Memories of a Future's Past
In the ruins of a castle in a chaotic forest, a hooded figure could be seen. Using their magic, they walk to the throne room center, where they lifted a trap door. Walking down the steps, they entered a room with a lot of bookshelves. Pulling out several books with familiar marks on them, the figure removed their hood to reveal their identity as Princess Twilight Sparkle. “You all have been gone for so long,” said Twilight as she glanced at the books that were marked with the cutie marks of her friends. “I used to love being on my own,” she continued as she thought about her life before she went to Ponyville, “but living every day, knowing I’ll never see any of you again.” Her voice cracked as tears came to her eyes.
“I don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t keep going like this. It’s so lonely”. Twilight was now on the ground with tears freely flowing. After a minute of getting her grief out, she pulled out a bunch of paper and held them in front of her. “I know that it’s selfish, but do I have a choice?” she asked herself as she thought about what she was about to do. Strengthening her resolve, she told herself, “I’ve gotta see those smiles again.” Twilight was about to cast the first spell when a voice spoke up behind her.
“So, you decided to go through with the plan,” Discord said with an unusually somber tone. Ever since Fluttershy passed, he became less chaotic. He still does things like making chairs come to life, but his action lacked the same energy as they used to. Twilight nodded as she prepared for Discord to stop her. “Could you take my memories with you as well?” Twilight froze in surprise. She wasn’t expecting this. Though with Discord and Pinkie, you never get what you expect. Getting over her shock, she nodded again and activated her magic. Every book in the room turned into small balls of energy, and another one came out of discord’s head. The draconequus watched as they all flew into Twilight’s head. The sudden rush of memories caused Twilight to stutter, but Discord caught her before she fell.
“Thanks,” Twilight said as she regained her bearings.
“You’re welcome,” said Discord with a smile. “Just promise me that you’ll free me sooner rather than later.”
“Pinkie Promise,” said the alicorn as she went through the motions. “Well, I’ll see you soon.” Twilight’s horn glowed with a brightness that could rival the sun. Then without a sound, the room went dark.
“Goodbye...Friend,” was the last thing Discord said before he and the world around him disappeared.
“Ah! Elements, Elements, E, E, E... Aha! Elements of Harmony, see Mare in the Moon?” Twilight read aloud before she was bombarded with millennials worth of memories, some of which involved her and were sexual in nature. This rush of information caused the young unicorn to faint, not noticing the two new wings on her back.
“Mare in the Moon? But that's just an old ponies' tale,” responded Spike. When he didn’t hear Twilight for a bit, he turned to see what was happening. Upon seeing the unconscious mare with extra wings, he began panicking. “What do I?” Spike asked himself as he paced about the room in worry. After a good two minutes of thinking up and rejecting ideas, he decided to send a letter to Princess Celestia. He didn’t want to bother her today, seeing as how it was the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration, but he was sure that this was important enough to interrupt that. Grabbing a nearby scroll, he quickly wrote down what happened and sent it to the Princess. Barely five seconds passed before Celestia teleported into the room. Quickly trotting over to the unconscious mare, Celestia used her magic to place Twilight and Spike on her back. She was about to teleport to the nearby hospital when she felt movement on her back. “She’s waking up,” cheered Spike. Before either could react, Twilight disappeared in a flash of teleportation.
“I didn’t know she learned teleportation,” said Celestia as she searched for her student’s magic. Finding her near the statue that held Discord, the Alicorn quickly warped to her student’s side. However, she could do nothing but watch as her student used her magic to free the ancient being of chaos.
“Man, being turned into a statue gives you such a kink in your neck,” said Discord as he stretched his limbs to unnatural shapes. “So, who are you, and why did you free me?” asked Discord as he held a microphone up to Twilight, and a second Discord was filming the thing.
“It’s nice to see you again,” said Twilight, confusing both Celestia and Discord. “You asked me to free you and give you this.” Twilight grew silent as she went through many memories.
“Well, I don’t have all day,” said Discord as he looked at a watch that had another Discord on it.
“Almost got it,” said Twilight before letting out a sound of triumph. “Here you go,” said the Alicorn as a ball of light floated out of her head.
“What is this?” asked Discord as he poked the orb that felt like him.
“I also want to know,” said Celestia as she stared at the orb. “As well as how you know Discord.”
“Memories,” answered Twilight, getting looks from both Celestia and Discord. “Future Discord’s memories, to be exact.”
“How do you have my future memories?” asked Discord. He treats the law of reality as his plaything, but even this is out of his league.
“Starlight and I were studying time travel,” explained Twilight while also making a mental note to save Starlight before they both end up in that time travel fight again. “I eventually figured out a way to send memories back in time.” She didn’t mention how she accidentally went back in time and became Clover the Clever. She flared her wings and admitted, “I didn’t expect this to happen, though.”
“But how do you have Discord’s memories?” asked Celestia, repeating the question.
“I also discovered a way to copy memories,” answered Twilight, “I copied the memories of ponies on their deathbed and kept all the memories in a hidden library. I transferred all the memories to my future self before sending them back to my past self, or I guess it would be my present self.” Shrugging, Discord ate the ball of memories. Twilight watched as Discord processed the new information. She laughed as she felt a lab coat appear on her.
“I must admit that when you told me your plan, I thought that you were crazier than me,” said Discord, who was also wearing a lab coat. “I mean if you fail,” the test tube he was holding exploded, covering his face with soot, “there was no telling what might happen,” said the draconequus before licking the soot off of his face. Pulling a clipboard out of nowhere, he wrote down one word, “Banana.” Hearing this, Twilight grabbed soot Discord missed and his clipboard. Tasting the soot, she wrote a single word on the clipboard below Discord’s, “Orange.”
“So, are you ready to meet the other again?” asked Discord as he opened up the door to a carriage.
“Just one more thing,” said Twilight before turning to her mentor, “Do you want your future memories?”
Author's Note
This story was inspired by the song "Better Tomorrow" by Princewhateverer or, more actually, the beginning of the official SFM animation on his channel. Here's a link if you want to check it out, Better Tomorrow - Princewhateverer. Finally, I want to have you influence the story by deciding on whether certain characters get knowledge of the future or not. For this one, the side that gets to twenty votes first wins. If you want to vote, comment on what you want to happen, and that's a vote. One vote per account, though, so don't try to spam comments. Well, see you later.
