“Cozyheart!” Flitterheart whispers. She kisses her little sister’s forehead as she sleeps. Starbeam recognizes ‘Cozyheart’ as the infamous villain Cozy Glow, but resists the urge to murder the foal in her sleep. That would only make her the monster instead.
She nudges her patron, and Flitterheart turns her attention to the other room, where her younger self is coughing. It’s time that the two Flitterhearts talk. Starbeam follows along, but stays silent.
“Hi, uh, me.” Flitterheart’s greeting could have used some practice, but it’s too late for that now. There’s a limited amount of time they can spend in the past, and the clock’s ticking.
The younger Flitterheart stares at her older self, jaw agape.
“I don’t have much time, so I need you to listen to me and promise that you’ll do your best to help change the future. Cozyheart is going to… do some very naughty things when she’s older. The princesses are going to punish her in a very mean way, and she’ll be lost to us forever. Whatever you do, don’t let Cozy go to the School of Friendship.”
The younger Flitterheart just nods, awestruck to be having a conversation with her older self. Her eyes keep glancing to her future cutie mark, a pair of hearts.
Catching note of where her younger self’s eyes keep drifting, the older Flitterheart turns to present the mark for her younger self’s approval. “We get this mark because of Cozy. One of these hearts is ours, the other is Cozy’s. The mark symbolizes a desire to help foals reach their destinies. It’s what I, we, should be doing…” She sighs. “I still love her as much as you do, even though she’s done unspeakably bad things. Life is…difficult in the future because of what Cozy did. Our family is in hiding and Cozy is dead.”
Starbeam’s horn starts glowing and that’s all the time they have. “Stop her any way you can…” are the last words she gets out as they wink back to their own time.
Returning to the present, Flitterheart collapses to the floor in tears. Starbeam pats her on the withers. Emotional support is something the unicorn isn’t used to providing, but she can relate to the scars the mare is carrying with her on her heart and psyche.
“It’s okay. We’re home now. Let’s go visit the statue garden. Maybe she’s not there.”
“Okay.”
And if she is… maybe she'll do something about that, too. Starbeam’s still undecided, but this mare is hurting and there’s an easy way to solve her problem… while giving them both a whole set of new problems.
Author's Note
Story notes: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/1054396/story-notes-ghosts-of-the-past
Starbeam Twinkle is an archmage. While not the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, she’s in the top 1% in terms of talent and raw magical power.
It’s taken years of saving up, but Flitterheart has finally managed to accrue the requisite number of bits to get an audience with one of the few unicorns powerful enough to give her the thing she desires most: a trip to the past to say goodbye to her little sister… and maybe, just maybe, alter the past so her sister can still be with her today, alive and well. But she’ll settle for seeing her treasured little sibling one last time.
“State your business.” Starbeam is not what would anypony would call a ‘herd pony’. She’s cold, distant, and somewhat abrasive. If one could scratch the surface to see beneath the façade, one would discover that this unicorn has experienced trauma in her past. Even with her vast reserves of mana, she keeps everypony at leg’s length to prevent herself from being hurt ever again. To the rest of the world, she’s business-only.
The pegasus in front of her is unremarkable in every way. Pinkish-purple, her coat color is one of the most common in Equestria. Two-toned teal and purple hair matches the pair of hearts on flank perfectly. She could blend into any crowd in Equestria with ease. From her demeanor, Starbeam deduces that she probably uses that to her advantage frequently. This is a mare that’s hiding something. As for what, Starbeam doesn’t particularly care. As long as her fee is paid, and her client doesn’t ask for anything she considers unethical, anything goes… even if a few laws get broken in the process. Her fee buys anonymity.
Flitterheart dumps a bag of bits on the archmage’s desk. “I want to go back to the past.”
“That’s a service I can provide, depending on what your intentions are.”
“I want to see my little sister one last time. Also, I want to see if I can convince my younger self to stop what happens.”
“What did your sister do?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Starbeam shrugs. “It’s not my business. I just need to determine your intentions. If you’re lying to me, there will be consequences. I don’t allow ponies to give their younger selves financial advice.”
“I’m not lying. My sister has been lost to us for many years now. She’s probably dead by now.”
“Do you have a specific location and point in time to travel to?”
“Yes,” Flitterheart nods, sliding an old photo of a filly’s room to her. “My foalhood home, specifically in the middle of the night on this date.” She hoofs over a well-worn calendar from twenty years ago. “That was when I had the feather flu, so I was quarantining in my room, away from the rest of my family. Most nights my sister would crawl into my bed to snuggle with me. I’d rather see my younger self alone.”
Starbeam has some reservations about what the mare isn’t telling her, but her bits are as good as anypony else’s. She’s also confident that there’s no way the timid pegasus could overpower her. So she grants the request.
With both a photo of the destination and a point in time to reference, Starbeam doesn’t need anything else to get there. With a flash and a pop, they’re gone, twenty years into the past.
Once they’re in the past, it becomes perfectly clear exactly what Flitterheart had been hiding. Starbeam recognizes her younger sister instantly, as would nearly anypony else.
Starbeam really can’t blame Flitterheart from hiding this from her, though she would’ve preferred the mare be up front with her. She still would’ve taken the job, even if she’d known.
[CHOICE]Flitterheart’s sister is Cozy Glow.
If ever a mare needed emotional support, it’s Flitterheart. Starbeam lets her say her goodbyes, then comforts her. (hero)
While Flitterheart is busy convincing her younger self to not allow Cozy to attend the School of Friendship, you have the perfect chance to snuff the life out of the little brat, now, before she can become a threat to Equestria. (villain)
“Cozyheart!” Flitterheart whispers. She kisses her little sister’s forehead as she sleeps. Starbeam recognizes ‘Cozyheart’ as the infamous villain Cozy Glow, but says nothing.
She nudges her patron, and Flitterheart turns her attention to the other room, where her younger self is coughing. It’s time that the two Flitterhearts talk. Starbeam stays behind, giving the two Flitterhearts privacy until it’s time to return to the present.
Once she’s alone, Starbeam’s horn glows as she wraps tendrils of magic around little Cozyheart’s neck. Quick and painless, no need to prolong this. It’s bad enough I’m resorting to killing a foal. What kind of monster does that make me? Starbeam’s magic fades out. She doesn’t have the heart to go through with it. Cozy Glow may be one of the greatest monsters in the history of Equestria, but this little foal hasn’t done anything wrong. At least not yet. Maybe Flitterheart’s talk with her younger self will prevent Cozy Glow’s later rampage. Starbeam decides that’s the best course of action. Who knows what kind of consequences there could be for trying to alter the past?
Starbeam trots out of the room as Cozyheart pretends to sleep. Little eyes are cracked ever so slightly open, getting a good look at the unicorn who just tried strangling her. Once the pony closes the door behind her, Cozy’s eyes open wide in horror. Little hooves go to her neck. A unicorn just tried to kill me in my sleep. What kind of monster attacks a helpless foal in the middle of the night? Unicorns can just teleport into my room at random. Magic is awful. Golly, I wish magic would just go away forever.
Author's Note
Story notes: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/1054396/story-notes-ghosts-of-the-past
