For Tarnish, everything sounded as though he was underwater. The world was a distorted, confusing place, with sound being the most discordant thing of all. He had a sort of vague awareness that ponies were calling his name, but he was in no position, nor condition to respond. Everything felt slow—the sensation of being beneath the water affected more than just sound—and it even felt as though his thinking was encountering heavy resistance.

Somepony was slapping him on the cheek, but Tarnish only had a dim awareness of it. It felt as though hours passed between each slap and he couldn’t keep track of any words spoken because it took so long to say them. This shambler wasn’t like other shamblers he had fought, no this one was something else entirely, almost like a new creature. This was a Skyreach Shambler and his heightened senses told him there were more. Some of the plants here had gone wrong, so very wrong, and in his altered state, he was stuck feeling their sickness.

While everything around him continued in slow motion, Tarnish saw a figure approaching, moving at regular speed. His eyes blurred when he saw her, and he knew her all too well. This was impossible, and Tarnish knew that he had to be hallucinating. He blinked, an action that felt as though it took hours to accomplish.

“You’re not real,” he murmured to Twilight Sparkle as she approached. “You can’t be Twilight.”

“I am not the Twilight that was, but rather, the Twilight that will be,” the strange figure responded. “I am surprised that you can see me, but then again, you and I aren’t so different, are we?” While she spoke, Twilight began to transform and her lavender colour bled away, becoming a puddle of liquid on the floor. She became a being made of yellow parchment paper, and her eyes shed tears of black ink. “It was strange, watching myself cast you out… banishing you… and knowing that I must not interfere with the Tarnish that was… and the Tarnish that would be.”

“What are you?” Tarnish asked, his senses overwhelmed and his mind on the verge of breaking.

“I am now, and will forever be, your friend,” Twilight replied in a warm, loving tone while her parchment eyes somehow glimmered with fond affection. “It is not yet time for me to reveal myself to the world, as the Twilight that I am has not yet began her journey. I’m going to come back here you know, back to the place where it all started. That’s how I got here. Well, part of me.”

“How is this possible?” Tarnish could feel his friends prodding him, poking him, but they seemed so distant and so far away.

“I turned back the pages in a book.” Twilight let out a soft laugh. “I turned back many pages, back to where my ink became corrupted.” The paper alicorn began to change colours again, becoming a gentle shade of lavender. “The alicorn known as Eternity was supposed to manage this project… she was to be its caretaker. The power of the cosmic infinite was put into her, the ability to assign purpose, to offer destiny and see if it would be accepted or passed on to the next in line. Things happened. So many things happened. Now that you’ve recovered the book, The Twilight that is can go back and begin repairing things, and the Twilight that is will become the Twilight that I am.”

Blinking once, Tarnish nodded. “I understand… sort of. Project Eternity had safeguards, didn’t it?”

Yᴇs ɪᴛ ᴅɪᴅ, Sɪsᴛᴇʀ.

Hearing the voice, a rushing sensation of peace broke over Tarnish like waves upon an ocean. His panic, his fear, his pain, the lingering terror from the shambler, all of it fled from him. Closing his eyes, he allowed the warm glow of serenity to soak into his bones. Everything was going to be okay, because everything was going according to plan.

With serenity, came knowledge. “Nameless One—”

“Nameless One no longer,” Twilight interjected, sounding very much like a bossy sister.

“Eternity—”

“Neither am I that, either.”

“Who are you?” Tarnish asked, feeling as though this conversation had looped back.

I ᴀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴀʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ғᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ sᴘᴀʀᴋʟᴇ. I ᴀᴍ Tᴡɪʟɪɢʜᴛ Sᴘᴀʀᴋʟᴇ, Lɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ Fʀɪᴇɴᴅsʜɪᴘ.

Author's Notes:

Yes, this is a short chapter. I wanted to make sure that focus remained on the information being conveyed. This chapter is huge.