Twilight weave through the hallways moments after the bell rang. And as usual, seeing her classmates being in each other's throats always makes her feel uncomfortable, it's even worse than being treated as a black sheep in Crystal Prep. She parted ways with Sunset to use the restrooms and regroup with her afterwards to discuss their project they're assigned to do by the end of the week.

When she made it to her destination, she stopped when two familiar people standing by the door. Yes, it was none other than the horrible offenders of Anon A Miss; Lightning Dust and Gilda.

What she heard, they're the same people who beaten and kidnapped Sunset to the abandoned factory to intentionally left her to die. They, alongside Rainbow Dash and the CMC, would've faced time in juvie if it weren't for Sunset's mercy that they're still here. Twilight's lucky that Sunset vouched for her that she'll never get them on their bad side. Knowing how Gilda and the others can do such a thing makes her feel scared and worried.

Knowing their job is to protect the CMC, and seeing them guarding the restrooms would mean that any of the middle schoolers could be in there.

No point in letting her fear of them getting in her way, Twilight walked over to the door but stopped when their murderous gaze met hers filled with instant fear.

"I take it some of them are in there, correct?" Twilight asked after breaking the silence.

Gilda huffed. "Yeah, that's a good guess." That cold tone made Twilight flinched, but that was expected.

"Are you going to let me pass...?" She spoke meekly. But they just glared at her without answering her question. So she pressed further, "Look, I never had a problem with any of you since I came here, and I was never here when the incident happened." She pointed out.

They rolled their eyes in response, but they gave in. Understanding the gestures, Twilight head inside. When she closed the door behind her, she heard a familar voice suddenly shouted. "Ah'm coming! Ah'm coming!"

Twilight startled at the sudden noise but recoiled when knowing exactly who that was, followed by the sound of water flushing into the toilet.

"Uhm... Apple Bloom?" She called. "It's just me, Twilight Sparkle."

The sound of the girl's voice made the middle schooler calmed down. "Oh, okay. Ah'll be out in a second."

The bathroom stall opened to find the girl with a tired look in her eyes. Even though the CMC had Gilda and her group protecting them, it was still bad enough they had to be taken care of by the same people who nearly killed Sunset. Every day since their return, they had to stick with them while they stay on guard to make sure anyone never put harm on the three girls. And they never stop this constant fear and worry threatening them as they stay on their side, every night they suffered nightmares of them being tortured by Gilda and her gang behind Sunset's back. And Sunset wasn't there to send them to jail for breaking their part of the deal.

Twilight can see the state she's in, not physically but mentally. That's what she can tell. It's written all over the girl's face.

"Are you okay?" Twilight's voice was full of concern.

Apple Bloom bitterly chuckled. "Of course not," she winced, instantly regretting responding with that tone. "Sorry, ah've been feeling miserable lately."

"Yes, I know," Twilight said with a whisper as she watched the girl sat back against the closed door and letting out a sigh of despair. Twilight sat next to her to bring her some closure. "How miserable are you?"

"A lot," Apple Bloom answered, not bothering to look back at her. "Ah know ah deserved it but..." she finally looked up to her. "Ah'm tired," she vented. "ah'm tired of feeling this way. Ah'm tired of this constant fear when ah'm with Gilda and her accomplices, paranoid to think that they'll do something behind Sunset's back, even if they did, they'd go to jail. But that doesn't help because all ah knew was that they'll jump me, Sweetie, and Scootalo at any moment now. This was why I intentionally stall them to a few minutes in here, just to feel safe." She lowered her head down. "But again, ah know ah deserved."

Twilight looked at her with empathy, she did not know how bad the girl went through. "Why didn't you tell Sunset about this? Why can't you have your sister to monitor you?"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "No, we tried that, we even begged her but she refused. Saying that they're perfect for the job than our sisters would do, saying if they just give time for us, or tell them how lonely we felt, none of this would've happen." She rested her hands on her face, hiding herself from what she had done, the memories of her creating Anon A Miss, making Sunset's life miserable, and her actions came back and bitten her, and all those nightmares she had every night. "Ah, just want my suffering to end..." she whimpered.

"Ah wish ah I can go back and stop myself from making that horrible mistake..."

When she said something like that clicked in Twilight's head. She couldn't put a finger on how Bloom's words gave her an idea, but it gets clearer when she stared up at her reflection in the mirror, the more she stared herself, the more she realized there's someone with magic who could've held some sort of spell that involves with time.

Wearing that hopeful smile on her face, she lay a hand on Bloom's shoulder. "I think I know something," the girl looked up to her. "I don't know if it's possible but I have to at least try. Just hang in there, Apple Bloom. You can do that, right?" The pre-teen nodded in reply, unsure on what the bookworm had in mind.

"Okay, ah guess..." Bloom said with uncertainty.

Twilight nodded in determination. "You can count on me."

Two minutes after her run-in with Apple Bloom and her "bodyguards," Twilight exited the main building and was on her way to the Wondercolt Statue. This was the surefire of Sunset's home, Equestria. The last time she was here was two months ago, after Starlight's first visit to the human world. She invited her and Sunset to Equestria for a day, and remembered how Twilight herself freaked out when she turned into a pony for the first time. She smiled at the memory but right now, she'll have an important visiting to do with Princess Twilight.

Remembering how they went in, Twilight took a deep breath, closed her eyes and engulfed into the statue....

*****

Twilight landed head first into the bookshelf, crashing into it. Adding with a pile of books landing on her head with stars spinning around her head. She shook them off and helped herself off of these books, it'd be a shame to leave them here like this. Remembering how ponies walked, Twilight sets down correctly how they walk or trot. And remembering how to use her horn for the first time, she levitated the books back into their proper place on the bookshelf as neatly as good. Now that's taken care of, time to pay her double a visit.

It didn't take her long to find the throne room considering she took time to study the castle's structure a while back. She opened the doors to find five ponies around the room mopping the floor, she never met these ponies before but if she read them right, they must this world's version of the Rainbooms. If Sunset sees them during their visit, then who knows what she'll do?

Twilight cleared her throat and began, "Uhm, hi."

The Mane five stopped and stared at her, they all look confused all of a sudden.

"Twilight?" Applejack began, putting her mop down. "How did ya get there? Ah thought yer helping Starlight and Spike to fix those shattered windows?"

"And what's with the glasses?" Rainbow added, hovering above the table.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie popped up behind her, startling the human turned pony. "No, sillies! This must be the Twilight from Sunset's world! You know, the Twilight that our Twilight talks about!" She let out a wide grin across her face.

Rarity sighed in relief. "Oh, that explains with the glasses and the lack of wings. For a second there, I thought something must've happened that says a lot about you being demoted."

Wanting to know more of her, Rainbow flew towards her. "So anyways, what brings you here?" She asks. "Oh, try not to slip, this place has liability insurances, although we're almost done, anyway."

Twilight looked around at the mess that had taken place, which was almost taken care of. "Did something happen here?"

AJ set the mop down and wiped her forehead. "Yep, not than a few hours ago, a storm blasted through, all because of somepony who was lazy to do her part of the weather jobs," she narrowed her eyes at Dash.

"But I thought the other Pegasus had gotten that taken care of," Rainbow objected, crossing her hooves.

"You even put Derpy to take care of all of it," Applejack pointed out. "And not that ah'm saying ah'm blaming her for being... her, but it didn't work out and now this."

Just then, the opposite doors opened to reveal, Spike, Starlight, and their Twilight trotting back to the group.

"Well, we got windows fixed," Spike declared.

"Yep, it only took some spell casting to put them all back together," Starlight agreed.

When they lay eyes on human Twilight from the other side of the room, they were surprised to see her again. Especially Princess Twilight.

"Oh, other me, it's good to see you again," Princess Twilight said with delight, feeling all good to see her double again. "I'm sorry about this mess we're having right now," she turned to her friends. "Is everypony almost done?" They nodded in reply. "Good."

'Oh, I like her,' Twilight thought with a smirk across her face. "It's good to see you again, Princess." She replied. "And don't worry about it, I just came anyway."

"Well, if you're here for a chat, of course I have time to discuss matters with you," she replied. "If everypony is done, let's all sit together in the throne table. I'm sure my double has something to share with us."

Rainbow nodded. "Eh, well I got nothing to do after this, so I like the sound of that."

"Oh, splendid, I would love to hear how the mirror world works," Rarity agreed, putting her things back into her saddlebag. "I'd also love to know what threads her world has there."

"Uhm, I'm afraid that's not what we'll be discussing," Twilight dejected, "It's something important I need to talk about."

"Well then, let's all have a seat and we'll hear it," Applejack said.

When they all get a seat of their own in the throne table, they waited patiently for Twilight to speak up about why this matter was important to talk about. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke up, "Look, I don't want to spoil the mood around here but what we're talking about here is important."

"Ah, take it that it must be some sort of friendship problem?" Applejack asked.

"Kind of, but that's not about it," she turned to her double up front. "Princess, ever since Anon A Miss, everyone's lives had been... messed up lately. And, it hasn't been better months later."

Hearing that name made everyone's smiles fell. Princess Twilight, for instance knew very well of the incident, she's the only who believed Sunset when it started, and she's been keeping in touch with her ever since the assembly. For the mane five, they were shocked and ashamed by their variants for ditching a friend like that, even Rainbow Dash was furious with her other self for doing such thing that she nearly went through the portal and Twilight had to shut it down for a while until she calmed down. It was like the Gabby Gums incident but even worse when someone nearly got killed. When they told the full story to Starlight, she was also shocked and saddened as well.

"Yes, I am very aware of that," Princess Twilight said with emptiness in her voice. "What about it?"

Twilight took another moment before she replied, "I know this place is full of magic and all, although I'm not sure if it's entirely possible but, maybe if you have some sort of time spell so you can help me go back just so that Apple Bloom never resorted to Anon A Miss?"

Princess Twilight frowned, and staring at her in silence. Did she hear her right? Did she just asked for a time spell just prevent Anon A Miss?

"Twilight," she began, "I had to stop Starlight from disrupting the sonic rainboom so many times and put me through many alternate timelines, you want me to do it again because things had been messy in your world?"

"It's not just about me, nor Sunset, nor the Rainbooms, nor the CMC, but also for everyone," Twilight reasoned with her. "Half the school was rejected from becoming valedictorian upon graduation, the teachers are on the verge of losing their jobs by the end of this school year, everyone in town especially my old school sees CHS a school that was not meant to be trusted or whatever they've been saying. Well, you get the picture."

"I'm sorry," The princess shook her head. "I'm afraid that time travel isn't an option to what happened..."

"But why it's not a solution?" Rainbow questioned her. "Look, all she has to do is go back and convince Apple Bloom why framing Sunset is never worth it, then Anon A Miss never happen. Problem solve."

"You don't know what will change the future if you did something in the past," Princess Twilight pointed out.

Rainbow shrugged, "She'll just have to convince Apple Bloom to not do it, and that's it."

Starlight thought carefully about this. "I hate to break it to you, Twilight, but I think that could've solved their problems real quick." She turned to the double. "Just give me a preference of the date before it started, and then I'll send you back there."

"No, we're not using that spell again," Princess Twilight denied. "The last thing we need is to make another problem in the present if we made a mistake in the past."

"Or how about bring Sunset here before she got jumped by jerk me and the others?" Rainbow suggested.

"Ah dunno," AJ objected. "Wouldn't bringing Sunset here before the moment she got ambushed would mean that she never got jumped but rather went missing many months later? And besides, how good would that do if we just bring her here before the ambush?"

Rainbow was stunned at that valid point. "Oh... I didn't think about that."

"Or why don't we just go back and tell the girls they're making a big mistake abandoning Sunset?" Spike suggested while scratching his head.

"I got it!" Rainbow beamed up. "We were told that my jerk self had Gilda to do her dirty work, how about instead we go back and find baby Gilda, and you know...?" She made gestures suggesting they should strangle Gilda with a rope.

Understanding the gesture, everypony gasped in horror. "Rainbow Dash! That's horrible!" Rarity scowled.

"It's Gilda," she replied.

Princess Twilight recoiled and gave her a firm look. "No, we're not going that far. Ever."

"Besides, if yah do that, then yer no better than yer double," Applejack lectured her.

Rainbow slumped back into her seat. "Good point..." she muttered.

Twilight sighed and suggested, "Wouldn't be just easier to send me back to before it started, and then I'll convince Apple Bloom not to destroy Sunset's life?"

Starlight turned her. "Yeah, that sounds way easier, but they are still many ways how we can do this. If that doesn't work, we'll have to send you to any point during Anon A Miss and see what you can to prevent further casualties," she thought about another solution. "Like help Sunset convince them even further that she's not the culprit."

"Or we can just take the CMC forward in time and make them see how their actions had affected the future?" Rainbow asked.

"Again, if we take them to the future, then they would've been missing for months," Applejack stated.

"Is that how time travel works?" Fluttershy wondered, her soft voice barely made a volume in the throne room.

"Of course it does!" Pinkie answered, gleefully bouncing her chair. "I visited that other world last week, and the other me showed me these awesome moving pictures they called them "movies", and here's plenty of examples I learned about time travelling that those 'movies' deals with! There's Star Trek, Terminator, Back to the Future, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Hot Tub Time Machine, Source Code, Time Cop, Wrinkle in Time, X-Men, and Harry Potter. Basically, every one of those moving picture thingies that deals with time travel!" She let out an even wider grin than earlier.

The girls are perplexed at her excessive rambling, none of them had a thought to say about her experience in the human world. Nor bringing themselves to ask why did she bothered to travel to the mirror world. But as they knew, she's Pinkie Pie.

Starlight recovered from her reaction and stated, "Hmm, Starswirl's spell deals with the Dynamic Time logic. Basically means whatever you do in the past, your actions becomes a greater impact of your future."

"Like all those attempts you disrupted the sonic rainboom," Twilight recalled, and realizing what she just brought up. "I'm sorry." She winced at the thought making Starlight feel bad.

"It's okay," Starlight assured her. "That was to be expected."

"So, are we going to do this now or what?" Rainbow asked. "I'd like to go back and give my past double a reality check." Her voice shifted from a bored tone to one of anger at her double.

"Rainbow Dash, calm down," the princess told her firmly. "And once again, no, I'm afraid time travel isn't an option."

"Now ah agreed with Twilight here," Applejack chimed in. "That time spell is cuckoo crazy. As much as ah want to use it and go back to save mah parents, ah knew better than to mess with the fabric of space time, for all we knew, it's bound to go wrong."

"I have to agree darling," Rarity added. "Just one mistake will create a catastrophe for the future."

"Uhm, hello?" Rainbow exaggerated. "All Twilight has to do is go back and tell Bloom it's not worth it? Simple as that."

"Applejack's right, Dash," Princess Twilight told her with a stern tone. "But it's not just that, the real reason why I never agreed to this," she took a deep breath, forming the words in her head to know what she should say. "I held emotional scars from that time travel loop thing," she shuddered at the memories of her experience with many different timelines. "While stopping Starlight, the whole thing nearly made me insane that I would've lost myself in any given moment!" She added. "And when the whole thing was dealt with, I swore to myself to never lay a hoof on that damn spell again!"

The girls are shocked to hear what she felt during the whole ordeal. Especially Sci Twi, she never had any idea how she felt since then. Now that makes her feel guilty for suggesting a time spell while the wounds from Princess Twilight's time adventure was still a sour spot.

"I am so sorry," she whispered, lowering her head in shame. "I have no idea you feel that way."

"It's okay," Princess Twilight accepted. "I moved on now, I just don't want to be reminded of that."

"Kind of like how Sunset doesn't want to be reminded about Anon A Miss," Twilight sighed. "I'm sorry if I ever wasted your precious time, but it's nice to chat and meet all of you." She gave them a warm smile. "Now, will you all excuse me, I need to get back, I don't how long I've been staying here but I knew I should get back."

But before she hopped off her seat, the princess stopped her. "Wait, before you go, there's something you, the Rainbooms, and Sunset need."

She activated her horn to levitate a small pink box from her room, and place it down in front of her double. She levitated the cover open to reveal seven colorful necklaces lay neatly in the box.

Twilight looked carefully at the objects. "Necklaces?"

The princess shook her head. "Not just necklaces, these are magical necklaces. They are meant for the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, so these are for the Rainbooms, Sunset, and you."

"Me?" Twilight was taken aback by this. How would she know anything about magic without even experiencing it? "Why me? And how come I'm one of them? Didn't their magic came from your crown?"

"Yes, well, I can't put a hoof into it, but I guess the Elements assumed that you're me, as the Element of Magic," Princess Twilight told her. "These necklaces were suppose to be waiting for you and the girls in your world's Everfree Forest, but because of Anon A Miss, I think it's safe to assumed that it's not possible anymore. The Elements knew this, so they went for an alternate option, they found themselves here in Equestria, and Princess Celestia told me how they should be given to you and the girls in an alternative route."

"When did they came here?" Twilight wondered.

"About three days ago," The princess answered. "I was about to message Sunset about these but as you know, the storm blasted through here," she briefly gave Dash a glare while the pegasi just nervously chuckled. "So I wouldn't have time to do that, and since you're here right now, I thought I should break the news to you."

"Whatever happens in your world, even if their friendships had shattered, just like what Anon A Miss did, the Elements will find one way or another to meet their potential owners." She continued. "It's because the Magic of Friendship is still inside them somewhere, even if it doesn't seem possible anymore. And with you in the picture, the Elements sees you as me, so they deemed you worthy for its power. So please, take them and give them to the girls. And remember, their power lays on your hooves, I mean hands." She finished.

Twilight looked down at the necklaces carefully. She still doesn't understand magic but if the Elements knew they made the right choice deeming her worthy for their magic, maybe she should trust how they view the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Including her.

"I will." She simply said. "And I will make it count."

The princess gave her double a faithful smile. Talking about looking at your reflection. "I know you can."

After bidding goodbye, Twilight took the box with her and made her way back to the portal and to her world. And hopefully she didn't stay here for too long since Sunset told her the time gap between here and her world was weird, she could be thirty minutes late for class by now. She's never late for class in her life.

Author's Note

Hoo! Yeah! Quite a writing, I don't know If I should keep this up, but I'll try and keep going. Hopefully.

I always have this interpretation of Twilight having some emotional scars from her time travel loop with Starlight, and yeah, that ordeal would've scarred her for life, which makes thing it's sounds plausible if Twilight feels that way. And hence why time travel is never an option. Even if it is, it's bound to go wrong like Applejack said. It doesn't matter if the simple solution is to go back and tell Apple Bloom why she shouldn't start Anon A Miss.

Yep, more reference scenes from Avengers Endgame, where Dash suggested to go back and kill baby Gilda, kind of like how Rhodey suggested the same with baby Thanos, and the scene with the girls cleaning up because of the storm blasted through kind of like how Doctor Strange's house was covered in snow because of the blizzard in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Yeah, still need to get the girls their geodes, because the geodes would still need their owners, right? Even if their friendship was destroyed, they still need their owners. So that's why I made the Elements find one way or another to get to them, hopefully that sounds more reasonable, right?

So nope, time travel isn't an option in Princess Twilight's case, though I wouldn't blame her for what she went through in that time loop episode, I always thought it would've driven her insane if she never stop Starlight. And they'd never used that spell again. And Twilight would gladly agreed to that. Period.

Well, this is it for now. Stay safe, stay coolio. Peace!