Heart Of The CHIMERA

Chapter 7: Family Ties

Luna quickly dashed with Twilight in her hooves over to an alleyway. When she let go of her, the two stood catching their breath for a moment, staring at each other.

"You okay?" asked Twilight.

She nodded, surprised by the kind notion, "Yeah, yeah I should be."

"Good," Twilight smiled. Seeing her smile, Luna gave a happy giggle, showing her guard was down. Suddenly, Luna was pushed up against the wall by Twilight, her own fangs bared along with her glowing horn and eyes.

"BECAUSE I WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE WHEN I TOSS YOU BACK IN CHAINS!!! I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU GOT OUT OF PRISON BUT I PROMISE I'LL PUT YOU BACK IN!!!"

"Listen to me, Twilight, please," Luna said and tussled with her for a moment. Mid-fight, she tried to talk to her. "Twilight... I... I'm sorry, okay... Look, I escaped to come... And help you. You... And Spike!" she yelled.

Twilight was able to get the upper hand, showing how much stronger she had gotten. It wasn't enough to beat Luna, but enough to hold her down. "Help me and Spike, really? How dare you!"

Luna launched Twilight off of her. Twilight caught herself on her hooves, standing on all fours like a wild beast.

"How dare you claim you want to help Spike? Do you even know what you've done to him? You never even tried to contact us! To contact him! He's been so hurt by you that he refuses to talk to anyone about it! I can tell!" she shouted.

"Twilight, please," Luna pleaded. "I wanted to see Spike, I wanted to see you. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am and make amends. It, she..." She shook her head. "But Chrysalis wouldn't let me."

Twilight growled, sounding like a wild beast.

Wow, you are his sister, Luna thought before trying again.

"I know you can't ever forgive me, I know none of your family can... nor Spike, but please know if I could take it all back, I would. I swear it! You once told me it wasn't too late, that it was never too late to make amends. Am I truly lost then!" she cried.

Twilight stared down at her, wanting nothing more than to attack. Attack for herself, for her family, for Spike. But then her mother's wise words rang in her head again.

"It's time to let go."

"And if I can't?"

"Then you'll end up just like Luna."

Twilight shook her head, letting her chimera powers vanish. She sighed, turning her back on Luna. "I can't forgive you, not yet!" she yelled back. "But there is a bigger issue to deal with. Come on, I know somewhere safe we can go."

Dash was sitting on the porch, a paper book in her hoof as she twirled the pen her hero gave her, in deep thought as she stared at the empty page. "Ummm maybe," she said as she approached the page with her pen but stopped and shook her head. "Naa, not like that. Hmmm," she moaned as she stared at the blank pages.

She then jumped as something out of nowhere ran past her in the shadows. She growled as she realized what it was. "God damn it, Twilight! You scared the hell out of me."

"Dash, what are you doing at my mom's house!?" she yelled. "I thought you were out of town?"

"I, uh, I was just thinking. I just got back into town and—" she said as she closed her empty paper book. Twilight raised an eyebrow at it but shrugged it off.

"Well, I don't have time for this. I'm glad you're here. We have a big issue," she spat. "Hmm, what?" asked Dash, and her eyes widened at Twilight's company.

"Twilight," she called out and pulled her to the side. She then flung out her wings, spread out, and exposed her claws. "What are you doing here, Equalizer!?" Dash growled.

"She just saved me," Twilight told her friend.

"Wha, what?" replied a confused Dash.

"It's a long story; I'll tell you inside. Come on, Luna."

"Wait, you're trusting her to come in with us?" shouted Dash.

"Keep it down! Now come on, I told you I'll explain inside." As they entered, they saw Spike watching TV and Twilight's mother doing the dishes. They turned around and immediately were ready for a fight the moment they saw Luna.

Luna nervously smiled as she looked at Spike, who had grown so much in the last year. It nearly brought her to tears at the sight, and a tinge of pain spread in her chest as she saw the fury in his eyes. But there were other, more important issues to deal with, and she knew she couldn't address the elephant in the room at this time.

Twilight waved her hooves, and in a panic she sputtered, "I can explain!"

"Twilight, your face," Spike shouted.

"It wasn't Luna; she saved me! Just let me explain."

Tempest, a bit shocked, nodded, but before Twilight could say a word, her mother grabbed a wet cloth and bandages.

As she was bandaged by her mother, she told them the whole story. "Wow, that is definitely not what I was expecting," Dash said as Spike nodded, seconding the motion.
"Yeah well, the good news is Fluttershy is missing, so we know they don't have her. We have to find her before they do."

"Ummm, about that, I actually found her."

"WHAT, AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!!!"

"I DIDN'T KNOW!!! Look, that trip I went on, I got a lead on Discord's bike; it could have led us to nothing, so I figured I didn't want to bother you with it."

"AND YOU FOUND HER!!!"

"Yes, but Twilight—"

"PERFECT," Twilight smiled brightly.

"But she—"

"This means we're literally one step ahead of our opponent!" Twilight jumped up after her bandages were put on.

"But Twilight," Dash tried to no avail.

"Either way, we have to find her. But first, the twins. Those two kids are not only the key to the time machine, they are the two that always stop Chrysalis in the other timelines. If she gets her way, she will kill them both, but now we can—"

"TWILIGHT!" Dash shouted, catching her attention. "Fluttershy doesn't want us around! She just wants to raise her kids, and that's it!... She ditched us!" yelled Dash as she breathed in heavily, full of anger.

Twilight stared at her as she took her furious breaths. "She's in danger, Dash, and we're her friends."

Dash opened her mouth to retort but closed it, knowing full well Twilight was right.

"And besides, I, uh, think Discord's alive."

"WHAT!" shouted Tempest.

"I knew it," muttered a relieved Luna.

"He has to be. The two time travelers from before—I met them. You remember that strange mare, Mells, and her brother?"

"Yeah, but what does—" Dash stopped as she quickly caught up and gasped.

"I'm not kidding, Dash. They came from the future; I just know it, and they said their dad is in their care. WE HAVE TO FIND THOSE TWO!!!"

"WHERE?!"

"I don't know, but right now we need a safe place to go, and I can only think of one."

"Yeah, and?"

"The old haunted house, the one where we first met, where we got here, set a base, and looked for the twins. Our best bet now is to gather them and go find Fluttershy before it's too late. We can then find a place to hide and wait for Discord to recover before we take any other steps against Chrysalis."

Ring, ring, ring, Dash's phone went off. "It's Capper," she shrugged and answered it. "Yeah, uh huh, wait, what!"

"What is it, Dash?"

"Yeah, I'm with Twilight. Alright, I'll tell her. Guys, Capper wants us to report in immediately; he says Rarity has some big surprise for us."

Twilight groaned, "Probably just some new clothes or something. We have bigger things to deal with than this. Luna, you'll have to stay down in the car; I don't want anyone to recognize you. We have to move quickly. Dash, bring Capper up to speed about the situation; if anyone can really help us, it's him."

"Hmm, really? That's incredible. Are... alright... no, no, I got you. I'll meet you there." Capper hung up the phone and smiled as he looked back. "Well, well, well, isn't that nice? So Discord is alive. Won't the queen be happy when I uncover his little hiding place?" Chuckled Capper as he closed the door on the real Capper, who was hog-tied in the back of his car just as another fake got in. This time it was Rarity. "So you have the location of the brats then," the fake Capper smirked.

Rarity nodded. "The queen will be happy then. Good work, Thorax. I'll keep the other members of Chaos Vill busy. There will be nothing to stop us this time," said Rarity as she opened the closet door, revealing the real Rarity, knocked out along with her father. "And to think we can use Twilight to lead us right to him, and then to their little hideaway. I'll report back to the queen immediately."

"Yes, of course. Long live the queen," the Capper changeling said as he watched the gain leave the driveway in his rearview mirror. They never noticed he was just outside their apartment.

"I can't believe you!!!" Mells yelled.

"It wasn't my idea."

"You took apart my bike, Dad's bike."

"Our bike, our dad's bike, yes, and it was his idea. He can put it back together or at least show me how to."

"I'll teach him to put your bike back together in the morning," yawned the dark figure in the corner of the room. The three sat in what looked to be the remains of a kitchen, arguing.

"Your dad never taught you how to clean it properly; that's why I did. Now," he yawned, BUT, "if I hear one more noise about that hunk of junk tonight," I'll kill you both.

Mells turned to the figure, catching a glimpse of it as it went upstairs, returning to the shadows. "You didn't tell him, did you?" she groaned, keeping her tone low. Junior shook his head. She let out an angry sigh and muttered as she sat down, "At least that's safe."

"He didn't have a father either," her brother told her.

"Hmm, what?"

"Discord, he... he told me that."

Mells' eyes grew a bit wide as she smirked.

"Shut up," he told her.

"You bonded with him."

"He's still an ass."

"Yeah, so are you," Mells chuckled. He stomped off into the other room, calling back, "What's for dinner?"

"I got pizza—" Suddenly, they heard a car pull up outside.

"Uh, sis, were you expecting anybody?"

"No, no, I wasn't." Mells said as her eyes began to glow crimson. Her brother took a hiding position, his eyes glowing as well.

Twilight opened the door, only to get a sniff of the inside. As soon as she could smell, she ducked, her instincts kicking in. She jumped forward, spinning around to her opponents, her horn emerging along with her own eyes. Suddenly, another attacked her from behind, but she spun around, kicking it right in the face. She came to a halt as she quickly looked to see who her opponents were.

"Huh, you guys—" she blocked an oncoming blow from Junior; only after did he realize who he was hitting. "Aunt—uh, I mean, Miss Sparkle, what are you doing here?" Junior asked, stepping back.

Twilight smiled as she stared at him. "It's you."

"Huh, wha—"

Twilight tackled him into a hug.

"What's going on here?" asked Spike as he walked in alongside the others.

"Nothing, just a little family reunion," chuckled Twilight with a wink.

"Fa... family?" sputtered Junior as his sister rubbed her sore cheek.

"We know the truth. We know who you are," Twilight smiled, but it diminished. "You used my time machine, didn't you? Your blood is the key to activating it, isn't it?!"

"Woah, woah, slow down! What are you—" Mells began but was interrupted.

"DON'T LIE TO ME! THE CHANGELINGS, they're here. Chrysalis is here!"

The twins' eyes grew wide in response. "NO, no, no, no! That can't be!" replied Mells, astonished.

"Hold on, Twilight, mind explaining this a little better?" asked Dash, not understanding a clue.

Twilight crossed her arms. "I think it's better if they do."

The twins stepped aside, uncomfortable thanks to all the eyes staring at them. Twilight shook her head at the sight. She was now looking down on her own niece and nephew. A warm feeling spread through her body. She felt happy, a feeling she couldn't remember the last time she had felt. Out of nowhere, a genuine laugh erupted from her mouth. "You got a lot of him in you, but there's a lot of your mother as well." This caught the shy twins by surprise. Twilight took a step forward, advancing on them. "It's okay, just tell us what's going on."

Hearing such a voice come from Twilight, Dash and Spike glanced at each other. Luna, however, felt a sense of pride at how much she had grown. Yet she also felt a sudden feeling of regret. Tempest could say nothing as she stared at the two, not being able to process anything at the moment. Somehow these two strangers, these two nearly fully grown ponies, were her grandkids.

The twins looked at each other and then back at their aunt. "Ha, funny! Other than your age, you seem just like the aunt we left back in the future," Junior was the first to speak up as usual. At the thought of that, Mells shifted her gaze away from them as she crossed her arms. She looked like a little kid in trouble and tried not to make eye contact with the adults.

Twilight noticed this and directed her gaze at her, keeping the same neutral expression.

"Eh, don't mind her," her brother shrugged. "It's just a long story and—"

"—and it was my fault," Mells interrupted her brother.

"Melody," her brother tried to comfort her, but Mells whipped away, a tear forming in her eye before she grew her usual stern face—an expression only the daughter of Discord could make. She gave her brother a slight nod but never looked at them. Junior closed his mouth and swallowed before returning to the room with a monotone expression.

"Like I said, it's a long story, but..." he shifted his gaze to his sister, expecting her to interrupt, but she only stayed silent. Realizing he wasn't going to get anything out of her, Junior began his tale.

"When we were seven, our mom," he shook his head. "She was... we were so young... we didn't really understand. Mom told us that she was just a little sick and that we would be going to visit our aunts until she got better. We were surprised, to be sure; our mom never told us she even had family, let alone that our dad had family... We hopped on the back of a bike and rode off to Ponyville to meet our aunt. On the way, she told us about how she was a genius scientist and how they met when they were in college..."

A long silence spread across the room as Junior spoke, everyone leaning on every word the young colt said.

"We were attacked by one of those creatures... Mom stayed behind, trying to keep us safe. The fact is, even if we hadn't been attacked, Mom couldn't run; she had..." Junior winced, unable to say the words. "As the monster came close to attacking us, it was actually Miss Rainbow that came to save us. She took us to our aunt at Chaos Vill Headquarters. Since then, we lived the rest of our lives underground. From time to time, we would have to go get supplies, and since my sister and I were the oldest and strongest, we would often do so. Meanwhile, our aunt prepared the time machine and us, to hopefully one day put a stop to all this."

"All of what?" asked Twilight.

"THE CHIMERA APOCALYPSE..."