It took a few minutes before Twilight woke up. Time Turner sat waiting, dusting off his old hat. Perhaps he had done too much. It seemed the princess wasn't capable of the concept of his existence. It hardly mattered now. He stood up as she let out a moan.

"What happened?"

"You keeled over after connecting the dots. I guess the end result was a little much."

"Connecting the-"

She froze, her eyes opening all the way. Time Turner gave a small smile before she jumped to her hooves.

"You're Star Swirl the Bearded?!"

Time Turner nodded and put on his hat.

"Couldn't you tell?"

"But.. You don't look anything like the pictures! Or the stained glass mural! You don't even have a beard."

"Well sorry for wanting to change things up."

"How can this even be possible?"

"It's a long story."

"But I need to know!"

Time Turner rolled his eyes and walked to the door, flipping the 'Open' sign to 'Closed'.

"Follow me."

He moved into the back room, Twilight right on his heels. They made their way to a cabinet at the back of the room where Time Turner opened the doors. He motioned in as Twilight's eyes went wide again.

"Internal dimension magic! But you only theorized about it!"

"Solved the riddle just after Luna's banishment. A whole other dimension within the existing one."

He motioned again with his hoof and Twilight stepped inside. The first room was set up very much like a living room. Time Turner walked over to a couch and sat down with a sigh.

"Would you like anything to drink?"

Twilight shook her head. He nodded and whistled towards a door. A teapot came hopping through the door, revealing a kitchen. A cup came hopping after it, determined to catch up.

"Losing your hearing there? You've been trailing behind a lot lately."

Twilight knelt down to examine the two.

"How are you doing that?"

"Old spell. I packed enough magic in them to keep them going forever. I get lazy sometimes. Well.. A lot of the time."

The teapot poured into the cup and Time Turner picked it up. He sniffed the liquid and smiled.

"Hot cider. A perfect way to relax. So where shall we begin."

Twilight sat down on the couch, setting her bag on the ground.

"You died a few years after Luna's banishment, didn't you?"

"Twelve to be exact. You can't blame me. I was over two hundred years old."

"Two hundred years?!"

"Advanced age spells. Not to be trifled with by your everyday unicorn. Lot of magical energy put into that. And for what? To outlive every one of your friends?"

"Is that how you're still here?"

"No. Now hush."

Twilight looked surprised at the call for silence, but she obeyed without question. Time Turner smiled and continued.

"I performed a spell that, unfortunately for myself, is irreversible now. I can safely assume you're familiar with an alicorn transformation?"

"You mean the magic that made me an alicorn? You were able to use that power?"

"Use it? I created the spell. It became evident that there may be need for more alicorns one day, so I devised a spell to create them. After that I tinkered with it to the point that it only affected age. SO i guess in the end it was an age spell."

"So you gave yourself the agelessness of an alicorn."

"There was a lot I wanted to do with myself still. But I had been working on a theory that went even further than just extending life. It renewed it."

"How do you mean?"

"Do I look the same as the pictures?"

"No. You're a whole different.."

Time Turner nodded as she pieced the puzzle together.

"Exactly. I found a way to completely change the composition of my body while still retaining my mind."

"That's amazing!"

"Yes it is. But.. There was a side effect. As I'm sure you've noticed, I don't have a horn."

"Does that mean..your magic is gone?"

"For the most part. There is still some lingering energy, but it's dormant. I haven't performed a spell in nearly a thousand years."

"Do you miss it?"

"Of course I miss it! I was the greatest conjurer to ever live back then. To all of a sudden not have magic was unbearable."

"Then why did you do it?"

There was the question he had dreaded. And he had backed himself right into the corner with it. He closed his eyes and sighed, taking a sip of his cider.

"I'm an old fool who holds grudges for longer than deemed healthy."

"Are you talking about Celestia?"

"She's told you about our falling out?"

"Yes. She said things were never the same."

"They weren't. I regarded her as royalty and nothing more. She had been my closest friend and pupil at one time. But after the mirror fiasco, I refused to change my ways."

"Do you wish you had?"

"Not for one second. You know as well as I do that she couldn't keep going back. You saw what damage it did."

"I know but.. Weren't you sorry for how things ended?"

"...Every day."

They sat in silence for a moment, an awkward pause having inserted itself in the conversation. Twilight cleared her throat.

"Does Celestia know you're still alive?"

"No. As far as she knows, I'm dead. I left Canterlot pretending to be doing research. A month later I sent word that I had died."

"Have you ever wanted to see her again?"

"Countless times. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. We parted on bad terms. And for her to learn that I faked my death? She'd never forgive me. And I don't blame her for that. So I decided it best to keep away. I moved town to town until I found Ponyville. That was in it's early days of course. I remember when Granny Smith was still a filly."

"You've been here all this time?"

"All this time. And I haven't been idle. I still continue my studies. I have so many spells in the theoretical stages. And don't get me started on how many blueprints I've got stored in my draft room. I'm responsible for nearly half the technological advances we have today."

"How have you never been discovered?"

"Mostly spokesponies. They deliver the idea and I get to stay back."

"I meant how has nopony ever found out who you really are?"

"That's pretty easy when you change your face."

"You still never told me why you did it. It can't really just be because you were mad at Celestia."

"That's exactly why I did it. I decided to deprive her of my counsel. She didn't need an old unicorn frowning at her all the time."

"That's so cruel though!"

"That was the idea Princess. Hard to here that your idol wasn't the saint you thought he was?"

Twilight stood up, her brow furrowed from the glare she had.

"I could never do something like that to a friend! I'm beginning to understand what Celestia meant."

"And what's that?"

"You've never understood friendship like I've come to understand it. Now I see why. If that's how you treat friends, it's no wonder you're a sad, lonely pony now!"

She stormed out of the room, heading back into the shop. Time Turner watched her go, taking another sip of his cider.

"Then show me!"

That froze the alicorn in her tracks.

"What?"

"You think you know so much more than me? Show me this magic of friendship you speak so highly of. Teach on old pony a new trick."

She turned back to him. Judging by her look he guessed she was seeing if he was sincere in his challenge. His mouth curved into a smile.

"Alright. You want a lesson? Then it's going to be a crash course. We're going to Canterlot."

The smile disappeared instantly.