Hours Once Gone

Rainbow stood there in shock, feeling somewhat betrayed. "You're kidding…" she said. "But why! Why…"

Rainbow stopped herself, remembering the vision she saw of Scarlet's memories. Luna had fought against Scarlet's dark magic before, but her horn was gone. Why then would she place a spell on Scarlet after the fact?

"It is as you said, that in the future, Scarlet regains her horn," Luna said.

"But how would you know that!" Rainbow shouted. "And why kill her in such a way…" She gagged, covering her mouth with a hoof.

Luna sighed. "We didn't know, but precautions had to be taken. So we put a sleep spell on Scarlet, in case she ever regained her magic somehow. Don't you know how dangerous Scarlet can be?"

Rainbow didn't know. All she'd seen in Scarlet was a pony who wanted a friend. Somepony who was trapped by dark magic with no escape. Somepony who could never live a normal life even if she wanted to.

Rainbow shook her head. "Scarlet isn't the dangerous one," she said, her lips quivering. "It's that book! It's the one forcing her to do all these things."

Luna narrowed her eyes. "Even still, she is a threat to Equestria. Our stance should be clear on that."

Rainbow Dash's lips formed a frown. Suddenly, she kneeled on the floor before Luna. "Princess, please…" she begged. "Please, don't kill Scarlet!"

Luna's eyes widened as she looked down at Rainbow. "Why are you shaming yourself, Rainbow Dash? Stand."

Rainbow didn't stand, still kneeling. "Please, please don't kill her!" Rainbow yelled. "I won't ask for anything else, just please, let her live!"

Luna stood with authority, putting duty above all else. However, seeing Rainbow Dash beg so desperately, she exhaled and reached a hoof out to lift Rainbow up. "We just said, do not shame yourself," she said, putting a hoof to her chest. "We, Princess Luna, promise to spare the life of Scarlet Snow."

Rainbow's eyes lit up and she smiled with joy. "Yes! Thank you thank you thank you Princess!" She squealed, grabbing Luna's leg and hugging it on the floor. "I won't ever forget this!"

Luna shook her leg, trying to get Rainbow off. "Why do you love to feel shame?" She sighed, giving up. "It matters not. What happens next, the responsibility falls on you, Rainbow Dash. What is it you'll do to repay our favor?"

Rainbow laid on the floor, hugging Luna's leg. She stood up, glancing to the side. What could she do? She was never the type to come up with a plan.

"As long as I have these goggles… I can do anything, right?" Rainbow said, a mischievous smile on her face.

Luna narrowed her eyes. "That is a dark path, Rainbow Dash. Are you certain you have the heart to walk it?"

Rainbow hesitated. "I'm Rainbow Dash," she finally said. "Losing isn't my style."

Luna sighed, shaking her head. "Then go. There's no telling when Scarlet will start trouble again."

Rainbow Dash gave a salute and flew to the door, stopping. "Oh, and princess," she said. "Thank you."

Luna gave a simple bow, and with that, Rainbow flew out the room, calling out to Fluttershy. She zoomed around the castle until eventually, she saw her outside a window in a garden. She stood there with that mysterious filly. Rainbow found her way down to the two, coming to a screeching halt in front of them.

"Fluttershy, I'm going through the Crystal Mirror," she said. "You coming or…" Rainbow looked down at the filly.

Fluttershy tilted her head, looking conflicted. "Well, Tempora is um… she doesn't know where she is," Fluttershy said.

"Tempora?" Rainbow said, eyeing up the filly. "This thing is suspicious…"

Fluttershy's jaw dropped. "She's not a thing, Rainbow…" she shook her head. "Anyway, it might be best if I look after her. Sorry, I really wanted to go with you, but…"

Rainbow shrugged. "Hey, no biggie."

Tempora tugged on Rainbow's leg, looking up at her. "Miss, what's your name?"

Rainbow was caught off guard by the sudden question. "Rainbow Dash," she smiled. "Aka the most awesomest coolest pony in Ponyville!" She made a heroic pose.

"Rainbow… Dash," Tempora repeated.

Without warning she began to sob uncontrollably. Fluttershy quickly went to rub her back, a look of worry on her face. Rainbow Dash flinched backwards, thinking she'd done something wrong.

However, it wasn't Rainbow's fault. Suddenly, a cloud of blue dust erupted outwards from Tempora, forming a smokey cloud around them. Rainbow and Fluttershy both covered their eyes, and when they could finally see again and the dust dispersed, Tempora was gone. Fluttershy shrieked, frantically backing away from where Tempora was. It was like she just vanished.

"Did she… teleport, maybe?" Rainbow wondered.

Despite what she said, Rainbow had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't just a simple teleport spell. The alicorn status, the hourglass cutie mark and her name, Tempora. They all suggested something else. Time travel.

"Fluttershy, can you make sure she's not somewhere around the castle?" Rainbow asked. "I really need to get going, but something isn't right with that filly."

Fluttershy was crouched down with her wings over her head. "Y-Yeah… hopefully she teleported and didn't e-explode…"

Rainbow shook her head at the poor pegasus, before taking off into the sky. The moonlight reflected off her rainbow mane as she darted down to the train station. She came to a screeching halt, as she waited for the next train to Ponyville.

At the very least, Scarlet wasn't in any danger herself. However, with Ouroboros still having her by the neck, there was no telling what she might do in the name of her dark master.

By the time Rainbow reached Ponyville, it was past midnight, still extremely early in the morning. She ran straight to Twilight's castle, entering without asking. After arriving at the Crystal Mirror, she made sure her goggles were tightly strapped to her head. Then, without hesitating this time, she dove right in.

Rainbow screamed as time and space both tugged at her body, stretching it past the barrier of the universe until finally, she was shot out of the other end. She fell face first onto the floor in front of the familiar statue, however, this time there was no one there. She glanced around, surrounded by moonlight rather than sunlight. She'd already wasted so much time. By now, Scarlet would've been dead, but if Luna had kept her promise, then…

A loud screech echoed across the sky, the sound unlike anything Rainbow had heard before. The closest thing she could attribute it to was maybe the sound of a dying animal. Rainbow stared at the sky, unable to see what was causing it. The screams came from every direction. Then, like a moth flying past a light, Rainbow spotted something dart past the moon. It was so clear, like the sight of a pegasus flying in the sky.

That was when she felt someone grab her hand and tug her backwards. As Rainbow turned to see who this person was, it was a girl with fiery orange and red hair, teal eyes and a leather jacket.

"Get inside!" she shouted, urgency in her voice.

Rainbow was confused, but chose to listen for now. "Who are you?" she asked while running for the school entrance.

"I'm…" she paused, glancing to the side. "I'm Sunset Shimmer, but that doesn't matter right now!" She swung open the door to the school, gesturing to Rainbow to get inside.

Rainbow stumbled into the front entrance, when suddenly she heard screaming from behind her. What she saw made her eyes go wide. Just like in Scarlet's memories, a pony made entirely of shadow. The creature was on top of Sunset, gnashing its jaws at her and flailing its hooves as she held it back. Rainbow stood up to go and help.

"No! Stay inside and shut the door!" Sunset screamed, as suddenly her arms gave out and the shadow pony bit into her neck.

Although conflicted, Rainbow couldn't just leave her. She stepped outside, but the moment she reached out to help, Sunset's eyes lit up a bright white. The dark of night was illuminated by the rays coming from her eyes as she began to levitate from the floor.

Rainbow had no idea what she was witnessing, but she couldn't hesitate now. She grabbed Sunset by the hand and placed another hand on the shadow pony, trying to shove it off her. It was no use.

"Please…" Sunset uttered, grabbing Rainbow by the shoulder as she floated higher and higher. "Don't let this be for nothing."

With that, a burst of light emitted from Sunset, melting the shadow pony before Rainbow's eyes. However, it wasn't just the shadow pony who was melting. With this magical explosion, Sunset was also searing her own flesh. Her screams invaded Rainbow's ears, like that of a dying rabbit. As the spell reached its apex, the screams also stopped.

No longer was the shadow pony assaulting them, but laying at the top of the stairs in front of the school entrance, was a charred, bloodied body of Sunset Shimmer. She turned her head to look at Rainbow. She was still alive, barely.

Rainbow scurried over to her, kneeling down. She tried to hold Sunset's shoulder, but all this did was make Sunset yell in pain. Rainbow quickly pulled her hand away. Sunset's skin was completely burnt, her neck still oozing blood. Despite this, she was smiling through the pain.

"What… what did you do?" Rainbow's voice wavered as she tried to form a sentence.

Sunset's lips weakly moved. Tears began to form in her eyes. "An… e-emergency spell…" she mumbled. Her voice was gruff.

Rainbow's arms were trembling. "To protect me?" she asked.

Sunset barely managed to nod, before wincing in pain. "Please…" she began. "Kill… me."

Rainbow's heart sank as she heard these words. Sunset desperately wanted to die. Even after doing something so heroic, she still had to suffer for it. A fate far worse than death, but what could Rainbow do? Nothing.

More screeches came from the sky and were getting closer. Rainbow could see several black shapes descending from the clouds, towards her and sunset. She had no choice.

"Sunset." As soon as Rainbow said her name, both of them started to cry. "I'm so, so sorry," Rainbow apologized.

Rainbow got up from her knees and ran into the school, shutting the glass doors behind her. As she looked outside, she saw a smiling Sunset Shimmer, with tears streaming from her face looking back at her. Three, black masses of shadow landed on top of her, tearing into her burnt flesh, like vultures to a corpse. Rainbow had to look away, feeling the urge to vomit. She held it back, running deeper into the depths of the school.

Sunset Shimmer, once a student turned a villain, had just saved Rainbow's life. All of that just to be burned and eaten alive. What made Rainbow's chest feel heaviest of all, was that she forgot to say "thank you."