Twilight was nearing the bottom of a long, winding ramp when she felt the first flickers of magic from far below. The soldiers escorting them had no idea what was happening, didn't even react.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were a bit more sensitive. Both looked down, and Applejack pawed nervously at the floor. "Bit far down to be living, don't you think?" she asked, turning to look back at their escort. "Couldn't we stay up top, where we can see the sky?"
Twilight had a spell prepared by then, a stun that would strike against all their captors at once. If even one was left standing, they might find out first hoof just how deadly their weapons could be. Best not to chance it.
"Keep moving," grunted one, gesturing ahead with the weapon. Most of the group was behind them, with only two soldiers up ahead. They walked backward. It was impressive coordination for a species without enough legs.
There was one flaw in using her magic to escape, but she was expecting it. Twilight released the spell, and it tore through her shape change on its way out. Her horn reappeared on her head, poking bizarrely through the diffuse human hair.
The soldiers wobbled, dropping to the ground one after another. Their weapons fell around them, banging and clattering harmlessly to the floor.
Twilight caught herself against the wall, momentarily winded by the disorientation of her spell beginning to unravel. Light leaked from her forehead where the transformation had been undone, spreading thin lines further down her face.
She would have to keep feeding it magic to keep the spell from melting around her. She did, at least for now. From a distance she could probably still pass as one of them.
"Was wonderin' how long you would keep this up," Applejack said. She bent down, picking up one of the alien weapons. She turned it over in her hands, slowly and carefully. "Don't seem right to pretend like we're cooperating."
"It's not right to foalnap either," Rainbow said, annoyed. "They don't get to make us act nice. You should've let us fight them!" She stopped beside one of the fallen guards, nudging him with a shoe. He groaned quietly, but didn't move otherwise.
"No time," Twilight said. "You felt that, didn't you? There's something happening below us. Once their leader knew we were coming, she started something. We have to reach Flurry before it can hurt her."
"We'll have to be fast," Rainbow said, grinning at the prospect. "Apples, wanna race? Bet I'm faster on two legs than you are."
Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance, glaring at them both. "Do it when we get back, if you want. There might be other traps. There are more soldiers too, and I'll have to stun them before they can warn her."
"Did she sound familiar to you, Twi?" Applejack asked. "I ain't sure quite how that could be."
"I don't know either," Twilight admitted. They continued forward, past the unconscious bodies of their captors. Up ahead was obviously the center of something, a habitat like something she might've seen in a zoo. Her tracking spell pointed down still lower, but that wasn't the only thing she felt. There was magical residue here, just like the house they had briefly visited.
"I hope there's a way out through there," she said. "Because there's glass up there, and I don't see anypony."
They spent a few moments fighting with the entrance, and Twilight found herself focusing more and more on the magic building below them. It wasn't just that she was getting closer—the power was building now. How much stronger could it get?
She learned the answer in a single, brilliant flash of magic, blasting past her from below. Her transformation spell was shattered to pieces in an instant, along with every other active spell on her person. She whimpered as the return bracelet melted right off her neck, without triggering.
Twilight took a few moments to recover from the magical barrage, which was far less time than her friends needed.
She finally opened her eyes, rolling until her hooves were under her again. There was only one thing that could've undone so much Alicorn magic like that—another Alicorn.
She sat up slowly. The light above wasn't the same strange, flickering white as before. She knew that soft pink glow, diffused by metal plates mounted to the ceiling.
As if she needed any further instruction, the wall in front of them had changed to a spectacular piece of stained glass, depicting crystal ponies gathered around the Heart. The hallway wasn't cramped, despite returning to normal—it had grown just as much as she had.
"Whatever just happened..." Applejack began, "I ain't a fan." She crawled to her hooves, then stooped to help Rainbow do the same. "Celestia, that burned."
"We're back... in the Empire?" Rainbow said, her voice doubtful. She touched at the crystal wall with a hoof, confused. "I get that a trap could banish us or whatever, but... how did we move so far?"
"Not a trap." Twilight walked slowly around the stained glass, looking for the stairs leading down to the storage rooms. Sure enough, they were right where they should be. "It's like the stable back at the home of those aliens. But way, way bigger."
She hurried through the open doorway, down the ramp to parts unknown. The others followed close behind her, barely keeping up.
After only a short distance, they passed another few soldiers... well, she guessed they were soldiers from their moaning and pained expressions. They were crystal ponies now, with crystal spears and breastplates. Whatever tube-weapons the aliens used hadn't survived the transition.
"Buck me," Applejack whispered.
"Not here," Rainbow shot back.
She only got a glare in response.
"How could this happen, Twi? You think Flurry got scared again, maybe lashed out against those evil folk who wanted to hurt her?"
"Maybe." They passed a few more unconscious ponies, all looking like crystal servants and staff. A few were other creatures, though all wore house colors or looked like they might be visiting. It was the nursery last time. If this goes much further, she might've made half the palace.
"Looks more deliberate than that," she finally said. "Even a massive magical surge from a foal should be localized. This burst is... a lot of magic. Maybe more than one Alicorn, now that I think about it."
"There were two," Rainbow said. "Weren't there? Was that how that worked out?"
"It was..." Twilight slowed as they approached a nearby passage—the one leading to the dungeons. Would it be filled with dangerous criminals? Or did the transfiguration go only skin deep, as with the others Flurry had changed? Did that mean the evil soldiers were now loyal house guards, their previous identities erased?
Can't be. The alien seemed to think her children were intact. A mother could not be wrong.
A pony moved in the gloom beyond the doorway, the first they'd yet encountered who could move. She walked slowly out, tail tucked between her legs.
She looked exactly like a criminal Twilight had once seen in the Crystal Empire dungeon. Sunset Shimmer.
"You," she said, in a voice that barely resembled Sunset. But there was a thick accent underneath, something she couldn't place. "Did the Mysteries send you?"
Twilight shook her head. Her friends lined up beside her to block the way out, watching the pony skeptically.
"Sunset?" Applejack asked. "You're in the wrong universe. And the right wrong place to be stickin yer' hooves."
"Firstly, you just said 'right wrong'." The pony stumbled closer to them, taking her steps slowly and deliberately. She wobbled, and there was no spell burning from her horn. Not even a basic light. "Secondly, I don't have a damn clue what that meant. My Shadow Name is Monday, you go ahead and use it. I've never known a Sunset."
Twilight extended a wing, silencing whatever other objection Applejack might make. Her friends didn't really know much about Sunset Shimmer, anyway. This was the wrong universe for her, and so was Equestria.
"We're not from your world," she said. "We're looking for a stolen baby, and the filly and colt who protected her."
Monday looked them up and down, obviously skeptical. "Can you prove it? Other than using horse words. I got a dictionary too, I could do that."
In answer, Rainbow lifted into the air, hovering. "How about we don't care if you believe us or not. We're saving the baby."
Monday's ears flattened. "You're flying. Either you're a faster learner than most songbirds, or you're telling the truth. You're right about the baby—she's here. Kid who found her is my apprentice now, Kyle's his name. Sorceress named Akiko is running this show. Took the alien downstairs. Kyle's sister is in the cell next to mine. Looks intact—nerve gas got wiped like everything else."
Twilight wasn't sure what “nerve gas” could be, but she found herself instantly confident she never wanted to find out. "We're bringing the foal back with us," she said. "And returning the aliens who helped her to their family."
"Fine." Monday shrugged an ambivalent shoulder. "But you should think about what you'll do with everyone else down here. I've studied this magic, helluva lot more than most mages at this point. It won't wear off. Every horse you've seen down here is stuck this way forever. We don't have the magic to reverse it."
Twilight's ears flattened. This was exactly the kind of burden Equestria didn't need right now. Then again, the Empire said it would pay any price to have the heir returned. The Body Invisible would want this problem gone. "We'll have to help them," she said lamely.
"Even the ones who grabbed us?" Rainbow asked, furious. "Even the ones who foalnapped Flurry?"
"Yes and no," Twilight countered. "Bring with us, yes. Find a cell in a dungeon somewhere? Also yes. I wouldn't want to face Princess Cadance after threatening her daughter, would you?"
Rainbow had no counter to that.
"Akiko had her lab at the bottom of the base," Monday continued, pointing down the stairs. "Follow me. I was going to break them out, but the bitch caught me. Feels kinda like... this was my apprentice's way of breaking me out after all. Unless you did it."
"Nope," Twilight said. "All her. Or Flurry. Maybe both."
She found the two of them exactly where Monday said she would, at what would've been the base of the Crystal Palace. A single crystal arch curved down in the center, with a huge empty cavity all around them. A stone imitation of the Crystal Heart sunk into the wall overhead, where the transfiguration ended, and the natural material of this universe reasserted itself.
A handful of ponies were scattered on the floor. More crystal guards lay where they'd fallen, entirely unconscious. Being so close to the epicenter had been even harder on them than the ones upstairs.
She found her doppelganger splayed against the wall, as stunned as they were. The pony was a unicorn, and she shared Twilight's cutie mark. "Tie her up," Twilight instructed, continuing past her. "I don't know how she sounded so much like me before the transformation spell. Or why she wasn't made into an Alicorn too.”
Little blessings there. Taking an Alicorn criminal back with them, one who had foalnapped before and might do it again, would be its own flavor of nightmare.
Huddled together in the very center of the room, Twilight found the missing foal. An Alicorn mare huddled around her, shielding her with her wings. Like Monday, she was also awake, despite being near the center of the blast.
A foal rested up against her, sleeping soundly now. They both showed powerful spellburns, worse on the mare than the baby. So she was right, it had taken both of them.
Twilight slowed as she approached, lowering her head to the mare. "Excuse me, are you Kyle?"
She looked up, eyes darting between Twilight and the others. "Which guards were you? Here to... lock us up again?"
"No." Twilight dropped down beside her, resting one hoof on her shoulder. "My name is Twilight Sparkle—I'm from the same place as Flurry Heart. The... foal you're sheltering there. We're here to take her home. Her family is eager to see her again, and eager to meet the one who kept her safe. Will you come with us?"
Kyle looked around the strange chamber, dark in every direction except the faint glow emanating from the stairs they had taken. "Can my sister come too?"
Explosive resolution via Null Wave Implementation...
I like it.
Yaaaaassssss!
Yay.
now we get to see kyle and cadence co-mum flurry/fay
That went fairly well, but they'll want to keep a very close eye on Akiko. This could yet take a turn for the worse... though I'm pretty sure the story ends this month.
Again, this could have gone worse, but cleanup's still going to be a massive pain. At least Monday and Akiko raise some fascinating questions about multiverse dynamics for Twilight to study after all's said and done. I find myself hoping Monday and Sunset get to meet at some point.
Glad the power of two alicorns didn't wipe the facility and surrounding countryside. Still, this is gonna be a heck of a mess to clean.
Well, that's gonna make the trip a bit longer.
Yup, it might not be Equestria's Sunset but she's definitely one of them.
Given how it's likely that the soldiers were mind controlled, you'd only need the one cell for Akiko. Sure they might be criminals but they're Earth's criminals. It's an Earth affair.
Must be strange to see your evil multiversal twin. Anyway, given how Akiko is more or less pre-ascension Twilight (who was still very powerful), she's still a threat.
10582209
kinda distracted by what Kyle's alicorn title would be to really worry about the villain's fate.
However dead meat has a rule to not count a kill unless its confirmed, you see a body, and some other stuff so going to go with that to assume she's still alive.
Overlapping lives... Akkiko is Human!Twilight and Monday is Human!Sunset. Very interesting...
How does this end now, I bet Kyle is stuck as an Alicorn permanently at this point.
They shouldn't be too smug -- all their spells are wiped and they are off-balance -- even the return amulet is gone. There likely is a fail-safe of some kind to completely wipe the area off the face of the earth, and this is the kind of thing where it would be activated. Beyond that you have every other magical interest in the world. That act of magic will be noticed worldwide.
10582264
At least she can work as a nanny for Flurry at the Empire.
Well well, finally they meet.
So Monday claims this is permanent, eh? Well then, either Kyle and Kara are headed to Equestria to live there, or the ponies have a better handle on their magic and Monday is wrong (though she wouldn't know that, she's only going by what she's experienced).
10582198
Cadence remains comically hysterical for weeks on end. She kinda chills a bit in the most recent episode at least.
10582264
I was expecting Kyle to be Alter-Cadence all along.
I wonder who Kyle alternative would be it be ironic if it candace
Going to be interesting seeing how things go down between Kyle and Cadence, considering Kyle has pretty much claimed Flurry as hers. Can't see either being to happy about the idea of sharing. Kyle might be willing to share since she knows Flurry really isn't really hers, but Cadence I'm not so sure on. I also doubt Kyle will accept being cut off from Flurry, there's too much motherly instinct going.
10582341
Rules might work a little differently for him. All the other alter-egos resembled each other in some way. Then again, Monday and Akiko weren't simply turned to crystal ponies by magic. And there's no denying that even the artwork shows an alicorn that is more or less a palette swap of Cadance. I wonder if the magical prosthetic had Kyle resembled a human Cadance. Not to mention the possibility of her new Cutie Mark resembling her's. Flurry would have been in the best hands from the beginning if Kyle truly is Human!Cadance. Motherly love transcends the multiverse.
10582345
Well, they already have a way to traverse the multiverse. Just grab a pair of Potara earrings from Universe 7, and bam, Flurry/Fay can now spend all her time with Kydance. Realistically, though, they will probably end up sharing.
10582272
Actually he could theoretically be a stand-in for Cadance. Ever wanted there to be two of you?
I can see the eventual fallout:
Kyle, I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is you're stuck like this, and we can't reverse the spell. The good news is your coat looks awesome. Do you use conditioner? Oh, and technically you're married to a dude.
10582371
If the "Kyle really is Earth Cadance" theory is true, Flurry can literally have two mommies. Still, I can't imagine the meeting between the two to be anything but awkward. But at least they're both good and sane. Sorry, Twilight.
10582389
Technically not, this magic episode has given us enough information to suggest that Kyle is somewhat of Cadence's other half in this world, or perhaps she was forcibly transfigured into a pseudo cadence rather and her actual pony self was lost during said transfiguration. Either way, Kyle isn't married to a dude at all, but her 'doppleganger' is and that would be awkward either way, especially since she subconsciously views Flurry as her own child.
Bieeeeeeen
10582410 "Oh, honey! I'm so glad you're home!" Shining Armor wrapped his wife up in a hug, then gave her a passionate kiss. "And my little baby! Come to daddy! You've grown while you were gone." Hefting Flurry Heart up, Shining Armor gave the giggling foal a raspberry against her neck, then just cuddled her under one foreleg until the growing silence made him look up. "What?"
Kyle cleared her throat. "Your wife will be through the portal in about an hour. She sent us through first to get things ready."
After a few moments, Shining Armor wiped his lips on the back of his fetlock and asked, "We're not going to mention this?"
"We're not going to mention this," confirmed Kyle. "Ever."
10582459
Of course this makes it easier for changelings to impersonate Cadance. You'd need three in one place to cause suspicion.
Didn’t flurry spend more tome with Kyle then with cadence? Wouldn’t she see him as her new mom? That might cause issues later on. That would be interesting. I cannot wait for more! I have been here sense day one.
Please tell me Akiko is going to attempt one more (short-lived) fight? One where she gets curb-stomped by fighters that have lived their whole lives bathed in magic?
The karma police are knocking on the door demanding she face more comeuppance than just getting knocked out off camera by a magical-blast-ex-machina.
10582487
It's only a guess, Kyle look and sound like Cadence so it should be no problem
Great chapter! Looking forward to what's next. Hope Akiko gets what she deserves!!
10582487
Flurry's been shown several times to be much more intelligent than Kyle would expect a baby to be, she might understand on some level that Kyle isn't her "real" mom. That said, after everything that's happened, she probably loves Kyle like a mom anyways.
and now things are going to be vary interesting, this is going to be one long mop up and cover up.
I get the pony transformation bit...but the cutie mark stuff is typically acquired separately.
10582675
In Equestria Girls Spring Breakdown Rainbow and Twilight get their counterparts Cutie Marks when they become ponies.
10582514
i hope it’ll atleast be a semi good fight, as she is used to casting magic in a world with barely any.
but now akiko is a unicorn, and happens to be an alternate version of twilight, who had an insane amount of magic as a unicorn...
10582683
Still, its kind of a strange one. The show establishes that they are earned, just an odd thing.
Would this work?
walk them back through the mirror, then open worldgate from Mirror Universe.
Awwww, Kyle... First thing she does is ask to bring his sister. At the beginning of the story he'd be all over the idea of them taking Fae/Flurry home (and away from him), now she's bringing family backup :3 I'm really hoping that Kyle ends up as a sudo-gardian or caretaker for Flurry; I doubt they could separate her and Fae for long, though Cadance's reaction to the surrogate mother will be very interesting.
Annnnnd, it's ending how it started, magic gobbledygook. Or rather, this arc is ending that way, though I'm hoping for many more marvelous magic misadventures...
10582371
Cadance: Vacation time! Here I come!
Celestia: Hmmm... maybe I should look for a stand-in of my own too? Oh, well, I still have Twilight as my backup.
10582256
On the other hand, they are apparently permanently ponies, and there are suggestions that the Body Invisible maintains a sort of masquerade. If the human casters can't reverse the transformation, they may want to send the transformed guards to Equestria just to keep the illusion of magic not existing alive.
Daily reminder that "buck" is a stupid euphemism for "fuck".
She looked up, eyes darting between Twilight and the others. "Which guards were you? Here to... lock us up again?"
?
Why didn't she assume she was Akiko based on the voice?
10582691
...or worse, Aikoko is her Shadow name and she really is this world's Twilight Sparkle-mirror, gifted at magic but no friendships to keep the hunger for knowledge at any cost at bay.
I am most sad to see this story coming to an end. I onlt discovered it recentlt but it has been such a fun read. Hope you do more in the future, although from my understanding its a commission so chances are no. I'll be sure to check your other stuff out
10582256
What the heck earthly authority would even be allowed to handle this. The not-Illuminati rules Earth.
10582987
Even mind controlled, I can't imagine Cadance would want to show them any leniency. Edgar even less so. Unless Kyle asks for it. She is the one that cared for Cadance's child. Kyle can provide much needed context. They will be cared for and watched as necessary until the transformation can be reversed or they can find new lives. Kyle might actually be the hardest to help. Whether she's just an alicorn with Cadance's general appearance or is Earth's alternate version of her, it's gonna be hard fitting in even if the Empire is welcoming and grateful.
10583109
Akiko is a mirror for a Twilight Sparkle that never left for Ponyville. That truth would certainly unnerve Twilight for a long time to come.
You know, we're kinda glad that no deaths occurred from this latest burst. Not to say there isn't any "loss of life", but it's something.
Probably the only thing that prevented the rest of the mountain from getting turned was Akiko's protection spells. Here's to hoping the actual materials of the return spell were just neutralized and just need to be reapplied. Though it won't really matter as they'll get a contingent of soldiers in 42 minutes, just gotta hold the fort for now. Here's to hoping nobody tries anything. Twilight, you better fashion a containment around Akiko!
Better also to delay Cadance from seeing Kyle until sitrep, she knows someone is caring for Flurry but they don't know it's a lookalike, and in her present state of mind she'll not likely resist those jumping conclusions and flying handles...
10583339
No, Akiko is a Twilight Sparkle who was mentored by Sunset Shimmer rather than Celestia, in an occult underworld probably as Darwinist as it may gets.
10583230
Starscribe is one of the best on this site (top 3 in my opinion), and has a prolific body of work. If you're just getting into it now you have about a year of excellent reading ahead of you : )
This... May get awkward.
Discord, we have a few ponies we need you to fix!
Hopefully Monday is misinformed or wrong about them being stuck like that.
I approve of the cautiousness.
Uh oh, that was a big area of effect.
Ponies for everyone.
Oh hey Sunset.
Oh now that's convenient.
Well, shoot, that's much less convenient.
Rescue at long last.