Waking up in one of the beds within Canterlot’s infirmary, Sunset could slowly move her hooves, but overall still felt quite weakened with her magic gone. Her eyes had also become somewhat faded, much like the many ponies who once fell victim to Lord Tirek’s rampage all over Equestria. Regardless, she had brushed off this fact, feeling rather relieved that she was not terribly injured from that fight with Chestnut Magnifico, aside from losing her horn and magic. As the former unicorn opened her eyes and tried to process what happened, she began to slowly get up from the bed to vaguely notice two ponies standing right in front of her, looking rather concerned.

“Sunset, please… can you speak?” Twilight begged, worried for her friend’s current condition.

“T-Twilight…?” Sunset began to parse her vision, but the drainage of her magic had even affected this as well. “W-What… happened…?”

“You were truly taking one for the team.” Starlight sighed. “It’s so brave how you went ahead and to stop that orange pegasus on your own. Unfortunately, it seems that she overpowered you with Grogar’s bell, which resulted in you losing not only your magic, but also your horn.”

“My horn…” Sunset recalled. “That’s… right. T-T-Twilight… this… this is all my fault… we must stop…”

“No, Sunset.” Twilight put a hoof on her friend’s head. “You’re in no condition to do anything. You must sit here and fully recover before I can allow you to go anywhere.”

“And please, don’t blame yourself on this.” Starlight assured. “What you did was braver than anything any of us could’ve imagined doing. Plus, since she had the Bewitching Bell, it’s most likely that she could’ve very easily just stolen the magic from somepony else, and we’d still have the same, current predicament.”

“That’s absolutely right.” Twilight nodded. “I can admire your willingness to put others before yourself, so I’m still very proud of you for your efforts.”

“I… guess you’re right…” Sunset slowly spoke. “W-Wait a second… how long… was I out… cold?”

“I’d say around 45 minutes or so.” Starlight checked a nearby clock. “I’m not too familiar with what happens when you get drained of your magic, but what I’m certain of, the loss of your magic will keep you in this weakened state.”

“That’s unfortunately true.” Twilight sighed. “Lord Tirek once went on a spree draining ponies of their magic, and everypony was only able to recover after that power-hungry centaur was defeated. There’s no telling where that pegasus had fled off to, so I’m afraid there’s not much we can do.”

As Twilight began pondering a possible solution, Rarity made her way into Sunset’s room, just as concerned for her friend’s well being.

“Sunset, thank Celestia you’re awake.” Rarity began approaching the hospital bed. “I’m really sorry this happened to you, darling, it was especially brave and noble of you to risk your magic in protecting Equestria.”

“T…Thanks… Rarity.” Sunset continued struggling to talk.

“Losing her magic is one thing, but unfortunately, losing both her horn AND magic has left her with almost no energy.” Twilight explained. “I feel extra bad, because Sunset was also planning on returning back to the human world to attend her graduation at CHS. I just… wish there was something we could do.”

“Wait a minute, Twilight.” Starlight began recalling something Twilight had shared with her before. “Didn’t you mention to me that during Lord Tirek’s rampage, after he had escaped from Tartarus the first time, the other princesses transferred their alicorn magic to you?”

“…That’s right!” Twilight replied with newfound hope. “Maybe if I transferred some of my magic into her, she could-”

“Unfortunately, that won’t work.” Starlight elaborated. “I specifically remember in my studies that whenever somepony transfers their magic to another being, it’s a 100% transfer. Meaning, if you give her your magic, it’ll completely drain you.”

“That’s okay, I’d be willing to do just that for Sunset.” Twilight affirmed. “Especially if it means letting her have the energy to attend her graduation. There’s just one problem. I’ve never done a transfer spell before, the same one that Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadance all used to transfer their magic into my horn.”

“I know how to perform that spell.” Starlight volunteered herself. “Most importantly, I also know how to relay the magic onto somepony else, even if that magic isn’t mine. Let’s just say… this particular skill took a majority of my childhood to fully master.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’ve got your own merits in magic then!” Twilight said with optimism. “Alright then. Sunset, in that case, why don’t we get started right now?”

“Twilight… no…” Sunset responded. “You’re the… princess of… Equestria now… I can’t… possibly accept…”

“She does have a point.” Rarity sighed. “Twilight, you’re the princess of all of Equestria, and there’s currently a miscreant on the loose with Grogar’s bell. If you don’t have your magic, and something else comes up… it’s just a risk we can’t take.”

“I’m not sure what else we could do though…” Twilight pondered. “We can’t ask Starlight to simply give up her magic either, since she’s the only one who knows how to relay the transfer spell.”

“I’ll give Sunset my magic.” Rarity offered. “It’s certainly the least I could do in return for how much of a friend she’s been to all of us.”

“Rarity… I can’t… take…” Sunset began.

“Please, Sunset.” Rarity insisted. “I likely wouldn’t even have my magic right now if it wasn’t for you attempting to stop that pegasus on your own. Plus, you were the main reason Miss Valencia and I were able to overpower the awful Madame of Manehattan. Getting you to your graduation and improving your current condition, it would mean the world to me after all that.”

“Most importantly, this transfer spell will only make Rarity lose her magic, not her horn.” Starlight explained. “She’d still be able to retain her energy without succumbing to similar effects. However, I’m fairly certain that this won’t give you back your horn, given how that pegasus had stolen it.”

“Sunset…” Rarity put a hoof on her weary friend. “Please, at least take my magic. I simply will not take ‘no’ for an answer.”

Sunset realized that it was likely for the better, especially since her current condition would certainly give her no chance at being able to make it back to her graduation at CHS, nor enjoying her return to Equestria. Understanding that Rarity was almost as insistent as the human Lily Pad once was with her $50 bill, Sunset finally accepted the offer, nodding her head in agreement. This prompted Twilight and the two other unicorns to nod to each other as well, as Starlight finally began initiating the spell. Rarity and Starlight’s horns began glowing, before both of the unicorn’s eyes emitted a solid white glow, much like the princesses did when they transferred their magic to Twilight.

Before long, Rarity’s magic had slowly left her horn, and began channeling into Starlight’s. With the added magic, Starlight was then able to cast her magic into a spherical orb of magic in the air, which started descending down into Sunset. After a few moments of the process, Sunset could slowly begin perceiving her surroundings in much better, as the magic was restoring her energy and physical strength. Soon enough, the process was completed, and Sunset felt almost as energized as before. However, feeling the top of her head, her horn was unfortunately still missing. However, she felt she could care less about that fact for now, as she was mostly thankful at being in a recovered state, despite essentially being an Earth pony now.

“It… It worked!” Sunset felt on top of the world. “Rarity, thank you… I don’t know what to say, I-”

“I wanted to, in return for your own selflessness and generosity, Sunset.” Rarity smiled. “After all, that is the same philosophy I had taught Miss Pommel. I may not have my magic anymore, but I’m still capable of doing everyday activities. Plus, let’s just say that I most likely wouldn’t have had a magical experience if I was still working for the Madame right now, wouldn’t you say?”

“I guess that’s a fair point.” Sunset giggled. “I don’t even mind that my horn’s gone, especially since I’ve already spent a long time in the human world without it. All I can say with certainty is, I’m back in business! Well, I’m definitely still hoping there’s a way I can get my actual horn back. Because sadly, without an actual horn, I still won’t be able to use my magic.”

“Of course, Sunset.” Twilight understood. “We’ll most likely need to do an investigation to figure out where this pegasus has gone off to with the Bewitching Bell. But until then, now that you’ve regained your strength, what do you propose on doing? Would you maybe like to return to the human world now, as to avoid any further inconveniences that would prevent you from enjoying your graduation?”

“Hmm, I guess since my time’s running out, it might be better to go back a little early…” Sunset considered. “But unfortunately, I can’t help but think that something might go wrong here in Equestria, especially since that pegasus flew off with the that bell, along with my horn.”

“Don’t worry at all about that, Sunset.” Twilight assured. “That’ll be my responsibility, and I’ll ensure that nothing bad will happen while you’re in the human world. I’m sure this will at least be easier for us to deal with, considering it’s only one pegasus who has that bell.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Starlight added. “Like I’ve said before, it fell into the hooves of a filly, centaur, and changeling queen. I’m sure we’ll figure something out. Plus, if we manage to defeat and capture her, we’ll be sure to give you your horn back whenever you return again.”

“That’s just it…” Sunset sighed and began confessing. “When I return again, who knows how long that’ll be? Without my horn now, it’ll practically be just like how I’ve been feeling in the human world, especially ever since the Friendship Games at CHS. I’ve mentioned my aspirations to continue staying in Equestria were primarily centered around still having a horn, so…”

“Sunset… you don’t mean…?” Twilight began deducing what Sunset had meant.

“That’s right, now I might actually consider changing my mind about taking an extended stay in Equestria.” Sunset replied. “I’m sorry, Twilight. But I almost see no purpose in staying in Equestria anymore if I can’t use my magic, and the only way to get my horn back is finding and defeating that pegasus.”

“I understand.” Twilight respected her friend’s decision. “Well, like I’ve said before, we won’t hold you back on your own decisions, especially when it comes to your graduation at CHS. I’m at least happy to hear that this new decision won’t keep you distant from your human friends afterward. Does this mean that you’d like to return to the human world now?”

“Unfortunately… I can’t just yet.” Sunset began explaining. “I just have this lingering feeling that something could go extremely wrong if I choose to go back now, and by the time I return, Equestria won’t be the same anymore.”

“But darling, hasn’t that already been the case?” Rarity questioned. “Equestria’s definitely changed quite a bit since the time you’ve been in that other world.

“Well… yes.” Sunset replied. “But I’m referring to that pegasus who stole my horn and has the Bewitching Bell. What worries me is, she doesn’t just have anypony’s horn, she has MY horn. That means… she now possesses my skills and knowledge of magic. I feel like that’s a lot more worrisome.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.” Twilight said, now beginning to worry herself.

“So more or less, if I choose to go back now, I’m not sure I can sleep at night anymore, knowing there may always be a chance that Equestria will fall into ruins.” Sunset explained. “I might not have had to worry about anything like that before, but now that I’ve seen what the Bewitching Bell is capable of, I know this is a serious matter. A pony like her on the loose with such a power artifact, I just don’t know if I can bring myself to go back yet.”

“Well… how would we know for certain if that pegasus is a genuine threat to Equestria?” Twilight pondered. “I wouldn’t want you to feel this way all the time, especially after all we’ve been through together.”

“…There IS one way I could think of, Twilight.” Starlight suggested. “I’m sure you and I know that way pretty well before we first got acquainted.”

“…No, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Twilight said, reluctantly. “Time traveling can get extremely messy if tamper with even the smallest thing in an alternate timeline.”

“Not really.” Starlight began elaborating. “Remember how we traveled to the future multiple times to witness various realities as a result of stopping Rainbow perform her Sonic Rainboom? Then we traveled back in time, and later to the present without any negative effects. The point being, if we travel to the future, we’ll at least get a good glimpse at what Equestria will be like later on, and can come back without setting off the butterfly effect. Seeing the future won’t have as much impact as changing the past, but most importantly, nothing will remain permanent as long as the scroll is still intact. I’ll do everything I can to make sure nothing will go wrong, and that we can return to our current timeline without any issues.”

“Well… I guess that would be fine then.” Twilight leaned more toward Starlight’s reasoning. “But this is mostly to help Sunset feel reassured if she decides to continue living on in the human world. What do you say, Sunset? Should we go for it?”

“If it’s safe and will give us a better understanding of what’s to come, I’m down for it.” Sunset agreed. “I’m thinking that if Equestria will be okay in the future, I’ll be much more relieved during my time in the human world. Truth be told, I’ve had the occasional nightmare in fearing something would go wrong when I’m a human. Whether that’d be the portal’s magic failing, or coming back to Equestria, completely decimated.”

“Sounds like we’re going on a time travel spree then.” Twilight nodded. “Alright, well… first thing’s first. We’ll need to find that scroll and… wait a minute. Oh no, that may be a problem. After Starlight and I put our differences aside, the scroll returned through the void and disappeared. How will we travel back without that scroll?”

“Well actually, we don’t need THAT specific scroll to pull this off.” Starlight explained. “See, all I really did was copy Starswirl’s spell, modified it with certain conditions, and then I used my magic to activate the scroll’s effects. If you have any spare scrolls laying around, I can essentially recreate it and make a duplicate. Let’s just say… I know that spell pretty well.”

“I’d imagine so.” Twilight said. “Well sure, in that case, I think I have a new supply of scrolls sitting in the Canterlot library, so I’ll go fetch them and-”

But before Twilight could finish, Pinkie entered the room, holding what looked like a pile of paper pieces.

“Hey, Twilight?” Pinkie called out. “I stopped by the Canterlot library to return one of my books, and I saw these shredded papers all over the floor. Is it fine if I use them to make a piñata?

“Wha… shredded?” Twilight said, exasperated. “They were perfectly fine when I was organizing the library last night. Sunset, since you were there, you didn’t by any chance see anything suspicious, did you?”

“Not that I know of?” Sunset said, still rather confused as to why Twilight continued to believe she was in the library last night.

“Well regardless, I guess I’ll order a new supply when I get the chance.” Twilight sighed. “But Pinkie, do you at least see any scrolls we might still be able to salvage? Just one.”

“Maybe this one?” Pinkie reached into the pile and pulled out a scroll that looked at least 90% intact. “I think that’s the only one that looks usable. Does this mean I can make my piñata? Let’s just say… it’ll be for somepony special.”

“Sure Pinkie, go right on ahead.” Twilight agreed, before trotting over and taking the scroll, as Pinkie picked up the remaining shreds and exited the room. “Alright, Starlight. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Positive.” Starlight nodded, before grabbing a nearby quill, ready to rewrite Starswirl’s time travel spell.

After around 5 minutes, Starlight had managed to successfully recreate the exact spell she had used long ago to prevent Rainbow Dash from pulling off the Sonic Rainboom. The main difference however, was that she removed the modification that would force herself to be sent back every single time. For the sake of consistency, after returning to the present, the destination they would all teleport to would remain in the Canterlot infirmary, rather than the location of the map within Twilight’s castle. As Starlight finished proofreading her spell and all the newer modifications, she nodded to Twilight, who knew it was now time to witness what the future of Equestria would hold. But before going, Twilight turned to Rarity again, before she, Sunset, and Starlight would start traveling through time.

“We’ll all be seeing what Equestria will be like under these current circumstances.” Twilight explained. “Will you be coming with us, Rarity?”

“It would be intriguing, but I’m currently the only one aside from you three who knows you’ll be going through time.” Rarity replied. “Perhaps it’d be better if I stay behind and ensure you’re all able to safely return. If you’re gone for too long, I could let everypony else know, and maybe even find Celestia for further assistance.”

“That does sound like a good idea.” Twilight nodded. “Alright, in that case, let’s go, girls. How did we do this last time again…?”

“I’m on it.” Starlight winked, before using her magic to activate the spell once again.

The initial activation created a large wave of energy rings, slowly opening up a time-traveling portal, which was currently set to send them to the future. Starlight began levitating, ready to enter the portal first, herself. She set the scroll on a nearby table, before reminding Twilight that she needed to touch the magical scroll in order to come with her, while she was currently keeping the spell active with her magic. Twilight then explained to Sunset about this, as the two ponies were ready to see the future. As Starlight entered the portal first, Twilight and Sunset touched the scroll simultaneously, applying the spell’s effects to themselves. Rarity stood back and watched, astonished by what she was witnessing.

The portal magically sucked Twilight in like a vacuum, before doing the same with Sunset. Although it admittedly gave Twilight some bad memories, given what had happened the last time she was involved in a time travel spell, Sunset wasn’t as phased. It practically felt like her usual routine in going through the portal between two different worlds, as she had already done for quite some time now. As both Sunset and Twilight traveled through the wormhole, they were eventually teleported and released onto the location of Twilight’s castle map, much like Starlight’s spell had done before. But upon getting up, whilst Starlight had grabbed the magical scroll that had fell along with them, the three ponies saw that something was terribly wrong.

To Starlight and Twilight, they were immensely shocked to see a familiar future they had both witnessed before, which had internally given them both psychological trauma the first time around. But to Sunset, she didn’t quite understand the full context, before realizing that Equestria looked much darker, deserted, and in seemingly in ruins. This was the exact same future that Twilight had used to show Starlight what the consequences of her actions would eventually lead into. A future in which everyone and everything in Equestria was completely obliterated. No more castle, no more houses, no more vegetation, not even a sign any life nearby, aside from some dead trees.

“We’re back… here again?” Starlight said, rather confused as to how this would supposedly be in Equestria’s future.

“Let’s not panic just yet.” Twilight continued to stay positive. “Maybe something just went wrong with the spell, and sent us to a previous timeline we had already seen before.”

“I’m not sure that would be the case.” Starlight said, now extremely concerned, before showing Twilight the scroll. “As you can see here, I specifically modified the spell to send us to the future from our current position.”

“So then… this is actually the future of Equestria?” Sunset said, now shook at what this timeline possibly implied.

“You remember me mentioning that I single hoofedly almost caused Equestria to be completely wiped out, after what had happened with Sunburst?” Starlight reminded Sunset. “Yeah, well… this is what I meant.”

“Before we jump to any further conclusions, why don’t we go back to the past and see if anything else changed that led us here?” Twilight suggested. “I know it looks bad now, but I’m sure this might just be a mistake that’s just giving us an inaccurate vision.”

“Worth a shot, I suppose.” Starlight agreed. “If I remember correctly, I think this timeline was shortly after you tried to explain the butterfly effect to me, to convince me to give up my motives. Let’s go back to that timeline and see what went wrong.”

“But that means we’ll have to go back to Cloudsdale, since that’s where Rainbow Dash did the Sonic Rainboom.” Twilight recalled. “Just in case, I’ll need to apply the cloud-walking spell once again, since none of us are pegasai.”

Twilight did just that, before nodding to Starlight. The unicorn then knew it was her cue to use her magic and activate another portal, sending the trio back to that exact alternate timeline, just before Twilight and Spike had dragged Starlight into that same future in an attempt to have her listen to reason. Internally, all three ponies were still hoping that the spell was simply giving them all an inaccurate vision of the future, trying to understand if anything in the past had tampered with the timeline they had just left. The trio then got sent into that exact moment, where Starlight’s past self was still arguing with Twilight about how important her friendships truly were. Thankfully, as to not avoid any awkwardness or tampering, they teleported a directly above where the actual confrontation took place. As they got up from the cloud they had landed on, they all looked down and witnessed exactly how that exchange went that day.

“Oh, next I suppose you’ll tell me that the fate of all of Equestria hangs in the balance!” Past Starlight said snarkily.

“It DOES!” Past Twilight continued desperately to persuade her foe at giving up this madness.

“Had to learn that the hard way…” Starlight muttered to herself, as Sunset and Twilight watched on.

“Spare me your overblown ego!” Past Starlight spat, as the young Rainbow Dash began to fly by. “No group of friends, not even Princess Twilight’s, is THAT important!”

Past Starlight then zapped young Rainbow with her magic, sending her spiraling upward, as the filly shrieked.

“That’s right, because you threw Rainbow’s momentum off, that was still just a future that ended up the way it did, because my friends and I never met.” Twilight recalled. “I wasn’t entirely sure if preventing Rainbow from doing the Sonic Rainboom contributed to that last future, but it looks like we have our answer now.”

“Well, even then, we still have to yet to understand why our timeline became that way, after we left the present from earlier.” Sunset affirmed. “Maybe there’s still something we missed.”

“I don’t know how important other ponies’ friendships are to the future, but I can show you what the world is like without mine!” Past Twilight shouted, before grabbing Starlight and entering the exact same future the current trio had just witnessed earlier.

“Well… I guess the spell might’ve been faulty after all.” Starlight said with a bit of relief. “This outcome for that dreaded future just makes sense, since I did throw Rainbow off during her race.”

Both Twilight and Sunset had similar feelings of relief, but for Sunset, that didn’t last too long. Knowing the context that Rainbow Dash not being able to pull off that first Sonic Rainboom, would result in ruined futures for Equestria, Sunset turned around and witnessed something that neither Twilight nor Starlight had seen when they were in this particular future the first time.

“Uhh… girls?” Sunset’s eyes widened, as the two other ponies turned around to observe the same thing.

“Whoa, whatever just hit me, it just improved my speed after that spin!” Past Rainbow said to herself, as she began speeding up immensely. “I’ve never gone this fast before, those bullies picking on Fluttershy can eat my dust!”

“…Huh!?” Starlight exclaimed, rather surprised that in this specific scenario, her past action had unintentionally helped Rainbow. “You don’t mean to tell me…?”

Past Rainbow began accelerating at speeds like never before, and in this alternate timeline, still managed to eventually pull off the Sonic Rainboom. Twilight and Starlight’s jaws dropped at this, as a new feeling of anxiety now crept up on them. They were in such a rush to leave this alternate timeline during their first confrontation that they never actually realized this was the only one where Rainbow had still managed to successfully break the sound barrier with her speed. Sunset knew what this meant too, given how she was already told which timeline this scenario led up to.

“Well… there’s only one thing we can do now.” Twilight said, reluctantly.”

Starlight cast her spell once again to send the trio to the future within this timeline, and once again, they were sent into the exact same desolate wasteland they had just left a few minutes ago. Twilight looked around, trying to take in what this meant. The future looked bleak, despite the fact that the Sonic Rainboom still took place, which in turn, would’ve resulted in Twilight and her friends meeting?

“This… this can’t be right!” Twilight exclaimed in shock. “How are we still back here again?”

“I’m really wish we weren’t just seeing something misleading, but I’m afraid the spell is doing exactly what we need.” Starlight reexamined her scroll.

“So that means… even after my friends and I became the destined group we were meant to be, it still wasn’t enough to prevent this particular future?” Twilight tried to deduce the reasoning.

“Well, I wasn’t involved in that never-ending time travel spell with you two.” Sunset started to express her own thoughts on the matter. “But considering how this future never occurred yet within our timeline, that must mean there’s actually still a chance it’ll become real much later on.”

“That’s exactly what I was afraid of.” Twilight said with immense concern. “After all, how come when we did the time travel spell from there, the very first place we were sent to was back here again? Starlight? Do you recall anything that might’ve slipped our minds when we were first going back and forth in that time travel loop?”

“Actually, I just realized two crucial details from when we were in that never-ending time travel spell.” Starlight began brainstorming. “For one, we never actually saw a vision of the far future in a scenario where Rainbow Dash failed to pull off the Sonic Rainboom… or so we thought. Considering how this future was more or less consistent in both scenarios of the event being a success, we had never planned ahead for such a possible outcome, because we always thought it was centered around what Rainbow did.”

Twilight and Sunset looked to each other upon hearing this, now understanding that the pegasus escaping with the Bewitching Bell was likely the main culprit behind this ruined future.

“But the second thing that went over our heads was… we never actually saw who specifically was responsible for this outcome.” Starlight reminded. “I mean, you saw for example how there were alternate timelines where Chrysalis, Tirek, and Nightmare Moon took over, right? But… as far as I’m aware, this future always remained a mystery, just due to the fact that there was no one, and nothing that could’ve given us a clue.”

“Well… we have some time now to make sense of everything, or at least try to.” Sunset stayed determined. “Why do you think was responsible? I have a pretty good feeling that it was the pegasus with the Bewitching Bell we had all encountered earlier. Do you girls think it was maybe someone else?”

“I can’t think of any other foes we’ve encountered over the years, at least ones who weren’t already defeated or changed for the better.” Twilight pondered. “Plus, Starlight and I already saw what certain futures were like with a majority of the foes we’ve encountered over time.”

“Except for Cozy Glow?” Starlight suggested. “Remember when she had attempted to completely destroy the magic within Equestria? What if this was the future we had never seen where she had succeeded?”

“That may be possible, except for the fact that we’ve already defeated her along with Chrysalis and Lord Tirek.” Twilight brainstormed as well. “So if we’ve already defeated her, and yet this future is still able to become a reality afterwards, it’s not really likely this was her doing.”

“Ah, that’s another fair point.” Starlight agreed. “So in other words, the mystery behind who’s responsible for all this destruction just deepens. Considering how that pegasus has the Bewitching Bell of all things, I think I might actually lean toward Sunset’s belief. This might’ve actually been her doing, especially since none of us were even able to stop her in Canterlot.”

“That’s only really a theory I had barely guessed at though.” Sunset spoke up. “Since we have some time now to search for a potential answer, we might as well look for any clues that could lead us in the right direction. I genuinely have a feeling that whatever this culprit had done, they were much more capable in bringing ruin to Equestria compared to anyone else.”

“It’s the only thing we can do now.” Twilight nodded. “We might not get an answer here though, since it just looks like there’s nothing for miles out from here. For a reference, this area was once Ponyville, since that’s where my castle was located. If we need to search for clues, I think what I’ll do is teleport us around this landscape to various locations. Don’t worry though, I’ve recently learned of a new technique to make this easier, so it shouldn’t exhaust my energy too much. Anyways, when we find something or someone that could give us some answers, we’ll approach them and hope for the best.”

“Gotcha.” Sunset and Starlight both agreed before holding one of Twilight’s front hooves.

Twilight then teleported to several locations off the top of her head. She started with Canterlot, then went on to investigate Manehattan, The Crystal Empire, Cloudsdale, and Las Pegasus. All of these areas looked just as empty and abandoned as what was left of Ponyville. It had broken the three ponies to witness how all of these areas they had seen for themselves had been reduced to barren wastelands with practically all residents either gone or dead. Something incredibly horrible must’ve happened to cause all this, but what exactly? As Twilight then teleported to a certain area that Starlight was well familiar with, the trio suddenly felt both surprise and relief to see that Our Town’s buildings still looked completely intact, albeit in poor conditions.

“Well, this is certainly surprising.” Starlight acknowledged. “It seems that out of all places that managed to survive this madness, it was my village?”

“Hey, wait a minute…” Sunset began examining the remains of the village through the murky fog. “Is that… a pony over there?”

The pony in question had heard this voice, but didn’t get a clear glimpse of the trio, due to the fog. Their initial instinct was to shriek in fear, then run into their house, seemingly attempting to barricade themselves.

“Well, I’m certainly not happy to see that this is what’s going to become of the future, but we just found somepony who might be able to fill us in on what’s really going on.” Twilight said, determined. “Come on, girls.”

The trio trotted over to the house the pony had fled into, and instinctively knocked on the door. As expected, there was no response whatsoever, as it had become obvious that the pony was insistent on hiding and pretending that no one was home. However, adamant on ensuring they could at least have some closure over what was really happening in this potential timeline, Starlight began knocking on the door, hoping the pony could come to terms with her.

“Hello?” Starlight began knocking. “Please, come out here. We just want to talk to you?”

Upon hearing Starlight’s voice, the pony’s eyes widened, prompting them to immediately open their door. Both Starlight and Twilight were initially happy to see it was a familiar face, but Sunset stood nearby, not recognizing who this pony was at all.

“S-S-Starlight!?” Party Favor had an ounce of relief in his voice. “And P-Princess T-Twilight!? Y-You’re a-a-alive, b-but… how!?”

“Well, let’s just say that we had a reason to investigate the future.” Twilight explained.

“Yeah, just doing another time travel spell.” Starlight added. “We want to get an understanding of what caused this future to happen, so we could prevent it. Unfortunately, it seems as if most ponies we’ve known are no longer here with us. Could you maybe… give us an explanation on what happened?”

“W-W-Well c-c-certainly!” Party Favor said with small hope. “Y-Y-You see… I-I still remember t-t-the day S-S-SHE came into Equestria… and u-u-used her powers to feed on the e-e-energy and l-l-lives of everypony w-w-we know!”

“It’s just as we had feared then.” Starlight began putting the puzzle pieces together. “Who’s ‘she’, specifically?”

“W-W-Wait a minute!” Party Favor had then adjusted his blurry vision to take notice of Sunset standing behind the two ponies. “W-W-WHAT’S SHE DOING H-H-HERE!?!”

“Huh!?” Twilight and Starlight both looked behind themselves, but only saw Sunset, giving an equally confused expression from the stallion’s behavior.

“What do you mean?” Twilight questioned. “That’s just our friend. Her name is-”

“SHE PUT YOU UP TO THIS, DIDN’T SHE!?!” Party Favor spat. “I’M NOT TALKING TO ANY OF YOU IF YOU’RE ASSOCIATING WITH HER!!! GO AWAY!!!!!!”

Party Favor then slammed the door shut, leaving both Sunset and Starlight equally as confused as when Stellar Flare had done the same thing yesterday in Sire’s Hollow. This raised far more questions than answers, especially given the fact that the stallion wasn’t even able to provide a crucial hint regarding who was truly responsible for all this damage to Equestria. The trio then felt that they had no choice but to trot away, especially since Party Favor had become way too mentally unstable to properly question.

“Well, there goes any hope we had on getting a solid answer.” Sunset sighed. “But more specifically, what was all that about?”

“I have absolutely no idea.” Twilight said, just as bewildered. “Party Favor refused to talk because you were with us, Sunset? Why?”

“I may have a theory on why.” Sunset began surmising. “I must’ve caused this future when I had allowed that rotten pegasus to steal my horn. Given how she’s now an artificial alicorn with the Bewitching Bell, I’m the main reason she had become an alicorn. Then, she must’ve been responsible for feeding on the lives of everypony to grow power. It might be possible that word got around that her having my horn was the pivotal moment she had enough power to completely consume Equestria.”

“I’m don’t really think that would be it.” Starlight assured. “Given how she’s able to use the Bewitching Bell as she pleases, anypony could’ve been her victim, even any of us back in Canterlot, had you not tried to take her down on your own.”

“I agree.” Twilight added. “It just doesn’t seem likely, especially if she’s supposedly had thousands of victims to become this powerful.”

“Well even if that was the case, I don’t quite understand why he seemed so afraid of me.” Sunset moped. “I don’t think I’ve ever had this kind of exchange with someone else since… since the days I was the bully at CHS. As you can imagine, that’s certainly not a good feeling now.”

“Sorry to hear you feel that way, Sunset.” Twilight put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sure there has to be a logical explanation for all this.”

“Well, considering that I don’t even know or recognize him at all, I’m guessing there’s a story here that we’re just not getting.” Sunset insisted. “The minute he took notice of me, it’s like my presence had given him some traumatizing memories. There’s just… no way that I, of all ponies… I couldn’t have caused…”

“Absolutely not.” Twilight assured. “Starlight and I have known you long enough to know you wouldn’t have ever had the heart to do anything like this to Equestria. The same can be said for your past self too. It’s just like I had explained regarding the incident where you turned into a demon. You lost all control and ultimately succumbed to your inner ego, and at that moment you put on my crown with those desires, it was too late. Whatever’s the case, we just can’t jump to conclusions until we can find further clues that’ll point us in the right direction.”

Just then, another noise had emerged from the opposite side of Our Town. The trio could vaguely make out another pony who had seemingly exited their house, and had just went back in. Upon the door closing, there appeared to be another opportunity to gather some vital information, but Sunset knew what this meant.

“Alright, looks like we still have a chance to learn something.” Sunset said to her companions. “Unfortunately, we just can’t risk letting that pony see me as well, judging from how Party Favor reacted. Starlight, why don’t we reverse roles this time around? Maybe you and Twilight can question that pony about anything they know, and I’ll stand nearby and listen in? Just like you and Sunburst did when I confronted dad.”

“Gotcha, let’s go then.” Starlight nodded, as Twilight did the same. “We’ve got no time to lose.”

The trio did just that, and before long, Sunset stood by the side of the house, whilst Twilight and Starlight knocked on the front door. Thankfully, the pony who answered was yet another familiar face, rather surprised to see who was at the doorstep. The stallion looked incredibly broken and unkempt, but was seemingly in a better mental state than Party Favor.

“Starlight!?” Double Diamond said with immense shock. “And Princess Twilight!? I could’ve sworn I just heard Party Favor acting crazy outside, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to see you two again! We thought you were both long gone, along with Night Glider!”

“Listen, Double Diamond.” Starlight tried to calm the stallion down. “Please just settle down a bit and… could we ask you a couple of questions? I know this sounds crazy right now, but… we’re actually from the past. We’re here to get an understanding of what happened, and who caused this barren wasteland.”

“Then it sounds like… our prayers have only been half-answered.” Double Diamond said to himself. “Guess the only thing I can do now is say what I know, then hope you two can go back and make sure this awful future never happens. It’s too late for us all.”

“We’ll make this quick, then.” Twilight began the interrogation. “Just three questions come to mind after seeing this. One, did all of this unfold sometime after my coronation? Two, did it happen because me and my friends were unable to stop whoever was responsible? And three, who in question IS responsible for all this?”

“Yes, don’t know, and I really don’t know.” Double Diamond answered. “All I know for certain is, I’m not doing too good. Ever since Equestria became eternally sunset, the quality of our produce has reduced me into eating food scraps from the trash bin. I don’t know who exactly caused all of this, all I remember is that I was stuck at home the day it happened. Darkness began to engulf the entire world, and soon, some unknown figure seemingly came by and devoured everypony’s souls and magic. I’ve never seen them myself, but Party Favor claims he did, but he refused to tell anyone, as the image of this figure scarred him for life.”

“That’s… quite interesting to know.” Twilight pieced the story together. “So Party Favor actually encountered the one responsible for all this, and he managed to survive?”

“As far as I know, he and I were the very last survivors of Our Town, and we’ve been hiding here ever since.” Double Diamond continued. “Problem is, I’m not sure we have much longer, as our mental health and nutrition have deteriorated rapidly…”

“I see then…” Starlight listened on. “And one last thing, what were you going on about, in regards to Night Glider?”

“Shortly after the princess’s coronation, she mentioned wanting to take a tropical vacation overseas, but she never came back.” Double Diamond moped. “Even worse, none of us ever found out what happened to her, not even you, Starlight.”

“…Oh no.” Twilight realized. “She actually vaguely mentioned something about this yesterday when I had visited the village. Well, I guess that’s another thing for us to look into. Thanks for your time, Double Diamond.”

“None of this matters now, though.” Double Diamond said, glumly. “Please, whatever you do now, make sure that you go to the past and fix all this. Make sure this future will never become a reality! I’m begging you…”

“We’ll do everything we can, now that we know the circumstances.” Twilight assured the broken stallion. “Hang in there, because you may have just given us the key to understanding this mystery.”

Double Diamond then closed his door and continue to drown his sorrows within his tattered home, as Starlight then signaled Sunset that it was safe to come out now. The trio then began walking away, trying to put together all the clues both stallions had given them.

“Well, two things in particular stood out to me.” Sunset began summarizing. “First off, this alternate timeline is eternally sunset? Similar to how Nightmare Moon made Equestria eternally night?”

“I mean, it could just be a coincidence?” Starlight suggested. “After all, we still don’t know for certain who had done this, and it could’ve been the result of something else entirely. Just because it’s eternally sunset, I’m sure there’s no actual connection with you.”

“That’s just it.” Sunset continued her theory. “He claimed that the other surviving pony, Party Favor had actually seen the one who was responsible for devouring ponies and their magic, essentially bringing the entirety of Equestria to absolute ruin, where we are now. Let’s not forget, he took one look at me and seemingly determined that I must’ve been that figure in question.”

“If this really was the doing of that pegasus who stole the Bewitching Bell, I’m sure there could be a number of different explanations regarding his behavior.” Twilight said. “Maybe that pegasus changed her appearance with her new magic, or you simply just reminded Party Favor of a pony who resembled you?”

“Yeah, for sure.” Starlight added. “I’m not really that close with Party Favor, but I’ve often heard from the other villagers that he has a habit of acting this way if something’s truly troubling him. Like the time the rest of us forgot to get the balloons he wanted for his birthday party. He was outraged.”

“I’m glad you both know that I’d never willingly turn Equestria into… this.” Sunset replied. “But I just can’t shake the feeling now that… there’s a definite bigger connection here that involves myself. The eternal sunset, the fact that Party Favor seemed very afraid of me… it just doesn’t add up. From what I can gather, this most likely had to have the doing of that pegasus, since I’m sure the Bewitching Bell is capable of doing this kind of damage. Furthermore, since she has my horn, and therefore, my magic, I’m almost positive that too, has something to do with it.”

“Well, regardless of who’s really responsible for this barren wasteland, it seems like there’s just not much we can do now.” Twilight sighed. “But now that we know the future of Equestria could potentially drop like a rock in the ocean, what do you propose to do, Sunset?”

“Knowing this, I feel like I’m going to stay here in Equestria a little longer, just until we can have a better shot at capturing that pegasus and getting my horn back.” Sunset said. “After all, since I still have some time left before graduation, we’ll need all the help we can possibly get to prevent this. Like I’ve said before, the last thing I want to do is stay in the human world for a prolonged period, only to eventually come back one day to see Equestria like this.”

“Very noble of you in wanting to help out, now that we know the circumstances.” Twilight said, proudly. “But realistically, you definitely shouldn’t think that you had anything to do with Equestria turning out like this. It must’ve been something else entirely that was bothering Party Favor when he saw you.”

“It’s just that… I can’t help but feel there has to be a connection somewhere, which involves me.” Sunset insisted. “It just seems to be an instinct that’s constantly telling me at the back of my head, but I can’t seem to figure out what exactly. And there doesn’t seem to be a use in asking Party Favor now, since it’s pretty obvious that he won’t be telling us anything, anytime soon.”

“Well, I’m almost positive that if there’s anyone who would be a major suspect for causing all of this, I’d place my bits on that pegasus thief.” Starlight stayed true to her belief. “And that if we manage to defeat and capture her, all will be well to Equestria for years to come.”

“That will certainly be our next priority as far as my royal priorities as princess.” Twilight agreed. “We’re going to have to drop most duties until we can figure out a way to successfully defeat that pegasus, or at least find a way to deal with the Bewitching Bell. As for my ideas on a suspect, Zecora did try to warn me of someone whose name starts with ‘O’ and rhymes with the word ‘mean’. Who knows, this could’ve been their doing too, it’s always a possibility.”

“I guess we’ll see when we eventually uncover more.” Sunset added. “Well, now that we’ve done all we could for now, what’s the next course of plan for when we return to the present, Twilight?”

“I’m thinking that the best solution would be to report to the rest of the council about what we had witnessed, and tripling search parties who can gather intel regarding that pegasus thief’s whereabouts.” Twilight suggested. “We should definitely keep this information about the future private, mostly as a means of not causing mass panic all over Equestria. In the meantime, I’ll be heading to the Canterlot library to see if I can gather information regarding anything we could use to potentially counter the Bewitching Bell’s effects.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Sunset nodded, as she continued trotting with the princess.

“What do you think, Starlight?” Twilight asked, but suddenly realized that Starlight was much further behind from Sunset and herself, seemingly staring at something on the side of Party Favor’s home. “Starlight…? What are you doing?”

“Well, even if we’re unable to get a more solid answer from Party Favor himself, I just noticed what looks like writing that’s been carved onto this particular wall.” Starlight explained. “Some of these phrases don’t seem to make a lot of sense, such as ‘All ponies will one day have fetlocks!’ and ‘Toy sales shouldn’t determine cancellations!’. However, this one bit of writing here seems to give us more of a hint than anything else Party Favor was able to provide for us.

Sunset and Twilight came over to glance at what Starlight was pointing at, but like everything else Party Favor had carved on his home, it didn’t seem to make a lot of sense either.

“It looks like it says, ‘Save Equestria from Sunny S!’ on the wall.” Twilight read from a distance, as Sunset began approaching the writing to get a better look. “Hmm, I don’t think I know anypony named Sunny S. Except maybe Sunny Skies, the mayor of Hope Hollow? Even then, this couldn’t have been his doing, and I know he looks nothing like you, Sunset.”

“If this is meant to be a hint, then this is probably the most cryptic one I’ve ever seen.” Sunset continued trying to come up with a potential theory. “Who in Equestria is this ‘Sunny S.’? Who… WHO…?”