If somepony had told me when I was a blank-flank that one day
I'd give a speech to a class at Celestia's School of Magic,
I wouldn't have believed it. But...
I hope that I have been up to the task
because I can tell that all of you are,
and that the future of Equestrian magic
is in good hooves.
[one person applauding]
Wow. That was even better than the first eleven times!
I don't know, Spike.
I'd like to be able to get through the whole speech
without looking at the cards.
Come on, Twilight, you can't be nervous about giving a speech
to a bunch of magic students.
Oh, I'm not nervous, Spike, but I do have to set a good example,
especially for magic students.
That's why this speech has to be...
[sigh]
Perfect?
Exactly. Let's go through it one more time.
Ahem.
When Princess Celestia asked me to speak to you today,
I was honored to have the opportunity
to talk about my favorite subject - magic.
♪ My little pony, my little pony ♪
♪ Aaaahhh ♪
♪ My little Pony ♪
♪ I used to wonder what friendship could be. ♪
♪ My Little Pony ♪
♪ Until you all shared its magic with me. ♪
♪ Big adventure! ♪ ♪ Tons of fun ♪
♪ A beautiful heart! ♪ ♪ Faithful and strong! ♪
♪ Sharing kindness ♪ ♪ it's an easy feat ♪
♪ And magic makes it all complete! ♪
♪ To have my little pony ♪
♪ Do you know you're all my very best friends? ♪
♪♪
Obviously the long-term effects of the simultaneous acquisition
of cutie marks has yet to be determined, but...
Ahem. Next slide, please.
[snoring]
...I can speak from my own experience
that the power of cutie mark magic is very real.
And in the instance of my friends and I,
it can be traced to a single event.
Without Rainbow Dash's race to defend Fluttershy's honor,
this Rainboom wouldn't have happened.
Fluttershy might never have discovered her love of animals.
Applejack might never have realized
that she belonged on her farm.
And Pinkie might never have decided to leave hers.
It might be hard to imagine Rarity
without her sense of fabulousness.
But it's even harder to fathom what my life would be like.
Without this Rainboom,
I might not have gotten into magic school;
Celestia wouldn't have taken me on as her pupil
or sent me to Ponyville to meet my friends.
And the most powerful thing about cutie mark magic
that I've found is the connection I share with them.
But, um...
the real question about cutie mark magic is
who it seems to affect.
Starlight Glimmer?
I was sure I saw her, Spike,
but when I looked again she was gone.
I'm just worried what she could be up to.
Nothing good, I bet.
I heard she wasn't very happy the last time you saw her.
Forcing everypony in her village to have the same cutie mark
wasn't right. We had to do something.
And now she's coming back for revenge.
Or she was just really interested in your speech.
Honestly, Spike, I'm not really sure what I saw.
But as long as I have my friends,
I know everything will be all right.
Maybe I was just more stressed
about that speech than I thought.
Yeah, that sounds better than Starlight Glimmer coming back
with an evil plot for revenge.
Well, when you say it like that, it does sound kind of silly.
Or it's totally true!
Welcome home, Twilight!
[eerie music and zapping]
What are you doing, Starlight?
I'd tell you, but I don't want to ruin the surprise!
Won't be needing that anymore.
[evil laugh]
[dramatic music and zapping]
♪♪
Where'd she go?
I don't know, Spike. But I think we better find out.
I guess we could start with this.
Spike, no! Don't touch that!
[whoosh]
[screams]
Huh.
[screams]
Cloudsdale! Starlight doesn't even have wings.
Why would she come here?
I don't know, Spike,
but it looked like she could fly with just magic.
Keep your eyes open. We don't know what she has planned.
[whoosh]
Isn't that Rainbow Dash?
Did Rainbow Dash look really young to you?
And I didn't see a cutie mark. You don't think.
We travelled back in time
to when Rainbow Dash raced the bullies
who made fun of Fluttershy
and performed her first Sonic Rainboom?
Spike, only Starswirl the Bearded
could do something like that.
And even his spell just went back a week.
How could Starlight do more
than the greatest wizard in Equestria?
With this.
Starswirl's spell. Oh, no.
Come on let's go!
Go where?
To watch the race! I don't want to miss the Rainboom.
Whoa!
♪♪
[panicked squeals]
Whoa!
Later Rainbow Crash!
Hey!
♪♪
Aw, sorry about this.
[zoom]
Hey, what gives?
[cheers]
♪♪
[giggle]
♪♪
[sigh]
♪♪
[crash]
[grunts]
♪♪
What did you do?
You are about to find out.
[zap]
[scream]
[grunt]
I don't know what Starlight's up to yet,
but we'd better figure it out before it's too late.
Um, Twilight, I think it already is.
[gasp]
♪ [dramatic theme] ♪
Uh Twilight, where's your castle?
The map pulled us back,
but whatever Starlight did in the past changed things here.
But why? And how did we get here? And where's here?
More like when.
What do you mean?
Starlight altered Starswirl's spell, then somehow used it
on the map to travel into the past and change something.
Once she did, the map pulled us back to the present.
So we're back where...
I mean, when we started?
Not exactly.
Everything's different.
Look, the map doesn't even make sense anymore.
The Crystal Empire takes up half of Equestria.
Plus there's the whole missing castle thing.
Right.
This is too big to handle on our own.
You think?
We need to find our friends and get help.
[crow cawing]
I'm getting a bad feeling about this, Twilight.
I know, Spike.
But this is Ponyville. How bad can things be?
Is that Sugar Cube Corner?
I don't understand.
[panting]
Rarity?
[pounding]
[grunt]
Rarity?
I don't think she's here, Spike.
I'm not sure anything we know is the same,
but I know one place that could never change.
[squeaking]
[hum of machinery]
♪ [mysterious theme] ♪
♪♪
[clatter]
[clang clang clang]
Applejack?
What can I do for ya?
It's so good to see you!
We couldn't find Pinkie or Rarity
or Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash,
but I just knew you'd still be here.
Of course I am. This is my home.
But who in tarnation is Pinkie Bow and Flutter Dash?
Or you for that matter?
You don't know who I am?
Nope. Honestly, the only name I recognized is Rarity,
but she left for Manehattan years ago.
Probably to become a world- famous fashion designer, I bet.
Applejack: Not that I know of.
Last I heard, she went to help with the cause
like everypony else.
The cause?
The war against King Sombra and the Crystal Empire?
What?
Where have you two been?
Actually, it's when.
I know this is hard to believe,
but you and I and those other ponies I mentioned are friends.
Did you bump your head on a crate of cider or somethin'?
I'm telling you the truth and if you come with me, I'll prove it.
Well, I'll admit, I've lived in these here parts my whole life
and I've never seen this before.
There's also supposed to be a castle that goes with it.
But I still don't see what this has to do
with you and I being friends.
Another pony named Starlight Glimmer used this map
to travel through time and change things in the past.
For some reason, the map's here,
but everything else is different.
Different how?
Well, for one thing, where we came from,
there's no war with King Sombra.
Maybe you could tell us how the war started.
Then we can figure out when everything changed.
That's easy enough.
When the Crystal Empire returned,
it brought King Sombra back with it.
And it didn't take long for him to force
every one of his subjects to fight for him against Equestria.
♪♪
[fighter jet engine buzz]
[galloping hooves]
[war cries]
[evil laugh]
♪♪
[war cries]
And even with Princess Celestia leading the charge.
It still takes every last pony in Equestria...
...doing their part...
...working day and night to keep up the fight.
[train whistle blows]
I just can't believe it. We stopped King Sombra.
You and me and all of our friends.
But we aren't friends. At least not here.
Right.
Look, I hope all this helped,
but I really need to get back to canning those apples.
Thank you. We're going to set things right.
I hope you do.
So. How are we going to set things right?
I DON'T KNOW!
The only thing we know for sure
is that Starlight stopped the Rainboom.
And that the map's still here.
Spike! That's it!
The map is connected to the Tree of Harmony.
It must sense that something isn't right.
That's why it's still here.
I'll just use Starlight's version of the spell
and go back a little earlier
and stop her before she even knows we're there!
[whoosh]
Aaaah!
All we have to do now is find Starlight and st-
[zap]
Well, finding her will be easy.
But stopping her's going to be harder than you think!
Sorry to disappoint you, but I created that spell
to send myself back in time.
So even when you cast it, I still get sent back here.
It wasn't difficult to change Starswirl's spell;
he'd already done the hard part.
But figuring out I could use the map to go to any time or place
and pull you along with me?
Ha ha! I even impressed myself with that.
I knew you'd try to stop me. You're so predictable.
Why else would I leave the scroll behind?
Touching it triggered the map to whisk you here
and watch me erase the one thing
that linked you with your friends.
My village was a sanctuary of equality
where no pony's cutie mark allowed them to feel superior.
It was a special place, and you and your friends took it away.
Now it's my turn to take something special from you.
Without the Rainboom, you and your friends will never form
your special cutie mark bond.
Cutie marks for cutie marks. Sounds like a fair trade to me.
Spike: Twilight!
Whoops!
[panicked yells]
Thanks.
No problem, Spike.
At least now we know exactly what we have to do.
OK. Keep your eyes peeled.
Right.
We have to stop Starlight
as soon as Rainbow Dash and those bullies race by.
Um, Twilight...
So be ready.
I know, but...
Because she could pop up anywhere.
Like over there?
Just remember how you'd feel
if someone said those things to you.
What's going on here?
Oh, I was just reminding these two colts
how hurtful teasing can be.
Well, don't!
Huh?
I mean... You were?
Of course. In a world where every pony is unique,
some are bound to feel more special than others.
But that isn't a licence to be cruel is it?
No. Of course not.
Isn't it a shame we don't live in a world
where everypony is equal.
No one would ever tease anyone there. Wouldn't that be nice?
Mm hm!
No. It wouldn't!
I mean, it'd be nice not to be teased, of course,
but that's not the same thing.
Come on, Fluttershy.
Maybe I can help you get through the course this time.
Well, I sure could use the practice.
I know you only convinced those bullies to not tease Fluttershy
to stop the Rainboom.
Oh, that's not true. I convinced them not to be bullies
because everypony should be equal.
Stopping the Rainboom is just a bonus.
[zoom]
Look!
♪♪
This isn't over yet!
[whoosh]
If you say so.
Hi!
Um, hi.
You think you can stop for a minute?
Sure!
I hear you're pretty fast.
Pretty fast? Please. I'm even faster than that.
OK, so, um... Hey you wanna race?
Um. That wouldn't really be fair.
I mean, you're a full grown pony.
And, wait, are you an Alicorn?
Come on, I thought you were fast.
Actually, I just remembered I have somewhere I need to be.
OK, listen. You don't have to race me.
I just need you to fly fast enough for a Sonic Rainboom.
What? I can't do that. Nopony can.
It's not even a real thing. It's just an old mare's tale.
But it's not! I know it's not.
I've seen you do it. In the future!
OK. I'm gonna go now.
No! Wait!
Gee, Twilight. What's the matter?
Couldn't convince her to do the impossible? That's too bad.
[zap]
Spike: Well, that didn't work.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
We'll have to try again.
Hey, Twilight.
I don't want to live in that awful future we saw.
I don't think you'll have to.
[clank]
Twilight: Pinkie? Fluttershy?
SILENCE, CHANGELING!
All servants of Queen Chrysalis found in these woods
must be destroyed!
[gulp]