Thoughts of Another Time

A/N: So here is chapter ones edit. If you're new, just read on, and pretend this isn't even here. If you have read the previous version, you don't have to reread the whole thing. I do suggest you skim through it though, as I did remove a lot of text. If you don't, you will most likely be confused during the next chapter.

Twilight awoke with a jolt. She searched the room, trying to remember where she was. The walls were a dull stony grey, and looked very worn, as if they would fall apart at any second. There was a glassless window to her right, and she could see that is was dark out.

Oh right...after I went to that priest, I fainted... the unicorn thought, feeling foalish. But where am I now? And how did I get in a bed?

“Ah, you are awake now. Good. It was quite concerning when you fell like that. I had my apprentice carry you using her magic.” came an elder voice off to her left. It startled her at first, until she remembered who it was. It was the old priest.

“I see.” she said, blushing. “I guess I was just surprised. But how did I end up here? If only I could remember what happened before I woke up earlier.” she said, hoping an answer would come to her. She was greeted with nothing.

“Well, it most certainly is odd to hear a pony claim that they are from the future... are you sure you were not dreaming any of this? It is, if I may say, quite hard to believe.” the stallion said, trying not to sound offensive.

“I don't blame you. It happened to me once too, and at first I thought it was impossible. But no, it wasn't a dream, I know that.” the mare calmly replied. It all made no sense to her. If only she could remember what happened or how she got here.

“Either way, you should get some rest. Your body seems to be weak at the moment, and you should not put too much stress on it. If you need anything, just call. My apprentice will be waiting for you when you are ready to go.” he told her, turning to walk out the door. “Don't hesitate to call us. And do make sure to rest well. If what you say is indeed true, then adjusting will be hard.”

Adjusting? What does he mean... Twilight felt her heart sink. She realized what he was implying. If she had traveled here without any memory of what happened, she might never make it back.

“Now get some rest. You will need it for tomorrow.”

She nodded to him as he finally walked out of the room. It was a depressing thought for the purple unicorn. She didn't want to be stuck here forever, but what could she do? Even if she did remember what happened, that didn't guarantee she would be able to get back to where she belonged.

No, don't think like that. There has to be a way back, I know it! For now, I should get some sleep. Maybe I’ll be able to remember something in the morning... she thought, closing her eyes and slowly drifting off to sleep.

Twilight gasped when she entered the building. It was very tall, and had much space within it. The walls were made of a white marble that shined, and had pillars in various places to keep the roof stable. There were large windows on each wall, letting in the light of the setting sun.

“Be careful now Twilight.” came a voice from her rear left. “This is a very large place. Wander off and you might get lost.” it added, letting out a tiny giggle.

“Come on princess, I can handle myself...” the unicorn said, embarrassed. “Besides, if I do get lost, I can just teleport out of here.”

“Yes, yes, I know, it was meant only as joke. Either way, we are here for a more important task, are we not?” the princess asked calmly.

“Yes! We are here to find out more about the use of time spells. I have only used one once, and it was a one time deal. It is the only one I know of that can actually send the user back or forward in time.” the mare replied. “I have been doing research on it for a while now, and I think we can use the notes I came up with to create a decent spell.”

“I see. Just remember Twilight, time is definitely a game that should not be played with. Many ponies have devoted their life to this kind of research, only to disappear or quit suddenly.” Celestia warned “Make sure you are careful with such things, or you may end up like them.”

“Oh, don't worry princess, I know what I'm doing. I made sure to double check my notes twice. If my calculations are correct, which they should be, then this should be easy!” Twilight stated proudly. She didn't want to mess up this chance with the princess watching.

“Okay then, my faithful student, here we are. Just like you asked, the rune is carved directly in the middle of the room, and more unicorns are awaiting you.”

“Alright, send them in then. I hope to perfect this as soon as possible.” the unicorn said, barely able to contain her excitement. As long as she stuck to what she studied, nothing could go wrong.

Or so she thought.

Twilight opened her eyes slowly, looking out the window. It was still dark, but she could see small pinpricks of light popping up out of the sky. It reminded her of the princess. Celestia...I hope she isn't too worried. Hopefully the other unicorns are safe as well...

“Hello?” came a voice from the doorway. “Are you awake? Are you feeling okay?” the voice asked. It was feminine, and had a soft, gentle, and motherly tone to it.

“I'm fine, just a bit tired and confused is all.” Twilight replied, turning her attention to the mare walking into the room. She was a very pretty unicorn with a blue coat, a silver mane, and ivory eyes.

“Okay. Do you need anything?” she asked.

“No, thank you. Although, I have no idea what to do after I get out of this place. I don't have a home or a place to stay, and this city is very unfamiliar to me.” Twilight replied. “All I know is that I have to get back to where I belong.”

“Well, you could ask Valor for help. Vipol isn't in the best state right now, so finding a place to stay might be hard.” the mare replied. She looked like she wanted to say more, but decided against it.

“Okay. Do you know where he is?” Twilight asked. “As nice as this place seems, I really should be on my way by now...” Twilight stated. Being so far in the past frightened her. She had no friends, no contacts, and nowhere to go. She didn't even have a job.

“He isn't here at the moment. He had to leave to shop in the market area. A great deal of people get sick in this district, and he is the only priest here. It makes the place very busy most of the time.” she told the purple unicorn.

“Well, guess I’ll just have to wait then.” Twilight said. She noticed that the sun was peeking up above the horizon, casting a bright light on many of the buildings. She could see that most of them were worn or ruined, and many looked on the brink of collapse.

“Would you like something to eat? You haven't had any food since you came in yesterday, so I’d imagine you’re pretty hungry.” the mare said.

“That would be nice. How long was I out, anyway?” she asked.

“Well, you came in about noon, and it is almost dawn. You have been sleeping for quite a while.” the mare replied, which threw Twilight off. That was almost twelve hours.

“I was out for that long? I guess it shouldn't be unexpected though. Today was too surprising for me to handle.” Twilight reasoned.

The blue mare giggled at that. “Okay. Well, follow me if you want to eat. We don't have much, but there should be enough to make you something.” the mare said, turning towards the door. “Valor should be back any second now.” she added.

Twilight stood, watching the mare as she walked out. What am I going to do? I have no place to stay, or any friends here. I guess my best bet is to try and find my way home as fast as I can manage... she thought. But she figured while she was here, she may as well look around. It was a chance to look at history after all.

Twilight ate very messily. She hadn’t eaten anything for what felt like days to her, and the meal that the blue unicorn made was delicious, albeit odd. The food was certainly different than what she was used to eating, though the meals would certainly have changed through the ages.

“This is great. I never had a meal like this before.” she told the mare. All she did was simply blush and look down.

“I-it isn't that great. Just a regular morning meal by most pony’s standards.” she said looking up at Twilight. “You know, it was quite a sight to see you drop to the floor so quickly.” she said, trying not to giggle at the memory.

Twilight’s face turned scarlet. “You saw that? Oh, Celestia, that is so embarrassing!”

The mare couldn't help but smirk. “Well, I was the one who had to carry you to bed, since Valor is a bit too old to be carrying anyone, even with magic. You’re lucky you came to this side of Vipol, as most priests aren’t as caring as ours. Most of them would have either turned you down, or made you pay.” she stated.

“You mean you were the one who carried me?” Twilight asked, her face getting hotter. It was an embarrassing thought. “T-thank you. Oh, I haven't caught your name yet either. I'm Twilight Sparkle.” she said enthusiastically.

“I’m Ivy. And you are quite welcome, although it was not a very big deal. Ponies in states far much worse than yours come in all the time.” she replied.

“Work must come around often here then, doesn't it? I mean, I know there weren't many cures during this age, but do ponies really get sick that often?” Twilight asked. She knew it was hard on the ponies here, but now she might have a first pony experience on it. Who knows? If she really was stuck here, maybe she could become a priest too.

“Oh yes, we usually have about ten to twelve patients on a normal day. Much to our grief, not very many of them live, the sickness either too terrible, or from waiting too long to visit.” Ivy noted sadly. Twilight could guess that the blue unicorn had seen people die a lot. She couldn't help but shudder at the thought. The purple unicorn had never seen death before and wasn't sure how she would handle it.

“I see...” was the only response she could mutter.

“But that doesn't mean that ponies don't walk out alive. Valor has saved many lives before. For a priest in such an unstable district, he has become quite popular. Even those of royal blood come to visit him from time to time.” the blue mare reassured, her expression becoming calmer.

If I end up stuck here, I’ll have to live like everypony else. In that case, maybe I really should become a priest. With the knowledge and spells I have, I could probably save more ponies. Twilight thought. Until she found her way home, she may as well make herself useful.

"How do you become a priest?" she asked.

"Well, most ponies are born with a mark to signify their profession. It is usually very similar to the marks that their parents have. This is usually important to a priest while considering an apprentice. If they don't have a mark for that kind of job, then, if they are lucky, they can go through a type of training. They start out as an apprentice, but don't become an actual priest until years later,” she said, taking a deep breath before continuing, “And some of them quit before then.”

"I-it can really take that long?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. For some ponies it can take years and years to finally be allowed to go out on their own. It is usually based on skill though. A master is there to teach you everything you need to know, and the knowledge some of them have is fairly great." the blue mare replied. "But of course, some ponies can be trained rather quickly, especially if they already have experience in the field."

So the worst possible scenario is that I’d have to train for a year or so. But I do know a bit more than ponies considering the time difference... she thought before hearing the front door open.

"I'm back, Ivy. I have everything we need for the time being. I swear, more and more ponies just keep getting more and more sick." he joked, though there was a hint of seriousness in his voice.

Twilight stared at the old stallion for a second. I could ask him to become an apprentice now, but maybe I should wait until I know for sure if I'm stuck here. Besides, he already has an apprentice. Two might be a bit much to handle. Deciding against it, she went back to eating.

It was several hours later before anything happened. Judging by what the two unicorns had told Twilight before, the day must have been rather nice. Only two ponies had came in, both who were easily helped by the elder unicorn. Ivy mostly watched, listening to the old stallion whenever he said something to her. Twilight sat and thought.

So how did I end up here? She asked herself. Lets see...I came here yesterday, which means whatever happened was two days ago to me. I remember...Celestia...yes, thats right! I was with Celestia! Trying to...study spells. Time spells. But that's all I can remember right now. Obviously something went wrong, or I wouldn't be here.

Her thoughts were interrupted, her attention drawn to the commotion in front of her. The patient looked guiltily at the old unicorn, trying to talk, but not getting the chance to do so. After a few short minutes, he was shooed out quickly.

“What just happened?” Twilight asked. She couldn't hear because she was a bit too far away and had her mind somewhere else.

“That stallion came in here with some sickness. It was easy enough to cure, but he didn't have enough bits to pay, so I didn't make him. It doesn't take much to help a pony, so sometimes we can afford the loss.” Valor said. Twilight felt a bit envious. She had never seen a pony so devoted to his work before. In her time, ponies weren't so caring. Sure, they helped out every so often, but not to the extent of the pony in front of her.

“You must be very devoted to let the chance for money to slip like that.” she said.

“Well of course. I remember when I was young. I grew up in a different city. Been so long I can't remember it though, only bits and pieces.” he said. “But what I remember most is that the priests there were all greedy. I remember how often death came to us. It was as if you couldn't turn without seeing a corpse on the ground. After that, I knew I should try to help as many ponies as possible.”

“That must’ve been hard. I didn't know that things could be so bad now. I’ve never seen death. Not yet at least. I know that no matter what, though, it will happen sooner or later.” the unicorn replied.

“Well, you’ll see a lot of it around here, if you want to stay. But don’t worry about that now, just go get some rest. I will lend you one of the extra rooms for now, until you can find another place to go.” he said as he turned and walked off down a hallway.

“I think I’ll go to my room too, ” Ivy said, “I have a lot to study tonight. I hope to be as good as Valor someday.”

Study. Maybe I could help them a bit. I'm sure I know a few spells that they don't. she thought. I guess I should wait though. I don't want seem like I'm bragging.

With that last thought on her mind, she slowly went to her own room, and fell asleep almost instantly.