Pony Fantasy

by Lunar Protege

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Random, Adventure, Crossover, Wonderbolts, Anthro, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Other, Romance
Length: 20065

After Rainbow Dash Saves Princess Luna, she gets recruited into a new Branch of the Wonderbolts called the Dream-Bolts. [Epic Fantasy]

After Rainbow Dash Saves Princess Luna, she gets recruited into a new Branch of the Wonderbolts called the Dream-Bolts. [Epic Fantasy]

Warning!:
This is an "Epic Fantasy" Story. Which is kinda like saying I put All the RPG settings in a blender and set to "Liquify". So if a Cat-Monk Octavia with a side of Pony-Wolf Lycanthropy Fighting Seven Evil Ex-es for the Love of a Time-Traveling Half-Vampire Vinyl Scratch with the power of technology in her blood and Pony-Fox Lycanthropy sounds interesting to you... Then no, you are not prepared to read where this story will go, but we can work on that.

Involves all of the characters... ALL OF THEM!

Also, eventually all of the Ships... ALL OF THEM!

This story can be thought of as a Crossover between Dungeons & Dragons, MLP, Eventually Homestuck, Final Fantasy, and much more that I haven't thought of yet.

Based off a Comic I started I won't have time to Finish in a long time without help.Started Here!

Published 2013-03-12 02:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-04-21 14:51:19 UTC

The Start of a Guild. (Timeline 4): Day 0/1

In this Incredibly Strange story, it is hard to pinpoint an Exact Beginning. However, as the exact nature of Luna being hunted by inquisitors is not of Immediate concern for this story, let us begin at a tavern... After Rainbow Dash had beaten up some thugs with the blunt end of her Sword.

Rainbow Dash cupped her hoofs around her mug, watching Fluttershy Sip from her own drink. Her hair covering her eye, still swollen from the fight. "Is your eye feeling better?" She asked.

Fluttershy Nodded. "It... Hurts, but I can still mostly see," Fluttershy said. Of course, she motioned with a Hoof to make sure her darkened wound was still hidden behind her locks.

Rainbow Dash looked into her drink, an easier place to look than in Fluttershy's Eyes at that Moment.
"Listen, Fluttershy... I... Feel I should have been there to stop you getting hurt... And... I hate seeing you so sad.. So if there's anything I can do-"

Some strangled noises came from beneath the Table, interrupting them, and Rainbow Dash would have Ignored it... If it weren't for what happened next.

A Pair of Old Fashioned Ponies in Plain Country Clothes, with barely a trace of Arcane Magic effect on them Kicked open the Door of the Tavern, a somewhat malevolent shadow seeming to spill into the Room. And while most ponies nowadays had transitioned to bipedal movement over the years from the work of a Benevolent Unicorn Sorceress, those two continued to keep all four hooves on the ground. Indeed, perhaps one would Gesture to call them Incredibly Amish.

Dash Reached for her Blade, fashioned for use without Fingers, as did many in the room follow her lead. However, the one with a bowl Cut raised only a single hoof off the ground to wave them off.

"We're here for a certain fugitive. She called disgrace upon our church this night. Surrender her and you'll be free to continue drinking. Don't, and we'll burn this Building to the ground!"

Dash's face turned from a scowl to a Smirk. Her Reply would not be Elegant. "Screw the Tavern, if you think I'll hand over Somepony to you," she said. Her Arms, crossed over her chest, even though yet they didn't terminate with hands. "I might as well destroy it myself! So long as everyone SHIELDS THEIR EYES!"

In a single movement, she grabbed Fluttershy and whoever it was under the table and flew out the window at sonic velocity. sonic Rain-booms Obliterating the Tavern instantly.

Before she was clear of the blast though, she felt a ripple of anti-magic pass through her; and as she regressed to proper Equine from, she lost a grip on her companions...She didn't hear screaming though, just a surprised yelp. So obviously both of them were able to Fly.

Of course, that drew Rainbow Dash to the question of who their other companion was. So she turned to get a better look... And who she saw surprised her.

"Luna?"

After regrouping, the six modern legends you know of gathered at the train station to escort Luna on her way back to Canterlot. But their Defacto Leader, and Fellow Princess still had Questions. "If you don't mind Princess Luna," Twilight said, "why exactly would you be all the way out here?"

Luna was blushing. "It's a divine thing, I'm not sure all of you would understand... But needless to say, I over exerted myself." Luna turned to Dash. "In any case, I owe you a personal debt for tonight, and unlike the debt the entire Kingdom owes you all, I feel I should be obliged to repay it. Is there anything you need?"

Dash was briefly considering a sarcastic answer before the multiple pairs of eyes of her Companions on her reminded her this was a serious question. "I suppose the only thing I'm really looking for is a place on the Wonderbolts. But the last time I applied, they said I wasn't Paladin Material. Since I failed that requirement, they're not going to let me in."

Luna gave a quizzical look for the briefest moment before slapping her hoof to face. "Right, I forgot that's what Celestia did to the Wonderbolts while I was gone." Luna sighed. "Still, you're trying to get into them because they're a both a flight team and a Hero's Guild right? Aren't there any others that fit that description?"

"I hate to break it to you Luna..." Dash began, rubbing the back of her neck "But right now, no other Guilds or Flight teams exist in Equestria. hasn't been one since you left."

"Well then, I guess there's only one thing for it..." Luna said while motioning for them to get on the Train. "I'll fill you in on the details on the way to Canterlot. I'm sure Celestia owes me enough favors for this to work."

Everypony made confused mumbles amongst themselves wondering what Luna meant.

Luna cleared her throat. "What I mean to say is, we're going to establish our own Guild!"

Twilight was reading a dossier on the Train, when she looked up at Rainbow Dash. "It looks like training options are a bit limited, Celestia doesn't exactly have a contact list for these things."

Dash Scoffed, and lounged back in her seat. "Right, like I need many options. Almost half my combat experience is self taught."

"I can tell from your usual job title, 'professional barbarian for hire'." Twilight shuffled the papers around with her magic. "Well, all things considered, this isn't that bad. At the very least it turns out Luna was able to convince Spitfire to join us."

Dash's wings suddenly Puffed out. "Spitfire?! That's Awesome!"

Twilight Smiled. "I thought that might get your attention. From what Luna's notes say, she expressed a desire to train you as a Knight, which I think suits you better than 'Paladin' ever would."

"A knight huh," Dash said as she returned to her Lounging, "Sounds pretty cool, I'll do it."

A knock at the compartment door announced Pinkie Pie's Presence. "Twilight, can I speak to you in private?"

Rainbow Dash stood up. "We were just finished for the moment anyways. Besides, I should probably catch some rest, Twilight kept me up all night."

Pinkie nodded. "Right, that's probably a good idea. Wouldn't want to be tired on your first day. So... See you?"

As Rainbow Dash left the room, Twilight put aside the dossier and directed Pinkie to sit down. "I don't usually see you looking like you want serious conversation, is something bothering you?"

Pinkie took off her Pointy Sunglasses, Probably stolen from a Time and Place beyond their them. "Its not something bothering me, but it is important. Have you ever heard of Pone-Wolves?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I'm familiar with the concept, but from what Celestia told me they disappeared into history ages ago."

Pinkie Sighed, looking out the Window like one would while reminiscing. "They went into hiding. Luna being their patron and being imprisoned in the moon kinda explains that."

Twilight sat in silence, unsure of what Pinkie's statement meant. "If they're still around, should we get in touch with them or something?"

Pinkie started to giggle. "You could say that, in fact, you're already good friends with one."

Twilight's confused look quickly defrosted. "Pinkie? Are you saying you're one of them?"

Pinkie nodded. "Of course silly, I was waiting until today to tell you. Today is supposed to be the day I explain... Most of the things that make no sense about me... Past, Future, and Present."

"How exactly does being a Pone-wolf explain anything?" Twilight asked, cradling her face in her Hooves. "Does it explain your Twitchy tail? Your uncanny knowledge? Your skills which seem to defy reality?"

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Ever heard of an oracle?"

Twilight thought back over her books, however the ones that came to mind were once Obscure and only got Reprinted in the Last few decades. "I Think I Heard of it... It was listed as an alternative way of harnessing magic, and seemed to have ties to Luna and Celestia. But it said that any prospective Oracles need to be permanently cursed somehow."

As Twilight caught Pinkie's Snicker, Twilight's eyes widened. "Oh! Right! I forgot legends about Lycanthropy describe it in exactly those terms; even if it was a good thing for them."

Pinkie managed to pull herself together. "Trust your auntie Pinkie. By the end of this day, you'll make a choice that will change your life... Almost as much as those wings you keep hiding did."

Twilight felt her bound wings squirm under her shirt at the mention of them. And yet she had to admit to herself... She had a feeling Pinkie might be right.

Twilight had a lot to think about by the time the train Ride was over. And by the time they reached The guild house she was considering accepting a certain offer Pinkie made... Taking up lycathropy herself so she could learn to see the future for herself, as well as improve the spell-casting she already had.

As they arrived, Twilight noticed Luna was talking to Spitfire and Lyra Heartstrings; as they noticed their Arrival Luna Strode over to great them. "Nice to see you all made it," Luna started, "make yourselves at home, I know it's kinda beat up from the ground up, but the lower levels are still intact."

Twilight heard Dash yawn, and turned in time to see Dash dump her backpack by the door.
"Well, I'm done for the day, I still have to finish my nap, so see you all tonight," Dash said.

Twilight turned back to Luna while the others followed Dash inside. "So, Pinkie told me about something... A long time ago, you were involved with some kind of some kind of order of Lycanthropic Oracles. Correct?"

Luna rubbed the back of her head. "That's another thing for the memo list..." Luna said, almost to herself. "Although I should probably say I didn't just rule over them. I was one of them."

Twilight placed her hoof against her chin. "So this is for real... Then you should know, she offered to make me all... Wolfy."

Luna looked to Lyra, who was busy using some mechanical hands to input some data in a device, only to get a simple shrug in return. "I suppose it's probably important if she's offering," Luna said, "and she probably already knows you'll say yes. So my word isn't going to change much."

Twilight took a deep breath, and though her slow exhalation wasn't exactly a sigh, she stayed silent thinking on the matter.

"...You're anxious about going out of control aren't you?" Luna offered.

Twilight looked towards the guild-house. "Its mostly for our sake. I'm not entirely versed on whether I'll be dangerous or not."

Luna shrugged. "Probably not, even though many who go through with lycanthropy aren't always in control of their actions, they're still the same pony underneath. Just... A lot more emotional than most can handle." She Smiled, a fairly friendly one. "Even if it gets bad enough that you don't remember the previous night, you're not going to do anything against your nature."

Twilight sighed. "I guess you're right. I'll probably see you again tomorrow; Oracle stuff." She continued inside while Luna continued discussing something with Lyra. Tonight was likely to be an Important night for all of them.

After a long day trekking across a city once the train had arrived at it's destination, Dash was once again asleep. Dreaming of intimate and romantic moments with her friends. But after the dreams finished unloading that specific emotional baggage, there was one last scene before she woke; a number of alternate visions of herself looked on from the edges of her dream, giving a look at Dash she interpreted as approval. Of course, that's when the dream faded as awareness rushed to tell Dash she was falling.

Dash's jaw collided with the ground. And in some lingering fogginess she could have sworn she heard some chip-tune artifact associated with loosing health. But that's more Pinkie's field, and she was more interested in what Time it was. Obviously Late at night from how dark it was darkness.

Curiously, in the Moonlight she she managed to spy a note taped to the side of her bed.

After a brief scanning of the note she took away from it that it was from Spitfire, asking her to get a couple of things from Lyra, before seeing her on the roof. Training would begin at Midnight.

"Hmm..." Applejack looked over a room that used to be some kind of underground Bar. Or was it Tavern? You can never tell with Fantasy Terminology.

She noted that the place stocked a few casks from her Home in Sweet Apple Acres. Albeit ones a about a thousand years before her time. And though it tempted her to try some, she knew it was too well Aged, and so too valuable to use up just yet.

She sighed, unpacking a small travel sized case she brought with her; and as she did so, she heard some-pony walk in behind her; which she took a brief glance to. The lighting was dim, but she recognized a certain hat she wore. Which was curious... since she was already wearing it.

She cleaned out a pair of mugs and poured a drink for the two of them. A small silence ensued, until Applejack noted a couple of her limbs were made of machinery.

"So... How'd you earn those little war wounds there?" Applejack asked, leaning over the counter.

The other huffed crossing Her Limbs. "I tried something stupid before I fully understood how to do it right. Magic may have been involved."

Applejack sighed Sitting Back. "What did you do? Try to raise your dead parents or something?"

The other lifted the brim of her hat, showing her identical face to her own. "You'd probably have done the same if you thought you could... Wouldn't you agree?"

Applejack nodded to her other self. "Sounds about right... But from now on, maybe you should leave crazy ass complicated spells like that to some-pony else."

The other Applejack smiled. "Suppose I can drink to that." They clinked their mugs together and took a couple of chugs at their drink.

"So... How exactly did you get to play with magic?" Applejack asked. "Seems like every-time I turn around some-pony is playing with some new method of tackling unicorns at their own game."

"Er... Some rune based alternative to Alchemy at first..." The Doppelganger said, scratching her Neck. "But magical accidents that make you loose a limb or two tends to open up a few doors." She shook her head. "Actually, I'll just get Twilight to explain, she knows more about this stuff."

The normal Applejack sighed and turned back to her drink "Fair enough."

Dash was annoyed with having to stand around while Lyra went about adding a new little addition to her updated 'Anthropomorphic Spell' she made. "I don't know why I have to come to a unicorn every time some-pony dispels the effect, or you whimsically decide to add another feature to this magic, you know how costly that can get?"

Lyra chuckled as she finished changing one of Dash's Hooves into a hand. "I've been working on a solution to that."
Lyra sent one of her mechanical hands to retrieve something while she marked out a point on Dash's wrist using her pair of flesh and blood hands. The mechanical hand floated back carrying some kind of microchip gun.
Before Dash could object, Lyra shot an implant into Dash's arm. "There, that should solve the problem."

Dash rubbed her wrist. "What exactly was that?"
As if in answer to her question, Dash's other forehoof turned into a hand as well.

"It's an enchanted implant, since magic items only get suppressed rather than made useless by anti-Magic effects, this should save you time when the anti-Magic wears off," Lyra said.

Dash rolled her eyes. "Wasn't there something else you were going to give me?"

Lyra nodded and reached under the desk, dragging out a fairly oversized Katana. "Apart from being better made than your old sword, I think she's calling you out on your training in that Ninja Village."

"You mean Ponyville," Dash said, trying to keep it blunt.

Lyra grabbed a nearby milkshake she had on hand. "Indeed, Ponyville the Ninja Village." She said right before sipping at her drink.

Dash slowly turned to leave, as a shiver started to develop at Lyra being so Casual about her Home being full of Ninjas. "Right, not that this conversation isn't nice, but I've got Training to get to."

Now Would be a good Time to introduce the story of another Dash...Although maybe not Rainbow Dash. As her blonde and orange mane showed from a lack of about four colors. As well as her slightly greenish Tinge. For This Dash is years in the Future, but not many. Along with... Another Mystery.

But One thing thing is Certain... Today, her Name is Lightning Dash, Believed to be the Daughter of Rainbow Dash. However, If she had existed Years in the Past, she would have been know as Lightning Dust, which to be frank, is not much of a Difference.

She looked down at a flyer she held, it was specifically inviting the six supposed descendants of Harmony to the Dream Bolts under Lyra's 'Shinra' initiative. However she was still trying to piece together what exactly that meant.

Lightning suddenly overheard a pair of ponies talking. "...I thought that most of the bearers of Harmony paired up with each other," one said, "Anyone have a clue on how that works? A bunch of mares managing to have foals isn't exactly common."

Lightning turned an eye to a Light blue tinted Mare, her partner currently known as Twilight Lulamoon, and motioned in the couple's direction.

Lulamoon rolled a sucker around in her mouth before pulling it out and walked over to them "I'm sure that's an over simplification of the issue," she said to them, "you're forgetting two factors here, concerning a touch of magic and their somewhat polyamorus relationship. There's at least a hundred ways hidden in those two facts for them to have offspring."

The gossipers sheepishly scurried off in fear in case she had the same abilities as her mother.

Lightning returned to her thoughts. "Okay... so silly question's like those ones aside... There is something for us to ask ourselves. Like... Why didn't they just call the original bearers? I'm pretty sure they all found some way to survive this long."

Lulamoon Shook her head, pointing her sucker as lightning. "How are they supposed to find a bunch of ponies that disappeared from the face Equestria? We carry whatever precious bit of soul and blood they managed to salvage from those days."

Lightning chuckled as she lowered her Flyer. "Oh please, I'm pretty sure your mother taught you not to assume things can just vanish without a trace. And unless these people know something we don't, they should have tried looking for them before looking for us."

Lulamoon pouted. "True. but now that raises a question you should answer... Why would they need to call out either them or their six children to become Heroes?"

Lightning took a deep breath. "Because something important is happening... Heroes are usually revealed in a time of crisis. So naturally, there's either a crisis happening now, or soon."

A mint green pony cleared her throat. "Excuse me for overhearing. But you're forgetting the possibility of Time Shenanigans... On all accounts."

"Director Lyra!" Lightning said, standing to attention. "Would you like to fill us in on what we're missing here?"

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Look, maybe you should just grab one of the data readers, I've uploaded the most important information to it already. You can read up on everything later, including what happened to your parents." Lyra sighed. "Besides, I think I should get all the details about you all first."

Lightning chuckled. "Sure, why not. We've got time."

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "Hmm... Your mother wasn't half as patient for this as you..." she said as she pulled out a clear holographic screen. "Anyways, I'm assuming your mother taught you a few things right?"

Lightning nodded. "She taught me the usual things she knew. Ninjitsu, Martial Arts, Knight stuff, and... How do i describe one of her other lessons?"

Lulamoon rolled her eyes. "She told you to go off into a battlefield and just keep swinging until you could focus your anger and other instincts. I'm pretty sure they just call that 'Barbarian'."

Lightning rubbed the back of her neck. "... Ignoring that embarrassing part of my life, that's about it for her lessons. Although after she disappeared I joined the 'Soldier' initiative."

Lyra nodded. "Already got that last one listed. Best money Lyracorp ever spent next to the Dream Bolts I'd say, considering how well you took to the magic infusions."

Dash shrugged, reaching out to grab a cup of coffee that levitated towards her glowing hand. "I suppose I could have tried other ways to gain magic abilities, but your way was quicker."

Lyra tapped away at few keys on the screen and then looked back up. "Well, I say it's time to make this official. Welcome to the Dream Bolts, Lightning Celestial Dash."

Lightning waved it off. "I prefer just Light thanks. I'd rather not get confused with one of the ponies I was named after."

"And what if I told you that thanks to shenanigans, and if it weren't for more shenanigans, you would have ended up being one and the same pony?" Lyra asked. She turned around her screen with a number of images of Lightning and Rainbow alongside each other at the Wonderbolt Academy. "Lightning Dash... Meet... Lightning... Dust!"

Lightning Dash, burst into laughter, slowly sinking lower as she fell to the ground via her crippling laughter, barely managing to keep her cup Upright while Pounding said ground using her other hand with the enthusiasm of a mad-mare.

Lulamoon adjusted her hat as she looked at the photos. "Oh dear Luna... How the heck did that happen? Didn't our parents ever teach us not to be reckless?"

Lyra giggled as she tapped away at the Reader. "Lightning wasn't the only one! Guess what, you've got an embarrassing moment via time shenanigans as well! Remember that cute Little Nickname she gave you? 'Trixie' Lulamoon?"

Lulamoon snatched at the data reader and scrolled down until she got to a File marked 'Trixie'. When she opened it though, she found a slightly embarrassing sight... That of her parading herself about in a stage show that seemed to play off of audience humiliation. As well as some shenanigans involving an Ursa Minor.

"Ugh... I thought I grew out of that years ago..." She Muttered to herself.

Lightning continued to giggle. "Sure, but you both seem pretty attached to your hats!"

Twilight Lulamoon blushed, exposed as Trixie. "Sh... Shut up... My hat's better... It was adapted from the Mare Do well costume."

Lyra shook her head. "I'm just going to say at least half the ways you diverge from your other selves may have to do with your family teaching you pretty early on not to... Well Act so much like... Well... the other version of yourselves I guess. but in any case..." Lyra looked down at Lightning Dash. "You feel like getting another chance to meet your Ancestors? If you get yourself prepared you can even do a few things to help them out of one of their predicaments."

Lightning nodded as she gained her composure. "Of course! That would make this the best day ever!"

"Good, it's probably going to get even better as well, considering we've got a celebrity DJ on hand to send you guys back in time," said Lyra, pointing over to some shady corner of the break room.

Vinyl Scratch waved a hand.

"You guys get caught up on things... I'll go fill the others in."

Lightning smiled. Heading off to introduce herself to Vinyl. Needless to say... Lightning had a feeling it was going to be an important night for her.

Twilight was reading up on what little the guild house's library had to say on Lycanthropy. She checked the wall clock in the dark and noticed it was getting late. If Pinkie was going to do this, she suspected it was going to be soon.
Somewhere in the distance, she could hear a Wolf's howl; probably Luna from what Twilight's instincts told her. And the fact the Full Moon phase was beginning reminded her how much this night might mean for Luna as well.

For some reason she felt like she was being watched. This, Twilight knew would be Pinkie.
"Pinkie... I've thought about this," she said "... And... Although I'm still not certain if this is the right choice... I want you to share with me what this part of your life is like."

Pinkie leaped out of some dark corner and tackled Twilight to the ground, and Twilight could feel her heart shift rhythms as panic set in. When Twilight felt Pinkie's tongue licking her face though, she began to laugh from how much it tickled. Though some of Pinkie's Saliva getting in her eyes managed to cause some discomfort, especially when Pinkie started to directly lick her eyeball.

When the licking ceased, Twilight was left rubbing her eyes, and she could feel parts of her face pulsing with an unusual coolness . Whatever was in Pinkie's Saliva was already in her bloodstream just from licking her Eyes.

When Twilight's vision cleared, she managed to get a good look at what Pinkie looked like. She looked a lot more wolf than she did pony right now, also, maybe a bit Leaner though, and her limbs and body were a bit longer. Still just as pink as ever though.

Twilight Flinched as she felt a pulse travel through her body like ice water. The legends were right about the full moon speeding up the process it seemed. Perhaps that was why Pinkie chose tonight to do this.
For a brief moment, Twilight felt like she was about to black out, and perhaps she did; As when she opened her eyes again, she felt her changes were finishing.

Twilight did a brief self examination, which Pinkie promptly interrupted with what could best be described as some kind of puppy kiss.

Twilight was stunned a little by this, but she gathered enough courage to try to say something. "Pinkie... I had no idea you felt that way," she said; Or rather, that's what it sounded like to them.

Pinkie smiled, her head tilted Playfully. "I'm not the only one, when you spend enough time in this form you begin to smell when somepony is attracted to another pony."

Twilight blushed a little but managed to compose herself. "So... How many among us have feelings for each-other?"

Pinkie simply smiled. "All of Us."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Really? Who has feelings for who?"

Pinkie Rubbed her leg a little. "Amoung the six of us, I'd have to say... We have feelings for all of us."

Twilight was about to voice a note of skepticism when she remembered all those 'almost intimate' moments she had with the others. "...oh..." she said.

"It's not an ideal situation, but there's ways to go about multiple relationships if you're willing to try," Pinkie Suggested.

"I'm more than willing, I'm just not sure about the others," Twilight said looking off to the side.

Pinkie beamed. "Since we're here, maybe you want to see what Dash is doing, She should be Starting some midnight training right now."

Twilight licked Pinkie's cheek. "Lead the way."

Fluttershy was unpacking her gear in a large, and somewhat strange room she found. It was deep underground but somehow plants growing in there. A number of Electric Lamps could be seen giving off a number of dim lights for the plants to grow. But while the plants seemed to be able to thrive down here, most of the animals down here seemed to be rather lethargic.

Of course, Fluttershy herself felt fine down here. Not that she could be described as a normal pony anymore... Not in a long time. A number of leafy green veins were growing up one side of her face like some strange tattoo made of vines however the dress Rarity made for her hid how far it had spread. For now though, she still mostly resembled her old self.

In any case, as she unpacked her things, she made mental notes of all the things the animals down here would need.

However she was distracted from her thoughts by the sound of boiling water. When she turned towards the noise she saw a foreboding pillar of steam rising out of a pool in the center of the room.

She quickly ducked behind a tree out of habit. Clutching at her chest as her heart raced. She could almost imagine what Dash would say to this, probably something about it just being harmless steam. But even if Dash was right about that, some other noises she was starting to hear were freaking her out.

She could hear something groaning, and a heavy thud against grass, and something wet flapping about.

... And then she heard something unexpected...

She heard crying.

As she looked around the trunk of the tree she was hiding behind, she noticed a small and rather Draconic looking figure curled up in a ball, although the fact it had a more pony like mane rather than spines was odd.

Fluttershy took a deep breath. And on shivering limbs, she crept forward. She wasn't fond of dealing with dragons after all.

As she approached the crying dragon thing, she found herself couching low to the ground.

As she looked it over, she noticed it shared a few key features with herself. A body color of yellow, and a pink mane for one. But more striking was something present on the dragon thing's hind legs.

... A Trio of Pink butterflies... Just like her own cutie mark.

Fluttershy grasped for something to say but it came out as some strangled squeak.

The Fluttershy Dragon bolted off at the sound as if startled, diving into a bush. However this didn't seem yo stop her from crying.

"I'm sorry," said Fluttershy, "are you okay?"

Fluttershy heard a sniffling from the bushes, and a whispered reply.

"... I'm fine... I'm just... going through a lot..."

Fluttershy placed herself down next to the bush. "So...um... you feel like talking about it?"

The Dragon Fluttershy lifted the top part of her head out of the Bush and they looked at each other. "I guess... It would just be like talking to ourselves... I guess I can do that..." She sighed. "Well... I'm not sure how to put this... I think... Maybe I died?"

"What else happened?" Fluttershy said stroking her Draconic counterpart.

The Dragon 'Shy shook her head. "It all happened at once... Rocks fell from the sky, reality seemed to tear itself apart..."

Fluttershy sighed. "...And then you were reborn here... as a dragon it seems... Something we fear..."

Dragonshy nodded. "I... Hope I'm not scarring you..."

Fluttershy rubbed her neck. "Only a little... You're... Actually not big enough to be that scarey," she said, not entirely sure if she meant it herself.

The two heard Wolf howls from somewhere in the distance echoed throughout the building, making them grab onto each other for comfort.

They didn't let go for hours.

Dash landed herself on the roof of the guild-house, which considering all the upper floors were torn off at some point, was really only one floor up. Her sword drawn, she prepared to begin her training.

Spitfire was silhouetted in the moonlight. "Our first lesson is simple, when a knight challenges their opponent to combat, that's when they can hit their opponent hardest." She readied her sword. "Let's duel."

Dash Smirked Readying her Blade in a Similar Stance. "You'd better not hold back."

And in some Abstracted part of Reality, one could almost Hear the words of some Metaphorical Announcer Pierce across the Night.

Rainbow Dash VS Spitfire: Round One- Duel!

Rainbow Dash flew straight at Spitfire, only for Spitfire to fly straight upward before diving at Dash from above for her Stikes, with Dash's attempts to block forcing her to Brace herself against the ground.

When one of Dash's blocks caused the image of spitfire to disappear, she spun round to block an attack from behind. The strain from the attack pulsing through her arms, she found herself panting a lot sooner than usual. "Shadow images? Really? You're trying really hard to get across the point we're both ninjas."

Spitfire smirked with a bit of a show of Teeth. "Think of that as a history lesson; tell me, how many professions have you and your friends Mastered?"

Dash raised her eyebrows, this was pointless Trivia though, she might as well be Brief. "About Five each I think, though some of us doubled up on a few."

"I suppose that makes us about even," Spitfire said, "care to show some of yours?"

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, calling to mind some of the Tricks Pinkie Taught her. "Fus-"
With the next two syllables, the sound of Dash's shout knocked Spitfire across the roof.

Spitfire Smirked as she gained her footing. "Guess Pinkie did teach you a trick or two. The Spoony Bard."

Spitfire raised her weapon, and as she slashed she yelled "Hadouken!", launching a ball of fire at Dash with her Legendary Phrase, a technique the Mark of a True Ninja. Dash's sword Crackled with electricity, and as she launched it from her blade she yelled the phrase's Twin "Juuouken!"

The two blasts of energy passed each other, blasting into each combatant, knocking them off their feet. Dash herself was winded by the blast, and as she regained her breath, she could hear Spitfire chuckle. She turned her head to see her as saw Spitfire in a similar shape to her.

"It's been a while since anyone's attacks matched my own," Spitfire said. She managed pull herself to her feet, her smile back to something kinder. "We should do this again some time."

As Dash worked to regain her own footing, she smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

They heard some howling echoing from somewhere bellow, and the two looked over the edge to see two wolves that looked like Twilight and Pinkie attempting to cheer them on. Dash turned to Spitfire with a raised eyebrow.

"If we ever do this in private," Spitfire Began, "Maybe we should skip calling our attacks."

"Deal," Dash said, "I look forward to tomorrow's lesson."

Rarity found herself in a storeroom of sorts filled with everything from uniforms to armor as well as a few boxes of swords off in one of the side rooms.

As she ventured further back into the storeroom, she found herself surrounded by some more outdated fashions that looked like they could be worn by mythical heroes. But on the other hand, they were in such bright colors, and had a symbol plastered on the front. Making it look more like something out of a comic.

She pondered a few ideas that might work based off some of these weird designs, but shelved them when she remembered she still had to get herself set up.

"Wow... I guess you were always this fashion conscious then?" a voice said.

Rarity turned, seeing what at first seemed to be a rather scruffy white pony. But a bit of a closer look made her notice other features in the dark room.

Rarity lit up her horn to illuminate her guest. Who shared a few of her colors, but otherwise seemed to be half-way between a pony and a dragon. With a fluffy purple mane going all the way down the back of her spine to a long thin tail, with a smooth set of pinkish scales crawling up her chest. Notably, there was a unicorn horn on her head, and she didn't have any wings yet.

Rarity's scrutiny of her form was slightly beginning to unnerve the newcomer. "Can you... Not do that? Its starting to remind me of the feeling before the school costume party I had to go to."

Rarity sighed and lessened the glow of her horn. "I'm sorry...You just seem a little... Uncanny I guess."

The newcomer rolled her eyes. "That's what you get for dating my father I guess."

Rarity's eyes widened, and she gaped around for words but found none. And she found herself slipping to the floor.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed some blue haired pony further away disappear in a flash.

As she began to pass out from hyperventilation, she heard one last word from the white and purple newcomer..

"Mom?"

It was way into the night, and every pony gathered in the bar. And sung away the rest of the night.

Just about everypony was able to ignore the sights around them, As each of them had been through something just as weird as the others today.

...Well... Except for one... But then again... Rainbow Dash was too busy enjoying her mug of cider to start thinking about it just yet.

...Maybe in a day or two... She'd ask what was going on.

But not now.

Author's Note

Blarg... Linearity and stuff in edits... Along with new scenes I was going to add to another Chapter but I found it too much trouble... So congratulations... This chapter is cannibalizing other chapters.

Dates, Demons and Ditzy Doo (Timeline 4A): Day 2/3 (Loading...)

Twilight Sparkle was meditating with Pinkie Pie. Trying to concentrate on tapping into the divine energies associated with Lycanthropy rather than her usual Unicorn stuff.

...Made harder by having to adapt to Lyra's updated version of the Anthropomorphic Spell... Which Lyra seemed to have made it her personal mission to make sure everypony in Equestria got a hold of by days end... You know... It gives you hands now!

She brushed away the thought of the hands again as a drop of water landed on her head again. Funny how one of Pinkie's basic tricks for teaching her to do the "Twitchy tail Thing" basically amounted to water torture. She took a deep breath and felt for any twitches in her body that might tell her when the next drop was going to fall. She sat still... Until she swore she could feel something, a tiny spasm in the tip of her tail. And about a second later, a drop of water hit her on the nose.

She opened her eyes and turned to Pinkie. "I felt... Something there."

Pinkie continued to watch her with some kind of Cheshire cat grin, laying out over some cushions while kicking her legs back and forth. "I guess you can take a break then. If I had to learn it this way, I probably wouldn't have made as much progress as you have."

Twilight Stretched out the stiff muscles in her arms. "So you learned a different way or something?"

Pinkie nodded. "Do I seem like the kind to sit still for this long? There's a few other methods, one almost sounds like a party game."

Twilight giggled. "One of these days you'll have to show me how that works. I'd love to give it a shot."

"By the way..." Pinkie said, rolling over to look up at Twilight. "You figured out how you want to explain things to the others?"

Twilight shrugged. "The Pone-Wolf thing can be explained fairly easily to most of them. Heck, the others have already seen us as wolves, we just need a chance to explain to them a few things." She sighed, looking down. "But I'm not sure how I'm supposed tell them we're looking for a multiple partner relationship. How often do you hear that come up?"

Pinkie smiled. "It can't be that hard can it? My sister used to do it all the time. And she's a fairly classy one. And what about those Bat Ponies?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I'm not entirely sure invoking an almost Alien offshoot of Ponies is appropriate for this situation."

Pinkie sighed Stretching herself out. "Oh well... Seemed like a good excuse to go meet some. But now... Eh... Guess we'll need another excuse."

Twilight smiled. "Its moments like this I'm not sure how serious you are."

Octavia adjusted her bow tie, and the enchantment on the ribbon washed over her, dressing her in the illusion of a rock star.
This wasn't exactly the image Of herself she wanted to portray, but ever since she did a favor for her sister, she wasn't exactly planning to play for the Canterlot elite again just yet.

As she walked out on stage she knew she wasn't going to play any of her better pieces, just her average. She even ignored the Lead singer's Speech and just waited for the cue to play. On cue, she closed her eyes, and began to strum at the Bass, while it wasn't as calming as her preferred instruments, she managed to get lost in her flow with the music anyways. It was her talent after all, and with how good she was at it, she barely even had to try.

When she finished the piece, the crowd was cheering extremely loud, but it wasn't something she cared to bask in right now; all she wanted was to get off stage, get to the bar, and indulge in a stiff drink.

Why is she so apathetic tonight? Well, this place is a goddamn toilet compared to other Bars; it's patrons will cheer anything that distracts them from the person next to them.

At the bar, some one eyed Gryphon with a Bennie and a large bottle of vodka in one claw greeted her. Clearly this fellow was trying to play up some Stereotype of Eastern Gryphons. "Yo Lady, what 'cha Drinking mon?"

Octavia held her face trying to ignore the Bartender. "Just give me the entire bottle of the strongest you've got, I'd rather not be lucid enough to smell how foul this place is."

The gryphon grabbed a bottle from under the counter, he looked about to say something when another Pony dropped a bag of bits on the counter.

"I'll pay for whatever that drink is, plus a blood bank special."

Octavia gave a glance at the Pony next to her, she looked like she had some kind of splitting headache. Other than that, she was white with two tone Blue Hair, also, she had special shades. And though Octavia couldn't immediately place it, she looked familiar.

"You don't look the type to be hanging around here," Octavia said.

The other pony made a pained smile. "Yeah, I'm kinda only here to hide from some of my Ex-es."

Octavia sighed. "If they actually care that much, it's probably better than what I dealt with."

The other pony laughed. "You've never seen my Ex-es. Some of them are like solidified evil, literally."

Octavia raised her eyebrow. "Sounds like you've got an interesting love life. What's your name?"

"Vinyl Scratch," she said, "I'm a DJ, among other things."

Octavia took a gulp of her drink. "Well, I haven't dated any demons, but I did date a few villains without knowing it. Most of them got themselves killed for their deeds over the last few years though."

Vinyl Smirked, stirring her drink that was obviously full of blood. "You make it sound like you dated them all at once."

"I did, I used to have a way with holding together relationships like that," Octavia said.

Vinyl smiled at Octavia, but it soon turned to a sigh. "Listen... I'd love to see if I can be a nicer date than those guys, but most of my dates wind up dead."

Octavia smirked. "So do mine it seems. Still, it would be nice to have a date that wasn't such a Twit."

Vinyl blushed and turned away. "Yeah..."

Octavia finished what was left of the 'Rum?', which lets admit from the quality of that place, lives up to having a question mark in its name, and for a moment she sat in silence. "You know what? Let's do it anyways."

Vinyl raised her eyebrows. "You do realize I've just been saying that if we're going to date, you're going to have to defeat my Seven Evil Ex-es Right?"

"The Colt Pilgrim Thing," Octavia said, clearly familiar with this weird ass social convention. She soon chuckled. "Yeah, I once couched a kid through one of those situations."

Vinyl shrugged. "Still, seems a bit of a thing to rush into just on gut instinct."

"Yeah, but it's better than playing music in filthy bars for another hundred years waiting for a bunch of aristocrats to trust me again," Octavia said.

Vinyl chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head. "Well, if you're up for dealing with my crazy life, I've got a show later tonight, we can hang out backstage and discus music I guess."

Octavia picked up her case of bass and slung it over her shoulder. "Lead the way."

Rainbow Dash groaned as she found herself flying over the city, trying to push higher speeds while wearing a huge pack of stuff. "What part of training was this again?"

"Besides endurance?" Spitfire said, "the fact is, if you want to be able to fight at high speed while wearing armor, you kinda have to push how much you're comfortable carrying as well." The two stopped on top of a building overlooking the City. Spitfire took a deep breath. "Still, It never ceases to amaze me how much things change," Spitfire said, "Twenty years ago... This City was just farmland surrounding Canterlot... Now its a City in its own Right."

Dash rolled her eyes. "And... Twenty years ago... Nightmare Moon showed up and we had two Princesses again. That only took a day? So?"

Spitfire snickered. "Sorry... I'm still getting used to some things," she said, "not every-pony gets to see what happens after being gone a thousand years."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Say that again?"

Spitfire smirked. "Lyra's fault. Magic was involved," she said, "besides, who are you to talk? Twilight Sparkle is probably pulling some strings too to keep you guys in the peak of your youth for twenty years."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Fair enough."

"So," Spitfire began, "what do you think of New Canterlot?"

"Its basically Manehatten except Luna goes out and acts like Mare Do Well at night here. What's there to get?" Dash said, looking off into the distance. "And don't even act like its not obvious. Nopony says anything about it cause it would ruin her fun."

Spitfire smirked. "Pretty much. But you've got to admit her outfit is cute."

Rainbow Dash blushed. "This... Is a good time to change topics..."

Spitfire looked out over the horizon. "Maybe a brief history lesson about knights then? Basically, its starts with one Pegasus Pony... Who decided to ride a Dragon."

"Wait... What!?" Dash yelled, "this doesn't sound like a history lesson! This sounds like a drunken story some crazy idiot told at a bar!"

Spitfire leaned one arm over the edge. "Trust me... It gets crazier... But its all true. But Suffice to say, for a long time afterward, ponies rode dragons."

And so Rainbow Dash sat down, ready to hear a bat-shit crazy tale that would no doubt take the entire evening to tell completely and would be almost impossible to believe, and yet was all true.

...Probably...

Octavia and Vinyl were hanging out backstage long after the show had ended. And Octavia was playing a more personal melody. One that was a long time removed from modern music. And the calming atmosphere from it made even Octavia wonder if she might fall asleep while playing it; her eyes were closed while playing after all. When she opened her eyes, she noticed Vinyl was looking a lot more contented than she looked earlier that day.

"I've never heard music quite like that, where'd you learn it?" Vinyl asked.

"It's about a thousand years old," Octavia said, "I learned it not long after it was written though. I've been... Around a while."

"One of those immortality deals then?" Vinyl asked Rhetorically, not exactly surprised by the development. "How'd you do it though?"

Octavia yawned. "It was one of those things one of the old monk guilds did before they disappeared. It also comes with some cosmetic changes I have to hide as well."

Vinyl smirked. "And now you're prepared to throw it away, I should be flattered I guess."

Octavia chuckled at this, which wound up getting her a confused look from Vinyl. "Don't get overly flattered. In the terms you'd put it, let's just say the 'deal' comes with a warranty."

Vinyl blushed. "Oh... Right..." she said; her next words interrupted when Octavia leaned in and kissed Vinyl on the cheek.

"Still, I've got to admit, tonight's been better than most. We should do this again some time," she said. She leaned in to Vinyl in what could be an intimate moment.

Vinyl leaned in, meeting her halfway, their lips joining for a brief moment.

At that moment some-pony crashed in through the ceiling, his landing reverberating through the floorboards. He raised to his feet an pointed at the couple. "Octavia! I Shall Destroy You!" The insane Newcomer shouted in as to the point was as possible. Clearly not the Brightest Spark in the Abyss. They turned to the newcomer, noting that the pony was wearing only a loin cloth and sported a pair of goat horns, plus some black leathery wings. Indeed, Vinyl's words earlier were no exaggeration that for some screwed up reason she may have dated a Demon.

In a calmed focused motion, Octavia pulled out a sword hidden inside her Bass. Stepping into the open space she took on a combat stance with a smirk on her face. "Indeed, by Samurai honor, I Challenge you to combat."

And indeed, as expected, and Probably well Noticed by Octavia, a Beloved Digital Voice called out across Reality, only noticed by those in tune with its flow.

Octavia VS Incubus: Round 1, Duel!

The Demon Leaped at Octavia with a Battle-Axe, screaming something fierce in its perfectly insane anger. Octavia simply took a deep breath and punched out a ball of cold energy that knocked the Incubus against the wall. Its skin cracking from the freeze stress, and clearly winded from the blast as it struggled to its feet.

This short fight would clearly be over soon, as Octavia began to glow, raising her arm with a large ball of holy energy, and blasted it at the demon. Causing it to fry in the light.

Octavia turned towards Vinyl Scratch, slightly amused by this eventuality. "Was that one of your Exes?"

Vinyl Scratch shook her head. "No, just one of his minions," She said. She pointed at the door. "That's him."

A dark skinned unicorn with a mutant demonic Extensions coming out of the base of his horn stepped forward, making a slow clap. "Well done Octavia, you're still doing your family proud I see."

Octavia raised an eyebrow, but as her face scrunched it was clear she was more disgusted than she was surprised. "I didn't expect you to be the first to claw your way out of The Abyss... Vance."

Vinyl Scratch kept looking back and forth between Octavia and Vance. "You two know each-other?"

Octavia rolled her eyes. "Take a wild guess, it will probably be right."

Vance laughed. "You don't care to remember that night do you? I don't blame you... But you know what I'm here for, so let's forget the past and do this already."

Octavia made a slashing gesture while Vinyl came and stood next to her and made a thumbs down with multiple Magic Hand spells. Listening out for the omnipresent cue to Strike.

Octavia and Vinyl Scratch VS Vance! Round 2!

Octavia leaped into the air and launched a Fro-dou-ken at Vance. Only for it to be deflected with a flash from his horn. But with Vinyl's intervention from her glowing horn Vance was thrown against the opposite wall.

Of course Vance managed to push himself off of the wall, and horn blasted a bolt of Acid straight at Octavia. To Which Octavia merely waved her arm and the bolt changed path into some of the sound equipment, which melted on contact.

Vinyl panted trying to keep Vance pinned with her Magic, slightly straining despite her weird ass Magical pedigree. "Whatever you have planned to deal with Vance, you better do it soon 'Tavi!"

Octavia blushed, "I've got a good one ready." Her Eyes glowed as powerful divine magic flowed through her, disrupting her bow-tie's own magic for a moment as the stripes of a tiger and an almost canine muzzle emerged from the glamor. She let loose a pulse of energy into the ground, and some bright white cracks spread through the ground that soon surrounded Vance and the earth itself let loose a burst of energy straight into him.

Vance cringed as the consecrated ground attempted to destroy him. He looked like he was barely managing to hold himself together. He looked like he was about to explode when Octavia Felt her magic falter.

As the ground returned to normal, the three of them were left panting, with Vance bleeding all over the floor. Octavia watched as Vance looked between her and Vinyl and back to her before sighing.

"I suppose I should say you win. No point in pushing this further," he said, turning to leave.

Octavia raised an eyebrow. "You're not the kind to be graceful in defeat, so I don't buy that."

Vance rubbed his chin. "True... But I'm really only in this gig for the money, so its nothing I want to risk my renewed time up here for." He walked out the door. "Try not to get yourselves killed by Gilda when she faces you two."

Octavia Sighed and checked for any wounds on herself. While she wasn't exactly wounded, her body was still worn out by how much she exerted herself. With what strength of will she had left, she managed to will hard enough that her more lupine features began to wind back. However, this still left her looking like some weird mix of Pony, Tiger and whatever Lyra based her Anthropomorphic spell off of.

Vinyl caught Octavia off guard by scratching her behind the ears, eliciting a slight purr of all things.

"So this is what you really look like," Vinyl said, "I think it makes you look kinda cute."

Octavia Blushed, not having intended to show off the full effects of her various studies tonight . "Thanks..."

Vinyl scratched her chin. "Still, I wasn't expecting you to be an Oracle in all that mix. Maybe that's something we should discus over coffee."

Octavia smiled as she leaned on her. "Sounds good... Just remember to help me walk home, my blood feels like fire right now."

Luna was putting on her Mare do well outfit, hoping to go out for her usual routine. However, right as she was putting on her mask, Lyra walked in with a small slice of cake. After starting at each other for a moment, Lyra sighed. "You know, you don't have to dress up like that. You decided to sign up to your own Heroes' guild. Anonymity is going to do jack at this point."

Luna scratched her neck. "True but... I just like wearing a costume okay. Lets say its a part of Nightmare Night that's grown on me."

Lyra rolled her eyes, sitting down next to her. "I'll get Rarity to make you a new costume then."

Luna smiled. "Thanks... By the way... What's with the cake?"

Lyra looked down at the plate she brought in. "Um... I guess we're celebrating the start of a new Era? I don't know, Pinkie just whipped one up and I thought you might like a piece."

Luna blushed. "I thought it was my sister that was into cake," she said, "Well... I guess I can have a slice."

After Luna took the plate, Lyra was about to walk out when she remembered something.

"By the way... Your sister called... I'm not sure if she's joking or not but she said 'Happy Birthday'."

Luna slapped her forehead. "Damn it! I forgot! When was it supposed to be? Yesterday?"

Lyra smiled. "It happens to all of us eventually. Though maybe I can round up enough guests for a party this weekend."

Luna rolled her eyes. "I remember the last time you said that... Should I expect as small a gathering as last time?"

Lyra counted out a few numbers. "Lets see... We've got Six of Celestia's Pupils, some of them should have a Plus one... Then there's Five or so old acquaintances and whoever they're dating or married to. Plus three or four surprise guests... Not exactly a 'royal gathering', but seems like a decent group."

Luna blinked a couple of times. "That... Actually sounds worth going to."

Lyra smiled as she got up to leave.. "See you there then."

Octavia and Vinyl Scratch arrived back at her Roommate's apartment, some half empty penthouse hidden in the industrial district owned by Lyra and her Wife.

"Bon Bon? You home?" Octavia asked. Hearing a groan coming from the couch.

"Mostly," Bon Bon answered, lifting her head up.

Vinyl whistled at the surroundings. "Nice place you two have here. maybe I should move in."

Bon Bon shrugged. "Go ahead," she said, "Oh, before I forget... Octavia, your sister wants you to help her deal with her romantic circles."

Octavia sighed, yet another thing she had to deal with. "Sure... I'll get right on that..." She leaned in and kissed Vinyl. "But first, I'd like to do a few things..."

...And then things happened... No Seriously, I'm Not telling you, Write your own Idea of what happened!

Applejack was manning the bar in case any surprise customers come in. After all, it might make some income for the place until they get some respectable assignments. She turned her head as she heard some pony walk in, and she raised an eyebrow when she noticed it was the Half Dragon newcomer who sat down in front of the bar and sighed. "I'm assuming the Apple-cider is still on special?" she said.

Applejack nodded and started pouring the drink. "Not really much else in stock yet, other than some thousand year old wine and champers. And I'd doubt any will be using that for something short of a royal wedding." She gave the mug to the Half-Dragon. "So... What's your name?"

"Gemstone..." She said, " or just Gem... It doesn't matter."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "That's the opposite of what Rarity would say... You sure you're related?"

Gem sighed. "I didn't get to spend enough time with her before she disappeared. So I guess I only really learned one thing from her."

"And what would that be?" asked Applejack, who was now leaning over the counter.

"Hmm..." Gem started, "I could just sum it up as 'being generous', but you'll get a bit more out of this with a story to go with it."

Applejack pulled up a stool behind her and got herself comfortable. "Well... How does the story go?" she said as she poured herself a mug.

"It starts with something you probably heard. A Prince that called himself Blueblood," Gem said while swinging her mug around, "mom had one date with him, on one night... and found that he was too obsessed with himself to care about helping a would be partner. Despite his otherwise royal manner."

Applejack chuckled. "Sounds like something else you got from that was acting high class doesn't always mean charming."

Gem shrugged and crossed her arms. "Maybe... But that's only half the story... There's also the story of my own life."

"Why do I get the feeling I know where this is headed?" Applejack said, lifting her mug to take a gulp.

Gem shook her head. "Please, I doubt you'd be able to guess I became a bit of a thief after she disappeared."

Applejack choked on her drink. She sputtered a little before she could talk. "Come again?!"

"It sounds like the opposite of generous I know..." said Gem, "but it wasn't really things I stole for myself. It was stuff I thought the rest of us would need when our family was falling apart."

"I can't exactly say I approve of that," said Applejack tapping away at the counter, "but at least you were thinking of those you cared for I guess."

Gem chuckled. "You'd be surprised how often I hear that."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Now call this curiosity... But what exactly do you think of Rarity's dress making?"

Gem smiled. "She's skilled alright, but she's a little... Overbearing when you try to create your own stuff."

"Wait, you do that stuff too?" Applejack said, "I was almost thought you'd fit some rebellious teenager thing that's so popular lately."

"I do a little Seamstress work," Gem started, "I prefer working on street clothes though rather than formal wear. Its slightly more practical."

Applejack smirked. "I bet Rarity would be proud you're doing it," she said. She paused. "Well... If you can keep her from meddling with it."

Gem sighed. "Thanks," she said. She raised her mug. "To family I guess?"

The two Clinked their mugs and gulped down a few mouthfuls of the cider. And its at that moment that few others wondered in.

Rarity nursed an apparent Headache, and didn't even bother letting Applejack do the pouring. "You'd all be surprised how much I've had to think about today."

The Fluttershy Twins, if that's a convenient way of putting it sat down on the other side of her to Gem. "Not Exactly, There's a lot of things to think about when you're dealing with critters as well," the Leafy one Said.

Rarity waved off the comment. "That's not exactly what I meant, It's nothing to do with us going about setting up here... I mean... I'm sitting next to a Time Traveling Half-Dragon Daughter I can't even address directly yet. Doesn't that sound odd?"

Gem Giggled to herself. "I'm sure you'll adapt though. I'm more worried about the whole Alternate Timeline stuff, how the heck does that work?"

Dragonshy shrugged. "Not entirely sure... But... for some reason I think I heard my version of Lyra say something about the Ponies coming from the Future being from a separate Timeline as well... Something about the Timelines getting cut before those events are meant to happen."

The Fullmetal Applejack rolled her eyes as she stood over to the side. "And no pony is interested in what those timelines are like?" She Fidgeted a bit. "I mean, my Timeline is Pretty much some kinda Academia for Pony's Sake."

Gem smiled. "If we're talking Timelines, lets just say the Future has Jetpacks... and a lot of other industrial stuff."

Every pony suddenly turned an eye to Dragonshy, but quickly turned away and took a sip of their drinks since waiting for her to pipe up with all eyes on her might be be awkward. But she slowly found her voice. "...Um... Rainbow Dash got into the Wonderbolts themselves in my Timeline."

They all collectively choked on their beverages as they heard this. And Collectively Invoked a Single Word.

"WHAT?!"

Day Three

Rainbow Dash had finished suiting up with some modified Wonder-bolt Armour. And was waiting for her first Assignment. Twilight and Pinkie were there too, so they were all getting Briefed up on Previous events over a Pot of Coffee.

"So you're telling me, that you two are part magical wolf now. Along with those wings you refuse to show off, " Dash said.

Twilight shared a Look with Pinkie. "Pretty much."

Rainbow Dash looked to the part of Twilight's back where her wings would be. "How long are you planning to keep them hidden anyways?"

Twilight sighed. "It's easier this way. If the public knew I was a princess from the moment they saw me, they'd probably pull me away from danger... Even when I'm the only one that can stop it."

Pinkie Pie giggled. "Don't be so dramatic, you just need to gain more of a reputation as a hero first."

Dash rolled her eyes, absentmindedly looking at a newspaper. "I'm surprised that we haven't got one already, it's like every-pony walks around wearing blindfolds."

Luna cleared her throat as she entered the room. "Forgive the interruption, but your first mission is in Dash. You'll be helping out a couple of potential recruits at a distant facility made from some of the lost remains of this one. The details are sparse, but they seem to have gotten into a bit of a fight with a bunch of Fiends."

"Yeah, yeah." Dash picked up a satchel. "Just tell me how many and which way I head."

"Seven, though one has been dealt with in a sense..." Luna pulled out some pictures. "These are the fiends in question."

Dash looked at the pictures, and her eyes drifted to a picture of a horned griffon. "Luna... I know this one... She's different than I remember, but... It's Gilda."

The room went silent. Pinkie actually bothered to test an old saying by dropping a Pin, and noted that when it clinked against the ground everypony's Ears Twitched.

And then Rainbow Dash got yanked backwards by Lyra, dragging her towards a room. "I'm not in the mood For this kind of bullshit!" Lyra yelled, "I told my wife I'd get someone over there, and you're ready to go, so quit stalling!"

Dash broke out of her grip. "I can carry myself you know!" She looked back at the others. "I'll tell you guys about it when I get back."

Twilight Sparkle sighed as she sat back in the lobby, watching Dash leave. "Great, Dash gets to go off and have some kind of adventure while we're stuck here."

Pinkie Pie lifted her shades. "Come on, your adventure is about to start too, this way!" she said, dragging Twilight down a corridor.

A few doors down, Pinkie took them into one of the doors. "Now, what do you see?"

In the middle of the room floated a fox-like figure resembling Vinyl Scratch. She slowly seemed to be waking up. She then touched the floor and began to look around.

"Wow..." Vinyl said mildly bewildered, "I'm not dead..."

"Hi," said Pinkie, "you're from... Timeline three right?"

Vinyl nodded. "I thought I was dead though... Double dead actually... Did Lyra pull some kinda stunt with my soul?"

Pinkie scratched the back of her head. "Yeah... Your body and soul are partly digitized... Well... More than it was already anyways. Your existence is weird."

Vinyl sighed. "Well... I'll probably end up having to fuse with my past self eventually anyways to save my own timeline... So what do you guys need me for anyways?"

Pinkie smiled. "Twilight's going to need to do some time travel, I thought it would be good if some-pony already acquainted with it helped out. And... Well... The Doctor was out today. As for when, it's about a year ago, midnight of the summer sun celebration."

Vinyl turned to Twilight and smirked, a slightly pawed hand outstretched. "Well then, you ready to go, by the time we get back, I'm sure no time will have passed at all... Literally!"

Twilight whined. "But... Last time I time traveled... I ended up changing nothing I wanted to change, and I ended up causing a time loop."

"That's actually not a bad thing to happen," Vinyl said, "while I know a lot about time, I've learned that the best advice for others about time is that you can't over-think it. Just do what feels right and all will fit into place."

Twilight smiled. "Alright, lets get this over with then."

Pinkie giggled. "So you guys know what you're doing, you're looking for a grey mare with a blond mane, she should know how to find The Doctor."

The fox-like Vinyl Scratch offered a hand to Twilight. "Shall we?"

Twilight nodded. And they both disappeared in a flash of light.

Pinkie smiled to herself. "Now... I wonder, is there a way I can get this place into serviceable shape before they get back?" she asked herself, "maybe something involving time travel?"

She walked out of the room, and greeting her was the sight of the entire building full to the brim with Chrono cloned Pinkie Pies.

Beside her stood Luna with a cup of Coffee and a smug look on her face. "You haven't even done anything yet and you've screwed something up. This is why you're not some kind of Hero of Time."

Pinkie let out a huff. "Yeah... Well... I'm working on a solution."

Luna tapped a hoof. "You better hurry, this could cause enough strain on time that a new timeline might be born... And then things will get even more complicated."

Pinkie sighed. "All I got is throwing them into portal in the Sun or Moon, don't ask me to explain why that's a good idea, that's a thing another Pinkie is better at."

Luna shrugged and set down her Coffee Mug. "Fair enough, I'll help you out there."

Pinkie sighed... Today could end up being a long day.

Rainbow Dash stepped off the Teleporter pad. "Why don't all buildings have these?"

Lyra sighed. "Unfortunately, the production costs are astronomical. So most just use airships."

"Do we have any airships?" Dash asked, clearly interested.

"Umm..." Lyra blushed. "I don't want to talk about it."

Dash looked around at the room they were in, there were a bunch of hallways in each direction, filled with doors with numbers on them. "What part of the old building was this?"

"It used to be a whole bunch of living quarters. Though it's been renovated into a proper apartment building," Lyra said.

Dash Scoffed. "Kinda dull living, compared to the places me and my friends live in."

Lyra rolled her eyes and let herself into one of the rooms. "Just come. Help yourself to the stuff in the fridge if you want."

Dash made her way to the fridge and looked inside. She grabbed herself what she needed for a cup of coffee, which she had to prepare while overhearing Lyra's conversation with another mare.

"How are you feeling? You look better than last time," Lyra said.

"I still feel like my Brain is twisting," said the other mare, "though you did warn me years ago Alchemy does weird stuff like this after a while."

Lyra sighed. "If it makes you feel better, you've dealt with it better than most would... And you're going through a version worse than they have to."

Dash walked over with her coffee mug. Getting a good look at the mare Lyra was talking to, she recognized the pink and blue mane to belong to Bon Bon... Or maybe Bon Voyage?

Bon Bon looked up at Dash, and as they made eye contact Dash saw her dual colored eyes.

Bon Bon and Bon Voyage were the same Pony!

1 Year in the Past

When Twilight and Vinyl emerged, they were in more or less the same place, minus Pinkie, the lights weren't working for some reason and the room was full of dust.

Twilight turned to Vinyl Scratch. "This is the right time... Right?"

"Yeah, but we didn't have a location in mind did we?" Vinyl said. She began walking towards the door. "I deal with time, not space, so give me a break will you?"

Twilight sighed. "Okay, so Grey, blond maned pony... where are we going to find a pony like that?"

Vinyl sighed. "Assuming it's who I think it is, she's supposed to contact us."

A small package then materialized out of nowhere and landed between them.
Twilight picked up the package and inspected the tag. "Um... Who's Ditzy?"

Vinyl lifted up her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "It's one of her two names. She first switched them somewhere near the end of time, before 'The Doctor' taught her a little trick for going backwards in time." She took the package from Twilight. "It works fairly well, considering her trick is to jump from world to world instead of moment to moment."

They set the package down on a disused lab table. As they tore into the package, they discovered a muffin inside.
Twilight turned to Vinyl with a raised eyebrow.

"A muffin, seriously?" said Twilight.

Vinyl giggled. "It's a bit of humor on her part, you get used to it. It's also a favored snack for her pet."

"What pe-?"

A tear in reality burst open and a monstrous serpent emerged, and riding it was the grey mare.

"Heel!" Ditzy said, "they aren't used to your jumps!

Vinyl turned to Twilight who was stunned, her only movement being a twitching of her eyelid. "Proteans are assholes right?" Vinyl said.

Very slowly, Twilight turned to Vinyl. "Is she... Crazy? Those things are.... Chaos incarnate!"

Ditzy giggled. "Come on, this one's actually not so bad. She thinks she's some kind of puppy." Ditzy dismounted and began to rub the Protean's belly. "Who's a good girl?"

The Protean's tongue hung out as it floated in the middle of the room, it even sprouted a par of legs just so it could kick in time with the scratches.

Twilight held her face in her hand, huffing a little. "Calm... Breath deep..."

Ditzy raised some amulet and in a flash of light the Protean was sucked inside. She turned to Twilight with a smile on her face. "Yeah, she tends to have that effect on others the first time they see her."

Twilight sighed. "We were told we need to find The Doctor, and that you're supposed to know how to find him."

Ditzy toyed with one of her locks covering one of her clouded misaligned eyes. "Kinda, I know where he shows up, but not quite the when." She sighed. "It's not like we can't try though, assuming one of you can do that kind of stuff."

With a nod from Vinyl, Ditzy snapped her fingers and they teleported away.

After Lyra brewed some more coffee for herself and Bon Bon, they were all seated around the table. "I'm sure you understand my wife's situation Dash... Bon Bon is what some would call a 'Master Chymist', which is a fancy term for a well known alchemy side effect."

"Twilight got me to read a Science horror story, I think I know what you're talking about," Dash said.

Lyra sighed. "I know this isn't what we came here to do... But since Octavia and Vinyl are off doing something, you may as well ask about it."

Dash turned to Bon Bon, who was shivering. "Twilight's stories never mentioned getting stuck between two forms... Is that bad?"

Bon Bon winced. "No worse than a bad hangover... Its... Hard to think straight though... Two similar minds don't always think alike."

"Think of it like two or more ponies trying to draw using the same pen," Lyra said.

Dash leaned back. "Okay, so I don't have to worry about that. So can we finish the briefing on the mission?"

Lyra produced a few files. "From the little information gathered about the fiends, we should assume that there's a representative or two from the three major lower Realms." She paused. "Um... In simple terms, you're going to be dealing with demons, daemons and devils."

Dash rolled her eyes. "Like I'm supposed to understand the difference. That's Twilight's thing."

Lyra sighed. "Great, do I have to start explaining from demonology 101?" Lyra rubbed her temples. "I guess it's not important yet, they're all weak to holy weapons anyways."

"Got it," Dash said.

Lyra brought out another folder. "The seventh though is something else, he's a vampire. A very old and powerful one actually."

They heard the door open, they turned to see Octavia and Vinyl walked in. "We're not interrupting anything are we?"

Lyra shook her head. "No, I think we're done. We just need to meet up with Spitfire now."

Octavia raised her eyebrows. "Huh... It's been a long time since me and Spitfire spent time together."

Pinkie brushed her hands off as they finished the job of throwing the chrono-clones into the Moon using a giant Catapult and Luna's magic.

"There, now neither of us have to mention this ever again baring some fluke of chance," Pinkie said.

Luna opened up another flask of Coffee. "At least until the moon passes over the Mirror pool some day. Then who knows what will happen."

Pinkie groaned. "Yes, I'm well aware that's going to happen, but the point of 'never mention this again' still stands."

Luna sighed. "Before we stop talking about this though. I'm pretty sure this was supposed to happen. Maybe something out there needs your energy to make something. Basically..."

In a moment of silence Pinkie Pie's face wavered. "I'm... Going to be a mother?" Pinkie said.

Luna nodded. "I guess you can put it that way... Though um... I'd kinda be the mother as well... Except more so I guess." Luna rubbed her neck. "I've... Never gotten to do something like this... So maybe it might as well be with you..."

Pinkie suddenly hugged Luna with tears streaming down her face. "Thank you Luna!"

Luna started coughing. "Umm... Pinkie... My lungs..."

1 Year in the Past

As they reappeared in some unknown metropolis, Twilight blinked a few times. "Okay, now I know I'm missing something here, how did you get to use magic like that Ditzy?"

Ditzy leaned up against the wall and looked into the night sky. "It's a long story. But the fact is, I was born legally blind. And for whatever reason, that qualified me to become an Oracle."

"Oh," Twilight said, "I'm sorry I brought it up."

Ditzy waved off the statement. "It's quite alright, over the years my Oracle training has helped lessen the curse. As well as made my other senses able to take their place."

Vinyl cleared her throat. "You know, it's gonna take a while for me to find the right time, you guys may as well have some fun while you're here... Or a quest or something, I don't know what you do in your spare time in this Timeline."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of 'here', where exactly are we."

"The Moon," Ditzy said, "you should be able to see a bit of Equestria if you look up."

Twilight looked up at the sky, seeing Equestria clearly, albeit shadowed by the night.
"Hmm..." she said, "that's quite a view."

Ditzy smiled. "Anyways, you should check out the place while you're up here; the citizens of this place ironically have one of the biggest events for the summer sun celebration I know," Ditzy rubbed her chin, "something about how Celestia made the 'stay up all night' rule as a way to celebrate both day and night."

"Sounds good," said Twilight, "you planning to show me around?"

Ditzy scratched the back of her head. "Unfortunately I still have a few errands to run," she said "I'll meet you back here when I'm done." And in a flash, she was gone.

Rainbow Dash found herself on the roof where some kind of party seemed to be going on. "Why exactly are we up here?" asked Dash. She turned around and noticed the others had already dispersed into the crowd.

"Because..." said a voice behind her. Dash snapped back round to see Spitfire standing next to her. "...Demons prefer to interrupt something than show up while others wait for them," she said.

Dash groaned. "Okay fine, but is it working?"

Spitfire hummed, looking in the air. "Yeah, I think so."

At that moment, a large horned version of Gilda crashed down onto the roof, scattering the revelers with her Over the top Demonic Show off routine. "Rainbow Dash!"

The crowd parted around Dash as the Demonic Gilda addressed her. Dash drew her blade and prepared for combat. "So you've got a problem with me now?"

"Damn right I do, you left me for a pack of losers you asshole!" roared Gilda in the most over the top outburst one can think of with a Bird Brain, "so I'm going to tear you apart for leaving me!"

Dash smirked. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you want to rumble, then bring it!"

Dream Bolts VS Demonic Gilda

Gilda rushed at Rainbow Dash, but before impact she was knocked aside by a bullet out of nowhere. Dash turned to see a more normal looking Gilda perched on a box carrying a rifle with a smirk on her face.

"Hey, you really think I'm going to let you just go around hurting my old friends and jacking my look?" the normal Gilda said, "I've got a reputation to keep up."

The demonic Gilda roared. "And what? Are you just going to deny we're still mad at Dash?! Don't try to deny it! I am you after all!"

"Ha, like you know anything, I've changed," Gilda said. Frustration slipping into her voice.

The demonic Gilda snarled. "Are you going to deny it?! Deny how much pain and rage you felt when Rainbow Dash chose some new friends over us?! The envy you felt when you saw how much more she cared for them than you?!"

"I said quit it!" Gilda yelled.

"...Wouldn't it be easier to just kill them all and take what's ours?!" the demonic Gilda Screeched.

"Shut up!" Gilda roared, "you're not me!

The demonic Gilda's eyes glowed golden, a deep, echoing chuckle coming out of her as darkness swirled around her. "Oh I am you... I'm the real you!" She grew in size till she occupied almost the entire rooftop.

Dash palmed her hand against her face. "What the fuck did you just do Gilda?!"

The entire roof was in chaos as revelers scrambled to the exit from the rooftop.

As the demonic Gilda reached full size, a blast of air knocked the normal Gilda against the stage and winded her.

"I am a shadow, the true self!" the demonic Gilda yelled. Chains dangling from a suddenly materialized collar. "...I will show you all what true pain means!"

With the crowd dispersed, the team gathered together between both versions of Gilda.

Octavia looked to Vinyl. "Why does everyone I meet have the most charming Exes?"

Vinyl shrugged. "Hey, at least it's something we can laugh about tomorrow"

Lyra cast a spell on the team's weapons, causing them to glow a bright gold. "Let's get this over with, I have to care for my sick wife."

Dash and Spitfire took to the air as they dodged an incoming claw. Dash retaliated by firing a bolt of lightning from her blade.

Octavia leaped up and kicked the demon in the face, and followed up with a sword slash across the brow

Vinyl's horn glowed, her magic pulling the chains back, throwing the griffon's balance off enough for her to run in and slice a nice gash through her belly.

The demonic Gilda roared. "Enough! You'll all Pay!" She created a gust of wind that pushed Octavia, Vinyl and Lyra against a wall, stunning them.

She took to the air with a high pitched screech, and some fiery energy was building up at her beak.

"Hey Dash," Spitfire said, "you deal with the demon, I'll help out the others!"

Dash nodded and flew forward to punch the Griffon in the face. She then soared into the sky as it chased after her

Dash looked back as the Griffon gained on her, and smirked. She busted off with some extra speed and swung round to charge right into the demonic Gilda's chest. An in a sonic rainboom she crashed her back to the ground.

Dash looked to the others who were on their feet now and smirked. "Come on guys, lets beat the everliving crap out of this one!"

The team raised their weapons and proceeded to whale on the beast to the point a cloud of feathers began to obscure the action. Only for it to be knocked back by a renewed gust from the demon's wings.

It panted as it got to its feet. "You guys really deserve a pounding now! I've never felt more more betrayed in all my life then what all of you have done to me!"

"For crying out loud! We get the picture you dyke!" a voice called from behind them.

Several glowing bullet trails punctured through the beast's heart and head, and it's outer core shattered. Leaving behind a regular sized Gilda.

The normal Gilda stepped forward and lifted the other to its feet. "I get it... You're me... I'm you... But still, that's not cool. Others have dealt with these feelings better than we have, so we better do it too... Before I start whaling on you too!"

The demonic Gilda shimmered as it shifted from. "Thank you..." For a brief moment the other Gilda took on the form of a great Norse warrior before merging with the real Gilda.

All still gathered on the roof blinked a few times. "What just happened?" asked Dash.

Gilda turned to Dash, looking a little embarrassed. "So... um Dash... I wanted to apologize for my behavior the last time we met. it's taken a while... But I've realized I completely blew my cool."

Dash smirked. "Can you say that in a way that doesn't sound like you're trying to save your image?"

Gilda sighed. "Alright! You friends were right, I was wrong!" she said, "don't tell them I said that though."

Dash was doubled over by laughter. She then wiped her face a little. "That sounds so weird coming from you."

Gilda smiled. "So... I know you all probably still hate me... But... Can we all try being friends again?"

Dash shrugged. "I don't see why not. It would be mean to say no if you really want to fix things."

Lyra cleared her throat. "You can all start by helping us clean up the mess up here. Once we're all done, me meet back at my appartment so I can explain stuff to you all."

They were all gathered around the coffee table, Bon Bon having fallen asleep. Lyra had brought out a whiteboard to illustrate things.

"Okay..." Lyra said, "lets start with the whole demented Brain dead 'I am the shadow' scenario that just happened. That was some part of Gilda that died in some previous incarnation of this timeline."

Gilda scratched her head. "Previous... What?"

Lyra sighed. "I'll get to that later. Anyways, after dying and turning into a demon, she came back to join the timeline alongside the proper Gilda."

Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's the part we just saw, we were there. Anything new?"

"Well..." said Lyra, "you're probably wondering what the whole fusion deal was... Well... Since they were the same being, from more or less the same timeline in a mostly technical sense, that's is a perfectly valid resolution to some paradoxes in this reality, provided they are willing."

"Looks like you certainly explained that," Vinyl said, "night everyone."

"Sit down!" Lyra yelled, "I still need to explain to you a thing! You've dealt with demons so far, but Devils and Daemons have totally different behavior!"

Octavia yawned. "You better explain it in ten words or less then... We're all tired."

Lyra frowned as she considered each word. "Devils like order. Daemons don't care for methods, but ends!"

Dash headed off to one of the guest rooms. "Night then. We'll discuss some more things in the morning."

1 Year in the Past

Ditzy emerged again atop a building overlooking the lunar metropolis, she didn't sense anypony nearby, but she was still given a message to come here.

"So, you've arrived," a voice said, "that's good."

Ditzy turned around. "Who's there?" Ditzy asked, "and how are you hiding from my senses?"

A dark blue pony walked forward into the short range of sight Ditzy had, bat-wings marking her as a local of the moon.

"I'm no-pony important, just a witch who needs some things gathered for some friends," she said.

Ditzy blinked a few times. "As in the kind of witch that gain power from dark forces?"

"Wait... what?" the other pony said, "well... Yes? But if that's how all witches in this world work then I doubt we're talking about the same thing."

Ditzy smiled. "Fair enough."

The other pony sighed. "Anyways, the criminal organizations around here should have enough stuff for my friends hidden in their bunkers, but they tend to be a little booby trapped," she said, "however you manage to get past those, just remember to send them to these time and space coordinates." She handed Ditzy an envelope with a whole bunch of numbers on the cover.

Ditzy accepted the envelope and smiled. "I'll be glad to help."

And in another flash, Ditzy was gone.

The other pony sighed. "Does every-pony in this universe jump through time and space this much?" she said to herself.

Twilight was savoring some ice cream, watching a parade depicting Celestia gathering every pony she could find to mourn for her wayward sister for the night.

Twilight recognized one of the statues on one of the floats as Lyra, which made her jaw hang open in some contorted expression.

She turned to one of the revelers. "Excuse me, but I think I recognize that mint green pony, is she supposed to be important to this or is it coincidence?"

The reveling bat pony laughed. "Of course, in the legends she was both a bard and a wizard. She was part of Luna's respected court. She was also friends with Spitfire I heard."

Twilight looked back at the parade and saw some huge statue of Spitfire kissing some grey, tiger striped pony roll past. "I'm just going to assume shenanigans here," Twilight said.

At that moment, a large ball of red energy ripped through the middle of the parade, scattering the revelers.

Twilight turned towards the source, and saw a black pegasus against the skyline, with only a red mane betraying her presence. A number of machines surrounded her, clicking with sparks, descending upon the parade.

Twilight's horn glowed as she jumped into the battle and a blade of crystal materialized in her hands. She held it in front of her as tight as she could.

She ran at the machines, tearing one of the bladed arms off the first one using her own blade, before flinging her crystal sword at another with her levitation magic.

With the severed blade, she leaped at the next bot, stabbing it through its chest. She turned to attention to a pair of bots sneaking up on her and used her magic to slam them together.

She looked towards an incoming horde of bots and released a rapid fire burst of magic bolts into them.

"Dammit!" Twilight said, "these things keep coming!"

A twitch ran down Twilight's tail, and she quickly jumped out of the way as a larger bot jumped down from above.

Twilight panted as she regained her footing, retrieving a blade from one of the writhing bots with a spark from her horn. "Thank Celestia that Pinkie taught me that trick!" she said to herself.

A whirring noise sounded behind her and the large bot suddenly collapsed, prompting Twilight to look behind her.

A brown earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark stood next to the fox-like Vinyl Scratch while holding a wand-like device.

"Hello. I'm The Doctor," he said, "and now would be a good time for you to unbind those wings of yours, your main enemy can fly remember."

Ditzy showed up in a corridor somewhere, the lack of light did nothing to keep her from knowing what it looked like. She walked through it looking for anything of interest. Even though at first all she could see was a single door.

The moment she opened the door, several guns sprung were pointed at her at once by some ruffians.

Ditzy smiled. "You wouldn't shoot a kinda blind mare... Right?"

Right as the triggers clicked, Ditzy zapped herself forward a few feet. Leaving the ruffians to shoot each other instead.

After a brief thought on how they managed to get the hand modifications a year before that part of the spell was invented, she took a step forward, and heard a click; and an over-sized hammer came out of the roof and slammed her against the wall.

Ditzy held her head as she waited for her head to stop ringing. "I just... Don't know what went wrong..."

She got up and gathered up some of the stuff, placing it all in a magic bag.

Once she grabbed enough stuff, she teleported to another building, but as she arrived she accidentally knocked over something, and it started to tick.

Although she had a bad feeling of what it was, it wasn't until she took a close look at it with her impaired 'proper' vision that she realized it was a bomb.

She threw it to the other side of the room where it promptly exploded, and the force of the blast knocked her down a flight of stairs, her body not even getting a chance to spread it's wings between tumbles, or give her enough sense of direction to teleport properly.

"It keeps happening!" she cried.

Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle was engaged in aerial battle with the red haired mare, whom she was beginning to suspect was some kind of Devil. They kept trading blows, and Twilight managed to push the other mare against a building. "Just who are you?" asked Twilight, "and why are you doing this?"

The other mare sighed, "I'd love to tell you that second one, but I can't. And the first hurts a little too much to say."

Nearby, a tall building exploded, and it came hurtling toward them, making them fly off in different directions.

The red haired mare grabbed one of the robotic soldiers and threw it at Twilight, which Twilight slashed in half before flying at the Devil.

Twilight and the other mare broke each others blades in a strike, and Twilight pressed the broken hilt against the other Mare's throat. "That makes no sense!" Twilight yelled, "most fiends can't wait to tell the living of who they were and what they became!"

The other mare rolled her eyes. "You're assuming I became one on my own." The other mare kicked twilight off and flew to grab the blade arm off another robot. Twilight giving chase.

"So what happened, your loyalty to the legions of Hell was stolen rather than given?" Twilight said.

The red haired mare smirked. "Funny you should mention 'Loyalty'," she said right before she disappeared in a red flash.

Within a moment Twilight found herself being pummeled from multiple directions at once by multiple red blurs at once, knocking every once of breath out of her.

With one final rush the mare rammed Twilight into the side of a building. "So... Where were we?"

Twilight coughed as she began to regain her breath. "Dash... Is that-?"

"Afraid so..." the red one said, "at this point, I'm kinda wishing the other me would figure out how to kill me already."

"What are we supposed to do?" Twilight asked.

The Blackened Dash looked away. "For now, just try to lessen whatever damage I'm doing... And get things ready for the day the me that's still alive has to fight me to the death... and...well..."

Twilight blinked as she noticed the pause, "Well what?"

"...Get everyone out of the timeline I guess."

The Black and Red Dash disappeared again. And Twilight turned her attention back to the invasion.

It looked like it was going to be a long night.

Ditzy having finally regained balance managed to get herself back to where she was, where she 'saw' Twilight fighting another mare.

Blind-sight sure makes things confusing she mused as she cleared out what was left of the storeroom after it collapsed.

She grabbed out a huge sword and zapped herself somewhere else. Charging forward while yelling some tribal profanity involving a guy and his chicken.

As soon as she entered the cavern, she was bathed in fire. And as she looked up she saw the sight of a reddish dragon.

"Seriously... Thieves guilds are getting dragons to guard their hordes now?" She mused.

"I know," said some other dragon thing next to her, "kinda embarrassing for the dragon too."

She turned and took a closer look at the other. She recognized the Green and Purple lizard from somewhere, he was a fair bit larger than when they were last in the same town though.

"Hey, you're Twilight's assistant right? I was talking to her not long ago."

Spike shrugged. "Not sure how that works when she's supposed to still be in Equestria."

Ditzy smiled. "Time shenanigans I suppose... But that doesn't matter right now, I kinda have to gather and deliver some weapons for some weird pony... I just need a few more... Want to help?"

"Sure, why not, all the good stuff is in the next room over," Spike said.

Ditzy snapped her fingers and they teleported out of the other dragon's lair.

Twilight returned to where she left the Doctor and the other Vinyl. And as she landed Ditzy showed up with Spike.

"Oh... Spike... I haven't seen you in ages," Twilight said.

Spike rolled his eyes. "From your perspective you mean, I kinda saw you yesterday."

Twilight scratched the back of her head. "Yeah... Time shenanigans or whatever... Not important." She turned to the Doctor. "Any luck stopping those Hell constructs?"

The Doctor spun his sonic screwdriver around. "We've manage to subdue the bulk of them... The rest should be cleaned up within the hour by the authorities. It will be a footnote in the news by this time tomorrow."

Twilight nodded. "Okay, that sounds like it's been taken care of." She turned to Ditzy. "You finish whatever you were doing?"

"Kinda," Ditzy said, "Just have to deliver it now. I'm not so good with time coordinates though, so I think I'll need the Doctor for that."

"Right... So if everyone knows the when and where, we'll meet up after for debriefing," Twilight said.

They all nodded. And they all disappeared in a bunch of flashing lights.

A long time ago / but not that long, But Definitely A Completely Different Reality

A blue Bat Pony rests in bed on her tenth Birthday. In eight years she will be prepared to play a game that will involve several attempts to create a new universe that only fills her current reality with Monsters followed by instead creating a new reality instead to new specifications. The very reality this story takes place in.

But still, she retains a feeling that she's missing something.

All of a sudden, a chest appears out of nowhere with a muffin on top and a letter; which seems to be addressed from herself to herself with the message "you're doing this, you're making this happen." And full of weapons.

Her eyes darken and she lets out a vast expletive that drowns out into a generic censor bleep.

"I've already got enough of this s*** for f*** sake! Why would I need more?!"

A voice from nearby pipes up. "What I want to know is how you're doing that with just your mouth."

Twilight having returned to the guild-house gathers her new companions in the break room.

"Okay, so we've just seen some devil version of Rainbow Dash leading an assault on a moon city... So what's going on there?"

The Doctor adjusts his tie. "Obviously at some point she died in this timeline, probably the future."

"Yeah this happened before," the Fox version of Vinyl said, "In my timeline, some-pony out there moves her about the timeline until it becomes the kind of time loop with only one opportunity to break it properly, and even that will reset the timeline. This one though seems to be able to do it on her own."

Twilight sighs. "Okay... Looks like you've explained that..." she said, "So what now? From what she was willing to say, that one opportunity is that one Rainbow Dash defeats the other. But how do we make the living one strong enough to do that?"

Vinyl leaned back. "Simple, just find all the parts of her they threw away trying to make one bad Rainbow Dash... It's not like they can use all of her soul after all, she's mostly good."

Spike drank straight out of a pot of coffee. "Well... That almost made sense."

Ditzy rubbed his shoulder. "Give it time... We're talking time and extra dimensional space here."

Spike blinked. "Whatever, I'm just going to see what everyone's been doing in the year since I practically disappeared from the face of the planet."

Years in The Future/But not Many

The moonlight shone down upon the mirror pool, and a great mass of unfinished souls cloned from Pinkie in a conventional fashion rushed forth towards the moon.

Within the distorted realm beyond the moon, the power of the crono-cloned Pinkies fused together with the energy from the Mirror pool.

Perhaps it was that the energy in the realm beyond the moon being a great source of mutation. Perhaps it was the divine will of a goddess who specialized in causing a change of heart and soul. Or maybe both.

...But what emerged wasn't quite Pinkie Pie. But a new being born from her, who shared her kindness and laughter, but differed in some way not quite obvious.

But she definitely looked different. With a body white as snow and a golden mane, she took flight on wings granted by the moon.

However... She has been seen many years in the past... That much is already known... Because for some reason... this being was one that was already part of the Wonderbolts.

...Her name is... Surprise!

Shenanigans! (Timeline 4): Day 4 (Loading...)

Vinyl's eyes opened, and she found herself in Octavia's arms, and she would have stayed in her embrace if it weren't for a knock on the door.

"You girls decent?" called Lyra from the other side, "cause... You know, breakfast..."

Vinyl felt Octavia shift around a little. "Give us five minutes..." Octavia said, nuzzling up against Vinyl's Neck.

Vinyl smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the brief moment of peace she had.

"You know..." Octavia said, "You smell... Familiar... Yet there's something exotic about it."

Vinyl chuckled. "I wouldn't be surprised. My bloodline's kinda weird."

"... You didn't seem to question that I'm an oracle either... My little fox..." Octavia said. Starting to giggle.

Vinyl began to blush. "Why'd you have to pick up on that one? At least with vampire blood we'd be able to joke about Hospital cats."

Octavia kissed Vinyl's cheek. "That wouldn't make good pillow talk though..."

They heard Lyra knock on the door again. "Since you two didn't get up, the others have used up the milk... So dry cereal for you!"

The two slowly worked their way out of bed, Vinyl grabbing her shades in the process to protect her sensitive eyes from harsh sunlight... Plus a few other things, shades are rarely ever just shades are they?

A display lit up in the corner of the shades with a brief message.

Lyra: This is a message from the distant future... Sort of... Look, can you just get your ass out here here and help move some kid around time? Specifics are in an attached file.

Vinyl Scratch yawned. Today was going to be a long day.

Octavia and Spitfire walked out of a convenience store carrying supplies for Lyra's place. And Octavia turned to Spitfire.

"It's nice you decided to accompany me," Octavia said, "we haven't had a chance to catch up in... Almost a thousand years?"

Spitfire scratched the back of her head. "Yeah... You can thank Lyra for that."

Octavia rolled her eyes. "She's already done a lot in the last thousand years, I don't think any more thanks, sarcastic or not would be necessary."

"Yeah, yeah, everything from hands to television, I get it," Spitfire said, "I wasn't trying to bring up the subject, I was trying to make small talk."

Octavia sighed. "I guess we're both out of practice in that area then."

"Maybe we should catch up again later, maybe some kind of... Double date with your new Marefriend?" Spitfire said, "like... Coffee maybe? Is that still a thing?"

Octavia chuckled. "We'll have to see, I'll need to ask Vinyl if she's okay with me double dating my old high-school marefriend."

Spitfire blushed. "Why do you have to phrase it like that?" She sighed. "Anyways, I better get going, Lyra wants me to go grab some stuff."

With a great leap, Spitfire flew into the air, giving a salute as she left.

Octavia smirked as Spitfire flew away, but was interrupted by the cocking of a gun behind her, so she grabbed a hidden knife and spun round to slice off the offending limb.

The Assassin... Was another Octavia.

The remains of the other Octavia's limb morphed into a large blade, pointed right at the real one. "Well... I guess underhanded tactics failed," She said, "might as well have that villainous monologue now."

Octavia groaned. "I'm certain that's just going to be annoying for both of us. So maybe this time we can get to the point?"

The other Octavia sighed. "Very well, we're not having our duel just yet anyways..." she said, "Just thought you'd like to know a repeat of the events with Gilda is not happening either. Not until one of us has been reduced to dust anyways."

Both versions of Octavia lowered their weapons.

Octavia sighed. "I doubt you'd come out here just to tell me that like some exposition fairy. We have Lyra for that. What are you here for."

The other Octavia turned around. "Perhaps I wanted to ask you... Are you really doing this whole 'Colt Pilgrim' thing to be with Vinyl, or something else?"

Octavia hung her head. "I'm not really sure... I have feelings for her sure, but it doesn't feel like that's why I'm fighting."

The other Octavia smirked. "I thought so... I think you're having as much fun fighting us as you have just hanging out with Vinyl. Not that you want to show it."

Octavia groaned. " You're making me sound like a psychopath!"

The other Octavia laughed. "I suppose I owe you an answer to one of your own questions then. Ask quickly, your next challenger is coming."

"So..." Octavia started, "how exactly did I end up as both Vinyl's current marefriend and Ex-Marefriend?"

The other Octavia stared into the distance. "It's a time travel thing... Her thing... She went back in time and stopped you getting killed once. But obviously, time travel doesn't stop one of us being already dead, go figure." She turned back to the normal Octavia. "Not that you'd remember, it pushed back your eventual meeting till this point." She leaped up to the rooftops and ran off.

Octavia put the supplies to the side of the curb, and readied her weapon

A Horde of Metallic Ponies burst through the walls and into the streets, chains extending from their bodies that ended in curved blades.

The Horde rushed at Octavia, who felt something in her heart flare within her.

"Maybe she's right..." Octavia said to herself, "I fight for me."

A Violet Aura surrounded Octavia as she rushed forward, cutting through the horde and it's storm of blades.
As the blades swung around her, she twisted around, her heart rate accelerating.
Within moments she was cutting through dozens withing seconds.
And she suddenly found herself with a grin on her face.

When the last of them had been defeated, and had exploded into coins and other resources due to Video Game logic. Octavia tried to regain her composure, but the adrenaline in her blood was a little intoxicating.

She heard a laugh behind her. And she turned to see who it was.

A Blue Unicorn mare stood, with a silvery mane and a Moon and Wand Cutie Mark; framed by the chains hanging from her wrists with blades-

Wait... that last bit is not that different from the rest she fought today. Disregard!

Anyways, the pony who is obviously Trixie opened her Monologue Hole.

"Well, It seems the other you was right. You do follow the path of of Heart! But is your will strong enough to defeat the Great and Powerful-"

Octavia threw one of the discarded swords at Trixie, Impaling her threw the chest.

The Deamon groaned. "You're not even going to listen? I've been working for ages on that! And you're going to ruin it just because your facade is broken?!"

Octavia's smirk turned into a huge toothy grin full of sharp teeth. "You want a Monologue? Fine! I'll give you one!"

Octavia Raised Her Hand into the air, glowing in Violet Fire. "This hand of mine glows with an awesome power!" She clenched her hand and made a dramatic sweep with her arm. "Its burning grip tells me to defeat you!" She pulled back her fist.

"TAKE THIS!" She said as she punched a beam of Violet soul Energy at Trixie."MY LOVE, MY ANGER, AND ALL OF MY SORROW!"

"SHINING FIST!"

The Deamon Trixie burst into fragments of Blue light as the beam surged with Octavia's new-found fighting spirit.

As the Beam subsided, all that remained were the blue shards of light that floated away... Presumably to find the Real Trixie who would no doubt complain about how Octavia didn't even give her the chance to get her name in lights for a Duel.

Vinyl showed up at the side, showing her applause over Octavia's battle.

Octavia started to blush. "I... Think I went a bit overboard."

Vinyl laughed. "Don't worry, it's a good thing to let down the facade and do something for the fun of it every once in a while."

Octavia looked up at the sky. "Sounds like something my sister would say... But still, I wasn't raised to act that way."

Vinyl shrugged. "Perhaps, but I'm sure your sister could probably tell you that those raising you have no idea what they were talking about."

Octavia's raised an eyebrow. "And you... Or her think you know what I'm supposed to do?"

Vinyl smirked. "Let's just say a girl I know with a few interesting sources tells me your quest is to follow your Heart. Learning to be yourself, being sentimental, that's who you're meant to become. More so than any one of us."

Octavia sighed as she turned her Bow tie's magic disguise off. Showing herself in full Tiger-Pony glory. She looked up at Vinyl with wide eyes. "Is this... A good step?"

Vinyl kissed her forehead. "So long as you think it is."

The two hugged each other for a while before Octavia noticed that another pony was nearby.

The two looked over and saw what looked like Rainbow Dash if she'd lost a few colors from her hair. What was left mostly amounted to Orange and Gold.

"Um... Is that...?" Octavia started

Lightning Dash waved over. "It's complicated, I'm from a future so far off its disconnected from the present... And I'm not the Dash you know, more like some bizarre alternate version than a paradox duplicate..." she facepalmed. "Actually, this makes no sense and is incredibly inaccurate... Screw it I'll explain later!"

Vinyl scratched the back of her head. "Yeah... I guess we've just met the new Exposition Fairy."

Dash blushed. "That's... kind of a thing I guess... Just... Can we do this in my timeline at least? I'd rather you just see than do some improper telling of Lyra's notes."

With a snap of Vinyl's fingers, The Three Disappeared into the Future.

The three of them stood in front of a TV store in a city full of Neon lights and an approximation of steam tubes... Though it was really just the city they just came from.

What was on the TVs? What else but a freaking commercial for more of Lyra's hands! Both Mechanically and Magically supplied.

"Well," Octavia said, "that explained almost nothing."

Dash smirked. "I suppose it reminds everypony here who gave the gift of hands to ponies. It's not important otherwise... You guys probably just got the hand stuff a day or two ago I bet."

Octavia just nodded and continued watching some advertisement for a Magically powered Hover-Cycle.

Vinyl was reading a newspaper she nicked from some box further down the road. "In any case, welcome to a little quirk of time unique to this reality. You're welcome."

Octavia sighed. "So what did you bring us to here and now for?"

Lightning brought out a gunblade. "Basically we're going hunting for your Dash's Chrono-clones. I'm sure I don't need need to explain what to do with them afterwards."

Octavia nodded. "Introduce them to the main self and hope they fuse into one," she said, "speaking of other selves, how is Gilda going?"

Vinyl shrugged. "Last I checked, Lyra was trying to convince her to become a summoner with the power she gained from her demon self. Thankfully, it sounds like a less mentally straining path than that of Wizard's path or whatever."

Dash just rolled her eyes. "Guys, a little focus here, can't you ask about what the chrono-clone we're looking for is like?"

Vinyl lowered her shades in the dim light, showing her dual colored eyes. "You're probably going to tell us anyways, aren't you?"

Dash crossed her arms. "Yeah, the short of it is that she's supposed to be a split off that would have become a Lycanthrope, putting her down the path to mastering time. Which your Dash is supposed to do eventually anyways, but this is even quicker."

Vinyl clasped her hands together. "Right then, thanks for the heads up miss exposition fairy. now, which way are we going?"

"Would you stop calling me that," said Dash, "this story of yours has better choices for exposition fairies, including one actual fairy."

Vinyl tapped a hoof on the pavement in impatience. "I'm beginning to think It's supposed to find us... isn't it?"

Dash rolled her eyes. "Well yeah, she's a time traveling magical beast maddened by her own death! It's not like you can track that down too easily," she said, "for some reason, I'm the bait here, you two just have to slow her down and subdue her so you can drag her home."

The three stood in relative silence as they waited.

Octavia yawned. "You know, if you don't mind. Maybe we should go do something less boring while we wait."

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

Octavia smirked. "We're joining a heroes guild, this is the future, what do you think we should do?"

Vinyl grinned. "Grab whatever we can that might help us back in our time and then grab some booze."

Dash laughed. "I guess that's one way to shut me up. Let's do it!"

The three headed off down the street.

Octavia, Lightning Dash and Vinyl Scratch sat on the back of a hover cycle covered in loot, parked in a beer garden, while singing some drinking songs.

Vinyl seemed a little off balance, and she grabbed hold of Octavia. "You're... Mush becha at thish than me 'Tavi."

Octavia blushed. "It's... No big deal... Monks know how to handle their Liquor pretty well."

Dash sat drinking soft drinks. "Man, if that she-wolf wants to ruin this moment by picking a fight with us; she's going to have one hell of a hangover isn't she?!"

The three cheered and clinked together what passed for their mugs.

Suddenly a small whine emitted from nearby. And they looked at the source, they saw a drunken blue and red wolf half drowning in a cask of Ale she was drinking out of. Her head slightly framed by a dim halo.

...Yeah yeah, almost forgot to mention the Lightning bolt cutie mark.

"Well..." Octavia said, "that was anticlimactic."

Dash sighed and picked up the drunken wolf version of the other her. "Well looks like we're done here; but if you don't mind I'd like to stay with you guys."

Octavia smiled. "Sure, why not?"

Vinyl cuddled up with Octavia. "Hey 'Tavi... Can we shtart a band?"

Octavia blushed. "I'd love to... But can you get us back home first? Assuming you can."

While Octavia attempted two drag the sleeping Vinyl up the stairs with one gold version of Dash in tow. But as she reached the door she noticed her sister sleeping by the door... And to the surprise of absolutely nobody, that sister was Pinkie Pie.

"Oh Pinkie.... What have you gotten yourself into?" Octavia asked.

Pinkie rolled over in her sleep. And murmured the word "Surprise."

So Octavia strained herself to bring Pinkie Inside as well while Dash opened the door, before heading out to go grab the wolf Dash that was passed out over the seat of the hover bike they managed to bring back fro the future.

As Octavia tucked herself and her companions into her large bed, she heard Vinyl waking up.

"'Tavi..." she said, "if you're thinking of dating Spitfire on the side... I'm already fine with it, you told me you do that stuff the day we met."

Octavia kissed Vinyl. "Not tonight Vinyl, tonight's all about you."

And much like how the day started... Octavia cuddled up to Vinyl, but this time, her sister was joining in with the embrace.

Lightning Dash lowered the angel wolf version of Rainbow Dash onto the sleeping form of Rainbow Dash. The Ridiculousness of that statement only being matched by the awkwardness of the action. But soon, the two incarnations of Rainbow Dash merged. And what was left behind was the two Dashes... Mother and Daughter.

Slowly, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and saw her daughter. And only slowly did the memories of the future return.

"Lightning... Dust?" said Rainbow Dash.

Lightning shook her head. "That's not my real name... My real name... Is... Dash... Lightning Dash."

Rainbow's eyes went wide. "I... Remember now... I'm a mother?"

Lightning struggled to hold back some tears. "I missed you mom... Just... Try not to watch me cry."

Rainbow Dash hugged her Daughter. "Don't think of it as crying, think of it as liquid Pride."

The two embraced for what for one was the first time ever, and for the other was a long time waiting.

Surprise climbed in through the window of Lyra's Apartment. She wondered up to the sleeping Pinkie Pie Curled up next to her sister and Vinyl Scratch.

Surprise whispered in Pinkie's Ear. "Hey Mom... Mind if I sleep with you tonight?"

Even while asleep Pinkie managed to shift around. "Just try not to wake us..." Pinkie mumbled in her sleep.

And so Surprise curled up among them in an embrace with her mother, alongside her aunt and her aunt's mare-friend.

This would turn out to be something close to Surprise's first Family reunion ever...

Tomorrow may indeed be a big day... But this.. Was already flipping insane.

Author's Note

Update 1: Extra Scenes! Extra Exposition! Extra Back-story! Extra Heartwarming! And a Family Reunite 3X Combo!