Pony Fantasy

by Lunar Protege

Dates, Demons and Ditzy Doo (Timeline 4A): Day 2/3 (Loading...)

Twilight Sparkle was meditating with Pinkie Pie. Trying to concentrate on tapping into the divine energies associated with Lycanthropy rather than her usual Unicorn stuff.

...Made harder by having to adapt to Lyra's updated version of the Anthropomorphic Spell... Which Lyra seemed to have made it her personal mission to make sure everypony in Equestria got a hold of by days end... You know... It gives you hands now!

She brushed away the thought of the hands again as a drop of water landed on her head again. Funny how one of Pinkie's basic tricks for teaching her to do the "Twitchy tail Thing" basically amounted to water torture. She took a deep breath and felt for any twitches in her body that might tell her when the next drop was going to fall. She sat still... Until she swore she could feel something, a tiny spasm in the tip of her tail. And about a second later, a drop of water hit her on the nose.

She opened her eyes and turned to Pinkie. "I felt... Something there."

Pinkie continued to watch her with some kind of Cheshire cat grin, laying out over some cushions while kicking her legs back and forth. "I guess you can take a break then. If I had to learn it this way, I probably wouldn't have made as much progress as you have."

Twilight Stretched out the stiff muscles in her arms. "So you learned a different way or something?"

Pinkie nodded. "Do I seem like the kind to sit still for this long? There's a few other methods, one almost sounds like a party game."

Twilight giggled. "One of these days you'll have to show me how that works. I'd love to give it a shot."

"By the way..." Pinkie said, rolling over to look up at Twilight. "You figured out how you want to explain things to the others?"

Twilight shrugged. "The Pone-Wolf thing can be explained fairly easily to most of them. Heck, the others have already seen us as wolves, we just need a chance to explain to them a few things." She sighed, looking down. "But I'm not sure how I'm supposed tell them we're looking for a multiple partner relationship. How often do you hear that come up?"

Pinkie smiled. "It can't be that hard can it? My sister used to do it all the time. And she's a fairly classy one. And what about those Bat Ponies?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I'm not entirely sure invoking an almost Alien offshoot of Ponies is appropriate for this situation."

Pinkie sighed Stretching herself out. "Oh well... Seemed like a good excuse to go meet some. But now... Eh... Guess we'll need another excuse."

Twilight smiled. "Its moments like this I'm not sure how serious you are."

---

Octavia adjusted her bow tie, and the enchantment on the ribbon washed over her, dressing her in the illusion of a rock star.
This wasn't exactly the image Of herself she wanted to portray, but ever since she did a favor for her sister, she wasn't exactly planning to play for the Canterlot elite again just yet.

As she walked out on stage she knew she wasn't going to play any of her better pieces, just her average. She even ignored the Lead singer's Speech and just waited for the cue to play. On cue, she closed her eyes, and began to strum at the Bass, while it wasn't as calming as her preferred instruments, she managed to get lost in her flow with the music anyways. It was her talent after all, and with how good she was at it, she barely even had to try.

When she finished the piece, the crowd was cheering extremely loud, but it wasn't something she cared to bask in right now; all she wanted was to get off stage, get to the bar, and indulge in a stiff drink.

Why is she so apathetic tonight? Well, this place is a goddamn toilet compared to other Bars; it's patrons will cheer anything that distracts them from the person next to them.

At the bar, some one eyed Gryphon with a Bennie and a large bottle of vodka in one claw greeted her. Clearly this fellow was trying to play up some Stereotype of Eastern Gryphons. "Yo Lady, what 'cha Drinking mon?"

Octavia held her face trying to ignore the Bartender. "Just give me the entire bottle of the strongest you've got, I'd rather not be lucid enough to smell how foul this place is."

The gryphon grabbed a bottle from under the counter, he looked about to say something when another Pony dropped a bag of bits on the counter.

"I'll pay for whatever that drink is, plus a blood bank special."

Octavia gave a glance at the Pony next to her, she looked like she had some kind of splitting headache. Other than that, she was white with two tone Blue Hair, also, she had special shades. And though Octavia couldn't immediately place it, she looked familiar.

"You don't look the type to be hanging around here," Octavia said.

The other pony made a pained smile. "Yeah, I'm kinda only here to hide from some of my Ex-es."

Octavia sighed. "If they actually care that much, it's probably better than what I dealt with."

The other pony laughed. "You've never seen my Ex-es. Some of them are like solidified evil, literally."

Octavia raised her eyebrow. "Sounds like you've got an interesting love life. What's your name?"

"Vinyl Scratch," she said, "I'm a DJ, among other things."

Octavia took a gulp of her drink. "Well, I haven't dated any demons, but I did date a few villains without knowing it. Most of them got themselves killed for their deeds over the last few years though."

Vinyl Smirked, stirring her drink that was obviously full of blood. "You make it sound like you dated them all at once."

"I did, I used to have a way with holding together relationships like that," Octavia said.

Vinyl smiled at Octavia, but it soon turned to a sigh. "Listen... I'd love to see if I can be a nicer date than those guys, but most of my dates wind up dead."

Octavia smirked. "So do mine it seems. Still, it would be nice to have a date that wasn't such a Twit."

Vinyl blushed and turned away. "Yeah..."

Octavia finished what was left of the 'Rum?', which lets admit from the quality of that place, lives up to having a question mark in its name, and for a moment she sat in silence. "You know what? Let's do it anyways."

Vinyl raised her eyebrows. "You do realize I've just been saying that if we're going to date, you're going to have to defeat my Seven Evil Ex-es Right?"

"The Colt Pilgrim Thing," Octavia said, clearly familiar with this weird ass social convention. She soon chuckled. "Yeah, I once couched a kid through one of those situations."

Vinyl shrugged. "Still, seems a bit of a thing to rush into just on gut instinct."

"Yeah, but it's better than playing music in filthy bars for another hundred years waiting for a bunch of aristocrats to trust me again," Octavia said.

Vinyl chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head. "Well, if you're up for dealing with my crazy life, I've got a show later tonight, we can hang out backstage and discus music I guess."

Octavia picked up her case of bass and slung it over her shoulder. "Lead the way."

---

Rainbow Dash groaned as she found herself flying over the city, trying to push higher speeds while wearing a huge pack of stuff. "What part of training was this again?"

"Besides endurance?" Spitfire said, "the fact is, if you want to be able to fight at high speed while wearing armor, you kinda have to push how much you're comfortable carrying as well." The two stopped on top of a building overlooking the City. Spitfire took a deep breath. "Still, It never ceases to amaze me how much things change," Spitfire said, "Twenty years ago... This City was just farmland surrounding Canterlot... Now its a City in its own Right."

Dash rolled her eyes. "And... Twenty years ago... Nightmare Moon showed up and we had two Princesses again. That only took a day? So?"

Spitfire snickered. "Sorry... I'm still getting used to some things," she said, "not every-pony gets to see what happens after being gone a thousand years."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Say that again?"

Spitfire smirked. "Lyra's fault. Magic was involved," she said, "besides, who are you to talk? Twilight Sparkle is probably pulling some strings too to keep you guys in the peak of your youth for twenty years."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Fair enough."

"So," Spitfire began, "what do you think of New Canterlot?"

"Its basically Manehatten except Luna goes out and acts like Mare Do Well at night here. What's there to get?" Dash said, looking off into the distance. "And don't even act like its not obvious. Nopony says anything about it cause it would ruin her fun."

Spitfire smirked. "Pretty much. But you've got to admit her outfit is cute."

Rainbow Dash blushed. "This... Is a good time to change topics..."

Spitfire looked out over the horizon. "Maybe a brief history lesson about knights then? Basically, its starts with one Pegasus Pony... Who decided to ride a Dragon."

"Wait... What!?" Dash yelled, "this doesn't sound like a history lesson! This sounds like a drunken story some crazy idiot told at a bar!"

Spitfire leaned one arm over the edge. "Trust me... It gets crazier... But its all true. But Suffice to say, for a long time afterward, ponies rode dragons."

And so Rainbow Dash sat down, ready to hear a bat-shit crazy tale that would no doubt take the entire evening to tell completely and would be almost impossible to believe, and yet was all true.

...Probably...

---

Octavia and Vinyl were hanging out backstage long after the show had ended. And Octavia was playing a more personal melody. One that was a long time removed from modern music. And the calming atmosphere from it made even Octavia wonder if she might fall asleep while playing it; her eyes were closed while playing after all. When she opened her eyes, she noticed Vinyl was looking a lot more contented than she looked earlier that day.

"I've never heard music quite like that, where'd you learn it?" Vinyl asked.

"It's about a thousand years old," Octavia said, "I learned it not long after it was written though. I've been... Around a while."

"One of those immortality deals then?" Vinyl asked Rhetorically, not exactly surprised by the development. "How'd you do it though?"

Octavia yawned. "It was one of those things one of the old monk guilds did before they disappeared. It also comes with some cosmetic changes I have to hide as well."

Vinyl smirked. "And now you're prepared to throw it away, I should be flattered I guess."

Octavia chuckled at this, which wound up getting her a confused look from Vinyl. "Don't get overly flattered. In the terms you'd put it, let's just say the 'deal' comes with a warranty."

Vinyl blushed. "Oh... Right..." she said; her next words interrupted when Octavia leaned in and kissed Vinyl on the cheek.

"Still, I've got to admit, tonight's been better than most. We should do this again some time," she said. She leaned in to Vinyl in what could be an intimate moment.

Vinyl leaned in, meeting her halfway, their lips joining for a brief moment.

At that moment some-pony crashed in through the ceiling, his landing reverberating through the floorboards. He raised to his feet an pointed at the couple. "Octavia! I Shall Destroy You!" The insane Newcomer shouted in as to the point was as possible. Clearly not the Brightest Spark in the Abyss. They turned to the newcomer, noting that the pony was wearing only a loin cloth and sported a pair of goat horns, plus some black leathery wings. Indeed, Vinyl's words earlier were no exaggeration that for some screwed up reason she may have dated a Demon.

In a calmed focused motion, Octavia pulled out a sword hidden inside her Bass. Stepping into the open space she took on a combat stance with a smirk on her face. "Indeed, by Samurai honor, I Challenge you to combat."

And indeed, as expected, and Probably well Noticed by Octavia, a Beloved Digital Voice called out across Reality, only noticed by those in tune with its flow.

Octavia VS Incubus: Round 1, Duel!

The Demon Leaped at Octavia with a Battle-Axe, screaming something fierce in its perfectly insane anger. Octavia simply took a deep breath and punched out a ball of cold energy that knocked the Incubus against the wall. Its skin cracking from the freeze stress, and clearly winded from the blast as it struggled to its feet.

This short fight would clearly be over soon, as Octavia began to glow, raising her arm with a large ball of holy energy, and blasted it at the demon. Causing it to fry in the light.

Octavia turned towards Vinyl Scratch, slightly amused by this eventuality. "Was that one of your Exes?"

Vinyl Scratch shook her head. "No, just one of his minions," She said. She pointed at the door. "That's him."

A dark skinned unicorn with a mutant demonic Extensions coming out of the base of his horn stepped forward, making a slow clap. "Well done Octavia, you're still doing your family proud I see."

Octavia raised an eyebrow, but as her face scrunched it was clear she was more disgusted than she was surprised. "I didn't expect you to be the first to claw your way out of The Abyss... Vance."

Vinyl Scratch kept looking back and forth between Octavia and Vance. "You two know each-other?"

Octavia rolled her eyes. "Take a wild guess, it will probably be right."

Vance laughed. "You don't care to remember that night do you? I don't blame you... But you know what I'm here for, so let's forget the past and do this already."

Octavia made a slashing gesture while Vinyl came and stood next to her and made a thumbs down with multiple Magic Hand spells. Listening out for the omnipresent cue to Strike.

Octavia and Vinyl Scratch VS Vance! Round 2!

Octavia leaped into the air and launched a Fro-dou-ken at Vance. Only for it to be deflected with a flash from his horn. But with Vinyl's intervention from her glowing horn Vance was thrown against the opposite wall.

Of course Vance managed to push himself off of the wall, and horn blasted a bolt of Acid straight at Octavia. To Which Octavia merely waved her arm and the bolt changed path into some of the sound equipment, which melted on contact.

Vinyl panted trying to keep Vance pinned with her Magic, slightly straining despite her weird ass Magical pedigree. "Whatever you have planned to deal with Vance, you better do it soon 'Tavi!"

Octavia blushed, "I've got a good one ready." Her Eyes glowed as powerful divine magic flowed through her, disrupting her bow-tie's own magic for a moment as the stripes of a tiger and an almost canine muzzle emerged from the glamor. She let loose a pulse of energy into the ground, and some bright white cracks spread through the ground that soon surrounded Vance and the earth itself let loose a burst of energy straight into him.

Vance cringed as the consecrated ground attempted to destroy him. He looked like he was barely managing to hold himself together. He looked like he was about to explode when Octavia Felt her magic falter.

As the ground returned to normal, the three of them were left panting, with Vance bleeding all over the floor. Octavia watched as Vance looked between her and Vinyl and back to her before sighing.

"I suppose I should say you win. No point in pushing this further," he said, turning to leave.

Octavia raised an eyebrow. "You're not the kind to be graceful in defeat, so I don't buy that."

Vance rubbed his chin. "True... But I'm really only in this gig for the money, so its nothing I want to risk my renewed time up here for." He walked out the door. "Try not to get yourselves killed by Gilda when she faces you two."

Octavia Sighed and checked for any wounds on herself. While she wasn't exactly wounded, her body was still worn out by how much she exerted herself. With what strength of will she had left, she managed to will hard enough that her more lupine features began to wind back. However, this still left her looking like some weird mix of Pony, Tiger and whatever Lyra based her Anthropomorphic spell off of.

Vinyl caught Octavia off guard by scratching her behind the ears, eliciting a slight purr of all things.

"So this is what you really look like," Vinyl said, "I think it makes you look kinda cute."

Octavia Blushed, not having intended to show off the full effects of her various studies tonight . "Thanks..."

Vinyl scratched her chin. "Still, I wasn't expecting you to be an Oracle in all that mix. Maybe that's something we should discus over coffee."

Octavia smiled as she leaned on her. "Sounds good... Just remember to help me walk home, my blood feels like fire right now."

---

Luna was putting on her Mare do well outfit, hoping to go out for her usual routine. However, right as she was putting on her mask, Lyra walked in with a small slice of cake. After starting at each other for a moment, Lyra sighed. "You know, you don't have to dress up like that. You decided to sign up to your own Heroes' guild. Anonymity is going to do jack at this point."

Luna scratched her neck. "True but... I just like wearing a costume okay. Lets say its a part of Nightmare Night that's grown on me."

Lyra rolled her eyes, sitting down next to her. "I'll get Rarity to make you a new costume then."

Luna smiled. "Thanks... By the way... What's with the cake?"

Lyra looked down at the plate she brought in. "Um... I guess we're celebrating the start of a new Era? I don't know, Pinkie just whipped one up and I thought you might like a piece."

Luna blushed. "I thought it was my sister that was into cake," she said, "Well... I guess I can have a slice."

After Luna took the plate, Lyra was about to walk out when she remembered something.

"By the way... Your sister called... I'm not sure if she's joking or not but she said 'Happy Birthday'."

Luna slapped her forehead. "Damn it! I forgot! When was it supposed to be? Yesterday?"

Lyra smiled. "It happens to all of us eventually. Though maybe I can round up enough guests for a party this weekend."

Luna rolled her eyes. "I remember the last time you said that... Should I expect as small a gathering as last time?"

Lyra counted out a few numbers. "Lets see... We've got Six of Celestia's Pupils, some of them should have a Plus one... Then there's Five or so old acquaintances and whoever they're dating or married to. Plus three or four surprise guests... Not exactly a 'royal gathering', but seems like a decent group."

Luna blinked a couple of times. "That... Actually sounds worth going to."

Lyra smiled as she got up to leave.. "See you there then."

---

Octavia and Vinyl Scratch arrived back at her Roommate's apartment, some half empty penthouse hidden in the industrial district owned by Lyra and her Wife.

"Bon Bon? You home?" Octavia asked. Hearing a groan coming from the couch.

"Mostly," Bon Bon answered, lifting her head up.

Vinyl whistled at the surroundings. "Nice place you two have here. maybe I should move in."

Bon Bon shrugged. "Go ahead," she said, "Oh, before I forget... Octavia, your sister wants you to help her deal with her romantic circles."

Octavia sighed, yet another thing she had to deal with. "Sure... I'll get right on that..." She leaned in and kissed Vinyl. "But first, I'd like to do a few things..."

...And then things happened... No Seriously, I'm Not telling you, Write your own Idea of what happened!

---

Applejack was manning the bar in case any surprise customers come in. After all, it might make some income for the place until they get some respectable assignments. She turned her head as she heard some pony walk in, and she raised an eyebrow when she noticed it was the Half Dragon newcomer who sat down in front of the bar and sighed. "I'm assuming the Apple-cider is still on special?" she said.

Applejack nodded and started pouring the drink. "Not really much else in stock yet, other than some thousand year old wine and champers. And I'd doubt any will be using that for something short of a royal wedding." She gave the mug to the Half-Dragon. "So... What's your name?"

"Gemstone..." She said, " or just Gem... It doesn't matter."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "That's the opposite of what Rarity would say... You sure you're related?"

Gem sighed. "I didn't get to spend enough time with her before she disappeared. So I guess I only really learned one thing from her."

"And what would that be?" asked Applejack, who was now leaning over the counter.

"Hmm..." Gem started, "I could just sum it up as 'being generous', but you'll get a bit more out of this with a story to go with it."

Applejack pulled up a stool behind her and got herself comfortable. "Well... How does the story go?" she said as she poured herself a mug.

"It starts with something you probably heard. A Prince that called himself Blueblood," Gem said while swinging her mug around, "mom had one date with him, on one night... and found that he was too obsessed with himself to care about helping a would be partner. Despite his otherwise royal manner."

Applejack chuckled. "Sounds like something else you got from that was acting high class doesn't always mean charming."

Gem shrugged and crossed her arms. "Maybe... But that's only half the story... There's also the story of my own life."

"Why do I get the feeling I know where this is headed?" Applejack said, lifting her mug to take a gulp.

Gem shook her head. "Please, I doubt you'd be able to guess I became a bit of a thief after she disappeared."

Applejack choked on her drink. She sputtered a little before she could talk. "Come again?!"

"It sounds like the opposite of generous I know..." said Gem, "but it wasn't really things I stole for myself. It was stuff I thought the rest of us would need when our family was falling apart."

"I can't exactly say I approve of that," said Applejack tapping away at the counter, "but at least you were thinking of those you cared for I guess."

Gem chuckled. "You'd be surprised how often I hear that."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Now call this curiosity... But what exactly do you think of Rarity's dress making?"

Gem smiled. "She's skilled alright, but she's a little... Overbearing when you try to create your own stuff."

"Wait, you do that stuff too?" Applejack said, "I was almost thought you'd fit some rebellious teenager thing that's so popular lately."

"I do a little Seamstress work," Gem started, "I prefer working on street clothes though rather than formal wear. Its slightly more practical."

Applejack smirked. "I bet Rarity would be proud you're doing it," she said. She paused. "Well... If you can keep her from meddling with it."

Gem sighed. "Thanks," she said. She raised her mug. "To family I guess?"

The two Clinked their mugs and gulped down a few mouthfuls of the cider. And its at that moment that few others wondered in.

Rarity nursed an apparent Headache, and didn't even bother letting Applejack do the pouring. "You'd all be surprised how much I've had to think about today."

The Fluttershy Twins, if that's a convenient way of putting it sat down on the other side of her to Gem. "Not Exactly, There's a lot of things to think about when you're dealing with critters as well," the Leafy one Said.

Rarity waved off the comment. "That's not exactly what I meant, It's nothing to do with us going about setting up here... I mean... I'm sitting next to a Time Traveling Half-Dragon Daughter I can't even address directly yet. Doesn't that sound odd?"

Gem Giggled to herself. "I'm sure you'll adapt though. I'm more worried about the whole Alternate Timeline stuff, how the heck does that work?"

Dragonshy shrugged. "Not entirely sure... But... for some reason I think I heard my version of Lyra say something about the Ponies coming from the Future being from a separate Timeline as well... Something about the Timelines getting cut before those events are meant to happen."

The Fullmetal Applejack rolled her eyes as she stood over to the side. "And no pony is interested in what those timelines are like?" She Fidgeted a bit. "I mean, my Timeline is Pretty much some kinda Academia for Pony's Sake."

Gem smiled. "If we're talking Timelines, lets just say the Future has Jetpacks... and a lot of other industrial stuff."

Every pony suddenly turned an eye to Dragonshy, but quickly turned away and took a sip of their drinks since waiting for her to pipe up with all eyes on her might be be awkward. But she slowly found her voice. "...Um... Rainbow Dash got into the Wonderbolts themselves in my Timeline."

They all collectively choked on their beverages as they heard this. And Collectively Invoked a Single Word.

"WHAT?!"

---

Day Three

Rainbow Dash had finished suiting up with some modified Wonder-bolt Armour. And was waiting for her first Assignment. Twilight and Pinkie were there too, so they were all getting Briefed up on Previous events over a Pot of Coffee.

"So you're telling me, that you two are part magical wolf now. Along with those wings you refuse to show off, " Dash said.

Twilight shared a Look with Pinkie. "Pretty much."

Rainbow Dash looked to the part of Twilight's back where her wings would be. "How long are you planning to keep them hidden anyways?"

Twilight sighed. "It's easier this way. If the public knew I was a princess from the moment they saw me, they'd probably pull me away from danger... Even when I'm the only one that can stop it."

Pinkie Pie giggled. "Don't be so dramatic, you just need to gain more of a reputation as a hero first."

Dash rolled her eyes, absentmindedly looking at a newspaper. "I'm surprised that we haven't got one already, it's like every-pony walks around wearing blindfolds."

Luna cleared her throat as she entered the room. "Forgive the interruption, but your first mission is in Dash. You'll be helping out a couple of potential recruits at a distant facility made from some of the lost remains of this one. The details are sparse, but they seem to have gotten into a bit of a fight with a bunch of Fiends."

"Yeah, yeah." Dash picked up a satchel. "Just tell me how many and which way I head."

"Seven, though one has been dealt with in a sense..." Luna pulled out some pictures. "These are the fiends in question."

Dash looked at the pictures, and her eyes drifted to a picture of a horned griffon. "Luna... I know this one... She's different than I remember, but... It's Gilda."

The room went silent. Pinkie actually bothered to test an old saying by dropping a Pin, and noted that when it clinked against the ground everypony's Ears Twitched.

And then Rainbow Dash got yanked backwards by Lyra, dragging her towards a room. "I'm not in the mood For this kind of bullshit!" Lyra yelled, "I told my wife I'd get someone over there, and you're ready to go, so quit stalling!"

Dash broke out of her grip. "I can carry myself you know!" She looked back at the others. "I'll tell you guys about it when I get back."

Twilight Sparkle sighed as she sat back in the lobby, watching Dash leave. "Great, Dash gets to go off and have some kind of adventure while we're stuck here."

Pinkie Pie lifted her shades. "Come on, your adventure is about to start too, this way!" she said, dragging Twilight down a corridor.

A few doors down, Pinkie took them into one of the doors. "Now, what do you see?"

In the middle of the room floated a fox-like figure resembling Vinyl Scratch. She slowly seemed to be waking up. She then touched the floor and began to look around.

"Wow..." Vinyl said mildly bewildered, "I'm not dead..."

"Hi," said Pinkie, "you're from... Timeline three right?"

Vinyl nodded. "I thought I was dead though... Double dead actually... Did Lyra pull some kinda stunt with my soul?"

Pinkie scratched the back of her head. "Yeah... Your body and soul are partly digitized... Well... More than it was already anyways. Your existence is weird."

Vinyl sighed. "Well... I'll probably end up having to fuse with my past self eventually anyways to save my own timeline... So what do you guys need me for anyways?"

Pinkie smiled. "Twilight's going to need to do some time travel, I thought it would be good if some-pony already acquainted with it helped out. And... Well... The Doctor was out today. As for when, it's about a year ago, midnight of the summer sun celebration."

Vinyl turned to Twilight and smirked, a slightly pawed hand outstretched. "Well then, you ready to go, by the time we get back, I'm sure no time will have passed at all... Literally!"

Twilight whined. "But... Last time I time traveled... I ended up changing nothing I wanted to change, and I ended up causing a time loop."

"That's actually not a bad thing to happen," Vinyl said, "while I know a lot about time, I've learned that the best advice for others about time is that you can't over-think it. Just do what feels right and all will fit into place."

Twilight smiled. "Alright, lets get this over with then."

Pinkie giggled. "So you guys know what you're doing, you're looking for a grey mare with a blond mane, she should know how to find The Doctor."

The fox-like Vinyl Scratch offered a hand to Twilight. "Shall we?"

Twilight nodded. And they both disappeared in a flash of light.

Pinkie smiled to herself. "Now... I wonder, is there a way I can get this place into serviceable shape before they get back?" she asked herself, "maybe something involving time travel?"

She walked out of the room, and greeting her was the sight of the entire building full to the brim with Chrono cloned Pinkie Pies.

Beside her stood Luna with a cup of Coffee and a smug look on her face. "You haven't even done anything yet and you've screwed something up. This is why you're not some kind of Hero of Time."

Pinkie let out a huff. "Yeah... Well... I'm working on a solution."

Luna tapped a hoof. "You better hurry, this could cause enough strain on time that a new timeline might be born... And then things will get even more complicated."

Pinkie sighed. "All I got is throwing them into portal in the Sun or Moon, don't ask me to explain why that's a good idea, that's a thing another Pinkie is better at."

Luna shrugged and set down her Coffee Mug. "Fair enough, I'll help you out there."

Pinkie sighed... Today could end up being a long day.

---

Rainbow Dash stepped off the Teleporter pad. "Why don't all buildings have these?"

Lyra sighed. "Unfortunately, the production costs are astronomical. So most just use airships."

"Do we have any airships?" Dash asked, clearly interested.

"Umm..." Lyra blushed. "I don't want to talk about it."

Dash looked around at the room they were in, there were a bunch of hallways in each direction, filled with doors with numbers on them. "What part of the old building was this?"

"It used to be a whole bunch of living quarters. Though it's been renovated into a proper apartment building," Lyra said.

Dash Scoffed. "Kinda dull living, compared to the places me and my friends live in."

Lyra rolled her eyes and let herself into one of the rooms. "Just come. Help yourself to the stuff in the fridge if you want."

Dash made her way to the fridge and looked inside. She grabbed herself what she needed for a cup of coffee, which she had to prepare while overhearing Lyra's conversation with another mare.

"How are you feeling? You look better than last time," Lyra said.

"I still feel like my Brain is twisting," said the other mare, "though you did warn me years ago Alchemy does weird stuff like this after a while."

Lyra sighed. "If it makes you feel better, you've dealt with it better than most would... And you're going through a version worse than they have to."

Dash walked over with her coffee mug. Getting a good look at the mare Lyra was talking to, she recognized the pink and blue mane to belong to Bon Bon... Or maybe Bon Voyage?

Bon Bon looked up at Dash, and as they made eye contact Dash saw her dual colored eyes.

Bon Bon and Bon Voyage were the same Pony!

---

1 Year in the Past

When Twilight and Vinyl emerged, they were in more or less the same place, minus Pinkie, the lights weren't working for some reason and the room was full of dust.

Twilight turned to Vinyl Scratch. "This is the right time... Right?"

"Yeah, but we didn't have a location in mind did we?" Vinyl said. She began walking towards the door. "I deal with time, not space, so give me a break will you?"

Twilight sighed. "Okay, so Grey, blond maned pony... where are we going to find a pony like that?"

Vinyl sighed. "Assuming it's who I think it is, she's supposed to contact us."

A small package then materialized out of nowhere and landed between them.
Twilight picked up the package and inspected the tag. "Um... Who's Ditzy?"

Vinyl lifted up her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "It's one of her two names. She first switched them somewhere near the end of time, before 'The Doctor' taught her a little trick for going backwards in time." She took the package from Twilight. "It works fairly well, considering her trick is to jump from world to world instead of moment to moment."

They set the package down on a disused lab table. As they tore into the package, they discovered a muffin inside.
Twilight turned to Vinyl with a raised eyebrow.

"A muffin, seriously?" said Twilight.

Vinyl giggled. "It's a bit of humor on her part, you get used to it. It's also a favored snack for her pet."

"What pe-?"

A tear in reality burst open and a monstrous serpent emerged, and riding it was the grey mare.

"Heel!" Ditzy said, "they aren't used to your jumps!

Vinyl turned to Twilight who was stunned, her only movement being a twitching of her eyelid. "Proteans are assholes right?" Vinyl said.

Very slowly, Twilight turned to Vinyl. "Is she... Crazy? Those things are.... Chaos incarnate!"

Ditzy giggled. "Come on, this one's actually not so bad. She thinks she's some kind of puppy." Ditzy dismounted and began to rub the Protean's belly. "Who's a good girl?"

The Protean's tongue hung out as it floated in the middle of the room, it even sprouted a par of legs just so it could kick in time with the scratches.

Twilight held her face in her hand, huffing a little. "Calm... Breath deep..."

Ditzy raised some amulet and in a flash of light the Protean was sucked inside. She turned to Twilight with a smile on her face. "Yeah, she tends to have that effect on others the first time they see her."

Twilight sighed. "We were told we need to find The Doctor, and that you're supposed to know how to find him."

Ditzy toyed with one of her locks covering one of her clouded misaligned eyes. "Kinda, I know where he shows up, but not quite the when." She sighed. "It's not like we can't try though, assuming one of you can do that kind of stuff."

With a nod from Vinyl, Ditzy snapped her fingers and they teleported away.

---

After Lyra brewed some more coffee for herself and Bon Bon, they were all seated around the table. "I'm sure you understand my wife's situation Dash... Bon Bon is what some would call a 'Master Chymist', which is a fancy term for a well known alchemy side effect."

"Twilight got me to read a Science horror story, I think I know what you're talking about," Dash said.

Lyra sighed. "I know this isn't what we came here to do... But since Octavia and Vinyl are off doing something, you may as well ask about it."

Dash turned to Bon Bon, who was shivering. "Twilight's stories never mentioned getting stuck between two forms... Is that bad?"

Bon Bon winced. "No worse than a bad hangover... Its... Hard to think straight though... Two similar minds don't always think alike."

"Think of it like two or more ponies trying to draw using the same pen," Lyra said.

Dash leaned back. "Okay, so I don't have to worry about that. So can we finish the briefing on the mission?"

Lyra produced a few files. "From the little information gathered about the fiends, we should assume that there's a representative or two from the three major lower Realms." She paused. "Um... In simple terms, you're going to be dealing with demons, daemons and devils."

Dash rolled her eyes. "Like I'm supposed to understand the difference. That's Twilight's thing."

Lyra sighed. "Great, do I have to start explaining from demonology 101?" Lyra rubbed her temples. "I guess it's not important yet, they're all weak to holy weapons anyways."

"Got it," Dash said.

Lyra brought out another folder. "The seventh though is something else, he's a vampire. A very old and powerful one actually."

They heard the door open, they turned to see Octavia and Vinyl walked in. "We're not interrupting anything are we?"

Lyra shook her head. "No, I think we're done. We just need to meet up with Spitfire now."

Octavia raised her eyebrows. "Huh... It's been a long time since me and Spitfire spent time together."

---

Pinkie brushed her hands off as they finished the job of throwing the chrono-clones into the Moon using a giant Catapult and Luna's magic.

"There, now neither of us have to mention this ever again baring some fluke of chance," Pinkie said.

Luna opened up another flask of Coffee. "At least until the moon passes over the Mirror pool some day. Then who knows what will happen."

Pinkie groaned. "Yes, I'm well aware that's going to happen, but the point of 'never mention this again' still stands."

Luna sighed. "Before we stop talking about this though. I'm pretty sure this was supposed to happen. Maybe something out there needs your energy to make something. Basically..."

In a moment of silence Pinkie Pie's face wavered. "I'm... Going to be a mother?" Pinkie said.

Luna nodded. "I guess you can put it that way... Though um... I'd kinda be the mother as well... Except more so I guess." Luna rubbed her neck. "I've... Never gotten to do something like this... So maybe it might as well be with you..."

Pinkie suddenly hugged Luna with tears streaming down her face. "Thank you Luna!"

Luna started coughing. "Umm... Pinkie... My lungs..."

---
1 Year in the Past

As they reappeared in some unknown metropolis, Twilight blinked a few times. "Okay, now I know I'm missing something here, how did you get to use magic like that Ditzy?"

Ditzy leaned up against the wall and looked into the night sky. "It's a long story. But the fact is, I was born legally blind. And for whatever reason, that qualified me to become an Oracle."

"Oh," Twilight said, "I'm sorry I brought it up."

Ditzy waved off the statement. "It's quite alright, over the years my Oracle training has helped lessen the curse. As well as made my other senses able to take their place."

Vinyl cleared her throat. "You know, it's gonna take a while for me to find the right time, you guys may as well have some fun while you're here... Or a quest or something, I don't know what you do in your spare time in this Timeline."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of 'here', where exactly are we."

"The Moon," Ditzy said, "you should be able to see a bit of Equestria if you look up."

Twilight looked up at the sky, seeing Equestria clearly, albeit shadowed by the night.
"Hmm..." she said, "that's quite a view."

Ditzy smiled. "Anyways, you should check out the place while you're up here; the citizens of this place ironically have one of the biggest events for the summer sun celebration I know," Ditzy rubbed her chin, "something about how Celestia made the 'stay up all night' rule as a way to celebrate both day and night."

"Sounds good," said Twilight, "you planning to show me around?"

Ditzy scratched the back of her head. "Unfortunately I still have a few errands to run," she said "I'll meet you back here when I'm done." And in a flash, she was gone.

---

Rainbow Dash found herself on the roof where some kind of party seemed to be going on. "Why exactly are we up here?" asked Dash. She turned around and noticed the others had already dispersed into the crowd.

"Because..." said a voice behind her. Dash snapped back round to see Spitfire standing next to her. "...Demons prefer to interrupt something than show up while others wait for them," she said.

Dash groaned. "Okay fine, but is it working?"

Spitfire hummed, looking in the air. "Yeah, I think so."

At that moment, a large horned version of Gilda crashed down onto the roof, scattering the revelers with her Over the top Demonic Show off routine. "Rainbow Dash!"

The crowd parted around Dash as the Demonic Gilda addressed her. Dash drew her blade and prepared for combat. "So you've got a problem with me now?"

"Damn right I do, you left me for a pack of losers you asshole!" roared Gilda in the most over the top outburst one can think of with a Bird Brain, "so I'm going to tear you apart for leaving me!"

Dash smirked. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you want to rumble, then bring it!"

Dream Bolts VS Demonic Gilda

Gilda rushed at Rainbow Dash, but before impact she was knocked aside by a bullet out of nowhere. Dash turned to see a more normal looking Gilda perched on a box carrying a rifle with a smirk on her face.

"Hey, you really think I'm going to let you just go around hurting my old friends and jacking my look?" the normal Gilda said, "I've got a reputation to keep up."

The demonic Gilda roared. "And what? Are you just going to deny we're still mad at Dash?! Don't try to deny it! I am you after all!"

"Ha, like you know anything, I've changed," Gilda said. Frustration slipping into her voice.

The demonic Gilda snarled. "Are you going to deny it?! Deny how much pain and rage you felt when Rainbow Dash chose some new friends over us?! The envy you felt when you saw how much more she cared for them than you?!"

"I said quit it!" Gilda yelled.

"...Wouldn't it be easier to just kill them all and take what's ours?!" the demonic Gilda Screeched.

"Shut up!" Gilda roared, "you're not me!

The demonic Gilda's eyes glowed golden, a deep, echoing chuckle coming out of her as darkness swirled around her. "Oh I am you... I'm the real you!" She grew in size till she occupied almost the entire rooftop.

Dash palmed her hand against her face. "What the fuck did you just do Gilda?!"

The entire roof was in chaos as revelers scrambled to the exit from the rooftop.

As the demonic Gilda reached full size, a blast of air knocked the normal Gilda against the stage and winded her.

"I am a shadow, the true self!" the demonic Gilda yelled. Chains dangling from a suddenly materialized collar. "...I will show you all what true pain means!"

With the crowd dispersed, the team gathered together between both versions of Gilda.

Octavia looked to Vinyl. "Why does everyone I meet have the most charming Exes?"

Vinyl shrugged. "Hey, at least it's something we can laugh about tomorrow"

Lyra cast a spell on the team's weapons, causing them to glow a bright gold. "Let's get this over with, I have to care for my sick wife."

Dash and Spitfire took to the air as they dodged an incoming claw. Dash retaliated by firing a bolt of lightning from her blade.

Octavia leaped up and kicked the demon in the face, and followed up with a sword slash across the brow

Vinyl's horn glowed, her magic pulling the chains back, throwing the griffon's balance off enough for her to run in and slice a nice gash through her belly.

The demonic Gilda roared. "Enough! You'll all Pay!" She created a gust of wind that pushed Octavia, Vinyl and Lyra against a wall, stunning them.

She took to the air with a high pitched screech, and some fiery energy was building up at her beak.

"Hey Dash," Spitfire said, "you deal with the demon, I'll help out the others!"

Dash nodded and flew forward to punch the Griffon in the face. She then soared into the sky as it chased after her

Dash looked back as the Griffon gained on her, and smirked. She busted off with some extra speed and swung round to charge right into the demonic Gilda's chest. An in a sonic rainboom she crashed her back to the ground.

Dash looked to the others who were on their feet now and smirked. "Come on guys, lets beat the everliving crap out of this one!"

The team raised their weapons and proceeded to whale on the beast to the point a cloud of feathers began to obscure the action. Only for it to be knocked back by a renewed gust from the demon's wings.

It panted as it got to its feet. "You guys really deserve a pounding now! I've never felt more more betrayed in all my life then what all of you have done to me!"

"For crying out loud! We get the picture you dyke!" a voice called from behind them.

Several glowing bullet trails punctured through the beast's heart and head, and it's outer core shattered. Leaving behind a regular sized Gilda.

The normal Gilda stepped forward and lifted the other to its feet. "I get it... You're me... I'm you... But still, that's not cool. Others have dealt with these feelings better than we have, so we better do it too... Before I start whaling on you too!"

The demonic Gilda shimmered as it shifted from. "Thank you..." For a brief moment the other Gilda took on the form of a great Norse warrior before merging with the real Gilda.

All still gathered on the roof blinked a few times. "What just happened?" asked Dash.

Gilda turned to Dash, looking a little embarrassed. "So... um Dash... I wanted to apologize for my behavior the last time we met. it's taken a while... But I've realized I completely blew my cool."

Dash smirked. "Can you say that in a way that doesn't sound like you're trying to save your image?"

Gilda sighed. "Alright! You friends were right, I was wrong!" she said, "don't tell them I said that though."

Dash was doubled over by laughter. She then wiped her face a little. "That sounds so weird coming from you."

Gilda smiled. "So... I know you all probably still hate me... But... Can we all try being friends again?"

Dash shrugged. "I don't see why not. It would be mean to say no if you really want to fix things."

Lyra cleared her throat. "You can all start by helping us clean up the mess up here. Once we're all done, me meet back at my appartment so I can explain stuff to you all."

---

They were all gathered around the coffee table, Bon Bon having fallen asleep. Lyra had brought out a whiteboard to illustrate things.

"Okay..." Lyra said, "lets start with the whole demented Brain dead 'I am the shadow' scenario that just happened. That was some part of Gilda that died in some previous incarnation of this timeline."

Gilda scratched her head. "Previous... What?"

Lyra sighed. "I'll get to that later. Anyways, after dying and turning into a demon, she came back to join the timeline alongside the proper Gilda."

Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's the part we just saw, we were there. Anything new?"

"Well..." said Lyra, "you're probably wondering what the whole fusion deal was... Well... Since they were the same being, from more or less the same timeline in a mostly technical sense, that's is a perfectly valid resolution to some paradoxes in this reality, provided they are willing."

"Looks like you certainly explained that," Vinyl said, "night everyone."

"Sit down!" Lyra yelled, "I still need to explain to you a thing! You've dealt with demons so far, but Devils and Daemons have totally different behavior!"

Octavia yawned. "You better explain it in ten words or less then... We're all tired."

Lyra frowned as she considered each word. "Devils like order. Daemons don't care for methods, but ends!"

Dash headed off to one of the guest rooms. "Night then. We'll discuss some more things in the morning."

---

1 Year in the Past

Ditzy emerged again atop a building overlooking the lunar metropolis, she didn't sense anypony nearby, but she was still given a message to come here.

"So, you've arrived," a voice said, "that's good."

Ditzy turned around. "Who's there?" Ditzy asked, "and how are you hiding from my senses?"

A dark blue pony walked forward into the short range of sight Ditzy had, bat-wings marking her as a local of the moon.

"I'm no-pony important, just a witch who needs some things gathered for some friends," she said.

Ditzy blinked a few times. "As in the kind of witch that gain power from dark forces?"

"Wait... what?" the other pony said, "well... Yes? But if that's how all witches in this world work then I doubt we're talking about the same thing."

Ditzy smiled. "Fair enough."

The other pony sighed. "Anyways, the criminal organizations around here should have enough stuff for my friends hidden in their bunkers, but they tend to be a little booby trapped," she said, "however you manage to get past those, just remember to send them to these time and space coordinates." She handed Ditzy an envelope with a whole bunch of numbers on the cover.

Ditzy accepted the envelope and smiled. "I'll be glad to help."

And in another flash, Ditzy was gone.

The other pony sighed. "Does every-pony in this universe jump through time and space this much?" she said to herself.

---

Twilight was savoring some ice cream, watching a parade depicting Celestia gathering every pony she could find to mourn for her wayward sister for the night.

Twilight recognized one of the statues on one of the floats as Lyra, which made her jaw hang open in some contorted expression.

She turned to one of the revelers. "Excuse me, but I think I recognize that mint green pony, is she supposed to be important to this or is it coincidence?"

The reveling bat pony laughed. "Of course, in the legends she was both a bard and a wizard. She was part of Luna's respected court. She was also friends with Spitfire I heard."

Twilight looked back at the parade and saw some huge statue of Spitfire kissing some grey, tiger striped pony roll past. "I'm just going to assume shenanigans here," Twilight said.

At that moment, a large ball of red energy ripped through the middle of the parade, scattering the revelers.

Twilight turned towards the source, and saw a black pegasus against the skyline, with only a red mane betraying her presence. A number of machines surrounded her, clicking with sparks, descending upon the parade.

Twilight's horn glowed as she jumped into the battle and a blade of crystal materialized in her hands. She held it in front of her as tight as she could.

She ran at the machines, tearing one of the bladed arms off the first one using her own blade, before flinging her crystal sword at another with her levitation magic.

With the severed blade, she leaped at the next bot, stabbing it through its chest. She turned to attention to a pair of bots sneaking up on her and used her magic to slam them together.

She looked towards an incoming horde of bots and released a rapid fire burst of magic bolts into them.

"Dammit!" Twilight said, "these things keep coming!"

A twitch ran down Twilight's tail, and she quickly jumped out of the way as a larger bot jumped down from above.

Twilight panted as she regained her footing, retrieving a blade from one of the writhing bots with a spark from her horn. "Thank Celestia that Pinkie taught me that trick!" she said to herself.

A whirring noise sounded behind her and the large bot suddenly collapsed, prompting Twilight to look behind her.

A brown earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark stood next to the fox-like Vinyl Scratch while holding a wand-like device.

"Hello. I'm The Doctor," he said, "and now would be a good time for you to unbind those wings of yours, your main enemy can fly remember."

---

Ditzy showed up in a corridor somewhere, the lack of light did nothing to keep her from knowing what it looked like. She walked through it looking for anything of interest. Even though at first all she could see was a single door.

The moment she opened the door, several guns sprung were pointed at her at once by some ruffians.

Ditzy smiled. "You wouldn't shoot a kinda blind mare... Right?"

Right as the triggers clicked, Ditzy zapped herself forward a few feet. Leaving the ruffians to shoot each other instead.

After a brief thought on how they managed to get the hand modifications a year before that part of the spell was invented, she took a step forward, and heard a click; and an over-sized hammer came out of the roof and slammed her against the wall.

Ditzy held her head as she waited for her head to stop ringing. "I just... Don't know what went wrong..."

She got up and gathered up some of the stuff, placing it all in a magic bag.

Once she grabbed enough stuff, she teleported to another building, but as she arrived she accidentally knocked over something, and it started to tick.

Although she had a bad feeling of what it was, it wasn't until she took a close look at it with her impaired 'proper' vision that she realized it was a bomb.

She threw it to the other side of the room where it promptly exploded, and the force of the blast knocked her down a flight of stairs, her body not even getting a chance to spread it's wings between tumbles, or give her enough sense of direction to teleport properly.

"It keeps happening!" she cried.

---

Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle was engaged in aerial battle with the red haired mare, whom she was beginning to suspect was some kind of Devil. They kept trading blows, and Twilight managed to push the other mare against a building. "Just who are you?" asked Twilight, "and why are you doing this?"

The other mare sighed, "I'd love to tell you that second one, but I can't. And the first hurts a little too much to say."

Nearby, a tall building exploded, and it came hurtling toward them, making them fly off in different directions.

The red haired mare grabbed one of the robotic soldiers and threw it at Twilight, which Twilight slashed in half before flying at the Devil.

Twilight and the other mare broke each others blades in a strike, and Twilight pressed the broken hilt against the other Mare's throat. "That makes no sense!" Twilight yelled, "most fiends can't wait to tell the living of who they were and what they became!"

The other mare rolled her eyes. "You're assuming I became one on my own." The other mare kicked twilight off and flew to grab the blade arm off another robot. Twilight giving chase.

"So what happened, your loyalty to the legions of Hell was stolen rather than given?" Twilight said.

The red haired mare smirked. "Funny you should mention 'Loyalty'," she said right before she disappeared in a red flash.

Within a moment Twilight found herself being pummeled from multiple directions at once by multiple red blurs at once, knocking every once of breath out of her.

With one final rush the mare rammed Twilight into the side of a building. "So... Where were we?"

Twilight coughed as she began to regain her breath. "Dash... Is that-?"

"Afraid so..." the red one said, "at this point, I'm kinda wishing the other me would figure out how to kill me already."

"What are we supposed to do?" Twilight asked.

The Blackened Dash looked away. "For now, just try to lessen whatever damage I'm doing... And get things ready for the day the me that's still alive has to fight me to the death... and...well..."

Twilight blinked as she noticed the pause, "Well what?"

"...Get everyone out of the timeline I guess."

The Black and Red Dash disappeared again. And Twilight turned her attention back to the invasion.

It looked like it was going to be a long night.

---

Ditzy having finally regained balance managed to get herself back to where she was, where she 'saw' Twilight fighting another mare.

Blind-sight sure makes things confusing she mused as she cleared out what was left of the storeroom after it collapsed.

She grabbed out a huge sword and zapped herself somewhere else. Charging forward while yelling some tribal profanity involving a guy and his chicken.

As soon as she entered the cavern, she was bathed in fire. And as she looked up she saw the sight of a reddish dragon.

"Seriously... Thieves guilds are getting dragons to guard their hordes now?" She mused.

"I know," said some other dragon thing next to her, "kinda embarrassing for the dragon too."

She turned and took a closer look at the other. She recognized the Green and Purple lizard from somewhere, he was a fair bit larger than when they were last in the same town though.

"Hey, you're Twilight's assistant right? I was talking to her not long ago."

Spike shrugged. "Not sure how that works when she's supposed to still be in Equestria."

Ditzy smiled. "Time shenanigans I suppose... But that doesn't matter right now, I kinda have to gather and deliver some weapons for some weird pony... I just need a few more... Want to help?"

"Sure, why not, all the good stuff is in the next room over," Spike said.

Ditzy snapped her fingers and they teleported out of the other dragon's lair.

---

Twilight returned to where she left the Doctor and the other Vinyl. And as she landed Ditzy showed up with Spike.

"Oh... Spike... I haven't seen you in ages," Twilight said.

Spike rolled his eyes. "From your perspective you mean, I kinda saw you yesterday."

Twilight scratched the back of her head. "Yeah... Time shenanigans or whatever... Not important." She turned to the Doctor. "Any luck stopping those Hell constructs?"

The Doctor spun his sonic screwdriver around. "We've manage to subdue the bulk of them... The rest should be cleaned up within the hour by the authorities. It will be a footnote in the news by this time tomorrow."

Twilight nodded. "Okay, that sounds like it's been taken care of." She turned to Ditzy. "You finish whatever you were doing?"

"Kinda," Ditzy said, "Just have to deliver it now. I'm not so good with time coordinates though, so I think I'll need the Doctor for that."

"Right... So if everyone knows the when and where, we'll meet up after for debriefing," Twilight said.

They all nodded. And they all disappeared in a bunch of flashing lights.

---

A long time ago / but not that long, But Definitely A Completely Different Reality

A blue Bat Pony rests in bed on her tenth Birthday. In eight years she will be prepared to play a game that will involve several attempts to create a new universe that only fills her current reality with Monsters followed by instead creating a new reality instead to new specifications. The very reality this story takes place in.

But still, she retains a feeling that she's missing something.

All of a sudden, a chest appears out of nowhere with a muffin on top and a letter; which seems to be addressed from herself to herself with the message "you're doing this, you're making this happen." And full of weapons.

Her eyes darken and she lets out a vast expletive that drowns out into a generic censor bleep.

"I've already got enough of this s*** for f*** sake! Why would I need more?!"

A voice from nearby pipes up. "What I want to know is how you're doing that with just your mouth."

---

Twilight having returned to the guild-house gathers her new companions in the break room.

"Okay, so we've just seen some devil version of Rainbow Dash leading an assault on a moon city... So what's going on there?"

The Doctor adjusts his tie. "Obviously at some point she died in this timeline, probably the future."

"Yeah this happened before," the Fox version of Vinyl said, "In my timeline, some-pony out there moves her about the timeline until it becomes the kind of time loop with only one opportunity to break it properly, and even that will reset the timeline. This one though seems to be able to do it on her own."

Twilight sighs. "Okay... Looks like you've explained that..." she said, "So what now? From what she was willing to say, that one opportunity is that one Rainbow Dash defeats the other. But how do we make the living one strong enough to do that?"

Vinyl leaned back. "Simple, just find all the parts of her they threw away trying to make one bad Rainbow Dash... It's not like they can use all of her soul after all, she's mostly good."

Spike drank straight out of a pot of coffee. "Well... That almost made sense."

Ditzy rubbed his shoulder. "Give it time... We're talking time and extra dimensional space here."

Spike blinked. "Whatever, I'm just going to see what everyone's been doing in the year since I practically disappeared from the face of the planet."

---
Years in The Future/But not Many

The moonlight shone down upon the mirror pool, and a great mass of unfinished souls cloned from Pinkie in a conventional fashion rushed forth towards the moon.

Within the distorted realm beyond the moon, the power of the crono-cloned Pinkies fused together with the energy from the Mirror pool.

Perhaps it was that the energy in the realm beyond the moon being a great source of mutation. Perhaps it was the divine will of a goddess who specialized in causing a change of heart and soul. Or maybe both.

...But what emerged wasn't quite Pinkie Pie. But a new being born from her, who shared her kindness and laughter, but differed in some way not quite obvious.

But she definitely looked different. With a body white as snow and a golden mane, she took flight on wings granted by the moon.

However... She has been seen many years in the past... That much is already known... Because for some reason... this being was one that was already part of the Wonderbolts.

...Her name is... Surprise!

Comments

[Lunar Protege]

2268240

Believe it or not, that's actually quite a small reference compared to some other bits. I'd almost forgot I'd put that there.

Who phrases it as "Elder Scroll reference" anyways? With a long series, it usually saves time for those trying to recognize the reference if you mention which installment. (Skyrim).

...And... Now my inner is showing. I should go finish some stuff before I do the other half of chapter 3.