The Final Cutie Mark Crusade

Chapters

Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
Chapter One
Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Two

I knocked on the door of Zecora’s hut. If anyone could help us understand this, it would be her. A moment later, the zebra opened the door. “Well, well, well, who has come to see me? It appears to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders of three.” She said. She let us in and I obviously didn’t look happy. “What is the matter, Apple Bloom? Has something made you gloom?” She asked.

“We found a book, that’s... strange.” I replied.

“Here, take a look.” Scootaloo said as she shoved the book to Zecora. She obviously was skeptical of the whole thing.

“We were lookin’ for books on Cutie Marks when we found this.” I explained. Zecora opened the book and read the introduction. Her expression visibly changed. She sighed and turned to look outside. “Well, what do you think, Zecora?” I asked her.

“It appears the trio that is described in here, is one that is very familiar.” She answered as she turned around, “You three are the ones whom are described in this prophecy. And unfortunately, it not a simple story. The fate of all the world rests upon you three, you must take this book and use it when need be.” She handed the book back, and Scootaloo snorted.

“You’re kidding me, right? This is just a bunch of talk. We can’t seriously be described in this book!”

Zecora looked at her, “I am afraid it is true, little Scootaloo. You are the ones whom Equestria must rely upon. I will help you if need be, but right now my little ponies, you must go and face your destiny.”

As we walked back into the town, Scootaloo kept on worrying. “We should just let Twilight and the others take care of the disaster if it really is going to happen. We’re just three blank flanks.” She said.

“The book said that the Elements of Harmony would do nothin’ to stop it. Apparently when we discover our Cutie Marks we’ll be able to stop whatever is comin’.” I said. The clock tower loomed over us, with just five minutes to noon.

“Hey girls!” A voice said. I turned and saw it was Twilight. “What are you doing? Are trying to get your Cutie Marks by waiting around?” She asked, truly curious. She had good reason, we had done a lot of crazy stuff to get our Cutie Marks. Sweetie Belle started to respond, but I shoved a hoof in her mouth.

“Uh, nope. We’re just trying to think of ways to get our Cutie Marks.” I said, giving a hopefully convincing grin.

“Alright, well I’ll see you girls around.” Twilight said as she walked off.

I took my hoof out of Sweetie Belle’s mouth and she asked, “Why wouldn’t you let me tell her?”

“Because otherwise we might be left out, and if what the book says is true, we need to be able to help.” Two minutes passed, and then Twilight’s voice came back.

“Spike told me you girls were looking through books on Cutie Marks, and that you checked one out. Can I see it, I’m curious because you said you were trying to think of ways to get your Cutie Marks.” The clock moved its hand to the next minute.

“Ummm, well you see we kind of don’t want people to see what we’re reading.” I said. “Yeah, because otherwise they might think we’re a little crazy for following the advice!” Scootaloo added. Twilight definitely looked suspicious now.

“Can’t I see the book for just a teensy moment, I am the librarian.”

“Nope, sorry.” I told her.

“Girls, please let me see the book. I am an adult, you know.” She responded. One minute left. Twilight moved to grab the book from Sweetie Belle, but Scootaloo grabbed it and ran before she could take it. We followed. “Girls get back here right now!” She shouted as she started to chase after us. We ran as quickly as we could, and I kicked a barrel down to slow Twilight. She jumped over it. We turned a corner and found ourselves in a dead end. “Girls what is in that book?” She asked as she walked towards us, with us slowly walking towards the wall. Just as she was about to be able to grab it, the town bell rang. It was the time for the beginning of the end.

Chapter Three

As soon as the bell rang, nothing changed. Maybe it really was just an old mare’s tale. But I was instantly proven wrong as the sky started to turn dark. Then, a voice that sounded like a colt who had a deep voice, too deep started to speak. “It is time, Equestria. Time that I returned from my wandering. Your world is mine, and nothing can stop me from taking it. Prepare for a new world. For a better world.” The unknown speaker stopped for a moment. Then the ground started rumbling. It sounded like marching, a lot of marching. A figure seemed to form from the ground, made out of pure shadow. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Element of Magic. I must say, you are quite a smart opponent, Twilight Sparkle. That is why I must kill you first.” She started backing into the wall with us, “You children will be lambs to the slaughter as well, I must say, it has always been a personal hobby of mine extinguishing lives that haven’t even fully started.” The figure said as it walked closer and closer. Twilight tried using a spell to make a force field, but the figure shattered it instantly. “Your magic may be powerful Twilight, but you are no match. Goodbye.” It seemed to form a horn that started glowing, and aimed towards us. Just as it fired a jet of pure darkness at us, I found myself falling. Then, I hit the floor on my rear hooves, and fell over.

“Thank goodness I was able to get you out of there Twilight.” A voice said. As we got up, I saw Princess Celestia, along with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, who appeared to have been teleported as well. “I thought he had been eternally sealed from our world, but I was wrong.” Celestia said as she looked at us worriedly.

“Who was that?” Twilight asked, fear clear in her voice.

“I will explain it to you, but you must not interrupt me, because we don’t have much time.” We all nodded. Celestia didn’t seem to care Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and I were there. “Many years ago, there existed nothing. No time, no space, no reality, it was both real and unreal. Then, something appeared. A being, by the name of Naqril. She saw the unreality of all, and created the world we know today. But it was just a rock, so she created water and the sun and the moon and the stars in order to diversify reality. But that still wasn’t enough, she wanted to allow a cycle of the sun and moon, so she created time. But it was lonely, so she created a brother, by the name of Rabil, who served as her helper, and as her friend. They created life on the world, but soon enough, Rabil realized that only his sister was looked up to, and she truly had control of all. So, out of greed and hatred, Rabil murdered his sister. But, unbeknownst to him, she had long suspected his betrayal, and created two gods who controlled all of space and all of time. As soon as she died, they sealed Rabil away forever, outside of reality, outside of time. Rabil apparently has returned, and he is too powerful. The two gods gave themselves to space and time, to allow it to eternally flow. Which makes him unstoppable, and there are no known prophecies of anyone who can defeat him.” Celestia explained. I decided that possibly they could be of help to me and this prophecy and I tried to speak up, but Applejack cut me off. Words cannot describe how angry I was.

“So how do we beat him? Elements of Harmony?” Applejack asked.

Celestia shook her head, “They are mere pebbles at a mountain.”

I shouted above this, “I have a -”

Applejack glared at me and told me off, “Apple Bloom, this is a grown-up discussion.” I really was mad when she said that. As I tried to tell everypony, a laugh emanated from everywhere. It was the laugh from the dark figure, Rabil.

“Well, thank you Celestia for explaining who I am.” He said. “But I am afraid you will no longer need to be ruling this world. Nor your sister, Luna.” He formed on a balcony along with multiple colt-like figures in heavy armor. I saw Princess Luna being forced down the stairs by the armored colts.

“You won’t be able to do anything, the guard will stop you!” Scootaloo shouted at him. He saw her and laughed, clearly amused.

“Oh they are the guard, except they are now mine. Take them to the courtyard.” The colts forced us out into there, while Celestia and Luna were moved somewhere else. Out in the courtyard was a lot of ponies, wondering what was happening. I knew that they knew what was happening they shouldn’t witness, that they should run, but its that kind of evil that you can’t turn away from, the one that’s too eye catching. “People of Equestria, today I usher in a new era. A better era.” Rabil said, once again emanating from the walls. “Equestria is no longer alive, today it dies. How could you trust your leaders, ones who let beings such as Nightmare Moon and Discord reign freely, relying on six ponies.” Celestia and Luna were being forced onto a platform. “Today, we rid ourselves of the memory of Equestria, and we usher in a new era. Today, we usher in the kingdom of Rhul. Today, we kill the former leaders of Equestria!” All of the guards shouted in agreement, while everypony else stood in sheer horror. Two blades were being put above Celestia’s and Luna’s head. “Today, your Princesses, Celestia and Luna, die.” As soon as he said that, the blades went clean through both of their necks, instantly decapitating them. “Now, we kill the hollow heroes you relied on, your ‘Elements of Harmony’!” The guards moved towards us, but before they could lay a hoof on us, a single male voice protested.

“Not today.” The lone colt said.

Rabil looked amused, and asked, “And who do you think you are?”

The colt walked to the front of the crowd, and said, “Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, and I say you won’t lay a hoof on them. Guards, get everypony out of here!” Like that, several guards appeared out of nowhere and took on the armored colts.

The guards focused on the armored colts who were near us, one of the guards shouted, “GO! RUN!” I was all too willing to comply. Rabil seemed totally amused, and did nothing to turn the tide of the fight in either direction.

“Shining Armor!” Twilight said.

“Go, Twilly, run. We can’t hold these guys off forever.” She seemed to protest, but he glared. We ran, ran through the city streets, faster than any of us had ever run. Twilight passed out, and Rainbow Dash grabbed her.

“They’re blocking off the road out!” A pony shouted. I thought of something, it would be risky, but it would be better than staying here to die.

“Everypony follow me!” I shouted.

“Apple Bloom, now is not the time to -” Applejack scolded.

“No, right now we need to get out, and I know a way, if you want to die, it’s your choice.” I said as I started running, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle behind me.

“What are you doing?” Scootaloo asked.

“The waterfall, we can ride it down.” They seemed to appreciate the idea and grinned. We got in sight of it and ran fast. I hit the water, and everything went black.

Chapter Four

“Apple Bloom! Are you there! Apple Bloom wake up!” A voice called, but it was distant. I realized my eyes were closed and I opened them, but everything was out of focus. As it slowly grew clearer, I saw the shapes of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, along with what appeared to be a blue pegasus, and a red earth pony.

“Good thing ah was headin’ to Canterlot, might have not been able to help you Dash.” A voice said, one that sounded familiar.

“She’s awake!” Scootaloo shouted.

“What happened?” I asked as I got myself up.

“Well, everypony followed you to the waterfall, but you passed out when you hit the water. I grabbed you along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, but I got separated from the rest. It might be for the best, because if that ‘Rabil’ is hunting down the Elements, he won’t be able to take us all out in one swoop.” Rainbow Dash told me. I noticed Big Macintosh, he must have been the one heading to Canterlot.

“Apple Bloom, you could have gotten yourself hurt, but ah’m too darn proud of you for saving a lot of ponies lives.” Mac said. I was a bit relieved, but Dash frowned when she noticed the bag Scootaloo had.

“What’s in there?” She asked. Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle and I, silently asking if we should tell them. We both nodded.

“This.” Scootaloo said as she took out the book.

“That? Why do you have a book called ‘The Power of the Cutie Mark’?”

“Read the introduction.” Scootaloo said. Dash grabbed the book and looked at it, along with Big Mac.

“Oh my Celestia, that means...” She breathed. Big Mac had the same look as Dash. “Why wouldn’t Twilight know about this, or Celestia? I wish everyone else was here.” Dash thought aloud.

“Excuse me, but if we are trying to figure out a way to get our Cutie Marks, we can’t just sit here.” Scootaloo said.

Big Mac seemed to agree saying “Eeyup.”

Then I thought of something, “We need all the other Elements.” I said.

“What?” Dash asked, not believing what I had just said.

“Ah have a feeling we’ll need their help.” I explained, “We should head to Ponyville, they probably got back there.”

“We don’t know if they’re even there, and even if they are, there’s probably that evil colt’s soldiers there!” Scootaloo said.

“We don’ have much of a choice, and what’s there to lose? From the looks of it, nopony has ever heard this prophecy until us. Maybe Rabil hasn’t either.” I said. Everyone looked conflicted, and I had enough, “Ah’m going, don’t know about the rest of y’all.” I said as I started to walk in the general direction of Ponyville.

“Ponyville’s that way, Apple Bloom, and don’t think we’re just gonna watch you leave.” Big Mac said as he pointed a hoof in another direction.

I blushed a bit and said, “Right, let’s go then.”

“Ah’ll be darned, looks like Ponyville was able to defend itself pretty good.” Big Mac said as we looked at Ponyville, there was a stack of armored colts piled up on the bridge.

“Who in tarnations there!” A voice shouted.

“It’s just me, Dash, and Apple Bloom and her friends.” Big Mac informed. Granny Smith turned a corner holding an apple pie as a weapon.

“Dagnabit, you had startled me Macintosh.” Smith scolded. Mac gave a small smile,

“Is Applejack here?” Dash asked.

“Ah think she went with the purple unicorn to the library!” Smith said. We ran over there, and Dash knocked on the door.

“LET US IN!” She shouted. I heard a small “eep!”, probably Fluttershy, in the background as the door opened, with Applejack standing there.

“Oh, thank goodness yer alright. Now, Apple Bloom, I am not lettin’ you outta mah sight! We’re in a too darn dangerous situation, and Rarity said the same fer you Sweetie Belle! Now both of y’all get in here!” Applejack ordered.

“No.” I said.

“Apple Bloom, now is not the time fer -” Applejack said with growing fury.

“Come on, Applejack, we gotta find a book that explains this!” Twilight shouted from inside the library.

“Don’t get your hopes up, there’s no weakness to this guy apparently!” Spike shouted.

“Everyone, ah have somethin’!” I shouted.

“Apple Bloom, you need to sit yer a-” Applejack shouted.

“EVERYONE STOP YER MOUTHS AND LISTEN TO WHAT THE GIRL HAS TUH SAY!” Big Mac shouted, clearly irritated. Applejack seemed both frightened and even more irritated at this, and everyone inside seemed to stop.

“As ah was sayin, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and ah found a book earlier today, and we want you to read it.” I said. Applejack looked curious, but tried to cover it with irritation. Didn’t work that well. Scootaloo got the book out, and gave it to Twilight.

“Read the introduction aloud.” Scootaloo said. Twilight read it, slowly becoming horrified as everyone in the room realized who the book was talking about. Everyone was silent until Rarity spoke up.

“Why wouldn’t Celestia know about this?” She asked

“Beats me.” Scootaloo said.

“Well, if this is true then we should probably get -” Applejack started to say, but Twilight cut her off this time.

“I think it should be up to Crusaders on what we should do.” Twilight said. Applejack didn’t look happy with this at all, and tried to establish that we were children.

“We don’ even know who wrote the darn book, why should we think these three are some prophesied heroes from ancient times?” She said.

“Because, Applejack, you wanna deny, fer some reason, that we children might be the ones we need to rely on.” I said.

Applejack looked genuinely hurt by this, and said, “That ain’t it at all, Apple Bloom.”

“Then, why? Equestria needs our help, and we need help, and you refuse to give it to us!” I asked. She sighed and I could see her tearing up a bit, and Big Macintosh seemed to be too.

“Ah’m afraid to lose you, Apple Bloom.” She said.

“If ah have to be lost, who cares? Equestria is at risk here!” I said.

She looked at something in the distance, and said, “You ever wonder why you’ve never seen yer ma and pa?”

“Come on, yer jokin. I know you and Big Mac are mah parents! You guys just call me sis to be nice!” I said.

She actually looked a little uncomfortable with that, and said, “Yer wrong, Apple Bloom.”

“Fine, then who are mah parents?” I asked.

“Yer ma and pa were both geniuses, Bloom. Yer father, Golden Apple, was possibly one of the smartest businessponies to ever grace Equestria. Yer mother, Pacific Rose, was one of the best hardworkin’ farmers. They also were great parents to me and Big Mac, fer a decent amount of time, at least. Then, about ten or so years ago, yer father needed to get to Appleloosa fer something, and he was never seen again. Yer mother, on the other hoof, died givin’ birth to you, and before she died I made a promise to her. So did Big Mac, we promised we would treat you as a daughter, and that we would make sure that you grew up tuh be a good mare. I feel like ah’m betraying yer mother by just letting you do this.” Applejack finished.

I was shocked, my parents had really just gone away, just like that? I kinda understood what Applejack was thinkin’ and -

“Uh, not to interrupt the revelations, but we may have a teensy problem, that might just be an entire army heading for here.” Spike said.

“We need to get everypony out of here, now!” I said. For a second, everypony except for Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle just stood there, then seemed to realize that they needed to listen. Everypony ran off to get others out of Ponyville and I ran for Zecora’s. The trip seemed to take less than a minute, and I told Zecora she needed to run now.

“Apple Bloom, you must listen quickly. For this message, is of grave importance to your group of three. I must stay to distract the being of evil, and you must find the last princess, who is in grave peril, Rabil’s soldiers are already in pursuit of her.”

“Cadence? Come on, you need to come with us.” I said.

“My Apple Bloom, you must understand, there is some things in life that are inevitable. If I do not distract them, Rabil will find you and your prophecy. Now go, Apple Bloom.” I hesitantly ran back for Ponyville and then I tripped over a branch. A darn branch.

As my head hit a tree trunk, I heard Spike’s voice shout, “Apple Bloom!”

My eyes opened, where was I? This definitely wasn’t Ponyville, but the surroundings looked familiar. I realized it was Canterlot Castle, but it didn’t look the same. What was happening? My head turned and looked down a balcony, to see Zecora struggling against guards! I tried to move to help her, but it seemed like I was just watching something play out.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the rhyming foreign zebra, Zecora.” A voice emanated, from me...

“I am not frightened by you, evil being of doom!” She shouted defiantly.

“I am not looking for that result,” I said somehow, realizing it was Rabil speaking. I seemed to move into the floor and up right in front of Zecora. “Although, it is surely an enjoyable side benefit.” Rabil spoke.

“What do you want me for?” Zecora asked.

“You are going to tell me if you know of any prophecy that tells of one who can defeat me.” He said. Oh no, Zecora! Please, please don’t! I thought.

“I know of no prophecy, that tells of one who can defeat your being.” Zecora lied.

“Are you sure, I can tell when you lie.” Rabil said, putting his face directly in front of hers.

“Very well, the only who can defeat you,” she said, NO ZECORA!, “Or is a threat to your power, is the last princess, Cadence.”

“Fool, if you think that is a secret, you are stupid. I already knew she was a threat. Kill this imbecile.” Rabil said. The guards put a blade through her body, and she died. No, Zecora. I thought, if I could cry I would. “Rid this place of her, along with her blood.” Rabil said as he walked off. This was just disturbing, the colt obviously had no empathy.

“Emperor, sir!” A voice said, and Rabil turned around.

“Commander, come with me.” Rabil ordered. The commander colt walked out into where the Royal Gardens used to be, almost all of the statues had disappeared with the exception of the Discord one. “Even though I created him, I still like having alternate input to my ideas.” I heard Rabil think. Wait what? I was inside his mind now? “Have you found anything from Ponyville?” Rabil asked.

“No, sir. We were unable to find anything of use.” The Commander replied.

“This is just too easy, my sister wouldn’t have seriously thought I wouldn’t return. She has to have had a plan.” I heard Rabil think. Rabil turned his attention towards Discord’s statue. “Do you know who this is?” Rabil asked.

“Discord, the spirit of Chaos.” The Commander replied.

“Indeed, although our goals may be, similar, I have never agreed with his methodology.” Rabil said.

“What do you mean sir?” The Commander inquired.

“What I mean is that although we both have the goal of dominion over all, his methods are a bit, destructive. We must make sure we have a dominion to rule over.” Rabil turned back to the Commander. “I apologize, I do occasionally muse on things aloud.” Rabil said.

“Why did you let them get out, sir?” The Commander asked.

“The Old Guard? Because otherwise we won’t be able to crush an insurrection in one fell swoop.” Rabil replied. Then, it seemed like I was moving, but to someplace that seemed, indescribable.

“Hello there, Apple Bloom.” A voice said, it was definitely not Rabil’s it sounded more feminine.

“Who are you? Where am I?” I asked as I looked around. There were shapes that defied physics, twisting in on themselves in ways that were impossible to replicate, much less explain.

“Where you are does not matter, but I am Naqril.” The voice said. Something walked up, and it seemed to have both the shape of a pony and something else, something I’m not exactly sure about. “But right now, time is of the essence, Apple Bloom.” Naqril said. She seemed to frown a bit, and said, “You’ve seen my brother, Rabil. I know you and your friends must stop him.”

“Why? How can we, I mean you can obviously just give us our Cutie Marks and we won’t have to worry about as many deaths. And didn’t he kill you?” I demanded.

She seemed to chuckle, muttering, “Death is just another journey.”

“What?” I once again implored.

“Your Cutie Marks will come when the time is right, but let me warn you. My brother cannot be reasoned with, nor will he ever agree to an opponent’s demands, however deceiving he may be. You cannot trust him no matter what he says. You must trust your friends, and yourself.” She said.

“What about the prophecy, who wrote it? Why doesn’t anyone else know about it?” I asked.

“I’m afraid I cannot answer that question.” She answered.

“Why did I see Rabil?” I asked, I knew I was asking a lot, but I needed to know.

“He burned his imprint onto you, and only you, when he killed Celestia and Luna, along with killing and threatening others in front of you.” She said, then continuing quickly, “Take a look down there.” She gestured over to what seemed to be a hole, with an extradimensional border. I saw myself along with Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applejack and the others. “You won’t be able to do much until later, but for now, you need to go help your friends. Good luck.” She said, as all of the sudden I felt myself falling.

Chapter Five

I took in a loud breath as I opened my eyes, and Scootaloo cracked. “You really gotta stop passing out, Apple Bloom!” She said, barely articulating between laughing.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Well Spike got you out of there, but they burned down Ponyville, and the Everfree Forest.” A brown earth pony said as he lent me a hoof to get up. “Hey, I know you. Aren’t you the filly who forced me to buy some apples?” He asked.

“Ummm, yes.” I said, feeling my face turn red.

“It is no problem, lots of ponies try ridiculous things to get their Cutie Marks.” He said, then asked, “You want to see what they did?” I nodded and he led me to a small overlook, apparently we were on a mountain or something. My jaw dropped as I saw what they had done. Ponyville had been not just burnt down, but obliterated. There were jet black pieces of materials left, not to mention the Everfree Forest. It was still burning, but in its wake there were charred stumps left. I heard hoofsteps and Applejack spoke up.

“Ah’m sorry I was a bit, over protective of ya Apple Bloom. Ah’m just conflicted, ‘cause of this whole Rabil thing, then the promise Ah made to yer mother.”

“It’s allright sis, but right now we gotta find Cadence. Ah just can’t let him kill her. Ah can’t let him kill anypony else!” I said.

“Ya might wanna talk to Twi’ then. She knows where her brother last was, well, when she communicated with him last.” Applejack said, and I walked towards where Twilight was, and she was just sitting there, looking a bit shocked, angry, depressed, and the whole mixture of emotions when you see others die. Spike was there, along with Dash.

“Twilight, Ah hate to ask this but where did yer brother last stay with Cadence?” I asked.

She gave a dark smile, and said, “Last I knew, he was in Fillydelphia, well before Canterlot.”

“That’s far away, Twilight. I don’t think we can make it there in time.” Spike said. Then, a rustling was heard in the bushes and Dash jumped, ready to fight anything that came out. But, out came Shining Armor. Then, some of the Royal Guards.

He said with a slur, “Hey Twilly...” Then he toppled over, but Twilight catched him.

“We’ve been on the run for hours.” A guard said. I let them be and found Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both of whom seemed to be asleep. I found a spot where I could just think, and sat down. Zecora was dead, along with Celestia and Luna. Not to mention a lot of Ponyville citizens.

“Zecora said I had to do it. I can’t let her down, but dang it I can’t do this!” I thought, realizing I was speaking quietly. I didn’t care if anyone heard me, and my vision got blurry. Time past with me just sitting there, and I felt a hoof on my back.

“It is a lot to take in, even for me.” The brown pony’s voice said. I wasn’t sure what to say, the brown pony, whom everyone called Doctor Whooves, was a bit, well, weird. He was a bit crazy, and everyone in Ponyville wasn’t sure what to make of him. He apparently lived in a blue box at the edge of town, which no one could open up. He claimed to have met ponies who were either dead or non-existent. He also would have a conversation with you, then later in the day would claim to have never had that, saying “I guess I haven’t had the conversation with you yet.” He also was a bit weird, at least in a lot of ponies eyes, because he was married to Derpy Hooves, who was a bit on the dim side. At least according to other ponies, I hadn’t actually talked to her.

Back to the conversation, I asked “Why, are you worried about Derpy? Or haven’t you met her yet?” That was a bit snide, but I wasn’t in the best mood.

“Why does everyone call her Derpy? Her name is Ditzy Doo, and I know she’s alright, I saw her a few minutes ago. And Apple Bloom, you need to not take this out on anyone except Rabil.” He said.

“Well Ah’m sorry, Ah just -” I started to say as my sight jerked from the taiga to Canterlot Castle again.

“Sir, our spies have located Princess Cadence, she’s in Stalliongrad.” The Commander’s voice informed.

I felt Rabil get glad with that knowledge, and ordered, “Tell them to apprehend her, and then bring her to Manehattan, at all costs.”

“Yes sir! Any other orders sir?” The Commander asked.

“See if you can get the Elements’ location.” Rabil ordered.

“I thought they were of no harm to you.” The Commander said.

“They can still lead a rebellion, and they are strong enough for that role.” Rabil said. “Now get going!”

“Yes sir!” The Commander said as he trotted off.

I felt Rabil get slightly irritated after the Commander left, and he took a walk out into the Canterlot Gardens. It seemed he appreciated the beauty of most of it, though I may be wrong. “WHAT AM I NOT SEEING?” Rabil roared at no one in particular, “I KNOW MY SISTER WOULDN’T BE THIS NAIVE!” He stopped himself and seemed to try to calm himself down, thinking he wouldn’t get anything done in his fury, which was most likely true. “Naqril, Naqril, Naqril, you hid Manouel’s existence from me, along with Aetius. Who are you hiding now?” He thought to his dead sister. An idea popped into his head, he wouldn’t be able to find Naqril’s plan alone, but he couldn’t share his power, the unfortunate mistake of his sister. However, he could delude someone into an alliance, and he knew just the right colt.

“APPLE BLOOM WHAT’S HAPPENING?” I heard Scootaloo shout.

“Wha?” I said, realizing a lot of ponies were staring at me.

“Why were you going all creepy?” Spike asked, earning him a shove from Twilight.

“What do you mean creepy?” I asked.

“You had a kind of fit.” I heard Doctor Whooves say, “You started talking to yourself, about Cadence, something with elements, and a sister.”

Everypony looked definitely creeped out, and I didn’t know what to say except for the truth. “When I left Zecora’s, and now, I started seeing what Rabil was doing, what he was thinking.”

“What? He could be spying on us right now! We need to get you away!” A colt said.

“I don’t think so, otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten this far.” Twilight said.

I just stopped to think for a minute while they continued debating over me when I decided something. “Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, we need to get to Manehattan.” I told them. “He’s capturing Cadence, if not already, and we need to intercept her.”

“What do you mean they have Cadence? No one knew she was in Stalliongrad!” I heard a colt’s voice say, turning around to see Shining Armor.

“Rabil’s spies found her, and they probably have her already.” I told him. He seemed to mull it over, and then finally came to a solution.

“Guards, form up!” He shouted. Instantly the guards came out of the crowd, and got into a row. There were 17, not including Shining Armor. Everypony stopped to look at what Shining Armor was doing. “Guards, we swore to protect Equestria’s leaders, and Equestria’s citizens. Princess Cadence is possibly currently captured, and we need to split up.” He turned to one of the guards, “Phalanx Spear, I need you to lead a team of half of us to Stalliongrad, see if they haven’t gotten Cadence yet. I’ll lead a team to assist the three,” He stopped, thinking what would be best to say, “fillies, in their mission to Manehattan. We move in half an hour, get yourselves ready.” He dismissed them, and Twilight walked up to him.

“Shining, are you sure it’s the best idea to -” She asked, being interrupted.

“Twilight, I swore a duty to protect Equestria’s leaders, and to protect my wife. We need to find her, and according to that prophecy, these three are the ones who need to be helped. If you want to stay here and dawdle over the moral dilemma of this, that’s fine with me. But you need to realize, along with your friends, that we don’t have that luxury right now.” He told her. She looked a bit shocked, and a little angry.

“How dare ya go and just take mah own sister, and tell us what needs to be done?” Applejack said, but Big Macintosh put a hoof in front of her.

“Applejack, right now a lot of ponies’ lives are on the line, if Apple Bloom is our only hope, along with her friends, we need to help her.” Big Mac said.

“I agree, even though it is, depressing, Equestria’s fate relies on Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. I personally vouch for Sweetie Belle.” Rarity said, to everyone’s surprise.

“The right path doesn’t always seem to be the right path.” I said, not knowing where I heard that. “It often covers itself with hardships in order to hide its true nature from those who would destroy it.”

“Sheesh, since when did you become an egghead?” Scootaloo teased. Others seemed a bit surprised by my bit of, philosophy, wondering where it had come from. But, Shining Armor seemed to not be interested.

“Come on, you need to help us gather supplies, Crusaders?” He said, not sure if that was what our group was called. Somehow that made me feel a bit happier, and Sweetie Belle replied.

“Sure, come on, let’s go!” She shouted enthusiastically. Scootaloo and I grinned and followed Shining Armor to where the Guards were getting supplies together.

“Captain, sir!” A colt said, I think he was Phalanx Spear from earlier.

“Yes Spear?” Shining Armor asked, confirming my theory.

“Your sister and her friends asked to come with us to Stalliongrad.” Spear answered.

“Fine, they can come, but make sure they know you’re in charge, not them.” Shining Armor said.

“Yes sir!” Spear said, proceeding to walk towards the spot where Applejack was along with the others. I was curious why Shining Armor was so insistent that he was in charge of this, and not his sister Twilight. But right now wasn’t the best time, we were helping pack definitely; the Royal Guards treated us almost like we were new members. They expected just a teensy bit less from us, but most likely very soon much more. And sure enough, in half an hour, we were ready to go.

“Alright, let’s go! The sooner we get to Manehattan the better!” Shining Armor shouted. He turned to me and said, “When you’re ready.”

“Let’s get going!” I said and we started heading in the direction that one of the soldiers had pointed towards.

Chapter Six

Rabil materialized somewhere that looked cold, and freezing. Dark clouds covered the place, and the snow roared by.

“Not another one of these.” I thought.

I heard Rabil think directly after I had finished, “The fool will blindly follow me.” Rabil walked into an icy cave, and when he entered a dark colt with red eyes greeted him.

“Emperor Rabil.” The colt greeted, having the slightest bit of envy in what he said. He didn’t have the same quality of Rabil’s voice, but it was somewhat similar.

“I am glad you decided to meet me, King Sombra.” Rabil replied.

“I am not a king of anything, because of those six ‘Elements of Harmony’.” The colt said.

“Well, I have a proposition for you, King Sombra,” Rabil told him, “I need assistance ruling my new kingdom, and I would like to take you as my right-hand stallion.” The dark colt looked suspicious, and inquired to his suggestion.

“Surely I cannot help you rule, you are a god.” He said.

“Yes, but you are the most similar to me; Discord’s methodologies I disagree with, but yours are quite agreeable.” Rabil said, easily concealing his lie. The colt seemed to mull it over, and finally decided upon an answer.

“Very well, I will help you.” The colt said.

“Very good, King Sombra. Right now, I must depart for Manehattan, but I need you to go and open the gates of Tartarus.” Rabil said, clearly glad he had manipulated the colt.

“I will do the task.” The colt said as he walked into the dark depths of the cave. Rabil went out of the cave back into the howling blizzard, and moved into the ground, melting away.

“You alright, Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle’s voice asked, jarring me out of my, I don’t know, I guess vision is the best word. We were walking through a forest, not one like the Everfree; the sky wasn’t obscured by the leaves, but I could hear animals in the background. I noticed I was on one of the guards, and got off. Shining Armor asked immediately about my vision.

“What’s going on with Rabil?” He asked, seemingly starved for information.

“Ah don’t know. He was someplace that looked cold; there was a blizzard, and the ground was made of ice. He went into a cave, and he talked to somepony named ‘King Sombra’, who agreed to help him. Apparently Sombra is gonna go open up the gates of Tartarus, and Rabil is headin’ for Manehattan.” I told them. Shining Armor stopped in his tracks, and Scootaloo accidentally slammed into his leg.

“Wait, did you just say King Sombra?” He asked, fear in his voice.

“Yeah, why? Who is he?” I asked. He started moving faster and we followed him, and he explained as he continued his gallop.

“About two weeks after Cadence and I got married, Princess Celestia asked to speak with us.” He said, jumping over a fallen tree. “She said that an ancient kingdom, the Crystal Empire, had finally reappeared after being gone for a thousand years.” I panted a bit, trying to keep up, and I wasn’t the only one. “She and her sister had used the Elements of Harmony to lock away an evil king, King Sombra. So when it reappeared, she asked us to stay there until Sombra would definitely not reappear. However, he did, and Cadence attempted to keep a shield up.” Why hadn’t I heard of this, one would certainly think it would be big news. “She couldn’t hold the shield forever, and Celestia sent Twilight and her friends to help us keep Sombra away.” We ran through a clearing. “He nearly regained it, but Twilight figured out a way to stop him just in time.” He finished explaining.

“Why haven’t we heard about it?” A guard asked.

“Celestia wanted the whole incident to be kept under wraps.” Shining Armor answered, not breaking gallop.

“So it’s bad then that Rabil is allying with this guy.” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah. And the sooner we - woah!” He replied, tripping over a trunk. It was kind of funny, and he said as he got back up, “Okay, maybe we shouldn’t go that fast. Steadfast Suit, get a letter informing Phalanx of the current situation to them now!” He ordered.

“Already on it!” A guard replied. It was ironic, the forest looked beautiful, the sunlight weaved through the treetops. The birds were singing, and the forest seemed totally ignorant to our presence, much less the events occurring throughout Equestria. “Alright, it’s been sent.” The guard said.

“What in the hay is Tartarus?” I asked, I thought I had heard the name before.

“It’s the place where all the ancient evil creatures are kept imprisoned.” Shining Armor explained. “The hound, Cerebrus, guards its gates to make sure they don’t escape.” Wow, that sounded really, odd. How interesting that because a giant dog just stood around, Equestria had been safe from certain destruction. But right now we needed to focus on getting to Manehattan.

“Alright, how much longer tuh Manehattan?” I asked.

“If I was to guess, probably ten minutes.” One of the guards replied. It would have been an interesting visit in another circumstance, Manehattan was the largest city in terms of population in Equestria. It also had the famed Equestria State Building, one of the tallest buildings in the world. But I’m getting off topic here, back to the forest.

“Then let’s get there in ten minutes!” I said. We started moving again, and I noted that the guards seemed unusually obedient to a filly, but then again, we were the ones whom Equestria relied on. Sure enough, within about ten minutes, we came out onto a hill that seemed tranquil, but it belied what was behind it. When we got on top, we were greeted with the sight of the metropolis. It didn’t look exactly how I had pictured it though, there seemed to be a lot of soldiers around. “Duh, it’s Rabil’s guys.” I remembered.

“Wait, how are we going to find the Princess if she’s being brought to a building we don’t know? She could be anywhere!” Scootaloo said. Shining Armor seemed to realize it, and visibly frowned, presumably thinking. The wind blew gently, then it turned up like someone had flipped a switch. A small vibration started under my hooves, and it grew progressively stronger.

“What the hay was that?” A guard shouted. I looked up at a distant mountain and there seemed to be a bright dot of red there, and the wind seemed to be blowing from it.

“Sombra must have opened Tartarus...” Shining Armor breathed. He seemed to gather himself, and said, “I think I know where Rabil’s taking Cadence. But we need to hurry. And I think I have an idea of how to rescue her.”

“And what might that be?” I asked.

“Looks like this is the place, alright.” One of the guards said, his name I think was Claymore Shield. It had been a bit unnerving, the guards had ambushed a patrol of soldiers and took their armor. We had watched, but it seemed different than Rabil’s killing. We were in a building overlooking Manehattan’s park, and we were watching out of a window, well it was more of an unfinished one, in an under construction portion of the building. A carriage appeared on a distant road, and Claymore made a gesture to one of the “soldiers” on the ground, apparently it meant, “Ready”. The “soldier” nodded, and gave a signal back which meant “Looks like our mare is here”. The only way I knew this is from someone explaining it to Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and I. Then, as we waited I heard a crash from upstairs. Everyone stopped and looked up, and someone said something.

“Scootaloo! You need tuh be -” A voice said, cut off by something. I was about to go up the stairs to that floor when the guard informed us.

“Looks like our guy is here.” Claymore said, and Rabil seemed to form upon the ground. A figure stumbled out of the carriage, an alicorn. It was Princess Cadence, escorted by several soldiers.

“Why hello there, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” Rabil said, his tone almost as if he was greeting a valued friend. The Princess seemed like she didn’t have much to say, and looked like she had been through the hay. Rabil turned to one of the soldiers, and said, “I trust she behaved?”

The soldier replied eagerly, “She didn’t exactly, but then we made sure she remembered the slut she is.” I had no idea what slut meant, but I could tell it wasn’t nice.

Rabil seemed amused, and asked the Princess, “Do you know why I want you?” She didn’t respond once again. “You think silence will make you seem tough? Very well, I will humor you.” He said with his casual tone. “I mustn't have rival rulers, ones who the populace looks up to and respects. However, I am not sure if you deserve the same fate as your fellow Princesses. I think that -” Rabil never finished his statement, because right then a bunch of fireworks roared over our heads. And they appeared to come from upstairs...

“What the hay was that?” Claymore exclaimed. Rabil seemed surprised, and didn’t stick around, melting back into the ground.

“Kill the Princess!” One of the soldiers ordered.

“Not today!” Shining Armor said as he and some other guards fought off the soldiers nearby, who were surprised that their comrades weren’t actually their comrades. Claymore and the rest of us descended down and Claymore took care of the soldiers in front of the building. Well, I thought he did. Because as soon as we rounded a corner a metallic blade was jutting out of his chest. Then, the soldier who had committed the deed started walking towards us. Then, my body moved almost instinctively, grabbing Claymore’s sword and thrusting it between the armor plating of the soldier on his neck. He died instantly. One of the guards ran over, too late to help his comrade, but he was surprised at me.

“Wow, kid. Just wow...” He said. I felt some form of guilt, but then another part of me told me he would have killed me, along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo jarred me from my trance, and gestured towards the center of the park.

“Looks like we’ve gotten rid of the soldiers for now. Apple Bloom, that was amazing, how did you do that?” Scootaloo asked.

“Princess is secure!” A guard shouted, and I ran over there, where Shining Armor was standing seemingly worried.

“What happened? Did they, rape you?” He asked, fear clear in his voice. I didn’t know what “rape” meant either. She nodded and didn’t say anything. Shining Armor looked both enraged and saddened, and pulled Cadence into an embrace.

“What’s ‘rape’?” Sweetie Belle asked, not knowing what it was. The guard who was next to us looked uncomfortable, and gulped a bit.

“Well, rape is when, how do I put this, a stallion forces himself upon a mare who doesn’t want him.” He stammered, probably not comfortable on explaining such things to little fillies.

A leaf fell from a tree in the park, gently landing on the road. It was starting to get irritating how nature seemed to be oblivious to the evil occurring. I smashed the leaf apart, and Scootaloo stopped me. “Woah, calm down Apple Bloom. We don’t need to -” She said.

“How can Ah be calm! This isn’t a calm situation! We’re just three young fillies, who are being forced into this! Ah just killed a pony, you know how that feels Scootaloo?” I shouted, demanding an answer from her.

“Well, I -” She answered.

“DO YOU OR DON’T YOU?” I demanded.

“No. I don’t.” She said, clearly intimidated.

“WHAT ABOUT YOU SWEETIE BELLE, DO YOU KNOW HOW THIS FEELS?” I roared at her.

“I don’t, Apple Bloom. Look, maybe you should -” Sweetie Belle answered, but I completely ignored her, and stomped off. It was too much, how could Equestria rely on me and my friends? How could it rely on me? I was just a filly that didn’t know anything. Eventually I didn’t hear any voices, and I was just sitting on a street corner, crying to myself.

“Why couldn’t have I just listened to Applejack?” I thought. I heard hoofsteps, and a colt’s voice spoke up.

“What’s got you down young filly?” He asked, in a gentle voice.

“Ah just feel like Ah’ve been forced into a situation I just can’t handle! And Ah feel like Ah’m a terrible pony for the stuff Ah’ve done.” I said, confiding in the stranger colt.

“You’re not alone there, little filly.” The colt said as he sat down next to me, he had a similar color coat as me.

“Really, have you been forced to be somepony everypony’s relying on, and kill somepony so they don’t kill other ponies?” I spat.

“No, but I was forced to leave my pregnant wife a while ago, because somepony threatened to kill her, along with my little baby filly, if I ever showed my face around my hometown again.” He said glumly. “I know too well the feeling of hindsight, and it haunts me still, should have I not listened?”

“Ah guess you make a good point.” I said.

He smiled weakly, and said, “What I wouldn’t give just to see my daughter, or my dear wife again. Oh, Pacific Rose, I miss you so much.”

The story sounded kind of touching, and I said, “Well, Ah guess if you can -” I stopped in my tracks, did he say Pacific Rose was his wife? He looked curious as to why I had stopped so abruptly, and I asked him, “Did you say Pacific Rose was yer wife?” I had to make sure I heard him correctly.

“Yes, why do you ask?” He asked a bit defensively.

“Yer name’s Golden Apple then,” I said.

“How do you know my name, and where are you going with this?” He asked, definitely curious about what I knew.

“Golden Apple, mah name is Apple Bloom, Ah’m yer daughter.” I said.

Chapter Seven

I couldn’t believe it, here in Manehattan, of all places! My father was alive, I felt joy momentarily, then I started to get mad. Mad he hadn’t figured out a way to come back. He seemed in equal shock, but was doubtful.

“Who are my other two children then?” He asked.

“Applejack and Big Macintosh, and there’s Granny Smith there too. Ah know she’s not yer child though.” I said.

“You really are...” He said, seemingly at a loss for words. In the distance I heard Scootaloo’s voice calling my name, but I didn’t care.

“How couldn’t you find a way?” I demanded, though I was honestly a teensy bit curious about his reasoning. Maybe if I figured out how adults thought, I might be able to deal with the situation more logically.

“Listen, the pony who told me this was some unicorn who looked pretty powerful. They even had the nerve to demonstrate their capabilities, and I couldn’t risk that.” He apologized. “Look, I know I haven’t been there for you for ten or so years, but what’s going on? Why are you here in Manehattan?” He asked.

I sighed and started to tell him. “There’s this ancient prophecy that predicted this Rabil guy coming, and it says that me and my friends will be the ones who can stop him, and only us.”

He seemed shocked for a moment, and then gave me a smile, which was to me ignorant. “Apple Bloom, if you and your friends are the ones all of Equestria must rely upon, then that is the case. But you don’t have to do this, I know that sounds bad, but it’s the truth. You can or can’t make a decision in any single second, and either choice is equally viable. The consequences are always the parts that come to haunt us, Apple Bloom. I am proud to know that you are my daughter, and if you have killed somepony so that other ponies aren’t hurt, so be it. You aren’t anything like Rabil because you killed somepony.” He told me.

“But he kills ponies like its nothing, Ah did the same!” I said.

“Yes, but look at you. You feel guilt over what you did, do you think Rabil has stopped to think about how many lives he’s destroyed? Do you think he feels any remorse? It’s an honest question.” He said.

“No, Ah don’t.” I answered.

“If you don’t mind, Apple Bloom, could I come along with you? I would like to help you as much as I can.” He asked me.

“If mah friends think its a good idea, then yes.” I replied. Almost conveniently, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle came into view, and ran up.

“You do not believe how long we have been looking for you.” Scootaloo groaned.

“Ah, don’t be so dramatic. We’ve been searching for her for only ten minutes.” Sweetie Belle said, then turned to me. “Who’s this?” She asked.

“To make a long story short, her father.” My father said.

Scootaloo seemed a bit surprised, but Sweetie Belle seemed to have something more important on her mind. “Anyways, Twilight and the others teleported here, and we’ve been looking for you to see what you think we should do.” She said.

“Since when am Ah the leader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I guess you just kind of fit the role.” Scootaloo said.

“Well, anyways, would y’all be fine with mah father helping us?” I asked again.

“Why not?” Scootaloo said.

We walked back through the streets where a lot more ponies were out. They seemed to have been rallied by the fight in the park, and were gathering around the group there. “I must say I am impressed, Apple Bloom. It seems they have rallied to your cause.” My father said. He seemed correct, everyone was staring at me and the rest of the Crusaders in some form of awe.

We got to around the middle and Big Mac’s voice said in disbelief, “Pa?”

Applejack looked over and seemed to have the same reaction, asking, “How - You’re dead!”

“I wasn’t dead, Jacky. I had my reasons why I didn’t return.” My father said, definitely remorse was in his voice.

“How dare you? Ma died thinkin’ you were dead, and Smith thought the same too! Not to mention me and Applejack.” Big Mac demanded.

“Macintosh, as I said, there was reasons why.” My father replied.

“What reasons? Ah’d like to know what reason would cause you to abandon yer family!” Applejack said.

“If I had come back, you would have all died. Someone said if I stepped a hoof in Ponyville you would all be dead.” He replied with a bit of temper.

“Uhh, not to interrupt this family reunion moment, but we do have a big problem.” Dash interrupted.

“Yeah, Tartarus is open, and the creatures are wreaking havoc.” Shining Armor said. With that, my surroundings abruptly changed.

The waterfall was tainted with the darkness, and Rabil found it quite beautiful.

“How much longer do you think this will last?” He thought to himself, but immediately destroyed the thought. Negative thinking led to negative decisions.

“What is your thought process behind leaving?” Sombra asked, Rabil could tell he didn’t mean it sarcastically, he was curious, for his own reasons.

“To give them a false victory.” Rabil replied. I could tell he was trying to think of a good answer. “Have you found anything from the archives?” He asked towards a servant he had created for searching through the Canterlot Archives for information on any prophecy.

“Nothing.” It replied in a monotone voice. Rabil vented his breath, and told the servant to continue searching.

“Sombra, take the creatures of Tartarus and regain control of the Crystal Empire. We need to look through those archives.” Rabil ordered. Sombra seemed to perk up at the order, eager to regain control of his old Empire.

“I will do so.” Sombra said, and headed off. Rabil seemed to ease up, and looked out from a balcony upon his new kingdom. I could only hope he didn’t know about the prophecy for as long as possible.

“Apple Bloom, what was that?” My father asked.

“Somehow she can see what Rabil is doing at times, it’s been of good use. Otherwise we wouldn’t have known where to find Cadence.” Shining Armor explained.

“So what’s happening now?” Twilight asked.

“He’s sending Sombra and an army from Tartarus to retake the Crystal Empire.” I said.

“Well, that’s just great. If he finds any records there about you three, we’re going to be in one big problem.” Dash said.

“Ya know, maybe we need to take a look at this. Us ponies alone can’t do anything against this guy.” I said, jumping on to the top of the carriage. “But maybe we can stand a chance if we gain just as big of an army that Rabil has.”

“What are you suggesting?” A pony shouted from the crowd.

“What I’m suggesting is that we get ourselves some allies. Maybe the changelings or dragons.” I said. Everyone seemed a little startled, and I don’t think they took it seriously.

“We can’t ally with them, they hate us!” A pony shouted.

“They’re not even like us!” Another shouted.

“I think she’s right.” A familiar voice spoke up, and a colt stepped out. It was Doctor Whooves. “Not just our land is at risk, but the whole world is. We can’t defend an entire kingdom from an army fit to take over the world. But we might be able to defend the kingdom with multiple kingdoms.”

“Yeah, except for the fact that the changelings invaded us half a year ago, and the dragons you can’t easily bargain with.” A colt said in the crowd. The problem was, both I and that colt were right.

“My guard will follow the three for as long as they need us.” Shining Armor said. “I don’t know about the rest of us, but a small group of ponies who haven’t been trained isn’t going to do much. Equestria needs help. And I will follow them to my death if need be.” The guards agreed with his statement.

Pinkie Pie stepped forward, and said, “You know what? I’m not letting that big meanie push us around like this, I’ll help you with the changelings!” Everypony looked disapprovingly at the pink earth pony, and Rainbow Dash stepped forward.

“Hey, I’m not letting that guy just overwhelm us, whether we like it or not, we need help! I am in!” Dash said. Ponies were definitely trying to not agree they needed to work with others, but they were genuinely not surprised by Dash joining in.

“That big, dumb, meanie killed all of my animal friends. I won’t let him kill any more ponies!” Fluttershy said as she stepped forward. Now that was surprising, Fluttershy wouldn’t do something if it had even the slightest chance of it being scary.

“He killed my mentor, and nearly killed my brother’s wife! This guy needs to be defeated, even if it means I have to ally with somepony who impersonated somepony close to me!” Twilight said, stepping forward. That was great! We would have possibly one of the most powerful unicorns helping us out!

“As much as it troubles me to help my sister in this case, I will do this. That, thing, is a crime against Equestria.” Rarity said, stepping forward. I honestly wondered how she would react when we had to trudge through places.

“Apple Bloom, Ah’ll help y’all too. Ah should have listened sooner, and right now it seems like everything is at risk.” Applejack said. That definitely meant something coming from her, she had so far been very hesitant about this whole thing.

“Is anypony else wanting to help, cause y’all can stay here if you want to.” I asked. I noticed Spike was with Twilight, and I knew he would help her if he had to take a bullet for her. To him, she was his family.

“I will.” A voice said, walking up. It was Derpy - sorry, Ditzy Doo, along with Doctor Whooves and their daughter. That surprised me, yet somehow I knew Dinky wanted to help.

“Does anypony else wish to come with us?” Shining Armor asked. No one budged. “Fine, let’s get going.”

Author’s Addendum

Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit empty, or rushed. I went through a mini-Writer’s Block, and pushed through this chapter because I know I could stop it by getting to the next one. But please, as I’ve said on my blog, please continue to comment on my story, and provide some advice for my writing. You guys seriously make me feel like I’m getting better at this, and I’m keeping my first three chapters the same so I can remember just how far I have changed.

The Author,

projectoma

Chapter Eight

“So wait, just how far do we have to go to get to the changelings?” Rarity asked, clearly having second thoughts.

A guard laughed and said, “If I was to guess, probably 500 miles.” Rarity fainted at this, and I wondered how long it would take before she went insane with the amount of things we had to do that involved getting dirty.

“Wait a minute, that’s gonna take a couple of months!” Scootaloo said. “He’ll be able to fortify Equestria in that amount of time!”

“Yes, but it’s our only shot. If we stay, Equestria won’t have any hope when we get captured.” I explained. We had set up a small camp in the forest nearby, and Twilight had made a magical fire that couldn’t be seen unless you were within a hundred hooves.

“Dang, I think the last time I was out camping in the forest was when I went through selection.” Phalanx said. “And that time, I was praying to Celestia that I would be not found by the trainers.”

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘selection’?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“The Royal Guard is some of the best trained soldiers in Equestria. It takes a lot to get in.” Shining Armor said. “They use selection to see who’s really fit for the job.”

Phalanx nodded and frowned, giving a sigh. “Claymore, you were a darn good guard. It’s a shame you had to go so quickly.” He said. Phalanx turned to me, and said, “Here, take this.” He got out a book and tossed it to me. “Never got a chance to write in it, he’d want someone to use it.” The book felt a bit heavy, and I set it down.

“Say, what else is in that book, ‘The Power of the Cutie Mark’ of yours?” Shining Armor asked. I grabbed the book, and went past the introduction. Why hadn’t I done this before? A few diagrams showed the hometown of the fillies in the prophecy, us. I turned the page and I a glimpse of something about Rabil, but I was interrupted by Ditzy Doo crashing into the ground.

“Sorry!” She said. “I just don’t know what went wrong.”

“It’s fine Mom, everyone makes mistakes.” Dinky said.

“Thanks, little muffin.” She said, ruffling Dinky’s mane. My father walked up, and noticed the bow in my mane.

“That was your mother’s, I think.” He said, as he sat down. “It looks good on you.”

“Thanks.” I mumbled. “Ah just wish Ah knew why this all has to happen, Ah mean really, couldn’t have he just been sealed away forever?” I thought aloud.

“I’m sure we’ll find out in due time.” My father said.
Pinkie Pie bounced into the clearing and said “Dinner!” Everyone was hungry, including me, which I hadn’t realized. Phalanx dove into his meal, which earned a laugh from one of the guards.

“I’m sorry, I just haven’t had anything decent to eat, because I don’t think of those rations as meals.” He said, and Shining Armor chuckled.

“Just don’t get yourself choking, little colt.” Shining Armor joked, and Phalanx Spear glared at him.

“What do you mean by little colt?” I asked, my mouth speaking before my muscles could stop it.

One of the guards explained to me, “Phalanx Spear here is the youngest to ever serve in the Royal Guard. He’s just twelve.” That was surprising, he didn’t seem to look twelve. He looked older, yet I noticed the size of him compared to the other guards was somewhat smaller. Twelve, by the way, was the age in Equestria when you officially became an adult. I think I actually had turned eleven the day before, but I didn’t care.

“Wait, why would the guard recruit such a young earth pony?” My father asked, genuinely curious.

“Apparently I have some very good defensive skills, along with good strategic ability. For example, I saw a way that the pegasi could have taken Stalliongrad back in the days before Celestia.” Phalanx said.

“You’re kidding, right? Stalliongrad couldn’t have ever been taken, the defense was too strong.” My father said.

“If the pegasi had softened up the defense, then surrounded the city, they could have easily overtaken it.” Phalanx said, “The reason why they didn’t take the city was because they were too headstrong and wanted to fight immediately.” My father looked generally impressed. He turned to me and got on to another topic.

“Well, Apple Bloom, I just want to say this. I am really impressed by you and your friends, you’re eleven yet you haven’t gotten Cutie Marks yet. But the determination and friendship between you has made you refuse to give up. That I have not seen for a long time.” He said. While it did make me feel happy, it still was embarrassing, I was nearly an adult without a Cutie Mark. That didn’t happen often with ponies, and Diamond Tiara had been more than happy to tease me about it, along with teasing Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

“Hay, I got my Cutie Mark about three months before I turned twelve.” Phalanx said. “But then again, your Cutie Mark’s gonna be much more important.” He grinned as he said it.

“Well, I’m out. Probably we should get some rest before we get moving tomorrow.” Scootaloo said.

“You know, it would be more advantageous to move during the night, just saying.” Phalanx said. Shining Armor hooved him, and got up.

“Maybe sometime soon, Phalanx. If you’re so eager to do stuff during the night, I think you should take up sentry duty.” Shining Armor said, walking over to one of the tents. Phalanx sighed a bit, and sat down, watching the forest. I went into the tent where Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and I were staying, and Sweetie Belle was already asleep.

“You think we’re gonna actually be able tuh defeat this Rabil?” I asked Scootaloo.

“I don’t know, Apple Bloom. But right now I’m pretty tired.” She said as laid down. “See you in the morning.” I tried laying down and falling asleep, but my sleep offered no solace.

My surroundings faded into view, and I immediately recognized it. It was Canterlot Castle, and it was dark, like it was the middle of the night, and no lights were on. I looked down and saw my own hooves, and I was strangely calm. Every instinct said to leave, but I decided to walk up the stairs to where the throne room was, and waiting there was Applejack and the others, and was that Celestia? A figure in the window talked, saying “Twists and turns are my master plan, then find the Elements back where you began.” It looked like the statue I had seen nearly a year ago in the gardens, Discord was it?

“What a fun essay that was.” I muttered, and all of the ponies stopped and turned to me as if they heard me...

“You... How dare you come here.” Rainbow Dash shouted, and I was confused. What had I done wrong? The doors slammed shut, and I started to get nervous, real nervous.

“Come on, Ah’m Apple Bloom, remember?” I said, trying to stop their gradual advance on me.

“Yeah, you’re the meanie who went and caused all this!” Pinkie Pie jabbed, her mane not its usual poofy self, but rather straight. What was happening?

“What did Ah cause?” I said, backing towards a window, I was prepared to smash it if need be.

“For one, I died because of you.” Celestia said, with a smile that did not look friendly.

“Angel died because of you!” Fluttershy said, with her normally shy face being replaced by one of hatred.

“Ah didn’t do anything!” I protested, they were maybe 15 hooves away now.

“You did everything wrong!” They all said in a deep voice, and I realized their eyes didn’t have pupils, and they looked bloodshot. I tried smashing the window, but it was as tough as a rock. As they slowly closed in, I started shouting.

“Help!” I exclaimed, but only an evil laugh replied to my pleas.
Just as they were about to get their hooves on me, a voice shouted “Apple Bloom, get up!”

“Apple Bloom, snap out of it!” A voice shouted as my eyes jerked open. Phalanx was standing in the background, and Scootaloo looked worried, really worried. I noticed it was bright outside, and I hadn’t had a vision.

“What was happening Apple Bloom?” My father asked worriedly.

“Just a bad dream.” I said as I got on my hooves.

Scootaloo scoffed, “Bad dream, it sounded like a horrifying dream. You were shouting for help, and you wouldn’t get up.” I walked outside, and most of us were packing up the tents. Sweetie Belle was with Rarity talking about something, and a question dawned on me that I had been too nervous to ask for a long time.

“Scootaloo, how come we never see yer folks?” I asked her, and she looked immediately defensive.

“Well they - uh...” Scootaloo tried to explain, but I glared at her, and she sighed. “Look, I don’t know my parents. I’ve grown up in Ponyville never knowing them, for all I know, my mother could have been Derpy.” I was about to correct her on that, and decided it wasn’t worth it. “I mean, you guys are my family pretty much.” That was a hard hitter, yet I somehow wasn’t surprised.

“Well, Ah’m sorry Scoot.” I said, and she laughed a little.

“What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything wrong, I mean I really don’t know what it’s like having parents, the only one here who can say what it’s like is Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo said, and I realized her and I were alike in that regard.

“Apple Bloom, could you come help me take down this tent?” My father shouted over, and I walked over. As I helped him collapse it, he bluntly said something. “Apple Bloom, look I haven’t been there for most of your life, and I don’t think I’ve earned the privilege of you treating me as your father. You can look at me just as a fellow companion with this whole,” he searched for the right word, “ordeal.” I realized I had been thinking of him that way, and it didn’t seem to affect me that much. It seemed that affected Applejack and Big Macintosh a lot more though.

“Look, yer still mah Pa, and what better time to start than now, but Ah think you should talk to Applejack and Big Mac about this more than you should to me. They knew you, Ah really haven’t since a day ago.” As we finished packing the tent into a saddlebag, he sighed a bit.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind, Apple Bloom.” He said and we walked to where everypony was gathering. Phalanx seemed to realize something and raced over to Twilight.

“Twilight, can’t Rabil just send a letter with a tracking spell to Spike?” He asked hurriedly.

“Don’t worry, I already have it taken care of. I actually blocked Spike from receiving any letters at all.” She replied, much to Phalanx’s relief.

“Is everythin’ ready to go?” I asked.

“I believe so, Apple Bloom.” Phalanx said, and turned to Shining Armor. “Captain, everything’s ready?” He asked for confirmation.

“Yeah, whenever you want to get going.” Shining Armor replied.

“Well then let’s get goin’, Rabil surely is takin; advantage of time.” I said, and we started heading towards where the map said the Changeling Jungle was. As we walked along through the forest, Twilight spoke up.

“You know, this reminds me of Star Swirl the Bearded’s poem, ‘The Land’s Heart’.” She said.

“Star Swirl the what now?” I asked.

“Star Swirl the Bearded, he was the inventor of anamorphic spell.” Twilight replied, expecting she was reminding me of something.

“Uh...” I said. Spike nudged her, and she seemed to forget about me not knowing about some unicorn who was apparently bearded.

“Anyways, the poem was written when he first came to Equestria, and it seems fitting.” She said, expecting once again for us to know. She huffed and said, “The poem went like this:

The land’s beauty is unfathomable,
The gentle hills become low plains.
The mountains stand in the distance,
overlooking the land.

How saddening it is to think,
That all the lush seen,
Can be extinguished with a the hatred of another,
From the will of different ponies.

How troubling it is to see,
That the difference of one’s appearance,
Can cause an entire forest to become frigid and cold,
Mirroring the souls of those who walked through.

How true it is to know,
That because of the differences of ponies,
That this land can become a wasteland,
Just like our first home.

How hopeful it is to dream,
That one day we might all agree,
We are all the same,
And we must treat each other as we treat our own.”

“That’s a poem? I thought they were supposed to rhyme!” Scootaloo said, and Twilight shook her head.

“Star Swirl the Bearded didn’t use a lot of rhyming in his poems.” Twilight said. Scootaloo was about to reply when Phalanx made a motion with his hoof.

“Stop!” He hissed, “Get down!” We listened, and I was going to ask why when that question answered itself. A voice was arguing with two others.

“Listen, I can be of real use to you, you should just -” The voice protested, cut off by a deeper voice that laughed.

“We have no need of a businesscolt that does backstabbing for a living. We can do it just fine ourselves, and we don’t need your bitch of a daughter to nag either.” The other voice said.

“Please I’ll do anything you want!” The voice begged.

“Shut this scumbag of a colt up for me would you?” Another voice said. A cracking was heard and the voice screamed.

“Shit, what do we do?” A guard asked in a harsh whisper, and Shining Armor replied back in the same tone.

“Sounds like there’s another, let’s take them out.” He replied. Within five seconds a few of the guards snuck forward, and one of the voices was talking to another pony.

“You won’t be missed, little filly.” It said, but then it shouted, “Who’s there!” The two voices screamed but stopped, and the guards shouted the all-clear.

“Who are you?” One of the colts asked the filly, who sounded like they were sobbing. As we walked over, Scootaloo raced ahead.

“YOU?” Scootaloo shouted, then I raced ahead, just to see Scootaloo hoof the filly in the face.

Chapter Nine

“Scootaloo what are ya doing?” I demanded as I stopped her, but she seemed to only want to hoof the filly once.

“Sorry, she really deserved it.” Scootaloo said. I turned to look at the filly, and it was Diamond Tiara. Now I saw why Scootaloo wanted to get a hoof in. Diamond Tiara didn’t seem to notice she had been hoofed, and I glanced over at the colt that had been killed. It was her father.

“Look, we need to keep movin’. Bring her with us, we don’ need her tattlin’ to Rabil.” I said, a big part of me wanted to leave her behind, she had tormented me and my friends for the past two-and-a-half years, yet I knew no matter how much I wanted revenge, it wasn’t the right thing to do. Scootaloo looked like she wanted the opposite and Sweetie Belle didn’t seem to say anything. Phalanx went to pick her up, but she hooved him away.

“Get your hooves off me you ruffian!” She said, getting herself up. Phalanx didn’t look happy, but didn’t say anything. “And just who made you Blank Flank in charge?” She demanded, and Phalanx spoke up.

“And just who do you think you are? Had us ruffians not done anything, your sorry ass would be dead. And she, filly, is somepony you ought to show a little respect too, we could have left you behind.” He said, and Diamond Tiara started to shout back, but he didn’t want to hear it. “No, you listen. If these three ‘Blank Flanks’ hadn’t existed, you wouldn’t even have had us nearby. So shut up and listen!” She didn’t look happy, but she decided not to say anything. Phalanx looked relieved that the whole thing was done with, and nodded. Everypony was shocked by his outburst, but he ignored it.

“Right, let’s get going.” I said, breaking the tension. We started moving again, and Sweetie Belle finally spoke up, asking a surprising yet good question.

“Why didn’t you leave Ponyville like we had said?” Sweetie Belle asked, and Diamond Tiara replied a bit harshly.

“Because my father thought we would be better off staying.” She said.

“Sheesh don’t need to be so uptight about it.” Sweetie Belle replied. The day seemed to pass by quickly and we found a small river to stay. As I started to help my father with a tent, my surroundings changed.

The sun started its fall and Rabil huffed. They hadn’t found the Old Guard since Manehattan, and it irritated him greatly. What were they doing? “What news do you have of the Crystal Empire?” Rabil asked, sensing the presence of one of Tartarus’s creatures.

“It has been overtaken, my lord.” The creature answered in a gravelly voice.

“Good, tell Sombra to find anything in that library that even mentions my name.” Rabil ordered.

“It will be done.” The creature said, leaving. Rabil walked out into the gardens, which had been, redecorated. Discord had stayed though, but as he looked towards where the statue was, he let out a huff.

“If you wish to continue your existence, I would recommend showing yourself Draconequus.” Rabil said, his irritation quite apparent. Seemingly emerging from a dark shadow, or rather being the shadow, Discord appeared.

“Oh come on, can’t you have a little fun?” The god of disharmony complained.

“What do you not understand about stay out of my way?” Rabil asked.

“Don’t say that, you after all made me to help you with that troublesome sister of yours.” Discord replied.

“My point exactly.” Rabil said, it was pitiful to him, the Draconequus looked up to him as a parent of sorts.

“You’re worse than Celestia, and that’s saying something.” Discord said, looking bored. Rabil smiled.

“Good.” He said, and then killed the god with a blade of pure shadow. “I like having that reputation.” He said to the dead Draconequus.

I suddenly transitioned back to the camp, where it looked like everypony else had gone and set up the camp, while Diamond Tiara stared at me like I was a freak. She was shouting, “Why does nopony else find a problem with this?” demanding an answer.

“Because they know what it is, Diamond Tiara.” I said, and she looked angry that they had no problem with it, I was obviously, in her mind, a lunatic. Scootaloo walked up and ignored Diamond Tiara.

“What’s going on now?” Scootaloo asked, and I knew she was honestly curious, and that she was probably going to tell the others.

“Rabil’s ‘friend’ Sombra retook the Crystal Empire, and he killed Discord.” I said, ignorant of Diamond Tiara. In the distance I heard Rarity scream something about mud, and Rainbow Dash laughing hysterically. Diamond Tiara huffed and sat down, looking unhappy to be there. Scootaloo walked over to Shining Armor and relayed the information, and I decided to ask a question that would seem dumb. “Why do you constantly tease me and mah friends?” I asked. Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes and ignored me. I walked directly in front of her, “Ah said why do you constantly tease me and mah friends?” I once again asked. She looked directly at me but didn’t say anything. “Hello? You deaf?” I asked.

She sighed and looked at me. “I am jealous of you. Of you and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.” She said.

“Why would ya be jealous of us?” I asked, wondering how in the hay Diamond Tiara could be jealous of us.

“When I got my Cutie Mark, I was initially really happy. But then, especially after my cutescienera, I started wondering how great it really was. I mean, all I got it for was practically being snooty, while you guys go and do all these things to get yours. I wish I was you, because I envy that sort of freedom.” She explained, looking embarrassed.

“So ya tease us to make yerself feel better?” I asked, already knowing the answer. She nodded, and I looked at her. “Look, we’re fine with ya, well, unless ya tease us. It just makes ya look like a jerk.”

“Really?” She asked.

“Ah am at least, Ah don’ know about Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.” I said, and Sweetie Belle chimed in.

“Yeah, I’m fine as long as you don’t harrass us.” She said, giving a smile. Scootaloo came and just nodded, not wanting to admit it.

“Say, whatever happened to Silver Spoon?” I asked. Diamond Tiara sighed.

“I don’t know, to be honest. I didn’t see her after they came.” She said. “Why are you in charge of this whole thing though?” She asked me. I explained to her the whole prophecy, and the strange oddity no one seemed to ever hear of it until us. When I finished she looked, awed perhaps? “Wow, so your Cutie Marks are really important.” She said.

“Yep.” I replied.

“But where is your group going?” She asked, “You certainly aren’t running away.”

“We’re headin’ tuh the Changeling Jungle tuh see if we can get their help.” I said, and she looked shocked.

“Are you out of your mind?” She asked, “They tried to invade us over half a year ago!”

“Yes, but the whole world is at risk here, a small group of rebels ain’t gonna do a darn thing against a huge army.” I said, “Anyways, we might find some of our Cutie Marks on the way.” Diamond Tiara looked away and seemed to be in thought, so I left her alone. I looked over to see my father talking with Phalanx about something, and my father did not look happy. “Whatever...” I thought. I thought of the book once again and pulled it out, then proceeded to go to a small tree. I looked at the page about Rabil, which was the same information Celestia had told us, and turned the page, to be greeted by my own image. I looked around, making sure there weren’t any distractions, and looked at it. The drawing unfortunately didn’t have my Cutie Mark there, saying it would be discovered.when I realized it.

“Apple Bloom!” A voice called, and I looked up, irritated by my distraction. It was Diamond Tiara, and I wasn’t sure if I was glad or angry. “There you are, look I just want to say I’m sorry for what I have done to you over the past couple of years.” She said.

“It’s fine, right now Ah’m tryin’ tuh read somethin’ here.” I said, trying not to sound mean.

“Alright then.” She said, walking off. Something dawned on me, and I turned back to the page on Rabil, and looked at some piece of information.

“...The being’s essence relies upon one thing, and one thing only. This is the reason why they will return, because the seal did not eradicate it. However, it must be cautioned, the destruction of the being’s weakness has the potential to devastate all of reality.”

“What darn weakness is this?” I said, this book was too vague. I tried turning back to the pages after the description of me, and they wouldn’t move. I tried turning it, but it seemed like it was a solid block of paper that was glued to the back of the book. “Aw hay.” I said as I put the book back, and walked over to where the fire was. Phalanx and my father weren’t talking anymore, but I could see my father glaring at him still, while Phalanx ignored it.

“You should have seen those two,” I heard Rainbow Dash say, and I turned to look at her, “They were really going at each other over something.”

“What were they arguin’ ‘bout?” I asked, curious. She shrugged, and Big Macintosh walked up.

“Got some apples for y’all. Found ‘em in the woods, they’re a-oh kay to eat.” He said as he put some apples out.

“Thanks, Big Mac, as I said yesterday, I despise rations.” Phalanx said.

“What’s so horrible about rations?” I asked.

“Well for one, their texture is extremely unpleasant, imagine sandpaper mixed with mud.” He said with a chuckle, “And they taste like, dried mud on grass that has been put into unsanitary water and then breathed on by dragons with extremely bad breath, no offense Spike.” He said, and Spike laughed.

“None taken.” Spike said.

“Then why do they make the rations?” I asked.

“They’re one the most nutrient-dense foods in Equestria.” Phalanx said, “So they’re last resort food, but trust me, they’re last resort poison.” He chuckled as he bit into an apple. “Still can’t believe Rabil was able to kill off Discord so easily, hay, it wasn’t easy for the Elements of Harmony.”

“Well from what Ah understood, Rabil created Discord to help him kill his sister, but Ah guess Rabil thinks that Discord would be a problem to his plans now.” I said. A guard seemed to realize something and chimed in.

“You know what I don’t get, who created the Elements of Harmony? Was it Naqril, or the other two?” The guard said. It was a pretty good question, nopony had explained their origin, and it seemed just to catch me. I made a mental note to write that down in that journal later. The grass rustled and Rarity walked up, looking irritated at Dash.

“You know you don’t have to make this whole thing worse, Rainbow Dash.” She said, “I still don’t want to get, muddy, if its not necessary.” Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to burst into laughter, but Sweetie Belle seemed to appear from nowhere.

“You know, this better not be like the Sisterhooves Social.” She said, that whole event being almost a year ago.

“Of course not, I mean, that was necessary, because you’re my sister, Rainbow Dash leading me into mud for a practical joke on the other hand, is not.” Rarity said turning to Rainbow Dash, who had started laughing again.

“Better get ready for the worst then, Rarity.” Phalanx muttered, walking off.

Chapter Ten

A few weeks passed and it seemed that as we left Equestria as we knew it, the only thing in our wake was the evil Rabil was spreading. There weren’t any weird weather changes, or it just being night, or whatever, you could just feel it, kinda like when you can feel you’re not going into someplace right.

“So then, Shining Armor here, finally decided just to hoof me over the head, instead of using his magic.” Phalanx said as we walked along. In the distance we could see the jungle where the changelings resided, but it felt like we were just heading back into Equestria.

“Alright, let’s go over our responses again.” Shining Armor said, but Phalanx looked at him.

“Trying to get off topic, are we?” Phalanx asked. Shining Armor glared a little and continued.

“So if we suspect that one of us is a changeling, what do we ask?” Shining asked.

“What was the Element’s connectin’ event?” I replied.

“And the response is the Sonic Rainboom.” Dash finished, obviously excited she had been mentioned, specifically her record-breaking flight speed.

“And what was the name of Rarity’s supposed diamond?” Applejack asked smugly, Rarity embarrassed at the mention.

“Tom.” Scootaloo said with a grin.

“And what did you like about that Smartypants’?” I asked Sweetie Belle, and I saw Twilight blush a little.

“Her mane.” Sweetie Belle replied a bit mechanically.

“Good, at least we will have someway of getting away in the case the changelings turn foul.” My father said, shooting a glare at Phalanx. What was going on between those two?

“Well, we’re less than a day away, let’s set up camp.” Phalanx said, the sun was starting to set. Twilight got out some of the stuff while Diamond Tiara walked up to me. She had somewhat become a friend with Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and I.

“Aren’t you nervous, Apple Bloom?” She asked. We had all been dreading this, because it could go either way. They could help us, or they could kill us.

“Course Ah am, but we gotta do this.” I said as I got out some of the tent parts. I had very little visions of what was happening with Rabil, but when they did occur, it was him getting more and more furious he couldn’t find anything about Naqril’s plan for defeating him. My father walked over and as he got out part of the tent cover, I asked him the question, “What’s goin’ on between you and Phalanx?” My father stopped and took a second.

“He’s a very, at least in my opinion, arrogant and selfish colt.” He said, “And I don’t understand why Shining Armor trusts him so much even though he knows that.” That was definitely something I had not seen coming, in my opinion, Phalanx was a pretty decent colt. He took time to listen to everypony’s opinions, and was kind to everypony. I thought my dad was the teensiest bit crazy.

“Why do you say that? He’s been nice to everypony and doesn’t seem like that at all!” I replied. My father looked at me with an odd expression.

“I’m leaving it alone now, okay Apple Bloom?” He said. I sighed and helped put up the tent and I walked over to where Twilight was, and she was discussing something with her brother.

“You’re positive your spell won’t make us stick out like a sore hoof to them?” Shining Armor asked, and Twilight responded.

“Well, unless they have a Changeling equivalent of me, I highly doubt that.” Twilight said.

“It couldn’t hurt to -” Shining Armor said.

“I’m fine Shining, why don’t you go talk to Cadence?” She replied. Shining Armor walked off and Twilight noticed me. “How are you Apple Bloom?” She asked, and I just replied with a look, to which she said “Okay then.” I decided to ask her something.

“Twilight, what do ya think is gonna happen if we don’ get the changelings tuh help us?” I asked. She frowned a bit, and replied.

“I don’t know Apple Bloom, but if we get to that, we’ll figure out then, we can only hope for the best.” She said. I walked off and decided to go to sleep, I was going to have a long day ahead of me.

I woke up and Scootaloo was tapping her hoof, seemingly impatient. “Finally, everypony else is about ready to go.” She said. I smiled a bit and got up and as soon as I got out of the tent I jumped as the tent collapsed. Twilight walked up and got everything into a saddlebag and gestured she was ready. Everypony else was looking around waiting.

“Let’s go.” I said, and we started hiking towards the jungle. It took a couple of hours and nopony said a word during it. We all were scared, although Rainbow Dash refused to acknowledge it. Fluttershy seemed to be determined, and hardly scared at all, but I realized that she wanted to get Rabil back for killing her friends. Everypony had their own reasons for being here, but they all were ready to die for the cause of killing Rabil. As we got to the edge of the jungle, Rarity gulped, but for a different reason.

“I have to walk in that?” She exclaimed, “It’s so, dirty!”

“Of course she’s scared because of that.” Scootaloo whispered to me. Applejack went and nudged her.

“Come on, Rarity, maybe you’ll find another Tom.” She said, laughing slightly. That seemed to break her out of her cleanliness trance and she scowled at Applejack. I started walking into the jungle, and it was tough terrain. Every hoof or so there would be a root, plant or somethin’ else. The sky was obstructed by the tall trees, and it felt warmer, and much damper. Animals’ chirps and cries were in the background, and I started to wonder just how wise of an idea this was.

“You know, much of this jungle is unexplored. Only a few ponies have ever come here.” Phalanx said in a harsh whisper. “One of the few books that was written about it actually is still in print.”

“What book is that?” Twilight asked, curious about one of her favorite topics.

“I think I read it before, it’s Joseph Coltrad’s ‘Heart of Dampness’, it’s a pretty interesting book. He was the first pony to ever establish recorded contact with the changelings. Think he was one of the few they liked.” Phalanx said. Just as he finished that, a branch snapped and we all stopped. A voice that sounded like a insect hummed.

“Prey, prey has come. Why has prey come?” It said. Then, a horde of changelings came out of the trees, and hovered above us. Shining Armor spoke up.

“We need to speak to your Queen. It’s of grave importance.” He replied.

“The ponies must have come to exact their revenge upon us.” One of the changelings said. Another one spoke up.

“They must want to kill our Queen, because she attempted to invade their land.” The other changeling said.

“He’s being honest, okay!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Right now, some really evil thing has come back to this world and is ready to rule all of it with his evil. It doesn’t matter if you’re not Equestrian, right now we’re all in danger!” The changelings seemed to take it in for a moment, and then started to laugh. Things were going bad quickly.

“And why should we listen to a little filly’s mare tale?” One of them said over their hysterics.

“They may actually be telling the truth.” One of them said, with a different voice quality than the others, it sounded more gravelly. The others stopped and looked at the changeling, who flied towards us. “Don’t you remember the group that came earlier to tell us about them?” It asked the others. What? How could have anypony else known we were coming here. “Queen Chrysalis herself has heeded their advice and ordered the group before us to not be harmed.” The changeling offered its “hoof” and told us “Come with me, the Queen’s been expecting you.” We followed the changeling through the jungle while the others flew along, watching.

“Why did they all stop and listen to this changeling?” Twilight hissed to Phalanx.

“I think that this changeling is a drone. The changeling species is predominantly female, and the males have a special role, they’re drones. They carry out the Queen’s rule. I think Coltrad mentioned them at one point.” Phalanx whispered back, the changeling either didn’t hear the conversation or didn’t care.

After a few minutes, we walked into what seemed to be a clearing, but the trees still covered the top somehow. What was in the middle though, was surprising. It was a giant cocoon of sorts, which was in the middle of a large dip in the forest floor. It seemed kind of odd, yet beautiful in its own way. We walked towards the entrance, where two changelings stopped us. One of them asked the changeling who had saved us, “Why do you bring outsiders?”

“They are the ones Chrysalis ordered not to be harmed.” The changeling replied. The sentry changelings acknowledged that and let us in, and I walked up to the changeling.

“What’s yer name?” I asked him.

“I am Drone Cocoon, and yours is Apple Bloom, and your friends are Scootaloo, the young pegasus, and Sweetie Belle, the young unicorn.” He said matter-of-factly. I was about to reply with a “nice to meet you” when I realized he knew my name. And my friends’ names.

“How in the hay?” I asked him, but he replied quickly.

“Chrysalis will tell you.” He replied. I realized we had gone underground and we went into a large hollow. “Queen Chrysalis, they are here.” Cocoon informed her as he bowed. Chrysalis looked up and for a second had a look of relief, before she saw Shining Armor. Then, she saw Twilight and Cadence. I could tell she was not, eager, to see them. Cadence looked not happy to see her, along with Twilight and Shining.

“Well, hello Queen Chrysalis.” Sweetie Belle said, just as she was cut off by Rarity.

“Sweetie Belle, you don’t address royalty like that.” Rarity hissed, but Sweetie Belle shoved her off.

“Look, we all did not meet each other on the best of terms, but right now we need to focus on the task at hand.” Scootaloo said. Chrysalis took the opportunity to speak up, and answered my question.

“If you are wondering why I was expecting you, I will cut to the chase. About three weeks ago a group of ponies came here, and instructed me that I was to hold an audience with you, that our world relied on it, and that there would be no harm to come to you.” She explained.

“Wait, they just strolled right in?” I asked.

“Of course not, my changelings initially tried to attack them, but one of them gave a, shall I say, quite impressive display of why they should listen. The unicorn was obviously very skilled with magic.” Chrysalis said, and I noticed my father frown. The unicorn did sound kinda similar to the one who had threatened him in the first place.

“What kind of magic?” Twilight asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Somehow, they were able to manipulate sections of the forest into flame without themselves being harmed.” Chrysalis responded, “But why are you here?” We explained to her the events leading up to our departure, and she seemed just as worried as we were. “If you are heading to talk the dragons, then I would recommend you take Drone Cocoon with you, so he can inform us of when you are ready.”

“So you will help us?” Shining Armor asked, seemingly doubtful of Chrysalis’s easiness with this whole thing.

“I will help you, our survival depends upon it.” Chrysalis replied. “I must recommend you leave soon, though. Perhaps Rabil is trying to get the dragons under his control as well.”

“Well, then, let’s go!” I said, but Chrysalis responded.

“I can teleport you to a colony of ours near their homeland, it will make your trip much shorter.” She said, and Twilight looked doubtful.

“That’s not safe! Teleporting thousands of miles can kill you!” Twilight said, but Chrysalis laughed.

“Not if you’re the equivalent of an alicorn.” She said and everything went black momentarily.

Chapter Eleven

“Woah!” I shouted as I hit the ground. I looked around and saw everyone else had been teleported as well.

“Well, Twily, looks like Chrysalis was able to teleport us thousands of miles.” Shining Armor said as he got himself up. “And she even managed to get us close to the dragon’s land.” He noted and pointed a hoof in a direction. I looked and for a second I thought I was seeing things, but I knew it was real. A massive mountain that looked like it dipped down into a valley loomed on the horizon, and it was covered at its peaks with snow.

“No time to waste, let’s go already!” Dash said hurriedly, as I got up I fell back down again, this time to another place I didn’t know of.

I was somewhere that looked oddly familiar, the design of it was kinda like Cloudsdale, but I’ve only ever seen it from a distance. Why was Rabil here, more importantly, where was here? I heard steps and I noticed he was walking up a staircase and then creatures decided to meet him. I realized they were griffins, and that he must be here for something from them.

“Well, well, looks like we have another volunteer for us.” One of the griffins sneered menacingly.
Rabil laughed, and looked directly at them. “Oh, I believe it’s going to be quite the contrary. Now show me to your king.” I knew he was dead serious, and but the griffins didn’t take his word.

“Come on now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way.” One of them said, approaching with shackles.

“It’s the hard way for you then.” Rabil said as he cast some spell that instantly knocked out the approaching griffin. “Anyone else care to try me?” He taunted. Three of the griffins charged him, but he sliced them with his blade. Only a few griffins remained on the staircase, and Rabil asked them, “Do you wish to meet the same fate as your comrades?” They gulped and shook their head. “Then show me to your king.” He ordered. The griffins led him through a marble hallway, covered with quilts that depicted ponies shackled together building things for the griffins. He went through a doorway, and on a chair sat the presumed king.

“Why do you bring a slave in front of me?” The griffin king asked, annoyed that he had been interrupted.

The doors instantly shut and Rabil walked up to him, “Oh I think you have our roles confused, my griffin.” Rabil laughed. The king looked terrified.

“Guards, kill this thing!” He ordered, but Rabil flicked a spell that seemed like a dark blade towards all of them, killing them.

“I am here for one thing, for your surrender.” Rabil said. The king looked mad and attempted to claw at Rabil, but he grabbed the leg and broke it, the snap filling the room. “You know what, I believe you deserve the best role for you, the lowest slave.” He said as he looked into the griffin’s eyes.

“I will never bow down to you.” The griffin king spat in defiance, albeit weakly. Rabil sighed in mock dissapointment.

“I was afraid you would say that.” Rabil said, and the armored colts appeared. “Men, take this man captive and once this city is ours, execute him publicly.” He ordered. The king tried to protest, but Rabil ignored him and walked out, in front of him the sight of hordes of creatures from Tartarus along with his own colts were capturing the city. He seemed to take it almost like good weather, but was irritated when he saw one of his soldiers running from the battle, towards him.

“My lord, I have something of vital importance.” The soldier said, panting slightly, his hoof holding a book. “This has something that relates to what you have been searching for.” Rabil seemed to momentarily spare the soldier’s life and took the book.

“Oh no, please don’t be another copy of my book.” I said, and Rabil opened it. He roared as soon as he saw what was contained in the book. It was written in some language I could only understand because Rabil knew it, and it contained a message to him:

Dear Brother,

If you are reading this, I suppose you have returned and are searching for my contingency plan, which I must applaud you on. For a being of evil, you at least have some intelligence in that you are actually not spending your time relishing your rule, but attempting to secure it. It is of no use, I am afraid, because my contingency plan has already been set in motion the second you returned. Enjoy your time here, because it won’t last long. I look forward to seeing you, Rabil.

Your sister,

Naqril

It seemed kind of like a taunt, yet written in a light hearted matter of style. Rabil didn’t seem to think the same about it however, and he blew apart the building where the king resided. “DAMN YOU NAQRIL!” He shouted, “YOU DECEITFUL HAG, YOU NEVER DESERVED TO EXIST!” The ground shook violently, and he looked towards the soldier, who I thought was scared, but I couldn’t tell behind his helmet. “INTERROGATE EVERY LAST ONE OF THESE ABOMINATIONS OF CREATION, IF THEY DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING, THEY DO NOT DESERVE TO LIVE!” He fumed, as his form melted into the ground.

My eyes opened to Phalanx who looked worried, and as soon as he noticed I was back, he asked urgently, “What’s happening?”

I replied immediately, “Rabil has taken over the griffins’ kingdom and apparently his sistur left him a note sayin’ he don’ have much time, and that her plan is already in motion.” Phalanx looked even more worried.

“Shit, he’s going to find us sooner most likely.” He said, and then he looked at me again. “Come on, we’ve set up camp.” He gave me a hoof and I got up. As we walked through rough dried out terrain, with seemingly near dead trees, I decided I wanted to know something.

“Phalanx, what’s goin’ on between ya and mah dad?” I asked. He seemed to feign ignorance, and asked a question back.

“What do you mean what’s been going on between your father and I?” He asked.

“You know darn well what Ah’m talkin’ ‘bout, you arguin’ with mah pa, and then him actin’ all hostile towards ya.” I replied, getting irritated.

“Fine, he’s just doubtful of my capabilities as a guard.” He said.

“That’s a lie and we both know it. What’s happenin’?” I asked, anger slightly entering my voice.

“Listen, right now’s probably not the time to talk about this they are waiting for us at the -” He said, and I didn’t listen.

“What is goin’ on? Why won’t ya tell me!” I said, now infuriated. He looked at me for a moment, and made whatever decision he made. Probably “Should I tell her or not?”.

“Apple Bloom, you have every right not to even acknowledge my existence if I’m going to say this.” He said. “I honestly am a bit sickened by it myself.”

“What do ya mean?” I asked, still angry.

“Apple Bloom, I-” He stammered, “I think I’ve fallen in love with you.” Everything seemed silent. He turned away, clearly ashamed. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it myself. For a moment I felt lightheaded, and then it went black.

“You gave me quite a scare there, Apple Bloom.” A voice said, and I opened my eyes to see a pony standing there, along with another. I was still in the forest, but the two ponies had a sort of glow to them. I looked and saw I did as well.

“Heck, you scared me as well.” The other pony said.

“Who are y’all?” I asked. The first one laughed.

“My name is Aetius, I am the Spirit of Time. That is my brother Manuoel, Spirit of Space. If our names are ringing a bell, it’s because we’re the two who sealed away Rabil initially.” The first one said.

“Why are you talkin’ to me? And what’s goin’ on?” I implored the two.

“Come with us, we’ll show you.” The second one said and gave a gesture with their hoof. I followed them to where our camp appeared to be set up. Everypony was standing still, and I realized it probably was because of the two. “This is about two minutes after you passed out.” The second one, wait, Manuoel, said.

“And why are you showin’ me this?” I asked, curious why they would be presumably pausing time and space because I passed out. Aetius seemed to almost hear my thoughts, and responded.

“We paused it because you have learned one of the truths that will occur throughout this whole journey, and a very important one at that.” Aetius informed me.

I scoffed, and asked, “What truth could be that important? That some grown colt in the Royal Guard that is probably one of the most disciplined in the world is attracted to a filly?” Aetius frowned, and replied.

“He’s only older than you by less than a year. And that’s not a lot, trust me.” Aetius said.

“It’s sick and wrong!” I said, not understanding how they could justify it. Aetius and Manuoel looked at each other and seemed to come to a silent agreement.

“Hear the argument before you make an argument.” Aetius said, and everything seemed to go backwards, until we were back to the night after I had found Diamond Tiara. Everything started moving normally, but nopony noticed me or the other two gods. Phalanx was sitting on a log, seemingly in thought when my father walked up. Phalanx took note of him, and greeted him. My father seemed mad, though.

“Don’t give me that load of hay.” My father spat. Phalanx seemed confused, and my father huffed. “I have seen the way you act towards Apple Bloom.” He hissed, and Phalanx frowned a bit.

“Trust me, I’m just as confused about it, much less sickened by it as you are, if not more.” Phalanx said.

“Hayseed, you can just go and think of her like that! She’s a damned filly for Celestia’s sake!” My father replied, angry.

“Yeah, and I was her age not too long ago!” Phalanx harped back, “Look, I don’t know why, okay? But you know what, I would be willing to lay my life on the line if it meant she could live happily!”

“Bullshit, you can’t possibly know what it’s like to love someone!” My father replied.

“Yeah, and when was the last time you saw your wife, huh? Hate to say it, but you might not remember it!” Phalanx replied.

“Don’t you dare mention my wife!” My father demanded.

“I’m sorry, but I am making a point. You just saw your daughter today, for the first time in her life! I know I may be one to talk, having met her just a couple of days ago, but I at least haven’t been going like a damned pedofoal trying to violate her, I would never dare do such a thing!” Phalanx argued back.

“Right, like you’re a damned alicorn!” My father spat.

“You know what it was like growing up for me? I was normal, albeit I never was interested in anypony else, then, six days after the changelings invade, I get a damned guard at my door asking if I would like to join the most elite force in the world! You know how horrible it would be to even think things that would be perverted towards her! I don’t know why, but I love her!”

“You know what, I have a deal for you, you freak.” My father said.

“And what might that be?” Phalanx asked sarcastically.

“You don’t say anything about the way you feel about her to her, and I don’t say anything about her to your comrades.” My father said.

“Fine, but if it comes to her becoming suspicious of something, don’t be surprised when I break under pressure. Because you know what, as I said, I would die for her.” Phalanx said. Everything paused again and started to move back forwards quickly to where our current camp was, but still it was paused.

“Phalanx is just as confused about it as you, Apple Bloom.” Aetius said, “He’s been forced into a situation, in this case joining the Royal Guard, albeit because it was a dream come true to him, and then he’s been put through something like this.”

“What my brother’s saying, Apple Bloom, is that he’s in essence no different than you. And I think that you deep down, whether you choose to see it or not, know that.” Manuoel said.

“Well why does love even matter in this whole thing, Rabil’s the thing we need to focus on!” I said.

“It has everything to do with it, because Rabil does not feel love, because he does not care about others, he is who he is.” Aetius said.

“But Ah’m not turning into Rabil!” I protested.

“But you will need that love soon.” Aetius replied.

“What do you mean, what’s going to happen?” I asked, now wondering.

“Can’t tell you, I’m afraid. Otherwise it would cause a problem in this whole mess.” Aetius said, “But right now, I’m afraid we need to change one thing, otherwise it will cause a problem with the continuum.”

“What problem? What are you changin'!” I demanded.

“We’re changing the flow of time momentarily for you, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle so that the instant you get up, you three are biologically twelve.” Aetius explained.

“WHAT! ARE YOU INSANE?” I asked.

“Good luck, Apple Bloom, and remember, he’s there for you.” Aetius said as I rushed into a tent.

“Owwww....” I groaned as I opened my eyes, passing out shouldn’t have made my whole body hurt like this. I remembered the two god-ponies saying they were going to age me, and looked to see that my body seemed to take up almost the full length of the tent. I heard two voices, they sounded like Scootaloo’s and Sweetie Belle’s except they sounded a little deeper, scream. I got outside and Scootaloo looked a lot larger, with larger wings, and Sweetie Belle looked larger too.

“What. Just. HAPPENED!?” Rainbow Dash yelped. Everyone looked at us three, wondering how the small three fillies just turned into grown mares.

“How did you three become grown up?” Twilight asked, terror in her voice.

“I don’t know, I was just standing here!” Scootaloo stammered. I decided to explain parts of what had just happened with me, pretty much nothing about Phalanx, and Applejack looked furious.

“What right do they have to age y’all into mares!” She shouted, seeming to expect an answer from them.

“Obviously something is coming that we need to be fully grown for.” Sweetie Belle stated, “Otherwise I don’t think they would just do that to us, especially when we’re trying to stop their evil brother.”

One of the guards spoke up, “You know what, there’s a good reason for this most likely, and we probably don’t know the full extent. So let’s just treat them the same as usual, at least in my opinion.” Everypony seemed to agree and dispersed, and I heard my father yelling at somepony, presumably Phalanx. I dashed over there to find them pretty much in a hooffight.

“You sick twisted son of a bitch! How could you say that to her!” My father shouted.

“She was the one who noticed it, it’s not like we were invisible with your glaring. And she wouldn’t let up either, trust me, I didn’t want to say it because I’m embarrassed that I could be considered a pedofoal!” Phalanx argued back.

“Both of y’all, just stop fighting.” I said, and Phalanx immediately stopped, but my father made sure to get a hoof to the face in. “Look, Phalanx, Ah don’ think yer a sick colt, Ah mean, even if Ah hadn’t had my age accelerated fer whatever is ‘bout tuh happen, we’re not really that different agewise.” I said, “Come tuh think about it, Ah think from what Ah understand, Ma was a couple of years younger than ya Pa.” My father stopped, seeing his own logic being broken down.

“Look, I’m sorry I said that to you Apple Bloom, you just kept on pressuring and pressuring.” Phalanx apologized.

“Ya have nothin’ to be sorry for, Phalanx. Hay, other than Scootaloo an’ Sweetie Belle, yer really the only other pony Ah consider a friend.” I said. “An’ you know what, Ah think Ah want tuh talk to ya ‘bout somethin’.” Phalanx stood for a moment, probably considering whether it was a good idea or not to talk to me about whatever I had in mind, and nodded. My father glared at him one more time before I walked over to the edge of the camp.

“You really don’t think I’m a sick freak?” Phalanx asked, seeming doubtful that I could consider something he could not himself.

“Well, Ah originally did.” I said, but explained to him in full of what the two god ponies had shown me. “Listen we can probably talk more on the trip, Ah’m gonna hit the hay.” I informed him, and he nodded, staying out probably to process what I had just told him. As I laid down, an odd dream awaited me.

I was someplace warm, definitely warmer than where the camp was. I looked around and saw large plains with the occasional tree dotting it. A river streamed by and the sky was clear. It seemed almost like a paradise, and I noticed some other ponies further down the river. I walked over, and there was a group of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi bowing before somepony. I looked and saw it was Naqril, who had them stand, probably trying to be modest. Standing off to the side was what appeared to be Rabil, with crossed legs, looking bored.

One of the pegasi asked the goddess, “”What is thy task, holy one?” Naqril seemed to blush a little, and responded.

“I would appreciate to teach the earth ponies somethings they can do with the land in order to make food.” Naqril responded, and the group of ponies looked like they were being shown how to become a god. The earth ponies walked up, and Rabil rolled his eyes, grabbing an apple from a tree. “Good, please go over there,” She gestured towards a flat area, “And I will be there momentarily, I must talk to my brother.” Naqril walked over to Rabil, who seemed to have no visible change in his expression.

“What are you coming here for, Naqril? Want me to teach the unicorns some magic while you teach the earth ponies how to farm?” He asked, sarcasm clear in his voice.

“Rabil, they appreciate you just as much as I.” Naqril replied. Rabil scoffed.

“Really? Then why don’t you have me go and teach them how to farm?” Rabil asked, seeming to know the answer.

“Because they are a bit scared of you Rabil, the way you act makes you seem, well, evil, and they trust me a bit more.” Naqril answered.

“My point exactly. No reason to have me around.” Rabil said, popping another apple in his mouth. “Look, I’ll see you later, okay?” He informed her, “I’m going to go see if there are any ponies interested in my help.” He walked off, and his sister sighed, and then turned in my direction.

“This is the kind of things that led to his corruption.” She said, now definitely talking to me. The surroundings changed back to the place where I had first met Naqril.

“Why am Ah here?” I asked, curious why I had been brought back here.

“For two reasons, Apple Bloom, one of which being explaining how Rabil became to be evil, and the other, the necessity of Phalanx.” Naqril explained.

“What do ya mean Phalanx’s necessity?” I asked.

“The love between you two will become a vital thing in due time.” Naqril explained.

“Why am Ah bein’ forced into this thing with Phalanx, just curious.” I asked, and Naqril laughed.

“You’re not being forced into anything Apple Bloom.” Naqril said matter-of-factly.

“Course Ah am! Ah can’t just stand and let Rabil do this!” I said.

“Exactly, Apple Bloom, it is all your choices that affect this, it doesn’t matter if a prophecy says you will do something, it in the end depends upon what you believe is the best choice.” She replied. “Choices made Rabil who he is, and choices affect our daily lives.” I nodded and she grinned a little. “I’ve kept you long enough, Apple Bloom. Best of wishes to you.”

The morning passed by relatively quickly, as Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and I were able to do a lot more.

As we started our hike, Scootaloo asked a question to no one in particular. “Why did we suddenly grow when we turned 12?”
“It’s a deep magical spell, that is unknown in its origins.” Twilight explained. “When a pony reaches the age of 12, they gain the body of them as a grown pony.”

“Probably was Naqril.” Sweetie Belle said. Phalanx had been quiet to say the least, hay, you wouldn’t even notice he was there unless somepony pointed it out. I flinched when I stepped on a sharp rock, but continued forward.

“How are we even going to do this?” Spike exclaimed, “We barely got out of a dragon place last time! We don’t even have any gems to offer them!”

“We’ll figure something out.” Shining Armor stated. I went over to Cocoon who was walking along with us, albeit farther away from most of us.

“Just how many ponies were in that group that came to ya?” I asked him.

“Around 11 ponies, though most didn’t speak.” He replied. Well, another mystery to be solved another day.

“Wow, Fluttershy, I thought you were scared of dragons.” Twilight said, and I walked over. Fluttershy seemed to be walking confidently up the side of the mountain.

“If that Rabil had Angel killed, I am willing to do anything to get him back.” She replied in a normal volume voice, which was unusual for Fluttershy. She really must be undone if she wasn’t her normal self. Pinkie Pie still had her poofy mane, thank goodness. It wasn’t good when her mane “deflated”.

“Watch out, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo’s voice shouted as I felt someone grab me, and my eyes turned down to see a large drop. As I walked backwards, I looked at Scootaloo. “You really gotta watch where you’re going Apple Bloom.” She said.

“Sorry.” I said, making sure to keep my attentiveness. It seemed we were about to start walking down into the valley. As we did so, Rainbow Dash looked shocked, and finally commented out of her stupor.

“Scootaloo, how did you fly that fast?” She asked, with a jaw that seemed to hit the ground.

“What do you mean? It wasn’t that far.” Scootaloo responded, confused.

“You were right there,” Pinkie Pie said, “And then you were right there!” She pointed her hoof to where Scootaloo was then to where she had rescued me. “You got there in less than a second!” She informed Scootaloo. Wait, what? Did Scootaloo just fly along the speed of Rainbow Dash, if not faster?

“It would’ve taken me a couple of seconds to get to Apple Bloom.” Rainbow Dash admitted, “But I would’ve been able to grab her before she landed.” She added on to make herself look good. We continued on, leaving me to wonder just how fast Scootaloo really could be.

Chapter Twelve

“I didn’t realize how fast I moved,” Scootaloo ranted on, “I was just focused on making sure you didn’t fall.”

“Whatever, Scoot. Right now we gotta figure a way tuh talk tuh the dragons without being made into their meal.” I replied. “What about ya, Twi’, is there anything on proper dragon etiquette?” I shouted over. She shook her head. “What about ya, Spike?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t really know, the only dragons I’ve met weren’t adults.” Spike answered, “And they were mean to say the least.”

“I do know of some stories from my fellow changelings about the dragons.” Cocoon said, “The only thing more important to them then their wealth is their honor and respect.” Huh, that was interesting. So maybe we to respect them alot?

“Well wait, can’t ya just morph into a dragon?” Applejack asked.

“Changelings can only morph into beings that are around their size.” Cocoon replied, sounding a bit amused at the thought. This place felt warm, but almost a bit cold. There weren’t any structures, much less plants, it all was just stone that dipped and eventually slowly rose up again. Where were the dragons?

“This is a bit creepy, there’s nopony here, do you think Rabil killed them?” Sweetie Belle wondered aloud, but I replied.

“Probably would’ve seen it like when he invaded the griffins.” I said. A small tremor nudged my hoof, it felt like something heavy had dropped, but far away. “Anypony else feel that?” I asked.

“Eeyup.” My brother replied, and I withheld a rolling of the eyes. Another tremor occurred, this time a little stronger. We all were looking around, waiting for whatever was heading for us. Still nothing except for us.

“It would most likely be best right now that I morph into a pony, the dragons are very, mistrustful, of us.” Cocoon said, as he transformed into a pegasus stallion. “Remember, I am Blue Angel.” I took note of it, but I still was looking for anything, any motion. Nothing, butt the tremors got slowly stronger.

“Where the hay is it coming from?” One of the guards asked, looking like they were taking up a defensive position. Shining Armor opened his mouth to respond, but something huge came out of the ground. It landed in front of us, and spoke.

“What is the business of ponies here, we offer no refuge from the accursed Enemy.” It spoke, and Twilight started to talk, but the dragon noticed us. Specifically Scoot, Sweetie Belle, and I. The dragon bowed, and then said with a reverence, “The Noble Three have come. Please, climb on, we must get you to the Wise One.” Everypony looked at each other as he lowered himself to let us on his back, a dragon was doing this? We gingerly walked on and gripped the scales so we wouldn’t fall off. As soon as Rarity gripped a scale, the dragon flew off, turning to the ground.

“What the hay!” A guard exclaimed as we braced ourselves for a crash, but instead, we were in a large hollow, miles wide.

“An Illusion spell...” Twilight breathed, “That’s how nopony finds them.”

The dragon flew down, and down, and down, I thought we must have been nearing the center of the world for how far he went. Ledges flashed by, some of them with dragons, others with mounds of treasure. A voice that sounded old, emanated from the walls, but it wasn’t, evil, like Rabil. “What brings you to my chambers, Brother Aegis?” It asked. We landed on the ground and the dragon took a bow. We got off before it would accidentally buck us off.

“The Ancient Tale continues its unfolding, Wise One, for it has brought us The Noble Three that the Tale foretold.” The dragon, Aegis, responded. Then, a pair of huge lights, lights the size of houses were lit, with their center being mysteriously black. I realized they weren’t lights.

“It appears your judgement was correct, Brother Aegis, The Noble Three appear to be here.” The Wise One spoke, “And we must continue our role in the Ancient Tale.”

I spoke up, completely nervous, “W-What’s the A-Ancient Tale?”

The gargantuan dragon’s eyes shifted to look where my voice had come from, and they seemed to warm up a bit, like a grandpony seein’ her grandfilly. “The Ancient Tale, Noble Apple Bloom, is a tale that was given to us eons ago, after the sealing away of the accursed Enemy.” The dragon spoke, “The Ancient Sages of old foretold the return of the accursed Enemy, on the half-year’s day after the invasion of the changelings to the land of Equestria. They also foretold the rising of the Noble Three, who would be the age of eleven years after their birth, and mysteriously twelve years after their birth near their arrival.” It sounded like the same prophecy I had, was it possible that the book was written by a dragon? “The Ancient Sages also tasked us with the construction of the Great Chamber of Their Trials.”

“What Great Chamber of what now?” Scootaloo asked.

“The Great Chamber of Their Trials, Noble Scootaloo. They are eons old, waiting for the Noble Three to enter, and only they. The Ancient Tale tells that a weapon lies within its core, the only weapon that may vanquish the accursed Enemy.” The Wise One told. I frowned a little, there was a chamber that contained a weapon that could defeat Rabil?

“Can ya help the rest of Equestria, Ah mean can ya help us?” I asked.

“Of course, Noble Apple Bloom, but first you must retrieve the weapon from the Great Chamber of Their Trials, for only with that you will earn our allegiance.” The Wise One said.

“Alright y’all, ya heard the dragon, let’s help the Crusaders with the chamber.” Applejack said.

“I am afraid that cannot be done, Element of Honesty, for only The Noble Three may enter.” The Wise One said.

“Don’ bother arguin’ sis’, we gotta do this ourselves.” I said, “Can we be shown these Chambers?” I asked.

“Brother Aegis, show The Noble Three to the Great Chamber of Their Trials.” The Wise One ordered.

“Good luck, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity said. Everypony else seemed to share the sentiment of hoping we’d come back.

“Come on, we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Scootaloo said, and looked at Sweetie Belle and I, and we silently knew what we were about to say. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER CHAMBER EXPLORERS! YAY!” We all said, giving eachother a high hoof. With the exception of the dragons, who seemed to ignore it, everypony looked at us like we had gone mad. But we knew that only we, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, were the ones who could do this.

The Dragon Aegis led us to what seemed to be a small door for a dragon, but a regular sized one for ponies. “This is the entrance to The Great Chamber of Their Trials.” He gestured as he bowed. Why were we so respected?

“Alright, Crusaders, let’s go!” Scootaloo said, and we all went through the entrance, only to have it slam shut behind us.

“What!” Sweetie Belle shouted, “How are we supposed to get out!”

“Those dragons must want to get rid of us!” Scootaloo said.

“Calm down, Crusaders, it was probably designed to seal us in until we found the weapon, in case Rabil was on our tail.” I said, and they seemed to see my logic. I looked around, the place was lit by torches that seemed to have a bluish flame, and in the center of the room I noticed a pedestal jutting out from the ground. I walked up to it, and it was, surprising, to say the least. Instead of being in some ancient language, it was modern day language. It read:

“Three ways lie ahead, three ways for The Noble Three. But take heed, The Noble Three, one leads to misery, and another to ridicule.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Scootaloo asked.

“Probably two of the ways are trapped or somethin’.” I said, looking around for the actual ways, as there were solid walls. Almost to respond to it, three entranceways opened up, the part of the walls that had covered them retreating into the ground.

“Anyone else feel like we’re in the middle of a Daring Do book?” Sweetie Belle asked, and we all laughed. Not at the fact Sweetie Belle was thinking positively, but that she was right. This seemed like a scene taken from a Daring Do novel.

“Anythin’ different ‘bout one of ‘em?” I asked, and we looked at the entrance ways.

“Doesn’t look like it, they all look identical.” Scootaloo said.

“Maybe we should split up, to see if we can find the weapon.” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“No, we’ve gotta stick together.” I said, and I decided to go through the one directly ahead of the pedestal. “Let’s go this way.” As we entered, the door once again sealed.

“Is this place designed to make us feel trapped?” Scootaloo asked. She did ask a good question. A violin started playing, much to our surprise.

“Who’s here, I thought this place was supposed to be empty!” Sweetie Belle said. Scootaloo and I shrugged, “Let’s see who it is.” We followed the noise to a chamber, where somepony appeared to be crying. In her hooves was a violin.

“Umm, excuse me, what’s yer name miss?” I asked. The pony seemed to ignore us.

“Didn’t you hear her? What’s your name?” Sweetie Belle asked, and the pony turned to Sweetie Belle.

“Well, well. lf it isn’t Sweetie Belle, the wannabe of her sister.” The pony said, “Tell me, how long do you honestly think it will take for any of your group to get their Cutie Marks, I mean, you’ve been trying for two years!”

“Hey, our marks are important you meanie!” Scootaloo said, but the pony ignored her. Sweetie Belle didn’t seem to respond, and the pony smirked.

“What, you realize that you aren’t worth a thing to your sister? What do you think will happen after any of your friends gets their Cutie Marks? It’s a bit obvious, they’re just going to abandon you.” The pony said, malice clear in her voice. “What about that time you tried a concert, they didn’t let you do what you wanted to do, sing, and then you ended up without your Cutie Mark. Not that it would matter to them.”

I tried opening my mouth to respond, but my mouth seemed binded together. I tried looking at Sweetie Belle who looked half on the verge of tears. “But they’re my friends! They wouldn’t do that!” Sweetie Belle protested.

“Oh really, what about Babs Seed? When you had the right idea, they completely ignored you, because they were too caught up on their own matters.” The pony said, “They didn’t believe you, somepony whose sister was a fashion freak.”
Sweetie Belle started to cry, “You guys wouldn’t...” She said, looking at Scootaloo and I, she seemed to not be able to open her mouth either. This seemed to give Sweetie Belle the answer yes, and she started to look over at the pony. I looked and saw dark shapes forming, covered in dark, tattered cloth.

“Come on, Sweetie Belle, do you really think I would take you in, you are just after all a pitiful, disgraceful, excuse for a mare.” The pony said, and I tried wildly gesturing towards the shapes slowly closing in. “However, I can open the doors, and you will be able to leave, while these two suffer for their cruelty towards you.” Sweetie Belle seemed to be appreciating the idea, but she realized the shapes were there.

“No, they’re my friends.” Sweetie Belle said, “And even if they’ve been horrible towards me sometimes, they haven’t nearly done what you have done within the past two minutes!” She started to look angry. “All I think you are is just a big, mean, bully!” The shapes started to close in around us.

“What are you going to do about it, Sweetie Belle? You are already doomed with your supposed friends.” The pony said, doubting Sweetie Belle.

“STOP YOU.” Sweetie Belle said almost melodically, and something emanated from her horn. The dark shapes were pushed back and she walked directly up to the pony, “YOU DO NOT MESS WITH ME OR MY FRIENDS!” Her horn emanated once again and the pony seemed to disintegrate into shadow. With that, my mouth seemed to be able to open again, and I looked at Sweetie Belle.

“You don’t believe what she said, do you?” I asked her.

“Of course not, you guys have been there for me when I needed it, like at the Sisterhooves Social, and I’ve been there for you.” She said, smiling. “And I realized that, and just wanted to show to her what she supposedly pointed out you repressed.”
Scootaloo seemed to be looking at her in shock, at her flank. “What’s yer problem Scootaloo?” I asked.

“She has her Cutie Mark!” She said, and Sweetie Belle and I looked. It was a musical note, though it seemed to have magic emanate from it. I started to have an inkling of what this place was designed to do. Sweetie Belle smiled even more, and looked at us.

“I’m glad I decided to stick with you, come on, we’ve a weapon to find.” Sweetie Belle said, and I noticed the door had been opened once again. When we came back through the doorway, another door was open, but the door behind us once again sealed.

“Well, I guess let’s find out what’s there.” Scootaloo said, and we went through, not flinching when the door shut.

“So if this place is full of trials for us, what do you think is the ‘misery’ one, because the last one was obviously ridicule.” Sweetie Belle said. I was looking around, this hallway hadn’t ended yet, what was going on?

“I don’t know, but I am sure I won’t like it.” Scootaloo responded. We turned a corner, and awaiting us was... Princess Celestia?

“WHY?” The thing begged.

“Princess Celestia! You’re dead!” Scootaloo said skeptically. Another figure appeared, this time Zecora.

“WHY?” The imitation of Zecora begged.

“Alright, that’s it, we’re going, Crusaders!” Scootaloo said, but Sweetie Belle and didn’t move. Why were they here?

“WHY?” Princess Luna pleaded.

“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, come on!” Scootaloo shouted.

“WHY?” Cheerilee stated.

“WHY?” Lyra demanded. More and more dead ponies came out and kept asking the question, until Scootaloo had enough.

“Alright, I’m sorry to do this, but here goes.” Scootaloo said, and then flew directly into us, with her hooves shoving us off. “COME ON LET’S GO!” Scootaloo shouted. We started running, and we ran past a fake Pinkie Pie, somewhere dissecting Rainbow Dash alive. Another scene, one of Fluttershy treating Rainbow Dash as a baby. More and more of the scenes appeared, but Scootaloo kept us focused, keeping us running. The entrance was nearing our sight, and it was closing. Before I could shout, Scootaloo kicked us, hard, forward, propelling us into the chamber with the pedestal.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle shouted as Scootaloo herself neared the door, and Sweetie Belle hummed something, and the door started closing much slower. Scootaloo noticed this and went through, and as soon as she was in the same chamber as us the door accelerated once again, closing within two seconds. I was looking in awe at Scootaloo, who noticed me, her face bearing a weary look and panting.

“Scootaloo, ya saved our lives.” I breathed, and Scootaloo grinned weakly.

“Well, I knew I had to get you out, no matter what. Right now we need to survive, Equestria needs us.” Scootaloo said, “If one of us had to die instead of all three, so be it. I had to make sure you were alright.” With that, a Cutie Mark appeared, this one depicting a hoof. What was that supposed to mean?

“Well, come on, there’s gotta be that weapon in the other chamber.” Sweetie Belle said, and I led into the last chamber which in the center had something, another pedestal, but it had nothing on it.

“Where’s the weapon?” Scootaloo asked.

“Look around, it may have fallen somewhere.” Sweetie Belle said, and we looked around on the ground, but nothing was there. For a moment, I thought that somepony had stolen it, but then I realized what the weapon truly was. It was the two Cutie Marks on Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

“Come on, Crusaders, we already have it.” I said, gesturing towards the exit, which could now be clearly seen. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked confused for a moment, but realized what was right on them.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay on these next chapters, Twelve through Twenty-Two, I have been buried in work and have been trying my darnedest to even get this written. I promise to have more consistent updates for both the rest of this story, and hopefully my future stories.

-projectoma

Chapter Thirteen

As we stepped back out into the huge cavern, Phalanx looked at us. “I presume things went well?” He asked, gesturing for us to follow.

“Good as it gets.” I said, following him.

“Well, right now Cocoon is attempting to convince the dragons that the changelings can be trusted right now.” Phalanx said, “It was a bit shocking to see, when he revealed himself to the Wise One, he nearly got set on fire.”

“Here we go again.” I thought as we entered where the Wise One was, along with several other dragons, who did not look that friendly towards the changeling. The argument between them stopped as the Wise One noticed me and the rest of the Crusaders.

“The Noble Three have completed their task of overcoming The Great Chamber of Their Trials, a sight I am most pleased to see.” He spoke.

“You knew all along what the ‘weapon’ really was didn’t ya?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“The Ancient Sages stated the true nature of the reward of The Great Chamber of Their Trials was only to be discovered to The Noble Three through their own actions.” The Wise One replied. I didn’t ask if he knew that I wouldn’t find my Cutie Mark there, knowing the response. “And now, I shall ask The Noble Three of their judgement of the changelings, and their worthiness as allies.”

“Look, we were invaded by changelings over half a year ago, not a lot of initially trusted them when we decided to go and see if they could help us, and some of probably still don’t trust them.” Sweetie Belle said, looking at the gargantuan dragon, “But right now everything is at stake, and Rabil’s actions won’t just affect Equestria. Right now, we’re all in the same boat, and we need to work together.”

The Wise One seemed to take in Sweetie Belle’s words, and finally chose his words. “Allow me a few moments to consider this, Noble Three, and their allies.” We walked out of the cavern and Phalanx opened his mouth, but he was cut off by the sudden change of surroundings.

The throne room had been completely redecorated. That was the first thing I noticed as I saw through Rabil’s eyes, surprisingly enough. The walls seemed to be a deep black, and the windows depicted Rabil and other scenery. The door opened and Rabil huffed quietly, and King Sombra walked up. “My lord, we have found no mention of anything pertaining to you in the archives.” Sombra informed him, the fear in his voice quite clear.

“Although this news is quite unwelcome, I do not place the blame upon you, Sombra.” Rabil said, as he got up. “It appears that my sister has had a contingency already in motion, ever since I returned.”
Sombra frowned, and asked, “What is the contingency?”

“I am not sure, but right now, we are likely to see it soon. In the meantime, Sombra, I wish for you to gather your armies, and make for Manehattan, we cannot allow a rebellious grasp to continue for much longer.” Rabil ordered.

“I just do not understand how a small amount of guards and regular common ponies could overtake such a massive army in the first place, my lord.” Sombra said, as he turned to leave.

“Nor I.” Rabil mused as he left, and thought once again, about the contingency being in motion when he had returned. “Wait, what did I first encounter upon my return?” Rabil thought aloud. “Those three fillies, and then once again at Canterlot.”

“No...” I thought, seeing his own discovery occurring.

“And they were thought to be seen at Manehattan, along with the guards...” Rabil said, realizing the obvious, or rather, the answer that he had multiple times in front of him. “How could I have not seen that?” He roared. “COMMANDER!” He shouted.

An armored stallion ran in and bowed, “What is the situation, my lord?”

“I must know about any group of three fillies from the former town of Ponyville, interrogate the prisoners now!” Rabil ordered, “Fortify our city’s defenses, along with the palace’s, and report to me immediately if you have any sighting of a group of three fillies, one an earth pony, another a pegasus, and the last a unicorn.” The commander dashed off and I could feel Rabil’s satisfaction at the discovery of us. “Whoever you are, fillies, be warned, your time is short.”

“What’s the situation?” Shining Armor asked as I came back.

I looked and immediately responded, “He knows about us.” I felt both relief and terror at that fact.
Fluttershy visibly became terrified and made an “Eep!” upon hearing that, and Shining Armor exclaimed over the cacophony, “It was a matter of time, guards.”

“Ah also heard there was some resistance in Manehattan still. Apparently it’s not under their control.” I said, and Phalanx said to Shining Armor.

“Do you think we should head there, if we can link up with them, we may be able to get into Canterlot, no doubt Rabil is fortifying it.” Phalanx said, and I nodded in agreement.

A dragon walked out of the cavern, and bowed to me and the rest of the Crusaders. “The Wise One has come to a decision, no harm shall come to the changelings whilst we fight alongside you.” The dragon informed us.

I blurted something out, something that would have most likely gotten us all cooked if we weren’t the three important ones. “Can we get a ride to Manehattan?” I asked. Everypony stared at me, shocked that I had said that, but the dragon nodded.

“I shall go and inform Chrysalis that she needs to bring our forces to Manehattan.” Chrysalis said as he flew off. Applejack and her friends nodded at each other.

“We’ll stay here, along with Spike, to help the dragons get ready.” Twilight said. Shining Armor looked at his men, along with Diamond Tiara, Cadence, and Ditzy with her family, not to mention my father, and Big Mac.

“The rest of you should come with us, Manehattan’s probably gonna need a lot of help.” Shining Armor said, and we got onto the dragon’s back. Scootaloo was grinning, and I thought one thing.

“Into the fray.” I thought.

Chapter Fifteen

“I won’t ask about the blue box.” Babs said, “Although I would like to know how you three are mares, you’re a year younger than me!” It had been a few minutes since the, tense, welcome, but the Crusaders and I decided to have a talk with the fourth Crusader, who seemed to have a considerable amount of influence over the other ponies.

“Long story, pretty much two gods went and accelerated us to the age twelve.” Scootaloo said. A couple of months ago, I would have thought she was insane, but things had changed so drastically the ridiculous was the ordinary.

“Huh, well I have been in charge of defending Manehattan since around the time you guys left.” Babs replied. “It’s actually my special talent, leading defensive things.”

“What?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“The day after you guys left, we were trying to get things put back together when the colts attacked again. My birthday had been a few weeks beforehand, so I was a mare, but still without a Cutie Mark.” Babs recalled, “But when they started attacking, I started saying where people should go, and when I realized I was really good at coordinating things and defending against them, I got my Cutie Mark.”

We replied with our own story that led up to our second arrival in Manehattan and Babs seemed to be, not glad, that Rabil now knew of our existence. “That’s great, that means he’ll probably be expecting you to come here.” Babs said, and she made a gesture with her hoof for a stallion to come.

“What is it Ma’am?” The stallion asked, giving a salute which Babs seemed a little irritated by.

“Relay that the changelings and dragons are on our side, and an assault may be coming soon.” Babs ordered, and the stallion dashed off. Babs took a look at Phalanx and looked at me. “Not to be teasing or anything, but I can tell that guard really does care about you, Apple Bloom.”

“And I will take that as my cue to leave.” Scootaloo said, and Sweetie Belle followed, and Babs gave a near silent sigh.

“How would ya know?” I asked, doubtful of Babs.

“Here, I can show you around here while we talk.” Babs said, gesturing for me to follow. I did, and she responded to my question. “Over the past few weeks I’ve seen plenty of examples, Apple Bloom. Believe it or not, that kind of care has saved a lot of lives, during that time. Not to mention what he did not too long ago, putting himself in danger for you, and not letting anyone else help.”

“Yeah, well Ah was a filly not too long ago remember?” I replied, irritated that she seemed to be on Phalanx’s side of this whole thing.

“True, but what is going on isn’t some Fillywood story either, Apple Bloom, by which I mean it isn’t like some star-crossed lover junk.” She rolled her eyes as she said it, “Apple Bloom, I know he has said this, along with others, but I believe that guard would give his life for you.” We walked past a fallen tower, which some ponies seemed to be using as an lookout.

“Ya said you’ve been attacked, Rabil had just said for the Tartarus army tuh attack ya.” I asked.

“Oh he sent several of his colts here, but we’ve been able to cling on to this city.” Babs said, turning to look at me. “But I think with your help we - Apple Bloom you alright?” She asked, and I started to feel the familiar shift.

Once again I was at the castle, and I noticed Rabil was holding some sort of amulet, which looked familiar. “My lord, the prince shall be in momentarily.” A servant informed him, and Rabil gave a smile. In the distance I could hear someone begging, and scuffling.

Finally, the door opened once again, and being held by two guards, was a unicorn I recognized as Prince Blueblood. “Here he is, sir. We found him hiding in the attic of the downtown donut shop.” A guard informed Rabil, and Rabil chuckled.

“You may leave us.” Rabil told the guard, and they released grip of the Prince, only for him to be held down by some shadowy thing. “Prince Blueblood, let me be direct. I am wishing to not kill you because you may be of some use to someone for once.” The unicorn looked terrified but nodded his head. “It involves benefit for the both of us, you see. On my side, I get another powerful ally, and you get to survive, something you seem to be relatively skilled at, along with abandoning your family.”

“A-A-And what m-m-might that b-be?” The Prince stammered.

“You see this?” Rabil said, gesturing to the amulet, and the Prince nodded. “This is the Alicorn Amulet, it gives the bearer great power, and I wish for you to use it.” Rabil moved in closer, and the Prince seemed relieved that he had such a simple task. “Do you accept this, Blueblood?” Rabil asked.

“Y-Yes.” The Prince replied.

“Good.” Rabil said, and put the amulet on him. “Oh yes, and one other thing, it puts you under my total control, just thought you might want to know.” He said with a grin, and Blueblood realized what he had done, and tried for once to do the right thing and get it off, but Rabil cackled. “As long as I will you to have it, it will remain.” Rabil laughed. The unicorn started screaming in pain as the amulet started to transform him. I realized it was the same amulet Trixie had a while ago, but it didn’t do that to her. Maybe it was because Rabil was so evil he could control it?

The former Prince morphed into something that looked like a deprived pony mixed with a changeling, and Rabil smiled as it spoke. “What do you wish for me to do, my master?” The thing spoke in a voice entirely different from Blueblood’s, this one much higher pitched, yet scratchy.

“I wish for you to find the three fillies that have been such a nuisance to me, and kill them.” Rabil told it, “And make sure to deceive their friends as much as possible.”

“Yes, master. Although I must say, one is watching this currently, specifically the leader.” If my eyes could open really wide, they would have right then. “Specifically they are experiencing it from your point of view.”

“What?” Rabil said, astonished he hadn’t realized it earlier. “Go now and find them.” Rabil hissed, and the thing flew off, and Rabil turned his thoughts directly to me. “If you believe your cause will prevail, I am afraid you are quite wrong. Enjoy your short life.”

“Are you alright, Apple Bloom?” A worried Babs asked as I awoke to Manehattan.

I looked up at her, and said, “Ah’m just dandy. Now that Rabil’s gone and transformed Prince Blueblood into someone who’s gonna hunt me down along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.”

“What else?” Phalanx asked with monotone, him not being within my sight.

“He knows about me bein’ able to see what’s goin’ on.” I answered, and Babs sighed.

“Well, there goes one of the few advantages.” She muttered, and lent me a hoof to get up. I took the hoof and as I got up I saw Phalanx over by the Doctor. My father was talking with somepony and Babs shouted something about watching out for anything that looked the slightest like Prince Blueblood.

I decided to look up at the sky, which had seemed to be ignorant of the darkness below, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a small spot that was too blue in comparison to the rest of the sky. I tried looking closer, and then a rainbow emanated in a circular direction, a few seconds later, a large boom roared past. “What was that?” My father asked.

“It’s Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo shouted, pointing towards the closing blue shape, rainbow trailing behind. After a few more seconds, the shape finally arrived, with Scootaloo’s prediction being proven correct.

“I...” Rainbow Dash panted, and then held a hoof up for a moment, “I came here to tell you, the others are on their way, but according to the changelings, there’s some massive army about a couple days away.” Rainbow Dash then slammed into the ground, passing out.

Babs stood still for a moment, and then shouted, “We need somepony to help this pegasus!” A pony rushed over and got Rainbow Dash on their back, proceeding to carry her away. “Get everypony in defensive positions now, I don’t care if they’re a couple of days away, or a few weeks!” Babs shouted and the ponies with the exception of my group started running around. “Big Mac, if you could help with building some barricades, that would be very much appreciated!” Babs shouted over, and he nodded moving somewhere. “Shining Armor, is it? Could your guards help us out with getting prepared?”

“I believe they can.” He chuckled, and the guards scattered.

“Doctor, I guess help with whatever you can, same goes for you,” She nodded towards Ditzy, “and Apple Bloom’s Father.”

My father replied, “It’s Golden Apple.” He walked off.

“Princess Cadence, could you help out with tending to the wounded?” Babs asked, and I just was amazed as she organized this all, it seemed it was her talent. “As for you two fillies, I’ll have Hammer take you somewhere.” A stallion went and gestured for them to follow, and Diamond Tiara looked back, with a seemingly blank expression.

“What ‘bout us?” I asked, and Babs mulled it over for a minute.

“Whatever you think we should do, Apple Bloom, I’m all ears.” Babs said, looking at me.

Chapter Sixteen

It had been maybe half a day since Rainbow Dash’s arrival, but half the city was already prepared. As we walked to a barricade, one of the guards that was helping out frowned as they looked through a binoculars. “What’s the problem?” Babs asked.

“I’ve got motion, it’s large, it seems that army was closer than Rainbow Dash thought.” The guard replied, and Babs immediately took action.

“Tell Vinyl she needs to get her surprise out.” Babs said, and a gray Earth Pony with a bowtie and a musical note Cutie Mark dashed off.

“Relay the message that they’re nearing their arrival.” Babs said to Rainbow Dash, who had gotten up not even a hour ago. She flew off, and Babs looked through the binoculars. Then, she almost hit her head as a voice that was too familiar spoke.

“Greetings, denizens of Manehattan, I come to you today with an offer.” King Sombra spoke, and everypony was frozen in fear. “We know you will refuse to give up your city, but, we can prevent you from being attacked.” Babs squinted, definitely suspicious of the offer. “Give the three fillies to us, and we shall not commence our assault. You will be granted your freedom from Rabil, if you give them to us. If you do not, however, we will make sure to raze your city to the ground.”

Babs looked at her fellow ponies, and they seemed to share the same sentiment. “Oh hayseed...” I thought, hoping I wasn’t about to mobbed. Rainbow Dash landed near us, and Babs must have heard something.

“Vinyl! Show these soldiers your surprise!” Babs shouted, and a unicorn walked up, I recognized her as the famous DJ-PON3, and she was pushing along what appeared to be a big amplifier.

“What is that?” Scootaloo asked, wondering what the hay the unicorn was doing.

“This?” The DJ said, “Ah, it’s nothing special.” She stopped, and I noticed there was a red button on top. One of the ponies gestured for me to cover my ears, and I did, wondering what was about to happen. “It’s just my BASS CANNON!” She shouted and slammed the button, and the four speakers on the amplifier moved outwards to reveal a big speaker. Then, after what appeared to be a big sound wave of the music genre wubs, that my ears barely survived even with my hoofs covering them, I looked and saw a significant chunk of the army had been knocked over.

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped, and she said in total awe, “So... Awesome.”

“We will fight for what is right!” Babs shouted, “We will fight for ourselves! We will fight for our families! We will fight for Manehattan! We will fight for Equestria!” The ponies gave a great cheer and the army started to advance. Babs turned to me, “Didn’t think I would let you down did you?” She asked.

“Wait for it, wait for it,” A guard said to a pony holding a remote. “NOW!” The pony pressed the button and an explosion rocked the frontline of the advancing army.

Sweetie Belle seemed to realize something, and started humming, and the explosions seemed to reverse, going back to the ground. Then it exploded again. Babs smiled, and said, “Didn’t know you could do that with magic.”

As the explosions continued stopping and restarting, I heard Phalanx shout, “We got fliers incoming!” And I looked up to see some of the armored stallions were pegasi, great.

“Launch the pies!” Babs said, and Rainbow Dash looked at her oddly.

“That’s not going to get rid of them.” Rainbow Dash said.

“I know, but it will blind them.” Babs said as a number of pies soared through the air towards the armored pegasi. Some of them flew to avoid them, but most stayed moving and were hit, and started flying in random directions, being indeed blinded. The ground rumbled as the still advancing army drew ever closer avoiding Sweetie Belle’s trap. “Everypony hold the line until they get within a block!” Babs ordered, and one of the guards let off a spell that blew apart a soldier or two.

Then, rounding a corner came another group of the soldiers, but one of them nodded at me. “Just stay!” I said, realizing who they were. The main group of soldiers didn’t seem to note the new group until they came in close. Then, the new group started attacking the soldiers.

“What the hay?” A pony said, and Phalanx laughed.

“It’s the changelings!” Phalanx yelled, and I was amused at the surprise of the soldiers as their “comrades” started attacking them. Magic started flying back and forth, both of the sides sharpshooters firing at the enemy’s main group. As the magic started hitting near us, we got behind walls. As a bolt flew past an explosion occurred right near me and I was ready to hoof the shadow that appeared, until I realized it was Twilight.

“Hey, what’s happening?” Sweetie Belle asked, barely dodging a bolt.

“Twi’ teleported us here tuh just give ya guys a hand, dragons are gonna be a moment.” Applejack said, seeing Babs taking cover.

“Pony down!” A guard shouted over the din, and I saw some of the changelings moving over the barricade, taking cover. I recognized Cocoon, who coughed and looked over at Twilight.

“How much longer?” He asked, once again wheezing.

“Just a minute!” Twilight said, and she went and created a shield, and her brother did the same. “They’ll probably be here around ten minutes.” She said, groaning in pain, probably holding up the shield took effort, and the magic being fired at it probably didn’t help.

A stallion covered in debris dashed up to Babs, and panted for a second. “They’ve broken through the Hoof Street barricade. There was something causing their advance to be covered by crystals.” Babs eyes widened and she gestured for the stallion to assist with defending here.

“Did he say crystals?” Shining Armor asked through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, why?” I asked, ducking as a bolt went through the window of the fallen building I was in, soaring over my head.

“That’s gotta be Sombra.” Shining Armor said, redirecting his focus on the slowly diminishing shield.

“We gotta go stop him.” I said, nodding towards Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Babs looked over, hearing me.

“Good luck, Apple Bloom.” She said, pointing a hoof in the direction of the Hoof Street barricade. The Crusaders and I dashed off in that direction, and as we turned a corner we were met with a squad of armored stallions.

“Hello there.” I greeted and as they tried to fire at us, the magic bolts stopped in midair, much to the shock of the enemy soldiers and I. I heard Sweetie Belle humming, and the bolts soared back towards the soldiers, who were then killed by their own spells. “Wow, Sweetie Belle, that was, I don’t even know what to say.” I said.

“Let’s just keep moving.” Sweetie Belle replied and we continued moving, and in the distance I heard roars. The dragons must have arrived, but they were probably focusing on the main force. As we ran along, I noticed a guard lying on the ground, and I went over.

His eyes weakly opened, and he looked up. He barely said, “Run...” before his eyes shut once again, never to open. I noticed he was half crushed by debris.

“Uh... Apple Bloom.” I heard Scootaloo say.

“What?” I asked, not bothering to turn around.

“We may have a problem.” She said, and I decided to turn around, and I saw one of the streets was blocked off by jet black crystals. Then, the others were blocked off. As Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turned to try and destroy them, they fell over on the ground.

“If it isn’t the ringleader of the fillies who have caused us so much trouble.” I heard a voice say, and I recognized it as Sombra’s. I turned to look at the source of the noise, and he was standing on the street, with an evil smile on his face. “Do not worry about your friends, they are not dead.”

I tried to charge him, but my hoofs wouldn’t budge, I noticed they were surrounded by crystals. “Do it then, kill me.” I said, with true sincerity in my voice. It had been enough as it was, and death seemed only easier now.

“That would ail both of our causes, Apple Bloom.” He said, his voice slightly changing.

“How dare ya - wait, what?” I asked, confused why he would care if my goal was harmed.

“I am not foolish enough to think Rabil will not kill me, and I know he must be stopped.” He replied, and I was definitely wondering whether he was trying to mess with me or was telling me some weird truth. “His darkness corrupted me many, many years ago, that is why I am deemed evil. Listen to me, I can’t hold on to this much longer, but no matter what you do, watch out for the ones you think are your friends.”

“Wha?” I asked, still confused. But instead of replying as he opened his mouth, his eyes turned a brighter red, and he became larger.

“Oh no you don’t.” I heard Scootaloo say as she kicked me out of the crystals. How had she gotten up? Maybe she needed to get up quicker, and her talent carried out the action?

“Insolent fools, you cannot stop the darkness.” I heard Sombra say in the original voice I had heard. I noticed a sword laying on the ground and made a move to grab it, only to be knocked backwards by a crystal that blasted out of the ground. “You will die, along with the rest.” He said, and as he swung a sword at me, somepony knocked me back.

“Not today.” I heard a voice say, and I knew it was the Doctor’s. I dashed for the sword, and before Sombra could even process it, much less me, the sword entered Sombra’s body. Scootaloo looked shocked from her position on the ground, and the crystals shattered.

“Doctor, are ya alright?” I asked, racing over to him. Half of his lower body had been slashed, and he was bleeding profusely.

“Look, I... I...” He said, barely getting it out.

“DOCTOR!” I heard Ditzy voice shout, and before I knew it the pegasus was right next to me.

“Ditzy... Listen to me...” He said, every word strained.

“You’re going to be okay, we’ll get someone to -” Ditzy said, but the Doctor cut her off.

“Ditzy... I’m going to be fine... But listen to me...” He strained, and Ditzy nodded, her eyes welling up with tears. “I’m... I’m not going to be the same... I’m going to be different... But remember... I love you.” He barely said audibly.

Ditzy was whispering, “No...” and my vision was getting blurry, even though the stallion seemed odd, he had become an ally. As I opened my mouth to say something, a great burst of light was let forth.

Chapter Seventeen

My eyes refused to be blinked as I looked on at the Doctor, whose body was now letting off light that seemed like an explosion, yet not. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sweetie Belle looking on, not comprehending what was occurring. I heard steps and Babs ran up, saying “Apple Bloom we...” She noticed the Doctor, “won.” After that, a last burst of light occurred, and where the Doctor had been lying a moment ago, a gray earth stallion now laid.

“What?” I heard Ditzy say, but almost as if to respond, the stallion got up, and started rambling.

“Oh come on, still not ginger!” The stallion said, almost oblivious to anypony else’s presence. “Gray, that’s new.” He said, looking at his hooves.

“Um... You alright?” I asked, a little worried.

“Oh I’m just great! Not ginger though, that’s a ripoff if I ever saw one.” The stallion said, continuing rambling on.

“Right, let’s just go and see how everypony else is doing.” I said, and I led the stallion along with the rest of us back to the main group, which looked like they had been through the hay. Everypony else looked a bit oddly at the stallion, and Phalanx asked something.

“Who’s that?” He asked, curiosity prevalent in his voice.

“I’m the Doctor, don’t you remember?” The stallion said, seemingly surprised. The stallion’s eyes turned over to the gray pony with the bowtie from earlier, and he asked a question. “Can I use your bowtie?” He asked, and everypony just looked on.

“Uh, I guess.” The pony gave him the bowtie and he put it on. He then noticed the stares.

“Oh come on, haven’t you ever seen a bowtie before?” He asked incredulously.

“No, you just look kind of...” Ditzy said, probably searching for words.

“Fantastic?” The stallion asked, eager to finish her sentence.

“Sure.” Ditzy replied.

“Great! Then it’s official!” He said, turning back to look at everypony else. “I wear a bowtie now. Bowties are cool!”

“Okay then,” Rainbow Dash said slowly, “Let’s just pretend that this did not just happen.” Everypony else seemed to agree, and decided not to mention the bowtie. I noticed there was a dragon watching the whole exchange as well.

“I think we need to start thinking about how we’re going to get into Canterlot.” Babs said, trying to change the conversation.

“Ah agree.” I said, and Babs nodded.

“If I could borrow a changeling, along with Shining Armor, and Phalanx Spear, I would like to get some strategizing going.” Babs said, and Cocoon stepped forward, along with the others. As everypony got off to start repairing things, and the like, I thought of what Sombra had said. What did he mean by that? I mean, one part of me said that he was just trying to confuse me, but another part knew that he was telling the truth.

“Something on your mind?” Scootaloo asked me, and I decided to reply.

“When Sombra was there, he talked to me for a moment.” I explained to her and Sweetie, “He seemed, different, like he wasn’t evil. He told me that Ah should watch out for the ones who Ah think are mah friends.”

“Well, considering the fact he probably wanted to kill you, and he stopped to say that, he might have been telling the truth, but right now I think we need to get some rest. We’ve been getting ready to be attack for a while, and then did.” Sweetie Belle said, and we decided to follow her suggestion. I laid my head down, but for once, something good awaited me.

I was in a forest, on a dirt path. It seemed to be a bright day, and I could hear the animals in the distance. I followed the point up to a familiar hut, and I recognized it as Zecora’s. As I walked up to it, the door opened, and standing there was the zebra herself. “Ah, do my eyes not betray me? Come in, Apple Bloom, you have much to see.” Zecora said, gesturing for me to come in. I knew this was a dream, but I decided to let things take their course, it was the only solace I had in awhile. “Apple Bloom, you need not be so quiet. What you believe is a dream, is quite the opposite.” She said, and I stopped.

“What?” I asked, not believing this wasn’t a dream.

“Apple Bloom, sometimes what believe is a dream, is nothing but a different reality.” Zecora said.

I decided to humor the dream Zecora, and asked her a question. “Zecora, what do Ah do?”

“What do you mean, little Apple Bloom? Everything shall be done quite soon.” She replied.

I sighed, and explained myself. “There’s Phalanx, who Ah don’ know ‘bout. Then on top of that, Rabil knows Ah can see him at times, he knows about us. And Ah’m not sure we’re even gonna be able to get into Canterlot!” I noticed my vision getting the slightest bit blurry.

“Now, now, little Apple Bloom, the answer is simpler than soup.” Zecora said, and I didn’t know what to think of the soup part. “Trust me here, you must realize your own thoughts about the guard Phalanx Spear.”

“Why is he so darn important!” I asked, demanding to know why everypony kept on saying that about him.

“You shall see in due time, little Apple Bloom. But for now, I must bid you goodbye.” She said, and in the distance I heard a voice shouting.

“Wake up!” I heard the voice shout. I turned to look at Zecora, and asked her something.

“Are ya real? Ah mean, this is a dream.” I asked, and she smiled.

“Of course, little Apple Bloom. That does not mean it is far from the truth.” She said.

“You are such a sleeper, Apple Bloom.” I heard Scootaloo say as I opened my eyes.

I turned to look at her, and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.” I apologized.

“Thought you might wanna come have a look at the plan we’ve come up with.” I heard Babs say, as she stood near us.

“Of course.” I said, and I followed her into a room where a map had been laid out, and Phalanx seemed deep in thought. Shining Armor and Cocoon nodded to us as we walked in.

“Basically, from what we understand from what some of the changelings have gathered, we’re going to have a hard time getting into Canterlot.” Babs said, pointing towards where Canterlot was marked. “It’s been heavily fortified, and ever since they learned the changelings and dragons were with us, they’ve doubled that fortification, and made sure to have counter-espionage.”

“Counter what?” Scootaloo asked, and I was thinking the same thing.

“Counter-espionage, measures to prevent spies from infiltrating.” Phalanx spoke up, not taking his eyes off the map.

“The best approach appears to be the most direct, the path through Canterlot’s main gates.” Babs said, and I frowned.

“That’s dangerous, can’t we go over the mountains or somethin’?” I asked, and Phalanx seemed to realize we were there, looking up at us.

“If we were to, we could not all make it, and second of all, they may be guarded as well. This way, we have a full attack force from the start.” Babs said, and I realized one other problem.

“What about Manehattan?” I asked, and she seemed to be expecting the question.

“Everypony’s helping us out, right now, if we don’t do this, we’re going to be living on borrowed time.” Babs said.

“Fine, then we oughta get movin’, Rabil certainly ain’t sittin’ around.” I said, and Babs nodded.

A few hours later, a few hundred ponies had surprisingly gotten everything together, and were ready to go. Not including the hundreds of dragons, and the hordes of changelings. The Doctor still seemed to be acting abnormal. When I had run into him, Ditzy, and Dinky, he was wearing a bow tie and top hat.

“It’s a top hat, not the best I’ll give you that.” He had said, “Still, it would’ve been nicer to have the fez, fezzes are cool.”

“Just trust me on this one, Doctor.” Ditzy had said, barely containing a smile.

“What about the TARDIS?” I asked, and he responded relatively quickly.

“I locked it up, we can’t fit everypony in there, and if anypony does find it, they won’t be able to get in.” He had replied.

Back to leaving, my original group started moving first, we were moving through a forest, following a dirt path, and I noticed that the group was a bit smaller than the last time I had seen them. There were now, including Phalanx and Shining Armor, seven guards left, the battle must have taken too many lives. “Apple Bloom, listen.” I heard my father say, and I turned around to look at him. “I... I really don’t know what to say about Phalanx.” He sighed a bit, “But you know what, in the end, it’s your opinion that counts, nopony else should try to make the call for you.” The thing was, is that I was still conflicted, on one hand, I had a near impossible task to complete, while on the other, there was something important about him. Both to me, and to some others.

In the corner of my eye I saw something purplish zoom by, and I asked Scootaloo, “Did you see that?”

“See what?” She asked, obviously not seeing it.

“Well, I think we ought to take a breather for a few minutes.” Phalanx said, pointing towards a clearing. We decided to, and as I took a step in, the purple shape from before landed on top of me, and I barely dodged a blade. It was Prince Blueblood, but he looked different. His skin seemed to be pulled over the skeleton, and its coloring was a blackish-blue. The thing growled in my face and as it took its blade out to try and kill me once again, I started to lift my legs to get him off, but Phalanx beat me to the chase. He tackled the former Prince over, and I rolled over, ready to help Phalanx.

Phalanx tried to swipe the blade out of Blueblood’s grip, but the Prince smashed one of Phalanx’s forelegs into the ground. The blade went down, but Phalanx brought himself up, bringing Blueblood to the ground. I started to run to help, but I felt hooves stopping me. “No! He’ll kill you!” I heard Shining Armor said. I knew he was right, but I couldn’t just stand and watch. As Phalanx tried to bring a hoof into the Prince’s face, a blade appeared through Phalanx’s chest. I escaped the grip of Shining Armor and hit the Prince’s neck with as much force as I could. I heard an audible snap, and he fell over, lying still.

“Phalanx, are ya okay?” I asked, for some odd reason dreading the answer.

“Apple Bloom, you need to go...” He groaned. “Just leave me here.”

“Sweetie Belle can heal you!” I protested, refusing to leave him here, and my vision was getting blurry, something I didn’t know .

“I can’t, Apple Bloom, it seems like that blade isn’t letting anything work.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Then Ah’ll -” I said, but he cut me off.

“Just go... If Blueblood’s dead, Rabil will know...” He said, through labored breath. I knew better than to take the blade out, I knew from a time when I had tried to get my Cutie Mark in medical stuff, that worked out well. But that didn’t matter.

“Why did ya save me?” I asked, wondering why anypony would sacrifice themselves for me. I was just a, I didn’t even know a word to describe it.

“Well, I know you have to stop Rabil... But I couldn’t let you die... I love you...” He said that, and with that, he ceased to move. I definitely was in tears now, and I whispered something that I didn’t really know I was going to say.

“Ah think Ah do too.” I whispered. Then, something moved and I snapped my head up. Everypony else was just watching me, and I could tell at least Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, who probably would deny it, were trying to hold back tears. Another branch snapped, and this time I knew it was from the opposite end of the clearing. I looked there, and a shape started forming.

“Very, very good work, if do say so myself, Apple Bloom.” A familiar voice said. “Although it is disappointing you weren’t able to help the one who loves you so very, very much.” It mocked the words it said, and Rabil himself formed.

I saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle try to get next to me, but they were knocked back by a shield of sorts. “What do ya want?” I demanded, and Rabil seemed amused.

“Oh it is nothing really, Apple Bloom. I am just here to warn you of the path you are taking, it may lead for others to have a, similar, fate, as your dear Phalanx here.” He said, with cheerfulness dripping from his voice.

“No wonder yer sister never trusted ya.” I said, and he instantly changed his demeanor.

“HOW DARE YOU MENTION THAT DECEITFUL, STUCK-UP, EXCUSE FOR A BEING!” He shouted in rage, and I smiled. Now he was the one being taunted, and unlike me, he was reacting to it.

“Why? Too afraid that ya might have been wrong about yer dear sister?” I asked, with a smug grin on my face, “That she might have actually cared about ya?”

His face contorted into what appeared to be similar to a feral animal’s snarl, and he replied venomously. “I was never wrong about my sister. She never let me help, she didn’t care about me. And unlike you, Apple Bloom, I can see through the smokescreen of lies.” With that he melted back into the ground, and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle dashed in.

“You okay Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked, and I turned to look once again at Phalanx, and I shut his eyes.

“Come on, help me bury him. He deserves tuh rest in peace.” I said, gesturing to Phalanx, and once again my vision became blurry. “Ah’m sorry, Phalanx.”

Chapter Eighteen

The dirt flew up from the ground with every hit of my hoof as I walked along. We had buried Phalanx not too long ago, and everypony seemed visibly shaken, even my father, who hadn’t been on the best terms with him. Unfortunately, I started to realize just how much of a good pony Phalanx really was, which only served to twist the knife. But something told me not to try to forget about him, I don’t know why. Scootaloo brought me out of my thinking, asking a good question. “Why would Rabil come here, I mean, he’s not that ignorant.”

“Maybe he needed something, like the Alicorn Amulet.” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Ah doubt it, considerin’ the fact he seemed tuh not really need it.” I finally said, abnormally fast, though.

“It could’ve been just tuh mess with yer mind, Apple Bloom.” I heard Big Macintosh say, and I had forgotten he was there. “Ah wouldn’t be surprised if that was the whole reason.”

I knew it was partially that, but there was something else, something I felt like I knew. We continued our walk in silence, and when the sun began its descent, Rainbow Dash stopped. “There it is,” Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof in a direction, “Canterlot.” Past a row of trees, in the distance, Canterlot was there. It seemed no different than the last time I saw it, until I noticed all the additional fortifications.

“How are we going to even get in there?” Spike asked with fear in his voice.

“Remember that the main force is going to attack it, which leaves us with an opening through the old crypt.” Shining Armor stated. We had gone over the plan dozens of times, and even though it seemed a bit daredevilish, it was the most likely to work.

“So that’s why we’re going on a mountain path rather than the main road?” Diamond Tiara asked, seeming sincere, something I wouldn’t have believed a few weeks ago.

“Pretty much.” I replied.

“I think we’re just about there... Yep, the stone is right there.” Shining Armor said, pointing a hoof towards a seemingly normal rock. I noticed it had writing on it, which I walked up to read.

Here is the point where those who have passed on, begin their true ascent.

I looked down at the main path, and after a moment, the preplanned signal for us to enter the crypt went off, the green flame illuminating the early night. Cadence walked up to a section of the wall, and started reciting something; “I am one who does not fear the gone, one who will not create unrest. I swear upon my honor and my head, never to disturb the dead.” She said, and a part of the mountain disappeared to show an entrance.

“Talk about creepy...” Scootaloo said, as we walked in. “Who is this crypt for?” She asked. Cadence replied to Scootaloo’s question, but it seemed to only bring more.

“It’s the Crypt of the Old Ones, only some of the Royal Guard, and all of the alicorns, know of its existence.” She explained as we walked past a crumbling stone coffin. “When Equestria was first founded, they discovered it within the mountain, and when the founders had died, they were buried here.”

“What about the thing ya recited?” I asked, stepping around a sharp stone jutting up from the ground.

“One second,” Cadence said, and she lit up her horn. “That’s the oath that unseals the Crypt, Celestia put it in place I believe. Though I don’t think she came here a lot. Hardly anypony does.”

“I wonder why.” Scootaloo muttered sarcastically. We found ourselves at the top of a ruined stone staircase, and we started walking down.

“These stairs go down for a while, though there are a lot of landings.” Cadence noted as we walked down, occasionally avoiding a broken step. “This one is by far the most intriguing.” She gestured towards what seemed to me like a door. “It was one of the few crypts found when the whole structure was discovered.”

Twilight seemed to take interest, and asked, “What’s so special about this one?”

I was fine with taking a pit stop, and nodded to Cadence, who answered her question. “This one is the only one they’ve never been able to open, much less fully decipher.”

“Now what do you mean, fully deciphered?” Scootaloo asked.

“The writing here is mostly ancient Equestrian dating from the pre-tribal ages, and we’ve figured out how to translate it, but these,” Cadence pointed towards some symbols, “have never been fully deciphered. There’s nothing similar in any known language.” I looked closer, and one of the symbols seemed to be a rectangle with an open end. “From what’s been deciphered by the few archeologists allowed in here, is roughly this: ‘Beyond this entrance, lies... to another... beyond our own... may only be entered... by those chosen.’ That is taking into account some of the chipped off parts, but the unknown symbols are after the writing I just told you.”

“Where’s the other symbol?” I asked, and Cadence pointed towards another section of the entrance. When I looked at it, it depicted something that looked familiar surrounded by some glowy thing. I realized where I had seen the symbol, and what they meant. “Is there anythin’ that seems like a mechanism near here?”

“Just two circles which seem like platforms,” She gestured, “But nopony knows their purpose.”

“We should probably get moving, just saying.” Rainbow Dash reminded us, but I replied to her a bit harsher than I would have liked to.

“Just wait a minute!” I responded, “Scootaloo, stand on that one. Sweetie Belle, stand on the other.” They both nodded and walked over, standing in their respective spots.

“Are you thinking it’s designed for you three?” Shining Armor asked, seeming genuinely curious.

“Maybe. Guess we’re ‘bout tuh see.” I responded, and looked at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “Scootaloo, try, Ah don’t know, focusing on opening the door.”

“I’m not a unicorn, you know.” Scootaloo said, seeming to be a bit doubtful.

“Just do it.” I replied, and she huffed a bit, and closed her eyes. “Sweetie Belle, sing somethin’ fitting, like if ya were to make a film of this.” She seemed to have the same reaction as Scootaloo, but she didn’t reply, proceeding to hum something.

“Well, we’re just standing here, while the others are probably getting slaughtered.” A guard reminded us, but I looked at him.

“Just wait a minute.” For a second, I saw something, a flicker of light from around the two circles but it seemed to move towards the wall, specifically the symbols. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then it seemed like the ground itself was inhaling, and the door shifted downwards. Waiting for us wasn’t some other worldly portal that I had been slightly expecting, but a simple room, with a chest in the center.

“Okay then, ancient crypt designed to be opened by three fillies who are supposed to defeat some ancient evil god, somehow, I’m not surprised.” Another guard said, but Shining glared at him. “Hay, it’s true.”

I walked towards the chest, and the ground felt smooth, entirely different from the ground outside this particular room. I opened up the chest and waiting there was a piece of paper. “A piece of paper!” Scootaloo said in disbelief, I hadn’t noticed she had walked up as well. “I thought it would be like some weapon or something!”

I picked up the paper, and on it simple text read:

“Not all that appears corrupted is evil, and not all that appears pure is good.”

Now what in the hay was that supposed to mean? It seemed like now instead of specific details, I was getting vague hints at things. “Let’s just get going.” I grumbled as I started walking down the stairs, but a second I thought I heard somepony’s voice say something.

“It’s right you know.” It seemed like my conscious was talking to me, but I just kept on moving. Eventually after a few more landings, we reached a main floor.

“This is it, the entrance into Canterlot is right through here.” Cadence said, and Shining Armor looked over at his remaining guards.

“Helmet, Dagger, guard this entrance, we may need to use it.” Shining ordered, and they snapped off a salute. Cadence used a spell to shift the door open, and as we walked out we were indeed in the middle of Canterlot. Then I realized a whole bunch of armored stallions were standing there, seeming to expect us.

“Looks like your journey is at its end.” I heard Rabil cackle.

Chapter Nineteen

My first instinct was to turn around and run back through the entrance, but as I did that, the two guards who Shining had sent to make sure we had a way out, but the two stopped me. “Let me through!” I demanded but they ignored me, swerving a hoof into my face.

“Tut, tut, Apple Bloom. You aren’t in charge anymore.” Rabil said with clear amusement.

“GUARDS, LET US THROUGH!” Shining Armor roared at the two, but he was grabbed by some of the stallions.

“Did you really think that your guards were yours, Shining?” Rabil asked, as if he was taunting a foal. I remembered Sombra’s words, and the words I had read not too long ago, they must have been referring to this.

“You’ll never take us!” I heard Scootaloo shout, but I heard a slam, and through hazy vision I saw her lying on the ground.

“I must say, your resistance to impossible odds is quite admirable.” Rabil said, almost as if judging someone in a contest. “But it is foolish to try to get yourself killed this way, Scootaloo.”

“You bastard.” I heard my father say, and Rabil laughed.

“Considering you are the one who abandoned their daughter, I’d say you’re as much of one as I am.” Rabil said, “Guards, take these, things, along with our two friends here to the castle cells.”

“Get up, farmmare.” I heard a stallion say as he slammed a hoof into my chest. I was semi-conscious, and they dragged me along into an area that was dark and then they kicked me into a cell, slamming the door. At that point, I passed out.

As my eyes opened my head hurt bad, and it felt a bit painful to breathe. “Apple Bloom!” Applejack called over, and I looked at her through the cell bars. “Thanks goodness yer not dead.”

“What happened?” I asked, wondering how they knew we would be there, and why some of the guards betrayed us.

“It seems like Helmet and Dagger had defected at some point to Rabil, and they had warned him we were coming.” I heard Shining Armor say, and I heard a growl at that statement from one of the other cells.

I didn’t know really what to do. It seemed all over, I was captured, along with everypony else, and he would probably kill us all, if not, then probably the Crusaders and I. A door opened and I saw a few guards dragging along another pony, who seemed to be struggling. “Let go of me, you damned colts!” The voice growled, and they were thrown into a cell.

“Babs, ya alright?” I asked as the door was slammed shut once again.

“I’m okay, I can’t be sure for the rest of us, they ambushed and captured me, and killed the others with me.” She responded.

“Wait, Twilight, can’t you just magic us out of here?” Scootaloo asked from a cell I couldn’t see.

“The cells are magic-proofed, I couldn’t do anything even if I was forced to.” Her voice responded.

I just laid my head on the rough ground then, it was all over. Nopony could stop the madcolt that would rule with an iron hoof, and terrorize everypony. “Ah just wish this was a bad dream.” I sobbed quietly, “Ah just wish Ah could wake up, and it would just be another day.” My mind remembered the cheerfulness before this all started, and it seemed like being a blank flank would be the preferable alternative to this. I thought of when I had gone with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to Fluttershy’s, how she had saved us. Then the concert we had done, and had unintentionally gotten the comedy award. Then, when he had gone around, asking about how ponies had gotten their Cutie Marks, Applejack realizing her home was at the farm, how Fluttershy had fallen and been saved by butterflies, Rarity finding a rock filled with jewels, Pinkie Pie smiling on a rock farm, and Rainbow Dash winning a race. “Why can’t mah life be so simple?” I muttered.

“The right path doesn’t always seem to be the right path.” A part of my mind said, and I stopped. Part of me didn’t want to listen to what I knew the rest would be, but another knew it was needed. “It often covers itself with hardships in order to hide its true nature from those who would destroy it.”

“But why me? Ah’m not that special! Hay, that prophecy was barely known!” I thought in retaliation.

“Zecora sacrificed herself for you, because she knew you could stop this madcolt.” It responded seemingly calm.

“Yeah but -” I tried argue back, but my conscious cut me off.

“The Doctor nearly died for you, not to mention Phalanx.” It reminded me.

“They didn’t mean that!” I argued. It was a bit odd, nopony else knew this internal conflict was happening.

“They did, Apple Bloom, and you know that. Right now, if you were to go, and not try to stop him, you would be disrespecting their deaths.” My conscious responded.

“But Ah just can’t do this, Ah’m not even really a mare!” I thought back.

“Apple Bloom, you are much more than a mare to a lot of ponies, why else would Phalanx try to protect you?” My conscious asked, “Why would he love somepony like you?”

“Ah don’t know, ask him! Oh, wait, he’s dead, because of me!” I shot back.

“Apple Bloom, he’s not dead because of you, he’s dead because of the thing upstairs, you never did a single thing to help kill him.” It said, “Now stop what you’re doing and take the mantle. You’re the only pony everypony is relying on. Now go and find a way to get out of here and march upstairs, and kill that son of a mule.”

I knew that part of me was right, and I changed my outlook. “Think, Apple Bloom, there’s gotta be someway.” I then thought of Pinkie Pie’s story, she worked on a rock farm, of course! “Pinkie, ya know how the floor’s made of stones?” I whisper-shouted over.

“Yeah, why?” I heard Pinkie say, but she sounded real depressed, and I knew her mane had probably “deflated”.

“Can ya get a stone out of the floor?” I replied, and she was silent for a moment.

“Okie-dokey-lokey, what do you to do with it?” She asked, presumably finding a way to get a stone out. I wouldn’t be surprised, she was Pinkie.

“Get it over to me!” I said, and after a few moments, Applejack shoved a rock through the bars. It was small, but it should do what I wanted it to. “Alright,” I said, then turned my voice up as loud as I could. “ARGH! AH REALLY HURT MAHSELF BAD, IT’D BE A SHAME IF AH WAS TO DIE HERE, INSTEAD OF BEIN’ KILLED BY SOMEPONY RABIL WANTS TO HAVE KILL ME!” For a moment, I thought it wouldn’t work, but then I heard the door open. I quickly moved the hay towards the front of the cell, and covered myself with it. I heard the cell door open and somepony walked in.

“What is the problem, scum?” I heard the stallion say with some irritation. I jumped up on top of him and smashed the rock into his head, which knocked him out. I grinned, and grabbed the keys from the stallion’s side and walked out. As I opened up a cell door, Applejack walked out, seeming to have a look that showed respect. Almost as if I was her equal.

After a few more moments, everypony was out of their cells, and I whispered something. “Listen, they’re probably gonna send in a few guards tuh see what’s happenin’ not too soon from now, so Ah need Diamond Tiara to go and say that the guard’s knocked out.”

I saw Diamond Tiara in the dim light look surprised momentarily, but she nodded and walked over. “The rest of y’all, just wait until they’re all in here, then we’ll take ‘em down.”

As we all hugged the walls, sure enough a minute later, a small group of the armored stallions came in. “Oh, thank goodness you’re here, one of your guards was knocked out when he tried to help that Apple Bloom.” The guard leader seemed to growl at this, and shoved Diamond aside.

“Where are they!” He shouted, and as soon as he said that, we pounced on them. Even though they may have had armor, 18 or so ponies versus 3 ponies will always win. As I grabbed one of the dead soldier’s swords, I realized something. I somehow instinctively knew how to use it, just like I had with being able to use a rock as a weapon, and the keys to open the cells. Granted, some of those were relatively simple, but still, that must mean...

“Scootaloo, do I have somethin’ on mah flank?” I asked, and Applejack seemed a bit weirded out by the question.

“What kind of question is that?” She demanded, but ignored her. Scootaloo seemed to come up, and she gave me possibly one of the best things I’ve ever heard.

“There’s a Cutie Mark! It’s some tools and stuff.” She said, and I knew it was time to go and stop Rabil once and for all.

“Let’s get movin’, he certainly ain’t takin’ his time.” As I walked out of the cell room, we entered a hallway. I recognized it as the old entrance to the castle. “Alright, everypony except for Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, get the hay out of here.” I said, but my father protested.

“I’m not losing you Apple Bloom, I’ll stay.” He said, and Applejack and Big Mac seemed to share the sentiment.

“No, it’s mah friends and my duty to stop Rabil, you guys need to go, you’ve gotta make sure either way you have your lives to live out.” I replied, and my father seemed to smile a bit.

“You sound like your mother, Apple Bloom.” He said, and turned to the others. “Come on, we should go.”

Babs looked at us, and said, “I’ll stay if you want.” I shook my head and she gave a frown. “Good luck then, you’ll certainly be meeting it.”

With that, they left, and as soon as the door shut, a guard patrol came through one of the hallways. They looked equally surprised as we were when they saw us, but luckily Scootaloo moved to tackle one of the stallions down. “They’ve escaped!” One of the stallions shouted before Scootaloo kicked him down.

“Apple Bloom, here’s a present!” Scootaloo said as she slid a sword over in my direction.

“Ya know, this ain’t a movie! That coulda cut mah hoof off!” I said as I picked it up.

“Well it didn’t.” She replied. Our oblivious conversation was cut off as the cacophony of hoofsteps grew louder, and a swarm of guards came out of multiple hallways.

“Crusaders, let’s give ‘em a lesson ‘bout who they’re dealin’ with!” I said, and we galloped off, taking on the armored colts. As I slashed through a group, I was impressed with myself. It seemed like I had always known how to use a sword like a master, even though I had only had my hooves on one a few times. I could hear Sweetie Belle humming, and a group of stallions turned and attacked each other, while Scootaloo moved faster than some of the other stallions could follow.

After a few moments, the entrance room was littered with the stallions, and we still stood. “To the throne room?” I asked, and my two friends nodded. Rabil needed to be stopped, and now was the time. We followed a hallway, which had some more of the stallions, who were made short work of, we reached the entrance. “Ready?” I asked.

“Let’s do it.” Scootaloo said, holding up a hoof, “As the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” We all put our hooves together, and went through the entrance.

Rabil seemed to sigh, and said almost as if irritated, “I suppose it was only a matter of time.”

Chapter Twenty

“Yeah, it was Rabil. And now we’re gonna stop ya.” I said, and the doors slammed. He got off his throne, and he looked directly at me.

“Oh please, Apple Bloom. You don’t have to be so humble.” Something loud roared, and I turned to see blackness emerging from the ground, which engulfed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. I looked back at him. “My sister would never entrust such a task to more than two ponies.”

“You let them go.” I said, and he laughed.

“Oh, Apple Bloom, I won’t, not until we talk.” He said, and I tried charging him, but the sword was thrust out of my mouth, and it hit the ground near Rabil. “Such an uncivil way to deny a conversation, even though you must at least hear my own story.”

“Buck you.” I said, and he ignored it. Darkness surrounded my legs and made me immobile.

“Some ponies are so thick-headed.” He commented, and he walked right up to me. “But, I must insist you listen.” I only responded with a glare, which didn’t phase him. “As you know, eons ago, I became jealous of my sister, and her incessant ignorance to my own capabilities. However, believe it or not, Apple Bloom, I had my own reasons that were never written.”

“Oh, let me guess one of ‘em, that you’re just evil.” I said sarcastically, and he gave a grin that was uncomfortable.

“The concepts of good and evil are just a matter of perspective, Apple Bloom, they are created by the mind to attempt to make some sense of the world.” He said, and he looked me directly in the face. “My other reasons other than my own jealousy was the fact that she planned to abandon the beings of this world, and take me with her.”

“What?” I said, slightly curious as to what he meant.

“After she had finished teaching all that was needed to know, my sister planned to leave, saying that the world would need to shape its own destiny. However, she didn’t seem to realize the fact that the beings of this world would undoubtedly fight over her disappearance, making her existence questionable.” He said as he walked back, looking through a window, “I reminded her several times that the world we had put so much effort in to create would most likely be erased by her own ignorance. What they needed was leadership, or at the very least, the knowledge that their creators were amongst them.” He looked back at me, “I did it to give the world some peace.”

“Bullshit,” I said, slightly surprised at my own language. “Ever since ya came back, you’ve just been causing ruckus!”

“Yes, but conflict occasionally is needed in order to obtain peace, and if I remember correctly, you caused a whole rebellion, Apple Bloom.” He looked at me, as if talking to a friend.

“That was because ya started murderin’, rapin’, and just plain terrorizin’ everypony! If ya don’ think there’s somethin’ slightly wrong about that you’ve seriously got some problems!” I shouted back, and he seemed to be almost, expecting, my response.

“Necessary sacrifices have to be made to achieve harmony, Apple Bloom.” He replied, and I would’ve spat on him if I could.

“There was harmony before ya came along!” I protested, “Ya just had to go and screw it all up!”

“That is where I believe you have a problem, Apple Bloom, don’t you remember Trixie?” He said, “Or the changelings invading, Discord escaping, let me think what else, the war between the buffalo and the Appleloosans?” I tried to respond, but he seemed almost right, although things had seemed on the surface harmonious, they really weren’t. “Your world has had more conflict than your old Princess would ever admit.”

“Nopony remembered anythin’ bout ya or your sister!” I said back, throwing his own words at him.

“True, but they always find reason for conflict, Apple Bloom. Even if I must rule harshly, it prevents conflict, because everyone has no reason to fight. They are all equal to each other.” He said, walking back towards his throne. “So, as I said, I am saving you, Apple Bloom, I am saving every being here from themselves. So I have a proposal, for you, Apple Bloom.”

“And what might that be?” I said, doubtfulness clear in my voice.

“You go and call for everyone to stand down against my rule, and I shall make sure you are not killed. It is the wiser choice, rather than attempting to kill one who is trying to help you.” He said.

Allying with me? He was a bit right, the world did have disharmony... but we always were able to get over it. In the end, we were all able to put aside our differences, I thought back to the changelings. Even though everypony else had mistrusted them, I had seen that they were just like us, and I hadn’t feared the dragons like everypony else had. He was trying to do good, but violence wasn’t the answer. He talked sense, but his logic was corrupted, a cynical view of the world. “No, Ah won’t do it.” I said, looking directly at him.

He sighed, and seemed almost disappointed. “Very well then, Apple Bloom, but I cannot let you leave here alive, so I shall make sure you suffer for your unwise decision.” A armored stallion walked in, and looked over at me. “And what better way to make you suffer your own death, than being killed by the one who loved you, and you loved in return.” My eyes widened, I looked at the stallion under the helmet, and the eyes were the same as Phalanx’s.

“You sick, twisted...” I said to him, and he smiled.

“You once said the same, Apple Bloom, about him. Then, when it came to when I actually first met you, when you had failed to save your Phalanx, I sensed he didn’t want to leave. So, I brought him back, and made sure he would have the opportunity to take his revenge upon the one whom he loved, but never acknowledged their love in return.” Rabil said, as if trying to sympathize with somepony who was possibly dead.

“That’s impossible, nopony can resurrect the dead!” I said, because Twilight had mentioned that several times. It was nothing, not even an alicorn, could do.

“Correct, but when you are a god, the rules do not apply the same way.” He stated. “Now, I believe that Phalanx wishes to take his own revenge.” With that, the armored-stallion/Phalanx walked slowly up to me, grabbing the sword I had attempted to use.

His eyes weren’t entirely the same, I noticed, it seemed like blackness would streak into his pupil occasionally... A memory flashed by.

“Not all that appears corrupted is evil, and not all that appears pure is good.”

I realized what it had meant, it had not only meant the guards weren’t who we thought they were, but that Phalanx may still have a chance of coming back. With renewed confidence, I looked at the slowly approaching stallion, focusing on the pupils. “Phalanx, remember, it’s me, Apple Bloom.” I said, trying to get whatever part was the Phalanx I knew to the surface.

“So it is, you are the one who never gave a damn about me.” Armored Phalanx replied, whose expression turned to a scowl.

“That ain’t true, Phalanx, that ain’t true at all.” I replied, my vision once again starting to blur. I blinked, and cleared it out.

“Lies, Apple Bloom, lies and deceit. That’s all you ever did, did you ever give a damn about the ponies who sacrificed their lives for you?” He asked, now he had to be at most fifty hoofsteps away.

“Phalanx, Ah never meant tuh lie tuh ya, we both know that Ah didn’t know what to think of the whole thing for a while.” I replied, he was now maybe 30 hoofsteps away.

“Right, then why wouldn’t you ever say anything?” He asked sarcastically.

“Ah never realized it, until Ah saw ya did care about me a lot more than Ah had seen, both in Manehattan and when ya stopped Blueblood.” I replied, looking at the now probably 15 hoofstep away Phalanx. “Phalanx, Ah love ya.” I admitted, finally acknowledging what I had denied for so long.

“Sure you do, Apple Bloom, just like all your other lies.” He was now right in front of me, his face less than a hoof away. “Goodbye, Apple Bloom.” He snarled, his blade rising. The next thing I did, I don’t think, Hay, I know I didn’t for my own survival. I think it was to at least give a goodbye of sorts to a loved one, a last action before death. I kissed him, right on the lips. For a moment, I expected pain as a blade would inevitably hit my neck, but instead, I heard a clang of something dropping to the ground. Then, he kissed me right back. I looked at his eyes, they no longer had darkness streaking in, instead they seemed normal.

I smiled, the Phalanx I knew was back, but the moment was cut short by Rabil. “Argh, why can’t you ever make things simple?” He asked irritably. Phalanx’s eyes widened as he turned around, and he probably looked furious.

“How dare you nearly make me murder her?” Phalanx shouted.

“Oh, I didn’t, you just realized some of your own darkness.” Rabil said, looking at him, “But, no matter, you shall not interfere.” Darkness surrounded him like it did Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. I grabbed the sword and Rabil looked amused. “A duel? If you so wish.” A blade similar to the one he used on Discord appeared, and he gripped it. “Though your efforts will be futile.”

“Ah think yer goin’ down, Rabil.” I said, knowing that he was now screwing up, he could easily kill me with his magic, but he was resorting to melee combat, against somepony who knew the sword like a master.

“Prove it.” He said as he dashed forward, the blade almost hitting me, but mine blocked it. I rolled back past where Scootaloo was being held and Rabil jumped landing behind me. I flipped around him, striking the sword, and he barely blocked it. He frowned for a second, then returned to his neutral look. He kicked me back, and I barely missed smashing through a window. He dashed forward, swinging his sword down, and I rolled, barely avoiding the blade that stroke where my head had been less than a second before. I took the opportunity to kick him with my hindlegs which knocked him back into the darkness surrounding Sweetie Belle.

“Come on, think.” I demanded from myself, trying to figure out how to kill him. He threw his blade at me, which I ducked under. Another blade formed, and he charged me. Then, an idea hit me. I waited until the last possible second, and got out of the way, and he smashed through the window. I ran right after him, wincing as I felt a shard go into my leg, and he was on his back when I got to him. I thrust the blade towards his head, but he ducked, swiping the blade from my hand. He slammed my face, knocking me over. He was audibly panting, and I saw through blurred vision him picking up the blade I was using.

“I must admit,” He coughed, “You are quite the adversary, but you must die now.” He pinned me down with a leg.

An old part of me would have said, “This is it.” But I knew I still had a way to end this. “Look me in the eye,” I said, “And say that.”

Sure enough, I was levitated up, and he smirked at me. “My face will be the last thing you ever see.” He taunted, and I responded by pushing the shard buried in my leg with my hoof, which slashed it as well, directly into his eye. “ARGH!” He bellowed as I crashed down into the ground, the blade following suit.

I took the blade and thrust it through his head, instantly killing him. “Don’t ya ever, ever, think ya can mess with me easily.” I said, and I fell onto the ground. I felt the ground shake, and somewhere in the area of the throne room, something white appeared. I also heard an odd noise, a sort of “VRWOP! VRWOP! VRWOP!”. I tried crawling back to the throne room, but my legs refused to move. Then, unconsciousness came over me.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Hello once again, Apple Bloom.” A feminine voice said, and I opened my eyes. I was where Naqril resided.

“Am Ah dead?” I asked, honestly curious, and terrified if the answer was in the affirmative.

“No, no. You will be fine, but you are currently unconscious.” Naqril informed me calmly. My eyes widened as I thought of something.

“Is Rabil dead?” I inquired, and Naqril smiled.

“He is forever gone from your world, however, you still have not finished your journey.” She told me, and I was confused.

“Ah thought Ah was supposed tuh kill Rabil.” I said.

“You were and did, but you now need to perform one last task in order for this all to occur.” Naqril replied, and looked down. “But one of your friends will most likely explain it to you.”

“That’s it?” I asked, some not complicated task was an oddity to me now.

“Indeed. But Apple Bloom, I just want to thank you, if you hadn’t stopped him, it would have caused a lot more problems than you witnessed.” She told me.

“He said he did it because he wanted to maintain peace.” I said, wondering if he was actually telling the truth.

“I understand that, but sometimes, we can’t meddle in other’s affairs. Some decisions need to be left to those whom they affect.” She replied, then looked at me. “Goodbye, Apple Bloom, I won’t be seeing you again, though I must say you are an amazing pony, and after you finish the final task, live your life as you see fit.”

I felt like I was someplace soft, and my body was covered with something. I opened my eyes and I was in a room somewhere, lying in a bed. “Oh, thank goodness you’re okay, Apple Bloom.” I heard Phalanx’s voice say, and he walked into my vision. “I thought you were going to die.”

I looked around, and asked, “Where am Ah?”

“Some room in the Doctor’s TARDIS, according to him, he called the TARDIS as soon as they got out of the castle, and then he arrived just after you killed Rabil.” Phalanx told me, “And there’s some weird thing that’s in the throne room the Doctor’s been obsessing over.” That caught my attention, and I tried to get up. “Woah, Harthan said you ought to stay in bed, you’ve been cut up a good bit.” Phalanx said, and I presumed that was one of the guard’s medics.

“If there’s something weird goin’ on, Ah would like tuh see it.” I said as I got myself up. It was a bit difficult, a lot of my body ached. I started walking slowly, wincing occasionally. Phalanx sighed as he gestured towards the way out.

“Look, Apple Bloom, I’m sorry for what happened out there.” He apologized, and I looked at him.

“Ya don’t have anythin’ to be sorry for. Rabil just went and corrupted ya.” I told him, and he frowned a bit.

“Yes, but that was from deep parts of me, I mean, it was just being brought to the front of my mind!” He said, and I shook my head slightly.

“Phalanx, Ah think Ah would’ve done somethin’ extremely similar if Rabil corrupted me. Ah think everypony has thoughts like that.” I replied as we entered the main control room. I walked towards the door and surprisingly it was day out when I opened up the door. My eyes took a moment to adjust but when they did, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were there.

“Apple Bloom, it’s good to see you’re awake!” Scootaloo said, and Sweetie Belle seemed to share the sentiment.

I thought of the armored colts, and asked, “What happened to Rabil’s army?”

“They vanished as soon as you killed him, I think, nopony from Manehattan saw one since roughly when you did it.” Babs said, walking over.

“Hey, Phalanx, I thought I told you to make sure she didn’t get out of bed!” One of the guards said.

“She wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Phalanx replied, and the guard seemed to scowl a little.

I looked around, trying to find the weird thing in the throne room when I realized the seemingly odd tear that seemed to be in front of the throne. It was completely devoid of color, and the Doctor was pacing around it, seeming to ask the thing questions. “He’s been like that for hours,” Ditzy said from behind me, making me jump. “He keeps going on about it doesn’t seem like a tear in reality, yet somehow it does.” She explained, and I decided to walk over. I saw Applejack fast asleep, and Big Macintosh seemed to be deep in conversation with my father, but they smiled at me when I passed by, glad to see I was okay.

“What could cause this?” I heard the Doctor ask to no one, “The last time a tear like this happened, it was because the TARDIS exploded.”

“Uh, hey Doc.” I said, and he seemed to momentarily snap out of it, looking over at me and seeming to grin like an excited foal.

“Apple Bloom, go to see you’re alright! I wasn’t honestly that sure if you would make it, but the guard doctor seemed to have complete confidence!” He said, turning back to the tear. “This appeared after you killed Rabil, right?” He asked.

“Ah saw somethin’ before Ah passed out, it probably was this.” I answered, and he nodded, and started chattering on once again. I decided to go and sit down, and I sat on the throne, not caring right now if it was appropriate. I didn’t want to be in charge anymore, but I still wanted to at least be out here. As I sat down, my hooves felt something, and I looked to see it was the fateful book that had started out my journey. I opened it up, and there didn’t seem to be anything new, except for more complete information on me. But something was striking me about the book, it seemed more familiar than I had known it to be. Almost like I had my hooves on it when I didn’t... I looked at the binding, and it was a standard hardcover, but it seemed bound oddly. I took a look at the inside cover, and I noticed something. In the bottom right-hoof corner, there was tiny print that said: “Lux Aeterna”. “Anypony know what ‘Lux Aeterna’ is?” I asked, and I noticed Shining Armor look up from a conversation with Twilight at me.

“That’s a very old phrase, it was the original motto of the Royal Guard, it is Old Equestrian for ‘Eternal Light’. Why do you ask? Also, why aren’t you... Never mind.” He replied, and I was a little appreciative that he didn’t seem to ask why I was out. But why would that be inscribed on here, some random old book? Unless a guard wrote it, but wouldn’t make much sense, after all, wouldn’t they just warn Celestia? I thought of something, and got up, walking over to Phalanx.

“Ya know where Claymore’s journal is?” I asked, and Phalanx looked at me for a moment.

“Your journal? It’s in the TARDIS right where you left it last time.” He replied, looking at me knowing I was onto something. I went in and grabbed it from where I had left it, coming back out, and comparing it to the book. I looked inside, and sure enough, the journal had the same inscription as the book. I noticed that some pages, four at that, had been torn from the book, and looked at how many pages, and there were four pages I had written down notes in. I took a closer look at the book’s cover and it seemed that instead of being printed on the book, the title had actually been engraved, then filled with ink. I knew in the back of my head exactly who had written it, and how.

“Doc, Ah think Ah know what that tear is.” I said, and he looked over, curiosity clear in his eyes.

“What do you think it is?” He asked.

“Ah think it’s someway to get into the past, and to certain points in time.” I answered, and he looked skeptical for a moment. “That’s because Ah think Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Ah wrote this book.” Everypony stopped and looked, and the Doctor dashed over to look at the journal I had, and the book. His eyes widened, and he remained silent for a moment.

“Of course! How couldn’t have I seen that!” He said out loud, and everypony looked at him funny, with the exception of Ditzy, who grinned slightly and shook her head. “It’s a paradox, I should have seen the signs beforehand!”

“A paradox?” Twilight asked, “How would that even be applicable?”

“It’s simple, imagine time-space as rather than a singular line, a whole bowl of timey-wimey stuff. But don’t actually, because it’s nothing really like that, at least in simple terms.” He started, “What happens is that at some point, Apple Bloom kills Rabil, and her friends are with her. Now they find this tear, and go through it, and start creating everything that would help them eventually, like the dragon tale.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense, that would mean that it’s been occurring forever!” Twilight argued, and the Doctor just smiled.

“That’s exactly how a paradox works, that’s why I never interfere with personal timelines!” The Doctor said, “Just makes your whole life simpler! Though in this case it sounds necessary.”

“So what happens if we don’ go in?” I asked.

“I suppose that after a certain date, if you don’t go in, the tear will expand, and start erasing reality.” The Doctor said, “Because with the paradox that means you would have to be in a certain state when you start.”

I thought about it for a moment, and looked over at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, and told them, “Well, looks like we need to get ready then, why don’ we just go and start writing down what we need to do?”

They smiled, and they walked over, and the Doctor said before we went back into the TARDIS, “You better hurry, the sooner you get in, the lesser the chance of the erasing of reality.”

It was kind of interesting really, here we were, full grown mares, and we seemed to be the same as we were not too long ago, although that was in the sense of us as friends. We were currently writing down a list of what was probably part of the paradox, and Sweetie Belle was attempting to fully replicate the spells I had encountered with the book, along with writing in it. “What about the fireworks at Manehattan?” I asked, and Scootaloo nodded, writing it down. Currently we had just two tasks, the book and the fireworks, we had after all spent the first time in months actually laughing at some blunder I had made. It felt foreign to me, and although that fact slightly disturbed me, I was nonetheless glad to feel it.

Scootaloo walked out for a moment, and came back in with fireworks. “What else is there?” Scootaloo asked, and I wasn’t surprised she was able to find that in the TARDIS. I remembered what my father had told me, and I somehow realized who the unicorn was. It sickened me a little, but I realized that it was either that or reality.

“Sweetie Belle stopped mah father from comin’ back tuh Ponyville.” I said, and Scootaloo stopped, looking at me. Sweetie Belle did the same, and I explained myself. “When mah father was threatened by the unicorn they had really powerful magic, and Ah wouldn’t be surprised if your magic could be that.” Sweetie Belle seemed to think for a minute and turned back to the book, resuming her quiet humming. Scootaloo sighed a little and wrote down “Sweetie Belle threatens Golden Apple”.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened as she said a bit eagerly, “That must mean Sweetie Belle was the one who was the really powerful pony who told Chrysalis about us!”

“But that doesn’t explain there bein’ eleven ponies like Cocoon said.” I pointed out, but Sweetie Belle once again looked up from the book.

“Actually, it does. While you were out, I was just experimenting around when I found out I could do this.” She said, and hummed something, then there were two Sweetie Belles. “The other can’t talk, but it can impersonate somepony pretty good.” She hummed again and the other Sweetie Belle disappeared.

“Also there was the whole ‘Ancient Tale’, along with the Chamber and the text.” I noted.

Scootaloo jotted it down, and said “I remember the text, don’t worry.”

“Also Ah have a feelin’ we’re behind the whole crypt thing.” I said, and Scootaloo wrote it down.

“Yeah, but how do we know who to talk to in order to get it built even?” Scootaloo asked, and I thought for a moment.

“We’ll probably find out, Ah mean, it sounds like this paradox thing will be teleportin’ us all over the place. At least that’s what Ah’d think.” I replied.

“Done!” Sweetie Belle said as she gave the book to us, it was the exact same as the other one.

“Just wondering, how do you know the difference between the two?” Scootaloo asked, and Sweetie Belle smiled.

“I kept the original on my left side.” She replied, “No magical differentiation.”

“Well, Ah think that’s about everythin’.” I said, and gestured for the door. “Come on, the world ain’t gonna do this itself.”

Scootaloo laughed, and Sweetie Belle shook her head. As we walked out, I realized we had taken longer than we had realized, only the guards, the Doctor, Ditzy, Dinky, Applejack, my father, Big Mac, Rarity, and Phalanx were there. “I presume you’re ready to go?” Phalanx asked quietly, I noticed most of them were asleep. Only the Doctor seemed to be up, seeming to be in a staring contest with the tear.

“Yeah.” I replied, just as quietly.

“Well, you best be going, I only think they’ll delay you, and as much as I don’t want to see you do this, I know it has to be done.” Phalanx said, and he gestured to the tear.

“Ah’m sure we’ll be back.” I said as I walked up.

“Well, in case you don’t, I love you.” He said, and hugged me, and I turned back after a moment, continuing to go towards the tear.

As we got near the tear, Scootaloo said, “Well, let’s do it.”

We walked into the tear, and for a moment, everything became white.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The white slowly faded away to reveal a grassy plain, and I could feel the wind blow gently. “Where are we?” Scootaloo thought aloud, and then the sky seemed to blast. Like it was repelling something, sealing something off.

“We must be near the dragons, they said the Ancient Sages came after Rabil was sealed away.” I said, and Sweetie Belle gestured towards a small hill.

“This must be where they were originally.” Sweetie Belle said, “Come on, let’s get moving. If they try anything weird, I got us covered.”

We walked over the hill and sure enough down beneath us was a small amount of dragons, much less than that we had previously seen. “Well, let’s get this over with.” I said, and walked down, and almost as soon as we did that, one of the dragons eyes snapped to us.

“Why are you ponies here?” This one asked, while others heard it.

“It does not matter, they can make a great meal.” One of the others said, and the dragon’s eyes glared at the perpetrator.

“Hold your tongue, Xenius, lest it be covered in the blood of your own. They are obviously different, for no ponies come in this short of number, and to disrespect them by turning them into our sustenance would dishonor their courage.” The first dragon said, and I was hoping we weren’t about to be turned into what the other had suggested. The dragon turned back to us, “What brings you, we know of the Accursed Enemy’s defeat, that much was apparent not moments ago.” he asked.

“We’re the three Sages.” Sweetie Belle said, and I knew we were probably going to make up half the stuff we were about to say. “We have come here with an important message that the world will rely eons into the future.”

“You surely cannot believe their fantastical stories, Corinth.” One of the dragons said, and the dragon Corinth responded by holding a claw to the dragon’s belly.

“For now, Rabil has been sealed away, but in the future, there will be a land named Equestria, ruled by two alicorns, who raise both the sun and moon. Their names will be Celestia and Luna, both princesses. But after a half-year the changelings will try to invade Equestria, and fail, Rabil shall return.” Sweetie Belle said, and Corinth seemed to be taking it in. “He will be just as powerful as he was now, if not more, but he will be able to be stopped.”

“Pray tell, how will he be stopped, for his brothers have given themselves to the essence of all, for we have felt that in our minds for moments.” A dragon asked, seemingly suspicious.

“Three young fillies, who are all eleven, but will appear to be twelve when they come here, will be able to stop him. They are called the Noble Three. You must do one thing to ensure their victory, otherwise they won’t be able to stop Rabil.” Sweetie Belle explained, and I was just amazed at how well she played this out, and I could tell Scootaloo was thinking the same.

“What is this one task?” Corinth asked.

“You must construct the Great Chamber of Their Trials, with which they shall gain a weapon to defeat Rabil, and within it, the central chamber must have a pedestal with the inscription of ‘Three ways lie ahead, three ways for The Noble Three. But take heed, The Noble Three, one leads to misery, and another to ridicule.’ You must also make a chamber filled with the guilt of those lost to the Noble Three, and another with the demeaning of them, and the last chamber must have a pedestal, but have nothing upon it, for their weapon shall be their Talent Marks.” Sweetie Belle told them.

“If it was from any other than you, I would not believe your tale, but a group who would unwisely walk with such small number would mean that you tell the truth. I shall make sure the task is completed, and you shall not be disappointed.” Corinth said, and bowed. The other dragons looked for a moment, then did the same, and I heard a sort of fizzling.

I looked behind me, and a tear was there. “Well, onto the next place.” I said, and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded. We went through the tear, and after a moment of white, we appeared near a mountain.

“This must be for the crypt.” I noted, and near us I could see a fire.

“No time to lose, figuratively, of course.” Scootaloo said, and we laughed. We walked towards the fire, and we saw crowded around it a number of earth ponies, and I spoke up.

“Hello there.” I greeted, and they turned around, looking at the three ponies they had not seen before.

“Who are you, and what do you want? We have little to spare, for Rabil ensured that.” One of them asked, and I could see bags under his eyes.

“We’re the Sages, we have an important task.” Scootaloo said, “You must build a crypt for your dead within the mountain.”

“With respect, Sages, we have little supply to do such a task, much less knowledge of why we should do it.” The stallion asked, and Scootaloo huffed quietly.

“Rabil will return eventually, but this Crypt shall aid his eternal defeat. We have foreseen amongst our travels, and know this to be destiny.” Scootaloo said.

“If you speak the truth, may I ask, how Rabil would return, for he has been sealed away.” The stallion inquired, and Scootaloo seemed to be getting a little irritated.

“The seal shall break eventually, and he will return. Now listen, within this crypt, there must be a chamber that has a chest, with a paper that says ‘Not all that appears corrupted is evil, and not all that appears pure is good.’ It also must have upon its entrance, the message ‘Beyond this entrance, lies... to another... beyond our own... may only be entered... by those chosen.’ This is of the utmost importance.” Scootaloo said, and the stallion seemed to think it over.

“We shall do the task, if you may do one thing for us, Sage.” The stallion said.

“What?” Scootaloo replied.

“Shall our kind live to that day?” The stallion asked.

“Yes, the earth ponies will.” Scootaloo answered and the stallion smiled.

“Thank you, Sage, we shall accomplish the task.” The stallion said, and the fizzling was heard again. I noticed they weren’t moving, so I realized that it must have paused time, except for the Crusaders and I. We walked through the tear, waiting for our next place.

Now we were in a desert, and I vaguely recognized it as the area Appleloosa was in. I could see a small train station and I realized this was where my father would not return for years. “Sweetie Belle, ya know anyway to make sure he can’t see yer face?” I asked, and Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened.

“I guess, but I’m not that comfortable doing this...” Sweetie Belle said, gulping a bit.

“Nor Ah, but it’s gotta be done.” I replied and she took a breath and hummed something, and for some odd reason, I couldn’t focus on her face.

“There, he shouldn’t be able to remember what I look like.” She said, and I noticed a stallion walking onto the train platform. It was my father, I barely recognized him, his coat was brighter, and he had a bit of a grin that seemed to always be there. This served to only rub salt in the wound that was already forming. No, not even salt, hot coals.

Sweetie Belle walked up to him, and we stayed around the corner, listening. “Golden Apple, I presume?” She asked, and I looked around the corner seeing my father look oddly.

“I’m sorry, have I met you before?” He asked, and Sweetie Belle noticeably tapped her hoof on the ground, definitely uncomfortable.

“No, not anything you would remember, but I am here to tell you that you can’t go back to Ponyville.” Sweetie Belle said, and my father frowned.

“And why is that? I have every right to do that.” He asked, and Sweetie Belle tapping on the ground quickened.

“Because if you do, I will make sure to kill every single member of your family.” Sweetie Belle said as angrily as possible.

“You wouldn’t do that!” My father shouted, clearly furious, “I have a foal that needs me! And how do I even know you will do such a thing!”

“That foal won’t need you for now, and I can do such a thing quite easily.” Sweetie Belle hissed, and she hummed something, and the mesa nearby exploded, then it reassembled itself. “Except for your family, it won’t come back together.”

He looked both angry and ready to break into tears, “You sick, twisted pony.” He said, and Sweetie Belle held out a hoof.

“Give me the ticket.” She stated, almost as if a fact. My father hesitated for a moment, and then he held out a small sheet of paper.

“Don’t you dare hurt them, or by Celestia I swear I will kill you, no matter what it takes.” He demanded, and Sweetie Belle looked at him, putting the ticket away in her saddlebag.

“Oh don’t worry, I won’t.” She said, and the fizzling started once again. She looked at me and burst into tears, “I’m so, so, sorry.” She said, “I... I’m a monster!”

“It had tuh be done, Sweetie, Ah don’t blame ya.” I said, looking at her. “Now come on, we still have work tuh do.” We walked through the tear yet again, and Scootaloo huffed.

“How many more of these things are we going to go through?” She asked, clearly irritated.

We next were in Ponyville, and it seemed to be early morning. “I think we’re going to drop the book off.” Scootaloo said, and Sweetie Belle got the book out. “I’ll take care of it.” She said, taking the book under her wing. We walked to where the library was, and Scootaloo knocked on the door.

“Can ya make sure to get rid of that spell, Sweetie? Ah’m getting a little annoyed.” I whispered, and she hummed something.

“Sorry.” She spoke barely.

“Hello!” I looked to see Twilight look at Scootaloo. “What are you doing here this early? Much less, who are you, I don’t I’ve seen you before, although you do look kind of familiar.” Twilight said.

“Just take this.” Scootaloo said in a really deep voice, probably to make sure she didn’t recognize her. She tossed Twilight the book, and before she could even react Scootaloo was back by us.

Twilight looked for the pegasus who had just been there, but she was greeted by nothing. She shook her head, and we heard her say “Some ponies...”

Another fizzle and tear later, we were in Manehattan. “Looks like its time for some fireworks!” I said, and grabbed the fireworks from my saddlebag, and we found the building where I would probably be shortly. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.” We went up the flights of stairs, and we stopped at a floor that was under construction.

“Looks like this is a good spot.” Scootaloo said, and I got out the fuses, and set up the fireworks. I heard steps downstairs and made a gesture to be silent. After a few moments Scootaloo gestured that everything was placed correctly, and then tripped over a firework. I winced as she slammed into the ground.

“Scootaloo, ya need tuh be -” I started saying, but Sweetie Belle put a hoof over my mouth. I remembered I had to remain silent, and sheepishly smiled. My blood ran cold when I saw Rabil materialize, and I resisted the urge to go and kill him right then and there. He started to talk to Cadence, and I decided it was as good of a time as any, and lit the fireworks. As soon as they launched off, a tear appeared once again, and we went through it, again.

“This should be the last place.” I said as we saw we were in a jungle. “Sweetie Belle, do yer spell thing.” I told her, and she hummed. Eight more ponies appeared, and she also got some larger leaves to cover our faces.

“Wouldn’t want anypony to recognize us.” She said, and a few moments later, we were headed through the jungle. As if to greet us, the changelings flew in.

“Why have ponies come here?” A changeling asked.

“Just kill them.” Another suggested.

“Ah wouldn’t recommend that, we need tuh relay a message tuh yer Queen.” I said, and the changelings laughed.

“We are so scared of ponies who come in small number and think they can murder our Queen.” One said sarcastically. Sweetie Belle got angry and hummed something, and fire started within a radius of at least fifty hoofsteps, but we were okay.

“We’re not joking, nor are we going to kill her, we need to relay a message to her, now!” Sweetie Belle told them, her anger seeming to make it clear it was required.

“We will do anything! Just do not burn down our home!” A male voice said, and I saw it was none other than Cocoon. As much as I wanted to greet him, I knew I couldn’t.

The fire stopped, and the plants regrew as I said quite simply, “Take us to her then.”

After a hike through the jungle, with several changelings looking at us with both fury and fear, we arrived at the giant cocoon, and went down to where Chrysalis was. She looked horrified, and stammered, “What do you want?”

“All we need to do is say that there’s gonna be a group comin’ in a couple of weeks, and they are not to be harmed. The world is at risk, and if you don’ help them, we are all going to die.” I informed her, and she seemed surprised that was all we wanted. “There are gonna be three fillies there who are important, their names are Apple Bloom, an earth pony, Sweetie Belle, a unicorn, and Scootaloo, a pegasus.”

“I will make sure it is done.” With that a fizzling came emanated, and I said something that Scootaloo and Sweetie seemed to agree with.

“This better be the way home.” I said, and they nodded. We walked through the tear, and I for once after a great while, would have some peace.

Chapter Twenty-Three

I was relieved to see that I was back in the castle, and I noticed Phalanx was looking, seeming entirely surprised. “Didn’t think it would be that short of a time.” He said, and I looked at him. “You were gone for less than a minute.”

“Whatever, Ah’m done.” I said, “Ah’ve had enough of this Rabil business.”

Phalanx smiled, “Haven’t we all?” He said, but Sweetie Belle seemed a little worried.

“Wait, what about the sun and moon? How -” She asked, and Shining Armor surprisingly responded.

“Cadence has it covered, though we’ve been going talking about some... differences that could be implemented for Equestria.” Shining Armor said, and I was about ready to throw a hoof at his face. “But we’ll explain that tomorrow, I think you three really could use some sleep.” That stopped my urge, and I sighed in relief. I really needed the rest.

Thinking of no better spot, I laid down where I was, and Phalanx chuckled. “I’ll go,” He said, “See you in the morning.”

And for the first time in a while, my dreams were not filled with the tragedies that had occurred.

“Get up, Apple Bloom.” I heard Scootaloo say, and I yawned. The sun was rising, but there didn’t seem to be anypony except for me and her. “Everypony else is waiting for you.” She said, and I got up.

“Why?” I asked, and she shrugged.

“Beats me, though it sounds like what Shining Armor mentioned last night.” She replied, and I followed her through the castle. I noticed the bodies had been removed, and it was a bit odd looking at the torn apart castle.

We walked up to a doorway, and we went through, where we were greeted by a large round table, which not just Shining Armor and Cadance were sitting at, but Cocoon, Chrysalis, and something that looked like a miniature version of the Wise One. Sweetie Belle and Phalanx were also sitting down, and Shining Armor greeted me, “Please sit down, Apple Bloom.” I sat down, along with Scootaloo, and Shining seemed to read my mind, “You’re probably all wondering why we are having this... meeting.” I nodded.

“From the current estimates, there are at least 50,000 dead.” Cadane said, and I wasn’t surprised. Yet it still struck a blow to me, and I sighed.

“This whole thing could have been prevented if we had a stronger amount of allies, and a stronger military.” Shining Armor said, “Though either way, you, Apple Bloom, along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, still would have had to stop Rabil.”

“What are you getting at?” Phalanx asked.

Shining Armor looked to the miniature Wise One and Chrysalis, and then looked back. “What we’re suggesting is two things: we ally with each other, and we share our militaries in case we need it, like if we have another situation similar to Rabil.”

“Ya know, Ah’m all for this, but Ah don’ understand why Ah’m here.” I said, wondering why I was needed.

“Because we owe you, Apple Bloom, and right now, we would like your advice.” Cocoon said, and I silently huffed.

“Well then by all means, do it.” I said, and I stopped talking. Shining Armor looked at them, and they seemed to silently agree to continue later. The miniature dragon disappeared, and Cocoon and Chrysalis walked out.

“We also would like to say to you Apple Bloom, thank you, you saved us all. But what I was also wanting to say was that we’ve also been considering changing the system of rule.” He told me, and I looked up.

“How so?” Phalanx asked, and Shining looked at him.

“We’re going to make it a constitutional monarchy, somewhat like the old earth pony tribe.” Shining explained, “Cadence and I will be still in charge, because of the alicorn tradition and all, but we also will have a democracy that limits it.”

“Now what inspired ya tuh do that?” I asked, wondering if he and Cadence had ulterior motives.

“Celestia and Luna knew about Rabil, but the access to them was limited, and they had total control. If you don’t recall, several parts of Manehattan were impoverished, and while they tried to ask the Princesses for help, they were blocked by advisors, who never told them. With this, we can establish a parliament, which can help take care of these things, along with specialized government departments.” Shining Armor informed us.

“Ya know Ah don’ wanna be involved in this.” I told him, and Shining Armor looked at me directly.

“Of course I do, what I was wanting to say is that one of those departments is going to be running for probably a few years, what we’re going to call the Equestrian Department of Recovery.” Shining informed me.

“And what’s that gonna do?” I asked, wondering what was so great.

“The Equestrian Department of Recovery’s main task is to help Equestria recover from Rabil, and their number one task is currently reconstructing Ponyville.” He told me, and I stopped. While I appreciated the thought, it still was a bit... selfish.

“What about Manehattan? Or any of the other cities?” I demanded.

“Ponyville was the only town to be completely obliterated, and not even Manehattan had the number of casualties Ponyville did.” Shining Armor told me, both convincing me and letting me know that my hometown had been at the brunt of Rabil’s madness.

“You’re kidding me...” Scootaloo breathed, and it seemed to be the same sentiment as Sweetie Belle.

“How many died?” I asked, dreading the answer.

Shining Armor took a deep breath, and looked at the Crusaders and I, “Before Rabil returned, the population was at 14,637. Now, it’s 496.” My jaw literally hit the table, and it hurt, but I didn’t care. I was glad I had killed Rabil, but now, it almost felt like I hadn’t done it fast enough.

“496!” Sweetie Belle demanded in disbelief, “That’s... That’s...” She stammered.

“Buck it, Ah’m leavin’.” I stated, and got up. “Good luck tuh yer Parliament, all Ah know is Ah’m gonna be takin’ the next train tuh whatever’s closest tuh Ponyville.” With that, I left the room, and walked out of the castle. When I walked through the city, there were just as many destroyed buildings as there were in Manehattan, and at times, an entire block would be leveled. However, the ponies who were there were working, whether it be constructing a new building in a leveled one’s place, or giving food to those who need it. But they all stopped when they saw me, and to my confusion, bowed. This wasn’t like what had happened when I had just found my father, this was a bow of true respect, of gratitude. It both frightened me, and yet, made me know somehow that everypony appreciated what I had done, even if it hadn’t been fast.

I made the way to the train station, where a seemingly lone conductor waited for his passengers. He saw me and smiled, but asked a question I was somewhat thankful for, “Hello there, and who might you be?”

“Ah’m Apple Bloom.” I said, not even bothering to conceal it.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He replied, “Where are you headed?”

“Anywhere that’s the closest stop tuh Ponyville.” I said, and he smiled.

“You know what, I think I can do that.” He told me, “Anypony else coming with you?” Almost as if to respond, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Phalanx arrived.

“I think I’m coming with her.” Phalanx said, and I just smiled and shook my head.

“What about ya two, Scootaloo and Sweetie?” I asked, somehow hoping maybe I could just have some time with Phalanx.

“Well, I hear they’re actually starting up the Wonderbolts again, and I may have gotten an invitation along with Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo said, and I smiled, another happy thing in contrast to what had just occurred.

“And apparently the Royal Canterlot Symphony is interested in having me join!” Sweetie Belle informed me.

“Well, make sure to write me.” I said, “Ah’d still like to hear from ya.”

“Don’t worry, I will.” Sweetie Belle answered, and Scootaloo just nodded. I noticed Scootaloo seemed eager to go, and I just waved my hoof.

“See ya around.” I said, and they bade farewell as well. I turned and entered the train, and Phalanx followed suit. I sat down and looked out the window, which was on the side not facing Canterlot, and down below was the great valley which I could see sparse frames of buildings now, where Ponyville was not too long ago. It struck me even more now than it did when I was initially informed there were only 496 surviving residents of my hometown.

“Apple Bloom,” Phalanx interrupted my thoughts, and I realized the train was starting and we were the only ones on it. “Shining Armor also told me to let you know that the Parliament’s going to give you ten thousand bits a month, as a gesture of thanks.” He told me with a weak smile, but I stopped. Ten thousand bits?

“Yer just pullin’ my tail, right?” I asked, thinking it was some form of a joke. He looked at me seriously and shook his head. “Well that’s just great.” I muttered, I just felt more guilty, now I was getting paid, and wasn’t expected to do anything. I looked back out the window, and realized I could make myself work for it. To me, it felt like the right thing to do. “Ah’m gonna help reconstruct Ponyville, and for free as well.” I informed Phalanx.

He looked at me for a moment, and then smiled. “If that’s what you think is the best thing to do is.” He said, “I know that you feel guilty, I do as well.”

“About what?” I asked, and I noticed the worry in my voice.

“I nearly killed you Apple Bloom.” Phalanx said, and he started looking away from me. “I mean, part of that as I said earlier, was me. I... wanted to.” He put his hooves on his head. “How can you even trust me?” He quavered.

I reached a hoof over to him, and touched his hoof. “Phalanx, Ah also said earlier, we all have thoughts like that, he just made ya only think those thoughts.” I told him. “We all could have done that, Phalanx.”

“You don’t have to care about me, Apple Bloom, I mean...” He said, but he stopped as he tried to find words.
“Phalanx Ah do care about ya, and that’s because Ah love ya, and if Rabil did whatever, he did. But yer you now, not anypony else.” I said, and he looked at me. I hugged him, and told him quite simply, “And Ah forgive ya.”

Author's Note

I apologize if this chapter seems rushed and/or short, throughout it I hit multiple writer's blocks, and I knew the only way I could push through and finish this story was if I just kept on trying to write it.

Epilogue

It’s been almost six months since I killed Rabil, and yet, his actions permeate throughout my own day, much less my own mind. It is almost some sort of twisted reminder, everyday I go to help reconstruct Ponyville, I know I am helping rebuild from what was destroyed by Rabil. I know that the only reason I have my cutie mark is because of Rabil. I still have nightmares about Rabil occasionally, but it makes me feel much better when I realize everything is relatively normal again, and that the stallion next to me feels almost the same. I know the only reason I know Phalanx, much less am married to him, is because of Rabil.

I actually, well at least legally, married Phalanx almost a week after I returned to Ponyville. What I mean by that is we both went and filled out the paperwork, neither of us felt that a wedding ceremony would be necessary, much less appropriate, though it may have been to others.

As for Scootaloo and Sweetie, they have both upheld their promise and written to me, and I’ve found out that Rainbow Dash also has joined the Wonderbolts, a dream come true for her, and a great thing for Scootaloo, because, as she worded it, “It’s awesome being able to fly with one of the best fliers in Equestria, on the best flying in Equestria!” Sweetie is performing with the Symphony, and I heard her mention a familiar name, Octavia, when she had first written. Apparently Octavia is in there as well, and it made me smile to see that others were returning to their lives.

As for everypony else, my father helped rebuild Sweet Apple Acres, along with Big Mac, Applejack, and I. No one knows what happened to Granny Smith, the last time anypony saw her was when I first got back to Ponyville after I had escaped Canterlot when Rabil murdered Celestia and Luna.

Twilight apparently is teaching at the University of Canterlot, a new school that was funded by the Equestrian Parliament, as one of their first acts after they had drafted a constitution. Spike apparently is helping her just as before, although this is coming from what Applejack has gotten from letters.

Pinkie Pie returned to Ponyville, and as soon as an equivalent to Sugarcube Corner was built, she immediately opened up a pastry business there. Well, not just pastries, but also party supplies/advice center there, when Phalanx first heard that, he asked me if I had just said party supplies/advice center, I had responded normally, as I was used to Pinkie Pie.

“Yeah, Ah did.” I had replied.

“Umm... Okay then.” He responded and he had walked away, shaking his head at the logic of it. I had barely suppressed a laugh then, because I knew it would only get more confusing for him until he just simply accepted what I call “Pinkie Logic”, which is simply “Pinkie Pie is just Pinkie Pie”.

Fluttershy has been helping with bringing the wildlife back to the burnt-down Everfree Forest, much less Ponyville, and she seems to enjoy it. Occasionally though, she will be a bit depressed, remembering her old animal friends who had been murdered by Rabil’s soldiers.

Rarity founded a clothing company called “Canterlot Design Company”, and she from what I have heard from Sweetie Belle, absolutely is in her own personal dreamland. Though Sweetie Belle also mentioned that Parliament had requested some items from there, she had said Rarity wouldn’t go into detail about exactly what they had requested.

The Doctor actually settled back into Ponyville, locking up his TARDIS, and vowed never to go into it again. Ditzy got her old job back as a mailmare, and she seems happy, especially since Pinkie’s business sells muffins. Apparently she’s a daily customer there, and I wouldn’t be surprised.

Diamond Tiara I think works for the Canterlot Design Company, though I’m not exactly sure in what role, as the details from Sweetie Belle are semi-guesswork on her sister’s company.

Babs, on the other hoof, is now in charge of the Equestrian Department of the Military, something she was surprised by, but gladly accepted. She actually wrote to me about that, and occasionally still writes, but it’s mainly just paperwork apparently, nothing exciting.
Well, I ought to get going, I’ve got a job helping rebuild the school tomorrow, and they sure as hay will want me there. Anyways, I’ve got to make sure I get up before Phalanx for once, it’s a little bit of a friendly competition, and I have got to show him that his guard instincts can be beat. Oh well, see ya around.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading this story, but do not think that this is the end of this whole story arc. I am planning on doing not only a "Main Trilogy" as I call it in my head, which in this case is all first-pony (Heh, puns) Apple Bloom, but also side-story/sequels involving the characters in here. Probably after I finish "Who Dares Wins", I will begin work on the second main story, so expect that maybe in mid to late spring. Also, I will be on occasion adding to a redux of this story, because I believe that it doesn't entirely tell the story I wanted it to; for the most part, it did, but I still think there needs to be more detail and emotion put in. Thanks for reading, and before I end this, I would just like to give a big thanks to Jacensolo43 and HyperRandomness. Your two comments drastically changed the story's appearance for the better, and I wouldn't have been able to do what I have done with it without your input.

The Author

Chapter One

A voice jerked me from my sleep. “Apple Bloom, get up!” Applejack shouted. I groaned as I opened my eyes. I looked out the window, and the sun hadn’t even risen yet. What was going on? It was a Saturday, and there was no school. I got out of my bed, and walked down the hallway. Big Macintosh and Granny Smith weren’t even up. What was so important, Nopony got up before Big Macintosh. I walked down the stairs.

“What is it, sis?” I asked her.

“Yer friend Scootaloo wants tuh talk tuh you. She seems to think it's so darn important, it couldn't wait till the sun came up.” She replied, with a bit of irritation. She did not look happy to be woken up this early.

Great, what plan does she have for us now? I thought. I opened the door and walked outside, and waiting there was Scootaloo and a half-awake Sweetie Belle.

“Good, you’re finally out here. Come on, I’ve got a plan that’s sure to get us our Cutie Marks!” Scootaloo said with an eager smile.

“What’s this sure to work plan this time?” I muttered. Scootaloo gestured for us to follow, and we followed her.

“I was up thinking, last night, and then it dawned on me.” Scootaloo monologued, as we started walking into town.

"It's still last night." I murmured.

“If there’s a pony in here that would have some way to help us find our Cutie Marks, it would be Twilight!” Scootaloo explained, as we passed by the gazebo where we had accidentally poisoned Cheerilee and Big Mac with the supposed love potion.

“Twilight’s magic can’t give us a Cutie Mark though!” Sweetie Belle said.

“I know, but maybe she has a book on getting Cutie Marks!” Scootaloo replied. It actually sounded a bit logical, for once. It had been six months since Twilight’s brother got married, and we still hadn’t gotten our Cutie Marks. It was actually becoming depressing, we were the only ones at school without our Cutie Marks. As we walked over the bridge into the main town, and passed by Sugarcube Corner, I thought of something.

“Wait, isn’t Twilight out of town?” I asked Scootaloo.

“Yeah, but Spike’s been told that as long as he can keep the library organized, he can keep it open for others.” Scootaloo replied. The library came into view, and I thought one thing.

“Well, it is going to get very unorganized.” I thought.

We reached the library, and Spike didn’t seem irritated that we had come so early, probably because he was used to Twilight. “Spike, do you know where we could find books on Cutie Marks?” Scootaloo asked,

“Uh, no. Sorry, it probably would be under C though.” We started looking through books, and although there were books about Cutie Marks, they weren’t of any help to us. They weren’t anything we didn’t know about already.

As I looked through some book I didn’t fully understand called “The Evolution of the Cutie Mark”, which went on about Cutie Marks being the result of "natural selection", giving prehistoric ponies the knowledge of what their role was in a tribe. I was pulled out of it when Scootaloo shouted over, “Hey, I found something!” I ran over and Scootaloo had a book in her hoof called “The Power of the Cutie Mark”

“It looks like the rest of the title is worn off.” Sweetie Belle noted.

“Who cares, the title says it all. This has got to be something good!” Scootaloo responded. She opened the book, and asked me to read it. I started reading the text at the beginning which said:

It is prophesied that on the day of the half-year anniversary of the Changeling invasion when the sun is at its peak, a terrible force of darkness will come to Equestria. Equestria will be no match for the mighty force, and even though its soldiers will fight valiantly, they will not be able to stop it. The Elements of Harmony will attempt to stop the force, but will do so in vain. This terrible force will rule Equestria with an iron fist of terror. But, when it seems there will be no light in the darkness, a group of three will arise. This group will be three young fillies, who have become friends through their mutual goal of finding their Talent Marks. They will reside in a small town that the Elements of Harmony also reside in, and will be of distinct origins. One will be the sister of the Element of Honesty, another will be the sister of the Element of Generosity. The last one will be one who seems to have no origin, and has taken upon herself to make her home in the hearts of others. Their names will be Apple Blossom, Sweet Beauty, and Run Distant. It will be the duty of Equestria to help these three brave fillies find their true Talent, with which they will be able to fight and stop the force.

I was a bit creeped out, the group of fillies sounded awfully similar to us. Sweetie Belle seemed to think the same thing. “Well, come on. You can’t honestly think that’s us. I mean, really it’s just probably an old mare’s tale.” Scootaloo said.

“Ah don’t know, Scootaloo. Nightmare Moon and Discord were also mare’s tales. And a Changeling invasion, that happened exactly six months ago today. Also, Ah’m the sister of Applejack, who’s the Element of Honesty, and Sweetie Belle is Rarity’s sister, and Rarity is the Element of Generosity.” I said.

“It’s just a book, Apple Bloom. We need to look through others, there’s gotta be advice in some books here.” Sweetie Belle and I didn’t budge.

“Come on, what’s a Talent Mark anyways?” Scootaloo asked.

Spike entered the room, “Did you guys say something about a Talent Mark?” He inquired.

“Yeah, why?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Twilight has been researching stuff about Cutie Marks lately, and apparently they used to be called Talent Marks.” We looked at him strangely, and he seemed to get nervous, “Ummm... Hey, do you wanna go outside, you guys have been here nearly all morning. It’s getting close to noon.” He said as he left the room, running as soon as he left the entrance way.

“Talent Marks are Cutie Marks? This is definitely sounding creepy, this sounds like us.” Sweetie Belle said.

I thought for a moment and said, “Sweetie Belle, grab that book. Maybe we should keep it for right now, it is a library after all.” As we walked outside, I noticed the clock tower, it was an hour and a half to noon.

“Hey, isn’t blossom another word for bloom?” Sweetie asked.

“Come on, girls, Ah think we need to talk to Zecora.” I said.

Chapter Fourteen

As the metropolis came into view, albeit in the distance, I told the dragon we were riding, “Alright, let us off, you should head on back, the rest of yer friends probably need ya.” The dragon descended, letting us off. When Diamond Tiara got off, the dragon swooped up, flying away.

We started walking towards the city, and my father stopped. “Look.” He breathed pointing a hoof in a different direction than Manehattan. We looked and where Canterlot was, well, it seemed like a black was growing out of it, the color of darkness when no light is there.

“Let’s keep moving.” Shining Armor reminded us. I felt a cold wind blowing, and it only seemed to make it seem worse. I went and asked Scootaloo for the book, and I looked in it as we took a rest. Some more of the pages seemed to be able to open up, and one depicted Scootaloo.It read:

“Run Distant, known as ‘Scootaloo’.

Talent Mark: Hoof

The second member of the trio, Run Distant has one of the most unique Talent Marks possibly known. Deceptively simple, her Talent Mark represents her determination and willpower. Whenever Run Distant knows something needs to be done, she will be able to do anything, including calling upon impossible reserves of strength and speed, along with being able to discern a target and solving tests and puzzles with abnormal efficiency. Note this talent is not to be confused with the Element of Loyalty, as this talent does not require any loyalty for its use.”

That explained how Scootaloo was able to save me so quickly from my fall, and how she had enough strength to kick Sweetie Belle and I to the main chamber. I turned the page and it had something about Sweetie Belle:

“Sweet Beauty, known as ‘Sweetie Belle’.

Talent Mark: Musical Note with Magical Aura

The last member of the trio, Sweet Beauty, has an extraordinary talent. Using her singing and other musical vocalization, she can perform magical feats that would hard or impossible to replicate, even with the abilities of alicorns.

I turned back to my page, which didn’t have any text there, why? I knew by now this book had to be enchanted, but who would in their right mind would enchant a book vital to us? I decided just to close the book and the world seemed so much different than the one I had seen in Ponyville. Right then, a voice shouted “AHA!” and for a moment I thought we had been discovered. Everyone stared at the source of the noise which appeared to be Doctor Whooves.

“What’s ‘AHA!’ supposed to mean?” A guard asked, and the Doctor laughed.

“I just realized something, if we can get back to my TARDIS, we can use it to travel much quicker!” He exclaimed.

“Your what?” My father asked, seeming to be confused.

“I think it’s that blue box that he lives in.” Scootaloo replied.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous! I don’t live in there! Granted, I have used it for a long time as my mode of transportation, and there’s definitely rooms in there, not to mention a swimming pool,” He started saying, Phalanx giving an odd look when he said swimming pool, “...But I live in Ponyville!”

“Okay, so where is this ‘TARDIS’?” Sweetie Belle asked, doubtfulness clear in her voice.

“I believe it might actually not that far from here, after all the last time I parked the TARDIS I parked it right near the edge of the Canterwood forest.” The Doctor rambled.

“That’s actually a bit far,” My father said, “It’s, I don’t know, just 15 miles from here!”

“Yeah and we’re 25.34 miles away from Manehattan!” The Doctor said cheerfully.

“Ah guess we could go and use it,” I said slowly, “How do we know Rabil doesn’t have it?”

“Chameleon circuit, that’s how!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“I thought that was broken...” Ditzy said, and the Doctor chuckled.

“Don’t be ridiculous, it’s fixed, I just like the blue box look.” The Doctor said, “But the TARDIS is automatically programmed to use the circuit if anything related to Rabil comes near.”

“Wait, how would that be programmed? Rabil we found out about just a few weeks ago!” Shining Armor said, suspicious.

“I visited them a while back, after meeting him, the TARDIS made itself have its circuit work, probably to hide from him.” The Doctor explained. After a few more minutes of questions as to if the Doctor was actually sane, much less telling the truth, we finally decided to go. Then, a few hours later, with hushed debates as to the wiseness of the decision we had made, we finally arrived to a spot in the Canterwood forest. “Alright, listen up, the TARDIS may be still cloaked, I don’t quite recall if I reset it or it just readjusted after that one trip.”

“Uhh, Doctor, I think it’s right there.” Ditzy said, pointing towards a blue box.

“Oh, right then, in we go!” The Doctor said, getting something out.

“How are we going to fit in there?” Diamond Tiara asked, but the Doctor ignored her, and got out a key. The door opened and there seemed to be an odd interior. He walked in, and shouted back.

“Come on in!” He yelled back. I walked in first and for a second I took note that the interior was bigger than the outside.

“Wait what?” My mind realized and I dashed back outside, it was smaller. I went back inside, not comprehending how this even made sense. “It’s... It’s bigger on the inside!” I exclaimed, and the Doctor laughed from inside.

“Everypony always says that!” He stated matter-of-factly, oblivious to the fact everypony else’s jaws were down, with the exception of Ditzy. “Well come on, don’t just stand there!” The Doctor said, and I walked in, and soon enough the rest of us came in, not believing our eyes. The Doctor shouted over, “Ditzy, check the Trans-Dimensional Time Oscillator!”

“What?” Ditzy asked.

“The green and red lights over there!” The Doctor said, pointing a hoof, once again oblivious to our disbelief.

“It’s two greens, one red.” Ditzy replied, and the Doctor nodded.

“What kind of magic is this?” Shining Armor asked, and the Doctor gave his laugh.

“It’s not magic, it’s the TARDIS. Timey-Wimey stuff.” The Doctor explained. “Anyways, it appears the TARDIS has shut its time functions down.”

“It’s what now?” Phalanx asked.

“It’s time traveling capabilities, probably because it would mess with our personal timelines.” The Doctor said.

“This thing can travel through time?” Scootaloo asked in disbelief.

“Time and Space.” The Doctor added on, “But its time capabilities are not working, currently, because of the personal timeline problem.”

“What’s so bad about the personal timeline?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Well, what fun is there in that? You wouldn’t want to spoil something for your past self!” The Doctor responded, “But even worse, if we were to travel through time right now, most likely we would cause a major timeline disruption, possibly making a hole in reality. which wouldn’t help our situation.” Hole in reality? That sounded similar to what the book said about Rabil’s weakness. “But we can still use it to travel quickly, and as a place to rest, also I’ve got some wonderful pastries here! Some of them came from Colt Friberg himself!” He continued rambling on, until Ditzy looked at him, and he seemed to realize he was rambling. “Anyways, off to Manehattan!” He pulled a lever and a tube in the center started having its interior parts move and a weird noise started emanating. After a few seconds a bell dinged, and the Doctor cheerfully informed us we had arrived.

I went and opened up the door, and instead of the forest, we were in the middle of a city, presumably Manehattan. “Looks like we’re here.” I said, and as I stepped out I noticed a pony watching me, and realized they weren’t the only ones. There were a bunch of ponies, looking at me aggressively.

“Hey, we’re on your side!” Phalanx said as he stepped in front of me.

“Right, how do we know you’re not just another spy!” A pony demanded.

“We were here a few weeks ago, don’t you remember we helped you?” Phalanx replied, and Shining Armor tried to get out, but Phalanx blocked the entranceway. “Get inside, Apple Bloom, it’s better for me to do this.” I tried to protest as he walked out.

“Stop moving now!” A stallion shouted. “We will attack!”

“I wouldn’t recommend that course of action, Stalwart.” A voice said, their voice oddly familiar.

“Ma’am, they did just appear out of nowhere! Only Rabil’s forces have that capability.” The stallion argued back.

“To our knowledge they have that capability.” The pony said as they walked into view, they looked in my direction, and as they blew their mane out of their face, they said, “Apple Bloom?” I realized it was Babs Seed.