Chapter 3

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I just stare ahead at the energy window at the girl I now share my appearance with, my mouth hanging open.

I… no, but… this is so many levels of impossible.

I’m not the only one shocked, either. Out of the corner of my eye, though I barely register it, Celestia’s smirk has completely washed away, replaced with a look of disbelief and utter bewilderment.

After what feels like hours (though, probably was only a few seconds), I snap out of my stupor and point at the red/orange haired girl.

“Bloom, how in the world are you there?! Aren’t I you?!”

“Oh dear,” Flora says, looking to the Bloom with them. “It seems your mother was right. She really doesn’t know.”

Her mother? The hell does Bloom’s mother on Earth have to do with anything?

The Bloom in the energy window sighs, with a look of sadness, before she looks to me. “Bloom, what do you last remember? Where do your memories before you found yourself in that world end?”

I’m… suddenly more puzzled than bewildered.

I cock an eyebrow. “Um, I was on a bus, heading home? What’s that got to do with anything?”

The reaction of the six fairies is not what I’m expecting… not that I actually know what reaction I was expecting to begin with.

They are the ones looking confused now.

“On a Bus?” Musa says, cocking an eyebrow. “How is your last memory being on a bus? Shouldn’t it have been on Pyros?”

Pyros? Wait, isn’t that the name of the Island of Dragons where Bloom awakens her Enchantix through sheer force of her own will?

“Um, I woke up in the Dragon Lands in this world… if that helps any?” I offer, though I know it doesn’t help at all.

The Dragon Lands and Pyros are very different places.

I blink, inwardly frowning. Or… are they?

No, no. They are. They definitely are. I’m the first humanoid to be in this world, that much has been made quite clear from my interactions since waking up in the Dragon Lands.

“Okay, Musa, so, why would you think my last memories before waking up in the Dragon Lands would’ve been being on Pyros? And, what does Bloom’s mother have to do with any of this?”

That last part just caught back up with me again and, in context, really doesn’t add up.

Bloom sighs, looking to me. “So, just to clear up any confusion, we’re not talking about my adoptive mother, Vanessa. We’re talking about my biological mother, Queen Marion.”

There’s a long pause as what Bloom says filters through my brain… before its implications hit me like a freight train.

Bloom didn’t find her parents in the 4kidz version of Winx Club! 4kidz lost the dubbing license rights to the show before they got to that point. Which means…

“You already freed Oritel and Marion from the Obsidian Circle?!”

That gets looks of shock from the Winx and confused glances from everyone dragon and pony else.

“How do you know about that?” Bloom asks, her eyes wide. “My mom said you should only remember up to Pyros.”

What? Queen Marion knows about me? How? What the hell is going on here?

I shake my head frantically. “Wait, wait, wait. Okay, back up. How does your mother know about me? And… wait. If you’ve already freed King Oritel and Queen Marion from Obsidian, does that mean you already know the truth about Daphne?”

“Truth?” Bloom looks to the Winx, before looking to me with a concerned frown. “What truth?”

Oh. Did… did that not come up for them?

I mean, I don’t think Daphne was ever referred to as family throughout the 4kidz dub, so… maybe, in this version of the Secrets of the Lost Kingdom movie’s events, it didn’t come up either?

Ooh, boy. I’m about to dump some major baggage on Bloom. Sorry, girl.

“Bloom,” I say, firmly, but carefully, “Daphne isn’t just the Nymph of Magix. She’s your older sister.”

The Winx all have looks of shock, Bloom most of all, her eyes wider than dinner plates.

“But, how is that possible?” Layla looks to the others.

Techna holds out an open hand in front of her, a holo screen appearing above it, texts flying up the screen faster than my eye can track. “There’s no mention of King Oritel and Queen Marion ever having a daughter other than Bloom. Daphne couldn’t possibly be Bloom’s older sister.”

Despite myself, I can’t help inwardly smiling.

Stereotyped for being the smart one or not, I loved Techna’s British accent in the 4kidz dub.

“Not to mention, just how young would Bloom’s parents have needed to be for that to be possible?” Musa points out. “Daphne doesn’t look close to Bloom’s age. She looks old enough to be her mother.”

I shake my head, waving my hands frantically. “I know the math doesn’t make sense, I do, but, I swear, I’m not lying. Daphne’s— Hold on. Gimme a second to check something.”

I pick up the Bloodstone Sceptre (I must have dropped it out of shock of seeing Bloom and not realized), holding it in both hands, staring deeply into it.

You showed me what to do about Ember and the Dragon Lord thing. Please let me see how far along these versions of the Winx go into the timeline.

If they went through the events of the movie, there’s no telling how far into Winx’s lore they are going to go.

The red jewel glows and my vision is obscured by flashes of images almost too fast to keep track.

From the few brief moments I can glimpse, however, I see fragments of the Believix and Sirenix arcs… then something that doesn’t look anything like what I can vaguely remember glimpsing now, including what I think was Skye and Bloom getting married, and then from past that point. Nothing about the Bloomix, Mythix or any other arcs after that.

I inwardly find myself sighing with relief.

Thank goodness. Not only would these versions of the Winx going through all that make no sense, it just made no sense in general.

“Are you done looking at that rock already or what?”

Musa’s voice pulls me from my thoughts and I look up to see the Winx and everyone else staring at me.

I shake my head, before looking firmly at Bloom.

“Bloom, why did you wonder why Queen Marion told you my last memories before waking up in this world should’ve been Pyros?”

She looks away for a moment, before sighing. “I’m guessing you know about Enchantix, right? And how my method to get mine was… different from normal?”

I nod.

Bloom sighs, looking at me sadly?

“It turns out, I’m not the first fairy in history to will their Enchantix into existence.”

I’m sorry, what?

“It hasn’t happened very often,” Bloom says, shaking her head. “But, in some royal families, it seems several fairies have done the same thing. Mostly those of the latter branches of the royal families who married into other families. Kinda hard to save someone from your home planet before you’re officially married to another planet’s Royal Family and had an heir, ya know?”

I… guess that makes sense.

“Anyway, while it’s even rarer, sometimes, when a fairy wills her Enchantix into existence instead of earning it the normal way, it creates a duplicate of that fairy, called a Fairy Fade.”

…

I’m sorry. Come again?!

“When the Fairy Fade duplicate is created, they have all the exact same traits as the fairy they were Fairy Faded from,” Techna says, a new holo screen appearing above her hand, this one displaying Bloom, both human and her original fairy form, with little boxes full of words too small for me to read at this distance, arrows attached to those boxes and pointing to different parts of Bloom. “Everything is exactly the same, height, weight, eye colour, even their biological clocks. Exactly the same in every detail… save one.”

“The Fairy Fade doesn’t and never will get Enchantix,” Musa says, shaking her head.

“I’m… a duplicate? A Fairy Fade?” I ask, blinking.

That… would somewhat make sense, I guess. It could explain why I don’t have any of Bloom’s memories. My body was duplicated.

“Wait. Are memories Fadeed too?” I ask, suddenly remembering how they talked about it being odd I knew about Bloom’s parents being rescued from Obsidian and my memories should’ve stopped at Pyros.

All six look uneasy, not meeting anyone’s gaze.

“Well… yes,” Techna says after what was probably only a couple of seconds, but felt like hours. “The families always try to figure out how to sort through everything. More often than not, the Fairy Fade decides to change their name and become staff in the Royal Family.”

“Though, there are a few times some have rebelled against their people, seeing it unfair they don’t get to keep living their original life that their memories tell them they have,” Layla says uncomfortably. “It’s happened twice in my family. It’s… one of the reasons the Omega Dimension was originally created. To keep the rebelling Fairy Fades from causing more damage, not just to their home worlds, but the Magical Dimension as a whole.”

“So… you can kinda understand why we’d be a teeny bit worried about your emotional state,” Stella says, looking to me. “Any regular Fairy Fade rebelling and going on a rampage would be bad enough, but a fairy with a Fairy Faded power of the Dragon Fire?”

“Wait, so, my Dragon Fire is real? How?” I look to Bloom, beyond puzzled now. “The Dragon Fire is… well, the Dragon Fire. There’s no other power like it. It’s the original source of all magic through the Magical Dimension.”

Bloom nods, uncertain. “That’s why my having a Fairy Fade worried my parents so much when they found out I originally willed my Enchantix into being,” she put a hand on her chest. “It never occurred to anyone that a fairy would hold a power like the Dragon Fire within her or that she would be in a position where she’d will her Enchantix into being. The idea the Dragon Fire would be duplicated too just didn’t seem like a possibility.”

“And duplicated the Dragon Fire has indeed been,” Techna’s holo screen changes the tiniest bit, somehow telling me it’s displaying me specifically. “Unlike Baltor, who held only a fragment of the Dragon Fire within him, you quite literally have a duplication of Bloom’s Dragon Fire in its entirety. For all intents and purposes, your Dragon Fire is as real as our Bloom’s Dragon Fire.”

“So, with that out of the way,” Musa says, her voice indicating something very important as she looks to me, “if Daphne really is Bloom’s sister, how come you know that and she doesn’t? And how did you know we’d freed her parents from Obsidian? Did the witches tell you?”

I scowl. “The Trix? Not a chance. I’d remember encountering those bitches.”

“Trix?” Flora and Bloom look to each other, sharing a confused expression.

I blink, before inwardly facepalming. “Right. They haven’t referred to themselves as that around you.” Do they ever? Guess I’ll never know.

I shake my head, thinking my words over carefully as I speak, keeping everything I’ve been told about Willed Enchantix Fairy Fades in mind as I do.

“Well, for starters, I don’t actually remember everything that you do, Bloom. I remember parts of it and not like I actually experienced them myself. Best way I can describe it is, I remember what I do of your life as if I’d watched a TV show.”

Thank God they know what TV is.

I can use the fact I only know of their worlds and lore because of TV without having to actually work around the fact that that’s how I know.

“That is… definitely not how it usually works,” Techna frown in thought. “Perhaps it could be because the Dragon Fire is involved? Could the magical properties of it have unintentionally interfered with the memory process?”

“So… with that concept in mind, how much of the show?” Bloom asks.

Okay, I need to be very careful with my word choice here. I’m not sure what I should and shouldn’t reveal, but, since they weren’t aware of Daphne being Bloom’s sister, giving them a few hints here and there shouldn’t be too bad in the long run if I am subtle enough.

“Well, I know how you defeated Baltor in the end and how you freed Bloom’s parents from Obsidian and, obviously, Daphne being Bloom’s sister,” I start off. “I think, as compensation for not getting all your memories or from your point of view, Bloom, I was given glimpses of your future too?” Suddenly, my eyes widen.

If Bloom’s freed her parents. That means the Coven of Ancestral Witches has escaped.

“Where’re Icy, Darcy and Stormy?!” I cry out, looking at them, my fear apparently worrying them. “Tell me they haven’t escaped yet!”

“Yet?” Layla’s eyes widen.

Crap.

I shake my head, before nodding… which, in hindsight, probably just confused them.

“Bloom, if you freed everyone from Obsidian already, that means the Coven are also free! They’re going to find their descendants and possess their bodies!”

“Oh, um, well…” Bloom looks suddenly anxious, glancing to the others… who all become just as awkward?

Any anxiety I’d had suddenly fades to suspicion. “What? What’s going on?”

“That’s… actually one of the reasons we had to contact you,” Bloom says, grinning sheepishly. “We’re already aware the Coven escaped because…”

“They’re… kinda in that dimension you’re in right now,” Musa says quickly.

There’s a very, very long pause.

“WHAT?!” I shriek, startling the dragons and ponies. “What? How? Why? When?! You couldn’t have opened with that?! If the Coven are here then…?”

My eyes widen and I look to Ember, who meets my gaze with equal shock and horror, even if she doesn’t fully grasp who the Coven are.

“They were behind the Shadow Ponies!”

Crap. They asked if the witches had been in contact with me when they were unsure if I can be trusted.

I thought they meant the Trix... but they meant the Ancestral Witches!

Holy crap!

“Shadow Ponies?” Techna asks, sounding skeptical. “Ponies made of shadow? Are you actually serious?”

“Don’t tell us what is and isn’t possible in our dimension, fairy!” Celestia shockingly snarls… and, man, is Techna lucky she’s not actually here. Celestia is pissed, her mane billowing more ferociously than normal. “Those monsters are in my dimension, putting the lives of my subjects at risk! Don’t you dare try to lecture us on whether we shouldn’t take the threat you all released into our realm, regardless of the forms they’ve taken, seriously or not!”

“I-I-I do apologize, Miss, um, Queen Pony?” she stammers, it clearly just clicking none of them know the names of any of the others present.

I quickly point around, naming each pony and dragon, including any title they have as well.

Suddenly, the energy window shudders and the image starts to distort.

“Damnit! Forgot this would only last a brief time!” Layla says, looking to Bloom and nodding.

Bloom nods back, looking to me. “I’m sorry, Bloom. But the Coven is in that world and they’ll likely come after you once they find out you have the Dragon Fire inside you.”

I shake my head. “It’s whatever. Bloom, while I have time, you need to find the last Earth Fairy!”

“Earth Fairy?” Stella looks confused. “Bloom’s the only fairy on Earth… isn’t she?”

I shake my head again. “Earth used to have magic, just like the rest of the Magical Dimension, as well as its own fairies. I can’t go into all the details now, but they were all lost a long time ago. The only remaining Earth Fairy is the daughter of the queen. Her name’s Roxy and she’s in Gardenia!”

“My childhood home?” Bloom cries out as her face becomes half completely distorted. “How have I never met her before?”

“Her father kept her hidden. Go to the Frutti Music Bar by the beach. She works there with him. You’ll know her from her pink hair and a dog that hangs around her.”

I inwardly pat myself on the back for remembering to mention her hair colour on such short notice. If I’d just said “look for a dog following her”, knowing the way luck messes with the Winx sometimes, they’d go after several girls with dogs before finding Roxy, leaving her at risk.

“The math doesn’t add up again, I don’t know why, but she’ll be a teenager around now. She’ll need the White Circle. Remember that: Roxy and the White Circle! And, after you’ve helped Roxy, remember to ask Daphne about Sirenix.”

“Whatix?” Stella cries, herself no longer visible.

“Sirenix!” I cry out. “Ask Daphne about Sirenix! Bloom, don’t forget the way you saved Skye’s life back at Red Fountain. Trust me, that’s important! And Layla, I’m sorry about Tritannus!”

“What was that about my cousin?” Layla’s voice cries out as the picture fully fades and the energy dissipates with a flash.

We all remain there for several moments, trying to process everything we’ve just rapidly had to learn.

“This… this Coven,” Luna breaks the silence, looking to me. “They are clearly not ones to be trusted. Who are they, Bloom?”

I don’t respond for a moment, before shaking my head and looking to the lunar princess.

“The Coven of Ancestral Witches are the ones who attacked Bloom’s home world, Sparx, years ago. They wanted the power of the Dragon Fire for themselves, so they could rule every dimension.”

“But they were stopped, obviously?” Twilight asks anxiously. “Locked away in… Obsidian, did you call it?”

I nod. “Think of it like Tartarus, only much worse.”

“And now they’re here, in our dimension,” Luna says ominously. “And, now that we also have the Dragon Fire here as well…”

“Since they know I’m here, they’ll come looking for me,” I clench the fist I’m not holding the Bloodstone Sceptre in. “But, if they think they can just take it from me, they’ve another thing coming.”

“Ah don’t think they do know yer here, Bloom.”

We all turn to Applejack, puzzled.

“What do you mean, pony?!” Garble says, holding up a fist. “The dragons were attacked. If this Coven weren’t looking for the Dragon Fire of our Princess, why would they attack her subjects?”

Applejack gives him a deadpan stare. “Are ya’ll tryin’a reinforce that horrible stereotype o’ dragons bein’ dumber than a sack o’ rocks?”

The red dragon bristles at that, but a glance from me makes him remain where he is as Applejack continues.

“Ya all heard Torch tell us the legend, right? When the Great Dragon touched down on our world, she gave a small piece o' her fire to all the dragons, givin’ them her protection.”

“If so, it’s likely that fire got passed down through the generations,” Twilight nods, putting a hoof to her chin. “And, if the Ancestral Witches had any grasp of the legend, once they heard that part of it…”

“Not aware the actual Dragon Fire was here, they’d target the dragons for the fragments within them!” my eyes widen. “The reason they were taking so many dragons was to steal as many fragments to put together into one.”

Holy crap. With that many fragments of Dragon Fire, they would have a force far more powerful than what they’d used to create Baltor.

If they could create him from just a single small fragment, what in the world could they do with that much more?

It’s too unsettling to really think about.

“Then, our task is clear,” Celestia looks around at all of us. “We must all work together, organize a plan to find this Coven of Ancestral Witches and stop them before they try to harm the dragons again.”

“Or learn that Princess Bloom has the real Dragon Fire within her,” Spike looks up at me.

I nod to the little drake, before turning to look out at the horizon, scowling.

We know you’re here now, Ancestral Witches. We’re not going to let you harm the dragons or steal the Dragon Fire.

I am not going to let you do to this world what you did to Sparx.

At the very least, you being here means the Winx won’t have to deal with how you nearly wiped out all magic.

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“BAH! This spell would be useless too!” the unicorn screamed in rage, crumpling up the parchment and throwing it at the wall.

“Don’t stop! We must have the power of the dragon’s fire,” the shadow of a humanoid on the wall said.

The unicorn scowled at the shadow. “I know! Don’t lecture me, witch! You wouldn’t even exist anymore if not for me!”

“Don’t flatter yourself, pony,” a second shadow said, appearing on the wall. “We’ve given you access to vast levels of magic you couldn’t begin to comprehend. You owe us far more than we owe you!”

“And yet, you are bound to me, unable to take over my body,” the unicorn shot back at them. “I know it’s what you want. You honestly thought, when you made that proposal to me, I’d just willingly let the three of you inhabit my form without safeguards? I’m not some stupid teenager who got too big for my shoes. Don’t underestimate me!”

“Nor you us, child,” the third shadow finally formed, before turning to look at the other two shadows. “Still, sisters, be more grateful. We needed a magically gifted being and, despite so many of the creatures of this realm having magic, few can be truly called gifted.”

“Aside from all those goody to shoes princesses,” the second shadow said bitterly. “Typical that we finally escape Obsidian, only to wind up in a world so full of friendship,” she spat out the last word.

“Indeed,” the first shadow said reluctantly. “Aside from our new partner, none of the magically gifted seem to have any true darkness in their hearts.”

“Had you come several months ago, Sombra might’ve been a good candidate, honestly,” the unicorn said, levitating a fresh scroll of parchment. “Too bad, huh?”

“Still, you are hardly lacking, child,” the third shadow said smoothly, moving closer. “Provided you figure out the right magical connections with the Whisperia Crystals, your desire should be within your grasp in due time.”

“And you yours,” she glanced at the shadow, grinning wickedly. “I won’t lie, having my body to myself again will be most appreciated.”

“As our having our own bodies for us,” the third shadow nodded, a grin visible.

“No blasted fairies, wizards or warriors to get in our way this time,” the first shadow chortled. “Conquering this world and claiming its power for our own will be quite enjoyable.”

“And, provided I’m not disturbed, I should then be able to find a way back to your original Magical Dimension,” the unicorn’s wicked grin grew maniacal. “Oh, the fun you’ll have while I enjoy my ruling of this realm.”

“Don’t bother us, we won’t bother you,” the third shadow nodded. “Our deal remains the same.”

“Then, by all means,” the unicorn gave a cruel cackle, “let’s get started. Absolute power is ours for the taking, after all.”

“No one else will go after it otherwise,” the second shadow sneered.

The cave was filled with the sound of four cruel cackles that echoed through the halls and out into the night.

Author's Note

Both felt a little bit bad about the cliffhanger and it actually started bugging me shortly after posting it, so, here's the next chapter.

So, our Bloom is actually a direct magical duplicate, a Fairy Fade, created when Bloom willed her Enchanticx to be forced into existence?

Interesting, no?

But she won't be able to awaken Enchantix herself? That's a bummer.

Though, not as much a bummer as finding out the Coven of Ancestral Witches is now in Equestria. Talk about sucking.

And it seems they found an evil unicorn willing to help them in the way Icy, Darcy and Stormy originally tried and failed to in the second Winx movie (that Nick never dubbed and I honestly don't blame them, it wasn't great).

Whom is this evil unicorn? Where does she come from?

What are her true motive and why?

Questions to be answered further on, so look forward to then.

Not that I know when that then is going to be.

Now that i've gotten this chapter out, i think i'm going to leave Bloom alone for a while and focus on other stories.

1. because i want to get back to those other stories
   and 2. because I actually will need to think about where to go next from here.

I obviously need to get through more of the story of MLP itself, Bloom's inclusion every now and then meaning certain events won't go as badly as they might have, with the same lesson still being learned by those who need it, though, of course.

I'm particularly looking forward to a short Bloom vs Tirek battle in season 9.

He'll want to take the Dragon Fire, obviously, once he realizes it's a form of powerful magic, but he'll find that meal fights back.

And, obviously, Bloom will visit the EQG world from time to time, that's pretty obvious.

As for how the story will end?

The final villain is who you think it will be... but won't be... but will be... but won't be.

I'll leave you to figure out that likely confusing riddle and be on my way.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and, til next time, stay safe, stay clean and see you later everybody