Convergence Side-story: Downtime.

by Doctor Fluffy

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Science Fiction, Discord, Derpy Hooves, Crossover, Dark, Alternate Universe, Human, Main 6, Lyra
Length: 59090

War is coming to Equestria, a war on multiple fronts unlike any known in their history. Aided by new allies from the PHL and the remnants of humanity in Britain, the ponies of Equestria must prepare for the convergence…

"Living in the pastel pony apocalypse has always been strange.

Having a godlike knight, an avatar of vengeance and the latent magic of Britain, though, that one was a bit of a curveball. The PHL, a brave resistance group founded by Ambassador Lyra Heartstrings, is bewildered but enthusiastic at the unexpected arrival of David Elliot, the Avatar of Albion. His entrance into the PHL's world, bringing his unique curative magic and the warriors and militant cults of his world, is a double edged sword, however - for his enemy, the corrupted Celestia now known as Empress Solamina, has her eye turned to these new worlds with the intent of conquest.

Faced with war on multiple fronts, a war unlike anything in their history, the peaceful 'Downtime' Equestria must prepare now to stand by its allies, or risk losing everything they have worked so hard to accomplish. Time... is running out."

Though I should point out here and now: This is not exactly a sequel to Convergence. More of a sidequel, really. Marking it as a sequel was just the easiest way to mark this as connected.

Published 2016-01-24 17:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2017-03-06 23:39:24 UTC

Chapter One: Hurry Up And Wait

Convergence: Downtime.

Chapter One: Hurry Up And Wait.

Written by:
Doctor Fluffy,
Jed R.

Editors
RoyalPsycho,
The Void,
TheIdiot.

This chapter also contains direct segments used in the chapter Sons of Legacies: Part 1, from The Conversion Bureau: The Other Side of the Spectrum. But it's cool because most of the people here worked on it.

***

“Know this, you are no longer alone in your fight. Equestria, our Equestria, will join you.”
Princess Luna, The Conversion Bureau: The Other Side of the Spectrum.

***

Sometimes, especially with stories like this, it's best to start at the beginning.

Once upon a time there was a magical land called Equestria, and one day this magical land made contact with the planet Earth via a magical portal. The Princess of this magical land, a wise mare called Celestia, was corrupted by an evil force and decided to wage war on humanity, and a Barrier of energy obliterated much of Earth - destroying almost all record of human civilisation.

If this sounds vague, that's because it’s a story that could be of either one of two different worlds: the world of Marcus Renee, faced with the evil Queen Celestia and her Solar Empire, with the threat of obliteration by the Barrier an ever-present one, and the world of David Elliot, the Barrier surrounding the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, last bastions of humankind against the forces of Astra Solamina Maxima.

By a twist of fate no one saw coming - though you may as well call it a miracle - these two worlds met. Recognising their shared enemies - and their shared struggles - the forces of these two worlds made an alliance, one destined to change the face of their respective worlds. And now, on an Equestria free from madness - one contacted by Marcus Renee before the changing of events - the peoples of these two worlds must learn to cooperate, and this peaceful Equestria must be faced with a wider universe, even bigger than they imagined…

***

Canterlot, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

Princess Celestia, alabaster coated and rainbow maned, sat down, her eyes wide and unblinking as she processed the words she had just heard. There was no way she could have heard correctly - no way what she had just been told could possibly be true.

You've heard a lot of things you would never have believed before now, she thought to herself bitterly. Why is one more any more surprising?

Still - to hear what she had just heard…

Five minutes earlier…

"Sister," a voice said from behind her.

Celestia turned to see Luna staring at her, the Alicorn of the Moon looking somber, a reflection of the Sun Diarch's own expression no doubt. After everything Luna had apparently seen, after fighting even a clone of the Tyrant, Celestia couldn't blame her.

"Luna," Celestia said quietly. "How are you?"

"As well as these times allow us to be," Luna said quietly. "The human soldiers are already moving in, and setting up their equipment."

"That is something," Celestia said, smiling slightly. Her smile faltered at Luna's expression. "Is there something else?"

Luna took a deep breath. "Sister… Celestia… there is something we must discuss. A matter has arisen in the human world that has made this situation much more complicated."

Celestia frowned. "Go on, Luna."

Luna frowned, as though trying to collate her thoughts. "In the human world, when we met Marcus' colleague, Major Bauer, there was another human with him."

The emphasis over the word 'another' was too prominent to ignore. Whatever Luna had to say… it was important.

"Go on," Celestia said quietly.

Luna took a deep breath. "He was from another world, sister. Another Earth, facing a grave threat all its own. It was similar, sister. But far worse."

"How much worse?" Celestia asked. "Marcus lost nearly half of his world. That is terrible enough already."

"Before the war with the Solar Empire, Earth's population - in both worlds - was 7 billion," Luna said.

Celestia had known this - Marcus was just bitter enough in his visit to Equestria that he hadn't exactly been subtle about just how much had been lost - and yet the figure still staggered her. Almost moreso than the people that had been lost or ponified, or the amounts of newfoals in an Equestria that was, without a doubt, unprepared for those kinds of population figures.

"Now? The other world’s human population is close to…" Luna seemed to hesitate.

"Yes?" Celestia asked, curious yet apprehensive.

"Fourteen million," Luna finished. “Sister, I cannot help but see this as a warning.”

"What… what did it?" Celestia asked, already terribly afraid that she knew the answer. And as Luna began to speak, Celestia felt the blood drain from her face.

“Another Tyrant.”

“An… another Tyrant?” Celestia said, eyes widening in horror. “You mean… another… another me?”

Luna’s somber look held all that needed to be said about that.

Celestia laughed, the sound almost desperate. “That… that scarcely seems… another world where… where…” She slumped backward, shaking her head. “Another Tyrant Celestia…”

“This one calls herself ‘Astra Solamina Maxima’,” Luna reported, her face somber. “Discord has supposedly met her - the result was… not in his favour.”

“‘Not in his favour’?” Celestia repeated. “He lost? Is he alive?”

“He lives,” Luna assured her. “And he does so with his usual lack of grace and manners, at that, so his hardships must not have been so great. Still, he assures us that Solamina is not a threat to be taken lightly.”

No, of course not, a little voice in Celestia's mind said. Because that would be too damn easy, wouldn't it?

“Sister,” Luna said quietly, her brow furrowed in concern. “Sister, are you alright?”

How could I be, with what you have said? How can I face myself, knowing what I have been - what I could become?!

“I called you a tyrant, once,” Celestia sighed. “But what am I?”

“You're no Tyrant!” Luna protested at once. “You have always been a just and fair ruler -”

Celestia snorted at that. “Have I, Luna? Have I really?”

“I do not lie,” Luna growled. “Especially not to mine own sister. It was improper. You know that if you ever failed - if I ever thought for a moment that you were failing Equestria - that I would tell you!”

“Why… why am I even here?” Celestia said, laughing with sudden, harsh bitterness. “Look at this. Look at this stupidity. Two other Equestrias make contact from beyond the veils of reality - and in both, I am a Tyrant, a murderer, a genocidal lunatic.” She laughed again. “And for the love of all things harmonious - ‘Astra Solamina Maxima’? How tortured is that? That’s something from a two-bit opera! Sometimes I wonder. Should I have let you wi-”

“Sister,” Luna cut in. “You do not think of that only sometimes. You have only thought of that today.”

Celestia pondered this. “There’s… yes, Luna. I have. But I have to wonder, if I have the potential to become a monster, twice over… and even succeed…”

“Sister, sitting around in self-pity accomplishes nothing,” Luna said, her head bowed. “You are not a monster. A monster would not feel guilt.”

“You don’t know what I’ve done in your absence,” Celestia said.

“I visited the Royal Library, and thus I do,” Luna said. “To the best of my knowledge, you never committed genocide and turned the entire human population of a planet into ponies. Sister, when I left, I was unappreciated. When I returned, I found that night was the time when ponies would frolic with wild abandon and visit parties. Some of which have been thrown by dear Pinkie Pie. I know you’ve done well in my absence.”

“But how can I ensure that I don’t become like these monsters, Solamina, Queen Celestia, or something… other?”

“You already are not,” Luna said, nuzzling her sister. “And you can prove to everyone - most of all yourself - that you are not them by carrying on as you always do. By showing the humans kindness on their terms.”

“My thoughts exactly!” a new, slightly chirpy voice said with a chuckle, and suddenly Discord was stood in front of them.

Correction - two Discords were stood in front of them. One was the Discord the two sisters knew, his trademark smugness practically glowing off of him like luminescent dust. The other Discord was identical in form, save a large red ‘Q’ superimposed on his chest, but his expression was mildly irritated.

“Oh my,” the other Discord said. “We seem to have arrived somewhat late for that retort. Though I suppose it also works here.”

“What retort?” Luna asked irritably.

“I was thinking how silly ‘Astra Solamina’ sounded,” Discord - their Discord - said, chuckling. “I mean, I got distracted by nearly dying, but it's hard to take her seriously with a name that sounds like someone butchered Latin. You can hear the vowels screaming in agony.”

As he was saying this, two-dimensional words floated from his mouth, hovering above his head. One ‘A’ started screaming that it couldn’t feel its legs.

The words vanished.

Celestia's eyebrows disappeared into her mane. “There's… two of you.”

“Observant for a teenager,” the other Discord said, sounding vaguely bored. “For the record, it's Old High Unicornic in origin - part of that Celestia’s cultural lexicon.”

Luna frowned at him. “Are you the Discord who plagued her?”

“I did far more than plague her, back in the day,” the other Discord said with a wry smirk. “But yes - I am the poor sap who had to live in that Equestria. Call me ‘Q’, or DisQord if you prefer.”

Luna winced. “That sounds horrible, Discord.”

DisQord shrugged. “No, Discord with a Q. Dis. Qord.” He paused, frowning at the blank looks he was receiving. “Well, I can hear the difference.”

“That… is very odd,” Luna said, frowning.

“I don't really care,” DisQord shrugged. “;Let me tell you though - I was not expecting what happened to my Celestia. Wasn't nice, seeing a mare I’d known, sort of, for thousands of years go nuts.”

“Who could expect her?” Discord asked. “Never mind her big black baby blankie.”

DisQord folded his arms, and raised an eyebrow.

“Big… black… baby… blankie?” Celestia repeated, bemused.

“A childish description of something ‘bad’ my counterpart experienced,” DisQord said with a groan. “Forget about it for now. Though if it reassures you, Celestia, know that Astra Solamina is no more responsible for what she is and what she has done than your own twisted counterpart.”

Celestia frowned, before looking at Discord. “Is that true?”

Discord shrugged. “I don't know anything about it. What I know is that he supposedly does, and he’s not letting me forget it.”

DisQord saluted ironically. “Just call me a walking encyclopedia.”

As he spoke, his body disappeared in a flash of light, replaced by a giant book with a human on the cover, the words ‘Encyclopedia of the Continuum’ on the cover in bold, gaudy letters. The picture of the human - a relatively handsome one with a widow’s peak and a haughty expression - winked at them all.

Luna sighed. “You have the exact same sense of humour. I don't know whether I find that reassuring or not.”

“I'd say you should,” the human on the book cover said, and in a flash DisQord was stood there again, holding a wine glass filled with red wine. “But I think you’ll find that I have better taste in alcoholic beverages.”

“Don’t be like that!” the other Discord said. “A pilsner’s a wonderful drink. Why, I can tell you it did wonders for Twilight Sparkle’s guard Flash Sentry…”

“You did not get one of my guards drunk,” Celestia said. It was not a question or even a demand.

“Well, obviously not,” Discord said, throwing his… forelimbs… up. “I did him a favor! Poor Flash, chafing under Captain Ironhoof… Oh, it’s not this Flash, don’t be such a spoilsport, Celly.”

“Did you come here just to irritate me?” Celestia asked, sighing. “Because I understand that you’ve helped, but that doesn't give you carte blanche to -”

“We’re here to help you,” DisQord put in. “Given the situation we’ve found ourselves in…”

“… ‘pulling out all the stops’ should be a default,” Discord finished. “And since there's two of us…”

“… there's double the stops we’ve got on hand to pull,” DisQord smirked, snapping a claw and grabbing a bottle of wine with Chateau Picard, 2271 written on it. “Simply put…. how was it that other Discord you met in that world with the red and blue mercenaries and Slendermane put it?”

“‘I’d rather become a bastion of order than be part of any of this?’” Discord asked. “Or something like that.”

“Exactly. Neither of us want any part of what would come without our help,” DisQord added. “That being said, I believe we should have ‘a chat’ with some people. Including the new guests you'll be receiving.”

“The humans?” Celestia asked with a frown of confusion. “They're already here.”

“Yes and no,” DisQord said. “Let's just say… you'll be getting more guests, very soon.”

***

Ponyville, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

In a small house in Ponyville, Doctor Whooves was finding it very difficult to keep the scowl from his face. His guest, however, was not one he had been expecting - or wanting. He was a very familiar face indeed, one that Whooves would have never expected to see.

“Good morning. I’m looking for the Doctor.”

Opposite him was sat a red-coated Earth Pony stallion in a battered leather overcoat, a bandolier slung over his shoulder and a scarf knotted around his throat. From behind a bristly white mane and beard, this stallion glanced up from his teacup at Whooves.

The younger Doctor knew it wasn't necessarily fair to treat this other him with hostility - after all, apparently this him was not his own future, and he didn't know the circumstances - but that face… even on a pony, it brought all sorts of terrible memories, memories he had buried deep down in a dark place, and never wanted to bring to light…

… he was the man who fought in the Time War, and that was the day he did it. The day I did it.

No More.

In that battle, there was a man with more blood on his hands than any other…

NO MORE.

…and that man was me.

He shook his head as Derpy poured a cup of tea for each Doctor. She smiled at the other Doctor, who returned it with a slightly strained smile - why strained? What happened to his Derpy? - and then she gave Doctor Whooves a look that made him frown slightly.

"Be nice," she whispered in an undertone.

"I will be," he replied shortly. “Be safe.”

“We’re not in danger,” she said knowingly. With that, she left the two of them to their tea. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"You have questions," the older-looking stallion said without preamble.

"A fair few," Whooves replied with a slight, somewhat ill-sounding chuckle. Both of them could tell it was fake. "To start with - why that face? Are you from another universe? What happened?"

The older Doctor sighed, took a sip of his tea, and then looked Doctor Whooves in the eye.

"Easier to show you, I think," he said quietly. “If you have no objections.”

Whooves blinked. “I… no. No, I've got no objection.”

“Good,” the older Doctor said. He took a deep breath. "Contact."

"Contact," Whooves repeated, closing his eyes.

And then… he knew. He saw David Elliot's world, he saw the ruins of Boston and the battle against Queen Celestial. He saw himself - older, harder - with a look of vicious fury as he derided this alternate self. He felt horror as he heard about Derpy's - Ditzy's - death, and saw it with his own eyes as the Harmonious Order burned, the funeral pyre of Ditzy Doo, Grey Leader…

And then it was over. He gasped, blinking as his other self regarded him with worn, tired eyes.

"Well," Whooves said quietly. "That… was interesting."

"Yes," the other Doctor said with a wry grin. "I imagine it was. You understand now why I needed to come here?"

"Oh yes," Whooves said, and despite himself he began to grin. "You're fighting an implacable foe. Two of them, in fact.”

“Indeed,” the other Doctor said.

“And one of us is good - heck,” Whooves said, smirking. “One of us is a genius. But three of us?"

"Three of us is a miracle waiting to happen," the older Doctor said with a smirk. "Precisely."

“I almost feel sorry for whoever you’re going up against,” Derpy said.

Whooves - her doctor - raised an eyebrow over at her.

“I said almost,” Derpy explained.

“Don't,” the older Doctor said. “In my world, Dinky is an orphan - and the experience has not exactly been good for her mental disposition.”

Derpy’s eyes hardened. “An orphan? Why aren't you -?”

“He's not her father,” Whooves put in. “In his reality, we were never married.”

“Which makes seeing you somewhat surreal, amongst other things,” the older Doctor put in, raising an eyebrow. “Still - if I may make a suggestion?”

“Shoot,” Whooves said.

“You might want to reinforce the TARDIS’ Interdimensional shielding for the trip,” the older Doctor said. “The quantum stresses and dimensional forces…”

As the two Doctors descended into technobabble, Derpy turned away from them both, a small frown on her face.

Dinky, an orphan? Why? How?

She shook her head. It didn't matter. What mattered was protecting her own - making sure her children never suffered what that Dinky had.

***

Canterlot, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

Marcus Renee - square jaw, blond hair and lean, powerful body held at relative ease as he stood at the window - was being very quiet. Stephan Bauer - armoured, darker haired and just as well built - was stood with his hands behind his back, expecting Marcus to say something. The Colonel had just read a report on recent hostilities in Boston, where a clone of Queen Celestia had battled against PHL forces (aided by Princess Luna, Discord and an… odd man named David Elliot). Things had already been strange before the reveal - the impossible reveal - that there was another world, and that other world was…

That other world had another Tyrant.

“So,” Marcus said, folding his arms. “I think it's safe to say the defence of Boston went well.”

Stephan glanced sideways at him. “I suppose.”

“No ‘suppose’ about it,” Marcus said, looking over at his friend. “We held the line - losses were minimal, certainly far less than projected, and then when the clone came we handed her ass to her too.”

“Our best-case scenario had almost a quarter of the PHL being killed and retreating out of the ruins,” Stephan pointed out.

“Which is why I’m glad you all handled yourselves so well.”

Stephan sighed. “Well, we didn't. Discord, Luna and that Elliot dummkopf did - we -”

“Shot off her ear, cut off her wing, kept her pinned with PEPS and shot through her legs, crippling her long enough for the final blow to land,” Marcus interrupted. “You guys kicked her ass, and if Elliot hadn’t been there you would probably have still kicked her ass.”

Stephan nodded slowly. “If you say so.”

Marcus sighed. “I do say so. Sure - we were outclassed in sheer power. We expected that to happen. We also expected to have her inflict a lot of damage. But despite that, we held - you held. You didn't even lose that many people!”

Stephan sighed. “Alright, I can see what you're saying - but so much of that was luck, it was -”

“Stephan, I love the whole ‘modest to a fault’ thing you've got going on, but it's not needed here,” Marcus said with a chuckle. “You can underrate yourself all you want, but don't expect me to sit here and let you without pointing out just how much you've done. I do enough of that for both of us. Half the PHL’s troops were trained by you. You were the first point of contact for this world’s Luna and Discord, the first real official contact for that Elliot guy. You've worked wonders.”

Stephan didn't say anything, merely nodding again.

“And,” Marcus continued, “I think we’ll need you to work wonders again.”

Stephan turned his head to look at Marcus, a frown developing on his face. Marcus smiled and motioned for Stephan to follow him.

A few moments later they reached Marcus’ quarters in the castle, and Stephan was forced to whistle in appreciation of how nice it was.

“Not bad,” he said appreciatively.

“You shoulda seen it before I got rid of the excess crap clutterin’ up the place,” Marcus replied, grabbing a small scroll from a desk. “Here; have a look at this.”

Stephan frowned as he took the scroll and began reading from it.

‘A barrier like the one we know is not possible with stand alone spell work, Celestia and Twilight said as much. Magical construct running off magic? Possibly, but the amount of magic it would take to cover a whole planet is too much for any unicorn or self-called goddess to bring up. Using Equestria as power source? Possible; explains the Dearth somewhat, at least for native ponies. Newfoals self-explanatory. Power source is something else, though, Discord's perhaps? I can't help but think that there is a missing piece... I need to think on it, but even if we don't figure it out, we need to take the device out of action.’

“A device?” Stephan said, looking at Marcus with a raised eyebrow. “You mean… like some sort of generator?”

Marcus shrugged. “I literally do not know. Maybe. The point is, our thinking up until this point’s been that she's been the one creating the spell. Thing is, Twilight and Celestia agree that that's impossible: a device of some kind that’s generating it is the only explanation.” He grinned. “And you're gonna be the one tearin’ it down.”

Stephan’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. “Me? I’m the one you want to - to destroy that machine?”

“I want you to put together a team,” Marcus explained. “That thing is keeping the Barrier up. The Barrier is the only thing stopping us from taking Earth back. It's the only thing stopping us from tearing the Queen’s army to shit! You take it out, and we’re in a position to really win this.”

Stephan sighed. “Alright, I see your point. I can start drawing up a team list.”

“There's another thing,” Marcus added, folding his arms. “The Elements.”

Stephan frowned. “What about them?”

“They're part of this Equestria’s task force,” Marcus said with a frown. “I want you to train them.”

Stephan’s eyes widened. “You… want… me to… what?!”

“I need them as good as the Blue Spy,” Marcus said. He sighed. “And… this world’s Lyra, too.”

Stephan groaned. “You… are just… trying to make this weird. Aren't you.”

Marcus shrugged. “It is weird. We’re soldiers. We’ll adapt to it.” He frowned slightly. “Though something else occurs to me.”

“What?” Stephan asked.

“There's a whole other war out there now,” Marcus said slowly. “A whole other Celestia, a whole other Solar Empire - or whatever they call it - that's gonna be gunning for us.”

Stephan frowned slightly as well. “We’ve just asked these ponies to fight in our war: you're wondering if it is fair to ask them to fight in Elliot’s as well, right?”

Marcus nodded. “At the very least, I’m wondering how the hell we’re gonna break the news to Celestia. God knows she probably won't take it well.”

“In that regard, you need not worry,” a familiar voice said.

In a flash, Stephan had turned, sword ready at the sight of the wide eyed mare in front of him - itwasheritwasheritwasheritwasher…

She wasn't dead. His sword had not left its sheath, and he had not cleaved her in half. And Marcus was holding his arm, preventing him from grabbing his sword at all.

“Celestia,” Marcus said, his voice deadly quiet, “don't. Fucking. Do. That.”

Celestia winced, and it was only now that Stephan noticed how drained she looked. “My apologies, Colonel. I was merely coming in to speak with you.”

Marcus gave Stephan a look, and with a sigh and a nod the Major relaxed. This, he had to remind himself, was not his enemy. This was an innocent Celestia.

Celestia nodded at him. “Major Bauer. Your courage against the Tyrant’s clone should be commended.”

“Thanks,” he said tightly.

Celestia turned to Marcus. “Luna and the Discords have already explained to me -”

“Wait, Discords?” Marcus said, eyes wide. “Did you say Discords as in ‘more than one’?”

“Great,” Stephan sighed. “As if one madman with logic-defying powers wasn’t enough. Thank you, God, for answering my sarcastic prayer.”

Celestia paused. “I… assumed you knew.”

Marcus shook his head. “That one’s a new one on me.” He paused, thinking for a moment. “I take it that the new guy is from this Solamina’s Equestria?”

“Correct,” Celestia nodded. “He has explained some things to me, as has our Discord. It's…” And here she trailed off, looking bewildered for a moment. “It's almost too much.”

Marcus nodded slowly. “I guess, seeing it from your perspective, I agree. So, what did you want to discuss?”

“We should consider how best to tell the other leaders about this ‘Astra Solamina’ and the threat she poses to us,” Celestia said quietly. “I wanted your opinion.”

Marcus frowned, before looking at Stephan. “What’re your thoughts?”

“You've got two options,” Stephan said, folding his arms as he still struggled against the desire to slice this Celestia in half. “First is absolute secrecy - no one outside this room, with the exception of the Discords and Luna, gets to know about it. That prevents panic, questions that we can't answer, and a whole host of other problems. The other is absolute honesty. If you tell this to just one person, or two, it'll slip out eventually. Tell it to everyone, and you save that. No one gets mad when the truth comes out because they knew from the get go.” He smirked humourlessly. “After all, PR is a deadly weapon.”

“There are benefits to both approaches,” Celestia said quietly. “From my perspective, I suggest a gradual dissemination. Start with the leaders and the Bearers, then our officers, then the soldiers below them, and then when soldiers from the other world arrive full disclosure.” She smiled slightly. “We make it an open secret - we don't try to keep it, but we don't actively try to not keep it. Nopony can accuse us of lying, but we don't run the risk of immediate panic at the thought of another enemy Equestria.”

Marcus nodded thoughtfully. “Not a bad idea, actually.”

“I have been a head of state for many years,” Celestia said with a shrug. “I do know how to do politics.”

“It brings up another question, though,” Stephan put in. He motioned to Marcus’ diaries at musings. “We’ve got all this potential intelligence and planning ready to help us combat our enemy… but what do we know about ‘Solamina’? Nothing!”

Marcus sighed, folding his arms. “It has occurred to me. I mean, reasonably we can expect that she's similar in most respects -”

“Not necessarily,” Celestia put in. “Her Discord - well, DisQord -”

Stephan and Marcus winced at the tortured pronunciation.

“- is different from ours. If he is different, there is no telling what else may be.”

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes,” Marcus put in. “There's no sense worrying about it yet.”

***

Palace Courtyard, Canterlot, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

Twilight and her friends had gathered in the castle’s courtyard, and each of them was wondering precisely what was going on. The human soldiers had started coming through just as they'd expected, but there had been a lot of rumours floating around of a fight - and, interestingly enough, whispers of some sort of “super-knight”. It all sounded a mite confusing.

“...Did it just get complicated?” Pinkie Pie asked, head cocked to the side just a little.

“It wasn’t before, Pinkie Pie?” Rarity commented with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, but now it feels like it's gonna be reeaaaaally complicated,” the pink mare said with a slight frown. “And long. And have loads more people and ponies and a bunch of other things, like moles. And cowbell.”

“Moles?” Rarity repeated. “Why would moles be involved?”

“I have to say, there's definitely been rumours running around,” Twilight said with a frown. “But I’m sure it won't be as complicated as all that.”

“Really,” Applejack said. “Didja have to jinx it like that, Twi?”

“Jinxes aren’t real,” Twilight protested.

“Ah’m just saying, wouldn’t it be ironic-like if you said that, and then, suddenly, moles.” Applejack smirked. “Maybe we’re gonna be invaded by mole-people.”

“And those aren’t real either!” Twilight protested.

“Well, obviously not here,” Rarity pointed out. “Why not the other Equestria?”

“Your track record on ‘things that shouldn't be real’ isn't exactly brilliant,” Lyra pointed out, a knowing smirk on her face.

“She’s got ya there, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Oh for the love of…” Twilight sighed. “One species being real from a whole catalogue of insane ideas doesn't mean all of those insane ideas should be considered valid - next you'll be telling me that I should reasonably consider the existence of Jorogumo or something.”

“Nah,” Lyra said with a shake of the head. “Everypony knows they went extinct.”

“Well, obviously!” Pinkie added. “There's no Tengu to keep them in line!”

At Twilight’s expression Lyra burst out laughing. “Oh, you're too easy!” She paused. “The only question is what the heck Pinkie’s talking abou-”

“...Don’t ask,” Twilight sighed. “Just don’t.”

“Or do,” Pinkie said. “Twilight did this awesome thing once where she was so confurious about not knowing about Pinkie sense -”

“Conwhat?”

“Confused and furious - confurious. It's a portmanteau,” Pinkie said with a sage nod. “Anyway - she did this thing where she turned into a - what did that human call them? ‘Pokemon’?”

“A… what?” Lyra repeated.

“Yeah,” Pinkie said, nodding her head sagely. “She got so angry she turned into a - a ‘rapidash’ or something. It was super effective.”

Twilight groaned. “And once more, we abandon the lonely, dusty road called ‘the point’ for the well-trodden recesses of insanity beyond.” She sighed, before sobering up slightly. “Still… I guess whatever happens, it's not going to be good news. Nothing we hear from that world seems to be ‘good’.”

“Ooh, I know, I know!” Pinkie said with a sudden bounciness. “We’ll hear about another world with another Tyrant and magic and swords and super cool armour and everything!”

Everypony ignored that.

“I hope the humans are nice,” Fluttershy said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“They might be nice in general,” Rarity said quietly. “Perhaps less so to us.”

“What makes you say that?” Fluttershy asked.

“We do look like their enemies,” Applejack pointed out. “Ah reckon if I saw the spittin’ image of a pony who’d done me wrong, Ah’d want words.”

Fluttershy meeped a little. “I… don’t want to know what I’d be like.”

Pinkie looked over at her, and Fluttershy flinched a little. But instead, Pinkie was quiet. “Me neither, Fluttershy. Me neither.”

“Well look, here comes the Princess now,” Twilight said. “Hopefully we’ll have some answers.”

Sure enough, there came Princess Celestia, looking… tired. There were bags under her eyes as she trotted towards them, and even her normally glowing rainbow mane seemed lank and untended.

“Ah, hello Twilight,” she said with a smile. “All of you. It's good to see you, especially under such trying circumstances.”

“What's wrong, Princess?” Twilight asked, frowning. “Has something happened?”

Celestia sighed, looking troubled. “It's… rather difficult to explain, but that's why I’ve asked to see you all. Firstly, you obviously know that Luna and Discord reached Marcus’ Earth. What do you know of what happened once they got there?”

“They beat up that meanie Queen Celestia!” Pinkie said at once.

“It was an awesome fight, too!” Rainbow said. “I heard one of those guys talking about it, he said there was a -”

“They won,” Rarity added, cutting off Rainbow’s enthusiastic appraisal.

“Then you know they had aid from Major Stephan Bauer,” Celestia said, looking at each of them. “There was, however, another human there.”

“The ‘super-knight’ one of the PHL mentioned?” Twilight asked.

Celestia sighed. “It was a man, named David Elliot.”

There was a pause as that name registered, and finally Applejack spoke for all of them.

“Never heard o’ him,” she said with a shrug. “Ah mean, Ah reckon Marcus woulda mentioned anyone really important, but -”

“Marcus had never met him,” Celestia said. “No human on that Earth had ever met him. Or at least, that David Elliot. He came from another world.” She paused. “A world battling another Equestria. Another Tyrant Sun. He himself was a warrior, imbued with magical energy, who was able to stand against the clone.”

There was a pause, and then Pinkie Pie whooped.

“Somepony pick up that phone!” she yelled. “Because I bucking called it!”

Celestia sighed, ignoring that. “This new world is the home of one ‘Astra Solamina Maxima’. From what I have heard, her goals of ponification and subjugation are the same, though I do not know what drove her to what she has become.”

There was a moment as this sunk in.

“Is Mr. Elliot’s world winning?” Fluttershy asked.

Celestia looked away. “No. Some would say they might have already lost. There are… there are only a scant fourteen million of them left, confined to one island. The rest of their world is gone, the rest of the species converted or exterminated.”

“Fourteen… million,” Lyra put in, eyes wide. “But… but there were seven billion of them, weren't there?”

Celestia nodded heavily.

“Buck!” Lyra swore. “That’s… that's insane!”

Twilight and the other elements evidently agreed, as one could infer from their horrified gasps. Pinkie seemed to almost… deflate. To imperceptibly slow down, her foofy pink mane straightening a little.

“Getting to see aliens isn’t as fun as I thought it would be,” she said, looking downward.

“Fortunately, there is a silver lining,” Celestia said. “That Earth, at least according to a… particular contact of mine… has made contact with Marcus’, and the two have struck an alliance. Humans and their allied ponies from that world will hopefully be coming here too.”

“Then we’ll show them as much generosity as we can muster,” Rarity said. “They must be running awfully low on clothes, as well…”

“You are not seriously planning to sell clothes to them,” Lyra said.

“I never said sell,” Rarity said. “I was going to help make some free of charge.”

“That’s very kind of you, Rarity!” Twilight said, beaming.

“Don’t mention it,” Rarity said. “It’s… it’s simply the kind thing to do.”

Suddenly, a heavy thump sounded from behind them. They spun around, to see - of all things - a battered black jacket crumpled in a heap.

“I think they could do with some new clothes to be honest,” a familiar voice said, as a flash of light heralded the arrival of Discord - except that none of them had ever seen Discord with a big red Q printed on his chest.

He waved cheerily at them all. “Good afternoon, everypony. Long time, no speak.”

“What is that, DisQord?” Celestia asked, narrowing her eyes at the jacket.

“A leather jacket,” Discord - DisQord? - replied. “Duh.”

“And here I was thinking you were different from our Discord,” Celestia said, rolling her eyes. “Why do you have it?”

“Illustrative purposes,” DisQord said. “And for the record, I am different. For a start, he’d never make a point of showing you this.”

The jacket suddenly raised up, before opening, revealing its contents - five locks of brightly coloured mane, all sewn into the lining. Very familiar locks of mane.

“...Is that… what I think it is?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking almost sick as she stared at a rainbow-colored lock of mane.

“It is,” Fluttershy said, eyes wide.

“Who… why?” Celestia asked, eyes wide.

“In the interests of fairness,” DisQord said, “I thought I'd show you the stakes. Most of your counterparts served Astra Solamina Maxima - brainwashed, of course, but all the same. Each of them died during the war. Rarity, decapitated leading an assault on Dover. Fluttershy, executed in Sherwood Forest at her own behest.”

Fluttershy made a little squeaking noise, and backed behind Pinkie.

“Applejack, killed in the Midlands on a raid against farmland,” DisQord continued. “Rainbow Dash, shot down over London. Finally, Pinkie Pie, killed in the battle of London itself. The only one unaccounted for is Twilight.”

“I almost feel sorry for her,” Fluttershy spoke up, surprising everyone.

“Huh?” Pinkie asked.

“She doesn’t have us,” Fluttershy said. “I can only imagine how horrible that would be…”

“What stakes does this show us?” Celestia asked.

“Oh, I dunno,” DisQord said. “It'll be a while before you see something quite so… visceral from this conflict again.”

Twilight frowned. “This ‘Elliot’ killed them in his war, didn't he?”

“Correctamundo,” DisQord said, before grimacing. “It's about the first bit of real good luck that world’s had.”

“So many things are wrong in that sentence,” Applejack said.

“Well if it makes you feel better, his best friend is dead, too,” DisQord said with a less-than-pleasant smile. “Understand this, though - you're lucky in one respect. Ponies you care about seem to have mostly seen the light in Queen Celestia’s world. Not so in Solamina’s - you might well find yourself fighting somepony you love, thanks to Solamina having a subtler touch. As an example - Scootaloo.”

Rainbow Dash paled. “What about her?”

“Commander of the Wonderbolts, and in that world that means ‘elite military cadre responsible for some serious stuff’,” DisQord explained.

“Why…” Rarity swallowed. “Why show us this? This man’s supposedly going to be our ally.”

“Because you need to know,” DisQord said with a shrug. He looked at Celestia. “All of you needed to know. You think learning about Queen Celestia taught you horror, but I promise you, there's always more than what you first believed, and there is always more that you can witness, even beyond the imagination of the most disturbed mind. The cosmos delights in darkness, and this is but a taste of what is to come.”

“You've made your point,” Celestia said evenly. “Now leave and make it elsewhere.”

“I had to return this to the wardrobe I found it in anyway; don't want Mr Elliot thinking someone moved his jacket,” DisQord shrugged, and in a flash he was gone.

Celestia sighed. “I’m sorry, my little ponies. I didn't want that to happen.”

“It's the truth, ain't it?” Applejack asked quietly.

“He isn't lying as far as I know, no,” Celestia said quietly. “I don't know him as well as our Discord. Maybe he would lie.”

“No,” the Element of Honesty said. “Ah’d know. Ah think it's better we know, anyway.”

“How is knowing those horrible things happened to our counterparts ‘better’?” Rarity asked.

Applejack shrugged. “Ah’d hate to think we weren’t gettin’ the whole story - if it's all that bad, better ta know so now than the worst possible time.”

“Applejack’s right,” Fluttershy said. “I… I wouldn’t want to learn this at the time we went there. I wouldn’t handle it well.”

“You’ve done well so far,” Rarity said.

“You think so?” Fluttershy asked.

Rarity nodded. “Certainly.”

“We shall see,” Celestia said, a frown on her face. “In any case, I shall… have words with ‘DisQord’ about this. His honesty could have come at a better moment.” She smiled tiredly. “Farewell for now, my young friends.”

She turned and trotted off, leaving the others alone.

“I wonder what I am,” Lyra said quietly.

Twilight glanced at her. “What you are?”

“He said ‘most of your counterparts served Solamina’,” Lyra said quietly. “I wonder if mine did.”

“You've pledged to help humans here, and your counterpart was a pivotal figure in the foundation of the PHL,” Rarity pointed out with a sad smile. “I’m certain your other counterpart is of a similarly high calibre of pony.”

“Well, what does that make me?” Lyra asked.

“Huh?” Twilight asked.

“If both the others of me are like that,” Lyra said slowly, “Then what am I?”

“I don’t know you well enough to guess, but you seem okay,” Applejack said.

“...Thanks?” Lyra asked.

“Trust me, Lyra’s a great friend,” Twilight said. “...I just wish I’d been a better one myself. Especially to Moondancer.”

“Don’t worry about it, Twilight,” Lyra said. “You were alright. Besides, we’ll probably have bigger things to worry about than who did what back in school.”

“I agree with you there, Lyra,” Rarity said. “But, more than anything… we’re in this together.”

And suddenly, DisQord was back in the courtyard.

“Daw, isn't that sickeningly sweet,” he said, clasping his claw and paw and making a wide eyed faux-adorable face. “I'm genuinely touched somewhere. It might be my gag reflex, but still.”

Twilight scowled at him. “Didn't you have a jacket to return?”

“Done that,” he said with a shrug. “Also went off and annoyed a bald guy for a few days - fun times, been too long - and then I did some sunbathing on Mercury.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what that is,” Pinkie said.

DisQord chuckled. “Sunbathing, or Mercury?”

“…What do you thi-”

“Pinkie, no!” Twilight interrupted. “He’s probably planning some ironic thing that bends the nature of reality.”

DisQord grinned, almost nastily. “Actually I was planning on sending her to Mercury for five seconds. But maybe that would be too mean.”

“It would be!” Pinkie yelled.

“You're… a very different Discord,” Rarity said distastefully. “You seem… crueler.”

“One of these days, ask somepony from my Equestria about the Discordant ages,” DisQord said dryly. “Or rather, the Discordant age and the Discordant tea break, as I prefer to think of them. Anyway, I thought -”

“Hang on,” Twilight said, holding up a hoof. “If you can travel back to Marcus’ Earth, then here, and do stuff for days inbetween, why can't you just…?”

“Magic all your problems away?” DisQord asked. “Two reasons. One, because that's actually difficult. And two, because my… peers slash bosses slash brothers and sisters would not approve.”

Twilight blinked. “You… have bosses.”

“Long story. No interest in recounting it. Is there anything you need to do before we leave?” DisQord asked. “Send letters? Inform your family?”

Twilight frowned. “Leave? Leave to where?”

“Oh, a place,” DisQord said.

“That's not very detailed.”

DisQord sighed. “A hyperbolic time chamber. Ok, oh murderer of spontaneity? Happy now?”

“Wait, I thought they were called rooms of spirit and time?” Lyra asked.

“I thought it was called the hype-ebonics rhyme chamber,” Pinkie said.

“Dice Gods give me strength,” DisQord muttered. “In any case - you'll all be coming with me now.”

“Shouldn't we ask Celestia, first?” Twilight asked.

DisQord grinned. “Oh, yeah - that. I’ll get right on that - snap!”

***

And suddenly, Twilight and co were stood in an empty white void. The only landmark visible was a large white building, a series of bedrooms and other small rooms - as well as a dojo - visible.

“Is this the Hypertonic Lion Tamer?” Pinkie asked.

“...You’re just doing this on purpose, aren’t you,” DisQord sighed.

“As far as you know!” Pinkie giggled.

Twilight scowled. “You should have asked Celestia’s permission!”

DisQord chuckled. “Technically,I am doing, right now.” He tutted. “I’m very glad I'm not in my shoes right now.”

“Is he turning all Equestria into his playground of chaos?” Twilight asked.

“He’d better not,” Fluttershy said, and the steel in her voice was a surprise to everyone present.

“Or what will you do?” DisQord said harshly. “You know, we were supposed to be friends. If that thing hadn't…” He sighed, trailing off. “Don't threaten me. Don't even annoy me. I guarantee, I'm probably less in the mood than you think. Your Discord’s lucky he doesn't have a script for what should have been - because I do. I know what should have happened, and now it never will. Something of a shame.” He paused. “Actually, I'm trying to do you a favour by bringing you here.”

“And this favour would be?” Rarity asked.

“Time,” DisQord said. “You’re going to be here for three days, and to the rest of the cosmos you'll be here for three hours, and that's just a rough guess. I could give you ten years in here to train and you'd have nary a wrinkle, and only a week would pass out there.” He folded his arms. “And I think we’d all agree, you need time, which is, funnily enough when you have three Doctors, running short. It’s also exactly the argument I’m making right now to Celly.”

Twilight groaned, before sighing. “Alright, fine. I guess time might be good to have.” She took a deep breath. “So where do we start?”

DisQord grinned. “Like so.”

And then it was chaos.

A Gathering Storm (editedededededededed)

Chapter Two: A Gathering Storm.

Written by:
Doctor Fluffy,
Jed R,
The Void.

Editors
redskin122004,
RoyalPsycho.

***

“Oh dear Lord, three of them. All my worst nightmares at once.”
The General, Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor.

“Con permiso, Capitan. The hall is rented; the orchestra engaged. Now it's time to see if you can dance.”
Q, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Q Who.

***

DisQord’s Hypotonic Lion Tamer Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
...Darn it, Pinkie!

For two and a half days, with very little rest in-between, Twilight and her friends had been fighting against… DisQord’s creations. It had taken its toll on them. They'd been battered and beaten - Rainbow had a bloody cut above one eye, Rarity had developed a limp from a half dozen attacks, and Applejack had three gashes across her flank. Twilight and Pinkie were uninjured, but both were exhausted, and Fluttershy was shaken, her face grim-set and bloodstained.

For most of the time, they had fought… things, things they could only presume DisQord to have created. They were pony figures, loosely. They had the rough proportions of ponies, at least: forelegs, hind legs, hooves. Some of them had horns - not that they used them - and some of them had wings - not that they needed them. There were no details visible on them for the most part: they were grey, indistinct. What details could be seen betrayed glints of armour or the shadow of ancient helmets.

It was rather like fighting very solid, very tangible ghosts. Except, of course, that ghosts couldn't hit as hard. The only way they could usually tell when an attack was due was a strange noise.

Like the hollow bones of a pegasus had been filled with grains of rice, rattling like zebra rainsticks.

“I’m going to keep you safe,” Rainbow Dash said, flitting in front of Fluttershy.

“I can handle myself!” Fluttershy protested, surprisingly forceful for the dainty butter-yellow pegasus. But she was listing to the left, ever so sliiiightly….

“You can barely fly, Flutters,” Rainbow Dash said. “If you take another hit…”

“Then I’ll walk,” Fluttershy said firmly.

Before Rainbow Dash could respond to that, there was a sudden wailing noise. Twilight’s ears perked up.

“Aw, heck,” Applejack swore. “Get ready, gals!”

And then they were upon them.

***

Throne Room, Canterlot, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

Celestia was looking out of a window as a flash of light appeared behind her, appearing in the corner of her eye. She growled softly.

“DisQord or Discord?” she asked.

“You can't tell the difference?” the familiar voice asked.

“No.” She snorted in irritation. “You're far too similar for me to be able to discern between you.”

“I’ll add a fart noise or a brass band to my arrivals from here on,” the Draconequus said, moving to stand next to her. She glanced, and the red Q was present. “And for the record, he smells faintly like sugar when he arrives. You probably never noticed. I, on the other hand, smell like cranberries.”

“… cranberries?”

“Lost a bet to one of my… colleagues, once,” DisQord shrugged. “You wanted to talk.”

“I didn't summon you.”

“You didn't have to,” DisQord said with a smirk. “You're practically radiating ‘bottled indignant speech’ right now. I’m very used to that feeling. Everyone around here’s as pent up as clockwork wound with a power drill.”

“Perhaps,” Celestia said, turning on him, “because you are used to ponies and others treating you like a callous, inquine creature.”

“Ooh, you're spiky,” DisQord said, an oddly suggestive hint in his voice. “I might almost grow to like that.”

Celestia growled. “Do not play games with me, Discord. I am not in the mood.”

“DisQord, with a Q,” he corrected absently. “And that's a shame - I was rather hoping to play games.”

“Well, I wasn't,” Celestia said, rounding on him. “How dare you.”

“How dare I?”

“No. Games.”

“Ooh. Scary.”

Celestia snorted with rage, her horn now starting to actively glow. “Do not test my patience, DisQord. You may be an ally, but if you cross that line -”

“I can only assume,” DisQord interrupted, yawning slightly, “that you mean me telling your student and her merry band that their other selves were dead as the proverbial doornail.”

“And showing them their mortal remains,” Celestia added with a snort of rage.

“You make it sound like I held up a grinning skull,” DisQord said with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, I could if you really wanted me to - there's not much left of most of them at present, but a grinning skull would be easy to -”

“You horrible, twisted creature!” Celestia shouted. “Why would you say that?!”

DisQord said nothing for a moment, before smiling at her, folding his mismatched arms.

“That is interesting,” he said after a moment.

“What is?” Celestia asked, still scowling.

“I spent most of my Celestia’s life watching her,” DisQord said with folded arms. “I fought her - both on a grand scale and in hoof-to-claw combat. And then, after that, I watched her fight others. I watched her battle just about every kind of monster, despot and lunatic you can imagine.” He paused. “And you… are not her.”

“Given that she became this Astra Solamina Maxima, whatever that means in ‘old high Unicornic’, I consider that a complement,” Celestia growled, scowling at him.

“Well, don't,” DisQord said, a new smile - a sad smile - coming over his face. “You don't know what she was. Before she… lost herself, shall we say.”

Celestia’s expression softened as she suddenly realised how much of a sore spot this must have been for him.

“You… knew her well?” she asked quietly.

“Actually, no,” DisQord said quietly. “But if you watched somepony for eleven millennia, you'd have respect for them too. She was strong. Diligent. Hardy. Adaptable.” He shrugged. “Surprisingly distant from her people for a while - that got better while Luna was… away. She was a rock upon which things broke. She was a centre of immovable certainties, always confident, always decisive.”

“I’ve… had a lot to deal with lately,” Celestia said, keeping her tone guarded.

“I know. In a sense, you know, I was trying to help your little friends,” he said after a moment. “They're not going to be well served by mollycoddling. Your counterpart - or more direct counterpart, I should say - is going to unleash hell upon the PHL and everyone else that stands against her - and you're throwing them right into that. They're innocents, and they're going to lose that in seconds. Some might even say they already have. If I was to take any of them to a population center on either Earth, they might crack for not knowing the stakes. They know them academically. But they don’t know.”

Celestia sighed, her gaze returning to the window. “It is… it’s…”

There was no way for her to say it, but DisQord seemed to understand, because he put a comforting paw on her shoulder.

“It's not what you'd have wanted,” he said quietly. “I know. None of us want this. Personally, I’d rather be bothering Jean Luc or Kathy, or sipping Pina Coladas on the moon while being serenaded by a mariachi band.” At her frown, he coughed sheepishly. “Besides the point. None of us want to be where we are now. But we’re here. We have to make the best of it.”

Celestia sighed. “What did you have in mind?”

“How do you know I have something in mind?” DisQord asked.

“Because you strike me as the kind of… being... that always has something in mind,” Celestia said with a wry grin.

DisQord chuckled. “As a matter of fact, I do have something in mind. A little training room of sorts for Twilight, her friends, and others in due course. It will have its own separate timezone - allowing for them to train for long period at a time while no time at all passes out here.”

“Sounds good,” Celestia said with a slow nod. “Is there a downside?”

“Not really,” DisQord said with a shrug. “I changed a few of the laws of the universe there. Mainly stuff about death - nasty business. Best avoided. Also they won’t age - they could probably spend your entire lifetime’s worth of years there and be… well, not ok, since there’d be major psychological issues - not that there aren’t any already. Pinkie Pie’s as insane as ever, for example. I don’t think I have psychiatry books non-euclidean enough for me to deal with her if she becomes mentally ill.”

“I honestly decided not to question it,” Celestia sighed. “As long as she was serving as an Element and making other ponies smile, it seemed okay. So you want to send them to this… other dimension?”

DisQord grinned sheepishly. “Well… I think it's more accurate to say that I already have.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “You what?!”

“What, didn’t I mention that?” DisQord asked. “Silly me. Oh, look at that, silly me, must dash!”

And with that, he disappeared, leaving Celestia feeling even more incensed with him than she had before.

***

DisQord’s Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Oh, do I actually get to write it normally this time?

If there was one thing any of the ponies could say about Changelings, at least they were predictable. Five of them could come at you the same way, Fluttershy could cower and bonk one in the chin, also the exact same way, and it would keep working.

This… was not the case here.

“Youch!” Fluttershy yelped, as one of the things bodyslammed against her. She tumbled across the floor, the use of her wings forgotten in the panic.

Pinkie glared at the suit, and it seemed for a second to stagger backwards. “Nopony hurts Flutters!” And then - from nowhere that anypony could pinpoint, Pinkie’s party cannon was out, almost directly in the face of the offending shadow.

It fired, the load of baked goods catapulting the shadow into a wall.

It staggered out from the crater, shaking its head and making a beeline for Pinkie. While many things could be said about her bravery, her dedication, or what have you, reaction time when being charged by an armored pony was not one of them.

This wasn’t to say she froze up the whole time. She did turn around, but it was a fraction of a second too late and she knew it.

He’s gonna get me! Pinkie thought, alarmed, trying to turn, and ready a powerful back kick with her rear legs that would have shattered a rock back on the farm.

And then Fluttershy tackled it from the front, grabbing it in her forelegs as she flew upwards, and dunked its head on the floor.

Pinkie blinked. “Um.” Then, suddenly settling back into her usual rhythm: “Thanks, Flut-”

A hoof from another armored figure took her in the stomach, catapulting her backwards.

I knew I should’ve updated to the party volleygun! Pinkie thought, as she tumbled tail over teakettle through the air. Wait, Marcus mentioned rocket launchers? What if I got a party rocket launcher? That’d be super-duperiffic!

She staggered on the ground, hooves straining against the surface, before she turned and drove her back legs into another shadow pony’s head.

“I need a little help here!” Rarity called over. “One of them has me cornered, I don’t think I can-”

“Sure you can!” Pinkie yelled, as she punched another shadow pony.

“Thank you for believing in me, then!” Rarity yelled, and, concentrating, she fired a thin, precise beam of magic through a shadow pony’s head.

The two mares looked at each other.

“I… actually meant ‘Shoryuken’,” Pinkie said sheepishly. “I do believe in you, though. Believe in the me that believes in-URGK!”

Time suddenly slowed down, or felt like it had. Twilight’s eyes widened in horror at what she had just witnessed.

Pinkie Pie had a spear embedded in her gut. She was staring at it with wide, surprised eyes, as though it was somehow the most shocking thing she had seen all day. She blinked once, grimacing as the thing holding the spear twisted it, before it withdrew it and she collapsed heavily to the ground, stirring feebly.

“NO!” Rainbow Dash yelled, kicking another of the things away and charging towards the fallen pink party pony.

Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated, and a shockwave burst outwards, blasting most of the things away momentarily. She turned to look at Rainbow, who had reached her fallen friend. Rarity and Applejack had also trotted up, and Fluttershy was hanging back, a horrified expression on her face

“Twi,” Rainbow said, looking up from Pinkie. The fallen mare’s eyes were wide and glassy. “Tell me there's something…”

Twilight shook her head. “No. There's… there's nothing. No spell.”

“This is impossible,” Rarity said softly, her eyes wide and her lip trembling. “Pinkie Pie can't die.”

Twilight knew what Rarity meant. Even now, as blood pooled around their hooves and Pinkie’s glassy eyes stared at nothing, Twilight still expected her to sit up, smile, and tell a joke - something about spare blood packs for blood pack emergencies, about her being random, who cared, just something.

Anything but those eyes, so empty of what made Pinkie… Pinkie.

“DISQOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD!” Rainbow Dash screamed. “I’M GONNA SHOVE YOUR HEAD SO FAR UP YOUR FLANKS YOU COLLAPSE INTO A BLACK HOLE!”

“Anatomically impossible and physically implausible all in one go,” a snarky voice said from somewhere above them. DisQord was sat on a floating chair, apparently amused. “I'm impressed, Rainbow Dash, really I am.”

“I’m honestly surprised she knows what black holes are,” Twilight said, her voice hollow.

“I'm more surprised you forgot that lot,” DisQord said, jabbing a thumb at the horde - true to their luck, their enemies had recovered from the shockwave.

“I don’t really care anymore,” Rarity said. “You’re responsible for the death of dear Pinkie. And that’s something I will not stand f-”

“Ah, well, don't lose your head over it,” DisQord said with a chuckle.

“NO!” Pinkie wheezed as she staggered to her hooves. “I thought I had plot armor!”

DisQord raised an eyebrow. “Hmm. Let me fix that.”

He snapped a claw, and a small suit of ringmail appeared next to him, labelled ‘Personal Lightweight Omnidirectional Tactical armour’. It melted in a sudden flash.

“First rule of AU,” the Draconequus said with a nasty smirk. “Anypony can die.”

“Aw, shoot,” Pinkie pouted. “How did I forget that?”

“You can think about that in a minute,” DisQord said. And as he said it, a pair of the ghostly ponies landed in front of Applejack and Rarity. The first hacked at Applejack, who only just dodged, but stumbled as she did so. The second threw a small metal object at Rarity, faster than sound, and she blinked in shock before blood leaked from her mouth, a metal object protruding from her throat.

“NO!” Twilight yelled. She aimed a spell, but was suddenly hit by a forceful concussive spell that sent her reeling.

Rarity’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates. She coughed, weakly, before collapsing to the ground.

Pinkie, already moving purely by force of will, fell to the floor again, her eyes clouding over as three of the Unicorn-things surrounded her, horns glowing. She closed her eyes.

Rainbow Dash, of all of them, decided to go straight to the point. With a burst of speed, she charged straight at DisQord, who didn't even look at her - right up until the moment she suddenly stopped, frozen in mid-air.

“Tell me,” he asked her idly. “Do you know the story of Icarus?”

And Rainbow Dash exploded: it was like a miniature sun had just consumed her whole, not even ash remaining. And then, nothing was there to mark her existence at all.

Applejack dodged and rolled away from her attacker as best she could, but seeing Rainbow die was enough of a distraction to allow her pursuer to catch her. A heavy axe fell, and there was a spray of blood.

Twilight was only dimly aware of the sound of Fluttershy screaming. She was still stunned by the last spell that had hit her… and then she saw one of the things approaching her. Her horn glowed to summon a shield, but a single spell dissipated it. The thing’s horn glowed - and then Twilight’s life was nothing but white light…

***

And then, with a shuddering breath, Twilight’s eyes opened.

The entire group were laying on the pale floor of the chamber, their injuries gone - not even a trace of them to be seen.

“I’M ALIVE!” Rainbow yelled. “I’m… not… melted.”

“None of us are dead!” Pinkie Pie gasped, patting her body down, running her hooves over her fur. Then when they got to her mane…

“Aw, buck,” Rainbow Dash said. “Her mane went straight.”

“I’m assuming that’s bad?” Fluttershy asked.

“Don’t worry, it gets better,” Pinkie said.

DisQord appeared nearby.

Pinkie’s eyes went orange and she seemed to darken imperceptibly. “Oh… no…. it… won’t.”

“No,” was all DisQord said, holding up a claw. “Not even gonna.” He adopted a mock-accent not unlike Applejack’s. “Just calm down there, pardner.”

Pinkie narrowed her eyes at him. “You don't do things like that.”

“You mean I shouldn’t,” DisQord said idly. “I think it's pretty obvious that I do do things like that.”

“What… was the point… of all that?” Twilight gasped, still feeling winded.

“You lost,” DisQord replied simply. “You've never lost before - you've had setbacks, but never a full-blown, ‘I’m done’, no-recovery, no-respawn, healer’s down and out of mana defeat.”

“I have no idea what most of the words in that sentence mean!” Pinkie Pie said, still looking almost murderous.

“That is both a first, and the point,” DisQord replied, smiling almost indulgently.

“So… what?” Applejack asked with a groan. “That… was jus’… to show us… we could lose?”

“Yes,” DisQord said with a smirk. “You probably knew on a rational level that you'd fight enemies you couldn't beat, but rationality - as fighting me, or my counterpart, should have taught you a long time ago - isn't always the best answer. Now you've been defeated. Now you’ve died. And you know, instinctively, that you can lose.”

“What’s the difference?” Rainbow snapped. “Why'd we have to - to die?”

“Because you - especially you - had a tendency to think, on some level, that you were beyond harm,” DisQord replied. “You start thinking you're invincible. After a while, you might start thinking, ‘Hmm, I could get hurt’. Usually by the time you realise you will get injured or killed and nothing save not being present will prevent it, you've already been out there for a month and had the chance to be an idiot mortal and actually die. We'll be skipping that, thanks to your experiences here. And you, dear Rainbow, will think twice before punching so far above your weight. Queenie and Solamina will do worse than obliterate you.”

“Couldn't you have done it without the… death?” Rarity asked, rubbing her neck unconsciously. “I… I can still feel it.”

“Psychosomatic twinge,” DisQord shrugged. “It'll probably pass.”

“‘Probably’?!” Rarity repeated.

“Do you always treat other ponies like they're toys?” Twilight asked with a scowl.

DisQord affixed her with a glare. “Oh, this is not me treating you like a toy. Be thankful I'm not. My toys have this unfortunate tendency of breaking.”

Twilight shuddered slightly at his tone. “You're cruel.”

“Nooooooo,” DisQord said with a snide smirk. “Reaaaally. Here I thought I was the God of Fluffy Bunnies and Kittens and Flowers, not the God of Trickery, Chaos and Entropy.”

“Our Discord’s all those things too, and he learned not to be mean,” Pinkie pointed out. “And he wouldn’t kill me just to prove a point!”

“No, he’d just brainwash you,” DisQord said.

“But I didn’t die, and he made chocolate rain!” Pinkie said.

“Tell me something,” DisQord said, and his voice dropped temperature so fast that the ponies suddenly shivered. “Do you think you're dealing with your Discord, now? Do you think I care what you think? Do you think that this is the worst I could do? Because I can do worse.” He smiled, but it was empty of mirth. “Believe me. I can do worse.”

Twilight, despite the icy tone, looked him in the eye. “Do it then.”

DisQord smiled. “Fortunately for you, your world isn't my purview.” He paused, looking at a nonexistent watch. “Your three days are up. You'll be going back to Equestria shortly to begin training with someone else. Hopefully you'll be able to come back here, hopefully having learned some valuable lessons.”

Before any of them could say anything else, he waved a claw, and they disappeared.

***

Canterlot.

“My everything hurts,” Pinkie sighed, trotting listlessly back to their room.

They were back. It was almost like they had never left. A shame they had - a shame they could remember every second.

“We… was that even real?” Twilight asked, though she wasn't even sure who she was asking.

“Sure as sugar felt real,” Applejack said quietly. “Reckon Ah haven't felt a hit like some o’ those… well, ever.”

“That other Discord’s a plothole,” Rainbow muttered darkly.

“He's certainly… unpleasant,” Rarity agreed. “Which begs the question - what is his world like?”

“I could stab him,” Pinkie said idly.

Everypony stared at her in shock.

“Pinkie!” Rarity gasped.

“I’m not apologizing,” Pinkie said. “He killed you. Me. Exploded Dashie. I know he needs us, but I won’t say it’s not tempting…”

“If anything, both evil Celestias are, um… worse,” Fluttershy said. “We heard from Marcus. We heard about Solamina. Maybe, um… that was the point?”

“I don’t have to like it,” Pinkie said, looking downwards.

Rarity made a heroic effort to change the subject. “Me neither, but… Darling? Why don’t you style your mane like that more often?”

“I’m usually not in a good place at the time,” Pinkie said, still downcast. “Besides, we tried that before the gala.”

“Right,” Rarity said. “We gave up on that one. Would you please let me attempt to style it? You could look quite adorable with i-”

“I’d rather not,” Pinkie said.

“Darling-” Rarity started.

Fluttershy laid a hoof on Pinkie’s barrel, just below her mane. “Let her have this, Pinkie. Please.”

Pinkie seemed to deflate. “Okay, Flutterbutter. I… probably need it too.”

“Certainly,” Rarity said. “Why, I’d love to see what could happen to your mane with some nice styling-”

Rainbow Dash just groaned.

Before she could say anything else, however, there was a sudden rumble. The ground almost felt like it was shaking.

There was a momentary pause.

“I feel a great disturbance in the horse,” Pinkie said ominously.

“Which one?” a familiar voice asked. Suddenly, Discord was standing there - their Discord, sans the red Q of the… other one.

“Mostly me,” Pinkie said sheepishly, apparently fine with him. “I couldn’t resist.”

“Well, it's a great disturbance all right,” Discord said grimly. “Bigger than I'd have liked. Also, Rarity? You’ll be able to have some fun with manestyling soon enough.”

And in a flash, he had disappeared.

“What does that mean?” Twilight asked.

***

Somewhere in the hills outside Hoofington…

It had been a busy day for Claw Hammer.

First, as a Royal Guard reservist, he’d been activated. This, in itself, had been a shock, one that he’d only expected in the event of what Shining Armor himself had referred to as Code Voluspa.

Claw Hammer was not entirely clear on what Code Voluspa was, on account of being more interested in reading forestry publications, Daring Do novels, Shadow Spade novels, or his copy of An Argument For Humanity and Against Catseye.

From what he could gather, Code Voluspa was a reference to ancient Yakyakistani literature. Something about the beginning of the world and its imminent end? He wasn’t sure. What he was sure of, however, was that a Voluspa meant something near-extinction level. A monster attack worse than usual. Some kind of ancient evil returning. Canterlot being out of cake ingredients.

This had happened fairly rarely. Once, about 38 years ago, in an occurrence that against common knowledge Celestia had prepared for, on the basis that “1000 years sounds too dramatic, it might just be 962.”

Back then, it had required mobilization of everypony, even the reservists. A Code Voluspa did not just stop. You had to be absolutely sure. There had to be something like, Claw Hammer guessed, a being with abilities that blunted magic somehow, one that couldn’t simply be punched, netted, or crossbowed into oblivion.

Evidently, this had happened.

Evidently, the Code Voluspa had also stopped. That had also happened.

In response to the apocalypse having been cancelled today, Claw Hammer’s wife Woven Sugar had baked him a cake. Which had been nice, he didn’t even know they had that much caramel in the house, but apparently they’d been saving that for his birthday or something and the cancellation of the apocalypse seemed like as good a time as any.

Claw Hammer had loved his wife more than ever right about then, and knew she would never leave him, and vice versa. Knew that everything was going to be okay.

And then an earthquake hit and a flowerpot fell on his head.

It said volumes about his experience, imperturbability, and pain threshold that his reaction was:

“Dammit, I just got this cleaned.”

“I cleaned it,” Woven Sugar said, tapping her foreleg on the floor impatiently.

“Then… I’ll do it next time,” Claw Hammer said sheepishly. “Sorry, Shug.”

“You’d better,” Woven Sugar said.

***

Canterlot Meeting Room, Canterlot, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

As soon as they had seen - and felt - the return of the Crystal Empire, Celestia had convened an emergency meeting of those who could, feasibly, be of use in this crisis. It was, distressingly enough, a short list of individuals. Stephan and Marcus were there, Stephan still less than brilliant after his battle in Boston and Marcus looking grim, arms folded. Luna and Celestia were obviously there, as was Cadence, her face full of worry - it was easy, too easy, to forget just how young she still was. The two Discords had also deigned to make an appearance, Discord looking worried and DisQord looking irritated.

“So,” Celestia began quietly, once the group was assembled around the briefing table. “We’re all here because of the seismic and thaumic event has just happened. For those of you who do not realise the significance, it is simple. As of thirty minutes ago, the Crystal Empire has returned.”

Cadence shared a glance with Luna, who looked grim.

“This can only mean one thing,” Celestia said quietly. “Sombra. He will not be far behind.”

The assembled ponies and humans shared looks of worry and dread. Stephan and Marcus especially looked concerned, and Trixie had a look that was almost fearful.

“Well,” DisQord said quietly. “This… is… not a good time for this, is it?”

“You might say that,” Discord said with a slight, uncharacteristically humourless smile. “Or you might, to quote Markiplier, say ‘we’re boned. We’re so strongly boned’.”

“It's certainly a difficult situation,” Luna said quietly, a slightly confused frown. “But - what does ‘boned’ me-”

“No,” Discord said, holding up one talon. “No. Just no.”

Luna shook her head with confusion. Marcus chuckled mirthlessly at the exchange, but both he and Stephan looked more concerned than anyone - or anypony - present had seen them for a while.

“We don’t want to be fighting a war against Sombra,” Marcus said grimly. “The Crystal War in our world was bad enough that there are a lot of ponies who haven’t ever recovered from it.”

“We would have destroyed him without the banishment spell he cast upon the Empire,” Luna said. “The legions of umbra ponies, golems, other war machines were challenging enough to defeat in those times. In these… with you, we could destroy him.”

“But that isn’t what we need,” Celestia said. “We have to nip this in the bud. Either we ignore him and leave him a thorn in our side. Which is not an option. We cannot afford a war on three fronts.”

“Three?” Marcus asked, confused.

“The Solamina that lays siege to this other human world,” Celestia said, looking at him. “Queen Celestia, who lays siege to yours. Both are separate fronts - likely because they cannot tolerate anything that does not pledge allegiance to them, in a corruption of our unification of Equestria.”

“Some would call it conquering,” Discord muttered.

“And some would call leaving the warlords such as Sombra that rose up in the aftermath of the Windigo’s Winter to their own devices, or leaving villages of Earth pony serfs undefended immoral,” Celestia said. She was shaking a little here, trying not to yell at Discord.

She wouldn’t have done that before the mind transfer, Luna thought.

“Sister,” she said softly. “You need to rest.”

“I suppose I do,” Celestia said. “But if these others…” She couldn’t think of either one of them as her at the moment. That is good, she supposed. “If these others are such a corruption of me, of my desire for control and order, that they have reached such states, then it is unlikely that either one will work together. But Sombra opens the possibility of a third front.”

“As if we didn’t have enough to worry about,” Stephan said. “A lot of ponies under our command are Crystal War veterans. Lyra, our Lyra… she lost her parents there.”

“What do you know of Sombra?” Luna asked quietly.

“Unicorn despot - not as bad as the Tyrant, but still bad, in a ‘sound the alarm, batten the hatches, break out something big and killy’ way,” Stephan said dryly. “Specialised in… fear magic, was it? Trickery backed by overwhelming force?”

“Fear magic, shadow crystals, the works,” Marcus added softly. “In our world the war was… nasty. If we can avoid it, we should.”

“Seconded,” Trixie said quietly. “And we can't afford to be fighting another Crystal War - with two Tyrants to worry about…”

“With two of them, and Sombra as well, we’re boned,” Marcus finished with a wry smirk. “Unless we get to the Empire before Sombra takes full power.”

“That shouldn't be a problem - the only issue is getting there,” Luna said, frowning. “It would be incredibly difficult to get there in time to stop him from consolidating his seat of power.”

“Transport isn’t necessarily an issue,” DisQord said with a dismissive wave of one paw. “What your issue should be is, how do you deal with him?”

“What do you mean ‘how’?” Marcus asked.

“What I said,” DisQord said with a smirk. “There’s a Crystal Heart in this world, isn’t there?”

“There is,” Celestia said quietly. “Utilising that, we might well be able to defeat Sombra. A small group might be able to go, hopefully before Sombra is too powerful to contain.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” DisQord said quietly, a smile on his Draconequus face.

“We’ll go,” Stephan said quietly, and Marcus nodded. “You might need our help.”

“And these idiots aren't going without me,” Trixie added.

“I would not avoid this either,” Luna added.

“And the Crystal Empire is part of my family's history,” Cadence said quietly. “I need to go.”

“As long as we’re careful, it shouldn’t be too difficult,” Celestia said. “Marcus, Major Bauer, your presences will be useful.”

“Their presence might not be necessary,” DisQord said, holding up a paw. “In my world, the Element bearers were able to defeat Sombra using the Heart. If I might make a suggestion, they might be able to repeat the process here - it would be -”

Celestia shook her head. “No. No, we will not take them into this fight. It’s too dangerous.”

“Too dangerous?” DisQord repeated incredulously. “Did you really just say that?”

“Yes, because it is,” Celestia said insistently.

“They've got no chance,” Stephan said quietly, frowning at DisQord. “I haven't even had chance to begin training them, or even meet them, but I know that they’re not -”

“In my world, they could do it - no training, no anything,” DisQord said with a frown. “And you're already asking them to -”

“I said NO!” Celestia yelled, her voice echoing out in the Royal Canterlot voice. There was a moment of shocked pause at that - very few of them had seen her angry yet. Discord sighed and looked away, and Stephan nodded once.

“DisQord,” Marcus said, wincing at the odd pronunciation, “they're not ready for this mission.”

“By what standards?” DisQord retorted, a scowl on his face.

Marcus sighed. “They’re untrained, untested, and they’ve not faced anything like this before.”

“They faced him,” DisQord pointed out, jabbing a thumb at Discord. “Unless he’s secretly a cuddly bunny -”

“And I’m not,” Discord put in. “Though I was never going to kill anypony…”

“- he’s not exactly a pushover in a fight, and certainly wouldn’t have been easy to defeat,” DisQord finished, ignoring the comment. He looked over at his counterpart. “Please tell me you weren’t easy to beat.”

“Uh… I don’t think so,” Discord said with a shrug. “I mean, the Elements didn’t exactly seem like they were enjoying themselves. Except Pinkie and the chocolate rain.”

“Well, even so, they beat you,” DisQord said. “I think it’s safe to say they’re capable - and if they’re anything like the Elements from my world, they should be capable of this too.”

“Even if they are - and that’s a big assumption - if we can do this without risking civilian lives…” Marcus began.

“Oh for crying out loud,” DisQord said with a sigh. “This isn’t a war. You're not talking about a rigorous military exercise with formations and battle-lines, you're not talking about your Puppet of Tirek or the Solar Empire. You're talking about -”

“They will not go!” Celestia snapped. “We will not put Twilight and her friends at risk.”

“And yet, you want them trained for your war,” DisQord said with a snort. “So, no risk there, no sir.”

“That’s different,” Stephan said. “We have time to train them for that risk, we have -”

“They don’t need to be trained for this, they’re capable of doing it!” DisQord retorted. “And if you ask me, this is the perfect ‘trial by fire’, to see if these six are really -”

“I. Said. No,” Celestia growled. “That is the end of it.”

DisQord looked up at her with a lazy expression. “Sure, you said no. Newsflash though. That doesn't mean it's the end of it.”

Discord frowned, holding up a paw to discourage his counterpart, but DisQord waved a claw and Discord was suddenly gone.

“How dare you!” Celestia said, eyes wide with outrage.

“Easy - by opening my mouth,” DisQord said scathingly. “And I mean it. You're not the final say on every discussion, anymore. You're part of an alliance, and that means you don't think you're above them.”

“I do not believe I am,” Celestia retorted, eyes narrowed in fury. “More than I can say for you.”

“Don't lie to me, Gloriana,” the Draconequus said with a growl, ignoring her comment. “You still think you're the big cheese, that everybody should just hop to when you say. And let's all be honest here. You're not exactly -”

A flash of light blared from Celestia’s horn before anyone - or anypony - else could stop her, and lanced towards DisQord. He raised a paw, and the energy stopped in mid-air. He winced slightly, but then with a wave of his paw the energy dissipated. He snorted in irritation. Everyone looked between the two of them with shocked expressions, none of them quite believing what they had seen.

“Perhaps,” Celestia hissed, “we should discuss this in private.”

DisQord inclined his head. “As you wish.”

Celestia turned to Marcus and the others. “If you and the others could leave myself and DisQord alone for a few moments?”

Marcus and Stephan shared a glance, before Marcus gave the Princess a questioning glance.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

Celestia nodded slowly. “This needs to be between me and him.”

“If you’re sure,” Marcus said quietly. He walked out, and the others followed, none of them looking particularly cheerful.

DisQord merely folded his arms, a raised eyebrow on his face as Celestia watched the others go. Finally, the door slammed and the Alicorn slowly turned to look at him.

“DisQord,” she said simply, “when it comes to my subjects, ‘no’ means ‘no’.”

The Draconequus’ other eyebrow joined its fellow. “I wasn't aware that you had suddenly become an absolutist, dear Celly.”

“I am not,” she said with a low growl. “But neither am I about to let children into a war that I can fight without them.”

“And yet,” DisQord said with a wave of his griffon claw, aimed at the window, “out there sits Equestria. Ready to go to war - a war they, if one looks at it from a certain perspective, have no part in whatsoever. Those ponies have never experienced conflict - you’d ask them to die, but not your beloved Twilight?”

“The war with the Tyrant is different,” Celestia said bluntly. “Every hoof is needed for it, or we stand no chance of victory. Without the Elements, we may have no way to defeat Tirek: they may yet only just be powerful enough to purge the Queen of his influence and restore some semblance of sanity to that Equus.”

DisQord looked her in the eye. “Then why not send them to defeat Sombra?”

She snorted angrily. “We don't need them.”

“Not the question,” DisQord said. “If it's so easy, why not send them?”

“I never said it was ‘easy’,” Celestia retorted. “I said that we didn't need them. A small group could -”

“No,” DisQord said, holding up a claw. “No, this isn't making sense.”

Celestia snorted again, derisively this time. “I thought you were the king of ‘not making sense’.”

“I am,” DisQord said lightly, a blue crown appearing on his head. “But you aren't. If you're willing to send them into the more deadly conflict, why not send them to fulfil their destinies and face Sombra?”

“Because they aren't ready!” Celestia snapped, her horn blazing once again. “And you, you horrible, pathetic thing, have no right, not after everything you've done, to -”

She stopped, eyes wide and expression shocked, as if suddenly aware of the words she had spoke. Her horn dimmed, the energy dissipating.

“Oh,” she said quietly.

“Oh,” he repeated knowingly. “Maybe if I'd not been me, you'd have listened.”

“I… I thought I had forgiven him,” Celestia said quietly.

“Do you know how hard ‘forgiveness’ is?” DisQord asked, raising an eyebrow. “Sometimes forgiving is never really forgiving. You can remember the pain, feel it - all of it - and not be outwardly angry. He may not have been all that I was, but he still hurt you. And I, conveniently enough for you, look just like him. It’s a process, after all.”

As if summoned, Discord suddenly appeared, a growl in his throat.

“You do not get to teleport me across the galaxy!” he yelled. “I am -”

DisQord waved another claw and Discord vanished again.

“He’ll be cross with you,” Celestia said with a raised eyebrow.

“He can be mad as he likes, he's not my bosses,” DisQord snorted. “‘Sides, I’m explaining it to him as we speak.”

“How?”

“I am Q,” was all he said. He frowned slightly. “You still resent him, and you used that on me.”

“Yes, I did,” Celestia said quietly. “And… and I apologise.”

“You don't need to,” DisQord said quietly. “I did the same injustice to you. Or did you miss me calling you -”

“Gloriana,” Celestia repeated quietly. “What name is that?”

“Gloriana Regalia Celestia,” DisQord said quietly, a smile gracing his snaggle-toothed mouth. “That was her full name. So rarely used now - only record keepers and soldiers know it.”

“What was she like?” Celestia asked honestly.

DisQord looked lost in thought for a moment. “Resplendent - not that false splendour Solamina puts about, but truly splendid. Undaunted. Courageous. Tireless in the defence of her people. Beautiful, I think, in her own way. And I do miss her, even if she never knew me as I knew her.”

“I'm sorry,” Celestia said quietly. “You've suffered the loss of your own Equestria.”

DisQord waved a paw dismissively. “It was a job. One I grew too attached to. But all tasks end.” He looked her in the eye. “They need to go, Celestia.”

It took her a moment to realise what he meant, and she frowned.

“They aren't ready - we’re already asking so much of them!” she insisted again. “We should -”

“If wise mentor figures did everything, Luke Skywalker would never have blown up the Death Star, Dumbledore would have taken on Voldemort himself, and Gandalf would have taken the One Ring for himself,” DisQord said with a sharp claw-gesture. “You want to ask something of them, Celly? Ask them to do what they were meant to.”

Celestia paused, frowning. “Their destinies - if such things even exist - have changed.”

“Then un-change them,” DisQord shrugged. “Colonel Bogey and Major Malfunction want to go, as does your BBBDF -”

“My what?”

“Big Brother Best Draconequus Forever,” DisQord said with a shrug.

“… what does that make you?”

“I'm ‘Best Q’,” DisQord said with an impatient wave of the claw. “My point is - Sombra is a big deal, but you're asking these ponies to get involved in a war with your world's equivalent of satan, with none of the breeding and all of the malice. If you think they're ready for that -”

“But I don’t!” Celestia suddenly yelled. She paused, taking a deep breath. “I… I have more faith in them than you know. But… but, I… I just…”

“You want to keep them safe,” DisQord finished. He sighed. “That's… laudable. But they're not going to be children forever. They're not even children now.”

“I cannot make them go,” Celestia said quietly. “I cannot force them to face this enemy.”

“Then ask me,” a new voice cut in suddenly. Celestia turned, to see Twilight and the other Element bearers (and Lyra) stood there, the violet mare’s eyes filled with tears.

“Twilight,” she said quietly. “Twilight - I…”

Twilight ran up to her, and hugged her. Celestia, numb, hugged back, closing her eyes.

“I don't want you to get hurt,” the Princess said quietly.

“I know,” Twilight replied. “And I… I appreciate that. More than I can ever say. But…”

“But you want to do what you can to help,” Celestia said sadly. “I know. I've known so many ponies just like you in that respect. Young, brave. So eager to do what’s right.”

“Then let me do what’s right,” Twilight said quietly. “Let us do what's right.”

“We’ll have to go out there eventually,” Fluttershy said.

“We might as well,” Rarity said.

“I got in plenty of fights in flight school,” Rainbow Dash said. “How bad could it be?”

“Ain’t never been to war,” Applejack said, “But if we have to and don’t do this, then we’ll be flopping around like fish out of water without at least some idea.”

“Besides,” Pinkie Pie added. “The ponies of the crystal empire must be so sad! Freeing them from King Sombrero should make them happy, and I’d love to make them smile!”

“And I… I guess I have to go too,” Lyra put in. “It's about time I did… something.”

“I believe that's settled it,” DisQord said dryly. “When you assemble your ‘A’ team, they'll have seven mares joining them.”

“Well,” Celestia said with a sigh. “We’ll still need to get ourselves there in time, before Sombra can regain his full power.”

“About that,” DisQord said, a smile forming on his face. “I know a pony who might be able to help…”

***

Ponyville, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

For what seemed like hours, the two Doctors sat in silence. They had been given space to think of something in a place that was safe and free from danger. It had taken a little coaxing for Dinky to go with her mother for a wander around town, mostly because she had be so fascinated by the old Stallion that bore the shattered version of her father’s cutie mark and couldn’t seem to look her in the eye. Despite that, and despite Sparkler having a whispered disagreement with her mother that both Doctors had heard (but pretended not to), they managed to get the house to themselves.

“You know, one of us is going to have to start,” said the younger Doctor after a long moment.

The older Doctor had been sat at the table, periodically drinking his tea. He looked up from it, surprised. “Have you been waiting for me? I’ve been thinking of ideas since they left.”

“Great,” the younger Doctor said with a grin. You couldn’t deny the hope in his voice. “What’s on my mind?”

Not even a smile back.

“Okay, what have you been thinking.”

The older stallion nodded slowly. “Good question. We have so many options but which ones would not tear both worlds apart?”

One evil Celestia was bad enough, two was a living nightmare. They needed something powerful enough to defeat them but not powerful enough to break reality. It sounded easy in theory, but the two were unsure.

“How do you take down something like that?” asked the older stallion.

“Pardon?”

The greying stallion finished his tea and began to pace around the floor.

“It’s funny,” he said. “I’ve spent all night thinking of how to defeat one, so many nights awake just hoping that something comes to mind that can beat her. Now? Well, now we both have to do it.”

“Well, we can,” the younger Doctor said. “I’m sure we can. There have to be a good half dozen ways to trap a powerful creature like an Alicorn.”

“Or destroy them,” the older Doctor added. The younger Doctor frowned.

“I know we said it was bad,” he said quietly, “but surely -”

“We cannot risk failure to contain this foe,” the old Doctor said definitively. “Queen Celestia and Solamina both have to be stopped by any means necessary.”

The younger Doctor frowned. “From what you've said, these ‘Newfoal’ things are as much victims as villains. So are the Converted for Solamina. You're asking for any means necessary - does that mean abandoning them?”

The old Doctor gave him a look. “I don't believe the humans will see another way.”

“Isn't that what we’re for?” the younger Doctor asked dryly. “So that ‘no one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will ever have to feel this pain. Not on my watch’?”

The older Doctor chuckled grimly. “Perhaps I should have chosen that face to wear again. Perhaps that would have made things different.” He looked up at his colleague. “Do you really believe we can make a difference again?”

“Don't you?” the younger Doctor asked.

“I did, but that was a long time ago,” the older stallion said grimly.

The younger Doctor nodded, before taking a breath. “We made a promise. Both of us, a long time ago.”

“To never be cruel, never be cowardly, never give up and never give in,” the older Doctor nodded, looking off into the distance somewhere.

“Then you and I, together… let’s change the world,” the younger Doctor said. “We help - we help end this madness. No one else will do what we had to. Not on our watch.”

The old Doctor looked up at him again. “You're very full of hope. Remarkably different to your counterpart from the other world.”

“I just remember why we’re here,” the young Doctor replied with a soft smile. “And I'm sure he will, too.”

Before either Doctor could say anything else, there was a harsh knock on the front door. The Doctors glanced at each other.

“Expecting anypony?” the older stallion asked.

“No, now you mention it,” the younger one replied. “Who is it?”

The door opened… and in stepped Princess Celestia herself, a regal expression on her face as she stood in front of the two of them.

“Good morning, gentlecolts,” she said quietly. “I believe I need your assistance.”

***

The TARDIS. En route to the Crystal Empire.

The old pony was flicking switches, a frown of concentration on his face as the great engine of the machine rumbled and groaned in its ever-present cacophony. He had chosen to be the Doctor to go to the Crystal Empire, mainly due to the fact that the other Doctor had a family: ‘something to leave behind’. The machine made another groan, and the Doctor flicked another switch.

Most of the others were elsewhere in the ship, exploring the labyrinthian machine as far as they dared. Lyra stood, aimlessly, as though her entire world was shifting underneath her. Which, to be fair to her, it probably had done a great deal since Marcus Renee had arrived.

“I’m still not a fan of this means of travel,” Discord commented grimly, arms folded as he watched the old Doctor do his work. “Still don't know why we can't teleport there.”

“We could, but Captain Grumpy’s ship is harder to detect for a magic user than a half dozen powerful beings - especially powerful beings with powerful magical thingamajigs - teleporting there,” DisQord put in. “We want as many advantages as we can throw at this baby.”

“Please don't call me ‘Captain Grumpy’,” the old Doctor asked blandly. “I have a lot of names, and that's still my least favourite.”

“Where's everypony else gone, anyway?” Discord asked.

“Well, Twilight went off to find the library the minute he mentioned one,” DisQord said, jerking a thumb at the still-concentrating Doctor. “And her friends and Princess Cady-Wady went with her.” He glanced at the pony. “I’m still not sure letting them go off like that is… entirely wise.”

“She's more than welcome to pick up whatever book she likes,” the Doctor said idly, pulling a lever as he did so. “I sincerely doubt many of the truly dangerous books would make sense to a pre-spaceflight society. Or in some cases, a pre-Twitter society.” He shuddered slightly. “Twitter.”

***

Deep within the bowels of the TARDIS, there was a room with white walls, empty but serene. Within that room, the two Alicorn sisters spoke.

“Take a rest, sister,” Luna said. “The Doctor said this place - this ‘zero room’ - would be perfect for your needs… and I believe you need it.”

“Why do you say that?” Celestia asked, looking around the admittedly serene little room with an appreciative nod.

“You nearly blasted one Discord,” Luna pointed out. “And you absorbed a staggeringly large amount of traumatic memories - an imprint of Marcus. This place will… help you be better.”

“Perhaps,” Celestia said with a sigh. “For a little while.”

“Maybe I will entreat the Doctor to install a room of this sort in the palace for your use,” Luna suggested. “So that you may rest more when we return.”

“My little ponies need me in this time,” Celestia said, shaking her head. “I couldn't take time -”

“The fact that they need you is why you need to rest,” Luna said quietly. “I’d rather have a sister well-rested who returns to the throne refreshed than one who lets the stress get to her.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Celestia said. “But… My… our little ponies need stability. If I step down in a time such as this, certain citizens could suspect foul play at work.”

“That seems far-fetched,” Luna said.

“I allowed First Citizen Phalanx the Wise to step down, become nobility under us, and gave her a decently sized estate,” Celestia said. “She agreed and retired to a happy pension fund, while monarchists that had evidently never known Phalanx herself despite prattling on about her attempted to reinstate her. Whether she liked it or not. Ponies have a way of believing of their idols what they will, as if I had descended from the heavens to speak with them in particular.”

“You do that fairly frequently,” Luna pointed out.

“I do,” Celestia said. “I have faith in my little ponies, but I worry for what happens if I ‘rest’ at a time like this turbulent period."

“True,” Luna said. “Very true.”

“Still,” Celestia said, taking a step and suddenly finding herself floating effortlessly, “this place… feels… nice. I shall enjoy resting here.”

She seemed almost to lay down in mid-air, before closing her eyes. Smiling slightly, Luna turned to go.

“Sleep well, sister,” she said quietly.

Luna exited the ‘zero room’. With her sister seen to, finally, she breathed a quick sigh of relief. Her sister was stubborn, and always had been. It was not surprising that she was still being stubborn now, even after everything she had been through, all the horrors she had witnessed.

Now that she was resting, however, Luna had the opportunity to speak with a pony she had been meaning to for some time. The strange pony, the old one from this other Equestria…

He knows more than he's telling.

***

Returning to the console room, where the Doctor was still hard at work, Luna approached the old pony, who tapped a button almost like an artisan chipping away at a statue. After a moment, he looked up at her.

“Princess,” the older stallion said with a nod. “May I help you?”

“The name ‘Sidera Somniata’,” Luna replied softly, a frown on her face. “You spoke it the first time I and Discord stood in this machine of yours. What does it mean?”

The Doctor glanced up at her with a tired smile. “There are many, many differences between your world and the world I knew.”

“Like what?” another voice asked, as Lyra turned to join the conversation. She looked curious.

“Those lives are not your lives,” the Doctor said sternly. “It is not my place to tell you of them. I’m sorry if that is somehow disappointing to you, but you have to understand - time is a delicate thing.”

“If these ponies live such very different lives, how can telling us of them affect time?” Luna asked.

“Tell me, Princess,” the Doctor replied. “If I told you that in the world I come from, Sombra was your distant grandson, how would you react?”

Luna blanched. “Grandson?”

“Child of the line of Astrum di Nocturnus,” the Doctor said quietly. “He usurped his brother's throne and took the empire. It was… not a good time.”

“You speak as though you were there,” Luna said quietly. “This… machine. It can travel time?”

The Doctor nodded. “Astute.”

“If you can travel in time, why don't you go back and change the war?” Lyra asked with a frown. “You could -”

“It doesn't work like that,” the Doctor said tiredly. “Believe me, I tried once to change one small event, and I couldn't. Even that was unwise of me.” He pulled another lever. “‘Sidera Somniata’… among other things, the name of an Equestrian airship, one of several battleship-class ones. She was named for…”

“Me,” Luna guessed. “Just as my sister apparently has a longer name - ‘Gloriana’ is part of it.”

“Gloriana Regalia Celestia, and Sidera Somniata Luna,” the Doctor said with a nod. “Sisters, children of noble houses. Princesses of the Adamantine line, and - a long time ago - declared Diarchs for life of the Equestrian ponies. A pair of living symbols of Equestria’s unity.”

Luna frowned. “It sounds… different to my life.”

“It was,” the Doctor said. “In many ways, too many to count, in truth.”

He spun a wheel, and sighed. “We shall be arriving in fifteen minutes, relative time. I suggest you retrieve everypony else.”

Luna nodded, and headed off, leaving Lyra and the Doctor stood with each other.

***

As the Doctor pulled another lever, frowning slightly, he glanced at the Lyra Heartstrings who was still looking at him.

“Do you know a Lyra Heartstrings?” she asked him. The question took him off guard - she asked with a kind of worry on her face, one that made little sense to him.

“Yes,” he said tersely.

“What's she like?” this Lyra asked with a frown.

The Doctor sighed, before setting one of the controls into ‘automatic’ mode. He could have done that from the beginning and saved himself some trouble, but he preferred manually flying. It was supposed to grant him some peace from awkward questions.

“What would you like to know?” he asked.

Lyra took a breath. “She's not… y’know… really super duper important, is she?”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “Everypony is ‘really super duper important’, in their own way.”

Lyra couldn't help but chuckle at the remark, spoken in such a dry, clinical fashion, with the same tone he used for everything. He supposed that was just his voice now - the old ‘posh, gravelly thing’ he had once mocked from this very voice.

“I mean,” she asked, “I keep hearing about the Lyra from Marcus’ world… how she’s this big hero who did all this stuff…”

“And you worry you won't live up to that,” the Doctor finished. “No. I understand.” He frowned, wondering how best to phrase this. “Operative Lyra Heartstrings is a well-regarded figure in the Equestrian Resistance. She is brave, and humble - perhaps too humble. She is also close friends with David Elliot.”

“Who?” Lyra asked.

“An important figure in the BDF,” the Doctor said by way of explanation. “And also a good friend of mine.”

He returned his attention to the console, but turned to face her before pressing anything.

“Try not to compare yourself to her,” he said simply. “We all have our own destiny. Yours may yet prove just as worthwhile as hers.”

And with that, he flicked the control back to manual and returned to piloting, leaving Lyra Heartstrings pondering his words thoughtfully…

***

The Crystal Empire.

Snow-covered plains and mountains surrounded the TARDIS when they finally materialised. The Doctor stepped out first, sniffing slightly at the cold air. Behind him came the Discords, then Stephan and Marcus, the Princesses, and finally the Element Bearers and Lyra. They looked at the desolate landscape for a moment, most of them feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

“Right then,” the Doctor said blandly. “I believe we have work to accomplish.”

Celestia, well-rested from her brief time in the zero room, advanced, looking towards the distance where - though they were just out of sight - she knew the capital of the Empire was.

“Right,” she said. “Let’s go.”

And with that, the little band advanced towards their destiny.

Author's Note

WHAT'S UP, HUMPADUMPS! Red, uh, took issue with some of the stuff here, and Jed and I figured that since he had great points, we ought to edit it a bit. So, here it is! The remake of this one. Changes include, uh, I don't know, I was probably asleep or trying to get drunk at the time. Did you know a nearby brewery makes beer called "Hell Yes" ? It's true!

Bad Memories

Chapter Three: Bad Memories.

Written by:
Doctor Fluffy,
Jed R.

Editors
RoyalPsycho,
The Void,
redskin122004.

This chapter also contains direct segments used in the chapters Sons of Legacies Part 1, Sons of Legacies Part 2 and Sons of Legacies Part 3, from The Conversion Bureau: The Other Side of the Spectrum.

***

“I mean, d'you call this a war, this funny little thing? This is not a war. I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine, and when I close my eyes... I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight... Til it burns your hand. And you say this -- no one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will ever have to feel this pain. Not on my watch.”
The Doctor, Doctor Who: The Zygon Inversion.

***

The Crystal Empire.

The snow covered plains were certainly beautiful, in a rugged kind of way. It seemed to stretch on forever, the horizon dominated by mountains that wouldn't have looked out of place in Lord of the Rings. At the forefront of their little group marched Celestia and Luna, determination filling their faces. The Element bearers, Lyra and Cadence trotted behind them, with the Discords keeping pace behind them. At the rear of the group were the two humans, both tense for reasons far beyond the immediate.

“Marcus,” Stephan said quietly, as the two walked.

“Yeah?” Marcus replied, keeping his voice low to match Stephan’s. If the German officer was speaking quietly, he didn’t want the others to hear, that much Marcus could guess.

Stephan motioned to the Element bearers, currently trotting a little nearer Celestia and Luna. “Does it bother you - them being here?”

Marcus frowned. “What bothers me is Discord - DisQord - being so damn insistent about it. But yeah, them being here bothers me. This is going to be difficult enough without us having to protect them.”

“Agreed,” Stephan said with a frown. “Here’s another problem - Discord, the Discord who fought at Boston with me and Elliot, seems to be reasonable. This DisQord, though…”

“Seems to think he’s above everyone,” Marcus retorted. “Like he’d rather be doing anything but bothering with us. Yeah. Noticed.”

“So… what happens when we need to control him?” Stephan asked.

Marcus didn’t reply, which was answer enough in and of itself. Stephan sighed.

“When we get back,” he said, “we need to discuss Solamina with him. Find out whether anything we know of Queen Celestia can be applied.”

“Agreed,” Marcus said. “For now, though, focus.”

“Ja,” Stephan nodded. “Focus.” He sighed. “I wish Trixie were here.”

“Leaving her behind was the right call,” Marcus said with a frown. “We can't take all the PHL’s best out on one trip.”

“You're not the one who has to live with her,” Stephan said with a slight smirk.

“No,” Marcus chuckled. “Guess I’m not.”

They kept walking in silence for a few minutes, Marcus’ smile fading.

“So,” he said after a moment. “Two Tyrants. A guy who can turn into a super-knight. Two Discords.”

“Ja,” Stephan said with a wry smile.

Marcus sighed. “Do you remember when this shit wasn’t this fucking complex?”

***

They said nothing more as the group continued their march. Soon enough, the group started passing the homes of the crystal ponies themselves. To no one’s great surprise, the ponies seemed to be hiding themselves - given that there were two Discords, two bipeds nopony could ever have seen before, and three separate Alicorns, no one could really blame them.

“So,” Luna said to the two humans, trying to make conversation, “What do the two of you know about Sombra?”

“Actually,” Applejack said, “Ah’ve never heard of ‘im.”

“How many of you have?” Luna asked, confused.

“I thought it was just a myth,” Twilight said.

“Says the mare that was correct about the Alicorn standing before us,” Rarity said good-naturedly.

“I have!” Pinkie crowed, bouncing up and down. “He was a… well, Daddy didn’t know much, he just said Sombra was a big meanie who forced ponies to work their hooves off till they collapsed, and… didn’t get back up… wow, dad’s stories were dark.”

“He was a unicorn tyrant… though there are a great many people and ponies who believe he would have been an improvement over the Tyrant Sun,” Marcus said, shaking his head.

“From everything you told us, that doesn’t sound hard,” Twilight said.

"Well, he’d definitely be the lesser of two evils, but… not by much,” Marcus explained. “He’s an umbra pony whose magic is linked to shadow crystals and causes despair and fear. He was able to rule with an iron hoof for several years before the Princesses banished him, but not before your ponies fought against his slave army for several years.”

“When we finally broke through his magic barrier that kept us from interfering, he linked the city to his banishment and it disappeared from this world," Celestia added.

"There is more to it," Luna said quietly as the neared the city proper. "Sombra was my student and one of the ponies in charge in finding a means to stopping Discord. He researched obscure magic from dark periods of Equus’ history scarcely known to everypony else, even me."

Stephan winced as he saw the haunted look on Luna's face. "So this must be hard for you then, huh, Luna?"

"It is." Luna stopped and lowered her head somewhat. "It’s worse than that; this all started because of his desire to wed with me."

“You have no idea how weird that sounds to me,” DisQord commented.

Luna frowned. “Quite. Sombra was my counterpart’s… descendent?”

“A very distant descendent,” the old Doctor said dryly. “Of the line of Gloriana Benedicta, your counterpart’s granddaughter.”

Marcus leaned back to Stephan, a grimace on his face as he mouthed the word 'awkward' to the German. Stephan raised an eyebrow.

“And Sombra is a - ‘High Unicornic’ name in your world, correct?” Luna asked, nodding slowly.

“Yup,” DisQord said. “Love a bit of High Unicornic - it’s like Latin. Except even snobbier.”

Celestia frowned. “How different is the world this Solamina comes from?”

“It’s different,” DisQord said simply.

“It would take too long to explain, wouldn’t it?” Lyra asked.

DisQord nodded. “You can worry about specifics when we’re not dealing with Sombra. It’s like… like comparing the same dish from two restaurants. Outwardly the same, enough subtle differences in preparation that it really isn’t.”

“There’s one thing I don't understand,” Twilight put in, a frown on her face. “If the two worlds are so different - how can there be ponies even remotely like me and my friends? Wouldn't there be a divergence?”

“You've never heard of timeline convergence theory?” DisQord asked. At Twilight’s blank look, he sighed. “Apparently not.”

Twilight sighed. “It's… a bit beyond my level of experience.”

“There is a theory that time is predisposed to certain events,” the Doctor said quietly. “And to certain individuals. There may always be a Celestia, a Luna, and even a group of ponies exactly like you six.”

Lyra coughed.

“Seven,” the Doctor corrected amiably. “Certain details will be different, of course - for example, Twilight, you're unlikely to be descended from Lord First Night and Captain Twilight Star.”

Twilight shook her head. “I think a Twilight Star was back in my family history, but I don't think she was a Captain.”

“My point exactly,” the Doctor said.

“Of course,” DisQord added, “the further out you go, the less likely convergence is to take place.”

“Enough!” Marcus snapped. “Jesus Christ, can we not talk about fucking timelines? It's giving me a headache.”

“I knew someone who had the same reaction,” DisQord said sagely. “I kept offering to help her out. She kept saying no.”

“Can't imagine why,” Celestia said with a snort.

The group entered the square.

"So,” Discord said, changing the subject. “Sombrero was in charge of figuring how to take me down." He rolled his goatee between his claw. "Last time I even saw him, he was just a colt barely getting into Stallionhood."

"He was as studious as Twilight and he loved me deeply," Luna said, sighing as she looked to the castle.

“Hard to imagine anypony as studious as Twilight,” Rarity said with a soft smile. Twilight scoffed.

"I sent him to the Crystal Kingdom to be a retainer and an Advisor for my great grandson after our... fight with you and peace began to reign over Equestria. Look how well that decision turned out."

"No need to beat around the bush, Lulu," Discord waved off her tact. "I knew I messed up-"

"We," Celestia corrected quietly as she looked down the rows of homes made of crystals.

"We messed up," Discord amended with a slight smile. "Our little spat may have pushed the ponies, but not for the right reasons. Either way, it’s in the past."

"Not for these ponies." Marcus watched as many crystal ponies panicked at the sight of the two Draconequuses (Draconequui?). "To them, it was probably less than a decade ago."

Discord frowned at this before shrugging. “Eh, I'll clean up my image once we knock down the Sleeping Festive Hat. Eh! Eh! Get it?"

Nopony said anything.

“...As that colt my little sister likes said: ‘I don’t get it,” Rarity said.

"That joke fell flatter than a two hour open Coke can," Marcus deadpanned, causing Discord to grumble under his breath.

A few moments later, they reached the castle, standing underneath the impressive building.

Marcus gave a small whistle, Stephan giving a small look of surprise at the architecture. Twilight looked amazed, and her friends just as much. Even Celestia and Luna’s eyes had widened somewhat.

“Such a wonderful creation,” the Sun Diarch said softly.

Marcus looked to the others and popped his neck. "So, game plan?"

"We must find the Crystal Heart and place it back in its proper home," Luna started, pointing at the small pedestal at the centre of the square. "Once we have it, the crystal ponies can use their love and happiness to keep Sombra out of the Kingdom. With Sombra dealt with, we can rely on the help of the Crystal ponies - and also use their crystal for your munitions."

"Deny him a chance to enslave and forcibly recruit them for his armies, and we’ll gain a potential ally in the process..." Stephan muttered.

Luna nodded her head to his assessment. “And you will be able to do so without needing to smuggle the crystal out of the Tyrant’s Empire or artificially synthesize it.”

“It wasn’t cost-effective at all,” Stephan said.

“You mean to tell me that smuggling a resource from an enemy nation was easier than actually creating it?” Luna asked.

“We don’t have magic, what do you expect?” Stephan asked.

“That makes sense,” Luna said, nodding.

"Alright, Celestia and Luna will look for the Crystal Heart, since you two have seen the thing and know what it looks like," Marcus said after a moment of thought, looking to Stephan before nodding to himself. "Take Stephan with you."

"Hey!"

"Sorry Stephan, but you can barely walk, let alone fight. Nor do you have your armor on; it’s still being repaired," Marcus told him, clapping his hand on Stephan's shoulder, before awkwardly taking his hand off as Stephan hissed in pain. "See?”

“You try throwing yourself out of a time machine,” Stephan winced.

“Anyway,” Marcus continued, “helping Celestia and Luna in the search can increase your likelihood of finding it quicker. Plus you can help out in case of traps the guy left behind.”

Stephan gritted his teeth, but nodded his head at Marcus' assessment. "Damn, alright." Stephan straightened his battle belt and followed the two Alicorns. “Just don’t die while I’m gone. Let’s go, ladies.”

“I will go with them,” the Doctor said. “If nothing else, this should be a fascinating walk.”

“Maybe you should take Twilight with you as well,” DisQord suggested. “Always helps to have a prodigy on hand.”

“Belay that,” Marcus said with a scowl, looking at DisQord. “It's a potentially hostile situation and she's not trained.”

DisQord tilted his head and motioned to the Doctor. “You seem fine with letting him go.”

“He looks like he can handle himself,” Marcus replied stiffly.

“Maybe he does,” DisQord said. “But still, he's an unknown quantity - against Sombra, d’you really -?”

“Alright!” Marcus snapped. “I've made my decision. Twilight isn't going!”

DisQord folded his arms. “Alright, Colonel Bogey. Whatever you say.”

Marcus gave a slight scowl before looking to Discord. "Think you can start rounding up the crystal ponies?"

"I can, doesn't mean that they will respond well," Discord commented as he fiddled with his bracer.

"Doesn’t matter. Their safety is top priority," Marcus looked to city, a frown on his face.

“What about us?” Rarity asked, her friends clamouring around her.

Marcus glanced at DisQord. “You're the one who wanted them here.”

“You seemed content to ignore my advice before,” DisQord pointed out.

“We don't have time for you to be an asshole, just give me a suggestion!” Marcus snapped.

DisQord smiled slightly. “Have them help round up ponies for the moment.”

“Right,” Marcus said, motioning to the Element Bearers, who dashed off to obey. He looked to the distance. “Which leaves Sombra himself.”

“He'll be around soon,” DisQord commented. “He’ll have been waiting to see if the Empire was sticking around, to see if the spell to return it worked entirely stably.”

“Which it seems to have,” Cadance said with a frown, looking around.

“Quite,” the Draconequus agreed. He examined a claw. “I figure we can hold him off - just a question of how far I can go before my superiors get antsy.”

“Your superiors?!” Marcus said with a raised eyebrow.

DisQord ignored him. “I think some liberties are manageable.”

He raised a claw and snapped it, and a blue dome of magic appeared around the Empire. A moment later, a black, smokey shape appeared, slamming into the shield and spreading out across it. Marcus’ eyes widened.

“Well, fuck,” he said. “Who invited Sauron’s CGI-cloud-form?”

“No one yet, he's terrible at answering his mail,” DisQord said with a slight grimace. “Tricky.”

“What? You having trouble holding it?” Marcus asked, glancing at him.

“I’m only able to use a certain amount of power before my superiors cotton on that I’m doing it and I have to explain,” DisQord said with a frown, his voice somewhat strained. “Right now I’m trying to make said certain amount do the job of a bit more.”

“I can help,” Cadance said, her horn glowing. In a flash, she sent a spell towards DisQord’s shield, and it seemed to brighten. DisQord relaxed.

“That did help,” he said with a smile. “Thanks.”

“Now what?” Cadance asked.

"Get back to the Castle,” Marcus instructed. “I’ll keep watch in case Sombra tries anything. Help Discord get the Crystal Ponies to the castle. Once they are all there, you two shrink the shield so you don't strain yourselves."

“Good plan,” DisQord congratulated. “Be careful, though. Sombra’s not so easy to beat.”

“I can believe it,” Marcus said with a nod. “But don't worry. I got ya covered.”

DisQord and Cadance nodded and headed off, leaving Marcus alone. Sighing, the Marine rolled his shoulders and began patrolling. He saw the Element Bearers and Discord moving ponies out of their homes, and he smiled - until he noticed that Twilight wasn't with them.

“Oh hell,” he swore to himself. “She didn't…”

Shaking his head, Marcus silently cursed DisQord for getting Twilight involved in this mess.

Unseen by any of them, though, a single tendril of something dark and intangible was snaking along the ground, heading for Marcus…

***

The Crystal Castle.

“Any idea where we should start looking?” Stephan asked the princesses, watching the city landscape through an open balcony.

“The throne room would be a good start,” Celestia said. “If it’s not there, then maybe we can find at least a clue where it could be.”

Stephan gave her a silent nod and followed them a few feet behind. With him trotted the old Doctor.

Celestia didn't know what to make of either of them - Stephan was full of distrust for the two of them, even after he had fought alongside Luna: since he had only just battled against a clone of the Tyrant, Celestia could see his problem. The Doctor was a trickier one - Celestia couldn't help but feel as though the old stallion was scrutinising them even as she scrutinised him.

They moved on, Stephan following them like he was their shadow. Every now and then, he looked outside through one of the windows. He saw the dark cloud began to spread around the kingdom, the blue shield that seemed to be keeping it out. Luna explained that it was most likely Cadence's magic, but though that meant that something was keeping whatever was out there out… it still meant something was out there.

After a few minutes, they reached the throne room. Stephan was quite impressed by the sight. He had once visited the Vatican, and that had been a truly breathtaking sight. But this room was made out of crystals of different shapes and colors, and the room was flooded with light-it was just so beautiful. There was no shadow except those under his feet.

“Alright,” he asked. “What are we looking for?”

Celestia let her eyes wander through the room and Luna did the same.

“The Crystal Heart is not here,” the Sun Diarch finally said with a disappointed tone.

“Go figure,” Stephan muttered under his breath.

“We have to keep looking. Maybe it is hidden,” Luna said, trying to give them some hope.

Stephan nodded in agreement before saying, “Okay. What does this Crystal Heart look like, by the way?”

“Like a heart made of crystal,” Luna said, looking somewhat confused as to why he needed that explained to him.

"You mean a blood pumping heart?" Stephan ventured, a worried look on his face. “Because that would be pretty metal for pastel-pony land.”

“...was that a Metalocalypse reference?” Marcus asked.

"What?! No!?" Luna gave him an appalling look of disgust. "And… I do not know what that is. The symbol for 'love' kind of heart, which is what the Crystal Kingdom was known for. Spreading joy and love across the world."

Stephan gave her a long look before he sighed and began to search the room. Luna and Celestia searched in a different part of the room, but never far from Stephan’s visual range.

“Why can’t you simply sense it with your magic and teleport them to us?” he asked. “That would make things much easier.”

Celestia explained. “Sadly, I can’t. Something is blocking mine and Luna’s ability to do so.”

“It’d be too easy for Sombra,” Luna said. “His mind does not work like that.”

“That is not a good sign,” the Doctor said, speaking for the first time in a while. “We must continue to be cautious.”

Stephan had a frown on his face. “Hey, Luna!”

The princess of the moon looked over to Stephan. “Yes?”

He motioned to the throne room. “Sombra had this place under control for a long time before you were able to force him out, right?”

Luna nodded. “Yes, he ruled over the Empire for a long time. Why?”

Stephan stroked his chin between his fingers. “I… don’t know how to put this, but this place does not look like Sombra’s throne room.”

Luna and Celestia shared a short gaze. “There are no other throne rooms. This is the only one.”

Stephan shook his head. “No, I mean… look at it. Its…verflucht nochmal...”

Both princesses eyed him with a confused look as he struggled with what he was trying to point out.

“He swore,” the Doctor supplied helpfully. “But he makes a valid point - this place does not fit with Sombra’s… aesthetic.”

Celestia’s and Luna’s eyes lightened up as they realized what the other two meant.

“But of course!” Luna exclaimed. “How could we be so blind? Sombra’s magic would have changed this castle like it had changed the entire Empire. It would have warped to his desires.”

“That means we have to restore the original look of this room by using Sombra’s dark magic,” Celestia summarized.

“Can either one of you use that kind of magic?” Stephan asked.

Luna nodded. “We both have experience in that field. Although given what we know about and its origins, we must take care not to cast it about without caution.” She walked in front of the throne and eyed the giant crystal above it. “It has been a while but…”

Luna’s horn began to glow, dark purple and green sparks bubbling in it like a sickness that grew outwards. Stephan observed the procedure with a keen eye, finding the whole thing oddly fascinating.

After a moment, a beam of this sickly-looking magic shot out of Luna’s horn and hit the crystal. It didn’t take long for a dark shadow to crawl from the throne and over the stairs towards the floor. As it made its journey, it revealed a hole in the ground, stairs leading down towards… something.

“Fascinating,” the Doctor said with a quirked eyebrow.

“Yeah, thanks, Mr Spock,” Stephan commented with a snort. “No way to tell what's at the bottom.”

“No,” the Doctor agreed. “Though given what little we know, would it be out of order to suggest that there may be traps?”

Stephan walked to the beginning of the stairs and looked down into the hole. It was so dark that he didn’t even saw the ground. “What is it with villains and dark and mysterious looking holes…”

“A sense of the theatric?” the Doctor suggested. “Or perhaps an affinity with places that inspire secrecy?”

“You say that like it’s normal,” Stephan said with a frown. He opened a one of the bigger bags at his belt and pulled out a heavy glow stick. A quick snap in the middle and a little shake was all what it took to make it glow. With a quick motion, he let it drop into the hole. He lost it as the little light got swallowed by the darkness around it, and it took several more seconds before he heard it land on the ground.

He whistled, impressed. “That is one deep hole.”

“Indeed, it is.” Celestia said. She was already on her way to go down as Stephan held out a hand in front of her to stop her.

“I’ll go first. Maybe there are traps which only go off by magical ponies like you,” Stephan explained.

“It is more likely that the traps are designed for any and all creatures that enter, from the greatest sorcerer to a stray rodent,” the Doctor said quietly.

Stephan frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“Paranoia is the one defining trait of the standard ‘evil overlord’,” the Doctor said with a wry grin. “I know these types quite well, all things considered. Six thousand years of experience. Suffice it to say, I’ve faced their sort before.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “It would not surprise me if Sombra were that paranoid. And malicious.”

Stephan sighed and nodded. “What do you suggest, then?”

The Doctor sighed and adjusted his jacket, before taking his sonic screwdriver from his bandolier with one hoof, buzzing it, and placing it back with a nod.

“When in doubt,” he said simply, “send the most experienced.”

“You?” Luna asked. “Alone? Unarmed?”

“I have my mind,” the Doctor said, “which I have found to be more than sufficient to far more impressive threats. Equally, I am ultimately not the most important figure to lose. If the worst should happen -”

“It seems like a big risk,” Stephan said with a frown.

“I know,” the Doctor said with a slight smile. “Hardly my first this week.”

And with that, he began walking down. Stephan growled and followed.

“You’re verruckt if you think I’m letting you go alone,” he said simply. He turned back to Celestia and Luna. “I'll see if I can find any source of the magical traps and break them with my sword. The PHL taught us the means of detecting traps after the Royal Guards began to lace traps in occupied towns. My sword can react to magical traps, give me a warning. We’ll call you once we’re sure it’s safe.”

Celestia gave a resigned sigh. “Alright, Major. We will wait for your call.”

Stephan nodded and flicked on his pistol’s flashlight. The light didn’t reach far, but it was enough to see where he was going. The Doctor was already a few steps ahead of him, taking it slowly and purposefully.

Stephan winced. His bad leg winced in protest with each step, but he did what he always did - gritted his teeth together and kept going.

***

The Crystal Empire: City Centre.

"Alright, no pushing! There is room for everypony! Hey! No conspiracy to try and escape, you’ll only make me annoyed!" one of the Discord duplicates yelled through a megaphone, dozens of others surrounding the castle with riot gear, shields, and batons, facing outwards to protect the Crystal Ponies from Sombra. Discord himself was standing coordinating the various clones.

The Element Bearers were helping to calm the populace.

“Please, if ya’ll just stay calm, we’ll explain everythin’, but right now, ya’ll have got to stay here!” Applejack was yelling to some scared ponies. “Please!”

“Everypony stay calm!” Rarity was saying to another crowd.

‘This isn’t helping!’ Pinkie thought. ‘What to do what to do what to do…’

She rummaged through her mane.

‘I wonder when their birthdays are… OF COURSE!’

“Quick!” Pinkie gasped, running up to a crystal pony that was almost a quarz color. “When’s your birthday?!”

The pony went so pale that Pinkie thought for a second they were invisible. “I don’t know… It’s… uh… oh no, I can’t remember!”

‘Of course…’

Pinkie darted from pony to pony, asking the same questions.

“Pinkie? What are you…” Fluttershy asked.

“I have a plan!” Pinkie Pie gasped. “Okay, nopony here knows their birthday!”

“That sounds bad,” Fluttershy said.

“It is!” Pinkie nodded. “Can you help me? I don’t think I have enough cake.”

“How much cake do you even keep?” Fluttershy asked.

“A lot - it’s for emergencies!” Pinkie said, not quite protesting. “I keep a lot of things for emergencies. Party supplies, costumes of you, balls, party cannons-”

“What was that last one?” Fluttershy asked.

“Balls,” Pinkie said. “For bowling, or… nevermind!”

She climbed to the top of a building, and fired her party cannon off into the air.

The Crystal Ponies froze at the sound.

“Alright, listen up!” Pinkie yelled. “Apparently, most of you don’t know your birthday! Or… remember much of anything! We’re all here to… uh… throw one of you a party!”

The Crystal Ponies looked at each other, suspicious.

“But since nobody knows whose birthday it is, then we have no choice but to throw a party for… for everypony!” Pinkie yelled. “It’s probably somepony’s birthday, so let’s g-”

Immediately, the cake from Pinkie’s cannon plummeted through the air and landed on a nearby crystal pony.

The Crystal Pony poked their head out, and there was a slight smile on their face. “It’sh delicioush!”

“And there’s more where that came from!” Pinkie crowed, passing out another cake. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear somepony. Happy birthday to you! How old are you now, old are you, uh… somepony… I don’t think we remember, happy birthday to you!”

Discord frowned slightly. It seemed strange to him that his counterpart would have insisted on their presence, but they were better at calming ponies than he was - there were some unfortunate implications to his presence. Still, that couldn't have been all of what the other him had intended.

Though wondering what he's thinking is like wondering what I’m thinking, he thought to himself. Impossible if you aren't me.

With a sudden start, Discord realised something else. Rarity was coordinating the Element Bearers, and Applejack was helping her - but Twilight and Lyra were both nowhere to be seen.

“Pinkie!” he called over. “Where are Twilight and Lyra?!”

“Oh!” she called back. “They did a thing that made them invisible and followed the Princesses and the Doctor, but we’re not supposed to tell you that!”

Discord blinked, eyes widening in shock.

"Discord!" a familiar voice called out to him.

He said nothing as Cadance landed near him, somewhat ungracefully. Next to her, his counterpart appeared in a flash, looking rather pleased with himself. The appearance of another Discord clone didn't startle the locals as it might have, but he still drew some whispers.

“Why does that one have a red Q on it?” one of the crystal ponies whispered.

“Quality assurance,” DisQord replied blandly, and the pony yelped. He looked at Discord. “What's up with you? You look like you've seen a ghost.”

“Twilight and Lyra are gone,” Discord replied coldly. “I’m tempted to ask if you had anything to do with it.”

“Moi?” DisQord asked. He looked around. “Well whaddya know. So they are. Enterprising young things, aren't they?”

“Where did they go, Discord?” Cadance asked, eyes wide with worry.

“After Celestia and the others,” the Draconequus replied. “I should have noticed but we were all rather preoccupied.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” DisQord said airily.

“They had better be,” Cadance said with a scowl. “They're only in this mess because of you.”

DisQord shrugged.

Sighing, Cadance turned back to Discord. "Are all the Crystal Ponies here?"

"Hmm, let me check," Discord said quietly as he closed his eyes to concentrate. Cadence turned to look at the growing herd of ponies as they gathered around her.

"Look, another alicorn!"

"Are you sure? It could be a pegacorn."

"You don't feel that magic coming off of her?! She's definitely an alicorn."

"Who birthed her? Princess Celestia?"

"Ponies of the Crystal Kingdom!" Cadence called out, giving them time to gather themselves. "My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza! The blood of your rightful leader Prince Tempo Di Mezzanotte, who is the great grandson of Princess Luna, the Caretaker of the Moon, runs through my veins. What I am about to tell you may shock you; you may even think I am lying to you. But I am not."

Cadance gave a small huff as they fell silent. She closed her eyes for a moment before she began to speak. "It has been over one thousand years since you and this kingdom has been seen by any living being of this world."

She could see the shock on their faces at those words, some fainted after a moment or two while others began to cry. Cadance had no doubt that some of them had families outside the Kingdom before they vanished, or some relatives and friends who had escaped. It would be hard for them to get their bearings in this new world, where society and technology progressed far beyond their wildest dreams, and the onset of a war brewing up.

"Know this, many things have changed since so long ago. The prime example stands before you." Cadance pointed to Discord as he gave a single wave to them before returning to his search. "We know of Sombra’s return. My aunts, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are here with Discord as an ally, along with two other warriors from a far away land and these ponies we have brought to help you. I swear, we will strike down Sombra and you can live free of his vicious rule. And we will gladly welcome you to Equestria! In fact, we are very, very happy to see you, for there is much that only you crystal ponies can do for Equestria! You will be hailed as heroes, as long-lost brothers and sisters! As saviors of a world!”

Many of the ponies began to whisper excitedly to one another, a few giving the pink alicorn and the draconequus a look of suspicion. Cadance gave a sigh, jumping slightly at the tap on her shoulder. She turn to see Discord with a worried look on his face.

"What is it?" Cadance whispered quietly, Discord snapped his claw to put up a yellow-tinted transparent bubble around them, to keep their conversation silent to the ponies around them. DisQord found himself outside of the bubble, but he took no notice.

"All the ponies are here, but we haven't seen any sign of Marcus for a while," Discord replied, causing Cadence to give him a look of worry.

"Marcus said to shrink the shield once we get everypony here." Cadance closed her eyes as she thought back on Marcus' orders. "I thought he can handle it a bit... maybe I should have stayed with him."

"Oh, that wouldn't do. And leave me to foalsit these ponies? I don't think so," Discord muttered to her, rolling his eyes as some of the ponies gathered closely around the bubble as they tried to figure out what they were saying within it. "I'll go to him."

“We’ll shrink the shield,” DisQord supplied helpfully from behind Discord. The Draconequus gave his other self an evil look, and DisQord grinned evilly. “What?”

“I’m starting to get why people find me annoying,” Discord grumbled. He popped the bubble, causing many of the ponies step back as Discord floated off the ground. He gave them a small smirk before looking towards the outskirts of the city as he flew high above their heads. The dark clouds that once threatened to engulf the city had all but disappeared, causing Discord to wonder what happened.

"Time to go; take care of the jittery lot, you guys!" Discord called down to her before snapping his claw and vanishing from sight.

***

The Crystal Castle.

As the two of them walked down the stairs, the Doctor turned his head to look over their shoulder.

“What is it?” Stephan asked.

“I believe we’re being followed,” the Doctor replied quietly.

Stephan frowned, before glancing at his sword. The crystal in the hilt was pulsing slightly. With a smooth motion, he turned and aimed his pistol behind them- only for a small yelp to stay his shot.

“Sparkle?” he asked, eyes widening.

A moment later, both Twilight Sparkle and Lyra Heartstrings were visible in front of Stephan and the Doctor.

“I-I’m sorry!” Twilight gasped, looking at the pistol in fear. “We - I -”

“We thought we’d be better helping you than waiting,” Lyra finished, leaning back slightly away from the pistol.

Stephan holstered his pistol with a growl. “Go back. Now.”

“If I may,” the Doctor put in, “that would be unwise. We’re too far down now for the journey back up to be worth the time.”

Stephan growled. “I don't like being saddled with civilians.”

“Then consider them my responsibility,” the Doctor said dryly. “Back in the day, I used to be quite expert at picking up strays.”

“Hey!” Lyra said. “I’m not a stray, and you are not picking me up!”

The Doctor gave her a blank look, and she blushed.

“Er, sorry,” she added.

“Let's just go,” Stephan grumbled.

Eventually, they reached the bottom of the stairs, and saw a door: rather plain, dark wood with a round handle. Stephan went to go open it, but with a swish sound, it began moving away from his touch.

“What?!” Lyra exclaimed, eyes narrowing. “That makes no -”

It dodged any attempt to so much as touch it, moving hither and thither, before finally returning to its original spot.

“Interesting,” the Doctor said quietly.

“D'you have anything useful to add?” Stephan asked grouchily.

“In point of fact, yes,” the Doctor replied. He took a tentative step towards the door. “I used to know a trick, back when I was young and telepathic. Clearly, you can't make an actual psychic link with a door, for one very obvious reason.”

“It's a door?” Twilight pointed out.

“Precisely, and as anyone worth their salt knows, they're notoriously cross,” the Doctor said with a slight smile. He took another tentative step. “I mean, imagine life as a door. People keep pushing past you. All of that knocking, but it's never for you. Imagine life as Sombra’s door.” He took another step, and the door stayed put. “Probably all sorts of unpleasant additions. And you get locked up every night. But, if you're just a little bit nice…”

And then he reached the door. He placed a hoof against it. He smiled.

“You see?” he said, and then he pushed it open.

There was a flash of light.

***

City Outskirts.

Discord popped back into existence near the entrance of the city, watching as the shield slowly shrank in size. His eyes were searching for his human companion, before finally finding him.

Surrounded by crystal monsters.

"Oh that won't do at all," Discord growled as he pulled out a large scroll from his 'pocket' and stuck his paw into it, melting through the scroll and digging in for something. Discord smirked as he pulled out several kunai, all of them having paper tags attached to them. "Let's send them out with a bang shall we?"

Discord threw the blades, each one slamming into the head of the crystal creatures surrounding Marcus. The look of confusion on their faces was priceless as they all stared at the blades lodge into their skulls, the tags burning quickly before exploding.

"Ha ha ha!" Discord laughed as he landed before Marcus, who was on his knees and staring at the ground. "I should really have Pinkie take a look at this scroll. She’d love it. Hey, you okay?"

Marcus wavered slightly, before slowly getting onto his feet. Discord turned to see the monsters slowly reforming themselves. "How about you let me handle the toys Sombra no doubt summoned. Maybe it's a little beyond your deal to handle this. Just let old Discord show you a thing or two about handling things."

"Now…" Discord blinked at the voice, the deep and hoarse voice a far cry from Marcus’ normal speaking voice. "Why would I want you to do something like that?"

"Wha-Urk!" Discord turned to look at him, only to feel a fist in his stomach, burying itself deep in his stomach.

Discord gagged as he bent over from the blow, his eyes wide in surprise and shock at the betrayal. He looked to Marcus, questions forming before falling silent as Marcus locked eyes with him. His irises no longer the rich brown, but a ruby red, his sclera a glowing green that was releasing a purple miasma of magic from the corner of his eyes. The purple seemed to be mottling the corners of his eyes….

Marcus pulled his fist back, a deranged smile on his face. "They're my toys to begin with! And I don't like it when someone else plays with my toys!"

Discord was too stunned to react in time to the blow to his face, which knocked him backwards almost fifty yards. He skipped across the ground, bouncing as his head knocked against the snow-covered earth, before slamming his claws into the dirt to slow himself down. He looked up to see Marcus slowly walking towards him, the smile on his growing more sinister as he walked.

"For too long I have waited for this day," ‘Marcus’ growled out, black magic seeping into the ground and crystals quickly growing in his wake. "You made a mockery of me the last time we met. But no more! I will break you until you beg for mercy and I will deny you that. Now that I have this body... this -”

He stopped in his tracks, and the Crystal monsters suddenly disappeared in white flashes. Discord frowned, uncertain what had happened, until he turned to see DisQord standing behind him, a claw held out. His counterpart looked pained.

“What did you do?” Discord asked.

“Froze time around him and sent his toys to Mercury,” DisQord replied. “Tricky thing to accomplish without getting attention.” He winced. “In fact, I didn't. Ooh, boy, am I paying for that one later.”

Discord looked back at Marcus. “It looks like he's using Sombra’s magic.”

“Since he's currently being possessed by Sombra, that makes sense,” DisQord said. He winced. “Alright, I’m going to build a little prison to contain him, then let time resume. You’ll have to stand guard over it and him until we can get to purging Sombra properly.”

“And if he gets out?” Discord asked.

“I don't know, improvise?” DisQord suggested. He snapped a paw, and what looked like a magical net appeared all around Sombra. A pair of creatures - not unlike Minotaurs minus the bullish heads - appeared next to the cage, clad in armour and wielding nasty-looking poleaxes.

And then ‘Marcus’ moved again, slamming into the net. He growled.

“Two of you?” he said with a scowl. “Or is this another trick?!”

DisQord chuckled. “Well, at least he's going all out on the ‘evil overlord’ voice.”

“Mock while you may,” Marcus/Sombra growled. “You do not know the first thing of the potential these runes hold - potential I will unlock, and unleash upon you.”

Discord frowned. “You talk too much.”

DisQord, meanwhile, held up a claw. “You’re one to talk.”

“I know,” Discord said. “But when I do it, it adds to my roguish charm. When you do it, you're an ass.”

DisQord sighed at that. “I’ll hurry back and see how everypony else is doing. Hopefully they won't take too long finding the Crystal Heart, and then we can focus on getting rid of Marcus’ pest problem.”

He vanished, leaving Discord alone with Marcus/Sombra.

“I will escape.”

“Shut up.”

***

The Doctor.

You are walking… forward. You know where you are going without knowing. You can feel it, ahead of you, like a storm brewing on the air. You know where you are, and you know what this place is, and you keep walking, even as the smell of blood on the air fills you with nausea.

I mean, d'you call this a war, this funny little thing? This is not a war! I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know! I did worse things than you could ever imagine, and when I close my eyes… I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count!

A city is burning around you, and you watch it with cold, tired eyes.

Make me a warrior now.

You keep walking. You know where you’re going. You always knew, even as you tried to pretend you didn’t, tried to pretend you couldn’t… but you knew.

I've had many faces, many lives. I don't admit to all of them. There's one life I've tried very hard to forget.

You chose this face this time. You chose it because you had lied to yourself, and the time had come for truth. The time had come when a Doctor was no longer called for.

And in that battle, there was a man with more blood on his hands than any other. A man who would commit a crime that would silence the universe, and that man...was me.

You stop as you reach your destination. It's a wall, battered and bruised, and like so many others in this burning, save for the message upon it.

Time Lords of Gallifrey. Daleks of Skaro…

No More.

“You probably expect me to be afraid,” you say quietly. “You've pulled memories from my mind designed to tap into my deepest fears and my darkest days in the hopes of - I can only presume - breaking me.” You pause, taking a breath. “Might I suggest you try harder. I have been faced with experts in this field. I have encountered creatures for whom this would be considered a parlor trick. This doesn’t even delay me.”

Whatever power brought you here says nothing. You reach out to touch the wall -

***

The Crystal Castle.

The Doctor slowly opened his eyes, to see Stephan, Luna, Celestia, Twilight and Lyra all standing over him, looking various shades of concerned.

“Interesting,” he commented. “I recall the Twilight Sparkle of my universe mentioning a fear-inducing spell attached to the door. It seems this is another moment of temporal convergence.”

“He's spouting technobabble,” Stephan said, looking mildly relieved. “If he's anything like the Doctor I know, he's fine.”

“If I am anything like the Doctor you know, he is not,” the Doctor retorted, getting to his hooves. He looked to the door, which stood open. “It seems being nice worked.”

“I think that Sombra’s mind works in a way such that adding fear spells, emotional tripwires, is near-multiversal. So there may still be a trap,” Luna said quietly. “Another fear spell. The doorway itself could be an illusion.”

“Agreed,” Celestia said. “We should be cautious.”

“If that's the case,” Stephan said quietly, “I’ll go first.”

“Are you sure that is wise?” the Doctor asked. “If I am wrong, you may be put face to face with your darkest fears.”

“Maybe,” Stephan agreed, “but it's worth taking that chance.”

He went through the doorway, and stepped out of view. For a long moment, there was silence, and then -

“Luna?”

“Yes?” the Moon Princess asked.

“Could it be that Sombra had some kind of weird fetish that involved stairs?”

Luna blinked a few times, looking downright puzzled at his odd question. She moved to step through the door, the others following.

“Not that I could recall,” she said quietly. “Why do you… ask…?”

They all became silent as they stared at the endless open air, looking way up. And the stairs. So many stairs.

“I think,” Stephan said, “that your old student had some serious issues.”

“He… does not exactly have a good, how would Marcus say it… track record?” Luna asked.

“Track record,” Lyra said, nodding. “Yeah. At this point I really don’t think I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.”

***

The Crystal Empire: City Centre.

Cadance was continuing her efforts to keep the populous calm when DisQord finally returned, looking grim.

“What's wrong?” she asked the Draconequus, frowning at him.

“We have a rather unpleasant problem brewing,” DisQord replied. “I’ve contained it, but containment is only a temporary measure. How are things here?”

“Going well,” Cadance replied slowly. “What do you mean ‘unpleasant problem’?”

DisQord sighed. “Just… keep things from falling apart here. I need to find Celly and the others.”

“But what do you mean?!” Cadance insisted. She lowered her voice. “Is it - him?”

DisQord frowned. “You're very perceptive.”

“I’m supposed to be,” Cadance retorted. “So? Is it? Is Marcus alright?”

“He isn't dead,” DisQord said, in what might have been an attempt at a reassuring voice. “And if I get Celly and Luna quick enough, he won’t be. But I need to go, now.”

He flashed out of existence, leaving Cadance feeling troubled. Nonetheless, she had a job to do.

Still…

“Rarity, Applejack!” she called over to the two mares as they were helping a few of the Crystal Ponies. “Can you keep things in order here?”

“Why?” Rarity asked with a frown. “Where are you going?”

“Something needs my attention,” Cadance said softly. “I’ll be back soon.”

With a quick spreading of her wings, she flew into the sky, heading for where she had last seen Marcus.

***

The Crystal Castle.

Celestia stood by as her younger sister checked the stairway for anything suspicious. Luna had told her that it could take a while because of the immense length of it, and while Celestia had not been fond of the idea of letting her go alone, Luna had insisted. She knew Sombra better than anypony else, after all.

“What’s that podcast that Kraber always listens to?” Stephan asked. “Something, something…”

“Desert Bluffs?” the Doctor asked.

“Yes and no, but... “ Stephan said. “There was some advice about geographical loops in there, I can’t remember…”

As the two of them pondered, Twilight and Lyra were talking about something. The Doctor was sitting, staring up at the stairs with an inscrutable expression. Stephan was chewing a bar of something that he had pulled from his belt. Celestia was making a point of observing her two travelling companions - both, after all, were representatives of worlds that faced the threat of Tyrants.

Faced the threat of her.

“So,” Stephan asked, catching Celestia’s attention. “This ‘Solamina’.”

The Doctor didn't react. Celestia glanced from Stephan to him and back again.

“I was wondering whether you could give us any more information,” Stephan said.

“That's an interesting question,” the Doctor said softly. “The answer being… possibly.”

“‘Possibly’?” Stephan repeated, frowning. “You've been fighting her forces for years.”

“Yes,” the Doctor agreed. “It would entirely depend on what information you wanted.”

“Well, I fought the Tyrant’s clone,” Stephan said. “Is she anything like Queen Celestia?”

The Doctor considered that for a moment before replying. “She is an Alicorn.”

“Figured that,” Stephan said with a slight frown. “But how does she fight? Is she more powerful? As powerful? Less powerful?”

“Difficult to say,” the Doctor replied dryly. “You may measure things differently. Besides which - I have never seen Solamina fight. She prefers to send troops to whittle away the defences of her enemies.”

Stephan nodded. “Her forces can't be that tough, though.”

The Doctor glanced at him briefly. “What makes you say that?”

“You said the war’s gone on for six years?” Stephan asked. “Strikes me that she’s had more than enough time to conquer one island, given the resources at her disposal - unless she’s just a shit commander and her forces are incompetent.”

“An interesting assumption,” the Doctor said dryly. “Incorrect, but interesting.”

“According to Luna, Discord was defeated by Solamina,” Celestia put in. “She is, at the least, that powerful.”

“All the same,” Stephan said, looking at her. “From what I’ve heard, she seems to be incompetent enough that she's wasted entire armies of troops attacking the British Isles, when by rights she should have conquered them by now.”

“Perhaps you would be better served waiting for an assessment from actual troops on the ground,” the Doctor said quietly. “As opposed to working from what you may have gleaned based on a few numbers. I would ask you to consider, however, that we had over one hundred million people at the start of our war, and that number is now fourteen. Also, that any assault on an island nation being even moderately well defended is forced to overcome several hurdles merely to get off the launchpad: most of their assaults have been forced to either break past a naval blockade or else circumvent it via portals.”

Stephan nodded slowly.

“And though I have little experience of your conflict,” the Doctor continued, “I assure you that Solamina - both when she was Celestia and now - is a more formidable opponent both strategically and personally than you seem to give her credit for.”

Stephan sighed. “Alright. That being said, we’re going to need to know more about her. We need to formulate a plan, start working on -”

“Due course, Major,” the Doctor said tiredly. “Let us focus on the task at hand.”

“Why so insistent, Major Bauer?” Celestia asked.

“Not knowing your enemy is tantamount to losing the war before your start,” Stephan replied tersely. “Now there's an entirely new Tyrant to fight, with an entirely new army and an entire empire of her own, and we know nothing about her and how she fights. That's not exactly my favourite position to be in. I don't want to start making assumptions that get people killed.”

“I can see what you mean,” Celestia agreed, nodding slowly.

“I am in much the same position with your world,” the Doctor reminded them both. “As are those from my world. I suspect there will be much information to exchange between the two worlds before our respective conflicts are done.”

Before Stephan or Celestia could reply, Luna returned, a frown on her face.

“Wait a minute!” Stephan said all of a sudden. “That was it!”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“The advice. From that podcast. Move away from the focus of the geographical loop. Keep the object on your horizon, and walk diagonally to the right or left of it.”

“I don’t think we we can do that,” the Doctor said.

“Well, maybe, but maybe we’re not thinking about this the right way,” Twilight explained. “We’re continually going up…”

“Because of the spell,” Luna replied softly. “It is an even simpler spell to trap unwelcome guests as the one at the door.”

“What kind of spell?” Stephan asked.

“The stairs are connected with a spell that would be activated when somepony tries to walk up. After some time, more stairs grow out in front while the other behind disappear. You would be trapped in an endless staircase,” Luna snorted in disappointment. “What a childish spell. A fool could recognize it if they took the time to be wary.”

“Childish, perhaps, but nonetheless effective if it is used correctly,” the Doctor said quietly.

“Is there a way to disarm it like by the door?” Stephan asked.

“Unfortunately… I cannot,” Luna said quietly. “As simple as it is, it is too deeply connected with the stairs, the tower and even the castle to simply remove it. Sombra was nothing if not efficient.”

Stephan gave a heavy sigh, standing up slowly. “Any ideas how we can get up there?”

“We could try to fly up,” Celestia said, flapping her wings a bit, “but then Sombra or his spells would probably be ready for such a thing.”

Luna nodded in approval. “We can use the stairs. We only have to be faster in walking up as they can grow.”

Stephan growled. “Well, I can’t run. Can’t you just teleport us up there?”

Celestia looked all the way up the tower before she gave him an answer. “I am sorry, but no. Something still blocks our ability to fix a certain point. We would teleport blind and could end up anywhere.”

Stephan pinched his nasal bone between the fingers with tightly closed eyes. “Okay, we can’t fly, run or teleport. Any ideas?”

Celestia and Luna pondered over it for a few moments. Then Celestia gave Luna a sudden smile.

“Oh dear,” the Doctor said, looking between the two of them. “We’re not going to like this, are we?”

Stephan glanced between the two Alicorns, before gulping. “Nein.”

***

City Outskirts.

Discord glanced back at the man in his counterpart’s cage. For a while, he had made little needling comments, but Discord had responded by summoning a boombox and making it play loud music. Irritatingly, neither Sombra nor the two guards DisQord had summoned seemed all that fazed by that. Now, Sombra was kneeling, Marcus’ eyes closed over the glowing eyes. Discord sighed and put a cla over his face, trying to massage his headache away.

Really didn’t need this. There are so many things that could have gone wrong, but this is up there - right next to invasion of the Beedrils and a sudden lack of teacups.

“This one has more potential than you realise.”

Discord frowned, turning to look at Sombra, who had yet to open his eyes. “Say what?”

“This… this human,” Sombra said, his sibilant voice hissing from between Marcus’ lips. “He has more potential, more promise, than any of you short-sighted imbeciles might have ever known, even him. But I see it. I feel it. And I will make use of it.”

“We’ll be kicking you out of there, soon,” Discord promised. “You won’t get to make use of anything.”

“We shall see, Chaos Lord,” Sombra said. “You mocked me before - but now, there will be no mockery -”

A boombox flashed into existence as he spoke, and immediately blared out a wave of loud, angry music, drowning Sombra out - so much so that Discord didn't initially notice Cadance landing near him, given that he had his fingers in his ears and his eyes closed.

“Discord!” she yelled, barely audible over the music. “DISCORD!”

The Draconequus opened his eyes and immediately noticed her.

“Hi!” he said with a grimace that was trying desperately to be a grin. “How are you?!”

“What happened?” Cadance yelled over the music.

“What?” Discord asked.

Cadance sighed, and her horn flashed, blasting the boombox apart.

“Spoilsport,” Discord said.

“What happened here?!” Cadance asked, ignoring him. “Why… is… is Marcus possessed?”

“Gold star,” Discord groaned.

Sombra, for his part, merely gazed at Cadance with mild interest.

“The Crystal Princess, I take it,” he said with a sneer. “A title I shall dispute most vigorously upon my escape.”

“So, this side of never, then?” Discord snapped. He sighed. “My illustrious alter ego is retrieving Celly and co as we speak. Hopefully we’ll be able to clear this up cleanly.”

“Hopefully,” Cadance said quietly.

“I love it when my enemies cling to false hope,” Sombra said with a more pronounced sneer. “It makes crushing them all the more -”

In a flash, the boombox was back again. Cadance sighed, but simply watched Sombra intently. Discord closed his eyes again, and grimaced again. He hoped the others would be back soon.

***

The Crystal Castle.

As it turned out, Celestia and Luna’s plan had been to invert gravity - the underside of the stairs had been entirely smooth, without cracks or anything similar making it unsafe. Thus, with gravity inverted, the underside became…

… well, ‘a giant helter-skelter’, as the Doctor had put it.

Celestia was the first one who reached the end of the stairs and flew a few meters into the air, followed by Luna. Both spread their wings and they turned the gravity back to normal before they landed without a sound on the ground. The Doctor and Stephan were each being carried by one of the princesses, and Twilight and Lyra were able to use their own magic to levitate themselves from harm.

“Well, that was fun,” Celestia chimed gleefully.

Luna smiled in return. “Indeed, it was.” She then turned her head to Stephan who still had his arms around her neck. “Are you okay, Major?”

Stephan carefully opened his eyes and made a peek. Then he suddenly straightened his back and tossed his arms in the air.

“WOW!” he exclaimed. “That was awesome! I haven’t done that in forever!”

Luna looked at him for some more seconds before she shook her head and kneeled down to let Stephan get off her. He checked his clothes and equipment before he took a look around. His eyes fell upon the hovering heart made of crystal in the middle of the room.

“Looks like we found what we were looking for,” he said slowly.

“Agreed,” the Doctor said.

Celestia’s and Luna’s eyes followed his line of sight and saw the Crystal Heart as well.

“Yes. This is the Crystal Heart. The source of the Crystal Kingdom's power,” Celestia explained. “With it, we will be able to repel Sombra’s power permanently.”

Stephan pulled out his pistol again. “Let’s be careful. This looks way too easy after all we had to go through.”

The group approached the Crystal Heart slowly, but there seemed to be nothing wrong - no calamity, no disaster.

“Alright, seriously,” Stephan said. “This is too easy. Where's the catch.”

“Would you believe, waiting outside?” a familiar voice chimed in.

The group turned, to see DisQord standing there, arms folded, looking harried.

“DisQord?” Celestia said, sounding confused. “What are you doing here?”

“Warning you,” the Draconequus said simply. “Things might have gone smoothly for you up here, but we have problems out there.”

***

City Outskirts.

When DisQord returned to where Discord and Marcus were waiting, Discord was more relieved than he would have liked to admit to see Celestia and Luna with him, along with Twilight, Lyra, the Doctor and Stephan.

“Thank goodness you're here!” Cadance said with a smile.

“Has he been acting up?” DisQord asked quietly.

“Vague pronouncements of his supremacy, that sort of thing,” Discord replied softly. “‘I will destroy you, eat your unhappiness…’ stuff like that. Blah, blah, blah. Nothing I’d call too earthshaking, but we’d better hurry.”

Sombra said nothing, which in and of itself was somewhat worrying. Both Celestia and Luna approached him, Celestia looking stern and Luna looking haunted.

“It really is you,” she said quietly. “I did not believe it.”

“I knew you always underestimated me,” Sombra hissed through Marcus’ lips. “But even in your sorry estimation, you must have known that I had grown.”

“Not enough to see your folly,” Luna growled. “You little -”

“Ahem,” DisQord interrupted. He had a grimace on his face, almost of pain. “Can we not? We’re not burdened with time, here.”

Sombra/Marcus simply folded his arms. “I have all the time in the world.”

“He’s right,” the gravelly voice of the Doctor cut in. Everypony, human and Draconequus looked at the old stallion, who was holding his sonic screwdriver, scrutinising it intently. “Time is on his side.”

“Care to explain?” Stephan asked.

“Sombra is not merely possessing Marcus’ body,” the Doctor said grimly. “In a sense, he is rewriting his genetic code, altering it using the runes as a transmission system for the changes.”

“Such a cold, dry description for such a beautiful moment,” Sombra chuckled.

Discord scowled at him. “What are you doing, Sombrero?”

“I told you this body has potential,” Sombra replied. “It is not my fault you spend more time playing with your toys than paying attention.”

“If my readings are even remotely correct, he will be able to force Colonel Renee’s body into a different stage of evolution,” the Doctor said quietly.

“What kind of ‘different stage of evolution’?” Stephan growled.

“The stage where it would take a nigh-on demigod to oppose him,” the Doctor said quietly. “The work is half finished at present. We must force Sombra from Colonel Renee now.”

“That seems… unlikely. And overpowered,” Lyra said.

“We were all desperate and carved magical superconductors into his flesh, we didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter!” Stephan said. “If he gets… rewritten… is there a way to take Sombra out?”

“Yes, but the longer this goes on, the more inextricable Sombra becomes,” the Doctor explained.

“The Crystal Heart could do it,” Cadance said quietly. “It could banish Sombra -”

“But what damage might be done to Marcus’ psyche if the force is done without his assistance?” Luna asked.

“She’s right,” Celestia said grimly. “If they are linked, simply tearing them apart might shatter Marcus’ mind. Marcus must resist Sombra.”

Sombra chuckled. “Your hopes grow more vain by the second.”

“Shut up!” Discord snapped. “Your toast is burnt and no amount of scraping will remove the black part! See? I can do it too!”

“Yes, but I sound more convincing,” Sombra replied in his booming voice, a wicked smile on Marcus’ face.

“What can we do, then?” Cadance asked. “There must be some way to help Marcus.”

“There is,” Discord said. “I can go in there and try to break Sombra’s hold on Marcus from within - give him a hand fighting him off!”

“Brute force?” DisQord asked.

“Sometimes, it's the best way,” Discord said with a wink.

“You think to defeat me in a battle of wills?” Sombra scoffed. “I will -”

“Shut up!” Discord snapped.

“Wait,” Luna said, holding up a hoof. “We do not know to what extent Sombra has control over Marcus’ mind. It may be that they are too entwined for brute force to overcome.”

“You will never -”

“Shut up!”

DisQord frowned thoughtfully. “There might be another way.”

Celestia frowned. “Explain, DisQord.”

DisQord looked at Sombra, before snapping his fingers. A pair of earmuffs appeared around Marcus’ ears.

“Saves you from telling him to shut up again when he tells us how futile it is,” DisQord said to his counterpart. He looked at Cadance. “You're the Princess of Love, right?”

“Yes?” Cadance said with a slightly impatient tone. “So?”

“So,” DisQord said. “Sombra’s entire schtick seems to rely on despair. He’ll be making Marcus feel his lowest. We need someone to go in there and make Marcus feel his highest.”

“And I can't do that?” Discord asked.

Celestia burst out laughing, a high, half-pained sound that almost made the two Draconequii wince. She laughed long and hard, her eyes wide and watering, before she started coughing from the sheer vehemence of her laughter. Finally, she stopped.

“You done?” Discord asked dryly.

She laughed again, for less time but with just as much vehemence. Finally, and with a final ‘ha, ha, haaaa’ for emphasis, she stopped.

“Ha,” she said.

“Now are you done?” Discord asked.

“My point,” DisQord said irritably, “is that I can try to move Marcus’ consciousness into a small empty segment of his mind, one Sombra isn't in - he’ll notice quickly, but my compatriot and I -” and here he pointed to Discord, who waved ironically, “can keep him from having too much control. Once there, Cady-Wady can talk to him, make him feel less horrible -”

“Hopefully slightly better than ‘less horrible’,” Twilight put in.

DisQord nodded. “And Sombra can be pushed out when the Heart activates.”

“Sounds tricky,” Celestia said with a frown. “Is there not a danger that Cadance could be harmed by Sombra?”

“If there is a danger, I’ll risk it,” Cadance cut in before DisQord could respond. “If I can help him, I will. We’re already risking everything to help these humans. If I can't do this, stand up to despair itself as the Princess of Love, then what good am I?”

After a moment, Celestia nodded.

“Very well,” she said. “DisQord, Discord, do what must be done.”

“Can we leave the earmuffs on Sombrero?” Discord asked. “I feel like it's an improvement.”

Everyone ignored that.

“How do we activate the Heart once Marcus is convinced and Sombra is weakened?” Luna asked.

“Oh, if only you had two Draconequii who could teleport Cady there in a flash,” Discord said sarcastically. “That part’s a cinch.”

***

Nowhere.

There was a sudden, ringing silence, and Marcus Renee opened his eyes.

He was in an entirely empty space, devoid of… well, anything. There was no grass or soil. The ground was white, solid, but of no material he recognised. There were no boundaries. The sky was as white as the ground, and almost impossible to distinguish. He had no idea what had happened, or why he was here. Or, for that matter, where ‘here’ was.

Did… did something happen to me?

“Colonel Renee?” a voice asked from behind him. He turned, to find himself facing Princess Cadance.

“Colonel,” she said, her voice tinged with relief.

“Princess,” he said in return. “What… what is this? Where am I? What's happened?”

“You don't remember?” Cadance asked.

“Remember what?” he replied, frowning.

“We were in the Crystal Empire,” Cadance explained. “And you… something took you over. Dark magic. Your eyes were green and purple magic was spilling out of them... “

Seeing the look on Marcus’ face, she pressed on.

“We think it was Sombra,” she said. He looked up at her in horror. “Discord and DisQord - Celestia, that feels strange to say - have moved us both to this part of your mind.” She frowned slightly. “I don't know how long we have.”

Marcus blinked, trying to remember… something. A voice - Sombra’s voice, he realised - echoed through Marcus’ mind. Mine… mine… mine… MINE…

“Yeah,” Marcus said, his voice flat and uninflected. “I remember now. When it got in my mind, he told me...”

He trailed off, uncertain how to continue.

“He tried to make you despair,” Cadance guessed. “That's why I’m here - to try and convince you not to.”

“He… he showed me…” Marcus whispered. “All the people, the ponies I’ve failed. Lyra, Bon Bon, Jacob -”

“You haven't failed anyone,” Cadance insisted, her expression determined. “Your world is still there. Still fighting.”

“Oh, she’s right about that,” a new voice cut in, the bright space suddenly seeming to darken. “The real question is, for how long?”

A black cloud seemed to stretch across the featureless sky. Cadance scowled.

“Sombra,” she hissed. “Marcus has told me about his world - about the battles he's won, the ponies he's -”

“Oh, as if you can trust his recollection,” Sombra said, his voice sounding like a hoof being drawn across a chalkboard. “Let him show you for himself.”

“NO!” Marcus yelled, voice full of years of pent-up anguish, and he let out a ragged, rasping scream of pain…

***

DisQord’s expression shifted into a frown. Cadance was knelt by Marcus, both their eyes closed.

“What is it?” Stephan asked, folding his arms.

“Sombra’s with them,” DisQord said quietly. “It's become more difficult.”

“We should have gone with my plan,” Discord hissed. “At least mine was direct!”

“It's too late for debate,” Celestia cut in, forestalling argument between the two Draconequii. “What is happening is happening. We are committed. We must press on.”

DisQord threw Celestia an impressed glance, before returning his concentration to the two meditating figures.

***

The feelings of fear, of self-loathing, of terror, all seemed to swell up inside him like a rise of bile inside his throat. He covered his head with his arms as if trying to shield himself, a sob escaping from his lips.

Sombra was chuckling darkly, his voice echoing all around.

“Despair at your failures, little man. Despair at those you have failed to save and will always fail to save!”

“Keep fighting, Marcus,” Cadance’s voice said quietly. “You're stronger than this - and we need you.”

Marcus, the memories washing over him like a wave in a storm. “What makes me so damn special?”

A french woman choking her last as enchanted clothes from Rarity strangled her. An elderly Londoner, half-ponified, sobbing in the street as one of the soldiers under Marcus’ command shot him.

Cities burning. Two airplanes lifting off from Heathrow and crashing into one another, falling into the sea.

King Charles, ponified.

Lyra, petrified and shattered.

Bon-Bon, her mind shattered beyond repair. His little brother Jake, ponified. His mind turned inside out into a caricature of itself.

“Do you see it, Marcus?” Sombra asked, his voice a serpentine hissing that seemed to crawl into the Marine’s ears.

“I… I do…” he gasped, his eyes brimming with tears. “People get hurt wherever I go. People I should've protected… I failed them all…”

“No!” Cadance insisted, as the images continued.

His friends, his unit in the middle east before any of this madness.

People left behind as the Barrier atomized them, ponified them if they were unlucky. Newfoals, hundreds of them, thanking him for abandoning them with complete sincerity. Sometimes.

Defiance - the HLF shantytown in the middle of nowhere - being sacked by PHL. So many people had died. So… many… And Kraber wasn’t one of them.

An entire town one day flickering off the map, its population replaced with newfoals. PHL and anyone else in the area desperately trying to quarantine it to keep the newfoals from spreading, from hurting even more people.

“And I let the wrong people live,” Marcus said. “The bastards, the worst fucking scum the apocalypse brought out keep surviving… and the good people die.”

Trapped behind a desk. A cascade of letters explaining, for the umpteenth time, that he’d let someone’s son die. Let them get ponified. Another city gone.

Gone.

All of it gone.

Like tears, in the rain.

Marcus gasped, the cloud only darkening.

“Marcus,” Cadance said, her voice soft, almost inaudible compared to the booming timbre of Sombra’s. “I… can't begin to imagine what you've been through. The torment you must have suffered if you felt this way. But whatever happens, you have to keep fighting! The PHL needs you! Earth needs you!”

“I doubt that it needs someone such as Marcus,” Sombra said. “Look at him. All this power, and he did nothing. He couldn't stop the barrier. He couldn't save anyone.”

“The planet Earth’s still there! He's saved plenty of people, of ponies!” Cadance yelled.

“But that doesn't change all those hedidn't,” Sombra said. “Look at you, Marcus. You're a foal playing with a miniature sun. Letting yourself get kicked around when you could be so… much… better. You were given the mantle of leadership and you did not lead, except to lead your people further into hell. You were offered a greater mantle, and you tossed it aside. Time and again, you have shown that you can do nothing with this reservoir of power. But I can.”

“He’s lying!” Cadance insisted.

Sombra chuckled, continuing. “I can change everything. I can shatter the Barrier.”

Marcus gasped again, looking up at the dark clouds above him. “But… But you'll hurt my friends. The PHL!”

Sombra chuckled darkly. “Don't ponies say that my victory would be an improvement over Celestia? They lose, but the universe wins.”

“That's a terrible choice,” Cadance insisted. “Marcus -”

Sombra only laughed again. “Who was it who said, sometimes the only choices we have are bad ones, but we must still choose? What is more important, Marcus? Saving all of reality from Celestia, or saving Celestia from me?”

***

Marcus’ lips let out an obscene chuckle, though his eyes remained closed. DisQord grimaced, his eyes narrowing with strain. Discord threw a glance at Celestia, his expression worried, but she remained oddly calm.

“We should step in!” he said.

“No,” she said calmly. “We’re not done yet. Wait.”

“Wait?!” Discord hissed. “Look, Celly, dearest, I’m loving the sudden turn of confidence, but this is not the time to be unbending.”

“We must trust Cadance and Marcus,” Celestia said calmly. “We must trust that they will succeed - I will not give up on them until I have proof they have already failed.”

Discord huffed. “Well, I hope we don’t regret that, sis.”

***

“Marcus, please,” Cadance said softly. “I know that things seem hopeless - I can see what you’ve been through, and it scares me more than anything I’ve ever seen -!”

“It is but a taste, little Crystal Princess,” Sombra laughed.

“- but you have to believe me when I say, that there is hope,” Cadance finished. “You found us.”

“Got lucky,” Marcus mumbled. “Can’t-”

“Then take advantage of that luck,” Cadance said. “Equestria can help. All of its nations and peoples.”

“If you want something done right,” Sombra said. “Do it yourself, Marcus. And I can make it possible.”

“Marcus,” Cadance said. “You have no assurance he’d be any different. I know what he did. He ruled through fear, and so does Celestia. He wouldn’t be better, he’d just be a different kind of bad! Everyone in the PHL that you’ve spoken of - Cheerilee, Vinyl, Heliotrope, Yael, Major Bauer, the other Cadance, Bon-Bon, even that unpleasant human with the beard and strange accent... they’re counting on you, not another despot!”

“A despot who can save all you hold dear from the mutilation it awaits at Queen Celestia’s hooves,” Sombra insisted.

“And kill it instead!” Cadance snapped. She took a breath. “You told us Lyra entrusted the PHL to you. Is this what she would have wanted?”

“Oh, you long since stopped doing what the good Ambassador would have wanted, didn’t you, Marcus?” Sombra chuckled. “So many lines crossed…”

“Then cross no more!” Cadance continued. “This one, this last one, this is it. This far, no further. You can be better, Marcus Renee. You’re not the kind of person who sells his soul, you’re Marcus Renee and you’re a good person!! I know you don’t think so - but we, me Celestia, Luna, Twilight, our Lyra… all of us believe in you! We believe that you can be the good man you want to be! You are a good man! You just need to believe, just for one minute, just for one moment.”

Marcus shook his head, still covering his head with his arms.

Cadance stepped closer to him, her expression soft. “Marcus. If you can believe in yourself for this one moment, then you can become something greater than Sombra could make you, something greater than anything. I believe that.”

Marcus looked up at her, his eyes full of doubt.

“Do you?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Yes.”

Marcus took a deep breath. He looked up at the cloud, before standing to his feet. Finally, he spoke.

“Rip that. Stupid. Fucking. Horn. Out. Your forehead! Turn it sideways, and GO FUCK YOURSELF!”

A crack of lightning shot through the dark clouds, splitting them in two, and a ray of what might have been sunshine forced its way through. A growling scream lashed through the air, and Marcus winced but held his ground. Cadance smiled, knowing that Marcus had done it, had destabilised Sombra’s hold -

***

And just like that, Cadance’s eyes snapped open. Marcus pitched forward, his eyes still closed, his expression morphed into one of effort.

“Is it done?” Celestia asked.

“Marcus is fighting now,” Cadance said. “We have to activate the Heart!”

“Good!” Luna declared.

“Cadance, remember,” Celestia said quickly. “The Heart is only part of the puzzle. You must convince the ponies of the Crystal Kingdom to overcome their fear and despair - you must convince them as you convinced Marcus to fight! Only then will the Heart activate!”

“It’ll be an easier job, thanks to the Elements,” DisQord said with a slight smirk. “They’ve been non-stop trying to cheer the Crystal Ponies since they arrived.”

“I understand,” Cadance said, nodding to Celestia. “I won’t fail you, Princess.”

“I know you won’t, Princess,” Celestia returned with a wide smile. “Go, Discord.”

Discord nodded, and in a flash, he and Cadance were gone.

***

City Centre.

Pinkie Pie was desperately trying not to panic.

This was something rarely happened - usually, she simply pronked through the insanity of everyday life in ponyville, when she wasn’t actively part of it.

“Wasn’t there some other party pony?! Ooooh, if only I could have him here, we could keep them happy!”

The clouds swirled round and round the outskirts of the city, and Pinkie partied as if the world depended on it.

I mean, it probably does!

Oh yeah. It kind of did. Having Sombra rampaging, running roughshod over the Crystal Empire and Equestria, when they were trying to help Earth could be horrible!

You’re not helping, spooky narrator voice that I know is just my imagination!

Sorry!

Apology accepted. Carry on.

Yes ma’am.

And then, suddenly, something hit her. She wasn’t sure what it was for a moment, until she realised it was the faint feeling of her Pinkie sense tingling. The feeling was intangible, like the faint tint of something spicy on the air after one had been cooking with sauce…

And then Discord and Cadance reappeared next to her in a flash of white light.

“But we weren’t supposed to appear here!” Discord grumbled. “Whatever’s happening must be messing with our magic.”

“Something big is happening!” Pinkie said. “I just had a Pinkie sense. Is it -”

“The Heart,” Cadance said quietly, her eyes wide. “It must be - the ponies of the Empire fuel it. Their emotions make it cast doubt or love across all of Equestria.” She smiled softly. “And it’s about to cast love.”

Without another word, she flew off, heading for the heart, which had been positioned in readiness. She was already calling out to the ponies on either side of her.

“Ponies of the Crystal Kingdom!” she yelled. “Listen to me now! The Crystal Heart is in place! But it is not the true heart of this kingdom - you are! Your hopes, your dreams, everything that made you who you are! I know that Sombra’s madness tore hope from you! I know that his tyranny has cast fear and doubt into your hearts - but I also know, in the very depths of my heart, that you can learn to rise above it! Remember the joy of your lives, and you will be able to claim it again! Remember the love of your friends, your families, your mothers, your fathers, your brothers and sisters! Remember, and you will be able to cast darkness from this Kingdom once and for all!”

Discord raised an eyebrow at the tingle that began to slowly emanate from the Crystal Ponies. Many of them were murmuring amongst themselves, sharing reminisces of happier times, and in the centre of the city, the Crystal Heart was reacting, glowing in answer to their growing love and joy.

“Ooh, this is gonna be a big one!” Pinkie said with a grin. She whipped a pair of sunglasses from… somewhere… and put them on her face. Discord frowned slightly - and then a wave of magic burst from the heart, washing over the city, the Crystal Ponies, and everything else...

***

Outskirts.

A wave of magic expanded from the centre of the city, moving at incredible speed. Celestia had time to look and call out “Cadance did it”! before the wave washed past the little group.

The effect on Marcus was immediate. As the wave slammed into him, he let out a sudden scream of pain and triumph, mixed into one. His eyes snapped open, and the green and purple smoke disappeared.

And then he collapsed forward. DisQord stepped back, the prison he had created dissipating. At once, the Doctor, Lyra and Twilight dashed to Marcus’ side, as did Stephan. The German soldier checked his friend’s pulse.

“He’s alive,” he said after a moment. “Barely.”

“We must get him out of here,” the Doctor said. “He requires stasis and stabilisation - back to the TARDIS, quickly!”

Stephan nodded, and lifted the unconscious Marine up in a fireman’s lift, grunting with effort. Lyra and Twilight used their telekinesis to stabilise him, and together, they began limping after the Doctor as they headed for the TARDIS.

“Well,” DisQord said, letting out a breath. “This has certainly been an ordeal to get through.”

“Is - is that it?” Luna asked. “Is Sombra dead?”

“Dead?” DisQord asked. “No - not dead. No, something entirely different happened to him.”

***

City Centre.

Sparkling slightly from the afterwash of the Crystal Heart’s magic, Discord looked down at Pinkie, who was grinning, her entire body also sparkling.

“That was, to quote Dashie,” she said, “so… awesome.”

***

Celestia stood and watched Marcus. The human that she’d grown fond of was convulsing in front of her.

I really haven’t done much, she thought, her horn lightly touching Marcus’s body, funneling in subtle spells to heal him, to stabilize the overflow of magic that was overwhelming his body. From what she could tell, the human body had little (if any) of the necessary adaptations to use magic, and what remained was almost vestigial.

The runes, from what she gathered, were like a secondary, redundant nervous system that had been grafted onto Marcus’ body. Without them, his organs, overwhelmed by the magic, would slowly disintegrate and he’d start coughing up blood.

I suppose I should calm down, Celestia thought. At the very least, I’m not Sombra, I….

And then it struck her.

...haven’t done any of these things! I don’t use the pronoun ‘I’ to describe the other me, because I know she isn’t me! It all makes sense now!”

It was like a lightning bolt exploded in her head.

She sighed in relief.

“I think I just had an epiphany,” Celestia said to nopony in particular. “I feel better than alright! As if everything’s going to be okay.There’s no need to worry about either of us being monsters. We’ve done the best we can, and we are fine. We’re better than fine, and everything will be okay-”

It would have almost been rude for the universe not to respond to that.

Suddenly, her horns was drawn downards to Marcus chest. It was as if there was a whirlpool inside of Marcus, and she was a ship caught in the current.

Celestia wheezed, and suddenly the wind left her lungs. She struggled to breathe.

Celestia’s mind raced. It wasn’t a spell, it was… it was an absense of magic in Marcus. She looked at the runes that had been tattooed over Marcus and saw that they looked to be burning - as if a hot branding iron had been shoved into his skin.

And they were glowing brighter the more tired she became.

I have to keep him stable! Celestia thought, and her horn glowed like a sun… if only for a fraction of a second, as the light died. Only for Marcus’ runes to glow brighter.

The magic just goes in, but… but he consumes it! Celestia thought. I-

The thought slipped in, unbidden.

...can’t stay with him. He’ll drain it out of me.

All around Celestia, snow was beginning to fall. The soil was growing colder and harder… freezing. The life-sustaining crystals that kept the Empire from being a frozen wasteland were being sapped - at least in the small area where Marcus lay.

Whatever Sombra did to him is draining magic from the ground! Celestia thought, alarmed. If I stay, he’ll drain me, too.

No. She could sense some of Sombra in Marcus, but...there was a sense his presence was crumbling.

Whatever happens, I’m no good if I get drained of thaums here, she thought, and spread her wings…

Only to find that they were too weak.

Might as well use these long legs, she thought, and rushed towards the Crystal Empire.

***

In the fading mindscape of his own head, Marcus frowned. The dark cloud was gone - and in it’s place was a scared looking foal, maybe four years old. Only his dark colouration made it clear that this was Sombra.

“H-hello?” the foal-Sombra asked. “Who are you? Where am I? Where are my parents?”

“I - what?” Marcus asked, eyes narrowing. “What do you -?”

Without any sign of transition or change, a figure was suddenly stood with the foal. He wore a white hooded cloak, hiding most of his body from sight, but Marcus glimpsed toned arms clad in a white, long-sleeved tunic reaching out, a scarred hand touching the foal’s head and tousling his mane.

“Hello,” the figure said in a curiously familiar voice.

“W-who are you?” the foal asked the new figure.

“That’s not important right now,” the figure said. “I’ve come to send you somewhere better.”

“W-will my parents be there?” the foal asked.

“Yes,” the figure said. He moved his hand, and the foal was gone. The figure stood.

“I’m sorry,” Marcus said, eyes narrowing. “What the fuck?!”

The figure chuckled. “I’d forgotten the swearing.”

He turned, lowering his hood, and Marcus’ eyes widened at who he saw.

“That’s impossible,” he said.

“Perhaps,” the figure said, wearing the face of Marcus Renee. “I don’t think you’ll remember this. I don’t. But then, I’m a lot older than you, and I’ve been through… a bit.”

“Who - how -?” Marcus asked, eyes still wide.

“Let’s just say, you’ve not come out of this unchanged,” the other Marcus said. “This is the very beginning of a journey that will take you a very long way.”

And then he, too, was gone, and Marcus felt the world fade away into blissful unconsciousness…

***

A Work In Progress

Despite the title, we're mostly sure this is finished. ~The Management

Chapter Four: A Work In Progress.

Written by: Doctor Fluffy, Jed R.

Editors RoyalPsycho, The Void, redskin122004, TheIdiot.

This chapter also contains direct segments used in the chapter Training Days: First Days, Part 1, from The Conversion Bureau: The Other Side of the Spectrum. But it’s cool, some of us actually wrote that, so we gave ourselves permission. We had to talk to ourselves a lot..

***

“Mighty are the Ainur, and mightiest among them is Melkor; but that he may know, and all the Ainur, that I am Ilúvatar, those things that ye have sung and played, lo! I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.”

Eru Ilúvatar, The Ainulindalë.

***

The Canterhorn, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria..

DisQord stood alone on the top of the Canterhorn, looking down at a world that was at once familiar and not familiar, at once the world he had spent thousands of mortal years upon and nothing like it.

You interfered.

He sighed. And, right on cue, his superiors had come to tell him how wrong he was. He wasn’t surprised. Disappointed, yes, just a little, but not surprised.

“Yes. I interfered,” he replied. “Get on with what you’re going to do or leave me alone.”

You were not placed on that world. You are not authorised to interfere.

“I’ve got business here,” he said. “Business to do with my assigned world. It was unavoidable.”

Really?

“Yes. As far as I know, two intra-universal transport spells knotted together - and so much has changed, so much has butterflied that I couldn’t get this back on the rails even if I wanted to.”

We know what has happened.

“And?”

There was a long pause. DisQord frowned. They did not usually pause to think - usually, their minds were already made up when they decided to contact him.

We are divided.

DisQord raised an eyebrow. “Divided?”

The Children are involved, and we do not interfere in that business. Nonetheless, you are still within your remit - just. There was a pause. Stray again from your remit, and we will not be lenient.

“Duly noted,” DisQord said quietly.

There was silence, and he breathed out. For now, he would be allowed to continue doing his work.

For now. No way of knowing if they’ll stay that understanding about it all.

“What are you doing up here?” he heard a familiar voice ask. He turned, to see his other self - the young Discord of this world - staring at him, his arms folded.

“Thinking away from all the loud annoying people down there,” DisQord replied snarkily. “But since you’ve elected to follow me up here, I might as well come down.”

“Oh har de har,” the other Discord snorted, before disappearing.

DisQord sighed, took one last look at the landscape, and then followed.

***

Canterlot Medical Wing.

“Colonel Renee?”

His eyes slowly opened, grogginess still clinging to him. He felt… strange, as though something was off, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Colonel?” a voice asked again.

Marcus blinked, and found himself staring at Doctor Hooves, the old-looking one.

“Doc?” he asked.

The stallion scowled. “Don’t call me that, please.”

Marcus sighed. “Sorry. I…”

He trailed off, looking around the hospital room. It was a solitary room, quiet and empty, save for the two of them.

“You had quite an interesting time, Colonel,” the Doctor said dryly. “You're lucky to have come out of it all in one piece.”

“That - look, what’s happening?” Marcus asked, feeling impatient with the vagueness. “What happened to me?”

The stallion gave a wan smile. “That is… an interesting question. The answer is, a great deal in a short amount of time.”

Marcus growled, sitting himself up. “Alright, spill -”

There was a sound like metal wrenching, and Marcus glanced at the railings of the bed, before letting go, his eyes wide. He had managed to tear the metal, bending it into new shapes with his fists.

“I believe you have managed to succinctly explain to yourself,” the Doctor said dryly. “Your body has been altered.”

“H-how?” Marcus asked.

“Sombra was making changes to your body, presumably to make full use of the potential there present,” the Doctor said with a smile. “Your body has been infused with a kind of crystal, and your nervous system and brain are now both laced with alicornal tissue. A gentleman called Dr Isaac Dan Der Grimnebulin was studying the results earlier - I believe he is the PHL’s resident specialist in these matters.”

“I… my brain… WHAT?!” Marcus yelled, overwhelmed.

The Doctor sighed. “Alright. This will be difficult to explain, so pay attention. Your body has been infused with crystal - pure, thaumically conductive, and thus able to grant you improved magical capabilities. Your neural tissues are now infused with alicornal tissue - the exact cause of this is unclear, but what we do know is that you drained the ambient magic of the surrounding area for several days. It seems your body now runs on magic as much as more, shall we say, traditional means of powering it.”

Marcus slumped back in his bed. “I… don’t understand. I’m… like a battery?”

“Perhaps,” the Doctor said. “Or a lightning rod. I wouldn’t worry too much about the potential of running short - from what we can tell, while you’re currently holding the same amount of thaumic energy as Discord, Luna or Celestia, you only require a fraction of that amount to survive.”

Marcus blinked. “I… don’t even…”

“You should attempt to rest, Colonel,” the Doctor said quietly. “I believe that Princess Celestia wished to speak to you about beginning to control your newfound abilities, and learning to control your abilities more carefully. That being the case, rest will benefit you for now.”

“Yeah,” Marcus said quietly as Doctor Hooves left the room. “I can imagine.”

***

Canterlot Palace.

“So,” DisQord said, watching as a fleet of warships flew over Canterlot. “You really want to do this?”

“Tell them?” Celestia asked. “Of course. It is only fair. You know how dangerous your enemy is supposed to be. Should they not know, too, now that they are in the firing line?”

“Fair, but I don’t think they’ll like it,” DisQord said quietly. He frowned. “Why aren’t you down there, anyway?”

“Relaxing,” Celestia said quietly. “I think I’ve earned a little chance to let Luna deal with some official business.”

“Hmm,” DisQord said quietly. “You’ve been through quite a bit. I suspect you’ve never dealt with anything quite this insane before, have you?”

“No,” Celestia admitted. “To hear of a world where I have turned to evil is unthinkable. To hear of two is… I don’t even know where to begin. It’s...” she sighed. “I know I’ve done well for Equestria, I know that I’ve done my best. But it’s enough to make me wonder if they’d be better off without me.”

“Don’t say things like that!” DisQord said.

“I know. I know how it sounds, and I shouldn’t think so, but this is just incredibly depressing,” Celestia said.

“Yeah,” DisQord said tightly. He glanced at her. “If it helps… this may play hell with your sense of choice, but there’s an infinity of realities with you, and there’s maybe… three so far where you do this in your right mind.”

“Only three?” Celestia asked.

“Well, maybe not three, but a small enough amount that it can actually be counted without a computer or without getting bored,” DisQord said. “Most of the rest, it’s possessions, or it isn’t actually a Celestia to start with, or there’s a few where it’s not you but me...” He trailed off. “On second thought, that last one might not help for the right reasons. Basically, don’t be upset over two out of infinity. You made the right choice. Maybe not what this world’s Discord would consider the best choices, but whoever does? You did admirably under the circumstances.”

“That’s an excellent way to look at it,” Celestia said, nodding contentedly.

They stood for a few moments more, watching the warships fly overhead. Celestia wondered to herself just how much they’d have to be changed. How many human advances would make them obsolete?

“Will you be alright, though?” DisQord asked.

Celestia frowned at him. “Why does it matter to you?”

“Nettling you is only funny when it isn’t going to result in you going postal or going catatonic, and I’m not sure if either is going to happen or both,” DisQord shrugged, “but I’m not going to get blamed for it.”

Celestia smirked. “And you’re not concerned for me, simply because?”

DisQord raised an eyebrow, before there was a sudden flash of light. Celestia found herself looking at DisQord in disbelief, for he was now clad in a green and red skintight jumpsuit, long red hair cascading down his back.

“It isn’t as though I like you or anything,” he said scathingly. “Baka.”

Celestia blinked. “W… what?”

And in a flash, DisQord was gone.

“Seriously,” Celestia said quietly. “What?!”

***

Canterlot.

“So,” Discord said, standing at the top of the tower overlooking the designated space as DisQord (sans wig and jumpsuit) appeared. “We sure about this?”

“Hello to you too.”

“They’re all waiting down there, pleasantries can wait,” Discord said testily. Then he grinned. “You should have kept the suit.”

DisQord snorted. “Perv.”

“Don’t go too Tsundere.”

“No such thing,” DisQord snorted. He sighed. “Anyway. They’re all here, right?”

“Trixie just finished telling Ironclaw how much of an ass he is,” Discord smirked. “He seems to think this business is going to be easy.”

“If only,” DisQord sighed. “And you -”

“Showed him what he was facing, yes,” Discord finished with a grin. “Think he’s thought twice about questioning what he’s up against.”

“Good,” DisQord said quietly. “Hate saying this, but taking things seriously might be our best bet.”

“And now I feel simultaneously boring and dirty,” Discord said cheerily.

DisQord sighed. “In any case, your little present would have been a little harder to do with just yourself, but the idea’s sound. It'll get the armies used to where they’ll be fighting, at least in principle.”

“Glad you agree,” Discord said, tapping a claw against his chin. “As for your other idea… I like the concept of training them to fight different figures, and Chaos knows I love a bit of dimensional tomfoolery -”

“Is that a word we use?”

“- but it won't be as fair as it could be,” Discord finished, glancing at DisQord. “I can just about create a simulacrum of what I know of Queenie, but I couldn't begin to copy the effect of the black squiggly.”

“Neither could I,” DisQord sighed, apparently resigned to his counterpart’s nicknaming. “Nor should we - attempts to copy It usually only end up summoning It.”

Discord frowned, glancing at him. “You don't think…”

“I don't think what?” DisQord asked, frowning at him.

“Never mind,” Discord said with a sigh. “Even she’s not that stupid.”

“Don't jinx it,” DisQord shrugged, before looking back out. “This is going to be something of a show-stopper, isn't it?”

“We can but hope,” Discord replied. “If nothing else, it should show these people what they're facing in the Newfoal horde.” He paused. “You're sure you don't want to add some of -”

“Not yet,” DisQord said with a shake of his head. “Remember, we’re keeping my world under wraps to a degree for the moment: the leaders might learn about it, but their troops won't yet, not for a long while.”

“Gotcha,” Discord said, before taking a breath. “Shall we?”

Discord summoned into his huge paw a ball of crackling energy. DisQord sighed, before snapping a talon, the ball taking on a golden tinge.

“There,” he said. “Should make things a little easier on you.”

“Cheers,” Discord said with a smirk. “And here… we… go…”

He snapped his talon, and the ball shot across the sky and came down in an empty river valley just to the north of the Canterhorn, landing just downstream of the Neighagra Falls. As soon as the ball hit the ground it expanded, lightning and thunder exploding from it as it swelled to fill the sky. Rain poured down in waves, drenching the land with torrential force. And then, like a tree sprouting after a drought, a giant metal beam erupted from the ground.

The beams grew higher and higher, stretching up into the sky. What came next looked like the unholy offspring of an earthquake and a tidal wave as the ground itself exploded into life, more beams bursting into bloom, even as the earth and rock caved in in oddly square spaces. Liquid concrete burst forth from cracks, (no, ‘crack’ wasn’t the right word, those were far too straight. They were seams...) filling in the holes to form something like foundations and cellars. Great canyons opened up between the checkerboard of scares, the concrete filtering into them, only for the canyons to close back up. Before their eyes, blocks of stone grew between the beams, until the shape of a familiar building could be seen - the Freedom Tower in New York city.

Another building shot up in similar fashion, and another. It was happening all over the area. An entire city was growing before their eyes, almost organically, bricks and stones assembling together like building blocks set down by a giant colt or filly. The metaphor seemed apt when involving Discord, though.

The Neighagra River spontaneously redirected itself, writhing and coiling to surround the growing city, large bridges blooming to span the water’s flow and connecting the banks to a growing island on which the bulk of the new growth rested.

As the town grew - no, the city, for what town had buildings so huge, comparable only to the soaring heights of Manehattan, but in much greater numbers, something about the styles of architecture became apparent. The hints of Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Arts Beaux, the brick tenements… the incredibly tall skyscrapers…

“An exact replica of New York city,” DisQord said appreciatively. “Ah, beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Discord said with a grin. “And hey, it actually feels pretty easy. I guess you gave it a boost, huh?”

“A little bit of one, yes,” DisQord said airily. “Let’s hope your new friends like it.”

“I’m sure they will,” Discord said, his grin widening. “New York’s a bit of a big deal for these guys.”

“Indeed,” DisQord said quietly. “Now then: what should our next order of business be?”

“Preparing for tomorrow,” Discord said. “If Celly’s really going to tell the leaders about Solly…”

“Don’t call her that.”

“Then we’ll probably need to be there,” Discord finished.

DisQord sighed. “You’re probably right. I just really hate politicians.”

***

Canterlot meeting room. The next day.

Discord’s feat of creating an entire replica of the island of Manhattan was the talk of the Alliance’s troopers for the next day, and beyond. Whispers of it even reached beyond, reaching Celestia’s ears as she stood overlooking Canterlot.

“Sister?” Luna asked from behind her.

“Luna,” Celestia greeted, turning to speak with her sister. “How goes it?”

“Well,” Luna said. “The new arrivals have settled into their posts for the moment. I believe all goes well with that - or at least, I have not heard reports to the contrary as of yet.”

“I’m glad,” Celestia said with a soft smile. “Though I fear now we must attend to the proverbial elephant in the room.”

There was a pause as Luna let this sink in.

“So you’re going to tell them,” she said at last.

“I am,” Celestia said quietly.

“Are you sure that is a good idea?” Luna asked.

Celestia sighed, rolling her shoulders slightly. “I believe it is best that we are honest about the new dangers we are about to face. We may know little about this new world and this new Tyrant, but we know enough to tell our allies that they exist.”

“I understand,” Luna said quietly. “All the same, I do not believe they will take it entirely well.”

“No, they probably won’t,” Celestia replied, smirking. “But then again, neither did I. Neither should we - this is not good news.”

With that she entered the little meeting room, where the rest of the leaders of the Alliance were waiting. Celestia noted the regal Hedwig, the stern General Ironclaw, Shaman Quagga, Darkhoof and Spykoran, dear and regal Sint Erklass.

“Celestia,” Sint greeted. “My dear. Are you well?”

“As well as can be expected, Sint,” she greeted in return.

“And Luna,” the old reindeer added. “It is so good to see you again, freed from the darkness and your imprisonment on the moon.”

Luna merely bowed, a smile on her face.

“Welcome, all,” Celestia said softly to the rest of the room. “Colonel Renee sends his apologies. A recent endeavour has left him… requiring some recovery time. With any luck, he should be able to rejoin our discussions shortly.”

“Good to know,” Chrysalis said, smirking slightly. “I hate to think what you’ve been doing while we’ve been away, Celestia. It all sounds far too exciting.”

Next to Celestia, Luna bristled slightly, clearly aggravated by Chrysalis’ sarcastic tone. Celestia merely smiled.

“Nothing you would do, I assure you, Chrysalis,” she said politely. Chrysalis let out a short laugh.

“Well, it’s good to see you gained a sense of humour,” she said, a slightly feral grin on her face. “I was beginning to think you’d have a stick rammed somewhere unfortunate for the rest of your life. Maybe this conflict business will let you loosen up a bit.”

“Enough,” Queen Hedwig said imperiously. “We’re not here for… pleasant conversation.”

“Aw, but the pleasant conversation can be so much fun,” Chrysalis said with a mock-pout. “Certainly you’re no fun, dear old bird.”

“We’re not here to have fun,” Hedwig said with a scowl.

“No, we’re not,” Spykoran added grimly. “There’s something else, isn’t there? A change is on the air.”

“I felt it as well,” Sint said quietly. “The feeling of some power other than that which we know, of a new change.” He paused, before fixing the Alicorns with an even stare. “Who else is here, Celestia?”

Celestia glanced at Luna, who sighed.

“You may show yourselves, Discords,” she said quietly.

There was a flash of light, and suddenly, there stood not one, but two Discords, one differentiated by a bright red ‘Q’ on his chest.

“WHAT?!” Darkhoof bellowed.

“What is this?!” Chrysalis asked. “How can there be two of you? I thought the one from the Tyrant’s world was dead?”

“I’m not from the Tyrant’s world, at least not the one you’re thinking of,” the Discord with the red Q said, a wry little smile on his face. “I’m from somewhere else. Which is just one of several things we’re needing to tell you in very short succession.”

“Several?” Sint repeated. “Celestia? What has happened?”

Celestia sighed, looking downcast for a moment. She exchanged a look with Luna, who nodded slowly, and then looked out at the various leaders of Equus.

“When we made contact with Earth, we discovered something disquieting,” she said quietly. “A human from another world had somehow made his way to Colonel Renee’s. His world faces… shall we say, a similar problem.”

“‘A similar problem’?” Hedwig asked, raising an eyebrow.

“What Celly is trying to say, in as diplomatic and tactful a manner as she can, is that there's another Celestia who went mad on that world,” Discord put in, rolling his eyes at her pussyfooting. “She's taken to calling herself something horribly tortured, along with a whole load of familiar bits of craziness - my personal favourite being her black squiggly.”

There was a pause as this sank in.

“Black… squiggly,” Sint Erklass repeated, blinking slowly.

“Black squiggly,” Discord said with a nod, his face uncharacteristically serious.

“I see,” Sint said, noting the Draconequus’ expression. “I suppose I should assume that your turn of phrase is meant to be a metaphor for something more unpleasant.”

“Got it in one, Sint old bean,” Discord said, still smiling, though it was tinged with something none of them could identify. “She's also - presumably because it's in vogue right about now - rocking an empire of converted humans, and wanting to conquer All Of Space And Time.”

“You’re being very glib,” General Ironclaw growled. “Which I don’t appreciate - is this other Celestia and whatever this ‘black squiggly’ is a threat, then?”

“Well duh,” Discord said. “She’s Celestia, with all the power that implies. At least.”

“Her name,” the Discord with the red Q said, “is Astra Solamina Maxima. Apart from anything else, you may be assured that she is fully committed to the same goals of conquest that Queen Celestia is, and she has the tactical wherewithal to pull it off.”

“And you are from her world,” Sint guessed.

“Well, she can’t be that dangerous,” Chrysalis commented. “Since the Tyrant we already knew about killed Discord, and yet you’re still here.”

“Big assumption,” the red-Q marked Discord said. “And mistaken. If I had decided to fight her, or been unlucky enough to be caught off guard, I would be gone too. With pain.”

Chysalis frowned. “So, what? We’re supposed to help fight this one too? Is every version of Celestia who’s gone bad suddenly our problem?”

“This Solamina is supposedly a threat to us, as the Tyrant is,” Celestia said quietly. “A threat that we will need to face. She knows of the human world, and of the Tyrant you know of already. With our involvement, she will likely become aware of us as well. We must prepare to stand against her.”

Sint frowned. “Has she, too, been responsible for pain and suffering in her world and the human world she has attacked?”

“She’s done a lot,” the red-Q marked Discord said. “Billions killed or converted on that Earth, general totalitarianism on her Equestria… the only reason she hasn’t gone to war with her Equus is that she doesn’t need to yet. The entire political scene on that world is very… fractious.”

“There’s no Concordia Maxima?” Hedwig asked.

The red-Q marked Discord snorted. “Lady, there’s no you. Apart from Celly, Luna, Chryssie and my learned other self, none of you people exist in my universe.”

“None of us?” Darkhoof repeated. “That seems absurd.”

“Believe it,” the red-Q marked Discord said with a snort. “No Queen Hedwig, no Spykoran, no Darkhoof, no Sint Erklass - there might be a reindeer population, but it’s got no big Father Christmas with hooves guiding it. With my world, you’re playing by an entirely different rulebook. Hell, my Celestia is older than you, Sint old boy. She hit the eleven thou mark a while back - you’re still languishing in your fifth or sixth millennium, right?”

Sint blinked. “Tenth, actually. Quite a change. And yet she is still Celestia?”

“Timeline Convergence,” Discord shrugged.

Hedwig scowled. “What does that mean?”

“Laybird’s terms - at least if I’ve got my temporal theories right,” Discord said, folding his mismatched arms. “Certain patterns always emerge. The details might be massively different - no Faust in one world, or no Sint Erklass, or Doctor Whooves isn’t married and he lost his W…”

“Always a terrible pun anyway,” the red-Q marked Discord muttered.

Discord ignored him. “But there’s still Celestia, Luna, Nightmare Moon…” Luna grimaced. “There’s still Elements of Harmony and certain ponies still exist. That’s a quirk of time and space.”

“A strange quirk,” Spykoran said softly. “And yet one that seems irrelevant next to the knowledge that our enemies have only doubled.”

“Indeed,” General Ironclaw said grimly. “Not news our soldiers will take well. Heck, I’m not taking it all that well.”

“There is one bit of potential good news,” Discord said cheerfully. “From what Solamina said to me while she was beating the snot out of me -”

“While she was what?” Chrysalis put in, raising an eyebrow.

Discord ignored her. “I get the feeling the two Tyrants will be coming to blows soon.” He grinned maliciously. “Solamina mentioned a coming conflict with ‘the Apostate’. At a guess, that means Queenie.”

“The ‘Apostate’?” Sint asked, raising an eyebrow. “Does she consider herself -”

“A goddess? Yes,” the red-Q marked Discord said with a sigh. “And unfortunately she’s got enough power - personal and political - that disputing that claim is going to be pretty difficult.”

“Killing a God,” Darkhoof said, an odd expression on his face. Then he grinned. “Now, that is a challenge I will accept with great enthusiasm!”

The red-Q marked Discord sighed. “And Minotaurs never change.”

Darkhoof bristled. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just remind me to introduce you to Bucephalus if we ever get the chance,” the Draconequus said with a sarcastic smile. “You can headbutt each other, show your testosterone off.”

“DisQord, do not antagonise people,” Celestia said evenly.

“He does it all the time,” the red-Q marked Discord - DisQord - said, motioning to his other self.

“You’re older than him,” Celestia pointed out. “Act like it.”

DisQord sighed melodramatically.

“Alright, Glor- - Celly. You win.” He crossed his arms and said nothing more.

“In any case,” Celestia said quietly. “Now you know that we are facing another threat. For now, let us agree that we will keep this an open secret - we will not deliberately spread the information around, but we will not lie. It seems the best way.”

“Especially since the PHL’s troops are gonna be talking about the guy who punched an Alicorn Clone’s head off,” Discord added with a smirk.

The leaders of Equus paused.

“The what?!” Darkhoof bellowed.

Celestia sighed. “How best to explain…”

***

The next few days were somewhat uneventful, if that was the right word. The Alliance’s troops slowly acclimatised to the city they had been bunked in, and the PHL’s designated trainers quickly began introducing them to the tactics and concepts that would be thrown at them by the Solar Empire.

Rumours did begin to pass down quickly, however, of another enemy. An enemy led by another Tyrant, from yet another world. No one confirmed or denied these rumours, which only led to them spreading further.

***

The Element Bearers and Lyra were sat in a makeshift briefing room in Canterlot Palace, as was Stephan Bauer, the PHL’s Trixie, and Marcus Renee. The room had a few chairs arranged round a table, and a whiteboard at one end.

Marcus was still getting used to his new state, but he was at least past the stage of breaking everything because he didn’t know his own strength. He had given temporary command of the PHL’s training group to Stephan while he worked through his issues, a move that had not gone down brilliantly, but had been necessary.

As the group settled in place, Celestia, Luna and the Discords entered, all walking in (though DisQord looked bored with doing so). Celestia took a seat, Luna next to her. The two Discords, however, stood by the whiteboard. Discord looked at DisQord, who didn’t bother looking at him.

“Alright,” Celestia said after a moment. “Discord?”

He threw her a sarcastic, two-digit salute, before turning to address the rest of the room.

“Ok, ladies and Germans,” he said, winking at Stephan, who raised an eyebrow. “Myself and my learned other have been discussing a serious lack in team intel concerning a certain somepony. Namely, one Astra Solamina Maxima.”

He snapped his claw, and an image appeared on the whiteboard as though it had been projected. It was Celestia, but her face seemed slightly narrower, gaunter. Her mane was tied back in a ponytail, and her expression was cold. She was clad in golden battle-armour, scuffed in places, and a glaive was held in her horn TK.

“Formerly Gloriana Regalia Celestia,” DisQord said quietly. “Eleven thousand plus, though she doesn’t look a day over nine thou. Ruled her Equestria through some of the biggest crises of recent times. Without boring you - the last thousand years have seen two hundred and sixty minor conflicts and wars, last major one being the Griffon war of twenty years ago.”

“That recent?” Celestia said quietly, a frown on her face. “Has she not tried to keep the peace?”

Discord threw DisQord a glance, and the latter sighed.

“You’ve had it comparatively simple,” he said quietly. “She hasn’t. That’s the only thing you need to know that’s relevant to this conversation.”

“Speaking of relevant to this conversation,” Discord continued. He snapped a claw and a new picture came up. It was Solamina, a cut on her cheek and a grin twisting her lips, her eyes blazing with anger and what might have been a twisted mirth.

“I've made a point of fighting our new friend,” Discord said quietly. “Entirely accidental, but all the same.”

“You fought her?” Twilight asked. “Why? How?”

“I was trying to find the universe that David Elliot came from,” Discord explained. “As it happens, the spell residue I was using to trace back to his world took me to hers instead.”

“Then you're in a unique position,” Celestia said quietly. “You've fought both Queen Celestia and this Solamina - you can tell us how they fight, what to expect, what the difference is.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie put in. “Like the cliche mystic guy said, you do not truly know someone until you fight them!”

Discord blinked. “Alright, I can see the logic.” He paused. “Luna will back me up that Queenie runs on power attacks.”

“Essentially accurate,” Luna said quietly. “She uses her power like a flail or a mace: no finesse, only brute force. One might even say she relies upon it excessively. I do not believe she used more than one or two physical attacks as we fought. She seemed content with a barrage of spells.”

Twilight frowned. “But Solamina doesn't?”

“Correct,” Discord said. “When I fought her, she seemed to rely on her glaive - she's certainly skilled with it. I wouldn't want to be the poor schmuck who fights her hand-to-hoof.”

“She'd be pretty good,” Trixie commented quietly. “Imagine having eleven thousand years practice.”

“I don't want to imagine,” Stephan commented with a frown. “Fighting the clone up close was hard enough.”

“I couldn't entirely gauge her regular magical attacks,” Discord continued. “I can assume she's reasonably capable, but she seemed to use as little effort as possible when fighting.”

“Not wasting energy,” Twilight suggested. “If she's trained as a fighter she might have learned a technique of maximum impact and minimum expenditure.”

“I know such techniques,” Celestia said with a nod. “And while the Queen is overconfident, this Solamina -”

“Oh trust me,” Discord said, “she's definitely just as overconfident. I'm guessing her style is habitual by now.”

He glanced at DisQord for confirmation, and the other Draconequus merely nodded.

“She's been using the same technique for millennia,” the Draconequus commented. “Trained in the old Adamantine style, but also in Pegasi Junta control techniques.”

“That could work to our advantage,” Marcus suggested. “If she's trained so much, if her style has become so habitual, she's likely to be pretty inflexible. Using moves she's never seen -”

“It's a good thought,” DisQord cut him off. “But she's fought members of every race on Equus. She's duelled ponies, Griffons, Qilin, Minotaurs… there’s likely not a combat technique or style choice she's not seen in that time.”

“Nobody knows everything,” Stephan commented. “There's always going to be some trick she doesn't know.”

DisQord folded his arms. “Don't assume you'll be the one who knows it, Major. We might be able to find a gap in her training, but I don’t think we can rely on it. Your own skills are in your modern hand-to-hand techniques, techniques she’d likely consider similar to - well, charitably, let’s say Primatian Martial Art.”

“And uncharitably?”

“Drunken Minotaur boxing.”

Discord held up a claw. “Having fought her, I can tell you my usual tricks didn't seem to faze her. Amuse her, maybe. And I tried a lot. We’re talking spandex suits, Cogs, Count Dooku…”

“His usual cartoonishness,” DisQord clarified. “Which, to be fair, was the only thing I can think of that might have stood a chance of fazing her.”

“So…” Marcus said running a hand over his short hair. “Basically, she’s a brilliant fighter, and it’ll be tough to take her down in hand to hand. Gotcha. What do we know about whether anti-Alicorn ammo will work?”

Discord smirked. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t.”

DisQord, however, looked less certain. Celestia frowned at him.

“DisQord?” she asked. “What is it?”

He waved a claw, dismissing her concern, and silence fell for a moment.

“What about her Empire?” Luna asked quietly, looking to Discord. “Are we to expect the same sort of Newfoal rush that you demonstrated to General Ironclaw?”

DisQord laughed. Actually, he started chuckling, before it graduated into a full blown giggle, then finally a laughing fit the likes of which made everyone in the room stare at him.

“Yeah,” he said quietly, “no.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”

DisQord, still smirking, snapped a claw. A new image appeared on the whiteboard - this one a moving image. Ponies in Royal Guard armour marched in formation, many bearing large shields. As the assembled group watched, they planted these shields down to form a wall, with Unicorn marksponies behind it charging their horns. The view cut to a formation of what might have been Unicorns, save that every single one of them had scales covering the bridges of their noses and a bisected horn that looked similar to a single deer’s antler. Their bodies were covered in ornate, segmented armour, not unlike dragon scales, and conical helmets with horse-hair plumes fixed to the top were on their heads. They wielded fierce-looking halberds and bows, wrapped in magical fields that looked very much like Unicorn TK.

“What are they?” Rarity asked, her eyes narrowing. “Some sort of other kind of pony?”

“They… they look like Kirin,” Lyra said quietly. “Theoretically, a kind of mix of dragons and horses that were supposed to live in the far east - but everypony knows they were -”

“Ahem,” DisQord said, frowning. “Pay attention. And it’s pronounced ‘Qilin’.”

Everypony dutifully shut up. As the group watched, the archers among these ‘Qilin’ nocked their bows, before loosing a hail of arrows at the ponies. However, the Unicorns responded with their shields, and any arrows that didn’t hit the Unicorns’ magic barriers hit the metal shields instead. Several of the group noticed ponies and Qilin holding flags or sounding horns, every movement from them leading to a sudden shift in stance or formation for their respective sides. The Qilin with halberds lowered them, before advancing, but the metal shields prevented any access.

“Ok, so what does this prove?” Marcus asked, frowning as the battle continued on the screen. “They can fight medieval style, but that doesn’t mean they’re any more of a threat. Hell, doesn’t it mean they’re less of a threat?”

DisQord frowned. “Less of a threat, Colonel?”

“Well, yeah,” Stephan put in. “Newfoal rushes are dangerous because they don’t care about casualties, because they attack in massive numbers. These guys might fight with more regimented tactics, but that means they’re easier to pick off.”

DisQord snapped a talon, and the image on the screen changed to a group of human soldiers - pre-war, Marcus noted, looks like a mix of Brit and American military - fighting Royal Guards: the Guards were advancing under fire, Unicorns in the advancing group reinforcing a translucent grey shield as the human bullets slammed into it. Cracks were showing in the shield, but the Guards were advancing steadily. Suddenly, the shield dropped and a hail of spells shot out, smashing into the humans. At the same time, a group of Guard Pegasi suddenly dive-bombed the group, before engaging in hand-to-hoof combat, their spears quickly eviscerating the human troops.

“They’re adaptable,” DisQord said quietly. He snapped a claw again, and Royal Guards stood behind cannons that fired bright, glowing bolts of magic that smashed through people and masonry alike. “They’ve been fighting humanity for years, and despite taking casualties -”

“Billions, Elliot said,” Stephan commented.

“Yeah, not that many,” DisQord snorted. “Census information from Equestria is shot to hell these days. That estimate is skewed. But they take a lot - I’d estimate quite a few million Guards and Converted, though they’ve done a lot to humanity in turn. It’s become a brutal, bloody slog in streets. The Solaminan Guard is an elite, deadly fighting force. Anyone fighting them expecting a ‘zerg rush’ might as well drink her potion now and get it over with.”

“So she does do that,” Celestia said quietly, closing her eyes with a pained expression.

“Yep,” DisQord said. “Worst bit? They’re not quite as brainless as the Newfoals. Plus side for them is there’s less… y’know, the disturbing crap that the Newfoals have going on…”

“And there’s a lot,” Discord said quietly.

“...but that just means that they’re clever,” DisQord said quietly. “They can learn. They retain the use of everything they had before - skills, training, experience. They can adapt quickly to new situations.”

“So it’s like fighting Guards, early days when they actually had to lead to take points before using the zombie rush,” Marcus put in. “Going to need to get Veterans and military trained soldiers rather than volunteers.”

“I suppose it is,” DisQord replied. “And that would definitely be a sound way to start.”

“Alright,” Marcus said quietly. “We can deal with that…”

“There is just one more thing to consider,” Discord said. “The black squiggly.”

The reaction to this was mixed. Celestia and Luna frowned. Pinkie snorted, looking amused. Rarity raised an eyebrow and Applejack blinked, surprised at the term. Lyra and Twilight exchanged glances.

“Black squiggly?” Lyra repeated. “What’s that when it’s at home?”

DisQord grimaced. “A stupid nickname for something you’d have a great deal of difficulty understanding.”

“Then try explaining,” Rainbow Dash said irritably. “We’re not all idiots, ya know.”

“Says the mare that tried to rush me,” DisQord snorted. “If I told you that ‘the black squiggly’ is the most primal force of darkness in creation, the very source of the concept of evil given form and sentience, you’d probably think you could punch it.”

Rainbow Dash snarled, but Applejack held up a limb.

“Hold up,” she said, frowning. “Was that yarn just ya’ll bein’ lyrical like, or is that actually what this here ‘black squig’ly’ thing is?”

DisQord sighed. “Honestly? I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Marcus asked. “That’s not particularly helpful.”

“Well, to be frank, no one knows,” DisQord retorted. “In layman’s terms, it’s considered a second child. Infinite shadow cast by eternal light, both created by…”

He shrugged.

“By what?” Stephan asked.

“If I said ‘God’, that wouldn’t cover it,” DisQord said quietly. “The big beardy one. The creator. ‘He who is called I Am’. We - my colleagues and I - don’t know for certain because He doesn’t talk to us. But these things, absolute light, absolute darkness, were the first sentiences created by him.”

Celestia’s eyes had widened into saucers. “The creator? These things… they are that old?”

“So old that ‘old’ is insulting because you’d be applying time to them,” DisQord said with a shrug. “The story goes that He only meant to make light, but darkness followed. He let both live. This was before He made other spirits, other beings that exist within the void, but those two are the most ubiquitous, the most powerful. Now, both act through Avatars.”

“They can’t act directly?”

“They’re concepts,” DisQord said. “Even the other spirits of concept have to create bodies in order to act on the mortal plane, and those two are the oldest and biggest. Solamina only wields a fraction of the whole’s power, and she’s impossibly powerful.”

“And yet, Elliot’s Earth still fights her,” Stephan pointed out.

“Well, yeah,” DisQord said. “Just because she’s rocking the power doesn’t mean she breaks it out every time. She doesn’t need to.”

“True,” Discord added quietly. “And the black squiggly was…”

He didn’t finish. Luna and Celestia frowned.

“Discord?” Luna asked. “What is it?”

“It wasn’t nice,” Discord replied after a moment. “It was wrong, by every conceivable measurement of wrong. It felt it. It felt like… like…”

He trailed off again.

“To give you a hint of how powerful it is,” DisQord said quietly. “Queen Celestia was considered the anchor for the Barrier for a while, but you disproved that theory, correct?”

“Correct,” Celestia said. “There is no way a single being has the power to sustain such a spell.”

“She does,” DisQord said quietly.

There was a pause as that sank in.

“She… she is sustaining the spell herself?” Luna asked, eyes wide.

“She's the anchor for it and the brainwashing of the Guard and Converted,” DisQord said with a nod. “All of it. The Darkness within her is powerful enough to sustain that and more, and so unobtrusive that she doesn't even need to concentrate on it. Hell, I don't even know if she knows it’s her.”

Marcus sat back in his chair, whistling softly. Stephan glanced at Trixie, who blinked.

“Fuck,” she said after a moment.

“You're starting to get an idea,” DisQord said with a smirk. “Hence why I’m not sure your anti-Alicorn stuff will work. There's simply no way to gauge what It will be able to do, whether It can bring her back from the brink of death. Only its opposite can cause it permanent harm.”

“I’ll have to disagree with my learned self,” Discord said quietly. DisQord frowned at him, but the other Draconequus pressed on. “I made her bleed. I'm convinced that if you laid down enough hurt, she’d drop, black squiggly or no black squiggly.”

“We have to try in any case, it may not kill her in one shot, but if plenty are put down range, well…” Marcus nodded slowly. “Then I guess it’s our job to lay down enough hurt.”

DisQord shrugged. “I’ve told you what I know. It’s up to you to believe it or not.”

He disappeared in a flash.

***

The Element Bearers and Lyra were discussing Discord and DisQord’s presentation afterward.

“Ok, gonna throw a wrench in this one - literal God?” Rainbow said with a snort. “Yeah, come on.”

Twilight sighed. “I don’t know. There’s a lot we don’t understand yet.”

“Still, the notion does seem faintly ridiculous,” Rarity said quietly.

“Yeah, I mean - God? God’s child? The whole ‘eternal darkness’ thing?” Rainbow asked scathingly. “Tirek I could believe - that’s just some big bad monster dude.”

“Albeit the biggest ‘bad monster dude’ ever,” Rarity put in, raising an eyebrow.

“But God? God’s second child? ‘Infinite shadow cast by eternal light’?”

“I’m half impressed you remembered the wording,” Twilight commented dryly. Rainbow just shrugged.

“DisQord seemed to take it seriously,” Lyra pointed out.

“Well of course that plot-hole did,” Rainbow scowled. “He’s probably scared of it. Big baby.” She perked up slightly. “Hey, this could be totally awesome!”

“What do you mean?” Lyra asked.

“Think about it!” Rainbow said eagerly. “When we win, we can say we literally beat the creator's bastard kid! We literally beat The Embodiment of Evil!”

“Yeah!” Pinkie added. “No one will want to mess with us! They’d be all like, 'hey, let’s go mess with those mares,' and the other would say, 'no way dude! Didn't you hear, they beat God’s second kid, without the first one's help!' And we will be feared throughout the entire multiverse as Dark-kickers!”

“And if we die like gosh darn fools?” Applejack asked, looking irritated.

“Then we die fighting against god-like beings,” Rainbow shrugged. “We’ll still get a cozy afterlife.”

Applejack sighed. “Dash, Ah dont think thats how it works.”

“Sure it does,” Dash replied. “We’re fighting gods, right? Shouldn't we have some sort of reward for our hard work if we die?”

Twilight sighed again. “We don’t know enough about any of this for my liking. There’s too many variables. Too much going on that we don’t understand.”

“What’s there to understand?” Rainbow asked. “Instead of there being one evil Celestia to beat up, there’s two. They’re both being controlled by evil monsters. One has a sillier name.”

“One is possessed by a monster that destroyed an Alicorn civilisation and one is being controlled by what may be a literal god,” Rarity countered. She sighed. “I’m starting to think this is all very far above our heads.”

***

DisQord was once more up on his mountain vigil, thinking over everything. He had the horrible feeling that he had entirely failed to convince his newfound allies of what they were up against, of how threatening it was to them.

It’s tricky, he thought to himself. Trying to tell them a giant centaur with an ugly mug is scary is easy, you get a pretty picture. Try to explain that there’s an entity more powerful than anything that is literally the concept of evil itself, and that’s too big for people to really grasp. He sighed. But if they don’t grasp it, we’re dead.

He paused, frowning, before turning around to face… himself.

“So,” his other self said, arms folded. “Have we perhaps forgotten to keep ourselves in the loop?”

The two of them - this other him from a world where Gloriana Regalia Celestia had not turned evil - had made a plan to send David Elliot to the other’s world for help. Unfortunately, things had not turned out that way.

“Don't ask,” DisQord muttered, sighing. “I have no idea how the Avatar got sent to that Earth, all I know is he's made a pig's ear of it.”

“Pissing off a puppet of Tirek is almost as risky in its own way as pissing off it,” his counterpart sighed. “Couldn't you have fixed this?”

“Too big an interference,” DisQord sighed. “Too… ostentatious. I don't want to get her attention, and I don’t want to piss Them off any more than I already have, and messing too much would guarantee both.”

“So,” his counterpart said. “No joy on our original plan.”

“So it would seem,” DisQord said. He paused, frowning. “It might be an idea for you to warn your Celestia that events are moving. These worlds are still all interconnected by thin threads of destiny, and it would take only the smallest of nudges to drag your world into this mess.”

His counterpart frowned. “That would be… bad. They're not remotely prepared yet - there’s no alliances, nothing in place to -”

“No,” DisQord said, cutting him off, “which is why I'm telling you to make them all prepared. Do whatever you have to in order to convince your Celestia. I mean whatever you have to.”

His counterpart raised an eyebrow. “Even…?”

“Whatever you have to,” DisQord said again. “Ask politely if need be, but you have a blank check to get her there by any means you deem necessary. This is imperative. Super important. Top of the pops. Whatever term you wanna throw out. If we're not careful, we'll get his attention, and none of us want that!”

“Oh, no,” his counterpart agreed, his face blanching. “No, you're right. We don't want his attention, not at all.”

“Good,” DisQord said. “Now get going.”

“Right,” his counterpart said weakly, the thought of whoever ‘he’ was becoming involved clearly too terrible to contemplate. In a flash, he had disappeared, leaving DisQord alone again on his mountain.

Oh, for the good old days, he thought quietly, closing his eyes. I miss Jean Luc.

***

Celestia looked up at the sound of a soft knock to her private office door. She had been going over paperwork, her mind focused less on the documents in front of her than it was on what she had seen in DisQord’s. Ponies at war with other beings in another world: a world where the peace she had made simply did not exist.

“Come in,” she said quietly.

The older stallion called Doctor Hooves entered her room, his expression neutral - which for him translated as a permanent frown of what might have been vague consternation.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted. “Is this a decent time to talk?”

“Of course,” Celestia said quietly. “I’m actually in need of a distraction.”

“I had heard about the Discords’ briefing,” the Doctor said dryly. “An interesting event, no doubt.”

Celestia chuckled. “You might say that. I’m trying to decide what to make of a world where ponies fight wars on a regular basis. My little ponies have fought one, a millennia ago.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “A very significant difference - and a very impressive achievement.”

“Hardly,” Celestia demurred. “Some would say I coddled them.”

“And some would say it is better to be coddled,” the Doctor replied with a smile. “Having lived through my share of conflicts, I can tell you I would much prefer to have avoided them.”

“Perhaps,” Celestia acquiesced. “What may I do for you, Doctor?”

He smiled tiredly. “I have been in contact with the representatives of my world. They wish to send a delegation to this world in order to facilitate diplomatic relations.”

“More humans?” Celestia asked.

“And ponies,” the Doctor said with a nod, “and I suspect the diplomatic representative they send will be a pony. Representative Cheerilee is extremely competent in that regard.”

Celestia smiled. “Cheerilee in politics?”

“She is surprisingly adept,” the Doctor said with a smile, “though really, if one has to deal with little foals and their idiosyncrasies, children are little different.”

Celestia laughed, a warm, friendly sound. The Doctor smiled.

“Very well,” Celestia said. “I have no doubt that the representatives from your world will be of vital importance in fostering an understanding of what we are about to face in Solamina.”

“Very true,” the Doctor said grimly, his smile fading. “An understanding that is desperately needed, I fear. Neither your world nor the good Colonel Renee’s PHL have yet to encounter the Solaminan Empire. I fear until you do, you will not understand what it is you are facing.”

“The same could be said of the Queen’s forces,” Celestia pointed out, but the Doctor shook his head.

“You’ve already seen them in action,” he told her. “Remember - your sister and Discord have fought against the Queen’s clone. Your people have been shown hordes of Newfoals. You have seen Marcus Renee’s memories. You have had no such fortune with the forces of Astra Solamina.” He paused. “I hope, for your world’s sake, that you do not see the worst she can unleash.”

“You have?” Celestia asked.

“I have seen the last island of humanity devastated by what has happened to it,” the Doctor replied quietly. “Fire above the city of Manchester, the battle of London… it has been a long war, and it is not over yet.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “I swear to you. We will not allow the last humans to die on your world.”

The Doctor inclined his head. “A welcome sentiment. I only hope that we are able to prevent it. There are many powerful forces arrayed against us.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “I know. That’s what’s worrying me.”

***

Canterlot Palace Courtyard, Canterlot.

DisQord had proven surprisingly amenable to the idea of helping create a portal for the ‘Avatar’ Earth’s diplomatic contingent.

“Although,” he had said with a frown, “I still don’t get why you called it the ‘Avatar’ Earth.”

“Because it’s where the Avatar came from?” Stephan had suggested with a raised eyebrow. “That’s not too complicated, is it?”

“And yet your world is called the ‘Spectrum’ Earth,” DisQord pointed out.

“Yeah, that one, I don’t get.”

In any case, DisQord had immediately gotten to work making a portal for the ‘Avatar’ Earth’s contingent to use: the portal was, according to Doctor Hooves, ‘an interdimensional wormhole - no thaums, no magia, purely tachyons and chronitons’. He’d looked surprisingly cheerful as he’d said it.

“Alright,” DisQord said, dusting his mismatched hands off. “That’ll do it.”

“It should prove stable,” the Doctor said from nearby, looking at his sonic screwdriver. “At least, we can hope so.”

DisQord looked down at him with a confident little smirk. “It’ll be stable enough for you, old fella. Trust me. I do this sort of thing on a whim.”

“That would be why I am being as extra-cautious as I am being,” the Doctor replied.

Celestia and Luna were both stood nearby, as well as Marcus and Stephan. There wasn’t a particularly large welcoming committee - Twilight and the other Element Bearers, Lyra, Discord - but in some ways that was best. Though the open secret was precisely that, it was still not common knowledge that an entirely different world, with an entirely different tyrant and entirely different humans, was involved now in this business.

The portal flashed a few times.

“Alright!” DisQord said. “That’ll be it!”

And then they stepped through the portal.

A group of ponies dressed in dark purple armour passed out of the shimmering passageway and formed up in front of it. Every one of them was dressed in banded barding with bat-wing bracing over the top. They nearly all had the same wary expression as they eyed the surrounding area and held themselves in a position of almost predatory readiness, as if they were prepared to attack at a moment’s notice.

It was quite obvious to any who were familiar with Canterlot after dark that they were Night Guard, the personal soldiers of Princess Luna. Though some of them were normal ponies dressed in the traditional garb of the Night Guard, most of the unit were the more fearsome Thestrals, the infamous bat-ponies.

Forming into two lines, one on either side of the portal, the Night Guard immediately stood to attention, their wary looks replaced by stoic masks of professionalism.

Behind them came a dozen tall figures covered in massive silver armour. Their suits were covered in glowing runic symbols and they carried what were likely fearsome firearms in their hands. Twilight’s current experience with humans had taught her the surprising power of the somewhat strange weapons that humanity possessed. As she understood it, they were like Griffon weapons but they could fire and reload exponentially faster - it was the difference between a unicorn foal’s basic light spell and a unicorn archmage’s complex ritual spell.

The armoured men first seemed to glance at the Night Guard ponies that were still arrayed around them and then surveyed the surrounding area. Twilight could practically feel their gaze as it passed over them, the enclosed helmets giving them a cold and mechanical aura.

Finally the one in the lead turned to another and nodded to his comrade. The other armoured figure turned back to the portal and stepped through it. For a short time his body was obscured by the shimmering hole in the world, then he returned.

Finally another three Night Guard stepped through the portal and another followed after them.

“I… is that?” Twilight began to mumble incredulously, struggling not to let her jaw hang slack in surprise as the figure at the back came into focus.

The stallion in front of them was dressed in ceremonial armour not that different to the Night Guard. However, unlike the dark coloured plate of his guards, this armour was shined to an astral lustre, as if it were one of the nebula in Princess Luna’s mane. His face, though it had a couple of noticeable wear lines, bore the usual regal smirk he gave to ponies that was both dignified and unbelievably arrogant at the same time.

In front of them, surrounded by the armed guards, was the almost unmistakeable figure of Prince Blueblood. Though there were some minor differences in the colour of his coat, nopony who had visited the palace could mistake the large build and perfectly coiffed mane of the prince of Equestria.

Behind him came a mare in Night Guard armour, though she herself was a Unicorn rather than a Thestral, lilac with a blonde mane. She glanced at Blueblood, whose smirk turned into a genuine smile as he nodded. The mare stepped forward.

“I present,” she said, her tone sonorous and commanding, “his Royal Highness, Master of the Night and its Guard, rightful Commander of all Equestrian Armed Forces, Lord Admiral of the Fleet, Heir to the Line of Militum di Sanguinius, Protector of the Exodites, and heir to the throne of Equestria - Blueblood the Fifty Second, son of Steelblood the Twelfth!”

Blueblood stepped up, and bowed low.

“I come to represent the Exodites and the people of Earth in their darkest hour,” he said formally. He raised up, looking at Celestia and Luna with a solemn expression. “And if I may - it's good to see you both in better standing.”

Celestia and Luna were both silent, neither of them knowing quite what to say. In particular, Celestia’s face was a mask of bemusement - surprise, shock, a smile, confusion.

Blueblood frowned slightly, looking between them, before glancing back at his adjutant.

“Did I say something wrong?” he wondered.

“If anything,” Celestia said, smiling slightly, “You said something right.”

Fragile Unity

Chapter Five: Fragile Unity.

Written by:
Doctor Fluffy,
Jed R,
TheIdiot.

Editors
RoyalPsycho,
The Void.***

“Even so, I will...! I will believe! I will believe in the me that believes in us, humans and the future! This drill is... my SOUL!”
Tengen Toppa: GURREN LAGANN!

“Whatever it was, would be you, could be you.”
‘Einstein’, Farscape: Unrealized Reality.

***

Canterlot Palace Courtyard, Canterlot, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

A small group of humans had come in after Blueblood’s entrance - a handful of men in various suits, carrying suitcases, as well as a few more scruffy looking individuals. Blueblood - this new Blueblood - was speaking with them, no doubt giving them some instructions. The lilac adjutant was stood by his side, speaking up every so often.

Celestia glanced at Luna, who shrugged. Marcus and Stephan were already approaching the human group, talking with some of the scientists.

“I know very little of their world,” she whispered. “The only one of their people I've met is David Elliot.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “Might I suggest you invite the Prince to join us in our throne room for a conference in a few hours?”

“Why me?” Luna asked.

“They are Night Guard,” Celestia pointed out slightly teasingly. “And even if they weren't, I rather suspect they'll still be more receptive to your presence than mine.”

Luna sighed. “Alright. I suppose in that respect you're correct.”

She straightened, before approaching the small group of Night Guard. At her approach, the soldiers tensed, and the new Blueblood and his adjutant turned to look at her.

“Night Guard!” the Prince called. “Stand to attention!”

“Et Luna Gloriosa!” the lilac adjutant called.

“Noctis aeterna!” one of the Night Guard yelled, and the rest echoed the cry. Luna blinked - the display was rather more primal than she had seen from Night Guard before.

“Greetings,” she said with a regal bow to the Night Guard. “Our Equestria is honoured by your presence.”

“The honour is to serve!” one of the Night Guard called.

Luna smiled. “Prince Blueblood: we - that is, my sister and I - would be honoured if you would join us in the throne room in three hours?”

Blueblood bowed. “The honour will be mine to be there, your highness. We will await your summons in the courtyard.”

Luna nodded, before turning and heading back to Celestia.

“Three hours,” she said. “He’ll wait in the courtyard for us to send somepony.”

“I’ll be sure to have Iustita greet him with her best,” Celestia said with a nod. She turned and headed for the door, motioning for Luna to follow.

For a long moment, the two of them simply walked in silence.

“What do you make of them?” Luna asked quietly.

“I'd say they're definitely different,” Celestia said with a small smile. “Did you see the armour?”

“What about it?” Luna asked,

“It's heavily practical,” Celestia said softly. “The shapes and curves are superficially similar to our own, but they actually serve very important functions, funnelling the kinetic force of a blow to particular areas. It's as though it was built for the front line in a way that ours was not.”

“That makes sense, though,” Luna said. “Remember what we saw - these are ponies for whom war remains a recent and relevant experience, a reality still plaguing their lives.”

“Indeed,” Celestia said, her smile fading. “Which makes one wonder just what sort of ponies such a history creates.”

***

Marcus and Stephan approached the group of humans that had come through. Marcus wasn't eager to meet this world’s version of Blueblood, much as he sounded like he was probably a little less of a pain in the ass than the one he'd already met. Instead he approached the armoured figures, his eyes widening slightly.

“Well,” he said softly. “It's good to see you guys have something useful.”

One of the figures turned to him and Stephan, before moving to remove his helmet, revealing a stern looking woman with blonde hair and a scar across one eye.

“I’m Samantha Yarrow, Captain, in charge of the Iron Clad detachment,” she said easily. She motioned to her troops. “We've got a combination of standard BDF and Knights of Albion here. We’re primarily the escort for Mr Steed, Mr Lachlan, Mr Halford and so on.”

‘Whatever you do,’ Marcus thought, Don’t bring up our Yarrow. Maybe later, but now now.’

“Ah, excellent!” a reedy voice in an English accent said, and one of the suited men - wearing a tweed jacket with worn elbow patches - approached Marcus and Stephan, holding out his hand. “Mr Algernon Lachlan, Watcher’s Council. A pleasure, Mr…?”

“Colonel,” Marcus said. “Marcus Renee, head of the PHL. This is Major Stephan Bauer of the Bundeswehr.”

“Ah, yes, I did hear briefly about you, Coloenl!” Lachlan said with a smile. “The chap with the fascinating runic modifications! Certainly will be worth a brief examination at some point.” He looked at Stephan. “And Major! Yes, a chance to examine your version of runic armour will be especially useful.”

Great, Marcus thought, throwing Stephan a glance.

“Is there anything we can do to assist you?” the Major asked, taking the hint.

“Yes,” Lachlan said more seriously. “We will require a space to set up for our immediate experiments to begin. The sooner we are set up, the sooner we can begin taking advantage of this place, and more specifically the time it allows us. I trust you understand.”

“Of course,” Marcus said. “We’ll begin arranging everything.”

“Splendid!” Lachlan said cheerfully. “Now if you'll excuse me, I must go see about making some tea…”

He tottered off, and Marcus sighed, before turning back to Yarrow.

“Right then, Captain,” he said. “What can we do to help you set up?”

***

Lyra approached one of the armoured figures with a tentative feeling in her stomach. She took a breath, trying to summon her courage. She had come here with the others to meet these new humans, after all.

The figure was kneeling, as though praying, and while Lyra normally wouldn't disturb any~~pony~~one doing something that personal, she had found herself unbelievably curious. The Thestrals of this new Blueblood’s Night Guard group were unapproachable, and the handful of humans had all but disappeared, leaving Lyra precious little chance to speak with them - to learn.

As she approached, the armoured figure’s head straightened up. Lyra froze as the imposing helmet turned to look right at her.

“Lyra Heartstrings?” the figure asked, its voice tinted by the mask. “Can I… help you, at all?”

“I… Uh…” Lyra stammered. “Just wanted to come and… say hello…”

The figure paused for a moment, before reaching up and removing the imposing helmet, revealing the face of… a human woman. No… more like a girl, no older than fifteen or sixteen, her green eyes hard and her blonde, curly hair cropped. She smiled, but it seemed tired.

“Sir Eleanor,” she said quietly. “Holy Order of the Knights of Albion, at your service. Can I help you at all?”

Lyra blinked. “You… you're a… a -”

“Child,” Sir Eleanor said, holding up a hand, her smile fading slightly. “So I’m told, sometimes - usually by stuck-up military types. Their opinion doesn't really matter though - Eric trusts me. That's why I’m here.”

“Eric?” Lyra asked, frowning.

“Sorry, Sir Eric,” Sir Eleanor corrected herself. “My superior. Head and Founder of the Order.”

Lyra nodded slowly, still not entirely understanding.

“Uh, so…” she said, “you're a knight?”

“Yup,” Sir Eleanor said with a smirk. “What, is my armour not shiny enough?”

Come to mention it, the armour was a little ramshackle - there were dents and other marks that made it look like it had been through the wars, and the dullness of the metal didn't help. There were a few odd little bits of graffiti drawn on in white paint - symbols like a sword on one pauldron, or a few names written in sequence on one arm. Still, Lyra thought mentioning it would be a little rude.

“It's just, Marcus told us a little about war on his Earth,” Lyra said.

“‘Marcus’?” Sir Eleanor repeated.

“Uh, Colonel Marcus Renee?” Lyra said, pointing to the sandy-haired human as he talked with Captain Yarrow. “He's the leader of the PHL. And he's a war hero, too, at least if what we’ve heard is true.”

Sir Eleanor nodded slowly. “Well, what did Colonel Renee tell you?”

“Uh… well, the way I understand it, close combat isn't really as big a factor of modern human warfare,” Lyra said slowly, worried she might upset the knight.

Sir Eleanor nodded slowly. “It wasn't, or at least that's what I've heard. But we’re not fighting a modern human war. We’re fighting an army that thrives on medieval tactics backed by magical support.”

“That’s kind of how people describe our version of the Solar Empire,” Lyra said.

“We don’t have air support, or communications satellites, or energy weapons,” Sir Eleanor pointed out. “Or much in the way of standard ammo.”

Lyra nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

“It’s funny,” the knight said. “Some of the old timers from… from before? I expected that they’d go mad over some of the technology, but it turns out they’re just happy with the little things.”

“You don’t know what you have until it’s gone,” Lyra said, nodding. “By the way… what do you mean by ‘little things?’”

“Internet service, running water, chocolate, coffee… bananas...” Eleanor said. “I heard that the Avatar was happy to see a new couch and television.”

“That stuff seems pretty basic for the Colonel’s Earth,” Lyra said.

“But on our Earth, it isn’t. Survival takes precedence. The winters are hard,” Eleanor said sadly. “The Earth that first contacted you has a population in the billions.”

“And even then, it’s almost halved from what it used to be, I heard,” Lyra said.

“Ours… is in the millions,” Eleanor said.

Lyra drew in a gasp. “Mother of Celestia…”

“Please don’t swear by her,” Eleanor said. “I know you’re swearing by yours, but... “

“I get it,” Lyra said, nodding. Though she didn’t. Not exactly. “I just. The weight of this, I can’t even comprehend this. All those people, dead…”

“Not exactly all of them,” Eleanor said.

“I get that too,” Lyra said. “But. I just can’t imagine that many people even existing, or that many of them just… gone.”

“We took as many millions as we could,” Eleanor said. “Maybe even more.”

“Ah,” Lyra said. “So what happened in between all these people coming into Britain, and you as you are n-”

Eleanor gave Lyra a Look. The kind of Look conveying so much that it could only be capitalized.

“We… don’t like to talk about that,” Eleanor said, blanching. “Someday, we’ll be comfortable. It’s all public record, but… We really don’t want to talk about it. Ask me about literally anything else. Please.”

Usually, this was the kind of thing that would’ve gotten Lyra even more curious. ‘Lyra, don’t take Professor Shriek’s class! That stallion smells like mushrooms and he teaches silly fringe science, ooh, you sure don’t want to take that! There’s rumors he slept with Sabon and pissed her off so bad she decided to humiliate him in every one of her books!’ ‘Lyra, those oats are expensive imports, don’t eat them!’ ‘Lyra, don’t wear pants!’ ‘Lyra, don’t, oh sweet Celestia, it’s everywhere, why my Princess, why hast thou forsaken me, oh my goooooaauauuauuughghh…. bleh!’

All of these had provoked her to do the exact opposite. But Eleanor looked so absolutely haunted that Lyra couldn’t bring herself to ask.

“So,” she heard herself ask. “You know me? Er, the other me?”

Sir Eleanor looked visibly relieved at the question. “In passing. Operative Heartstrings is one of our better regarded officers, and a good friend with the Avatar of the reports are accurate.”

Like Ambassador Heartstrings and Marcus, Lyra thought idly. “And what's he like?”

Eleanor's expression turned wistful. “He's the Avatar of Albion. An inspiration for our entire order. I've never spoken to him myself, and I'm afraid I’m somewhat… biased.”

Lyra nodded slowly. I guess I’ll get to meet him at some point.

“What’s with the armor?” she asked after a moment. “It seems much more complex than…”

“The armor’s heavy enough that we can carry any weapon,” Eleanor said. “And face anything the Solaminan regime throws at us. But to do that, the armor needed to be massively heavy. So a lot of the bulk of this armor is meant to house machines that let me move it.”

She moved one arm, and Lyra listened closely. There was a slight whining sound, like a hydraulic.

“You see?” Eleanor asked.

“So… it's powered?” Lyra asked. “By what, batteries?”

“Better,” Eleanor grinned. She pointed to some of the plates, where small glowing runes could be seen. “This equipment is run on runic energy. It's also being used to power a lot of generators. Rumour has it we’ll be entirely running on renewable runic-powered electricity in a year or three.”

Lyra frowned. “But… don't you need crystal?”

“Nope,” Eleanor said with a smile. “Plain old etching, magically imbued with rigorous chanting. This is old Norse I think.”

Lyra blinked. “Wow. I - I didn't know humans had magic. The way Marcus tells it, Earth’s - his Earth’s magic was dormant.”

Eleanor pointed to a man in a tweed suit. “Mr Steed over there, and Mr Lachlan, are members of the Watcher’s Council, a sort of secret magic society. They're the guys who helped make the armour, helped modify the people wearing it.”

Lyra frowned. “The - the people wearing it?”

“Oh yeah,” Eleanor said, a smile more like a grimace on her face. “The Paladin I, II and III suits are all a little too heavy and powerful for regular people, even when they're lightened. A regular person wearing this gear would be torn apart, crushed, rip their muscles, and generally crippled. So we’re… modified.”

“Modified how?” Lyra asked quietly.

“Oh, nothing too drastic,” Eleanor shrugged. “Hormone, psych and gene therapies taken from the old ATC Harbinger protocols and reworked by people like Mr Halford. That, combined with magical infusions, makes us - I guess, ‘super soldiers’ would be the closest term you'd be familiar with.”

Lyra felt the blood drain from her face. “What - all of you?”

“Everyone in the armour,” Eleanor said, motioning to her colleagues, several of whom were milling about.

Lyra blinked. Marcus was technically a ‘super-soldier’, by his own description, but he was apparently unique in that regard.

“How many of you are there?” she asked quietly.

Eleanor looked back to her. “Somewhere in the two or three hundreds by now. More Clads are being commissioned every day, as soon as we get people volunteering and the gear together. Work’s moving incredibly fast.” She gave a rueful smile. “Back in the day, the Iron Clad program was meant to win the war. Now we’re sort of on the back seat compared to the Avatar - but we’re still bigger and tougher than most humans you’ll meet. And we will need that edge.”

“To fight the Solar Empire?” Lyra guessed.

“To fight the Solaminan Empire,” Eleanor clarified. “I don't know what you know about our enemy, but believe me, they won't make your lives easy.”

Lyra gulped, her mind going back to DisQord’s presentation. God’s second child. She looked at the soldier in front of her, and thought back to an adage she’d heard. If this is the size of our defences… what are we expecting to fight?

“I believe you,” she said quietly.

***

Canterlot Palace Courtyard.

They were congregating in the courtyard still, speaking amongst themselves. Every now and then one of them would stop to throw looks of mild curiosity or suspicion at the ponies watching them.

Their armour was definitely Night Guard, but there were differences - concave shapes where one would expect convex, points where one would expect rounded ends. The armour was also worn - one could tell that dents had been smoothed out of each set, that scars had to be painted over. This was armour that had seen conflict.

And then there was Prince Blueblood himself, standing tall and with his head tilted slightly upward: his armour the shiniest, his chestplate the most ornate, a decorated sword hung at his side. He looked for all the world like any of the most pompous officer that had ever existed - but his eyes… those told a different story. They were analytical, hard even.

Royal Guard Second Lieutenant Iustita stood alongside her fellow Royal Guardsponies, all of whom held their usual stoic expressions as per their training to avoid showing any fear or expressing any other emotion while on duty. But beneath her own facade, she was perplexed and bothered, not only by the events of past few weeks, but - perhaps even more so - by the fact that yet another world had entered this war.

Thankfully, she hadn’t been a part of the strike team that Captain Armor lead during the earlier misunderstanding with the human Marcus Renee. From what she had gathered from the reports, both written and oral, it had been quite a rough fight. But, ever since that moment where Princess Luna had denounced that misguided and foolish pegasus Icewind… it had been troubling to determine how justified allying themselves with many of the other races of Equus - including the Changelings (their invasion was not a good day), the dragons (it was hard not to keep an eye on them), the Griffons (their long standing history was self explanatory), and the Minotaurs (oddest of all) - was. The only conclusion to draw was that this ‘Queen’ Celestia represented a greater threat than they had ever faced before.

And now? Now they were supposed to ally with another world, one that (according to scuttlebutt) had yet another version of Princess Celestia that had gone corrupted. It beggared belief.

She missed Swiftwing; his attempts at lightening the mood would have been rather nice right now, even if it would have also been a break of protocol. Anything was better than this uncertainty.

Her eyes narrowed slightly at this alternate Prince Blueblood: on one side, it would figure that he’d have the most ornate armor based upon her Equestria’s version. On the other side, however, his eyes spoke volumes of how different he had become; he held himself not as an arrogant member of the upper class. No, he held himself more akin to a commander or to a true royal.

An improvement I suppose, Iustita mused silently.

As she thought, his eyes turned toward her and he smiled.

“Ah, hello!” he said, approaching her. He glanced over her armour. “You're a… Lieutenant, correct? Apologies if that's not so, I'm afraid your rank markings are somewhat different to the ones I remember.”

Iustita straightened herself out, and kept her mouth shut. She held behind the stoic mask that she and all Royal Guard were trained to follow under… she still had yet to figure this version out.

He coughed awkwardly. “Well, my understanding was that our group were to be escorted to meet with the other leaders.” His smile became slightly wry. “May I assume you're the escort Aun - that is, Princess Celestia - sent to take us there?”

Might as well indulge his desire for conversation.

“That would be correct your highness,” she said. “Second Lieutenant Iustita at your service.”

“Ah, excellent,” Blueblood said with a smile. “Would you like me to get my troops together? I suspect you've got places you'd rather be than escorting me around.”

Iustita stood silently for a moment, contemplating briefly and weighing her options somewhat. Finally she nodded.

“I think it would be best to gather your guard so that we may get to her majesty,” she said in a simple, orderly tone. “Oh, and for the record your highness, I do have a partner already. Please keep that in mind.”

Blueblood blinked, apparently nonplussed. “I… will…?” He shook his head. “Captain Doo. Assemble by ranks.”

A lilac mare in Night Guard armour nodded, before turning to her troops. “By ranks! Assemble!”

The Night Guard moved at once, ordered and disciplined as any force of their calibre should have been. After a moment, they were stood in formation, waiting.

“Company at the ready, sir!” Captain Doo said.

Iustita stood briefly before turning and gesturing for her fellow guard to move as she began to lead Blueblood and his Night Guard into the castle.

As they walked, Captain Doo yelled out a marching cry. “Noctis aeternae!”

“Sanguinem aeternam!” the Night Guards responded.

A few of her fellow guard looked back, a bit surprised at the marching cry. Iustita herself raised an eyebrow, while trying to make out what it might have meant. Some archaic language?

“Traditional cry of the Night Guard,” Blueblood said quietly, apparently noting her expression. “Or rather, a modified one.”

“I can't say I recognise it,” Iustita said honestly.

“No, I suppose you wouldn't,” he said idly. “Old High Unicornic still gets used for some of these old mottos, but our Old High Unicornic might well be gibberish on this world.”

“I haven't heard of a language called that, I admit,” Iustita agreed.

“Well, there you go,” Blueblood said amiably. There was a pause. “I'd honestly prefer they didn't make such a fuss, but hey ho. Martial culture.” He paused. “My father understood it better than I do.”

“I… suppose you're correct about martial culture,” Iustita said lightly. “Our worlds are different after all. The Equestria of ‘Queen’ Celestia has some differences from my own - wars fought where we had none, and so on. It is to be expected yours would vary more.” She paused. “In fact, that would be one of the differences - your father being more understanding of martial culture than ours or… the other world.”

“Oh? Was he not?” Blueblood said, glancing at her with a mildly interested air.

“No, sir,” was all he got in response. He nodded, frowning slightly.

“What was dear old Steelblood like ‘round here, then?” he asked after a moment of silence punctuated only by the sound of marching hooves. “Hard to imagine the stallion being anything other than a hard-arse General.”

Iustita raised an eyebrow slightly, a confused frown on her face.

“Ummm… I’m afraid there isn’t anypony of that name in our Equestria your highness,” she said truthfully. “I do believe you may need to be more specific.”

“… oh?” Blueblood said, eyes wide. “General Steelblood was my father. He would have died - ten years ago? Maybe more? Oh, but that was in my world - I think it would have been more like three, here…”

A few of Iustita’s guards broke their stoic masks and gave confused glances.

“I’m afraid to say that your father wasn’t… that is to say your counterpart’s father wasn’t this ‘Steelblood’ you’re speaking of,” Iustita said with certainty. “If memory serves, he was a stallion named Azure Haven - if I’m not mistaken. I don't really keep up with the aristocracy.”

Blueblood laughed. “‘Azure Haven’? Really? Well, now I've heard everything.” He sobered slightly. “So what was he like, or… don't I want to know?”

‘Unjust/deluded/supremacist/an unpleasant pony.’

“I believe you wouldn’t want to know, your highness,” Iustita answered after a long pause.

“I will… take that under advisement,” Blueblood said evenly. “Well, if Steelblood wasn't around, who was it led the fourth Colonial Reclamation? Can't imagine Colonel Pristine Shield managing half as well…”

He then noticed the confused looks Iustita and some of the other guards were giving him.

“… you've never heard of the fourth Colonial Reclamation,” he guessed. “What about the Stratosphere war? The assault on the Rok? No?”

“…No…” Iustita repeated slowly, blinking.

Blueblood frowned. “Alright, what about the - oh, I don't know - the Third New Eagland invasion, right before the new Griffon Emperor sorted that lot out?”

Iustita gave a soft, restrained sigh. “…your highness, I believe it would be better to assume that there are plenty of historical differences between our Equestrias.”

“Alright then,” Blueblood said, still frowning. “But… that being the case, when was your last conflict? If it wasn't colonial, what was it? I find it difficult to believe you've not had something -”

He paused, his eyes widening at the blank looks from Iustita and the other guards.

“Oh my,” he said. “You… you haven't. Have you?”

“There was that Changeling Invasion back when Princess Cadenza was getting married,” one of the other guards stated idly.

“And before that?” Blueblood asked, a hint of bewilderment in his tone.

He was met by silence; not a single response to his question outside of blank looks.

“Well,” he said softly, his eyes glazing over slightly as he seemed to think back to something. “Still. I suppose that means you've got something worth fighting for. That… that's good, I imagine.”

Iustita’s eyebrows furrowed as she frowned. “And that means what, your highness?”

“Hm?” Blueblood said, glancing at her. “Sorry. Just thinking about home. It will be… odd, going back.”

“Seeing how your version of her majesty has fallen just as far if not farther than the so called ‘Queen’ of the first world’s Equestria, I’d imagine it would be after seeing a world where she had not,” Iustita stated.

“Perhaps it's a reminder,” Blueblood said quietly. “What we were once. What we might be again.” He took a deep breath. “Have to get there first.”

‘Never will/unable to change what had been done/tainted fore-’

“I do hope that you do,” Iustita said, cutting off that train of thought. “But I must ask something, if I may your highness.”

“By all means,” Blueblood said quietly.

Taking in the true expressions around her from behind her fellow guard’s stoic masks, Iustita took a breath as she prepared to speak the fear that they all shared ever since learning of the guard that served ‘Queen’ Celestia.

“How is your version of Celestia controlling us?” she whispered lightly. “How is she suppressing our free will in your world?”

Blueblood frowned. “I… am not sure that knowing would be a comfort for you.”

“Please, sir,” Iustita asked quietly.

Blueblood sighed heavily, the weight of the information overriding his manners.

“It’s some sort of spell,” he finally said after a momentary pause to collect his thoughts. “‘The Renewal of the Oaths’, they called it. Best our psychology experts and spell engineers can figure, it subtly shifts one’s perception. What one thought was ‘right’, one suddenly feels is ‘wrong’, and vice versa, and questioning is… discouraged. It's subtle work. Difficult to unwork. I think something similar is used on the Converted.”

A mare standing, flanked by obvious converted and sneering at the sight of guards attacking and beating supposed dissidents.

Iustita stopped, closing her eyes as she shuddered lightly to come to grips with what she had heard.

What felt like hours, staring at a picture - that mare looked like her… her and Balanced Scale; she could have passed for a third sister if possible. But that wasn’t true; that mare was her, is her.

‘No choice/only obedience/justice denied/victims suffering/again.’

She needed Swiftwing right now, she needed Swiftwing or Balanced Scale to talk to - this was too much.

“Are you alright, Lieutenant?” Blueblood asked quietly.

“No…” Iustita whispered, feeling as if a chain snapped from weight. “No, I am not. Not now, not in the first world, and not even in your world.”

She tried to meet Blueblood’s worried glance while tears welled in her eyes despite her training against being compromised like such.

“Well… I don't suppose this will be all that much comfort,” Blueblood said, speaking as sensitively as he could (which is to say, it was a good try), “but we don't know if every Guard is affected. We don't even know if you exist, of course, or what you might be like, given what you said about my father… but if you do exist, nothing says you're necessarily still under the Empire’s command.”

“Does it matter?” Iustita replied, a bit more harshly than she intended. “I’m a slave that slowly is being driven insane in one world, but now in another I may not even exist, while the innocent are still suffering unjustly.”

“One thing you might want to remember then,” Blueblood said quietly. “And I think it's a lesson I might have to learn too. All of us, maybe.”

Iustita frowned slightly. “And that would be what exactly, your highness?”

“That despite the similarities you share with… shall we say, ‘other’ yous - would that be the right word, ‘yous’?” he mused, before shaking his head and returning to the point. “Whatever you think you share with them, they are not you.”

“… they were once,” Iustita pointed out.

“No, they were more like you once,” Blueblood retorted. “But you and they are still separate people, as much as I am from whatever poor sod your Blueblood is. We’re different ponies. You don't know what she might have done or not done differently. Same as me, and my counterpart.” He tilted his head. “Yes, I actually find that rather comforting.”

Iustita said nothing, just standing there before moving ahead to lead Blueblood and his Night Guard to meet the Princess.

***

Assigned R&D ‘playspace’, Canterlot, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

Loud music was blaring through the little lab, a man in a scruffy labcoat, t-shirt and jeans air-guitaring to himself with a moderately cheerful expression. He looked like he had once been considerably bulkier than he now was - everything he wore hung off his frame loosely, and his skin seemed to imperceptibly sag. He wasn’t old, per se, just… beaten.

But then, that seemed to apply to a lot of people.

“Halford,” said one Watcher (Terry Halford didn't know his name - Stanley something?). “The PHL are sending some blueprints they want you to go over.”

“Mkay,” the scruffy man said with a snort. “I already got a bunch on the old email. Ha! I have email! God, I missed email! I wonder if they have that video of the wolf with the hic-pups.”

“Don’t you mean hiccups?” the Watcher asked.

“NOPE! Is We Rate Dogs still going in this other world, too?”

The Watcher just stared at him.

“You were expecting me to miss high-end components more than anything, weren’t you,” Halford said, a momentary pause in his energy.

“No, I was expecting you to miss pizza,” the Watcher said without missing a beat.

“Hell, that too,” Halford chuckled.

Even as he spoke, his email notification sound pinged on his iPad, and with a chuckle he opened it.

“Well hot damn,” he said after a moment. “They just sent me the specs for the PEV-1.”

“The what now? Do you mean some of the early Powered Armor? Like, the REV-” the Watcher began.

“No, no, not the REV, it's the PEV,” Halford said with a snort. “REV models are like… mini mechs, more than power armour. Walking tanks, not really infantry. PEV is what me and a few of the guys used to work out the Paladin line.” He chuckled. “Looks like these guys actually have more than a few prototypes, though. They're working on a PEV-2: we never got round to that, but Armacham’s had some extra backing in this timeline.”

“Is that good?” the Watcher asked.

“Well, it means I’ll be able to start working out how to make Paladin IV wearable for the poor average Joes of the world,” Halford said. “PEV’s designed for every dude and his ugly ex-wife to wear, something we never managed to get down for Paladin due. It was always too resource-intensive to get all the best safety shit installed. Hell, that says something about us, doesn't it, that makin’ a bunch of magically and biologically enhanced super-soldiers is somehow less resource intensive than safety tech for their shit.”

“So with this other world, and them practically tripping over resources compared to us,” the Watcher said, nodding, “Suddenly a lot of things just got greenlit.”

“They got whatever kind of lit you want,” Halford said with a smirk. He frowned. “Hey, d’you think -”

“Terry, no,” the Watcher sighed.

“Terry, yes!” Halford crowed.

***

Marcus Renee’s office.

Marcus missed Babs.

Admittedly, he missed Cheerilee more, but he missed the comforting knowledge that whatever he or Cheerilee couldn’t do, whatever they needed, Babs Seed would pick up the slack. So, normally he would have been finding out about this secondhand. If he heard it secondhand, then he had time to think, and react like the calm, seasoned man he hoped to be at least most of the time.

“He… did… what?” he ground out, a nervous-looking Twilight in front of him.

I’m going to do something I deeply regret, he thought, clenching his fists.

“T-t-transported me and the others to another dimension,” Twilight repeated. “Uh - he said time moved differently - I mean, it did move differently - and - and -”

“And he killed you,” Marcus finished, practically grinding the words out.

“Well, s-summoned things that killed us,” Twilight said in a small voice. “I m-mean, I didn't come here to complain, I came here to say it m-might be useful for us to u-use that b-but -”

Marcus held up a hand. “Breathe, Twilight. I'm not mad at you. I am, however, gonna have words with DisQord.” He cracked his knuckles. “Strong words.”

***

Canterlot Throne Room.

Prince Blueblood entered the throne room carefully, being sure to maintain a composed expression. Sure enough, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were stood on the other end, near the throne room.

Taking a breath, Prince Blueblood approached the throne, before bowing low.

“I am honoured to be in the presence of the diarchs of Equestria,” he said quietly, before waiting for their response.

“And we are honored to be in the presence of a prince who has accomplished so much,” Celestia said. “Please, rise.”

Blueblood raised his head slowly. “My thanks, your highnesses, though I dare say I haven't accomplished nearly enough, yet.”

“By that token, neither have we,” Luna said quietly. “But we are all moving forward on this path together.”

“Indeed,” Celestia said softly. “Now, Prince Blueblood - or should we use your first name?”

“I, uh, don't have one,” Blueblood replied with a slow smile. “But by all means, I’m happy for you to forgo titles, your highnesses.”

“If we are forgoing titles,” Luna said with a smile of her own, “then you should use our names.”

Blueblood’s eyes widened. “I… don't know that I can do that.”

“Well, we can try for nothing,” Celestia said with a smile.

“Forgive me for asking this, though, but should I be concerned that you petrified another version of me?” Blueblood asked. “I just want to be absolutely sure that I-”

It was impossible to miss the looks of panic and regret in Luna and Celestia’s eyes.

Yep, I’m in the right place, Blueblood thought.

“No, no, I promise! No!” Celestia said, frantically shaking her head. “I was just…” she sighed, looking downcast. “There is no excuse.”

“Sister,” Luna said. “We were under a lot of stress at that moment. Learning about an evil version of me, having Discord tell us that all the training and morality that we learned from Sint Erklass were for naught and we should’ve been unfeeling machines - as if that is not what doomed so many in the other world - some of our little ponies being nearly gravely injured, and you were directly exposed to the mind of a human with shellshock. Everyone makes mistakes, sister. And you are perfectly fine - your regret at this very moment is proof of it.”

“I suppose I should,” Celestia said. “Ah. Un-petrify him.”

“Perhaps we could teach him the ways of being a better Blueblood from you?” Luna suggested.

“What, and create a fop with an inferiority complex?” Blueblood asked.

“That does sound terrible,” Celestia said, nodding. “Once, in the early days of Equestria, it was law for noble families to commit one son or daughter to the cause in times of war. While we’re not at war, other families do contribute their scions in the event of monster attacks. There’s nothing stopping us from enacting legal loopholes in that...”

“I’m genuinely surprised that it was on the books at all, given what I’ve heard about your country’s history,” Blueblood said. “And, what’s that about monster attacks?”

“The royal guard is mostly there for peacekeeping, and defending against inevitable monster attacks,” Celestia said, nodding.

“How I wish that was all we had to deal with,” Blueblood said.

Luna nodded, taking a sip of her tea.

“So,” she said. “Tell us about... “ she looked deep in thought for a second. “About how you found yourself in your position.”

“Not about the differences between our worlds?” Blueblood asked.

“I have the feeling that would take too long,” Luna said.

Blueblood chuckled. “You might be right. Alright. Where to begin…?”

***

When Marcus found DisQord, he was staring up at the sky, as though counting something that only he could see. The marine scowled at him, walking right up to him, feeling his fist curl slightly, Twilight’s words still ringing in his ears.

“Hello Colonel,” the Draconequus said simply. “Can I help you at all?”

“I guess you can,” Marcus said, trying to keep his voice from sounding irritated. He needed to be calm for this. “I just heard about your 'training' with the Elements.”

DisQord didn't look at him. “I see.”

Marcus' fist tightened. “What the hell were you thinking? You can't just throw them in the deep end like that! Hell, you killed them!”

DisQord still didn't look at him, but he raised a claw. Marcus blanched, bringing a hand up to try a warding spell -

***

and in a flash of light, the two of them were sat in deckchairs by a pool. Or rather, Marcus was - DisQord was gone, and in his place was a man with brown hair and a widow's peak sipping a piña colada, a white t-shirt with the letter 'Q' in bright red printed on it.

“DisQord?” Marcus asked.

“Just call me 'Q' here," the man said with a smile as he took another sip. “You don't mind the change of scenery, do you?”

“Where are we?” Marcus asked, narrowing his eyes at the place. It seemed reasonably normal - except for the fact that one of the women nearby had leopard spots down the sides of her face, and another had odd nose ridges…

“Risa,” Q said with a contented sigh. “I figured if you're going to give me the boring moral speech you've got stacked up, I might as well hear it somewhere relaxing.”

Marcus sighed. “Uh huh.”

Q glanced over at him. “Come on, Colonel. We might be in a completely different century and universe, so far away from the threats you’ve spent years fighting that it isn't even funny, but I'm sure you want to get back at some point. Get on with the lecture.”

The marine frowned. “You know, you can't keep doing this.”

“Doing what?” Q asked innocently.

“Whatever the hell you want to do,” Marcus clarified, trying to keep the edge from his tone. “Sending the Elements into an impossible fight in some fucking pocket dimension without asking anyone, just to 'show them they can die'. Insisting we bring them to the Crystal Empire. Darting here, there and everywhere without answering to anybody. Making a point of needling Celestia very time you get the chance! Kidnapping me!”

Q stretched slightly in his chair. “Everything I do, I do to help your cause - the defeat of Celestia, the defeat of Solamina, peace, freedom, ‘Murica, free t-shirts… that stuff. Except maybe needling Celly, but that’s just funny.”

“Not to her it isn’t!” Marcus snapped.

“No, I suppose not,” Q said with a sigh. “A shame - the Celly I knew was much more reserved.”

Marcus ignored that comment. “And I might even believe that you’re trying to help, but you can't just act unilaterally!”

“That’s a big word for you, Colonel Bogey,” Q said with a snort. “Careful, you might brain bad.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m some grunt, and don’t avoid the point!” Marcus snapped, feeling himself growing more frustrated. “You're not in charge, and you're not a free agent: you're part of an alliance, and that means answering to someone!”

Q looked askance at him. “Who? You?”

Marcus forced himself not to yell. "I'm not saying that. I'm in charge of the PHL - not of everyone. Even then, I’d rather not be - I don't like being the guy who has to order people to die.” He sighed, trying to calm himself. “Why are you even helping us?”

“Because your enemies are my enemies, and your friends are - or in some cases, should have been - my friends,” Q said at once.

“You don't seem to mind ‘testing’ your friends to the point of breaking,” Marcus pointed out snarkily. “Gotta be honest, I'm surprised it's not got you smacked down before.”

“Who says it hasn’t?” Q retorted. He shrugged. “I’m not so bad once you get to know me. Consider that test ‘tough love’. There’s no gentle way of me preparing them for war on this scale in a hurry.”

“Maybe not,” Marcus agreed, “but you can't do stuff like that - or at least you need to consult people before pulling off your crazy shit!”

Q kept looking at him for a long time, before sipping his drink again. “I see.”

Marcus frowned. “You see?”

“I understand, I comprehend, I get the picture, the writing's on the wall, your meaning is clear," Q said, slightly snappish. "'I see'.”

Marcus frowned. “I don't think you do.”

“No, I do, actually,” Q said. He finished his drink, and put the empty glass down, his expression oddly morose. “Tell me something, Colonel, and be honest with me on this one. Do you feel fear?”

“Of course,” Marcus said at once. “Everyone does.”

“Not me,” Q said, and suddenly he looked old. His body didn’t change, but his eyes bore the weight of millennia. “At least, I thought I was above that sort of thing. I was never given much of a reason. I’m older than most of the stars you can see from your paltry rock. I’ve only met my match a handful of times. I’ve never met something that could straight up obliterate me in one shot - until the day Celestia was taken by that… thing.”

Marcus frowned. “You were afraid?”

“Actually, I was terrified,” Q replied with a slight, mirthless smile. “We don’t interact with that thing. Ever. When she was taken… there’s no way I can adequately explain how bad that is to a human.”

“It’s like the devil moved in next door,” Marcus said quietly.

“Simplistic, but I understand,” Q said, shrugging. “My point is, I was scared. I was trying to sit the thing out - then I sent Elliot somewhere, he ended up somewhere else, and I somehow wound up involved in this world, and not only have to worry about It, but about your Queen Celestia, who’s no slouch herself.” His gaze hardened. “So yeah - I’ve done things that one might call ‘too far’. If you happened to know you were going to fight the devil, I’m fairly certain you’d push yourself and your people damn far too.”

Marcus sighed, thinking it over.

“Maybe,” he finally agreed. “But that doesn’t mean you act like an island, or a god, or like you’re the one making all the choices. You aren’t. Neither am I. We’re a team.”

He held out a hand. Q glanced at it, then up at Marcus, whose face held no trace of hostility. Reaching over, he clasped Marcus’ hand.

“Alright then,” he said simply. “A team it is. Though I reserve the right to make chocolate rain.”

“And I reserve the right to stand by and watch when Celestia kicks your ass,” Marcus retorted. “Speaking of - no more whisking people off for impossible fights in parallel universes. At least, not without telling me first.”

“I thought you said you weren’t the one in charge,” Q pointed out with a snort.

“I’m in charge of the PHL,” Marcus said. “And it’s either me, the Prince Blueblood who came with those troops from Elliot’s world, or Princess Celestia. Pick one.”

Q blanched. “Alright, you it is.”

“Thought you’d see it my way,” Marcus smirked.

Q sighed. “Well played, Colonel Bogey. Well played.”

There was a flash of light.

***

The two of them were back on the balcony, Q back to his DisQord form.

“So I’ve got a question,” Marcus asked, checking he was all still here.

“Oh?” DisQord asked.

“If you can do this… zapping people thing that you do, why don't you just zap your Celestia - Solamina - somewhere and have done with her?" Marcus asked, frowning.

“Rules,” DisQord replied simply.

“Bullshit,” Marcus said. “You're telling me that you've got rules against helping people?”

"Yup," DisQord replied with a wry grin. "'No meddling with the Darkness, it doesn't like meddlers'. Rule… Dorxan."

"Door what now?" Marcus repeated.

"Q don't count in traditional numbers," DisQord said, though his expression made it unclear as to whether he was joking.

Marcus decided it didn’t matter.

“Anyway - she isn't affected by us. Simple fact - it's a no-go-zone for our abilities,” DisQord continued. “You might as well ask why your Discord can't zap Queen Celestia - the answer being, he doesn't have the ability. She is beyond him. And, moreover, he doesn’t have her..." he searched for the word. “Her weakness, her…”

“Her green kryptonite?” Marcus suggested.

“Exactly!” DisQord said. “Your Discord doesn’t have that. And even if we had her ‘green kryptonite’ - which I suspect that we might, or something that will serve - then the trick would be getting her in range.”

“So, you can't do that to Queen Celestia?” Marcus asked.

“If I had half a mind… probably not, no,” DisQord said after a moment's pondering. “She might not be 'the' Darkness, capitalised, definite article, italicised, but she's not the little monster kid from Undertale either. She - or Tirek, same difference - is rockin' power, lots of it, and probably more all the time if she's draining her Equus.”

Marcus sighed. “Had to try.”

“Of course you did,” DisQord said with a smirk. “If there’s nothing else…”

“Actually, there is,” Marcus said. “Your training space - that hypertonic lion tamer or whatever it was called.”

DisQord’s eye twitched. “Yes?”

“I want a bout,” Marcus said.

DisQord narrowed his eyes. “I thought you said no more whisking people off.”

“‘Without consulting me’,” Marcus repeated. “This is me. I’m consulted. I want to spar, push my limits, see what I can do.”

DisQord smiled. “Do you really?”

Marcus frowned at that. “Why don’t I like that look?”

“I guess you’ll find out,” DisQord promised. “Say… tomorrow at - how’d you say it, ‘zero eight thirty’?”

Marcus nodded once. “Alright. That, I can do.”

***

Keep Your Enemies Closer

Chapter Six: Keep Your Enemies Closer.

Written by:
Doctor Fluffy,
Jed R,
TheIdiot.

Editors
RoyalPsycho,
The Void.

***

“You do not truly know someone until you fight them.”
Seraph, The Matrix Reloaded.

***

Canterlot Palace Courtyard, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

Month 1. Day 8.

Marcus walked up to DisQord bright and early the following morning, finding him waiting in the courtyard. The Draconequus was in an exaggerated yoga stance, made more so by several of his limbs having literally rotated to different positions. It was a subtle, but surprising welcome, reminder that this being, while he was not the Discord that Marcus had learned to work with, was still Discord. Even if he did insist on his name having a Q in a stupid place.

“Well,” he said to the Draconequus, “it’s zero eight thirty. You ready?”

DisQord smirked. “Oh, I am, Colonel Bogey. But the real question is - are you?”

“I guess I am,” Marcus said. “So - what we gonna do?”

DisQord grinned. “Oh, I have a spar in mind…”

He brought up a talon and snapped it...

***

… and suddenly, Marcus found himself in what looked like a training dojo. Opposite him stood DisQord, dressed in a blue training gi with a red Q printed on it. He smiled, before making an expansive gesture with one hand.

“This is a sparring dimension,” he said in a faux-Laurence Fishburne voice. “Similar in most respects to the dimension you call ‘reality’, loose and simplistic a term as that may or may not be.”

Marcus rolled his eyes.

“It has the same basic rules, rules like gravity,” DisQord continued. “However, it lacks other rules, such as your human conception of time. Crucially, it also does not include rules like mortality in the traditional sense. Any injuries you suffer here will heal, any death you suffer here will ‘reset’.”

Marcus growled. “Cut the crap, DisQord. You said you had a spar in mind, so let’s spar.”

“Oh, I didn't mean spar me,” DisQord chuckled, and with a flash he was gone. Tensing, Marcus looked around, when suddenly -

Boom.

He found himself smashing into a wall, the wood splintering under his weight. Gritting his teeth as he slammed to the floor, he looked up, to see…

Golden armour, alabaster coat, a long slender horn and wide, white wings. A sneer on her face, and a glaive pointed at him in challenge.

“Prepare to die, insect,” the spitting image of Celestia said with a growl.

Before Marcus could react, she dashed forward, and he barely managed to duck before the glaive smashed into the wall with enough force to splinter the fragile wood. He rolled, before drawing his pistol and firing at her - only for the bullets to miss as she dodged, zooming up. Desperately, he fired at her again, but she was too fast for his aim. She landed opposite him, grinning.

“So you are Marcus Renee,” she said, sounding almost bored. “I must admit, you disappoint me. I hear such impressive things about you.”

“Uh huh,” Marcus said scathingly. “And you're Celestia - though from the oversized hockey stick you're swinging around, I'd say you're that Asshat Solawiener I've heard so little about.”

She snorted. “Astra Solamina Maxima. I realise big words are hard. And this thing I am holding is called a glaive. Do you know what a glaive is -?”

She suddenly dodged as he fired again, and then she came to a stop as he stopped firing.

“Yeah,” he said, grinning. “And I also know how to rile up stuck up bitches like you.”

Solamina chuckled. “Is that so? Tell me, do you think ‘riling up’ somepony so superior to your pitiful self is a good idea?”

Standing up and holstering his pistol, Marcus held his arms out, daring her.

“Come on then, bitch,” he snarled. “Hit me with your best fucking shot, if you're so superior.”

Solamina spun her glaive, before holding it to a guard stance. “You first. I insist.”

Moving as fast he could, faster than he had ever been able to move before, Marcus charged at her, drawing his combat knife as he did so. He swept it outwards and swung at her, but she simply dodged backward. He stabbed forward, and she leapt above him, landing behind him with a deft grace. He turned, dodging the harsh downward swing of her glaive, before darting forward, slashing at her face. She ducked the cut and rammed forward, headbutting his chest, and he grabbed her neck, aiming to snap it, only for her horn to glow and blast him backwards. He smirked - whatever the spell had been, it had done no damage.

“Magic ain't gonna slow me down,” he said, before holding up a hand. A spell flashed out towards Solamina - only for a translucent shield to appear between them, flashing and deflecting the spell into a wall.

“And magic will not slow me,” she retorted, spinning her glaive. “I'm curious - was that your best spell?”

Marcus growled, before bringing up his other hand. In a flash, another spell lashed towards Solamina, whose shield simply absorbed it. Growling, Marcus lowered his hands, ignoring the Alicorn’s smirk.

“I admit,” she said, “that's a decent level of raw power. Unfortunately, you lack precision. Allow me to demonstrate.”

Her horn glowed, and suddenly a hail of needle-thin bolts of magic lashed out, impacting around Marcus and forcing him to dodge. With a growl, he manoeuvred himself to get close to her, before lashing out with his knife again, only for her to have disappeared and reappeared behind him. He rolled, dodging another spell, before standing in a guard stance as she planted the haft of her glaive on the floor, smirking at him still.

“For a human,” she said in a patronising tone, “you're quite good - certainly fast. But I've killed creatures ten times your skill, and they -”

She dodged left, avoiding a sudden hail of bullets as he swept his pistol out and fired at her again, only for her glaive to move, faster than thought, and deflect the bullets, before spinning once and planting in the ground.

“You talk too fucking much,” Marcus growled, and he fired again. “This is a motherfucking war, not high school deb-”

Her horn flashed and a spell shot the pistol out of his hand. He blinked in shock. She wasn't smirking anymore.

“Eleven thousand years old,” she said with a snort. “I know war. Certainly enough to know when I can afford to talk, little man. There is not a trick you could use that I would not know.”

Marcus growled, before raising his hand and summoning the pistol. He started firing again, this time charging as he did so. She deflected the shots again, and then her glaive caught the knife as it swung for her face again. She grinned, and suddenly the haft of the glaive had caught Marcus, flipping him over and throwing him into a wall. This was followed by another spell, this one blasting the wall apart and causing sawdust and smoke to fill the space.

After a moment, Marcus stepped out from the wreckage, limping slightly but otherwise unhurt.

“That it?” he asked.

Solamina grinned. “No. This is.”

And suddenly she was in front of him. He dodged another hack, before ducking under a sideways slash, but she kept coming, relentless, her glaive spinning and stabbing and slashing and forcing him to dodge, weave and duck between it and the space around it. He fell back, barely able to try a counterattack as she pressed him.

Suddenly a spell flashed from her horn, smashing into the floor and sending debris up, disorientating Marcus for a split second - and then the glaive flashed, severing his arm from his shoulder, before embedding in his lower torso.

He blinked, gagging as blood filled his mouth. She grinned, withdrew the glaive, and then swung it again. Marcus’ head felt light, and was everything always… this… red...

***

… and then he was back in the dojo, the room unharmed and bearing no sign at all that a battle had just taken place. Rubbing his neck slightly, feeling drained, Marcus scowled as DisQord appeared.

“How did she beat you?” he asked with a smirk.

Marcus shook his head. “I… she was just too damn fast.”

“She is fast,” DisQord said. “Your enemy, Queen Celestia, relies on brute force application of wide-ranging destructive magic that can level whole cities, but she hasn’t the finesse. She’s a warhammer. A flail. A building-sized greatsword.”

“Yeah,” Marcus said, nodding. “I saw the reports from Boston.”

“So you know how she fights,” DisQord said. “And her style - so my counterpart tells me - flummoxed David Elliot for a while because a warhammer is damn effective, and requires no subtleties. As you just experienced, however, Solamina is a duellist.”

“Was that really her?” Marcus asked.

“Not even close,” DisQord said with a chuckle. “The real her is much faster, much stronger, and is much more experienced - although, I might add, she’s just as sarcastic. She has no need of brute force when to her, one spell the size of a needle that pierces your heart is as good as five spells the size of asteroids that vaporise your continent.”

“Then why…” Marcus tried not to wheeze. It was psychosomatic… probably. “Why did she let me go on that long?”

“Because for one thing, she wasn't the real Solamina,” DisQord said. “I am not capable of accurately simulating all of the powers her… black squiggly gives her, as my counterpart would put it. And even if I could, I wouldn't throw you so in the deep end like that - it wouldn't really teach you anything to die five seconds in.” He took a breath. “Secondly… I’m afraid she's rather like that. She seems to relish a good fight these days. She was… enjoying you.”

“Fuck that,” Marcus said, growling. “Send me at her again, I’ll -”

“You're not nearly skilled enough,” DisQord said, holding up a claw. “You're a human soldier of the twenty first century. Guns, brute force boxing and some limited martial arts, that's your arena. The art of duelling with blades is not your forte, and against her you're bound to keep being outmatched until you figure some finesse out… which let’s face it, you're not going to, are you?”

“Uh… maybe?” Marcus said with a frown.

“Yeah, no,” DisQord said with a chuckle. He paused, looking thoughtful. “What we are going to do is play to your strengths. You don’t send a man used to machineguns out to fight with a muzzleloader. And, if that one book about West Virginia is any indication, vice versa.”

“So what do you suggest?” Marcus asked. “Mom’s old lever-action?”

“You're confusing this metaphor. First, you need to know how she fights, know what you're up against,” DisQord said. He grinned. “Oh look - now you do. And we’ll do this again, and again, and again, until you're as sure of her style as you are your own. We’ll do it for your Queenie too.”

“And you do not truly know someone until you fight them,” Marcus said, raising an eyebrow.

“Precisely,” DisQord said. “I must say, you're not nearly as slow as I thought you might be. There might be hope for you yet.”

Marcus chose to ignore the faint insult. “So what now?”

“Now?” DisQord repeated. “Now, we get everyone in your team to know Queenie and Solamina the same way. Stephan, Trixie, the Element Bearers… when you know how they fight, you can take them on as a group, and learn how to exploit what you know. I’d put Brigadier Elliot through the same against your Tyrant, but he’s not here - and he has a little hands-on experience with Queenie already.”

“Fine,” Marcus said, groaning. “But next time, no dojo. Use a street or something: it's a more accurate representation of where we’ll be fighting.”

DisQord shrugged. “That is doable.”

Marcus sighed. “Why do I have a feeling we have a long way to go?”

“Because you do, Colonel Bogey,” DisQord replied with a slow smile. “But fortunately for you, you have time to get there. Best not to waste it.”

***

Canterlot Palace Courtyard, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

Month 1. Day 15.

They were all dressed in the same black undersuit. It was thin, padded in certain areas, and one could subtly tell that it was actually a two piece garment, top over trousers, connected by a zip. They were all similarly built - lean, muscular, tall.

Stephan, clad in his armour, watched as the group - two rows of five - moved their swords through a series of katas, a blonde woman with a stern expression standing at their head, shouting numbers as they went.

“One, two, four, two, five, one, three!” she was yelling, the troopers moving through a series of positions as they went.

This was Captain Samantha Yarrow, Stephan recalled, a woman whose counterpart in the PHL had a rather checkered history to say the least. Stephan tried to ignore that as he watched the group. Fortunately, working with Celestia had gotten him acclimated to separating one version of a person from another.

“They're practicing well,” Trixie’s voice came from next to Stephan. He looked to his left, to see her appearing, gaze fixed on the other humans. “Moving in sync. Stances are perfect.”

“They should be perfect,” Stephan said. “They're Iron Clads - best I can tell, some sort of augmented troops.”

“‘Augmented’?” Trixie repeated. “You mean, like…”

“Something similar to Marcus,” Stephan said with a quiet nod. “Not quite as powerful as his runes, I don’t think, but it's mass produced for a similar effect, and probably a little more stable. They're supposed to be stronger and faster than ordinary soldiers. I'm guessing ‘more skilled’ comes under that too.”

“Well, can't deny their skill,” Trixie said with a shrug. “Kinda wonder why they're bothering, though - they're frontline, aren't they?”

“They’re supposed to be,” Stephan replied, smiling.

“Then don't they have guns?” the Spy asked. “I mean, yeah, they're supposed to be low on ammo, but…”

“These guys supposedly have new weapons, special issue, to go with their armour,” Stephan said. He remembered the overweight, ratty-looking engineer - Halford? - had talked him through coilguns and rifles until he was reeling from numbers and figures (and bad breath). “So they have guns. Might be pretty handy with ‘em, too, if the augmentations do anything for their accuracy.”

“So… the swords?” Trixie asked.

Stephan tapped his machete. “I'm not one to talk.”

“Yours is a special-occasion kinda deal,” the blue mare pointed out. “Not a dedicated three hour training regimen for an entire corps of special troops.”

Stephan shrugged. “Some of these guys are ‘knights of Albion’. I think the swords are a thematic thing for them or something.”

“Then what about the other guys?” Trixie asked. “Because I checked the manifest, and there were three knights in that twelve man group.”

“I don't know,” the Major admitted.

The two of them watched the group of augmented soldiers continue their katas for a few more minutes, Yarrow still calling out numbers that corresponded to stances and moves.

***

A little bit above the courtyard…

The Elements had been, essentially, left to their own devices. Just above the courtyard, above all the soldiers training, somepony had built a room. It had a curiously abandoned feeling to it - as if nobody had used it for more than a decade.

It made for a wonderful vantage point, though.

“Are humans normally so...?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking down at them.

“So what?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know,” Rainbow said. “It’s just… something about the way the humans with swords move, the way they’re proportioned… It’s different and I don’t know why.”

“They do, um, seem a bit different from Marcus,” Fluttershy added.

***

“Well, they look the part,” Trixie admitted.

“They do at that,” Stephan agreed.

“Yeah, but we both know looks aren’t the same as balls,” the mare continued. “What about when they’re in a real fight?”

Stephan rolled his shoulders. “Let's see.”

He approached Yarrow, who was still leading the troops through their exercises. She blinked as he approached, before straightening.

“Atten-tion!” she snapped smartly. At once, the other troopers stood to attention as well, bringing their swords to rest, point facing downward.

“At ease,” Stephan said, raising a hand. He turned to address Yarrow. “Captain. I see your troops are hard at work.”

“Yes, sir,” Yarrow said stiffly. “Detail, return to katas! Double time, I want to see sweat on your ugly faces!”

The soldiers returned to their guard stances and began running through their sequences again. Yarrow stepped away from them and motioned for Stephan to do so as well. He did so, recognising that she didn't want their talk to distract the troops.

“Anything difficult?” Stephan asked, looking over the training soldiers with interest.

“Just running through basic sword katas, sir,” Yarrow replied. “Tricky stuff to get exactly right, but when we go up against trained Royal Guard spearmen and duellists, we’ll be thankful.”

Stephan didn't say anything for a moment, before tapping the hilt of his machete. “I've done a little sword work, myself, though I've not dedicated much time to training with it, really. I've found it's good in the short term, but less so overall.”

Yarrow smiled. “Well, I'm sure you have, sir. We’ve had a different experience with the Solaminan Empire.”

“I've heard a little, but my info is short, at present,” Stephan said. “I'm surprised you still put swords as high a priority as you do: I've seen the specs for your Iron Clad weapons. Some pretty decent kit.”

“Yes, sir,” Yarrow agreed, turning to look back at her troops. “They pulled the stops, that much is certain. Still, we’ve learned that ammo is not something you take for granted that you’ll have. Especially with a foe that likes close combat so much. As it is, sword training is one of the basics of the Clad program, even for non-knights.”

“I see,” Stephan said, folding his arms. “What sort of swords? You can't be using just plain metal?”

“No sir,” Yarrow said with a smile. She held up the sword. “Runically enhanced sword, variety of enhancements - yours similar?”

He tapped the machete again. “Can shapeshift into a claymore, cut through most things. Changeling magic.”

Yarrow nodded. “Sounds good.” She paused. “I’m assuming you had a reason beyond basic questions to talk to me, sir?”

Stephan nodded. “I'll admit, I was wondering what the application was.”

Yarrow tilted her head slightly. “The… application?”

“Yeah, of sword-fighting in a modern-day military,” Stephan clarified. “My sword is more of a backup tool, and I can't really have used it more than a half-dozen times. Even if you expect your ammo to be scarce, I wouldn’t have said the answer was… well, swords.”

Yarrow nodded slowly. “Well, a lot of the war with Solamina’s been a close-quarters one. You can understand that decent close-quarters drill would be important.”

Stephan raised an eyebrow. “With swords?”

“Medieval-styled opponent,” Yarrow shrugged. “A combat knife is no good when your enemy has magically-enhanced plate armour, a spear and a sword to hack at you with. You need a weapon to match up with that.”

Stephan nodded slowly. “I see what you mean.” He threw a glance at Trixie, who was shrugging. “Alright. What would you say to a spar?”

Yarrow frowned slightly. “Alright, sir. If you'd like. Detail!”

***

Still slightly above the courtyard.

Fluttershy imperceptibly slunk back against the wall.

“Don’t worry,” Rainbow Dash said, one hoof to Fluttershy’s back, just above her wings. “It’s a sparring match. We had them all the time when I got my black belt. Nobody is getting hurt.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Rarity said, smiling. She sounded…

“Are you looking forward to this that much?” Applejack asked.

“Well, it’ll be a pleasure to see human sparring,” Rarity said. “Especially where nobody, ah…”

“It’s probably for the best, we’re going to have to learn,” Twilight said solemnly. “But I was never really a big fan of the trial-by-fire method of teaching.”

“Trial by fire does sound bad,” Pinkie Pie added. “You might get horrible burns!”

“Pinkie, that’s not what-” Twilight started. “Huh. I guess that does work.”

Pinkie Pie just looked confused for a second, shrugged with both hooves outward, then produced several bags of kettlecorn from no discernible source.

“Did… did you say it like that on purpose?” Twilight asked.

“You may never know,” Pinkie Pie said cryptically, and plunged her muzzle into her bag of kettlecorn.

***

The troops running through their katas stopped.

“Clear the playing field, form a perimeter,” she ordered. “Me and the Major are going to have at it.”

One of the Clads let out a whoop, which was quickly silenced by a glare from Yarrow. The troops moved to the edge of their assigned practice space as Stephan and Yarrow moved to the centre.

“You'll be alright sparring in your armour?” Yarrow asked, motioning to her own bodysuit. “I'm a little less encumbered than you.”

“This stuff’s designed to not encumber me,” Stephan said with a smile. “Light materials, runes designed to lighten the weight in addition to other runic enhancements. Frankly, I’ll need it if you guys are as augmented as the specs suggest.”

Yarrow nodded. “Gotcha.” She motioned to one of her troops. “Toss the Major a flamin’ bastard.”

Stephan raised an eyebrow. “A what?”

“Nickname,” the man Yarrow had pointed out said. “They're bastard swords, hand-and-a-half, and the runes can make them into flaming swords. So, ‘flaming bastards’.”

“Huh,” Stephan said with a slow nod, inspecting the weapon. It had a small switch at the bottom, and the blade had runes etched into it. “Alright then. Any rules?”

“We usually go for ‘no injuries’,” Yarrow replied quietly. “Other than that, anything you can do, though since this is a sword fight…”

“Me demonstrating my kickboxing would be a little superfluous,” Stephan finished with a wry smirk. “Right, okay.”

He brought the sword up into a guard stance, weapon raised at a mid guard. Yarrow moved into her own, a high ox-guard above her head.

And then he charged, bringing the sword up and then down in a vicious vertical overhead strike… only for Yarrow to nimbly sidestep him and smack him in the chest with the butt of her sword. He stumbled back, and she settled into another guard stance. Rolling his shoulders, Stephan stabbed forward, only for Yarrow to, with a single deft move, divert the point of his blade to the ground and leave him open to another smack in the chest armour. He blocked her arm instinctively, before trying to throw her, but she planted herself, broke the grip and pushed him away, before stepping back into a guard stance.

“Damn,” Stephan muttered, shaking his hand. “Not bad.”

Yarrow was frowning. “Permission to speak candidly, Major?”

“You’re not Bundeswehr, you can speak how you want around me,” Stephan replied.

“Alright,” the Captain said. “I’m beginning to see what you mean about your not having dedicated training with swords.”

“That obvious, huh?” Stephan asked, wiping his face with his hand. “Alright, try this.”

And suddenly he swung at her, a wide slashing strike. She dodged backwards deftly, before bringing her sword to guard as he moved again.

***

Above the courtyard…

“This is almost relaxing, actually,” Fluttershy said.

“How?” Rarity asked, confused.

“Well, it’s like… like watching some of my animal friends playfighting,” Fluttershy explained. “Nobody’s doing it to hurt anyone. They’re just doing it because…”

“Flutters, I don’t quite think it’s the same thing,” Applejack said.

“Yeah,” Fluttershy agreed. “I mean, it’s not, but… that’s what it feels like.”

“I get it,” Pinkie Pie said, lifting her muzzle out from her bag of kettlecorn. “Besides, this is… after what DisQord put us through, this is easy.”

“Stephan… isn’t that much of a swordfighter,” Twilight said.

“What?” Rarity asked.

“Well, Shining Armor… it was hard not to see some of his moves now and then,” Twilight said. “I’m not seeing much in the way of technique with Stephan.”

***

Stephan was swinging his sword wildly, trying to land a strike. He swung again, and she ducked. Again, and she loosely parried, diverting the blade. Another strike, and another parry. Another strike, another dodge. All the while, her expression was nothing but a slight frown. He struck out again, and she blocked. Another series of strikes were blocked seemingly effortlessly.

Mixing it up, Stephan tried closing the distance, throwing a few kicks and punches in, but the sword prevented him from using his full moveset, and Yarrow was able to block and dodge his strikes, her own hand-to-hand moves a little less polished than his (not helped by her own blade), but definitely effective. She jumped back, dodging a sweeping kick, before blocking a jab and hitting him in the solar plexus with the butt of her sword so hard that he stumbled backwards again. He slashed at her and she parried again, before settling back into a guard stance, awaiting his next move.

In desperation, Stephan reversed the grip on his blade with a deft manoeuvre, before stepping into an old knife-fighting stance and slashing at Yarrow, but all she did was block again. He stabbed forward, but she knocked the point into the ground, before bringing her blade up to his throat.

“Hm,” was all she said.

Stephan glanced down at the blade at his throat, before stepping back. Yarrow moved the blade to her side, facing him dead on, and bowed.

“Thank you, sir,” she said quietly.

“For making an arseloch of myself, you mean?” Stephan replied good-humouredly. “Well, I guess I have to be scheisse at something in my military career. I thought it was just taking orders I thought were gottverdammt verruckt.”

“Hm,” Yarrow said again.

Stephan sighed, and moved off, only to see Trixie trotting into the centre of the ring.

“Alright,” she said, a pair of blades floating into place either side of her. “You had your warm-up, Captain. Now you get the real deal.”

Yarrow blinked at her. “Apologies, Ma’am, I’m not familiar with…”

“Leutnant Trixie Lulamoon, Bundeswehr,” Trixie replied. “Also known as the Blue Spy. And I have dedicated training time to my blade-work, which means this should be a little harder work for you. Unless you think you’re not up to it?”

***

Above the courtyard

“Ooh, they’re gonna fight Trixie!” Pinkie Pie gasped, eating more popcorn.

“It’s Trixie,” Twilight said. “How much of a challenge could she be?”

“Stephan mentioned that he trained her,” Rarity pointed out. That was true enough - in the brief time they'd trained with Stephan he'd mentioned training Trixie, though the mare herself had not been present at that particular session (or any subsequent ones).

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash smirked, “but still, c’mon. Trixie.”

***

Yarrow spun her sword in hand once, before giving a thin smile. “If you like, Ma’am.”

She moved back into position, raising her blade into a guard stance. Trixie, however, motioned to the ring of Iron Clads.

“Let’s make it extra fun,” she said. “Pick two of your best, and let’s see if all three of you can take me on.”

Yarrow lowered her blade slightly, before pointing to a young woman with short curly blonde hair and an asian man with a mohawk.

“Makoto, Sir Eleanor,” she said quietly. “You’re up. Triangle.”

Makoto nodded, moving to one point, and Sir Eleanor to another, until the three Clads formed a triangle around the Spy. She was grinning.

“Oh, this will be good,” she said. And suddenly she was gone, and Makoto was stumbling forward, shoved by a spell from the Blue Spy, who was now standing behind him. She was grinning, before she suddenly teleported in front of Yarrow, her blades spinning. Reacting quickly, Yarrow stepped back, barely blocking the strikes as they came.

Trixie was still grinning as Makoto and Eleanor charged her from behind. In a flash, two more blades had appeared, all four now controlled by her magic.

“Where'd they come from?!” Eleanor called out.

“Let a lady have some secrets,” Trixie quipped.

“I am a lady!” Eleanor snapped back.

Trixie chuckled as she dodged a stab from Yarrow. “Not yet you aren't, kiddo.”

Eleanor growled and lashed out, but Trixie caught it, and Makoto’s subsequent attack, before lashing out at Yarrow, who barely blocked. Trixie blocked the other two’s subsequent strikes, before pushing them both back, all the while pushing her offensive on Yarrow. With a grimace, Yarrow blocked another blow, before holding out her hand, which suddenly flared with light as a spell slammed into Trixie’s face and blew her backwards. She suddenly vanished.

“Tricky,” she said shortly. “Very tricky. Didn’t know you could do that. Now I do.”

Suddenly, there were three of her, once facing each opponent. At once, they charged at the Clads. Makoto slashed at his opponent, but she disappeared in a blue haze. Eleanor moved to block a strike, but the image of Trixie passed through her and vanished. Yarrow, meanwhile, dodged the last Trixie’s attack, but her own strike dispersed the image. There was a momentary pause as the three Clads glanced around, searching for their opponent, and then a flash of light appeared, heralding a cloud of smoke.

“Clear this!” Yarrow barked. Sir Eleanor held out her right hand, and in a blast the smoke dispersed, though there was still no sign of Trixie.

And then suddenly a hail of blue spells appeared, flashing towards the Clads. All three of them rolled back to their starting points and crouched, raising translucent barriers around themselves, and then Trixie appeared in the centre of the three, still grinning.

“Shields and basic attack spells, with a few minor extras,” she commented with a nod to Eleanor, who scowled. “Okay, what else?”

Yarrow glanced at Makoto, who brought a hand up. A shockwave of white energy lashed out, and the Trixie in the middle of the group disappeared, replaced by a wide-eyed Trixie who was standing behind Yarrow. The Captain immediately spun, slashing at her, but she blocked.

“A silencing spell?” Trixie asked, sounding surprised. “That’s pretty advanced magic.”

“The Watcher’s Council offered some of us training,” Yarrow said conversationally. “I didn’t take it, but Makoto and a few others did.”

Trixie smirked. “Right, good to know.”

She teleported back to the middle of the group, before stomping her hoof on the ground, a new host of blades appearing around her and spinning.

“I’m guessing,” she said to Makoto conversationally, “that you can’t silence that quick twice in a row?”

Makoto said nothing, merely gripping his sword tighter.

“Nice, not telling me your weaknesses,” Trixie complimented. “Smart move, ‘Iron Clad’, but your silence gives me all the answer I need.”

And suddenly her blades were spinning in a blur around her. She advanced on Yarrow first, who brought her blade up in a guard stance warily. And then…

“Leutnant!” Stephan snapped.

Trixie’s swords, apart from two, disappeared. She frowned at Stephan, who had a neutral expression on his face.

“What?” she asked.

“We’re not trying to kill anyone,” Stephan told her sternly. “I think that last move was a bit overkill for sparring, don’t you?”

She sighed. “Maybe a little, but I wanted to see what these guys could do.”

“We’ve seen quite a bit,” Stephan pointed out. He looked to Yarrow. “Captain. Apologies for disturbing your training session.”

“Not to worry, sir,” Yarrow replied stiffly. “It was a good demonstration.”

Trixie smirked. “You weren’t bad, Captain. But you’re going to need to bring your A-game for the Solar Empire.”

“Duly noted, Leutnant Lulamoon,” Yarrow replied, inclining her head slightly. “And you’ll need to bring your A-game for the Solaminan Empire.”

Trixie’s smirk faded slightly, and she nodded back, before following Stephan off.

***

“Apparently she could be… quite a challenge,” Rarity said quietly.

“Something tells me we have a lot of catching up to do,” Applejack sighed.

“Well, let it come!” Rainbow Dash said, with a smile. “We can take it.”

“I hope you're right,” Twilight said quietly. “I really hope you're right.”

***

New New York Central Park, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

Month 1. Day 25.

A man in a shabby tweed jacket, carrying a smoking pipe, stood in the central park and took a deep breath. His clothes were smart enough - a shirt, shabby waistcoat and tie, with plaid trousers - but they were worn and threadbare, as though they'd been worn to death. Under one arm he held tucked a heavy-looking tome, and his wrinkled face was furrowed in concentration.

Next to him was stood a man in the tall, imposing armour of an Iron Clad: the steel armour had runes dotted here and there, and the number 042 was printed on the armour’s chest, right next to a numeral I. Though he wore a helmet and he held a weapon, his stance betrayed impatience.

“Sir,” he said, his voice tinted by his helmet, “I’m sure we needed to be back by now.”

“I was asked to provide an assessment and an assessment I will provide,” the tweed-wearing Man said, slightly snappishly. “I would appreciate it, Mr Everett -”

“Sir Everett.”

“- if you would not interrupt!” the man finished, as though Everett hadn't interrupted. “This is delicate business. It's bad enough with those bloody Griffons and what have you wandering around, let alone your constant worrying.”

“Mr Steed, sir,” Everett said, “the Council’s request for an… assessment… is a secondary requirement to our duties at the meeting.”

“Holloway and Lachlan can give them whatever blather they require about magic,” Steed said dismissively. “I'm not given to having time for such nonsense. I didn't cross two universes to talk with Royals. I came to learn.”

As he spoke, he clenched his pipe between his teeth and opened his tome, flicking to a page somewhere in the middle. Muttering something, he closed his eyes and the book and seemed to be concentrating…

When suddenly, Steed found himself colliding with another, both their respective tomes sent crashing to the ground.

“Oh, sorry about that - didn’t see where I was going,” an eccentric voice apologized as a blue aura covered both books and brought them above the ground.

Steed looked to see an equine standing there; his coat was blue, his mane and tail were a silver blonde like color, perhaps platinum. He had a blue vest and dress shirt on while his horn glowed - a pen suspended in a levitation.

The stallion, Steed noticed, had a twinkle in his eyes and an eccentric look on his face.

“It’s a bit of a… well, it’s actually quite a challenge to do with so many unique entities all around us!” he exclaimed out of cheer, possibly over excited about something. “All these different species together, their tools and arts with them… two other worlds even I…” He seemed to start cooling down, rather satisfied. “It’s like a wonderful dream.”

Steed frowned slightly. “It would be a more wonderful dream, no doubt, were life, limb and civilisation not at stake in both other worlds. Still, I can see you're a scholar, so allow me to introduce myself.” He bowed slightly. “Horatio Albert Steed, Watcher’s Council of Great Britain. Assigned to Magical Research and Implementation Task Group, British Defence Force. The armoured gentleman here is Sir Alexander Everett, Iron Clad Zero Forty Two. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr…?”

The stallion just stared off into space, still caught up in his moment before blinking and registering them both.

“O-oh! Sorry… got caught up and… wait,” he paused glancing at them, before his eyes widened in realization. “Are you two from that other Earth?”

Steed smiled tightly. “We are indeed, sir. We came with some of the research team to take advantage of the rather terrific time differential that supposedly exists. Not,” he added, “that I put too much faith in time travel. I've always found Doctor Hooves unreliable as an individual, prone to… running off half cocked, shall we say. I have no doubt his counterpart is similarly… flighty.”

The stallion, had cracked open his book and was writing in it with his pen - apparently he was absorbed with every detail Steed had just said.

“So, there isn’t a time difference in your world either?” he asked, gazing up from his book.

Steed sighed. “I would have to check. Doctor Hooves has yet to say one way or another, and I was running some tests before you… ran into us, shall we say.”

“Well I said I was sorry,” the stallion huffed, “we were both quite absorbed in our research after all.”

“He's got you there, sir,” Everett muttered. Steed sighed.

“Well then,” the old Watcher said. “Perhaps as a fellow scholar yourself, you will be able to help me.”

“Hmm… I may, but first I must ask you a question that I believe is parable about your world in relation to the first Earth,” he stated, lowering his book and bringing his pen up.

Steed preened slightly. “I pride myself on being knowledgeable about many subjects, sir. What may I help you with?”

The stallion, looked both ways, before craning his head forward.

“Does your world have these self-inkwelling, featherless quills like the first world does?” he asked, his tone deadly serious.

Everett burst out laughing, the sight of a fully-armoured Iron Clad literally bent double somewhat incongruous. Steed, meanwhile, blinked in surprise at the question.

“Do you mean… a pen?” he asked dryly.

The stallion beamed in response while his eyes twinkled, probably ecstatic.

“Yes! Yes indeed, that is exactly what I meant,” he replied, openly, bringing the pen up. “Ever since I’ve gotten this device… it’s been a revolution; it’s self sustaining and doesn’t need an inkwell for it, whoever made this is a genius of the highest order!”

Steed sighed. “You know it will likely run out eventually? Pens only hold so much ink.”

The stallion’s face fell at that. “Oh…”

“Tell you what,” Steed said, rummaging in his pocket. A moment later, he pulled out an ornately decorated fountain pen. “This was a present from an uncle I never rated highly. Thing has a self-sustaining ‘refill’ spell attached. It also smells of his old tobacco, but to be honest it was the sort of smell you only got sick of if you always smelled it on his furniture, so you should be fine.”

The stallion’s eyes widened in amazement as the fountain pen was covered in the same magical aura and brought before him; he examined it thoroughly.

“Amazing…” he whispered, absorbed completely by it before looking back to Steed with a small smile. “It’s good to see that your world has the same virtues that the first Earth and Equestria have. I thank you for your generous gift.”

The stallion gave a slight bow.

“Yes, well, that is certainly debatable,” Steed said. “And you're welcome. It’s good to meet someone so engrossed in studious activity. Not like that Constantine fellow everyone raves about - such a cretin.”

The stallion tilted his head slightly in response. “I’m afraid I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

“No, I suppose you wouldn't,” Steed sighed. “Now then, where was I before our chat - oh yes…”

He opened his tome, and, giving a slight groan as his limbs bent, he sat on the grass. He motioned for the stallion to come closer.

“What do you make of these?” he asked, pointing at the page.

The stallion narrowed his eyes slightly at the page, taking it in.

“I do believe those are runic symbols for support or binding while the diagrams are for a sort of magical channeling,” he responded, before muttering, “what exactly though…”

“That's quite correct!” Steed grinned. “And so, Mr - I’m sorry, I didn't catch your name…”

The stallion kept his gaze at the page before blinking and looking back to Steed.

“What? Oh, sorry again got caught up in that page of yours,” he apologized once more before straightening himself out. “My name is Spell Nexus, Headmaster of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and Archmage to the Diarchy. I have been tasked with researching Discord’s portal spell for more convenient means…” He then trailed off, before grinning slightly. “...but I have been a tad busy mingling with Equestria’s guests and all.”

“Yes, I can imagine,” Steed said. “Quite a hullabaloo.”

“Oh ho ho! You don’t know the half of it!” Spell Nexus declared, his eyes twinkling as his book flew open, showing various pages full of notes. “Why, just this morning I’ve met with the Zebra and the Changelings! Both their magic and unique cultural charms have endless hours to them to learn and study… though I must wonder if the Zebra must always rhyme.”

“Indeed? I’m certain Scribe Valtane will have his hands full,” Steed noted with a nod. “In any case, Mister - excuse me, Headmaster - Nexus - the runes and diagrams here are a complex set, with many applications, chief of which was the creation of the Iron Clad program and Paladin armour.”

He motioned at Everett, who waved cheerfully, apparently happy to remain silent for now.

Spell Nexus tapped a hoof below his barrel before walking up to Everett and taking him in, his eyes looking over the man’s armor to all sorts of detail and to capture it all to memory.

“Is he surgically bonded to this suit?” Spell Nexus asked, frowning.

“No,” Steed said, frowning slightly, “although surgical and magical enhancements were necessary to make sure the suits were completely safe. A side effect of poor materials and limited resources for the design - the Paladin IV design will, supposedly, be safe for standard human usage, now that we can guarantee enough material for it.” He paused. “As you can see, though, there are runes etched into the armour at intervals along the arms and chestplate. They simultaneously allow for the Clad within to channel his or her magical potential, as well as allowing for the suit to be powered by the magic in question.”

“That explains a lot, humans can’t normally use their magic unless they have some external way to do so,” Spell Nexus stated, his book flipping over to show details of a male and female anatomy. “I did some checks on some of the soldiers; they do have some varying potential… but no way for it to be used.”

Steed nodded, scrutinising the book. “Intriguing. It's altogether less difficult for humans from our world to utilise magic, though it does take willpower and practice.”

As a demonstration, Steed snapped his fingers, a small flame appearing, before relighting his pipe. He took a couple of puffs and then blew out the flame with a huff.

Spell Nexus watched with rapt attention, his book’s pages rapidly moving so that he could write more details down.

“Interesting… very interesting…” he muttered, while his eyes were on Steed. “And, in your world, all that’s left is… an Island?”

“All that's left that we are aware of, yes,” Steed said. “There were rumours of places… but sadly we’ve no way to confirm those rumours.” He smiled. “Now, Headmaster Nexus, to return to the subject of my task, if I may. I have come here to test this world’s energy.”

Spell Nexus snorted, rolling his eyes. “I think you’ll find plenty to test Steed; magic is as natural in Equestria as flight is for a Pegasi.”

“Indeed,” Steed nodded, “but to siphon a sample-sized amount and contain it requires careful concentration. A theory has been presented to the Council that I have been tasked with proving or disproving. Tell me - have you had the pleasure of meeting any of my Unicorn colleagues yet?”

Spell Nexus shook his head, “I’m afraid not - you’re the only ones from the second Earth that I’ve met so far personally.”

“Ah, I see,” Steed nodded. “Well, they've all been reporting that, when they try to use magic, it causes mild headaches and their usual effectiveness is mildly reduced. We at the Archives have come to suspect that there is a different kind of magical energy at play. To wit, our Unicorns are used to working from Petrol, and this world is supplying Diesel.”

“A sound theory,” Spell Nexus replied. “It would stand to reason that each Equus would have their own key form of magic that possesses differences and alternative laws to them despite similar enough at core.”

“And since there are much greater variances between the Equus my colleagues come from and this one than the Equus of this ‘Queen Celestia’, the side effects of the altered variance are more pronounced,” Steed added. “Hence why these effects have not been seen in Unicorns serving with the PHL. We’ve taken to labelling the two as ‘thauma’ for your world’s and ‘magia’ for ours - since these labels are common enough usage in our respective fields it seemed logical. My task is to see if I can't find some way for our ponies to better process thauma, and that requires a core sample.”

Spell Nexus frowned. “How come your world gets the name that is closer to magic than ours?”

“Simple pragmatism, really,” Steed said. “The PHL’s Doctor Whooves seems to have made the usage of ‘thauma’ quite popular, and we can hardly tell them to call it something else now. Meanwhile, the Council has used ‘magia’ for several centuries.”

Spell Nexus sighed. “Very well, very well. Call it what you will…” He trailed off, his mind clearly at work and in thought, “but are you sure your colleagues are just suffering from the illnesses you described earlier?”

Steed nodded. “All signs point to a magical incompatibility. It is the only explanation that fits the evidence - unless they're all spontaneously about to explode from over-saturation of their cells, which would be messy, not to say inconvenient.”

“Indeed, and would take forever to clean up.” Spell Nexus agreed, “but I think - and this hypothetically speaking - your colleagues are not used to this world’s magic and would require a form of aid in order to be better accustomed.”

Steed nodded again. “Such was our thinking. I had considered runic translation - runes that would be marked on the ponies and effectively turn ‘thauma’ into ‘magia’ - and vice versa for PHL ponies engaging in actions on our Earth.”

“Perhaps… perhaps something less permanent and easier to manufacture - a ring of some sort that can be attached to their horn.”

“Oh, our runes aren't as difficult to activate as the one you're familiar with,” Steed said. “Observe.”

He pulled out a small pin and held up his pipe. Grimacing at the fact that he was marking a nice object, he etched a rune into the wood.

“And… repel,” Steed whispered at the rune. It glowed for a moment, and then was back to normal. Steed held the small pipe up. “This pipe is now imbued with a spell of fire-resistance. Actually quite handy for a wood pipe - stops it being a fire hazard.” He clucked his tongue. “Wonder why it never occurred before.”

“Interesting, but I still think it would be better to edge in your runes into a physical sort of armor or equipment rather than on the pony itself,” Spell Nexus stated

“He has a point, sir,” Everett said. He pointed to himself. “Paladin’s all in the steel. I'd hate to sit under a needle for an hour.”

“You sat under the knife for seven,” Steed pointed out with a frown.

“Yeah,” Everett said, “but I was unconscious.”

Steed shrugged. “In any case, we still need that sample.” He took a small vial from one of his pockets: the vial had several runes identical to the ones in Steed’s book etched into the glass. “Enough to fill this should do.”

“I might be able to give you your sample.” Spell Nexus offered, “all you need is just a sample of our magic yes?”

“A core sample would be a little purer,” Steed said, but then he frowned thoughtfully. “That being said, any sample will do, provided you don't direct it in any way. No particular spell, just a general aura.”

“Right then, give me a moment,” Spell Nexus concentrated as he directed his magic into the vial.

After a long moment, the vial was full of a glowing blue energy of some type, and Steed fitted a stopper into the vial with a grin.

“Excellent,” he said. “I think that will do the trick nicely.” He placed the vial back in his pocket, and stood up as quickly as he could. “I believe I should head to speak with my colleagues - they’ll be at a meeting with Princess Celestia and Major Bauer if I’m not mistaken.”

“Very well, but before you go… I have two things to ask of you, if you would, Steed.” Spell Nexus said, a sudden air of authority present in his voice.

“Oh?” the Watcher asked. “What might those be?”

“The first is… well…” Spell Nexus frowned slightly, as he seemed to mull over what he was about to say. “Have you any news of my counterpart in your world?”

Steed frowned. “‘Spell Nexus…’ - Everett?”

“Never heard of a ‘Spell Nexus’ in me life, sir,” Everett said with a shrug. “If there's one of him there, he might be under a different name though. Or he might be dead.”

Steed turned back to Spell Nexus with frown of sympathy. “I apologise, Headmaster Nexus. We have precious little intel about Equestria to go on.”

The stallion sighed, shaking his head in dismay, “I had hoped that at least my counterpart would be present in your world; nopony knows where he is in the first Earth’s Equestria nor do they know of him.” He looked to Steed. “It makes me worried considering how both their world and your world’s Celestia have gone so wrong… and he would probably be the first obstacle in their ways - it’s almost like hearing about your own death way before it’s actually happened to be honest.”

“I can see why it would be disconcerting,” Steed said. “What, may I ask, is your second request?”

The Headmaster looked both ways, eyeing Everett for a moment before beckoning Steed to come closer. The other man did so, frowning.

“Would you mind stop being so formal and just call me Nexus?” he requested with a straight face. “You’re not one of my students or faculty members; it’s rather bizarre to be address that when I’m off duty to be entirely honest.”

Steed raised an eyebrow. “My apologies… Nexus. I am, I’m afraid, considered rather old fashioned by some of my younger colleagues. I believe formality to be a way of being polite - I meant no offence.”

“There is none, but we’re not at a dinner party with the elites - it’s just me, you and Everett at a park that the Spirit of Chaos created from nothing,” Spell Nexus said in a relaxed tone. “It’s not that much of an issue.”

“I see. Yes, quite,” Steed said, nodding. “In any case - I should head to that meeting. It might be wise for you to come too, if you're learned in such matters.”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline for now, other things are going on that require my attention at the moment,” he said, closing his book, “but, my door will be open should you have need of me.”

“I shall bear that in mind,” Steed said with a bow. “Everett, we should be going.”

As the two humans walked off, the Iron Clad could be seen shaking his head.

“Finally,” Everett muttered. “God give me the GG3 - anything's better than this.”

“You say something?” Steed asked.

“No sir,” Everett replied.

***

Ponyville, Year 2 Anno Harmonia - ‘Downtime’ Equestria.

It was as if the universe had just given up on whatever it was that made monsters or bizarre events happen near every saturday. As if had simply said something along the lines of ‘That’s it, you need a break.’

If so, nopony (or Zebra) was considering it a break.

Least of all, a single mint-green unicorn mare named Lyra Heartstrings, who was lying backwards on her bed, all legs outstretched, stacks of books everywhere, and so many shredded ribbons for her Hoofsmith typewriter that Bon-Bon (who was out selling candy) might assume at first glance that she had called down a small, localized blizzard. And then tell her to clean it up.

This was a brief leave only, a temporary break. Lyra had been trained with the Elements for a time, but in all of that time, no discussion was had about what her fate would actually be, what her role on the hypothetical battlefield would actually entail.

If they would even let her go.

Rolling around on the bed, pressing down on the typewriter keys with careful applications of TK, Lyra typed out:

Even if they don’t let me do anything else, I’d just like to tell Catseye to suck it-

...Okay. No. She ripped the typewriter ribbon out, letting it drop to the floor.

I don’t know. I don’t know what to say about this. I’ve talked to Professor Shriek and Laconic…

Ah, great memories of those two historians from Canterlot University. Laconic, a gray-blue unicorn with his thick moplike mane of slowly, glacially receding and silvering black fur, who had smoked the largest, sweetest-smelling cigars, who had given her some of the highest praise she’d ever recieved for her editing and research work in his book An Argument For Humanity and Against Catseye. He’d even personally edited some of her various publications a year after Catseye had published some poorly-researched refutation of all her stories. And Professor Shriek, an oddly earth-attuned thestral who always smelled vaguely of mushrooms, and would grow fungi in all shades of the rainbow. He’d been the most out-there, enough that Howie Waggoner might have said he overdid things.

Okay, he might have overdone things in bed. Nah, it was perfect there.

She remembered the criticism for the paper they’d made together that postulated humans to not have magic, and no thaumic presence at all. Not even the small Earth Pony magic that had could be used to grow crops, or how pegasi managed to carry carts behind themselves without being dragged downwards.

That had been a fun one, and the three of them - Lyra, Shriek, and Laconic had laughed it up in a wood-paneled bar, as always.

But this was miles above that.

In one of these alternative worlds, she was an ambassador, held in almost as high regard among the PHL as alicorns were in modern Equestria. In another world, the one that the godlike knight came from that she’d only heard second and third-hand rumors about (her conversation with Sir Eleanor notwithstanding), she was a hero.

‘...and this is bigger than anything we could have ever dreamed of,’ Lyra typed. ‘But… in both worlds, I’m a hero. It makes me wonder: Who am I? We shouldn’t worry about what our counterparts have done, or compare ourselves to them. We don’t have to make their mistakes, we’re not obligated or fated to become them. But… we’d be worse than any of them if we did nothing. Queen Celestia from the world Marcus came from, Solamina from yet another besieged world… we can’t sit by. If either one wins, we lose. And they won’t be pleased with us.

I know what I said about not worrying, or comparing ourselves to our counterparts. But beyond a doubt… we can all change things. I know that beyond a doubt, I can change things. Soon, the Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash will be sent to Canterlot for Element Bearer duties.’

And then, on impulse, before she was really aware she’d written it out:

‘And I’m coming with them.’

Lyra tried to rip it out of the typewriter ribbon. Couldn’t. Didn’t want to, either.

Well, her parents had always told her that as bad as it was to lie, an empty promise was worse. She was going, then, wasn’t she?

With renewed vigor, she kept typing.

‘And I don’t know what’s out there. I know I’ll make the best book I could on it all, but that’s secondary. By Celestia, I’m going to do my part.’

***