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Twilight was sleeping soundly, when a jostling woke her from her deep slumber. It had been a long day—travelling all the way from Canterlot to here in the middle of nowhere, or ‘Ponyville’ , then getting caught by a net while stealing apples would tire anypony—so Twilight groaned as she peeled her eyes open.
It was dark, not the dark she was used to. Back in Canterlot, there was always a lamp or light left on in the hallway, so even if she worked through the night there was always a soft glow to keep her company. Here at Sweet Apple Acres, every light source would have been snuffed out past 11 PM. Here, the dark was a thick and velvety black that clung to the rafters and would not let go.
Twilight's muscles still ached and her joints whined in a way no book in the library would prepare her for it. The soreness had been dulled from sleep, but was still noticeable. Twilight's internal body clock whirred—it would be about 3 AM now. Who had woken her up at this ungodly hour?
"Twilight. Twilight, wake up! I don't have much time!'
A familiar voice. Anxious and at a slightly higher pitch from panic, it brought Twilight fully to consciousness. Twilight brain went into overdrive, and she jolted upright. The blanket tangled around her hindlegs as she sat up in shock. The loft creaked beneath her and the air snapped cold against her face.
There, standing half in shadow, stood—
"Twilight?!"
Herself.
She was older, paler. Her mane was scorched and matted in places. One eye was rimmed in dark bruising, so big was the bruise Twilight mistook it for an eyepatch at first. The cloak hanging off her back was slashed, almost charred. Her horn sparked and barely glowed, and the ring that was usually wrapped around the horn's base was gone.
Twilight's—the one in bed—jaw dropped.
"What in Celestia's name?? Who are you?"
"I'm you, Twilight, but—"
"Oh my god. You're from the future!" Twilight—well, current Twilight—got over her shock extremely quickly. Her eyes lit up in awe as she leaped out of bed and started circling the older Twilight to inspect her.
"Yes, I am, and I don't have much—"
"Amazing! Time travel IS possible! How did you, I mean me, pull it off? And when do you come from?"
The older Twilight lost some of her composure, as she sniffed in pride. "Well, it actually was quite simple, the spell was half-finished in the Starswirl the Bearded section of the Canterlot Library. And I'm from six months from now."
Future Twilight shook her head, regaining her previous hard-boiled attitude. "But I'm not here to brag. Listen, there is something very important you need to know."
Current Twilight stopped circling, eyes sharp but confused. "Important how? Did I mess up?"
Future Twilight’s horn sparked faintly, flickering like a candle about to gutter out. “It's worse than a mess. It's the Elements. They—”
“The Elements? Yeah, I know, I'm still on the hunt for it? Do I have all six in the future? Do we win?”
Future’s gaze tightened. “Twi, there's no time for these questions—”
“Are you sure you’re me? You look—different. Scars? Did you get hurt in battle?”
“Focus. Sombra’s winning. The Elements aren’t enough as they are.”
“But what do you mean ‘not enough’? I thought they were the key. Why- why haven’t we figured this out before?”
Future’s horn flickered again, dimmer this time. “Listen, you have to—”
“Wait, wait—what about the others? Rainbow Dash? Pinkamena? Are they there in the future as well? Did they—”
The light sputtered, sparks dying.
“No—no time!” Future’s voice broke, strained.
A blue glow blazed suddenly, white-hot and raw, and then she was gone.
The room was silent except for Twilight’s own ragged breath, the darkness pressing in again like a living thing.
"Oh…" she said.
The word hung there, barely more than a whisper swallowed by the dark. Twilight blinked, mouth slack, heart hammering against ribs like a trapped bird.
She stared at the empty space where the future version had stood seconds ago. The cold crept deeper into her bones, sharp and unyielding. Her mind raced, questions exploding forth, clawing for answers, but with no thread to grasp, her thoughts spun out of control. Twilight shivered, not from cold, but from something raw and jagged waking inside her chest.
She swallowed, voice cracking. “What the hell was that? What did she mean... not enough?”
She wasn’t just hunting the Elements anymore. She was running out of time.