Time Makes Foals of Us All

“As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” -Henry David Thoreau

~~~

        “Get back here you scoundrel!”

        Horizon was galloping hard. His original plan of trotting to the train station and getting to Ponyville by rail was interrupted by one small factor he failed to account for.

        “How dare you leave my daughter like that!”

        Twilight’s mother.

        The stallion turned to glance behind him as he rounded another corner into an alleyway. The older mare was somehow managing to keep up with him. Her efforts to grab and trip him up telekinetically had so far met with failure, but that was mostly because he had barely deflected them. Horizon knew he would have to put more distance between himself and his pursuer if he wanted to lose her. If she was on his trail it wouldn’t be long before Shining Armor and the entire Royal Guard was too.

*Shoom*

Another blast of magical energy whisked by Horizon. The light blue aura of the missile was pulsating with circular wave patterns. The stallion recognized the stunning spell that typical deflective spells weren’t strong enough to redirect. He would have to exert more energy to deflect these types of attacks. The stallion knew that moving from weak kinetic spells to debilitating ones was problematic. One good hit and he would down for the count.

        Horizon kept galloping through the streets without direction. He knew the train station was no longer an option. And finding a pegasus carriage to take him to Ponyville would be nigh impossible at this time of night; but there was one other method he could risk, one that nopony would expect. He just didn’t know if it would be possible.

        Horizon closed his eyes as he focused his breathing cycles. He felt his hooves plodding through the snow and slush of the alleyway in a regular rhythm. His heart rapidly pounding the cadence of his thoughts.

*Shoom*

One... Horizon cast a parabolic deflection spell to redirect a second stunning missile sent at him. It rebounded into a street lamp, blowing out the glass housing and grounding it into the filament, causing the entire street to flicker as the charge hit the wires.

“Curse you!”

Two... He cast a simple spatial searching spell, to identify whether the area two blocks ahead was empty or not.

“Stop running!”

Three... He erected a wall of magical kinetic energy behind him as he felt the mare closing in on him.

“OOF!” Twilight Velvet crashed into the deep blue field in a full gallop and fell onto her haunches in the snow.

Four... The stallion disappeared with a flash and snap. Catapulted two blocks ahead in a long-distance teleport.

        There was a brief moment of silence. The falling snowflakes had parted to make way for the pony that appeared with a loud snap. The space that moments before was just air became full of a panting unicorn. Horizon slowed his momentum and let the ice cold air fill his lungs. His heavy hooves crunched down the fresh snow and clacked on the hard cobblestone underneath. He looked up to the night sky and breathed out a long slow breath of relief.

That was easier than I thought it would be.

*WHOOSH*

*CRACK*

        The area in front of the stallion was blown clear of snow. Horizon reflexively shielded his eyes with a forehoof. The cobblestone street in front of him was occupied by a unicorn mare with her head bowed low to the ground. As she raised her muzzle to look at him, Horizon felt a wave of raw magic flow over him so familiar to that of his fillyfriends; It was terrifying and beautiful in its power.

        Twilight Velvet’s sky blue eyes burned with intensity. Her horn was humming with a charged spell. Blood was dripping from her muzzle from her collision with the magical kinetic barrier. The elder mare snarled as a rivulet ran into her mouth and she breathed out a single threat.

        “No more games.”

        Horizon saw the horn lower once more and blindly jumped an approximation of two more blocks ahead again. His eyes and ears were once again met with the bright flash and loud snap that accompanied long distance teleportation. An instant later, he heard the distant sound of splintering wood and shattering glass. Horizon turned to look at where he once stood.

        The sky blue wave of magical force had blasted out in front of Twilight Velvet and across the street. The snow whirled away which gave her a spare moment to take in the damage. There was no unconscious stallion crumpled into a heap. She huffed in frustration and a few blood drops flew to the snowy sidewalk. With a quick magical detection spell she found him again. She turned to look at Horizon further up the street and snarled.

As the mare made eye contact, Horizon shivered, but not from the cold. The entire storefront of the building across the street from where he stood moments before had been destroyed. That spell at point blank would have given him a concussion at best and broken bones at worst. Even from a distance, the gaze that now met his eyes was enough to make his legs weak.

Horizon saw her horn charge up again and he quickly uttered a prayer to Celestia. The moment he flashed away in another blind teleport, the cloudy grey mare appeared almost exactly where he had been. She didn’t bother to show disappointment this time, with another rapid detection spell and a quick turn of her head she flashed away once more.

The chase was on again.

~~~

        Twilight Sparkle was galloping through the streets of Canterlot as well. Her legs wanted to give out on her as she replayed the conversation over and over. The words they traded etching into her memory like a deep scar that would never heal. She had never imagined saying anything so cruel to anypony, especially her coltfriend. Her heart fluttered and she closed her eyes to blink away tears once more. The dampness on her face was bleeding out the heat of her cheeks as she felt shame, anger, embarrassment, and frustration all at once.

        It became too much for her once again. She slid to a halt and leaned on the nearest street lamp. She took a moment to catch her breath and cast another resonance spell for what seemed like the tenth time in as many minutes. She knew the signature magical “scent” of her mother and coltfriend like the back of her hoof. But when she listened to the ripples in the aether it was like a pond in a rainstorm. Whatever they were doing, it was violent and fast.

        Twilight felt her neck constrict once more as she fought down another sob. She prayed to Celestia that he would be safe, that they both would be safe she amended.

        With a second detection spell Twilight calmed her breathing and began to count. She listened every half second and felt the waves flowing from all the unicorns around her. But one large emanations that she recognized hit her and startled her out of her thought process. It was almost as strong as when her brother cast his shield spell. And it came from her mother.

        “Mom!” The young unicorn mare yelled. She turned towards the market square and lowered her horn to charge a long distance teleport. It was nearly twenty blocks away, but she wasn’t the Royal Pupil for nothing.

~~~

        Horizon slid and ducked into the nearest market stall in the open square. He had managed to get a two teleport lead on the pursuing mare and he used the time to hide. The stallion gasped for air and held onto his left front foreleg. He took a moment to inspect the aching area. A debilitating missile spell had hit him just above the hoof and singed his blue coat. The real damage would be in the muscle tissue that lay underneath as the force of the spell was designed to penetrate dermal tissue and dissipate in the muscular fibers, causing tears that would manifest as extreme soreness. The ligaments and nerves were fine as he tested his flexibility and sensitivity, but the pain from the motion was almost unbearable. Galloping would be out of the option now.

* WHOOMF*

        Horizon rolled to peek over the market stall counter in the direction the sound came from.

        Twilight Velvet was standing tall on the second tier of the large marble fountain in the center of Canterlot’s market square. She was breathing rapidly, her mane was disheveled and the snowflakes that hit her horn evaporated instantly. The bleeding from her muzzle had stopped, but the fur from her nostrils to her neck was stained a deep red.

        “You think you can hide from me!? You can’t run anymore, I made sure of that, and I will find you if you teleport again. Shining Armor will have the entire city locked down in a matter of moments. No pony hurts my daughter and gets away scot free!” She was swiveling and staring down every dark corner in the market. She cast multiple detection spells and listened to find a ripple of a long distance teleport over the background noise of the ancient Unicorn capitol. But nothing was nearby and nothing had his signature magical scent.

        “Pfah! No matter, you can sit and stew like the coward you are. The Enchanter’s Eye will help me to find you!” Twilight Velvet closed her eyes and spread her hooves into a balanced stance as she focused on the complex magic. She bowed her head deep and her horn glowed once more as she spoke the incantation for the enhancing spell.

        “Shit!” Horizon harshly whispered under his breath as he ducked down and cursed his luck. Of course, the mare trying to capture him had to be the professor of Magical Inscription at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. He closed his eyes and began silently moving his lips as his brain struggled to remember.

What was it? Enchanter’s Eye... Enchanter’s Eye... sees through dark and... NO!

        Horizon began to thud the side of his head with his injured leg. The pain was sharp, but the adrenaline released into his system was jogging his memory.

Enchanter’s Eye... something hide... that’s it!

“The Enchanter’s Eye will aid your sight,

Penetrating barriers and dark like light.

But if you wish to be subtle and hide,

All you have to do is cool your hide!”

        Horizon mentally cheered and briefly smiled as he recalled how terrible the mnemonics and memorization tricks were. They helped him to ace nearly every class at the damnable school, but he never imagined he would need to recall one for such an obscure spell.

        He dropped himself onto the slush and snow and rolled around. His face, neck, barrel, legs and hooves were thoroughly drenched. He got back to his haunches in a low crouch and his teeth chattered as he listened to the sound of the mare’s hooves on the marble fountain. When he risked another glance up to the elder Twilight he did so with foolish pride. With a simple thought he smirked at the one who hunted him.

I always knew I was smarter than my teachers.

        Twilight Velvet’s eyes glowed with a light blue aura. A small rune was floating above her head in a wispy smoke that showed that the enchantment was active. She turned once, rapidly scanning every market stall and road leading away from the large marble fountain in the center. On her second pass she went slowly, carefully, meticulously. She knew her adversary was cunning.

        A sliver of light blue poked above a wooden counter in her peripheral for a moment. She turned her head to it instantly and it disappeared. The market stall it came from was partially tucked between several closer ones. The line of sight was direct, no other stalls behind it were in alignment and the cloth fabrics wouldn’t block the Enchanter’s Eye; but the wooden counter and its contents might. She knew she had found him.

Clever, a solid ‘A’ my diligent student, but you forgot the horn.

        Horizon held his breath and listened intently to the sound of the market around him. The wind and the gentle flapping of the market stall fabric walls were the only sounds, the hoofsteps had stopped. He leaned back into the market stall counter and stared up at the tent flaps above him as he shivered.

She had looked right at me! He thought. How is that possib—

* FLASH *

Horizon’s thoughts were interrupted as his vision was filled with the eyes of his pursuer.

“Gotcha.”

Twilight Velvet lowered her horn and spread her stance as the quivering, soaking wet stallion in front of her looked at her in disbelief. His amazement began to fade as he grit his chattering teeth once more in frustration.

She released her spell.

* BOOM *

A parabolic wave of sky blue magical force exploded out of the market stall in a wide arc. A 20 meter high wall of wood and cloth debris flew through the air. The pressure wave slammed into the marble fountain and snapped the gilded wings off of the rearing Celestia and Luna statues. Bright and intricately designed fabrics and pennants littered the opposite half of the market as the wooden remains began to fall.

Twilight Velvet walked forward on unsteady hooves. The stall behind her collapsed as the supports for its front half finally met the ground on the other side of the square. She looked at the pennants, snow, and fabrics flying away and searched the now clear ground in a wide swathe in front of her. Again, there was no unconscious stallion crumpled in a heap of broken limbs. She had failed again.

“DAMN YOU, HORIZON!”

~~~

        Twilight Sparkle blinked as she took in the sight before her. The large magical pulse she felt emanating from the market square moments before was obviously the cause of the destruction. Every unicorn in upper Canterlot must have felt it. It had only taken her a moment to teleport the great distance to the markets and trot to the point of origin, but there was nothing happening here now. She walked towards the center of the quiet square as the sounds of shouting in the distance drew closer. One sound carried over it all however, the sound of crying.

        The young unicorn moved towards the mare as quickly as possible fearing the worst. She noticed a cloudy grey mare lying down next to the shattered wing by the base of the marble fountain. She appeared distraught and was holding a hoof to her muzzle where blood had been dripping down her neck. Twilight gasped at the sight of her injured mother.

        “Mom?”

        Twilight Velvet looked up quickly and made to rise and nuzzle her youngest child. But the magical exertions had clearly taken their toll on her as her legs buckled. The elder mare slumped forward once more. But the determination to be presentable for her daughter pressed her on.

        Twilight Sparkle rushed forward and slid to her knees and joined her mother on the cold cobblestone. She rubbed her neck into her mother’s and did her best to support her as the elder Twilight slowly moved once more to stand.

        “Twilight... I couldn’t stop him... I’m sorry. I did everything I could... There’s-” Twilight Velvet tried to sound as urgent as possible, but the exhaustion and hopelessness was weighing down her words.

        “What happened?” Twilight asked with clear nervousness in her voice. She couldn’t imagine her coltfriend harming anyone intentionally, much less her mother. “That spell you cast... did it cause this?” She added with a hint of disappointment salting her voice.

        The mother knew that tone. She knew exactly what her daughter was thinking. And she was right. “I... I was just trying to stop him, I didn’t mean to...” her words fell short as she took in the damage all around. Citizens and guards were filling the square to marvel at the destruction and see what had caused the noise.

        Twilight Sparkle stared at her mother, shifting her gaze from eye to eye as the cloudy grey mare looked to the damage she had wrought in shame. It wasn’t the first time her temper had caused her to behave irrationally, but it was definitely the worst.

        “You could have killed him.”

        “Twily, I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

        “NO! You weren’t thinking, again! Why can’t you just trust me instead of going crazy!”

        “Twilight, I was doing what was best for you!”

        “What’s best? Take a look around, Mom! Does this look like what is best? This is exactly the kind of thing that Celestia works so hard with me to prevent. What is she going to think of us now?” Twilight Sparkle groaned and rolled her eyes. She remembered the “want it, need it” incident all too clearly. “Why did I have to inherit this part of your personality.” She spoke softly, but audibly.

The mother was angry once more as she spoke, “If he was a real stallion, he would do anything to ensure that his child was safe! Just as I do for my child! No parent runs away from the most important thing in their life!” She lowered her voice and took a calming breath before holding a hoof to her daughter’s side and adding, “You have always been the most important thing in my life, Twily, my namesake. And now you are two of the most important things in my life.”

        Twilight Sparkle sighed as she walked away from the upset mare in front of her. She looked up to the stars and took a deep breath and waved her hoof in a calming gesture before turning around and addressing her mother once more. “He doesn’t know, Mom.”

        Twilight Velvet was aghast. “What!? B-but you-”

        “I didn’t tell him, I... forgot. I was just so angry with him because he lied about... ugh... it’s this time machine he has invented. It is confusing him and-”

        “Stop. What did you say?” The mother fixed the daughter with an icy glare.

“It’s a time machine. He made it yesterday and turned it on. I don’t know how it works.”

        “Temporal Magic!? Are you insane? How could you let such research take place?”

        “I had no idea before last night, Mom! What was I supposed to do, destroy his life’s work before Hearth’s Warming Day? Call the guards and have him arrested? He’s an inventor for Celestia’s sake!”

        The mares were interrupted as a white stallion flanked by two royal guards charged forward to the source of the shouting.

        “Twily! What in Tartarus happened here?” Shining Armor addressed both of the female members of his family at the same time.

        The sister looked to the brother and simply pointed a hoof to the mother. “Guess.”

        Twilight Velvet looked insulted as Shining Armor simply closed his eyes and nodded.

        “Don’t look at me like that! I had no choice, he was going to run away, I had to cripple him.” Twilight Velvet stopped and regretted her choice of words instantly.

        “CRIPPLE!?” Twilight Sparkle’s horn began charging up.

        Shining Armor stepped in front of his mother and looked at his sister with fear.

        “Twily. Please calm down. I can do my best to control this situation, but not without your help. Please, help me.” The brother pleaded as he stood defensively in front of the mother.

        Twilight stomped a hoof once more and shook her head. She shut her eyes tight as the magic faded from her horn once more. Shining Armor nodded to his sister as she opened her eyes and looked crestfallen. “It’s going to be ok Twily, we can help you. You aren’t alone.” Shining moved closer and hugged her. Twilight relaxed into the embrace and thanked the stars once more that she had such a caring older brother.

        “I’m so sorry, Twily.” The elder mare watched her progeny arguing over her and it nearly brought her to tears again. “I just hit his foreleg with a muscle debilitating spell to stop him from running. I didn’t mean to do any permanent damage.” She leaned into her son as she felt the sobs coming once more.

        Shining Armor dismissed the nearby royal guard with a nod, they each moved to begin crowd control and to tell the citizens to return to their homes. A moment of silence passed while the trio of unicorns held onto each other and collectively calmed down.

The younger mare wasn’t about to ask how a debilitating spell escalated into a kinetic wave that destroyed half of the upper Canterlot market square. She could just take solace with the knowledge he was alive. “Which way did he go?” Twilight Sparkle asked quietly.

        “You... You’re not mad?” The mother asked.

        “Of course I’m mad! You probably gave him rhabdomyolysis or worse! But I don’t have time to think about it and every second we stand here bickering like foals the closer he gets to doing something crazy.” Twilight Sparkle huffed and looked around the square at the slowly clearing crowds as the royal guards began to move back and forth assisting the fireponies with clearing debris.

        “Twilight, I’m sorry. I didn’t see which way he went. He just disappeared after I... lost control.” She paused once more to look at the destruction around her and to grip her son once more. “I know you are upset, but I love you so much. I just don’t know how to show it sometimes. I know I’ve done enough harm as it is. But please, let me give you what little strength I have left.” Twilight Velvet looked to her lavender daughter and smiled hopefully.

        Before the daughter could respond, Shining Armor added, “I may be a prince now Twily, but this sort of thing is way over my head. I’ll give you as much as I can too.”

        The royal pupil turned back to her mother and brother. She bowed her head in understanding. With a wordless nod Shining Armor did as well. Twilight Velvet slowly joined her children as they closed their eyes and prepared the spell.

        All three touched horns and a light blue aura from a cloudy grey horn was joined by a pink one from a white horn. Both flowed into the violet red aura around the lavender horn. Twilight clenched her jaw as the surge of energy overcharged her senses and was awash in the emotion that carried it. Unconditional love.

        With a gasp, all three pulled away and the mother collapsed into the forelegs of the son as they both sat on the cobblestone and breathed heavily. Twilight Sparkle shivered as all of her hairs stood on end from the magical boost. Her thought process was cleared like a clean slate and she began to think on overdrive.

        “Have they stopped the trains yet?” The younger mare asked as she hummed with energy.

        “The guards should get to the station any minute now. The pegasi scouts went first to stop the departures through Ponyville. The unicorns will be there shortly to search for him. Cadance was heading for the castle.” Shining Armor stated.

        “Then I’ll head for the trains first, there’s no other way for him to get back to Ponyville unless he sprouts wings.” Twilight looked in the direction of the Grand Central train station and began to focus.

        Twilight Velvet opened her eyes to look at her daughter as her breathing slowed down. “Good luck Twilight, I love you, so much.”

        “Go get him, Twily.” Shining spoke as he held his mother who slowly drifted to sleep from overexertion.

        Twilight Sparkle nodded. She used her magic to pull her navy blue scarf tight once more and blinked away in a supercharged teleport, directly to Canterlot Grand Central from the market square in the heart of the city.

~~~

        Horizon limped through Canterlot as he wheezed in pain. Street by street he made his way to the royal grounds, taking a moment to cut down a random alleyway every time guards ran by. The royal study was in sight, he only had a few more blocks to go.

        He leaned against a streetlamp and groaned in pain. The magical exertion of his last panicked teleport was throwing off his balance and making his stomach churn. Walking on three legs was difficult enough without vertigo and a migraine. The headache was punctuated with a burst of pain in the base of his horn every time he put any weight on his injured leg; but walking was the only option now, if he teleported again, he risked detection.

        With a growl of determination he pulled his lavender scarf tight again and remembered why he was doing it. He was going to make it perfect for Twilight. His love deserved nothing less. Horizon continued to walk on three hooves through the snow once more towards the ivory tower in the distance. He had to get to the machine.

~~~

        Spike was sitting on his haunches and staring at the oven with his arms crossed. Long sharp claws clacked against his forearm scales as they tapped a rhythm in annoyance. His draconic eyes watched the egg timer count down slowly. The comically small chef hat on his head was impaled by a large green spine and flopped to the side with every impatient twitch of the large sinuous wings.

        “Curse you oven, cook faster! Twilight could be here any minute!”

        Spike had always taken his food seriously. Especially when it was his freshly baked home-made triple-decker nut-crazy vanilla cream cookies. The kitchen in Twilight’s study had always been his domain. He made sure that the mare didn’t get anywhere close to the cupboards. Somehow she could use a bunsen burner to brew experimental potions just fine, but couldn’t cook more than tea or coffee to save her life. The well stocked kitchen had every utensil he would ever need and each was ergonomically designed to work with his clawed hands; but one thing always made him miss his little kitchen in the Ponyville library. The teenage dragon regretted most that his special heart embroidered apron no longer fit him. Getting batter in his scales was impossible to clean out, especially when his internal heat caused them to harden.

        The timer ticked down one minute.

        “AUGH!” Spike groaned in frustration. he turned on his heel and waddled out of the kitchen, ducking low to avoid the doorframe. He made his way to the main floor and curled up around his large bowl of gems. He still had dinner to finish after all. Another lonely meal for a lonely dragon.

        “Scree!”

        Spike looked up to the vaunted ceiling to see the burning contrail of a large phoenix as it entered through the special entrance made for it at the highest window. As the majestic bird  lazily spiraled down to the lower levels of the ivory tower it tilted its wings to slow its descent. Back winging to stop its momentum just above its favorite perch.

        With a plop and a, “caw”, Peewee landed on Spikes head and raked its claws to fluff the chef hat before folding its wings in, puffing its chest out, and burrowing in to enjoy the warmth.

        “Peewee, do you always have to sit there?” Spike looked up to the puffy mound of white hanging lopsided off of his head. The chef’s hat was accented with orange wing tips that poked over the edge. Spike may have been in an abysmal mood for the last month of his “vacation” but his best friend for life made it bearable, somewhat. Nobody else aside from Celestia made any effort to talk to him–and aside from re-reading and re-organizing every scrap of paper in the library that he and Twilight collected, there wasn’t much entertainment.

        “Ca-caw, scree chirp chirp.” The young phoenix responded.

        Spike sighed, “Hello to you too. Yes, those are cookies,”  Peewee raised his head and looked down over Spike’s forehead to look the dragon in the eye excitedly, “and no you can’t have any, those are for Twilight.”

        “Cheep skraw chirp chirp peeoowee.”

“Well, if Twilight wants to share with you she can, but since you were too busy to even say ‘hello’ earlier today I doubt she will.” Spike responded with a smug and satisfied look.“Let that deserter fare without his dessert!” He thought.

        “Cheep chirp ca-skraw cluck, skra cheep.”

        “What? I am not jealous! I could have a special somebirdy err... somedragon if I wanted. There just aren’t any female dragons around, or maybe you haven’t noticed because your head is up in the clouds all the time.” Spike was getting angry and eating his gems faster and faster. It had been a stressful day already. He hated when Peewee had just come back from visiting... Her.

        “Squaawk tweet skra skra, whit woo.”

        “Ugh, no Peewee, I don’t want to hear about how you ‘heated things up tonight’.” Spike began to curl further into himself and clutch his bowl of gems tighter. He lowered his head, narrowed his eyes, and munched his gems by the clawful. The young phoenix was so optimistic and energetic that by contrast it was actually depressing and draining to be around him. His eternal gregariousness did nothing but throw Spike’s depression into sharp relief.

        “Caw-cheep, skra-skraw, squawk tweet chirpee. Pip tweet ca-cuckcoo coo, cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck...”

        “Aww gross Peewee! How many times do I have to tell you I don’t want to hear about a cloaca ever again! Disgusting.” Spike put his nearly empty bowl of gems aside, losing his appetite at the graphic description of his best friend’s carnal activities.

        “Peeoowee whit, Peeoowee coo whit cawee” The teenage phoenix melted into a smile of contentment as he thought of his very special somebirdy. He was of course referring to none other than Philomena, the immortal pet of Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia. As the only two phoenixes in Canterlot it would only be a matter of time before biology took its course. Peewee didn’t mind having a nestmate with a great deal of experience either.

        Spike was unswayed by his friends lovesick behavior, “We do not speak her name! She is the burner of bro-bridges. The flame-setter-to of friendships. The winged wedge that widens our wonderful way of life. The clawed corruptor of cool phoenixes everywhere!” Spike paused his dramatic gesticulation and alliteration when he noticed the frantic chirping coming from above his head. He had been loudly stomping and pacing as his frustrations mounted. His best friend for life was hanging on desperately to the chef hat he loved so much as the large dragon bristled.

 “CA-CAW! Skree squawk! Skra-skra chirp chirrup.” Peewee flapped his wings in desperation and held onto the chef hat with all of his strength.

Spike paused his angry pacing as he heard his companion and realized the amount of noise he was making.

Peewee’s right, we don’t want to guards to break down the door again, Spike thought.

The dragon slowly walked towards the golden and marble perch that Celestia had brought specifically for Peewee to sleep on. With a gentle claw and a grumble Spike took off his chef hat and placed it onto the ash tray under the gilded rod that was Peewee’s designated spot.

        “You stay there and cool off, mister! Celestia had that made specifically for you and it’s about time you start using it. No more sleeping on me anymore. I don’t want a repeat of last week.” Spike shuddered as he thought of the morning he woke up covered in ashes. He was afraid he had sneezed and incinerated his honor-bound brother in his sleep and cried for nearly fifteen minutes before the ashes coalesced back into a laughing phoenix. Spike then learned that Peewee was actually flameproof, in a rather unscientific way.

        As Peewee fixed his fluffy white makeshift nest once more he turned a full rotation and plopped back down to glare at his slightly older dragon friend. “Squawk, pip skra...”

        “Yeah, I am still upset about it. Your prankster girlfriend is rubbing off on you too much.”

“Ca-ca-ca-ca chirrup.” The phoenix laughed.

“Come on man, that’s not what I meant and you know it. Now you stay there and behave while I go back to the kitchen.” Spike turned on his heel and marched away from the phoenix who he loved like a little brother.

        “Cluck, twitter cheep.”

        Spike turned and gave the most offended stink eye he could at his friend. “How could he tweet such a thing?”

        Before Spike could leave the main room and return to his cookies, the door was thrust open and a shivering Horizon fell forward into the warm room. Peewee and the dragon stared at the sight in front of them. The deep blue unicorn was a mess, his lavender scarf was dripping wet as was his coat. He was clutching his hoof to his chest and gritting his teeth as he rose to stand. Before either of the royal study occupants could address the stallion, he asked.

        “Spike, where are the STAR crystals?”

~~~

*FLASH*

*CRACK*

        Twilight Sparkle appeared at the train station to see families arriving from all around Equestria being greeted by their Canterlot relatives and hosts. A small crowd formed around her as she had appeared out of thin air. Her glowing eyes probably had something to do with that as well.

        With a quick voice amplification spell she yelled, “WHO IS IN CHARGE HERE!”

        A pegasus Royal Guard who noticed her arrival took to wing, moving to her quickly as possible while ponies began to look on in fear and shift uneasily at the sight of the loud glowing unicorn. Most who lived in Canterlot knew her instantly from her appearance. The royal protege of Princess Celestia was no stranger to these streets.

“Ms. Sparkle! There you are, we were told you would be arriving soon, but I did not expect you so quickly.”

        “Report.” Twilight commanded as she began walking down the station checking the loading areas by the tracks. Nearly every train was letting passengers off. She cast a quick resonance spell. There wasn’t even a hint of another unicorn’s teleportation magic nearby.

        The guard was taken aback at the seriousness of the mare. None of them knew exactly what was happening, just that the trains that ran through Ponyville were to be indefinitely delayed until the passengers could be searched. The order came down from Prince Shining Armor himself. “We have stopped the trains returning to Appleloosa, Dodge City, Los Pegasus, and Tall Tale via Ponyville. Only two had been scheduled to depart in the last few minutes, but there were hardly any passengers on the manifest and no tickets had been sold recently.” He trotted behind the mare as she swiveled her ears and lit her horn up every few paces. The pegasus guard knew she was searching for something, but couldn’t fathom what.

        Twilight paused and closed her eyes, she lit her horn up and it pulsed a few wide omnidirectional bursts throughout the train station. She let out a breath she had been holding and looked to the ground with a sigh. “He hasn’t been here. There’s no trace of his magic.”

        “Ms. Sparkle, if you told us what we were looking for we could possibly help. Right now we are all in the dark and not sure what to tell the ponies who are just trying to meet with their families during the holiday. They are worried that it might be dangerous to travel.” He paused as families moving by began to whisper and stare. “It, it isn’t something dangerous is it? You know how people get when the elements are involved, especially you.”

        Twilight bit her lip and sighed. “We are looking for a unicorn stallion, he has a deep blue coat, brown hair, amber eyes and a boring cutie mark.” Twilight sardonically chuckled at the final descriptor. If she couldn’t find him with enhanced detection spells, she doubted some pegasi could, no matter how good their eyesight was.

        “You mean your coltfriend?” The guard asked, genuinely confused.

        “What!?” Twilight turned on the guard with barely checked anger.

        “I’m sorry it’s just, well, everyone in the guard knows who he is. Princess Luna had us all memorize his appearance when you two were first courting. She said he was a potential risk to the safety of the nation, and even had some of us following him while he was in town for the first few months. I didn’t know he would actually be dangerous.” The guard said as calmly as he could manage. He chose to stick to the facts and not mention the more invasive methods they used to violate his privacy.

        Twilight realized her mouth was hanging open. She would have to discuss this new information with Luna, in private. “Unbelievable.” she spat out.

        “I’m sorry, it was just orders. We didn’t think anything would come of it. But if he’s done something to risk the safety of Eque-”

        “He has done NOTHING of the sort.” Twilight bristled with anger and surged with energy. Unicorns all around the station turned instinctively to the feel of raw magic and began backing away.

        The guard removed his helmet and looked nervously at Twilight as he leaned forward. “I am sorry if I have offended you, but it’s Hearth’s Warming Day and we are on a skeleton crew. I didn’t think I would have to lead an investigation into, whatever this is. Please, just let us know how we can help, we don’t want to cause any more panic than there already is.” He looked around at the crowd as ponies shuffled as quickly as possible to the exits. “Just tell us it’s going to be okay.” He was practically begging her, the fear was obvious on his expression.

        Twilight blinked away her frustration and looked to the guard.

        “It’s going to be fine.” She said.

~~~

        Cadance literally flew through the entrance to the upper hallways of Canterlot Castle. The throne room had been empty and not a single guard knew where the Princess of the Night was, again. Luna had probably gone on another one of her “leave of absences” to some unknown corner of Equestria again. Cadance may be good at holding her tongue, but it was no secret to the Princess of Love that her grandmother had given herself to someone special. Someone who happened to follow the Wonderbolts tour schedule with uncanny precision.

        But even the Wonderbolts had Hearth’s Warming Day off.

        As she approached the five meter tall solar emblazoned doors to her aunt Celestia’s private chambers as she addressed the guards. “I want you to find Luna, now. It’s an emergency.” The pair nodded and galloped down the hall.

        Cadance quietly entered the bedroom and moved towards her aunt’s bedside.

        Celestia awoke to the sound of her chamber door being opened and turned to look up at her niece Cadance as she looked down at her. “Cadance? What’s the matter?” She blinked away the pleasant dreams of days gone by and friends long past as the visage of a young pink alicorn filled her field of view.

        As the leader of the Crystal Empire opened her mouth to answer the leader of the Equestrian nation, there was a terrifying roar.

~~~

Shining Armor and every other pony in the market square turned as one to look towards the castle. A gigantic gout of green flame burst through the side of the royal study. The tower of swirling green fire burnt up the side of the pristine marble building and spewed black smoke into the night sky, obscuring the stars to the west. A second roar followed suit and a concussive blast of heat seemed to radiate from the tower as the windows were all blown out and the ceiling began to crumble and chip like an eggshell.

Shining Armor had no words to describe what he saw next.

~~~

        Twilight Sparkle and every pony in the train station turned to watch as the Ivory tower lit up the night sky in a bright green magical fire. From this side of town it looked like the building had spontaneously burst into flames. Then the sound reached them.

        A roar of pain and anger. Hurt and confusion. Twilight Sparkle felt her heart skip a beat as she remembered in excruciating detail the last time she heard that sound. Manehattan, only four weeks ago. Spike had lost control again.

        There was a second of shocked silence as every pony in the station watched the building in awe. Then the second roar came, more terrifying and powerful than the first. The roof of the burning tower began to crumble and crack, rising higher until with a final shove a large dragon burst from the top and spread its wings. The night sky framed the mottled purple and green silhouette of the draconic monstrosity as it tested its wings and rose into the night sky. It looked down once to the tower with a calm expression that few ponies would recognize as regret and mourning, but Twilight could see that his heart was heavy with terrible sorrow. She just wished she knew why.

        Then it raised its neck once more and roared, a sound of anguish, as it swiveled its entire body to dive down the southern shelf towards Ponyville.

        Twilight watched in awe. Spike was flying, but she didn’t know why he would head to Ponyville or why he would destroy the study. The only thing in the old tower was her personal copies of research notes, a great deal of un-unique books, copies of her friendship reports, and the presents she sent with the...

The STAR crystals.

        Twilight snapped out of her trance as the screams of mass hysteria broke through to her.

        She closed her eyes and teleported to the safest place she knew.

~~~

        Cadance and Celestia rushed to the balcony and threw the double doors open to the winter night. They watched in awe as Spike took to wing in a clumsy manner and swooped over the edge of the city towards Ponyville. His roar echoing far into the distance as every light in canterlot turned on and screams filled the streets.

*CRACK*

        “Princess!”

        Celestia and Cadance both turned as a weakened Twilight Sparkle fell to her knees in the center of the bedroom.

        “Twilight, what is happening.” Cadance turned and quickly moved to Twilight. Celestia continued to watch the dragon recede into the distance. No pony noticed the single tear that fell down her cheek.

        Twilight stood up from where she arrived after the enhanced teleport. “I’ll explain on the way, we have to get to Ponyville. I’m the only one who can calm him down. He... He needs me.”

        Before either alicorn could answer, a third swooped down onto the balcony to address the group.

        “Rainbow Dash is already heading to Ponyville to begin evacuation. I will carry Twilight to Spike.” Luna already was lifting Twilight with her magic and placing her on her back preparing to take wing. Her expression bore no humor as she wasted little time in preparing to carry the unicorn for the long flight.

        Cadance widened her eyes in surprise, at least now she now knew exactly who the mystery pony was, or mare to be specific. Luna flapped her wings a few times and shuffled Twilight to balance her. She met her distant daughters wide eyes with a hint of a knowing smile and a brief wink. The youngest princess smiled briefly, despite the chaos, and was happy for her distant mother.

        “Cadance, what is happening.” Celestia intentionally avoided eye contact with Twilight as she turned to her niece. Her tears had slowed, but had not dried completely.

        Cadance noticed the fading tears, but could convey only confusion as the elder alicorns looked to her for explanation. The Princess of Love was aided by her sister-in-law.

        “Princess Celestia, please, I can explain on the way, but there’s no time to lose.” Twilight pleaded. Luna nodded her head in agreement and stretched her wings to test her balance. She unconsciously began to scrape a forehoof at the thought of flying into danger.

        Celestia simply looked to the burning building below and then once more to the dragon as he shrunk in the distance to the quiet village to the south. “Cadance, take care of my city.” Celestia commanded her niece.

“Of course.” The youngest princess replied.

As Celestia took wing and rose into the air she was joined by her sister. As one, they swooped low off the balcony toward Ponyville.

“I hope for our friends sake that we can reach him in time, my most faithful student.”

Twilight nodded her understanding at her mentor beside her as she gripped the dark alicorn tighter and hoped as hard as she could.

~~~

        The Ponyville library was dark, quiet, and cold. The statue of Mareistotle kept silent watch over the yards of literature and reference texts from the center of the library. The snowy streets of Ponyville outside were empty. Families were inside and had finished exchanging gifts, the foals who were tired from a day of playing with their new toys were ushered to bed. The soft light of the moon cast a silvery light onto the oaken floor of the tree house through the upper windows. Then peace was interrupted as five crystals began to glow and vibrate.

        Horizon’s senses were assaulted with an intense heat, a metallic smell, and a blindingly bright light. Vertigo washed around and through him as he felt the sensation of falling in every direction at the same time. He focused as hard as possible on maintaining the field that would ensure his entire body arrived - and in the same configuration it was in when he left Canterlot - theoretically. He clenched his teeth hard enough to make his jaw hurt, he pushed more energy through his horn than he ever had before. The hurt of his foreleg was nothing compared to the wall of pure pain below his horn.

        And just like that it was over. The stallion barely had a second to open his eyes before he stumbled forward and emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor. He retched twice more before he realized how much weight he was putting on his bad hoof and he rolled onto his side to take the pressure off. His mind exploded in pain as his head rolled to bump his horn on the floor. He attempted to shout in agony, but his sound was blocked by another stream of sick that was forced out his mouth. He tried to breath in between the heaves, but realized his nostrils were now bleeding from the magical overload. With gasps and coughs he spit the blood and vomit out of his airways. He coughed and took what air he could into his lungs.

His vision was doubled as he struggled to focus on anything besides the sensation of his horn melting through his brain like a white hot rod of iron. His vision began to shrink from the edges. He struggled to crawl to the basement door for a brief moment, thinking only of the urgent need to get to the machine. Numbness took over his limbs and his world became dark.

        The library was silent once more.

        Horizon opened his eyes with a gasp. His breath tasted of copper, wood polish, and oak. He raised his head and saw the congealed outline it had left on the polished oak floor. The stallion groaned and made to stand on his hooves, but fell back down as a wave of nausea and vertigo washed over him. His dry mouth laced every gasp and hiss of pain with metallic and acidic flavors. The hurt of his many injuries was a warm blanket now and it simply prickled his overloaded senses as he rose to his hooves.

        He knew he had to get to the machine. There was no going back from what he had done.

        He walked slowly and with purpose to the basement door. He opened it with a weary hoof and took the stairs one at a time. When he reached the machine, he gripped the drop cloth with his mouth and slowly pulled it back to reveal the silent box covered in magical runes. With a brief sigh and a shaking hoof, he turned the latch and opened the door. The inside was completely dark and unwelcoming. He simply stared into the maw of his greatest creation for a moment. He knew the trip back in time would take almost 24 hours if his theory held water. He shivered as he remembered that it was only last night that he decided to turn it on and began to contemplate the amount of ruin that had befallen him since then.

        The stallion looked down to his lavender scarf. It was stained with his blood in a few places now. It would need to be washed, purified, renewed, like so much else that went wrong tonight. He remembered again why he was doing this, why he had to follow through with it. With renewed resolve, he grabbed a pillow and blanket from the couch he had just last night spent hours with his love on, doing nothing more than watching movies. He remembered the observatory dome, her harsh words and her tears. He remembered how her mother had turned on him, how Spike had turned on him. He grit his teeth and tossed the pillow and blanket into the machine.

        Horizon vowed to never let anything come between them again.

        There was an odd sound coming from above him. A dull murmuring which carried faintly through the doorway. Then the talking and bustling devolved into shouts and screams. The unicorn turned to look up the stairs, past all of his and his fillyfriends laboratory equipment to the open door and listened to the sounds of panic and confusion. The wind seemed to be picking up as well.

        Then the entire foundation of the tree house, from the roots to the meter thick oak walls shook. The sounds of splintering wood and rustling leaves invaded the sanctity of the library. Horizon watched in awe as the bookcases from the main floor were shook and snapped by a terrible force. The basement groaned at the stresses. Then a roar that he had hoped to never hear again assaulted his ears.

        Spike had followed him.

        Horizon didn’t waste a single moment. The stallion dove into the safety of the quantum locked box and turned to the small door to close it. His horn glowed as he charged up the spell that would discharge the temporal energy stored in the runes and reverse the flow of time in the box. As he pulled on the handle with his weak hoof he saw the walls alight with a flash followed by the loud crack of a teleport. The bright and familiar red-violet glow of unicorn magic illuminated the basement. As he finished closing the door he heard a voice over the sound of a great tree being torn asunder.

        “Rize! Wait, I lo-”

Twilight’s words were cut off as the box was sealed once more and Horizon’s spell released its energy. There was a spark of light that jumped from his horn to the interior of the box which seemed to rapidly divide upon contact with the runes. The entire inside surface of the box crackled with static and sparks and then everything was dark. All was quiet except for the sound of the sole occupant.

        “I love you too.”