Chapters The flee of the ressistance
One moment, Twilight fought Starlight in Cloudstale, and now, both them and Spike found themselves in the Everfree forest, surrounded by a group of ponies, painted with mud, pointing spears on them. Starlight was confused. But Twilight and Spike, they knew where they are, and the table that brought them here through the tunnel of time, wasn’t there.
“We are not changelings,” Twilight tried to explain her and her enemy to the ponies, “Just take us to Zecora, she will explain.”
“No need to call me,” A voice full of mercy and wisdom said behind the ponies, “After all, I am here.” The ponies cleared a path and an old zebra with golden earrings, her neck was covered by golden rings and her eyes were covered by a green mask, made by the same mud that was marking the ponies with spears.
“Zecora!” Twilight smiled, “I know you do not know me, but you must trust me I am from another timeline.”
“Silence, Changeling,” a pink mare with curly pink mane shouted at Twilight.
“That is enough Pinkie Pie,” Zecora calmed down the pink mare, “Let’s see if what she says is true, or a lie.” Zecora took a jar, filled with a green mud from her bag and she marked the unicorn, the alicorn, and the dragon. Soon enough the three newcomers glowed for a second.
“What is that?” Starlight asked Zecora, demanding answers, “What did you put on me?”
“They are not changelings,” Zecora told the other ponies and they put down their spears. Zecora then turned to the two ponies and dragon, “Please come with me, it is not safe here.”
Twilight, Starlight, and Spike followed Zecora to a village, filled with ponies. There were fillies, mares, and stallions, earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns. The village looked the same to the time that Twilight and Spike arrived there, all but one detail, some of the unicorns had their horns cut off. As the two mares walked in the village, following Zecora, Twilight turned to Starlight, “Do not even think of escaping.”
“Maybe you didn’t notice,” Starlight looked at Twilight with a glance of hatred, “But the table is gone, I have no place to go now.” The mares looked at each other, while Zecora explained the village again to Spike.
“When Chrysalis took over Canterlot, the ponies came to the Everfree forest, trying to escape. They came to me for help, and to let them die, I wouldn’t dare.” As they continued to speak, two dirty mares ran to the village. One was a blue pegasus with rainbow colored mane and the other was a white unicorn with a purple mane. The ponies again took their spears, ready to defend their village.
“Please, help us,” the pegasus cried, “We’re being chased by changelings.” Twilight knew who those ponies, and so did Zecora.
“The only changelings I see,” Zecora stood before the two mares, “Are those standing in front of me.” When Twilight thought she knew what would happen, a sinister laugh came out of the woods and. It sounded like a stallion was laughing behind a metal mask. And the source of the laughing came out of the woods as the Pegasus and the unicorn turned into changelings, it was a stallion made of gold, and two sharp blades came out of his front legs. One could mistake the stallion for a living armor, but the eyes could tell there is something under the gold, breathing. The eyes were red like blood and were surrounded by burned flesh, whatever was under the mask, he must be wounded badly. Soon enough, the figure was surrounded by an army of changelings, all waiting for his commend.
“General Eclipse,” Zecora gritted her teeth at the monster of a pony.
“Zecora,” the General smiled under his golden mask, “So good to see you again. Queen Chrysalis would enjoy torture you."
"Then why isn't she here?" Zecora asked Eclipse, "Why would she send her hunting dog, instead of fighting me."
"You will be sorry for mocking me zebra," General Eclipse raised his arm and the changeling swarm flew over the village, ready to take prisoners and lives. The ponies ran towards the fight, and Twilight was there to help, blasting changelings from left and right. Meanwhile, Zecora and Eclipse fought each other.
"How did you find us General?" Zecora asked as she dodged the blades of the General and threw a pink potion to the ground, and two vines burst out of the ground, ready to attack Eclipse. Eclipse jumped and avoided the vines and cut them down and landed in front of Zecora. Pinkie saw Zecora stood without a weapon and threw her spear. Zecora caught the spear and blocked Eclipse's blades.
"Do you really think I would not find you, I have eyes everywhere, including your pathetic excuse for a village." Eclipse broke the zebra's spear and golden claws were extracting from his left front hoof and he held Zecora by the neck. Twilight saw her friend at the monster's mercy and she ran towards her, but she was caught by Pinkie Pie. Twilight saw the General burst through the zebra's chest and his golden hoof was stained with her blood. Twilight tried to escape Pinkie's grasp, but it was for no use.
"We have to leave!" Pinkie told Twilight. Twilight agreed and Pinkie ordered the resistance to retreat. The ponies did as they were told and they fled the area. Twilight saw Starlight surrounded by changelings and she ran to save her. The changeling cornered the purple unicorn, ready to suck the love out of her, but Twilight didn't let them do that, she blasted them.
"Are you okay?" Twilight asked Starlight and help her get up on her legs. Starlight nodded and the ponies fled the area and followed Pinkie to a tunnel in the mountains.
The General looked at the chained ponies that he and his army captured, smiling behind his mask and proud fo his accomplishment, as two changelings came towards the general and bowed.
"Lutiented Phyrax," Eclipse told the changeling with the purple eyes, "Go to Canterlot and tell her grace that Zecora has been defeated and the resistance is on the run."
"But General," Phyrax asked, "What about the alicorn?"
"Leave her to me."
"Eclipse!!" Twilight woke up, screaming the the name that haunted her mind since she saw him. The screamed echoed in the halls of the tunnel and Spike ran to see if his master is okay when he arrived, he saw Twilight surrounded by her cold sweat, shaking and could not go to sleep again.
"The nightmare again?" Spike asked Twilight and she nodded, and soon enough Pinkie arrived as well to Twilight.
"We must be quiet!" Pinkie warned them and she told them to come with her. The alicorn and the dragon nodded, and they followed the pink mare through a small tunnel that split the three from the rest and she told them to hide behind the rocks. From the rocks, Twilight saw a group of changelings and diamond dogs, wearing golden armor that resembled Eclipse's armor.
"Are those?" Twilight asked Pinkie and Pinkie nodded, "How did he found us?"
"I do not know," Pinkie answered, "But we must wake the others and leave now!" Pinkie went out of the rocks, and Twilight and Spike followed her. Twilight tried to get Pinkie's attention, but Pinkie just ignored her.
"Pinkie," Twilight tried to get the mare's attention for some time, but Pinkie just ignored her, "Pinkie, Pinkie, Pinkie," Pinkie just ignored her. "Pinkie, who is General Eclipse?" Twilight asked. Pinkie sighed and she turned to the lavender alicorn, with frustration.
"Fine!" Pinkie gave up on trying to ignore her, "If I tell you about him, will you leave me alone?" Twilight nodded and Pinkie told her everything she knows. "Eclipse was a pony that betrayed all of Equestria, he helped Chrysalis take over Canterlot and he helped her to defeat Celestia. We don't know why he did this, and we don't care why. All we know is that he hunts unicorns and take their horns before killing them." Twilight was shocked to hear these, why would anypony betray Celestia, and will kill unicorns. But Twilight had one question.
"What happened to his body? What his armor is?"
"This is not armor," Pinkie answered, "This is his body." Pinkie told Twilight and Spike to wake their 'friend' Starlight and she went to wake the others and got ready to continue their journey. When they returned to the camp, they woke up everypony and quickly they got everything packed to the rest of the journey.
"General Eclipse," a black mare with green hair smiled to the General as he bowed before her black throne in the hive of Equestria, "Congratulations for the attack on Zecora's resistance base."
"Thank you, your highness," General Eclipse told his master and queen.
"And still," Queen Chrysalis flew from her throne and stood before the cyborg, "You let the alicorn slip out of your grasp." General Eclipse raised his head.
"Your Highness, I assure you I will destroy her. As we speak my people are chasing them through their tunnels."
"I am not disappointed with you because you let her escape, no, I am disappointed that you thought you could lie to me. " Chrysalis's horn glow in green and Eclipse fell to the ground, trying to keep himself from screaming as electric waves flew through his metal skeleton. Chrysalis stopped to torture her general and he got up on his legs. "I giving you a second chance, Eclipse find the alicorn or I will make Phyrax my General and your body will be a statue in my castle." Eclipse left the hive and outside of the dark barrow waited for him his guards and a white mare unicorn with a purple mane and her mouth was covered in a golden muzzle and a small brown bag. The mare looked at Eclipse with terror and bowed before him.
"It will take more than changelings to finish this task. Rarity!" Eclipse ordered the mare to take a letter and a feather from her bag and he told her what to write, "I, General Eclipse, will give 200,000 bits for the creature that would deliver a lavender alicorn with a purple mane to my castle in ponyville." The mare did as she was told and she sent it to all the kingdoms in the changeling empire, from Yakistan to the dragon lands, from the Crystal Empire to Saddle Arabia. "Now, let's go home."
As the ponies walked in the tunnel, escaping to the resistance camp on the other side, Pinkie heard the sound of the changelings marching through the halls and she sped up the ponies, but as the ponies sped up, also did the changelings and the diamond dogs, Pinkie took the rebels through another tunnel, and the changelings were still behind them. No matter what the mare did, the changelings were still behind them, and the ponies could not run anymore. The battle was inevitable. With nothing more to do, Pinkie sighed and ordered everypony to get ready for the battle.
The changelings and the dogs arrived, and Twilight saw them and she was terrified by their weapons and golden armor. They had swords, axes, spears, and shields and all the resistance had was spears that were made from wood and stones.
"Resistance!" Pinkie called and all the ponies stomped their spears on the ground as the changelings ran towards them, "Attack!!" The ponies ran towards the changelings and the two small armies marched down. Pinkie impaled changeling after changeling, dodging the swords and axes' swings and she killed them one by one and she saw the leader. A golden changeling with the mark of Eclipse, a skull of a unicorn. "Fluttershy," Pinkie called and a yellow pegasus leaped towards the mare and Pinkie pointed at the captain of the attack. Fluttershy nodded and she took Pinkie and she threw her towards the golden changeling. Pinkie jumped on the captain's head and she stabbed him in his weak spot, his neck.
The changelings retreated as they saw their captain's head separated from his head. The Ponies won the battle and they needed this win after what happened. Pinkie looked at the bodies of her friends and pain and rage burned in her heart, and she noticed something. Pinkie took Fluttershy that prayed for Celestia for the loss of her friends, "Where are the two with the dragon?"
Twilight, Spike, and Starlight were tied up as three fillies looked at a letter. One filly was a yellow earth pony with red short mane and she wore a grey cloak and her right hoof was tied to a knife. One filly was an orange pegasus with a purple long mane and she wore an eyepatch to her left eye and she had a bow around her back. The last one was a white unicorn with grey and pink mane and she wore a body armor made of a black hydra's skin. Twilight could not believe her eyes, in front of her, there were the CMC.
Twilight could not believe her eyes, the cute and innocent young fillies have become bounty hunters. The fillies untied the unicorn and alicorn' mouth their, "Apple Bloom? Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle?"
"Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo pointed the earth filly's knife away from the unicorn's throat, "Don't threaten her, she is an alicorn!"
"And there is a great price over her head," Sweetie Belle added. The two fillies agreed with Belle.
"Whoever is paying you girls, it's not worth it," Twilight said to the fillies, trying to push them from the greedy path.
"Whoever is paying you to take her, is he paying you to take me as well?" Starlight asked.
"No," Sweetie Belle answered. Starlight sighed in relief, "But the General will probably give us a bonus on bringing a unicorn."
"The General?" Twilight asked, "You cannot trust Eclipse, he betrayed Equestria!"
"Yah have a better idea?" Apple Bloom laughed.
"Yes," Twilight answered, "Where I come from, you do not care about money, but about helping others. If you will help us, we will make things right." The three fillies laughed to the words of the alicorn, but Twilight continued, "Apple Bloom, where I came from, you live in a farm with your sister, and brother, and granny smith, Scootaloo, you have a fan club about Rainbow Dash, and Sweetie Belle, you love to sing, and you love Rarity more than singing." The fillies stopped laughing, and they looked at each other with sorrow. Apple bloom walked to the three tied creatures, and with her blade, she untied them, and Sweetie Belle walked toward Twilight with tears.
"If we help you, will you wake us up from this nightmare?"
"Yes," Twilight answered and she hugged the three fillies as Starlight watched and smiled. When Twilight looked at the purple unicorn, she quickly turned her head to the other direction.
"So," Starlight asked, "Do you know the way out?"
General Eclipse returned to Ponyville. The metal pony arrived with his unicorn slave to the town entrance, where his division of golden changeling waited for him. Eclipse walked through the town towards his fortress. Ponyville that once was a green and happy town now is a military base, full of changelings, diamond dogs, and dragons. The ponies that once lived there, are now the slaves of the General and the food source of his changelings. The trees of the Everfree forest were dead and the animals are now the fighting pets of the arena, keeping the slaves happy. The ponies and the changelings bowed as the General and his division walked through the destroyed houses, and Eclipse loved it, he enjoyed to see the fear on their faces as he walked there, but what he loved the most is to see the young unicorns that he orphaned shaking their legs at the sound of his cybernetic hooves. After the parade of terror he orchestrated, he arrived at the black fortress he called home.
"Rarity, inform the doctor that I am here and tell her to activate the memory scanner," Rarity bowed before her master and she ran to through the hall that was full of armors and pony's skulls. After an hour, Rarity returned to the throne room of Eclipse. The cyborg's mechanical shell was lying on the wall, empty, next to a collection of unicorn horns, and the pony was on his tank that was filled with hot water that hides his mutilated body. "Is the scanner ready?" The General asked from his healing tank, and Rarity nodded and pushed the armor to The tank that started to lower itself and four mechanical arms took the body and the armor and the soon enough, Eclipse's blood-red eyes were seen through his golden mask. Eclipse exited the medical chamber and went to a room filled with computer screens, and in the middle of the room, there was a chair.
"Hello Doctor," General Eclipse greeted the mare unicorn that was hidden in the shadow behind the control panel of the machine, as he sat on the chair.
"Hello General, what do you seek to rewatch?" the Doctor asked.
"The attack on Zecora's village," The cyborg answered, "You must search a lavender alicorn."
"An alicorn?" The Doctor asked, confused.
"Just started the scan." The Doctor did as she was told and the chair attached to the cyborg's head. The screens turned on and they showed the attack. The General's eyes searched every corner of every screen, trying to locate the alicorn.
"There!" The General shouted, "Zoom in towards the tree where the purple unicorn is attacked." The Doctor pushed on some buttons on the panel and the picture zoomed in, showing the alicorn helping a purple unicorn.
"It is impossible," The Doctor gasped in disbelief.
"Scan the two mares and search them in our reserves, I want to know where are they and where did they come from!" The Doctor did as Eclipse told her and she scanned the mares' bodies. As the scanning was taking place, a changeling General, wearing golden armor entered the room.
"General, our division in the tunnel has lost, Captain Kyborn has been killed." Eclipse did not enjoy the news, the General stormed out of the chair and his mechanic claws extracted from his right golden hoof, and he took the guard by the head, smashing it like it was a mango.
"Doctor, update me on every news about our little friends. I am going to hunt." Eclipse left the room as Rarity came after him, cleaning the changeling's headless corpse.
Pinkie, Fluttershy and the rest of the ponies left the tunnels as they walked through the mountain roads to the closest resistance base.
"We should have stayed and searched for them," Fluttershy said to Pinkie. The pink mare sighed and she turned to her yellow friend.
"Listen, Fluttershy, we cannot risk our ponies to search for them, it is too dangerous."
"But she could be the one," Fluttershy insisted, "She could be the one who will defeat Chrysalis!"
"We cannot risk our fight for mare stories," Pinkie told Fluttershy.
"But-" Fluttershy's mouth was covered by Pinkie's hoof.
"We are surrounded."
"By who?" Fluttershy asked. Before Pinkie could answer, groups of griffons, dragons, and ponies leaped out of the mountains and they circled the group of ponies.
"Bounty hunters," Pinkie gritted her teeth. An orange mare with blond mane and a left scarred eye came to Pinkie, smirking.
"Well, Well, Well, what have we here?" The mare asked her crew, "Let's see how much bits Eclipse will pay for the resistance of Everfree."
Pinkie, Fluttershy and all of the resistance of Everfree were under the mercy of Celestia’s bastards, the most dangerous mercenaries and bounty hunters in the changeling empire, led by the fearsome, Applejack. The bastards took their captured ponies to their base. It was a big cave in the mountains. The camp was filled with some ponies, griffons, diamond dogs, dragons, and yaks. All laughing, drinking cider, and competing with each other.. Pinkie and Fluttershy were tied up and they brought to the captain cabin in the top of a hill in the cave. The cabin was filled with gold, animal heads, and weapons, from guns to arrows.
“Feel at home,” Applejack smirked at the Pinkie and Fluttershy as she took a cider from a closed treasure chest, “Drink something, if Eclipse will buy yah, it will be yar last drink.”
“So,” a blue unicorn with white mane entered the cabin, and asked Applejack, “What you brought us today?”
“A bounty, Trixie, " Applejack answered the blue mare, “And ah believe Eclipse would give us a good amount of bits for them.” Trixie smiled to the sound of good bits, but fear was in her to the sound of Eclipse.
“Hey boss!” a female griffon with brown and white feathers called for Applejack, “The Crusaders are here, with two mares.”
“What have ya done, Apple Bloom?” Applejack asked herself and she turned to the griffon, “Bring them, Gilda.” Gilda nodded and she signed the three fillies to come in with a purple unicorn with a purple mane and a lavender alicorn. Pinkie and Fluttershy gasped to see their friends again, and Trixie smiled and ordered the diamond dogs to capture the two.
“Well, it seems your sister and their friends finally got something good,” Trixie looked at Twilight.
“What do ya mean?” Applejack asked as she drank a cider and gave one to the three fillies.
“This alicorn has a price of 2,000 bits on her head.”
Applejack smiled as the fillies dropped their drinks and looked at Applejack.
“Sis, we cannot send them to Eclipse,” Apple Bloom shouted.
“Why is it?” Trixie asked.
“Because they could change what happened,” Sweetie Belle said, “They can turn back time and stop this war before it ever happened.” There was a silence in the room until Trixie started to burst in laughter, and after her, the diamond dogs, Gilda, and Applejack laughed.
“Ya can’t trust everything someone tells ya, girls” Applejack wiped a tear of joy out of her eye, “Now Trixie, go write a letter to the General, and tell him that the alicorn is here with us.” Trixie nodded and she and the dogs left the cabin.
“I can do this,” Twilight proclaimed.
“So if ya can time travel, why haven’t ya gone from here already?” Applejack asked as she ate an apple.
“Because I need my table, to travel back.”
“So, and where the table is?”
“I don’t know.”
“So, even if ya can travel through time, ya can help us, because the table ya used it to time to create this ‘time spell’ is in an unknown place.”
“Actually, the unicorn next to me, Starlight, cast the spell,” Twilight smiled nervously.
“Thank you for throwing me under the train,” Starlight said to the alicorn.
“Well, That’s true!”
“Ah heard enough,” Applejack stopped the two mares, “Ya’ speaking nonsense, whoever ya’ are, ya important to Eclipse, and ah don’t wanna do anything against Eclipse.”
“Sis!” Apple Bloom shouted, “Ya’ can’t do that!”
“They can return Equestria back to days before Chrysalis and her general!” Scootaloo stood with her friend and defended the alicorn and unicorn.
“They can bring back Rarity!” Sweetie Belle cried.
“And Rainbow Dash!”
“And Big Mac, And Granny!” Those four names made Applejack stop in her place, and tears threatened to leave her eyes.
“Is it true?” Applejack asked Twilight, “Can ya’ bring them back?”
“Yes,” Twilight answered, “We can bring them back.” Applejack nodded and she took Apple bloom’s knife and she cut down the ropes that held the two mares.
After an hour, Twilight explained what happened to her since Starlight used the time travel spell, about the Rainboom, and about the other Equestria. The CMC listened to the alicorn's words like it was a story about a different world, a better world. When Twilight finished, Applejack nodded to Gilda, and the griffon caught Starlight.
"What the hay are you thinking you doing?" Starlight asked as she tried to resist the griffon's grasp over her body, "Let me go!!"
"A'm afraid ah cannot let you do that," Applejack sighed, "But if what Twilight told us is true, ya' the one to blame for all of this," all of the ponies then looked at Starlight, and the unicorn spotted fire in their eyes, "Because of ya' ponies died, fillies and colts, family and friends."
"Because of ya' Big Mac is dead, Granny Smith is dead!" Apple Bloom and she ran to her sister.
"Because of you, Rainbow Dash is being tortured by the changelings!" Scootaloo aimed her bow on the unicorn.
"Because of you, Rarity is under the mercy of a psychopath!" Sweetie Belle shouted in rage as her horn glow.
"Okay, that's enough!" Twilight shouted as she ran to protect Starlight.
"Twilight, what are you doing?" Spike asked, confused.
"Starlight will face her crimes, but it will be done when I take her to our timeline," Twilight promised the angry ponies.
"Very well," Applejack agreed, and she nodded back to Gilda to let go of the unicorn, "But she is yar responsibility, if something happens to her, is yar problem, got it?" Twilight nodded and she walked towards Starlight.
"Are you okay?" Twilight asked as she helped her rival to get on her legs.
"Yeah," Starlight answered, "But, why? I wouldn't stand for you."
"We're not the same, then," Twilight said and she walked outside, Starlight tried to say something to the alicorn, but she couldn't and she just followed her and Applejack. Applejack took the two mares and the dragon to their chamber, it was a small room, made of wood and he contained two wooden beds.
"Ya will leave tomorrow," Applejack told the mares as Trixie ran towards her boss. "Make it till midnight," Applejack corrected herself, "If ya stay tomorrow, ya belong to Eclipse."
Twilight woke up to the sound of screaming ponies, she saw Starlight was awake too, and so was Spike, and the three walked outside, and they saw war. Ponies fighting changelings wearing golden armor, griffons, and dragons flying in the cave's sky fighting their counterparts that wore golden armors and held spears and axes. Fire everywhere, making the cave light in red, and the ground was filled with blood. Twilight put Spike on her back, and she and Starlight ran towards Applejack's cabin, blasting changelings from right to left. As the three arrived at Applejack's cabin, where she, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Trixie, and the CMC fought diamond dogs, wearing Eclipse's symbol on their golden armor.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked Applejack as she and Starlight help to get rid of the dogs.
"Eclipse attacked us when we weren't ready," Applejack answered she kicked a diamond dog behind her, making him fall on two of his kind, "Ya have to leave now!"
"We will not leave you!" Twilight answered, as she used her magic to hold one of the dog's legs and she threw him on a small division of changelings that came to attack them.
"Alright then," Applejack called for Trixie, Pinkie, Fluttershy and the CMC, "Then we must go!" Applejack led the group towards a secret tunnel, as the fight grew stronger and stronger. The sound of screams gave shivers down the spines of the fellowship, and changelings chased them, flying after the ponies. As finally, the ponies arrived at the entrance of the cave, Twilight saw two red eyes, accompanied by 60 green eyes of changelings.
"Leaving so soon?" A metallic sinister voice asked, and the owner of the red eyes came to the red light of the fire, reflecting the flames on the golden body of General Eclipse. The changelings stormed on the ponies, leaving Twilight and Starlight alone, and Eclipse walked toward them, "After all that I have done here, just for you, Twilight Sparkle?"
"How do you know my name?" Twilight asked as she blasted purple bolts at the golden stallion, but the bolts just deflected from his body, leaving no mark. Changelings surrounded her, Spike, and Starlight.
"Oh, I know more than you think, little alicorn, more than you think," Eclipse smiled behind his mask, "Separate them." The changelings did as they were told, and they separated the two mares, leaving Twilight at the mercy of the cyborg. Starlight used her spells to blast changeling after changeling as she saw Twilight fell under attacks of Eclipse, with a deep breath, the unicorn ran towards the General, and she leaped to his head, distract him for Twilight to escape, and the last thing Twilight saw was Starlight fighting the general as Pinkie, Applejack, Trixie and the CMC took her towards the tunnel.
I guess we are the same Twilight thought as she again blacked out.
Starlight was cuffed down from her legs to her mouth as she walked down the town of Ponyville, looking at the miserable slaves that bowed before her captor, and fear was in their eyes as they looked at his metallic body. Dragons and diamond dogs Stood behind the ponies, keeping them in chains, and they bowed as well before Eclipse. It was painful for Starlight to watch this, to watch others being oppressed by others, taking their freedom away. But it was nothing when she saw the unicorns, standing apart from everypony, the poor mares and stallions were thin and looked weak, their bodies were wounded by the guards, and their horns were ripped off their heads.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” Eclipse asked Starlight, "How this 'powerful and magical unicorns are weak and worthless without their magic?". Eclipse, Starlight, and the small army left the town and returned to his fortress, where Rarity bowed before him, and next to her was a changeling with blue eyes and he wore golden armor, and he held her chains.
“General Eclipse,” the changeling bowed before the general, “The Dr. Is ready for your prisoner, as you requested.”
“Good news you brought me Captain Thorax. Take the prisoner to her chambers, and alert the Dr. That I will be present to the memory download.” The changeling nodded and took Starlight, leaving Eclipse with Rarity. Eclipse then turned to one of the diamond dogs, “Take miss Rarity to her chambers, and tell the soldiers that they could enjoy half of her love today,” the diamond dog did as he was told and he took Rarity with the golden changelings, as General Eclipse entered into the black fortress.
“Starlight!” Twilight woke up and she found herself under an apple tree, covered by a small blanket. Twilight tried to get up, but as she tried to spread her wings, her left-wing stang like she was stabbed by a knife, the pain was sudden, it made Twilight fall on her flank.
“Easy there,” a soft voice spoke to Twilight and she saw Fluttershy coming to her with a small bottle in her hoof, “Your wing is broken,” Fluttershy took a leaf from the tree and she poured a small portion of a green liquid from the bottle on the leaf, and rubbed the leaf on the broken wing. The green liquid eased the pain, and it helped to Twilight to relax.
“Look who’s woke up,” a southern voice said, and Applejack came with the rest of the group, Pinkie, Spike, the CMC, and Trixie. Twilight sighed in relief to see that her friends are okay. And like a hammer to her head, Twilight remembered the mare that saved her, and the peace left her body.
“Where’s Starlight?” Twilight asked, and the group wore the same face of sorrow. Twilight didn’t understand, but then, she started to remember the cave, the attack of the golden changelings, the fire, and Starlight running to save her from the golden monster.
Twilight tried to get up, but Fluttershy stopped her. “You need to sleep,” Fluttershy told the alicorn, but Twilight didn’t care, she ignored the pain, and got up on her legs, and she used her horn to take some apples from the tree, took the blanket and some stick and she made a small bag to carry the apples.
“Where do ya think ya walking to?” Applejack asked Twilight.
“I’m going to bring back Starlight,” Twilight answered as she called for Spike, the dragon reluctantly nodded and he came after her.
“Are ya’ crazy?!” Applejack asked, “We just escaped Eclipse, and now ya’ want to go right to his doorsteps?”
“You said it yourself, she is my responsibility,” Twilight answered, “And she sacrificed herself for me, I think... I think there’s some good in her.”
“It’s a bad idea,” Pinkie protested, “We must go to the base, going alone against Eclipse’s forces now will be suicide.”
“I am not asking you to join me,” Twilight sighed, “But in my timeline, I would never leave anypony behind, even if she did horrible things, and just because I’m in a different timeline, it doesn't mean...” Applejack put her hoof on Twilight's mouth, stopping her from talking.
"Pinkie," Fluttershy asked, "What about our friends? Eclipse took them as well." Pinkie sighed and she agreed with fluttershy. When Zecora was killed, it was Pinkie's duty to take care over the ponies of Everfree, and now she abandoned them.
"We are coming with you," Pinkie said to Twilight, and both she and Fluttershy looked at Applejack.
“Are we really doing this?” Applejack asked Fluttershy and Pinkie, the two looked at each other and nodded, Applejack then looked at her sister and she sighed, "Damn' it. Trixie, take the girls to the resistance camp, and tell them we are going to Ponyville to help a friend,” Trixie nodded and Pinkie whispered the location to Trixie’s ear, “Ah hope that ya’ won’t lead to our demise, Twilight.”
“Me too,” Twilight responded. The mares took more apples for the way, and they started to walk down the path towards their demise.
Starlight was locked in the prisoner’s chamber in Eclipse’s fortress. It was a dark room, made out of metal, and the only light there was the light of a few torches. “Twilight...” Starlight sighed to herself, “Celestia, if you hear me, I want to apologize, for the ponies that I took their cutie marks, for kidnapping the elements of harmony, for changing the timeline... And for destroying the lives of everypony here.”
“Celestia will not hear you here,” a masculine voice told Starlight through the darkness, “Celestia is dead like the rest.” Starlight tried to use her magic to light up the room, but her magic didn’t work. Starlight took one of the torches and she walked towards the voice. Starlight saw a stallion, possibly in his 20’s. The stallion had an orange coat, stained by black blood wounds, his orange mane was messed and his face was covered by an orange beard and his horn was broken.
“Sunburst?” Starlight asked the stallion that turned his head towards her.
“How do you know my name?” The stallion asked.
“Sunburst, it’s me, Starlight,” Starlight smiled and she hugged Sunburst, that looked at Starlight and tears started to leak from his eyes, “You have no idea how much I missed you.” Starlight hugged and cried as well, and Sunburst hugged her and leaned his head on her shoulder.
“Then why didn’t you came with me?” Sunburst asked Starlight, and the mare’s smile faded away, “You should have celebrated my success with me, but instead, you left me.” Starlight released herself from the hug as Sunburst looked at her with rage.
“No,” Starlight cried to her friend, “I thought you left me. I thought...”
“Because I had a cutie a mark, so we weren’t friends anymore,” Sunburst got up on his legs, and he walked towards Starlight, “You left me! While I was alone in the school of Celestia, afraid, you were supposed to give me some light in the darkness. But no, instead you decided to declare war on cutie marks, Leaving me and brainwashing others to your will. All because you thought I left you.” Sunburst stops in his steps, and he smiled and giggled. “But I could expect from our kind, taking advantage of others, claiming ourselves to be superiors. All it takes from ponies to do whatever they want is claiming they are the victims.” Silver blades burst from Sunburst’s front legs as his skin started to tear apart, revealing a skin made of gold, the body of Sunburst was ripped on the floor as Starlight looked in tears at the one who captured her, General Eclipse.
“Sunburst?” Starlight asked in terror.
“Sunburst is dead!” Eclipse shouted at Starlight, “He was murdered by the ponies. For standing up against their beliefs, he was being ripped apart. I am Eclipse.” Starlight cried as the room started to fall apart, leaving her and the General in darkness. Starlight opened her eyes and she found herself tied to a chair as she was surrounded by strange machines, she looked to her left and she saw Eclipse on another chair as a wire was connected to his neck. The golden pony opened his eyes and he looked at Starlight as the wire was removed from his neck by a familiar purple aura.
“Good morning ‘friend’,” Eclipse got up off his chair as Starlight felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck.
“We have what we need General,” a feminine voice said behind Starlight and She knew that voice.
“Twilight?” Starlight asked, and she heard the sound of hoof stamping getting closer to her, and she saw Twilight, but Twilight looked different, her hair was tied up, she wore a white coat and glasses, and she had no wings.
“I am not your Twilight, Miss Glimmer,” Twilight told Starlight in a cold voice, “here my name is Dr. Sparkle.” Dr. Sparkle turned to Eclipse. “You were right, she is the one who did the spell.”
“Of course I knew,” Eclipse turned again to Starlight, “Who else would be so selfish to mess with the fabric of time, if not a unicorn.” Eclipse opened the metal door of the lab and two changelings came, “Take Miss Glimmer to her chamber and keep her locked, there. No one will enter or leave her room without my permission.” The guards nodded and they took Starlight from the room as she looked at what of become of her friend, all because of her.
