We're gonna keep this thing going, it seems. This time, we ask an age-old question...what if Celestia didn't exist when TD came around to destroy Equestria?

Ok, it's an idea given to me by retro mania and not an age-old question. But hey, I try my best to please fans.

Hope you enjoy!


TD waltzed into Canterlot with a smile on his face. He was in a rather joyful mood today, and it was apparent to all who saw him go by. Some ponies still glared at him in Canterlot, but only when he wasn't looking.

"Because some ponies, like people, just never learn," TD replied to the sentence above, as a bucket of water appeared above one particular couple's heads and emptied it's contents on them. He chuckled when he heard their screeches.

"Priceless. I wish Twilight was here to see this...Actually, come to think of it, that'd be a bad idea."

TD walked towards the palace of Canterlot and, as expected, was stopped at the doors by a group of guards. However, when they saw the invitation that he held in his hands, they let him by. For TD had been called to Canterlot by Celestia in regards to a matter that she wished to discuss to him personally. TD was a bit flattered at the thought, but he was also worried that something was bothering her. Her letter didn't sound too cheerful. Plus, Pinkie Pie had told him that the letter had recently been in contact with someone who was sad. TD didn't fully understand that, until Pinkie Pie explained that other beings usually left behind traces of their emotions on things they interacted with that Changelings could smell. How that worked was beyond him, but then again there was some stuff that made little sense in Equestria even without his interference.

Finally, he managed to get to the throne room and saw the Princess of the Day herself sitting on the throne in all her glory. Yet, she didn't look so glorious, but rather tired. She didn't show it, but TD could sense her fatigue from the day's work. It was one of the benefits of Chaos magic to sense the situations that others were in. Of course, he had to do this consciously, it wasn't passive. Noticing TD, Celestia seemed to perk up a bit as she sent the last of her questioning subjects away. TD smiled politely, but instead of bowing he simply asked, "Rough day, huh?"

"A little bit," Celestia replied kindly, but TD could tell that she was trying to hold back her stress. She turned to one of her guards.

"Leave us," she ordered. The guards did as they were told, knowing that their Princess was in good hands without them. As soon as the last guard left, Celestia finally broke and she started to crumple to the floor in exhaustion. Thankfully, TD had predicted this and reacted accordingly. An unseen force caught her just before she hit the ground and she beamed a tired, yet thankful smile to him.

"Thanks William," she said, as he caused her to float onto a comfy sofa that he had summoned out of nowhere.

"No problem, Celestia," TD replied. He then said with a smirk, "You look terrible. Do they think that you don't need sleep?"

"Well, most ponies seem to think of me as a goddess," Celestia chuckled. By now, TD had used his chaos to turn the room into a rather comfortable lounge room and was sitting in an armchair just across from her. He summoned a bag of popcorn in his hands and started munching away.

"Goddess my boot!" TD remarked, "Popcorn?" Celestia nodded and a second bag appeared next to her. "If you're a goddess, then I'm Morgan Freeman. Am I black and do I have a deep voice? No? Just as I thought."

Celestia giggled. "You really know how to lighten the mood a bit after a long day."

"It's what I do," TD said, for some reason deciding to switch to his Changeling form. He summoned a notebook and a quill. A pair of glasses was on his face.

"Now then, tell me what's bothering you."

"Well..."

Celestia poured out all kinds of complaints to TD, at first being hesitant but growing more open as she continued. TD patiently listened through the whole thing, even though some of the complaints were already known to him. After all, he had watched the Season 7 episode where Starlight switched Celestia and Luna's Cutie Marks, and had also heard about it personally from Starlight and Twilight both when it had occurred sometime after the Season 6 finale. When Celestia was finished, he put down the notebook. He hadn't actually written anything down that had to do with her plight; instead, he had drawn some tic-tac-toe figures, a terrible stick figure drawing of a Christmas party, and a perfect picture of Peter Griffin's face. The last one he had cheated on, because he couldn't actually make a good picture without using his magic.

"So, basically, life is being a pain right now," he summed up.

"You have no idea," Celestia replied, "It makes me wish that I wasn't around at times."

As soon as Celestia said this, alarm bells suddenly started ringing from out of nowhere and the wall near the door got chopped through with two axes. A Minion rushed in with a firefighter hat, followed by one with a hose, and a third with a megaphone and siren lights on his head. He actually used the door and walked slowly towards them saying, "Beedo! Beedo!" over and over again. The Minions proceeded to replay the scene from Despicable Me 2 regarding their roles, which made TD laugh aloud from the stupidity of the Minions. He waited until the point where only the megaphone Minion was left before personally shooting him with the fire extinguisher, reversing the damage done, and causing the enigmatic creatures to disappear. He then looked to Celestia with a serious expression.

"I know what you're proposing, and I'd advise against it. Besides, I'm not a genie! I don't just go around granting wishes all willy nilly!"

"Please, William," Celestia pleaded, "I don't know if I can take another complaint today!"

TD sighed, but then an idea came to him and he smiled.

"Tell you what," he said, "I will show you an alternate timeline in which you do not exist. After seeing what happens, you can choose whether you still want to keep your wish or change your mind. Deal?"

"Deal," Celestia said.

"Alright then, let's do this!"

A cauldron appeared in front of TD, who switched back to his human form and started chanting something in the Ancient Dragon tongue. The room soon grew fuzzy, then everything changed...


"Why is it so dark?" Celestia asked as soon as she could see again.

"It's night time," TD answered, "and always has been for more than one hundred years."

"What?" Celestia was confused. TD sighed and snapped his fingers. They found themselves outside a familiar castle in the Everfree Forest. The old castle where Luna had first turned into Nightmare Moon.

"Only this time, she stayed that way," TD replied, as if reading from the story itself. Celestia turned to him as he led her inside. "Without you around, there was no one to banish her to the moon, so she conquered all of Equestria and her allies unopposed. The Elements of Harmony were never found, for Luna kept them well hidden from the rest of her subjects. As such, none dared to challenge her and Equestria was forever bathed in night."

By now, TD had gotten to the throne room of the castle, and two guards noticed them. They came forward to reveal themselves as Rainbow Dash and Rarity, only they seemed much...darker than Celestia remembered them.

"Who dares enter the castle of Nightmare Moon?" Rarity demanded. TD held up his hands.

"Relax, my dear. You needn't worry about us. We're just-"

"Hold!" a painfully familiar voice ordered. The guards stood aside as the evil Queen of the Night approached them. Celestia was grief ridden to see the demon again, but TD simply sighed as if this was an unpleasant expectation.

"Who are you?" Nightmare Moon demanded.

TD smiled and said, "I don't know how else to explain this, Your Majesty, but we have not come to harm you or anything else that concerns you. We are not even of this world. We are simply here to observe, and nothing more."

"Speak clearly, beast, before I tear that forked tongue out of your body!" Nightmare Moon shouted. TD sighed and snapped his fingers. Nightmare Moon's eyes and the eyes of everyone else in the castle turned white, then returned to normal. Nightmare Moon straightened and said, "I see. Well, then don't go beyond that, or there will be consequences."

"Of course," TD replied, clearly not intimidated at all by the demon. As Nightmare Moon left, Celestia turned to the human.

"I see," she said gravely. She didn't bother to ask what TD had done that changed Nightmare Moon's mind. "I was a fool to think that I wasn't that important. I didn't realize how important I am to Equestria and it got to me in the worst way."

"But you're far more important than you realize even then," TD replied.

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked.

"TD winced. "I hate this part, but it's time for me to enter the picture."

He snapped his fingers again, and the scenery changed again. This time, they were in Ponyville, but not as Celestia remembered it even with the eternal night. This time, all was in chaos. Literally. Celestia recognized it as the same chaos TD had caused almost thirteen years ago, before his feelings for Twilight had been confessed.

"What happened?" Celestia asked. TD sighed sadly before speaking.

"Nightmare Moon is indeed strong, but even she was no match for the power of the Terror of Dimensions. When he arrived in Equestria, he quickly subdued the resistance that opposed him. Nightmare Moon and all who followed her, as well as those who didn't...perished. As for what the future holds..."

TD started to sing as they looked across the landscape.

I see chaos from land to sea
I see days neither fun nor free
I see a future caused by me
I see a path not meant to be

The future should be filled with magic
Dreams and wishes brought to life
But the days ahead are dark and tragic
No time for hope when all is strife

Whatever might have been
All the dreams that ponies share
Without your help, my friend,
Now the future is a dark nightmare!

Celestia looked around in sadness and horror at what she saw, while TD seemed to be ridden with guilt. As they watched, a pony and an unreformed Changeling ran across the landscape, fleeing from a dark spirit-like figure. No one needed to guess who it was, for it was all too obvious. The figure fired a blast of red lightning from its form and the two equine figures were reduced to ashes. TD looked to Celestia to see that she had looked away before the blast had connected. Tears streamed from her eyes as she looked at him.

"You see," TD said, "Twilight may have changed my heart, but without you, the life we live wouldn't have been possible. Much like a play, we all have a part to play in our future, Tia. Some of us have a more important role than others. But it only works out in the end if all of us perform our part. If even one of us is out of line..."

He stopped, knowing that the message had gotten across. Celestia smiled at him as he wiped away a few more tears from her eyes.

"Thank you, William," she said, "As horrible as it may have been to see this...it was what I needed. I allowed myself to fall into a slum, but now I feel better about my role as Princess."

"No problem, Tia," TD said. "Now, let's get back to our world, shall we?"

TD pulled out a smoke bomb and tossed it at their feet. When the smoke cleared, they were gone.


Back in the palace, Celestia was just getting ready to turn in for the night. She was just starting to leave the throne room, when she noticed a pair of glowing eyes in the shadows of the now darkened interior.

"Is something wrong, William?" she asked the human.

TD chuckled. "Only a thought that came to me. I've always been curious about events that occur because of a different change in the past, and I have been wondering what would change if I made different decisions upon arriving here in Equestria. Your adventure with me today has made me want to try out something. I think that I'll make it a story separate from this one."

Celestia smiled. "I think that's a good idea, and I hope that your fans love it as much as this story."

TD looked at Celestia and laughed. "You are strange in your own right, Celestia. I'm still wondering if you're capable of Fourth Wall breaking. But maybe it's best to leave that a mystery. See ya!"

TD disappeared in a burst of flames and Celestia let out a laugh.

"You'd be surprised, my human friend," she said aloud as she turned to those reading this story and gave a wink. She then continued to her bedroom for a good night's sleep, while far away in the Thunder Empire her sister was waking to guard the night...


So, short chapter, but there you go!

Thanks again retro mania for the idea! Favorite, review, and I'll see ya next time!

Peace out, pony fans!

Edit: Song used is an adapted version of "Luna's Future" from the MLP Hearthswarming episode starring Starlight as Snowfall Frost.