Time is Magic

MARETIME BAY: 2250 CE

It is a calm, gentle night in Maretime Bay. A young orange Earth Pony named Sunny Starscout is getting ready for bed. She lives with her father, Argyle Starshine, who is an avid historian and archaeologist, who studies Equestria’s imperial and magical past.

“Daddy, can you tell me a bedtime story?” The young filly asks her father, as she is getting more comfortable under her covers. Argyle laughs. He loves sharing his knowledge with his young daughter since she seems to have his sense of curiosity and intellect.

“Of course, Sunny. Anything that can help you fall asleep, AND teach you something important!” Argyle says, gently moving over to his daughter’s night light and turning it on, illuminating the room with a gentle, ombre light.

“Well, I told you a few nights ago that a long time ago, the three pony tribes used to coexist in harmony for thousands of years.”

“Yeah, Dad, you told me about the Elements of Harmony already, and Celestia and Luna, and Kirins, and-”
“Woah, hold your horses, Sunny. You might know a lot, but do you know the tale of the time-traveling Jewnicorn from another world?” Argyle asks, immediately piquing his daughter’s interest.

“A time-traveling what now? What’s a Jewnicorn? Is that another pony species that doesn’t exist anymore? TELL ME, TELL ME, TELL ME!”

“If you calm down and close your eyes, I will tell you, okay?”

Sunny does as she is asked, closing her eyes and trying to sleep, however she is jittering in her bed with excitement.

“Okay. The Jewnicorn was once a creature called a “human.” Humans live in another world, and used to come to Equestria all the time! I think my grandmare claimed to have met one, maybe she was the last pony to have met a human? What I do know is that humans stopped visiting Equestria once the magic disappeared.”

“Aww, that’s too bad. Do you think humans will come and visit if everypony gets along again like in the good old days?”

Argyle chuckles at his daughter’s optimism, although he thought it bordered on the naïve.

“Maybe. But can I finish?”

Sunny nods, her eyes still closed.

“Anyways, humans are a story for another day. The point is, this human was summoned to Equestria by Princess Luna herself, or more specifically, Nightmare Moon, her more moody, powerful form. She needed him to fight an evil mare named Daybreaker using highly advanced magic that not everypony knew about. That magic was the control of time. Legends say he could pause time for fifteen seconds, make time go by faster or slower, and even time travel to the past or future! With some help from the Elements of Harmony, the Jewnicorn was able to defeat Daybreaker with the Magic of Time and Friendship, and he became an alicorn.”

Sunny was enthralled by this story. How could a human become an alicorn? Something didn’t seem right to her.

“Hold on, dad. How can a HUMAN become an alicorn? I thought only unicorns and pegasi can become alicorns?” Sunny asks, trying to remember what her father taught her about Equestrian mythology.

“Well, Princess Luna turned the human into a unicorn to use magic, and his new body ascended from there. At least, that is what makes the most sense to me. To conclude, like all other alicorns, Jewnicorn was given the gift of immortality, so he still exists, somewhere to this day, waiting with his teacher Princess Luna for everypony to get along, so magic can come back to Equestria. I love you, Sunny. Sleep well, and may Luna watch over your dreams.” Argyle says, kissing his daughter on the forehead as she gently falls asleep.

Argyle quietly leaves his daughter’s bedroom and enters his study opposite the bedroom, where all of his notes, papers, and maps are. He thinks very carefully about his daughter’s nightlight, and the object inside it acting as a bulb.

“I think that this orb might be one of the Jewnicorn’s magic timepieces, but I don’t know for sure. I do know that I must keep it safe.’

His sigh came from the bottom of his barrel.

‘Oh, how I wish for somepony else to talk about this with.”, while carefully reading an old text about a potential dragon fossil found nearby.