The Lord of Void

‘Master! Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and the dragon Spike are heading to Canterlot to break into the Canterlot archives now.’

That... could be a problem

‘And no one has seen any sign of Cerberus?’

‘No, Master. We have been in Ponyville since Sparkle gave the announcement that her future self had come, Sparkle has not left ponyville for Tartarus, or left at all until now.’

Shit… That means things have officially diverged from the canon timeline

‘What happen after Twilight declared that everything on her ‘To-Fix’ list was completed?’

If my memory served correctly it was just after that montage that cerberus appeared and Twilight had to bring him back to Tartarus. I had intended to stop Cerberus from leaving myself but there has been no sighting of the dog. It was also Celestia’s letter to Twilight, about Cerberus leaving, that cut her cheek.

‘Nothing much, The townspeople cheered and went back to their homes,Twilight Sparkle went to the spa with Rarity to relax. Next morning she was freaking out about a cut on her cheek’

‘How did she get the cut?’ I asked

‘Celestia sent her a letter asking her for more details about when you spoke to Fluttershy.’

I just sighed

This is going to complicate things if the timeline diverges too much from canon before my plans are ready. Well for now atleast, there are three more important events that I need to happen… Well, only time will tell I guess…

I had found the location of Tartarus, or at least the one the sisters had used when they sealed Tirec. I had a darkling watching the entrance, in case Cerberus left before the whole future Twilight thing happened. Once Twilight made her announcement I had been camped outside it, waiting for Cerberus and making sure Tirec didn’t escape. While it wasn’t exactly stated when Tirec escaped, to my knowledge, I assumed it was when Cerberus left the gates.

‘Ok, one of you stay here, just in case Cerberus leaves later. Or anything else tries to leave. If anything other than a three headed dog leave, tell me then follow it.’ I ordered to the closest darkling.

‘On it Master’ came a reply

I used ‘Revise’ to deconstruct the room I had been staying in. Seriously ‘Revise’ was so very useful. It was like living in minecraft… Kinda...

As I was flash stepping back to the ruins I was distracted by a scream as I got close. I paused to listen for where the screaming had come from. A second later came the scream again, this time I noticed there were three voices screaming at once.

As I flashed stepped over to see what was going on. I saw three very short ponies, one was a white unicorn with a two tone mane and tail of what looked like pink and purple, one was an orange pegasus with a purple mane and tail, and one was a yellow earth pony with a red mane and tail, were being chased by five timberwolves.

Aw shit. Just my luck. The Cutie Mark Crusaders… I thought with a sigh

I should have known I would need to deal with their special brand of insanity at some point… Well I did know, I just didn’t think it would be this soon. Seriously though, why do ponies keep going into a forest where everything wants to eat them or kill them with extreme prejudice.

Then I remembered Australia and realized I had no ground to stand on...

However it seemed the fillies finally made a wrong turn and found themselves between a rock and a hard place… Literally, they were at the base of a sheer cliff and they were now surrounded by the timberwolves.

I flash stepped behind the biggest wolf, correctly guessing that it was the alpha of this particular pack. I pulled out a scalpel and sliced its head off. Before it’s head had hit the floor, I had placed my hand on it’s back and dispelled the magic that was animating it before it had a chance to reassemble.

The remaining four wolves, perhaps sensing the demise of their leader all turned towards me in unison. However their body language was anything but aggressive. I had learned that even though they were just debris that was animated by rogue magic, they did have an intelligence on par with a real wolf. They knew they were now dealing with an apex predator. I doubted they had ever really gone up against many opponents who could truly kill them.

I brought more scalpels into my hands and then gestured for them to leave. They got the message and immediately turned and fled. Sure I could have just used VoidTerror to get them all to flee, but I didn’t know how the fillies would react... I assume badly.

“They’re gone now. Now would you mind explaining to me why three fillies are doing in a forest that is just teeming with things that would very much like to do you harm?” I asked the three fillies who had covered their eyes when they were cornered.

It was then that I sensed three more ponies closing in; Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. They all stopped in the bushes and were now listening in. I assumed Fluttershy and Rarity were be curious enough about what I had to say to stop Applejack from rushing to Apple Bloom’s side.

The three of them looked around to see that the timberwolves were indeed gone, before looking at me. Their expressions went from relief to worry and began to look between each other.

“Well?” I ask

“One second” Scootaloo says after holding up a finger.

She then pulls the other two into a huddle and began whispering to each other. Thanks to my enhanced senses, I heard every word.

“What do we do?” Scootaloo whispered

“Uh, why not tell the truth?” Sweetie Belle whispered back

“Because ‘we were here to capture you’ is not something that you should say to somepony who just defeated a pack of timberwolves and is now standing between us and freedom!” Scootaloo loudly whispered back

“For future reference I can hear everything your saying. Also what do you mean by ‘came to capture me’?” I say, figuring that the three in the bushes aren’t going to wait very long before making their presence known. Well, known to the fillies.

“Uh.. I.. We.. Uh” Scootaloo stutters as she turns back to face me.

“Well... We were tryin’ to get our cutie marks in Monster Huntin” Apple Bloom added

“Cutie Marks?” I say feigning ignorance, knowing that it would make them more talkative.

“Ya! … Do you not know what a cutie mark is?” Sweetie Bell asks

“I’m afraid I do not. I assume it is something unique to ponies and as you can see I am not a pony.” I say casually

“Well a cutie mark are obtained when ponies discover a unique characteristic that sets themselves apart from others." Sweetie Belle explains

“Ah, but that does not explain why you are in this forest looking for me”

“Well, me and my friends formed a club where we work together to find out who we are, and what we're supposed to be. We go crusading to to find out what we are best and and then get our cutie mark.” Sweetie Belle continues

“So, let me get this straight… You three have entered an extremely dangerous forest hunting what my ego says is the most dangerous thing in it?”

“Well when you put it like that…” Scootaloo says in an embarrassed tone.

“Also, If a cutie mark is supposed to be something you're good at, then isn’t this crusader club doing the exact opposite?” I ask

“Wait, what?” all three ask in unison

“If your cutie mark appears when you realize what you're best at, or your unique characteristic then you should be doing things that you already like doing, or are good at. This club sounds like you are constantly doing new things, which is the opposite of what you should be doing.” I explain

The three of them glance at each other while thinking over what I had just said.

“Then… What should we be doing to get our cutie marks?” Sweetie Belle asks

“You should be doing things that you have done in the past, or are doing right now, that you really enjoy or that others say you are good at or do things that are similar to the things you already enjoy doing. From what it sounds like to me, getting a cutie mark is learning what your already good at, not finding something completely new and trying to do it.”

This is also one of the reasons I don’t like the concept of cutie marks, I like to think… or at least pretend that I’m the master of my own destiny…

“So you're sayin we shouldn’t be doing new things, but things we already enjoy doin?” Apple Bloom asks after a long pause

“Yes, you have successfully repeated what I just said. Now, it’s time for you three to go home and think of what I just said. Oh, and stay out of the forest, it should be obvious how dangerous it is in here for those who have no combat training. Well... Even with combat training it is extremely deadly place to be.”

Sure I had used just a touch of magic to sort of… nudge them in the right direction... Well it should allow them to walk the right path and get their cutie marks faster and hopefully I would not need to deal with the madness that is the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

I turned toward the bushes were the other three had been patiently waiting/eavesdropping.

“You can come out now, were done here.” I say to them

As they sheepishly exited the foliage I turned and flashed stepped away, just as I heard Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom shout out to their sisters.