Across the Multiverse

by dramatic_spoon

Rating: teen
Tags: Big Macintosh, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy
Length: 27698

Big Mac's alternate universe offspring search for answers

Years after the Crisis of Infinite Offspring, Golden Gem returns to figure out what caused it.

Along the way, she finds familiar faces and places, and reunites with her alternate siblings.

Exactly what will she discover?

Published 2014-01-23 10:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-17 02:38:08 UTC

I swear I did

“I can’t believe you made this thing more powerful,” Gem examined the traveling device.

“You wired it wrong,” Temporal Spectrum muttered.

“Alright then, Rhapsody, you alright?”

“…I don’t want to eat any more cupcakes.” The filly moaned as she shifted her position on Stratos’ back.

“…Stratty, If you guys don’t come back before mom and dad do, what should I tell them?” Cumulus rubbed behind her leg.

“That my friends needed me.”

“Everyone good?” Gem grinned, “Then let’s go.”

“To where?” Spectrum frowned.

“Universe six-one-six…”

The group vanished into a bright light.

A brilliant light appeared and faded away, revealing the group in the middle of a scorched hallway.

“Oscura’s universe,” Gem finished.

“Oscura? Why her?”

“Because…”

Gem trailed off as the group realized where they were. Lightly armored stallions, some with sword and spears, began to surround the group.

“…Shit.” Gem swore under her breath.

“…And this is why I said I was going to tag along,” Temporal Spectrum muttered.

“Who are you?” one of the guards demanded, “Why are you here?”

“Easy, we’re just here to see Princess Oscura.” Gem responded.

“Does she know you are here?”

“Well…” Gem trailed off, “No, but we’re friends of hers so we thought…”

“No one can see the Princess unless they have permission.”

“…Double shit,” Gem muttered.

“Stratos, you take Rhapsody and figure out where Obsucra or whatever her name is and get back here.” Temporal Spectrum whispered to the stallion.

“Right”

“Just come with us and we shall place you in the holding cell until this is all ta-”

Golden Gem’s horn flared up, sending a blast of concussive energy into the lead guardsman’s helm. The stallion crumpled to the ground as the others brought their own weapons up.

“Hold on tight, kid.” Stratos whispered before he took off. As the pegasus took to the air, several of the other pegasus guards followed him.

“Wasn’t expecting that,” Gem muttered as she fired off another magic blast.

“He’s maneuverable enough.”

Temporal Spectrum sidestepped a spear thrust and quickly closed the distance between herself and her attacker. Bringing her right hoof down over the spear, she quickly jabbed her left hoof in an uppercut, stunning the spearman. With another quick twist of her body, she tore the spear out of her opponent’s grip and bashed him over the head with the spear’s counterweight. The earth mare quickly brought the spear around, slamming the counterweight into another guardsman’s helmet.

“Where’d you learn that?” Gem dodged another attack.

“My parents made me learn self-defense,” Temporal Spectrum swung the spear around, blocking a sword blow, “Mom had me learn karate, Dad went for Krav Maga.”

“Well, that’s not good.”

Stratos stared at the dead end, glancing up at the walls and ceiling.

“I said take the left,” Rhapsody grumbled.

“Well, they say hindsight is twenty-twenty,” Stratos shrugged.

“Mom says she has eyes on the back of her head, is that the same thing?”

“…No, not re-”

“There they are!”

Stratos spun around as the guards began to advance towards them.

“…Rhapsody, hold tight.”

The filly’s grip tightened as Stratos shifted his position. As the guards grew closer, Stratos bucked the wall, shattering the stone and leaving a small hole in the wall. Another kick enlarged the hole, allowing Stratos and Rhapsody to slip out.

“Dammit, get out of here!” one of the guards yelled at the others, “They broke one of the support columns!”

The guards scrambled out of the hall, as the wall and ceiling collapsed with a rumble and crack that echoed through the castle.

In a different part of the castle, a unicorn jerked her head up, away from the documents she was reading. The stern look on her face grew even harsher as she listened to the rumbling.

“What was that?”

The unicorn made her way over to window, only to watch a segment of the castle wall collapse.

“…Shimmer.”

A well dressed orange unicorn with a red and orange mane and glasses poked her head into the room.

“Figure out what is going on. Now.” The unicorn ordered.

Before the other unicorn, Shimmer could respond, a guardspony burst into the room.

“…Fluttershy, this better be important.”

“It is your highness, a group of strange ponies appeared in the castle, seeking an audience with Princess Oscura. As we were not informed of any such visitors, we attempted to take them for holding,” the guardspony, Fluttershy, paused, “They… resisted.”

“I noticed.” The Unicorn snarked, “Unless the left wing of the building is being renovated without my kno-”

The window exploded inwards as something crashed into bookshelf behind the unicorn. Shimmer, Fluttershy and the unicorn spun around to see a dazed Stratos and unconscious Rhapsody sprawled out on the remains of the bookshelf.

“…Is this them?”

“Some of them,” Fluttershy muttered.

Stratos sat up rubbing his head, “Ow, ow, ow… Rhapsody, you al... ri... ght?”

Stratos trailed off as he noticed the pony in front of him; The unicorn mare stood in front of him in all of her glory: her grey coat poked out from under her sleek, shining armor and red cape, as her black mane hung down. A purple aura surrounded her red horn as she scowled at Stratos.

“Start talking.” she demanded.

===

“…So, let me get this straight…” Time Turner rubbed his temples, “Golden Gem showed up, told you she was going to travel through the multiverse and you decided not to tell me as soon as possible?
Did you forget what I had said, or did you really believe what she said?”

“Well, was she lyin’?”

“No, not quite, the barriers all strengthened after we sent them back, and further evidence shows they are much stronger than we initially thought, but that’s not the point!” Time Turner rubbed his forehead, “You said she was heading to Stratos’ universe?” Big Macintosh nodded and the earth stallion continued on, “I’ll contact Agent Berry, but I doubt she saw them.”

“What about Rhapsody?” Lyra interrupted Big Macintosh’s response.

“Well, until we find out exactly where they went, or where they’re going there’s not much I can do.”

“She said she got the device from her agent of A.R.M.O.R. or whatever it’s called there, don’t you have one?”

“I do, but…”

“Then give it to me, I’m going after her.” Lyra interrupted him.

“It’s never been tested,” Time Turner grumbled, “I have absolutely no idea if it will work, let alone send you to the right place. The multiverse is an enormous nightmare to deal with, already we have something going on with seven unrelated universes…”

“Well I am not going to stay here while my daughter is out there doing who knows what!” Lyra snapped back, “Make the damn thing work!”

Time Turner opened his mouth to snap back at her, but stopped. The stallion sighed and closed his eyes.

“There is one other way. But it’s… unreliable.” Time Turner muttered.

“I don’t care.”

“…Fine, I’ll do what I can,” Time Turner opened his eyes and shrugged, “Now I really need to get back to work and see if I can do this. I will inform you as soon as possible.”

The stallion turned away from the others and began to fiddle with his headset again. “Besides, he never returns my calls,” Time Turner muttered under his breath.

===

Spectrum slammed the dented spear tip into another guard’s chest, pushing him backwards and into the wall.

“This is starting to get ridiculous,” she muttered.

Gem backed up into Spectrum, panting for breath.

“I’m spent.”

Before Spectrum could respond, the guard lashed out snapping the spear in two. The earth mare grabbed the portion still holding the counterweight and smacked the guard over the head, breaking the counterweight off.

“I don’t think I’m getting another one.” She muttered as she tossed the stick away.

“…This isn’t how I expected this to end,” Gem chuckled, “Maybe I should have listened to Big Macintosh.”

“ ‘Do not go gentle into that good night,
Rage, Rage against the dying of the light’.” Spectrum quoted. Gem chuckled again.

“A poem written by one stallion to his dying father, about how we should never give up.” She stated, “One usually uses that when there are no other options, save capture or death.”

“Still one hell of a quote,” Spectrum responded.

As the two prepared to continue fighting, a crack of thunder echoed in the hallway.

“ENOUGH!” a booming voice erupted from behind the guardsponies. Flabbergasted, Spectrum and Gem watched as the guards move to the side, creating a path. As the grey unicorn walked past them, each guardspony bowed. Reaching Gem and Spectrum, the unicorn scowled at them.

“…So, you are the other two causing all this trouble.”

“Trouble is a relative word.” Spectrum responded.

“…” the unicorn turned away from the two and looked at her guards.

“Is this how we treat our guests?”

The mares exchanged a baffled expression as the unicorn continued.

“But your Highness!” one of the guards stammered out, “we were not informed…”

“That is true. However, is it standard practice to attack them, or is sending a pony to inform me of what is going on too difficult?” The unicorn scowled, “For the moment you are all dismissed. I will have Colonel Limestone Pie investigate this matter…”

“As you wish, your highness.”

“You two. Follow me.” The unicorn ordered Gem and Spectrum. In stunned silence, the pair obliged, following the unicorn down the hallway, and through the building.

“As for you two…” the Unicorn began, pausing in front of a large door, “Attacking my guards was a foolish decision. It is policy to place suspicious and unknown ponies in a holding area, until we have time to deal with them. If you had obliged, we would have been discussing the matters at hoof earlier, and I would not have to rebuild the left wing, or waste medical supplies on the ponies you beat up.”

“I panicked.” Gem responded.

An amused smile crept onto the mare’s face, “Your friend explained almost everything to me, but I wish to hear it from the mastermind.”

“Yes… Queen Umbra?” Gem paused, “I believe that is the name Oscura mentioned once, but I honestly don’t remember…”

“You have a very good memory,” Queen Umbra smiled.

Stratos and Rhapsody sat at a large round table, along with Shimmer and Fluttershy. The stallion and mares continued to awkwardly glance at each other.

“You look like Miss Fluttershy,” Rhapsody told the pegasus.

“That’s because I am Fluttershy.”

“No, Miss Fluttershy’s cutie mark is a bunch of butterflies. Your cutie mark is…” Rhapsody blinked, “what is it?”

“A pair of halberds, I was the best in my class.”

Rhapsody cocked her head to the side, thinking, “I still don’t get it. And who are you?”

“Didn’t your brother teach you any manners?” Shimmer scoffed.

“He’s not my brother.” Rhapsody shook her head, “And my mom and dad say the same thing.”

“Hmph, foals these days…” Shimmer scoffed.

The door swung open as Queen Umbra lead Gem and Spectrum into the room.

“Where is my daughter?” the queen demanded.

“Princess Oscura is on her way, your Highness.” Shimmer responded.

“Good. You two, take a seat next to Stratos.”

Obeying, the two sat next to Stratos. Gem shot the stallion a dirty look.

“You were suppose to find Oscura, not her mom.”

“I tried,” Stratos shrugged, “but it still worked out.”

The doors to the room opened again. A slim, grey unicorn clad in thin metal armor entered. Her black and gamboges mane was tied back, out of her face, and a rapier was fashioned to her side.

“Mother, what am…” she trailed off as she saw the other ponies, “Gem? Stratos?”

“Hi Oscura,” Gem grinned, “Boy, do I have a story for you…”

“You will listen to what she has to say. I want your answer by tomorrow.” Queen Umbra turned her attention back to the others, “Shimmer, I want you to prepare the guest room for them. Fluttershy, you are dismissed.”

“Yes, your highness.” The two ponies bowed and left the room. As the door clicked shut behind them, the queen turned her attention back to her daughter.

“Now then, begin your story, Golden Gem.”

“Well… it started after we got sent back for good…”

Everyone Around

Gem continued to pace the room as Spectrum, Stratos and Rhapsody watched her. Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy stood at the doorway, watching the group.

“You do realize that making a hole in the carpet isn’t going to speed up their discussion, right?” Spectrum yawned.

“What if she’s talking to A.R.M.O.R. or whatever the equivalent is here?” Gem responded, “It could…”

“This is the first time you’ve gotten the parents involved…” Stratos glanced over to Rhapsody, “Well, the first time their parents actually talked to their kids about it.”

“It was incredibly reckless to bring a young filly with you,” Shimmer scoffed, “Especially if you have no idea what you are doing.”

“I have a plan,” Gem shot back.

“Even so, it’s reckless to go on when you clearly lack experience.” Fluttershy shook her head.

“I did fine, I beat up…”

“Fresh recruits,” Fluttershy chuckled, “We assign the newer guards to the left wing. Had you ended up in the right wing and fought…” the captain shrugged, “I’m sure we would still be having this conversation, just in the holding cells, not in the castle.”

“…I planned for everything.” Gem muttered.

“...We all think we are prepared,” Shimmer responded, “And then we discover our plans are useless once we actually see the situation.”

“I-”

The doors opened as Oscura and Queen Umbra entered. The older unicorn watched as Gem skidded to a stop.

“We have decided.” The Queen stated, “Oscura will accompany you on this journey.”

Gem broke out into an ecstatic grin as Temporal and Stratos exchanged uncertain glances.

“However…” Umbra continued on, “I expect her to return in both a reasonable amount of time and… if she is injured or otherwise…shall we say harmed, I will not hesitate to punish you.”

“…Yes, your Highness.”

“Now, how shall you be leaving?” Queen Umbra continued, “And what is necessary for your journey?”

“I’d like another spear,” Temporal interrupted Gem’s response, “It’s got good balance, and maneuverability.”

“Fluttershy.”

The captain of the guard quickly bowed and left the room.

“Anything else?”

“Can I have something to eat?” Rhapsody hopped off her chair.

“…Shimmer, take her to the kitchen.”

“Yes, your majesty. Come with me, Rhapsody.”

The yellow mare lead the filly out of the room and down the brightly lit hallway.

“What do you wish to eat?”

“Something cheesy.”

“Our kitchen staff should be able to whip up something quickly, so you do not keep your friends…”

Shimmer trailed off as Stratos caught up to the two. He flashed an embarrassed grin before speaking.

“Sorry, I didn’t get to eat breakfast.”

“…It’s the afternoon.” Shimmer shook her head.

“I woke up late.”

The older unicorn shook her head in exasperation, “Very well…”

Queen Umbra looked at the other two ponies before sighing.

“You are creating quite a mess.”

Gem tensed up as Temporal frowned.

“Do not assume I have not been paying attention to details. My ARMOR agents answer to me as well as their counterparts. You are playing a very dangerous game. Has it occurred to you that there are universes out there where things are nowhere near as utopian as this one?”

“I…”

“Universes where your Elements of Harmony have turned on one another, universes where Nightmare Moon or Corona have won, universes where Discord’s reign never ended, universes where the Changeling hordes have emerged victorious in their attacks on Equestria…or even a universe where my counterpart is a force of evil, not good.” The Queen chuckled, “It’s amazing to see what I might have been, and that there will always be ponies to stop it.”

“I have a plan.”

“So you keep saying. Plans are only as good as their creator, and I assure you, you are not that skilled. I believe your plan is based on a very specific set of individuals and what information you have gathered from your universe’s version of ARMOR.”
Umbra paused, “But that matters little if you cannot adapt.”

Golden Gem opened her mouth to respond, but closed it once again.

“And as for you…” the Queen turned her attention to Temporal, “You are a mystery to me. Who are your parents?”

“Rainbow Dash and Time Turner.”

“…The name Time Turner does not seem familiar to me. Rainbow Dash…” Queen Umbra’s expression darkened at the thought, “While there are stories I can tell, I believe those stories would be inappropriate, for the matter at hand.”

“In the infinite multiverse there are universes where whom we know as our friends are our greatest enemies, and our salvation can come from the unlikeliest of sources. Besides, in our universes the elements defeated you for good.” Temporal responded, “I think I can handle it.”

“…When you are referred to in the papers as the Hammer of Hell, I don’t think so.” The Queen responded, “This conversation is over, finish.”

“…What about my mother?” Golden Gem interrupted.

“Rarity?” Umbra paused, “…She is off in the Griffon Empire. Married some Prince, I do not really pay attention to the Griffons, that is the Republic’s problem.”

“…What.” Gem stared at the queen in confusion.

Before Umbra could respond, the door opened as Fluttershy lead another pony into the room. The unicorn soldier levitated a spear towards Temporal, who took the offered weapon. Without another word, Fluttershy and the pony left. Just as the door was about to close, it opened again, as Stratos carried Rhapsody into the room.

“She ate too much again.” Stratos chuckled.

“I like feta,” the filly groaned.

“I believe we may go now,” Oscura finally spoke.

“Remember what I have said…” Umbra trailed off.

“I know.” Gem nodded.

“Where are we going now?” Temporal asked.

“Universe One-nine-nine…”

The group vanished in a flash of light.

---

The air shimmered as the group reappeared in an abandoned house.

“…Garden Royal’s home.” Golden Gem grinned

Stratos and Oscura exchanged confused glances before turning back to the unicorn.

“Why her?” Stratos asked.

“I do have to agree that seeking out her assistance seems very… unusual.” Oscura nodded.

“I plan for everything, help me look for her.” Gem motioned towards a window.

The ponies turned to the window and looked out onto the street. Ponies continued their way down the street; chatting, laughing, and enjoying themselves. As the group continued to watch, they noticed something odd.

Everypony’s face contorted into a large, cheerful, almost unnatural looking grin.

“…How come everypony’s smiling so much?” Rhapsody asked.

“Ponies can always find something to be happy about…” Stratos half-heartedly remarked.

“There is a difference between joy and… strangeness,” Oscura remarked, “And this is most definitely unusual.”

The group continued to watch as the ponies continued their everyday activities. Eventually a red coated pegasus mare, with a long pink mane trotted into view. Gem nodded.

“That’s Royal, let’s go,” Gem motioned towards the door.

“Wait, look.” Temporal motioned.

A blue pegasus stallion with a rainbow mane followed Royal, eventually catching up to her and snuggling up to her.

“There’s my little cupid,” the stallion grinned.

“Not out here, Blitzy-witzy,” Royal responded.

Temporal and Stratos exchanged disturbed glances. Rhapsody made a retching noise as she turned away from the window.

“It’s worse than Aunty Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon.”

“I love you, my little pony-wony.” The stallion replied

“I love you more, my smoopy-doopy pegasi,”

“No, I love you, my petite-choufleur.”

“No, I love you, my…”

Garden Royal was cut off as a blinding flash of light erupted from a nearby building.

The group rematerialized in the middle of the apple orchard.

“We’re never talking about that again.” Golden Gem ordered. Instead of responding the others nodded.

“Where are we now?” Stratos asked as he looked around, “And how did we end up on the farm?”

“Universe one-eight-five-nine,” Golden Gem looked around, “as for how we ended up here, I-”

“Who are you and what are you doing on the farm?” a new male voice demanded.

The group turned around and found themselves face to face with a new alicorn stallion. The stallion’s flowing, gamboge mane highlighted with black streaks was tucked under a stetson hat, and his cutie mark took the form of what appeared to be apples cut into the shape of stars.

The stallion coughed, “I said…”

“We heard you,” Oscura interrupted, “I am Oscura, and these are my traveling companions.”

“We’re her companions?” Gem muttered under her breath. Temporal and Stratos nudged the unicorn, “What?”

“…Can’t say I’ve ever heard of you all,” the alicorn shrugged, “We get a lot of folks comin’ in though, with the family reunion and all comin’ up.”

“…Family reunion?”

“Yes, Auntie Applebloom just had a child with Button Mash…” the stallion trailed off.

“Hey, Kanzi!” another voice, a female called out.

Another unicorn mare trotted into view. The new unicorn’s grey mane was done up in a very impressive, fancy style, and her orange coat was carefully groomed and cared for. As she trotted up to the Alicorn, Kanzi’s, side, she noticed Oscura.

“..Friend of yours?”

“I am not sure.” Kanzi shrugged.

“Hey, Oscura, she looks lot like you,” Rhapsody chimed in, surprising the others.

The two unicorns examined one another before shrugging.

“They say everypony has a do-”

“SCURIE!”

A crackling noise was heard, followed by a pop. Something dropped atop Oscura, knocking the mare down. A large, oddly shaped pony grinned as she sat atop the unicorn. The red mare tossed her amber and grey mane back with a paw-like foreleg. Her long, snake-like tail whipped back and forth in joy, as she slowly drew her talon like fingers on Oscura’s horn. The pony grinned, revealing a number of odd canine teeth.

“Eep.” Rhapsody dived behind Temporal and Stratos.

“Bellona, get off of me.”

“But it’s been so long!” the draconequus pouted, “You’re much more fun than Darcy, I’ll say that.”

“Bellona,” Golden Gem started, “I want…”

“I’m in.” the hybrid grinned.

“But I didn’t get a chance to explain anything.”

“I don’t care. You’re here, that means you broke the rules, that means it’s something fun.” Bellona’s grin grew larger, “Well, let’s go. Oh, right, Darcy, Kanzi, let my dads know I’m going on a trip.”

Gem rolled her eyes as she adjusted another knob on her transporter. The group vanished into a flash of light, leaving behind scorched earth and a pair of baffled ponies.

“What just happened?” the Alicorn, Kanzi, wondered out loud.

“Never mind that,” the unicorn, Darcy, countered, “What are we going to tell Uncle Macintosh?”

Let Go

The group rematerialized in the middle of the library. Bellona turned to Temporal and Rhapsody, frowning.

“So who are these two?” the hybrid pointed two fingers at them, “I remember Stratty, Scurry and you, but they’re new.”

“My name is Temporal Spectrum,” her grip shifted on the spear, “Stratos mentioned you before.”

“How did she get a spear anyway?” Bellona turned to Oscura.

“My mother lent one to her.” Oscura shrugged.

“…Makes about as much sense as anything else.” Bellona turned back around and smiled at Rhapsody, who whimpered.

“Well now… what’s a little foal doing here?” Bellona grinned revealing a mouthful of jagged teeth.

“Don’t threaten her.” Temporal stepped between the two ponies, “I don’t appreciate it, and neither does she.”

“Where’s your sense of h-”

Bellona stopped as the tip of the spear nicked the tip of her nose. Temporal held the spear out, balanced on her back hooves.

“Do not-” Temporal started.

“What’s going on down there?” Another voice called out. A yellow coated unicorn stuck her head out of a back room, “How did you get in here? The library is closed today.”

The unicorn made her way out of the backroom, revealing her cerulean blue mane and cutie mark: three hearts. As the mare came into full view, Golden Gem’s eyes widened in recognition and horror.

“Well? I expect answers.” The mare scanned the crowd, pausing on Bellona, “…Another one?”

“What do you m-”

“We’re sorry, Miss Lemon Hearts,” Oscura interrupted Bellona, “We had a slight teleportation error.”

“…I recognize you from somewhere,” the older unicorn frowned before sighing, “Well, after everything I’ve been through, some of the names and faces will slip. Now I still must ask you all to leave.”

“Will you calm down?” Temporal ordered a nervous, twitchy Golden Gem. Bellona rolled her eyes.

“I can’t help it…”

“It’s highly improbable that this dimension’s version of Lemon Hearts has anything to do with yours.” Oscura nodded.

“It’s safe to be paranoid.”

“If you’re that paranoid, you would not have taken the risk.” Oscura countered, “What universe is this?”

“Universe One-Two-Three,” Golden Gem paused, “Golden Sweet’s universe.”

“…Why her?” Stratos asked, “She didn’t really hang around any of us.”

“Because she-”

“LOOK OUT!”

Something crashed into Golden Gem, knocking the mare over.

“I told ya to watch out,” a colt’s voice scolded someone else.

“I told mom the brakes were jamming,” another colt responded.

With a pained groan, Gem pulled herself back up, rubbing her head.

“What hit me?”

“These three.” Oscura responded as she levitated a trio of foals into the air: A white, navy blue-maned pegasus colt, an orange earth colt and a red coated unicorn filly. All three flashed Gem an awkward smile.

“...It was all Drift’s fault.” The pegasi pointed a hoof at the earth colt.

“Shut up,” the colt, Drift snapped back, “I told you it wasn’t working but you insisted…”

“You insisted it would work fine until we got to R-”

“Um…” The filly interrupted, “Can you put us down, Miss? We won’t run away.”

“…I want you three to apologize first,” Oscura stated, “Until then…”

The two colts scowled at each other as the filly nudged them both. The three ponies turned to face Golden Gem.

“We’re sorry Mis…um…”

“Golden Gem.”

“We’re sorry Miss Golden Gem.” The three apologized in unison.

“Next time Drift and Whirl go out, we’ll be more careful,” the filly nodded, “But then again, Aunty Scootaloo was the same way.”

“…Wait, Aunt Scootaloo?” Gem blinked, “Who are your parents?”

“My dad’s Rumble and my mom’s Sweetie Bell,” Whirl replied.

“Scootaloo and Flashstep,” Drift replied.

“My moms are Applebloom and Dinky Doo.” The filly beamed.

Gem and the others blinked and looked at Bellona.

“What?” the hybrid shrugged, “Magic?”

“Where’s Golden Sweet?” Gem turned her attention back to the filly.

“Probably at the farm with Uncle Mac an’ Aunty Applejack.”

“And that’s how Laver’s doing,” Carrot Top finished, “I admit I had my doubts, but Flim and Rarity’s machine works fantastically.”

“Between that an’ Gary, Laver’s production rate has doubled,” Roseluck added, “It’s perfect timing, there’s some sort of health craze going on in Las Pegasus and Canterlot. Dried seaweed from the Taishushima Islands is the big new thing, and that’s one of the cultivars Laver has.”

“Yeah?” Applejack cut in, “And what about everypony else?”

“We have more than enough funds and workers,” Roseluck responded, “Besides, Laver likes working alone anyway.”

“Not to mention that this is a golden opportunity.”

“Well I-”

“Alright, I heard enough,” Big Macintosh interrupted his sister’s rebuttal, “ ‘Jack you an’ Rose tell Laver we’ll start on that.”

“Right, Mac.”

The two earth ponies left the room, leaving Big Macintosh and Carrot Top.

“I don’t see why your sister is being so hostile to a plan that will make money,” the mare shook her head.

“You oughta know how my sister is,” Mac sighed, “Times like this makes me wish I had retired an’ let Roseluck take over.”

“Such is life,” the mare shrugged.

The door opened again, as an older Sweet Wheat stuck her head in.

“Big Mac? You got some folks asking for you… and…” the mare glanced outside again, “I really think you should talk to them.”

“Tell’m to come in.”

The mare nodded and vanished. The door swung open, as Golden Gem, Temporal Spectrum and Oscura entered the room.

“Mr. Macintosh,” Gem politely greeted him, “My name is Golden Gem, and…”

“…Wait, Golden Gem?” Carrot Top cut in, “As in… that little filly that came here with Golden Sweet and….those other ponies?”

“I’m surprised you remembered,” Gem responded.

“When you have to write off things as ‘Destroyed by interdimensional counterparts’ you remember.” Carrot Top grumbled.

“…You want Golden Sweet for something, don’t you?” Big Macintosh stated, “No, don’t answer that, it’s obvious.”

“…Yes.” Golden Gem nodded.

“Well… I’m sure you got a story to tell.” The stallion shrugged, “but I got some questions first. I recognize these two, but you’re a new one,” he turned his attention to Temporal, “You got the same look as Romana.”

“…Who?”

Stratos and Bellona sat at Sugarcube corner, watching Whirl, Drift, the filly and Rhapsody around another table.

“So who exactly are Kanzi and Darcey?” Stratos frowned.

“Kanzi’s Aunty Selene and Uncle Braeburn,” Bellona shrugs.

“Who’s Selene?”

“Nightmare Moon.” Bellona offhandedly replied.

“…I don’t want to know,” Stratos shook his head, “And Darcey?”

“Uncle Sombra and Aunty Sherbert.”

Stratos opened his mouth to speak, only for no words to come out. He closed his mouth again and shook his head, “…You have some really weird relatives.”

“…So I don’t get it,” Whirl frowned, “Your dad’s Uncle Macintosh, but your mom’s Lyra Heartstrings? Who’s that?”

“She’s a teal unicorn with a cutiemark like a lyre.” Rhapsody drew a lyre in the air to emphasize her point, “Doesn’t she live here?”

“Never heard of her,” Drift shrugged, “What about you, Bailey?”

The Unicorn paused, lost in thought, “I think I heard Uncle Time Turner mention a ‘science-pirate Heartstrings’ before.”

“What’s a science-pirate?” Rhapsody asked.

“I dunno.” Bailey responded as Whirl and Drift shrugged.

As the four foals pondered over it, a dark brown unicorn mare with a flowing black mane speckled with white trotted over to their table, levitating a platter with them.

“Alright kids, whose is the Milkshake?”

“Mine!” Whirl raised a hoof.

“Ala mode?”

“Mine.” Drift nodded in anticipation.

“I know the Rijstevlaai is yours, Bailey.” The unicorn chuckled, “that leaves the turnovers for…Rhapsody, is it?”

“Uh-Huh, Miss Romana.” Rhapsody nodded.

“Rhapsody, don’t you think you’ve had enough to eat?” Stratos interrupted as the unicorn, Romana, placed their snacks down, “You got stuff from Cream Pie, from the kitchen in the castle and now here.”

“Oh be quiet,” Bellona rolled her eyes, “If the kid wants diabetes, let her.”

“What’s diabetes?” Drift turned this attention to Romana.

“It’s something you get if you eat too much sugar.” The unicorn turned to Stratos and Bellona, “Now as for you two, you still haven’t ordered anything.”

“I’m not hungry, I’m just here to keep an eye on Rhapsody.” The stallion absentmindedly waved a hoof towards the filly.

“I would like pie. Shoofly-rhubarb.”

“We don’t make that,” Romana replied, “I can give you a slice of both, if that works.”

“Fiiiinnneee…..” Bellona rolled her eyes.

---

“…So let me see if I got this right,” Big Macintosh paused, “You want Golden Sweet to join you on some adventure through the multiverse to find a dimension that you don’t know jack shit about. And you want my permission to let her go.”

“…Yes.”

“...How many of your parents know what you’re doing?” Carrot Top frowned.

“…Only Oscura’s mother,” Temporal cut off Gem’s response.

“….And you expect us to say yes?” Carrot Top shot back.

“…I don’t think Golden Sweet talked a lot about what happened here,” Big Macintosh paused, “But we’ve been through a lot. Nightmare Moon. Pirate attacks. Hell, nearly got myself killed by Nightmare Moon, a zombie bear and Shinin’ Armor.”
The stallion shook his head at the thought, “You all can stay here for the night. I’ll give you an answer in the morning. Do not try to run off with her.”

“That is acceptable.” Oscura cut off Gem’s response.

With that, the group turned and left Carrot Top and Big Macintosh alone.

“…You aren’t seriously considering it, are you?” Carrot Top turned to her husband.

“…I think that’s more for Golden Sweet to decide,” Big Mac sighed.

“You’re kidding.”

“…I’ve gone on some mighty stupid adventures, now that I look back over them,” Big Macintosh chuckled, “I have my decision, but it’s ultimately up to her.”

“…and I don’t get a say in this?” the mare eyed her husband.

“You do get a say, but Golden Sweet gets to ignore both of us, if she wants to.”

Bellona, Stratos and an earth pony mare continued walking away from Sugar Cube Corner and towards the farm. The orange-yellow earth mare had her curly mane tied back in a messy pigtail. Her cutie mark consisted of a grafted Apple sapling. Rhapsody remained laid out on Bellona’s back, rubbing her stomach.

“Well that went well.” Bellona rolled her eyes at the groaning filly.

“That’s the third time you’ve done that, Rhapsody,” Stratos scolded the filly, “I think you would have learned by now.”

“I like sweets, but mom always tells me not to eat too much.” The filly groaned.

“...Where did she put it all?” the fourth pony asked Stratos.

“I don’t know, Golden Sweet.” He shrugged, “She’s got a big appetite, I guess it runs in the family.”

“I suppose,” Golden Sweet returned the shrug, “So by now I assume Gem told mom and dad the same story you told me.”

“Pretty sure.”

“And next, she’s going to give some big speech about how I’m supposed to join y’all on this quest.”

“Most likely.”

“…I’ve been told all the stories about Dad’s adventures with the rest of the Elements,” Golden Sweet blew a stray strand of her mane out of her face, “Nightmare Moon. Trixie and Twilight. Pirates. The whole thing with the Kingdom.”

“Did dad really get into a fistfight with Nightmare Moon?” Rhapsody interrupted, “Because that sounds really, really aw-”

“Gluttonous little fillies that have eaten their body weight in snacks should be quiet,” Bellona grumbled.

“...I didn’t eat that much.”

“I want to have an adventure like that,” Golden Sweet chuckled, “But I don’t think my parents will let me.”

“Well, Parents do generally want what’s best for their children,” Bellona responded, “My dads don’t let me do a hell of a lot of things… but that doesn’t stop me from going off and doing it anyway. Then after it either works out, or it blows up in my face, we… why are the two of you looking at me like that?”

Golden Sweet and Stratos chuckled.

“Because for once, you’re actually giving advice that makes sense.”

Do What I Please

Big Macintosh sighed as he continued into town, hauling a crate of apple jams and jellies behind him.

“It’s been a day, and still nothin’.” He muttered to himself as he passed Bonbon and a pegasus stallion

“You said something, Mac?”, Bonbon frowned.

“It’s nothin’.”

“How’s Rhapsody?” the stallion cut Bonbon’s response off, “Heard from the kids that she’s sick.”

“Getting’ better. It’s takin’ a bit longer than we’d like,” the Farmpony shrugged.

“You ought to call Nurse Redheart or one of th-”

“No!” Big Macintosh cut off Bonbon’s responses with a yell. The other two ponies took a step backwards, startled by his outburst.
“…I mean that’s mighty nice of you to suggest, but we got it under control.”

“…Just remember what I said.”

“I will, Ren, have a good one.”

Big Macintosh continued on his way, stopping by Sugarcube Corner. Setting the cart down, Big Macintosh knocked on the back door of the shop. The door popped open, and a young unicorn mare stuck her head out.

“Oh, Hi Mister Macintosh. Mom and Dad are busy, so I guess we’ll have to help unload.”

“That would be mighty helpful, Pumpkin.”

“Uh-huh.” Pumpkin Cake turned her head back into the bakery, “HEY! GET OVER HERE AND HELP!”
The mare turned back to Big Macintosh with an apologetic half-smile, “Pound’s lazy today.”

“I reckon so,” Big Macintosh chuckled, “It ain’t easy bein’ the oldest.”

Pumpkin’s response was cut off, as a woozy Pound Cake staggered out of the door and smacked into the cart. The mare rolled her eyes.

“He was up late reading Daring Do again.”

Before Big Macintosh could respond, he found himself engulfed in a golden aura. Lyra quickly skidded to a stop in front of Pumpkin.

“Notimetoexplain,gottago,letApplebloomorRumbleknowtopickupthecart!” Lyra spat before taking off again.
Pound Cake shook his head and watched as Lyra ran off, dragging Big Macintosh behind her.

“…What just happened?”

“I have no idea,” Pumpkin shook her head, “Let’s start unloading this thing.”

Lyra skidded to another stop in front of the clock store. Her magical aura vanished, dropping Big Macintosh onto the road. The stallion scrambled back to his hooves, furious.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Stoptalking,it’stimeto-”

Mac grabbed Lyra, bringing the frantic mare to his face.

“Lyra. Calm. Down. Tell. Me. What. Is. Going. On.”

Lyra calmed down, taking deep breaths.

“I got a message from Time Turner.”

“…Shit, we better get in there.”

===

Golden Gem, Bellona, Temporal and Oscura sat around one of the tables at Sugarcube Corner, staring at their breakfast. On another table, Stratos watched as Rhapsody stared at a muffin.

“I want to eat it, but I’m not hungry,” the filly grumbled.

“Miss Dizzy does bake good muffins,” Stratos chuckled, “I wonder if the Dizzy Twister back in my universe does.”

“…So they spent all last night talking, and now they’re talking more,” Gem’s head thunked against the table, “we’re never getting out of here.”

“I know,” another voice cut off Temporal’s response. The group turned their heads to the kitchen as Mr. Cake walked out. A knowing smile crept onto his face, as Golden Gem’s blood turned to ice.

“…Oh Shit.”

===

“Really, you need to stop breaking down my door,” Time Turner grumbled as he led the couple into the back room, “Whatever happened to just knocking and then, ‘Oh hello Time Turner, We heard you-”

“When Slide Rule goes out on her own multiversal adventure, don’t come crying to me,” Lyra snapped back.

“…No tact.” Time Turner shrugged as he took his seat in front of the monitors, “Anyway, as I said last time, I made an effort to contact somepony else. As you probably figured out by now… A.R.M.O.R doesn’t reach through the entire multiverse.”

“Are you saying she could be somewhere that you have no access to?”

“…Technically, she could be,” Time Turner shrugged, “We however have certain contacts from other individuals who also scour the mulitverse… like him.”

The stallion flicked a switch, causing a face to appear on one of the screens.

===

“Really now, we have agents all over the multiverse,” Carrot Cake chuckled, “What made you so sure there wasn’t one here?”

“I expected…”

“Someone more likely?” Carrot Cake cut off Bellona’s response. After she nodded in confirmation, the stallion continued on, “Really, the entire point is for us all to fit in seamlessly and go unnoticed. And who would expect the owner of this little shop to be an agent of something greater?”

Oscura and Temporal exchanged a quick glance, before quietly going for their weapons.

“I wouldn’t try that.” The stallion warned, “I know I don’t look like much, but…well, you know.”

“…This is the part where a bunch of black suited ponies break in and arrest us or something, isn’t it?” Stratos pushed Rhapsody behind him.

“Not quite,” Carrot Cake pulled up a chair and took a seat.

“I want to know what you’re planning.”

===

Lyra and Big Macintosh stared at the pony on the screen: a yellow stallion with a messy, spiked orange mane, his eyes hidden by aviator specs.

“…Turner if this is some kind of joke…” Lyra started.

“I assure you it’s not,” Time Turner rolled his eyes, “Spitfire is part of the…shall we say that there are some organizations that are a bit more… involved with the multiverse.”

“…What do you mean by ‘involved’?”

“We step in and take care of threats,” the pony on the screen responded, “Unlike A.R.M.O.R. we are actively involved with dealing with multiversal abnormalities.”

Time Turner groaned and rolled his eyes, “We take care of our own problems.”

“Which is exactly why you’re contacting me,” Spitfire shot back.

“You know what, we dealt with the whole Sweetie Belle thing, even though that was all your jurisdiction,” Time Turner responded.

“Hell, It isn’t my fault Ivory let that one slip th-”

“ENOUGH!” Big Macintosh stomped a hoof, cutting off Spitfire and Time Turner’s argument, “Now, Mr. Spitfire, we want to know exactly why Turner here contacted you, and how you can help us.”

“…Tell me exactly what happened.”

===

“…And that’s all.”

“…You’re playing a very dangerous game, Golden Gem.” Carrot Cake rubbed his chin, “Even my organization isn’t sure about every member of the multiverse.”

“I’m aware of it, that’s why I need them,”

“It explains why you picked Oscura and Bellona,” Stratos interrupted, “Doesn’t explain me or Golden Sweet though.”

“Or the child.” Carrot Cake added.

“Stratos, you’re here because I like you. Golden Sweet…Golden Sweet’s strong. Stronger than me, that’s for sure, and she always said what she was thinking.”

“Can’t really argue with that.” Carrot Cake chuckled.

“And as for Rhapsody…I-”

===

Spitfire groaned as he placed his head in his hooves.

“You A.R.M.O.R. agents really are idiots.” He groaned.

“You have just as many failures as we have had,” Time Turner grumbled.

“Boys, pay attention,” Lyra snarked, “What are you going to do?”

“…I need to talk to a few ponies, get an agent whose dimension is closer to their destination, and go from there. It’ll take a day or two.”

“No! Do it now.” Lyra responded.

“…Not feasible. Will contact this idiot soon.”

With that, Spitfire reached over to something, and the screen cut to black.

“…Well that went well.”

===

“…Alright, here’s what I’m going to do,” Carrot Cake rubbed his temples, “I’m still telling them you were here and what you are doing.”

Golden Gem’s eyes widened in horror, as Oscura and Temporal once again reached for their weapons.

“…But you get a headstart. By the time my message is transferred, you will be in the next universe for whomever you selected to be on your team,” Carrot Cake finished, “they won’t be able to reach your destination before you get there.”

Before any of the ponies could say something, the door to Sugarcube Corner opened. Golden Sweet stepped in, saddlebags on.

“Mom doesn’t like it, but you’ve got yourself another Earth Pony.”

“Then we leave now.” Gem smiled.

Golden Sweet quickly joined the group and with a flash, they vanished from the shop. Smiling, Carrot Cake tipped his head forward, letting his hat fall onto the table. Reaching into it, he withdrew a small mechanical device.

“…Did you get all that?” the baker spoke into the device, “They’re heading to Universe twenty-seven.
Cut them off if you can, see if you can figure out where they’re heading after that.”

“Got it.”

This Part is Simple: Walking a Line

A flash of light deposited the group into a new room: high stained glass windows, with a long, flowing carpet in the middle of the floor leading from one end of the room to the door. Golden Sweet collapsed to her knees, trying her best not to throw up.

“Interdimensional travel can do that,” Stratos sheepishly trotted over to help her, “You alright, or you need a moment?”

“I’m alright… Wasn’t like that before.” Golden Sweet shook her head.

“Given that the devices were all meant to transport one person, that is to be expected.” Temporal shrugged.

“Where are w-”

“Excuse me.” Another voice called out. The group turned their attention to the source of the voice. At the end of the room, a pink alicorn sat upon a modest throne. To the alicorn’s right sat a large red earth stallion. To her left, sat a younger, smaller salmon coated alicorn mare with a streaked mane. In front of the ensemble stood a dour faced, blue-grey earth mare, dressed in a suit. The two groups continued to stare at one another in awkward silence.

“…Bellona?” the salmon alicorn stood up.

“…Fantasia?” Bellona blinked, staring back at the alicorn.

The two started forward, towards each other, eventually coming face to face with one another. After more awkward silence, the two grinned and hugged.

“Not too many other ponies like you,” Fantasia chuckled.

“Good to see you again too.”

“…Would someone like to tell me what is going on?” the other Alicorn spoke out loud.

“Princess Cadance, this is the group I was speaking about,” the earth pony turned, “Golden Gem, please inform the Princess of your intentions.”

“…How do you know who we are?” Gem eyed the pony suspiciously.

“Maud Pie is part of B.A.R., the Bureau of Alternate Realities,” the Stallion interrupted, “This means that you are the children of my counterparts, correct?”

The group blinked and exchanged uncertain glances before looking back at the Stallion: under the armor and sheen was the familiar shade of red, the same gamboge mane, and the same half smile.

“…How come my dad ain’t a prince?” Rhapsody pouted.

“Child, I’m sure your father still thinks of you as his little princess,” Cadance chuckled, “Still, I would like answers.”

“…If she knows who we are, is it necessary?” Gem responded.

“Yes.” Cadance replied, “It is still a formality.”

“…Fine.” Gem rolled her eyes before politely coughing.

“Your majesty, I am Golden Gem, from Universe Nine. These are my companions.” As she spoke, she motioned for the others to step forward.

“I’m Stratos Apple from universe twenty-nine, and this is Temporal Spectrum, who’s also from my universe” Stratos bowed.

“Princess Oscura from universe six-one-six,” she bowed, “I must say that this still looks remarkably like my mother’s throne room.”

“Who’s that?” Cadance inquired.

“Queen Umbra, I believe in most other universes she is known as King Sombra,” Oscura chuckled as the friendly expression on Big Macintosh’s face vanished, “My universe is, of course, not the same as this one.”

“Golden Sweet, Universe one-two-three.” The earth mare cut off Big Macintosh’s response.

“Fantasia knows who I am, that’s good enough.” Bellona rolled her eyes.

“And the filly?” Cadance asked.

“I’m Rhapsody!” she beamed, “My mom and dad are Lyra Heartstrings and Big Macintosh, and Gem says I’m from…um…”

“Universe one-nine-seven-four.” Gem added.

“Ah, the one where they all ended up in,” Maud noted, “And before you ask, B.A.R. has nothing to do with A.R.M.O.R. or M.L.P.”

“…MLP?” Stratos echoed.

“Multiversal League of Protection,” Maud rolled her eyes, “Amateurs. They make more messes than they fix.”

“…Just how many groups devoted to protecting the multiverse are there?” Stratos wondered out loud.

“In an infinite multiverse? Infinite.” Maud cracked a slight smile, “The concerns of ARMOR and MLP have nothing to do with me, however, so I am not obligated to tell them about your presence here.”

“…Thank you?” Gem cautiously replied.

“It’s not a problem. B.A.R. is more interested in monitoring how alternate universe interact, than preserving the status quo.”

“…So, I believe it is safe to assume you have come to recruit Fantasia for your mission,” Big Macintosh stated.

“…Yes.” Gem nodded.

“We already have one princess, why not two?” Golden Sweet muttered to Temporal.

“Why Fantasia? If I remember correctly, you also had… Novamac, Midnight Bliss and Idun to rely on,” Cadance asked.

“Because Bellona always fights with Novamac.”

“It’s not my fault he makes a cute face when he get flustered,” Bellona rolled her eyes; “Midnight Star makes the same face when she get flustered.”

“Who the heck is Midnight Star anyway?” Stratos asked.

“My marefriend.”

Temporal and Stratos exchanged a quick glance, before looking over at Golden Sweet. The mare shrugged in response.
“Don’t ask me.”

“...So, uh… if you’re part of B.A.R., does that mean there are agents for A.R.M.O.R. and M.L.P. here too?” Stratos changed the subject.

“No.” Gem interrupted Maud’s response, “They’re limited to certain universes.”

“…So what about my Mr. Cake?” Golden Sweet asked.

“He’s part of A.R.M.O.R., and so is whoever is in charge of Bliss’s universe.” Gem replied, much to the others surprise

“…Wait, this isn’t universe Twenty-nine?”

“No, this is Universe Seventy-Seven,” Maud responded, “Don’t ask who numbered these things.”

“…I thought so.” Temporal shook her head, “You made things worse, you know that?”

“I did what I had to. It will buy us enough time.”

“Regardless of your actions in other worlds,” Cadance interrupted Temporal’s response, “I believe you still need something very important? Like our permission to let Fantasia go?”

“…Right.” Gem nodded, “I-”

“Will wait as I discuss things with my daughter, Maud, my husband and the other members of your group,” Cadance finished, “It is only fair to hear all the opinions.”

“…Fair enough.” Gem responded.

“So for this, I will request that Gem remains behind. The rest of you are free to wander within the castle, along with your escorts.”

“Escorts?”

“You didn’t think I would let you access everything in the castle, did you?” Cadance chuckled.

Rhapsody and Golden Sweet continued down the hall. Behind them, two guards ponies and an earth mare in the armor of a commander followed. Rhapsody spun around and looked at their commander.

“…So how come you’re here Miss Silver Spoon?” the filly asked as she continued to walk backwards.

“…Because Prince Macintosh asked specifically for me to be transferred from Canterlot,” the mare replied.

“But you aren’t with Miss Sweetie Belle?”

“No. She has her own friendship with Discord.” Silver Spoon shook her head, “I do not know if their relationship is anything more than friends.”

“….What about Aunty Applebloom?”

“Princess Applebloom?” Silver Spoon paused, “I know even less about her relationships. They say she met a Griffon Prince at the Equestrian Games and they are quite happy together.”

“…But griffons are weird.”

Silver Spoon chuckled at the filly’s response, “They say the same thing about us.”

“I still don’t see why we need escorts to find the bathroom.” Golden Sweet muttered, “I hardly know anypony here, it’s not like I’m going to start a war.”

“Lady Maud informed us you are from a dimension where rebels won a civil war against the Princesses.”

“Thousands of years ago,” Golden Sweet replied, “and they had Discord and the Elements of Harmony.”

“We are still unwilling to take any chances.”

“Tch.”

Stratos and Temporal Spectrum entered the throne room once again. The two ponies paused in front of the thrones, waiting for Cadance to speak.

“Why have the two of you joined her quest?”, the Princess finally asked.

“We have…slightly different reasons,” Stratos began, “I joined because I want to know.”

“I joined because someone needed to keep an eye on the three of them,” Temporal responded, “Especially because Golden Gem is not telling the entire truth.”

Startled by that information, Maud and Big Macintosh exchanged a quick uncertain glance, while Fantasia frowned.

“Explain.”

“She keeps emphasizing that she has a plan for everything, yet doesn’t tell us,” Temporal paused, “that’s usually not enough to be a warning, but she also admitted to us that she wasn’t completely certain about the origin universe.”

“That is expected, however,” Cadance countered, “While I have no exact figures, B.A.R. agents seem to be certain that we have only mapped a fractions of the multiverse, so it stands to reason even with A.R.M.O.R.’s help that they would be unable to know everything.”

“Except that the ponies she is gathering is also cause for suspicion.” Temporal continued, “Oscura is the daughter of one of the most powerful unicorns in the multiverses. Garden Royale was on the list of ponies she wanted, but that universe crept everyone out, so we left it. Stratos and Golden Sweet don’t really have anything special going for them,”

“Oh, thanks,” the stallion muttered.

“And then there’s Bellona.”

“I see your point”, Maud nodded in agreement, “A powerful unicorn, the Daughter of Discord, and the children of one of the element bearers. Coupled with her own status as the Daughter of one of the bearers and the possibility of recruiting an alicorn, it seems there is a heavy amount of power there.”

“That does not quite explain Stratos, yourself, and especially not Rhapsody.” Big Macintosh cut in.

“When it comes right down to it, I think she recruited me because we got along well,” Stratos replied, “Between her, myself and Apple Cinnamon, we tried to keep everypony from beating each other up. I’m assuming she figured I could do the same here.”

“And I went along because I wanted to,” Temporal smiled, “a chance to adventure through the multiverse?”

“And Rhapsody?”

“…As best we can tell, she is the daughter of the Big Macintosh and Lyra Heartstrings from the universe where we all ended up in. I think she joined Golden Gem because…” Stratos shrugged, “Because that is what children do. They do foolish things that get them in trouble.”

“And because of that,” Temporal continued on, “I elected to keep an eye on her.”

“Why hasn’t Gem attempted to return Rhapsody to her home dimension?” Big Macintosh frowned, “It seems very reckless to bring a foal into what could be a very dangerous situation.”

“She claims it’s out of fear of getting caught,” Temporal responded, “While there’s some truth to that, I think it’s more…pragmatic. As if she’s planning on using Rhapsody as a bigger part of some plan.”

“…Thank you for your input, please ask Bellona to come in next.” Cadance finished.

The two ponies bowed and quickly left the room.

“…What are you thinking?” Maud inquired.

“That out of the group, Temporal and Stratos are the most level headed.” Big Macintosh noted, “I think we can trust their assessments.”

“Well-”

Cadance’s response was cut off as a puff of pale orange smoke appeared before the group. The smoke cleared, revealing Bellona, an entire pie half way into her mouth.

“…” Bellona stared at the group as she made a heroic effort to swallow. The ponies watched as the outline of the pie travelled down her throat and vanished into her body.
“So then, what is it that you wanted to see me for?”

“We… how did you do that?” Big Macintosh dropped his composure.

“Daughter of Chaos,” Bellona rolled her eyes, “Duh.”

“Anyway…” Cadance coughed.

“I joined them because I thought it would be fun,” the hybrid grinned, “ I don’t need a better reason.”

“…Why do you think they are here, and not trying to recruit one of the other Alicorns?”

“Probably because I don’t get along with Novamac, Idun is boring, and for some reason Bliss wasn’t an option.” Bellon shrugged.

“…So I don’t get it,” Rhapsody cocked her head to the side as she spoke with Silver Spoon, “Aunty Applebloom is a Princess and Princess Celestia’s student. Aunty Applejack is somekinda fancy pony. Princess Twilight isn’t a princess an’ she works on a farm in Ponyville. Aunty Pinkie runs a rockfarm, Miss Fluttershy is captain of the Wonderbolts and Aunty Rarity and Rainbow Dash are musicians?”

“Correct,” Silver Spoon nodded.

“…This place is weird.”

“Some might say the same thing about your universe, Rhapsody.”

“Yeah, but it’s weird not seein’ you all lovey-dovey and touchy-feely with Aunty Sweetie Belle. Even more than seein’ dad married to Princess Cadance.” Rhapsody shook her head as Silver Spoon frowned.

“Did you just say that I was in a relationship with Sweetie Belle?”

“Uh-huh.” The filly’s head bobbed up and down.

“In our universe you ended up with Zipporwhill,” Gem shrugged.

“Lickity-Split.” Temporal and Stratos responded in unison.

“I don’t know any Silver Spoon,” Golden Sweet Replied.

Before Oscura could respond, Bellona appeared in a burst of pink smoke and frogs.

“They want you next,” the hybrid jabbed a thumb at the door.

“Very well.”

The mare stood up and trotted over to the door, briefly pausing to open it and enter. Bellona turned her attention to Silver Spoon.

“Are they telling you who their versions ended up with?” Bellona grinned, “Because in my universe it’s-”

“I don’t want to hear it.” Silver Spoon stood up and left the room.

“…Who did she marry?” Golden Sweet frowned.

“Rover.”

This Part is Simple: Not the ones I pose

Oscura remained silent as the door behind her closed. The mare continued her way down the hall, and stopped to gaze upon one of the stain glass windows:
A grey coated Unicorn with a wild mane of black was depicted being sealed away by Princesses Luna and Celestia.
A slight frown appeared on Oscura’s face.

“A universe where mother is both a stallion and evil…” Oscura shook her head.

“Ahem. We are on a time limit,” Maud impatiently called out.

“Ah, my apologies.”

Oscura continued her way down the hall, finally stopping in front of Cadance and the others. After a quick, polite bow from Oscura, an awkward silence filled the room.

“…I believe you said there was a time limit?” Oscura broke the silence, “I realize that it would be… difficult to see someone who looks so much like an enemy.”

“…True,” Cadance reluctantly agreed.

“But from my point of view,” Oscura continued, “It appears that my mother’s nemesis has overthrown her, taken control of her kingdom and enslaved my father.”

Big Macintosh’s mouth twitched at her statement, but he remained silent.

“Why did you join Golden Gem on her quest?” Cadance continued on.

“When they arrived in my universe, it was unexpected and…shall we say violent? After mother got the situation under control, I head Gem’s story.”

“And what did you think about it?”

“That she is a terrible liar,” Oscura chuckled, “The corner of her left eye twitches when she lies. We both noticed as she mentioned that it was completely safe.”

“…And?” Cadance asked.

“That if it was safe, she would not have attempted to recruit Fantasia, Bellona and myself,” Oscura motioned down to her sword, “We do represent a significant amount of magical capabilities, and I believe she has not attempted to recruit Sparking Cider, Bliss, Idun or Novamac because that would have been seen as too suspicious.”

“…Temporal and Stratos said the same thing.”

“They have been with her the longest, it would be logical that they are equally suspicious,” Oscura nodded, “Bellona doesn’t care, and Golden Sweet is probably just as suspicious of her.”

“And Rhapsody?”

“It depends on who I ask. Gem says she’s vital, but Stratos and Temporal believe that she came along by accident. Either way, I am not… certain,” Oscura paused, “I have… reservations about bringing such a young child with us. The more I look back on things, the more I realize we were ridiculously lucky to end up somewhere safe. Imagine if I had appeared here, what would you do?”

Big Macintosh and Cadance exchanged a quick look of uncertainty as Oscura chuckled.

“Imprisoned with little to no chance of being freed, correct?”

“Highly probably,” Maud shrugged as the royalty stared daggers at her. Maud shrugged again, “Don’t lie to me, your highness.”

Cadance sighed, “Yes, we would have.”

“Exactly my point, but we are getting off topic,” Oscura shook her head, “I am here because my mother felt that I would be able to handle myself and…”

Oscura’s aura reached into her armor and pulled out what appeared to be a bladeless knife handle. Smiling, she spun it around, revealing a switch.

“This is a multiversal beacon. It’s specifically tuned to release a pulse that will alert my world’s version of A.R.M.O.R. to which dimension I am in. It’s my failsafe.”

“…How do you know it works?” Maud’s eyebrow rose.

“I don’t think my mother would risk me,” Oscura smiled, “I just have to close my eyes… and leap.”

“…That is all, please inform Golden Sweet that we wish to speak to her next.” Cadance abruptly cut off Maud’s next question.

Oscura nodded and turned around. Pausing for a moment, she looked behind her, directly at Cadance.

“While in my universe, Frenzied Tempo was not one to be trusted, I also realize that is not true in every universe. I hope you realize that.”

Oscura continued out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“…She’s right, you know,” Big Macintosh spoke.

“…I know,” Cadance sighed.

The door swung open again, as Golden Sweet entered. The mare stopped in front of the group, frowning.

“Look, I don’t know what happened in this universe, but I don’t need guards watching my every move, for Discord’s sake,” the mare grumbled. “Just because I came from a universe where the Princesses were overthrown, it doesn’t mean I’m going to do it here.”

Maud, Cadance and Fantasia exchanged quick glances of uncertainty as Big Macintosh sighed.

“I mean they had weapons and manpower and the Elements of Harmony!” Golden Sweet continued to rant. “You know what I have? Nothing.” Golden Sweet paused in thought before shaking her head and continuing her rant, “Well, I have Bellona, but it’s about fifty-fifty that she’d turn on me.”
The mare turned and glared at Cadance and Big Macintosh.
“So what, they don’t trust me going to the bathroom by myself, lest I start a rebellion, but they can leave me in a room with the monarch and her heir?”

“….I will admit, this is hardly the fairest way to deal with someone from a universe like yours, but you have to understand,” Maud paused, “there are almost no universes like that.”

“I’m the abnormality, but that does not mean that I am contagious.” Golden Sweet interrupted.

“I know,” Maud continued on, “But dimensional travel is-”

“Besides, I was in Rhapsody’s universe for months, practically a year.” Golden Sweet continued on. “Don’t you think that would have had a bigger impact than a few hours locked up in a castle?”

“…Point taken.”

“…So why does she have to talk to all of us individually?” Bellona placed her head back on the table.

“Because unlike some other ponies, she doesn’t want to send her heir to die,” Temporal replied.

“You make it sound like my mother does not care what happens to me.” Oscura grumbled.

“It’s still foolish,” Temporal shrugged.

“I am an adult, I can care for myself,” Oscura countered, “Not like some other ponies.”

“Is that a jab at moi?” Bellona placed an offended hand on her chest, “I almost feel offended.”

“At times you can be more childish than Rhapsody.” Temporal motioned towards the sleeping filly, “She at least learns.”

“Why is she of all ponies judging me?” Bellona turned her attention to Oscura and Stratos, “She wasn’t there with us.”

“Stratos told me stories about you and Novamac,” Temporal shrugged, “Even Prince Lunatique is better behaved than you.”

“Who’s that?” Golden Gem cut off Bellona’s response.

“Princess Luna and Discord’s son.” Temporal flashed Bellona a predatory grin. The other ponies looked back at Bellona. The hybrid’s face remained frozen in an exaggerated display of horror.

“You… you…” she stuttered, breaking her shock, “You mean I’m related to Novamac’s counterpart?”

“….We have the same dad,” Golden Gem rolled her eyes, “You didn’t freak out over that.”

“This is different!” Bellona wailed, “It’s through Discord.”

Bellona smashed her head into the table, leaving a massive imprint of her face on it. She rotated her head towards Oscura, eyeing the mare’s sword.

“Give me that, I’m going to kill myself.”

“I refuse.” Oscura shifted the weapon away from Bellona’s reach.

“Come on… do me a favor…”

“We are not going to permit anyone in this room to die,” Silver Spoon coughed. “The Princess will not appreciate it.”

“...Geh.” Bellona smashed her face back into the table.

“…Why exactly did that happen in your universe?” Oscura looked back at Temporal and Stratos.

“We don’t know.” Temporal shrugged, “Mom mentioned that Discord was always did this teasing, flirty thing with Princess Luna, and next thing we knew they were getting married.”

“They even had Prince Icarus and Princess Ziz serve as the ring bearer and flower… what did they call her?” Stratos looked at Temporal, scratching his head, “Hippogriff?”

“Right.”

“…Flower-hippogriff?” Silver Spoon cocked an eyebrow.

“Who’s that?” Gem ignored Bellona’s moans.

“Icarus is Princess Cadance and Shining Armor’s son, and Ziz is Princess Twilight’s daughter with Prince Godfrey.” Stratos finished, “We were all kinda little, so we don’t remember much about it.”

“Who?”

“Grand Duke of Euleburg-Lippe. Griffon Duchy in the Holy Griffon Empire.” Temporal shrugged.

“…Who did Discord marry in your universe?” Silver Spoon turned her attention to Golden Gem and Oscura.

“Princess Twilight.” Gem shrugged.

“Some pony named Giorgio Warmbodi. Do not ask who’s counterpart that is, I have no idea.” Oscura responded.

“…This is starting to give me a headache,” Silver Spoon sighed.

“…So ultimately, you came for an adventure,” Big Macintosh concluded.

“Dad held his own against Nightmare Moon and Shining Armor. Mom and all of the farmers held off the Kingdom’s invading army. Aunt Rarity defeated Twilight Sparkle and Trixie, twice. Aunt Dizzy is the Pirate Queen. Uncle Thunderlane is the one ultimately responsible for Celestia’s rehabilitation. Aunt Lemon Hearts fought Chrysalis in hoof-to-hoof combat and won. She’s still technically the Changeling Queen, too.” Golden Sweet shrugged, “Changeling customs are weird. And out of all of this, Uncle Time Turner rejected everything offered to him. He could have gone into politics as a hero, he could have become an alicorn, he could have become an honorary prince of the Kingdom of Equestria, but he rejected it all, and he’s still in Ponyville with Luna and Romana.”

Golden Sweet drew herself up straight.

“I want an adventure. I want to make a difference for someone.”

“…That is all. Please inform the others that we will reach a decision soon.” Cadance sighed.

The earth mare nodded and headed to the door. The mare pushed open the door, and paused, turning to face the other ponies.

“An adventure is something everypony wants; whether or not they think they can have one. Even under her demeanor, she wants an adventure and she’ll take it even if you say no.
I know I would.”

Golden Sweet finished her remarks and closed the door behind her. Silence swept over the ponies left in the room.

“…Your Highness, if I may make a suggestion…” Maud trailed off waiting for a sign to continue. Fantasia nodded, prompting Maud to continue, “We have an eccentric group of ponies here, all of whom know something is not quite right with their task. That said, I believe they are fully capable of taking care of what threats come their way.”

“And if they are forced to use more… drastic measures?” Big Macintosh fumbled over the words.

“If you are asking if they will kill if they need to… I think only Oscura will,” Maud paused, “But I find that unlikely.”

Big Macintosh shrugged. Cadance closed her eyes, deep in thought.

“If I may say something, Mother, Father?” Fantasia interrupted, “My duties here are important, but I believe this is something of equal importance. You have told me that my duty is to help those who ask for it, and they are asking for it.”

“…” Cadance opened her eyes, “I have made my decision.”

===

“So let me get this straight,” Time Turner rubbed his head, as he stared at one of the screens, “You went to the wrong universe?!!?”

“They tricked me,” Carrot Cake shrugged on one of the monitors, “I don’t know where they went, it’s apparently out of our jurisdiction.”

“A.R.M.O.R. is useless,” Spitfire rolled his eyes on another screen.

“Well have you had better luck?” Time Turner shot back.

“…Not really,” Spitfire shrugged, “Their destination is under our jurisdiction, but… we lost contact with our agent there.”

“From what?” Carrot Cake asked.

“…We don’t know.” Spitfire responded, “The last thing we got from our agent was a scrambled, panicked call and something about… the Elements collapsing.”

A silence overtook the other ponies present.

“I need to get there. Now,” Lyra stepped forward.

“I don’t think-”

“SHUT UP!” Lyra slammed a hoof onto the console, causing the other ponies present to wince, “My daughter is out there, and in danger and I am not going to take no for a goddamn answer!” Lyra punctuated her statement with another bang.

The stallions paused, thinking their answers over.

“I tried tracking them to their real destination, but I have had no luck,” Carrot Cake replied, “Wherever they went is beyond my scope.”

“I keep an eye on things, but even I miss some things,” Spitfire shrugged.

A burst of static from one of the other screens interrupted Time Turner’s response. All ponies present winced as the static briefly grew louder before fading into a voice. On the final screen, a pale grey olive unicorn mare with a red mane streaked with white appeared, fiddling with something off screen.

“Confound and blast this stupid thing,” the mare muttered, “I told Shimmer I needed more copper to redo the wiring… let’s see if it…” the mare looked up at the screen, “Oh it did work.”

“Who are you? This is a secure channel,” Spitfire demanded.

“Evidently not,” the mare beamed, “My name is Snake Oyl, Dimension six-one-six. If that doesn’t sound familiar to you, then oh well. But anyway, I have been ordered by Queen Umbra to inform you that there is a way to figure out where they are.”

“What is it?” every pony asked in unison.

“The Princess has been given a small device that will send out a pulse once it is activated, and we have several other devices that will respond to it, allowing us to pinpoint her location,” Oyl’s smiled flickered, “The problem is, we don’t have extra machines to pass out and notify your dimensions, so we will have to contact you about it.”

“…And this will only happen if Oscura activates it?” Time Turner’s eyebrow rose.

“Yes. She cannot do so accidently; it needs a little burst of magic to jumpstart it.” Oyl shrugged.

“Well, so we’re stuck with more waiting.” Lyra grunted, “Great”

“Missus Lyra, this is progress, even if it is not a quick as you would like it,” Oyl smiled again, “Fear not, I will keep you updated on the situation. In the meantime, I would suggest that Spitfire, Mr. Cake and Time Turner keep monitoring the situation, who knows?”
Oyl’s grin turned predatory.

“For once one of you might figure out how to fix a mess you made.”

Hello cruel world: Are you Experienced?

Golden Sweet stopped in front of the table, staring at the scene in front of her: Bellona’s head sunk into the table, leaving only the tips of her mane visible.

“What happened to her?”

“She found out that in our universe, Princess Luna married Discord,” Temporal responded.

Golden Sweet blinked, “what?”

“Ignore it, it’s not important,” Oscura interrupted, “I take it that they also were rather hard on you.”

“I am not going to overthrow the kingdom and establish a democracy,” Golden Sweet grumbled.

“And I am not going to overthrow the current Princess so that I may rule in her place,” Oscura smiled, “I have my own kingdom waiting for me.”

The doors to the throne room opened, as Cadance, Fantasia and Maud walked through them.

“I have decided that Fantasia will join you on your quest,” Cadance paused, “the experience will be one for her benefit, I believe.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” Golden Gem bowed.

“However, I have something to give you before you leave.”

Big Macintosh trotted forward, pulling a rack of weapons behind him.

“While I have no idea where you are going, it is best to be safe,” Cadance motioned towards the rack, “Take some.”

Temporal’s eyes flickered to her spear, “I’m good.”

“As am I.” Oscura nodded.

“I got these,” Golden Sweet pulled out a pair of gauntlets. “Use to be dad’s old spare legs. I had Aunt Rarity and Flim turn them into gauntlets.”

“….Really?” Bellona pulled her head out of the table, “do I look like I need weapons?”

Stratos trotted over to the rack, examining them. Reaching down, he picked up a pair gauntlets, “I’ll take them.”

Gem rolled her eyes and picked out a glaive, “I do not think this is necessary…”

“Can I have the axe? Rhapsody poked her head up.

“No.” Everypony in the room responded.

“Please stay safe,” Cadance reminded the group as Fantasia stepped forward to join them.

“Not a problem, Princess,” Gem smiled as the corner of her left eye twitched; “We’ll be fine.”

A bright flash of light engulfed the room. A moment later the light vanished, leaving behind Big Macintosh, Maud, Cadance and Silver Spoon.

“…Princess, are you sure this is wise?” Silver Spoon frowned.

“I have confidence in Oscura and Golden Sweet,” Cadance replied. “I had my doubts, but I believe those two will keep everyone safe.”

===

The group looked around at their new surroundings: a dusty, ruined building. Counters and tables were smashed, rendering them unrecognizable. Shattered glass littered the floor, and the door hinges remained precariously attached to the frame, the door itself torn off.

“Where are we?” Stratos asked.

“Let me see…” Gem looked at the transporter strapped to her hoof. As she read what it said, she frowned.
“Give me a moment, this can’t be right.”

“What does it say?” Stratos asked as he peeked out of the shattered window.

“It says this is Ponyville.”

The assembled group did a double take, staring at Golden Gem.

“Are you sure this is the right universe?” Fantasia asked.

“Universe two-one-four-nine,” Gem frowned, “But something isn’t right…”

“Is it broken?” Golden Sweet asked. Behind her, Stratos motioned for Oscura and Temporal to go over to the broken window.

“I don’t think it is,” Gem shook the hoof with the device attached.

“…Otherwise it worked, but the world we ended up in one that has had some catastrophic disaster,” Fantasia shook her head.

“Possible,” Gem shrugged. Behind her, Stratos and Temporal turned away from the window, and rushed towards Rhapsody, weapons out and ready.
“Rhapsody, I want you to close your eyes and don’t open them until I say so, alright?” Stratos ordered.

“What are yo-” Gem trailed off as the air filled with the sound of beating wings, “what the…”

“CHANGELINGS!” Oscura grinned as her blade flew out.

The first of the Changelings threw itself through the window, as Golden Sweet fumbled to put on her gauntlets. As it shrieked at her, Golden Sweet slammed an unarmored hoof into its face, shattering its snout. A second blow sent it crashing into the wall.

“Where the hell did they come from?” Golden Sweet finished fastening her gauntlets on, and slammed another hoof into a lunging changeling.

“Don’t know, but it explains a lot, doesn’t it?” Temporal smacked a changeling in the forehead with the butt of her spear.

“But how could Changelings defeat the elements?” Gem dodged another changeling attack.

“We can figure that out, after we finish this.” Fantasia replied as she thrusted her war hammer’s head into a changeling’s face, “In the meantime, Bellona?”

The Hybrid grinned as a group of changelings barreled towards her. Dramatically lifting her hand, she snapped her fingers.

The changelings continued to run towards her.

“What are you doing?” Stratos slammed his hoof into a changeling’s side as Temporal slammed the spear’s haft into the same changeling’s head, “Do something!”

“I am trying!” Bellona stared at both hands, “But it’s not working!”

“Great,” Temporal sighed, “Rhapsody, stay with Stratos. Oscura, give me a hoof here!”

“Hah!” Oscura smiled as her blade cleaved the forelegs off a changeling, “A moment…” Oscura quickly drove the blade into the changeling’s forehead, leaving it to weakly skitter and collapse. As she spun around, she drove the blade into the back of another changeling’s head.
“Nothing but mindless drones, sent out to seek food.” Oscura scoffed.

“I am still uncomfortable with the idea of killing things,” Temporal responded, as she flung a changeling into the wall.

“We have different priorities. The Sisterhood of the Sun and Moon continues to exist and threaten my kingdom. It is expected that the Princess should know how to fight,” Oscura grinned.

“…I believe it would be prudent to agree to disagree,” Temporal responded as the two reached Bellona.

The princess shrugged before turning her attention over to Bellona, “Can you actually fight or have you relied on your magic too much?” Oscura asked.

“I learned a thing or two about fighting dirty,” Bellona responded as she kicked a Changeling in the groin, to no effect.

“They do not possess reproductive organs,” Oscura rolled her eyes, “Drones.”

“…Well, fuck.” Bellona jabbed two fingers into a changeling’s eyes, forcing it backwards. She grabbed a chunk of a shattered table, smashing the wood over the same changeling’s head.

A soft pop caught Stratos’ attention, momentarily leaving him open. Seconds later, Stratos staggered backwards and fell onto his rear. The stallion reached up and rubbed his head, only to smear something around. Bringing his hoof back down, he found his hoof covered in blood. The changeling licked the blood off its lips and lunged forward towards Stratos. A louder bang rang out, and the changeling collapsed mid-lunge, dropping to the ground. The body continued to slide forward, eventually bumping into Stratos’ hoof. The stallion looked down at the body: a small, neat, round wound in the middle of its head.

“You goddamn idiots,” a gruff, female voice scolded Stratos. The stallion looked up, as a one-eyed yellow unicorn mare scowled. The mare’s orange mane was tattered and matted with grime, and a rifle of an unrecognized make levitated near her.
“Sugarcube Corner is infested with those damn things, what the hell were you thinking?”
The mare smashed the butt of the rifle into another changeling’s face, “Nevermind, get your people together and follow me.”

“Gem, we need to get out of here,” Stratos yelled.

“What?” Gem quickly glanced back and performed a double take, “Who the hell is that?”

“My name is Pumpkin, and if you idiots want to live, then you’re going to follow and listen to me!” the mare barked, “Right now, move back towards me and let’s go!”

Stratos scrambled back onto his hooves, as Rhapsody crawled out from under the shattered remains of a table.

“You’re bleeding.” Rhapsody stated as Golden Sweet picked her up and placed her on Stratos’ back.

“I know, just don’t get it on you,” Stratos chided her, “Temp, Come on!”

“Oscura, as much as I hate to interrupt your fun, we’re going to have to go.” Temporal nudged the mare.

“I agree,” Oscura’s sword lashed out again, “Please inform the others, and I shall cover you all until the last moment.”

“Now means now, Princess,” Temporal snarked back.

“Fine.”

The two ponies turned around and joined the others, as more changelings surged from out of the ruined stairway.

“That’s all of you? Then let’s go.”

Pumpkin whirled around, taking aim with her rifle. Two shots rang out, sending the two nearest changeling tumbling to the ground. The mare spun around and began to run, as the group followed her.

“Follow me, there’s a safe zone nearby.” Pumpkin barked at them.

The group continued to run, as Pumpkin glanced behind her. Satisfied, the mare slowed down, and moved towards a ruined building.

“Come on, into the boutique.”

A startled Gem paused, looking up at the building: under the shattered windows, peeling paint, and crumbling walls, it was unmistakably the Carousel Boutique.

“No…” she breathed.

“What are you doing?” Bellona’s voice snapped Gem back to reality, “Come on before they get here.”

Gem trotted in after the hybrid, slamming the door shut. Pumpkin pushed aside several tattered, ruined mannequins and storage chest, revealing a trapdoor. Unlike the rest of the house, the door hinges possessed a dull shine. Pumpkin motioned for Golden Sweet to open the door as she stood guard.

“What the hell have you gotten us into?” Temporal hissed.

“…I don’t know.” Gem whimpered.

“Wait, wait, wait…” Bellona held out a hand, “You expect us to go down some random-ass hideaway? Just who the hell do you think you are?”

“The Pony who just saved your ass..” Pumpkin responded, “Listen you have no idea what is going on here, do you?” Pumpkin looked at the others.
“Do any of you?”

“…No, we don’t.” Fantasia responded.

“I have questions, but those can wait until you meet the boss,” Pumpkin motioned towards Fantasia and Bellona, “ ‘Specially with Discord’s spawn and Princess Cadance’s daughter there.”

Temporal and Oscura exchanged suspicious glances, “How did you…”

“It’s not hard kid. You got Rainbow Hair, Princess over there got the same mane as Cadance, and how many other ponies have fingers?”

“…point taken.” Temporal responded. “Lead the way.”

“No, you all go down first. Let me keep watch.” Pumpkin motioned towards the door, “Hurry up.”

Stratos and Rhapsody headed down the hole first, followed by Fantasia and Bellona. Golden Sweet began her way down, before pausing and looking back at Gem. The unicorn remained catatonic, staring at nothing.

“Oscuara, she’s not going to move, do you mind?”

“No, I can do it.”

The sickly purple aura surrounded Golden Gem, as Golden Sweet continued down the path. Oscura and Gem quickly disappeared down the hole, leaving Pumpkin and Temporal.

“…You’re taking an awfully big risk with this,” Temporal casually stated.

Pumpkin shrugged, “You aren’t changelings, I know that. But, you aren’t from around here. That said, most of you seem to recognize me… The boss can sort it out.”

Temporal shrugged as she trotted down the stairs. Pumpkin quickly followed her, slamming the door shut. A moment later, the ruined mannequins and trash covered the trapdoor.

Stratos landed on the floor of a hollowed out tunnel. The stallion looked around as Rhapsody’s grip tightened around his neck

“I’m scared” she whimpered.

“I don’t blame you, but everything is going to be alri-”

“HI THERE!” a new voice called out from behind them.

Stratos and Rhapsody screamed in horror, as the stallion reared up and spun, launching a right hook. The punch missed, slamming into a wall. The newcomer, a cream colored pegasus looked at the dent left by Stratos’ punch.

“Not bad, really.” The stallion turned his attention back to the two. He flashed a wide, bright, cheery grin, revealing several chipped teeth and two metal replacements.
“Anyway, like I was saying, Hi there! My name’s Pound Cake, but most ponies either call me ‘Shut the.. oh there’s a foal here, I can’t say that nickname, but as I was saying, they either call me a name I can’t repeat in front of your little sister, or ‘Betty’.” Pound paused, “Not sure why they call me Betty, but it’s better than poor old Truffle Shuffle’s nickname…”

“I heard screaming.” Fantasia landed on her feet behind Stratos, “What happened?”

“Oh more company,” Pound Cake grinned, “Are there more of you or is that it? Oh who cares, I can introduce myself aga-”

“Pound, stop talking.” Pumpkin trotted out of the stairway along with the other ponies, “Take them to the boss.”

“Are we talking the boss or the Boss?” the pegasus moved his hooves in emphasis, “Because the Boss doesn’t want to be bothered, and no one is sure where the boss is.”

“Scratch that, you go check if the boss is in. Find out and come back here to get us.”

“Fiiiiiinnnnneee…..” Pound rolled his eyes and flittered off. Pumpkin turned around and looked over the group.

“Now then, I want answers. Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?”

“If we told you, you probably wouldn’t believe it.” Bellona grumbled.

“Try me.”

“Fine…We’re all alternate universe counterparts to one another and we’re here to figure out why we got pulled together.” Bellona rolled her eyes.

“I’m not,” Temporal added, “I’m just here to see what happens.”

Pumpkin blinked, “You’re fucking kidding me.”

“I told you that you wouldn’t believe it,” Bellona threw her hands in the air, “But no one listens to me.”

“Why should I believe that?” Pumpkin continued on.

“Because it sounds ridiculous enough to be true,” A new voice stated, “And I know it was.”

The ponies turned around to find the source of the voice. Gilda stepped out followed by Pound Cake. The griffon’s beak had a metal plate fashioned over a huge crack, and a mess of scars, scratches, bite marks and gouges peppered her neck, face and limbs. A pair of single-action flintlocks, and a chipped, scratched blade remained strapped to her side. The griffon grimaced.

“I was part of M.L.P. before this all happened,” Gilda shook her head, “Didn’t realize interdimensional travel was so… flaunted these days.”

“…Why should we believe you?” Oscura frowned.

“Kid, I’m the only one here who doesn’t think you’re crazy. Don’t throw that chance away,” Gilda shook her head, “You got yourselves into a hell of a mess…”

“…We were not aware of the situation within this dimension,” Fantasia replied.

“…So spill it,” Gilda responded.
“Tell me how the hell you all got here and why.”

Oscura, Golden Sweet and Stratos exchanged glances and sighed.

“Well,” Golden Sweet began, “It all started about… eighteen years back…”

Hello Cruel World: My Own Remorse

“…And that is why we’re here.” Oscura concluded.

“…You done fu…” Gilda glanced at Rhapsody. “…Screwed up now. Going around the multiverse without a damn clue about what you were doing.”

“To be perfectly honest, we all had our doubts about where we would end up, but ‘post-apocalyptic hellhole’ was not one of them.” Temporal shrugged, “Only one pony really knew what we were getting into, and she…” Temporal glanced back at Golden Gem, “Isn’t really talking.”

“…I didn’t know…” Gem whimpered.

Gilda sighed, “Kid, this is why you’re not suppose to mess around with things. You know how goddamn lucky you morons were that twenty of you ended up in a universe where things were alright. This? This is a nightmare, and now you’ve gotten into it.”

“We can still get out, Gem still has her…”

“It’s not working,” Gem interrupted. Every pony turned towards her, looks of shock on their faces. Gem looked up from her hoof, “I tried it earlier, but it’s not working. I think whatever is interfering with Bellona’s chaos magic is affecting this.”

“…WELL THIS IS JUST GREAT!” Golden Sweet slammed a hoof into the wall, gouging out a huge chunk, “Now what are we going to do?”

“…Well, there’s one thing you could try.” Pound cut off Gilda’s response, “there’s that super shadowy, mystery alicorn that’s-”

“Pound, shut up.” Pumpkin jabbed her brother in the ribs.

“…Mystery Alicorn?” Temporal cocked an eyebrow.

Before Gilda could answer, another voice called out, “Gilda? The boss wishes to see you.”

“…Dammit.” Gilda swore, “…Look, just wait here and I-”

“She wants to see your guests too.”

“….Look, promise me none of you are going to say something stupid, alright? The boss really isn’t one for small talk.”

“I will make no such promises.” Bellona stated.

“Figures. What about the rest of you?” Gilda asked.

“…I think we’ll be fine.” Oscura nodded.

“Then walk this way!” Pound beamed as he trotted down the hall. With some hesitance, Gilda followed after him, motioning for the others to join.

“Boss doesn’t like to wait.”

The group followed her down the winding path. As the moved along, Temporal glanced around: other Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, Griffons and a few Diamond Dogs and Zebras mulled around. Some were maintaining their weapons, caring for foals, or carrying crates filled with root vegetables around.

“…Do you all live underground?” Temporal asked.

“Yeah. Surface isn’t too safe, with the Changeling hordes around.” Gilda responded, “We were in contact with a group in the Everfree, and I heard it through the grape vine that Appleloosa and Dodge made it out alright. We don’t know about everywhere else.”

“…What happened?” Oscura demanded, “For something like this to happen, something catastrophic had to have happened.”

Gilda looked down, “…The Changelings came back. Something was different about them though. Their queen was…more powerful and the drones she sent were even stronger than before.
Initially, it looked like everything would be alright, but it turned out she had drones infiltrate important places…”
Gilda let out a harsh chuckle.

“Even thought the Changelings invaded before, this time it caught everyone off guard. You want to know why we lost so badly? They neutralized the important ponies at a crucial moment.”

“What do you mean?”

“Changelings infiltrated the Crystal Empire, and…well…’ Gilda glanced at Fantasia, “Let me just say that no one saw it coming.”

“What about…”

“At the height of the war, Celestia and the Changeling Queen slayed each other,” Gilda stated, “Cadance was one of the first down., and no one’s really sure what happened to Luna and Discord.”

“What about Twilight?” Stratos looked over.

Gilda looked away, “I’d rather not talk about that.”

“What about the rest of the elements?”

“Like I said, we never saw it coming. Some of them were able to fight them off…”

The group paused in front of a heavy door. With a grunt, Gilda pushed it open, revealing a single occupant. The pony lay atop a small motorized cart, allowing her mobility. As the pony moved closer, the group noticed several things: the tattered remains of shredded wing graced her back. Patches of fur were missing, including a large chunk rendering her Cutie Mark nearly unrecognizable. Three of her limbs were missing, leaving her with only her left foreleg. The mare’s mane was cut short, keeping it out of her face. A wicked scar covered her glassy left eye, and wires connected to her throat lead to a small speaker box. The ponies winced as she smiled.

“So these are the ones that Pound mentioned,” Fluttershy wheezed through the speaker box, “Don’t look like much.”

“Pumpkin said she found them at Sugarcube.”

“Then they’re stupider than they look,” Fluttershy snapped. The mare looked over them, her gaze lingering on Fantasia and Bellona.
“Still, if they survived this long, they’ll do.”

“Do what?” Oscura asked.

“The resistance.” Fluttershy responded.

“…I thought you said Chrysalis was dead,” Temporal asked Gilda.

“She is. And after that, the Changelings became feral.” Fluttershy continued on, “Without her guiding influence and control, they’re little more than wild animals.” Temporal opened her mouth to speak, “No, they don’t listen to me. I don’t know what happened to them, but they can’t follow orders, and the stare doesn’t work.”

“…So?”

“My goal is to reclaim Ponyville, and move on from there,” Fluttershy stated, “And to do that, we need bodies.”
She looked at Fantasia, “I see at least one of you is an Alicorn, I don’t know how and I don’t care. The Princesses promised to take care of the land, and look where that got us. But as an alicorn you still walk in their shadow and you must live up to it.”

“What are we going to do?” Stratos hissed at Temporal.

“I don’t know.”

Fantasia opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Oscura and Gem.

“We refuse.” The two mares spoke in unison, to every other pony’s surprise.

“What?” Fluttershy, Temporal and Fantasia stammered out.

“What exactly are the eight of us suppose to do?” Oscura pointed out, “The elements are gone, the Princesses are gone, and even Discord is gone. Eight more bodies will not guarantee victory of any sort, and most of them are not prepared for the type of warfare you are taking part of.”

“There is time.” Fluttershy countered.

“That there is, but you are worried about time, are you not?” Oscura continued, “You only have so many resources to waste, and this group brings very little to help.”
Golden Sweet shot Oscura a dirty look as the princess continued on, “It is in your best interest to let us go along with what we have come t-”

“I get it,” Fluttershy interrupted, “You don’t care. Now get the hell out of here. I see any of you again, I will have you shot.”

The mare used her remaining leg to nudge a gearstick, allowing the cart to roll away from the group. Gilda escorted the ponies out, and slammed the door behind them.

“What the hell was that all about?” Fantasia demanded.

“Do you want to be stuck in an alternate dimension for who knows how long?” Oscura countered, “As royalty we-”

“Are bound to help the people when they need it, and I certainly think these ponies need it!” Fantasia countered.

“We are bound to help our people. If you wish to go on a multiversal crusade to right wrongs and save universes, then it is something you should do on your own time, with those who follow you,” Oscura responded.

“And you can just turn your back on them?” Fantasia stomped a hoof to emphasize her point.

“Yes.” Oscura responded, “I am pragmatic about who to help. As royalty we have to know who and what will be sacrificed. Our kingdoms are not the same, yours lives in peace and prosperity, mine is one that struggles against cults every day.” Oscura smiled.
“So yes, I can say no.”

“What about you?” Fantasia turned her attention to Golden Gem, “Why not?”

“There are only a handful of us, Bellona’s chaos magic is useless and the three of us can’t use spells to our maximum efficiency….a few more ponies aren’t going to help at all.”

“The kids are right,” Gilda interrupted Fantasia’s response, “No point throwing your lives away here. I don’t know how you’re going to get out of here, though.”

“What happened to your technology?” Temporal asked Gilda.

“Destroyed it. Last thing we needed were superpowered changelings with access to the multiverse,” the griffon shook her head.

“What are the chances it can be rebuilt?”

“Pretty damn slim.”

As the two continued to discuss potential courses of action, Oscura’s aura flared up. Within her pouch, the dimensional transmitter flipped on.

“What about the thing Pound Cake mentioned?” Rhapsody interrupted Gilda.

“..What?” the griffon frowned.

“He said something about a lost princess,” Rhapsody continued on.

“…Oh, the mystery alicorn stuff,” Gilda snorted, “Forget it kid, that’s a bunch of bul… nonsense.”

“…What’s that all about anyway?” Temporal asked.

“Tch, some rumors about a mysterious hooded figure that goes around fighting changelings. No one really knows who it is, though.”

“That doesn’t sound very special.”

“Who ever it is, is capable of using magic that most ponies can’t use.” Gilda followed up, “They’re not affected by the distortion.”

“…And you never tried to find this pony?” Stratos stared at the griffon in disbelief.

“Survival was more important.” Gilda shrugged.

“Where does this pony live?”

“You can’t seriously be thinking about looking for it, do you?” Gilda ignored the question, “its nonsense.”

“…What better things do we have to do?” Temporal shrugged.

“It’s not the princesses, trust me on that,” Gilda replied.

“You said no one knows what happened to Luna.”

“You think if she was alive we’d be in this mess?” Gilda shook her head, “Look, I’ve seen a universe where Luna ruled, it had a lot of issues with the nobles, but it wasn’t a hellhole like this one.”

“…What exactly happened to the other Princesses?” Stratos asked quietly.

“…” Gilda looked down, “Like I said, the Crystal Empire was one of the first places infiltrated. Groups of them infiltrated the royal guard, and Chrysalis was able to disguise herself as Shining Armor.”

“…She was killed by Chrysalis?” Fantasia whimpered.

“Never saw it coming. Then the Changelings launched their initial assault, still disguised as Royal Guards, and Shining Armor was killed because Chrysalis let other ponies see her kill Cadance while she was disguised.”

“And then Ponyville?”

“Yep. Set up some kind of bomb that took out her castle. Most of the Elements made it out alright, but…” Gilda paused, “Shit, you really don’t want to hear what happened.”

“Just tell us,” Oscura rolled her eyes.

“…Celestia was given Twilight’s head on a pike.” Gilda calmly stated. Almost all of the ponies stared back with horrified looks on their faces, “What’s wrong with you?” Gilda pointed to Golden Sweet.

“…My universe’s Twilight isn’t exactly a nice pony…” Sweet shrugged, “She tried to kill dad, Uncle Turner and Aunt Rarity a couple of times.”

“…Kid, you got issues.”

“…So where does the mystery alicorn live anyway?” Gem asked.

“…The Everfree.” Pumpkin responded.

“...That’s not good.”

“Nope,” Gilda replied, “Look, even though Flutters doesn’t want to see any of you, you can stay for the night. It’s dangerous to go out at night, especially when you don’t have a damn clue about what you’re doing.”
Gilda sighed, “I’m gonna call in a few favors, and tomorrow we’re going to do this.”

“You don’t have to,” Gem cut in, “I got us into this mess, I need to figure out how to get us out.”

“I’m still part of M.L.P., even it it’s not official. Besides…” Gilda’s eyes flickered to the ground, “You need someone who knows what’s going on to help you.”

“…We’ll take your offer,” Temporal responded.

“Good. Pumpkin can show you to where you can stay for the night and where you can get something to eat.”

The unicorn shrugged and motioned for the others to follow her. The group followed her down the hall, until only Temporal and Gilda were left.

“You’re lying.” Temporal stated.

“…About what, exactly?” Gilda coolly responded.

“Your eyes briefly clouded up when you mentioned that we needed someone to help us. You’re hiding something specifically dealing with them.”

“…Heh,” Gilda chuckled, “Look, I’m willing to help them out because…”

“…Because you were with this universe’s Big Macintosh, weren’t you?”

“…Yeah.” Gilda fell silent, “look, don’t let them know, alright?”

“What happened to Big Macintosh?”

“…” Gilda looked down, “I don’t know.”

“…”

The two followed the others down the tunnel.

===

BREE
BREE
BREE
BREE
BREE

“Mrgh” the pony shifted around under her bed covers. The alarm continued to blare until it was abruptly cut off. Someone continued to mull around, and the sounds of ripping paper, tapping on buttons, and knocking on metal echoed. There was a gasp of surprise, and the sound of hooves on the stone floor. The wooden door flew open and slammed into the stone wall.

“Sis-ter! We have a sur-prise!” a female voice sung out.

“Gypsy, go ‘way, it’s too early.” The pony under the blankets muttered.

“It’s ten-thirty in the morning, you must stop sleeping in.”

“Shut up.” The pony shifted, sinking deeper into the blankets.

“Snake Oyl!” the voice demanded, “Get up!”

The blankets were torn off, revealing a groggy Snake Oyl. The mare rubbed her eyes and looked at the other pony: a unicorn mare, nearly identical to Snake, save for the beauty marks under each of her eyes. Snake sat up, still groggy and grumpy.

“What?”

“Princess Oscura’s device has ac-ti-vated!” Gypsy beamed, “The readings aren’t as strong as we thought, but they’re still traceable.”

Snake blinked, “Say that again.”

“Princess Oscura’s device is online, and we know where they are for sure.” Gypsy repeated.

Snake leapt to her hooves, “Go inform Queen Oscura and start getting the E.D.A.M.A.M.E. prepared to depart for Universe One-nine-seven-four.”

“Why there?”

“Because I have a pair of very angry parents who want me to find their daughter waiting for us.” Snake sighed, “I can deal with Multiversal threats, rouge dimension travelers and those damn ape things, but angry parents are not something I want to mess with.”

Gypsy shrugged and bolted out of the room. Snake slid up to her own array of screens and controls, flicking several switches. One of the screens flickered on, revealing an exhausted looking Time Turner. In the corner of the screen, Snake could see the sleeping forms of Big Macintosh and Lyra.

“Good morning Time Turner!” Snake smiled as the stallion on the screen jolted upwards, falling off his chair. As the thud sounded, Big Macintosh and Lyra stirred as well.

“I’m just calling to inform you that we are ready to go after them.”

Hello Cruel World: The Old Man's Back Again

“Get up, it’s time.”

Gem stirred under her Spartan bedding. The mare sat up, rubbing her eyes.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s us.”

Pulling her hooves away from her eyes, Gem found Oscura, Pumpkin and Golden Sweet waiting for her.

“Well?” Pumpkin asked, “Come on.”

Gem rolled off of the bed, landing on her hooves. The mare joined the group, and followed them down the hall.

“Who’s coming with us?” Gem asked.

“Gilda, myself and Pound for sure. She might have gotten Wild Fire and maybe Bonbon.”

“…Seriously?” Gem rolled her eyes.

“The end of the world as you know it does strange things to ponies.” Pound shrugged.

The group stopped near the ladders where the others waited for them. Gilda, Pound Cake, Bellona, Fantasia, Temporal, Stratos, Rhapsody, and three newcomers waited for them. The first of the newcomers was an amber pegasus, her dark brown mane cut short. The mare’s wings were tattered, with large portions of them replaced with metallic replicas of feathers and metal sheets. Strapped to her forehooves was a pair of metallic gauntlets. The second was a light cream colored earth mare, her blue and fuchsia mane cut very short. A low hum radiated out of the mare’s prosthetic left leg, and a large mace rested on her back. The last of the ponies was another earth mare, this one light amber in color. The mare’s cyan mane was tied back, and she had several heavy looking satchels on her back.

“Right then, that’s everyone,” Gilda motioned towards the three mares, “Kids, that’s Wild Fire, Bonbon and Coco. Girls, that’s Golden Gem, Golden Sweet, Bellona, Oscura, Fantasia, Temporal Spectrum, Stratos and Rhapsody.”

“You’re bringing a foal?” Bonbon stared at Rhapsody, “Gil, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“I don’t have a choice,” Gilda responded, “Flutters wants them out of here, and you know what she does with ponies that don’t listen.”

“…Take her.” Wild Fire responded, her voice raspy, “Be safer.”

“…I have no real opinion,” Coco shrugged, “As long as someone is able to keep an eye on her at all times.”

“I’ve done a fairly good job so far,” Stratos added.

“…So what exactly are we doing, Gil?” Bonbon turned her attention back to the griffon.

“Alicorn hunting.”

“…Seriously?” Bonbon cocked an eyebrow, “What makes you think this time will work any better?”

“Because I have a contact in the Everfree who’s been watching.”

“New thing to know,” Wild Fire cut in, “How long?”

“A while really. Remember that group we had contact with in the Everfree?”

“Yes. We got reports that it was demolished, wasn’t it?” Coco cut off Bonbon’s response.

“Mostly. One of them survived.”

“…So let me see if I got this straight,” Bonbon paused, “You want us to help you go to the Everfree, find a survivor that we might not even know exist, to look for Pound’s hallucinations, so that you can send a bunch of kids that Flutters hates somewhere else.”

“About right.” Golden Gem nodded.

“…Still in.” Wild Fire rasped.

“…I volunteered, so I’ll stay.” Coco nodded.

“…Oh what the hell, Fluttershy already has me on her shit list.” Bonbon shrugged.

“Then let’s go,” Gilda motioned towards the ladder, “Fire, you and Bonbon out first.”

The ponies nodded. Bonbon began making her way up the stairs, as Wild Fire flew upwards. Oscura and Golden Sweet began towards the stairs, only for Gilda to hold out a hand.

“No, let them see if it’s safe first.” Gilda shook her head, “Make sure it’s-”

“Safe.” Wild Fire’s voice bounced down the tunnel.

“Alright, go.”

The two ponies quickly climbed up the ladder, and pulled themselves into a building. The two quickly scanned the area: ruined furniture, scattered dishes and bird feeder littered the floor. Bonbon gripped her mace in her mouth, while Wild Fire glanced out the window.

“You two. Watch here.” Wild Fire motioned for them to take her place at the window.

“Where are we?” Golden Sweet asked.

“Was Fluttershy’s cabin. Abandoned now.” Wild Fire responded as the returned to the trapdoor, “Send next up.”

After a few moments, Temporal and Golden Gem pulled themselves up from the trapdoor and looked around.

“…They attacked everywhere didn’t they?” Gem looked at the tattered remains of a sofa.

“Yes.” Wild Fire responded, “Send rest up. Safe enough.”

“How do you know there aren’t any changelings in here?” Oscura asked.

“Cleared out by us. Left chemical that repels them here.”

“…If you leave something that repels them here, wouldn’t they notice something is up and try to figure out a way around it?” Temporal asked.

“Too stupid to.” Wild Fire grinned as the others continued out of the trap door. After Gilda crawled out, the griffon shut the door, and pushed the ruined couch over it.

“…Wait, isn’t the Everfree further away from here?” Stratos asked.

“Kid, without ponies maintaining the land around it, the forest grew.” Gilda looked out the window, “Alright, let’s go. Fire, you, Bonbon and Oscura lead.”

“Where exactly are we going?” Bonbon asked, her voice muffled through the mace.

“The River.”

===

“...So let me get this straight,” Lyra started, “We’re relying on an alternate universe version of the Flim Flam brothers to get us to where we need to go?”

“Basically,” Time Turner shrugged.

“We’re really supposed to trust them?” Lyra continued on.

“Oscura is technically King Sombra’s daughter, and you had no problem with her,” the stallion countered.

“That’s different, He didn’t threaten me. They threatened to put Mac out of business.”

“And we did too,” Time Turner reminded her, “Not exactly our best moment.”

“…Eeyup.” Lyra admitted.

A horrific screech, followed by the sounds of splintering wood, shattered glass, and broken chimes echoed through the room. Time Turner turned white and rushed out of the room, to the showroom. Lyra shot a nonplussed look at Big Macintosh who simply shrugged. The two entered the other room and were greeted with a scene of carnage: a bulky, six-wheeled carriage with a massive engine bolted to the front sat amid the shattered remains of clocks. A swarm of tubes, chutes and nozzles sprouting from the engine, snaking their way around the different parts of the carriage, filled with bizarrely colored liquids and steam spewed out of a hastily patched chimney. Time Turner stood dumbstruck as the doors opened, releasing a cloud of white smoke and steam. Snake and Gypsy stumbled out, coughing, their protective goggles smeared with soot.

“Told you it wouldn’t work,” Gypsy coughed.

“You told me?” Snake snapped back, “If you had picked up the liquid Rainbow like I asked…”

“MY CLOCKS!” Time Turner shrieked, “Out of all the brain addled places you could park that infernal contraption, you put it in my STORE!!?! A pair of brain-dead, bot-infested, gelded knackers would know better!”

“Oh do shut up,” Snake rolled her eyes, “We barely use this thing, our driving is a bit rusty.”

“THAT’S NOT THE IMPORTANT PART!” Time Turner continued his rant, “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH IT COST TO MAINTAIN MY EQUIPMENT?!? You at least get funding, I have to scrape up whatever I can and whatever the stupid bureaucrats think is enough for my budget.”

“Oh, so we don’t have to deal with bureaucrats, do we?” Snake snapped back, “Well next time I need to negotiate the budget, how about I just send Shimmer to talk to you?”

As the two continued to yell and screech at one another, Gypsy pulled her goggles off and went up to Big Macintosh and Lyra. The mare beamed.

“Hi there, you must be Rhapsody’s parents.” Gypsy held out a hoof, “I’m Gypsum Oyl, but most ponies call me Gypsy.”

“Big Macintosh. But I reckon you knew that already.” Mac took the offered hoof giving it a shake.

“Of course,” Gypsy’s grin grew, “I’ve met with the king before, and I must say that his temperament is a wonderful counterpart to Queen Umbra’s.”

“Um…thanks?” Big Mac frowned a bit at her statement.

“And you must be Lyra Liverrope then,” Gypsy turned her attention to Lyra.

“It’s Heartstrings,” Lyra corrected.

“Ah, right right, my apologies,” Gypsy shook her head, “You wouldn’t happen to know a Sammu Mandolini, do you?” Gypsy chuckled slightly at Lyra’s confused look, “I take that as a no. Well once Snake is done yelling at Time Turner, we can go.”

“…Miss Gypsy, if you don’t mind can I ask you a question?” Big Macintosh cautiously ventured.

“Sure, as long as it’s not about my coltfriend.”

“You and your sister are the counterparts to the Flim Flam brothers, right?” Mac continued on.

“So we’re told.” Gypsy shrugged, “I’ve never actually met them, outside of Universe two-one-five-one-eight.”

“Which are you suppose to be?”

Gypsy blinked, “Hmmm.” The mare craned her head to the side as she scratched her chin, “…You know, I never thought about that. If I had to guess, I think I’m Flam. I liked Flam-two-one-five-one-eight better than Flim.”

“…And stop whining!” Snake yelled at Time Turner, “Anyway, Mister Macintosh, Missus Heartstrings, as my sister has hopefully told you, I am Snake Oyl, and if you walk this way, we can get going.”

“You sure we can all fit in that thing?” Big Macintosh frowned.

“Of course. The E.D.A.M.A.M.E uses patented Shire technology, so that it’s bigger on the inside than the out,” Snake assured him.

“…E.D.A.M.A.M.E.?” Lyra asked puzzled.

“It’s an acronym. Stands for Extra Dimensional Access Machine And Mobile Engine.” Gypsy beamed, “Perfectly safe, I assure you.”

“….Alright then, let’s go.” Big Macintosh nodded.

“Alright, you two get the back seat, no backseat driving.” Gypsy beamed as she trotted back to the E.D.A.M.A.M.E.

===

“Why didn’t you tell us there were still monsters here?!?!” Golden Gem leapt backwards, dodging the snapping jaws of a timberwolf. Around her the others continued their own battles with the pack: Oscura’s saber decapitated a timberwolf, spraying the mare with sickly green sap. Bonbon’s mace slammed down onto another one, splintering its back. Behind them, Stratos slammed his armored hoof into the face of one of the wolves, snapping its snout off. Gilda raised one of her pistols, only for it to click empty.

“Pommel!” Gilda tossed the gun aside, as Coco yanked another one out of her satchels and tossed it to the griffon. The earth mare dodged a lunging timberwolf, as Wild Fire flicked a switch on her left gauntlet, deploying a straight, double edged blade. The mare stabbed the blade between the timberwolf’s eyes, and quickly withdrew the blade. The wolf hobbled for a bit, and collapsed. With the last wolf’s collapse, the remains of the pack scattered, leaving their wounded and dead behind.

“….What made them so violent?” Gem asked.

“We don’t know.” Gilda responded as she reloaded her pistols and checked her ammunition, “Coco, I need more shot.”

“Alright.” The mare rummaged through her satchels, pulling out a small cloth bag, “This should be the right one.”

Wild Fire shook the blood off her blade and sheathed it. The mare turned her attention to Stratos, Temporal and Rhapsody.
“All good?”

“How come you talk funny?” Rhapsody asked. Temporal rolled her eyes as Stratos slapped his forehead.

Wild Fire smiled, “Injured. Hurts to talk much.”

“Anyway, are we almost there?” Oscura turned her attention to Gilda.

“My contact should b-”

“There you all are!” a female voice called out.

The group turned to see a raggedy looking earth mare, pull herself out of the river. The mare’s tattered clothes sagged around her legs and her satchel dripped muck-colored liquid. The mare reached up to remove her soaked cap and goggles, revealing her cerise mane. Cheerilee flashed the group an embarrassed smile.

“So, I have good news and I have bad news, what do you want to hear first?”

“Is this really the time to be playing a game?” Bonbon snapped.

“You’re going to have to find both of them out eventually, so you might as well play along,” Cheerilee rolled her eyes, “so good first or bad first?”

“Good.” Rhapsody, Stratos, Bellona, Pound and Gilda responded.

“The good news is that I found the alicorn, and I think it’s gonna come here soon.”

“What makes you so certain?” Pumpkin asked.

“That’s the bad news. You know why I had such trouble contacting you all before?” Cheerilee’s smile returned.

“Right.” Coco nodded.

“Well, most of the settlement was destroyed in a hydra attack,” Cheerilee paused.

“….Oh goddammit…” Gilda drew both pistols again.

“The bad news is that it has my scent and is, sort of, kind of stalking me.” Cheerilee’s smile vanished.

The mare’s next words were lost in an ear splitting scream, as a massive, eight headed monstrosity erupted from the woods.

“Stratos, please pull back with Temporal, Golden Sweet and Rhapsody.” Oscura instructed, “Fantasia, please keep an eye on Miss Gilda. Bellona, Gem you probably should see if you can procure a firearm from Miss Coco.”

The mare’s blade flicked out of its scabbard.

“ ‘Farewell happy fields where joy forever dwells: HAIL HORRORS! Hail infernal world!’ ”

The princess threw herself forward at the beast with a demonic smile and her blade raised high.

“…Scary.” Wild Fire commented as one of the hydra’s heads lunged at Oscura, only for the mare to dodge the attack and stab it in the cheek.

“Eeyup.”

===

Big Macintosh trotted around, looking at the sleek, white interior of the E.D.A.M.A.M.E. Pictures of cheerful scenes featuring kittens, puppies, fillies playing, sunsets and other pleasant scenes plastered the walls, and Big Macintosh couldn’t help but smile at them. In the middle of the room, Snake and Gypsy argued over the control console.

“No, look, if we adjust that, we’re going to get stuck traveling at the unnecessary speed.” Snake argued.

“Well if we had hired the Quantum mechanic like I said we should, we wouldn’t be having this problem, now would we?” Gypsy shot back.

“Oh please, that hack wouldn’t have known the difference between a difference engine and a PME,” Snake rolled her eyes, “He wanted to make it in Jigawatts, this need zettawatts to function, if we ran it on jigawatts, we wouldn’t have made it outside of our plane of existence, let alone this one!”

“Gigawatts, not Jigawatts. Just because Professor Zeitron pronounces it that way doesn’t mean you have to.”

“Oh now this is turning to my pronunciation, is it?” Snake grumbled, “This is coming from Miss pronounces-it-as-po-tay-to.”

“It is pronounced po-tay-to. Only those hicks out on Dodge call it Po-tay-ter, and those stuffy morons in Manehatten call it po-tah-to.”

“Oh never mind, go check on the fuel rods.” Snake huffed.

Gypsy rolled her eyes and turned away from the panel.

“Oh, hello there Big Macintosh.” The unicorn beamed, “Everything alright? Interdimensional travel can be rough on people if it’s the first time.”

“No, I’m alright,” the stallion shook his head; “Just wonderin’ though, why aren’t there any windows?”

“Interdimensional space is really scary,” Gypsy paused, “It’s not something you really want to look at if you don’t have to.”

“How long is it gonna take to get there?”

“Not sure.” Gypsy shrugged, “A lot of this is guesswork…that is not the answer you wanted to hear, was it?”

“It’s one I’m use to.”

“…” Gypsy sighed, “As much as I hate to say this, Golden Gem has the most interdimensional travel experience. There are a few cases where ponies were able to do so via magic, but those all are either the Element of Magic, alicorns or got help from Discord. But none of them have that much experience.” Gypsy paused, “Look, she’s been to your universe, Stratos’ universe, and several others now. Some of them are easy to get by in, others not so much.”

“You’re basically telling me that she’s important now.”

“Oh yessss,” Gypsy drew out the end of her sentence, “very important.”

“So what can you tell me ‘bout this universe?” Big Macintosh changed the subject.

“Universe two-one-four-nine.” Gypsy grimaced, “Our probes tell us that the Changelings were able to grow in numbers, intelligence and strength, thus allowing them to use much more cunning strategies. All the Princesses and nearly all the Elements of Harmony were killed in action. With the death of the Changeling Queen, the changelings have turned feral.”

“….That does not sound safe.”

“It most certainly is not."

===

Stratos dragged the wounded Bonbon back towards the makeshift bunkers. The mare swore as the shattered remains of her prosthetic leg sparked, and the broken off hydra tooth in her leg shifted.

“Sorry, sorry!” Stratos apologized.

“Well this is great, what are we going to do now?” Temporal muttered as she surveyed the scene: out of the original attackers, only Gilda, Golden Gem, Pumpkin Cake, Oscura and Fantasia remained. Bellona carried a badly beaten and bleeding Wild Fire towards another hastily built shelter, where Pumpkin continued to fire at the Hydra. Golden Sweet and Coco managed to drag a barely conscious and blood splattered Pound Cake towards Temporal’s position.

“ ‘I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end’.” Oscura’s smile grew even larger as her aura shot out, pulling up Bonbon’s Mace, “ ‘And I shall strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers’.”

A hydra head lunged at Oscura. The mare leapt backwards, dodging the initial attack, and counters stabbing her blade into the head’s left eye. With a swing of the mace, she drove her blade deeper into the beast’s eye, forcing it to reel backwards in pain and terror. As it began to scream, the horrifying noise vanished.

“What the…”

Where the hydra was, stood half a dozen, small horrified lizards that quickly scampered off in different directions. The entire group looked up at the bridge, to see a single pony standing there, covered in a patchy black cloak and hood that hid the pony’s features.

“That’s it.” Cheerilee pointed, “I told you I found it.”

Without a word, the pony turned around to leave. Golden Gem broke off from the group and rushed over to the bridge.

“Wait,” Gem called out, “I need to speak to you.”

The pony ignored her and began to slowly walk back into the forest.

“Dammit!” Gem’s horn flared as her aura grabbed at the pony’s cloak and hood, “I have crossed ten dimensions, broke Celestia knows how many laws, and I might be stuck in this hellhole of a universe, I am not going to be ignored!”

The mare pulled, ripping the cloak and hood off the pony. The pony froze as everyone else stared in shock. A massive pair of feathered wings were mounted on the pony’s back. In the middle of the pony’s mane, a single horn protruded. Grimacing the pony turned around to face the gathered group.

“You wanna talk to me?” the pony spoke, “Then let’s talk.”

Gilda blinked, and quickly rubbed both eyes, ignoring the blood, gunpowder and soot on her talons. As she looked again, her voice cracked.

“Mac?”

Hello Cruel World: Savior

Silence reigned. The collected group of survivors and dimension hoppers stared at the ascended pony. In contrast, the stallion looked behind him, fluttering his wings slightly.

“How...” Gilda trailed off.

“But…” Golden Gem stuttered.

“How come you look like my dad, but you’re all princessy an’ stuff?” Rhapsody asked as she trotted forward, and cocked her head to the side, “Does this mean I’m gonna grow wings too?”

“No little one,” Big Macintosh smiled slightly, “It is getting late, and the beasts prefer to roam at night. If you would accompany me back to my accommodations, we may talk more.”

“If you want us to keep up, we need help wi-”

The group vanished from the area, leaving the shattered remains of timberwolves, and scars of battle behind.

Blinding light filled the area, depositing the group on the ground.

“-th our wounded.” Coco blinked. The mare smacked her lips, and ran her tongue against her teeth, “I tasted that.”

“Best not to talk when teleporting,” Golden Gem replied, “I did that once. You have no idea how hard it is to describe what the word “Wait” tastes like.”

“Ain’t this Missus Zecora’s place?” Rhapsody asked.

The group stared at the hollowed out tree, as Big Macintosh pushed open the door.

“It was.”

The stallion entered as the others stared at him.

“Can we trust him?” Gem turned her attention to Gilda.

“I... I don’t know.”

“Probably not changeling. Bad disguise choice.” Wild Fire wheezed, “Must make choice soon. Lost plenty blood.”

“…I don’t think we have a choice,” Temporal responded, “Fantasia, Sweet, get Pound, Bonbon and Wild Fire in first. Oscura, you and Pumpkin go in with her, just in case.”

The ponies nodded as they carried the wounded into the house. Temporal turned to Bellona.

“What do you think?”

“…Why are you asking me?” the hybrid responded.

“Prince Lunatique mentioned that he can sometimes sense if there’s a different magic involved with things.”

“…Well, I do feel something familiar.”

“Which is…?” Temporal trailed off.

“The Alicorn Amulet.”

“…Damn.”

The two fell silent and remained seated, thinking as the others entered the shelter.

“…So what, you want me to try and grab it?” Bellona finally asked, “I’ve done it before, just ask Gem about the whole Alicorn Amulet Trixie thing.”

“Wait and see what happens.” Temporal responded.

“You commin’ in or what?” Big Macintosh called out, “I set up wards that prevent folks or critters from commin’ in after a certain amount of time.”

The two rushed into the shack and looked around: the shattered remains of Zecora’s caldron were pushed to the side. Scattered through the room were crudely built beds and benches for the ponies to sit and rest on. In another corner of the room, a pot boiled over a fire. Big Macintosh’s magical aura removed the remains of his tattered cloak, and placed them onto a broken board that served as a makeshift coat rack.

“First off, anyone with wet clothes, get’m off. I’ll wash them later. Second, pull that tooth out of Bonbon’s leg. The healing spell doesn’t do well if you keep things like that in.”

Bonbon swore as Gilda yanked the tooth out of her leg, “Next time warn me about it!”

The injured ponies found themselves engulfed in an opaque aura. Big Macintosh trotted over to his kettle and pulled it off the fire. As the stallion worked, Temporal looked over him: his coat the same brilliant red, her mane the same orange. The stallion’s wings were tucked away at his sides, and the horn sparkled with a bright blue aura. His cutie mark had been significantly altered, instead of the simple green apple, it was replaced with what appeared to be the same green apple, cut into the shape of a seven pointed star. A simple tattered black neckerchief was tied around part of his neck, obscuring it.

“I don’t have many cups, so I oughta ask, who would like tea?”

“I would.” Gem responded. Oscura, Fantasia, and Temporal raised a hoof.

“Right then, four.”

Rhapsody hopped off her seat and trotted over to the aura surrounding the injured ponies. The filly poked at it with her hooves, trying to move it aside to look inside.

“Don’t do that,” Big Macintosh scolded her as he passed out the cups, “If you interrupt the healing spell I’ll have to do it again.”

“How come when I get hurt my mom makes me put on bandages an’ stuff?” Rhapsody asked, “How come she can’t just do that?”

“Because the spell is technically illegal,” Big Macintosh smiled slightly as the teapot floated towards Fantasia, “Cost just a little of the target’s lifespan.”

“How exactly did you learn something like that?” Fantasia asked as the floating teapot poured tea into her cup.

“Books I’ve scavenged from the ruins. There were some here and what’s left of the library are a decent source,” the ascended pony paused, “Haven’t tried the remains of the castle, but I don’t think there’s much left there.”

Big Macintosh sat, staring at the group of ponies.

“Now, I know you all ain’t from around here,” the stallion paused, “Who are you and what’s your story?”

“…My name is Golden Gem, and my father is Big Macintosh.”

“I’m Stratos Apple, and my father is Big Macintosh.”

“My name is Oscura, and my father is Big Macintosh.”

“Bellona.” The others stared at her, expectedly. The hybrid shrugged, “Oh, because I’m totally going to say my father is someone other than what you all said.”

“Princess Fantasia Mi Amore. My father is also Big Macintosh.”

“Golden Sweet. Dad’s Big Mac.”

“…” Big Macintosh closed his eyes in thought, “So it worked after all.”

“What do you mean?” Temporal responded, cutting off Gem’s reaction.

“…I think for you to understand that, I need to start from the beginning.”

Big Macintosh shifted his position, settling down.

“This is… must have been twenty years now? Maybe twenty-one? Either way, it was during the battle for Ponyville…” the stallion sighed, reliving the memory, “At this point in time, Princess Twilight was confirmed dead, Fluttershy was on life-support and no one really knows what happened to Pinkie. We found out later, but that’s not the time or story for that.
The nation’s forces were spread thin, and most of Ponyville had to join the militia…”

“From what I have read, Militias rarely do well in times of combat,” Oscura distastefully replied, “They depend too much on their leaders.”

“And we were. They put Colonel Ramrod in charge, but that’s the thing ‘bout Ponyville,” Big Macintosh chuckled, “They ain’t too good at followin’ orders, but most of you should know that ‘cause of Winter Wrap-up.
Anyway, when you have a bunch of green troops that know their enemy was able to kill at least two princesses on their lonesome, mixed with anxiety, uncertainty and plain ol’ fear…you got a recipe for disaster.

The battle started off on th’ farm. I was part of the second wave of troops, meant to move in after if needed… and we were needed. We got sent in the middle of a slaughter.”

Big Macintosh paused for a moment, regaining his composure, “How did they expect us to fight? I saw folks I grew up with, and ponies that I saw grow up an’ marry get killed in front of me.
I couldn’t take it, I ran. I went as far as I could, and I ended up here. I don’t even know how, everything after I saw a changeling rip out Rumble’s stomach was a blurr. I woke up to find that Zecora had dragged me into her hut and was healing the injuries that I didn’t even know I had.
I don’t know how long I stayed there, but the Changelings found us again. They ambushed us when we were working in her gardens.”

Big Macintosh shook his head, “She didn’t make it. I managed to get to the door, and almost made it into the house. But one of them sunk its teeth in my leg and I fell to the floor. More of them started swarming me, and one of them knocked over this jar Zecora had.”

Big Macintosh’s aura flared up, untying the neckerchief. The cloth flittered to the ground revealing the Alicorn Amulet, embedded in Big Mac’s flesh.

“That is what was in the jar, and that’s what saved me. I grabbed it, hoped it would do something, and then I blacked out. When I came to…” Big Macintosh fluttered his wings slightly, “I had these.”

“The amulet shouldn’t be capable of that sort of power,” Temporal cut in.

“True. I think there was more involved than just the amulet, but I don’t know.” Big Macintosh agreed.

“…The gem is the wrong color.” Bellona pointed out, “That one is blue. The one we took from Trixie was red.”

“…It was red when I grabbed it,” the stallion replied, “I honestly don’t know what happened. After that, it took some time to-”

“It’s not the Alicorn Amulet.” Oscura interrupted.

“What?”

“It’s the Gem of Gorgar,” Oscura paused, “It is a very powerful artifact that does amplify one’s magic to the point where they can easily challenge the princesses and beings of similar power. The problem is that it turns the wielder evil.”

“Like I said, I don’t know much. I salvaged what I could from the hut, the library and Twilight’s Castle, but even then I don’t know what I’m doing,” Big Macintosh continued, “I stay here now. Sometimes go into what’s left of town for things, but I spend most of my time farming.”

“…I have a theory.” Golden Sweet spoke, “When did the magical interference start?”

“…Sometime after Princess Luna and Discord went missing.”

“It’s possible that either one of them, or both, are being used to mess with the fundamentals of magic in this universe,” Golden Sweet paused, “It means messing with the limitations of magic and potential drawbacks it has. The Big Macintosh of my universe is the Element of Generosity, and it’s reasonable that everypony has some affinity to the Elements, but some are stronger in certain universes.”

“…You’re basically saying that he turned into an alicorn because the fundamental principles of magic are messed up in this universe?” Fantasia asked.

“Basically. Outside of levitation, no other spells you’ve tried using works, and Bellona’s own chaos magic is countered, which would imply that there is a degree of Chaos magic at work in the interference.
Your ascension violated them again, allowing you to manipulate it normally.”

“…An interesting theory, but we have no way of proving it.” Oscura stated, “Regardless, why are you here, rather than trying to help chase out the changelings?”

“That’s what I would like to know,” Bonbon grumbled as the aura dissipated and the mare sat up, “When you ran off, it started a panic in the line. How do you think I got this?” the mare waved her stump, “Some idiot with an axe nearly killed me.”

“…Why do you think I’m here?” Big Macintosh sighed, “I’m not worthy of doin’ anything. I could have done something, but I ran. I don’t expect anyone to forgive me for doing what I did.
My cowardice got me here, and I don’t feel worthy of this.”

The room fell silent again. Rhapsody hopped off her seat and trotted over to Big Macintosh.

“I don’t get it. You look kinda like my pa, you talk like my pa, but you don’t act like him.” The filly plopped down, “My pa wouldn’t give up, he’d just keep goin’. He knows what he gotta do and how he’s gotta do it.”

“Child, there are situations where even that can’t help,” Big Macintosh sighed softly.

“He doesn’t care though. That’s why he’s got my mom, Aunty Applejack, Aunty Applebloom, Uncle Rumble, Aunty Babs, Mrs. Rarity, Mrs. Rainbow Dash, Aunty Pinkie and all the other ponies back in home.” Rhapsody paused, “He has plenty of ponies ta help him out and he’s got me.”

“…Sometimes you make mistakes that even you can’t fix.” Big Macintosh replied.

“I know. It’s like that time he forgot about mom’s birthday an’ she made him sleep out in the barn.” Rhapsody giggled at the memory, “But he did everything he could to make up for it.”

“Mac, no one’s going to blame you for what happened,” Gilda paused.

“Right. Bad strategy, bad odds. Not at fault.” Wild Fire added.

“But that’s the thing. You have to forgive yourself first.” Gilda stood up and went over to him. The griffon embraced the alicorn, much to the surprise of the dimension travelers, “Please.” She whispered.

“That explains why we didn’t have a hippogriff,” Bellona muttered. Oscura jabbed her empty scabbard into the hybrid’s ribs, “Ow! What?”

“…You’re right.” Big Macintosh conceded, “I can’t spend the rest of my time here. Whether it was an accident or not, I can at least help one town.”

“I see why you brought her with you now,” Stratos whispered to Gem.

“That was unintentional.” She whispered back.

“That still doesn’t explain how we ended up in a different dimension,” Golden Sweet replied, “That happened eighteen years ago.”

“It’s possible that the circumstances surrounding his ascension, sent out some sort of disruptive wave that temporarily weakened the barriers between universes and plucked those who shared parts of his genetic code with him.” Temporal responded, “Who knows really?”

“…Wait, what?” Big Macintosh and Gilda looked at them, “What happened?”

“About eighteen years ago, we all ended up in a different universe, and we had no idea how that happened.” Gem replied, “We had some adventures, and we went back after we learned we were damaging parts of the multiverse. But all of that’s pointless now, since the device I built to transport us around isn’t working due to the magical interference.”

“You wouldn’t happen to know a dimension hopping spell, would you?” Stratos asked. Big Macintosh shook his head, “I thought so. We’re stuck.”

“Actually…” Oscura smiled as she pulled out her signal generator, “We might not be. This transmitted a beacon that would let those in my dimension know exactly where we are.”

“….Why didn’t you tell us that?” Gem snapped.

“You never asked.”

“…So how will we know i-”

Rhapsody’s question was cut off as something slammed against the ground outside. Gilda snapped up both of her pistols as Big Macintosh stood up. Bellona looked out the window.

“There’s a carriage out there.”

“What?”

The alicorn trotted over to the window. He was greeted by the sight of a metallic, six-wheeled carriage with an exposed engine, sitting in the ruined remains of his garden.

“…Well so much for my pumpkins.” He muttered to himself.

Before he could do anything else, the door of the carriage was kicked open, and Lyra burst out of it, wielding an axe, sword, and spear. The mare quickly scanned the area, her eyes hard, focused and determined.

“…Lyra?” Big Macintosh’s eyebrow rose, “But she’s…”

“Hi Mommy!” Rhapsody bounced out of the front door and into the window view. Lyra dropped all her weapons and embraced the filly.

“Oh thank Celestia! I was so worried!”

“I was safe for most of the time,” Rhapsody replied, “’Cause Stratos and Temporal kept an eye on me all the time.”

Lyra released the filly, and held her out at leg’s length, “Never do that again, do you understand me? You got lucky once, you might not be again.”

“…Fine…”

Big Macintosh pulled himself out of the carriage, stumbling over the step and landing face first on the ground.

“Need a hoof?” a voice asked him.

“No,” Big Macintosh got back onto his hooves, dusting himself off. “I’m… fine?”

Big Macintosh found himself face to face with a pony that looked exactly like him, save for the doppelganger’s horn and wings.

“…Big Macintosh, Owner of Sweet Apple Acres.” Rhapsody’s father held out a hoof.

“Big Macintosh. I don’t really do much these days, but that’s gonna change.” The alicorn took his doppelganger’s hoof.

“…Seriously?” Lyra stared at the alicorn version of her husband, “This is ridiculous.”

“You have no idea,” Gilda chuckled. The rest of the dimensional travelers poured out of the house, towards the carriage.

“…Your back-up, I assume.” Temporal responded.

“Eeyup.” Oscura smiled.

Gypsy’s head popped out from inside the E.D.A.M.A.M.E., and scanned the group, “Is that everyone? Let’s get going then. Plenty of places we need to go, many people to drop off.”

“Alright then…” Oscura turned to the ascended Big Macintosh, “Good luck.”

The group entered the E.D.A.M.A.M.E. as Gypsy watched. After the last pony entered, Gypsy turned her attention to the remaining couple, “You might want to step back.”

The door slammed shut and the engine roared. The E.D.A.M.A.M.E.’s tires squealed and the transportation vanished in a flash of blue light.

“…So now what?” Gilda looked at Big Mac.

“Well, you got folks that want to save the town?”

“Some. Lots of ponies don’t really get along with Fluttershy.”

“Fluttershy is in charge of your group?” Big Macintosh asked, surprise in his voice.

“The end of the world does weird things to ponies, Mac.” Gilda chuckled.

“…True.”

A Dazzling End.

Big Macintosh, Lyra and Rhapsody stepped out of the ruins of Time Turner’s clock shop.

“Please, please keep her out of trouble,” Time Turner groaned, “I really don’t want to do this again. Ever.”

“Neither do I.” Lyra grumbled.

“Bye!” Rhapsody beamed as she hopped onto Big Macintosh’s back. The family began their way down the street, back to the farm.

“I’m not in trouble, am I?” Rhapsody asked.

“Oh yes you are,” Lyra responded, “I had lots of time to think about what a suitable punishment it…”

“Umm…Can dad punish me instead?”

“If you ask me, it means you’re gonna be workin’ on th’ farm until you get your cutie mark.” Big Mac chuckled.

Rhapsody groaned and collapsed on his back. Soon the filly started snoring, exhausted from her adventure.

“So what are you going to do?” Big Mac asked, “To punish her, I mean.”

“…No sweets for a month. She’ll have a new list of chores she needs to do before running off, and she has to help you on the farm for at least two weeks.”

“…Seems like a lot, don’t you think?”

“Not really,” Lyra responded, “If I was really mean, I’d let Applejack punish her.”

“Point taken.” Big Mac conceded.

“Really, this is all your fault.” Lyra grumbled.

“My fault? What makes you say that?”

“If you had kept a better eye on Rhapsody, she wouldn’t have snuck off like that.” Lyra informed him.

“She’s your daughter too.”

“When she’s in your house, she’s your responsibility.”

“Now you can’t blame everything on me…” Mac protested.

“Sure I can. I’m your wife, it’s what I do.” Lyra smiled.

“She really does take after you, you know that?” Mac shook his head.

“Oh hush.” Lyra nudged him.

“No really, she doesn’t listen, she runs off and does what she wants and she keeps eating sweets Bonbon gives her.”

“Bonbon doesn’t give her tha…” Lyra trailed off, “…So that’s where they all went.”

Mac chuckled.

===

Stratos and Temporal Spectrum trotted down the street.

“...Well, that was definitely something we won’t forget.” Stratos stated.

“True,” Temporal nodded, “I think we’re stumbled upon something that is much more interesting than anything here.”

“But?”

“But I don’t mind being here.” Temporal chuckled.

“That’s g-”

Temporal yanked Stratos down. A light brown blur flew over them and crashed into the ground.

“On the other hand, I don’t think I missed Cream Pie too much.” Temporal responded.

“Eeyup.”

===

“Wait, so you’re telling me I missed Blueblood proposing to Applejack?” Bellona groaned, “That would have been hilarious.”

“It was.” Kanzi replied, “He’s still at the hospital, and she did say yes, when it looked like he wasn’t going to make it.”

===

Golden Sweet sighed as she sat down across from Romana.

“So how’d that adventure go?” the alicorn asked.

“Interestingly. Met an earth pony who turned into an alicorn.”

“Dad had the option of doing that,” Romana shrugged, “He said no.”

“Well in this case he didn’t really have a choice.” Sweet replied.

===

Fantasia trotted down the hallway and stopped in front of her parents.

“I have returned, mother, father.”

“What have you learned?” Cadance asked.

“That sometimes ponies must be pragmatic about who they help, and sometimes it is best to help them realize they can help themselves, rather than just do things for them.”

“A very good lesson.”

===

A Bright blue flash filled the room. As it vanished, Golden Gem was left standing there. The mare sighed and unhooked the device on her hoof.

“Traveler no more.” The mare dropped it onto the ground, “Back t-”

“-To be punished,” another voice interrupted.

Gem spun around, to find a grinning Lemon Hearts in her doorway.

“You have been quite busy, Gem.” The mare shook her head as she entered the room, “What should I do with you?”

“…I recognize what I did was wrong, but…” Gem trailed off, “But I am willing to accept responsibility for my actions.”

“Really now? You stole technically illegal technology, ventured through the multiverse collecting ponies to help you and you expect me to believe that you’ll just take whatever is coming to you?” Lemon Hearts shook her head.

“…After what I have seen and what I have done, I know I have made a difference in at least one universe,” Gem paused, “But doing it illegally means that I still have to be punished.”

“Very good answer,” Lemon Hearts nodded, “But we have other plans.”

“ ‘We’?” the mare echoed.

“We.” Another voice called out.

Another pony entered the room: a brown earth stallion, with a bow tie and a smirk.

“Hello there, Gem. My name is Time Turner, although some ponies like to call me the Doctor.” The stallion’s smirk turned into a smile, “And I have a proposition for you…”

I got a Plan

Lyra’s ears picked up, as she continued to work on her lyre. The unicorn turned her head towards the direction of Sugarcube Corner.

“What the…”

“Mrs. Lyra?” a young white unicorn with a pink mane spoke, catching Lyra’s attention again, “Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing. Try that piece again, Rome.”

Big Macintosh frowned as he placed a crateful of cider down. As Berry Punch and two other ponies exited the bar, he turned his head towards the library.

“Take it to the cellar, I wanna keep it cool.” Berry Turned to the farmstallion, “Mac, you alright?”

“I jus’ got th’ weirdest feelin’…Like it’s deju vu all over again…”

Golden Gem paced the library, looking over the remodeling and redecorations.

“So who runs it now, Dinky or Sweetie Belle?”

“Miss Dinky,” Lighting Gem responded as Rhapsody and Slide Rule motioned for the three of them to huddle up.

“Who’s that?” the pegasus whispered.

“I dunno,” Slide Rule shrugged, “She seems to know your dad, though.”

“I’ve never seen her before.” Rhapsody shrugged.

The three fillies turned to see Golden Gem looking at Tomahawk, Flash Bulb and Party Popper.

“Let me guess… Your mom is Rainbow Dash, Your mom is Pinkie Pie and…” Golden Gem paused as she looked over Flash Bulb, “Your dad is definitely Flash Sentry, can’t tell who your mom is, though.”

“…My dad says I shouldn’t talk to strangers,” Flash Bulb muttered.

“Good advice.”

“So what do we do?” Slide Rule hissed.

“For now, keep her occupied,” Rhapsody instructed, “Gem, if you get the chance, get out of here and let my dad or mom know.”

“Right.” The two nodded.

“How do you know who our parents are?” Popper asked.

Golden Gem smiled, “Let me tell you a story…”

The older pony took a seat as Popper, Flash and Tomahawk sat near her. The other three stayed further away, waiting for an opportunity.

“In another land, much like this one, my parents met and had me. To me that was my entire world and I couldn’t imagine it to be any other way.

But then something happened. I found myself in another world, with new ponies that were similar yet different.

Neither pony who I knew as my mother or father had any idea who I was…”

As the older pony continued on, Slide Rule and Rhapsody nodded at Lightning Gem. The pegasus quickly snuck into the bathroom and flittered out of the window.

Big Macintosh continued down the street, pulling the empty cart behind him with ease. Something thudded into the back of the cart, causing it to rock back and forth. The annoyed stallion looked back at the cart: Lightning Gem grinned back.

“Hi Uncle Macintosh.”

“I thought you were with Rhapsody an’ the others, Gem.”

“I was, but then this weird pony showed up at the library…”

“And that’s that.” Golden Gem concluded. Tomahawk, Party Popper and Flash Bulb blinked before commenting.

“That was stupid.” Tomahawk grumbled as Flash and Popper nodded in agreement.

“...Miss Golden Gem?” Slide Rule called out, “So, you’re basically saying that the multiverse theory of existence is correct?”

“It is,” the mare nodded, “who is your father?”

“Time Turner. This means that- ow!” Rhapsody jabbed her elbow into the other filly’s side, “What was that for?”

“How do we know she’s not lying?” Rhapsody hissed through clenched teeth.

Before the filly could respond, Big Macintosh entered the room, followed by Lightning Gem. The filly raised a hoof towards Golden Gem.

“That’s her.”

Gem looked up at the stallion and smiled.

“Hi dad.”

“…Gem?” the stallion shook his head, clearing his mind. As he opened his eyes again, his expression turned hard, “Can’t be…”

“Sparkling Cider, Apple Pie, Scarlet Tornado, Garden Royal, Center Stage, Apple Cinnamon, Acey Mac, Golden Sweet, Carson, Novamac, Bellona, Apple Jam, Stratos, Apple Pie, Midnight Bliss, Idun, Oaken Shield, Fantasia and Oscura,” Golden Gem paused in thought, “Maybe I should include Paula Red, Mandolin Heartstrings, and Apple Pomace. Only Stratos and I where there when that happened.”

“…It really is you isn’t it?” Big Macintosh sighed, “But they told us…”

“Dad, I can explain it all, just not here.” Golden Gem shook her head, “Shall we go?”

“…Rhapsody, you stay here with the others.”

“Actually, I think its better if she comes along,” Golden Gem interrupted, “I have plans…”

“…Rhapsody, come with us.”

“We need Lyra as well…” Golden Gem continued as the three left the library. As the door slammed shut, the remaining five ponies looked at each other and then at the black scorch marks on the floor.

“What are we going to tell Miss Dinky?” Lightning Gem sighed.

---

“Very good work today Rome,” Lyra nodded as the filly headed to the door, “Keep practicing, next time we will try the new piece.”

“Alright.”

The filly left the musical studio as Golden Gem trotted up to the door.

“Hello, how can I help you today?” Lyra cheerfully greeted the pony.

“Hello Miss Heartstrings,” Golden Gem grinned, “Or is it Lyra Apple now?”

“…It’s still Lyra Heartstrings… Do I know you? There’s something oddly familiar about you…”

“It’s me, Golden Gem.”

Lyra blinked as she took in the information, “That’s not possible.”

Golden Gem’s grin grew, “We were in your living room when you rented a house with Miss Bonbon. You were in the kitchen discussing things with dad.”

“…That’s information anyone would k-”

“Mandolin Heartstrings and Apple Pomace. Oh, and we had disguised myself and Apple Jam as Sweetie Belle so that we could trick Trixie Lulamoon. We also had to disguise Idun as a potential child from Rainbow Dash and you.” Gem interrupted.

“…It is you, isn’t it?” Lyra sighed, “Does Mac know?”

“Mac and Rhapsody,” Golden Gem chuckled, “She’s a cute little filly.”

“Most kids are when they’re that age. You were like that once.” Lyra shrugged, “Anyway, is this important?”

“Eeyup,” Golden Gem grinned, “It’s a long story, but I want you, dad and Rhapsody there to explain.”

“Don’t call him that,” Lyra interrupted, “You’re old enough to know.”

“I don’t like calling him Mac,” Golden Gem shook her head as she responded, “He’s still a counterpart to my dad and they still look the exact same.”
The unicorn paused, “Well, not the exact same, but close enough.”

“Then don’t call him Mac, call him something else,” Lyra curtly responded, “and why does Rhapsody have to be there?”

“I’ll explain everything at your house…”

---

The four ponies sat around the kitchen table. Lyra shot Big Macintosh a concerned look as Golden Gem grinned.

“What do you understand about quantum mechanics?”

“…I think that’s the name of a superhero on the Power Ponies show,” Rhapsody responded.

“…Something about dead cats, right?” Big Mac shrugged, “I don’t know that sort of thing.”

“Are we talking about the multiple universe theory? Because I’m pretty sure that’s not a theory any more,” Lyra scoffed.

“I’m more interested in quantum decoherence,” Golden Gem rolled her eyes, “That theory means that we should not have been able to cross over due to how things interact. The fact that we have done so and continued to exist, means that there is more at work…namely, magic.”

“…My head hurts,” Rhapsody laid her head atop the table.

“Basically, I took up studying quantum mechanics under Lemon Hearts, who’s part of A.R.M.O.R. in my dimension.”

“That doesn’t explain how you made it here,” Big Macintosh interrupted.

“I’m getting to that. Basically, I was able to get access to some of the probes that they use to explore alternate universes and I…shall we say… borrowed them to work on and was able to learn something interesting.”

“You stole from them?” Lyra slammed her hooves on the table, “Are you stupid?”

“Let me finish!” Golden Gem shot back, “I did what I had to. What I discovered is that there were multiple wavelengths involved. Twenty-four of them to be specific, I was able to discover which one was mine, and from there figure out which ones are most likely to belong to who.
And after doing that, I figured out which one was the ‘prime’ universe. Well, I thought it was the prime universe, research showed that this one is simply one among many others…
And that the one thing I was able to find is that there was a…quantum fingerprint from a twenty-fifth universe. I double checked things, and it does not match any of the others I found.”

Gem’s smile grew, “This mean it’s the origin universe, the one that’s responsible for this.”

“…So then why are you here?”

“Because I am not stupid enough to go there by myself, I have no idea what’s going on in that universe,” Golden Gem shook her head, “A.R.M.O.R. refused my proposal to send a team. I… rediscovered my old interdimensional transport device, and reverse engineered it to build my own version.” Gem tapped the device on her foreleg.
“It’s much more complicated, I can program which universes to visit and it keeps track of my previous visits.”

Big Macintosh jolted up, as realization hit, “You’re serious not going...”

“I am,” Gem’s grin grew bigger, “I’m recruiting a team to go to the Origin universe and figure out why this happened.”

“…Oh no,” Lyra managed to whisper, as realization sunk in.

“And I want all of you to come with me.”

Stunned silence replaced her exposition as the married couple stared at her in horror.

“Absolutely not!” Lyra slammed her hoof onto the table, “You don’t even know what you’re getting into, and you want to drag us into it?”

“…Gem, I can’t let you do that.” Big Macintosh shook his head, “You didn’t tell your parents what you were doing, and you’re doing this without A.R.M.O.R.’s help either.”

“The ‘punching holes in the multiverse;’ theory is crap, if you pardon my language,” Gem shook her head, “But I figured you’d react that way.”

“Can I go?” Rhapsody interrupted Lyra and Big Macintosh’s counter arguments, “It sounds like fun.”

“NO!” the filly’s parents yelled in a mix of horror and anger.

“There’s no way I’m going to let you do something that dangerous!” Lyra slammed her hoof onto the table. Rhapsody winced at the impact, and looked at Big Macintosh.

“I ain’t letting you either.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“No.”

Rhapsody sulked off, as Big Macintosh turned his attention back to Golden Gem.

“…Gem, the fact that you’re here means that it doesn’t matter what I tell you, because you’re going to ignore it.” the stallion sighed at his alternate universe daughter, “But I want you to take care, and stay safe.
If things get bad, get out of there.”

“I know, Mac.” Golden Gem nodded, “This still needs time to charge up, can I stay here for the night?”

“Of course.”

The guest room door creaked open, Rhapsody stuck her head into the room and quickly scanned the room to make sure she was alone. As her eyes fell to the bed, she watched as the sheets rose and fell with Golden Gem’s breathing. Satisfied, she crept into the room and went over to Golden Gem’s bag. With a flicker of magic, she popped it open and looked inside. Quickly scanning the room again, she slowly slipped into the bag, zipping it up after her.

“I really hope you know what you’re doing,” Big Macintosh shook his head as Gem slipped the bag onto her back.

“I know what I’m doing,” Gem responded, “This thing feels heavier than I remember…”

“What dimension are you going to first?”

Gem flashed a grin at Big Macintosh, “I’m going to find Stratos first.”

A dial on the device turned and Gem paused, “See you soon, Mac.”

The unicorn hit a button on the device and a bright light engulfed the mare. As it faded, Big Macintosh found scorch marks where the mare had been. Before he could do anything else, Lyra burst into the room.

“Rhapsody’s not in her bed.” The mare frantically informed him.

“What abou-”

“I checked, she’s not in the house.”

The stallion frowned, thinking of where she could be. After several moments, realization hit him. His stomach dropped as he remembered what Golden Gem had said.

This thing feels heavier than I remember

“She must have snuck into Gem’s pack without us noticing,” Big Macintosh slowly stated.

Lyra turned white, “Mac…are you…”

“I think so,” the stallion groaned.

“She’s somewhere in the multiverse.”

Author's Note

and a thank you to Katherine Kerensky for once again proofreading.

For those of you just joining us, I do suggest you read Crisis of Infinite Offspring and A Bushel of Apples

Together We'll Cross the River

The air crackled and a sphere of light appeared in the middle of a barn. As it faded, Golden Gem was revealed in a patch of scorched earth. She quickly looked at the device on her leg, scanning a small screen.

“Universe Twenty-nine.” Golden Gem smiled as she looked up from the screen, “Stratos’ universe.”

A groan caught the mare’s attention and she began to scan the barn for the source of the noise. Gem’s confusion grew as she failed to pinpoint the origin of the noise. As her bag began to rustle, the older mare realized where the noise was coming from. Quickly pulling it off her back, Gem’s aura opened the bag. Rhapsody’s head popped out of the bag, as she continued to groan.

“…Your father is going to kill me,” Golden Gem shook her head.

“I said I wanted to come along,” Rhapsody pouted.

“I know… I can think of a couple of ponies who were the same way when I was your age…” Gem sighed, “Look, you can come along, but you better listen to what I say, alright?”

“Alright Miss Gem.”

“Drop the ‘Miss’ part, kid.” Gem grumbled, “And I’m holding you to that promise.”

The barn door creaked open and a zebra poked his head into the barn. Making eye contact with Golden Gem, the two stared at each other in awkward silence.

“!Gai tses,” Golden Gem finally managed to greet him. Rhapsody looked up at the older unicorn, confused at what she had said.

“I can speak Equestrian perfectly well, miss.” An amused smile crept onto the zebra’s face, “That still does not tell me why you both are here.”

“My apologies…Oareb, was it?” Gem waited for the Zebra to nod before continuing, “I need to see Stratos.”

“Stratos is… present. May I ask who is here to see him?”

“Tell him it’s Golden Gem.”

“Please wait here.”

The zebra withdrew his head and closed the door.

“Stratty, wake up,”

The bedroom door swung inwards. A red pegasus mare with a messy white mane and a cutie mark in the form of an apple made of clouds and a brown earth mare with a rainbow mane, brightly colored scarf, glasses and a cutie mark in the form of an hourglass, filled with rainbow grains of sand entered. The two ponies exchanged glances and turned their attention to the lump under the bed covers.

“You wanna do it, or should I?” the pegasus asked.

“You do it better.” The earth mare shrugged.

The pegasus crept towards the bed. As she stopped at the head of the bed, she gently tugged the blankets away from one of the lump’s end, revealing the head of a blue-hued colt, with his messy, sandy blonde mane covering his eyes. The pegasi grinned.

“WAKE UP!” she screamed, causing the colt to jolt awake with an equally loud scream. The pegasus backed off, as the other pony began to flail in blind panic, eventually falling off the bed in a tangle of sheets. The colt sat up, staring daggers at the other pegasi.

“Mornin’ Stratty,” the pegasus grinned.

“I thought mom and dad said not to do that,” he grumbled.

“You don’t wake up if we do anything else, Stratos.” The earth mare muttered.

“…Temp, why are you here?”

“Because a certain somepony was supposed to take his marefriend to lunch,” Temporal Spectrum muttered.

Stratos blinked. After several moments, realization kicked in and he sprung up, only to fall back over in the tangle of sheets.

“I forgot.”

“I noticed,” Spectrum snarked back.

Before Stratos could open his mouth and plead his case, Oareb stepped into the room.

“Stratos, there is a mare here to see you,” the zebra ignored the scene as he continued on, “She claims you know her.”

“Really?” Stratos untangled himself from the sheets, revealing his cutie mark: a set of storm clouds, “What’s her name?”

“She claims her name is Golden Gem.”

Stratos and Temporal Spectrum froze in their tracks, quickly exchanging glances.

“That’s not possible,” Stratos shook her head, “Are you sure that’s what she said?”

“Positive. She is at the barn.” Oareb turned around and left the room.

“…Stratty?” Cumulus frowned, “what’s going on?”

“Only one way to find out.”

Rhapsody continued to pace around the barn as Golden Gem tinkered with her device.

“Kid, stop doing that, you’re making me dizzy.”

“But I’m bored.” Rhapsody flopped to the ground and began to roll across the floor. As she rolled in front of the barn door, it opened. The filly stared up at Stratos, Temporal Spectrum and Cumulus.

“…Hi!” Rhapsody greeted them as she rolled back onto her feet, “My name’s Rhapsody, what’s yours?”

“Um… hi,” Stratos looked away from the filly and at Golden Gem, “Gem?”

“In the flesh.” The unicorn grinned back.

“…There’s a story behind this, isn’t there?” Temporal Spectrum muttered.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Gem grinned.

The kitchen door opened, as Stratos lead the group inside. Golden Gem and Rhapsody took a seat at the table across from the other three.

“So… start from the beginning,” Stratos demanded.

“…Gem, I’m hungry.” Rhapsody interrupted the unicorn’s response.

“…Me too,” Cumulus grumbled, “Stratty, I’m going to take Rhapsody here and get something to eat.”

Stratos looked over at Golden Gem. The unicorn shrugged.

“Take her, just don’t get into any trouble, alright?”

“Fine.” Cumulus rolled her eyes.

The younger ponies left the room, letting Stratos refocus his attention on Gem.

“Why are you here?”

Gem’s grin grew, “It started after we were sent back for good…”

“So…” Cumulus trailed off, “You’re Golden Gem’s cousin?”

“Um… I think so.” Rhapsody smiled, “We have a lot of relatives, it’s hard to keep track.”

“Yeah, I know that feeling,” Cumulus chuckled.

The pair continued their way down the street. A pair of pegasi stopped them and greeted them. The pair consisted of a white stallion with a thunderbolt cutiemark and a grey-blue mare with a silver mane and a cutie mark consisting of a lightning bolt in a bow pattern

“Hi cousin Ribbon.” Cumulus grinned, “Breezy.”

“Cumulus, I told you not to call him that,” the mare pouted.

“Its fine,” Golden Breeze chuckled, “I don’t mind. Who’s the little one?”

“Her name’s Rhapsody. Came here with some unicorn named Golden Gem,” Golden Breeze froze at the mention of the name, while Cumulus shrugged, “Stratty knows her, somehow.”

“Huh. I don’t-”

“White Unicorn with a Blonde mane?” Golden Breeze cut Ribbon’s response off. Cumulus nodded, and the stallion sighed, “…Never thought I’d see her again.”

“You know who she is too?” Cumulus frowned, “Nopony ever tells me these things…”

“It’s nothing,” Golden Breeze waved the thought away, “Don’t worry about it.”

“…Rrrriiight,” Cumulus remained unconvinced, “Anyway we’re going to get cupcakes, wanna come?”

“No, We’re going to lunch.” Breeze responded, “Later.”

The two pegasi waved good bye and continued on their way.

“Who’s that?” Rhapsody asked.

“Lightning Ribbon’s my cousin, and Golden Breeze is her coltfriend…” Cumulus shrugged, “Anyway, let’s go. Ever had a Donut-Cupcake with custard?”

“Once,” Rhapsody replied, “At my Aunty’s wedding.”

“well you don’t need a wedding to get these ones,” Cumulus grinned.

“…And that’s why I’m here.” Golden Gem concluded. Stratos and Temporal Spectrum exchanged glances and nodded.

“Give us a moment to figure out if we’re gonna accept.” Stratos informed her.

“Take your time.”

Stratos and Temporal Spectrum got up and exited the house. The couple paused on the porch, waiting for the other to start the conversation.

“So…” Stratos broke the silence, “What do you think?”

“She’s lying.”

Cumulus watched as Rhapsody gobbled down another cupcake. The filly beamed at the pegasus, frosting caked around her mouth.

“More?”

“…Kid, that was your fifth one, don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

“Nope! I didn’t get to eat breakfast, cause of traveling.”

“That’s a good enough reason in my book,” another voice called out. An Amber unicorn stallion with a wild pink mane, paper hat and icing splattered apron trotted out of the kitchen, levitating another cupcake with him.

“And I got a new one to test for the menu.”

As the unicorn set it down on the table, Rhapsody’s own aura surrounded it and yanked the pastry into her mouth. After a few quick chomps, the filly swallowed the cupcake and blinked. Rhapsody’s face turned bright red and the filly knocked over her seat as she rushed to the bathroom.

“…Creamy, what did you put in it?” Cumulus asked.

“Jalapeno Jelly, cacao powder, a little cayenne pepper, cactus jelly, and ghost pepper reduction.” The stallion listed off, “I’m going to call it Strawberry Surprise.”

Cumulus stared at the stallion, “…Why?”

“Because it tastes nothing like strawberries, and everything like pain,” He beamed.

“So we know she’s lying about something, but we still don’t know what,” Stratos concluded, “Great.”

“If she had more ponies with her, I’d have a better idea,” Temporal Spectrum shook her head, “But I think she planned for me to get involved.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“If we refuse, she’ll just go to whoever is next on her list,” Temporal Spectrum closed her eyes, “and then there’s Rhapsody.”

“There wasn’t any Rhapsody when I was there…I think she’s Big Mac and Miss Lyra’s kid.” Stratos shook his head.

“Which is probably another reason we should go,” Temporal Spectrum concluded, “I want to know more, and I want to keep Rhapsody safe.”

“I didn’t know you liked kids so much.”

“When you have to babysit Sparkler for so long, you get use to them.” Temporal Spectrum muttered.

“True.”

The two were interrupted as Cumulus trotted up, carrying a sickly looking Rhapsody on her back.

“What happened?” Stratos looked at the filly.

“She tried Creamy’s new Strawberry Surprise cupcake.” Catching the looks on both pony’s faces, Cumulus shook her head, “Don’t ask.”

“…Well, I guess we should let her know.”

Lyra and Big Macintosh skidded to a stop in front of the clock shop, only to find the door locked and a ‘closed’ sign on it.

“Mac.”

The stallion spun around and kicked the door, knocking the chunk of wall holding the door’s lock off. Pushing through the rubble, the couple entered the shop, looking for the employee’s office. Finding another locked door, Big Macintosh kicked it down, and entered.

Time Turner sat at his desk, looking at a strange device with multiple screens. Strapped to the stallion’s head was another contraptions; a miniature microphone by his mouth and a bud-like device in his left ear. The earth pony rolled his eyes, and continued to argue with someone else.

“Yes, I know what’s going on, and I am trying my best to figure it out, Lemony… No, we all are.”

“Turner.” Big Macintosh called out trying to get the other stallion’s attention. The agent of A.R.M.O.R. spun around glaring at Big Macintosh.

“The store was locked for a reason, Mr. Macintosh,” the stallion muttered, “No I’m not talking to you; Macintosh-one-nine-seven-four is here. Yes, I know it’s against regulations, but I didn’t invite him in…”
The stallion turned his attention back to Big Macintosh.
“Look, I’m really busy right now Mr. Macintosh. We’re having a bit of a problem right now…” Time Turner turned his attention back to the screens and other ponies.
“No, this is not something we can wait on, it’s bad enough that Sucre screwed it up that one time, this is more lik-”

“Golden Gem showed up and she took Rhapsody with her,” Lyra exclaimed as she stopped next to Big Macintosh.

Time Turner froze in midsentence before turning back to the couple.

“Look, a lead just opened up, I’ll get back to you all in a bit.”

Time Turner yanked the earpiece and microphone off his head and grimaced at the couple.

“Start talking.”