Friendship is Epic

by Bramble Rose

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Derpy Hooves, Crossover, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Doctor Whooves, Cutie Mark Crusaders
Length: 19339

Twilight has an odd visit from Doctor Whooves, and ends up in Equestria's dark future.

After a strange visit by Doctor Whooves at Twilight's library, she finds herself on a trip through Equestria's future after an epic pony war that ended up with the whole world being mutated and stuck in an endless late afternoon!

Published 2012-07-30 20:04:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-03 10:19:43 UTC

Chapter 1

MLP and characters created by Hasbro & Lauren Faust
Random references by lots of other sci-fi and fantasy

Friendship is Epic is taken from random craziness in pony-chats across the internet. I have collated them into a story - but the ideas in general are fueled by the casual comments of dozens of random anonymous fans.

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS EPIC

It was a peaceful day in Ponyville. The pegasus ponies had done a great job of clearing the sky to a beautiful blue with just a few decorative white drifting clouds. The bright spectrum of pony colors strolled the streets as the inhabitants of Ponyville enjoyed the weather, the warm sun and cool breeze.

A tan pony with a dark brown mane came galloping through the town, the hourglass on his flank marking him as Doctor Whooves, Ponyville's resident mad genius. Usually he was pretty sedate, just wandering around and helping out, but every once in a while he could be seen, such as now, galloping around as if Equestria itself stood on the brink. His home was filled with all sorts of weird contraptions, and he himself was full of the most bizarre little facts.

Today, he was galloping haphazardly towards the center of town. He nearly upended the Sweet Apple Acres apple cart, even though there was plenty of room to go around, just because he was so frantic in his mad dash. "Hey!" cried Applejack, the orange-coated blond filly running the cart. "What in tarnation?"

He reached the door of the library, built into a huge, lush tree just off the town square, and his hoof clattered wildly on the door.

The door opened to show a lavender unicorn pony with darker purple mane, streaks of red running through it, and with a cutie mark of one large star with five smaller ones around it. "Um ... it's the public library," said the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, who lived in the library. "You don't really have to knock."

"Right!" exclaimed Doctor Whooves. He looked over his shoulder quickly, towards the edge of town where he lived in a little hut in the woods. "You don't have to work to get into libraries, just to get out!"

Sometimes, Twilight thought, the strange stallion made as little sense as Pinkie Pie. She stepped back and let the frantic earth pony into her library. "Can I help you with something?" she asked.

"No!" replied Doctor Whooves, "Really no chance, far too complicated, sorry. But you can let me use your equipment!" Doctor Whooves was already past Twilight and pressing through the door into the basement.

"My - ... what?" she asked, confused.

"In the lab! Come along, Twilight, keep up!"

Doctor Whooves already had the panel off the side of her computer by the time she got through the door. It was hooked into a magical aura detector, most recently used to try to determine the source of Pinkie Pie's strange "Pinkie Sense."

"Hey, that's delicate equipment!" Twilight shouted, hurrying down the stairs to try to stop him.

"Don't worry! I won't break it!" cried Doctor Whooves. He ducked his head into the innards and pulled, and came up with a nest of wiring in his teeth. Sparks flew from the computer.

Twilight let out a cry.

"Perfectly normal!" cried the brown pony, nuzzling into his saddlebags and pulling out a small metal cylinder with a blue light on the end. He squeezed it between his teeth and it let out a whistling noise as he pointed it towards the magic crystals making up the control matrix of her computer. "I'd use my sensors but they're being jammed! He won't have thought of blocking your equipment, though, cause it's too primitive." He stated it very matter-of-factly.

"Hey, that's state-of-the-art!" cried Twilight, indignantly. Doctor Whooves spared a moment to roll his eyes. "What are you doing? Who jammed your equipment?"

Doctor Whooves just let out a sigh of frustration, squeezing the cylinder over and over again, the tone of the whistling changing with each squeeze. "Huh. That's odd. It's not working."

"Well, of course not!" cried Twilight, "You yanked half its wiring out!"

The intruder waved his hoof. "Unnecessary," he said. "Just was getting in the way. Ah!" He turned around and gave a good solid kick to the computer. Twilight let out a wail of objection as she heard one of the magic crystals shatter inside the metal casing, but Doctor Whooves didn't seem to notice. Rather, he let out a delighted noise as he peered at the screen, the tube in his teeth letting out that whistling noise again. "There we go... oh, that devious stallion. He really did it!"

"Did what?" cried Twilight, "What are you doing? How are you going to fix my computer?"

Doctor Whooves blinked and stepped back. "Oh, no, it's stuffed. You'll need a new one." He paused a moment. "Sorry about that," he said insincerely. "I'll replace it if I can. But now I gotta go!" He was already dashing up the stairs with the same manic energy he had arrived with.

Twilight chased after him angrily, up the stairs and out into the street. "Get back here!" she cried, but he just kept galloping along through the town and out into the forest, towards his odd shack.

Doctor Whooves lived in a little run-down house in the forest, with all sorts of odd gizmos around it. Some sort of big metal barrel with rows of big copper bumps down the sides rested against the side of his house, collecting rainwater. All sorts of antennae were perched atop the house. The bizarre self-propelled carriage was propped up out front, missing one of its wheels. Thick wires ran out the front door to small dishes pointed up towards the sky all around the front yard.

Doctor Whooves ignored it all, running past his house to the small blue shed he had out back, the one with the light atop it. "Derpy!" he called, "Come along, Derpy! We're leaving!"

A grey pony with a yellow mane, and a spray of bubbles for a cutie mark, popped out the back door of Doctor Whooves' house. "Coming, Doctor!" she called back, grabbing up her mail bag in her teeth and tossing it over her withers. Ditzy Doo, the town's mail carrier, was frequently nicknamed "Derpy" for the fact that her golden eyes looked in two entirely different directions.

Twilight glanced at Derpy, curious, then back to Doctor Whooves, but he already had gotten the door to his shed open and had ducked inside, disappearing. Twilight sighed and waited for him to come out as she demanded, exasperated, "Would you tell me what's going on?!"

Derpy ignored Twilight too, trotting past her merrily to enter the tiny shed. There should barely have been enough room for Doctor Whooves, much less Derpy too. They must be packed in there... the door started to swing shut. Twilight sighed, and darted forward, lowering her head to force the door back open and make her way into the tiny shed... "Would somepony tell me-"

Twilight stopped, her pupils shrinking as she looked around wide-eyed, her front hooves beating out a rapid, nervous pattern on the floor. Derpy was trotting up to the middle of the large room, where Doctor Whooves was pulling levers and nosing buttons on a broad console around a pillar in the center of the bizarrely organic room made mostly of copper and brass. There was no way this massive room could fit inside the tiny shed.

The door closed behind Twilight, and the column in the center of the room started to lift up and down, making that bizarre wheezing noise that everyone in the town had wondered after from time to time.

"Ah, Twilight!" cried Doctor Whooves. "You decided to join us, did you?" He grinned at Twilight's discomfort. "Go ahead, say it. I love it when ponies say it."

"It's ... bigger on the inside?" Twilight said weakly, eyes still wide. Doctor Whooves grinned even more broadly, giving the console a fierce kick with a hind hoof, then a second and third kick. He turned to peer at a display dangling over the controls. "What's going on, Doctor Whooves?" Twilight asked.

Derpy turned around, a big grin on her face. "We're going on an adventure!" she declared merrily.

"In a shed?" Twilight asked, still feeling a bit lost.

"In a blue box!" Doctor Whooves cried. "Or The Blue Box, rather. We call it the TARDIS. And you can just call me Doctor. It's easier that way."

"Right," said Twilight weakly. "I'll ... just ... step outside, I think." As she turned around, the pillar made that wheezing noise again.

"No, wait!" cried Doctor Whooves, clopping quickly towards Twilight. Twilight's horn glowed purple as she tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge - her magic just seemed to slip off of it. The pillar stopped making the wheezing noise as Twilight lowered her head to grasp the door knob in her teeth and yank the door open, hurrying outside.

She stopped, again, receiving yet another shock. It had been the middle of summer when she went in, the trees full of green leaves, the sky bright blue, the weather warm and gentle. Now, though, only half a minute later, the sky was a sickly yellow, the grass and trees all brown and dead. The weather wasn't just warm, it was outright sweltering, oppressive. And Doctor Whooves' little shack was burnt nearly to the ground, nothing but a few black charred pieces of wall lifting above the dead grass around it, worn slick by the passing of years, as if it had happened long ago, rather than during the few seconds she'd been inside the shed.

Twilight sat down hard in the grass as Doctor Whooves peered out of the door over her shoulder. "Ah," he said. "Right. Um. It's a time machine, you see."

Chapter 2

MLP and characters created by Hasbro & Lauren Faust
Random references by lots of other sci-fi and fantasy

Friendship is Epic is taken from random craziness in pony-chats across the internet. I have collated them into a story - but the ideas in general are fueled by the casual comments of dozens of random anonymous fans.

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS EPIC
Part 2

Doctor Whooves looked around at the blighted landscape. "But it really shouldn't have brought us this far forward... this isn't right."

Twilight sat stunned, looking around at the devastation. She had lived in Ponyville only a short time, but she loved the quiet simplicity of the place, and its wonderful people, and all her friends... how could this have happened?

"Must be the interference wave, we'll have to go try aga-"

She took off like a shot, galloping towards Ponyville.

"No, wait!" cried Doctor Whooves, behind her, but she paid no attention. She had to make sure her friends were all right! It couldn't be true, it just couldn't be! Time travel was impossible! this was a joke, she'd come over this hill, and find the town, and everything would be fine ...

She got to the top of the hill and stopped, her hooves beating a nervous rhythm against the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust around her. It couldn't be! Ponyville was in ruins, the outer buildings burnt and destroyed, the inner buildings built up with scrap metal, weird spikes, and surrounded by a tall, spiked wall. The ponies patrolling that wall were all wrapped up in rags and leather, and metal spikes poking out of their clothes at odd places, and their colors seemed sickly and patchy.

Doctor Whooves came running up next to her, and looked down on the town, with Derpy floating unconcerned overhead. "Well," said Doctor Whooves, "That's not right." He sounded less worried, and more like he just ran into an interesting riddle.

"Of course it's not right! Everything looks horrible! And it was just fine a moment ago!" Twilight cried, panicked.

"Time machine!" Derpy reminded her cheerfully, wings flapping lazily as she dangled in the air above them.

"That's not what bothers me..." said Doctor Whooves, "what bothers me is that this isn't supposed to be like this. Last time I was in this time period, there was a little shop down there with a really delicious apple pie a la mode ... somepony changed something."

"Apple pie..." Twilight repeated, a little confused, turning to look at Doctor Whooves with a lost expression on her face. Here they were, looking at a ruin of a landscape, and all he could talk about was apple pie?

Before Doctor Whooves could answer, there was a raucous and mocking laughter surrounding them. Pegasus ponies flew in to circle about the trio of time-travelers, all of them dressed in black leather with metal spikes pointing in all directions. From up close, Twilight could see that their colors were even worse than she thought. Sickly greens, nauseous yellows, angry reds. And their cutie marks! Axes, chains, lead pipes, maces - she'd never seen ponies like this!

"Well, well, well," said one of the pegasi, dropping down to land before them while the others continued to circle. This pegasus pony had a black coat and blood-red hair, and her teeth looked filed down to points. Her cutie mark was of a nasty looking knife on a red splotch. "What do we have here?"

"Ooo, ooo, ooo!" cried one of the circling pegasi, a sickly yellow pony with a mottled brown mane and a swiss army knife with a spoon folded out as a cutie mark. "I know! They're ponies, Hoofcutter! Three of them!"

"Good job!" cried Derpy cheerfully, "You're really smart!"

"Shut up, Dull Edge!" Hoofcutter snapped. "I can see that!"

"What's going on?!" cried Twilight, exasperated. "Who are you all? What happened to Ponyville? Where's my friends?!"

All the pegasus ponies stopped circling, and looked at each other. "Friends?" one said, and the word echoed around the flock of pegasi, like it was a word they weren't used to hearing. "Friends." "Friends?" "Friends... "

"Ponyville," said Hoofcutter, thoughtfully. "I ... haven't heard that name for it in a long time... not since the Before time... "

"Yeah, the Before time!" agreed Dull Edge.

"Shut UP, Dull Edge!" snapped Hoofcutter.

"What I really want to know," Doctor Whooves mused thoughtfully, seeming entirely unconcerned, "Is what's that noise?"

"What noise?" snapped Hoofcutter, sounding like she was on her very last nerve.

Twilight Sparkle tilted her head to the side, trying to listen. What noise could Doctor Whooves have heard that would distract him from a herd of evil pegasi about to kick their tails?

All the pegasus ponies were listening, as were Doctor Whooves and Derpy. Quiet reigned, except for a far-off buzzing noise. Twilight could swear she'd heard that noise before, it seemed so familiar, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on it. It was deep, and resonant, and it was getting closer.

A cart came flying over the hill, leaping through the air in a graceful arc. It was a strange cart made mostly of metal pipes, with four big rubber wheels. There weren't any ponies hauling the cart, and the loud buzzing noise seemed to be coming from it. It crashed into the crowd of pegasi, scattering them.

A yellow hoof struck out from the cart as it flew over their heads, kicking to the side with a cry of 'hi-ya!' to strike one of the pegasus ponies in the jaw, knocking it for a loop. The cart landed, slid sideways for a bit. Two ponies sat in seats in the front of the strangely shaped cart, and a third pony stood on the back, pressing her front hooves against a cross-bar as her orange wings blurred, making the loud buzzing noise. The three ponies were dressed in white leather, from nose to tail, only their muzzles and hoofs showing from behind goggles and cap.

But Twilight could see that the pegasus was orange with a purple mane, that the earth pony with the strong kick was yellow with a red mane, and that the third was a unicorn, white with a curly pink and lavender mane. But that meant... no, it couldn't be...

"The Crusaders!" snarled Hoofcutter. "Get them!"

The white unicorn stood up in her seat. "Wait," she said, and her voice rang powerfully across the clearing. "I am gravely disappointed. Again, you have made us take out the Scootbuggy. You know who we are. You know how this goes, every time we fight - with you crawling back to the Colossal, bruised and broken. There has been too much violence, too much pain. But I have an honorable compromise. Just fly away." Her voice was sonorous, carrying not threat, but rather, a strong determination, along with a hint of compassion. "If you fight us, you can have trouble sleeping tonight with your new bruises. Or you can leave now, and tell Colossal that you were, once again, stopped by the Crusaders. He'll be angry either way, but if you leave now, at least you'll sleep well tonight."

The pegasus bullies all paused, uncertainly.

"I'll make sure," Hoofcutter snarled, "That Colossal hears about every cowardly one of you who disobeys. What he'll do to you will make any beating the Crusaders could dish out seem like a love tap!"

"Wow!" chirped Derpy. "It's almost like he's ordering you all to make sure he doesn't make it back to the camp!"

Hoofcutter sputtered indignantly. "Fall back!" she cried, with a snarl, and backed off slowly. "This isn't the end, Crusaders! I'll get you yet!" then she turned and shot off into the sky.

The three ponies on the dune buggy - or 'Scootbuggy' - struck a pose. "You have been saved by the Crusaders!" cried the white unicorn pony. "Sweetie Belle!"

"Apple Bloom!" cried the yellow earth pony.

"And Scootaloo!" finished the orange pegasus pony.

"My little ponies!" Twilight cried happily! "How big you've grown!"

The Crusaders looked surprised. Then their eyes widened.

"Twilight?!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. "You're back? What are you doing here?"

"Where did you disappear to?" asked Scootaloo.

"And what's he doing?" asked Sweetie Belle.

The Crusaders looked past Twilight, and she followed their gaze. Doctor Whooves was bent down, and ... licking the ground? "Doctor?" she asked, perplexed.

Doctor Whooves spit out the dirt he'd gotten on his tongue. "No magic," he said. "There's not a bit of magic in the ground... no wonder nothing's growing." He looked up at the dull sky. "And the air doesn't have any in it, either... it's stale and harsh. Those pegasus ponies barely had the magic to fly, much less rejuvenate the weather." He nuzzled into his pack and pulled out the small tube with the blue light on the end. It whistled as he shone it at the Crusaders, then dropped it to the ground and peered curiously at it. "But you all still have magic... so you must not be affected." He tucked it away again into his saddlebags. "Fascinating..."

Everyone was silent a moment, except for Derpy who was whistling happily as she looked over the Scootbuggy. Finally, Twilight cried out a frustrated, "Will SOMEONE tell me what's going on here?"

Doctor Whooves nodded. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

Apple Bloom snorted. "Ah was gonna ask th' same thing mahself. But ah think here's a bad place fer a chit-chat. We'd better get back to Sweet Apple Acres, where it's safe. Diamond Tiara'll wanna talk with y'all."

Chapter 3

MLP and characters created by Hasbro & Lauren Faust
Random references by lots of other sci-fi and fantasy

Friendship is Epic is taken from random craziness in pony-chats across the internet. I have collated them into a story - but the ideas in general are fueled by the casual comments of dozens of random anonymous fans.

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS EPIC
Part 3

Twilight Sparkle was wedged into the side of the Scootbuggy, squeezed in next to Scootaloo as the white leather-wearing pegasus propeled this metal cart - this 'dune buggy' - across the barren wasteland. Doctor Whooves was wedged into the far side, his brown mane blowing back in the wind. Derpy was flying along overhead, seemingly unconcerned about the devastation around them that once had been the green and bountiful hills around Ponyville.

She couldn't believe how big Scootaloo was - heck, how big the rest of the Cutie Mar- ... The Crusaders were. Older. More solemn. More serious. She had to believe it - that little blue shed of Doctor Whooves' really had brought them forward in time. Now she knew what the hourglass of his cutie mark meant.

Sweet Apple Acres wasn't where Twilight remembered it - they instead rode towards where Fluttershy had lived. Towards ... the Everfree Forest. As they crested a hill, she saw it - also not as she remembered. The dark, foreboding forest had swollon, had spread, a dark forest spreading out for miles and miles further than it had in her own time, out to the horizon. And before her, a tiny little patch of bright green, dotted with red. Buried into the edge of the Everfree Forest, where plants grew without magic, was the new Sweet Apple Acres.

"Well, now, that's clever," Doctor Whooves said approvingly. "Wonder who figured that one out?"

"Thankee kindly, sugahcube," Apple Bloom replied cheerfully.

It was smaller than the one from her time, and not as open. Like the town behind her, this was surrounded by a large wall, though this wall was of solid wood, not rusty and spiky metal. The ponies on lookout on the wall were normal colors, too - bright, shining colors. Twilight had no idea how much the drab surroundings had been affecting her till she felt the rush of joy at seeing the bright colors.

A white pegasus flew by overhead, wearing a brown leather flying cap and goggles, his rainbow-tinted white mane trailing in the wind, possibly one of the prettier, handsomer stallions she'd ever seen. Like the others, he was dressed neck to tail in white leather, but it just seemed to look better on him. "Everything all right?" he called down.

Apple Bloom nodded, and called back, "Shore as shootin', Starlight! Saved three norms from the Nightrider Herd! Hoofcutter was angry as a long-tailed cat in a roomfulla rockin' chairs!" Twilight felt a bit disoriented as she realized that the flying pegasus stallion up there was a tiny, adorable little fluffball that still couldn't fly, back in her own time period.

Starlight let out a laugh as his wings flapped lazily, the pegasus gliding along overhead, he and Derpy circling round each other curiously. "I'll let Dawn know he needs to greet a couple newbies!" he replied, then leaned forward and zipped towards the apple tree filled compound.

Scootaloo sighed happily as she looked upwards, her wings still lazily buzzing along as she propelled the Scootbuggy. "I could watch him fly all day," she said dreamily.

"Wasn't flying y'all were doin' last night!" Apple Bloom teased, and Scootaloo blushed, but smirked and gave the buggy a little jostle. Twilight let out a soft 'eep' as she grabbed hold of the crossbar more tightly.

Sweetie Belle blushed even more. "You two are so crude!" she harrumphed embarassedly.

Apple Bloom snorted. "Like y'all haven't done th' same with Dawn?"

Sweetie Belle's blush just deepened. "A lady does not discuss such things!" she said haughtily, trying to regain her composure.

Twilight, on the other hand, stared in horror. They were just little foals back in her time! She couldn't listen to this!

They slowed down as they approached the big gate at the entrance, which swung slowly open to greet them. Scootaloo pushed the buggy through the opening and parked it just inside. Two big earth ponies closed the door shut again right behind them, then lowered a massive crossbar into place. Before them, a tall white unicorn stallion with a golden mane came trotting up. He, and a few of the other ponies in the compound, didn't seem to be wearing nearly as much white leather, and Twilight could see the silver, sun-shaped shield he had for a cutie mark.

"This is Dawn Valiant," Sweetie Belle introduced them politely, "Captain of the guard. Dawn, you might remember them - this is Doctor Whooves, Derpy, and -"

"Twilight Sparkle!" Dawn breathed in amazement. "You ... you're back! You're here! Where've you been?"

Twilight couldn't answer. How could she even explain? She didn't know what'd been going on, where everyone was. "Is ... is anyone else here? Applejack? Rainbow Dash? Big Macintosh?"

He looked sad at the first two names, but then angry at the third. "No," he said sharply. "They're all ... all dead. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, too, all died saving us foals from the mutants."

Everyone within hearing distance lowered their heads sadly, but Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked especially sad and angry. Only Twilight was close enough to hear Doctor Whooves quietly say, "Those five, hrm? Curious, curious."

Twilight just stared, horrified, a hollow ache in her chest. Dead? How ... how could they be dead? Just... just an hour ago, she'd seen Applejack in the market. She had never said good-bye to any of them ... never thought ...

Dawn Valiant raised his head again a fire alight in his eyes. "But they said that you'd come back! That you'd bring the Elements of Harmony and turn everyone back to normal again, just like you did with Princess Luna! We've been waiting for you!"

It was just one blow after another for Twilight. Her? She was supposed to fix ... all this? How?

"That's enough, Dawn," said a mare's calm voice. Twilight turned to see a pink pony with a purple mane, a thin white stripe coming down one side of that mane. She looked over Twilight with a serious expression. "You'd better come with me, Twilight." She had a calm aura of assurance about her, and Twilight followed after quietly.

"I never expected to see you again," said the mare. "I thought you were dead, like the others. But the rest all believed, it gave them hope. Kept them going. They'd recite it at night, like a litany. Twilight will come back. She'll bring the Elements of Harmony. And the world will be bright once more. But here you are, after all."

Twilight followered her away from everyone. "Are you ... really ... Diamond Tiara?" Twilight couldn't believe it. That haughty little stuck-up foal had grown up into such a serious-looking adult!

Diamond Tiara gave a small chuckle. "Oh, yes," she said, glancing at Twilight with a little understanding smirk. "I suppose you would be surprised. Last time you saw me, I was a spoiled little brat of a foal." She laughed softly. "I miss being a spoiled brat. I had to grow up awfully fast - faster than the rest of them."

She looked over to Twilight. "I knew from the moment I got my cutie mark, my special talent is being in charge. It sounded a lot better when I was a foal, let me tell you. Unfortunately, that means I have to consider the really bad ideas ... like ... knowing you can't fix everything."

Twilight shook her head. "The elements need all six of us to work. I don't even know where the stones are anymore... my tiara was in the library. I don't know where everyone else kept their necklaces. And we'd need the right spirits to connect with them."

Diamond Tiara nodded. "Don't tell any of the rest of them, all right? Give me a chance to think about this. After all - the mutants don't know, either."

Twilight grimaced. "What happened? How did all this ... just ... it's horrible!"

The pink pony peered closely at Twilight. "How could you not know? It's everwhere, isn't it?"

Twilight grimaced. "It's ... complicated. But I don't know anything that's happened since I disappeared, until today."

Diamond nodded. "So ... all right. Then I need to tell you about the muffins."

Chapter 4

MLP and characters created by Hasbro & Lauren Faust
Random references by lots of other sci-fi and fantasy

Friendship is Epic is taken from random craziness in pony-chats across the internet. I have collated them into a story - but the ideas in general are fueled by the casual comments of dozens of random anonymous fans.

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS EPIC
Part 4

Doctor Whooves watched Twilight walk off with Diamond Tiara. Now there was a pony who'd benefited, in this dark future. She had really overcome her foalish selfishness from the time period he was more used to. He laughed softly to himself as Derpy trotted off happily chiming, "Food, food, food!" as if she hadn't just been eating an hour ago or so. Or ten years ago, depending on how you looked at it, ao maybe she was justified in being hungry. He grinned as he followed after to see what sort of spread was laid out.

As could be expected of the new Sweet Apple Acres, virtually every dish had apples in it - apple crumble, apple crunch, apple pies... and for desert, some apple cupcakes and apple tarts. Not exactly the post-apocalyptic fare Doctor Whooves may have expected, but they certainly did have the orchard for it. Standing behind the food, helping to pass it out, was two ponies. The first, Doctor Whooves recognized as Silver Spoon, though she was wielding a long wooden ladle at the moment instead of the fancy spoon of her cutie mark. The other was Twist, the young candy-maker he remembered, but older, of course.

They sat down and ate, with the various ponies whispering quietly, all eyes upon them. Doctor Whooves supposed they must not be used to having new ponies around. Derpy came back with two plates, one for herself and one for the Doctor. They ate quietly while his mind churned quickly, trying to figure out what was going on with the information at hoof. He could think of seventeen different ways this could have happened, all of them unlikely. The delicious food sat in front of him, untouched.

Derpy noticed that he wasn't touching his food, and happily kept him from wasting food by eating it for him. Then she happily trotted back to look for seconds.

Twilight took the seat that Derpy had just vacated. Doctor Whooves glanced up, then looked around to see all the ponies perking up, looking at her with a great deal more interest and hope than they'd been looking at Derpy and himself. "Well?" he asked her.

"Oooo, I don't know..." Derpy was saying. "Are apples all you have? What about sugar cubes?"

Twilight sighed softly... she shook her head. "This ... has been a very surreal day for me," she said softly. "I can't doubt that you have a time machine. Not after seeing all this. It just seems so ... impossible. And the future is so ... horrible. How can I go back, and do anything, knowing that this will happen? That anything I do will be worthless?"

Doctor Whooves smiled wanly. "Oh, no, it doesn't work that way. Time is always changing, always in flux. When we go back and change things, then this will never happen."

"How about any apple muffins? Do you have any apple muffins?" asked Derpy.

The entire area went dead silent. Not a whisper. Barely a breath. Twilight started to say something, but Doctor Whooves held up his hoof, motioning her to be quiet, too. Everyone was staring at Derpy with worry, anger, or outright fear on their face.

Doctor Whooves looked around, startled ... everything started connecting together in his head. Mutant Ponies. No Magic. Temporal Interference. The sun hadn't moved the entire time they'd been here. And now, a fear of muffins. He turned to look at Twilight Sparkle, and started talking very rapidly. "After you disappeared, they put together a search party for you, but couldn't find you. When searching the library, though, someone ... oh, Pinkie, maybe ... found a recipe for muffins. She made them, passed them out to the search parties, and all the adults had some. But soon after, the muffin-ponies started mutating into horrible violent mutant ponies, and not long after that, the world started dying... stuck forever in an eternal late afternoon, once Luna and Celestia both fell to the mutants, and no one was around who could start up the sun again."

Twilight stared, stunned. "How ... how did you find that out?!"

Doctor Whooves gave a little shrug. "Ah, just a lucky guess."

"The only problem," Twilight said with a soft, confused tone to her voice, "Is that I don't have any books with evil muffin recipes in it ... much less sitting out for someone to find."

"Oh, no," Doctor Whooves agreed. "Of course you wouldn't. He would have planted it for someone to find after you disappeared. All part of his plan."

"You keep talking about this 'him.' Who are you talking about?" Twilight was frustrated. He kept talking just around the edge of her understanding, as if she should obviously know what he was referencing.

"His name is Master Spur. He's another time pony, like me. One of the few left."

Twilight gave him a suspicious look. "Time pony?" she asked. "What is that? You look like an earth pony."

"No, earth ponies look like time ponies! We were here first!"

"Then how come I've never heard of you?"

Doctor Whooves sighed. "Well, the city of Gallupfrey was wiped out over 5000 years ago," he admitted sadly. "And all the time ponies with it."

Twilight frowned. "Wait. If all the time ponies were wiped out ... then how ... you ..."

"Time Machine!" Derpy cried merrily, as she sat down next to them with a plate full of apple tarts. "Mmmm, yummy!" She dug in happily and messily, little bits of apple and flaky pastry flying all over the place.

"Right!" said Doctor Whooves excitedly. "So all we have to do is get back to the TARDIS, get you back five minutes after you left, and there'll be no search party, no mysterious cookbook, and no baked bads. No mutants, no loss of magic, no dark future."

Twilight blinked. "But if there's no dark future, then we wouldn't arrive here in a dark future, and we wouldn't find out what we need to know to keep it from happening, and we might not get back in time... and then it'd all happen again."

With a shake of his head, the time pony let out a laugh. "No, no. See, you're thinking of time as a linear sequence of cause and effect, or effect and cause. Time isn't like that at all!"

"Then ... what's it like?"

"Oh, just kinda... wibbly-wobbly, timey wimey ..." He gave her a bright-eyed grin.

Twilight looked at him with a very unimpressed expression. "That's not a very useful answer," she said flatly.

"Sure it is, you just don't understand it! Come along, Twilight, Derpy, it's time to fix ... time! Allon-sy!"

The Crusaders were happy to escort them in their Scootbuggy back to the ruins of Doctor Whooves' house, though they seemed to be under the impression that they'd left some useful tools there. That was true, Twilight supposed, they just wouldn't be coming back to Sweet Apple Acres with the tools.

The hopeful eyes of every pony on her made Twilight feel queasy, as they got ready to leave. She felt, in some way, like she was abandoning them, even though she hoped to give them a better world, so that they'd never know what had passed here. Only Diamond Tiara's sad eyes didn't show that hope - just the dull determination to keep going on without hope. The way she looked at her ... she knew Twilight was not planning on coming back. Twilight paused, and stepped away from the preparations for leaving. She needed to give at least some small bit of hope to the leader of quite possibly the last ponies in the entire world. "Diamond," she whispered, "Don't worry. I'm going to try to fix all this. I don't know if I can do it, but Doctor Whooves seems to think we can. But you're right, I won't be back."

Diamond Tiara nodded, but her eyes still had that sad look in them, the look of someone who has forgotten what hope even looks like. Twilight left before her heart broke.

They arrived at the burnt-out shell of Doctor Whooves' little house, skirting around the edge of the Everfree Forest to get there, and Twilight stomach churned even further. "Where's the TARDIS?" she asked, a faint panic in her voice, looking over to Doctor Whooves.

The brown time pony looked back to her, a fierce and excited light in his eyes. "Well," he said, unperturbed, even a happy tone to his voice. "Here's where it gets interesting."

Chapter 5

The blasted landscape of Equestria had seen a late afternoon that had lasted for 15 years. The few scattered pockets remaining of normal ponies had only the faintest memories of the concepts of night - of what a sunrise or a sunset looked like. The vicious mutants didn't even have a memory of "The Before Time." For them, late afternoon was simply what was - ever-present waning, reddish light, diffusely spreading across the brown, dead landscape. Stories told them by the monstrous Sweet Apple Acres ponies of 'night' and 'day' were dismissed as obvious lies - attempts to control them, or legends of their monstrous dead goddesses, Celestia and Luna.

In one part of Equestria, that late afternoon sun shone down upon a small town where all records of it ever being called Ponyville were destroyed. It was now simply "The Compound," surrounded by a makeshift wall covered in spikes, to protect it from the unnaturally magical ponies from the Everfree Forest.

Inside the wall, the compound was a mess. Old, broken carts were scattered around the burnt-out shells of buildings. What materials remained were built into barely servicable ramshackle huts and shelters and boarded-up old buildings that looked like they were one good breeze from falling over - not that there had been a wind at any time in the last fifteen years, either.

In roughly the center of the compound, the central square was nearly clear - no shelters or shanties, just piles of refuse blown up into the corners, or up against the base of the massive old dead tree in the middle of the square. Its empty branches clawed at the orange sky, but within lived only a single pony, caretaker of The Machine.

The massive device was cobbled together from scrap metal, jars filled with odd liquids, and a perplexing mass of crystals and shaped wire forms within. She spent her life caring for the machine, coaxing it - replacing burnt-out crystals, fixing bent and twisted wire-forms, trying to get it to eke out just a little more of the dull grey goo which was The Compound's only source of food.

She controlled the food - she had power, but she served the other mutants. They didn't know how to take her - was she slave? Was she master? Well, no. The Master was someone else.

Her name was Broken Spoon, her cutie mark the split bowl of a spoon, with the handle twisted and bent almost double on her flank. Her pelt was a dull purple color, almost grey, and her mane was a pale grey, ragged and half-ripped out. She covered herself with a long, dark black cloak, her hood up over her horn, hiding herself from that constant red sunlight and the accusing eyes of the other mutants.

Not that the other mutants looked any better - but she didn't like being with other ponies. She liked being alone. Being with ponies brought pain. Left alone, she could take care of The Machine, and only see the ponies when passing out the bowls of mush that it dispensed.

And yet, they kept coming to her anyway. "Broken Spoon?" came an uncertain voice from outside. Broken Spoon jumped and closed the book she'd been looking at. She picked it up in her mouth and hurried over to her bookshelf, sliding it onto the shelf and then pulling the metal sheet across it. It looked like just another random jutting on The Machine.

"Who is it?" Broken Spoon called out, her heart thudding fearfully. If anyone caught her with a book ...

"It's Hoofcutter!"

Broken Spoon let out a sigh and went to get the first aid kit. "Come in!" she called.

Hoofcutter kicked the door open, entering along with two pegasi of her gang. One was sporting a black eye - the other, a lump on her head.

"Fought the Crusaders, did you?" Broken Spoon asked.

Hoofcutter let out a grunt. "Just fix them up," she demanded.

Broken Spoon let out another sigh. Why did they always come to her to fix them up? Seeing those wounds made a pain ache in her chest - she didn't understand why. Why would it hurt to look at an injury?

"Not as many injuries as usual. Let that white one open her mouth again?"

Hoofcutter swelled up indignantly. "You totally don't know that! Like, maybe we just beat them this time, y'think of that?" Broken Spoon just leveled a flat look at her. Hoofcutter sighed. "Well, she just started ... right out of nowhere ... " She sighed, and hung her head. "I'm a horrible leader."

Broken Spoon shook her head. "No, you're the second toughest pony in the whole compound. Only The Colossal himself is tougher, and he doesn't go out to face the Crusaders. You do."

Broken Spoon took some cloth, carrying it over to The Machine. She ripped out a large square from the cloth and laid it under a spigot, before twisting the handle. Big chunky ice cubes started falling from the spigot, piling up on the cloth. She tied up the corners of each cloth around the ice cubes, making an ice pack. She repeated the process for a second, then brought them both back to put on the black eye and the big lump.

"You don't need to be that way, Hoofcutter," Broken Spoon said firmly, then retreated before Hoofcutter's glare. Hoofcutter's confidence was her strongest asset, but last time she had lost her confidence, she'd been beaten up by every other pony in camp. Not that Broken Spoon cared, she hurried to assure herself - it's just that Broken Spoon, of course, had to bandage up every bruise. "You are, without a doubt, the -" -bravest-

Broken Spoon clutched her head and let out a cry of pain as a sudden headache shot through her temples. Her eyes squeezed tight against the dampness in the corner of her eyes. She had to avoid those words, those thoughts.

"I mean you're awfully -" -dedicated-

She let out another cry of pain. The other ponies used to have the same problem, back in the early days ... but they'd all grown out of it. She was the only one who still got these blinding migraines.

"Stubborn! The most stubborn pony in the compound, and that's why if anyone will defeat the Crusaders, it'll be you! Especially since The Colossal can't be bothered to move his tail out of the compound, and I'm no closer to discovering the origin of magic that those blasted Everfree Ponies keep secret from us!"

HoofCutter snorted, no sign of the self-doubt in her now. "Yeah, sure is taking you long enough," she said rudely, taking the other two peagsi with her as she left.

Broken Spoon let out a sigh of relief. She went over to her hidden bookshelf, uncovering it to reveal her few scraggly books that she'd salvaged from the ruin of this tree. She took one of the books in her teeth and turned back to the table, kicking at the metal to push it back shut over the bookcase. Where had she been? Ah well, didn't matter.

She fumbled at the book with her hooves, trying to turn the delicate pages with great care. No, wait. Perhaps this time ...

She planted her hooves on either side of the book, lowering her horn over the cover and straining, pushing, striving, her tense muscles a reflection of the mental strain she was putting herself under. Her horn sparked and sputtered fitfully. "Oh, please ... come on ..." Her horn faltered, then suddenly glowed with a soft purple light.

Yes! YES! She was doing it! Understanding started to fill her, rushing from some clouded piece in the back of her head. The book surrounded itself with a weak, grey light, the cover fluttered, then lifted, opened, the pages flipping past. Broken spoon felt a surge of joy and pride. She'd done it! She'd used magic!

Blinding, dreadful pain speared through her head, dropping her to the floor as she pressed her forehooves to her temples helplessly. The tears flooding down her face weren't for the pain, though - it was the way the understanding and memory were wiped from her brain as the migraine shot through her. For just a moment, it'd all crystalized ... but every time, every time ... it disappeared. Next time ... next time, she'd remember. This couldn't happen every time she finally made magic work, right?

She didn't even hear the door opening and closing, caught up in the pain and fury, until she saw the hooves before her eyes. Up, up her eyes went, to the towering royal pony before her. His coat was the pale off-white color of bones, and his tail and mane seemed to drip, drip, drip down his flanks, his pale coat, like it was freshly drawn blood. His horn was long and seemed to be made of bone itself, and his huge wings fluttered at his sides, unable to fully spread even in the large room. From his coloration, a pony would expect him to be skeletal, but he was powerfully built, and over three times as tall than any other pony she'd ever seen. Incongruously, on his back, was a small pony wrapped up in black cloth, twisted and wracked, with only a single hoof reaching out to steady himself on the massive stallion's back. She knew that the one leg was all he had left.

"C ... C ... Colossal!"

"That's MASTER Colossal!" screamed the tiny, twisted pony on the Colossal's back. "The MASTER is the important part! My magnificent mind is far superior to even his powerful body! The Colossal is simply my slave! Isn't that right, Colossal?"

The royal pony nodded his head obediently. "Eeeyup," he said, his voice low, dangerous.

"I ... I beg your apologies, G-Great and Powerful Master Colossal! I was surprised... y-you're early!" Broken Spoon cowered down, her chin pressed to the floor.

"Well," said the self-absorbed voice of the small, twisted pony on Colossal's back. "I felt like a victory snack. I found something that should finally end my miserable agony and entrapment in this time - " He cut himself off, and his voice changed to the eager, unctuous tone that he always used before hurting somepony. "Now ... what is *that*?"

Broken Spoon cowered even closer to the floor, preparing for more pain - this time, from her master. "Itsa... itsa... it's a b-book, M-master..."

"And ... how do I feel about books?"

"You b-banned them, Master. But ... but I thought ... "

"Mmmmhmmm... and were you able to read this book?"

"No, m-master, but I thought, if I could, it might have something that would allow me to improve the machine!"

"Are you too stupid to figure it out on your own? I already gave you all the help you should need. I've got it making my dinner, after all."

"B-but you're too early! It's not done yet!"

"Give me what there is. I'll pick up the rest later... maybe if you weren't so incredibly backwards, you'd get it working more efficiently."

Broken Spoon scrambled to her hooves and tried to hurry to the machine. Still unsteady from the horrible migraine that'd incapacitated her, she found her legs wobbling, her course veering to the side. She plowed right into the side of the machine, bounced off, and stood there, legs trembling as she shook her head quickly to try to clear it.

"Awww... does it still hurt?" came Master's mocking voice. "Perhaps your tiny brain wasn't meant for such difficult work ..."

"N-no. As you say, Master." But in the back of her mind, she thought, /* Yes it was. Yes, I'm meant to do magic! I know it! */ And for some reason, that didn't trigger the headaches!

She got to the back of the machine, the output closest to the power core, and carefully unscrewed one of the taps, then gave a tug. A compartment opened, revealing a small pile of carrots - a little withered, but there, under the glowing radiance of several small, yellow crystals. She took a tongs between her teeth and pulled the carrots out, carefully. They smelled ... so GOOD. Her mouth watered as she set them on a plate, and carried the plate over to Master Colossal. He was the only one who didn't have to eat the gray mush. The majority of the magic that this machine could generate went towards making those few withered bits of real food for Master and the Colossal. "Here you are, Master," she said, softly, laying them down on the table, next to the forbidden book.

The Colossal didn't move to take them, yet, and Master's mocking voice said, "now, broken little pony... do you know why, despite all the times you have worked against me, I let you live?"

Broken Spoon shook her head, shivering, her head lowered. The previous punishments had ... hurt. A lot. Fear coursed through her. But he needed her. Who else would run the machines?

"Because I think the delicious pain I saw on your face when I came in is more exquisite than any torture I could put you through. To watch you try and fail, time and again, just because you're so broken and useless... it is a small joy for me."

The fear disappeared, replaced with pure rage. He would underestimate her, perhaps, but she would triumph! She would show him! She was not weak, or useless, she was -

The pain exploded through her head and she dropped to the floor, clutching at her head. Why?! She hadn't tried to use magic! She'd never felt such a terrible migraine, and she writhed on the floor, in horrible agony. Why?! Why did it hurt! She wasn't using a forbidden word! She wasn't even trying to use magic! She was just going to say her name! Her ...

She hadn't been going to say Broken Spoon ... what was she going to say? She couldn't remember!

She sobbed, painfully, in the hollowed out shell of the old library, as the Colossal lowered his horn and set the open book on fire with a small spark of magic, then levitated up the plate of carrots and walked out the door. She sobbed after he left, and this time it was solely for the pain, because she no longer despaired. She'd long ago figured that the pain had to do with the source of magic, and the worse that it was, the closer she got to figuring out the truth.

But why would her name be so very, very painful? And why wasn't her name Broken Spoon?

She got up, and stumbled over to the machine. She opened another secret compartment under the one she'd opened to get out Master Colossal's 'snack', and pulled out the tiny, withered apple concealed within. Her teeth bit into it, and she devoured it as fast as she could, core and all, crunching it hungrily and quickly. Only Master Colossal was allowed to eat *real* food ... but she ran the machine. She held the books. Ponies came to her, not Colossal, for help. And she was closer to understanding the secrets of those horrible magical ponies than any other - closer to figuring out how to use magic ... although ... Colossal could use magic. And she would continue to disobey him in every little way she could.

They wouldn't break her. Not Master, not Colossal, not all the ponies in the world, could break her. Not even the headaches that kept her from the truth would break her. What was the magic? She had her clue now. There was no Broken Spoon. Only understand that, and she could do anything.

Chapter 6

The Crusaders had brought them as close to The Compound as they could without being seen, then turned to hurry back to Sweet Apple Acres as swiftly as Scootaloo's wings could propel them. Twilight was a bit disappointed - she had thought for certain that the girls would help them, but they'd left with barely a word. So instead, Doctor Whooves, Derpy, and Twilight had made their way by hoof to the edge of the compound on their own, hurrying from the shelter of a boulder to the cover of a gully, then from the gully to the lee of a hill, always managing to stay out of sight. For some reason, Doctor Whooves seemed sure the TARDIS would be here. Or at least - this 'Master Spur' would be there, and the Doctor was certain he was the one to have stolen the TARDIS.

"Forty seven seconds," Doctor Whooves stated confidently, and darted out from behind the hill to gallop towards the wall of logs and rusted metal. Twilight followed after, at a loss for how he could be so certain - but his statements for the entire approach had been absolutely accurate. "Timing is everything," is all he would say in explanation. She was feeling decidedly out of her depth. Here there'd been an epic pony war, and all because she hadn't been there. She wanted to protect everypony, but without the Elements of Harmony, without her friends, she felt incomplete. But she had to try! The heroes in her books - Daring Do, or Lake Skytrotter, or The Batmare - they would never give up! And neither would she! She hadn't needed her friends to start the fight against Nightmare Moon, and she hadn't given up then.

Besides, Doctor Whooves treated this whole thing as if it was completely normal for him, and that was somewhat reassuring - despite all the insanity, she felt as if she could trust him. They raced to the wall, and between Twilight's magic and Derpy's wings, they managed to get over and out of sight before the next patrol came by, hiding in the shadow of a building till they passed.

Twilight held her breath, pressed up against the wall, wishing she had her black stealth-suit handy - but that was back in her tree. As they hid, she saw for the first time what Ponyville had become. The once beautiful town was recognizable, but only just barely. That dark, burnt building over there, you could see just a single pink board sticking out, a hint that it once had been Sugarcube Corner. And over there, the half-a-building where paint had been sloshed in sharp, angry designs - that had been the town hall.

And her home - she could see it, up ahead - black, twisted, its empty branches reaching for the sky, its broken windows, boarded up, like weeping eyes. It seemed clear of the clutter of the rest of the Compound. "We should go to my tree," she said. "Some of my things might still be there."

She turned to look at the Doctor, and he was just standing with his eyes closed. "All right, Twilight," he said encouragingly. "we have ... 32 seconds."

Twilight blinked in surprise, but then grinned, nodded her head, and galloped across the open space, the dead grass crunching under her hooves, and under the hooves of Derpy and Whooves following behind. The door was partway open and she slipped in, hurried the other two through, and shut it swiftly and silently behind them.

The unicorn pony who turned towards them was a dull purple, her mane a faded gray. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and she was letting out a resigned sigh before her eyes opened wide, her breath caught in her throat. She scrambled backwards from the three of them, her eyes darting around, then seized up a broken pipe and wielded it in her teeth, standing between them and the ridiculous contraption set up in the middle of the room. Pale, discolored liquids bubbled through tubes, and steam hissed out at various places. Little valves and levers were set up all over the device, and a massive vat hung heavy in the center of the maze of pipes, vials, tubes, spirals, and bottles.

"I won't let you!" growled the faded unicorn mare in desperation. "This is the only food they all have! I won't let you destroy it!"

"Food?" asked Twilight, perplexed. She stared up at the machine. "How is *that* food? Why would we want to destroy it?!" She would have been horrified that they'd been found - except that this unicorn mare was obviously even more terrified of them.

Doctor Whooves had the oddest look on his face, his eyes swapping back and forth between Twilight and the old, faded purple unicorn. Twilight frowned at the Doctor, then turned to look at the faded purple unicorn again, her eyes widening. She understood that the ponies were mutated, but ... was this ... could she be a mutated form of ...

"Why wouldn't you?" growled the other unicorn. "You're all ... um ... " she seemed to lose some of her frantic fear and anger at their perplexed expressions, and their relaxed stances. "Isn't ... that why you're here?"

Twilight shook her head. "Doctor Whooves here thinks that someone here stole his ... um ... shed. A big blue box. We just need to get it back. We don't want to hurt anypony." She looked up at the bizarre machine, and couldn't keep her curiosity reined in any longer. "How is *that* food? How does it work? It looks so neat!"

Broken Spoon was uncertain. She'd always been sequestered with the machine, babysitting its temperamental spurts of activity, making sure the Compound always had enough food, though some times they'd had to go on half-rations to make it - but she'd always heard the stories that came back with the ponies who'd gone outside. She knew that these weird Everfree ponies had strange powers, and were violent and dangerous. Not that this was any news - everypony was violent and dangerous. But ... here they were, standing in her room, and they ... weren't. They didn't seem defensive, they didn't seem anything like anypony she'd ever known. They were just ... she didn't even have words. Every other pony she'd ever met in the Compound always tried to either set themselves up as being in charge, or they'd cower to another pony for protection. These ponies, they were just ... confident. Open, that was the word. They were *open*. They weren't protecting themselves!

"It's ... It's the Machine," she said, uncertainly, then felt herself opening up as well at Twilight's open approval and curiosity. It felt right. "It draws magic power from the core and uses it to make food. I send it through a ... a " She didn't have words for it. She just knew how to make it work, is all - but as soon as she stopped trying, she found the words slipping from her mouth, words she'd never heard before. "I hooked up the power source through a mystic ley-matrix and filter the output through a series of crystaline condensers to solidify a .. um ..." she trailed off, stammering, as Twilight's eager expression fixated on her.

No one had ever been interested in the Machine before! And no one had ever treated her like ... like she'd done a good job! She felt a swell of ... some strange emotion, rising in her chest. Then the purple unicorn turned towards the machine and floated over the burnt-out book that The Colossal had destroyed a few minutes ago. Broken Spoon paled. Magic! This strange unicorn was doing magic! "How did you do that?!" Broken Spoon gasped in amazement. Such mystic prowess! The Everfree pony had defied gravity as if it was an everyday occurrence, without even thinking!

Indeed, she looked back with a confused look on her face. "Can't you?" she asked in surprise. "I mean, every unicorn ..." She stopped, then, and looked awkward.

Every unicorn? "Yes, I should!" Broken Spoon said determinedly. "Can you teach me? How do you do it?"

Twilight was confused. "But it should have happened by now - even if you hadn't learned, you should have random magical spikes as your energies built up too far."

Broken Spoon snarled. "I'm just a normal unicorn, I don't have your dark Everfree secrets of mystical mysteries! Just tell me! Tell me how!"

"Oooo, guests! Is it a party?" Derpy chirped up happily.

Twilight had forgotten that Derpy was even there. The grey pegasus so rarely said anything, just blending into the background, but Twilight was certainly glad that Derpy had chosen then to speak up. Pony silhouettes were approaching from outside. She looked around desperately, her eyes wide. "We have to hide!" she gasped.

"Quick!" Broken Spoon said, sliding a panel aside and gesturing to a small space behind it. "In here!"

Twilight, Derpy, and Doctor Whooves pressed into the hiding place, squeezing into the sparse room with barely a few centimeters to spare. As the panel closed, Twilight found her face pressed up against the cool metal, her eye against a crack so she could just barely see out.

Several ponies had entered the library, and as Broken Spoon moved aside, Twilight could see one of them - Hoofcutter, the first pegasus they'd seen in this blasted future Equestria, the one that had threatened them before the Crusaders had rescued them. "What did he do to you? Did he hurt you again?" Hoofcutter sounded half apalled, half eager for details.

Broken Spoon shook her head, glancing away. "I'm all right," she said firmly. "There's nothing he can do to me - or else he'd have to take care of the Machine himself."

Hoofcutter snorted. "That jerk. He thinks he's so tough!"

"You said it, Hoofcutter! He's not so tough! Gonna take over? I bet you could take him" piped up the eager pegasus next to her.

"Shut up, Dull Edge!" Hoofcutter snarled in frustration, as she took a swing at the other pegasus. He ducked without losing his sycophantic grin, expecting the blow from long experience and avoiding it before it had half begun.

"You just let me know if you need my protection," Hoofcutter said to Broken Spoon. "I'm sure there's something you can do for me in return."

Broken Spoon snorted. "Feeding you every day isn't enough? Bandaging you up when the Crusaders kick your tail again?"

Hoofcutter snarled lightly, but kept further response to a mere, dismissive shrug. "Fine, whatever," she said, "then you don't need my protection." She stormed out with Dull Edge following close behind.

Broken Spoon waited for several long moments, then let out a sigh of relief, her head sinking down to rest on the workbench as she recovered. Why had she gone out of her way to help the strangers? They were EVERFREE ponies! They were wierd, and strange, and dangerous, and enemies! What could they possibly give her?

Magic, her mind responded. You want their magic. Then you can make the machine work better, and everypony can have REAL food.

She moved over to the hidden compartment and unlatched it, letting the three Everfree ponies tumble out onto the floor in a heap. "You're gonna get me in trouble," Broken Spoon hissed angrily. "You tell me how to use magic or I'll call the guards and turn you in!"

Twilight blinked in confusion. That again - how could any unicorn not know how to use magic? It just ... happened. If you didn't have control, it happened randomly. Especially if this unicorn was ... but then, Doctor Whooves said that the pegasus barely had the magic to fly - not enough to maintain the weather. That the earth ponies didn't have the magic to make the plants grow. And obviously nopony had the magic to make the sun move in the sky ...

She reached back in her memory, for when she was a little foal, just learning. "It's ... it's a natural ability. You need to practice, just little things at first, like turning a page. Don't any of these books you saved have magical info in them?"

Broken Spoon hung her head. "I can't... I can't read them. I should be able to, I can't... practice, right. How do I practice? How do I get past the headaches? I'm already pushing as hard as I can!"

Headaches? Twilight furrowed her brow. Right, when she'd pushed herself too hard, as a foal, she used to get horrible headaches. What had Shining Armor said while she was suffering in bed with the ice pack? "You need to find yourself. Pushing yourself just burns yourself out to get a little more oomph, but control itself is easy ... easy as breathing. Easy as being yourself. Just know who you are, and the magic comes from there."

"Know who I am? I'm Broken Spoon! I - " She stopped. No, no she wasn't. She was... who was she? It'd slipped away. "I ... I can't remember, there was a name... but it keeps slipping away."

Twilight leaned closer, and whispered, "Does the name Twilight Sparkle mean anything to you?"

A flash of pain burned across Broken Spoon's mind, and she stumbled, clutching at her head with one hoof. Twilight was there immediately to catch her, support her. Broken Spoon shook her off angrily. "I'm not weak!" she snapped. "I can do this!" What was that name, now? Twili-

The entire wall of the library tore open, and all of the ponies were seized in an invisible grasp, yanked out to fly through the air and land heavily on the dead brown grass outside, tumbling over and over in the grip of a powerful telekinetic pummelling. Broken Spoon immediately covered her head with her hooves, trying to hide from the invisible blows, rolling this way and that in the dry grass as she was struck over and over. "I'm sorry!" she wailed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, ohplease I'm sorry I'm worthless master please I am worthless you are Master Colossal and I cannot fight you!"

The others weren't quite as used to this demonstration. They flailed about, unsure where the next strike was coming from, flopping about as impact after impact knocked them off balance until Twilight's horn glowed, and a brilliant violet sphere grew out from the tip, enveloping her and her friends. The surface shimmered and rippled as the invisible blows rained upon it, but they were safe ... for the moment.

There, standing before them, standing tall with his dripping-blood mane, was the Colossal ... and the small bundle of the Master on his back leaned over his shoulder to croon, eagerly, "Why, if it isn't Doctor Whooves! What a wonderful coincidence! Just when I was in need of your key."

Chapter 7

MLP Friendship is Epic 07

The small, broken bundle in black robes that was The Master lay across the back of the towering bone-pale figure of the Colossal, looking past the dripping blood-red mane to the ponies staring back at him from behind Twilight's purple shield. "EEEYAHAHAhahaha! Finally! I knew you'd have to show up here eventually, Doctor! Finally, enough magic for me to be restored to myself, to be regenerated to my full strength! All I need now is to wait for that pitiful unicorn's pitiful magic to wear out, and I'll be able to take your key from you!" The domed purple shield wavered and shrank under the red glow surrounding it, deforming a little bit. "And what clever plan will you pull out now? I have everything around you! You have nothing!"

Doctor Whooves didn't move, didn't flinch, but rather just stared determinedly up at Master Colossal, his eyes narrowed. "Well, hello there, Master Spur. You've looked better."

"This is all your fault, Doctor!" snapped the Master, hidden under his dark cloak. He tried to say more, but he was interrupted by a fit of coughing, hunching over the Colossal's back.

Twilight, sweating heavily as she struggled to keep the shield up around them under the assault, quietly whispered, "What's the plan?" She stood over the cowering form of Broken Spoon, her quivering legs standing as an additional shield over the terrified mutant.

Doctor Whooves stepped back as the protective dome shrank, pressing Derpy and himself up close to Twilight. "Don't worry," Doctor Whooves finally said, just as quietly. "I have a plan. It involves coming up with a better plan before your shield comes down." He grinned to Twilight and gave a reassuring grin and a wink.

Twilight was less than reassured. She hadn't felt magic this powerful since she'd battled Nightmare Moon! There was no way she was going to last against this!

"Just a little bit longer," Derpy squeaked at Twilight. "We just need a few friends to help us!"

Twilight glanced at Derpy with an exasperated look. Her friends were dead! Where did Derpy expect to find friends in this world, this horrible place? But perhaps there was one who could help ... "Broken Spoon!" Twilight cried, "I need your help!"

"I can't!" wailed Broken Spoon, "I can't do magic! I'm broken, and useless!"

"No, you're not!" Twilight snapped back, "Nopony is useless! I know you have the potential within you to be something great! You are not broken, you just need to find your inner magic, and I know you can!"

Broken Spoon had never had anyone ... believe in her! She had thought Master Colossal was scary, but the thought of trying, and letting Twilight down ... It was *terrifying*! The fear flooded her, froze her with indecision. It was tempting to just not try - to deny that there was even a chance ... but she so, so wanted to do magic!

She closed her eyes, seeking out that ... that barrier that always seemed to be there, whenever she tried to use magic. Her name had hurt... she couldn't remember her name. And this pony said that magic came from knowing who you were ... so who was she? She was ... she was just some broken pony, taking care of a machine, with dreams of doing something more, but never being able to. Magic ... why couldn't she find it? She wanted to, so very badly.

"You can do anything you set your mind to," Twilight said, and the words sparked something painful in Broken Spoon's mind. She had a brief flash of a hospital, of somepony ... the painful memory shattered apart into bits and pieces that skittered away from her. All she had was the memory of having once had a memory, but she couldn't say what it was.

Broken spoon pushed at that memory, even as it slipped out of her mental grasp. It had to do with something called a hospital. What was a hospital? She had the impression it had to do with ponies being hurt ... but that didn't help. *Everything* had to do with hurting ponies. Wait! She knew! It was-

Her brain exploded in fire, again, and she let out a cry of pain. Why? Why did this happen every time she got close? What had that word been again? She sobbed, under Twilight ... she *was* broken. Broken, broken, broken.

Twilight let out a sharp cry, the purple shield bursting, and the red light of the Colossal's magic sending the whole group of ponies flying helplessly back. "And now," the Master said triumphantly, "There is nothing standing in my way, as I-"

"Hold it right there, Master Colossal!" cried a clear, strident voice.

All eyes turned towards the tall wall of junk that surrounded The Compound, where the Crusaders stood tall, their white leather outfits gleaming orange in the late afternoon twilight. Sweetie Belle spoke again, from where she stood between her two friends and allies. "No more games! We are here with a purpose! We seek an end to the horror! There will be no more compound, no more war, no more pain! No more division! You will all surrender, and we shall seek a cure for your condition!"

There was laughter from all around the Compound, as mutant ponies gathered to watch the conflict. "No pain?" scoffed one. "The only time there is no pain is when you are dead!"

"We won't fall for your tricks!" called another mutant.

Master Colossal scoffed. "You have always avoided us, Crusaders! You have always avoided a confrontation with us! And we know why that is - you know you are outclassed! But let me ask the Colossal! Colossal, do you want to surrender to those little fillies?"

"Mmmmmnnope," drawled the Colossal, turning red eyes up towards the three on the wall.

"There you are! You really think you little foals can defeat Master Colossal?!" cried Master Spurs, and let out a screeching, insane laugh that reverberated through the courtyard, a laugh that broke off into a wracking cough once more.

"You've lost track, Master Colossal!" Sweetie Belle cried, her voice carrying above the chaos and confusion. "It's been many long years, and we are fillies no longer, but mares! You have dwelt here, lording over misery and destruction, but we have built, and created, and grown! Your strength constantly shrinks as you destroy all your support, but our strength grows with every day! You may not believe in us, but we do not need you to! We believe in ourselves, and our own power! We stand before you without fear, which is more than can be said for your followers! In the end, you will stand alone, because your followers follow only out of fear! And we! We are not alone!" Sweetie Belle's long white horn glowed with a brilliant pink color.

The wall beneath the hooves of the Crusaders suddenly buckled, twisted, and let out a terrible screech of protest. The individual metal plates bent and folded, and pulled back, and in one great and horrible metallic shriek, the wall tore open like a door, showing all the ponies of Sweet Apple Acres standing ready. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara stood stall and proud at the front of the mob of ponies, their eyes flashing, their horns glowing as brightly as Sweetie Belle's.

"And not a one of us are scared of any one of you!" Sweetie Belle declared defiantly.

There was a long, silent moment that stretched out as the two sides stared at each other expectantly. There wasn't even a breath of wind. The pegasus wings flapped idly as they all hovered in place, on both sides. The horns of the sweet apple acres unicorns glowed in readiness, while the horns and hooves of the mutant ponies shined with jagged and sharp metal weapons.

Then a low, delighted chuckle came from Master Spurs. "Oh, oh goodness! How delightful! I have a full audience for my victory, and I don't even have to hunt all of you down to destroy you! Is that what you think I've been doing? Destroying? Wasting my power? Nono, dears, I've been *saving* my power! While you all have been wasting it on your trees and your little, pointless lives, and your silly little skirmishes with my minions, I've been saving it up ... for now. Colossal! Are you ready to destroy them all?"

The Colossal's lips peeled back from his teeth in a skeletal, wicked grin. "Eeeeyup," he said softly.

His horn glowed red, and so did the ground. It rocked and buckled, and cracked open, and then a rumbling wave, with red light streaming out of opening cracks in the ground, streaked out towards the assembled Sweet Apple Acres ponies. The land buckled under their feet, knocked them down, but more, red smoke streamed out, swirled into a tornado of motion that sucked the pegasus ponies out of the sky and smashed them into the earth.

A purple flash washed out over the land, erasing the red light and leaving all the Sweet Apple Acres ponies groaning, and in pain. Twilight was standing once again, panting, grinning. "Like my failsafe spell, Colossal? There's plenty more where that came from!"

Doctor Whooves grinned. "That's a good distraction, Twilight," he said softly, But now that Derpy's friends have shown up ... I think we need something a little more." Twilight looked curiously over to Doctor Whooves, a question in her eyes. "Think, Twilight. There's not enough magic in the soil to grow food ... so where does the food from The Machine come from? What possible source of magic might still exist in this blasted wasteland, that could create food for over a decade?"

Twilight's eyes lit up. "Of course!" she cried, eagerly, but then she drooped again. "But ... I can't do it myself..."

Doctor Whooves gestured out at the Sweet Apple Acres ponies. "You're not alone."

Twilight nodded with determination, and turned back out towards Master Colossal. "Right! You think you're so strong? Well, I've seen stronger! And I've *beaten* it! The Elements of Harmony are there, as a failsafe for all of Equestria! And they can never be contained, never be destroyed, as long as a single heart out there beats with friendship! You may have killed the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, but in every pony lies the potential to become one with the Elements!"

The windows of the tree house shone brightly, and a great thrum of music swelled out from the depths of the machine. There was a crashing noise, and five stone spheres ripped from the machine to float around Twilight Sparkle.

"NOOOOOOO!" wailed Broken Spoon. "NO! They'll all STARVE! You destroyed it! You destroyed it!" She stumbled towards the machine, tears streaming down her face. "How could you destroy it? I should have known I couldn't trust you freaks!"

Twilight smiled gently to Broken Spoon. "Don't worry, no one will starve. No one. I'll make sure to fix *everything*." Then she straightened from the sobbing mutant and faced Colossal again. She didn't have much to go on ... but she'd been making it up as she went along, last time! Maybe every pony had a little of every element of harmony somewhere inside them!

"Sweetie Belle, who banished the bullies with her words of truth, represents the element of Honesty!" One of the stones shattered into sparkling stardust, which flew over to circle around Sweetie Belle, who smiled and ducked her head modestly.

"Apple Bloom, quick with a teasing joke to lighten the mood after battle, represents the element of laughter!" Another shower of stardust, and Apple Bloom was smirking with an aura of light around her, as well.

"Durn Tootin'!"

"Scootaloo, who is always there to back up her friends, no matter how deep they get into it, represents the element of Loyalty!" Scootaloo reared up as a circle of stardust surrounded her, kicking at the air.

"Silver Spoon, who was always there to comfort the ponies, to serve them food every day, represents the element of Kindness!" Silver Spoon blinked, looking surprised that she had been singled out in any way.

"And Diamond Tiara, who gave up her childhood, so that others could have hope that she did not even possess herself, represents the element of Generosity!" Diamond Tiara smiled sadly and shook her head, tears streaming down from her eyes, which shone with the hope she hadn't felt in years.

"And when those elements are brought together with the spark of friendship, the sixth element appears! The element of ... magic!"

Twilight paused dramatically, posing, waiting for the elements to transform, for her own element to return to her ... but nothing seemed to happen. The auras just sat there, glowing, for a few moments, then they started to fade, the dust settling towards the ground.

"Wuh... wuh ... wait! That was supposed to work!" Twilight protested.

Master Spurs laughed raucously. "Silly little pony!" he cackled. "You're not the element of magic anymore! You've lost your link! And now you can DIE!"

Colossal's red light lashed out to catch Twilight across the face, her head whipping to the side, and her body following. She tumbled and rolled across the ground before ramming up hard into a wall, painfully, then slumping to the ground. Another lash sent her flying again, and again, as she was slammed up against walls, and the tree, or whipped up into the air so she could be driven into the ground.

"Wait!" cried Broken Spoon, running up to Master Colossal. "Please! You've beaten her!" Indeed, Twilight slumped to the ground as The Colossal paused, barely even letting out a small groan. "You've beaten her, you don't have to kill her!" Twilight shifted, tried to get to her feet, fell, got up again, but her eyes were dazed, unfocused ...

The Master giggled madly. "I don't have to ... but I WANT to!"

"Eeeeeyup."

The red light lashed out to catch Broken Spoon across the face. "AND DON'T TALK BACK TO ME!" screamed Master Spurs, as the red light struck at the mutant unicorn again and again. She sobbed, helplessly, beaten down to the ground. This was worse than ever before, worse than any punishment he'd ever delivered, and she was sure that this time, she was going to die. And then ... it stopped!

Her watery eyes looked up to see Dull Edge standing over her, having just taken the most recent set of lashings meant for her, his nose bleeding.

"You leave her alone!" cried Dull Edge angrily. "She gives us food!"

"You said it, Dull Edge!" agreed Hoofcutter, standing up next to her lackey, facing off against Master Colossal proudly.

Master Colossal roared in anger, tossing his head. His horn glowed that sickly red glow, and both Dull Edge and Hoofcutter flew across the compound to slam into a wall, then slump down to the ground. The Colossal turned back immediately, rage in his eyes, towards Broken Spoon, but drew back in surprise.

Just seconds ago, she'd been cowed, broken ... but now ... she stood with her head tall, her eyes narrowed, her mane blowing around her shoulders in a wind that did not exist. "You.... you tyrant... " she snarled lowly. "You think you're so big and tough..."

A sudden image flashed through Broken Spoon's mind ... a great bear, blocking out the night sky ... no, the bear *was* the night sky ... and it was big enough to crush houses! She had stood against it ... She remembered! She remembered the night sky! The night wasn't a legend! The world wasn't supposed to be stuck in endless late afternoon!

"I've seen bigger! I've seen tougher!" she cried defiantly.

"You think this world you made is so strange!" Another image flashed through her mind - a single creature ... but made of a patchwork mishmash of creatures in a single monstrous form, striding over the landscape in a rainstorm ... she remembered rain! Rain was real, too! She hadn't thought it would be so ... chocolatey. "I've seen stranger worlds, and lived through them!"

"You think you're soooooo creepy!" she snarled, stepping towards Master Colossal. He took an involuntary step back at the light in her eyes. In Broken Spoon's mind's eye, she saw strange, insectoid ponies changing into ... her! Not Broken Spoon, but her, as she should be! And attacking her! And she ... she had used magic against them! "I've seen waaaay creepier!"

She stood up taller yet, her chin lifted proudly, and sparks sputtered and gouted from her horn. "You think you're sooooo magical... but your paltry pyrotechnics and your subpar sorceries are as NOTHING before MY awesome wonder and mystical splendor! Cower in fear, oh Minion Minor, for I am the GREAT and POWERFUL TRIXIE! AND I WILL NOT LET YOU HARM ... MY FRIENDS!"

Her horn exploded with light, and Broken Spoon lifted into the air. A stone sphere had appeared above her head, and the light was washing over her ... the dull purple color of her coat brightening to a brilliant azure, her dull grey mane and tail taking a sparkling silver sheen. Her broken spoon cutiemark shattered, and with a bright flash, was replaced by the wand-and-night cutie mark of the greatest equine in all the land, the six stars of her cutie mark appearing one after another. The round stone broke apart into a sparkling rain that settled down over Trixie's head, re-forming itself into a brilliant purple hat covered in stars, and a pendant at the front in the shape of a silver moon. The sparkles washed over her shoulders, weaving a matching purple cloak to wave impressively in the wind engulfing her.

Doctor Whooves reached over, and with one gentle hoof, closed Twilight's dropped and gaping jaw as she stared in utter bafflement at the Broken Spoon's transformation.

Chapter 8 (Finale)

The Road so Far:

Doctor Whooves: "I'd use my sensors but they're being jammed! He won't have thought of blocking your equipment, though, cause it's too primitive."

Doctor Whooves: "We're going on an adventure!"

Twilight Sparkle: "In a shed?" ... "It's bigger on the inside!"

Doctor Whooves: "Right. Um. It's a time machine, you see."

Hoofcutter: "The Crusaders! Get them!"

Sweetie Belle: "There has been too much violence, too much pain. But I have an honorable compromise. Just fly away."

Twilight Sparkle: "Will SOMEONE tell me what's going on here?"

Diamond Tiara: "So ... all right. Then I need to tell you about the muffins."

Doctor Whooves: "But soon after, the muffin-ponies started mutating into horrible violent mutant ponies, and not long after that, the world started dying... stuck forever in an eternal late afternoon"

Doctor Whooves: "Well, here's where it gets interesting."

Broken Spoon: "I ... I beg your apologies, G-Great and Powerful Master Colossal! I was surprised... y-you're early!"

Colossal: "Eeeeyup."

Master Spurs: "Now, broken little pony... do you know why, despite all the times you have worked against me, I let you live? Because I think the delicious pain I saw on your face when I came in is more exquisite than any torture I could put you through. To watch you try and fail, time and again, just because you're so broken and useless... it is a small joy for me."

Twilight Sparkle: "You need to find yourself."

Broken Spoon: "Know who I am? I'm Broken Spoon! I - I ... I can't remember, there was a name... but it keeps slipping away."

Twilight Sparkle: "Honesty! Laughter! Loyalty! Kindness! Generosity! And the Element of ... magic!"

Master Spurs: ""Silly little pony! You're not the element of magic anymore! You've lost your link! And now you can DIE!"

(various scenes of violence as The Colossal beats up the good guys)

Broken Spoon: "You think you're so big and tough ... I've seen bigger! I've seen tougher! You think this world you made is so strange! I've seen stranger worlds, and lived through them! You think you're soooooo creepy! I've seen waaaay creepier! You think you're sooooo magical... but your paltry pyrotechnics and your sub par sorceries are as NOTHING before MY awesome wonder and mystical splendor! Cower in fear, oh Minion Minor, for I am the GREAT and POWERFUL TRIXIE! AND I WILL NOT LET YOU HARM ... MY FRIENDS!"

And now, the season Finale of Friendship is Epic

"Don't let her finish!" hissed Master Spurs, the small, crippled pony clinging to the Colossal's back with his one good hoof.

"Nnnnnope," The Colossal agreed, and lowered his head. Red light surrounded it, fired out in a narrow, concentrated red beam of light, striking out to hit the Great and Powerful Trixie. It erupted in an explosion of red and blue smoke as it struck the aura around the floating unicorn, sending her flying backwards to land heavily on the ground, groaning.

"It was blocked!" cried The Master, "Do it again! Kill her! KILL HER!"

The Colossal gathered his will again and fired, the ray of red energy striking out. Scootaloo was standing to one side, marveling at her new necklace, and the feeling of energy running through her. The crystal at her throat glowed brightly, and the whole scene seemed to shift into slow motion. She instinctively started running forward, her wings blurring, her hooves barely touching the ground as she dashed across the field, past ponies that seemed as still as statues. She raced the red light, coming up alongside it, then passing it by, to grab Trixie by the tail and haul her out of the way. The red beam struck the ground only a few inches behind her rear hooves, and the explosion sent her tumbling along the hard packed dirt, away from the new crater left in the dirt, instinctively curled around Trixie to protect her. The world swam around her, the pegasus dazed from the blast.

Master Spurs cackled with glee. "Ahahahaha! We've been absorbing the power of the Elements of Harmony for years! You're outmatched!"

Once again, the Colossal gathered his will, and once again a beam fired forward, towards the two dazed ponies, but Scootaloo had bought the other Crusaders time to act. As the red light lashed out, Sweetie Belle stepped into place between The Colossal and his targets. She took a deep breath, preparing herself, and the crystal at her throat flashed into brilliant light. Her horn glowed brightly, and she sang a single pure note, a note that reverberated across the Compound. The dirt erupted in a circle around her, and then a shock wave of pure musical wonder lashed forward from the little white unicorn, striking the red light and clashing with it. The red light rippled, wavered, started to turn back on itself, and there was another explosion. Sweetie Belle stumbled backwards several steps, reeling.

"Try all you like, but our power is unstoppable! You're only delaying the inevitable!"

For a fourth time, the Colossal gathered his will for a magical attack, but before he could release it, a white-clad yellow figure flashed past. Apple Bloom's family was a family of apple buckers, taught kicking from mother to daughter. In Apple Bloom's case, she'd learned from her big sister, and it was one of the few things that she'd been able to keep from the time before the mutants, not to mention the karate lessons she'd been taking from Rainbow Dash. The clear memory of her sister, and her sister's friends, was sharp in her mind as the crystal glowed at her throat. Her hoof impacted the long, bone-white horn of the Colossal, and it twanged and vibrated under the impact. She landed heavily on the dirt next to him, her hooves already churning to keep her moving beyond his counterattack, but she needn't have worried. He staggered and reeled, the gathered magic unable to release with his horn vibrating like that. There was a few quick little red bursts sparking around the Colossal's head, and then a crimson explosion left The Master and The Colossal staggered and battered in a fresh new crater.

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara hurried to the fallen Scootaloo and Trixie, helping them to their feet. "Comon, hurry," Silver Spoon murmured quickly as she helped Trixie to her feet. "You'll be all right!"

"Let's get out of here before he recovers!" Diamond Tiara hissed, "Comon, Scootaloo! Back to Sweet Apple Acres!"

"No, wait!" Twilight said. "Trixie, you need to gather all the elements together! Work with them to fix everything!"

Trixie had recovered enough to bluster at being ordered around by Twilight. "The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't need to do anything! Much less follow your orders, Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight ground her teeth in frustration, but even the boasting and braggadocio of Trixie wasn't enough to hold her attention past the question in Diamond Tiara's eyes. Really? Twilight nodded. "Yes, Tiara," she said softly. "You weren't waiting for me. You were waiting for her."

Hope blossomed in Diamond Tiara's face, a hope that seemed like it had been forever lost. "Yes, let's get out of here," she said to Silver Spoon, and for the first time in years, her voice was laced with the mocking scorn that had so possessed it utterly in her younger years. "If Twilight can't defeat him, then Trixie certainly can't."

Silver Spoon looked startled, and then understanding flashed in her eyes. "Yeah, what could Trixie possibly do against Master Colossal? She's just a minor unicorn!"

Trixie's strength seemed to return in force as she stood up straight, her chest puffed out, her cape fluttering around her as her blue aura erupted into being around her. "The Great and Powerful Trixie can face off against any equine in the land, even an evil alicorn such as this one! It is nothing to the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara scoffed. "I don't think so," Silver Spoon laughed. "Using the elements needs teamwork, and you're just a loner!"

Diamond Tiara turned her back on Trixie. "Yeah, you don't have what it takes to be part of a team, Loner!"

Trixie reared up on her hind legs, kicking the air. "I'll have you little foals know that the Great and Cooperative Trixie can work with any ponies you choose to put in a team with her!"

With a pair of fierce grins and excited eyes, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon turned to Trixie. Diamond Tiara simply whispered, "Prove it."

Trixie took the bait, and stepped forward. "All join up behind the Great and Powerful Trixie! Together, we shall banish this malevolent miscreant and his minor mystical malice!" she cried, and the Crusaders joined them, standing strong and recovered, all of their crystals shining brightly at their throats as the six mares faced off against Master Colossal. First Trixie, then the other five, floated up off their hooves, their manes billowing around them as the sudden whirlwind whipped into being. A light shot up from the gem on the crest of Trixie's hat and exploded just above the group in a shower of rainbow-colored sparks. Then a second and a third firework shot up into the air.

Master Colossal dodged back as little sparks of multicolored light fell from the sky, dodging the rainbow streams. Each place the sparks touched, the brown, years-dead grass sprung to life, shone with green life that seemed all the more brilliant for the bleak surroundings. A purple bit of sparks sprayed over a broken and fallen rotted wall, and the wall became alight with bright yellow paint, the wood solid and refreshed. A splash of green sparks over a withered branch of the library tree brought forth a spray of bright leaves.

"I absorbed the power of the elements for years!" Master Spurs cried, his voice strained. "I've been draining off their magic, taking it for my own! You think that your pitiful show can defeat us?! Colossal Stop this!"

The Colossal's horn glowed brightly, and a red shield appeared around them, just in time to block a shower of yellow sparks falling upon them. Green grass bloomed all around them, except for a circle of brown and dead earth at their hooves. Master Colossal was left unchanged. The Master let out a ringing tide of insane laughter.

Trixie lowered her head, her horn glowing, and a great, rainbow-colored firework launched from her horn to strike The Colossal's shield. The Colossal slid back a short distance, leaving a trail of old, dry, dead grass behind him, but his shield held. The insane laughter just kept ringing through the air, even as the sparks splashing off of the shield continued to revitalize Ponyville.

"This isn't right," Twilight said softly, watching the battle, confused. "It should be over by now. I mean, after Discord, Equestria was put back to normal in seconds ..."

Doctor Whooves shook his head. "Discord was putting out his own magic - his magic was flooding Equestria. The Elements just had to change it, to crystallize possibility into reality. Here ... the land has been drained. The Elements are trying to *fill* it all by themselves."

Twilight frowned as fireworks and red beams of light shot back and forth in the background. "Of course! That makes sense! And it's not just friendship that the Elements are powered by! It's ponies! There is no friendship without ponies! that's why ponies make so much of the magic of Equestria! Earth ponies to fuel the plants, pegasus ponies to fuel the skies, unicorn ponies for the heavens themselves! We don't just need the elements, we need ... everypony! We don't need to fix Equestria, just the ponies themselves!" She paused, her eyes flicking left and right rapidly, tracking the thoughts running through her head. "But how to spread it quickly enough?"

There was a particularly loud explosion - a rainbow-colored one, though mostly tinted with red. The wind blew past them, their manes streaming in the gale, and then settled again.

"Carrier wave!" Derpy chirped happily.

"Carrier waaaaaave..." Doctor Whooves drawled, his eyes alight.

"Carrier wave?!" repeated Twilight, more confused, "But what could spread so far and wide to - " Her eyes widened. "OH! Right, of course!" She whirled around to the group of six ponies busy fighting against Master Colossal. A massive red blast from The Colossal laid a trench of dry, dead, rotting grass across the field, but the sparks from the rainbow firework bouncing off his shield splattered across the dry grass, leaving it splotched with patches of green. The five mares all stood behind Trixie, concentrating hard as their Elements focused strength into Trixie's magical aura.

"Scootaloo!" Twilight called. Scootaloo glanced back over her shoulder a moment. "Scootaloo, we need you!"

Scootaloo let out a strained groan, and grunted, "Kinda BUSY right now!"

"They can handle The Colossal for now! You're the only one who can do this!"

Scootaloo let out a frustrated noise, but backed out of the light - it shrunk, and Trixie stumbled backwards, the strain obviously showing.

"What... What are you doing, Twilight Sparkle?" Trixie called back. "We need ALL the Elements!"

"She's going to come back! Just go defensive and build up a huge blast! You'll know when to release it!"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie does not obey your-"

"JUST DO IT!" Twilight cried in frustration, then added, "Please!"

Trixie looked taken aback, but crouched down, and a dome shimmering with rainbow colors settled over the five ponies. Her horn started to glow brighter and brighter, and a sphere shimmering with rainbows started to grow right at the tip of it as she gathered in power. Red light splashed off the shield, making it quiver and shrink, and the other four ponies got closer and closer to Trixie as their zone of safety got smaller and smaller.

Twilight lowered her voice, leaning close to Scootaloo. "Scootaloo, we need a carrier wave of sufficient magnitude to carry an astral wave of one point twenty one Jiga-"

"Twilight!" Scootaloo interrupted, "The quick and easy version!"

Twilight paused in agonized frustration, her brain stumbled over her interrupted explanation, and then she finally managed to simplify it to, "I need you to fly faster than you've ever flown before!"

Scootaloo looked confused a moment, then her eyes widened in understanding ... then she writhed in shame. "Twilight," she whispered, leaning closer. She glanced over her shoulder at the fight, where the other Elements of Harmony were clustered together under the shield, then looked to Twilight again. Her voice lowered further, "I can't fly!"

Twilight planted her hoof on Scootaloo's chest. "You think Rainbow Dash would have let that slow her down? She reached her greatest achievements when her friends were in danger. Let that drive you forward. You're not doing it for you, you're not proving yourself as Dash's successor ... You're doing it for Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom, and all the ponies who need you, right now, to break the land speed record and do what nopony has ever done before."

Scootaloo straightened, and a light shone in her eye. "Well, good thing there's no pressure. You came to the right pony!" She crowed. She paused, as if she were about to say something more, and then she darted off to the Scootbuggy, sitting at an angle off to one side where a blast from the Colossal had rocked it. She opened up a small metal compartment in the back, reached inside, and pulled out an old, battered scooter, the paint half-stripped, the wood worn by years of hooves upon it - but the wheels and axles were still shiny and well-kept.

"It's been a long time," she said fondly to the old scooter, setting it down before her. She hopped on, and her wings blurred with movement, a roaring buzz that propelled her along the ground, streaking away from the battle.

"Where's she goin'?" drawled Apple Bloom in surprise, and the other ponies under Trixie's shield peered over, too.

"Twilight Sparkle, what are you doing?!" cried Trixie, the sphere of light in front of her horn starting to dim, her shield showing cracks in it, the elements pressed in as tightly as possible. "The Great and Inspiring Trixie needs a team in order to show her incredible teamwork! Where are you sending the Great and Cooperative Trixie's valued teammates!"

Twilight turned her head, her eyes alight with hope. "Don't worry, Trixie! Just keep building up that firework! Scootaloo will be back soon, and when she comes, you have to be ready!"

Far off in the distance, the white, purple, and orange speck of Scootaloo stopped being a blur, and resolved to a single, stationary point as the distant mare wheeled her scooter around. Scootaloo narrowed her eyes, seeing the bright clashes of light in the distant compound of the mutant ponies, seeing just a hint of color flaring around them, color that reminded her of the dreams she still had, or memories, of how bright and green the land had been, when she'd been just a foal. She took a deep breath and planted one hoof on the ground, keeping herself in place as her wings blurred, faster and faster. Her hoof started digging a furrow in the ground as her powerful wings pressed her forward, despite her attempts to stay still.

And then she lifted her hoof.

The scooter skimmed over the dirt and dead grass, sending up a brown plume behind her and a shock wave of effect that rippled outwards over the ruined landscape. Faster. Sweat beaded on Scootaloo's brow as she flapped her wings harder than she ever had before, knowing that no speed she'd yet reached would be enough for what was needed. Must go faster. She felt the resistance as the air seemed to press in upon her, pressing on her cheeks, making her goggles press harder and harder into her face, her lips to peel back from her teeth. Faster yet.

"Now, Trixie!" Twilight cried, seeing that blur streaking towards them. "With everything you've got!"

Trixie let out a loud and determined cry, throwing her head back, and then forward once more, the blue shield faltering and then dying as she threw everything she had into this one final firework. Sweetie Belle's voice joined in, less a scream of determination like Trixie's, and more a single, fierce, defiant note, ringing out over the landscape, the music of her magic joining with the light show of Trixie's own. Apple Bloom's cry of encouragement mixed with their voices, along with Silver Spoon's and Diamond Tiara's twin, ringing tones. The massive, multicolored ball of coruscating energy flew forward over the field, the weight of its power pressing down on the brown, dead grass under it, and causing it to once more flare with life and color, leaving a trail of brilliantly green grass spotted with white and yellow flowers in its wake.

To Scootaloo's eye, the final attack was happening in slow motion. No! Too soon! She wasn't going fast enough to reach! A tear seeped from her eye as she reached deeper, threw reserves she didn't even possess into her wings with only one thought in her mind. Their shield was gone. They were defenseless ... and counting on her. If she couldn't do this, they were all doomed! Her wings burned with the effort, and another tear joined the first, seeping out past the goggles and streaking back over her cheek. There, it was halfway to Master Colossal, and she was still a mile away. The mach cone was forming around her, pulling back. Half a mile. A quarter of a mile. Only a block away. The world blurred around her, and all that existed was that brilliant, multicolored light.

A few hundred feet.

Scootaloo pulled slightly to the side, hitting a fallen, dull yellow wall and ramping off of it into the air.

Fifty feet.

She kept hold of the scooter with one hoof, but spread all of her legs wide and spread-eagled, the scooter off to the side as if inconsequential as she flew through the air in a long, soaring jump. Her wings blurred with the effort, she couldn't see from the tears. Just empty air under her hooves, and the light she was hurtling towards.

Fifteen feet.

"I'm Flying."

Ten feet.

Five feet.

One foot.

The mach cone snapped. The scooter-riding pegasus struck into the ball of pure friendship and magic. The world exploded around her with brilliant color.

There was a dull sound of detonation, and the sonic rainbow, a wave of every color imaginable, exploded from the center of Ponyville and spread out over the land. Behind, there was no dead grass, there were no mutants, there were no shriveled leaves or rusty metal. Everything shone with vibrant color, was full of rich life.

Master Spurs and The Colossal screamed as the magic beat against their blood-red shield, tearing it to ribbons in an instant, and the energy hitting them, flowing past them, filling them with life. The Colossal horn shattered into sparkles of energy, his wings shredded and disappeared in the same sparkles. The red of his magic seemed to press into his pale coat, filling him with strength and vitality, shifting it from pale bone-white to a rich, vibrant red. And a bright green apple-half shone brightly on his flank, as Big Macintosh finally returned to himself.

Master Colossal was no more.

The wave washed out over the land. In the ruins of Manehattan, the wave washed over the city, and the mutants prowling its streets stopped in their tracks as their colors returned to brightness, their foul and violent cutie marks disappearing, and their original flowers, musical notes, and constellations appearing in flashes of light once again. They looked around, stunned as the long nightmare ended, the grand Statue of Friendship returned to its glory. In Las Pegasus, the ruined city filled with lights once more, a rainbow sheen of magic, glowing patterns shining into the desert sky, marking its return to the newly recovered ponies. In the Nimbusgait Lakes, the wash of rainbow magic hit the lakes and threw up a giant bank of fog that lifted up into the air, higher and higher, forming the base of what once had been Cloudsdale, ready to be rebuilt. And the wave washed up along the mountains, climbing the cliff faces to hit the tottering, rickety structure of Canterlot, straightening it out, lifting it up and restoring it to shining glory.

To the edges of the land, the wave of friendship washed, covering it in color and life and hope once again. And as it disappeared beyond its edges, the sun, which had hung low and red in the sky for so long, finally finished its weary journey, and dipped behind the horizon, allowing the stars to once more show in a dark sky, and the great, round moon to lift up over the horizon once again.

In Ponyville, the six ponies who were the elements of harmony laid limply on the ground, utterly drained by their effort. Around them, friends and family stirred and lifted themselves up from where the shock wave had knocked them down. Two foals who had come with the Sweet Apple Rebels had eyes filled with tears, and they raced forward, crying out, "Mommy! Daddy!" Among the onetime mutants, Mister and Missus Cake looked up, tears in their own eyes. "Pumpkin! Pound!" They ran into each other and tumbled down into a giant pile of hugs and laughter. Lyra grabbed hold of BonBon in a fierce hug and swung her around happily. Cloudchaser and Flitter leaped up into the skies with ringing laughter and circled around each other as they soared up into the sky.

Near to where Trixie lay prone, where Hoofcutter and Dull Edge had fallen during the fight, two stallions struggled to their hooves, looking a bit dizzy. "Whoah..." said the taller stallion, his dull knife replaced by brightly colored snail. "Whoah. Hey, Snips, we're us again! Most Excellent"

The shorter, stouter stallion was blinking in surprise. "Yeah, Snails! Totally Righteous! The Great and Powerful Trixie saved us!"

"Hey, she called us her friends!" Snails said happily.

"I know, Snails! Quite non-heinous!"

"Heh. We were pegasuses!"

"I know, Snails!"

"Heh-heh. You were a mare!"

"Shut UP, Snails!"

"You and I-"

"SHUT UP, Snails!"

Filthy Rich came forward, his eyes tearing up, as he looked at the prone form of his daughter. "My little princess," he whispered, then raced forward, worried and happy and eager as he gathered her up. "Diamond Tiara!" he said, cradling her head, "are you all right, sweetie?"

Diamond Tiara's eyes blinked open, and she peered up blearily to see her daddy over her. Her lower lip quivered, and the hope she'd suppressed for the past decade burst into glorious joy as she wrapped her arms around him fiercely. "Daddy!" she sobbed, "Oh, I missed you so much!"

Big Macintosh looked around, his eyes wide, then looked over at Apple Bloom, fallen in the dust. He stepped over her, reached out his hoof, drew it back, nervously... Apple Bloom's eyes opened, and she looked up at him, and her eyes widened, then narrowed.

"Oh, Apple Bloom," Big Mac said, his deep voice hesitant. "I ... I'm so sorry ... how can I ..."

"Shut up," Apple bloom said, and threw her forelegs around his neck in a fierce embrace, pulling him down to her and crying tears of joy into his shoulder.

Doctor Whooves smiled in a satisfied manner, clasping Twilight on the shoulder. "Good job," he said simply.

Twilight looked at him, bewildered. "I didn't do anything."

Whooves smirked. "No, of course you didn't." He patted Twilight on the shoulder again. "Anyway. This is usually when we duck out, before everyone's done with the immediate hugging and stuff. If we hang around, they start getting all thankful and feasty and stuff, and that just gets awkward! I'd imagine the TARDIS is over this way..." he said, starting to tug Twilight along.

"Wait!" Twilight cried, "What about Master Spurs, shouldn't we -" She started to turn towards where the small, malformed pony had fallen, and her eyes widened when she saw that nothing was there but a shred of black fabric. "Where'd he go? How'd he go anywhere all twisted up and injured like that?"

With a sigh, Whooves shook his head. "We were all distracted... the magic returning allowed him to - ahh, it's complicated. Suffice to say he's probably long gone by now. He likely has his own TARDIS that was drained of magic till the Elements restored her. Wonder what he looks like now ..."

Twilight sat there with her mouth hanging open for a moment, unsure how to ask the questions that would let her understand that. She wasn't even sure how to ask the questions that would lead her to being able to ask the questions. Then she sighed, shook her head, gave it up.

"Wait..." Doctor Whooves said, looking up into the air with a surprised look. "Do you hear that?"

Twilight tilted her head to the side. It sounded rather like a crackling noise, like electricity arcing over scientific equipment... "Yeah ... what is that?"

Whooves shook his head. "No, it can't be. It sounds like an old Series 2 ..." Lighting arced across the clear, dark sky, joining together in a single point that struck down not far away - a glowing rectangle that swiftly resolved itself into a steel and glass shed.

"Not Bad!" cried Snips and Snails together.

Whooves stepped forward, and his face brightened up as an orange earth pony with a slicked-black mane stepped out, wearing a dark long coat and a pair of wraparound shades. His own face brightened significantly when he saw Whooves, and the two rushed forward towards each other. "Greetings, my most excellent friend!" cried the strange pony, "Thank you for clearing out that interference!" The two reared back and headbutted each other hard, then dropped to the ground clutching at their foreheads and groaning.

"Really?! A second Gallupfrey? Based on *their* magic show and philosophy?" cried Whooves in disbelief.

The strange pony shook his head dazedly. "Well, after you fix the previous focal point, these two will end up temporally displaced. Has it really been two hundred years for you!? And here I saw you just last month!"

"Time Travel," cried the Doctor happily. "Wibbly wobbly-"

"Timey Wimey!" finished the other, and they both laughed happily.

Doctor Whooves led him over to Twilight and Derpy. "Goodness! Here, I thought I was the last one, but I want you to meet and old and dear friend, Guide Reins!"

Guide Reins took up Twilight's hoof and kissed it, then gave a low bow to Derpy. "Charmed, lovely mares." He smirked over to Doctor Whooves. "My excellent friend here did always choose the most bodacious of babes and righteous of dudes to accompany him," he said, his tone a strange mix of slang and solemnity. "But now, I have work to do! Be excellent to one another!" He strode off in the direction of Snips and Snails, who were watching on in wonder.

"And for us," Doctor Whooves said, leading them through the partly restored Ponyville, "Through time and space, anywhere we want... anywhen we want ... but for Twilight, I think, first ... home?"

Twilight nodded. "Home, certainly," she said, then smiled. "But perhaps not for good..."

The Doctor laughed merrily. "Excellent!" he said, kicking a door open to reveal the blue shed, his TARDIS, sitting inside a building, sunlight shining through the dust and the gaps in the ceiling. "Next stop, everywhere!"

Author's Note

And at long last... having taken entirely too long ... Friendship is Epic has concluded! :) I hope you have all enjoyed it!