Twilight Sparkle turned to a blank page of her notebook, a quill floating in her magical aura. She began jotting down various numbers, then immediately scribbled then out.

Flustered, she started scouring her bookshelf for any information on time-travel, tossing useless book after useless book onto the floor behind herself. "I don't know what to do..."

"About what?" Spike asked, yawning as he stepped into the princess' room.

"Spike, let me bounce some hypothetical ideas off of you. First off, imagine you broke those statues in my throne room. Then the next day I travel back in time and warned you not to break them because there'll be dire consequences. What happens? Really think about it."

Spike scratched his chin and shrugged. "Then I wouldn't break them?"

"Right, but if you don't break them, then I won't travel back in time to warn you not to break them, right?" Twilight asked, her ears drooping.

"Uh, I guess not... I don't get it Twi, why are you asking me all of this?" Spike crossed his arms and frowned. "I don't like where this is going, because I've seriously been thinking about taking the eyes out of those creepy statues."

"I know... And I'm asking you about a paradox—something I was hoping to avoid with this particular version of a time spell, but it didn't happen that way. I fixed everything between me and our friends tomorrow, but the spell is still in effect, and I can't imagine why. It doesn't make any sense to me, unless I get really theoretical, which... Separate time-lines? No!"

"Whoa! This is sounding really scary..." the little dragon said as he stepped backwards.

Twilight took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Spike, go get Princess Celestia for me. Tell her it's urgent."

The alicorn watched her friend leave the room with an obedient nod, then she slouched down against the wall. It'll be fine Twilight... Celestia will understand... accidents happen, right?

A tall white alicorn entered the room, her hooves bare and her royal jewelry absent. She placed her hoof to her mouth and yawned. "Good morning Twilight. You needed something?"

The young princess nodded and scratched the back of her mane. "Well... I'm not sure exactly what went wrong, but I put myself into a bit of a pickle."

"A pickle?" Celestia raised an eyebrow, almost too afraid to ask.

"I was reading a book the other day, and decided to try out one of its spells. Turns out the spell was no good, and now I need to undo it. It was a time spell, and all of its information is in that notebook behind you." Twilight nodded towards her dresser.

Celestia forcefully exhaled. "What exactly has gone wrong, dare I ask..."

Twilight bit her lip and glanced back to her calendar while the older princess skimmed the notebook. "Well I meant to travel back to the beginning of yesterday... I mean to tomorrow morning, because I performed the spell two days from now. At first I thought it worked, because after I performed it I woke up on the previous morning, but at ten p.m. that night, which is exactly when I performed the spell on the next day, I passed out and woke up today. I fear that the same thing will happen again tonight."

Celestia gulped and shook her head. "You're traveling back through time day by day? Twilight, I'm afraid I have no idea where to even begin. Starswirl was the only pony I ever met that had a perfect understanding of time-travel. Have you searched the Starswirl Wing for information?"

Twilight nodded. "I already moved all of his informative books to my personal collection here. I've read them all several times, and I'm sure I didn't miss anything that would be helpful."

The tall white mare pulled her former student into a tight hug. "Don't worry Twilight, we'll fix this together."

"Thank you, Princess. I'm sorry..." Twilight bit her lip once again, shame filling her stomach.

"Accidents happen, right?" Celestia pat her on the back and turned away. "I have some consulting to do. I suggest you do as much research on this matter as possible until I get back."

Twilight nodded as the oldest princess exited the room, then Spike cautiously stepped in.

"Are you okay Twi?" the small dragon asked, twiddling his claws.

"I'm fine. I have some research to do though, and maybe you can help me with that. I have some ideas of my own now as to how to go about correcting this. If I can't effect the future from the past, then maybe I can travel forward to warn myself not to cast the spell in the first place." Twilight cringed at the thought of it going wrong and shook her head.

Spike shrugged and scratched his head. "Sounds like it could work. I'd wait for the princess to get back though."

"I will. I hope Celestia can figure out a way to fix this, but if worse comes to worse, I'll have to dive face first into theoretical time-travel." The young princess turned to face her mirror, spotting her notebook on the dresser.

"Oh! This... For some reason this notebook seems to be going back in time with me. Spike, write a secret on the page beneath those scribbles. I don't care what it is, but make sure it's something that only you are aware of." Twilight levitated the book and quill into his grasp.

"Okay, but why?" Spike asked as he began to write.

"It's just an experiment in case Celestia doesn't come through..." Twilight turned to face her bedroom window and her heart skipped a beat.

Spike stepped up beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, everything's gonna be okay."

Twilight's gaze stayed fixed over Equestria, the morning light illuminating the hills and distant village. "Spike..."

"Yeah?" The young dragon looked up to see tears dripping down the mare's cheeks.

"It was all for nothing. My friends still hate me, and now Celestia thinks I'm an idiot..." Twilight choked up and turned away.

Spike shook his head and frowned. "None of those things are true. Our friends never hated you, and Celestia is just trying to help. She knows that you're the smartest pony in all of Equestria, that's why you were able to perform the spell in the first place. That's why she made you a princess."

"Maybe I wasn't ready for this... What if Celestia takes my princess status away?! Time-travel magic is forbidden! I mean... What if this whole thing blows back on me and ruins the rest of my life?!" Twilight began to hyperventilate, her front hooves pressing tightly against her chest.

"Whoa there, calm down. None of that's gonna happen. Now aren't you supposed to be doing research?" Spike began picking the pile of books up from off the floor.

Twilight took several deep breaths and calmed her nerves. "You're right... but there's nothing to find in those books. I'm heading to Ponyville for a moment to search for a book about combat spell reversals. I might be able to find something useful in that."

"Can I come too?!" Spike beamed and jumped onto the bed.

"No, I need you to wait for Celestia and tell her where I am if she gets back before I do. I'll only be gone for a few minutes." Twilight stepped out onto the balcony and closed her eyes.

"Wait. I'm pretty sure we probably have a copy of that book here in the palace somewhere."

"I don't have time for probably, Spike. I'll be back in a minute..." The alicorn disappeared in a flash.

A ball of light formed in the center of Town Square, then exploded, sending a wall of dust and dirt spiraling outward as the young princess appeared in the center of it. The townsfolk shielded their eyes and coughed as the dust settled. Twilight Sparkle pressed forward towards the library, ignoring the bowing citizens.

The alicorn spread her wings and took flight, speedily gliding down the street. She pulled back and came to a skidding halt, then pressed through the door to her old home. The familiar scent filled her lungs, and she glanced around to notice all the furniture had been rearranged.

"Welcome to the library, Princess Twilight. What's the occasion?" A yellow mare with a poofy green mane bowed down and closed her eyes.

"I'm just here to grab something, then I'm leaving." The mare levitated the book she sought off the shelf, then tucked it into a small bag beneath her wing.

"Hey, you have to check that out..." The mare gulped and stood up.

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned to face the insolent mare. "I'm your princess, and you'll not interrupt my royal affairs!"

"Oh... okay..." The mare cowered and placed her hooves over her eyes as she bowed.

"And organize these books. I'll be back for an inspection in a few days, and I expect this place to be in order by then." The alicorn smirked before taking flight out the front door. "... Just a little experiment."

She flew to the edge of town, then stopped just before teleporting again. With a deep huff, the alicorn zipped back to the library and burst through the front door. "I almost forgot something."

The yellow mare dropped the books she was holding and pressed her nose to the floor. Twilight fluttered upstairs and dug through a bookshelf, knocking several books to the floor before grabbing a large, leather bound notebook. Flipping it open, she found thorough notes on the time scroll she had used once before.

"Thanks again." Twilight giggled as she dove down the stairs and dashed out the front door, several books and papers falling to the floor in her wake.

She spiraled into the air until Canterlot came into view over the treetops. Her horn began to glow, but just before she teleported, she was tackled to the ground.

"And where do you think you're going?!" A cerulean pegasus stood over the princess and snarled.

Twilight coughed as she tried to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her. "I... ouch..."

Rainbow Dash stood off of her and brushed herself off. "You finally come back to Ponyville, and you decide to leave without seeing any of us?!"

The alicorn cringed and wiped the dust from her eyes. "Rainbow, you have to believe me when I say that I planned on coming back tomorrow and spending all day with the five of you."

"Oh really! Tomorrow huh?!" The pegasus rolled her eyes and crossed her hooves.

"Yes Rainbow, I promise you that we're going to have a great time tomorrow. I have some extremely important things to take care of right now though," Twilight explained.

The rainbow-maned pegasus plopped down on the ground with hooves tightly crossed, her gaze drifting away and her frown turning to a pout. "You better, because I..."

"I know Dash. I miss you too. I won't let you down." Twilight closed her eyes and lit her horn ablaze, then vanished in a stunning display of magical radiance.

She appeared atop her balcony, then slid the glass door open. Celestia stood in her bedroom with a sorrowful dragon at her side. "Is everything alright?"

Celestia shook her head. "I haven't found a solid way to undo the spell, but maybe you could alter the past to stop yourself from casting it to begin with."

"That was the first thing I thought of." Twilight dropped her bag onto her bed and pulled out the combat training book. "I found a book of spell reversals for soldiers. I was thinking I could alter one of these and cast it tonight just before the spell takes effect, maybe I could reverse its effects to that I'll wake up on the next day instead of the previous one."

The white alicorn raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Twilight... a simple counter spell would likely just backfire or at best be ineffective."

"I know it's risky, but I'm all out of ideas... unless maybe you'd like to take a trip into the past and visit Starswirl himself. I don't have the energy required to go that far back, but you might." Twilight looked up at her former teacher with wide, hopeful eyes.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Traveling through time has always proven to cause more trouble than it fixes. I'm sorry, but we have to find another way. I doubt Starswirl would have an answer anyway."

Twilight's ears fell flat with disappointment. "Then I'm going to read this book and try to come up with something."

Celestia nodded and turned to exit once again. "I'll call upon all the scholars of Equestria and task them to resolve a hypothetical scenario. It's the best I can do right now. And Twilight... good luck with whatever it is you do to try and fix this. I trust you're magical prowess above even my own. I'm confident that if anypony can fix this, it'll be you on your own."

Twilight Sparkle nodded, determination filing her chest. "You're right. I can fix this."

The oldest princess nodded and stepped out, then Twilight pulled her old notebook from the bag. "Spike, if this is gonna work, then I'm going to have to break a few rules. In the future, if you even remember me telling you this, make sure I never try to travel through time again."

"Got it!" Spike saluted his friend and sat back as she began reading.

"I can easily recreate the time scroll spell now that I have the magic needed to cast it. First things first, I'm going to skip forward and warn myself not to... wait..." Twilight smacked herself in the face and groaned.

"What? What's wrong?" Spike jumped up and tilted his head.

"If I traveled forward to warn myself not to cast the spell, then it either never would have happened, or I'd have cast it anyway," Twilight explained.

"But you haven't gone forward yet, maybe that's all that's stopping you, the fact that you haven't tried yet."

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "No Spike, because if I do try then I will have tried, and if it succeeded then I wouldn't be here right now considering trying. The fact that I'm here right now means that there's no way to stop myself from casting the initial spell. I need to think of something else. Right now I'm just presuming that I'll jump a day backwards at ten tonight. Maybe the spell wore off by now."

"BUT YOU HAVEN'T TRIED YET!" Spike's eye twitched as he attempted to wrap his mind around the concept of paradoxical time loops.

Twilight giggled and pat the dragon on his head. "Settle down Spike. You just have to trust me."

"My head hurts..." Spike sat down and rubbed his temples.

Twilight chuckled and continued writing down information from the counter-spell book. "I think the spell is recasting itself somehow, so if that's the case, then this version of a counter could dispell it, causing me to wake up immediately after I pass out and just continue forward from there."

"That sounds good!" Spike hopped up next to her and skimmed over her shoulder.

"Alternatively, this could just be a lingering effect, in which case I'll need to overcharge it and rush it out of my system. I might jump a bit further back, but after that happens, it should be worn off."

"Okay that second plan sounds really, really bad." Spike cringed and lowered his eyes.

"Let's hope the first one works then. I'm going to put myself to sleep. Wake me up in twelve hours." Twilight climbed into her bed and covered up.

"Why twelve hours?" Spike asked.

"At ten, the spell should take effect. If it does take effect, then I'll cast the counter spell. I just hope that this notebook will retain information the way I think it does." Twilight's horn began to glow, then it sprinkled a layer of magical dust over her head, causing a wave of drowsiness to wash over her.

"How do I wake you up?" Spike quickly shouted, tapping her shoulder.

"Just... figure... zzz..." Twilight dozed off and began to snore.

Twilight Sparkle shot straight up, soaking wet and shivering. "Spike! What in Equestria are you doing?!"

The dragon huffed, catching his breath with an empty bucket in one hand. "I've been trying to wake you up for the past half hour! It's already nine-thirty."

"Oh.. right." Twilight wrapped herself in a blanket and grabbed her notebook. "Spike, I might need help staying conscious when it's time to cast this spell, so help me stay up okay?"

Spike nodded and gulped as the clocked ticked time away. Twilight practiced her spell, lighting her horn and casting it at her bookshelf. The minutes ticked away as the young alicorn prepared for what was to come.

"Just a few more minutes." She closed her eyes and gulped. "I'm starting to feel a little dizzy."

Spike rushed to her side and helped her stay up.

"My stomach hurts... I feel cold." Twilight ground her teeth and lit her horn.

The second-hand ticked around one final time before reaching ten in the evening, and Twilight began to fall down.

"Come on Twilight! Cast the spell" The dragon shouted as he used all of his strength to hold her up.

The alicorn nodded and bit down on her tongue, her horn creating a bright shroud of light that enveloped her body, then dissipated around her. She lay shivering, her vision black and breaths short and weak.

"Twilight?!" Spike called out as Celestia rushed in behind him.

The young alicorn caught a blurry glimpse of the two before her final breath slipped out of her body.

A crisp morning breeze blew in through the bedroom window of a young alicorn. She yawned and stretched her legs and wings before standing off her bed. She glanced at the calendar and grimaced.

"The fifth?" She shook her head and spotted her notebook on the floor in front of her dresser.

"Ha. Let's check you out." She lifted the book in her aura and opened it up. "Yes!"

The information she had written remained, along with the secret message Spike left beneath the flawed equation. Don't tell Rarity or Shining Armor, but I kind of have a crush on Cadence.

The alicorn rolled her eyes and laughed. "Spike!"

Twilight sighed and looked over her notes. "This has to work..."

"Yeah?" The dragon entered the room and wiped his tired eyes. "Sup?"

"I need you to do me a favor. I'm going to be doing some research, and I need you to come back and make sure I'm awake by nine o'clock tonight. It's extremely important that you remember to wake me up, okay? Extremely important!" Twilight grabbed his shoulders and shook him back and forth.

"Okay okay... I got it, sheesh..." Spike shook his head and walked back to his own room, setting an alarm to remind himself.

Twilight shut her door and went back to her notes. "Okay... Time scroll magic."

She read over them dozens of times, then took a deep breath. "Simple enough."

Twilight stepped out onto her balcony, then focused her magic and lit her horn with a vibrant purple aura of magic. Purple embers fell to her hooves, and she disappeared with a bright flash. In an instant, she opened her eyes and spotted herself reading and signing various documents on her hutch from outside the window.

"Huh, that's odd... But it's just as I feared..." She frowned and teleported herself to Ponyville.

She appeared directly in front of the library, and quickly forced her way past the front door.

"Oh, hello Princess Twilight. What's the occasion?"

Twilight Sparkle stepped back out the front door and took a deep breath. "This doesn't make any sense... Nothing that I did yesterday, or tomorrow, or whatever made any difference..."

She shook the thought from her head and focused. "Okay then... Two years forward, here I come."

Her horn began to glow with concentrated magic, charging the spell up for a much greater jump, and her eyes radiated a bright white light. In an instant, she disappeared, and when she opened her eyes she was surrounded by blinding, spiraling lights. She covered her eyes, and as the light faded, she lowered her hooves.

She stumbled backwards and bumped into the wall where her dresser once stood. Her palace bedroom was empty, filled with dust and cobwebs. "Where am I?"

She glanced around before stepping out onto her balcony. Canterlot was just as majestic as ever, the many townsfolk attending their daily routines. Clouds loomed in the distance, promising rain.

"Twilight!" She called out. "Where in Equestria could I have gone?"

Just then she heard hoofsteps outside her bedroom door, and she ducked out of sight. Best not let anypony else see me...

She turned to Ponyville and smiled. "Did I move back?"

With a bright flash of light, she disappeared from the balcony and reappeared on the outskirts of the small town. She trotted down a small trail towards town, and spotted The Carousel Boutique a couple blocks in.

She ducked down and quietly trotted around the buildings, fluttering through backyards. She peeked into Rarity's back window and spotted the mare diligently sowing while holding various fabrics in her aura.

"Eep!" Twilight shriek as a sudden boom of thunder roared across the sky.

Rarity quickly glanced up, spotting movement as Twilight ducked beneath the window. The unicorn headed to her back door and trotted outside, just as rain started to fall.

"Is somepony out here? Hello?" Rarity called out.

Twilight flinched beneath the ice-cold rain and popped out from hiding. "Oh hello there. Sorry, I was just, you know... can I come in?"

Rarity's jaw fell open, and she slowly backed away. "Tw... Twilight? Is that really..."

"I guess I haven't seen you in a while, huh?" The alicorn blushed and nodded towards the door, chilling rain permeating her coat.

"Please, come in" Rarity led the way into her kitchen.

"So... have you seen me around anywhere lately? I'm trying to figure out where I live." Twilight laughed, realizing how unusual she sounded.

Rarity gulped and slowly shook her head. "Twilight..."

"I know it sounds weird, but I'll be honest right now. I'm from the past, I traveled to the future to see if and how I resolved a problem," Twilight explained.

The white unicorn winced and hugged onto her friend. She pressed her muzzle into the purple mare's neck, smelling her unique scent, and feeling her soft mane falling over her face. "I've missed you so much darling..."

"Uhm... How long have you missed me for?" Twilight dared to ask.

Rarity leaned up with tears pouring down her cheeks. "It's been nearly two years since... I don't know how to say this, but..."

"What is it?" Twilight asked, a terrified pit in her stomach.

Rarity looked down and away, her voice weak and broken. "You died... they found you in your palace bedroom, and they said it was something about a time-traveling spell gone wrong... I'm so sorry Twilight. I've always blamed myself. I never should have sent that awful letter, and I've begged for the chance to apologize. I'm just so sorry..."

Twilight stumbled backwards, dizzy and unfocused. "Dead?"

She looked up at Rarity, who became blurry. Twilight then fell onto her back as blinding waves of light surrounded her. When she came to, she was lying on her bedroom floor, absent of thought. "Dead..."

She stood up and climbed onto her bed, curling up into a tight ball and letting her tears fall freely. "This is my last chance," she said as she cast the sleep spell one last time.

Twilight woke up, startled. Spike was shaking her back and forth. "Wake up already!"

She smacked his hands away and stretched out. "I'm up... Thanks Spike."

"Wanna tell me what's going on?" The young dragon crossed his arms and glared. "Something's up, and I don't like being left out of the loop."

"I'm about to cast a counter spell on myself. I'm going to overcharge the effects of a spell gone wrong, which will hopefully cause it to wear off. If it doesn't work, I don't know what'll happen, but this is my last chance to fix it." Twilight spoke with an apathetic undertone as she prepared the spell.

"Wait... why am I just now finding out about all of this?!" Spike shouted, worrisome tears welling up in his eyes.

"I explained it all to you tomorrow... Not that it matters..."

"... What?!" Spike shouted in utter confusion.

The clock approached ten, and Twilight's horn began to glow. She forced her eyes closed as icy pains filled her body, and she slid down the wall as her balance betrayed her. The clock struck ten, and she cast her spell. The deep pink aura surrounded her, concentrating itself in the center of her chest, and as it exploded into a fiery torrent of magic, Twilight slipped out of consciousness.