A/N: 'Allo and greetings, folks. ;] This is, obviously, the first fic I've put up here so far. I'll go ahead and give my own little self-disclaimer; I have written original stuff for 95% of my life(and the other 5% I was telling stories), but I've resisted fanfiction for most of that time. I have so much respect for writers who can take someone else's character and keep them true to their character and am often too sheepish to try.

But last week when I woke up from a pony-filled dream(which, remarkably, doesn't happen often) I..well..I couldn't resist. So here ya go.

Reviews are more than welcome, and criticism is welcome as well! ...constructive criticism, anyways. ;P

This fic will be, to my greatest knowledge and...if my willpower holds up...updated weekly until its finished. I will not post more than one chapter a week unless its like...a super special occasion.

Or if y'all are really really sweet. Flattery will get you everywhere. -wink-

Anyways. Here ya go! Hope ya like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, nor do I own any spellbooks, timespells, or any sort of timeshares. In fact, the only pony related thing I own are my two horses(and the Rainbow Dash my friend got me for Christmas) and the only time related thing is...well a friend demanded I knit her Tardis wristwarmers. That counts, right..?

Chapter 1; Moonflowers

It hadn't been her best idea.

Not that that was so uncommon a thing—as the years had gone by Twilight Sparkle had found herself getting into more and more shenanigans with her friends…many of which she had been the cause of. But since the last time-based mistake she had banned herself from such spells. Or that had been the idea, anyway.

The pony stirred to consciousness with a quiet groan, brows knit tight as she began to move, already feeling the start of bruising on her ribs and a nasty twinge to an ankle. With another groan she got unsteadily to her feet, still keeping her eyes tightly shut as she straightened slowly, blowing a piece of mane from her eyes. "Why did you let me do that, Spike?" She asked as she stretched, opening her eyes in a wince at the cracking sound of stiff bones. "Spike?" She got no response. Frowning, the unicorn straightened to her full height, looking around for the purple-scaled companion who, moments ago, had been virtually attached to her side. Worry sparked into life when he didn't come immediately into view, and it grew as she looked around…and found nothing familiar. "Where on Equestria…?"

Her frown grew as she spotted her pack out of the corner of her eye and quickly returned it to her back, tightening the strap before letting the glow disappear from her horn and the darkness resettle around her. But no, dark wasn't exactly the right word. Twilight's eyes narrowed as she peered upwards between the rustling leaves of the strange trees, spotting the soft glow of a nearly full moon. It shimmered warmly down at her, bathing her in an odd sense of comfort. It was the same feeling she got under the sun—that warm sensation of someone looking out for you. Relaxing slightly under it, the mare turned her attention down again, flicking her gaze over the trees. They were…awfully strange.

Again worry bit at her hide and she suppressed a shiver as she took a hesitant step forward, the grass surprisingly bouncy beneath her hooves. She paid it little mind, however, her attention locked on the heavy buds covering the trees. They glowed as though lit from within, each one a pleasant white and so heavily swollen that they looked like they might burst open at any second. "What an unusual flower…" Twilight muttered, quirking a brow as she peered at one on a lower branch, "I don't think I've ever seen a tree wi…" she trailed off, brows knitting as realization hit her and her gaze flicked down, looking to the forest floor. "It's a vine." Wide-eyed she traced the crisscrossing pattern of flower bearing vines that were spread out on the ground, covering it for as far as she could see. In awe, she found her eyes back on the tree and she leaned in, her horn glowing to give her better light. "…this is a vine too.." she mumbled, reaching out to poke the thorny skin of what looked like a nut-bearing creeper before taking a step back. "Two vines and a tree? Together? Well that's weird." But the oddity wasn't able to hold her interest for long as she turned her back to where the forest grew darker and deeper, to stare towards the lighter part.

She was silent as she began to walk, her steps hesitant at first before she got into a rhythm and was able to easily walk around the unopened blooms. Twilight found that the further she went the more flowers there were, almost as though they strove to be as close to the edge of the wood as possible. She mused on this as she walked, her head tucked as she watched each step, somehow afraid to touch even one of the beautiful buds. Lost in thought and concentration she was caught off guard when the dark of the forest was very suddenly erased, replaced with the great light of a beaming moon. Immediately she turned her head up to the skies, eyes wide as she took in a moon unlike any she had ever seen.

It was bigger than it had ever been before, glowing with such a vibrant light that Twilight felt dull beneath its shine. The spots—craters, her reading had told her—that covered its surface were more numerous than ever, but it no longer outlined a mare's head. She tilted her head, eyes narrowing as she tried to pin down what exactly the same reminded her of only to have it hit her with mild surprise. It looked like a bird's-eye view of a winged unicorn…or perhaps…the ground view of one flying overhead.

In some ways it was a comfort, this great pony overhead, but it also sent a shiver down her spine and she took a step back, still refusing to remove her eyes from the sight. The unicorn couldn't help but remember the Nightmare Moon incident…and while Princess Luna was a force of good once more, there was something unsettling about the silhouette.

This was far from the Canterlot she had been standing in before. How could a timespell have moved her to such a strange and unusual pl—

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Startled out of her trance Twilight Sparkle gave a soft squeal of a sound and leapt straight upwards, stumbling to her back as she landed. She was on her feet in an instant, eyes wide as she looked around frantically for the speaker, purple gaze at last landing on an equally purple but far less surprised stare. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself, huh? This place's off-limits before the full moon! You'll burst one of the Moonflowers!"

Twilight just stared, her eyes locked on eyes disturbingly similar to her own, but narrowed with such spiteful intensity that it would catch anypony off-guard. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish for a moment, words failing to make any sort of order in her brain, before coming to a complete stop as he slammed a hoof to the ground, rounding his neck and straightening his back in an impressive stance as he blew out threateningly, the tip to a curved horn pointed dangerously towards her. It glowed a soft purple that contrasted against the beige of his hide, but Twilight spoke before he could make well on his threat. "If its off-limits why are you here?" She blurted, pointing at him with one hoof. Almost immediately she realized what she had said and stiffened like a frightened cat, seeing the anger in the stallion's eyes and the wide flare of his nostrils.

"What do you mean why am I here?" He snarled, baring his teeth as his purple and navy mane seemed to stand on end, fire burning in the recess of his gaze only to be deflated pitifully as a black flank toppled him easily over.

"She got you, Squid!" A much more cheerful voice piped up, the black stallion grinning widely as he blew a mop of white hair out of his face, one eye twinkling pleasantly at her before it was hidden beneath his mane again too quickly for her to register the color, "Time to admit defeat like a stallion."

The lankier stallion gave a loud huffing snarl as he got to his feet, glaring fiercely at the stronger male with his ears laid back. Twilight was certain he was going to give the other a nasty bite for a long second before she noticed the blush against his cheeks and the embarrassed shuffle of his weight. "Shut up, Whitewash." the pony finally grumbled, setting his eyes again on Twilight as he straightened and puffed his chest out. "Still! We've got more right than you to be here. Who the hell are you? There aren't any purple ponies in Trotsylvania." The aforementioned "Squid" barked, and Twilight had a sudden sense that the pony's rumpled, irritated face was just his natural expression.

"Trotsylvania?" A brow arched firmly as she stared the two stallions down, finally noticing there was at least one more pony behind them. She tilted her head to try and stare at him as he peered hesitantly at her from behind the largest butterfly she had ever laid eyes on. But before she could investigate the strange transparent-winged insect that was apparently perched on the black unicorn's back, she found her attention grabbed rather painfully by a knock of horn on horn. "Ow!"

"Trotsylvania." Squid repeated, pressing his forehead firmer against hers and nearly setting her off balance, "Is the capital of the Lost Plateau. What were you, raised in some kind of cave?" He snorted loudly and pushed at her hard enough to make her stumble before straightening and turning his back on her, walking back towards his group. "Stupid ass cave pony." He rumbled under his breath, turning back to glare at her, "Not even worth conversing with. C'mon guys. Let's go back before the G.O.A.D. realizes we're gone and gives us a 'stern talking to'." He snickered at that concept and Twilight frowned as he kept along his way without any hesitation.

"But wa—"

Her plea was cut off as the white maned stallion spoke up, turning his body to peer after Squid. "We can't just leave her out here. If she is from the cave side of the mountain then she must be very lost—she might get hurt." Despite the pony's attempt to come to her aid, however, Twilight found it hard to pay him much attention. Her eyes were locked on his back, where what she thought was a large butterfly turned out to be his actual wings. They flickered slightly under her gaze and he turned his head to look at her curiously. "Oh…do you not have winged ponies where you're from?"

She looked up at him with wide eyes, memories of the great colorful butterfly wings she had spelled onto Rarity flashing in her mind. But there was something very different about these. They seemed so much more stable, and he handled them as though he'd had them for a very long time. Not to mention they were nothing in color or glamor as the previous ones. These were a mixture of greys, each darker than the next, and the shape was slightly different; more angled and more…well…masculine.

"Well yes…but…not like those!" He blinked, tilting his head to peer at them, and looked over to the pony still slightly hiding behind them.

"They aren't that unusual." He explained with a warm smile, tossing his head towards the dark grey pony, "See? Banshee has some too." The stallion seemed to flinch at his name but he moved forwards with confidence, giving a sheepish little smile as he turned to show the massive dragonfly wings upon his back. All four buzzed slightly under her startled gaze, and the green eyed pony shifted uncomfortably beneath the weight of her stare before wriggling back behind his companion, his ears flicking back and forward as he touched his horn to the other's, seeming to relax from the contact. "Sorry; we don't get many strangers." The smaller smiled, not bothering to look behind him to see the nod of his companion as he offered a hoof to Twilight, beaming. "My name's Whitewash. He's Banshee…but I think you gathered that." He laughed and, turning to see that Squid had indeed stopped, stamping and complaining to himself a few hundred feet away, gestured with his head for Twilight to follow them. "Come on—we're heading back. Professor Withers can get you a map back to the northern town if you'd like."

She brushed her hoof against his at the offering, failing to offer up her name as he was distracted. But as he turned, a strangely feminine sashay to his hips and the swish of plush round tail gently smacking his taller companion's flank, she was quick to trot to his side, sparing a glance at the towering Banshee before speaking. "My name's Twilight Sparkle." She announced with a smile, "And I'm not a cavepony. I didn't even know there were cave ponies!"

Whitewash blinked and glanced at her as she spoke, giving a soft rumble of a thought. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Twilight. But, if you don't mind my asking, if you aren't from the caves, then where are you from? Squid may be a bit of a turd, but he's right about one thing—there aren't any purple ponies in Trotsylvania and other than the Northern Caves…I've never heard of anywhere else to live."

"Nowhere else to live?" Twilight stopped instantly, her eyes wide and her jaw slightly slacked as she stared, "How in Equestria is there nowhere else to live? There are lots of towns and cities! Ponyville and Fillydelphia and Cloudsdale and Canterlot!"

"Canterlot?" Whitewash stopped as well this time, glancing over his shoulder at her with Banshee as, only a few feet ahead, Squid turned to give her a strange look, "…I didn't know it still existed." He turned to her now, Squid and Banshee sharing matching looks of confusion, "But I've read about Canterlot! What's left of the archive says it was the grandest city in Equestria. You can't seriously tell me it still exists?"

"Well uhm…honestly…I'm questioning that about now." He gave her a look, oddly specific without seeing his eyes, and she could almost see his slightly knit brows as he tilted his head, "I mean, it certainly exists when I'm from, but…" She looked around hesitantly, "This isn't anything like where I was when I used the timespell. I was just outside of Canterlot!"

"A timespell?" This time it was Squid who took attention, his eyes firmly narrowed, "You mean magic?"

"…well yeah!"

Squid sneered and tossed his mane, "Great, She's like the G.O.A.D.! Another 'magic cure all' type."

"You can't know that from just that, Squid. You use magic."

"Yeah! But only to put buckets of water over the door to the G.O.A.D's study."

Twilight decided that she didn't want to ask what the G.O.A.D. was; he spit it out with such venom that any question of it would surely be met with a long—and from what she had gathered from Squid—violent rant.

Whitewash gave a soft hum, a dismissive sound, and looked back to Twilight. "So you used a time spell to come here? How odd. I'm assuming you're from the past, then?"

Twilight nodded, "I think so. I mean, I was trying to peek into the future so unless it went horribly wrong…" She shifted her weight from hoof to hoof, "But…this future…it seems awfully strange. All of the Pegasus back home have feathered wings, and only the Princess has both wings and a horn."

Two of the trio laughed at that, Squid snorting rudely as Banshee leaned his neck over Whitewash's. "That..uhm…that's still true…well uhm…we don't have a Princess but uhm..we usually don't have both. My wings are…uhm…magicked. Because I can't uhm..I can't use my magic. And Whitewash's are the…uhm…the same."

"You don't have a Princess?" The outburst startled poor Banshee, who stiffened like a startled deer, his wings buzzing enough to lift him off the ground before, with a practiced shift, Whitewash smacked him with his tail and the stallion dropped to the ground, leaning heavily on the other.

"No, we don't."

"Haven't had one for like..ever." Squid replied dismissively, waving his hoof absently, "Why the hell would we need one anyways? Don't have a kingdom. No reason to have a Princess to rule over the mud." He snickered and Twilight resisted the urge to yell at him, her cheeks flushing as her jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed. No princess? What had happened to this future?

"I'm guessing you had one then?" Whitewash interrupted kindly, seeking to sooth her temper, "She must have been very important to you. We have a castle, but it's been empty for many years. There used to be a group of priestesses who went up once a month to tribute the Moonspirit, but the last died a few years ago and no pony remembers the rites anymore…or cares to perform them."

"Princess Celestia." Twilight replied quietly, frowning, "What's a Moonspirit?"

"It's the thing that fills the Moonflowers at the fullmoon, duh." Squid inserted, rolling his eyes, "It's the reason ponies can live here. At least, that's what the G.O.A.D. and his old fogies brigade are always going on about."

"We owe a lot to the Moonspirit." Whitewash added, blowing at his mane, "If the legends are to be believed, anyway. Not everypony really believes in that sort of thing though; I mean…how can a spirit make the Moontrees grow and fill the flowers? It's really just a foal story. Of course, there are still a few ponies who bring offerings during the Fullmoon Feast, but no pony goes up to give thanks anymore. Not that anypony can blame them—its dangerous there."

"Dangerous..?"

He nodded. "Yes; the last few years especially. The last priestess died up there. The floor gave out beneath her." He gave a sad smile, "She was a kind pony, but she was warned many times."

Twilight Sparkle frowned slightly, noticing the mixture of remorse…and reality in his voice. She got the feeling that they were very familiar with death…something she wasn't so sure she would ever become comfortable with. She quirked her jaw absently, her mind trying to understand how anypony could speak about death as though it were an everyday thing, before remembering with a jolt the book in her pack. "Oh! I almost forgot! I brought a book on Canterlot with me!" She turned to dig through her pack, startled out of her digging by Squid's sputtering laughter.

"What is on your butt?" He cackled, pointing at her rump with a wide grin. Startled, she turned expecting to see some giant bug, but slumped in confusion.

"What? There's nothing there."

"Oh my…" Whitewash was now interested; ears perked forward and head low as he leaned in to investigate, staring intently at her cutiemark. "Banshee, look at that!"

Banshee joined in the peering as well now, and Twilight turned an interesting shade of red at the action, shifting her weight uncomfortably, "What is it? What are you looking at?"

"Crazy mare has a tattoo on her ass!" Squid bugled, stamping his hooves loudly on the ground, "How priceless is that? And it's on both sides! HAHAHAHA!"

"A tattoo..?" Whitewash repeated, frowning as he seemed to ignore her sputtering response, "But it's on the fur…perhaps its dyed..?"

"Nonsense! That, my children, is a gludius maximus graphica—historically referred to as a cutie mark!*"

All of the gathered froze at the reply, but none quite like Squid did, his entire body tensing as his mane stood on end and his eyes widened impossibly. He didn't turn like the others did, didn't look at the older stallion who approached, a patient smile in place behind his moustache and a bit of weight shifting behind his creamy yellow hide. Trailing behind him was a grumpy looking colt with one green tinted wing of feathers and another of metal, and a glassy eyed mare with a bundle of spiked feathers on her shoulders that resembled one of Canterlot nobility's more outlandish hats. Both followed with a sense of guilt, and didn't look up even as they came to stop next to Squid, the mare shifting to press her splotched shoulder against him. "Sorry Squid—he figured it out."

Twilight flicked her eyes back to the stallion, a middle aged fellow with a dark mane and tail that had enough faint hints of purple in them to resemble Squid's mixed. Their eyes were nearly identical, however, easily giving away the identity of this particular stallion. She gave the faintest of frowns as she realized he had a broken horn and a torn ear, and his hide was splattered with old injuries and burnt patches. It made her tense for a moment, worried what sort of war this pony must have gotten himself into, but he looked more like a scholar than a fighter, and had the warm smile of a teacher.

"A whatie mark?" Banshee spoke up finally, his wings flittering anxiously.

"Duh!" Squid interrupted, broken from his stupor with full blown attitude, "It's a tramp stamp." Proud of his discovery he puffed out; ignoring the stern look he got from his father, "That crazy pony has a tramp stamp!"

* Giving credit of this line to my bestfriend Kaasan. I don't know if she has an account on here...and am too lazy to ask right now...so for now, its just Kaasan. She's Professor Wither's inner Thesaurus, Dictionary, and Latin teacher.

On a side note...

Claimer: YEAH. I can have one of these, you know. I'm laying claim to Squid, Professor Withers, Banshee, Whitewash, Ruffntumbl, and Quailtail. Dem ponies is mine, mmkay? Mmkay. Also laying claim to the plot and the Moontrees. Actually, a pretty big stamp on the Moontrees. They've got their own backstory at this point... /;;; Important trees are important...or rather...all-consuming-hypnotrees are all-consuming. (in layman's terms, I put way too much thought into them and I won't share without some serious requesting.)