It's About Time
Twilight's POV
Twilight had pretty much been up all night pacing, and she must have been making a lot of noise when Night got her attention. "Twilight, why are up so late?" Night asked sleepily.
"Oh, hey Night. I just can't sleep," Twilight answered.
"It's 3 in the morning. Seriously, what's wrong?" Night asked again.
"It's awful, it's horrible, it's tragic!" Twilight told him.
"I still don't get it," Night said.
"Here," Twilight said as she levitated a calendar to him. "Now do you see what's wrong?"
"No… should I?" Night asked.
"The problem is I just finished planning my schedule for the month, but I forgot to leave time to plan for next month!" Twilight explained.
"And that's bad because…" Night started.
"There's no time in my schedule to put together another schedule! I could move my meeting with the Ponyville Hay Board to the following Tuesday, but then I have to reschedule my lunch with Pinkie Pie, and you know what a nightmare she is with scheduling. This is an absolute disaster. My whole year could be thrown off!" Twilight continued.
"You want some help?" Night asked.
"I would appreciate it," Twilight answered. After about an hour of work, Twilight thought she had a solution. "If I can find a way to read The Art of Invisibility Spells and Thornhoof's Brief History of Canterlot at the same time, that could leave me a half-hour scheduling window!"
"You don't need to overstress yourself Twilight. We can just cancel our date next Thursday and you can do your scheduling then," Night told her. That's when Twilight noticed the wind picking up in her house and the two saw a magic bubble appearing in the center of the room.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked worriedly. After a flash of light, Twilight saw a pony that looked just like her, but she was wearing a black suit that had holes in it, her hair was forced up like a mohawk, she was wearing an eyepatch on her right eye and a bandage on her forehead, she also had a small scar under her left eye. The other Twilight shook her head before she started talking.
"Twilight, you've got to listen to me!" this new Twilight said.
"Who are you? I mean, you're me, but I'm me too. How can there be two me's? It's not scientifically possible. You are not scientifically possible!" Twilight told her.
"Twilight, please! I have a very important message for you from the future!" the other Twilight told her.
"You're from the future?!" Twilight asked excitedly.
"That's right, now listen—" Future Twilight started.
"What happened to you? The future must be awful," Twilight said, looking at her future self.
"Please! I don't have much time!" Future Twilight pleaded.
"Is there some sort of epic pony war in the distant future or something?" Twilight asked.
"Actually, I'm from next Tuesday morning, but that's not important right now!" Future Twilight told her.
"I can't believe time travel is really possible! How did you, I mean, I figure it out?" Twilight asked.
"The time spells are in the Canterlot archives. But that's not—" Future Twilight started.
"Really? Where? I've never seen them" Twilight wondered.
"They're in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing. Now, you have to listen to—" Future Twilight started again.
"Is time travel fun, or does it hurt? I have so many questions—" Twilight started, but her future self put her foot in Twilight's mouth.
"I have something extremely important to tell you about the future, and I only have a few seconds, so you've got to listen! Whatever you do, don't—" Future Twilight started but with another flash of magic she was gone.
"What the frak just happened?" Night asked, his confusion clear in his voice.
"I wish I knew. Her clothes, her mane, that scar… Oh, what a mess she is! ...I mean, I am… or I will be…" Twilight said, trying to find the right verb for this scenario, but just missing the mark. A thought then came to Twilight's mind. "She must want me to prevent whatever horrible thing happens in the future!" Twilight realized.
The sun had just risen when Twilight left the house. She had put on a pair of glasses that had big bushy eyebrows, a large nose, and a mustache. As she ran to warn everypony about what was coming, she bumped into Fluttershy, who was having trouble with some party supplies and continued on her way. "Listen, everypony! I've got something really important to say!" Twilight told the crowd, who responded with laughter, probably at what she was wearing She threw the thing off before continuing. "This is no laughing matter! We have a crisis on our hooves! I've just been visited by myself from the future!" The ponies worried looks quickly turned back into giggles and laughter. "This isn't a joke! My future self tried to warn me about a horrible disaster that's going to occur sometime before next Tuesday morning!" Twilight told them.
"What kind of disaster?" Applejack asked.
"I don't know! I got sucked back into the future before I could explain!" Twilight explained.
"Run for your liiiiiiiife!" Pinkie shouted, trying to run with balloons wrapped around her stomach.
"Whatever should we do, Twilight? How do we stop the disaster if we don't know what it is?" Rarity asked.
"Uh, let me handle it," Night responded. "Let's be honest, I'm one of the strongest ponies here, I can handle anything," he continued confidently.
"What we'll do… is work together to make sure we're safe. Rainbow Dash, you and the other Pegasi spread out over Equestria, and look for any kind of problem that could lead to a disaster, and I mean anything" Twilight ordered.
"You got it!" Rainbow responded.
"Everypony else—" Twilight started when Pinkie came in front of everypony screaming her lungs off.
"Anypony else wanna panic with me? No?" Pinkie asked before continuing her screaming. Twilight saw Night hoofpalm before continuing.
"Everypony else, time to disaster-proof Equestria!" Twilight said. The ponies nodded and got to work. It took hours of work, but eventually, they managed to get everything locked down as far as Twilight could tell. "Done and done," Twilight said, putting the last checks on her long list. "Applejack, what about the Everfree Forest?" she asked.
"The perimeter's clear," Applejack reported.
"And my team gave the all-clear from Fillydelphia to Las Pegasus," Rainbow added.
"Well, we've done everything on the list, but still... Future Twilight looked like she'd been through a horrible ordeal. I just have this nagging feeling we should be looking for something bigger than loose bolts and leaky pipes," Twilight noted. That's when a loud roar was heard and a three-headed dog appeared in the center of town.
"Okay, everypony, follow my lead," Pinkie said before she started screaming. Everypony then started screaming.
"What is that thing?!" Spike asked.
"I think that's Cerberus," Night said.
"What's he doing here then? He's supposed to be guarding the gates of Tartarus. But if he's here, then all the ancient evil creatures that have been imprisoned there could escape and destroy Equestria!" Twilight said.
"Destroy Equestria?!" Spike asked fearfully.
"Yeah! Isn't that great?!" Twilight asked excitedly, thinking that this is what Future Twilight warned her about.
"No!" Night responded, giving her a weird look.
"Hey Cerberus!" Twilight shouted, getting his attention. "You look like you could use some obedience training! Magic obedience training!" Twilight told him. Cerberus let out a roar and Twilight got her magic ready when Fluttershy started rubbing Cerberus's belly.
"Who's the cute widdle three-headed dog?" Fluttershy said.
"Wow, I knew you were good with animals, but this is amazing!" Twilight commented.
"Aww, he's just a big furry guy who got out of his yard, that's all. Right, Cerberus? Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" Fluttershy asked, Cerberus clearly enjoying the attention. Pinkie then ran past Cerberus still screaming and Twilight got her attention.
"Pinkie!" she called out.
"Yes Twilight?" Pinkie asked after she stopped screaming.
"Do you have a ball I can borrow?" Twilight asked.
"I have balls stashed all over Ponyville, in case of ball emergency," Pinkie said as she pulled out a ball from a nearby tree.
"Hey Cerberus! Look what I have!" Twilight called out, hovering the ball over Cerberus' heads. Twilight then started heading toward Tartarus using the ball to lead Cerberus. "I'll be back as soon as I've returned him to the gates of Tartarus. Once he's back at home, there'll be no disaster," Twilight told everypony as she left.
The Next Morning: Night's POV
By the time the sun had set yesterday, Twilight still hadn't returned. Night didn't think much of it, Twilight was more than capable of taking care of herself and it was a long way between Ponyville and Tartarus. Night had gone downstairs when the door opened and saw Twilight, a bit ruffled up from her journey but smiling happily. "So, how'd it go?" Night asked.
"Great. I got him back before any of the evil creatures could escape," Twilight answered.
"You completely sure?" Night asked.
"I triple-checked every area. Every creature was still there," Twilight said confidently.
"Well, that's good to hear," Spike said, coming downstairs. A familiar sound was heard from Spike and he let out a plume of fire that turned into a scroll, which hit Twilight in the face.
"Oh no!" Twilight suddenly cried out and she sprinted to a mirror.
"What is it?" Night asked concerned.
"It's just a 'lost dog' flyer. I guess the Princess hasn't heard we found Cerberus yet," Spike added.
"It's not that, it's this!" Twilight told them, revealing a small scar under her left eye. Night immediately recognized it. Spike, however, didn't.
"A paper cut? Come on, Twilight, you really need to toughen up. Just clean it out and you'll be fine," he said.
"The cut's in the exact same spot as the scar on future Twilight's cheek! We haven't changed the future at all! The disaster is still coming!" Twilight stated. Twilight then started pacing and after a while, Night noticed that she was wearing out the floor, as she was causing it to indent forming a circle around the center island. "If the disaster wasn't caused by Cerberus getting loose, then what could it possibly be?" Twilight wondered.
"We can find out. But I recommend you stop pacing," Night told her, pointing the circle Twilight's hooves had carved. Spike then let out a laugh.
"Yeah, you've worn a groove into the floor!" Spike added.
"I don't have time for another one of your lectures, Spike! This is serious!" Twilight counter.
"What lectures?" Night asked, a little confused.
"I did everything I could think of to change the future. But it didn't work. So maybe it's not what I do… Maybe it's what I don't do!" Twilight theorized. She then teleported herself out of the groove and then stood in place.
"What?" Night asked, really confused now.
"If I stand right here and don't move a muscle until next Tuesday, I can't possibly do whatever it is that future Twilight wanted to warn me not to do!" Twilight explained, becoming as stiff as a statue. Night merely sighed and used his magic to fix the floor while Spike seemed to see an opportunity.
"Really? So... no matter what happens, you're not gonna move a muscle, huh? Then maybe you won't mind if I... eat an entire tub of ice cream!" Spike said as he grabbed the tub and shoved a spoonful into his mouth.
"Really Spike?" Night asked. Spike didn't answer and he kept goading Twilight by shoving more spoonfuls into his mouth.
"Spike, stop! Think of the stomach ache!" Twilight said through her teeth.
"Stomach ache, huh? That's future Spike's problem," Spike responded.
"And you'll be that Spike," Night pointed out. There was then a knock on the door and Rainbow entered.
"Hey, Twilight, another Pegasus just got back from Baltimare with an all-clear and—" Rainbow started. She saw what was happening and started laughing. "What's going on? Aren't you gonna stop him?" Rainbow asked.
"She sure isn't! In fact, she's not gonna move 'til next Tuesday! She thinks it'll prevent the disaster from happening!" Spike answered.
"Oh, this is too rich," Rainbow commented. "Hey, Twilight! There's a mouse right behind you!" Twilight flinched but didn't jump as Rainbow and Spike laughed.
"Both of you, just stop," Night told them, but they didn't listen.
"Wait, wait, wait, let me try!" Spike said as he grabbed a feather and started tickling Twilight with it. Twilight eventually got fed up with it and used her magic to get Spike away. Spike hit the wall and let out a fire burst that hit Twilight. When the flames cleared, Night noticed what happened to Twilight's mane.
"Oh no!" Rainbow said.
"What happened?" Twilight asked.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! It was a total accident!" Spike apologized.
"Show me," Twilight told them.
"Are you sure?" Night asked.
"Show me!" Twilight shouted. Spike pulled up a mirror and showed Twilight what had happened. "Oh no! This is the same mane cut as future Twilight!" Twilight noticed.
"Y'know… it really doesn't look too bad…" Rainbow started.
"I don't care how it looks! It's just another sign that the future hasn't changed! Not doing anything didn't work either! Oh, I wish there was a way to know what was going to happen so I could stop it!" Twilight said.
"You wanna see the future? I might know somepony who can help!" Spike told her.
Spike brought Night and Twilight to a small tent near Sugar Cube Corner. "What is this?" Twilight asked.
"It's Madame Pinkie's place," Spike answered.
"'Madame Pinkie'?" Night asked unamused. The three entered and Pinkie was sitting by a round table in the center of the tent with a crystal ball in front of her wearing clothing that reminded Night of ancient Egyptian garments.
"Come… Enter the chamber of Madame Pinkie Pie… For the answers you seek, let us consult the mystical orb of fate's destiny…" Pinkie said spookily. She then swapped back to her normal voice. "Do you like my mystical orb of fate's destiny? I just got it. Cool, huh?" Pinkie asked.
"Yeah, uh… best one I've seen," Twilight responded. Pinkie then continued in her spooky voice.
"Look deep into the crystal ball… for soon it will reveal all! Ah, yes, I see something… It is a vision of the future… I see… you, Twilight. You will get a really cool birthday present next year…" she said.
"Yes, and?" Twilight asked.
"That's it," Pinkie answered normally.
Night hoofpalmed himself and slid it down his face. "Seriously?" Night asked.
"Yep. Cool birthday present," Pinkie answered, leaning back.
"Pinkie, I need your Pinkie Sense to tell me what the impending disaster is that future Twilight was trying to warn me about!" Twilight told her.
"Oh, my fortunetelling has nothing to do with my Pinkie Sense, silly. It's only good for vague and immediate events," Pinkie responded. Just then her tail twitched and a flower pot suddenly landed on Twilight's head. "Like that, see? Where did that even come from?" Pinkie wondered.
The next few days were pretty crazy. Twilight pretty much went full maniac. As much as Night tried to calm her down, it never seemed to work. Pinkie then came in and looked surprised at what she saw, but Twilight didn't even notice. "Hey Pinkie," Spike welcomed, his mouth full of ice cream.
"Twilight's really serious about finding out about that cool birthday present, isn't she?" Pinkie wondered.
"No, she isn't," Night responded.
"Are… you okay?" Pinkie asked Twilight.
"Ah, Pinkie, I'm glad you're here. Can you help me recalibrate the apertures on the nine-and-quarter catadioptric telescopes?" Twilight asked.
"Sure!" Pinkie answered.
"So I was thinking, after I came to see Madame Pinkie and the flowerpot landed on my head—see the bandage? Just like the bandage from the future…" Twilight started.
"Nice," Pinkie commented, staring into space.
"I had an epiphany after that flowerpot. Doing things didn't work, not doing things didn't work, and I couldn't predict the future either, so I only had one other choice. Monitor everything," Twilight finished.
"Makes sense to me!" Pinkie said.
"That way no matter what happens in the future, I'll be ready! I thought I saw something last night in the Horsehead Nebula, but after staring at it for three straight hours I realized, I was wrong!" Twilight stated.
"Three hours? When did you sleep?" Pinkie asked.
"She hasn't slept since future Twilight showed up," Night answered. He then turned to Twilight. "You really should get some sleep Twilight. Don't you think that if something was going to go wrong, it would have already happened? You can't keep going on like this," Night told her.
"Yes I can. Besides, it's only three days till next Tuesday. I'll sleep after that!" Twilight responded.
"This is what I mean Twilight, tomorrow's Tuesday," Night told her. Twilight gasped and teleported to the telescope Pinkie was supposed to work on.
"Pinkie, did you finish recalibrating the apertures on the nine-and-quarter-inch catadioptric telescopes?" Twilight asked.
"I have no idea," Pinkie answered happily. Twilight then brought the telescope up then suddenly threw herself away from it.
"Ah! My eye!" she screamed.
"Don't worry, Twilight, I have eye patches stashed all over Ponyville, in case of eye patch emergency," Pinkie told her as she pulled out an eyepatch from the chimney, which Night still questioned why it was there, they lived in a tree for crying out loud, and put it on Twilight's right eye. "There! Now you look like a pirate! A sleepy pirate, with a really weird mane cut," Pinkie continued, pushing a mirror in front of Twilight.
"The eye patch...! Another sign! Nearly all the signs have come true! I haven't done a thing to prevent the catastrophe! If Tuesday's tomorrow, and the disaster happens by Tuesday morning, then there's only one solution. I'll just have to… stop time!" Twilight realized.
"Are you insane!?" Night questioned.
A few hours later, the four were in Canterlot trying to "sneak in" the Canterlot archives wearing black stealth suits. "This is completely stupid," Night muttered to himself.
"Yeah, I don't think we need to sneak around, Twilight. It's not illegal to walk around Canterlot," Spike added.
"Guard!" Twilight warned in a hushed voice. She stood by a statue and posed before turning to the others, who just stood in place. "C'mon you guys." Night just sighed and teleported them all into the archives.
"Let's just get this over with," Night said. After a little while, the group ended right back to where they started.
"I don't understand. It's supposed to be right here… How are we supposed to find it now?" Twilight wondered.
"Maybe we should ask somepony in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing?" Pinkie said, pointing to it which was right next to them.
"Huh. How'd I miss that?" Twilight wondered. "Look at all those priceless magic scrolls. There are more than I ever imagined!"
"Twilight, the guard!" Pinkie warned. Night turned and saw a guard heading right to them.
"What do we do, what do we do?!" Twilight panicked. The guard approached them and recognized them.
"Hey Twilight, your highness, haven't seen you both in a while. Here, let me get that for you," he said, opening the gate.
"Thanks," Night said as the group entered the wing.
"Oh no!" Twilight suddenly shouted and she ran up to the mirror. Her suit was torn just like the one future Twilight wore. "I look just like future Twilight… The last sign has come true!"
"And that's bad, right?" Pinkie asked.
"Come on! It's almost Tuesday morning! The disaster could happen at any moment!" Twilight stated. Looking outside, the sun was just starting to rise.
"There are hundreds of scrolls here. Any one of them could be a time spell," Night pointed out.
"Then we'd better hurry," Twilight responded and the four started looking through the wing, but Night couldn't find anything.
"Twilight, it's over! It's officially Tuesday morning," Spike told her as the sun rose.
"Tuesday morning, the disaster! Incoming!" Twilight said and she dove for cover. But nothing happened.
"I don't think there even was a disaster," Night told Twilight. Twilight stood up and looked confused.
"Is it possible there never was a disaster? That I've just been making myself frantic over nothing?!" Twilight wondered.
"I don't get it. If future Twilight wasn't warning you about a disaster, then what was she trying to tell you?" Spike asked.
"I don't know. But I do know one thing. I look ridiculous," Twilight responded.
"I wasn't going to say anything, but you do," Night commented. This caused a laugh between the two ponies and Spike.
"And it's all because I couldn't stop worrying and let the future handle itself! Well, not anymore. From now on, I'm gonna solve problems as they come, and stop worrying about every little thing!" Twilight declared.
"Does this mean you'll stop doing all that late-night pacing?" Night asked.
"Yes, Night, no more late-night pacing. If only I had learned this lesson a week ago, we wouldn't have had to go through all this," Twilight replied.
"Twilight, Twilight, I found something!" Pinkie called out. "It doesn't stop time, but it lets you go back in time. It says you can go back once, and it only lasts for a few moments. Does that help?" Pinkie wondered.
"Pinkie, you're a genius!" Twilight said.
"Woo-hoo!" Pinkie celebrated.
"Now I can go back and tell past Twilight that she doesn't need to go berserk with worry about a disaster that's never gonna come!" Twilight stated. That's when Night realized something.
"Twilight, wait!" Night called out but it was too late, as Twilight used the spell and vanished.
A few days ago: Twilight's POV
Twilight awoke in the library feeling a bit groggy. She quickly shook her head and noticed past Twilight and Night. "Twilight, you've got to listen to me!" Twilight told her past self.
"Who are you? I mean, you're me, but I'm me too. How can there be two me's? It's not scientifically possible. You are not scientifically possible!" past Twilight told her.
"Twilight, please! I have a very important message for you from the future!" Twilight said, hoping she could reason with herself.
"You're from the future?!" past Twilight asked excitedly.
"That's right, now listen—" Twilight started but was interrupted by her past self.
"What happened to you? The future must be awful," past Twilight said as she looked at her.
"Please! I don't have much time!" Twilight pleaded.
"Is there some sort of epic pony war in the distant future or something?" past Twilight asked.
"Actually, I'm from next Tuesday morning, but that's not important right now!" Twilight answered.
"I can't believe time travel is really possible! How did you, I mean, I figure it out?" past Twilight asked.
"The time spells are in the Canterlot archives. But that's not—" Twilight started.
"Really? Where? I've never seen them" past Twilight wondered.
"They're in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing. Now, you have to listen to—" Twilight started again.
"Is time travel fun, or does it hurt? I have so many questions—" past Twilight started, but Twilight put her foot in her mouth.
"Am I really like this?" Twilight wondered to herself before continuing. "I have something extremely important to tell you about the future, and I only have a few seconds, so you've got to listen! Whatever you do, don't—" Twilight started but she was teleported back to the future. "–waste your time… worrying… about… Ugh! I can't believe I just did that!" Twilight said to herself as she hoofpalmed herself.
"Did you tell her about the cool birthday present?" Pinkie asked.
"Remember last week when future Twilight came to warn me about something? That was me trying to warn myself not to worry so much! Now I'm gonna spend the next week freaking out about a disaster that doesn't even exist! Ugh…" Twilight realized.
"That's the problem with time loops. No matter what you could do, it could be changed," Night told her.
"Let's hope I never have to do that again," Twilight said.
"I do too. This time travel business messes with my brain," Night commented.
"You have a brain?" Twilight teased.
"Ha ha," Night said in a monotone voice. They then heard Spike moan in pain and saw him holding his stomach.
"Ohhh… my stomach… I, I think it's all that ice cream… I thought the stomach ache would be future Spike's problem… but now I am future Spike. Ohh…" Spike complained. The ponies laughed at this twist of fate.
"Come on, future Spike. Let's get you home," Twilight said, putting the dragon on her back.
That wraps up this chapter. Also, I know this is technically episode 20 in season 2 but I wanted to do this chapter too much so I'm doing it "early". Also, I hope everyone is doing well with what's going on with Corona. I've been "quarantined" by my state with school being closed till April. The good thing is that it allows me to work more on all my fanfic work. Still, I hope you all enjoyed.