From Zero Once More

by Nihi

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Romance, Drama, Spike, Rarity, Adventure, Violence
Length: 2674

After Starlight destroys the time traveling spell, Twilight and Spike get stuck in an alternate timeline where Nightmare Moon is the sole ruler of Equestria.

After Starlight destroys the time traveling spell, Twilight and Spike get stuck in an alternate timeline where Nightmare Moon is the sole ruler. With the help of a familiar friend they will fight to free Equestria from the clutches of Nightmare Moon’s Tyranny.

Published 2024-06-12 16:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-06-12 16:30:01 UTC

Not Your World

On top of the city of Cloudsdale, two ponies fought with everything they had to determine the fate of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle knew what was at stake, she knew what would happen if she let up for even a moment, but keeping pace with a pony close to her level of magical ability while trying not to hurt them was not easy at all; especially when that other pony was actively trying to turn you to dust. She had tried to reason with her enemy, Starlight Glimmer, but to little success. They thought, no, they knew that they were right or at least in their warped views on equality. She had not seen the other timelines yet to actually know that what she was doing was making the future worse every time she succeeded in stopping the rain boom like Twilight had.

Twilight’s patience was running thin by now, but she was determined to get through to Starlight in the hopes she could see the error of her ways and that her friendship with the other elements and every other friendship did matter.

First, she needed to slow her down and try to get in the way of her and Rainbow Dash. Easier said than done however, Starlight, to her dismay had mastery over teleportation as well and was not afraid to use it, though if Twilight could force her to use it enough times, she could tire her out much faster than just fighting her outright. But first she needed something to help her predict where Starlight would appear when she used her teleportation spell.

Quickly she activated an electromagnetic spell that covered most of Cloudsdale, she could sense every little movement from anything that was inside the spell. The spell was very overwhelming and advanced but thankfully she had some experience with it, and it was very good at detecting teleportation due to the instant shift when warping from one location to the other. Simply Starlight would stick out whenever she used her teleportation spell.

Twilight quickly sent her plan in motion. She started fighting more aggressively than before now that she switched from rays of pure energy to stun spells, not having to worry about fatally wounding the other. This type of spell was very useful for her plan since not only was it very effective at what it was supposed to do but it also covered a larger area than the standard energy blast due to its ring shape that expanded the longer it went on, which makes it extremely difficult to dodge, especially at the speed that she could dish them out.

As she had envisioned her plan was working, Starlight was starting to tire more and more as she kept teleporting through the skies. Furthermore, she was pushing her away from Rainbow Dash which was a huge plus. Starlight was still putting up a decent fight, sneaking in shots at her when she could, but Twilight was putting up too much pressure for her to do anything too threatening. On top of that, Starlight stopped using her levitation spell so that she would not burn herself out putting her at a bigger disadvantage, no longer having verticality was a huge downside to her decision, especially since Twilight was still in the air raining down spell after spell. All Starlight had was the runway and...

Everything was going perfectly, she had Starlight backed up into a corner and had control over the fight, she just needed to hit her once or keep going until she could no longer stand. Of course, Starlight wasn’t going down that easily, she still had a few options, most of them too risky to even contemplate, but there was one that would surely give her an edge over the princess.

Starlight started to change directions towards the middle of the runway with her teleportation while keeping Twilight occupied. She kept inching closer and closer to her target, who was now aware of what she was doing. Twilight caught on as well however and just in time to get in-between Spike and Starlight. Twilight preemptively put up a shield between her and Starlight. Using the last of her magic, Starlight teleported behind Twilight and Spike and quickly went for the grab with her levitation spell. Spike turned around in a panic and felt his feet leave the ground. Quickly he used his fire breath to shoot at the floor close enough to Starlight so that she would back off. By this point Twilight had turned around and was about to fire a stun at Starlight, who was now essentially a sitting duck. Spike had successfully retreated to Twilight's side and now it was time to finish this.

While Starlight had no more energy to use for movement, she still had enough for one last energy beam and so she quickly charged her horn with magic just as Twilight started to cast her own spell. Twilight shot first but only by a fraction of a second. Starlight got hit after a futile attempt at dodging it. As for Twilight, she managed to push Spike out of the way of the blast just in time as she ducked under the massive beam of energy.

In her mind she had finally won, Twilight Sparkle and Spike had done it, they had stopped the biggest catastrophe in Equestrian History.

Or that is what she thought until she turned to look at Spike.

The beam had been closer to hitting Spike than she initially thought. He was holding the backpack that had the time traveling spell. It had two holes, one where Starlight’s spell had first cut through the fabric and the second where the beam of energy had exited. Spike reached inside and pulled out two pieces of paper, both burnt on the sides that once connected them together.

Starlight looked at what she had done, dread ingulfed her whole being as she thought of every possible scenario that her actions could and will cause. She looked at Twilight and she looked back at her with an unreadable expression. Twilight then turned to Spike once more as the full weight of the situation dawned on her.

“No, no, no this can’t be happening!” Twilight exclaimed as she hurried towards Spike. As she made it to his side the world started to break as they faded in and out of existence. She quickly embraced Spike in a protective manner, bracing herself for what was to come.

***

Rarity found herself changing the tapestries of the castle again, for the second time this week she might add. She couldn’t let her displeasure show, however, it would not be wise even though she was alone. She was watching, she always was. At least that’s how it felt, she was always aware of everything, nothing escaped her old ears.

Rarity could not complain however, she was in a very favorable position, one she was very grateful for, even if it meant she had to be close to the queen. Not that that is a bad thing! of course not. Why would one think of such a thing? Many would kill to be in her shoes, to be favored by the monarch. Though, Rarity would admit, Nightmare Moon was... Intense to put it lightly. Many have been slain just by just looking at her the wrong way. Which was their own fault, of course! The queen is never wrong and that’s that.

Still Rarity wished that she could be a little bit more... creative! Not that she could not be, but the royal guidelines were a little strict to say the least. She just wanted a little bit of freedom to express herself more, she always loved to make dresses and even though she had made a few, they were also bogged down by the royal guidelines.

She just wanted some excitement, something to rekindle that flame she had when she was a filly. To be swept away by a handsome knig-

“Stop, you don’t need any of that, you already have everything you want... You don’t need anyone. she thought, not very convinced at her own reasoning. What could she do? Nothing, why would she do anything when she was fine? She didn't need anything. How selfish of her, she was in a position of power, and she dared want more. No, she was all good.

She sighed and continued her work; she could not afford to distract herself with nothing. Plus, she needed to finish this soon before her highness entered the throne room, and she did not want to make her angry.

She did not want to end like the last seamstress, no, that was not going to happen. She could not leave her dear sister alone in this cruel world.

***

The Everfree forest was going through a storm, which was to be expected due to the chaotic magic that was found there. Even if expected however, it did little to help brighten Twilight’s mood as she and Spike moved through the damped terrain. It was dark out, making it hard to maneuver around the forest. She almost slipped and fell a few times, souring her mood even further.

“That incompetent no good pony! If I ever see her again, I’ll personally take her to the darkest pit of Tartarus!

“Uh, Twilight?” asked her number one assistant from the side.

“Huh?” she replied, trying to not sound heated over her thoughts.

“You have been staring at that tree for a full minute now, are you ok?” He said, though a better word to describe what she had been doing would have been glaring rather than staring.

“Oh... sorry. I was just thinking. I have no idea how breaking the scroll affected everything, we should be in the present, but I just have a feeling we aren’t in our present. The moon being up right now when it should be day is a huge indicator of that...” she had a feeling of what was going on, but she hoped that it was not true. Thought the mare in the moon would disagree. It was like what it looked like in her world, but it just did not look right to her.

She sighed and looked back at Spike, who gave her a small smile. “We are going to fix this Twi; I know we can!” he said excitedly. She returned the smile, she thanked his optimism, but she knew in her heart that they were stuck, maybe forever. She didn’t even know if her timeline existed anymore. Logically it should not, while Starlight did not stop the Sonic Rainboom directly the last time they were in the past, she had done it a few times already before that and she had destroyed the scroll before the Rain boom could happen, so it probably has never happened as far as the timeline is concerned.

Time travel is so complicated...

They continued their journey through the Everfree Forest as the Storm picked up. After half an hour of wondering around she decided it was probably best to use her wings for ones and told spike to hop on. As she gained height, she noticed lights coming from afar. She decided to get a closer look and as she closed the distance, she saw the Castle of the Two Sisters, but it was different, very different than the one in her old timeline.

“Wow” Spike simply stated.

The castle looked well maintained unlike the one Twilight knew. It had Luna’s cutie mark everywhere and the land around it was well kept with a large garden to the side of it complete with...

”Discord...” she thought as she looked at the petrified draconequus.

The moon, Lunas cutie mark and Discord being showcased as a trophy for all to see just confirmed what she already knew.

Nightmare Moon was in power and the mare in the moon was indeed Celestia as she had thought.

The castle was guarded but not enough for her to possibly sneak in and investigate. Maybe she had concluded too quickly maybe Luna just has her own castle... and Celestia let’s her raise the moon when she wants!

”Well that doesn't make sense at all...”

She started to think of a plan to get inside without being detected, which was easy enough since she could use a cloaking spell to hide herself and pass any guards in her way without being noticed. The only pony who would be able to detect her was Luna herself but that would only happen if she were reckless, which she wasn’t known to be.

“Alright Spike, I have a plan to get inside.”

***

Twilight along with Spike made it to the courtyard unseen thanks to the spell she had cast. Originally, she was going to just use an invisibility spell on herself, but she opted for a different spell that would work almost as well while not rising her magical levels to the point where it could alert the guards of her presence. The spell itself was called “Night’s Shadow”which turns the pony black and see through, leaving one almost looking like a ghost. It was very efficient energy-wise and very useful in dark areas.

After a few minutes of sneaking through the shadows, the duo made it to the main entrance of the castle and ran into their first problem. The closed double doors had two guards on each side. Twilight had thought of flying to a higher point in the castle and entering that way but there were way more guards in the upper levels, so she decided against it. She would simply have to distract them somehow.

Quickly she found a flowerpot and threw it to the other side of the courtyard, effectively gaining the attention of the guards. Though her distraction didn't go fully as planned since both guards glanced at each other and nodded.

Only one of them went to investigate.

” Great, what now? she thought as she looked from the shadows of a pillar near the entrance. There weren’t any more objects she could throw away without being seen so she was going to have to take a risk of some sort.

”A stun would raise suspicion, but it’s probably the only option apart from going in horns blazing...”

Quickly she charged her horn before the other could return and shot at the lone lunar guard, effectively putting him down for the time being. She quickly, along with Spike in toe, made a dash for the door and got inside. Both made their way towards the shadows ones more and took a breath to control their respective heart rates.

“That was too close...” said Spike in a whisper.

Twilight agreed that it had been too close for comfort but the guards were still unaware of her presence at least for now. She still had time to snoop around and learn as too what was going on in this timeline and hopefully find a familiar face like she had in the other timelines.

Twilight looked at their surroundings and determined that the coast was clear and proceeded to move through the sides of the hall that led towards the throne. It was eerily quiet; it was getting on her nerves the further she moved up towards the stairs. Suddenly hoof steps could be heard from a door to their left making the pair panic. Before they could hide the door opened swiftly, revealing an alabaster pony with a purple mane holding some tapestries with her magic.

Both mares locked eyes, neither daring to move a muscle. Rarity’s eyes were wide with her mouth making a small ‘o’ shape. Twilight didn't know what to make of this. Was this Rarity friendly or not? She should say something and right now before the situation gets out of control.

“Rari-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH”

Author's Note

Hi, this took me to long for how short it is but here is the first chapter. Hopefully I actually finish this one.