Sunny Starscout.

That fake alicorn was the only thought lingering in Opaline Arcana's head. Ever since Sunny Starscout and her friends had somehow harnessed a power only Twilight Sparkle and her group could achieve, she's been stuck in her Together Tree for... who knew how long?!

Opaline snarled as she got up and paced inside the Together Tree, which was bigger than it seemed inside. She had to find a way out, and make them pay for defeating her and, somehow corrupting, her faithful servant! Opaline would never say this to anypony, but the day she found out Misty had betrayed her, a part of her broke. However, she would never let herself show any sign of weakness, or perhaps love, towards Misty.

"Sunny Starscout, Twilight Sparkle, Celestia..." Opaline muttered. "Why must something ruin my life?! Celestia left me in Skyros alone to fend for myself, Twilight Sparkle tried to show me the "error" of her ways, and Sunny Starscout? She just had to ruin her amazing plan to conquer Equestria!

"They'll pay, they'll all pay!" Opaline growled. Her horn lit up in a light violet as Opaline shot a beam of magic at the hard, wooden walls of the Together Tree in a fit of rage. Opaline expected for there to be some burn mark, a scratch, maybe. But there was nothing, which surprised Opaline. Usually, in the other times that she shot beams, there would be a burn or a mark. But this time, there was nothing.

"What in the world?" Opaline said to herself, rubbing her hoof over the area she had shot. "Did I... do my spell wrong?" Opaline shook her head. "No! No, of course not! This is just some retaliation, isn't it, you rotting tree! I'm still the most powerful in all of Equestria!"

"Are you sure about that, Opaline Arcana?"

Opaline screamed in surprise as she fell to the ground. She turned around as a dark blue fire, resembling a goat, floated before her. "What... no, who are you?!" Opaline questioned, lighting up her horn in protection. "You look oddly familiar... like I've seen you before."

"Oh, yes, you have."

The fire moved towards Opaline, and instead of moving away, she stayed, feeling some comfort around the fire. "Then why don't I know you are? I would remember if I had a conversation with some sort of... fire ghost!" Opaline retorted.

"It's because, dear Opaline, we haven't had a conversation up until... today!" The fire said as it floated in front of her face. "Tell me, who do I look like? Take a deep look, dear."

Opaline squinted her eyes as she muttered, "I... don't see-" Opaline stopped as her eyes widened. She knew who the "fire ghost" was. It was... "Grogar? You're Grogar, the Father of Monsters, correct? But, you're supposed to be dead!"

"Oh, I am! I'm the real deal, and not Discord in disguise this time." Grogar said, the fire spreading as it took on a more "goat" form. "I come with an offer, Opaline. One that can help us both."

Opaline thought about it for a moment, before sighing and responding with, "What deal? Hopefully, it involves getting my revenge on Sunny Starscout."

"I think you'll find you'll be able to get your revenge on all that have wronged you." Grogar said, smiling deviously. Grogar held out his hoof, and Opaline, smiling manically, took it.

Somewhere, in between time and space, a floating island with a majestic building - Fate™ - stood. Inside the building, an orange unicorn ran across a fancy hall, using his magic to carry a folder with the words "OPALINE ARCANA" written in big, bold letters. "No, no, no, no, no!" He muttered, opening a door with his magic as he sped through.

"Fate is really going to be mad! Argh!" the stallion said, jumping in the air as he disappeared in a flash of orange light. Seconds later, he appeared inside a small office, which was dimly lit. "Uh... Ms. Fate? Are you there? Hello?" the unicorn asked, turning around as he placed the items he held with his magic on the desk.

The chair spun around, revealing a white alicorn with a silky gold mane. She had a cross look on her face as she glared at the orange unicorn, who weakly chuckled. "Hey, Fate! It's nice to see you!" the orange unicorn said, shooting a nervous smile at Fate.

"Likewise, I suppose," Fate said, leaning backward into her chair. "But, what are you doing here, Clover?" Fate asked, keeping her eyes fixed on him. "I didn't call you to my office, and last I heard, you had a day off today, correct?" Fate's eyes widened as she noticed the file on her desk. "And why do you have Opaline Arcana's file with you?"

"Right. Um," Clover cleared his throat as he levitated the file over to him. "So, y'know how Sunny Starscout and her friends were able to defeat Opaline by using the magic of friendship to steal her cutie mark and using it as bait to trap her in a Together Tree?" Clover asked.

"Of course I do! I manage the timeline, for Faust's sake!"

"Well," Clover averted eye contact as he opened the file and slid a photo of Opaline toward Fate. "Somehow, Grogar, who shouldn't even exist, was able to get in contact with Opaline and send her to... Fate™, where we are right now." Clover said.

Fate gasped. "What?! Opaline's here?! Please tell me you were able to get her back to the Together Tree," Fate asked, a worried expression forming on her face.

"You see, when I cast the spell, something... interfered," Clover said, inhaling. "Something kept me from sending her back, somehow. I tried to cast the spell again, but Opaline was able to teleport herself away in time, unfortunately for us."

Fate exhaled as she slammed a hoof on her desk, surprising Clover. "Do you know where she could've gone? Did she say anything to you during your standoff? An objective, a goal, a location, perhaps?" Fate asked.

"She said something about "making Celestia pay for leaving her," but other than that, that's our only clue." Clover inquired, spinning his hoof. "But why would she appear here, in the afterlife, instead of in Skyros? That's where Celestia is currently, isn't she?"

As Fate thought, she suddenly realized something. She picked up the file on Opaline and opened it, her eyes fixating on one thing. ""When Celestia and Luna left Opaline in Skyros, she wanted to follow them and make them pay for leaving her."" Fate read. ""But, due to King Helium, she decided against it and stayed in Skyros, fostering feelings of guilt, betrayal, and anger.""

"And... is this supposed to mean something, or are you just reading it aloud for fun?" Clover asked, visibly confused. "Because, if so, then we should be focusing on the important stuff."

"Yes, Clover, it means something!" Fate said, whipping her gaze towards him. "Opaline doesn't want to enact her revenge on the present Celestia, she wants to enact it on the past one! Because if she does, she'll have full control over Equestria! Sunny Starscout and her friends will cease to exist, and by extension, Equestria and its history!"

"Oh, my Faust! But how would she do that?" Clover asked. "The only thing that can change the timeline, is, well, the Destiny Room. But only you, I, and other important individuals can access it!"

"Do you seriously think that with Opaline's power, she'd need a keycard to enter it?!" Fate retorted back, getting up from her chair. "If she was able to resist a spell to get her to travel through time, she could easily break a magically enchanted door!"

"Alright, I see your point," Clover chuckled. "Quick! To the room of destiny! Or, the Destiny Room!" Clover said, lighting up his horn. Fate's horn lit up as well as they both teleported outside of the office and appeared outside a room with no door.

"Where's the door?" Clover asked.

"There," Fate said, pointing to a pile of ashes on the ground where the door was supposed to be. "Come on, we have to be quick. Opaline could change the timeline at any moment! That's assuming she knows how to."

Fate and Clover rushed inside, and inside was a bigger version of a timeline, pieces that represented events in Equestria's history in holes. Opaline was next to it, moving pieces around like a toy. "Opaline! Stop right there!" Fate shouted.

Opaline turned around, and her face instantly turned into one of confusion. "Who are you?" Opaline asked. Her eyes turned to Clover, and she instantly growled. "Oh, it's you again? Back for round two, are you?" Opaline said, her horn lighting up.

Opaline blasted a beam at the two, and they teleported away before the beam could hit them. Fate appeared next to Opaline as a yellow aura surrounded the piece. Opaline snarled as she, along with the piece, teleported to another side of the room, the aura surrounding the piece broken.

Clover suddenly appeared behind Opaline and snatched the piece away before teleporting next to Fate. "Boom! That was easy," Clover said, handing the piece over to Fate.

"For an alicorn who bested Twilight Sparkle, you hardly put up a fight," Fate said. "Well, it's over, Opaline! Whatever plan you had to get rid of Celestia or Luna - it's over!" Fate threw the piece to the ground, the piece shattering upon impact.

Clover turned to Opaline, and instead of a face of anger, it was a face of victory. "What in the..." Before Clover had any time to think about it, a translucent blue shield surrounded them. "What is this, Opaline?!" Clover asked.

"It's a shield, you idiot!" Fate said, crouching down. "Opaline must've created a fake piece before we came in, and used that piece to trick us! She knew we were coming!" Fate groaned.

Opaline got up and smirked. "Oh, aren't you a smart one, aren't you?" Opaline cooed. She pulled out the real piece as she walked over to the timeline. "I admit, for someone who controlled time and space herself, you were tricked easily. I thought you were supposed to know everything."

Fate didn't reply, instead, she growled at Opaline. "Whatever. Soon, my time will finally come! A second chance! A chance to rule Equestria, just as he said!" Opaline said, puffing her chest victoriously. She used her magic to put the piece on the timeline, and a blue shockwave was sent throughout the room, heck, even time and space.

Fate gasped as her eyes shot open. "What happened!?" She realized she wasn't in the shield anymore, so she got up. "Clover? Clover! Where are you?" Fate called out, noticing Clover, who was supposed to be next to her, wasn't there. Fate looked worried before she sighed in relief. "Right, right. When Opaline put that piece on the timeline, she put it in a time when Clover was alive. All I have to do now is..." Fate stood up and trotted to the timeline. "...remove the piece."

Fate exhaled. "I've... never actually done this before, and, um, argh! Who am I even talking to? Whatever. Focus on the piece, Fate!" Fate put a hoof on the piece, and suddenly, she felt a jolt of electricity surge through her. "Ack! What was that?!" This time, Fate used her magic to remove the piece, but strangely enough, she couldn't.

Fate inhaled and exhaled as she faced the piece. "This is... harder than expected. I can do this! I can!" Fate determinedly said. A yellow aura surrounded the piece as Fate put more magic into it. The piece moved a bit before blue lighting bolts surrounded it, breaking the spell.

"No! What. Is. Happening!?" Fate said to herself, flabbergasted. "Fine! Like I care! I'll find a way to get you out, sooner or later! Whatever spell Opaline, or Grogar, put on you, it won't stay there forever! No! It won't! Watch me!" Fate growled.

Huffing, Fate turned around and trotted to the exit. She looked at the timeline one last time as she sighed and said to herself, "I'll find a way to get you back, Clover. I promise." Fate turned to the door (which was strangely fixed) and left.

Author's Note

Yeah. This story was supposed to be released in 2025, but apparently, when I cancelled the original version of this, some of the people reading my story - Ancient Relics, please check it out! - LEFT ME. Some of my motivation for writing that story disappeared, since people weren't commenting that much (Phetiamwantip, you're a real one), but I'm not cancelling it.

Anyways, here's the first chapter of the rewrite, this is just a prologue, so sorry if it isn't that long. I'll try to get the second chapter done soon, but my mid year exams are coming up, so no promises! Hope you like the rewrite, and hopefully, I won't cancel this one.

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate!