Hours Once Gone

A young Scarlet sat by a pond, staring at her own reflection. Occasionally she'd swirl the water around with a hoof, watching her image become distorted. What was odd about this version of Scarlet was that her horn was perfectly straight and had no red coloration to it. She looked like a normal unicorn, completely devoid of any dark influence.

Soon that small filly waddled away from the pond, approaching a wooden shack. Snow littered the surrounding area, though the sun was out and beaming down without a cloud in sight. It was still cold. Scarlet entered the shack, and Rainbow followed, though she couldn't interact with anything.

Scarlet sat at a short table alone. No one else was inside but her, but from the pictures lining the walls, it was clear she had parents. Even still, she sat alone and played with a stack of wooden blocks by herself.

Time fast forwarded and Scarlet was out in the woods. Alone, again. This time, reading a book. The book was filthy and covered in dust, but that didn't turn Scarlet away from reading it. She flipped each page every now and then, while Rainbow got behind her to see what she was reading.

This story was about a young human girl named Scarlet Snow, set in the realm of Earth, far from Equestria. Scarlet didn't have very many friends. In fact, she spent most of her time alone since her parents were too busy working, but one day she found an old dusty book laying face down in the park. It was titled Ouroboros.

This book was about a young filly named Scarlet Snow, set in the magical world of Equestria, far away from Earth. Scarlet didn't have very many friends either, just like Scarlet. Her parents were busy too, and she also found a book laying face down in the forest.

These two had so much in common they might as well have been the same. In fact, they would've made the perfect friends. Both of them thought this, and so they kept reading.

The final chapter of each story both read: "Born in a different world, Scarlet Snow was trapped behind an impassable barrier that divided her from herself. This sorrowful reality was too cruel to accept, and so Scarlet Snow vowed to break through the impassable barrier that was the rift between worlds."

As Scarlet read this text, she felt great empathy towards the protagonist, believing they deserved to meet with their other self and finally have a friend. In fact, everyone in the world deserved to make friends with their other self. Everyone would be happier if the two worlds were brought together.

The last page of the book was blank. There was no continuation, just a cliffhanger. As Scarlet closed the book, she suddenly fell backwards and howled in agony. Rainbow Dash watched on as the filly clutched her head, writhing on the floor like a dying animal.

As she squirmed in the dirt, her horn began taking on a new shape. It bent and became malformed, giving itself a curve as a crunching sound echoed throughout the woods. Scarlet screamed loud as she felt her horn break down and rebuild itself. Finally, as it came to its final shape, her horn was painted a dark red, as a magical red aura swirled around her.

Rainbow was watching the origins of Scarlet's dark magic, a sight that likely no one else had ever seen before. Tears streamed down Scarlet's face and her screams sounded out throughout the forest for all to hear. Rainbow could do nothing but look on in horror, seeing an innocent filly be taken hold of by the dark forces of Equestria and made into an all powerful unicorn.

As Scarlet's voice cracked, time began to move again at a fast rate. It was moving forwards to another vision in the future. It was a battlefield. Hundreds of ponies in gold armor locked in combat with living shadows. The shadows took the form of ponies, draped with black wings and long horns sprouting from their heads. Rainbow instinctively dodged out of the way of other pegasi flying past and crashing into each other, even though they couldn't touch her.

Levitating above the battlefield was an older Scarlet Snow, using her magic to keep herself suspended in air. Above her was a dark mass of shadows forming into a spiraling pillar that rose into the sky. It looked as if it would meet the heavens.

Rainbow soon heard a booming voice, a very familiar one at that. "Scarlet Snow!" It shouted from another sector of the open sky. This was Princess Celestia. "Why have you fallen to this?"

She was covered in gold armor with a lance strapped to the side of her torso. A mass of shadow ponies came barreling towards her, before she twisted her body to slash them out of existence with the lance. She then flew directly at Scarlet before stopping ten meters away.

"This dark power has blinded you, Scarlet," Celestia yelled to her. "Please, return to yourself!"

In Celestia's voice was pain, not from physical injuries, but from the emotions she was feeling in this battle. It must have been personal, but Rainbow had never heard of a battle like this. Granted, she never listened in history class either, but surely she would've remembered a battle as large and intense as this.

"Sister!" Luna called out as she flew to Celestia's side, her midnight mane flowing from her cobalt helmet. "Are we too late?"

The two sisters flapped their large wings side by side, hoping Scarlet would say anything in response, but the whites of her eyes were completely red and her mind wasn't present. The dark magic had overwhelmed her.

Celestia gritted her teeth. "I'm afraid so, Luna. We have no other choice." As she said this, the smallest amount of tears formed in her eyes. "Are you ready?"

Luna nodded, her horn lighting up a dark blue. "You know I was always prepared to do this, sister."

Celestia gave a somber smile, not able to argue. "I owe you an apology after this. Then…"

Celestia's own horn lit up a bright yellow, illuminating the evening sky. The two alicorns emanated enough magical energy to rival Scarlet's. Then, the two of them flew up high above Scarlet, even more magic spreading outwards from their horns.

Celestia nodded to Luna, before releasing a beam of magic towards her. Luna did the same, and the magical light collided, creating a sphere of blue and gold. With their combined efforts, both guided the sphere to be oriented towards Scarlet, who was unaware of anything that was happening around her.

Blood spilled from soldiers below. Pegasi fell from the skies, their wings being torn from their torsos. Magical firepower ripped ponies in half. All of this to unite Equestria and Earth.

Celestia and Luna's eyes both lit up a pure white, as the sphere they created let off another beam of light that shot downwards and straight into Scarlet's horn. The impact created a thunderous boom and crack, as Scarlet's horn began to form cracks in it. Scarlet screamed in agony, unable to move from her position. As light poured from her horn and magic tore it apart from the inside out, it snapped off a moment later.

Everything went blank for Rainbow after that. When her vision returned, she found herself in the same place. The blood stained battlefield, although there was no blood anymore. No soldiers, no shadow ponies, it was all empty. Rainbow only saw a single pegasus by the tree line.

As she flew down to see what was happening, she saw another pony standing in front of the pegasus. A hornless Scarlet Snow. This must've been in the future after the battle.

"How many times have we seen each other now?" The pegasus said.

Rainbow would recognize that uniform anywhere, ever since her history test on the Wonderbolts. Not to mention this pegasus was wearing the same goggles she was. This must have been Light Speed. Rainbow had to contain her excitement during this vision.

"Your horn is gone, you know. You don't need to follow the Ouroboros anymore," Light Speed said. "Why are you still drawn to dark magic?"

Scarlet was crying at this point, her tears staining the blades of grass below. "It was never dark magic," Scarlet whimpered. "It was all out of loneliness."

"And you think by colliding two worlds together, you'll be able to make a single friend?" Light said. "What about the pony right in front of you? What is she worth, huh?"

Scarlet glanced to the side to a flowerbed of lotuses. "I wasn't the only one who turned to dark magic, you know. And even after everything, you still won't tell me a single thing about those goggles on your head."

Light tensed up, digging her hooves into the ground. "I… I have told you, a thousand times over, but you never listen!"

Rainbow could understand this pain. The fear that if you tried to tell anyone what you're going through, you'll be punished for it. Just like Light, she'd never be able to tell Scarlet.

"Then tell me now!" Scarlet shouted in anger. "If you do, I promise I'll listen to everything you say this time."

Light's expression loosened up slightly, and Rainbow could tell she was about to make a horrible mistake. She wanted to tell Light not to say what she was about to say, but there was nothing she could do. This was nothing more than a memory.

"I… for so long, I've…"

Light Speed's expression became blank. Rainbow knew she'd done it. She'd tried to reveal the secret and she'd been punished for it.

Light bit her lip. "Why are you doing this to me?" She cried out in frustration. "I'm telling you, I've been!-"

As Light Speed tried to vent all her feelings, in the next moment, she fell forward onto her face. She didn't scream or cry like Rainbow did, but instead just collapsed. It took about ten seconds before Scarlet said anything.

"Light, are you?-..." Scarlet stopped herself as she reached a hoof out to shake Light.

She didn't move. Scarlet then turned Light over, who still didn't react. Scarlet moved Light's mane out of the way which was covering her face, but what she saw would shake Rainbow to the core.

"After all this time… you still couldn't tell me," Scarlet mumbled, before starting to sob over the corpse of the Wonderbolt Light Speed.

She was dead. Her body was completely still, as if she was still frozen in time. Her eyes were so wide it looked as if they were being stretched open by someone. Her mouth hung open, the last bits of saliva she'd ever produce drooling past her lips. Her expression was that of pure, unimaginable terror. Her cause of death, eternity.

Rainbow stepped backwards, nearly tripping over herself. Was this what happened if you tried saying too much? Light Speed must have spent so long frozen in time that her mind deteriorated into nothingness, and all she could do was stare into the face of Scarlet, just like Rainbow.

"Is this how I'm going to die?" Rainbow said.