Manehattan, one of the many night clubs, two am.
She was sitting in a corner, listening to music she hated, waiting for a pony she hated much more.
She had pitch black coat, a bright orange mane, straight and well combed, and fiery red eyes that darted around the room. A small orange flame stood on her flank. A light fragrance of spices hanged around her.
A faint red glow appeared around her horn as her drink flew to her mouth.
A shady looking gray stallion entered the night club and sat in front of her.
"Ponyville" he said.
She gave him a small purse with a triumphant smile, then she left the table.
No time to waste, I have to hurry she thought.
Two colts, a pegasus and a earth pony, stood in her way, smiling like idiots.
Too much alchool.
"Where is a hottie like you going all alone?" said the first one.
"Stay here with us, enjoy yourself!" proposed the second.
"How nice of you offering me your company, but this place is awful. Would you like to join me at my house?"
There was something in the voice of the unicorn that would have told to any pony with a brain to get the furthest from her, and in the fastest way.
The two probably weren’t too bright, or simply too drunken, and followed her.
They all went in a back alley, where nopony was in sight; there she stood and grinned at the two.
"You live here?"
"Sorry, but I have other programs for the night. Bye bye" she said while her horn started glowing.
The two unfortunate pony ran away a second later with their tails on fire.
It seems I was too hot for you she thought while laughing.
Half a hour after that, she was on her way to Ponyville.
She didn't like trains, so she galloped into the night, following a small fire ball levitating right in front of her.
Ponyville, Twilight's library, half past ten am, two weeks later.
"I hope this report will result useful to you. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle" finished dictating the purple unicorn.
Spike, written everything, handed the letter to her.
She red it twice then nodded with satisfaction.
"Please Spike, send this to Princess Celestia right away" said giving him the letter.
Suddenly, the door of the library slammed open and a light blue pegasus flew inside, landing on the purple mare.
"Rainbow, what are you doing?"
"Sorry Twilight, just practicing a bit; I took the wrong way and ended up here" she said while scratching her head.
They started laughing.
Neither of them noticed the black unicorn standing on the door.
"Excuse me, is Twilight Sparkle here?" asked the last arrived.
"That would be me, how can I help you?"
"Oh, I finally found you! I've searched you everywhere! You're the most powerful being in the whole Equestria!"
"Wow, you didn't tell me you were this famous, Twilight" said Rainbow Dash.
"I never knew... Wait, I cannot possibly be the most powerful: the princesses? And Discord?"
"I know you are still studying, and that's precisely why I came here"
"I don't follow her anymore" said the pegasus raising an eyebrow.
"One step at time please. Who are you? And who told you I'm the most powerful in the whole Equestria?"
"Must have been Trixie… That’ the only way she would admit defeat…" suggested Spike.
"Oh, how rude of me: my name is Fire Spark, and I am your daughter, Twilight Sparkle"
"Wow Twilight, you're even faster than me here" joked Rainbow Dash.
"What do you mean? That's simply impossible! Sweet Celestia, I'm not old enough to have a daughter of your age!" said the purple unicorn in a state of shock.
"It's possible since I come from the future; and to be more exactly, you will be the most powerful in Equestria in ten years, after your last victory against Discord by absorbing his power"
"What? This makes no sense! He is locked in stone!"
"Pinkie Pie will set him free"
"What? Why? How?"
"Well, I don't really know, but uncle Shining Armor told me a summary of the story..."
"Ok, let's say we believe you, why did you came here?" asked the pegasus flying an inch from her muzzle.
"To change the future"
"You like Discord that much?" asked Spike.
"Of course not! Nor I hate my mother, but her reign of fear must be stopped!"
"Ok, I'm lost" said the dragon.
"Me too" echoed Rainbow Dash.
"Reign of fear?" asked Twilight fearing the answer.
"Well, I think you've been, or better, you'll be corrupted by Discord power, anyway a few days after defeating discord you took over the changeling kingdom, then Canterlot. The rest of Equestria fell in a week after you defeated the princesses."
"That's something Twilight would never do!" shouted Spike.
"Wait just a second! There's a much more important thing you have to say us!" said Rainbow Dash.
The two unicorns assumed the same expression of confusion and said together "What's more important than the safety of Equestria?"
"Wow, she really is your daughter" said Spike looking at them.
"If you're Twilight's daughter, there should be a father right? Who is it?"
Twilight became red, Fire Spark lowered her look.
"I can't tell you his name. It's not safe…" she murmured.
"Well, how unfortunate, we will never know" tried saying the other unicorn.
"But I can show you"
After saying those words, the whole room fell into darkness as a wide black cloud expanded from where she stood a second before. Two vicious looking red eyes glared the three onlookers from the cloud.
"YOUR FATHER IS KING SOM-"shouted Rainbow Dash before a black hoof materialized on her mouth.
"SHHH! He could hear you!" said the black mare.
A loud bump announced that the purple unicorn had fainted.
"Ah Spike, you’ll never believe what a crazy dream I just had" said Twilight waking up.
"I’m afraid it wasn’t a dream, dear mother" whispered Fire Spark, not without a point of enjoyment.
"Tell me I'm still dreaming…"
"Look, either you believe me and hear out my plea or I take extreme measures"
"You’re menacing me?"
"I would really prefer you to hear me out"
"Sorry, but I still find hard to believe that I’m talking to my daughter… Mine and that ominous shadow’s it seems…"
"I swear this is the truth"
"No, it can’t be: king Sombra is dead and no time travelling spell could last long enough for you to be still here!"
"About the spell you’ll perfect it in some years, although you’ll still be unable to use it, since you already travelled back in time. And my father is still there, just outside the crystal empire, hidden in some cave… And I’d like you not to say his name again"
"Let’s say I believe you, what do you want from me?"
"You have to swear me that you will never ever learn the spell to drain power from others: only that way my future will never come"
"Well, all right, I won’t learn that spell"
"It seem it’s not enough…"said Fire Spark checking her body out.
"Care to explain?"
"If it was enough, I should have disappeared"
"So, what will you do now?" asked the purple unicorn, fearing the answer.
"I don’t know… I’d like to avoid incinerating you… Or Pinkie Pie…"
Silence fell in the room, heavy as lead.
"You said Pinkie will free Discord? Do you have any clue on how she did that?"
"No, uncle didn’t tell me that much…"
"I have an idea, well maybe it’s a bit crazy but it could work" said Twilight smiling.
A couple of minutes later, the two unicorns and Spike reached Sugarcube Corner. When they entered, something felt off: the place was dark and deserted, an eerie feeling in the air.
"Pinkie? Mr. and Ms. Cake?" called out Twilight.
"Maybe they are all out" suggested Spike.
Suddenly all the lights were turned on, while a pink earth pony jumped out from behind a table with paper strings and balloons.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" she shouted.
Just after that a group of ponies appeared from other rooms and behind the furniture.
"Pinkie, I think you're off here: it's not my birthday, and neither Spike's"
"Of course not, silly: it's hers" said the over mentioned pony pointing Fire Spark.
"Well, actually no, it isn't" answered the black unicorn.
"Oh, are you sure? Well, never mind: PARTY!"
"Calm down Pinkie, we have to talk" begged Twilight.
"Hey Twi, taste the punch, it's great!" said Spike from the buffet table.
"Wait a minute, you two look alike... Is she your sister?" inquired Pinkie Pie.
"Don't be absurd Pinkie, I have only a brother and you know him"
"All right. Pleasured to meet you, Twilight's sister, I'm Pinkie Pie" she said shaking her hoof vigorously.
"I'm Fire Spark and I'm not her sister but her daughter"
"Well, whatever you like... Wait, her daughter? Oh, I see, it's a prank! Nicely done Twilight, I would have never suspected you"
"No Pinkie, she travelled back in time. That's why we are here"
"Oh, time travelling... Does it tickles? Or it gives you motion sickness? Wait, I guess it should be called time sickness..."
"Ehm, no, neither of those..."
"Pinkie, we need your help!" said Twilight who was starting to lose her cool.
"She's stuck here and she need shelter while you try to send her back?"
"No! Please stay quiet for a second and hear me out, ok?"
The pink mare nodded.
"Good. As I said she comes from the future and has told me some pretty ominous things, and that brings us here: how would you free Discord from his stone prison?"
"What a silly question: I would never free him, tough he was fun..."
"Let's suppose you want to free him"
"I'd probably use the elements of harmony, no, wait, they bring harmony, not chaos... I'd definitely shatter the elements"
"This makes sense mom: it explains why the elements are nowhere to be found in my time"
"Well Pinkie, I need you to promise me that you would never do something like this"
"Of course I wouldn't!"
"Pinkie, you're our last hope" begged the black mare.
"Okie-dokie, I Pinkie promise: cross my heart, prepare to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye" recited her with a set of complex gestures.
"What was that? Wait, it works! Look, I'm fading!" said Fire Spark excited.
"What a silly! You're not fading: it's just Gummy biting your tail" laughed Pinkie.
"Then we failed?" asked Twilight removing the toothless animal.
"Well, I'm not fading but I do feel different... Weaker I'd say"
She tried focusing on something for a bit, but nothing changed.
"I can't anymore!" she said smiling.
"What?" asked Twilight.
"I can't turn in shadow form and I can't summon enough power for many spells I know! I'm a normal unicorn like many others!"
"You're telling us the future has changed?"
"You did it mom! Uncle said you were amazing!"
The purple mare blushed.
"So, now you'll go back to your time, I guess"
The other unicorn nodded.
"Wait, you can't be already leaving! It's your party!" shouted the pink pony.
"Sorry Pinkie, but I'm eager to meet my new parents, well my new father at least"
"Good bye, I guess we'll meet again in some years" said Twilight smiling.
"Good bye mom" answered the other hugging her.
Then, she stepped back and started focusing on the spell, her horn glowing red. There was a flash of light followed by a strong sulfur smell, but nothing else: Fire Spark stood right were she had been just a second before.
"I think I could have a little problem, mom"
Canterlot, throne room, midnight, the same day.
"Summarizing it up, you found this mare that claims to be your future daughter and you simply helped her, without letting me know of all of this, correct?" said princess Celestia with a hard look.
"Well, yes" answered her student looking at the floor, desiring she could just sink into it.
"Have you got the slightest idea of what have you done? Meddling with time is dangerous!"
"Well, maybe she hasn't, but I know exactly what she has done!" shouted the black unicorn.
"Look, Fire, she's the princess, you have to watch your tongue"
"Just to be clear, I'm a princess too, well I was, or I should have been... Whatever, if I hadn't come and your student didn't help me, in little more than ten years you would have been a cold stone statue! She has saved your and yours sister's fat flanks, other than the whole Equestria!"
"And what proof is there?"
"I've lost a huge amount of power, and also my shadow form, but I'm still there, meaning my father isn't the former king of crystal empire and that my mother didn't absorb Discord power"
The princess frowned and stood silent for a couple of minutes, while Twilight begged her to forgive her daughter.
"This unicorn for sure is rude, but I see in her your temper, my faithful student... And that shadow's too... I have to recommend you to educate your daughter better next time"
"Then you believe her?" asked the purple unicorn.
"Since the evidences you brought me with your story point out that this whole mess is true, I do" said Celestia smiling.
Twilight face lit up.
"Now, for what I know about time travel, you can't return for two reasons: either you lack power or your time refuses you"
"Probably the power she lost when we changed the future is too much for her to cast again the spell" suggested Twilight.
"I'm afraid this isn't the case, my faithful student: when you went back in time, you didn't cast the spell again to return. That exactly what she tried to do: lift the spell, am I correct?"
"Yes, that's what I believed I did" confirmed Fire.
"So you're saying her time refuses her?"
"Yes"
"That's impossible! I even lost my powers!"
"I believe this is due to the length of your stay in our time... How long was it exactly?"
"I think it's little less than a month"
"I guess you interacted with too many ponies in our time and now you belong to three times: this one, your future which doesn't exist anymore, and the new future. Now, you can't return to your future since it cased to exist and you're less bond to the new future than to our time, meaning there isn't any spell to lift anymore"
"This is giving me headache" said Twilight rubbing her forehead with a hoof.
"Then I'm stuck? I will never go back?" asked Fire, her eyes full of tears.
"I'm afraid to say that you have nowhere, or better, no time to go back to"
The black unicorn fell to the ground, crying.
Ponyville, Twilight's library, one year later.
"Twilight! There's mail for you!" shouted Spike from the door.
"Did Derpy really give you the right mail?"
"No, it was Apple Bloom"
"Anyway, let's see who is it"
Dear mom,
I'm doing fine. Right now I'm in Canterlot, a wonderful place but a bit too lively. I guess I'll end up like you, settling down in a place like Ponyville, when I'm done travelling around Equestria... I'm just used to quiet places.
I'll pay you a visit before winter, but please, tell Pinkie not to throw a party like last time.
Well, time for me to get going or I won't be able to visit Cloudsdale.
Your dear daughter, Fire Spark.
While reading the letter, neither of them noticed the smiling black unicorn on the doorstep.