My Little Pony: Through Space and Time

by Magic Step

Radioactive Isotopes

Fluttershy cowered in an alley, cursing her uselessness. Applejack had been seized by Princess Celestia's guards, and Fluttershy had hardly said a word in her defense.

The fact that the guards had simply not heard her was no excuse. She should have shouted. She should have cried "Hey! My friend is not a criminal! You can't take her away!"

Some use her assertiveness had been.

Well, she would make it up to Applejack! She would go to the castle right now and demand to know what crime Applejack committed. If the guards wouldn't tell her, she'd ask to see Princess Celestia.

She wasn't sure about how to get around Canterlot, but you could see the castle from anywhere. She just had to fly to it.

She started to flap her wings, when two earth ponies ran up to her.

The blue one exclaimed, "Fluttershy! I know you're busy, but I just wanted to let you know I'm putting together a SPOAF chapter in my section of Manehattan, and I was just hoping you might possibly consider coming and speaking to us someday?" She leaned up close, smiling.

Fluttershy just smiled back. "Um... I think you have the wrong, uh... Fluttershy. Uh." What's a 'spoaf'? she wondered. It rhymed with 'oaf'.

The two ponies stared at each other and blinked rapidly, like they simply could not comprehend the words coming from Fluttershy's mouth.

A pink pegasusflew up to them, shouting, "Come on, you two! We don't want to be late!"

The earth ponies ran after her, gesturing for Fluttershy to follow, so she did.

They entered a garden. Signs had been hung up everywhere, announcing "SPOAF rally! Save the squirrels!" Dozens, maybe hundreds of ponies had gathered together in front of a stage with a podium and microphone set up.

A dark green pegasus with a fluffy green mane was talking at the podium.

"...for our future fillies and colts," she said. "And now, I am pleased to welcome our special guest, the pegasus renowned around Equestria for her contribution to the well-being of all living things, Fluttershy!"

Ponies stamped their hooves and hollered with joy.

Fluttershy gasped. She was supposed to... talk to all these ponies? On stage? Now?

She collapsed, feeling faint.

But then, a quiet, familiar voice said, "Thank you, everypony. Please quiet down."

Fluttershy stuck her head above the crowd, straining to see who was at the stand. Some bulky earth ponies had moved in front of her, and whoever it was wasn't as tall as the other pegasus had been.

"I am very pleased to have the honor of speaking to you today," the pony continued. "I know that whenever SPOAF is mentioned, I am always the one credited with it's success, but I want you to always remember, I couldn't have made the impact I have had without the help of you, my little ponies. I am merely the one who called your attention to the problem that has plagued Equestria for far too long. It is you, you who have done all this work, by letting your voices be heard, by making a difference in your own small ways. You are the ones preserving the future of Equestria!"

Stomping of hooves, shouts and shrieks.

Fluttershy moved to a better location. She gasped. The pony in front of the podium looked just like herself!

"I have asked you to come here today because the work of the Society for the Protection of Our Animal Friends is never done. You have all done amazingly. With your help, we have created laws to protect the pigs from unfair labor, the birds from having their feathers stolen, the forests from being chopped down.

"But today, I have come to talk about the squirrels. Their homes are safe, to be sure, but their families are not. Across Equestria, ponies munch on almonds, snack on walnut cakes, nibble food made from acorn flour... and yet they never think to ask, 'Where have all these nuts come from?'

"I'll tell you where. These nuts are stolen from the mouths of little squirrel children."

Gasps.

"Trees that once belonged to the squirrels, giving their fruit for the good of squirrelkind, are being harvested by ponies to fill their greedy stomachs. Squirrels are starving while the high and noble members of the Canterlot society continue to ask for nuts in their sundaes, their cupcakes, their doughnuts. This cannot continue, my little ponies! We must stand for justice! We must make sure that the squirrels can have nuts forevermore!"

Wild cheers, ponies leaping into the air.

"Um, excuse me."

Ponies gasped and parted, revealing Fluttershy standing at the back of the crowd.

"What is it?" Asked the pony who looked so much like Fluttershy standing at the podium.

"Um. Er." Fluttershy gulped. Well, you were planning to be courageous and talk to the guards anyway. Now would be a good chance to practice. Don't worry; not exactly everyone is staring at you... "Well. You see, miss, um..."

"Fluttershy," The pony at the podium said.

"Um. Um, sorry, miss, but, um, you must be mistaken."

"What?" Fluttershy-at-podium said. "Speak up!"

Fluttershy-on-ground took a deep breath. "Well, first of all, the nut growers don't take nuts from the squirrels. They plant other nut trees and get their nuts from those. The squirrel's nut trees stay where they are."

"Can you prove it?" Fluttershy-at-podium said.

Fluttershy-on-ground was taken aback. "Um, no, um, not exactly. Um. No."

Fluttershy-at-podium flitted her eyelashes. "You seek to defend what is so clearly a corrupt system that heavily favors ponies growing stronger at any cost while you yourself admit you cannot prove your claims?! How can you sink so low?"

Fluttershy-on-ground stammered, "I...I...I..." and then started crying and backing off.

Fluttershy-at-podium wilted. "Oh, don't cry!" She flew over join Fluttershy-on-ground and patted her on the head. "It's not you're fault! You probably didn't think about this before! ...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have acted so harshly towards you! Oh, please don't cry! I hate making ponies cry!" And she herself started crying.

As soon as the other Fluttershy started crying, Fluttershy-on-ground switched to comfort mode. She smiled a bit and wiped her tears away with one hoof. "Oh, d-don't worry; I feel better now. Thank you."

Fluttershy-who-was-no-longer-at-podium smiled also. "You know... it's funny how much we are alike."

"Oh, yes, that's the other thing I was going to tell you. You see, my name is Fluttershy too!"

Fluttershy-who-was-no-longer-at-podium started back and blinked at the other Fluttershy. "Are you sure? This is just too much of a coincidence."

Fluttershy-on-ground nodded. "I'm sure that's my name."

They stared at each other for a minute longer.

Then someone in the audience coughed. "I don't know anything about this... but, you know, it may sound funny, but on my way here I thought I caught a glimpse of two Rarities walking side by side- but then, one of them didn't have wings..."

Wings? Fluttershy-on-ground thought. Since when did Rarity have wings?

The two Fluttershys looked at each other again, hair slightly blocking their eyes.

"We'd better talk to Twilight," said Fluttershy-who-was-no-longer-at-podium.

"Yes, we'd better," said the other Fluttershy.

---

"What the hay was that, Miss Pie?" The tan female earth pony demanded.

"Fun! It was lots of FUN!" Pinkie Pie bounced in a circle around the tan earth pony. "You should have some sometime!"

"Have what?" The tan earth pony asked, looking confused.

"FUN!" Pinkie Pie tackled the earth pony.

"Oo-ow-ouch! My back!" The earth pony whined.

"Diane Pie?" Spotlight appeared around the corner. "You really should be careful about Miss Forest's back. You know how old people are about their backs..."

"I'm not old, you little wretch!" Miss Forest whipped herself up and dove after the impertinent pegasus, only to have him fly out of her reach. Spotlight giggled and pointed at her.

Pinkie Pie's eyes narrowed as Spotlight continued to laugh. Then she seized him with stretchy front legs and dragged him in front of her, glaring at him.

"Listen," she growled. "The joke is only funny if everypony laughs. Got it?"

Spotlight gasped and swallowed. He bobbed his head vigorously. "Got it, Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie glared for a moment longer. Then she smiled brightly and hugged the little pony. "Great! Now we're all friends!" She put him back in the air and turned to smile at Miss Forest.

Miss Forest didn't smile. But she didn't glare either. She just edged back.

A loud crash came from outside, and a blur of pink sped into the room, screeching, "OhmyTwilightohmyTWILIGHT that guard is a jerk!" The blur came to a halt beside Miss Forest.

Pinkie Pie gasped. Unlike the other ponies, she was not gasping at seeing herself standing there. That wasn't unusual or anything. No, what shocked her was the hair.

This duplicate-Pinkie had her hair and tail perfectly straight and flat. Her coat was pink, true, but it seemed faded. She seemed in every way an adult version of Pinkie as she had looked when she was a filly on the rock farm.

Sort of. But then, as a filly she had kept her mane long. Duplicate-Pinkie had cut her mane short in a professional looking way. The tail was the same way: short and well-groomed. She wore a gold watch around one hoof.

"Forest Breeze!" she shouted. "What is the meaning of this!? The guard wouldn't let me in because the show was 'being taken care of'. What in Equestria is that supposed to mean, hmm?" She leaned reeeeal close to Forest Breeze, forcing the tan earth pony to lean back. Duplicate-Pinkie pulled back her lips in a dog-like snarl. "I hope for your sake, Miss Forest, that this is simply a cruel, cruel joke."

Forest Breeze looked like she wanted to get out of the conversation by fainting but couldn't quiet manage to black out. "D-d-d-d-diane?" She stammered, closing her eyes and swaying back.

"Golly!" Spotlight said. "I thought this was you, Miss Pie!" he pointed at Pinkie Pie from his safe refuge high in the air.

"WHAT?" Diane Pie whirled around and marched toward Pinkie Pie, glaring at her. "And who, may I ask, are you, Miss Messyhair?"

Pinkie Pie matched her, glare for glare. "I could ask you the same question, Miss Fadedcoat."

They had a brief glare war, eyeing each other, shoving their heads forward and back, tilting their heads down and downer, all the better to look menacing with.

Then Pinkie Pie burst out laughing. "You blinked!" She tossed herself backward and rolled on the carpet.

For a moment, Diane Pie looked even more angry. But then she laughed also.

"The look on your face, Miss Forest," she said, turning around. "For a moment I thought you were going to melt."

Forest Breeze shook herself and commenced glaring. "Well, you can't expect me to somehow know that you now have a... changeling twin!"

Both Pies stopped laughing.

"Her?" Pinkie Pie asked. "A changeling? No! Changelings can't glare that well for beans! No, wait, what would a changeling want with beans? Changelings don't eat beans! They can't glare that well for chocolate! Of course changelings want chocolate! Everyone wants chocolate!"

"She was talking about you," Diane Pie said. "But, seriously, how did you get here?"

Pinkie Pie stopped and blinked. Then she shrugged so high her shoulders reached her ears. "I dunno. I've always been here. How did you get here?"

Diane Pie blinked. Then she turned to Forest Breeze. "I need to visit my friend, Twilight."

"Ooh, Twilight's your best friend?" Pinkie Pie asked, as Diane Pie seized her hoof and started dragging her away. "Mine too! But then I have lots of best friends..."

---

Author's Note: If you'd like to see what Forest Breeze and Spotlight look like, first find Generalzoi's pony creator. Just Google it; I guarantee you'll find it. Then enter the following pony codes in their appropriate places. Remove all spaces. The code for the pony itself goes in the 'advance' section of the 'create' section while the pony's accessories code goes in the 'advanced' section of the 'accessories' section. Due to the nature of these codes, they won't have their cutie marks.

For Forest Breeze:

332G1F6000BFA834FFC49D002010 0F

E15UN3B1E004001000A128206600 AF

1505107F3FCC004CB2

Her accessories:

066CC66B3E7C3E066CC6634

A468C066CC6604E8FBAFFFF8

C066CC66066CC66066CC66066CC6 6

For Spotlight:

233V0E101296F6FE9EB5FE2

00007FBA00UP1837043020001

H0EAFE4DFF7FFF19107F3FCC004C B2