Time Crusadeby FervidorChaptersChapter 1: Medias ResChapter 2: Time ShenanigansChapter 3: The FrayChapter 4: The Battle of Sweet Apple Acres (The Fray Part II)Chapter 1: Medias Res”Now y’all be at yer best behavior when ya get to Canterlot,” said Applejack. ”Don't want them fancy big city ponies thinkin' yer a bunch'a rabble-rousin' backwater yahoos, do ya?” ”Who, us?” Apple Bloom looked up at her sister with a smile of angelic innocence. ”We never rouse any rabbles!” ”Not anymore, anyway,” Sweetie Belle added. ”Who wants a rabble-rousing cutie mark anyway?” Scootaloo muttered. ”Lousy ungrateful rabbles.” ”I'm not worried, Applejack,” Rarity said. ”Then again, my sister is a proper lady in the making, so I'm sure she'll fit right into that elegant metropolitan atmosphere of our fine capital.” Applejack glanced at the three fillies and smiled politely, recalling several incidents involving copious amounts of mud and tree sap. ”Yeah. Sure she will.” All the colts and fillies under Cheerilee's tutelage had gathered at the Ponyville train station for a two-day field trip to the capital, and both Applejack and Rarity had joined them to see their respective sister off. As they were talking, Cheerilee approached them with a pleasant smile: ”Don't worry, you two. I'll make sure they stay in line.” ”It's good knowin' ya'll be there to look after 'em, Cheers,” Applejack told her. ”Ah only know two ponies who can handle these three, an' the other one's Fluttershy,” she cocked her head, ”for reasons Ah'm not entirely clear on.” ”All aboard!” they heard the conductor shout. ”The train leaves for Canterlot in five!” ”That's our call,” said Cheerilee. ”Now hurry up and say goodbye so we can be on our way.” ”Have fun, Apple Boom,” Applejack said, giving the smaller pony an affectionate pat on the head. ”Jus', not too much fun. Try not to knock the whole town off the mountain or somethin'.” ”Heh, I'll do my best,” Apple Bloom laughed. ”Haha,” Applejack laughed back. ”...But seriously. Stay outta trouble.” ”Now, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity crouched by her sister with a serious look on her face, ”what do you do if you meet the stallion of your dreams in Canterlot?” ”I run away as fast as I can and don't look back,” Sweetie Belle said. Rarity put a hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. ”I have taught you well. Now go!” Once Scootaloo managed to tear herself away from her doting aunts, the three crusaders joined their classmates boarding the train. They waved from the windows as the locomotive started huffing and slowly rolled out of the station. Applejack and Rarity smiled and waved back. ”Goin' to be quiet without 'em around,” Applejack said. ”They'll only be gone for two days,” Rarity reminded her. ”But yes, I agree.” Rather than going their separate ways, the two friends left the station together, taking the opportunity to chat and enjoy each other's company. It was a pleasant day and neither were in a hurry. ”Ah'm tellin' ya, Rare,” Applejack said as they walked down the street side by side, ”them kids are gonna take over the world one 'a these days.” ”To think they ended up such good friends,” Rarity smiled. ”And right off the bat, too. More than you can say for us, don't you agree?” Applejack cringed slightly at the memory. ”Yeah, we didn't exactly see eye to eye, did we? Always bickerin' over small stuff like a pair of schoolyard foals, an' makin' poor Twilight put up with it to boot. Not gonna lie, Rare, Ah ain't proud of how Ah acted back then.” ”Nor am I,” Rarity said. ”Nor am I. Fortunately, that's all behind us now.” ”Yeah...” Applejack glanced at her and smirked. ”...Even if yer still a prissy persnickety fussbudget.” ”I beg you pardon?” Rarity feigned a gasp. ”I most certainly am not.” ”Are too.” ”Am not.” ”Are too!” ”Am not!” ”Are too infinity!” ”Am not infinity plus one!” The two mares stopped for a moment and glared at each other. Then, as one, they broke down in uncontrollable giggles. ”Well, at least them kids got off to a good start,” Applejack said, collecting herself. ”Guess that makes 'em smarter than us, huh?” ”You don't suppose they'll actually get their cutie marks soon?” Rarity asked as they continued on their way. ”Oh, just imagine if they have them by the time they get back? Wouldn't that be a surprise?” ”Ah wouldn't bet on it,” Applejack chuckled. ”Ain't ever seen any colt or filly as oblivious 'bout their talents as those three.” ”But it's so obvious!” Rarity groaned. ”You should hear Sweetie Belle singing in the bathtub. She makes up her own tunes and everything.” ”Tell me 'bout it. Ya know Ah dun broke mah fav'rite apple cart the other day? Ah was gonna fix it m'self but Ah had to see Fluttershy 'bout somethin'. By the time Ah got back, Apple Bloom had put it back together just as new, an Ah mean just as new. Ya couldn't tell it'd been broken.” Applejack gave her head a bewildered shake. ”An' don't get me started on that ol' treehouse Ah gave 'em. By now it's practically a real house!” ”Rainbow Dash tells me Scootaloo can do things with that scooter even Rainbow couldn't manage at her age.” Rarity sighed. ”Oh well. I guess one really can't rush these things. At least they're enjoying themselves.” A strong wind suddenly picked up, and Applejack had to hold on to her hat to keep it from blowing off. ”Enjoyin' 'emselves a mite too much, Ah'd say,” she said and rolled her eyes. ”Ah'm tellin' ya, Rare, we ain't seeing them cutie marks any time soon.” The wind grew stronger, and a shining white spark hit the ground right next to Applejack's hoof. ”What in tarnation...?” Realizing something strange was going on, they both looked up and were stunned to see an orb of white light taking shape in the street right in front of them. The air whirled around it like a vortex and it shot white sparks everywhere like fireworks. It grew rapidly in both size and intensity, until it finally seemed to explode and implode at the same time. Applejack and Rarity were momentarily blinded by the flash. When they regained the use of their eyes, they were stunned to see that four figures had appeared in the street in front of them. Four very familiar figures. Three of them were pony mares, and they each bore an uncanny resemblance to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo respectively. In fact, the two dumbfounded friends could both swear they were looking at the actual Cutie Mark Crusaders if not for a very vital difference – these three were not little fillies, but young adults. Indeed, they appeared to be about the same age as Applejack and Rarity. As for the fourth figure, he was... a dragon. He was definitely a dragon, and one very similar to Spike at that. He had the same purple scales and the same emerald eyes. He was much larger than Twilight's trusted assistant, however, and his build was much closer to that of a pony stallion. He even walked on all fours as opposed to Spike's customary two. The spines running down from his head to his long tail, though still the same bright green, were sharp like pointed blades. The beige earth pony with the bright red mane corrected the worn and suspiciously familiar-looking stetson on her head. The white unicorn had her luscious mane impeccably styled and wore a large blue gem in a pendant around her neck. The pegasus, unadorned, stretched her wings as a few lingering sparks of magical energy arced between them. Adding to the already potent surrealism of the scene, they all had cutie marks adorning their flanks. Even the dragon's scaly thigh bore a symbol resembling a stylized green flame. They seemed to have materialized right in the middle of a conversation: ”...and then this whole mess will be over with one way or another,” they heard the one resembling Sweetie Belle tell the others. ”See, I told you it would work. Nothing to worry about.” She looked around. ”Huh, Canterlot seems a lot smaller back here than I remembered.” ”...I don't think this is Canterlot,” said the very Spike-like dragon. ”Oh horseapples!” maybe-Apple Bloom swore. ”This is Ponyville! We're in the wrong town!” ”I don’t believe this! You had one job, Sweetie Belle!” possibly-Scootaloo groaned. ”One job!” ”Haha, whoops?” Sweetie Belle chuckled with a nervous grin. ”Now let's not panic. It could be worse. We could have ended up in Manehattan or something. This is still doable.” While they were talking, Spike turned his long neck around and saw Applejack and Rarity staring at the group with gaping mouths. A look of absolute terror appeared on his reptilian face. ”Um, girls...” ”Still doable?” Apple Bloom glared at Sweetie Belle. ”Our whole plan hinged on us gettin' the job done before we disturbed the timeline too much! Now we're set back at least a day!” ”Girls...” ”We just need to be careful and keep a low profile until then. How hard can that be?” ”Girls!” ”What!?” Apple Bloom yelled, and the three mares turned to look where Spike was pointing, finally noticing Applejack and Rarity. ”...Oh galldarnit all to hay,” Apple Bloom swore. Applejack stared in utter disbelief, her mouth hanging wide open. Next to her, she heard Rarity mumble: ”You were saying, Applejack?” Fervidor Presents: TIME CRUSADE An MLP:FiM Fanfic Chapter I: Medias Res. An awkward silence reigned for a few moments. Both parties gawked at each other, too shocked to speak. Applejack broke the silence first: ”A-Apple Bloom? Is that you?” ”Apple Bloom? Who's Apple Bloom?” The redhead grinned a manic grin, desperately looking around for a way to escape like a wild animal. She and her companions where clearly trying to slowly inch their way backwards. ”Ah have no idea what yer talkin' about, strange pony Ah've never met before!” Applejack's eyes narrowed and she took a decisive step forward. ”Ya can't fool me, Apple Bloom. Ya think I don't recognize my own sister? Where'd y’all come from? Why're y'all grown up, with cutie marks'n everythin'? And... is that my hat yer wearin'?” ”N-Now listen here, AJ,” Apple Bloom had started sweating now, ”Ah know this must seem really weird but Ah swear, there's a powerful good explanation for all 'a this. Ya see, the thing is that run for it!” As one, all four of them turned on the spot and ran away, leaving a cloud of dust and two very confused ponies behind. ”Rare,” Applejack said. ”Did...” Did we just see what appeared to be our sisters, Scootaloo and Spike from the future? ”...Did that just happen?” ”I'm not sure,” Rarity said. ”I think so.” ”Come on!” Snapping out of her daze, Applejack suddenly sprinted down the street, chasing after the mysterious group. Rarity was caught by surprise, but quickly gave chase as well. ”So, why exactly are we chasing them?” she managed to ask between labored breaths, struggling to keep up. Her routine jewel collecting expeditions and weekly self-defense classes had kept her in pretty decent shape, but she was no athlete. ”Do you have any idea what's going on?” ”Ain't got the foggiest,” Applejack replied. ”But if they're the real deal, then whatever they're up to has to be real important. 'Sides,” she shot Rarity a quick grin, ”aren't ya curious?” Ahead of them, Apple Bloom looked back over her shoulder and groaned. ”Darnit, they're commin' after us!” ”I don't think I can outrun Applejack,” Sweetie Belle gasped, already getting winded. ”Spike! Scoots!” Apple Bloom shouted. ”Let's split up! We'll meet up at Point Delta after we shake 'em off!” ”Roger that!” Scootaloo said, gliding in the air above them. She flapped her wings, gaining speed and altitude as she took to the sky. ”Be careful!” Spike said and broke away as well. He launched himself into the air with a mighty leap, landing on the roof of a nearby house and disappearing behind it. ”I think we lost the dragon,” Rarity said. ”Let him go,” Applejack replied. ”Where he gonna hide? He doesn't exactly blend in.” ”What about Scootaloo?” Applejack's eyes scanned the sky, then she smiled when she found what she was looking for. ”Ah think it's time we got some backup.” Rainbow Dash regarded the cloud with a thoughtful look. It was a nice cloud, sure, but it needed some work. She was a pony of high standards, after all, no matter what Rarity said. She turned the cloud around ten degrees, but after checking the position of the sun, she changed her mind and turned it a few degrees back. Then the stuck her hooves into it and fluffed it up like a giant pillow of soft cottony perfection. She smiled and let herself collapse on top of it, placing her forelegs behind her head as she sunk into the white surface. ”Oh yeah. Now this is what I call an awesome napping cloud!” She was just about to drift off into sleep when she caught movement in the corner of her eye. She sat up just in time to see an orange, purple-maned pegasus mare rocket straight towards her. The mare, noticing her at the same time, held her wings up and came to a screeching halt in mid-air. Rainbow smiled. ”Nice moves! Haven't seen you around before.” Then she cocked her head, frowning slightly. ”Or have I?” ”Gack!” the orange pegasus croaked, made a very strange face at Rainbow, and threw herself into a barrel roll that neatly bypassed the cloud, leaving a streak of purple lightning behind her. Rainbow whistled. ”Oh, she's good!” ”Rainbow Dash!” Looked down, Rainbow spotted Applejack galloping through the Ponyville streets with Rarity trailing behind. ”Hey, AJ. What's the rush?” ”No time to explain!” Applejack shouted. ”Catch that pegasus for us, will ya!” Rainbow gave her a quick salute with her hoof. ”I'm on it!” She shot off after the purple lightning streak, leaving her own rainbow trail behind her. She didn't really get what was going on but she trusted Applejack and besides, she never backed down from a good race. She grinned. This was going to be fun! Down on the ground, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were still trying to evade their sisters. ”They're still gaining on us!” Sweetie Belle said. ”Stubborn as ever, huh?” Apple Bloom groaned. ”Well, we better think of somethin', then, an' fast!” ”Hang on!” Sweetie Belle concentrated and her horn started to glow green. ”I'm going to try to teleport us.” Apple Bloom's eyes went wide. ”Oh hay no! Anythin' but that! Sweetie Belle, don't you dare...” ”No time! Here we go!” Sweetie Belle released the spell despite her friend's protests, and the two of them vanished in a flash. Applejack and Rarity stopped running. ”Oh come on!” Rarity gasped. ”She can teleport? I can't teleport! Now what do we do?” Applejack's pulse still raced, but she forced herself to stay calm and think. ”...Rarity, did ya get a look at that gem Sweetie Belle was wearin'?” ”Of course,” Rarity replied. It surprised her somewhat Applejack had noticed that detail. ”A sapphire, I think, or possibly a blue diamond. Quite fetching, if I may say so.” ”Think ya can use that special spell o'yers to trace it?” Rarity hadn't thought of that. A wide grin appeared on her face. ”Oh, it is on!” ”Are you sure you don't want to fly in the balloon instead?” Spike asked for the third time. ”I told you, I'm fine!” Princess Twilight Sparkle insisted. Almost as if to prove herself wrong, the brief distraction made her lose her balance for a moment and she was nearly sent careening into the balloon's basket. Gritting her teeth, she managed to get her unruly wings under control again. ”I have to learn how to do this sooner or later.” They were heading home to Ponyville after visiting Canterlot on royal business. While the two of them had made such trips in the past, the visits had become much more frequent since Twilight was crowned princess. This time she had opted to make use of her new wings and fly back on her own rather than ride in the balloon with Spike. The return trip wasn't so bad, after all – with gravity mostly working in her favor, she could focus on gliding and simple maneuvers while keeping her eyes on the small town below the mountain. She could even hold a conversation at the same time, which was a considerable improvement compared to when she had first started out flying. She was still a long way from being able to make the trip in the other direction, though, and wondered for the hundredth time how Rainbow Dash made it look so easy. ”You could have at least brought a pegasi escort along,” Spike commented. ”They could have given you some pointers.” ”No thanks,” Twilight muttered. ”It's bad enough I have to embarrass myself in front of my friends. I'd rather not let the guards see me make a fool out of myself as well.” Spike glanced at her, grinning slightly. ”Especially not Flash Sentry, huh?” Twilight almost crashed into the basket again. ”Spike!” ”Twilight has a booyfrieeend!” Spike giggled in a sing-song voice. Blushing furiously, Twilight glared daggers at him as she wobbled in the air. Spike settled down. ”Aw, I'm just teasing you, Twilight. But seriously, why didn't you just ask him to come along? I'm sure he wouldn't mind.” Twilight frowned. ”I guess, but it's not like I need a bodyguard in Ponyville. And I can't just ask him to come with me because I find him a-attractive. That's a bit... transparent, don't you think?” She sighed. ”And anyway, he's not the same Flash Sentry I got to know in the other world. What if he doesn't feel that way about me?” ”You worry too much. You should totally ask him out.” Spike's smile faded. ”Maybe then I'll work up the courage to confess to Rarity,” he added quietly. ”Spike...” Twilight frowned. This was always an uncomfortable subject: She didn't want to see her adoptive little brother heartbroken and, she was sure, neither did Rarity. But for all her lack of social grace, Twilight knew this wouldn't end well. To her relief, Spike seemed to sense the awkward mood as well and quickly changed the subject: ”I wish this thing would fly faster. I'm starving!” ”You should have eaten something before we left,” Twilight said, then she smiled. ”Oh well, I was going to save the surprise until we got home, but if you check my saddlebags there's something inside for you.” Spike stuck his arm into the bag and his eyes went wide as he pulled out a huge flawless ruby. ”Wow! This is for me? Where'd you get this?” Twilight tried not to look smug and failed spectacularly. ”What can I say? Being a princess has its perks.” ”I'll say!” Spike laughed. ”Thanks, Twilight, you're the best!” Wasting no time, he took a bite out of the jewel and started munching on it with a blissful smile. Spike was a happy dragon. Spike was not a happy dragon. After escaping across the rooftop, he had ducked down in a garden and was now crouching behind a hedge that was only barely high enough to hide his large body. Judging by the flower cutie mark adorning the front door of the house as well as the mailbox, the garden belonged to Cheerilee. Spike hoped she was at the school or otherwise not at home. It occurred to him that he didn't even know the day of the week, much less to which exact date Sweetie Belle's spell had taken them. Spike closed his eyes and focused. Sensing the magical aura from Sweetie Belle's jewel pendant, he determined that she was still in the general vicinity, and he assumed Apple Bloom was still with her. Apple Bloom had told them to meet up at Point Delta. That was Crusader code for the old train station warehouse – most likely, the new plan was to stay out of sight and try to sneak aboard a train for Canterlot. He considered his options. Judging by the sun it was still fairly early in the day so there was no use waiting for nightfall. He briefly considered attempting to conjure up a disguise with his magic, but the last time he'd tried to shapeshift into a pony he'd ended up looking like a draconeequs for a whole day. He cringed at the memory, and would rather not relive it. Teleportation wasn't really an option either – he knew the theory but hadn't quite yet figured out how to teleport himself in practice, and this wasn't a good time to start experimenting. He could simply blow a smoke screen and make a run for it in the confusion, but then the ponies might think there was a fire and panic. Being back in Ponyville was making him feel nostalgic and he didn't want to cause trouble if he could help it. He cautiously stuck his head up over the hedge to survey the area. Luckily, there weren't a lot of ponies out and about. ”Maybe if I just walk down the street and act really casual, nopony will notice I'm a dragon?” He considered this. ”...Yeah, that's a terrible idea. Still, I guess I don't have any other options.” Taking one last look to make sure there was nopony around, Spike jumped over the hedge and landed on all fours, agile like a cat despite his size. At that same moment, however, the door of a nearby house opened and Golden Harvest stepped outside. She immediately froze when she saw the young dragon, and he reacted the same way. They stared at each other for a moment. ”Um, good morning?” Spike said, waving a claw at her. Not even taking the time to scream, Golden Harvest spun around and ran back inside her house like her tail had caught fire. Spike frowned. ”I'd forgotten how hurtful that was.” Sighing, he continued on his way, trying his best to walk both as casually and stealthily as possible while making his way down the road. Okay, Spike, stay cool. Stay casual. Just minding my own business. Nothing to see here, everything is fine. I'm just a pony who happens to look like a huge, spiky reptile. Wow, this was a stupid idea! Even so, for a short while it actually seemed to be working. Then he rounded a corner and more or less ran straight into Fluttershy. ”Oh ponyfeathers,” Spike swore. The moment she laid eyes on him, Fluttershy gasped loudly and stumbled backwards, her wings clenching tight to her sides. ”D-d-d...” she stuttered, inching away from him. ”A d... A d-dr-dra-dra...” ”Oh no!” Spike had seen this reaction before and knew what was about to happen. He put his claws up in what he hoped was a calming gesture and smiled a toothy grin for good measure. ”Fluttershy, please don't panic! You recognize me, right? I'm S...” ”D-D-DRAAAGOOON!” Fluttershy screamed and turned tail, running away from him as fast as she could. ”Everypony run for your lives! There's a draaagon in town!” ”Oh no!” Without thinking, Spike started chasing after her. ”No no no no no no! Don't do that! Let me explain! Please stop screaming! I'm trying to keep a low profile!” Scootaloo shot through the air like an arrow, her purple contrail drawing an iridescent line against the azure blue. A quick look behind her confirmed her greatest fear – Rainbow Dash pursued her at full throttle, sporting a grin of pathological competitiveness that Scootaloo knew only too well. ”It's okay, Scootaloo,” she told herself, ”just keep calm. I mean, sure, it's Rainbow Dash, the legendary pegasus who taught you everything you know about flying. And she's in her prime now. But you can still outfly her! You're fast! You're awesome! You're...” Rainbow Dash casually swooped down next the Scootaloo, seemingly without effort. ”You know, you look really familiar.” ”Aaark!” Scootaloo immediately flared her wings and twisted her body into a cobra turn, changing direction almost on the spot. Rainbow, unprepared, had to make a much slower standard turn and fell behind again. But she didn't stop grinning. ”Oooh, tricky!” ”Okay!” Scootaloo gasped. Her heart beat furiously, and not only because of the adrenalin. ”So I was wrong. I can't outfly Rainbow. But I can still outmaneuver her!” And so the two pegasi began a strange dance through the air – each time Rainbow closed the distance, Scootaloo would perform some daring aerobatic stunt and evade her. Rainbow soon seemed to be getting used to her movements, however, and kept getting closer each time. Scootaloo decided to raise the stakes and led them back to Ponyville. Flying low, she zigg-zagged between buildings, pinballing against walls, rebounding off street signs and swinging herself around chimneys – anything to throw Rainbow off. All over town, ponies stopped and marveled at the spectacle. Who the hay is this girl? Rainbow thought. I know I've seen her before somewhere but I can't put my hoof on it! I should have at least heard of her, anypony this good could have made the Wonderbolt Academy easily! She still had no idea why exactly she was chasing this mystery mare in the first place, but at this point it was personal. She growled through her teeth as her prey evaded her by a hair yet again. ”Well, two can play that game!” She spotted a collection of smaller clouds above town, intended to be distributed by the weather team later. She grinned as a clever idea occurred to her. Rainbow Dash did have her clever moments, no matter what Twilight said. Taking advantage of her superior speed, she began to herd Scootaloo upwards by continuously attacking from below. Scootaloo didn't see the trap and decided to lose Rainbow among the clouds. Instead, it was Rainbow who flew behind a cloud and suddenly disappeared from view. Scootaloo slowed down, frantically looking around. She knew Rainbow Dash hadn't given up and that an ambush could come at any time. She caught a glimpse of something colorful in the corner of her eyes and dodged in the last moment, her lightning reflexes only barely letting her evade the polychromatic projectile. But Rainbow had counted on that – her real aim had been one of the nearby clouds. As her hoofs struck it she instantly kicked off towards another cloud, and then another, rapidly ricocheting randomly through the air so fast that Scootaloo couldn't track her movements.”Gotcha!” Rainbow cried, finally catching her in a blind spot and tackling her straight into one of the clouds. Scootaloo struggled to get up, but found herself firmly pinned down. Rainbow laughed triumphantly. ”How you like that? Let's see you dance around now!” Then she blinked in surprise, finally getting a good look at her prey up close. ”Oh, wow? ...Well, now I'm hurt. Scootaloo never told me she's got an actual sister.” Scootaloo looked up at the colorful mare holding her down. Rainbow was practically glowing from excitement, grinning her usual cocky grin and breathing heavily in a way that made Scootaloo's cheeks burn. Don't say ”I love you”! Don't say ”I love you”! Scootaloo, do not say ”I love you”! ”...I'm so attracted to you right now!” Dammit! ”...Wait, what?” Rainbow momentarily pulled away on reflex, surprised by the unexpected confession, and her hold weakened. Scootaloo saw her chance and gave Rainbow a hard shove, freeing herself. She threw herself from the cloud, somersaulting into the air, and then... No way! Rainbow recognized the move, but seeing it surprised her so much that she could only stare, completely neglecting to close her eyes for what was to come. A moment later a bright flash of light blinded her. She cursed under her breath, rubbing her eyes while colorful spots danced before her vision. ”What in the hay!? That was a Buccaneer Blaze!” That move was one of her personal techniques, her second best after the Sonic Rainboom. It had taken her two months to master it and so far she had only performed it in public on a few rare occasions. No other pegasus should have be able to do it. Not even the Wonderbolts! By the time her vision returned, the mysterious pegasus had already made it halfway back to Ponyville. Rainbow immediately gave chase, even more determined than before. None of this made any sense to her, and she wanted answers. ”Seriously, what is going on here!?” The dim alleyway lay silent, deserted save for a lone tomcat lazily sauntering along one of the walls. After a failed romantic advance on that snooty white queen at the Carousel Boutique, he felt very disinclined to do anything productive with his day, even by cat standards, and was now looking for a good place to nap. He spotted a bale of hay that had been discarded by a nearby restaurant since the hay had gone stale and was no longer suitable for cooking. The cat however estimated that it would make for an adequate bed and approached it. The bale then exploded in a bright green flash, scattering sparks and bits of incinerated hay all over the ally like a rain of flaming confetti. The cat ran for his life, scared out of his wits and with every hair on his body standing on end. This event would later cause him to suffer insomnia as well as a severe phobia of hay. However, with the help of supportive friends and plenty of therapy, he soon overcame the trauma and became a respected and productive member of society, at least by cat standards. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle found themselves in the spot where the obliterated bale had just been, disoriented and slightly singed from the slipshod teleportation spell. Apple Bloom coughed and struggled to regain her bearings. ”Ah hate it when ya do that.” ”Hey, it worked, didn't it?” Sweetie Belle replied, wiping the soot off her face. ”Sorta.” In the sky high above them, Scootaloo suddenly flashed by as if all of Tartarus was after her. She was followed by Rainbow Dash in close pursuit. ”Hey, come back here! I wanna talk to you!” Somewhere in the distance, a shrill but familiar voice cried out: ”Dragon! It'll burn our homes and devour us all!” Apple Bloom facehoofed. ”This mission is a disaster.” ”Chin up,” Sweetie Belle said, ”we haven't caused a Fray yet. So what now?” ”Ain't nothin' we can do for Scootaloo and Spike,” Apple Bloom said. ”They'll just have to fend for 'emselves. Both of 'em can travel much faster than us two anyhow. We have to get to the station without bein' spotted by...” All of a sudden Rarity and Applejack appeared around a corner. ”There they are!” Sweetie Belle sighed. ”Now we have to run again.” And so they ran, out of the ally and unto the street, with their relentless pursuers hot on their hooves. ”How in the hay did they find us already?” Apple Bloom growled. Looking back, Sweetie Belle recognized the familiar blue glow around her sister's horn. ”Ponyfeathers! I think Rarity is tracing my pendant.” The two of them rounded a corner, Apple Bloom skidding slightly on her hooves from her own velocity. ”So throw it away!” she yelled as they headed towards the market area. ”What?” Sweetie Belle shrieked. ”Are you brain dead? No way!” Apple Bloom jumped over a barrel, bucking it behind her in the desperate hope it would distract their sisters momentarily. ”Sweetie Belle, this ain't the time to be sentimental!” ”I am not throwing my pendant away, Apple Bloom!” ”Well then run faster!” ”Did you hear something?” Twilight asked, her right ear twitching slightly. Since her transformation into an alicorn, she had found that her senses had become somewhat sharper, including her hearing. By now they had reached Ponyville and were closing in on the library. Spike, whose senses had always been very acute, leaned over the edge of the basket and frowned. ”I dunno. Maybe? Seems to be some sort of commotion in town today.” ”Isn't there always?” Twilight chuckled. ”Sometimes I wonder if this place can go a week without something crazy...” She was cut short by an all too familiar scream. This time, she and Spike both heard it clearly. Twilight gasped. ”That sounded like...” ”Fluttershy!” Acting without thinking, Spike immediately jumped out of the basket. Fortunately, the balloon was close enough to the ground for him to land unharmed. He rolled on impact and came up sprinting. ”Hang on, Fluttershy! I'm coming!” ”Spike! Wait!” Twilight yelled. ”Don't run off on your owoooaaaah!” Too distracted to control her flight, she suddenly swerved off course. She desperately flapped her wings but that only made it worse and with a brief undignified scream, Princess Twilight Sparkle crashed straight into the branches of her own tree home. For a brief moment she rested precariously on one of the upper branches, then it suddenly broke with a loud snapping sound. With wings forgotten and hooves wildly flailing, Twilight fell once again, this time landing hard on her balcony below. Her whole body hurt, and her mane was full of leaves and twigs, but luckily she didn't seem to have broken anything. Pegasus toughness was another advantage of her new form. ”Why not fly home on your own today, Twilight?” she muttered as she picked herself up. ”It will be good practice, Twilight! Me and my brilliant ideas...” ”Wooords come eeeaasy!” Pinkie Pie sang, happily pushing the large baby carriage towards Sugarcube Corner. ”Bwuuubwawawewesy!” Pumpkin Cake replied enthusiastically. Next to her, Pound Cake just laughed at their antics. ”That's right!” Pinkie said. ”Wooords cooome eeeaasy! Words do come easy when you sing a happy song! Wapda-wap-babbi-dabbidi-do!” She had once again been tasked with babysitting the twins for the day as the Cakes had to make a large last minute delivery, but Pinkie certainly didn't object. She loved spending time with the babies, though she wished they would hurry up and learn how to talk. If Pinkie loved one thing more than talking to her friends, it was talking with her friends. In an attempt to foster linguistic development, she had taken to singing a little pedagogic song she'd made up, encouraging them to sing along. It didn't seem to be working too well, but it kept them entertained and that was the important thing. Suddenly a very Fluttershy scream interrupted the song: ”Draaaagoooon!” Pinkie gasped. ”That sounded like Fluttershy! She needs my help!” Then she frowned. ”Oh, but if there's a rampaging dragon in town, I need to get the babies safe. My Nana Pinkie always said that babies and rampaging dragons simply don't mix!” She bit her lip, torn between dual responsibilities. As she was standing there trying to make up her mind, Spike came sprinting by as fast as his short legs would carry him. ”HeyPinkiecan'tstayandchatgottasaveFluttershy!” Pinkie perked up, feeling relieved. Leaving the dragon crisis to her dragon friend made a lot of sense – Spike was an expert in the field, after all. ”Don't worry, Spike!” she yelled after him. ”The babies are safe with me! Go get 'im, big guy!” Spike barely heard her. He was too focused on his task, following the sound of the screams. As he approached Sugarcube Corner he finally caught sight of Fluttershy, and then he saw the dragon chasing her: Wingless, with green spines and purple scales, and roguishly handsome in a strangely familiar way. This dragon was still a juvenile by the standards of their species, about the same size as Garble. Of course, that still made him much larger than Spike. It suddenly occurred to the baby drake that he didn't have a plan – he had simply reacted on an instinct he hadn't known he possessed; to help a friend in need. But it was too late to reevaluate his strategy. He would just have to buy time until Twilight caught up. Fluttershy had been backed against the entrance of the bakery – she had tried to flee inside only to find the doors locked, and now she just cowered in a pathetic quivering heap. ”L-Leave me alone!” she wailed. The dragon reared and brandished his terrifying claws. ”Please stop, you're making me look like the bad guy here!” he growled menacingly. ”Hold it right there!” Spike said, striking a dramatic pose and pointing defiantly at the reptilian invader. ”You may be a dragon, and you may be much bigger and stronger than me, and I may not actually have thought this through at all, but I won't let you hurt my friend!” Amazingly, the teenage dragon actually did stop, made wide eyes upon seeing Spike, and started to back away from him. ”Oh no! Not you! You stay away from me!” Spike blinked. That was not the reaction he'd expected. Frowning, he quickly looked over his shoulder. He knew this cliché and fully expected to find, say, Princess Celestia standing right behind him. To his surprise, however, there was nopony there. He looked back at the other dragon, who still appeared horrified. Spike started to grin. He had no idea why, but this older, larger dragon actually seemed to be afraid of him! “So, you think you're hot stuff, huh?” he said and strode forward, full of newfound confidence. “Think you can come to my town and start trouble, huh?” The other dragon shuffled backwards, almost stumbling on his own tail. “No, I'm serious, keep your distance!” Spike ignored him. He was on a roll now and had no intention of stopping. “Well, I've got news for you, buster! This town ain't big enough for two dragons!” With a muffled curse, the teen dragon turned tail and ran. Too caught up in the moment to think rationally, Spike started to chase after him. “That's right, run!” he laughed with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. “Run or face the fury of Spike!” As he fled, the older dragon cringed. “Why does life have to be so ironic?” He didn't make it very far, though, because the next moment an orange pegasus mare came speeding around a corner, pursued by Rainbow Dash, and proceeded to crash right into him. They were both knocked to the ground. “Dammit, Scootaloo!” he growled. Scootaloo groaned and picked herself up. “Sorry Spike.” "Whoa! Dragon!" Rainbow blurted, coming to a halt in the air above them. "Wait a minute, Scootaloo?” Spike stared at the other dragon, his earlier bravado forgotten in the confusion. “...Your name is Spike too?” “Spike! Scootaloo!” They all turned their heads to see Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle come running through the market place, followed by Applejack and Rarity. Sweetie Belle, at the limits of her endurance, was starting to fall behind. They had almost made it to Sugarcube Corner when she tripped on something and stumbled into the dirt road. “Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom cried, half turned to her fallen companion . “Sweetie Belle!?” Spike and Rainbow both exclaimed as one, just as a purple and green blur ran past them. The older Spike had reacted with speed uncanny for his size, leaping between Sweetie Belle and her pursuers in one motion. He opened his fanged maw and unleashed a terrifying roar, causing Applejack and Rarity to stop dead in their tracks as their primal instincts suddenly kicked in. He glared at them. ”Look, I really don't want to fight you girls, so please back off.” Applejack regained her nerve first. ”Outta my way, ya big lizard!” ”Applejack, maybe we should listen to him?” Rarity whispered, looking a lot less enthused. ”He's bigger than us. And sharper. And more indestructible.” The dragon glanced at his three companions. ”You girls run, I'll hold them off.” ”We can't just leave you!” Sweetie Belle protested. ”No, he's right!” Apple Bloom said and tried to drag her along. ”We can still pull this off but we need to move now!” ”Oh no, you don't!” They now found the other way blocked by Rainbow Dash, standing wide-legged with wings flared, apparently intending to stop all three of them if needed. ”You're not going anywhere!” Spike, meanwhile, simply stared at the scene with wide eyes. ”Okay, I'm so confused now.” ”ENOUGH! WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME DO YOU ALL THINK YOU'RE DOING!?” Everypony froze in place, seemingly paralyzed by Twilight Sparkle's deafening cry. Princess Luna had been giving her lessons on how to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. They all turned to see Twilight Sparkle approaching them. She was flanked by Fluttershy, who still looked very apprehensively at the older Spike, and Pinkie Pie with her baby carriage, having determined that neither of the two dragons were rampaging at the moment. Twilight gave the group a hard look and tried to seem as authoritative as possible, despite still having a few twigs sticking out of her mane. ”Well, now that everypony has finally calmed down a bit, mind telling me what's going on here?” ”Well, ya see,” Applejack began, ”me an' Rarity had just dropped off the Cutie Mark Crusaders at the station, an' we were mindin' our own business when these four just plum showed up outta nowhere!” ”Mindin' yer own business, my hoof!” Apple Bloom muttered. ”Y'all started chasin' us!” ”Don't interrupt me, Apple Bloom!” Applejack snapped. ”We only chased y'all because ya ran away instead of answerin' our questions.” ”Wait a minute, that's Apple Bloom?” Twilight's eyes widened as she took a closer look at the three mares. ”You are the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Pinkie Pie giggled. ”But they're all... big!” ”Yeah, an' they all have cutie marks now!” Applejack said. ”An' Apple Bloom's wearin' my hat!” ”But Applejack, you're wearing your hat too,” Pinkie pointed out. ”Ah know!” Applejack cried. ”That's what's so suspicious!” At this point, Twilight noticed that a crowd of ponies had started to converge on the group. Most ponies would instinctively run and hide at the first sign of trouble, but now that she'd managed to get the situation under control, their natural curiosity was taking over. “Please step aside! Let me through! Official Ponyville business!” came a voice from within the crowd as Mayor Mare jostled her way through the mass of ponies. ”Twilight! What in the wide world of Equestria is the meaning of all this?” Twilight Sparkle glanced at the Crusaders, who all looked rather awkward now. She seemed to weigh her options for a moment, then she sighed slightly. ”Nothing to worry about, Madam Mayor,” she said. ”We have everything under control. Spike and the fillies just had a bit of an accident with a misfired age spell, that's all.” ”...A misfired age spell?” Mayor Mare's eyes narrowed. ”And why are there two Spikes?” ”Duplication spell,” Twilight replied. “My bad.” ”Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Mayor Mare said, her voice firm. ”With all due respect, I know I'm just an earth pony but even I know that's completely...” Twilight put her hoof up, silencing her. ”I'm sorry, but that's our story and we're sticking to it. At least for now. Please let me handle this.” For a brief moment Mayor Mare looked like she wanted to object again, but then she sighed. ”...As you say, your Highness. I'll leave this to you.” Twilight offered her a grateful smile. “Thank you, Mayor.” “Just please don't make me regret it,” Mayor Mare added. She turned around and addressed the crowd. “Alright, everypony, there's nothing to see here! Please disperse in an orderly manner!” The townsponies did as told and though many curious glances still lingered, the situation soon returned to a semblance of normalcy. Looking quite annoyed, Twilight turned to the Crusaders. ”Now look what you've done. I had to use my authority as princess. I hate having to use my authority around Ponyville!” ”Sorry Twilight,” Apple Bloom said. ”Ah guess the game's up now, so we might as well explain what's goin' on. But jus' so ya know, it's all gonna sound mighty weird.” ”You're from the future,” Twilight said, as if casually commenting on the weather. Apple Bloom sighed. ”That obvious, huh?`” ”Well, you're clearly the Cutie Mark Crusaders, except older,” Twilight said. ”It's really not that hard to figure out. I have traveled through time once myself, after all.” She cocked her head. ”Though, I'm guessing you're not from next Tuesday morning, huh?” ”Not quite,” Sweetie Belle grinned. ”Actually,” Scootaloo said. ”we're from about ten years into the future.” She glared at Sweetie Belle. ”Assuming our mighty sorceress here didn't get the time spell completely wrong.” ”You're never going to let that go, are you?” Sweetie Belle muttered. ”It's a complicated spell! I've never gone this far back before and I got the destination a little bit wrong. So sue me.” ”Oh Sweet Celestia!” younger Spike said with a look of horror on his face. ”The Cutie Mark Crusaders are time travelers!” Sweetie Belle chuckled. ”It's not as bad as it sounds.” ”It is exactly as bad as it sounds,” older Spike deadpanned. ”We haven't even been here for half an hour and look at the mess we've gotten ourselves into.” ”Well, I can tell this is going to take a while,” Twilight said, turning to Pinkie Pie. ”Pinkie, do you think the Cakes would mind if we commandeer Sugarcube Corner for a while?” “Nah,” Pinkie said. “They won't be back for a while but since it's you, I don't think it'll be a problem if I let you guys in. Besides, I have to get the babies their munchy-lunchies, and this all sounds way too fun to miss out on.” Meanwhile, Spike was eyeing his older self with a mixture of fascination and concern. “So, you're me from the future, huh?” The older Spike looked very uncomfortable. “Yeah.” “So, um...” Spike hesitated. “If I touch you, are we both going to turn into orange goop and disappear?" “What?” Future Spike stared at his younger self in sudden confusion. “Why in the hay would that happen?” “I guess you don't remember, but I read this book once,” Spike explained, “where the villain died because he touched himself from the future, and they couldn't be in the same place at once or something like that, so they both turned into orange goop. And back there, you were going all: 'Stay away from me!' so I thought...” “Oh! No, no,” Future Spike shook his head. ”That doesn't happen. We can touch each other just fine. It's just that when you cross your own timeline, things tend to get kinda...” “Complicated?” Spike guessed. “I was going to say stupid.” Twilight rolled her eyes. Part of her found the discussion fascinating, but they had more important things to discuss. “Spike...” “Yes?” both Spikes replied as one. “Okay, that is going to get really annoying,” Twilight said. She pointed at the teen and baby dragon respectively: “From now on you are Big Spike and you are Little Spike.” “I don't want to be Little Spike!” Spike argued. “That sounds ridiculous. Can't we just call me Spike and him Future Spike?” Future Spike grinned. “And why can't you be Past Spike?” “Because unlike you, I actually belong in this time,” Spike said. “If anything, I should be Present Spike. And besides...” “Just get inside the bakery!” Twilight groaned. And so they all found themselves sitting around the largest table in Sugarcube Corner, except for Pinkie who served them all refreshments and then saw about getting the twins fed. All eyes were turned on the four time travelers. “Now then,” Twilight said, “why don't you tell us why you're here? We're all very anxious to hear about it.” “It's kind of a long story,” Apple Bloom said. “Ya see, there's this epic pony war in the future an'...” “Ha!” Twilight exclaimed. Then she noticed the looks she was getting and blushed from embarrassment. “Sorry, that sounds terrible and I shouldn't laugh. It's just that last time...” She waved her hoof. “You know what, it doesn't matter. So I'm guessing you four came back here to prevent this war?” “Well, somethin' like that, yeah,” Apple Bloom replied. Twilight frowned. “In that case I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. When I tried to change the past, not only did I fail but I actually created the circumstances of the thing I tried to prevent. That would imply that time is a fixed series of predetermined events, and that changing the past is impossible. That's why I never bothered trying to travel in time a second time. It's pretty pointless.” “We know all that,” Spike said. “But that's not all there is to it. Turns out time travel is a lot more complicated than we first thought. I'm sure you've guessed it by now, but the time spell we're using is different from the one Star Swirl created.” “As a matter of fact, that's why we're here,” Sweetie Belle said. “We need to get the original time travel spell from the Star Swirl wing in Canterlot.” “Hold on,” Rainbow Dash raised a hoof. “I'm confused. What does Star Swirl's time spells have to do with an epic pony war in the future?” ”Actually,” Apple Bloom said, pointing with her hoof, ”it's kinda all her fault.” The room went silent. Pinkie Pie, who had been busy making airplane noises with a spoon full of baby food, looked up from the twins and found that everypony were staring at her. ”...What?” Author's Note So, finally, here we are. I can honestly say that this fanfic is the most insane story I have set out to write so far. Ten main characters in the first chapter, two of whom is the same person. Oh yeah, I can already tell this was a great idea! Speaking of which: As you can already tell, this fanfic will occasionally involve double versions of the same character interacting with each other. I don't really have any particular plan for how to handle that, so I'm going to play it a little bit by ear. Do let me know if it gets too confusing to follow though. Bonus Material: Crusaders character art! Chapter 2: Time ShenanigansApplejack was the first to break the silence. “Now just wait a darn minute! Yer telling us that Pinkie Pie is gonna cause an epic pony war in the future?” Pinkie gasped. “I'm going to do whaaaaaat?” “Of course she ain't,” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Don't be silly, the only war Pinkie Pie could start is a food fight. Ah meant the baby. It's Pumpkin Cake who ends up makin' a mess of everythin'.” Pinkie Pie sighed and wiped her forehead with her hoof. “Phew! What a relief!” Then she gasped again. “Wait, Pumpkin Cake going to do whaaaaaat?” She faced the small foal, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears. “Oh, Pumpkin! How could you? You're such a sweet and innocent little girl. Why? Why must you turn to evil?” “Abwawa,” Pumpkin Cake replied and tried to eat her bib. “Nam nam.” “Calm down,” Apple Bloom said. “She turns out just fine.” “Yeah,” Scootaloo muttered under her breath, “if by fine you mean a cocky, entitled little...” An elbow from Sweetie Belle silenced her. “Y'all probably noticed by now,” Apple Bloom carried on, “but Pumpkin here ain't exactly a normal foal. Neither's her brother, granted, but Pumpkin is really somethin' else.” Almost as if to demonstrate, Pumpkin Cake's tiny horn lit up and she causally levitated a nearby napkin into her mouth. “Nam nam nam.” “See that?” Apple Bloom gestured at her. “That's what Ah'm talkin' about. Twilight, would ya say that's normal for a unicorn her age? The magic, Ah mean, not the napkin.” “Well, no, not at all,” Twilight said. “I always did think that was strange. Sudden surges in magic are pretty common, but most unicorns can't cast even simple spells until they're much older. I've never even heard of a baby unicorn actually levitating something on purpose.” “Not to mention walking through walls,” Pinkie added, gently separating the napkin from the baby. “Or flying, or making her toys come alive, or...” “Right,” Apple Bloom interupted. “That's because she's a genius. An' Ah don't just mean that magic is her special talent – it's that too, but Ah mean she's a genuine, bona fide genius.” “Pumpkin Cake is so good at magic, she doesn't even think about it the same way other unicorns do,” Spike explained. “She experiments. She changes spells around to make them simpler and better, or finds new applications for them. She's even invented her own spells.” “And that's when she's not on a sugar rush,” Sweetie Belle added. “When she is, oh boy!” “That's... amazing!” Twilight said, looking at the infant in awe. “Wait, you said you were from ten years into the future. You mean she's done all this by the time she's ten?” “Well, she'll have a very good teacher,” Future Spike said, grinning slightly. “The best, in fact.” Twilight's eyebrows shot up. “You mean... Princess Celestia?” “Nope.” The grin widened. “Even better!” Twilight frowned. “But... who's better than the princess? She's the greatest magician in all of Equestria! I've studied magic since I was a little filly and I can't think of a single pony who'd make a better teacher than...” She paused. “...It's me, isn't it?” “There you go!” said Future Spike. “I knew you'd figure it out.” “I'll...” Twilight looked at Pumpkin Cake again. Her face suddenly lit up in a big, goofy smile. “I'll have my own personal student?” “Um, Twilight, darling?” Rarity said. “Please try to focus. Epic pony war in the near future, remember?” “I know, I know,” Twilight said, still smiling. “It's just... I'll have my own personal student! And she's brilliant!” Future Spike nodded. “You two create a lot of great things together: Teleportation gateways, medical advances, boxes that are bigger on the inside, neat stuff like that. It's kind of a magical renaissance.” “So eventually Pumpkin Cake got a hold of the time travel spell,” Apple Bloom said. “And, bein' Pumpkin Cake, she did what she always did: She improved it. Her version lets ya travel in time as many times ya want, and it doesn't send ya back after just a little while.” “Funny thing, it was almost as if Star Swirl had put some kind of arbitrary restrictions on his time travel spell.” Future Spike's voice dripped with sarcasm. “In hindsight, maybe we should have wondered a bit more about that?” “We learned that it is possible to change history by altering the past,” Sweetie Belle said. “It just takes some effort, usually, because the timeline will try to resist it. That's why the original spell only worked for one minute. It only let you make small changes that won't matter much, because time tends to correct itself by forming stable loops. But the longer you stay displaced in time, the bigger changes you'll be able to cause, and if you manage to change something really important the timeline can't handle it and starts to break apart into several alternate timelines instead.” “We call that a Fray,” Apple Bloom said. Spike suddenly raised his arm. “Wait, hold on. There's something I have to ask future me, or it's going to bother me for the rest of this conversation.” Future Spike glanced at Apple Bloom, who simply shrugged. He sighed. “Well, if you insist.” “You said something about hindsight,” Spike said. “That made me wonder, shouldn't you have known about this all along? I mean, if you're me from the future, doesn't that mean you remember hearing all this now?” ”Not exactly,” said Future Spike. ”It doesn't work that way.” ”But...” The younger dragon frowned. ”But you're me, and I don't think I'm going to just forget all this, so...” Future Spike groaned. ”Listen, I'm going to teach you the Golden Rule of Time Travel. It'll save you a lot of headache in the long run. Here goes: Time travel does not make sense. Okay?” He looked around at the ponies by the table. “Did you all get that? Because that's all you need to know. Time travel is messy and confusing and never makes sense, so don't try to figure it out. Just accept it and move on with your lives.” He turned back at Spike. “Understood?” “Um,” Spike still looked very doubtful, but nodded. “I guess?” “Good,” Future Spike cocked his head. “Now, where were we?” “The Fray,” Scootaloo said. Future Spike nodded. “Right. We call it the Fray because whenever we go back and change the past, the timeline keeps unwinding like a fraying thread. At first we didn't really mind. Heck, we thought it was better than before. We were in control of our own destinies, and if something went bad we could just go back and fix it.” He grimaced. “We were arrogant. At the time we didn't realize just how serious an issue it was, and once we did it was too late.” “I'm guessing this is where the war comes in?” Twilight asked. ”Yeah,” Apple Bloom said. “See, we ended up fightin' this alicorn princess named Morning Star. She's kinda-sorta but not really an evil version of you, Twilight.” Twilight arched an eyebrow, making a mental note of asking them for more detail on that. ”And this Morning Star pony is the cause of all this? Did she take over Equestria or something?” ”Actually, we defeated her,” Spike said. ”She wasn't even that tough. Not the first time anyway.” ”The problem,” Sweetie Belle continued, ”is that both sides were doing a lot of time traveling back then and somehow Morning Star managed to create an alternate timeline where she won. And then that version of her figured out how to travel to our timeline, so we had to fight her all over again.” ”An' again,” Apple Bloom said. ”An' again.” ”Apparently she's decided to keep trying until she's conquered every timeline there is,” Scootaloo said. ”And she just gets stronger and more cunning every single time. She's kind of an obsessive perfectionist.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “That does sound kinda like Twilight.” “Hey!” Twilight shot her an annoyed glare, but all her friends just giggled. “....It's not funny!” The giggles stopped. Scootaloo, having just slammed her hooves at table, hung her head and gritted her teeth in frustration. “Morning Star is just as smart and powerful as Twilight, but she's also ruthless and completely unrelenting. She won't negotiate for peace or accept any terms except complete surrender. She keeps using the Fray against us. No matter how much we fight, no... no matter what we sacrifice, we can't beat her. And the more we try to fix everything that goes wrong, the worse the Fray gets. It's a never-ending war that nopony can ever win. But Morning Star will never stop, because she just doesn't care.” Sweetie Belle put a comforting hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. A heavy silence rested over the table. Even Pinkie Pie was frowning. “You're right,” Twilight said, her expression grim. “That's not funny.” Fluttershy, who had been quiet for the whole conversation, suddenly spoke up: “Um, sorry, but what about Discord? With his powers, couldn't he help you stop her?” ”Well, see, turns out Morning Star has a Discord too,” Future Spike said. ”So whenever we send our Discord into battle, she sends hers. Then things get... weird. Like, really weird.” ”We call it MAD,” Apple Bloom said. Twilight frowned. ”MAD?” ”Mutually Assured Discord,” Sweetie Belle clarified. ”It never goes over well. Basically it's just a constantly escalating exchange of pranks until they reach a stalemate and everything is covered in chocolate milk and cotton candy.” Spike nodded. ”After a while, both sides kinda decided not to involve the Discords in the war if at all possible. They're just too unpredictable.” “Okay,” Rainbow Dash said, “so if I understood all that correctly, we're all fighting evil Super-Twilight in the future, and because of a bunch of confusing time shenanigans, we're not doing so hot. But I still don't understand what this has to do with you guys coming back here.” “It's simple, really,” Future Spike said. “Since we can't beat Morning Star within the Fray, we just have to prevent the Fray from ever happening in the first place.” Twilight frowned. “You mean...” “We go to Canterlot an' destroy the scroll with the original time travel spell,” Apple Bloom said. “If there's no spell, Pumpkin Cake can't perfect time travel, which means no Fray. If there ain't no Fray, there ain't no war. Simple.” “Wait...” Twilight considered this, scratching her mane as she went through everything they had said. No matter how much she thought about it, it didn't add up. “No, that doesn't make sense.” ”Here we go,” Future Spike muttered. “I told you.” Twilight ignored him. ”If you destroy the time spell, you will be changing your past by interfering with our timeline. If I understand you correctly, that would just cause another Fray at this point in time. You can't go back in time and remove the whole reason you went back in time, that's a paradox.” ”Yeah, we thought about that,” Apple Bloom said. ”That's why we ain't gonna destroy the spell ourselves. We were actually thinkin' we'd convince Princess Celestia to do it for us, since she's a Constant.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. ”A constant?” ”A Constant is anything that remains the same no matter how much time passes,” Sweetie Belle explained. ”That gives them so much temporal momentum that the whole timeline bends to follow them instead of Fraying. The downside is that it's much harder for Constants to travel in time. Princess Celestia is an immortal who's been around for thousands of years, and she hasn't really changed at all in our time. As far as we know, she's by far the most powerful Constant in the world. If anyone can reset the timeline without causing a Fray, it's her.” “And the best part is that since Morning Star doesn't belong to the original timeline, she and her forces can only time travel within a Fray,” Scootaloo said. “So she can't follow us this far back. We're going to erase that whole stupid war from history and there isn't a damn thing she can do about it.” “I didn't understand any of that,” said Rainbow Dash with a grin, “but it sounds awesome!” Applejack scratched her mane, looking at bit confused herself. “So... if y'all do get to Canterlot and get the princess to destroy the time travelin' spell, then what's gonna happen to you four?” “...Well, we go back to our own timeline, of course,” Apple Bloom said. “Then we can all get on with our lives and everypony is happy.” Twilight's eyes narrowed. Apple Bloom had hesitated for just a moment, and she had looked away from her sister as she answered. Not only that; Applejack's question seemed to have made the other three uncomfortable as well. There was something very sad about their expressions, if only for a moment. They're hiding something, Twilight thought. Applejack didn't seem to notice, though. “Huh, that does sound like a solid plan.” Twilight nodded, pushing her suspicions aside for the moment. ”One more question. Is this,” she gestured to her friends and herself, “going to be a problem? Us knowing about this? Won't this cause a Fray in itself?” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nah, we're okay for now.” “Fraying are always a risk when you travel in time for longer than a few minutes,” Sweetie Belle said. “That's why we wanted to avoid meeting any of you if possible. But it doesn't seem like getting you involved is going to make much difference, or we would have caused a Fray already.” “How do you know you haven't?” Twilight asked. “It's a time traveler thing,” Future Spike said. “It's a bit hard to explain but since we're displaced in time we can sorta feel changes in the timeline. Currently, the future is our past, so anything that could drastically change the future will resonate with us. Trust me, if there was a Fray right now we'd know about it.” “What we really need to worry about is running into ourselves,” Scootaloo said. “Spike is one thing, but the three of us meeting our past selves would be... bad. Like, really, really bad.” She suddenly got a paranoid look in her eyes and turned around, as if the Cutie Mark Crusader might burst into the shop at any moment. “Wait, we're not nearby are we? We should be at school or...” “Don't worry,” Rarity said. “By now the three of you should be in Canterlot with Cheerilee and the rest of your class. You won't be back in Ponyville until tomorrow.” For a few moments, the four time travelers just sat there, blinking. “The field trip!” Apple Bloom yelled. “That was today? Ponyfeathers, we could've popped out right in front of ourselves!” “Well, well!” Sweetie Belle suddenly looked rather smug. “Looks like my spell got us to the right place after all!” “Yeah,” said Scootaloo dryly, “by accident.” Sweetie Belle stuck her tongue out. “Still counts.” Twilight hid a chuckle behind her hoof. “All right, I think I've heard all I need to hear for now. I have a proposal: Why don't you four stay in Ponyville for now? You can spend the night at the library with me and Spike. That should keep you from running into anypony else who might recognize you. Tomorrow we stake out the train station and wait for your younger selves to return. While Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow distract them the rest of us hop on the next train to Canterlot. Getting an audience with Princess Celestia will be a lot easier if you're with me, plus you might need some help convincing her to destroy an ancient priceless magical document.” She smiled. “What do you say?” Apple Bloom cocked her head. “That's actually better than our original plan.” She turned to her companions. “All for?” “I'm in,” Scootaloo replied. “Me too!” said Sweetie Belle. Future Spike nodded. “Same.” Apple Bloom turned to Twilight. “Princess, ya got yerself a deal.” “Great!” Twilight smiled. “Sounds like we're having a slumber party tonight.” That should give me plenty of time to find out what you aren't telling us. “Woohoo! We're going to Canterlot again!” Pinkie Pie cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. “Oooh! Once we get rid of that pesky scroll and stop the future epic pony war, you guys gotta to have a big party with us to celebrate!” “Um...” Apple Bloom hesitated. “That'd be great, Pinkie, but Ah don't think we'll be able to stick around once the job's done. Time shenanigans, ya know?” “Awww...” Pinkie's smile fell and her ears flattened. But then she suddenly perked up. “Wait, I've got it! I just have to wait ten years for you to come back, and we can have the party then!” The four time travelers exchanged glances, and Twilight spotted another flicker of sadness in their eyes. “Y-Yeah... That's a great idea, Pinkie,” Apple Bloom said. “Let's do that.” “Yay!” Pinkie spontaneously produced a tray of milkshakes out of nowhere. “Milkshakes for everypony!” As they all partook in the chilly treats, Rarity sighed: “It is a real shame we won't be coming along this time, though. I do so hate missing an opportunity to visit Canterlot.” “Meh, they're just going to have a quick chat with the princess,” Rainbow Dash said. “Sounds kinda boring.” “Boring is good,” said Fluttershy. “I wish more of our adventures were boring.” “Yeah, I know the feeling,” Future Spike chuckled. Rarity turned to him. “I've been meaning to ask. You make it sound like you four do this sort of thing a lot?” “Of course,” Future Spike said. “We're the Crusaders.” “It's pretty much what we do,” Scootaloo said. “Apple Bloom builds stuff, me and Spike kick the flanks, and Sweetie Belle sings the theme song.” “Hey!” Sweetie Belle crossed her forelegs and huffed. “I pay the bills.” “Wait, back up,” Spike looked at his future self. “You... I mean, I actually join the Cutie Mark Crusaders? How did - does that happen?” “Long story,” said Future Spike. “And we're just the Crusaders. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are the junior division.” “Yeah, we grown-ups just crusade in general,” Apple Bloom said. “You know, helpin' ponies in need, fightin' injustice, savin' Equestria. That sorta thing. We've got chapters all over the country.” “We're pretty much the worst secret society ever,” Sweetie Belle laughed. “Wow,” Spike now looked at his older self in wonder. “That sounds awesome! I bet in the future, I'm some kind of famous dragon knight adventurer or something, huh?” Future spike coughed and nervously scratched his spines, looking a bit embarrassed. “Actually, I'm the curator of the Canterlot Archives.” “Oh, Spike!” Twilight gasped. “That's wonderful!” “Aw, come on!” Spike exclaimed. “I become a librarian? I knew it! I knew all those books would have a bad influence on me!” He glared at Twilight. “I blame you for this.” “Aw, don't feel bad.” Sweetie Belle smiled at him. “If it makes you feel better, you'll also be dating the prettiest, richest, most famous pop star in Equestria!” Future Spike glanced at her, and there was a sudden look of panic in his eyes. “Um, Sweetie...” Spike blinked in confusion. “I'm dating Sapphire Shores in the future?” “That old has-been? Of course not!” Sweetie Belle laughed, then threw her forelegs around Future Spike's neck in a loving embrace. “I'm talking about me, silly!” Scootaloo rolled her eyes and Apple Bloom facehoofed. Around the table, the other ponies all reacted in various ways: Fluttershy hid a small gasp behind her hoof, Rainbow and Applejack nearly spat their milkshakes out, Pinkie Pie tilted her head and went: “Aawww!” with a huge smile, whereas Twilight and Rarity just stared at their respective sibling in open disbelief. Spike had a somewhat shellshocked look on his face. “Me and Sweetie Belle?” “Sweetie!” Future Spike hissed. “He is so not supposed to know about that!” “Oh, come on!” Sweetie Belle kept clinging to him. “You didn't really expect me to keep my hoofs off you for a whole day, did you? He would have found out anyway.” She turned to the still speechless Rarity and winked. “And let me tell you, sis, you really missed out on something.” “Her husband might disagree,” Scootaloo mumbled into her milkshake. Rarity's jaw practically hit the table. “She's married?” Spike whispered, still staring into nothing. “I'm married!?” Rarity almost threw herself across the table. “Who is he? Tell me! I must know!” “Okay, no!” Future Spike cried, quickly untangling himself from Sweetie's embrace. “That's quite enough knowing your own future! Geez, you two!” He glared at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “I think you just traumatized my younger self.” “I'm... I'm okay,” Spike said in a slightly distant voice. “This is all just so sudden. I... I think I need some time alone.” The baby dragon left the table in a daze and made a beeline for the door. As he ran outside, Rarity frowned and made a move to follow him. “Spike...” A gentle talon on her shoulder stopped her. Future Spike shook his head. “Better not. Let him sort himself out first. Don't worry, I'll talk to him.” Rarity sighed. “I never wanted to hurt him. Oh, Spike. I never wanted to hurt you.” “I know,” Spike said. “I don't blame you, Rarity. You were always nice to me. Probably a bit too nice. Who knows, maybe it's better this way?” While they were talking, the door to the shop opened and the Cakes stepped inside, having returned from their errand. “Is everything alright?“ Carrot Cake asked. “We ran into Spike on the way in and he seemed a bit oh my goodness, is that a dragon?” “Wait! It's okay!” Pinkie Pie quickly bounded over to the baker couple. “It's just Spike from the future! He was rampaging just a bit before but he's not rampaging now so the babies are just fine. You see, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are time travelers and came back from the future to make sure time travel isn't invented so there won't be an epic war in the future and Spike came along because he's a Cutie Mark Crusader in the future, I think, so now there's a small Spike and a big Spike but they're both the same dragon and we're going to Canterlot tomorrow and talk to Celestia so everything is going to be just fine!” Pinkie finally stopped to catch her breath. Carrot and Cup looked at each other, then at Spike, then at Pinkie. “Oh,” Cup said. “Okay.” “Okay?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “All that, and all you have to say is 'okay'?” Cup Cake smiled. “Sweetheart, we live in the same house as Pinkie Pie.” “Yeah,” Carrot Cake said, “we're pretty desensitized to this sort of thing by now.” “Oh, and guess what?” Pinkie carried on. “Pumpkin Cake is really super-duper good at magic in the future and she's going to be Twilight's personal student and make all kinds of neat magic stuff! Of course, she kiiinda-sorta caused that epic future war I mentioned, but we're totally going to fix that so you don't need to worry.” “Huh. A double whammy,” Cup Cake said. Carrot Cake nodded. “Must be a Tuesday.” Spike hugged his knees, huddled up in a ball in his hiding place high up in the crown of the library tree. After leaving Sugarcube Corner he'd run straight for home but rather than curl up in his basket or lock himself in the bathroom, he'd gone through the upper balcony and climbed to one of the higher branches. Most ponies weren't very good at climbing trees and the thick foliage shielded him from the eyes of passing pegasi. It was a good spot for when you needed some time alone and you didn't want anypony to see you crying. Not that Spike had been crying. The wetness on his cheeks was just liquid confusion. By the time he'd calmed down somewhat, he wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there. Judging from the sun shining through the leaves, it was already past noon. Spike was starting to feel hungry, but he still didn’t feel up to facing the others. His insides were a jumbled mess of thoughts and feelings, and he only felt sure of one thing: He was really starting to hate time travel. There was a rustle in the leaves and Spike caught sight of movement in the corner of his eye. Future Spike swung himself up unto the branch next to him with the litheness of a true predator, digging his claws into the bark for support. “Hey.” “How did you know I was here?” Spike asked. “Well, you know,” Future Spike shrugged, “I just thought: If I was Spike, where would I go? And...” “Right,” Spike rolled his eyes. “Stupid question.” “So, you okay?” Future Spike asked. “Not really,” Spike muttered. “Want to talk about it?” Future Spike prodded. “It's just...” Spike groaned. “Look, I'm not stupid. I know I'm just a kid with a crush. I always kinda knew it might turn out this way, but I... I just never expected to find out like this.” “Hm.” Future Spike nodded. “...Still, better than orange goop.” “I guess so,” Spike chuckled mirthlessly, then sighed deeply. “I never really had a chance with Rarity, did I?” “Weeell, I wouldn't go quite that far.” Future Spike grinned. “I like to think I could have won her over. I mean, Sweetie's got a point. We are a really good catch.” “Heh.” This time, Spike's chuckle sounded a bit more genuine. Despite everything, he had begun to feel a bit better. “Yeah, we're pretty awesome, aren't we? But, seriously, does this mean I have to fall in love with Sweetie Belle?” “You don't want to?” Future Spike asked. “I don't know,” Spike said. “I've just never thought about her that way before. It's not that I don't like her, but don't I at least get a choice? Or is it like my destiny or something?” The older dragon shrugged. “Honestly, you're better off not thinking too hard about that. Whatever happens, it still happens. If you start asking questions like 'Am I doing this out of my free will?' or 'Is this my destiny?' you'll just end up more confused than when you started.” He made a face. “See, this is why I really kinda hate time travel.” “I guess you're right, I probably shouldn't be overthinking this,” Spike said. He shot his older self a sideways glance. “I still don't want to become some lame librarian, though.” “Hey! I'll have you know I'm an awesome librarian.” “Laaame!” They shared a laugh, and Spike felt that maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all. “Oh, there you are!” The two dragons looked down, seeing Twilight Sparkle watching them from the balcony below. “Sorry if I'm interrupting something,” she said, “but I thought the two of you might be getting hungry. Applejack figured the Crusaders didn't bring any food along from the future, so she brought lunch for everypony.” “I could eat a whole orchard,” Future Spike declared. “How about you, kid?” “I guess I am pretty hungry,” Spike said. Future Spike presented his tail. “Hop on.” Spike climbed onto the tail and from there to his counterpart's back. Rather than climb all the way down, Future Spike just swung himself from the branch and let himself drop, landing neatly on all fours next to Twilight. “You sure have gotten more athletic,” Twilight commented. Future Spike chuckled. “Yeah, hanging out with Scoots and Apple Bloom will do that to you.” Dismounting, Spike gave his future body a critical look. “It kinda sucks I still don't have any wings in the future, though.” “Meh.” Future Spike shrugged. “Turns out wings are pretty overrated.” “Are they, now?” Twilight giggled. “Don't let Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo hear you say that.” “So, why do you have a cutie mark?” Spike asked, studying the spiral flame emblem on Future Spike's thigh. “I didn't think we dragons could have them.” “What, that?” Future Spike seemed to hesitate for a brief moment. ”Oh, it's just a pair of tattoos. They're, uh, symbolic. I got them from Zecora.” ”Cool!” Spike turned to Twilight. “Hey, can I...” ”No.” Twilight glanced at Future Spike. ”Not as long as you're smaller than me, anyway.” ”Figures,” Spike muttered. Future Spike laughed and gave him a pat on the back that almost knocked him over. “Come on, kid, let's go grab some of Applejack's cooking. I'm starving.” Twilight had to smile. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn they were brothers. No matter how many times she saw it, Twilight always found herself in awe of Applejack's ability to conjure up vast amounts of delicious food seemingly out of nowhere. After only a brief trip back to Sweet Apple Acres, she had shown up at the library with a cart full of apple pies, fritters, tarts, dumplings, crisps, crumblers and all other sorts of of apple-based cuisine. Twilight was grateful – cooking for two dragons and four ponies would have been quite a chore otherwise. Before long the table was set and they all dug in. Some of their friends were missing, of course; Rarity and Pinkie were busy at their respective shops, Rainbow Dash had weather duty and Fluttershy had animals to tend. But even so, it seemed unlikely there would be any leftovers – the Crusaders all ate with gusto, especially Future Spike who never seemed to get full. “Hey, leave some for the rest of us, will ya?” Apple Bloom joked as the dragon helped himself to a fifth serving of apple pie. “Where do you put it all, anyway?” Scootaloo asked. “It's like shoveling food into a furnace.” “Dragon metabolism is no joking matter,” Future Spike retorted. “Besides, somepony's got to help you girls keep those lovely figures of yours.” This earned him a playful punch on the shoulder from Scootaloo and a blushing giggle from Sweetie Belle. As they ate they chatted among themselves. Twilight and Applejack, unable to keep their curiosity in check, asked several questions about life in the future. The time travelers seemed to have learned their lesson after upsetting Spike, however, and offered only a vague outline of the age to come. “In the future Equestria, traveling is fast and easy,” Sweetie Belle explained. “Even a trip from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire is just a quick walk through a gateway, so ponies who live far apart can still stay in touch. Magical education has also improved, so unicorns know more spells on average than they do today. It's a good time to live in. Aside from the war, anyway.” Once they'd finished eating, Scootaloo got up from the table and headed for the door. “I'm going outside for some air.” “Hey!” Apple Bloom said. “We're supposed to keep outta sight, remember?” “I just need to stretch me wings for a bit,” Scootaloo replied. “You know how I get if I stay on the ground for too long. Don't worry, I'll be careful.” Watching the pegasus leave the building, Apple Bloom frowned. “When have ya ever been careful?” she muttered. “Hey, Apple Bloom?” Applejack said. “Yeah?” Apple Bloom turned to face her sister... ...and found herself looking at Applejack making the most ridiculous face she could. She pulled her cheeks, rolled her eyes and waved her tongue around. “Blaaaurgh! Aarghablargha blurgh! Hurp hurp!” “Pffffffffh!” Apple Bloom nearly exploded in laughter at the sight. “Wha-ahaha-at was that for?” Applejack stopped making faces and grinned. “There ya go, Ah knew ya still had a real smile in ya.” When Apple Bloom gave her a puzzled look, Applejack continued: “See, it's been buggin' me all day and Ah just figured it out. Since ya showed up this mornin' Ah haven't seen ya smile once. Not for real, Ah mean, with yer eyes an' everythin'. Ah was startin' to get worried y'all forgotten how to do it.” “Huh...” Apple Bloom's expression turned doleful, her ears drooping. “Ah... Ah guess Ah did grow up into kind of a sourpuss, didn't Ah?” “Hey,” Applejack stepped closer and gently rested her forehead against Apple Bloom's, looking deep into her amber eyes. “Ah get that things are rough back where yer from, but we're gonna fix that, right? So please try to smile some more. Even if we happen to be the same age right now, yer still my baby sister. Ah like to see ya smile.” “Ah'll try,” Apple Blooms said. Her eyes were tearing up a bit. “Thanks, AJ.” Twilight watched the scene, and as touching as it was something still bothered her. She came to a decision. “Right,” she said, “we might as well get everything ready for tonight. We don't have enough beds for everypony, but there are some spare mattresses down in the basement. Apple Bloom, Big Spike, would you two mind helping me get them?” “Sure thing!” Apple Bloom said, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes. Future Spike gave Twilight the slightest frown, but nodded wordlessly and followed them downstairs. “I'll get started with the dishes, then,” Spike declared. “We'll help ya out,” Applejack said. Sweetie Belle lit her horn up and started levitating plates and eating utensils. Once they'd carried all the dirty dishes into the kitchen, Applejack looked around. “Spike, where ya keep the dish soap?” “It should be right here...” Spike suddenly recalled something. “Oh, right! The noodle incident last Sunday. It's probably still in the basement.” “Ah'll fetch it for ya,” Applejack said. “Maybe Ah can lend Twilight a hoof while Ah'm at it. Be back in a jiffy!” Once she had left the kitchen, Spike suddenly became acutely aware that he was now alone with Sweetie Belle – his alleged future girlfriend. Sensing the potential for awkwardness, he cleared his throat. “Well, guess I'll start tapping up the water in the meantime.” Then he found that Sweetie Belle was looking at him with a big smile on her face.” ...What?” “You are so cute!” “Um...” Before Spike could properly react, Sweetie had thrown her forelegs around him in a powerful glomp. “Whooah!” he cried. “S-Sweetie Belle, what are you doing!?” “I'm hugging you, of course,” Sweetie cheerfully replied. “I never realized how small and adorable you used to be.” Spike blushed furiously, feeling her warm breath on his cheek. Oh, this is bad! This is sooo bad! And soft. Wow, she smells good... No! Bad brain! Bad! “I-I'm not sure I'm completely okay with this!” Sweetie ignored him, giggling into his ear: “You're so cuddly, I wish I could hug you forever.” Spike struggled against the hug for a few more moments, then relented. Still blushing, he sighed. Curse you, time shenanigans! Meanwhile, oblivious to the scene acting out in the kitchen, Applejack made her way down the stairs to the library's basement. She'd never been down there before and marveled at the sheer size of the place – an artificial cavern dug directly under the roots of the great tree, filled with bizarre machines and scientific equipment she couldn't even begin to make heads and tails off. As she descended, she could hear the others talking. “You lied to Applejack, back at Sugarcube Corner.” Applejack froze. They were talking about her? Somepony had been lying to her? They didn't seem to have noticed her yet. As their conversation carried on, she resisted the urge to reveal herself and demand an explanation. Instead she snuck down the rest of the stairs as quietly as she could, ducked behind one of the larger mechanical contraptions, and listened. A few minutes earlier. “Wow, this takes me back,” the older Spike said, taking a moment to look around the basement. “I haven't been down here since I moved to Canterlot. Feels like ages ago.” “So where's 'em mattresses at?“ Apple Bloom asked. Twilight pointed at a pile of random supplied at the far end of the room. “Oh, they're in the corner over there.” Apple Bloom trotted over to the pile and started digging through it. Spike, meanwhile, turned to Twilight. “So, you do realize you could have just levitated or teleported them, right? It's not like you need our help, they're only mattresses.” “True,” Twilight said. “But then I wouldn't have had this chance to talk to you two in private.” Apple Bloom stopped tugging at her mattress and turned to give the princess a surprised look. Spike just huffed. “I figured it was something like that. Alright, Twilight, let's hear it.” “As I said, I fully intend to help you with your mission,” Twilight said, “but I can't help you if you aren't straight with me. I want to know why you keep lying to us.” Apple Bloom and Spike exchanged an awkward look, but didn't speak. Twilight carried on: “Oh, I'm pretty sure most of your story is true, but some of the details are off. For instance, Spike, your scales are hard as iron and you shed them on a regular basis.” She pointed at the symbol on his thigh. “So I'm guessing that's not really a tattoo, is it?” Spike sighed and massaged his lore. He recognized her tone of voice and knew better than to argue. “No. No, it isn't. The truth is, there's a reason I kinda look like a pony now. We dragons are shape shifters. Not like the changelings, though. We always keep our basic characteristics, but our shapes and sizes depend a lot on our state of mind, especially for dragons my age.” Twilight considered this. She had seen Spike in adult form twice: First on the day she hatched and accidentally aged him, the other when he'd gone on a greed-fueled rampage through Ponyville. It had always seemed odd to her that he'd looked so different the second time. She also recalled the teenage dragons Spike had encountered on his quest of self-discovery, and how varied in appearance they had been compared to the adults. ”...That actually makes a lot of sense. So you mean to say you have a cutie mark because in your mind, you are as much a pony as you are a dragon?” “Something like that,” Spike nodded. ”It's true that dragons normally don't get cutie marks, but I'm not a normal dragon. I was raised by ponies and I think like a pony. This mark is proof that I belong with you. It's proof of who I am.” “Oh, Spike,” Twilight had to smile. “But why didn't you tell him?” “Because he doesn't need to know,” Spike said. “He won't earn this mark easily. In just a few years, he's going to go through a growth spurt. He'll grow bigger, stronger, more dangerous. Ponies will start to fear him. That will leave him unsure of who he is and where he belongs, and his body will constantly shift to reflect his confusion. It'll be a very difficult and painful time for him.” Spike looked up at the basement ceiling and smiled slightly, as if he'd just heard something amusing from upstairs. “That kid's got enough to worry about. The less he knows about the future, the better.” Twilight cocked her head. “Hm. Well, I guess that is an adequate enough reason.” She turned to Apple Bloom. “But then there's you. You lied to Applejack, back at Sugar Cube Corner. And then you lied again to Pinkie Pie.” “Me, lie?” Apple Bloom made her best attempt at an innocent smile. ”Good ol' Apple Bloom, the most honest and dependable of ponies?” ”Nice try,” said Twilight dryly. ”Applejack may be honest to a fault, but you? You I'm not so sure about. You said the four of you would go back to your own time after you destroy the time spells, but that doesn't make sense! Even if everything happens exactly like you said it would, how can you go back to a timeline that can't possibly come to be?” She turned to Spike again. ”Then there's you. You seem to be the one most concerned about keeping the timeline undisturbed. But if that's so, what are you even doing here? Three mares from out of town wouldn't have turned any heads in Canterlot, but a teenage dragon? That would attract attention no matter how careful you were. So why did you come with them?” Spike frowned and turned his eyes away. Even now, with all the years between them, Twilight could see right through him. ”It has something to do with Sweetie Belle, doesn't it?” she guessed. ”I wanted to...” Spike sighed. ”I had to stay by her side. All the way.” ”What's going to happen?” Twilight demanded. “What is so serious you'd take that risk?” Apple Bloom's features had darkened. “Twilight, please. Don't go there.” “I'm sorry,” Twilight said, “but I have to know the truth. No more lies. What is really going to happen to you once the time spell is destroyed?” Apple Bloom hesitated, then sighed. ”Honestly? We don't know fer sure. You an' Pumpkin an' Time Turner argued 'bout it a lot. Y'all were talkin' about stuff like existential momentum and abstract causality and hyper-time whatchamacallits. Ah don't get all the technical jargon. But... probably...” ”Yes?” Twilight prodded. Apple Bloom shrugged. ”...We'll disappear.” Twilight gasped. ”You...” ”YA'LL WHAAAT!?” They all turned in surprise as Applejack stormed out of her hiding place, unable to keep quiet any longer. Apple Bloom groaned. “Darnit, AJ. Haven't anypony taught ya it ain't nice to eavesdrop?” “Don't ya it-ain't-nice me, missy!” Applejack growled, getting up in her sister's face and glaring furiously. “What do ya mean ya'll disappear? Disappear to where?” “Nowhere,” said Apple Bloom calmly. “We'll just vanish. Poof. It'll be like we never existed inna first place. Look, it ain't no big deal.” “No big deal?” Applejack looked absolutely horrified. “Yer tellin' me yer just gonna poof outta existence and that ain't a big deal? Apple Bloom, why the hay didn't ya tell us 'bout this? Why did ya lie to me?” “Ah lied to ya 'cause Ah knew you'd just try to stop us!” Apple Bloom snapped. “'Cause yer always like this! Ya never listen to reason!” “Yer damn right Ah'm gonna try to stop ya!” Applejack said. “Ah ain't just gonna stand by and watch my own sister run off on... on a suicide mission! There's gotta be another way!” “There isn't,” Spike said. “We've gone through all the scenarios already, over and over, and this is the only one that works. Even our Twilight couldn't find a better solution. There simply is no other way to stop the Fray.” Applejack sat down on the floor, her eyes brimming with despair. “It ain't right,” she mumbled. “That ain't fair. Y'all were supposed to fix the future, but if ya do this ya won't even have one!” “But we will,” Apple Bloom said, giving her sister a sad smile. “Don't ya see? Your Apple Bloom, the lil' filly who's over in Canterlot right now, will get to grow up in a world without war. She won't be me, but at least she'll be happy. At least she'll be smilin'. If we do this, everypony gets a new chance to live their lives the way it was supposed to be. It'll be better that way.” “Maybe you're right,” Twilight said. “But there's still something missing, isn't there? Even with everything you've told us, this all just seems too... desperate, somehow. Even with the war, the future you describe doesn't sound that bad, but you talk about it as if you've completely lost all hope.” Apple Bloom sighed. “Maybe we have? Ah guess we're all just tired of it. We always won in the end, even if we had some close calls, but we just don't have much fightin' spirit left in us. Not since...” She fell silent and shook her head. Spike clenched his teeth and scraped his claws against the floor, as if enduring great pain. “Since what?” Twilight asked. “Apple Bloom, what happened?” Apple Bloom looked at Twilight, her eyes full of unbearable sadness. “...we lost Rainbow and Pinkie.” Scootaloo flapped her wings, rising high above Ponyville. She loved flying. It had taken her so long to finally get off the ground, but now the sky was without a doubt her true element. At this height, with the whole world spread out underneath her and the heavens stretching out for as far as the eye could see, all her fears and worries seemed so small and far away. Some days she wished she could just soar through the endless sky forever. Once she reached the apex of her climb, she leaned back and folded her wings, savoring the brief feeling of complete weightlessness just before gravity took over and she plummeted head first towards the ground below. She grinned all the way down. Once she reached terminal velocity she deployed her wings again and pulled up hard, narrowly avoiding the rooftops below and swooping upwards at breakneck speed. She let out a loud hoot and rolled a few times, leaving a trail of purple lightning in her wake. To burn off the excess velocity she turned and circled the library a few times, flying so close that she could feel the leaves against her side. Finally she set her sights on a low cloud, made one last upturn above it and topped it off with an elegant backflip before casually dropping down on the white patch of vapor. Being a pegasus was awesome. “Wooo! Look at you go, girl!” cried a familiar voice. Scootaloo turned to see a multicolored flash circle her cloud. She smiled. “Rainbow! I thought you had weather duty.” With a light flutter of her blue wings, Rainbow Dash touched down next to her. “Oh, I did, but it was no big deal for somepony as fast as me. I could have cleared those clouds in my sleep.” “Oh yeah,” Scootaloo chuckled. “I almost forgot, you're awesome.” “I'm not the only one,” Rainbow said. “I wasn't kidding when I said you had some sweet moves.” Scootaloo blushed. “I had a pretty awesome teacher.” “I can tell.” Rainbow grinned. “That was a nice Filly Flash you pulled off back there, and you did a perfect Buccaneer Blaze earlier. I think I can pretty much guess who taught you those.” She leaned back slightly to look at the symbol on Scootaloo's flank – a purple rising star with a lightning bolt tail. “So, you finally got that cutie mark, huh?” “Yeah,” Scootaloo smiled. “Turns out my talent is acrobatics. Who'd a thunk, huh? Kinda makes all that messing around with zip-lining and rabble-rousing seem pretty silly.” “It's a really awesome cutie mark,” Rainbow said. She flashed her trademark grin. “Almost as awesome as mine.” Scootaloo laughed. “Coming from you, that's one heck of a compliment.” “Heh.” Sensing the relaxed atmosphere between them, Rainbow Dash decided to stop dancing around the issue they'd both been avoiding: “...Speaking of compliments, do you really find me attractive?” Scootaloo made a little croaking sound and instantly tensed up. “Ah, w-well, about that...” she started nervously scratching the back of her head, her cheeks glowing red. “I was kinda hoping you'd forgotten about that.” “Hey, it's okay,” Rainbow assured her. “You just surprised me, that's all. I mean, you've pretty much always been my number one fan but I didn't know you felt that way about me.” “Technically, I won't for another couple of years,” Scootaloo said. “Hormones and stuff, you know? Anyway, I really, really shouldn't have said that back there. It's just, you know, seeing you like this all of a sudden, and we're both the same age and everything... It just kinda slipped out.” ”Well, I guess I can't blame you,” Rainbow said. ”I mean, you're hardly the first pony who's had the hots for me. And I'm flattered, really. It's just that... Well, I'm not actually a, you know...” ”I know.” Scootaloo raised a hoof to silence her. ”I know you don't swing that way. You, um, you kinda already told me once.” ”Oh?” Rainbow Dash momentarily arched an eyebrow, but then her eyes widened as she connected the dots. ”Oooh.” Scootaloo's blush intensified. ”Yeah.” Well, this is awkward, Rainbow thought. ”I, um, hope I let you down gently.” Scootaloo nodded. ”Yeah, you were totally cool as usual. More than I deserved, really.” ”Okay, I know that's not true.” ”No, it is. You've always meant the world to me, Rainbow. You were always there, as an idol and a mentor and as a pretend sister. I... I shouldn't have asked for more. As for today, I guess I just got carried away seeing you again.” Scootaloo let out an embarrassed chuckle. ”You know how it is, you never forget your first crush.” ”Yeah.” Rainbow allowed herself to relax a bit. They seemed to have cleared the emotional minefield for now. ”Anyway, there's plenty of birds in the sky, right? I'm sure you'll find your special somepony one of these days. Well, once you go back to the future, I mean.” Scootaloo got a strangely distant look in her eyes. She turned away slightly, but Rainbow could still see her smile. ”Yeah...” ”Oooh?” Rainbow leaned closer and grinned. ”I know that look. You've got your eye on somepony already, don't ya?” “Kinda.” Scootaloo started blushing again. “Yeah.” Rainbow laughed and gave her a playful punch on the shoulder. “And you still hit on me? You sly little minx.” ”I-I wasn't hitting on you!” Scootaloo stammered. ”Anyway, its not like that. She's... She doesn't know I have feelings for her.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. ”So? Why don't you tell her?” ”It's complicated,” Scootaloo said. ”Her and me, we sorta have a history together. A long, convoluted, not entirely pleasant history. Things were already kinda awkward between us and I couldn't risk making it worse. Heck, I don't even know if she's into mares.” Rainbow Dash mentally went through what she'd just been told. ”Is this anypony I know?” ”I don't think so,” Scootaloo replied. ”I mean, I can't imagine why you would.” “Huh,” Rainbow shrugged. “Well, you're a big girl now so I guess it's up to you how you want to deal with this. But for what it's worth, if I were you I'd totally tell her. Life's too short for regrets, you know? Sometimes you just gotta go by your gut even if it seems kinda stupid.” Scootaloo smiled wryly. “Like we say in the future: What Would Rainbow Dash Do?” “Get outta here!” Rainbow said. “You guys actually say that?” “Nah, I just made that up,” Scootaloo admitted. Then she suddenly looked thoughtful. “Though, maybe we should be saying that?” “Might be worth keeping in mind for when you get back.” Rainbow stood up and stretched her wings. “Well, I need to find me some grub. There's this new hayburger joint I've been meaning to check out, wanna tag along?” “Thanks, but I'm pretty stuffed,” Scootaloo said. “Applejack brought us lunch.” “Aw, I hate to miss out on her cooking,” Rainbow sighed. “Oh well.” She seemed just about ready to leave, but before taking off she turned to Scootaloo again. “You know, it's too bad you're leaving tomorrow. There aren't a lot of pegasi around here who can actually keep up with me and chasing you around town was pretty fun. Maybe later when I've eaten we can go flying again?” Scootaloo managed a weak smile. “Sure. I'd like that.” “Great!” Rainbow spread her wings and took off. “It was nice talking to you!” she yelled over her shoulder while gliding through the air. Scootaloo watched her fly off for a few moments. Then she collapsed backwards, ending up lying with her back against the cloud, staring into the sky. Her heart was pounding, her ears were burning and she felt a bit dizzy. "Dammit, Rainbow. Why do you have to be so awesome?" Why did the world have to be so cruel? “This isn't right,” Scootaloo whispered to herself. “I haven't thought about her this way for a long time. Why is this happening now?” A treasonous little voice inside her said: You know exactly why. Scootaloo covered her eyes with her foreleg and groaned. The peace and inner calm she had felt while flying was long gone and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't think straight. “What am I supposed to do?” The voice inside her said: What would Rainbow Dash do? For few more heartbeats, she just lay there in silence. The whole world seemed to hold its breath. Scootaloo sat up with a jerk. “Oh buck it!” She threw herself into the air and flapped her wings as hard as she could. “Rainbow! Wait up!” Rainbow had been gliding near the ground. When she heard Scootaloo cry out she touched down and turned around. “Changed your mind about those hayburgers, huh?” “Nevermind that!” Scootaloo said as she landed in front of her. ”Rainbow, how many times have you made a sonic rainboom?” Rainbow frowned. ”Where did that come from?” ”Just answer me!” Scootaloo pleaded. “It's important!” Rainbow tilted her head to the side, thinking back. ”Well, there's the one I did when I saved Rarity and the Wonderbolts during the best young fliers competition – which was totally awesome by the way – and then I did one by accident when AJ asked me to smash up her old barn, 'cause I got a bit carried away. Aaand Princess Celestia had me do one when Cadence and Shining Armor got married. So that's three. No, wait, four counting that first one when I got my cutie mark.” Scootaloo put her hooves on Rainbow's shoulders, looking intensely distraught. “Rainbow, you have got to stop doing it! Never make a sonic rainboom again!” “What?” Rainbow looked at her as if she'd gone crazy. “Why not? It's my best move!” “It's dangerous!” Scootaloo said. “I mean, it's really dangerous. The sonic rainboom isn't just a light phenomenon, it's... it's a kind of rip in the fabric of reality. Whenever you make a rainboom, you punch open a hole to something called the Bifrost.” ”Bifrost?” Rainbow cocked her head, looking slightly confused. ”What's that?” Scootaloo shrugged. ”We don't know for sure. Another dimension, or a place between dimensions. Whatever it is, it's full of raw magic energy. Twilight suspected it might even be the source of all magic.” Rainbow's eyes widened. ”Woah! That's awesome!” ”No it's not! Listen to me!” Scootaloo's tone grew ever more desperate. ”The glowing shockwave from the sonic rainboom is like a tiny bit of that power bleeding out into our world and for a split second you're right at the center of it. Every time you do it, it changes you a bit. We didn't notice it at first and by the time we figured out what was going on you only had one more rainboom in you before...” Scootaloo fell silent and clenched her teeth. ”...You have to stop using it, Rainbow. If you don't, then sooner or later the Bifrost energy will whittle away your existential integrity and completely dislodge you from this reality!” ”You're starting to sound like Twilight now,” Rainbow said, frowning. ”Slow down. What exactly are you saying?” With tears in her eyes, Scootaloo shouted: ”I'm saying that if you keep using the sonic rainboom, you're going to disappear!” There was moment of silence. Rainbow blinked, as if the words didn't immediately make sense to her. “...I will?” And then Scootaloo staggered as if something struck her. “Aaaargh!” Unable stand on her hooves she collapsed into a sitting position and started hyperventilating, cradling her head in her hooves. “Woah, what the hay?” Rainbow cried. Putting a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder, she could feel the young mare's body shiver and her muscles tense. “Scoots, are you okay? I think you're having a seizure or something.” “Oh no,” Scootaloo mumbled. “Oh no. Oh no. I messed up. I messed up big.” “What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked. “What just happened? “I've ruined everything.” Scootaloo turned her head up and Rainbow Dash could now see the look of panic on her face. “I'm sorry, Rainbow. I just caused a Fray.” Author's Note So much exposition, omg! I considered titeling this chapter "Everypony Sits Around And Talks About Time Travel A Lot", but Time Shenanigans seemed snappier somehow. No worries, though. From now on, it's all mindless action! Chapter 3: The FrayAuthor's Note As those of you reading my blog will know, this is actually the first half of what I originally intended to be chapter 3, hence why it's a bit short. I'm normally firmly against splitting chapters like this, but between my personal frustration with the severe delays and the whole thing ending up longer than I expected, I decided it was probably for the best. In fact, if I had known ahead of time how long the chapter would end up being and how long it would take me to write it, I would probably have done this several months ago. Sadly, time travel continues to not be real, but better late than never I suppose. Note that this means that most of what now becomes chapter 4 is already written, so it should appear relatively soon as well. Oh, and due to various requests on the matter, I decided to make this one with spaced paragraphs rather than indents, as an experiment. Let me know what you guys think of it. Chapter 3: The Fray Big Macintosh turned his face to the sky and frowned. Something strange was going on above Sweet Apple Acres. Macintosh had been working the apple trees alone that afternoon. Apple Bloom was away on her school trip to Canterlot, and Applejack had headed over to Twilight Sparkle's place with a cart full of food for what Mac assumed was either a friendly dinner party or a heroic quest to save all of Equestria from certain doom. Either way, Mac didn't particularly mind working alone. He'd been so focused on his chores that he hadn't noticed what was going on over his head and it wasn't until he paused for a breather he realized the sun had turned to shade. Looking up, he saw a sky covered in dense black clouds. The air felt heavy with the pressure of an oncoming thunderstorm. “Well, that ain't right,” Macintosh muttered to himself. It had been sunny all day and the forecast said nothing about a storm. What were those pegasi thinking, planting that kind of weather over his orchard while he wasn't looking? Suddenly lightning arched through the clouds, briefly illuminating the blackness. As the thunder roared, Mac's eyes widened. For just a short moment he had thought he'd seen something in the cloud – the outline of some vast titanic thing hanging over his head. It had lasted only a fraction of a second. Had that been real, or had he just imagined it? Macintosh shivered, suddenly realizing that the air had turned chilly and moist. Looking around, he found the orchard covered in a thick blanket of fog which had appeared just as suddenly and mysteriously as the storm clouds. “Definitely ain't right!” Big Macintosh didn't know a lot about meteorology, but he had never seen thunder and fog at the same time. Despite the sudden drop of temperature, there wasn't the slightest hint of wind, and Mac felt every bit of the oppressive atmosphere bearing down on him. Lightning flashed again and he caught another glimpse of the dark monolith hidden inside the clouds. This time he was sure he hadn't imagined it. Macintosh abandoned any remaining inclination to finish his work, his instincts telling him that sticking around much longer would be a bad idea. He broke into a gallop – he had to get back to the farmhouse, make sure Granny Smith was okay. And then? Find AJ, and Miss Twilight Sparkle too. She would know what was going on, right? As he ran, his nose caught a scent that didn't belong in the orchard. He stopped and sniffed the air. Despite the unnatural stillness, there was no mistaking this smell: swamp gas and brimstone, with a hint of charcoal. Mac felt the hairs on his back stand on end and it had nothing to do with the chill. He knew of only one thing with that kind of smell. The next moment he heard hoofsteps behind him. He turned to see multiple lumbering shapes in the fog and dozens of eerie green lights shone through the haze. Timberwolves! A pair of the glowing eyes locked on to Macintosh and he immediately flew into a sprint again, but now he could hear them pursue him. He hadn't even covered a hundred feet when he saw more dark shapes on his right, flanking him. He turned only to find himself flanked once more on his left. They were herding him. None of this made sense to him: timberwolves rarely ventured outside the Everfree forest and never in anywhere near these numbers. Wherever Mac turned he found more green eyes. He stopped running, realizing they had him surrounded. More flashes of lightning lit up the sky and now he could see them more clearly. Some of the creatures were indeed timberwolves, but most of them were something different: made from the same scraps of wood, but pony-sized. They walked on all fours but had long forelimbs giving them a gorilla-like gait. Instead of the canine features of the timberwolves their faces protruded in large bird-like beaks painted with strange black patterns, and they each had a bushy “mane” of leaves and thin branches sticking out from the back of their heads. Some of them were actually riding on the wolves, and most gripped short wooden spears tipped with sharp crystals in their clawed hands. One of the riders pointed its spear at Macintosh and let out a hollow cawing. Several of the creatures dashed forward and lunged at him. But Macintosh was much quicker than his size implied and he knew how to defend himself. “Nope!” he bellowed, spinning around and hitting the first of the attackers with a hard buck. The creature exploded in a rain of sticks and wooden fragments. Without pause, Mac unleashed more bucks in rapid succession, shattering three more assailants including one of the wolves. The rest seemed intimidated by his display and stayed back. A few moments later the shattered remains of the fallen rose into the air as by magic and reassembled themselves into their original shapes, but to Mac's relief they too fell back. “'At's right!” he growled. Despite the dire situation, he permitted himself a triumphant grin. “That all ya got?” Something shook the ground, sending a shiver through the leaves of the apple trees. A few seconds later another shock did the same. His courage suddenly waning, Macintosh looked beyond the wooden horde and saw two more shapes in the fog. These were much larger than the others, and made loud thudding, stomping, crashing sounds as they moved around. Macintosh could hear thick wood breaking and then saw a huge shapeless mass come flying at him through the air. He threw himself out of the way without thinking and it wasn't until the object crashed into the spot he'd just been standing that he realized what had happened: Something had thrown one of his own apple trees at him. After rolling across the ground, Big Macintosh found himself lying on his back. High above him, just under the clouds, several dark shapes flew through the air on large wings, circling like vultures. Mac didn't need to see them clearly to know they weren't pegasi. “Ain't right,” he mumbled just before the timber-things swarmed him. “Ain't right at all...” After a brief and terrible silence, Twilight finally found her words: “”W-What do you mean, you lost Rainbow and Pinkie? Did... Did they...” “Ah can't tell ya the details.” Apple Bloom looked deeply uncomfortable. “Ya know that. But Rainbow... she sacrificed herself to save a young pony's life.” ”No...” Twilight gasped. Applejack stared at her sister, shaking her head, her mouth failing to form any words. “Scootaloo was there when it happened,” Spike said, his voice low and full of pain. “But there was nothing she could do, poor girl. The rest of us... We got there just in time to say goodbye.” “Rainbow...” Apple Bloom's voice cracked slightly. “She didn't even hesitate, ya know? She knew it'd be the last thing she ever did, but she did it anyway. Ah mean, of course she did. She kept smilin' to the end, tried to comfort us. She said everythin' was gonna be alright, somehow. An' then she was just... gone.” Twilight had brough her hoof to her mouth, too shocked to speak. Applejack still just sat there on the dirt floor, shaking slightly, her eyes wide in disbelief. “W-What kinda future's that s'posed to be?” she whispered. “Rainbow... Rainbow's one of the most amazin' ponies Ah've ever known! Yer tellin' me ten more years is all she gets? Couldn't ya save her? Go back in time an'...” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Rainbow is special. Interferin' with her destiny is incredibly dangerous. 'Sides, that's exactly the kinda thinkin' that created the Fray inna first place.” “We wanted to spare you from knowing about this,” Spike said. “Rainbow Dash did what she felt was right, because she's Rainbow Dash. But without her, nothing was the same anymore.” “What about...” Feeling her voice fail her, Twilight steadied herself and started over. “I'm afraid to ask, but what about Pinkie Pie? What happened to her?” Apple Bloom hesitated. “Pinkie...” But before she could go on, her eyes widened and she choked on her words. She staggered as a sudden vertigo overtook her. “Oh no!” she gasped, starting to hyperventilate. At the same time, Spike raised a claw to his head and groaned: “Horseapples! Did... Did we do that?” Apple Bloom weakly shrugged her head. “Ah don't think so.” “What's going on?” Twilight asked. “What just happened?” “You okay, sugar?” Applejack asked, giving Apple Bloom a worried look. “Ya don't look so good. Are ya sick?” “Something or somepony just caused a paradoxical change in the timeline,” Spike said, struggling to steady himself. “We're reacting to the dissonance between our pasts and the altered present.” Twilight and Applejack traded a worried look. “You mean...?” Twilight began. Apple Bloom gritted her teeth. “A Fray!” “Spike, Apple Bloom!” They turned to see Sweetie Belle descend the stairs on unsteady hooves, closely followed by a worried-looking Spike. “Did you guys feel that?” “Yeah,” Apple Bloom muttered. “We felt it alright. Sweetie Belle, did ya do somethin'?” “I didn't do anything!” Sweetie Belle glanced at the younger Spike and blushed slightly. “...Much.” “Well, it wasn't us,” Future Spike said. There was a moment of silence. Then, as one, all three exclaimed: “Scootaloo!” “I'm dead,” said Scootaloo, hanging her head as she walked next to Rainbow Dash. “I am so dead. Apple Bloom is going to kill me.” Not knowing what else to do, Rainbow had opted to walk the crestfallen time traveler back to the library, hoping Twilight and the others would know how to deal with the situation. She put a comforting wing over Scootaloo's back. “Hey, let's try to stay positive, alright? I'm sure they'll understand.” Scootaloo shook her head. “This was the one thing we couldn't allow to happen, and I totally blew it! I should never have told you about the Bifrost.” “So why did you?” Rainbow asked. Scootaloo shrugged. “Wasn't thinking straight,” she muttered. “I... I just wanted to save you.” “So, basically, you just broke the whole timeline for my sake?” Rainbow chuckled. “Aw, I think that's the sweetest thing anypony's ever done for me.” Despite everything, Scootaloo couldn't help but smile a little. They had almost made it back to the library when the front door swung open and a furious Apple Bloom stormed outside, followed closely by Twilight, Applejack, both Spikes and Sweetie Belle. “Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom hollered. “Ah'm gonna kill ya!” “Told you,” Scootaloo sighed. Apple Bloom marched straight up to her and growled: “Scootaloo, what have you done?” The pegasus sat down on the ground with her ears flat against her head, shrinking back under Apple Bloom's glare. “I'm sorry...” Apple Bloom looked to Rainbow and her eyes widened in realization. “Oh no. Ya didn't. Scootaloo, please tell me ya didn't.” “I'm sorry,” Scootaloo repeated. “I told her.” “Have ya lost yer dang mind!?” Apple Bloom yelled. “Ya know the rules, Scootaloo, ya never meddle with a Catalyst! Not for any reason! What were ya thinkin'?” “I don't know,” Scootaloo whimpered, staring into the ground. “What about the mission?” Apple Bloom raged. “Horseapples, what about Diamond Tiara? Did ya think about that?” “I don't know!” Scootaloo cried. She looked up and her eyes were full of tears. “I wasn't thinking, okay? I just... I couldn't stand losing her again! I had to tell her!” She broke down into sobs, tears streaming down her face. “I had to... I had to...” Apple Bloom gritted her teeth, raising a quivering hoof, and for a moment it seemed like she was about to smack the crying pegasus over the head. But then she sighed and lowered her hoof again. Instead she put her forelegs around Scootaloo, gently hugging her. “O'course ya did,” she whispered. “Ya great big idjit. O'course ya did.” As Scootaloo kept sobbing, Spike and Sweetie Belle approached her as well. The unicorn immediately joined in the hug, resting her head against Scootaloo's shoulder, and the dragon gave her a comforting pat on the back. “It's gonna be okay, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle said. “We'll figure something out, together.” Twilight cleared her throat. “Sweetie Belle is right. What's done is done, and standing around out here won't help. Why don't we all head back inside and think this through?” Apple Bloom sighed, nodding. “Come on, Scootaloo. Sorry fer yellin' at ya.” When they wandered back to the library, Rainbow walked up to Twilight and whispered: “I know this is a bad time, but do you got anything to eat?” A few minutes later they were all back inside and Scootaloo had managed to calm down somewhat. Rainbow was wolfing down some daisy sandwiches Spike had prepared for her. “So, now what do we do?” she asked between mouthfuls. “The plan hasn't changed,” Apple Bloom said. “We still need to get that spell an' destroy it.” “Isn't it too late for that?” Applejack asked. “The Fray's already here, right?” “Doesn't matter,” Sweetie Belle said. “You have to think about it fourth dimensionally. The Fray was caused because we came back from the future using Pumpkin Cake's time spell. As long as we stop it from being created it doesn't matter in what order it happens.” “So what's the problem?” Rainbow asked. “The problem is that the Fray makes us vulnerable to Morning Star,” Future Spike explained. “She has ways of knowing when a Fray occurs and she may already be taking action to stop us.” “Twilight,” Apple Bloom said, turning to the alicorn, “Ah don't think we can wait until tomorrow, we have to get that scroll as soon as possible.” Twilight nodded. “Agreed. I guess I'll just have to write to Princess Celestia and explain that we have an emergency on our hoofs. Spike...” But the same moment she turned to face the baby drake, his cheeks suddenly bulged out and he burped out a scroll in a burst of green fire. Rather than fall to the floor, the scroll unrolled itself on its own and gently floated into Spike's claws. Spike looked at it and blinked in surprise. “Huh, that's weird. It's for me.” Twilight frowned. “Princess Celestia sent you a letter?” As Spike read the scroll, his expression turned more and more perplexed. “Um, it's not from her.” “Then who sent it?” Future Spike asked. “I think you did.” Spike held the letter up. “Guys, you need to read this.” Still frowning, Twilight levitated the letter to herself and read: Dear Past Spike Tell Past Future Me and the others that they have to get to Sweet Apple Acres right away. It's under attack by the Contumacy. Sincerely, – Future Future Spike. She put the letter down and looked at Apple Bloom. “The Contumacy?” “Morning Star's forces.” Apple Bloom gritted her teeth. “Dammit, they can time travel more accurately than Ah thought.” “Hold on,” Scootaloo turned to Future Spike, “you sent yourself a letter from the future? I didn't know you could do that.” Future Spike frowned. “I didn't know I could do that either.” Meanwhile, Applejack was heading towards the door with a grim look on her face. Knowing that expression all too well, Apple Bloom quickly ran past her, cutting her off before she reached the exit. “Whoa, Nelly! Where ya think yer goin´?” “To Sweet Apple Acres, of course!” Applejack replied, her voice shaky with anger and fear. “Ya heard what the letter said, Granny an' Mac are in danger and Ah'm gonna help 'em!” “No ya ain't,” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Not without a plan. AJ, ya don't got the faintest idea what yer up against.” “Apple Bloom, get out of my way!” Applejack shouted. “We're talkin' about our home! Our family!” “Ah know!”Apple Bloom snapped back. “But runnin' in headlong without thinkin' and getting' yer flank kicked ain't gonna do them any good. Applejack, please, ya gotta trust me on this one.” For a moment it looked as if Applejack was about to refuse and try to force her way past Apple Bloom. Then she backed off with a groan of frustration. “Fine. But ya better think of somethin' mighty fast, 'cause Ah'm holding y'all responsible if... if somethin' happens to Mac and Granny!” “Don't worry,” Sweetie Belle said. “The Contumacy usually goes out of it's way to take prisoners. Time shenanigans, you know. I'm sure they're both fine for now.” “Why would they attack Sweet Apple Acres anyway?” Twilight asked. “It's nearby but relatively isolated,” Future Spike said, scratching his chin. ”They probably want to establish a beachhead for a coordinated strike. Most likely, they plan to capture the entire town. Apple Bloom, I think AJ has a point. We need to hurry.” “If we're dealin' with a full expeditionary force, we're gonna need backup,” Apple Bloom said. “Twilight, how many ponies can ya teleport at once?” “I'm not quite sure,” Twilight admitted. “I've managed three ponies plus Spike without effort. If I know exactly where I'm going and have time to focus properly, I think I could probably handle double that.” Apple Bloom nodded. “Good enough. Do ya think ya can teleport six ponies all the way to Fluttershy's place?” Twilight cocked her head. “That's a bit of a long jump, but I think so, yes.” “Right,” Apple Bloom said. “We start by roundin' up Pinkie an' Rarity, then ya can port us all to Fluttershy since her house is the closest to the farm.” She turned to the pegasi. “Scoot, Rainbow, yer on scoutin' duty. Ah need ya'll to fly over to Sweet Apple Acres and find out what we're up against. You'll need to be stealthy, so don't do anythin' reckless.” “Reckless?” Scootaloo chuckled. “Who, us?” “We're all kinds of stealthy!” Rainbow added. Apple Bloom considered this for a moment. “On second thought, Spike, ya better go along an' keep an eye on 'em.” Future Spike grinned and gave her a small salute with his claw. “Roger that.” “Sugarcube Corner ain't that far from here. We pick up Pinkie first an' then head for Rarity's boutique.” Apple Bloom gave the scout team a nod. “Y’all meet us at Fluttershy's place when yer done. Alright, everypony, let's roll!” With that the main group left the library and galloped off, leaving the scout team behind. Rainbow and Scootaloo exchanged grins and bumped hooves, both pumped up about getting to fly together again. Spike, meanwhile, looked less than thrilled. “I, um, guess I'll just stay here then?” he said. Future Spike gave him a thoughtful look for a moment, then nodded. “That's probably for the best. It's going to get pretty dangerous.” “Yeah,” Spike said. “And after all, you're still just a baby dragon,” Future Spike added. “Better let us adults handle this. Not to mention, it would be bad for me if anything were to happen to you, causality being what it is.” Spike nodded, his shoulders sagging somewhat. “That's true.” “And it's not like the others can't handle themselves,” Future Spike said. “Hay, you'd probably just get in the way.” Spike hung his head. “Probably.” Future Spike allowed a brief silence to pass by, then said: “So are you coming or what?” Spike looked up, his eyes wide in surprise. “R... Really?” “You heard Apple Bloom, we need all the backup we can get, and two dragons are better than one.” Future Spike turned around, presenting his back. “Hop on.” Hesitating only for a heartbeat, Spike quickly scurried up the older dragon's tail and seated himself between Future Spike's spines. “Thank you,” he whispered. Carrying him through the door, Future Spike chuckled. “Don't mention it.” Outside, the pegasi had already taken to the air. “Well, I hope you can keep up,” Rainbow said, “because my wings are itching for action. Ready, Scoots?” “You bet I am!” Scootaloo replied, already making little loops and rolls in the air. “Guess we're gonna have to leg it, huh?” Spike asked. Rather than answer, Future Spike closed his eyes in concentration. He drew a deep breath and then breathed out a bright green flame. Floating through the air, the flame snaked down around his legs and momentarily formed glowing rings around his ankles before quickly fading. The dragon crouched down, tensing his muscles, only to suddenly shoot off into the sky like a rocket. “Whoa!” Rainbow cried out in surprise and Scootaloo whooped as he circled them, half running and half floating through the air with Spike still clinging to his back. “You can fly!?” Spike exclaimed. “Of course I can fly!” Future Spike laughed. “I'm a dragon! Didn't I tell you? Wings are overrated!” “Really?” Scootaloo said. “You hear that, Rainbow?” “Oh hay no!” Rainbow laughed and shot off across the rooftops. “Come on, last one to Sweet Apple Acres is a chicken!” “Hey!” Scootaloo wasted no time following her. “Better hold on tight, kid,” Future Spike said and accelerated. Spike had to dig his claws into his future self's scales as they pursued the pegasi, but even so he found himself smiling. Maybe today isn't so bad after all? Fluttershy felt anxious. This was not an unusual state of mind for her - many things made her anxious: Dragons, natural disasters, flying at high altitudes, her shadow acting threatening and so on. Indeed, anxiety had always been a common occurrence in her life for as long as she could remember. At the moment, the cause of her anxiety was the fact that her cottage was full of various woodland creatures in all shapes and sizes. That too was not especially unusual, except this time something seemed to have the animals severely spooked. A large number of bunnies, mice, ferrets and a few hedgehogs sat huddled under her chairs and dinner table, their little eyes darting back and forth at the slightest sound. A wide variety of birds sat perched on every counter and cupboard, too terrified to utter a single chirp. Even her friend the bear seemed nervous, curled up into a ball in a corner with his paws on his head, which was highly irregular. Contrary to what most ponies assumed, Fluttershy couldn't literally understand what the animals were saying since they didn't use words to begin with. She merely had a very acute intuition for what they were thinking and feeling. Therefore she wasn't exactly sure what had frightened them so; all she could make out was that Something Very Bad was going on outside. She suspected it had something to do with the strange weather – thick clouds had appeared over Sweet Apple Acres seemingly out of nowhere along with a mysterious fog, neither of which had been mentioned in the forecast. Even though she wasn't a weatherpony, Fluttershy knew enough about the subject to realize that something must have gone terribly wrong. “Oh Angel, what am I to do?” she asked. Angel Bunny, who could talk to the other animals and had a pretty good idea of what was going on, peeked out of his hiding place behind the sofa and gave her a helpless shrug. Fluttershy wasn't good at taking initiatives – that had always been Rainbow's forte, and Fluttershy found herself wishing her friend was there with her. Ever since they were fillies, Rainbow Dash had always been around to push Fluttershy forward or drag her along, or knock her off her safe little cloud. Sometimes literally. Fluttershy stopped for a moment to wonder what might have become of her without her childhood friend, but she couldn't imagine a life without Rainbow. A sudden loud sound and a flash of purple light snapped Fluttershy out of her thoughts and made her heart skip a beat. Twilight Sparkle had just teleported into the middle of the room, bringing with her an assortment of friends and time travelers. Their appearance startled the animals and some of the smaller ones fainted. Fluttershy almost did so as well. “Oh, Twilight! You scared me!” she whimpered. “Sorry, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied, looking just a bit weary from the magical exertion. “We have a crisis on our hooves and there wasn't time to use the door. Long story short, Sweet Apple Acres has been invaded by a military force from an alternate future and pretty soon they'll conquer the entire town.” Fluttershy turned somewhat pale. “Oh my, that sounds really serious! What do we do?” Apple Bloom grinned. “Obviously, we're gonna go over there an' tan their sorry hides.” Fluttershy turned even paler. “I was afraid you'd say that.” Rarity sighed, quickly making sure her mane was still tidy. “And here I'd just gotten a lovely hooficure, too. I'd just hate to ruin it against some uncouth ruffian's face.” Applejack shot her a wry smile. “Ya know, Rarity, for such a prissy pony yer strangely badass.” “Why thank you.” Rarity frowned slightly. “I think.” Suddenly the front door slammed open and Rainbow barged in, followed by Scootaloo and both Spikes. “Mission accomplished!” Rainbow hollered. Fluttershy nearly fainted again. “They didn't see you, did they?” Apple Bloom asked. Future Spike shook his head. “It was a bit touch and go, but I don't think so.” “We hid in an apple tree!” Spike declared, clearly still a bit hyped up from the excitement. “I was sure they were gonna see us but they didn't! It was awesome!” Twilight gave the baby dragon a disapproving look. “You brought him along? Is that really a good idea?” “Probably not,” Future Spike admitted, “but since the Fray is already here, I've decided to stop worrying and embrace the madness.” Apple Bloom turned to Scootaloo. “So, what are we dealing with?” “They have a cloaked airship parked right above the farm,” Scootaloo replied. “And they've already deployed a full platoon of troops to patrol the orchards. It's mostly scarecrows, though.” Applejack looked puzzled. “Scarecrows?” “Contumacy footsoldiers,” Sweetie Belle explained. “Think small timberwolves with spears. They'll probably have some actual timberwolves as well.” “We also saw some of those new metal automatons,” Spike said. “Not sure how many. And of course there's a squad of Lionheart Company griffons running the show.” “Scarecrows, tincans and Lionhearts,”Apple Bloom tallied. “We can handle that.” “They also have walker tanks,” Spike added. “Two of them.” “Dammit,” Apple Bloom groaned. “That makes it trickier. We're gonna have to find a way to take those out.” “What about Granny an' Macintosh?” Applejack cut in. “Are they alright? Did ya see 'em?” Scootaloo shook her head. “No, but my guess is that the griffons are holding them prisoner at your house or in the barn. They seem to be using the farm as an improvised barracks.” “Rescuing 'em is out top priority,” Apple Bloom decided. She started pacing the room with a thoughtful look on her face. “So, in summary, they've got a small army of battle constructs, a band of ruthless griffon mercenaries an' two heavily armed war machines in a defensive position. We've got nine ponies...” “With no weapons,” Scootaloo added. “...Nine unarmed ponies, two dragons, a homefield advantage an' the element of surprise.” Future Spike grinned slightly. “Sounds like a fair fight.” “What about the airship?” Twilight asked. “Is it armed?” “Probably,” Sweetie Belle said. “But they won't risk firing on their own troops, especially not when their ship is cloaked and they don't have a clear view. Morning Star doesn't like wasting resources.” “The real trick will be to get past their patrols long enough to free Granny an' Mac,” Apple Bloom said. “Twilight, just makin' sure, but ya do know combat magic, right?” Twilight nodded. “I know how to defend myself.” She had indeed learned the basic maser beam spell, if only because Shining Armor had insisted she did. She decided not to mention that she had only used it once on an actual living target. “Good.” Apple Bloom stopped pacing and addressed the group. “Alright, everypony, here's the plan...” Commander Girard inspected the interior of the barn with a critical eye. It wasn't much, but it would have to do until the order was given to advance on the town. The griffon warrior hoped it wouldn't take much longer: Primitive accommodations aside, the unnatural fog produced by the airship's cloaking magic always made him uneasy. Not to mention, it ironically risked attracting the attention of the ponies, but if any of them had noticed the strange weather they were wisely keeping their distance. The scarecrows were already patrolling the orchards and would apprehend any trespassers. As for the residents of the farm, both ponies had been quickly captured. However, one of them had offered unexpectedly fierce resistance and had actually injured several of Girard's men before being subdued. The stallion had put up quite a fight as well. They were now both securely tied up and gagged in an unused corner of the barn. Girard had requested they be held in the ship's brig but the request had been denied, as he'd feared it might, due to the expedience of the operation. “Hmw dwwh hwu!? Uhmthwuh mwh uh hmf!” The old mare tried in vain to shout some manner of insults at the griffons through her gag, all while struggling against her bonds. She had been doing that for a while now and Girard really wished she would stop. On the other hand, he was beginning to wonder if they had even needed to gag the other one. The large stallion hadn't made a sound since he was captured. He was just sitting there, glaring at them. Girard could hardly wait to take the town so he could have some proper internment camps set up. One of his subordinates entered the barn and saluted. “Sir, we've swept the entire area. Nothing unusual to report.” “No sign of the pony known as Applejack?” Girard asked. The griffon shook his head. “No sir.” That worried Girard. Applejack was designated a high-priority Pony of Interest and historical records indicated that she would be active at the farm during this time period. Girard hoped she was just out of town on this particular day. “What's the word from above?” “The general is reporting our progress to Lady Silver as we speak,” the griffon soldier said. “He will join us for the offensive shortly.” Girard nodded. “Good. Let's get the troops in formation so we can get out of this backwater rat's nest.” “Mwt!?” the old mare grunted furiously. “Rhts nhst?! Mwyhmm uwhthuh...” Girard rolled his eyes. “And not a moment too soon.” Among the trees of the orchards the scarecrows were on the prowl, eerie green eyes flashing in the dense fog. Their leader, perched on the back of a huge timberwolf, cawed the occasional order while directing the others with its spear. So far the patrols had been uneventful. Suddenly a sharp whistle cut through the air. “Hey, numbskulls! Over here!” As one, the troop turned to see Rarity and Pinkie Pie standing side by side out in the open. “Have at thee, villains!” Rarity shouted, taking a battle stance. “Come get some!” Pinkie added for good measure. The scarecrow leader pointed his spear at them, cawing a command, and the entire flock stormed towards the two ponies with crystal spears at the ready and wooden fangs bared. “Ready, Pinkie?” Rarity whispered as they advanced. “I was born ready!” Pinkie replied. “Well, actually, I was born helpless and screaming, but that doesn't sound very...” “Now!” On Rarity's command they both jumped aside, away from each other, revealing that they'd been standing in front of Pinkie's party cannon the whole time. “Party hard!” Pinkie cried and opened fire. A barrage of high-pressure party accessories struck the attackers, and while the blast didn't do a lot of actual damage it was enough to stun them. One scarecrow had its head smashed to pieces by a heavy punch bowl, another got a facefull of strawberry cake. Blinded, it swung its spear around in confusion, injuring several of its comrades. Many more were similarly incapacitated by pies and other assorted pastries. Pinkie kept firing, whooping and shouting taunts the whole time. The few scarecrows that made it through the barrage were swiftly struck down by Rarity, putting her self-defense skills to good use with powerful kicks and bucks. “I can't believe this is working!” she said. “Rainbow, Scootaloo! Your turn!” Two glowing streaks shot out of a nearby apple tree – one purple lightning, the other a brilliant rainbow. They turned in the air and smashed into the rear of the scarecrow squad like a pair of colorful missiles. When the dust settled, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo stood back to back, hooves raised, surrounded by scarecrows and timberwolves. “Remember to destroy their cores,” Scootaloo said, “or they'll just keep coming back for more.” Rainbow nodded. “Gotcha.” “Think you can handle this many?” “Why? Want me to leave some for you?” The two pegasi shared a cocky grin, then leapt into the battle. On the sidelines, the scarecrow commander watched the fight in confusion. Without a griffon to give it instructions, the wooden construct wasn't nearly smart enough to deal with a two-pronged counter-attack. Noticing that another patrol had arrived to reinforce them, it raised its spear and opened its beak to issue an order to regroup, when suddenly a shadow fell over it from above. Future Spike landed right on top of it, smashing rider and timberwolf alike into twigs and splinters. The scarecrow reinforcements stopped dead in their tracks and stared at him. From his seat on his elder's back, little Spike cheerfully waved his claw at them. “Welcome to Ponyville!” And then Future Spike set them all on fire. Chapter 4: The Battle of Sweet Apple Acres (The Fray Part II)Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 1: Medias Res”Now y’all be at yer best behavior when ya get to Canterlot,” said Applejack. ”Don't want them fancy big city ponies thinkin' yer a bunch'a rabble-rousin' backwater yahoos, do ya?” ”Who, us?” Apple Bloom looked up at her sister with a smile of angelic innocence. ”We never rouse any rabbles!” ”Not anymore, anyway,” Sweetie Belle added. ”Who wants a rabble-rousing cutie mark anyway?” Scootaloo muttered. ”Lousy ungrateful rabbles.” ”I'm not worried, Applejack,” Rarity said. ”Then again, my sister is a proper lady in the making, so I'm sure she'll fit right into that elegant metropolitan atmosphere of our fine capital.” Applejack glanced at the three fillies and smiled politely, recalling several incidents involving copious amounts of mud and tree sap. ”Yeah. Sure she will.” All the colts and fillies under Cheerilee's tutelage had gathered at the Ponyville train station for a two-day field trip to the capital, and both Applejack and Rarity had joined them to see their respective sister off. As they were talking, Cheerilee approached them with a pleasant smile: ”Don't worry, you two. I'll make sure they stay in line.” ”It's good knowin' ya'll be there to look after 'em, Cheers,” Applejack told her. ”Ah only know two ponies who can handle these three, an' the other one's Fluttershy,” she cocked her head, ”for reasons Ah'm not entirely clear on.” ”All aboard!” they heard the conductor shout. ”The train leaves for Canterlot in five!” ”That's our call,” said Cheerilee. ”Now hurry up and say goodbye so we can be on our way.” ”Have fun, Apple Boom,” Applejack said, giving the smaller pony an affectionate pat on the head. ”Jus', not too much fun. Try not to knock the whole town off the mountain or somethin'.” ”Heh, I'll do my best,” Apple Bloom laughed. ”Haha,” Applejack laughed back. ”...But seriously. Stay outta trouble.” ”Now, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity crouched by her sister with a serious look on her face, ”what do you do if you meet the stallion of your dreams in Canterlot?” ”I run away as fast as I can and don't look back,” Sweetie Belle said. Rarity put a hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. ”I have taught you well. Now go!” Once Scootaloo managed to tear herself away from her doting aunts, the three crusaders joined their classmates boarding the train. They waved from the windows as the locomotive started huffing and slowly rolled out of the station. Applejack and Rarity smiled and waved back. ”Goin' to be quiet without 'em around,” Applejack said. ”They'll only be gone for two days,” Rarity reminded her. ”But yes, I agree.” Rather than going their separate ways, the two friends left the station together, taking the opportunity to chat and enjoy each other's company. It was a pleasant day and neither were in a hurry. ”Ah'm tellin' ya, Rare,” Applejack said as they walked down the street side by side, ”them kids are gonna take over the world one 'a these days.” ”To think they ended up such good friends,” Rarity smiled. ”And right off the bat, too. More than you can say for us, don't you agree?” Applejack cringed slightly at the memory. ”Yeah, we didn't exactly see eye to eye, did we? Always bickerin' over small stuff like a pair of schoolyard foals, an' makin' poor Twilight put up with it to boot. Not gonna lie, Rare, Ah ain't proud of how Ah acted back then.” ”Nor am I,” Rarity said. ”Nor am I. Fortunately, that's all behind us now.” ”Yeah...” Applejack glanced at her and smirked. ”...Even if yer still a prissy persnickety fussbudget.” ”I beg you pardon?” Rarity feigned a gasp. ”I most certainly am not.” ”Are too.” ”Am not.” ”Are too!” ”Am not!” ”Are too infinity!” ”Am not infinity plus one!” The two mares stopped for a moment and glared at each other. Then, as one, they broke down in uncontrollable giggles. ”Well, at least them kids got off to a good start,” Applejack said, collecting herself. ”Guess that makes 'em smarter than us, huh?” ”You don't suppose they'll actually get their cutie marks soon?” Rarity asked as they continued on their way. ”Oh, just imagine if they have them by the time they get back? Wouldn't that be a surprise?” ”Ah wouldn't bet on it,” Applejack chuckled. ”Ain't ever seen any colt or filly as oblivious 'bout their talents as those three.” ”But it's so obvious!” Rarity groaned. ”You should hear Sweetie Belle singing in the bathtub. She makes up her own tunes and everything.” ”Tell me 'bout it. Ya know Ah dun broke mah fav'rite apple cart the other day? Ah was gonna fix it m'self but Ah had to see Fluttershy 'bout somethin'. By the time Ah got back, Apple Bloom had put it back together just as new, an Ah mean just as new. Ya couldn't tell it'd been broken.” Applejack gave her head a bewildered shake. ”An' don't get me started on that ol' treehouse Ah gave 'em. By now it's practically a real house!” ”Rainbow Dash tells me Scootaloo can do things with that scooter even Rainbow couldn't manage at her age.” Rarity sighed. ”Oh well. I guess one really can't rush these things. At least they're enjoying themselves.” A strong wind suddenly picked up, and Applejack had to hold on to her hat to keep it from blowing off. ”Enjoyin' 'emselves a mite too much, Ah'd say,” she said and rolled her eyes. ”Ah'm tellin' ya, Rare, we ain't seeing them cutie marks any time soon.” The wind grew stronger, and a shining white spark hit the ground right next to Applejack's hoof. ”What in tarnation...?” Realizing something strange was going on, they both looked up and were stunned to see an orb of white light taking shape in the street right in front of them. The air whirled around it like a vortex and it shot white sparks everywhere like fireworks. It grew rapidly in both size and intensity, until it finally seemed to explode and implode at the same time. Applejack and Rarity were momentarily blinded by the flash. When they regained the use of their eyes, they were stunned to see that four figures had appeared in the street in front of them. Four very familiar figures. Three of them were pony mares, and they each bore an uncanny resemblance to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo respectively. In fact, the two dumbfounded friends could both swear they were looking at the actual Cutie Mark Crusaders if not for a very vital difference – these three were not little fillies, but young adults. Indeed, they appeared to be about the same age as Applejack and Rarity. As for the fourth figure, he was... a dragon. He was definitely a dragon, and one very similar to Spike at that. He had the same purple scales and the same emerald eyes. He was much larger than Twilight's trusted assistant, however, and his build was much closer to that of a pony stallion. He even walked on all fours as opposed to Spike's customary two. The spines running down from his head to his long tail, though still the same bright green, were sharp like pointed blades. The beige earth pony with the bright red mane corrected the worn and suspiciously familiar-looking stetson on her head. The white unicorn had her luscious mane impeccably styled and wore a large blue gem in a pendant around her neck. The pegasus, unadorned, stretched her wings as a few lingering sparks of magical energy arced between them. Adding to the already potent surrealism of the scene, they all had cutie marks adorning their flanks. Even the dragon's scaly thigh bore a symbol resembling a stylized green flame. They seemed to have materialized right in the middle of a conversation: ”...and then this whole mess will be over with one way or another,” they heard the one resembling Sweetie Belle tell the others. ”See, I told you it would work. Nothing to worry about.” She looked around. ”Huh, Canterlot seems a lot smaller back here than I remembered.” ”...I don't think this is Canterlot,” said the very Spike-like dragon. ”Oh horseapples!” maybe-Apple Bloom swore. ”This is Ponyville! We're in the wrong town!” ”I don’t believe this! You had one job, Sweetie Belle!” possibly-Scootaloo groaned. ”One job!” ”Haha, whoops?” Sweetie Belle chuckled with a nervous grin. ”Now let's not panic. It could be worse. We could have ended up in Manehattan or something. This is still doable.” While they were talking, Spike turned his long neck around and saw Applejack and Rarity staring at the group with gaping mouths. A look of absolute terror appeared on his reptilian face. ”Um, girls...” ”Still doable?” Apple Bloom glared at Sweetie Belle. ”Our whole plan hinged on us gettin' the job done before we disturbed the timeline too much! Now we're set back at least a day!” ”Girls...” ”We just need to be careful and keep a low profile until then. How hard can that be?” ”Girls!” ”What!?” Apple Bloom yelled, and the three mares turned to look where Spike was pointing, finally noticing Applejack and Rarity. ”...Oh galldarnit all to hay,” Apple Bloom swore. Applejack stared in utter disbelief, her mouth hanging wide open. Next to her, she heard Rarity mumble: ”You were saying, Applejack?” Fervidor Presents: TIME CRUSADE An MLP:FiM Fanfic Chapter I: Medias Res. An awkward silence reigned for a few moments. Both parties gawked at each other, too shocked to speak. Applejack broke the silence first: ”A-Apple Bloom? Is that you?” ”Apple Bloom? Who's Apple Bloom?” The redhead grinned a manic grin, desperately looking around for a way to escape like a wild animal. She and her companions where clearly trying to slowly inch their way backwards. ”Ah have no idea what yer talkin' about, strange pony Ah've never met before!” Applejack's eyes narrowed and she took a decisive step forward. ”Ya can't fool me, Apple Bloom. Ya think I don't recognize my own sister? Where'd y’all come from? Why're y'all grown up, with cutie marks'n everythin'? And... is that my hat yer wearin'?” ”N-Now listen here, AJ,” Apple Bloom had started sweating now, ”Ah know this must seem really weird but Ah swear, there's a powerful good explanation for all 'a this. Ya see, the thing is that run for it!” As one, all four of them turned on the spot and ran away, leaving a cloud of dust and two very confused ponies behind. ”Rare,” Applejack said. ”Did...” Did we just see what appeared to be our sisters, Scootaloo and Spike from the future? ”...Did that just happen?” ”I'm not sure,” Rarity said. ”I think so.” ”Come on!” Snapping out of her daze, Applejack suddenly sprinted down the street, chasing after the mysterious group. Rarity was caught by surprise, but quickly gave chase as well. ”So, why exactly are we chasing them?” she managed to ask between labored breaths, struggling to keep up. Her routine jewel collecting expeditions and weekly self-defense classes had kept her in pretty decent shape, but she was no athlete. ”Do you have any idea what's going on?” ”Ain't got the foggiest,” Applejack replied. ”But if they're the real deal, then whatever they're up to has to be real important. 'Sides,” she shot Rarity a quick grin, ”aren't ya curious?” Ahead of them, Apple Bloom looked back over her shoulder and groaned. ”Darnit, they're commin' after us!” ”I don't think I can outrun Applejack,” Sweetie Belle gasped, already getting winded. ”Spike! Scoots!” Apple Bloom shouted. ”Let's split up! We'll meet up at Point Delta after we shake 'em off!” ”Roger that!” Scootaloo said, gliding in the air above them. She flapped her wings, gaining speed and altitude as she took to the sky. ”Be careful!” Spike said and broke away as well. He launched himself into the air with a mighty leap, landing on the roof of a nearby house and disappearing behind it. ”I think we lost the dragon,” Rarity said. ”Let him go,” Applejack replied. ”Where he gonna hide? He doesn't exactly blend in.” ”What about Scootaloo?” Applejack's eyes scanned the sky, then she smiled when she found what she was looking for. ”Ah think it's time we got some backup.” Rainbow Dash regarded the cloud with a thoughtful look. It was a nice cloud, sure, but it needed some work. She was a pony of high standards, after all, no matter what Rarity said. She turned the cloud around ten degrees, but after checking the position of the sun, she changed her mind and turned it a few degrees back. Then the stuck her hooves into it and fluffed it up like a giant pillow of soft cottony perfection. She smiled and let herself collapse on top of it, placing her forelegs behind her head as she sunk into the white surface. ”Oh yeah. Now this is what I call an awesome napping cloud!” She was just about to drift off into sleep when she caught movement in the corner of her eye. She sat up just in time to see an orange, purple-maned pegasus mare rocket straight towards her. The mare, noticing her at the same time, held her wings up and came to a screeching halt in mid-air. Rainbow smiled. ”Nice moves! Haven't seen you around before.” Then she cocked her head, frowning slightly. ”Or have I?” ”Gack!” the orange pegasus croaked, made a very strange face at Rainbow, and threw herself into a barrel roll that neatly bypassed the cloud, leaving a streak of purple lightning behind her. Rainbow whistled. ”Oh, she's good!” ”Rainbow Dash!” Looked down, Rainbow spotted Applejack galloping through the Ponyville streets with Rarity trailing behind. ”Hey, AJ. What's the rush?” ”No time to explain!” Applejack shouted. ”Catch that pegasus for us, will ya!” Rainbow gave her a quick salute with her hoof. ”I'm on it!” She shot off after the purple lightning streak, leaving her own rainbow trail behind her. She didn't really get what was going on but she trusted Applejack and besides, she never backed down from a good race. She grinned. This was going to be fun! Down on the ground, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were still trying to evade their sisters. ”They're still gaining on us!” Sweetie Belle said. ”Stubborn as ever, huh?” Apple Bloom groaned. ”Well, we better think of somethin', then, an' fast!” ”Hang on!” Sweetie Belle concentrated and her horn started to glow green. ”I'm going to try to teleport us.” Apple Bloom's eyes went wide. ”Oh hay no! Anythin' but that! Sweetie Belle, don't you dare...” ”No time! Here we go!” Sweetie Belle released the spell despite her friend's protests, and the two of them vanished in a flash. Applejack and Rarity stopped running. ”Oh come on!” Rarity gasped. ”She can teleport? I can't teleport! Now what do we do?” Applejack's pulse still raced, but she forced herself to stay calm and think. ”...Rarity, did ya get a look at that gem Sweetie Belle was wearin'?” ”Of course,” Rarity replied. It surprised her somewhat Applejack had noticed that detail. ”A sapphire, I think, or possibly a blue diamond. Quite fetching, if I may say so.” ”Think ya can use that special spell o'yers to trace it?” Rarity hadn't thought of that. A wide grin appeared on her face. ”Oh, it is on!” ”Are you sure you don't want to fly in the balloon instead?” Spike asked for the third time. ”I told you, I'm fine!” Princess Twilight Sparkle insisted. Almost as if to prove herself wrong, the brief distraction made her lose her balance for a moment and she was nearly sent careening into the balloon's basket. Gritting her teeth, she managed to get her unruly wings under control again. ”I have to learn how to do this sooner or later.” They were heading home to Ponyville after visiting Canterlot on royal business. While the two of them had made such trips in the past, the visits had become much more frequent since Twilight was crowned princess. This time she had opted to make use of her new wings and fly back on her own rather than ride in the balloon with Spike. The return trip wasn't so bad, after all – with gravity mostly working in her favor, she could focus on gliding and simple maneuvers while keeping her eyes on the small town below the mountain. She could even hold a conversation at the same time, which was a considerable improvement compared to when she had first started out flying. She was still a long way from being able to make the trip in the other direction, though, and wondered for the hundredth time how Rainbow Dash made it look so easy. ”You could have at least brought a pegasi escort along,” Spike commented. ”They could have given you some pointers.” ”No thanks,” Twilight muttered. ”It's bad enough I have to embarrass myself in front of my friends. I'd rather not let the guards see me make a fool out of myself as well.” Spike glanced at her, grinning slightly. ”Especially not Flash Sentry, huh?” Twilight almost crashed into the basket again. ”Spike!” ”Twilight has a booyfrieeend!” Spike giggled in a sing-song voice. Blushing furiously, Twilight glared daggers at him as she wobbled in the air. Spike settled down. ”Aw, I'm just teasing you, Twilight. But seriously, why didn't you just ask him to come along? I'm sure he wouldn't mind.” Twilight frowned. ”I guess, but it's not like I need a bodyguard in Ponyville. And I can't just ask him to come with me because I find him a-attractive. That's a bit... transparent, don't you think?” She sighed. ”And anyway, he's not the same Flash Sentry I got to know in the other world. What if he doesn't feel that way about me?” ”You worry too much. You should totally ask him out.” Spike's smile faded. ”Maybe then I'll work up the courage to confess to Rarity,” he added quietly. ”Spike...” Twilight frowned. This was always an uncomfortable subject: She didn't want to see her adoptive little brother heartbroken and, she was sure, neither did Rarity. But for all her lack of social grace, Twilight knew this wouldn't end well. To her relief, Spike seemed to sense the awkward mood as well and quickly changed the subject: ”I wish this thing would fly faster. I'm starving!” ”You should have eaten something before we left,” Twilight said, then she smiled. ”Oh well, I was going to save the surprise until we got home, but if you check my saddlebags there's something inside for you.” Spike stuck his arm into the bag and his eyes went wide as he pulled out a huge flawless ruby. ”Wow! This is for me? Where'd you get this?” Twilight tried not to look smug and failed spectacularly. ”What can I say? Being a princess has its perks.” ”I'll say!” Spike laughed. ”Thanks, Twilight, you're the best!” Wasting no time, he took a bite out of the jewel and started munching on it with a blissful smile. Spike was a happy dragon. Spike was not a happy dragon. After escaping across the rooftop, he had ducked down in a garden and was now crouching behind a hedge that was only barely high enough to hide his large body. Judging by the flower cutie mark adorning the front door of the house as well as the mailbox, the garden belonged to Cheerilee. Spike hoped she was at the school or otherwise not at home. It occurred to him that he didn't even know the day of the week, much less to which exact date Sweetie Belle's spell had taken them. Spike closed his eyes and focused. Sensing the magical aura from Sweetie Belle's jewel pendant, he determined that she was still in the general vicinity, and he assumed Apple Bloom was still with her. Apple Bloom had told them to meet up at Point Delta. That was Crusader code for the old train station warehouse – most likely, the new plan was to stay out of sight and try to sneak aboard a train for Canterlot. He considered his options. Judging by the sun it was still fairly early in the day so there was no use waiting for nightfall. He briefly considered attempting to conjure up a disguise with his magic, but the last time he'd tried to shapeshift into a pony he'd ended up looking like a draconeequs for a whole day. He cringed at the memory, and would rather not relive it. Teleportation wasn't really an option either – he knew the theory but hadn't quite yet figured out how to teleport himself in practice, and this wasn't a good time to start experimenting. He could simply blow a smoke screen and make a run for it in the confusion, but then the ponies might think there was a fire and panic. Being back in Ponyville was making him feel nostalgic and he didn't want to cause trouble if he could help it. He cautiously stuck his head up over the hedge to survey the area. Luckily, there weren't a lot of ponies out and about. ”Maybe if I just walk down the street and act really casual, nopony will notice I'm a dragon?” He considered this. ”...Yeah, that's a terrible idea. Still, I guess I don't have any other options.” Taking one last look to make sure there was nopony around, Spike jumped over the hedge and landed on all fours, agile like a cat despite his size. At that same moment, however, the door of a nearby house opened and Golden Harvest stepped outside. She immediately froze when she saw the young dragon, and he reacted the same way. They stared at each other for a moment. ”Um, good morning?” Spike said, waving a claw at her. Not even taking the time to scream, Golden Harvest spun around and ran back inside her house like her tail had caught fire. Spike frowned. ”I'd forgotten how hurtful that was.” Sighing, he continued on his way, trying his best to walk both as casually and stealthily as possible while making his way down the road. Okay, Spike, stay cool. Stay casual. Just minding my own business. Nothing to see here, everything is fine. I'm just a pony who happens to look like a huge, spiky reptile. Wow, this was a stupid idea! Even so, for a short while it actually seemed to be working. Then he rounded a corner and more or less ran straight into Fluttershy. ”Oh ponyfeathers,” Spike swore. The moment she laid eyes on him, Fluttershy gasped loudly and stumbled backwards, her wings clenching tight to her sides. ”D-d-d...” she stuttered, inching away from him. ”A d... A d-dr-dra-dra...” ”Oh no!” Spike had seen this reaction before and knew what was about to happen. He put his claws up in what he hoped was a calming gesture and smiled a toothy grin for good measure. ”Fluttershy, please don't panic! You recognize me, right? I'm S...” ”D-D-DRAAAGOOON!” Fluttershy screamed and turned tail, running away from him as fast as she could. ”Everypony run for your lives! There's a draaagon in town!” ”Oh no!” Without thinking, Spike started chasing after her. ”No no no no no no! Don't do that! Let me explain! Please stop screaming! I'm trying to keep a low profile!” Scootaloo shot through the air like an arrow, her purple contrail drawing an iridescent line against the azure blue. A quick look behind her confirmed her greatest fear – Rainbow Dash pursued her at full throttle, sporting a grin of pathological competitiveness that Scootaloo knew only too well. ”It's okay, Scootaloo,” she told herself, ”just keep calm. I mean, sure, it's Rainbow Dash, the legendary pegasus who taught you everything you know about flying. And she's in her prime now. But you can still outfly her! You're fast! You're awesome! You're...” Rainbow Dash casually swooped down next the Scootaloo, seemingly without effort. ”You know, you look really familiar.” ”Aaark!” Scootaloo immediately flared her wings and twisted her body into a cobra turn, changing direction almost on the spot. Rainbow, unprepared, had to make a much slower standard turn and fell behind again. But she didn't stop grinning. ”Oooh, tricky!” ”Okay!” Scootaloo gasped. Her heart beat furiously, and not only because of the adrenalin. ”So I was wrong. I can't outfly Rainbow. But I can still outmaneuver her!” And so the two pegasi began a strange dance through the air – each time Rainbow closed the distance, Scootaloo would perform some daring aerobatic stunt and evade her. Rainbow soon seemed to be getting used to her movements, however, and kept getting closer each time. Scootaloo decided to raise the stakes and led them back to Ponyville. Flying low, she zigg-zagged between buildings, pinballing against walls, rebounding off street signs and swinging herself around chimneys – anything to throw Rainbow off. All over town, ponies stopped and marveled at the spectacle. Who the hay is this girl? Rainbow thought. I know I've seen her before somewhere but I can't put my hoof on it! I should have at least heard of her, anypony this good could have made the Wonderbolt Academy easily! She still had no idea why exactly she was chasing this mystery mare in the first place, but at this point it was personal. She growled through her teeth as her prey evaded her by a hair yet again. ”Well, two can play that game!” She spotted a collection of smaller clouds above town, intended to be distributed by the weather team later. She grinned as a clever idea occurred to her. Rainbow Dash did have her clever moments, no matter what Twilight said. Taking advantage of her superior speed, she began to herd Scootaloo upwards by continuously attacking from below. Scootaloo didn't see the trap and decided to lose Rainbow among the clouds. Instead, it was Rainbow who flew behind a cloud and suddenly disappeared from view. Scootaloo slowed down, frantically looking around. She knew Rainbow Dash hadn't given up and that an ambush could come at any time. She caught a glimpse of something colorful in the corner of her eyes and dodged in the last moment, her lightning reflexes only barely letting her evade the polychromatic projectile. But Rainbow had counted on that – her real aim had been one of the nearby clouds. As her hoofs struck it she instantly kicked off towards another cloud, and then another, rapidly ricocheting randomly through the air so fast that Scootaloo couldn't track her movements.”Gotcha!” Rainbow cried, finally catching her in a blind spot and tackling her straight into one of the clouds. Scootaloo struggled to get up, but found herself firmly pinned down. Rainbow laughed triumphantly. ”How you like that? Let's see you dance around now!” Then she blinked in surprise, finally getting a good look at her prey up close. ”Oh, wow? ...Well, now I'm hurt. Scootaloo never told me she's got an actual sister.” Scootaloo looked up at the colorful mare holding her down. Rainbow was practically glowing from excitement, grinning her usual cocky grin and breathing heavily in a way that made Scootaloo's cheeks burn. Don't say ”I love you”! Don't say ”I love you”! Scootaloo, do not say ”I love you”! ”...I'm so attracted to you right now!” Dammit! ”...Wait, what?” Rainbow momentarily pulled away on reflex, surprised by the unexpected confession, and her hold weakened. Scootaloo saw her chance and gave Rainbow a hard shove, freeing herself. She threw herself from the cloud, somersaulting into the air, and then... No way! Rainbow recognized the move, but seeing it surprised her so much that she could only stare, completely neglecting to close her eyes for what was to come. A moment later a bright flash of light blinded her. She cursed under her breath, rubbing her eyes while colorful spots danced before her vision. ”What in the hay!? That was a Buccaneer Blaze!” That move was one of her personal techniques, her second best after the Sonic Rainboom. It had taken her two months to master it and so far she had only performed it in public on a few rare occasions. No other pegasus should have be able to do it. Not even the Wonderbolts! By the time her vision returned, the mysterious pegasus had already made it halfway back to Ponyville. Rainbow immediately gave chase, even more determined than before. None of this made any sense to her, and she wanted answers. ”Seriously, what is going on here!?” The dim alleyway lay silent, deserted save for a lone tomcat lazily sauntering along one of the walls. After a failed romantic advance on that snooty white queen at the Carousel Boutique, he felt very disinclined to do anything productive with his day, even by cat standards, and was now looking for a good place to nap. He spotted a bale of hay that had been discarded by a nearby restaurant since the hay had gone stale and was no longer suitable for cooking. The cat however estimated that it would make for an adequate bed and approached it. The bale then exploded in a bright green flash, scattering sparks and bits of incinerated hay all over the ally like a rain of flaming confetti. The cat ran for his life, scared out of his wits and with every hair on his body standing on end. This event would later cause him to suffer insomnia as well as a severe phobia of hay. However, with the help of supportive friends and plenty of therapy, he soon overcame the trauma and became a respected and productive member of society, at least by cat standards. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle found themselves in the spot where the obliterated bale had just been, disoriented and slightly singed from the slipshod teleportation spell. Apple Bloom coughed and struggled to regain her bearings. ”Ah hate it when ya do that.” ”Hey, it worked, didn't it?” Sweetie Belle replied, wiping the soot off her face. ”Sorta.” In the sky high above them, Scootaloo suddenly flashed by as if all of Tartarus was after her. She was followed by Rainbow Dash in close pursuit. ”Hey, come back here! I wanna talk to you!” Somewhere in the distance, a shrill but familiar voice cried out: ”Dragon! It'll burn our homes and devour us all!” Apple Bloom facehoofed. ”This mission is a disaster.” ”Chin up,” Sweetie Belle said, ”we haven't caused a Fray yet. So what now?” ”Ain't nothin' we can do for Scootaloo and Spike,” Apple Bloom said. ”They'll just have to fend for 'emselves. Both of 'em can travel much faster than us two anyhow. We have to get to the station without bein' spotted by...” All of a sudden Rarity and Applejack appeared around a corner. ”There they are!” Sweetie Belle sighed. ”Now we have to run again.” And so they ran, out of the ally and unto the street, with their relentless pursuers hot on their hooves. ”How in the hay did they find us already?” Apple Bloom growled. Looking back, Sweetie Belle recognized the familiar blue glow around her sister's horn. ”Ponyfeathers! I think Rarity is tracing my pendant.” The two of them rounded a corner, Apple Bloom skidding slightly on her hooves from her own velocity. ”So throw it away!” she yelled as they headed towards the market area. ”What?” Sweetie Belle shrieked. ”Are you brain dead? No way!” Apple Bloom jumped over a barrel, bucking it behind her in the desperate hope it would distract their sisters momentarily. ”Sweetie Belle, this ain't the time to be sentimental!” ”I am not throwing my pendant away, Apple Bloom!” ”Well then run faster!” ”Did you hear something?” Twilight asked, her right ear twitching slightly. Since her transformation into an alicorn, she had found that her senses had become somewhat sharper, including her hearing. By now they had reached Ponyville and were closing in on the library. Spike, whose senses had always been very acute, leaned over the edge of the basket and frowned. ”I dunno. Maybe? Seems to be some sort of commotion in town today.” ”Isn't there always?” Twilight chuckled. ”Sometimes I wonder if this place can go a week without something crazy...” She was cut short by an all too familiar scream. This time, she and Spike both heard it clearly. Twilight gasped. ”That sounded like...” ”Fluttershy!” Acting without thinking, Spike immediately jumped out of the basket. Fortunately, the balloon was close enough to the ground for him to land unharmed. He rolled on impact and came up sprinting. ”Hang on, Fluttershy! I'm coming!” ”Spike! Wait!” Twilight yelled. ”Don't run off on your owoooaaaah!” Too distracted to control her flight, she suddenly swerved off course. She desperately flapped her wings but that only made it worse and with a brief undignified scream, Princess Twilight Sparkle crashed straight into the branches of her own tree home. For a brief moment she rested precariously on one of the upper branches, then it suddenly broke with a loud snapping sound. With wings forgotten and hooves wildly flailing, Twilight fell once again, this time landing hard on her balcony below. Her whole body hurt, and her mane was full of leaves and twigs, but luckily she didn't seem to have broken anything. Pegasus toughness was another advantage of her new form. ”Why not fly home on your own today, Twilight?” she muttered as she picked herself up. ”It will be good practice, Twilight! Me and my brilliant ideas...” ”Wooords come eeeaasy!” Pinkie Pie sang, happily pushing the large baby carriage towards Sugarcube Corner. ”Bwuuubwawawewesy!” Pumpkin Cake replied enthusiastically. Next to her, Pound Cake just laughed at their antics. ”That's right!” Pinkie said. ”Wooords cooome eeeaasy! Words do come easy when you sing a happy song! Wapda-wap-babbi-dabbidi-do!” She had once again been tasked with babysitting the twins for the day as the Cakes had to make a large last minute delivery, but Pinkie certainly didn't object. She loved spending time with the babies, though she wished they would hurry up and learn how to talk. If Pinkie loved one thing more than talking to her friends, it was talking with her friends. In an attempt to foster linguistic development, she had taken to singing a little pedagogic song she'd made up, encouraging them to sing along. It didn't seem to be working too well, but it kept them entertained and that was the important thing. Suddenly a very Fluttershy scream interrupted the song: ”Draaaagoooon!” Pinkie gasped. ”That sounded like Fluttershy! She needs my help!” Then she frowned. ”Oh, but if there's a rampaging dragon in town, I need to get the babies safe. My Nana Pinkie always said that babies and rampaging dragons simply don't mix!” She bit her lip, torn between dual responsibilities. As she was standing there trying to make up her mind, Spike came sprinting by as fast as his short legs would carry him. ”HeyPinkiecan'tstayandchatgottasaveFluttershy!” Pinkie perked up, feeling relieved. Leaving the dragon crisis to her dragon friend made a lot of sense – Spike was an expert in the field, after all. ”Don't worry, Spike!” she yelled after him. ”The babies are safe with me! Go get 'im, big guy!” Spike barely heard her. He was too focused on his task, following the sound of the screams. As he approached Sugarcube Corner he finally caught sight of Fluttershy, and then he saw the dragon chasing her: Wingless, with green spines and purple scales, and roguishly handsome in a strangely familiar way. This dragon was still a juvenile by the standards of their species, about the same size as Garble. Of course, that still made him much larger than Spike. It suddenly occurred to the baby drake that he didn't have a plan – he had simply reacted on an instinct he hadn't known he possessed; to help a friend in need. But it was too late to reevaluate his strategy. He would just have to buy time until Twilight caught up. Fluttershy had been backed against the entrance of the bakery – she had tried to flee inside only to find the doors locked, and now she just cowered in a pathetic quivering heap. ”L-Leave me alone!” she wailed. The dragon reared and brandished his terrifying claws. ”Please stop, you're making me look like the bad guy here!” he growled menacingly. ”Hold it right there!” Spike said, striking a dramatic pose and pointing defiantly at the reptilian invader. ”You may be a dragon, and you may be much bigger and stronger than me, and I may not actually have thought this through at all, but I won't let you hurt my friend!” Amazingly, the teenage dragon actually did stop, made wide eyes upon seeing Spike, and started to back away from him. ”Oh no! Not you! You stay away from me!” Spike blinked. That was not the reaction he'd expected. Frowning, he quickly looked over his shoulder. He knew this cliché and fully expected to find, say, Princess Celestia standing right behind him. To his surprise, however, there was nopony there. He looked back at the other dragon, who still appeared horrified. Spike started to grin. He had no idea why, but this older, larger dragon actually seemed to be afraid of him! “So, you think you're hot stuff, huh?” he said and strode forward, full of newfound confidence. “Think you can come to my town and start trouble, huh?” The other dragon shuffled backwards, almost stumbling on his own tail. “No, I'm serious, keep your distance!” Spike ignored him. He was on a roll now and had no intention of stopping. “Well, I've got news for you, buster! This town ain't big enough for two dragons!” With a muffled curse, the teen dragon turned tail and ran. Too caught up in the moment to think rationally, Spike started to chase after him. “That's right, run!” he laughed with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. “Run or face the fury of Spike!” As he fled, the older dragon cringed. “Why does life have to be so ironic?” He didn't make it very far, though, because the next moment an orange pegasus mare came speeding around a corner, pursued by Rainbow Dash, and proceeded to crash right into him. They were both knocked to the ground. “Dammit, Scootaloo!” he growled. Scootaloo groaned and picked herself up. “Sorry Spike.” "Whoa! Dragon!" Rainbow blurted, coming to a halt in the air above them. "Wait a minute, Scootaloo?” Spike stared at the other dragon, his earlier bravado forgotten in the confusion. “...Your name is Spike too?” “Spike! Scootaloo!” They all turned their heads to see Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle come running through the market place, followed by Applejack and Rarity. Sweetie Belle, at the limits of her endurance, was starting to fall behind. They had almost made it to Sugarcube Corner when she tripped on something and stumbled into the dirt road. “Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom cried, half turned to her fallen companion . “Sweetie Belle!?” Spike and Rainbow both exclaimed as one, just as a purple and green blur ran past them. The older Spike had reacted with speed uncanny for his size, leaping between Sweetie Belle and her pursuers in one motion. He opened his fanged maw and unleashed a terrifying roar, causing Applejack and Rarity to stop dead in their tracks as their primal instincts suddenly kicked in. He glared at them. ”Look, I really don't want to fight you girls, so please back off.” Applejack regained her nerve first. ”Outta my way, ya big lizard!” ”Applejack, maybe we should listen to him?” Rarity whispered, looking a lot less enthused. ”He's bigger than us. And sharper. And more indestructible.” The dragon glanced at his three companions. ”You girls run, I'll hold them off.” ”We can't just leave you!” Sweetie Belle protested. ”No, he's right!” Apple Bloom said and tried to drag her along. ”We can still pull this off but we need to move now!” ”Oh no, you don't!” They now found the other way blocked by Rainbow Dash, standing wide-legged with wings flared, apparently intending to stop all three of them if needed. ”You're not going anywhere!” Spike, meanwhile, simply stared at the scene with wide eyes. ”Okay, I'm so confused now.” ”ENOUGH! WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME DO YOU ALL THINK YOU'RE DOING!?” Everypony froze in place, seemingly paralyzed by Twilight Sparkle's deafening cry. Princess Luna had been giving her lessons on how to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. They all turned to see Twilight Sparkle approaching them. She was flanked by Fluttershy, who still looked very apprehensively at the older Spike, and Pinkie Pie with her baby carriage, having determined that neither of the two dragons were rampaging at the moment. Twilight gave the group a hard look and tried to seem as authoritative as possible, despite still having a few twigs sticking out of her mane. ”Well, now that everypony has finally calmed down a bit, mind telling me what's going on here?” ”Well, ya see,” Applejack began, ”me an' Rarity had just dropped off the Cutie Mark Crusaders at the station, an' we were mindin' our own business when these four just plum showed up outta nowhere!” ”Mindin' yer own business, my hoof!” Apple Bloom muttered. ”Y'all started chasin' us!” ”Don't interrupt me, Apple Bloom!” Applejack snapped. ”We only chased y'all because ya ran away instead of answerin' our questions.” ”Wait a minute, that's Apple Bloom?” Twilight's eyes widened as she took a closer look at the three mares. ”You are the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Pinkie Pie giggled. ”But they're all... big!” ”Yeah, an' they all have cutie marks now!” Applejack said. ”An' Apple Bloom's wearin' my hat!” ”But Applejack, you're wearing your hat too,” Pinkie pointed out. ”Ah know!” Applejack cried. ”That's what's so suspicious!” At this point, Twilight noticed that a crowd of ponies had started to converge on the group. Most ponies would instinctively run and hide at the first sign of trouble, but now that she'd managed to get the situation under control, their natural curiosity was taking over. “Please step aside! Let me through! Official Ponyville business!” came a voice from within the crowd as Mayor Mare jostled her way through the mass of ponies. ”Twilight! What in the wide world of Equestria is the meaning of all this?” Twilight Sparkle glanced at the Crusaders, who all looked rather awkward now. She seemed to weigh her options for a moment, then she sighed slightly. ”Nothing to worry about, Madam Mayor,” she said. ”We have everything under control. Spike and the fillies just had a bit of an accident with a misfired age spell, that's all.” ”...A misfired age spell?” Mayor Mare's eyes narrowed. ”And why are there two Spikes?” ”Duplication spell,” Twilight replied. “My bad.” ”Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Mayor Mare said, her voice firm. ”With all due respect, I know I'm just an earth pony but even I know that's completely...” Twilight put her hoof up, silencing her. ”I'm sorry, but that's our story and we're sticking to it. At least for now. Please let me handle this.” For a brief moment Mayor Mare looked like she wanted to object again, but then she sighed. ”...As you say, your Highness. I'll leave this to you.” Twilight offered her a grateful smile. “Thank you, Mayor.” “Just please don't make me regret it,” Mayor Mare added. She turned around and addressed the crowd. “Alright, everypony, there's nothing to see here! Please disperse in an orderly manner!” The townsponies did as told and though many curious glances still lingered, the situation soon returned to a semblance of normalcy. Looking quite annoyed, Twilight turned to the Crusaders. ”Now look what you've done. I had to use my authority as princess. I hate having to use my authority around Ponyville!” ”Sorry Twilight,” Apple Bloom said. ”Ah guess the game's up now, so we might as well explain what's goin' on. But jus' so ya know, it's all gonna sound mighty weird.” ”You're from the future,” Twilight said, as if casually commenting on the weather. Apple Bloom sighed. ”That obvious, huh?`” ”Well, you're clearly the Cutie Mark Crusaders, except older,” Twilight said. ”It's really not that hard to figure out. I have traveled through time once myself, after all.” She cocked her head. ”Though, I'm guessing you're not from next Tuesday morning, huh?” ”Not quite,” Sweetie Belle grinned. ”Actually,” Scootaloo said. ”we're from about ten years into the future.” She glared at Sweetie Belle. ”Assuming our mighty sorceress here didn't get the time spell completely wrong.” ”You're never going to let that go, are you?” Sweetie Belle muttered. ”It's a complicated spell! I've never gone this far back before and I got the destination a little bit wrong. So sue me.” ”Oh Sweet Celestia!” younger Spike said with a look of horror on his face. ”The Cutie Mark Crusaders are time travelers!” Sweetie Belle chuckled. ”It's not as bad as it sounds.” ”It is exactly as bad as it sounds,” older Spike deadpanned. ”We haven't even been here for half an hour and look at the mess we've gotten ourselves into.” ”Well, I can tell this is going to take a while,” Twilight said, turning to Pinkie Pie. ”Pinkie, do you think the Cakes would mind if we commandeer Sugarcube Corner for a while?” “Nah,” Pinkie said. “They won't be back for a while but since it's you, I don't think it'll be a problem if I let you guys in. Besides, I have to get the babies their munchy-lunchies, and this all sounds way too fun to miss out on.” Meanwhile, Spike was eyeing his older self with a mixture of fascination and concern. “So, you're me from the future, huh?” The older Spike looked very uncomfortable. “Yeah.” “So, um...” Spike hesitated. “If I touch you, are we both going to turn into orange goop and disappear?" “What?” Future Spike stared at his younger self in sudden confusion. “Why in the hay would that happen?” “I guess you don't remember, but I read this book once,” Spike explained, “where the villain died because he touched himself from the future, and they couldn't be in the same place at once or something like that, so they both turned into orange goop. And back there, you were going all: 'Stay away from me!' so I thought...” “Oh! No, no,” Future Spike shook his head. ”That doesn't happen. We can touch each other just fine. It's just that when you cross your own timeline, things tend to get kinda...” “Complicated?” Spike guessed. “I was going to say stupid.” Twilight rolled her eyes. Part of her found the discussion fascinating, but they had more important things to discuss. “Spike...” “Yes?” both Spikes replied as one. “Okay, that is going to get really annoying,” Twilight said. She pointed at the teen and baby dragon respectively: “From now on you are Big Spike and you are Little Spike.” “I don't want to be Little Spike!” Spike argued. “That sounds ridiculous. Can't we just call me Spike and him Future Spike?” Future Spike grinned. “And why can't you be Past Spike?” “Because unlike you, I actually belong in this time,” Spike said. “If anything, I should be Present Spike. And besides...” “Just get inside the bakery!” Twilight groaned. And so they all found themselves sitting around the largest table in Sugarcube Corner, except for Pinkie who served them all refreshments and then saw about getting the twins fed. All eyes were turned on the four time travelers. “Now then,” Twilight said, “why don't you tell us why you're here? We're all very anxious to hear about it.” “It's kind of a long story,” Apple Bloom said. “Ya see, there's this epic pony war in the future an'...” “Ha!” Twilight exclaimed. Then she noticed the looks she was getting and blushed from embarrassment. “Sorry, that sounds terrible and I shouldn't laugh. It's just that last time...” She waved her hoof. “You know what, it doesn't matter. So I'm guessing you four came back here to prevent this war?” “Well, somethin' like that, yeah,” Apple Bloom replied. Twilight frowned. “In that case I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. When I tried to change the past, not only did I fail but I actually created the circumstances of the thing I tried to prevent. That would imply that time is a fixed series of predetermined events, and that changing the past is impossible. That's why I never bothered trying to travel in time a second time. It's pretty pointless.” “We know all that,” Spike said. “But that's not all there is to it. Turns out time travel is a lot more complicated than we first thought. I'm sure you've guessed it by now, but the time spell we're using is different from the one Star Swirl created.” “As a matter of fact, that's why we're here,” Sweetie Belle said. “We need to get the original time travel spell from the Star Swirl wing in Canterlot.” “Hold on,” Rainbow Dash raised a hoof. “I'm confused. What does Star Swirl's time spells have to do with an epic pony war in the future?” ”Actually,” Apple Bloom said, pointing with her hoof, ”it's kinda all her fault.” The room went silent. Pinkie Pie, who had been busy making airplane noises with a spoon full of baby food, looked up from the twins and found that everypony were staring at her. ”...What?” Author's Note So, finally, here we are. I can honestly say that this fanfic is the most insane story I have set out to write so far. Ten main characters in the first chapter, two of whom is the same person. Oh yeah, I can already tell this was a great idea! Speaking of which: As you can already tell, this fanfic will occasionally involve double versions of the same character interacting with each other. I don't really have any particular plan for how to handle that, so I'm going to play it a little bit by ear. Do let me know if it gets too confusing to follow though. Bonus Material: Crusaders character art!
Chapter 2: Time ShenanigansApplejack was the first to break the silence. “Now just wait a darn minute! Yer telling us that Pinkie Pie is gonna cause an epic pony war in the future?” Pinkie gasped. “I'm going to do whaaaaaat?” “Of course she ain't,” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Don't be silly, the only war Pinkie Pie could start is a food fight. Ah meant the baby. It's Pumpkin Cake who ends up makin' a mess of everythin'.” Pinkie Pie sighed and wiped her forehead with her hoof. “Phew! What a relief!” Then she gasped again. “Wait, Pumpkin Cake going to do whaaaaaat?” She faced the small foal, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears. “Oh, Pumpkin! How could you? You're such a sweet and innocent little girl. Why? Why must you turn to evil?” “Abwawa,” Pumpkin Cake replied and tried to eat her bib. “Nam nam.” “Calm down,” Apple Bloom said. “She turns out just fine.” “Yeah,” Scootaloo muttered under her breath, “if by fine you mean a cocky, entitled little...” An elbow from Sweetie Belle silenced her. “Y'all probably noticed by now,” Apple Bloom carried on, “but Pumpkin here ain't exactly a normal foal. Neither's her brother, granted, but Pumpkin is really somethin' else.” Almost as if to demonstrate, Pumpkin Cake's tiny horn lit up and she causally levitated a nearby napkin into her mouth. “Nam nam nam.” “See that?” Apple Bloom gestured at her. “That's what Ah'm talkin' about. Twilight, would ya say that's normal for a unicorn her age? The magic, Ah mean, not the napkin.” “Well, no, not at all,” Twilight said. “I always did think that was strange. Sudden surges in magic are pretty common, but most unicorns can't cast even simple spells until they're much older. I've never even heard of a baby unicorn actually levitating something on purpose.” “Not to mention walking through walls,” Pinkie added, gently separating the napkin from the baby. “Or flying, or making her toys come alive, or...” “Right,” Apple Bloom interupted. “That's because she's a genius. An' Ah don't just mean that magic is her special talent – it's that too, but Ah mean she's a genuine, bona fide genius.” “Pumpkin Cake is so good at magic, she doesn't even think about it the same way other unicorns do,” Spike explained. “She experiments. She changes spells around to make them simpler and better, or finds new applications for them. She's even invented her own spells.” “And that's when she's not on a sugar rush,” Sweetie Belle added. “When she is, oh boy!” “That's... amazing!” Twilight said, looking at the infant in awe. “Wait, you said you were from ten years into the future. You mean she's done all this by the time she's ten?” “Well, she'll have a very good teacher,” Future Spike said, grinning slightly. “The best, in fact.” Twilight's eyebrows shot up. “You mean... Princess Celestia?” “Nope.” The grin widened. “Even better!” Twilight frowned. “But... who's better than the princess? She's the greatest magician in all of Equestria! I've studied magic since I was a little filly and I can't think of a single pony who'd make a better teacher than...” She paused. “...It's me, isn't it?” “There you go!” said Future Spike. “I knew you'd figure it out.” “I'll...” Twilight looked at Pumpkin Cake again. Her face suddenly lit up in a big, goofy smile. “I'll have my own personal student?” “Um, Twilight, darling?” Rarity said. “Please try to focus. Epic pony war in the near future, remember?” “I know, I know,” Twilight said, still smiling. “It's just... I'll have my own personal student! And she's brilliant!” Future Spike nodded. “You two create a lot of great things together: Teleportation gateways, medical advances, boxes that are bigger on the inside, neat stuff like that. It's kind of a magical renaissance.” “So eventually Pumpkin Cake got a hold of the time travel spell,” Apple Bloom said. “And, bein' Pumpkin Cake, she did what she always did: She improved it. Her version lets ya travel in time as many times ya want, and it doesn't send ya back after just a little while.” “Funny thing, it was almost as if Star Swirl had put some kind of arbitrary restrictions on his time travel spell.” Future Spike's voice dripped with sarcasm. “In hindsight, maybe we should have wondered a bit more about that?” “We learned that it is possible to change history by altering the past,” Sweetie Belle said. “It just takes some effort, usually, because the timeline will try to resist it. That's why the original spell only worked for one minute. It only let you make small changes that won't matter much, because time tends to correct itself by forming stable loops. But the longer you stay displaced in time, the bigger changes you'll be able to cause, and if you manage to change something really important the timeline can't handle it and starts to break apart into several alternate timelines instead.” “We call that a Fray,” Apple Bloom said. Spike suddenly raised his arm. “Wait, hold on. There's something I have to ask future me, or it's going to bother me for the rest of this conversation.” Future Spike glanced at Apple Bloom, who simply shrugged. He sighed. “Well, if you insist.” “You said something about hindsight,” Spike said. “That made me wonder, shouldn't you have known about this all along? I mean, if you're me from the future, doesn't that mean you remember hearing all this now?” ”Not exactly,” said Future Spike. ”It doesn't work that way.” ”But...” The younger dragon frowned. ”But you're me, and I don't think I'm going to just forget all this, so...” Future Spike groaned. ”Listen, I'm going to teach you the Golden Rule of Time Travel. It'll save you a lot of headache in the long run. Here goes: Time travel does not make sense. Okay?” He looked around at the ponies by the table. “Did you all get that? Because that's all you need to know. Time travel is messy and confusing and never makes sense, so don't try to figure it out. Just accept it and move on with your lives.” He turned back at Spike. “Understood?” “Um,” Spike still looked very doubtful, but nodded. “I guess?” “Good,” Future Spike cocked his head. “Now, where were we?” “The Fray,” Scootaloo said. Future Spike nodded. “Right. We call it the Fray because whenever we go back and change the past, the timeline keeps unwinding like a fraying thread. At first we didn't really mind. Heck, we thought it was better than before. We were in control of our own destinies, and if something went bad we could just go back and fix it.” He grimaced. “We were arrogant. At the time we didn't realize just how serious an issue it was, and once we did it was too late.” “I'm guessing this is where the war comes in?” Twilight asked. ”Yeah,” Apple Bloom said. “See, we ended up fightin' this alicorn princess named Morning Star. She's kinda-sorta but not really an evil version of you, Twilight.” Twilight arched an eyebrow, making a mental note of asking them for more detail on that. ”And this Morning Star pony is the cause of all this? Did she take over Equestria or something?” ”Actually, we defeated her,” Spike said. ”She wasn't even that tough. Not the first time anyway.” ”The problem,” Sweetie Belle continued, ”is that both sides were doing a lot of time traveling back then and somehow Morning Star managed to create an alternate timeline where she won. And then that version of her figured out how to travel to our timeline, so we had to fight her all over again.” ”An' again,” Apple Bloom said. ”An' again.” ”Apparently she's decided to keep trying until she's conquered every timeline there is,” Scootaloo said. ”And she just gets stronger and more cunning every single time. She's kind of an obsessive perfectionist.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “That does sound kinda like Twilight.” “Hey!” Twilight shot her an annoyed glare, but all her friends just giggled. “....It's not funny!” The giggles stopped. Scootaloo, having just slammed her hooves at table, hung her head and gritted her teeth in frustration. “Morning Star is just as smart and powerful as Twilight, but she's also ruthless and completely unrelenting. She won't negotiate for peace or accept any terms except complete surrender. She keeps using the Fray against us. No matter how much we fight, no... no matter what we sacrifice, we can't beat her. And the more we try to fix everything that goes wrong, the worse the Fray gets. It's a never-ending war that nopony can ever win. But Morning Star will never stop, because she just doesn't care.” Sweetie Belle put a comforting hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. A heavy silence rested over the table. Even Pinkie Pie was frowning. “You're right,” Twilight said, her expression grim. “That's not funny.” Fluttershy, who had been quiet for the whole conversation, suddenly spoke up: “Um, sorry, but what about Discord? With his powers, couldn't he help you stop her?” ”Well, see, turns out Morning Star has a Discord too,” Future Spike said. ”So whenever we send our Discord into battle, she sends hers. Then things get... weird. Like, really weird.” ”We call it MAD,” Apple Bloom said. Twilight frowned. ”MAD?” ”Mutually Assured Discord,” Sweetie Belle clarified. ”It never goes over well. Basically it's just a constantly escalating exchange of pranks until they reach a stalemate and everything is covered in chocolate milk and cotton candy.” Spike nodded. ”After a while, both sides kinda decided not to involve the Discords in the war if at all possible. They're just too unpredictable.” “Okay,” Rainbow Dash said, “so if I understood all that correctly, we're all fighting evil Super-Twilight in the future, and because of a bunch of confusing time shenanigans, we're not doing so hot. But I still don't understand what this has to do with you guys coming back here.” “It's simple, really,” Future Spike said. “Since we can't beat Morning Star within the Fray, we just have to prevent the Fray from ever happening in the first place.” Twilight frowned. “You mean...” “We go to Canterlot an' destroy the scroll with the original time travel spell,” Apple Bloom said. “If there's no spell, Pumpkin Cake can't perfect time travel, which means no Fray. If there ain't no Fray, there ain't no war. Simple.” “Wait...” Twilight considered this, scratching her mane as she went through everything they had said. No matter how much she thought about it, it didn't add up. “No, that doesn't make sense.” ”Here we go,” Future Spike muttered. “I told you.” Twilight ignored him. ”If you destroy the time spell, you will be changing your past by interfering with our timeline. If I understand you correctly, that would just cause another Fray at this point in time. You can't go back in time and remove the whole reason you went back in time, that's a paradox.” ”Yeah, we thought about that,” Apple Bloom said. ”That's why we ain't gonna destroy the spell ourselves. We were actually thinkin' we'd convince Princess Celestia to do it for us, since she's a Constant.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. ”A constant?” ”A Constant is anything that remains the same no matter how much time passes,” Sweetie Belle explained. ”That gives them so much temporal momentum that the whole timeline bends to follow them instead of Fraying. The downside is that it's much harder for Constants to travel in time. Princess Celestia is an immortal who's been around for thousands of years, and she hasn't really changed at all in our time. As far as we know, she's by far the most powerful Constant in the world. If anyone can reset the timeline without causing a Fray, it's her.” “And the best part is that since Morning Star doesn't belong to the original timeline, she and her forces can only time travel within a Fray,” Scootaloo said. “So she can't follow us this far back. We're going to erase that whole stupid war from history and there isn't a damn thing she can do about it.” “I didn't understand any of that,” said Rainbow Dash with a grin, “but it sounds awesome!” Applejack scratched her mane, looking at bit confused herself. “So... if y'all do get to Canterlot and get the princess to destroy the time travelin' spell, then what's gonna happen to you four?” “...Well, we go back to our own timeline, of course,” Apple Bloom said. “Then we can all get on with our lives and everypony is happy.” Twilight's eyes narrowed. Apple Bloom had hesitated for just a moment, and she had looked away from her sister as she answered. Not only that; Applejack's question seemed to have made the other three uncomfortable as well. There was something very sad about their expressions, if only for a moment. They're hiding something, Twilight thought. Applejack didn't seem to notice, though. “Huh, that does sound like a solid plan.” Twilight nodded, pushing her suspicions aside for the moment. ”One more question. Is this,” she gestured to her friends and herself, “going to be a problem? Us knowing about this? Won't this cause a Fray in itself?” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nah, we're okay for now.” “Fraying are always a risk when you travel in time for longer than a few minutes,” Sweetie Belle said. “That's why we wanted to avoid meeting any of you if possible. But it doesn't seem like getting you involved is going to make much difference, or we would have caused a Fray already.” “How do you know you haven't?” Twilight asked. “It's a time traveler thing,” Future Spike said. “It's a bit hard to explain but since we're displaced in time we can sorta feel changes in the timeline. Currently, the future is our past, so anything that could drastically change the future will resonate with us. Trust me, if there was a Fray right now we'd know about it.” “What we really need to worry about is running into ourselves,” Scootaloo said. “Spike is one thing, but the three of us meeting our past selves would be... bad. Like, really, really bad.” She suddenly got a paranoid look in her eyes and turned around, as if the Cutie Mark Crusader might burst into the shop at any moment. “Wait, we're not nearby are we? We should be at school or...” “Don't worry,” Rarity said. “By now the three of you should be in Canterlot with Cheerilee and the rest of your class. You won't be back in Ponyville until tomorrow.” For a few moments, the four time travelers just sat there, blinking. “The field trip!” Apple Bloom yelled. “That was today? Ponyfeathers, we could've popped out right in front of ourselves!” “Well, well!” Sweetie Belle suddenly looked rather smug. “Looks like my spell got us to the right place after all!” “Yeah,” said Scootaloo dryly, “by accident.” Sweetie Belle stuck her tongue out. “Still counts.” Twilight hid a chuckle behind her hoof. “All right, I think I've heard all I need to hear for now. I have a proposal: Why don't you four stay in Ponyville for now? You can spend the night at the library with me and Spike. That should keep you from running into anypony else who might recognize you. Tomorrow we stake out the train station and wait for your younger selves to return. While Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow distract them the rest of us hop on the next train to Canterlot. Getting an audience with Princess Celestia will be a lot easier if you're with me, plus you might need some help convincing her to destroy an ancient priceless magical document.” She smiled. “What do you say?” Apple Bloom cocked her head. “That's actually better than our original plan.” She turned to her companions. “All for?” “I'm in,” Scootaloo replied. “Me too!” said Sweetie Belle. Future Spike nodded. “Same.” Apple Bloom turned to Twilight. “Princess, ya got yerself a deal.” “Great!” Twilight smiled. “Sounds like we're having a slumber party tonight.” That should give me plenty of time to find out what you aren't telling us. “Woohoo! We're going to Canterlot again!” Pinkie Pie cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. “Oooh! Once we get rid of that pesky scroll and stop the future epic pony war, you guys gotta to have a big party with us to celebrate!” “Um...” Apple Bloom hesitated. “That'd be great, Pinkie, but Ah don't think we'll be able to stick around once the job's done. Time shenanigans, ya know?” “Awww...” Pinkie's smile fell and her ears flattened. But then she suddenly perked up. “Wait, I've got it! I just have to wait ten years for you to come back, and we can have the party then!” The four time travelers exchanged glances, and Twilight spotted another flicker of sadness in their eyes. “Y-Yeah... That's a great idea, Pinkie,” Apple Bloom said. “Let's do that.” “Yay!” Pinkie spontaneously produced a tray of milkshakes out of nowhere. “Milkshakes for everypony!” As they all partook in the chilly treats, Rarity sighed: “It is a real shame we won't be coming along this time, though. I do so hate missing an opportunity to visit Canterlot.” “Meh, they're just going to have a quick chat with the princess,” Rainbow Dash said. “Sounds kinda boring.” “Boring is good,” said Fluttershy. “I wish more of our adventures were boring.” “Yeah, I know the feeling,” Future Spike chuckled. Rarity turned to him. “I've been meaning to ask. You make it sound like you four do this sort of thing a lot?” “Of course,” Future Spike said. “We're the Crusaders.” “It's pretty much what we do,” Scootaloo said. “Apple Bloom builds stuff, me and Spike kick the flanks, and Sweetie Belle sings the theme song.” “Hey!” Sweetie Belle crossed her forelegs and huffed. “I pay the bills.” “Wait, back up,” Spike looked at his future self. “You... I mean, I actually join the Cutie Mark Crusaders? How did - does that happen?” “Long story,” said Future Spike. “And we're just the Crusaders. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are the junior division.” “Yeah, we grown-ups just crusade in general,” Apple Bloom said. “You know, helpin' ponies in need, fightin' injustice, savin' Equestria. That sorta thing. We've got chapters all over the country.” “We're pretty much the worst secret society ever,” Sweetie Belle laughed. “Wow,” Spike now looked at his older self in wonder. “That sounds awesome! I bet in the future, I'm some kind of famous dragon knight adventurer or something, huh?” Future spike coughed and nervously scratched his spines, looking a bit embarrassed. “Actually, I'm the curator of the Canterlot Archives.” “Oh, Spike!” Twilight gasped. “That's wonderful!” “Aw, come on!” Spike exclaimed. “I become a librarian? I knew it! I knew all those books would have a bad influence on me!” He glared at Twilight. “I blame you for this.” “Aw, don't feel bad.” Sweetie Belle smiled at him. “If it makes you feel better, you'll also be dating the prettiest, richest, most famous pop star in Equestria!” Future Spike glanced at her, and there was a sudden look of panic in his eyes. “Um, Sweetie...” Spike blinked in confusion. “I'm dating Sapphire Shores in the future?” “That old has-been? Of course not!” Sweetie Belle laughed, then threw her forelegs around Future Spike's neck in a loving embrace. “I'm talking about me, silly!” Scootaloo rolled her eyes and Apple Bloom facehoofed. Around the table, the other ponies all reacted in various ways: Fluttershy hid a small gasp behind her hoof, Rainbow and Applejack nearly spat their milkshakes out, Pinkie Pie tilted her head and went: “Aawww!” with a huge smile, whereas Twilight and Rarity just stared at their respective sibling in open disbelief. Spike had a somewhat shellshocked look on his face. “Me and Sweetie Belle?” “Sweetie!” Future Spike hissed. “He is so not supposed to know about that!” “Oh, come on!” Sweetie Belle kept clinging to him. “You didn't really expect me to keep my hoofs off you for a whole day, did you? He would have found out anyway.” She turned to the still speechless Rarity and winked. “And let me tell you, sis, you really missed out on something.” “Her husband might disagree,” Scootaloo mumbled into her milkshake. Rarity's jaw practically hit the table. “She's married?” Spike whispered, still staring into nothing. “I'm married!?” Rarity almost threw herself across the table. “Who is he? Tell me! I must know!” “Okay, no!” Future Spike cried, quickly untangling himself from Sweetie's embrace. “That's quite enough knowing your own future! Geez, you two!” He glared at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “I think you just traumatized my younger self.” “I'm... I'm okay,” Spike said in a slightly distant voice. “This is all just so sudden. I... I think I need some time alone.” The baby dragon left the table in a daze and made a beeline for the door. As he ran outside, Rarity frowned and made a move to follow him. “Spike...” A gentle talon on her shoulder stopped her. Future Spike shook his head. “Better not. Let him sort himself out first. Don't worry, I'll talk to him.” Rarity sighed. “I never wanted to hurt him. Oh, Spike. I never wanted to hurt you.” “I know,” Spike said. “I don't blame you, Rarity. You were always nice to me. Probably a bit too nice. Who knows, maybe it's better this way?” While they were talking, the door to the shop opened and the Cakes stepped inside, having returned from their errand. “Is everything alright?“ Carrot Cake asked. “We ran into Spike on the way in and he seemed a bit oh my goodness, is that a dragon?” “Wait! It's okay!” Pinkie Pie quickly bounded over to the baker couple. “It's just Spike from the future! He was rampaging just a bit before but he's not rampaging now so the babies are just fine. You see, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are time travelers and came back from the future to make sure time travel isn't invented so there won't be an epic war in the future and Spike came along because he's a Cutie Mark Crusader in the future, I think, so now there's a small Spike and a big Spike but they're both the same dragon and we're going to Canterlot tomorrow and talk to Celestia so everything is going to be just fine!” Pinkie finally stopped to catch her breath. Carrot and Cup looked at each other, then at Spike, then at Pinkie. “Oh,” Cup said. “Okay.” “Okay?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “All that, and all you have to say is 'okay'?” Cup Cake smiled. “Sweetheart, we live in the same house as Pinkie Pie.” “Yeah,” Carrot Cake said, “we're pretty desensitized to this sort of thing by now.” “Oh, and guess what?” Pinkie carried on. “Pumpkin Cake is really super-duper good at magic in the future and she's going to be Twilight's personal student and make all kinds of neat magic stuff! Of course, she kiiinda-sorta caused that epic future war I mentioned, but we're totally going to fix that so you don't need to worry.” “Huh. A double whammy,” Cup Cake said. Carrot Cake nodded. “Must be a Tuesday.” Spike hugged his knees, huddled up in a ball in his hiding place high up in the crown of the library tree. After leaving Sugarcube Corner he'd run straight for home but rather than curl up in his basket or lock himself in the bathroom, he'd gone through the upper balcony and climbed to one of the higher branches. Most ponies weren't very good at climbing trees and the thick foliage shielded him from the eyes of passing pegasi. It was a good spot for when you needed some time alone and you didn't want anypony to see you crying. Not that Spike had been crying. The wetness on his cheeks was just liquid confusion. By the time he'd calmed down somewhat, he wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there. Judging from the sun shining through the leaves, it was already past noon. Spike was starting to feel hungry, but he still didn’t feel up to facing the others. His insides were a jumbled mess of thoughts and feelings, and he only felt sure of one thing: He was really starting to hate time travel. There was a rustle in the leaves and Spike caught sight of movement in the corner of his eye. Future Spike swung himself up unto the branch next to him with the litheness of a true predator, digging his claws into the bark for support. “Hey.” “How did you know I was here?” Spike asked. “Well, you know,” Future Spike shrugged, “I just thought: If I was Spike, where would I go? And...” “Right,” Spike rolled his eyes. “Stupid question.” “So, you okay?” Future Spike asked. “Not really,” Spike muttered. “Want to talk about it?” Future Spike prodded. “It's just...” Spike groaned. “Look, I'm not stupid. I know I'm just a kid with a crush. I always kinda knew it might turn out this way, but I... I just never expected to find out like this.” “Hm.” Future Spike nodded. “...Still, better than orange goop.” “I guess so,” Spike chuckled mirthlessly, then sighed deeply. “I never really had a chance with Rarity, did I?” “Weeell, I wouldn't go quite that far.” Future Spike grinned. “I like to think I could have won her over. I mean, Sweetie's got a point. We are a really good catch.” “Heh.” This time, Spike's chuckle sounded a bit more genuine. Despite everything, he had begun to feel a bit better. “Yeah, we're pretty awesome, aren't we? But, seriously, does this mean I have to fall in love with Sweetie Belle?” “You don't want to?” Future Spike asked. “I don't know,” Spike said. “I've just never thought about her that way before. It's not that I don't like her, but don't I at least get a choice? Or is it like my destiny or something?” The older dragon shrugged. “Honestly, you're better off not thinking too hard about that. Whatever happens, it still happens. If you start asking questions like 'Am I doing this out of my free will?' or 'Is this my destiny?' you'll just end up more confused than when you started.” He made a face. “See, this is why I really kinda hate time travel.” “I guess you're right, I probably shouldn't be overthinking this,” Spike said. He shot his older self a sideways glance. “I still don't want to become some lame librarian, though.” “Hey! I'll have you know I'm an awesome librarian.” “Laaame!” They shared a laugh, and Spike felt that maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all. “Oh, there you are!” The two dragons looked down, seeing Twilight Sparkle watching them from the balcony below. “Sorry if I'm interrupting something,” she said, “but I thought the two of you might be getting hungry. Applejack figured the Crusaders didn't bring any food along from the future, so she brought lunch for everypony.” “I could eat a whole orchard,” Future Spike declared. “How about you, kid?” “I guess I am pretty hungry,” Spike said. Future Spike presented his tail. “Hop on.” Spike climbed onto the tail and from there to his counterpart's back. Rather than climb all the way down, Future Spike just swung himself from the branch and let himself drop, landing neatly on all fours next to Twilight. “You sure have gotten more athletic,” Twilight commented. Future Spike chuckled. “Yeah, hanging out with Scoots and Apple Bloom will do that to you.” Dismounting, Spike gave his future body a critical look. “It kinda sucks I still don't have any wings in the future, though.” “Meh.” Future Spike shrugged. “Turns out wings are pretty overrated.” “Are they, now?” Twilight giggled. “Don't let Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo hear you say that.” “So, why do you have a cutie mark?” Spike asked, studying the spiral flame emblem on Future Spike's thigh. “I didn't think we dragons could have them.” “What, that?” Future Spike seemed to hesitate for a brief moment. ”Oh, it's just a pair of tattoos. They're, uh, symbolic. I got them from Zecora.” ”Cool!” Spike turned to Twilight. “Hey, can I...” ”No.” Twilight glanced at Future Spike. ”Not as long as you're smaller than me, anyway.” ”Figures,” Spike muttered. Future Spike laughed and gave him a pat on the back that almost knocked him over. “Come on, kid, let's go grab some of Applejack's cooking. I'm starving.” Twilight had to smile. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn they were brothers. No matter how many times she saw it, Twilight always found herself in awe of Applejack's ability to conjure up vast amounts of delicious food seemingly out of nowhere. After only a brief trip back to Sweet Apple Acres, she had shown up at the library with a cart full of apple pies, fritters, tarts, dumplings, crisps, crumblers and all other sorts of of apple-based cuisine. Twilight was grateful – cooking for two dragons and four ponies would have been quite a chore otherwise. Before long the table was set and they all dug in. Some of their friends were missing, of course; Rarity and Pinkie were busy at their respective shops, Rainbow Dash had weather duty and Fluttershy had animals to tend. But even so, it seemed unlikely there would be any leftovers – the Crusaders all ate with gusto, especially Future Spike who never seemed to get full. “Hey, leave some for the rest of us, will ya?” Apple Bloom joked as the dragon helped himself to a fifth serving of apple pie. “Where do you put it all, anyway?” Scootaloo asked. “It's like shoveling food into a furnace.” “Dragon metabolism is no joking matter,” Future Spike retorted. “Besides, somepony's got to help you girls keep those lovely figures of yours.” This earned him a playful punch on the shoulder from Scootaloo and a blushing giggle from Sweetie Belle. As they ate they chatted among themselves. Twilight and Applejack, unable to keep their curiosity in check, asked several questions about life in the future. The time travelers seemed to have learned their lesson after upsetting Spike, however, and offered only a vague outline of the age to come. “In the future Equestria, traveling is fast and easy,” Sweetie Belle explained. “Even a trip from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire is just a quick walk through a gateway, so ponies who live far apart can still stay in touch. Magical education has also improved, so unicorns know more spells on average than they do today. It's a good time to live in. Aside from the war, anyway.” Once they'd finished eating, Scootaloo got up from the table and headed for the door. “I'm going outside for some air.” “Hey!” Apple Bloom said. “We're supposed to keep outta sight, remember?” “I just need to stretch me wings for a bit,” Scootaloo replied. “You know how I get if I stay on the ground for too long. Don't worry, I'll be careful.” Watching the pegasus leave the building, Apple Bloom frowned. “When have ya ever been careful?” she muttered. “Hey, Apple Bloom?” Applejack said. “Yeah?” Apple Bloom turned to face her sister... ...and found herself looking at Applejack making the most ridiculous face she could. She pulled her cheeks, rolled her eyes and waved her tongue around. “Blaaaurgh! Aarghablargha blurgh! Hurp hurp!” “Pffffffffh!” Apple Bloom nearly exploded in laughter at the sight. “Wha-ahaha-at was that for?” Applejack stopped making faces and grinned. “There ya go, Ah knew ya still had a real smile in ya.” When Apple Bloom gave her a puzzled look, Applejack continued: “See, it's been buggin' me all day and Ah just figured it out. Since ya showed up this mornin' Ah haven't seen ya smile once. Not for real, Ah mean, with yer eyes an' everythin'. Ah was startin' to get worried y'all forgotten how to do it.” “Huh...” Apple Bloom's expression turned doleful, her ears drooping. “Ah... Ah guess Ah did grow up into kind of a sourpuss, didn't Ah?” “Hey,” Applejack stepped closer and gently rested her forehead against Apple Bloom's, looking deep into her amber eyes. “Ah get that things are rough back where yer from, but we're gonna fix that, right? So please try to smile some more. Even if we happen to be the same age right now, yer still my baby sister. Ah like to see ya smile.” “Ah'll try,” Apple Blooms said. Her eyes were tearing up a bit. “Thanks, AJ.” Twilight watched the scene, and as touching as it was something still bothered her. She came to a decision. “Right,” she said, “we might as well get everything ready for tonight. We don't have enough beds for everypony, but there are some spare mattresses down in the basement. Apple Bloom, Big Spike, would you two mind helping me get them?” “Sure thing!” Apple Bloom said, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes. Future Spike gave Twilight the slightest frown, but nodded wordlessly and followed them downstairs. “I'll get started with the dishes, then,” Spike declared. “We'll help ya out,” Applejack said. Sweetie Belle lit her horn up and started levitating plates and eating utensils. Once they'd carried all the dirty dishes into the kitchen, Applejack looked around. “Spike, where ya keep the dish soap?” “It should be right here...” Spike suddenly recalled something. “Oh, right! The noodle incident last Sunday. It's probably still in the basement.” “Ah'll fetch it for ya,” Applejack said. “Maybe Ah can lend Twilight a hoof while Ah'm at it. Be back in a jiffy!” Once she had left the kitchen, Spike suddenly became acutely aware that he was now alone with Sweetie Belle – his alleged future girlfriend. Sensing the potential for awkwardness, he cleared his throat. “Well, guess I'll start tapping up the water in the meantime.” Then he found that Sweetie Belle was looking at him with a big smile on her face.” ...What?” “You are so cute!” “Um...” Before Spike could properly react, Sweetie had thrown her forelegs around him in a powerful glomp. “Whooah!” he cried. “S-Sweetie Belle, what are you doing!?” “I'm hugging you, of course,” Sweetie cheerfully replied. “I never realized how small and adorable you used to be.” Spike blushed furiously, feeling her warm breath on his cheek. Oh, this is bad! This is sooo bad! And soft. Wow, she smells good... No! Bad brain! Bad! “I-I'm not sure I'm completely okay with this!” Sweetie ignored him, giggling into his ear: “You're so cuddly, I wish I could hug you forever.” Spike struggled against the hug for a few more moments, then relented. Still blushing, he sighed. Curse you, time shenanigans! Meanwhile, oblivious to the scene acting out in the kitchen, Applejack made her way down the stairs to the library's basement. She'd never been down there before and marveled at the sheer size of the place – an artificial cavern dug directly under the roots of the great tree, filled with bizarre machines and scientific equipment she couldn't even begin to make heads and tails off. As she descended, she could hear the others talking. “You lied to Applejack, back at Sugarcube Corner.” Applejack froze. They were talking about her? Somepony had been lying to her? They didn't seem to have noticed her yet. As their conversation carried on, she resisted the urge to reveal herself and demand an explanation. Instead she snuck down the rest of the stairs as quietly as she could, ducked behind one of the larger mechanical contraptions, and listened. A few minutes earlier. “Wow, this takes me back,” the older Spike said, taking a moment to look around the basement. “I haven't been down here since I moved to Canterlot. Feels like ages ago.” “So where's 'em mattresses at?“ Apple Bloom asked. Twilight pointed at a pile of random supplied at the far end of the room. “Oh, they're in the corner over there.” Apple Bloom trotted over to the pile and started digging through it. Spike, meanwhile, turned to Twilight. “So, you do realize you could have just levitated or teleported them, right? It's not like you need our help, they're only mattresses.” “True,” Twilight said. “But then I wouldn't have had this chance to talk to you two in private.” Apple Bloom stopped tugging at her mattress and turned to give the princess a surprised look. Spike just huffed. “I figured it was something like that. Alright, Twilight, let's hear it.” “As I said, I fully intend to help you with your mission,” Twilight said, “but I can't help you if you aren't straight with me. I want to know why you keep lying to us.” Apple Bloom and Spike exchanged an awkward look, but didn't speak. Twilight carried on: “Oh, I'm pretty sure most of your story is true, but some of the details are off. For instance, Spike, your scales are hard as iron and you shed them on a regular basis.” She pointed at the symbol on his thigh. “So I'm guessing that's not really a tattoo, is it?” Spike sighed and massaged his lore. He recognized her tone of voice and knew better than to argue. “No. No, it isn't. The truth is, there's a reason I kinda look like a pony now. We dragons are shape shifters. Not like the changelings, though. We always keep our basic characteristics, but our shapes and sizes depend a lot on our state of mind, especially for dragons my age.” Twilight considered this. She had seen Spike in adult form twice: First on the day she hatched and accidentally aged him, the other when he'd gone on a greed-fueled rampage through Ponyville. It had always seemed odd to her that he'd looked so different the second time. She also recalled the teenage dragons Spike had encountered on his quest of self-discovery, and how varied in appearance they had been compared to the adults. ”...That actually makes a lot of sense. So you mean to say you have a cutie mark because in your mind, you are as much a pony as you are a dragon?” “Something like that,” Spike nodded. ”It's true that dragons normally don't get cutie marks, but I'm not a normal dragon. I was raised by ponies and I think like a pony. This mark is proof that I belong with you. It's proof of who I am.” “Oh, Spike,” Twilight had to smile. “But why didn't you tell him?” “Because he doesn't need to know,” Spike said. “He won't earn this mark easily. In just a few years, he's going to go through a growth spurt. He'll grow bigger, stronger, more dangerous. Ponies will start to fear him. That will leave him unsure of who he is and where he belongs, and his body will constantly shift to reflect his confusion. It'll be a very difficult and painful time for him.” Spike looked up at the basement ceiling and smiled slightly, as if he'd just heard something amusing from upstairs. “That kid's got enough to worry about. The less he knows about the future, the better.” Twilight cocked her head. “Hm. Well, I guess that is an adequate enough reason.” She turned to Apple Bloom. “But then there's you. You lied to Applejack, back at Sugar Cube Corner. And then you lied again to Pinkie Pie.” “Me, lie?” Apple Bloom made her best attempt at an innocent smile. ”Good ol' Apple Bloom, the most honest and dependable of ponies?” ”Nice try,” said Twilight dryly. ”Applejack may be honest to a fault, but you? You I'm not so sure about. You said the four of you would go back to your own time after you destroy the time spells, but that doesn't make sense! Even if everything happens exactly like you said it would, how can you go back to a timeline that can't possibly come to be?” She turned to Spike again. ”Then there's you. You seem to be the one most concerned about keeping the timeline undisturbed. But if that's so, what are you even doing here? Three mares from out of town wouldn't have turned any heads in Canterlot, but a teenage dragon? That would attract attention no matter how careful you were. So why did you come with them?” Spike frowned and turned his eyes away. Even now, with all the years between them, Twilight could see right through him. ”It has something to do with Sweetie Belle, doesn't it?” she guessed. ”I wanted to...” Spike sighed. ”I had to stay by her side. All the way.” ”What's going to happen?” Twilight demanded. “What is so serious you'd take that risk?” Apple Bloom's features had darkened. “Twilight, please. Don't go there.” “I'm sorry,” Twilight said, “but I have to know the truth. No more lies. What is really going to happen to you once the time spell is destroyed?” Apple Bloom hesitated, then sighed. ”Honestly? We don't know fer sure. You an' Pumpkin an' Time Turner argued 'bout it a lot. Y'all were talkin' about stuff like existential momentum and abstract causality and hyper-time whatchamacallits. Ah don't get all the technical jargon. But... probably...” ”Yes?” Twilight prodded. Apple Bloom shrugged. ”...We'll disappear.” Twilight gasped. ”You...” ”YA'LL WHAAAT!?” They all turned in surprise as Applejack stormed out of her hiding place, unable to keep quiet any longer. Apple Bloom groaned. “Darnit, AJ. Haven't anypony taught ya it ain't nice to eavesdrop?” “Don't ya it-ain't-nice me, missy!” Applejack growled, getting up in her sister's face and glaring furiously. “What do ya mean ya'll disappear? Disappear to where?” “Nowhere,” said Apple Bloom calmly. “We'll just vanish. Poof. It'll be like we never existed inna first place. Look, it ain't no big deal.” “No big deal?” Applejack looked absolutely horrified. “Yer tellin' me yer just gonna poof outta existence and that ain't a big deal? Apple Bloom, why the hay didn't ya tell us 'bout this? Why did ya lie to me?” “Ah lied to ya 'cause Ah knew you'd just try to stop us!” Apple Bloom snapped. “'Cause yer always like this! Ya never listen to reason!” “Yer damn right Ah'm gonna try to stop ya!” Applejack said. “Ah ain't just gonna stand by and watch my own sister run off on... on a suicide mission! There's gotta be another way!” “There isn't,” Spike said. “We've gone through all the scenarios already, over and over, and this is the only one that works. Even our Twilight couldn't find a better solution. There simply is no other way to stop the Fray.” Applejack sat down on the floor, her eyes brimming with despair. “It ain't right,” she mumbled. “That ain't fair. Y'all were supposed to fix the future, but if ya do this ya won't even have one!” “But we will,” Apple Bloom said, giving her sister a sad smile. “Don't ya see? Your Apple Bloom, the lil' filly who's over in Canterlot right now, will get to grow up in a world without war. She won't be me, but at least she'll be happy. At least she'll be smilin'. If we do this, everypony gets a new chance to live their lives the way it was supposed to be. It'll be better that way.” “Maybe you're right,” Twilight said. “But there's still something missing, isn't there? Even with everything you've told us, this all just seems too... desperate, somehow. Even with the war, the future you describe doesn't sound that bad, but you talk about it as if you've completely lost all hope.” Apple Bloom sighed. “Maybe we have? Ah guess we're all just tired of it. We always won in the end, even if we had some close calls, but we just don't have much fightin' spirit left in us. Not since...” She fell silent and shook her head. Spike clenched his teeth and scraped his claws against the floor, as if enduring great pain. “Since what?” Twilight asked. “Apple Bloom, what happened?” Apple Bloom looked at Twilight, her eyes full of unbearable sadness. “...we lost Rainbow and Pinkie.” Scootaloo flapped her wings, rising high above Ponyville. She loved flying. It had taken her so long to finally get off the ground, but now the sky was without a doubt her true element. At this height, with the whole world spread out underneath her and the heavens stretching out for as far as the eye could see, all her fears and worries seemed so small and far away. Some days she wished she could just soar through the endless sky forever. Once she reached the apex of her climb, she leaned back and folded her wings, savoring the brief feeling of complete weightlessness just before gravity took over and she plummeted head first towards the ground below. She grinned all the way down. Once she reached terminal velocity she deployed her wings again and pulled up hard, narrowly avoiding the rooftops below and swooping upwards at breakneck speed. She let out a loud hoot and rolled a few times, leaving a trail of purple lightning in her wake. To burn off the excess velocity she turned and circled the library a few times, flying so close that she could feel the leaves against her side. Finally she set her sights on a low cloud, made one last upturn above it and topped it off with an elegant backflip before casually dropping down on the white patch of vapor. Being a pegasus was awesome. “Wooo! Look at you go, girl!” cried a familiar voice. Scootaloo turned to see a multicolored flash circle her cloud. She smiled. “Rainbow! I thought you had weather duty.” With a light flutter of her blue wings, Rainbow Dash touched down next to her. “Oh, I did, but it was no big deal for somepony as fast as me. I could have cleared those clouds in my sleep.” “Oh yeah,” Scootaloo chuckled. “I almost forgot, you're awesome.” “I'm not the only one,” Rainbow said. “I wasn't kidding when I said you had some sweet moves.” Scootaloo blushed. “I had a pretty awesome teacher.” “I can tell.” Rainbow grinned. “That was a nice Filly Flash you pulled off back there, and you did a perfect Buccaneer Blaze earlier. I think I can pretty much guess who taught you those.” She leaned back slightly to look at the symbol on Scootaloo's flank – a purple rising star with a lightning bolt tail. “So, you finally got that cutie mark, huh?” “Yeah,” Scootaloo smiled. “Turns out my talent is acrobatics. Who'd a thunk, huh? Kinda makes all that messing around with zip-lining and rabble-rousing seem pretty silly.” “It's a really awesome cutie mark,” Rainbow said. She flashed her trademark grin. “Almost as awesome as mine.” Scootaloo laughed. “Coming from you, that's one heck of a compliment.” “Heh.” Sensing the relaxed atmosphere between them, Rainbow Dash decided to stop dancing around the issue they'd both been avoiding: “...Speaking of compliments, do you really find me attractive?” Scootaloo made a little croaking sound and instantly tensed up. “Ah, w-well, about that...” she started nervously scratching the back of her head, her cheeks glowing red. “I was kinda hoping you'd forgotten about that.” “Hey, it's okay,” Rainbow assured her. “You just surprised me, that's all. I mean, you've pretty much always been my number one fan but I didn't know you felt that way about me.” “Technically, I won't for another couple of years,” Scootaloo said. “Hormones and stuff, you know? Anyway, I really, really shouldn't have said that back there. It's just, you know, seeing you like this all of a sudden, and we're both the same age and everything... It just kinda slipped out.” ”Well, I guess I can't blame you,” Rainbow said. ”I mean, you're hardly the first pony who's had the hots for me. And I'm flattered, really. It's just that... Well, I'm not actually a, you know...” ”I know.” Scootaloo raised a hoof to silence her. ”I know you don't swing that way. You, um, you kinda already told me once.” ”Oh?” Rainbow Dash momentarily arched an eyebrow, but then her eyes widened as she connected the dots. ”Oooh.” Scootaloo's blush intensified. ”Yeah.” Well, this is awkward, Rainbow thought. ”I, um, hope I let you down gently.” Scootaloo nodded. ”Yeah, you were totally cool as usual. More than I deserved, really.” ”Okay, I know that's not true.” ”No, it is. You've always meant the world to me, Rainbow. You were always there, as an idol and a mentor and as a pretend sister. I... I shouldn't have asked for more. As for today, I guess I just got carried away seeing you again.” Scootaloo let out an embarrassed chuckle. ”You know how it is, you never forget your first crush.” ”Yeah.” Rainbow allowed herself to relax a bit. They seemed to have cleared the emotional minefield for now. ”Anyway, there's plenty of birds in the sky, right? I'm sure you'll find your special somepony one of these days. Well, once you go back to the future, I mean.” Scootaloo got a strangely distant look in her eyes. She turned away slightly, but Rainbow could still see her smile. ”Yeah...” ”Oooh?” Rainbow leaned closer and grinned. ”I know that look. You've got your eye on somepony already, don't ya?” “Kinda.” Scootaloo started blushing again. “Yeah.” Rainbow laughed and gave her a playful punch on the shoulder. “And you still hit on me? You sly little minx.” ”I-I wasn't hitting on you!” Scootaloo stammered. ”Anyway, its not like that. She's... She doesn't know I have feelings for her.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. ”So? Why don't you tell her?” ”It's complicated,” Scootaloo said. ”Her and me, we sorta have a history together. A long, convoluted, not entirely pleasant history. Things were already kinda awkward between us and I couldn't risk making it worse. Heck, I don't even know if she's into mares.” Rainbow Dash mentally went through what she'd just been told. ”Is this anypony I know?” ”I don't think so,” Scootaloo replied. ”I mean, I can't imagine why you would.” “Huh,” Rainbow shrugged. “Well, you're a big girl now so I guess it's up to you how you want to deal with this. But for what it's worth, if I were you I'd totally tell her. Life's too short for regrets, you know? Sometimes you just gotta go by your gut even if it seems kinda stupid.” Scootaloo smiled wryly. “Like we say in the future: What Would Rainbow Dash Do?” “Get outta here!” Rainbow said. “You guys actually say that?” “Nah, I just made that up,” Scootaloo admitted. Then she suddenly looked thoughtful. “Though, maybe we should be saying that?” “Might be worth keeping in mind for when you get back.” Rainbow stood up and stretched her wings. “Well, I need to find me some grub. There's this new hayburger joint I've been meaning to check out, wanna tag along?” “Thanks, but I'm pretty stuffed,” Scootaloo said. “Applejack brought us lunch.” “Aw, I hate to miss out on her cooking,” Rainbow sighed. “Oh well.” She seemed just about ready to leave, but before taking off she turned to Scootaloo again. “You know, it's too bad you're leaving tomorrow. There aren't a lot of pegasi around here who can actually keep up with me and chasing you around town was pretty fun. Maybe later when I've eaten we can go flying again?” Scootaloo managed a weak smile. “Sure. I'd like that.” “Great!” Rainbow spread her wings and took off. “It was nice talking to you!” she yelled over her shoulder while gliding through the air. Scootaloo watched her fly off for a few moments. Then she collapsed backwards, ending up lying with her back against the cloud, staring into the sky. Her heart was pounding, her ears were burning and she felt a bit dizzy. "Dammit, Rainbow. Why do you have to be so awesome?" Why did the world have to be so cruel? “This isn't right,” Scootaloo whispered to herself. “I haven't thought about her this way for a long time. Why is this happening now?” A treasonous little voice inside her said: You know exactly why. Scootaloo covered her eyes with her foreleg and groaned. The peace and inner calm she had felt while flying was long gone and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't think straight. “What am I supposed to do?” The voice inside her said: What would Rainbow Dash do? For few more heartbeats, she just lay there in silence. The whole world seemed to hold its breath. Scootaloo sat up with a jerk. “Oh buck it!” She threw herself into the air and flapped her wings as hard as she could. “Rainbow! Wait up!” Rainbow had been gliding near the ground. When she heard Scootaloo cry out she touched down and turned around. “Changed your mind about those hayburgers, huh?” “Nevermind that!” Scootaloo said as she landed in front of her. ”Rainbow, how many times have you made a sonic rainboom?” Rainbow frowned. ”Where did that come from?” ”Just answer me!” Scootaloo pleaded. “It's important!” Rainbow tilted her head to the side, thinking back. ”Well, there's the one I did when I saved Rarity and the Wonderbolts during the best young fliers competition – which was totally awesome by the way – and then I did one by accident when AJ asked me to smash up her old barn, 'cause I got a bit carried away. Aaand Princess Celestia had me do one when Cadence and Shining Armor got married. So that's three. No, wait, four counting that first one when I got my cutie mark.” Scootaloo put her hooves on Rainbow's shoulders, looking intensely distraught. “Rainbow, you have got to stop doing it! Never make a sonic rainboom again!” “What?” Rainbow looked at her as if she'd gone crazy. “Why not? It's my best move!” “It's dangerous!” Scootaloo said. “I mean, it's really dangerous. The sonic rainboom isn't just a light phenomenon, it's... it's a kind of rip in the fabric of reality. Whenever you make a rainboom, you punch open a hole to something called the Bifrost.” ”Bifrost?” Rainbow cocked her head, looking slightly confused. ”What's that?” Scootaloo shrugged. ”We don't know for sure. Another dimension, or a place between dimensions. Whatever it is, it's full of raw magic energy. Twilight suspected it might even be the source of all magic.” Rainbow's eyes widened. ”Woah! That's awesome!” ”No it's not! Listen to me!” Scootaloo's tone grew ever more desperate. ”The glowing shockwave from the sonic rainboom is like a tiny bit of that power bleeding out into our world and for a split second you're right at the center of it. Every time you do it, it changes you a bit. We didn't notice it at first and by the time we figured out what was going on you only had one more rainboom in you before...” Scootaloo fell silent and clenched her teeth. ”...You have to stop using it, Rainbow. If you don't, then sooner or later the Bifrost energy will whittle away your existential integrity and completely dislodge you from this reality!” ”You're starting to sound like Twilight now,” Rainbow said, frowning. ”Slow down. What exactly are you saying?” With tears in her eyes, Scootaloo shouted: ”I'm saying that if you keep using the sonic rainboom, you're going to disappear!” There was moment of silence. Rainbow blinked, as if the words didn't immediately make sense to her. “...I will?” And then Scootaloo staggered as if something struck her. “Aaaargh!” Unable stand on her hooves she collapsed into a sitting position and started hyperventilating, cradling her head in her hooves. “Woah, what the hay?” Rainbow cried. Putting a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder, she could feel the young mare's body shiver and her muscles tense. “Scoots, are you okay? I think you're having a seizure or something.” “Oh no,” Scootaloo mumbled. “Oh no. Oh no. I messed up. I messed up big.” “What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked. “What just happened? “I've ruined everything.” Scootaloo turned her head up and Rainbow Dash could now see the look of panic on her face. “I'm sorry, Rainbow. I just caused a Fray.” Author's Note So much exposition, omg! I considered titeling this chapter "Everypony Sits Around And Talks About Time Travel A Lot", but Time Shenanigans seemed snappier somehow. No worries, though. From now on, it's all mindless action!
Chapter 3: The FrayAuthor's Note As those of you reading my blog will know, this is actually the first half of what I originally intended to be chapter 3, hence why it's a bit short. I'm normally firmly against splitting chapters like this, but between my personal frustration with the severe delays and the whole thing ending up longer than I expected, I decided it was probably for the best. In fact, if I had known ahead of time how long the chapter would end up being and how long it would take me to write it, I would probably have done this several months ago. Sadly, time travel continues to not be real, but better late than never I suppose. Note that this means that most of what now becomes chapter 4 is already written, so it should appear relatively soon as well. Oh, and due to various requests on the matter, I decided to make this one with spaced paragraphs rather than indents, as an experiment. Let me know what you guys think of it. Chapter 3: The Fray Big Macintosh turned his face to the sky and frowned. Something strange was going on above Sweet Apple Acres. Macintosh had been working the apple trees alone that afternoon. Apple Bloom was away on her school trip to Canterlot, and Applejack had headed over to Twilight Sparkle's place with a cart full of food for what Mac assumed was either a friendly dinner party or a heroic quest to save all of Equestria from certain doom. Either way, Mac didn't particularly mind working alone. He'd been so focused on his chores that he hadn't noticed what was going on over his head and it wasn't until he paused for a breather he realized the sun had turned to shade. Looking up, he saw a sky covered in dense black clouds. The air felt heavy with the pressure of an oncoming thunderstorm. “Well, that ain't right,” Macintosh muttered to himself. It had been sunny all day and the forecast said nothing about a storm. What were those pegasi thinking, planting that kind of weather over his orchard while he wasn't looking? Suddenly lightning arched through the clouds, briefly illuminating the blackness. As the thunder roared, Mac's eyes widened. For just a short moment he had thought he'd seen something in the cloud – the outline of some vast titanic thing hanging over his head. It had lasted only a fraction of a second. Had that been real, or had he just imagined it? Macintosh shivered, suddenly realizing that the air had turned chilly and moist. Looking around, he found the orchard covered in a thick blanket of fog which had appeared just as suddenly and mysteriously as the storm clouds. “Definitely ain't right!” Big Macintosh didn't know a lot about meteorology, but he had never seen thunder and fog at the same time. Despite the sudden drop of temperature, there wasn't the slightest hint of wind, and Mac felt every bit of the oppressive atmosphere bearing down on him. Lightning flashed again and he caught another glimpse of the dark monolith hidden inside the clouds. This time he was sure he hadn't imagined it. Macintosh abandoned any remaining inclination to finish his work, his instincts telling him that sticking around much longer would be a bad idea. He broke into a gallop – he had to get back to the farmhouse, make sure Granny Smith was okay. And then? Find AJ, and Miss Twilight Sparkle too. She would know what was going on, right? As he ran, his nose caught a scent that didn't belong in the orchard. He stopped and sniffed the air. Despite the unnatural stillness, there was no mistaking this smell: swamp gas and brimstone, with a hint of charcoal. Mac felt the hairs on his back stand on end and it had nothing to do with the chill. He knew of only one thing with that kind of smell. The next moment he heard hoofsteps behind him. He turned to see multiple lumbering shapes in the fog and dozens of eerie green lights shone through the haze. Timberwolves! A pair of the glowing eyes locked on to Macintosh and he immediately flew into a sprint again, but now he could hear them pursue him. He hadn't even covered a hundred feet when he saw more dark shapes on his right, flanking him. He turned only to find himself flanked once more on his left. They were herding him. None of this made sense to him: timberwolves rarely ventured outside the Everfree forest and never in anywhere near these numbers. Wherever Mac turned he found more green eyes. He stopped running, realizing they had him surrounded. More flashes of lightning lit up the sky and now he could see them more clearly. Some of the creatures were indeed timberwolves, but most of them were something different: made from the same scraps of wood, but pony-sized. They walked on all fours but had long forelimbs giving them a gorilla-like gait. Instead of the canine features of the timberwolves their faces protruded in large bird-like beaks painted with strange black patterns, and they each had a bushy “mane” of leaves and thin branches sticking out from the back of their heads. Some of them were actually riding on the wolves, and most gripped short wooden spears tipped with sharp crystals in their clawed hands. One of the riders pointed its spear at Macintosh and let out a hollow cawing. Several of the creatures dashed forward and lunged at him. But Macintosh was much quicker than his size implied and he knew how to defend himself. “Nope!” he bellowed, spinning around and hitting the first of the attackers with a hard buck. The creature exploded in a rain of sticks and wooden fragments. Without pause, Mac unleashed more bucks in rapid succession, shattering three more assailants including one of the wolves. The rest seemed intimidated by his display and stayed back. A few moments later the shattered remains of the fallen rose into the air as by magic and reassembled themselves into their original shapes, but to Mac's relief they too fell back. “'At's right!” he growled. Despite the dire situation, he permitted himself a triumphant grin. “That all ya got?” Something shook the ground, sending a shiver through the leaves of the apple trees. A few seconds later another shock did the same. His courage suddenly waning, Macintosh looked beyond the wooden horde and saw two more shapes in the fog. These were much larger than the others, and made loud thudding, stomping, crashing sounds as they moved around. Macintosh could hear thick wood breaking and then saw a huge shapeless mass come flying at him through the air. He threw himself out of the way without thinking and it wasn't until the object crashed into the spot he'd just been standing that he realized what had happened: Something had thrown one of his own apple trees at him. After rolling across the ground, Big Macintosh found himself lying on his back. High above him, just under the clouds, several dark shapes flew through the air on large wings, circling like vultures. Mac didn't need to see them clearly to know they weren't pegasi. “Ain't right,” he mumbled just before the timber-things swarmed him. “Ain't right at all...” After a brief and terrible silence, Twilight finally found her words: “”W-What do you mean, you lost Rainbow and Pinkie? Did... Did they...” “Ah can't tell ya the details.” Apple Bloom looked deeply uncomfortable. “Ya know that. But Rainbow... she sacrificed herself to save a young pony's life.” ”No...” Twilight gasped. Applejack stared at her sister, shaking her head, her mouth failing to form any words. “Scootaloo was there when it happened,” Spike said, his voice low and full of pain. “But there was nothing she could do, poor girl. The rest of us... We got there just in time to say goodbye.” “Rainbow...” Apple Bloom's voice cracked slightly. “She didn't even hesitate, ya know? She knew it'd be the last thing she ever did, but she did it anyway. Ah mean, of course she did. She kept smilin' to the end, tried to comfort us. She said everythin' was gonna be alright, somehow. An' then she was just... gone.” Twilight had brough her hoof to her mouth, too shocked to speak. Applejack still just sat there on the dirt floor, shaking slightly, her eyes wide in disbelief. “W-What kinda future's that s'posed to be?” she whispered. “Rainbow... Rainbow's one of the most amazin' ponies Ah've ever known! Yer tellin' me ten more years is all she gets? Couldn't ya save her? Go back in time an'...” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Rainbow is special. Interferin' with her destiny is incredibly dangerous. 'Sides, that's exactly the kinda thinkin' that created the Fray inna first place.” “We wanted to spare you from knowing about this,” Spike said. “Rainbow Dash did what she felt was right, because she's Rainbow Dash. But without her, nothing was the same anymore.” “What about...” Feeling her voice fail her, Twilight steadied herself and started over. “I'm afraid to ask, but what about Pinkie Pie? What happened to her?” Apple Bloom hesitated. “Pinkie...” But before she could go on, her eyes widened and she choked on her words. She staggered as a sudden vertigo overtook her. “Oh no!” she gasped, starting to hyperventilate. At the same time, Spike raised a claw to his head and groaned: “Horseapples! Did... Did we do that?” Apple Bloom weakly shrugged her head. “Ah don't think so.” “What's going on?” Twilight asked. “What just happened?” “You okay, sugar?” Applejack asked, giving Apple Bloom a worried look. “Ya don't look so good. Are ya sick?” “Something or somepony just caused a paradoxical change in the timeline,” Spike said, struggling to steady himself. “We're reacting to the dissonance between our pasts and the altered present.” Twilight and Applejack traded a worried look. “You mean...?” Twilight began. Apple Bloom gritted her teeth. “A Fray!” “Spike, Apple Bloom!” They turned to see Sweetie Belle descend the stairs on unsteady hooves, closely followed by a worried-looking Spike. “Did you guys feel that?” “Yeah,” Apple Bloom muttered. “We felt it alright. Sweetie Belle, did ya do somethin'?” “I didn't do anything!” Sweetie Belle glanced at the younger Spike and blushed slightly. “...Much.” “Well, it wasn't us,” Future Spike said. There was a moment of silence. Then, as one, all three exclaimed: “Scootaloo!” “I'm dead,” said Scootaloo, hanging her head as she walked next to Rainbow Dash. “I am so dead. Apple Bloom is going to kill me.” Not knowing what else to do, Rainbow had opted to walk the crestfallen time traveler back to the library, hoping Twilight and the others would know how to deal with the situation. She put a comforting wing over Scootaloo's back. “Hey, let's try to stay positive, alright? I'm sure they'll understand.” Scootaloo shook her head. “This was the one thing we couldn't allow to happen, and I totally blew it! I should never have told you about the Bifrost.” “So why did you?” Rainbow asked. Scootaloo shrugged. “Wasn't thinking straight,” she muttered. “I... I just wanted to save you.” “So, basically, you just broke the whole timeline for my sake?” Rainbow chuckled. “Aw, I think that's the sweetest thing anypony's ever done for me.” Despite everything, Scootaloo couldn't help but smile a little. They had almost made it back to the library when the front door swung open and a furious Apple Bloom stormed outside, followed closely by Twilight, Applejack, both Spikes and Sweetie Belle. “Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom hollered. “Ah'm gonna kill ya!” “Told you,” Scootaloo sighed. Apple Bloom marched straight up to her and growled: “Scootaloo, what have you done?” The pegasus sat down on the ground with her ears flat against her head, shrinking back under Apple Bloom's glare. “I'm sorry...” Apple Bloom looked to Rainbow and her eyes widened in realization. “Oh no. Ya didn't. Scootaloo, please tell me ya didn't.” “I'm sorry,” Scootaloo repeated. “I told her.” “Have ya lost yer dang mind!?” Apple Bloom yelled. “Ya know the rules, Scootaloo, ya never meddle with a Catalyst! Not for any reason! What were ya thinkin'?” “I don't know,” Scootaloo whimpered, staring into the ground. “What about the mission?” Apple Bloom raged. “Horseapples, what about Diamond Tiara? Did ya think about that?” “I don't know!” Scootaloo cried. She looked up and her eyes were full of tears. “I wasn't thinking, okay? I just... I couldn't stand losing her again! I had to tell her!” She broke down into sobs, tears streaming down her face. “I had to... I had to...” Apple Bloom gritted her teeth, raising a quivering hoof, and for a moment it seemed like she was about to smack the crying pegasus over the head. But then she sighed and lowered her hoof again. Instead she put her forelegs around Scootaloo, gently hugging her. “O'course ya did,” she whispered. “Ya great big idjit. O'course ya did.” As Scootaloo kept sobbing, Spike and Sweetie Belle approached her as well. The unicorn immediately joined in the hug, resting her head against Scootaloo's shoulder, and the dragon gave her a comforting pat on the back. “It's gonna be okay, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle said. “We'll figure something out, together.” Twilight cleared her throat. “Sweetie Belle is right. What's done is done, and standing around out here won't help. Why don't we all head back inside and think this through?” Apple Bloom sighed, nodding. “Come on, Scootaloo. Sorry fer yellin' at ya.” When they wandered back to the library, Rainbow walked up to Twilight and whispered: “I know this is a bad time, but do you got anything to eat?” A few minutes later they were all back inside and Scootaloo had managed to calm down somewhat. Rainbow was wolfing down some daisy sandwiches Spike had prepared for her. “So, now what do we do?” she asked between mouthfuls. “The plan hasn't changed,” Apple Bloom said. “We still need to get that spell an' destroy it.” “Isn't it too late for that?” Applejack asked. “The Fray's already here, right?” “Doesn't matter,” Sweetie Belle said. “You have to think about it fourth dimensionally. The Fray was caused because we came back from the future using Pumpkin Cake's time spell. As long as we stop it from being created it doesn't matter in what order it happens.” “So what's the problem?” Rainbow asked. “The problem is that the Fray makes us vulnerable to Morning Star,” Future Spike explained. “She has ways of knowing when a Fray occurs and she may already be taking action to stop us.” “Twilight,” Apple Bloom said, turning to the alicorn, “Ah don't think we can wait until tomorrow, we have to get that scroll as soon as possible.” Twilight nodded. “Agreed. I guess I'll just have to write to Princess Celestia and explain that we have an emergency on our hoofs. Spike...” But the same moment she turned to face the baby drake, his cheeks suddenly bulged out and he burped out a scroll in a burst of green fire. Rather than fall to the floor, the scroll unrolled itself on its own and gently floated into Spike's claws. Spike looked at it and blinked in surprise. “Huh, that's weird. It's for me.” Twilight frowned. “Princess Celestia sent you a letter?” As Spike read the scroll, his expression turned more and more perplexed. “Um, it's not from her.” “Then who sent it?” Future Spike asked. “I think you did.” Spike held the letter up. “Guys, you need to read this.” Still frowning, Twilight levitated the letter to herself and read: Dear Past Spike Tell Past Future Me and the others that they have to get to Sweet Apple Acres right away. It's under attack by the Contumacy. Sincerely, – Future Future Spike. She put the letter down and looked at Apple Bloom. “The Contumacy?” “Morning Star's forces.” Apple Bloom gritted her teeth. “Dammit, they can time travel more accurately than Ah thought.” “Hold on,” Scootaloo turned to Future Spike, “you sent yourself a letter from the future? I didn't know you could do that.” Future Spike frowned. “I didn't know I could do that either.” Meanwhile, Applejack was heading towards the door with a grim look on her face. Knowing that expression all too well, Apple Bloom quickly ran past her, cutting her off before she reached the exit. “Whoa, Nelly! Where ya think yer goin´?” “To Sweet Apple Acres, of course!” Applejack replied, her voice shaky with anger and fear. “Ya heard what the letter said, Granny an' Mac are in danger and Ah'm gonna help 'em!” “No ya ain't,” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Not without a plan. AJ, ya don't got the faintest idea what yer up against.” “Apple Bloom, get out of my way!” Applejack shouted. “We're talkin' about our home! Our family!” “Ah know!”Apple Bloom snapped back. “But runnin' in headlong without thinkin' and getting' yer flank kicked ain't gonna do them any good. Applejack, please, ya gotta trust me on this one.” For a moment it looked as if Applejack was about to refuse and try to force her way past Apple Bloom. Then she backed off with a groan of frustration. “Fine. But ya better think of somethin' mighty fast, 'cause Ah'm holding y'all responsible if... if somethin' happens to Mac and Granny!” “Don't worry,” Sweetie Belle said. “The Contumacy usually goes out of it's way to take prisoners. Time shenanigans, you know. I'm sure they're both fine for now.” “Why would they attack Sweet Apple Acres anyway?” Twilight asked. “It's nearby but relatively isolated,” Future Spike said, scratching his chin. ”They probably want to establish a beachhead for a coordinated strike. Most likely, they plan to capture the entire town. Apple Bloom, I think AJ has a point. We need to hurry.” “If we're dealin' with a full expeditionary force, we're gonna need backup,” Apple Bloom said. “Twilight, how many ponies can ya teleport at once?” “I'm not quite sure,” Twilight admitted. “I've managed three ponies plus Spike without effort. If I know exactly where I'm going and have time to focus properly, I think I could probably handle double that.” Apple Bloom nodded. “Good enough. Do ya think ya can teleport six ponies all the way to Fluttershy's place?” Twilight cocked her head. “That's a bit of a long jump, but I think so, yes.” “Right,” Apple Bloom said. “We start by roundin' up Pinkie an' Rarity, then ya can port us all to Fluttershy since her house is the closest to the farm.” She turned to the pegasi. “Scoot, Rainbow, yer on scoutin' duty. Ah need ya'll to fly over to Sweet Apple Acres and find out what we're up against. You'll need to be stealthy, so don't do anythin' reckless.” “Reckless?” Scootaloo chuckled. “Who, us?” “We're all kinds of stealthy!” Rainbow added. Apple Bloom considered this for a moment. “On second thought, Spike, ya better go along an' keep an eye on 'em.” Future Spike grinned and gave her a small salute with his claw. “Roger that.” “Sugarcube Corner ain't that far from here. We pick up Pinkie first an' then head for Rarity's boutique.” Apple Bloom gave the scout team a nod. “Y’all meet us at Fluttershy's place when yer done. Alright, everypony, let's roll!” With that the main group left the library and galloped off, leaving the scout team behind. Rainbow and Scootaloo exchanged grins and bumped hooves, both pumped up about getting to fly together again. Spike, meanwhile, looked less than thrilled. “I, um, guess I'll just stay here then?” he said. Future Spike gave him a thoughtful look for a moment, then nodded. “That's probably for the best. It's going to get pretty dangerous.” “Yeah,” Spike said. “And after all, you're still just a baby dragon,” Future Spike added. “Better let us adults handle this. Not to mention, it would be bad for me if anything were to happen to you, causality being what it is.” Spike nodded, his shoulders sagging somewhat. “That's true.” “And it's not like the others can't handle themselves,” Future Spike said. “Hay, you'd probably just get in the way.” Spike hung his head. “Probably.” Future Spike allowed a brief silence to pass by, then said: “So are you coming or what?” Spike looked up, his eyes wide in surprise. “R... Really?” “You heard Apple Bloom, we need all the backup we can get, and two dragons are better than one.” Future Spike turned around, presenting his back. “Hop on.” Hesitating only for a heartbeat, Spike quickly scurried up the older dragon's tail and seated himself between Future Spike's spines. “Thank you,” he whispered. Carrying him through the door, Future Spike chuckled. “Don't mention it.” Outside, the pegasi had already taken to the air. “Well, I hope you can keep up,” Rainbow said, “because my wings are itching for action. Ready, Scoots?” “You bet I am!” Scootaloo replied, already making little loops and rolls in the air. “Guess we're gonna have to leg it, huh?” Spike asked. Rather than answer, Future Spike closed his eyes in concentration. He drew a deep breath and then breathed out a bright green flame. Floating through the air, the flame snaked down around his legs and momentarily formed glowing rings around his ankles before quickly fading. The dragon crouched down, tensing his muscles, only to suddenly shoot off into the sky like a rocket. “Whoa!” Rainbow cried out in surprise and Scootaloo whooped as he circled them, half running and half floating through the air with Spike still clinging to his back. “You can fly!?” Spike exclaimed. “Of course I can fly!” Future Spike laughed. “I'm a dragon! Didn't I tell you? Wings are overrated!” “Really?” Scootaloo said. “You hear that, Rainbow?” “Oh hay no!” Rainbow laughed and shot off across the rooftops. “Come on, last one to Sweet Apple Acres is a chicken!” “Hey!” Scootaloo wasted no time following her. “Better hold on tight, kid,” Future Spike said and accelerated. Spike had to dig his claws into his future self's scales as they pursued the pegasi, but even so he found himself smiling. Maybe today isn't so bad after all? Fluttershy felt anxious. This was not an unusual state of mind for her - many things made her anxious: Dragons, natural disasters, flying at high altitudes, her shadow acting threatening and so on. Indeed, anxiety had always been a common occurrence in her life for as long as she could remember. At the moment, the cause of her anxiety was the fact that her cottage was full of various woodland creatures in all shapes and sizes. That too was not especially unusual, except this time something seemed to have the animals severely spooked. A large number of bunnies, mice, ferrets and a few hedgehogs sat huddled under her chairs and dinner table, their little eyes darting back and forth at the slightest sound. A wide variety of birds sat perched on every counter and cupboard, too terrified to utter a single chirp. Even her friend the bear seemed nervous, curled up into a ball in a corner with his paws on his head, which was highly irregular. Contrary to what most ponies assumed, Fluttershy couldn't literally understand what the animals were saying since they didn't use words to begin with. She merely had a very acute intuition for what they were thinking and feeling. Therefore she wasn't exactly sure what had frightened them so; all she could make out was that Something Very Bad was going on outside. She suspected it had something to do with the strange weather – thick clouds had appeared over Sweet Apple Acres seemingly out of nowhere along with a mysterious fog, neither of which had been mentioned in the forecast. Even though she wasn't a weatherpony, Fluttershy knew enough about the subject to realize that something must have gone terribly wrong. “Oh Angel, what am I to do?” she asked. Angel Bunny, who could talk to the other animals and had a pretty good idea of what was going on, peeked out of his hiding place behind the sofa and gave her a helpless shrug. Fluttershy wasn't good at taking initiatives – that had always been Rainbow's forte, and Fluttershy found herself wishing her friend was there with her. Ever since they were fillies, Rainbow Dash had always been around to push Fluttershy forward or drag her along, or knock her off her safe little cloud. Sometimes literally. Fluttershy stopped for a moment to wonder what might have become of her without her childhood friend, but she couldn't imagine a life without Rainbow. A sudden loud sound and a flash of purple light snapped Fluttershy out of her thoughts and made her heart skip a beat. Twilight Sparkle had just teleported into the middle of the room, bringing with her an assortment of friends and time travelers. Their appearance startled the animals and some of the smaller ones fainted. Fluttershy almost did so as well. “Oh, Twilight! You scared me!” she whimpered. “Sorry, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied, looking just a bit weary from the magical exertion. “We have a crisis on our hooves and there wasn't time to use the door. Long story short, Sweet Apple Acres has been invaded by a military force from an alternate future and pretty soon they'll conquer the entire town.” Fluttershy turned somewhat pale. “Oh my, that sounds really serious! What do we do?” Apple Bloom grinned. “Obviously, we're gonna go over there an' tan their sorry hides.” Fluttershy turned even paler. “I was afraid you'd say that.” Rarity sighed, quickly making sure her mane was still tidy. “And here I'd just gotten a lovely hooficure, too. I'd just hate to ruin it against some uncouth ruffian's face.” Applejack shot her a wry smile. “Ya know, Rarity, for such a prissy pony yer strangely badass.” “Why thank you.” Rarity frowned slightly. “I think.” Suddenly the front door slammed open and Rainbow barged in, followed by Scootaloo and both Spikes. “Mission accomplished!” Rainbow hollered. Fluttershy nearly fainted again. “They didn't see you, did they?” Apple Bloom asked. Future Spike shook his head. “It was a bit touch and go, but I don't think so.” “We hid in an apple tree!” Spike declared, clearly still a bit hyped up from the excitement. “I was sure they were gonna see us but they didn't! It was awesome!” Twilight gave the baby dragon a disapproving look. “You brought him along? Is that really a good idea?” “Probably not,” Future Spike admitted, “but since the Fray is already here, I've decided to stop worrying and embrace the madness.” Apple Bloom turned to Scootaloo. “So, what are we dealing with?” “They have a cloaked airship parked right above the farm,” Scootaloo replied. “And they've already deployed a full platoon of troops to patrol the orchards. It's mostly scarecrows, though.” Applejack looked puzzled. “Scarecrows?” “Contumacy footsoldiers,” Sweetie Belle explained. “Think small timberwolves with spears. They'll probably have some actual timberwolves as well.” “We also saw some of those new metal automatons,” Spike said. “Not sure how many. And of course there's a squad of Lionheart Company griffons running the show.” “Scarecrows, tincans and Lionhearts,”Apple Bloom tallied. “We can handle that.” “They also have walker tanks,” Spike added. “Two of them.” “Dammit,” Apple Bloom groaned. “That makes it trickier. We're gonna have to find a way to take those out.” “What about Granny an' Macintosh?” Applejack cut in. “Are they alright? Did ya see 'em?” Scootaloo shook her head. “No, but my guess is that the griffons are holding them prisoner at your house or in the barn. They seem to be using the farm as an improvised barracks.” “Rescuing 'em is out top priority,” Apple Bloom decided. She started pacing the room with a thoughtful look on her face. “So, in summary, they've got a small army of battle constructs, a band of ruthless griffon mercenaries an' two heavily armed war machines in a defensive position. We've got nine ponies...” “With no weapons,” Scootaloo added. “...Nine unarmed ponies, two dragons, a homefield advantage an' the element of surprise.” Future Spike grinned slightly. “Sounds like a fair fight.” “What about the airship?” Twilight asked. “Is it armed?” “Probably,” Sweetie Belle said. “But they won't risk firing on their own troops, especially not when their ship is cloaked and they don't have a clear view. Morning Star doesn't like wasting resources.” “The real trick will be to get past their patrols long enough to free Granny an' Mac,” Apple Bloom said. “Twilight, just makin' sure, but ya do know combat magic, right?” Twilight nodded. “I know how to defend myself.” She had indeed learned the basic maser beam spell, if only because Shining Armor had insisted she did. She decided not to mention that she had only used it once on an actual living target. “Good.” Apple Bloom stopped pacing and addressed the group. “Alright, everypony, here's the plan...” Commander Girard inspected the interior of the barn with a critical eye. It wasn't much, but it would have to do until the order was given to advance on the town. The griffon warrior hoped it wouldn't take much longer: Primitive accommodations aside, the unnatural fog produced by the airship's cloaking magic always made him uneasy. Not to mention, it ironically risked attracting the attention of the ponies, but if any of them had noticed the strange weather they were wisely keeping their distance. The scarecrows were already patrolling the orchards and would apprehend any trespassers. As for the residents of the farm, both ponies had been quickly captured. However, one of them had offered unexpectedly fierce resistance and had actually injured several of Girard's men before being subdued. The stallion had put up quite a fight as well. They were now both securely tied up and gagged in an unused corner of the barn. Girard had requested they be held in the ship's brig but the request had been denied, as he'd feared it might, due to the expedience of the operation. “Hmw dwwh hwu!? Uhmthwuh mwh uh hmf!” The old mare tried in vain to shout some manner of insults at the griffons through her gag, all while struggling against her bonds. She had been doing that for a while now and Girard really wished she would stop. On the other hand, he was beginning to wonder if they had even needed to gag the other one. The large stallion hadn't made a sound since he was captured. He was just sitting there, glaring at them. Girard could hardly wait to take the town so he could have some proper internment camps set up. One of his subordinates entered the barn and saluted. “Sir, we've swept the entire area. Nothing unusual to report.” “No sign of the pony known as Applejack?” Girard asked. The griffon shook his head. “No sir.” That worried Girard. Applejack was designated a high-priority Pony of Interest and historical records indicated that she would be active at the farm during this time period. Girard hoped she was just out of town on this particular day. “What's the word from above?” “The general is reporting our progress to Lady Silver as we speak,” the griffon soldier said. “He will join us for the offensive shortly.” Girard nodded. “Good. Let's get the troops in formation so we can get out of this backwater rat's nest.” “Mwt!?” the old mare grunted furiously. “Rhts nhst?! Mwyhmm uwhthuh...” Girard rolled his eyes. “And not a moment too soon.” Among the trees of the orchards the scarecrows were on the prowl, eerie green eyes flashing in the dense fog. Their leader, perched on the back of a huge timberwolf, cawed the occasional order while directing the others with its spear. So far the patrols had been uneventful. Suddenly a sharp whistle cut through the air. “Hey, numbskulls! Over here!” As one, the troop turned to see Rarity and Pinkie Pie standing side by side out in the open. “Have at thee, villains!” Rarity shouted, taking a battle stance. “Come get some!” Pinkie added for good measure. The scarecrow leader pointed his spear at them, cawing a command, and the entire flock stormed towards the two ponies with crystal spears at the ready and wooden fangs bared. “Ready, Pinkie?” Rarity whispered as they advanced. “I was born ready!” Pinkie replied. “Well, actually, I was born helpless and screaming, but that doesn't sound very...” “Now!” On Rarity's command they both jumped aside, away from each other, revealing that they'd been standing in front of Pinkie's party cannon the whole time. “Party hard!” Pinkie cried and opened fire. A barrage of high-pressure party accessories struck the attackers, and while the blast didn't do a lot of actual damage it was enough to stun them. One scarecrow had its head smashed to pieces by a heavy punch bowl, another got a facefull of strawberry cake. Blinded, it swung its spear around in confusion, injuring several of its comrades. Many more were similarly incapacitated by pies and other assorted pastries. Pinkie kept firing, whooping and shouting taunts the whole time. The few scarecrows that made it through the barrage were swiftly struck down by Rarity, putting her self-defense skills to good use with powerful kicks and bucks. “I can't believe this is working!” she said. “Rainbow, Scootaloo! Your turn!” Two glowing streaks shot out of a nearby apple tree – one purple lightning, the other a brilliant rainbow. They turned in the air and smashed into the rear of the scarecrow squad like a pair of colorful missiles. When the dust settled, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo stood back to back, hooves raised, surrounded by scarecrows and timberwolves. “Remember to destroy their cores,” Scootaloo said, “or they'll just keep coming back for more.” Rainbow nodded. “Gotcha.” “Think you can handle this many?” “Why? Want me to leave some for you?” The two pegasi shared a cocky grin, then leapt into the battle. On the sidelines, the scarecrow commander watched the fight in confusion. Without a griffon to give it instructions, the wooden construct wasn't nearly smart enough to deal with a two-pronged counter-attack. Noticing that another patrol had arrived to reinforce them, it raised its spear and opened its beak to issue an order to regroup, when suddenly a shadow fell over it from above. Future Spike landed right on top of it, smashing rider and timberwolf alike into twigs and splinters. The scarecrow reinforcements stopped dead in their tracks and stared at him. From his seat on his elder's back, little Spike cheerfully waved his claw at them. “Welcome to Ponyville!” And then Future Spike set them all on fire.
Chapter 4: The Battle of Sweet Apple Acres (The Fray Part II)Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
