Hours Once Gone

Eventually, Rainbow made her way to the downtown crowded city, past the suburbs. Her goggles were strapped over her head, which must have looked somewhat strange to passerbyers with their steampunk aesthetic. Compare that to her jacket and leggings, they looked kind of out of place. Regardless, those goggles were important, not just sentimentally or in value, but Princess Celestia claimed there were some magical properties to them. Needless to say, Rainbow never figured out what was magical about them.

The surrounding area began to get more noisy and crowded the further she went into the city. The sun was just about going down, as Rainbow took far too long learning to walk. Although, she had gotten the hang of it somewhat quicker than she expected. She wasn't amazing at walking, but she wasn't falling over every five seconds anymore.

Rainbow's thoughts were interrupted by red and blue lights flashing around the corner. As she turned the street corner, she saw a few humans all dressed in blue. The area they were in was surrounded by yellow tape saying "Crime Scene Do Not Cross". So they must have been investigators or guards of some kind, and it seemed they had something similar to cell phones, except they were black boxes with strings attached.

"Well, I guess it's my time to shine," Rainbow mumbled, before ducking under the tape and approaching one of the officers. "Hey, what's going on here? Can I help in any-" Rainbow stopped herself as she took in the scene surrounding her, a look of shock rising onto her face.

Rainbow couldn't help but keep staring. There was a body, a lifeless corpse, splayed across the sidewalk like a rug. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The body was split in half, its insides producing a ghastly smell. That wasn't the strangest part though.

"Ma'am, this is a crime scene. If you don't know anything regarding the victim please step away," the officer said, putting a hand to Rainbow's shoulder and lightly guiding her away.

"I… I do know something," Rainbow realized. There was something incredibly wrong going on.

"Then speak to that officer over there," he pointed. "They'll take you in for questioning."

There was a crater where the body was split in half and from the looks of it, a burning crater. Burning with magical energy that glowed brightly. Most strange of all though, this corpse had something around its neck. That being the Alicorn Amulet.

The girl's corpse had hair as black as coal and eyes as red as rubies.

"Scarlet?" Rainbow muttered before stepping backwards.

It couldn't have been anyone else. The Alicorn Amulet couldn't be taken off by anypony but the one wearing it. But how did this happen? Who did this and why?

She stepped away from the area, wobbling from side to side. It was a mixture of not knowing how to walk properly, but also feeling sick to her stomach. She'd never seen an actual corpse before, and for the first to be such a gorey mess, insides on the outside… She was having trouble breathing.

Rainbow left the crime scene with more questions than answers, being taken to the police station where she was put in a room where she could be questioned. None of it made any sense. If there were remnants of magic then someone else must have had magic other than Scarlet. Someone who followed her through the mirror, but then why would they kill Scarlet?

The white room taunted her, as if saying she'd never figure it out. At this point, she'd have to go back to Princess Celestia and tell her what happened, but how could she know if her job was done yet? The map existed to tell Rainbow and her friends where to go to solve friendship problems, but how could this be a solved friendship problem? It was just a murder scene.

In order to distract herself, Rainbow had taken Light Speed's goggles off her head, staring down at them. The gold rims shimmered in the light.

"Speaking of magical artifacts… what's your deal?" She spoke to the goggles, lightly laughing to herself. "I guess I… haven't had time to try putting you on, huh?"

Ever since getting them from Princess Celestia, she'd admire and fiddle with them as much as she could, but never put them over her face. Sure, she'd put them on her forehead but nothing more.

For some reason, she was hesitating to wear them over her eyes. It was stupid, but she felt the intense urge to avoid putting them on at all costs when she received them from Celestia, as if someone was telling her not to do it. But then, how would she know what was special about them?

The glass lenses reflected her image, something she hadn't gotten used to seeing just yet. That human reflection with familiar features, but so far away from her pony self. It was odd, it almost seemed like that reflection was trapped in those lenses.

Curiosity eventually got the best of Rainbow, as she lifted the goggles above her head. "With how things turned out, I feel like I need Light Speed's power more than anything else," she said to herself, before strapping them onto her face.

They felt like normal goggles. Too normal, in fact. She could see just fine and they felt perfectly comfortable. In fact, it seemed they were just right for her.

"Okay… nothing's happening." She lifted her hand to touch the cog wheel on the side of the goggles. "I'm guessing you adjust the strap…"

How wrong she was. In the very moment she turned the cog, everything changed. Her vision grew hazy, her mind felt numb. And then she saw a vision. A vision of her walking down a road, but for some reason, walking backwards and at an incredibly fast speed. When finally the vision came to a stop, she still saw that road. It was there, in front of her.

She heard the faint sound of a car passing by, before seeing it in her peripheral. Finally, she felt her senses return, but she wasn't in the police station. She was still on that road and the sun was up. When she turned her head, she could see everything around her. It wasn't a blank white room, but a whole street with houses. How in Equestria did she get here?

She finally thought to take the goggles off, but when she did, nothing changed. She was still on that street. In fact, it was familiar. She'd been here before. She'd seen that same stop sign that shook if you leaned against it. She wasn't just somewhere else, but in some other time. An hour in the past.

Rainbow's jaw had completely dropped at this point, as the cogs turned in her head of what was happening. When turning the wheel on her goggles, time reversed and she ended up where she was just an hour before. This could only have meant one thing for the Wonderbolt of old.

"Wait a minute…" Rainbow said. "Light Speed… was a time traveler?"

She stood dumbfounded on the sidewalk, staring down at the goggles in her hands. It was unbelievable. The wonderbolt, real life myth and legend, a time traveler. With these very goggles, she traveled into the past.

Time travel wasn't unheard of. After all, Twilight was able to do it, but a Wonderbolt? And there was no telling how many times these goggles could turn back time if they were reusable.

"That's… that's awesome!" She shouted, raising the goggles into the air and spinning around with a childlike sense of wonder. "Wow- oh my gosh- this is so much cooler than I thought…" She had a stupid grin on her face, but quickly shook her head and snapped back to her senses. "What am I saying… Now isn't the time."

She exhaled and leaned forward, letting out all of the stress that had built up. She just couldn't move past the revelation of Light Speed being a time traveler though. What did that mean for the Wonderbolts and even the entirety of Equestria's history? This was something even Princess Celestia herself didn't know, and yet Rainbow Dash held a time machine in her hands.

"An honest to goodness time machine…" Rainbow pondered aloud. "Ah, but what about Scarlet? Isn't she…" Rainbow quickly realized that this wasn't the future, it was the past. "No, she's still alive. Then I can see what happened to her!"

Rainbow retraced her steps, trying to remember what streets led where and how to get back to where she was. Would an hour be enough to get back in time? Even then, what would she do if she did make it in time?

"Dangit, Rainbow Dash… no time for questions like that, let's pick up some speed!" She yelled before attempting a light jog with her unfamiliar legs.

At the pace she was going, she managed to make it to the street she was on just before the crime scene with only a few tumbles on the way. The sun was still bright in the sky and luckily, there were no police sirens going off.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned the corner seeing… nopony. A good thing really, but she'd hoped to see Scarlet. Still alive, that is, but the street was empty, apart from the occasional stranger and cars driving past.

"She's still alive then… but where?" She wondered.

Rainbow Dash spent the next few minutes searching each and every store along the street, but turned up with nothing. Wherever Scarlet was, she wasn't here. Whoever killed her didn't seem to be nearby either, but there was no telling who could've done it. Rainbow sat on the sidewalk and let out a sigh. What could she do but wait? By then wouldn't it be too late?

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her left shoulder. Rainbow turned around to see a walking corpse. Or, what would've been a corpse in the future. That jet black hair hung over her right eye, which shined a bright red. Scarlet had found Rainbow.

"Excuse me…" the girl said. "Those goggles… where did you get them from?"

Her tone was sheepish and quiet, reminiscent of the way Fluttershy would speak sometimes. Not at all what Rainbow expected from somepony who used dark magic. Why was Scarlet here? And now, of all times when Rainbow looked all over for her.

Rainbow stood up with a defiant expression. "I-I know what you're up to!" She yelled, grabbing the attention of various strangers. "And you're not getting these goggles, they're mine- er… temporarily!"

Scarlet twirled her hair nervously and shuffled her feet. "Oh, I'm just asking because… they look like Wonderbolts goggles. Ah, I sound crazy don't I?" She hid her face in her hands.

"What- well yeah, they are…" Rainbow shielded herself with her arms, waiting for a blast of magical energy, but Scarlet did nothing of the sort. "Aren't you going to… I don't know, turn me into a frog or something?"

Scarlet lowered her hands from her face. "Perhaps we should talk somewhere more private. Don't you think, Light Speed?"