Smolder made her way through the halls of the School of Friendship, fresh from cheer practice. She couldn’t help but bask in a lot of the compliments tossed her way for the squad’s latest routine. It was just too bad Yona had to run off for a date with Sandbar and Ocellus had a study project due the next day. As a result, all the compliments were being directed her way alone instead of to the whole team.
Wait, when did I start thinking that was a bad thing? she wondered, marveling to herself at all the changes this place was making to her—often without her realizing it at the time. Lacking anything better to do, she found herself wandering aimlessly for a bit, lost in thought and trying to look for some way to keep herself occupied. She could list a hundred great things about having friends, but the big drawback was that when they were all busy, it felt harder to find things to do on your own.
She considered locating Spike for another fire-breathing contest when the sound of a collision and a sudden explosion of paper drew her attention. It didn’t take long to piece things together once she saw Scootaloo and a wagon half-full of paper, especially when she spotted another pegasus rubbing her head and searching through the scattered pages herself. The newcomer didn’t look familiar, even if she did have similar colors as Blossomforth (and unlike Ember, Smolder could actually tell one pony apart from another, thank you very much), which explained to her why the second pegasus didn’t know better. When Scootaloo called out a ‘Coming through!’ you had about three seconds to react. If you didn’t … well, that was on you. Sometimes literally.
“Hey there, you okay?” Smolder asked as she made her way to them. “Need some help?”
Scootaloo shook her head, so she turned to the new pony, a pegasus with a white coat and a striped mane of pink and aqua that reminded Smolder of ice cream. (Or toothpaste. One of the two—she really didn’t want to mix those two things up. Again.)
“Sorry about that!” Scootaloo said. “I was in a hurry, got a big project I’m working on for Rainbow Dash!”
The other pegasus nodded, rubbing her head as she reached for a piece of paper as well. “Nah, it’s okawhoa!”
Honestly, that was the kind of reaction Smolder thought she should get more often. Still, she couldn’t resist having some fun. “What, never seen a dragon before?”
The pegasus shook her head, numbly stashing a page in a saddle bag as Scootaloo sped off. “No no, right, sorry. I have definitely seen a dragon before,” she said in an odd tone of voice. “Not sure I’ve seen one in—is that a cheerleader outfit?”
“No,” Smolder answered wryly. “It’s intimidation armor. Effective, huh?”
“Sorry again!” She rubbed her face. “I’ve just been having one of those days, you know? This might sound weird, but I was trying to find Princess Twilight Sparkle and got a bit … distracted.”
Smolder let out a laugh. “I bet! This place can be pretty nuts sometimes. Come on, I’ll show you around. Oh, by the way, my name’s Smolder. What’s yours?”
“Zipp,” the pegasus answered. “Zipp Storm.”
I’m here. I’m really here.
No matter how hard she tried to focus, Zipp’s mind kept falling back to that simple declaration. Admittedly, it was a bit hard to process that she’d traveled back thousands of moons to old Equestria, but she was literally standing in old Ponyville!
It was such a quaint-looking town. Well, besides the giant crystal castle that sat somewhat (okay, a bit more than somewhat) incongruously in the center. But the way she had to fight to keep herself from gawking, you’d think she was a small town pony visiting the big city for the first time rather than the reverse. But then, this wasn’t just any old town: this was where history was made.
However much she relished being here, she did need to secure a way back to her own time. For that, she needed Twilight Sparkle.
Zipp set out to find her, but soon found herself distracted by all the wonders of Ponyville. Even at a quick glance, she could see all three kinds of ponies living together. Looking up, she saw pegasi flying around and … moving clouds around, and controlling the weather? She’d always heard that ancient pegasi could do that but to actually see it with her own eyes! She briefly fumbled for the phone in her saddlebag before taking it out and hitting record. Sunny and the others would lose their minds!
There were pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns trotting back and forth, heading to the market, talking, working, playing—and it was all completely normal. There were foals of all kinds playing together outside of a school. She even spotted a married earth pony couple with two young foals, one a unicorn and the other a pegasus. It was like watching one of Sunny’s favorite fantasies come true. All that was missing was the giant smoothie waterfall.
Okay, sightsee later. Time to do what you came here for. Zipp made her way through town. Nopony seemed to notice her, but she still put her phone away after a few minutes, realizing that nopony else had them and it’d make her stand out. The lack of modern technology was a little jarring, given how much she’d taken for granted growing up with. She momentarily thought about Pipp and how she’d react to the lack of phones, Clip Trot, Ponygram, and Feedbag or whatever. She’d start crying and not stop for an hour, Zipp mused with a mirthful snort. Having said that, she couldn’t resist sneaking out her phone for the occasional discreet photo. This was history in the flesh, after all!
Standing opposite of the castle stood what appeared to be a school, one even more diverse than the town itself! She saw a zebra mixing potions and a buffalo showing off earthenware to excited groups of students, not all of whom were ponies. She saw singing kirins, dancing yaks, flying griffons and hippogriffs. There were even insect-looking pony-things who could change their forms with a flash of blue flame. She’d been so captivated by everything that she hadn’t even noticed the dragon in a cheerleader getup until she introduced herself to her.
This was not how she had imagined her day going. “You look like you were in the middle of something with your, ah, intimidation armor.”
Smolder snickered. “Nah, it’s fine. I just finished up my cheer routine. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt my grades to get some extra ‘Being Helpful’ homework in.”
Zipp flicked her ears, wondering if she heard that right. “Being helpful is a … homework assignment?”
“Welcome to the School of Friendship,” Smolder snorted.
Zipp had so many questions. “Right, well, if you could show me the way to—"
“Hey Smolder!” a sandy voice called from behind them. ”Good hustle out there!”
As Smolder waved to whomever was calling, Zipp glanced for herself—only to turn entirely once she saw who was approaching. That uniform, the goggles, the blue and gold colors … it couldn’t be, yet it was! She was standing in front of one of the premiere pegasi of old Equestria, the legendary team of stunt fliers and daredevils who virtually ruled the sky. “You’re a—a Wonderbolt?!”
“A Wonderbolt?” The pegasi chuckled as she reached up with her hooves, pulling her goggles up and tugging back the cowl to reveal a blue face, half-obscured by a lock of rainbow-colored mane. She brushed it aside with a wing, revealing rosy-pink eyes. “Nah. I’m the Wonderbolt. Name’s Rainbow Dash. You?”
Her eyes widened. She recognized the name, hay, Sunny wore her cutie mark as a pin! This was one of the legendary heroes of Equestria, a Guardian of Harmony. “Zipp,” she answered numbly. “Zipp Storm.”
“Nice to meet you. You a fan?” Rainbow smirked as she looked her over. “Heh, definitely a fan. I recognize that expression.”
Smolder rolled her eyes. “Yeah, she sees it in the mirror every morning. Or whenever someone mentions Daring Do.”
Rainbow snorted. “You’d think that you would’ve picked up a lesson somewhere about respecting your teachers. Especially the, ahem, Teacher of the Month?” She gestured to a photo of herself on the wall.
“Then there really should have been an Element of Respect, now shouldn’t there?” Smolder retorted without any real heat. “She wanted to speak to Headmare Twilight, so I was going to walk her to the office.”
“Oooh, tough break if that’s why you’re here.” Rainbow gestured with her wing. “She got called to Canterlot to some big meeting with the other princesses. No telling when she’ll be back.”
Zipp felt her face fall. “She’s not here?” She looked out the window, weighing her options. The chance to see Canterlot, the capital of old Equestria in its heyday, was severely tempting, but she might arrive in Canterlot only to find Twilight Sparkle was already heading back to Ponyville. Plus the more contact she had with more ponies, the greater the likelihood that she might accidentally change history. Or she might get wrapped up in some sidequest or other. At least that’s what always happened in Chronicles of Chevalia, and then—
An orange claw passed in front of her eyes, making her blink and derailing her already careening train of thought. “Whoa, you still with us?” Smolder asked. “Last time I saw someone make a face like that it was when Ocellus was trying to plan her next three group projects six months in advance.” She shuddered. “That didn’t end well.”
“Right, sorry, sorry.” Zipp rubbed her head. “It’s just—it’s really important I show something to Twilight Sparkle. I guess I’ll find someplace to wait for a bit until she comes back.”
Rainbow Dash nickered and shook her head. “That sounds boring. You should hang out with us until Twilight comes back! Let us show you just how awesome the school is!”
“You’re being awfully free with my time,” Smolder huffed. “What if I had plans?”
“If you had plans you wouldn’t be wandering around in your cheer uniform,” Rainbow pointed out. “Plus, I heard you say you were doing extra-credit work. You never do extra-credit work if you have anything better to do.”
Smolder folded her arms over her chest and sighed. “Yeah, alright. Might as well, I mean, I am dressed to build up some school spirit anyway.”
Taken aback, Zipp tried to marshal her thoughts. “I appreciate the thought, but you really don’t have to—”
“Come on, want to see the obstacle course?” Rainbow wheedled, nudging her with a wing. “Don’t think I don’t recognize a fellow athlete when I see one.”
Zipp took a fleeting look outside, spotting cloud rings over a track and field, wind tunnels and all sorts of devices to make things as challenging as possible for flyers. The sorts of things that may have been commonplace in Cloudsdale, but Zephyr Heights was still looking to rediscover it.
“Well, maybe just for a bit…”
“THIS IS SO AMAZING!” Zipp laughed, shouting to be heard over the rushing wind as it tugged on her wings. She banked left to dive through a ringed cloud, hot on the hooves of Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow tossed back a grin. “I know, right?! Nice maneuver on the turn, you barely lost any momentum from that!”
Praise from an actual Wonderbolt! It was hard not to puff out her chest in pride, though Zipp did have plenty of non-flying experience to draw on. Before magic returned, Zipp got most of her athletic thrills through parkour, surfing, and skating and she still kept up with them. That might have given her an edge over pegasi who could fly since foalhood who never needed to learn those skills. “Heh, thanks. I need it if I’m going to keep up with you!” In truth, she knew she was never going to beat her in a one-on-one race. She wasn’t called Rainbow Dash for nothing, as she was quick to inform Zipp.
She wasn’t sure if the fact that Rainbow Dash was clearly skilled made it better or worse. It was a little irritating sometimes, Zipp mused. Why does somepony that good even need to boast about her skills? For hoofness’ sake, just let your skills do the talking for you! They were far more impressive anyway. Still, she was certainly talented. She’d seen pegasi who could really fly, but Rainbow Dash could soar.
As for Smolder, well, Zipp wasn’t sure what she expected with her first dragon who wasn’t a baby like Sparky. She certainly didn’t expect to find a dragon who was tough, athletic, and every bit as competitive and brash as the Wonderbolt, but who also liked cheerleading and, Zipp suspected, had a few other things she kept close to her scales. Then again, Zipp was the pony who’d rather be a detective than a princess, so she knew what it was like to have unexpected interests.
“You think that’s good?” Smolder snickered. “Check this!” She inhaled and proceeded to spit out a plume of fire that neatly passed through three rings without so much as singing the sides, then tucked her wings and barreled through them and her own fire, letting the flames form a backdrop behind her.
“Whoa, watch out for this fireball!” Rainbow whistled.
Smolder took a bow while Zipp cheered as well, “That was incredible!” She took a moment to marvel at the fact that she was flying around a school set up by Twilight Sparkle, flanked by a dragon on one side and a Wonderbolt on the other.
They were … well, they were just plain cool! The best part was how Zipp could stretch her wings, really get competitive with them and not have to worry the way she would if she were up against her own friends. She was always aware of their limitations and was afraid of taking it too far or hurting their feelings, but that wasn’t really a concern with Rainbow Dash and Smolder since they had a similar mindset to hers. They saw obstacles as a challenge to be overcome and weren’t afraid to put their money where their mouth was and would always speak their minds—even if it upset the odd applecart here or there. As much as Zipp loved her friends, it was great to connect with creatures who really got her.
Even if she had to travel back thousands of moons to do it.
She would’ve kept racing until Twilight returned from Canterlot but the skies suddenly darkened, storm clouds rumbling. But there wasn’t a single other pegasus in the sky. Then a shadow emerged above the clouds. It was a ship. Not a hot air balloon or a craft like the Marestream, an actual sailing vessel floating in midair. From its mast hung a piratical-looking flag, and on the deck were ponies garbed in—were those some sort of hybrid pirate-ninja outfits? As the ship began to open fire, launching pineapples from cannons, something told Zipp that this was a bit out of the ordinary even by Ponyville standards.
Smolder sighed as she smacked an incoming pineapple away with her tail. “Hey Professor Dash, are we being invaded again? And if we are, does this mean I can get out of that quiz tomorrow?”
“It certainly isn’t Nightmare Night,” Rainbow adjusted her goggles. “As for the quiz, it depends: if we don’t stop whatever this is and we all get conquered, you get an automatic fail.”
“Aww…”
Another volley wooshed past them, covering the bleachers in ruined, pulpy bits of pineapple. Sunny would be devastated at the loss of good smoothie-making material, Zipp noted absently. Rainbow grimaced. “I want to know who the hay these guys are and where they came from! It’s like they came right out of nowhere!”
Panic suddenly grabbed at Zipp’s chest as the declaration sank into her mind, forcing the air from her lungs. “Oh no…” She dove down, heading for the lockers where Rainbow Dash had let her secure her things. Fairly ripping the lock off, she flung it open and began feverishly rifling through her saddlebag. It had to be there, it had to! She pulled out the page from where she’d carefully stored it but realized almost immediately something was wrong. It was covered in a foal’s hoofwriting with a title at the top: The Epic Tale of Awesomeness: A Scootatastic Story by Scootaloo?!
“No, no … oh no!” Zipp clapped a hoof to her forehead. She was hardly even aware of Rainbow Dash and Smolder joining her until the latter poked her in the side.
“You okay?” Smolder asked. “We could use you up there. They started shooting bananas at us.” She batted at one impaled on her horn for emphasis.
“It’s—I know what’s causing this!” Zipp looked around frantically. “That filly from before, the one I bumped into! I need to find her, now!”
Smolder scratched her head. “Scootaloo? Why?”
“No time! Where is she?!”
Rainbow Dash looked confused, but started listing places. “Uh, she could be here, or at her own school. Or the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse, her aunts’ place, Rarity’s, Sugarcube Corner, or—”
Zipp groaned. “No time! I really didn’t want to do this but I don’t have a choice!” She pulled her rad-visor from her saddlebag and slipped it on, activating her drone with the tap of a button. The drone whirred to life and hovered out of her bag.
Rainbow reared up as it emerged. “What in the name of Celestia is that?!”
“No time to explain!” Zipp fetched her phone next and typed in some commands. “I’m sending it ahead to scout for the page that filly took. It’ll stream the images back to my phone so we don’t have to waste time searching all over.”
Smolder looked equally lost. “It’ll send pictures down a stream to—what?”
Zipp didn’t answer, the drone scurrying out a window while she tried to track its progress. “I really hope I can still get a signal…” Tapping into the drone’s sensors she was relieved to see it still functioning. “Now, I just have to wait for the tracking software to kick in…” Her vision became obscured by something big and blue interposing itself directly in her way.
“Hold it, we need answers!” Rainbow demanded. “Who are you and what is so important about this thing, anyway?!” She reached out and swiped Zipp’s phone from her hoof before she could even blink.
“Wait, give me that—!” Zipp reached out, only for Smolder to block her path while Rainbow poked and prodded at the phone. She soon figured out how to use her hooves to swipe and was doing so with a look of deep confusion … one that soon transformed into shock.
Zipp paled, her mind flashing over all the things Rainbow might have possibly found. “I-I can explain!”
“Really?” She held up the phone, displaying a picture of Zipp with her friends: Pipp, Hitch, Izzy, Misty, and Sunny—who was in her alicorn form. “Care to explain where it is you’re from and why you were taking pictures from all over Ponyville with this thing?” Rainbow frowned. “What is all this? Are you a spy?!”
Oh, roadapples. Not good. This was Not Good. All of a sudden she felt a belated sympathy for Misty’s position when she’d grilled her. (Of course, Misty was a spy for Opaline, but it still felt too close for comfort.)
Pushing that thought aside, she scrambled to think of what to do. On one hoof, she didn’t have time to explain things—she needed to get the page back before everything was ruined! But on the other hoof, she wouldn’t be able to get it back on her own. She needed their help in talking to whoever had it and convincing them to return it. If they didn’t trust her she’d be out of luck.
Thinking up a convincing lie would take time she didn’t have, and just drawing on the whole Misty experience, lying to them now would only bite her in the flank worse later on if the truth did come out later. Which it usually did.
Then, on the third hoof, if she told them about the future that could change things as much as the page itself could! If she told Rainbow Dash and Smolder about the future she knew, it might not happen! It could all be undone, along with her friends. She couldn’t tell them anything!
Finally, on the fourth hoof, what if Twilight only created the Unity Crystals because she got the idea from Zipp traveling back in time to tell her friends about them? In which case, she had to tell them and—
“Argh!” Zipp facehooved. Time travel was so annoying!
Right as she teetered on her decision, the sky grew unnaturally dark unnaturally fast. Flashes of pink and yellow lightning crackled across the sky, rearing up and roaring like sea serpents as even more pirate-ninja ships arrived.
“What in the name of Celestia is all that?!” Rainbow shouted incredulously.
Zipp felt her heart sink. “I’ll tell you everything, but we need to find that page while I do. Come on!” She took off, relieved to see that Rainbow and Smolder hadn’t hesitated before joining her. They flew towards Ponyville, right in the eye of the storm. “My name is Zipp Storm, Princess of Zephyr Heights, and I’m from the future…”
“A huh,” Rainbow cast a meaningful look at Zipp’s forehead, her gaze seemingly made of pure skepticism.
It took Zipp a moment to figure out what she was angling at. “Huh? No, I’m not an alicorn, but I am a princess. It’s a whole—look, I’m gonna skip over the history lesson and get to what really matters.”
“Oh good,” Smolder dryly offered. “More lectures at school should follow that advice.”
“Can we focus?” Zipp demanded. “The point is that I came back thanks to a page from the Book of All Stories. It’s an ancient, extremely powerful magical artifact.”
“Another one of those, huh?” Rainbow sighed. “Don’t tell me. You found it in an old store or a yard sale completely at random or you went on a quest to get it before some villain could use it to take over Equestria. That right?”
Zipp hesitated, a little confused by her nonchalance. “Um, mostly? There’s this evil pony who got her hooves on it, but we have a friend who pretends to work for her, well she really did used to work for her–” she shook her head. “Anyway! She told us Opaline found a page from the Book. That’s bad because the Book contains everything. Literally everything that has ever or will ever happen is already in the Book.”
“That sounds almost as long as Professor Applejack’s History of Apple Farming.” Smolder made a face. “What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that if you get your hooves on even a single page, you can rewrite it to change reality. Anything you write can happen!” Zipp exclaimed. “My friends and I tried to sneak in and grab the page before she could change it. A page about, well, you. All this!” She gestured to Ponyville. “I grabbed it, but it ended up sending me back here to your time. Now I have to get it back if I’m going to return home, and keep it from changing everything!”
Rainbow thought it over. “Okay, that does sound like the sort of thing me and my friends would get involved in…”
“Not just yours, teach,” Smolder added.
“Yeah yeah. But my point is: who exactly are you if you’re the ponies out saving Equestria from the bad guys?” Rainbow leaned forward. “In other words, Zipp: spill it.”
Zipp sighed. “Okay, so if you want the long story…”
Rainbow led the trio in their flight even as Zipp began to explain, stopping only to check her visor and that drone … or whatever she called that thing she’d sent on ahead. Rainbow found herself hanging on every word, her wings functioning on instinct. They kind of had to when the lightning slithered and crackled in the air around the three of them like long, noodle-y dragons and a fleet of pirate-ninja ponies continued to shoot fruit everywhere.
Okay, being told the pony you were hanging out with and had all kinds of cool gear was secretly from the future? That was a surprise, sure, but Rainbow had been hit with bigger. Plus, time travel kinda lost its implausibility after Twilight’s “future freakout from next Tuesday” affair, to say nothing of what Starlight Glimmer had gotten up to.
Finding out she was a princess who preferred to play detective? The lack of a horn made that a bit harder to believe at first, but there were enough photos in this … thing to convince her. That’d all been pretty cool, actually.
Then she was told how at some point in the future the ponies of Equestria had let themselves grow apart before Zipp and her friends got them back together—that was tough to hear. Especially this business about Unity Crystals and pegasi losing their flight. That was something Rainbow Dash would have nightmares about. Having to avoid lightning-serpents was actually something of a reprieve by comparison.
Comparatively, the idea that Zipp had come back thanks to some powerful magical artifact she wanted to use to go home while keeping it out of the hooves of bad guys was positively mundane, even without the pirate-ninja evidence.
“Whoa…” Smolder proclaimed, speaking for both of them. “That’s—a lot, yeah.”
“You see why it’s so important we get that page back,” Zipp stressed as she maneuvered around a lightning-serpent barreling down on them. Angling her wings, she raced up its side, close enough for her fur to fluff out but far enough to avoid being shocked.
Rainbow meanwhile had grabbed a nearby cloud and bucked it, sending out a bolt of lightning that met the creature head-on. There was a loud zap as the two collided, then just as suddenly fizzled out and vanished in a puff of black smoke. “So, about the future—can you tell me if I ever perfect my Sideways Spectrum Skywind? I’ve been working on that for a while and would like to know—”
“Is this really important right now?” Zipp groaned. “We have to find that page!”
“I know, and I’m looking!” Rainbow huffed as she kept an eye on the ground. “I can multitask.” The silence hung there for a moment, the booming thunder forming an odd backdrop. “So, are there any statues of me anywhere? Just saying, me and my friends did save all of Equestria like a dozen times and all...”
After sighing again, Zipp relented. “You’re definitely remembered. One of the biggest pegasus heroes of old Equestria in Zephyr Heights.”
Rainbow Dash squeed. “Ha! That’s awesome!”
Zipp gestured. “Yeah, I guess—so look, this filly, the one who looked like Smolder—”
“Scootaloo,” Rainbow supplied immediately, swatting a pineapple out of the air with one hoof.
Smolder huffed. “Yeah, never get tired of hearing that comparison being made. I’m older, she looks like me, not the other way around...” Her grousing was mercifully cut off by a banana barrage that she promptly turned into flaming chunks of falling pulp.
“What can you tell me about her?” Zipp urged Rainbow. “Why would she write this stuff, where would she be? I’ve already scanned half of Ponyville but there’s no sign of her.”
Rainbow Dash absently dodged a bolt of lightning as she thought about it. “She’s this really cool filly, member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, president of my fan club” —Zipp rolled her eyes at that for some reason— “and since I introduced her to Daring Do, she got bit by the writing bug.” She rubbed her neck and chuckled awkwardly. “She, uh, might be trying to impress me, since, you know, I told her how much I loved reading Daring Do. So…”
She swerved suddenly to avoid a pirate pony in a ninja mask screaming as he swooped in on a rope line attached to nothing.
“Fantastic,” Zipp groaned. “A school-age filly is jeopardizing Equestria because she’s trying to get her attention-loving hero to notice her.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!” Rainbow shot back, taking a moment to dive down onto the deck of a pirate ship, hooves lashing out to keep them from shooting another volley at Ponyville. “This is somehow my fault? I’m not the pony who went and lost this stupid thing, now am I?”
She instantly regretted saying that when she saw the expression on Zipp’s face. “Look, don’t worry, we’ll find it!”
She knocked the ship’s anchor overboard, sending the ship lurching as it was dragged down. Diving off, Rainbow rejoined the others in the air, her eyes darting, searching for anything. Unfortunately, she saw a new fleet of ships emerging: saucer-shaped spaceships like something out of old Smash Fortune stories, with little green alien ponies emerging to do battle with the pirates … with Ponyville caught in the middle. “We gotta help them!”
“What we need to do is find the page, that’ll fix everything!” Zipp tapped her visor. “We just need to wait for the drone to pick up any sign of Scootaloo. Then we can head out—”
Rainbow snorted. “Sorry, but I’m not going to sit on my wings and wait while Ponyville gets invaded. Come on!” She dove, avoiding cannonfire from the pirates and bright laser flashes from the space ponies.
Smolder and Zipp dove with her, the latter grumbling something about ‘impatient’ and ‘hot-headed.’ Rainbow suppressed an annoyed grumble. How had this pony and her friends saved their Equestria with that kind of attitude?
Spotting a nearby cloudbank, Rainbow grabbed it and hauled it into position between Ponyville and the incoming fleets. She flew around it at high speed, compressing it into a tight, springy mass. The projectile fruit raining down simply bounced off the clouds and right back at the pirate ships. Struck by their own projectiles, they lurched in midair.
Smolder, predictably, was going for a more direct approach, setting their sails ablaze with dragonfire. Unable to catch the wind, the vessels came to a halt with no way forward or down. Rainbow wasn’t quite sure how that worked, but she wasn’t going to question it.
She found Zipp flying in between two ships, parkouring from one ship to the other. In their rush to try to shoot her, the two ships collided. Ninja-pirates fell to the decks, coated in mashed fruit.
With that wave of ships stalled, the three of them came back together.
Smolder looked around. “So, where’re we headed?”
Zipp sighed. “Still nothing from the drone scan.”
“Forget your high-tech whatsis!” Rainbow waved her off. “Nothing beats pegasus vision and good old know-how. If Scootaloo isn’t in Ponyville, then she’s gotta be at the Crusader Clubhouse. Come on!”
The three of them fell into formation as they headed straight for Sweet Apple Acres. Zipp looked around. “We’ve had pirates, ninjas, aliens … what’ll be next?”
Rainbow tossed a look her way. “Heh, you worried?”
“No, just trying to think. Did Scootaloo tell you what her story would be about?”
“If she had, I think I would’ve picked up on it when the pirate-ninjas arrived.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “She wanted to make it a surprise.”
“Hmm… She’s writing about all the stuff a filly her age would find cool, and especially the stuff she thinks Rainbow Dash would find cool.” Zipp frowned in thought. “But with pirates and ninjas who sail in the air, along with spaceships … awfully obsessed with flying foes for a filly getting around on a scooter. If so, then we should keep our eyes on the sky since the next thing she writes about will probably also be in the air. Cowponies?” She shook her head. “No, what comes next…? Pirates, ninjas, aliens—I think the next thing will be monsters. Giant ones.”
Rainbow gave her a skeptical glance. “You barely even met Scootaloo, how can you—”
A thunderous roar shook the skies, drowning out her objection. A gargantuan beast with three heads—one a lion, another a tiger, the third a bear—flapped towards Ponyville.
Oh horseapples.
“Good … call…” Rainbow shook herself out of her stupor. “Okay, we gotta take care of this, fast! Smolder, break left. Zipp, you break right. Draw its attention for a few, then scatter! I’ll take care of it!”
“Or we could fly around it!” Zipp groaned even as Rainbow pulled ahead. “We’ve got to focus on getting the page, that’ll fix all of this!”
“And leave Ponyville hanging while that thing is heading right for it?” Rainbow demanded, shaking her head. “Forget it! I’ll take care of this, then we’ll head to the clubhouse.”
Zipp looked utterly lost. “You’ll–on your own? What are you doing?!”
Rainbow simply smirked.
Smolder seemed to get it, judging by how big her eyes went. “Move your tail, she’s going to do it!”
“Going to do what?”
There wasn’t any time left to explain. Swinging wide, Zipp and Smolder approached the creature from opposite sides, drawing the attention of the outer heads. They snarled and snapped at the two flyers, but having only one body left the beast torn between which direction to move.
Rainbow needed it to stay in place for just a moment as she barrelled down on it. Above its howling and the beating of the wind, Rainbow Dash felt the growing pressure push back as she picked up speed. She aimed for a spot right below the monster, not breaking off even as the shockwaves of its roars rattled above her.
Almost … now! With one last burst of speed, an explosion of multicolored light burst forth with an audible crack.
A sonic rainboom.
The shockwave slammed into the monster and blasted it backwards, its body smashing through the fleet of space ponies and pirate-ninjas. It continued tumbling until it slammed into a mountainside and collapsed in a heap.
Smolder and Zipp doubled back to rejoin her.
“Okay,” Zipp said, “that was incredible.”
Rainbow tossed her mane. “You know it! There’s a reason why ponies are still talking about me a thousand moons from now!”
“Speaking of which,” Smolder chimed in. “So … what about me and my friends? How are we remembered in your time?”
Zipp squirmed and hesitated, which left Rainbow with a sinking feeling about the answer. “I’m not exactly a historian or anything. My friend Sunny and her dad would totally know everything about life in old Equestria and all the po—creatures who regularly saved it, but…” Rainbow knew that the longer Zipp spent trying to soften the blow, the worse it would be when she finally spat it out. “I-I’m sorry...”
Smolder snorted, trickles of black smoke leaking from her nostrils. “No, I get it. Sandbar’s the only pony in my group of friends, so I guess our achievements don’t really matter. It always comes back to ponies. Oh look! Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi are all friends again! Woo.” She mockingly wiggled her claws. “How exciting! It’s not like pony kinds have become friends, fallen out, then become friends over and over again. Me and my friends? The first time all of our species became friends? Nah, why would that be memorable at all? No, let’s ‘Ooh’ and ‘Aah’ over three kinds of ponies making friends again for—what is it, the third time? The fourth? How hard is it for you to remember the one thing?!”
Both pegasi flinched. What the hay could you say to that? It was one of those things that kept ponies awake sometimes: what would others say about you after you were gone? Good things? Bad things? Or worst of all, nothing?
Rainbow had always known she’d leave behind a pretty unforgettable legacy, but it was still a massive relief to know that she’d still be remembered even thousands of moons later. But Smolder and her friends?
The more Rainbow thought about it, the more it bothered her. The students may not have been there since the start, but they were still a big part of her own life now, and her legacy. How many other creatures who were big parts of Rainbow’s story had also been forgotten? Did ponies in Zipp’s time remember Gilda? Little Strongheart? Lightning Dust, Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail, Cloud Kicker, Derpy Hooves, Tank? Her parents?
Scootaloo?
Rainbow always wanted to be remembered, but what good was it if all the ponies whose lives were a part of her own were forgotten? Hay, their own lives were important enough to be worth remembering in their own right regardless of whether they were part of Rainbow’s own or not. How could any of them just be left behind like that?
Zipp was still trying to find the right words. “It’s possible your stories are still remembered. Even the stories of Twilight and her friends weren’t exactly popular when ponykind split up, but I’m sure that lots of things about those times will come up now that we’ve come back together.”
“You don’t get it!” Smolder turned away, rubbing her arms. “If no one remembers my friends … it means I screwed up.”
“You?” Zipp asked incredulously.
Rainbow Dash looked equally lost. “What’re you talking about?”
“I’m a dragon,” Smolder said, as if that explained everything. When it somehow didn’t, she sighed. “I’m going to live hundreds of years—going to outlive a-all my friends.” Her voice quavered briefly and she took a breath, trying to push ahead before either of them could react. “That means I’m the one most responsible for keeping their memories alive. But if nopony in Zipp’s time remembers them, then it means I clearly didn’t do that. I-I know that I would’ve told stories about my friends at every Feast of Fire, at every school reunion, any place and everyplace I could think of—to dragons, to ponies—to everybody! How can no one remember them?!” She grabbed the sides of her head. “Did … did our friendship end? Is that why I didn’t talk about it?!”
“Hey…” Zipp raced around to face her. “Listen, I’m sorry I don’t have all the answers. But everything I’ve heard from you, everything I’ve seen you do? That tells me one thing: that you didn’t give up on your friends or forget them.”
“Then why does no one remember?” Smolder cried out, punching angrily at a nearby cloud that drifted too close and was now paying for it. “Why does no one care? We mattered, didn’t we?!”
Rainbow Dash felt her stomach clench. They sure as hay did.
Zipp meanwhile was still trying to explain, “When Twilight made the unity crystals, she—”
“Whoa whoa whoa, wait—you never said anything about Twilight making those crystals!” Rainbow exploded. “You’re saying she’s the pony who locked away all of Equestria’s magic?” Her jaw dropped. “She grounded us? She took away our flight?!”
This was unbelievable. Rainbow could accept ponies from the future, magical items rewriting reality, all of it. But Twilight being the one responsible for Equestria losing all its magic? For ponykind splitting up and pegasi losing their ability to fly? Feather that, she could not—would not—accept that!
“But she had to!” Zipp argued, somehow trying to actually defend this. “There’s this evil pony named Opaline, she was trying to steal all the magic in Equestria to make herself all-powerful! Twilight had to—”
“Oh come ON!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You think that’s the first time somepony tried stealing Equestria’s magic? News flash, that’s every bad guy’s MO, and we always stop them anyway! When Discord stole the Elements of Harmony, we stopped him. When Sombra destroyed the Elements, we stopped him. Hay, when Tirek did go and steal all the magic of Equestria, including alicorn magic, we still stopped him anyway!”
“When Cozy Glow was draining all the magic of Equestria, my friends and I stopped her,” Smolder chimed in.
Rainbow nodded. “Exactly! Taking all the magic and hiding it away isn’t an answer! For crying out loud, that was Celestia’s lame plan when Tirek was running around, and it didn’t even work!”
“Ugh, we’re not talking about any old pony,” Zipp groaned in exasperation. “She’s a fire alicorn!”
She clearly expected that to stun the two into silence. It did not.
Rainbow looked at her incredulously. “A fire alicorn? Did you just make that up? Because it really sounds like you just made that up.”
Zipp facehooved. “That’s what she calls herself!”
Smolder shrugged. “If there’s alicorns for the sun, moon, friends, and family, I guess elemental alicorns could be a thing? Are there wind, water, and earth alicorns too?”
Zipp frowned as she processed that. “Huh, that’s … a good question, actually. Going to need to look into that, but I have no idea.”
“Whatever.” Rainbow grunted. “It’s not going to matter once we get that page back.”
For some reason, Zipp was looking at her like she’d grown a third wing. “What are you talking about?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Rainbow scoffed. “When we get the page, we’re going to fix it so Equestria never falls, Twilight never locks away the magic, ponykind never splits up, everypony remembers all the cool stuff that’s happened, and all the bad stuff that comes later never happens!”
“What?!” Zipp reared back. “You can’t do that! You can’t just—you can’t change everything!”
Rainbow rolled her neck. “You’re telling me that the future can’t be changed? Sorry, but I’ve spent my whole life doing just that.”
“But it isn’t just your future, it’s my past!” Zipp shot back. “The past of my family and friends! You can’t change that!”
“You changed it by coming back here in the first place!” Rainbow reminded her. “If somepony showed up claiming to be from your future and said ‘oh, by the way, you gotta let your home be destroyed or your friends hurt, you should just stand by and let it happen because that’s how my past says it is?’ Nothing doing!”
“But you’ll be erasing us from history!” Zipp exploded. “Don’t you get that?!”
That brought Rainbow up short. “I—we can fix that! If this page can do anything, then why can’t we use it to change the future but still have all the ponies in your time still be there anyway?”
“But that doesn’t make any sense!”
“It’s magic! It doesn't have to make any sense!”
“I’ve spent months figuring out how magic works. Trust me: it absolutely does make sense!” Zipp flew up to Rainbow, jabbing a hoof in her chest. “You could probably figure it out too, if you ever looked beyond your own ego or thought a problem through for more than five seconds!”
Rainbow swatted her hoof aside and glowered. “Do you want me to follow your lead? Focus on the big picture, worry about ‘priorities’ and what comes later so much that you’ll leave ponies who need you in the now hanging?” She jabbed her own hoof at Zipp. “Free tip from an experienced pro: if you want to be there for your friends, try actually being in the same moment as them!”
“Hey feather-brains!” Smolder roared, flying between the two of them and shoving them apart. “Get your heads out of your plots and back into the game! The rainboom might’ve taken out most of those fleets, but there are still ships over Ponyville, and more heading our way!” She pointed at some stragglers from the pirate-ninja and alien fleets trying to reorganize themselves for another go. In the distance, even more were approaching Ponyville, and others were heading for the three of them. They had a head start, but not much of one. “If we’re going to fix all this, we need to get. That. Page!”
The two pegasi glared at one another and broke off, each putting some space between them as they continued their flight.
There was an awkward silence as they headed to Sweet Apple Acres, broken up only by the occasional sea shanty from the pursuing pirates.
Frankly, it was starting to annoy Smolder. Contemplative silence wasn’t really her bag.
Angling her wings, she fell into a flight path that brought her right next to Zipp. “Hey.”
“Uh, hey.” Zipp looked uncomfortable. “What’s up?”
“My frustration,” Smolder answered simply. “I’d rather not have to fight any more ponies from sea, space, or wherever else without worrying that you two are too busy trying to kick each others’ flanks to watch mine in case they catch up with us again. So you want to tell me what got your feathers ruffled, or what?”
“You mean besides the part where she wants to keep my entire future from happening?”
“If we want to go there then I might still have a few things to say about not being worth remembering in your great future.” While Smolder was half-tempted to let Zipp fumble through an answer, she cut through it with a jerk of her head. “Never mind that now. Something was bugging you even before that, so that’s what I want to know. Spill.”
“Yeah, that’s fair. I…” Zipp sighed. “I get to go back to Equestria, meet one of its greatest heroes—and she is such a pain in the flank!”
Smolder laughed. “Yeah, she can be, right?”
“She’s cocky and always talks about herself. I thought she’d be more like… I dunno, somepony who wasn’t a—a—” Zipp strained to think of something really annoying. “—a diva social-media influencer!” Her eyes widened and she clapped her hooves over her muzzle.
“Aha, I see!” Smolder exclaimed. “That explains … absolutely nothing. What did you even say? Social-meaty influenza?”
“Forget it.” Zipp shook her head. “Growing up, I had ponies watching me every second, cameras in-hoof to take pictures of everything. Not because I had done anything to deserve it, but because my mom was the queen and I was a princess. That was it. I hated it.” Zipp pursed her lips. “My little sister, though, she loves the spotlight, and I could never really get why. We got enough simply for being princesses but she always wanted even more. Then I met Rainbow Dash and I went ‘Oh cool, a pony who’s like me!’ but she’s as fond of the spotlight as Pipp.”
Smolder shrugged. “If you’re going to hold it against creatures for wanting to be recognized, you wouldn’t like me either. Trust me, I’ve known a lot of creatures who demanded a whole lot more attention than Rainbow Dash while doing a whole lot less.”
Zipp nodded absently. “I know she’s got the skills to back up the talk—I just don’t see why she even needs the talk.”
“In the Dragon Lands, it’d be about showing your dominance and trying to make yourself seem tougher and your opponents seem weaker. Usually it’s a false front, and the one doing the bragging is actually pretty weak and insecure.”
Zipp nodded.
“None of that applies to Rainbow Dash. With her, she likes talking about her accomplishments—not because she’s trying to put someone down or cover up some weakness, but because she’s that excited about what she does. Whenever she’s doing something she cares about, she throws herself into it 120%. She lives her life to the fullest and revels in it because she believes the things we do matter and should be celebrated. If it isn’t worth talking about it, why even do it?” Smolder shrugged. “If you think that’s a flaw, then I can sure as heck think of way worse ones to have.”
“That’s one way to look at it I guess,” Zipp conceded. “Maybe I was just thinking of how my family kept up the lie that we could still fly before the magic came back. There wasn’t any reason for it, all it did was make us seem better than other pegasi—divine right of wings and all. But maybe you’re right. I wonder if that’s how Pipp looks at things?”
“Maybe your sister likes the attention for the same reason Rainbow Dash does?” Smolder suggested. “Maybe she likes being recognized and complemented, but for something she considers worthwhile. If you give Rainbow Dash praise for opening a door for you, it won’t mean anything to her and she’d probably get annoyed by it. In her book, if you do something extraordinary it should be recognized. If you get attention and praise, it should be for something that deserved it.” She rolled her neck. “Maybe that’s why your sister is a social meaty thing—she could be looking for a way to get attention and praise for something she actually does beyond happening to be from the right family.”
Zipp thought it over. “That’s ... not a bad theory. Thanks, you gave me a bit to think about when I get home.”
Smolder buffed a claw against her chest, rolling in mid-air. “Yeah, some of us really can do it all: ferocious skills, tough as they come, and brilliant asACK!”
She coughed as she flew through an errant cloud and swatted the remnants away. She growled as she saw the pegasus suppressing a laugh. “Not. One. Word.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Zipp winked. “Just like I wouldn’t tell anypony about your other secret.”
“Secret?” Smolder gulped. “What secret? I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
Zipp quirked her brow. “Uh-huh... So I shouldn’t take it as a sign that you’re still wearing your cheer uniform, even though it’s been hours?”
“Huh?” Smolder looked down at herself and was annoyed to feel a twinge of blush enter her cheeks. “I—we’ve been a bit busy, saving the world, remember?”
“Yeah, but even before that, you had plenty of time to change.” Zipp shrugged her wings. “Almost like you were grateful to have an excuse to wear it longer … almost as if you really liked being seen in it, even though it doesn’t exactly scream ‘I am a tough scary dragon!’ Am I getting warm?”
Not nearly as much as Smolder’s face. The dragon looked around, hoping to see a distracting new wave of lightning-serpents or cotton-candy chimeras or something she could dive into.
Zipp must’ve picked up on that since she flew over to her other side. “Look, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I find it hard not to pry when I notice things about other po—creatures. I don’t like it when I see them lie. Again, you can thank my family’s whole big lie for that.” She rubbed her face. “But I also get—and need to remind myself—that it’s okay to have your own personal stuff too. I’d sneak around the castle to avoid my mom’s ‘Princess Lessons’ and do my own stuff: parkouring, rebuilding old machines, and stuff on my own time.” She sighed. “What I was trying to say was that I do get what it’s like to keep things to myself. So anything you want to keep personal? I won’t go blabbing about it.”
Smolder smiled weakly. “Appreciate that.” She caught something out of the corner of her eye. “How about you, Professor? What’s your deal? You ready to talk too?”
Rainbow Dash winced at being caught out eavesdropping, moving in closer. “Argh, fine. You got me. It’s just…” She folded her hooves over her chest as they flew. “I guess I saw a lot of myself when I heard Zipp’s story about her friends. Then I saw Zipp be this totally cool, super-smart detective-princess while also being an awesome athlete and I felt a bit… I dunno...”
“Noooo, I don’t think we do.” Smolder gestured. “Go on.”
The way Rainbow glared at her made Smolder want to make sure she studied extra-hard for that quiz. “I always thought I had to choose between being my awesome self and being smart—I mean, smart like Twilight-smart. Seeing somepony who can be a totally amazing athlete, a super-smart detective, and a princess? It’s a bit overwhelming. Makes me wonder if I couldn’t have been, y’know, smarter if I tried harder,” Rainbow shuffled her wings awkwardly. “I don’t like self-doubt. That sort of thing is dangerous to flyers.”
Zipp held up her hooves. “Whoa, whoa. Okay, first off? From the way I’ve seen you react on the fly to utterly insane challenges back there, I’d say you’re plenty smart. Secondly—okay, maybe I’m a bit more well-rounded than you or Twilight, but I’m not smarter than Twilight and I know I’m not as athletic as you. The reason why is, well, because of both of you.”
Seeing she had her attention, Zipp elaborated. “The truth is, Zephyr Heights always played up the legacy of pegasus heroes like Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy, but I always felt more connected with Twilight Sparkle. Don’t get me wrong,” she hastily added, “I looked up to the Wonderbolts and wanted to get into the air and fly like you, but when I couldn’t, I found myself drawn to Twilight Sparkle. How if she studied hard enough she could figure anything out. I guess I thought I could too, if I did that.” She rubbed her foreleg. “And growing up with cameras constantly in my face and being in the spotlight wherever I went for any reason at all, I guess I got pretty fed up with it. I forgot other ponies have different experiences with attention, and it’s not all a bad thing and ponies aren’t shallow for wanting it. And I miiiight have been projecting my issues with my sister onto you too, so… Yeah. Sorry.”
“You’re not the only pony.” Rainbow flicked her wing. “My parents were always showering me with attention and praise too, usually for stuff that really didn’t deserve it. Seriously, if you go as nuts over me coming in ninth place as you do when I come in first, then what’s even the point in me getting first? It stops mattering and—I guess I wanted to make sure I actually did stuff worth getting praised for, you know?”
Zipp nodded. “Same trigger, but different responses. Heh, almost like different ponies are different or something.”
“Right, hard to remember that sometimes. When you told me about your friends and your adventures I guess I started seeing you as the new—well, us. And I was getting irritated because it felt like you were taking so long to try to see all the angles that you were hesitating. I’ve trained to react, not overthink.” Rainbow rubbed her head sheepishly. “I thought that meant you were doing it wrong—the ‘it’ being the new me.”
“There have been times when I got so focused on the details that I didn’t listen to my instincts until it was almost too late,” Zipp admitted.
“You’re not me though,” Rainbow whickered, “you’re you. Contrary to popular belief, I am okay with ponies having other heroes besides me. Though I should still be on your list. Or in the top three, at least.”
Zipp snorted and held a wing. Rainbow slapped her own wing against hers. “Thanks. And thanks to you too, Smolder.”
“What can I say? Ocellus dragged me to enough Feelings Forums to get how they work. I’m a dragon of many talents.”
“But not modesty,” Zipp countered.
Rainbow shrugged. “Modesty’s overrated.”
Everyone laughed. The air between them cleared right as they approached the Crusader clubhouse.
Rainbow Dash landed and threw open the door. “Scootaloo! You in here?!”
Peeking over her shoulder, Smolder spotted the little filly in question sitting at a desk, an ink-splatted typewriter in front of her and a stack of papers by her side. “Rainbow Dash, hey!” Her eyes lit up as she gathered up her pages. “You’re just in time to read my new story! You’ll never guess what happens in it!”
She looked out the window. “Yeah, about that…”
It had taken a few minutes. First to explain everything to Scootaloo and then for her to hastily write a conclusion where all the pirate-ninjas, aliens, and monsters were all defeated and sent far, far away—and then for her to rewrite her magnum opus onto a fresh, non-magical page of paper. It’d be cruel to have her toss that story away, after all. Once that was done, she gave the page to Rainbow Dash. She looked at the page in her hoof, then back over to Zipp. “This future of yours … do you still think it’s worth it? Seeing everything we had here that gets lost? That you missed out on?”
Zipp’s shoulders sagged. “It hurts knowing how much Equestria used to have. Maybe we’ll rediscover more of it, maybe we won’t. I wish we could have it all again, but it’s not all loss—what me and my friends did? It matters, just like what you and your friends did.” She turned to Smolder. “And you and your friends too. They all mattered. Even if the worst happens and no one remembers you, your actions still saved Equestria. My entire future exists because of what you did. Everypony, everycreature, owes that to you, whether they realize it or not.”
Smolder shot her a small, grateful smile.
But Rainbow Dash was still troubled. She looked over at Scootaloo and thought of all the things she could with this page. For her, for Equestria, for everycreature—
Zipp gave her a look and Rainbow had the uncomfortable feeling that she was in full ‘detective’ mode and knew exactly what she was thinking. “You don’t know if she’ll ever learn to fly or not,” she said. “But if you change things, you’ll be taking away all her achievements.”
“She might think it’s still worth it,” Rainbow murmured.
“Even small changes can have big impacts,” Zipp insisted. “When pegasi were flightless, it forced us to look for alternatives. Half of my parkour moves came from researching ones developed by ponies like Scootaloo! It’s thanks to her that pegasi in my time knew how to exercise and use their wings even if we couldn’t fly with them.” She sighed. “I know how much you hate the idea of pegasi losing the ability to fly. I do too! But I also know how much you hate it when the things you do don’t matter. If you do this, then you’ll take the meaning out of the stories of everycreature who comes after this, because it won’t be because of their accomplishments—it’ll be because of your writing.”
Rainbow Dash looked at the page again. “It feels wrong knowing something bad is happening and not trying to stop it. If Equestria falls…”
“Then it will rise again,” Zipp put a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t assume my Equestria’s best years are all behind it, you don’t know what’ll come next. Neither do I, for that matter. Earth ponies, they have magic—real magic, for the first time ever. Twilight said—will say—that magic is always changing, always growing more powerful. That’s what living’s all about.”
Rainbow nodded, giving her the page. “Take good care of the future.”
“I think I should be the one telling you two that,” Zipp answered. “Rainbow Dash, Smolder … thanks for everything.”
“Always feels good to have one more story be told about you,” Smolder folded her arms. “Regardless of how many folks remember it.”
“That’s the thing about stories,” Zipp mused as she used the page to open a portal. “Just when you think they’re over, there’s always another one just starting.”
The End
