The Night That Never Ended

by BronyCray

5. Lift Up Your Burdens

Nopony could remember a time when it had rained so hard, but Fluttershy barely paid it any heed. She walked out of the stable with the squirrel behind her, shutting the door gently. Picking her way through the rotted vegetation of the Everfree Forest, she arrived at a wet stump. Leaning down to the squirrel, she said, “Alright Mr. Squirrel, I just know I saw some nuts up here. It’s amazing that after so many months of no sun, some things can still survive.” Indeed, she and most of Ponyville had survived in the months following Nightmare Moon’s triumphant return, eating the mushrooms that sprang up on the husks of the rotted plants. They were the only thing that would grow with no sunlight.

The squirrel excitedly jumped up on the stump, slipping slightly. It had been so long since he had eaten any real food, and squirrels just weren’t meant to eat mushrooms. Fluttershy cleared her throat and the squirrel looked at her quizzically, puzzlement in his eyes. He was met with The Stare, and shrank backward in shock. While he was frozen, Fluttershy ducked her head down and pulled up a sodden rope, using the temporary paralysis to restrain the squirrel. As she reached down again for the knife, his eyes filled with terror and he began struggling again.

It had been ten months since anyone had seen the sun, and ponies weren’t one of the creatures fortunate enough to be able to live on mushrooms alone. As she brought the knife down, she tried not to think about the death of her friend. Mushrooms simply didn’t have all of the nutrients that ponies got from their crops, and so drastic measures had to be taken. If she had to sacrifice a few of her animal friends to save the whole town, she would just have to be strong enough.

The captain walked through the vaulted halls of the palace, her hoofs clicking quickly on the tiled floor. Her tail swished back and forth in agitation and her eyes narrowed at every royal unicorn guard she passed. Arrogant, worthless foals, the lot of them! She stormed past two more of them through a highly decorated door, hoping that they would try to stop her. Just give me a reason, she fumed, and I will buck you both out a window so fast you’ll never know you left the ground. They could not have seen the captain’s eyes behind her goggles, but her aggressive approach made both guards hesitate, then salute smartly as she passed. The door slammed behind her, jolting them further.

Inside, the captain glared at the back of a grand chair that was facing away from the door. After a moment, it swiveled around to reveal a light blue unicorn, face hidden beneath a purple hood and hooves dressed in ornate guards. Perfectly groomed white hair spilled forth from the hood, and her wicked smile dropped into a frown as she saw the intruder. “Captain. I believe it is customary to knock before entering another pony’s office.”

“Cram it, foal. Where do you get off ordering me back from a mission? I’m the damned captain of the Shadowbolts, and as such I report directly to Nightmare Moon.”

The pony in the chair drew herself up and took a sharp intake of breath. “How dare you! I am The Great and Powerful Trixie, High Archon of Her Majesty’s Royal Guard and Right Hand of the Queen! By power of my station, I can command a scouting party however I wish!”

The captain stalked up to the desk in front of the chair, leaning over it to snort directly in Trixie’s face. “Titles be damned, we are of equal rank and you know it. You said the Queen ordered me through you, and if this is just another attempt to annoy me I will sure as hay bring it up with Her Royal Majesty.”

Trixie’s hood fell backward from the captain’s breath, letting the rest of her mane fall out. Her eyes narrowed in anger and both ponies stared eachother down for a moment. “The queen may not have been alerted to this yet, but don’t do anything foalish. Unfortunately for you, good captain, I had good reason to recall you. A confident of mine has informed me that one of your airponies made an interesting report lately, one that you failed to bring to Her Majesty’s attention. Something about a rainbow-maned unicorn leaving Ponyville? By the inquisitorial powers vested in me, I am more than authorized to bring you in for questioning.”

A rat, thought the captain, in my air force! She made a note to cull the bloated ranks of any but the most loyal fliers, and tried to think on her feet. Moments later, she was launching herself into a bold-faced lie. “Of course I didn’t bring it to Her Majesty’s attention; it was only an unconfirmed report. If you must know, I was on my way to confirm it personally when you called me back so urgently. I’m sure you would agree that Her Majesty’s time is far too valuable to waste on fanciful sightings by green fliers.” She grinned in triumph as Trixie recoiled slightly before regaining her composure.

“I…I see. Very well then, it seems you may not have acted completely in error. Nevertheless, I insist that you bring any further information to my attention immediately.” She let her voice fall, and her eyes bored through the captain’s goggles. “If that really was Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, then I think we all have some questions that need answering.”

_________________________________________

Rainbow Dash didn’t sleep that night, she simply stared at the darkness of the hut’s ceiling. She knew Fluttershy was right, she couldn’t let everypony starve, but it was so horrible. Her eyes were puffy from crying already, but another tear rolled down her cheek. “Hang on to that loyalty, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy had said on the dark walk home. “You must embody that element of friendship, it’s one of the only sureties left in this world. We’ve only got our own spirits to depend on here, and losing sight of yourself is the surest way to lose hope. “

“And where does that leave you? Some element of kindness you are.” Rainbow Dash had been angry, at herself and Fluttershy and this terrible world that asked too much of everypony. She couldn’t help lashing out in any way she could.

Fluttershy had shaken her head and said, “I reconciled my actions with myself a long time ago. I know that I might be a bad pony, but in bearing this responsibility I’ve shielded my friends from it. Only a handful of ponies know about what happens here, it’s better that as few ponies lose their innocence as possible.” She blinked back tears as they had arrived at the hut. “We were once defined by that innocence, Rainbow Dash. I know I’m lost, but I want to protect it everywhere else as much as I can.”

Dash turned over, trying to finally fall asleep. In a twisted way, what Fluttershy was doing was the kindest action the circumstances would allow. She hadn’t made the right decision because there was no right decision, but either way she knew that she was forever scarred now. Her innocence wasn’t as shattered as Fluttershy’s, but she would forever bear the black mark of an impossible decision. She felt hollow inside, but as her eyes fell on the flank of the sleeping Twilight she felt a surge of renewed vigor. She had stuck by her friend’s judgment, just as she had stuck by Twilight’s side so far. She had sacrificed herself for Fluttershy in another world, and Dash was determined to live up to that legacy again. Twilight seemed so fragile bathed under the thin beam of moonlight, and Dash felt a strong sense of protection come over her. If her innocence was gone, so be it, but Dash would stick by her friend and do her best to spare her the same fate. She let this sense of purpose flow through her, lifting her spirits. If she clung to her loyalty, she knew, she would be able to make it through any situation.

Moonlight, Rainbow Dash belatedly noticed, that means it’s night already. We’ll be leaving soon. Dash gave up on sleep and stood, moving over to gently prod the unicorn awake. Twilight’s eyes flickered and she rolled onto her feet, stretching and stifling a yawn. “Good morning Rainbow Dash. Or is it good evening? You’re not usually one to be awake first.”

Rainbow Dash did her best to hide her inner pain from Twilight, but trying to return to her normal and cheerful self was like trying to remember a faded dream. “Heh, yea well, I guess I just couldn’t sleep. I was…just too excited. We get to see the rest of our friends tonight!” She smiled as big as she could, and the sleepy Twilight seemed to buy it.

“Yes,” she began, smiling in return and looking around the hut, “and we’ll want to leave as soon as possible. Spike said the journey wasn’t terribly long, but we’ll be more noticeable as a large group than he was as one dragon. We should leave ourselves plenty of time to move slowly and carefully.”

Twilight walked over to the window and pulled down the board that had been propped over it, letting moonlight flood the room. The other ponies inside began stirring, though Spike only shifted and buried himself deeper into the covers. “Wake up, sleepy-heads!” Twilight called, but Zecora and Fluttershy were already awake from the moonlight, talking quietly to eachother. Twilight saw their eyes flicker to Rainbow Dash more than a few times, and after a moment Zecora trotted out the door. Fluttershy walked over to Twilight, giving her a big smile.

“Good evening, Twilight. You ponies can set out as soon as Spike wakes up, but I have a favor to ask.” Zecora came back into the hut, carrying two laden saddlebags. “We have a particularly large delivery of food ready for the refugees, and were hoping you could bring it to them for us.”

Twilight smiled and nodded at her friend, cheerfully replying “But of course, Fluttershy! We’re more than happy to help however we can. Until we find a way back, I want to be as useful as possible.” Twilight walked over to the saddlebags and bent down to take the strap in her teeth, but a blue wing shot out in front of her. Surprised, she looked up at Rainbow Dash, an unreadable expression on her face.

“Don’t worry about that, Twilight, I’ll carry it.” Rainbow Dash smiled, but her wing stayed outstretched. Twilight gave her a confused look, but stood up anyway. “Ok, Rainbow Dash, if you insist. Come on Spike, we should be leaving soon.” Turning away from the saddlebags, Twilight turned to wake up the groaning dragon. Dash lifted the saddlebags onto her back and groaned under their weight. Nonetheless, she turned and headed out the door to wait outside.

It wasn’t for nearly half an hour that Spike was finally woken up enough to step outside. His time with Rarity hadn’t been as regimented as the Spike from Twilight’s world was used too, and it was harder for her to wake him up. Twilight frowned as he finally got out of bed, tapping her hoof impatiently. When they finally walked out of the hut, she turned to say goodbye to Fluttershy and Zecora.

“Fluttershy, thank you so much for taking us in. I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t brought us back here. And thank you for all the help you’re giving us now by leading us to the refugees and the rest of our friends.”

The yellow pegasus blushed and tried to hide behind her mane. “Oh, please Twilight, it was nothing. I’m sorry I gassed you both, I’m just glad I could make up for it by giving you both some food. Tell Applejack and Rarity I said hi!” The two ponies nuzzled eachother, and Twilight turned to the zebra next.

“Zecora, I know we haven’t gotten to know eachother as much as I know the other you, but I want you to know that I still consider you a great friend. Even if you aren’t exactly like my Zecora, I can still feel that connection when talking to you here.” Twilight smiled, and Zecora responded in kind.

“This world you hearts and hopes will test, I dearly wish you both the best.” The zebra nodded to Rainbow Dash and ducked back inside the hut, followed by Fluttershy. Left in the cold and dark, Twilight and Dash turned back toward Spike, who puffed out his chest.

“Alright ponies,” he said, putting his finger in the air, “rule number one of surviving the Everfree forest: follow my every move. Rule number two: watch your step, this place can get kinda icky. And rule number three, err, well, I don’t have a rule number three yet, but I’ll keep you posted!” He turned and began walking into the woods, followed closely by Twilight and Dash.

As they walked further, Twilight stepped in line with Spike and began talking. “So you’ve been living with Rarity this whole time? How did that happen?”

The purple dragon laughed a bit, and replied, “Well, after you first went missing it was Rarity that broke the news to me. I guess she kinda felt bad about it, ‘cause she insisted that I come everywhere with her after that. When Ponyville was evacuated later that day, me and her helped direct everypony into the forest together. Since then I’ve been helping out wherever I can, but she usually has me doing jobs close to her.”

Twilight’s eyes widened, more than a little surprised. “She has you doing jobs? What exactly are our friends doing among the survivors, anyway?”

Spike’s chest puffed out, filled with pride. “Well, after we got to safety, ponies kept looking up to us since we led them out of town. Rarity and I helped to get everyone settled and distribute food, and after a few weeks she became the de facto leader. And I help to deliver supplies all around the town for her, making sure everypony is well fed and kept safe.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Rarity? Leading Ponyville? What happened to the mayor?”

Spike sighed as he walked. “Most of Ponyville made it out, but not everyone. She was still in the town hall when the Shadowbolts burned it down, I think.”

“I…I see.” Twilight fell into silence, not sure what to say anymore. She hadn’t been terribly close with the mayor, but it was weird to think that she was dead. The blow was softened by the knowledge that her version of the mayor was still alive, but her heart went out to all the ponies in this world. “Spike, is Rarity a good mayor? Be honest with me, she wasn’t well known for that sort of thing in my world.”

Spike shrunk, his pride slightly wounded. “Heh, well, maybe she was a little rough around the edges at first, but with everything I learned from you we kept things running until she got the hang of it. Now she barely needs me at all, I just make deliveries and pick up mushrooms from Fluttershy. She always makes sure everypony has plenty to eat and somewhere to sleep, even if she has to take it from her own plate.”

“Well, it’s good to hear that her generosity hasn’t diminished at all. How about Applejack?”

“Oh, right. Officially, Applejack doesn’t do anything, but secretly,” his eyes looked side to side conspiratorially as he leaned in and whispered, “she’s our contact with the resistance!”

“Cool! So there’s a resistance after all!” Twilight and Spike looked above them, where Rainbow Dash was hovering. She landed beside Twilight and adjusted her saddlebags, looking at their annoyed faces. “What? I’m not supposed to know about the resistance?”

Twilight sighed and looked at Dash’s innocent face, deciding that she wasn’t actually intending to eavesdrop. As Dash began to fidget with the saddlebags again, Twilight leaned over towards her. “Hey Dash, want me to take a turn carrying those? You’re starting to look a bit tired.”

Dash’s head immediately shot forward. “It’s fine, I’m fine. They’re just a bit heavy is all. Don’t worry about them.” Twilight was a bit taken aback by Dash’s forcefulness, but let the issue drop. Rainbow Dash had been acting strange around that food all day, but they were all acting a little strange under the circumstances. Still, as Twilight turned back to conversing with Spike, she couldn’t help but feel a little inferior to her friend. All she could do was point them in the next direction, and now that they had Spike as a guide and were going to all their friends, she wasn’t even good for that. Rainbow Dash had the athleticism and bravery to adapt to this world, not to mention saving Twilight’s life and guarding over her after their run-in with Pinkie Pie. Twilight hadn’t even adjusted to sleeping during the day and staying up at night yet.

As they travelled farther, Twilight began to hear the rush of water grow louder and louder. Spike began to look worried as they walked, and Twilight bent down to him. “It sounds like there’s a river ahead, is there a way across nearby?”

Spike shook his head. “No, I just came through here last night. There’s no river for- woah!”

Twilight grabbed Spike’s fringes in her mouth as he nearly stepped off a rock into thrashing water below. Even in the moonlight, it was obvious that the water ran thick with dirt for as far as she could see in either direction. It was at least a dozen feet from bank to bank, but although the water looked shallow it was moving very fast.

“Oh no, I remember Fluttershy telling me about this once,” began Spike. “She said that a lot of riverbanks are held together by tree roots, and as those trees died the roots became unsteady. Eventually, a lot of the rivers nearby started changing courses as parts of their banks gave out. It looks like this one just formed last night.” Twilight looked over the water. That would explain why the grime was moving through it so fast, since all the loose dirt hadn’t been washed away yet. It would also explain why there were no clear banks and it wasn’t very deep, but a more immediate problem presented itself than identifying the source of the sudden river.

“Ok, so how are we going to cross it? Spike, you could ride on my back, but if I slip we’ll both drown for sure.” She turned around to Rainbow Dash, who was now visibly struggling under the weight of the food satchels. “Rainbow Dash can’t carry us both and the saddlebags, so we’ll have to find a way to cross somewhere else.

“Well the town is more downstream than upstream, so we should look in that direction first. Or should we split up and have some of us go upstream and some of us search downstream?”

“Uhh, guys?” Rainbow Dash flexed her wings once she had their attention, “I can just fly up and look for a calmer area faster than either of you can walk. Leave it to me!”

Twilight giggled at herself before responding. “Oh, hehe, right. Just leave the saddlebags with me and fly around. Good thinking, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash stiffened suddenly, “Actually, I’ll just keep the bags with me. They aren’t really that heavy anyway.” She spread her wings and prepared to take off, but felt a sudden clomp on her tail.

Sure that she wasn’t going to fly away on the spot, Twilight spit Dash’s tail out. “Rainbow Dash, you’ve refused to let me help with those all day, and now you won’t even put them down for a moment. There’s no reason you need to lug those around needlessly, so just leave them here.” She stamped her hoof as emphasis, determined to make her friend see reason.

“Really Twilight, it’s ok, let me worry about them.” Twilight tried to grab the pegasus again, but Rainbow Dash was expecting it this time. She flicked her tail away as she took off and quickly launched herself into the night sky.

Twilight turned to Spike, determined to vent to someone. “What has gotten into her? She’s obviously tired but won’t let me help her. Does she really think I’m that useless?”

“Ehh,” replied a disinterested Spike. “I didn’t really know her before today, but she seems like a capable pony. I’m sure if she says she’s got it covered, she’s got it covered.” Twilight frowned, disappointed she hadn’t found an ally in the only other creature nearby. She sat down with and angry huff and began to wait for Dash’s return.

_____________________________________

The captain sat and pored over her desk. Her official office rested within the royal palace, and though motifs of purple and black covered nearly every inch of the hallways, she liked to keep her personal space colorful. Red banners with orange ornamentation were hung to the ceiling by bright yellow rope, each displaying the seal of the Shadowbolts. The walls themselves were mostly green, but the furniture was mostly blue. An indigo rug lay under her desk, while the only sign of the traditional palace purple were the violet Shadowbolt insignias on the banners and her door. Despite spending as little time here as possible, the captain liked to make it homey. When she simply had to fill out paperwork, she might as well be comfortable.

And this was one of those occasions. She looked down at the list of names below her, dozens of them scrawled across the page. All new additions to her team, all greedy ponies with an eye to opportunity. All possible moles for that bitch Trixie. She grabbed the quill from her desk and signed her signature, which simply read “Captain”. Knowing the identities of her fliers was one of the privileges of rank, as all Shadowbolts wore the same uniforms. As captain, not even Trixie knew her real name, something that the captain liked to rub in whenever the occasion arose. Their suits were lightly enchanted to alter the appearance of anypony who wore them, turning their coat a dusty grey and their mane a deep blue. With the bodysuit and goggles hiding the rest of the body, every Shadowbolt looked identical except for the rank on their flank, directly over their cutie mark.

The captain left the signed termination order on her desk, knowing another pony would be in to collect it later. She left her office and walked through the palace, lost deep in thought. It was a good thing only one report had been leaked to Trixie, otherwise the forest hut would have been raided by now. Her Shadowbolts had gone back to inspect the hut, but only a zebra and Fluttershy were left there. While they could both be brought in for interrogation, Fluttershy was a wanted fugitive. The last thing she needed was for her only leads to disappear into one of Trixie’s dungeons forever. On the other hand, the trail stopped cold with them anyway, so perhaps she had nothing to lose by bringing them in. Yes, perhaps she should simply tell Trixie where they were hiding, for surely The Great and Powerful-

NO! she thought, loud as she could. A persistent static noise that she hadn’t noticed building up suddenly vanished in her mind, and she whipped around. Sure enough, there in the shadows a glow was fading, moving along with the tip of a horn as Trixie trotted out. “Come now, Captain. Surely you have nothing to hide from me. We’re on the same side, aren’t we?”

The captain scoffed at her and continued walking, forcing Trixie to hurry unseemly to catch up. “If your attempts to trick me weren’t so pathetic, I’d take issue with this. Nine months of trying to backstab me, and you’ve never gotten a single secret out. Your tenacity should be commended,” she drew out the pause, “if nothing else.”

Trixie’s eyes flared with rage as she trailed behind the captain, ornamented hoofguards tapping along the floor. “I’ll remind you, captain, that my many, many titles include Chief Interrogator in Her Royal Majesty’s Court, not a position one achieves without results. I could crack you in less than a day were you and I alone, foal.”

“Tell yourself whatever you need to, Trixie, I’m not interested in your jabs today. I have to go about fixing the mess you caused yesterday by interrupting my patrol, so if you’ll excuse me.” The captain flared her grey wings and rose into the air, exiting through an open window high above them.

Trixie smiled to herself as she began returning to her own office. While it was true that she hadn’t yet succeeded in breaking the captains’ will, she knew other ways to get what she wanted. Like letting the captain lead her right to them. For her part, the captain couldn’t hear the faint static noise left in the back of her head over the wind whipping past.

_____________________________________

Rainbow Dash arrested her fall just before hitting the ground, stumbling forward before finally falling flat. How many animals had Fluttershy murdered to fill these packs? They weighed her down more and more with every mile travelled, but she had done her job.

She looked gratefully toward the river, where the water ran into a field of rocks. With no firm bed to support it, the water simply flowed harmlessly beneath the stones. Most of the larger ones weren’t even wet, so crossing here would be no problem. She nodded to herself and tried to take off again, but every inch of altitude was hard fought. She struggled underneath the weight of the bags, but they were simply too heavy for her exhausted body to handle. She fell back to the ground and cried out in frustration, then turned to face upstream. It’s a good thing I didn’t have to fly far, she thought, ‘cause it looks like I’m walking back.

Several minutes later, Twilight heard the sucking sounds that were recognizable as hoofsteps in the woods and turned to see Rainbow Dash coming around a tree. The pegasus was gasping for breath and collapsed spread-legged on a patch of dirt. “Downriver… there’s… some rocks… you can…cross at… about…two miles.” She was breathing raggedly, but when she saw Twilight’s angry glare she made another effort to stand.

Twilight walked over to the exhausted pegasus and loomed over her, her eyes flashing with fury. “Rainbow Dash, look at yourself. You’ve refused to put those bags down once all day, not even to scout around. You won’t let anypony else so much as lay a hoof on them, and now you can’t even stand. I’m taking a turn with them right now, and you have no say in the matter.”

“No Twilight, wait-” but Twilight had already leaned down and undone the strap. Released, the packs collapsed by Dash’s side, sending up small puffs of dust. In one motion, Twilight had them slung over her back and fastened. She hefted their weight experimentally, then extended a hoof down to help Rainbow Dash up.

Dash looked at her friend, easily bearing the weight of her burden. Finally beaten, she grasped Twilight’s hoof gratefully, pulling herself to her feet. As Twilight smiled at her, Dash slumped her shoulders. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t seem much lighter at all.

They passed over the river uneventfully, and a few hours later the terrain become more rocky. Hills loomed on either side of the group as they walked, but they also began to see signs of travel. Patches of dirt marked where rotted undergrowth had been cleared away, and their own path shortly joined with another, much larger one that even had troughs dug by cart wheels. Despite this, nopony else was in sight as they travelled forward, the stars in the winking out one by one as day approached. There were still a few hours left in the night when the group arrived at a wall. Spike stood next to it and placed his hands on his hips, looking as proud as he ever had.

A few moments passed, with Twilight and Rainbow Dash waiting expectantly. Spike opened one eye, and coughed in annoyance. To her surprise, Twilight heard a gasp and the sound of something falling, followed by a cranking sound. Before she could ask what was happening, a piece of the stone behind Spike began to swing open, revealing a very embarrassed and elderly brown earth pony.

“Oh ah, hi there Spike! I was just catching a break and didn’t hear ya comin, sorry ‘bout the delay.” The brown pony bent down and picked up his pipe, smiling around it. “Why, if it ain’t Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash! We all heard ya didn’t make it, it’s good ta see we were wrong ‘bout that.”

Spike walked into the cave, Twilight and Dash ducking in behind him. “Nah, it’s ok old man Billy Gruff. Keeping the gate safe is hard work, I don’t blame you for catching some sleep where you can.” The old pony sighed with relief and grabbed the crank next to him in his mouth. As he began turning, the way back out began to close as another wall of the small cave began to move. As the moonlight behind them was cut off, the bright light of torches flowed out of the new archway.

Twilight and Dash’s jaws dropped as they took in the sight before them. A Stone bridge stretched over an underground river before them, and on the other end a large sign read “Welcome to New Ponyville”. The chamber was enormous, the ceiling barely perceptible in the torchlight of the town. Buildings rose and sprawled for hundreds of feet in front of the two ponies, and dozens more ponies roamed the well lit streets.”

“Pretty neat,huh?” Spike had his eyes closed with another smug look on his face, a sure sign that he was about to go into another explanation. “I don’t know if Fluttershy told you, but it was as the town was evacuating that we met Zecora. When we told her what had happened, she led us all to this giant cave. Apparently, it used to belong to an entire dragon family! The real entrance collapsed a long time ago, so you can only get in through side entrances like this one. Very defensible, in case the Shadowbolts ever find us.” Spike began walking across the bridge, nearly falling over the side before he opened his eyes again. “The roof has a bunch of small tunnels that connect to the surface, giving us plenty of air. The river here gives us clean, fresh water, and Rarity organizes all the other ponies into construction groups every day. It took forever, but we’ve finally got a decent town going again.”

Twilight and Dash walked into the town proper, eyes roaming in awe. The buildings were mostly made of stone, and in many places beds of the illuminating mushrooms had been planted. The main streets and the walls of the cave were ornamented with torches made of precious wood. “Spike, why is wood being wasted on these torches? You ponies can’t have a large supply of it left.”

“Oh, well like I said, Rarity wants everypony to be as happy and comfortable as possible. She directs any surplus supplies we have directly into luxuries for the common folk, which is one of the reasons they love her so much!”

Before Twilight had the chance to ask any more questions, the group heard a scream. Whipping their heads around, Twilight and Dash were simultaneously tackled by a white unicorn.

“Oh Twilight! Rainbow Dash! You really are alive! Oh, when I heard the news I was so skeptical. ‘Rarity’ ,I said to myself, ‘How long will you desperately cling to fancies of their return?’ But I never gave up hope, and now here you are, my dears!”

Comments

[FireFlash13231]

FIRST! hehe. typical rarity.

[Raven Dreamcatcher]

Twilight: "Actually we're from another universe"
Rarity: ...
Rarity: FUS RO DAH!!!!

[FacadeArt]

Waiting for Twilights technobabble on how they shouldnt mess with this universe because they are not a part of that timeline and the space time continuum collapses or something

[burning-ruin-666]

i gueas rainbow lost her apetite but till she needs to eat... hehehe w8 till rarity finds that one out >.<

[ThatClosetBrony]

So Trixie's finally in a position of power, and is shown to be smart and magically adept.
About damn time.

Oh, and if Nightmare Moon gives her the Alicorn Amulet...
Dern dude.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

I'm calling it. the Captain is Rainbow Dash, mind controlled.

[raven618]

5618366 That's... a very disturbingly possibly theory.

[King of Kings]

5618366
Nah man! She's obviously Spitfire! I mean this Nightmare Moon appears to be smart enough to know to kill her enemies, so I sincerely doubt that she just let Rainbow Dash live.
4834957
I mean, yes, but also no? Like, I'm all for giving Trixie power, but I would have thought that she would be part of the resistance?