Unconventional Magic - 19: Time Keeps on Skippin'

For those who are still reading and think this story hasn't gone to shit yet, well it does now. I planned on having 3, maybe 4 more chapters, going through the bigger and more relevant events of Season 3 and then ending it. However, I just can't do this story anymore. My brain is at a constant brick-wall, and I just can't put out any content for these chapters. So here's this short chapter, going through the events that were supposed to take at least two full chapters. I know, I'm sorry, I just can't do it anymore. I need to move on to something else, but I didn't want to leave this unfinished.
I have mostly been writing this story as I go, and that's what is going to happen with the final chapter that will take place after this. Hopefully it won't be a huge cluster-fuck, but who knows. I just want to get it out of the way and work on something that I actually enjoy writing. If I come up with ideas on how to extend this a bit later on, then maybe I will. Until then, here's a weak and uninteresting second-to-last chapter.

---
>Countless minutes passed by as you sat in silence with Twilight.
>Her and Rainbow seemed more worried about you than the others. They were still anxiously awaiting an explanation, while the others eventually gave up and starting talking amongst themselves.
>When they were distracted, Rainbow hopped over from the back of the seat in front of you in order to sit by your side, opposite of where Twilight now was.
>"Okay Anon, I'm tired of waiting, spit it out! Just what the hay happened to you?" Rainbow asks
>"You can tell us Anon," Twilight adds, "I've never seen you like this before, even when Discord and Eris were around."
>Well, you've calmed down enough, that's for sure. They deserve to know anyway, but they're not going to like it. You're just hoping Twilight knows something about it.
>After letting out a sigh, you take a breath and begin.
"It was a dream-"
>"A dream!?" Rainbow interjects immediately, "You're acting like this because of a dream? Anon, you've got to be kidding me!"
>She begins to chuckle until you direct your gaze at her with a sharp glare, shooting daggers into her eyes.
"Every single thing about it felt real. I even remember every last moment of it, which just doesn't happen with normal dreams. Princess Luna told me that it's a thing that can happen in this world, usually when somebody is emotionally unstable or something. I didn't fit the description at the time so I didn't believe her, but... I don't know what else to go on."
>"Hmm..." Twilight hums, seemingly in thought about something.
"Does this sound familiar to you at all Twi?"
>"Yeah, it does, but- hey, did you happen to see Luna during the dream at all?"
"I did, but something wasn't right about her."
>"Were her eyes glowing yellow?"
>Wait, hold up. She knew about that!? Okay, something's out of place here.
"Uhh... yeah, they were. How do you know about that?"

>"Anon... Princess Luna has the ability to create a dream-space for P0nies, and even visit them herself. She can control every aspect of the dream at will- well, aside from the one having the dream, you in this case."
"So, you're telling me Luna was behind it?"
>"It sure seems like it."
>That... that's crazy! Why didn't Luna say anything about this? Was it because of how obviously pissed off you were? Did she feel threatened?
>Maybe it's just a well kept secret, something she doesn't want her subjects to know about. Who knows?
>There is absolutely no reason or excuse for what she put you through though, you're definitely going to have to confront her about it.
>"Anon?"
>Twilight's voice snaps you out of your train of thought.
"Huh, what?"
>"You looked- angry. Are you okay?"
"Uh..." -sigh- "Yeah, I guess, for now. Let's just say Luna and I are gonna have a little talk about this."
>"Why? What did she do in the dream anyway?" Rainbow asks
"It hurts to think about..."
>"Was it really that bad?" Twilight starts, "Princess Luna usually uses those dreams in order to help p0nies conquer their fears-"
"Conquer their fears? Twilight, she put me through the worst possible hell imaginable. Twice, as a matter of fact!"
>"Wha-" you continue before she can interrupt any more.
"Those two nights I slept in Canterlot alone, each had a dream waiting for me. In the first one, you and your friends came back successful. However, you said you would need to focus 100% on your tests and trials that lie ahead. You didn't seem to care even a tiny bit for me anymore, just tossing our relationship to the trash. It hurt... a lot..."
>Twilight scoots over and shifts into a spot on your lap, turning her head sideways and resting it against your chest, where she can still lock eyes with you.
>"You know I would never do that Anon, no matter what."
"I know that Twilight," you respond as you wrap an arm around her, "It just felt too real... but before I knew it, I had woken up. I guess it's not surprising that Luna was right outside my room then...

>"I can see why this would affect you so much. I'm sorry Anon, and I'll talk to Princess Luna with you too."
"Thanks Twi. That was only the first dream though. The second one was, well... let's just say she crossed the line. And if she's supposed to help me get over my fears, then she has absolutely no idea what in the hell she's doing."
>"Wait, she did even worse than that? How?"
>"Yeah Anon, don't hold out on the details either. I wanna hear all the nitty-gritty!" Rainbow chimes in, almost excited to hear about the pain you went through.
*sigh* "Rainbow, I watched you die." you say in a deadpan voice, causing her to freeze, her expression turning to shock. "You- you died in my arms, Dash. It was the most horrifying and painful thing I'd ever seen."
>"I- I- died? B-but-"
>"Princess Luna would never do that!" Twilight shouts, "She couldn't! Tha-"
"Twilight." you say to her, retaining the deadpan tone to get her to stop, "You were next Twi."
>Now it's her turn to freeze and acquire that shocked look across her features.
"I had teleported to the Crystal Empire because I felt something was wrong. It was too late to save Dash at that point, she- she was gone shortly after I arrived. After that, I found you caught up in a serious magic battle with that king, Sombra was it?"
"Yeah. We joined together and fought him side by side. It was... very intense, and emotional, I'd never felt so much adrenaline flowing through me at once."
"Unfortunately, he got a good hit on me and took me down. He came in to deliver a finishing blow, but you tried you stop him. Unfortunately it was just a ploy to get you off your guard. He- he struck a fatal blow on you at that point."
>Twilights eyes are the size of pin-pricks, her entire body is shaking from the very thought of what happened in your dreams. You hug her tighter and continue.

"I was able to get up after that and toss Sombra out of the way for a few moments so I could check up on you. For whatever reason, you had channeled the rest of your energy into me or something."
"Afterward, between that and the sheer rage building in me from what he had done, I was able to kill himm with ease."
>"You- you killed him?" Rainbow asks, stuttering, an obvious hint of fear in her voice.
"Yes. Very slowly too. I'm sorry, but he deserved it for what he did... But thankfully, none of that actually happened, so just try not to think about it."
>"That's... Anon, that's so horrible! I can only imagine what it must have been like for you." Twilight says, staring up into your eyes, her own filled with sorrow.
"Yeah, you're better off not trying to imagine that... After he was disposed of, I tried to teleport you back to Canterlot Twi, but I couldn't. I was holding you in my arms, but there wasn't anything I could do... and then, you- you left me..."
"I didn't realize it at the time, but I was so sad and angry that I was unleashing a ton of raw magic all around me. I woke up during that, and I think I pretty much destroyed the whole room I was staying in... I didn't care though, that's when I came here."
>"Wait, you destroyed a room at Canterlot Castle!?"
"Uh, yeah, a royal suite."
>Twilight just stares at you again, like she can't believe what you've done.
"Twi, forget about it. That's not important, and Luna can deal with that as one consequence of her actions. We'll deal with the rest later."
>"Oh man, I HAVE to check out that room when we get back!" Rainbow says enthusiastically.
"Yeah, you do that. I just want to go home and resume my normal life... Well, if you can call what we have normal anyway..."
>"Hmm, I like the sound of that." Twilight says as she snuggles against you some more.
>Thankfuly it didn't take long for you all to calm down and forget about it all. You has just relaxed in your seat with Twilight in your lap up against you.

>Rainbow Dash had curled up on the seat next to you and passed out.
>Spike and the other four p0nies eventually asked what had happened since they didn't hear it before, but you told them to forget about it. Instead you asked them about their time in the Crystal Empire.
>They happily went with the change in subject and told you all about what happened.
>Later that afternoon, the train had arrived in Canterlot. You and your friends went straight for the Castle to meet with Celestia.
>You were honestly looking forward to crossing paths with Luna, but Celestia had told you she was sleeping.
"When you get a chance, just let her know that I know that she was behind those dreams that I had, and that I am- well, very unhappy, to say the least. I won't bother her now but we're gonna need to have a talk about it soon."
>That's what you told Celestia before you left for Ponyville. She seemed confused, a little afraid even. You had a feeling she knew exactly what was going on and let it happen, but you weren't going to bring it up now.

----

>All seemed to go well after that. The next two weeks went by mostly uneventful.
>Twilight resumed her research on you and your unique abilities, using it to fill up a rapidly growing book mostly of notes, spells, and journal entries.
>Princess Luna had yet to speak with you for the first week, so you took the initiative and went to see her one night in Canterlot.
>The discussion was really heated at first, you made sure she knew how far she had crossed the line.
>Luna acted as though she didn't realize how bad it was, and was very apologetic. Things wouldn't be normal between you two just like that, but at least you'd got the heavy stuff out of the way.
>She knew not to ever invade your dreams ever again, or Twilights for that matter.
>She had mentioned that it was indeed a test, and that in time it would all be worth-while.
>Yeah, we'll see about that...
>Beyond that, two weeks after the dream-hell Luna put you through, Celestia had invited you to accompany her on a diplomatic trip to Saddle Arabia.
>She said she wanted you to see more of the world, meet some other species you hadn't seen before, and experience a new culture.
>You had a feeling she had other motives as well, but you didn't think much of it. It's Celestia after all, she always has hidden reasons for what she does.
>Truth be told, you got bored after a while. When you had some free time, you conjured up some magic and tested your teleportation to see if you could manage to pull it off from that distance.
>You pictured Ponyville, and got nothing. You weren't surprised that you couldn't teleport that far, but you were surprised that you couldn't find it at all.
>Remembering the sight beyond sight spell, you take a look to Ponyville, only to see it encased in a giant glass dome.
>Of course, something crazy just has to happen when you're not around.
>You try to locate Twilight, and thankfully you find her in the Everfree forest with Zecora.
>Zecora seemed to be training her in the ways of the force or something, so you didn't interrupt.

>Needless to say, you were pretty pissed when she told you that Trixie was behind this.
>Against Twilights wishes, you attempted to get inside the dome, but you couldn't.
>This surprised you for sure. Trixie was basically a scrub-tier unicorn, there's no way she could even come close to you in terms of magic ability.
>Twilight probably didn't even pass you in that regard, but it started to make sense when she told you about the Alicorn Amulet that Trixie had acquired.
>Twilight told you to just sit tight and let her do this. Thanks to Zecora, she had a plan to win.
>The two of them had complete confidence in their plan, and you realized this when they approached Trixie at the edge of town and challenged her to another magic duel.
>Twilight was confident and determined. She knew she would win, so you just sat back and enjoyed the show, letting her have her victory.
>When it was all over, Celestia came back with with Saddle Arabia royalty to watch a show that Twilight put on.
>Trixie came back to help and apologize, but you stepped in at that point and kicked her sorry ass out of town.
>Twilight didn't really seem to care either way at that point. She's not one to hold a grudge, but Trixie was just too pathetic at this point.
>Besides, who knows what she'll do if she were to get another opportunity like she did with the amulet?
>Days later, Rainbow Dash had received a letter from the Wonderbolt Academy, to which she had been accepted as a student.
>Needless to say, you and everypony else were very proud of her. You had visited the training ground almost every day that she was there to see how things were going.
>Not surprising, her and another pegasus that she seemed to be partnered with were mopping the floor with everyone else.
>Eventually though, the other pegasus, Lightning Dust, has been kicked out of the Academy for endangering others and being too wreckless.
>After the initial week of preliminary training, Rainbow Dash had been given some time off before the remaining longer sessions were to take place.

----

>More days pass, and on one of those days, Twilight receives a rather off letter from Celestia.
>You, her, and your friends were to gather outside of town and expect a visit from her and a special guest.
>None of you had any idea who this special guest might be. Surprised barely explained your reaction when Celestia arrived with the stone statue of Discord.
>You all lashed out at Celestia, you had demanded to know why she had brought that here and what her intentions were.
>When she told you, you were outraged. You had even suggested using his chaos powers yourself instead of freeing Discord, but Celestia wouldn't have it. Besides, she knew only Discord himself could provide what she needed.
>Eventually you just said 'fuck it' and let them go through with it. You could handle Discord and keep an eye on him, so long as Eris wasn't released then it should be okay.
>And thankfully, Discord didn't seem to have any intention of releasing her. Of course he could just be putting on an act, it is Discord after all.
>You made sure that Celestia knew to contact you immediately if Eris was ever released. She happily agreed when you told Celestia about her true intentions, and that having her free to roam the world would be worse than Discord.
>Things were looking bad at one point, but Fluttershy had insisted that you don't interfere. It was becoming more difficult as time went on, but eventually her plan had succeeded and Discord went back to Canterlot.
>Shortly after that, the elements were sent to the Crystal Empire again to help them secure it as the location for the next Equestria Games.
>There's no way you were sitting at home for this one, you went right along and helped out. It was nice to see the Empire in the real world for once too. You shuttered at how much it looked like what you saw in your dream, but thankfully everything was normal this time.
>At the end of the day, even with the rather massive fuck-up, the Crystal Empire had been chosen for the Equestria Games.
>A number of days later, something crazy happened that would change your life forever...