My Little Pony: Through Space and Time

by Magic Step

Rating: teen
Tags: Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 42419

The Mane 6 travel into the future, only to find out their future selves are evil. How did this happen? Can they reverse it? And is there any hope to avoid their destiny?

The Mane 6 travel into the future, only to find out their future selves are evil. How did this happen? Can they reverse it? And is there any hope to avoid their destiny?

An old story of mine from back when I only had a fanfiction.net account.

This story is labeled Arc 1, but there is no Arc 2. So there will be some plot threads that didn't get wrapped up, because I was saving them for later. There's a teaser for Arc 2 at the end, but I never wrote it. If this story becomes insanely popular for some reason I might reconsider.

Published 2016-07-31 06:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-07-31 06:00:02 UTC

Not So Rare

"So, is it true?" Rarity demanded.

Twilight Sparkle turned away from the gemstones she'd been arranging. "Is what true?"

"Are you really trying to make a portal to Canterlot? In your library?" Rarity seemed unable to contain her excitement at the possibility.

Twilight Sparkle shrugged. "It probably won't work. Unicorns have been trying to set up permanent portals for generations. I'm simply adding another stone to the path."

"But it would be so exciting!" Rarity cooed. "I could do shopping for supplies in Canterlot, produce the outfits in my own studio, and sell them to both markets! I could become an Equestrian-wide designer!"

"I said, it probably won't work," Twilight said. "Spike! Don't eat that!"

Spike set the emerald down. "S-sorry?"

"That's for the portal! Your lunch is over there!" She pointed to another room.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Twilight..."

"Now I have to get another one," Twilight sighed. "Better take a book for the road." She began looking through the shelves.

Rainbow Dash burst through the door. "Hi guys! I'm done with another Daring Do book!"

"Oh-" Twilight turned aside. "Sorry, I moved those books to another room- we got a new shipment of books a while ago. Gosh, you finish these books fast!"

"Fast? You bet! I'm the speed reader of Equestria!"

Rainbow and Twilight moved to the next room.

Alone, Rarity looked at the gemstones. She didn't see why so many were necessary... she'd heard they focused magic, though. Some were pulsing light, some were fading from color to color. Very exotic- she'd need to get one of the gemstones that shifted from lavender to rose. A dress design was churning in her mind. She levitated it to get a closer look- then thought maybe she shouldn't have done that, as it instantly changed to an icy blue and stayed there. So did some of the other gems. She put it back hastily, in the process tipping it over and sending it rolling into the center of the circle. It spun around like it was playing spin the bottle, and finally pointed at a bright red gem and shot a beam of pink light toward it. All the gems in the circle gleamed first red, the orange...

Rarity backed off.

The gems finally cycled through the whole rainbow and stopped on a brilliant white, white beams shooting from them to paint a picture on Twilight's wall of the streets of Canterlot, with the castle rising magnificently in the background.

After staring for a moment, Rarity reached forward with her hoof. Careful not to touch the crystals, she lightly tapped the picture...

...except it was no picture. It was a window. A widow to the shining streets, the shining stores, the shining ponies in their shining dresses.

Rarity shivered. She had somehow- somehow- managed to open a window through space.

And this was Twilight's job.

She looked toward the door the lavender unicorns had just gone through a minute ago. She really ought to tell Twilight.

She really ought to...

...but it couldn't hurt to slip through the portal, just for a moment, right? After all, she could always slip back. And what if Twilight didn't want her going through for some reason? It really couldn't hurt anypony just to walk through that glowing city for a moment, could it?

She tentatively stuck her leg through the portal, encountering no resistance, and set her hoof delicately on the paved streets of Canterlot.

Then she brought in the other three.

She looked over her shoulder. The portal home was still there, painted onto the side of somepony's house. She stepped through just to make sure she could, then began walking through the gorgeous city. She knew what she wanted to do first of all- she would visit that cute little boutique on the other side of town. She wanted to take a look at the stock and see what the prices were.

Then she scooted back. What was she thinking? Maybe the uncouth Ponyville ponies could walk around without clothes and be socially acceptable, but not in Canterlot. It was just one of those social conventions that varied from place to place. She rushed home and changed her outfit- quickly- and then ventured through the portal once more. She was now wearing a chic dress and hat. She began to wander the streets.

"Rarity!" Someone gasped behind her.

She whirled around to see a little pegasus.

"Guys! I found her!"

Several more ponies stampeded to her.

"Rarity!"

"We found you, Rarity!"

"Happy birthday, Rarity!"

"We love you Rarity!"

They all tackled her.

"Oh! Hey!" she brushed them off. She had never seen any of these colts in her life, and it wasn't her birthday.

"Foals! Foals!" Cheerilee ran up. "What have I told you? This is not the proper way to act! Haven't I told you already?" She looked panicked.

"Oops, sorry," said some of them. They backed up and got on their knees.

Rarity was confused. Were they- wait, they weren't bowing to her, were they?

"Princess Rarity!" Cheerilee announced. "We are honored to speak with you."

Rarity took a few steps backward. Princess? Princess!

"We were going to visit you in the castle," Cheerilee said. "It seems we found you here instead."

"Well, that's... fine..." Rarity said. "Uh, why don't we head back to the castle now?" She was convinced Cheerilee and these colts had gone nuts. Princess Celestia would be able to fix them!

She whirled around and strutted toward the castle, and was disconcerted to see all the ponies lining up and following her in a nice neat line, marching like an army.

There were guards at the door and she expected them to stop her, but they just continued staring straight ahead while she led her train of ponies into the castle. She was begininng to feel uneasy.

She stepped into the throne room. The thrones were empty... she couldn't remember there being two thrones in the Canterlot throne room, but she had heard that Princess Luna would be getting a new throne at one point... and it was silver, which seemed appropriate to her.

Someone had redecorated the room. Someone who had good taste; she must meet them later.

"Princess?" She called, wondering where Celestia was.

"Yes?"

A door at the side of the throne room openeed, and Rarity fell to her knees.

The pony who had entered the room was pure white with a flawlessly styled mane. She wore a dress that spoke of the professional work done on it. Her eyes were bright, blue, and beautiful. Her horn gleamed in the light. She wore silver crowns on her feet, fitted with amythist that matched the mane perfectly.

But what Rarity stared at, more than anything else, was the irridescent pair of wings stretched behind what otherwise could be her mirror image.

Rarity had a double- another pony who was almost, but not quite, like her.

And she was an alicorn.

Portal Panic

"Hiya, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie sang, sommersaulting into the library. "Just wanted to compliment you on your new mural! Hi, Rainbow Dash!"

"What new mural?" Twilight Sparkle asked, looking aside from the shelf of Daring Do books.

"Hi, Pinkie Pie!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Hi! You still reading Daring Do?"

"What new mural?" Twilight Sparkle repeated.

"Of course! Daring Do is only the single coolest pegasus in known literature!"

Pinkie Pie made a face. "The second book had that ditzy unicorn. I didn't like her."

"Pinkie, what new mural?" Twilight said, feeling worried.

"What was wrong with her?"

"She had a pink mane!"

"What's wrong with pink manes?"

"I'm sick of all the jokes that pink maned ponies are crazy! Who started that, anyway?"

"PINKIE PIE!" Twilight shouted.

"Yep?" said Pinkie Pie, about-facing.

"What new mural?"

"I dunno, Twilight. What new mural?"

"The one you mentioned!"

"Don't remember."

Twilight facehoofed.

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike said, walking in.

"What?" Twilight whirled around.

"When did you get a new mural done?"

"Mural? Where is it?" Twilight snapped.

"Just out that door."

Twilight raced to look at the portal.

"Oh, no," she said. "How did this happen? I was only gone for a few minutes! Where's Rarity?"

"How did what happen?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Did Rarity paint this?"

"Prettiful!" Pinkie Pie said. "It's like I could just reach out and touch it!"

She made a fair attempt, stretching her hoof as far as she could, but she could not touch the mural. Her hoof just went through.

"Where's Rarity?" Twilight asked, panicked.

"Well, duh," Pinkie Pie said. "She's in Canterlot!"

"But- but she should have told me!" Twilight said.

"That's probably where she is," Rainbow Dash said. "You can't exactly call her reliable."

"We have to find her!" Twilight said. "These portals don't last forever! She could be trapped on the other side!"

"She'd just have to buy a train ticket," Rainbow Dash said. "And maybe she'd learn her lesson and not mess with any of your experiments without telling you."

"Even so," Twilight said. "We should find her just to be safe."

"Fine." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "I'll look for her from the sky. See that steeple with a bell? I'll ring it when I find her and you can meet me back here." She flew off.

"Why does she think she's going to find Rarity?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, I know where Rarity is!" Pinkie Pie hopped off through the portal.

"Hey! Where are you-" Twilight sighed as Pinkie disappeared from sight. "Never mind..."

"Should we go?" Spike asked.

"I'll go. You stay here and-"

"You leave me out of everything!" Spike sulked.

Twilight blinked. Spike wasn't like this.

"Fine, then. Hop on."

Spike lept onto her back. "Okay, I think she'll be where all those stores are... you remember, Twilight?"

"Yeah, maybe we'll meet Pinkie Pie on the way," Twilight said. "But really, no one knows Canterlot better than us."

They started through the portal.

"Yes?" Rarity the alicorn asked.

Rarity the unicorn just gaped at her.

Cheerilee gasped. "Your highness- if you're there, then who is- who is this?"

Rarity fluttered her wings. "I... I thought you knew."

"No! I thought this was you!"

Rarity the alicorn, bewildered, spun around. "Twilight! TWILIGHT!"

"What is it, now? And I said, call me Princess Twilight!"

Given that Rarity was an alicorn, it shouldn't have come as a shock to see Twilight Sparkle, the vastly superior (in magic, anyway) unicorn, become an alicorn. But is wasn't just the fact she had wings, it was the wings themselves. They were shimmery violet butterfly wings that seemed to dissapear if she held them a certain way. If Rarity could make a dress like that...

Twilight's outfit was similiar to Rarity's, except that she wore golden crown bracelets with dark green emeralds in them.

"Rarity, what-" Twilight looked from one Rarity to the other. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No!" Rarity the unicorn cried. "I was just trying to visit Canterlot! Where is Princess Celestia?"

There were gasps from the young ponies behind her.

"Ms. Cheerilee, she said a bad word!" a snobby-sounding colt said.

"You- you changeling, or whatever you are," Twilight said, pointing a hoof at Rarity, "I want you to come with me."

Rarity started to follow, feeling nervous. She looked over her shoulder at her winged twin.

"Can we give her our presents now?" a young pony asked.

"Sure," said Cheerilee.

The little ponies all bowed.

"Happy birthday, Rarity!"

"We love you, Rarity!"

"Thank you, Rarity!"

Rarity couldn't see the alicorn's face that well, but Rarity seemed...

Like the was about to cry.

And not happy tears, either.

"Where am I?" Rarity demanded of Twilight.

"I'll be asking the questions," Twilight said, her eyes narrowing. "Who are you?"

"I'm... I'm Rarity," she said, though she wasn't sure anymore.

"What do you mean? Where do you come from?"

"I'm... I came from Ponyville. You had just been trying to create a portal to Canterlot, and I made it work accidentaly, and I just... walked through. And, well... here I am."

"A likely story-" Twilight Sparkle frowned. "Wait a moment..." she screwed up her face in concentration. "Did anything just happen? I mean, besides the portal?"

"I- Pinkie Pie had just thrown that party. It was... Bon-bon's birthday, I believe. It's... a little hard to remember why Pinkie Pie throws parties, but... you had tried out a new firework?"

"Oh, yes, please don't remind me," said Twilight Sparkle, facehoofing. "Well, then..." She bit her lip. "What was the name of your first cat?"

"My first cat?"

"Sorry, you wouldn't- I mean- what was the name of your cat?"

Rarity supposed this was a test. "Opalescense."

"What did you call that line of capes you designed?"

"Cape-a-diem," Rarity said. "Tacky name, I know, but I've considered-"

"Which pony danced with you at Bon-Bon's party?"

Rarity bit her lip. "Nopony. I arrived late and missed the dancing."

Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn, slowly nodded. "All right, then. I believe you are from my past." She frowned. "But, then... what if..." she turned to the door leading to the throne room. "Princess Rarity?" She asked.

"Yes?" Princess Rarity joined them. Her eyes were red.

"Did you ever... have an adventure you didn't tell me about?" Princess Twilight asked.

Princess Rarity blinked. "Not that I can recall. What do you mean?"

"I mean, did you ever... travel forward in time and meet your alicorn self?"

"No! Why would I keep something like that secret?"

Princess Twilight shrugged. "Well, in that case... we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" asked both Rarities.

"One that threatens the very fabric of time and space."

Applejack and Fluttershy were on their way home from church.

"Ah want to stop by Twilight Sparkle's place and return some books," Applejack said. "You can jist head on home without me."

"Oh, no, it's been a while since I've seen our friends anyways," Fluttershy said. "I've just been so... busy, what with that poor hedgehog family and the orphan racoon..."

"Well, here we are, then," said Applejack. "I'll just pop in an'... what the hay?"

She stared at the portal on the wall. The crystals were now flashing colors erratically.

"Twilight did mention something about a portal the other day," said Fluttershy.

"Well, you think we should follow them?" Applejack asked, adjusting her hat.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it isn't important." Fluttershy backed off.

Then one of the crystals shattered.

Part of the portal flickered in and out of existence before finally leaving the portal a third smaller than it was before.

"Hoo boy," Applejack says. "I hope they aren't still there- they could get stuck!"

Another crystal pulsated wildly.

"Oh my stars," Applejack said. "We have to do sumthin!"

"What?" Fluttershy asked, trembling.

"Find a unicorn I guess," Applejack said, squeezing through the remaining portal. "Canterlots full of the little critters. I'll go east, you go west. Meet here in five!" And she galloped down the street.

Fluttershy started to go through, then wondered if the portal might close while she was still in it. She squeaked with fright at the thought.

But no- her friends needed her!

Flinching, she pushed through the portal as fast as she could and raced to get away from it.

She missed seeing the portal collapse.

Princess and Pauper

Princess Twilight paced frantically.

"If you didn't meet your future self in your past, that means you just did something in the past that you shouldn't have done in the past, which means that the past has been changed without altering the future, which means that there is now a discrepancy between the past and the future..."

The two Rarities just stared at each other.

"So?" Princess Rarity asked.

"So?" Princess Twilight said. "We are on the verge of a crisis and all you can say-" She stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I suppose you would not understand the magnitude of this issue. But we could- no, hold on." She paused, scratching her chin with her hoof. "Then again, maybe I erased your memory."

"Yes, that does sound like something you'd do," Princess Rarity said.

"Not all of your memory! Just the part where you visited me! Rarity, what do you take me for?" She whirled to Rarity. "Show us the portal."

"Wait!" Rarity said. "Who said I wanted to have my memory erased?"

"You have to," said Princess Twilight. "Or else Equestria will not only cease to exist, but also have never existed." She stared at Rarity with a the-world-rests-on-your-shoulders kind of look.

Rarity shivered. "All- all right." As she turned to leave, she muttered, "All I wanted was to visit the boutique!"

"This is really wierd, Twilight," Spike said, looking around.

"How long have I been in Ponyville?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Um... a yearish?"

"But I don't recognize anything here! It's all... rearranged! And not in a good way."

In one sense, Canterlot was just as sparkly as before, if not more sparkly. Someone with a good sense of style had planned these buildings.

In another, Canterlot seemed dead.

Very few ponies roamed the streets. Very few shops were open.

Twilight stopped at one of the few booths that had a pony behind it. "Where is everypony?" She asked.

The pale pink earth pony seemed middle aged and tired. "School's not out yet," was all she said. "Want some flowers?"

Twilight looked at the poor flowers. They seemed as wilted and faded as the stall minder. Some had been partially eaten by insects.

"Yeah, figures," the pony said, leaning back in her chair. "Nopony ever wants flowers anymore. They all think it's my fault they look so horrible."

"Well, who's fault-"

"Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight Sparkle whirled around, nearly knocking Spike off, to come face to face with... herself.

She gasped and her legs buckled, staring at her shiny wings and flowing mane.

"Twilight?" Rarity crept over. "I know this must come as a shock to you, but... we're in our future."

Applejack came to a halt, panting. She wasn't quite at the meeting place, but she felt out of breath from running all through the streets.

"Applejack?" Fluttershy asked.

"Were you even looking?" Applejack asked.

"N-no," Fluttershy said. "Well, yes, but I was looking for you. We're too late."

"Say whut?" Applejack straightened up.

"The portal's gone, Applejack."

There was a bit of silence.

"Well, hay, it's not the end of the world. We'll just have to spend a few bits on a train ticket."

Fluttershy blinked in suprise. "Applejack? Is something wrong?"

"Why'd anything be wrong?"

"Your eyes are shifting."

"Oh... hay, I never was a good liar, was I?" she laughed nervously. "Okay, well... I'll admit... I'm a bit on edge. I just didn't want to worry you, and I wasn't sure..."

"What happened?"

"First of all, there isn't a unicorn in the place. I thought they was all s'posed to live here or sumthin', but I can't find a single one."

"And?" Fluttershy asked, sensing there was more.

"Well... it's the strangest thang, but..."

"What?"

"Every time a pony saw me, they just... screamed. Or fainted. Like I was a monster or sumthin'."

Fluttershy shrugged. Then she smiled. "Maybe it's because you have mud on your hooves."

"Whut? Oh, geez." She scraped her hooves on the stones. "Sheesh. Rarity clones, the whole lot of them. And I can barely handly one Rarity!"

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Something went wrong with the portal," Rarity said. "And now-"

Princess Twilight gasped.

"What?" Asked everyone.

The Princess turned aside. "Nothing..." she paused. "It's just, I was thinking. Since we're planning on erasing your memories eventually, anyways... there's no reason why we couldn't show you around town." She turned around, a bright smile on her face. "See a few of the sights? You know?"

"Twilight?" Princess Rarity asked.

"I think," the Princess continued, "that I'd like to show my past self... the academy."

Princess Rarity paused. "I..."

"Something wrong?"

"I..."

"Come on," Princess Twilight said, "you two fillies are about to have the time of your lives." She turned to Princess Rarity. "You don't have to come."

Rarity the alicorn turned aside. "I think... I think I'll get back to my little ponies at the castle. My birthday, you know."

"Yes," Princess Twilight said. "You know how they love you."

The academy was larger than the palace. Or maybe it wasn't; it was a little hard to tell because the two buildings were connected.

"This is where all the unicorns in Equestria come to be trained in their magical abilities," Princess Twilight said. "It's renowned for its teachers, facilities, and enormous library," she said, with a wink at her younger self.

"Facinating," Twilight said. She was getting some stares from the students, but that didn't suprise her.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Spike whispered.

"Spike!" Twilight Sparkle said. "She's being very nice to us!"

"No, I feel the same way," Rarity said. "Princess Rarity was hiding something, I just know it."

They were led up a grand staircase and into a richly furnished bedroom with two poster beds with silk canopies.

"This is the finest room in the academy, where you will be staying."

"Well," Twilight Sparkle said, "That seems a little... I mean, I don't want to stay too long. We might want to go home... like, soon."

"Oh, but you only just arrived!" Twilight Sparkle said. "Anyway, I have such great plans for you while you're here." She leaned forward. "In fact, I have a special treat for Spike. Do you want to see my laboratory?"

"No!" Spike cried, clutching Twilight's mane.

"Spike!" said Twilight Sparkle. "Um, I'm sorry, your highness..."

"I insist," hissed Princess Twilight.

Two pegasi guards charged into the room.

"I said wait for my signal!" Princess Twilight said.

Twilight and Rarity ran for the open door, but it slammed shut in front of them.

One pegasus dragged Rarity aside. Rarity screamed.

"Listen, Twilight Sparkle," Princess Twilight said. "I don't want to fight you. I would win, but I still don't. And I don't want to hurt your friend. But while you're in my city, you play by my rules. And my rules say, give me Spike. Now!"

Twilight was curled protectively around Spike. She felt Spike's claws dig into her leg and wished she didn't have to let go.

But Spike walked forward himself.

"Good boy," Princess Twilight said. She put Spike on her back and turned to the door. "Run these two unicorns on the treadmill. Run them til they collapse! I'll be doing some experiments." She strode out the door.

Captain's Captives

Rainbow Dash perched on top of a roof, a little confused. She'd been all over town, and she should have seen that white unicorn...

Oh, wait, duh. She wouldn't be white- well, she would be, but she'd be wearing an outfit. This was Canterlot, after all.

She wouldn't mention this to anyone- they'd think her silly.

Then Pinkie Pie caught her eye. What was she doing here? Did she know where Rarity was?

She was about to swoop down when two guards barged out of a store, dragging a distraught light blue pegasus with them.

They banged into Pinkie Pie and all fell to the ground.

"Hey!" said Pinkie Pie. "Why are you arresting her? I need to go to this boutique- it's Rarity's favorite!"

"Sorry," one of the guards snarled. "This boutique is now closed."

"Why? Did they commit a crime against fashion?" She rolled on the floor like it was funny.

"It's not fair!" the pegasus wailed. "It's not my fault I'm going out of business! Nopony wants clothes that are just white and brown!"

"What?" One guard- white with brown spots- pulled her closer. "Are you complaining about our laws? ...Hey, do we have a law that clothes can only be white and brown?"

He seemed young and inexperienced.

"No," said the older one, who was black. "You can still buy dyes."

"They're too expensive, and now those are being restricted!" The blue pegasus yanked herself away.

"If you can't stay in business, that's your fault. Now come with us and-"

"What's the problem?"

The guards and the blue pegasus gasped and fell to their knees.

"Oh, please," said Rarity.

Rainbow Dash nearly fell off of the roof. Rarity... was a princess... and had wings? How long had she been gone?

"Is there a problem?" She asked the blue pegasus.

"I... I can't stay in business and I don't want to go to jail and I have a family and-"

"Say no more," Rarity said, waving her hoof. "I'm not the bearer of the element of Generosity for nothing. I'll make a present of the money needed to get back on your hooves."

The pegasus fell at Rarity's hooves, kissing them. "Oh, thank you, most generous majesty! It is no wonder you are so loved."

Princess Rarity's eyes brimmed with tears. "It's nothing, really."

"Wow, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie said. "Awesome wings!"

Princess Rarity turned to Pinkie Pie, clearly noticing her for the first time. "Oh! Diane! Your mane!"

Pinkie Pie tapped her hoof nervously. "I think my name's Pinkie Pie. Unless it changed while I wasn't looking."

That seemed too much for Princess Rarity. She wrapped her hooves around Pinkie and sobbed into her puffy pink mane.

"Something wrong?" Pinkie asked.

"Oh, nothing." Princess Rarity leaned back and composed herself. "It's just- you! It's so wonderful... thank you so much!"

"Sure!" Pinkie Pie said. "I love you too!" She hugged her back.

"Oh, but- Pinkie! Don't you have a show to do?"

"Show?"

"Your two o'clock performance! Quick!" Princess Rarity pointed. "You might make it if you run!"

"Okay!" Pinkie Pie took off.

Rarity's bracelet began pulsing.

"Oh, curses," she said. "Please excuse me." She left the three pegasi and went arond the corner.

Rainbow Dash turned around to look at her.

The princess pushed a button on the bracelet and pointed the gem at the blank wall in front of her. An image of Twilight Sparkle was projected on the wall.

Rainbow wasn't sure she was suprised at Twilght's appearance. It was more of a how-much-changed-while-I-was-gone reaction.

"Yes, Twilight?"

"Just wanted to know where you were. You weren't at the palace when I arrived."

"Oh, I stopped to help a pony in need. Are you done with our younger selves already?"

Younger selves? The pieces started falling into place in Dashie's head.

"I showed Rarity and Twilight to the academy. I have some... plans for them."

"Twilight! You didn't!"

"Please, call me Princess Twilight. People might be listening."

"And are you sure we're not going to cause a collapse in the space-time-whatever?"

Suddenly Spike pressed his face against the projection. "Rarity! Save me!"

Twilight pounced on him. The two disappeared out of the screen for a moment, showing some laboratory equipment.

Rainbow Dash's heart was pounding. Younger selves? Space-time-whatever? Did they just... time travel?

One thing she knew for sure: her friends were being held captive.

"Captain Dash!"

Rainbow lept into the air and spun around.

The two pegasi guards were staring at her expectantly.

"We're sorry," the young one said, "we didn't know you were here and-"

"Ahem," the black one said, "salute."

The two raised their hooves to their foreheads.

"Reporting for duty," the black one said.

Rainbow Dash blinked.

Oh! she thought. I must become a captain in the future! They think I'm her!

She thought of correcting them, but had a better idea. This could be how I save my friends!

"Uh, good," she said. "I'm not suprised you didn't know I was here. Uh. I was just... taking a break."

The younger one looked a bit shocked at that. Rainbow Dash saw his cutie mark was a red shield.

"What are your orders?" the black one asked. His cutie mark was a flaming meteor.

"Well. What were you doing before I interrupted?"

"Patroling the north quandrent, sir."

Rainbow Dash wondered why she had insisted on being called Sir. But then, she did like it better than "ma'am".

"Well, maybe I'll join you," she said. "I don't have anything imp- I don't have any urgent business."

The younger one looked a bit... skeptical, but the black one just took her orders.

"Yes sir," he said, flying off.

The younger one looked over his shoulder before joining.

They just flew for a while. There was nothing to say. Rainbow Dash wished she knew what the guards' names were, but felt she couldn't ask. She reviewed everything about military that she knew- the bulk of which was just 'guards never laugh'.

Suddenly the younger one pulled up short. "Hey, I think I just-" he whirled around. "It's Blackjack!"

The older one turned around more slowly. "Really?"

"Yeah! See!"

Rainbow Dash didn't see any black ponies.

"C'mon," the younger one said, pulling on Rainbow Dash's hoof. "Let's go and-"

"Ahem," the black one said.

"Huh?"

"AHEM! You don't have to join if you don't want to, Captain Dash."

"What- oh, yeah, we understand," the younger one said.

Rainbow blinked.

"Anyway," the black one said, "Charge!"

The two pegasi swooped down.

"Hay! Stop tha- HALP!"

Rainbow knew that voice.

They were arresting Applejack.

Pinkie Pie Live!

(aka: What happens when you set Pinkie Pie loose on a stage in front of a hundred grumpy ponies)

Pinkie Pie galloped down the street, wondering what show she was supposed to be doing. She supposed it was a suprise. She loved suprises. Especially when they had extra frosting.

She stopped short. She didn't actually know which building she was supposed to go into. Oh well. She tried a door.

"Pinkie!" A young baby blue pegasus pulled her in. "I-I mean Diane. So sorry, miss..."

"Nah, just call me Pinkie," Pinkie Pie said.

The pegasus brightened. "Okay, if that's what you want. Hey, great hair! I didn't know hair stylists could make your hair longer!"

Pinkie blinked. "Neither did I! That's so cool!"

The pegasus buried his nose in her hair. "And it smells like cotton candy! That's just the sweetest-"

"SPOT!" a nasty-looking tan earth pony shouted. "What are you doing with your nose in Diane Pie's hair?"

"GAH!" Spot flailed his hooves around and fell flat on the floor. "S-sorry, miss..."

Pinkie could now see that his cutie mark was two spotlights of different colors crossing each other.

"I can guess your last name!" She cried. "Is it... Light?"

Spot looked at her. "Yeah... since when did you care about my name?"

"Diane!" the earth pony shouted. "It's time! The mayor of Ponyville has been introduced." She leaned forward and smiled a crooked smile. "I've already given her the five-spice rubdown. Time for your famous grilling."

Pinkie didn't understand her. "I like baking better than grilling. What is grilling, anyways?"

The two ponies just stared at her.

"Time!" Another pony grabbed Pinkie and put her on stage.

"Welcome back to Diane Pie, Live!" a voice announced. "And now here's our host, Diane Pie!"

"Pinkie froze. "Call me Pinkie already! Why is everyone calling me by my middle name? Did it change while I wasn't looking? But you can't really look at your name. Wouldn't it be nice if we just all had our names floating over our heads and then you'd never forget anypony's name..." She looked at the pony sitting in the armchair. "Like you. Where's Mayor Mare?"

The yellow-orange unicorn shuffled her hooves nervously. "She was impeached. Remember?"

"Nope! I can never remember anything for more than five seconds!" Pinkie Pie lept into the armchair across from the mayor. "Wee-hee! Bouncy! Try it!"

"Oh, no thank you..." the mayor said.

"No, really, it's fun!" Pinkie stared at the mayor expectantly.

The mayor stared at her hooves.

"Come on," Pinkie said.

The mayor wouldn't meet her eye. "Can't we just do the interview?"

"Not until you try bouncing."

The mayor sighed heavily and bounced up and down a little.

Pinkie brightened instantly. "Isn't that fun?" she asked.

The mayor blinked. Deciding to give the answer that would suit Pinkie, she said, "I guess a little."

"Then you weren't bouncing high enough. Come on!" This time Pinkie lept next to her and lifted her up and down.

"Oh! Pl-stop-oh!" the mayor closed her eyes. "That was... very... very fun. Now, what about the interview?"

Pinkie gave her a bored look. "Some ponies just never want to have fun. Oh-oh-some po-nies, don't wanna have fu-un!" She sang.

The mayor looked out towards the frustrated looking ponies in the audience. "How about the interview?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah- oh, hey, there's ponies out there!" She leaned way out over the edge of the stage. "I'm only used to seeing people when I look through that wall! ...hey, you don't look like you're having any fun. What's wrong with your eyes? A lot of you have eyes that are rolling around. You look like Derpy. OH! Are they falling out? OH NO! Quick! Everybody, find some eye glue!" She ran backstage.

"What's wrong with you?" the tan earth pony demanded. Pinkie saw her cutie mark was a megaphone.

"Just having fun! Isn't that what we're here for?"

"You are not here to have fun! You're here to expose the slobs and cheaters in the Equestrian government and get them out of office!"

Pinkie stared at her.

"Sounds like too much work."

She dashed back onto the stage.

"So, you wanted me to interview you?"

"Did you forget the eye- never mind," the mayor said.

"What? Of course I remembered the eye glue! I was joking about not being able to remember anything for more than five seconds! Can you imagine forgetting everything you know every five seconds? I'd be really stupid! Well some say I am anyway, but not that stupid! I know everyone in Ponyville- oh, except you. Hold on, how can you be mayor of Ponyville if you don't live there?"

The mayor looked scared. "You... you made an exception for me! I-I mean, Princess Twilight did! D-d-didn't she?"

"Princess Twilight?"

"Yes!" The mayor looked scared. "When she rearranged the government after the fall of Celestia, she asked me to be the mayor- and said I didn't have to worry about the normal way to run for office!"

"Why would Twilight do a thing like that?"

"I don't know! But she's the princess and the ruler of all Equestria!" The mayor was practically hiding under the table now.

Pinkie scratched her chin.

The tan mare was nodding approvingly from behind the curtain.

"All right," Pinkie said, "I have one more question." She leaned close to her.

The mayor cringed, like she expected to be struck.

"What year is it?"

The mayor blinked and told her.

Pinkie continued glaring for a moment.

"Okay, that's all I needed to know." She bounced off the stage, then poked her head out. "And, guys, always remember to be careful about your eyes!"

Then after a moment she poked her head out again. "Does that mean today is ten years from yesterday?"

Equestria's Most Wanted

Princess Twilight raced up the stairs at a regal canter, her telekinesis keeping Spike in the air behind her.

"I can't believe this has happened," she kept muttering to herself. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime."

She kept repeating this in a way that only made Spike more nervous.

Finally they'd reached the top of the tower. A door magically materialized, looking like it would just lead to a steep drop into the castle moat, but instead it opened to a laboratory filled with bubbling beakers, scales, and metal machines with blinking lights and big red buttons.

"I have so much to do," the princess said, putting Spike on a table. "Measurements of metabolism, heat, energy, alertness... So much to do, I'd better make a list... Oh, but first I should do a general measurement."

Spike was whisked into one of the machines. Princess Twilight telekinetically snapped cuffs to Spike's neck, tail, arms, legs, waist, and an extra one around his arm.

"Wh-what are you doing to me?" Spike asked.

"Measuring," Princess Twilight said, pressing a couple buttons.

The machine began to vibrate. Some of the lights pulsed.

"T-twilight!" Spike said.

"Suddenly the machine stopped.

A screen lit up, showing a bunch of numbers that meant nothing to Spike, but they seemed to excite Princess Twilight Sparkle. She whipped out a notebook and started writing things down frantically, her horn pulsing as the quill flew across the pages.

"These readings... I have to do more experiments! Oooh, I wish I had some metahypercabornicacelytic minerals!" She leaned back and took a deep breath. "In time, Princess Twilight; in time. First, though, I need a reading on adrenaline." She pulled out a hypodermic needle.

Spike fliched.

"Now let me see..." Twilight used her magic to rumage through a drawer. "Metaphylylia... hexachloricana... Starswirlium... Ah ha, got it!" She pulled out a triangle-shaped beaker filled with bubbling yellow fluid, enveloped in her magic. "Now if I can just..." She opened the back of the hypodermic needle and hovered the beaker close to it. Both instruments shook from concentration as slowly, slowly, the princess tilted the beaker forward, the liquid edging ever so slightly toward the opening, the mouth poised exactly over the opening in the needle...

"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash shouted, flinging the door open.

"GAH!"

The needle and the beaker went flying as Princess Twilight collapsed on the ground. The beaker was flung against one wall and set some papers on fire with a bright red flame, while the needle embeded itself in the wall next to the machine Spike was in, about at eye level. Spike promptly fainted.

Princess Twilight whirled to face Rainbow Dash, and said in her best Royal Canterlot Voice, "I TOLD YOU NEVER TO INTERRUPT ME!"

Rainbow Dash winced and shuffled her hoof. "Sorry, Twilight, but you see, my guards have just arrested Applejack..."

"Really?" Princess Twilight brightened. "You mean at last, we actually have her?"

"Er, see, that's the thing." Rainbow Dash had planned what to say carefully, in the hopes of getting more information and helping her friend without blowing her cover. "She doesn't seem to know what she's been arrested for. It seems a little... strange."

Princess Twilight Sparkle drew herself up and took a deep breath before screaming in a magnified voice, "HOW CAN SHE NOT OWN UP TO WHAT SHE HAS DONE!? SHE KNOWS FULL WELL WHAT SHE DID! AND NOW... OH, NOW SHE SHALL PAY FOR-" But then she shrunk. "Wait..." Then, looking a little freaked, said, "Please bring her to the throne room."

Applejack's hooves were bound together with a shining green rope. Her mouth had some kind of silver band around it that prevented her from talking.

The two guards hurled her rather unceremoniously to the floor, and all she could see was the bottom of the steps.

Then a set of lavendar hooves appeared at the bottom of the staircase. They were a shade Applejack knew well.

"Where did you find her?" asked a voice that Applejack also knew.

"In the heart of Canterlot, your majesty," the younger one said.

Your majesty? Applejack thought.

"Did she seem frightened, or nervous or anything like that?"

"She seemed perfectly relaxed," the guard said. "It was unnerving." He paused. "I-I mean, before we captured her! Nobody would act calm while they were being arrested!"

"I'm aware of that," Twilight Sparkle said coldly. "Applejack, how did you dare come back to Canterlot?"

Applejack wondered why Twilight Sparkle was even asking her questions when she obviously couldn't answer because she was gagged when she felt the metal ring loosen. She muttered, "Canterlot's free to the public, ain't it?" Then the ring tightened up again and she had to be quiet.

"You aren't exactly 'public', Applejack," Twilight said. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"

The ring loosened again. "I din't do nothin', Twilight! You know me! Where's Celestia?"

There was a pause.

"Oh my Celestia," Twilight Sparkle said. "They've spread!"

"Who's spread?" The older guard asked, on the alert.

"Nothing!" Twilight said. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with right now! Great work capturing Applejack! You may take her to the dungeon- the high security dungeon. I'd like to talk to Princess Rarity and Captain Dash alone, if you don't mind. One foot!"

The last comment seemed out of place, but then the lime green rope snapped with magic and grew a little to let Applejack move her hooves. The guards hoisted her to her feet and herded her out the door by lightly touching her shoulders with their wings.

Applejack wanted to say something, anything. If she couldn't convince this... brainwashed Twilight Sparkle of her innocence, she could at least try to figure out what was wrong. But the metal ring cut into her mouth when she tried to open it.

She was led through the hallway and down, down, down the stairs.

Applejack had seen the dungeon before. The day after the Grand Galloping Gala, the girls had stayed in town one more day to take in some sights, and so that Fluttershy could socialize with the no-longer-on-edge animals in the garden and Rainbow Dash could have a chat with the no-longer-busy Wonderbolts and Twilight Sparkle could get come quality time with her mentor. Princess Celestia had offered them a tour of the castle.

The dungeons consisted of about twenty clean but secure cells. There were only a handful of prisoners, and some of the cells were being used for food storage.

Princess Celestia had said that the most prisoners they'd ever had was twenty. Twenty prisoners who were too dangerous, or had committed crimes too high, to be kept in one of the smaller dungeons in another town. She said she'd felt like a failure.

The cells Applejack was led past were not the ones she'd seen on the tour. They were carved from a cavern of gemstones- maybe the mine Twilight had mentioned being trapped in before, Applejack didn't know. She stopped counting the cells, but each one had at least six prisoners, and the line of cells never seemed to end.

The ones she saw first were all unicorns, lying on the ground, sick or weak. Some gave her sad looks as she went past. Some didn't seem to care. Some glared at her, like she was the reason they were in these cells. But none got up from where they had collapsed.

As they went on, the cells now held pegasai and earth ponies. These weren't weak at all.

Some crowded at the bars, whispering "Is that Applejack?" "No! It's can't be!" "It is!" Many were crying. Some seemed scared to cry. Some looked like all their hopes had been crushed.

Some snarled at her, lept at the bars screaming "This is all your fault, you traitor! I hope the princess turns you into a parasprite!"

Some, especially the little ponies, just looked at her and burst into tears.

Applejack looked at the guards on either side. Neither showed any sign of emotion.

What did I do? She longed to cry out. What have I done to them?

Tool, Traitor...

"All unicorns, get in line!"

Twilight Sparkle stood in front of the guard, heading the line to... wherever they were going. She looked over her shoulder. Rarity was behind her, her eyes shining with unshed, frightened tears. Behind Rarity, a line of unicorns formed, all of them young, like students. The one immediately behind Rarity looked slightly familiar.

"You look just like Princess Rarity!"

Rarity whirled around and gasped. "S-Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie Belle was fully grown up and as big as Rarity. Her mane was longer and straighter, her coat was grayer, and her eyes... Rarity blinked in suprise. Sweetie Belle's eyes were gray.

Sweetie Belle glanced over her shoulder. "Can I hide in your tail?"

"What!?"

"Oh... sorry, you're new, aren't you? I guess you wouldn't know." Sweetie Belle shrunk back, hurt showing in her eyes.

"Oh, dearie, I'm sorry." Rarity leaned closer. "Why are your eyes that color?"

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I was born that way, I guess." She didn't seem to want to talk anymore.

Rarity now saw Sweetie Belle's cutie mark. It was diamond shaped, with stripes- a red at the bottom, then an orange stripe, then a yellow stripe, and the tip of the diamond was green. The whole thing was surrounded by a yellow burst.

"Why do you want to hide... in my tail?" Rarity asked.

"So the Princess won't see me," Sweetie Belle said. "You're new, so you wouldn't know. One of the princesses always stands at the head of the line, and if one of us looks to tired or ill to work the treadmill, she sends us to the back of the line." She cringed. "That's how it's supposed to work. But, whenever Princess Rarity is on duty, she always sends me to the back of the line... for no reason! I'm healthy and strong! I'm young! This is even my talent, see?" She pointed to her cutie mark. "But she keeps sending me back, and all the other unicorns hate me for it! It's not my fault! The princess hates me or something! I have no idea why she'd be doing this! I'm just one little unicorn, I'm not special! Why does she pick on me, out of all the unicorns?"

Rarity blinked. "You have... no idea?"

"No!" Sweetie Belle was crying now.

"You don't... think the princess might care for you?"

"Well... maybe, but why me? I'm not any more virtuous than the rest of the ponies."

Rarity was about to ask more, but then remembered what Princess Twilight Sparkle had said.

"Maybe I sent you back in time, and just erased your memory!"

And then Princess Rarity:

"Yes, that does sound like something you would do."

Princess Twilight Sparkle sent all the guards and servants out of the room except for Rainbow Dash. Then, her horn glowing, she set a shield around the room.

"Now we can conference in private," she said, motioning for Princess Rarity and Rainbow Dash to come closer.

"What's the matter, Twilight?" Princess Rarity asked. "That Applejack, she wasn't a..."

"She was," Princess Twilight sighed. "I could tell she wasn't lying."

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash asked, hoping she didn't sound clueless.

Princess Twilight shook her head. "Earlier today, Princess Rarity and I met a pony who looked like Rarity, except without wings. I determined that she was, in fact, a Rarity from the past. It seems... it seems there are more of them. This Applejack had no idea of the crimes she committed- because she hadn't committed them yet. She's from the past."

After considering carefully, Rainbow Dash said, "You mean... we've all got past selves running around Canterlot?"

Princess Twilight nodded, biting one cheek. "It appears."

"What are we going to do, Sparkie?" Princess Rarity asked.

Rainbow Dash blinked. Sparkie? she thought. Since when did we call her that?

Princess Twilight rubbed a hoof under her chin. "We don't want to let Past Twilight or Past Rarity go just yet- we could make good use of them. But I don't want to send the other past versions home without them- we could cause a paradox. If we presume that none of the past versions know they are in the future, we could lure them out... somehow. We already have three of them- we just need to find Past Pinkie, Past Rainbow, and Past Fluttershy. That is... assumming they are all here... which might be too large an assumption..." she paced to the other side of the room and stared out the window.

Princess Rarity gave Rainbow Dash a small smile. Rainbow smirked back, sensing this was an in-joke.

Suddenly the door burst open.

"Princess Twilight!" A familiar voice called. "Lightning Strike told me you'd captured BlackJack!"

Rainbow Dash whirled around and gasped. "Scoot- Scootaloo?"

Rainbow Dash hardly recognized the little pegasus filly. She was tall and skinny, sinewy. Her wings were now fully grown and held at the ready. Her mane looked torn up. She wore a tight black uniform with a hood that she had just lowered. The uniform hid her cutie mark, but it seemed likely to Rainbow that the But the biggest shock was Scootaloo's eyepatch.

Scootaloo went down on one knee. "Captain Dash! I must congratulate you for this great capture!" She bowed her head, as if Dash was the princess herself.

Dash glanced over her shoulder, feeling nervous, and noticed that Princess Twilight was frowning. More than before, anyway.

She turned back to Scootaloo. "Erm. I didn't actually capture Applejack- two soldiers did."

Scootaloo lifted her head. "But I'm sure that it was your excellent training that allowed her to be subdued, my captain."

"Uh. Sure." Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder again. Rarity was shaking her head sadly.

"Actually," Princess Twilight said, annoyance in her voice, "It wasn't Blackjack that we captured at all."

Scootaloo frowned. "How has that moon-sent pony tricked us this time?"

Twilight flipped her flowing mane over one shoulder. "It's a long story... but let's just say that we will be needing your expert skills, Spy Scootaloo."

There was a metal rod sticking down from the ceiling. Wires spiraled down it, ending in a dangling piece of metal that looked like a sad party hat- although Twilight Sparkle was sure that a gray part hat was against all of Pinkie's party rules. Below it was something that looked like Big Mac's cider press- a conveyor belt, she believed.

A dark purple stallion entered through a door and stood next to the computer by the conveyor belt. Turning to the guards, he said, "We've been asked to increase our quota."

"WHAT?"

Screams and moans came from the unicorns standing behind Twilight Sparkle. Some started crying.

The purple stallion turned to them. "It's not by much! Just a, uh, an extra thousand horn power! That's all, really!"

"Thousand?" a hysterical yellow unicorn demanded. "Do you know how many of us there are?"

"Over a hundred, I'm sure," the purple stallion said, "So, all you have to do is give a little extra and-"

"Some of us don't have extra to give!" shouted a stallion from way back. A skinny little preteen filly was lifted above some unicorn's head. "Look at her! How can you ask her to give any more than she already has?"

"QUIET!" a unicorn guard shouted in a magically amplified voice. "Stop complaining! The princess' rule stand, PERIOD!"

There was silence.

The purple stallion locked eyes with Twilight. "Ah! I heard about you! The princess was very excited about you. She already said we should run you, so I guess we can hook you up while we're waiting for the princesses to inspect the unicorns." He motioned her forward. "If you are as powerful as you look, you may be able to help the other unicorns some. You can tell they don't like the new quota; maybe you could ease their burden a bit?"

Twilight Sparkle could tell that she was being manipulated. All it took was his tone of voice.

But that didn't change the fact that it was an effective argument.

"What's the total quota?" She asked the unicorn as she stepped onto the treadmill.

"9500," the unicorn guard said, as he pulled the party hat like object down and fit it over Twilight Sparkle's horn.

9500! Twilight began doing some quick calculations.

The average telekinetic spell used only a tiny amount of horn power- depending on object levitated, distance, time, things like that, but it usually hovered around 10 horn power. Many unicorns just used telekinesis and never bothered with any other powers. That left her nowhere for determining the average horn power of a pony. Why nopony had bothered to take a survey, she wasn't sure.

"Get moving already," the guard said.

Twilight began to walk.

Perhaps it had to do with the subjective nature of magic. While Celestia could, in normal circumstances, outpower any unicorn without trying very hard, it would change depending on the emotions. If Celestia, for some reason, didn't want to perform the spell she was using, and the opposing unicorn had a strong will to make his spell happen, then, if the opposing unicorn had a fair amount of power to begin with, he might possibly succeed in countering the princess. Theoretically.

Twilight's pace increased. The computer began chugging.

9500 horn power.

There were 'over a hundred' unicorns, according to the purple stallion. Each unicorn would need to produce about 95 horn power. That didn't seem that unreasonable.

"Faster!" The unicorn guard said, lashing a whip at Twilight's legs. He missed, but Twilight moved faster anyway.

950 horn power didn't seem unreasonable, at least at first. But that was more than the average unicorn used on a daily basis. And to make the sudden leap would be like expecting someone to run a mile when they'd never done any real running before. And doing that every day? It would wear them down- and when they wore down, they would do even worse the next day. And that wasn't even accounting for the fact that some of the unicorns were young- and therefore would have even less power.

She began to run.

She had used quite a bit of horn power once or twice, for the more complicated spells. The time-travelling spell had come with a warning that it took at least 200 hornpower, and that most unicorns should not attempt the spell if they weren't more familiar with complicated magic. Most unicorns would be quite drained from that exertion.

But it hadn't seemed that hard to Twilight.

The purple stallion glanced at the computer. He looked alarmed and motioned the other guards to come look.

Twilight Sparkle didn't want to see it. She shut her eyes and pumped her legs, the energy from her muscles adding to the energy pouring from her horn, into the machine, up the wires, off to power... whatever it was the Princess needed powering.

If she gave a little more, she might save more exhausted unicorns from having to work themselves to death.

Her muscles screamed at her to slow down, her head pounded like someone was slamming it in a door.

But she couldn't stop. If she could just give more...

Some voices called to her, telling her to stop. They sounded so distant.

Then Rarity's voice right in her ear: "Twilight Sparkle, stop right now!"

Her urgent tone startled her. Twilight stopped running, and dazedly staggered around for a bit before collapsing.

She lay on the ground, panting. Her head hurt so much.

The purple stallion cleared his throat. "Um. It appears we have fulfilled our quota. You can go back to your rooms now."

Twilight Sparkle fainted.

Radioactive Isotopes

Fluttershy cowered in an alley, cursing her uselessness. Applejack had been seized by Princess Celestia's guards, and Fluttershy had hardly said a word in her defense.

The fact that the guards had simply not heard her was no excuse. She should have shouted. She should have cried "Hey! My friend is not a criminal! You can't take her away!"

Some use her assertiveness had been.

Well, she would make it up to Applejack! She would go to the castle right now and demand to know what crime Applejack committed. If the guards wouldn't tell her, she'd ask to see Princess Celestia.

She wasn't sure about how to get around Canterlot, but you could see the castle from anywhere. She just had to fly to it.

She started to flap her wings, when two earth ponies ran up to her.

The blue one exclaimed, "Fluttershy! I know you're busy, but I just wanted to let you know I'm putting together a SPOAF chapter in my section of Manehattan, and I was just hoping you might possibly consider coming and speaking to us someday?" She leaned up close, smiling.

Fluttershy just smiled back. "Um... I think you have the wrong, uh... Fluttershy. Uh." What's a 'spoaf'? she wondered. It rhymed with 'oaf'.

The two ponies stared at each other and blinked rapidly, like they simply could not comprehend the words coming from Fluttershy's mouth.

A pink pegasusflew up to them, shouting, "Come on, you two! We don't want to be late!"

The earth ponies ran after her, gesturing for Fluttershy to follow, so she did.

They entered a garden. Signs had been hung up everywhere, announcing "SPOAF rally! Save the squirrels!" Dozens, maybe hundreds of ponies had gathered together in front of a stage with a podium and microphone set up.

A dark green pegasus with a fluffy green mane was talking at the podium.

"...for our future fillies and colts," she said. "And now, I am pleased to welcome our special guest, the pegasus renowned around Equestria for her contribution to the well-being of all living things, Fluttershy!"

Ponies stamped their hooves and hollered with joy.

Fluttershy gasped. She was supposed to... talk to all these ponies? On stage? Now?

She collapsed, feeling faint.

But then, a quiet, familiar voice said, "Thank you, everypony. Please quiet down."

Fluttershy stuck her head above the crowd, straining to see who was at the stand. Some bulky earth ponies had moved in front of her, and whoever it was wasn't as tall as the other pegasus had been.

"I am very pleased to have the honor of speaking to you today," the pony continued. "I know that whenever SPOAF is mentioned, I am always the one credited with it's success, but I want you to always remember, I couldn't have made the impact I have had without the help of you, my little ponies. I am merely the one who called your attention to the problem that has plagued Equestria for far too long. It is you, you who have done all this work, by letting your voices be heard, by making a difference in your own small ways. You are the ones preserving the future of Equestria!"

Stomping of hooves, shouts and shrieks.

Fluttershy moved to a better location. She gasped. The pony in front of the podium looked just like herself!

"I have asked you to come here today because the work of the Society for the Protection of Our Animal Friends is never done. You have all done amazingly. With your help, we have created laws to protect the pigs from unfair labor, the birds from having their feathers stolen, the forests from being chopped down.

"But today, I have come to talk about the squirrels. Their homes are safe, to be sure, but their families are not. Across Equestria, ponies munch on almonds, snack on walnut cakes, nibble food made from acorn flour... and yet they never think to ask, 'Where have all these nuts come from?'

"I'll tell you where. These nuts are stolen from the mouths of little squirrel children."

Gasps.

"Trees that once belonged to the squirrels, giving their fruit for the good of squirrelkind, are being harvested by ponies to fill their greedy stomachs. Squirrels are starving while the high and noble members of the Canterlot society continue to ask for nuts in their sundaes, their cupcakes, their doughnuts. This cannot continue, my little ponies! We must stand for justice! We must make sure that the squirrels can have nuts forevermore!"

Wild cheers, ponies leaping into the air.

"Um, excuse me."

Ponies gasped and parted, revealing Fluttershy standing at the back of the crowd.

"What is it?" Asked the pony who looked so much like Fluttershy standing at the podium.

"Um. Er." Fluttershy gulped. Well, you were planning to be courageous and talk to the guards anyway. Now would be a good chance to practice. Don't worry; not exactly everyone is staring at you... "Well. You see, miss, um..."

"Fluttershy," The pony at the podium said.

"Um. Um, sorry, miss, but, um, you must be mistaken."

"What?" Fluttershy-at-podium said. "Speak up!"

Fluttershy-on-ground took a deep breath. "Well, first of all, the nut growers don't take nuts from the squirrels. They plant other nut trees and get their nuts from those. The squirrel's nut trees stay where they are."

"Can you prove it?" Fluttershy-at-podium said.

Fluttershy-on-ground was taken aback. "Um, no, um, not exactly. Um. No."

Fluttershy-at-podium flitted her eyelashes. "You seek to defend what is so clearly a corrupt system that heavily favors ponies growing stronger at any cost while you yourself admit you cannot prove your claims?! How can you sink so low?"

Fluttershy-on-ground stammered, "I...I...I..." and then started crying and backing off.

Fluttershy-at-podium wilted. "Oh, don't cry!" She flew over join Fluttershy-on-ground and patted her on the head. "It's not you're fault! You probably didn't think about this before! ...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have acted so harshly towards you! Oh, please don't cry! I hate making ponies cry!" And she herself started crying.

As soon as the other Fluttershy started crying, Fluttershy-on-ground switched to comfort mode. She smiled a bit and wiped her tears away with one hoof. "Oh, d-don't worry; I feel better now. Thank you."

Fluttershy-who-was-no-longer-at-podium smiled also. "You know... it's funny how much we are alike."

"Oh, yes, that's the other thing I was going to tell you. You see, my name is Fluttershy too!"

Fluttershy-who-was-no-longer-at-podium started back and blinked at the other Fluttershy. "Are you sure? This is just too much of a coincidence."

Fluttershy-on-ground nodded. "I'm sure that's my name."

They stared at each other for a minute longer.

Then someone in the audience coughed. "I don't know anything about this... but, you know, it may sound funny, but on my way here I thought I caught a glimpse of two Rarities walking side by side- but then, one of them didn't have wings..."

Wings? Fluttershy-on-ground thought. Since when did Rarity have wings?

The two Fluttershys looked at each other again, hair slightly blocking their eyes.

"We'd better talk to Twilight," said Fluttershy-who-was-no-longer-at-podium.

"Yes, we'd better," said the other Fluttershy.

"What the hay was that, Miss Pie?" The tan female earth pony demanded.

"Fun! It was lots of FUN!" Pinkie Pie bounced in a circle around the tan earth pony. "You should have some sometime!"

"Have what?" The tan earth pony asked, looking confused.

"FUN!" Pinkie Pie tackled the earth pony.

"Oo-ow-ouch! My back!" The earth pony whined.

"Diane Pie?" Spotlight appeared around the corner. "You really should be careful about Miss Forest's back. You know how old people are about their backs..."

"I'm not old, you little wretch!" Miss Forest whipped herself up and dove after the impertinent pegasus, only to have him fly out of her reach. Spotlight giggled and pointed at her.

Pinkie Pie's eyes narrowed as Spotlight continued to laugh. Then she seized him with stretchy front legs and dragged him in front of her, glaring at him.

"Listen," she growled. "The joke is only funny if everypony laughs. Got it?"

Spotlight gasped and swallowed. He bobbed his head vigorously. "Got it, Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie glared for a moment longer. Then she smiled brightly and hugged the little pony. "Great! Now we're all friends!" She put him back in the air and turned to smile at Miss Forest.

Miss Forest didn't smile. But she didn't glare either. She just edged back.

A loud crash came from outside, and a blur of pink sped into the room, screeching, "OhmyTwilightohmyTWILIGHT that guard is a jerk!" The blur came to a halt beside Miss Forest.

Pinkie Pie gasped. Unlike the other ponies, she was not gasping at seeing herself standing there. That wasn't unusual or anything. No, what shocked her was the hair.

This duplicate-Pinkie had her hair and tail perfectly straight and flat. Her coat was pink, true, but it seemed faded. She seemed in every way an adult version of Pinkie as she had looked when she was a filly on the rock farm.

Sort of. But then, as a filly she had kept her mane long. Duplicate-Pinkie had cut her mane short in a professional looking way. The tail was the same way: short and well-groomed. She wore a gold watch around one hoof.

"Forest Breeze!" she shouted. "What is the meaning of this!? The guard wouldn't let me in because the show was 'being taken care of'. What in Equestria is that supposed to mean, hmm?" She leaned reeeeal close to Forest Breeze, forcing the tan earth pony to lean back. Duplicate-Pinkie pulled back her lips in a dog-like snarl. "I hope for your sake, Miss Forest, that this is simply a cruel, cruel joke."

Forest Breeze looked like she wanted to get out of the conversation by fainting but couldn't quiet manage to black out. "D-d-d-d-diane?" She stammered, closing her eyes and swaying back.

"Golly!" Spotlight said. "I thought this was you, Miss Pie!" he pointed at Pinkie Pie from his safe refuge high in the air.

"WHAT?" Diane Pie whirled around and marched toward Pinkie Pie, glaring at her. "And who, may I ask, are you, Miss Messyhair?"

Pinkie Pie matched her, glare for glare. "I could ask you the same question, Miss Fadedcoat."

They had a brief glare war, eyeing each other, shoving their heads forward and back, tilting their heads down and downer, all the better to look menacing with.

Then Pinkie Pie burst out laughing. "You blinked!" She tossed herself backward and rolled on the carpet.

For a moment, Diane Pie looked even more angry. But then she laughed also.

"The look on your face, Miss Forest," she said, turning around. "For a moment I thought you were going to melt."

Forest Breeze shook herself and commenced glaring. "Well, you can't expect me to somehow know that you now have a... changeling twin!"

Both Pies stopped laughing.

"Her?" Pinkie Pie asked. "A changeling? No! Changelings can't glare that well for beans! No, wait, what would a changeling want with beans? Changelings don't eat beans! They can't glare that well for chocolate! Of course changelings want chocolate! Everyone wants chocolate!"

"She was talking about you," Diane Pie said. "But, seriously, how did you get here?"

Pinkie Pie stopped and blinked. Then she shrugged so high her shoulders reached her ears. "I dunno. I've always been here. How did you get here?"

Diane Pie blinked. Then she turned to Forest Breeze. "I need to visit my friend, Twilight."

"Ooh, Twilight's your best friend?" Pinkie Pie asked, as Diane Pie seized her hoof and started dragging her away. "Mine too! But then I have lots of best friends..."

Author's Note: If you'd like to see what Forest Breeze and Spotlight look like, first find Generalzoi's pony creator. Just Google it; I guarantee you'll find it. Then enter the following pony codes in their appropriate places. Remove all spaces. The code for the pony itself goes in the 'advance' section of the 'create' section while the pony's accessories code goes in the 'advanced' section of the 'accessories' section. Due to the nature of these codes, they won't have their cutie marks.

For Forest Breeze:

332G1F6000BFA834FFC49D002010 0F

E15UN3B1E004001000A128206600 AF

1505107F3FCC004CB2

Her accessories:

066CC66B3E7C3E066CC6634

A468C066CC6604E8FBAFFFF8

C066CC66066CC66066CC66066CC6 6

For Spotlight:

233V0E101296F6FE9EB5FE2

00007FBA00UP1837043020001

H0EAFE4DFF7FFF19107F3FCC004C B2

Something Scary

More ponycodes! Remember to erase the spaces.

Jet Black (the black soldier with the fireball cutie mark): 33341D30600000007C7C7C006010 0BB96IN1837205000001S1CC983F 994D4D1Y107F3FCC004CB2

Shield Wing (the other, younger soldier): 2T3O0X1062DEFEB5A36565200000 0BA16RP1837000020001H1B3BC6A 49562B13107F3FCC004CB2

Princess Twilight Sparkle paced the length of the room, her mane flowing gracefully despite the lack of wind.

Rainbow Dash thought she was showing off.

Scootaloo remained on her knees, her eyes following the Princess's motion.

Then they flashed back to Rainbow Dash. "Captain, what are my orders?"

Rainbow Dash opened and closed her mouth, afraid to say anything.

Princess Twilight turned around. "Ahem."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Yes, Princess?"

"Let me brief you on the situation. A portal has been opened to the past. Versions of me and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony from the past have infiltrated our fair city. These must be aprehended or we risk damaging the space-time continuum."

Scootaloo rose to her hooves and stood at attention. "So you are saying we have not captured Applejack? Just a past version of herself with no knowledge of her crimes?"

"Essentially."

Scootaloo's eyes widened. "But, you majesty, this is excellent news!"

Princess Rarity, who had been moodily studying her bracelets during this discussion, turned to meet Scootaloo's eyes. "How so?"

"We now have Applejack at our mercy! We can now fix the timeline so that she never committed any crimes against Equestria or you our fair rulers! We can change everything for the better!"

Rainbow Dash managed to keep her jaw from dropping. What had happened to Scootaloo?

Princess Twilight turned, her expression blank. "As desirable as it might seem to you to stop Applejack before she even has a chance to do anything wrong, we would risk causing the universe to collapse on itself. I don't want to have to explain all the possible paradoxes that might arise from that. Or the past could become even worse. My younger, foalish self would see the destruction of her innocent friend as senselessly cruel, and this might cause her to become withdrawn, emotionless, and a dominating tyrant. We can't have that." She turned to pace to the other side of the room and caught a glimpse of Princess Rarity rolling her eyes. "What?!" She shoved herself next to Rarity. "Are you trying to say I am cruel and evil in this timeline? How could you say such a thing? You are damaging our friendship." And she reared back, as though that was the greatest threat she could have possibly pronounced.

Princess Rarity blinked and studied her bracelets again.

"But that isn't why I wanted you, Scootaloo," said Princess Twilight Sparkle, turning to the orange pegasus again. "I just want you to find the remaining infiltrators- Fake Fluttershy, Fake Pinkie Pie, and Fake Rainbow Dash."

"Fake Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo screamed, as if the most ancient laws had been broken. "How could they? Nothing they can concoct can compare with the utter awesomeness that is the real thing! No fear, Princess Twilight. If there are any fake Rainbow Dashes running about, I'll destroy them all!" Scootaloo seemed to have little flames in her eyes.

Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to shiver.

"You can't just destroy the Rainbow Dash clones!" Princess Rarity said.

"No, you're right," Scootaloo said, the flames vanishing.

Princess Rarity sighed with relief.

"I'll destroy the clones of EVERYPONY!" Scootaloo screamed, flailing her hooves wildly.

The two princesses exchanged disturbed looks.

"Um, excuse me," Fluttershy said.

Everypony whirled around to stare at two Fluttershys standing at the door.

"I'm sorry," one of the Fluttershys said, "I didn't want to interrupt, but you see there's this strange pony here who looks exactly like me and claims to come from the time when Celestia ruled..."

Scootaloo pounced on the other Fluttershy, drawing a dagger from a pocket in her black suit.

Fluttershy screamed. Rainbow Dash and both princesses converged upon Scootaloo, shouting for her to stop. Rainbow Dash seized Scootaloo's tail and flew backwards with her as the two princesses formed a protective barrier around both Fluttershys.

The Fluttershy from the past was lying on the ground, crying. The other Fluttershy lifted her hoof, shocked. Then she turned and snarled at Rainbow Dash, "She's clearly your special pupil."

"Fluttershy!" Princess Rarity gasped.

The Fluttershy who was from the timeline that they were currently in turned her head away from Rainbow Dash, her nose in the air. "I just remembered I'm not speaking to you," she said.

"Oh, Fluttershy," Twilight Sparkle sighed.

Just then a blur of pink entered the room.

Two Pinkie Pies crashed landed, one on top of the other.

"That was fun!" the one with the curly mane said. "Can we do it again?"

"No!" the straight-maned one screamed. She slipped out from under the other Pinkie Pie and screamed at Twilight, "THIS PONY IS AN IMPERSONATOR!"

"NO I'M NOT!" the curly maned one said, matching her volume but with a much more light hearted tone. "I'M AN IMPONYATOR!"

"I am the real Diane Pie!" the straight maned one said.

"I am twice as real as you are!" the curly maned one replied.

"I'm the element of laughter, you idiot!"

"I actually laugh, you smarty!" The curly maned Pinkie Pie then demonstrated, rolling on the floor as she chuckled.

Princess Rarity pounced on Scootaloo and held her down.

"Hey!" Scootaloo screamed.

"I'm afraid if you can't act mature and demonstrate discernment, you will have to stay on the floor for now," Princess Rarity said.

"Captain Dash, Rarity," Princess Twilight Sparkle said, "A word."

Princess Rarity went behind the two thrones, dragging Scootaloo behind her. Princess Twilight followed. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and flew after them. She had avoided saying anything if she could help it, so as to avoid blowing her cover.

A purple shield surrounded the two princesses and Rainbow Dash while shutting out Scootaloo.

"Well," Princess Rarity said, "You've gotten your wish. You now have two of the three remaining imposters in your grasp."

Princess Twilight turned to look at the ponies outside, a pained expression on her face.

"I didn't think fake Fluttershy would turn herself in," she said.

"She doesn't even know she's causing a problem!" Princess Rarity said. "What are you going to do with her, Sparkie?"

"Captain Dash?" Princess Twilight said. "You seem pretty quiet today."

Rainbow Dash shifted her hoof. "Oh, my mind is just on other things," she said, hoping they wouldn't ask what.

"Scootaloo?" Princess Twilight asked.

"Or... Fluttershy?" Princess Rarity asked, looking concerned.

"Don't let her get to you!" Princess Twilight said, without waiting for an answer. "Fluttershy has... changed."

"Reign her in, for Celestia's sake!" Princess Rarity said. "I mean- oh, is it Scootaloo?"

"Or... Fluttershy?" Princess Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash just shrugged. "Uh, sort of all of them. Sort of. But, what about Pinkie Pie?"

"Diane Pie?" Princess Rarity asked.

Rainbow Dash resisted flinching. Had she given herself away?

Princess Twilight studied the two pink earth ponies, who were still arguing. Only one was smiling.

"She said she was going to get a manecut," Princess Twilight said.

"She might have done it for old time's sake," Princess Rarity said. "Maybe she has heard us arguing."

"And she dyed her coat to a deeper pink?" Princess Twilight said. "And she asked us to call her Pinkie Pie? And she is..." Princess Twilight didn't finish, but she waved her hoof at the curly maned Pinkie Pie, who was now standing on her head.

"Maybe for old time's sake?" Princess Rarity said again, her voice softer.

Rainbow Dash saw it on both of the princess's faces. They knew full well which one was the 'fake' Pinkie Pie.

But they desperately wanted it to be the gray, straight-maned one who was fake.

Maybe she could give them a little nudge.

"There's one thing we could do," she said, stepping forward. "I could take one of the Pinkie Pies into another room and ask them some questions only the modern Pinkie Pie could answer correctly. Then I can tell you if she's real or fake."

Princess Twilight turned towards her. "I should be the one doing the questioning," she said. "I can remember better than you can."

"Maybe," Rainbow Dash said, "But your emotions would get in the way. No offence, I mean, but you might give her clues that could alter the results. These clones might be clever, and you know Pinkie Pie."

The two princesses smiled at each other.

"Yes," Princess Rarity said, "We do know Pinkie Pie."

"And you are the most emotionally resilient among us," Princess Twilight said. "Go for it, Captain Dash."

Rainbow Dash got on one knee. "Thank you, your highness."

"All right," Rainbow Dash said, pulling the straight maned Pinkie Pie into the other room, "This is just to see if you are real or fake."

"I'm obviously the real one," Diane Pie said, tossing her short mane. "In fact, I am mortally offended that you feel the need to test me! Am I not special enough?"

At Rainbow's shocked expression, Diane Pie started giggling. "Heh heh. Yeah, right, Dashie. I know you follow the rules like a... like something that follows the rules really well. A ruler! Like a ruler!"

"Er, okay," said Rainbow Dash. "So. Question 1: What happened to Princess Celestia?"

"Ha!" Diane Pie booped Rainbow on the nose. "Trick question! I wasn't there! Gotcha!"

That wasn't the answer Rainbow Dash had been looking for.

"Well, maybe, but you should at least have a vague notion of what happened," Rainbow Dash said. "That is, if you're the real Pinkie Pie."

"DIANE Pie! DIANE Pie!" Diane Pie shouted. "I am too real! Twilight sealed Celestia in the sun and Luna in the moon. Simple as Diane Pie!"

"But how could she have done any sealing if you weren't there?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

Diane Pie leaned waaaay back and rubbed her hoof under her chin. "Hmm. I dunno. Sparkie never explained that bit. How did she do it if I wasn't there?"

"I have no clue," Rainbow Dash said.

"Next question! Or have I already won?" Diane Pie lept to her feet.

"Nope! That stuff is common enough knowledge! You need to answer a harder question!"

"Okie-dokie-lokie."

"Question 2: Did I ever join the Wonderbolts?"

"Duh!" Diane Pie said. "Next question!"

"Is that 'duh yes' or 'duh no'?" Rainbow Dash said. "You could just be saying 'duh' to hide the fact that you don't actually know the answer."

"Oh, come on!"

"You're stalling! You must be fake!"

"Fine, then, if you insist." Diane Pie tossed her mane back and strutted to a corner. "You sorta made the Wonderbolts join you, didn't you?"

"What?" Rainbow Dash blinked.

"After you were appointed Captain of the royal guard, you told Twilight that you felt the Wonderbolts were becoming obsolete, as they flew around doing tricks when ponies of their skills were needed in the royal guard. So Twilight told the Wonderbolts to either join the army or stop performing trick shows, and most of them joined you."

"Um. Question 3: What's up with Scootaloo?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer it!"

"She idolizes you, you trained her in combat, now she's almost as much of a louse as you. What else is there to say?"

"What about Fluttershy? Why does she hate me?"

"You're asking a lot of questions about yourself."

"Well, those are the kind of questions where I'd best know the correct answer."

"Oh, well, Fluttershy is still mad at you for killing your pet turtle."

"For- I mean, how did I kill it?"

"Neglect. It fell off a cloud. Fluttershy claims it committed suicide because you never played with it or fed it or gave it water. But I don't think turtles commit suicide."

Rainbow Dash decided she utterly detested her future self.

"What about you? What happened to make you all gray?"

The question seemed to make Diane Pie turn even grayer. She stalked silently into a corner, hanging her head. In a low, menacing voice, she said, "I thought I told you never to ask me that question."

"I-It was just for the quiz," Rainbow Dash said, but she knew she would get no answer. "Erm. Game over. Heh heh." She shoved Diane Pie into the throne room, where all the ponies looked at her expectantly.

"I'm going to question the other Pink- Diane Pie now," Rainbow Dash said, seizing the curly maned pony and dragging her into the next room.

"Um, Twilight- I mean, your highness," Future Fluttershy said.

"Yes?" Princess Twilight asked.

"I was hoping... I mean, this younger Fluttershy isn't doing any harm, so I was wondering if maybe I could take her home to help me? ...That is, uh, if she doesn't mind." Fluttershy turned to herself, smiling sweetly.

Past Fluttershy smiled. "That sounds wonderful! I'd love to see what your work is."

Princess Twilight shuffled her hooves. "Um. Er. That sounds... acceptable."

"Thank you," the two Fluttershies said in unison, bowing out of the room.

"Okay, Pinkie Pie," Rainbow Dash said.

"I am the real one, you know," Pinkie Pie said.

"Yeah, I know. And I'm the 'real' Rainbow Dash. As in, the one from the world where Twilight Sparkle and Rarity aren't princesses."

"Funny coincidence! I'm from that world too!" Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Yeah, so, this is important: If we don't want to get arrested, we have to make the princesses think we're the ones from the other world, our older selves so to speak."

"Oh, is that what that grumpy pink pony is? My older self?" Pinkie looked at the door. "Gee, Dashie, I don't ever want to grow old if it means getting so... gray."

"That's not important right now," Rainbow Dash said. "Listen, I learned a lot about this future world from your older self."

Rainbow Dash repeated all the information she'd learned from the questions.

"Wow," Pinkie Pie said. "You're a jerk!"

Rainbow Dash glared at her.

"I mean future you, of course!" Pinkie Pie laughed, then stopped, locking her legs together. "Oh! Pinchy knee!"

"Pinchy knee?" Rainbow Dash said, backing off. "What does that mean?"

"It means that something scary is about to happen, and it's gonna happen... out there!" Pinkie pointed at the door.

Rainbow Dash yanked the door open. Aside from the missing Fluttershys, she couldn't see anything amiss.

"Are you done?" Princess Twilight asked.

"Er, yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "I've concluded that-"

"Princess Twilight!"

Rainbow Dash spun around, staring at the pegasus that had just entered. She wore armor, and her wings were done in the style of the royal guards, but other than that she looked just like Rainbow Dash.

The new arrival had only enough time to open her mouth in shock before she was attacked. An orange blur whized past, slamming the future Rainbow Dash into the ground. Scootaloo growled at her, yanking out her dagger.

"How dare you impersonate Captain Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo growled around her dagger before plunging the blade into Rainbow Dash's wings.

"No!" Rainbow Dash shouted, twisting away. Several of her feathers were bent, but there was no blood. "Princess Twilight?"

The princess gave no answer other than a glowing horn. With a snap, Rainbow Dash's royal guard wings vanished.

Captain Dash gasped. "Twilight?" she said, her voice more panicked.

"Guards!" Scootaloo called.

The cream-and-brown spotted pony and the black pony from before charged into the room, pinning Captain Dash on the ground and dragging her away.

"Princess! No! What are you doing to me? Your highness?!" Captain Rainbow Dash screamed as she was dragged from the room.

From her place next to Pinkie Pie, the Rainbow Dash from the past left her mouth hanging open, unable to wrap her mind around what she'd seen.

"See?" Pinkie Pie whispered in her ear. "Something scary."

Unsettling Discoveries

"You will be such a help to SPOAF," Future Fluttershy said as she flew up the mountain trail.

"I hope so," Past Fluttershy panted. She had given up flying long ago and was now trudging along on her hooves. "Why... do you... live so far... from Canterlot?"

"To be closer to the animals that live here," Future Fluttershy said, waving hi to a pair of birds that flew past. "And... and one other thing." She turned around, flying backwards as she looked Past Fluttershy in the eye. "You would do anything to help the animals, wouldn't you?"

Past Fluttershy paused. "Of course. Why?"

Future Fluttershy flew up to a rock. "Just wanted to make sure we were of the same mind. That's all." She sang a brief song that Fluttershy had never heard before, and the rock ground aside, revealing a set of stairs into the ground.

"Come on then," Future Fluttershy said, trotting down the stairs. Past Fluttershy followed, and was greeted by a family of mice. They entered an underground cave with a few rooms branching off of it, filled with animals, animal homes, and comfortable furniture.

"Ohhh," Past Fluttershy cooed, floating over to look at a collection of bunnies in a snuggly den. "It's so adorable!"

"The room, or the bunny?" Future Fluttershy said, smirking.

Past Fluttershy could not remember the last time she'd smirked. "Uh. Both." She spun around and admired all the animals. "Oh, what is this place, that is so wonderful? Aw, you have chipmunks! And an otter! And a tortoise! And kittens and cats and- wait, huh?" Past Fluttershy did a double take. "That cat..."

"You do want to help the animals, right?" Future Fluttershy said, casting her eyes to the ground.

"That's Opalescence! And that's Tank! And that's Winnoa! And that huge crocodile... no, that isn't little Gummy, is it? What are they doing here? Don't tell me you have Owlowiscious too!"

"Yes," Future Fluttershy said, making herself small.

"What are they doing here?"

Future Fluttershy burst into tears. "I just couldn't take it! I couldn't leave Winnoa and that poor owl with those ponies! They were working them almost to death! I had to do something! And Opalescence wouldn't have lasted another day with Rarity and her smothering affection! Neither would any of her other cats! And Gummy, oh, Gummy... well, would you leave him with an owner like Diane Pie?"

Past Fluttershy blinked. "I... I..."

"And Tank was being terribly neglected! You should have seen how Rainbow Dash treated him! It was just horrible!" Future Fluttershy fainted on the couch.

Past Fluttershy just stood there. Conversations tend to grind to a halt when one of the participants faints.

A rabbit hopped up to her.

"Oh, Angel!" Fluttershy sighed, stroking his back with her wing. "You seem just as bouncy as you were when I left you ten years ago!"

Angel looked from her to the Fluttershy on the couch and then stood on his hind legs and gave an exagerated shrug. He remained in that position, his head cocked to one side and his eyes wide.

"Oh... You want to know who I am?" Past Fluttershy sat back. "Well, the short version is, I'm from ten years ago, and I time travelled to the future." She leaned down and looked Angel in the eye. "I, uh, don't suppose there's anything you want to warn me about?"

A shudder went through the little rabbit's body, and he hopped to the other end of the room, stopping to scratch his ear, and sniffed around for hay. Fluttershy knew that game; occasionally, Angel would suddenly try to pretend he was not unusually intelligent. Fluttershy wondered if Angel had changed at all.

"Oooooooh..." Future Fluttershy heaved herself off of the couch. "Oh, I'm sorry, Me. I just get so scared when I remember the terrible treatment my children had to go through."

"Children?" Past Fluttershy stared at Angel, who shrugged.

"My children, yes. Adopted children, but still mine." Future Fluttershy picked up a passing racoon and hugged it gently. "You know, it's a little inconvenient to know what to call you... but I'll tell you what. I was knighted a while ago for my work with animals. You may call me Dame Fluttershy if you prefer, and you can be just plain Fluttershy."

"Okay, if you say so," Fluttershy said. "Uh, Dame Fluttershy... have you told any of our friends where their pets are?"

"No!" Dame Fluttershy shrieked. "I mean, no. Rarity would just disolve in a puddle, and Twilight Sparkle would hate me for all eternity, and you really don't want to see Diane Pie when she decides the earth would be better off without you..."

"Then why did you do it?" Fluttershy said.

"You can't ask me to put the feelings of my friends ahead of the well being of these creatures, which have just as many rights as you!" Dame Fluttershy put the racoon down and flew in front of Fluttershy with her hooves on her hips.

"They don't, though!" Fluttershy said.

"Fluttershy!" Dame Fluttershy gasped, flying backward into the couch. "I'm ashamed of you. Can you look Angel in the eye and say that he has no rights? Can you say that despite his intelligence and seeming conscience, he isn't worth as much as you?"

"I didn't say..." Fluttershy started, looking at Angel. He was hiding in a cardboard box that was clearly meant for the mice family.

"I can't believe you," Dame Fluttershy said. "Was I really that ignorant?"

"I... I'm sorry," Fluttershy said, shrinking into a corner.

"You will be," Dame Fluttershy said, glaring at Fluttershy. Her eyes grew large, energy radiated from them...

Fluttershy staggered around, feeling dazed.

"You will not tell about these animals," Dame Fluttershy said.

"I will not tell about these animals," Fluttershy repeated.

"You will do everything you can to help SPOAF," Dame Fluttershy said.

"I will do everything I can to help SPOAF," Fluttershy repeated.

"Good girl," Dame Fluttershy said, patting her younger self on the head.

"Good girl," Fluttershy muttered.

"Captain Dash?"

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Dashie! Are you alright?"

Rainbow Dash shook herself and glanced at the two princesses. "Yeah, just dandy." She grinned at them. "Just a bit stunned to see myself."

Princess Twilight stared at the ground. "It was your wings, wasn't it? I mean, her wings. I'm sorry to shock you like that, but it seemed like the easiest method to subdue your duplicate."

Rainbow Dash bobbed her head. "Yeah."

"Ahem," said Diane Pie.

Everypony else jumped.

"Oops," Princess Rarity said, "We forgot. Er. Which one is real, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash pointed at Pinkie Pie. "She is."

Scootaloo seized Diane Pie and tied her hooves behind her back before anypony could say anything.

"What?" Diane Pie said as she was led off. "You liar! You... you... traitor."

Princess Twilight instantly raced over to Rainbow Dash and started stroking Rainbow's mane as though she was a little pegasus again. "Oh, Dashie, don't worry about it; you aren't a traitor, you're doing your job, right?"

Diane Pie was dragged out of the room.

"Yeeeeah," Rainbow Dash said, a little creeped out by Princess Twilight's sudden affection.

"Well," Princess Twilight said, "If we're all done here, I'm going to go do some more studying." She beamed and pranced off, her dark purple, diaphonous wings fluttering happily.

Spike screamed.

"It's just a needle," Princess Twilight said, telekinetically moving the hypodermic needle forward. "It'll all be over in less than a minute, trust me." She plunged it in Spike's arm.

"AUGH!" Spike shrieked as the needle drew out a blood sample.

"I'm done," said Princess Twilight. "No, seriously, Spike, stop screaming." She trotted to the microscope and put a dot of blood under the lens.

Spike whimpered.

The princess put her eye to the eyepiece. "Hmm. Nothing totally unexpected, still, the readings should give me... wait, what's that?!"

Spike leaned his head forward, staring at Twilight expectedly.

"No," Princess Twilight whispered. "It can't be, not so soon... no..." She took her eye from the eyepiece and fled into the hall, knocking Rainbow Dash over in the process.

Princess Twilight backtracked a bit. "Dashie? Were you... no, never mind. Just look at these!" she shoved some charts into Rainbow Dash's face.

"Er..." Rainbow said, worrying there was something she was supposed to be understanding.

"Oh, I forgot... sorry... you!" She dashed towards a purple unicorn stallion standing nearby. "Look at these!"

The purple stallion levitated the charts towards himself. "I... these look like the same sample to me..."

"No," Princess Twilight said softly. "No, I can't... you there!" She flew over to another unicorn. "Could you please look at these and check my analysis?"

The unicorn looked them over. "Everything is in order, princess."

"No!" Princess Twilight flew out the window. "Fluttershy! You're back! Take a look at this!"

Rainbow poked her head out the window to see Fluttershy shaking her head sadly.

"No!" Princess Twilight flew back in the window (making Rainbow Dash duck) and ran into her lab. She studied the charts her magic was holding, frantically looking from one to the other.

Then she turned to Spike. "Spike?" she asked, her voice shaking. "Could you...?" She floated the charts in front of Spike's face.

Spike stared at the printouts. "It's just a row of numbers, Twilight. The numbers in each column match exactly. I don't see how you could read those wrong, especially with four opinions."

Princess Twilight turned aside. "No. No, this can't... not now... not now... No. No! No!"

The tower burst apart in a spray of flying bricks and purple energy. Lab equipment flew around in a magenta tornado. Spike, still strapped to a machine, was flung into a pile of rocks.

"NO!" Princess Twilight screamed in the Royal Canterlot voice, remaining in the sky. "NO!" The grass burst into violet flames.

Guards ran forward and quicky retreated. A pegasus flew off screaming, "Princess Rarity!"

Spike's machine tipped forward at that moment, obscuring his view of the rest of the scene, though through the corner of his eye he could still see magical winds flinging debris around.

"TWILIGHT!" Princess Rarity shouted. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"

"Sparkie?" said Rainbow Dash uncertainly.

"NOOO!" Princess Twilight screamed in reply.

"Stop! Twilight! Twilight Sparkle!" Princess Rarity boomed in the Royal Canterlot voice. "What are you doing?"

The storm stopped raging. Hooves stomped next to Spike's hiding place. Then somepony began sobbing.

"Twilight?" Spike asked.

"Oh, Sparkie," Princess Rarity said. "What happened, dear?"

Spike was lifted back into an upright position.

"The... the tests," Princess Twilight sobbed. In less than a minute, her clothes had been torn, her crown had been lost, and her hair was as wild as it was when she became anxious. "I... the spots... it was too late, Rare-rare. Ten years ago, and it was still too late." Twilight burst into a flood of tears.

"Rare-rare?" said Spike.

Rare-rare, alias Princess Rarity, pulled Princess Twilight into a hug and rubbed her hoof in circles on Twilight's back. "Oh, Sparkie. Poor, poor Sparkie."

The two remained like that for a while, with Rainbow Dash awkwardly hovering in the air besides them.

"Captain Dash?" a guard whispered, and Rainbow Dash followed him to a spot nearby, looking relieved.

"Sparkie?" Princess Rarity asked, very softly.

"Yes?"

"Do... do you think... I-I mean, is there... should we... our, err, our past selves..."

"Oh," Princess Twilight pulled away from Princess Rarity. Very calmly and slowly, like the frozen surface of a river, she said, "Yes... I... suppose there is no real reason to let our past selves remain in this time stream. So then. Next opportunity, we shall erase their memories and send them back to their own time. I still remember the spell." She trotted towards the castle, mane waving in the wind, then spread her wings and flew up to a balcony of the castle.

Hourglasses

Applejack could hear Diane Pie almost a whole minute before she was thrown in the cell with her.

"You are going to be sorry you ever messed with me! You are all going down in the most hideous way imaginable! I am obviously the real me, you idiots! You IDIOTS! Stop this moment! TWILIGHT SPARKLE! YOUR ROYAL MESSUPYNESS! DO YOU HEAR ME? STOP THIS!"

The wingless Rainbow Dash had been brought in less than ten minutes ago. She had just plopped herself on her cot, sunk her head in the pillow, and sobbed uncontrollably.

Applejack had tried to comfort her, only to have Rainbow Dash growl at her.

"Get away from me," she'd hissed. "This is all your fault! I'm the real Rainbow Dash, but no one will listen to me, and it's all your fault!" She'd clubbed Applejack over the head with her hoof.

Applejack could feel a lump forming on her head now.

She knew she couldn't be the real Rainbow Dash. The real Rainbow Dash wouldn't have let herself be seen crying, at least not in front of Applejack.

But now, Fake Rainbow Dash got off her bed and listened to the screams. She folded her legs under her body and faced the door, eyes narrowed in concentration.

The guards opened the door and crammed the shrieking pink pony in. Diane Pie flailed with all her limbs (all six of them) but ultimately was put in jail.

She scrambled to her feet and seemed about to yell something, but before she could say anything, or the guards could close the door, Rainbow Dash streaked towards the narrow opening, almost too fast to see.

Applejack threw her full weight in the path of the speeding pony, and they crashed together. The guards closed the door and ran off to Diane Pie's screams. "You'll regret this! I won't let you get away with this! I won't!"

Rainbow Dash glared at Applejack. "You sneaking little jerk!" And she bit Applejack's leg while kicking her in the stomach.

Applejack shouted and tried to pull away, but Rainbow Dash pursued her, wrapping her forelegs around her neck and trying to choke her. Applejack stumbled and fell to the floor, trying to twist her head out of the pegasus' grasp.

"You do know she's the wrong Applejack, don't you?" Diane Pie sighed.

"What do you mean, the wrong Applejack?"

Applejack's thrashing was growing weaker. She couldn't breathe.

"Just like the other Rainbow Dash was the wrong Rainbow Dash," Diane Pie said. "There's a wrong everypony. That's the wrong Applejack. She's from the past- you know, back when we were friends." She spat the word out.

Rainbow Dash let go and slunk back to her cot. Applejack gasped for air.

"You despicable creature," Rainbow Dash growled to Applejack.

"Would ya mind telling me what I did wrong before you suffocate me?" Applejack demanded.

Rainbow Dash turned to face the wall, which she stared at as intently as Diane Pie stared at the bars.

They remained that way for a long time.

"Rise and shine," Dame Fluttershy muttered.

Fluttershy rose from the bed provided, yawning. "It was a long day yesterday, wasn't it?"

"Indeed," Dame Fluttershy smiled. "It's quite shocking to meet your exact duplicate... but I'm afraid our ways must part."

"What?" said Fluttershy.

"Princess Twilight's orders," Dame Fluttershy said, flying out from the hidden house. "It's time for you to go home now."

"She can send us home?" Fluttershy said. "Oh, that would be lovely! I thought we were trapped here!"

"No such thing," Dame Fluttershy said. "No one ever remains trapped anywhere, even when they should..." she trailed off, looking to the sky.

"What?" Fluttershy said.

"Trust no prison," Dame Fluttershy said. "That's all. If you could take advice back to your world, I would tell you... don't rely on past experience."

"Oh," Fluttershy said.

There seemed nothing else to be said.

"What are we going to do about Diane Pie?" Princess Twilight asked.

Princess Rarity shrugged. "Do you think, if her memories were erased, she might be nicer...?"

"We-ellll..." Princess Twilight shrugged. The two ponies stared at each other for quite a while.

"Okay," Princess Twilight whispered. Then, louder, to the guards: "Please bring me the three prisoners from the past, and the two unicorns from the past, and Spike the dragon from the past." Then she turned to Princess Rarity again.

"It was nice, wasn't it, to remember what we once were..." Princess Rarity mused.

Princess Twilight shook her head. "Never again. I wish this second heartbreak had never happened."

"Where y'all taking us?" Applejack asked the guard as she was escorted down the hall.

"The Princess is planning to erase your memory and send you back to where you came from," the guard said.

"Now?" said Applejack. "But... but..."

"But what?"

"Can't ya just tell me what I did wrong?"

The guard pushed open the door to the throne room, where Princess Twilight Sparkle waited for them.

"You did nothing wrong," Princess Twilight said. "You were just at the wrong place in the wrong time. This isn't a punishment; just an attempt to establish equilibrium."

"I didn't mean what I did here," Applejack said, "I meant what I did wrong now. I mean, what I will do wrong. I mean, what did my future self do?"

Pain etched itself into the Princess' face. "It doesn't matter," she said softly. "Even if I told you, you would only forget in a few seconds anyway."

"Wait," said Future Rainbow Dash from behind Applejack, "You mean you're going to erase my memory?"

"Of course," said Princess Twilight. "Everypony will be sent to their correct timeline."

"But- but- but my timeline is here, Your Highness!"

"I'm not fooled by that," said Princess Twilight. "That's just the sort of trick I expect you to play, Rainbow."

"NO!" Captain Rainbow Dash screamed. "You are making a terrible mistake, Twilight! You need me, me!"

"Hey hold on," Diane Pie said, "What about me me me me me? I mean you can't seriously believe she's the correct one!" She pointed at Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie looked confused. "I think I'm... wait, hold on, do I have to stay here if you think I'm the right one?"

"Ye-es..." Princess Twilight said.

Pinkie Pie launched herself into a begging pose at Princess Twilight's feet. "Then pleasepleaseplease send me back! I'm the wrong Pinkie Pie! Send me back send me back send me baaaack!" And she started crying.

"Oh, now you want to send us back," said Rarity, who had only just arrived. "What? Don't want to milk us for any more horn power? Ready to just work the unicorns you originally had to death?"

"I can't believe this is any future version of ourselves!" Twilight Sparkle screamed. "Not unless you've all been Discorded and dyed!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" demanded Dame Fluttershy, who had just entered. "Do you think-"

"Stop," said Princess Twilight Sparkle. "Somepony is missing."

"What?" said Captain Dash.

"I count only eight ponies, one dragon, and two guards in this room. We should have eleven ponies and one dragon and two guards."

"Who's missing?" asked Princess Rarity, hovering slightly with her gorgeous wings.

Princess Twilight rubbed her hoof under her chin. "Me, and the other Twilight. You and the other Rarity. Two Pinkie Pies..."

"Diane Pies," said Diane Pie.

"One Pinkie and one Diane," Pinkie Pie said. "Now everypony's happy! Whee-hee! Happy happy..."

"Dame Fluttershy, fake Rainbow Dash, and... oh, dear."

"Guards!" Captain Rainbow Dash shouted, leaping into the air and crashing spectacularily (she'd forgotten about her missing wings). "We have some ponies to round up! Search for a pegasus masquerading as me, a pegasus that looks like Fluttershy, and the fearsome Black Jack!"

Fluttershy flew towards the mountain, beating her wings slowly. She had to take her time, or she would surely run out of breath before she even got to the mountain.

She knew she was betraying a kindness. Her mind was screaming at her to stop, fly back, let her memory be erased, and trust that her future self knew best.

But deep inside, she felt a drive to make sure, at the very least, that her future friends knew what had really happened to their beloved pets.

She somehow hadn't been able to make herself tell them. She'd been unable to get the words out and had choked on them (but very quietly, so that no one noticed). But she felt certain she could show them.

Rainbow Dash blasted through the sky at incredible speed, making no effort to pace herself. She just felt she had to get away.

She couldn't put into words what she feared. She knew she was 'abandoning' her friends, but she didn't think this counted. Now, she was flying to find help.

She didn't trust the princess Twilight Sparkle one bit, and didn't believe that all she wanted to do was uphold the timeline. Nothing but bad could come out of this enchantment.

Because somehow, somewhere along the line, Captain Rainbow Dash must have transformed from a lovable jerk to an unbearable jerk.

And she wanted to know how to stop it.

"There she is!" somepony screamed. "Quick! After her!"

Rainbow Dash glanced over her shoulder and saw some pegasus guards in pursuit. But the best they could do was keep her in sight. They couldn't catch her.

Applejack crept through the castle halls, looking nervously to each side. She wasn't much for sneaking.

It probably wasn't her business. She probably would be better off not knowing. There must be some reason why nopony would tell her the crime her future self had committed.

She needed to know.

And that was why she just couldn't stay and let herself be sent back, even though that's what she'd want eventually.

She just couldn't.

Two guards ran past a hall in front of her. She tried to duck behind a suit of armor, but knocked it over in the process. In a panic, she charged through another door, running as fast as she could.

Some guards came after her.

"Stop!" one shouted.

"Oh, sure, whatever you say," one of the guards mocked. "Yeah, right, why do you even bother?"

"Shut up," said the first guard.

Applejack turned a corner and found herself at a dead end. She couldn't even jump out a window; they were too high up. She turned back towards the door, but the guards had already blocked it.

"Ha!" called a guard as they entered the room. "We have-"

A purple glow made Applejack whirl back around. A huge, swirling, purple disk appeared on one of the windows.

Applejack didn't see what happened next. Like a badly cut video, the guards were now on the floor, bound and gagged, the purple disk had disappeared, and four new ponies had appeared in the room: three unicorns and an earth pony. Two of them looked familiar.

"Roseluck?" she asked. "Pokey Pierce?"

"No!" shouted the pony she'd thought was Pokey. Applejack hadn't thought so; he was too nicely dressed up and his eyes were too harsh.

"Please," one of the unicorns said- a white unicorn with a blond mane. The four ponies turned so that Applejack could see their cutie marks. Each and every one had an hourglass.

"We are Time Guardians," said a bluish-green unicorn with magenta eyes and mane.

"You have to come with us," said Roseluck. "It's important."

The blue unicorn who wasn't Pokey came close to Applejack. His horn glowed.

The Time Guardians and Applejack were surrounded by a purple glow. The guards froze, as if someone had hit pause.

"Follow us," the white unicorn said, and they galloped out of the building. Every guard- every pony in fact- that they passed was frozen.

Applejack glanced at a clock as she ran past. The second hand was frozen, between ticks of the clock.

Time Guardians, huh? she thought. What sort of powerful magic is this?

"Princess Twilight," Captain Rainbow Dash pleaded, "You have to give me my wings back. Only I can catch her at this point."

Princess Twilight grimaced and looked out the window. Rainbow Dash and the guards chasing her were out of sight.

"Princess," Captain Dash continued, "please. You need my-"

Princess Twilight's horn sparked, throwing pink sparks around the room.

"What?" Princess Rarity said, sounding terrified.

Princess Twilight's face collapsed in despair.

"Evidently they won't be destroyed that easily," she muttered.

She flapped her wings and launched into the air, zapping wings onto Captain Rainbow Dash as she did so.

"You will chase your past self," she told Captain Dash. "Rarity and I will get the Hunter."

...and Tricked-Out Technician

"Come with me, Twilight Sparkle," Princess Twilight Sparkle said. "You will find this interesting."

Twilight Sparkle looked at her friends for a moment, wondering if this could be a trap.

"You wanted to know about your future," the princess said. "Now you can."

Twilight gulped and followed at a trot.

The princess led her through long halls and down winding stairs, going ever lower until they reached the dungeon. Princess Twilight turned towards the obsidian statue of an alicorn built into one wall and blasted it with deep violet magic, causing a section of the wall to slide away and reveal a long hall. At the end of that was a hole in the wall.

"Be prepared to shield if need be," said Princess Twilight Sparkle, "but normally I can control him." She inserted her horn into the wall.

The cracks between the bricks glowed with dark purple energy, and then slid aside to reveal a small room. Sunlight streamed down from a hole in the ceiling, but Twilight couldn't see anything but the silouette of a sleeping pony, even though the room was as bright as day.

"Sunlight makes him sleepy when he has no life forces to attack," Princess Twilight Sparkle said. "I used to just have a hole to the outside world, but whenever the night fell and he could see the moon through the hole, he made such dreadful noises that nopony could sleep, and Canterlot thought they were being attacked by timberwolves- I suppose you could cause his unearthly cries howl-like. Understandable, considering... I mean, about the moon being... oh, never mind. I shouldn't be talking; our enemies will have had a head start by now."

The edges of the hole gleamed with dark purple magic, and it dilated and disappeared. For a moment, the room was still dark.

Then, where the pony had been, purple flames appeared. The monster unfolded itself and unfurled its wings. It was shaped like an alicorn, with a horn like a wicked spike. It was formed of purple flames that rolled across him in waves, often parting slightly to reveal the black shape underneath.

Twilight Sparkle gasped. What was this creature? She'd never read anything like this.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"A Shadowfire," Princess Twilight replied. "It has the mind of an animal, but it can be directed against certain targets." She lowered her head and walked towards it, her horn gleaming dark purple.

Twilight Sparkle wondered why, in the future, her magic suddenly changed color. Had future Twilight's aura always been that color? She couldn't remember. Perhaps the spell was just of an unusual magic, like the magic used by King Sombra, that always appeared the same color no matter who the unicorn using it was. It wouldn't suprise her if controlling these shadowy creatures required special shadowy magic.

"Lord Shadowfire, Hunter mine," Twilight Sparkle said. It was not the royal Canterlot voice, but it did echo oddly. "You remember the instructions I gave you before. Once more you will be called on to execute them. Go now, and may the power of the sun be with you."

The Shadowfire blazed even more brightly, until he was no longer alicorn shaped, but shaped like a towering inferno. Dark purple magic surrounded him, and he slid through the ceiling.

"He will find them," Princess Twilight Sparkle said, mostly to herself. "He has never failed me."

It wasn't until they had left Canterlot and began hiking through the forests that their purple auras disappeared.

"Hey, what gives?" said the bluish-green unicorn. "We're not out of the woods yet."

"We just reached the woods," said Maybe-Roseluck.

"Ha ha ha," said the bluish-green unicorn. "But we need more protection!"

"What do you want from me?" Not-Pokey snapped, jerking his head towards her. "You can't expect me to freeze time for hours, and recharge enough to create a portal home! Why oh why oh why did they only send one True Time Guardian on this mission?"

"Are you complaining about their management?" the bluish-green unicorn said, looking offended.

"Yes!" said Not-Pokey.

"Maybe you can't handle it on your own," the pony with the rose-colored mane said, "but really, you have no right to complain. When you do have another True Time Guardian, you complain they get in your way."

"I do not, Roseluck!" Not-Pokey snapped.

Roseluck and the bluish green pony gasped.

"You're not supposed to tell her my name!" Roseluck whispered loudly.

"Well why does it matter?" Not-Pokey demanded. "We're just going to-"

"Hush!" the bluish-green pony snapped.

The white and blond unicorn walked up to Applejack in the meanwhile. "It must have been scary, being arrested for something you didn't do," she said. "But you're a very brave pony." She hummed. "Honorable, too."

Applejack stared at her. "How do you know about me?"

"Oh," she said, smiling and tossing her mane, "of course I know about you. You are one of the bearers of the elements of harmony, after all." She lowered her head, and her mane fell back in front of one eye. "Honesty. So simple in concept, and yet so hard to find in anypony." She looked sadly at the pony who wasn't Pokey and sighed.

"I say we should have fetched the remaining ponies while we were there," the bluish-green pony said. "This way we'll waste energy."

"Like you care about my energy," Not-Pokey said, rolling his eyes. "I could not sustain it any longer. There was some force resisting me and we've only just got away from it. I vote we don't go back until we've found some unicorns."

"Like they'd help you break into the castle," said the bluish-green pony.

"I wasn't going to ask!"

"Hush!" Roseluck cried, probably noticing Applejack's shocked expression.

Applejack was beginning to wish she hadn't just run off with some strange ponies. She sighed and stared at the sky.

Well, Lord, she prayed, Ah know you have a reason for everything and all that. But please bless the others, and help us all to get home where we belong. Ah'm sorry Ah tried to run away; just, please, send help. Ah feel so alone.

At that instant, something flew across the sky. It had gone by pretty fast, but it had looked like a shiny silver pegasus.

"What was that?" the white unicorn asked next to her.

"What was what?" said Not-Pokey and Roseluck in unision.

The metallic pegasus flew across the sky again, and this time took its time hovering overhead before beginning slow circles.

"I don't know!" Not-Pokey said. "I may be the senior Time Guardian, but I've never traveled to this timeline before, so stop expecting me to be the expert on everything!"

The white unicorn looked shocked, and Not-Pokey shook his head. "I-I'm sorry, I'm just on edge. I shouldn't have said that, my dear."

"Er," Roseluck said, "It's coming down here."

The metallic pony dove in front of them, righting itself and slowing down to touch the earth, standing on all fours. It was not a pegasus; it was an earth pony made of metal plates. Instead of eyes, it had green glass with a light bulb behind them. These pulsed and glowed brighter.

Roseluck slowly stepped forward. "Who- or what- are you?"

The light pulsed and changed to blue.

The three unicorns twitched.

"Scatter!" Not-Pokey shouted.

In a flash, the Time Guardians lept away, leaving Applejack wondering for a fraction of a second what had just happened, before blue lasers hit the trees on either side of her. She shouted and took off through some bushes.

"Target detected!" she heard the robot pony scream in a high-pitched, broken, metalic voice. "Target detected!"

Rainbow Dash was feeling pretty confident. The other pegasi were flying abnormally fast. She wondered if any of them had been former Wonderbolts. But she had a head start and was flying at the top of her game.

Then, with a blast of colors, a blur streaked past her, leaving a rainbow behind it.

"Hey," said Captain Rainbow Dash, stopping in front of her.

Rainbow Dash gasped and climbed higher into the sky, flying over the Captain's head.

"You think you're smart," Captain Rainbow Dash said. "Redtail, Goldy, Soarin', Sunshine Skies! Formation 12!"

Rainbow Dash wished she knew what that was. She tried banking to the right into a mass of clouds, cutting through them with her nose first and using her hooves to push the clouds behind her, hoping to create a barrier for any pegasus silly enough to fly with their hooves in front. She dipped shallowly and spun further to the right, wheeling around and zooming above and to the side of her pursuers.

Two pegasi continued for the cloud bank, but none of them flew hooves first and were hardly hindered by the clouds. The other three, including Captain Dash, did a half-front-flip to reverse direction and continue after her. They flew with one above, one below, and one to the side of Rainbow Dash's current path.

Rainbow Dash poured on the speed as best as she could, but the Captain was quickly gaining on her. She flew in weaving pattens, swooping and rolling in random directions, hoping to confuse Captain Rainbow and the other pegasi. They did get confused, even the Captain- even though they thought the same way, she couldn't predict what random moves Rainbow Dash would make. But they recovered from their confusion quickly.

Rainbow Dash realized she was fighting a losing battle. All they had to do was stay on her tail until she got tired. She would have to constantly come up with new ways to keep them away from her until all five of them got tired.

She growled under her breath. She would have to do something desperate. She couldn't lose them in cloud cover- flying nose first all the time would decrease her speed, and no cloud bank was big enough to hide her long enough. She would try the forest below. It would take a skilled pegasus to weave through those trees are top speed without breaking their necks.

Rainbow Dash was sure she could do it.

But then, the Captain probably could too.

She dove in among the trees anyway, weaving through trunks by instinct, since conscious thought would have taken too long for the speed she was going at. She couldn't look back, so she couldn't tell who was following her. For all she knew, she'd lost them long ago.

She rose back above the trees and scanned for the other ponies.

That was a mistake. Captain Dash whirled through the sky and headed right for her.

Rainbow Dash shouted and propelled herself up in the air, higher and higher. And then a cloud blocked her path.

Rainbow Dash and the Captain were going too fast to stop and both smacked into the cloud, but instead of sailing through it, the cloud stuck. With their wings too gummed up to fly, the two pegasi began their fall to earth.

"No!" Captain Dash shouted. "It can't be!"

It was a cotton candy cloud.

The ponies raced through the forest, each in different directions.

Not-Pokey had gone with the white unicorn. Roseluck had gone with the bluish-green pony.

Applejack ran alone, her hooves tearing up the ground as she sped with all her might through the forest, afraid some strange metal creature was coming after her with a laser.

The metal pony flew through the forest, skimming the ground. Two other metal ponies dove from the sky and flew next to her in point formation.

"Prime Enemy detected?" asked one of them, its eyes flickering as it spoke.

The metal pony in the middle nodded. "Affirmative. Exterminate!"

The two new metal ponies broke formation and spun through the air to one side while the first one kicked off a tree and flew at an angle to her original trajectory.

The bluish-green unicorn saw the metal pony come at her and screamed, pouring on the speed. She ducked as lasers flew at her.

"Targetting," the metal pony hummed to itself.

And with another blast, the bluish green unicorn ceased running and fell to the ground.

"One down," the metal pony hummed, looping into a U-turn.

Roseluck plunged out of the trees towards the bluish green unicorn. "Oh, Bright Eyes! Don't... you're..." Roseluck burst into tears.

From the cliff she stood on, Applejack could just make out Bright Eyes' magenta eyes, staring blankly.

She'd just seen murder.

The thought froze her in place. For a pony to murder another was practically unheard of, and now it had happened right before her eyes...

A scream brought Applejack back to reality, and she whirled towards the sound and charged, head down.

The white unicorn was crouched under a rock. Two metal ponies desceneded towards her.

In a flash, a white translucent shield surrounded the two metal ponies. While they hammered away, the unicorn dashed from her hiding place, her horn glowing white.

The first metal pony slammed into the unicorn, knocking her to the earth.

"Two down," the metal pony said, aiming its hoof.

Applejack plowed into the metal pony. Not really very bright, she realized, as all that happened was the metal pony stumbled off the unicorn, while she had a massive headache.

The unicorn scrambled to her feet and started back.

"Stay where you are," said the metal pony, aiming its hoof at her.

Applejack didn't think. She just slid between the two ponies.

Pause. "Out of my way," said the metal pony.

"Nothin' doing," said Applejack.

Another pause.

He doesn't want to shoot me, Applejack realized.

"You don't know who she is," said the metal pony. "You should not try to save those you know nothing about."

Applejack walked toward the metal pony. "Ah know her a heck lot more than Ah know you, you strange... freak." It was the worst insult she could think of.

The metal pony hummed.

Steam poured out of the sides of the metal pony's neck as the head lifted up on metal rods.

No, Applejack realized, not the head.

A mask.

The full head mask lifted up to reveal a flesh pony's head. Her eyes were smaller, her mane shorted, and the bow was gone, but there was no mistaking that pony.

"Apple Bloom?" Applejack said, reeling back.

"Applejack," said Apple Bloom, reaching for her older sister. Applejack flinched as the cold metal hoof touched her shoulder.

"Applejack," Apple Bloom repeated, "soon as we heard from our double agent in Canterlot that you somehow ended up in the clutches of those cruel princesses, Ah was sent here to fetch you. Come with me quickly."

Applejack just stared.

"Ah don't know you," she said.

"Applejack," said Apple Bloom, scowling. "Yer jist fussin'. You don' know what yer saying."

"You... murderer."

Apple Bloom drew back in alarm. "Applejack. I reckon you don' know anything about these times, but all's fair in love an' war, sister."

"They aren't makin' war!" Applejack shouted. "They's jist tryin' to be helpful, that's all!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Apple Bloom. "What d'you know about these Time Guardians, anyways?"

"They... they's helpin' me and my friends get home, an'..."

"Uh huh," said Apple Bloom.

She turned and seized the pony who wasn't Pokey Pierce and pointed her metal hoof at his throat. "Tell my sister the truth. Were you or were you not plannin' to wipe her memory soon as you got her to her own timeline?"

The blue unicorn stammered, "I don't make these plans, I really can't-"

"Liar!" Apple Bloom shouted, shaking the unicorn. "You don't deserve to live, you scumball!"

"Yes!" the white unicorn shrieked.

Everypony turned to stare at her.

"Yes, that's what we do, we go around erasing memories and kidnapping ponies and putting them other places in an attempt to preserve continuity or whatever that means, but apparently it's important for some reason!" The white unicorn started crying.

Nopony spoke for a moment. Then Apple Bloom turned back to Applejack.

"Come with me," she said.

Applejack lowered her head and glared at Apple Bloom.

"Only if you leave these ponies alone," she said. "Ah don't care what you say they've done, where there's life there's hope. Let them go."

Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes. "Ah'm gonna regret this." She turned away from Applejack. "Get up on my back. It'll be faster if we fly."

The helmet lowered back onto Apple Bloom's head, making her appear as a robot again.

Applejack hesitated, then swung herself onto her sister's back. It was cold and hard to sit on.

The other two metal ponies joined Apple Bloom, and they launched into the sky in a point formation, with Apple Bloom leading. Applejack took one last look at the Time Guardians before the trees blocked them from view.

And then she was high in the sky.

A New Friend

Fluttershy slowly dragged herself up the mountain. It felt like her legs were screaming at her to stop, but she made herself keep going.

It was only then that she realized she didn't remember which rock Dame Fluttershy's home was behind.

In fact, for all she knew, she passed it ten minutes ago.

She collapsed in despair, which had the added bonus of giving herself a rest while she moped.

After she got her breath back, she closed her eyes and tried to picture the rock Dame Fluttershy had gone to. Then she remembered that Dame Fluttershy had sung some kind of song to move the rock, and she couldn't remember the song either.

Tears leaked out of Fluttershy's eyes. She was hot and tired, and she had failed to help her friends.

And she was betraying her future self.

She rested her head in her hooves.

A soft paw brushed against her cheek. She lifted her head.

"Angel?" she asked. "What are you doing out here?"

The rabbit shook his head and hopped a distance away. Then he turned to Fluttershy and motioned for her to follow.

Angel led Fluttershy off the path, among more rocks and then a group of bushes. Under one bush lay a small bundle. A note was pinned to the blanket. It read "Care for her like she was your own. Maybe someday she will be."

Fluttershy gasped at the long white ears poking out of the heap of blankets. "Oh, Angel..." She reached in and gently pulled out a soft, warm... baby pony.

"Ohhhhh!" Fluttershy breathed, looking the sweet white filly over. It had lavender hair with pale yellow streaks and a shiny white horn. "Ohh, Angel! Where... how..."

The filly opened its eyes and blinked, a little confused. Fluttershy shifted to sit on her hindquarters and rocked the baby pony back and forth.

"Ohhh," said Fluttershy. "You are so sweet!"

Then reality hit her like a train.

"Angel...?" she said. "Where did you find this...?"

Angel sighed and kicked the ground with frustration. Then, to Fluttershy's surprise, he pulled a pencil from the bush and wrote at the bottom of the note:

"Her parents can't keep her anymore. They would give her to Dame Fluttershy, but I don't trust her. Please take her."

"I... you... you can write... Angel?"

Angel sighed heavily.

"How long could you do that? We could have communicated so much better! Oh, Angel..."

Angel kicked Fluttershy in the leg and pointed to the pony in Fluttershy's arms.

"Oh, right, about her..."

Fluttershy looked at the filly, who had gone back to sleep, smiling slightly.

"O...Okay," she said to Angel. "If you're sure about her parents..."

Angel nodded, then shooed Fluttershy off.

"No, Angel. I always thought you were special, but where did you learn to write?"

Angel screamed in response, then started writhing on the ground as though in pain.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Fluttershy looked him over. "What's wrong?"

Angel wrote at the bottom of the note, "Forget the writing already! Get going before we're caught!"

"Oh, Angel..."

Angel kicked her in the leg again.

"Ow. Fine, then. But I will have a long talk with your past self!"

Fluttershy took off, holding the filly in her arms. She smiled at the little creature.

As sweet as it was, she had no idea what to do with it. She'd never taken care of a baby pony before.

Fluttershy then became aware of several crosshairs focused on her body.

"TARGET DETECTED!"

Both Rainbows crashed in a field somewhere.

Rainbow Dash tried to leap back up, but she was stuck to the grass. The cotton candy kept her glued to the ground, and kept one of her wings glued to Captain Dash's wing.

Captain Dash screamed with frustration. "It's cotton candy! How strong is it supposed to be?"

"Captain?" Rainbow Dash said. "No need to scream. The other pony soldiers will probably be here in a second to arrest me and take you back. It'll be fine by your standards."

"No!" Captain Dash screamed. "It is not fine! Discord has returned, and Sparkie will be too busy crying to do anything about him!"

"Crying?"

"Oh, I don't know, she'll probably do something, but she needs me! I'm the element of Loyalty, and we might be able to make it work with... five out of six." Captain Dash shook herself. "No, what am I saying? We have the element of Honesty- from the past! We need Applejack back!"

"Um..." said Rainbow Dash.

"You don't get it, do you?" said Captain Dash. "This is Discord we're talking about! He will destroy all of Equestria if we don't stop him! I need to catch Applejack- not to put her in jail, but to save everypony! And since we're stuck together, I need your participation! I need you to fly with me! I need you to help me!"

Rainbow Dash glared at Captain Dash. "How do I know that you didn't just get a unicorn to conjure up this cloud to get me to help you?"

"Do you think I would really glue my own wings to yours just to get your cooperation when I could easily have caught you as it was?"

"Do you think Discord would actually return now of all times?"

"I don't have time to talk about this!"

"You'd better find time, Captain, cuz I'm not going anywhere." Rainbow Dash lay down.

Captain Dash rolled her eyes with frustration. "Okay, to be honest, I don't know why Discord would come back now, either. Actually..." Captain Dash leaned over to Rainbow Dash, as if to whisper a secret. "Actually, last we heard of Discord, his statue had turned into powder."

"Really?" said Rainbow Dash. "How?"

"Pinkie Pie smashed it with a sledgehammer, I think."

"What? Why?"

"She said that we couldn't risk Discord returning again."

"Seems deep for Pinkie."

"That's what we all said. But Twilight cried about it for almost a whole day."

"Crying? Why?"

"She didn't explain. She just said something like 'time is cruel, and there is nothing we can do about it.' But the point is, he's back, and he's going to be madder than ever. He won't play games with us this time: he'll go for the kill. So that's why I need you, Dashie. Please. For Equestria."

Captain Dash threw herself at Rainbow Dash's feet (twisting both of their wings in awkward positions in the process) and looked up, her eyes pleading.

Rainbow Dash sighed heavily.

"Okay," she said. "Let's go find Applejack."

Using one wing each, the pegasai took to the air.

"That's them," said Captain Dash.

"Huh?" said Rainbow Dash. "Those gray pegasus? ...yeah, I can see an orange dot there..."

"Sorry," said Captain Dash. "I forgot you wouldn't have VisEn."

"I do too have vision!"

"No, VisEn. It stands for Visual Enhancer. Um, shortly after I was appointed in charge of the millitary, I got my own personal unicorn to design spells to maximize my abilities."

"Your own personal unicorn?"

"Lilac Blue. Very bright."

"You've been using spells to improve your abilities?"

"Hey, now that I'm Equestria's number one protector, I have a responsibility here."

"Oh, gee, no wonder you're testy."

"I have responsibilities. Ones that transcend my social life! Okay?"

"Okay, sure, whatever. But who are the gray pegasi?"

"Oh, yeah. Thanks a lot, you made me forget them. Actually, they aren't pegasi. They're the Iron Clad Crusaders."

"The Iron Clad-" Rainbow Dash began laughing hysterically.

"Not funny. They're ponies in metal suits. Their job is to protect Applejack. They are ruthless ponies who shoot intruders first and ask questions later. We need to use caution. Flap a little faster, will you?"

"What?" said Rainbow Dash. "You suggesting this is the best I can do?"

"Is it? Come on, Rainbow Dash, show me what you're made of! Show me what you can accomplish without magic, if you feel so strongly about it!"

They streaked across the sky.

Applejack and the Doctor

"TARGET DETECTED!"

"Stop!" shouted Applejack

Fluttershy screamed.

"Stop," said one metal pony, flying between Apple Bloom and Fluttershy. "That's a baby pony she's carrying."

Apple Bloom muttered something unintelligable.

"That's not your Fluttershy! That's my Fluttershy!" said Applejack. "Ah mean, she came with me!"

"How do we know?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Aw, hay, just look at her."

Fluttershy was a quivering wreck, barely keeping herself in the air and closing her eyes.

"Point taken," said Apple Bloom. "Fluttershy, come with us."

"They're takin' us to Applejack," said Applejack. "Ah mean, you know, my future self."

Fluttershy opened one eye and looked at Applejack. "Okay."

"Now, where'd that little cutie come from?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, her," said Fluttershy. "Um. It's kind of a long story, but you can trust me, all right?"

"Sure," said Applejack. "Tell us on the way."

Behind them, in the far distance, flew two purple ponies.

Princess Twilight Sparkle glided through the air. Whether rising, diving, or turning, she never so much as twitched her wings. She held them straight in the air, firm as rock.

She glided, motionless as a statue, to face the other alicorn, the Hunter. The purple flaming pony turned to face her. Despite being in air, neither moved.

Then, Princess Twilight nodded at him, and moved on, alighting on a mountaintop. The Hunter had told her that she would find Fluttershy here, or at least, that she had been here. She strode regally up the mountain path, her horn glowing.

"Fluttershy," she whispered. "Come out, Flutter-"

A brown owl whipped past, followed by a yellow pegasus. As Princess Twilight watched, Dame Fluttershy pinned the owl to the ground. Her eyes were red and blooshot, and her mane was ragged.

"You... you..." Dame Fluttershy growled. Her eyes opened wide, and she Stared into the owl's eyes.

"Die," she snarled. "Now. Die! Die!"

The two kept their eyes locked together, neither blinking.

"Fluttershy," said Princess Twilight. Her voice was loaded with disappointment.

Fluttershy gave a little shriek. In that instant, the owl broke free from her grasp and flew off into the forest.

"T-twilight," she stammered. "It... I mean... he... this isn't..."

"Was that Owlicious?" Princess Twilight asked.

Fluttershy started crying. "Yes. B-b-but..."

"You were trying to kill him," said Princess Twilight. It wasn't a question. "Do you deny it?"

"N-no," Dame Fluttershy said. "B-but..."

"He is an animal. Fluttershy, you just tried to kill an animal, of all creatures."

"No! I-I mean, Twilight, it wasn't like that!"

"How was it not like that?"

Dame Fluttershy gulped. "Um. Um. Um. He started it."

"The owl started it."

"Um. Yes."

"He tried to kill you?"

"No!"

"Obviously. That would be laughable, and Owlicious is a smart owl." Princess Twilight took a step closer to Fluttershy. "Rainbow, or Diane, I would have understood. But I thought you... you... I thought that, without Kindness, you would be nothing. It seems I was wrong."

Fluttershy gasped. "No! No, Twilight, it isn't like that! I'm still true to my element!"

"Maybe," said Princess Twilight solemnly. "Maybe not. The fact of the matter is, I can't take time to ascertain that now. I have Time Guardians to take care of. But you will get a trial. That I promise."

Fluttershy sighed, relaxed. She smiled and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Until then," said Princess Twilight, turning away, "let the prophecy be fulfilled."

A spray of magenta magic arced back over Princess Twilight's head, striking Dame Fluttershy.

Princess Twilight waited until the screaming stopped to turn around. Why, she wondered, couldn't ponies who were being turned to stone choose some natural pose? Did they really need to contort themselves in some hideous posture and remind the caster what she had done?

Princess Twilight took a step closer and touched the stone Dame Fluttershy on the cheek, her face frozen mid-scream. She looked frighteningly like Discord.

She remembered an offhand comment Rainbow Dash had made about a year ago, that if Fluttershy became comparable in any way to Discord, the world must be coming to an end. It had been funny at the time.

Princess Twilight sighed.

"You will get your trial as soon as this is over," she told the statue. "I promised."

She raised her head and glared into the bright sun. She screamed at the sun, "And I always keep my promises!"

"Here we are," Apple Bloom said.

A bright, cheery sign stood before them. It was covered with apples and leaves and vines and hearts, many of which seemed to have been painted by little foals. The letters announced that this was "Sweet Apple Homes", and below, in smaller letters, the sign said: "Shelter for the homeless, safety for the lost, rest for the weary. Welcome home."

Apple Bloom pushed her hoof against a knothole in the sign's post. A keypad popped out of the hole, and she pressed a few buttons.

"Jist disabling the defense mechanisms," she said. "Come on, everypony."

The three metal ponies, Applejack, and Fluttershy started off.

They passed brightly painted houses with little foals playing on the porches. Two pegasus filles flew past them chasing a looly hoop. There were a few older ponies, but most of the ones they saw were young.

Fluttershy was still carrying the baby pony in her arms and flew beside them. Her wings were starting to ache.

Apple Bloom headed for a house painted barn red and rapped on the door with a metal hoof. "AJ? You in there? I found her! Applejack!"

The door opened, and an older version of Applejack stepped out. Her cowboy hat was gone, and her hair hung in a loose braid. She looked very tired, and when she smiled, the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Well, howdy do," she said, her accent somewhat faint. "Oh, my gosh, you look so young. So many memories..."

She stepped out of the door a bit, and Applejack saw that the back legs of her future self were encased in metal.

The future Applejack noticed Applejack staring at her legs, and sighed. "Nothing you need to worry your head about, sugarcube. Just don't worry your head about it. Come on in, darling."

Applejack trotted into a nice little kitchen that reminded her of her own home at Sweet Apple Acres. Same style, anyway. A black pegasus colt was sitting at the table coloring a picture.

"Shadow," said Applejack. "Run along and clean out the guest rooms."

"Okay Mom." Shadow dashed out of the room.

"Did... did he just call you..." Past Applejack stammered.

Before Future Applejack could answer, the pony Fluttershy was carrying started crying.

"Awww," cooed Future Applejack. "Where'd you ever pick up such a special critter? Apple Bloom! You didn't say nuthin' 'bout a newborn filly!"

Apple Bloom had taken off her helmet. "Gosh, awful sorry, Applejack. Guess it just slipped my mind."

"Oh, yes," said Future Applejack to her past self. "Ah forgot: while you and me are both here, just call me Aunt Jackie, like the kids do, and we'll jist call you Applejack like yer used to. Simpler that way."

Past Applejack nodded. "Alright, works for me."

"So," Aunt Jackie said, "Let's get us some formula for you, cutie pie." She rummaged around in a nearby cabinet and pulled out a bottle. "Jist have to heat this up... we keep it ready, since we take in so many little ponies... what's her name?"

"Her?" said Fluttershy. "Oh... oh my, I don't know if she has one. Angel didn't say..."

"Did ya expect him to?" said Applejack.

"Um, well, it's complicated," said Fluttershy.

"Well, is she yours?" Aunt Jackie asked.

"Um..." Fluttershy stared at the little filly. She took a deep breath. "Yes. She's mine. She's my child."

"Well, then, I figure you're as good a pony as ever to give her a name," said Aunt Jackie. "What d'you reckon she'll become?"

"Well..." Fluttershy held the baby pony up to the light. She examined her lavender and yellow mane, her long ears, and her shiny horn. "I... I've never named a pony before... or even thought about it much, to be honest..."

"S'no different from naming critters," said Applejack.

"Yes it is," said Fluttershy. "Gee, I-I really am not sure where to start..."

"Any personality traits you notice?" said Aunt Jackie.

"Oh, well... she sleeps pretty soundly, I guess. And even when she was awake, she hardly fussed..."

"Don' expect that pattern to hold, sister!" Apple Bloom shouted.

"But she was awfully quiet," said Fluttershy. "And calm, even when in the air... I think... I think I'll call her... Serenity."

And thus the naming was complete.

After Serenity had been given formula and a place to sleep, Fluttershy stayed to watch her new daughter, while Applejack and Aunt Jackie met on the porch of Aunt Jackie's house. They watched the little ponies play outside for a while.

"What's with all the youngsters?" Applejack asked a bit tentatively. "Ah mean... there are so many, an' not so many adults..."

Aunt Jackie hesistated. "Ya sure you want to know, Applejack?"

Applejack turned away. "What... all right, Ah watched your little sister brutally murder a pony right in front o' me. Ah think Ah can handle the details."

"Oh, nothin' involving death- Princess Twilight jist arrestin' adults left, right, and center, and the services for their kids ain't up to snuff. Plus every unicorn she can get her hooves on is forced to fuel her crazy schemes, so many ponies sent their horned foals here... to keep 'em safe." Aunt Jackie sighed. "But no, most of them have parents who are still alive. Not even Twilight is that cruel..."

"So why are you?" Applejack demanded.

"What?"

"You can't tell me that you don' know what Apple Bloom has been doing."

Applejack sighed. "You don' get it, do you? You live in this sweet, innocent world... hang on a tick, how old are you?"

"Twilight said Ah was from ten years ago, Ah figure," said Applejack.

Aunt Jackie stared into space a moment, probably calculating in her head. "That's so close... so close... tell me, Applejack, you know a stallion named Doctor Whooves?"

Applejack blinked. "Huh... Ah don' recall anypony with that there name..."

"What about Time Turner?"

"Nope."

"Brown stallion, darker brown spiky mane, hourglass cutie mark?"

Applejack frowned with concentration. "Eh... Ah got nothin'."

"Good. Hope it'll stay that way."

"Why? What'd he do?"

"Ah don' wanna scare you. Jist listen: when you meet him, he'll seem all nice and friendly, but avoid him like the plague. Don' make friends with him, don' let your other friends grow close to him, don' offer to help him, don' pity him, don' listen to him when he talks about the world apocalypse or a temporal paradox or anythin' like that, and, even if you fail all these other instructions, whatever you do, don't, under any circumstances, never ever ever go 'travelling' with him, and don' let anypony else either! Ah would tell you to shoot him on sight, but Ah figure you wouldn't listen to me."

Applejack stared at her future self. "What... the... hay?"

"Time Guardians," Aunt Jackie growled. "They may say they're tryin' to save the world or some such, but all they care about is how they can use you as a pawn in their strange mind games... for an end Ah don' care to think about. This..." she waved her hoof at the sky. "This here world, our future... the reason this is all here... why it all went downhill... It's all the Doctor's fault. Ah can' explain why so easy... too complicated. But he's the reason my friends all fell aside... the reason why the princesses fell... the reason why the elements of harmony are all dyin'. Ah don' know if our world can be salvaged, but if you could only carry one piece of advice from here back home, Ah'd tell you to remember this..." She took Applejack's hooves in her own. "The Doctor is your enemy. That's what you need to know."

Spoonful of Sugar

The two Rarites, the two Pinkie Pies, and Spike remained in the throne room.

"Can I leave?" Diane Pie asked. "I have... a life."

"Hmm," said Princess Rarity. "I don't know... what's the rush, at any rate? Your show is over."

"I have to... do stuff, ya know?" said Diane Pie.

Princess Rarity raised an eyebrow. "'Stuff'? You have to do 'stuff'? Really, darling? Isn't that some sort of... code word?"

Diane Pie half-growled, half-shrieked. "Okay! I have to take my absolutely necessary life-saving medicine and you're keeping me from it! Let me through!"

"No, Diane!" said Princess Rarity. "I won't let you! Ever since you started taking that... foul concoction, you haven't been the same! I've had enough! Your past self reminded me how much fun you used to be, how light-hearted and kind, and I. Want. You. Back." She lowered her head and glared at Diane Pie.

Diane Pie lowered her head and glared right back. "If you don't let me take my medicine, Equestria will perish in fire and brimstone!" she declared.

After a pause, Princess Rarity said, "I think I'm willing to take that chance."

Diane Pie screamed, and all the stained glass windows in the throne room shattered. All the tapestries burst into flame. Thorny black plants broke through the floor tiles.

"O-Okay!" said Princess Rarity, starting back. "Calm down, Diane! Please!"

"I'm not fine!" Diane Pie shouted. "Nothing is fine!"

The sun went out.

Nopony could see anything and there was general panic, but Pinkie Pie could still tell where Diane Pie was. So, unfazed, she trotted after her future self. Diane Pie was obviously trying to be quiet.

After they'd left the castle, the sun came back on, but by then there were no guards to see them. Diane Pie broke into a full gallop, not that this hindered Pinkie Pie in the slightest. Once Pinkie Pie set her sights on following a pony, she always caught it. She initiated 'Pursuit' and made it to Diane Pie's house before she did.

Diane Pie pulled open the medicine cabinet and took out a black bottle. It looked frighteningly familiar to Pinkie Pie. She could just make out the label: Doctor Diabo Losexma China's Depressant and Suppressant.

"What do you think you're doing?" Pinkie cried, leaping from behind the sofa.

Diane Pie jumped. "I... it's... it's my medicine," she said lamely.

"What are you doing with that black garbage? Don't you remember what happened to you last time? Do you want to go back to those horrible days on the rock farm? What would your parents say if they-"

"My parents?" said Diane Pie. "Don't talk to me about parents! My parents are the reason this whole mess got started! You know why? Because they decided they wanted a kid, that's why! Never mind what I thought about the matter! This! Is! Their! Stupid! Fault!" She punctuated the last sentence by smashing the black bottle against the wall, which then regrew in time for her to smash it again.

Pinkie Pie stared at her for a moment. "How much?"

"I'm up to half a glass," said Diane Pie.

"Wha-at? How can you live like this? Don't you remember how things used to be? Don't you want to smile again?"

Diane Pie turned away and started pouring the thick, black, syrupy liquid into a small glass. She didn't answer the question until she'd licked the glass clean. Then she put the bottle back and collapsed on a nearby couch.

"You think everything's just wonderful, don't you?" she said. "Your world is happy and bright and cheery. Never a bad day... at least nothing permanently horrible... you just go on your merry way, smiling and laughing, poking holes in the fabric of reality like there's no tomorrow. Wait until you grow up and things start falling through those holes. And are lost forever. Then you'll understand." Tears appeared in Diane Pie's eyes. "That's why... I have... to do this. That's why... I live like this." She started crying in earnest. "I hate my life. I hate it, hate it, hate it. And I can't fix it... I can't escape... that black stuff digs me into a deeper hole of depression every day, but I need it. It keeps me sane. It stops me from plunging off a cliff into madness and dragging the whole planet with me. I hate it. But I need it..." she turned aside and mashed her face into the arm of the couch, sobbing.

Pinkie Pie hesitated, then reached out a hoof and rubbed her future self's shoulder. There seemed to be nothing to say at that moment.

Diane Pie seized both of Pinkie Pie's hooves. "Pinkie... if I had to... tell you one thing, to try and fix your timeline..." She brushed a few tears from her eyes. "Don't ever grow up. Stay your young, perky, fun-loving juvenile self forever. Stay a child. Whatever you do... don't ever grow up." She pulled Pinkie Pie into a hug.

"Aw..." said Pinkie Pie. "I'm sorry I made such a fuss..."

"It's okay..." said Diane Pie. "You didn't understand..." she paused. "Would you like... to see... what happened?"

"O-Okay," said Pinkie Pie.

"Go ahead," said Diane Pie, bowing her head. "I'm ready."

They paused for a moment.

"You may begin," said Diane Pie.

"Begin what?" said Pinkie Pie.

Diane lifted her head and blinked. "Don't you know how to 'Initiate and Enter Flashback'?"

"Noooo!"

"Didn't Starswirl teach you?"

"Nope!"

"Oh, well..." Diane Pie leapt off the couch. "But that's terribly important! You need to know how to 'Initiate and Enter Flashback'! Here, I'll show you!"

Pinkie Pie smiled. "Okie Dokie Lokie!"

Loyalty and Serenity

The only remaining ponies were the two Rarities.

And Spike.

Spike was lying on the floor, very still.

"Spikey?" said non-Princess Rarity. "Something wrong?"

Spike just moaned.

Non-Princess Rarity rolled Spike on his back and gasped. A patch of scales on Spike's chest had turned gray.

"What?" said Princess Rarity. "How can this be? I thought you were from ten years ago!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" said non-Princess Rarity.

"Spike- our Spike- didn't start turning gray until a year ago! Why is your Spike doing it so fast?"

There was a pause.

"Maybe it's something in the future air," said non-Princess Rarity.

"Maybe... maybe Spike wasn't born with it after all!" said Princess Rarity excitedly. "I can't wait to tell... oh... where is Twilight?"

With a snap and a flash of light, the cotton candy cloud vanished.

The two Rainbow Dashes pulled away from each other and righted themselves quickly.

"Captain," said Princess Twilight Sparkle.

"Oh, Princess, um..."

"Does this mean you've captured Rainbow Dash, or has Rainbow Dash captured you?"

"Er, both, um, actually, we were just chasing down Applejack to try and stop Discord because, uh, cotton candy, you know..."

"I'm not in a believing mood right now, Captain Dash, so I suggest you do something to show me your loyalty. I've already had to deal with Fluttershy..."

"Fluttershy?" said Captain Dash. "You... Twilight, you didn't..."

"Where's Applejack?" said Princess Twilight.

"I-I don't know, we lost the crusader we were following..."

"Don't tell me you don't know," said Princess Twilight Sparkle. "I know what you've been doing. I've seen you leave on those secret visits. I hoped I could trust you, but apparently Loyalty is failing... and you know about failure... Honesty will twist and warp, and it has. Kindness will seal herself in stone, and she has."

"Sparkie?" said Captain Dash.

"Do you know what Loyalty's betrayal will end in?" said Princess Twilight.

"No!" Captain Dash shouted. "Look, maybe I helped Applejack a bit, but I'm only loyal to you!"

"Oh?" said Princess Twilight.

"Hey!" said Rainbow Dash. "Who do you think you are, Miss Princess?" She flew up to Princess Twilight and poked her in the chest. "I don't care if you are the ruler of Equestria, Rainbow Dash has more than one friend! How can you make her choose between them like this?"

"Dash," said Captain Dash, "Please stay out of this..."

"Applejack is a criminal," said Princess Twilight.

"What was her crime?" said Past Rainbow Dash.

"Defaming royalty and-"

"You mean telling you and everypony else that you're a stuck up selfish manipulative jerk?" Rainbow Dash demanded. "Well, duh! That's not Applejack betraying her element! That's just Honesty's job, you blind old bat!"

"Rainbow Dash!" said Princess Twilight Sparkle, her horn glowing magenta. "Silence!"

And though Past Rainbow Dash's mouth kept moving, no sound came out.

"Captain," said Princess Twilight Sparkle, brushing the angry Past Rainbow Dash aside, "tell me once more: are you Loyalty?"

Captain Dash glanced at the ground for a moment, then raised her eyes with a bold look. "I will never betray you, Twilight Sparkle. Never. Never! Never!"

"Good," said Princess Twilight. "Now, let us recapture Applejack once and for all, shall we? Your soldiers are waiting for you."

Captain Dash looked over Princess Twilight's shoulder at the approaching pegasi. Scootaloo was leading them.

She took a few deep breaths. "Okay. Okay. All right! Let's do this!" and she zoomed off. The pegasi followed her in formation, and Princess Twilight majestically brought up the rear.

Reluctantly, Rainbow Dash followed... just to watch.

Fluttershy sat on a porch swing with Serenity in her arms, feeding her formula. Serenity hiccupped, and Fluttershy giggled.

"Such a special feeling," Aunt Jackie sighed. "Ah'm so glad she found you, Fluttershy."

"I'm so glad I found her," said Fluttershy. "I never really... well, of course I thought about being a mother before. It's hard not to think about it. But I never thought..." she sighed blissfully. "You are so sweet, Serenity..."

"Ah know how you feel," said Aunt Jackie. "Ah'd dreamed of being a mother, but Ah never thought Ah'd become mother to dozens of foals without their parents around. But now here they all are..." Aunt Jackie waved her hoof towards some fillies having a picnic. "Each of 'em oh so special, all of 'em needing my help. Each of 'em so precious."

"So precious..." Fluttershy repeated as Serenity finished her bottle. Fluttershy nuzzled the baby pony gently. "Who... who do you think her mother is? I don't suppose you know?"

"What you saying?" said Aunt Jackie. "You're her mother. Nopony better. Her parents must have given her to you for a reason. And she's become your own now."

"My very own little filly," Fluttershy sighed. "I-I can't believe it."

"Keep her safe," said Aunt Jackie. "These aren't good times for a little pony. She needs you."

Fluttershy nodded. The two just sat in silence for a minute.

"Ah need to get dinner started," said Aunt Jackie. "You just stay with Serenity a moment."

She went back into the house.

Fluttershy just rocked Serenity back and forth a bit. "Hush, now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head," she sang.

Suddenly she froze. It was an entirely involuntary action on her part. She felt like she'd suddenly been encapsulated by metal and could no longer move a muscle.

A blue, white-maned unicorn in a fancy suit trotted out from behind a nearby wood pile. His horn was glowing. He crept up to Fluttershy, whispered, "Sorry," and snatched Serenity from her arms. Then, levitating the baby pony in front of him, he dashed off towards the nearby forest.

Fluttershy inhaled sharply. Of course she couldn't see the spell forcing her to remain still, but she felt like it had shattered to pieces. She launched herself off the edge of the porch and flew after Serenity's captor.

She paused only twice, to ask directions from forest creatures, and so it didn't take her long to find the blue unicorn. He was staring at a tree. Serenity was nowhere in sight.

Fluttershy dove on top of the unicorn and pinned him to the ground. Their eyes met, and she poured all her fury into her glare.

She'd never used The Stare on a pony before, but she could tell by his expression that it had worked. The unicorn went limp and just stared back at her, terrified.

"Where. Is. She?" Fluttershy growled.

The unicorn swallowed hard and stammered for a bit before he found his voice.

"Sh-she's gone," he said. "Y-y-you can't find her."

"Don't say that," said Fluttershy. "What have you done with her?"

The unicorn seemed to have difficulty breathing as he prepared to answer the question.

"You... you want her to be safe, right?" he said.

"Of course," said Fluttershy.

"You... can't keep... her safe if... you keep her," said the blue unicorn. "You will destroy her..."

"How do you know?" Fluttershy almost snarled.

"Can't... space time continuum... can't you just..." The blue unicorn touched Fluttershy as though he was going to push her off, but there was no force behind it. "She'll have a good home... good parents... everything you'd want for her, but you. Can't. Keep. Her."

Fluttershy sucked in her breath. "I will only ask you one more time. Where is Serenity?"

"If you wait too long, your... robot... thingy will find me," said the unicorn. "Do you think she'll hesitate to shoot me on sight?"

Fluttershy didn't answer.

"Keep me here," said the unicorn, "and you will become my murderer."

"That's not true!" Fluttershy half-whined.

"If I die," said the unicorn, "I can't protect her. And I want to keep her safe more than you can understand."

Fluttershy hadn't turned The Stare off voluntarily, but apparently it had worn off. Both she and the unicorn were blinking normally again, and he didn't seem to be in pain anymore.

Oh God, Fluttershy prayed, please don't let this be the wrong choice. Please keep Serenity safe.

Fluttershy slowly flapped her wings and rose into the air. The unicorn stood up.

"Thank you," he whispered.

He turned back to the tree, and his horn started glowing.

A shiny purple-blue portal appeared in the wide tree trunk.

"STOP!" a robotic voice called. "STOP THAT TIME GUARDIAN!"

The blue unicorn looked over his shoulder, then stepped through the blue portal, which closed behind him.

Apple Bloom, once again in full armor, skidded to a halt next to the tree. "You let him get away!" She shouted to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy lowered herself to the ground and turned away, letting her mane hide her face like she used to do back when she was even shier. "I had to," she whispered. "For Serenity."

Apple Bloom didn't say anything for a while. Then she nodded.

"Ah am so sorry," she said.

"Don't worry," said Fluttershy, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She faced the tree trunk. "She's in God's hands now."

The two of them stood there for a while, then they slowly made their way back out of the forest.

They had almost made it out when Fluttershy heard a strange beeping noise.

Apple Bloom pressed a button on her shoulder. "That was my smoke detector," she explained.

There was a pause. Then Apple Bloom launched into the air and flew out of the forest at top speed.

Fluttershy followed as fast as she was able.

"No!" Apple Bloom was screaming. "No!"

As she emerged from the tree cover, Fluttershy saw the flames.

Sweet Apple Homes was on fire.

Loyalty's Betrayal

All the ponies had been rounded up by the pegasi and were being tied up in a clearing slightly beyond Sweet Apple Homes. The foals didn't scream or cry; they just stared at the flames licking up the place they'd found safety.

"All present and accounted for, Captain," said one pegasi.

"Perfect," said Captain Dash.

Scootaloo was flying over the fire, singing, "Watch it burn, burn, burn, up in flames, flames, flames..."

"Scootaloo!" Captain Dash said. "Stop singing and get down here!"

Scootaloo landed in front of Aunt Jackie. She grabbed her mane and yanked her close. "Betcha feeling the heat now, huh Black Jack? Now there's only one member of your treacherous family left." She turned around. "And I think I hear her coming."

"SCOOTALOO!" Apple Bloom screamed, blasting everypony's eardrums and shattering all the windows.

Scootaloo wheeled around and whipped out a dagger. "Leave her!" she shouted, launching herself into the air. "She's mine! All mine!"

"Apple Bloom!" Aunt Jackie shouted. "Leave! Now!"

"Not without Scootaloo," Apple Bloom replied grimly.

The two ponies zoomed towards each other, with Scootaloo banking to the side at the last minute and slashing at Apple Bloom with her dagger as she passed.

"Coward!" Apple Bloom shouted. "EXTERMINATE!"

"Call her off, Dashie!" Aunt Jackie shouted. "Git your murderous little protégé back on the ground this instant!"

"Who are you to give my captain orders?" Princess Twilight demanded.

"You know what Starswirl said would happen if we betrayed our elements, don' you?" said Aunt Jackie. "Need Ah remind you?"

Apple Bloom fired a series of electric blasts from her hoof cannon. Scootaloo dodged them all, and the electricity set some trees on fire.

"So much for a protector!" Scootaloo shouted. "You're nothing but a destroying angel!"

"You should know about destruction, you psycho!" Apple Bloom shouted back.

"Honesty will twist and warp," said Aunt Jackie. She shifted her metal legs. "Ah suppose you could interpret this as warped, if you're an idiot. But enough about that."

"You used to be my friend," Apple Bloom said.

"There is only the Captain," said Scootaloo, diving just in time to avoid a blast of lightning. "She is the only pony I will follow."

"She sold you out for her own freedom! She left you to grow weak and crazy!"

"She is the only pony I care about!" Scootaloo repeated. "You tried to destroy her. Now I will destroy you!"

Aunt Jackie continued, "Kindness will seal herself in stone, Generosity will grow cold as ice..."

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo smashed into each other, and Scootaloo seized Apple Bloom's helmet and arm while Apple Bloom tried to twist her hoof cannon around to shoot Scootaloo.

"Laughter will turn completely insane, Magic will be forever alone... do you know what Loyalty's betrayal will end in?"

Scootaloo scraped along Apple Bloom's armor with her dagger. The blade slipped between two plates on her stomach, and there was a sound like glass cracking.

Apple Bloom pulled away. "You didn't just-"

"Do you know what it ends in, Captain?" Aunt Jackie demanded.

Apple Bloom's armor exploded in a blaze of fire. Scootaloo turned away, then screamed as the fire reached her wings, lighting her on fire and sending her plummeting to the ground.

"Do you know what Loyalty's betrayal ends in?" said Aunt Jackie as Scootaloo fell to the ground. Captain Dash ignored her and ran to the badly burned Pegasus.

"Captain..." Scootaloo choked out. She coughed a bit.

"Scootaloo," Captain Dash said. "Don't try to talk, we can still do something..."

"I killed her, Captain," said Scootaloo. "I destroyed the Apple family. Are... you... proud of... me?"

She closed her eyes and went limp.

"Do you know what Loyalty's betrayal will end in?" Aunt Jackie repeated, her voice choked, with tears clouding her eyes. "Death!"

Midnight Meeting

Nopony said anything for a very long while. Captain Dash just stared at the unmoving body of Scootaloo, while Aunt Jackie glared at her, shaking with rage.

"This is your fault, you know," said Aunt Jackie.

Captain Dash raised her eyes to stare at the orange earth pony.

"You can't blame nopony but yourself," Aunt Jackie repeated.

Captain Dash didn't respond.

Tears streamed down Aunt Jackie's face.

"She was just a little filly!" Aunt Jackie shouted. "She loved you and admired you more than anypony ever did! You were her hero! And you abandoned her!"

Captain Dash turned away.

"It's your fault she became a twisted cruel monster! Ah know where my precious Apple Bloom is- she's up in heaven, with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, being rewarded for everything she ever did on this earth. Do you know where the filly who worshiped you- the filly you didn't give a flick of your wings for- do you know where she is now?"

Captain Dash's shoulders shook.

"In the fires of hell, where she'll roast for all eternity! And you put her there, Rainbow Dash! You not only killed her, you damned her for all of eternity! Scootaloo was a better pony than you were!"

"That's enough," said Princess Twilight, her horn glowing.

Aunt Jackie's mouth kept moving, but no sound came out.

Princess Twilight strode regally up to Captain Dash. "You have done your duty well," she said. "Scootaloo also. She will not be forgotten."

Captain Dash didn't respond, just shuddered and turned away.

"In the meanwhile," Princess Twilight said, turning back to the pegasi guards, "please make sure the dungeons have ample room for all our new arrivals."

Flames engulfed everything. All that could be heard was the anguished screams of ponies.

Scootaloo lay near by, chained to a rock. She turned and looked at the approaching pony.

"This is all your fault, Rainbow Dash. All. Your. Fault!"

Applejack woke up.

She was still in prison, where Princess Twilight was holding her and her five friends until she 'felt up to' performing a memory erase and creating a portal. After thinking over her dream and saying a quick prayer, she went over to the bars of the cell.

"Hey, there a guard out there?" she called.

A moment later a dark blue earth pony in a guard uniform approached the cell. "Something wrong?"

"Ah have a message for the captain, if you can get it to her," said Applejack.

The guard's darted his eyes around while he considered the question. "Er, what is it?"

Applejack took a deep breath. "Tell her that if she wants to talk to me about her dream, I have something to say to her. If she's asleep, don' wake her up; jist ignore me."

The guard hesitated. "I'll see what I can do." He left.

It was late at night, so none of Applejack's friends were awake. She lay back down and thought about what she was going to say.

After what seemed like an eternity, the guard came back and opened the cell door. "The Captain wants to see you," he said.

He lead Applejack through the dark and quiet castle. Their footsteps echoed on the tile floors as they crossed patches of moonlight streaming in the windows. It felt almost like Applejack was still dreaming; she had never before seen Canterlot castle when it wasn't lit up and filled with ponies. It felt like some kind of metaphor for their future selves.

One relatively short staircase later, the guard let Applejack into a small library. A small dim lamp gave the room a warm glow. Inside were two red cushioned armchairs next to a coffee table. Captain Dash sat in one of the chairs with a heavy blanket wrapped around her and a mug in one hoof. Another identical mug was on the table.

"Milk?" Captain Dash asked, her voice soft.

Applejack nodded slowly. "Sounds good." She sat in the other armchair and took a sip of the warm milk. Neither of them said anything for a while.

Captain Dash broke the silence. "So, you wanted to talk to me about... my dream?"

Applejack settled back in her armchair. "Yer worried that Scootaloo's in hell and it's yer fault."

"An educated guess," said Captain Dash.

"Yer tryin' to intimidate me with long words," said Applejack. "Yer not a pony for superstition, yer a pony for action, but this is still shakin' you."

Captain Dash didn't say anything, and her face seemed to be struggling with what expression to display.

"An' yer unhappy that Ah'm dead right about yer feelings," said Applejack.

"What do you think?" said Captain Dash.

They fell silent again. Captain Dash turned away and stared at the door.

"So is she in hell?" she asked softly.

Applejack didn't respond. "Ah can' say Ah'm an expert theologian. Maybe we'll both get a happy surprise when we head up to glory... but Ah'd have to say, my best guess is that, yes, she is."

Captain Dash's expression didn't change. "Oh." She took another sip of milk.

"But it ain't yer fault," said Applejack.

"Not my fault?" said Captain Dash. "Not my fault?!" She slammed her mug down on the table and stood up, glaring at Applejack. "How can it not be my fault? I'm the pony to blame for her insanity! I'm the pony who let her remain in that state! I'm the pony who- who..." Captain Dash gritted her teeth and glared at the floor. "I brought the only doctor who could have cured her to his execution. I did it for... Twilight." Her breath became shaky. "I did everything Twilight ever asked of me. I was devoted, and I earned her devotion. I was... I am... Loyalty." She raised her head. There were tears in her eyes.

"So why did this happen?" Captain Dash demanded. "Why?! I've been faithful to my Element! But the universe couldn't have a pony succeeding at this faithfulness thing, oh, no. It just had to throw me a curveball. I could either be loyal to Applejack or to Twilight. Whatever I did, I was cursed! What was I expected to do? How could this happen? What did I do wrong?"

Applejack didn't respond for a while.

Captain Dash repeated, softer, "What... did I... do... wrong?"

Applejack sighed deeply. "Ah don' know the whole story here," she said. "Ah can' tell you whether Scootaloo's insanity was yer fault, but Ah know her death wasn't. If Scootaloo had wanted to, she coulda found a way to preserve her life, don' think she couldn't. An'... she coulda found a way... to not become a monster. If she really wanted to. Ya certainly may have aided her transformation, but ya sure as hay didn' force it on her. Ah've heard... Ah've even seen... ponies stand up against pressure to lose themselves, to become something nopony should have to become... Ah've seen ponies with enough force of will to do that. An' I don' know what happened to Scootaloo exactly, but the Scootaloo I know coulda stood up to you if she wanted. So yes, Scootaloo is probably in hell." She rested her foreleg on Captain Dash's shoulder. "But no, it ain't yer fault. It's nopony's fault but Scootaloo's."

Captain Dash took a few deep breaths. "Thank... thank you... for talking with me." She went over to the door before Applejack could reply. "Guards?" she called.

The dark blue earth pony was waiting outside. "Yes, captain?"

"Please show Applejack back to her cell," said Captain Dash.

The guard bowed. "Yes, captain, and... I hope you sleep well."

The two ponies started back down the stairs.

Dark Wings

"Come in."

Princess Rarity cautiously opened the door. She stared at Princess Twilight warily for a moment. "I... didn't knock."

"I could tell you were there," said Princess Twilight, not looking up from the papers she was filing. "Give me some credit, Rare-rare."

Princess Rarity giggled nervously.

For a while, the only sound was the scratching of Princess Twilight's quill on the paper.

"Did you want to tell me something?" said Princess Twilight.

Princess Rarity blinked at her innocently. "You mean to say you can't read my mind?"

"Don't give me that, Rarity," said Princess Twilight. "Is this something important?"

"Yes," said Princess Rarity. "It's about Fluttershy."

Princess Twilight sighed heavily. "Look, I want to get our past selves home and then talk about this, okay?"

"Oh, sure," said Princess Rarity. "Let's just leave our friend as a statue for a few days. It can't matter too much. She'll only be slightly crazy when this ordeal is over and will only slightly resemble that little crazed pony who died yesterday. Twilight, this isn't a dictatorship! Since when could you dole out punishments without consulting me?"

Princess Twilight whirled around. "I can't believe you're doubting my judgment! I thought you were okay with the way I was running the kingdom!"

"Fluttershy is our friend," Princess Rarity said. "Friends talk with their friends about issues! They don't just storm in and say 'I don't like your attitude, have fun as a statue!'"

"You- you ungrateful-" Princess Twilight telekinetically slammed Princess Rarity into the wall. "You little wretch! I am the pony who makes the decisions! I am the one who saved Equestria! I am the one who stopped the Time Guardians! I am the one who fuels all your pet projects to make sure you have your subjects' love! I am the one you rely on for your well-being! I am the one who has held the bearers of the elements together all these years!"

"You aren't holding us together! You're driving us apart!" Princess Rarity growled. "It was your fault that Applejack could no longer trust any of us anymore! It was your fault she left the city! It was your fault she's now a wanted criminal because overreaction is your only reaction! It was your fault Dashie lost her dream of being in the Wonderbolts! It was your fault Diane Pie started taking that... toxic chemical you call medicine!"

"What about Fluttershy?" Princess Twilight said. "You seem to want to blame me for all my friends' ills. Do you want to blame me for what happened to her? Do you want to blame me for her disillusionment?"

"You certainly did nothing to help her!" Princess Rarity shouted. "You should have been their to comfort her, to restore her faith in equinity! Instead, you ignored her pain and told her to work fixing your... pet dragon's in-bred illness!"

"Don't you dare drag Spike into this!" Princess Twilight screamed, slamming Princess Rarity against the wall a few more times. "Don't. You. Dare."

"Except it isn't in-bred," said Princess Rarity. "It's environmental. So who's to say Spike isn't just suffering all the pain you should be feeling for turning us against each other?"

Pause. "What?"

"Spike wasn't born with his illness," Princess Rarity said. "Spike must be getting sick from his environment. The Spike from the past showed the same symptoms as the Spike in the present, so if age isn't connected with the illness, mustn't it be something... else that's causing him to get sick?"

Princess Twilight didn't say anything. Her eyes darted around the room, and a look of horror crept across her face.

"Sparkie?" said Princess Rarity.

In a burst of light, Princess Twilight vanished.

Princess Twilight found herself standing on a rocky ledge overlooking Canterlot. The wind played with her hair, blowing it around her face and legs.

The princess sat down, her heart pounding.

"It... you didn't..."

She paused.

"Why would you break your word?" she said. "I did everything you wanted me to do. I gave you all the Time Guardians, as many Apple family members as I could find, the magic of every unicorn in Equestria... I passed all the laws you told me to, arrested everypony you wanted... you said you would keep my friends together, and I thought you were doing that... and you told me you'd keep Spike alive." She took a deep breath. "Tell me. Tell me the truth. Were you really curing Spike...? Or were you just... not letting the full force of your pestilence affect him?"

Really, Twilight. Why this sudden doubt? All because of some silly thing Rarity was guessing about? She isn't even a scientist like you are. She doesn't understand everything. It was always you who had control of the situation. Always you who were in control...

"No!" Princess Twilight shouted. "It was never me, was it? It was always you! You manipulated me by threatening to take away the things I value most! You've made me hurt so many ponies... so many ponies..." She squeezed her eyes shut, and tears ran down her cheeks. "B-but not any more," she whispered. Her eyes flew open. "Not any more!" She shouted. "I won't listen to you! I won't obey you! I c-can live without Spike." She angrily brushed her tears away. "Let's face it, he's so sick that h-he'd be better of d-dead anyway. Nopony would kn-now the d-difference at this point." She sucked her breath in through her teeth. "But I can't live like this. You're destroying me, m-my friends, my family..." Tears welled up in her eyes again. "But now it's over. Go away. I don't want you anymore! Go!"

She conjured up a mirror in front of her and glared at her reflection.

"I'm waiting!" she shouted.

For a moment, nothing happened. She just stood there, glaring at herself, quivering with rage.

Oh, really, Twilight. Did you think it was that easy? That I'd go away quietly just because you asked politely?

"I'm not asking, I'm telling!" Twilight shouted.

You are so cute, you know that? Touching, really, this act of resistance. But I can't allow it.

Princess Twilight's wings flickered, then burst into deep purple flames. These flames spread over Princess Twilight's body, turning them the same dark color.

Princess Twilight's head was the last to be consumed. She stared in horror at her reflection and screamed.

A minute later, nopony would have been able to tell the Princess from the Hunter. Her body was covered with flowing purple flames, which occasionally parted to reveal the dark skin underneath. Her horn gleamed violet, and her wings were twin tongues of flame.

The pony who used to be Princess Twilight Sparkle surveyed Canterlot from her ledge. Then she dove down upon the city, grinning with delight as it approached its prey.

Did I Hear You Right?

"So you just walked in and chatted with Captain Dash about hell over warm milk?"

"Yeah, sorta."

"Sheesh! My future self is really... wimpy."

"Ah, hush, Rainbow," said Applejack. "D'you really think that belief in hell is wimpy?"

"No, I mean why would a little nightmare throw her into such a tizzy?" said Rainbow Dash. "I thought my future self would be, y'know, braver than me."

"That ain't the point," said Applejack. "Ah thought you'd be happy to hear that yer future self is seein' the light a bit."

"I don't believe in churches," said Rainbow Dash. "So why would I be happy that my future self is getting superstitious?"

"I wonder why my future self isn't a Christian anymore," said Fluttershy. "I mean... did something happen to her? Did somepony I know hurt her feelings?"

"Does it really matter that she doesn't happen to visit a building with a certain name to hear a message you could hear anyplace, any time?" Rarity said. "You can be a good person without a church. I only care about why Future Fluttershy is behaving like she's taken a year of Iron Will's training seminars."

"And, let's face it," said Twilight Sparkle. "Obviously attending church has no effect on what your future self will become like, since Fluttershy of all creatures turned out to be such a jerk. So can we start talking about practical solutions to prevent our future corruption?"

There was a pause.

"My future self is doing just fine," said Pinkie Pie.

Everypony stared at her oddly.

"I mean, sure, she acts real nasty, but she's just grumpy," said Pinkie Pie. "She's had a lot to deal with, since her parents have died... she showed me the flashback of that."

"The... what?" said Twilight Sparkle.

"Flashback. It's like a memory, only clearer."

"Is it... some kind of recording?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Just in your head," said Pinkie Pie.

Everypony paused for a while.

"Allllll right then," said Rainbow Dash. "Whatever. I already know what I'm going to have to do if I want to stay my fun-loving, awesome self, so I'll let you scrubs figure out the other details while I nap." She dove into her bed and hid under the blanket.

"You must feel lucky, Applejack," said Fluttershy with a sigh. "You don't have to worry about your future self."

Applejack shuffled her hooves a bit. "Well, Ah'm not right sure about that, actually... Ah mean, maybe from our perspective Applejack is the only pony who survived whatever shock set us all into a corrupted state, but when you look at it the other way..." She sighed. "Maybe Ah'm like this in our timeline too, and Ah jist don't notice normally because Ah can't judge myself too good, but Ah wasn't proud of how my future self acted. At all. Ah shouldn't judge Ah figure... mayhap there is something out there so awful, the only solution is to kill it, but Ah don't reckon. And how could Ah let my little sister turn into such a killin' machine?"

"Oh, thanks a lot!" Rainbow Dash shouted, throwing off the blanket. "Of course you have to measure up to some super-high standard, you perfect little Christian pony you!"

"Rainbow!" Rarity gasped dramatically. "Of all the things to say! Why should it matter to you that Applejack holds herself to a higher standard than most? At least she isn't imposing it on you!"

"Well, her future self sure did!" Rainbow Dash shouted, pointing at Applejack accusingly. "And how can I trust your story about what you told my future self?"

"What?" said Twilight Sparkle. "Rainbow Dash, you can't tell me you're doubting the honesty of the element of, well, Honesty!"

Rainbow Dash hovered despondently in the air for a moment.

"If you guys are gonna gang up on me like this, I'm surprised my future self put up with it," she griped, folding her hooves and putting on a sour expression.

"We're not 'ganging up' on you, darling," said Rarity. "I'm just trying to tell you not to worry so much about Applejack. I'm sure whatever measures she deems appropriate will be acceptable."

"Yeah," said Applejack. "How 'bout we agree to each tend our own gardens?"

"What?" said Twilight. "We can't just split up like that! We're a team, and we need a team plan!"

"I just d-don't know what went wrong," Fluttershy sighed.

"Maybe nothing serious," said Pinkie Pie. "Maybe you turned into a grump because everypony else had turned into a grump already. It's no fun being alone. Even if you're alone because you're the only non-grump."

"Don't you remember what happened with Discord?" Twilight Sparkle demanded. "It took you all of five minutes to turn to the dark side! Anything is possible! We should have the elements on hoof at all times or something!"

"Y-you're right," Fluttershy said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so pathetic." She bent her head and sobbed into her hooves.

"Hey!" said Rarity. "Twilight, how can you say such a thing? Discord was using some sort of magic to hypnotize us, remember? And even so, I don't recall you being totally non-gray the entire time. You wouldn't have saved the day at all if not for the timely interference of our beloved Princess Celestia!"

"Yeah, since when was saving the day the work of a single pony?" said Pinkie Pie. "We're friends! We work together!"

"I thought that's what I said!" Twilight Sparkle snapped.

"As if!" said Rainbow Dash. "The uber-competent Twilight Sparkle, whose magic can solve any problem."

"Well, yes, actually, my magic is much more powerful than any of you ponies seem to understand!" said Twilight Sparkle.

"Twilight!" Rarity said. "What are you saying? I can too use magic well! I would think you'd respect me more after that incident where-"

"We've heard enough about how you stopped the Diamond Dogs already!" Applejack shouted. "We know! We get it! Why couldn't you shut up and just trust that we think you did well?"

"I wasn't even going to-" Rarity started.

"Um, actually, Rarity didn't even use magic to do that," Fluttershy whispered.

"What do you think Ah am? Stupid?" said Applejack. "As if Ah didn't know what magic was! Jist cuz Ah aint a unicorn don't mean Ah can't recognize a spell!"

"Hey!" said Rainbow Dash. "Pegasi are plenty magical! Just because we can't teleport doesn't mean a thing! Can unicorns fly, huh? Fluttershy, don't you agree?"

Fluttershy looked annoyed. "How dare you imply all pegasi think the same way?"

Twilight shook with fury. "How can you say that, Rainbow Dash? My cloudwalk spell worked perfectly!"

"Oh, now yer sayin; yer magic can do anything we can?" said Applejack. "Ain't that jist like that silly street performer, Trixie?"

"How dare you compare Twilight to Trixie!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "Twilight's magic is real and genuine!"

"Guys?" said Spike.

Everypony stopped shouting. They'd forgotten Spike was there.

"I don't think..." Spike coughed. "I don't think you can... hear each other... you... don't know what..." He rolled off the cot and lay on the floor, shaking.

Twilight gasped and dove for Spike. She started to pick him up, but he just whined, "Don't! That hurts!"

Twilight Sparkle set Spike down. Tears appeared in her eyes.

"Please... don't fight," said Spike. "It hurts... to listen to you. Really truly."

Nopony said anything for a moment.

Then Rainbow Dash coughed. "Er... what exactly were we fighting about again?"

The ponies paused.

"Well, gee!" said Pinkie Pie. "I have no idea!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Fluttershy sighed. "I've been a bad pony."

"I feel very silly," Rarity said, blushing.

"See then?" said Applejack. "Even Ah can't protect myself from stupid corruption type stuff..."

"Well, all that matters now is that we move forward together," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Group hug!" Pinkie Pie announced.

"Noooooooooooo!"

The prison walls turned dark purple. Everypony jumped.

A dark purple cloud seeped out from one of the cots and took the shape of a black pony covered with dark purple flames. Unlike the Hunter, however, this one had neither horn nor wings.

"If I cannot corrupt you," the creature said, "then I will destroy you!"

The Princess Twilight Cometh

Princess Rarity was wearing holes in the carpet from all her pacing.

She was debating whether she should go look for Princess Twilight or not. On the one hoof, Twilight didn't like to be disturbed under most circumstances. On the other hoof, Princess Rarity didn't feel much like obliging Princess Twilight right now. But then, she had no idea where Princess Twilight was. But then again, Princess Twilight could be doing something reckless.

"Wow, tough decision, huh?"

Princess Rarity leapt in the air and screamed. "Diane Pie? How did you get in here?"

Diane Pie smirked bitterly. "You should know better than to expect explanations from me."

"I hate it when you read my mind..." Princess Rarity growled.

"Can't help it," said Diane Pie, shrugging. "Empathy link. 'Snot the point. Point is, I'm here to explain..."

"Explain what?" said Princess Rarity. "I thought you just said you weren't going to explain anything."

"That's just my problem," Diane Pie said. "That's always been the problem... always..." She sighed heavily. "I'm supposed to be the element of Laughter. Laughter always meant... to me... that no matter how dark I feel inside, I always stay light on the outside... it means that I was the happiest member of the team, and if they felt down, it was my job to cheer them up... that it was my job to keep everypony else smiling. That I couldn't let anything get you guys down... not even my own problems." She brushed a bit of her straight mane away from her face. "I suppose... I'm no better than Applejack, huh?"

Princess Rarity started crying. Then she pulled Diane Pie into a hug.

"Oh, darling, it's all my fault," she sobbed. "It didn't... it didn't take a genius to realize you were h-hurting. I should h-have done something for you... anything for you... but I... I-I thought... if Laughter was depressed... I thought we'd lost you... I tried to ignore it... I tried to think you were still happy, just... in a different way." She broke her hug and pulled back, looking Diane Pie in the eye. "I've... I've been... so selfish... so cold..." her voice changed from sorrow to recognition. Then she burst into tears again.

"I... I b-betrayed my element!" She cried. "I-I'm worse than... than..."

"Than the rest of us?" Diane Pie asked.

"N-no..."

"Don't kid yourself," said Diane Pie. "All of us have slid away from our elements. We just haven't all been punished for it yet."

Princess Rarity sobbed dramatically for a few more minutes. Diane Pie didn't say anything at first. Then she sighed.

"Rare-rare, get a hold of yourself. I know this looks bad, but now we know what we've been doing wrong, and now we've got to try and reverse it. So I'll make you a deal: I won't try to solve our problems all by myself, and you won't try to solve our problems all by yourself. We'll work together: you, me, and probably the Captain and anypony else who will work with us. Okay?"

Princess Rarity looked up. "Oh, Diane... you sound so calm and rational..." she looked ready to cry again.

Diane Pie shrugged. "What can I say? Maybe it's just because... I've grown up."

The two friends smiled at each other.

An explosion rocked the tower.

Diane Pie sighed heavily as Princess Rarity gave a little shriek.

"I think," Diane Pie said, "that something has gone horribly wrong."

"Help us!" Applejack shouted, rattling the bars of their cell. "Let us out!"

The guards who were standing nearby looked nervous and fled.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "You cowards! Wait until I tell the Captain-"

The flaming pony exploded, spreading purple flames all throughout the room.

All the ponies screamed. The flames laughed maniacally.

"What are you?" Twilight Sparkle shouted. "What do you want?"

I am destruction, the flames replied. He didn't speak in words, nor did he use the telepathy spell, but there was no doubt what he was saying.

The purple flames rose into a towering inferno, advancing towards the ponies.

"Help!" Twilight Sparkle shouted. "Somepony! Anypony!"

"Get the fire extinguisher!" Pinkie Pie screamed.

"We can't escape!" Rainbow Dash said, pressing up against the bars of the cell.

Rarity screamed.

All the ponies backed up against the bars, staring at the flames in horror.

The door opened, and all the ponies fell backwards. They stared up at the ceiling for a moment, stunned. Then a familiar blue pegasus flew above them.

"Run you idiots," said Captain Dash.

The six friends quickly scrambled to their hooves and took off down the dungeon hall. A moment later the Captain rejoined them.

"What is that thing?" Applejack asked as they raced up the dungeon stairs. Waves of purple flowed through the corridor behind them.

"I don't know," said Captain Dash. She sealed the dungeon door after all the ponies filed out. "But it doesn't take a genius to realize it's dangerous."

A number of nervous guards were standing in the corridor outside.

"Is anypony still in the dungeon?" Captain Dash asked.

The guards looked more nervous. One guard sighed. "Only every unicorn in Equestria," he said. "Not to mention at least a hundred criminals."

"But they have their own escape route," said Captain Dash. "Sound the alarms. Evacuate the dungeon and seal it off. We're under attack."

One guard ran to the wall and pulled a thick red cord. A haunting bell chimed somewhere far away, resonating and shaking the ponies to the bone.

"I need to find the Princess," Captain Dash said. "Twilight will surely know what that thing is."

"Do you?" asked Rarity, turning to non-princess Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight rubbed her cheek thoughtfully. "I'm not sure, but... I have heard bits and pieces, a few ghost stories, and uh..." she swallowed, afraid to go on.

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

Twilight took a deep breath. "And... that thing looks like a creature Princess Twilight showed me. She called it... the Hunter."

"Wait, stop," said Captain Dash. "What was it doing?"

Twilight sighed. "I have no idea. Princess Twilight sent it after something. She said that... that 'they' wouldn't be destroyed that easily."

"Oh," said Captain Dash. "No. Way. Those... cheaters."

"And murderers?" asked one guard.

"Yeah, that too, but come on!" Captain Dash said. "We destroyed all of them! We sealed them out of time itself, and they still keep showing up because they're stupid time travelers. How am I supposed to fight that? We can't! They're worse than a herd of draconequii!"

"Who?" said Twilight Sparkle.

"The Time Guardians," Applejack said.

Everypony turned to her.

"Ah've seen them," she said. "Ah know their cruelty firsthoof."

"Um... Applejack?" Fluttershy said.

"Yes?" said everypony.

Fluttershy whimpered, then burst into tears.

"Oh, Fluttershy," said Applejack, putting a hoof around her shoulders. "Look, Ah'm sure they won't hurt a baby pony."

"I'm not," Captain Dash growled.

The door rattled. It bulged outward.

"That thing can't do magic, can it?" Applejack asked.

"I know nothing about the Hunter," Captain Dash said. "Just that it can kill Time Guardians."

Applejack sighed heavily.

"I don't think that one can do magic," Twilight Sparkle said. "I mean, the Hunter had a horn and that one didn't. It seems logical to assume-"

The door glowed with a yellow aura and exploded. The blackish purple pony stood in the hallway. It's telekinetic voice echoed in their heads:

Captain Dash, step away. My quarrel is with those six.

Captain Dash positioned herself between the flaming ponylike creature and the six ponies. "What do you want?"

Nothing I didn't have in my control already. Your princess has decided these six aberrations in time need to be dealt with, and I am only too happy to provide this service.

"She didn't want them killed, you idiot!" said Captain Dash. "The Princess isn't like that!"

Really, Rainbow Dash? Do you wish to test this theory?

In a burst of yellow light, the dungeon melted away, like paint melting when brought near a flame, and the six ponies, Spike, and Captain Dash stood on the top of a high tower outside Canterlot castle.

"What's your point?" Captain Dash demanded.

Behind you.

Captain Dash turned around, as did the other ponies. Down from the sky dove a dark purple creature.

"The Hunter?" Captain Dash asked.

You wish.

A haunting music filled their minds, a coronation song in a minor key, without anypony singing it. It was like getting a song stuck in their heads when they weren't quite sure how the song sounded.

The Princess Twilight cometh!

Behold! Behold!

The purple flaming pony rose before them, beautiful and terrible, respendant with majestic beauty as her flames seared dark against the blue sky behind them. On her head was an unmistakable crown.

Behold! Behold!

The Princess Twilight Sparkle is here!

My subjects!

The voice was almost Twilight's, but not quite. It was more like the memory of her voice being stirred up in their minds.

My subjects, behold my transformation! Look on my new, more powerful, more perfect form! Do not tremble! Do not despair! This beauty and power I have found will now be yours to share, for you too shall know the perfection that is the ShadowFires!

A Worse Cure

"What have you done with the princess?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

You seem to believe that I am not the princess. Were you listening to a word I said?

"Yeah, right!" said Diane Pie. "Sparkie would never do something like this!"

"...Diane?" said Captain Dash. "How did you get here?"

"I flew her here," said Princess Rarity. "We're friends. We face our problems together."

Captain Dash smiled weakly. "Sure, whatever." She turned back to the creature that used to be Twilight Sparkle.

I wish you wouldn't try to stop me, captain. I, too, want you to share in this glorious perfection that is ShadowFire. Only let me help you.

Purple black flames shot towards Captain Dash.

Captain Dash launched herself up into the air, but the flames didn't follow her. They just continued straight into the group on the tower.

All the ponies from the past scattered, screaming. Princess Rarity stood before them, spreading her wings like a barrier, her horn glowing with brilliant blue light that materialized in front of her as a wall of blue flame. The dark purple flames hesitated when they reached it.

"No, Rarity," said Diane Pie. "All of you, get down the stairs. Now. I will hold them off."

"What?" said Captain Dash.

"I mean it. Go find Fluttershy and Applejack. Make everything right. Or else Twilight will be lost to us."

"How do you know?" asked Rarity.

Diane Pie smiled. It wasn't one of her usual bitter smiles; it was real, true, bright and beautiful. "Pinkie Pie has reminded me of many things these devils would have me forget."

She advanced towards the shadowy flames. She stretched out one hoof, and the flames stayed a few inches from her hoof, forming a kind of bubble.

"You cannot touch me!" she shouted. Then she looked over her shoulder at her friends. "Hey, guys, remember I said something about flying, you fools?"

Princess Rarity shook herself, then turned to the other ponies. "Down the stairs now, come on, it will be fine."

"We aren't foals," Rainbow Dash grumbled as they started down the tower stairs. Behind them they heard Diane Pie shouting.

"By the power given me, the power to make light where once only darkness reigned..."

The trapdoor slammed shut behind them.

"Where's Fluttershy?" Princess Rarity asked.

"Here," Fluttershy whispered.

"Other Fluttershy," said Princess Rarity.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Fluttershy said hastily.

"Don't stress over it, dearie," said Princess Rarity.

"I don't know where Other Fluttershy is," said Captain Dash. "I think Twilight- Other Twilight- put her in the royal garden."

"How dare she?" demanded Princess Rarity. "I can't believe I let that... that monster go unchecked for so long!" She paused. "Maybe that... black flaming thing outside wasn't lying. Perhaps that is just Twilight Sparkle... It wouldn't be hard for me to believe that, to be honest..."

"What?" said Captain Dash. "How can you say that?"

"Guys," said Rainbow Dash, "Stay friends at least until you find Fluttershy, okay?"

The two ponies were silent.

"Let's just go out the window," said Captain Dash.

"That monster is still out there, captain," said Princess Rarity. "And there are ponies with us who can't fly."

"Whatever! Twilight needs our help!" Captain Dash crashed out the window. A moment later she crashed back in through another window holding a statue of Fluttershy. "There. Now turn her back, Rarity!"

"I'm not that powerful, you idiot!" Princess Rarity snapped.

"Why not?" said Captain Dash. "You've conned most of the ponies in Equestria into loving you!"

"I didn't con them!" said Princess Rarity.

"You have Twilight take bits by the truckload from taxpayers, i.e. everypony, and then give them their own money right back and pretend you're being generous. Sheesh. That's like Fluttershy beating up animals and then curing them and pretending she's being kind."

"Should we even be turning Fluttershy back right now?" Diane Pie shouted. "Seems like you can't even have the power of friendship when it's just the two of you!"

"Diane?" Captain Dash and Princess Rarity said at the same time.

"That's what I do," said Diane Pie. "Random reappearances. The ShadowFires have exited the immediate premises. So has Sparkie. No thanks to you."

"I'm trying my hardest!" Captain Dash snapped.

"Girls?" said Twilight.

Everypony stared at her.

Twilight had no idea what she was going to say. She just felt she ought to say something inspiring at this point. Something that would fix everything.

"Look, um, friendship is magic," she started lamely. "But magic doesn't just work right every time. Sometimes you have to practice a spell even when you don't want to. So I know that none of you like each other much, but that doesn't mean you have to snap at each other."

"Hay, no," said Applejack. "Ah may dislike Rarity a lot of times, but Ah still know when to shut my mouth and work with her for the greater good."

"Well, some of the time," said Rarity.

"Friendship can't just be based on feelings," Twilight said, "because feelings shift and change. It has to be based on... well... you know, a belief that good times can come again, and..."

"A sense of duty," Fluttershy piped up.

"Right," Pinkie Pie said. "Because you're friends have helped you through some perfectly awful times, and you owe them a favor."

"That's why you need Loyalty for friendship," Rainbow Dash said. "I mean, when I was a filly I would flit from friend to friend, depending on who was cool... but then I just ended up with no friends at all. If you are willing to abandon your friends at the first sight of tension, then your friendship must not mean much."

The six friends from the past smiled expectantly at Captain Dash, Princess Rarity, and Diane Pie.

Diane smirked. "Nice job, girls. Now, maybe we can't free Fluttershy right now, but surely we can spring Applejack out of jail. Right?"

"Yeah, of course," said Captain Dash. "I know the jail like the back of my hoof."

"Then let's go," Princess Rarity said.

The crowd of ponies raced off. Captain Dash lead them down several sets of stairs, past a couple of guards.

"Is it still dangerous?" one of them asked nervously.

"I think it's secure," said Captain Dash, yanking the door open.

The corridor was covered with purple flames.

"You only signaled to lock the compound down from non-magic invasion, dummy," said Diane Pie. "You let that ShadowFire fill the corridor with flames before he left."

"Okay, seriously, Diane?" Captain Dash said. "Do you think you could at least try to get along with me?"

The flames swirled around, behaving more like waves. Several curled up to meet the approaching Pegasus.

"Oh no you don't!" Captain Dash screamed as she streaked in between the flames.

"Diane, dearie, can't you do that... thing... you did earlier?" Princess Rarity asked.

"Sorry, kid. Had too much suppressant." Diane Pie sighed heavily.

"I can't believe you would-" Princess Rarity started.

Diane Pie burst into tears. They gushed out of her eyes in a heavy stream, putting out any flames nearby and soaking all the ponies.

Princess Rarity grabbed Diane and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I'm so sorry, you were just doing what you thought was best, I've never been there to help you, I'm so sorry..."

Diane Pie sniffed a bit and wiped her eyes. She was still crying, but this time it was a more normal amount of tears. "I... I f-forgive you. I j-just..." She pressed her face into Princess Rarity's shoulder and sobbed softly.

Captain Dash flew into the room with Aunt Jackie in her hooves.

"Jackie?" Applejack said.

"Put me down!" Aunt Jackie was saying, kicking her vigorously. "This is all you're fault! You're trying to burn us all alive!"

"I didn't send that monster in there!" Captain Dash shouted.

"Please," Princess Rarity cried. "We need your help to save Sparkie."

"Sparkie?" Aunt Jackie said. "Who the hay is Sparkie? Ah thought all you had was your beloved Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"And now she's lost to us," Princess Rarity said.

"She's been taken over," Twilight Sparkle said. "By the same kind of monster that set the dungeon on fire. They're called... ShadowFires."

"They're trying to take over Equestria!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Right!" Captain Dash said. "And they'll hurt the foals, and we know how much you hate that."

"You should hate it, too!" Aunt Jackie shouted back, kicking Captain Dash hard in the stomach. "You child-killer!"

"Scootaloo wasn't a child," Diane Pie said. "That isn't fair."

Aunt Jackie glared at Captain Dash. "You burn my home down, arrest what family members haven't already died, take away all my children, and now you expect me to make up in one second because Equestria needs us to be friends again? You should have thought of that sooner!"

"Aunt Jackie!" Applejack shouted. "Stop yer thrashing and listen. Maybe you've had good reasons to dislike these ponies, but now something is threatening Equestria that's bigger than all of us. And the only chance you have to stop them may be to reconnect with yer old friends. Understand?"

Aunt Jackie scowled at everypony in the room. "Do Ah have a choice?"

"Applejack," Diane Pie said. "Please. I know you are the element of Honesty, but please... please... just. Trust. Us."

Aunt Jackie sighed. "Ah'm just... so... tired..."

Applejack put her hoof around Aunt Jackie's shoulders. "You know what Ah think you need?" She whispered in Aunt Jackie's ear. "Help."

"Perhaps if you'd stuck around," Captain Dash growled softly, "and been a little more loyal, then I wouldn't... I wouldn't..."

Her lower lip trembled, and then she started screaming.

"You were the first friend I ever had! And when you got fed up with me and left, how could I expect my other friends to stick with me any longer? Maybe I do what I do because I can't stand to lose my friends again." Tears appeared in Captain Dash's eyes. "I couldn't do it. Not... after... the first time..."

She swiped her hoof at her eyes angrily.

Fluttershy whispered to Rainbow Dash, "I thought I was your friend... first..."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash whispered back. "Well, kinda."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rarity whispered harshly.

Rainbow Dash flailed her hoof around. "I can't explain, okay? I like you, Fluttershy."

"I like you too," Fluttershy whispered back, blushing.

"Speaking of liking Fluttershy," Twilight Sparkle said, "We still have a small problem. What about Dame Fluttershy?"

The ponies paused for a moment.

"Can't you fix her?" Aunt Jackie asked. "Ah mean, duh. You did it, you can undo it."

"I'm not that powerful!" Twilight Sparkle said.

"Yeah, right," said Captain Dash. "Did you see your power levels when you ran on that treadmill?"

"Well, I assumed machine error or a fluke of luck..." Twilight Sparkle said.

"Twilight," Spike whined. He was draped across Twilight's back and clinging to her neck.

Twilight craned her neck and nuzzled Spike comfortingly. "Oh, Spike..."

"You have to try, Twilight," he whispered. "Everypony knows that you're extra-special but you."

Tears shimmered in Twilight's eyes. "Okay." She turned back to Captain Dash. "Where did we leave Fluttershy's statue?"

"I have no idea what I'm doing..." Twilight sighed, staring at Dame Fluttershy's horrified, petrified face. It was making her lose concentration.

"It's just like you always tell me, dear," Princess Rarity said. "First, analyze the spell, then find its weakness, then unravel it."

"Twilight taught me counter spells?" Rarity asked. "I-I mean, in the future?"

"Out of necessity..." Princess Rarity said.

"I'm going to dislike that," Rarity muttered.

"Can I have some quiet?" Twilight demanded.

The ponies trotted off shamefully.

Spike wrapped his claws around Twilight's hair. He whispered something too soft for Twilight to understand.

"Spike, stop talking," Twilight said, trying not to cry. "Save your strength." And please please don't die.

She closed her eyes and began analyzing the spell. It was like turning on a sixth sense, her magic sense. She could see (or feel, it was like a combination of both) how the spell around Dame Fluttershy was structured. It was like a piece of cloth- threads of magic woven into a tight net. Twilight tugged on a few threads of the spell with her own magic. All that did was make the energy bunch up somewhere else. Princess Twilight was clearly an expert at spell formation- regular unicorns would have left gaps or snarls in the web that she could work with, but this was one smooth piece. If only she had a piece of lead; that would cut through the spell like scissors. As it was, she would have to make do.

Using a small bit of energy, she nudged the threads aside as best as she could until she made a small hole. Now came the hard bit. She telekinetically grabbed all the edges of the hole and yanked them away from each other, magic pouring from her horn. In theory, any spell could be countered; all you had to do was use more energy to undo the spell than had been used to cast the spell.

Twilight's head began pounding as she stretched the hole bigger. Rips appeared in the fabric of the spell even as sweat poured down her forehead.

Spike continued running his claws through Twilight's mane, soothing her and giving her something else to think about. Spike was used to helping her when she was taxing her horn like this; he'd done it several times during her studies with Princess Celestia.

The hole was getting bigger, and the spell was beginning to collapse on itself. Twilight started to feel like her head was slammed in an oven door, and she just wanted it to stop. But she told herself it was only for a little while longer. Equestria, and her future self, needed her.

With a snap and flash of light, the spell exploded, and Dame Fluttershy collapsed to the floor, once more flesh and blood.

Twilight collapsed on the floor too. Spike rolled off into a corner, and Twilight tried to apologize, but it came out as an incoherent cross between a whine and a groan.

"Can we come back in the room?" Captain Dash asked, peeking around a corner.

Dame Fluttershy gasped dramatically and swooped down on Spike, cradling him in her forelegs. "You poor, poor, poor creature. I'm so very sorry about this. This shouldn't have had to happen. I am so sorry. You poor thing."

"Fluttershy?" Princess Rarity said, coming around the corner. "Are you okay?"

Dame Fluttershy looked up, tears in her eyes. "N-nothing is okay." She clutched Spike to her chest and sobbed dramatically.

"Is it that... bad?" Captain Dash asked.

"He was so young..." Dame Fluttershy whispered.

Twilight got to her hooves at once. "'Was'?"

"No!" Princess Rarity said. "No, I cannot believe it! Fellow equines, the time has come to pool our resources! You may not love me, but we all love Spike, and maybe that shall be enough! Join with me!" She launched herself into the air and hovered with her shiny white wings, her horn glowing a brilliant blue.

Captain Dash, Dame Fluttershy, Diane Pie and Aunt Jackie all nodded, and closed their eyes. Bright pink beams shot up from their chests to join with Princess Rarity's blue aura.

Twilight took a deep breath and remembered everything Spike had ever meant to her. How he'd always been her faithful assistant and often knew what Twilight needed before she knew herself. How he stayed loyal to her even when other ponies tried to attract his attention or even take him away. How he would comfort her any time her studies got too much, or other ponies had hurt her feelings. How she would do anything to help him now.

A pink beam shot from her and joined Princess Rarity's blue aura, and a brilliant purple beam shot towards Spike, enveloping him in a purple cocoon of light. When it slowly unwound...

Twilight gasped. Spike was worse than ever. His entire body was gray.

"We're sorry, Twilight..." Diane Pie said.

Twilight ran over and scooped up the cold hard body of the little dragon.

Wrong texture.

Spike wasn't dead. He was turned to stone.

Diane Pie rested her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "At least he is alive."

"It's all that we can do," Captain Dash said. "Princess Twilight was trying to find a cure, b-but..."

"But Spike was already infected," Twilight finished. "We don't even know..." Tears filled her eyes.

Nopony said anything for a moment.

"Well, hay, you're going back to your own timeline, right?" Aunt Jackie said, trying to smile. "There were plenty of dragons around in those days. Maybe one of them could help you out."

"Wait," Rainbow Dash said. "You mean to tell me that there aren't plenty of dragons around now? What the hay happened to them?"

The future ponies looked at each other awkwardly.

"Illness?" Twilight Sparkle said bitterly.

"Well... well..." Captain Dash said.

"Nope," Aunt Jackie said. "That's all Ah want to say on the matter."

"Well," Captain Dash said tentatively, "I think we have everypony. Now..." she sighed heavily. "Sparkie."

Trial by ShadowFire

"Hey, Twilight Sparkle!" Captain Dash shouted as the eleven ponies emerged from the tower trapdoor.

I am glad to see you have returned, Captain Dash. I'm hoping you reconsidered and will no longer attempt to resist me. I only want to help. I am your redemption.

"Yeah, right!" Aunt Jackie said. "If by 'redemption' you mean 'cold and heartless as a Time Guardian.'"

That doesn't even make sense, Jackie dear.

"Don't call me that!" Aunt Jackie shouted. "Only my friends can call me that!"

I am your friend, Jackie. That's why I want to help you.

"She doesn't need your help!" Princess Rarity shouted.

We can argue forever, the ShadowFire said. I do not want to argue. I want to help.

"Brace yourselves!" Captain Dash shouted.

Black and purple flames raced towards the ponies and...

...streaked right past them.

Princess Rarity, Captain Dash, Dame Fluttershy, Diane Pie and Aunt Jackie all stared at the ShadowFire in confusion.

Then they turned around and saw the flames consume their past selves.

Silly ponies, the ShadowFire said. I don't need you. I already have you in my grasp; it's only a matter of time. But these six... I would rather confront right now.

What...?

Rainbow Dash rubbed her head.

Time seemed to have slowed down. Everything was fuzzy. She sort of knew that she had been afraid a moment ago, but now that seemed distant. She could still see her friends around her, but they seemed to not be moving much. Not really FROZEN but not really moving either.

Rrrrainbowwww...

Rainbow Dash tried to whirl around and demand who was there, but found she didn't have the energy. Instead she just lazily spun in a circle and said, "Hey."

Hey yourself.

"Anything you wanted to tell me?" Rainbow Dash said.

Why are you talking to yourself?

Rainbow Dash shook herself. Heh, how silly, she could have sworn she'd heard a voice.

She turned back to watch their future selves confront the ShadowFire. Rainbow Dash was happy for them, but she felt a bit like a third wheel. They didn't really need her at this point.

As if they ever needed you.

Rainbow Dash sometimes felt like all she did was mess things up. Not that she would tell anypony that out loud.

You don't have to tell them. They notice.

Rainbow often wondered if her friends noticed...

Rainbow Dash stirred and blinked in the bright sunlight. Her nap had been interrupted by some rude animals.

She peeped down out of the tree branch she was on and saw... her friends. All of them.

Except her.

"What are you all doing out here?" she asked.

"Why, we always round up our critters for a regular ol' Pony Pet Playdate in this park," Applejack said, shrugging.

"Uh..." Rainbow Dash cocked her head. "You do?"

Fluttershy glanced nervously at everypony. "I thought you knew. You didn't know? She didn't know?"

Twilight Sparkle gave Fluttershy a weird look. "Well, we had initially planned on inviting Rainbow, of course, except–"

Pinkie Pie leapt into the air, ready to provide an explanation. "We were totally gonna invite you, Rainbow, then Twilight remembered that you don't even have a pet, and Rarity remembered that you really like to take naps in the afternoon, so Applejack figured you wouldn't be missing out on anything anyway, and Fluttershy and I nodded our heads in agreement like this." She grabbed Fluttershy's head and moved it up and down.

Visibly distressed, Fluttershy said, "Oh, please don't be mad at us."

Rainbow Dash looked from one pony to another.

"Oh, I'm not mad. You all are right. Not much point of a Pony Pet Playdate for me if I'm a pony without a pet, right?" She shrugged and tried to go back to sleep.

That was the only reason they didn't invite her, right?

It wasn't like there could be another reason, right?

But that really WAS the only reason, Rainbow Dash argued. As soon as she got a pet, they stopped leaving her out, right?

Really? They stopped leaving you out? They never again did anything to exclude you?

Rainbow Dash zoomed down the ally, wings pumping. Somewhere, somehow, she would find that masked pony. The Mysterious Mare Do Well had made a fool of her. She'd humiliated her in every way possible, turned everypony against her- even her friends- and had isolated her.

Nopony would take her friends away. This pony would pay as soon as she found her. This could only be the work of some evil being, like Discord! Yeah, Discord. Trying to drive them apart by defaming Rainbow Dash. It was exactly like something Discord would do- it was exactly what he'd done to Twilight. And now he was doing it to Rainbow Dash. But she wouldn't let him, because her friends would stand by her no matter what, because she was loyal to them and so they were loyal to her-

She snatched the mask off.

"Wha- P-pinkie Pie?"

One by one, Rainbow Dash's very best friends came forward and explained their actions. How they'd dressed up as Mare Do Well to 'teach her a lesson'.

Rainbow Dash wasn't listening very closely.

How could they?

Something in her rose up, wanting to scream at them and tell them she didn't need friend who would make her feel as awfully as that-

What? Didn't need her friends?

Who was she kidding?

She couldn't get mad at them! What if she never saw them again?

Swallow your pride, Dashie. Tell them what they want to hear. Write a letter to Princess Celestia, even. Do whatever it takes.

Just don't leave me!

Rarity sighed softly. She wasn't quite sure where she was. What had she been thinking about?

But somehow she wasn't scared. It was as though she didn't have the energy to be terrified.

It really was too bad that their future selves didn't seem to need their help, but probably that was just as well.

Because we all know what happens when you try to help, don't we, Rarity?

"Well?" Rarity asked, gesturing to the dresses. They were masterpieces, her best work. Even she was surprised at how well they'd turned out. Her friends were clearly rendered speechless at the sight of the wonderful outfits they would be wearing to the Grand Galloping Gala.

So why were her friends blinking at her, blank expressions on their faces?

...Didn't they like their dresses?

Okay, Rarity thought, maybe my friends don't always appreciate my help, but I always...

Well, okay, maybe I'm not as useful as I could be, Rarity thought. But I never hurt anyth-"There! All done!"

After receiving so many orders for Nightmare Night costumes, Rarity was pleased that she'd gotten to do a full makeover and provide a lovely dress. And for Princess Luna no less! She had surely come to the right place if she wanted to improve her public image and prove less scary to her subjects.

Princess Luna looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her mane and coat had been dyed bright pink, and she wore a frilly dark pink dress decorated with hearts.

"Why... so... pink?" she asked, tears appearing in her eyes.

"Pink is simply the most fashionable choice. I promise that you will sweep the ponies off their-"

Twilight Sparkle was making frantic gestures for her to be quiet.

"-h-hooves," Rarity finished. "Err, Twilight?"

Princess Luna burst into tears.

"Why?" she wailed to the ceiling. "Why do they not love me? Why do they not lo-ove me?" She curled into a little ball and sobbed.

Rarity blinked and turned to Twilight.

"I-I'm sorry," Twilight said. "I should have stopped you..."

"Why, Twilight, whatever is the matter?"

Twilight Sparkle coughed. "Err, um... You see, a thousand years ago, back when Celestia and Luna had normal manes, Celestia's was pink and Luna's was blue, a-and, well, see, fashion of the time dictated that pink manes were rare and beautiful, while blue manes were plain and dark and ugly... mostly because they didn't like Luna very much at the time."

"Oh! Oh, my goodness, I am so sorry!" Rarity rushed over to Luna and rubbed her shoulders. "I didn't mean that pink was the only fashionable choice! Ponies love the color blue, too! Honest they do!"

Luna sniffled a bit. "W-we forgive thee. Thou didst not know."

"I HATE being a fashion model!" Fluttershy wailed. "I wish you had never gotten me involved!"

Well, okay, but-

"Why is Fluttershy so mean?" Pinkie Pie sobbed, watching Fluttershy retreat.

"I j-just wanted her to be assertive..." Rarity sighed.

Rarity started crying.

"I can't do anything right!"she shouted, sitting down and sobbing.

The carriage rolled to a stop. Applejack peeked out the window. Sweet Apple Acres. It was hard to imagine she had called this place home. Now, just seeing it made her feel empty inside.

Her uncle and aunt and cousin left the carriage almost immediately. Even their funeral clothes were stunning. Everything about them seemed to scream that they were above the common folk of Ponyville.

Applejack's dress was no less beautiful. As was only appropriate for a pony of Manehattan. Even when in mourning.

Applejack buried her head in the seat cushions and hoped they would leave her where she was. If she never entered the farmhouse or attended the funeral, maybe it would all turn out to just be a bad dream.

Maybe her mother wouldn't actually be dead.

I didn't even get to say goodbye, she thought as she sobbed quietly. I was too busy trying to be a fancy social elite.

Trying to escape from her.

Pinkie Pie sniffled. "That was the saddest story I ever-"

"Hey!" Applejack said. "What do you think you're doing?"

Pinkie Pie shook herself. "O-oh, I'm sorry, I must have activated a flashback just there, and I saw the day you went to your mom's funeral..."

"You're reading my mind?"

"Well, um, I'm done now..." Pinkie Pie said lamely.

Applejack stared at Pinkie Pie hard.

"Ah can't believe you would do something so invasive," she snarled. "Who do you think you are, anyway? Ah've always been concerned about your strange powers, but this is a new low for you. You need to stop with your witchcraft powers and seek cleansing for your sins. God created you as an earth pony, and an earth pony is who you're meant to be. Stop trying to use magic. It was never meant for you." She turned away.

Pinkie Pie started crying, and her mane flattened out. Diane Pie's words came back to her:

"You just go on your merry way, smiling and laughing, poking holes in the fabric of reality like there's no tomorrow. Wait until you grow up and things start falling through those holes. And are lost forever. Then you'll understand."

Pinkie Pie sniffled. "That was the saddest story I ever-"

"Hey!" Applejack said. "What do you think you're doing?"

Pinkie Pie shook herself. "O-oh, I'm sorry, I must have activated a flashback just there, and I saw the day you went to your mom's funeral..."

"You're reading my mind?"

"What?" Pinkie Pie said, cocking her head. "What's the matter? If you didn't like when I did that you should have said something the other times."

Applejack froze up. "Other times?"

"Yeah. Usually you don't complain when I read your mind."

"What?"

Pinkie Pie shrugged. "It's not like I look at anything important. And you're the element of Honesty anyway. You don't have anything you need to keep private."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "Come on."

"I thought some of your memories were cute," Fluttershy whispered.

"And I just adore those dresses you wore in Manehatten," Rarity cooed. "I'm thinking of doing a bit of a fashion revival!"

Applejack stared at her friends in horror.

"Th-this is some stupid prank, right?" she asked.

All the ponies stared at her blankly.

"Why should it be?" Twilight Sparkle said, shrugging. "If you wanted to hide anything from us, you wouldn't be the element of Honesty, would you?"

"Th-then take your stupid elements and burn them!" Applejack shouted, wheeling away. "There's no point being Honesty if Ah can't trust anypony else!"

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Discord leaned over and poked Fluttershy on the head.

Fluttershy screamed as her mind was invaded.

"You've been kind for far too long, my dear," Discord hissed. "Time to be cruel."

Fluttershy's thoughts were warped, twisted, molded...

"N-no!" Fluttershy wailed. "Please! I don't want to remember!"

She curled up in a little ball on the floor.

Poor Fluttershy. Poor little Fluttershy. You didn't offer any resistance at all, did you?

"I-I couldn't. I was too weak. I can never forgive myself. I let my friends down."

Do you want to know what kind of resistance your friends put up?

"That would be interesting," Twilight said. "I never knew what happened to my friends in the maze. They never really told me."

"When all the truth does is make your heart ache, sometimes a lie is easier to take."

Applejack sighed. "Ah... guess... you're right."

Gray color swarmed across Applejack's coat.

"You're right," Applejack repeated. "Sometimes you have to lie."

"That didn't happen!" Fluttershy shrieked. "You're lying!"

Isn't that ironic.

"Your friends laugh at you all the time."

"HA HA HA!"

"I. Hate. Laughing."

Pinkie Pie snarled as her coat changed shade.

"What?" Twilight said, shaking her head. "You've got to be kidding me. Why would Pinkie Pie believe that?"

Some ponies are more susceptible than others. Case in point:

"Here. Take this big gemstone. Don't feel like you have to share."

"Ooh, this gemstone is so pretty that I'm just going to forget that I'm the element of generosity!"

"She said that?" Fluttershy whispered.

Paraphrased.

"The Shadowbolts were losers. Join the Chaosbolts!"

"Aw, yeah! This'll be awesome!" Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof in the air.

"Why, that little rat!" Twilight shouted. "I can't believe... I can't believe... my friends are all... no... wait... Fluttershy..."

"My friends are all..."

Fluttershy looked at her Discorded friends. Then she looked at her future selves.

A snarl crossed her face.

"Nopony is kind."

Rainbow Dash was shouting "No, no, no!"

Rarity was sobbing.

Pinkie Pie was laying on the ground with her mane straight.

Applejack was stalking off in disgust.

Fluttershy was glaring at all her friends.

"What happened?" Twilight asked. "Don't tell me they all failed to resist the ShadowFires."

This isn't exactly the first time this happened to you, is it?

Discord had them all under his spell in a matter of minutes. Queen Chrysalis turned them all against you by giving them pretty dresses.

Twilight sighed.

"Why is nopony able to resist these villains but me?"

Maybe they just need your help. Somepony to keep an eye on them.

"Right," Twilight Sparkle said, squaring her shoulders. "Because they need me to take care of them."

"Twilight? Pinkie Pie? Rarity? Rainbow- Applejack- Fluttershy- guys?" Diane Pie said, waving her hoof in front of their faces.

Too late, Diane. The future will go on for these six ponies.

Just as planned.

Showdown

The past selves were surrounded by purple flames which licked up their bodies, igniting them, but none of them noticed. They were too lost in their thoughts.

"This can't be," Aunt Jackie whispered.

"We've failed again," Captain Dash said, tracing her hoof in the ground.

But Dame Fluttershy shook her head. "No. I won't let this happen again." She swooped towards Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy," she whispered in her past self's ear. "Can you hear me? Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy didn't respond.

After hesitating for a moment, Dame Fluttershy pulled her past self into a hug. The flames hurt a bit, but not nearly as much as it normally hurt when you hugged something on fire.

Fluttershy unfroze and the snarl left her face. "Wh-what...?"

"F-Fluttershy..." Dame Fluttershy smoothed her past self's hair, measuring carefully what she would say next. She didn't want her younger self becoming jaded and cruel before her time... but the only way she could think of to convince her of a different path would be to tell her all sorts of things that she didn't really believe.

Sometimes a lie is easier to take, she thought bitterly.

"Fluttershy," Dame Fluttershy whispered. "You can't let a few bad ponies, or good ponies with a few bad days, shake your worldview. You have many happy memories of your friends, don't you? Happy memories of when they helped you?"

Fluttershy sighed. "I think... I think..."

She shook her head. "But those were so fleeting..."

"No, no, Fluttershy, don't believe it!" Dame Fluttershy said, shaking her past self lightly. "Don't let the ShadowFires lie to you! Ponies may have dark thoughts. They may be selfish. They may be sick and twisted at times..."

"Hey, ShyGuy!" Captain Dash said. "I thought you were supposed to be trying to help?"

Dame Fluttershy sighed. "But... but...

Arguments fell away from her like spiderwebs in the rain.

"But, Fluttershy, ponies may say they like their lives the way they are, but... but ponies... they want to be good. Something deep inside them wishes they could be good people. Something that wishes that they could find joy... joy that they will only find by living to make others happy. But they're lost. How will they know how to live a happy life unless you show them?"

Fluttershy didn't respond.

"Well?" Dame Fluttershy said. "Will you keep trying? Or will you give up?"

The flames surrounding Fluttershy turned lighter and lighter. A look of determination crossed Fluttershy's face.

"I... will... keep trying. I will help... everypony."

Then she cried out as the flames exploded off of her, seeping across the ground and flickering out.

"You did it!" Princess Rarity cried. "Oh, my goodness... Rarity!"

She swooped next to her past self and spread a wing over her.

For Princess Rarity, this was much harder. It was easy for everypony, even Dame Fluttershy, to see what had happened to her. But Princess Rarity wasn't exactly sure. What had gone wrong?

"Hey, Dashie," Captain Dash said, swooping next to her younger self. "Get up off the ground and stop moping. Tell you what, friends forgive friends. They forgive and forget. Just because you are the element of loyalty doesn't mean your friends aren't loyal. And if they aren't- I mean, if they leave you when the going gets tough- I mean, if they aren't willing to put up with you-" she swallowed hard. "Hey, I'm sure s-somepony will appreciate your loyalty, even if they d-don't. Who needs them, huh?"

"I need them!" Rainbow Dash wailed.

"No," Captain Dash said. "Friendship is give and take, you know? And if all your friends do is take..." Captain Dash began blinking rapidly. "Then maybe they aren't really your friends."

"Hey!" Princess Rarity said, marching over to the two Dashes. "It's not like that! We aren't trying to be mean to you! We just don't always understand..." she sniffed. "We just don't always know what you need."

Oh, Princess Rarity thought.

"Y-yeah, right!" Captain Dash said, looking relieved. "Right! Your friends really may think you don't care, because you never tell them. You just suck it up and nod for fear they'll leave you. They don't mean to exclude you. But you need to communicate- not just agree. Understand?"

Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense." She smiled at her future self.

Then with a loud bang, purple flames exploded outward from Rainbow Dash, then evaporated like smoke.

"Two down..." Diane Pie said.

Princess Rarity turned to her past self. Things were beginning to make sense to her.

"Rarity," she said. "You can't just stop helping ponies because sometimes your help missed the mark. You have to pay attention to what they actually need- not what they want, not what you want for them. And like all things, this takes practice. Your first dress wasn't perfect, was it?"

Rarity swiped her tears away firmly and tossed her mane. "You're right, future self. I will never get anything I want if I don't persist. And that goes for generosity as well!"

The purple flames scattered off Rarity, leaving her coat pure white again.

"Whoa, that was fast," Captain Dash said.

"All righty," Aunt Jackie said. "Now what?"

"My turn," Diane Pie said. She smiled. It wasn't a bitter smile or a sad smile- just a little stiff.

"Hey, Pinkie," she said to her past self. "Gosh. I can hardly remember when I used to go by that name, I mean it just started seeming so silly, but boy how I miss it, I miss when I used to do things just because they were silly, and oh my gosh I can't remember the last sentence I've said that was this long and was so short on periods. You're already starting to make me feel better, Pinkie. And that's your talent, isn't it? Making ponies happy? That's what makes you happy, right? And you can't do that when you're sad.

"And never, ever believe that your powers are unnatural." Tears appeared in Diane Pie's eyes. "Never, ever. They are a gift you were given when you were born. They make you different, but they were on purpose. It was m-meant to be." She hugged Pinkie Pie. "So just b-be careful, okay? Everything will turn out right in the end. Okay?"

"Okay," Pinkie Pie said.

With a bang and a flash, both Pinkie Pie and Diane Pie's manes poofed up again, and the flames exploded off of Pinkie Pie. Spontaneously, both of them started giggling. Then rolling on the floor with laughter.

Aunt Jackie watched as Applejack stomped away, purple flames licking up her sides.

"What are you waiting for?" Captain Dash said. "You're the only pony left! I mean, you know, besides... Twilight."

"But you all knew what to say ahead of time because you were confessing your own sins. Ah'm not sure what Applejack's problem is. This never happened to me."

"Oh, give me a break! I can't believe you! You stuck up jerk!" Captain Dash shouted.

"What'd you say?" Aunt Jackie said confrontationally.

"What do you mean this never happened to you?" Captain Dash demanded, landing and glaring straight at Aunt Jackie. "She's doing exactly what you did! She's turning away from her friends because she thinks they're all corrupt!"

"But Ah was correct. So's she."

Captain Dash screamed with frustration.

"Dear?" Princess Rarity said. "I know it's hard to admit that you are wrong. But you've done it before-"

"Ah'm not wrong!" Aunt Jackie shouted.

"Th-that doesn't matter!" Dame Fluttershy said, fury in her eyes. "I mean, I'm sorry, yes, you were right. We were acting like jerks. And we're sorry. Really. But you can't just walk away! We need you!"

Aunt Jackie watched as Applejack draped her front hooves over the edge of the tower and glared sullenly at the ground.

"Fine," she said. "Ah'll see what Ah can do." She trotted over to her past self. "Hey, Jacki- Applejack."

Applejack muttered something under her breath.

"Hey. Ah know your friends are headed down a dark path, but you can't just up and leave right now. You've been given a rare and precious gift. You get to see the future."

"Ah hate it," Applejack growled.

"You and me both. But maybe this will inspire you to try and reign your friends in a little harder than I did. You can't give up hope this quickly."

Applejack whirled around on Aunt Jackie. "Of course Ah'm not giving up! What makes you think Ah'm giving up?"

Aunt Jackie backed off a bit. "Well, uh..."

"Ah mean, sure, the thought crossed my mind, but hay, Ah've had these friends for years and you stick with what works. If it's broke, you fix it, you don't just throw it away. Ah know what needs to be done." Applejack slowly turned back around and draped her hooves over the edge again. "Ah just reserve the right to mope for a bit first, okay?" she added more softly.

Aunt Jackie stared at Applejack in disbelief for a second. Then she tipped an invisible hat to Applejack. "Good for you, sugar cube. My hopes and prayers are with you."

Purple flames slowly slid down Applejack's back like water, dripping to the ground and evaporating into nothing.

"I am the only one...

"Huh..."

Twilight Sparkle looked at her friends for a bit. She shrugged and smiled.

"That's silly," she said. "My friends were doing fine before I ever got there. Sure, I'll help them if they need my help. But I can't control them."

Flames slowly sunk down Twilight's form, creating a puddle at her hooves.

"Hmm, where was I anyway?" Twilight said, staring at the sky.

Her future self was in the air, glowing brilliant violet.

Twilight blinked.

"I understand her now," she whispered. "I know the problem."

Diane Pie was laughing. Princess Rarity was smiling. Dame Fluttershy was tenderly hugging a pony. Captain Dash and Aunt Jackie stood side by side- tense, but not hostile.

A tear slid down Princess Twilight's cheek.

I miss them...

But it's far too late for you, Princess Twilight Sparkle. You surrendered control, and now there is nothing for you but ShadowFire.

More tears fell.

I'm sorry, she told her friends. It's too late. Now there is only one thing you can do. Destroy us both.

Diane Pie stopped laughing and sat up in shock.

"What?" she demanded of the violet flamed pony. "No!"

"This can't be!" Aunt Jackie said. "There's gotta be a way to save you!"

No. There is nothing.

"No, no, no!" Twilight Sparkle shouted, leaping to her hooves and pointing at her future self. "No. You don't understand. ShadowFire lies. That's what went wrong. You should have known that ShadowFire is a liar, but you chose to believe him. That's why he has power over you- because you believe he does. But Luna broke free of Nightmare Moon. It's not too late, Twilight! Come back! Let your love and friendship bring you back to your friends! As long as there is life-"

-there is hope.

You liar. I am the one in control.

No, you lie. You're fooling yourself, Twilight. We are the ones in control. We've been manipulating you through threats to your little dragon pet for years. You've done all manner of things you said you'd never do. Remember the university? Remember the laws you let Fluttershy pass? Remember the dungeons?

I'm sorry. I'll fix it.

It's too late. We have you now.

No! I can fix it!

The flaming alicorn thrashed around. Sometimes the flames nearly came detached, leaving Twilight's regular lavender coat untouched, but they always reattached.

"No, Sparkie!" Princess Rarity said. "It will be okay! You are not alone!"

She flew up into the air and hugged Princess Twilight, stopping her thrashing. Captain Dash joined her, and together they pulled Princess Twilight down to the tower, upon which all of the future selves surrounded the princess in a group hug.

"Don't give up!" Diane Pie urged her.

"We can work together to make everything right again," Dame Fluttershy whispered.

"Ah promise Ah won't leave again," Aunt Jackie said.

"And I promise that I'll stop being such a yes-mare," Captain Dash said.

"And I promise to give and take advice," Princess Rarity said.

"I promise to stop being so selfish," Diane Pie said.

"I promise to look on the bright side again," Dame Fluttershy said.

Slowly, slowly, the purple flames sunk down off of Princess Twilight.

No. No!

Princess Twilight blinked and looked at herself. The flames were gone.

"My past self was right," she whispered. "I knew that they were liars..."

Then she started crying.

Those Who Have Come After

Princess Twilight Sparkle descended the steep stairs, nearly tripping in her haste. The only thing making her slow down was the reminder that if she did fall, she had no more wings to catch herself with.

Her beautiful wings had vanished along with ShadowFire. So, from all accounts, had the Hunter. So had several other magical items and spells that Twilight had made with ShadowFire's help. It would be hard for her to replace those things, or learn to live without them.

But she hoped that something else had vanished along with them.

With a flash of her horn, Twilight passed through a set of magical locks, half of which no longer worked, into the inner chamber, the lowest room in the palace.

The room was crowded with magical implements, from metal boxes with flashing lights and green display screens, to complex structures of gold and lead wire and a dazzling variety of gemstones, to pulsating clear orbs filled with rainbow lightning.

Since assuming the throne with the help of ShadowFire, Princess Twilight had been telling her subjects that every drop of unicorn magic that could be spared was necessary to keep these machines running, and that these machines were important to maintain not only Equestria, but the stability of the universe.

That had been half true.

Princess Twilight wasn't even surprised that Celestia had gotten away with lying to her subjects for so long. She herself had found her subjects sadly gullible. But she'd told herself it would be worth it.

That seemed silly now.

Princess Twilight slowly approached the little green capsule in the middle of the room. Aunt Jackie could say what she liked about the Time Guardians, but they had served a purpose in history. It was only through their work that she'd managed to create a capsule of frozen time.

With some hesitation, Princess Twilight cracked the seal. Now to see if all her dreams had come true, or been shattered forever.

Lying in the capsule, his arms crossed over his chest, looking just the same as the day she'd sealed him away, was Spike. He was a bit taller and his legs and arms more gangly, but otherwise he looked the same as his past self.

The spots were gone, Princess Twilight thought, a glimmer of hope forming in her mind. Gently, she reached out and shook him. "Spike? Spike? Please wake up."

Spike didn't move. His skin felt cold to the touch.

Tears appeared in Princess Twilight's eyes. Some of them fell on Spike's face, but he still didn't move.

Princess Twilight flung herself around Spike in a tight hug, sobbing in earnest. Her horn glowed- regular magenta again- as she frantically tried to wake him up with whatever magic spell would do the job.

"T-Twilight?"

Princess Twilight gasped and uncurled slightly so she could look at Spike's face. His eyes flickered open.

"Twilight?" he whispered. "Where are your wings?"

Twilight hugged Spike tightly and nuzzled his cheek affectionately. "I traded them for something far more precious."

"Oh, Rarity," Past Fluttershy breathed. "Your sky is beautiful."

Princess Rarity looked up at the night sky. "Oh, I can't raise the moon or anything, dearie. That's all handled by Twilight. I'm mostly a figurehead." She smiled slightly. "But on occasion I have fun with the constellations."

Stars shifted place across the sky, rearranging to form the shapes of the six elements of harmony.

"Now remember," Pinkie Pie said as she unpacked a picnic basket at impossible speeds, "this is a Peace Picnic. If you want to confess your own problems, fine. But no accusing any other pony."

Aunt Jackie ground her teeth together. "You folks are sure gonna get it from me soon as this picnic's over..."

"Wait until our past selves go home at least," Diane Pie said.

"Ah know," Aunt Jackie said.

Rainbow Dash snatched a platter of tiny cakes and flew up in the sky with them.

"Hey!" Twilight Sparkle said. "Those are for everypony!"

"You know just as well as I do that if I leave them on the ground Pinkie Pie will-"

Pinkie Pie and Diane Pie decimated a cake together.

"See?" Rainbow Dash said.

"We only ate one slice!" Pinkie Pie protested. "There's nine slices for the rest of you!"

"Yeah, guys. Don't you know what 'decimated' means?" Diane Pie said.

"Don't fall," Fluttershy whimpered, watching the two Spikes dangle their legs over the edge of the cloud.

Princess Twilight had enchanted a cloud to be a safe platform for all the ponies and dragons to stand on. She wanted them to see the stars 'a little closer' for their picnic.

Rarity trotted over to the two Spikes and sat down between them. "Oh, the castle looks beautiful from up here."

"It's like I never left," Future Spike whispered.

After a pause, Rarity said, "You know that neither of you are going to die of terminal illness, right, dearies?"

"Yeah," Future Spike said, smiling. "Twilight explained it all to me." He swung his legs back and forth and stared at the ground. "Thank you... for saving us."

After a pause, Rarity picked Past Spike up and hugged him. "We couldn't have done it without you!"

"Aw," Spike said. "It was nothing." Hearts appeared in his eyes.

"So," Twilight Sparkle said to the two princesses, "I know we're not supposed to accuse other ponies... but you are going to let the unicorns go, right?"

Princess Twilight and Princess Rarity looked at each other.

"Well, we'll talk about it," Princess Twilight said. "Maybe I can go back to a magic tax?"

"Or we could check on Celestia and Luna again," Princess Rarity whispered. "But what about Sweetie Belle?"

There was a pause. "Oh, uh, yeah... her..." Princess Twilight said, shuffling her hooves and kicking up cloud dust.

"I mean, her special talent is to fuel magic spells, isn't it?" Princess Rarity pressed.

Princess Twilight drew herself up and took a deep breath. "Hercutiemarkisfake."

"What?" Princess Rarity said, cocking her ear to hear better.

Princess Twilight closed her eyes as if braced for impact. "Sweetie Belle's cutie mark is fake."

Princess Rarity's eye twitched. "Come again, darling?"

"I made it up so that you wouldn't mind that I was using her as... a... battery..." Princess Twilight shrank back at Princess Rarity's harsh glare.

"You did what?!" Princess Rarity roared in the Canterlot Royal Voice.

"I-I didn't want to look like I was making exceptions for my friends! It would have looked bad!" Princess Twilight whimpered.

"You turned my sister into a brainless little machine! I can't believe you-"

"Twilight didn't erase Sweetie Belle's memory!" Aunt Jackie shouted, whacking Princess Rarity on the shoulder.

Princess Rarity leaned back and stopped glaring at Princess Twilight. "...What?"

"Sweetie Belle's amnesia isn't Twilight's fault. Somepony else did that."

"And this is a peace picnic!" Diane Pie shouted.

"I'm sorry," Princess Twilight said. "Giving Sweetie Belle a fake cutie mark was wrong and I shouldn't have done it and I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you... but I can't fix the past."

"Says who?" Aunt Jackie snarled. "Says Doctor Whooves?"

"Says the fact I'm not a Time Guardian," Princess Twilight snarled back.

"But we can fix the past!" Pinkie Pie said. "And we will! We will!"

"Speaking of which," Rainbow Dash said, shoving the rest of a submarine sandwich in her mouth, "you've got the portal ready, right, Sparkie?"

Princess Twilight nodded. "Ready when you are."

"In a minute," Pinkie Pie said. "You can't leave in the middle of a party."

The ponies settled down to enjoy one last moment together.

"Is everypony all set?" Princess Twilight asked.

"It's not like we brought any luggage, dear," Rarity said.

"Oh, but I do have that fabulous outfit you were wearing when you first arrived!" Princess Rarity said, magiking the ensemble onto Rarity.

"Ooh!" Rarity cooed. "I can't believe you remembered!"

"Are you going to tell Twilight about... you-know-what?" Fluttershy whispered to Dame Fluttershy.

Dame Fluttershy smiled bitterly. "I won't leave it alone... let's just leave it at that."

"Promise me you two will try and get along," Applejack told her future self and Captain Dash.

The two ponies shrugged at each other.

"I'll do my best," Captain Dash said.

"And stop with the magic enhancements," Rainbow Dash said. "Those are what's making you so... such a pushover. Hormones and all that. I learned about this in Cloudsdale."

"So did I," Captain Dash said with a smirk. "And I'll think about it. But I do have the kingdom's safety to think about."

"But I promise to stop with the medicine," Diane Pie said. "You're right Pinkie Pie. My... our powers are a gift. I'll just have to figure them out on my own time."

"Okay, seriously, guys?" Twilight Sparkle called from the floor of her library. "I think the princess is getting tired of holding the portal open."

Princess Twilight nodded, smiling weakly. "Thank you, Twilight..."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Fluttershy shouted, hopping to the other side of the portal right away.

The portal was the same as the one that first lead Twilight and friends into this world- surrounded by crystals, creating a hole in the castle wall that really lead to Twilight's library instead of the castle grounds.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that," Rainbow Dash said, stepping to the other side.

"Goodbye!" Pinkie Pie said, stepping over the line. "Will we ever see you again?"

"Hopefully not," Princess Twilight said. "But if we do, I hope it's only because you decided to visit our timeline again."

"Stay strong!" Rarity said, joining her friends in Twilight's library.

Applejack hesitated.

"Before Ah say goodbye," she said, backing off into the library, "Ah'd like to know one thing, if you can tell me that..."

"Yes, dear?" Princess Rarity said.

"Ah'd just like to know... Princess Twilight? Yer highness?"

"Yes?" Princess Twilight said.

"Do you know when... when Doctor Whooves first shows up?"

Princess Twilight frowned with concentration. The portal flickered like a TV with poor reception, into and out of existence.

"Princess?" Applejack said.

The words came to her, broken and soft, but still intelligible:

"Soon. Very Soon."

The portal closed permanently.

End Arc 1.

Author's Notes

Hey, thanks to everyone who's read this far! It was a lot of fun writing Arc 1 (at times...) but I'm still glad it's over, because I think I'm going to have even more fun with Arc 2.

There'll be a bit of a break between arcs, as I still need to figure out an outline for Arc 2, but I wanted to give you a hint about the plot. (I mean, a hint other than 'Doctor Whooves is in it'.) I've always been fond of the Next Episode previews of Doctor Who, which shows you several one-second clips of the next episode with no context given, leaving you to wonder and speculate at the meaning of some of the scenes. So I had an idea for something similar. I'll give you several clips of dialogue from the next arc, without telling you the context- or who is saying the dialogue.

Of course, since I'm giving you these little dialogue clips before I've actually written the story, I can't guarantee that they'll be used in the arc verbatim. But all the plot points that are being referred to by these snippets of dialogue will be used in the story, unless something radical happens (like the story needing a major plot overhaul because I realized it isn't working, or like me suddenly growing up and deciding I have mature, grown-up things to be doing instead of writing fanfiction for a little girl's TV show.) But hopefully nothing like that will happen.

Here goes:

Up next, on My Little Pony: Through Space and Time:

"Well, Minuette, it seems that you're on time as usual."

"Th-that can't be my special talent! Nopony's special talent is being punctual! Nopony!"

"Look, Octavia- I have wings today!"

"Oh, Celestia help us..."

"Who needs Celestia when we've got an alicorn for a little sister?"

I am so scared.

I woke up just now, and I can't remember anything.

Not my name, not my job, not my family- anything!

Dear Time Guardian Council,

Trying to adjust to life as a mundane earth pony. I cannot tell you how much I hate it.

I am so scared.

I woke up just now, and I can't remember anything.

Not my name, not my job, not my family- anything!

But do you know what's creepier?

The first thing I saw was this journal. And the first entry in this journal was... about how I'd just lost my memory.

Does this mean I've had amnesia before?

"Welcome to the Ultra Mall, the only facility you'll ever need. Here you'll have nothing to do but relax, take life easy, eat fatty foods, and live a life of decadence. Please... don't try to leave. The Lord Smooze has already had lunch today. We'll tell you when you can leave. Don't worry; you'll probably be just in time for dinner."

Dear Doctor Whooves,

The Time Council regrets to inform you that it has no memory of anypony named 'Doctor Whooves', either working for the Time Guardians or otherwise.

I am so scared.

I woke up just now, and I can't remember anything.

Not my name, not my job, not my family- anything!

But do you know what's creepier?

The first thing I saw was this journal. And the first entry in this journal was... about how I'd just lost my memory.

...And so was the second.

And the third.

How many times has this happened? And why can't I stop it?

To be continued...