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Description

          It started as any other normal day in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and I were in Sugarcube Corner, all of us laughing and quite jovial, as Pinkie re-told her personal favorite story.

          “And then, the wings burned up in the sun,” Pinkie said, “and Rarity plummeted to the ground below…”

          *DING-A-LING*

          The doorbell of the sweet shop interrupted the story. As the three of us looked at the door, we saw two ponies, the first was Twilight, and the second was a brown Earth stallion who had a cutie mark in the shape of an old-school hourglass. He was known by a few different names around town, but I knew him as Time Turner. They both were out of breath, as if they had been running.

          “Thank Celestia we found you,” Time Turner huffed, “we’ve been looking all over town.”

          “Take a breath,” I said, “looking for whom?”

          “You, Art,” Twilight explained, “Time Turner came to me and told me he had seen something you would want to know.”

          Time Turner was a strange pony. Even though he wasn’t a unicorn, he had a strange kind of magic all his own. He had somehow mastered time travel, and did so on many occasions, usually just for kicks, but every so often, he saw something interesting. However, every other time this happened, he told us that he couldn’t tell us about it, lest we change the future.

          “I just returned from a trip to the near-future,” Turner began, “By near-future, I mean this coming winter, late in the season. Although I was in Ponyville, the town was very quiet, very unusual.”

          “Where was everypony,” Pinkie asked.

          “I went to find out. The entire town was at the Ponyville Cemetery. Not only was the entire town there, but Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, DJ Pon-3, everypony. Thinking to myself that this must be some kind of important pony, I went to see if I recognized the name on the grave. When I got very close, I could read it very clearly, and I was quite distraught at what I saw.”

          “Whose name was on the grave,” I implored.

          “Yours. Art Colter.”

          I stood there stunned as Rarity fainted right into my arms. Pinkie’s mane and tail ‘deflated’ becoming long and straight, something that only happened when she was upset.

          “How did you know that it was this coming winter,” I asked, fanning Rarity, “I know you are usually quite certain, but how did you know?”

          “For one, I saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. But they weren’t exactly the same. They all had their cutie marks. Not to mention that nopony seemed particularly older than they are today.”

          I began to feel a little sick.

          “There is good news,” Twilight said, “Time Turner was able to piece together the possible circumstances that led to Art’s death.”

          “Indeed. At the funeral, Princess Celestia mentioned Art giving his life in protection of Equestria. Art was also buried wearing the jewel which encompasses his Element of Harmony. I also overheard other pony’s say that he lost his life protecting his friends.”

          “There must be some kind of evil coming to Equestria, something bad enough to require the use of the Elements to defeat it.”

          “But my Element of Harmony was temporary,” I said, “Not only that, but it was destroyed. Why would I have a new one?”

          “I theorize that just because it was temporary doesn’t mean that you don’t in fact represent an Element of Harmony. It may not be one of the main six elements, but it is still there. Whatever it is, it must have become necessary for us to once again use your Element.”

          “Princess Celestia must be told all of this.”

          “Spike has already sent an urgent letter on the matter.”

          “So then what do we do?”

          “We simply need to keep our eyes and ears open. Also, this doesn’t leave this room. No reason to have other ponies worry about something we don’t fully understand.”

          “Right. Thank you for your concern, Time Turner. Remember, not a word.”

          The time traveling pony left the shop. He left behind four ponies in an emotional mess. Rarity was openly crying into my shoulder, while I tried to soothe the unicorn by stroking her mane with my hoof. Twilight was reassuring Pinkie that we would find the answer to the situation. Eventually, the party pony’s hair returned to its normal state of curl.

          “Looks like there is more research to do,” Twilight said, “I’ll get started. Maybe the princess has replied to my letter.”

          “And I’ll get Rarity some water,” Pinkie offered.

          “I thought you were going to die before,” Rarity sobbed, “It can’t be true, you can’t leave me, us, now.”

          “There’s plenty of time,” I calmly said, “Things will work out, they always do, don’t they?”

          The unicorn didn’t respond.

Description

          It started as any other normal day in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and I were in Sugarcube Corner, all of us laughing and quite jovial, as Pinkie re-told her personal favorite story.

          “And then, the wings burned up in the sun,” Pinkie said, “and Rarity plummeted to the ground below…”

          *DING-A-LING*

          The doorbell of the sweet shop interrupted the story. As the three of us looked at the door, we saw two ponies, the first was Twilight, and the second was a brown Earth stallion who had a cutie mark in the shape of an old-school hourglass. He was known by a few different names around town, but I knew him as Time Turner. They both were out of breath, as if they had been running.

          “Thank Celestia we found you,” Time Turner huffed, “we’ve been looking all over town.”

          “Take a breath,” I said, “looking for whom?”

          “You, Art,” Twilight explained, “Time Turner came to me and told me he had seen something you would want to know.”

          Time Turner was a strange pony. Even though he wasn’t a unicorn, he had a strange kind of magic all his own. He had somehow mastered time travel, and did so on many occasions, usually just for kicks, but every so often, he saw something interesting. However, every other time this happened, he told us that he couldn’t tell us about it, lest we change the future.

          “I just returned from a trip to the near-future,” Turner began, “By near-future, I mean this coming winter, late in the season. Although I was in Ponyville, the town was very quiet, very unusual.”

          “Where was everypony,” Pinkie asked.

          “I went to find out. The entire town was at the Ponyville Cemetery. Not only was the entire town there, but Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, DJ Pon-3, everypony. Thinking to myself that this must be some kind of important pony, I went to see if I recognized the name on the grave. When I got very close, I could read it very clearly, and I was quite distraught at what I saw.”

          “Whose name was on the grave,” I implored.

          “Yours. Art Colter.”

          I stood there stunned as Rarity fainted right into my arms. Pinkie’s mane and tail ‘deflated’ becoming long and straight, something that only happened when she was upset.

          “How did you know that it was this coming winter,” I asked, fanning Rarity, “I know you are usually quite certain, but how did you know?”

          “For one, I saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. But they weren’t exactly the same. They all had their cutie marks. Not to mention that nopony seemed particularly older than they are today.”

          I began to feel a little sick.

          “There is good news,” Twilight said, “Time Turner was able to piece together the possible circumstances that led to Art’s death.”

          “Indeed. At the funeral, Princess Celestia mentioned Art giving his life in protection of Equestria. Art was also buried wearing the jewel which encompasses his Element of Harmony. I also overheard other pony’s say that he lost his life protecting his friends.”

          “There must be some kind of evil coming to Equestria, something bad enough to require the use of the Elements to defeat it.”

          “But my Element of Harmony was temporary,” I said, “Not only that, but it was destroyed. Why would I have a new one?”

          “I theorize that just because it was temporary doesn’t mean that you don’t in fact represent an Element of Harmony. It may not be one of the main six elements, but it is still there. Whatever it is, it must have become necessary for us to once again use your Element.”

          “Princess Celestia must be told all of this.”

          “Spike has already sent an urgent letter on the matter.”

          “So then what do we do?”

          “We simply need to keep our eyes and ears open. Also, this doesn’t leave this room. No reason to have other ponies worry about something we don’t fully understand.”

          “Right. Thank you for your concern, Time Turner. Remember, not a word.”

          The time traveling pony left the shop. He left behind four ponies in an emotional mess. Rarity was openly crying into my shoulder, while I tried to soothe the unicorn by stroking her mane with my hoof. Twilight was reassuring Pinkie that we would find the answer to the situation. Eventually, the party pony’s hair returned to its normal state of curl.

          “Looks like there is more research to do,” Twilight said, “I’ll get started. Maybe the princess has replied to my letter.”

          “And I’ll get Rarity some water,” Pinkie offered.

          “I thought you were going to die before,” Rarity sobbed, “It can’t be true, you can’t leave me, us, now.”

          “There’s plenty of time,” I calmly said, “Things will work out, they always do, don’t they?”

          The unicorn didn’t respond.