when worlds collide

They all stood before the trio shocked. Izzy was the first to take action. She began running towards the trio. She was stopped by Sunny pulling on her tail. Izzy turned around and began yelling at Sunny, "They're right here! Let's take care of them now!"

Sunny shook her head. "Izzy! I need you to calm down for a second and think. They found us even though I hid this area. That's something even King Sombra couldn't do when he was trying to return to the Crystal Empire. They must have some incredibly powerful magic on their side if they found us so easily. Look at them Izzy! They look confident. They definitely know something we don't."

Izzy scoffed and looked at Sunny. "Really Sunny? It's just a few troublemakers. We can take care of them."

Sunny pushed Izzy back towards the group. "Izzy! These 'trouble makers' have committed murder and destroyed an entire town! The best thing we can do right now is not engage with them near Bridlewood." The thing that confused Sunny the most though, was that the three villains weren't advancing or even doing anything really. They were just watching the argument between Sunny and Izzy.

Sunny pulled her group into a huddle and began whispering quickly to them. "guys we need to do everything we can to lure these three away from Bridlewood." She got nods from everypony in the group and they walked up to face the villains, who were now slightly laughing, watching them try to formulate a plan.

Before anypony could say anything, Izzy stepped forward and yelled, "LISTEN UP YOU THREE! GET THE BUCK OUT OF HERE BEFORE I STAB YOU ON MY HORN!"

Queen chrysalis let out a laugh and Cozy Glow and Tirek followed suit. Sunny was taken aback by her friend's aggression. When they had first met, Izzy wouldn't harm a fly. But since Geode had died, Sunny had barely even seen her smile.

"Is that what you think we did?" Chrysalis jeered at Izzy. "You unicorns really have a good sense of humor."

Sunny pulled Izzy back again and this time she began trying to turn into an alicorn. She succeeded and flew up towards the sky. She remembered studying another spell from the book of magic that her dad had owned. She concentrated hard and she heard a yell from below. It was Queen Chrysalis. "TIREK! STOP HER!"

They were too late though. A pink magic barrier sprung up between the villains and Bridlewood.

Queen chrysalis ran up to the barrier and began banging on it with one of her forehooves. "Not this Celestia-damn protection spell again!" She yelled as she gave up trying to break through the barrier.

Zipp tilted her head in confusion. "How does she know about that spell?" She asked, turning towards Sunny.

"About a thousand years ago, She and her changelings tried to invade Canterlot. But Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining armor had put up a protection spell to try to stop them. Queen chrysalis had to sneak into Canterlot and trap Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. She took her place and weakened the force field until eventually, her changelings could get through to destroy the city. Twilight and her friends stopped them all just in time though."

Zipp nodded silently when Sunny finished her mini history lesson. "Well, if everything here is protected, we need to find a way back to Maretime Bay. We need to make sure the Unity Crystals are all safe."

Sunny nodded her head. "Yeah," She said. "The Unity Crystals are probably already casting some sort of protection spell but we should probably make sure."

"But how?" Izzy asked. "Those three are waiting right outside the barrier and they'll probably attack us if we leave it. So unless somepony just magically knows how to teleport, I think we're kind of stuck here."

"Actually Izzy," Sunny started. "Twilight used to teleport all over the place. She detailed the big parts in her spellbook. What you have to do, is concentrate incredibly hard on your magic and have a clear picture in your mind of where you are teleporting to. She warned that if a unicorn isn't used to doing it though, they will probably be really tired out. I can try it if we all agree."

Pipp stepped back. "Guys, This is crazy! What if we end up miles away from anywhere! We could be killed!"

Zipp wrapped a wing reassuringly around her sister. "Don't worry Pipp. If we can trust Sunny, then we can trust that she knows what she's doing."

They all went back to Izzy's house to get ready. All of the ponies gathered around in a circle. Hitch wrapped his left forehoof around Sunny's right forehoof. Izzy did the same with Sunny's left forehoof. Zipp took Izzy's other hoof and Pipps hoof. Pipp closed the circle by connecting hooves with Hitch. They all watched as Sunny closed her eyes and her horn began to glow.

Suddenly, they began to feel strange as golden magic enveloped them. With a flash of light, They were teleported out of Izzy's house and when they opened their eyes, they were in the field about two miles from Maretime Bay.

Hitch looked around and then looked to Sunny. "Why are we here? I thought you were going to teleport us to the brighthouse."

Sunny shook her head. "What if the brighthouse was damaged or still under attack. I couldn't risk throwing us from one dangerous situation right into another one."

They all began to walk in the direction of Maretime bay. Everypony was silent. Zipp tapped Sunny on her shoulder. "Hey Sunny. Something's messing with my head right now."

Sunny turned to look at her friend while they both continued walking. "What's up Zipp. Is something wrong?"

Zipp nodded and said, "I was thinking. Do you remember what Queen Chrysalis's horn looked like? It was all jagged and rough looking right?" Sunny nodded while Zipp continued. "Then there's no way that she could have used her horn as a murder weapon."

A look of confusion spread across Sunny's face. "What makes you say that?"

Zipp continued. "Do you remember the stab wound? It was a clean cut. Straight through. If Queen Chrysalis used her horn, the wound would have looked all rough and messed up. The wound almost looked like a knife or a sword of some sort."

After Zipp finished talking, Sunny was silent for a few moments. Zipp thought she was just thinking this thought over. Sunny turned to Zipp and nodded. "I think you're right. But what else could have killed him? There hasn't been medieval weaponry in Equestria for thousands of moons."

Zipp nodded. "You're right. I don't think I've ever even seen a sword outside of pictures. I'll keep thinking about it but one thing's for sure. It wasn't chrysalis's horn. We've figured that much out at least."

Sunny nodded and the walk continued in silence until they reached Maretime Bay. Or rather, what was left of it.

The changelings had gone. Chrysalis is probably using them to try to break into Bridlewood, Sunny thought. There was charred wreckage everywhere. There were some apartment buildings and houses on the west side of town that hadn't been touched. Sunny figured the changelings just hadn't gotten there yet.

They heard a loud noise coming from the beach. Sunny grabbed a stick and ran over towards the noise. the other ponies followed her and they all cautiously approached the beach. They leapt down onto the beach from a small cliff with Sunny in front brandishing the stick. Sunny's eyes widened when she saw what was in front of her.

The citizens of Maretime Bay were all standing around seven coffins. There were also seven holes dug deep into the sand. Sunny rushed over yelling. "Oh my celestia! What happened here?" The funeral director said nothing but instead gestured to the caskets. Sunny walked over and opened one. What she saw inside, was a dead pony with one leg missing and a dent in his head. She opened the next five and saw very similar things. Most of the corpses had slight burn marks. Sunny remembered the fire she had seen coming from the town as she and her friends ran.

When Sunny opened the last coffin, She gasped. Unlike the other six, she could identify this body. The vast majority of her fur was burned off. Her skin had melted to her bones and she was almost unrecognizable. But the one thing that remained was her cutie mark...

A ring of tulips.

Sunny fell back on her haunches and found it harder to breathe. It wasn't like she was close to Posey but it seemed harder to see a dead body when you knew the pony who died. She apologized to everypony for interrupting the funeral and started walking off the beach. She turned back and gestured for her friends to follow.

"Who died?" Hitch asked Sunny.

"P-P-Posey" Sunny stuttered out with some difficulty.

Hitch looked taken aback at her words. They all walked in silence towards the brighthouse which was somehow still standing. They all went upstairs towards the crystals. The crystals were safe, though they looked strange. They were no longer shimmering bright.

"I think the crystals are trying to protect themselves," Zipp said. "But at least they're safe here."

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Pipp asked turning to her sister.

Zipp shrugged and looked towards Sunny who shrugged as well. "I'm sorry everypony," Sunny started. "I have no idea what we need to do here."

"Well let's think about the situation," Hitch began. "We are up against three powerful villains who almost certainly want us dead, We have no idea what kinds of powers they have on their side, and we have absolutely no leads on where to go from here. Sounds really promising to me."

"You know we could do without the sarcasm right now Hitch!" Pipp said almost yelling.

Suddenly the crystals grew incredibly bright. They were brighter than they had been before, almost blinding. They began spinning and suddenly, an image of a purple alicorn had appeared in front of them. Of course, this had happened before but this one looked different. It actually looked alive.

"Everypony," Twilight said in a loud voice. "Believe me when I tell you that I have to keep this short. If you are seeing this message, then recent events are just as I feared one thousand years ago. Be forewarned, this will be the hardest battle you ever attempt. I think your best idea is to try to turn them against each other." The alicorn in the prisbeam energy paused almost as if it was contemplating something. After a minute or two, she opened her mouth and said, "Screaming Caverns."

The alicorn disappeared almost as suddenly as she had appeared and Sunny looked towards her friends. "What does she mean by Screaming Caverns?" She asked.

Pipp raised a hoof eagerly. "I know where the screaming caverns are!" She yelled. "Or, at least I think I do."

Zipp raised an eyebrow at her sister. "Really Pipp? I know where almost everything is here. There isn't any place called the screaming caverns."

"Not if you don't look hard enough." Pipp started. "Do you remember all the times I went missing?"

Zipp nodded. "Yeah you did it like every week for about three months. Why?"

Pipp nodded excitedly. "Well you see, one time when I was a filly, I tried getting out of Zephyr Heights. I remember it had been a long day and I just wanted to go for a walk around the rim of the mountaintop. I remember, before the guards got to me, I saw a cave at the base of the mountain."

Zipp nodded. "Did you ever go inside it?" She asked.

Pipp shook her head. "No when I started sneaking out, I was going looking for it. I thought it would be something fun to livestream. But when I got back to where I had seen it, it was gone. I tried looking for it like every week but eventually I just gave up."

"That's crazy!" Sunny said. "A cave can't just disappear! Where would it have even gone?"

Pipp shrugged. "I don't know but I was definitely checking in the right spot."

Zipp was now very silent. Just by catching a glimpse of her concentrating face, you could tell she was thinking about something. "I think I have an idea." She said. "But it's a bit of a stretch."

"Well any idea is a good idea at this point." Izzy said. She and Hitch were listening while inspecting the crystals, which had now gone back to their dimmer lighting.

"What if," Zipp started. "The cave really did move."

Sunny actually laughed a little. "Come on Zipp! You and I both know that's impossible."

Zipp nodded. "That's what I was thinking. But what if it wasn't impossible?"

Sunny was very clearly confused. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"Well, what if nopony was ever supposed to see that cave. Maybe there's something in that cave that nopony should know about. So maybe when Pipp saw the cave, something intervened to move it. Magically."

"Zipp that's crazy talk!" Pipp said. "This happened multiple moons ago. This was way before magic came back. It was way before we even met Sunny and Izzy! There's no way the cave could have magically moved."

Zipp laughed. "I'm not talking about normal pony magic! I was talking about something a lot more powerful." Sunny and Pipp looked at each other, clearly confused. Zipp sighed and said, "I was talking about alicorn magic."

Sunny shook her head. She sighed and said, "Zipp the only alicorn that would have been alive at that time was Opaline! She already told us that Twilight took her magic from her and put it in the crystals along with everypony else's!"

Zipp nodded. "Yes. But do you really think that Twilight put her own magic into the crystals? After the creation of the crystals, she ruled the kingdom for about fifty moons."

Sunny was confused. She looked at Zipp and said, "Yes and then she went missing. One pony named Wild Strikes was accused of murdering her!"

Zipp nodded and said, "Yes. But what if there was more to the story! You know all about ancient equestria! Do you know anything about the trial."

Sunny's eyes widened. She ran downstairs and grabbed a big book titled "The Trial Of Wild Strikes" As she came back up the stairs to the crystal room, she was saying, "I'm so glad you're finally taking an interest in ancient Equestrian history. I keep telling everypony it's all true but they always say something's wrong or that it doesn't line up with something they learned in those fake history classes! I can't wait to show you everything."

Zipp sighed and laughed a little. She knew she should have known what she was getting into asking Sunny about the times of ancient Equestria.

They all began looking through the book Sunny had brought up. It turns out, it was more of a photo album with small captions, but of course Sunny could explain every single little detail of what was happening in each photo.

About a quarter of the way through the book, Zipp stopped Sunny. "While it's cool that you know all of this stuff, just looking through all of the pictures isn't getting us anywhere. Can you tell us the important parts about the trial? The prosecutor? The plea? The verdict?

Sunny gave a small sigh and closed the book. "The prosecutor was A mare named Apple Bloom. She was very old but she was good friends with Twilight. Wild pleaded not guilty and his lawyer was a blue pony with a really weird looking mane named Pheonix Wright. The trial only took two days. That's because after the first day, Apple Bloom was murdered in her sleep. The jury seemed to think that Wild did it to try to escape the trial for Twilight's murder and he was convicted."

"Aha!" Zipp yelled, getting a small jump of surprise from Pipp. Zipp continued talking, ignoring the glare her sister was giving her. "There was never any real evidence that he killed Twilight was there? That means that he could very well be innocent."

Sunny thought about it for a minute and then said, "You may be right, but it doesn't matter anyways, Wild Strikes is long dead." Sunny thought for another moment and then came to a realization. "Are you suggesting that Twilight might be alive!?"

Zipp nodded and smiled. "What if Twilight is still alive and she's just hiding somewhere? It seems to make sense."

"Except for one part Zipp!" Izzy said, jumping into the conversation."Why would Twilight go into hiding for no reason and let another innocent pony take the blame for her death? She's the princess of friendship. That doesn't sound very friendly to me."

"Actually Izzy," Sunny started. "I think there would be a reason for Twilight to go into hiding." Sunny flipped to the middle of the book, getting a small groan from Zipp. Sunny ignored her and continued flipping until she found the picture she was looking for. "If you look at this piece of 'evidence' it says that Wild Strikes was a part of a secret organization that was trying to overthrow the princess. If you look at the evidence, it is very clearly fake. The judge even ruled it as fake. But the organization was very real. They were all caught and captured about two moons later. They were all thrown into prison for treason."

"But why would anypony want to overthrow the princess?" Izzy asked.

Sunny smiled. "Maybe a certain princess took away their magic and they were getting restless. It all makes perfect sense now! Twilight would have to get away from Equestria if her life was actually in danger!" Sunny got up and started walking towards the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Zipp asked, standing.

"I'm gonna go find that cave!" Sunny replied.

"Now hold on a second!" Hitch was now intervening in the conversation. "This is all just wild speculation! Come on Sunny! Come to your senses. You and I both know that Twilight Sparkle is dead! There is no screaming cavern! There is no secret! She's dead! And I don't know about you, but I don't want to be too!"

Sunny looked at Hitch with sadness growing in her eyes. "Listen Hitch! Alicorns don't die! We have some pretty solid evidence that she wasn't murdered! So she must be alive somewhere!"

Hitch sighed and eventually nodded. They both looked to the others, who also nodded in agreement. They all went downstairs. They packed some saddlebags with food, drinks, and crafting supplies (in case Izzy was ever back to normal.)

They all walked outside. And once again saw the trio of villains standing right in front of the brighthouse...

Zipp gulped. "Anyone else getting deja vu?"