Chapters Time Enough for Everything at Last
Ch.1 Experimentations in Time
Near the end of the second full year of Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst Blaze’s watch over the School of Friendship as Head Mare and Vice Head Stallion, Princess Twilight come to them in a troubled state of mind. She tells them of having the same premonition three times in the last month, foretelling of a ‘great calamity’ in Equestria’s not-too-distant future. She fears for their world’s safety under her watch still.
Princess Twilight implores them both to return to Starlight’s work of Time Travel in order to find out what happened to cause this ‘great calamity’ in Equestria’s future. Both heads of the School of Friendship are very reluctant to broach that area of magic, with Starlight reminding Twilight of the danger they themselves witness when she first tried ‘messing around’ with their world’s history. Besides, their one-year anniversary was coming up and they had plans to go away for a romantic weekend while their eight-month-old daughter, Luster Dawn, was in the care of Sunburst’s parents.
Twilight won’t order them to do something they wouldn’t want to do but she does appeal to their curiosity of ‘theoretical practice’; to see if it actually could be done, opening a doorway to either the past or the future of their world. Sunburst does admit it always very impressed with Starlight’s spell-craft and would have loved to have read it before it was sealed away in Canterlot public library’s restricted part.
Twilight promises to retrieve the scroll and offers the magic journal she uses to communicate with Sunset Shimmer from her lab. Perhaps some of the magical elements of the book could be replicated in some way that Starlight and Sunburst could integrate with her spell scroll in some way.
The duo, somewhat, reluctantly agree to help out, giving warning about the good chance they might not be successful with what she asks of them. All the work could be for naught. But Twilight has faith in their research and spell-casting skills, accustomed to putting such projects in other pony’s hooves and trusting those she chose. Success or fail, she knew she had the right ponies in charge.
After reacquainting herself with the original time-travel spell scroll and the various component sub-spells she used, as well as examining Twilight’s magical journal from the Equestria Girls world, Starlight and Sunburst have recreated the spell in a more stabilized form and imbued it into a full-sized mirror on the wall, effectively creating a ‘portal’ in which to view into. Twilight is astounded by how quickly the two had achieved what they had, taking less than one week to do so. Sunburst is humbled by the praise while Starlight couldn’t help but brag a little about how easy it was and how fun it was to work with her husband on a magic project unrelated to the School of Friendship.
So far, all they’ve tried is tossing inanimate objects into the portal and have them return a few minutes later. They regulate their magic power together into a receiving crystal that focuses the energy into the mirror’s glass pane. They can control how far forward in time the object returns. So far, the longest period of time they have experiment with been one hour. Each experiment has been successful. The next real test would be one full day’s time.
Twilight encourages them both to continue the work, very pleased with the progress. Two days later, Twilight is summoned to the magic lab for an update. There is an issue; going beyond one day’s time requires more magic power then just the two of them to activate the portal. Sunburst asks Twilight to help out; they need another strong magic source to power the portal in order to go further out in time. The princess is thrilled to be asked to help, getting to enjoy her time with two very close friends on a project. With Twilight’s magical power and spell-casting skills, the pace of progress increases to the point that now some pony needed to actually go into the portal and see if it worked with a living creature as opposed to, say, a rubber ball.
Starlight offers herself as the test subject, confident in her spell creation and the research then trio has done in order to make this work. They start small, just one minute forward in time as a first attempt. It went as smoothly as they had thought; Starlight emerging from the mirror exactly one minute later. The second attempt was for one hour and, again, Starlight returned through the mirror as they had predicted. Then came the big test; one full day’s time. Starlight was not worried by the potential danger, still very sure of her skill and now with Twilight’s help, even more confident that traveling into the future would be possible.
Sunburst is very concerned about the danger; prolonged exposure to ‘time displacement’ is still an unknown factor of such actions and none of them knew of what, if any, symptoms might come about after such magical experimentation. It might nullify their magic power, or it could wreak havoc on their bodies and leaved them internally injured without any pony realizing it. There was a lot of unknowns but Starlight wasn’t afraid. Her best friend and the love of her life were helping her do this; what could possibly go wrong?
After powering the crystal that was mounted above the mirror with the correct magic energy, Starlight stepped into the portal and disappeared. This was going to be the most worrisome twenty-four hours for Sunburst, wondering if this was going to go as well as they had worked out in their notes. Twilight stays with Sunburst all day and into the next, returning with him in to the School of Friendship’s magic lab to await Starlight’s return. Twilight counted down the final twenty seconds of time. The crystal began to glow with a soft red luminance, increasing in intensity as the seconds wound down. Right on time, Starlight emerged from the mirror, smiling with satisfaction at her spell’s success.
From this experiment, Starlight can extrapolate how much magic spell casting power is needed to go forward in time and return successfully. To do what Twilight is asking will take a few days’ time for Starlight and Sunburst to calculate going as after as fifty or one-hundred years into the future.
Sunburst openly questions as to the ‘why’ Twilight needs to know; if it was something out of her control, no amount of effort on their part could divert it from happening. But Twilight is adamant, intending on creating some kind of ‘failsafe’ to protect their world from total collapse into chaos. She understands she can’t, and shouldn’t, stop it from happening, but she intends to keep its effects to a minimum so as to prevent all life from ending. She admits to both Starlight and Sunburst the seeing what happened to Equestria while chasing after Starlight through time like she had those years ago, made a deep and jarring impression on her. She made a promise to herself to never let that happen on her watch; she would not let Celestia and Luna down after taking over for them.
Both Sunburst and Starlight are sympathetic to her heart’s desire and would do all they could to fulfill her wishes. Just before leaving for their anniversary week-end get away, Starlight delivers her report to Twilight, presenting a case study of time travel and what it entailed. The reading kept Twilight intrigued; the princess saved it for bedtime reading after a long day of ruling Equestria, finding the escape into Starlight and Sunburst’s work more interesting than the legal documents and meetings that filled her daytime hours. She promises to give them more resources and open access to the restricted area of the Canterlot Library in order to peruse this project when they return from their vacation. This looked very promising.
Time Enough for Everything at Last
The young couple cold not believe themselves once they returned to Canterlot and received the princesses’ praise and approval for their work. For Sunburst, the depth and breadth of reading available to him was nothing short of spectacular. With such resources and his hoof-tips, any sub-spells or supportive incantations he could require were readily available. For Starlight, getting to push the boundaries of her spell-casting with her friend was a pleasure. They work as an effective team with minimal chit-chat and minds focused on the task.
If their calculations are correct, given the proportional amount of magic energy required, it was possible to create a stable opening to a point in time, though just how far was uncertain. With only two weeks before the classes were to resume at the School of Friendship, they have hit another impasse. They simply can’t focus enough magic energy into the crystal in order keep it the portal open for any length of time, a few seconds at most. They were in need of help. Twilight knew just the pony to ask.
Moondancer arrived at the school within an hour of receiving the scroll from Twilight. Keen to hear more about the subject her princess had written about, she was thrilled to be asked to assist them in their experiments. Twilight made the introductions, but Sunburst had casually met Moondancer at Caterlot’s library on occasion or two; both of them meeting at the index card catalog.
Before long, they had successfully strengthened the portal’s power, each of them assisted to fine tune the crystal’s structure to the right frequency. With amazement, the four of them could now watch the passage of the millennia second by second as their combined power had touched the cosmic fabric of Time itself. All are in awe of what they beheld. Whole centuries of time passed in seconds before their eyes, making what little they saw little more than blurred images.
It will take refining of Starlight’s spell to control the rate of the passing time in the portal; but they had succeeded in open the portal none the less. The successes kept on coming when Moondancer had found a spell in the archives that would enhance control of Starlight’s original spell. It took another week to rewrite Starlight original time travel spell, now incorporating a new incantation to control the rate in which the time passed.
Starlight still had to spend time getting the School of Friendship ready for the returning students so she spent part of the day in her office catching up on official schoolwork and the other half in the magic lab.
Standing together, they admired their magical prowess at creating a stable portal that could access Time itself and enter its stream to points in the past or future. Starlight’s spell, now refined, could more accurately control to how far forward in the time-stream she would move. One last aspect that needed addressing was making sure whoever went through had a way back.
Sunburst voiced his concern. So far, Starlight had been gone for only a very short time. What was to happen to any pony should they try to go forward in time, say, a year and could not find the portal once in the future? Moreover, he showed in the calculations they’d come up with that, for the greater the distance into the future or past a traveler went, the more difficult it would be to target a specific day or even season in which to emerge on the other side. The greater the distance in time travel to traverse, the more magical energy was required and the more difficult it was to maintain stability in the portal’s energy filed because it would become more sensitive to other extraneous magical energies.
This was concerning; Twilight did not want her friends risking more on her behalf. They’d done a great feat of magic and should be proud. But Starlight thinks she can overcome this problem. By removing all the magical items from the immediate area, from the lab, she demonstrated that the energy field became more stable, less magical interference in the room. Sunburst then came to the logical conclusion; if the portal was re set-up in an isolated spot in, say, Canterlot Castle that was away from stray magical energies, and that would help to keep the portal even more stable.
It is agreed; the four of them will reassemble the portal and lab work in a new lab within Canterlot Castle. Starlight stays behind at the School of Friendship to continue getting the school ready for the coming semester. Twilight, Sunburst and Moondancer move all of their experimental gear to the new lab space, resetting up everything. Moondancer makes a proposition to Twilight and Sunburst; she would like to be the first volunteer to go for an extended journey.
Moondancer explained that since Sunburst and Starlight have to get the School of Friendship ready for the coming year, and Twilight couldn’t go because of her position as Princess of Equestria, the most logical choice to go was her. As she was on sabbatical still from her teaching job, she should be the one sent, just in case ‘something’ went wrong. It was an awful decision for Twilight to have to make and they would wait for Starlight to join them this afternoon to discuss this more.
The next day, Starlight was back in the lab with her friends, her solution to every pony’s concern now in her forehooves. She had successfully imbued some of the magic power from the time portal’s crystal into a much smaller crystal, no bigger than a small pendent to be worn around the neck. Whoever wore the crystal and went through the portal would be able to return, no matter how far in the past or future they went. The resonance frequency within the smaller crystal would act as a magical ‘frequency finder’ in order to bring the traveler back to the time in which they originated from. Moondancer is very impressed with Starlight’s magic, clearly in the presence of a friend who possessed great magic skill then herself.
It was not quite lunchtime as Twilight sat quietly alone on her throne in the throne room, reading over yet another official document requiring her signature before acting into law. She sighed over the tediousness of the position of Princess at times like these and was privately wishing she was in the magic lab with her friends.
From out of the blue, and completely unexpectedly, appeared the Lord of Chaos and Twilight’s trusted envoy, Spike. They brought a welcome distraction to Twilight, who was getting lost in the legalese of the document’s wording and tired of reading it. The fellas give her a brief rundown of what they were up to and asked the same of Twilight. She tells them of the work she, Starlight, Sunburst and Moondancer have been doing and why. Spike was not pleased to hear of this. Discord, however, was intrigued by what Twilight was telling.
Spike, hearing the reasoning behind Twilight’s desire to time travel, had the small dragon very concerned. He succinctly reminded Twilight of what happened and what they witnessed when chasing Starlight through time like they had in the past and the consequences of interfering with the flow of time. But Discord was intrigued by what his friends were up to and poo-pooed Spike’s concern. He was clearly impressed by the daringness and boldness of his pony friends’ magic work. He likes to hear of them pushing the boundaries of their magic and trying something on his level of difficulty.
Twilight relays to them of the status of their progress as well; close to having a volunteer enter the portal for an extended time length. Discord, in his excitement and eager to see his old par Starlight, decides to teleport them to the lab to check in on how it was going. Before Twilight can say anything to stop him, Discord snapped his fingers to teleport them to the lab straight away.
The moment Discord’s aura of Chaos magic entered the magic labs controlled and isolated state, the portal’s magical field was sent into wild imbalance and the spells controlling and balancing the crystal’s power it went out of control. There was a great sucking in of wind and a bright blinding white light emanating from the portal that filled the lab. So intense it was that everyone had to cover their eyes to protect them. They ware loud screams of terror and then a loud bang as the light flashed brighter and then disappeared. When they all looked up again, they saw the mirror’s glass, the pane that the portal had been focused in, was now cracked in several places and only now showed snowy-static flickering in the broken fragments.
Sunburst let loose a blood curling scream of horror, realizing that his wife was now no longer in the lab with them. Moondancer, Twilight and Spike had clung onto each other and had held onto the lad table’s leg to prevent being sucked into the portal. Both Twilight and Moondancer were in an instant panic; Starlight had been pulled into the portal and they had no idea of where in the Time-stream she’d been sent to. The panic lasts for a few seconds as they tried to get a grip on the situation. Quickly their attention turns to Discord, standing there and looking quite innocent.
Moondancer lays into Discord about this unwanted interruption and how his aura had destroyed their delicate magic work and pulled Starlight into the portal. Twilight yells at him for not listening to her and for doing as he pleases without regard for any pony else. Spike, for his part, yells at Twilight for having gone down the road of potential disaster and now suffering the consequences of making Starlight disappear. She knew better to not do this and look what happened!
Sunburst is beside himself with shock and grief, falling to the floor and crying as his mind is almost gone for any rational thought at that moment.
“Oops, um, my bad?” was all Discord could offer for having done what he did, even if it was unintentional. He felt bad that his aura had upset their magic; unaware that his magical aura would have done what it did. There is more yelling and accusations about what just happened between the four of them, only to then be interrupted by loud banging on the door of the lab.
One of the palace guards was trying to reach the Princess; he has an urgent message for her from Ponyville General Hospital, it’s about Head-Mare Starlight Glimmer. Twilight magically flings open the door and takes the message from her guard to read it out loud. Starlight was now in the hospital and in terrible condition; the Princess is requested there at once. The five of them; Twilight, Spike, Discord, Sunburst and Moondancer all teleport to Ponyville and make for the hospital just around the corner from where they appeared.
Inside the hospital and in a second-floor room, the five of them were brought to Starlight’s bedside, shocked by her appearance. It is the sound of Sunburst’s voice and his particular scent that brings Starlight around from near unconsciousness. She manages to smile weakly and crack open an exhausted eye to see the love of her life once more, before falling unconscious once more in a deep sleep. He is brought to tears with relief to have his beloved Starlight home, the thought of losing her too much to bear.
Outside the room, and to give Sunburst some privacy, Twilight inquires to Starlight’s condition from the doctor. Starlight’s condition is not good; she suffered from starvation and extreme dehydration. A few more days like she was in would have killer her for sure. With rest and some fluids replenishing her system, she should recover. Moondancer had to prop Twilight up somewhat when hearing the news that Starlight was going to make it, her relief so overwhelming that she nearly fell over.
“Promise me you’re never going to mess around again with time travel spells, Twilight? Will ya’?” The small green dragon beseeched his princess, exasperation in his voice.
“She was wearing this,” the doctor presented Twilight with some kind of harness that was for wearing, fitted with small accessory pockets. In the pockets Twilight discovered some survival equipment; a compass, a multi-function pocket knife, two empty canteens for water and a number of plastic wrappers stuffed in the pockets, what must have been used to keep food preserved in. But the one detail that caught Twilight’s attention more than just the belt was the embroidery on the cover of the first accessory pocket.
On the flap were, what Twilight could only guess, the embroidered images of five pony Cutie-Marks, the designs of which Twilight had never seen before. One thing she was sure of beyond a doubt, Starlight did not have this in her possession before entering the portal. It then brought Twilight to the next logical question. If Starlight didn’t have this when she went into the portal, then where did she get it from? Even more perplexing is what fell out one of the pockets and clattered to the floor. Neither Discord nor Moondancer had any idea of what the strange object was, watching Spike pick it up gently and wore an even more shocked look on his face.
Twilight, too, knew exactly what it was that Spike was holding. It was a cellular phone, the likes of which Spike and Twilight had only seen in the human world of Sunset Shimmer’s, when they’d traveled to that alternative dimension those months ago.
“How…?” Spike could only stammer in disbelief at what he was holding. Twilight is dumbstruck, unable to come up with a single reason for this object to suddenly be here in Equestria.
Discord points out an obvious flaw in their pony magic; Starlight was supposed to reappear through the portal. How did she end up out here and not in the castle? Clearly his pony friends need more practice with their magic if they wanted to overcome such issues, should they want to try again.
Twilight could not answer him. This was going to have to have to wait until Starlight had recovered. Perhaps then she could explain what happened to her.
Time Enough for Everything at Last
Starlight was slow to come around, her body in a good deal of pain, especially her head and upper chest area. She could not see at the moment, her vision still wiped out from the bright flash of light, along with being too dizzy to really focus. She heard voices, but it was just a jumble of sounds in her ears.
Her eyes finally started to clear up, making out the various amorphous shapes that hovered above her. She managed to mumble a few syllables, trying to find out who was with her. But was told to "take it easy ma'am" by a male voice.
She could finally make out the faces above her, all looking down at her and wearing expressions of concern. When she asked why she was in the Ponyville hospital, she was met with "where ma'am?" by another voice "You're in Maretime Bay General Hospital."
“Is this near Baltimare?” she asked them, still a little groggy. But after a few seconds of being able to actually see more clearly, Starlight quickly realized she did not recognize any of the nurses or the physician that was at her bedside. In fact, she did not recognize the hospital room she was currently in. Then her memory of what happened started to come back. She recalled talking with Moondancer a few seconds before the room went berserk with uncontrolled magical energies. She remembered the rushing of wind and there being a loud bang or explosion in the lab, and then, silence.
‘The portal, the PORTAL!’
She remembered and then felt her body go stiff, realizing she was now interacting with the ponies in this particular place in Equestria's time line. She was no longer home. Things quickly got serious for her. Awake enough and aware enough to know she was in serious trouble. As the two nurses
‘I must be somewhere on the coast!’
Starlight was quick to determine where she was and also not linger around someplace unfamiliar. Her sudden appearance startled several earth ponies walking by, as well as a couple pegasus ponies who witnessed it as well. As discreetly as she could so as not to draw any more attention, Starlight quietly slunk away, seeking out any safe and unseen place in order to regain her bearings.
‘A good spy is a calm spy! A good spy is a calm spy!’
She repeated her mantra, recalling how to act so as to not arouse suspicion from those she walked past. Fortunately for her, the streets she traversed were named as she made a turn off of Main Street and headed uptown to the center of Maretime Bay, up Third Avenue.
Hitch got a call at his desk from the hospital, informing him that the unicorn mare that was found this morning out on Great West Road was now awake and loose in Maretime Bay. They told him that the mare very well could have been injured and/or lost. Zipp, who was at the station as well, offered to help Hitch by providing flight recon over the town for him. They set out to find the wayward pony after being given a simple description of her.
Starlight tried to remain as calm as possible while she sought out a place to hide, somewhere to recoup and get a handle on her situation. Fortunately, she came across a small bookstore, which was pretty much deserted, and went inside. The mare behind the counter warmly greeted her, welcoming the new arrival from Bridlewood to Maretime Bay.
“Bridlewood?” Starlight had no idea where this mare spoke about but played along with her hosts misassumptions about her. Starlight headed for the rear of the store, looking for any books pertaining to the history of this area. Even an atlas would have been some kind of start.
Zipp had spotted the pony in question enter the store but did not pursue. She called Hitch on her headset and relayed the information. She followed his orders: maintain visual contact and await further instructions. He would be there in less than three minutes. Zipp took up a spot behind some bushes across the street, keeping an eye on the front door. Waiting was nerve wracking for Zipp, thinking the pony they were following would slip away. Hitch finally got there, getting Zipp to come out from her cover. She'll watch the back door while he goes in through the front.
Hitch crept slowly toward the back of the store, catching Starlight momentarily by surprise. When she made her horn glow bright with magic, Hitch backed away, explaining that he was the sheriff and wanted to help, assuring Starlight that everything was going to be alright.
Starlight's horn stopped glowing, understanding she'd gotten the attention of the constable and would probably be safer with him. She did not flee, instead asking him to take her somewhere safe and secure before she was willing to say more. Hitch led Starlight out the backdoor to find Zipp waiting. As discreetly as possible, Hitch and Zipp escorted Starlight back to the police station, trying not to arouse suspicion.
Hitch told Zipp to go get Sunny from the Crystal Brighthouse, and to make sure Sunny brought those wooden figurines that were in her bedroom, it was critical. Zipp was off in a flash, getting to the Brighthouse in less than a minute.
She found Sunny assisting in the construction of her new home, the Crystal Brighthouse, like she had been doing since reuniting the three pony tribes. When Sunny kept insisting on knowing why she had to leave so abruptly, Zipp actually got upset and raised her voice from her frustration, repeating that she could not say here, only that Sunny had to come with her and bring the figurines. Hearing Zipp's insistence and seeing the desperate look in her eyes was enough to convince Sunny to do as asked.
Once back at the station, Sunny was introduced to Starlight, along with the story of what happened. Sunny was dumbstruck too, unable to process what she just heard. Sunny produced the wooden figurines from a small drawstring pouch. Hitch and Zipp watched Starlight's reaction, seeing the mare begin to tremble in understanding of just where she was and how far from her time she was sent.
"You... You know these ponies, don't you?" Sunny could barely get the words out of her mouth, seeing the shocked look on Starlight's face. Starlight only nodded slightly. Hitch brought forth a map of Appleloosa County, showing the various other small towns that dotted the landscape, as well as highlighting Maretime Bay.
Hitch, Sunny, and Zipp really didn't know what to do or say in that moment as they watched their guest become overwhelmed with emotion.
“It's gone... It's all gone! She did it…. she really, really did it! She failed Celestia and Luna!” Her anguish exploded into a fit of tears. The pain quickly turned to anger and Starlight spun around to face the six small figurines on Hitch's desk, hollering at them as if they were actually in the room.
“You maniacs! You blew it up! Aw, damn you! Damn you all to Tartarus!”
Hitch, Sunny, and Zipp were scared; they had no idea what Starlight was raving on about. They figured it must have something to do with the pony princess of her time and this trip she'd been sent on. The situation got even scarier and upsetting as Starlight then realized what else was gone from her life.
“Sunbu-r-r-st! Luste-r-r-r-r!” Starlight screamed at the top of her lungs, remembering her husband and eight-month-old-daughter now long dead and in the past. Her roar made her hosts take a few steps back, afraid of her rage. Starlight again addressed the small purple alicorn figurine.
“This is all your fault, Twilight! You had to tempt fate and look what happened to me! I hate you so much!”
Starlight let loose such a scream of rage and anguish, her unicorn horn glowing incredibly bright with magic energy. The brightness blinded Hitch, Sunny, and Zipp briefly. The time traveling pony let loose an enormous burst of magical energy, sending a pulse wave exploding outward from her horn. The pulse wave was so intense that its energy blew out every structure's windows within a mile radius of the police station and sent a pulse wave clear across Appleloosa County and out further still.
Far off in her castle, situated in Darkwood Forest, Opaline gazed intensely into her mirror pool, crafting a new spell for her latest plans to rule Equestria. Carefully she added the critical ingredient to her mixture, succeeding in getting the intended reaction. She smiled to herself, pleased with how her experiment was going.
Suddenly, Opaline could sense it, like a warning wind of an approaching storm. She hurried to protect her potion, casting a protection spell on the mirror pool. She had only seconds to act to prevent a total loss of her experiment, but it was for naught.
The energy pulse hit the castle with tremendous force, causing the whole structure to tremble to its foundations. The pulse wave struck Opaline like a wrecking ball, causing her to stumble to the stone floor and lose concentration, resulting in the potion she was attempting to brew being rendered inert. Her whole body suddenly tingled with intense magic energy, causing her coat, mane, and tail to stand on end. Never had Opaline felt such power like this before!
Misty Brightdawn came running into Opaline's lab after the pulse wave had passed through the castle. "Mistress Opaline! Mistress Opaline! What was that tremor? Why is my horn glowing now?" she was as scared and confused as any pony would be in her situation.
Opaline turned to face her ward, evil delight twinkling in the alicorn's eyes and a villainous grin on her face. So frightening the appearance of her mistress was that Misty suddenly became as afraid of her as she was the strange sensation making her whole body tingle.
“That , my dear Misty, is what is called power; such power the likes of which have not been seen on Equestria in centuries!” Opaline roared in triumph, as if recognizing the energy. She waved Misty closer to the pool, wanting her to see a demonstration of her power. Even with the buzzing feeling in her body dissipating, she could harness some of it to act as a beacon, to trace back its origin from the castle.
Opaline shut her eyes and concentrated, making the map pulse with rhythmic repetition, her horn began to glow brighter now, sending a beam of magic energy into the pool and making it reveal its origin to her. The beam from her horn began to move across the three-dimensional model, passing to the east of her castle to fall on the town of Maretime Bay. Opaline's eyes widened a little more.
“There! That is where the magic energy originated! We must discover what it is and harness it for my plans of total domination of Equestria! With such power under my control, I shall reign supreme!” Opaline gave a loud, evil laugh that seemed to fill the whole castle with its sound, making Misty cringe at the thought of what her mistress might have in mind.
The emergency calls came flooding into the station and Hitch was instantly overwhelmed. Sunny inexplicably now transformed into her alicorn form, quickly escorted Starlight out of town and back to the Crystal Brighthouse as a safe refuge. This would let Hitch and Zipp take care of as many of the emergencies as possible.
The upper floors of the Brighthouse had yet to be completed but there was enough space below to have Sunny move back in. As soon as she had squirreled Starlight away in a bedroom, she dismissed the work crew for the rest of the day, saying she needed some privacy. The workers departed, leaving Sunny alone to tend to the homesick mare in her care.
Less than an hour later, Pipp called, frantic to know what happened in Maretime Bay; it was on all the news networks! 'Something' made a huge energy explosion and no pony knew what the source was or how it happened. She could not reach Zipp on her phone; she was not answering calls or responding to texts. Sunny told Pipp to get to the Brighthouse as soon as she could, she would only tell Pipp in person. Pipp promised to get there as quickly as possible.
It was about six p.m. when Zipp arrived at the Brighthouse, exhausted and bewildered by seeing Sunny still in her alicorn form. Sunny could not explain why she still had her wings and horn, as she had not summoned her power and it did not seem to be wearing off. She relayed Starlight's current condition; she had put their guest down in one of the bedrooms and listened as Starlight basically cried herself to sleep. Zipp felt terrible for the strange mare, how awful to be trapped in this situation.
An hour or so more passed and Hitch arrived at the Brighthouse with Pipp who caught up to him on his way up the road to Sunny's place. Hitch did not have to ask; Sunny was already relaying the information of what had happened. Pipp felt lost in what they were speaking about, as if a spectator of something going on. Less than five minutes after they arrived, in rushed Izzy Moonbow, her horn still glowing with a soft lavender light and a look of confusion on her face.
Izzy was elated and bewildered all at the same time. She had seen the energy wave approach and pass through Bridlewood as it happened this afternoon. All the unicorns were affected by it. She came to Maretime Bay to see if any of her friends knew what caused the wave to happen. She was also puzzled to see Sunny in alicorn form for no apparent reason.
Finally, all together at last, Sunny gathered every pony in the living room as she, Hitch, and Zipp began to tell Pipp and Izzy what had happened in Maretime Bay today. This was one of the few times when Izzy didn't interrupt some pony's story with a bunch of questions. Her reaction was much as her friends' the first time they heard it. When Pipp, thrilled to hear such an epic story, stated that she wanted to podcast and post what she now knew, Zipp literally slapped the phone out of her little sister's hoof, warning Pipp not to. This was something so big and incredible, that this required absolute secrecy. They couldn't tell a soul, not even their mother. The schism it would cause in their world would be incalculable.
The magic energy that had made Sunny take on her alicorn form and made Izzy's horn glow finally faded away, returning Sunny to her regular earth-pony appearance. They heard the click of a door handle being turned and they listened to the slow hoof-steps on the floor just above them, and then come slowly down the ramp to the lower level.
Sunny and her friends all stood up, watching Starlight Glimmer make her appearance, solemn expressions worn by all. Her appearance was haggard, as if pushed beyond all physical limits. The five of them made room for her, allowing the guest whatever seat to sit in. Starlight lumbered over to the big recliner, plopping her body down in exhaustion.
“Water, please.” Her voice was rough and raspy, vocal cords swollen and sore from giving voice to her pain.
“Absolutely,” Sunny spoke softly as she hurried to her kitchen for a glass. She added several chunks of ice to the glass before pouring the chilled water from a pitcher she kept in her refrigerator. She returned with the glass, presenting the offering. Using her magic, Starlight effortlessly levitated the glass from Sunny's hooves to suspend it at her lips.
Starlight took several long slow gulps of the cool liquid, feeling it soothe her throat some. Putting the glass down on the table next to her, Starlight reclined herself in the overstuffed and comforting recliner, looking up at the ceiling above her. Hitch and the others all took a seat on the couch and in the two other chairs across from where Starlight sat, all of them giving their guest full and unbroken attention.
Sniff! Sniff! Starlight thought she recognized the smell of fresh paint. “This is your new home Sunny?” Starlight kept looking up at the ceiling, as if lost in its expanse of whiteness.
“Ye... Yes.” Sunny stammered a little.
Starlight's gaze never left the ceiling. “The ponies who painted your ceiling need to come back and give it a second coating. I can still see the spackle marks on the sheetrock underneath.” She said it with such deadpan delivery that it momentarily threw all of them off.
Each of them had a restrained smile at the joke made, unsure if they should be smiling at such a serious time. Starlight took a few deep breaths before continuing.
“Sheriff,”
“Yes ma'am?” Hitch leaned in closer from his seat.
“How is it I ended up in that hospital emergency room this morning?”
Hitch went on to explain how he got an emergency call from a citizen of Maretime Bay who had found her lying alongside the Great West Road and had summoned the paramedics to bring her to the hospital. At first, he thought she might have been the victim of a hit and run accident. It wasn't until the hospital called him when she had gone on the lamb that he knew she was not injured as the result of an accident.
Izzy still was not one hundred percent sure of just who Starlight was or how she got there. Calmly and slowly, Starlight again told her story, this time adding in the names of those who had helped her perform such an incredible feat of magic.
“Who... Who are Sunburst and Luster? You were shouting out for them.” Zipp was a bit afraid to ask, believing it might upset Starlight more.
Starlight gave a heavy sigh before answering. “Sunburst Blaze is my husband. Luster is our eight- month-old daughter; Luster Dawn.”
“Oh, I'm... I'm so sorry!” Pipp felt tears pooling in her eyes, feeling the depth of pain Starlight must be experiencing at the moment, being torn away from her family like this. It must be awful for Starlight! She leaned over to put an understanding hoof on Starlight's, wanting to let the guest know she had her empathy. A small smile of thanks flashed across Starlight's lips, then disappeared, appreciative of the pegasus pony's concern.
Sunny brought out her wood figurines once more, wondering if the ponies she was naming were any of these. Starlight introduced the ‘Mane Six’ to these ponies, naming each one and giving a small factoid about them. She saved the most important one for last. “And this is... Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
For so long Sunny wished to know the name of the pony princess her dad had used as a model to make this figurine from and was so prominently featured in the stories he told her. For a brief moment, it brought her closer to her father again, seeing what he saw in this little wood carving, wishing to impart what he had read about this pony to Sunny.
All five of Starlight's hosts began telling of Equestria's history as they knew it, as it had been taught for quite a long time. Starlight remained silent, listening to each one of these ponies fill in more detail for each pony nation's point of view. It became clearer to Starlight now, Twilight's premonition of some great calamity and their world coming to an end. But, as evidence of their world not coming to an untimely demise, here were five ponies that proved that Equestria may have been changed, but not destroyed. Their kind did not die off.
Now that the proverbial ‘cat was out of the bag’, Sunny and her friends were not sure what they could do to help Starlight. With magic having only just returned to their world four months ago after centuries without it, unicorns simply forgot most of their magic abilities from the past. When Starlight demonstrated a simple Transfiguration spell on the glass of water on the end table next to her, turning it into a teacup, her hosts were in total awe of her magic power.
“No pony in Bridlewood can do something like that!” Izzy was wide eyed at the amazing power Starlight wielded so easily. This stunned Starlight somewhat.
“Wait, you've never seen a unicorn cast a Transfiguration spell before? Ever?” Starlight watched Izzy give a small shake of her head, indicating she had not.
“Divination spells?” Starlight grew more perplexed as again, Izzy shook her head. “Levitation spells? Summoning Familiar spells? Create Light spells?” Starlight continued to quiz the fellow unicorn, seeing the vacant look of unfamiliarity on Izzy's expression. Izzy had no idea what Starlight was talking about
“Well,” Starlight was at a loss at the moment, “what magic can you do?”
Izzy instantly brightened. “Oh, well I can do this!” Concentrating on the objects on the table, she performed a simple levitation spell by picking up one of the little figurines off the table, her horn glowing softly with lavender light. She was eager to see if Starlight approved.
“But you can't do something like this?” Starlight's horn also began to glow, her eyes closing slightly with concentration, summoning to appear front of her with a magical burst of energy was the pillow from the bedroom she had been resting in. Her hosts oohed and ahhed, never seeing such a display of magic power before. Starlight was stunned. These five ponies have never seen a rudimentary Teleportation spell? Every unicorn colt or filly by the time they were ten years old could do something of this level of difficulty where she was from.
“You must be the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria if you can do magic like that!” Pipp was sure Starlight was, having spent some time in Bridlewood with Izzy and met some of her neighbors. The unicorns all, basically, could do the same thing; make things levitate but not much else. Here was a mare doing unheard of things right before her eyes. Oh, how many hits, likes, and shares a video of Starlight doing magic would generate on her live stream made her mind boggle.
For the time being, there wasn't really anything the five of them could do for Starlight. The sound of the guest's stomach giving a low growl made a few of them smirk a little, realizing they were not being courteous to their guest by offering her something to eat. Sunny offered to whip up a quick meal for all of them, making sure to ask Starlight if there was anything in particular, she would want.
“I... Don't suppose you still have... pizza in the future, do you?” Starlight was hesitant to ask for something she might not expect them to know of. But she was met with smiles and a small chuckle of relief.
“Oh, you bet! We've got the best right here in Maretime Bay, Panucci's Pizza. We can order for delivery.” Hitch was hoping for something quick and easy for them, wanting to talk more with Starlight rather than cook. “Get two of the large veggie supreme pies. Every pony here is hungry and going to be talking for a while and we'll need something to munch on.”
Zipp also wanted to know more about the time Starlight was from. There were questions about pegasus ponies from the past she hoped she could get answers to.
For now, Starlight would stay at Sunny's home and try to figure out her next steps. Sitting and eating together around the table in Sunny's kitchen, Starlight told them she was glad to see the magic of friendship was strong with them. She could not put her hoof on it yet, but these five seemed to be rather tight knit and had some kind of special chemistry between them. Somehow, the wheel of fate had brought her here to meet them and presented her with the best group of ponies who might be able to assist in any plan for trying to get back home.
Time Enough for Everything at Last
Ch.4 Research & Development
The uproar and concern for the strange energy pulse that had caused such consternation was quickly forgotten within a few days, with the newspapers and websites moving on to other topics to cover. Sunny made every effort to make Starlight as comfortable as possible. Starlight, for her part, was grateful for the attention and they soon got to know one another better. Starlight was introduced to some of the advancements in technology, as well as some of the new foods that were available.
Sunny got to share with Starlight her father's collection of artifacts and various tomes of works, some going as far back as to the time Starlight said she was from. Hoping the volumes might be spell-books, Starlight was a bit let down to find only books of history and some materials on the fragmenting of the three pony races. Together, she and Sunny were able to assemble a rough timeline and a clearer reason why it happened.
Argyle Starscout had done his diligence when it came to detailing what he learned and how some of the various possible lines of history could be interpreted to give the wrong impression of what happened. For Sunny, it was a chance to reconnect with her dad through his work while aiding Starlight at getting familiar with this time and place.
Hitch made sure to stop by after his shift to check in on their special guest. It wasn't every day that he got to meet a time traveling unicorn and he couldn't pass up such a chance. On this particular visit, Pipp and Zipp have brought the three Unity Crystals for Starlight to examine with them from Zephyr Heights. When Starlight saw the crystals and heard the story of how these five came into possession of them, it set her mind ablaze with magical possibilities of use. Her hosts could see by her expression the desire to investigate what the crystals could do to assist her in some capacity.
Glad they could offer something that might assist Starlight, the sisters produced some official scrolls from their royal archives that could shed some more light onto the pegasus crystal's origins. Starlight was very grateful for the information. Every afternoon after Sunny returned home from running her smoothie stand, she and Starlight would review the scrolls and books, scouring them for how the crystals were made by Princess Twilight, what spells she might have used and what ponies might have been given the duty of keeping them safe.
Starlight did manage to recreate a few of the sub spells she and her friends had used in the time travel spell, but the work was exhausting, and she had no help with the magic. Seeing how hard Starlight had been working and getting frustrated with her lack of progress, Sunny and Hitch offered to take her for a night on the town in Maretime Bay.
Both of them believed that by now any danger of Starlight being discovered has passed and she should at least try to have a little relaxation from her toiling. Reluctant to stop her work, she agreed to go with them. Zipp, Pipp, and Izzy soon joined them intown and Hitch took them to one of his favorite haunts, a pub called The Snooty Pony. Here with Sunny and her friends, Starlight began to relax and tell some tales about her time and about Princess Twilight and her friends.
More than once did a pony who passed by their table refer to Sunny as Princess Sunny. Starlight had been wondering about this, first seeing Sunny with a unicorn horn and translucent gold wings when arriving in this time, now she looked like any other earth pony. Sunny couldn't explain how or why she transformed at times, believing it had something to do with the Unity Crystals and her dad possessing the earth pony crystal for so many years. Starlight was as intrigued as she was perplexed. It was a relaxing night out for all of them, getting to know Starlight better and just having fun on a Friday night.
All of them had been drinking a little too much and were feeling the buzz, laughing at one another and enjoying their company. By midnight, the friends headed off for home, needing to sleep off some of the alcohol. Back at the Brighthouse, Starlight was telling Sunny one funny story about Twilight that had Sunny rolling with laughter; the time when Twilight was just beginning her studies in Ponyville and had to write every week to their princess about a friendship problem she had solved. But in one instance, Twilight had actually created a friendship problem on her own, just so she could have something report back with about solving it for her teacher. Needless to say, Twilight's idea backfired spectacularly. Sunny was almost doubled over laughing so hard at the chaos unleashed.
For the two mares, it was a bonding moment of friendship, but Sunny could tell that Starlight looked homesick when talking about her friends. She could see the sadness behind Starlight's eyes and promised to do anything and everything possible to help her. Starlight, in a moment of weakness, reached out to embrace Sunny, needing her support in the belief that she would get home and should not give in to despair.
Starlight spent several more days and nights at the Brighthouse deep in her work. The stack of spell scrolls had grown as she'd copied down a good number of spells from memory of what she, Twilight, Moondancer, and Sunburst had created. It was incomplete though. Some of the spells required combining with others in order to create the desired effect for the time travel spell to work.
Twilight and Moondancer had hashed out most of the spell choices to use from the collection in the restricted area of Canterlot Library. She turned her attention to the three Unity Crystals. She tried recalling what Sunburst had explained to her about the crystal they'd selected to use as a vessel for their magic to focus within: something Maud Pie had discussed with him, about the structure and resonance and how important it was.
Imbuing a crystal with magic would bring out its natural frequency. She kept staring intently at the three crystals in front of her laying on the small work table she was using, mentally comparing them to the original Elements of Harmony that her friends had once held in their possession. Starlight kept focusing on the name, Elements of Harmony, discerning something of a clue from them. On a hunch, she tried casting a spell on the crystals, a spell that would make each crystal emit its frequency like a tuning fork. The energy from her horn encompassed the three crystals, trying to discern what, if any, resonance they might have.
She was extra cautious with them, increasing her magic in small increments, sensing for any change in the crystals' state. It took patience to do it but she had each crystal emit its frequency, the three of them together made a triad of ethereal tones that she could actually hear. She was elated with the discovery but kept concentrating on her spell, trying to isolate the tone of each crystal.
To her increasing delight and excitement, Starlight managed to isolate the tone emitted from the unicorn crystal. She had the germ of an idea about how to use the unicorn crystal. Back in the magic lab, she had made a small crystal pendant to wear when going through the time portal. The pendant was tuned to the same frequency as the portal's crystal, allowing a traveler to go to and from a fixed point in time and always return to the same.
Since the unicorn crystal was created by Twilight back in the past and therefore had a signature resonant frequency already from its magic infusion, there was a chance that if the unicorn Unity Crystal was charged up with enough magic, and if she could get the time travel spell worked out, she might be able to recreate a portal in this time and send herself on a one-way trip to the past, to her time. Trembling with the excitement of discovery and as quickly as she could, Starlight wrote out her hypothesis, including how she came to her conclusion and what steps needed to be done in order to try. She reread it a few times, rewriting some parts of it to make more sense.
Her first copy was so full of cross-outs and changes that she had to write it out again, just to be sure it was legible to any pony she should show. So overcome with relief with some kind of plan to her conundrum, she rushed from her bedroom to Sunny's, barging in and yelling for Sunny to wake up, even though it was two in the morning. When Sunny could finally understand what Starlight was raving about and read what Starlight had written about, she was so happy and just as excited as Starlight was. It felt like a huge weight had been removed from their collective shoulders. There was a plan now.
Time Enough for Everything at Last
Ch. 5 Putting Plans into Actions
Sunny and her friends gathered at the Brighthouse once more, awaiting Starlight's presentation of her discovery. Their guest had been busy preparing for this all day and wanted to make sure they could follow along. Starlight fell back on her old teaching skills from the School of Friendship, putting to use a whiteboard and some markers to illustrate what she had in mind.
It took a while to explain out the plan to Sunny and the others, losing Pipp and Izzy along the way a few times with the details. Now with a plan, Izzy urged Starlight to come and stay with her in Bridlewood. She could find all the help for her magic there, and Izzy could help screen candidates for Starlight. To Sunny, this sounded like the right thing to do; where better for Starlight to begin working than among her pony kind. The group agreed, though Hitch couldn't go with them. So Sunny, Pipp, and Zipp would escort Starlight to Bridlewood. Izzy volunteered to go on ahead and speak with Alphabiddle, giving him a heads up and getting her cottage ready for her guest. Starlight was looking forward to going, curious to see what this magic forest might look like.
Hitch took them as far as he could before having to turn back, his duty in Maretime Bay couldn't be neglected. He bid them safe trip and promised to visit as soon as he could. Along the way, Starlight got to tell a few stories to the three mares escorting her, having Sunny hanging on almost every word she said. She loved hearing about the ponies from Starlight's time, her imagination running wild with images of what it must have been like to be there with Princess Twilight! Starlight kept herself covered in a light green cloak with a hood as she traversed the countryside. She had enchanted the garment that belonged to Sunny, able to draw the hood up over her head and become invisible. Sunny and the two pegasus sisters were struck speechless by her magic skills. Starlight wished to move unseen when necessary, staying out of sight from any pony that should cross their path.
At one point in the trek, Starlight stopped them all as they travelled across a vast grassy field, pointing to an enormous tree growing on the fringe of a glade to the north of where they stood. She insisted on examining this tree, something urging her to look closer. Sunny and the sisters followed after, not sure what Starlight was up to. Once at the tree, they saw how Starlight seemed to revere this tree, as if realizing something with this discovery.
Starlight told the trio of young mares the tale of the Two Sisters, as well as the Elements of Harmony and the tree in which they existed within. If Starlight's understanding of topography was correct from the various maps she'd been looking at, then this area of land could very well be the place where the original Tree of Harmony might have been all those years ago. For Sunny, it was like listening to her father talking about that time in the past, hearing answers to questions she'd long held in her heart about that time. Zipp and Pipp were just as taken by the history lesson Starlight espoused, giving them the feeling that they were sharing in something mystical, something that tied them to this land and the magic of their world. The group then continued on to Bridlewood.
Izzy was waiting for them at the edge of the forest, glad to see them arrive. She was eager to show Starlight where their kind now lived. Straight away, she got them to her cottage and unpacked, wanting them to rest a bit before getting started. Starlight found Izzy's home to be most interesting, learning of her tendency for 'unicycling', a way of reusing items in new and different ways. They went over to the tea room to speak with Alphabiddle. Once in the tea room, spotting Izzy enter with the guest she said she'd bring, Alphabiddle quietly closed the shop so as to have some privacy.
He'd been wondering what Izzy had spoken to him about the other day, indicating she had 'big important news from her friends' for all the unicorns of Bridlewood. Now they were here, he got them a cup of tea each and sat down to hear what it was her friends had to tell him. His reaction to Starlight's tale was exactly what they imagined: total skepticism. Even with Sunny and the princess sister's support of Starlight's outrageous story, he still found it just too incredible to believe.
To prove to him she was serious and not some charlatan, Starlight cast a small teleportation spell on Izzy, teleporting her from one end of the room to the other. That was only a sample of what was possible if they helped her with her plan. He was quick to agree to help Starlight but couldn't speak for the others. But Alphabiddle was sure if asked, any of their kind would want to learn more.
Sunny urged them to keep quiet for now about their plan, knowledge of Starlight's presence should only be for the select few who can help out. Knowledge of a time traveling unicorn from Equestria's past was going to cause problems for Izzy and Alphabiddle. The last thing any pony wanted was some mad rush of unicorns to Bridlewood, looking for Starlight. Izzy was to spend the coming days, discreetly as possible, inquire to the unicorns she thought had the best chance of helping them if they had an interest in magic. She would bring them along later that evening to meet Starlight. Things seemed to be going in the right direction and Starlight felt more positive about the move to Bridlewood, confidence growing in her plan of returning home.
Time Enough for Everything at Last
Ch.6 A Spy Among Unicorns
Opaline sent Misty first to Maretime Bay to investigate but she found nothing there. She was then sent on to Bridlewood, presuming that any magic controlling creature wishing to not be found would most likely retreat to the relative safety of the unicorn woodlands. Misty, wearing the locket Opaline gave her to communicate with, informed her she was about to enter the unicorn woods. Opaline wanted to know immediately if Misty saw anything out of the ordinary. Misty followed the path into the woods, wondering just what she might find out here.
For several hours, Misty wandered the paths of Bridlewood, observing the other unicorns coming and going about, none taking interest in her presence. She saw nothing that caught her eye and started to think there was nothing to find. A chance to overhear words between two mares talking while Misty was resting, revealed to her that there would be magic lessons given to any unicorn who wanted to try over at Alphabiddle's tea shop. She made her way over to the business to investigate the claim.
Peering cautiously in through a window, Misty spied Alphabiddle sitting with that purple mare she'd seen observed in Opaline's viewing pool and another pony, cloaked and hooded. She could not hear what they were speaking about, only see that the cloaked stranger would speak first and then demonstrate a small magic skill. Then, the pony seated opposite them would try to perform the same thing with their unicorn magic. Words were spoken again and the pony that was sitting with the cloaked stranger got up and left the tea shop.
Misty, hiding behind a convenient rain barrel nearby, watched the stallion leave and head off down the road. She followed after, watching him move along with a lively spring in his step. The stallion met up with a mare several doors down from the tea shop. Misty stopped a few feet away to look into the window of a bakery, feigning to be looking at the baked goods in the window.
To her surprise, she overheard this stallion going on about how he was selected to learn more magic from a friend of Izzy Moonbow who was visiting here from 'far away'. Misty was speechless. Here was a unicorn willing to share the knowledge of magic while her mistress had never shown her any. She would have to stay longer and learn more about who this visitor was.
Starlight put her plan into action, spending her daytime hours rewriting the spell scrolls of what spells she needed to use and to teach her students. While the evening was spent in the privacy of Alphabiddle's closed tea shop to further screen her selections. Izzy was her right hoof mare while she worked, recopying Starlight's spell scrolls and working with some of the candidates to help them practice the rudimentary skills of unicorn magic during the evening lesson time, as well as being at Starlight's beck and call for anything she might need. So far, the only things Izzy had to repeatedly get for Starlight were more ball point pens, more paper, and lunch for them from her cottage.
Sunny visited Bridlewood every other day to help out as well and ask Starlight for help with her magic. At a lunchtime break, Sunny confessed to Starlight that she wished to learn more magic too, so she could control her alicorn transformation. Not to mention learning all those amazing spells Starlight knew like the back of her hoof. Starlight was honored to be asked by the new Princess of Friendship for help with magic, willing to make some time for personal training.
Izzy and Alphabiddle were perhaps Starlight's most devoted students, working hard to master more of those 'first time' spells and attempt the tougher spells. The pace was intense, and the work was demanding, and some found the regiment too much to take on in such a short amount of time. Another magic test by Starlight to check on the progress of every pony selected, she whittled down the group to a core dozen or so who she felt had the most potential. Sunny didn't include herself in the group, remaining an earth pony and still unable to tap into her magic at will like she desired.
Misty had been watching this and finally made contact with Opaline again, telling her mistress what she had observed. This news troubled Opaline, first thinking this stranger was intending to take over Equestria with a unicorn army at their command. Even if this was not so, having unicorns start to reclaim their power would be disastrous for her, she alone was the single most powerful magic wielding pony in Equestria and she must keep it that way. But to Misty, it didn't seem like this was the start of an army. More like learning something that was natural to all unicorns. She didn't understand why this stranger was so willing to share magic knowledge with ponies she'd never met before.
Opaline ordered Misty to stay close to this stranger and find out who they were, where they were from, and what was their purpose for being here. Misty would do as ordered. She asked if Opaline would one day do the same for her, teach her magic but Opaline only laughed at her, saying she was too incompetent and scatterbrained to handle the responsibility or have the skill to wield magic. Misty was hurt by the cutting words and quick refute.
Over the next few days, Misty began to work her way closer to Starlight, hanging out near the tea shop in hopes of speaking with Starlight when her pegasus and earth pony friends weren't around. She finally saw the chance to speak with her, she caught Starlight one morning on her way back to Bridlewood from an overnight trip to Maretime Bay. Sitting not too far away from the tea shop, she planted herself in a conspicuous spot where Starlight would see her attempting to use her magic.
Sure enough, Starlight stopped on her way to watch Misty try a basic levitation spell to stack some wood blocks one on top of another. Misty was so proud to be able to show Starlight she could do this simple exercise and Starlight felt very kindly towards this young mare, seeing she was trying so hard to succeed. Starlight was reminded of her eight-month-old daughter, Luster Dawn, back home and how she would one day turn to her mother for guidance and knowledge when introduced to magic. It warmed Starlight's heart to see the younger unicorns taking more interest in magic.
Starlight invited Misty to come and watch tonight's magic lesson. Misty wouldn't be able to participate with the older students who were practicing more advanced magic but could ask for help and feel like part of the group. Misty at first yelped excitedly and pranced around a little, but then caught herself, trying to regain her composure. She didn't want to be in Starlight's way of teaching the better students tonight but did ask for some learning materials to study on her own, she was a bit shy being around older unicorns who could do real magic. Starlight understood perfectly, no pony wanted the pressure of eyes watching your every attempt. She removed from her carry bag a small spell scrolls with three elementary spells written out, passing it along to Misty and encouraging her to try. Misty was so grateful for the offering that she hugged Starlight in thanks and hurried off to try. She came back a little later that same night, sitting under the open window of the tea shop and listening to the practicing going on inside.
That night was another long grind for Starlight and her selected group, putting them through the paces and making sure they understood what to do when casting spells. She watched and was pleased to see some master those first spells and quickly move on to more demanding work while some still struggled. Starlight found the nightly sessions both fulfilling and frustrating at the same time. After more than five hours of straight work. She called it a night and the dozen or so students departed, thanking her and promising to do better next time.
Misty, still camped out under the window and out of sight overheard Izzy, Alphabiddle, and Starlight talking among them. It was then that she learned the truth about Starlight's origin and why she was teaching magic to the unicorns. It sounded like the wildest kind of fantasy to Misty, a pony from Equestria's past traveling three centuries forward through time?! That's impossible!
She heard Starlight's plan, to have all of her students help her cast a spell to open an energy portal that would allow her to travel back to when she came from. Starlight was clearly worried that her students would not be able to reach the right proficiency soon enough, she had to return within thirty-four days. The longer she stayed, the further out of sync she would be with her own time period, returning either too far in the past or future of when she originally departed. She might reappear back in this time a split second after entering the portal, or she could very well die from the extreme magic power it would take to be successful. It was just a theory for Starlight, she was not one hundred percent sure what would happen after she entered the portal.
Starlight and Alphabiddle heard the audible gasp Misty produced when she heard the danger Starlight was in and what fate could have been waiting for her. Izzy and Alphabiddle went outside to see where the sound came from. They found nothing, assuming it was the wind or their imagination playing tricks on them.
Misty had stolen herself away quickly, getting out of sight of the two older unicorns by hiding in some nearby scrub brush. This news was incredible, and she had to tell her mistress about what she has learned so far. Finding refuge in a nearby abandoned cottage, Misty made contact with Opaline and told her the truth. Opaline was instantly dismissive of Misty's findings, calling her stupid and naive to believe such an obvious lie about where this unicorn mare was from. Angrily, Opaline ordered Misty to keep searching for the truth about this unicorn and not to bother her again with such idiotic stories.
Misty was again hurt by the cruel words of her mistress, confused as to why Opaline thought she was lying to her. She would do as ordered. Opaline, though initially dismissive of Misty's story, was intrigued enough to investigate the actual possibility of this being true. She retired to her castle's library, wondering if she could find anything to validate what Misty said.
The library was full of books, many old and unreadable for they were written in Old Ponish, an ancient language of Equestria now lost to time. Which ones were books on magic, she could not tell. She could only sense an aura of magic energy emanating from within the space, meaning some of these books must contain magic spells or similar powers. Opaline walked slowly among the dilapidated and rickety shelves, coming across several collections of history books that were still readable, but most were incomplete with missing volumes and some books had deteriorated to the point of simply falling apart. She had only taken a passing interest in them over the years, finding the reading tedious and pointless. But finding a few volumes from Equestria's pre-cataclysm time on one dutiful shelf could present some clue or lost insight that might prove what Misty said to be true.
Time Enough for Everything at Last
Ch.7 Treasure in Opaline's Library
Starlight has been here for fifty-four days now and has brought her chosen students up to a point where she believed they could cast her spell correctly and powerfully enough. Her reasoning, it would take these twelve unicorns combined to produce a comparable amount of magical energy she, Twilight, Sunburst, and Moondancer had in creating the original energy field.
She, Izzy, and Alphabiddle had found a quiet and secluded clearing just outside of town where they could set up and make a first attempt. If something went wrong, Starlight didn't want the magic energy released to destroy Alphabiddle's business. As soon as her students had arrived for the evening's lesson, Starlight led them straight away to the clearing. Sunny, Hitch, and the two princesses were here with them, eager to see if they were successful after Starlight's training, and wanting to be there for support. The friends were impressed with Izzy's newly developed magic skills, doing more than simple levitation.
Starlight and Sunny chatted while Starlight was handing out the spell scrolls to her students, having the students stand in a circle, facing towards one another. Starlight had promised to help Sunny with the issue of her alicorn transformation previously and after tonight's attempt, she would. When Sunny quizzed Starlight repeatedly about the potential danger of harnessing so much magic energy; what would happen to the unicorn Unity Crystal? What if the energy field suddenly went out of control?
“Oh, Sunny, don’t go off ‘Twilighting’ on me now. I need you to stay focused and overthink it so much.” Starlight cracked a joke, more to herself than to her companion but Sunny didn't get the joke or the reference.
Starlight began the first attempt, magically holding the unicorn crystal aloft in the center of the circle with a simple levitation spell. She had the students read the spell scroll and then cast an energy beam at the crystal. As it should, the combined energy of the twelve unicorns held the crystal up while Starlight released it from her magical hold. She had them increase the energy input they were sending, which, as it should per her spell, caused the crystal to emit a blue light, washing over the twelve students; the beginnings of an energy field.
It was exciting for Sunny and her friends to watch, witnessing magic being cast on a grand scale. Misty, keeping herself out of sight, watched with wide eyes too at the magical power being harnessed. It was as thrilling to see as it was intimidating, wondering if at any moment, the spell would fail and there would be ponies hurt.
Just as Starlight was instructing her students to increase the power yet more, Opaline made contact with Misty, ordering her back to the castle: there was information she needed verified and Misty could answer if she was following the right line of thinking. Misty meekly protested, saying she should stay longer to keep observing this unicorn mare. But Opaline did not brook back talk or defying her orders and then threatened Misty with harm if she did not return to the castle at once. Reluctantly, Misty did as she was ordered and left her hiding spot near the clearing, heading into the woods and away from the town.
For the next few hours, Starlight tested their magical limits, seeing how far she could push them to create the energy field she needed for her time traveling spell to work. It was very demanding for the majority of students to keep up with the spell, finding they were only partially successful at creating the energy field Starlight needed. After more than three hours of training and retrying the same spells, they could do no more, their energy was spent.
Starlight was frustrated by their slow progress and lashed out at her students for not having the stamina and strength to cast the spell she needed them to cast. She caught herself yelling at them and quickly apologized, becoming upset with herself for being impatient. Seeing and hearing Starlight's exhaustion and frustration, Izzy and Alphabiddle brought the session to a close and dismissed the students. As the students departed, they all told Starlight they'd work that much harder at their spell craft and be ready for her.
Alone with her friends, Starlight confessed she was afraid there was not enough time to get them ready. In four days, she will have been here two months and she needed to make an attempt of getting them to successfully create the energy field. Not only that but they needed to maintain it long enough for her to cast her time travel spell and then pass through the portal. She wondered if she'd ever get home.
But her friends countered her disappointment, offering a solution. “Starlight,” Izzy quietly began to broach the subject she did want to try to talk with Starlight about, “would it be so terrible for you to stay here in Bridlewood with us?”
Starlight, despite not wanting to become attached to these ponies, found them to be good ponies to lean on and she'd been doing that more regularly lately. But she knew this was not her time or place, there was a life waiting for her back when she came from and she did not belong here.
Secretly, her new friends did not want to see her risk her life with this magical experiment. Izzy, especially, did not want Starlight to go, so eager was she to show Starlight she had the discipline to do great magic. Whether Starlight realized it or not, she had done more for her kind than any pony could have by reintroducing Equestrian magic to them. All of them, her new friends and students, thought very highly of her. Some harbored the thought of asking her not to leave; confused why she would risk her life if she could remain here in Bridlewood.
There really was not much more prep work for Starlight to do at this point. Her students each had a copy of the spell they needed to cast and she had her final copy of the time travel spell completed. In just a hoof-full of days, she was going to have to try for real. Worrying she might suffer burn out from the extensive stress she was putting herself under, Zipp and Pipp offered to take Starlight to Zephyr Heights for a few days, to show her more of their Equestria and explore someplace new. With this, Izzy and Alphabiddle were in agreement with the sisters. They promised to keep up the practice and be ready at Starlight's return.
It was hard for Starlight to say yes to the sisters' kind offer, fearing loss of time and opportunity to be ready. But she agreed, aware that just grinding away at her students like some cruel taskmaster was only going to make her more anxious and frustrated.
“We promise you, Starlight, when you return you will be impressed by our progress before out next session.” Alphabiddle gave his word, wanting to show her that the unicorns of Bridlewood took this duty seriously.
The following morning, Starlight left with Sunny and the sisters for Zephyr Heights while Hitch had to return to Maretime Bay. Starlight gave Hitch a real thrill by casting a teleportation spell on him that zapped him back to town in the blink of an eye. He reappeared right outside the door to the station. His sudden appearance out of thin air with a small burst of magical energy startled a few ponies that were passing close by. Hitch was impressed to know end at the magical power Starlight wielded. With such power, he had a hunch that she would be successful with her plans.
------*****-----
As Misty assisted with looking through the various books on the shelf of the library, she could sense which books had a magical aura on them, indicating there was something special about those books. Just what, she wasn't sure. Misty had the spell scroll Starlight had given her and one of the spells written out for her was a spell that would allow her to translate from the ancient magical language of old Ponish into a form she understood.
When Opaline was too busy with what she was working on, Misty cast the spell from the scroll onto the books nearest to where she was standing. Three of them began to emit a soft blue light that only she could see. She waited until later on that night, after Opaline gave up and went off to bed to slip silently down to the library to remove the books from where they had sat for untold moons.
Nervously, with great care and reverence, Misty laid the first book on the table in front of her, trying to stay calm all the while. She put a forehoof on the night blue cover with its strange and ornate silver embossing of very intricate design. She closed her eyes, letting herself relax and tap into the magic energy that was inside all unicorns, just as Starlight had written on the spell scroll. When she did, the silver embossing began to move and change its appearance, transforming into what looked like a silver moon surrounded by twinkling stars in a night sky. But more amazing was the title of the book, embossed in large print along the top of the cover. She did not know who this Princess Luna was, but this book apparently was a spell book, volume number nine in its linage, which was on the topic of moon magic and the properties of Lunar Based Magical Energy.
She did the same to the other two books she'd taken off the shelf, the subject of each revealed to her, one being another volume from the same collection as the first book, while the second was a collection of various spells written by a Princess Flurry Heart, whoever that was. Either way, she knew these were important magical books and she would do well to keep them secret, away from her mistress. Or better yet, bring them to Bridlewood and give them to Starlight, she'd know what to do to keep them safe.
Moving soft and silent, like a shadow along the castle’s interior walls, Misty slunk back to her room to retrieve a large carry bag, big enough to hold the three books within. She returned to the library, carefully slipping the three books inside and hiding the bag somewhere in the castle convenient to pick up on her way out the next time she had to leave. She hoped to be sent back to Bridlewood soon, wanting to continue with her magic studying. With her magic treasure safely hidden, she retired to her bedroom, locking the door behind her. For a few more minutes before going to bed, Misty practiced her levitation skills, pleased with herself that it was becoming easier for her to tap into her magic. She could not wait to show Starlight when she got back.
Time Enough for Everything at Last
Starlight enjoyed her three days and two nights in Zephyr Heights. The sister princesses made sure to show her as much of their city as well as what their was of the remains of the old city that could still be found. Starlight did not find much that she recognized but there were enough clues for her to piece together some kind of chronology to this city. Zipp and Pipp introduced her to their mother, Queen Haven, and Starlight made a good impression, preforming a bit of magic that caused the queen to raise her eyebrows in surprise to Starlight's magical capabilities.
Zipp and Pipp showed her the royal library, hoping Starlight might find something useful here that might help her. It was not very big and it mostly covered the history of the pegasus city and its foundlings. If she had time, she would have liked to investigate how this world functioned without a princess in control of the moon and sun as well as the weather no longer under the control of the pegasus ponies. Among the many volumes of history, art, literature, and other topics, there was nothing on the subject of magic to be found. Pipp made it her duty to take many pictures and a few videos of Starlight spending time in Zephyr Heights, trying to make the trip special for her by creating fun memories. On the last night in the city, Starlight dined with the queen in the palace. In was a fine ending to a much-needed rest for Starlight.
The following morning, Zipp and Pipp escorted Starlight back to Bridlewood, glad to have given her some time away and a chance to relax. Though Starlight was grateful for the sister's hospitality, she could not escape her thoughts of what was awaiting her upon her return to Bridlewood and seeing her students once more. Izzy and Sunny were there to greet her, both were clearly excited to see her again and alluded to surprising her when she'd settled in and was ready to resume her teaching.
Slipping away just after lunch, Izzy had quietly gone about rounding up all the students whom Starlight was training, eager to show how much they'd improved. Sunny and the sisters kept Starlight distracted long enough for Starlight's students to assemble in the clearing with Izzy and Alphabiddle.
Starlight was escorted by her hosts to the clearing, and it caught Starlight off guard to find not only had they erected a simple stone archway in order to facilitate the energy field's location and stability, but also all of them waiting for her and ready to go. Suspecting something was up, she let them put on whatever show of strength they wanted to demonstrate, seeing how eager they were. Starlight levitated the unicorn unity crystal into position as the keystone in the archway as Izzy and Alphabiddle got into their positions around the circle. When Izzy gave the word, the twelve of them focused all their magic energy on the crystal, now making it glow with an intense blue light. So much so that Sunny and the sisters had to shield their eyes from it.
Starlight could already see the first formation of the energy field within the archway, the tone of the crystal starting to fill the air with its distinct musical tone. Starlight could not help but feel her excitement pick up some, seeing these unicorns doing powerful magic as a group and doing it correctly.
The twelve students gave it all they had, managing to form the energy field for only a short amount of time, but for Starlight, she thought it might just be enough to work. They only had to keep it stable for about ten to fifteen seconds, long enough for her to cast the time travel spell and enter the portal. They couldn't hold it steady any longer and the students had to release the energy, sending out a wave of energy from the clearing in all directions. Nowhere near as intense as the wave Starlight had unleashed, but a wave strong enough to attract Opaline's attention again in her castle.
The group of unicorns collapsed to the ground, exhausted and panting very hard from the exertion. Their efforts were not in vain as Starlight stomped her forehooves on the ground, applauding the great strides they had made in the time since last trying. It lifted a great weight off all their shoulders to hear Starlight so positive and sure that her plan to return to her time just might work.
Starlight instructed them to rest up for the remainder of the day and to be ready to do this for real tonight. The twelve students, including Izzy and Alphabiddle, felt a pride in achieving this goal: feeling more comfortable and familiar with the magic now after working with Starlight. All of the students, once more, gave thanks to Starlight for 'giving' them back the magic that was once part of who they were.
Free for the rest of the day, Starlight finally got the chance to spend some one-on-one time with Sunny and help her with her alicorn transformation. One thing Starlight noted to herself as she walked along the paths of Bridlewood was how quickly the interest of magic had spread among them, especially the youngsters. Seeing them practicing those same magic skills that she'd done when as young as them filled her heart with happiness. More than once during Sunny's time alone with Starlight did one of the little colts or fillies come hurrying over to where they were working to demonstrate their new skill. Starlight was always encouraging them to keep at it.
Sunny could tell how much Starlight was enjoying the attention, seeing the little kids all wanting to hug her with thanks and say how much they love her for showing them more magic. But Sunny could also see it was weighing on Starlight's heart a bit more now, knowing she was going to leave them and take her chance at getting back to her time. In spite of her concerted efforts not to get close to the residents of Bridlewood, Starlight found her heart aching a little with sadness to leave them. Her time here reminded her of when she would teach classes at the School of Friendship and the bonds she would make with the student body, growing closer to her. It was hard not to feel something ache at the idea of leaving them so soon.
Suddenly, two colts acting mean to a smaller filly, using their magic to play keep away, holding this little girl's favorite toy up and away from her in the air, teasing her that she could not use her magic and caused her to start crying. Sunny went right over to correct these two colts for acting so mean. When she spoke to them, her alicorn transformation began.
“How can you two be so cruel, teasing her like that! You have been bestowed with the greatest gift of all, Equestrian magic, the power of our very world. Why use it like this? I don't think Miss Starlight would disagree with me.” Sunny didn't even realize it happened again, bewildered once she noticed.
Starlight picked up on her friend's lead. “That's right Princess Sunny. A unicorn true to their magic power does not abuse it as such.” She came to stand next to Sunny, firmly but gently correcting them. “With great magic power comes great responsibility. You must learn NOT to abuse what you have learned and try all you can to better Equestria for all ponykind.”
The two colts, looking rather downcast at the correcting they received about abusing their magic, apologized to the little filly and gave her back her toy.
“We’re sorry, Miss Starlight and Princess Suny.” One spoke up, clearly ashamed for having acted like a bully. Sunny and Starlight were satisfied with the act of contrition and sent them on their way. The little filly thanked Miss Starlight and the princess for their help.
Starlight reasoned that the times Sunny had transformed were when she would step into the role of acting like a Princess of Equestria, leading them by the lessons her father had helped teach her and use as guidance. Sunny has to want to become an alicorn; the desire to help and lead others caused her transformation to happen. It was something of a revelation to Sunny, putting the small clues together to figure out that yes, the she'd transformed did coincide with her desire to help others. It would be something for Sunny to focus more on in the coming days.
That evening was spent at a private supper for Starlight, her students, and the mane five, all together in the tea shop to share the last few hours with their guest. Starlight kept them entertained with impressions of the Mane Six, doing a pretty good impression of her friends Rarity and Applejack for her hosts. Her favorite story she shared was about Twilight Sparkle's attempt to put on a play about the history of the two sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and how her stage production all came flying apart for her. It was a great tale to tell that capped off the fine meal and put every pony in a positive and relaxed mood. Her students left her to relax with company while they would rest and wait for her command.
Sunny and her four close friends stayed longer with Starlight at the tea shop, wanting to learn more about their world's history and what it was like when magic was so much more prevalent in Equestria. Alphabiddle brewed up a special tea blend from some very rare samples, wanting to commemorate this moment. Pipp took more pictures, as well as some short videos, of all of them, wanting to share this with her followers later on after Starlight had departed.
For the last hour or two before she would attempt her time travel spell with her students, Starlight walked quietly along the paths of Bridlewood, alone with her thoughts and trying to relax her mind. At one spot on the edge of town where it butted up against the heavy wooded forest, she found Misty sitting alone in a tiny clearing where she was practicing her magic lessons, the same one Starlight wrote out for her before leaving for Zephyr Heights.
Starlight got to spend a little time with this young filly, who she thought was the shyest of all the unicorns in Bridlewood by the way she avoided contact with most of the ponies living here. Of all the young ponies trying magic she had seen so far, she watched Misty actually cast a transfiguration spell on a wood bowl near her, turning it into a teacup. This was quite something for Starlight to witness, as she hadn't taught or written out such a spell for Misty or any of the other unicorns. When Starlight asked where Misty had learned that spell from, Misty presented the three books she’d removed Opaline's library to Starlight, whose mouth fell open with shock with what Misty was showing her.
Starlight took the books from Misty, her excitement and interest clearly heightened when skimming the books' contents. Starlight could not believe her luck in having these books at her disposal, even with just a couple hours left before her attempt. She asked where Misty got these from. Misty could not look at Starlight just then, only explaining that she'd been keeping them safe for a time when they could be used, and this seemed like the right time to her. Starlight did not press Misty more about where she got them from, only that she was in possession of spell books that might have a spell contained within that might make her time travel spell work better.
Misty, though glad to help Starlight out any way she could, still looked a little sad knowing that Starlight would be leaving very soon and would no longer be here to teach magic to any of them, but Starlight knew what to do in order to lift Misty's spirit. Starlight slipped the spell book written by Princess Flurry Heart back into Misty's bag, keeping the two volumes from Princess Luna for herself to use.
“A little parting gift, just between the two of us, right?” Starlight gave her a wink and a little smirk, letting Misty know that she may not approve of how Misty came to be in possession of these priceless spell books but she was not going to say anything.
She left Misty alone to her magic lessons and hurried off to find Izzy and the other students to show them what she had in her possession. About five minutes after Starlight had left her company, Opaline frantically contacted Misty, there had been another energy wave created and sent rippling across the land and it came from Bridlewood this time.
Opaline wanted information, did Misty see who or what it was that had created the energy wave? Misty had, she arrived back in Bridlewood the day before and had witnessed the magical feat. Opaline wanted to know what the cutie mark of this unicorn looked like. She was theorizing that this unicorn was the source of this energy. She had come across some texts in her research that mentioned a unicorn mare that had traveled through time in order to defeat a pony princess of long ago.
Misty misled Opaline, drawing out a crude picture on the ground with a stick, a real mishmash of two cutie marks she'd seen and just threw together. She turned the amulet around to show Opaline what she’d scrawled.
Annoyed, Opaline demanded to know what this mare's name was. Misty said the mare that was teaching magic to the other unicorns was named Fizzlepop Berrytwist. This confounded Opaline still, demanding to know if Misty was absolutely sure of it. Misty repeated the same name, throwing off Opaline more. Misty was ordered to stay and observe this mare, as well as report back anything else.
Misty remained in the small clearing until it was close to the time Starlight was supposed to leave. She would find a spot away from any pony else who might be watching, so she could watch the magic happen and see if Starlight was successful.
=====*****=====
Starlight found her students waiting around near Alphabiddle's tea shop along with Sunny and the others. She was almost breathless with excitement, getting to explain what she had in her possession. Though Sunny and the others questioned just where Starlight got these, Starlight assured them that it was more important to go through the books and see if there were any spells that could help them.
Starlight, Izzy, and Sunny went through the books as quickly as they could, glancing over page after page of spells, trying to find something useful. Izzy found something that was written in the book she and Sunny were reading. Starlight’s eyes scoured the page and, sure enough, it contained a spell that could be incorporated into her time travel spell that would make it more effective if cast in the light of a full moon, like tonight.
It was not a hard spell to cast for any unicorn of any real skill level, but when reading the spell's details more, Starlight discovered a problem. The spell had to be cast by an alicorn in order to be infused with the spell it was to effect.
This meant Sunny had to transform and cast the spell while Starlight was casting hers. Sunny was very unsure, she had not been able to summon her transformation at will just yet, it just sort of happened at times. But Starlight wanted her to try, she was soon going to cast the time travel spell regardless but would like Sunny's help, even if it only made a little difference to her chances of getting back to her time. Sunny agreed, but doubting herself to actually ‘helping’ in spellcasting.
For the last hour, Sunny and Starlight worked together alone in a very intense session of magic education. Starlight believed that Sunny could summon her alicorn magic power the same way unicorns summon their magic from within. Going back to the very basics with Sunny, she got Sunny to summon her magical power and transform into an alicorn. Sunny began to understand what to do in order to make her transformations happen, it was like Starlight said. Sunny had to want to become an alicorn; she had to summon it from within her by envisioning herself in alicorn form.
Even more amazing to Sunny, when in her alicorn form, she could read the spells written in the spell books without difficulty, in spite them being written in an ancient text. When Sunny was as an earth pony, the language the spells were written in appeared like a collection of nonsensical gibberish and random symbols. But now it was as easy as anything for Sunny to read and understand the spell Starlight wanted her to cast. Starlight was cutting it very close with her time, getting Sunny ready and then joining the other unicorns in the clearing.
Every pony stood close by the archway, ready to do the spell. Starlight levitated the unicorn Unity Crystal into position as the keystone to the arch. Before the spell casting began, Starlight instructed Sunny and Izzy to each keep one volume of the books she’d received from Misty, one in Maretime Bay and one in Bridlewood. Starlight felt it would be safer to have them apart so as to not let some no-good rapscallion make off with these irreplaceable books, though she did encourage them to share the books and make copies of the spells for themselves.
“But, Miss Starlight, where did they come from?” Alphabiddle, and probably every other pony gathered here, wondered the same thing. He and the other unicorns had never seen these books before. But Starlight played it cool, borrowing a bit of Maud Pie by answering his question literally.
“They came from a pony princess of Equestria who lived long ago. Now, are we going to get started on some spellcasting or not?” She sidestepped the question with a smile, leaving them a bit befuddled by her answer.
Starlight had to say goodbye to these ponies at last. She gave each student a hug goodbye, thanking them for all they had done to help her. She wasn’t ready for what was about to happen, catching her off guard.
Pipp presented a gift to Starlight. It was something to help her out on her trip, if she should have need of it. It was a sturdy hiking harness, five individual holding pouches hung off the main shoulder strap with each of the Mane Five's cutie marks embroidered on a pouch cover flap. They hoped she did not have need of the supplies inside the pouches, but wanted her to be prepared for whatever might happen once she stepped through the portal and into the unknown. Starlight slipped on the harness, seeing how it hung from her body much like the harness Hitch wore so often.
Hearing how these unicorns were so eager to relearn about their special bond with their world made Starlight’s heart glad and hopeful for their future and wonder about what new magic they would create. But she would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that leaving all this behind was much, much harder than she had thought it would be.
Izzy, Sunny, Alphabiddle and all her students took their places around the archway, forming a semi-circle and preparing themselves for the magic spell they were about to cast. Just before Starlight gave the word to begin, a clutch of young colts and fillies, some as young as six or seven years old, came running into the clearing upon learning their magic teacher was leaving Bridlewood for some reason. They cried out for her, most of them now in tears and begging Starlight not to go as they crowded around her.
“I… I have to go little ones. I can't stay any longer. My time here with you is over now.” Starlight, looking upon them with great sympathy, was trying to let them down easy but it only made them more upset.
“No-o-o-o-o-o-o!” A wail of despair came up from the youngsters. Several small ponies clung to her forelegs in protest, believing they could keep her from leaving.
“Please, Miss Starlight, you have to stay! Please?!” One little tan colored unicorn filly with tears rolling down the sides of her muzzle pleaded desperately, her heart aching with love and admiration for this mare who had brought them so much closer to the magic of Equestria.
“You can’t leave us, Miss Starlight! We love you and need you! We need your help!” A small pale blue colt insisted, tears running in small rivulets down his small muzzle, his chin quivering.
“Don’t go, Miss Starlight! Please don’t go!” Another filly with a yellow coat and pink mane & tail pleaded with Starlight, her large green eyes looking up at Starlight with terrible desperation in them.
Starlight’s resolve weakened more, hearing the young voices longing for her presence and guidance. She had to steel herself; remind herself of why she was doing this.
“I have a little one of my own waiting for me, along with her father, back home. I miss them very much. I have to try to return to them.” Starlight tried to reason with them, but here emotions were starting to get the better of her as tears began to pool in her blue eyes, her resolve taking a terrible beating by the emotional outpouring of these youngsters.
Hitch, Pipp, and Zipp came over to rescue Starlight from the mewling youngsters, corralling them close to watch but not sending them away. Starlight wanted to give to them some kind of assurance that this was not some terrible tragedy. She turned to address them all, wanting them to understand and accept this.
“You are all on your way to becoming great and powerful in your own right. This is not the end but only the beginning of your return to the spirit of Equestria's magic. Staying true to one another, whether unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony, will help keep the magic within you.”
It seemed to be enough to quell the upset youngsters though one or two ran off, too hurt and unable to accept the loss of a pony so loved and admired.
Starlight turned around to face the archway again, her emotions teetering as her heart cracked into a million pieces, but did not shatter. Sunny stood next to Starlight in the circle of unicorns, watching the elder mare’s steely resolve to follow through with her plan.
“Feel nothing; see nothing; focus only on casting the spell…” Starlight told herself, looking straight ahead and forcing the emotions down, despite the quiver in her voice revealing the ache she was feeling at leaving them behind and how afraid she was.
Sunny was both impressed and a little saddened by how disciplined Starlight was, able to block out any emotions and become so focused. Sunny knew she would have to be as calm and focused in order to help with the spell.
Every pony quieted down, allowing those who were about to attempt this to clear their minds and concentrate. Starlight turned her head to check with Sunny, the churned-up emotions receding now.
“You ready to help me cast a spell, Princess Sunny?" Starlight bowed her head to Sunny, who was still in her alicorn form, respecting her still unofficial title as Princess of Unity. Sunny took a few deep breaths in preparation and gave a quick nod.
“Ready.”
The twelve unicorn students all began casting the spell that would help create the energy field within the archway opening. The energy beams focused on the unicorn Unity Crystal caused an encapsulating blue light all around them, as well as illuminating the entire clearing.
Misty, who was watching from a hidden spot, was just then contacted by Opaline. Her mistress had located another magical energy field being created in Bridlewood and was desperate to know if Misty was near it. Misty tried to block the blue light from her eyes to look down at the amulet that hung around her neck. The image of Opaline within the mirror kept flickering, as if the magic energy being generated was causing interference. Misty played up to this, pretending she could not hear or see Opaline repeatedly, and pretended not to understand what was being asked. Instead, she turned her attention back to the unicorns casting this incredible spell.
The students gave it all the magic energy they had, pouring in every ounce of strength. Starlight kept encouraging them on, seeing the field forming and taking shape.
“Sunny, now!” Starlight commanded and Sunny, to her relief and sheer awe, cast her first spell right at the energy field, the beam of energy coming from the horn on her head was causing the energy field to stabilize. “That's it! Keep it up!” Starlight was just as impressed as Sunny was, pleased that even in such a short amount of time, Sunny could learn and perform magic.
Starlight finally cast her time travel spell at the energy field and the crystal gave a loud and pure single musical tone that seemed to vibrate the air all around them. A small wind picked up and blew all around them as the spell reached its crescendo. She gave one final look at all of them, crying out over the sound of the wind.
“Goodbye every pony! Thank you!” Starlight then took a running start and jumped into the portal, causing a bright flash of blue light to flare out from the Unity Crystal and a boom from the magical energy being displaced quickly. The energy wave rushed over them like a wave of wind, causing all the unicorns in Bridlewood to have that same tingly feeling all over their bodies and caused each of their horns to glow brightly with blue light. It was an amazing end to an amazing spell.
Sunny's horn was aglow, shining its golden amber color and her body tingled all over too. She and her friends were so glad to have been successful in sending Starlight back to the time she came from. At least, they hoped she made it home.
For a few moments, no pony moved or spoke as the sensation faded away and the light from the crystal dimmed. It was a moment too intense and surreal to interrupt. But finally, Hitch broke the silence.
“If it’s alright with you Izzy, could I stay the night and head back to Maretime Bay in the morning?” Hitch looked up at the night sky, filled with stars and the bright white moon that shone down its pure radiance to bathe them in. “I wouldn’t mind sitting out under the stars for a while tonight and… think about things.”
“Me too, Izzy. I’d like to spend the night here in Bridlewood.” Sunny could not hide the feeling of both wonder and loss at the same time with Starlight's departure. There was still so much she wanted to know about Princess Twilight and her friends from Equestria’s past.
“Is it possible we can join you too? I don't think our mom is going to miss us for one night.” Zipp confessed, her sister nodding in agreement. No pony at the moment was feeling much desire for celebrating, but felt a sense of quiet reflection time and wanting to be in the company of friends.
“There’s plenty of room at my place for all my friends. I’ll get it ready; you guys stop in whenever you’re ready to turn in, okay?” Even perky Izzy was rather subdued, left wondering if Starlight really was successful. Izzy levitated the crystal out of the stone archway and brought it over to Sunny, wanting her to hold onto it.
Alphabiddle and the other students silently drifted away from the clearing, heading off to sit and wonder about what they had been a part of and the new magic knowledge they possessed. Things in Bridlewood would never be the same after all of this.
The friends sat quietly together near the edge of the woods that made up Bridlewood, a large boulder providing a convenient backrest for them to lean against and look up into the night sky. They didn’t say much, having long pauses of silence between softly spoken thoughts about what they’d seen and done. Izzy joined them after getting her cottage ready for her guests, bringing them each a cup of tea to help them sleep. The silence was broken only by the soft chirp of field crickets as they gazed in the void above them. After a lengthy stretch of silence, Pipp quietly tried to ask the question undoubtably all of them were thinking about.
“Do… do you... suppose…?” She trailed off, unable to ask, as if to ruin the evening. But Sunny had the answer.
“Yes, she did it. She was successful.”
Zipp leaned forward and, looking over at Sunny, cocked her head slightly. “How do you know, Sunny?”
Sunny placed a forehoof over her heart and closed her eyes for a moment, as if to reach deep inside her to that ‘mystical place’ in her heart where the magic resided. It was like she could almost still ‘feel’ the spell still radiating within her, assuring her that all had gone right. She opened her eyes once more and turned to look at Zipp.
“I can feel it. I can’t explain how but, somehow, I know she made it back to her time in the past.” Hitch and the others now looked at her, wondering. “I know it might sound crazy, but somehow,” She gently tapped her chest a couple of times, “I just do. Maybe it had something to do with performing a spell specifically for an alicorn, maybe not. I just have this feeling in my heart, you know?”
Sunny and her friends sat quietly for a little while longer before turning in for the night, pondering life questions big and small as they sipped their tea and wondered. The past month had been a whirlwind of events and it was going to take time to process it all. It felt like their world was still changing in ways they didn’t understand and none knew or suspected what could possibly come next.
Time Enough for Everything at Last
“A few more just walked in; I’m guessing that’s at least a dozen now.” Alpabiddle reported to his guests, looking out the window of his shop to the small cottage just up the lane. He was pleased to see so many unicorns arriving for this first night.
“See? I told you you’d get a whole bunch would come!” Izzy hopped excitedly up and down on her hooves, her instincts proving right about her friend’s magic skill. “Starlight said you were her best student and now you’re going to show every pony that she was right.”
“Oh-h-h-h! I don’t know how I you got me to agree to this! I’m no teacher!” Nimbus Starcatcher groaned as he paced about the floor of the tea shop in a small circle, his head ears drooping slightly from worrying and fretting about this night. He flipped back his bangs from his eyes, his blue mane glittering slightly from the room’s light and he slid his round-rimmed glasses back up his muzzle. “This was a crazy idea!” His tail swished nervously back and forth, the light catching the glittering twinkle as it moved.
Sunny, Izzy and their pegisus friends had been the nucleus of the idea of creating a magic school here in Bridlewood. Urged on by the unicorn population, a cottage had been selected and refurbished for the purpose. From among Starlight’s chosen students, a vote was taken, and he was chosen as the most eligible pony to be the first instructor from all the ponies who had been selected by Starlight.
At first, the accolades were nice and he like being recognized for his magic skill and not just known as the librarian of Bridlewood’s small library. But as he came to the realization that plans for a magic school was not just some whimsical idea but actually going to become a reality, he found being the center of attention not so great now. It all seemed to happen so quickly and come together fairly effortlessly as most of his fellow citizens were eager to have such a school in existence. Was it his imagination or did it feel like he got stampeded into the role?
“You’ll be great. You’ve accomplished more spellcasting and done more research with the two spell-books than any other unicorn in Bridlewood. Starlight would be so proud how far you’ve come.” Sunny was all smiles at the arrival of this day, a little bemused by Izzy’s friends’ nervousness. He’d been tapped by Starlight as a tutor to those in the original group of twelve unicorns; helping his fellow students who were struggling during the training. Magic just seemed to come more quickly to Nimbus, impressing Starlight and inspiring his fellow students.
“Sunny, maybe this is a bit too early to try something so ambitious.” Nimbus couldn’t help but have a case of ‘cold hooves’, not having some pony he could turn to when stumped by some aspect of creating or reading a spell. The sensation of having to now be the teacher to a group of unicorns reminded hm of that sensation of being slowly pulled up that first big hill of a roller coaster. The slow anticipation of what was coming, the uncertainty of what was next on the other side of that downward run.
“If Starlight picked you to help us when we were starting out, I don’t have any doubt that you’re the stallion best for this duty. I know I wouldn’t be.” Alphabiddle confessed with a smile. He’d learned a great deal about how to use his magic more effectively but was not scholarlily at studying the subject like some of his fellow unicorns. He was practicing some, but only for his own interest to help him around his shop. Alphabiddle wasn’t looking to become some awe-inspiring pony of legend. Like most of the other unicorns of Bridlewood, just learning more about the power within themselves and maybe trying a few harder spells was about as far as they liked to go.
“I’m positive you’re going to be great. Maybe in a few weeks I can join the students in your class. I’ve been studying and really want to see if I can cast spells as well as you; as well as Starlight did.” Sunny was earnest in her desire, and having a new unicorn friend here in Bridlewood was going to make this so much more fun and exciting to make mistakes with and learn with.
“I know you can do this, Nimbus. We’ve seen how you’re a real natural with casting magic spells. No pony has done more research and study with those spell-books than you. Sunny and me looked over your first lesson plan; we think it’s perfect for your first students.” Izzy knew how to play the cheerleader, giving Nimbus a small boost of confidence. It must have worked because he stopped and, using his magic, levitated over the lesson plan he’d finished, wondering to himself if it was too hard, or too easy by his choice spells to try. Would his first students understand the concepts of magic as he did while under Starlight’s tutelage?
The small clock on the shelf behind the tea shop’s counter went off, alerting them to it being 8 o’clock about was time. Nimbus took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to relax. Izzy levitated over the specially made wizard’s hat and matching cape Pipp gave him as a present when she heard of his new position as first instructor of Bridlewood’s School of Magic. It was of a classic round rimmed and pointed design and a flowing cape that was held in place around his neck with a sapphire-encrusted antique silver clasp. Both garments were made of fine blue velvet and were embroidered with a random pattern of silver stars.
“We believe in you, Nimbus.” She floated the headgear right above his head and lowered it, as if she were crowing a king as he slipped on the cape.
“That really makes you look the part, Nimbus. Pipp’s natural fashion sense knew what would look good on you.” Sunny thought his looks harkened back to the powerful pony wizards of old; wondering if all unicorn wizards wore outfits like that. Nimbus Starcatcher levitated the lesson plan back into his carry bag and then slipped the carry strap over his head to have the bag hang from his right side.
“We’ll walk with you to the front door. I’m curious to see just how many of Starlight’s students are continuing on.” Sunny had gotten to know a couple of Nimbus and Izzy’s fellow trainees while visiting during Starlight’s stay. She hoped to have made a good impression on them when using her Alicorn magic power when aiding Starlight’s spellcasting.
There was no turning back now as a number of his fellow unicorns awaited his presence at his school. Sunny held the door open for him as Alphabiddle passed him a thermos full of his special relaxing tea blend, sure it would help sooth any more anxiety Nimbus might feel during his class time.
“Go get’em, professor Nimbus.” The large stallion grinned at Nimbus, sure that this was going to be not as nerve wracking as his friend was assuming. Having been tutored by Nimbus during their brief time assisting Starlight with her magic, Alphabiddle knew he was the right pony for this duty too.
“Thank you, Alphabiddle.” Nimbus opened the flap of his carry bag and slipped the thermos in, smiling gratefully for the offering. He headed out the door with Izzy right behind him and Sunny following. The two mares moved up alongside of Nimbus as they walked the short distance to the new school.
“I think it’s exciting to have a school of magic now. I hope to be able to join in some of your classes as soon as I gain better control over my transformations.” Sunny did want to learn how to use magic like Izzy and Nimbus. Getting a taste of spellcasting with some help from Starlight at the tail end of her time here had left Sunny wanting. All those bedtime stories her dad had told her about unicorn magic and what could be done with magic’s help set her imagination on fire, giving her the most fantastical dreams about what it must feel like to wield such power.
“Maybe I’ll pop in on a class or two, once you’re more settled in at your school. I know you’ll have room for one more student.” Izzy, too, was keen to learn more then she had while working with Starlight and the other chosen students. Having successfully done more difficult magic, Izzy was genuinely curious to see what else she could use magic for.
The walk only took maybe a minute or so to reach the front door of the impromptu school. Peeking inside the small window in the front door, Sunny spotted at least twenty unicorns seated at desks and awaiting Nimbus’ presence. It was a full house, and Sunny clapped her front hooves together in excitement.
“Theres a whole bunch of ponies waiting inside! This is going to be so exciting for you, Nimbus!”
The butterflies in Nimbus’ stomach kept fluttering about, keeping him a little unsettled about this first night. Instinctively he knew once he got started it would most likely be fine, it was just getting over that ‘first hump’ of actually stepping up that made this seem like something so difficult to do. Nimbus gave a small nod, readying himself.
“Let’s see if I can teach these new students as well as Starlight taught us.” He confided to Sunny and Izzy, trying to focus on what he was going to say. “Thanks for the company; wish me luck.” Nimbus reached out for the door handle and gave it a quick turn, opening the door.
“Good luck tonight, Nimbus.” Sunny gave him a small pat on his back with a forehoof as he headed inside, leaving her and Izzy standing in the doorway. Izzy shut the door behind him and both mares tried to peer in through the front door window for a few seconds, just to watch Nimbus get started.
“Good evening, students.” Nimbus addressed the classroom of ponies as he headed for his desk and waiting podium where he would speak from.
“Good evening, professor Nimbus.” Almost all of the unicorns answered back, recognizing him as the librarian to their library and then sat up straight. Nimbus placed his carry bag on his small desk and pulled out his lesson plan, stepping over to the podium to speak. Looking over the collection of first-time magic students seated in front of him, Nimbus recognized two of the students were two fellow unicorns whom he’d worked with while assisting Starlight; one was Selene Spellbound, a mare whose skill was almost on par with his and Strom Stormcloud, a stallion who’d started studying magic as soon as those two spell books gifted to them by Starlight were available. They three had been the top students for Starlight to teach. Nimbus would have believed one of these ponies might have been chosen of himself, but they selected him as the best. Both smiled pleasantly at him. He got started with what he believed to be the best way to break the ice with his new students.
“Okay students, before we get started this evening, I thought it might be a good idea to start with an introduction of every pony here and why you want to study magic.”
Author's Note
I forgot all about the ending I had made for this story and, now that G5 got canceled, I decided to rework this ending some and split it into two parts; what happened when Starlight left the future time of Equestria and another part of Starlight's return to her point in the timeline of Equestria's past. Since some in the fandom or the writing staff from the show explained the gap in time was about 250 years, that will be added to the second part of this story's epilogue. Keep watching for the final installment of this story.
