Chapters Double Timeline: Count up Your Crimes
01 - Wonder of them All/To be a Mascot
Flying a few pony lengths above the street level in Canterlot, Blue Jay looks for a clear space to land and made sure her mailbags were secured before touching down on the cement sidewalk. Flicking a few stray strands of her blue mane with black tips away from her blue eyes, she reached into her mailbags with an wing and pulled out today’s mail. Using her black wing tips, she flicked through the letters and magazines making sure she had all pieces that were addressed to the same pony before putting it into the correct mailbox and moving onto the next residence. The sun felt warm against Blue Jay’s white fur with a small breeze to keep things from getting too hot and she took a moment to enjoy the sunshine as ponies hurried by. “I love my job,” she whispered happily to herself as she touched the silver necklace with three small spheres separating two wings that she wore around her neck.
When her mailbags were empty, she flew back to Canterlot’s Post Office and switched them with another set that had her cutie mark embroidered on it - a single blue wing - before taking to the sky once more. Once the rest of the mail had been delivered, she flew towards the Wonderbolt compound at a leisurely pace opting to fly just above the buildings. Approaching the compound, she descended in a slow spiral ensuring she would be facing the guards when she touched the ground.
Walking towards the two unicorn stallions, she slowly unfolded her wings and held them out to the side. “Hiya, Blue, Aki,” she greeted them as she came to a stop.
“Hello, Blue Jay,” Blueberry greeted as he used his magic to scan Blue Jay. He was the color of a blueberry but because of untold reasons, he dropped -berry and had everypony call him Blue. At the same time, Akigawa, the red furred unicorn, scanned the mailbags as he walked around her.
“You’re clear to enter, Ms. Jay.” Aki announced as he went back to his post. Rapping on the frame, the gate opened up revealing a green unicorn mare. “I don’t think we need to tell Ms. Jay where to go, Zielony.”
“You know the drill, Blue Jay. Have a good day.” Blue smiled and tipped his head.
“You guys as well.” Blue Jay replied with a wave before following Zielony to one of the buildings. After entering what the Wonderbolts call their lounge area, Blue Jay headed straight for the counter. “Mail’s here, Lucky.”
“Good to know you’re like clockwork.” Lucky chuckled as Blue Jay reached the mail counter as she gave him the mail. “How are you today?”
“Quite well, beautiful weather out there.” Blue Jay admitted with a smile. “Perfect day to be a mail mare. How are you doing?”
“Oh, same old, same old.” Lucky replied as he started separating the mail. “I’m just glad to be here.”
The two spoke for a couple minutes and Blue Jay was about to leave when an idea popped into her head. “Say, Lucky, how do I get a day pass?” She remembered her siblings mentioning something should family members wished to visit, but couldn’t remember what all it said.
Lucky raised an eyebrow. “Why the sudden interest?” he asked, only because he was curious himself.
Before Blue Jay could reply, two hooves covered her eyes with a mare’s voice asking “Guess who?”
“Hey Moony, I found this stray outside when you sent me out for muffins.” Azzy - Azure Star- called out in a teasing manner as she headed for her squad mates after heading towards one of the gyms while carrying a bag of muffins under a wing.
“Azzy, I was in the lounge!” Blue Jay protested as she troted alongside Azzy as she tried to figure out where the muffins came from.
“Your point? I was still sent for muffins! Not my fault you followed me… Also your tail needs some shampoo.”
Blue Jay flicked her tail into Azzy’s face. “Excuse me for coming here right after work.” She drew out the first syllable as Azzy made a face. “Want to make another comment about my tail?”
“Yeah, it needs more color.” Azzy said as she quickly sidestepped away.
“I…” Blue Jay’s mind froze up, then she bolted after Azzy “Come back here you!”
“Come on, you know what happens when you wrestle with me!” Azzy had no trouble dodging Blue Jay, often waiting for the other mare to get close before ducking to let her sail over head. “You end up face first in a bed with me on your back,” Azzy then blew a few raspberries at Blue Jay while Sunshower sits on the mats to one side eating popcorn.
“Joke’s on you this time, Azzy, we aren’t anywhere near a bedroom this time!” Blue Jay grinned, thinking she would finally get the upper hand.
“Azzy… I must intercede on my dear Jay’s behalf. Her honor is clearly at stake!” Moonbow called out from her spot beside Sunshower and helping herself to some popcorn.
“We fought in a lounge, you STILL ended up face first in a bed.” Azzy spotted Bear Claw moving something towards them but kept Blue Jay distracted.
“That was luck!” Blue Jay almost yelled and thinking Azzy had gotten distracted, flew around and attempted to put her into a choke hold. Next thing Blue Jay knew, she was laying face down on a mattress while Azzy sitting on her.
“What did I tell you?” Azzy asked sitting on Blue Jay’s back as she calmly inspected and blew some dust off her hoof oblivious to the other mare’s muffled cursing.
“I think you can let her up now.” Moony brushed off her hooves as Blue Jay quieted down.
“But the bed’s so comfy.” Azzy fake pouted and tried to convince Moony with her eyes, but sighed as she got off Blue Jay.
Blue Jay rolled onto her back. “Faust, I just thought of a good comeback for that tail color comment.” She looked up to see Moony holding out a hoof and with her help, Blue Jay stood up.
“Now, now, Jay, you shouldn’t swear,” Sunny chided teasingly as he came up and hugged his younger sister. “How’s my favorite younger sister doing?”
“I’m your only younger sister, Sunny,” Blue Jay replied as she hugged him back.
“Exactly, which is why you’re my favorite.” Sunny looked over to Moony after the hug was finished, seeing her with a raised eyebrow. “Hey, you’re my twin, and I wouldn’t trade you for anypony else.”
“Good save,” Moony replied as Bear Claw joined them. “What brings you here?” she asked giving Blue Jay a hug as well.
“To get a noogie from Uncle BC!” Bear Claw laughed before capturing Blue Jay in a headlock and began rubbing her mane as she tried to fight him off.
When Bear Claw let go, Blue Jay rubbed her head to sooth the pain away, even though it didn’t hurt that much and to straighten her mane out. “I wanted to come visit you guys,” she replied as she hugged Moony and the two nuzzled the other’s shoulder.
“If you had given us some warning, I would have let you know when we were somewhat free.” Moony explained as the hug finished.
Blue Jay chuckled as she shrugged. “It was a spur of the moment thing. Besides, you know I enjoy getting a pre-show of what you’re working on.” As they made small talk, everypony but Blue Jay ate some of the muffins before Moony had her squad take to the air in order to practice the aerial techniques for a bit. For the remaining time, they spent dedicated to practicing their speed runs and turns, even letting Blue Jay control the stopwatch and allowed her to race them a couple of times. Though she was last, Blue Jay had fun flying around the gym with them and as the allotted time came to a close, Moony called for everypony to hit the showers. The mares heading for one locker room while the stallions headed for theirs.
“Did you have fun today, Jay?” Azzy asked Blue Jay as they showered, using her nickname for Blue Jay.
“Of course. Though honestly, had I not witness your guys’ fighting style, I wouldn’t believe such a style could exist.” Blue Jay replied as she let the hot water cascade down her back and sighed contently as it soothed her muscles. “Jay, heads up.” She heard Azzy call out and looked over in time to see a white bottle heading her way and though she fumbled the catch a couple times it was ultimately a successful catch. Turning it over, she saw that it was a bottle of shampoo before shaking her head with a small smile. “Ffffiiiiinnnnneeeeeee. I’ll use it.”
“Would you two hurry up?” Moony asked as she stood off to one side with a damp towel around her neck. “We have the evening patrol and I’d like to eat with Little Jay.” Though her voice sounded impatient, she really wasn’t but at the same time wanted to catch up with her little sister.
“Almost done, sis.” Blue Jay said washing her tail. “Azzy, I’m still puzzled as to why my tail needs more color. Both of us have a duotone tail.” Once she finished getting the shampoo out, she headed for the spare towel rack in the locker room and started to dry off.
Azzy shook her head as she joined the other two half a second later. “Sorry, that’s where you’re wrong. Black is the absence of light and it’s just… eh, so no, we don’t have the same number of tail colors.
Blue Jay was about to reply when the door opened and Sunny stuck his head in. “You mares ready yet?” He called out, not expecting them to be in his line of sight and quickly received two towels to the face while the third hit the wall above his head before falling onto his head. “Right, we’ll just wait out here,” he reached up and pulled the towel off his head as he retreated.
“Sorry it’s not the greatest stuff on Equestria.” Moony apologized as the five of them sat at one of the empty tables in the mess hall. “If we had more time, I would have suggested Rusty’s”
Blue Jay set her tray on the table before sitting down beside her sister. “Don’t worry too much about it, we can go when I get back.”
“Wait? ‘Get back’? When are you leaving?” Sunny asked as he sat on the other side of Moony while Azzy and BC sat opposite of them.
“Work wants me to spend a couple weeks in Ontrotio,” Blue Jay sighed, not having meant to reveal that just yet. “The boss wants to try switching things up a little. He’s sending me and a few other pegasi there in exchange for the same number coming here.” At this, the mood became slightly somber. “Sorry, I didn’t mean kill the mood.”
“You didn’t kill the mood, we were just caught off guard.” BC replied as he reached over and patted Blue Jay’s head with a wing. “We’ll just have to have more fun when you get back.”
“Trash cans are over along that wall.” Azzy pointed to where several trash cans sat after she watched Blue Jay look around a few times. “Honestly, I’m half tempted to dump this as well.”
“It’s not that,” Blue Jay turned and face the table. “I was just hoping I could see a couple of pegasi.”
“Oh? Who exactly are you looking for?” Moony asked, her curiosity piqued, wondering who Blue Jay could be looking for.
“Misty Fly and Fire Streak.” Blue Jay answered looking at Moony.
“Unfortunately, they’re off at a show in Los Pegasus.” Moony saw Blue Jay’s ears drop a little. “Any particular reason for those two?”
“I got invited to dine with them one night when they were in Vanhoover and wanted to say hi again.” Blue Jay explained, though silently thankful that she didn’t have to face Misty Fly as she still didn’t have many great friends yet, and would have to keep holding onto the handkerchief. As she thought about it, she glanced down at the silver necklace around her neck before looking up at her siblings. “Sunny, Moony, how come you never told me Misty Fly was deaf? I could have used her as an idol growing up.” Truthfully, she wasn’t upset that they never told her, just curious.
“Surely we told-” Moony trailed off as she tried to recall telling Blue Jay but looked at her twin when he tapped her shoulder. “Are you sure we didn’t?”
“Positive, and don’t call her Shirley,” Sunny said to Moony with a straight face before looking at Blue Jay. “Sorry about that, honestly, we were so used to you hearing us that we never thought of that.”
Blue Jay nodded. “Fair enough.” The atmosphere lifted after a few minutes of catching up and they were nearly finished with dinner when squad two entered the mess hall.
“Captain Tightpants!” Moony called out to Silver Lining as he looked for a place to sit while Blaze and High Winds headed in a different direction from Wave Chill.
“What do you want, Captain Moonbow?” Silver deadpanned.
“There’s someone we want you to meet.” Moony motioned to Blue Jay, who had turned around in her seat.
Seeing Silver narrowing his eyes at her, Blue Jay felt her breath catch, clearly intimidated by the older stallion.
“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” Silver asked after a couple seconds of looking down at Blue Jay.
“This is Blue Jay, she’s-”
“I’m their illegitimate daughter.” Blue Jay squeaked out interrupting Moony.
Sunny facehoofed as Moony rubbed Blue Jay’s back with a wing. “Now, now, Little Jay, that’s reserved for the press.” She gave her sister a hug and looked up at Silver. “She’s our little sister.”
Silver’s eye twitched as he listened to the response he got. “You mean there’s more of you?” He groaned knowing two were bad enough, but now there were three and who knew how many more. Just thinking about that caused him to rub his hoof against his nose.
“Though we’re so different that I wonder how we’re related,” Sunny chuckled, winking at Blue Jay.
“Is there anything else related to current events?” Silver asked.
“Nope!” Moony chirped happily. “Just wanted to introduce you to her,” she admitted honestly and once Silver was gone, she whipped her head to face Sunny with a maniacal glint in her eye. “Where’s Tide?”
Sunny thought for a moment. “She should be getting back with her squad from their patrol any minute now. Why?”
“Blue Jay, there’s one more pegasi that you need to tell that you’re our daughter to.” Moony grinned as she stood up.
Azzy laid flat along the rooftop to the auxiliary gym holding a pair of binoculars up as she watched for any sign of Squad Six. Once she found them, she kept her eye on them thankful that Riptide was predictable as they headed for the main building. Catching Blue Jay’s attention, she gave a double feather salute before ducking out of sight once more.
Inside the compound, Blue Jay turned her head away from the window in squad seven’s room before darting across the hallway to squad five’s room, a pair of flight goggles on her head and stuck her head in. “Begin operation: bedroom eyes.” She grinned at Moony and Sunny before dashing back over to squad seven’s room and closing the door softly.
As Riptide, Storm Dancer, Clear Sky, and Midnight approached their rooms, the door to squad five’s room opened as both Moony and Sunny tumbled out, not bothering to keep their sweet words to each other quietly and occasionally leaning in close for an almost kiss obvious to everything around then.
Suddenly squad seven’s door opened and Blue Jay stuck her head out. “Mom! Dad! Stop, you’re going to embarrass me in front of my new friends!” As she spoke, she really didn’t have to pretend to blush as her cheeks turned red watching the two disregarding the other’s personal space. There was a poof of a pegasus’ wings popping out just before the shutter of a camera was heard and everypony turned to look at BC, who was standing in front of squad eight’s door, as he took another picture.
“This is perfect.” BC commented as he looked from the surprised/embarrassed look of Moony and Sunny, to Clear Sky’s wings straight out, to Midnight holding her wings over her mouth hiding a shocked expression, to Blue Jay’s wide-eyed stare and blushing, to Storm Dancer staring at the ground and tapping his hoof against it awkwardly.
Riptide stood as she rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. “Captain Moonbow, do you honestly expect me to believe that you and your brother would choose now to become closer? Or that full grown mare could be your daughter?” She deadpanned killing the joke instantly.
“Damn, thought we had something going there.” Sunny pouted as Moony pushed him off her. “Well, it was a good attempt. Anyhow, this is our younger sister, Blue Jay.” He motioned to her with a hoof before turning his attention to Blue Jay. “Sis, this is Captain Riptide of squad six.”
Blue Jay nodded with a shy smile. Though she found Tide to be somewhat intimidating, she was nothing compared to Silver Lining. Blinking, she heard a shutter click and turned her head to see BC holding a camera.
“Nevermind, BC, she didn’t take it,” Moony explained as BC lowered the camera in confusion. Ignoring the pouting look, Moony shook her head. “If you excuse us, Captain Tide, my squad and I need to patrol the city.”
“That would be a good thing, Captain Moonbow. I believe you are behind schedule.” Tide replied as she and her squad mates went into their rooms while Blue Jay waved bye to the members of squad seven before following her older siblings out of the compound along with BC and Azzy.
Double Timeline: Count up Your Crimes
Blue Jay reclined in the one of plastic chair that she and her coworkers had been given for their meeting with the manager of the Ontrotio’s Post Office. Just before the manager left, he passed out route map, schedules and a list of who they would be shadowing for the first couple days. “Finally!” She muttered and stretched her wings. Though she had been listening, her visual attention had been more focused on the birds of all kinds flying from branch to branch s she looked out the window. Taking a couple seconds to put the papers in her saddle bag, her hoof hovered over the hotel information but then she decided to look at that later and instead decided to trek around and do a little sight seeing as she headed out of the building while waving to her coworkers.
Approaching the railing, Blue Jay looked over at the largest waterfall of Neighra Falls awestruck at the amount of water rushing over the edges with the spray creating a faint rainbow and providing a cool breeze in the warm sunlight. She heard a mare describing the falls and looked around until she saw a sign.
“While the collective name for the three falls is Neighagra Falls. Princess Celestia has named this one the Horseshoe Falls, further down is the Bridal Veil Falls and then Americolt Falls is at the end. For Horseshoe falls, there is a height of 167 feet from top to the whirlpool below, and summertime average 675,000 gallons per second. The first pony to go over the falls –and survive– was an earth colt named Sam Patch, leading to a long list of ponies from all races to try and recreate the event. The first unicorn mare, Annie Edson Taylor, went over in a barrel and came out bleeding, but alive.” The mare explained to some ponies who thanked her before walking away.
“I would be a bit more impressed,” Blue Jay grinned as she approached the pagasus mare, “if you didn’t read directly from that sign,” she pointed to where the sign sat detailing the falls.
The black furred mare sighed and shrugged. “Ponies tend to think of me as an expert here instead of just reading the sign themselves. I actually have that memorized.” The mare grinned. “Do you have any questions for me?”
Blue Jay giggled and shook her head before holding out a hoof. “No, I found it amusing. I’m Blue Jay.”
“Name’s Neon Echo,” the mare introduced herself as she shook the other’s hoof. “Local mare and DJ extraordinaire.” She brushed her long neon blue mane with blazing yellow streaks from her luminous pink eyes before turning to face the falls again as her lambent orange tail swished from side to side occasionally.
“Well now my job is going to seem boring compared to yours.” Blue Jay joked as she stood beside Neon Echo at the railing. “I’m a simple mailmare.”
“A simple mailmare?” Neon Echo repeated in disbelief. “Don’t sell yourself short, Blue Jay, mailmares are needed in our word. After all, how would be be able send and receive letters?” She nudged Blue Jay with her wing. “Truth be told, I probably would have been in your spot if I didn’t get get my cutie mark after spinning a few turntables one night.” Turning her attention away from the falls, she looked at Blue Jay. “Did you just move here?”
“Nope… well, kinda. Work is doing an exchange program so for the next couple weeks, I’ll be delivering the mail here.”
“Neat. Well, if you’re not working over the weekend, you should come to Club Se7en. First drink will be on me.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not old enough to drink. I still got two years before I can.”
“Ah.” Neon Echo nodded. “Well, even if it’s apple juice or a milkshake, first one is still on me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Blue Jay replied happily before they said their goodbyes for the time being and they troted in opposite directions.
The week had both rushed and crawled by for Blue Jay. Sitting on the edge of her hotel room’s bed, she rubbed her temples to soothe the headache that had been growing over the course of the day. With a sigh, she laid on her back and looked up at the ceiling for half a second before closing her eyes. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, somepony knocked on the door. “Who is it?” She asked, her tone a little annoyed.
“Neon Echo.” The voice replied before Blue Jay got up and opened the door. “Hey there, ready to party?” The two had bumped into each other during the middle of the week and had lunch together during the time they gave each other their addresses and room number.
Blue Jay shook her head slowly “Not tonight.”
“Oh, working tomorrow?”
“No, just been dealing with a headache all day.” Blue Jay groaned as she walked over to the couch and laid down. “You’re welcome to come in though.”
“Probably a good thing I came by then.” Neon Echo walked in and headed for the sink filling a cup with water before reaching into her saddlebags for a couple of pills. After finding them, she trotted over to Blue Jay’s side and handed them and the water over. “Here. Take two and you should feel better in an hour.”
Sitting up, Blue Jay took the offered pills and swallowed them with the help of the water. “Thanks, but an hour?”
“Fastest thing they got.” Neon Echo wrote down an address and drew a map. “If you feel better, this is where I’ll be tonight. I’d love to see a friend there, but I understand if you can’t make it.” She wanted to stay to make sure her new friend would be fine, but knew she had to get to Club Se7en to set things up. Standing up, she patted Blue Jay’s shoulder “I recommend sleeping, that’ll help.”
“Thanks.” Blue Jay replied with a smile and Neon Echo left the room. Starting an internal debate, she looked between the bed and the hoof drawn map a few times. With a sigh, she climbed off the bed and headed for the bathroom turning on the shower.
“Hey! You made it!” Neon Echo elated happily as she saw Blue Jay enter Club Se7en from where she sat at the bar.
“Thanks to your medicine.” Blue Jay hopped up on the seat beside her.”Aren’t you working tonight?”
“Will be, it’s just slightly too early for me to start.” Neon Echo got the barkeep’s attention. “Another one of these, and whatever my friend wants,” she motioned to her glass before to Blue Jay and the barkeep nodded with the two orders before trotting away. “What made you change your mind?”
“Beside the medicine, I’ve wasted a week already and haven’t seen too much of the city with the longer mail routes.”
Neon Echo took a sip of her drink once the barkeep dropped them off. “Well, if you’d like, I can take show you around town for a bit tomorrow.”
“Sure, that sounds like fun.” Blue Jay smiled and the two chatted as they nursed their drinks until Neon Echo had to take up her place behind the turntables. All at once, the lights shut off except for the emergency lights leaving the place in near total darkness.
From the stage, two electric blue line started from the bottom and made their way up before looping around to form circles and proceed upward until it reached the top of table and going over the edge revealing turntables and switches. “ARE YOU PONIES READY TO PARTY!?” Neon Echo yelled which caused the ponies on the dance floor to cheer and that’s when she dropped the bass.
It took five seconds for Blue Jay to reach up and lower the volume on her necklace but even that wasn’t enough. Pressing the three circles in a particular order, the necklace shut itself off and though the music was still loud, she could at least tolerate it. As the black lights came on, strobe lights and multi-color light projects turned on flashing randomly as they swept around the room and it wasn’t long before a fog machine covered the dance floor with smoke. Blue Jay watched Neon Echo, noticing the black lights hid her body while making her neon colors stand out, even opting for two neon green wristbands on her hooves, giving her an ethereal beauty as she mixed the records and music keeping the crowd alive.
At some point during the night, Neon Echo switched over to her pre-recorded tracks and made her way back to the bar sitting beside Blue Jay. “Do you know how to dance?” She yelled over the noise and Blue Jay shook her head. “Then tonight’s the night you’re going to learn,” taking Blue Jay’s hoof in hers, Neon Echo pulled her onto the dance floor and started dancing.
Blue Jay watched and tried to copy some of the dance moves, but they were wooden at best and she couldn’t enjoy it feeling to self conscious that other ponies were watching and judging her.
Neon sighed and moved closer to Blue Jay. “Relax, feel the music flow through you,” She said with her mouth next to Blue Jay’s ear. Guiding Blue Jay through some dance moves, she slowly weaned off with her help until both mares were dancing side by side and it was only when Neon had to resume “work” that Blue Jay realized she had been dancing without any help.
Neon scratched the records and when she caught Blue Jay’s eyes, she winked before holding a hoof out and Blue Jay returned the air brohoof before looking away with a slightly blush. When Club Se7en was winding down, Neon came up to Blue Jay once more, a thin sheen of sweat on her. “Hey,” She took the offered glass of water from Blue Jay and drunk it before continuing “if you want to wait until I shut things down here, you’re welcome to spend the night at my place and tomorrow I can show you around town.”
“The melting wax house.” Blue Jay said as she looked at a sign above the doorway of a large grey building. “Is this a good idea?” She asked Neon picturing a more haunted version with actual wax figures melting giving off a grotesque appearance.
“Yeah, ponies knew the name because this was once a horror that scared the young ones.” Lyla Firecracker replied. “But they got a lot of complaints from several hoofball mares so they cleaned up the place so to speak.” The only way in and out was the door they stood in front of with one window to the right of it to let some light in and as they entered, a bell rang alerting a pegasus to their arrival.
“Welcome to the melting wax house.” She greeted in a bored tone after looking up from the magazine she was looking at. “It’ll be fourteen bits per pony and we also having a no flying policy except for one area. Pictures are welcomed as well.” The two paid their fare and as they entered through another door, the pegasus went back to her magazine.
The first room was a corridor with three ponies of each race on either side of them. The earth ponies first, unicorns second, and pegasi third, standing at attention as they walked passed with the corridor opening up into a smaller version of the throne room. They were soon greeted with both Princess Celestia and Luna smiling with their wings outstretched and yet looking regal at the same time.
“Should we bow?” Blue Jay asked, wondering what they were supposed to do.
“I would think it wasn’t needed. But I’m not sure.” Neon replied, then she shrugged, “Though to be honest, I never really did and haven’t seen anypony else do so.” With the agreement that they didn’t have to, they exited to the right, leaving the throne room and walked out into the courtyard with dimmed lights and painted walls to suggest an evening scene. It was set up much like it would be for the Grand Galloping Gala but there was a painted cobblestone pathway that led the shortest way through that room. Off to one corner stood Octavia with her trademark cello, Symphony on her violin, Frederic Horseshoepin sitting at a piano, and Parish Nandermane playing the harp as soft classical music played around them. In the middle of the room, there was a large fountain with Star Swirl the Bearded standing beside it looking up at the night sky as if casting a spell to make the stars twinkle in the night sky. Standing on the edge –clad in her cape and pointed hat– of the fountain near Star Swirl was Trixie creating an ursa minor illusion for some foals. A few feet away from them stood Photo Finish with her trademark camera and instructing the mane 6 into position, with Twilight Sparkle being in the middle but there was enough room around each pony to see them from all sides.
As they exited through the doorway besides the mane 6, they ducked under a set of tied-back red plush curtains and found themselves standing at the beginning of a fashion runway. On either side, there were ponies looking up and some had camera while others didn’t and standing at the end stood Hoity Toity. As they walked to the end, he had an audio clip giving them a random compliment.
Exiting the fashion show, they found themselves hearing rushing water and as they turned the corner, they found a wall painted blue with white clouds and a wooden set constructed to be an inner tube about to go over the edge of Neighagra Falls.
“This is cool.” Blue Jay said as she walked around the falls and stood in the inner tube. Then she threw her fore hooves into the air and whooped happily as if she really was going over. There was a click of a shutter, thus drawing their attention to the opposite wall.
“Feel free to pose however you wish.” Blue Jay read the flyer besides the camera. “You can pick up your photos at the end. Please be courteous to others if they are waiting.” She looked at the others. “Guess we don’t need to worry about the last one for now.” Neon joined her in the inner tube and pretended that it was the end for them. The next photo had them cheering as they were almost over the edge. Blue Jay then went to the front acting like she was slipping as Neon held Blue Jay’s hooves.
“Don’t let go!” Don’t let go! Please don’t let go!” Blue Jay pleaded.
“Don’t worry, I got you!” Neon shouted with an indoor voice but she could feel Blue Jay’s hoof slipping out of her grasp. “BLUE JAY!” She cried out as Blue Jay fell towards the basin of the falls, her voice getting smaller. They both laughed as Blue Jay stood up from the floor when a sudden idea struck her. Getting back in, the two adopted an ‘oh buck’ expression as the camera took the final picture before they moved on.
“To be honest, I’m not sure if my last words would be “I regret nothing!” or “Oh buck!” with the last word trailing after me the entire way down.” Blue Jay said as she was looking back at Neon, she didn’t see but felt a large leaf smack her head. Turning around, she saw the leaf was nearly as big as she was. Pushing the leaves aside during their trek through a jungle until it opened to reveal a path leading to a golden pyramid. On their left stood Daring Do with an ancient artifact with a speech bubble wishing Ahuizotl better luck next time while on their right stood Ahuizotl and his hench-cats, including the fussy white house cat.
Entering the pyramid, they walked up the spiral staircase with the scene changing from ancient civilization to that or a night club halfway up the stairs with a soft bass reverberating through the area. As they reached the second floor, the bass was a little louder but kept quiet as different color lights pulsed randomly to give the feel that the ponies on the dance floor were really dancing. Along one wall was a bar and on the opposite side stood the DJ, the one and only, DJ-Pon3 behind her mixing tables.
They left the nightclub scene and they soon came to came to a door with a sign daring any and all brave ponies to enter. “Hey, let’s go in here.” Blue Jay said as she put her hoof on the door to open it. The first villain they were greeted with was Queen Chrysalis and a couple of changelings, including one that was halfway through the process of becoming a crystal pony with a fleur-de-lis cutie mark.
Passing by Tirek and Discord, the last villain they saw was Nightmare Moon and three Shadowbolts, one in flight and the other two standing on either side of Nightmare Moon.
“Can you imagine what Equestria would be like if Nightmare Moon had won all those centuries ago?” Neon asked, her voice changing tone slightly and they opted not to spend too much time before Nightmare Moon because her eyes seemed to look straight to their souls.
“I’m glad she didn’t.” Blue Jay replied. “Though a fight between her and the other villains would be interesting to watch.”
“But if they’re both villains, who do you cheer for?” Neon asked as she tried to picture which of the villains would ultimately come out on top as the exited the room.
“That’s easy, we cheer for the Elements of Harmony.” Blue Jay replied without missing a beat. They laughed as they found themselves on the landing strip of the Wonderbolt Academy and were greeted by Colonel Purple Dart and Admiral Fairweather holding a banner between them that read “welcome to the Wonderbolts.” General Firefly was a pony length away, but had his back to them as he looked at a wall painted with lighting and sparkles trailing after the first set of Wonderbolts and a speech bubble having him saying “those are my Wonderbolts!”
Commander Easyglider stood a little further down with drawings of different maneuvers blueprints that the Wonderbolts could perform for the shows. They also had Admiral Fairy Flight and General Flash of the seventh and tenth squadrons respectively getting ready to lead their teams. As they got closer to the current Wonderbolts, they paused by Flaire De Mare who was watching a set of six costumes slowly rotating in an oval shape with each one getting more streamlined.
Captain Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot stood at the very end of the room saluting while the other current Wonderbolts were flying overhead with half of them creating a storm cloud trail behind them. Several mirrors on the ceiling allowed ponies to see the tops and sides of those in flight.
They left the Wonderbolts behind and walked into a hallway with a small science classroom with Professor Bill Neigh standing behind a desk with the desk being filled of apparatuses filled with five different color lights that were supposed to represent liquids. They couldn’t get too close due to a railing but there was a panel that had five different color buttons on it. Blue Jay pressed two of them and the corresponding liquids were mixed into one beaker in the middle of the desk. There was an audible poof and a cloud of black smoke shot up and when it was clear, his face was covered in ash and he had wonky eyes before he coughed out a smoke ring. A minute later the area reset itself so each she tried a few more times getting the same result until Neon pressed the right combination to turn the liquid a golden color.
Opposite of Professor Bill Neigh and his science class was the Power Ponies. Mistress Mare-velous, Fili-Second, Zapp, Radiance, Masked Matter-Horn and Saddle Ranger stood ready to defend Metropolis with their powers ready, Though Saddle Ranger had a large darken shadow painted behind her. Hum Drum was pointing ahead of them to where Mane-iac was emerging from a space trough with a speech bubble saying “Ah! After ten-thousand years I’m free, it’s time to conquer Equestria.”
Since the way through was closer to the Power Ponies than Bill Neigh, the door and hallway were represented by a portal and when they emerged, they stood on a crystal walkway while the walls had a pinkish hue to them with a several changelings being blasted away and there were a few crystal ponies waving at them. Beside the crystal heart, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor stood close to each other. Cadence’s horn was glowing pink while Shining Armor pinned a changeling under his hoof like it was no big deal.
They exited the building and stood off to the side so they wouldn’t be in anypony’s way while their eyes readjusted to the sunny day. “That was totally worth every bit!” Blue Jay exclaimed as she looked at the photos they had taken with the inner tube.
“Glad you enjoyed it,” Neon smiled. “How about some lunch, and then we can wander around window shopping?” At Blue Jay's nod, the pair trotted off to find a place to eat.
Double Timeline: Count up Your Crimes
03 - Merging Timelines/First Transformation
Inside the main terminal of Ontrotio’s train station, Blue Jay stood on the platform watching as her train came chugging into view. The past two weeks had been fun, albeit a little frustrating with her not used to the location, and she couldn’t wait to go home.
“Blue Jay!” Neon called out as she landed gently on the platform beside Blue Jay. “Sorry, I forgot to set my alarm last night,” she apologized while combing a hoof through her mane attempting to straighten it.
“It’s okay, you made it,” Blue Jay smiled as the train’s whistle blew not too far off. The two stood there in uncomfortable silence for a moment.
“Neon-”
“Blue Jay-” They began at the same time and instantly shut their mouths waiting for the other to continue. With a shared laugh, Neon shook her head. “You first.”
“I just wanted to say thanks for showing me around. I had tons of fun.”
“That’s good. Thanks for letting me show you around. But hay, if you ever come back, look me up.” Neon pulled out a piece of paper with her address written on it. “Don’t lose this now,” she teased.
Blue Jay laughed and secured the paper in her luggage as the train pulled into the station. “Suppose we have the same idea,” She handed Neon a slip of paper as well, “top one is my parent’s place for the next month, bottom one is where I’ll be moving into.” She watched as Neon glanced over the two addresses.
“Who knows, perhaps it might be time to tour Equestria. Celestia knows my agent’s been bugging me about it long enough.” Neon sighed, just picturing how that conversation would go. The train whistle blew one long note reminding them where they were.
“Guess I better go.”
“Yeah, you don’t want to fly home.” Neon earned herself a chuckle from Blue Jay as the two hugged. “I’ll let you know my schedule.”
Blue Jay nodded as she climbed aboard seconds before the conductor called “all aboard!” And a couple moments later, the train gave two short whistle blast before it began rolling forward. Neon watched the train until it rolled out of sight before opening her wings and flying straight for her agent’s house.
It was two days since Blue Jay returned to Canterlot and she was already flying through the sky between the buildings at her usual place delivering the mail enjoying the familiar surroundings. She also hadn’t been that surprised to see a letter from her sister awaiting for her with a blank three month schedule marked with the best days to visit, but even then there weren’t many days.
Touching down on the sidewalk, she hummed “Find the Music in You” as she trotted up to the mail boxes and deposited the appropriate letters in them before moving onto the next place. Once she reached the edge of the street, she reached into her saddlebags and pulled out the schedule for Squad Twelve only to see the day was blacked out so with a sigh, she slipped the schedule back in and took off for the next street.
Maybe I’ll swing by Fine Brew’s Tea Room for some tea before going home. Blue Jay thought as she altered her course that would take her to Fine Brew’s as her siblings popped into her mind, then again, it would be more fun if all of us could go there. Oh! Maybe I could- she got cut off as a falling unicorn mare screaming and she looked up seconds before bracing herself as Paige collided with her sending them both towards the ground and thinking quickly Blue Jay managed to break their fall enough that it sent them rolling across the ground a bit instead of crashing. She was about to ask the unicorn if she was alright when she heard a roar followed by several ponies screaming. “What’s that?”
Paige looked up seeing a large Diamond Dog but this one radiant fear. “An acolyte of fear,” she told the pegasus and tried to stand up but her body gave out on her. Picking up the red, silver, and black object, she held in front of Blue Jay. “I need your help to fight that creature. But if this doesn’t work, then we’re going to die. So I ask; do you have the courage to ride with the devil?”
Blue Jay sat up staring at the Diamond Dog with wide eyes for a moment before focusing her attention on Paige and for some reason, her question felt ominous. Reaching out, she took the tri-color object and looked back to the Diamond Dog as it approached an earth mare and slashed downward causing the mare to start bleeding. “Yes, what do I have to do?” Unsure if it was the blood or the Diamond Dog, she swallowed and tried to ignore the fear festering in her mind.
“Put the Double Driver around your waist.” Paige instructed and after Blue Jay rose to her hind legs, a waist strap wrapped around Blue Jay’s body holding the Double Driver in place as another one materialized around Paige’s waist. With her magic, Paige levitated a purple and green crystal above them while pressing a small button on each. “Cyclone!” “Joker!” The crystals sang out. “Henshin!” She called out before sliding the cyclone crystal into her Driver’s centerpiece before it turned into data and appeared in Blue Jay’s Driver.
“Hen-what?” Blue Jay attempted to repeat as she tried taking everything in at once. Glancing down, she saw the cyclone crystal appear on the right side when Paige pushed it down. Next Paige inserted the joker crystal into the left slot on Blue Jay’s Driver pushing it down before she pulled the centerpiece outward. “Cyclone Joker!” before energy began swirling around Blue Jay with a whistling sound, like wind blowing, while Paige’s body dropped into a comatose state.
As the energy crackled around her, Blue Jay extended her arms outwards pointing them down as the energy began taking on the form of lightweight armor as two parallel silver lines ran from head to crotch, and then back up the other side with a separate set forming on the helmet. The right side became green with a yellow V shape extending from the silver line to the shoulder armor. The shoulder piece had two rings of yellow around the widest part with green finishing the pad. The right arm and leg turned green as well with a yellow cuff just about her fetlocks. On the left side, Blue Jay’s body turned black and where the yellow was on the left side, the right side was purple in color. A silver scarf floated behind her as her tail became duotone, purple on top and green on bottom. A helmet formed around Blue Jay’s head with the color scheme matching the suit but she had two silver spikes angle outward.
Blue Jay glanced down at Paige’s body “AH! What happened to your body!?” She cried out and dropped down shaking the unicorn’s body with only the left side of her body cooperating.
“It’s okay.” Paige tried to reassure Blue Jay, the right eye lighting up as she spoke. “I can explain later.” She winced as Blue Jay screamed now realizing their minds were sharing the same body. “First we need to defeat that acolyte.” She pointed with the right hoof towards the Diamond Dog. “All I ask, is that you try to keep the fight away from my body.”
Blue Jay nodded as the questions continued to mount in her mind. Spreading her wing, she took off only to crash half a foot away.
“Sorry, I’m not used to flying.” Paige apologized and instructed Blue Jay on the fact they would have to coordinate their moves, finishing with “after all, we are a single Kamen Rider now.”
“I’m going to need a healing spell for my head after this is done.” Blue Jay grumbled as she galloped towards the Diamond Dog as it raised a claw to strike the earth mare. “Hey! Ugly!” She shouted distracting it into looking up when she tackled the Diamond Dog away. “Hurry, get to safety.” She barely saw other ponies rushing to the mare’s aid as Blue Jay kept her eyes on the dog.
“I found you.” Diamond Dog grumbled. “Master will be pleased when I bring you back.”
“Sorry, not happening.” Blue Jay promised as she fought the Diamond Dog, now grateful that Azzy taught her the same martial arts that she, Moony, BC, and Sunny used. “How do I defeat the Diamond Dog?” She asked roundhouse kicking it on the side of the face sending him sprawling away.
“Let me take control.” Paige requested as she thought about what she had to do. Reaching over to the joker side with her magic, she pulled out the crystal and levitated it over to a black holster on the belt as it sang out “Joker maximum drive!” after she inserted the crystal. A small tornado spun under Blue Jay’s hooves lifting her into the sky. When they reached the apex of the tornado, Paige slapped the outer side of the black holster. “Joker extreme!” She flipped over and began descending bringing one rear hoof back a little and as she got closer to the Diamond Dog, she split in half with the cyclone side connecting first followed by the joker side.
The Diamond Dog was blasted backward where it rolled several times as a yellow crystal shard ejected itself before shattering causing the Diamond Dog to revert into a stallion.
Pushing the centerpieces back to their vertical position, Paige removed both crystals and after a couple seconds, the wind whistled causing the armor to disintegrate when Blue Jay collapsed to her knees while Paige woke up.
“We need to get him to a hospital” Blue Jay panted struggling to move closer to the fallen stallion. “Come on and help me carry him.” She told Paige and together they got the stallion up.
Blue Jay, Paige, and the stallion entered through one of the doors to Canterlot General Hospital though it was hard to determine whom was holding who up. Paige had tried to explain that the stallion would be fine with some rest and would likely not remember the events, but Blue Jay insisted that they made sure. “Can we get some help here?” She called out as her vision went dark and the last thing she saw was the ground rushing up to meet her.
Double Timeline: Count up Your Crimes
Prologue: Flee to fight another day
Inside a dimly lit scientist’s lab, a bi-spectacle greyish white furred unicorn mare with a sapphire blue with a dark blue stripe mane and matching tail stood in front of a table, the only space that wasn’t covered by apparatus and various liquids in beakers, as she concentrated on a pink rectangular crystal with a grey to black gradient with a pink jagged letter “P” in the middle and small, bone-like ridges surrounding the entire thing with a small button at the bottom. Taking a deep breath, she called forth her magic enveloping the crystal in a pale blue dome and it was a good thing she had shield it for black tendrils of electricity shot out never striking the same spot. Slowly the ridges began melting away while the crystal changed from pink to blue and as more of the corruption was purified, the onslaught of dark power increased. Paige allowed more magic to flow through her to combat the dark energy until at last she was looking at a blue crystal. Unlike the pink crystal, there was a black border surrounding a purple section with a blue tilted “H” in the middle. Near the bottom, the word “hope” could be seen next to a small button. “I… did it,” she panted and collapsed into a rolling chair feeling utterly drained. With her magic nearly depleted for now, she dropped the shield and admired the blue crystal, a smile on her face.
Without warning, alarms began screaming causing Paige to flatten her ears against her head before she rolled over to her desk where a computer sat. She wanted to use her magic but knew it would take time to recharge and she wanted to save it for an extreme emergency so she moved the mouse with her hoof and opened a security feed from one of the cameras feeling her blood run cold. In one of the hallways, at least thirty ironclad ponies marched in threes followed by a black earth stallion with a stone grey mane and tail and a rose color unicorn mare with a silver mane and matching tail. “Not good,” she muttered and began inputting a self-destruct command in, hating to destroy her lab but knew she had no choice.
One of the doors opened causing Paige to look up. “It’s bad, Paige, somehow Sombra’s army found the lab.” The stallion said in a panicked voice.
“If they haven’t already, tell everypony to evacuate. I’ll hold them off long as I can.” Paige told him and he nodded before quickly leaving and heading down the hallway. Turning back to the monitor, she pressed a few more buttons linking to another computer. “Sheryl, are you there?”
“Yes, Paige. What do you need?” Sheryl replied over the speakers.
“I sent Akuma to begin evacuating everypony. Before you go, please activate the time warp project.”
“You can’t be serious about using that!?”
“I might have to if I can’t regain enough magic to teleport.”
There was a couple seconds of silence before Sheryl came back on. “Very well. Best of luck to you.”
Paige pushed away from the desk before going over to a cabinet. Opening it, she pulled out a black briefcase before putting it on the table and opening it. Grabbing the blue crystal, she slid it into a slot beside an indigo one with a tilted “C” in the middle of the dark clear indigo color and black outline, along with a clear black and clear green crystal. Shutting the briefcase, she purposely knocked over a few chemicals and then galloped down the hall while carrying the briefcase in her mouth. Skidding to a stop, she saw several ironclad ponies blocking her way and cursed herself for not checking other video feeds in case there were more of them. Narrowing her eyes as they charged towards her, she fought them using every trick in the book that she knew until the group was down.
“Found you~” The unicorn mare giggled as she leisurely strolled into view from behind Paige, causing her to turn around. “Long time no see.”
“Would have been nice if it was longer, Lunar.” Paige muttered.
“Come now, is that anyway to treat an old friend?” Lunar used her magic to hold up a yellow rectangular crystal that looked identical to the pink one with the exceptions being that it was yellow and a jagged “F” on it. “Especially one that has this?” She pressed the button and “FEAR” sang from it. Taking it into a hoof, she pressed it against her fur where it sunk in causing her eyes to turn yellow. A black fur tight suit formed around her with a dull yellow line changing direction erratically though the suit had pieces missing and several frayed ends on it.
If Paige had been at full strength, she could go hoof to hoof with Lunar, but with the way she was feeling now, she doubted she could maintain a transformation for very long. Luckily for her, the chemicals combusted blowing the door off the wall forcing Lunar to jump back while Paige took off running. Finding the right hallway, she turned sharply and ducked into the room she need to be in only to be kicked off her feet and sent crashing into the wall as the stallion emerged from the shadows.
“Hello, Paige.” The stallion greeted. “How about a big, bone crushing hug?”
Paige sat up rubbing her head where it hit the wall instead of her horn. “Sorry, I’ll pass Onyx.” She stood up and fought to keep the blackness from over taking her.
“I think you have something that belongs to me.” Onyx Luck inquired.
“I don’t anymore. I ran into Lunar, how do you think I got away?”
Onyx’s eyes widen as he crossed the room quickly and slammed his hoof into the wall where her head had been had Paige not moved it. “Well, no matter, I’ll just get it back from her after I present you to King Sombra.” At that moment, there was a hum as the time warp project initiated and when Onyx looked over, Paige brought her leg up between his legs before scrambling out from under him as he went down.
A yellow beam shot by Paige before hitting the wall causing her to jump back. “Get up, Onyx. Or did you lose your tolerance for pain?”
“This is an universal pain that stallions can’t exactly trot it off.” Onyx replied as he stood up and held out a hoof to Lunar. “My crystal.”
“Don’t have it.” Lunar gave him a flat look. There wasn’t any time to do anything else as the first of several explosions blew causing them all to stumble.
Paige was the first to regain her footing and she turned to jump into the portal when two claws grabbed the sides of the brief case causing Paige to find herself staring at the skeleton of a Diamond Dog. Attempting to grind her teeth around the handle, it was near horizontal and her teeth were beginning to hurt when the claws shredded through the material sending the indigo, dark blue, purple and green crystals along with a red and silver object into the air. Using her magic, Paige quickly grabbed the five items as she stumbled across the threshold of the portal.
As the image of the Diamond Dog’s skeleton faded, Lunar threw a large silver bit towards the portal and was glad to see it pass through the threshold before she teleported Onyx and herself out of the exploding lab.
Paige blinked as she found herself on a cloud, before she promptly sunk through it and fell straight for the ground screaming as she tried to summon her magic but it seemed that it took the remaining bit to catch the crystals. Great. I survived that only to die now.
Blue Jay sighed as she finished delivering her last package of the day and was looking forward to stopping by Fine Brew’s Tea Room and Pub before going home when she heard a mare screaming. Looking up, she braced herself as Paige collided with her sending them both towards the ground and thinking quickly she managed to break their fall enough that it sent them rolling across the ground a bit instead of crashing. She was about to ask the unicorn if she was alright when she heard a roar followed by several ponies screaming. “What’s that?”
Paige looked up seeing a large Diamond Dog but this one radiant fear. “An acolyte of fear,” she told the pegasus and tried to stand up but her body gave out on her. Picking up the red, silver, and black object, she held in front of Blue Jay. “I need your help to fight that creature. But if this doesn’t work, then we’re going to die. So I ask; do you have the courage to ride with the devil?”
