To Reforge a Legend
65,000,000 BC
Apple Village Commons
“Yes.”
“No.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Wow guys, you’re both making such compelling arguments.”
Twilight Sparkle locked eyes with Applejack, their brows creasing in unison. Daring Do stood by her wife’s side, herself staring with determination at Twilight. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and her friends lingered a few paces behind Twilight, casting glances at one another and silently fidgeting. The villagers, for their part, let the arguing go unheeded; they were preoccupied with consoling the mourning and repairing the damaged cabins.
“I insist,” continued Twilight Sparkle, ignoring her friend’s sarcasm. “Those humans attacked the village because you were away, helping us. Seeing as we were directly involved, we’re obligated to help.”
“Um, but, we did help, Twilight,” Fluttershy interrupted. “You and Daring and I fought back and protected all of the helpless little foals.” Turning, she looked aside to one of the nearby cabins, still lit aflame. A trio of stallions tripped over themselves as they poured bucket after bucket of water onto the burning building. As the flames extinguished, they revealed the charred wood underneath, streaked with zig-zagging scorch lines. Fluttershy fell silent and pawed at the ground for a moment. “At least, we tried to help.”
Her interjection earned her a cross frown from Twilight Sparkle. “There’s seven ponies out there who would say otherwise. We need to make this right.”
“No, we do,” said Applejack with a shake of her head. “Look, I’m truly in your debt. You were here to save everypony the one time I couldn’t, and from what Doe was telling me, things coulda been worse here.”
“A lot worse,” Daring Do agreed with a nod.
“But fact of the matter is, this is a matter for the Apple Clan. We’re the ones that’ve been saddled with this Eva goon, and we’re the ones that’ll see it through.” Applejack rested a gentle hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and offered a smile. “Y’all did what you could, but don’t fret yourselves over it. Me and Daring will see it through.”
Twilight Sparkle brushed off the hoof. “But why can’t we help? We just want to make things right.”
Daring Do and Applejack shared a look, their expressions wavering. Meanwhile, Fluttershy stepped forward, her eye panels focused solely on the ground between everypony. “Twilight, I know that this is very important for you, but... we should go.”
“Go?” Twilight gave her a wide-eyed stare.
“Well... yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, approaching her friends’ side. “Remember? We got the Dreamstone so we could fix that sword, yeah? And help Frog? To fight Nightmare Moon?”
“Because everypony needs our help,” Pinkie Pie quietly added.
Twilight Sparkle looked between her three friends, her harsh gaze turning increasingly softer. With an exhale, she faced front and let her eyelids fall closed. A calm fell upon the group before she eventually offered a nod. “You’re right,” she sighed. “You’re right.” She gave a soft, respectful bow to Applejack and Daring Do. “We should be on our way. Sorry, again.”
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65,000,000 BC
Magic Mountains
“So this is the way y’all said ya got here?” Applejack peered off the ledge of a sheer cliff.
Twilight Sparkle followed her lead. “That’s correct.” Far below, a mud-caked chasm floor lay in waiting, but their vision was impeded by a telltale fluctuation in spacetime a dozen meters below the lip. “It’s a bit of a fall, but if we hop off the edge here, the Gate will catch us and send us back to the future. Perfectly safe.” She nodded, half to herself, before turning to Rainbow Dash. “You’ve still got the Gate Key, right?”
She flashed a grin and rattled her saddlebags for effect. “Duh.”
Twilight Sparkle leaned aside and gave Applejack one last hug. “We promise, Applejack. As soon as we’re available, we’ll give you a hoof with anything you need.”
“I keep tellin’ ya, it ain’t necessary,” chuckled Applejack. “All the same, thanks. I do hope the lot of you will come back, just for a friendly visit.” She broke the hug and smiled at the four time travelers. “You and your friends are always welcome with the Apple Family.”
“Deal.” Twilight Sparkle nodded to Applejack, then turned to Rainbow Dash. “Ready? On the count of three.”
“One!” Pinkie Pie crouched low and wiggled her rump in the air.
“T-T-Two...” Fluttershy took another step closer to the edge, while leaning her full weight as far back as possible.
“Three!” Rainbow Dash pounced off the edge of the cliff, flanked by a pony on each side of her. Reacting to the Gate Key in her bags, the spatial distortion ripped open before them, catching three ponies well above the ground. Suspended in temporal aether, Rainbow Dash had just enough time to spin about and reach back upward with a hoof, jaw agape, before the Gate closed around them and thrust them aeons through time.
Applejack and Daring Do turned to their side and stared, slack-jawed. Twilight Sparkle responded to their stares with a pert, eyes-closed grin. “So! Now that I’m available, how can I help?”
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The End of Time
Rainbow Dash floated gently down the column of light, laying on her back and staring skyward, like a feather drifting on an unfelt breeze. “She... she just ditched us.”
Trixie was lounging underneath the nearby lamppost, a gossipy tabloid magazine beneath her hooves, and a bowl of crackers and a jar of peanut butter at her side. She looked up and cocked her head. “Wait, you’re still alive?” After a moment, she gave a bland shrug. “Mmm. At least the purple one is gone. She was the annoying self-righteous one.” She returned to her magazine and flipped the page. “As opposed to the annoying cocksure one, the annoying useless one, and the annoying annoying one.”
Fluttershy quietly looked up as well, following Rainbow Dash’s gaze upward into the past.
Pinkie Pie was the first to speak. “Well, we don’t need her help right now, right now. Right? I mean, the Lyrabon is gonna take a little while to repair, so we can just go back when it’s done and pick her up.” She blinked, chewing over her reply for a moment. “When the Lyrabon is done, we can go to sixty five million years before it’s done, and pick her up.” After pondering a few seconds more, she nodded with vigor.
“She’s such an idiot. We kept telling her to drop it, then she goes and pulls a stunt like this.” Rainbow Dash stood silently reflecting for a moment, before she gave a light chuckle. She looked back at her friends, her mane flipping to the side. “Actually... that was a pretty cool move. Gotta give her credit.”
Fluttershy turned to look at Pinkie Pie; the latter returned an eager, toothy grin.
Trixie flipped another page of her magazine, lazily muttering to herself. “The Great and Powerful Trixie can’t believe the cliff didn’t finish them. Perhaps next time Trixie should send them to the bottom of the ocean.” She levitated a peanut-butter cracker delicately onto her tongue.
The doorway next to the lamppost popped itself open, and the Doctor poked his head out. “Trixie, m’dear, please do stop trying to murder equinity’s last hopes, would you?”
“Feh.” Trixie rolled her eyes and turned the page. The Doctor closed the door and returned to his business.
“Whatever. Forget that loud-mouth.” Rainbow Dash buffed her hoof against her chest, smirking idly at it. “‘We got more important things to get to. Let’s go repair that sword!” She trotted toward the other pillars of light at a decent clip, then a trot, a walk, a slow step, and at last, stationary. “Uh.”
“Mmm.” Pinkie Pie tilted her head this way and that. “Come to think of it, we knew that we needed Dreamstone to fix the sword, but we don’t really have any idea of how to fix it.” She turned her head around and looked up at her rider. “Right?”
Lyra shrugged. Her hindlegs sloped off Pinkie Pie’s back to one side as she sat upright in a somewhat uncomfortable-looking position. “Yeah, sorry, that’s our bad. In fairness, we totally didn’t expect you to make it this far.”
A pulse of energy emanated from Fluttershy’s saddlebags, bursting into a tiny star before coalescing into a cream-coated earth pony. “Not that we doubted your talents, of course. It’s just that—get down from there!” Bon Bon thrashed at Lyra’s side with a forehoof until her partner begrudgingly obeyed. “It’s just that we assumed the task was impossible.” She gave a weak smile and shrug. “Finding our creator should be equally impossible.”
“But that’s all the more reason that you fillies can pull through, am I right?” said Lyra with a wink.
“You bet!” Rainbow Dash held herself up straight, her chin lifted slightly. “Lay it on me.”
“Well...” Bon Bon fidgeted with her hooves. “Our creator actually isn’t a pony, but a zebra. Her name—”
“Oh, you mean Zecora?”
Bon Bon sat back on her haunches, staring incredulously at Pinkie Pie a moment, before throwing her hooves in the air and then trotting away. “I can’t. I simply cannot.”
Lyra rolled onto her back, howling with laughter. “You ponies are a riot! Out of all the zebras in history, you just happen to know Zecora?”
Fluttershy kicked lightly at the paving stones, murmuring lightly, “...the odds of knowing the zebra in question, based on our travels to date, is approximately one in seventeen million, five hundred and…”
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1000 AD
Palomedina Village—Zecora’s Shop
Zecora sat down a satchel of tools on her kitchen table, boggling slightly as three ponies walked through her door. “What is this? Do my eyes play tricks? I did not expect your return to the village of Mystics.”
“Heya, Zecora!” Pinkie Pie pronked across the cozy shop, giving its keeper an enthusiastic nuzzle. “Long time no see. We brought you a surprise!” she called out in a sing-song voice.
With a mirthful shake of her head, she leaned into her toolbag and selected a hammer with care. “What this surprise is, I could not know—”
“—cuz I’m all stuffy and boring, like whoa.”
The hammer slid effortlessly from her teeth, landing upon the thatch flooring with a muffled thud. Zecora stared wide-eyed at the wall, softly murmuring, “Only one pony would mock me so,” before turning back to the entrance.
Lyra trotted up to the zebra, wearing a cheeky grin. “Heya, Mom. What’s up?”
“Zecora, it’s been far too long.” Bon Bon followed shortly behind, her own smile gentle and sheepish. She nudged Lyra out of her way and gave Zecora a warm hug. “You’re looking well.”
“Lyra?” Zecora’s mouth flapped voicelessly, struggling to call forth the names of the ponies in front of her. “Bon Bon? This is incredible.” She turned back to Pinkie Pie and her companions, scrutinizing them. “Tell me, little ponies, how is this possible?”
“Oh, right, that. We’re time travellers.” Rainbow Dash looked up from the bowl of fruit in the kitchen that she had helped herself to, and nodded in Zecora’s direction. “Hey, Z. Sword’s working out great.”
Fluttershy silently looked at a vacant space to her right.
“You are able to traverse the currents of time?” Zecora asked. “And saw fit to bring these dear friends of mine?”
“Um, correct,” said Fluttershy, reaching into her saddlebags. “We also brought you some Dreamstone.”
“The stone of dreams?” Zecora’s ears drooped. She turned to Lyra and Bon Bon, a misty look overtaking her eyes. “Alas, my friends…”
Lyra rubbed the back of her head, inhaling with a hiss and releasing it in a soft titter. “Yeah.”
“Sorry, Zecora,” Bon Bon said, as the pair of ponies radiated with a dazzling white glow. “There was, err, a bit of an incident.” A crystalic chime reverberated inside the hut. In the blink of an eye, where once stood a unicorn and earth pony, now rested a golden hilt with a single amethyst gem in the pommel, and a sturdy broadsword blade, snapped off the hilt along a jagged edge.
Zecora softly approached the broken sword before her, running her hoof across the smooth surface of the blade, untarnished by time if not for the severing. “Be at peace,” she murmured to the weapon. “I will thee mend.”
Rainbow Dash planted her hooves on the table, propping herself up. Her eyebrows arched high as she looked at the zebra. “So you can do it? You can fix the Lyrabon?”
“We really really need it,” interjected Pinkie Pie, leaning her head in between the weapon and Zecora. “A lot of ponies—and one special pony in particular—are counting on us to put this back together so that we can stop an alicorn and a porcupine.”
Holding herself upright and at attention, Zecora nodded at Pinkie Pie, her visage tightly drawn. “Fixing dear Lyrabon is my duty and charge. But the amount of work required is quite large. Giving all of my energy, keeping distractions at bay, this will still easily take me most of two days.”
Even before Rainbow Dash could finish her loud groan, a set of metallic hooves stepped forward. “Miss Zecora? Um, I hate to impose on you, but this is so very important. If I stay with you to help, is there any chance we could repair the sword sooner?” Her steel hoof touched upon Zecora’s back with the softest of graces. “Please?”
Zecora’s eyes, however, were fixated back on the weapon at her hooves. “The spirits infused into this sword are anything but ordinary. When it was forged, I knew it would hold a destiny most legendary.” She fixed her eyes on Fluttershy and gave a resolute nod. “Very well. If we work hard, though the schedule is tight, Fluttershy and I should complete these repairs by tonight.”
“Fluttershy,” said Pinkie Pie, wincing as she reached toward her with a hoof, “are you sure that’s okay? That sounds like so much work for the two of you.”
“Of course it’s okay,” the robot replied in a cheery tone. “We all need the Lyrabon repaired, right? I’m just doing my part. And besides, you and Rainbow Dash have family here, don’t you?”
“Hey, yeah!” Rainbow Dash elbowed Pinkie Pie in the ribs. “We could go crash at my place. More of my mom’s cooking? Yeah?”
Pinkie Pie’s tail sagged as she looked from Rainbow Dash to Fluttershy. “Just… are you sure? I mean, I’d feel bad when you and Twilight are—”
“It’s alright.” Fluttershy shook her head, as best her rigid frame permitted. “Twilight and Applejack know what they’re doing, and so do I. I’m volunteering because I want to. The two of you should take the opportunity to relax while you can.”
“Your friend of yellow steel speaks true,” Zecora added, a smile at her lips and a twinkle in her eye. “A bit of rest can do wonders for you.”
Pinkie Pie frowned a moment longer, staring vacantly through the western window, overlooking the cool blue of the ocean. When she looked back to the group, though, her classic grin had returned. “Well then! If you insist, then we simply gotta go get our party on, am I right?”
“Totally,” laughed Rainbow Dash. She bumped Fluttershy’s shoulder, then she and Pinkie Pie made for the front door. “Thanks, Fluttershy. We totally owe ya one!”
“Oh, not at all,” she called out after them. Fluttershy turned to Zecora and released a small puff of steam. “Now, um, how can I be of assistance?”
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1000 AD
Equus
Rainbow Dash coughed, hacked, and heaved salt water from her lungs. “Why didn’t,” she asked amid coughs, “I just fly instead?”
“Because,” said Pinkie Pie, glomping her soggy pink self onto Rainbow Dash’s equally damp backside, “you can always fly anywhere if you want. But traveling by whirlpool is a super rare treat. Things like this are meant to be enjoyed, don’t you think?”
Rainbow grunted in return. “Anyway. So, you ready to chow down and—”
“I mean, speaking of enjoying, talk about that Millennial Summer Sun Celebration.” Even from their distance at the shoreline, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash could easily see the festivities underway, with dozens of ponies still in attendance. “I mean, we’ve barely had any time to see the sights and the smells and the tastes, even though you can only really see the sights, I suppose.”
“Oh!” Rainbow Dash blinked. “I mean, uh, yeah. If you want, we could go—”
“No-no-no.” She shook her head in a small pink blur. “I could never come between a big eater and her food. You go ahead and hang out at your mom’s for now. When you’re done there, we can meet up together at the fairgrounds.” She grinned widely, her ponytail hanging to one side as she tilted her head at Rainbow. “Kay?”
Rainbow Dash’s ears drooped, though her smile belied this. “Oh! I-I mean, sure. We got the whole day to us, so might as well get some Dash time, y’know. Sure, no problem.” She stood there, smiling and nodding; Pinkie Pie kicked up small plumes of dust.
“So…”
“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash rubbed at her neck as she caught wind of the pause. “I’ll, uh, catch ya later, Pinkie.” With one last look over her shoulder, she flew off to her home along the coast.
Pinkie’s whole frame sagged as she watched Rainbow Dash disappear inside her front door. “Sorry, Dashie. I didn’t want to lie, honest.” She pushed out a weighty sigh and, with a sharp inhale, she pushed her remaining strength into her chest. “Have fun.” Standing tall, she turned to the west and took off at a rigid trot.
The skyline before her was dwarfed by a mighty structure with thick stone walls and towering spires.
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1000 AD
Sugardia Castle
Technically, it was the gate guards who spotted her first. To be sure, they were quick to recognize a pink pony who was not only their sovereign princess, but also a several-count foalnapping victim, and thus currently one of the kingdom’s most sought after ponies. It therefore stands to reason that the gate guards would have been entitled to quite a sizeable reward if, indeed, they had brought her in. But they were bowled over when a second pair of ponies rushed through the main entrance—a unicorn and pegasus.
“Princess!” cried out the navy-maned pegasus. He fell to his knees before her, scuffing his signature blue-and-gold Wonderbolts uniform in the process.
“Pinkamena!” Chancellor Scratch showed slightly less restraint. Her horn lit as she ran closer.
“Soarin! Scratchy! Hey, I’m—whoa!” She yelped and giggled as her forehooves were forcibly lifted off the ground. “Scratchy, I’m fine, really! I’m back, aren’t I?”
“In one piece, somehow,” Scratch grumbled. When she finished her visual inspection of the Princess’s limbs, she pulled up in front of her and stared at her with wide, red eyes. “Pinkamena, c’mon. You ran off with that rainbow-maned punk and got eaten up by some spooky purple portal thing. You want us to say it? Fine!” She punctuated her exclamation with a stamp of her hoof. “We were scared, okay?!”
Captain Soarin swallowed and approached the two mares, sufficiently cowed. “Your Highness, I’ve had all of my Wonderbolts out on patrol, turning the kingdom upside down.”
“Aww, you guys.” Pinkie Pie winced and looked between her two long-time caretakers. Soarin wore a familiar-enough visage, worrying on his lip while his ears hung limp, but the Chancellor wearing the same expression was a rare event indeed. “I’m sorry. Really, super sorry. I wasn’t trying to freak you guys out. I just…” A deep sigh escaped her. “I needed to get away. From all this. I needed to think and search and learn, but I’m back! I’m… I’m ready to talk.”
Soarin nodded, leading the trio up the staircase and past the grumbling, underpaid gate guards. “It’s not us you need to talk to. The King has been sick with worry. Ever since you left, Princess, His Highness has been sealed in his chambers nearly twenty-four-seven, working away.”
Chancellor Scratch hissed an inhale of breath, and winced Pinkie’s way. “Pinkamina, I agree that you should talk, just… He’s worried but he’s also super ticked. You did kinda make a huge splash when you left. Probably a good call if you have, like”—she wiggled her head from side-to-side, shaking her two-toned mane in the process—“some sorta gift. Apology thing, y’know?”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess.” Pinkie Pie ran her tongue over her lips as the trio began their climb of her father’s private tower. Only a few floors separated her from a reunion, a talk, so many words. “I didn’t really, uh…”
Scratch came to a halt and turned to the Wonderbolt. “Soarin. Head down to the kitchens. The King’s been having a bit of a sweet tooth recently. See if they can whip up a pie or cake or something like that, pronto.”
Pinkie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, you mean a gift like that?” With a grin, she turned and hopped her way up the stairs, two at a time. “No worries, then. I got this!”
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65,000,000 BC
Eastern Fields
Twilight Sparkle wiped at her brow and adjusted the pith hat atop her head. The thick green foliage overhead provided sufficient cover from the scorching sun, and yet the heat baked into her from all angles, heating up her coat from the outside and dampening it with sweat from underneath. Her stomach grumbled and protested, but until she found and identified her next patch of berries, she would simply have to tolerate the pain. The vast wilderness sprawled all around her, untamed, unexplored. No maps and no guides. Nothing but her wits and her survival instincts.
“Twi? Twilight, sugar, stay on the path,” Applejack called out, bits of apple spraying out of her mouth. She tucked the snack back into Daring Do’s saddlebags before preparing to holler once more, but by this point, Twilight had vanished into underbrush lining the dusty trail.
“Just let her go,” chuckled Daring Do.
Smiling and lowering her voice, Applejack spoke through gritted teeth. “Daring, she’s gonna slow us down.”
“A little, probably,” Daring replied matter-of-factly as she looked straight down the path. “But it’s important to her. She needs to feel like she’s involved, like she’s repaying her debt. It’ll drive her nuts otherwise.”
Applejack gave a sidelong glance with her wife; Daring upped the ante with a faint smirk.
“What were ya thinkin’?” Applejack asked, breaking the silence. “‘Bout a name, I mean.”
“Oh.” Daring Do blinked. “I hadn’t decided yet. We’ve got a while to make up our minds. And besides, well,” she said, turning her head away to try to hide her growing blush, “it’s something for both of us to decide, you know?”
“Not just one!” Applejack’s eyes turned upward, glittering as the noonday sun peeked its way through the foliage. “Gotta come up with two. One for if it’s a colt, one for if it’s a filly. Oh, and we’ll needta add another extension to the cabin, make a crib, playpen, diapers, bottles… What? What’s so funny?”
Daring came to a halt on the pathway, holding her gut and trying to control her laughter. “You, doofus. You know that the kiddo’s not due for, like, another nine or ten months, right? You only just found out today and you’re already gung-ho.”
She snickered. “I’m nearly offended, Daring. S’almost like you weren’t expectin’ your wife to respond like this. But you oughta know by this point.” Reaching back with a hoof, she tapped at her cutie mark. “A pony ain’t nothing without their family. Was true with me ‘n my kin. True when I met the sweetest mare I ever laid eyes on.” Daring scoffed and glared off at the treeline, yet she allowed Applejack to pull her close. “And our foal will know it, too.”
“And that’s why we need to stop Eva, I know, I know.” Daring Do rolled her eyes skyward. “Just… why’s it always got to be you, who leads the charge?”
Applejack frowned. “Well, who else could? And don’t say yerself.”
“I don’t know,” Daring said with a shrug. “Just… not you? For all the crap you give me about getting into trouble, you’re worse than I am.”
“I don’t go outta my way to find it!” Applejack held her forehooves wide. “Ain’t my fault that this Eva goon won’t leave us be. Foalnappin’, and pillagin’, and—”
“You’re not a superhero, okay?” Daring accentuated her yell with a jab to the chest. “Just…” The fire in her eyes went cold, and she crumbled from the inside out. “Just, can’t it be somepony else?”
Applejack bit lightly at the tip of her tongue as she looked down into Daring Do’s eyes. Pulling her closer, she kissed the top of the mare’s head and held her against her chest. “I’m sorry, Doe, but I can’t rest yet. Not ‘til the world’s safe for our family.”
“Yeah,” said Daring, as Applejack felt the heat of a sigh against her coat. “I know. Doesn’t mean that I like it, but… I get it.” Daring’s ears brushed the underside of Applejack as she turned her head. “Speaking of saving…”
“Twilight Sparkle!” Applejack shoved her wife to the side and galloped full-speed into the underbrush. “You stop that right now! We have canteens!”
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1000 AD
Rainbow Dash’s House
On that day, the creature’s destruction was absolute. Loaves of bread vanished in the twinkling of an eye, nary a crumb remaining. Daisies and sunflowers alike were cut down in the primes of their lives, sacrifices to an abomination who knew naught but hunger. The beast opened its gaping maw and drank heartily from the oceans, dyed a cranberry red. It crawled forth, consuming anything that dared cross its path, leaving naught but destruction and famine in its wake. The beast wiped the remnants of carnage from its mouth with one of its many arms, and upon that, it spoke in the ancient tongue.
“Mah, can’na pa’sha keeth?”
Aurora Glow furrowed her brow and waggled a hoof at her daughter. “Rainbow, no talking with your mouth full.”
With tremendous effort, Rainbow Dash swallowed her oats, pudding, and half-a-muffin without sending any of it down her windpipe. “Sorry, Mom. Was just askin’ if you could pass the quiche.”
Aurora stifled a chuckle as she nudged the dish in front of her and watched it vanish. “Well, I’m glad to see that you’re doing well. I assumed that when you left yesterday morning, that was going to be the last time I saw your keester for weeks.” Sitting down at the opposite end of the table, she smiled easily and watched her daughter eat. “But, I guess, time travel, huh?”
“Dunno,” said Rainbow with a shrug. “Not sure we can just go back in time a day or whatever. Only big jumps, like four hundred years, y’know?”
“Ah. Well, that makes today all the more special, then.” Aurora gave a firm tap of her hoof next to Rainbow’s napkin. “And how about your friends? I was surprised they didn’t join you today.”
“Yeah. They’re…” Rainbow grabbed the napkin and wiped herself up, buying herself time to think. Taking royal oversight of her own fair, reforging a legendary sword with a zebra, and rescuing prisoners from a human millions of years in the past. “Y’know. Doing their own stuff.”
“I can’t wait to hear the full story.” Aurora Glow helped herself to a slice of her zucchini bread. Rainbow Dash was generally not prone to sharing, and so, once as a filly, she had not shared with her mother. Exactly once. “So Twilight’s doing well?”
Memories flashed behind her eyes as she sipped at her cranberry juice. Memories of streaking across the sky as a blazing orb of fire. “Oh, yeah, Twilight’s doing great. She’s really getting into the whole adventuring thing. Real natural.”
“Aww, that sounds wonderful.” Her melodic laugh rang through the kitchen. “That sounds exciting. Exhilarating.” Aurora Glow’s eyelids fell to half-mast as she smirked at her daughter. “Romantic, even?”
A spray of juice left Rainbow’s lips, followed by a few sputters and a scream. “Mom!”
“Teasing! Just teasing.” Aurora giggled and waved her off with a hoof. “Sometimes you just make it too easy, sweetie.”
Rainbow Dash scowled and crossed her hooves tightly across her chest. She fixed the brunt of her glare at a nondescript point on the lower kitchen cabinets. On the plate in front of her, half a bouquet of carnations sat, uneaten.
Clicking her tongue, Aurora Glow pulled her seat cushion around and wrapped a foreleg over her daughter’s shoulders. “Oh, Rainbow, I’m sorry. I was just having a bit of fun, but… I know she’s been a close childhood friend of yours, and just a friend. I didn’t mean for you to feel this uncomfortable.”
Swishing her tail behind her on the wood floor, Rainbow turned her head to the living room. The family portrait hung in its prominent spot on the wall, same as it always had. “I…” Her ear twitched. She twisted a hoof against the floorboards. “I’m not interested in dating. It’s just a dumb waste of time. I’d rather be flying and going on adventures, cool stuff like that.” Her voice lost strength at the end, petering out into a small whinny.
Aurora Glow followed her gaze and smiled. “She felt the same way too, y’know. And I hardly had ‘housemare’ aspirations, growing up. But life can be funny that way. Our interests change and grow over time.” She placed her hoof atop Rainbow’s, bringing its twisting to a stop. “Neither of us wanted to make time for love, until we met each other. Then, we made time.”
Rainbow swallowed. “What if I don’t want to change?”
Giggling, Aurora brushed Rainbow’s forelock into place. “Sweetie, everypony changes. Every thing. But change brings opportunity. If you hide away and try to keep everything the same, you’ll miss out on so much that life has to offer.” She poked Rainbow Dash in the ribs, continuing, “If your mother and I hadn’t changed, we’d have missed out on you.”
A small chuckle escaped from Rainbow Dash’s fretful frown. “Yeah… I guess the world would be a lamer place without me.”
“Remember, Rainbow. ‘Don’t fear the unknown...’”
Rainbow Dash looked back at the portrait—at the mare whom she knew mostly from pictures. “‘Make it fear you instead.’ Heh.” The frown playing at her lips gradually faded as her mother pulled her into a warm embrace.
Aurora brushed her daughter’s mane back and planted a kiss on her forehead. “There. Feeling better?” When Rainbow shrugged, she continued. “Just don’t worry about it. I know you’re all about living in the present. Your ‘destiny’ will knock, sooner or later.”
A small frown appeared on her brow. “Destiny?” she echoed.
“Now!” Aurora clapped her hooves together. “It’s time for your chores. Ah, ah, ah! Hey!” she shouted over her daughter’s drawn-out groan. “Don’t even give me that ‘busy saving the world’ nonsense. You had enough time for two home-cooked meals, in as many days. The least you could do is help your poor, single mother in her time of need.” For good measure, Aurora threw in a couple of overly theatrical sniffles.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and grunted. “Fine.”
“First chore,” she said, pointing to a lonely looking dish on the floor, nestled next to one of the cabinets where it was out of everypony’s way.
Rainbow Dash stared at the dish for a few pondering seconds before looking back at her mother. “You didn’t feed Tank?”
Aurora Glow let out a pained sigh, rubbing between her squinted eyes with a hoof. “Rainbow, the purpose of getting you a pet was to teach you about responsibility. Since you did not feed your pet, he ran away.”
“Pffft!” Rainbow nickered, swatting away the accusation with a hoof. “Tank is super chill. He doesn’t run away. He’s probably out there, finding himself.”
“You didn’t feed him, so he ran away.”
“A turtle is a free spirit, Mom,” said Rainbow, forehooves spread wide. “He can’t be all cooped up, bound by society. He’s gotta spread his wings! Live dangerously!”
“You didn’t feed him, so he ran away,” she insisted. “Go look for him, poor bugger. And while you’re out there looking, your second chore: we’re out…” Pausing for dramatic effect, Aurora Glow narrowed her gaze at her daughter. “Of haybacon.”
Rainbow Dash gawked. “No. Come on. I know I haven’t been around a lot, but—”
“Rainbow? Sweetie?” Though Aurora narrowed her eyes, her voice was cloyingly sweet. “You left me thinking you had been executed. You’re on haybacon duty. For life. Get used to it.”
“That’s so unfair!” she whined. “Come on, I’ll do any of the other chores. Anything but that. Let me wash the windows, or clean the gutters, or—”
“Haybacon. Nothing short of that would be a fair punishment. Now, skadoodle.” A forceful smack on the rump and a stern look set Rainbow Dash moving. “And don’t come back empty hooved!”
Rainbow Dash plodded out her front door, muttering ill wishes all the way. As her daughter marched to her imminent doom, Aurora Glow grinned innocently and gave Rainbow a carefree wave goodbye.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
1000 AD
Palomedina Village—Zecora’s Shop
Zecora read.
Fluttershy waited.
The zebra had been poring over a dusty weathered journal for the better part of a half hour. To her left, on the workbench, the Dreamstone sat by itself. An average observer might think that the rock was just sitting there, neglected and unattended, but there was nothing average about a full thaumaturgical sensor array. Already, Fluttershy could feel the jewel ebb and flux with magical potential, flooding the basement workshop. As Zecora selected a passage from the text and whispered it, her muzzle a hair’s width away from the Dreamstone, the aura in the room felt nearly palpable.
Zecora, too, seemed pleased with the result. She nodded once to the stone. “It seems, at last, the Dreamstone is primed. We shouldn’t be too far behind.” Turning, she motioned with her muzzle to the equipment beside Fluttershy. “Now tell me, friend, how go things on your end?”
“Oh!” Fluttershy carefully balanced the tray on her back, between her wings, and carried it over to Zecora for inspection. Resting atop it were the hilt and blade of the Lyrabon, polished and sanded to a fine sheen. “Is this good enough? I tried to sand down the edges just like you showed me, but it was making so many sparks and I didn’t want to hurt the poor dears, so I tried to be extra gentle…”
Zecora smiled, placing a hoof on the robot’s withers. “While this blade was forged to slash one’s hide, this minty one is more often a pain in my side.” Giving a playful chuckle, she flicked the hilt with the tip of a hoof.
Fluttershy didn’t have the most expressive face in the world; she was welded that way. All the same, Zecora saw the way that Fluttershy’s stance shifted, just the smallest bit. “It will take some time, to infuse this rock,” she said lightly. “I get the sense that you’d like to talk.”
“Talk?” Fluttershy looked to Zecora, then turned away. “I… no. It’s not important. I don’t want to distract you from your work.”
“Nothing good will result from concealing,” she said, leaning her head around to get a better look at the robot’s face. “Please, Fluttershy, tell me what you are feeling.”
Fluttershy looked back at broken blade on the workbench, then stared out the window. “It’s just… I hate all this violence.” She motioned away with a hoof. “I understand why we have to fight. I accept that we’re doing some good. I want to protect those I care about. It’s just…” Though she didn’t need to breath, her chest rose and fell, followed by a small puff of steam from her exhaust pipe. “We’ve hurt others. Good ponies and bad ponies both. I hate that.”
Zecora shifted her eyes, looking down at the broken Lyrabon. “You’re afraid that this blade will cause more harm than good. You’ve been asked to repair it, but now, you wonder if you even should.”
She nodded stiffly. “I mean… you make weapons. All the swords upstairs, and the Lyrabon, and even the one that Rainbow Dash bought. Doesn’t that frighten you? To think of all those ponies out there, using those weapons?”
For a moment, Zecora had no reply. She returned to the workbench and wiped down the already-polished blade. When she finally spoke again, it was soft and methodical. “You are right to raise these points of concern. Even now, they cause my heart to burn.” She chuckled. “Call me an optimist, but in fate I trust. This blade is destined for one who is just.”
Again, Fluttershy shook her head, using more body than neck. “But you can’t be certain of that! What if somepony uses it for the wrong reasons, or they try to do good, but—”
“You are right, dear Fluttershy. I cannot ensure, that a pony is cautious, that their path is pure. But a weapon is more than a showing of might. These blades can stop evils; these swords set wrongs right.” Taking the hilt in her mouth, she raised the severed blade up, catching it in the lamplight of the basement. “Destruction is not a sword’s only means. It’s a symbol, a beacon, an embodiment of dreams.”
Fluttershy’s eye sensors flickered, then drew into focus. “Dreams?”
Gingerly, Zecora set down the hilt, then nodded. “When I forged this blade, I dreamed of peace. I dreamed of a future where love would not cease. A world without anymore need for my armory. No more pain or suffering, just ponies living in harmony. But my dreams needed an anchor, something to focus upon. Thus did they coalesce into these forms, of Lyra and Bon Bon.”
Fluttershy’s head jerked back as she struggled to process the rhyme. “Coalesce? Lyra and Bon Bon… they are your dreams?” When Zecora nodded and smiled in reply, Fluttershy wordlessly swept her sensors across the sword on the workbench, then over Zecora herself. “I… I don’t mean for this to sound rude or insulting, Ms. Zecora, but… you are really something else, aren’t you?”
“Ah, but my dear,” Zecora said with a wink, “are we all not more than we appear?” She reached a leg over Fluttershy’s back, as the robot looked downward in thought. “That is why I craft my weapons, without any shame. My dreams and the Lyrabon are one-in-the-same. Is this not similar to you, your friends, and your strife? Don’t you wish to bring your own dreams to life?”
“...life?” was Fluttershy’s wide-eye-sensored reply. Though she paused for just a second or two, it was an eternity for her processor. Much to think about, and all the time she needed to reflect upon it. At last, with a twinkle in her eye, she genuflected. “Thank you, Ms. Zecora. I think I finally understand.”
Zecora smiled. “Any time, friend of mine.”
“Time! Oh goodness, but we mustn’t just stand around chatting, as nice as it is.” With a nod, Fluttershy picked up the sword halfs once more. “We’ve got a job to do!”
“Right you are. Let us not linger on what has been. We’ve a sword to reforge.” Zecora picked up the Dreamstone, delicately pinched between forehooves. As she brought the red rock closer to the sword fragments, they glowed in unison, ebbing and flowing with a rhythmic pulsing. “Now, let us begin.”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
1000 AD
Diane’s Square Marketplace
Rainbow Dash girded her resolve, tight of chest, stiff of jaw, and tense of wings. When she had first embarked upon her quest, she knew that it would be fraught with dangers and peril. Unlike her fillyhood friend, though, knowledge did nothing to reassure her. All the bravado in the world could not mask the fact that she would rather be anyplace, and indeed, anytime besides here and now. For Lavos might be an unfathomable agent of death and destruction, but here, in her hometown’s fairgrounds, sat the true villain.
“Wow,” rang a saccharine, catty voice over the ambiance of the fairgrounds. “Will you look who it is.”
Sitting front and center, inside a violet-and-white-striped vendor tent, sat a small filly with matching mane. Resting her cheek against a propped-up hoof, she smirked at Rainbow Dash’s approach. Her eyes were narrow, cold and calculating. By her side sat a dark silver filly with glasses, who was already giggling with giddy anticipation.
Rainbow Dash sighed at the pair of spiteful fillies. “Okay, seriously? Can we not do this today, Diamond Tiara?”
“Not do this?” she gasped, sitting upright. “Silver Spoon, can you believe what Rainbow Dash is saying?”
Silver Spoon shook her head, wide-eyed and breathless. “I can’t. It’s almost like she doesn’t even want any haybacon.”
“I know, right?” Flashing a toothy sneer, Diamond Tiara went in for the kill. “This is Rain-blob we’re talking about here. How could she pass up eating her weight in haybacon?”
“Gee. Wow. More lame nicknames.” Rainbow Dash made an exaggerated motion of rolling her eyes, as she subconsciously smoothed out her flanks with her wings. “Those might actually hurt if I was still a little filly or whatever.”
“Trust me,” Diamond Tiara quipped, “there’s nothing little about you. Now, should I put you down for two tons, or three?”
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, her ears laying flat against her head. “Two pounds, thanks. I’ve got your bits ready, so just shut up and let me buy stuff.” She brushed her wing against her saddlebags, flipping them open.
“Mmm.” Idly scratching her chin, Diamond Tiara looked up and away in thought. “See, I don’t know about that.”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “If you try to raise the price on me…”
“Don’t be silly.” Silver Spoon dismissed the accusation, as next to her, Diamond Tiara adjusted the small namesake atop her mane. “Di and her dad pride themselves on having, like, the lowest haybacon prices in town—”
“More like the only prices in town,” Rainbow growled through her teeth.
“—so customer satisfaction is totally our number one goal,” Silver Spoon finished, paying the interjection no mind.
Diamond Tiara smiled at Silver Spoon, nodding eagerly. “So true. But it can be so difficult to find which ponies want it the most, you know?”
“Right? That’s just basic supply and demand.” Silver Spoon tapped her friend on the shoulder. “We should, like, test her. To make sure she really wants it.” The two turned their gazes to Rainbow Dash, smirking in anticipation.
“No,” Rainbow snorted as she reached toward the stand. “That’s dumb. Just give me the—”
“Great idea,” Diamond Tiara spoke over Rainbow Dash, blocking her hoof with her own. "What if we had her sing a little song?"
Rainbow whipped her head around. Already, a crowd of onlookers was starting to gather. Diamond Tiara's voice carried well over the crowd, drawing them forward by their curiosities. Some looked on in abject interest, drawn in by the spectacle of what promised to unfold before them. Others drew back, hiding behind tents or even leaving the square altogether. They knew quite well what was occurring, and they neither wished to bear witness, or worse, become involved themselves.
Silver Spoon spoke first, before Rainbow could think of a retort. “I think that your mom would be disappointed if you came all the way here, and went home empty-hooved.”
Diamond Tiara nodded with eyes closed. “It would be such a shame if you couldn’t complete one simple little errand for your dear sweet mother.” She held her hooves against her chest and delivered a well-rehearsed pout.
“Whatever,” Rainbow snapped. “If this is how you’re gonna play, we’ll just see what your dad has to say.”
“Ooo. A tattletale.” Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes upwards and shook her head. “How scary.”
“Like, Di’s dad dotes on her all the time.” Silver Spoon reached a leg in front of Diamond Tiara, as though to shield her. “Do you really think that he’ll take your word over hers? She’s his little princess, and totes cute, not to mention their best salespony.”
“That’s because she’s the only… Ugh!” Rainbow growled up at the sky. “Whatever! Just shut up and let’s get this over already.”
“Perfect.” Diamond Tiara motioned her onward with a flick of her hoof. “So, how about you sing, ‘This little piggy can’t get enough of Rich's Barnyard Bargains haybacon.’”
Silver Spoon ooo’d appropriately. “An endorsement. Very business savvy.”
With a sharp glare, Rainbow Dash spread her wings and lowered into an aggressive stance. “I am not saying that! Screw you.”
“Then I guess you don’t want food after all,” snapped Silver Spoon.
“Seriously, what’s the problem?” Reaching beneath her counter, Diamond Tiara bit down on a few pieces of haybacon—which may or may not have been somepony’s afternoon snack—and flung them at Rainbow Dash, piece by piece. “Rain-blob’s such a loyal little piggy. What’s the harm in just professing your love?”
“I mean, it’s just one little sentence,” said Silver Spoon.
“Hey!” Rainbow Dash tried to shield herself with her wings from the onslaught. Bits of haybacon still found their mark, trapping themselves in her mane and feathers. “Knock it off, you little brat! I’m warning you!”
Around her, most of the ponies had already made themselves scarce, but Rainbow Dash could hear those that remained. She could hear the laughs, the gasps, the murmurs about “that pony” and “haybacon”. She could already feel the burning in her cheeks and ears, and the cold sickly feeling spreading outward from her gut.
Silver Spoon doubled over in laughter, holding at her gut. “What are you even doing, Di?” she said between gasps of air. “You’re giving it to her for free!”
“True, she’ll probably just eat it anyway,” Diamond Tiara laughed back. The next few pieces of haybacon flew wide.
Gnashing her teeth and squinting her eyes shut, Rainbow Dash let out a growl. “Fine! Fine, just shut up. Your haybacon’s good and I’m fat, whatever, shut up!”
“Uh uh uh,” chided Silver Spoon. “You were supposed to say—”
Diamond Tiara waved her off. “Nah, it’s fine. I think we made her point.” Her grin widened as she took in the spectacle before her.
Rainbow stomped her way up to the stand. As she laid out the pouch of bits on the counter, the burning in her ears failed to die down. She glared daggers at Diamond Tiara. Gnashing her teeth, she murmurred, “Listen here, you little brat. Nopony, and I mean nopony, gets away with making fun of Rainbow Dash. You’re gonna regret this.”
Her smile didn’t so much as flinch. “I’m sure.”
Without another word, Rainbow Dash grabbed the haybacon and left. The crowd quickly parted ways, not wanting to be anywhere near the fallout. Even though she could still hear the two fillies laughing behind her, Rainbow managed to choke down a few calming breaths. It had been worse than she had imagined, but she was done. It was over.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
65,000,000 BC
Eden Forest Outpost
“Duck!”
The stallion threw himself to the ground, at best he could. His head snapped upward with a rush, as his reins tugged taut against the post. The two armored guards flanking him were not so lucky. Screams of agony escaped their helmets as they thrashed about, swatting at the magical flames that coated their metal armor. So distracted was he by the heat on his coat, that the stallion nearly failed to notice his bridle being removed, and a unicorn helping him to his hooves.
He tried to blink back his shell shock, and dug away a distant memory from a few hours ago. “You… you’re that mare. From Applejack’s party. You’re here.”
“Twilight Sparkle,” she said with a crisp nod. “C’mon, we’ve getting you out of here.”
“Go?” He shook his head clear. “Wait, my wife! We—”
“Yer the last one, Apple Bread!” From the wooden parapets above, Applejack leaped over the head of a bow-wielding soldier, an upward-bound arrow whizzing harmlessly behind her. A sharp buck to the small of the guard’s back crumpled her to the ground. “All clear!”
“Apple Bread!” A green mare came galloping down the stairs from the parapets, racing toward them.
“Green!” he called in reply. The two shared a quick embrace amid the shouts, the calls to arms, and the sharp report of Twilight’s plasma blaster.
A group of four humans raced in from the adjoining room, weapons held overhead. Sheathing her blaster, Twilight’s horn instead shone with a red-white iridescence. The guards stumbled to a halt, holding arms aloft to shield their eyes from the blinding light. Soon after, an intense heat washed over their front sides. Squinting their eyes open, they could make out the wavering dance of a wall of flames that had materialized in front of them, and behind that, the vague outline of the ponies fleeing toward the exit.
“Quick thinkin’, Twi!” Applejack chanced a quick glance behind her as they galloped. None of the humans were pursuing. “Gotta hoof it to ya: magic sure made this easier’n waterin’ the crops on a rainy day.” Facing forward again, she could make out the other liberated captives, huddled together at the appointed spot.
“All clear!” Daring Do glided in from overhead. She motioned them along westward, back toward their village and home. “Let’s get moving, ladies!”
Twilight cast one final look to the outpost. Dark smoke billowed out the top of the log-walled fortress. Barked, panicked orders could still be heard in the distance, as all abled guards ran about with water buckets. Aside from a few wide-shot arrows that sailed harmlessly overhead, the creatures seemed content to fall back and lick their wounds. Nodding once, letting out her breath, then nodding once more, she turned and chased after her fleeing friends.
Daring braced her wings out, slowing her course until Twilight had a chance to catch up. “You did good, kid. Gotta say, me and AJ were afraid you’d be cramping our style. Especially after that”—she wrinkled her nose—“canteen incident.”
She tucked her ears flat, scowling. “I told you, I just wanted to test out my water purification tablets.”
“Still though,” said Applejack, slowing herself along to a trot now that the danger had passed, “don’t be misunderstandin’, since we do appreciate the help and all, but… Well, ain’t your friends gonna be cross with this stunt you pulled?”
“Maybe.” Twilight Sparkle looked ahead at nothing, then snorted and smirked. “Well, Dash might be impressed, more than anything. But I think they’ll understand, in time.”
“But Twi, we told ya time ‘n’ again.” Applejack shook her head slowly, side to side. “You weren’t under no obligation to help us. This here was an Apple matter, at the core of it.”
“I understand,” she said, nodding slowly. “But that’s not why I’m here. Not really. It’s… This is going to sound so selfish, but this is something I had to do for me. I’d feel awful if I left without making things right.” Twilight hung her head and looked away, unable to meet the eyes of the others.
“What?” asked Daring Do with a shrug. “Like, a guilty conscience?”
Twilight shrugged back. “Not exactly. It’s just, this journey that I’m on, with Rainbow Dash and the others, is really important. Helping you to rescue your friends is also really important.” Looking askance to Applejack, she added, “I don’t want to have to decide that one of those is more important than the other. What’s the good in saving ponies, if we can’t save everypony?”
Applejack gave her a wincing smile and placed a hoof on her back. “Look, Twi, I getcha. Really, I do. But trust me when I tell ya, ya can’t always act like a superhero.”
Daring Do nearly dropped like a stone as she gaped down at Applejack. Only an instinctual flap of her wings saved her from eating a faceful of grass. “Excuse me? Am I hearing this right?”
“Alright, I get it,” said Applejack, rolling her eyes at the pegasus. “I was just sayin’ otherwise not more’n an hour ago, and—”
Gliding down, Daring Do wrapped one hoof around AJ’s head, roughly pulling it against her own chest, while she raised her other hoof dramatically to her forehead. “Oh, what cruel fates! The mother of my foal, kicked in the head during battle and suffering from amnesia! Why, she doesn’t even know who she is, anymore!”
“A ha ha ha,” Applejack said testily, untangling herself from the pegasus. “I get it, Doe. I’m a hypocrite. T’ain’t my fault it’s easier said than done.” As Daring stuck her tongue out, Applejack continued. “My point was, it’s fine and mighty to have goals, and to push yerself hard as ya can. But at some point, a pony reaches their limits.” Applejack lowered her head, looking Twilight in the eye. “The last thing you’d want is to be so caught up in saving everypony that you stretch yourself too thin, and can’t save nopony.”
“Well… in that case, it’s simple!” Twilight snapped, adding a resolute nod at the end. “I just won’t let anypony down.”
“Ugh.” Daring Do rolled her eyes. “Both you and Rainbow are just as stubborn as AJ here.” With a shake of her head, she continued, “The future is hosed, isn’t it?”
Applejack, meanwhile, smirked and gave Twilight an appraising look. “Well like I said, I admire a spot of gumption when I see it. Though, you’ll hafta be forgivin’ me if ya…” She paused in thought a moment, her gait lagging behind a half-step, before she finally shrugged. “If ya don’t quite strike me as the gumption sort.”
“Yes, yes.” Smirking, she rolled her eyes upward. “Egghead. I get it.”
Applejack frowned and blinked twice. “Ya raise chickens? But yer a unicorn.”
It took Twilight Sparkle a few seconds to process that line of thought. Once she had done so, she shook her head. “What I mean is, just because I’m not an athlete doesn’t mean I can’t keep up with you. If I want to do two things,” she said with a firm nod, her eyes burning brightly, “then I’ll just have to devote myself twice as hard. I can carry my own weight.”
“Heh.” Applejack picked up the pace, rejoining the liberated ponies. “I don’t doubtcha, Twi. Not for a second.”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
1000 AD
Sugardia Castle
“Enter.”
The grand wooden doors of King Sugardia’s chambers swung open with a slow, heavy creak as Pinkie Pie pushed her way inside. Like her own chambers, they were ornate and stately but with a modicurm of restraint. Lush red carpets covered the ancient stone floors, upon which stood proud relic furniture, hoofed down across the generations. Gold candlesticks were already alight in preparation for tonight’s sunset, casting the room in a mix of orange and yellow hues.
King Sugardia the 33rd sat at his desk, resting his forehead against a hoof while he skimmed through paperwork. A stately eagle quill hung loosely from his teeth in between signatures, and a dark cup of coffee sat on the desk beside him, slowly bleeding its heat into the air. The monarch rubbed at his temple and returned his quill to its inkwell before finally looking up. He stared vacantly at his daughter for a moment before remembering himself. “I did not expect you to return, so soon.”
Pinkie Pie quietly closed the door behind her, then turned forward, her face and ears drooping downward. “Hello, Father,” she said. “Have you been sleeping?”
“Soon. The kingdom’s duties come first.” He rose, sweeping his cape behind him as he approached Pinkie. As she nodded in wordless reply, he continued with a dash of hesitation. “You will forgive an old stallion for being blunt. It truly is good to see your return. However…” He contemplated a nearby tapestry, as though it had not hung there his entire life. “Harsh words were exchanged when you departed. I do not expect to push through things in a single evening.”
Pinkie Pie paused in thought, then nodded. “Mmm, that makes sense. But, umm…” She kicked at the floor, murmuring, “Even so, I still do want to… patch things up. You know?”
He studied her for a moment, just an inquisitive set of eyes reading her in silence, before nodding once. “Good. This pleases me.” As he walked around the front of his desk, he spoke to the room. “You will forgive me for remaining blunt. I expected you to return in stride with the townsmare.”
“Uh.” Pinkie winced, rubbing the back of her neck. “Yeah. I kinda sorta thought that might not be the bestest of ideas. Seeing how she was accused of fillynapping me, then getting proved not guilty, then actually fillynapping me.”
“Ah… yes.” Sitting down upon his seat cushion, King Sugardia shuffled a few documents around his desk. “I understand your trepidation. However, the rainbow-striped one was proven not guilty in court. As for the incident in the prisons… Well, she needs to face the consequences of her actions.” He shook his head. “But there is a time and a place for such things.”
Pinkie tilted her head. “Huh? But what happened to all that talk about laws and sentences?” She tried to crack a smile, somewhat successfully. “Are you trying to say that you like my friends now?”
“I am saying,” King Sugardia replied with a small frown, “that you are my daughter. I care for your well-being. I cannot exempt you or the townsmare from the rules. However. Pursuing this justice with ruthless intent would benefit nopony.” He paused, returning to his paperwork, pushing the documents from pile to pile. “Tell me. Why did you return?”
A wince of her eye registered through Pinkie’s smile. “Do I need a reason?” she asked quietly.
The king regarded her a moment. “I suppose not,” he said. “But you do have one, do you not?”
Pinkie Pie chuckled, and her hoof returned to the back of her neck again. “You got me. Yeah. I, um… well…” Her voice trailed off as she stared out the window at the amber sunset. “Well, I’ve been gone a while, y’know?”
“Three days.”
“Yeah! So, y’know. I’ve been doing that whole ‘finding yourself’ thing, y’know?” Pinkie motioned along, painting the scene with her hooves. “I went on big adventures! I hung out with a bunch of ponies who were smart and strong and brave. I even got to talk with a whatchits, a foreign dignitary!” Nodding rapidly, she continued. “I saw all sorts of fun and crazy sights, and found out what it is that ponies really believe in. And I, well… I think I get it.”
“You get ‘it’?”
“Yeah!” she said with a scrunched-up shrug that didn’t quite match her bubbly voice. “I mean, it’s about balance, yeah? Work hard and play hard, right? Like, I havta put in a lot of hard work to do the boring duties and responsibilities, but then I can make up for it with a big ol’ celebration to perk myself up and get all jazzercized, and then it’s back to the grind.” She smiled at her father. “Right?”
King Sugardia sat in reflection. Lifting his coffee cup, he took a small draw of the room-temperature drink before speaking. “You still have much to learn, Pinkamena. Yet too, have you grown in just a few days’ time.” He nodded once with deliberate movement. “I am pleased.”
“Oh. Awesome!” Pinkie’s grin widened. “Well, I mean, speaking of which, you’ve clearly been working too hard, yourself.” She twisted herself about, nosing open her saddlebags. After a bit of shuffling and nudging, she emerged upright, a tiny platter balanced on the tip of her nose. Atop the plate sat an overstuffed caramel-drizzled apple dumpling. “Ta da!”
The king sat upright in his seat, stiffening his jaw and staring at the dessert with hardened eyes. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked with a carefully level tone.
“Well, see, we had this party that was millions of years ago. Oh! But don’t worry, this dumpling was made yesterday. Anyway, I met a lot of ponies there and we all had a lot of fun, and the food there was super scrumptious, so I had grabbed myself a snack for later, but I figured that you could use a little pick-me-up to get yourself through the rest of the evening, just to take a quick break from all that dumb boring paperwork, and you’re not smiling, why aren’t you smiling?”
His gaze narrowed on the dessert in front of him. The king drew in a slow, deep lungful of air, then let his eyes fall closed as he held it in. With a quiet exhale, he rose, turned around, and stood stark still, facing his bed. “Good evening, Pinkamena.”
Pinkie Pie took two steps back. She worked her jaw over words that would not form, while her eyes quickly scanned the room for any form of hint. “I… Did I say something wrong? I thought you’d want—”
“Pinkamena,” he interrupted, soft and deafening. “I am tired.”
She held her jaw firmly clamped together, feeling her teeth grind and press against one another. “Yes, Father,” she murmured. After a moment’s thought, she stepped up to the desk and gently placed the dish beside his coffee cup. With a polite bow, she turned and exited the chambers.
Outside, Soarin and Scratch stood on the opposite side of the hallway, engaged in the sort of idle chatter that is exchanged when much more exciting things are underway. They both looked to the door in unison as it swung open, and once Pinkie softly latched it shut behind her, they were upon her at once.
“How was His Grace? Was he in good spirits?” Captain Soarin asked first.
“Nevermind that,” said Chancellor Scratch, her voice clipped. “Did you guys, y’know, talk? Did the whole heart-to-heart and all that?”
“It…” Pinkie’s face twisted up as though she were eating a lemon. She turned and made her way back toward the stairwell.
Chancellor Scratch blinked. “Wha… Didn’t you give him that dumpling?”
“He, uhh…” Pinkie swallowed. “He didn’t exactly… like it.”
“What?” Scratch stopped in her tracks, letting Pinkie gain step after step of distance. “Hated it? No, that… What the hell? He’s been on a sugar bend all day. No, seriously, what the hell?”
Pinkie Pie shrugged. “It wasn’t all bad. He said that he thought I had grown. That’s something, you know?”
Blinking with a start, Scratch galloped down the staircase until she caught up with Pinkie’s descent. “Pinkamena! Wait.” She did not. “You’re leaving again.”
Pinkie turned at this, offering an apologetic smile. She wrapped her hooves around the other mare. “Sorry, Scratchy. And sorry, Soarin. I don’t mean to cause you two so much trouble. I just…” Releasing her from the hug, Pinkie turned toward one of the west-facing windows on the staircase. A stream of fading sunset washed over her face, forcing her to squint in order to make out the skyline. “I got smarter. My father said so, and… I can figure this out. I can figure out how to make this all better. I just need to…”
A strained sigh escaped Scratch’s chest. “I get it. If you weren’t the Princess, it’d be easy to just tell you to go find yourself. But…” She shook her head.
“Princess.” Soarin stepped forward, offering a salute. “Please, whatever you do, stay safe. No matter what he says or how he acts, His Highness cares deeply for you.”
“I know.” Pinkie Pie took a breath, straightened out her smile, and steeled her resolve. “You guys don’t need to worry about me. My friends will keep me safe. And I’ll be back again before you know it. That’s a Pinkie Promise.” Sharing one more hug with each of them, she trotted down the stairs, leaving them behind on the stairwell.
“You’d better stay safe,” Chancellor Scratch called out after her. Once she disappeared around the bend, she let out a sigh, then stared out the nearby window.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
1000 AD
Diane’s Square
Pinkie Pie walked up behind Rainbow. “Hey, Dashie,” she said, trying to inject some cheer into her tone. “There you are. Sorry, must’ve lost track of the time.” She looked around, confirming her suspicions; the fairgrounds were already thinning out as the sun kissed the horizon. “Didja have a fun time, at least?”
Rainbow Dash did not reply.
“Everything okay, Dashie?”
Rainbow Dash did not reply.
Pinkie flinched back, feeling her tail droop off her hindquarters. “You’re… not upset that I didn’t hang out with you today, are you?” When she didn’t receive any confirmation, she added, “I wasn’t trying to ditch you, honest. Please don’t be mad. I just… I just had some errands to run today, and, well…”
Rainbow Dash did not reply.
“Dashie, please!” She reached out to grab Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “Please, just—”
Rainbow Dash fell over.
Pinkie startled, giving a quick look left and right. Hesitantly, she leaned forward, squinting her eyes at the form in front of her. With a bit of pause, she delicately poked it with a hoof. It gave way with a soft, minky plushness.
Howling laughter rolled from the tree branch above her. “Oh my Sun, ahaha! You fell for it. Oh man, that is rich!” Rainbow Dash leaned her head over the edge of the branch, a wide gaping grin on her face and a tear welling in her eye. “Like, I knew that thing looked great, but, just… wow!” She gave way to laughter once more, nearly losing her balance in the process.
Pinkie Pie studied the prone form on the ground, then the pegasus in the treetop, then the ground form once more. Slowly, her face metamorphosized, from confusion to realization to jaw-dropped amazement. “Whoa. Whoa! Are you kidding me? Is this really…” She picked it up and held it nose-to-nose with her. “It is! You seriously got a life-sized plushie… of yourself?!” Her eyes shimmered as her grin easily rivaled Rainbow’s in size. “Where? Where?!”
“Far tent, by the woods,” Rainbow replied, waving her hoof in the vague direction. “The guy was more than a little weird. Smelled like cheese and sadness. But, I just had to beat some of his dumb carnival games and he gave me this bad girl!”
“No. Way.” Pinkie Pie did a quick scan-over, looking at the stitching with a closer eye. “So what, he made a plushie of you? Like, while you waited?”
“Uh… No,” said Rainbow, scratching the back of her head. “He… sorta had it already made. Ones of me, and Twilight, and some of the other ponies in town.”
Pinkie gave the life-sized doll an unreadable look. “That sounds incredibly sketchy,” she observed.
“Yeaaah,” drawled Rainbow. “More than a little creepy, if you ask me.”
They considered Plushie Dash in silence.
“Still!” chirped Pinkie Pie. “Free plushie!”
“Heck yeah!” Rainbow Dash laughed. “And it’s a plushie of the most awesome pony in all of Sugardia! What’s not to like?”
The two shared a healthy laugh for a moment, before Pinkie managed to get her breathing under control. “So, uh… today was good, then? You weren’t too lonely or anything?”
“Yeah! It was… well…” Rainbow winced, slowly deflating as she thought back. “Well, I mean, it was mostly awesome. But, I guess some parts were less awesome than others.”
“Yeah.” Pinkie Pie kicked at the pavement, looking down and away. “I know what you mean. A lot. But hey!” For the first time that day, she truly smiled with ease in her heart. “It’s all behind us. We made it. And now, we’re getting back together, just like we used to be!”
“Yeah. Hey, yeah!” Grinning, Rainbow Dash threw her leg around Pinkie, pulling her into a friendly hug. “It’s stupid to just sit around, moping and obsessing. It’s what’s in the future that counts, right? The future we make together.”
“Twilight’s in the past,” Pinkie pointed out.
“You know what I meant,” Rainbow Dash said, swatting Pinkie’s ear with her hoof. “She’s coming with us, obviously. It would be a lame future without her and all the others.” Pumping her hoof, she smirked at Pinkie Pie. “We’re gonna kick fourteen types of flank together.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Pinkie gasped, her eyes growing the size of saucers. “Back up. That plushie guy—did he have one of me, too?”
Frowning and tapping her chin, Rainbow Dash thought back to earlier in the afternoon. “Oh! Yeah, y’know? I think he did! Aw crap,” she growled. “He probably already packed up for today. Sorry, Pinkie…”
“No worries.” Pinkie Pie grinned and poked her in the chest. “I’ll just take an IOU. Next time we’re in town, we’ll go and get a friend for Plushie Dash.”
“Heh.” Rainbow Dash smiled back. “Sure thing, Pinkie. It’s a promise.”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
65,000,000 BC
Apple Village Commons
After one last visit to Rainbow Dash’s house to drop off Plushie Dash, a couple of leaps across the intricate fabric of time, and a bit of verbal berating from the Great and Powerful Goddess of War, Rainbow and Pinkie were back again amongst the Apple Family. Though the village had been attacked by Queen Eva’s vanguard only this morning, it already showed signs of rejuvenation. All around the square, ponies were carrying replacement boards to other ponies who fixed broken walls, while yet more wheeled around carts laden with food and drink for the hungry workers. The whole town buzzed like a high-tech machine, but at the core of it, it was the strong sense of community and family that drew them all together.
Just south of the center of town, Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed, and beside her, a new wall rotated up from the ground, snapping into place on the damaged home. She waved above her, and a set of stallions on the rooftop set at once to hammering the framework into place. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she turned toward Rainbow Dash and grinned. “Hey! There you girls are. And here I thought you were going to abandon me.”
Pinkie Pie stuck out her tongue. “Oh, we thought about it.”
“You made it pretty easy for us,” Rainbow said, batting Twilight on the horn. “Don’t forget that you’re the one who didn’t jump after us. Buuut, I suppose we were obligated to come back. Out of pity.”
“Uh huh.” Twilight let her eyelids fall to half mast. “Admit it. You’d be lost without me to guide you, what with my superior planning and intellect.”
“Pfft.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I don’t have to admit anything. What?” she asked, furrowing her brow when Twilight giggled at her. “I said I don’t have to admit it. Why are you—”
“Well, glad to see y’all are back in good spirits.” Applejack fanned herself with her hat as she approached the trio of friends. “Yer looking a mite more livelier than you were this morning. Especially this one,” she said, nodding in Twilight’s direction.
“Yup yup!” Pinkie Pie smiled warmly at Applejack. “We just all had things we needed to take care of first, before we could really commit ourselves.”
“Like getting haybacon,” Rainbow grumbled.
Twilight Sparkle’s whole form cringed. “Oh dear. Your mom must still be really sore about you running away.” When Rainbow grunted, she continued, “‘That one filly’ didn’t make a scene, did she?”
“She’s dished out worse.” Rainbow huffed and looked off toward the forest.
“Ouch.” Twilight frowned, putting a sympathetic hoof on Rainbow’s withers.
Applejack looked between the two of them, brow creasing as she tried to follow along. “Well… anyways,” she said, turning back to Pinkie Pie, “I’m glad ta hear that y’all found what you were lookin’ for.”
Fittingly, Twilight looked back and forth across the commons. “Where’s Fluttershy? Wasn’t she with you?”
“She’s back at Zecora’s,” said Rainbow, jerking her head toward the Magic Mountains and their Gate. “They should be finishing up soon. Ready to come with, for real this time?”
“For real this time,” Twilight laughed in reply. She nodded to Applejack with a knowing smile. “We had a busy day here, but… I’m not about to forget the promises that got me here in the first place.”
Applejack winked in reply.
“And what about you, AJ?” Dash asked. “Does the cowpony wanna come with us and see the mysterious future?”
“Ooo, yeah!” Pinkie chimed in, while Applejack rolled her eyes at Rainbow. “You could join us on our big adventure. The more the merrier!”
“Thank ya kindly. Fer all the help, Twi, and for the offer, RD.” Applejack turned and looked to the south. Above the schoolhouse, Daring Do hoisted up a basket of shingles for the stallions repairing its roof. “But there’s still things I gotta take care of, here with the family. ‘Fraid I can’t take ya up on that.”
“I understand, Applejack,” Twilight said, giving the mare a friendly hug. “We’ve all got to give it our best.”
She laughed, patting Twilight’s back. “Yup, that’s the long ‘n’ short of it. I’ve got mine, and you’ve got yours. But I’ll wanna hear all ‘bout yer adventure, next time y’all visit.”
“And we can’t wait to tell you all about it!” Pinkie Pie chirped back, hopping up and down.
With a nod and a wave over her shoulder, Rainbow Dash led the others off toward the mountains. “Take it easy, AJ!”
“Goodbye!” Applejack waved her hat above her head. Around her, a few of the other Apples waved farewell in turn. “Thanks again fer everything! Stay safe, y’all!”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
1000 AD
Palomedina Village—Zecora’s Shop
“Twilight!” Fluttershy raced toward them as soon as the door opened, an avalanche of bright yellow steel.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight hugged her tightly, half out of friendship, half as an attempt to not be bowled over. It was successful enough that she remained on her hooves, if a bit winded. “I heard you were busy.”
“Me? Oh, no, that was nothing.” She pulled back, looking Twilight eye to eye. “What about you? Did you really help Applejack save all those poor captured ponies?”
Rainbow Dash approached the kitchen table while Twilight and Fluttershy reunited. Seated at the table, Zecora inhaled deeply over her cup of herbal tea before taking a soft sip. “Gee, somezebra’s slacking off,” Rainbow said with a chuckle. “Shouldn’t you be, I dunno, smelting or hammering or whatever?”
Zecora cracked open an eye to look at Rainbow, and she grinned. “While you stand there to laugh and bleat, know that our work is long since complete.” She took a drawn-out sip from her tea.
“You did it? Awesome!” Rainbow Dash cheered.
“Never doubted you two for a second,” Pinkie said with a wink.
“It’s… really complete. Wow.” Twilight stared at the far wall, lined with Zecora’s lesser works. Her eyes were wide, somewhat glazed, as she spoke. “I mean, I know it was all building up to this, but… we actually did it. This is really happening. We have the sword, and we’re going to stop Nightmare Moon, and… It’s a bit hard to believe this is all real.” She looked back at Fluttershy, swishing her tail. “You know?”
Her head tilted forward, Fluttershy looked up at Twilight Sparkle between her metallic bangs. “...would you like to see it?”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh, absolutely!”
“Heck yeah!” Rainbow said, crossing her hooves in front of her. “Let’s see this bad girl in action.”
As Fluttershy walked off into the back, Zecora set down her teacup. “Such a quick repair was no easy feat, but you ponies are in for quite a treat. Though once this blade was ravaged and torn, witness my hopes and dreams, reborn!” Her chest swelling, she swept her hoof in Fluttershy’s direction.
Fluttershy returned with a dark green scabbard balanced upon her outstretched wingtips. The scabbard itself was unadorned and unremarkable, save for a familiar hilt poking out the top of it. Reaching Zecora, Fluttershy sat back on her haunches and moved the sword around, cradling it with her forelegs. Zecora bit down on the grip and gently pulled, freeing the blade from its sheath. As sunlight poured in from the west windows, it reflected off the drawn blade, filling the room with a silvery glow.
Rainbow Dash widened her eyes, feeling the air being sucked out of the room. She managed to utter a single word. “Whoa…”
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Holy shit this actually updated
Well there goes my plans.
Oh sh
t. I saw this on FanFiction.Net, but I didn't know that not only it was here, but it was still alive. 
Holy shit, I was not expecting this to show up. I had almost forgotten about this story. Nonetheless, this is a more than acceptable birthday gift.
5105434
I can unsubmit for now and resubmit later, if that's more convenient. 
Sorry, that was thoughtless of me.
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>ff.net
Ugh. I still need to update that version too. It's like 5 chapters behind at this point...
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Aww, of course I wouldn't have forgotten.
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I used to like it until I found out that this site has a better feedback. I almost forgot to update 2 chapters there before.
Shut up and take my money!
5105508
I'll {Insert witty Chrono Trigger move here or something} you if you try it.
I'll slice a mountain in half or something.
Oh wait, I got it. When I'm done with you, you'll need the Chrono Trigger to... wait. No, I have no idea how I could make that not sound stupid.
You win this time.
Again, I am upset at you, sir. I thought I was your pre-reader. At the very least, have the decency to send me a note of termination so I know to look for a new job! Inconsid- *descends into grumbling*
Aaaaaaand THERE she is! Took me a minute to figure out why Twilight Stubborn Sparkle changed her mind so quickly. Should have known she'd find a different way to outsmart her best friend.
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Boogie.
EDIT: No, wait. Slurp Kiss.
First thing I thought of when I saw this had updated, and was FEATURED!
5105603
On an unrelated note, I made that remark about the Chrono Trigger before I was done with the chapter. So I found it particularly interesting when I got to this :
*CHAPTERS IN THE FUTURE ... BUT NOT MANY*
Pinkie : "Remember 20 chapters ago when we talked about that plushie? Yeah we can use that!"
Wow. I did not expect this to ever actually update again.
And it still has the magic that made me love this crossover in the first place.
Now that I actually got to read this (had to leave when I left my previous comment)... I really love the details you add to, well, add to the original story. Like, I know the gist of what's going to happen, but the little extra scenes (like pretty much all of this episode) are pretty nice.
Said it before, I'll say it again, love is story.
It's alive!!!...ALLLLIVVEEEE!!! But yes wow didn't expect to see this updated like everyone else, do I need to get a time traveling gate thingy too to jump into the future every so often to see new updates?
Cause if so I'm gonna start dividing by Zero soon.
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This thing is littered with brick jokes and (pun not intended) future references. I'm still waiting to finally reference one earlier scene in particular... But ya, this chapter especially got loaded, since we're prooobably not returning to 1000 AD anytime soon.
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Aww, you guys.
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Were you aware? Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings over the course of 12 years, off and on.
I'm not laughably lazy. I'm Tolkienesque.
What an awesome return this was for this story.
And wow. Party splitting mechanics, too? That's awesome! Dang, now I wish I could play this instead of the original game. It's just too epic!
And Tank has run away? Wow. And that bit with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon...
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In the earlier version of my last post, I went on for a while about how we won't see 1000 AD until the whole plushie thing becomes relevant, making this the best point to introduce the plushie.
I cut it because reasons.
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No.
(Sees in E-Mail that My Little Chrono Triggers are Magic has updated)
.....
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
I love it, love it, love it! This chapter came at a perfect time when I was in a bit of a slump looking for decent reads; and boy, what a chapter it was! I'm really impressed by the character development you're giving everyone in this story, and how you manage to take CT's plot and explore it in so many new ways. Just when I started to think that we were heading back on the original story track when they left 65,000,000 BC at the beginning, you threw a curveball and had Twilight stay behind, and then split the rest of the party up too... Just. Wow. You're a fantastic storyteller.
And now we've reached the midgame. I can't wait to see what happens when they get Rarity and assault Nightmare Moon's stronghold! Keep it up!
I wonder if we'll get to see Aylajack join the party proper any time soon. I forget at what point that happened in the game, though.
Loved this chapter, by the way. I don't normally like splitting the party in a game, but you prove it definitely has narrative purposes.
IT UPDATED!
A very enjoyable chapter. Took its fair share of different directions but still managed to reference a lot of side-quests and events that can be done at various points of the game, so more
's
LOVED Plushie Dash, but now I feel bad for her... her destiny is not to be among plushie friends but at the receiving end of a giant space flea's wave-motion beam of doom
Am I right that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were a reference to the Mayor of Porre?
It's obvious Celestia will be in the role of Schala, so I wonder who will be Zeal... currently my (metaphorical) money's on Sombra, or if you're going Diary of Two Sisters route, his predecessor Queen Amore. Guess I'll just haveta wait and see
SO looking forward to the fight with Nightmare Moon.
Why would Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon still think of Rainbow Dash as fat? Why couldn't Rainbow have explained that she must have lost a lot of weight with all the killing she's been doing.
Lots of bouncing around this time around, but it covered a lot of ground (and quantum physics).
Nice little ploy by Twilight. Devious little filly. Trixie better start preparing... for war.
Plushie Dash. I want one. Why don't I have one?
Very interesting encounter with Pinkie and her dad. Lots of bonding with such little emotion exchanged.
Also liked Zecora's reasoning for crafting the LyraBon in the first place. Now it's Frog's turn to make her dreams come true.
Oh boy! It's an assault on the castle next time!
Hm... Note to self, update Pony Fantasy IV ASAP. I can't be upstaged by Pav.
The inclusion of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as a combined analog for the Mayor of Porre is pretty ingenius. I was wondering how you were going to introduce that particular quest line.
Wonder what Trixie's reaction to Frogity is going to be. It'd be hilarious if she shared Twilight's distaste for all things scaly and slimy.
All in all, great chapter, and I hope you decide to update this on a more regular basis.
^Yes, I'm being a hypocrite.
In the game, Magus/Janus is the one that turned Frog/Glenn into a frog.
Why didn't he change Frog back to a human after joining the party?
If Nightmare Moon/Luna joins the party, will she turn Frogity back?
Huh. Looks like the Life tech works after all!
*GASP!*
Just a week or so ago I was wondering if you were still writing!
You've been time traveling to save the future, haven't you? HAVEN'T YOU?!
And I'm sure that the title "To Reforge a Legend" has nothing to do with restarting this fanfic.
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No. It is the opposite of obvious. Stop pretending it's obvious.
Yup yup. As such, it felt a bit more... justifiable, to crack their meanness up to 11, for this intro scene. On that topic...
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Well, Death Of The Author and all, so my input only matters as much as it matters, but my thought was that RD isn't fat, just naturally self-conscious. Maybe a bit more sensitive than others, given her high metabolism. DT simply found by trial and error that this was a sensitive point for her, and sadistically exploits it.
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...I actually had a bit of trouble keeping from getting meta by the end of the chapter. I semi-succeeded.
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You guyyyyyyys...
This updating so close on the heels of another solo-char Lavos stomp made my day.
Also calling it now, Diamond Tiara and Family are descendents of the Pommel greedy stallion.
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Pav time traveling without pinpoint exit times would explain the excellence of quality AND the large amount of time between updates.
"“Aww, that sounds wonderful.” Her melodic laugh rang through the kitchen. “That sounds exciting. Exhilarating.” Aurora Glow’s eyelids fell to half-mast as she smirked at her daughter. “Romantic, even?”"
Oh Aurora I hope you picked the wrong love interest...go princess Pinkie Pie...wait I forget does she even know Pinkie was with Dashie on this quest?
Since no one else has yet, let me be the first to say that I liked Zecora's explanation of what the Lyrabon means, and her faith that it will not be used for evil. It's a very beautiful sentiment. Is this a deliberate response to some philosophical questions from later on?
Because Zecora would probably be as disappointed as everyone else was with "the blood-stained sword of evil" in the sequel. Hopefully Lyra and Bon Bon would at least have a more mature reaction than "Ah horsefeathers. Nobody important saw that, right?"
This update made my day.
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They did indeed meet in Ch 18, and beyond that, Aurora recognized her as the princess. Who knew that running around naked and wearing your mane slightly different wouldn't serve as an effective disguise?
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A bit all around. Fluttershy got some interesting tidbits here, but yes, primarily, we got to see what Zecora's whole deal was, and that'll feed into future chapters surrounding the Lyrabon. I guess I'll just say "wait and see".
Chrono Cross, oof... It's way too late in the evening to tackle that in full. But suffice it to say, the short version is that Cross flips Trigger on its head. Let's just say that while I picked Mr. Magnet for the role of Balthasar, Discord could've done swimingly there, if I'd picked him instead. But yes, while I'm mostly focusing on the Trigger side of the equation, I can definitely see some of these elements cropping up in Cross. Even though I don't intend to write that sequel, I still try to respect some of those "but if I wrote the sequel, X would impact Y" moments.
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Let me put it this way. I'm white. My brother is white. My brother tore his meniscus at a high school dance while performing, quoth the official hospital diagnosis, an "extreme dance move". He was on crutches for a few months.
Also, I'm a ginger, so the lack of a soul is no foreign prospect to me.
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...that was one convincing disguise!
Needless to say that scene had me laughing.
But definitely looking forward to the Zeal Kingdom!
DT better watch herself.
I know she's going to be the one they change in the quest for the sun stone, but if we're going to paradox this timeline anyway, she might as well get a little revenge first, right? Right?
...why did I just gain Dark Side points?
I actually expected Dash to trot up moments later with one or two more clones in tow.
...
*cough*
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This times two. I'm loving every minute with Dash's mom, and I was very interested in how the scene with Pinkie's father played out differently than the original. Well... semi-differently.
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I'm kinda rooting for TwiDash against the odds, myself.
Holy crap it lives!
Dammit, I've moved out of the house since the last chapter and left my copy of Chrono Trigger there. I can't read this until I retrieve it and play along!
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Honestly unless you went with a bunch of background ponies, or OCs, I couldn't see you doing Cross (thoguh Spike would make one hell of a draggy
). Unless you re-used the main cast ignoring the only 20 years different between Trigger and Cross..I dont know if it would turn out as well. Half the fun here is mixing the personalities (espeically Dash with a silent protagonist, whom I imagine is more like Gohan/Goku than Dash 
)
Lavos: "and you call ME a monster....Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get off this planet before I'm eaten as well...."
And thus, did Lavos retreat into the darkness of space, leaving the doomed planet behind while the getting was good.
Rainbow Dash: "Wait, you mean _I_ caused the apocalypse? What about all that firery rain when Lavos emerged from the underground?"
Well, it took him 999 years to get free, and that tends to cause something of a massive volcanic eruption. However, after the wildfires stopped, the continent Lavos broke from would've been fine. It didn't even burn all that much. However, YOU kept eating.
Rainbow: "I WOULD'VE DIED OF OLD AGE BY THAT TIME!"
YOU'RE A TIME TRAVELLER! FLUTTERSHY JUST THOUGHT TO TAKE YOU OUT FOR A NICE PICNIC IN THE YEAR 2229 A.D. AND THEN YOU _ATE_ THE BUCKING BIOSPHERE!"
Rainbow: "NOOOOOOO!!!!"
LittlePip: "And then we had to fight against the cruelty of the Wasteland, losing our innocence several times over."
Blackjack: "EVERYPONY I TRY TO HELP DIES! DOUBLE IF THEY ARE A FOAL! THE FOALS, RAINBOW DASH, THE FOALS!"
Rainbow: *shakes in a fetal position on the ground* "I just....I just want my tummy to stop making the rumblies..." *sobs quietly*
Diamond Tiara: "This little piggy can’t get enough of Rich's Barnyard Bargains haybacon!~"
Rainbow: *cries much more loudly*
I'm so happy to see this story back! It's been a while since I last played the game. Maybe I should go back and play it again...
I'm really glad to see this story continue after so long. If I may make a suggestion, feel free to ignore it if you've already written that far, but I think the Dazzlings from Rainbow Rocks would make a great Ozzie, Flea, and Slash. Either way, keep up the good work.
You know... I always kinda chuckle when an element of a story turns out to be canon. How funny is it that Applejack has turned out to be related to Pinkie, if only distantly? You are a sage, Pav.
5128650 We already have those.
Some nice sidequest filler, and I saw a few bricks get lobbed into the air. I look forward to Rarifrog kicking ass in the near future.
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Yeah I think most of us would prefer if you didn't do Cross. I get the feeling "BTW the Manes all got killed by random emo cat and his army of generic mooks a few years later" wouldn't go over well. Though it might be pretty epic if you just flew it completely off the rails. Ponies are good at doing that.
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Funny enough, that was actually part of the casting decision that seemed farfected to me. But, they're both earth ponies, so hey, it's plausible enough, right? And then I come out the other side, looking awesome.
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>canines
Oh for the love of... I thought I'd fixed that one already. *grumbles, adds more notes to the todo list*
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True story: in this fic, the Kingdom of Zeal is constructed entirely out of all the brick jokes currently hanging in the air. The kingdom currently suffers from a fair amount of crime, given that everypony has easy access to Chekhov's guns.
This... This is...
Ahem.
Even after all these years, advancements in computer/console gameing and the quality of games in general, Chrono Trigger, to this day, remains my number one undisputed favorite game of all time...
Dropping Ponies into the mix...?
Genius!
Did Twilight just drink her own piss?