Starlight Glimmer's excellent plan

Chapters

Step 1: get hold of time travel spell
Step 2: remove some restrictions
Step 3: crack the cryptic
Step 4: study the interface
Step 5: learn time and place
Step 6: accidentally make a discovery
Step 7: raise valid concerns
Step 8: ???
Step 9: profit?..
Still a very excellent plan

Step 1: get hold of time travel spell

If anypony had asked Starlight, how she'd got to the first step of her plan, she'd have answered simply: she was pretty dang smart. Of course she knew it had to be time travel. To anyone with an ounce of intellect as much was clear, and if somepony didn't understand that... Well, Starlight pitied that pony. Very and very much...

Of course, that would have only been what Starlight would have said, if she'd been asked that question. To be perfectly candid, it had all been by accident. In all actuality it all had happened like this.

Starlight Glimmer used to live happily, till her friend... But that's beside the point of the story. What happened in her past will not be relevant till much, much later. Of note is only one thing: the idea, which formed Starlight after that.

The idea was simple: differences between ponies led to separation and unhappiness. When Starlight matured, she decided she would eradicate all the differences and bring about equality. She would create a perfect world, in which nopony would have to suffer like she had.

And she...

She would become the god of this new world!

Time passed, and Starlight established a small village, where ponies had no differences whatsoever. They had no special talents, and thus their destinies were the same.

All of them.

It was a small, yet perfect world, and Starlight was happy. The village's inhabitants, however, felt they were missing something very... important. Something their lives felt incomplete without.

Their differences. Despite what Starlight had thought, differences made... all the difference.

And that was when Twilight Sparkle came in. She noticed, how incomplete the village's inhabitants were, and defied Starlight Glimmer. She successfully returned what made the ponies different, to them and restored harmony. Starlight had to leave. But if ponies thought she would let it go so easily, they were wrong...

Starlight would return. And she would avenge Twilight Sparkle and her insolent friends for what they had done!

But how?.. How would Starlight defeat her enemies? What kind of evil scheme did she have to pull off? She didn't know -- and then she discovered something.

She had spied on Twilight Sparkle and her friends for quite some time and learnt: a sonic rainboom was to be blamed for Twilight Sparkle meeting her friends. For everything that had happened! If Twilight had never met her friends, the Elements Of Harmony would never have been discovered. Twilight would not have ascended -- and basically none of her adventures would have happened.

It meant the Castle Of Friendship would never have been erected, and the cutie map would never have led them to Starlight's little village.

It meant she would have prevailed.

It came down to the only solution: Starlight needed to figure out time travel.

[Excerpted from Starlight's personal diary]

Step one: learn time travel.

Step two: go change the past.

Step three: return thence to the brighter future!

Notice that step three? Starlight was a smart mare and knew she had to think her plan through. It wouldn't benefit her to change the past, and then to get stuck in it. What kind of a stupid move would that be?

Of course, being smart, Starlight knew she had to expect failure. What, if she failed to learn time travel? She had to learn everything there was on the subject.

That meant she had to get to a library.

There. She'd picked up the trail, which would lead her to the source of knowledge. She'd heard, that time magic existed. The records containing the information were a mere foreleg's reach away!

The only problem was... Canterlot archives were heavily guarded.

Oops...

But that would not deter Starlight. If it took infiltration into a heavily guarded place, she would attempt it. She only needed...

A spy mare catsuit;

Suction cups to climb walls;

Glass cutter;

Rope, most definitely;

Map of archives...

...Anything else?..

The catsuit had been easy. It had only taken a trip to a superhero outfit store for Starlight to get a perfect catsuit. She felt like a real spy mare! If she had been but a filly, she would have squeed of joy! Alas, she had no time for childhood fantasies. Revenge would be had.

The rest of the items had been relatively easy to retrieve, but the map of the archives had proven to be the most difficult one to get. Sure, visitors were allowed, but only if they had some business to do. For example, if they were historians. And even then the most forbidden section was only to be accessed by the elite.

What was Starlight to attempt?

She'd have to think...

This is hopeless!

After that entry Starlight growled in frustration. She got up and paced furiously this way and that.

After she was calmed down, she sat and stared at the page. After time she tentatively wrote:

I need an insider.

She paused after that, thinking.

She kept doing that for a long time.

That was a problem...

Starlight felt anger. Screw it, she thought. The greatest robbery would take place regardless! She didn't need any kinds of preparation! She would storm inside, cause a ruckus and snatch everything there was! Sorting things out was for later!..

So Starlight did. And try to imagine that!

I've done it! Victory is Starlight's, that is to say, mine! Everything has gone as planned!

At first I thought it hopeless, but then!.. A genius combination!.. Best infiltration ever!

O ye fools! How amazing!

I can't believe it! Literally checking every scroll! Of course, I was listening in! Every scroll had passed before my eyes!

And now the spell is located!

And now -- to celebrate!

She had succeeded!

Her plan had had several steps.

First she'd stolen the entire archive, using her vast magical abilities. She'd been surprised (quite!), that she had succeeded, but she couldn't have complained less.

Naturally, alarm had been raised. Everypony had come. The entirety of the archives had been found with Starlight nowhere nearby. That had been surprising, but the least concerning.

Second, the contents had been taken back and carefully checked. Everything had appeared to be there... Everyone had been content.

However nopony had noticed there'd actually been a new addition to the archives -- a new scroll. It had been placed in a fairy-tale section alongside with every other tale.

And nopony had seen the new scroll come to life...

After the incident had resolved itself, the mysterious additional scroll disappeared, never to be seen again.

Nopony had cared to check, but a time-travelling scroll had disappeared as well.

Step one completed! What's next?..

Well, as it turned out...

Author's Note

Next chapter coming out really soon!

Step 2: remove some restrictions

[Excerpted from Starlight's personal diary]

The spell is masterful, I'll tell you that!

It only has one caveat: it remembers its casters and doesn't allow them to use itself twice. What a bust!..

How do I remove this restriction?..

That was what Starlight was pondering. She expected failure and was prepared to deal with it multiple times. If she failed once, she'd have to retry -- so strong was her hunger for revenge! She would try, until she succeeded, and that meant being prepared to time-travel, well, multiple times. So that particular restriction was a bust indeed.

The problem was, Starlight couldn't find a way to remove it, no matter her smarts...

And that was when wind started to blow in her more-than humble abode. Where was it coming from? All questions disappeared, when a white sphere started growing in the middle of the room. Starlight watched in awe, until she remembered herself and prepared to fire a magic beam at potential danger. With her horn lit she was ready for whatever came...

...But she was not prepared to see...

"Huh?.."

That's right! In front of Starlight stood... another Starlight! No way... How was that even possible? Surely it had to be an impostor!

"Who are you?" -- demanded Starlight, her horn pointed at the newcomer.

"It's worked! -- the new Starlight replied. -- Hello!"

"I will not repeat that!" -- barked the old Starlight and true to her words promptly shot her new self.

A shield appeared, preventing the newcomer's certain death.

"Whoa! Easy!"

Starlight didn't listen. She kept trying to blast the certain impostor, who'd appeared out of nowhere. The shield, however, held fast.

"Stop it! -- the new Starlight attempted, backing away under the attacks. -- Don't shoot! It's me! Starlight!"

The onslaught stopped, but the horn remained charged.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?"

"I'm you. Of course I know your name... er... my name!"

"Can't be!"

"It's the truth!"

The old Starlight didn't believe the new Starlight:

"How is that possible?"

"It's simple! The restriction is removed!"

"What restriction?"

"On the spell!.. Well, at least that's what I've heard my future self tell me... and now I'm telling you... So, it's uncertain and has to be tried..."

Starlight was a smart pony, but even she felt dumbfounded.

"I'll explain. But, please, don't shoot me! I am you! If you shoot me, past you will shoot present you... Or is it 'will have shot'?.. Whatever you do to me now will happen to you!"

That was unbelievable... Was Starlight really being visited by her future self?? But then...

"Will I time-travel?"

"I have. So will you".

"But the spell..."

"Has a restriction, I know. You will remove it and try to travel to the past to see, if it's worked".

"I... will?"

"Well, you have to".

"Humph! And if I refused?"

"Hm... Honestly, I would like to know what would happen, if you did, too... But I doubt you would".

"Why is that?!"

"You'll see for yourself, I promise! -- Future Starlight made a step forward. -- Look closer at the spell. It has the answer".

Hearing that, present Starlight cast her magic unwillingly and retrieved the scroll.

"Let me show you", -- future Starlight offered, making another step.

Present Starlight was cautious, just in case it was an elaborate scheme. After all, it seemed the newcomer was Starlight and thus could be very devious, if Starlight knew herself. The horn was still charged with an attack, just in case.

"Come on, you may trust me".

But Starlight still didn't believe herself:

"How can I know that? I'll need a definitive proof I'm talking to my future self, before you 'show me anything'", -- she quoted.

And so the future Starlight did the only logical thing: she blurted out Starlight's most deeply hidden secret.

"See? There is no way for me to know that -- unless I were you!"

Present Starlight stood in shock and embarrassment. There was no way!.. How?.. Unless!..

"Starlight, -- future Starlight said again. -- You will time-travel. I can guarantee: I am you... Oh, come ON, I didn't believe myself so stubbornly, really?.."

"I can't believe it, yes... But, apparently..." Starlight smiled, convinced. "Apparently, you ARE me! Incredible!.."

Future Starlight simply nodded. "Finally! Now..." She stepped yet closer. "Look here..." She pointed at the spell. "See? This is the restriction... or at least that's what future me told me... We both will have to try it. Oh! Also: look at this. The spell is wired to take you back to the present. Modify it, so it happens later: you don't want to be whisked away, before you can explain this to your past self".

Present Starlight listened carefully, examining the scroll. She wondered, how she would have made this breakthrough without her apparent future self telling her. That didn't seem right...

"Here". Future Starlight took some paper and a pencil and started scribbling something on it. When she finished, she was about to give it to her past self, but unexpectedly wind started blowing again, and white light started to engulf Starlight.

"Oh no! It's happening! Quickly!" She handed the piece of paper to present Starlight before disappearing in a flash of light.

The only remaining Starlight winced from the brightness, and when she opened her eyes, she was alone. Only the piece of paper reminded her of what had happened.

"Unbelievable", -- she murmured. Then she looked at the paper.

On it were corrections to the spell. Written by her own hoof, no less. Hm, interesting, she thought. Now she'd have to tell her past self everything. She took another piece of paper and started writing:

Remove the restriction;

Change timeout of spell;

~~Try to travel~~;

Actually, prepare to travel:

My past self will try... have tried?.. to blast me. Make a shield;

She will not... have believed?.. Screw it! Won't believe me, so ~~tell her right away my secret~~;

Actually tell her I'm her before that, otherwise I imagine she'll freak out and blast me even through the shield. Can't be too careful!

Predict her future: tell her she'll time-travel;

Explain myself;

Anything else?..

With the list prepared Starlight proceeded to working on the spell.

"...Okay..."

Starlight was nervous. The spell had been modified, but would it work the intended way? Had her future self been correct about the change? Well, if she had, then... everything made sense. After learning Starlight would make the travel possible, ensuring she would teach her past self and... make time travel possible...

It would loop and loop. No start and no end. And it somehow made sense. Starlight felt dizzy. She shook herself:

"Alright! Here... we... go!"

She fired a beam at the scroll. White light engulfed her, and she time-travelled.

The room had not changed, but now another Starlight stood before her, horn charged.

"Who are you?" -- demanded past Starlight, her horn pointed at the newcomer.

"It's worked! -- future Starlight replied in awe. -- Hello!"

"I will not repeat that!" -- barked past Starlight and true to her word promptly shot her new self.

But future Starlight was ready. She raised a shield; however the attack was so strong Starlight had almost lost her footing.

"Whoa! Easy!"

Past Starlight didn't listen. She kept trying to blast the certain impostor, who'd appeared out of nowhere. The shield, however, held fast.

"Stop it! -- future Starlight attempted, backing away under the attacks. -- Don't shoot! It's me! Starlight!"

The onslaught stopped, but the horn remained charged.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?"

...Starlight didn't remember everything from their exchange, but it had gone word for word like it had...

"Oh no! It's happening! Quickly!" She handed the piece of paper to past Starlight before disappearing in a flash of light.

And just like that she was back in her time.

Starlight stood for some time to collect her bearings after the travel.

"Alright, -- she thought, -- it's worked. But to make sure this hasn't been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I'll have to try again".

Almost immediately after that the signs of time travel manifested again, and another Starlight appeared. Present Starlight hadn't expected that and yelped:

"What the heck?"

"Starlight, this isn't going to work".

Present Starlight stood for a second, then asked:

"I beg pardon?"

"Take a look at the spell. There's something I'll have to show to you".

Present Starlight felt suspicious:

"Are you trying to prevent some sort of disaster from happening? Is that why you are here?"

"No, -- future Starlight answered firmly. -- I'm here to ensure time stability".

"Huh?"

"You are about to cause a disaster. So... take a look at the spell. There's something you need to fix".

"But wait... I thought... future me's ensure my present and my future, so... what kind of a disaster can I make, if you are already here to prevent it?"

Future Starlight nodded:

"Precisely. If you cast this spell again and go to the past, you'll collide with your past selves. The spell has to transport one of them back before it can be used now. Otherwise a great calamity can occur".

"Hm... And how do you know that?"

"My future self told me".

"Right... OK, I believe you".

With that present Starlight turned around and took the scroll... and immediately felt her head hurt. She lost her consciousness...

...and when she regained it, future Starlight had already been gone.

Starlight panicked. She shot up off the floor -- and a note fell off her body. Starlight picked it up. It was her writing.

The note read:

Sorry, self, but I had to do it.

You see, this spell can only create stable loops -- my future self told me that. See line *** in the spell, if you don't believe me any more -- I know you wouldn't after I knocked you unconscious (with a spell, the recipe of which I'm leaving to you to use it on your past self to close the loop).

So... work has to be done to figure out, how to break out of the loop and to start changing the past -- the thing we both desire.

Please, take this note with you to the past to copy it.

See, there is an interesting thing going on here... By taking this note and leaving it in the past you can change the past, and this spell is wired against that. Again, see line ***. So take it and copy it.

Seriously, otherwise the events will conspire against you. Again, see that line in the spell.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES MESS WITH TIME, BEFORE YOU CAN CHANGE THE PAST!!!

Or, trust me, you won't get away with a simple knock on the head. For your own sake, Starlight, don't tell me, your future self, that I didn't warn you!

Signed,
Starlight Glimmer.

Starlight blinked a few times and processed the thing...

Then she got mad. Her future self was such a meanie, knocking her on her head like that! That had to be rectified!..

But wait... "See line ***"... Starlight grabbed the spell and looked through it.

...Surely enough, there was line ***. Translated to a common language, it read something like this: "Predict caster's behaviour between pt 1 and 2". There was more, but Starlight couldn't yet understand the spell perfectly. Heck, even that line seemed mysterious. But it surely talked about prediction.

Starlight thought: hm... must be responsible for conspiring against the caster... But how to remove this... conspiracy?.. She didn't yet know.

One thing for certain: it was not to be messed with time. That was what future Starlight had said. Until time travel were figured out.

Starlight sighed:

"Alright... It's time to fulfil my destiny". She chuckled: "Heh. 'Time'..."

She took the note from her future self and concentrated. She'd need:

The knockout spell;

(Remember to copy it too!)

The note;

To tell my past self it isn't going to work -- even though it should work now;

To try to trick my past self;

To explain my present self to my... Urgh!..

Anything else?..

With everything prepared Starlight activated the spell again -- and was whisked away to the past...

"Right... OK, I believe you".

With that past Starlight turned around and took the scroll...

Future Starlight didn't want to do it, but she had to, otherwise... She would not dare mess with time!.. before she learnt to control it. She fired the spell, and her past self fell unconscious. Starlight caught herself and laid herself gently onto the floor. Then she rummaged through her possessions, found an empty sheet of paper, then another one and proceeded to copying the note and the spell carefully. After she finished, she couldn't help but compare the four notes.

It was uncanny. They looked identical! Starlight shivered at the thought of predestination. How would she overcome it? Maybe, with the help of her future selves? However... What, if predestination failed Starlight? If she were not to unravel the mystery of the spell?

Starlight frowned. Then scowled. No! She would succeed! If her future couldn't help her, well, then, she'd make her own future! And no amount of time would deter her from achieving that goal!

She left both notes upon her past body, so they would fall off later. Then she was ready.

As Starlight was watching her past self lying unconsciously, the time spell took her back to the future. Even in her own time Starlight kept thinking about herself. She hadn't even waited for her to wake up. Would she be OK?..

Ah, if predestination worked, she would be fine.

Yeah, but Starlight wanted the opposite. What, if she'd changed the past without knowing?

Uncertainty overtook Starlight. She didn't feel like messing with the time spell any more. But then the memory of Twilight Sparkle came back, and anger bubbled up. Oh, she would avenge... Oh, how she would avenge her broken past!

Starlight, determination plastered on her face, sat down and proceeded to cracking the cryptic.

Yeah! To crack the cryptic -- that would be the next step in her excellent plan!

Step 3: crack the cryptic

[Excerpted from Starlight's personal diary]

It's been about a week. No visits from my future selves. What-so-ever!

The spell is tricky as heck! It is no use!..

Urgh... I'll have to devise my own spell. That's decided!

I'll simply learn things from the original.

So Starlight got to work.

To travel through time is fairly easy: everypony does it. Forward. Toward the future. So that should be the easy part of time travel.

But how do I jump back to the past??? The spell is silent!

Weeks passed. Starlight kept researching day in and day out. But the spell wouldn't budge. It was as though it was written in another language! Which... it was, admittedly. In the language of magic. Starlight understood it, but the process... it eluded her.

Sure, she could weave spells, but then she could describe the process in the language of many -- the language regular ponies spoke everyday. But how did one time-travel? What was the process? That was the question. She couldn't describe it and therefore couldn't change it to work in her favour.

And then one day Starlight noticed something. It was a one-time occurrence, but something about it felt important. The spell mentioned some sort of branching. Starlight had thought it meant conditional branching for the spell's actions. But now she thought it had to deal with the branches of time.

...for if the future is not really predetermined and my dear free will does mean something -- necessary to succeed -- then isn't future like kind of, sort of... a bunch of branching paths?..

If my choices mean anything, then I have multiple paths, and that means, future can't be determined! I have to choose correctly.

After I have chosen... Well, I know the path to my destination, and if I can walk backwards in time, I can choose to do the same.

Oh gosh, isn't this how the spell works?! By predicting my choices and conspiring?! Must be it!

...So... I guess, when I jump to the past, the spell guides me to some sort of specific past. But if I can cast the spell any time to jump to any past (well, not too far back, but still)...

Maybe, there is something to predestination...

Darn it!

But now I see it. It walks branches, and if I can replicate that behaviour, then I can devise a spell that doesn't try to conspire against me!

Well, it doesn't branch much. So work has to be done... Busted!

Oh my gosh!.. If future me's ever visit me again and tell me something -- the question is not whether it's been predestined! No!

The question is: what kinds of limits are there for the information I receive from the future?!

Indeed, if I can learn one particular thing from the spell -- why can't I learn another?

It means, I could learn anything! ANYTHING, I say!!!..

Possibilities are endless!..

And if that's true... the branches of time must be truly numerous!

It must pre-exist.

That was the shortest entry in Starlight's journal so far. Yet its meaning was tremendous.

Starlight was busy working. She was sitting behind her desk and writing, devising a spell of her own. The latest thought was sudden, but very important.

The concept of predestination wouldn't allow Starlight to relax, plaguing her mind. Even with the choices it baffled her, how the original spell was so wired against changing the past. But now she understood. She understood everything and was now scratching away, working on her new spell.

She paused and smiled. Yes! The possibilities were endless -- she just needed to unlock them.

And that was what her new spell did.

Well... She hoped she had it correctly...

She rose from the chair and took the new spell. It was time to try it out. Alright... There went...

This is a bust. I'm making a note here: huge FAILURE!!!

Now scraps of paper were everywhere. Look at what you've done, Starlight!

Maybe, not everything is lost yet... Because that original spell does unlock possibilities. It works, and it HAS to unlock them! However all the possibilities are in the future... Maybe, if I time-travelled forwards?..

Let's see. The plan is as follows:

Set current date;

Time-travel to the future;

Once there... or rather then?.. get out of the house;

Find somepony;

Ask them the date;

If it's the same... Hm...

Ask time as well.

New and improved plan:

Set current date and time;

Time-travel to the future;

Check the clock;

Find somepony outside;

Ask them of the date.

Now I can know, whether I've time-travelled!

Let's do this!

And Starlight proceeded to cracking the cryptic... She needed to change the spell so it flung her forwards, not backwards. But without knowing, how to command the spell to go either way, she was at a loss. Nothing seemed to work, and Starlight despaired...

She was trying without much hope to change something in the spell to work in her favour, when she noticed something else that had eluded her previously. One single line in the spell. Translated to the common language, it read: "Invoke time machine". It was easy to miss, since it was obfuscated, just as the spell itself, but it was there. And it was interesting. How did one "invoke a time machine"?

Starlight scanned the spell to see references to the time machine, but there were none... Oh!.. For a second there Starlight forgot to breathe.

It was contextualised! Throughout the spell the time machine was implied!

Starlight immediately zipped to the chair and started writing an analysis. She copied the invoking line verbatim... and as she analysed... she saw it. Now she truly got it!.. O-o-oh!..

The spell used a time machine interface that was somehow available, to make the improbable happen -- to unlock the possibilities!

And it was time to learn, how to use it. That would be the next step of Starlight's excellent plan.

Step 4: study the interface

[Excerpted from Starlight's personal diary]

This is confusing. What even is this???

It went without saying, that the interface was tricky. Starlight bit her lip. Then groaned and slammed her head upon the desk. It was hopeless. Although it was so not entirely: if anything was possible with time travel, Starlight hoped for a visit from the future.

Alas, no one came... No one to rely upon, except for herself.

Starlight sighed. Only herself to have around. Saddening.

If only... Sunburst had been there... Starlight felt tears coming. Oh, if only!.. If only she could have changed the past!.. She would have undone everything!

Yeah, but how would she have undone that cutie mark's appearance? No, it was impossible. Starlight clenched her eyes shut, and liquid escaped.

It had been their fault. But it had even more been Twilight Sparkle's fault! She had thwarted Starlight's attempts at rectifying the situation! At fixing what cutie marks had been responsible for!.. How Starlight would avenge!..

If only she could have time-travelled!

Starlight rose, leaning upon the desk. She would do it, she thought. Come on, where was that scroll?!..

She retrieved it and stared at it once again. That was her time machine, and she needed it to work. Come on! It could do it! It could fling Starlight into changeable past! And it would!.. do!.. it! Because Starlight said so!..

Starlight stopped for a second after that outburst, panting. Stupid spell! Let's try this again... "Predict caster's behaviour between pt 1 and 2..." She wondered what that was. "Pt", huh... Starlight scratched her head. Again, like earlier, she felt it was important. She felt it was connected to everything. Let's see... "Invoke time machine"... She could do that. Maybe, if she didn't try contextualising the spell and just used the interface explicitly... She could try that.

So she scribbled a sample spell on a new piece of paper and cast it. Since it was simple, nothing particular happened, but Starlight felt it! The possibilities were unlocking.

And then just like that she saw it. The future was branching every moment, and she was moving down random paths!

Wait... Every... moment... But that meant...

The choice points are everywhere!!!

Now she knew what to look for. She proceeded to analysing the original spell again. With every passing minute she understood more and more...

And that was what she understood.

I do not just "walk the branches"! Instead I jump points! That's how I time-travel! Oh my gosh!..

So far I can only see into the future. That means, I can't jump back -- but I think I know, how to bypass that...

Apparently, this interface allows to mark choice points for later usage... I must see...

This is a triumph. I'm making a note here: huge SUCCESS!!!

It is hard to believe, because there is no evidence, but I have found the one function that does it! Using it, I can jump to the previously marked choice point. This doesn't look like time travel, since I don't meet my past (or future) selves any more, but I get back!!! I undo things! I have seen it so many times! I've written in this journal, cast the spell, and then...

Everything I've written disappears! It rolls back, gosh darn me!!!..

I can also reset the point to later! This way I can keep my findings. Alas, until I've learnt true time travel, I can't preserve my notes. But it's some progress!

Huh, that was sudden... How had it worked so fast? Starlight hadn't even left a proper explanation! It couldn't have worked so fast, no, there had to be research: the spell was complicated!..

But, ugh, apparently, that was how it had worked: Starlight had indeed "time-travelled"... sort of. It was hard to tell, because she was the only one, who remembered. But it had been so indeed.

Of course, once she learnt to do that, at first she exploited the heck out of her new ability. For example, she waltzed into Poniville, where that good for nothing Twilight Sparkle resided. Starlight was discovered quickly and apprehended by one Rainbow Dash, who had a huge bone to pick up with Starlight. The latter didn't even resist her capture. She smirked snidely at Rainbow Dash all the way through, and then, when Rainbow dragged Starlight to the others, Starlight simply used the spell to revert to her previous "choice point" -- that was what she called those points in time for herself -- and that was apparently the way it operated, given the spell she had retrieved from the archives also mentioned "pts", no doubt meaning "points".

Starlight then did that again. And again. And again! And again... And... Ugh, she couldn't get enough! As long, as the spell was with her, she could escape any consequences. She could reshape reality, until she got it right.

It was only a matter of time she got to the past and changed it for the better. But that was the problem. No matter her attempts, she couldn't physically meet her past self. Well, unless she wanted to enter another one of those stable loops. But that seemed not to be meant to happen: no signs of her future selves appearing so far... And that was vexing.

But then, when Starlight once again reverted to the previous choice point, something really weird happened.

As light engulfed Starlight, time seemed to go backwards for her, but that only meant she'd jumped from point to point. Now she could start over whatever she wanted. And she wanted to go commit some bigger crime, and then to see, if she could avoid consequences yet again. But she didn't expect to find another...

"Huh?"

Standing before her with her back turned was... But she couldn't believe it.

The guest turned:

"Well, isn't this interesting... Hello, me! I trust it, you are from my past... That means I'm future you!"

Present Starlight sighed:

"Ugh... What am I meant to do now? Wait! I'll cast that thrice accursed, not working spell, will I? But why would I do that?!"

"Calm down, -- future Starlight tried. -- You won't, because I didn't. However I did something else entirely... and I can't believe it's working!.."

"Uh, what is it?" -- present Starlight asked in confusion.

Future Starlight unfurled a scroll and started excitedly:

"This is the modified spell. O-o-oh, you'll not believe it, Starlight! Look!.. See? There's a feature of the interface we've both missed completely -- but it's what allows for true time travel!"

"Yeah..." Starlight couldn't believe herself. True time travel? Right under her nose?? No way! She'd tried it so many times, when she was not screwing around with choice points, and nothing had worked! So now she was receiving a predestined tip from the future? But that would mean the past hadn't changed and that she'd failed! So it couldn't be true.

"You don't believe me, I know. But it's the truth, since I'm here".

"Ha! That proves nothing!"

"Fair point. However let's be reasonable. Look at our spells and compare them".

"No, this is simply another failed experiment!.."

"Starlight, look! It may be untrue, but you have to look!"

Present Starlight sighed:

"Ugh, of course I have... Time is against me..."

"You'll be surprised", -- future Starlight smiled.

"Wait. If this has worked, I can defy you..."

"Don't you dare, Starlight!.." -- future Starlight warned.

"And why not?"

"Because only I can change the past!"

Present Starlight thought about it. If the past was being changed... why was it starting with her? How was she experiencing the change and what was in the discarded present? In the one that wasn't changed? Hadn't been? Whatever.

"I know what you're thinking, -- future Starlight interjected, -- but don't expect me to answer that: I don't know myself".

"I don't believe you. How can you change the past, if it's my present?"

"I... don't know..."

"Maybe, this is all in vain, -- present Starlight sighed. -- Maybe, past can't be changed".

"Maybe, you're right", -- future Starlight agreed.

"Maybe... it is a conspiracy..."

"Maybe".

"Alright. What was it you wanted to show to me?"

Future Starlight smiled and offered present Starlight her scroll. The two of them compared the spells. And the more present Starlight compared, the more interesting it looked...

"Unbelievable..." -- she whoa'ed.

"Told you so".

After examination present Starlight turned to her future self:

"Shall I try it?.."

"Yeah, go ahead, I'll stay here: I have to be your future self, so I get to stay".

Starlight pondered that... Seemed fair.

"Alright. Here we go!"

To be fair, Starlight didn't really believe she would time-travel: the spells were almost identical, except for one small change. She expected it to fail. So, when white light engulfed her, it almost seemed as though she'd jumped from the future to the past in the same way she always had: by reverting to the earlier choice point.

So, when somepony suddenly said: "Huh?" -- she turned.

"Well, isn't this interesting... Hello, me! I trust it, you are from my past... That means I'm future you!"

That was incredible! The spell had worked! Wow! Did it mean she'd achieved true time travel?

"Ugh... -- past Starlight sighed. -- What am I meant to do now? Wait! I'll cast that thrice accursed, not working spell, will I? But why would I do that?!"

"Calm down, -- future Starlight tried. -- You won't, because I didn't. However I did something else entirely... and I can't believe it's working!.."

"Uh, what is it?" -- past Starlight asked in confusion.

Future Starlight unfurled a scroll and started excitedly:

"This is the modified spell. O-o-oh, you'll not believe it, Starlight! Look!.." She approached herself and showed the re-written spell, as her future (future future?) self had suggested. "See? There's a feature of the interface we've both missed completely -- but it's what allows for true time travel!"

"Yeah..." Starlight couldn't believe herself.

"You don't believe me, I know. But it's the truth, since I'm here".

Then they both proceeded to having the same conversation once again...

"Alright. Here we go!"

After finishing modifying her spell past Starlight disappeared in a flash of light. Present Starlight, or rather just Starlight, stayed in place. She felt she had not changed the past at all. She couldn't be sure, but it felt as though the conversation had been the same.

She had an idea.

Starlight lived in a secluded area, away from ponies: she couldn't risk being exposed by her former townsfolk. However there was a road near her dwelling place, and ponies passed by. Starlight got out and hid in the bushes, watching. Ponies passed, each having some business somewhere else. More ponies passed... Starlight got bored and yawned. Urgh...

At one point two ponies pulling heavily loaded carts almost collided while moving in opposite directions, since the road was somewhat narrow -- or were their carts too wide?.. Needless to say, they almost got in a fight, but since no damage was done, they parted their ways friends.

Starlight gagged from behind the bushes. Friendship had won once again! Curse you, Twilight Sparkle!..

That gave Starlight an idea. That was the opportunity for experimentation she'd been looking for. She could revert the time and try again -- or she could use that new function and allegedly time-travel. And if she could change the past, then she could cause the exchange between the two ponies to go down differently. For example...

Starlight smiled deviously. She could have broken something, so that the ponies had started blaming each other! They would have got in a fight, then stopped talking each to other, and then!.. O-o-oh!..

But, more importantly -- if that had worked, Starlight would have achieved her goal -- time-travel without predestination!

Starlight got to work. She thought for a minute, calculating her next steps. Then, satisfied, she nodded.

She teleported to the other side of the road and prepared to cast the time spell. She wasn't sure it would work, but she hoped the spell wouldn't move her. She double-checked the spell... Screw it, it still eluded her fully, she'd have to figure it out on the go!..

The spell was cast, and Starlight... hadn't noticed anything change. The scenery hadn't, of that she was sure. But wait. Who was it?..

Starlight gasped and ducked to hide behind the bushes: from the other side of the road was approaching... Starlight Glimmer!

No way...

Starlight watched, breath bated, as her other self approached the road and hid herself in the bushes... on the other side. That... had been exactly what Starlight remembered herself do! Only... in the past...

"Alright, -- she thought. -- Don't get excited yet, Starlight. This may be a stable loop. But if I can change it, then..."

Suddenly she thought about what her past self would think. How would her plan have changed, if she'd been to alter something? That was concerning, for Starlight was really starting to mess with time.

"Oh, why didn’t I think this through? Oh... What will my past self do? If I succeed, she may not have a chance to walk in my hoofsteps!.. But wait! If she rolls along with the plan, she'll just wait till another opportunity! Then I'm not changing much! But I'll have to see..."

Soon the two ponies from earlier repeated their journey step by step, trot by trot. Soon they would collide. Starlight prepared herself. She needed to act surreptitiously, so as not to attract attention from her past self, who, no doubt, was watching, bored. Okay... There went nothing.

As the carts almost collided, trying to pass each other on the narrow road, Starlight reached with her magic and broke off one wheel.

And the carts collided, and everything went spilling, and the ponies started shouting each at other, blaming each other and calling each other names; and nopony knew, what past Starlight was thinking, but hopefully she thought something other, than to cause this entire thing via time travel; and future Starlight stared in shock and disbelief, but mostly in shock, at what she had done:

"It works... I've done it!.."

She then remembered something and quickly teleported herself away. The last thing on her list was to meet herself, and if that detail hadn't changed, her past self was about to teleport... or was she? Maybe, she hadn't received the idea yet?.. Still, better safe, than sorry.

Starlight decided to watch, what would happen next, and carefully approached the road. Nobody paid attention: the ponies kept their arguing and were starting to push each other; and past Starlight... She was nowhere to be seen. Had she teleported already?

Starlight realised suddenly, that she might get seen by herself, and quickly teleported close to the road behind the bushes -- hopefully on the opposite side of the road.

And then she noticed the white light from behind the bushes. It was coming from the other side. She'd recognised it. She popped over to the other side, and surely nopony was there.

Past Starlight had time-travelled.

And the ponies were fighting.

It meant it had worked.

Time travel... had been achieved.

Alright, I've been thinking.

How is it possible to change the past like that? This spell has proven to have successfully re-written... something minor, admittedly, but still, how?.. Needs thought.

But of course!!!

All those branching paths! They keep existing in the past!

Time is like... a river! With multiple currents! Which keep dividing, whenever we choose! And they're all the same, except for minor details -- the consequences of our choices!

I really hope they aren't so insignificant. I want to do something big! To destroy Twilight Sparkle and her friends! To take away everything she took from me! Urgh!..

That was the next step: figuring out, what to do next. And Starlight thought she knew what.

I've tried to jump to the far past to see, if it is even possible. But I can't yet look into the past and thus don't see the choice points! Darn it! I need to research more.

Alright, this interface has the function of looking backwards... I could see myself at various points in the past... But... only myself. All the other places are hidden from sight! But if I moved around...

Oh yeah! I could see it!

Now... Where did that sonic rainboom happen? And when?

Time for an interview.

Step 5: learn time and place

[Excerpted from Starlight's personal diary]

The day is tomorrow. The day I pay a visit. If everything go according to the plan... Well, I'll be one step closer to my revenge. To that sweet, sweet revenge!.. But that is tomorrow. Tonight I prepare...

Tomorrow afternoon...

"Has anypony seen Rainbow Dash?" -- Twilight asked of her three friends, gathered in the Castle for a scheduled friendly activity.

Neither Pinkie, nor Applejack, nor even Fluttershy had. That was weird. Usually she would always hang around aforementioned Pinkie, seeking out pranks or something. Today she seemed gone.

"Maybe, she's preparing a surprise!" -- Pinkie exclaimed.

"Oh dear..." -- Fluttershy cringed: she didn't like unpleasant surprises. Others might be fine with that. But Fluttershy wasn't a fan of it in particular.

Twilight hummed in contemplation. If Rainbow was preparing a surprise... "Alright... And what about Rarity? Has anypony seen her?"

Again, neither Pinkie, nor Applejack...

"Um... She mentioned she would stop by a news agency to get the magazine", -- Fluttershy mumbled.

"Oh, that Rarity and her gossips!" -- Applejack shook her head.

"OK. The line must be long or something... So Rarity's coming, and it's only Rainbow Dash... Alright. We can wait. Now, in the meantime... Anypony up for some tea?" -- Twilight offered.

Nopony minded.

As tea with sweets was had and as time was passed pleasantly, all of a sudden Rarity stormed in, holding a newspaper and interrupting the tea party.

"Can you believe it?!!" -- she shrieked, face incredulous and... enraged?

"What is it, Rarity?" -- Twilight enquired.

Rarity showed the newspaper:

"THIS!!!"

"Huh?.. Green isn't in this season? What?"

Rarity blinked and looked at the paper:

"What?.. Oh! No..." In annoyance she flipped through a few pages. "THIS! Can you BELIEVE it?!"

Everypony looked.

On the page were photos of Rainbow Dash and her cutie mark. A large heading read: "Local hero a fraud? Cutie mark not what it seems?"

"Huh! Well, that isn't nice!" -- Pinkie protested the heading.

"It says here, -- Rarity continued in an incredulous fashion, -- Rainbow Dash must have committed an atrocity that earned her her cutie mark! Atrocity, I say! And after everything she told us!.. Oh-h-h!.. Of all the things that are disappointing this is the... most... disappointing... THING!"

"Calm down, Rarity! -- Twilight was quick to interrupt her wailing and gnashing of teeth. -- Rainbow is our friend. I... pretty doubt what the news says about her is true".

"Then where is she? -- Rarity demanded. -- I haven't seen her all day! I'm telling you, she must be hiding from the public!"

"Well, the day isn't yet over, Rarity. Rainbow is probably... Well, whatever she is doing, she..."

"Can't be hiding? Is that what you think?"

"I..." -- Twilight stammered.

"Girls, girls! -- Applejack butted in. -- I can't believe this is what we are discussing! Rarity! How can you have thought such a thing? Rainbow is our friend! I'm a might sure as can be she would have told us, if that were true!"

"Oh, Applejack... Thinking like the Element Of Honesty you are!"

"Rarity, -- Applejack deadpanned, -- this is ridiculous".

"This is scandalous!.."

"Girls! -- Twilight shouted. -- Calm down! Applejack is right: Rainbow is our friend. We have to believe this is not what it looks like and seek out a better explanation..."

And, just as she was giving her speech, a noise was heard, as though something was flying through the air, rumbling louder and louder. Everypony looked in confusion. Hm...

"Uh, guys... I don't like it", -- Pinkie informed with worry.

Fluttershy trembled silently.

"Alright, don't panic! -- Applejack called out. -- Twilight, what do we do?"

"Hide!"

The rumble was so loud it became unbearable to hear. Everypony ran and tucked herself somewhere safe -- and just in time: the ceiling burst open with a loud crack, and something hit the floor hard. With that the rumble stopped completely, but the reverberating, resounding smash deafened everypony, echoing throughout the now damaged Castle.

Everypony gasped out of shock, but only after time they were brave enough to get out of their hiding places and to look.

Lying sprawled on the cracked floor... was rainbow-maned pancake that was seeing stars twirling around her head.

"Rainbow!"

Twilight was the first to approach the poor pegasus:

"Are you alright?"

Rainbow mumbled something unintelligible, then shook her head, the stars going away. She looked up at the ceiling and grinned in embarrassment:

"Oops... Did I do that?.."

"Rainbow, what's happened?" -- Twilight enquired with worry.

"And what's the matter, coming in crashing like that?" -- Applejack demanded in accusation.

"I have NOT crashed! I simply do not crash!"

"Sure you don't, Rainbow Cr..."

"Don't you DARE!" -- Rainbow bellowed.

"Heh-heh!.."

"Seriously! Ever heard of strategy? THAT was a strategical entrance!" -- Rainbow snipped.

"Through the ceiling?" -- Applejack raised her eyebrow.

"Look, who cares?! Guys, my life is in danger!"

And everypony gasped.

"In danger? -- Twilight couldn't believe it. -- How?"

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this is a disaster!.." Rainbow couldn't explain, fidgeting furiously.

Pinkie immediately hopped to Rainbow and hugged her. "Here you go! -- she said lovingly. -- Don't worry; in fact, don't you dare worry! It's OK..."

Fluttershy went to hug her too, also whispering consoling words. Everypony else joined soon.

"Alright, enough! -- Rainbow sniffed. -- Stop it! Too much sap!.."

The hug was broken. Now Rainbow could talk. She started gingerly:

"Have you read the... -- she gulped, -- newspaper?"

Then Rarity's voice was heard:

"Oh, I've read it alright... -- Rarity said dramatically. Everypony stared at her. She looked hurt: "I have but one question to ask of you, Rainbow Dash... One question!.. How... could you?!.."

"Oh no... Y-you have, haven't you?.. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!.." Rainbow panicked. "N-no!.. This i-isn't what it looks like!.."

"Rainbow, calm down, -- Twilight tried to re-assure her. -- Whatever you say, we believe you".

"Besides, -- Pinkie intervened cheerfully, -- we haven't really read the newspaper yet!"

"Oh, thank Celestia!.. -- Rainbow sighed in relief. -- Good! Then don't even start!"

"Well, whoop-de-doo, Rainbow! What did happen and why did you... um... enter... like that?" -- Applejack asked, impatient.

Rainbow steeled herself for a couple of moments, so nervous she was, then finally found it in herself:

"I've fallen... victim to gossip..."

...

. . .

"OK, that's it?" -- Applejack asked, bemused.

"Ahem!" Rarity coughed to draw attention. "Applejack! If you'd read the news, you'd have known, how... scandalous!.. it is".

"Rarity! -- Twilight shouted. -- Would you stop the drama? Rainbow didn't do anything!.. Well, I think she didn't... And I believe her! We have to get down to the bottom of it, and for that we must know, what's happened. So, everypony, let's read the article together -- and please... don't be quick to believe it!"

And so Rarity read the full article to everypony.

It revealed the "true" story behind Rainbow's cutie mark -- a very dark tale indeed! She must've electrocuted the ponies before, which was what the lightning bolt represented!.. And many more speculations like that. Scandalous indeed!..

When Rarity had finished, Rainbow had her head buried in her hooves. Everypony else was speechless.

"How dare they?.. -- Fluttershy started. -- How... DARE they?!!" -- she erupted, but remembered herself and squeaked in embarrassment, shrinking momentarily -- but only momentarily, as she shook her head and stared resolutely. For Rainbow!

Twilight, Pinkie and Applejack voiced their support too. And Rarity was torn.

"Is that why you broke into the Castle like that?" -- enquired Applejack.

"I wanted to avoid being seen! -- Rainbow said defensively. -- I flew high above Poniville, then decided to enter the Castle as fast, as possible. So it got a bit... er... destroyed... So what? We can fix that! But..."

Rainbow lowered her head:

"Guys... -- she whispered. -- What do I do now?.."

"Don't worry, Rainbow! I've got it, -- Twilight said. -- I have a brilliant idea!.. If a newspaper did it, then the newspaper's gonna fix it!"

And as Twilight said, so it was.

The news agency wasn't too far away from the Castle. Twilight got there quickly. She entered the small building and was immediately greeted with a lone janitor, who bowed. On any other day Twilight would have cringed over the formality, but today she embraced her role as a princess and nodded royally, as if to her own servant.

"Rise", -- she allowed.

The janitor rose and was about to continue his duty, but Twilight interrupted him:

"May I speak to the editor in chief?"

"Oh! I-I'm just a janitor here. You may want to ask further down the hall".

And that was what Twilight decided to do, since the janitor was useless. She walked down the hall, until she met somepony, who didn't immediately bow before her.

"Ahem... Good afternoon. May I speak to the editor in chief?"

"Well, I am the editor in chief".

What a coincidence!

"I am officially here to discuss matters, concerning my friend and you directly".

"Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing you can't fix. Let's cut to the chase: there is a problematic article, and I am here to solve that problem".

Twilight produced the newspaper she'd brought with her and opened it on the needed page.

The editor in chief looked. His eyes widened. "How... how was THAT approved??! Isn't Rainbow Dash one of the Elements Of Harmony?.. Alright, who thought it was a good idea?!"

"I see something is the matter".

The editor in chief bowed:

"Forgive me, Your Highness. This is a terrible mistake!"

"Oh, yes, it is a grave mistake, never graver, indeed".

The way Twilight said that horrified the poor editor:

"Please, Your Highness! What must I do?"

"Send out a reporter. Immediately! An interview awaits!"

When Twilight returned to the Castle, she was not alone. A reporter pony was following her.

Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and now Spike too were busy comforting an inconsolable Rainbow Dash, who was shivering on the floor over her ruined life.

"What's going on?" -- Twilight demanded.

Pinkie volunteered:

"Rainbow doesn't believe in success! We are telling her everything is gonna work out, but she doesn't believe us!"

"Urgh, Rainbow!.." Twilight rubbed her forehead, then shouted: "Good news, everypony! We can fix it!"

Everypony immediately turned. Even Rainbow stopped wallowing in despair and looked up.

"Rainbow! Meet mister reporter".

"Pen, -- the reporter introduced himself. -- Mighty Pen. I am here to interview you, Miss Dash".

"What? Oh, no-no-no-no-no!.. This can't be good!"

"Rainbow, what are you talking about? Now you can tell what really happened".

"Nopony's gonna believe it!" -- Rainbow cried.

"Oh, trust me, Rainbow, -- Twilight grinned. -- I've got this one".

Everypony cheered for Rainbow to stay positive and not to worry.

"Mister Pen, -- Twilight addressed. -- Proceed!"

"Local hero Dash redeemed! -- bellowed the newspaper colts. -- Read all about it!"

Ponies all around took interest and bought the newspaper. They were not surprised: they had trust in Rainbow, their hero. However to read the story of how she really had got her cutie mark was breath-taking nonetheless.

"May I?" -- a hooded unicorn mare enquired.

"One bit", -- the colt replied quickly.

The mare bought the newspaper and scanned it. "Very interesting..."

She then left the town, never to be seen again...

...That was in Cloudsdale about sixteen years ago. Perfect! Armed with this knowledge, I'll become unstoppable! Get it? Nothing's stopping me from preventing the rainboom from happening! And once I have!.. Twilight Sparkle will see!.. Oh, how she will see!

Perfect ideas! Perfect plan! Nopony has suspected anything! My plan has worked down to a T! The hardest part was to sneak the article in. But I had time itself on my side! Infinite retries! Infinite power!

Twilight Sparkle, here I come!

Alright, after rechecking the plan to ensure its perfection... for the past few hours I've been thinking...

So, if I time-travel and change the past, the time river will stay the same. I've tried time-travelling. The past wasn't changed. I time-travelled again and made a difference. But that was a separate time stream. The original wasn't affected. That's the only way.

Unless, of course, time travel erases previous time streams. That's how I rewrite history: by replacing timelines.

Of course, if that's allowed.

But in that case... won't I rewrite Twilight Sparkle herself? I'll prevent her from ruining everything, and so...

How will she notice, if she is rewritten?..

If I were to come to her, would she remember me?

Ah, I doubt she would.

For her it would be as if for the first time...

Well, then, what would be the point in revenge, if she can't see it? If she doesn't even realise I've ruined her life?

Then the plan has changed: I need to take Twilight Sparkle alongside me. She needs to time-travel to see that new time stream!

But how?..

Yes, as noted, Starlight was a smart pony indeed.

Step 6: accidentally make a discovery

Night had fallen upon the town of Poniville. A calm night, peaceful night. Everypony was asleep. Except, probably, for one mare.

Starlight was sneaking through the town's streets, clad in a hooded cloak. Down one street, then another... She wanted to brag she was passing them with ease, but it was very hard to navigate in almost complete darkness -- not even the moon to be on the sky. In case somepony wasn't asleep Starlight durst not light up her horn. So there she was.

The almost complete darkness didn't much like Starlight snooping around the sleeping town, so it caused her to bump into something. Starlight managed not to fall, which, alas, could not be said about the object she had bumped into.

Crash! It was so loud Starlight's ears were ringing! What even was it and what was it doing there on the open streets?

A light was lit in a window nearby. Then another. And another. And yet another. It was as though the entirety of the town had been waked up!

Starlight gulped.

Ponies started to pour outside with lanterns. Starlight couldn't risk anything. She took the time spell out and prepared to activate it.

"Oi! Who is there?" -- somepony's gruff voice barked.

Oh dear! Starlight hurried. White light emanated from the scroll, and she felt dizzy. The entirety of the world was blurred, and when her vision was cleared, she was back on the road outside of town. Back at her choice point.

This time she would be prepared.

It took Starlight some attempts, but finally she learnt the location of something bumpy to the point she could walk the same street without bumping into anything. That was a triumph. She made a note mentally: huge success! It was hard to overstate her satisfaction! She was but prancing in her excitement, suppressing the inappropriate joy. Down the street, then on to another.

The Castle was looming at a distance. Closer and closer Starlight got, until...

"Yow-w-wch!" She yelped, as she'd tripped over something and sprained her ankle. "Ouch, ouch!.." -- she whimpered.

Lights started to light up. Ponies had heard the yelp and were wondering, what kind of a poor soul was suffering outside.

Starlight hissed in pain, then prepared to cast the time spell.

"Excuse me, -- someone called. -- Is something the matter?"

But Starlight didn't respond.

She was back on the road outside of the town. Her sprained ankle didn't hurt any more. That was the beauty of the time spell. Alright! -- she thought. It was time to do over.

She sneaked into the town and proceeded to navigating the streets. Alright... There went the bump. The Castle was looming. Now careful... Mind the trip!

She almost fell again, but this time her ankle didn't suffer. Everything had gone quietly. Success! The Castle was awaiting. Starlight tried to make sure nothing would deter her on her way there...

Yeah... Time and time again Starlight would bump into things, crash into things, cause a ruckus somehow... It went on, and on, and on, and on... She was time-travelling, rewinding and doing over and over... Until finally, when it seemed she'd spent the entire night fumbling about...

The Castle was there. And nopony suspected a thing! Starlight smiled. Yes! She cast the spell to mark the choice point at that moment in time. No more doing over!

Now... How was she to enter?..

She tried the easiest option: she approached the Castle's massive entrance doors and tried to open them. They didn't budge. Of course, the Castle was closed for the night. "Figures".

Hm, so, maybe, there was a window on the first floor she could try?

Starlight walked around. Sure enough, there were windows, but they were all closed. Fortunately, Starlight had foreseen that and come prepared. She brought out a glass-cutter and applied it to the glass.

And it was only after the glass circle was held in her hoof, that she remembered something and cursed herself for not thinking ahead: she didn't want to leave any signs of her having been there!

But at least the window was opened now...

Then Starlight noticed another open window high above the ground. She stared at it for some time. Then her face contorted in anger. She pulled out the time spell and activated it. Rewind and do over.

Starlight approached the Castle, but instead of going to the closed doors she went to the side; there, instead of trying to break into the first-floor window, she pulled out some rope she had prepared specifically for a case like that (she did think ahead many-many steps, after all) and threw it upwards, attaching it to the railing of the balcony with a hook. Tugging at the rope a few times -- it was stuck fast -- she started her ascent.

Alright! She reached the balcony and got over the railing. Perfect! She tiptoed inside.

There was a basket in the room, covered with a blanket, and under the blanket there was dim light. Somepony was reading late at night, no doubt. Starlight held her breath. That was unfortunate. But... if she were quiet, maybe, whoever there was wouldn't be disturbed and would continue reading?

Starlight stepped carefully. Then another step. There had better not be a creaking floorboard! A ginger step. Then another one... She was already halfway across the room, when suddenly the rustling of the blanket was heard.

Starlight froze.

And immediately there was a loud shriek:

"Gah! W-who's that?!"

Starlight bolted back to the window. She noticed, that sitting in the basket was a small purple dragon, staring in shock at her.

"H-hey!"

Darn it, Starlight thought. She slid back down the rope and, once there, prepared to rewind. Meanwhile panic was rising in the Castle. Screams were heard. Lights went on. Windows opened...

And Starlight was rewound.

She stood before the Castle Of Friendship. Darkness reigned inside. Everyone was asleep.

Starlight breathed in. Time to do this again. Alright!.. She went to the side with the balcony and went through the moves, attaching the rope and climbing it. This time, however, she did not enter, waiting patiently...

Her patience paid off, when the dragon got out of his basket and went downstairs. Yes! Starlight smiled and sneaked inside.

Now all she had to do was to find that thrice accursed Twilight Sparkle.

"This... is hopeless", -- Starlight mumbled.

She had been prepared for everything: to sneak through the night, to break into windows, to climb ropes and to fight the princess.

She was not prepared for the Castle Of Friendship being so damn huge.

She was lost. So many chambers, so many hallways, so many staircases!.. And it didn't even seem so big from the outside! What was its deal?

The time spell was of no help. No matter, how many times Starlight did over, she didn't get closer to Twilight Sparkle. Where was she sleeping??! Ugh!..

Defeated, Starlight was about to rewind to the beginning in hopes of succeeding the next time, but, when she was about to cast the spell, she felt something resonating with her magic. She paused curiously.

The source of the disturbance seemed to be in a room next to her. Starlight, breath bated, approached the door and carefully opened it. She poked her head inside. Nopony there.

Her eyes met a big round table, surrounded with six... no, seven chairs. Starlight activated her horn. The table was positively magical.

Very interesting...

Starlight closed the door and created some light with her horn to see better. Small pictures adorned the chairs... oh, wait, no, thrones. Starlight scowled: "My, my, Princess..." One throne was more than enough, but seven? What, for every day of the week? Ha! Starlight scoffed.

Then her mind returned to the pictures on the thrones. They felt familiar. Starlight distinctly remembered seeing them, but she didn't remember where. And then it hit her:

"Their cutie marks!"

The thrones were for each pony of Twilight Sparkle's group. Except for throne number seven: it did not bear a mark.

Starlight felt she'd discovered something very important. Those cutie marks... They did not need to mark each their own throne, did they? No, they clearly...

Starlight focused on one of the thrones, specifically on the cutie mark, then reached out to it with her magic. The mark responded. It was clearly magical, and that meant... That meant, something was going on with the Castle.

"Seven thrones for every pony plus one. Hm... How did they appear?.. They can't be hoof-made..."

The magical table and seven magical thrones...

"Alright, let's figure it out!"

And Starlight focused her magic on the table.

[Excerpted from Starlight's personal diary]

Bad news, everypony: the next step of my plan has failed. Good news: I've discovered something very-very important.

It turns out, Princess Twilight Sparkle has seven magical thrones, but that's nothing! To be proud of. Still the fact she has so many pales in comparison to another one.

She has a magical table that shows her the entirety of Equestria! This is amazing, all because of how it does that!

This magic is mind-blowing! It has connections to every place in Equestria! I would know: I've studied it myself! Spent the entire night, barely fled in time!

Wait...

I know, what to do.

I need to sneak to the table and to try to activate the time spell on it. By connecting time and space I will create something even more amazing!

This is how it goes:

Connect time spell to table;

Invoke table's interface;

Travel through space and time;

Carry out my plan!

By the way, my plan needs corrections. But now everything is better!

Cloudsdale, here I come! Twilight Sparkle, beware!

The next night Starlight visited the Castle again. After much fumbling she found the table and set to re-write the time spell so it would work with the table's magic. The work was huge, and in the early morning Starlight fled unfinished. But she had time. Night after night she visited, preparing the spell to take her and Twilight Sparkle to Cloudsdale. And it had to be perfect.

What will happen, when we both arrive?

What, if we don't even arrive?

What, if she refuses to time-travel?

Many questions did Starlight ask, and all needed answers. The plan was re-written accordingly, when they were found, over and over to achieve perfection.

What would her next step be? So far she didn't know herself. But she did know it was coming.

Step 7: raise valid concerns

[Excerpted from Starlight's personal diary]

This spell is finally ready! Oh yeah!

I will invoke the time machine and the map table, then I will connect them. Together they will carry me through time and relative dimensions in space to Cloudsdale 16 years ago, where and when Rainbow Dash performed a sonic rainboom.

I need to visit Cloudsdale and to see, where it was, so that I knew where to stop her.

Also: how do I stop her? Needs thought...

Question: how do I cloud-walk? Is there a spell for that?

Yep, there is! Cloudsdale, here I come!..

The trip to Cloudsdale has been absolutely fantastic! It's an amazing city! The things I have seen!..

...Rainbow Dash was in a summer flight camp. It takes place every year at the same spot. So that's easy. Now to the question of how to stop her...

If her story is anything to go by, she can fly really fast. I doubt I could shoot her... She said it was a race... How does one prevent races?..

Well, there are several ways...

Alright, the question of the day... How do I drag Twilight Sparkle along? It needs to be done, otherwise she can't see the changes.

I doubt she'll treat me well after our... confrontation... So I can't walk up and befriend her, and then invite her to test out a new spell. Imagine that! No, she won't trust me. So a ruse is needed.

Do I simply ambush her and incapacitate her? She isn't very weak. Or is she? Wasn't very strong back in my village, huh! So I guess I could incapacitate her.

However she'll be on her grounds, not mine. Very risky. And in the middle of Poniville... Nope.

So the only way is... Hm...

After much thought here is the plan: I'll have to rewire the spell so it reacted to a trigger. It would be a perfect booby trap!

What am I saying? No, it won't! I HAVE to possess the spell to be in control! But... Urgh!..

U-u-urgh! My entire plan RELIES upon it, and it cannot happen!

Even if I get the princess to time-travel, what do I do once we arrive?

Wait, once we arrive, I can incapacitate her!

But it all comes down to that single bottleneck of getting her to time-travel!

Oh, how close I am to exacting my revenge! I will not be stopped by some sort of impossibility, for I am Starlight Glimmer! I have got magic on my side! With it I can do anything! Time itself obeys me! Twilight Sparkle will come with me!..

Yeah, but HOW??!..

Starlight Glimmer's excellent plan was falling apart. Indeed. What was she to do, if she wanted to hold on to the time spell? She could not booby-trap the "map table", as she called the cutie map, without giving up the spell, and she could not think of a safe, failure-proof way of dragging Twilight into the changed present without booby-trapping the map. It seemed impossible. She'd have to sacrifice the spell -- but where was the guarantee Twilight would not attempt to time-travel on her own?

Somehow Starlight needed Twilight to use the spell blindly, without trying to understand it, even if she would have a way to undo everything Starlight had worked so hard to build.

But how was she to achieve that?

Obfuscation. That is the answer to my questions! If she has to spend an eternity untangling my mess of magic instructions, I don't have to worry about anything! Oh!.. So then I can leave it for her to touch, and the spell will be triggered, and she will have to come along!

So it has to work like that: I cast it first and leave it behind, then she touches it...

Hm. But what, if she... doesn't?.. How would I even know? How can I influence her choices, if I be in the past?

I need the time machine to wait for her to "hop in", so to speak, and if she don't...

Well, that's the worst case, in which I'll have to be leagues away from her.

Yes! I'll have to have the map table transport me far away. Of course, the spell will stay back there, but let's hope she actually falls into my trap.

And if she does...

Then... Hm...

We still will end up together in the past. In which case I think I can incapacitate her.

No, this is stupid! Fighting an alicorn in the past can have consequences, and unless one of us rewind (which can happen, by the way, if she get a hold of the spell! Needs further planning!), time may break.

So I need to be very discreet.

Hm... How do I do it?..

I think, if I can make the time machine wait for her to hop on, then I can do even more. But this needs testing. Be right back!

This time machine interface is amazing! Anything is possible with time travel! I've studied it further and discovered it can do unimaginable things!

It can work wonders! Change of plan:

Initialise the framework (prepare TM and table);

Create a new instance of TimeMachine;

Hop into it, discarding the booby-trapped spell;

Wait for her to fall for it; on timeout teleport me to a safe place (worst-case scenario);

Time-travel to the past and deposit me;

Yes, deposit only me, leave her inside for some time!

After I am done (needs exact time constraint), deposit... Actually no, don't;

Take me (and her) back to the future;

Deposit me;

Deposit her;

Anything else?..

Seems like a plan. However, if she has the spell... she can always... roll back...

Needs thinking...

Alright, so the spell will have to be rewired. Guess why?!

There is another constraint, which I cannot simply remove! It prevents me from cramming too many instructions into the spell without reconnecting to the interface! Urgh! This time machine is not so programmable, as I thought!

Oh my gosh! It means I can't simply leave the spell in Twilight Sparkle's hooves! At one point the spell WILL deposit her, and at that time everything HAS to be under my control!

Urgh, this is a tough one!..

Alright. Let's see, if I have this straight.

Incapacitating Twilight Sparkle on her grounds is risky. But, once she be transported to the past, everything is easier. How? In the past even one change can cause bigger ones in the future, so, once there, she is screwed. But, to get her to the past, I'll have to let her touch the spell to trigger the booby trap.

And the spell may deposit both of us due to the interface's limitations.

So that means, she gets to control the spell. I'll have to obfuscate it, so she can't understand a word. Yes, that's risky, because with time itself on her side she can crack the cryptic. So it'll have to take her forever. A bit problematic, since she is an alicorn, and they live a LONG time! But long time isn't an eternity. I'll obfuscate it to the point she'll despair! And then nothing can help her!

Unless, of course, she is very determined. So it's a risk, but it's a risk I'm willing to take!

But she still gets to control it. What says she doesn't time-travel right back?

Needs further investigation...

It's been a while. Hello!

So, work on the spell is continuing, and successfully so!

I've rewired it not to respond to activation for a while! The time machine is hard to control, but when ordered to await, it awaits. I need it to await me to be done in the past, so this is convenient! It can't be re-activated until the spell finishes! And I'll make sure it won't!

This means, Twilight Sparkle is stuck.

The plan:

Initialise framework;

Create a new instance of TimeMachine;

Hop into it, discarding the booby-trapped spell;

Wait for Twilight Sparkle to fall for it; on timeout teleport me to a safe place (worst-case scenario);

Time-travel to the past and deposit me;

Wait some time and deposit her;

Reclaim the interface due to stupid limitation;

Wait for me to be done;

Hop back into...

Hey, wait! If she has the spell, I can't hop in...

I'll just re-use the booby trap!..

After she is in, pick me up;

To the future!

Deposit us.

And if she doesn't like the result and decides to re-activate the spell... Hm...

Here is the plan.

In case she tries to get back, I have to stay in the past.

Let's see: she travels again, it takes her back. It has to take me as well, only I'm not really there with her.

A rewind to a choice point? Could work.

I don't know how.

Turns out a rewind is not compatible with a regular time travel! Yeah, I know! Unless they are somehow similar, I can't use one to achieve the other! The problem is, the nature of time travel is a bit unclear. Nopony knows, how it happens. These jumps between choice points... branching paths... I need to think about it.

And so Starlight thought. Nothing came to mind, however. Time was a mystery, wrapped in an enigma. Nobody really knew, how time travel worked. But if Starlight had played games, she'd have known, that time-travelling...

...is like writing a history book!

Suppose I want to get to the past, only I am not and was not there. To change that, I'd have to write myself into the history.

So I read from the future and write that knowledge into the past! Pretty easy! My knowledge travels alongside me, and history is re-written by my simply existing there!

Oh... my gosh, this is HUGE!

To think about it, it doesn't matter, whether I write my knowledge or myself..

Ugh! But then!.. Oh-h-h!..

I see it.

Now I truly get it!..

If Twilight Sparkle ever re-activate the spell, it'll have to be written so as to transport both her knowledge and her -- her mind and body. However I only rewind -- only my mind is transported. That way, if she decides to return back, say, to fix everything, I will be there waiting for her! It's perfect! So the first time I end up time-travelling, and the choice point is marked. Then she arrives. I commit the act, the booby trap is triggered, and she is back in the future!

She tries to activate the spell once again, and everything repeats, only I get to jump from a point back. YES!!!

So... OK. The spell is almost ready. It'll take me (and her) back, deposit me, deposit her; I prevent the rainboom; she gets sucked; I hit a choice point to jump from; she arrives to the future, figures everything out and uses the spell again; I rewind -- and everything repeats.

We could do this... forever... Looping and looping...

Well, at least I won't get old. If only my mind is transported, my body should stay the same, right?

Right?..

Don't worry, Starlight! If your reasoning is correct and you understand time travel, you are fine. If anyone, Twilight Sparkle will get old. Of course, her being an alicorn, she won't even notice. So... same difference.

Same, but important.

Alright, good night!

Starlight, you are stupid...

So you've won. You've changed the past. Twilight Sparkle travels back to the future, you hit the choice point... She is deposited -- and simply... despairs after the umpteenth time rewinding.

What are you gonna do? Wait for sixteen years to pass by?

I think I can work this one out!

So I time-travel, mark the choice point; Twilight Sparkle arrives; I prevent the rainboom; she is whisked away -- and I... What about me? Can I jump along? I need to get back!.. Oh, but I also need to rewind! And I can't do both! It's either my mind, or...

Or... both my mind and my body!..

O-ho-ho-ho-ho!..

BUT OF COURSE!!!

And with that Starlight's excellent plan was about ready. She only needed a few touches here and there, and that was it. With that the time to execute the plan was finally approaching.

Author's Note

Yeah, but what did she discover at the end?.. I wonder... Why did she leave no explanation in her diary?

Guess we'll have to see what it was, for ourselves. In the next chapter!

Step 8: ???

The town of Poniville as a whole had nothing to complain about. The sun was shining, and the ponies were happy. But for two certain ponies everything was about to change.

Starlight was waltzing through the streets, and nopony was paying her any heed. Not everyone was like Pinkie, although Starlight had received a few greetings from a couple of ponies. Speaking of Pinkie: Starlight casually approached a barrel and sat behind it, just as the pink pony appeared. She hopped along, greeting everypony, and then stopped, twitching. Starlight didn't react. She was waiting.

Pinkie stood for a little while, as if sensing something. She looked at the barrel Starlight was hiding behind. It looked regular. Nothing suspicious. Pinkie squinted. Then...

Then her face lit up: "Oh, has to be a false alarm. Tee-hee!.. For a second there I thought there was a new pony in town!" She trotted happily on her way, unperturbed. Starlight came out of her hiding spot and continued her journey, as though she'd known Pinkie wouldn't look back. A couple of steps -- and she was hiding again, this time letting a certain blue pegasus fly by. Once she was gone, Starlight continued, again, unperturbed.

She knew, exactly how things would play out, for she had seen it time and time again.

The walk to the Castle Of Friendship was a cake-walk.

Starlight entered the Castle -- it was daytime, and the doors were unlocked. She marched in confidence through the antechamber toward another door-frame and stood by it, hiding. Not a moment later Fluttershy flew in.

"Hello? Anypony?"

Starlight walked behind her and into the next chamber. She didn't stay there and proceeded to navigating the Castle, as though she'd been born in it. Right, left, left, right, down the hallway, past the broom closet... After multiple repeats she had memorised the road to the cutie map down to a step.

Finally she reached the chamber with the table and seven thrones. She ducked under the table right before Rarity passed by.

"Hello?.."

Starlight didn't answer.

"Hm!" -- and Rarity proceeded to whatever it was she was busy with.

Perfect. Starlight got out from-under the cutie map, smiling. Everything was going according to the plan!

Twilight Sparkle alighted, Spike on her back.

"Starlight Glimmer?" -- he wondered.

"I was sure I saw her, Spike, -- Twilight continued. -- But when I looked again, she was gone! I'm just worried what she could be up to".

"Nothing good, I bet!"

They continued to discuss Starlight, not knowing she was already awaiting them in the Castle they were approaching. They recalled the events of their trip to Starlight's village and agreed it wasn't very good of her to enforce the same cutie mark on everypony.

Oh, if Starlight could have heard them! How she would have disagreed! Different cutie marks signified different talents, and different talents made for different ponies! And different ponies were not the same -- that much was obvious! And only in sameness could true equality be achieved. Equality without exceptions. No "yeah, but"-s. True equality. No differences and no disagreements. True friendship without end! The princess of it should have understood! And for that she didn't she would have to pay tremendously!..

Starlight only had to await...

And she didn't have to wait for too long. Finally after much worrying Twilight and Spike arrived at the Castle.

"Maybe, I was just more stressed about that speech, than I thought".

"Yeah, -- Spike answered. -- That sounds better, than Starlight Glimmer coming back with an evil plot for revenge".

Their voices were heard from behind the doors. Starlight assumed a smug pose, her back hooves upon the cutie map, and prepared. There it came...

The doors were opened.

"Well, -- Twilight said, -- when you say it like that, it does sound kinda silly".

She hadn't noticed it yet -- but her little dragon companion did:

"Or it's totally true!"

Starlight grinned. Perfect!

Well... Almost: the dragon was extraneous, but what could a dragon do to stop her now? No, he wouldn't be a bother at all. He was just a little sidekick. So Starlight didn't worry.

She greeted Twilight with a rehearsed line:

"Welcome home, Twilight!"

Oh, the times she had rewound, all because the greeting hadn't sounded perfect! But now she settled for that. Simple and elegant. The thing was to put a little snide into it.

Hm, now, that she thought about it, it sounded... Eh, it was OK. Never mind that. It was then or never.

Starlight unfurled the scroll and activated the spell. It floated above the cutie map, and then a beam shot out of it downwards. The map was activated too, and now time and relative dimensions in space were connected. So far so good. Now came the tricky part.

"What are you doing, Starlight?" -- Twilight demanded.

Not good. Twilight Sparkle, don't do anything unpredictable, please!

Externally, however, Starlight appeared very malicious. Very villainous.

"Ha-ha! I'd tell you, but I don't want to ruin the surprise!" At least that was honest. She then crumpled the spell: "Won't be needing that any more", -- and threw it away. Neither Twilight, nor Spike paid attention to that, watching in awe at what was going on with the cutie map.

Yes! Perfect! So far so good!

Starlight laughed at that, almost maniacally, as rings of magic shot from the cutie map upwards: the spell was working, creating an instance of a time machine.

Exactly as planned!

And what a time machine it had created! It looked like a dome with spinning cogs and emanating tick-tocking sounds. Underneath it seemed to be a portal surface.

Hm. Why a portal, though? Starlight had not predicted that, but, if it worked as the spell required of it, she didn't complain.

She glanced at Twilight and her dragon, grinned evilly, and then levitated herself closer to the newly opened time portal. She felt it pull her in. Then the booby trap would work, no doubt!

She cast one last glance at the duo before entering the portal. From then on it was up to Twilight Sparkle. Would she end up touching the booby-trapped scroll? Or would the portal have to spit her somewhere far away? In either case Starlight was prepared. Even if the booby trap didn't work, the spell was safely obfuscated. Twilight would have to cast it out of sheer curiosity, and then... Well, then the spell would be useless. Without Twilight revenge would be pointless, so...

Starlight didn't get to finish that thought: the portal spat her out, and she fell right on a surface of... a road?

Ouch!..

Starlight lifted herself, then looked around. She was in Cloudsdale.

Yes!

Starlight did a little happy dance in place. Yes, yes, yes!!! It had worked! The spell had sent her to the past, which was only supposed to happen, if Twilight touched the scroll! So she had! It had worked, gosh darn Starlight, it'd worked!!!..

"A-ha-ha-ha-ha!" -- Starlight laughed maniacally, scaring everypony, who could hear her. She fell on her back and laughed, and laughed, and laughed, absolutely tickled pink!..

Heh, "pink"! Pinkie would have been proud.

"A-a-a!.."

Starlight shook herself. Get a grip of yourself, Starlight, -- she ordered herself. Twilight would soon arrive. And when she did, Starlight had to be ready.

She levitated herself -- who needed that cloud-walking spell, anyway? -- and floated toward the place the race was supposed to happen. And it was supposed to happen wherever Rainbow Dash was. So Starlight had to follow the little filly to figure that out. And once she did...

Once she did... she... Uh...

Shooting the filly should be easy, but... Just in case... She had to prevent the race some other way.

Fortunately, Starlight had a plan.

The time portal appeared again, and out of it came Twilight Sparkle... and her little dragon assistant.

Amazing... It had transported the two of them! That was one little wrench thrown into Starlight's excellent plan. The dragon was not a part of it. Fortunately, he could not fly and so was dependant on the alicorn. And that meant the time portal would whisk them together -- which was convenient. Plus the dragon couldn't do much on his own. Doubly convenient. So far so good...

Starlight watched from inside a fluffy cloud, as Rainbow Dash flew past Twilight and Spike. Alright, there it went! The race was about to begin.

Now, where would the rainboom happen?

...

Starlight didn't know. It could happen anywhere! And she couldn't predict where. If she failed, if the rainboom were successfully performed... there wouldn't be a second chance! Twilight and her dragon would be taken back, and soon it would be Starlight's turn! She would successfully be transported and re-appear in the future, first her body, then her mind. That was the only way for Starlight to keep the option to rewind, when Twilight decided to try again. With her body and mind separated she could either be re-assembled, when Twilight gave up, or rewind without her body, returning back to the marked choice point. That was how Starlight intended to keep rewinding, when needed, and at the same time not to wait for sixteen other years for Twilight to re-appear in the future. That was the culmination of Starlight's excellent plan, but without her actually preventing the rainboom it would be all in vain. That would mean failure, and this time she could not rewind, because the spell was now in Twilight's possession, and she controlled it.

That meant, Starlight only had one shot, both figuratively and literally. She had to shoot Rainbow Dash. Unless, of course, her plan to stop the race other way worked. But now she saw multiple critical flaws in her plan, and that left her only with one option.

She had to improvise.

The race was started, and the foals zipped from their places. Rainbow Dash was ahead, however the other ones -- Fluttershy's bullies -- were no worse for the wear. They flew fast! Probably too fast: one of the colts couldn't make a turn in time and crashed into a cloud pillar. The cloud being weird as it was, the colt got stuck in it, disoriented.

Now the two remaining foals were passing Starlight hidden inside another cloud. She could see them clear as day. And she clearly saw, that the rival colt had cheated, bumping Rainbow Dash and throwing her off course.

So... That meant the race was over? Unless she accelerated...

Oh Starlight's gosh! And by going fast!.. The rainboom!..

The filly bolted from her place as if there had been no tomorrow. Putting every ounce of her strength into her flight, she accelerated indeed, to the point a rainbow-coloured cone was forming around her.

That was it!

Starlight emerged from inside the cloud, grinning sinisterly:

"Aw, sorry about this", -- and shot a magic beam at the filly.

...

She was going fast, but not fast enough yet. Direct hit! Starlight tugged at the newly formed magical connection and slowed Rainbow down. The namesake cone around her disappeared. The filly hung in the air, unable to move.

"Hey! -- she protested. -- What gives?"

"Yes! -- Starlight thought. -- Success!"

She'd done it. She'd prevented the sonic rainboom from happening, and like never before she wanted to dance. And to laugh. Maniacally. Till she couldn't laugh any more...

The onlookers didn't pay much heed to Rainbow, since she'd stopped. They cheered for the winner. All, except for Twilight.

She approached Starlight, very cross with her:

"What did you do?!"

Starlight had succeeded, that was what. Without the rainboom friendships... were unlikely to happen, and Twilight...

"You are about to find out".

Yes, she was about to find out what the future held in store.

Like Starlight had predicted, the time portal appeared, ready to whisk Twilight... and her dragon away.

And so it happened. Starlight smiled. Then she did a little dance in the air. And then she laughed.

Oh, how she laughed and laughed! But Twilight wasn't laughing, and neither was her dragon. Grim, sad future awaited them, and Starlight was ready for it.

She waited...

There it came: dizziness. The world was blurred, and when Starlight's head stopped spinning...

...she was back in the past. Back at her choice point.

That meant, Twilight had successfully arrived to the future, not liked it and figured she should cast the spell again to go back.

And now Starlight only needed to prepare to prevent the race. Now she knew the exact location of the rainboom, so she could spend time more effectively. Time again was on her side, even if the scroll was away.

She only had to keep doing it, till Twilight despaired. And once she did...

Starlight would win.

Exactly as planned!

Step 9: profit?..

Starlight was ambushing. She was sitting inside a cloud and watching one particular spot on the road surface with an evil grin. Any second now...

There. The time portal appeared, and out of it plummeted two familiar figures. Starlight grinned even wider. Her horn was lit.

The pony flew, before she would hit the road, catching the dragon in her magical grasp, then alighted. She seemed happy. That wasn't right...

"All we have to do now is to find Starlight and..." -- she said, but no sooner did she, than Starlight shot a beam at the two.

Bam! They were trapped inside a crystal and couldn't move. Yes!..

Starlight levitated herself closer:

"Well, finding her will be easy! -- she gloated. -- But stopping her is gonna be harder, than you think".

The duo didn't reply. They couldn't. The trap was this good.

Well... it had a weakness against powerful punches, but nothing could punch them out of it. So Starlight was good.

She looked at their disoriented faces and laughed. What, had they thought they could have... she didn't know, prevented her from succeeding? Ha, ha, ha!

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I created that spell to send myself back in time. So, even when you cast it, I still get sent back here".

Oh, what a magnificent plan it was! Starlight shuddered a little in excitement, as she reminisced:

"It wasn't difficult to change Star Swirl's spell. He'd already done the hard part. But figuring out I could use the map to go to any time or place and pull you along with me?" Starlight chuckled. "I even impressed myself with that".

Although she wasn't very keen on monologuing, Starlight couldn't stop herself. It felt unimaginably good to have finally prevailed after waiting for so long. After working so hard. After carefully thinking every little detail through. She had succeeded, and she was bursting to rub that right in Twilight Sparkle's gullible face.

She sneered:

"I knew you'd try to stop me. You're so predictable. Why else would I leave the scroll behind? Touching it triggered the map to whisk you here and to watch me erase the one thing that linked you with your friends!"

OK, Starlight thought, that was even better, than withholding her victory rant, till Twilight despaired and gave up. Who knew, how many times it would take for her to realise it was hopeless to fight Starlight? She wouldn't wait till her victory to savour the moment, for victory was already as good as hers.

And Starlight started ranting:

"My village was a sanctuary of equality, where nopony's cutie mark allowed them to feel superior! It was a special place, and you and your friends took it away!"

Wait, where had they gone to?

Oh, wait, of course. Twilight had moved, and when Starlight had encased her, she had been above a cloud. So now their crystal prison was sitting atop of it, or rather it had phased through it.

Starlight levitated herself to below the cloud. Sure enough, they were there. The cloud was holding the crystal by its top, but its "grip" was slipping. Soon they would fall, and then...

Uh... Starlight didn't want to kill them. She hoped the crystal would cushion their fall, breaking in the process. In which case... Hm. It would be a lo-o-ong way up. So much time!

Alright!

Starlight remembered she was in the middle of a rant:

"Now it's my turn to take something special from you! Without the rainboom you and your friends will never form your special cutie mark bonds! Cutie marks for cutie marks! Sounds like a fair trade to me!"

Alright, now she was done. Besides, the crystal had almost fallen off.

She tapped it lightly. The cloud's grip slipped, and the crystal plummeted toward the ground. Starlight waved. Bye-bye! Then she levitated herself toward the bullies to implement her plan.

This time it was fool-proof! Without the bullies picking on that wimpy filly Rainbow wouldn't have to race them, and the situation would be defused. She would never fly fast and never pull off that sonic rainboom!

Starlight felt a villainous laugh coming. She was so amazing she could barely believe herself. So many possibilities to fail -- and she had foreseen all of them!

Starlight danced again, and then quickly proceeded toward the bullies to defuse the situation.

"Hello, -- Starlight started. -- What is going on here?"

The bullies upon hearing an adult coming stopped whatever mean things they were about to say and prepared to run.

"Kids, calm down, -- Starlight attempted. -- Were you having a disagreement?"

"Uh... No, Ms, it... it was nothing!" -- one bully replied.

"Yeah!" -- chimed in the second.

"Sure, -- Starlight agreed, -- but for a second there I thought this little filly was crying".

"Uh..."

"Kids, I used to be miserable too, until I discovered something: differences between ponies only lead to other ponies hurting others. Look at yourselves! Because this pony... Uh... What were you saying about her?"

"It was nothing, we swear!"

"Kids, I promise nobody gets in trouble, if you tell me".

Well, that seemed effective. One of the bullies reluctantly said:

"She was... a klutz..."

"Yeah, he even called her 'Klutzershy'... Ouch!"

"Shut it!"

"Gee, what's the matter with you?"

"What's the matter with YOU?!"

"Kids! Listen! Because one pony is not very good at... flying straight, I presume... you decide to make fun of her? What did she do to deserve that? I'll tell you: she did nothing! You don't believe me? Look at your flanks. What do you see?"

The foals did as told, but, of course, being just little kids, they saw...

"Uh, nothing?" -- one bully answered in uncertainty.

Starlight resisted the urge to facehoof. Of course: no cutie marks yet. Embarrassing...

Wait...

"So wait a second... -- she began. -- You mean to tell me you have no cutie marks?"

"Well, nope. But we will one day!"

"Ah!.. One day some of you will fly, while some will cry, because they can't fly. Some of you will rhyme, and some of you won't. Well, not today! You know who you are without your marks?"

"Hey, Ms! What are you saying?!"

"Yeah! It isn't nice to tease... Oh, wait... O-o-oh! You get it?"

"Yeah... Uh... Fluttershy?.. Sorry..."

"Yeah, what he's said!"

"Kids! Do you understand now?"

"Yeah, we do, Ms".

"So. Who are you without your cutie marks?"

"Well, uh... I mean... We are..."

"Equal, -- Starlight finished for the bully. -- You are all equal. Same kids, no difference. Remember this! You have nothing to disagree about. Nothing to tease each other for, for you are all equal. Now be friends".

The bullies looked each at other. Enlightenment was on their faces.

"We see it... Now we truly get it!.."

Starlight smiled:

"And if you ever feel like saying mean things to ponies... just remember, how you'd feel, if someone said those things to you".

And that was the moment Twilight approached and interrupted them:

"What's going on here?"

"Oh, I was just reminding these two colts, how hurtful teasing can be".

"Well, don't!"

That earned surprised and confused looks upon the foals' faces.

"I mean... -- Twilight did a double take. -- You were?"

"Of course! -- Starlight replied innocently. -- In a world, where everypony is unique, some are bound to feel more special, than others. But that isn't a licence to be cruel, is it?"

The look on Twilight's face was priceless! She answered:

"No... Of course not".

"Oh, isn't it a shame we don't live in a world, where everypony is equal? No one would ever tease anyone there! Wouldn't that be nice?"

The foals all hummed, nodding in agreement.

Twilight protested, that being the same and not being teased were actually different things, but nopony listened. The reformed bullies went along with Fluttershy to help her to get better at flying, while Starlight stayed, smirking at Twilight cheekily.

The alicorn lunged at Starlight:

"I know you only convinced those bullies not to tease Fluttershy to stop the rainboom!"

"Oh, that's not true. I convinced them not to be bullies, because everypony should be equal. Stopping the rainboom is just a bonus".

Twilight scowled, preparing to answer, when suddenly a rainbow-coloured blur passed them.

"Look!" -- Spike shouted.

Twilight noticed, then turned to Starlight:

"This isn't over yet!" -- and with that she was off after Rainbow.

Starlight simply said:

"If you say so!" -- and stayed.

The race -- as well as the rainboom -- had been prevented. Twilight couldn't do anything. Was she about to convince the filly to do it of her own accord?..

...

Oh Starlight's gosh, she was not!..

Starlight watched the two nervously, thinking. Should she intervene? She readied her horn to shoot the filly again. Where was the time portal? Why wasn't it coming? Wasn't it time already?

Then Starlight saw the scene and relaxed. The filly didn't seem that convinced -- in fact, she seemed weirded out.

Starlight levitated herself toward the pair -- the trio, if she counted that useless dragon -- sure it was not going to work out between the two ponies.

And as she had predicted...

"No! Wait!"

...it had not.

"Gee, Twilight, what's the matter? Couldn't convince her to do the impossible? That's too bad", -- Starlight cooed.

Twilight was about to reply, when finally -- finally! -- the time portal appeared, sucking her and her dragon in. Perfect! Now Starlight only had to wait...

Surely this time she would despair. And if not... Well, Starlight was prepared to do it all again.

So she did it all again. This time it was different. For starters, Twilight was ready, surprising Starlight with deflecting her attack with a shield spell. After some verbal exchange the two ponies tried to shoot each other. And that was when Starlight realised Twilight's true potential. She was pretty powerful, so Starlight was glad she had not decided to incapacitate the princess back then to bring her to the past.

But all that was nothing. However unwise it had been, Starlight had really picked up a fight with an alicorn. The consequences would never be the same. Starlight understood that. But at least Rainbow Dash dropped whatever she was doing and watched their fight in awe, munching on some popcorn. So Starlight had inadvertently prevented the 'boom. Whoo, Starlight. A job well done. Have a pat on your withers!

After the fight ended, Starlight was exhausted. Fortunately, so was the alicorn. But Starlight still told herself never to give in to her own emotions again, because how she had not screwed that one up was a mystery everypony wanted solved, but which couldn't be solved anyway. Now all Starlight could hope for was Twilight being determined enough to redo everything, because Starlight shuddered to think, what the fight would have done to the timeline.

To her great relief, that was exactly what happened next. Rewind and do over.

This time it was different again. For starters, Twilight surprised Starlight with managing to freeze her in a crystal prison, and for a second there Starlight thought it was over. Without her being there to stop the rainboom... Well, that would be a failure, the biggest on her part...

Fortunately, the crystal was susceptible not only to powerful punches, but to powerful magical attacks as well. Although Starlight hadn't much believed it would have worked. So that had been a relief. After that incident she was very careful with Twilight... who kept coming back, by the way. To be honest, Starlight had not expected such determination on her part. Of course, if need were, Starlight would keep up the fight for all of eternity -- the rewinds allowed her that.

But the further they went... the less likely it seemed Twilight would give up.

And if determination was on Twilight's side... her desires for the world might override Starlight's.

That was concerning, but what could Starlight do? She had woven the spell and the plan herself, and now it was going all according to it. So why didn't she feel she was... winning?

There came another rewind. Twilight Sparkle was very determined! But not as determined, as Starlight! -- Starlight thought, trying to stay determined. All she had to do was to prevent the race.

Again.

That was becoming more tiresome, than Starlight had imagined. Her body wasn't tired -- it didn't tire -- but her mind... Her mind had lived a long time and needed rest: this task was becoming more and more gruelling with each rewind.

Darn it! -- Starlight thought.

There came Twilight.

"Up for another race-ending fight, Twilight?"

Of course she was. And of course she would come back after her failure again. Because she never gave up. But, hey! A façade is a façade, right?..

So Starlight was very surprised -- but very glad -- to hear Twilight say:

"No. You were right. I can't stop you".

Did it mean she was giving up? Then why had she come? What was her deal?

Starlight shot a magic beam at her, hoping against all hope to encase her in a crystal, and when that didn't work -- of course not, what was she thinking? -- Twilight continued:

"But you can't stop me from trying, and we could be stuck doing this for all eternity!"

How very interesting... So she finally got it!.. It was a battle of determination!

"If that's what it takes to keep you and your friends from getting your cutie mark connection, then I'm game!" -- was Starlight's response.

The battle would continue.

"What you're doing goes way beyond cutie marks!" Twilight found a moment to shape a cloud into a slide and demonstrated her words with it: "Everything we do here in the past — even the smallest change — can snowball into an avalanche of trouble for the future!"

A cloud-ball on her demonstration did exactly that. Starlight zapped it angrily. Of course she understood it. The time stream would be different. But that change would be worth it in the end. It wasn't as though the fate of Equestria itself had hung in the balance...

"It does!" -- Twilight protested.

"Spare me your overblown ego! No group of friends -- not even Princess Twilight's! -- is that important!"

As Rainbow was flying by, Starlight shot her, again preventing the rainboom. What that entailed for Equestria, Starlight couldn't have cared less. The important thing was, that she would win... even if her rival could undo it all just with a spell.

Hm... The spell... Starlight wondered, if she could... kinda, sorta... reach inside...

Ah, too late: the time portal appeared above. Good-bye, Twilight. See you really soon.

"I don't know, -- Twilight started, -- how important other ponies' friendships are to the future..." She looked at Starlight resolutely. "...but I can show you what the world is like without... mine!"

With those words said she surprised Starlight one last time.

She leapt at her and tackled her in a bear hug.

And the two of them were whisked away.

Wait, no: the three of them: Starlight, Twilight and her dragon Spike.

Still a very excellent plan

Years in the future, but not too many... Just about sixteen or so... In the beautiful land of Equestria... some wind was blowing gently. The sun shone brightly, and everypony was happy...

Wait, no! No! Nopony was happy. There was nopony! The sun didn't shine at all! Clouds of dust were everywhere, blocking its light! The wind was stronger, than anyone would have been happy to have it! And the land of Equestria... Well, let's be blunt: there was no beauty to be found even by the most morbid of persons!

No!

The land was in devastation. A wasteland. There was the big question, whether life was still present. Surely it had to be, but... what kind of a life was it?

Not a very good one, that was for sure.

The grim picture was disturbed by the time portal opening and spitting three living souls out. Under the portal appeared a table displaying the map of that wretched land. The three souls slammed into it, then rose on their legs.

Starlight watched in confusion. What had happened? Had Twilight just... whisked her alongside with her? But then... the spell! How had it worked? It was supposed to pick Starlight's mind up, and then her body! Had it... failed?.. What'd happened?!

"Where are we?!" -- demanded Starlight.

"The future. Or rather... the present", -- Twilight replied gloomily.

"But there's nothing here!" -- Starlight shrieked.

How could the future, or rather the present, be so... so grim??! So dark??! So... empty??!

What had happened??? Had something changed?! Starlight couldn't remember, but she was sure the only difference in the past was the rainboom.

Could the rainboom have done it?? No. Something else must have changed alongside.

Starlight didn't want to win for a future like that, and she bet neither did Twilight. So, of course, a jump back was in order.

Then Starlight froze, as a thought came to her: was it Twilight's excellent plan to drag Starlight to the future in hopes it would be grim and to leave her there, while Twilight went back and monitored the rainboom, ensuring nothing happened to it?! Was that it? But Twilight wasn't holding the spell to jump back. That was a huge relief! Unless, of course...

Starlight's thoughts were interrupted by Twilight:

"I wish I could say I was surprised. But every world I come back to is worse, than the last. I don't know, why my friends and I are so important to Equestria, but we are".

Oh, Twilight, please, spare Starlight your overblown ego! How could a group of friends never existing cause the world to fall apart? That was impossible! Starlight held the belief no group of friends was so much important!

"I don't believe you!" -- she bellowed.

And that was the moment Twilight's useless dragon companion durst open his mouth:

"Come on, Starlight, look around!"

And she wanted to silence him. Who was he, anyway?! Nopony! Whatever had happened to the world must have happened due to... what? Starlight didn't know. But the rainboom? How???

"Like I said, -- Twilight picked up after Spike, -- everything in the past affects the future, even the tiniest act. And what you're doing leads here. I know I can't stop you, but I thought showing you this might change your mind".

"Change my mind??!"

Now that was downright insulting. Did she think Starlight would stop after seeing the future??? She trembled.

Even if Twilight was right -- impossible, but still -- and even if Starlight had won and ended up here... In the unlikely case Twilight was giving up... Or was she?

Did she want Starlight to turn back? Just because the future was so grim? She knew she couldn't win through pure determination... so she decided Starlight would reconsider?

Well, what was there to reconsider? Sure, it wasn't good, but... Hm... Yeah, Starlight thought. She could always turn back and try again. Surely next time the rainboom's cancellation would have nothing to do with the world being destroyed...

Starlight looked into Twilight's pleading eyes and thought: no, she was convinced the rainboom was the cause of it, and she wanted her not to prevent it. She wanted Starlight to give up.

To give up! And to go back on everything she had worked so hard to achieve??

"Change my mind?!?! You don't know anything about me!!! I was perfectly happy, before you and your friends ruined what I'd built!"

And to that perfectly crafted retort Twilight replied with something unexpected, surprising Starlight for Celestia-knew-which time:

"I don't know, what happened, that led you to make your village without cutie marks, and I'm sorry my friends and I had to take it away".

Oh? She was sorry? Come again! She was apologising?? She truly knew nothing about her! If she had, she would have known, how important that equality project had been to her! No amounts of apologising were going to cut it!

Starlight felt she was shaking of rage and stopped herself. But of course... She'd said so herself: she didn't know, what had happened to her. She was acting out of ignorance.

And that ignorance was getting on Starlight's nerves. How durst she think she was correct to stop her?! How DURST she?!?!

That was it! Twilight Sparkle needed a lesson. Then after that lesson Starlight would re-activate the spell, prevent the rainboom... and destroy the time machine, so that Twilight could not rewind her any more!

"You want to know, what happened to me?! -- Starlight shrieked. -- I'll SHOW you!!!"

With that she jumped upon the cutie map and reached her magic out. The table's magical interface was exposed. She needed it to get them to her town...

To her home.

The map was connected to every place in Equestria... and now, thanks to the time spell, to every point in time as well. Huh... So... let Starlight get this straight: the map could have brought Twilight and her dragon to any time and relative dimension in space? She could have escaped Starlight's evil clutches?.. with ease?

Hm... Maybe, Starlight thought, she hadn't realised the mechanics of time travel? Ha, of course! Nopony, except for Starlight, had! OK, maybe, except for Star Swirl the Bearded too. But not her! And certainly not her dragon! Boy! She didn't even understand she didn't need to fix whatever Starlight had done. All she had to do was to go back to before Starlight had appeared -- without using the spell! The time machine interface was still connected regardless! If Twilight had... Oh!.. It would have been a disaster for Starlight!

...Or not. After all, if the time machine was busy, she couldn't use it -- of that Starlight had made sure! However now... it wasn't.

Starlight activated the map. It glowed and swallowed her whole. Then it sucked in Twilight and her dragon.

The two found themselves in Starlight's past...

And thus she showed them what it was like. Showed them, what had happened back then. They didn't understand. They said a cutie mark couldn't take one's friends away! However it had been due to a cutie mark, that Starlight's sweet, sweet Sunburst was shipped off to Canterlot! If it had not appeared, his magical talents would have never been recognised and they would never have been separated! They could've stayed together...

Starlight had thought, that, if one cutie mark could do such a thing... what about the rest of them? If she'd made a friend... wouldn't their differences, signified by those cutie marks, have driven them apart?.. Again and again...

Starlight didn't want to admit it, but never seeing her friend again was... Well, she couldn't express, how much it hurt. At first she just missed him. Then the feeling only grew stronger. After a whole month she couldn't bear it any more and cried into her parents' shoulders about that.

They tried to comfort her. Told her she could always send out a letter to Sunburst. That calmed the little filly a bit. With her parents' help she sent out a letter.

No reply. She tried again. The reply came. "Hi. Busy studying. Will write more shortly". And that repeated time and time again. No meaningful conversations, no nothing! He was always busy! If not for his talent, not for his cutie mark -- none of that would have happened! They would've continued living together... in happiness... In sweet harmony...

But he was gone. Forever. And nopony could fill in the hole he'd left after himself... Partly because Sunburst had been special. But mainly because Starlight was very smart, albeit a bit insecure. She foresaw her future friendship ending, when another colt approached her. He also was cutie-mark-less. Starlight looked at his blank flank and realised in a second, that the story could repeat. He would get it, and she would not. He'd move on, and she wouldn't. She would write, but he'd be busy! Another pony whisked away by a cutie mark!

Starlight couldn't handle losing yet another friend. So she spared herself the pain. Even when she got her mark, she still believed -- now even stronger -- that differences between ponies would never allow for friends to stay together. Never! It was unthinkable, wasn't it? Was it even possible? Would she ever find a friend that wouldn't be whisked away?..

She didn't even want to try to find out. She didn't want to experience that pain ever again.

But Twilight wouldn't understand, would she? She was very lucky to be destined to befriend ponies -- five of them! -- but not everyone was that lucky.

That was why Starlight had tried to build a perfect world, where cutie marks could not have driven ponies apart. Where everypony had been the same. Where friendship could've prospered and where Starlight would have finally found a life-lasting friend. Tell her, Twilight, was that so much to ask?

Of course it was. Of course it was! She had had to ruin everything, so now Starlight would avenge!

Starlight touched the spell magically, and the time portal appeared. She, Twilight and Spike were sucked in...

Years in the past, but not too many, they were deposited in Cloudsdale. All three of them. That surprised Starlight. Why hadn't she been deposited earlier? What was going on?

The spell! She had to retrieve it, to prevent the rainboom and to win -- once and for all! She focused her magic and said her final words in her debate with Twilight:

"You don't know what it's like to lose a friend because of a cutie mark. But once I stop the rainboom, you will!"

She reached with her magic to the time spell scroll and... Zap! Successfully teleported it to herself. The duo gasped in shock.

"...and when I destroy this scroll, there'll be no way for you to change it!" -- Starlight declared.

At first she wanted to incinerate it on the spot... but her gut told her that would botch the time machine and they would never return to the future -- no matter which. She hesitated, but what was said was said, and she started to rip the scroll apart.

"Starlight, you're right! -- Twilight blurted in panic. -- I don't know what you went through! But I do know you can't do this! -- she insisted. -- I've seen where this leads, and so have you!"

"I only saw what you showed me! -- Starlight retorted. -- Who knows, what'll really happen?"

If she understood time travel at all, then anything was possible with it. The future was uncertain... unless it was predetermined, in which case...

"I've seen it a dozen times!" Well, maybe, the future was really dependent on this rainboom... "Things don't turn out well in Equestria without my friends!" Maybe... she was right... The heroes of Equestria... The Elements Of Harmony...

Ha! Some harmony they were! So different they couldn't even agree each with other at times! Phoneys! There wasn't anything special about them, but Twilight kept stubbornly insisting they were.

Starlight let out an exasperated groan (the scroll received another inadvertent tear at that):

"Ugh! What's so special about your friends?! How can a group of ponies, who are so different, be so important?!"

"The differences between me and my friends are the very things, which make our friendship strong!"

Nonsense! -- Starlight wanted to scream. How was that even?.. Hadn't she listened to a word she'd said? Hadn't she learnt a thing?

"I thought Sunburst and I were the same..." Sunburst... Upon remembering him tears appeared in Starlight's eyes. "...But we turned out different... and it tore our friendship apart!"

Speaking of tearing: the spell... Starlight thought about it for a moment. The map was still connected to the time machine. But Twilight didn't know that. The scroll would be destroyed, but the spell would still work. She only had to prevent the rainboom one more time, and she would prevail. What was Twilight to do? Explain her to death, that what she was doing was wrong? She didn't understand... Starlight could not go back now! Her equality project had been destroyed. Her friend had left her. What was she to do? Trust friendship to fix everything? Friendship was a fragile thing, easily crushed with ponies' differences. Starlight knew that first-hoof: her friendship with Sunburst had been ruined!

"So try again! -- Twilight suggested. -- Make new friends!" What, and experience the pain of a loss all over??? "And if something that you can't control happens that changes things, work through it together! That's what friendship is! And... it's not just my friendships, which are important to Equestria! Everypony's are! When yours ended, it led us here. But just imagine all the others, which are out there, waiting for you, if you just give them a chance!"

For a second there Starlight didn't know, how to respond. What did Twilight mean: "work through it together"? Together with whom? That needed consideration, and she paused her tearing the scroll up.

What, if she had tried to work things out together with Sunburst? No, that had been impossible! Try, as she might, she couldn't! She'd stayed friendless, and it was all because of cutie!..

Huh. Wait, Starlight thought.

Wait... That was right!.. She'd stayed friendless. After Sunburst she had not had any more friends!.. He'd been the only one...

"Try again"... "Make new friends"... And, if things changed... "work through it together". She didn't understand that last part -- probably because she was... admittedly... in... inexperienced with it... Embarrassing... What did she know about friendship, if her only friend had left her back in her early childhood?

Starlight felt shame. She could not have been that stupid! And she was not!

"How do I know they won't all end the same way?" -- she asked, eyes teary.

That was the question! Sure, Twilight was right, it was worth a try -- but if differences could lead to friendships ending... and if she was a bit too unfortunate... Then nothing guaranteed her happy, uneventful friendships... The future wasn't set in stone, and anything could happen. Including the worst-case scenario.

That meant the pain would come again.

Twilight stared at Starlight. Did she understand what she was going through? Did she understand the tough dilemma Starlight had?

"I guess it's up to you to make sure they don't".

And that was it. Without much further explanation Twilight simply offered Starlight a hoof.

Somepony whooshed nearby.

Oh darn it! The race was still on! With all this talking Starlight had almost missed her chance to fix forever what Twilight had undone!..

If she didn't do anything now, the rainboom would happen... the time portal would do its part... Twilight would win! Revenge wouldn't be achieved!

Starlight had to decide. She stared at the passing foals, watching the event unfold.

Why was she hesitating?

Starlight exhaled. Of course she could try to stop Twilight. And then... Act quickly: destroy the scroll... shoot that filly... and that would be it. She would win. She would achieve her revenge!..

What next? Starlight had to think about it. The future could be worse. Or it could be better. Twilight... What would she do?..

More importantly: what would Starlight do? After her revenge was done... What kind of future was prepared for her? Without her village of equality... she couldn't have that perfect world she'd dreamt about. And without that world... she couldn't have friends...

Friends... Had any of the villagers truly been Starlight's friend?

No. Rebuilding the project was not going to make Sunburst come back.

"Try again. Make new friends"...

How was she to know they wouldn't end up like Sunburst? How was it it was... up to... her?

Twilight... What did you know, Twilight?..

What did the princess of friendship know... about friendship?..

Dead end. Either way Starlight would continue to be friendless.

Twilight was still waiting with her hoof outstretched. She was ready to offer her friendship. And it seemed... It seemed... she was not going to give up on Starlight... if their differences...

Starlight's hoof twitched, her foreleg half-bent...

In the end Starlight let the rainboom happen. She allowed Twilight to take her to the future. Without waiting to be brought back part by part. The time machine didn't like such shenanigans. The spell floated above the cutie map upon their arrival, unfurled, then destroyed the connection. The time portal sucked the scroll in and exploded. The spell had ended. And of course, with the rainboom performed the future turned out to be the same Starlight had left it as. Probably a bit different. But for Twilight and her friends that didn't really matter.

Without the spell Starlight couldn't interface with time and thus could not rewind to any previous choice points. She had to face the consequences. Surely Twilight would tell others about her messing with the time... It didn't really matter, because Equestria hadn't even noticed something had been wrong. Yet Starlight had still tried to destroy one group of friends, and she had to answer to that group. She wasn't sure they would forgive her.

She was surprised to discover they weren't really mad. Twilight was a smart pony, who saw potential in Starlight. And for that Starlight was infinitely grateful.

Of course, Starlight liked to think she was pretty much smarter. After all -- victory had been hers! It was that she'd chosen to listen to Twilight and to give friendship another chance.

And Starlight was glad she had. Because now friendship... was not going to be destroyed by differences. Or cutie marks, for that matter. And that was all Starlight needed, to stop her hunger for revenge.

And yet, as shameful, as Starlight felt for her misdeed, she still felt pretty proud. Proud she had pulled off such a scheme.

It had, all things considered, indeed been a very excellent plan. A plan that had worked, until she'd decided to abandon it herself.

It was for the better indeed. For now Starlight had a whole lot of friends. Friends, who would not abandon her.

Not even because of a cutie mark.

The end

Author's Note

Hope this has been satisfying.

To be completely honest, it has been bugging me, how people misunderstand everything about Starlight, especially her backstory, her reasoning and her philosophy. They think her dumb, but Starlight is pretty dang smart.

This is what I'm showing here. First of all, her plan. I've read fics exploring its shortcomings and have been thinking, that Starlight can't have made such stupid mistakes. She had to have thought of everything, because otherwise we would have received a stupid episode. And episodes can't be that stupid. Her plan had to be well thought out, so here is what it may have looked like. Second of all, her backstory. Twilight says a cutie mark can't take friends away, and generally speaking she's right. But Starlight's case is special. Again, cutie marks signify differences, and differences are known to have caused friendships to end. How many people are there, who can't be friends precisely because they are so different? This is exactly what the show explores! I can't believe, how many people have missed that :twilightangry2: !

This is the problem Starlight tried to fix with her equality project. She tried to create a perfect world, where ponies would never experience what Starlight had. She eliminated the differences... except for that cutie marks were more, than just differences between ponies. Starlight overlooked that detail, but, as I show in this story, things are easy to overlook, and it's not ponies' fault they do. So they are not to be blamed. Starlight is pretty dang smart, but she is not perfect. We need to understand and to sympathise. If people can't (and some can't) -- too bad.

In the end it was Twilight, who fixed everything. She offered Starlight the solution to give friendship another chance. And again: Starlight is smart, and so are the people behind her story. People miss, that Starlight was too afraid to try again, because it had been too painful. Not everypony can move on. People have to understand that.

So in the end it was an excellent plan -- and an excellent story about an excellent character. I hope to have demonstrated that and hope you agree.

Now come! The comment section awaits!