no_vampires_plz | It's About Time, part 2

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It's About Time, part 2

"Future Twilight?"

Twilight blinks rapidly to clear the spots from her eyes in the wake of her future self's departure. She's once again alone in the room, with nothing but scattered papers and a scorch mark on the floor to indicate that the visitor from the future was ever there.

"Oh no! What was she trying to warn me about? Her clothes, her mane, that scar... oh, what a mess she is! ...I mean, I am... or I... will be..." Twilight gasps in sudden realization. "She must want me to prevent whatever horrible thing happens in the future!"

She turns and gallops down the stairs and out the front door. Whatever is going to happen, it's far, far more important than fixing the month's schedule.

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And Pinkie - being Pinkie - is on her way to another party. Marching along with a bundle of balloons tied to her saddlepack, she glances back over her shoulder at her hapless assistant.

"Come on, Fluttershy! The party can't start until the party supplies get there!"

...Maybe she shouldn't have agreed to let Fluttershy carry the majority of the load, but she did say yes!

Fluttershy, for her part, is regretting that agreement. She's got so many supplies on her back that she can't even stand up, so she has to drag herself along the ground.

"unh... Happy to... help... but... unh... Can I carry... the balloons next time?" Straining, she manages to get on her hooves...

...only to get bowled over by a galloping Twilight Sparkle. The shopping bags and their contents go flying in every direction.

Twilight gets up, shakes herself off, and leaps up to a higher vantage point atop a stone pillar. "Listen, everypony," she calls. "I've got something really important to say!"

It's really hard to take someone seriously, even when they say something like that, if they're also wearing glasses with a big fake nose and mustache attached.

So it's no surprise that those ponies who turn to look at her burst out laughing.

It takes Twilight a moment to realize what they're laughing at. When she does, she tosses the joke glasses aside with a scowl.

"This is no laughing matter. We have a crisis on our hooves!"

A crisis!? That's not good! That's not good at all! The assembled ponies gasp and look around worriedly.

"I've just been visited by myself from the future."

After a brief pause, everypony laughs again. Sure, she said it's no laughing matter, but to follow that up with something so ridiculous...

"This isn't a joke!" Twilight snaps, stomping her hoof. "My future self tried to warn me about a horrible disaster that's going to occur sometime before next Tuesday morning."

"What kinda disaster?" asks Apple Jack with a concerned frown.

"I don't know," Twilight wails. "I got sucked back into the future before I could explain!"

Pinkie reacts with her typical sense of decorum.

Which means she totally panics and tries to run, but the balloons tied to her pack keep her from doing anything more than peacefully floating down the town square.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" she shrieks, limbs still churning wildly.

Edited (whoops!) 2012-07-15 23:58 (UTC)

Rarity's response is rather more restrained. "Whatever should we do, Twilight? How do we stop the disaster if we don't know what it is?"

"We'll just have to work together to make sure we're safe," replies Twilight. "Rainbow Dash? You and the other pegasi spread out over Equestria and look for any kind of problem that could lead to a disaster. And I mean anything."

"You got it!" Rainbow Dash calls down before flying off.

Twilight nods and turns back to the assembled crowd. "Everypony else--"

A high pitched shriek can be heard in the distance. It comes closer and closer until Pinkie - finally having gained air traction with her balloons - reaches the group. She pauses mid-cry and turns toward the crowd.

"Anypony else wanna panic with me?" Pinkie wonders.

They stare back at her blankly.

"No?"

She starts screaming again, flailing away.

...okay, so clearly Pinkie's not going to be of much help.

"Everypony else, it's time to disaster-proof Equestria."

And that's just what they spend the rest of the day doing. Clearing the streets, repairing infrastructure, making sure there are stockpiles of food and water... Rarity even insists on giving everypony in town a mane cut because 'Split ends are a true disaster, darling.'

"Done, and done, and done!" Twilight checks off one of the last items on her lengthy checklist. "Apple Jack, what about the Everfree Forest?"

"The perimiter's clear," says Apple Jack as Rarity picks leaves out of her mane.

"Great." Twilight looks expectantly to Rainbow Dash.

"And my team gave the all-clear from Fillydelphia to Las Pegasus!" says the pegasus pony.

"Excellent. Well, we've done everything on the list, but still..." Twilight rolls up the scroll with a frown. "Future Twilight looked like she'd been through a horrible ordeal. I just have this nagging feeling we should be looking for something bigger than loose bolts and leaky pipes..."

"GRRRRROOOOOOOOOOWF!"

A mighty roar shakes the ground as something comes bounding into the town square. It's a black-furred, house-sized canine monstrosity with three snub-nosed heads all glowering at the townsfolk below.

Pinkie marches into the center of the crowd with authoritative determination.

"Okay, everypony. Follow my lead!"

She takes a deep breath, shrieks with all of her might, and gallops in the direction of presumptive safety.

Edited 2012-07-16 01:27 (UTC)

The bulk of the townsfolk do the same.

"What is that thing?!" yelps Spike.

"That's Cerberus," Twilight breathes, too gobsmacked to move much. "He's supposed to be guarding the gates of Tartarus. But if he's here, then all the ancient evil creatures that have been imprisoned there can escape and destroy Equestria!"

"Destroy Equestria??" Spike is horrified.

Twilight beams. "Yeah! Isn't it great?" Clearly, this is the disaster that future!Twilight was trying to warn her about, so if Cerberus can be contained without incident, they're home free!

Twilight turns to shout at the three-headed demon dog who's currently gnawing on the roof of Sugar Cube Corner. "Hey, Cerberus! You look like you could use some obedience training--magic obedience training!"

Cerberus runs over to face down the unicorn mare, all three heads roaring out a challenge. Twilight focuses her magic, and...

Edited 2012-07-16 02:35 (UTC)

... And it turns out she doesn't need to. While Twilight was focusing on her magic, Cerberus rolled over and started wagging his tail.

The reason for this should be fairly clear, once one notices Fluttershy hovering just above, rubbing his belly. "Who's a cute widdle three-headed dog?" she croons.

...or that works too.

"Wow, I knew you were good with animals, but this is amazing!"

Amazing? Aww, shucks.

"Aww, he's just a big furry guy who got out of his yard, that's all. Right, Cerberus? Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?"

"eeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Pinkie - still caught up in her own hysteria - hasn't noticed any of this and is still too trying to find a hiding place for herself. She trots back toward the group.

"Pinkie," says Twilight sharply.

Re-enter Pinkie, stage right!

"Yes, Twilight?" she asks, in a perfectly calm but curious way.

"Do you have a ball I can borrow?"

Zip! Zoom!

Pinkie thrusts her hoof into the hollow of an old oak tree, and briefly digs around within its contents. "I have balls stashed all over Ponyville!" She comes up with a large yellow specimen and holds it up with a grin. "In case of ball emergencies."

Twilight takes the ball and levitates it enticingly in the air. "Hey, Cerberus?" she sing-songs at the demon dog. "Look what I have..."

Cerberus immediately perks up, all six of his eyes on the ball and his tail wagging like mad.

Twilight 'throws' the ball (still in her telekinetic grip) toward the outskirts of town. The demon dog bounds after it eagerly, with Twilight hot on his heels.

"I'll be back as soon as I've returned him to the gates of Tartarus," Twilight calls back over her shoulder. "Once he's back at home, there'll be no disaster!"

Wow. This turned out to be a lot easier than she thought it would be.

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It's About Time, part 2

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