to go on all the fastest rides.”

Before anyone could respond to that, Applejack spied something on the skyline and screamed “Duck Y’all!” A white star fighter flew towards the park, curving at the last moment to avoid impact. The white fighter was also narrowly missed by the rapid photon blasts of a dark blue fighter. Said blast produced crackles of light and intense sound as they bounced off the force field dome of the space station.

When it was over, the ponies got up and looked around. “It looks like somepony is really enjoying the starfighters.” Twilight smiled and carried on, as the others starred at her incredulously.

At last they made it to the Build an Equestria Girl Workshop.

Fluttershy looked at the toys in the store, then turned to Spike and asked, “Shouldn’t the characters that are popular have changed more?”

“Oh that! We don’t want to reveal too much about the future, because it could trap ponies on a pre-destined path they don’t like; plus Twilight designed most of this stuff, so you’ll see a lot of retro merchandise.”

“So you choose a doll, a stuffing, what phrases it speaks when you pull a string, clothes, and accessories?”

“Thats correct, Rarity.”

“I love how this lets fillies be creative. We gotta get something like this back home.” Pinkie complimented.

Rarity eyed the many different dolls she could start with. “What do you think of this one?” She asked.

“That there’s a Diamond Tiara doll.” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“Oh it is? I was gonna make mine as a gift for Sweetie Belle; she won’t want that.” Rarity put the doll aside. “Perhaps the Applejack doll,” she grabbed one from the pile. “I can dress it up nice and ladylike,” she flashed a coy grin towards the actual Applejack.

Once she heard this, Applejack decided to make a Rarity doll dressed as a cowpony.

Scootalo announced that she would make a doll of the coolest pony in all of Equestria.

“You mean future Twilight,” Applebloom kidded. Scoots blushed. Of course she actually meant Rainbow Dash as a Rockstar.

Pinkie couldn’t decide on just one. She did Roseluck as a Mexican Sugar Skull Pony, Lyra Heartstrings as Daring Do, and Derpy Hooves as a pirate. Most agreed she was actually trying to be Random.

Twilight caught Sweetie Belle making a Midnight Sparkle variant of the Twilight Doll. She laughed and gave her some tips on fixing the eyes to make the doll look more wicked and menacing.

Fluttershy and Twilight made a matching pair of Princess Cadence and Flurry Heart dolls as pop singers.

They all helped the youngest colts with their creations. The Cake twins, Pound and Pumpkin, couldn’t verbalize what they wanted, yet seemed happy with Alicorn Princess Pinkie Pie and a Fizzlepop Berrytwist dressed as Red Sonja.

Rarity pointed her Applejack doll in the real Applejack's face. It looked a bit like Applejewel in a newly designed dress. She pulled the string, and the doll spoke:

“Why, Darling, you must tell me who did your Hooficure.”

Applejack pushed a cowgirl Rarity in her face, and pulled its string:

“Yee Haw! I’m off to compete in the rodeo.”

The two broke out laughing.

Flurry Heart stomped into the grand hall of Canterlot Castle, slamming the huge door behind her as though the royal palace was the bedroom of a petulant teenage filly.

“Don’t you think you’re being a tad dramatic?” Princess Cadence asked.

“Argh…I can’t believe I have to be late just for one of those stupid council meetings. I probably missed the big stunt Aunty Twilight was planning.”

“I know dear, but if one of us isn’t in attendance at the meetings, then who knows what bills and laws those Chairponies will try to sneak by us?”

“No kidding!” Although it was hypocritical to condemn the Chairponies for being sneaky considering what Mi Amore Candenza and Flurry Heart are helping Twilight get away with.

First, Twilight was actually denied permission to build her amusement park on Equestrian soil, which is why she just went and built it in space. Second, she got permission to use time travel magic with the odd excuse that the predestination paradox is inevitable, and it is better she be the cause then it be the work of some villain. This excuse probably wouldn’t have flown with the current council, which is why she kept a two-hundred year old permission note from the letters of the late Princess Celestia. Finally, the forbidden necromancy that made Starlight Glimmer into a tree is just a plain old secret.

Cadence and Flurry stepped in front of a magic artifact. Next they faced one another and posed in position. “Remember dear, the password is a secret.”

“Is this the only way to get up there?” Flurry asked with embarrassment in her expression.

Cadence just gave her a grin, and the two leaned forward and began the secret key sequence.

Sunshine-Sunshine,
Ladybugs awake.
Clap your hooves and,
Do a little shake.

A beam of magic shot from the artifact, and teleported them away.

The First and Second Chairpony sat in the camera room of the guard station. The video cameras in the grand hall were supposed to have been turned off on Princess Cadence’s order. The Chairponies were not supposed to have access to the video feed either. It’s amazing what a few well placed bribes and a surprise pizza party can do.

They had just witnessed Princess Cadence and Flurry Heart departing for the space station.

“So that artifact is what we need to get up to Twilight's park, isn’t it brother Flam?”

“That it is brother Flim.”

“Do we have to do that sunshine ladybug dance?”

Flam took his straw hat and whipped the backside of his brother’s head.

After leaving the Build an Equestria Girl Workshop, Twilight flagged some helpful robots. The robots graciously took their toys to their hotel rooms in order to free up everypony's hoofs. The Cake twins didn’t want to part with their new toys, which was fine since they were going back to their parents anyway.

Fluttershy had trouble telling the robots apart. She was a little worried that one of them might be her friend Silver Streak, and she might hurt his feelings by not saying hello.

“Twilight,” she asked in a quieter whisper than usual. “How can I tell which robot is my friend from this morning?”

Twilight seemed to have to think about this for a minute. At last she just yelled out “Hey, Silver Streak.”

It turned out Silver Streak wasn’t even one of the robots who was helping them; however, one robot did page him via radio and Silver Streak came from the other side of the park. Fluttershy ended up a little embarrassed because she didn’t really have any reason to bother the machine while working. So she asked about his electronic brain, and the robot was happy to brag about it for a seemingly endless amount of time.

When it was getting to be too much, Fluttershy said, “Well, I’m sure you have work to get back to. Sorry to have kept you so long.”

“That is all right, Miss Fluttershy. Actually, it’s a relief to get away. Discord's section of the park is so illogical.”

Fluttershy wondered at that last statement, as the robot flew off.

“Hey, Spike,” she called, “is future Discord really here?”

“I guess, though I just call him Discord.” The dragon thought for a minute. “Hey, you wanna join in on the Ogres and Oubliettes game? It’s a park event he’s hosting tomorrow.”

“No, thank you,” she whispered.

“Yeah, I’d rather play a newer game too; we just can’t have some ponies learning too much about the future, y’know.”

“I’m just curious. Has he mentioned me at all?”

Spike lowered his head, with a guilty look. “Listen, Fluttershy, you’ll probably see him sooner or later, so I better warn you.”

“What are you saying Spike?”

“Try not to judge him too harshly. For Discord it has been centuries since he last saw you…not weeks, not even years - centuries.” Fluttershy nodded, and Spike continued. “Before I left for Ponyville, I talked to him. I asked ‘Discord, how do you feel about seeing Fluttershy again?’ He said, ‘Y’know what, Spike,, I don’t even remember her face.’”

“I guess that means he doesn’t care for me as much as he used to.”

A Pony was trotting through the park, and admiring the sights when something grabbed her.

“Oh, Fluttershy, at last I’ve found you.” The mixed and matched creature pulled her into a tight embrace.

She was about to scream when Discord gently placed his finger upon her lips.

“Before you say anything, there is something I have to tell you. I should have told you sooner; it’s just that I thought I had all the time in the world. I was a fool.” He slapped himself in the face. “I didn’t have nearly the time I thought I did, so I’ll say it now, I won’t wait another second. Fluttershy, I love you!”

Discord waited for an answer. What he got was a deadpan “I’m not Fluttershy.”

“Oh…uh…so who are you?”

“Tree Hugger.”

“Boy was I way off.” He shrugged his shoulders and held out his open paw and claw. “I really don’t love you at all.” Discord spoke in an embarrassingly loud voice.

“The feeling is mutual.”

“Okay, then. Help your self to some chocolate milk rain, and don’t forget the Ogres and Oubliettes tournament tomorrow.”

The draconequus flew off.

“Why do all ponies have to look alike!” Discord grumbled to himself as he prepared to grab Moondancer. This time he was sure he got the color right.

Next the ponies made their way to the waterslides. At the top of a massive platform was the entrance to three slides back to back: Gentle Slope, The Twister, and Bone Breaker.

Ponies were free to go down whichever slide they wished, though a robot carnival barker dared ponies to try the Bone Breaker. The Bone Breaker had a 40 hoof vertical drop followed by 4 loops and a spiral, and parts of it were in complete darkness.

Fluttershy seemed lost in thought. ”Will I have to introduce myself to Discord, like I’m some pony he’s never met?”

Applejack turned to her timid friend. “You okay sugarcube? You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

Fluttershy only caught about half of that. “Oh, is it my turn?”, she asked. Before anypony could answer, she made her way straight to the Bone Breaker.

6 Total Recall

If Fluttershy did not know that she had gotten onto the waterslide known as Bone Crusher, she knew now. It started with a 40 hoof vertical drop. The only time she had ever experienced anything remotely like this, Rainbow Dash was there to catch her (performing her first sonic rainboom in the process). That might not happen this time. In fact, she vaguely remembered her friend Dash cheering her on when she saw Fluttershy get onto the slide. Rarity and Spike had tried to warn her not to do it.

The slide was open faced for most of the drop, but then it turned into a tunnel. She quickly missed her opportunity to leap away and fly to safety. Now she was in darkness. The slide was frictionless. She might have moved just as fast without the continuous stream of chlorinated water.

Fluttershy screamed. She screamed so loud that a certain draconequus on the other side of the park turned his head and said, “Hey, that sounds familiar.” Her scream was unyielding and constant. One might wonder how she went so long without air. Then her descent slowed. Fluttershy realized that she was now moving at a crawling pace. She stopped. Suddenly there was a light in the tunnel, it was a familiar and brilliant violet luminescence.

The water continued to cascade, giving Fluttershy a warm shower as Twilight pulled her back up the slide with her horn magic.

When she reached the surface, she looked around seeming confused.

“Are you okay, Fluttershy?” Rarity and Applejack dotted on her.

Fluttershy looked her own body over, and shook a few limbs. “Yes,” she finally answered.

“See, I told you so!” Announced Twilight. Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “Sorry to pull you up. These mares got it in their heads that you went down the wrong slide. They think you just meant to go down the Gentle Slope. We know that’s not true, Right, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy was about to say something when Twilight spoke first.

“You’re so brave, Fluttershy. I wish I wasn’t too afraid to go down this slide.”

That was a surprise. “You’re afraid?”

“Oh yeah, I’m totally chicken. Although maybe I’d be okay if we went down together.”

“Gee, I don’t know.” Fluttershy was now finding it hard to tell Twilight that she was afraid to go down the slide herself.

“Please, Fluttershy!” Twilight gave her a pleading look up adorable kitten eyes. “It’s the only way I can do it.”

“Are two ponies even allowed to go down together?”

“My park, my rules. Just try not to kick on the way down.” Twilight grabbed Fluttershy in a tight embrace.

Suddenly they were both going down the vertical drop together. Twilight lit the tunnel with her horn light as they descended down the spirals and around the loop. Fluttershy screamed again, but it was a more wild, excited scream. To her credit, she never kicked Twilight, though she wanted to. Before they knew it they were under water. They came up in an olympic sized pool.

When they got up, the two playfully splashed water at one another.

Back at the top of the slide, Rainbow Dash asked Spike, “Was Twilight really afraid to go down herself?”

“She went down the slide three times this morning.” the dragon answered.

As they were all drying off, a pony ran up to Twilight. She was a blue mare with a petunia cutie mark. She gave a quick “hello” to everyone and even added an “it’s an honour to meet you”. Then she turned to Twilight. “Let’s go!” said she. “Come on Twilight, you promised.”

Twilight gave her friends a quick bow, then said, “See you later,” and she just left.

They were a little surprised by that. Fluttershy seemed to be the only one who had thought of this before. She had met a pony named Minty who claimed to be Twilight’s closest friend in her own era. This place was full of ponies she invited from all across time. They had all been close to her at some point. Maybe the Mane Six were not even the most special ponies here for her.

Eventually they moved on, figuring they’d all have their very own Twilight to go home to when this strange trip the the future was complete. As they all wanted to try different things, some of them went their separate ways.

“Now let’s do something really future-y,” said Rainbow Dash.

“I think you mean futuristic.” Spike corrected.

“Yeah let’s do that. Something we could never do back home in our time.”

“I don’t know. The things we have in this time might be a little too intense for you.” Spike still remembered how to ruffle Rainbow Dashes feathers.

“What? I can take anything you got,” The Pegasus insisted.

They were interrupted by a screeching noise. The pony and the dragon looked up to see sparks fly as the wing of the dark blue starfighter grazed against the dome of the space station. Pay attention folks, I just wrote the most awesome sentence in history. With one wing destroyed, the dark blue starfighter spiralled out of control. Still not giving up, the pilot of the dark blue starfighter fired a shot at the white starfighter every time it turned in the spiral to face its opponent.

“How about we fly some of those?” Asked Rainbow Dash.

“Another day; it’s a half day excursion to ride those things.”

“How long are we here for?”

“Who knows? That’s up to Twilight.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at that statement. The Twilight she knew would have an exact timeline for everything.

“When are we meeting Twilight again?” Pinkie asked.

“It’s hard to say. She’s having dinner with her old buckball teammates…oh, and a sleepover with Minty. They’re gonna talk about sock designs.”

“Sock designs?”

“Yeah, one odd thing you’re going to find out about Twilight is that she loves socks. She’s been everywhere, and done every job in Equestria, and she never loses interest in socks.”

“Socks.”

“Hey, I’m not defending it. I’m just telling you what is.”

This got boring quickly, so they soon shifted the conversation back to Rainbow Dash's wish to do something future-y.

“Don’t you have, like, games that are so real it’s as though you become the characters?” Rainbow Dash did a flying loop while talking; she was so excited.

“How’s that futuristic? We had magic Power Pony comics back in your time.”

Even though Spike seemed to be shooting down Rainbow Dash's ideas; it soon became clear that the dragon was leading them somewhere.

They came to an arcade. At first Applejack and Rarity turned their noses. Video games seemed like such a boyish thing to do. Spike insisted that he had something good for them. He led them to the back, where there were three machines. There was a control panel to the left. Some sort of headgear hung from the ceiling, and below the floor was a treadmill that could move in any direction.

Rainbow Dash was the only one who seemed excited, and the others needed some prodding. Still they were all going to try the headsets.

They scrolled through some of the different games they could play on these devices. Spike waved them aside and started pushing buttons on the panel. “There are special games here, that Twilight designed just for you three.”

“Cool!”

“Now hold on. I should warn you, these ‘games’ really are intense.”

“Bring it on.”

“There’s more. These games, they can change you if you let them. If you don’t want them to then nothing serious will happen, but if you want them too, they can change your whole outlook on the world.”

“Okay, sugarcube, hyping something up is fun and all, but enough is enough.”

“Yes, darling, this is becoming a bit too much.”

“Ah, don’t chicken out. This is something Twilight made for us. I’m sure it’s gonna be awesome.” Rainbow Dash was still psyched.

Spike carefully, almost lovingly helped each of them into the headgear. He initialized the program, and hit the activation switch.

First there were calming sounds, followed by pretty colours, then a voice that was calm yet authoritative. It was the voice of Princess Celestia.

Hello my friends.

We are going to go on a journey.

Please, don’t get up.

Stay right where you are.

This is a different type of journey.

It’s not your hooves or wings that will take you somewhere.

This is a journey of the mind, and perhaps the spirit.

Think of the ponies you love the most.

You can picture their faces, can’t you?

They are going to join you on this journey.

You will have some adventures together.

This may seem different at first,

It may seem like you are looking at the world from another ponies perspective.

Different perspectives are good.

They keep the world interesting; Don’t they?

Rainbow Dash looked around. She was in the Castle of Friendship, sitting in one of the thrones that circled around the cutie map. However, it wasn’t the usual crowd and she wasn’t in her usual place. Scootaloo sat in what was supposed to be her spot.

Now Rainbow Dash loved Scootaloo ‘as’ a sister, not just ‘like’ a sister; even if they were not technically sisters. That still gave her no right to steal her preferred spot. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof to object, then immediately noticed that the coat on her hoof was purple-pink. Is this the game? Was she experiencing something from a character's point of view, in the first person?

Sweetie Belle sat in Rarity’s place, and Appleboom sat were Applejack should have been. Their elder sisters were not present.

So going around the table you had Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Lily Valley, Roseluck, herself, Spike, Starlight Glimmer and Twilight. It was quite the cast. There was still the question of who she was. Based on her coat colour, and the rest of the flower trio being present, she guessed Daisy. Why Daisy?

Twilight had frazzled hair and baggy eyes. She seemed stressed. This somehow made her more like the Twilight that Daisy/Rainbow Dash knew, then the one from the future.

Daisy’s mind flashed back to some time before. Twilight was in a hospital being observed after her ‘accident’. She brought Twilight a bouquet. Lily Valley had some darjeeling tea and light pastries, while Roseluck brought a kettle and tea set. They planned to visit for a while if they could.

Daisy left her bouquet by the wall, with the many others. She remembered being the one to sell most of these flowers, at the Flower Trio’s little shop in Ponyville.

Daisy told Twilight, “If there’s anything we can do to help, please just name it.” What she said could have been taken as a pleasantry, practically every pony had said the same words to Twilight. Only this time there was a deeper sincerity in her voice. Twilight nodded her head, seriously considering the prospect.

Roseluck cut in. “We spoke with the other you, Twilight. We spoke with the you from the future. She says there is something we’re supposed to do.

Back to the castle. Twilight addressed everyone in the room. She started by talking about what they already knew. The ponies of Ponyville had been caught in a predestination paradox. They were taken to the future, where, and incredible as it seemed, they attended Twilight’s one-thousandth birthday party. Everypony talked about having an amazing time, and not knowing that anything was wrong. However, when they returned, five ponies were not with them. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash were missing. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo lowered their heads in grief as she repeated this part.

“I brought you here today because I’m working on a new spell. I want to give a gift to my friends, if… I mean when I see them again. Though it could take me minutes to complete.”

“It could take years to complete.” Spike corrected. Twilight tended to mix those terms since her accident.

Applebloom was the first to ask, “You’re still trying to get them back sooner, aren’t ya?”

“Of course,” answered Twilight.

“Then what sort of gift is it?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“One that will mean a lot to them, although the feeling may be bittersweet.” Twilight closed her eyes for a second. Rainbow-Daisy recognized her look. It was the look of the Twilight who was eager for approval, fearful of rejection. Whatever crazy thing Twilight was about to say, Rainbow-Daisy knew she had to at least hear her out. Finally she continued to speak. “I need all of you to make memories together. Make all sorts of memories, but mostly happy ones, and do this for the rest of your lives.”

“What!… Happy memories?” The three CMC spoke in unison. They looked at the other ponies in the room, who were practically strangers. The Flower Mares didn’t seem nearly as shocked. Confusing as it was, they already expected this due to a chat with Twilight’s future self.

“Yes, I’m going to record those memories, and give it to the girls as a gift.”

“Roseluck, you make memories with Applebloom, and I’ll copy them to Applejack.”

Days went by. Applejack was in the game for about an hour. The days seemed no shorter then a day was supposed to be, yet never long enough.

Applejack experienced these days in a first person perspective and through the eyes of Roseluck. Sometimes when making breakfast or cleaning house, she was very pleased with herself. Other times, like when doing chores or working with tools, she was disappointed, feeling her body was weak and her skills were lacking. This was because it was Roseluck not her, yet her body never felt like a puppet as she lived out the flower mare's memories.

So it was that the days went by. Some days were more exciting, like the Sister Hooves social, the yearly camping trip, or the Apple reunions.

One day she was doing Appleboom’s hair. Applebloom was dressed in a wedding gown. She watched herself brushing the hair in a mirror. Their coats were both yellow, though the shades varied slightly. They both had red manes, the same red. She briefly wondered if people ever mistook them for mother and daughter.

Applebloom sighed.

“Are you nervous?” Roseluck asked.

“Naw!”

“Do you wish Applejack was here?”

“Yeah, I wish her and my mom were here…. but I’m glad you’re here. And thanks you, Applejack won’t have to miss this.” She smiled.

Roseluck smiled.

“Hey ya know what?” said Applebloom.

“What.”

“We look like family.” She looked at the two of them side-by-side in the mirror, and she smiled

Lily, you make memories with Sweetie Belle, and I’ll share them with Rarity.

Somehow the two of them ended up with the duty of caring for Fluttershy’s animals. The cottage was like a clubhouse for the two of them, et al.

She wasn’t the best choice for the job. She carried on Fluttershy’s duties adequately. Lily kept the animals fed, and clean, and together they kept them feeling appreciated.

Sweetie also took Fluttershy’s place on the Ponytones, a barbershop style quartet. Lily never missed a concert, and all this was passed on into the mind of Rarity.

"Daisy, you make memories with Scootaloo, and I’ll give them to Rainbow Dash.”

“Hold on, this is nuts. Why are you wasting your time with this? You should be looking for a way to get our sisters back! Or is your noodle too fried to even try another time travel spell?”

Everypony was shocked at Scootaloo’s outburst. Scootaloo stormed out of the castle.

After that, nopony knew where Scootaloo went, and many began to worry.

Daisy took Pinkie’s old balloon, to try searching Cloudsdale. Everypony figured Scootaloo might want to go there; the only reason nopony had checked already was because Scootaloo couldn’t fly. Well, she could still walk on clouds, and maybe the little Pegasus was more resourceful then they thought.

She hadn’t been on many outings with the balloon, so Daisy was quite proud of herself when she made it there without any problems. Too bad for her, earth ponies still can’t walk on clouds. Daisy tied a piece of rope to her torso, and tried to jump to what she thought would be a good anchorage point.

Daisy climbed to the edge of the basket, and braced herself for the jump. Unfortunately, the balloon shifted slightly. She missed her anchorage point and landed on pure cloud. Mist was in her face for only a second as she fell right through the cloud. Now she had a view of Ponyville, as she dangled from a rope. When she fell to the end of the rope's length, the rope went taut. Daisy’s torso felt a sudden and painful jerking feeling.

Daisy screamed for help. She screamed for a good three minutes before somepony started to pull her up. It was Scootaloo.

The experience had scared Daisy. She wouldn’t call it a trauma exactly, yet it did leave her in a vulneralbe state. This made Scootaloo willing to open up and talk to her.

And what did they talk about?

“You can’t replace Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo told her.

“I know,” said Daisy. It’s no use trying. Then she smiled at Scootaloo. “I guess you’ll have to be the cool one.”

Fast forward a few years later. Daisy held Scootaloo’s hoof as she awoke from surgery. Doctors had fixed a clot they discovered that had stunted her wing growth. It was still a year or two until her wings were strong enough to take flight, and three years before she passed the trials at Wonderbolt Academy.

She never did perform any sort of rainboom, but she did fairly well for a Pegasus who’s childhood nickname was dodo.

That was quite the journey, wasn’t it?

It was more then an adventure.

It was a life.

You’ll never really forget what you’ve experienced.

These were your experiences, after all those mares gave them to you.

For now let these memories fade into your subconscious.

They’ll still be there, they just won’t be accessible for the time being.

You will awaken remembering only the emotions you felt.

If you need to remember something, then let your imaginations fill in the blanks.

What you imagine is not real, but these memories are.

They are yours.

When you need them the most, these memories will return to you.

I promise they will.

When they return, you will be able to decide if you wish to keep them.

If you don’t wish to keep them that’s okay,

The memories can just go dormant again.

Nothing will be forced on you. The memories are a gift.

Now awaken.

Tears flowed from Applejacks eyes. She asked herself, ‘Why am I sobbing.’ At first Applejack was embarrassed, afraid that her friends would see her like this. Then she saw that Rarity was also crying her eyes out.

“Oh, darling, I’m sorry. It was just so moving.”

They looked to Rainbow Dash, wondering if she would have the same reaction. Rainbow dash lifted the helmet from her eyes, and leapt from the booth. “That was awesome!”

Rarity and Applejack both looked at her.

“Did you see that? Tell me you saw that! All the loops, and spirals, and the speed, and the colours and that big Kapow at the end.”

Applejack and Rarity looked at one another, then back to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, darling, don’t you feel moved? What I saw was the most touching, endearing…” Rarity grabbed a tissue. She had to blow her nose.

“Moved? Heck no! We must’ve been playing different games. All I remember is the excitement.”

“You don’t feel anything else from the game?” Spike asked.

Rainbow thought for a moment. “Huh, now that you mention it there is something.”

“Yes.”

“I can’t stop wondering…”

“Yes.”

“Did I remember to water my flowers today?”

Spike slapped himself in the forhead.

“Rainbow Dash, what flowers? You don’t have a single plant in your home. Even your lawn is made of clouds.”

“No plants, huh?” Rainbow furrowed her brow in confusion. “Maybe I should get some. I really feel like watering the flowers is important.”

As they left, the arcade, Rainbow Dash spotted a flower bed. She started removing the weeds and pruning the flowers. Starlight Glimmer appreciated the attention.

7 Sock Party!

The words night and day don’t have nearly the same meaning when you’re in outer space. This was more true for Applejack, whose habit was to rise with the sun, and rest when the moon took its place. With no sun and moon, she began looking for a clock, and was the first of her group to notice the lack of timepieces throughout the entire amusement park.

Interesting footnote, Twilight takes turns with Cadence and Flurry Heart filling Celestia’s former role at the yearly Summer Sun Celebration. She’s always done an exemplary job at the actual celebration. Pity she confused the New Year’s Eve countdown with the Summer Sun Celebration on four separate occasions.

Ponies were told that they could eat when they’re hungry and sleep when they’re tired. The hotel had an all day buffet and sound proof rooms. It was as though Twilight wanted everypony to lose track of time.

At some point, AJ realized she was both tired and hungry; she probably would have noticed this sooner if not for the mix of adrenalin and upside-down fast moving rides. “Spike, what time is it?”, she asked as they were getting off a roller coaster.

“10:04!”

“Land Sakes! Why didn’t you tell us it was getting so late?” What were they to do now?

Pinkie didn’t seem all that perturbed by it. She was more used to keeping flexible hours than most. Rainbow Dash was too psyched to let the night end.

“Hey Pinkie,” Rainbow called,“let’s ride the Rainboom Coaster again.

“Okie Dokie Loci,” came her excited reply. The two galloped off towards the roller coaster.

Applejack turned to Spike, and Fluttershy. “I suppose it’s just us three.”

Fluttershy looked around. “Where’s Rarity?”

Twilight heard a knock on her door. It was a knock she recognized very well. You see, most of Twilight’s friends have their own unique knock. This was a kindness on their part. There was always the chance that Twilight would be confused about what day it was, and expect somepony who couldn’t possibly be at the door.

This knock went:

hard, hard, space,
soft, soft, space,
hard, soft, space,
hard, space,
hard, soft, hard, hard, space,
repeat.

Nice and simple, it was Minty’s name in pony code. Though, Twilight had no idea why she bothered to always repeat the code twice. It’s not like she would miss it the first time.

Minty still needed time to get through her second knocking sequence, so Twilight quickly checked her hair. She noticed the pictures around her mirror. It had long been her habit to have pictures of dear friends and treasured moments be the first thing she see in the morning. Some of these photos were so old, Starlight Glimmer had to develop a spell to stop them from fading. She noticed there were least seven pictures with Minty.

Would Minty think this was weird? After almost a thousand years, even the mane six was down to one group photo and three event pics. Should she hide a few of Minty’s pictures? In the end Twilight left the photos, she only had time to either take down photos or tease her eyelashes before Minty finished her second knocking sequence, even with the extra minute it always takes her to remember the Y in ponish code.

“Yeah, Twilight is having one of her sock parties tonight.” Spike spoke as he landed another basket at ski ball.

Applejack had to admit, those things at the end of Spikes wrists seemed better suited for this game then her hooves were. Though, she’d probably cream him if he let her use her bucking legs.

“So, her and Minty just get together and talk about socks.” As she spoke she lined up her next shot.

“Oh they don’t just talk about them. They knit, sew, model, darn.” Just as he said darn, Spike missed a shot. AJ wondered if he meant ‘to mend a hole in fabric’ or ‘darn I missed.’

Twilight’s book of sock designs was on the nightstand. It was just full of new ideas. There was one she was particularly proud of; buy leftover Pegasus mane from barber shops to make socks that let earth ponies and unicorns walk on clouds. Of course she already had spells that make this feat possible, but it was still a neat little idea. Actually why was the book so full of new ideas. Usually she would come up with two or three designs, then go to Minty for a sock party. This was one of the few ways Twilight’s mind could process the passage of time. She knew it had been too long since her last sock party.

Finally Twilight opened the door. To her surprise, the first pony she saw didn’t have a green coat, or a pink and white mane. No, the colour scheme was all wrong. Sure anything goes with white, but purple just didn’t have the same contrast as pink did with mint green.

“Oh, uh… hello Rarity.”

“Hello, darling. I met your friend on the way in and she suggested I join in. If that’s okay with you, of course.”

Twilight looked at Rarity with a twinge of uncertainty. Hesitantly, she moved aside letting Rarity enter her room. Rarity wondered if she should even come. Next, Twilight poked her head outside the door, but Minty approached just as she did, and they bumped noses.

Twilight apologized. “Oh horsefeathers, that was clumsy of me. Are you okay.”

“Sure Twi, I’m fine.”

They grabbed a few paper bags that Minty had set just outside in the hall. When all were inside, Twilight closed the door. She looked to Rarity then back to Minty, as though waiting for an explanation.

“They used to have two sock parties a week. For a while, I wondered if sock party was some sort of euphemism, like maybe Twilight was doing something she didn’t want me to know about.”

“Was she?” Applejack asked.

“Naw, Eventually they started a business together, selling custom Hearth’s warming Eve socks by mail order.”

“So it’s totally innocent?”

“Is everything okay darling?” She could sense Twilights unease.

“Sure, everything is fine. I mean, why wouldn’t it be fine? Everything is just peachy. Will you excuse us for just one minute Rarity.” Twilight bit on Minty’s ear and pulled her into the bathroom, shutting the door behind them.

“What are you thinking bringing Rarity here?”

Minty spoke as if she was oblivious to Twilights reaction; and probably was. “Oh well, I met her on the way to the hotel, and we got to talking. She was way more approachable then I expected. Do you know that Rarity was one of my heroes growing up? I used to look at the dresses she designed and think what socks would go with them. Of course I eventually realized you don’t really need the dresses, I mean were ponies right? Still there’s nothing like a cozy pair of socks.”

“You’re rambling.” Twilight touched a hoof on the other mare’s shoulder. “Minty, this was going to be our night.”

“I thought you’d be happy,” she whined.

Twilight paced in a circle around the tiny room. “At some point you’re going to go back to your time, and there will be this past version of me there. We’ll be together for the rest of your life.”

“I like that,” Minty told her. She nuzzled closer to Twilight.

“Yes, I did too.” Twilight was close to crying. She wondered if she would have to spell it out for her. Tell her about all the days afterwards. She was actually thankful for her condition, in that most days she mistakenly believed that she had just seen Minty or could visit her any time she wanted.

“Well, Rarity is close to you, and she loves fashion. She said a sock party would be delightful. Hardly any pony says sock parties are delightful. I thought she must be the one you had sock parties with before you met me.”

“There was no pony I had sock parties with before you.”

“Really, cause you’d been a princess for about six hundred years before we met.” Minty thought for a second. “Maybe you’re just confusing before and after again.”

“Minty, there was no pony before you or after you!”

“There must have been some pony after me.”

“There wasn’t,” Twilight insisted. “Okay, maybe there were a few nights with Princess Luna, but it wasn’t what we had. Luna and I just did things to make each other feel better. I think maybe it was a little too close to around the time that Celestia was lost to us. Maybe she even regrets it.”

Twilight wondered why she was even telling her about that.

“Twilight,” Minty was on the verge of tears, “I want there to be ponies after me. I don’t want you to be alone.”

How was Twilight supposed to respond to that? What could she say? This mare named Minty, she felt blessed to have shared one lifetime with her. How could any pony replace her? How could Minty be the one trying to replace herself?

“When the party ends, Rarity is going to stay here in this time, right Twilight?”

“She doesn’t know that yet. If I were even going to do this with her, it shouldn’t be before I tell her. Besides, even I’m not sure what’s really going to happen.” Twilight turned her head and thought for a second. “Tomorrow I’ll tell them the truth about the predestination paradox. I’ll try to make them understand, and if any of them still insist on going home then I’ll try to send them.”

“Wait,” said Minty, “I thought they couldn’t go back to their time because they didn’t go back to their time.”

Predestination paradoxes were confusing. The basic jist is that you can’t change the past because the time travel is already part of that past.

“We have working time travel spells. The only way to figure out why they didn’t go back is to try to send them back, and see what goes wrong. I’d rather they not take the risk, but it’s their choice and I won’t take that away from them.”

Minty said nothing. She just nuzzled closer to Twilight in an affectionate manner. Twilight loved the mint smell.

After a while like that, it occurred to Twilight that Rarity was still waiting for them in the next room.

Finally they opened the door and went to meet her.

When the door opened, Rarity leapt in surprise. She positioned her hooves to cover herself up, as though ponies weren’t usually bare anyway. This drew attention to what she was wearing.

“Oh, darlings, I’m sorry. I found them in Minty’s bag and couldn’t resist trying them on.”

Pulled up to the hind of her legs were four socks. They were black with purple stripes. The wool was in a flawless double knit weave and just exuded a feeling of cozyness.

Minty pulled out a tissue. She felt a nosebleed coming on.

Suddenly there was a flash of light. In less time then the flash itself, Twilight had grabbed a camera and taken a picture.

“This is so going on the mirror,” she thought.

The next morning Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were sitting around a breakfast table.

Pinkie just got back from the brunch line, and joined them. She laid down a stack of waffles covered in strawberry coulis and maple syrup. In her other hoof she held a coffee cup.

“Since when do you drink coffee, sugar-cube?”

“It’s a white hot chocolate mocha. It’s really sweet, I love how they froth the milk. And they’ll wright any name you want on your cup. I got them to write Fili-Second on mine; from the time when we were Power Ponies.”

“I got the same chocolate mocha. They are good.” Rainbow Dash commented.

“What did they write on your cup?” Pinkie asked.

“Just my name,” Rainbow Dash had the name on her cup turned away from Pinkie at the moment.

Applejack and Fluttershy talked about their rooms, and how they slept. Rarity, came to join them.

“Hello, darlings.”

“Dang’t, Rarity, were have you be. You just up and disappeared on us.”

“I am ever so sorry. I got to talking with a pony named Minty last night. She invited me to join her and Twilight for a sock party.”

“Sock party?”

“It was delightful. I never thought I could have that sort of fun with Twilight.” She tilted her head in wonderment. “Perhaps I should try to teach her what I learned from her when we go home to our time.”

Everypony needed a moment to wrap their heads around that; mostly because of the time travel part.

Rainbow Dash overheard some ponies in the next table talking. You see, every pony had their favourite flower waiting for them in their rooms last night, another of Twilight’s surprises. However, her Hydrangea didn’t seem too healthy.

"When you need them the most, these memories will return to you. I promise they will." Celestia’s voice echoed in her head.

Rainbow apologized for interrupting and started offering the ponies tips about building up the root system and how certain fertilizers could offset PH.

Applejack eyed the exchange suspiciously. Since when does Rainbow Dash know anything about flowers? As she leaned in, Applejack noticed something else. The name written on Rainbow Dash’s cup was ‘Rainbow Daisy.’

Author's Note

Authors Notes:

I find myself feeling pulled in a couple of different directions, which is to be expected in a story like this. So I’ve come up with a few ideas for what to focus on for the next chapter or two. How about I list them, and ponies can tell me in the comments what you’d like to see.

Fluttershy meets with future Discord.
Haunted castle attraction.
Mane Five finally learn about the predestination paradox
Rainbow Daisy ( Is it a running gag or serious issue?)
Star-fighter battle ( ponies take sides with the white and dark blue star-fighters )
Other

9 It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Part 1

Pinkie Pie brushed the dishes aside, and tossed open a brochure upon the table. “Hey ponies, look what I have.
”Fortunately, the ponies had finished their meal.

The brochure had a map of the whole park, and descriptions of all the attractions. It was like the larger map they had seen near the central fountain.

“Good thinking Pinkie, Spikes gonna be busy with the Ogres and Oubliettes tourny, so he can’t be showing us around,” Applejack stated. “This here will help us plan our day.”

“Should we wait and see if Twilight wants to join us?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nah, let the birthday girl sleep in. I think she can find us whenever she sets her mind to it.”

“Say, when is her birthday?The party seems set to go on for days, and we haven’t had cake yet.”

Pinkie ran through her encyclopedic knowledge of Ponyville birthdays. She knew that Minuette’s b-day was just two days before Twilight’s, and didn’t want it to be overshadowed or forgotten. Although it was nowhere close to the actual birth date when they time-travelled, so would missing it really count? For that matter, if they spend days here then return to the time they left then do all the birth days get moved up by the amount of time they spent in the future. She shook her head, trying to stop her thoughts from getting caught in a temporal loop.

“Pinkie, darling, we don’t even know if it’s truly day or night right now.”

“Spike had a pocket watch,” Applejack mentioned. “We’ll ask him later. Anyway, for all intents and purposes, it’s morning of a new day. So what should we do today?”

Applejack looked at the Star-fighters and the haunted castle, then turned to Rainbow Dash.“I’ll bet I know where you wanna go.”

“Oh yeah, Breezie village here I come!”

Everypony stopped and stared at her. This was one of those moments where one would expect a deafening silence, broken only by the chirping of crickets. Rainbow Dash seemed to take a moment, as though trying to figure out whatever she could have said which elicited such a reaction.

“It was a joke.”

Ponies freed themselves of there frozen expressions and resumed their normal activities. While the other three were talking, Fluttershy spoke softly to Rainbow Dash.“I’d like to see breezie village.”

“Great, let’s go together.”

Twilight’s socks didn’t match. On one hoof was a striped sock, the first Rarity had tried on. On the other hoof was a plaid sock.It had large red squares, and stripes that criss-crossed one another, darkening where they overlapped.

“Wow,” she looked at her hooves in a daze.“I really went all out last night, didn’t I?”

Minty offered Twilight a hot cocoa. She was wearing socks with a candy cane style of twisted stripes, which lead the eye towards her thighs.

They leaned on one another, and sank into the cushions. “So how long can we stay like this?”Minty asked.

“How long?” Twilight snickered. “How should I know?”

They decided to meet at a fork in the road. The park was divided into different area’s which each followed their own theme. At this fork, Twilights kingdom met with both the land of the Breezies, and the Realm of Chaos. The sign, telling which was which, was actually broken and turned sideways, so Fluttershy simply looked off into the distance in both directions. She assumed the direction where she saw flying pigs was the realm of chaos.

“Have you been waiting long,” Rainbow Dash asked.

Fluttershy turned to her friend; she was surprised at what she saw. Gone was the usual windswept look of Rainbow Dash’s hair. If it were simply combed straight, or even given some gel, Fluttershy would not have paid it much mind; however Rainbow Dash had apparently gone through the trouble to curl the tips of her mane in the front and in the back.

Rainbow Dash saw that Fluttershy had noticed the change.“Do you like it?”, she asked.

She paused, though not to long before answering.“ It’s lovely.”

“I did it myself. Me and AJ went on some rides together, and afterwards my hair was a frightful mess.” Rainbow Dash fluffed her hair up with her hoof. “So I went back to my room and fixed it up. Guess I went a little overboard.”

Fluttershy nodded. In the back of her mind she thought, ‘Rainbow Dash seems different today,’ and it wasn’t because of the hair.

As they walked on, their bodies began to shrink. They felt a weight just above their brows, as antennae sprouted.

It is well known that breezies are among the most delicate creatures in Equestria. If you’re a breezie, going outside when there is a gentle breeze could be considered an act of bravery. When Twilight first considered creating the breezie village attraction, every pony thought she would have to put the creatures into an enclosure, and separate them from relatively more dangerous ponies. That idea never crossed the princesses mind. To her the solution was so obvious, she had it before even considering there could be a problem. This solution was to turn everypony into breezies’. ‘It might have been nice if Twilight had let others in on her plan.'

Fluttershy gave one last wistful look into the realm of chaos. Picking up on her mood, which was unusual for Rainbow Dash, she asked, “Would you rather visit Discord.”

“He’ll be busy with his Ogres and Oubliettes tournament today.”

“It’s not good to let your feelings stir too long.” She comfortingly placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“I suppose.” Fluttershy wondered if she was just being vain. If Spike hadn’t told her that Discord didn’t remember her face, would she be so concerned? She was curious how the draconequus changed over time, but it’s not like the Discord back in her own time would have forgotten her, and Fluttershy couldn’t even imagine what happens to memories when so much time passes.

The two moved on. Soon they were chatting in high pitched chipmunk voices and fluttering on tiny butterfly wings that are actually quite huge in proportion to their shrunken bodies. Rainbow Dash seemed unconcerned, as she fluttered around the seemingly gigantic wildflowers, gleefully sniffing at the pollen. As for Fluttershy, between her thoughts about Discord, and Rainbow Dashes weird behaviour, being a breezie almost caught her by surprise.

“Don’t get too far from the trail,” Fluttershy warned.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t listening. At that moment she had spotted a raspberry that was bigger then her torso. She few towards it, only to bump heads with another breezie.

“Ouch!”, the two spoke in unison. Then Rainbow looked at the other pony in awe. She was somewhere between purple and pink coated, with a lime green mane. This was a face she recognized very well. For a brief moment, Rainbow Dash wondered if she had bumped into a mirror. ‘Mirror,’ of course not, she looked nothing like that; Although, their hairstyles where similar right now.

“Daisy, is that you?”

“Oh my! Miss Rainbow Dash, yes it’s me.”

Even transformed into a breezie, Rainbow Dash was quick to recognize Daisy. She was one of the local florists in her town of Ponyville; though recently they’d come to have a far more personal connection then just that. Though it’s unclear if Rainbow Dash was aware, she had been implanted with Daisy’s memories. The implant was supposed to allow Rainbow Dash to experience some of what she will miss if she never returns to Ponyville. Ideally, the memories would sit in the back of her consciousness and she could choose what to integrate and what to reject over time. A case could be made that it wasn’t working properly.

Did Daisy know yet that her memories would be implanted into Rainbow Dashes mind. Surely this was her before it happened (and after).

“I came here with my friends Lily Valley and Roseluck” Daisy answered.“ They’re both nature lovers. Lily isn’t very adventurous though.”

“Same with my pal, Fluttershy.”

Daisy looked around awkwardly. “We’ve gotten pretty far from the trail. Maybe I should go look for them.”

“And I should go meet up with Fluttershy.”

“Okay, uh… see you later.”Daisy flew off. She looked back only once, with a concerned expression.

As she got out of the brush, Rainbow Dash called out for Fluttershy.

“Halt intruder!”came a voice too high pitched to be threatening. Dash turned to see a natural born breezie who could have been a descendent of Seabreeze. The breezie carried a pine from a pine tree, and brandished it like a spear, although the point was sanded to dullness (so nobody would get hurt).

“Oh, I’m sorry, I never meant to intrude on anybody. I was just looking for my friend.”

Don’t worry, I’m a host for the park. This is just a storyline event.” The breezie whispered. Next, she made a stabbing gesture with her sphere, and returned to her scripted performance. “I see, so you are a brave hero, come to rescue the princess. You’re no match for my lord. Our land is the domain of the Jabberwocky; it is his to rule, for none have ever been brave enough, or clever enough to best him at his own game.”

“Uh… Excuse me, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve been separated from my friend and I really should find her. She has a yellow coat and a pink mane.”

“Your friend is a prisoner of the Jabberwocky.”

“PRISONER!”

The breezie broke script again, realizing how much the word prisoner upset her guest. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. We needed a princess for heroes to try and rescue in our story event, and she agreed to help us out. Right now she’s in our village, where she gets to wear traditional outfits, learn about our culture, what we do for fun, and join in a tea party with the Jabberwocky”

“Oh, okay.”

‘Rarity would have loved this place,’ Fluttershy thought. Two breezies worked diligently on her hooficure, while a tailor, a mane stylist, and a makeup artist attended to her. They were all eager and cheerful and could barely keep from tripping over one another. Her hair was styled upward. She was given dark eye shadow, and little lime green triangles were painted under her eyes. The tailor worked on a big ruffled collar and a matching ruffled skirt. She recognized the outfit as traditional breezie party dress, though if her knowledge was accurate, then this type of makeup should be reserved for weddings.

When she was all dolled up, some giggling lasses took her by the hooves and started to lead.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You’re going to have a tea party with the Jabberwocky.”

Though Fluttershy loved tea parties, they were usually held between lunch and dinner, and right now it felt more like it was time for a meal. She could have been hungry from all the walking she did. Telling time was still as difficult as ever in this part of the park.

They passed a number of structures with more traditional breezie architecture, but the house they were leading her too was not like them at all. This house was a bit of an eyesore actually, and looked a little dilapidated. It seemed huge, though since she was a breezie at the moment, it could be no bigger then a dolls house. In fact she vaguely recognized it as one of the castle play-sets from that game; ogres and oubliettes. Spike wouldn’t like the name castle play-set, he always preferred siege fortress.

Oh my gosh! ‘It is Spike,’ Fluttershy thought.‘Spike must be the Jaberwocky, how adorable.’

She rushed ahead of the girls and made her way into the castle.

Once inside, she called out.“Hello Sp… Mr. Jaberwocky, I’m here for our tea party.

“Ah, the princess has arrived.”

The voice, came from all directions and no direction, it seemed to fill the castle. It was a voice that Fluttershy knew well, and it wasn’t the voice of Spike the Dragon.

“Welcome my dear. So you agreed to be our princess for today.”

Now the voice came from one direction, but when Fluttershy looked one way it switched to the opposite direction.

“The breezies told me they found a pretty one. Oh, but you’re more than pretty; you are absolutely beautiful my dear.”

Fluttershy blushed. Did he recognize her?

“It’s so nice that you agreed to play the princess in our little game. Would-be heroes will surely give their all to try and rescue you my dear.”

Fluttershy walked further into the room. A table walked toward her, and a chair followed close behind. She sat down, used to this sort of thing. A serving tray ran up to her and opened its cover, barking and panting for attention. She took out a cucumber sandwich and took a big bite.It was just like the ones she used to make for him. When did he learn the recipe?

Grape juice poured itself into a wine glass. Finally Fluttershy decided to say something. “I thought you were going to be busy with the Ogres and Oubliettes tournament all day.”

The voice paused. “I am at the tournament, I’m just a very good multitasker.I can be in two, three, or five places at once; not four though.” A pair of eyes appeared in midair, and soon after the body of Discord followed.

“You are a pretty one,” the draconequus commented.“ Perhaps we should raise the stakes a bit for those would-be heroes. How about a wedding? You and I can get married.I’m sure the heroes will be rushing to break that up.”

Fluttershy took a sip of her tea, strawberry peoni and peach blend with honey already in it. Discord still had a bit of a sweet tooth. “You say it like you’re being spontaneous, but I know I’m already wearing breezie wedding attire.”

A deep chortle rose from the draconequus’ throat. He clapped his cloven hand and his paw together. “Oh how fun, a pony who is hard to surprise, I love a challenge.” He passed her another tray of h’orderves, she was no longer worried about having a tea party for lunch, the greater concern was overeating.

“Oh I surprise quite easily actually. You just didn’t get me that time.”

“Well, that’s fun too my dear. Who doesn’t love a good surprise.”

The draconequus wasn’t his normal self, though form was always a fluid concept to him. If he were his regular size, then he would be massive, and truly terrifying in comparison to a tiny breezie. Discord was smaller, but still two heads taller then the tallest breezie. His head was more rounded, while his antler and horn had moved to be in the position where antennae ought to be. This however wasn’t breezie discord, he chose to make his wings one scaly bat like and the other feathered, though they were now larger then his entire body.

Discord was being charming (for Discord). Fluttershy wondered whether or not she should continue to play coy. She wanted to test and see if Discord knew who she was, or maybe drop hints and see it he’d figure it out. Fluttershy wondered what she could say to drop her first hint. While trying to think of one, she asked, “So how did you become friends with the breezies.” After asking her question, she took a sip of tea.

“My first and fourth wives were both breezies.”

Fluttershy spit out her tea.

“Ha, I guess it’s not so hard to surprise you my dear.” He could tell his guest was wondering whether that was supposed to be a joke or not. Discord paused, as though unsure whether to continue. “Actually, I had a friend once, a very good friend, who was fascinated by the breezies. She would go to see them on their migrations. One year she… couldn’t make it for the migration. I set myself up with the unpleasant task of telling the breezies that they would never see her again.” Discord lowered his head, and starred into his tea cup.

A tear burned slightly, ready to make its way from Fluttershy’s eye. “That must have been very difficult.”

“No kidding! As soon as the breezies saw me they ran in terror. The whole group got scattered.”

It was wrong, but now Fluttersy was trying to hold back a laugh.

“I had to chase them down one by one and just teleport them to where they were migrating to. It’s a wonder that no breezies were lost that year.” Discord munched on one of his own sandwiches, before going on.

“Anyway, when they ran, they all screamed Jabberwocky.”

“I’ve heard that name. Theres a story that a writer and mathematician who played a prank on a bunch of history and literature professors. He read them a poem about the brave hero who set out to slay the Jabberwocky.”

“Yes, the professors were supposed to guess what culture the poem came from. They argued about it for a while, said maybe it was Celtic or Scandinavian.”

“Yes, then the man who presented the poem said he just made it up himself.”

“Ha, simple but effective, a good joke overall. Except, I’ve seen breezie art that predates the poem, and it depicts the Jabberwocky.”

“Really?” Fluttershy shuddered. She’d never heard of any such art.

Discord leaned in and gave a toothy grin:

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

“You’re making that up! There is no Jabberwocky.”

“Am I, maybe I am, though I assure you I’ve only told one lie today.”

“Hear-yay, Hear-yay, let it be known to all who dare, that this hear be the entrance to the path of heroes.” A breezie holding a scroll read out an announcement. This was the same spear breezie whom Rainbow Dash had met earlier. “If you think you are brave enough and clever enough to defeat the Jabberwocky, then you may take this path. The challenge consists of riddles, puzzles, and feats of athleticism. The line starts at this dandelion. Challengers will enter in pairs of two, and do so five minutes apart.”

“Did she say pairs of two?”Lily asked.“There are three of us, doe this mean we can’t all go together?” Lily was worried. Her, Roseluck, and Daisy did practically everything together.

“Can I go with one of you guys?” Rainbow Dash offered.

Lily was pleased, but Daisy gave Rainbow Dash a nervous look. “Why don’t you go with me Lily? Roseluck, you can go with Miss Rainbow Dash.”

“Um… Okay.”

The breezie coughed for attention, then gave another announcement. “We have upped the stakes slightly on the challenge. The Jabberwocky has announced that he will marry the princess.”

“Marry Fluttershy!”Rainbow Dash practically screamed.

“If no brave heroes manage to complete the challenge, and defeat the Jabberwocky by sundown Ponyville time, then the wedding will commence.”

“This is still a game, right.”Lily chewed her hooves, sounding nervous again.

Roseluck turned to Rainbow Dash. “Uh…I’m not very good at riddles, she warned. Maybe you should ask Daisy to go with you. "She’s really good.”

“How’s your memory Rosie dear?” Asked Rainbow Dash.

Roseluck was a little surprised only Daisy ever called her Rosie Dear. “I have a great memory. I’ve memorized over 200, 000 flower plants in the Phylum Anthophyta.”

“Wonderful,”Rainbow clapped her hooves together, “here is what I want you to do, remember all the riddles on the challenge. You don’t have to solve them, just remember what they are.”

“Um, okay I can do that?”

“And when this is over, I want you do tell them all to Daisy, and see if she can get the answers.”

There was a knock on the door of the Siege Fortress. Discord snapped his fingers and the doors opened themselves. There stood princess Twilight Sparkle. She lifted her wings, flapped, and gracefully glided onto the faux cobblestone floor of the siege fortress.

“Twilight, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here for the wedding of course.”

“Wedding?”

“Yes, I’ll be performing the ceremony.”

“But Twilight, you’re a princess; princesses can do real and official wedding ceremonies.”

“Of course, we’re not little fillies you know; Discord's game needs to have real stakes or it won’t be much fun, will it?” She gave a wink to the Draconequus.

10 It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Part 2

“Did you put her up to this?” Fluttershy whispered to Discord. “Are you in on this together?”

“I had no idea she was going to do any of this. I swear, I’m as surprised as you are.”

“Well, we can’t go through with it, can we?” She was, of course, talking about the wedding. Twilight, it seemed, intended to marry Fluttershy off to Discord.

The draqonequus scratched his brow then shrugged his shoulders.

“Discord, do you want to marry me.” Fluttershy used her most stern voice, and steeled her gaze to the point where you could almost say she was giving him the stare.

“Right now, kinda.”

Roseluck and Rainbow Dash trekked thorough the vast wilderness. It’s hard to say how vast the wilderness was exactly, and they might have had a better sense of reference if they were not the size of breezies. At their current size, an open field may as well be a lush jungle. In fact, Roseluck recognized much of their suroundings as shrubs and larger perennials, not trees.

Today there was something that occupied Roseluck’s mind far more than her love of horticulture. The flower mare kept looking at Rainbow Dash, the gait of her stride, the expressions upon her muzzle. She was examining her for signs. Roseluck wondered if Rainbow Dash had already received her gift.

The very thought of it made Daisy too nervous to be around Rainbow Dash. As Twilight explained it, Rainbow shouldn’t be able to call upon the implanted memories until the time came. It was still possible that everything Daisy will ever be now resided in the back of Rainbow Dashes mind. This would include a lifetime of experiences as a surrogate sister to that little filly. Perhaps that’s what Daisy was really nervous about. Did Rainbow Dash know yet that she and Scootaloo would be separated?

“Is something, wrong Rosie dear?”

Once again, she was, referring to her as ‘Rosie dear’. Daisy was the only one who referred to Roseluck as such.

“No, I’m fine. Uh, how are you?”

Her thoughts were interrupted when they came upon their first challenge.

“Oh it’s a maze, how fun.” Yes, the path of champions led to the entrance of a strawberry maze. You’ve heard of corn mazes, well when you’re the size of a breezie, you’d be able to fly between the most densely planted corn stalks, so the thorny strawberry plant makes for a more intimidating obstacle. Also, there is something to snack on if you get lost for a while.

Rainbow Dash took a moment to admire how well pruned and free of dry spots the vines were, details she normally wouldn’t give much thought to. “A maze,” said she, “this takes me back to the first time we met.”

“The first time you met whom?”

“The first time I met the Jabberwocky.” Rainbow Daisy giggled and gave a knowing wink.

“Can’t we just fly over it.” Roseluck would have rather flown, mostly because she usually didn’t have wings. As if to answer is question, and likely so, a gust of wind shot through the air and the two breezies ran into the maze’s entrance for cover.

“How long do we have?” Fluttershy whispered.

“Well, I’m immortal, but you…”

“I meant until the wedding Discord.”

“Oh, it’s scheduled for sundown ponyville time, so one hour and twenty-three minutes and fourteen-seconds from now.” The draconequus checked his smart phone. “No thirteen seconds, twelve seconds, eleven…”

“One hour! Discord I just had lunch. How can it be so close to sundown?”

“Actually it was a tea party. Tea parties are usually held between two to four. We had ours at seven, but I know what you mean; time and space have no meaning. I love this place!”

“There has to be some way we can stall, and give my friend more time to get here.”

“Yeah, we probably do have to give her a handicap with the riddles, if she’s gonna make it in time for the ceremony. Who is she anyway; the maid of honour perhaps?”

Fluttershy gave Discord the eye again, He loved that eye. “She’s coming to rescue me.”

“We could try to trick Twilight.”

“Why whatever do you mean Discord? Twilight’s the smartest pony I know. I don’t think Twilight can be tricked.”

Discord looked directly at Fluttershy. He took a moment to examine her eyes. She looked familiar somehow, but that isn’t what he was focussed on. This mare had actually said what she said with a straight face. ‘I don’t think Twilight can be tricked.’ Soon Discord broke into laughter.

“You really don’t think Twilight can be tricked? You have know Idea, do you?” Discord tapped Fluttershy on the shoulder. “Watch and learn.”

He started to leave. “Wait,” Fluttershy called.

“Yes,” Discord turned his head.

“Don’t lie to her.”

At that moment, Twilight was hard at work directing the breezies. She wanted no less then thirteen dinner options at the wedding banquet. Discord appeared before her in a puff of smoke.

Twilight, not the least bit surprised, tackled the draconequus with questions. “Which of these napkins would Fluttershy prefer, the butterfly prints or the bunny prints? Do you like your salsa verde better with parsley or cilantro? Could you make a pose, I need to make a little dancing you for on top the wedding cake?”

He waved his bird hand and his paw to interrupt, then made a ’T’ for time out. “Hey, You’re doing a great job as wedding planner.”

“Really? That’s so nice to hear. I almost brought Pinkie in to help, but then I thought of what a fun surprise the wedding is going to be for all the girls.”

“Yeah, yeah, I just have one little question for you. How long until the wedding?”

“Eager aren’t you. Is it the wedding you can’t wait for, or the honeymoon.” Twilight nudged his shoulder with her elbow, and gave him a little wink. “I know this one. The wedding is at sundown ponyville time.”

“Okay, and when is that.”

“What, c’mon Discord, it’s when the sun goes down.” Now Twilight lowered her voice, still not having told Fluttershy about her strange condition, “Even I can figure that one out.”

“Then what are you rushing for?”

The princess paused. “Well, won’t it be sundown soon.”

“Sundown is thousands, of seconds from now.”

“Thousands!”

“Yes.”

Twilight was on the verge of being nervous, then an idea occurred to her. “Nice try but I think I get your trick.”

“You do?” Discord was genuinely surprised.

“Ten to the eight angstroms is only a centimeter, 273.15 Kelvin is actually zero Celcius, so what’s a second to a day? How many days are in a second?” Twilight knew this. She wracked her brain looking for an answer. Her condition was really more about not being able to put past events in sequence or retain bad memories, and she had a trick to get around her more ridiculous mental block of not understanding clocks most of the time. There are sixty strawberries in a basket, sixty baskets in a cart, and you get 24 carts from the whole field. It was easy until she tried to remember if seconds were represented by the cart or the field.

“Well.”

“Okay, I don’t know, but I still think sundown is soon.” The princess gave a sly grin. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“What are you talking about? You can’t see the ponyville sunset from where we are.”

“Sure you can.” Now Twilight grinned like a villain. “I moved the station into a new geosynchronous orbit. Our world will eclipse the station right at sundown. The sky will go through four colours before turning dark; it’ll be beautiful. And after the wedding were going to have a traditional breezie reception festival.”

Discord poofed back to Fluttershy, who was watching the whole exchange. “Okay, she got me.”

“I thought she would.” ‘But why did twilight seem to think thousands of seconds would make a long time?’

“Don’t worry I have another idea.”

Discord poofed himself to another location.

After he left, Fluttershy wondered about something else. ‘Did he ever call me by my name? I don’t think he did.’ She was being silly of course. Discord must know who she is.

“Out of the way,” screamed Princess Luna, “you’re blocking my sights.”

He jerked from a sudden change in momentum. When discord teleported, he merely locked on to her magic, he didn’t even know where she was, not really. Wherever they were, they were moving fast; or was it slow, on account that he no longer felt the constant revolution of a planet as it moved through an expanding universe. Did their planet revolve? Maybe that feeling is just water in the ear, he wondered.

Anyhow, Discord jumped aside. He was indeed blocking two joysticks, a steering wheel, five gauges, six pilot lights, and a windshield. Discord didn’t know what the joysticks did, but a pair of green crosshairs appeared on the screen and moved as if to follow Luna’s horn, and therefore her line of sight. Whenever she pressed the button, lights would move in the direction of the crosshairs, and he would hear a pa-tooey sound.

Luna seemed to be firing at multicoloured ships that protected a white ship. However, the white ship did not hold back. Though the others seemed determined to protect, the white wonder would move out of convoy and aggressively fire shots of its own. Whenever Luna was hit, the floor would rumble and a gauge would move farther into the yellow. The gauge was almost red.

“Ooh where are we.”

“Starfighter #2, you just made me take a hit. Why are you here Discord?”

He looked at the various gauges and lights, trying to make sense of them.

“Does this gauge show the health of the white ship?”

“Yes, every time I hit her it counts down.”

“And is this one for your ship.”

“Yes, Discord, it is.”

“What does it mean that hers is steady green, and yours is flashing yellow?”

“Why are you here Discord?” Luna moved two joysticks. The ship arched and sped up into the curve. Luna was okay, but Discord, who was not wearing a seat belt, bumped into the side wall.

Rubbing his antler, Discord asked, “Luna would you mind Lowering the sun a bit later today.”

“Why?”

“I have a wedding at sundown.”

“I see.” Luna was used to Discord casually giving the most shocking news. Even Twilight did that. People loved to see her spit take. “What is this, your seventh wedding?”

“The one in Las Pegasus doesn’t count.”

Luna pulled back the steering wheel, and the ship increased in speed. Discord was thrown back again.

“Normally I’d help you out, but I’m not even lowering the sun today.”

“Okay then I’ll ask Cadence.” He turned to leave, then spun his head around, thinking to ask one more question. “So, who’s in the white ship.”

“Someone Spike brought here for Twilight’s birthday. You haven’t seen her in a long time.”

Discord poofed away.

“Don’t cover your eyes mom! This is the best part.”

Cadence and Flurry heart were at the top of the roller coasters incline. The cart stopped and held. It could have dropped immediately, but the timing was meant to build tension.

Finally it dropped. Cadence raised her hoofs and yelled. Flurries scream was more a - “Whoo-Hoo!”

Suddenly Discord appeared in front of them. Again not expecting a large change in momentum, he nearly smashed into them. With quick reflexes, Flurry Heart kept the draconequus a foot away, using her horn’s magic. “Hi, uncle Discord, what are you doing here?”

“I need you to delay Sundown,” he yelled.

“It’s not my turn to lower the sun!” Flurry yelled back.

Discord held on to the rails as the Sonic Rainboom coaster did the first of three 360 loops. “Okay then.” He turned to Cadence and pulled one hoof off her right eye.”

“I need you to delay sundown.”

“What? I can’t hear with all the ponies yelling.”

“I need you to delay sundown.”

“It’s not my turn to lower the sun.”

“What do you mean it’s not your turn? It it’s not you, or Flurry, or Luna, and Twilight only does it every fourth summer sun festival and when I trick her into thinking it is time for the summer sun festival then…” Discords thoughts were interrupted as he bashed his head on a scaffold; ‘that’s why you should remain inside the coaster at all times.’ The coaster sped away as Flurry gave another “Whoo-hoo!”

“Don’t worry Discord, Twilight told us about the wedding. We’ll be there.”

Now Discord was mad, and his head hurt. Still he had one more thing to try. He poofed away yet again.

“I heard if you keep your hoof on one wall, and keep moving forward you can eventually get out of any maze,” Roseluck suggested.

“Not a bad idea, although even if the maze abides by the laws of space and doesn’t go on forever, The walls are made out of thorns.”

Roseluck nodded as she took another bite out of a strawberry that was larger than her whole body.

“Now don’t fill up on berries dearie. There’s going to be a banquet at the wedding.”

All of a sudden, Discord appeared before them.

“Who dares to challenge the all-powerful Jabberwocky.”

His appearance would have been more shocking if their voices didn’t sound like they’d all swallowed helium. Still, Roseluck leapt backward and poised to run. She would have done so, if it was just for her own sake, but none of the flower mares were the types of cowards who would abandon a friend.

“Hi Discord.”

“Rainbow Dash, oh my goodness, it’s been forever, but I’d know that mane anywhere. I love what you’ve done with your hair.”

“Thanks,” she ran a hoof through her mane, and blushed. “Is this the part were you pretend to be scaring off challengers but actually exposit about the rules of the game or give us our first riddle?”

“You know me so well. Actually, uhm… Twilights gone insane and she plans to make my wedding real and legally binding.”

“No way!”

“Way.”

“Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know.” He held out his arms in exasperation. “I guess she figures if she marry’s me off then she can keep me away from Fluttershy.”

Rainbow stopped in her tracks. “Did you say Fluttershy?”

Rarity’s sofa appeared and Discord flopped into it. Rarity would probably be mad that he was getting hair all over it. “Yes, you know it’s been almost a millennium for me, and I still miss her. I don’t quite remember the face, all you ponies look alike to me.”

The mares were a little insulted by that comment, yet chose to take it with a grain of salt.

“I remember other things. I remember her kindness, her singing voice, how carefully she brushed her animals hair and how that bunny had to brush hers with the brush in its mouth because she didn’t worry about herself only others. I remember the taste of her cucumber sandwiches. It took me years of experimenting to get them right. I was sure the flavour came from root beer but it was actually Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder in the cream cheese.”

“Discord, did you say Fluttershy?”

“My daughter screwball loves those sandwiches. I think she was my favourite. They say parents don’t have favourites, but don’t believe them. At least I get a postcard from her once in a while. The others, ha, they can all warp reality at will and get whatever they want, so they don’t even call to borrow money.”

“… About Fluttershy?”

“Oh yes, Fluttershy, I’ve missed her so much. I thought Twilight understood. She was so supportive of my feelings for her when Fluttershy was gone and beyond reach, but you know what it was like before. She was always cautious with me, ready for me to turn evil again. I thought we were past that. Heck, I thought Twilight understood after that week where she became Midnight Sparkle.”

Rainbow Dash knew she was going to say this. She knew what would come of it. She still couldn’t stop herself. “DISCORD, IT’S FLUTTERSHY THAT YOU’RE MARRYING!”

“Say what?”

Discord was frozen and speechless. One might think the Draconequus had turned to stone again, except for the way his pupils darted back and forth. They watched the activity, the internal conflict, for almost a minute before he finally spoke. “Will you excuse me.”

Poof.

Discord appeared back in the breezie banquet hall and turned to Fluttershy.

Author's Note

In a way I’m stalling. I read this graphic novel called ‘The War of Jokes and Riddles,’ and thought I was inspired. I was all set to make this big chapter where Rainbow Daisy and Roseluck have to solve various riddles and puzzles to reach Fluttershy, but that’s harder to write then I thought it was.

What age are the riddles aimed at?
If Discord designed the challenge then should they be more like puns then riddles?
Should the answers even make sense?
Won’t Rainbow just breeze through them because Daisy had a lifetime to solve the riddles
anyway?
What about puzzles? What can I do to write a good puzzle, they’re mostly visual?

11 Interlude

…Twenty minutes ago…

Discord had just poofed away.

He wasn’t here anymore.

How could Fluttershy get married without her groom?

She couldn’t, that’s how, it was impossible. For a moment she felt worried, even frantic, then it hit her. Didn’t she want to get out of this crazy marriage? Her nervous energy eased slightly. It must be nice to be able to poof anywhere you want. Nopony can make you do anything if you can just poof yourself an escape. That must have been Discords other idea. If he isn’t at the mare-emony then they can’t get married obviously. She laughed slightly. Problem solved.

So are they going to put her in front of the wedding alter with everyone watching, and he won’t be there? It’ll look like she’d been stood up.

Fluttershy started to worry again.

“Fluttershy, I need an opinion.” Twilight cut in. “Discord was completely useless. Now tell me, which napkins do you like?” She held the butterfly prints in one hoof, and the bunny prints in the other.

“Oh, uh… I don’t know Twilight they're both awfully cute.”

Twilight seemed frustrated. “C’mon, I need an answer. I swear this is one of the most disorganized weddings I’ve ever planned.”

“Well, the groom is the spirit of chaos.”

“I planned two of his weddings before. Besides, Nopony even seems to know if the theme is traditional breezie or jabberwocky steals damsel.”

“The butterfly napkins, I suppose.”

“Finally we’re getting somewhere.” She tossed the napkins aside. “Next, do you prefer cilantro or parsley in your salsa verde?”

“What’s salsa verde?”

“Argh!”

“I’m sorry Twilight.”

“Never mind, the salsa verde wasn’t that important,” she lied. “What is important, is that we talk about the bridesmaid dresses.”

“Bridesmaid dresses. Now hold on Twilight. Discord poofed away. He’s gone.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll just poof him back here and into a tux when the sun sets.”

“Can you do that?”

“Sometimes Stallions just need a little encouragement. Did I ever tell you about the time Big Mac and Sugar Belle both got cold hooves at their wedding? I turned every escape route in ponyville into a spatial mobius strip so they couldn’t get apart.”

“Sugar Belle, I always thought Big Mac liked Miss Cherilee.”

“Oops,” Twilight remembered, “gotta watch it with those spoilers.”

“When did he and Sugar Belle get together?”

“Last Wednesday. Now let’s please get back to those dresses. This is very important.” Twilight’s horn crackled with energy, then with a zap she was wearing a brides maid dress. “I know what you’re thinking, I’m officiating the mare-emony, so I can’t be a brides maid too.”

Actually Fluttershy was thinking about last Wednesday.

“The other girls are not here yet, so I’ll have to model for you. Now what do you think?” Twilight gave a slow spin, lettering Fluttershy see every inch of the outfit. Bare-in-mind, that none of the ponies wearing it will have my colouration.

“It’s nice.”

“Nice, just nice, don’t you have anything more to say.”

“It’s very nice.”

“C’mon Fluttershy, you can do better than that.”

“I don’t know what you want from me.”

“This is the day mares dream about since they are little fillies.”

“I understand that,” Flutthershy insisted.

“All your friends will be watching you. Don’t you have anything more to say than it’s nice”

“Well…”

Twilight tapped her hooves up and down. “Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me.”

“Well, All right, since you really want to know,” she took a deep breath.

“The arms a size tight,
The middy collar doesn’t go with the shawl lapel,
The hems are clearly machine stitched,
The pleats are uneven,
The fabric looks like toile,
You used a backstitch here, when it clearly calls for a topstitch,
Or maybe a traditional blanket stitch,
And the overall design is reminiscent of pret-a-porter, and not true French haute couture.

Twilight and several random breezies all looked at Fluttershy, mouths agape.

“Also, it doesn’t fit my theme. Breezies never wore anything like that in all their history.”

…Now…

Discord appeared back in the breezie banquet hall, and turned to Fluttershy.

He looked at her, looked deeply into her eyes. She was every bit as beautiful as he didn’t remember. It had been a long time, such a long time, and at last they were together again. Fluttershy and Discord, just like beauty and the beast, although if anyone else ever called her beast he would rip their lungs out.

Oh hey, she’s about to speak. I’ll bet whatever comes out of that noble muzzle is sure to be sweet and soothing to the ear.

“Discord, it’s about time, I thought I was going to have to have Twilight poof you here.”

“What! I’d like to see her try.”

“Come with me right now. I ordered some redesigns, and you need to be fitted for your tux.”

“What, don’t fuss over that. I can poof up any sort of tux you want me to wear.”

“You can only poof up what you can imagine Discord. Thats why everything you poof is done with backstitching. Now come on and get fitted. We have work to do before sundown if this day is going to be perfect.”

12 It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Part 3

Thump Thump Thump Thump.

“Hey Sugar-cube, could you please stop doing that?”

Pinkie turned to the other mare, with an innocent expression.

“Doing what Applejack?”

Thump Thump Thump Thump.

“Stop flapping your tail against the floor!” Applejack had not meant to raise her voice. Her outburst disrupted the concert they were watching, far more then Pinkies thumping. AJ looked back and forth. With all the cheering fans, they had not really hurt RaRa’s performance. Apparently she was eventually going to end her soft acoustic phase, and go back to calling herself Countess Coloratura. Either that or Spike had grabbed her from the wrong time period. The concert was very loud, flashy, and not really to Applejacks taste, though all the other ponies seemed to be having a ball.

Thump Thump Thump Thump.

Applejack toned it down a bit, before she spoke again. “It’s getting a little annoying.”

Pinkie turned her head and looked at her tail.

Thump Thump Thump Thump.

Pinkie gasped. “Omigosh, omigosh, Applejack my tail is thumping.”

“I know, it’s been doing that for hours.” This time she spoke with a tone and cadence you’d expect more from Maud Pie.

“And I didn’t even notice. I totally missed it. Do you know what that means?”

“What it means? Wait, is this one of your ‘Pinkie sense’ things.”

“Tail flapping means theres a party.”

“Yes, Pinkie, we’re at Twilights birthday.”

“No, I don’t mean that.”

Pinkie smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Mouths not dry, so at least it hasn’t started without us.” Next she examined her legs one by one. “The goosebumps are only on my left hind leg.” She hopped with excitement. “That means it’s a wedding.”

“C’mon Sugar-cube, you just made that last one up.”

With her front legs retracted and her hind legs extended, so that her muzzle was close to the ground, Daisy sniffed. At first she would take a few steps, then bend over and smell, now she sniffed with every breath.

“Daisy dear,” said Lily, “you’re a pony, not a hound.” Actually, both of them were breezies for the time being.

“I run, but never walk. I am important, but often overlooked. What am I?”

Daisy was of course repeating the riddle they found on a sign-post at the first fork of the strawberry maze.

Lily thought for a second. “Is it a mayoral candidate?”

“What! No, how does that answer the riddle?”

“Well, you ‘run’ for mayor, it’s an ‘important’ job, and last election we didn’t even vote.”

“I voted. Also, the answer is a nose, so we must have to smell the next clue.”

She turned her head and thought again about the riddle. After a minute of silent wonder, Lily turned back towards Daisy. “I don’t get it.”

“Just smell for clues.”

“Gee that was smart Rainbow Dash.”

At her praise, Rainbow Dash beamed with pride.

“I never would have guessed the answer to the first riddle was a Mayoral Candidate.”

“Oh but I never could have solved the riddle without you Rosie dear.”

It was true. Roseluck was the one who noticed that each path in the maze had signs depicting a different cutie mark. After solving the riddle they simply had to choose the sign with Mayor Mares scroll mark, over the one with Rarity’s gems.

So that’s how the maze game worked. The answer to each riddle told ponies which sign would lead them through the maze, the signs of course taking the form of cutie marks. Soon they came to the next riddle.

‘A rooster lays an egg on the exact tip top of a roof. Which way does it roll?’

“Well, that’s an easy one.”

“Yes, it’ll roll whichever way the wind is blowing.”

Daisy looked to Lily with a deadpan stare. At first Lily ignored the stare. It was one of those stares that just cries out ‘hey look how unexpressive I’m being.’ Lily of course, recognized her effort to express nothing as a call for attention. As she walked onward, Lily could just feel the stare behind her, and the yearning for her to respond. “What?” Lily asked.

“Roosters don’t lay eggs!”

“I know.” She said so without pausing or missing a beat.

“Do you mean you just realized that now? Are you going to change your answer?”

“Oh no! I caught it right away; and why would I change my answer.” Lily spoke in a matter of fact tone.

Daisy shook her head. “Lily, every filly knows this one. The answer to the riddle is roosters don’t lay eggs.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“Ridiculous? Are you saying that roosters do lay eggs?”

“Of course they don’t.”

“Uh… could you please explain?”

Lily pointed to the riddle posted on the sign. “Look at that,” said she. “Look at it! What does it say?”

“A rooster lays an egg…”

“Exactly! The Jabberwocky is telling you that it happened. Maybe he meant to say hen, or maybe it is an exceptional rooster. Either way you don’t get to cop out of solving the riddle by accusing the Jabberwocky of lying; that’s not a solution, and honestly I think it’s rather impolite to do so.”

Daisy was taken aback. It’s true that she’d heard the riddle before, on schoolyards as a filly. Perhaps she’d taken for granted that the common answer was correct. Or perhaps some mean older colt had laughed at her once when she believed that a rooster laid an egg. Whatever the case, Lily was absolutely right. Daisy apologized immediately.

This time the maze had three forks in it. They chose the path marked with the cutie mark that looked like a pictorial representation of a gust of wind.

“That’s the fifth one you solved Rainbow Dash.” Roseluck just could not believe how quickly Rainbow Dash solved each one.

“Oh I’m sorry. Did you want a turn?” She spoke sincerely, though Roseluck had to wonder if she was being teased.

“I can let you solve the next one.”

“Uh, that’s okay, thanks. You’re really cool Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash blushed. Scootaloo never called her cool, kind or smart maybe but not… Oh wait she did call her cool, only that was before. The blue mare tried to sort out her many memories, not all of them her own.

“Hey here’s the next riddle.”

“That’s lovely, now Rosie dear, please remember that you have to memorize every riddle and tell them all to Daisy when you get the chance.”

“Sure, thing Rainbow Dash”

Roseluck read the next riddle silently to herself, then repeated it several times in mind, until it was locked into her memory.

“The answer is bubble, so we’ll take the path with Derpy’s cutie mark.”

Rainbow Dash walked by the sign without even looking at it.

“Here’s the next riddle, Lily.”

Lily read the riddle out loud.

‘What has to be broken before it can be used?’

Daisy thought for a second, then her face turned red. She fumed with anger. “That is so… so problematic to ponies everywhere.”

“It’s an egg.”

“Oh an egg.”

“I think so. Why, what did you think it was?”

“Don’t ask.”

The two walked on for a little while.

“You’re really good at this Lily.”

“You think so.”

“Yes, you are. To be honest, I’m a little jealous. I thought I would be the star here. I’m good with puzzles. I do cross words, and sudokus, and mazes, and rubiks cubes, and those japanese box things.”

“Those things are all too logical.”

“I thought riddles were supposed to be logical.”

“Naw, then they’re just questions. A good riddle has to subvert your expectations. The answer should be like the punchline to a joke.”

“Eggs are funny.”

“I didn’t say these were good riddles.”

The two shared a laugh.

As they moved on, Lily kept an eye keenly focussed upon their surroundings. Daisy assumed she was just appreciating the foliage, until the next time she spoke.

“Hey Daisy, I think I found the secret path.” The maze was made out of strawberry plants. Lily found a small spot where a less thorny vine was used to hide a door. The two ponies moved the vines aside and Daisy read the sign upon the door. “Park Staff Only.”

“Lily, I don’t think that’s a secret path.”

“Sure it is.”

“What I mean is, I don’t think were supposed to be using that door.”

“The answer to a good riddle is one that subverts expectations.” Lily gave a sly wink as she took the hairpin that holds a lily corsage to her sunshine mane and used it to pick the lock.

Daisy watched her with suspicion. Solving riddles with ease, picking locks, these were not traits of the friend she new so well. She may not be as good with riddles as she imagined herself to be, but Daisy could still spot a mystery when one was a-hoof.

With a clanking noise, the door opened.

“Shall we.”

“Lead the way.” It would be easier to keep an eye on this pony if she takes the lead, Daisy thought.

They saw the light at the end of the tunnel. It was the way out of the maze. Roseluck became excited and galloped toward the exit. Rainbow Daisy followed at a more gentle pace.

Once outside they saw a breezie dressed in a costume. She wore an eye patch and a fake beard. A ladybug perched itself on her shoulder, because she was too small for a parrot.

“Arrrgh!” said the mock pirate. “Avast ye mateys, I see that you managed to avoid the bobbie traps and escape the deadly Minotaur. But your greatest challenge you have yet to face.”

“Was there really a Minotaur?”

Ignoring her question, the pirate breezie continued on her scripted performance. He took out a lame wooden sword, and pointed it towards a bay connected to a stream. Looking upstream, Roseluck saw that the waterflow was created by a common garden hose, left running. Again she was reminded just how small they were in their breezie bodies.

Next, the breezie pointed to a boat. It was a paper boat, water sealed with paraffin wax.

“This here be a fine vessel, and yours for the taking it is. It will get you through the next step on your quest.”

“So you’re giving us that boat.”

“Aye.”

Roseluck cautiously stepped into the hull and tested the vessels stability by shifting her weight

“These be treacherous waters, they are. Many a sailor have been led astray, and faced grave danger. Answer my riddle correctly and I’ll tell you whether to go left or right when the river branches.”

“So, if we go the wrong way we won’t make it to the wedding?” Rainbow Dash asked. At that moment, Roseluck was exploring the boat, and hadn’t been paying attention to the two of them.

“Sure you will. It’s the same rules as the maze. Answer correctly and take the calmest path. Answer wrong and there will be some excitement. You either prove your smarts or prove your bravery.”

“Hold on a second,” asked Rainbow Dash. “Are you saying it doesn’t really matter which route we take?”

The pirate shrugged and blushed slightly. “It sorta matters, if you don’t like excitement, or you just wanna prove how smart you are then it’s better to solve the riddles. Still we don’t want any of our guest to fail and feel bad about it.”

“Well, then which was is fastest?”

The pirate breezie scratched her fake beard. “That would be the path of the brave.”

“So, it could have been faster and more exciting if we didn’t bother with the riddles.”

“Yes, the challenges are for all ages, and we just want the guests to have fun y’know. It’s not really a game you can lose.”

Rainbow Dash was speechless.

She flew into the boat, and looked into the waters. Again, they were in a small bay (or puddle), and here the water was just calm enough to see her reflection. For a brief moment Rainbow Dash wondered what the heck she had done to her hair. She had done it by habit and barely formed any memory of straightening her polychromatic hair, or curling the tips.

Looking deeply into her reflection, her face shifted between that of herself, and Daisy the flower mare. Then she heard a voice. Previously she had been finding it hard to separate that voice from her own inner monologue, only now it was distinct and she new it as not being her own. It spoke softly, almost lovingly. It said: “Go ahead. I’ve had my fun.”

“Well, do you wanna hear my riddle?” asked the faux pirate.

The village was in sight. Lily galloped, for a bit, only to find that Daisy was falling behind. She turned, and waited for a moment until her friend could catch up.

“Is something wrong Daisy?”

Daisy scratched her hoof against the soil. She tended to pull weeds when she was upset. “Will we have to fight the Jabberwocky? I’m scared. Maybe we should just wait for Rainbow Dash and Roseluck.”

“Come on scardy-mare, it’ll be fine. You’ll have fun, I promise.” Lily moved behind Daisy, and gently pushed on the other mares hind with her forehead.

When they got to the breezie village, everypony was in the reception area, which had a stage, and around fifty tables.

Discord tried to approach them, but then Twilight pulled him back. He was being fitted for a tux.

“Who dares challenge the might Jabberwocky?” He spoke in a booming voice.

He was going to poof our of the tux, and ruin all Twilights hard work, but then Lily flashed him a look. There was something familiar about her expression. She stared at him intently, and Discord found himself gazing back. Soon the two were locked in a staring contest.

There expressions grew more stern, more severe by the moment.

Then Lily just did some funny spiral thing with her eyes and broke all the tension.

‘What was that?’ Daisy wondered.

They were about to continue with the final challenge, when their fight wth the Jabberwocky was interupted by a more dangerous sort of animal. It was a fierce bridezilla.

“You’re the flower mares.” Fluttershy cut in.

“Yes, we are.”

“Oh, thank Celestia that you made it. We have Daisies, Lilies, and Roses. I need you to make center arrangements for all the tables and we don’t have much time.”

“Oh how fun,” Daisy commented without a hint of sarcasm.

The tiny boat sped through roaring rapids. A terrified Roseluck would seem to cover her eyes, yet peek often. From time to time she would scream at Rainbow Dash to watch out for a rock, narrowly avoid a stump, or beware the waterfall ahead.

Rainbow Dash roared with laughter, as she steered the tiny vessel. Whenever there was a fork or branch in the river, some sign would be posted with yet another riddle. Calling upon the skill Daisy had spent the latter half of her life cultivating, Rainbow Dash quickly solved the riddle, then she would purposely go the wrong way. It was quicker after all.

The spray of the water had washed all the curls out from her hair

For once she was not blindly charging in. Rainbow Dash new what lay ahead, at least the parts Daisy had lived through. She new of her memory implants, and how her and the girls never returned to their time. She could clearly remember Daisy having to comfort Twilight, who in those early days since her accident, blamed herself for what happened.

“There’s something with glowing eyes in that storm drain.”

‘Probably better to steer away from the sewer hole!’ Rainbow Dash reluctantly decided.

Daisy was kind to Twilight, and Rainbow Dash was grateful for that. The flower mares had apparently become her first new circle of friends after the loss. Twilight was never much of a florist, but apparently each had side interests they could share with her. Daisy shared Twilights love of books, became a huge fan of the Wonderbolts when Scootaloo joined the team, and started a new fascination for her with puzzles, labrynths, and especially riddles. They played with Discord often. Twilight thought he was a cheat, because Discord would use old riddles everypony would know, but refuse to accept the conventional answers. Eventually Daisy became good at solving them, so good that it irritated the Draconequus.

“Watch out for the waterfall!” Roseluck yelled

The scream and another spray of water broke Rainbow Dash of her reveries. She realized that she had to move quick.

“Thanks Rosie,” she was leaving the ‘dear’ out, but still using the more familiar shorthoof. Dash quickly steered the boat towards the waterfall. If Rosie hadn’t caught that one then she might have gotten stuck on another lazy slow moving stream.

13 13th Chapter on Friday the 13th. What Can Go Wrong?

Fluttershy’s mother helped with her dress. Apparently Spike had picked her up for the occasion. Her father and Zephyr were also around, hopefully the latter of the two wouldn’t draw too much attention.

The element of kindness was taken aback when her mom had first arrived. It wasn’t that she was surprised to see her, or that she didn’t want her to be there. No, her presence merely brought into perspective how seriously Twilight was taking this ‘wedding.’ At the moment she felt a bit overwhelmed.

“Twilight,” she spoke in a tiny faint whisper.

Twilight was looking outside. Her mind seemed to be elsewhere.

Twilight, she said again.

“Yes, Fluttershy!”

“I was just wondering, if you don’t mind me asking, you see - I just want to know…” She took a deep breath. “What happens if Rainbow Dash doesn’t get here to rescue me!” She spoke a little faster then before her big breath.

“Flowers!”

“Excuse me!”

“Flowers. This is a traditional Breezie Wedding right?”

“Yes.”

“So your hair should be done in the Breezie way.”

“That’s right, I need to have water lilies braided into my hair. Oh my, how could I have forgotten that.” She looked back and forth, then towards the sun, trying to decide what she should do.

“Is there still time to fix my hair.”

Twilight briefly imagined braiding clocks into her hair instead of flowers. “No, time will never work! We need water Lilllies.”

The princess lifted her hoof in the air, as though struck with an idea. Really she had thought this through well in advance. “I know, there’s a pony with a Lily cutie mark. She’ll be able to work with Lilies even faster then a trained Breezie wedding stylist.”

“You think so.”

Before Fluttershy could say anything. Twilight was off to grab her flower pony.

Daisy sang to the flowers as she arranged each centerpiece. The flower mare truly believed that if she projected positivity and cheerfulness into the flowers, they would respond by becoming more beautiful.

Lily also believed that flowers could respond to a pony. She whispered softly to a rose when she thought Daisy was out of earshot; “Hey, youse got any doit on this Fluttershy broad.”

The rose was silent.

“I know you can hear me glim glam. Now spill the beans.”

The rose was silent.

“Oh, so you’re just a flow’a. Then I guess there ain’t no harm in pruning your thorns. You’ve already been picked after all.”

The mare menacingly held out a pair of pruning shears, repeatedly snapping the spring loaded blades open and closed, while giving the flower a menacing look.

“Need help!”

A startled Lily tossed her pruning shears above her head. She fumbled momentarily trying to catch them, but not from the bladed end. She turned to see Daisy.

Daisy took the shears from Lily. “Honestly Lily, you should know better then to play with sharp tools.”

With practiced skill, and no reservations, Daisy started to cut thorns off from the rose. Lily watched, though the sight made her squeamish. She hadn’t really meant for it to go this far. Without making a sound, she moved her lips to mouth the words “I’m so sorry.”

“I wish Roseluck was here.” As you may guess from her cutie mark, Roseluck was the rose expert of the flower mares.

“I’m certain she’ll make it.” Lily nuzzled, against Daisy, in a comforting gesture. “She is with Rainbow Dash after-all.” She spoke with an air of sophistication, which Lily certainly didn’t waste on flowers.

Around that time, there was a stirring. It was the sound you hear when a large crowd is nearby. There were voices they recognized, only too many to pick out any single one.

Curious, the two looked down from the hilltop, toward the narrow path which was the entrance to Breezie village. The guests were arriving. It seemed Twilight or Fluttershy had invited all the ponies who were citizens of Ponyville.

Mayor mare, walked four paces ahead of the group, seeming to lead the way. The young fillies were up front, including Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Cherilee kept watch over all the fillies. Rarity and Applejack stayed close to there sisters and the other Ponyville members of the Apple clan stayed close to AJ. Pinkie would be buried in the crowd except that she kept hopping up and down. She hopped so high you’d think she had a trampoline. It was Pinkie, so maybe she did. Lyra and BonBon were there, as were Vinyl Scratch and Octavia. Even Cranky Doodle Donkey followed a few paces behind the rest of the group, along with his wife.

With a renewed energy, the two flower mares returned to their task. They wanted beautiful floral arrangements ready and waiting by the time the guests arrived.

They worked quickly, yet efficiently. When there were only a few tables left, so few that either could finish on her own, something grabbed Lily Valley from behind. Twilight swooped in completely unseen. Lily was well in the air before she understood enough of what was going on to yell or scream.

“Daddy!” She screamed.

When Daisy heard her she looked up, only in time to catch a fleeting glance before both Lily and Twilight were out of sight.

Twilight flew at top speed towards Fluttershy’s dressing tent. When they arrived, Fluttershy looked over the two. Lily seemed startled and confused, as Twilight presented her to Fluttershy with a look of pride.

“Uh… Twilight, she has a Lily of the Valley cutie mark. The braids are done with tiny water Lilies.”

“Close enough.” Twilight slapped Lily on the back. “I’d best leave you to it.”

Fluttershy was left alone with Lily. Even her own mother was nowhere to be seen.

“So what is it I’m doing here?” Lily asked.

Discord appeared in a puff of smoke, just outside Fluttershy’s tent. The draconequus briefly wondered what was wrong; for he had meant to poof himself inside the tent. He quickly realized why when he saw Twilight standing in front of him.

Long ago Starlight Glimmer gathered broken pieces of some Changeling artifact, and used it to create discord teleportation wards. Just put a stone fragment somewhere, and discord could not teleport directly to that location. She mostly put them in bathrooms and dressing rooms.

“I heard a call!” He was referring to Lily’s scream.

“Don’t worry, everything is okay. I just wanted to give them a little time together.”

“I never told you who she is.”

“Starlight told me.”

“Glimmer! Were is she. She’s been oddly silent through all of this.”

“She’s everywhere, so she’s stretched a little thin. It makes it hard to talk, that’s all.”

“Fine, forget Glimmer.” Discord pointed towards the tent. “Are you sure she won’t try to murder my lovely bride.” Discord gave a half smile, almost as though amused by the idea.

“Aw c’mon you know her better than that!”

Fluttershy could hear a pair of scissors snapping from behind her.

“So how does this traditional Breezie Wedding mane-style work.”

“You braid water lilies into the ponies hair. You won’t need to cut anything.” The second part she spoke softly, as though it was an after-thought.

“Oh I can do that.”

“That is a relief.”

Lily put the stem of a flower between her teeth, and started work on Fluttershy’s braids. First divided her mane carefully into two sections, then started to tie the first knot. There was a mumbling that Fluttershy couldn’t quite understand.

“What was that you said?”

Lily spit out the flower and spoke again. “I get plenty of practice untying knots in my own mane, so tying them up is a snap.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Really, what causes your mane to get so tangled?”

“My hair gets caught in a propellor.”

“Oh my! Like a ceiling fan?”

“Something like that.”

“Does it hurt?”

Lily wanted to say: ’only if I’m high in the air when it happens.’ Instead she changed the subject.

“So, you in the Jabberwocky seem… different. I’m curious, what brought the two of you together.”

Fluttershy took a moment to collect her thoughts.

“I was the first friend Discord had in a long time. He’d been trapped and stone, and even before that he was” — Fluttershy searched for the appropriate word.

“Evil.”

“Yes, so he hadn’t had any real friends for a long while. Now Discord wasn’t the type that needed to ease his way out of his safety zone. That’s what I admire about him. He wanted to go to places, and try all the things he couldn’t do when he was alone. I’m afraid I wasn’t a very good friend for him. There were so many places I was afraid to go, and things I was too timid to do. For the first few months we just had tea parties together. I made it part of my routine. I switched some days around, just to make it a little chaotic, but Discord must have been so bored.”

“Eh, sounds better then nothin’. I think you’re being a lil’ hard on y’-self.”

“Are you okay Lily? Your voice sounded different just now.”

Lily tied another knot before answering.

“Did it?”

“You know Lily, we’ve both lived in Ponyville for a long time, and yet I hardly know a thing about you.”

“Is that so?”

Pretending to look for a comb, Lily searched the room. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for. Starlight really ought to learn some new hiding places. She didn’t want to touch the object directly so she grabbed a piece of silk cloth and wrapped it inside. Then she returned to Fluttershy’s hair.

“Will a brush work?” Fluttershy passed her a brush.

“Sure.”

Lily brushed some hair, beneath the last braid, just for appearances.

“My family lived in a secluded area. We were sorta out in the wilderness. I never saw any other ponies growing up.”

“Was it lonely?”

“Nah.”

“So you must have had brothers and sisters.”

“No, I had fun parents. My Dad was really funny guy, and the lady I thought was my mom…”

“I’m sorry, did you just say the lady you thought was your mom?”

“It’s an honest mistake. She lived in our house, and she looked way more like me then my dad did, and even she couldn’t remember where I came from.”

“Oh.”

“The hardest part was leaving. I kept saying I wanted to, insisting I was grown up enough, then we actually did. Sometimes I still think I should’a kept my pie hole shut.”

“That must have been a big adjustment for you.” Fluttershy had figured out that some sort of accent was slipping out. This meant that Lily was letting her guard down, and it felt that it would have been wrong to give her a hard time over it.

“Yeah, hey I dunno why I’m telling you all this, especially on yer wedding day.”

“Oh it’s okay. I did ask after all.”

“Y’know your pretty easy to talk to. I like that. I like you.”

“I like you to Lily. Maybe we should get together more often when this is all over.”

“Right back at’cha doll.” She spun Fluttershy’s chair around to face the mirror. “So what do ya think.”

Fluttershy took a moment to admire what Lily had done. Her quite made Lily a little nervous. “My mane is beautiful. You’re incredible Lily.”

The other pony smiled.

When ready to leave, Lily lifted the backside of the tent from the ground and slid underneath. She expected that Twilight might be waiting near the front door and hoped to sneak by her. This perplexed Fluttershy a little bit, but it was far from the strangest thing that happened this day.

It seemed as though her gamble had paid off.

Lily heard two voices. The pony crept a little bit towards the front, and found a bush to hide behind, so that she could hear them more clearly.

Discord placed a paw on Twilght’s shoulder. Twilight leaned in and smiled. Twilight looked up to the sky. It wasn’t sunset yet.

“Say Discord, why is it you and I never got together.” Twilight half joked

“We did. Remember Las Pegasus?”

Twilight had to think about that one.

“Are you sure it was me that time?”

“Listen Twilight, there is something very tragic about being your friend for so long. Every time your heart is broken is like the first time — because you forgot the last time! When something bad happens, it hits you harder because you don’t remember that you already survived worse. You never become cynical, or detached, like immortals are supposed to.”

“Princess Celestia wasn’t detached, and neither are you.”

“I drift in and out.” Discord petted Twilights chin. “That girl, she broke your heart. I know you think those were happy times, and often they were.”

Twilight found it hard to believe. To her those were not just happy days, they were the happiest of days. “I remember a lot of it, but some details are sketchy. Why were we living together in your chaos realm?”

“We weren’t ‘together,’ if you’re wondering about that. My daughter was dangerous. It wasn’t her fault. She was a toddler, with draconequus powers. The first time another kid annoyed her, she turned him into a duck.”

“She always thought ducks were cute.”

“All we could do was isolate her until she was mature enough to integrate with other ponies, but you thought that was a horrible idea, because being isolated would stunt her maturity. You gave up everything for fifteen years to help raise her. We even had to seal ourselves in the realm to make sure she couldn’t sneak out.”

“Oh yeah, that’s what happened. But it all worked out right. I mean look what a fine adult she turned into.”

At that moment the real Lilly Valley was tied to a chair and gagged in her hotel room. She struggled to get out. She also really had to pee.

“You really think they’ll be okay together.”

“Sure, it might be a little ruff at first, but who wouldn’t warm up to Fluttershy.” Twilight spoke matter-of-factly.

Discord gave a slight laugh. “It’d really be a shame if they didn’t get along. As a father, I was not prepared, but what I did right, so much of it came from Fluttershy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Reading pony-tales to her before bed, using animal friends to teach her to be responsible and nurturing, having play tea parties with those cucumber sandwiches she loved, I learned all that from Fluttershy. It’s as thought she’s been with us all this time.”

“You really still love her, don’t you.” 
Discord thought for a moment. He didn’t cry or look wistfully at the sky or anything like that. Finally he laughed a little and said: “Yeah, I guess I do.”

Carefully the pony we all thought was Lily unwrapped a silk doily to reveal the item that was contained inside. One would never guess the items true power by looking at it; for it looked like a simple hunk of useless rubble. What Lily actually held in her hoof was a broken off fragment of an ancient Changeling artifact used to negate magic.

The fragment was not as powerful as the complete artifact had once been, yet it still had its uses.

Artifact fragments were known to keep magic users from teleporting into a small area, like a bathroom or dressing room. It’s rumoured that Princess Celestia used to place them in her armouries and treasuries, as if anyone would go visit such boring places.

If one were to touch the fragment directly, it would negate all magic. This meant that the pony touching the object would neither be able to use magic or have spells cast upon her. That was so boring. In the past, she always avoided them like kryptonite. Today, however, might be different.

True if she touched the object then she wouldn’t be able to use magic. It wouldn’t even be possible to maintain the spell that made her look like Lily Valley the flower pony. On the other hand, no magic could be used against her, including — and this made her smile a wicked smile, — including the spell that transformed her into a breezie.

The earth shook. Daisy and Rainbow Dash braced themselves against the trunk of a huge flower.

When it seemed to stop, they pushed onwards, then came another tremor.

They seemed to come and go at a regular pace, a brisk pace like that of a ponies gallop.

Rainbow Dash was the first to spot something off in the distance. They could not be sure how far away it was. Their reduced size, was messing with their sense of perspective.

The creature off in the distance let forth a mighty roar. It sounded like a lions roar played backwards on a scratchy vinyl record.

The two ponies hugged each other, gripped in abject terror. It was a pony, sort of. She had oddly spiralled eyes, a light purple coat, a mane of white and dark purple curls, and most distinctive of all wore a beanie (propellor hat) atop her head.

She was just a pony, not even a tall pony, yet compared to a breezie her size seemed monstrous. This was none other than the princess of chaos and daughter of Discord herself. This was Screwball.

14 Prequel - The Early Life Of Screwella Lucille Ball

Some time ago,
Though also in the future,
The future before the other future,
It happened when it happened;
Okay

Whee-hoo-Wah!

The best thing about snowboarding on an upside-down mountain of vanilla frosting is that when you make a jump you never know if you’ll fall up or down.

“C’mon Screwy,” Twilight called out. “The frosting is extra sugary today.”

“I’ll pass,” was her melancholy reply.

Twilight Sparkle turned her head, not having expected so gloomy a response. This caused her to lose focus and crash into a snow… uh… frosting-bank. She poked her head out of the bank, then licked what looked like a Santa beard off her muzzle. Promptly, she jumped down and flew towards the pony draconequus hybrid who just looked like a pony.

“Screwy.”

She turned her head away from Twilight. In response, Twilight just flew around to the other side of her.

“Screwball.”

She turned around once again.

There was a gust of wind as Twilight flew off, and another as she immediately returned, now cradling something in her arms.

“Wanna play with a baby duck.” She held out a baby duck in her hoofs.

“I don’t feel like it.”

“What about Mr ducky’s feelings?” Twilight gently petted under the creatures beak. “He looks lonely; and possibly airsick.”

Finally she grabbed the duckling. “I told youse not ta fly so fast while hold’n them.” Screwball spat.

“Sorry,” Twilight paused for a moment, and then asked: “are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“I’ll give youse a hint. It’s the same thing that was wrong yesterday.”

That wasn’t a very good hint. Ever since a certain incident, Twilight had trouble keeping days straight. Every morning she’d wake up with vivid memories of some day which never seemed to be tomorrow. Why could she never remember tomorrow? It had been even better since she came to live in the realm of chaos. Seasons changed at random, Discord decided whether it was day or night, and nobody ever bothered to correct her.

“Fluttershy took Philomena from Princess Celestia!”

“No, that ain’t it,” was her flat response. She hugged her duck a little too tightly.

“You want to leave again. Don’t you?”

“Why can’t I?”

The truth was that Screwball was a danger to Equestria. She was too powerful, too unpredictable, and too immature. That’s not how Twilight answered of course. She didn’t want to keep Screwball here forever, or stay herself, regardless of how surprisingly well acclimated she was.

“You can’t leave because you haven’t finished your friendship lessons.” Twilight spoke matter of factly.

“How can I finish my lessons Twilight! There’s nobody to be friends with.”

‘Nobody to be friends with.’ The words cut into Twilight. “If you spent as much energy on those lessons as you do trying to break out of here, you’d have finished them years ago.”

Twilight had never said this before. She praised every once of progress, while Screwball never had any point of reference to tell if that progress was fast or slow. To hear this hurt her right back, and Twilight realized if might as soon as she had said it.

Screwball flashed her teacher an angry glare, then whipped her hoof across the blade of her beanie propellor. There was a putt-putt noise, but nothing happened, so she whipped it again. In a moment she was airborne.

As she flew, screwball passed a structure. It was a simple marker of stones so that they wouldn’t forget where this particular location was, especially since things tended to move around in the realm of chaos.

There was a point where mystical ley lines between Discords realm and Equestria converged. Even if he poofed from miles away, the magic was still relayed through this point. A similar point existed somewhere in Equestria on the other side of the convergence. Twilight had once explained to Screwball what kept them inside the realm of chaos. On the Equestrian side of the convergence was an old changeling artifact, known to deflect non-changeling magic. As long as the artifact was in that location, travel to Equestria was impossible. Honestly, Screwball didn’t even know how Twilight planned to bypass the artifact if they ever did leave the realm. She must have a way to get messages to the other side, so that someone could move the artifact away from the convergence point.

At the end of the lane, there were two twin cottages. These were the homes of Discord, and Twilight Sparkle. As for Screwball, she usually alternated between staying in one or the other. Today was supposed to be Twilights turn. She moved towards it for a second, then with a huff, she turned and headed towards her fathers cottage instead.

She stayed in her father’s cottage for the next five nights, so on the sixth day, Discord poofed himself into Twilight’s cottage. The room he poofed into was a mess of scattered papers and books. For the larger part of her life at this point, Twilight had not been the most organized of ponies. Though he was hovering about the ground, Discord made mock gestures as though he was trying to avoid stepping on anything. There were several scrolls of circuit diagrams with the title ‘Analog Electronic Brain - Mach 1.’ It was part of a project whose main folder was labelled ‘Silver Streak.’

Twilight worked strictly by scroll and quill. By this point in time, any other pony would have done such work on a computer. Discord did a few mental calculations, then fixed up a circuit in the part of the design which would allow for creative thought in the robots. It’s not that Twilight’s design wouldn’t have worked, just that the new life forms may enjoy the ability to dream, even if it raises the likelihood of a robot uprising.

Twilight watched from behind, as Discord made his changes. When he noticed she was there, he acted startled and tried to hide the quill, even though his work was in green ink and hers had been in purple. The lavender mare just looked over the calculations and nodded approval to Discord.

The scent of fresh baked pie, both pumpkin and apple, wafted into the room, from the kitchen where Twilight had been. There was also a scent of gingerbread.

“Baking?” the draconequus asked.

“Yes, I’m baking for Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

“Wonderful!” Twilight hadn’t woken up thinking it was Hearth’s Warming Eve in three whole weeks. Maybe a little of her pumpkin pie would break Screwball out of the funk she was in. If not, the gingerbread-ducks always cheered her up.

They rushed into to the kitchen to check on the pies. Discord noticed a note on the fridge. It explained the situation with screwball, and had tick marks to show Twilight how many days it had been going on. There was another note from the day before. ‘Try Hearth’s Warming.’

Discord realized she was only pretending to have the days mixed up; not that there was any chance she knew the actual date. Without ponies constantly correcting her, her eccentricity did seem to grow.

Also on the fridge were pictures from happier, relatively recent times. Mostly it was pictures of Screwball on birthdays and Hearth’s warmings; rarely celebrated on the correct date. There was one of her as a filly, walking alongside a flock of baby ducks, a few of her in various Nightmare Night costumes, or dressed and Caesar from when she did a one pony pageant for her homeschool project. There was even one were she held up a little league trophy. The team consisted of two dozen Discords, Screwball, and Twilight.

“Do you have a gift picked out?”

Discord thought for a second, then snapped his fingers. A baseball mitt appeared in his clawed hand. He snapped them again and it was giftwrapped in a manner which made it look like a wine bottle. He tossed it aside, the package sprouted wings and made its way under the tree in the next room.

“I’m set, how about you.”

“I was going to take her to see Equestria.”

Discord sighed. He was about to say something but Twilight cut him short.

“Sometimes the only way to know if somepony can handle responsibility is to take a leap of faith and trust her with it.”

“She’s not ready.”

“She’s such a good filly.” Twilght spoke while retrieving a pie from the oven.

“She really isn’t.”

“It’s time.”

“Twilight please don’t force me to be the responsible one. I’m a chaos spirit, it’s not for me.”

“C’mon.”

“No!”

“C’mon.”

“No!”

“C’mon, C’mon, C’mon.”

“No, No, and double No!”

Ka-Pow!

The ground shook suddenly, the floor even cracked. Twilight crawled under the table, and urged Discord to do the same. Instead Discord looked out the window and scanned the terrain.

Soon his eyes made there way to the structure which marked the point were there was convergence between realms.

Off a little to the side, Screwball wore sunglasses and a soldiers bowl hat, with a badge that looked like her cutie mark in gold. She waved a baton in the air. “Ready - Aim - Fire.”

A barrage of missiles bombarded the area. Was she hoping a big enough explosion would destroy the barrier between universes? The second wave was only ballistic. They would have to stop her before she went nuclear.

Discord turned to Twilight. “You were saying.”

The gingerbread-ducks that Twilight spent a morning lovingly baking went to waste. Screwball did not attend the Hearth’s warming party. Twilight and Discord just sat at the table with Twilight feeling dejected.

Twilight looked at the grand feast before them and wondered. “Discord, I’ve been thinking.”

“About what?” The draconequus shovelled sweet potato fries into his plate as he listened.

“About something Screwball said.” She was referring to the comment about having nobody to be friends with, though Twilight didn’t tell Discord that.

“It might help with Screwball’s friendship lessons if she had somepony else besides us to talk to. Maybe we could let her exchange letters with Spike.”

Spike the dragon was Twilights only lifeline to Equestria. His letters would magically appear before her, and she would reply by burning messages inside a magic fire pit that once belonged to Princess Celestia.

“That’s not a bad idea, I’m sure Spike will back us up and tell her she’s being a spoiled brat.”

That, of course, was not Twilight’s intention.

“Hey, when was the last time we got a message from Spike?” As Discord asked, he realized that there was no chance Twilight would be able to answer that.

“You should know Discord, we were together the last time we got a message.”

At this point, Discord wanted to scold Twilight. He quickly reminded her that the last message he read was over a month ago, and that Spike normally wrote at least twice a week. He told her to look at the top right corner of every message. Spike always dated the messages so that Discord (at least) could keep track of how much time passed in Equestria.

“Well if he writes twice a year…”

“Week!”

“If he writes twice a week then how come you went this long without reading any letters.”

“I’m not reading any of his letters until Spike admits I’m right!”

“Right about what?”

“He knows.”

Realizing this was a waste of time, Twilight reached into the drawer where she stored letters written to her by her number one assistant for life.

Twilight looked at one date, then another, then back to the first, trying to find out which was the newest letter. Discord grabbed the pile from her, and checked each one.

“Are you sure these are all the letters Twilight.”

“Of course I’m sure. I keep every letter ever. I have a library of them back in Equestria.”

“That’s an oddly compulsive thing to do. Anyway, Spike hasn’t written us in four months. That’s a long time. Have you written him.”

Twilight swallowed a bit of worry, and answered. “Oh sure, writing Spike is like keeping a journal for me, I send messages to him every other day.” She took a look at the magic fire pit that was supposed to send letters to Spike. It was full of ashes. A scary thought occurred to Twilight. The letters weren’t poofing, they were burning.

They wanted to panic. First the two took a moment to examine the situation. Basically they were trapped in the realm of chaos. There was one place where Equestria and this dimension converged. You can’t see a portal there or anything, but no matter where Discord poofs from, he has to relay through this point. On the Equestrian side of the convergence is a Changeling artifact which blocks magic, thus trapping them in the realm.

Spike was supposed to remove the artifact only on Twilights say so. Twilight did have a contingency plan. If anything happened to Spike, then Celestia would move the artifact, and free them.

“Maybe the artifact has already been moved,” Twilight suggested.

Discord disappeared, then reappeared in a puff of smoke. “Nope, it’s still there.”

A few minutes later Twilight was pounding on the door to Screwball’s room within Discords cottage.

“Screwball, I’m so sorry. I can’t reach Spike and we can’t get to Equestria, and something might be wrong with Celestia too. This is all my fault! Oh Screwy, I know you hate me, and you have every right too. Please, you might be all I have left. Please don’t leave me all alone! What if it’s more then just Spike and Celestia? What if something horrible happened to all of Equestria? It could be a space invaders, or a zombie apocalypse for all we know. You hear that Screwball, we’re all that’s left, so please-please don’t abandon…”

Her panic attack was interrupted when Screwy opened the door. The door opened inward, and Twilight was leaning hard against the passage, so you can imagine what happened.

Screwy pulled Twilight off the floor by the hoof. A million words rushed through her brain. She wanted to say sorry, or that she understood, or promise to take her boring friendship lessons more seriously. It also occurred to her that she should be mad. What if they really were trapped in the chaos realm forever. All the promises of new friends, new places, or a special somepony would never come to be. She couldn’t play baseball, or roller derby on a team her father hadn’t conjured into existence. At last she settled on one word. She grabbed Twilight and called her “Mommy.”

In the days that followed, at least they got along better. They put the friendship lessons on hold and instead brainstormed ways to escape the realm of chaos.

There were some possibilities:

Screwball figured that if one of them had a nightmare that was scary enough it might get Princess Luna’s attention across realms. They binged on B-schlock horror movies for two days, and somehow slept more peacefully then normal. Twilight drew the line when her daughter wanted to try augmenting the experience with some mushrooms that grew in the wilds of the chaos realm.

Twilight dug an old magic book out of her belongings, which she once used to communicate with Sunset Shimmer in another dimension. Unfortunately, the matching book was buried with Sunset, where no living human could receive its message.

They tried time travelling to before the changeling artifact was ever used to create a barrier between worlds. Unfortunately, the chaos realm didn’t follow the same physical laws as other universes. Travelling backward through time caused them to de-age, which made no sense because Twilight was an immortal and they were only supposed to be going back twenty years.

“Hey mom,” Screwball one day asked, “Why is it that you and dad live in separate houses.”

“Well, when I came here, he poofed me a house. It was a nice house, he poofs it clean twice a week, and poofs food into the fridge, so I stayed.”

“I mean why don’t youse live together, y’know, like married couples in storybooks.”

Twilight tried to be delicate in explaining this. She didn’t mention, that when they brought her to the chaos realm, Twilight figured she’d be done her friendship lessons in less than ten years. All those storybooks she mentioned, they were chosen with a prepubescent filly in mind. Actually they never had spoken about that thing married ponies do that sets them apart from just being really good friends.

“Oh, Screwy, we just don’t have that kind of relationship.”

“You talk’n about sex?”

“What!” Twilight turned beat red. “Where did you even hear that word?”

“One time I yelled for Dad cause my pet ducks looked like they were fighting with one another. He whispered in my ear…”

“Okay, that’s enough. Discord and I, we’re not like that.”

“Why not!”

“Well, we’re not even the same species.”

“Dad must be okay with it, otherwise where did I come from? In fact, I look a little like youse, and if I get that from my mom, then yer probably his type.”

“It’s not like that between us.”

“But if it were, then youse could be my real mom.”

Her enthusiasm towards the idea surprised Twilight.

“Think about it. If we never get back to Equestria then you and dad can make me brothers and sisters to play with, and…and if we do go back to Equestria you…” She lowered her head. “You won’t leave me.”

One day, they were on their way to test a device that should have created a new dimensional convergence point, if they could get it up to 88 mph, when Discord told them that the barrier is down.

“What do you mean the barrier is down?”

“I’ve been testing it every day, and today I could go to Equestria.”

The two looked at one another in surprise.

“Are you sure?”

Rainbow coloured light with star sparkles encircled the three. Really it just had to be a poof, but this was Screwballs first trip to Equestria, and Discord didn’t want to disappoint.

Lightning crackled wind gusted, and a woman rode by on a bicycle which morphed into a broomstick. She cackled madly.

In a moment they were in a new land, surrounded by trees foreign from what Screwball knew in the chaos realm.

A crater had formed in the spot where they appeared, as though they arrived with a mighty blast.

When they arrived, a dragon was waiting for them.

“Look ma, There’s Spike, He’s okay!” Screwball had never seen Spike before. She only had a vague idea what dragons looked like from storybooks.

Twilight turned to look, feeling hopeful that it was him, then disapointed that it was not.

“No, that’s not Spike, that’s his second wife Ember.”

Ember flew towards them. “Hey Sparkle, it’s been a while. Did you really have to mention the second part.”

With a gallop, Twilight met Ember half way. “Is Spike okay,” she pleaded.

“He’s fine.”

She breathed a sigh of relief.

“He was in a coma for about seven months.”

There was a collective gasp.

“The ‘second’ thing he did when he woke up was tell me to move the artifact for you. You play things pretty close to the heart Sparkle. You could have told more people how to reach you y’know.”

“I told Celestia.”

Hearing that made Ember pause for a moment.

“Some monster attacked the dragon realm, it did a lot of damage, and put Spike into his coma. It was on the move to Canterlot and there wasn’t any time, so Celestia went to stop it. There was an explosion, the monsters gone and Celestia hasn’t been seen since.”

“Twilight gasped.” She was horrified to learn that in the end Celestia was left to face something dangerous all by herself. Her life should not have ended like that.

“If only you had come back a few months sooner. What took you so long?”

Embers words cut into Screwballs heart. She herself had been the reason Twilight took so long. Twilight had given up years of her life for Screwball, more years then Twilight had intended.

The Day Celestia Disappeared

Celestia’s wings grew sore from the long flight. She slowed slightly. Suddenly she burst forward, forcing her wings to move faster. She had to be strong, everyone needed her. If only there was time to reach Twilight. In the time it would take to get her the monster would long since reach Canterlot. Celestia would not allow that, so all which was left was to face it herself; She only prayed she had the strength.

Suddenly there was a flash of light. Something appeared in front of her, and it took no small effort to manoeuvre out of the way and avoid hitting the UFP (Unidentified Flying Pony). What appeared looked like an earth pony, who flew by wearing a beanie (propellor hat) of all things.

“Oh hey, there youse are.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Screwball.”

She playfully flew spirals around her as they spoke.

“Screwball, that sounds like the name Discord gave to his daughter: Screwella Lucille Ball.”

“Yup, that’s me.” Screwy turned up the speed on her propellor hat. “Youse on ya way to fight a monster. Don’t worry about it! I got this.”

“Really, are you sure young one? This is no small feat.”

“Sure I’m sure. I’m totally sure. Besides you don’t want to be late for the party.”

Celestia raised a brow. “What party?”

“Twilight’s birthday, better hurry, you only have a few hundred years to get there on time.”

Screwball snapped a finger, and Celestia disappeared, a look of shock on her face.

Next Discords favourite little abomination turned her eyes forward. Off in the distance was some giant creature that seemed to have a vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind.

With a smile, Screwy pulled a ballistic missile launcher out of nowhere, and fired upon the creature. Ember had already mentioned an explosion, so she’d just have to complete the predestination paradox.

15 Plots and Schemes

It came in close, too close. The creature sniffed at Rainbow Dash and Roseluck, its nose practically touching them. They would feel her breath, like wind changing directions, back and forth. Just as they began to wonder if this pony intended to eat them, she pulled backward and let loose another mighty roar. It was that same deep booming sound which if Rainbow Dash tried to identify she might never figure out was the sound a lion makes, only played backward on a scratchy vinyl record.

“What do you want from us!” Pleaded Roseluck.

The pony grinned a cheshire grin. The spirals in her eyes seemed to twirl. She leaned in a little too close, as though showing off her manic expression. Finally she spoke.

“I hoid that youse two is try’n to put the kibosh on a wedding.”

Rainbow Dash and Roseluck looked at one another, then back to the mysterious pony.

“Could you maybe repeat that?”

Screwball groaned and rolled her rolling eyes. She knew what the problem was. Her accent always came out when she was excited.

“I heard that you two are trying to stop the wedding of Fluttershy and Discord.”

Roseluck thought for a moment.

“Oh I get it, you’re one of the park challenges.” Once she decided this must be part of the game Roselucks fear melted away. The game they had been playing was fairly simple in concept; solve riddles or face challenges to rescue princess Fluttershy from the Jabberwocky. Rainbow Dash had been breezing through the riddles, and surely she didn’t want to fight a pony, at least not while in the body of a breezie. “Okay,” said Roseluck, “let’s hear it.”

“Hear what?”

“Let’s hear your riddle silly.”

Screwball crossed her arms and flashed Roseluck an incredulous stare. “Look doll-face, do youse want to stop the wedding or don’t cha?”

Roseluck had to think about that one. She didn’t want to look stumped in front of Rainbow, nor did she want to say the wrong thing. To her this riddle just seemed like a straight-forward question, the kind you’d barely think about before answering ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Surely there was a trick. If she said the wrong word, what logical trap would she fall into.

“Hey, If you don’t mind me asking,” Rainbow Dash spoke up, “what’s the source of your accent.”

“Oh that! It’s a funny story actually. First youse need to understand that I was homeschooled. When I was a lil filly, Twilight was always trying ta get me to use proper grammar. She would say things like ‘ain’t is not a proper contraction,’ or ‘don’t call me doll-face.’ It got so annoying. One day she was doing a lesson on the history of words, and how language evolves over time, and that gave me an idea. I poofed up this fake book called ‘Modern Grammar And Turns of Phrase’, and slipped it into her home library. Next time she corrected me, I pulled out this fake book and corrected her right back.”

“And she actually fell for it?”

“For a while I had her talking the same way I do.”

Roseluck wanted to say that it was a mean trick. She would have said so if she felt she could be heard over Rainbow Dash, the pranksters, laughter.

“That’s nothing! You see, my dad didn’t want to be outdone in the pranks department, so somehow he got the book published and distributed all over ponyville, ten years before we ever moved out of the realm of chaos. He even got Twilight to write a glowing foreward for the book. And at that point in history, everypony would jump on anything that’s princess Twilight approved. When I got to ponyville, they were using it as a school text book.”

Rainbow Dash held her gut. It was too much, she couldn’t laugh any more. “No way! You have to be making that last part up.”

“That’s why I can’t shake the accent. Half the ponies I know talk just like I do.”

Rainbow dash was on the ground, letting forth a huge belly laugh. Roseluck told her, it wasn’t that funny, yet the laugh carried on.

Screwball took off her hat, and reached into it, trying to find where she had left that changeling magic warding artifact fragment.

“Are you related to Twilight?” Roseluck asked.

“She helped raise me, but I don’t even know who my mom is.” Screwball was now tapping the sides of her beanie to get the magic artifact fragment out.

“Oh, I see.” Hearing this made Roseluck feel a little sad. “Although you do kinda look like her.”

“Yeah, I thought of that. Going by purple coats and manes, I could be a descendent of Diamond Tiara, Starlight Glimmer, Fizzlepop Berrytwist, Daisy, Spike the dragon, and the list goes on.”

When she couldn’t find the fragment, she tipped the beanie over and shook it. A pebble, which would be a stone from a breezies perspective fell loose.

The pebble hit the ground with a thud, Roseluck just narrowly avoided being walloped by the falling object.

Suddenly Screwball shrank. Wings appeared as though they had always been there, and simply gained a proper proportion to the size of her body. Her eyes grew and her eyelashes teased outward.

“Look here dolls,” she spoke in a much higher pitched voice, “Aunty Screwy’s got a present for ya.”

The two circled around the pebble. “What’s that?”

“This here is a genuine bonafide fragment of a changeling magic warding artifact. If you touch it then you’re immune to magic. That means you can fight the Jabberwocky man-o-a-pony-o. He won’t be able to use any of his tricky spells against you.”

“You’re saying I can beat Discord… I mean the Jabberwocky with this thing.”

“Yes siree!”

“Even if he can’t cast spells on us, couldn’t he just poof up weapons to use against us.”

“I didn’t say it was a sure thing. Actually your best bet is to get Discord himself to touch the stone. Then his magic is gone. Break it into two or three fragments, and it’ll still work. One of you can attack while the other sneaks up to him and glues it to his hide.”

“So, you’ll give this to us if we solve your riddle.”

Screwball rolled her rolling eyes again. “Yes, I’ll give it to you if you solve my riddle.” Her voice turned sarcastic.

The bouquets upon the tables were flawless. At least they seemed perfect in Fluttershy’s eye. Daisy was still making small adjustments; fluffing the pedals and rearranging the order when one side had more roses then the other.

It was exactly how she pictured her wedding day. During her past expeditions to view the breezies in their habitat, she had seen two weddings. While most pony couples aspire to afford the extravagant Canterlot style of wedding, preferably without the changeling invasion, this was her dream. It was amazing, and couldn’t have been a mere coincidence, for there was only one creature whom she had ever told about this particular fantasy. It was funny to her that Discord would remember this, and not what her face looked like.

Daisy hummed to the flowers, as she took a step back to see how a particular bouquet looked from a distance. Walking backwards, she stopped with her hind just a step away from Fluttershy. Slightly jittery from the excitement, Daisy swished her tail back and forth, the hair brushing against Fluttershy’s nose.

“Achoo!”

Daisy practically leapt in surprise. “Oh Miss Fluttershy! I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

Fluttershy assured her it was all right.

She looked to Fluttershy, with some apprehension. “Have you seen my friend Lily.”

“Yes, I have.” Fluttershy fluffed up her mane in a gesture meant to show it off. “Lily braided flowers into my hair.”

The other pony took a moment to admire Fluttershy’s mane. Daisy had never known Lily to be good at braiding hair before, though her friend had been surprising her all day. She would be especially surprised if she knew that Lily was tied up in their hotel room while Screwball impersonated her.

“So Lily didn’t come back here after she finished? I hope she’s not lost.”

“Uh… Miss Fluttershy,” Daisy was shy all of a sudden. She knew a mare on her wedding day had much on her mind and didn’t want to be a bother. “What about my other friend? Have you heard anything about Roseluck.”

“I suppose she’s still with Rainbow Dash. They’ll have to get here soon, if they want to win this game.”

Now that Daisy thought about it, she and Lily played the game and never bothered to fight the Jabberwocky at the end. Of course they cheated by using the tunnel marked Staff Only.

“Miss Fluttershy. If you don’t mind me asking? Are you hoping someone will rescue you.”

“Can you keep a secret Daisy.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t want to be rescued at all.”

“So hows about it? Take this here magic pebble, and you got yourself a good chance of winning the game. Youse want to rescue poor princess Flutter-doll from the big bad Jabberwocky, don’t you?”

“Hey! Are youse listening to me?”

At that moment Rainbow Dash seemed lost in thought. Only she was privy to what those thoughts were. Daisy never was good at keeping secrets, and now thanks to their unique relationship, Rainbow Dash could reflect back on Daisy’s memories just as she could her own.

“I don’t want to stop the wedding. What sorta prize is that. It’ll be more fun to let it go forward. Right now I just want to get their on time. So Thanks Screwy, but you can keep your pebble. Come along Roseluck,” she called as Rainbow Dash passed Screwball and Dashed into the sunset.

Roseluck started to follow, then turned to Screwball. “I think she’s just acting cool because she didn’t get your riddle either.”

The two ponies both rushed off into the sunset, as Screwball asked herself, “What just happened?”

“No-No-No!” Luna cursed. The controls to her starship locked out, just as she was about to strike a fatal blow against her opponent. “What’s going on? I still have life points!”

Suddenly Twilights face appeared on the screen. “Hey Luna, your late for the wedding!”

“I had a shot. The white cruiser is just sitting there.”

“That’s because the pilot of the white cruiser left the ship and is already on her way. Don’t worry, I paused the game so you can pick up right where you left off.”

Upon poofing herself back to the breezie village, Screwball went straight for the reception hall and ordered herself a frozen smoothie. She sat at the counter and sucked on the straw until brain freeze hit. Then she rubbed her temples and decided what to do next.

“Maybe I can make something up during that whole ‘If anypony has any reason why these two should not be wed’ part.”

“Now why would you want to break up this wedding?”

Not used to other people listening when she talked to herself she looked to the side. Sitting next to her was a white coated alicorn / breezie with a golden tiara.

“Hey ain’t you what’s her name; Princess Cosma; no, that ain’t it, Princess Astra, Princess Galaxina.”

“It’s Celestia.”

“Right, right, of course.” She took another gulp of her smoothy. “Twilight used to talk about you a lot.”

“Pardon me, haven’t you met me yet, because I met you briefly, just before I was brought to this time.”

Screwy twirled her eyes for a moment. “Nope!” She answered. “Hope that doesn’t mean I’m gonna get caught up in all this timey wimey stuff.”

“All right. So why don’t you want Discord and Fluttershy to marry.”

Screwball didn’t answer. She just gulped more heavily on her smoothie.

“Do you hate Fluttershy.”

“Who can hate that broad; she’s so dang nice. I wanted Rainbow Dash to be the wedding smasher so she and pops wouldn’t hate me.”

“Then why?”

She slammed the bottom of her mug against the table. “It’s so dad can marry Twilight, and she’ll be my real mom.”

Screwball waited for the other pony to ridicule her, to tell her she was being childish.

“Twilight loves you as much as any mother would. Isn’t that enough?”

“No! I want us to be together on all the holidays, even when she gets the dates wrong, and I want a little brother, and…”

“Then maybe you should try playing more of a long game.”

“Say-what-now? You mean like nine innings.”

“Screwball, what do you think is the main reason that Twilight and Discord have never even considered getting together.”

“Is it dad’s snaggletooth?”

“No.”

“Is it mom’s weird sock fetish.”

“Her what! I mean no, it’s not that either.”

“Well, what is it?”

“Discord has unresolved feelings for Fluttershy, who is Twilight’s close friend.”

“Oh.”

“So what you need is to let Discord resolve those feelings.”

“Right, — how do I do that?”

“Let them get married. Be supportive. Help them, become part of a happy family.”

“Oh I get it.” She took another sip of her smoothie, then turned back to Celestia. “I don’t get it.”

“How old are you?”

“My dear Princess, it is considered improper to ask a mare her age.” She spoke in fancy Canterlot speech.

“I’m sorry.” Celestia took a sip of her own drink, an iced tea. “I have lived for a few millennia, though I skipped about 400 years time traveling.”

“I’m four hundred and twelve.”

“Remember Fluttershy is a mortal, she will get old.”

“Eh… Sucks for her.”

“So here’s what you do, be the perfect daughter for a few decades, but still maintain a close relationship with Twilight. Once Discord gets some closure on this thousand years of yearning you can go back to scheming how to get Discord and Twilight together.”

“Just a few decades, you say.”

“Yes, it’ll take five or six, and the best part is your father will be happy for most of that time.”

She took another sip, and considered it. “That could work. Wait no! I’ll never pull it off. Even I know my schemes are all whims and childish impulses.”

“It’s good that your honest with yourself young one. Still you mustn’t be afraid of rising to new challenges. I’ll devise a way for us to stay in contact, and give you all the support you need.”

“Stay in contact, Do you mean like mom’s old friendship letters.”

“Oh, that’s clever! If Twilight becomes suspicious, just tell her we’re exchanging friendship letters. She’ll understand the need to keep them private.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Of course I would. I’ve always felt a strong need to help young mares reach their full potential.”

“Hey that’s awesome, momma Twily was right about you toots. You’re okay.”

“Right back at’cha doll-face.” Celestia used the modern lingo without any sign of missing a beat. “Why don’t you get started right now? You can introduce yourself to Fluttershy, in your true form. Welcome her to the family, and ask if there is any way you can help with the wedding.”

“Great idea!” Screwy quickly gulped down the last of her drink. She braced herself for one more brain freeze, then thanked the princess and galloped off. The galloping was odd because she was still a breezie.

That worked out quite well, thought Celestia. She needed powerful allies, and this was a surprisingly good start with the half draconequus. After a four hundred year absence, ponies might not allow her to just get back on her throne and rule Equestria again. It would be so much easier if Twilight had succeeded her as she originally intended. She would have to learn more about this elected council, perhaps she could work with them, though Celestia already had her doubts.

Anyhow, those were problems for another day. Screwballs antics had dominated the narrative a little too long, and the next bit should finely focus on the upcoming nuptials.

Meanwhile, back in the breezie Forrest, two brothers wrapped the abandoned changeling artifact fragment in cloth, being careful not to touch it. “This will come in quite handy, don’t you agree.”

“Indubitably my dear brother, it is quite a fortunate find. Yes, I knew that spying on the princesses friends would pay off at some point.”

16 The Wedding

Rainbow Dash placed a pair of shades over her eyes. She then reached into her saddle bag and pulled out another pair for Roseluck.

“What are these for?”

“You’ll see.”

At this exact time, it was sunset in Ponyville. Ordinarily this would mean nothing to the denizens of the space station, a place that was actually designed to muddle the distinction between day and night. Tonight, however, was an exception. Hours ago, Twilight had positioned the space station so that the planet would eclipse them simultaneous to nightfall.

What they saw was indeed brighter then the traditional sunset, and calling it an eclipse is technically more accurate. It was not dangerously bright, though off in the distance, Daisy strained her eyes to watch, and wished she’d thought to bring sunglasses.

There was a path leading into the breezie village. It was known as the path of champions. The path was also a yellow brick road for whatever reason. If they had kept following the path, then it would take them to Discords castle. They would have to challenge the draconequus in order to stop the wedding.

Roseluck briefly wondered if you had the option to choose between a riddle and literally fighting Discord.

Rainbow Dash looked towards an open bar in the reception area. “Hey! Am I reading that menu right?” She spoke loudly. “It says they have cider made from zap apples.” To all ponies/breezies there, this appeared to be the single reason she strayed from the path of champions and abandoned her quest. We all know better of course.

Roseluck continued down the path, saying bye to Rainbow Dash as they parted. On the way, Daisy joined her. Daisy was finished with her floral arrangements, and had been alternating between waiting for Roseluck and searching for her other friend Lily. The two made their way towards the Jabberwocky’s siege fortress.

In the meantime, Rainbow Dash met with Applejack and Pinkie Pie at the bar. Once she got there, she immediately ordered herself one zap apple cider.

She was a little disappointed that it came in a smaller mug then the cider you get at sweet apple acres.

“You don’t wanna drink more then that,” Applejack told her, “stuff packs a mighty fine punch.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Don’t drink it too fast,” Pinkie warned as Rainbow downed her first mug.

Her pupils dilated while the iris of her eyes seemed to expand and multiply into concentric moving multicoloured circles. A huge grin plastered itself upon her face. Applejack smirked and Pinkie chuckled as they watched her reaction.

“Hey AJ,” Pinkie asked, “how come you never thought to make cider out of zap apples?”

“We did! Zap apple supply was so limited, it was better ponies didn’t know what they were missing. I still wanna know how Twilight got them to grow year round.”
“So have any of you girls seen Fluttershy?” As Rainbow Dash asked, the bartender refilled her mug.

Fluttershy was just sipping some camomile tea and listening to the chirp of the crickets to calm her nerves.

Chirp-Chirp-Quack

“Oh my! That last one didn’t sound quite right.”

Chirp-Quack-Quack

“There it is again.” She listened one more time.

Quack-Quack-Quack

Flutters rushed out side to see what the racket was. What she saw was ducks, as far as her eyes could see. Her tent was located in a field of that fine short grass you find in the putting area of a golf course. You would never know this because the land was carpeted with ducks.

This defied logic. The duck must have been shrunken somehow, because she was currently the size of a breezie. Big or small, they were everywhere.

“How?” She called out. “Who could have done this?”

“It was me!”

Fluttershy looked up. She stood above the tent, her chest puffed out, and poised with pride. It was Screwball.

Fluttershy looked back and forth. She looked again at the ducks. They were everywhere.

“This is… Amazing!”

“Really.”

“Absolutely, why there’s a duck here for every pony, maybe two.”

It just so happens, and Screwball was well aware, that in a traditional breezie wedding ceremony the guests form a circle around the marrying couple. With all these ducks, they could move the ceremony over to the edge of the lake/puddle and still complete this circle.

Fluttershy was about to step towards Screwball. She stopped to let five baby ducklings pass, then took her step. The bride to be told her exactly what she was planning, and praised Screwball for bringing all these wonderful friends to her special day.

“Youse really like’ em?” She asked.

“I absolutely do.” Fluttershy thought for a moment. “I’m sorry, your accent is familiar.”

Screwy giggled.

“I’m the one that wove them flow-a’s inta yer mane. I disguised myself cause I wanted to see what sort of lady youse were. Ya see, the stud yer getting hitched to, he’s my dad.”

“Oh My! Your Discords daughter!”

“That I am.”

What was Fluttershy to make of this? Though she had been whisked to the future in mere moments, Discord arrived here the long way. She fully understood that he lived many lifetimes without her. Discord had even dropped news about past wives as though it might have just been a joke. If he has a daughter then maybe it wasn’t.

“That’s amazing! I have so many questions.”

“Well, ask away.”

Roseluck pulled back the knocker on the Castle Playsets entrance. She didn’t force it against the door, she merely dropped it and the metal hit the wood with a thud. The door was made of wood btw. Even in the future ponies never did discover plastic. They discovered oil, only to them having it on your land actually lowered property values.

The door slowly creaked itself open. A voice from inside welcomed them then it seemed to whisper directly into their ears “Please enter the lair of the Jabberwocky.”

A red carpet led to a throne, were sat Discord. The room was dark except for light focused on the red carpet and on Discord himself. If they strained their eyes, Daisy and Roseluck could see Spike and Big Mac off to the side. They were taking an intermission from their Ogres and Oubliettes game, so that Discord could do his thing.

Discord was actually a nervous. He was starting to think everypony had forgotten about the riddle game, and come for the wedding instead. Moreover, Daisy was one of the ponies he faced. He remembered Daisy from almost a thousand years ago. She was the one who first sparked his long time interest in riddles. Daisy would solve all his riddles, and she stumped him with her own. He could never beat her. Just once he wanted to beat her.

Daisy was definitely scared. She entered the contest thinking it would be easy. It wasn’t. She hadn’t solved a riddle all day. That’s because this was a much younger Daisy then the one whom Discord remembered.

“Are you here to rescue the princess?”

Daisy trembled at Discords imposing voice, yet Roseluck seemed unusually confident.

“You could say we’re here for ‘our’ princess,” said Roseluck. “Our friend Lily is missing. Rainbow Dash said we should challenge you to get her back.”

“Interesting,” the draconequus pressed his digits together in way he hoped looked menacing. “And what of my princess? What of Fluttershy?”

“We don’t want Lily to miss the wedding. She loves weddings.”

Discord paused time for a second, and breathed a sigh of relief. He then took back his composure, and faced the challengers.

“All right then, same rules as the maze. We can battle, or you can answer a riddle. Fail and you shall never see your friend again…Or you know, I won’t just poof her here for you right this instant.”

“Riddle please.” Roseluck answered.

Voiceless it cries,
Featherless it flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.

Daisy held back her fear and thought for a moment.

A howling wind cries.
A gentle breeze flutters.
A cold wind bites.
A choppy wind mutters.

Wait, Daisy thought. That’s the common answer. She only knew it because she’s heard that riddle before. Last time she heard that riddle it wasn’t ‘Featherless if flutters’ it was ‘Wingless it flutters.’ Why the change? Discord never accepts commonly accepted answers. What’s Discords answer?…Discords answer. Discord loves the unexpected. Does he even have an answer, or does he just want an unexpected one that fits the riddle? Discord will never accept the common answer, just like he won’t accept common sense. Come on Daisy, think of something else.

“So what is your answer?” Discord did that thing again with his fingers.

“A mosquito!”

“Where!” Discord jumped.

“No thats my answer. The sound a mosquito makes come from its wings not its voice, it has wings but no feathers, and ponies say they bite, but it’s more of a sting.”

Discord thought for a second. “That’s pretty good.” The draconequus laughed. He poofed himself closer and patted Daisy on the head. “You’ve still got it old friend. I guess a thousand years isn’t long enough for me to beat you. Oh well, maybe at Twilights two-thousandth birthday.”

Discord snapped his fingers, and Lily appeared. Even Discord seemed surprised that she was roped up and gagged. The two flower ponies rushed to untie her. Roseluck massaged her legs, which had fallen asleep, then Lily rushed off to the bathroom.

Eventually Disocord just laughed off what happened. “Oh Screwball, you little scamp.”

The eclipse reached its mdipoint, and all agreed it was time to make way towards the ceremony.

Discord poofed back into his tuxedo, and presented what he thought was a winning hand to finish his game of Ogres and Oubliettes. Spike then surprised him with the actual winning hand. Discord kicked over the table. He did that often, though at least he learned to wait until the game was finished.

Following Twilights coaching on what to do, all the breezies (lets just stick to calling them breezies) formed a semi circle around the shore. Ducks completed the circle by spreading out over the water.

There were of course a few stragglers and late comers. Twilight took the duty of leading them to their places. The mane six already knew where to stand.

Rainbow Dash was late so Pinkie and Applejack just told her to stay between them.

The flower trio was given a place 180 degrees to the mane six members in the circle. Both were still placed close to the shore.

“You know Twilight,” Celestia spoke, “you haven’t seen me in over four hundred years.”

“Really! Thats a relief.”

“A relief.”

“Yes, I don’t know what I’d do if you’d been gone for a long time Princess.” Twilight put a hoof to her temple and thought. “Last time I remember seeing you, we we’re baking a cake together. I hope I didn’t leave the oven running in your castle.”

Outwardly Celestia smiled. There were many things wrong with what she just said, yet Celestia didn’t need to correct Twilight, it was just good that they were together again.

There was a whirring sound as Screwball passed them. She turned and winked conspiratorially at Celestia.

“What was that about?”

“Oh, I had a little chat with Screwball earlier this evening. We’re going to be exchanging letters just like you and I used to do.”

“Really? That’s great! I wish it was me, but I’m so glad that after all this time Screwball is finally finishing her friendship lessons.” Twilight had genuine tears in her eyes.

“Well, it might evolve into friendship lessons, maybe.” Celestia spoke in the tone she uses when something feels awkward to say. “By the way Twilight, I can’t quite place the accent with which she speaks.”

“Oh that, it’s just modern grammar. I use it too, when I’m among modern ponies of course.”

“Excuse me! Do you mean that everypony in the future talks like she does.”

Celestia’s eyes begged Twilight to tell her that’s not what she meant.

Twilight looked up to see how far along the eclipse was. She then slapped Celestia on the rump.

“Youse better shake a hoof doll-face. We got a hitch’n party to get to.”

Luna laughed.

Celestia and Luna were led to a spot facing the water. Twilight was the one to lead them to their place.

Once all were in the circle, Screwball began passing out flowers. A single flower was given to each breezie to hold during the ceremony. Even the ducks held the stems in their beaks. This was something Screwball had taught them, and the ducklings did so because they loved her very much. Fluttershy nodded in approval, proud to be inviting this girl into her family.

When it came time to give flowers to the flower ponies Lily glared at her. It was a venomous angry glare that seemed to say, ‘You bound and gagged me in a hotel room.’

Screwball swerved back for a moment, then gave her the nicest flower she could find, and whispered in her ear. “Don’t worry toots, I’ll make it up to youse.”

This was the closest Lily was going to get to an apology.

Daisy whispered to Lily, “So it was her I was with in the maze, not you.”

“Yes.”

“We had such a lovely time together.”

Now Lily glared at Daisy.

At long last, the ceremony began.

Fluttershy, who was currently a breezie, with Lilies woven into her hair, touched one antennae to discords horn, and the other antennae to Discords antler. This placed their muzzles in close proximity.

Twilight descended between them, dressed as a princess, which she was currently in the habit of doing anyhow.

“My Little Ponies, we are gathered here today to unite this loving couple in the bonds of Celestial Matrimony.”

“First the couple would like to give their vows.”

Fluttershy squeaked nervously. Discord held her hoof as if to tell her, all is okay, and she only had to do this if she wanted to.

She only gave the traditional vows, yet the natural born breezies in the audience were moved to tears. Her delivery was flawless. What Fluttershy said was poetic, profound, and utterly moving.

She spoke in ancient Breez-ish so no pony actually understood her. Even Discord who had previously had two breezie wives didn’t understand ancient breez-ish. He gave a look towards Twilight, who grinned slightly because she did understand the vows.

What Discord said was also very nice. He expunged on Fluttershy’s many virtues, and credited her for teaching him the value of not just friendship, she taught him the value of love; then Discord began making promises about all the dedication and affection he would lavish upon her.

Aside from one really awkward part about promising he would try really hard not to confuse her with other ponies, and suggesting she wear a nametag, most thought that he did a good job.

Twilight continued.

“Do you Fluttershy take Discord to be your lawful wedded husband.”

“I do.”

“Do you Discord take Fluttershy to be your lawful wedded wife.”

Discord stopped time, then slipped away from Fluttershy, and stepped off to the side, as though addressing some unseen audience.

“Geez, I dunno, it’s kinda a big decision isn’t it. I mean I always said if I ever did it, I was gonna do it once and that was it.”

Annoyed, and not time froze, Twilight poofed him back to Fluttershy’s side and started time without any warning.

“I do.”

“You may now…”

Before Twilight could finish the two kissed. The crowd erupted with cheering and quacking.

Next came the reception.

Applejack and Rarity impressed everyone with dance moves nopony had ever seen them use before.

Roseluck asked Lily Valley if she thought they’d ever be able to dance like that. She told her, “If we stick to our lessons, then I’m sure we will.”

Rainbow Dash went to get more Zap apple cider. Daisy joined her. Talking to Rainbow Dash seemed inconceivably frightening before, now it was only the second scariest thing she did today.

Rainbow Dash admitted to knowing how pretty much all of her life was going to turn out. She also told her that she could think exactly like her if she wanted to.

“So do you want to talk with your future self.”

“No thank-you, I imagine I’ll be putting up with her soon enough.”

Pinkie Pie took control of the DJ booth. She was doing good, except later in the evening, Twilight suggested she do at least one slow dance song.

Fluttershy and Discord decided to take that dance.

“So did you know we were getting married today.”

“Not a clue; did you?”

“No.”

“If it’s happening too fast we can…”

“I asked Twilight to move us to a double room in her hotel. She says she has a special sweet all picked out.”

Discord moved a little closer to her. “All right then.”

Author's Note

This chapter is a big milestone I suppose.

The wedding has been a story within the main story for quite a while now.

17 The Beggining of the End

The dry leaves which sat on the ground, or occasionally fluttered in the wind, began to dance. It started with two leaves, circling one another like partners in a tango. A few more joined in. Soon countless leaves followed. Even the clouds above couldn’t help but partake in the strange festival. They spread out as they moved in their spirals and soon the center of the circle was clear. Light descended from the sky, kissing the ground, and in that spot Twilight and Spike appeared. Now they were both standing together in the middle of the Everfree Forrest, in front of Zecora’s cabin.

Twilight held a party invitation in her muzzle.

“Zecora!” Twilight called, her voice muffled by the letter.

“Zecora!” Spike called in a more deep and clear voice.

There was no answer. Twilight pranced forward, and knocked upon the door with her hoof.

“Hey Zecora! We’re here to invite you to a party. Zecora, where are you?”

Spike looked back and forth, then turned to his companion. “I don’t think she’s here Twi.”

Spike checked his pocket-watch, a useless habit considering they just traveled through time. It was such a pain having to reset it after every trip, especially considering that there were no other timepieces to use as a reference back home.

“We can try inviting her yesterday.”

“I’d rather not. You know how much energy these trips take. She’s probably gathering herbs. You check the Forrest, and I’ll wait here incase she comes back.”

Spike nodded and took off. Twilight noted that his manner was a bit off. Normally he’d either voice his approval or voice his complaints. She watched for a minute or two to make sure he was gone.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she took a key from under Zecora’s mat, and opened the door. One of the strange advantages of her disorganized memory is that sometimes Twilight remembered things from long ago, like where that key was; not that she couldn’t just poof herself through the door anyway.

She had to open the window blinds for light. Idly she tried to remember if electricity was discovered in this time.

It was a well ventilated hut, some would call it draughty, yet the odours of various potion ingredients lingered in the air. Some ponies thought Zecora lived out here because she was different, because other ponies would not accept her amongst them. It was nothing so melodramatic. Out here she had easy access to every potion ingredient imaginable, and to be unnecessarily honest some of her concoctions were a hazard to the olfactory sense.

A black cauldron sat in the center of the room, and over to the side was a book stand. The book stand was a few hooves high, eye level for Zecora, and currently had a cook book sitting on top. It looked like Zecora planned to have a woodsy mushroom soup for dinner.

Twilight closed the cook book and placed it back on the shelf. In its place she took out another book, and opened it to a page near the end.

Once sitting on the stand Twilight eyed the book from a distance, wanting to know that the placement was right.

The princess thought back to how she had found the book on this very page. It was around the time her friends had disappeared. After what seemed to be a hopeless search, Twilight found this book open to the very page. Twilight believed that Zecora had left it there, her friend and sometimes cryptic spiritual guide, had left her a clue to find the missing ponies. Boy was she wrong.

It was the Alicorn Vision spell. Mixed properly it gave her visions of the past. Mixed improperly, it did something… she wasn’t entirely sure what.

She took two more steps backward, wanting to make sure the books placement was just right. As she moved closer to the door, she stepped into the shadow of a tall dragon.

Spike crossed his arms and tapped his foot. “What are you doing Twilight?”

Twilight squeaked and jumped in surprise, yet quickly regained her composure. “Just checking the place out, I was feeling a little nostalgic. I haven’t seen this place in so long.” She laughed awkwardly.

“You don’t get nostalgic, a thousand years ago, or yesterday, it’s all the same to you.”

The dragon bent downward. He was already a little bent just to get through the door, and now he wanted to face Twilight eye to eye.

“I thought it was strange that you wanted to invite Zecora personally. You didn’t even invite the other elements of harmony personally, or that sock pony you actually noticed was gone!” His voice rose, louder the more he spoke.

“I didn’t want you to have to see this.” Twilight told him.

“You put the book there! You caused your own accident! What are you thinking!” Spike was yelling now. What he said was true, more or less. If they didn’t find the Alicorn Vision spell at the time they did, then she might have tried it eventually but the conditions would have been different. Maybe it would have been safer, less rushed, and she’d have known to dilute it with a little bit of goats milk.

“I’m completing the loop. We know the book was there. That means somepony put it there. If I did it, then it wasn’t Chrysalis or Sombra or the Pony of Shadows or a Xenomorph.”

She put her hoof on the dragons shoulder. “I know you’ve been preparing for a fight, I know you’ve been expecting some enemy to appear for a long time. We don’t need one Spike. As long as we complete the loop, it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“You told me, you told me at least a million times, if our friends choose to go home then we will fight to get them there. We will fight the loop.”

“If they choose! This is what I’m choosing for myself.”

“You want this!” He didn’t say it like he was angry, he said it like he had just realized something. “All the times I felt sorry for you…”

“I never asked you to.”

“You like it, don’t you. Only keeping your good memories, having ponies literally move the stars just because they feel sorry for you.”

“Most of the ponies I know were born after the accident. They saw a member of the Wonderbolts, the scientist that crafted smart robots, the mage who made zap apples grow year round, a fashionista, or the pony that keeps saving them from monsters; even though every time that happens it’s like I never faced fear like that before. Celestia wanted to give me the kingdom despite the way I am. Have you really just been feeling sorry for me all this time.”

Spike grunted, smoke shooting from his nostrils. “No! Do you really just want to,” he shrugged, and faced the book, “help it happen.”

Twilight looked towards the book. Spike could see she was looking not just at some musty old spellbook, she was looking at what might have been, the life she could have led instead. The problem was, she actually didn’t want her life to be some shadow, falsehood, or rejected alternate timeline.

“It already happened.”

The two saw Zecora, trotting back from picking mushrooms. They straightened their faces as quickly as they could, then rushed to meet her, as though nothing was wrong.

Twilight held out an invite, and smiled in a genuine manner.

In the back of her mind Twilight wondered how to frame this event. She felt it was an important moment in her and Spikes relationship. However, it wasn’t a very happy memory. Since her mind does not retain truly bad memories, she needed a spin a way to frame this so it wasn’t truly a bad memory. What did they learn? If she were writing to Princess Celestia, what would go into her letter.

Spike took one look back. He considered ripping out the page, or burning it with his fire.

A few moments later, there was another dancing of the leaves.

Alone Spike entered Zecora’s hut. He didn’t bother with keys under the mat, opting instead to kick down the door. Immediately he engulfed the spell book in fire.

After all this time Spike, did want a fight, he would be satisfied with nothing less. If their paths were truly predestined then somehow doing this didn’t even matter. He understood the spells well enough to know that should be the case. Never-the-less, he screamed to the Monsters of their world, “Bring It On.”

Nothing really dramatic happened, unless you count a burnt book repairing itself over a period of thirteen hours. Over time Twilight had to restore many of her more beloved books and letters, so she developed certain protection spells and restoration spells. A few burn marks were left in the hut. Twilight new that another version of her would see the kicked in door and the burn marks and think she had her first real clue. She would believe Zecora left the spell for her to find, and act on this immediately. Twilights ‘accident’ would surely occur just as it was meant to happen.

“Alright ponies,” Applejack called out, “are you ready for the ha-aaa-unted ca-aa-stle.”

Twilight took stock of their current group. There was Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and herself. She briefly wondered where Fluttershy was, then remembered she doesn’t like Nightmare Night type activities. If she had bothered to mention her, the others would have pointed out that her wedding was just last night.

“We should have a sixth,” said Twilight. “Ponies go in pairs on the spooky coaster.”

“Don’t worry about it Darling. I invited our friend Minty.”

“Minty!” Twilight sounded surprised. She’d considered inviting Screwball, though more time with Minty was also a good thing.

“Yes, she’ll meet us there.”

“Minty-Minty-Minty; Applejack thought. Our gift baskets from the wedding, the gifts had a tag that read ‘designed by Twilight Sparkle and Minty Mare.’”

“Didn’t we all get socks?”

“Don’t you like socks?” Twilight asked, her voice sounded almost dejected. Why do so few ponies appreciate socks?

“Each pair was custom made for the pony it was addressed to,” said Pinkie. “Mine were sky blue knee highs which turned pink at the hooves and had pink ribbons on top.”

“Mine were practical socks, and still the coziest pair I ever wore.” Said Applejack.

“Rainbow stripped, of course. I guess they were a pretty cool gift.”

Twilight seemed relieved.

The haunted castle’s exterior was based heavily on the castle of the two sisters, which they encountered in the Everfree Forrest. Inside even Twilight wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Though it keeps the secret passages and pipe organ central control system, she ordered the park robots to be ‘creative’ with the roller coaster which loops through the structure, the haunted maze, and the wax museum.

The ponies made their way through the wax museum.

Its first sculpture was a timber wolf with something that could have been angel bunny broken and bleeding in its jaw. ‘Probably better we didn’t bring Fluttershy,’ Twilight thought.

Next there was the olden pony, then the umbrum sealed away, their poses capturing how they were struggling to get out.

One scene depicted Ponyville. there was a wax Rainbow Dash running in terror from zombie ponies with Rainbow stained muzzles.

“One thousand years and I still haven’t lived down that prank.” Rainbow Dash complained.

They passed a changeling hive. “These ones look kinda fake,” Pinkie commented. Just then a changeling jumped out and snarled at her. She leaped backward and found herself hiding behind a sculpture of Nightmare Moon.

“It’s okay Pinkie,” said Applejack, “they’re just real changelings.”

“Not helping!” Pinkie cried.

While the others were laughing and chatting, Rainbow Dash approached Twilight.

“Twilight, when are you going to tell them.”

“Tell them what?”

Rainbow Dash made derped eyes at her. “About the predestination paradox, about your condition, about how we may never go home again. Just little things like that.” She spoke sarcastically.

“Oh right,” Twilight sounded as though she really was just remembering that stuff. “You know because you have Daisy’s memories, right.”

“Yeah!”

“Then do Applejack and Rarity know? They have Roselucks and Lily’s memories respectively.”

“I haven’t asked them.”

“Oh.”

“I should probably tell them, but let’s not do it while they’re having fun.”

“Everything in this park is fun Twilight.”

“Thank you!”

They made their way to the entrance of the coaster. At the end of the line, eight ponies waited inside a small fence, because that’s how many the coaster would seat at a time. There were six in Twilights group, and to her surprise it was Screwball and Flurry Heart that joined them.

Flurry looked to be a pre-teen, though relatively speaking she was almost as old as Twilight. She was known for being the headmistress of the Celestia school in Celestia’s long absence. Screwball was a friendship school dropout, phd in astrophysics possible overcompensating for dropping out of friendship school, duck enthusiast, general troublemaker, and somehow Twilights daughter.

Flurry greeted Twilight, noting that they had not gotten to spend much time together yet. Twilight made quick introductions to everyone else.

The girls weren’t quite sure how to talk to somepony who had been a baby when last they saw her; it was even more awkward then the eight foot tall Spike. Probably the height of awkwardness was when Applejack asked if she liked the antique crib she gave her at the Crystalling celebration. She did like it though.

The room when dark, then there was a strobe light as the coaster came screeching into the station, a disembodied maniacal laugh could be heard as it entered. The coaster had eight seats total, divided into pairs of two, and a head shaped like a pony skull with antlers. The head was a little cheesy.

Starting from the front, Applejack sat left of Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash left of Flurry Heart, Twilight Sparkle left of Minty, and finally Rarity left of Screwball.

There were a few whoo-hoos, as the train started to make it’s way up a ramp.

“I guess you’ve already tested out this coaster, huh Twilight.”

“Nope, I left it up to the robots. Whatever happens will be a surprise for me.”

On the way up the ramp, laughing Umbrum, and changelings popped out at them. They all looked fake, and Rainbow Dash complained that this was going to be lame.

Moments after complaining, they teetered at the edge of what looked like a massive drop. The coaster hovered back and forth for an instant, as though meant to build tension, then they descended, quickly approaching terminal velocity.

One after another, the ponies screamed. They screamed not from the fall, rather from what came at the end. There was a buzz saw in the center of the tracks. It was like the saw you would see split logs in a lumber mill.

The disk blade soon began to cut the cheesy skull shaped head of the roller coaster. Sparks flew at the terrified ponies.

Applejack and Pinkie were holding each other. When the blade made it to their cart, they moved apart to let it slice the middle of their seat without cutting them. Rainbow Dash and Flurry heart did the same. “Hey Twilight,” Rainbow called, “you should talk to your robots about safety.”

Minty was the most terrified of all, and wouldn’t stop holding on to Twilight. Twilight held her right back. At the very last moment, when the blade was coming at them, Minty herself pushed Twilight away, so neither were cut.

Screwball still figured this was all part of the ride, though Rarity was extremely frightened as the blade passed through their seat.

One train was now two trains. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Rarity went off in one direction, while Pinkie Pie, Flurry Heart, Minty, and Screwball left in another direction. Minty held out her hoof, and Twilight tried to reach for her, even though they were both strapped into their carts.

The carts turned upside down, did a few loops, and they were chased by Flutterbat. Again Twilight thought it was best they didn’t bring Fluttershy.

Everything stopped and they were engulfed in darkness.

“That was too much. I’m going to have to have a talk with my robots.” Twilight complained. “Minty must be so scared. I should get out of here and go find her.”

Elsewhere, Pinkie and Flurry Heart slapped hooves. “Best coaster yet,” the two declared in unison. Screwball took a sip of her soda, unimpressed. Nopony knew how she smuggled that onboard.

“That was scary!” Minty proclaimed.

“Youse think so? I guess it was okay.”

“Say what were you girls thinking when that blade was coming at you.”

“I thought the park was having another one of those robot uprisings.” Pinkie declared.

“I thought the sparks from the blade were going to blind me.” Flurry Heart answered herself.

“I knew it was all fake!” Screwball declared.

“No you didn’t.” Flurry chastised.

“Hey Minty, how about you? What did you think when the blade was coming at you?”

“I thought…” Minty felt a warmth in her cheeks. She turned her head, wanting to hide-it if she was blushing. “There’s something I want to ask Twilight, but I’ve never had the nerve to do it. I was thinking that now I’d never get to ask her.”

Screwball stopped drinking her soda. Now she was curious. “So what was youse gonna ask?”

“Well, in my time, I have two tickets to the waterpark, and I want to ask Twilight to go with me.”

“What’s so scary about asking her that? I bet she’d be delighted.” Flurry commented.

“Yeah, go for it. Why would she say no?”

“That’s it! Minty my goil, the way yer blushing, I thought youse was gonna ask Mom to move in with ya or somethin’ like that.”

Later that night, Twilight settled down to brush her hair in front of her favourite mirror. It was her favourite because of all the special moments immortalized as photographs hanging around the corners and sides. There were so many photos she could barely see her own refection. It occurred to her that Minty had never joined her mane six friends on any of her outings before. Why was that again? As she thought about this, her eyes darted back and forth between pictures with Minty and pictures with the girls: Rarity christening her Canterlot boutique, Minty and Twilight highlighting their hearths warming socks in a fashion magazine. Rainbow Dash in her first Wonderbolts show, Minty and Twilight… at the waterpark.

For a moment Twilight’s eyes turned pure white, the pupils and iris’s disappearing. They glowed brightly.

“Glimmer!” Twilight yelled. “Starlight Glimmer!”

She tore two photographs off the mirror. Immediately Twilight regretted doing this. She examined the photos to make sure they weren’t ripped or wrinkled, still she called out: “Glimmer!”

“Twilight, what is it? What’s wrong?”

“These pictures, look at them.” She held them in front of a flower.

“Yes, you’ve shown me these before. Can I please get back to patrolling the park? Something has been creating blindspots in my vision…”

“This is more important, believe me.”

“Okay,” Glimmer spoke calmly in contrast to Twilights excitement. “Why is this more important?”

“Because they didn’t exist before. I remember everything on that mirror like it was yesterday, yet a moment ago I didn’t recognize these photos.”

“How could you forget? You loved living in that little cottage with Minty, you used to say it was cozy as a sock.” The flower’s leaves danced around, which for Starlight Glimmer was the equivalent of talking with her hooves. “Personally I never understood why she didn’t just move into your castle.”

“That’s just it, I do remember, but I also remember not living with her.”

I have two sets of memories, at least two with respect to things that happened with Minty.”

The blinds to the room closed. Glimmer looked around, trying to confirm they were in private. It was surreal to see a flower act this way.

“Listen Twilight, this changes everything. You can’t alter history in a predestination paradox.”

“I’m telling you history did change.”

“I know. What I’m saying is the only way that’s possible is if somepony has found a way outside of the loop.”

“The loop!”

“Yes, the loop, we can’t change our past with time travel because everything we dopart of that same timeline we exist in. We’re caught in a pre-destination loop. But… If any pony is outside the loop, then whatever that pony does can have a butterfly effect and alter this history that we’re trapped in.”

Twilight scratched a hoof against her ear.

“So one pony can change our destiny, we just don’t know who that pony is.”

Glimmer thought for a moment. This of course had huge implications. The park was full of ponies from different time periods throughout a thousand years of history. This pony, who was outside the loop, would have countless opportunities to alter the course of their destinies. Yes, this gave her a chance to help her friends, but perhaps the greater concern was to preserve the world they live in. This time, though far from perfect, was certainly not one of the apocalyptic dystopia’s that careless use of time travel had a tendency to create. For all there fretting about the destiny they were trapped in, nopony really wanted to endanger their existence, or that of the countless ponies that lived out entire lifetimes within this particular existence. Should they be trying to enlist this pony or stop her? Either way, they need to know who she is.

“We need to find this pony, who is outside of the temporal loop.”

”Well, who are our most likely suspects?”

They both brainstormed that idea.

There was Twilight herself. The alicorn vision potion, which actually caused her condition, was originally meant to let her see visions of events from other times. Now Twilight is aware of multiple timelines, while other ponies memories are simply rewritten. Does this mean she might have been outside the loop all along; or is that just wishful thinking? The biggest problem there is that she could think of nothing she actually did that could have caused the changes.

Minty was the one who actually changed an existing timeline. By all indications, she was a normal mare, it was more likely that she was caught in the butterfly effect, her destiny mildly influenced by another ponies words or actions. Was that really the case?

What about Screwball? Twilights adoptive daughter is always a wildcard. Who better to defy a seemingly inescapable destiny then a spirit of chaos. Perhaps temporal causality is just another of the natural laws to which a draconequus is exempt. If being outside the loop is not a result of Discord being her father, then there was always the matter of her mother.

Flurry Heart, the only pony she knew ever to be born an Alicorn. Surely there were many special things about her yet to be discovered.

Pinkie, her whole schtick is breaking the fourth wall, though this one might be a bit much for her.

So there you have it. The main suspects are: Twilight Sparkle, Minty, Screwball, Flurry Heart, and Pinkie Pie.

18 A Little Experiment

Silver Streak hovered into the building, and up three flights of stairs. Like all the robots of fun city, its arms were one of several detachable extremities, this one was meant for holding objects of medium size, and with the arm it carried a medium size potted plant.

The robot flew up to where Luna sat and placed the plant in front of her.

Princess Luna was resting her muzzle upon her hooves, purposely trying to look as bored as possible. She didn’t ask for a plant of any sort, so she eyed it suspiciously.

“Why did you bring these flowers? Is Starlight Glimmer attempting to look in on us?”

“Indoor plants are natural air purifiers, and flowers give a pleasant odour. Earlier you made a comment about the libraries must and ink smell of the library, hearing this I logically concluded you would benefit from the presence of an arranged bouquet.”

Ignoring the robot, Luna plucked a daffodil and ate it. There was no cry of pain, still she only ate the one.

“Arrghhh! Tia, are you done yet? Only Twilight would build a library in a theme park.”

There was an odd rule in the library, that no ponies could borrow non-fiction books written after the time period from which they came. Luckily, this did not apply to Celestia, who was expected to stay in the current time period. It was only protected by an honour system anyhow, and a few ponies had already come to look up sports almanacs and lottery jackpots.

Celestia had only meant to borrow a history book for light reading, however she discovered this brilliant invention of the future, called microfilm, by which old (or new) newspapers were stored.

She was currently engrossed in learning how, in her absence, an elected council had been formed.

“Just a little longer Lulu, this is fascinating.”

Luna eyed the planter, ready to munch on another flower. The flowers showed no sign that they were aware of her intentions. Instead, she levitated the planter with her alicorn magic, and carried it into the study room with the microfilm projectors. On the screen was an image of Cadence and Luna, signing the declaration which effectively removed Luna from the seat of power in Canterlot, and abdicated any claim which Cadence may have to that particular throne. In the picture, Cadence wore a comforting smile as though to reassure the doubting citizens. In contrast, Luna’s expression was resigned and irritated.

Right now, and not in the picture, there was a particular expression upon Celestia’s muzzle. To most mares it would seem serious, stern at worst. Luna knew that this was in fact her angry face. Jumping to conclusions, she figured that Celestia did not approve of the declaration signing; or the formation of the democratically elected council. How was she to explain this to her sister, she still remembered the turmoil of her own feelings on the day of the signing, and how she asked herself, ‘What would my sister think of this?’

Luna stuttered slightly, unsure what to tell her. “Sister, is there anything you’d like me to explain.”

“Yes, sister!” Celestia held out a hoof, gesturing that Luna wait one moment.

She took out a smart phone, and began scrolling for something on the touch screen.

“Where did you get that?” Luna asked. It was the newest model, Luna had not even updated to that one yet.

“Flurry Heart, helped me buy it, and set it up. The young ones are quite good with these devices.”

Celestia found something on her phone. She zoomed the screen, for comfortable reading, then hoofed it to Luna.

“This is the same article you are looking at on microfilm.”  “Yes, sister, the newspaper, ‘The Canterlot Citizen,’ keeps it’s backlog on their website.”

“I don’t understand. Why are you showing me two copies of the same newspaper?”

“Compare that one to the microfilm.”

It didn’t take Luna long to spot the differences. In the microfilm version, the Chairpony of the time decreed that he would turn parliament over to Twilight Sparkle whenever she ‘felt’ ready to lead. In the version on the smart phone, it went into extensive detail describing Twilight as mentally incompetent to rule, explaining that doctors had declared it so, and stating that turning parliament over to her was an impossibility because of her ‘brain damage.’

Seeing this, Luna needed to be stopped from smashing the phone.

“Twilight meticulously recorded the newspapers to microfilm herself. We can be absolutely certain that they are the unaltered versions.”

Celestia thought that this was great foresight on Twilight’s part. It is also possible Twilight just forgets she’s not a librarian anymore.

Right now Luna seethed with anger. How could this have been going on right under her muzzle? Because of her past as Nightmare Moon, Luna resisted taking the highest seat in Equestria herself. Also, her responsibility of protecting dreams, coupled with the raising of the sun made it difficult to rule anyhow; and though she was loath to admit it, Luna questioned Twilights ability far more then Celestia ever had.

For the longest time, Luna was a supporter of the elected council, she had been friends with many of the past Charponies; though not so much the current ones. She found it fascinating how government would continuously reinvent itself, and sincerely wanted to believe each new version reflected the current will of the ponies. Now she wondered if any of these ‘dear’ friends were involved in this revision of history.

With Celestia’s return, Luna feared the turmoil it would cause if her sister tried to take back power in this current generation. If Celestia had asked her a minute ago, Luna would have told her to forget the throne. Their nation was larger then it once was, having formed confederation with Kludgetown, and the land of the Hippogriffs. Progress had left princesses behind.

This is not what Luna was thinking now.

“Sister, you shall take back the seat of power in royal Canterlot.”

“Yes, I intend to.”

“Sister, you shall take back the seat of power in royal Canterlot.”

“Yes, I intend to.”

“Did you hear that Chairpony Flam”

“Indeed I did Chairpony Flim.”

The two had ‘borrowed’ some audio equipment, from Countess Coluratura’s outdoor performance, and placed a small microphone inside a flower pot. With some cheesy disguises, and a little smooth talk, they convinced Silver Streak to give Luna the bugged planter.

Using a flower planter to spy on the princesses was an especially bold choice. They figured even if Glimmer channeled herself through the flowers, how would she know the planter was bugged.

Yes, the Chairponies of Canterlot’s elected council knew quite well that the flowers have ears. Their predecessor, Mayor Mustang, had warned them about the flowers when they were still just campaign aides, working their way up the political ladder in Mustangs office.

Once upon a time Flim and Flam had looked up to Mayor Mustang, in is hay-day the stallion had been a better crook then either of them could ever hope to be. However, over the years, Mustang became exceptionally paranoid, believing that the posies were watching him. Eventually, Mayor Mustang had to go on stress leave. It probably didn’t help his paranoia that some anonymous pony twins would send him flowers almost daily. This allowed Flim and Flam the opportunity to hijack his campaign, and jumpstart their own careers. Despite thinking Mustang was a mad, they soon realized that there was a flower pot in every room of Canterlot Castle, and there was even a city ordinance that stopped them from removing the flowers. When Flim faked allergies, Twilight herself came personally to deliver some hypoallergenic plants she bred as one of her many hobbies.

One night while they were whispering about the strange goings on, Flim could swear he saw a tulip lean in as though trying to listen more closely.

Something was up with the flowers.

When discussing anything they did not want others to hear, they were careful to speak only in their secret twin language. That language was just pig-latin, and they overestimated it’s effectiveness. Fortunately for them, they also acquired a fragment of a changeling magic warding artifact. This anti-magic mcguffin was what really kept their plots and schemes secret from Twilights top informant.

“Celestia wants to take back the throne of Canterlot.”

“Ridiculous!” Cried Chairpony Flam. “For four centuries, aside from some minor veto rights, the role of a princess in Canterlot politics has only been ceremonial at best. We can’t allow her to backtrack the progress Equestria has made as a nation, in the name of some antiquated sense of Royal Alicorn entitlement.”

“Yeah!” agreed Chairpony Flim, “and we wanna keep our jobs too.”

“Democracy is the way of modern Equestria, and it is the will of the ponies that shall rule.”

Flim pounded his hoof against the table. “Unless the will of the ponies is to be ruled by a princess, which I admit it pretty much is.”

“So what’s the plan dear brother.”

“My plan, I thought you had a plan.”

The two scratched their heads and pondered for a few moments.

“What if, now hear me out,” said Chairpony Flam, “what if we send the princesses further into the future, and frame Twilight.”

“I get it,” said Flim. “Everypony will think that Twilight just screwed up again, and we’ll be able to forbid her from using time travel spells for the good of all ponies.”

“Yes, exactly! We’ll just send the princesses six years into the future. By then our political terms will be completed. You know that we need to complete our terms in order to collect on our lifelong pension and benefit packages.”

“Of course dear brother, and once we get those, who cares if Celestia becomes Monarch again.” 
“I do! I’d rather have her then somepony who intent on carrying on our crazy policies.”

The two laughed hardily, clapping their mugs of root beer together and drinking to their new plan.

The Flim Flam were not the only ones busy devising plans, Twilight had her own little scheme.

She had recently learned that some pony has the ability to defy the loop. This pony, and this pony alone has the ability to cause changes in the otherwise predestined timeline. She just wasn’t certain who this pony was. Her top suspects were: Screwball, Minty, Pinkie Pie, Flurry Heart, and herself. Now she needed to devise experiments to test just that.

The only test she could think of was to cause changes in the timeline. Twilight had the unique ability to be aware of these changes. The changes would have to be things that she would notice, yet not things that would greatly upset the history of her world.

Twilight held four envelopes in her hooves, thinking it was time to start.

As they stood in line for the two pony luge, she explained the situation to her daughter, Screwball.

“So what yer sayin’ is that youse got a some kinda plan to fig’ya our which pony can break the time loop.”

“Yes, a simple test that will tell me who the pony is with 35% certainty,” Twilight insisted.

“Thirty-five is a lil small, don’t cha think.”

“I have to start somewhere.”

They made it to the front of the line, and Screwball strapped her mother in. Twilight explained a little bit more as they rocketed down the artificially frozen track.

“First I want to test if you’re the one.”

“How are youse gonna do that?”

At that moment, they rocketed over a ramp, and made an 80 hoof jump. Both made screaming faces as the park camera’s took their picture, there faces returned to normal the moment the flash was gone.

Twilight hoofed something to Screwball. “All you have to do is give this letter to Lily Valley.”

“You mean the broad I tied up, and impersonated at the wedding.” After saying this, Screwball realized, it probably is not the sort of thing you tell your mother about.

“Yes her! You said you were going to make it up to her, right?”

“Youse want me to give doll-face Lily a letter? What’s in the letter?”

“Just numbers from past lotteries.”

“Lottery numbers!” The luge made a dizzying five twists and a loop.

“Yes, Lily never won the lottery. If she does, it’ll alter history, and I’ll know about it.”

“Isn’t that kinda a big change to history?”

“Nah! I know that money wouldn’t change Lily.” Twilight grew close to and fond of the flower ponies in the years after she parted with the mane six.

“And if I ain’t the one who can defy the paradox?”

“If you’re not, then everything will go the way I remember it. Lily will still have a long happy life, though money will always be a little tight for her, and she’ll be too proud to let me help out.”

“Okay, I’ll give her the letter.”

An hour later, Twilight was in an arcade with her niece, Flurry heart. There was a game where the screen directed them what dance moves to make upon a 3 by 6 grid of pressure sensitive plates.

Flurry thought she could distract her aunt by conversing with her as she played.

“So you want me to give a letter to Daisy the flower mare? — Oh horsefeathers” By talking Flurry caused herself to miss one step.

“Yes.”

“And this will help you figure out which mare has the ability to alter time.”

“It will change history in a way that I will notice.”

“What’s in the letter?”

“Instructions on how to breed blue roses.”

“That’s it!”

“Blue roses didn’t exist until long after her time. She’ll probably even get rich if she takes credit for figuring out how to breed them.”

“Who did figure it out?”

“I did.”

Flurry eyed her aunt with a smirk.

“Well I’m not going to give her my secret for breeding zap apples year round.”

At that moment, the machine sang at Twilights new high score.

An hour later, Twilight and Minty were ice skating. As a park event, they turned the main boulevard into a rink.

“You want me to give a letter to Roseluck.”

“Yes.”

“Why me… I mean, you’ll see her plenty of times before we leave, won’t you.”

“I can’t tell you why. Knowing might interfere with our past.”

“I thought we couldn’t interfere with the past, that everything was predestined.”

Suddenly Minty started to loose her balance. Twilight rushed in to catch her.

“You’re too smart, Minty. I can’t keep anything from you. Please just trust me.”

“Of course I trust you Twilight….will you at least tell me what’s in the letter?”

Twilight adjusted Minty’s toque hat, which was coming off, and swung the puff out of Minty’s eyes.

“It’s just a gift, a season pass of buck-ball tickets. She’s a fan.”

“That’s nice!”

Pinkie was doing that happy-hoppy-bounce thing she does, when Twilight flew up next to her.

“Hey Pinkie, could you give this to Derpy for me?” She hoofed Pinkie the final letter.

“Oki Doki Loci!” Pinkie took the letter into her mouth and hopped on.

“Hey, you wanna do star-fighters with me AJ and Rainbow Dash tomorrow?” Pinkie yelled, her voice slightly muffled by the letter.

“Sure, see you there.” Twilight called back.

At last, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. Her plan was well underway. If any of those letters made it through, then she would know with 35% certainty who is the one pony capable of altering history. If they all make it through, then either it was her all along, or the timeline is already far enough in flux that every pony is able to re-forge their own destinies.

Most likely the pony she needed to identify was either Screwball, Flurry Heart, Minty, or Pinkie Pie.

All there was to do was wait and…

Her eyes glowed white, the pupils and irises disappearing as Twilight became aware of another new timeline.

19 It All Goes To Tartarus

Twilight was in many places at once. Her physical body was standing in the park, frozen with her eyes aglow. At the same time she was in the Crystal empire on the day she drank the Alicorn vision potion. As she swallowed the strange concoction, and the visions started. Were these the same visions she had back then?

She saw the creatures, biting, clawing, scratching, gnawing. She would see them one moment, then she would see them a century later. It was always the same, they were always trying to escape.

The decayed skin was receding around their jaws, causing their fangs to be bared at all times. Their eyes had an odd glow to them, and their manes waved back and forth as though trying to escape their horrid bodies.

When one of them did manage to reach from its world to Twilights, the creatures hoof immediately burned. The light that burned him, Twilight saw it, it was the Crystal heart of the Crystal Empire.

The warmth of ponies hearts fed the Crystal heart. Ponies frolicked and played, hugged their friends, and nuzzled close to their lovers. Again, Twilight would see scenes from different times, and it was always the same until it was different. Ponies were scared, and the Crystal Heart grew week. The creatures could feel it.

Then the crystal heart cracked and exploded.

The explosion seemed to knock Twilight out of her visions and back into reality. Concerned ponies gathered around her, thinking she had had some sort of seizure.

When she opened her eyes, Twilight realized she had collapsed into one of the flower beds in the amusement-parks boulevard. The first thing she saw, when she wasn’t quite certain whether the visions were over or not, was a patch of blue roses.

She took two breaths, relieved to think it was over, when another wave of visions overtook her. This time she saw a pony. This pony, this unicorn, was in a mad dash, murder was on her mind as she trampled through a field of blue roses.

Shaking off the second wave of visions, which might not have even been over, Twilight leapt into the air and chased after the mad unicorn. It mattered not that she only saw her in a vision, she chased the vision just the same.

As twilight maneuvered through the streets, silver streak gave chase.

“Princess Twilight,” said the automaton with the analog electronic brain, “Starlight Glimmer sent me to inform you that she detected an unusual weather pattern in the Southeast region of the park.”

“Let me guess, it’s consistent with unscheduled time travel.”

“How do you know that?”

“Silver Streak, we have an intruder in the park! Tell Starlight to ready the elements.”

“Which elements?” 
“Ready all of them!”

“Well lookie what we’ve got here, brother of mine.”

“I’m looking, brother Flam but what am I seeing?”

“That there, brother Flim, is the secondary control unit of the Time Spire.”

Flim took a moment to look. It was some sort of saucer shaped building which sat atop massive 1000 hoof tall tower, or spire as it will. The tower seemed to hold no purpose other then keeping the saucer section inaccessible, yet well within sight.

“Secondary you say?”

“Yes Flim, if anything goes wrong with the primary controller this wondrous machine is supposed to send everypony back to their own time safely.”

“Right, so explain to me again how this plan works brother.”

“Oh come on Flim, we’ve been over this. The machine isn’t intelligent, it only knows what ponies to send to what time by following a list. What we do is get the list, add the princesses names, and send them away, without anypony knowing it was us.”

“Right we get rid of all the princesses.”

“We get rid of all the princesses.” Flam reached for the door to the spire, he stopped, a thought occurring to him. “You have you’re magic ward, right?”

Flim reached under his bowtie and pulled out a piece of stone on a hemp necklace. “Never leave home without it brother.”

“Good,” Flam pulled out his own half. Remember that these are the only things that keep the flowers from spotting us.”

“Spike-Spike!”

The dragon turned, to see a begonia calling out to him.

“Yeah, what’s up Glimmer.” Ridiculous as talking flowers were, voice sounded urgent.

“You know how I’ve had certain blindspots in my field of vision.”

“You told me.”

“Right now there is a blindspot at the bottom of the time spire, and it’s moving upwards towards the top of the time spire.”

Spike had been going to meet Twilight. Making a judgement call, he took his massive broad sword and changed direction.

From up high, Twilight spotted a cloaked pony she recognized from her vision.

“Stop!” she called. The pony immediately started to run.

“Stop!” Twilight called again.

The cloaked pony turned into a corner, running faster. The bridge was narrow. Frustrated, she shoved one innocent bystander aside, causing her to drop an ice cream cone, then the cloaked pony jumped over the side of the bridge, and ran under.

Twilight thought she was just trying to hide. When she swooped under the bridge, she saw the pony gathering magic for an energy blast. In a manoeuvre she had only ever known one pony to use, the cloaked pony bucked the ball of energy towards Twilight.

There was no room to dodge. Twilight put up a field, yet still took some of the blast.

The blast was so great it pushed back the pony who had fired it. She landed on her bent hind legs and immediately pounced forward. While Twilight was momentarily stunned, the other pony rushed in an effort to attack her.

Regaining her bearings faster then the cloaked pony could have predicted, Twilight dodged, grabbing the cloak as the other pony rushed forward.

With her cloak torn off, her face was revealed for all to see. She knew this pony, at least she thought she knew her. Her face was so angry. If she’d ever been this angry looking before, Twilight didn’t remember.

Twilight gasped. “Fizzlepop Berrytwist!”

Flizzlepop looked at her, even more angry. Fizzlepop was supposed to have broken her horn in a filly-hood accident. It was then Twilight noticed her horn was intact. It was intact, yet somehow it was wrong. It glowed with a sickly black magic, that was not her colour, nor that of any pony.

“How do you even know that name?” She demanded. Charging again, she made another demand. “Call me Tempest Shadow.”

As Spike approached the time spire he saw a strange, yet familiar figure standing guard at the entrance.

Spike gripped the hilt of his broadsword and smiled. He’d been waiting almost a thousand years of this fight.

“How’s it going Storm King?”

Twilight dodged another strike. “Flizzlepop, why are we fighting. Please, I’m your friend.”

“You’re no friend of mine. I haven’t met you before, I have no friends, and what sort of idiot mercenary blurts out their objective just because somepony asked.”

“Storm King, how did you get here? What are you up to?” Spike demanded.

“Oh goodie! I get a chance to gloat. Pity this isn’t some big take over Equestria scheme, today I’m just a common mercenary.”

“A mercenary!” The two circled one another, looking for weaknesses in each others sword form, as they spoke. “What were you sent here to do?”

“Me, I’m just guarding the Time Spire. I’m sort of a backup plan if Tempest fails at her job.”

“Tempest Storm is here too. What’s her job?”

The storm king struck overhand with his blade. Spike easily countered. There blades clashed a few more times before both stepped back.

“Tempest was sent to kill the one and only pony that can alter history.”

Spike hadn’t asked more. He was ready to go all out fighting now. Still the Storm King wouldn’t shut up.

“Right now two idiot ponies are planning to use the Time Spire to make all princesses disappear.” Storm King lunged, but Spike jumped out of the way.

“Why would any pony do that?”

“Search me, especially considering what happens afterward.” The Storm king dropped down and tried to kick out Spikes footing. Bad move! Spike just flew upward and breathed fire down on his enemy.

“With no princesses, all Tartarus breaks loose. First the Crystal heart breaks and the Umbrum are set free.”

“The Umbrum?” Spike inhaled, readying to breathe more fire.

“They’re this unspeakable evil that’s sealed near the Crystal Empire. I think they have something to do with that Sombra dude. And they’re not all that gets unleashed, there’s Winter Windigoes, those black vines from the Everfree Forrest, and these weirdoes from space even start hunting ponies; I think they’re called Yautja, or something. Anyway, it was the Umbrum that hired me and Tempest. They realized their timeline relied on this unstable and honestly confusing predestination paradox thing, and one pony was somehow putting their timeline in flux. Don’t ask me how they know this stuff!”

“Why would even you work for the Umbrum?” Spike spoke after finishing another dragon breath.

“They gave me a wicked @$$ new magic sword. - Oh, and they fixed Tempest’s horn. Wonder how I’m going to keep her loyal without dangling that carrot under her nose.”

Applejack, Rarity, Minty, and Fluttershy were all enjoying a meal together at the Tasty Treat. It was Fluttershy’s first time out with friends since the marriage. Minty told them it was one of her favourite restaurants back in her time. Applejack wondered out loud it Saffron Masala would approve of what became of her franchise.

The voice of Silver Streak came alive on all the parks speakers. The cute little robot that did whatever it could to please the ponies of the park was now speaking in a more commanding tone to its guests.

“Attention all Ponies, there is a park wide emergency. All Elements of Harmony, please report to the main boulevard, and await further instructions. All other ponies, for your own safety you are advised to return to your hotel rooms. I repeat all Elements of Harmony, please report to the main boulevard, and await further instructions.”

“Did that robot just say what I think it said?” Asked Applejack.

“I’m afraid it did darling.” Rarity agreed.

“Are you sure they meant us?” Asked Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, now what sort of question is that! The robot said elements of harmony. Who else can that be?”

As she spoke, several ponies got up, most apologizing for abandoning their meals, yet all in a hurry to get to the boulevard.

“Where are all these other ponies heading? Are they a bunch of lookie-loo’s raring to see a fight?” Applejack complained because the crowd was so big, it would slow them down in getting to the boulevard.

“See you later Minty,” said Fluttershy.

“Oh I better come, I’m actually an element of kindness in my time.”

“Really - me too!”

Out in the street, ponies flocked to the boulevard. It was the biggest crowd since the parks opening ceremony.

“Are you sure I’m an element of harmony?” Derpy asked.

“You will be the element of loyalty in three years relative your time.” A robot told her.

“Miss Trixie, I assure you that you have never been an element of harmony.” Said aanother robot.

“That can’t be right. You better check again.”

Daisy and Roseluck dragged Lily by the hind hooves, and she clawed at the ground trying to escape. “ I don’t want to be an element of kindness. You know I hate danger. Daisy, this isn’t very generous of you. Roseluck, you honestly believe what that robot told you?”

Flurry Heart and Screwball had been shopping together when the alarm went off. “Oh why didn’t Aunty Twilight ever invite me to be an Element of Harmony?”

“What would youse be the element of?” Screwball asked her.

“Uh…kindness maybe!”

“Hah-ha-ha, and they call me an element of laughter.”

Flurry Heart grabbed Screwballs muzzle, stretched it almost two feet, then snapped it back like a rubber band.

Spike managed to grab the Storm King wrist, as he was about to make another overhand sword swing. He was quite proud of himself, the Storm King hadn’t expected a lumbering dragon to have the speed to perform such a move. To his surprise Storm King pulled a dagger from behind his belt, with his free arm.

The Storm Kings ape like arms had better reach than Spike. He wouldn’t have been able to dodge that. When the pressure disappeared from Storm King’s sword arm Spike knew he was about to lunge with the dagger. Spike leapt away, though not quickly enough, leaving him with a small flesh wound.

“Soft scales for a dragon. What are you, just a really ugly pony?”

Spike sneered at the comment.

“Living among these candy coloured equines made you soft, hasn’t it? You’re hardly a dragon at all”

“You said the Umbrum gave you your sword, they just gave it to you right? You know, I went on a quest to get my sword. I had to persuade a sword smith to forge it, who had sworn never to forge a weapon again, then I had to defeat all kinds of monsters because its power grows with every victory, then I freed a people from some bone faced tyrant wizard, and became their king for a little while. Stuff like that just happens to me. Know why? It’s because I’m friends with ponies.”

“Sounds like a real hassle. Let’s see if your sword is worth it.” The Storm King swung his blade. He was too far away for the attack to reach, yet Spike sensed a destructive force moving toward him. He held up his broadsword and felt a clash. The sword glowed capturing and converting the Storm Kings magic. Spike circled his sword arm in a helicopter motion, and returned the blast to the Storm King.

Storm king leapt, as the ground exploded around him.

“Not bad! I was skeptical at first, but after I kill you I’m definitely keeping that sword. Say, does it only reflect attacks.”

Spike held the sword up in the air. Storm King assumed he was charging for a magic blast. Spike didn’t need his sword to be a gun, he had dragon fire for those attacks. Instead he called out, some strange mantra. Energy seemed to enter Spike’s body. His wound healed. He seemed fresh, like the battle had only begun. With renewed vigour, he leapt charging at the Storm King.

Tempest ripped steel girders from the bridge, with her Unicorn magic, and hurled them at Twilight.

Twilight dodged two of them, then saw one headed for a flower pot. She grabbed the flower pot and pulled it to herself with Unicorn magic.

“Are you seriously risking your life to save the flowers?”

Twilight whispered to the hydrangea; “Go find my friend Fizzlepop. Maybe she can talk some sense into this Tempest pony. They look like the could be twins.” Twilight hadn’t quite put together, that this was Fizzlepop from an earlier point in her personal timeline. She’d also happened to forget that her dear friend was a reformed villain.

Seriously, the list is a bunch of computer punch cards.

Flam referenced a manual, as he took a small hole puncher and tried to write commands in the machine language.

What bugged him most was that he was supposed to be the more machine savy of the two. His brother Flim had already programmed cards for Princess Luna, Cadence, and Flurry Heart. Flim was at work with Twilight Sparkles punch card, while Flam was still trying to finish up with Princess Celestia.

These cards communicate the machine language that the time spire understand. At the centre of the room was a lever, they called it the big red lever. This was an emergency measure built into the amusement park. Supposedly they could pull the lever, and every pony will be returned instantly to their home timeline. Of course the machine only knew where to send them by reading information in these ridiculous punch cards.

“Why is Twilight using such an out of date system?”

“I hear she doesn’t do much in digital. Apparently she has trouble understanding the timing circuits.”

“She invented AI….Argh!” Flam realized that he’d just punched a hole in the wrong place. He’d have to start over with Celestia’s punch card.

“You want me to do that for you brother.”

“Mind your own business, and finish with Twilight’s punch card brother.”

Flam’s pride may be the greatest obstacle in completing their plan to make the princesses disappear.

A building exploded. “No!” Twilight cried. Seeming to come from the epicenter of the explosion, she saw that rumble and debris could easily fall on any number of ponies below them. She caught what she could with her Alicorn magic and Unicorns in the crowd did the same.

Tempest used the distraction to slip into the crowd. She certainly did not blend in, however, it was hard to attack her in such a dense crowd; magical blasts were now out of the question.

Tempest seemed even more adept at parkour and hoof to hoof then magical combat, and few ponies dared try grabbing her; one stallion tried and took a bucking hoof to the face.

Twilight feared she might be trying to go for her assassination target even with a princess in pursuit.

The crowd was dense. Tempest ran past Pinkie Pie, not even seeming to notice her. She ran right into Minty, and rudely shoved her aside. She seemed aware of Screwball but only as a threat she’d been warned about. No, her target was one special pony, the only pony who existed completely free of the predestination paradox.

Ponies saw what Tempest was doing, and called out to that pony.

Flurry Heart turned only to see Tempest Shadow charging at her, more like a bull then a unicorn, with her unnatural looking horn ready to impale her target.

20 No More Princesses

Flurry Heart turned only to see Tempest Shadow charging at her, more like a bull then a unicorn, with her unnatural looking horn ready to impale her target.
Most Equestrian unicorns don’t actually have sharp points on the tip of their horns. Tempest was an exception. The tip of her horn was unnaturally sharp, and about to connect with the very pupil of Flurry heart’s eye.

The princess only had a small body. She aged slow. Though her mind had been thinking for over nine hundred years, her reactions were not much faster than you would expect from her outward appearance. She couldn’t jump out of the way. She barely had time to scream.

Suddenly her small body was between the front and hind legs of another pony. In a single motion, this pony tucked Flurry Heart tightly between her legs and did a roll.

Missing the point of Tempests horn by a mere tenth of a hoof, Flurry heart was moved to safety, and even landed back on her legs.

She turned to see the pony who so heroically saved her, and was startled to see the same face, as that of the pony who tried to kill her.

It wasn’t really the exact same face. This other Tempest had a kinder expression, with concern in her eyes, concern for Flurry Heart. She also had a broken horn, from which sparks occasionally fizzled.

“Fizzy! Is that you?” Fizzlepop had visited the Crystal Empire a few times, and shown up to some events involving her Aunty Twilight.

Fizzy, as only Flurry ever called her, gave a knowing wink, then turned serious.

“Get out of here little one. Go to the tree of harmony. I’ll take care of my younger self.”

“I’m not lit… never mind. You can’t handle her alone.”

“Watch me”

Having missed her target, Tempest crashed into an ice cream cart. She kicked the debris aside, turned, and looked to Flurry Heart with rage.

“What do you want?” Flurry Heart demanded to know.

“Your life!”

“Then youse have gotta to go through me!” Screwball made a gesture, as though she was rolling up her sleeves. The prankster princess wasn’t actually wearing anything with sleeves, it was just a symbolic gesture, equivalent to telling somepony to put of their dukes.

Twilight hovered downward. “And me!” She declared.

Tempest realized she had lost all element of surprise. Her target now had some powerful allies to defend her.

“Princess please,” Fizzlepop spoke humbly, “allow me to deal with her.”

Twilight looked back and forth, from Tempest to Fizzlepop, then Fizzlepop to Tempest.

“Is she your sister or something?”

Fizzlepop realized it was no use explaining that they were the same pony from different points in her personal timeline. “She’s someone I’ve been fighting for a long time.”

Twilight put a hoof on her friends shoulder. “Then maybe you should try to make peace with her.”

Fizzlepop blushed slightly. Perhaps Twilight understands the situation better than she gave her credit for.

At that moment, a blazing green fire emanated from the abnormal horn of Tempest Shadow. Ponies in the crowd oohed at the spectacle. A few may have wondered if this was some interactive show for the theme park, since they were certainly pouring on the theatrics.

To her own surprise, Screwball dropped out of the sky, her beanie no longer supporting her in flight.

“Don’t be alarmed!” Twilight called out. “I think she’s just using an umbrum trick to negate our magic.”

“That’s pretty alarming youse know.”

The magic lanterns of the park fizzled out. The green fire of Tempests attack was the only light to be seen, and so all eyes were focussed upon her.

Most were cautious to approach her without magic, but Fizzlepop did not hesitate to step forward.

Tempest eyed Fizzlepop curiously, moving her forehead to focus the green fire and examine every contour of Fizzlepop’s face. Her eyes finally settled on the broken horn. She stared at it, the way others had stared at her, the way that still annoyed Fizzlepop to this day.

“Why are you doing this?” Fizzlepop asked.

“Who are you?” Tempest demanded. “Did Twilight summon you with some sort of mirror spell?” 
“I’m you from your future,” Fizzlepop declared. She then looked back and forth. “Although, I don’t remember any of this happening before.”

“You liar, You can’t be me! The umbrum fixed me.” Tempest sneered. “Just look at my beautiful horn.”

Fizzlepop examined it for a moment. She wondered if her past self was enchanted or just very deluded. That thing was not the horn she remembered having as a foal.

Tempest lunged, thinking she had the advantage. She fired a few blasts at Fizzlepop, who easily dodged. Tempest then leapt at Fizzlepop, intending to impale her with the sharp tip of her horn.

In a move so fast that Tempest could not even see it, Fizzlepop used Tempest’s own momentum to propel her into a tree.

In the place where Starlight Glimmer’s consciousness dwells, she yelped as a sudden sensation came upon her that in all her experience she could only compare to the feeling of being poked by something sharp in the derriere.

Tempest was stuck. Ponies gathered around her backside, a few laughing at her predicament. However none expected the sheer savagery of what came next. Older ponies covered younger ponies eyes, Tempest screamed in rage and horror, and there was a collective gasp as Fizzlepop freed Tempest from the tree with a kick.

The kick broke and shattered Tempests horn.

It was awhile before anypony calmed down after that horrible sight. Finally somepony asked: “What do we do with her?”

“Wipe her memory and return her to her own time.” Said Tempest.

“Tempest, it’s forbidden to use memory wipe spells without the ponies consent.”

“You have consent.”

Everypony thought hard about that. None had a more difficult time with the concept then Twilight Sparkle.

The Storm King huffed and puffed. “You’re a tough one, I’ll give you that, but no pony enters the time spire as long as I’m here.”

There was a gust of wind as two streaks, one polychromatic and the other an elegant lavender, moved past him. He turned his head, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Priding himself on honour, Spike did not strike down the Storm King while his head was turned.

Standing behind Storm King were Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. They had raced one another to see who could reach the time spire first. In a few moments Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were also seen rushing toward the spire. Spike had to block as Storm King tried to bring his sword down upon Fluttershy, none-the-less, all managed to get by him.

“I totally beat you,” Rainbow Dash declared.

“No way, I was first.”

“Hey Spike, who did you see get here first.”

“Uh…”

Twilight said Hi to the storm king, told him he could get cake at the pavilion, and with the mane six she rushed into the time spire tower.

After needing a moment to figure out what the heck just happened, Storm King realized that he done goofed.

The giant yeti turned to stop them but suddenly Spikes sword struck at him Stom king barely moved in time for their swords to clash.

“We’re not done yet.” Spike declared.

Elsewhere, Silver Streak was handing out necklaces and tiara’s, items also known as the Elements of Harmony.

“How are there so many of them?” Daisy asked.

“The same way you have two of me, I suppose.” Fizzlepop answered.

Flurry Heart dawned her tiara with pride. Before she left, Twilight had appointed her a bearer of the element of magic. She turned to Screwball. “Are you impressed cousin. Though countless ponies had used the other elements over the centuries, there were only a few bearers of the element of magic.”

“That’s just cause momma Twi was always around to do the job.” Celestia helped clasp Screwballs element of laughter as she spoke. “Now now my little ponies, to be the bearer of any element of harmony is a great and rare honour.”

“The great and powerful Trixie is here to claim her element.”

“I don’t see you in any of the historical records.” Silver Streak told her. “Which element are you again?”

“Mine is the greatest and most powerful one obviously.”

Silver Streak handed her an element of magic tiara, then called “Next.”

Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack galloped at top speed, while Twilight and Rainbow Dash flew ahead of them.

“Why didn’t you put an elevator in here?” Pinkie yelled.

The time spire followed video game rules. You had to enter from the bottom and fight your way to the top. It had the best in magical defences and booby traps. Twilight defused most of them as she flew ahead, though Applejack still had to buck a few skeleton warriors.

Twilight was cursing herself as she moved. She had overlooked the obvious. The enemy didn’t get to he top of the tower by having the most powerful magic, they did it by negating magic with that stupid changeling artifact.

She never should have put the magic cancelling pebble in Fluttershy’s dressing room. Although, if she hadn’t then Discord might have seen his bride before the wedding. Which was worse? She wondered as she tricked a giant anaconda into tying itself into a knot.

“So, toots, what’s the plan?”

“Well,” said Flurry Heart, according to Aunty Twilight, the Umbrum from the future are behind most of what’s going on.”

“Okay.”

The Umbrum rule in the future, and they’re the ones who sent Tempest and Storm King as assassins to preserve their unstable timeline.

“So the Um-bums ain’t gots the guts to attack us themselves.”

“They’re probably just afraid of paradoxes.”

“Right! Thats why we’ve gathered at the tree of harmony. How did Twilight get that here anyway. She wants to use most of the element bearers in history to… what… fight the Storm King.”

“No we’re attacking the Umbrum.”

“How are we doing that? Aren’t they sealed in another dimension or something?” Screwball turned her head. “See Fiendship is Magic issue #1 in an official hasbro licensed IDW comics miniseries folks.” She then gave a wink.

Flurry Heart rolled her eyes.

Chairpony Flim wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. It always made him nervous whenever he had a big switch to pull.

With one tug of the switch, they would complete the predestination paradox. The Princesses would be sent a few years into the future. It wouldn’t harm them, it would just get them out of the way. They’d even greet them when they appear again. After all, nopony will ever know this was their doing.

They weren’t bad ponies, it’s just that they wanted to complete their terms, and get their lifetime pensions. Princesses lived many lifetimes, surely they could afford to miss less then one itsy bitsy decade. What could possibly go wrong?

Flim reached for the switch, though he seemed to be moving in slow motion. Annoyed, Flam pushed him aside. “Oh, I’ll do it!”

“No, you said I could brother.”

“Well, you’re taking too long. It doesn’t matter do does it, as long as it gets done.”

“You said I could do it.”

“Fine then, do it!”

“Okay then”

Chairpony Flim reached for the switch, again is slow motion.

“Oh C’mon!”

“Wait - don’t do it!”

The two chairponies looked behind them at the narrow trap door entrance to the time spire.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but trust me, it’s not gonna work out the way you want it too.”

“Are youse sure this is a good idea.”

“Sure I’m sure. We open a portal to the Umbrum dimension, then BANG! We zap them with all the elements of harmony, and I do mean all of them.

Screwball turned her head. Lined up were hundreds of ponies. Not just any ponies, they were the kindest, most generous, most loyal, most honest, most magical and funniest ponies to grace Equestria for the past thousand years: Lily, Derpy, Daisy, Lyra Bon Bon, Tempest, Celestia, Roseluck, Derpy, Trixie (for some reason), Minty, and so many more.

Screwball couldn’t deny she was awed by the amount of magical potential in the assembly.

“Look, Doll, if I open the portal to the Umbrum realm and we fail, then it’s my fault they escape.”

“I never thought of that.”

“Well, mom put you in charge. So tell me great leader, should I open that portal?”

“I’m sorry! I give up. Please don’t let Celestia banish me to the moon.”

“You snivelling coward!”

Flam kicked his brother aside, and reached for the switch. “So they knew about their plans. He’d just have to make Twilight disappear, then he could spend the next couple of years figuring out what to do with her when she reappears.

Flam reached for the switch, but Rainbow Dash charged, knocking him out of the way.

What’s brother doing. Flim thought. The other mane five aren’t even programmed into the machine. It’ll send the princesses to the future, like we wanted, and all the other ponies will go back to their own times, just like in the paradox, but those five will still be here.

Seeing them hold down his brother, Flim ran for the door.

“Wait!”, Twilight cried, grabbing his shirt from behind.

Flim ripped the shirt off, still trying to escape.

Now the room was a little bit small, and at that moment Flim jumped and accidently hit the light with his head. There was a spark, and a flash, then the room went dark.

Flim managed to escape in the darkness, and in everyponies moment of surprise, Flam managed to slip free.

Twilight took a step, but felt something, like a tiny stone had gotten caught in her golden horseshoe.

That that moment there was a loud click. Flam had thrown the switch.

Elsewhere a portal to the Umbrum realm was opened.

Author's Note

The long awaited 2nd last Chapter.

21 The End.

The engine of the time spire roared to life. The machine itself grew cold, not hot, cold. Soon it began to radiate a light which started red like fire then grew more intense until it became a pure white. Twilight warned the girls to shield their eyes, for it was brighter then the eclipses that occurred when Celestia and Luna decided to be playful.

It glowed, yet did not light up the dark room. When it reached its maximum brightness, energy spread outward like an expanding bubble.

The energy passed through Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Apparently Twilight had outsmarted herself. Knowing that the girls were not fated to go home, because of the now broken pre-destination paradox, she simply never programmed it to send them home. The Chair-ponies, Flim and Flam, not expecting to be caught, didn’t take them into account either.

They did however program the device to send Twilight a few years into the future.

When the bubble of the time spires energy was about to reach her, she held up a hoof in a gesture of resistance. She saw a small string hanging off her golden horseshoe. Apparently something got caught on it when she was struggling with the Chair-ponies. It was the magic warding pebble that had allowed them to sneak into the magically guarded room.

For a brief second the walls of the bubble seemed to press against some unseen form. The magic warding artifict emited something which pushed back. Then the bubble bypassed Twilight and exploded outward.

Twilight was safe. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her relief was short lived, for she quickly realized that the Time Spear would still go for everypony else. She tried to teleport, remembering once again that her magic was warded.

Now the Bubble expanded faster. It was impossible to stop.

Something between smoke and sludge emanated from the portal. Though it seemed environmental at first, the miasma began moving in a manner that indicated it was in fact tendrils of some visionless creature. The creature was feeling its way, or perhaps searching for something beautiful and good to poison the life out of.

This portal led the the world of the Umbrum, and the world itself was hostile, they had not even seen the Umbrum yet.

It mattered not, for they had all faced things more horrible then this. They charged the elements of harmony by thinking thoughts related to their respective elements, and thoughts of how much they all loved each other.

Just as they were ready to fire the friendship equivalent of a tactical nuke, the time spires bubble approached them from the other end.

Starflower Pretty Mare was the one farthest from the front, and first to feel its power. She resisted, though when the bubble touched her she heard the voice of her grand-mare telling her it was time to come home.

Celestia knew what this energy was, for she had insisted being kept in the loop for all of Twilight and Starlight’s time travel experiments.

“My little ponies, don’t be alarmed. This was the system Twilight designed to send us home in the event of an emergency.”

“It’s an emergency,” Cadence admitted, "but we can’t go while that portal is open.”

It was true, they had opened a portal to the Umbrum realm, and if they did not do what they meant to do then unspeakable evil would soon make it’s way into Equestria. The ponies, however, did not seem to have a choice in the matter. The energy of the time spire grabbed them one by one.

The portal grabbed Tulip Purple Shade, Primrose Cheeky Horse, and even Buttercup Golden Coat. Poppy Jolly Mare resisted even though the energy felt like a warm hug from her special somepony.

With Panic setting in, it seemed they would fail to use the elements of harmony.

Hoping to set an example, Screwball, and Flurry Heat started firing the power of their friendship toward the portal. Soon others joined in.

Lily Valley was unsure what to do, when she felt Daisy’s comforting hoof on her shoulder. A moment later her element joined the blast. Daisy and Roseluck quickly joined in.

Derpy had no trouble getting hers to work. Though at first she seemed to misfire and hit other ponies, those ponies became filled with a loyal determination, and soon joined in fighting the Umbrum.

Trixie, strained and struggled. “Work, darn you!” She decried. Her element would not fire.

It was true. She was never a real element of harmony. Why would she be?

Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder and whispered into her ear. “Yours is an element of magic I see. Think of a moment when you felt special, and magical, and where someone you loved was proud of you.”

Trixie Lulamoon said something, though the significance of what she said Celestia could only guess. It served as a battle cry, and as she said it her element lit up and fired its energy, with an intensity that was impressive even to a princess.

“TEACUP!”

The ponies were in a race. The blast was working on the portal, but ponies were disappear and a power they had to keep building faded as mare after mare was lost.

Minty thought about this. She had an idea, she just didn’t know if it was right or not.

Minty, what’s happening?

She heard Twilights voice in her mind.

“Twilight is that you?” She called.

Yes, it’s me.

“Hey Twilight who you talking to.?” Applejack asked
“Minty.”

“But Twi, she’s not here.”

“I’m using telepathy.” Twilight explained matter of factly.

“I thought you couldn’t use magic while you were holding that changeling doohickey.”

“It’s not magic, It’s telepathy?”

“Oh.”

“Minty are you okay?”

“For now, I am.”

“What’s that mean?”

Minty quickly explained the situation. She used images in her mind to speed things up.

“This is bad.”

“Way to sugar-coat it.”

“If ponies keep disappearing you won’t have enough energy to defeat the Umbrum.”

“Twilight, I think I know what to do, but I’m not sure.”

“Okay do it.”

“What? You don’t even know what it is.”

“I know I don’t know, and I know you. Do it.”

Minty braced herself. She coughed twice, then she told everyone her plan the best way she knew how, in a way they would all understand. She sang:

Nothing stays the same for long
But when it changes doesn't mean it's gone
Time will always get away
As it leaves behind another day

Things may come and things may go
Some go fast and some go slow
Few things last, that's all I know
But friendship carries on through the ages

She stopped after the second verse. She felt foolish. Every pony must be wondering what she could possibly be thinking. What kind of fool would start singing in a time like this?

Then she heard something.

Been around for a long time
Rocking out hard 'cause I'm in my prime
Maybe it'll change further down the line
But my friendship carries on through the ages

Every single style has something
Different it can say
There's nothing wrong with being unique
And special in your own way

They were joining in. Stranger still, ponies disappeared, but they weren’t afraid to go anymore. The blast became stronger.

How could it be getting stronger with all these ponies disappearing?

She looked around. She could see silhouettes of ponies who had returned to their own times. Their friendship was reaching them, reaching this moment from everywhen.

At this point, the mane six appeared. They joined in to fight the Umbrum.

Soon the time spear had completed its work. The blast of friendship was being handled entirely by five of the mane six, and silhouettes of ponies from across time.

The power of the Umbrums world and the power of the blast seemed match, like a tug of war. Twilight knew she needed something to upset the balance in their favour.

Seeing only one option left, she tossed aside the magic warding artifact which prevented her from participating.

Before the time spear could take her, she fired at the portal with all her might. As she surmised it worked. Every bit of power at their disposal was needed.

There was a satisfied smile upon her muzzle as she started to fade away, then she thought about her friends.

By doing this, she was stranding them in her time. No pony would be left with the power to send them home. Starlight had no real power in her current form, only the wisdom of her age.

She lifted up her hoof, as though reaching out to them, begging for forgiveness.

The girls just waived back and smiled.

When Twilight reappeared, she took stalk of her world. Where had the time spear sent her? What did those crooked Chair-ponies program into her emergency go home safely machine?

She looked around and was elated to find she was close to home. She ran to the Golden Oaks library.

As the tree came into sight she called out to it, for this was no ordinary tree. She called again, and again.

Why wasn’t Starlight Glimmer answering her?

Again she called. “Starlight?”

Something was wrong. The tree wasn’t answering. She bucked open the door and looked inside.

Startled by the loud noise, babies started to cry.

Fluttershy gently rocked her babies cradle and hummed sweetly to her. Pinkie picked her baby up, because cuddling quieted her down faster.

When the infants seemed to have calmed down they turned to the perplexed Twilight.

“Gee Twi, it’s about time. Celestia and Luna have been back for a month already.”

Apparently in their haste, the Flim Flams sent the princesses to reappear in the same year, but not the same day. They also forgot a few of the dates, though Flurry Heart was scheduled to arrive next Tuesday.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked. “Who are these children, and where is…”

“Starlight Glimmer.” Pinkie finished her sentence.

“Well, while you were gone, Starlight decided she wanted to be a pony again, and Fluttershy was nervous about going through a pregnancy alone, so I agreed to be Starlights… What’s that word she used… Surro… Surry…

“Surrogate.”

“That’s it, though I hate that word. I much prefer mommy.”

Pinkie presented the child to Twilight. she did indeed have a coat and mane identical to that of Twilight’s former pupil. Though, she might have to take a few of her lessons over again.

Next, Twilight turned to Fluttershy.

“So I guess you and Discord had a baby while I was gone.”

Fluttershy gave a slightly sad smile.

“We had to send our filly back in time to fulfil another predestination paradox. I don’t really understand it, but apparently if we didn’t send Screwball back then the evil Umbrum timeline might have become the real future. Fluttershy teared up a little. “I’m so grateful that you took care of our screwball for us. You loved her well Twilight.”

“Screwball was your daughter. How could I not have known that?”

“Discord knew. He explained the situation to his past self and told him to hide it.”

“It’s also because she was part of this timeline and not the Umbrum apocalypse that the other timeline was freed from that pre-destination pickle.” Pinkie added. “Though Flurry heart was the one who fist broke out of the pre-destination part. We don’t know why. Power of Love I guess.”

“Discord told me her mother was some floozy he met in Las Pegasus.”

“Why would he say that? Discord,” Fluttershy ran up the stairs, an angry expression on her face.

Pinkie and Twilight just stood their for a while, both wondering what to say next.

“Aren’t you gonna ask why Fluttershy has a baby, when she sent Screwball back in time.”

“Meh, I figured Screwy just turned herself into a baby to make her mother feel better.”

“Yeah that’s it. Both are kids are supposed to get their memories back when they turn eighteen.”

“That’ll make an interesting birthday.”

“It’ll still be tough to beat your.”

“So who’s ruling Equestria now?”

“Applejack, she ran on a promise of being really honest. Rainbow Dash was her running mate. She promised to be really awesome.”

“Sounds about right.”

“She’s doing such a good job, Ponies actually think she should finish her term before giving the crown back to Celestia.”

It was a warm summers night. Twilight didn’t feel like going to the castle, so she sat on a pile of hay under the stars.

Pinkie had told her a few more details. The memory implant thing worked out in the long run, Spike won his fight just before the Storm King was sent home, Fizzlepop’s timeline is fixed, etc, etc…

Some adorable animal she didn’t recognize took a liking to her. She scratched under the creatures chin, rubbed it’s belly and soon it was snuggling up close to her.

“One might wonder if she would have let the creature so close if she knew that this was what became of the dreaded Umbrum.

She looked at the stars and reflected. Maybe if didn’t matter that she still can’t tell time because everything just went in circles anyway. Her closest friends where by her side. In this time she finally had the technology to keep them all young forever, or maybe they’d rather go home and return to the lives they had. That was fine to. They’d always be with her.

She hugged her Umbrum a little tighter, thinking of all the wonderful ponies she’d ever known, and believing she’d see them all again. Life, death, young, old, now, then maybe it’s all just a ride. We get on, have tons of fun, then wait impatiently for another turn. Understanding this, she felt she knew better then any pony how time really works.

1 Prologue

“I saw huge buildings rise up faint and fair, and pass like dreams.”
H.G. Wells

“Maple syrup, corn syrup, raspberry and blueberry coulis, apple butter, whipped cream.” Twilight rolled over, and pulled the blanket closer to her. “Orange Juice, Apple Juice, tea, coffee, lactose free milk.” She continued to talk in her sleep. “flour, baking soda, brown sugar.”

Spike put a paw to his mouth, trying to hold in a giggle. Twilight had planned her day out to the smallest detail, she had done so with so much thought that now she was reviewing the plans in her sleep.

The day in question, today, was to start with a farewell breakfast between her and all of her closest friends. Together they would feast on pancakes and waffles; ( why force anyone to choose ). Afterwards the girls would see her off on a train to the Crystal Empire. Young Flurry heart is approaching her first birthday, and the best aunt ever had no intention of missing it.

“We’re out of eggs!” She awoke in a startled state.

“Don’t worry Twilight. Fluttershy brought some from her cottage.”

Twilight looked at the clock and realized she had slept in. Now she didn’t have time to prepare breakfast. She was about to scold Spike when Applejack called out from the kitchen. “Soups on!” Which is just an expression, they weren’t having soup.

Twilight sleepily stepped out of her room. “What’s going on? I was going to make breakfast.”

“You’re not supposed to cook your own farewell breakfast silly.” Pinkie bounced up and down to be seen over the others. “That’s like having to plan your own birthday party.”

Twilight looked around. It was an impressive spread. “Spike,” she asked, “what about my checklist.”

“I gave it to AJ.”

“Do you have pancakes and waffles?”

“Yes, and apple turnovers, muffins, cinnamon rolls, donuts, brioche,” Pinkie turned and whispered to Rarity, “I don’t even know what brioche is.”

“You were the one who baked it darling.”

Twilight fretted and looked at the clock. “Spike, we have to be at the train for 8:15 am.”

“Yeah, about that, I got word this morning that the train was delayed. It’s 10:00 am now.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up and tell me?”

“Tell you what, that you have time to sleep in.”

“This means that we’re going to get to the Crystal empire later. I can’t eat now. I have to replan my whole schedule.”

“Already done,” the dragon proudly announced. “See your old schedule had us going to the Crystal Palace, then going out for dinner. I figured it would be more efficient if we just meet at the restaurant, which is on the way to the palace.”

Twilight went over her schedule. Spike was right. This not only made up the lost time, but bought them an extra ten minutes, which Spike had already added to the interval she allotted to play peekaboo with her niece. Aside from the changes being made in crayon, Spike was on top of everything.

Eventually she relaxed and enjoyed her breakfast, though being taken care of was something she did not believe she would get used to.

At the train station, Twilight anxiously reminded her friends of one thing after the other. She told them which day was trash day, how to appease an ursa minor, what to do if the cutie map summons anypony.

“Relax egghead, Ponyville was here before you came, it’ll last one week without you.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie added, “It’s not like somepony really powerful will appear in a magical vortex the instant you leave because he’s purposely scheduling his arrival to coincide with your departure.”

Twilight stopped for a moment. She knew that when Pinkie made oddly specific predictions, they had a way of being right. She checked the sky for vortexes, before stepping onto the train. Spike followed with baggage in tow. So did Starlight Glimmer, who was planning to visit Sunburst. The Princess of Friendship waved as the train departed. Everyone waved back. Pinkie even chased the train for a bit.

When she was gone, everyone but Pinkie gave the sky another look for magical vortexes, then turned to head off.

Applejack was the first to stop. The ponies all noticed that the fur of their coats was spreading out, as though trying to escape them. The sensation reminded Pinkie of what happens when she trotted across Miss Cake’s shag carpet. It was fun until she dared touch anything metal.

Paper began to levitate out of the nearby wastebasket and float in spirals, as though dancing around it. Rainbow Dash looked up and saw that the clouds were dancing in the same spiral pattern in the sky above. Far in the distance, there was a burst of light, emanating from the location of the old Golden Oaks library, the place that Tirek had destroyed. The ponies all rushed to the source of the commotion. Rainbow Dash made it ahead of the group by way of her great speed. She maneuvered around buildings and pedestrians, flying low.

In the spot where the library once stood, there was a mass of scales. The creature was curled into a ball, bony plates protruding from its back. It slowly began to stir. First it uncoiled the 5 foot tail that was wrapped around its body. Next it extended its 6 foot wings stretching them outward. Clawed hands, that were cradling its head, let go and the creature stretched out its arms. It had a large snout with fangs protruding on both sides. Finally the creature stood up at an imposing 8 feet tall. The shorter arms indicated it was a creature who walked on two legs, though the muscular hind legs had a rabbit like quality, as though meant for leaping or pouncing. Rainbow Dash saw that it was protecting a large satchel.

Ponies gathered around, frightened yet somewhat astonished at the creature that appeared as if by magic.

“Who are you,” Rainbow Dash demanded to know. “What are you doing here?”

The creature looked at the mare, then smiled. “Whoa, it’s really you.”

“Yeah I’m me; Rainbow Dash, member of the Wonderbolts, element of harmony, idol to millions. Now who are you?”

“RD, don’t you recognize me.” The creature seemed a little amused at Rainbow’s mild gloating. “Me, I’m right hoof of the princess, hero of the realm, on and off dragon lord, and idol to billions.”

“The dragon lord is a girl named Ember.”

“Right now she is. Haven’t you figured it out yet? Rainbow Dash, it’s me.”

“Spike.” Rarity called out. The other elements of harmony had just arrived.

“Rarity,” he spoke like in a dreamy haze, yet with amazement in his voice. Spike had long accepted going days and even months without seeing her beautiful face. Even the photos he had were terribly faded.

“It is you isn’t it?” Rarity asked. “You’re Spike."

"Yes, from the future."

"From some future. What happened? Are you here to prevent some catastrophe?”

The dragon shook his head. “Naw, it’s all good in my time. Besides, the method of time travel I used makes sure everything is predestined. I can’t change the past anyway.”

“The method?”

“Yeah, we understand time travel better in the future...well...in my present. See, time is always moving forward, so you can just stay still and let the present pass you, or you can go back and forth to places where time moves different relative to other places, or you can create portals between places like that.” Spike stopped and looked at Rarity, wondering if he was sounding like a nerd. “Anyway, the method I used makes sure everything I do is predestined to happen, so I can’t mess up the future.”

“So you’re just visiting?” Pinkie asked.

“Not quite!” Spike opened his satchel and started handing out letters. At this point all of Ponyville was gathered, and he seemed to have letters for more then just the Mane Six.

Every letter was personalized in some way or another. When Pinkie tore the paper on hers, sparks and confetti flew out. Applejack's seemed to be written on vintage paper with superb penmanship. Fluttershy’s letter just had a little bunny drawn on the envelope. Even the town ponies were admiring the various personal touches. Octavia had a card shaped like a Cello. Lily, Daisy, and Roseluck had letters scented to match the flower of their individual cutie marks. Lyra’s card played harp music. Rainbow Dash ignored this, and opened her own.

Dear Rainbow Dash

Your are cordially invited to attend the 1000th birthday of
Princess Twilight Sparkle.
The party is to be held in party city,
In the year…

The last part was smudged. Rainbow Dash couldn’t tell what year it was. Oh well, take the year Twilight was born, add 1000. Rainbow Dash could figure that out.

The ponies were impressed with some of the personal touches on the letters, and soon began asking to see each other's. After looking at all her friends' letters, Applejack noticed something odd. The year was smudged on all of them.

“Where’s Party City?” Pinkie asked.

Spike paused before telling her, as though trying to build tension. Finally he faced her and spoke in a booming voice for all ponies to hear. “It’s in outer space.”

“Outer space. you have a city in outer space.”

“We will. You see, about two hundred years ago, well, for you it’s almost 800 years from now, Twilight built a robot.”

“A robot!” Everyone gathered around in wonder. “What’s a robot?” Some pony from the crowd asked.

“Yes, she built a robot. The robot spent about ten years building more robots while Twilight made up a dream journal for her ideal city. Then she gave first robot the journal and him and his friends started building the city. The birthday party is the grand opening of party city, and after the party, Twilights going to turn it into an amusement park for all ponies to enjoy.”

“Have the robots ever tried to have an uprising and conquer Equestria?” Pinkie asked.

“Once but we worked it out peacefully. Now they get Sundays off.”

“Now hold on, Spike." Applejack cut in. "You wanna just take the entire town to some experimental space city, in the future. Isn’t that really dangerous?”

“Remember what I told you. With the method of time travel I’m using everything is predestined. I know how it’s going to turn out, and this was always going to happen anyway.”

“So we’ll all come back, safe and sound?”

Spike took a moment to answer. He had hoped nopony would ask so direct a question. Behind his back, two clawed fingers were crossed when he answered yes.

Two Weeks Later

“How is she?” Cadence asked.

“I used a sleep spell, and Luna is working on her dreams.” They could give her peaceful rest, though at this point Twilight was dependent on the treatment. When she awoke, she would go back to working around the clock, trying to solve the mystery of the mass disappearances. The loss of so many weighed heavily on her shoulders.

“Cadence, we may have made a breakthrough.”

Cadence practically jumped. It was rare to see her lose her poise so completely. She pounced on Starlight, though not necessarily in a violent way. “Tell me!" she demanded.

“Remember the potion Zecora once made to give Twilight visions of the past?”

Cadence remembered. There was an overgrowth of black plants which came from the Everfree forest and threatened to overtake Ponyville. Twilight drank a potion to see the past, and search for answers. She wasn’t there personally, yet had heard the story.

“Zecora disappeared along with the other ponies, so we searched her cabin, and found a recipe book open to that very potion. It’s like it was waiting for us.”

Cadence didn’t put it past Zecora to have some idea what was coming and be prepared. Neither suspected that it wasn’t the Zebra who left the spell book for them to find.

“It took us awhile to decipher, the spell was in a foreign language.”

“So you can find out what happened?”

“Hopefully. Twilight wanted to use it right away, but she’s been awake for days; she’s really stressed. Also, I asked Sunburst to look over my notes.”

“And it’s a good thing you did,” came the voice of the Unicorn. Though Sunburst hadn’t been awake as long as Twilight or Starlight, his coat was more dishevelled then either. Spectacles sat half way down his nose. As he spoke to them he also read to himself some piece of ancient parchment. He was the very image of the work obsessed academic.

“What do you mean Sunburst? Is my formula wrong?”

“No, your math is flawless, and yet you made the same mistake you always make.”

“Stop being cryptic!” Starlight scolded.

Sunburst put down his scroll and smiled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be. It’s just that the potion you made is seriously overpowered. You’d have to dilute it with goats milk or it will be too potent to use.”

“Too potent?”

“Yeah, but it’s an easy fix. I’m just figuring out how much it should be watered down.” It was actually a harder calculation then he let on. He could figure out what was a safe dosage easily enough, the question was how strong a vision would Twilight need and what is an unacceptable level of risk to get that strength.

Spike, who had been sitting on the couch of the room they occupied, asked “What would happen if someone used it without diluting.”

“That’s a very interesting question. If it were not so unethical I would be highly tempted to test the potion in its current overpowered form.” He put a hoof on his brow and pondered. “The visions would last the same length of time, yet there would be more of them at greater intensity. Who knows what that would do to a ponies mind?"

A guard marched into the room. “Apologies Princess. You told me to tell you if Princess Twilight awoke. She has and she’s in the potion lab right now.

There was a collective gulp, then everyone rushed towards the lab.

Starlight had wanted her to wait, to sleep. How could she do that? Her friends could be starving in a dungeon somewhere. They could be freezing in an arctic climate, dehydrating in a desert, or drowning in an ocean. What if monsters where chasing them? What if they were being brainwashed to harm one another?

Twilight took the potion, the overly potent potion. What if saving them was a time sensitive matter? Everyone could be teetering moments from a horrible death. She brought the vial up to her lips, and she drank it, every last drop. It was bitter, like medicine, still she did not even flinch.

Her eyes turned white, the pupils disappearing. Yes, she saw it. She saw it all. No! She saw too much. She placed her hoofs over her temples and screamed.

Author's Note

Sorry to go all George Lucas on this. There was one part of the story where Sunburst knows more then he should and explained too much to the reader. Those who read it already know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I axed that part a night after I already published.

8 Prelude To 'It's All Coming Back To Me Now' (Meatloaf, Not the Dion Cover)

“So let’s see if I have this right. Your plan is to stick a thorn in a Manticore’s paw, then send it rampaging through the park in the hopes that Fluttershy will soothe the beast, and therefore reveal herself to you.”

“Yes, that’s about the gist of it,” Discord spoke as though he was quite pleased with this brilliant idea.

If Starlight Glimmer had a head, she would be beating it against a tree right now.

“I already have the Manticore, I just need to borrow one thorn from this pretty little rose, if that’s okay with you.”

“No! It is not okay.” The talking rose yelled.

“Don’t be greedy! Just because you can project your consciousness into a rose doesn’t mean you are the rose, Glimmer.”

Starlight Glimmer currently existed as a consciousness bound to the new Golden Oaks Library. She was literally a tree, Fluttershy’s odd fantasy granted to the wrong pony. Though at the moment she was projecting her consciousness into a rose so that she could yell at Discord.

“That’s not the issue! Although ripping off a thorn would actually be painful while I’m channeling through it.”

“Really?”

“Do I have any say in this?”, asked Manny the Manticore.

“Shut-up!” They both said in unison.

It’s just that I wound’t go rampaging and scaring ponies over a little thorn in my paw. I’m not that uncivilized. A single tear made it's way down Manny's cheek.

“Were did you even get such a crazy idea?”

Discord reached into his pocket (a hole in the fabric of reality) and pulled out a musty old book.

“Fluttershy lent me this book the last time I saw her.” He slumped his shoulders slightly. “I had no idea it would be the last time I saw her.” Immediately he perked up again. “Anyway, I like the symbolism of using this book to help find her. It’s a collection of short stories, either fictional or historical; that contain little bits of practical wisdom.”

The book was not in great shape, with its spine creased and pages turned yellow. To say he had taken care of the book, is not accurate. You could probably forgive him for crying into the pages when Fluttershy disappeared, but not for blowing his nose into them. Then after forgetting for a century or two, he found it propping up the leg of a table. The table was too level and wouldn’t wobble properly on its own. Twilight had restored the book for him at least twice.

“Pony Tales, you’re seeking practical real world advice from Pony Tales.”

“The one about the puppet whose nose grew gave me some great advice for finishing my taxes last year.”

“And I suppose the Manticore nonsense came from the fable about the mouse and the lion. Was Cinder-Nellie too obvious?”

“No, I just don’t recall Fluttershy having a particularly unique shoe size. For that matter, did Cinder-Nellie have unusually big or unusually small feet?” Discord morphed the size of right foot as he spoke. “There was the story of ‘The Princess and the Pea,’ but if a pony is that fussy then who needs her.” He scratched his chin in thought.

Glimmer wished she had eyes to roll. She wasn’t unsympathetic to the creature. Way back then Discord truly had loved Fluttershy; only now she worried that he was just in love with the idea of being in love. After what rounds out to a thousand years, Discord didn’t even remember her face.

“Discord,” she spoke softly, “just follow me.”

The draconequus half expected the flower to break out of the soil and walk upon its roots. Instead he heard whispers as Starlight Glimmers consciousness shifted from one plant to another.

“This way…over here…this way… follow me.”

Finally she came upon the fountain in the center of the park. He materialized a rose and a flowerpot, and in a moment Glimmer was with him once again. They walked around the fountain, its basin supporting statues of the Mane Six. He passed Twilight, who he still saw from time to time. Then he passed another pony, and another. Finally he found Fluttershy, her kind loving eyes cast perfectly in marble. The flower stopped whispering. He looked upon the statue. He studied it carefully, then after a long pause he turned to the flower.

“Do you have anything in colour? No joke, this could be about twenty ponies I’ve seen today.”

Author's Note

I didn't get much writing done this weekend, so I decided what I had could serve as a prelude of what is to come.