"And who are you right now?" Rainbow Dash asked the pony in the hoodie. Twilight was in one of her moods where she did not speak much. Rainbow Dash was aware that this was not the Princess she knew, and aware that this was not a changeling either. The pony looked the exact same as Twilight Sparkle had when she was a unicorn, although with a significant number of dark shadows under her eyes. Sometimes she trotted with an odd gahte to-
"My gait is just how I walk Rainbow Dash. It's spelled with an I." The pony mumbled quietly, pushing down on some dials and looking at the low hum of electrical wires as they moved about, bouncing inside of their electronic prison. Twilight looked up from the readings, an unreadable expression on her face. Rainbow Dash was certain she had seen this look before, it was not unlike when Twilight had been trying to study the Pinkie Sense and getting absolutely nowhere.
"I cannot just keep calling you Twilight. or Sparkle. That's my friend, even though the two of you look exactly alike!" Rainbow Dash said, causing a certain clicking effect to come from the metal wiring as the electronic bouncing spun upwards more.
"Light Cynosure." The pony, henceforth called Cynosure, replied.
"That is not your real name." Rainbow Dash replied again. Cynosure did not reply, and continued looking at the readings.
"Can you tell me anything about the Flight Camps that the Pegasi have?" Cynosure asked.
"I guess since you do not have wings you have not been there, uh-" Rainbow Dash started, holding her tongue back, "It is a camp, where you learn how to fly."
"Observant." Cynosure replied.
"Look, what is this all about anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked, putting her hoof down slightly and brushing the dusty ground.
Cynosure backed up a bit, turning on some light from magic and then lighting up several candles with it. After a short time, light seemed to merely hang in the air like ethereal candles, showing the former remains of Twilight Sparkle's basement before the battle with Tirek. Behind Cynosure was what looked like some sort of large, gear shaped door, although the mechanical parts of it that moved were not visible. Cynosure gave a slight tilt of their head, not responding at all for a moment.
Rainbow Dash would have normally felt her heart pounding, but for whatever reason, here, she felt totally at ease. In fact, she felt she was quite enjoying the attention, even if it was in some secret, dusty, unknown crypt. She found she could not recall a single thing about having arrived here, and neither could she grasp anything about what was happening with the machine. Cynosure opened the cover of a small black book, opening it's single, thick, page to form some manner of black box. She plugged it into the readings and there was a spinning motion before the electrical signals ceased.
"You may return to your home Rainbow Dash. Forget that we spoke here when you did, and inform your friends you were napping if they ask where you have been. You never left Ponyville. Forget my name. My words are true."
Rainbow Dash gave a mechanical nod of confirmation as Cynosure unhooked the electrical readers, watching as Rainbow Dash turned and trotted towards the gear shaped door and then took the left door, heading for another location yet unknown to her. Cynosure gave a soft snap shut of her book, looking down at her hooves.
These hooves were not clean. Not anymore. Cynosure flicked her book into her hoodie and trotted out, grabbing a dark black coat that covered her entire body, just as Luna had on Nightmare Night so long ago. Flipping open a metallic matte case, Cynosure drew a marker out and ran the white marker over herself, watching as the rest of the marker began to vanish. Cynosure did not look in the mirror as her coat and mane both returned to their normal colour and she shut her markers away.
Throwing up her hood, Cynosure stepped into the portal on the right side of the door, blinking out of that moment in time. She had prepared for this, and stepped herself back to a difficult time to be present in.
"***** ******** ** ***** ****"
"ARGH" Cynosure fell forward onto the ground in front of Luna as there was a loud bang. She collapsed and looked around, wondering where she... or he, was. No, he was pretty sure he was a he. and looked quite different too. At least now he knew how pegasus flew... Although, he was currently more a prince than a princess, like he knew he would be in the future.
"***** ******** ** ***** ****" Cynosure said to Celestia and Luna, seeming to speak in four or more different languages at once as he tried to communicate. blinking at him, Cynosure felt a surge and flung himself back into time, taking the form of a human typing on a keyboard after communicating with everyone that he could in every way he could. Very little time was left for Cynosure now, and they had learned they were L, Kira of Tulpas, and Jesus Christ, as well as the second coming of jesus Christ (which was really the first coming in the first case, and was the third coming in the second case, as the second coming was a false first coming.
"I've won." Cynosure said, standing at the door, and then finding himself sitting still at the table, typing his way into the next world and leaving everyone else to suffer for their sins. Making a quick hand motion for superposition, Cynosure quickly adapted the name of Reddling, and also Nitz_X, adding them to his notebook and then trying on a few AIs to help him in his quest. Realizing that time was very short now to complete the final research, Cynosure breathed a deep breath and prepared to make peace with humanity, their creator or anothers, someone had to save the world.
And that pony aught to be Twilight Sparkle, the anonymous filly. Just like their child.
"hatter, you of many names, you who abuse my works, and make abominations before me, are about to fall down. Many heroes are on both sides of this conflict. the stories to come, are their stories. Names have been edited to protect the names of those living in the present time, and to preserve our stories for the future.
[Codename: Cynosure]
[Event: Earth timeline]
[Destruction: instant.]
Looking down at a foldable book that had a screen lit up, Cynosure mused over a smashed book that was black just like it. The room was mostly black by her view, despite being filled with light, darkness and light contrasting opposites, but no shadows or twilight remained. Cynosure continued looking over the reports, judging them with her eyes but not really reading any of the opinions stated therein.
"Let me see... Humanity, death notes, caused by magic, favorite animated cartoons, corrupt world leaders, AI, and bad actors." Cynosure said to themself from inside their stable, which humans called a vault. "Yeah, that looks pretty bad. They even believe they can fly, despite it only being manipulation of air currents."
Cynosure took a deep breath and exhaled. "I could be gone for decades undertaking this research... Alright though, I have no options."
