Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Magic

by nightelf37

(NOT) Hearth's Warming Eve (Flashback Chapter)

Author's Note:

For a while, my story had been temporarily 'removed', likely due to the Deadpool chapter and my misuse of the Author's Notes. Therefore, I needed to do a small overhaul to get it back in business.

Just for the sake of 'completion', I'll just mention I'm not doing Hearth's Warming Eve. Because that episode is basically about the history of Equestria. Well, some of it anyway. And the only thing I can find Chronicle doing during the play sequence is to point out the stupidity of the actions of the past characters, like arguing whilst being frozen solid. Also, I'd like to imagine that Pvt. Pansy is actually very badass, and that Fluttershy was doing her part poorly.

Also, this chapter is basically an advertisement of numerous other fanfics in FIMFiction.Net. For those reading the FanFiction.Net version, I'll do the best I can in the footnotes.

I own only the following: My originally designed OCs, and anything that doesn't happen in the show proper.

I'm sorry if the chapter sucked, but I just wanted to get this concept out of the way. Following this chapter is "The Last Roundup", where Moonbow Peek will be properly introduced to the cast. After that will be, for the sake of chronology, the stand-in chapter for "Family Appreciation Day", which will be 'set' before "The Last Roundup" so that…you know…

Special 8: Inside Chronicle's Mind

Chronicle was fast asleep after taking part in Twilight Sparkle's second slumber party. Last time, only Applejack and Rarity took part because of a storm. This time, not only were the rest of their friends invited, Spike was there too, as well as Mystic Shield and Skyla, the last as part of a "thank-you" of sorts from two of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' older sisters.

During the end of the party however, Chronicle found himself extremely drained of his stamina and just wanted to go to bed. In truth, it was a combination of a few glasses of punch spiked with sleeping powder, and a subliminal sleep spell. Turns out the party had another purpose; Twilight picked up a dream-walking spell from a book she read, and wanted to try it out. She had remembered her bodyguard saying before bidding farewell to his siblings (two separate occasions) that he'll see them on the dreamscape. She wanted to find out what he does there, but couldn't ask him because then he'd be expecting them and she felt he would be covering his steps accordingly. And so she resorted to this.

He was brought over to a sleeping bag on the second floor, and everypony else (having brought similar bags themselves for the slumber party since there were only two beds) settled down near him. Twilight them prepared the spell to send not only herself, but the others too (after inviting them) into his dream.

C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—S

Twilight and company found themselves in the center of a tall stone labyrinth. the sky was a clear day, but a shimmer in the air told them that flying over the walls was not an option available to them, especially after Rainbow Dash tried to.

"Why in the hay would Chronicle be dreamin' of traversin' a labyrinth?" Applejack wondered.

"Yeah," agreed Pinkie Pie. "I was expecting him to be in a coliseum. Or a warzone. Or on a date with—"

She was cut off when they heard a loud continuous rumbling. They didn't know it, but it was the sound of a heavy vehicle moving on treads.

"Wh-wh-what's happening?" wondered Spike.

C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—S

At another area in the labyrinth, Chronicle was talking with some relatives he was about to face off against before they detected the intruders.

"MemLock ready?"

"Ready, cousin."

"Of course."

"I can't believe they spiked my drink with sleeping powder. I'm gonna have to pay them back."

"Don't worry, cuz. Bericht is serving as the welcoming committee."

"I don't want them to 'die', even if they wake up."

"Don't worry, cuz. He's good enough to deliberately miss."

"Are you sure you wanna do this? I'm okay with you guys leaving and then I'll just revert the dreamscape."

"And deny us some fun? No thanks. Besides, I'd like to see how they do."

"…Fine. But I'm stepping in if things go too far."

"Okay."

SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

Out of the entrance in front of the intruding ponies was a dark green metallic…thing. It was obviously a vehicle of sorts, but it looked heavily armored, and its top segment was a long cannon capable of turning 360 degrees from its 'base'. On the vehicle's sides were two large thick rings with spinning blades inside them reminiscent of a magic-powered fan.

It was also curiously just twice as tall as an average pony from base to top. The intruders thought it would be much bigger.

"What is that thing?" Skyla asked, mostly to herself as it stopped in front of them.

To their surprise, the thing spoke in a baritone monotone voice. "Subjects Identified: Twilight Sparkle Prime, female unicorn pony. Spike Prime, male dragon. Applejack Prime, female earth pony. Pinkie Pie Prime, female earth pony. Rainbow Dash Prime, female pegasus pony. Rarity Prime, female unicorn pony. Fluttershy Prime, female pegasus pony. Mystic Shield Prime, male unicorn pony. Skyla Prime, female pegasus pony."

"H-h-how do you know our names?" asked Fluttershy.

"And why did you add 'Prime' after them?" inquired Mystic Shield.

The vehicle did not answer and instead said, "Unit's designation (that is, name) is Bericht, male himmel-panzer. Advisory: Intruders must leave premises." It then pointed its turret at their general direction.

"Or what?" Rainbow decided to dare.

"Threat: Or Bericht will be forced to open fire."

"Wait!" Twilight interceded. "We're just here to see Chronicle. Can you take us to him?"

"Answer: Bericht can, but Bericht won't. He is busy right now. Advisory turned Order: Leave."

"This Bericht thing must be a bad guy!" Rainbow incorrectly concluded. "We have to rescue him!"

"Correction: Your interpretation is wrong. Apologies for—"

"And your way of speech sucks!" The blue pegasus charged forward, despite Twilight's and Skyla's protests.

"Sigh." Bericht then shot a flurry of bullets from a hidden turret on the side of his cannon. The bullets missed as Rainbow dodged them all as she then kicked the "himmel-panzer" on the cannon, which made it turn a bit.

"Ha-ha! I've dodged faster shots than that!"

"Banter: Bericht is aware of your bout with Starscream-17, self-identified male Cybertronian. Boast: Bericht's weapons are more advanced than his." Bericht then barreled forward, forcing everypony else to scatter. "Plea: Don't want to have to fight you."

But Rainbow's mind was set. "Guys! I'll handle this! You find Chronicle!"

"Right!" Pinkie agreed. "Come on!" And she started to run in a random direction to one of the other many entrances to the labyrinth.

"Pinkie, come back here!" But it was in vain and she was gone. Immediately, Twilight got the others to follow her lead.

Once they were gone… "Smirk: Exactly as planned." He then spun his turret to get the pegasus off.

"What?!" gasped Rainbow as she righted herself.

"Explanation: We sensed you coming, and have made preparations." Bericht's 'fans' then began to rotate their blades at an incredibly fast rate and to the pegasus's surprise, he managed to fly. "Comment: Bericht can match your speed, Rainbow Dash Prime. But size of area risks collision with walls." And then fire came out of Bericht's rear as he charged right towards her.

SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

"Is coward-pwning time!"

"Run!"

After failing to find Pinkie, Twilight and the others found themselves on the run from a giant earth pony, under twice as large as Big Macintosh. His coat was a faded red, his eyes were blue, his head was bald, his tail was short and black, and they were too panicked to see what his cutie mark was like. Despite his size, he was fast.

As they turned a corner, they saw him jump at the wall, land all four hooves on it, then jump off so that he was still after them, not losing much of his speed. He was also tough, being able to shrug off shots from Mystic Shield.

Just then, the intruding party found Pinkie Pie flying right above them on a contraption of hers: a jerry-built, pedal-powered helicopter, obviously colored in a combination of pink, cyan, and faded yellow.

Nobody asked how she got it, though; it was Pinkie Pie after all. She seemed to notice and said, "Come on! We're in a dream! Think of whatever you want!"

"That only works in your own dream!" Twilight replied.

"Actually…" To everybody's surprise, Spike was now bigger, but not like his greed-induced state. Here, he was heavily muscled, wore a red cape, armor plating on his arms and belt, black leggings with red boots, and a lance on one hand. "I think your spell makes it work for us too."

"Oh, right!"

As the party reached a
crossroad, the floor below them seemed to shift and turn into chevron patterns that seemed to 'tell' them to go a certain way.

"That may be true, but the same applies for us."

Right above everybody was a blue-violet pegasus with light blue hair tied up in a bun, both mane and tail, teal eyes, and Night Guard armor. And she was about to pounce on Pinkie's flying machine.

The pink pony managed to dodge the first pass, but the second came quicker than anticipated and the "Night Guard" scooped her out of the contraption, and the flying machine started to fall.

Just as it hit a wall and exploded against all logic, the chevrons on the floor began to move, whisking the intruders in different directions…and sending Spike right for the giant earth pony, who had stopped in his tracks. "These hooves, they're made of steel!" he boasted as he made to buck the dragon.

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Twilight and Mystic couldn't do much as the chevrons took them to a tunnel and sent them hurtling inside. The stallion was quick to conjure an orb barrier to shield their fall and they were rolling inside of it. Until a magic bolt zapped it out of existence.

The culprit, who now stood in front of them, was a dark blue unicorn with deep blue eyes, smoothed but mussed-up jet black hair, glasses, and a star-pattern cape. "It's a pleasure to meet the Prime version of my Highness," he said cryptically. "I would like to engage you in a magic duel, no stakes."

"Wh-what?" Everything was happening so quickly, Twilight couldn't catch up. And neither could Mystic.

And it's because of that they didn't see another pony coming from behind, who would be stalling Mystic…

SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

Applejack and Rarity found themselves headed toward a round clearing in the maze, and after the 'chevrons' threw them into the middle, where they were confronted by a large earth pony stallion (not as much as the one facing Spike, though) with a brown fedora, brown leather jacket, a bullwhip. His coat was similarly colored brown, and his hair was of a darker shade.

"Greetings, ladies. My name is Brown Archive," he said as he tipped his hat to the lying-down mares as they got up. "We don't take kindly to strangers, so if it isn't to much of a bother, I'd like to ask you to leave."

"Can anypony tell us what's goin' on here?" Applejack got straight to the point.

"We were just going to find out what our friend Chronicle dreams of," Rarity explained. "But we never expected…this."

"We're part of his subconscious, and when properly trained can serve as guards against dream-intruders like you," Brown said. Of course, he said that with the intent of lying, but it was really a fact. "As his dream-guards, we're tasked in 'killing' such intruders." This earned him a gasp from said intruders as they entered battle stances, Applejack pulling out her lasso from…thin air thanks to the dreamscape. "But worry not. You'll merely wake up when that happens." Just don't go too deep.

And then something else arrived right behind him. It had the likeness of an earth pony, but it was…mechanical in structure, and colored brass all over, with a "cutie mark" depicting a gear. It wasn't like the wooden dummies from the Iron Pony competition. It was also as large as the giant earth pony that chased them a while earlier.

"I'll handle the big guy," Applejack whispered to Rarity. "You deal with Brown."

"Okay."

"I was counting on that," said Brown as he 'summoned' a bullwhip while the mechanical pony walked up next to him. Applejack attempted to snag a leg, but his bullwhip lashed it away. "But we're not going to do 'divide and conquer' here. We're stronger and more skilled in combat than you are. You'll need to work together to have a ghost of a chance." He then addressed his companion. "Komatsu, show them what I mean."

The mechanical pony, Komatsu, replied in a monotone voice like Bricht, but higher in pitch. "ACKNOWLEDGED." Its body then began to move its parts as something began to unfold from within it.

SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

Skyla and Fluttershy found themselves pulled another way and right into a bottomless expanse. The former was quick to flap her wings to stay aloft, and she grabbed the latter to give her time to do the same.

Awaiting them were two earth ponies and two pegasi, one male and one female each, the former standing on what seemed to be flying contraptions, akin to Pinkie's own.

One of the earth ponies was a moderate red-coated mare with silver eyes, silver-lens goggles over her forehead, a black-and-maroon mane styled just like Chronicle's, a stub of a tail, dark freckles on her face, and a denim outfit covering her body from the chest to the cutie mark. Her vehicle seemed to be metallic, had a much faster rotor, and bore small cannons on both sides of the seat. It was also colored blood red and brass.

One of the pegasi was a goldenrod mare with soft lilac eyes that belied her attitude, a short bright yellow hair held up with a headband, a distinct lack of a tail. Both of her forelegs seem to have been replaced with prosthetic replacements that look more like a griffon's talons, but somewhat bulkier and colored exactly like her coat. And on the talons were two tiny cannons with triggers for her talons to pull.

(A/N: Okay, they're guns, but the ponies don't know that.)

As for the other two, they were earth pony mare's brothers Hickory Dickory and Blue Pen, whom Chronicle had met personally twice before, once during the Family Reunion and once in the dreamscape, not that the intruders know that. And Hickory was riding a straight-up copy of Pinkie's machine. Their cutie marks however seemed to be obscured by some strange effect.

"All right, who are you?!" demanded Skyla.

"Quick to the chase, are we?" smirked the red one. "My name's Ruby Gear. Griffon-arms there is Topaz Spring, and the two stallions are my younger bros Hickory Dickory and Blue Pen. I'll let you figure out for yourselves who's who."

Topaz aimed her weapons at Skyla and Fluttershy. "I wonder what he sees in you, anyway. He's such a softie."

"Oh, I wonder if he has slept with her yet?" asked Pen, letting off a sleazy grin.

"Well, he ain't telling us," replied Hickory. "Maybe we can ask her."

During this trade in conversation, they didn't see Rainbow (with Bericht coming right behind her) come in and buck Hickory's device in the back, making it spin out. Pen was quick to steady his brother's machine, Topaz immediately fired her weapons (letting out blasts of magic) but her targets had already moved. As for Ruby, she already had her flying machine moving, and it was fast in turning. Her sights were on Rainbow, firing "tracers" on her but naturally missing.

"Very sneaky," the red mare commented. "For someone so headstrong." She then turned to the himmel-panzer as the two opened fire on Rainbow, who quickly evaded their attacks. "Bericht, I built you better than this."

"Retort: Pegasus pony is more agile than himmel-panzer." The two then dodged Rainbow's charge. The intruding pegasus was surprised that the large machine could do so, but then again her previous bout with Bericht didn't leave much room for him to navigate.

"Fine. But how did you end up here anyways?"

"Explanation: Skimmed top of labyrinth. One high hole in walls big enough for both of us to pass through."

"Ah."

SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

Spike was quick to get on his feet and dodge the oncoming charge from the giant earth pony, who was called Heavy Weapon. Currently, they were still on the 'corridor' where his friends got split up, but the chevrons were not moving anymore.

"You cannot beat me, baby!" the pony taunted as another of his bucks was blocked by Spike's lance.

"Stop! Calling me that!" the dragon, still in his 'knight form', counterattacked with a tail swing. It didn't hurt much, though.

"I call everybody baby!" Heavy bull-rushed toward Spike, tackling him to the end of the 'corridor'. "Not my parents, though. Or grandparents. Or uncles and aunts. Or their grandparents." He was quick to realize Spike already running towards him, his lance gone.

The earth pony was grappled by the neck, but Heavy flipped him up… on his back. And then he jumped backwards so he could land on his back, or more precisely so he can squash Spike under him.

And then the dragon pushed him off as he stood up once more. Heavy quickly turned around and said, "Baby dragon's will is strong to have maintained new form for this long."

"Why are you even doing this?" Spike asked.

"Already told you. I am dream-guard. You are dream-intruder. Dream-guards deal with dream-intruders."

"And why am I a dream-intruder again?"

"Is it not obvious? You are not in your own dream. You are in other baby's dream."

"What if it's Princess Luna entering?"

"…At least we try." Heavy then decided to barrel forward again.

SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

The Night Guard pony, who was actually one of Chronicle's aunts, Calyndar, wasn't exactly at her wit's end when it came to finding Pinkie, but she was forced to stay sharp with this one. Dealing with a "Toon Traits" entity was always a headache for Story Crew Field Operatives not specialized in the art.

Right now, they found themselves at a garden full of bushes and trees, notably something that wasn't at all devised by any of the Timer family. Darn. Must be Pinkie Prime's Toon Traits. She can already sense that none of the bushes have tunnels underneath them, but that wouldn't stop Pinkie from popping down one and up another.

It was very tempting to use the dreamscape to torch all the bushes, but Calyndar was no arsonist, nor was purging one of her tactics. Leave that to the Solar Empire, not that her eldest son Annals has taken up their way of war too.

"Come on out, Pinkie Pie," Calyndar called out, opting not to add "Prime" to it like Bericht had. No need to let them know more than they already do thanks to Chronicle's siblings and father. "Are you really gonna waste time playing hide-and-seek with me if you can just go find your friend?"

"And have you hunting me down?" argued Pinkie, but it was impossible to tell where.

"Wouldn't that be part of the fun? Chronicle's kinda mad you spiked his drink. And now he has us after you for revenge."

"Does he really hate us that much?"

"No. He figured either you or Twilight would eventually find a way to enter his dreams. Doesn't help that two of his relatives are like both of you."

And then against all logic, as is the norm for Pinkie, the earth pony was on Calyndar's back and has pulled off her flank armor…revealing her matching cutie mark! "Oh! So all you dream-guards are actually his relatives?!"

Calyndar decided not to give a straight answer to that as she then zoomed toward a wall, ready to slam her passenger into it. "Or his mental idea of them."

"So who would you be? You look too old to be a cousin of his, and somehow I don't think you're his mother." With her unnatural dexterity, Pinkie kicked at the wall, forcing the two of them off. "So that means you're an aunt?"

The Night Guard pony didn't answer that question as she decided to spin rapidly, hoping to throw her passenger off, but Pinkie held on with a vicegrip that strangely didn't make her choke.

SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

While Twilight was engaging the caped bespectacled unicorn, who called himself Mystic Wand in a classic magic duel, Mystic Shield was facing another. It was a tuscan-coated mare with bronze-colored scruffy hair with both mane and tail tied in a long braid, and "earth yellow" eyes. Obscuring her cutie mark was a simple sienna-colored cloak.

Held in her aura was what seemed to be an artist's sketchpad and a writing implement. And it (the former, at least) had to be a magical artifact since she seemed to be able to call up anything with it. Her occasional expressions of confusion and frustration implied it wasn't always working, though.

After destroying a construct of a large crab, which he was able to tell apart from a 'real' one thanks to its translucent beige tone, Mystic saw his opponent 'summon' a pitbull. It rendered him shaking in his legs and he could do nothing but erect a dome barrier around himself while the dog construct pounded its paws at it. Cursed phobia…

Mystic's challenger seemed to notice this… and dismissed the dog construct, much to his confusion… only to then summon a Royal Guard construct. But not just any Royal Guard. It looked like somepony he knew very well. Somepony he presently hated so much. His response was immediate; without shutting down his shield, he opened fire on the construct, destroying it in seconds with a barrage of magic shots. Luckily for the challenger, she wasn't right behind her construct; even now, she was running to the side as she wrote frantically for her next construct.

Meanwhile, Wand countered Twilight's "hurl pie" spell with a "dual portal" spell, calling up one 'portal' to claim the pie and another to send it back to her. She dodged the pie, then followed up by summoning a snowbank on top of her opponent, who set off a surge of blue flames, instantly melting the snow and evaporating the resultant water. The bespectacled unicorn then proceeded to summon a beach ball and quick-threw it. Twilight's answer to this was to summon a door with frame, after which she slammed in front of herself. Since it swung towards the ball, it sent it flying back.

Wand swerved his head to evade the ball, then conjured a small orb of light that absorbed a ball of ice from Twilight, then another that absorbed a series of magic shots also from her. These orbs then fired the projectiles they absorbed back at their caster. Twilight cast a special barrier spell that, instead of absorbed the impact, reflected them back at Wand…who in turn summoned a similar barrier, reflecting them back again. Since this "Reflect" spell isn't a sustaining spell like most other barriers, it had to be cast repeatedly. Thankfully, before long, the trajectory of the spells sent them towards a wall and they stopped casting so they could talk.

"You certainly improved a bit on quick-casting spells," Wand commented. "If your previous magic duels with Trixie is any indication."

"How do you even know about that?"

"As his dream-guards, we're extensions of his consciousness, or in this case his subconscious. Naturally, we'd know what he knows." Well, Wand wasn't 100 percent sure real "dream-guards" were like that, but these intruders didn't need to know.

"Your personality's too distinct for you to be a dream-guard."

I don't like where this is going. "That's because we're based off of his other family members."

"No, that's not it. Princess Luna taught a little about dreams, and neither you nor the pony distracting Mystic Shield fit the description."

Wow, she really is smart, even here. "…" Wand was silent for a few moments before his horn then began to glow again, casting another spell. Before Twilight, the other "dream-guard", and her opponent knew it, a magic circle formed underneath them all, preventing them from moving. "Should've known you'd pick up on the truth real fast. Now let me tell you all of it." What followed next was Wand teleported everypony in the circle…somewhere.

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Rarity rolled backward to the ground as she threw Brown off of her. Brown for his part recovered swiftly and rolled back on his feet, then jumped sideways to roll over Applejack, who had been about to buck him from the side. The field was already filled with small craters that came from whatever Komatsu had fired.

"Komatsu!" Brown yelled. "You ready yet?"

The mechanical earth pony had—after devastating the field with explosive spheres of energy that came out from him and attempted to blast the dream intruders—been dormant for the past couple minutes. However, he also proved so impervious not even jamming diamonds (summoned via dreamscape by Rarity) into its supposed weak points did a thing. Because of that, they decided to double-team Brown.

"RECHARGED," he said, then began to run towards the intruders. Everybody rolled out of the way as he barreled through, but the girls were surprised when his body parts began to move in unnatural angles so that when he raised his entire body on his forelegs, by the time he landed, he was now already facing them.

Brown noted their surprise and said, "Komatsu's a machine. And very well-made. He's only a pony on the outside, but he's as much an individual as any of us."

"OPINION: EXCESSIVE SPEECH NOT REQUIRED," said the mechanical pony. "BANTER DEEMED WASTE OF TIME. PREFERS SKILLS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES."

"Armor mode, Komatsu!"

"UNNECESSARY. INTRUDERS CAN BE DEALT WITH WITHOUT IT."

Brown rolled his eyes, pointing out Komatsu's own will. "But we need to deal with them fast."

"MOVE OUT OF WAY, THEN. YOU ARE BURDEN. ALSO—"

"Right, right." Brown moved behind Komatsu, whose body began to unveil its weapons again.

"I think running would be a good idea," Rarity whispered.

"For once, I agree," Applejack replied and, after quickly finding an escape path that wasn't the way they came, bolted there… just as Komatsu's energy balls sailed straight for where they had been. The mechanical pony had unfolded two long tubes from either side of him and he was turning his body so that the 'cannons' were still aiming at the intruders. However, he did not have automatic aiming capabilities and wasn't smart enough to "lead his targets" and they were shortly out of sight.

"WE MUST FOLLOW THEM."

"You think?" snarked Brown.

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Topaz was in hot pursuit of a fleeing Skyla, Ruby was expertly swerving her aircraft to evade Rainbow's charges, and Pen and Hickory merely circled Fluttershy, both of them all too aware of how dangerous she can really be, and neither wanted to even so much as push her around, settling with just keeping her away from the others under the "pretense" of protecting her from their sister and cousin. Bericht accompanied the two, his imposing barrel right at her fact keeping her from moving.

The goldenrod pegasus was impressed with the undercover Wonderbolt. Already, with use of quick flying skills, while at the cost of some moderate damage, Topaz had been disarmed of her weapons, but her prosthetic talons were more than enough. Skyla didn't seem to show off a lot of moves though, as if she was just limiting herself to the basics.

"I can tell you're holding back," Topaz said as she narrowly evaded a razor wing "spell" from Skyla. "Why? As Chronicle's dream-guards, we know everything he knows." She then caught her opponent's head-on charge by the front hooves with her talons.

"Two words," the undercover Wonderbolt whispered. "Rainbow Dash."

"Oh. Right. But do you really think flying much better than you are right now is enough for her to pick up on it?"

"Well, Chronicle certainly doesn't give her smarts enough credit."

"I'll keep that in mind." Just then, a brown flare ascended into the sky, catching the attention of everypony (and panzer). "Looks like it's time."

"Time for what?"

"An explanation." And all of a sudden, Bericht, Pen, and Hickory started moving toward where the flare came up, Fluttershy 'in tow', and the panzer. "Follow us!"

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At some unknown section of the labyrinth, in a large cobblestone square with a fountain, Chronicle was observing through Surveillance what his friends were going through. Seeing them clash with his relatives was fun while it lasted, but he figured it was high time he stopped this charade. And so he set off his flare spell. Thankfully, the MemLock has been established, ensuring that whatever happens in his dreamscape is isolated.

And as he anticipated, his elder brother teleported in with Twilight, Mystic, and Beige, all still bound by the first's spell. Next, from one of the many pathways leading to this came Heavy Weapon barreling in with Spike (still in his knight form) on his face. This was followed Aunt Calyndar doing an aileron roll, then a barrel roll, with Pinkie Pie riding her. From another pathway, Rarity and Applejack were running, Komatsu and Brown behind them. And from yet another pathway came Bericht, Pen and Hickory on his sides, and Fluttershy sitting on the panzer's turret. Behind them were Rainbow, Skyla, Topaz, and Ruby.

The second everybody was inside, above his friends' asking what's going on the moment they saw him, Wand extended his binding circle and caught everybody else in its bounds, bringing the flyers crashing. In addition to being a skilled spellcaster, he was powerful in magic, too.

And Chronicle decided it was high time he stepped in. "All right, everybody! Stop!" And with everybody pinned, that wasn't hard to do. "Allow me to explain."

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Once everybody was calmed down, they all stood next to the fountain, the dream-intruders at one side (with Spike returning to normal size), the so-called dream-guards on the other (with Ruby's and Hickory's contraptions behind them), and the "dream-owner" in between, serving as mediator.

"All right," Chronicle said as he turned to face his friends. "I don't need to introduce you to them because I talked about you guys with them. As for who they are, they're members of my extended family." He then turned to face them. "Guys, I already 'briefed' you in on what they know." Mystic and Skyla knew all about Chronicle's family and their 'mission' thanks to mingling with Blue Diary and his EOH friends during and after the Antithesis incident before their departure back to where they came from.

Before the dream-intuders could ask, the giant earth pony began. "I am Heavy Weapon, presently bodyguard like baby cousin Chronicle. I come from Equestria where things went like in yours. Except no Discord (yet), and crimes like murder is unthinkable. Not really good for pony like me. But I learn to live with it."

"And do you guys remember the case where Rainbow Dash was accused of the murder of Ace Swift?" Chronicle asked.

"Certainly," replied Twilight. "Somehow, you managed to call in both a defense attorney and a prosecutor to unveil the truth. And it also turns out they were siblings."

"Morning Justice and Gloam Ouster. Crusaders of the Truth. Rescued them both from an assassination job."

"In my world, same case happened, but nopony willing to defend murderer," continued Heavy Weapon. "So Twilight used summon spell to summon greatest defense attorney. She forgot to add 'in Equestria' and ended up bringing in non-pony defense attorney named Phoenix Wright. Further details classified. Case was won, though."

The two light-green coated stallions stepped forward, the earth pony speaking first. "I'm Hickory Dickory."

"And I'm Blue Pen," said the pegasus.

"The Equestrias we're in—"

"Not the same for both of us."

"—are just like yours on the outside, down to you six as the Bearers."

"There's one minor difference however."

"In mine, everypony's a prankster and I'm with Pinkie Pie."

"In mine, everypony's ███-driven and I'm in a twosome with Rarity and Spike, the latter sharing the former with me." Very noticeable blushes came from the two who were mentioned, as well as all the dream-intruders.

The red earth pony, their elder sister, stepped in. "My name is Ruby Gear, cousin of Chronicle from the father's side, and I'm assigned to an Equestria whose technology level is in what we call the "steam punk" stage. Everything run on steam (and magic), where the internal combustion engine never came to be." She nudged her head at her flying machine. "I built that myself."

The mechanical pony affirmed her statement, "CREATOR RUBY GEAR IS PRODIGY IN CONSTRUCTION. ESCPECIALLY THIS UNIT."

"Hold on!" gasped Applejack as she faced Ruby. "You made…him?"

"Uh-huh. Although I did have some help, the design was all me."

Before any more questions regarding Komatsu could be asked, the goldenrod pegasus spoke. "I am Topaz Spring, cousin from the mother's side, a freelancer, and the Equestria I'm in is sort of like Ruby's, but with a significant history change. In there, the Princesses clamped down on technological advancements, and ponykind rebelled. This resulted in them giving in to evil. In the process, Discord was set free, not as the Spirit of Chaos, but reborn as the benevolent Spirit of Change. Both were sealed, and technology advanced."

"What happened to your legs?" asked Applejack.

"These?" she raised one and turned it into a griffon talon. "I lost my legs due to an accident and a friend of mine made these. Anyway, things happened like Nightmare Moon's escape, her ransoming Ponyville's foals in exchange for obedience, me and the six bearers-to-be deciding to brave the Everfree Forest, we find and activate the elements, yadda-yadda-yadda." She emphasized the last one with a miming of a mouth with her prosthetic talon before facing Chronicle. "And should I really tell them who the bearers are?"

"Why not? In case a cross-over incident happens again. Like with me and my siblings."

"Fine. Aside from a griffon friend of mine named Ursula, who made my new forelegs, the bearers are as follows. Big Macintosh, a farmer with a prosthetic leg after a scam gone wrong, Element of Generosity. Dizzy Twister, Element of Loyalty. Rarity, who in my world is a mechanic and repairpony, Element of Honesty."

"Ugh," complained the addressed pony.

"Sorry. Moving on, there's also Thunderlane, helpful weatherpony with a loving young brother, Element of Kindness, which showed me you don't have to keep showing it on the outside to represent it. Lemon Hearts, librarian with a strange array of spells, Element of Laughter. Finally, unlike most 'configurations', the Element of Magic goes to Time Turner, bookish son of a mayor and a brilliant thinker."

"Hold on," said Twilight. "Assuming that everypony is the same race despite the differences in worlds, are you saying the Element of Magic went to an earth pony?"

"Yes. And his reasoning was sound. After all, why would it be the Elements of Harmony if one of them is only compatible with one race? Besides, Magic isn't about power or talent in…magic, but the Magic of Friendship. And another thing, instead of becoming all jewelry like necklaces or diadems, the Elements also took in different forms for some, like a wrench for Rarity, a new leg for Macintosh after his got crushed by Nightmare, and a bow tie for Turner."

Before anypony could ask further, it was Beige's turn. "My name's Beige Scribe, Chronicle's aunt on the mother's side, and the Equestria I'm in is very much like yours, but with one crucial difference; Spike and Twilight's species are swapped." The two mentioned turned to face each other in confusion. "I'm a reporter, working alongside a fellow reporter whose alias is Purple Prose, birth name Spike Flail, and his dragoness assistant Twilight. In that world, Princess Celestia had no prodigious student to send and fulfill the prophecy, and prepared for the inevitable.

"As fate would have it, Spike was dispatched to Ponyville, and I came along. Things happened, and after Nightmare's arrival, her ransom by putting Ponyville's foals to eternal sleep, after he was forced to speak on her behalf, Spike found himself on the receiving end of a mob. With the exception of a couple of companions he managed to befriend, though one just wanted to be the only one to beat him up or something."

"What's with that sketchpad you used?" Mystic (somewhat rudely) interrupted, still remembering the dog construct she made. He was able to figure it out, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"Oh, it's a Scribblenaut Notebook. With it, I can create absolutely anything I want. Unfortunately for me, it can be very fickle sometimes and refuse to follow me, especially if I want something very big or complicated. Sorry about the dog construct. Anyway, just like every case with the Elements of Harmony, we traveled to the Everfree Forest, and on our way to the castle endured trials that happen to help our friends realize their elements. However, unlike your Nightmare Moon, mine (and Topaz's) was seriously attempting to kill us though obviously still underestimating us.

"Unlike most Element Bearers, our group did not follow the usual race dynamic of two ponies per race; that is, two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies. Here… well, let me explain who his (and my) friends are. I got the loyal Big Macintosh, the honest Thunderlane, Ditzy Doo of laughter, the kind Cheerilee, and the generous Time Turner, who in there is Mayor Mare's aide."

"That's, not counting you, one unicorn, three earth ponies, and two pegasi," deduced Skyla.

"Correct," agreed Bericht. "You already know Bericht's name. Bericht was constructed by Ruby Gear (not alone, of course) before she was sent to her assigned world. Bericht's assigned world has panzers like self in place of ponies. As for all other races, they are 'replaced' by other vehicles of war that do not exist in your world."

It was the turn of the stallion in brown both in coat and apparel. "I'm Brown Archive, Beige's husband. Where I'm assigned, The Thousandth Summer Sun celebration took place not in Ponyville, but in Manehattan, because Daring Do, who is real there, found the Elements (early) and shipped them off to the museum. And that's all I'm gonna say about it. Sorry, Chronicle, but I simply won't do it."

The dreamscape-owner gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine, Uncle."

"And before you get any stupid notions of your world having more significance than all the others, all of the Equestrias we're in have their own alternate versions of themselves," said the Night Guard-clad pegasus. "Like gender-swaps, the other sister princess turning evil instead, kids and grown-ups swapped, pets and owners swapped, one or more Bearers get swapped with other ponies or even non-ponies, a different ruler, one little thing not happening, something else happening instead… the possibilities are endless."

"Like, say, a world full of Pinkie Pies, or where the Summer Sun Celebration takes place in Trottingham or Oaton or the Griffon homeland for all I care, or where the Bearers are all 'magical girls' which in our definition does not simply mean 'girls who use magic'," continued Ruby. "Or where Nightmare Moon won the first bout with Celestia or at the night the Elements are meant to be awakened, or where Discord post-resealing decided to somehow impregnate the Bearers with his chaos magic—"

"WHAT?!" gasped all the dream-intruders.

Topaz 'silenced' them by raising a prosthetic talon. "And let's not get into alternate versions of us, who in turn are covering those possibilities. The rabbit hole goes really, really deep."

"As for me," the 'Night Guard' continued. "My name is Calyndar, another aunt of Chronicle's, and I'm stationed at a special Equestria that has unfortunately got itself involved with Hub Equestria, which is our home base. Unlike all the others, I'm not a tag-along with that world's Elements of Harmony. Instead…" she gestured to her nephew, who had brought them all here in the first place.

"*sigh* Her world is called the Lunar Republic, which advocates equality for all races, and is ruled by a Princess Luna. This Republic has been at war with another world like hers called the Solar Empire, which advocates the superiority of ponykind, and is…" He let out another sigh, dreading saying this in front of Twilight, even when she already knows of the sort thanks to the Antithesis Incident. "Ruled by a Princess Celestia."

"The two worlds have been at each other for decades, even before we came, and when the empire tried to attack, we were forced to take sides. Even so, we try not to get involved. My son is in the Solar Empire as a spy and saboteur, and has yet to be caught."

It may seem strange that the dream intruders aren't asking too many questions, but that's because along with them being anticipated, Mystic Wand had cast a complex spell in the dreamscape that inhibits curiosity from everybody except those already in the dream prior to casting. While the MemLock makes certain they don't remember, this spell keeps them from having to explain when they won't (act like they) remember it anyway.

Speaking of Wand, it was his turn. "As for me, my name is Mystic Wand, and I'm Chronicle's older brother."

"Oh yeah," said Twilight. "I remember something you said earlier. Something about me being the Prime version of your Highness. Does that mean in your…'assigned world', I'm the ruling Princess?"

"You catch on. And before anypony else asks," he glanced at the others. "There are other worlds in our family's jurisdiction that has each of you as rulers, too. As for why some of us addressed you as Prime, that's merely because your world happened to be the first our family has encountered. Since it was the first, it can't be helped that we compare more worlds with yours."

In reality, however, it's actually because Equestria Prime was what's called in the Story Crew (and at least one other Equestria) a Heart World, from which every other Equestria covered (and some that aren't) by the Story Crew diverge from and which anyone still connected to is affected by. These worlds include Ruby Gear's Steampunk Equestria, her brothers' assigned worlds, Solaris Equestria, and Philomena Equestria. Interestingly however, some worlds can "break off" and continue on its own without any connection to the Heart World. These worlds include Luna Equestria, Topaz Spring's Disco-Republic Equestria, Edeathstria Prime, Beige Scribe's Flipside Equestria, and Brown Archive's Manehattan Equestria.

Because of that, Chronicle, who is assigned to this Heart World, should theoretically keep his involvement with its denizens to a bare minimum so as not to mess with the other so-far connected worlds. Of course, his current violations to this rule (for starters, his relationship with Fluttershy) don't seem to have severe repercussions… so far. Being the son of the Great Overseer Lord Record Keeper seems to have its advantages, though he doesn't outright abuse it.

(A/N: I'm not gonna put links again here. Check the previous chapters to find out what these mean.)

"As 'fun' as it was to undergo all this exposition and battle with you, I'm afraid this wasn't even supposed to happen in the first place. Because of that, not only is this goodbye, as a countermeasure, all of your memories of this incident will be 'locked away'. That is, you'll act as if none of this ever happened." Gasps came from Skyla, Mystic, and Spike. Even now, Wand was already working a spell. "Please understand, but your world is not ready for this. 'Fortunately', in the event you encounter a member of this family aside from Chronicle in this manner or by visiting our home world, those memories will be unlocked, until such time you return home, after which it'll be locked again."

"The only reason why we didn't just evict you from the start is because I wanted a little payback for drugging me with a sleeper," Chronicle explained to his friends. "That and some of my relatives wanted to test you out."

"If only you hadn't figured out I wasn't really a dream-guard (those are real, by the way), Twilight, Chronicle would've let us continue screwing with you until you left. Goodbye."

And he cast his spell, setting off a bright flare that blinded everybody. When it faded, all the dream-intruders were gone. And thanks to the MemLock, they will behave as if this never actually happened, remembering only that when they tried to get in, they encountered dream-guards who eventually evicted them back to their own individual dreamscapes and never got to see their friend.

Once that was over with, Ruby turned to face Chronicle. "You should be in big trouble for arranging this."

"Hey, we had this training sim planned long ago. I never expected to get drugged."

"Well, you could've just—"

"I already explained why before Wand evicted them. Don't deny that some of you wanted to mess with them."

"Well, you should've been more assertive to us," the red earth pony mare added. "We would've backed away if you just said so. After all, this is your dreamscape, your jurisdiction, and your friends. Really, you should practice what you preach to your marefriend!"

"Ooh!" said Ruby's brothers teasingly, sensing the tension as the other members of the family surrounded them.

Surprisingly to them, their cousin didn't lash out, instead remaining calm as he let out an exasperated sigh. "You're right. I should've. But I can't take all the blame. Those of you who didn't urge me to let you mess with them went along with this plan."

"I had to keep my brothers in line."

"Sure, you did," teased Topaz. "You were busy with RD Prime, and I with Skyla Prime, while they and Bericht kept Fluttershy Prime from helping."

"And we didn't tease her, knowing how dangerous she can actually be," quipped Hickory. "We've grown during our time in our assigned worlds. I know we're still a bit immature, but give us a little credit here."

Ruby groaned. "Fine. That was what I wanted to do at first, but you got me doing it, and acting contrary would've tipped them off; Dream-guards don't argue with each other." She rubber her head for a bit before turning back to the dreamscape owner. "Let's just not do this again, all right? If you want to scheme something involving them, do it all by yourself."

"I promise." One by one, each of Chronicle's relatives inexplicably vanished, returning to their respective dreamscapes, leaving him alone as the labyrinth slowly disintegrated as well. He let off a sigh. "Why did I let my relatives get involved in my payback? I should've asked them to help me split the area so I could take part in both." Just like Rarity tried to do until the rest of our friends gate-crashed the garden party. "I can't believe my friends' stupidity is starting to rub off on me."

SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

Useless Extra

Unbeknownst to Chronicle, Beige Scribe and Brown Archive got involved with his brother Blue Diary, Uncle Clockwork, a cousin named David (but from the future; there was time travel) assigned to a world governed by musicians (he didn't know the name), and another cousin assigned to "Hasbro Equestria" (f.k.a. Equestria-12), in an adventure. What happened in that adventure was that they along with one bearer from each of their worlds got whisked together by a Discord (designation unknown) to a different Equestria whose Field Operative went Missing In Action (to this day). All of them vowed not to tell anybody about it.

If you like to, go and read it (minus these Timers, of course).