Changing fate

"Here is your current situation," The doctor started after bringing in some images of Caden's wounds. "You arrived about two weeks ago. You had several broken ribs. There were also multiple cuts and lacerations covering most of your body. Your left arm had been broken. And some of its nerves were damaged by a very deep cut."

"We managed to heal your wounds. But the pain will be there for a while. The skin covering your wounds is still sensitive and thin. So we placed those bandages to restrict your movement and prevent your wounds from re-opening. Your legs, on the other hand, were the least damaged part of your body. Which means that you should be able to walk already."

There was a brief pause after that. The doctor looked at Caden for a few seconds before he looking up at the nurse accompanying him. He then nodded at her. The nurse, who was Patches, picked up a file and hand it over to the doctor.

"Okay. You must be aware that bat ponies have some pretty unique bone structure in their wings," Caden nodded positively. "Your right-wing was in pretty bad shape. We managed to heal it, however, based on what we saw...you won't have a complete recovery," The doctor said showing the x-rays of Caden's right-wing. "You'll probably only be able to fly for only a few minutes before having to take a rest. And...your flight speed...we expect that you'll only be able to reach between 30-50% of your original speed."

"I...I kinda expected as much," Caden said with his ears dropped to the sides. "How long until I can move it freely again?"

"We will remove them right now actually," The doctor replied gesturing to the nurse. "We applied some healing agents while you were asleep. They accelerated the process. And besides, you can't go out for an audience covered in bandages."

"Audience?"

"The situation in which you appeared caused a lot of stir. You can't expect to not be inquired about it."

"Uuuuh..." Caden said tilting his head.

"Here," Patches said handing over a set of finely crafted clothes. A fine white shirt with a pair of black trousers, strangely enough, they had the right size. "Put these on. Some guards are going to come by to escort you to the throne room."

"Oook," Caden said looking at the garments.

Then without much regard to the presence of the doctor or Patches, Caden got up and started to put on the clothes. He heard somepony gasp before the sound of a door slamming behind him happened. Caden looked over his shoulder and saw that both of them were gone.

'Huh...That's weird. I never got that reaction before...'

Caden finished buttoning his shirt and securing his pants in place. He then walked up to the door and opened it. Which caused a mare to fall flat on her muzzle. Caden looked down and saw that the one who fell was actually Patches. She looked up to him and then giggled before getting up really fast.

"Ha-ha...well...You better get going. The guards will escort you to the throne room."

"Were you...peeking through the keyhole?"

"..."

"Are you Caden?" Another voice took Caden's attention away from Patches.

Two mares had walked up to them. Both of them were wearing armor, the number of mares Caden had met in the short amount of time he had been awake was starting to concern him. It took at least two or three months in the army to meet two mares back then. Now he had met three?

"Mr. Caden?"

"Y-yes," He replied shaking his head.

"There is no need to fear. We are here to protect you."

'What is up with the 'protecting' me? I just got out of the hospital. I'm not helpless though.'

Caden raised an eyebrow and walked up to them. "Lead the way."

The mares nodded and then started to walk down the hallways. It had been a while since Caden had seen the halls of the castle in their former glory. Dusk Shine had done some renovations after taking over the capital. The white stones that were used in the original castle had their color changed from white to a mix of black and lavender.

The banners containing the sun emblem and the moon emblem were replaced by Dusk's mark. The paintings were replaced with scenes of Dusk Shine and his companions fighting in heroic battles. Caden felt a bit more at ease as he saw the capital back in shape through the windows.

'If I play my cards right. This world won't ever fall. I won't let it fall.'

"Is this the bat pony that was found a few days ago?" As they walked through the hallways, Caden saw somepony familiar join the group.

A lavender unicorn with a purple mane. It had to be Dusk Shine. Caden didn't manage to see the unicorn's face, but something about his voice was wrong. Caden still had the image of that stallion etched into his memory after the hell Caden was forced through. Dusk Shine had a thin body with a decent build, probably due to all the fights he had been involved in.

The pony in front of Caden, however, wasn't as thin as Caden remembered. There seemed to be a small difference between them. Something Caden could only find out by looking very hard at the pony. Luckily for him, neither the guards nor Dusk Shine seemed to notice him staring. Something else Caden noticed was that Dusk Shine seemed to have a more feminine body, his mane seemed to be more well kept too.

"Correct. Twilight Sparkle."

"Wait, what?" Caden blurted out without even realizing.

"What is it?" One of the guards asked.

"What did you call him?"

"Him? The only stallion in this hall is you," The other guard asked as she turned around.

Caden just stared blankly at the two mares, then he looked at the fourth party. That wasn't the face Caden knew, the one in front of him was a mare. A beautiful lavender mare with purple eyes. That was definitely not Dusk Shine.

"Er...you are, Twilight Sparkle?"

"That is right. Can I help you with something?"

"Do you have a brother called Dusk Shine or something?"

"Sorry, but the only sibling I have is my sister. Gleaming Shield."

Caden simply stared at Twilight for a few seconds. That was when he remembered that Dusk Shine was exceptional with illusion spells. Caden took a step forward to inspect more closely the mare's face.

"W-what are you doing?" Twilight asked as she slowly turned red since Caden was very close to her now.

"You're not using any spells now. Are you?"

"W-what kind of spells?"

"Illusion spells."

"Why would I be using illusion spells?"

"To change your looks," When Caden said that, Twilight's flustered expression turned into a frown.

"Are you calling me ugly?"

"No, it's just that you're looking a bit different from what I expected. So I think there is an illusion around your body."

"And what were you expecting?"

Caden scratched the back of his head. He had to go and spill that much info. If that was Dusk Shine, he would be more cautious now.

"Well, a beautiful mare isn't exactly what I had in mind," Caden replied as he pressed his forehead with his index finger.

Caden looked up to Twilight. She was red as a tomato. Her ears were perked up, the fur around her neck was standing up, and she kept moving her mouth as if she wanted to say something.

'Uh...did I do something wrong? Back then they would simply dismiss any compliments. Flattery didn't work on any mare I ever saw.'

"Are you okay?" Caden asked backing away from Twilight.

"FINE! A-actually, I just remembered I needed to get the throne room before you three. See ya!"

With that, Twilight disappeared in a flash of light. Caden just stared at the empty spot.

'Ok. I need to confirm if that's the same pony. The mark! If she has the same mark...then this is probably Dusk Shine in disguise. Why would he hide though? Oh...that's bad. That's really bad. What if he got back with me? I have to get to the throne room now!'

"Which way to the throne room?" Caden inquired grabbing one of the mares' shoulders.

"We will make a turn in the next corridor. Then its a straight walk to the throne room."

Caden didn't even blink. His legs were fine, Caden just put them to their maximum use. Making a turn exactly at the corridor pointed by the mare, Caden saw a big golden door. Caden bashed the doors open and saw something he didn't expect.

Sitting on a throne, there was a mare with a colorful mane. The mane seemed to be moved by an absent wind. Her coat was pure white, a golden tiara, golden bracelets, her dress was shifting between cyan and white. Caden stared at her for a few seconds, just like she was doing. He counld not believe how beautiful she was, but he had other worries.

"Er...is this the throne room?" Caden asked trying to keep his cool.

"Yes. I am the Princess. Princess Celestia. Ruler of this country."

Caden looked at the princess' neck. The sun mark was there, complete golden sun.

"Uh...where is Prince Solaire?" The Princess tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Prince Artemis?"

"I was never aware of these. Who are they?"

"The Prince of the sun? And...the prince of the moon?" Caden asked with his ears dropping slowly to the side of his head.

"The only ruler of the Sun and Moon is me. Ever since the rise of Nightmare Moon that is."

Caden fell to his knees. "What is the name of your brother?"

When he made that question, Caden saw the Princess' expression turn into a scowl. With a simple gesture of her hand, Caden saw all the guards leave the room. At this point, Caden realized that Twilight wasn't anywhere in sight.

"I do not have a brother. I do have a sister. A sister that everypony thinks its dead. And they simply don't mention her anymore. So, do tell why you brought my family up?"

"You have a sister...you banished her to the moon with the elements of harmony. And she will be coming back, won't she?"

The princess stood up, the anger was burning in her eyes. She walked up to him, forced Caden, and then she forced Caden to look at her.

"How do you know that?"

Caden backed away from Celestia. He could not believe what he just heard.

'This isn't my world! That blasted tree! I wanted to go back in time, not to jump into another reality.'

"Take me to the tree of harmony," Caden said with a serious tone.

"How do you know about that as well? The only ones that know about the tree are me and my sister. What are you?"

"Take me to the blasted tree. Then you'll see it."

The princess didn't look pleased with Caden's response. But her horn fired up and after a bright flash, Caden found himself in the familiar cave where he had found the tree. This one was still shining brilliantly, the spots were still open to receive their crystals.

Caden walked up to the tree and started to knock on it.

"Okay, you stupid tree. I know you're alive so start explaining this shit."

"You are talking to a tree. Alright, I rescued a crazy stallion."

"Ah, just shut it," Caden said looking over his shoulder. "Wake up before I find myself a hammer and start beating you until you come out!"

The tree began to shine, Caden backed away and waited. Another copy of him appeared. This one was less visible. Probably due to the lack of elements of harmony.

"You are the visitor the other tree sent. What is it that you wish?"

"I want to know why I was sent into another world instead of back in time! That was not my wish. I wanted to go back to fix my world! What I know can't be applied here!"

"What do you mean? And what is this?" Celestia asked from behind him.

"Ah, one of the first bearers. Where is your sister?"

"Never mind her!" Caden ordered. "Tell me what the heck is going on!"

"When you saved your tree. Your world ended along with your existence there. Your tree, however, was kind enough to pick you up before you completely disappeared. And since the world you belonged to was being reset, you could no longer live there without losing all the knowledge you had. But you could be sent to another world. Therefore, here you are."

"You are kidding, right?"

"No. I am also running out of time. I need to go back to rest."

"How am I supposed to prevent the end of the world in a world I know nothing about?!"

"I'll leave that up to you. I was curious about how something that repeats itself in each world flawlessly could be prevented. But if you're already this angry because you're not sure you can do it. I think everypony will simply die. Well, goodbye."

"WAIT!"

With that, the tree's light faded. Caden was left alone with the Princess. Caden was at a loss, he went so far. Deserted his nation, fought the destroyers of his home, got severely injured, managed to revive the tree, and managed to back in time. But not the way he wanted to. And now he was supposed to help save a world he knew nothing about?

'What am I supposed to do?'