Time Makes Foals of Us All

A/N: This story exists because of the film Primer. We exist because those who invent Time Travel are smart enough to never use it.

I hope you enjoy the story.

– LiamNeighson

~~~

“Time makes fools of us all. Our only comfort is that greater shall come after us.” – Eric Temple Bell

~~~

It is December 24th, 1006 AN (Anno Noctis) for the first time.

The quiet streets of Ponyville are being covered in a blanket of delicate snow that erases hoofprints like the tides of an ocean. The heavy grey clouds directly over the village provide the snowfall but the distant horizon is clear to let the sunset light up their bellies. The twilight rays shine across the sky and clouds in a palette of timeless beauty to any who would take a moment to look up and enjoy it.

A navy blue unicorn stallion plods down the street levitating a copious amount of presents and food. He waves greetings to fellow villagers as he passes by, his legs unburdened but his horn glowing from the magical strain of so many festive gifts. His destination looms in front of him, obscured by the flotilla of gaily wrapped gifts, the Golden Oaks Library.

A lavender unicorn mare is wrapping a navy blue scarf around her neck and withers, the color of her coltfriend. She runs a brush through her mane for the 88th time in the last hour as her magic juggles levitating several ribbons and tape rolls about her as she finishes wrapping her present last minute. She is also levitating two important pieces of paper that she furiously reads through while micromanaging her other task. Her hairs still threaten to burst out into uncontrolled vectors as she rushes to complete her most important item on her checklist while catching up on the letter that Derpy just delivered.

Checklist:

WRAP PRESENT FOR HORIZON

Letter:

"Dear Twilight,

I hope this letter gets to you before you depart for Canterlot in the morning. Your father and I have been so excited to finally have you back home for the holidays. It seems like only yesterday that you were here performing in the Canterlot pageant. I can't tell you how many times I hear about how you were the most believable Clover the Clever ever! (ugh, mom) But nothing gets more compliments than your efforts to help save Equestria during your brothers wedding. Night Light likes to retell it as mostly Shining and Cadance but I think we both know who the real hero was! Oh I know you had already saved Equestria twice before then, so maybe this one could be split evenly between you and Shining, sharing is caring! (sigh) And dear, you have done so much for Equestria since then, I mean really the princesses should be giving you some time off from adventuring. You have a life to live after all, and you aren't. Getting. Any. Younger. 26 years old is about the proper time for a mare, such as yourself, to be thinking of a wedding of your own. (here we go...) And if that coltfriend of yours isn't stallion enough to ask the princess' prized pupil and the multi-savior of Equestria for her hoof in marriage after nearly a year then you either make him or SHAKE HIM, filly! (REALLY? MOM!)

Twilight dear, it's your father. (Yes dad, I know your horn writing.) I have had to rescue this letter from the telekinetic clutches of your mother because she started dictating at the end there and Cadance was getting ready to fire the love spell before she started foaming at the muzzle. While she gets her egg nog fix I would just like to wrap up this letter saying that we love you and can't wait to see you, and Horizon, tomorrow. I know you will make the right decision Twilight, and I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you don't feel ready to do. (oh, dad.) But I have no problem pressuring Horizon into doing something he should be ready to do. (yep, too good to be true) Your mother and I love you very much and Shining, Cadance and Crystal can't wait to see Aunt Twilight. Please have a safe trip, I'll see you soon.

Happy Hearth's Warming Eve,

Night Light, and Twilight Velvet"

The flurry of telekinetic activity slows to a steady pace as Twilight finishes the letter and slips into the lukewarm feelings of family during the holidays.

The door to the library opens. Discord summons a bucket of popcorn.

"Twilight! I'm ho—"

Scissors and tape dispensers are hurled at transonic velocities towards the door of the library. Presents and food stuffs are launched in a defensive spread towards the incoming projectiles; Their attempts at intercepting them are mostly successful. One pair of scissors manages to evade the blockade of bundt cake and boons and buries itself within the oak door frame.

"Ahhh!" Twilight, screams.

"Sweet Celestia, Twilight! You almost killed me! Again!" Horizon yells mirthfully as his projected parcels roll to a halt all about the main floor of the library.

Twilight teleports within legs reach of him and immediately begins inspecting his coat for signs of blood or injury.

"Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorryso—"

"Twilight!" Horizon barks with a laugh as he watches the mare fuss all over him. She looks up at him expectantly, fearing that she may have actually hurt her coltfriend. "You missed a spot." Horizon calmly says, indicating his deep brown forelock with a hoof.

Twilight investigates the indicated portion of her beloveds mane while he simply rolls his amber eyes and looks into her purple irises. "I was talking about your mane, crazy head." Twilight blinks in understanding before telekinetically grasping her brush from where it came to rest on the floor and straightens out her bangs.

"I'm not a crazy head..." Twilight says as she pouts, hopefully covering up that her adrenaline levels are dropping from Hydra to Manticore. "And besides! You never know when an assassin could burst into the library at any moment, I am a Very Important Pony after all!" Twilight puffs out her chest and waves the brush like a torch of truth and justice.

"I know you are starbutt, why else would I be dating you?" Horizon pulls her into a deep kiss and kicks the door shut with a hind hoof as he backs her up into the library main table and begins pushing aside the presents and fruit cake scattered about.

Twilight sighs into the kiss and lets her tail fan against the table next to the bust of Mareistotle as her hindquarters are lifted onto the flat surface. Horizons forehooves reaching down her flank as he begins to grasp her...

"WAIT!"

"What is it Twi? I'm just happy to see you." Horizon teases her playfully as he caresses her cheeks, both of them.

"Ahem! As much as I would like to indulge in the Hearth's Warming Eve foreplay, which is actually scheduled for after dinner, the library is now a mess thanks to—"

"You" Horizon interjected.

"—Us." Twilight rebutted. "And must be cleaned before the evening can continue as planned." Twilight said smugly crossing her forehooves as she trapped her coltfriends own forehooves to the table with her purple posterior.

"Is Rarity here?" Horizon deadpans. Twilight glares. "Huh, weird. I mean for a second there it almost sounded like Rarity was talking and..."

"Wasn't funny the first time, linebutt." Twilight narrowed her eyes even further.

"Oh come on starbutt you know I'm only teasing, there's no reason to start insulting my special talent." Horizon was hoping to derail Twilight from the 'cleaning' train of thought onto 'battle of wits' train of thought because that usually devolved into passionate lovemaking.

"It's not my fault someone whose special talent is futuristic and theoretical magic happened to get the most BORING cutie mark in the HISTORY of ponykind." Twilight gesticulated animatedly and rolled her eyes.

Horizon smirked, just as planned.

"yes, yes," Twilight continued, "as much as I am drawn to the stunning secant line on your flank and marvel at all it implies this room must. Be. Cleaned. No ifs ands or flanks about it, no pony argues with the Sparkle Schedule!"

Horizons grin slowly shifted into a neutral expression as he calculated his next move.

"And don't think I'm not onto you!" Twilight prodded him in the chest. "I know you well enough now to see what you are planning, it's written all over your terrible poker face, but you will NOT distract me from this category five mess!"

"Well I guess I'm just going to have to revise the schedule." Horizon grins hungrily as he levitates the pieces of paper from the table and begins visibly scanning for a quill.

Twilight notices that he is magicking the checklist mentioning his present... And the letter from her PARENTS! Twilight immediately incinerates them both. Acceptable losses, checklist, you will be remembered. "Oops! Hehehe I guess you're just going to have to take my word for it!"

Dropping to all four hooves and sighing exasperatedly Horizon lets out a "Yes, dear." and begins stacking items onto the main table to be mass teleported to Canterlot. Twilight hops off the table, swats her tail once to align her highlights and begins to gather the tape rolls and scissors from the various parts of the tree they were embedded into. All the while basking in her glorious victory as her desire for order conquered her stallions desire for kisses!

~~~

Horizon finished stacking the last piece of food from Sweet Apple Acres and Sugar Cube Corner onto the table and all the presents from Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash as well. He carefully stashed a small box into his saddlebags after picking it up without Twilight seeing and thanked Celestia she didn't notice.

~~~

"What's with this one wrapped in old copies of the Foal Free Press?" Twilight asked indicating an obviously flight goggle-shaped item on the table.

"Yeah, Rainbow Dash said she was too busy to get anything sappy since she is still touring with the Wonderbolts but said that it was more like an investment since she's going to be super-extra-awesome-famous or something after she becomes team captain." Horizon stated wobbling the flimsy gift in his telekinetic grip.

"So... she's giving us her old stinky flight goggles." Twilight stated with no hint of doubt.

"Yeah."

A brief pause before they made eye contact. "Do we have a gift for Scootaloo yet?" Horizon asked with a knowing smirk.

"We do now!" Twilight affirmed.

~~~

The Sun dipped below the skyline and the last rays of daylight faded into the deepest black of a winter's night. Luna lit up the night sky with a gorgeous spectral aurora to accompany the ascent of the full winter moon. The perfection of the night was not lost on the thousands of ponies who would be staying up late to watch the annual Hearth's Warming Eve meteor shower as the sky would be lit up for a full hour after the clock struck midnight.

The ancient tradition of presents being delivered via shooting star to the hearths of homes all round Equestria by the Princess of the Night died after her lunar imprisonment. Celestia was never able to emulate the meteor showers and aurora as well as her fair sister, perhaps not only because of magical ability but because of how much it reminded her of her absence. And the ponies were all too happy to not continue the legend because foals should be afraid of what Luna became, Nightmare Moon. Thus Nightmare Night was born and celebrated ever since. The Winter holidays still felt happy with the closeness of friends and family but at least the foals would have another day to look forward to in the Fall season. A Night of games, treats and fun.

But since Luna's return, Celestia was all too happy to allow her sister to reclaim the night sky in its entirety. Ancient and worn constellations made way for new and vivid ones. Old heroes long forgotten replaced with the beginnings of new heroes. And Nightmare Moon could retain her holiday and become a silly game of fright for foals. While Luna could reclaim her own happy holiday that emulated what she truly loved, her winter moon. A moon that once held the sad visage of an imprisoned princess, glowing radiantly once again as ponies looked on not in fear, but happiness and love. Night time was, as always, the time for romance.

~~~

"Well I think that's everything now. The crystals are in position. Everything is properly oriented... I think that as long as we follow standard insertion procedures, everything should be perfectly fine... probably."

"Um, Twilight, are you sure you can handle this now? I mean we can do it in increments if you want instead of all at once."

"NO! No, I can do this. I was BORN to do this, I just gotta get ready with some stretches... whoo... Maybe a few breathing exercises... whoo... a couple math problems..."

"TWILIGHT!"

"Don't rush me! I've never done anything this big before! Especially not so MANY of them!"

"Twilight calm down, I know you've taken bigger packages than this before. Just try to focus on them one at a time, slowly."

"OK... I've got the first one now."

"Good, now the second one, start with the little ones, get a feel for them."

"Ok... yeah this is good. I can feel them all now, the bigger ones are going to take a little bit more effort but feeling out the smaller ones first is making it easier."

"Ok Twilight, you're doing great just listen to my voice ok."

"Ugh... yeah"

"Are you ok? Should we stop?"

"NO! No just do it now, I have them all. Do it now, Now, NOW!"

"Alright, Here it comes!"

*FLASH*

The crystals, meticulously aligned and placed onto the library table glow with residual magic. Twilight collapses to the floor splaying her hooves in all directions. Horizon opens his eyes and shakes his head to clear the ringing as smoke lightly trails from his horn. The mound of baked goods and gifts is no more, transported to Canterlot using a long-distance teleportation spell field method that Twilight invented.

"Did... Did it work?" Twilight blinks her eyes and shuffles her hooves under her to stand under her own power. Horizon walks to her and nudges her barrel affectionately and lifts her up. He smiles to her and simply says, "See for yourself, superstar!"

"Oh... Oh WOW! They are all gone, it worked! HAHA! Oh wow this is amazing I didn't know I could take so many at the same time, oh Celestia my head hurts but that felt so good!" Twilight hops around the library table doing her best Pinkie Pie impression. Almost as if she is trying to determine if viewing the table surface from another angle will reveal them from whatever hidden dimension she may have inadvertently phased them into.

"YESYESYESYESYESYESYES!"

"Twilight, Twilight take it easy, I mean come on I was the one who held the crystal field in place. All you did was build up the teleportation spell to encompass all the packages, and then align them to the exact location of your old study in Canterlot a hundred kilometers from here. Honestly I did all the work here I don't know why you insist on calling it the "Sparkle Teleportation Array Relay" when I do all the heavy lifting. I mean it's not like just any old unicorn can hold five crystals in such a precise orientation AND offer verbal support at the same time." Horizon chided playfully as Twilight stopped her celebratory YES dance.

"AHEM! The S.T.A.R. is an advanced magical theory that is still in its testing phase, it is only recommended that exceptionally gifted unicorns even attempt simple STAR transport! You should consider yourself lucky that you even had the rare pleasure of assisting me in this historic endeavor." Twilight slipped into her smug pedagogical behavior as she lifted her chin and closed her eyes enjoying every second of her magical prowess.

Horizon snuck up to her upturned muzzle and planted a feather light kiss on her lips as she opened her violet eyes to look up into his amber irises.

"And what does your number one most rarely pleasured assistant get as compensation for his contributions to this 'historical endeavor'" Horizon joked.

"The honor of making dinner!" Twilight sparkle decreed, the 'most rarely pleasured' part of the jibe making the first silent sonic rainboom as it shot over her head and crash landed in the Star Swirl the Bearded shelf.

Horizon groaned, she could be so adorkable sometimes. "Well what does my little starbutt want for her most special dinner of the year?" Twilight opened her mouth to speak. "WAIT! Let me guess... Hay fries... and... A daffodil sandwich!"

Twilight pouted and looked up into his mirthful amber eyes with sadness. "Am I really that boring to you?"

Horizon immediately felt the stab of guilt in his chest. Colder and harder than the icicles that ran off the faux-frosting top of sugar cube corner this late in December. It pierced his heart and drained all the foul black sarcasm and bitterness he had built up in his whole life of intellectual superiority and isolation. His aorta began pumping the dark red blood of sorrow into his heart to replace the vacuum of sharp wit and teasing comments. He could only salvage this night with one thing...

"Because I am not!" Twilight perked up. "I happened to make a very special dinner tonight for my very special somepony and it only took me 18 very special minutes at 400 very special degrees Fahrenheit!"

Horizons heart stopped. It attempted to restart. His brain was sending out red alerts along every nerve ending, trying to get some kind of status update. "Eighteen mi-mi... Did you say... four hundred?" Horizon sputtered. The adrenaline found his core. His heart started beating again. Blood flow returned to his extremities, if his stomach wasn't between his penis and his heart he would have had the beginnings of a throbbing erection but instead he had the extremely audible groans of a stomach attempting to digest the greatest food known to pony kind.

"Degrees means oven. Oven means delicious. 400 means more than 350 so not cookies. Conclusion: PIZZA!" Horizon spewed with a thousand yard stare.

"Right so far!" Twilight smiled wider than she had all night. Stallions... the best way to their heart is through their stomachs.

"Eighteen Minutes... That's two more minutes than sixteen minutes, the standard time for pizza. That can only mean one thing... STUFFED CRUST." Horizon felt the blood finally reaching his nethers now. He looked at his mare... His perfect lavender... brilliant... nerdy...

"Two for two, doctor you!" Twilight giggled at her own little joke and leaned in closer, her breath mingling with the hungry pants of her stallion.

"And because I love you so much," Horizon continued and Twilight simply nodded, " and you love me so much back it can only be one type of pizza."

Twilight leaned her forehead against his as he gazed hungrily into her eyes.

"Pineapple." Horizon released the word from his mouth like a weight was lifted from his barrel.

Twilight knew she had him now. "And you know what that means?" she drew out the last word and raised to her hind legs as they shouted out in unison...

"MOVIE NIGHT!"

~~~

Yes. They were nerds. Twilight Sparkle. Doctor of Magic. Horizon. Doctor of Magic. Two unicorns born and raised in Canterlot. They spent most of their lives studying in solitude and only met because they happened to attend the same annual Magic Convention in Canterlot earlier that year at the start of Spring. Coincidentally they both presented two entirely different theories of temporal magic. They argued fiercely on the presentation stage until they nearly came to blasts and had to be escorted out of the building, much to Princess Celestia's chagrin.

They argued some more on the street until Celestia lowered the sun. They continued to argue and had to be corralled and quarantined into the banquet hall of Canterlot castle by Princess Luna's night guard for disturbing the peace. They eventually became thirsty and couldn't be bothered to drink anything but what was at hand. Sweet Apple Acres Genuine Hard Cider.

It was then that Twilight learned that she didn't mix well with alcohol. In a daring attempt to prove her point that time only flows in one direction and that only one true time line exists, she transported herself 30 minutes into the past, and she remained in the past for 30 minutes. At least, if time travel worked the way Horizon argued that's how it would have started. Instead it happened the way Twilight argued.

The spell she used caused a time loop, Horizon perceived this in a very unique way. An increasingly attractive lavender mare standing in front of him who was matching him drink for drink as they continued to litter the royal dining table with mugs to visually explain their divergent theories of time travel had a marvelous thing happen. She suddenly became two increasingly attractive lavender mares.

Horizon failed to notice the swirly arcane energies prior to her appearance but he did notice her lowered inhibitions as she stumbled over to him and leaned across his barrel proclaiming, "HA! Now there's two of me! What'choo think 'bout THEM app... apples. W-wait... there's... something important I need to... do."

It was then that history was made. The first, officially, recorded example of time travel gone awry happened that warm spring evening, 1006 AN, in the Canterlot Castle banquet hall as the Princess' Prized Pupil had intercourse with a stallion, and herself, at the same time, twice.

It should be noted here that this isn't the first sign that time travel may actually be more trouble than its worth. The first time Twilight Sparkle time traveled she broke into Canterlot Castle only after causing herself severe personal harm and giving a dragon a tummy ache, more or less. Consequences that were harmless and largely laughed at by her mentor Princess Celestia.

The second time it was because she appeared and informed her drunken self that the only way to solve this argument was to have a threesome for 30 minutes and then time travel 30 minutes into the past and do it again. This was arguably a much worse, albeit much sexier consequence.

The infamous thirty minutes that lasted sixty for one particular mare were promptly followed by a loud clatter as the two participants waved farewell to the third member who would continue the cycle ad infinitum. Twilight and Horizon would fall asleep in each others legs, draped across the royal banquet table while surrounded by empty cider mugs; They would be discovered come the dawn by two goddesses.

Namely Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, rulers of the free world.

On threats of repeating magic kindergarten and castration respectively, Twilight Sparkle and Horizon began a courtship that could only be described as... Aaawwwwkwwaaaaard.

Yes. Two nerds whose primary form of interaction was using their vast intellect to hurl playful insults and irony at each other. Who both lost their virginity to each other in a magical blunder the likes which has never been seen. Slowly they began to connect, and three months later in the heat of summer, Horizon moved into Twilight's tree house in Ponyville and they fell in love. Twilight's friends, the other five elements of harmony took the news fairly well. They were probably just glad she finally got laid, even if it was partially with herself.

~~~

And yet as that sexy flashback comes to an end we jump forward nearly six months. It was a cold winters night, Hearth's Warming Eve, a full moon and a gorgeous aurora was lighting the sky above their cozy tree house turned library.

And they were in the basement.

Watching Sci-Fi movies.

~~~

"Aww what?" Twilight was staring at the credits rolling and cradling her slowly emptying plate.

"Told you it was bad." Horizon said with a flat expression as he finished eating all the delicious stuffed crusts that his mare left him.

"No... It was good I mean when Rarity said I would like it because of the time travel she said it was because of the romance subplot." Twilight huffed as she placed the plate on the oaken floor of her hollowed out basement and began to lean against her coltfriend.

"Yeah I mean she probably likes the part where the colt just kills himself at the end, probably because she wants you to hook up with a better stallion." Horizon jokes through a mouthful of cold stuffed crust hunks.

"Oh stop it!" Twilight swatted his cannon playfully. "You know Rarity approves of you, she even makes you nice clothes to wear!" Twilight continued.

"Twi, she makes everypony nice clothes to wear. I mean come on she probably only liked it because the mare in this reminded her so much of Applejack. You know those two have something going on, I know you see it too!" Twilight could only shrug at his theory and look to the side, she had seen Rarity and Applejack taking tea together much more often after Fluttershy moved further away to open the Everfree National Park, and Rainbow Dash started touring with the Wonderbolts, and Pinkie Pie joined the circus. But Twilight was still convinced that the time she found Rarity hitting Applejack with that fancy black fly swatter in her boutique was a genuine attempt to get a particularly pesky pest, no matter how hard Horizon laughed when she brought it up.

"I don't care about any of that stuff I mean look at the facts! Why would that first looper guy need to be tortured in the present just so they could kill him in the future. I mean come on he was losing his legs and stuff, that would totally change his ability to fulfill his part of the time loop and get back to where he was. Circles can't be broken. I proved this multiple times already! And don't even get me started on the part where he kills himself. No WAY would that be possible he would never even be able to get into that situation to begin with if his older self NEVER EXISTED! This movie was totally inconsistent I mean the plot holes were bigger than Cheerilee's!"

Horizon had to spit some Colta-Cola at that one.

"Haha! Twilight, such a dirty mouth, you know spreading those kinds of rumors is bad!"

"Oh, it's not a rumor, everypony knows Big Mac likes taking the back door and those earth ponies go for hours... and hours... and—"

"Ok, ok I get it, jeez, way to make me feel adequate starbutt."

"Not that I wouldn't mind trying it some time, but I just Looooooove the way you fill me up and treat me like a real mare... mmm" Twilight leaned into Horizon and started rapid fire kissing him, tasting the pineapple and cola mixture on his crumb covered muzzle.

"Woah, woah hold up there cowpony you may have won the coin toss but that doesn't mean you get to ignore the other half of the deal miss 'the circle can't be broken'" Horizon shot back playfully as she pouted and leaned back off him.

"Ugh, fine we can watch your stupid low budget indie boring time travel movie. I knew this day would come, I've been dreading it for months." Twilight grumbled as she sipped on her Colta-Cola while glaring at Horizon with an askance glance.

"Come on Twilight, quid pro quo, fair is fair. I got to watch that lame 'Looper' movie with murder and sex and you get to watch my boring more scientifically accurate movie about how time travel SHOULD WORK, in a PERFECT WORLD." Horizon began, knowing perfectly well how to push her buttons.

Twilight rose to the bait like she always did, "I know you are just tempting me to send myself back in time another 30 minutes to have more threesome fun but that is not going to happen again mister. You know what Celestia threatened to do to us both if we ever messed with that spell again." Twilight shuddered as she thought about going back to Magic Kindergarten, even more so knowing that a certain 'Great and Powerful' unicorn mare was now teaching Magic Kindergarten in Canterlot.

Horizon consciously reached for his stallionhood just to confirm it was still there. Seeing a stallion become dismembered because of something his past self did hit just a little harder to home for colts than it probably did for fillies. Looper was not a movie he wanted to watch before going to bed. Nightmare fuel.

"Alright let's get this over with." Twilight exasperated after levitating over two more Colta-Colas from the well stocked mini-fridge. Movie Night part two was a go!

~~~

"Umm... What?"

"Oh come on Twilight don't you see? Every time he went back he came out of the box and there were two of him—" Horizon began.

"But... But..."

"JUST LIKE IN YOUR SPELL, but instead, the version that joins the timeline has the ability to ALTER the 'past' thereby creating an entirely new and different timeline!"

"But... But..."

"So in the end he ends up with multiple versions of himself because the LOOPS have overlap and each 'box' is like a frame of reference for a spell! Just like when we teleported all those presents and food to Canterlot earlier! They were all in the same frame of reference!"

"I teleported."

"Yes, OK it was mostly you, whatever. Point is that in this depiction of time travel, energy is conserved, all the positive time flow is countered with negative timeflow and you don't end up with those nasty logical kinks and eddies that your spell causes."

"My spell doesn't cause nasty eddies or... whatever you said. A time loop like mine is a completely contained and closed system. What goes in comes out instantly and the flow of time is preserved, there are no loose ends or 'negative' time values. I simply create a specific amount of time and transpose myself into the past and let that clock run its course, once the charge runs out I get sent back, neat and clean. No causality paradoxes." Twilight looked smug again as she lectured. She was an old hat at this, time travel was not only their favorite Sci-Fi plot device but also their favorite discussion topic.

"Ok Twilight, ok. I can't argue with results. But hear me out now because I want to show you something really special ok? I've been working towards this for a long time and I think I'm ready to share it with you now." Horizon smiled.

Twilight's mind kicked into overdrive. Could this be the moment she was waiting for? Was Horizon finally going to pop the question? No... Twilight calmed herself... As romantic as the current setting was, she knew Horizon would definitely wait for a better opportunity. Or he would at least play a classic like Back to the Future before he proposed to her in their musty library basement on the crumb covered and cola stained couch ruined after their countless lovemaking sessions after watching numerous B list Sci-Fi movies. Twilight fluttered her eyes and moaned in her mind as she recalled the night they shared after watching The Fifth Element. Oh, she screamed loud enough to stop the moon that night too...

"Twi? Starbutt? You with me here?" Horizon poked her horn a few times.

"Wha-huh? Yeah, yeah Linebutt i'm here. Hehe." Twilight had a bemused expression as he took her hoof and led her to a dark corner of the library basement and lifted up a tarp.

"Tada!" Horizon exclaimed.

Twilight stared at the strange metal box. It appeared to be made of some kind of rune stone but... no rune she had ever seen was repeated all along the box, every few centimeters... Almost in a grid pattern... A field array...

"No." Twilight said.

"No... what?" Horizon looked confused but borderline heartbroken.

"No, Horizon! I know you still think that your whole 'infinite multiple universes that appear every time we make a decision theory' is paradoxically soundproof but you can't mess with stuff like this anymore! You know what the Princesses said! And we don't even know if this thing works?" Twilight seemed panicked. The hair started to go crazy again.

"Twilight please let me—"

"You're serious aren't you? This isn't a joke... I was hoping... Ugh rize..."

There it was, the nickname. Not the fun or cute pet name. The short nickname. The serious one. The kind that let you know your mare was upset and couldn't be bothered to address you by your whole name.

Horizon would normally wilt under the pressure as Twilight rubbed a hoof to the base of her horn and moved aside her highlighted bangs to massage the oncoming headache. Horizon would normally hold her and kiss away the worries and tell her he was sorry over and over and over. Until the tears stopped or the smile came back.

But this time he was resolute.

~~~

Minutes later. With the dishes cleaned up and the blankets folded and the projector turned off, Twilight and Horizon sat upstairs at the library's main table. Twilight stared at the statue of Mareistotle and Horizon tried to make eye contact as they both let the mugs of hot chocolate warm their fore hooves. The Winter chill was permeating even the meter thick walls of the literal tree house and the clock was ticking away the minutes until the meteor shower would begin. Horizon hoped he would be embracing his lover when the time came rather than trying to talk his way out of a very deep hole he dug for himself.

"Twilight look. You have accomplished so much more than I ever will. And as a team we are so strong. But I want to make something for myself. History will ALWAYS remember you Twilight. You have been immortalized so many times already in books, statues, I mean even the Element of Magic crown has your cutie mark. No pony will ever forget you existed, you will become a legend. Just like Star Swirl..."

"Rize..." There it was again. His heart hitched, he almost stopped.

"No, listen Twilight. I need this. I am almost 30 years old now. I have published theories... theories Twilight, nothing more. I want to make something real. Can't you see how important this is to me? You got to travel through time, twice, I never got to try it once! And we both know it's possible!" Horizon paused expecting her to try and stop him.

Twilight remained silent.

"Twi, you know I love you and I want to be there for you always and forever but I want to be remembered as more than just your coltfriend... or lover or..."

"Husband?" Twilight looked straight at him.

Horizon looked at his hot chocolate. Those eyes were so sincere. So intelligent. So afraid.

"I've let you have your time to make your case, but all I hear is a colt that is so afraid of the future he can't even live in the present." She paused and waited to see if he would speak up or even make eye contact, she only heard him shuffle his hind legs as he felt the weight of her words.

"You don't have to do anything at all to prove yourself to ponykind, or Equestria or me. All you have to do is love me and trust me and know that I don't care if you are a billionaire, a supermodel, a celebrity, a vagrant, a leper or a nobody. I love you Horizon. There is nothing you need to do to earn that love because you already have it. And you will always have it. And I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and hold on to you with all my strength because I am afraid of losing you. I am afraid of waking up with you not there because you went and did some damn fool thing to try and earn the love you think I am holding back from you because you have it built up in your mind that I am still testing your worth. Well I. AM. NOT!"

Twilight had tears visibly streaming down her cheeks now. Horizon felt colder than the world outside. He met her eyes and felt a hollow void open in his heart. He felt his mind struggle against his heart, one trying to make sense of what he was hearing, the other telling him to just commit already and let go.

"This isn't a test Horizon. We aren't two young foals in grad school vying for position to get a paper published or to earn favor of a professor to land that perfect internship or research grant. This is real unconditional, unquestionable and unquantifiable love. Stop trying to win me over. There is nopony else but you. There won't ever be anypony but you. Just give in to your feelings. I know they are there, I feel them every time we kiss and laugh and hold each other and just enjoy the time that we have. Stop trying to prove yourself because the most important thing you could ever achieve in life is right in front of you begging for you to take it. There is so much more to life than what gets carved on your tombstone!"

Twilight gripped her mug with her fore hooves painfully hard. Horizon could see the ripples forming as she vibrated with emotion. He knew he should stop her. Kiss her and hold her and love her and pull out the box in his saddlebags and make her the happiest mare in the world but still he hesitated. He was afraid. She was so much stronger than him.

Twilight took several gasping breaths before continuing "I want a family Horizon. I know you want one too. I want to have two fillies and two colts who will run around our house and wake us up in the middle of the night because of the weather pegasi starting their first night storm. I want to watch them sled down the hills in winter. And run with the leaves in fall. And enjoy the family vacations we will take in the Summers to visit Aunt Cadance, Uncle Shining Armor and cousin Crystal. And I want to be there in the springs when their horns are tired from turning pages studying for their finals and we will be there to help them succeed. I want to lose hours of sleep with you because our little magical prodigies are walking through walls and teleporting across Equestria giggling all the way because they would be our little foals. And I never want to stop chasing them as they grow and have lives of their own, and foals of their own to chase around the world. The legacy you leave behind won't be in your name Horizon. It will be in your blood, our blood. The blood we pass to our children, and their children and theirs after them. You have to stop thinking you are alone in this world. It's not you against everypony else. It's us against the universe. And the universe is so indifferent and harsh. The universe will not hesitate to punish us for being lazy or hiding from what is best for us."

The hot chocolate in his hooves was cold now. Horizon felt broken, defeated. He felt like Twilight was a goddess telling him he had just ruined her charge. It was as if he had plucked the sun from the sky and Celestia was only upset with him.

"We both know what it's like to be alone. So alone it feels like nothing else is real but what we can do to improve ourselves and rely less on the outside world. But I found friends, and you found friends and we both are better for it. So let's take the next step. Please Horizon. Let go of your ambition, we have everything we need right here. We have to make sure life goes on, so that happiness and friendship and all those amazing things we experienced can be experienced again and again by the young and innocent. But I need you to be there with me to do it. I can't do it alone."

Horizon waited. The clock on the wall ticked by. At some point Twilight got up and emptied the mugs of what used to be hot chocolate. And still Horizon waited. and stared at his hooves. The hooves of a failure. How could he ever deserve this mare.

~~~

A hastily wrapped package landed on the table in front of Horizon. It was pliable and soft. He lifted it without thinking, searching for a name. Perhaps they forgot to send it to Canterlot. His brain was on autopilot.

"It's for you numbskull." Twilight smiled and let out a half hearted giggle. "Happy Hearth's Warming Eve."

The clock struck midnight as if on cue.

Horizon looked into her eyes. They were puffy and red but at least they were dry. She was wearing a navy blue scarf.

"When did you get that scarf?" Horizon asked, he felt tears starting.

"Silly pony, of course you notice it now. Maybe I should have breakdowns more often if it means you will compliment my appearance." Twilight smiled again knowingly. She could see the tears forming in his eyes.

Horizon wasted no time in opening the package. The wrapping paper fell to the table in neat ribbons as he telekinetically pulled it apart, making sure the priceless gift inside was cradled as it came into the world like a child.

A lavender scarf.

Horizons amber eyes clouded. He became acutely aware as every hair of his dark brown mane stood on end. He looked up at Twilight and found she was standing next to him. She leaned down and kissed him as his head turned up and to the side to meet hers. He raised a forehoof to grasp hers and pulled her in close as he tried to focus his magic on tying his own scarf.

"Let me do that you dumb colt." Twilight fixed his scarf and folded it just so. Tucking the ends together and resting it across his neck and withers in a comforting and loose embrace.

She kissed him again.

Passion took him.

~~~

As Twilight snuggled sleepily into Horizons shoulder he looked out the window above their bed as the last of the meteor shower came to an end. Foals all around Equestria would be sneaking downstairs to get a peek at all the presents that Luna had left them and all the parents would be secretly listening in from their bedroom doors to the excited giggling of their foals as they 'got away' with opening one or two early. Horizon looked down to Twilight, her soft breaths into his neck more healing than any salve in the world.

What he would give to live this moment forever.

In theory. He could.

The intense love-making they had just shared, regardless of its ineffable and wordless quality was enough to spark a desire within him. It wasn't about being right or wrong. It wasn't about whether the past or future could be changed. It was about knowledge. No knowledge is inherently good or evil right? Horizon would simply turn on the machine, and observe the results.

In theory it worked exactly as Twilight's time travel spell, except it was anchored to a physical object, requiring no knowledge of teleportation to use or prepare. The machine would be turned on at a specific time, in a specific place. Once activated it could not be moved from that location, by any force known to ponykind because it would become quantum locked.

In theory when the machine was activated whoever used it would simply walk out of the machine, having returned from whenever he entered in the future and go about his life in the time loop created by it. This is what was observed through Twilight's spell. No paradoxes. No 'origin timeline' as it is known in the paradox model. Twilight would be proven right, there is only one timeline and the end user would return to the present the moment the machine was activated. If this happened the machine would be a proven success and marketable all around Equestria in a simple package. Any pony could use it. And the wealth he would earn from it would secure the future of his foals and their foals and all the foals he and Twilight would ever be related to for all time. It would give him the security he needed to propose to her, and he would do it tomorrow in Canterlot. All Horizon had to do was go down to the basement tonight.

And turn the machine on.

~~~

The soft hum of magic runes being activated filled the room. The timer on the side of the machine started counting up. A moment passed. Two moments. Horizon let out a breath he had been holding.

Standing there wrapped in a blanket to protect himself from the chill that was generated not from without, but from within.

Nothing came out of the machine.

It didn't work! Haha, of course it didn't work, Twilight was right. I was being silly, this whole idea was contrived from nothing and completely irrational. Now, I just have to turn this stupid timer off.

The machine would not budge.

It's not possible.

IT'S NOT POSSIBLE.

The machine counted up. Inexorably. Horizon simply stared.

"The implications..." Horizon muttered to himself, his brain going faster than finals week cramming on stimulants.

"The... the time line theory... it's proven... it's a FACT! It's impossible that no pony would ever NOT use this device. It's quantum locked to this location! Some pony would HAVE to find it and get in at some point. They would be instantly transported back in time and be here... In the present. It can't simply exist FOREVER with no pony ever using it!"

The machine counted up.

"No. The evidence is irrefutable." His amber eyes locked on the clock the numbers taunting him. Like some manifestation of all of his doubts, hopes and dreams. He only saw numbers, bits. More bits than could possibly exist in the world.

"It's as I hoped. As in the movie. A reset switch." He shuddered. The adrenaline reaching his limbs, giving him chills and goose bumps. He was the origin. This was timeline zero. This was the beginning of the future. All the loops would come back to this moment, no further. This was the master key.

"Any mistakes, any tragedies could be undone, the knowledge of the future, a destiny completely in ones own hooves. The only price to pay would be time in the box. Negative time to balance out the positive time. Balance."

Horizon walked up to the main floor of the library. He took a deep breath and opened the small box he kept hidden in his saddlebags. The beautiful amethyst horn ring shone back at him like the brightest star, even in the darkest winter night.

He tip hoofed his way back upstairs and slowly slid into bed. Twilight grasped him firmly and nuzzled into his neck. She was so warm.

"Don't you ever leave meee..." she mumbled into his coat.

Tomorrow he would take the leap and seal their future, and it would be perfect for Twilight.

And if it wasn't he would go back and try again, and again, until it was perfect. For her.