Strength Beyond Strength

"So, what happened here?"

"We're not really sure when it all started, but our earliest recollections go back to two timelines in particular. The first was one where pinkie pie, or rather, her original personality, Pinkamena Diane Pie, cut Rainbow Dash into ribbons for cupcake ingredients."

"I can still see it," Pinkie clarified, "It's...Horrible..."

"I'm right there with you, Pinkie," Rainbow comforted her friend.

"Good God," Chris uttered.

"The second timeline was one where Scootaloo was taken to a top-secret facility run by Rainbow Dash. They drained the Pegasi who failed their flight tests of their life force and used it to make Rainbows. Thinking back, that one was kind of ridiculous. Rainbows are completely natural phenomena. Pegasi bleed just like everyone else. Maybe the mechanics of that time worked differently. I'm not really sure."

"What else can you remember?"

"From there, the clearest memory seems to be an extension of Pinkie's timeline. It turns out Rainbow Dash was suffering from sleep deprivation because of nightmares. She viciously attacked Pinkie after a psychotic breakdown. Your guess as to where the timeline split again is as good as ours. Sleep deprivation was one of the common themes involved in the killings, though."

"What other incidents occurred."

"Let's see..."

Twilight thought for a moment.

"There was one where I gave Applejack a waking potion. It had adverse effects and caused her to start killing everyone she mistook for a greedy rich pony. He was extorting everything for a previous debt."

"Guess greed is a problem here too."

"The last one I can recall with complete clarity is the timeline where the trees in the everfree were actually living beings. They tore Applejack's younger sister Apple Bloom to shreds. That timeline was a bit stranger than the others."

"How so?"

"I was the one who found Apple Bloom's diary. The events were recounted and found in their original context."

"That's an extremely rare scenario, but from you're saying, it seems like all the timelines were playing out each possibility. Every way you could turn on each other and everyone around you was being tackled."

"What I don't understand is why."

"I'm betting it was because you could."

"That's not what we ever wanted; at least, I don't think so."

"Sometimes it was a series of unfortunate circumstances, others it was unavoidable insanity."

"But why did we keep coming back from the dead?"

"You have magic powers, right?"

"Right."

"Maybe someone else was resetting the timeline trying to make things right."

"That can't be; unless...!?"

Twilight's eyes shot fully open.

"PRINCESS CELESTIA!"

All of Twilight's friends gasped.

"She was the one who remained relatively unaffected by all this!"

"The pieces are coming together."

"Our unlimited accessibility to murder was stamped out when Leon killed us last time! We're not invincible anymore!"

"Which brings it all to why I'm here. I know why I'm here now."

"Tell me."

"I'm here to train you."

"It all makes sense now! With the chain broken, we have a chance to make sure it never happens again!"

"I can't leave out the little ones, sadly. It's gonna' be tough, but I know they can do it."

"Little ones."

"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They were just as much a part of this as the rest of you were."

"Me too," Spike asked.

"Yeah. No soldier can afford to be left behind. This is the most important thing you'll ever do."

"Applejack, Rarity, what do you say. Can you trust him enough to keep us alive?"

"I reckon we ain't got much of a choice."

"Very well. I hate dirt, but I hate dying gruesomely far worse."

"Okay. It's decided then. Your first lesson starts tomorrow."

The group nodded in unison.

"Get all the rest you can. You'll need it."