I let the door close behind me and I slumped against the wall. My eyes half closed for a second and the world spun, fatigue taking over. My magic was nearly exhausted, especially from the earlier lifting. I had barely been able to teleport those few feet. My magic seemed to be as volatile as all hell, always cracking under stress or flaring unexpectedly. Always when I needed it the most. Now didn’t seem to be much different.

The inside of the treehouse looked as rigidly organized as the day I had left it. The books were in a perfect line and organized by name. Not even dust polluted the air.  Everything seemed perfectly preserved. It felt just like home. The kind of energy needed to maintain a spell like this... I couldn’t even begin to think what had been used as a power source for the spell. In the center of the room, a pedestal had been erected with a sheet of paper dead center. An amethyst light winked in and out of existence above them, clearly meant to illuminate the sheet for reading.

I slowly approached the sheet of paper and looked down. The words had been magically imposed onto the page in an odd, purple ink. Twilight had probably magically imposed the words onto the page instead of writing it out manually. It was faster after all, and Twilight had been nothing but efficient. I lowered my horn to the page and touched it to the parchment. When words were magically put onto a page like Twilight had done, they could be re-absorbed by another unicorn for quick reading. You didn't get as much as actually reading the page, but it was a lot quicker. This time though, something different happened. I felt my mind start to be pulled in and the visions in front of my eyes started to change, slowly at first then all at once.

Without having moved, I realized that I was suddenly at the front of the treehouse again. I felt vaguely different, slower. My eyesight was slightly hazed over, as if the world itself had started to drain away, leaving a shadow of its former self. My body started to move forward without any input of my own, taking me on a course I had no wish to follow. This version of the treehouse was well lit with a comforting yellow glow, making me feel right at home. I felt myself sigh and look back down at the ground.

“Twilight!” I heard a voice call from upstairs. It sounded like a young colt’s voice, but I couldn’t be certain. I had never heard the voice before, it shouldn’t be coming from where MY bed was. My head jerked to the sound, in a slightly delayed reaction to the call. “We need to go now! Celestia’s soldiers are on the way!” Why should I be scared of Celestia’s soldiers? They were peacekeepers, the good guys. I heard footsteps clamber down the steps and a stark white coated and blue maned unicorn stood in the doorway. The colt had two saddlebags filled tightly and he seemed to be anxious. I nodded swiftly and levitated two sheets of paper onto the pedestal.

“Just a minute” I mumbled out in Twilight’s voice. I lowered my horn down and with a flash of amethyst the two sheets of paper I had recently discovered were replicated before me. On one, the writing was complete, but on the other, purple words still appearing by magic. “Go on outside and get out of here, I’ll be along shortly. There’s a few things I need to take care of first.” I went on, feeling as if I was cutting a long speech short.

“Alright Twi, make sure you don’t take too long, Luna will be mad.” The colt responded a little hesitantly .”Meet you outside!” He finished, exiting in a rather hurried manner. Somewhere in the distance I could hear the wailing of sirens, I had no idea what they were for. Generally the only times that any siren was heard in Ponyville was due to fire and that was so rare it was almost inconsiderable.

“It had to come for this.” Twilight spoke to herself. “We could’ve worked something out, if only Celestia hadn’t been so hot headed...” she started and then sighed again, shaking her head. She seemed trapped inside of her memories for a second, as if she had lost track of where she was. “The others will see through this. We’re the elements of Harmony for a reason. For whoever is viewing this memory in the near or distant future: the other parchment contains a record of the final meeting before war was declared. It does not contain a full record of the events leading to the war, but it should give those who wish it a good idea of what caused this...devastation." I hadn't remembered seeing the other sheet she was referring too. Maybe someone else had been here?

" Now, Rainbow Dash’s Wonderbolts will be here soon. I hope I leave this library in good hands for the future. Books will always be needed.” She finished. Her voice contained both tenderness and sadness.

Twilight levitated a piece of chalk,  the purple of her magic enveloping it. She drew a hexagram around the pedestal and started to whisper the long complicated words of a spell. Nearly a full minute later, she stopped and released the magic. Light flared from every bit of her body. Nowhere was as bright as her horn, which overglowed brilliantly. From inside Twilight’s head, everything turned a purple so bright that it was painful. The sheer force of the spell left Twilight feeling limp and tired. As abruptly as it started, the intense light faded away, leaving a light purple glow more like what I had experienced when first re-entering the treehouse.

“Now, I imagine that many magical secrets will be lost by the time this is recovered.” Twilight began, her voice slightly weak from the burst of magical power. A flash of realization hit me: She realized that the war was going to end badly but that some ponies would survive for the future. Was this all planned? “The technique to make memory papers is in the bottom of this podium; it might help in understand these a little better. In addition to this, there are a  few defensive magical theory books that may be useful for whoever you are. Not that I want whoever sees this to fight, but if it is necessary I hope you will be well prepared. I assume most of civilization has been destroyed by the time this memory is heard, so whoever is reading this, may Luna help you.” Twilight finished. As if to emphasize this point, she glanced down at the bottom half of the pedestal resting her gaze on several brightly bound books with runic letterings decorating the sides.

“Twilight now!” I heard a voice call from outside. That was funny, it sounded almost like... Princess Luna. Why would she be in Ponyville though?

“One minute!” Twilight yelled, taking one last look over the library. This all had a sense of finality to it, like it would be the last time she would be here. I could feel tears start to well up in Twilight’s eyes. This had been her home for years, to leave it must have been heartbreaking. I heard hoofsteps behind Twilight and she turned to see Princess Luna. Twilight’s eyes were drawn to an amulet around Luna’s neck. How odd... it looked exactly like the one I wore.

“We do not have this kind of time Twilight. I thought you at least would keep to the schedule. We need to go now.” Luna explained, a little tease entering her voice.. Despite her sense of urgency, there was still underpinnings of sympathy under the command.

“Sorry.” Twilight apologized near silently. “I had to take care of a few things, for the society,” she added, with implied meaning that I didn’t fully understand. Luna shifted, the words clearly making her more uncomfortable. Klaxons rang out closer against the night, breaking the otherwise perfect peace that had fallen over the quiet town.

“Of course, now come. We need to get out of here and avoid any unnecessary bloodshed from this escapade.” Luna said. The princess had adopted a manner of pure business, leaving her personal worries behind her. Twilight nodded and approached Luna, nuzzling her lightly. This gesture of affection surprised me. Twilight had never been a pony for hands on interaction, I had never even seen her go on a date.

Together, two exited the shield and darkness started to overtake library.

It took nearly a full three seconds for me to realize I was looking at the back of my eyelids. When I opened my eyes, the amethyst light that had illuminated the words had faded. I fell back onto my haunches, stunned. This... was actually my world. I failed to hold back a sob.

I failed to hold back a sob. Shield wasn't lying then. Twilight was dead. Everyone I had known was likely dead. I used to read about ponies feeling terrible for saying things they didn't really mean to ponies who cared for and then not having the chance to right their wrongs. I thought about how terrible I had been to Twilight just days before I had been sucked into this future. Tears burned my eyes and I could feel them welling over.  Thankfully, it didn't last long and I was able to compose myself, despite feeling rather dead inside. At least, composed enough to the point of being able to see straight. I magicked the scroll and the books under the podium into my pocket of otherspace, not bothering to really sort them right now.

The growing pain near my horn spiked and dark circles swam in my eyes. Suddenly lightheaded, I nearly collapsed to the ground, only barely managing to keep standing. As a test, I tried to do even the most basic of magics: a light spell. A small spark appeared from my horn before quickly fading back into oblivion. Magic exhaustion. Damn the timing. Heading up the stairs, I entered the old potion's closet and searched the shelves for what I needed. I took a bright blue bottle in my teeth and quickly drank the contents as fast as I could. Ponies suffering magic exhaustion could often pass out and I couldn’t bother with that right now.

Energy surged through my body, eliminating my fatigue. Lifting those rocks had been no joke. I wasn’t anywhere near full, but it definitely helped out. Twilight always could make the best magical remedies, besides Zecora of course. At the reminder of my now dead mentor, I couldn’t help but dry swallow before re-focusing on the task at hand.

As an afterthought, I swept the entire shelf of the potions into my other-space pocket, not bothering to take inventory first. The potions would come in handy later for something or another. Time to leave, maybe the caravan would’ve waited on me, but I doubted it.

I took one last look over my former bedroom before leaving. A lone picture frame on Twilight’s bedside table caught my eye. I definitely recognized this picture. I moved closer to the table, picking up the picture in my newly revitalized magic. It was the first picture we had ever taken together.

The picture was me, actually smiling, and Twilight in a meadow together. Twilight, wanting me to feel more at home, had taken us on a picnic to meet some of her friends and basically get used to everybody. In the background, if you were really observant, one could see a colorful blur of Rainbow Dash flying by. Nopony else had ever really bothered with that before. Between Spike and Twilight, there were a whole mess of firsts.

I popped the picture into my pocket of otherspace. I think Twilight would have wanted me to have it.

I took the stairs back down, feeling remorseful that this might be the last time I would ever enter what was once my home, no matter how grudgingly I had called it so. Shouts rang out from outside, one male, one female, just loud enough for me to hear from the doorway. The forcefield probably muffled the noise a bit. The sharp sunlight blinded me, but from the voices I could tell the two arguing were Shield and Sunrise.

“...It’s time for us to go! I told her not to go into that deathtrap but she did anyway! We can’t waste anymore time on the reaper bitch! There are raiders here, and the longer we wait the better chance we have of getting caught in the middle of fucking nowhere.” Shield practically screamed at Sunrise. I winced slightly, seeing how paranoid he looked. The launcher was out, held strong by his magic. Like he was ready to shoot at any moment. Did living here really make a pony that nervous? Sunrise stood opposite, seemingly unfazed. Maybe not.

“And I told you, she’s just a filly. We should wait. None of us would have survived our foalhood without help, and she needs ours.” Sunrise reprimanded. Her voice seemed silky and kind, calming.

“Just a filly? She’s flank deep in reaper shit and I don’t want no part of it!” Shield retorted. Still, he lowered the gun back down into his saddle bag, but didn’t stop his nervous pacing.

Having heard enough, I stepped through the shield much as Twilight had in the memory. I went unnoticed for several seconds before coughing to gain attention. Seeing me, Sunrise smiled widely while Shield just scowled. Oh well, if he wanted to act annoyed, let him.

“Finally, the self-important foal decides to rejoin us. Find what you’re looking for, goddess?” He snapped out, teeth ground together in frustration and rage.

I stared back into his eyes without reaction. “I did. We can go.” I replied. Let him be mad. I had to see the library in person.

“Oh thanks for the permission your highness!” He retorted, rolling his eyes. “What are you lazy asses waiting for?” He yelled at the rest of the caravan before trudging out alone. As he left, Sunrise came close, walking slowly alongside of me.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the air, keeping an eye out?” I asked, not really wanting to talk to anyone at the moment.

“That job is taken right now. This caravan is lucky enough to have two pegasi, at least as long as we pay Wing his fair share. I was just wondering what you found in there and who taught you to teleport like that. It's quite impressive,” she explained. While intrusive, her tone was nice enough. Perhaps she was just curious. Besides, there was just something in her voice that made me want to trust her. Her voice was soft and kind, everything that I expected from Fluttershy, or at least a much less shy Fluttershy. There was just an implicit trust that Sunrise was able make me feel, a combination of her soft aesthetics and vocals that lead even the strongest willed pony to want to follow her. Her voice almost had  a hypnotic quality to it. I felt compelled to answer truthfully.

“I’d rather you not tell anyone else this, considering the negative sentiment that everyone else has about her, but I found notes from Twilight Sparkle. That treehouse was where she used to stay when she lived in Ponyville, you see. Not just regular notes either; complete memories I could actually go inside of; it was some type of memory spell she had invented.” I said. I hesitated a second before continuing, thinking about my words. “I know you probably won’t believe me but... Twilight Sparkle was my mentor. I got sent here through a magic vortex.” I explained, trying to will my voice to sound honest.. As expected, Sunrise laughed. The theory did seem kind of ridiculous when I didn’t realize it had actually happened to me. I probably appeared insane to the other mare.

“But that would make you well over one hundred! Nopony can live that long. Come now, tell me what really happened.” She teased, barely containing another fit of giggles. Understandably, this made me a little angry.

“We were working on time travel and I stepped inside the portal like an idiot. Ask Shield how he found me if you don’t believe me.” I mumbled, turning away from Sunrise abruptly. My emotional numbness had faded.  Tears burned my eyes. The sadness seemed to want to return with a vengeance, but I fought against it hard. I wanted to just lay down with a good book in the library and read for hours and not have to worry anymore.

The thought of the library sparked the realization that I had brought proof with me.

“Here, look at this.” I took the picture frame back into the real world and thrust it in front of Sunrise. There had to have been other ponies that looked like me, but I’m sure Sunrise would be intelligent enough to be able to verify the comparison.

“Oh..oh my! That’s... that’s Twilight Sparkle. And is that.. you? But you just look a few years younger. I-I’m sorry, I thought you were kidding.” Sunrise responded. She actually sounded hurt and sincerely apologetic. I guess she had only responded in the logical way. Besides, she had always been nice so far. She hadn’t given me any reason to doubt her sincerity yet. Satisfied, I made the picture wink right back out of existence. “I swear I won’t tell anyone you don’t want me to.” She promised, sounding genuine. “I guess that explains your diction.”

“I don't think I talk that funny." I replied, hiding my sniffles. I talked just like Twilight and I always had, and I didn’t notice any difference in inflections and accents from between Sunrise and I.

“Nothing really, your tone and word choice are just something I would expect out of a much older pony. You don't see much charisma out here in the wasteland.” Sunrise explained swiftly. She turned back towards me and smiled. “You don’t often see anyone so young out here on their own. You haven’t even found your talent yet.”

“Just cause I don’t have my mark doesn’t make me that young, you know. I’m nearly fifteen summers.” I think. I couldn't really be sure of my age. I didn't even know when my real birthday was. Growing up on the streets tended to shift your priority.  To be honest, the whole age issue got old after a while. Yes, I didn’t have my cutie mark yet. Yes, I am already older than even Applebloom was when she got hers.

All true, but I still hadn’t gotten my cutie mark yet. For whatever reason, everypony seemed to want to bring it up. Plenty of other ponies didn't get their cutie marks until even later then me. Spell Nexus, seven hundred years before Twilight’s time period, didn’t get his mark before he was twenty five. Who wanted to be special for not being special anyways?

From the corner of my eye, I saw Sunrise attempt to hide a small smile. “I know, I know. I didn’t get mine until I was nearly your age. I’m sure you’ll find your talent eventually, right now it just means you have the potential to do anything.” She encouraged. I had naturally heard this all before from Twilight and her friends, but coming from Sunrise it still made me feel better, more so than from those other ponies. “Anyways, you’re probably right, I need to get back into the air. See you when we stop for the night!” She concluded, before beginning a jogging take-off. Dammit, I still hadn’t had the chance to ask half the questions I had wanted to.

The next few hours passed in a dull haze. At some point, we had left the buildings of Ponyville behind, revealing a vast expanse of land that I knew had previously been used as farmland. From what I figured, we were heading towards Fillydelphia. For the most part, I kept to myself not bothering to speak a word to the remaining caravan members. Then again, only about half of them were still able to walk. The injured had been put inside the open wagon. As the sun started to set, the caravan slowed. The night had just tucked under the horizon when Shield let out the call to set up camp for the night.

The caravan acted like a well oiled machine. The wagons were set up in a semi-circle giving the caravan an area to set up so that they would have their backs covered if they were attacked. Several tents were brought out from within the wagons supplies and set up inside the semicircle to offer cover to those who were sleeping. Sunrise and the other pegasus, a light-green colored colt, landed gracefully within the perimeter. Sunrise instantly started to canter over to me, looking exhausted.

“Share a tent? I’d rather not with any of these other ponies. Can’t trust ‘em as far as you can throw them.” Sunrise said, looking pointedly at Shield and grinning. I couldn’t help but smirk at the joke and nodded. “Come on then.” She added, leading the way towards one of the last two unoccupied  tents. The caravans didn’t have any sleeping bags, so sleeping arrangements weren’t going to be the most comfortable in the world. “I know you probably have a lot of questions if you’re telling the truth, but frankly I’m exhausted, could you put them off until tomorrow?” She asked, with a such a note of tiredness in her voice I couldn’t help feel pity for her.

“Of course.” I replied, nodding. I was tired as well, not used to walking such great lengths even at such a slow pace. I had been really lazy up till now, to be honest. Besides, there would be plenty of time later for us to talk. The other mare nodded her head in gratitude and lay down on the far side of the tent. I tentatively lay down beside her, just close enough for the heat of our bodies to stave off the nighttime chill. A dreamless sleep came easily and quickly.