Equestrian Phantom: Fragments of Fractured Timeby vortex123ChaptersReset the clockDéjà vuEchoesA helping hand, and reminiscing of the “past”Memories of a past lifeNoticeReset the clockGhost Zone “Can’t keep dodging forever, Twilight!” Yelled a unicorn, her eyes glowing a menacing red that match the jewel on her amulet. “Starlight please! This goes way past simple revenge! What you’re trying to do will kill us all, not just me and my friends, but you too!” Twilight yelled back, looking back at Starlight, nearly dodging a blast of red magic. “How many times are you gonna say that!?” Starlight yelled in bewilderment, charging up another blast. “I just need ghost boy and the old man to use as the last components for a spell.” “Twilight! Danny can’t hold on much longer!” Spike yells, looking over the unconscious halfa being telekinetically carried in Twilight's magic. He then braces himself for the magic blast heading for them, only for the blast to be deflected by a pink ecto-shield. “Vlad, what are you doing!? You need to save your energy.” “What’s it look like I’m doing?” The barely conscious halfa asked as he was being telekinetically carried in Twilight's magic. “Just keep a lookout, if what Daniel said was true, we shouldn’t be far from Clockwork’s domain.” "Uh Vlad, remind me, does his domain look like a mix between a castle ruin, and a clock? And surrounded by tons of gears?" Spike suddenly asked. "Yes, why?" Vlad asked, as he noticed Twilight start to freak out when she looked ahead, and summon a shield around them. Looking in the direction they were heading, Vlad saw that they were gonna have a crash landing in Clockwork's domain. "Oh, butter biscuits." *CRASH* “Ugh…” Groans a fourth voice, the crash having woken up Danny. “Who taught you how to fly, a flight school dropout?” Vlad asked, sitting up and rubbing his head, barely able to stay in ghost form. “And why did you summon a shield? You would’ve been just find had you not done anything.” “Are…are we in the Ghost Zone? What’re we doing in the Ghost Zone? And this looks like Clockwork’s place, what’s going on?” Danny asked, having no memory of what happened. Before anyone could answer him, a voice yelled with malicious. “Don’t bother answering, you won’t last long enough for it to matter anyway!” Starlight says with a smile, shooting towards them. But before she could reach them, another voice rang out. “Time out.” The moment those words were said, Starlight preceded to slow down, then completely stop. Looking to the source of the voice, the four saw a blue man in a purple cloak who seemed to constantly change his age between three states. “Thanks.” Spike says with a relieved sigh. “I wouldn’t relax just yet.” Clockwork says, pointing at Starlight, who was (albeit barely) starting to move again. “W-what!? But you’re the master of time, how’s that even possible!?” Danny asked, having somehow mustered enough energy to go ghost. “The unicorn was not lying when she said she had a way to not face the consequences of her actions.” Clockwork says, as Starlight started to pick up more speed. “Is there a way to stop her?” Twilight asked, getting ready for a fight. Before Clockwork could answer, Starlight broke free from his power, and charged at Twilight. But before she could reach her, Twilight blasted her back, making her phase through the wall. “Unfortunately I don’t know what happened to her. From what I could gather from looking through time, she had accidentally went outside of time, and had returned with knowledge and power no mortal should possess. However, if we can sever her remaining ties to time, I could simply make her cease to be. Of course I’d only do this if there was absolutely no other option. So after you’ve done your part, I’ll try to see if I can’t find a better solution.” Clockwork explained with a frown. “Wow, it’s sure taking her awhile to recover from Twi’s attack.” Spike points out with a confused look. Curious, Clockwork decided to take a look in the time stream, and saw what was keeping her. “It seems she decided to go about this another way. She’s made stops at various points in time. If nothing is done, well, just look at your companions.” Clockwork says, gesturing to Vlad and Danny, who’re starting to fade away. “DANNY!” Twilight and Spike shouted, running towards the halfa in question. “I’m fading away too, you know.” Vlad deadpans. Twilight and Spike give Vlad dirty looks, then looks to Clockwork. “Isn’t there something you can do?” Twilight asked. “Well, I can transfer their minds into their past selves, however, they’ll only be echos. They’ll be able to suggest or slightly influence their past selves, but that’s it.” Clockwork answered. “I’m good with that, Plasmius?” Danny says/asked. “Not like we have a choice.” Vlad grumbled. “Oh you definitely have a choice, it’s just not one you’re happy with.” Clockwork says. “Whatever, fine, let’s just do it.” Vlad snaps. “Vary well, I’ll also be sending Twilight and Spike to a moment in the past so you two aren’t completely at Starlight’s mercy. Oh, and just to warn you, be careful how you word things to your past selves. What your going to do is like overshadowing yourselves, and should they decided you two are ghosts trying to take control of them, they could force you out. And I shouldn't have to explain why that is something you two should avoid at all cost.” Clockwork says. He waits for a few moments, to see if anyone had any questions. Seeing that no one had any, he then clicks his staff. “Time out.” “Time in.” Twilight and Spike looked around, half expecting to be attacked by Starlight. After making sure that no one was gonna jump them, they relaxed and took in everything. They’re still in their Equestrian forms, though they’ now wearing one of the strange necklaces they saw in Clockwork’s domain. Looking around, they saw that while they were in Equestria, everyone looked like the humans from the mirror world, save for the ones with a horn or wings. “Ok, so if I remember correctly, Vlad should be in Manehattan, and Danny should be in Ponyville. Vlad should be fine since at this point in time he’s had his powers for 10 years, Danny will probably need help since he just got his powers.” Twilight thought out loud. “So we’re heading to Ponyville?” Spike asked. Twilight nods and teleports them to their destination. Déjà vuPonyville "kid…kid…kid." I hear a strangely familiar voice say as I wake up. "Ugh…" I groan, waiting for my eyes to adjust. When they did, I looked at whoever was talk. "You alright kid?" I look at the source to find a girl. She's fairly young, at least in her 20s, as far as I could tell. She had light blue skin, rainbow hair, and purple eyes. She was wearing a blue tank top, blue shorts, and blue running shoes. I also noticed she has an athletic build, not like a jock, but more like a runner's. And for some reason, something about her looked…wrong. "Uh…what's with that look?" She suddenly asked, bringing me out of my train of thought. "Sorry!" I say, a little embarrassed. "It's just that, well, have we met before? Because you seem familiar." "Well that makes sense, I am the town hero after all." She says with a grin, which turned into a frown. "Though you do look familiar…eh whatever." I'm a little surprised she was so quick to brush it off, but for some reason, it felt normal for her to do so. “So, uh…you gonna get up or…?” She questioned, causing me to realize I was still laying on the ground. With no reason to stay like that, I quickly got up, brushing dirt off my outfit. The outfit was a white T-shirt with a thin red collar, red cuffs, and a red oval in the middle, light blue jeans, and red-and-white sneakers. I then proceeded to fix my hair, as I noticed the black strands all over the place. “Hehe.” I just chuckle nervously. “Well anyway, nice to meet you, I’m Danny.” I say, holding out my hand. For some reason, the name "Danny" seemed to stick out, so I went with it. Though I couldn’t help but feel like it was wrong. “Rainbow Dash.” She says, shaking my hand. “Well I’d love to stay and chat, but I gotta be somewhere. See ya.” She then sprints a few feet away, before jumping 10 feet in the air. As she was going further away, I noticed she had a pair of light blue wings on her back, which unfolded and started flapping. And even though they didn’t look to be in the right spot to support her properly, she was able to fly with little effort. “…huh.” Was all I could say as I watch her fly away. Not sure what to do next, I walk aimlessly around a familiar looking town, trying to recall how I got here. As I was walking, I took in the view. I saw two little girls, one with cute glasses, and the other with a tiara. They seem to be laughing about something. I then noticed they were talking to another little girl. She had red hair and a big cute bow. For some reason, she was glaring at the first two girls. A little curious, I decided to check out what was going on, so I walked closer. As I got closer, I was able to catch the end of what one of them was saying. “-you talentless loser!” Says the one with the tiara. The two then laugh at what she had said. “Well at least I don’t spent my time bullying people just to-.” The one with the bow started to say, but the one with the tiara cut her off. “That’s because you’re a loser who doesn’t have anything to gloat about. While we both have special talents, and come for rich families. So of course you don’t do what we do, you literally can’t!” She says with a smug smile. “Uh…” I say, gaining their attention. “What’s going on here?” The one with the tiara looks at her friend, who shrugs in return. “Well if you must know, we were here a talk about social standings, and she got needlessly upset.” The tiara one said. “You said mah family was just meant to do the things “important rich people” shouldn’t have to deal with. Even though last time I checked, your dad has a nice relationship with Sweet Apple Acres.” The one with the bow deadpans. “No one ever shares their real thoughts and opinions in business. They just put on a mask to get whatever deal they want made.” The one with the tiara says with an eye roll, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Well it doesn’t matter, common Silver, we have places to be.” She says, walking away, “Silver” follows with a smile. “Why does someone as rotten as her, get to be rich?” The one with the bow grumbled, then looks to me. “I’ve never seen you around here? I’m Applebloom.” She says with a smile. “I’m Danny, nice to meet you.” I say with a smile of my own, then frown. “Hey, can I ask you a few things?” “I don’t see why not, though I got to get home soon, so we’d have to walk and talk if you don’t mind.” Applebloom says with a smile. “Sure, lead the way.” And with, we talked as we headed for Applebloom’s home. Manehattan-abandoned building-POV change-first person "God, I could use a drink.” I groan, rubbing my face, as rain pours outside (like it has been since I got here). I then walked to a mirror I “borrowed” from some twin pricks dressed like barbers who ran some kinda circus. They tried to sell me something that was made using someone else’s product. Well they were apparently ratted out by one of their previous customers, and jumped us the moment the two showed “their” goods. Thankfully their main focus were on the twins, so I got out unharmed, I even got my hands on their admittedly nice looking mirror. I look myself over in the mirror, checking to make sure everything was as it should be. I was wearing a black suit with a red handkerchief in my left chest pocket and a matching red bolo tie. The suit has three rows of white buttons, a total of six. I'm also wearing a white undershirt and black pointed shoes. Whenever I look at this outfit, the name “Vlad” always came to mind, which I had decided to call myself for the time being. After a few moments, I'm completely satisfied with my looks. But I don't decide to go out yet, instead, I go to the enchanted journal I keep on "my" nightstand. It wasn't anything to write home about (at least in this world). It just had water and fire proof enchantments, nothing special. I open the journal to see my last written message, a message I hadn’t reread in years. So apparently this world also has mafia, great, just great. I'm surprised it took me this long to find that out. And not only that, but Manehattan apparently has one of the most dangerous mafia organizations in this country. It's fine, I just need enough "bits" (the currency of this world) to get a ticket out of here. ‘That’s right, I almost forgot about that. I should have enough to afford a ticket. And if I can get to the train station before nighttime, I should be able to get a ride before any cleaners come out. I know I could handle them should they pick a fight with me, but that might throw a wrench in my plans down the line.’ Not wanting to waste any time, I head out, making sure to put anything I might need in a backpack. EchoesAuthor's Note I wanna make something clear, whenever the text is either colored, has * on both sides, or both, that means the echoes from the previous timeline are trying to influence their current timeline versions. Sometimes they might repeat what the echo said (either exactly, or similarly). Of course there's no guarantee that they'll do what the echo suggested, especially if they don't agree with it. And I decided to make the echoes reflect their powers, so Danny's echo is green, and Vlad's echo is pink. Echoes Danny's POV Applebloom and I had reached her home when I was finally done asking her questions. Apparently I was on a planet called Gaia, the country I'm in is Equestra, and the town I'm in is "Ponyville". When I asked why it was called Ponyville, she just shrugged. In Equestra there are four races: Unicorns, Pegesi, Terrains and Alicorns. She didn't know much about Unicorns and Pegesi, but she know a lot about Terrains. Terrains were apparently called earth ponies awhile ago, but apparently enough earth ponies had a problem with the name to cause it to be changed to Terrains. Terrains apparently have control over earth and plants. Applebloom showed me this by causing a few pebbles to flout around her, though she said she's not that good at it because of some of it is boring to learn, and some of the parts she didn't understand. Alicorns on the other hand, were a mix of all three of the previous races, and much stronger. Though according to Applebloom, there's only one Alicorn alive, Princess Celestia. But since I doubted I'd ever meet her, or at least interact with her, I didn't really see a point in asking about her. As we got closer to the gate, Applebloom asked me a question I'm surprised she waited this long to ask. "How do you not know about any of this?" She asked. "I'm not exactly the smartest girl around, and even I know all that." "I'm not from around here, I don't really know how I got here, but it's obvious I'm far from my home." I answered honestly. "I'm sorry to hear that. But boy, you must be from a super far away place if you've never even heard of Princess Celestia." Applebloom says with a from, then gained a confused look. "Hey Danny?" She called, causing me raise a brow. "Yeah?" I asked back. "I don't mean to be rude or nothing, but what are ya?" She asked. "Huh?" I say in confusion. "When I first saw you, I thought you were a Terrain. You know, because you don't have wings or a horn." She explained. "But no terrain shouldn't know about our magic. Plus your eyes keep doing a weird thing. So what are you?" “I'm a human." I say simply. 'My eyes?' "Never heard of those before." Applebloom says. "What're they like?" "To simplify: both smart and stupid, often contradicting ourselves. Honestly, most of our species don't even understand our own species. We're pretty good at building and inventing though, so we got that going for us." I say with a small shrug, then from. "As long as those in charge have common sense. Also, they might not be gung ho about other species, some might, but definitely not all of them." "Well not everyone is gonna like the same thing. I'm sure they're not that bad." Applebloom says with a smile. I chose to not respond to that. Some things are better left unsaid. "So what was that about my-" “Applebloom!” We hear a stern female voice call. We look at the source to find a young woman around Rainbow Dah’s age (as far as I could tell at least). Her eyes were green, and her hair (which was tied) was blonde. She had a cowboy hat, white shirt with a green jacket. She was wearing a skirt made out of jeans, and cowboy boots. “H-hey Applejack.” Applebloom greets with a nervous smile. “Where have you been? I was about to come look for ya.” Applejack says with a frown, then raised a brow when she noticed me. “Oh, sorry sugercube, didn’t notice you there.” “It’s fine ms.” I say with a nervous smile. She’s pretty intimidating when she’s angry. “Applejack’s fine uh….” She says simply, tipping her hat. “Danny.” I say, answering her unasked question. “Applejack’s fine, Danny.” She says with a smile, then frowns. "Hey, have we met before? I feel like we have.” “Not to my knowledge.” I say, though I feel the same way. She stares at me for a little bit, then shrugs, and glares at Applebloom. “Hey, sure I took longer than I said I would, but I still got back in the time you gave me.” She says with a frown. “That’s true.” Applejack relents, her eyes softening. “Sorry sugercube, I just worry about you is all.” “I know.” Applebloom says with a nod, but still frowns. “But you’ve been worrying an awful lot lately, much more than normal. And it started long before Ponyville was picked to hoist the Summer Sun Celebration, so I know it doesn’t have any to do with that.” As Applebloom was talking, Applejack started to look more and more nervous. “Can you please just tell me what’s wrong?” “It’s nothing you need to worry about.” Applejack says with a frown. “But-“ “No butts Applebloom, unless it’s yours going into the house. Granny wanted to talk to you.” Applejack says, her stern look and tone coming back full force. “Ok…” Applebloom says with an upset tone, walking to the house, with Applejack making sure she actually went in. Once Applebloom was out of sight, Applejack turned to me. "Sorry bout that, I just want her to be safe." She says with a chuckle. "It's no problem, but what celebration?" I asked. "Oh, well Ponyville had been picked to hoist this year's Summer Sun Celebration. Sure it won't be as fancy as them Canterlot folk have it, but it'll definitely be a day worth remembering!" She says with a big smile. "Can I help in any way?" I asked. She looks surprised for a moment, but then thinks for a moment. "Well…you don't look like the farming type, so I don't think you can help here, but try asking round town." She says. Before I can say anything, Applebloom rushes out. "Whoa, what's the rush?" I say in shock. "I couldn't find granny!" Applebloom says, and the moment she said that, I felt the ground shake a bit. I couldn't even blink before I saw something orange get launched towards the house by a pillar of earth. I then realized that orange thing was Applejack, and after I realized that, Applebloom and I ran after her. When we finally caught up (only because she stopped and seemingly waited for us), we saw no one in there. "This ain't good." Applejack said ominously. "I'm sure you're grandma is just in bed." I say with a sweat drop. "No, Granny's pretty stubborn about the farm routine. Right now she'd normally be in her chair waiting for one of us to come in and ask us about chores." Applebloom says with a frown, walking over to the chair, Applejack following. "Hey Applebloom, did you see Big Mac while you were walking around?" Applejack asked, only to get a head shake in return. "He might be in the barn. Y'all stay here, I'll see if I can find him at the barn." Without another word, she ran out the house. *Something bad might happen to her, maybe I should go after her, just to be safe.* 'I'm not sure why, but I feel like I should go after her.' I think. So without another word, I chase after her. Vlad's POV It was an oddly peaceful 10 minuet walk so far, excluding the bizarre rain (I almost thought the rain clouds were following me). The streets were oddly vacant, no one was yelling at anyone, the stores were closed. Taking all that into account, and the fact that this place is supposed to be similar to Manhattan (as far as I could tell at least), I was more then a little on edge. If not for my invisibility and intangibility, I’d be worried that someone might jump me. As I was walking, I finally heard someone talking. I couldn’t make out what they’re saying, but it broke the silence, so that was nice. My curiosity had gotten the better of me, so I decided to investigate. "-so if you know what's good for you, you'll stop your little investigation, alright?" I heard some girl threaten. "No! I won't stop until I've revealed the truth!" I heard another girl say with vindication. At this point I was able to see who they were. One was a red woman, with purple hair, who looked to be in her 30s. She was wearing a black business suit and gloves, was holding an umbrella (most likely enchanted, since normal umbrellas only really keep your upper torso somewhat dry), and was brandishing a knife at some girl. The other one looked to be in her teens. She was light brown, with dark brown hair. She was wearing a blue jacket and pants, and was wearing white shoes. In her hand was a red book, though I couldn’t see the cover. Not wanting to alert them to my presence, I levitated towards them, making sure to keep my intangibility and invisibility. ‘What is with teenagers and thinking that doing something this dangerous is a good idea.’ I think, as I watch the women bring the knife to the girl’s neck. While she does this, I noticed something in the women’s back pocket. *I should investigate who this woman is.* I turned whatever it was intangible, and got a better look. It was a cellphone, a new looking one at that. Using a little trick I learned in my years of being half ghost, I made the phone unlock without needing a password. As much as expensive phone are useful, they’re pretty easy to hack if they’re not specifically made obsessed with technology. And this specific one was obviously just a store bought one, and not custom made by a tech savvy person. “What the…” I heard the woman say, as I noticed her turn towards me. Though before she could notice the phone, I cut it off, and turned it intangible. ‘Must’ve heard me hack it.’ I think. I’m taken out of my thoughts as a hear a series of splashes going further away. By the looks of it, it looks like the child decided to take the opening I unintentionally gave her, and run. “Wha-hey!" The woman yelled, chasing after her. I don't really care since I still got a train to catch, so I continue on my way. *On second thought, maybe it'll be more beneficial to look into this a little more. Something tells me it'll be much more profitable then my current plan.* I stopped for a moment to ponder. I still had plenty of time, plus the whole savings up money to take a train is just for appearance so I can be more direct in another part of Equestra. So I don't really need to rush thing. With that in mind, I decided to lazily follow behind, while looking through her phone. A helping hand, and reminiscing of the “past”Once I escaped the cocoon, I looked around to find the culprit, which didn’t take long. She looked to be a mix between a spider and a human, having the upper body of a human woman, and the bottom of an almost complete spider, save for the spider head. The human part was green with black hair, and had completely red eyes. The human half was wearing a blue blouse, and had cuffs on both of her wrists, the chains dangling from each one separately. The spider half was black, with cuffs on each leg, chains hanging off of every cuff. I also noticed various scars all over her body. And to add further confusion, I noticed she was holding a doll in her hands. And not the stereotypical creepy doll, but a doll that was clearly made with love and care. It had black hair, blue eyes, and white "skin". It was wearing a blue dress, and blue ballroom shoes. I'm not sure why she has a doll, but judging by her expression, it was clearly very important to her. "Hm?" It seems she noticed she was being watched, and turned to me, her eyes go wide. "Who are you? How long have you been there!?" She then realized she was still holding her doll, which she quickly hid, her face turning red in embarrassment. "I'm Danny Phantom, and I haven't been here too long." I answered, a little caught off guard by her sudden questions. "If you don't mind me asking, what's with the doll?" "Th-that's none of you business, Phantom!" She yelled defensively. "Now leave, I want to wait for nightfall alone!" "Well, it's not really 'alone' with them here." I say, pointing to the people in cocoons. "They don't count, they're my dinner." She says with a huff. "Dinner? Aren't you a ghost?" I asked in confusion. "Ghosts can't really eat anything." “Look, I’d rather not talk about. Just leave, this is none of your business.” She huffs. “I can’t just leave when I know a ghost is gonna needlessly kill three people for food she doesn’t even need to survive.” I say with a bewildered look, physically incapable of understanding her thought process. “If you won’t willingly leave, I’ll make you!” She threatens, lunging at me. I must’ve really made her made, because she rammed into me with enough force to crash into the wall, and cause the barn to collapse. I must’ve lost consciousness for a few moments, because when I woke up, I was back to normal, and she was gone. Looking around, I noticed all the cocoons were gone. But in my search, I found that doll the ghost had. “It must’ve fallen off her when she rammed into me, and the barn collapsed.” I guessed, only to realize I was getting closer to the ground. After I few moments, I realized it was because my legs had turned intangible. “That’s not a good sign.” Deep in current timeline Danny’s mind Future Danny’s POV “I remember this, it’ll take at least a month for him to gain somewhat control over his basic powers.” I muttered. “Maybe I can give him a hand. We both want the same thing, and we both wanna do it in the same way, so he shouldn’t notice me helping him…” Reality Current Danny’s POV Despite my best efforts, I kept sinking, with only my upper chest and up visible. Suddenly, I felt that same strange energy wrap around my body. Then I started to come out of the ground, almost like something was pulling me up. And after a few moments, I was completely out of the ground, and was hovering off the ground. Whatever that was finally stopped, and I landed on the ground. As much as I wanted to stop and try to figure out what happened, I didn't have time. 'Though I'm not sure why I'm trying to play the hero, I don't even know them.' I think, scratching my head. *I may not know them, but could I really live with the fact that I let a phycho kill an entire family, even though I have the power to help them?* ‘But I don’t even know how to use my powers.’ I think, not feeling confident. ‘I doubt I’d win in a fight against that spider lady.’ *Maybe I don’t have to fight her, maybe I just need to get the family out* That made me pause. I did manage to phase out of the cocoon, maybe I could do the same with them. I think for a moment, trying to think of where the lady could have gone, until I remembered the dream. When that lady reappeared, Applebloom and I where in a giant forest. That might be a good place to start. So without any better ideas, I headed for the closest forest I remember Applebloom telling me about, the Everfree Forest. With previous timeline Twilight and Spike It hadn't taken Twilight long to figure out what point in time they had been sent. Twilight had remembered reading in the Newspaper in the previous timeline that today was the day that the Apples of Ponyville had died, save for a single child. 'I'll never forget the day I arrived in Ponyville.' Twilight thinks to herself, remembering that fateful day. Flashback Twilight's POV 'I can't believe the Princess just dismissed my warning! Yeah I know using what is widely considered just an old mare's tale as a bases for my warning was kind of a stretch, but the signs were all there!' I grumbled in my head. "That's weird, you'd think a town about to hold a celebration would be a lot more cheerful…" I heard Spike say. I look to see what he's talking about, and he's right, this place had a depressing air about it. "We should ask around, maybe we can fix whatever's making them upset." I suggest, I was here to make sure everything ran smoothly for the celebration after all. We finally land, the guards immediately leaving the moment I thanked them. 'Guess they don't wanna stick around such a gloomy place.' We looked around a bit, before spotting a darkish pink pony with a straight dark pink mane and tail. She has balloons for a cutie mark. I walked to her with the intention to start a conversation with her. "Hello there, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I was sent down here by the Princess to oversee the preparations for the celebration." I introduced myself. "Could you please tell me why everypony is so down?" "A meanie pants came and took their smiles away, and nothing I do can bring them back." She says, a frown on her face. I raised a brow, then looked at Spike, who just shrugged. "Ok…" I say, a little confused. "Could you go into detail about the 'meanie pants' and how they 'took their smiles away'?" “I don’t really know what happened, the only ponies who survived whatever happened are a little filly, and some strange creature named Danny the filly vouched for.” The mare says with a shrug. “The filly keeps saying that it was some kinda spider ghost that did it.” “Well ponies her age do have a tendency to make up stories to cope with something that bad.” I say, nodding. “Do you know where this Danny lives?” “When the filly was taken in by one of her family members, she insisted that he come along, since he was the only one who believed her ghost story.” She says. “Well thanks anyway.” I say in defeat. We said our goodbyes, and parted way. Then Spike and I preceded to check all the places on the list, though we had to ask who was handling food now. It was still being handled by the Apples, just not the Apples from Ponyville. Since I knew they’d have some information about the filly and creature, I decided to go there first. “So this is Sweet Apple Acres?” I asked the mare who lead us here. She had a green coat and eyes, a black mane and and tail (which was tied with red string), and had a brown cowgirl hat. Her cutie mark was three red apples. And it might’ve been just my imagination, but it almost looked like she was glowing with an otherworldly light, it also sounded like there was a slight echo in her voice. “Yep.” The mare confirms. “Say, could ya do me a little, but important, favor?” “What?” I asked. She then took off her hat, put what looked like a note on it, then gave it to me. “Could you hand this to one of the ponies down there? I’d really appreciate it.” “Uh, sure, I don’t see why not.” I say with a confused look. “Thank ya kindly.” She says. I looked at the hat in confusion, then looked back at her, only to see she had vanished. “Did you see where she went?” I asked Spike. “No.” He answered. A little disturbed, we continued on. Golden Oaks Library after Summer Sun Celebration-still previous timeline “Are you a spy!?” Rainbow had asked, anger clear in her voice. “I’m giving you one chance to confess, because after losing one of my friends to some unknown creature, I am not in the mood to play games with a potential traitor!” “Rainbow Dash! That’s enough!” I heard a familiar voice yell, much to my relief, because it looked like the pegasus might’ve actually hit me. We looked to the source, and see that strange mare again. “You kinda look like AJ, save for most of your colors.” The pegasus notes. "And why the hey are you stopping me?" "Because, I know ya friend wouldn't want to take you anger out on this filly. And I know your friend would want you to help this filly stop that madmare from hurting ponies." The green mare said with a disappointed look. It seems what she said and her expression got through to Rainbow Dash, because she suddenly gained an ashamed look. "You're…you're right, Applejack would've probably been the first to volunteer to help…" Rainbow Dash says somberly, then gained a determined look, and turned to me. "Well it decided then, I'm gonna help you stop that Alicorn and save the princess!" "You won't be doing it alone, darling." Rarity says, the rest giving their agreement. "So what's the plan?" The green mare asked, looking at me. "I know you ran in here for a reason." Feeling a little inspired myself, I told them my plan, and we set out to find the Elements of Harmony. After we had found the Elements, and defeated Nightmare Moon, we learned who that green mare was. She was Applejack as a ghost, the Elements turning her colors back to how they were when she was alive, though she kept the otherworldly glow and echo. She wasn't a halfa like Danny or Vlad, she was a halfa in the opposite way. Instead of being alive with the powers of ghosts like those two, she was a ghost who could suppress her ghost aspects and appear like the living. Of course she had trouble controlling this. As it turns out, earth pony magic and ecto-energy clash in the beginning, a lot. They also supercharge each other, a lot. She could handle the farm work practically by herself, but had tended to destroy what she was trying to fix or harvest. Of course, this wasn’t without problems. First we hand to deal with Celestia (who despite being an understanding pony, was a firm believer in the natural order. And if it wasn’t for the fact that the Elements did that to AJ, she would’ve done an exorcism then and there, instead of testing AJ). Then we had to deal with creatures (not just ponies, but all sorts of creatures) who’re either strongly against AJ’s existence, or wanted to replicate what happened to AJ (flat out ignoring the special circumstances for her “resurrection” and the potential consequences). Finally, and somehow the worst, we had to deal with Applebloom. I’m not sure how she managed it, but Applebloom managed to be a bigger threat to AJ then all the previous threats. With Celestia, we could appeal to her sense of reason. With the ponies for or against AJ’s existence, sure they had numbers, but we had the experience to fend them off, plus it wasn’t hard to outmaneuver their strategies (when they actually had strategies at least). But Applebloom? Not only was it impossible to appeal to her sense of reason, but she had much more experience with ghosts then anyone we knew save for the princesses, and she was better equipped. She had apparently ran away from the relatives who took her in (though we never learned why), and had devoted her life to becoming the best (in our case, worst) ghost hunter in the world. And what made it even worse, AJ couldn’t bring herself to fight her, on account of Applebloom having justified reasons not to believe AJ was actually her sister. I don’t know what happened between them in their last meeting, due to Starlight showing up, and forcing us (Spike, Danny, Vlad and I) to force her attention on us while everyone else escaped, so I don’t know what happened after that. Though I guess it doesn’t really matter, since the old timeline was ripped to shreds. “Hey Twi, look, it’s Danny.” Spike (who was flying beside me) says, pointing to what appears to be this timeline’s Danny. “Why’s he heading towards the everfree forest? Shouldn’t he be waiting at the Apple’s house with Applebloom?” “I guess our Danny decided to change what happened, if the green glow appearing every now and then is any indication.” I say with a small frown. “Well if that’s what he wants to do, I don’t see any reason not to lend a hoof.” As I say this, I fly down to him, making sure to far enough for him to not notice us. Author's Note Sorry if things feel like they’re dragging on, and not much is happening yet. I’m working on beginnings for two main characters, who’re in two vastly different locations with vastly different elements. Yes, I’m aware that it would go faster if I just focused on one, and have things happen off screen for the other. But I feel like it would hurt the story if I did that before both had proper groundwork. The moment both stories have proper groundwork, I’ll focus on one for awhile (most likely Danny’s), and have things happen off screen for the other for awhile. Also, if you all want me to make a prequel story about what happened in the previous timeline, let me know. Memories of a past lifeDanny I was running as fast as I could, but I was slower then a snail compared to her. I heard Applebloom running right beside me, but unlike me, she wasn't even breaking a sweat. I decided to chalk that up to boundless child energy, and not the fact that I wasn't exactly the most athletic guy around. Thankfully Applejack left behind dents in the earth as she ran, so I was able to figure out which direction she ran in. After a few moments, I can see the barn, but I don't see Applejack anywhere. I stop in front of the barn, and looked at Applebloom. "I doubt you're gonna listen if I tell you to go back to the house, so just stay close to me, and let me know the moment you see something outta place." I say. "Alright." Applebloom says with a nod. I then opened the barn door, and stepped in. The moment I set foot in the barn, I gasp as a trail of light blue smoke left my mouth. "Something wrong?" Applebloom asked, having most likely missed what happened. "You can say that, I just felt a chill go down my spine." I muttered. 'What's with the blue smoke, and why'd I feel so cold for a moment. Am I losing it?' *It could possibly be a red flag, or a warning. I should be on guard.* I stopped suddenly, that strange thought catching me off guard. 'That's a pretty weird thought, and oddly specific, why would I think it's some kinda warning?' I questioned myself, but decide to be on guard just for safety, I do have a little kid with me after all. 'Also isn't a red flag and a warning the same thing?' Shaking my head, I focused on the task at hand. Looking around, it looks like what you’d expect the inside of a barn to look like. Though no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find Applejack, and I doubt she’d go anywhere other then inside here. Suddenly, I feel something repeatedly poke my side. Looking to the source, I saw Applebloom frantically poking me and looking up, her face filled with fear. I grabbed her hand to both stop her from poking me, and to let her know I got the message, then looked up in curiosity. “…” Both Applebloom and I could only stand there, completely slack jawed. We saw three green glowing cocoons on the ceiling of the barn. Before we could say anything else, a strand of web the size of my arm latched on Applebloom, and yanked her out of sight. After a few moments, another cocoon appears with the first three. And before I could say anything, the same thing that happened to her, happened to me. I grunt as I slam up against something, most likely the ceiling. “Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise. I got all four Apples, plus an extra, and I barely had to do anything.” I heard some girl coo. “Hey, let us out!” I yelled. “Screem all you want, boy, no one more then a few centimeters outside of these cocoons can hear you. Now just sleep tight, this’ll be over soon, just have to wait for nightfall. Oh I can’t wait to taste you, you didn’t look like you had much meat on your bones, but you’ll make a good appetizer.” I barely heard her say, I then heard her softly laugh. After a few moments, I heard her laughter get further and further away. “Great, my first day in this strange place, and I’m already about to become some crazy girl’s dinner.” I groan in dismay. I then suddenly feel extremely sleepy, like I had been up for three days straight. *Don’t fall asleep, yo-I have to get outta this cocoon, and save the others!* ‘On second thought, maybe a little rest wouldn’t hurt…’ *NO!* I don’t think anything else before I lose consciousness. I’m in front of the main hall of Ponyville, dressed in a black tuxedo, attending a funeral. Right now I’m hugging a pony the looks strangely like Applebloom, the pony openly crying in my arms. I look to the stage to see a pony with white hair and a tan coat. “Citizens of Ponyville, it is with a heavy heart that I must officially announce the deaths of three very important ponies. Applejack Apple, Big McIntosh Apple, and Granny Smith Apple. These three ponies lost their lives to an unknown creature that wondered on their land, and left with no trace. We are here to honor their memories, and all they’ve done for us over the years. If anyone wants to come up and say something on their behalf, you may do so now.” The pony says somberly. She then stepped down, and another pony dressed as a sharif takes her place. And once he’s done, another takes his place. It went on like this until it was the pony who looked and sounded like Applebloom’s turn. “They were the most important ponies in my life. AJ always tried to bring the best outa me, and was a ponies you could always rely on. Big Mac was always there to help me when I was scared, and would help ya without needin to be asked. Granny was always there to give advice when ya needed it, and was more then willing to fight tooth and hoof for the farm, regardless of her age. These ponies were the best family members a filly could ask for. I don’t know what I’ll do now that they’re gone, except for one thing: find the no good creature who did this to them, and make them pay!” Applebloom declared. … … Now I’m in a giant forest, and Applebloom is right beside me, though she was much older. I also noticed she was decked out in a red jumpsuit. “Applebloom…” I suddenly say, surprised I said anything at all. “I know what you’re gonna say Danny, and yes, I’m sure about this.” She says, putting on a hood with goggles. “We’re the only ones who can avenge my family. Plus, it’s not like we’re going up against Vlad, I’ll be fine.” “Applebloom, listen to me.” I urged. She turn and completely faced me. “I know you’ve been waiting a long time for her to reappear, and I don’t blame you. But I want you to remember, you can’t let your emotions get the better of you. She may not be anywhere near Vlad’s level, but doing something reckless because of emotions will get you killed.” “I know.” She says simply. “Why’re you saying that now?” “Because I want you to try to keep a clear head. You’re one of my best friends, I don’t wanna lose you.” I say, worry clear in my voice. She just grinned. “Hey, who do you think I am? I won’t die that easily. Pinkie promise.” She says, going through a series of motions. … … Applebloom had been the first to find our target, unfortunately, she was also the first to be taken out by our target. The only warning I got that she needed help, was her screaming, which lead me to where she and the creature was. And when I got there, my blood ran cold. The creature was holding her by the neck. Applebloom saw me, and was barely able to choke out a “help”. It was like someone had injected me with pure adrenaline, the only thing on my mind was saving my friend. “I’m…” My eyes shot open, having woken up from that strange dream, my body overflowing with a strange energy. “I’m going ghost!” I yelled as a bluish white ring appears around me, and splits into two. My shirt, pants and shoes are replaced with a black and white jumpsuit with a D on the chest. I’m unable to see any other changes, save for the fact that I’m glowing. I’m not sure what happened, but it felt normal, but new at the same time. ‘Where’d “I’m going ghost” come from?’ I think in confusion. Seeing that whatever that was was done, I somehow phase out of my cocoon. Author's Note And to clarify, no, Danny has no experience with his ghost form. The only reason the only ghost ability he used before this point was eye based- "When I first saw you, I thought you were a Terrain. You know, because you don't have wings or a horn." She explained. "But no terrain shouldn't know about our magic. Plus your eyes keep doing a weird thing. So what are you? -was because he just had so little ghost energy that none of the more obvious ghost powers could accidentally trigger. Now, he has plenty of ghost energy, so more of his powers will act up. NoticeOk, I might’ve gotten ahead of myself here. I should’ve shown what happened in the previous timeline first, then made this story, so that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna put this story on hiatus for the time being, make a prequel to this story, then continue (and possibly edit) this story once the prequel is done.
Reset the clockGhost Zone “Can’t keep dodging forever, Twilight!” Yelled a unicorn, her eyes glowing a menacing red that match the jewel on her amulet. “Starlight please! This goes way past simple revenge! What you’re trying to do will kill us all, not just me and my friends, but you too!” Twilight yelled back, looking back at Starlight, nearly dodging a blast of red magic. “How many times are you gonna say that!?” Starlight yelled in bewilderment, charging up another blast. “I just need ghost boy and the old man to use as the last components for a spell.” “Twilight! Danny can’t hold on much longer!” Spike yells, looking over the unconscious halfa being telekinetically carried in Twilight's magic. He then braces himself for the magic blast heading for them, only for the blast to be deflected by a pink ecto-shield. “Vlad, what are you doing!? You need to save your energy.” “What’s it look like I’m doing?” The barely conscious halfa asked as he was being telekinetically carried in Twilight's magic. “Just keep a lookout, if what Daniel said was true, we shouldn’t be far from Clockwork’s domain.” "Uh Vlad, remind me, does his domain look like a mix between a castle ruin, and a clock? And surrounded by tons of gears?" Spike suddenly asked. "Yes, why?" Vlad asked, as he noticed Twilight start to freak out when she looked ahead, and summon a shield around them. Looking in the direction they were heading, Vlad saw that they were gonna have a crash landing in Clockwork's domain. "Oh, butter biscuits." *CRASH* “Ugh…” Groans a fourth voice, the crash having woken up Danny. “Who taught you how to fly, a flight school dropout?” Vlad asked, sitting up and rubbing his head, barely able to stay in ghost form. “And why did you summon a shield? You would’ve been just find had you not done anything.” “Are…are we in the Ghost Zone? What’re we doing in the Ghost Zone? And this looks like Clockwork’s place, what’s going on?” Danny asked, having no memory of what happened. Before anyone could answer him, a voice yelled with malicious. “Don’t bother answering, you won’t last long enough for it to matter anyway!” Starlight says with a smile, shooting towards them. But before she could reach them, another voice rang out. “Time out.” The moment those words were said, Starlight preceded to slow down, then completely stop. Looking to the source of the voice, the four saw a blue man in a purple cloak who seemed to constantly change his age between three states. “Thanks.” Spike says with a relieved sigh. “I wouldn’t relax just yet.” Clockwork says, pointing at Starlight, who was (albeit barely) starting to move again. “W-what!? But you’re the master of time, how’s that even possible!?” Danny asked, having somehow mustered enough energy to go ghost. “The unicorn was not lying when she said she had a way to not face the consequences of her actions.” Clockwork says, as Starlight started to pick up more speed. “Is there a way to stop her?” Twilight asked, getting ready for a fight. Before Clockwork could answer, Starlight broke free from his power, and charged at Twilight. But before she could reach her, Twilight blasted her back, making her phase through the wall. “Unfortunately I don’t know what happened to her. From what I could gather from looking through time, she had accidentally went outside of time, and had returned with knowledge and power no mortal should possess. However, if we can sever her remaining ties to time, I could simply make her cease to be. Of course I’d only do this if there was absolutely no other option. So after you’ve done your part, I’ll try to see if I can’t find a better solution.” Clockwork explained with a frown. “Wow, it’s sure taking her awhile to recover from Twi’s attack.” Spike points out with a confused look. Curious, Clockwork decided to take a look in the time stream, and saw what was keeping her. “It seems she decided to go about this another way. She’s made stops at various points in time. If nothing is done, well, just look at your companions.” Clockwork says, gesturing to Vlad and Danny, who’re starting to fade away. “DANNY!” Twilight and Spike shouted, running towards the halfa in question. “I’m fading away too, you know.” Vlad deadpans. Twilight and Spike give Vlad dirty looks, then looks to Clockwork. “Isn’t there something you can do?” Twilight asked. “Well, I can transfer their minds into their past selves, however, they’ll only be echos. They’ll be able to suggest or slightly influence their past selves, but that’s it.” Clockwork answered. “I’m good with that, Plasmius?” Danny says/asked. “Not like we have a choice.” Vlad grumbled. “Oh you definitely have a choice, it’s just not one you’re happy with.” Clockwork says. “Whatever, fine, let’s just do it.” Vlad snaps. “Vary well, I’ll also be sending Twilight and Spike to a moment in the past so you two aren’t completely at Starlight’s mercy. Oh, and just to warn you, be careful how you word things to your past selves. What your going to do is like overshadowing yourselves, and should they decided you two are ghosts trying to take control of them, they could force you out. And I shouldn't have to explain why that is something you two should avoid at all cost.” Clockwork says. He waits for a few moments, to see if anyone had any questions. Seeing that no one had any, he then clicks his staff. “Time out.” “Time in.” Twilight and Spike looked around, half expecting to be attacked by Starlight. After making sure that no one was gonna jump them, they relaxed and took in everything. They’re still in their Equestrian forms, though they’ now wearing one of the strange necklaces they saw in Clockwork’s domain. Looking around, they saw that while they were in Equestria, everyone looked like the humans from the mirror world, save for the ones with a horn or wings. “Ok, so if I remember correctly, Vlad should be in Manehattan, and Danny should be in Ponyville. Vlad should be fine since at this point in time he’s had his powers for 10 years, Danny will probably need help since he just got his powers.” Twilight thought out loud. “So we’re heading to Ponyville?” Spike asked. Twilight nods and teleports them to their destination.
Déjà vuPonyville "kid…kid…kid." I hear a strangely familiar voice say as I wake up. "Ugh…" I groan, waiting for my eyes to adjust. When they did, I looked at whoever was talk. "You alright kid?" I look at the source to find a girl. She's fairly young, at least in her 20s, as far as I could tell. She had light blue skin, rainbow hair, and purple eyes. She was wearing a blue tank top, blue shorts, and blue running shoes. I also noticed she has an athletic build, not like a jock, but more like a runner's. And for some reason, something about her looked…wrong. "Uh…what's with that look?" She suddenly asked, bringing me out of my train of thought. "Sorry!" I say, a little embarrassed. "It's just that, well, have we met before? Because you seem familiar." "Well that makes sense, I am the town hero after all." She says with a grin, which turned into a frown. "Though you do look familiar…eh whatever." I'm a little surprised she was so quick to brush it off, but for some reason, it felt normal for her to do so. “So, uh…you gonna get up or…?” She questioned, causing me to realize I was still laying on the ground. With no reason to stay like that, I quickly got up, brushing dirt off my outfit. The outfit was a white T-shirt with a thin red collar, red cuffs, and a red oval in the middle, light blue jeans, and red-and-white sneakers. I then proceeded to fix my hair, as I noticed the black strands all over the place. “Hehe.” I just chuckle nervously. “Well anyway, nice to meet you, I’m Danny.” I say, holding out my hand. For some reason, the name "Danny" seemed to stick out, so I went with it. Though I couldn’t help but feel like it was wrong. “Rainbow Dash.” She says, shaking my hand. “Well I’d love to stay and chat, but I gotta be somewhere. See ya.” She then sprints a few feet away, before jumping 10 feet in the air. As she was going further away, I noticed she had a pair of light blue wings on her back, which unfolded and started flapping. And even though they didn’t look to be in the right spot to support her properly, she was able to fly with little effort. “…huh.” Was all I could say as I watch her fly away. Not sure what to do next, I walk aimlessly around a familiar looking town, trying to recall how I got here. As I was walking, I took in the view. I saw two little girls, one with cute glasses, and the other with a tiara. They seem to be laughing about something. I then noticed they were talking to another little girl. She had red hair and a big cute bow. For some reason, she was glaring at the first two girls. A little curious, I decided to check out what was going on, so I walked closer. As I got closer, I was able to catch the end of what one of them was saying. “-you talentless loser!” Says the one with the tiara. The two then laugh at what she had said. “Well at least I don’t spent my time bullying people just to-.” The one with the bow started to say, but the one with the tiara cut her off. “That’s because you’re a loser who doesn’t have anything to gloat about. While we both have special talents, and come for rich families. So of course you don’t do what we do, you literally can’t!” She says with a smug smile. “Uh…” I say, gaining their attention. “What’s going on here?” The one with the tiara looks at her friend, who shrugs in return. “Well if you must know, we were here a talk about social standings, and she got needlessly upset.” The tiara one said. “You said mah family was just meant to do the things “important rich people” shouldn’t have to deal with. Even though last time I checked, your dad has a nice relationship with Sweet Apple Acres.” The one with the bow deadpans. “No one ever shares their real thoughts and opinions in business. They just put on a mask to get whatever deal they want made.” The one with the tiara says with an eye roll, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Well it doesn’t matter, common Silver, we have places to be.” She says, walking away, “Silver” follows with a smile. “Why does someone as rotten as her, get to be rich?” The one with the bow grumbled, then looks to me. “I’ve never seen you around here? I’m Applebloom.” She says with a smile. “I’m Danny, nice to meet you.” I say with a smile of my own, then frown. “Hey, can I ask you a few things?” “I don’t see why not, though I got to get home soon, so we’d have to walk and talk if you don’t mind.” Applebloom says with a smile. “Sure, lead the way.” And with, we talked as we headed for Applebloom’s home. Manehattan-abandoned building-POV change-first person "God, I could use a drink.” I groan, rubbing my face, as rain pours outside (like it has been since I got here). I then walked to a mirror I “borrowed” from some twin pricks dressed like barbers who ran some kinda circus. They tried to sell me something that was made using someone else’s product. Well they were apparently ratted out by one of their previous customers, and jumped us the moment the two showed “their” goods. Thankfully their main focus were on the twins, so I got out unharmed, I even got my hands on their admittedly nice looking mirror. I look myself over in the mirror, checking to make sure everything was as it should be. I was wearing a black suit with a red handkerchief in my left chest pocket and a matching red bolo tie. The suit has three rows of white buttons, a total of six. I'm also wearing a white undershirt and black pointed shoes. Whenever I look at this outfit, the name “Vlad” always came to mind, which I had decided to call myself for the time being. After a few moments, I'm completely satisfied with my looks. But I don't decide to go out yet, instead, I go to the enchanted journal I keep on "my" nightstand. It wasn't anything to write home about (at least in this world). It just had water and fire proof enchantments, nothing special. I open the journal to see my last written message, a message I hadn’t reread in years. So apparently this world also has mafia, great, just great. I'm surprised it took me this long to find that out. And not only that, but Manehattan apparently has one of the most dangerous mafia organizations in this country. It's fine, I just need enough "bits" (the currency of this world) to get a ticket out of here. ‘That’s right, I almost forgot about that. I should have enough to afford a ticket. And if I can get to the train station before nighttime, I should be able to get a ride before any cleaners come out. I know I could handle them should they pick a fight with me, but that might throw a wrench in my plans down the line.’ Not wanting to waste any time, I head out, making sure to put anything I might need in a backpack.
EchoesAuthor's Note I wanna make something clear, whenever the text is either colored, has * on both sides, or both, that means the echoes from the previous timeline are trying to influence their current timeline versions. Sometimes they might repeat what the echo said (either exactly, or similarly). Of course there's no guarantee that they'll do what the echo suggested, especially if they don't agree with it. And I decided to make the echoes reflect their powers, so Danny's echo is green, and Vlad's echo is pink. Echoes Danny's POV Applebloom and I had reached her home when I was finally done asking her questions. Apparently I was on a planet called Gaia, the country I'm in is Equestra, and the town I'm in is "Ponyville". When I asked why it was called Ponyville, she just shrugged. In Equestra there are four races: Unicorns, Pegesi, Terrains and Alicorns. She didn't know much about Unicorns and Pegesi, but she know a lot about Terrains. Terrains were apparently called earth ponies awhile ago, but apparently enough earth ponies had a problem with the name to cause it to be changed to Terrains. Terrains apparently have control over earth and plants. Applebloom showed me this by causing a few pebbles to flout around her, though she said she's not that good at it because of some of it is boring to learn, and some of the parts she didn't understand. Alicorns on the other hand, were a mix of all three of the previous races, and much stronger. Though according to Applebloom, there's only one Alicorn alive, Princess Celestia. But since I doubted I'd ever meet her, or at least interact with her, I didn't really see a point in asking about her. As we got closer to the gate, Applebloom asked me a question I'm surprised she waited this long to ask. "How do you not know about any of this?" She asked. "I'm not exactly the smartest girl around, and even I know all that." "I'm not from around here, I don't really know how I got here, but it's obvious I'm far from my home." I answered honestly. "I'm sorry to hear that. But boy, you must be from a super far away place if you've never even heard of Princess Celestia." Applebloom says with a from, then gained a confused look. "Hey Danny?" She called, causing me raise a brow. "Yeah?" I asked back. "I don't mean to be rude or nothing, but what are ya?" She asked. "Huh?" I say in confusion. "When I first saw you, I thought you were a Terrain. You know, because you don't have wings or a horn." She explained. "But no terrain shouldn't know about our magic. Plus your eyes keep doing a weird thing. So what are you?" “I'm a human." I say simply. 'My eyes?' "Never heard of those before." Applebloom says. "What're they like?" "To simplify: both smart and stupid, often contradicting ourselves. Honestly, most of our species don't even understand our own species. We're pretty good at building and inventing though, so we got that going for us." I say with a small shrug, then from. "As long as those in charge have common sense. Also, they might not be gung ho about other species, some might, but definitely not all of them." "Well not everyone is gonna like the same thing. I'm sure they're not that bad." Applebloom says with a smile. I chose to not respond to that. Some things are better left unsaid. "So what was that about my-" “Applebloom!” We hear a stern female voice call. We look at the source to find a young woman around Rainbow Dah’s age (as far as I could tell at least). Her eyes were green, and her hair (which was tied) was blonde. She had a cowboy hat, white shirt with a green jacket. She was wearing a skirt made out of jeans, and cowboy boots. “H-hey Applejack.” Applebloom greets with a nervous smile. “Where have you been? I was about to come look for ya.” Applejack says with a frown, then raised a brow when she noticed me. “Oh, sorry sugercube, didn’t notice you there.” “It’s fine ms.” I say with a nervous smile. She’s pretty intimidating when she’s angry. “Applejack’s fine uh….” She says simply, tipping her hat. “Danny.” I say, answering her unasked question. “Applejack’s fine, Danny.” She says with a smile, then frowns. "Hey, have we met before? I feel like we have.” “Not to my knowledge.” I say, though I feel the same way. She stares at me for a little bit, then shrugs, and glares at Applebloom. “Hey, sure I took longer than I said I would, but I still got back in the time you gave me.” She says with a frown. “That’s true.” Applejack relents, her eyes softening. “Sorry sugercube, I just worry about you is all.” “I know.” Applebloom says with a nod, but still frowns. “But you’ve been worrying an awful lot lately, much more than normal. And it started long before Ponyville was picked to hoist the Summer Sun Celebration, so I know it doesn’t have any to do with that.” As Applebloom was talking, Applejack started to look more and more nervous. “Can you please just tell me what’s wrong?” “It’s nothing you need to worry about.” Applejack says with a frown. “But-“ “No butts Applebloom, unless it’s yours going into the house. Granny wanted to talk to you.” Applejack says, her stern look and tone coming back full force. “Ok…” Applebloom says with an upset tone, walking to the house, with Applejack making sure she actually went in. Once Applebloom was out of sight, Applejack turned to me. "Sorry bout that, I just want her to be safe." She says with a chuckle. "It's no problem, but what celebration?" I asked. "Oh, well Ponyville had been picked to hoist this year's Summer Sun Celebration. Sure it won't be as fancy as them Canterlot folk have it, but it'll definitely be a day worth remembering!" She says with a big smile. "Can I help in any way?" I asked. She looks surprised for a moment, but then thinks for a moment. "Well…you don't look like the farming type, so I don't think you can help here, but try asking round town." She says. Before I can say anything, Applebloom rushes out. "Whoa, what's the rush?" I say in shock. "I couldn't find granny!" Applebloom says, and the moment she said that, I felt the ground shake a bit. I couldn't even blink before I saw something orange get launched towards the house by a pillar of earth. I then realized that orange thing was Applejack, and after I realized that, Applebloom and I ran after her. When we finally caught up (only because she stopped and seemingly waited for us), we saw no one in there. "This ain't good." Applejack said ominously. "I'm sure you're grandma is just in bed." I say with a sweat drop. "No, Granny's pretty stubborn about the farm routine. Right now she'd normally be in her chair waiting for one of us to come in and ask us about chores." Applebloom says with a frown, walking over to the chair, Applejack following. "Hey Applebloom, did you see Big Mac while you were walking around?" Applejack asked, only to get a head shake in return. "He might be in the barn. Y'all stay here, I'll see if I can find him at the barn." Without another word, she ran out the house. *Something bad might happen to her, maybe I should go after her, just to be safe.* 'I'm not sure why, but I feel like I should go after her.' I think. So without another word, I chase after her. Vlad's POV It was an oddly peaceful 10 minuet walk so far, excluding the bizarre rain (I almost thought the rain clouds were following me). The streets were oddly vacant, no one was yelling at anyone, the stores were closed. Taking all that into account, and the fact that this place is supposed to be similar to Manhattan (as far as I could tell at least), I was more then a little on edge. If not for my invisibility and intangibility, I’d be worried that someone might jump me. As I was walking, I finally heard someone talking. I couldn’t make out what they’re saying, but it broke the silence, so that was nice. My curiosity had gotten the better of me, so I decided to investigate. "-so if you know what's good for you, you'll stop your little investigation, alright?" I heard some girl threaten. "No! I won't stop until I've revealed the truth!" I heard another girl say with vindication. At this point I was able to see who they were. One was a red woman, with purple hair, who looked to be in her 30s. She was wearing a black business suit and gloves, was holding an umbrella (most likely enchanted, since normal umbrellas only really keep your upper torso somewhat dry), and was brandishing a knife at some girl. The other one looked to be in her teens. She was light brown, with dark brown hair. She was wearing a blue jacket and pants, and was wearing white shoes. In her hand was a red book, though I couldn’t see the cover. Not wanting to alert them to my presence, I levitated towards them, making sure to keep my intangibility and invisibility. ‘What is with teenagers and thinking that doing something this dangerous is a good idea.’ I think, as I watch the women bring the knife to the girl’s neck. While she does this, I noticed something in the women’s back pocket. *I should investigate who this woman is.* I turned whatever it was intangible, and got a better look. It was a cellphone, a new looking one at that. Using a little trick I learned in my years of being half ghost, I made the phone unlock without needing a password. As much as expensive phone are useful, they’re pretty easy to hack if they’re not specifically made obsessed with technology. And this specific one was obviously just a store bought one, and not custom made by a tech savvy person. “What the…” I heard the woman say, as I noticed her turn towards me. Though before she could notice the phone, I cut it off, and turned it intangible. ‘Must’ve heard me hack it.’ I think. I’m taken out of my thoughts as a hear a series of splashes going further away. By the looks of it, it looks like the child decided to take the opening I unintentionally gave her, and run. “Wha-hey!" The woman yelled, chasing after her. I don't really care since I still got a train to catch, so I continue on my way. *On second thought, maybe it'll be more beneficial to look into this a little more. Something tells me it'll be much more profitable then my current plan.* I stopped for a moment to ponder. I still had plenty of time, plus the whole savings up money to take a train is just for appearance so I can be more direct in another part of Equestra. So I don't really need to rush thing. With that in mind, I decided to lazily follow behind, while looking through her phone.
A helping hand, and reminiscing of the “past”Once I escaped the cocoon, I looked around to find the culprit, which didn’t take long. She looked to be a mix between a spider and a human, having the upper body of a human woman, and the bottom of an almost complete spider, save for the spider head. The human part was green with black hair, and had completely red eyes. The human half was wearing a blue blouse, and had cuffs on both of her wrists, the chains dangling from each one separately. The spider half was black, with cuffs on each leg, chains hanging off of every cuff. I also noticed various scars all over her body. And to add further confusion, I noticed she was holding a doll in her hands. And not the stereotypical creepy doll, but a doll that was clearly made with love and care. It had black hair, blue eyes, and white "skin". It was wearing a blue dress, and blue ballroom shoes. I'm not sure why she has a doll, but judging by her expression, it was clearly very important to her. "Hm?" It seems she noticed she was being watched, and turned to me, her eyes go wide. "Who are you? How long have you been there!?" She then realized she was still holding her doll, which she quickly hid, her face turning red in embarrassment. "I'm Danny Phantom, and I haven't been here too long." I answered, a little caught off guard by her sudden questions. "If you don't mind me asking, what's with the doll?" "Th-that's none of you business, Phantom!" She yelled defensively. "Now leave, I want to wait for nightfall alone!" "Well, it's not really 'alone' with them here." I say, pointing to the people in cocoons. "They don't count, they're my dinner." She says with a huff. "Dinner? Aren't you a ghost?" I asked in confusion. "Ghosts can't really eat anything." “Look, I’d rather not talk about. Just leave, this is none of your business.” She huffs. “I can’t just leave when I know a ghost is gonna needlessly kill three people for food she doesn’t even need to survive.” I say with a bewildered look, physically incapable of understanding her thought process. “If you won’t willingly leave, I’ll make you!” She threatens, lunging at me. I must’ve really made her made, because she rammed into me with enough force to crash into the wall, and cause the barn to collapse. I must’ve lost consciousness for a few moments, because when I woke up, I was back to normal, and she was gone. Looking around, I noticed all the cocoons were gone. But in my search, I found that doll the ghost had. “It must’ve fallen off her when she rammed into me, and the barn collapsed.” I guessed, only to realize I was getting closer to the ground. After I few moments, I realized it was because my legs had turned intangible. “That’s not a good sign.” Deep in current timeline Danny’s mind Future Danny’s POV “I remember this, it’ll take at least a month for him to gain somewhat control over his basic powers.” I muttered. “Maybe I can give him a hand. We both want the same thing, and we both wanna do it in the same way, so he shouldn’t notice me helping him…” Reality Current Danny’s POV Despite my best efforts, I kept sinking, with only my upper chest and up visible. Suddenly, I felt that same strange energy wrap around my body. Then I started to come out of the ground, almost like something was pulling me up. And after a few moments, I was completely out of the ground, and was hovering off the ground. Whatever that was finally stopped, and I landed on the ground. As much as I wanted to stop and try to figure out what happened, I didn't have time. 'Though I'm not sure why I'm trying to play the hero, I don't even know them.' I think, scratching my head. *I may not know them, but could I really live with the fact that I let a phycho kill an entire family, even though I have the power to help them?* ‘But I don’t even know how to use my powers.’ I think, not feeling confident. ‘I doubt I’d win in a fight against that spider lady.’ *Maybe I don’t have to fight her, maybe I just need to get the family out* That made me pause. I did manage to phase out of the cocoon, maybe I could do the same with them. I think for a moment, trying to think of where the lady could have gone, until I remembered the dream. When that lady reappeared, Applebloom and I where in a giant forest. That might be a good place to start. So without any better ideas, I headed for the closest forest I remember Applebloom telling me about, the Everfree Forest. With previous timeline Twilight and Spike It hadn't taken Twilight long to figure out what point in time they had been sent. Twilight had remembered reading in the Newspaper in the previous timeline that today was the day that the Apples of Ponyville had died, save for a single child. 'I'll never forget the day I arrived in Ponyville.' Twilight thinks to herself, remembering that fateful day. Flashback Twilight's POV 'I can't believe the Princess just dismissed my warning! Yeah I know using what is widely considered just an old mare's tale as a bases for my warning was kind of a stretch, but the signs were all there!' I grumbled in my head. "That's weird, you'd think a town about to hold a celebration would be a lot more cheerful…" I heard Spike say. I look to see what he's talking about, and he's right, this place had a depressing air about it. "We should ask around, maybe we can fix whatever's making them upset." I suggest, I was here to make sure everything ran smoothly for the celebration after all. We finally land, the guards immediately leaving the moment I thanked them. 'Guess they don't wanna stick around such a gloomy place.' We looked around a bit, before spotting a darkish pink pony with a straight dark pink mane and tail. She has balloons for a cutie mark. I walked to her with the intention to start a conversation with her. "Hello there, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I was sent down here by the Princess to oversee the preparations for the celebration." I introduced myself. "Could you please tell me why everypony is so down?" "A meanie pants came and took their smiles away, and nothing I do can bring them back." She says, a frown on her face. I raised a brow, then looked at Spike, who just shrugged. "Ok…" I say, a little confused. "Could you go into detail about the 'meanie pants' and how they 'took their smiles away'?" “I don’t really know what happened, the only ponies who survived whatever happened are a little filly, and some strange creature named Danny the filly vouched for.” The mare says with a shrug. “The filly keeps saying that it was some kinda spider ghost that did it.” “Well ponies her age do have a tendency to make up stories to cope with something that bad.” I say, nodding. “Do you know where this Danny lives?” “When the filly was taken in by one of her family members, she insisted that he come along, since he was the only one who believed her ghost story.” She says. “Well thanks anyway.” I say in defeat. We said our goodbyes, and parted way. Then Spike and I preceded to check all the places on the list, though we had to ask who was handling food now. It was still being handled by the Apples, just not the Apples from Ponyville. Since I knew they’d have some information about the filly and creature, I decided to go there first. “So this is Sweet Apple Acres?” I asked the mare who lead us here. She had a green coat and eyes, a black mane and and tail (which was tied with red string), and had a brown cowgirl hat. Her cutie mark was three red apples. And it might’ve been just my imagination, but it almost looked like she was glowing with an otherworldly light, it also sounded like there was a slight echo in her voice. “Yep.” The mare confirms. “Say, could ya do me a little, but important, favor?” “What?” I asked. She then took off her hat, put what looked like a note on it, then gave it to me. “Could you hand this to one of the ponies down there? I’d really appreciate it.” “Uh, sure, I don’t see why not.” I say with a confused look. “Thank ya kindly.” She says. I looked at the hat in confusion, then looked back at her, only to see she had vanished. “Did you see where she went?” I asked Spike. “No.” He answered. A little disturbed, we continued on. Golden Oaks Library after Summer Sun Celebration-still previous timeline “Are you a spy!?” Rainbow had asked, anger clear in her voice. “I’m giving you one chance to confess, because after losing one of my friends to some unknown creature, I am not in the mood to play games with a potential traitor!” “Rainbow Dash! That’s enough!” I heard a familiar voice yell, much to my relief, because it looked like the pegasus might’ve actually hit me. We looked to the source, and see that strange mare again. “You kinda look like AJ, save for most of your colors.” The pegasus notes. "And why the hey are you stopping me?" "Because, I know ya friend wouldn't want to take you anger out on this filly. And I know your friend would want you to help this filly stop that madmare from hurting ponies." The green mare said with a disappointed look. It seems what she said and her expression got through to Rainbow Dash, because she suddenly gained an ashamed look. "You're…you're right, Applejack would've probably been the first to volunteer to help…" Rainbow Dash says somberly, then gained a determined look, and turned to me. "Well it decided then, I'm gonna help you stop that Alicorn and save the princess!" "You won't be doing it alone, darling." Rarity says, the rest giving their agreement. "So what's the plan?" The green mare asked, looking at me. "I know you ran in here for a reason." Feeling a little inspired myself, I told them my plan, and we set out to find the Elements of Harmony. After we had found the Elements, and defeated Nightmare Moon, we learned who that green mare was. She was Applejack as a ghost, the Elements turning her colors back to how they were when she was alive, though she kept the otherworldly glow and echo. She wasn't a halfa like Danny or Vlad, she was a halfa in the opposite way. Instead of being alive with the powers of ghosts like those two, she was a ghost who could suppress her ghost aspects and appear like the living. Of course she had trouble controlling this. As it turns out, earth pony magic and ecto-energy clash in the beginning, a lot. They also supercharge each other, a lot. She could handle the farm work practically by herself, but had tended to destroy what she was trying to fix or harvest. Of course, this wasn’t without problems. First we hand to deal with Celestia (who despite being an understanding pony, was a firm believer in the natural order. And if it wasn’t for the fact that the Elements did that to AJ, she would’ve done an exorcism then and there, instead of testing AJ). Then we had to deal with creatures (not just ponies, but all sorts of creatures) who’re either strongly against AJ’s existence, or wanted to replicate what happened to AJ (flat out ignoring the special circumstances for her “resurrection” and the potential consequences). Finally, and somehow the worst, we had to deal with Applebloom. I’m not sure how she managed it, but Applebloom managed to be a bigger threat to AJ then all the previous threats. With Celestia, we could appeal to her sense of reason. With the ponies for or against AJ’s existence, sure they had numbers, but we had the experience to fend them off, plus it wasn’t hard to outmaneuver their strategies (when they actually had strategies at least). But Applebloom? Not only was it impossible to appeal to her sense of reason, but she had much more experience with ghosts then anyone we knew save for the princesses, and she was better equipped. She had apparently ran away from the relatives who took her in (though we never learned why), and had devoted her life to becoming the best (in our case, worst) ghost hunter in the world. And what made it even worse, AJ couldn’t bring herself to fight her, on account of Applebloom having justified reasons not to believe AJ was actually her sister. I don’t know what happened between them in their last meeting, due to Starlight showing up, and forcing us (Spike, Danny, Vlad and I) to force her attention on us while everyone else escaped, so I don’t know what happened after that. Though I guess it doesn’t really matter, since the old timeline was ripped to shreds. “Hey Twi, look, it’s Danny.” Spike (who was flying beside me) says, pointing to what appears to be this timeline’s Danny. “Why’s he heading towards the everfree forest? Shouldn’t he be waiting at the Apple’s house with Applebloom?” “I guess our Danny decided to change what happened, if the green glow appearing every now and then is any indication.” I say with a small frown. “Well if that’s what he wants to do, I don’t see any reason not to lend a hoof.” As I say this, I fly down to him, making sure to far enough for him to not notice us. Author's Note Sorry if things feel like they’re dragging on, and not much is happening yet. I’m working on beginnings for two main characters, who’re in two vastly different locations with vastly different elements. Yes, I’m aware that it would go faster if I just focused on one, and have things happen off screen for the other. But I feel like it would hurt the story if I did that before both had proper groundwork. The moment both stories have proper groundwork, I’ll focus on one for awhile (most likely Danny’s), and have things happen off screen for the other for awhile. Also, if you all want me to make a prequel story about what happened in the previous timeline, let me know.
Memories of a past lifeDanny I was running as fast as I could, but I was slower then a snail compared to her. I heard Applebloom running right beside me, but unlike me, she wasn't even breaking a sweat. I decided to chalk that up to boundless child energy, and not the fact that I wasn't exactly the most athletic guy around. Thankfully Applejack left behind dents in the earth as she ran, so I was able to figure out which direction she ran in. After a few moments, I can see the barn, but I don't see Applejack anywhere. I stop in front of the barn, and looked at Applebloom. "I doubt you're gonna listen if I tell you to go back to the house, so just stay close to me, and let me know the moment you see something outta place." I say. "Alright." Applebloom says with a nod. I then opened the barn door, and stepped in. The moment I set foot in the barn, I gasp as a trail of light blue smoke left my mouth. "Something wrong?" Applebloom asked, having most likely missed what happened. "You can say that, I just felt a chill go down my spine." I muttered. 'What's with the blue smoke, and why'd I feel so cold for a moment. Am I losing it?' *It could possibly be a red flag, or a warning. I should be on guard.* I stopped suddenly, that strange thought catching me off guard. 'That's a pretty weird thought, and oddly specific, why would I think it's some kinda warning?' I questioned myself, but decide to be on guard just for safety, I do have a little kid with me after all. 'Also isn't a red flag and a warning the same thing?' Shaking my head, I focused on the task at hand. Looking around, it looks like what you’d expect the inside of a barn to look like. Though no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find Applejack, and I doubt she’d go anywhere other then inside here. Suddenly, I feel something repeatedly poke my side. Looking to the source, I saw Applebloom frantically poking me and looking up, her face filled with fear. I grabbed her hand to both stop her from poking me, and to let her know I got the message, then looked up in curiosity. “…” Both Applebloom and I could only stand there, completely slack jawed. We saw three green glowing cocoons on the ceiling of the barn. Before we could say anything else, a strand of web the size of my arm latched on Applebloom, and yanked her out of sight. After a few moments, another cocoon appears with the first three. And before I could say anything, the same thing that happened to her, happened to me. I grunt as I slam up against something, most likely the ceiling. “Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise. I got all four Apples, plus an extra, and I barely had to do anything.” I heard some girl coo. “Hey, let us out!” I yelled. “Screem all you want, boy, no one more then a few centimeters outside of these cocoons can hear you. Now just sleep tight, this’ll be over soon, just have to wait for nightfall. Oh I can’t wait to taste you, you didn’t look like you had much meat on your bones, but you’ll make a good appetizer.” I barely heard her say, I then heard her softly laugh. After a few moments, I heard her laughter get further and further away. “Great, my first day in this strange place, and I’m already about to become some crazy girl’s dinner.” I groan in dismay. I then suddenly feel extremely sleepy, like I had been up for three days straight. *Don’t fall asleep, yo-I have to get outta this cocoon, and save the others!* ‘On second thought, maybe a little rest wouldn’t hurt…’ *NO!* I don’t think anything else before I lose consciousness. I’m in front of the main hall of Ponyville, dressed in a black tuxedo, attending a funeral. Right now I’m hugging a pony the looks strangely like Applebloom, the pony openly crying in my arms. I look to the stage to see a pony with white hair and a tan coat. “Citizens of Ponyville, it is with a heavy heart that I must officially announce the deaths of three very important ponies. Applejack Apple, Big McIntosh Apple, and Granny Smith Apple. These three ponies lost their lives to an unknown creature that wondered on their land, and left with no trace. We are here to honor their memories, and all they’ve done for us over the years. If anyone wants to come up and say something on their behalf, you may do so now.” The pony says somberly. She then stepped down, and another pony dressed as a sharif takes her place. And once he’s done, another takes his place. It went on like this until it was the pony who looked and sounded like Applebloom’s turn. “They were the most important ponies in my life. AJ always tried to bring the best outa me, and was a ponies you could always rely on. Big Mac was always there to help me when I was scared, and would help ya without needin to be asked. Granny was always there to give advice when ya needed it, and was more then willing to fight tooth and hoof for the farm, regardless of her age. These ponies were the best family members a filly could ask for. I don’t know what I’ll do now that they’re gone, except for one thing: find the no good creature who did this to them, and make them pay!” Applebloom declared. … … Now I’m in a giant forest, and Applebloom is right beside me, though she was much older. I also noticed she was decked out in a red jumpsuit. “Applebloom…” I suddenly say, surprised I said anything at all. “I know what you’re gonna say Danny, and yes, I’m sure about this.” She says, putting on a hood with goggles. “We’re the only ones who can avenge my family. Plus, it’s not like we’re going up against Vlad, I’ll be fine.” “Applebloom, listen to me.” I urged. She turn and completely faced me. “I know you’ve been waiting a long time for her to reappear, and I don’t blame you. But I want you to remember, you can’t let your emotions get the better of you. She may not be anywhere near Vlad’s level, but doing something reckless because of emotions will get you killed.” “I know.” She says simply. “Why’re you saying that now?” “Because I want you to try to keep a clear head. You’re one of my best friends, I don’t wanna lose you.” I say, worry clear in my voice. She just grinned. “Hey, who do you think I am? I won’t die that easily. Pinkie promise.” She says, going through a series of motions. … … Applebloom had been the first to find our target, unfortunately, she was also the first to be taken out by our target. The only warning I got that she needed help, was her screaming, which lead me to where she and the creature was. And when I got there, my blood ran cold. The creature was holding her by the neck. Applebloom saw me, and was barely able to choke out a “help”. It was like someone had injected me with pure adrenaline, the only thing on my mind was saving my friend. “I’m…” My eyes shot open, having woken up from that strange dream, my body overflowing with a strange energy. “I’m going ghost!” I yelled as a bluish white ring appears around me, and splits into two. My shirt, pants and shoes are replaced with a black and white jumpsuit with a D on the chest. I’m unable to see any other changes, save for the fact that I’m glowing. I’m not sure what happened, but it felt normal, but new at the same time. ‘Where’d “I’m going ghost” come from?’ I think in confusion. Seeing that whatever that was was done, I somehow phase out of my cocoon. Author's Note And to clarify, no, Danny has no experience with his ghost form. The only reason the only ghost ability he used before this point was eye based- "When I first saw you, I thought you were a Terrain. You know, because you don't have wings or a horn." She explained. "But no terrain shouldn't know about our magic. Plus your eyes keep doing a weird thing. So what are you? -was because he just had so little ghost energy that none of the more obvious ghost powers could accidentally trigger. Now, he has plenty of ghost energy, so more of his powers will act up.
NoticeOk, I might’ve gotten ahead of myself here. I should’ve shown what happened in the previous timeline first, then made this story, so that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna put this story on hiatus for the time being, make a prequel to this story, then continue (and possibly edit) this story once the prequel is done.
