For-Everfree

Chapter Two

Spike’s search had yielded three stunning pieces of information. He relayed his list to Twilight’s eager ears.

“I knew couldn’t get to Canterlot in time, so I decided to just write to Princess Celestia. First, She said that we need to make sure to clean up in the Star Swirl wing, apparently I had forgotten due to the tummy ache..” Twilight’s glare made Spike cringe.

“Right, uh.. Second. I will quote Princess Celestia directly: ‘Though Star Swirl knew a great many things, he had never figured out how to go back in time again. Unfortunately, that craze is what led to his downfall. He failed to eat, speaking only of the magic, and trying to figure out the spell. It was his greatest achievement, but alas, was also his last.

“Three, the scroll you used last time is now under lock and key, guarded by Celestia herself. She does make a note that when you are here, I am to request--” his words were interrupted by a belch of flame. The scroll in question lay before them. “Guess she just knew.”

Twilight sat, reading every line of the spell meticulously. She was lost in her thoughts, her horn glowing just from the concentration alone. So entranced was she that she failed to notice when the rest of her friends showed up.

“You said the spell would only work once... and last time it only worked a few seconds. Would you be able to cast it on any of us?” Rainbow Dash asked, floating behind Twilight.

“The scroll states that Star Swirl tried that. Apparently the way his spell works, it is tied into the very nature of the pony who casts it, so I can never actually cast it again, even on other ponies.” Twilight’s gaze didn’t waver as she replied. Her horn started to dim as she became aware of the others around her.

“Well, I’m a unicorn, let me try. I may not be a master spell caster like you, but I know a few tricks.” Rarity said, standing next to Twilight.

“No offense Rarity, but this is a really complicated spell. If any number of things go wrong, we would be missing you as well. You wouldn’t necessarily be... gone... but you would be lost in time, and we wouldn’t know for how long. I just need to figure out what the underlying principle is, and I might be able to re-write it so that I can use it more than once, or at least just a second time.”

“You keep saying you will try, that you might be able to. Realistically, Twilight, what are the chances we will ever see her again?” Rarity sank back down to the floor. Her stance, once so regal was slumped slightly. Her hair a mess, and her coat stained with mud and twigs, she closed her eyes and started to cry softly.

“I can do it. I know I can. I have to.” Twilight stared at the complicated diagrams and scrawling handwriting on the page. The words seemed to waver on the paper, and started rearranging themselves in her mind. she squinted at a few of the figures and gasped.

“I just had an idea,” she said hurriedly. “Star Swirl was moving his own magical bloodline through time, and the world was placing his body with it. Because of the separation, and the stress placed on both body and spirit, the magic becomes frustrated, and refuses to activate in that way again. There’s a bunch of technical stuff that follows that though, so I this is just a rough summary.” Twilight was running from one end of the library to the other, ripping books from their shelves and shooting through the pages, leaving them floating when she was finished.

“eww.. That sounds kinda gross.” Pinkie pie squeezed her nose at the thought. Twilight dropped her hold on the books and ran back to the scroll.

“I might be able to move all of me at once instead, but it wouldn’t be a short time that I could cross, the amount of energy is too much, and needs to dissipate with the actual casting of the spell. I think the closest time I could go would be when Fluttershy was just a filly.” She thought back to Zecora’s words of warning.

“I don’t know what kind of damage that would do to her though, if she met a time traveling pony who tells her not to care for an injured bird in a park some ten years later. I have no clue if I will be stuck in that time, and I don’t know if what happened last time will happen again, and I will be zapped back here.” her brow furrowed in thought as she wrote onto a second scroll.

“Well, when Fluttershy and I were growing up, we lived in Cloudsdale. You wouldn’t be able to stand in there and talk with her by yourself, you’ll need a pegasus. I’ll go with you.” Rainbow dash said, puffing her chest and hovering next to Twilight.

“I think the spell displaces enough room that if you stand next to me, you will be hit with it as well... Which might help to offset the power of the spell and not shoot us back as far. But this is a huge risk, Rainbow Dash. You have to be careful to not be seen by your younger self, or disaster could occur. Maybe a disguise?”

“I LOVE doing disguises!” Pinkie shouted.

“We can worry about that when we get there, Twilight. I think I’d know if I saw myself, so I’ll just think back and make sure it doesn’t happen.”

“That’s not how that works. We will have to stay out of sight as much as possible, preferably we will only be seen by Fluttershy.” Twilight rolled up the scroll she had been working on and walked out the door. She stood in an open area and gestured next to her.

“Come stand next to me, wrap your wings around me, and don’t let go.” Rainbow Dash did as she was told, and landed next to Twilight. Carefully, she stuck a wing over Twilight’s back, and then one across her chest, holding her friend close. Twilight closed her eyes and braced her hooves; light exploded from the end of her horn. Rainbow could hear words swimming around her, though no-pony’s mouth was moving. Twilight started to hover slightly, and Rainbow tightened her grip, waiting for the spell to hit. The beam from Twilight’s horn widened, curving into a sphere that encapsulated them both. The sphere shrank, and disappeared with a large boom that shook some books off the shelves at the library.

“That was an impressive show, I just hope it works...” Applejack said, looking at the spot where her friends used to stand.

With a sickening and twisting feeling, Rainbow Dash’s hooves met solid ground. She nearly toppled over,her wings were outstretched like she had been holding onto something. She tucked them away as she gathered her surroundings. She was in complete darkness, which reeked of rotting wood. In a flash of blinding light, Twilight landed next to her, falling over, panting.

“That was far more strenuous than I thought.” she said, trying to stand. Rainbow Dash suddenly remembered the events of the day, and suddenly felt very panicked.

“Where do you think we are?” Rainbow said, wrapping one wing back around Twilight, whose horn still had a bit of residual glow to it. From it, she could see that they were standing in a small space, like a rounded room made of old, decaying wood. The cloying smell was starting to upset her stomach.

“Well, I’m not falling, so we can assume we aren’t in Cloudsdale.”

“This room is made of rotting wood.” Rainbow Dash explained. Her friend’s horn was no longer glowing, and it was impossible to see again.

“I think this is the library, just younger. Our time travel must have carved out a small gap in the middle of it, and affected the edges of the wood.” Twilight said, grunting with the effort needed to relight her horn for some clarity.

“Are you sure?” Rainbow asked, looking at the green and black surroundings.

“This can’t be right though... The library’s tree is very, very old. The room I live in, and the storage room were added 50 years ago, but I don’t think we are that far back.” Twilight said. She looked around, and groaned. “There isn’t a door.”

“That’s not right,” Rainbow said, joining Twilight. “There aren’t even any windows! Maybe this isn’t the right tree?”

“Oh no...” Twilight mumbled. She closed her eyes and blinked back the tears of pain as she zapped the two of them outside. There was a little bit of sun coming in from the canopy of leaves, but all around them there was just forest. “No, no no no no. This can’t be right.”

Rainbow dash flew up through the leaves and scanned the horizon. Flying back down, she reported her findings. “It’s just trees. The mountains are even gone. I can’t see Canterlot in the distance... Are you sure we are in the right place?” she asked, a slightly judgemental note in her voice.

“The spell must have put us too far back. I’m certain that this is the right place, but I don’t think we are in the right time.”

“So how far back are we? I thought Canterlot was older than Celestia. And I didn’t see anything that could even be the start of a town.”

“Dash, we are here before Canterlot was founded. Before the ponies came from the north lands to escape their endless winters.” Rainbow Dash landed and sat on her haunches. “We are the only ponies in Equestria right now. Or what will be Equestria.”

“What? Well, zap us back then!” Rainbow said, standing next to Twilight again.

“I can’t... I think I am still too worn out from that jump. I’m surprised I am even standing right now, to be honest.”

“Twilight, you’re laying on the ground. Are you alright?” Rainbow Dash flew down and sat in front of her friend.”

“For a few days at least. Time is a river, Dash. Everything in it flows along, but you can climb out and enter at any point. As long as I can regain my strength, we can just go later in time, to where we intended to go.” Apparently, Twilight was answering questions Rainbow Dash hadn’t even asked.

“Well, you’re at least conscious. That’s good.” Dash was circling around Twilight, who rolled onto her side and was now mumbling into the dirt.

“Well... Earlier I was reading a book about an ancient forest south of where the ponies had first come from. I had started to mention it in the Everfree when Applejack cut me off. Remember that? Anyway, Star Swirl was actually the one writing about it. If his book is right, this could be the same forest. This is an amazing opportunity to understand Equestrian history!”

“Yeah.. well.. While you are doing that, I’m going to go find a place that we can sleep tonight, especially if you are so tired, we probably shouldn’t be zapping in and out of the library... erm... tree.”

“That sounds great dash. I’ll just stand guard.” Twilight crawled over to the base of the tree and started panting.

“Seriously, Twi. I have this under control. Just sleep.” Dash started collecting branches from the canopy, snapping off big limbs with swift kicks, never leaving Twilight out of a line of sight.

“I’ll be fine, Rainbow Dash. I know! You put together a shelter, and I will stand guard.”

“Twilight, I told you not to--” Rainbow Dash turned to fly back to her friend, but Twilight was asleep, her nose tucked under her hoof.

“I really hope you just need some sleep.” she muttered to herself, knocking a few more branches down to the ground.