Training was brutal. If there was one word Izzy could use to describe it, that would be the one she would choose. The next morning was filled to the brim with exhausting exercises, from mastering archery to rigorous sword fighting practices. Whatever Hitch could come up with, she and the other soldiers would be subjected to it. Since arriving at the camp, many of the survivors chose to enlist in the army and join the cause. Their reasoning was that they wanted to ensure that the disgusting treatment they had to endure on the train wouldn’t happen to anypony else by helping to take the Regime down. Only a few elected to return home to their scattered settlements across the wasteland. As promised, these ponies would be flown out by the Second Division on captured Imperial airships that the Insurgency owned. This would ensure that while flying in enemy airspace, they would not be suspected to be anything other than a prisoner transfer.

Izzy almost felt thankful for that they didn’t join. She couldn’t imagine that many of them would be able to stomach the torture. She was only barely tolerating it, and she was meant to be a “pro” at this according to Comet. A pro would be the last adjective she would use to describe herself. Once final arrangements were made, she had been put with many of the other newbies on the Fifteenth Division, while Misty already had her spot with the elite Fourth Division. Izzy did feel crushed that she didn’t get to be on the same team as her sister, and that made her lose some confidence.

She got through archery relatively fine, though she fell flat on her face multiple times in front of her own teammates while trying to aim. She remembered Hitch making her do a hundred push-ups once in the regular timeline (after he found out that the alias of “Sneaksy” was her all along, and she had to do it to avoid spending the following night in a cell), so she was able to survive that. Jogging across the buckball field while avoiding an onslaught of plastic bullets was another thing, but she got through that after only falling one time. Her teammates weren’t so lucky. She did manage to suck at shooting with a gun due to never owning one in her entire life, but at least she managed to hold it right with her hooves and get a couple of precise marks amidst a string of mortifying misses.

However, it was sword-fighting when she finally gave out. It was taught by Pipp, who had somehow managed to transform from a cocky, but deeply caring influencer to a female Attila the Hoof. She was absolutely brutal when sparring her one on one. Izzy tried to remember all the moves she had been demonstrated before the match, but the pegasus moved so fast and with such sharp reflexes that it was becoming increasingly hard to keep up. Every time she would swing to defend her side, Pipp would counter it by going for her hooves. It was hard to predict, and each misstep resulted in more cuts and scrapes after another. Izzy would cry out in agony, but was told to never let her guard down in response.

Izzy didn’t know what to do. Her head screamed with the sheer pain she was feeling and she struggled to focus. Too late. Another blow and she was driven to her knees. She howled, tears streaking down her face. The blade flew out of her grip and clattered to the floor. Her teammates watched in horror. Pipp approached her with the sword in her left hooves. She raised it right over her head.

“You’re weak.” she scolded her, eyes blazing with anger. “You’ll never survive. YOU EXPECT THE BATTLE TO BE FAIR!! IN WAR, THE BATTLE WILL NEVER BE FAIR!!!!”

“P-p-please…” Izzy tried to plead with her through gritted teeth and flowing tears. “P-Pipp, w-w-we’re f-friends-“

“Pick it up!!” Pipp ordered, pointing towards the fallen blade and ignoring her fruitless appeal for mercy. “Pick it up!! NOW!!”

Izzy scrambled to retrieve her sword. She ducked down and scrambled across the grass as fast as she could, pushing through the pain in her hooves. Each time the blade crashed down, she rolled off to the side and then grabbed at the ground once more. This wasn’t a game anymore. It was now a matter between life or death. Pipp was trying to kill her! She didn’t want to believe it, but this world was already so messed up that anything could be possible at this point.

Finally, she dove at the fallen sword and grabbed it back just as another swipe came down on her back. She barely managed to roll out of the way again without harming herself before she got back up under trembling hooves.

Just as Izzy had positioned herself again, Pipp’s sword swung in the direction of her throat. She hastily tried to block it with a swing of her own, but her aim was flimsy. The blade barely missed. Her breath quickened. Her body shook once more. She still wasn’t ready. She was scared out of her mind. She wanted to beg Hitch to call this off or tell the pegasus to go easy on her. But she knew better than to do either of those things. This was war. She had to fight her own battles and prove herself to her friends. She couldn’t count on mercy anymore.

Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw Misty engaged in her own sparring match with Windy. She glanced at her for silent emotional support. Their eyes met for a solid second, and Izzy caught her concerned gaze. Through that look, the message was clear. Misty was sending her encouragement through her expression alone. In that moment, she couldn’t fail. She had spent months begging her friends for a chance to prove herself. Now was that time. If she gave up, she would essentially be proving them right about her, that she wasn’t cut out to hold her own.

She would not let that happen.

A sudden burst of strength overtook her. As Pipp’s sword began to crash down upon her head, Izzy let out a loud battle cry. She swung her own blade and blocked the strike in mid-air! The two blades collided in an instant and held. Pipp stared back at her with a look of pure shock. It was clear that she hadn’t expected that whatsoever. Then her expression became defiant as the thrill of the match took over once again.

They fought with renewed vigor, but this time, Izzy had the upper hoof. She anticipated nearly every move Pipp made, and took the complete opposite route. Swords clashed with swords and they swung with rapid intensity. They were but blurs of motion, forces of nature to be reckoned with. Izzy danced, jumped, and swung like her life depended on it. Pipp was forced to adjust her strategy to counteract the strikes, but even she had no way of predicting what Izzy did next. She was just far too good. The change in the winds could be seen in her eyes, now more fearful than arrogant.

The other ponies had stopped what they were doing to witness the spectacle unfold. It wasn’t everyday that somepony beat Pipp at sparring. In fact, it was unheard of. They burst into a standing ovation and cheered Izzy on with every fiber of their being. Misty screamed her name with pride and led the hailstorm of encouragement. Hooves were thrown in the air and ponies shouted their praises as the match continued to unfold before their very eyes.

Izzy continued to swing, block, and deflect. Her heart was pounding in her chest and sweat beaded down her forehead. Still, she did not quit. She was going to prove herself. She was going to win. She drove Pipp back with her strikes, with the former pop star jumping back and struggling to maintain position. With an opening in sight, Izzy swung at her hooves. Pipp blocked the strike, though her hooves were shaking. She then swung again, landing a successful graze on her opponent’s cheek.

While the cheering and sparring was going on, Comet stared at it all with a shocked look on his face. He seemingly couldn’t believe what he was seeing with his own eyes. It was a miracle.

“She did it…” he whispered, a tone of awe in his voice.

Following his lead, the other ponies slowly got down to their knees in reverence. They hadn’t expected this to happen, and seeing somepony who despite technically being new to the army best one of their strongest fighters was a shock to the system. It was almost as if Izzy’s sudden burst of strength was a blessing from the heavens that the gods were on their side.

“She is the champion!” they chanted in unison. “She is the champion! She is the champion!!”

The match persisted for another few minutes with both ponies going for each other’s throats. But there was no mistaking who the real winner was. It was Izzy, who had finally gained ground and managed to make history in the army. She sealed her victory by ending the match herself. She took a swing of her sword to Pipp’s own and shattered it in two.

Izzy later found Pipp on the bed in the infirmary tent, getting a bandage applied to her cheek.

Upon seeing her walk in, Pipp turned away from the nurse she was talking to and faced her with a look of begrudging admiration in her eyes. She nodded. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

“Are you okay?” Izzy inquired, concern deep in her eyes. While she was certainly happy to have gained the respect of her peers, the well-being of her friend mattered more to her, and the outcome of the fight had been eating away at her all day. “I-I hope I didn’t hurt you too much out in that field. I-I don’t even know where that burst of strength came from.”

Pipp regarded her sternly. “Do not apologize for winning, Iz. It is beneath you. You bested me out there fair and square. That is your victory to flaunt. When you face your first real battle, you’ll get it.”

Izzy’s heart skipped a beat. Pipp had finally used the nickname. Not only that, but this was this their first time actually getting to talk to one another. Before the sparring match, she had felt content to give her the cold shoulder and ignore her. It had hurt her greatly due to how close they had been in her world. Now they were finally conversing. Not as friends obviously, but it was still something. Izzy was willing to take whatever she could get at the moment.

“C-can we talk?” Izzy asked in a trembling voice. “I-is that okay? Just you and me? I’m going through a lot of emotions right now and I understand if you don’t want to talk. But…it-it would be nice to have a friend right now.”

Pipp seemed to think about it for a moment. Then she sighed and glanced back at the nurse. “I’ll call you back in after an hour. My trainee needs me.”

The nurse nodded in understanding. “Ring if there’s any swelling on the cut.” She pointed to an emergency red button on the remote Pipp was holding. “The ointment and bandage should be enough to prevent any further bleeding, but you’re the only one who can tell. Let us know, alright?”

“Of course. Thank you, ma’am.”

On that note, the nurse headed out of the tent and back outside to have her lunch break. Once she was gone, Pipp took a deep breath and set the remote down by her side. “I’m sorry for refusing to talk since we rescued you. I-I just couldn’t muster up the courage to do so after losing you.”

“It took me beating you at fencing for you to finally acknowledge that?” Izzy demanded, a hint of bitterness in the tone of her voice. “What was up with trying to kill me out there anyway?!”

“I had to make it look real. Most cadets don’t take training seriously until they think they’re in some real mortal peril. Believe me, I know what motivates them. If they think it’s just a game, they won’t try their best because they trust their trainer to not hurt them. I wanted you to think you were in actual danger. You had to feel the heat of battle, not like I would’ve killed you anyway. But in war, the enemy doesn’t hold back, and you had to earn my respect.”

“Did I?”

“Well, we’re talking now, so what do you think?”

Izzy had no answer to that.

“Look, none of this has been easy on any of us,” Pipp explained, sighing. “Especially not me. Ever since Zipp-“ She paused before clearing her throat and resuming. “-left, I haven’t felt like myself. I don’t want to get attached to others again. I try to avoid it. And on top of that, Hitch doesn’t want me saying anything in front of you anyway. What with your amnesia and everything…he thinks you’re better off…not knowing the truth about our cause…how…dangerous it really is.”

“He spoiled any chance of that when he forced me to go to the nighttime rally,” Izzy argued. “If he wants to keep me in the dark, he’s doing a really bad job of it. I just want to know what’s going on so that I can better help you guys. Who is the Queen? Why did Hitch mention Sunny there when he’s expressly forbidden all mentions of her otherwise?! Why are we being trained to fight?! Where is Zipp anyway?! Where is Sunn-“

“ENOUGH!!” Pipp suddenly snapped out of the blue. Upon seeing Izzy’s startled reaction, she took a couple of breaths to calm herself. “S-sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. Just…you sound like my sister and not in a good way. I-I had an involuntary reaction. You reminded me of her.”

Izzy stood there in silence for a solid minute. She knew something was going on, but the way Pipp had reacted to the mention of Zipp immediately sent off alarm bells in her mind. She knew that something terrible must have happened to the detective, though she couldn’t put her hoof on what exactly it was. In her heart, though, she had a sinking feeling that she already knew the answer. She didn’t want to believe it, however. The thought was too painful to bear.

“W-what happened to Zipp?” Izzy asked carefully, taking a few steps closer to the bed. “You can tell me, Pipperooni. It’s okay…”

Pipp squeezed her eyes shut in an apparent attempt to avoid tears coming out. She sniffled, wiping her eyes with her hooves. “I-I can’t tell you. Pl—pl-please. D-don’t pry, I just…I just don’t want to relive it. She’s not here, okay? She’s gone.”

“G-gone…?” Izzy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Every single word seemed to confirm her worst fears. “Pipp, i-is s-she…”

“Gone.” she finished glumly. “I…don’t want to say anything more than that. It’s too painful for me to talk about. You can ask me about anything else, but for pony’s sake, not Zipp. I couldn’t-I should’ve…” She trailed off as the tears began to stream down from her eyes. She choked back a sob. “I can’t do this, Izzy. You don’t deserve to see me like this. You should leave. Now.”

“I-I’m sorry for bringing it up,” Izzy replied in a quiet voice. “If-if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay…I don’t want to hear it either if it’s what I think it is. She has to still be around…somewhere.”

“Maybe she is…” Pipp said in a firm tone, almost as if she was trying to convince herself of this same idea. “Maybe she was just faking it. Maybe she escaped that night and is gathering help for our cause. Yes, she’s gotta be on her way. She’ll save us all from this. She’s gotta…” Her voice faltered and her eyes went distant.

“P-Pipp…?”

No response.

“P-Pipperoni…?”

Again, no response.

“Please answer me, Pipp…you’re scaring me…”

The pegasus was just sitting there, completely unresponsive. Her eyes were still moving, so Izzy knew that she was still alive. But that was it. It was like her whole body had shut down from the pressure. And now there was nothing left for her to say.

Izzy’s eyes were on the remote that was sitting right by Pipp’s side. She thought about pressing the red button and calling for help from the medical professionals. However, just when she was about to press it, Pipp became responsive again.

“Sorry,” she apologized, refocusing her eyes. “I zoned out there for a moment. Just thinking about that night sends me into complete shock.” She sighed. “I know it’s trauma, and honestly, you’re lucky you don’t remember any of this, Iz.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You should count your blessings that you don’t recall anything from the past few months. You deserve better than to be a part of this. You deserve to actually have a life, running around with Misty and goofing off all day long. That’s something we all wish we could do. Hitch made the wrong call making you a part of the army.”

“But I want to help this cause!” Izzy argued angrily. “I really do. I want to help you ponies defeat this evil Regime! I want to prove myself useful for once! I deserve to have a chance!”

“No, you don’t.” Pipp insisted in a warning tone. “Please, Izzy. I mean it. Back out now. Let us handle everything. Knowing the truth hurts. It can shatter you beyond repair. You don’t deserve this. Enjoy your time with Misty before…” She took a shaky breath. “…before you lose her too.”

Izzy was about to ask her what that meant when suddenly, the television screen on the top wall of the infirmary switched on with no explanation. There was a moment of static before it cut to a large brown unicorn stallion with a red mane and tail speaking directly into the camera. He had green eyes and a sadistic aura about him. He smiled so wide that it seemed to come off as fake. Behind him was a live feed showing large gathering of ponies cheering before a blurry figure on the stage.

The stallion spoke with conviction into the microphone, his words amplified through the sound system he had set up. He appeared to be addressing the whole world through his broadcast as he waved his hooves around for theatrics and spouted out the news of the day. It was almost nothing special and both Pipp and Izzy were initially content to ignore him. But it was what he said next that caught their attention.

“…And now we go to our leader’s palace,” the news anchor announced proudly. “where earlier today, a spontaneous demonstration took place. The famous pop star Ruby Jubilee has written a new song for our beloved leader. And she’s here joined by the chorus of the Imperial Choir!!”

Suddenly, the screen cut to none other than Ruby Jubilee herself walking out onto an enormous stage with thousands of ponies cheering her name. She was grinning from ear to ear, but something about her demeanor felt off. Her movements were stilted as she stepped closer to the edge. It was like she was being held at gunpoint and being forced to do this routine. Nothing at all about her typically genuine passion felt sincere here whatsoever.

Still, she smiled for the crowd (and presumably the cameras watching her every move as well) and gave a couple of waves. She then stood tall and proud. She inhaled and prepared to belt out the song she had written for this large gathering.

“Praise to her, the source of all our wisdom,” Ruby began to sing. “Long to live, the sovereign of our realm! Queen-“ The television screen then chose that moment to glitch, at the mention of the Queen’s name, something Izzy found to be odd.The bug only lasted for a second, with the footage resuming afterwards like nothing happened. This phenomenon repeated for the second verse as well. “-mighty leader! Mighty leader, watching over us!” Banners came down from above on both sides of the stage. “Queen- *glitch* *glitch* -mighty leader! Mighty leader, watching over us!!”

“Shout, shout!” The guards on the level right below her chanted in unison. “Shout out loud! Stand, stand! Tall and proud!!”

The second chorus began with similar complimentary lyrics to this mysterious Queen, whose name kept glitching out every time she was mentioned. However, this time was a bit different. More ponies wearing soldier uniforms began to chime in with additional lyrics. They marched in front of the stage in orderly fashion while singing the main chorus. Their horseshoes created clip clop noises on the ground below as they paced back and forth with their heads held high. Their voices swelled and added to the patriotic feeling of the whole proceeding. Izzy had to admit that she was a bit intrigued by the ceremony. Had she not known any better, she would have sung along. But she was also beginning to feel unnerved by some of the details she was noticing.

For one, there were the banners that hung on the palace walls. They were a dark shade of purple with a familiar emblem in the center. It was a sharp purple diamond with large blue fiery wings on both sides of it. Only one pony in Equestria ever had this cutie mark, and it was one that Izzy remembered all too well. Then there was the fact that everypony called this ruler “Queen.” Sunny didn’t call herself a queen. She was far too humble to accept such a prestigious label. Queen Haven held the title, but she only ruled Zephyr Heights. There was only one pony who came so close to ruling the land and called herself a queen. It was a name that would forever be etched in infamy within the modern history books.

If that pony was actually ruling in this timeline, and everything else she had heard about her was true…then that could only mean one thing. No. No no no no no NO! This could not be happening. This could not be real! Izzy clutched her temples as the last memories that had been repressed now came flooding back in rapid succession. Her pulse began to quicken. She swallowed hard. Her eyes went wide with the horrifying realization. She remembered. She understood. She knew. Her world shattered in an instant as the reality of what had occurred, what she had done, and the consequences of those actions, finally set in. She knew the identity of this Queen, and what happened next only served to confirm those suspicions.

Coincidentally, the third and final chorus had started. The voices of Ruby and the Choir were now at a fever pitch, the highest intensity of their performance. The screen was no longer glitching. The camera began to angle up from the stage and towards the balcony of the palace, where a familiar tall figure was beginning to emerge from the shadows. First the hooves with spiky black horseshoes. Then the white and green mane. Then the piercing blue eyes and elongated horn.

“PERFECT QUEEN!” Ruby and the Choir sang all at once, their voices reverberating all throughout the crowd like thunder across the sky. “YOU BLESS US WITH YOUR BEAUTY! HALLOWED MARE, HOW WONDROUS IS YOUR GLOW…QUEEN OPALINE, MIGHTY LEADER!! MIGHTY LEADER, WATCHING OVER US!!” Sure enough, the Fire Alicorn herself was standing on the balcony, overlooking the assembled crowd and waving down at them. She bobbed her head up and down with pride, vibing to the music. “QUEEN OPALINE, MIGHTY LEADER!! MIGHTY LEADER, WATCHING OVER UUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSS!!!!”

The crowd erupted into a thunderous applause, cheering the name of Queen Opaline as she towered above them all. She was an evil goddess ruling over mortals, a malevolent force of darkness that had conquered all the light in the world. She smiled sinisterly, soaking in all the attention she was receiving. There was nothing for her to fear anymore. She had won. The world was hers for the taking. This was the reality in which she had won that battle, the universe in which she was the ruler of all things. She was in control, and she had the adoration of everyone.

The ponies all chanted: “GLORY TO THE REGIME!!” over and over as banners and flags came down on every building in Canterlot. That symbol was everywhere. It was omnipresent, and it was the only thing that her subjects would ever know for generations. They continued to chant as the camera zoomed out all across the city. Their voices and unadulterated praise could be heard from the heavens above. Their loyalty to their Queen was unmatched.

Izzy stared at the screen before her in horror. What had she done?! What had she DONE?! She understood everything now. She understood what Comet had been trying to tell her on the train. He had been attempting to tell her the truth. She understood why Misty was suddenly alive again and didn’t seem to remember her death. It was because she never died in this timeline. She understood why Pipp was so angry and depressed. It was because Zipp had somehow been murdered…by Opaline. She understood what had happened to Sunny, and why she wasn’t with the Insurgency. The poor earth pony had never been rescued from the lair. She was still trapped and had probably fully embraced the dark side at this point. And lastly, she understood why Hitch was so closed off. He felt responsible for not being able to rescue Sunny, and had dedicated this cause to her.

All of these realizations overcrowded her mind and all pointed to one definitive conclusion: You caused this. Izzy let out an ear-piercing scream. She stumbled back and fell on the floor, hyperventilating and breathing rapidly. Pipp was by her side in an instant, trying to calm her down. But she could not calm down. The memories flowed through her like an out of control tsunami flooding the beach. She could not think. She could not speak. All she could do was scream. The truth was staring her right in the face. She lay on her back, staring into the face of the one pony who had taken everything from her and everypony else. That same smug face who had tormented Misty and killed her. That same face belonged to a murderer. That same face won because of her. She watched the alicorn gloat with a paralyzing sense of fear. This was her fault. She had caused this all to happen.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Izzy howled at the top of her lungs. Tears were cascading down her face. Her heart was pounding. She curled up into a ball and sobbed relentlessly. The memories were like a poison, becoming clearer within her head with each passing second, and all condemning her. She could recall everything she had done. The pressure was so intense that her body began to go into shock. The world around her spun in circles and her sight became distorted. Her whole body shook with a mix of rage and grief.

She shook and convulsed. She vaguely recalled throwing up before she was immediately picked up and put on the bed by a bunch of medical personnel. They strapped her down so that she could not hurt herself or Pipp. Through blurry vision, she saw Hitch and Misty burst through the tent, fully armed with assault rifles and ready to protect her. When they saw what was going on, however, they lowered their weapons and ran to her side.

Seeing Misty was enough for her to regain control over her body. She took a couple deep breaths to calm herself and slowly brought herself back to reality. She continued to inhale and exhale until the shock was fully gone from her body. She coughed and gagged as she tasted her own vomit. But otherwise, she was as okay as she possibly could be, given the circumstances.

“What happened, Izzy?!” Misty demanded, her eyes wide with fear. “We heard you scream and thought something terrible had happened! Thank goodness it was just the…spontaneous demonstration…” She glanced nervously at the television screen, which was now showing Opaline as she delivered a rousing speech to her adoring subjects.

Hitch sighed deeply. “She knows the truth. It’s overloaded her mind. This is why I didn’t want to say anything.” He turned his head to glare daggers at Pipp. “What did you tell her, Philomena Petals?!”

“Nothing,” answered Pipp truthfully. “I refused to answer any questions. But something else must have triggered that response…the broadcast. She saw Opaline and flipped out.”

“Precision of language, Pipp.” Misty warned. “Remember, names have power. She could be summoned just by us mentioning her.”

“I could not be more precise, Misty,” Pipp spat. “You really think she’s going to show up to camp just because we said her name?! This is the real issue here.” She pointed at Izzy. “Guys, we tried keeping the truth from her. Us trying to shield her from the real world only served to cause that reaction when she was confronted with it. What’s the harm in telling her now?! At least that’ll make her trust us more instead of begging us for answers. She woke up all confused yesterday, and we’ve done nothing to make her feel any better about any of it.”

“We were trying to protect her!” Hitch shot back furiously. “She cannot know what’s really happened. It’s too much for her to handle-“

“No,” Misty interrupted him. “No, Pipp is right. We caused this by not being honest with our best friend…” Her eyes shimmered with tears. “And my sister. I’m going to tell her the truth because that’s the least she deserves. You two are welcome to chime in if you’d like.”

“Misty…” Hitch warned her, his eyes narrowing in anger.

“You can’t stop me.” Misty turned away from him and leaned down to look at Izzy. “I-I’m sorry we kept this from you. We should’ve known better, I should have known better. You would’ve found out eventually anyway. There was no point to any of this.”

Izzy was touched by this. Her eyes stung with tears as she hurriedly tried to blink them back. Her mind was still racing, but at least it had calmed down enough for her to actually think. She still could not believe what she had seen in that broadcast. It was like something straight out of her nightmares. Opaline was alive and had conquered Equestria. She had won, and it was all because of her. Deep down, she just knew it. By now, she knew all the answers to her burning questions. Yet she still wanted to hear it from them. She had to hope that at least some of it was wrong. Anything. She couldn’t’ve…she wouldn’t…

“I’m sorry…” she croaked out, her voice scratchy and hoarse. “This is all my fault…”

“No,” Misty replied, shaking her head vigorously. “No. You aren’t responsible whatsoever. Don’t blame yourself for this again. This isn’t your fault. If anything…it’s mine. I made the call to retreat once Zipp was killed. It was the only way we could have survived that night.”

“So she was killed, wasn’t she…?” Izzy deduced softly. “Opaline murdered her…”

Pipp nodded solemnly. “She did. I didn’t want to tell you at first. I wanted to spare you the pain…but I guess I did a bad job of hiding my feelings. You pretty much knew right away.” She took a shaky breath. “You really wanna know what happened in the Lair? Fine. I’ll tell you.”

"Ourtroublesbegan two and a half months ago. We were in ruin. Sunny had shattered the Unity Crystals and run off with Opaline. The rest of us had given up hope that things would ever be the same like that again, especially me. After having nearly lost Zipp to a coma, I wasn’t ready to let her risk her life again. I could tell that we all felt the same way. Once magic died, we were content to just live out the rest of lives in exile…as failures. But Misty? She refused to accept defeat. She felt responsible for letting everything go so wrong, and…became obsessed with rescuing Sunny and redeeming herself in our eyes.

One night, it all came to a head. Misty was about to set out to Opaline’s lair in order to kill that bitch herself. It was a foolish move, but…who could blame her? But thankfully, Zipp was able to stop her from doing so. Misty shared her desire to make everything better with us, and…I have to admit that I was intrigued. I foolishly thought we had a chance.

“I know we can save her,” Misty insisted, remaining firm. “I just know it. One way or another, we can stop Opaline and end this madness. We can save Sunny, we can put all of it back. We just need to try. Please…will you guys trust me to do this one last time?”

We all trusted her in spite of our skepticism. How could we not? Friends stick by one another no matter what. Sunny had taught us that. We had grown so close that whatever suicide mission any of us came up with, we would do it together. If she was going to save the pony who had made everything possible for us…then we were coming with her, no matter how scary the prospect seemed.

Our plans failed. We nearly got ourselves killed in the Lair, but still, Misty would not give up. She set out on her own mission to reunite the pony tribes. She was willing to do anything to make things up to us, even if it meant traversing the vast expanses of Equestria all by herself…"

“But she succeeded, didn’t she?” Izzy asked worriedly. She glanced at Misty. “You did it, right? You brought the unicorns and pegasi back to Maretime Bay. You achieved the impossible. We all banded together to stop Opaline. It was because of Pipp’s message that reinforcements from the other lands arrived.”

Misty looked down at the ground in sadness for a moment before her gaze changed direction to look at Pipp. They both nodded slowly in some sort of mutual agreement. Then she gestured towards Hitch to answer the question.

“We were able to rally the ponies of Maretime Bay,” the former sheriff responded carefully. “Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike. Misty succeeded in uniting them. We formed a united coalition to march onto the Lair and take Sunny back. But we didn’t get any reinforcements. Nopony else came to help us. We were on our own.”

Izzy could not believe what she was hearing. “What…?”

Misty turned back to look at her, an expression of deep concern present in her eyes. She looked like she had aged a thousand years just by remembering the story, as did everypony else present. With great reluctance, she took over speaking. “Pipp’s livestream failed. We were left to be slaughtered…”

"…We fought our way up the hill to the castle, only to be driven back at every turn by the enemy. One by one, our forces went down under the rain of blows and stabs. The Umbrum were much stronger and did not fear for their own lives the way we did. Regardless, you and I stood our ground and kept what little troops we had left motivated. It was a losing battle, but I was determined to fight my way into the castle anyway. I finally had something good to fight for. I refused to surrender that easily. There was no way I was leaving without Sunny. And so I barreled my way through the undead horde, against all odds, to complete the mission and bring her home.

She and I dueled one on one. After a while, she had me on the floor, her scythe raised in the air. That should have been the end, but by some miracle, I was able to stop her from killing me. I still don’t know how I did it, but she hesitated long enough for the others to enter and talk her down. We apologized, and expressed how sorry we were for not being there for her when she needed us the most. For a moment, when we were hugging her, comforting her the way we always should have done from the very beginning, the world almost felt peaceful again. We had our Sunny back. We vowed that we would never lose her again. Our family was whole.

Then came the fight in the throne room. Sunny was with us, and we were a team again for the first time in a long while. We mustered as much bravery as we could and challenged Opaline for the fate of Equestria. It was a foolish move, but we had come too far to back out then.

“Opaline!” Misty called out to her bravely. “Face us if you dare!”

Opaline’s eyes turned pure black for a moment before morphing back to their normal colors. She turned around and faced her, smiling in that sadistic manner that she was all too familiar with. Misty felt her heart sink with dread upon seeing that cursed expression. The alicorn had been anticipating this. She knew they were coming and had been biding her time.

She stood dominantly over the unicorn, towering over her like a skyscraper in the big city. Despite this, Misty still remained firm and cleared any doubts from her mind. This was the moment. She had to end this now while she had the chance.

“Well,” Opaline mused. “Look who it is. The pony who still doesn’t have a cutie mark. How’s that life treating you, hm?”

“I have one, Opaline!” Misty revealed, showing her flank to the now enraged alicorn. “I earned my mark through true friendship! And you can’t take it from me!”

Opaline laughed maniacally. “Oh…Misty. Really?” Her horn began to emit a dark pink aura, which grew larger and larger by the second.

The fight began. We held our own well at first, but it soon became clear that we were way out of our league. Opaline blasted us each time we got anywhere near her. She conjured up spells to slow us down and rammed us into walls. We crumpled to the ground like rag dolls. We were no match for her. She was way stronger than us. No matter what we did, we couldn’t land a hit. I was knocked down quickly as I didn’t know how to fight her. Sunny had her alicorn powers drained. Before long, she had trapped you in a magic bubble and had knocked Pipp out cold. Then she began throwing me down over and over in a final attempt to kill me.

I was helpless. I still remember her rage; the way she was screaming at me, the way she was demanding that I apologize to her and affirm my loyalty, the crazed expression in her eyes. She had grown sick of me constantly escaping her grasp. She was tired of me constantly standing in her way. She wanted me dead. She knew it would break your spirits. Still, I desperately clung to life, even as I was thrashed and beaten. I could not let her win. You were shrieking for her to stop, and I could do nothing to comfort you. Even as I struggled to hold on, I could slowly feel my consciousness slipping. There was only so much I could take.

The more she threw me against the wall, the more painful the impacts were. I remember coughing out blood and pleading for her to stop. I had no more fight left in me. One more hit and it was over. She taunted you and told you to watch as she delivered the final blow. I heard a loud scream from far away. Then Opaline raised her hoof up and crashed down on my throat with the crushing blow of a Fire Alicorn.

I should have been dead, yet I never felt the impact. I couldn’t understand why. Then I looked up and saw what had happened. Faster than I could blink, Zipp had thrown herself in front of me and taken the hit, receiving a fatal blow to her head. She had sacrificed herself to protect me. I watched her body crumple to the ground lifelessly beside me. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even muster a “thank you.” All I could do was watch through blurry vision as she died right before my very eyes.

Upon waking up seeing what Opaline had done, Pipp shrieked in anguish. I had never seen her this angry before in my life, so devastated, so…vengeful. Her grief had completely shattered her. Whatever remained of her innocence died that night. Without Zipp by her side, there was nothing holding her back. She threw herself at Opaline as hard as she could, biting and scratching at her face. In response, Opaline blasted her back with her magic, injuring her greatly. I didn’t want there to be any more casualties, so at that moment, I made the call to retreat. We had no chance against her. We escaped the throne room without Sunny. I didn’t want to leave her behind, but we were in such a hurry to head out that I had forgotten that she wasn’t even there. Hitch carried me on his back as we ran through the halls and away from the place that had caused us so much pain.

Opaline wasn’t about to let us go that easily. We had defied her too many times. She wanted us dead. She blasted the roof of the castle in an attempt to bring it down on top of us. As it began to fall apart, Hitch took charge and managed to punch a hole in the side of the already crumbling wall. We barely managed to jump through before the entire castle collapsed to the ground in a heap of dust and rubble. But before it fully did, I saw a flash of pink light go off from underneath. Sunny wasn’t dead. But unfortunately, she was back under the control of Opaline. They had teleported to a completely different location.

We had failed.

Over the next few months, we watched from afar as Opaline seized control of Equestria. Hitch refused to let this be the end of our rebellion in spite of all we had already lost. He said that he “owed” it to Sunny to not give up on saving her. So he made it his mission to one day get her back. We recruited other ponies to our cause, told them that their lives could be better. We formed the Insurgency. While we had some downtime here at Headquarters, enough to establish protocols and traditions, we spent most of our days primarily on the run. Our ranks expanded with each new stop.

Eventually, we got tired of looking over our heads. So you suggested that we could hide out in the Appleloosan Ruins and come up with a plan to get home after we recruited Sprout. But that had been a mistake. The Regime had been waiting for us to enter the settlement. It was an ambush.

We fought the Imperial forces and made a break for the nearest bunker. I wish we could say that we all made it safely. But a lone soldier had managed to grab you while you were running. They chained you up and hauled you away. I remember sobbing and begging Hitch to let me go. I wanted to save you. But he said that we needed to be safe first. We needed to rest and formulate a plan. He had to drag me into the bunker kicking and screaming. I only settled down once he promised me that we would find a way to rescue you."

“…the rest is history,” Misty finished. She sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes. “We found you on the train and saved you from being sent to Ponschwitz. I don’t know what I would’ve done had they come back and told me they were unsuccessful.”

Izzy absorbed all of this information as much as she didn’t want to. She couldn’t believe it. This timeline was all wrong. In this world, she and her friends had failed to stop Opaline. They had failed to save Sunny. Equestria was now a dystopian wasteland. Zipp was dead. All because of her. She could not deny it anymore. She was responsible for all of this just because she wanted to save Misty’s life. The memories were becoming clearer to her now. But she still didn’t know exactly she had created this timeline. That was the one thing she did not understand yet. All she knew now was that she was responsible for ruining her friends’ lives. Her selfishness had costed them everything.

She choked back a sob. “I-I’m sorry, Misty. Pipp, I’m sorry you lost Zipp. All of you…I-I-I’m so sorry…for everything.”

Hitch looked up at her from the ground. “Don’t blame yourself for this, Izzy. You remember a completely different timeline. There’s no way you would have known about any of this. I have my theories as to why that’s the case, but that would require a moment between us to talk. You need to process all of this first.”

“No,” Izzy replied darkly. “Somehow I know…it was me. This timeline and everything in it is my fault. We lost against Opaline because of me. It’s not supposed to be this way. Before I woke up on that train, everything was different. We were happy. We were heroes. We stopped her.”

“So you told me.” Hitch said. “But that isn’t reality, Izzy. We failed. I wanted to keep this information from you because…I wanted you to keep your innocence. After seeing how traumatized you were after the battle, I should have been there for you. I blame myself for that, for letting you spiral. You beat yourself up about it so much. Now that you’ve forgotten all of it…I believed you deserved better than to be reminded.”

Izzy sighed. “Well now I know. And I want to help put a stop to all of this. Please…let me help you. Put me on the front lines. Skip all the boot camp nonsense. I’m ready to fight. We have to try again. Maybe we don’t have Zipp, but we can still take on Opaline. We’re stronger together. These ponies deserve better than to have their lives torn apart on a daily basis.”

Hitch shook his head. “We can’t do direct frontal assaults until we’re actually ready for it. We were unprepared twice and we still attempted it. We thought we were strong enough. What did that do? Get one of our friends killed. Even with all the strength in numbers, we still fell. And do you know why? Because none of us were trained for war. We were just winging it. We can’t do that anymore.”

“Then at least take me out on your missions. Put me on the front lines.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I refuse to lose another one of my friends,” Hitch stated sternly. “I lost Sunny. I lost Zipp. I refuse to lose you, Pipp, or Misty. I’m sorry, but it’s best that you stay out of the war, at least for now. It’s for your own protection.”

“You say that to me every time,” Izzy argued back. “You think I can’t help you because I’m just poor little Izzy, ditzy unicorn, no direction of my own. Well, I’m not like that! I can make a difference. I can help you stop-“

“No!” Hitch snapped angrily. Tears brimmed at the corners of his eyes. “I’m not going to lose you, Izzy! As sheriff and leader of the Insurgency, I am responsible for protecting every single pony under my command. You are one of those ponies!! You will stay out of the war, and I will hear no more of this from you. I’ve already lost too much. I will not risk something like this again…not now. Not ever.”

Author's Note

Holy cow, this has to be the most intense chapter I’ve written so far. Not only do we have another short action scene, but we finally find out the truth behind this alternate timeline. Gotta say, writing an AU for Redeemed from the perspective of the other characters was very fun. I always wanted to toy with the idea…what if Misty and her friends didn’t succeed in defeating Opaline? What if one thing was changed? What if another character instead of Misty died? How would that affect the “Sacred Timeline” if you will? Turns out…a lot! If you thought it was intense now, then you’re in for a real curveball next time as there’s still one small mystery left to solve.

In the meantime, I appreciate all your feedback and engagement with the story. I know comments have been looking a little sparse at the moment, but if any of you want to say something, go ahead. I love interacting with you all. Stay tuned for Chapter 6!