The Only Mark That Matters

Radish and the orange mare stalked carefully through the secret passage. It was pitch-black, forcing them to painstakingly feel their way along the grimy walls.

“You know,” the mare said, “if we can get the ring off my horn, I can light our way.”

“If we got the ring off your horn, couldn’t you just teleport us out?”

“Nope. The whole castle is sealed against teleporting. Everypony has to get in and out the old-fashioned way.”

“Fine. Hold still.”

Radish felt for her horn and gripped the ring in his hooves. He scoffed.

“Wow, this thing feels cheap. Totally shoddy work, just like the jail cells.”

“Really?”

Radish squeezed the sides of the ring with his forehooves. Its lock popped open, and he pulled the ring off her horn.

“Are you kidding me!?” she exclaimed, irritated. “I could have done that the whole time!?”

“Don’t feel bad. Lots of magic users overlook the mundane solutions,” Radish said, slipping the ring onto his tail for safekeeping.

She lit up her horn and illuminated the tunnel. It was caked in dust and draped in spiderwebs. They carefully made their way onward.

“Hmm, is that how you snuck into Princess Luna’s tower? Using these mundane tunnels, where the guards only prepared against magic?”

“I didn’t sneak into Luna’s tower. I walked in like normal, but then everything just… changed around me.”

She cocked her eyes at him.

“What, are you saying that you really did jump herefrom another timeline?”

“What are you talking about?”

“That’s what Moondancer was asking you. Why do you think she was so excited?”

“Another timeline? You mean, like the human world?”

“No, that’s an entirely diff… wait. How do you know about the human world!?”

“From Twilight Sparkle.”

“Who?”

“The real Element of Magic. A criminal named Sunset Shimmer stole her crown and fled there through a magic mirror. She had to follow her to get it back.”

“That’s not what happened!”

Radish stopped in his tracks. He looked the girl over.

“Sunset Shimmer?”

“That’s right.”

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“I came back to Equestria for a crown, all right. But I never even got to lay a fing… a hoof on it. The mirror was in transit from the Crystal Empire to Canterlot. I popped out inside a freight car on a royal cargo train, and guards immediately piled on me. I was thrown into the dungeon with no trial, no sentence, no charges.”

“Celestia let that happen to her old student?”

“I haven’t seen hide nor fur of Celestia since I got back. But that’s probably for the best- I get the sense that she’s not really a pony you’d like to meet nowadays.”

“How so?”

“All the guards seem afraid of her. Speak about her in hushed tones. The Celestia I knew was uptight, but I never thought she’d be a tyrant.”

“The Celestia I know could never become a tyrant.”

“Oh, really? Lucky you.”

“If you were captured immediately, then how do you have friends in the city?”

“Oh, I lied about that.”

“Ugh, you bi-”

“Like you wouldn’t have said anything to get out of there.”

“Well, congrats. It worked.”

“Hmm?”

Radish pulled a lever in the wall. After a series of clanks, the wall swung open, filling the tunnel with sunlight. Just beyond was a Canterlot boulevard. It was quiet- there were no ponies on the sidewalks, nor carts in the street.

“We made it outside the castle!” gasped Sunset Shimmer. She rushed outside and gazed into the sky.

“Now,” said Radish closing the door behind them, “I need to-”

“Yeah, me, too.”

She touched her horn to Radish’s head, and they both disappeared in a flash of light.

Moondancer stood before the mysterious crystal table alongside Spike and the other five Elements of Harmony- Applejack, Rarity, Bon Bon, Cloudkicker, and Blossomforth.

“So… yer sayin’ that this here table… is a magical map… from another world?” Applejack asked, scratching her head.

“Yes. And it’s not the only mystery of time and space I’ve encountered today,” answered Moondancer. “If I’m correct, something has gone seriously wrong with our world’s history.”

“You are correct, Element of Magic.”

The seven turned in the direction of the unknown voice. Hovering above the table was a small glittering purple alicorn that none of them had ever seen before.

“Who are you?” demanded Bon Bon, interposing herself between the table and her friends.

“I am a gift of hope from ponies of the far past. But your past is not what it once was.”

“I knew it! Quickly, Spike! Take all this down!” exclaimed Moondancer excitedly.

“A wayward pony was given free reign to manipulate destiny, so that she may come to appreciate Harmony. She shattered and remade history a dozen times over. In the end, Friendship won out, as expected. But an unforeseen imperfection budded this excess branch which I have no power over.”

“This is amazing!” cheered Moondancer. “Actual confirmation that we inhabit a rogue timeline!”

“Ah, dear, are you saying that our entire world, everything we know, is like a… loose thread?” Rarity asked.

“A loose thread which will unravel the tapestry of history,” said the alicorn. “Unless the imperfection is repaired, this branch will wither, and take the whole body with it.”

“So, uh, how do we fix this… imperfection?” asked Cloudkicker, hovering closer to her.

“You must find… at the heart of… He must… but without…”

The purple alicorn’s voice faded in and out as her image distorted as if reflected in a melting mirror. She blinked out of existence entirely.

“Uh, hello?” asked Blossomforth, poking at the table. “We didn't quite get that.”

It did not respond.

“Well, now what?” asked Applejack.

Moondancer put a hoof to her chin. “That stallion! He must be the key to all this.”

“Ooh, a stallion? Is he cute?” asked Rarity. Spike rolled his eyes.

“Come on, girls! And Spike. We need to get to the dungeons of Canterlot!”

Radish and Sunset reappeared in the center of a stage on a large, dim theater. The seats were empty, and the layer of dust on every surface gave the impression that the place had gone untouched for decades.

“Where are we?” Radish asked.

“When I was a kid, I used to come here to practice magic. Lifting props, moving the sets around, playing with the lights. It was abandoned then, and I figured it would still be abandoned after all these years. I figured right.”

“Okay, so you want to hide out here?”

“Not for too long. Tell me about this other timeline of yours. You said your Celestia didn’t go tyrant. What else is it like?”

“Why?”

“Equestria went down the toilet while I was gone. Even if I could get back to the mirror, it won’t open again for like, another twenty moons. If I can’t get back to the human world, I’ll take my chances in yours.”

“I don't know how to get back to my world. I don't even know how I left it.”

“Don’t worry, I know way more about this kind of time-space thing than Little Miss Moondancer.”

She cast a series of spells, making runes and geometric shapes appear in the air above Radish. He felt his fur stand on end.

“Hmm,” she said. “There is something odd about your magical make-up.”

“I don’t wear magical makeup.”

“Please, no jokes. The anomaly is too subtle to analyze properly. The only way I’m going to reverse-engineer how you jumped timelines is to separate and sort through your molecules.”

“And put them back together?”

“Uh… yeah. Sure.”

Radish narrowed his eyes. He stepped back slowly.

“You know, maybe we should get a bite to eat before we do any time-space stuff. I’ll just run and get us a couple sandwiches.”

Sunset Shimmer threw a telekinetic aura around Radish and shoved him to the floor, pinning him in place.

“What are you doing!?”

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be. I need to get out of here, and you're my only option.”

Radish swatted his tail at her head, whipping the inhibitor ring back down onto her horn. Her aura died out and Radish leapt to his hooves.

“Hey!”

Radish punched the ring, jamming its lock closed. He galloped away.

“You jerk!” called Sunset, pawing at the ring. “Get back here and let me dissect you!”

Moondancer reentered the dungeon room she had visited earlier that day with Spike and her friends in tow. They found nothing but empty cells.

“So where’s this guy you were talking about?” Bossomforth asked Moondancer.

“Good question.” She flagged down a guard in the hallway passing by the door. “Pardon me, sir, where is the stallion who was in that cell?”

“That’s classified, miss.”

“Oh. Well, then, what happened to the mare who was in that other cell?”

“That’s also classified.”

“But-”

“Have a nice day, Lady Moondancer.”

The guard walked away.

Bon Bon scoffed. “The guards have been awfully rude to us lately.”

“If I’m bein’ honest, it kinda feels like all of Equestria has gone to seed lately,” grumbled Applejack. “Maybe that gal in the table was right. Maybe sumthin’ really did go wrong with our world’s destiny that we need to put right.”

“Spike, take a message,” said Moondancer.

“For who?”

“Princess Celestia.”

The others gasped. Spike gave Moondancer an uncomfortable look.

“Are you, uh, sure about that?”

“Yes. she’ll respond this time, I’m sure of it.”

Radish burst out of the playhouse’s rear exit into a back alley. He took stock of his surroundings. The architecture of the buildings around him was of an older Cart Deco style- he was in west downtown Canterlot. He rushed down a series of alleyways, wending his way unseen through disused courtyards, occasionally cutting through empty foyers of boarded-up tenement buildings, climbing over brick walls, crawling under windows, and darting between shadowy arches.

After putting a satisfactory distance between himself and the theater, he slowed to a careful skulk. He had lost Sunset Shimmer, but now he was faced with the reality that he had nowhere to go, just a vague sense pulling him toward more familiar parts of town.

He journeyed as far as he could by sticking to the shadows, and emerged onto what he remembered as the busiest street of a popular neighborhood. It was home to numerous bars and restaurants of historical interest, and was thus usually dense with tourists. Radish hoped to disappear into the crowds.

The street was empty. No ponies walked the sidewalks, no carts rolled down the thoroughfare. Only a single taxi cab was parked down the block. Radish didn’t have any cab fare.

He walked on, keeping alert. The streets were devoid of life, but there were new additions as well. Street lamps bore new banners- the flag of Equestria. So did most windows, benches, and trash cans. The flag was seemingly everywhere now.

Why does everypony need so much reminding which country they live in?

Okay, Radish, think. You’re in a different ‘timeline’, apparently. So what do you do about it?

Twilight’s the only one who knows about that kind of stuff. But where is she? Is she somewhere out there, as lost and confused as I am? What would she do in a situation like this?

She would start to fix any problem by heading to a library. But I can’t do that while I’m wanted by the law.

He realized he had stopped walking. He looked up and found himself standing in front of Cat’s Howl.

I guess it was inevitable that I’d make my way here.

The store was dark inside, and the floor looked devoid of merchandise or even shelving. The door was locked and a ‘For Lease’ sign hung in the window. He turned to look at Splash Page’s comic book store. It was open, at least.

Splash Page was always talking about time travel stuff in comic books. Sometimes for hours on end. Maybe he knows how these things work.

He entered the store. Splash was seated behind the counter.

“Hi. How can I help you?”

He doesn’t recognize me either.

“Could you tell me what happened to the girl who ran the store across the street? Where is Light Fantastic?”

“Oh… she moved back home a few months ago.”

“Back home? You mean to Cirruscinatti?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

He sighed. “The same story as a lot of ponies in this neighborhood. She was forced to change jobs because of the IDEA.”

“The idea?”

“How did you know her? You an old boyfriend?”

“Yeah…”

“Sorry.”

“Hey, what can you tell me about-”

Through the window, Radish noticed a pair of royal guards marching down the street. They were approaching the store.

“You know, I’ll just be browsing in the back.”

Radish trotted to the back of the store and ducked out of sight just as the guards flung open the door. They stomped up to the counter. Radish peered at them around a shelf.

“Have you seen either this stallion or this mare?” one of the guards demanded, holding up two wanted posters. Splash Page squinted at them. Radish’s heart held its beats.

“Haven’t seen them. Can I interest either of you in a subscription to Ironcolt?”

The guards muttered some unpleasant words to Splash Page and left. Splash Page watched them walk away through the window.

“They’re gone,” he said to Radish.

Radish stood up. He and Splash page stared at each other for a moment.

“Thanks.”

Splash Page shrugged. “Hey, anypony who’s no friend to the Guard is a friend here.”

Radish recalled a comment made by Barrel Roller during his interrogation. He trotted close and lowered his voice.

“Do you get a lot of ponies in here who are no friends to the Guard?”

“A lot of lives got turned upside down because of the IDEA. But there are ponies trying to change things.”

“You mean… ‘the Campaign’?”

Splash Page nodded.

“Do you know where I can find them?”

“They don’t trust just anypony.”

“I’m not just anypony.”