What Shall be True

“I still can’t believe those cowards! To the Moon with all of them! How can they stand staying under the hooves of Changelings!?”

“Most of ‘em just couldn’t travel, Dash! You know Bon-bon? She’s eight months pregnant! You really wanna drag her through the Everfree just to run your little war machine!?”

“Oh, so is that why you decided to sell out your fr-“ Dash stopped herself once she saw Twilight glaring at her. She turned her head away from Applejack’s and acted like a schoolfilly who just got caught stealing cookies.

Twilight let out a long sigh, turning back to face the way they were going, shifting her saddlebags to adjust them to a more comfortable position. Dealing with those two powderkegs was giving her a migrane, made worse by the aching bruises on her forehead and the crack in her horn.

Scootaloo resumed her story of how she earned her cutie mark (a black-and-purple shield decorated with Pegasus wings) once she thought Twilight was listening. Twilight wasn’t listening. Her mind was miles away and dealing with everything that had happened. Would they meet Fluttershy and Rarity at the refugee camp Rose Fields (Rainbow’s hilariously-named second-in-command) was leading them to? What was all that about the Last Alicorn Princess, and starting a rebellion? Were they all counting on her to take down Chrysalis, like Luna had tried and failed to do? If that was the case, it didn’t bode very well for Twilight. But that only happened because there was a spy in the mix. So was that spy still around, trying to take down Twilight from inside her ranks? Or was he long dead, with Twilight freaking out over nothing?

Even more disconcerting was Twilight’s growth spurt. Based on her rudimentary measurements, she had grown almost three inches in the space of a second, and it looked to be permanent. Was this the time she had skipped, reasserting itself? Was it just a natural part of being an alicorn, and an explanation for why Celestia was so tall while Cadence looked like a regular pony? Would it stay with her when she went back to the past?

Twilight pushed those questions aside, using Scootaloo’s story about single-hoofedly defending an injured pony from thirty Changelings to distract herself. It was strange that she didn’t recognize the former filly right away. Then again, Scootaloo had changed a lot. Her wingspan had grown to almost her body length, and her purple mane was as close-cropped as it could get. Particularly off-putting were the hoofblades and bomb-belts, both of which looked homemade, but Twilight supposed the former Crusader did have a knack for destroying property. At least now it was put to good use.

“…I kicked the last Changeling right in the eye, and then Rainbow arrived to deal with the rest of ‘em! She just flew in, like whoosh! and kablam!. And then I fell unconscious because of blood loss or something, and when I woke up, I was all healed, in the Everfree with Dash, the other pony was in recovery, and I had this on my flank!” Scoots gestured with a wing at her cutie mark, looking as proud as anypony could.

“That’s amazing!”

“Isn’t it, though!?”

“Ah wish Ah had a cutie mark story like that one. All Ah got is some farmin’ nonsense about Zap Apples…”

“Aww, come on, Bloomy. I’m sure it’s an awesome story! It’s gotta be, since it came from you!”

Twilight just slowed herself, letting Scoots and Bloom have some privacy to catch up. She ended up in-between Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

AJ’s cart full of apples and heirlooms clattered slightly as she steered to make room for Twilight. “Ah gotta admit, it’s nice to see those two hangin’ out again.”

“Yeah, well…you know the CMC. Not even a Changeling invasion could keep them apart forever.”

“And if it were up to you, they-“ Dash stopped herself again when she saw Twilight’s best impression of Fluttershy’s Stare.

The three of them walked in silence for a moment, as Twilight turned her head to look at the twenty-or-so ponies who had decided to follow them into the Everfree. A handful looked determined and fiery, like they were excited to finally be taking life into their own hooves. The rest just looked miserable and desperate, ponies who had only come along because they were more scared of staying.

She spotted Pinkie Pie in the crowd, and as Pinkie noticed Twilight’s gaze on her, she got a look that Twi couldn’t decipher, before turning away to talk to Cranky Doodle. Apparently, breaking a Pinkie Promise meant Pinkie never speaking to you again, something that tore at Twilight’s heart probably more than it should have.

Twilight turned her gaze back to the front, spotting the next flag not far ahead of them.

“I sure hope Rose Fields knows where he’s going,” Twilight muttered. “I don’t think our passengers can handle a wrong turn.”

“Pffft. He’s my right-hoof stallion! Would I really appoint someone who was that inept?”

“Naw, you just don’t-“ Applejack developed a sudden interest in her hooves under Twilight’s gaze, and decided on a diplomatic silence.

Dash glared over at the former apple farmer, before turning back to watch Scootaloo as she pointed herself carefully in the direction the flag was pointing, then started walking that way.

Dash grabbed the flag in her teeth and pulled it from the ground, slipping it into a saddlebag before turning to follow Scootaloo. Twilight watched her as she did, impressed with how well RD was coping with having only three legs. Her walk was a little funny, as she tipped back and forth like a Gömböc. But she had a good rhythm down, and wings to steady her if she needed it. Not to mention that foreleg must have gotten impressively strong.

“We’re almost there,” Dash muttered.

“An’ how in the hay would you know that?”

“Are you questioning my team?”

“Naw, just your leadership.”

“Girls!” Twilight shot a commanding stare at both of them.

Dash grit her teeth, but pulled off her best civility. “The stand for that flag was silver instead of black. That means it’s the last waypoint. It’s a system we figured out years ago.”

Applejack seemed to take this in, before scoffing slightly and walking ahead of the other two.

Dash let out a low growl as the other mare went out of earshot.

“I can’t believe you two. You used to be friends, best friends. Now you’re at each other’s throats?”

“Yeah, we are. You know why? Because I hate her. First she tries to take my position with her ‘super cool plan’ and being paranoid about spies. Then she sits down and cries the minute she gets hit, getting Luna killed and losing us the war! Then she ditches her friends and allies to go hide on her farm for four years! You expect me to hug her and be best buds with a pony who did all that!?”

“First of all, she wasn’t trying to 'take your position' by offering an alternative plan. She was just trying to help. Being a leader means listening just as much as talking. After all, somepony else might have a solution you would never think of.”

Dash didn’t say anything, but just focused on walking.

“And as for staying in Ponyville…it’s easy for you to talk about leaving, because you have so few ties to the physical location. But Applejack grew up there, has family there. Hay, her grandmother practically founded Ponyville. If that were you, do you really think you could just pick up and leave?”

Dash continued to walk in silence, her face subtly contorting to all kinds of different emotions that Twi couldn’t hope to read.

After a few moments, Dash just sighed. “It still sounds like she just gave up, though. I don’t think I can ever forgive her for that.”

Twilight stared sideways at the war-battered pegasus. Her face had a strange dichotomy to it. On the right side, there was almost no emotion at all, just a scarred and cratered skin that spoke of an incalculable need for hatred and vengeance. But on the other side…the side Twilight was seeing…she just looked like a hurt and confused mare.

Twilight offered a gentle smile, draping a wing over Rainbow’s back. “Do you know what her deal with the Changelings was to keep the farm?”

“Every good thing in her soul?”

Twi couldn’t help but chuckle. “No. She had to give up a close friend or family member.”

That caught Dash off guard. She glanced up at Twilight, then toward AJ, then back at Twilight. “Who was it?”

“She didn’t say. But my point is that she didn’t just roll over for them. She had to fight tooth and hoof to ke-“

fweeEEEEEEeee!

Everypony stopped suddenly, nervously looking every which way as the arrow flew over their heads.

“Nopony move or they die!” The voice was soft but firm, and coming from the undergrowth in front of the group.

Twilight wanted to step forward, to tell the voice that they meant no harm. But she got the feeling she should follow that voice’s orders. Still…gingerly, noiselessly, as slowly as she could, Twilight removed her wing from Dash’s back. Dash shot her a brief look of thanks, before coiling up and looking ready to take off in a heartbeat.

“State your business!” the voice came again.

Twilight almost spoke up, only to be interrupted by AJ. “We’re refugees from Ponyville! We’re lookin’ for a safe place! We don’t mean no harm!”

“How can we be sure you’re not Changelings?”

“Well…ah…um…”

“Wait!” Another voice appeared, a little more in front of them than the first voice. This one sounded familiar, and it took a few seconds for Twi to place it as belonging to Rose Fields. “They’re okay! They’re safe!”

“How can you be so sure?” the first voice accused.

“Because I scanned them already, Fluttershy. No Changelings in the mix.”

“Fluttershy,” Twilight muttered. Then she spoke up again. “Fluttershy!? Is that you!?”

Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash tensed up, but said nothing.

There was a long silence. Then Fluttershy’s voice reappeared. “Well, you’re obviously mistaken, since one of them is imitating a dead pony!”

“I did not die! I was sucked into the future! Honestly, when will you ponies learn the difference…”

Another long pause.

“Scan them again.”

“’Shy…”

“Just do it, Rosey!”

“…Fine. And don’t call me Rosey.” There was the faint sound of magic being cast, followed by a sweeping wave of red light that passed through everything and faded into the distance.

“There. Clear for a mile in every direction. Happy?”

Another long pause.

“Alright. Fine.”

Rose Fields crawled out of the bushes up ahead of them, waving them in the appropriate direction. “This way, everypony. Right through these bushes.”

They surged forward, eager to finally be done with their trek. Both Dash and AJ got swept up in the crowd, mostly against their will. Twilight nearly did too, but rose into the air and hovered just below the canopy (the only flying maneuver she had really mastered). When the ground was clear, she dropped back down to the ground.

“Fluttershy? You still there?”

“Right here.” The voice was still buried in the bushes. “Is that…is that really you, Twilight?”

“It’s me. A regular blast from the past.” Twilight giggled at her little pun. She couldn’t help herself.

There was rustling in the bushes ahead of her, and then the yellow pegasus stepped out and approached her.

She had a bow strapped to one hoof and a quiver on the opposite shoulder, a camouflage cloak on her back and over her head. Her mane was nowhere to be seen, but was probably curled up in her hood. The only real difference from the old Fluttershy, besides the weapons, was the bandage wrapped over her eyes.

She walked noiselessly up to Twilight’s location and touched her with a single delicate hoof. A hoof that moved down to her wings, then up to her face and head. Twi hissed when ‘Shy touched her horn, but did her best not to retreat.

She expected a sobbing, tearful reunion. Maybe filled with a few lines like, “I always knew you’d come back.”

Instead, all she got was, “You’re taller than I remember.”

“Heh. Yeah. I’m still not entirely sure how that happened.”

Fluttershy smiled slightly, then simply hopped right over Twilight with a push of her hooves and a flap of her wings. The entire process made so little noise that Twilight wasn’t sure it wasn’t just a well-timed gust of wind.

“Wait…where are you going?”

“To pick up my arrow. I’ll be back in a bit. You should go see Rarity about that horn.”

“Wait…Rarity’s here too!?”

“Mmhm. Just follow where the others went.” She started to walk away, already disappearing into the shadows.

Twilight just looked at the bushes ahead of her, and took a couple bewildered steps.

“Oh, and Twilight!”

“Yeah?” Twilight turned around, barely able to see an outline of Fluttershy looking at her without eyes.

She smiled, a wide and genuinely happy grin. “It’s great to have you back.”

Then she disappeared into the shadows, leaving Twilight with nothing to do but mutter that she had an odd way of showing it, then crawl through the bushes into the refugee camp.

The refugee camp that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

It was as if Twilight had been transported to a pocket dimension. She would have believed she was, had she known that no one unicorn could pull that off for any length of time. But the way she simply crawled and pushed and shoved through thick undergrowth, only to have a hustling, bustling cluster of tents and ponies suddenly appear without any kind of warning…she started to doubt her faith in science.

It was only upon closer inspection that she realized how cleverly set up it all was. The thick undergrowth formed a wall around the edge, with none of the tents going above the top of their plant wall. The whole place was lit by some kind of glowing plant (Moon Moss, Twilight identified it as. It glowed when the moon was new and stopped when the moon was full. Apparently, no moon was the same thing as a new moon), and one could see quite well without betraying the camp. And the whole thing was wrapped in a soundproofing spell (much more possible for one unicorn to keep going) that let the refugees be as loud as they wanted to.

Twilight was thoroughly impressed.

She spotted Rainbow Dash, talking to Rose Fields, probably about battle strategy. Scootaloo and Applebloom were having a reunion hug with a grown-up Sweetie Belle (who sported a cutie mark shaped like a caduceus in a green circle). And up ahead, there was Applejack talking to…

“Rarity!”

The cloaked mare looked up from her conversation, startling the moment she saw Twilight. It was hard to see what she looked like under her cloak, but her mane looked patchy at best. Out from under the edges of her cloak poked furless patches of blackened skin. But it was Rarity all the same.

“T-Twilight!”

Rarity galloped over and embraced Twi in a firm hug. “Oh, Twilight! Applejack told me you’d come back, but I…well, I just couldn’t believe it! And yet, here you are!”

“Here I am,” Twilight just smiled, letting Rarity free from the hug that must have been hurting her. “Here all of us are, too. Me, Dash, ‘Shy, AJ, and…well, wherever Pinkie ran off to. All six of us, together again.”

“It is kinda touchin’, Ah gotta admit,” Applejack offered, appearing from behind Rarity.

“I agree, and we simply must all catch up later. I wa-O-Oh, Twilight darling! You’re injured!”

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck with a horn. “Yeah. I kinda ran into a bookshelf when I got here. Fluttershy said you could help?”

“But of course! Have a seat, and I’ll have you fixed up in a jiffy.” She gestured over to a nearby cot, where Twilight sat down as instructed. It took Rarity a little longer to follow her, and that was when Twilight noticed that she moved a lot slower and stiffer than past Rarity. Probably all the burns that her cloak covered, poor thing.

“So…you’re a healer now?”

“I most certainly am.” Rarity’s horn glowed, and Twi could feel her magic tickling her forehead. “I’ll admit, I’m not the best they have here, but I’ve done as much as I can. I’ve always had a passion for making ponies look their best, after all, and you can’t be your best with cuts and bruises. Now, tell me everything, and don’t leave out a single second.”

So Twilight did, sitting as still as she could as she relayed her story for the third time that day. Somewhere around halfway through, Rarity stopped and simply sat on the forest floor, having finished her work. Twi could certainly feel the difference. Her bruises were entirely gone, as was the little cut on her neck from Rainbow’s threats. It felt like her horn was better, but she didn’t want to interrupt her story to confirm that feeling.

Around them, Pinkie Pie had returned and was sitting a ways away while still in earshot. Fluttershy had also reappeared, her bow sheathed on her back rather than strapped to her hoof, and she simply sat and politely listened. Dash joined the cluster of old friends just as Twilight finished off her tale.

“Wow…” was all Fluttershy said once she had finished.

“I’d say you had quite the couple of days, darling.”

“Didja really try and kill Twilight, Dash?”

“I…it…she could have been a Changeling!”

Twilight was all set to glare at Applejack, right up until she noticed the faintest trace of a playful smile on the farm-mare’s lips. Then she turned back to Rarity. “So…is my horn fixed?”

“Yes and no. On one hoof, it’s physically fine. On the other hoof, the magical connections still need some time to realign, so you’re still magic-less for a day or two.”

“At least it’s less than a week.”

“And once you’re all healed, you’ll be leaving for the past, right?” Pinkie probably meant it as a confirmation, but it sounded more like a demand.

“I…I don’t know. I should, but I don’t know if I can bring myself to leave you all like this. Especially now.”

“But…um…wouldn’t you going to the past fix everything?”

“Yes and no. It’s…complicated to explain.”

“Jus’ do whatcha can, Twi.”

Twilight nodded, then drew a line in the dirt at her hooves. “Okay, imagine this as the timeline where we were when I left. Now, my leaving created an alternate timeline,” she drew another line angling away from the first, “Which is the one we’re in now. The one where I skipped five and a half years. Everypony follow me so far?”

They all nodded.

“Okay, now…if I go back to five minutes after I left, then it’ll create another alternate timeline,” she drew another line out of the base of the second one, making the whole thing look like a wonky Y, “where I was only gone for five minutes. The thing is, though, I don’t know what would happen to this timeline.” Her hoof returned to the second line, and she tapped it slightly to make sure 'Shy knew what she was doing. “After all, the circumstances that made this timeline wouldn’t exist anymore.”

“What…would happen?” Dash did a pretty bad job at keeping the fear out of her voice.

“One of two possibilities. Either this timeline gets annihilated, which means none of you five ever existed,-”

“Oh no! We won’t have ever existed?”

“No, Fluttershy, you won’t have…wouldn’t have…ugh!”

“But…what about us in this timeline?” Applejack pointed at the third line. “We’ll still be there, won’t we?”

Twilight just sighed. “Yes, you will. But it won’t be the same Applejack as you are. She’ll have different memories and experiences, and just won’t be the same pony. You…this you…this version of you…will never have existed. The same goes for all of this Equestria…Hay, all of this world.”

A sudden, scary realization settled on the everypony. Everypony except Rarity, who’s face stayed firm and resolute. “What about the second possibility? You said there were two.”

“There are. The second possibility is that this timeline continues to play out without me. I’ll disappear, you all will keep living out your lives, and…” A sudden realization dawned on Twilight, hitting her harder than any other thought could have. “…and Chrysalis will continue to rule Equestria, probably crush the rebellion without me to help, and…”

‘And kill all of you.’

Suddenly, everything became clear. In either case, if she left this timeline, she would be condemning this version of her friends to death. And she would never know how they died, because she could never come back to this timeline. If the laws of the multiverse even let her remember it.

Judging from the looks on her friends faces, which ranged from hopelessness to fear to silent resignment, they understood.

In that moment, Twilight made a firm decision.

“I can’t leave.”

“Twilight,-“

“Pinkie, please! I know I promised, but you’re my friends too! I can’t just abandon you!” A painful sadness rose up in her chest. “I can’t condemn you all to death.”

She couldn’t hold in her tears this time. They filled up her whole being and started pouring out her eyes. They pulled at her vocal folds until all her breaths became choked and ragged sobs. She simply sat there, crying, the whole world around her seeming to shrink until it no longer existed.

Fluttershy was the first one to wrap a foreleg around her. Then it was Applejack. Then Dash. Then Rarity. None of them said anything, but they were instead just there for her. She couldn’t have asked any more out of them.

But as she opened her eyes just a crack, straining to see through her tear-blurred vision and the other mares wrapped around her, she spotted Pinkie Pie.

Walking away.

Crying silently to herself as she rounded a tent.

And disappeared.

Somehow, that hurt more than anything else this timeline could throw at her.