Starlight Glimmer Regrets Her Mistakes

by MagicS

First published 3rd of February, 2024

Now exactly how was Starlight supposed to know that a few changes to the past could cause the space-time continuum to collapse?

After her eventful vacation and all the good deeds she had done on it, Starlight was preparing to take over at the School of Friendship as Twilight got ready to ascend to the throne of Equestria. However, a few odd events suddenly began to take place around Ponyville. And according to Discord these events could be foretelling the doom of not just their world, but every world everywhere.

And it just so happens that a certain unicorn may or may not be totally to blame for all of it. Like usual, the world isn’t going to save itself, it’s up to Starlight, Spike and Discord to travel through reality and fix their (aka Starlight’s) mistakes.

Let’s hope there aren't any evil monsters lurking in the shadows.

Oops

Starlight Glimmer walked down the halls of the School of Friendship as another busy day came to a close. With Twilight having more or less given over the reins to her she had a lot more work to do than when she was just the guidance counselor. But it was the kind of work that was so fulfilling it didn’t bother her one bit. Whenever she saw the happy faces of her students as they ran on by it brought a proud smile to her face. She never would’ve guessed that in just a few years her life would go from what it was to this. Starlight knew how lucky she was, how blessed she was. There were some reservations she had in the past—some doubts about herself and her capabilities—but she had overcome them with a little introspection and a lot of help from her closest friends.

Now she was ready for the next step in her life.

That “vacation” she took a little bit ago to let out some stress also helped a lot.

Starlight still had a lot of good memories about that, even though both Twilight and Spike most certainly did not. And were not exactly happy with the way she fondly looked back on it.

But everything had turned out fine in the end, right? No harm, no foul. So there was really nothing to get upset about. She had even done a lot of good—helped out a lot of ponies—on that vacation.

That was all in the past now though and Starlight was willing to be mature about it, she promised nothing like that would ever happen again and she meant it. That promise being part of the reason she was where she was right now. If she ever wanted a vacation again it would be far more normal. But right now anyways it was just the end of a normal day and she was heading to her office to finish up a few things before heading back to the castle. Trixie was around here somewhere, maybe they could have dinner together? Or Sunburst. Or both of them if they were free too. That would be the perfect way to wind down after a busy day.

She did see quite a few of her other friends but they were all plenty busy with their own things after finishing up work at the school. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Starlight greeted each and every one of them with a happy smile and hug when she saw them. Asked them how their day had gone—but she knew none of them could really join her at such short notice with everything else going on in their lives.

Everyone had become so busy.

And Twilight was getting so close to up and leaving Ponyville…

Well, no sense in getting sad about that either. It’s not like they’d stop being friends. It was just one more age in all their lives, a new path opening up. You couldn’t expect things to stay the same forever.

Starlight made it back to her new office just a moment later, silently and quickly going over everything once with her eyes to make sure everything was alright. Desk? Check. Papers? Check, Phyllis? Check. And so forth. She took a big stretch, cracked her hooves, and sighed before walking over to the desk. Now, privately, she could at least afford to show how tired she actually was. Sitting in her chair her eyes glanced over the numerous pictures on her desk facing her, one with just her and Twilight, another with her and Trixie, the big one that everyone took together when the school opened, all of them brought back good memories.

After smiling for a moment she levitated a pen up in her magic and prepared to get to work.

Before she could put pen to paper, her desk started to shake. Just slightly, but Starlight could definitely feel it. She looked around, surprised, and noticed the windows and walls of her entire office were shaking a little bit too. After just a few seconds though it stopped as quickly as it started. Starlight raised a single inquisitive eyebrow as she looked around, wondering if that was it.

“Earthquake?” She asked the air, as if putting her thoughts into words would get her an answer.

When nothing else happened she just shrugged and started to get back to work. Little tremors like that happened every now and then, nothing special about it.

Unbeknownst to Starlight though, if she had just happened to instead turn around and look out the window of her office she would’ve seen a bright crack appear in the sky above Ponyville for a moment before it mended itself once the quaking stopped.

---

At that same moment, a certain purple dragon was busy cleaning and reorganizing the library in Twilight’s castle. For not the first time lately. Twilight had been adamant that things needed to be absolutely perfect for when she left Ponyville. It would be rude otherwise, she couldn’t let a single book be out of place. Spike was more than used to that behavior and this sort of work though and was taking it in stride. Helped that it all became so much easier when he grew his wings—no longer having to rely on any ladders or step-stools. He was doing it on his own too, with Twilight busy somewhere else in the castle going over a seemingly endless checklist on what she needed to do between now and leaving.

However some of these books Twilight owned were so heavy they were a little difficult to carry on his own. One particularly old encyclopedia about some old magic that he couldn’t even begin to understand was gripped in his claws, waiting to be pushed into its slot between two other just as big and incomprehensible books.

That was when the bookcase and the rest of the library began to shake. Not enough to dislodge any books thankfully—or Twilight would end up having a really inopportune panic attack—but still enough for Spike to notice and have to wait until it was over. Once it was done he pushed the heavy book into the bookcase and scratched his head before flying down to the floor and starting to waddle on out of the library.

“Hey, Twilight! Did you feel that just now?” Spike called out.

Behind him, a crack appeared in the air in the middle of the library before closing right back up before anyone could even know it ever existed.

---

The next morning Starlight was walking through town on a few errands. She planned to surprise everyone working at the school with a big cake to celebrate the new jobs some of them had and make sure everyone knew things were going to be just as happy as when Twilight was in charge. Now trying to surprise Pinkie Pie, with cake for that matter, was exceedingly difficult so she had actually been spreading these errands out over the past few days. Buying just a few ingredients at a time, at different stores and not always the normal ones, doing her best to appear normal to her friend. It was tough.

And she wondered if Pinkie Pie didn’t probably already know what she was doing but still let her go on out of politeness anyways.

Either way she left Bon Bon’s place behind and was stealthily making her way back to the castle when something unusual happened. It wouldn’t have been that unusual, were it not for the fact that the same exact thing happened just last night.

The ground started to shake right under her hooves—it was just slight, but anypony out walking around would have felt it. Everything just seemed to vibrate for a moment and to Starlight’s eyes objects and the buildings in front of her even seemed to blur slightly for a split-second. She shook her head and looked again, everything appearing normal once more. After just a few more seconds the minor earthquake stopped as well and everyone around started talking with their friends or muttering in confusion. Starlight didn’t blame them, everyone in Ponyville had to have felt the one last night too.

The usual suspects you could always see around Ponyville like Octavia Melody, Strawberry Sunrise, Cherry Berry, Davenport, Roseluck, Filthy Rich, and quite a few rambunctious fillies and colts, were engaged in numerous conversations about the strange quake that just happened. If Trixie had been walking with her, Starlight would’ve certainly asked her if she thought there was anything strange about that too.

And probably would’ve gotten a totally flippant and disinterested reply, but still.

For now, since nothing else could be done about it, Starlight just shrugged and got back to her walk. It was just a little tremor after all.

“Hey, what’s that?” She heard a pony say.

Starlight looked over to see a fairly dismayed Berry Punch pointing at the sky.

She and most of the other ponies around followed her hoof up and up into the bright blue sky over Ponyville. When they saw what she was pointing at—many ponies gasped in shock and fear, the beginning of an all to familiar Ponyville panic was rising, while Starlight felt her eyes widen. Whatever she was looking at was not the familiar sort of Ponyville problem. This was something different.

A crack, a glowing white crack in the sky, was spreading out above Ponyville. Jagged and splitting off in multiple directions it just appeared there, rending reality and not seeming to care that it was in the sky and not on some physical surface.

Starlight lit up her horn just out of caution but before she could do anything the crack’s growth stopped and just as quickly it all closed back up and disappeared.

“What’s going on?” Starlight frowned.

A loud shriek from across town got her attention and Starlight looked to see another startled pony pointing at the top of Town Hall. When Starlight looked at it she saw a crack that had gone down like a lightning bolt, hovering in reality right above the building for a moment before it too disappeared. More and more started to appear, though none were as big or lasted as long as the first one in the sky had. But for each appearance, there was a shriek of surprise or terror to accompany it and ponies were starting to panic. Especially for the cracks that appeared right at eye-level or barely above the ground. She kept her horn lit and was about to spring into action—any sort of action at all—when it finally all ended for good.

No more cracks in reality or whatever they were appeared. That still didn’t exactly stop every pony from already being incredibly worried and confused.

Starlight’s frown deepened as Ponyville was on the verge of a mass panic and she herself felt a good deal of foreboding when it came to what she had just seen happen. “Well this all can’t be good.”

---

Running into the Castle of Friendship, Starlight threw the door open and yelled for the one pony she could always count on. “Twilight! Hey, Twilight! Did you see what’s happening out there?”

However, she quickly found that not only had the others gotten the same idea as her—but she was the last to arrive. The front hall was crowded with her friends, all gathered around Twilight Sparkle already. Seems everyone had the right idea. If there was something wrong in Ponyville, you went to see Twilight Sparkle about it.

“It was right over the farm, Twilight. This big crack just opened up in the sky right as the tremor was going on,” Applejack told her.

“Consider yourself lucky!” Rarity huffed. “I was at home, working on a new dress at my sewing machine, when not only did I accidentally mess up the stitching because of that little earthquake but then I see the air in front of me split apart! I thought I was going mad for a second there! It happened right in my work room.”

“Freaky,” Pinkie Pie said. “I was at Sugarcube Corner and Mr. Cake asked me why it looked like the ceiling was about to break apart. Couldn’t really tell him so I figured the next best thing was to come here.”

“It was the same for me...” Fluttershy quietly said. “It happened right above my cottage, I don’t know if it was that or the earthquake that scared the animals more...”

“Geez, talk about weird. I was asleep up on the clouds so I didn’t feel anything, but when I heard some ponies shouting it woke me up just in time for that big crack over Ponyville to disappear,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“That’s exactly the kind of stuff Twilight and I saw just a little bit ago too!” Spike said to the girls. “We were in the map room and then bam! Almost fell out of my chair, and then sssshhhhhk! The air started cracking left and right and it was super creepy!”

Starlight joined in, walking into the circle of friends. “I saw it too. And so did the rest of Ponyville for that matter. Do you have any idea what’s going on, Twilight?”

“Not exactly,” the beleaguered Alicorn said. She looked a little tired and there was an expression of concentration on her face as she went over the words from her friends. “I’m pretty sure I know what those cracks are—fundamentally speaking—but I don’t know why they’re appearing.”

Pinkie Pie, standing directly next to Starlight, sniffed the air and glanced over at her friend. “Do you have sprinkles in your bag?”

Starlight coughed. “No, absolutely not. Why would I? She grinned and turned back over to Twilight. “You were saying something, Twilight?”

“Yes, here, everyone come with me into my study,” Twilight said and led their usual group out of the front hall. It was a little crowded when they made it to Twilight’s study—but that was only half because of all the ponies and dragon. A big machine with vacuum tubes, paper rolling out of some slot in the middle, and all sorts of dials and screens on it was taking up a lot of space too. Twilight stood in front of it and faced the others. “I’m sure you all noticed that there was a small quake last night as well?”

“Yes,” most of them answered.

“No,” Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anyways—there was one. And I’m certain that right after it ended the first cracks, just like the ones today, appeared as well. I was first suspicious of something strange happening because after reading my copy of the Equestrian Seismic Journal last week I knew there shouldn't have been any earthquakes like that recently, minor or otherwise.”

“There’s a journal like that?” Starlight asked, tilting her head.

“I’ve had a subscription for the past few years,” Twilight smiled. “But that’s not important right now. I’ve been analyzing the quakes and the strange cracks in reality that have been appearing and I’m positive—they have the exact same magical signature as the magic used for the mirror portal to Sunset Shimmer’s world.”

“Hold on there-” Applejack said. “All of these cracks are portals to that other world?”

“No,” Twilight shook her head. “They have the same magical signature, but they’re not portals to that world, or even really portals at all. They’re rips in space-time itself. Thanks to… a few other events, I’m very familiar with space-time magic and spells. I’m positive that’s what these cracks are, but I’m not sure what their origin is. All I know is they started last night but either no one saw them until today or they thought their eyes were playing tricks on them yesterday.”

Rainbow Dash started to innocently whistle.

“S-So what do we do? Is this dangerous?” Fluttershy asked.

“It really doesn’t make me feel better knowing that a crack in space and time could reopen in my boutique at any moment, Twilight,” Rarity said.

Twilight frowned and placed a hoof on her chin, thinking. “I don’t want to cause a panic… but there certainly can’t be anything good about this. The problem is I have no idea why this started! Without knowing that I’m not even sure just how dangerous this is or how to begin to stop it.”

“Perhaps I can shed some light on that matter?”

The girls (and Spike) looked up at the ceiling only to see Discord grinning down at them.

“I happened to be in the neighborhood today and couldn’t help but overhear about your little problem,” the draconequus snickered.

“Discord!” Fluttershy cheered in joy and immediately flew up to hug him—an embrace he gladly returned.

Starlight smiled too, despite some pranks and arguments in the past she was always happy to see him like this. In his own way he was just as reliable as Twilight when something weird like this came up too. If he wasn’t the problem to begin with.

Rainbow Dash snorted and raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s a lie, you can always tell when something weird is happening and magic is involved. What do you know about this?”

“Please, Discord, if you can shed some light on this it would really be helpful,” Twilight said.

“Oh you’re all no fun, can’t even humor me for just a little?” Discord said as he slithered down to the ground and stood between them.

“Ehh… I would normally, but I’ve been distracted by the smell of sprinkles for at least the past five minutes,” Pinkie Pie shrugged.

“Come on, Discord, out with it,” Applejack said. “I’d prefer to get this all fixed before one of those space-time crack thingamajigs opens up and starts sucking up all my trees.”

Discord shrugged, a bored expression on his face. “Very well—though the core of the matter is something that only Little Miss Bookworm here will fully understand the gravity of.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked, a little worried now.

Discord breathed on his nails, turning them over and examining them. “Oh nothing, it’s just that the entire space-time continuum is collapsing.”

“WHAT?!” Twilight Sparkle yelled.

“Uh, is that bad? It sounds bad,” Spike hesitantly ventured to ask.

“If the space-time continuum is collapsing then that means that the past, the present, and the future could all be erased. The whole world—all worlds everywhere—could be completely destroyed!” Twilight shouted.

“Oh. Yeah that sounds bad,” Spike blanched.

Starlight agreed.

“Then how do we stop it?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“And why is something so crazy happening right now?” Applejack asked Discord.

Discord smugly and proudly folded his arms over his chest. “Luckily, I can answer both questions.”

“Just please spit it out then...” a slightly agitated Twilight Sparkle asked.

“Fine, fine. To put it simply, the reason the space-time continuum is close to collapsing is because there’s an excess amount of unexpected chaos in it. It’s overwhelmed the harmony that normally keeps everything balanced,” Discord explained.

“And how exactly is there too much chaos out there?” Rainbow suspiciously asked, floating up to stare Discord in the eyes.

He nonchalantly shook his head. “Oh it’s not me. If it was I could easily fix things. No I’m afraid this problem is someone else’s doing. Someone you all know I might add, and you know the reason for why it’s all happening too. Just think a little bit.” He got a teasing twinkle in his eye as he glanced over at Starlight and grinned at her. “Now who among us here has recently done something that involves space and time and messing around in a bunch of alternate timelines and worlds, hm? Who could that be?”

All other eyes in the room slowly turned towards Starlight Glimmer.

From the blank expression on Twilight Sparkle’s face, to the tired one on Applejack’s, the oblivious smile on Pinkie Pie’s, and the “told you so” sort of look on Spike’s, they all bored into her.

“Oh,” Starlight blinked, feeling a rising heat in her face. She awkwardly smiled and lifted up her hooves in a shrug. “Oops?”

Author's Notes:

Chapters will be released based on dramatic tension.

Try Not to Make Things Worse

“Now hold on just a minute, how can this be my fault? I-I know I did a lot of time-traveling and world-hopping on my, erm, vacation a little while ago but how could it lead to this? It wasn’t like when I traveled back in time the other time,” Starlight nervously smiled at her friends. “It was different. The future—the present—the world shouldn’t be affected by any of that stuff.” She glared up at Discord. “And how did I spread chaos around? I was making things better! Or trying to… my intentions were always good whenever I was messing around at least!”

Spike groaned and buried his face in his hands, shaking his head back and forth. “I knew I should’ve fought more to stop her from doing all that dumb stuff back then...”

Starlight bit her lip and looked over to Twilight. “T-Twilight! You know I was helping out and doing good things when Spike and I were stuck in time. You were there with us when we took down evil me and saved that entire world! There’s no way I can be responsible for breaking the space-time continuum!”

“Ooooohhhhhh,” Twilight merely groaned and held a hoof to her head, the pain of a migraine coming on.

“Regardless of your good intentions or not I’m not wrong. Whatever you got up to on that vacation of yours ended up spewing a bunch of chaos all across reality. I’m actually impressed,” Discord said to her.

“I’m not!” Starlight shouted and fell to the floor. “I know I was being silly and maybe a little careless but I didn’t want anything like this to happen!”

“Hold on y’all, Discord said he knew how to stop this,” Applejack said and raised an eyebrow at the Draconequus. “Didn’t you?”

“Applejack speaks the truth,” Discord nodded. “Although it’s quite the pickle and will certainly take some work I do believe we can fix all this and stop all of existence from coming to a screeching halt. Unless you’re okay with that happening?”

“No,” Twilight said and frowned up at the trickster. “What do you think we need to do?”

“Well thanks to me being quite special and amazing myself—I’m able to sense the various worlds and timelines that Starlight mucked around in. I can easily create a portal to them while zeroing in on the general source of chaos or change that’s messing the rest of the space-time continuum up,” Discord explained.

“So you can go and fix all this?” Rarity asked,

“Not exactly. This is what I mean by it being a little troublesome. I myself am quite the chaotic being, so if I try and solve any problem like this or use my magic in these worlds… well it’s more than likely just going to make things worse. All I can afford to do is help a certain someone travel to each little world to fix things up,” Discord smiled and his eyes turned to Starlight.

“Wait a second-” Twilight started.

Discord immediately put a finger to her lips to silence her. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Starlight stood up, a look of dismay etched on her face. “I don’t think any of this sounds like a good idea.”

“Me neither,” Spike muttered.

“Good you think that, my little dragon friend, because you’re going with her too,” Discord patted him on the head with his tail.

“I am?” Spike grimaced.

“He is?” Both Twilight and Starlight said together.

“He has to,” Discord shrugged. “Just like Starlight needs to go too. Because they were the ones who already went to these other worlds and timelines it’ll cause the least amount of excess chaos if they’re the ones who go back. Which is why-” he pointed at Twilight. “I’m afraid I have to shoot down your offer to accompany them. The more unwelcome visitors to a world the more likely things go sour. It’s just going to be Starlight, Spike, and my lovely self.”

“Celestia forbid!” Rarity said and ran up to hug Spike. “You can’t expect us to accept this, can you? We should all be going to help fix this!”

“That’s right!” Pinkie Pie agreed.

Fluttershy, much more demurely, looked up at her close friend. “Is there really no way for us all to go with you?”

Discord sighed. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but this is the best way to fix things without letting it get worse in the attempt.” He looked over at Twilight. “I’m sure you can appreciate that idea?”

Twilight looked between her friends, at Discord, at her (still) trusted student Starlight, at her beloved assistant Spike. She didn’t like this. She wanted to go with them for multiple reasons. It sounded dangerous first and foremost—and it also sounded like the situation could get out of hoof very easily. Considering the last time Starlight did some inter-dimensional traveling… and now Discord was going with her? But no, Twilight did still trust her. They were still the closest of friends and if this is what had to be done then Twilight would believe in her.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them up she looked at Spike with a serious expression on her face. “Spike? You’ll keep an eye on them, won’t you?”

Spike—always eager to prove himself to Twilight—stood up straight and nodded. “You can count on me, Twilight!”

“And Starlight-” Twilight looked over at her student and sighed, she walked over to the mare and hugged. “I trust you, Starlight. I know you may have… done some things you shouldn’t have last time, but I know in the end you’ll do the right thing too. Just please maybe take things a little more seriously?”

Starlight hugged her back. “I promise I won’t treat this like another vacation. If this is all really my fault then I’ll fix it.”

“It’s definitely your fault,” Discord said.

“So are we just leaving right now then?” Spike shrugged.

“Hold on,” Twilight said. “There are some others I want to contact about this first—and I’m sure you and Starlight will want to rest and prepare a little first. Judging by the cracks I’ve analyzed I don’t think the space-time continuum is going to collapse in the next day or two, we should have time.” She looked at Discord. “Right?”

He nodded. “Honestly we’d probably have a solid month or so before it all went kaput even if we didn’t do anything about it.”

“Is there anything we can do on our end to help delay things while the three of you are on your mission?” Twilight asked.

“Well we’re going to be strengthening the bonds of friendship and harmony wherever we go… so if you can do something similar here it might stall things out? Tell everyone to group hug with their friends and family once a day?” Discord shrugged. “Truthfully—each little fix we make should buy us more time, and the quakes and cracks in reality here should lessen.”

“I’ll try and figure out a more real way to help,” Twilight rubbed her forehead.

“What if ponies here start panicking though because the earthquakes and everything else keep happening?” Rarity asked.

“Maybe we can just blame it on Rainbow Dash?” Applejack suggested.

“Hey!”

“I’m going to be busy keeping my animals calm… I can’t imagine what all these sudden events are going to do to them,” Fluttershy said.

“If ponies start to get worried I’ll hold a bake off to take their mind of things!” Pinkie Pie said. She got a contemplative look on her face. “Actually, I should just do that anyways. It sounds fun!”

“It’s probably for the best that ponies don’t learn the world is on the verge of ending. Again,” Twilight frowned. “Ponies trust me enough to believe in me when I’ll tell them that we’re working on it and they shouldn’t be worried.”

“Which is kind of true… in fact the more they do worry the more chaos it could cause. If that means anything,” Applejack shrugged.

“It certainly wouldn’t hurt if you kept things calm here,” Discord said.

“The more time goes by the less this stuff keeps happening too, right?” Spike asked him.

“That’s correct—as long as we’re doing our job right. So it’ll at least look like you’re solving the problem,” Discord said.

“I’m still not exactly thrilled at the idea of this...” Rarity said.

“And I’m not thrilled that I have to stay here while you guys get to go and have a bunch of fun saving the world!” Rainbow Dash pouted.

“It’s not going to be fun,” Twilight frowned at her.

“They’re going to be going between a bunch of other dimension things and fighting chaos! How is that not fun?” Rainbow honestly asked.

Twilight just groaned and rolled her eyes before looking at Starlight. “Don’t treat it like fun.”

“I already promised!” Starlight defended.

“Who knows, Dash? Maybe some evildoer will take the opportunity to attack Equestria while this is going on?” Applejack said.

“That’d be cool,” Rainbow nodded her head up and down.

“No it wouldn’t be!” Twilight shouted.

“I agree with Twilight… I really hope all of this goes well,” Fluttershy said. The thought of everything going on already had her looking a little woozy.

Discord smiled at her and gave her a reassuring pat on the head. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. I promise for your sake that we’ll handle everything.”

“Thank you,” she smiled up at him.

“Well then, we meet up in the oh-so-convenient map room same time tomorrow? And then we leave for our little journey across time and space?” Discord asked with a raised eyebrow, gazing over Starlight and Spike.

“I’ll be ready… there are some ponies I want to tell that I’ll be gone for a while too,” Starlight sighed.

“And I’m ready to go to save the day already!” Spike said, puffing out his chest and trying to look his best for both Twilight and Rarity.

Twilight, despite herself, smiled. “Alright, that’s what we’ll do. I have a few messages to send and a particular pony to get in touch with again...”

Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared and the other Elements of Harmony left Twilight’s castle after a brief goodbye, leaving only Twilight, Spike, and a fairly guilty Starlight behind. She had been doing so good hadn’t she? How could things have gotten this bad? There was no way she was going to let the fun she had (and oh yeah all those good deeds) lead to this. She’d fix it.

She was already ignoring all the mistakes she had made last time.

---

Ponyville the next day was already a little better than yesterday thanks to Twilight and the others doing their best to spread the word that they knew what was going on and were working on a solution. The rest of Equestria was having word sent out to them as well from Celestia and Luna. Do your best to mind the quakes and don’t touch the random glowing cracks that appeared if you could avoid them. Good advice. Of course Rainbow Dash had also been speeding around Ponyville reassuring ponies that what was happening wasn’t the result of a weather phenomena she had screwed up managing. Even though no one had suggested that yet in the first place.

Of course there were still a few quakes that happened—a few more than yesterday even—and some more and larger cracks had shown up in the sky around Ponyville and elsewhere. That was something that just couldn’t be avoided yet. But it at least certainly wasn’t the scariest or weirdest thing the ponies here had been through. And with Twilight reassuring them it was a lot easier for the average pony and creature to deal with what was going on. It would disrupt things a little bit, and lessons at the school were being put on hold, but largely this wasn’t as bad as say—when Discord was first unleashed or Tirek stole their magic or even as annoying as those vines from the Everfree. Everyone could still more or less go on with their lives.

If they knew the possible outcome of this though… things might have been different.

But that’s exactly what everyone now gathered back in Twilight’s castle was trying to prevent. As Starlight, Spike, and Discord got ready to depart they were joined by their friends to give them a few last wishes of good luck. It wasn’t just the Elements of Harmony, but Starlight had also of course told Trixie and Sunburst what was happening, and Twilight had also contacted Starswirl and made sure he was here as well. He certainly had a particular expertise on matters like this and he had originally been the one who helped Twilight find and rescue Starlight and Spike last time.

Things were a little crowded and loud in the map room as everyone got ready, but all Twilight had to do was loudly clear her throat to get everyone’s attention.

“I know no one wanted something like this to happen, and I’m sorry that it seems like the fate of the world is at stake again, but I’m still happy to see all of you here,” she smiled at the assembled group. “I know everyone here is going to do their best to save the day. Like always. And to Starlight, Spike, and Discord, thank you so much for putting yourselves in danger to help us.”

“Really getting the speeches down before you take over from Celestia, huh?” Rainbow Dash playfully ribbed her.

Twilight blushed. “Yes, well, I just thought we could all use some words of encouragement. D-Discord? Are you ready to go?”

“More or less for the past six hours,” he shrugged. “If anyone wants to say goodbye or wish us well, now’s your chance.”

Fluttershy immediately flew over and hugged him. “Thank you, Discord. I don’t care if the others think you’re being unhelpful sometimes—I know how much you care.”

“Well just try not to say it out loud so much,” Discord rolled his eyes but still happily smiled at her and hugged the pegasus back.

“Good luck, Spikey-Wikey,” Rarity said to her young dragon friend.

“Don’t worry about me, Rarity! I’m the most responsible one going on this trip,” Spike said with a sparkling grin.

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about...” Rarity mumbled under her breath.

Meanwhile a certain Great and Powerful magician ran up to Starlight and also pulled her into a big hug.

“Starlight! The Great and Powerful Trixie believes in you so don’t let me down!” Trixie said as she practically buried her face in Starlight’s neck. “You are the second most amazing mare I’ve ever met, besides myself obviously, so I know you can do it. I’m sure you won’t totally screw things up like I would if I was in your situation… any more than you already have.”

Starlight grumbled in annoyance. “Thanks, Trixie, that’s very kind of you.”

“I also have a gift before you leave. It’s just something I thought might be useful, you never know what you might get into on an adventure like this after all,” Trixie said and levitated up a bag she had been keeping under her cape. “Ta-da!” She said as she gave it to Starlight.

Starlight took the bag and opened it up, finding it filled with faintly green crystals. “Your Suggestion Crystals? But why? And don’t you need them for your next few shows?”

“Because I just have a feeling that you might need them more than me. I’m sure you’ll find a good use for them—you can do practically anything with them after all,” Trixie shrugged. “And the Great and Powerful Trixie’s performances are always amazing anyways.”

“True,” Starlight smiled and put the bag of crystals into her own. “Thank you, Trixie.”

Trixie hugged her again. “I’d wish you good luck but I know you don’t need it.”

“I’ll wish you good luck then since I know this is a really big deal and you’re probably going to have to go through a whole lot of problems,” Sunburst said as he walked up. He adjusted his glasses and tried to smooth his frazzled mane to no avail. “I don’t blame you at all for this, Starlight, I know you had only good intentions, but still—this sounds like it might be dangerous. I believe in you but be careful.”

“At least I’m not doing it alone. And with you two saying you believe in me… that already makes it a lot easier. A lot,” Starlight smiled softly at the two of them.

“I also wish the three of you well,” Starswirl said to all three of them. “And Twilight and I will be doing our best to fix things here. If we can help you in any way, we will.”

“Thanks, Starswirl. With you and Twilight working side by side I wouldn’t be surprised if you fix the problem before the three of us have to do anything,” Starlight grinned.

“Let’s hope that’s true,” Twilight smiled.

Suddenly a bunch of trumpets and cymbals loudly started going off and most of the creatures in the room held their hooves to their ears to drown out the noise. A second later it stopped and all the instruments flashed out of existence, an impatient Discord tapping his foot on the floor.

“If we could perhaps get this started already? I’d like to be back without missing too many tea dates with Fluttershy,” Discord said.

Twilight frowned at him and twisted her hoof in her ear. “Fine, I think everyone has said what they needed to. Spike and Starlight have their bags, I don’t know where you’re going to go first or what you’ll need to do to make that timeline more “harmonic” but if you’re ready to go… well, create whatever portal you need to, Discord.”

“Thank you, first off all though, I need to slip into something a little more suitable for the occasion,” Discord said.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

Discord smirked and snapped his fingers, a bright flash coming from his body as it shrunk and twisted down until he was the size of a pencil. And he even looked more rigid—as if he had turned himself into some sort of wooden Discord doll or toy. If he had some holes he would’ve looked like a flute or recorder. “This is what I mean. We’re getting rid of chaos after all, and being chaos myself I can’t let my powers influence the worlds we’re visiting or it’ll just make things worse. So for the most part I’m “powering down” for the trip. I’ll open the portals to and from each place we need to go to and in the meantime I’ll be asleep.” He floated over to Spike and propped himself right into the dragon’s bag, looking up at him and Starlight. “More like stasis than sleep but you get the point. Only wake me up when you’re finished making things more harmonic and you need another portal.”

“Oh. Great. So Spike and I have to do the hard part all on our own?” Starlight flatly glared at him.

He couldn’t shrug with his wooden body but he would’ve. “They are your mistakes to fix after all.”

“I’m not exactly happy about this either...” Twilight frowned.

“I swear on Fluttershy that it needs to be done. I can’t go about snapping my fingers everywhere—just being in my normal form would be too much,” Discord said.

“Well it wouldn’t help to complain anymore at this point,” Starlight snorted and shook her head. “You ready to go, Spike?”

“Uh-huh,” Spike nodded.

“Then I guess we’re going,” Starlight said and looked over her friends. Twilight, Trixie, Sunburst, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Starswirl too even. A smile grew on her face as they all watched her. “I’ll be back soon.”

“I know you will,” Twilight nodded.

“Then it’s time for our first stop,” the Discord-Flute smirked and for a brief moment became animated—snapping his fingers and creating a glowing circular portal behind him, Spike, and Starlight.

Starlight looked at it and briefly glanced to Spike, he gulped but gave her a nod.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Starlight reached out her hoof to him and Spike took it in his hand. Together the two of them gave one last look to their friends, one last smile and wave, and hopped through the portal.

Something Simple to Start With

Starlight and Spike fell through a kaleidoscope of colors where up and down as they were commonly thought of ceased to exist. The feeling of falling was ever present but what direction they were falling in seemed to change every second. It was just like they both remembered. If it was their first time doing something like this they might’ve gotten sick or disoriented, instead the two of them were almost bored.

Traveling through dimensions? What was so special about that?

Despite Discord being directly responsible for this portal, and the added chaos in the space-time continuum, things weren’t any more random or extreme than they were used to. Starlight and Spike kept close together as they fell, a brightness that seemed to always be in front of them growing stronger and stronger. The usual feeling of vertigo was either gone or their bodies had gotten used to it enough to overcome it. Around them the strange kaleidoscope of colors shifted and warped, seeming to squish down on them and push them closer to the light.

Starlight reached out and grabbed Spike’s hand, making sure they’d both get out of here at the same time and the same place.

Everything started to shake and vibrate, the world blurring around them, and they sped closer and closer towards the light…

---

Unicorn and dragon both fell roughly onto the grass as they exited the spinning portal through time and space. By the time their own eyes stopped spinning the portal had vanished and the two of them were now on their own here. Wherever here was.

Starlight grunted and stood up while Spike shook his head and did the same. At least they hadn’t fallen on some rocks or something.

“Where are we?” Spike asked.

“Good question...” Starlight said as she took her first real look around.

A dense forest surrounded the two of them, dark despite it being the middle of the day. Heavy foliage and vegetation grew up and around the thick trees while a surprising lack of noise from insects came from around. The two of them were standing on a path through the trees, overgrown with grass and weeds, likely not having been used in some time. There was a foreboding feeling to the forest and all the vines crawling around the trees, rocks, and bushes. Despite the silence both Starlight and Spike felt they were being watched from the shadows.

“Oh, this is just the Everfree,” Starlight said.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Spike agreed as he looked around too. “Been here way too many times to not recognize it. Why do you think the portal dropped us off here?”

“Well Discord said we should end up close to where the problem in this timeline, world, whatever, is. So the Everfree Forest must have something to do with it,” Starlight shrugged.

“What did we do in the Everfree when we were traveling through time the last time?” Spike asked.

“Uhh...” Starlight grimaced. “Nothing constructive, that’s for sure.”

Spike blinked. “Oh yeah… the castle got destroyed. And that underground cavern. You also closed off the Mirror Pool. Ugh… any of that could easily be the problem! It might all be the problem!”

“I know, Spike, let me think a little bit,” Starlight frowned. “What sort of things could happen as the result of us destroying the Castle of the Two Sisters and the underground cavern?”

“Us destroying?” Spike raised an eyebrow at her.

Starlight flatly stared at him. “Well you were involved. Anyways—I’m thinking we should go check on the castle to see if it’s actually destroyed. Maybe we’re in a different timeline where that didn’t go through? Maybe Celestia rebuilt it? It would’ve been years between us accidentally destroying it and when Twilight and the girls found it again and confronted Nightmare Moon in it.”

“Celestia probably would’ve done something like that since the Elements were there...” Spike guessed. “I get the feeling if something like this world’s Twilight couldn’t get the Elements that there’d be a way bigger change and we’d probably be somewhere else.”

“The physical form of the Elements before Twilight and the others got them didn’t really matter either. From what Twilight told me at least. But there could be other problems that came up without the castle being there,” Starlight mused as the two of them started walking through the Everfree Forest.

“We could go into Ponyville to check up on things and see what’s different,” Spike shrugged.

Starlight bit her lip. “I’d rather not chance that right now. We should probably avoid going someplace where we could run into ourselves. Especially in a timeline like this where we were only around well before the Sonic Rainboom or I came to Ponyville.”

“Or before I was even born for that matter,” Spike said.

“Yeah. I think we should do our best to solve this on our own without causing a fuss. Other worlds… might be a little different, but for now let’s try and keep things simple.”

The two of them took an easy trot through the Everfree towards the Castle of the Two Sisters. Or whatever might have remained of it. The forest was familiar to both of them and Starlight knew she had nothing to really fear going through it. Any Timberwolf or other monster that tried attacking them was in for a rude awakening. They were more worried about a “friend” accidentally stumbling across them, but hopefully no one else would be in here.

It ended up being a mostly quiet trip with only a few blinking spooky eyes watching them as they traveled through the forest. Eventually they came into the deeper parts of the Everfree, where the castle had been built. Starlight had never asked why the two sisters chose to build their castle here in the past… it seemed like kind of a weird location. Maybe she’d ask when they got back from all of this? Twilight probably already knew.

Soon though they made it to a clearing in the forest where they could see the castle—or at least where it was supposed to be.

“Well this isn’t too surprising,” Starlight shrugged.

The ruins of the castle were undisturbed and looked almost exactly like how Starlight and Spike remembered them from when they had accidentally brought the whole place down. The one change was leafy vines crawling up all over the rubble—but even after years it seemed that even the Everfree Forest wasn’t too keen on intruding on the former royal establishment. What was clear was that Celestia certainly hadn’t seen fit to rebuild the castle. Whatever happened for Twilight to find the Elements and confront Nightmare Moon in this timeline had to follow a different path.

“So did something change from this? Something important enough to cause chaos?” Spike wondered.

“I don’t know… I think we should check on something else first,” Starlight said.

“What?” Spike asked.

“The town. We can stay in the forest and take a look at Ponyville, see if anything is different or missing. If Ponyville is the same then maybe the castle being like this didn’t really change anything,” Starlight said.

“And the portal dropped us off here because something else is going on and we still don’t know what,” Spike said.

“Precisely. But don’t be so defeatist, Spike,” Starlight said and started walking in the direction of Ponyville.

“It would be nice if Discord wasn’t asleep so we could just ask him about things...” Spike muttered.

“Well that’s the one thing I’m not going to mess around with if it can be helped. We don’t need more random chaos caused by him just being awake here,” Starlight said.

The trip to the edge of the forest was similarly uneventful with more creatures wisely giving the fearless unicorn a wide berth. Starlight and Spike had to step through quite a bit of vegetation to stay off the main paths and avoid being seen by a potential Zecora or Fluttershy, but it wasn’t the first time they’d had to travel through the Everfree like this. They trudged over vines, roots, and mud just so they could get a brief view of Ponyville and maybe figure this big mess out. At last the two of them stuck their faces out of a leafy bush on the outskirts of the forest and found themselves in position to spy upon this timeline’s Ponyville. What was different? What was the change? How did the Ponyville here differ from the one they knew back home.

At first glance, it didn’t seem to differ at all.

If one had taken a picture of the two Ponyville’s and overlaid one on top of the other there would’ve been no difference. Each house, each building, sat exactly where it should. Twilight’s great castle loomed in the distance and the School of Friendship could be seen far to the side of it as well. A picture perfect Ponyville full of happy ponies who had no idea things were different than they should have been.

“Huh, I guess the castle just isn’t that important,” Spike said.

“We still should keep it from Twilight that we knocked it over in this world,” Starlight said.

She pulled her head back through the bush and Spike followed her, the two of them still lost for the moment on what to do. What was the issue? What were they missing here and how was it connected to what they had done in the Everfree? Starlight sat down and frowned, bringing a hoof up to her chin and thinking as best she could.

“If it doesn’t have to do with the castle then maybe it has to do with the cavern...” Starlight started guessing.

“But what does that cavern have to do with anything in the first place? No one even knew it existed for ages. I guarantee it doesn’t have anything to do with the Elements of Harmony. I mean, it can’t be as important as Celestia and Luna’s old castle,” Spike shrugged.

“Maybe we’re thinking too big. Little things can be important too and even a small change can have far reaching repercussions. And it was Twilight who taught me that every individual friendship matters,” Starlight blinked and looked straight ahead. “Of course. If the cavern wasn’t there then she wouldn’t be here anymore.”

“Huh?” Spike tilted his head.

“That was Maud’s home, Spike. Remember? That’s how I knew about it in the first place. And that cavern was one of the reasons Maud chose to live in Ponyville—if it wasn’t there she might not have ever stayed here. We wouldn’t have become friends, she wouldn’t have met Mudbriar, and she wouldn’t even have as strong of a relationship with Pinkie Pie either. Us accidentally destroying that cavern probably caused Maud to choose to live somewhere else and because of that there’s less friendship and harmony in this world. It’s just a little thing but think about it? Maud was one of my first new friends, she became so much happier when she met Mudbriar and she became more honest with Pinkie Pie. Think of everything everyone is missing out on compared to back home?” Starlight grinned. “Yes, I’ve got it! I know that’s what we need to fix here! We have to find Maud and get her to move to Ponyville so she can get her happier life back!”

“Maud seems like she’d be fine no matter what to be honest,” Spike said.

“That’s because you don’t know her as well as I do,” Starlight chided. “And you know what? Even if this isn’t the main reason we had to come to this timeline then so what? We’re still helping a bunch of ponies. Harmony can’t have a problem with that!”

Spike thought for a second, his eyes searching around as he considered Starlight’s words. “Well… I don’t have any other suggestions… and you make a good point. Alright, let’s go help Maud. At least it doesn’t seem like we could make anything worse in this world by doing this.”

“Be more positive, Spike,” Starlight smiled.

“After last time? No,” Spike shook his head. “Where do we even go to find Maud anyways?”

“If she’s not in Ponyville there’s only one other place she would be,” Starlight said as her horn lit up.

---

“Ghastly Gorge? Really?” Spike said as he looked around the torn up gorge.

“That’s right. Maud told me a little after she moved into the cavern that the other place she was thinking of moving to was Ghastly Gorge. After all, she really wanted someplace that had plenty of rocks to study,” Starlight said.

“You think we can find her quickly?” Spike asked.

“Ghastly Gorge isn’t too big, and she should be the only pony around. If we see a tent or cabin it has to be hers,” Starlight shrugged.

“I guess that’s kind of nice for us—we don’t have to worry about running into anyone else,” Spike said.

The two of them started walking through the bottom of the gorge, exploring its insides and keeping one eye open for any of those eels they had heard lived here. But if Maud had managed to live here for a while without being eaten then they probably had nothing to worry about. Probably. Either way, the more they walked around the more they saw numerous dig sites and excavations, it was no wonder why Maud had initially been drawn to this place. Starlight, thanks to her friendship with Maud, and even Spike thanks to his closeness to Rarity both knew a decent amount about digging and rocks. So far though they hadn't found the one responsible for the digs or seen where she might be living. Maud was a quiet one who did a good job at fading away into the background when she wanted, they’d have to be careful not to miss her.

“Tell me if you hear a pickaxe striking the ground anywhere,” Starlight said.

“I could just fly and take a look around from the air,” Spike suggested.

“I don’t really think we need to do that just yet—also the eels might try and eat you if you get too close to the walls.”

“Right...” Spike grimaced as he looked up at some of the holes along the gorge’s walls. “That wouldn’t be fun.”

Starlight giggled and patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, I’d still rescue you.”

From there, the two kept walking through the myriad of gouges in the earth that made up Ghastly Gorge with not so much as a map or trail of breadcrumbs to rely on. It wasn’t like they were in a rush, technically speaking, but both would have liked to find Maud before the end of the day. As much as the flow of time seemed to mean anything right now.

Tink, tink, tink…

Starlight’s ears perked up. “Do you hear that, Spike?”

“Yeah, it’s coming from up ahead,” Spike pointed.

Tink, tink, tink, it kept continuing on.

The two of them followed the metallic clinking sound through the rocks at the bottom of the gorge until they came out into an open area cleared of any obstructions. Part of the ground had been dug up in a series of levels going deeper into the dirt, a simple green tent was propped up on one side of it, and a newly mined hole in the side of the gorge’s wall was being made while all the rubble and individual little pebbles from it were piled up and waiting for inspection.

And there was Maud, standing outside the hole with a pickaxe in her mouth as she tried to break apart a boulder into a smaller boulder.

“Maud!” Starlight shouted in joy and ran over to her with Spike right on her heels.

The earth pony didn’t look up from her work, she kept on picking away at the boulder as if she was still alone here.

Starlight skidded to a stop in front of her and smiled. “Hi Maud, it’s me, Starlight! Do you remember?”

“Yes,” Maud said around the pickaxe, her eyes briefly flickering towards Spike. “And Spike too.”

“Yeah, hi Maud,” Spike waved.

Tink, tink, tink...

“Well you’re pretty much how I remember you,” Spike said.

“No, Spike,” Starlight shook her head and gazed at the earth pony more intently. “Maud here is very lonely right now.”

Maud stopped her smashing of the boulder and looked up at Starlight. “Is there something the matter?”

“Wow, you really are a lot different...” Starlight rubbed her chin.

“Really?” Spike asked.

“Really,” Starlight nodded.

“I’m going to get back to my rocks now if there’s nothing,” Maud said and prepared to smash some more.

“Hold on,” Starlight said and gingerly took the pickaxe out of Maud’s mouth with her magic. “Actually the two of us are here because we want you to do something that we think will make you really happy.”

“I am happy,” Maud said as blank and monotone as usual.

“Because you’re surrounded by rocks and have Boulder with you so you’re not really lonely?” Starlight guessed.

“Yes,” Maud answered.

“So you didn’t feel like you were potentially missing out on anything by not moving to Ponyville?” Starlight asked.

Maud was quiet for precisely three seconds. “No.”

Starlight smiled. “I can always count on you to be honest, Maud.”

“So—wait? She does regret not moving to Ponyville?” Spike asked as he looked between the two mares, still understandably confused by Maud.

“Sometimes I think living closer to my sister and other ponies could have been nice. Potentially,” Maud answered.

“That’s exactly right, Maud!” Starlight smiled and put a hoof around her shoulders. “But you didn’t really miss out on anything just yet, you can still move to Ponyville and get closer to your sister and start making new friends and everything!”

“The reason I chose Ghastly Gorge though was for my career and interests. It suited them better. And still does,” Maud said.

“And there isn’t a fancy jewel cavern outside of Ponyville anymore...” Spike shrugged.

“Hmmm...” Starlight thought for a moment before a grin reappeared on her face. “I’ve got it! Now Maud, I know you don’t care about architecture but what about studying the stone and masonry of an ancient, one of a kind, castle?”

Maud blinked.

“I see I’ve got your attention. In the Everfree Forest right outside of Ponyville there’s the ruins of that ancient castle. Haven’t been touched. You’d be able to look over and study them to your heart’s desire. And it’s close enough where you could shack up with someone in Ponyville or set up your tent somewhere nearby. Sure it’s the Everfree but there are plenty of ponies who know how to safely deal with it by now. Sound interesting?” Starlight fluttered her eyelashes expectantly.

Maud blinked again. “You had me at masonry.”

“Yes!” Starlight cheered and hugged her. “So you’ll move out to Ponyville?”

“I suppose so. I’ve already done most of the work I wanted to out here. I can study something new now,” Maud said.

“Great!” Starlight hugged her again and looked at Spike. “Score one for friendship!”

“This actually went a lot easier than I thought… better not jinx it for next time,” Spike said.

Starlight perked up and let Maud go. “Oh right! Before we go and you head to Ponyville I should probably tell you some things. When you get to Ponyville, make sure you become friends with me.”

“Okay.”

“And look for a pony called Mudbriar, you’ll get along with him.”

“Okay.”

“And be more honest with Pinkie Pie about how you don’t like surprise parties.”

“Okay.”

“And lastly—when you see me and Spike next time, don’t mention any of this. Just act like this meeting never happened.”

“Okay.”

Starlight sighed in relief and placed her hooves on Maud’s shoulders. “You’re a gift, Maud.”

“I know. I’ve been told that many times.”

Starlight laughed and stepped back, giving Maud a wink. “Your sense of humor is just as good as always too.” She exhaled and wiped a hoof across her forehead. “Whew! Alright then, have fun moving to Ponyville Maud, Spike and I are gonna be leaving now.”

“Goodbye,” Maud said and turned to start gathering her things.

Starlight gave her one more wistful look before she grabbed Spike and the two of them started walking away.

---

“So are we sure that’s all that needed to be done?” Spike asked her as they stood alone in another part of the gorge.

“I’m positive. This is going to have a lot of positive repercussions where friendship and harmony are concerned. Trust me,” Starlight said.

“I wish I could trust you that easily...” Spike muttered but then shook his head. “Alright, I mean I still think you’re right about that and all, but I figured we’d have to do bigger things than this with each world we travel to.”

“I’m sure we will for some of the places we visit but little personal problems like this are important too. This is a big fix in its own way,” Starlight smiled.

“Discord time then. Better get that next portal open and head off as fast as we can,” Spike said as he reached into his bag and pulled out the Discord flute.

It was still weird seeing him like this. Looking more like a doll than something that was ever alive. Spike flicked him on the head a couple of times to wake the slumbering Draconequus up.

“Hey, Discord! Yoohoo! We’re ready to go!” Spike said as he shook him.

“Enough, enough, I hear you!” Discord shouted in his miniature form, his head suddenly animated. “Stop shaking me already!”

“Sorry,” Spike said.

“So everything’s done here?” Discord asked as he looked between the two of them.

“Yep!” Starlight nodded.

Discord didn’t look entirely convinced but he shrugged anyways. “Meh, I’ll take your word for it. Hopefully everywhere we go to gets finished as quickly as this one.” With a snap of his fingers another glowing blue portal was created and Discord went rigid once more. “Hop on in, and wake me up a little more gently next time, please.”

Spike put the Discord flute away and he and Starlight stood before the new portal. Whatever their next destination was, they felt a little more assured of themselves after the success they had here. Together they walked on through and the portal closed up—leaving this world and its ponies to their own devices.

Tempest Shadow's Friendly Dictatorship

This time both Starlight and Spike came out of the portal onto a cobblestone street. They wasted no time in looking around to figure out where they were again. And though it was later in the day, with the sun starting to creep down past the horizon, it was even easier to tell where the portal had dropped them off this time. The most recognizable city in the world was hard to mistake for anywhere else.

“Canterlot...” Starlight murmured as she looked around.

“We could’ve been brought here for twenty different reasons, sheesh,” Spike scratched his head.

“I know. I think this might already take us a little longer to figure out and… uh… is something off about the city to you?” Starlight asked.

Spike raised an eyebrow but before he opened his mouth he noticed she was right. As someone born and raised in Canterlot he figured it out too. It was quiet. And empty. No one was around and traveling the streets, no noise came from any of the buildings around them. For a busy city like Canterlot, capitol of Equestria, that just never happened. Or never should happen at least.

“Okay, this is already weird. There’s definitely something wrong going on here,” Spike said.

“Let’s just… hm,” Starlight paused, thinking. “If we go to the castle we could talk to the Princesses but… if there are still normal versions of us who are fixtures in this world that could cause problems. I think we should just walk around the city for a bit to try and figure this out on our own.”

Spike nodded and shrugged. “Alright, whatever you say.”

It was clear at least that Canterlot certainly wasn’t abandoned, even if no ponies were out on the street. For one the castle was visible from where they were and it was well lit as dusk approached. Both Starlight and Spike could see lights in its many windows. The buildings around them also certainly looked clean and lived in, the streets weren’t dusty, and every now and then they saw the silhouette of a pony in the window of one of the buildings. So definitely not abandoned, they hadn’t stumbled on the apocalypse just yet, ponies for some reason just weren’t out on the street.

“This is kind of creepy. Even more than if no one was around,” Spike said.

“I know what you mean. I’m tempted to just go up to the next door and knock, see if anyone will even answer,” Starlight said.

However that line of action was interrupted when something came floating down from above them.

Two pegasi royal guards came down from the sky and landed on the street right in front of them with big smiles on their faces.

“Well hey there, fellow citizens!” The lead guard said. “Don’t you know it’s past curfew? You should really be home right now!”

“Curfew?” Starlight scrunched up her nose.

“This early?” Spike looked up at the nearly lowered sun.

“That’s right! So what say you both head home before either one of you gets written up!” The guard said—still smiling. Though in his and his comrade’s eyes there was a decided lack of friendliness. And as he stood there looking at them, his head tilted to the side and his smile somewhat faded as he realized something. “Hey wait… aren’t you the former student and dragon assistant of Princess Twilight?”

The other guard lost his smile briefly and coughed.

“Er, former Princess Twilight,” the first guard corrected.

Starlight frowned and Spike also looked quite worried.

“Wait. Former student? Former Princess?” Starlight questioned.

The guards were now equally confused and their smiles faded for a moment before they caught themselves and put them back even wider on their faces.

“Yep! But just cause you’re different from the average citizen don’t expect us to treat you any different. After all, no one should be treated differently just because they’re different,” the guard proudly nodded to himself as if he had just successfully recited a speech or correctly remembered his line from a play. Which he might very much have done.

“Yeah...” Starlight reached over and grabbed Spike, her horn sparking as she cast her teleportation spell. The two of them vanished in a burst of magic—leaving two flustered and confused guards behind.

---

“Well there’s definitely something really weird going on here,” Starlight said after she and Spike reappeared in an alley a few streets over.

“Tell me about it. The curfew, the smiling, that speech, and apparently something has happened to the Twilight of this world. And probably the you and me too,” Spike said.

“They recognized us but were confused to see us, not just because we’re breaking this “curfew” either,” Starlight agreed. “Something definitely happened to Equestria. I’m guessing Twilight isn’t the only one who isn’t a Princess any longer. What I’m confused about is how anything I did lead to this. What did I do in Canterlot that could lead to the Princesses being overthrown or even just stepping down?”

“I dunno, but we better figure it out quickly,” Spike shrugged.

Together they looked up past the tops of the buildings at the quickly darkening sky, making sure they weren’t being watched by any guards. It didn’t seem like they had anything to worry about. Not yet at least. No alarm had been sounded and they didn’t see any figures shooting through the sky or hear any hooves rampaging over the stone streets. The curfew kept things quiet enough where they could hear a pin drop.

“We should sneak around some more to figure out what’s going on,” Starlight said.

Spike raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

“What?” Starlight frowned.

“Nothing, nothing,” he raised his hands in supplication. “Just surprised your first plan wasn’t to barge into the castle and start demanding answers, throwing guards around left and right.”

“I wouldn’t do that. At first,” Starlight said. “If we’re solving these problems we should be solving them in the right way. Otherwise we might just cause more chaos when we should be getting rid of it. So we’re going to do things the Twilight Sparkle way and use friendship until we have no other option. So let’s hurry up because we still should be fixing these problems as fast as we can and it’s probably going to take longer to fix them the right way.”

“I mean, I can’t disagree with you there,” Spike said. “So do we just try and sneak by on our hooves and feet? It should be dark really soon anyways.”

“We still know Canterlot well, I think if we keep our eyes open the guards wont be a problem,” Starlight said. “Worst comes to worst and we can just hide somewhere until morning once the curfew is over.”

“Morning might be even tougher to get around though... depending on how things actually are here.

Starlight nodded. “Yeah, either way we have work to do. Let’s go.”

“Do you want to see if we can find any other ponies who might be willing to talk?” Spike asked.

Starlight stopped for a moment before leaving the alley. “Mmm... maybe. I don’t think we have to worry about who we run into in this world. But ponies might not be willing to talk to us anyways.”

In a few minutes the both of them silently snuck around the dark streets of Canterlot as the sun went down and it finally became evening. Crawling along the walls of the buildings or using side streets as much they could to stay out of sight of any potential guards in the air. Canterlot was a big city and parts of it could be nearly labyrinthine, especially at night, but that actually just made it easier for them to avoid any others and travel stealthily through the city they knew so well. Eventually they made it to a more residential area of the city where numerous fancy houses stood on one side of the street. Though Starlight didn’t expect much, she figured they should at least give knocking a try or two.

It didn’t amount to much. The few times they knocked and got any response at all it was just a “Go away”, “It’s past curfew we can’t talk”, “Leave us alone”, “We’re not breaking the rules”, at best.

After that last one they got a hastily added “This is what we would say to anyone, because we’d never treat anyone differently for any reason”.

Starlight and Spike both had to raise a confused eyebrow at that. They couldn’t tell if ponies were being friendly or unfriendly right now. The way they were acting didn’t seem like it would come from the typical sort of oppression. And even the guards were still the same ponies as before. The more they learned the less they figured out.

They left the residential area and started to make their way through the heart of the city in a roundabout way towards the castle. It looked like they’d have to go there soon enough but they still wanted to learn more first.

Passing by on the street in front of the larger buildings of Canterlot, some lights from above caught their attention and they looked up at the face of the building. A huge banner was hung from the top of it while a few small lights kept it lit up even in the dead of night. Starlight and Spike both felt their jaws slowly drop open and their eyes widen as they looked at it—and the positively weird thing drawn on it.

There were two figures on the banner, hoof in arm, almost hugging, and smiling out at anyone who walked by and looked at it. The bottom of the banner also had a number of faceless ponies of all tribes, drawn only with smiles, while the top showed a bright and sunny sky. Both of the centerpieces of the banner were familiar figures to Starlight and Spike—one quite well known and the other not so much but still easily recognizable. The fact that they were together like this and smiling happily was the weird part. Back in their world it was almost certain that the two not only had never met but probably had never even heard of one another.

Spike, used to so many strange things by now, slowly lifted a single claw and pointed at the banner. “Why is there a huge banner of Tempest Shadow and Iron Will hugging here?”

“I have no idea,” Starlight honestly answered.

“Did we uh… did we ever meet those two when we were stuck in time?” Spike asked.

“We definitely didn’t run into Tempest. I’m not even sure what we could’ve done that would result in this. It’s insane,” Starlight said.

Spike looked at her. “What about Iron Will?”

“I did meet him at Canterlot when we were staying with Celestia. I don’t think you were with me for that. He was here pushing a new book or something, I gave him some business advice and that was it,” Starlight shrugged. “I-I genuinely have no idea what’s going on anymore.”

“So what do we do to figure this out?” Spike shrugged in turn.

Starlight frowned up at the banner and turned her attention to Canterlot Castle in the distance. “I think now it’s time for us to go the castle and start demanding answers. But peacefully.”

“I somehow get the feeling that none of this is going to end well,” Spike gulped.

“Probably. But we’re still going to do the best we can to handle this the right way,” Starlight said and reached out a hoof to Spike. “Come on—we’re taking the direct approach.”

Spike grabbed her hoof. “Whatever you say...”

As soon as they were connected, Starlight’s horn lit up once more as she prepared for a long range teleport. She knew the layout of the castle well and exactly where she wanted to go. This would likely get them in trouble at first, but they needed to get into the castle and she wanted to avoid a fight to do that. Once inside she’d talk her way out somehow. And hopefully convince whoever she could to let her see Tempest Shadow, Iron Will, or whoever might have actually been in charge here.

In a burst of static magic the two of them flashed away to the castle.

---

An instant later they reappeared in a corridor inside of Canterlot Castle. Close to the throne room but still away from anywhere guards should be actively guarding. Unless they were unlucky enough to appear right as a patrol was going by. Thankfully that wasn’t the case and all that happened was Spike grabbing his belly as soon as the teleportation was finished.

“Ugh... I think all this teleportation and going through interdimensional portals is making me sick.”

Starlight smirked and patted him on the back. “You’ll be fine.”

“I guess... so where to from here?” Spike asked.

“We go right to the throne room and ask if we can talk to who’s in charge,” Starlight shrugged.

“That’s not nearly as good of an idea as I thought you had...” Spike sighed.

"It’s the best idea that doesn’t involve me blasting the doors down,” Starlight said.

“I guess that’s true,” Spike admitted. “Sadly.”

“The only reason I didn’t take us right into the throne room is that would’ve caused a huge panic and there’s no way we could talk it down. This way at least I bet I can still get us in without too much trouble,” Starlight said.

“That’s if whoever is in charge even lets anyone come see them,” Spike said.

“Well maybe if they don’t we’ll have to make ourselves too important to ignore,” Starlight smiled.

“I don’t like that smile on your face...”

The two of them calmly walked through the quiet castle towards the nearby throne room as if it was just an ordinary day, as if they were back in their world and getting ready to visit Celestia or Luna. If they looked like they belonged it was far more likely that the guards would think they belonged. However, it didn’t seem to matter too much. Even for evening the castle was much quieter than it was supposed to be. They didn’t come across any guards until they were walking right down the hallway towards the throne room.

Starlight kept a happy smile on her face to appear normal, especially for what goes as normal around here apparently, and walked right up to the two guards who flanked either side of the door. They were smiling their big eerie smiles too, with their eyes watching her the whole time.

“Hello!” Starlight said, waving at them. “Is um... whoever’s in charge available to see right now?”

Spike rolled his eyes.

“The First Citizen is always available to meet with her fellow citizens! She’s happy to answer any questions and deal with any problems that might be occurring in Equestria!” The guard on the right said. “Uh, although there aren’t really problems anymore. Because everyone treats everyone kindly and no one would get bullied or mistreated anywhere!”

“That’s right,” the other guard nodded.

“Okay... so I can walk on in?” Starlight asked.

“Of course!” The guard on the right nodded. Suddenly his smile dropped and he did a double-take. “Wait—isn’t it past curfew?”

“Uhhhh...” Starlight rubbed the back of her neck.

“And hey, aren’t you two...” the guard on the left narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin. “You two should be imprisoned in Tartarus right now, shouldn’t you?”

Spike and Starlight shared an uneasy grimace. The short dragon chuckled uneasily and shrugged.

“Um, we got let out?”

“Oh, okay then,” the left guard nodded. Then frowned. “Wait, no, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yeah this doesn’t seem right,” the right guard said.

“Well then take us in to see the First Citizen so she can set things right herself,” Starlight shrugged.

The two guards looked at each other.

“I mean...” the right guard started.

“I don’t think it matters that much, does it? If they broke out she’ll just send them back,” the left guard said.

“Weirder things have happened lately anyways...” the right guard scratched his head and shrugged. “Alright, I give up, have a nice meeting with the First Citizen.”

“Thank you,” Starlight smiled and whispered down to Spike as the guards opened up the doors. “And we didn’t have to get violent or have me use any brainwashing spells at all. That’s what I call progress!”

“It might go bad right now though. Tempest was pretty dangerous before Twilight changed her, she has to be this “First Citizen”, we need to be careful going in there. Especially since the guards don’t seem worried about her,” Spike whispered back.

“If we can just get her talking instead of immediately fighting, we should be good,” Starlight said.

The doors were opened completely and the guards allowed Starlight and Spike to walk in without anymore fanfare. As soon as they were past the threshold the smiling guards let the doors close again and Starlight and Spike stood there, at the entrance to the throne room, and were baffled by what they saw. This was not the throne room they were familiar with. A lot of renovations had been made.

First off there were numerous searchlights and electrical lights all across the pillars and ceiling, illuminating the room more than it ever had been. And the stained glass windows that used to show great and important events in Equestria’s history had been replaced by paintings of Iron Will making various body-building poses. Most notably of all however was at the very back of the throne room where the throne itself used to be.

It was gone.

That whole area had been leveled and replaced by a large desk where books and papers overflowed from it like a library had dumped its entire contents everywhere. Behind the desk was a large banner hanging from the ceiling showing a grinning Tempest Shadow holding a staff. A familiar staff that again both Starlight and Spike recognized as being the weapon of the Storm King in their world—the Staff of Sacanas. At the top of the banner a phrase had been printed in large lettering: TO THE BETTERMENT OF PONIES EVERYWHERE

Besides the one long desk there was a second smaller desk off to the side that was also surrounded by towers of books. Though Starlight could tell they were all copies of the same book. That desk had one big, velvety red chair behind it.

And several overflowing bags of bits behind it.

And a big golden statue of Iron Will behind those.

Starlight and Spike weren’t surprised to see who was sitting where.

On the red velvety chair was Iron Will, looking like he was in the middle of autographing every single book on and around his desk. When he noticed someone had come into the throne room he looked up at the two of them. Immediately his brow furrowed in thought when his eyes landed on Starlight. Behind the larger desk was Tempest Shadow, directly beneath her banner, with a straight line of view to them as they walked into the throne room. She was smiling.

At them. And not in a friendly way.

“Uh, hi,” Starlight waved to her.

“Well, well, well,” Tempest said as she stood up from her simple chair. “If it isn’t Starlight Glimmer and Spike. Escaped from Tartarus? Did the guards let you in themselves? It doesn’t matter, I don’t know why you would’ve come back here but it’s a big mistake on your part. Did you think you could talk things out with me? Try and change my mind again? It’s pointless. And it’ll be back to Tartarus with you in just a moment.”

Sparks started to shoot from her horn while Starlight pushed Spike behind her and lit hers up as well-

“Wait! Hold on!” Iron Will shouted and stood up from his chair.

All eyes turned to him as he stared at Starlight and rubbed his chin.

“What is it?” Tempest raised an eyebrow.

“This is Starlight Glimmer?” Iron Will held out a hand towards her.

“Yes. Why?” Tempest asked.

“I know her.”

It's Still Making Things Better

“Of course you know her. She’s Starlight Glimmer. Student of Twilight Sparkle, the one who-” Tempest Shadow said to Iron Will before he cut her off.

“Not just like that. I mean I know her. I’ve met her before,” Iron Will said.

“That’s impossible. I already imprisoned her in Tartarus before you would’ve ever seen her,” Tempest frowned. “That dragon too for that matter.”

“Uh, excuse me?” Starlight smiled awkwardly and raised her hoof. “Iron Will is right. We’ve met before.”

“That’s right!” Iron Will smirked and leaped over his desk, loudly jumping onto the floor in front of Tempest’s desk. “Iron Will is certain of it—you’re the mare he met ages ago back in Canterlot! The one who gave him such great advice! I had no idea you were Starlight Glimmer.”

“Wait a minute-” Tempest shook her head. “The mare you told me about? The one who inspired you to write the book I found and started all this?”

Spike glanced up at Starlight with an unamused look on his face. She could only chuckle nervously and shrug in response.

“That’s her for sure!” Iron Will folded his arms over his chest and nodded.

“But how… why… shouldn’t she have known or said something?” Tempest Shadow was thoroughly confused.

“I might be able to shed some light on this whole situation,” Starlight Glimmer gently broached. “You see I’m not the Starlight Glimmer. I’m a Starlight Glimmer.”

Tempest Shadow narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “And what exactly does that mean?”

“I’m from a different world. Years ago—to you and Iron Will—I came here and met him. Now I’m back because uhh… things are a little too chaotic and it’s messing up our world and every other world right now. Time and space collapsing and all that. So I’m traveling around trying to make things more harmonic in all the various timelines and stuff,” Starlight explained.

“And I’m supposed to believe that nonsense?” Tempest Shadow snorted.

“It’s true. Really,” Spike interjected.

“And she’s definitely the mare I met all those years ago,” Iron Will nodded in agreement.

Tempest frowned at the three of them, but seemed to at least consider what she heard as well. “So even if that’s true… what do you mean by try to make things more harmonic? And there’s nothing chaotic about this world. The opposite for that matter. I’ve made this a better Equestria than ever before!”

“How exactly?” Starlight said as she looked between her and Iron Will. “Pardon me for asking but how did you take over Equestria? Back in our world things are… really, really, different.”

“Heh. Since apparently you had a lot to do with it—and seemingly I owe you because of that—I’ll tell you,” Tempest smirked and sat back down.

“Years ago now I was working for the Storm King after leaving Equestria thanks to becoming disillusioned with it. For a while I thought about getting revenge on the hypocritical, selfish, ponies and also restoring my horn and I thought that the Storm King could grant me those things. Then I came across a popular book that had been making its way across the continent. A self-help book written by a certain Minotaur,” Tempest smiled over at Iron Will, who proudly puffed out his chest. “That book changed my life! I realized I couldn’t be living like a follower anymore, that I shouldn’t be passive in what I wanted, or let myself get pushed or ordered around by someone else again. I had to take life by the horns!” She said as Starlight and Spike quickly glanced at her broken horn. “Instead of just blindly assuming I’d get what I wanted I needed to take action and not let myself be manipulated. Especially by someone as incompetent and silly as the Storm King was. I was already doing most of the tough stuff for him anyways.” Tempest Shadow chuckled and lifted up something from behind her chair. “So I defeated him and took this!”

She lifted up the Staff of Sacanas for them all to see, Starlight and Spike gulping and sharing a worried glance before trying to act normal.

“And now that I had the Staff I could do anything I wanted!” Tempest took a lingering look up at it, smiling. She turned around a few times and looked over at Starlight and Spike. “But Iron Will’s book helped me with something else at the same time. It taught me positive mental attitude. It taught me how to deal with my anger and put it towards something constructive. I wasn’t going to just take petty revenge on Equestria. I was going to change Equestria so no one would ever have to take revenge again. Petrifying the Princesses and taking their powers with the Staff allowed me to take control of Equestria since now I’m the only one who can raise the sun and the moon. And with that I’ve been able to shape things to my will ever since—and now I’ve created a better Equestria. One where no one will ever be bullied or mistreated again!”

As she finished her speech she smiled broadly at Starlight and Spike. Spike was doing his best to not make any “She’s crazy” motions to Starlight while Starlight just rubbed her chin in thought.

“You know, the old me would’ve loved this,” Starlight said. “But anyways—you’ve made a better Equestria, huh? But it sounds like a lot had to be given up for that to happen.”

“So a few holier-than-thou Princesses got turned to stone?” Tempest shrugged. “Nothing less than they deserved? And some troublesome ponies got imprisoned—it needed to happen. And some rich jerks in Canterlot can’t do whatever they want whenever they want anymore? Big. Deal. No little filly is ever going to lose her place or her friends anymore with how I’ve changed things. That’s worth it in my book. And I’m the one who took charge—I’m the one with the right to shape things to my will.”

“Mhm. She really liked my book,” Iron Will said, giving Tempest a thumb’s up.

“And that’s why once I was done conquering Equestria I found Iron Will and brought him here to show him my gratitude. Together we’ve been working on policy and sending self-help advice to ponies across the country! And I’m planning to send his books and writings to every corner of the world soon—that’s what these special autographed copies are for,” Tempest said and pointed to his desk. “I think everyone will be happier if they’ve read Iron Will’s books.”

Starlight coughed. “Well… it’s nice that the two of you have become such close friends.”

“That’s not the word I would use,” Spike shook his head.

Tempest Shadow merely chuckled. “Well there you have it. Apparently thanks to you the two of us were inspired to make this happen. I guess I should be appreciative, my time-traveling friend.”

Starlight frowned. “I really don’t think I can be blamed for this. This is crazy, no one could have ever expected something like this to happen from me talking to Iron Will. Right, Spike?”

“I mean… yeah. But could you have expected the world to end from you stopping Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom?” Spike raised an eyebrow at her.

“I-” Starlight stopped mid-breath. “No comment.”

“So what exactly is your goal here now? There’s nothing for you to do. I bet this Equestria is far friendlier than the one you come from,” Tempest smirked.

“No. It’s not. And you may be happy here right now, but it’s not true happiness. You still haven’t let go of all that hate and negative feelings you’ve had inside you since you were a filly. I’ll admit I don’t know the Tempest from my world half as well as Twilight—but she’s a better mare than you,” Starlight said. “You’re not evil—just misguided—but you’ve done some evil things and you’ve petrified some of the nicest, kindest, ponies in the entire world. If you wanted to make Equestria better you should’ve talked to Twilight first instead of just forcing this on everyone. But you didn’t even give her a chance, did you?” Starlight snorted. “Don’t answer, I already know. You’re bullheaded the same way I was.”

“Excuse me,” Iron Will glared at her.

“Er—didn’t mean it like that. Sorry,” Starlight waved her hooves.

“Thank you,” Iron Will tilted up his chin.

“Anyways—this place only has the facade of friendship. You’re forcing ponies to be nice and not bully others instead of teaching them why they shouldn’t and getting them to really understand each other,” Starlight said.

Tempest rolled her eyes. “Oh like you know any better.”

“Actually, she’s the headmistress of a school that teaches friendship now,” Spike interjected.

“That’s a thing?” Tempest frowned.

“Yep!” Starlight smugly grinned and puffed out her chest.

Tempest growled in annoyance at the sheer defiance and disagreement the two outsiders were showing her. She stood up and angrily waved the Staff of Sacanas at them. “Whatever! This is my world and the Equestria I’ve made is still better than how it was before! Neither of you have anything to do with me or my world, so get out of here!”

“Sorry but we can’t exactly do that,” Starlight shook her head.

“A lot more than just your Equestria is riding on this,” Spike nodded. “And…” He frowned and stood up straighter, staring confidently at Tempest. “There’s no way I’d let Twilight stay petrified like this, even if she’s not my Twilight.”

“That’s right. The petrified Princesses are still here in the castle, aren’t they? Please, return their power with the Staff and change them back to normal. I’ll make sure they give you a chance and don’t just lock you up,” Starlight said.

“Absolutely not,” Tempest jumped over her desk, Staff levitating beside her. “I won’t let Equestria return to the way it was. I’ve erased any reason for ponies to be unhappy! In a few years they’ll all be used to it! This Staff is the key to maintaining everything—if the Princesses were awakened it wouldn’t just be that my work is undone, it would be impossible for it to ever happen again. Ponies treat each other better here. Who cares if it’s forced or if they don’t really like each other? It’s better!”

Starlight sighed and looked down at Spike, giving him a questioning gaze.

He seemed to think about something for a moment before shrugging.

“Well, let it be known that I tried,” Starlight shrugged back.

“And what does that mea-” before Tempest could finish her sentence she was blasted in the face by a powerful magical laser from Starlight that sent her careening backwards into her desk—demolishing it and all the scrolls and papers around it.

“Tempest!” Iron Will shouted in shock.

The Staff of Sacanas meanwhile went spinning into the air and started falling to the ground—right before it was grabbed by Spike. Flapping his wings he sighed in relief and dove back down to Starlight.

“Okay—next move,” Starlight grabbed Spike and the two of them once more teleported away.

Right as they both heard a massive yell from the destroyed desk along with a fireworks display of sparking blue magic.

“GUAAAAAARDS!”

---

Starlight hadn’t been thinking of any place in particular inside the castle when she made her little jump. That was why they ended up the kitchen. Spike again teetered about for a bit and was slightly green in the face before he got over it. He looked up at the Staff and all the power it contained in it before shooting a look at Starlight.

“Now what?” Spike asked.

“We’re not going to have a lot of time before the entire castle is swarmed by all the guards. And fighting them and Tempest together will cause too much chaos, we still need to avoid that. So we’re going to fix this problem at the source. We’re taking this Staff to the Princesses and giving them their magic back. Returning them to normal and destroying the Staff should fix nearly everything here in the short term,” Starlight said.

Spike nodded. “Works for me.”

“I need your help a bit though, Spike.”

“What do you need?”

Starlight grinned sheepishly. “I have no idea where the Princesses actually are right now.”

“Oh,” Spike blinked. “Yeah that’s an issue.”

“I wasn’t able to help out or do anything when the Storm King invaded Equestria in our world. I only know what happened thanks to you and Twilight telling me all about it. Where were the petrified Princesses actually held? I know it’s somewhere in the castle but I have no idea where.”

“Don’t worry, I remember where they were taken and how it went down. I bet this Tempest has them in the same spot!”

“Then show me the way, we need to move as fast as we can!”

A second later a swiftly flying dragon and a sprinting unicorn came running out of Canterlot Castle’s kitchen, heading up to one of the many tall towers that loomed over the capitol of Equestria. The Staff of Sacanas and all the Alicorn magic it contained was held in Starlight’s telekinetic grip as she followed behind Spike. It didn’t take long before the rumbling of guards, summoned by Tempest, began to shake the castle. The only good thing right now was that Tempest shouldn’t have any idea where Starlight teleported.

The bad thing was that she probably knew where Starlight planned to go.

They had to get through the castle real fast before Tempest could block them off. Starlight didn’t want to hurt any innocent guards, she didn’t want to damage the castle, or potentially put the Princesses in danger. Though things weren’t solved completely with friendship she could do her best to make sure there wasn’t any unnecessary violence.

That was why when the two of them went speeding up a flight of stairs, Starlight blocked each entrance at every level in the castle with a hastily erected barrier of crystals. She could still keep them from getting swarmed like this. She kept that up at each intersection and hallway they passed through as well—anything that could buy them some time and keep Tempest off their tails. It wouldn’t stop pegasi guards from coming in from the outside and higher levels of the castle but Starlight doubted they were that organized yet.

“Spike I really hope you’re remembering right!” Starlight said as they zoomed up into the supposed tower.

“Yes! I’m telling you the room where they were all held is just up ahead!” Spike answered.

“I guess I wish I knew the castle as well as Twilight does...” Starlight murmured.

A minute later they were running towards a set of closed doors—and even from out here the two of them felt an ominous sensation pouring from the room behind them. Starlight and Spike rushed faster, with Starlight preemptively using her magic to grasp the doors and pull them open. The lock that had been switched to keep them closed shattered under her magic. Once she and Spike skidded through the doorway she threw up another wall of crystals that blocked the room off from the hallway. Hopefully buying them just enough time.

The rumbling from behind them was getting stronger.

But they now paid no mind to that. The circular room in front of them held what they were looking for.

It was sad, and even a little scary, to see the Princesses like this. The four of them, petrified and arrayed at the cardinal directions, would Tempest have kept them like this forever?

“Twilight...” Spike whispered in sorrow. So what if it wasn’t his Twilight? It still hurt.

“Celestia… Luna… Cadance… ugh, this is all so wrong. I can’t imagine how their friends and families are hurting in this world,” Starlight said.

“Well that’s why we’re going to fix this right now!” Spike said and grabbed the Staff of Sacanas from Starlight. “Come on—I’m putting it right in the center and you just unleash the magic from it and turn them back to normal.”

Starlight smirked. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

Together they went right into the middle of the room, all the frozen statues staring at them in the center, and Spike slammed down the Staff of Sacanas while Starlight activated its power with her magic. Just outside the room the entire hallway was shaking. But that was secondary. Starlight’s turquoise magic enveloped the entire Staff, lighting it up and drawing forth the magic within.

She was actually kind of just winging it right now. Willing her magic and the Staff to do what she wanted. But Starlight was nothing if not gifted when it came to magic—a true natural.

The stolen Alicorn magic was drawn out from the Staff and naturally flowed in four different sparkling beams back to the ponies it came from, the display so bright both Spike and Starlight had to close their eyes briefly. When they opened them back up the Staff was left devoid of magic and the statues of the Princesses were bathed in a magical rainbow glow. The magic stayed wrapped around their frozen bodies, glowing brighter and brighter while Starlight and Spike looked on in anticipation. Finally the magic seemed to seep into the statues and their petrified bodies started to change, the stone skin vanishing like a watercolor painting.

In just a moment the four Princesses were standing like normal again, rescued from their petrified state. They looked dazed, tired, and befuddled, but they were okay.

“Twilight!” Starlight and Spike yelled together and ran to hug the Princess of Friendship. More for her own sake than theirs.

The purple Alicorn was rocked back on her hooves by the two of them but the hug at least seemed to bring her to her senses. “S-Starlight? Spike?” She looked around at the other recovering Princesses and the Staff of Sacanas. “Did you rescue us?”

Starlight smirked. “Actually, you’re the one who still needs to rescue us in Tartarus.”

“Huh?” Twilight blinked in confusion.

“Sorry, don’t mean to confuse you or anything. In fact—let me just take care of this first,” Starlight said and turned around, blasting a powerful beam of magic at the Staff of Sacanas. The Staff was blown apart, reduced to splinters and smoking embers that littered the floor and shocked the other Princesses.

“What’s going on?” Celestia asked, her eyes still glassy.

“Not a lot of time to explain, Spike and I actually have to be going now. I know the four of you can fix things from here,” Starlight said and smiled again at Twilight. “Also, go easy on Tempest. Make sure you give her a second chance just like you gave me.”

“I’m… very confused right now but I promise I will,” this world’s Twilight Sparkle said.

“Great! Come on, Spike! We’ve got more work to do,” Starlight said and grabbed the dragon, pulling him past the Princesses towards the back of the room.

Right after that, the crystals blocking off the room exploded and revealed an angry Tempest Shadow with an army of guards behind her. However—there was now a big problem for her. She was faced with four just as angry Alicorn Princesses, now all standing together and staring her down. Tempest’s eyes widened and her angry frown turned to nervous pursed lips. Meanwhile, the guards also noticed this big change. Their beloved Alicorn Princesses were no longer stone statues, no longer held hostage and helpless. And thus they had absolutely no reason to listen to or side with a certain usurper anymore.

The guards, pegasi, unicorn, and earth ponies alike, slowly turned their attention towards Tempest Shadow. None of them were smiling any longer.

Tempest gulped. “Okay—let’s talk this out...”

And while that happened and everyone else was occupied, Starlight reached her hoof into Spike’s bag and yanked out the Discord flute.

Discord blinked as if slowly waking up. “Ah, is it time to-”

“PORTAL, PORTAL, PORTAL!” Starlight frantically shook him up and down.

His eyes spinning around in their sockets, Discord snapped his fingers and created another glowing blue circle that Starlight and Spiked quickly jumped into.

From the Top

“You know that’s funny, because I distinctly remember telling you to be more gentle when waking me up next time,” Discord said as he glared at Starlight.

“Sorry Discord, I was a little frantic back there,” Starlight shrugged.

“At least we fixed things again,” Spike added. “I mean I’m pretty sure we did.”

Currently the three of them were still careening through the colorful space between worlds, no next destination decided upon yet thanks to the abrupt departure from the last world. The three of them tumbled about in this void devoid of gravity with only flashing colors and starbursts of rainbow patterns for a background. There was a growing feeling of disorientation as they flew through this space and they were all starting to feel it.

“Well I suppose then that I should make our exit portal already,” Discord said and prepared to snap his fingers.

“Wait! Not yet! We’ve been doing this wrong,” Starlight stopped him.

Discord raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

“It’s too random, there was no order to the two worlds we traveled to. If we want to get rid of chaos we shouldn’t be choosing worlds at random, we need to come up with a real order that makes sense,” Starlight said.

“What do you think then?” Spike asked.

“We go backwards,” Starlight said. “From the very last altered timeline we need to visit to the first. We tie up any loose ends before they can unfurl further. Do you think you can manage that, Discord?”

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t be able to,” Discord said.

“Good—then let’s get things started for real! Let’s go and fix up these worlds!” Starlight cheered.

Discord smirked. “Well it seems the mood is still positive.” He snapped his fingers and a bright beacon of light appeared in front of them. “There we go, now I’m going back to sleep. Do not shake me awake next time.” The Discord flute stiffened back up and flew into Spike’s bag, their Draconequus ally leaving the two of them alone once more.

Spike seemed to be in a positive mood though after Starlight’s words, he gave her a smirk and a thumbs up. “We’ve got this, two wins down already, just a few more to go.”

“That’s right. I’m not going to pretend that things were perfect last time, but we’ll get better and better as we go on. Just gotta remember what’s at stake,” Starlight said.

Spike nodded and together the two of them flew toward the bright light that led to the next world.

“You know I really have to thank you for all of this.”

Starlight blinked. That wasn’t Spike or Discord who had spoken. In fact, Spike didn’t seem to hear it at all. Starlight turned her head and saw another pony flying through the space between worlds, flying while behind him an impossibly changing array of colors and patterns continued to expand for infinity. But although her mind did immediately go to “pony” there were a few things off. He was tie-dye. No normal pony, not even Rainbow Dash or Celestia, had the mix of colors that made up his body, mane, and tail. It was a constantly swirling and changing mess of tie-dye, in fact, she couldn’t even see where his body ended and the mane and tail began. It was more like he was a pony-shaped blob of colors. There was no Cutie Mark on his flank and no visible eyes or mouth.

But even though there weren’t eyes she knew he was looking at her. And even though he had no mouth she could tell he was smiling at her.

“Who are you?” Starlight asked, perplexed. Spike right beside her gave no indication he heard her or realized what was going on.

“Harlequin Rainbow, pleased to meet you,” somehow the tie-dye skin around where his “mouth” was supposed to be stretched even further. “Very pleased. For I sincerely owe everything—almost everything at least—to you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m just happy about what you’ve done and what you’re doing now. Keep fixing things up please, everyone is counting on you after all and you simply can’t leave the world like this. Bye bye for now but I’ll see you later,” he said and his body twisted and stretched like bubblegum, spiraling around before disappearing like a black hole had sucked him up.

Starlight shook her head as if snapping out of a trance and looked over at Spike. “Spike, did you see that?”

“Huh?” Spike looked up at her dumbly—oblivious. “See what?”

“I-” Starlight started but stopped, not really sure what to say. “Never mind, I’ll talk about it with Discord later...”

“Okaaay?” Spike shrugged, confused.

A moment later they made it to the next portal and they were swallowed up by the light-

---

This time the both of them landed easily on the ground, no problems whatsoever coming out of the portal. Starlight took a look around, realizing they were in a grassy field somewhere during the middle of the day, she wasn’t entirely sure where, and that nobody else was around. Spike also took a quick look for a second before his eyes settled on Starlight—something about her really catching his attention.

“Uh, Starlight?”

“We’re obviously in Equestria but I’m not sure where… it looks kind of familiar though,” Starlight said as she rubbed her chin.

“Starlight?”

“I guess the problem has to be around here in some way? What was it that I even did here again?”

“Starlight...”

“Maybe we should just find the nearest ponies and feel them out… see what’s different about this world compared to ours.”

“STARLIGHT!”

“What is it, Spike?” Starlight shouted back.

Spike simply raised a claw and pointed at her sides. “You have wings again.”

Starlight blinked and looked back at herself, seeing the lilac wings resting comfortably on her sides. And feeling slightly taller. “Oh. I’m an Alicorn again. Well that’s not good.”

“I remember this world… it was the one with Tirek and you being a Princess… somehow,” Spike shrugged.

“Ugh! This is just crazy! How does my body change just from popping out into this world?! Shouldn’t I stay normal even if the me here is an Alicorn?” Starlight yelled in frustration. She sighed and looked over at Spike. “Oh forget it… let’s just figure out how-” she stopped mid-sentence and her eyes widened. “Spike! Where’s your bag?!”

Spike now jolted, so caught up in seeing Starlight as an Alicorn that he hadn’t even noticed. His bag was missing. He no longer wore it on his side. “My bag! Discord! They’re gone!”

“Uh oh…” Starlight bit her lip. “Oh this really can’t be good.”

“What do we do?” Spike looked around in a panic, hoping the bag had just fallen somewhere nearby.

“I… I genuinely don’t know,” Starlight shook her head. “I remember this world… it was so different that what had happened here couldn’t have been from anything I did. The changes were too huge, things would’ve had to have happened way far back… my friends were the Elements, Chrysalis was somehow reformed… who knows what else is different here.”

“I see something that’s the same though,” Spike said and pointed into the distance.

Starlight followed him—and saw Canterlot looking the same as ever up on the side of the mountain.

She took a deep breath and nodded. “When in doubt, go to the Princesses.”

“If they’re even the Princesses we know,” Spike gulped.

“Yeah… but there’s no time to waste, come on Spike, I’m gonna put these wings to good use,” Starlight said and spread them open.

At first she was a little wobbly but Starlight being Starlight she was able to get the hang of flying with wings relatively easily. It was faster than using her magic to levitate herself and Spike followed along with her the whole way until she got herself in the groove.

While they flew over Equestria straight towards Canterlot Castle, they both started to notice a few odd things.

For one, there was absolutely no other pony in the sky. Not a single pegasus was visible. And even though this wasn’t a very populated area of Equestria (at least in their world) it was weird they didn’t see any ponies walking down below either. Despite it being the middle of the day things were very quiet and empty around here. The ground looked weird too. It was all yellow and dried out, rivers and streams clearly weren’t as filled as they should be either. It was almost like the heart of Equestria was in the middle of a drought—even though something like that should be impossible.

“Spike? Do things look a little unhealthy around here to you?” Starlight asked.

“Yeah,” Spike nodded. “It’s like the weather ponies aren’t doing their job.”

“Strange… maybe it has something to do with why we’re here,” Starlight said.

“At this point I think anything even slightly odd should be taken into consideration.”

“True.”

When the two of them finally made it to the airspace around Canterlot they saw that things weren’t really any different there either. They did see some ponies out but not nearly as many as they should—there weren’t any guards flying around—and the various beautiful trees, plants, and flowers that normally dotted the rich city were all drying out and dying. All the fountains had been turned off too for some reason. Even the rich gardens of the castle weren’t spared. Starlight and Spike could see how yellow the formally green grass of the grounds had become and how the numerous hedges had all started to die away.

However there was one thing that stuck out down there in the middle of the gardens. A pony quite recognizable in the bright sunlight shining down on Canterlot.

“It’s Luna!” Starlight shouted, pointing down at her.

Spike sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from his brow. “She’s a sight for sore eyes...”

“I hope we don’t scare or confuse her or anything but we need some answers… without Discord I don’t care what we have to do, we’re figuring out what’s going on in this world,” Starlight said.

“Right there with you. No time for sneaking about, if we have to reveal what’s going on then that’s what it takes. This is a special occasion,” Spike agreed.

The two of them took a steep dive towards Princess Luna, looking to meet the Alicorn Princess (the other Alicorn Princess besides Starlight herself right now) as soon as possible. Strangely they still didn’t see any guards out on patrol or watching the skies. Obviously there wasn’t usually any threat to the Princesses or Canterlot but the guards usually patrolled anyways. And with how off things looked here Starlight was surprised not to see any of them right now.

Either way the fast flapping of their wings grabbed Luna’s attention and her ears swiveled up, her head turning up with them just in time to see Starlight and Spike land on the dry grass in front of her.

“Princess Luna!” Starlight said, putting on a friendly smile. “Now don’t be confused or anything but I-”

“STARLIGHT! YOU’VE RETURNED!” Luna yelled at the top of her lungs and lunged forward, wrapping Starlight in a warm but bone-crushing hug. “Oh Starlight, my wonderful, wonderful, Starlight, you’ve finally returned to us!”

“H-Huh?” Starlight wheezed, trying to get out of the Princess’s death grip.

Luna looked Starlight in the face, tears streaming from her eyes. “A-And you can still fly too! You still have your magic, don’t you? You can fix all of this terror!”

“What are you talking about?” Starlight coughed.

“Uh, Princesses? I think you’re both a little lost right now,” Spike said.

Starlight looked over at him and realized he was staring at Luna in dismay. Something about her had disturbed him. Starlight took a closer look at Princess Luna and noticed quite a few things for the first time that she hadn’t caught because of the sudden hug. Things that were difficult to see from far away. She was taller than the Luna they knew—the same height as Celestia—and her mane and tail had an array of silver highlights in them aside from just their various shades of blue and glittering stars. Her horn was longer as well and she wore a silver regalia to match the golden ones they knew Celestia to wear back in their world.

And there was no Cutie Mark on her flank.

Luna for her part looked over at Spike with plain confusion on her face. “Who are you?”

Starlight grimaced as well. “I think we might have a few things to work out...”

“What do you mean? Starlight—have you not been lost ever since you did that strange thing to Tirek? What happened to you after that? Your friends said that you simply vanished!” The tall Luna said. “Please, you must tell me what’s going on—it’s been absolute chaos in Equestria since!”

“What happened here?” Starlight frowned and briefly shared a look with Spike. “I saw Tirek become equalized, he shouldn’t have been a danger anymore. What happened right after that? Are you saying I, I mean me—I mean I have been missing?”

She was confused—and probably further confusing Luna here as well. But it was weird. What happened to the Starlight from this world? Where was she when Starlight and Spike got here the first time? Why has she seemingly been missing since? Why did Starlight become an Alicorn like the Starlight from here must have been when she never “matched” the Starlight’s from the other timelines? And if something crazy was going on then where. Was. Discord?!

Starlight stopped herself, gathered her thoughts, and took a deep breath. She had to start from somewhere.

“Princess Luna, I’m sorry for not having any answers for you right now, but can you tell me what happened here after I disappeared? And what do you mean by me still having my magic?” Starlight asked her.

“Whatever you did to Tirek locked away all the magic inside him. He has no ability to use or return it anymore. Every pony in Equestria, including myself and my sister, have been without magic since. That’s why the sun is still stuck in the sky despite it being nearly midnight right now!” Princess Luna said and pointed up at the glowing orb.

“Ohhhh… that explains some things,” Spike said.

“Unicorns can’t use magic, pegasi can’t fly, earth ponies can’t grow crops. Its only been a couple of weeks but Equestria is on the verge of collapse! With you gone the ponies have nearly been at each other’s throats… I was hoping that you would return one day to fix things. Celestia and I have been at our wit’s end. We’ve never faced such a situation before, and with you gone it’s been even harder to reassure ponies that things will be alright. The rest of the Elements have tried their best but things are nearly at a breaking point,” Princess Luna closed her eyes and held a hoof to her head for a moment before staring imploringly at Starlight. “Please, Starlight—my most precious student—please tell me you can reverse this.”

Spike bit his lip and looked up at Starlight.

Starlight herself was grinning awkwardly. “Ehehehe… heh...” she shrugged. “Well Princess, funny thing is… I’m not your Starlight.”

“I… I do not understand, Starlight,” Princess Luna shook her head.

“I’m from another world. A completely different Equestria. I… I think I can fix things with Tirek but… I have no idea where your Starlight is. Spike and I here are traveling through space and time to stop chaos from causing the destruction of everything. We um… the last time we were here I guess I caused things to go a little out of whack… so now I’m here to fix things but this world… it’s way different than any other world or timeline we’ve visited. I’m not sure if returning the magic is all that needs to be done and-” Starlight briefly glanced at Spike. “We ran into another problem of our own...”

Princess Luna took all this in with the grace and patience that could only be found with a thousand-year old ruler of Equestria. That said, her eyes were still nearly spinning around by the end of it.

“I believe I need to sit down for a moment… and there are a few others who must be contacted and notified about this as well.”

None of This Makes Any Sense

Two hours later and the great ballroom of Canterlot Castle was being used as a meeting place for all the most important ponies in Equestria. It had taken a little time to discreetly get this get together to happen since it was now past midnight (despite the sun still keeping it bright) but the important meeting could finally start. Starlight and Spike were currently waiting outside the door to the gardens, waiting for Princess Luna to introduce them and usher them inside so they could avoid being glomped one at a time by the ponies that had been summoned here. They needed to be cushioned so as not to overreact to who they were about to see.

“And so that is why I ask you to calm yourselves, it is not the Starlight Glimmer you know that you will be meeting...” the words of Princess Luna drifted from the other side of the door and she opened them up for Starlight and Spike.

The two of them walked into the ballroom, and immediately gasps came from the other ponies who had been gathered. But thankfully there was no grand explosion of energy, no yelling, no fainting, plenty of shock, but still reserved.

Starlight recognized all of those she saw—even the ones who were different from how she knew them. Sunburst, Maud, and Trixie were the same. Sunburst with his jaw hanging open in surprise, Maud as expressionless as always, and Trixie glaring at her suspiciously. Then there was Sassy Saddles, a mare Starlight couldn’t even call an acquaintance back in her world but who was apparently not only one of her closest friends here but an Element of Harmony as well. Most different appearance wise though were Queen Chrysalis and Celestia. Chrysalis—who Starlight had seen briefly last time—was even more colorful than Thorax, with glossy eyes and wings and legs no longer full of holes. Celestia was short, barely taller than Starlight herself, and her mane and tail were now a mere combination of bright orange and yellow.

“Wow… this is definitely not something I was expecting to see in my lifetime,” Starlight said as she looked across them. She then glanced to her right and frowned. “Okay—I understand why everyone else is here, but why is Tirek here?”

Everyone glanced towards the towering red and black centaur who had also been silently standing in the ballroom off to the side.

“I was wondering that too,” Spike said.

“It is because he is in the same boat as the rest of us,” Princess Luna said.

“Yes. Thanks to you I can not use any of the magic I absorbed. Like this I am merely… tall,” Tirek glared in annoyance at her. “And despite my size I can not fight an entire country of ponies. Magicless or not.”

“We’ve allowed him free reign for the time being due to having no other options,” Luna shrugged. “Tartarus can not be opened regardless. And he is one of the few we could think of who might have been able to solve this situation.”

“So far my efforts have not born fruit,” Tirek folded his arms over his chest and continued to glare at Starlight.

“And despite his… past indiscretions, since he is as lost and powerless as the rest of us it seemed only right to give him a chance to help,” Sunburst said. “That’s something you taught us. Er, the real you. I mean—our you.”

Starlight smirked. “Empathy and forgiveness huh?”

Chrysalis smiled. “It worked for me.”

“Yeah… guess instead of Discord it was you who got redeemed in this world,” Starlight said.

The others looked at her in confusion.

“Discord?” Chrysalis tilted her head.

Starlight frowned. “Uh… yeah? Draconequus? Spirit of Chaos? Annoying?”

Princess Luna and Celestia both shared a look before Luna shook her head. “We know of no such creature by that name.”

“Huh,” Spike scratched his head. “I wonder if that’s why he disappeared? Maybe it’s because there isn’t supposed to be a Discord at all in this world?”

“I believe we’re getting off-topic just a bit,” Tirek said.

“Yeah—yeah, sorry, this is just a lot to take in,” Starlight rubbed her temples.

“So your world is similar but different in several key ways from ours? Princess Luna said you were traveling through various worlds to save them from collapsing?” Sunburst asked.

“Yes. And I think I probably had to come back here to fix what I messed up the first time around,” Starlight nodded.

“Trixie does not trust you!” Trixie shouted as she pushed Sunburst out of the way and trotted right up to Starlight. “You may look like Starlight, but you’re not her! The Great and Powerful Trixie does not know what you’ve done to the real Starlight but she wants answers! You even admit that all of this happened because of you—and you expect us to just listen to you now, you fake! Give us our best friend back!”

Starlight felt herself backing up, truthfully she felt this Trixie was mostly right to be angry and suspicious. And though she didn’t know why the Starlight of this world had disappeared when she came here she had a gut feeling she was indeed to blame for it. “I-I’m sorry, Trixie.”

“I don’t want an apology, I want Starlight!” Trixie nearly lunged for her before Maud and Sassy grabbed her.

“Stop it, Trixie! This isn’t right, Starlight wouldn’t want this,” Sassy said.

“And she’s telling the truth. She may not be our Starlight, but she’s a Starlight, And she wants to help,” Maud said.

Trixie was breathing a bit heavily and still glaring at Starlight, but in the hooves of her friends she managed to calm down. After a moment she shut her eyes tight and whipped her head away. “Humph!”

“I can’t say I blame her for her anger,” Celestia said, narrowing her eyes at Starlight. “I myself am quite distressed knowing the wonderful mare who saved me is still missing. Our Starlight managed to discover and join the Elements of Unity together after a thousand years and soon became a Princess afterwards. It seems you hardly match up.”

Starlight ignored the barb—fully used to putting herself down in the past anyways. She was far more interested in what else this version of Celestia had just said. “Elements of… Unity?”

“Are they referred to in a different manner in your world?” Sunburst raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah-” Spike interjected. “Where we’re from it’s the Elements of Harmony, and there are six of them, not five. And uh, none of you or Starlight are the Elements. Sorry.”

“That’s very curious...” Sunburst stroked his beard. “Knowing that and what else you’ve said… I can’t begin to imagine how our worlds could have diverged so much.”

“What are your Elements?” Starlight asked, very curious.

“Ah, well, I’m the Element of Compassion,” Sunburst said.

Sassy Saddles smiled. “The Element of Hope.”

“The Element of Sincerity,” Maud said.

“And I’m the Element of Fun,” Trixie said through an annoyed pout. “Sorry if I’m not exactly living up to it right now.”

“And what am I—what is she?” Starlight asked.

“Well you’re the Element of Magic of course,” Sunburst answered.

Starlight snorted and rolled her eyes. “Oh of course.”

“And you became the Princess of Friendship when you became an Alicorn as well.”

This time a horribly uncomfortable shiver worked its way down Starlight’s spine. “Please never call me that while I’m here.”

“Yeah. Please,” Spike agreed.

“Excuse me, but I still believe we’ve been going very off-topic,” an impatient Tirek said as he tapped one of his hooves against the floor. “You say you want to fix this—so can you?”

Starlight craned her neck up to look at him. The imposing centaur staring back down at her. She had an answer for him—for everyone—but she wasn’t sure about the long-term effects of it. “Yes. I think I can fix this easily enough. I know my magic best.”

“What will you do then?” Princess Luna asked.

“I can remove the spell from Tirek that equalized him. That will return him to normal and then he and he alone will be able to return all the magic he originally stole,” Starlight said.

Tirek’s eyes, along with all the others in the ballroom, widened.

“Would you do that, Tirek?” Starlight asked.

“But of course,” Tirek answered calmly. “I have become quite attached to the ponies of Equestria through this shared disaster. I am sympathetic to their plight and understand their suffering now that I am without my magic as well. I would not wish this existence on them anymore—if you return me to normal I would gladly give back the magic I unjustly stole.”

There were several looks shared between the denizens of this world. Several very uncertain looks.

Tirek of course noticed them and stared down at the others. “Do you not trust me? You said you would give me a chance to help—am I not owed a chance to change my ways like the changeling here? You forgave her and showed her empathy under the leadership of the true Starlight Glimmer. Are those words meaningless to you?”

“Of course they are not,” Princess Luna frowned. “We just… perhaps do not trust you fully after you were the one to steal all of our magic in the first place.”

“You ponies who prattle on about being so nice should give me the benefit of the doubt. Sounds like hypocrisy,” Tirek huffed.

“What guarantee can you give us that after being turned back to normal you will return the magic to all the ponies of Equestria?” Celestia asked.

“My word,” Tirek’s reply was simple.

The atmosphere in the ballroom was growing decidedly unfriendlier.

“Um, everyone?” Starlight raised her hoof to get their attention. “If it’s alright, can Spike and I talk to Tirek alone for a moment?”

“As if we’re going to do that!” Trixie scoffed.

“Yes. We are,” Sunburst said. He glanced at the Princesses for confirmation. “If that’s okay?”

“It is,” Luna nodded. “Come, everyone, we shall leave these three to talk amongst themselves.” She took a long look at Starlight. “I trust you, Starlight Glimmer.”

“Thank you,” Starlight said.

After that, everyone besides Tirek, Spike, and Starlight left the ballroom. Trixie was glaring at her the whole way and even Celestia and Chrysalis didn’t look entirely happy with what was happening either. But Starlight was certain a private talk with Tirek would go far better. She wanted to be able to talk to him and tell him things that she thought the others probably shouldn’t know about her world—or that Tirek wouldn’t want them to for his own well-being. She wanted him to trust her as well, and keeping some things between just the three of them was a good way to build rapport like that.

Once the doors were closed, Tirek peered down at her and raised an eyebrow. “So what would you like to talk about?”

“The fact that I know you’re not being genuine right now. Not at the moment at least,” Starlight said to him.

“We know you,” Spike folded his arms and nodded along.

“How dare you accuse me of being dishonest!” Tirek pointed at them. “And besides, you still have your magic to try and stop me if you turn me back to normal. And together with your “friends” you’d be able to use the Elements of Unity on me as well.”

“No. We wouldn’t be able to do that,” Starlight shook her head. “Trixie is right, I’m not the correct Starlight for this world and I’d never be able to use the Element of Magic with them. Unless the real Princess Starlight comes back the Elements will never be able to be used again. You wouldn’t have to worry about anything if she’s still gone when Spike and I leave. You’d be unstoppable and able to steal all the magic again.”

Tirek paused for a moment as he took in her words, gazing curiously into her eyes. “And you’re telling me this why?”

Starlight smirked. “Because I believe in honesty. Along with kindness, generosity, loyalty, and laughter. All things that could help you out and give you a much happier life than stealing the magic from Equestria.”

“You know something about me from your world, don’t you?” Tirek surmised.

“That’s right,” Starlight nodded. “The you from our world is pretty similar. He tried to steal all the magic from Equestria but was stopped by our Princess of Friendship and her friends. Then he tried again. And again. And finally he ended up with a punishment worse than just staying in Tartarus because you can only be lenient so many times. I think my friends would’ve liked to have redeemed you but you never once showed the capability for it. And that’s how it’s going to end for you here if you don’t honestly change your ways too.”

“But you said-”

“You’d still lose eventually. It doesn’t matter if the Elements can’t stop you. It doesn’t matter if you take all the magic back. Someone like you never gets their way in the end. Someone would stop you. And after throwing all their trust and sympathy back in their faces? You wouldn’t get off so easy,” Starlight shook her head.

Tirek huffed in annoyance. “So you’re telling me to stop being myself? To go against everything I know and give up what I’ve desired for millennia?”

“Yep,” Starlight answered plainly.

“Being nice and having friends really isn’t so bad, you know?” Spike shrugged.

“It seems quite overrated in my opinion,” Tirek folded his arms disinterestedly.

“But is it better than being petrified and left all alone?” Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Maybe forever?”

“That sounds… quite specific,” Tirek said.

“It’s just one possible outcome if you don’t change your ways. And seriously—unless you really are a complete monster do you honestly not feel different at all after being put in the horseshoes of the ponies here? Do you really want all of them to keep suffering like this, the same way you are right now without any of your power? And won’t you get bored down the road being the only one who can do anything? How about you show some genuine empathy! Your brother got it right, didn’t he?” Starlight said.

Tirek glared at her. “You didn’t need to bring him up.”

“Yes I did because he’s proof that you can get it too,” Starlight frowned right back at him. “Forget about sucking up all the magic just for the sake of having it all and find something truly fulfilling instead!”

“Make friends with all the ponies here, how fulfilling,” Tirek rolled his eyes.

“I’m telling you it’s better than your other options,” Starlight pointed at him. “I know things. I’ve seen your future, Tirek. And is it really so bad to not have everything you want? I had to make that sacrifice too—everyone does. And if you want something to sweeten the deal? I promise I won’t let you go back to being scrawny and weak. After you give everyone’s magic back I’ll give you some of my own to at least bring you back to a healthy appearance. I’ve got plenty to spare after all. And you know what? If Chrysalis has been reformed here you should try becoming friends with her, she’ll have a lot to teach you.”

“Friends with the bug? I suppose there are more pathetic entities out there than her,” Tirek said.

“That’s the spirit!” Starlight grinned.

“Is it?” Spike looked at her.

“Baby steps.”

Tirek thought for a moment before sighing and dragging a palm down his face. “Ridiculous… that I am actually considering all this. But I suppose that what you’re suggesting isn’t quite so terrible of a life. Maybe I can even come to enjoy it.”

“So after I remove my spell from you…?” Starlight pushed.

“I will give the ponies back their magic. I was only half sarcastic earlier when I said I was sympathetic to their suffering now anyways. And… I’ve had nothing to eat but cupcakes for the last two weeks. They are quite tasty and I’ve become addicted. As long as I get more of those I’ll be fine,” Tirek shrugged.

“Fantastic!” Starlight cheered and did a little hop. “I think we’ve got this place fixed up, Spike!”

“Yeah and it looks like it’ll be done without violence too. So I’ll chalk that up as a double-win,” Spike said.

“Mhm. Spike? Can you get the others back in here? I’m going to remove my spell from Tirek,” Starlight said. Spike saluted and flew to the ballroom’s doors that the others had filed through minutes ago.

“If you think it won’t bother them at least,” Tirek said.

“They’ll be okay. Maybe not all of them at first, maybe they won’t totally trust you or view as a friend right from the start, but these things take time. And giving them back their magic and Cutie Marks? Turning Equestria back to normal? Making it so the sun can actually go down? That’s pretty much the best place to start,” Starlight grinned.

A second later and Spike and the others emerged back into the ballroom, Princess Luna leading the group as they once more came to stand before Starlight and Tirek. Trixie and Celestia in particular still had annoyed and rather suspicious looks on their faces, but Sunburst, Sassy, and Chrysalis seemed far more positive. Maud was Maud. At least most of her friends here seemed to believe in her. Tirek as well was doing his best not to glower at any of them, a single lingering look at Chrysalis was the most he gave.

“I take it we have come to an accord?” Luna surmised.

“Yep,” Starlight nodded.

“I will be returning your magic—I promise. After that… I suppose live and let live can suffice for now,” Tirek said.

A huge grin split across Luna’s face. “That is truly wonderful news! Equestria will be saved!”

“We’ll be able to lower the sun and get farming and weather teams right back on track,” Sunburst said.

“I can’t wait to see ponies happy and smiling again. I knew we couldn’t ever give up!” Sassy Saddles said.

“Mhm,” Maud grunted.

“I guess it’s going to be nice,” Trixie allowed. “I suppose getting to throw magic shows again to spread joy throughout Equestria is a good thing.”

“And there’s no more time to waste when it comes down to it. I’m fixing this problem I started right now,” Starlight said and charged up her horn. The others watched with bated breath as Starlight took aim at Tirek and fired a turquoise beam of magic at him. It enveloped his large body and caused him to glow brightly—the barely visible equal sign on his body getting pulled off like a piece of sticky tape. As soon as it had been detached it started to disintegrate in Starlight’s magic until it vanished completely.

The glow from her magic disappeared from Tirek and he stood tall in the middle of the ballroom. Flexing his arms he grinned and charged up his body—a spark of magic running up and down his horns. The others from this world stood their ground, though you could see that some of them were perhaps slightly concerned.

Tirek saw this as well and chuckled before looking at Starlight. “Well, I suppose I might as well keep my promise.”

Without another word he gathered up all the magic in him and created a powerful glowing sphere of rainbow magic between his horns. Clenching his fists—the sphere grew in both size and power—bolts of lightning arcing off it as it slowly expanded to reach even the ballroom’s ceiling. The outer limits of the sphere wildly spun and sparked while the middle became a white light so bright it seemed like it would be able to overcome a black hole. Tirek grunted in exertion while everyone watched in an array of fear, excitement, and joy before he finally spread his arms wide and the sphere of magic exploded outwards into an intangible, unstoppable, wave…

So That's Why

It was a new dawn in this Equestria. The magic had been returned and everyone had been overjoyed to have their lives back. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia immediately lowered the sun and raised the moon together to give this side of the world a respite from the sun and soon afterwards messages and decrees about what had happened were being sent out all across Equestria. Starlight and Spike’s role was kept secret—as they didn’t want to make this Equestria think that the actual Princess Starlight had returned. Starlight meanwhile had also kept her promise to Tirek, he wasn’t as huge as before but his body was still fit and healthy after she had allowed him to swallow up a considerable amount of her Alicorn magic.

The following morning, the first real morning in weeks, saw Princess Luna and Princess Celestia address a massive crowd in Canterlot about what had happened and how they were going to move forward.

But despite things being so much better here, Starlight and Spike were still facing a bit of a conundrum. Without the Discord Flute they had no way to leave. They had no way to travel to the next world to try and help fix it. They were trapped—and time was still very much not on their side.

At least Princess Luna was letting them use the castle as if it was their home for the time being.

“I just don’t get it,” Spike said to Starlight as they watched the big speech Luna was giving from a window high up one of the castle’s towers. “What are we even supposed to do now? We fixed the big problem here and I kind of thought that something would happen because of that but Discord’s still missing. Worse than missing—he doesn’t even exist in this world!”

Starlight furrowed her brow. “I know what you mean Spike… but there’s something I’ve been thinking about.”

“What?”

“I think we need to figure out what happened to Princess Starlight. Somehow it has to all be connected, her disappearance when I first arrived here, and Discord’s disappearance now too. We need to find her or at least figure out why this world and the rules for it are completely different from the others,” Starlight said.

“And how are we going to do that?”

“I HAVE NO IDEA!” Starlight threw up her hooves in exasperation and flopped onto her back. “I have absolutely no idea, Spike! In the past we’d just shift to a new timeline when something big happened or get sucked in some other way. Now Discord is supposed to be our guide and he’s lost too! I just don’t even know where to start when it comes to uncovering what happened to me—the Princess of Friendship—here. But if we left before we found her and brought her back it would be catastrophic for this world so we couldn’t just leave them hanging even if we did have a way to leave!”

Spike scratched his head, thinking about how best to solve this mess while hopefully avoiding more complaining from Starlight. “Why don’t we talk to Princess Starlight’s friends here first? Maybe we can piece things together from what they know? If anything we can still figure out everything else that’s different about this world.”

“Mmm...” Starlight grumbled.

“I know you have to be at least curious about your friends here,” Spike said.

“Well yeah… I kind of want to know what Trixie is like as an Element of Harmony. Sorry, I mean Element of Unity,” Starlight snorted and couldn’t help but grin.

“Yeah… that’s a real odd one to wrap my head around too,” Spike said.

Starlight sighed and stood up. “It can’t hurt to talk to them, you’re right. Come on, Spike, let’s figure out whatever we can.”

---

“So Compassion, huh?” Starlight said to Sunburst as they sat at a small coffee table together, Spike between them and chewing on some gemstones Celestia had gifted them after the speech was over.

“Personally I never thought I was or ever did anything special,” Sunburst blushed. “Obviously Starlight and the Flower of Unity thought different. We had known each other for years beforehoof so it came as a big surprise to the both of us I think. Is that the same with you and me in your world?”

“Well we were childhood friends but obviously neither one of us is an Alicorn or Element...” Starlight said.

Sunburst nodded. “Right. Starlight and I actually drifted apart when we were younger and when we met again in Canterlot it was quite surprising. She wasn’t interested in being friends again at first but I managed to convince her to give me a chance. I saw, well, I saw how miserable she was without friends. I understood how bad she felt and things just evolved from there… like I said I thought I was just doing what any pony would. But apparently a few more moments like that with others clued Starlight in on the Element I represented.”

“And so you and the others used the Elements of Unity to save Princess Celestia and turn her back to normal when she returned to Equestria?” Starlight questioned.

“Um, yes. How did you know that?” Sunburst raised an eyebrow.

“Lucky guess,” Starlight snorted. “So I had no friends and saved a Princess with my fellow Elements? I really am the Twilight of this world.”

“The who?”

Spike choked.

“Apparently it’s not important,” Starlight shook her head. “Look, Sunburst, you’re really smart and you know a ton about magic. Do you even have a theory about what happened to your Starlight Glimmer?”

“I’m sorry but it’s something I’ve already been trying to figure out since it happened. I’m at a loss. When Tirek had us all and was getting ready to take your magic, it was like you suddenly took her place in our world and she disappeared. It’s as if only one of you was allowed to exist here at a time and you pinched her into some other plane of existence. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to look. Not to mention that not even the Princesses can perform such interdimensional magic,” Sunburst said.

“Yeah… we rely on Discord for that too,” Starlight sighed.

“Right, your spirit of chaos,” Sunburst nodded.

“I know for a fact based on previous worlds we’ve gone too that I can exist just fine with other me’s. I don’t know what’s special about this place. Was it because she’s an Alicorn here? Is there some other power at work? Harmony definitely seems to be different here—since it’s called Unity in the first darn place,” Starlight said.

“I’m sorry, Starlight. We just don’t have any answers. And if chaos is the reason for your trip through all these worlds then we can help you even less since that Discord entity doesn’t seem to exist here at all,” Sunburst shrugged.

Starlight shrugged as well. “It’s okay, we always somehow figure things out in the end. Right, Spike?”

“Sometimes it take a while but yeah,” Spike nodded.

“And I kind of just liked getting to talk to you,” Starlight said as she stood up. “Now I’m going to find Trixie, and hope she’s at least willing to give me a chance.”

“Good luck—with everything,” Sunburst said.

Starlight smiled. “And good luck to you too, Element of Compassion.”

---

“The Great and Powerful Trixie must admit that while you may not be as good as her Starlight you still did a good job helping to save Equestria,” Trixie said to her. “I’m already planning to put on a big party and magic show here and back home in Ponyville.”

“Because Equestria could use some more fun right now?” Starlight asked.

Trixie smirked. “Exactly. And no one knows fun as well as I do.”

“Well… I suppose that is true,” Starlight allowed.

“So you’re friends with me in your world too?” Trixie asked. “Is that me even half as great and powerful as I am?”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “I’m not about to go and start stoking your ego if that’s what you want. I know you, Trixie. That ego of yours doesn’t need to get anymore inflated.”

“Pshaw! How boring!” Trixie defiantly crossed her hooves and looked away.

“Uh, hold on one second,” Spike raised a claw. “You live in Ponyville?”

“I wouldn’t say I live there. I travel a lot, but that’s where I’m from. Why?” Trixie asked.

“Nothing really, just one more weird difference between our worlds,” Spike shrugged.

Starlight chuckled and grinned at him. “Do you think she got in a fight or something with the traveling magician Twilight Sparkle when she came to Ponyville?”

“Twilight Sparkle? She’s an old friend of mine from Ponyville,” Trixie blinked.

“Wait. What?” Starlight said while Spike’s jaw dropped.

“She’s my friend. Do you know her in your world?”

“Y-Yes! What’s she like here? Does she still study and practice magic?” Starlight asked.

“That would be a little difficult for her since she’s an earth pony,” Trixie answered with a single raised eyebrow.

Starlight and Spike looked at each other.

“Now that’s a weird picture,” Starlight said.

Trixie shrugged. “She’s still very bookish and studies all kinds of things. I don’t know what she’s like in your world but if you want to meet her here I can arrange that. You could come see all of Ponyville if you want.”

“I don’t know if that would really amount to anything at this point...” Starlight sighed.

“Yeah, a Twilight here, even if she wasn’t an earth pony, probably wouldn’t be able to help us with our problems. Sunburst doesn’t know anything, the Princesses and Tirek don’t know anything, the Elements of Unity can’t even be used right now, ugh,” Spike shook his head.

“Well thanks for at least offering, Trixie, but it seems like we’ve still got our work cut out for us,” Starlight said.

“You know if you’re stuck here for a little while longer, the Great and Powerful Trixie would gladly put on a party for the two of you. Seems like you need it,” Trixie smiled.

“Thanks Trixie, that sounds fun. Although I hope we aren’t around that long,” Starlight said.

“Seriously. Even just a single extra day is a big problem for what we need to do,” Spike said.

“Judging off my experience with you here I’d say you’ve both got a fairly good chance at saving the world. Maybe not as good as my Starlight if she was here, but decent. Also I wouldn’t worry so much, from prior experience things just seem to randomly sort themselves out,” Trixie shrugged.

“Well you’re living up to your Element with that attitude for sure,” Starlight said.

“The world needs to be more carefree and relaxed now than ever. Ponies need to realize they can still have fun, that it’s not the end of the world, that they can still laugh and smile even if their Princess of Friendship is missing. I’m going to make sure that happens. Even if Starlight isn’t here I’m still the Element of Fun—and now with our magic back I know things will end up okay. Somehow,” Trixie said.

“A good outlook to have. Goodbye for now, Trixie. In any world, in any timeline, I love talking to you,” Starlight said.

---

“Hi Maud! So do you enjoy being an Element of Unity?” Starlight asked the stoic mare as they stood in one of the secluded gardens of Canterlot Castle.

“It’s not what I planned for my life but I enjoy it,” Maud answered.

“Not too “loud” for you?” Starlight asked.

“Sometimes I wish I could just spend time on my own and not have to help save Equestria, but I enjoy the presence of all my friends too,” Maud said.

Starlight smirked. “I can see why you’re the Element of Sincerity.”

“I get that a lot.”

“I think in any world you can count on Maud to always be sincere,” Spike said.

“Not always,” Maud said.

Starlight raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

“There was a time where I would never let anyone know my true feelings because I didn’t want to hurt them. But my sister made me realize all I was doing was putting up walls between myself and others. If I ever truly wanted to be close to others and for them to understand me I had to be sincere. Princess Starlight got pretty angry at me the first time we met, but it ended up being a good thing,” a ghost of a smile graced Maud’s face. “She knew she could always trust me after that.”

“And you must really want her back as soon as possible?” Starlight asked.

Maud nodded. “Very much.”

“I don’t know how, but Spike and I are going to do our best to find her. Whatever it takes we’re not leaving until we’re sure this world is okay. And it needs its Princess of Friendship for that to be the case,” Starlight said.

“Thank you. You really are a lot like her. But a little more… aloof,” Maud said.

“Sounds accurate. Well you at least have your other friends and your sisters around for now, Maud. If things go a little slowly I’d love to talk to you again so you can tell me about your family,” Starlight smiled. “This would be the part where I give you a little hug but I know you wouldn’t like that.”

Maud slowly blinked. “That is correct.”

---

“I’m going to be perfectly honest here—I have almost no idea who you even are back in my world,” Starlight said to Sassy Saddles while they had tea together in the castle. Spike sitting beside her.

“I know her, but that’s mostly because she works for Rarity,” Spike said.

“Who’s Rarity?” Sassy asked.

“Oooooouuuughhhhh...” Spike groaned and buried his head in his hands.

Starlight rubbed his back. “Um… don’t mind him.”

Sassy cleared her throat. “Yes, well, anyways I had kind of figured you didn’t really know me from other things you’ve said and how you’ve acted. But that’s alright, it just means I can become friends with Starlight Glimmer all over again.”

“There’s the Element of Hope part talking,” Starlight smirked.

“Just for positive thinking?” Sassy giggled.

“Considering what’s happened in your world lately? Being able to think positively is a big deal,” Starlight said.

“Well not to sound cliched then but yes—I’ve always held out hope that things would be alright in the end. I knew they would be, because Starlight would never let us down. Although it turns out it was a different Starlight who saved us for the moment,” Sassy said. “But it really was important to stay hopeful when everything was at its absolute worst. I could tell ponies were on the verge of giving up completely...”

“Sorry about that...” Starlight frowned.

Sassy shrugged. “I don’t really think you need to apologize. You did what you thought was most helpful in the moment—and technically you did save us from Tirek—it’s just that you didn’t know what the long-term effects would be.”

“She kind of has a tendency to not think about those,” Spike mumbled.

“I’m working on it,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

“Well so what do you plan to do now? Things are at least stable in Equestria again,” Sassy said.

“We’re going to find Princess Starlight. Somehow,” Starlight answered.

Sassy smiled. “Good luck, I know you can do it. And that’s not just me being the Element of Hope talking.”

Starlight sat back, idly swirling her tea with the little spoon. “Before we get back to that though… could you tell me about yourself a little? I’d like to get to know you. Maybe when I get back to my world I can become friends with the Sassy Saddles there.”

“If we’re similar at all I think you certainly have another good friend waiting for you. As for me, I love fashion, obviously,” Sassy said as she stood up and showed off her outfit. “I always considered myself quite adept at running a business—that’s mostly what I was doing before I met Starlight and became an Element. Since then though I’ve mostly been helping out organizing and running various charities and events in Equestria.” A more contemplative look came to her face. “As much as I love fashion I’ve never exactly been a great designer or had that spark of inspiration that the great creators do. Even now I don’t really know what my true calling is besides being the Element of Hope.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you… doing alright?”

“Yes,” Sassy smiled again. “I really am, it’s just… I want to tell you something that I’ve never even told my Starlight. I considered myself quite adept at being a manager for many businesses—but that doesn’t mean I actually was. I had store after store sink underneath my management. Failure after failure. When Starlight met me it was at the start of a new job, I told her about all the failures I had had recently but that I was still working, and still intended to succeed. I think she got the “spark” from that what my Element was. What she didn’t know though… was I was lying. That job I was starting when we met? I had told myself that if I failed there it would be the last time. I was going to give up, go back home, and try something else with my life.”

“But before any of that could happen...” Starlight said.

“That’s right. Princess Celestia returned and Starlight and the rest of us became the Elements of Unity. My outlook on life changed after that and I’ve never looked back. So even now when I’m still a bit unsure of myself, I believe that I’ll find something someday. Just like I did when I met Starlight.”

“I think you’ll find it too,” Starlight smiled. “And if you promise to tell Starlight what you told me—I promise to go become friends with Sassy back home.”

Sassy Saddles nodded. “I think I can keep that promise.”

---

“So uh… this is a little awkward for me,” Starlight said as she walked with Chrysalis through the gardens.

“How so?” Chrysalis innocently asked her.

“You never changed back in my world. In fact you really, really, hated me specifically. Seeing you like this is… odd for a number of reasons,” Starlight said.

“Hearing that just makes me feel bad for my other self,” Chrysalis sighed.

“It makes me wonder too if things could’ve been different. If maybe we could’ve actually gotten her to change her ways or if there was more I could’ve done. But we did give her a lot of chances to be honest...” Starlight rubbed the back of her neck.

“Even I know how stubborn and miserable I used to be,” Chrysalis chuckled mirthlessly.

“Well it’s nice to see that you’re happy at least,” Starlight shrugged. “How’s the hive by the way?”

“Better than it ever has been,” Chrysalis smiled.

“Not hard to imagine,” Starlight said. She thought for a moment and turned to the reformed changeling. “Since you know a lot about redemption now, would you do me a favor and help out Tirek? Give him a friend while he’s going through a new phase in his life?”

“I’d have done that anyways—after the kindness and patience thrown my way it’s only right that I do the same for him,” Chrysalis said. “I think Starlight would want me to do that too.”

“From what I’ve heard she’d certainly be happy,” Starlight smirked.

“What are you going to do now that you’re still here? You’re stuck aren’t you?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yeah… and even though I may have been given this Alicorn body I’m no Princess of Friendship. I can’t take this world’s Starlight Glimmer’s place. And I don’t think it would even really be right to watch over you. Not to mention the whole space-time continuum might collapse soon if I don’t get a move on. Spike and I are going to be looking for your Starlight but we’ve still got no clue whatsoever on what might have happened to her. That’s why we’ve been talking to the other Elements and you,” Starlight said.

“The Elements do have a deeper connection to this world and each other, and while I may be quite a bit older and more powerful than the average pony I’m afraid I don’t know what could have happened to our Starlight either,” Chrysalis shook her head.

“That’s alright. Honestly the second part of wanting to talk to you was just for my own peace of mind,” Starlight said.

“I’ll be talking with both Tirek, the Princesses, and the Elements a lot in the near future. If we discover anything about what happened to Starlight you’re going to be the first to know,” Chrysalis said.

“Thanks. In the meantime, I think you might as well enjoy having your magic back. I think all of you have earned the right to have a little fun here,” Starlight said.

---

Starlight and Spike both lied down on the grass in one of Canterlot Castle’s courtyards, staring up at the blue sky as the clouds floated on by. They were alone with not even any guards around for obvious reasons, just the two dimension-hoppers together. Later they planned to talk to the Princesses when the two of them had more free time but right now they were both taking a break. After all, the other talks hadn’t born much fruit. They had been interesting, and Starlight felt her life was certainly enriched, but they didn’t help the two of them with their problem here in this world.

“I’m still lost. There’s nothing I can think of that might clue us in on what happened to the other Starlight Glimmer or where we can find her,” Spike said.

“There has to be something we’re missing. There has to be something that ties all this together. Everything off and different about this world—why the rules are different, what happened to Princess Starlight, and Discord too, why the entire foundation of this Equestria is different from ours. There has to be an answer,” Starlight said.

“No offense, but this is the kind of thing we need Twilight to figure out.”

“None taken,” Starlight rolled her eyes. “Or for Discord to just snap his fingers and fix it like that.”

“Seriously. He’d be a huge help right now,” Spike nodded.

Starlight frowned and bit her lip. “Discord… I swear this has to have something to do with his absence in this world. Because why would he suddenly vanish?”

“I dunno. I barely have any guesses,” Spike said.

Starlight closed her eyes and thought. “What is it? What’s the key? This world is more different than any world we’ve traveled to. It’s more different than any of the worlds you and Twilight visited when I stopped the Rainboom—because there are key differences that go back thousands of years, key differences that somehow even changed the Tree of Harmony to the Flower of Unity. So what could have caused that? Is there anything or anyone we know who could ever do something like this?”

She continued to take a few deep breaths before she narrowly opened her eyes and sat up.

“I know what the answer is. I’m sure of it.”

“Huh?” Spike sat up with her, surprised at her sudden declaration. “What is it? What did you figure out?”

“There’s only one possible explanation for all of this. Only one thing—one creature—that could do this and change the world so completely. Although I’m still not entirely sure how and why it’s the only answer I can think of.” Starlight stood up and looked at her wings. “I don’t know if this started accidentally because of how we first came here… but now there’s definitely something actively at work behind the scenes.”

“Starlight, I’m a little confused right now,” Spike said.

“Think about it, Spike. Absent from the world despite it not making any sense? The only one who could change things to such a degree like this? I’m confused about the reasons too or what he’s getting out of this, but I know who’s behind this world,” Starlight said.

“You mean?” Spike stood up.

Starlight nodded and looked sharply to the sky. “DISCORD! Show yourself!”

Good Luck Out There

“But I don’t understand? Why would Discord do any of this?” Spike asked Starlight.

“It’s not our Discord who’s doing it, Spike,” Starlight replied, still staring up at the sky.

“Huh?” Spike tilted his head.

Starlight continued looking up at the sky, but when nothing happened she clicked her tongue, sat down, and defiantly folded her hooves. “Well joke’s on you because I’m not moving from this spot until you answer. I’m not giving you anymore entertainment. The show’s over, I know you’re behind this and I bet you’ve been laughing your head off the whole time Spike and I have been here. But it’s over now. Neither of us are indulging you anymore. So come on down and talk to me because that’s it.”

Clouds continued to drift by, the two of them heard a pair of birds tweeting, the courtyard and the castle remained nice and quiet while a breeze came through. Spike looked around to see if anything was happening, while Starlight kept to her proclamation and didn’t move an inch.

“Oh you’re no fun...”

Both Starlight and Spike’s eyes widened but before anything else could happen, Starlight felt the world spin around her and everything went black for a moment. The next instant she landed on her flank with a thud—right onto a wooden floor.

“What the?” Starlight stood up and looked around, her vision swimming as a sense of dizziness left her head. She had to blink a couple of times and rub her head before her vision returned to normal, finally seeing where she was.

She was in some kind of theater, with rows of seats descending in front of her all facing a large screen. Behind the seats, right next to her, was a projector running with a mechanical whine, a picture flickering on the screen at the front of the theater. Starlight stared in confusion at it for a moment—not quite understanding what she was seeing. It looked like a picture, static, of where she had just been sitting in one of the castle’s courtyards. With a small purple dragon facing the screen.

“Spike?” Starlight said.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it on pause while you’re here talking.”

Starlight swung around at the source of the voice.

A Draconequus was standing by the projector, lion’s paw resting on it while a smirk graced his face.

“Pleasure to meet you,” he said.

“I guess I can say the same—since it means I’ve gotten to the bottom of this,” Starlight said.

“And bravo on that, I figured you’d be stuck for weeks before I finally got bored and brought you here myself,” he clapped for her.

Starlight frowned. “So you are Discord, aren’t you? This world’s Discord?”

“That’s right,” Discord smiled and took a bow. “The not one and only. But I’m no illusion or trick, it’s not like I’m the first alternate Discord you’ve seen or heard about anyways.”

“True...” Starlight continued to frown suspiciously at him, she didn’t exactly know how friendly he was.

“Upset? I still brought you here so things could be resolved. I even changed you back to normal,” Discord pointed at her.

Starlight blinked and looked to her sides—her unwelcome wings missing. She felt around for just a moment to make sure she had turned back to her normal size too. He was telling the truth, she wasn’t an Alicorn anymore. “Thanks, but that was your fault I was an Alicorn in the first place wasn’t it?”

He shrugged. “This time. Not the first time though. Even I was surprised when that happened. Which is why I let things continue on like this—I normally don’t get surprised or see unexpected things happen. Whenever they do I treasure them.”

“What do you mean?” Starlight asked but then shook her head and narrowed her eyes at him—a far more pressing concern coming to mind. “Forget that—where’s our Discord? And where’s the Princess Starlight from this world?”

Discord rolled his eyes. “Just as I said, you’re absolutely no fun at all.”

He snapped his fingers and two glowing pink balls of magic appeared behind him at the back of the theater. Starlight gasped as she saw what they contained. One ball, no bigger than a bowling ball, contained Spike’s bag and her Discord—still in flute form—floating inside it and still in stasis. The other contained a more startling sight—herself, almost, herself—floating and curled up, fast asleep. The Princess's wings were wrapped tightly around her body in comfort.

Starlight immediately lit up her horn and faced off against this world’s Discord. “What did you do to them?”

“Calm down, they’re fine,” Discord said dismissively. “First of all you’re at least halfway responsible for this.”

Starlight continued to glare at him but slowly relaxed and let the magic from her horn die down. “Alright. Fine. If Discord and the Princess are okay then let me ask something else. What is going on in this world. What did you do?”

An amused smirk came to Discord’s face. “I won.”

“You won?”

“This was a long time ago now—technically speaking,” Discord snapped his fingers and the projector started to show something different. “Take a look.”

Starlight turned around, now seeing another familiar image on the screen. That of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. They looked exactly like how she knew them in her world aside from the fact that Twilight was still a unicorn. “I… I don’t understand.”

“Originally this world was almost exactly like the world you came from. After you accidentally bounced in here the first time I did a little looking around and learned what I could about your home. Funny to think about how things ended up there,” he said and snapped his fingers again. The screen changed to show a chaotic scene—Ponyville in the throes of his power. Buildings were floating upside down, the ground had been turned into cookies, flowers were sprouting bubbles, clouds had become heads of lettuce, springboards and trampolines bounced around like they were alive, and more. “And this is what it looked like for many years after this world’s Elements of Harmony failed to stop me.”

Starlight’s jaw dropped. “They failed? It wasn’t that they were stopped from being formed like what I did—you’re telling me Twilight outright failed here?”

“Even I don’t know what the catalyst was for that change,” Discord shrugged. “But yes—I won, they failed to use the Elements against me, and I destroyed the Tree of Harmony right after too and brainwashed them all so they’d never get the chance again.” He rubbed his chin. “In hindsight I feel a little bad for it but this was thousands of years ago now so, eh, whatever.”

“Wait. What? Thousands of years? How?” Starlight asked.

“Well you see—after turning Equestria into a world of chaos for several years, I realized something,” Discord said.

“And that is?” Starlight pushed.

“Winning. Is. So. Boring,” Discord sighed and slumped. “I had absolutely no idea how bored I would get without any sensible ponies around to play with. By that point I had driven them all crazy either accidentally or on purpose. There was only me to appreciate the wackiness of the world, such a disappointment. But even worse than that—do you have any idea how frustrating it is when your own chaos becomes predictable?”

“Can’t say that I do.”

“Well that’s what happened. Years spent in a world like that only made me realize that nothing I could do could surprise me anymore. So what if things were chaotic if they weren’t fresh and interesting anymore? Sure something random would happen every now and then but I knew something random would happen so it wasn’t as fun! Ugh!” Discord twisted around the projector and looked at the screen with a dour expression. “I couldn’t stand living in that boring world of predictable chaos anymore. Or else I might go crazy too.”

“Might?”

Discord rolled his eyes. “Yes, very funny. Either way I had a bit of an epiphany. I realized I was wrong about chaos and how it was only the truly unexpected that could entertain me now. I realized how ponies just living their lives and a world moving on its own in a way I couldn’t predict was so much more chaotic than simply turning the streets into checkerboards.”

“So you changed the entire world somehow?” Starlight asked.

“I rewound the entire world,” Discord smirked.

“Oh. Time travel. Because that’s a good idea,” Starlight flatly frowned at him.

“Not exactly. I didn’t travel back through time personally, I just reversed time for the entire world back thousands of years. All the way back before Celestia and Luna, before the Tree of Harmony, before the Pillars, before anything like that. Made a few changes so things would progress differently, sat back, and watched it all unfold. I’ve found being a viewer of the world and pony civilization has been quite the show. It’s far better than if I was out there changing things myself—the Flower of Unity being made instead of the Tree of Harmony? Never saw it coming! Luna being the older sister? A gas! You becoming the Princess of Friendship? Remarkable! Not to mention all the other little changes that keep things fresh and interesting. I’ve been watching for thousands of years as this totally new world progresses, it’s been great,” Discord smiled and nodded.

“You’ve completely changed how this world should be… so many lives have been altered because of you,” Starlight said.

“True, but it’s not like this world is bad or anything. It’s still pretty much as happy and successful as the one you come from. In fact—things were going perfectly fine until you showed up. Also, would you want me to undo things again? Erase all these lives and memories? That would be quite horrible, wouldn’t it?” Discord smirked.

“No, I’m not asking you to do that. I’m just frustrated. For what I think should be obvious reasons,” Starlight glared at him.

“Fair,” Discord shrugged. “You really shouldn’t worry so much about it though. I’ve been a passive observer until you mucked things up here, I’m not contributing to the chaos messing up the space-time continuum anymore than you are.”

Starlight sighed and dragged a hoof down her face. “Okay, I get it, I know I messed up when I came to this world but… but why exactly did things happen differently here? You said you were surprised too.”

“The best I can guess is that because of how I fundamentally altered things—this world reacted differently when you accidentally came to it. I was here in the theater when it happened, watching Tirek prepare to confront Princess Starlight, when all of a sudden you and your dragon friend appear on my screen and Princess Starlight appears here next to me,” Discord said.

“That’s what happened?” Starlight’s eyes widened in shock.

“It’s like what your friend Sunburst said. You took her place and pinched Starlight Glimmer out of their world and into the only other place nearby. My world. I guess that world on the screen couldn’t handle two Princess Starlight’s existing at the same place and time. It was really a shock to me too, I tossed my popcorn in the air and fell over the back of my seat. However—before Princess Starlight realized what had happened I put her to sleep, she’s been in that stasis bubble ever since,” Discord hooked a thumb at it. “And then I got to watching what was going on with you. That was quite the thing you did, sealing up Tirek’s magic. It was so unexpected and led to such a change in the world that I figured it would be more fun to watch them try to figure things out on their own and fix it. That’s why I’ve kept Princess Starlight here.”

Starlight narrowed her eyes at him. “Were you ever going to release her? Their world was close to falling apart!”

“Hey now, that’s my world out there too and I’m quite fond of it. If things ever got so bad I’d throw the Princess back in it at the perfect moment to save things. I’m not heartless,” Discord said.

“But when Spike and I came back here you took our Discord away, didn’t you? You did that so we couldn’t solve things as quickly,” Starlight questioned.

“Guilty,” Discord shrugged. “I had been keeping an eye out for you or any others in case you came back to this world, I wanted to be prepared. When I felt your portal opening up I drew your Discord out of that world and right into here with me. But I suppose the fun’s over now, you really had to call me out, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did, because there just so happens to be some really important things going on right now,” Starlight said. “It’s not just my mission—it’s the fact that this world needs and deserves its Starlight Glimmer back too. I want you to send her back where she belongs. And I want you to promise that you’ll never interfere like this again just for your own amusement either. Let this world keep growing on its own and leave the ponies alone.”

Discord chuckled in amusement, his eyes glinting as he peered down at her. “And what exactly do you think you can do if I don’t promise that?”

“You still need to let me go so I can fix the space-time continuum. Afterwards, I can always ask my Discord to check out your world. And if something’s wrong? We have the Elements of Harmony on our side. And my friends have proven they can beat you,” Starlight threatened. “Be nice and just keep watching from behind the screen like you were doing from the start.”

“Hmmm...” Discord pulled at his little tuft of a beard and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “Well okay, that sounds fair!” He smirked and winked down at Starlight. “This was just a special occasion anyways, I solemnly promise to not harm or mess around with my world whatsoever from here on out. Like I said, I am rather fond of it after all.”

“Send her back right now then,” Starlight commanded, still not fully trusting of this Discord.

“Done,” he snapped his fingers and Princess Starlight disappeared, the bubble popping right after. “Things are still on pause out there though while you’re in here. I’m going to have her wake up in the Everfree Forest by the Flower of Unity. Seems like a fitting place.”

Starlight sighed in relief. “My Discord too?”

“Also done,” he snapped his fingers again and the Discord flute and bag flashed away. “Once we’re done talking I’ll send you back somewhere else so you can leave quietly without a fuss… hm, how about the field where you confronted Tirek the first time you came here? That should work. The three of you can then go to your next world. Also though—I’d prefer you not tell your Discord about me, I don’t want him getting any ideas about us becoming chummy. I quite enjoy my quiet life of amusement in my theater.”

“Fine, that’s easy enough,” Starlight said and rubbed her temples. “I feel like I’m getting a headache after all of this.”

“Sorry to cause you so much trouble but if I can moralize for a moment? I think it was important for you to see the outcome of your actions here,” Discord said.

“Yes. Thank you,” Starlight flatly replied.

Discord grinned. “I’ll be sending you back now. And good luck saving the world.” Right before he snapped his fingers though he stopped and blinked. “Oh that’s right—I figured I should tell you this just in case, but you should probably watch out with that Harlequin on your tail. Who knows what it’s up to.”

“Wait, you know-”

Before she could finish her sentence Discord snapped his fingers and Starlight’s vision started to rapidly spin. All the colors in the world cascaded around her and went in like a whirlpool. The next second her body felt drawn into it, she could feel every inch of her stretching and stretching until she felt thirty feet long and then—pow! She was let go and snapped back together to normal.

“Oof!” Starlight’s pupils spun about as she sat on the grassy field.

“Starlight? What just happened?” Spike asked her.

“Huh?” Starlight stopped herself and looked at Spike—then at the world around her. The two of them were in that familiar grassy field that Discord had mentioned, far away from Canterlot or Ponyville. “Oh. Okay then.”

“Uhhh...” Spike continued.

“Sorry, Spike. Had to go away for a moment but everything is taken care of now. We can leave and move on to the next world,” Starlight said.

“What about Discord?”

Starlight smirked as she pointed at Spike. “What about him?”

Spike looked at his side and nearly jumped in disbelief—his bag right back where it should be. “What the?”

“Wake Discord up, Spike. We’ve still got more work to do,” Starlight smiled.

“Well okay, but are you going to tell me what just happened with you? Does it have to do with this world’s Discord?” Spike asked.

“It does,” Starlight nodded. “But honestly with all the crazy stuff I just heard… I kind of only want to have to tell the story once, and it’s something Twilight is really going to want to hear. Also I promised not to tell our Discord about it. Either way—everything here is taken care of now. We’ve brought some much needed harmony back to this world. I’m going to miss the ponies here but I think it’s probably better for everyone if we left now.”

“We’re still on a timetable too...” Spike said as he reached into his bag and pulled out Discord. He was about to whistle to wake Discord up when he paused and looked up at Starlight with a questioning gaze. “Uh, Starlight? You do realize if we’re going in order that the next world we’re going to is hers, right?”

Starlight winced, immediately understanding who Spike was talking about. “Yes… I had kind of been trying to not think about that. But we have to go there, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Alright,” Spike shrugged and whistled lightly for Discord. “Discord? You wanna wake up? We’re ready to go to the next world.”

The Discord Flute shifted about as he became animated, stretching his arms and blinking his eyes like he was waking up from a long nap. “My… for some reason I feel like I was resting for much longer than I should have been. And I can’t shake the feeling that I was dreaming about something important.”

“Uhhh, must be your imagination,” Starlight said. “Can you open the portal for us? Next world could be a bit of a doozy so I want us to get there as soon as possible.”

“Very well, I’d like to finish this up as quickly as possible too. The sooner we save the world the sooner I can get back to tea with Fluttershy,” Discord said and snapped his fingers.

Another glowing blue portal opened up in the grassy field in front of them, waiting to be entered.

“And thank you for being gentle with waking me up this time,” Discord said and floated back into Spike’s bag to rest.

“Not exactly looking forward to this but… at least it can’t be as downright crazy as this world,” Starlight said.

“Let’s try not to jinx things,” Spike said.

“Good idea,” Starlight said. She reached her hoof out to Spike and the moment he grabbed it the two of them jumped into the portal together.

Former Empress Starlight

After yet another feeling of vertigo and the sensation of falling, the kaleidoscope of colors around Starlight disappeared and she plopped out onto the soft ground. Dirt and grass. Good. Spike came out right beside her and landed on the ground next to her, stumbling for a second but catching himself before he fell over. The dragon took a deep breath and rested his hands on his knees.

“We’re never getting used to that, are we?” He asked her.

“I don’t think so,” Starlight shook her head. She then sighed and nervously bit her lip, a worried look in her eyes. “And if we’re in the right world… moment of truth...”

She swiftly looked up at the sky.

Nothing. A normal blue sky with clouds floating by.

Spike looked with her and sighed in relief. “Alright, that’s a good sign isn’t it? No crazy brainwashing waves from the Crystal Empire?”

“That’s a very good sign,” Starlight nodded in agreement. “But it doesn’t mean things are perfect. We still had to come here for a reason. Whatever it might be, there’s not as much harmony and friendship going around in this world as there should be.”

Spike took a brief glance around at where the portal had dropped them off. “Oh, we’re just right outside Ponyville. This road takes us right past the Everfree and into town.”

“Yeah, I recognize it too. If the portal brought us here then it’s likely we need to go to Ponyville. Let’s hope everything here is back to normal compared to when we were here last,” Starlight said.

“Yeah. I really hope things aren’t as creepy… but from what you did last time, life should’ve gone back to normal if evil you couldn’t keep control anymore. If we’re here at Ponyville I bet this world’s Twilight and all our—her—friends are here too.”

“It would make sense,” Starlight shrugged. “But not everything has made sense so far. And it’s no telling what sort of changes might have happened after I stopped evil me. With everything she already did and how long she was in control there’s no telling what could be different here than from our world even if Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance are back in charge.”

“Well we’re not going to figure anything out standing here. Let’s head into town,” Spike shrugged and started walking down the road.

“Mmm...” Starlight mumbled and followed him. To be honest, this world was the one she was most nervous about visiting. What had become of the Empress? To see a version of her that had gone such a different direction—who never gave up her old ways and became friends with Twilight and the others—it was a very upsetting sight and experience. Even if she had been taking it not so seriously when it happened, in the time since she had been able to dwell on it a lot. She felt awful for what had happened to the ponies of this world… but she felt just as bad for the Empress in her own way.

She had told her that if she truly changed her ways that the Twilight of this world and her friends would forgive her. But was that really true after everything she had done? Did she want to change? Did she want to be forgiven? Or was she already too far gone? The things she had done were truly awful, and unlike Starlight she couldn’t hide behind it all happening accidentally or not meaning things to get that out of hoof like when she went back in time to ruin Twilight’s friendship. The experience with the Empress also made Starlight wonder if it was possible that she could’ve made the same mistake. If she could’ve gone that bad too.

It had called for a lot of self-reflection after that vacation was over.

“Okay, that’s different from back home, I’m remembering this now,” Spike said, dragging Starlight out of her thoughts.

She looked up towards the town of Ponyville—now visible—and saw what he was talking about. No School of Friendship. There was the town and Twilight’s castle but the school was gone even though they should be here at the same point in time as their own world. She remembered how they had noticed that when they first arrived here with Twilight too. Because of what had happened, the school was never built or opened.

“So that’s one difference that hasn’t been changed,” Starlight sighed. “I guess we know why the bonds of friendship and harmony in this world aren’t doing so good.”

“Maybe we need to give this world’s Twilight the idea to build it? You know, brighten things up in Equestria after everything they’ve gone through?” Spike suggested.

“Maybe. I think we should go find her first of all and see what we can figure out. If the portal dropped us here I think she and probably this world’s Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity have something to do with helping us fix things,” Starlight said.

“To the castle it is,” Spike said and picked up the pace a little.

He and Starlight came off the road and made it into the actual town of Ponyville a little later. Compared to the last time they were in this world it was far more like the Ponyville they were used to. Plenty of familiar ponies were out enjoying their day or working, Carousel Boutique and Sugarcube Corner both looked normal, and Mr. Cake wasn’t walking around being a brainwashed police officer. If really did look pretty much exactly like their Ponyville and that fact brought a smile to both their faces. Things were definitely better, maybe not the best they could be, but this was one world that was still drastically improved from the last time they had seen it. A minute in Ponyville was proof enough of that.

“After how crazy the last two places we’ve been to were, this is kind of nice.” Spike said.

“Yeah, it is.” Starlight agreed.

Looking around with a smile though and she started to notice something.

In fact Spike started to notice it fairly quickly too.

“Uhhh, Starlight? Everyone is sending you really nasty looks,” Spike said.

“I noticed,” Starlight said as she looked around in dismay, her smile quickly turning upside-down.

Every pony that saw her, that met her eyes, were glaring nastily at her. Some even spit on the ground in disgust. The fact that some of them were ponies she knew well back home just made it hurt all the more. Even some of the nicer ponies from Ponyville had nothing but hateful looks on their faces. And it quickly spread to the others in the area who were out walking through town, as things grew quieter and conversations came to a standstill, the ponies of Ponyville instead watching her the whole time. The foals that were out quickly found themselves pulled behind their parents for safety too.

Starlight cringed as she saw that.

There was Lyra Heartstrings giving her the stinkeye. There was Roma grimacing at her in displeasure from behind her tomato stand. There was Spoiled Rich somehow making an even nastier look with her face than normal. There was Caramel looking confused and even a little scared as she walked by. There was Royal Pin not taking his eyes off her for a moment. There was Cloud Kicker shivering in disgust as she locked eyes with Starlight.

“I uh, I get the feeling that the ponies here know you, the evil you, was behind what happened to them,” Spike said as he looked around.

“Yeah...” Starlight did her best to ignore the looks and kept walking with Spike. “I figured evil me might be locked in Tartarus or at the very least hiding away and not well-known but… if she was then wouldn’t they all be panicking more? Maybe they’ve seen her around so I don’t look that abnormal walking through town...”

Spike glanced up at her. “Do you think she lives here? Like you do back in our world?”

“I… I honestly have no idea,” Starlight shook her head. “Let’s just hurry up and get to the castle.”

The whispers were ignored as Starlight hoped the ponies of Ponyville would let her pass through and just get back to their day like normal as she and Spike left. It wasn’t exactly a nice trip since they had to go through the core of Ponyville to get there—watchful and angry eyes on her the entire time—but they reached the large crystal doors of Twilight’s castle in just a few minutes. And stood there. Just a bit uncertain.

“Do we… do we knock?” Spike asked.

“I don’t know. I also don’t know if I might be getting hit in the face with a magic laser the moment this Twilight sees me,” Starlight said.

“I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t do that,” Spike frowned.

“And I’d like to be a little more than pretty sure.”

Either way, Starlight got tired of standing around after a second and brought her hoof up to loudly knock on the doors. Together she and Spike stood there awkwardly and nervously. There was really no telling what else might go on with them in a world like this.

After just a moment they heard a familiar voice yell from just inside the door: “Coming!”

Starlight took a deep breath and Spike reassuringly patted her on the leg.

The next moment the door was pulled open by a smiling Twilight Sparkle. That happy face, the welcoming smile, it seemed Twilight Sparkle was the same everywhere. This was the first time they had come across an alternate Twilight during this journey of theirs—and boy was she a sight for sore eyes. Even if she wasn’t their Twilight she gave off the feeling of being a bastion of goodwill and reliability.

Most of all, she didn’t immediately glare or frown at Starlight when she noticed who was standing in front of her. Or attack her.

Instead her happy smile morphed into a look of honest surprise and confusion.

“Starlight? Spike? What are the two of you doing out here? I thought you were...” the other Twilight trailed off as she noticed a couple of odd things. Different things from the Starlight and Spike she obviously knew. “Why is your mane...” She looked down at Spike and her pupils shrank. “S-Spike, you have wings!”

This world’s Twilight Sparkle swiftly looked between the two of them. Starlight, to Spike, to Starlight, back to Spike, back to Starlight again and again until she sucked in a sharp breath.

“It’s you. You’re the Starlight Glimmer and Spike from the other world… the one’s who helped rescue us along with the other me.”

Starlight tried to put on the friendliest grin she could and spread her hooves. “Ta-da?”

“Hey, nice to see you again,” Spike waved and smiled much more naturally.

“Why are you-” Twilight Sparkle (B version) shook her head. “You both should really come inside.”

“Yeah… kind of got that feeling,” Starlight said as she briefly looked behind her in the direction of town.

The two of them were then shuffled inside the castle and the large crystal doors were closed back up. Twilight Sparkle held a hoof to her chest and took a few deep and calming breaths. Probably something she really needed to do if she was exactly like their Twilight.

Starlight and Spike for the moment also decided to take a look around their “home”. It was just as familiar as Ponyville and the mare standing in front of them. The layout, the walls, it all looked exactly the same. It was a little weird to be standing in their home and yet it wasn’t really their home. Like there was some kind of strange dizziness almost about to wash over them.

Finally, Twilight managed to get her wits about her and looked at her two visitors. Her two unusual friends if they could be called that. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re on a mission to save the world,” Spike told her.

“Again?” Twilight frowned.

“Again,” Starlight confirmed with a nod.

Twilight sighed and dragged a hoof down her face. “Okay but… how did you get here? And why here if you need to save the world? I’m sorry but I don’t understand why specifically you had to come here. Our world is already saved and pretty much completely back to normal.”

“There’s kind of a lot to go over and some of it we aren’t really certain about either,” Starlight said. “Can we sit down somewhere?”

“Sure, let me just-” Twilight was cut off by another hallway door opening and someone else walking on out of it.

“Twilight? Who was at the door?” Spike, a different wingless Spike, said as he walked into the main hall.

He and the winged Spike locked eyes and they froze up.

“Whoa,” they both said in unison.

Spike (B version) stared at his alternate for a moment longer before glancing over at Twilight. “Uh, Twilight? Are we being attacked by Changelings again?” He then saw Starlight also standing there and a brief look of contempt flashed over his face before he questioned Twilight again. “Why does Starlight look different then?”

Starlight had no idea how much it would hurt to see Spike of all creatures look at her that way. But it did. So much that she almost took a step back when he glared at her.

Twilight, not noticing the glare, only giggled. “No, Spike, we aren’t being attacked by Changelings. Believe it or not, something even stranger has happened. These are our friends from another world—the world I told you about. They’re the ones who helped rescue us all.” She smirked. “And if you’d take a closer look you’d notice your double here looks different from you as well.”

This world’s Spike blinked a couple of times before he finally noticed what she meant. “You have wings?! Wait—I—have wings? How did you get wings? How can I get wings? Does that mean you can actually fly?!”

He ran up to look at Spike A’s wings. “This is so unbelievably cool!”

And of course Starlight’s Spike was enjoying being the center of attention immensely.

“Yeah, it is pretty cool isn’t it?” He grinned and folded his arms over his chest, extending his wings. “And oh yeah—you bet I can fly. Even better than Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “Ahem. Spike, I understand that you’re very excited right now but they’re not just here to say hello.” She looked at Starlight. “Should we continue what we were going to talk about?”

Starlight had been miles away but the question brought her back to reality. “Y-Yes, yes we should.

“Okay, I think the map room is probably the best place to talk then,” Twilight nodded and started walking down the hall.

There was something more pressing on Starlight’s mind now though. Something that had been gnawing at her since before they arrived at the castle. Despite their mission being of the utmost important—it wasn’t something Starlight could put off. She had to ask.

“Wait!” She shouted after Twilight, grabbing the attention of both Spike’s.

Everyone looked at her, Twilight throwing her a surprised glance over her shoulder.

Starlight wiped a little sweat from her brow and looked back at Twilight. “Before that… where is she?”

The hall was silent for a moment, an unreadable expression on Twilight’s face. There was only one “she” Starlight could be asking about. Twilight turned around to face Starlight directly again.

“She’s upstairs. She lives here with Spike and I,” Twilight answered.

“I want to see her,” Starlight said.

“Are you sure? I don’t know if-”

“Please. Let me see her. This is important,” Starlight pressed.

Twilight thought for a moment, clearly going over something in her mind, but in the end she nodded. “Alright, I’ll take you up to her now. There may be some things that surprise you though, okay?”

“It’s okay,” Starlight said. “Considering all the insanity I’ve been through recently I think I can handle it.”

“You really want to meet her, Starlight?” Spike (her Spike) asked her.

“Yes, Spike,” Starlight nodded. “Not just for me, but I feel like it’s important to what we’re doing here.”

“Okay, I trust you,” Spike shrugged. As they walked up into the heart of the castle though he thought of something. “Huh. If she’s here though that means evil you isn’t evil anymore. Right?”

Both Starlight and Twilight glared at him.

“Er… sorry. Maybe a little insensitive,” Spike said.

“I don’t think so,” Spike B snorted.

Starlight sighed. “Well, you’ve got a point, Spike. And I’m curious about how this all came to be too. What happened after we left your world?”

Twilight continued walking in silence for a little while, heading up the stairs and down a new hallway. She seemed to not want to say anything sensitive or too personal. “She had nothing.” She finally spoke. “When I saw her up there it was like looking at a completely different mare. And when things had calmed down and Equestria had mostly gone back to normal… there was still the question of what needed to be done with her. A lot of ponies wanted her thrown in Tartarus. Or worse. But I remembered you, I remembered the other me, and I remembered what I’m the Princess of. I offered her a second chance and she took it. She told me what you told her—that if she really wanted to change and make up for what she had done that we’d forgive her. And I think she has changed, I think she does regret it all, after the time she’s had to think about it and see the consequences of her actions. I’ve forgiven her. But that doesn’t mean everyone has. It doesn’t mean it’s been easy for her. Though she’s doing a lot better she’s still struggling with a lot and-” Twilight grimaced. “You’ll see what I mean soon.”

Starlight and Spike shared a worried glance.

It wasn’t long though before they came to stand in front of a door. And Starlight comically realized that it was the door to her room. Some things really never changed.

Twilight lifted up her hoof and gently knocked on the door. “Starlight? Are you in there?”

“Yes, Twilight. I’m just reading right now.”

It was strange. That was definitely her own voice, but it was so subdued compared to how she usually spoke. And especially compared to the way the Empress spoke from what Starlight remembered.

“Can you open the door? You have guests,” Twilight said.

“Very funny, Twilight. We both know there aren’t any ponies who want to see me.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Starlight, can you please just open the door?”

There were no other words from inside but they all heard a pony walking towards the door. And soon it opened up to reveal the former Empress Starlight Glimmer of this world. She was different. Even just a brief instant would’ve been enough for Starlight to notice that. She still had her mane in that same old high-ponytail style, but the way she stood, the way she carried herself, the look on her face and in her eyes, it was all different. Her eyes were heavy and sad looking, her mouth pulled down in a seemingly perpetual frown, she looked dull and cold, she slouched slightly, and over her entire body she wore a gray shawl.

When she noticed who else was standing outside her door, her eyes widened.

There wasn’t any anger on her face, just genuine surprise.

“It’s you… why are you here?” The Former Empress asked Starlight.

Starlight tried to smile as best she could. “S-Surprise? It’s kind of a long story… g-glad to see you’re doing better though. Hehe...”

“Better, huh?” Former Empress Starlight sighed. Again, no anger flashed across her face, just sorrow. “Well you were right about everything. I was wrong, I was evil, I lost everything, and now I’m here.”

“You haven’t lost everything, Starlight,” Twilight said.

The Former Empress grumbled and looked away. “I—thank you, Twilight. I know you’re just being nice.”

“You just need time, Starlight. Everyone knows you’ve changed, the more you prove that the more minds you’ll change. You just need to give the other ponies here a chance and one day they’ll repay you in kind too,” Twilight said.

“Ever the optimist,” the Former Empress shook her head. “It’s not just about them, Twilight. I don’t blame them for hating me. I don’t blame your friends for still feeling awkward around me. It’s not their fault, it’s mine.”

“You still can’t forgive yourself...” Twilight sadly looked down at the floor. “I told you you don’t need to keep punishing yourself this way...”

“Yes I do, Twilight,” a frown, a flash of anger, finally appeared on the Former Empress’s face. “I deserve this. I don’t deserve to be forgiven so easily—to live freely like you’ve let me—this punishment is necessary.”

“Punishment?” Starlight said, looking between the two other mares.

The Former Empress looked at her with a harsh frown full of self-loathing on her face. “Yes. My punishment for what I did to the rest of Equestria.”

She pulled off her shawl and threw it on the ground, Starlight and Spike gasping in shock at what they saw.

Her body was grayish and washed out, and it made it more obvious upon seeing it that her mane and tail were actually the same too. She wasn’t as bright as the Starlight Glimmer in front of her. The reason for that was around her neck, where she wore a small crystal ball hanging off a leather strap, that contained a glowing Cutie Mark inside it. Her own Cutie Mark shrunken down to fit. And on her flank, the black bars of an equal sign stood out.

Room for One More

“Y-Your Cutie Mark...” Starlight stuttered as she pointed at her other self.

“I did it to myself,” Former Empress Starlight said as she picked her shawl back up and put it on. “As punishment for what I did. And because I can’t trust myself with my magic anymore. The crystal ball the Cutie Mark is stuck in is enchanted so I can’t break it unless I believe in myself… I had Twilight make that after I removed my mark in the first place.”

“You deserve to have it back Starlight… I’d break it for you if I knew you wouldn’t just remove it again,” Twilight sighed.

“Oh man...” Spike sadly frowned and hung his head low.

The other Spike standing behind him dismissively crossed his arms and looked away. There was no pity on his face.

The Former Empress shook her head and looked at Starlight. “Look, I’m glad you stopped me. I’m grateful for what you’ve done. But I just want to be left alone right now, okay?” Before anyone could say anything she pulled her door shut.

Starlight stared at the door for a while before she turned her head to Twilight. “Can you get the rest of your friends here too? I’d like to talk with everyone. I think all of this has to do with why I’m here.”

“Of course,” Twilight nodded. “I’ll get in touch with everyone. Maybe we can have something to eat in the meantime. Do you want to come back downstairs?”

---

The Cutie Map room was a little quiet for how many ponies (and young dragons) were inside it right now. Starlight and Spike were standing before the table, directly facing Twilight, while the other Elements and this world’s Spike were at their own seats. It was most definitely a bit of an awkward meeting. Strange too. Not quite as strange as seeing their alternates, but seeing these other versions of their beloved friends was still a little odd. So similar but still so different.

“So since I only saw you for like thirty seconds last time, what’s it like being from a world where you didn’t enslave Equestria and put us in stasis pods for like a year?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy chided her.

“I’m just curious!” Rainbow shrugged.

“It’s a fair question… but I don’t think you really want to hear too much about our world,” Starlight rubbed the back of her neck.

“Cause we’d get jealous over how much nicer it is? And how much more peaceful things were?” Applejack guessed, a flat look on her face.

“I don’t want you to hold anything else against her...” Starlight murmured.

“We… wouldn’t. I promise,” Rarity said, with a bit of hesitation.

“Eh. Be tough though,” Pinkie Pie shrugged while Rainbow Dash nodded.

Twilight glared at the both of them. “I know things have been rough but-”

Pinkie Pie immediately wilted. “I’m sorry, Twilight. You know I want to get along with her too, and I really have forgiven her, but when I think about all the smiles Equestria missed out on...”

“I know,” Twilight sighed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “I know, Pinkie. Just do your best.”

Starlight looked over the five other Elements besides Twilight. “None of you are actually friends with her, are you?”

The five quieted down, sharing uncertain looks of dismay and shame with each other.

“We’re not… we don’t hate her or anything,” Fluttershy quietly said.

“It’s just tough. Like Pinkie Pie said,” Applejack shrugged. “We’ve all forgiven her but actually saying we’re friends? I don’t know if I can go that far.”

“It was difficult coming back to our homes and families and seeing what we lost in the time we were imprisoned in the Crystal Empire,” Rarity said.

“Our families all remembered that they had been brainwashed to forget about us,” Pinkie Pie said.

“So while we’ve forgiven Starlight… most ponies haven’t,” Fluttershy said.

“And I can’t force them to,” Twilight Sparkle shook her head. “It wouldn’t be right—you can’t force friendship. I make sure no one does anything to Starlight, and I’ve tried to convince ponies to forgive her, but I can’t make them smile and get along with her. Or it doesn’t mean anything. Ponies have to become friends with her for real… even if it might take a while.”

“I know you’re right but partially because she’s me and I can empathize with what she’s going through it really makes me wish things were better for her,” Starlight sighed. “With just one wrong choice… I could’ve been her.”

Starlight bit her lip and turned around to leave the room. “I need to go talk to her. Alone.”

Twilight’s eyebrows shot up. “But what about-”

“Spike? Can you take care of everything else with them? Tell them why we’re here and what we think needs to be done,” Starlight said to him.

“Okay… if you think you need to go talk to her on your own like that,” Spike said.

“Thanks, Spike,” Starlight smiled at him and left the room.

As soon as the doors closed, Spike looked to see everyone else peering down at him from their seats. All eyes on him and very curious about what he had to tell them.

Spike cleared his throat and tried to be as confident as possible. “So—who wants to learn about saving the world again?”

---

Starlight found herself back in front of the door to the former Empress’s room. Her room. She hadn’t gotten much of a glimpse inside earlier but she wondered how differently decorated it was. Obviously there wouldn’t be as many pictures of friends around. If any at all. From how the other her had acted, Starlight wouldn’t have been surprised if it looked like how her old room in Sire’s Hollow did as a teenager. That thought made her grimace and shudder in horror.

After a moment of hesitation she lifted her hoof up and knocked on the door a few times.

“Go away. I know it’s you, we don’t have anything to talk about.”

Starlight frowned and pushed the door open, walking in on her own. What she saw was a mostly empty room, lightly furnished, like a ghost was living in it.

Her other self was on the bed, reading a book Starlight didn’t recognize. She frowned as Starlight walked in. “I guess I can’t say I’m surprised you’d just waltz on in like that. I’d do the same thing.”

“I just want to… I just had to talk to you about some things,” Starlight said.

“There’s nothing more to talk about. The old me is gone, everything I did has been undone, and now it’s just about moving on and waiting. Time heals all wounds, right? It’s part of my punishment,” Former Empress Starlight said.

“But you don’t need to be alone for all of it. You shouldn’t be. Even before I truly felt like I belonged there were others who helped me. I can’t imagine dealing with what you are without someone else to rely on...”

“I have Twilight,” she shrugged.

“That’s not the same and you know it. Even for me and my Twilight it was a little different—and the two of you aren’t as close as we were when we first started living together here. Is there… is there no one else who would call you their friend? What about...” Starlight winced, worried she was about to step on a landmine. “What about Sunburst?”

The other Starlight twitched and looked away, putting her book down. “He won’t talk to me.”

“Did you try and-”

“I tried to get in touch with him after things calmed down. He refuses to even meet with me.”

“Sorry...”

“I’m not angry at him either. Who could blame him?” Former Empress Starlight shrugged, staring up at the canopy of her bead.

“What about this world’s Discord?”

“Are you friends with your Discord? This one threatened to turn me to stone if I even so much as looked at Fluttershy the wrong way.”

Starlight frowned. To be honest, considering Discord’s past she knew that was a little hypocritical of him to not be a little more forgiving. “And Spike?”

“I took Twilight away from him. Separated him from the others. And now he knows he’d have wings right now if it wasn’t for me. He tolerates me for Twilight’s sake but he doesn’t like me,” the other Starlight sighed.

Starlight groaned and started rubbing her forehead. “Ever meet a mare named Trixie? What about Maud?”

“I don’t know who Trixie is but Maud’s the name of one of Pinkie Pie’s sisters, right? Pinkie told me that it was probably a bad idea for me to meet any of her family for a long time.”

“This is worse than I thought...” Starlight mumbled.

“I heard that.”

“S-Sorry… I don’t mean to make this worse for you. I want to help you.”

“You already did. Heh, what you’re doing right now is just proof of how much better than me you are. I did all those horrible things and yet here you are trying to help even more. I didn’t deserve any pity or forgiveness but you still gave it to me. I don’t think I could ever be as kind as you. Just let me stay here and go through my punishment. It’s fine. You don’t need to feel bad for any of it.”

“But you are me. You can be what I’ve made myself to be. I know you can. I’m worried that like this… you won’t ever believe in yourself or be able to do something. And that… that would just be too sad.”

The Former Empress shivered and turned over onto her side so Starlight couldn’t see her face. “J-Just go… please.”

Starlight stood there. As much as she had gone through, as much as she could empathize with her, there was a lot she couldn’t. She turned on her hooves and pulled open the door, walking back out of the room. “I’ll be back.”

---

She teleported herself right outside the front doors of Twilight’s castle so she could avoid being stopped by anyone else. Starlight had a little mission to go on. The town of Ponyville sat directly ahead of her, full of familiar and friendly faces. Not so friendly in this world. And this time when she walked through town, Spike wouldn’t be with her. Exactly how would ponies react to and treat her? What did the Starlight here have to go through every time she decided to actually leave her room and home? There was nothing she was going to actually do—just make a circuit through town and come back here. The simplest of all walks. Time to see where it led.

Starlight took a deep breath and started randomly walking past some of the buildings and houses of ponies, taking a slow way into the center of town. It hadn’t been too long since she and Spike came through here so ponies were mostly out doing the same thing they were. The first thing she saw was Daisy and Lily frightfully run back into their store when she walked by.

Wonderful. They were downright afraid of her.

A walk past Sugarcube Corner and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon curled up their lips at her as they walked away with a pair of cupcakes.

She walked by Cheerilee a minute later and heard the earth pony mutter “Monster” under her breath when she thought she was out of earshot.

And the average look sent her way was far nastier and aggressive than before. When she walked along the row of stalls at the market it was clear that even if she had money, no one here would sell to her. She heard something falling at her and moved to the side right as a strawberry splat into the ground next to her. Looking up, she saw Strawberry Sunrise whistling innocently as she flew away.

“Hmpf, too bad,” Bon Bon said from where she was handing out samples of new confectioneries.

Starlight ignored it all until she crossed paths with a few fillies and colts she recognized. Pipsqueak, Twist, Rumble, Toola Roola and Coconut Cream. They must’ve been out having fun after school. All five of them glared up at her with angry eyes.

“Why don’t you just leave already, monster,” Toola Roola said.

“Princess Twilight must be going crazy,” Coconut Cream said as they all ran off.

Starlight held a hoof to her forehead—starting to feel a little sick.

That feeling only got worse and worse the more she walked through Ponyville.

It was a lot worse than when she had Spike, as if the ponies of Ponyville weren’t even trying anymore to hold back their true feelings. Twilight said she made sure no one would actually do anything but the more disgruntled the town got with her mere presence she wasn’t exactly sure. This was every nightmare she had back when she first came to Ponyville in her world magnified. Every horrible misgiving she had about going back to her village and meeting the ponies she had wronged again. Could the her here ever really get over this or move on when things were this bad? She didn’t even have her Cutie Mark or magic to dwell on.

Starlight saw Big Macintosh selling some of the apples from Sweet Apple Acres. The moment their eyes met, a harsh frown graced his features. All of the families of the Elements must despise her even more than the typical pony.

Here she was—barely a few minutes into living in her alternate’s horseshoes and she couldn’t take much more of it.

Starlight was never the type to feel spiteful, not since turning over a new leaf at least, and the fact that it was a mare who she could so easily have seen herself be if there were only a few changes go through this was unbearable. She didn’t want this for anyone. She had been the one to tear it all down, she had to, but this isn’t the outcome she wanted either. This wasn’t harmony. There wasn’t friendship here.

At least she knew why they were brought here. The problem was obvious. The how to fix it wasn’t so much.

Maybe this world’s Twilight and the others were at least plenty open to what Spike was telling them…

---

“So you’re telling me we should build a school that teaches friendship and invite creatures from all over the world to come study at it to strengthen the bonds of friendship and our various nations because if we don’t the entire space-time continuum might collapse?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“That uh, yeah, that about covers it,” Spike nodded.

Twilight thought for a few moments and shrugged. “Well there’s not really a downside to that, is there? Sounds like a good idea to me!”

“You sure are taking the idea of the world ending rather easily, darling. As I am myself it seems,” Rarity said, tilting her head to the side.

“I think we’ve all just become physically unable to be surprised by anything anymore,” Rainbow Dash said. Herself nothing more than slightly confused by all this.

“Well considering what we’ve been through...” Applejack muttered.

“I think the Princesses will support the idea of a school like that too,” Twilight said, getting back on topic. “They’ll want things to improve at a faster pace. A big project like this for Equestria to look at and work together on? It could really be just what we need.”

“I’m just going to give you a warning to not listen to a pony called Chancellor Neighsay and all his rules and regulations for the school. As much as you love rules and everything—follow your heart and listen to your friends instead, okay Twilight?” Spike asked her.

“Um… okay I suppose,” Twilight shrugged.

“He’s not a bad guy either, just needs his eyes opened a bit. Keep it in mind,” Spike gave her a thumbs up.

“That’s not all that needs to be done here,” Starlight Glimmer said as she opened up the door and strode back into the room.

“Starlight? Were you talking to yourself—your other self—this whole time?” Fluttershy asked.

“No, I also took a walk around Ponyville,” Starlight said.

Rarity grimaced. “Alone?”

Starlight nodded. “That’s right. And something I know for sure now is that the problem won’t truly be fixed until one more true bond of friendship can be forged. Only then will this world be close to what it should be. You all are doing your best—honestly maybe even better than the me here deserves after what she did, because what she did was definitely more permanent than what I did, but you don’t know what a great friendship you’re missing out on either. It may be hard for you to believe, but I’m proof that you all can become magnificent friends with your Starlight Glimmer. And there are so many other ponies missing out on a great friendship with her too. Until that’s changed this world will always be missing something.” She looked at Twilight. “It can’t be forced, but it can be worked harder on.”

Twilight Sparkle smiled and silently nodded.

“So what do you think we should do?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Talk with her more. Have a party with her. Don’t just let her mope in her room all day. Convince her old friend Sunburst to at least give her a chance, be seen around town with her a little more, try and get ponies to at least open up a little. Really show everyone how she’s changed,” Starlight smiled to them.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash shared a glance, the pegasus shrugging.

“I think we can manage that at least then,” Applejack nodded.

“I’ll make sure we all put a little more effort in. When it comes to everything,” Twilight said.

“Good. And whew,” Starlight wiped a hoof across her forehead. “This was a little stressful in its own way but it was still a lot nicer and more straightforward than the last worlds we visited.” She raised an eyebrow at Spike. “Do you think we’re ready to go.”

Spike took a look across the table of familiar faces and grinned. “I think we’re leaving things in pretty good hooves here.”

Starlight smiled once more. “Alright! Thank you all for everything, but it’s about time for us to-”

“Wait.”

Starlight and Spike turned around and the others in the room looked back at the door as it opened up. The shawl wearing other Starlight Glimmer stepped into the Cutie Map room. Much to the surprise of the others.

Twilight flittered up from her chair and landed before her. “Starlight? Is something wrong? You don’t usually...”

“Leave my room?” The former Empress weakly grinned. “Sorry. I was… I was thinking about some things. And I overhead all of you so...” She took a deep breath to compose herself. “I’ve made a decision about something. After meeting… myself… and now hearing about what’s going on, I want to act. I-I don’t want to burden you anymore, Twilight.” She turned to face Starlight. “I’m coming with you.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped and her eyes started searching around in a mixture of confusion and dismay. The other Elements were just as surprised and both Spikes were staring in shock at the former Empress’s declaration.

Meanwhile, Starlight Glimmer smiled widely.

“But Starlight-” Twilight said, fluttering around to face the other mare. “I just—we’re going to work so much harder to make Equestria a better place and to help you! We’ll strengthen your bonds of friendship with everyone! That’s what we’ve decided and… and I just don’t want to feel like you’re running away from your problems...”

“I’m not, Twilight, but I’m happy you’re so concerned about me,” the former Empress said. “It’s just that… I think this will be better for everyone. At least for the moment. I’m not leaving for good. This is my world and I will come back to it, I just… want to find myself first. And let’s be honest, I think the rest of Ponyville will be happy to not see me around for a while. But it’s not just that either—work on the school with your friends, do something all of Equestria can focus on and look at while I’m not around. If I was here helping you out… I don’t think ponies would like it as much. And besides, from what I heard this mission my other self is going on is partially the result of what I did. So I might as well help fix that problem too.”

Twilight sighed but after a moment smile at her Starlight. “I understand. And I believe in you. If you want to do this, you’ve got my support.”

“All of our support!” Rainbow Dash shouted with a grin.

“Yepperooni!” Pinkie Pie agreed.

“Thank you. I guess it’s time to take a little vacation,” former Empress Starlight said.

Spike shuddered. “Please don’t use that phrasing.”

“She’s right though,” Starlight said. “Spike? Wake up Discord—we’re done here. It’s onto the next world to help out.”

“You say that but I don’t know if Discord is going to like us bringing another pony along...” Spike said as he reached into his bag.

---

“Absolutely not,” Discord said. And if he could right now, he’d probably be defiantly folding his arms.

“Discord-” Starlight started.

“No. This is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. We can’t bring along another pony when we’re trying to stabilize the space-time continuum. How am I being the sensible one right now?” Discord glared at her.

“It’s not another pony, it’s me!” Starlight smiled.

Discord was not convinced.

“Look,” Starlight rolled her eyes. “I’m not just doing this for fun. This is right. I can feel it. This is what we should be doing. We’re supposed to be increasing all the friendship and harmony where we visit—this is going to do that. I just know it. It’s like… I don’t know if it’s because she’s me but there’s something telling me that we have to do this. For the sake of friendship and harmony.”

Starlight exhaled and looked at her other self—the one she referred to as her evil self until very recently. “This is a good thing. How can we say we’re trying to save the world if we refuse to help save one pony?”

Discord stared at the alternate Starlight as well for a minute before finally rolling his eyes in defeat. “Oh fine, I give up. Far be it for me to know what will help harmony anyways.”

“We won’t regret this. None of us will,” Starlight smiled at him and reached a hoof over to affectionately place on her other self’s shoulder. “Congratulations, you get to have some fun now.”

“That’s not how you should be putting it,” Spike said.

“Let’s just go already. And nobody blame me if the world ends because of this,” Discord said and became animated enough to snap his fingers and make another portal in the map room. “There are still a lot of problems we need to fix.”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded and started to walk into the portal.

Former Empress Starlight gulped, a bit nervous about the portal’s appearance, and glanced to her other self. “I-Is this really okay? Are you sure I can come? I don’t want to cause even more problems.”

“You won’t. This is your mission too now,” Starlight said.

The former Empress nodded. Trusting in her other self if not herself. She looked back at the few friends she had in this world. “Thank you for supporting me, even when it must’ve been difficult for you. When you see me again I’ll be a different mare.”

And with that she started walking towards the portal as well.

“Goodbye, Starlight. I’m looking forward to it,” Twilight waved.

Starlight went to follow them, picking up the rear, when she remembered something. Pausing, she turned on her hooves and quickly trotted over to Spike—this world’s Spike—with a smile on her face.

The dragon looked up at her suspiciously. “What?”

“I know it might be tough for you to believe, but you’re missing out on having a great friend. Give her a chance when she gets back,” Starlight winked at him and trotted back to the portal.

As the denizens of this world watched, all four of them entered the interdimensional portal and it closed back up behind them. Now they had some work of their own to do.

Not My Fault

“Um, Discord? Before we end up in the next world I kind of just remembered something that might be important,” Starlight said as she fell through the interspace with Spike and the Former Empress beside her. Her other self in particular was tumbling around upside-down and holding her hooves to her mouth—starting to go green in the face.

“We better not have to go back to that world—and you better not want me to drag any others along,” Discord narrowed his eyes at her. He was still floating on with her in his tiny flute body, not having gone back to rest in Spike’s bag yet.

“No it’s not that, it’s just, well… what’s a Harlequin?” Starlight asked him.

Discord’s eyes widened slightly before he raised an eyebrow at her. “Where did you hear that word?”

“Uhhhhh, places?” Starlight awkwardly grinned.

“Hmpf, very well. It’s not like there’s any danger from them with me around,” Discord said.

“So what are they then?” Starlight repeated.

“Mistakes,” Discord shrugged. “They’re chaotic entities made by mistakes purely on accident. Grogar created the first one about… oh I wanna say 3,000 years ago now? He wanted to make something that could steal my powers and use chaos magic so he could then harness the power himself. Instead what he got was the exact opposite—a chaotic being that hated chaos and wanted nothing to do with it. I believe it called itself… Harlequin Grey. Either way it was a mistake and a failure, and ever since then other magical mistakes would sometimes result in the creation of Harlequins. Their nature and power would depend on the type of mistake but the one thing they shared in common was that their “creators” were totally oblivious. They had no idea what Harlequins were beforehand—they could only be created by total and complete accident. I thought they were all long gone in the world, but lately it seems like I was wrong about that.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Now really—why are you asking about them?”

“Well it just so happens that when traveling between dimensions a little while ago, one of them calling itself Harlequin Rainbow came out to talk to me and thank me for what I was doing. Right before disappearing. And I haven’t seen him since,” Starlight answered. “Is this bad?”

Discord merely had an amused grin on his face as he listened. “Well congratulations Starlight—you’re a mother.”

“What?”

“You must have created that Harlequin just recently on your previous misadventure through the various worlds and timelines. Good work,” he mockingly clapped.

“Great! Fantastic!” Starlight threw up her hooves in frustration.

“Is that what happened back before we went to Princess Starlight’s world? You were acting weird,” Spike asked.

“Yeah… sorry for keeping it secret until now,” Starlight winced. “But I was really confused! And I don’t know if it was actually important or not.”

Spike rolled his eyes but looked over at Discord. “Well is that thing dangerous?”

“Who knows what it might want,” Discord shrugged. “But it’s no danger as long as I’m here. Master of Chaos after all. I’d say just keep your eyes open, but if it tries anything funny all I need is one snap of my fingers to get rid of it. So don’t worry.”

“If you say so...” Spike said.

Starlight meanwhile was frowning, annoyed at herself and what could possibly be another problem for them to deal with.

“C-Can someone please help me stop spinning?” Former Empress Starlight said from next to them.

“Oops, sorry,” Spike said and grabbed her. “Don’t worry—you’ll get used to it soon.”

“I think I’m going to be sick...”

---

Moments later and they reached the next portal, falling out onto some grass beside a sidewalk. The former Empress groaned in displeasure, barely managing to keep her stomach from expelling its contents. While Spike helped her up, Starlight took a look around so they could get their bearings here as quickly as possible. It seemed important for them to figure where they were and what they were doing as fast as possible. After the world with Princess Starlight, Starlight wanted to pick out any differences or strange phenomena quickly.

There was one thing she noticed pretty quickly. It was approaching nightfall and when she looked up at the sky she saw the moon hanging there.

With the Mare in the Moon staring back at her.

“Hmm...” Starlight rubbed her chin. “So either we’re at some point in a past timeline or something has happened to keep Luna from returning.”

“We’re at Canterlot again too,” Spike said as he looked around, the former Empress sitting down and catching her breath.

Starlight followed his gaze to find that they were on the outskirts of the city, close to where the train station let off. “Yep. Well we spent most of our time in Canterlot when we were stuck so it’s not surprising that we’d keep coming back here.”

“Are you both really able to handle this so normally?” The former Empress asked them.

“I wouldn’t exactly call Starlight’s behavior towards everything we’ve been through normal,” Spike snorted.

Starlight was about to retort when a thunderbolt of magic erupted behind her. The three of them felt their eyes widen as they looked at a crackling, sunny, flash of magic that had appeared. From the flash, a tall figure stood, briefly silhouetted before the light faded away and the pony responsible for the explosive teleportation was revealed.

Princess Celestia stared down at Starlight with a stoic expression on her face that was at odds with her frayed mane and tail and the bags under her eyes. “Hello, Starlight Glimmer. It’s been a while.”

Starlight chuckled nervously and tried to smile up at the Princess. “H-Hello… you’re the Celestia that we met and stayed with at the castle for a long time aren’t you?”

“Quite astute of you to realize,” Princess Celestia’s eye twitched. She then notice Spike was also here and there was- “Why are there two of you here? Are you perhaps in some sort of trouble again?”

“We’re fixing some trouble,” Starlight stressed.

“Is there uh… perhaps something going on in this world that could be hurting harmony and causing chaos?” Spike asked, even more nervous than Starlight.

Princess Celestia’s eyes flickered to him and he twitched, the other Starlight as frozen as a block of ice as well.

“Perhaps,” Princess Celestia said. “It seems like it might be a good idea for us to talk. I wasn’t sure if you would ever be back here after all, so I’m not really sure what I want to do with you.” Her head turned back in the direction of the castle. “And I must be getting back to my student, I can’t stand to leave her alone.”

“T-That sounds like a good idea to me,” Starlight said and then gulped. “Umm… are you perhaps… angry at me over something?”

Celestia’s eyes sharply turned back to her, their pupils thinning down to needles. “I just realized that things started to change outside of my projections when you came here. Lots of things happened that I had never foreseen or predicted. It worried me. I made sure I could detect your magic if you ever appeared here again. That doesn’t mean I plan on harming you. Just that… we should probably talk first and I should keep an eye on you.”

“P-Perfectly fine to me,” Starlight nodded. “Let’s take a trip to your castle then.”

“Is this alright?” Former Empress Starlight whispered to Spike.

“Just… just go along with it. You’ll learn soon enough to just go with the current,” Spike shook his head.

Perhaps hearing their whispering, Celestia’s head once again swung towards Spike and the other Starlight. “By the way—what exactly is your story?”

“Um, well, the short version is that I’m another Starlight Glimmer who wants to help ponies,” the former Empress shrugged and gave her best smile to the Alicorn Princess.

“I see,” Celestia gazed harder at her but didn’t question her further. “Well, if anything needs to be discussed we can do that shortly.”

Without another word her horn lit up and a powerful flash and thunderclap exploded around them as the trio was instantly whisked back to the castle. If there had been any other ponies around them what that happened they would’ve surely been startled. The two Starlight’s and Spike already were quite startled about being forcibly teleported themselves. When the flash was over they still had spots in their eyes and birds dancing around their heads.

“That was unpleasant...” Starlight said.

“Are we in the castle?” Spike asked.

“We are,” Princess Celestia replied. “Inside my personal study for that matter.”

Starlight blinked away the spots and took a look around. The three of them had been brought into a circular room, still larger than the average study, with tall windows letting in the sun around three quarters of the room and several bookcases lined up in rows between the windows. A circular table with several chairs around it sat in the middle of the room—books covering most of the available space on it.

With a certain purple unicorn seated on one of the chairs.

“Princess Celestia? Why did you leave so suddenly?” Twilight Sparkle asked her Princess.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight!” Princess Celestia nearly shouted, immediately darting over to her side and hugging her tightly. “You know how much I hate leaving you alone where I can’t watch over you to make sure you’re safe. But something required my attention. I’m sorry, my most precious student.”

Twilight for her part frowned at the tight hug and tried to pry the Princess off of her. “It’s okay, Princess! It was just for a minute, and how could something happen to me in the castle of all places? And I believe I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, you’re right, sorry,” Princess Celestia cleared her throat and stopped hugging Twilight. “You know how I worry.”

Twilight, Twilight Sparkle, rolled her eyes at Princess Celestia. “Yes. I know.”

She then noticed the others now in the study.

“Princess, you brought others into your study? You’ve never allowed anyone else in here with me before,” Twilight said as she stood up, recognition crossing her face after she looked at Starlight for a moment longer. “Oh, Starlight! I almost didn’t recognize you with your mane different and all your accessories gone. And-” her eyes bugged out and she tilted her head. “Since when did you have a twin sister?” Her jaw then dropped as she saw Spike. “SPIKE?! Since when do you have wings?!”

“This is already strange...” Starlight murmured.

Spike meanwhile deflated. “Another world where I don’t have wings? I feel bad for myself.”

“This happens to be a special occasion, my precious student,” Celestia said. “Neither of these two are the Starlight Glimmer you know. Nor is this the Spike you know.”

“I am… very confused right now,” Twilight scratched her head.

“You and me both,” the former Empress said and mimicked her. “Maybe coming along was a mistake...”

Starlight rubbed her chin in consideration. “Hm, so Twilight already knows me in this world though? But Luna hasn’t come back from the moon? What year is it?”

At the mention of Luna, Princess Celestia’s eyes widened and she tried to stealthily shake her head back and forth at Starlight.

“Luna? Who’s that?” Twilight asked.

Starlight’s eyes widened but before she answered-

“Now, now, our guests here have traveled from far away, Twilight. We shouldn’t pry them with questions,” Celestia smiled awkwardly.

“From how far away? Why are they here?” Twilight asked.

Celestia coughed. “Well, there are two others who I think should also be here for this before we start getting into things.” She looked over at Starlight. “Two others who had their lives altered just a tiny bit the last time you were here.”

Her horn lit up again and Twilight brought a hoof to her face.

“Wait, Princess, don’t-”

It was too late—another flash of magic erupted in the middle of the study and two ponies appeared—forcefully teleported in here by Celestia. Since they were in the middle of a conversation still it looked like they hadn’t realized what had just happened.

“I’m telling you it’s not like that, we’re just… going… to...” Sunburst slowed down and trailed off as he finally noticed he was no longer walking down the streets of Canterlot.

“You can weasel out of this all you want but… uhhhhh...” Starlight Glimmer blinked in realization at where she was as well. “Hold on. Where are we?”

“Hello, Sunburst. Hello, Starlight,” Princess Celestia said to them.

“Princesssss. I’ve told you you have to stop forcibly teleporting ponies like that without warning,” Twilight frowned at her mentor.

Spike meanwhile was caught up on a different fact. “Another Starlight?”

And of course, both Starlight and the former Empress were staring at their alternate as well. She was… a little bit different. While she might have had the same colored coat, the same colored mane, and the same Cutie Mark on her flank, the rest was different. Her mane was made into two large pigtails going off the sides of her head, tied with black ribbons and leaving her bangs parted evenly. Around her neck she wore a spike studded black collar and her eyes were painted with black eyeliner. Her mouth was twisted down into what appeared to be a constant frown and the rest of her body language screamed “annoyed”.

“Oh wow, it’s me if I never got over that phase,” Starlight and Former Empress Starlight said together.

“Princess Celestia?” Sunburst blinked. “Oh, another impromptu teleportation. Do you need me for something?”

The third Starlight’s eyes had finally met her alternates and her jaw dropped in shock. “W-What’s going on here?”

“Ahem,” Celestia cleared her throat and stood up tall, trying to appear as calm and regal as possible. “Now that we’re all here—allow me to introduce you.” She held out a hoof to the three dimension hoppers. “My little ponies, meet Starlight Glimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike from another world. Or timeline. Or however it should be called.”

“An alternate dimension?” Twilight’s eyes lit up in curiosity and excitement.

“Technically two,” the former Empress held up a hoof nervously.

“This is… a surprise. Why are they here?” Sunburst asked.

“Why would two other me’s come here?” The third Starlight asked, now glaring outright at her two alternates.

“Allow me to explain the best I can. Then if appropriate, I may allow you to converse with each other. I myself am still not entirely certain as to why this Starlight and Spike have decided to return here—or why they have brought along another Starlight,” Princess Celestia said, her eyes roaming over the three of them briefly before she turned to the three ponies from her own world. “First of all, Starlight Glimmer time-traveled from the future on accident and brought Spike along with her, they later on came here and met me, living in Canterlot briefly while trying to find a way home. Just as quickly they vanished without warning and I thought that was the end of it. I realized however that their appearance here and their… deeds, whatever they might have been, had altered the timeline and resulted in many new worlds splitting off from where they started. Or it’s more accurate to say I inferred that based on so many things happening that I did not foresee or predict… which was a frightening thing to me.” She bit her lip and got a slight manic look in her eyes for a moment. “So many unexpected things… so many things wrong...”

“Um, Princess? Are you alright?” Twilight asked her.

Celestia blinked and shook her head. “Y-Yes, quite alright. Either way, shortly after they had left I did some research and discovered that a student at my school was from the same town as Starlight Glimmer and that you had once been friends. I wanted to keep a potential tab on her so-”

“That’s why my dad moved here?” The third Starlight interrupted. “He said a rich relative was moving out from Canterlot and wanted him to have the place!”

“Well that was maybe a little excessive on my part. Sunburst was already getting back in touch with you on his own. I just wanted to make sure I could keep an eye on you,” Celestia said.

“See Twilight, I told you she was crazy!” The third Starlight yelled.

“Hey! The Princess may be a bit overprotective and overbearing but she’s very kind and well meaning,” Twilight yelled back at her.

“Hold on, now that I remember… a mare and a dragon were the ones who talked to me and got me to think about getting back in touch with Starlight,” Sunburst said as he looked at Starlight and Spike. “Was that you?”

“Just doing a good deed?” Starlight shrugged. “You two are friends now, right?”

“He still ditched me back then, I’m not exactly over it,” the third Starlight glared. And she wasn’t done either, quickly rounding on Princess Celestia. “And you! I always thought it was suspicious how you “just so happened” to always be around, and how you took a special interest in Sunburst despite him being a terrible student-”

“Hey...”

“-and how weird you acted around Twilight, treating her like some fragile glass sculpture, you’re a total nut! I can’t believe our own Princess would act this way!” The third Starlight finished.

“Starlight! You can’t speak to Princess Celestia like that!” Twilight shouted.

“Oh come on, Twilight! Shouldn’t you be concerned about what she’s done too and how she acts? She’s a mess! The leader of Equestria should have her act together a little bit more—especially when we’re practically in a war!”

“War?” Starlight and Spike shared an uncomfortable look.

“Can everyone calm down for a moment? I feel like we’re losing sight of the important things here,” Sunburst tried to reason.

“Sunburst is correct,” Princess Celestia said, apparently not bothered by what her Starlight had said to her, though her mane had gotten a bit more frazzled. “I apologize for wanting to keep tabs on you, Starlight, but with so many dangers in the world I had to be sure of you. Maybe I’ve been a little too careful...” her pupils shrank. “But what if something happens again?!” She swiftly shook her head. “No, no, here and now isn’t the time!”

“Is she actually okay?” Spike asked the room.

“I’m fine!” Celestia answered, looking at him and the other two Starlight’s. “The three of you… please now, what is your purpose for coming here?” Her gaze lingered on the former Empress. “And what is your story exactly?”

Starlight took a glance at Spike, who shrugged back at her, and looked at the former Empress who also gave an uncertain shrug. She turned back to face Princess Celestia, Sunburst, a not quite as Celestia loving Twilight Sparkle, and a very rude version of herself. “Well… where do we begin?”

After that, it took some time for Starlight to explain things, and a little more for the former Empress to share her story as well. They left out certain things that should be kept private—and didn’t mention Discord either, but at least Princess Celestia and the others knew why they were here and what had to be fixed. Theoretically at least. Starlight was just as curious about this world as its denizens were about her for certain. It was clear though that Princess Celestia wasn’t planning on telling all her secrets while the others were around though.

“Is the entire space-time continuum really in danger?” Twilight Sparkle asked, barely believing it.

“Sadly, yes. Even if you can’t trust a Starlight I hope you can trust me,” Spike said to her.

Twilight managed a small smile and nod. “I can always trust you, Spike. Any version of you.”

“So what do you think is wrong about this world? Where is harmony lacking?” Sunburst asked.

The third, angry, Starlight snorted and rolled her eyes. “That’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard. There’s wrong everywhere in this world! Harmony is lacking everywhere! If that’s the kind of thing they need to fix they’re going to be here for a long time.”

“Actually it seems like we kind of just need to get the ball rolling...” former Empress Starlight quietly said, but was silenced before she could say anything else by a glare from her alternate in this world.

“Anyways, that’s the important stuff and that’s why we’re here. This is kind of a big deal,” Starlight said. “Now—each world I’ve been to has been a little different or a lot different. I’m not here to fix or change everything, or unravel your whole lives or anything like that, I’m here to help—we’re here to help. I know some of this might be my fault to begin with, but now I just want to get your world back on track, get rid of chaos, and make friendship as powerful here as it should be.”

“Some?” Spike raised an eyebrow at her. “Some might be your fault? Is that what you said?”

“Shh!” Starlight shushed him.

“How trustworthy. After what I’ve heard from the both of you I really don’t think I like either one of you. Hah! I hate myself!” Angry Starlight threw up her hooves and started laughing in amusement at the absurdity of it all.

Starlight merely groaned and squeezed the bridge of her nose. “I know we probably don’t come off the best but we could really use the benefit of the doubt right now. First of all…” She looked at Princess Celestia. “Can we talk with you alone?”

“Why do you need to speak to the Princess alone?” Twilight asked.

“Just need to ask her some things and get clued in a little. And I get the feeling she’d prefer to talk about it alone too,” Starlight said.

“She’s right, Twilight. I need to speak alone with them again,” Princess Celestia said. “Just give us a moment in the study. Sunburst? Would you please watch over Twilight to make sure she doesn’t get lost, or hurt, or gets stung by a bee, or anyone looks at her the wrong way, or gets lonely, or has a sudden illness that needs attending, or-”

“I’ll take care of it, Princess,” Sunburst stopped her before she could continue. Meanwhile Angry Starlight shook her head.

“I’m not a child, Princess. I’m your student,” Twilight frowned.

“Yes. Exactly,” Celestia nodded ominously. “Now please, just give me a moment with our visitors.”

“Come on,” Sunburst said and started to usher the two other mares out. Neither of them looked happy but they didn’t cause a fuss either.

Once the door was closed, Starlight frowned and looked at the Princess questioningly. “What is happening here? Why is Luna still in the moon? Why doesn’t Twilight know about her? Why have you done all this weird stuff and what was that about a war?”

“You don’t know what it was like!” Princess Celesia cried out, practically throwing herself to the floor and covering her head with her hooves. “After you left I just didn’t know what to do anymore! First Sunset vanished, and then you and Spike disappeared without any notice too! I lost my student and once you were gone I thought something else must have happened too! Do you have any idea what it’s like to be alone for almost a thousand years, meticulously planning and foreseeing everything, waiting for the time when the Elements of Harmony would be ready and your sister can return, and then all of a sudden things you could have never possibly predicted start happening?! Everything I thought I knew was thrown into question!”

Spike slowly turned his head to flatly stare at Starlight.

“If I could be wrong and taken by surprise by little things like that then what about the big things?” Celestia continued. “What if Luna couldn’t be helped? What if Twilight failed somehow? What if the Elements didn’t work properly? I’m not putting another precious student in danger! What if she ends up disappearing just like Sunset?”

“Oh boy...” Starlight grimaced, fully realizing how messed up this Celestia had become. “And so because you were afraid of things going wrong you never let Twilight realize what she was supposed to become… you never sent her to Ponyville… and I’m assuming you’ve worked to keep her from finding out Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna are real. Which means you’ve also let Luna stay on the moon for a few extra years...”

“Wait, hold on, how is that even possible? The Mare in the Moon was supposed to escape her imprisonment after exactly 1,000 years,” Spike asked.

“That’s just the storybook. Luna can only be returned to Equestria with my aid,” Celestia shook her head.

“You’re keeping your sister imprisoned on the moon when you could’ve freed her years ago?!” Starlight yelled.

“What if something goes wrong!” Celestia cried out. “I’d rather make sure she and Equestria don’t get hurt...”

Starlight sighed. “Okay—we’ll need to do something about that—now what about the war?”

Princess Celestia despondently looked at the floor. “It happened a year ago now. Queen Chrysalis and her changeling hive emerged in Yakyakistan—taking over the country completely. However, before they could invade Equestria, the Crystal Empire returned at the same time along with King Sombra. They started fighting with each other and then us, but only for a moment before Chrysalis and Sombra realized it was a stalemate. All three of us couldn’t advance or do anything without the other two taking advantage of it. There hasn’t been a fight since and we’re all just sort of staring at each other. I-I want to rescue the Yaks and the Crystal Ponies so badly but… but...”

“You wouldn’t be able to without the Elements of Harmony to begin with,” Starlight said.

“Yes...” Celestia nodded. “Equestria has remained unharmed but ponies are starting to get very antsy about what’s happening right outside our borders.”

“I guess that’s why the other me is a little concerned too,” Starlight said (and her former Empress self standing behind her nodded discreetly).

“Princess Celestia, you have to do something about all this!” Spike said, holding his arms wide open. “You have to let Twilight fulfill her destiny, let her meet her friends, save Princess Luna and have them try and save the rest of the world now too. If you don’t, all of Equestria, worse, all of the world is going to fall to pieces!”

“I can’t! What if something bad happens to her like Sunset!” Princess Celestia kept shaking her head.

Spike looked over at Starlight and glared.

Starlight coughed. “Ahem, well, Princess Celestia? Do you think you can maybe give the three of us a little alone time? Just a minute or two?”

“A-Alright,” the Alicorn picked herself up and started to try and pat down some of her frizzled mane. “I suppose it would be good to check on Twilight anyways, she might have stubbed her hoof.”

“Right, you do that...” Starlight grimaced and watched as Celestia left the room, closing the door behind her.

“I never thought any version of Princess Celestia would be like this,” the former Empress said the moment they were alone.

“Yep, good job, Starlight! Because of what you did here, Princess Celestia is a complete nervous wreck!” Spike yelled at her.

“Hey—I don’t think I can entirely be blamed for this. How can anyone imagine that she would turn out like this just from the things I did back here?” Starlight “defended” herself.

“I can because it’s entirely those things that caused any changes!” Spike said. “None of this would be happening otherwise!”

“W-Wait, please stop arguing,” the former Empress got between them. “We need to work together, don’t we? There’s a lot that needs to be done here so let’s not get at each other’s throats. Please?”

Spike sighed and rubbed his temples, but nodded. “Yeah, you’re right, I can argue with Starlight after we’ve saved the world.”

“I’m still not sure what needs to be done though. I’m not exactly used to this sort of thing,” the former Empress said.

“Actually, after listening to her I know what to do,” Starlight said.

Spike raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“This all started with one thing. There was one major thing we—I—did in the past that set Princess Celestia down this path,” Starlight took a deep breath and exhaled. “We need to find Sunset Shimmer.”

Author's Notes:

Right, I should probably finally explain what's up with those guys.

Deserved

Starlight Glimmer and Spike both stood in front of a very familiar mirror held deep inside Canterlot Castle. The room was dark and dusty and yet the mirror still reflected their images perfectly. The atmosphere was heavy, nervousness clearly written on both their faces. Even for Starlight this was a maybe too reckless decision. But she was sure it still needed to be done. They absolutely had to find Sunset Shimmer and bring her back here for Princess Celestia to see. It was the only way to help the nervous wreck of a Princess pull herself together. And it was probably just a good idea in general to check up on the unicorn. Starlight couldn’t say for sure exactly how her life might have gone after she was thrown into the portal early.

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Spike asked, clearly on the same wavelength.

“I know it seems like a detour or something we probably shouldn’t do—but yes,” Starlight nodded. “We have to find her, Spike.”

“I don’t think she’s going to be happy to see us...”

“It’s been years for her, Spike.”

“And the last time we saw her she was screaming how much she hated you as you threw her into another dimension. After you told her Princess Celestia was going to find a better student than her in the future.”

Starlight coughed. “Y-Yes, well, I gave her some good advice too and since she obviously hasn’t tried coming back into this world, unlike the Sunset we know better, she can’t be that bad or anything. She must be having a good time in the human world.”

Spike shrugged. “If you say so.”

“Let’s just hurry up, Spike. Wake Discord up so he can activate the mirror portal for us,” Starlight said.

“You’re going to have to convince him this is a good idea again, you know?” Spike said as he pulled the hibernating Discord out of his bag. A few flicks to the head and a shake later and Discord was sputtering his way awake

“Hm? What? Is it time for us to go to the next world already?” The “sleepy” Draconequus asked as he blinked his eyes a few times.

“Noooot exactly...” Starlight awkwardly grinned at him.

Discord frowned. “Why do I get the feeling I’m about to hear something I’m not going to like again?”

“Just let her make her plea first,” Spike sighed.

“We need you to use your magic to activate the mirror portal here so we can travel to the human world of this timeline,” Starlight said.

“...why?” Discord raised an eyebrow.

“Because-” Starlight frowned. “We need to find the Sunset Shimmer of this timeline to set things right and apparently fix one of the bigger mistakes I made.”

Discord smirked. “Well at least you’re taking a little responsibility.” He glanced at the mirror portal. “And well… since this isn’t the same kind of world-hopping we’ve been doing I don’t think there’s a problem. These two worlds are supposed to be connected after all. The timing might not exactly be right but our own little Twilight has subverted that with her version of the portal in our home world.”

A big grin split Starlight’s face. “So we’re good to go?”

“Just don’t wake me up again until we’re ready to leave this world,” Discord snorted and snapped his fingers, the surface of the mirror shimmering and rippling, becoming slightly brighter. He stiffened back up and went into stasis right after, Spike shoving him back into his bag.

“Come on, Spike! Let’s get going!” Starlight cheered and grabbed him by the hand, jumping right into the mirror portal and pulling him through with her.

---

Meanwhile…

The ponies who had been left behind, waiting for Starlight and Spike to return from whatever it was they were doing, were now sitting at Celestia’s dining table in the castle. An awkward silence mostly hung over the table as nobody was exactly in the mood to talk or knew what to talk about. The most talkative of the group happened to be a strung out mess at the moment and was busy fussing over Twilight Sparkle’s mane while the unicorn frowned and tried to push her away. Naturally the two of them were sitting right next to each other.

On one side of the table, a certain former Empress was shyly looking down at the table, trying to see if she could shrink down to nothing to avoid the gaze of her twin-tailed alternate sitting across from her.

That Starlight was currently frowning deeply at the gray shawled mare. Her brow was furrowed to the degree that it seemed like just the existence of this other Starlight annoyed her. Whatever thoughts were going through her head they didn’t seem friendly. And the former Empress could feel that, and being a much more subdued and withdrawn mare now she didn’t have it in her to speak up under such a withering gaze.

The only stallion present could feel how uncomfortable this whole situation was and was doing his best to not break out in a nervous sweat.

This was a really weird day.

Sunburst cleared his throat, deciding to try and break the ice with some small talk and maybe get everyone on better terms with each other. He grinned as best he could as he looked across the table at this new and unfamiliar Starlight Glimmer. “S-So I heard you tried to brainwash and enslave Equestria in your world. What was that like?”

The former Empress let out a sad whimper and shrunk even further into herself.

And now his grumpy childhood friend Starlight was even looking at him as if he was an idiot.

“Ahem, s-sorry, I’m not very good at small talk…” Sunburst bit his lip and wiped away some of the sweat gathering at his forehead.

“I think she could already tell,” twin-tailed Starlight snorted.

“Oh, Twilight, I just can’t get this last lock of your mane down perfectly… I really need a brush,” Princess Celestia said, oblivious to the rest of the table.

“Princess, please. I’m not a child!” Twilight grumbled.

It was going to be a long and awkward afternoon.

---

Starlight plopped out of the mirror portal onto the ground right in front of the Canterlot High statue. A second later Spike plopped out right after her. Starlight stood up—and immediately wobbled a bit as she got used to being on two legs once more.

“W-Whoa, easy going there, me,” Starlight said to herself as her legs shook.

“Pretty much the exact opposite problem as me,” Spike said.

Starlight looked down at him, now a dog standing on all fours, and grinned. “I’ve never seen you as a dog before, you’re cute.”

Spike just glared at her and looked at his sides. “Really missing my wings right now… why can’t dogs fly?”

Starlight finally gained control of herself and gave her body a closer inspection now. Taller, thin, less fuzzy, no tail, and no hooves. Just like she remembered. It was only the one time—and technically a different dimension—but Starlight seemed to have the exact same appearance as her last trip to the human world. Her clothes were the same too and a quick reach up of her hands told her she was wearing the same beanie hat.

“Great! At least we don’t really have to get used to anything too extreme,” Starlight said. She raised an amused eyebrow down at Spike. “Also I don’t think dogs talk either. Careful not to let anyone see you.”

“Thanks, Starlight, I know how to act here,” Spike sarcastically grumbled and adjusted the little backpack he was now wearing instead of the usual bag. “Been here more times than you...”

“True. But unlike “our” human world, no one here is going to know us. They won’t know anything about Equestria or magic, so we can’t just go around casually. We might have to spy around a bit to find Sunset and get her somewhere alone where we can talk,” Starlight said.

“Could you try and not make it sound like we’re trying to mug her?” Spike asked.

“Unfortunately that may be what we need to do depending on how the conversation goes...” Starlight muttered.

“No. There is no way we will need to do that. No,” Spike narrowed his eyes.

Starlight rolled hers. “Stop expecting the worst, Spike.”

“You’re the one-” Spike groaned and shook his head. “Let’s just find her already.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard actually. I think it’s probably right around time school should be getting out judging by what time it was in Equestria,” Starlight said. For the first time both of them really took a look around—the reason they had been able to chat so casually after stepping out of the portal being that no one else was around right now. School was in session and no one was out by the statue, sidewalk, or street. Starlight didn’t have a watch but it was definitely well after noon, the bell should ring within the hour.

“Are we just staking out the entrance to the school?” Spike asked.

“Better idea?” Starlight shrugged.

“Not really… but she might be driving a car or motorcycle or even just have a regular bike chained up in back,” Spike said.

“Right… lot of different ways to travel in this world. Twilight taught me a little bit about cars,” Starlight said. She subconsciously started to rub her chin. “Let’s get closer to the entrance and hide behind the corner. When Sunset comes out we’ll drag her off to the side of the school.”

“You don’t mean drag literally… right?”

Thirty minutes later and the two of them were hunkering down on the side of the school that faced the bleachers and sports field, looking around the corner to keep watch on the entrance. It was definitely an odd place to be and they certainly would’ve looked suspicious to anyone that happened to wander by. But nothing interrupted them as they waited and shortly later the loud bell of the school rung—signaling the day was over. Starlight and Spike watched the front of the school expectantly, waiting for all the students to start filing out. They did so fairly quickly, most of them eager to get out and go home or start extracurriculars, either way the entrance and grounds outside the front of the school became loud and crowded pretty soon.

Starlight and Spike saw a lot of people they recognized. Both alternates and those they didn’t know from Equestria but had seen in previous trips here. There was Bulk Biceps’ large form, the flower trio, Lyra and Bon Bon, Flash Sentry, and of course—there were some of their closer friends as well. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie came out together with Rarity and Applejack right behind them. Starlight wondered just how many other versions of her friends she had seen by now.

And in another minute Rainbow Dash came out, waving at some other group behind her before running off to join Rarity and Applejack.

And that was when they saw her. Sunset Shimmer walking on out of the school—a frown on her face that seemed to be her typical expression. She wore a leather jacket with spikes and studs on it over a purple shirt and black jeans. Yep, definitely Sunset Shimmer. Spike was a little surprised by the way she carried herself and the way others around her acted—she didn’t seem to be the fearsome ruler of the school he remembered the other Sunset to be at first. She walked more like a normal student and had others casually hanging around her.

Like Trixie, which didn’t surprise Starlight one bit.

There were a few other girls in the group who Starlight didn’t know though, but it didn’t really matter, they just had to talk to Sunset.

“Psst! Sunset! Hey, Sunset!” Starlight started whispering and waving from around the corner to get the girl’s attention.

It didn’t seem to be working though as there were too many others and too much noise around her.

“Sunset!” Starlight said louder. “Sunset Shimmer!”

That did it. Sunset stopped and looked around for a moment, her other “friends” wondering what she was doing. Finally the fire-haired girl looked over to where Starlight and Spike were and saw the other girl waving at her. She was confused to put it bluntly. The other girls with her were similarly so after they saw Starlight over there. Sunset raised an eyebrow, looking kind of annoyed, but said something to her friends and started walking over without a fuss. Trixie just shrugged and they started walking away across the grounds.

Starlight couldn’t keep the big stupid grin off her face and it made Sunset Shimmer a little wary—but either way the high school student still calmly walked up to her.

Folding her arms over her chest, Sunset stood her ground and glared at the other girl. “What is it? Who even are you?”

Spike internally breathed a sigh of relief. Sunset didn’t recognize Starlight immediately so at least a fight wouldn’t break out just yet.

“Hi!” Starlight waved giddily at her and then pointed behind them around the corner where they could be mostly out of sight. “Okay, I know this is weird but can we talk privately over here? I just need to talk to you.”

Spike glared up at Starlight, could she possibly be creepier about this right now?

“Do you even go to our school? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before?” Sunset defiantly put her hands on her hips.

“I don’t, but seriously, can we just talk? I promise you’ll be interested in what I have to say,” Starlight said.

Sunset briefly looked behind her at all the other students leaving school and frowned. Who would do anything crazy or criminal in a place like this? She looked back at Starlight and shrugged. “Fine, you weirdo. But my friends saw you so don’t try anything funny.”

Together the three of them walked back along the side of the school, temporarily out of view from most others.

“Okay, so what the heck do you want to talk about? Do you know me or something?” Sunset asked.

“I do! And you actually know me too,” Starlight smiled.

Sunset backed up a little. “You’re kind of creeping me out...”

“It’s not like that,” Starlight reached forward and put a “comforting” hand on her shoulder. “Now don’t shout or anything—but I’m from Equestria too.”

Sunset’s eyes bugged out. “You’re-” She immediately clapped a hand over her own mouth to keep herself from shouting, calming down in a second she lowered it. “You’re from Equestria too? But how did—who are you?”

“Ehehe...” Starlight nervously chuckled and shrugged. “Well like I said, you know me. Do you remember me from a few years ago? Starlight Glimmer? The unicorn you met in Canterlot?” Sunset just stared at her so Starlight cleared her throat. “Ahem. You know, you have to remember me, I’m-”

She couldn’t finish her sentence as the fist of Sunset Shimmer plowed into her face and knocked her to the ground.

Spike snorted in bemusement as Starlight roughly landed on her back. “Yeah you definitely had that coming.”

“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Sunset yelled and jumped onto Starlight, beginning to pummel her with her fists.

“Spike, get her off me!” Starlight shouted as she held her arms around her face to withstand the worst of it.

“Sunset, stop!” Spike said as he ran up beside her and Starlight. “I know you’re angry at her but you’ve got to stop!”

Surprisingly—Sunset did so. Her fist held up and ready to deliver another punch while her other hand held Starlight down, she looked weirdly over at Spike and raised a confused eyebrow. “Why is there a talking dog here?”

Spike facepawed. “I’m Spike—the dragon—remember?”

“Oh,” Sunset sat back, calming down slightly. “Dragons become dogs here?”

“Apparently so,” Spike answered. “Can you please get off Starlight now? You definitely have the right to be angry at her but this is a little much.”

Sunset glared down at Starlight and the now somewhat bruised girl helplessly shrugged back up at her, smiling as best she could.

“Fine,” Sunset growled and stood up.

“Thank you,” Starlight said and got back up as well, rubbing her face where she was punched. “Ow...”

“Why are you here now after all these years? I really never wanted to see you again,” Sunset angrily demanded to know.

“Maybe we just wanted to see how you’re doing? After all, the reason I sent you here was so you could make friends and have a happier life. How’s that going?” Starlight asked.

Sunset’s eye twitched and Spike was worried the punches would start flying again.

“Oh yes—thank you so, so much for sending me here. To a world without magic without any knowledge of that fact beforehand. Where I’d be transformed into a completely different sort of creature. That was a truly wonderful first few days I spent here. Almost being hauled off to the insane asylum, almost arrested repeatedly, attacked by cats when I tried living under a bridge at the park. Yes, those are some very happy memories,” Sunset ground her teeth. “It was even better when the entire time I was going through that, all I could think about was how Celestia would just be getting a better student than me and I wasn’t wanted anywhere.”

Starlight coughed. “Well, I can understand why you might have some residual anger towards me for all of that—but it certainly looks like you’re doing better now!”

Sunset rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Yeah. It just took a long time to adjust and stop feeling so worthless and useless. Fun first year overall. If you still want to talk some more let’s go behind the bleachers, I don’t want anyone else seeing us for sure.”

She walked over to where the shadows of the bleachers fell over the ground and Starlight and Spike followed her. Here they were invisible to the crowds leaving school.

“Now I know you aren’t happy to see me, Sunset, but I think you’re really going to be happy with what I have to tell you soon,” Starlight started. “But first I want you to tell me a little more about your life and your friends here. I saw you getting along with Trixie and—are you smoking?”

Sunset, who was lighting a cigarette before snapping the lighter shut and putting it back in her pocket, glared at Starlight. “What’s it to ya?”

“Well this is a little different...” Starlight rubbed the back of her head.

“Seems this Sunset never became as bad or as good as our Sunset. She’s just like a “bad girl” from this world,” Spike shrugged.

“Excuse me?” Sunset frowned. “And what do you mean “our” Sunset?”

“We can talk about that later. I just—I really do honestly want to know how you’re doing here,” Starlight asked.

Sunset took a drag on her cigarette before breathing the smoke out and gazing at Starlight. She shrugged. “Things are fine. Knowing I would just be a failure back in Equestria, thanks to your lovely insight, I didn’t want to go back. Magic and being Celestia’s personal student was my life, but if there were better unicorns at it? If I couldn’t be the best? Then what was the point? So yeah, I was depressed for a while but I’m over it now. I don’t know what I want to do here yet—playing guitar is pretty fun though.”

“And you do have some real friends? Last time I saw you you were pretty opposed to getting any,” Starlight said.

“I’m friends with those girls you saw earlier. Trixie, Gilda, Lavender and Fuchsia. Some other casual acquaintances. And these girls from the school across town, Sunny Flare, Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, and Sour Sweet. Met them at the Friendship Games and got along pretty well with them.”

“That’s good. Ish,” Spike said. Truthfully without the positive influence of Twilight on this world he wondered how good and friendly most of these people actually were.

“What about… what about Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy? What about them?” Starlight asked.

“Rainbow Dash is cool, we hang out sometimes. Not sure why you care about them specifically but the other four are too… goody-goody. Pinkie Pie is way too happy all the time,” Sunset shook her head.

Starlight bit her lip. “And what about Twilight Sparkle?”

Sunset thought for a moment. “Twilight Sparkle? I know her name, she goes to Crystal Prep. But I don’t think I’ve ever really talked to her.”

“Kind of seems like things in general here aren’t as bad as they could be but also aren’t nearly as good as they could be either. Good work, Starlight,” Spike said to her.

“Thanks, Spike,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

“Meeting Principal Celestia was really weird… I almost fainted the first time I saw her,” Sunset mused.

“Speaking of Celestia—that’s kind of the reason we’re here,” Starlight said, eager to change the subject now. She also really didn’t want to have to fill this Sunset in on the stuff her other self had gotten up to. The bad parts because she didn’t want to give her ideas and the good parts because she didn’t want her feeling envious.

Sunset took another puff of her cigarette. “Why? What does this have to do with Princess Celestia? I’m over Equestria.”

“Well don’t say that just yet, hehehe...” Starlight awkwardly grinned.

“Could you get to the point? Why for the first time in years am I seeing you—anyone from Equestria—again?” Sunset glared at her.

“It just so happens that Equestria isn’t doing so good right now and we want you to come back so you can help fix it,” Starlight said.

“Not doing so good how? And I don’t see how I could do anything to fix any problems,” Sunset shrugged.

“You’d be surprised. I know what I said to you back when I sent you here but you’re a very important pony too, Sunset Shimmer. You just had a bit of a different role to play than the one you thought you had. And as for what’s going on in Equestria, weeellll… it’s sort of locked into a three way war between it the Changelings, and the Crystal Empire, and Princess Celestia has been an indecisiveness nervous wreck ever since you vanished without notice,” Starlight explained.

Sunset didn’t explode in either surprise or anger, instead her eyes just narrowed at the other girl. “So you want me to come back to help fix the problem you started.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Starlight glared at Spike.

“First off, what’s even in it for me? And secondly, how would me coming back actually help any of this?” Sunset asked.

“Celestia needs to see you, Sunset. She needs to see that you’re okay. And she misses you a lot, won’t it make you happy to see her again too?” Starlight pleaded. “If Celestia goes back to normal there are other ways to fix all of this.”

“It’s true, you wanted to be important didn’t you? Well here’s us telling you that we need you. There’s no other way,” Spike said.

Sunset considered their words, looking a little more downcast. “I guess I wouldn’t hate seeing her again. But that still doesn’t mean I’m coming. I don’t want to just be used to help you and dumped off back here. Sure—I like it here, but I’m not exactly happy with my old life being ripped away.”

“What if Starlight let’s you punch her again if you’re still angry by the end of this?” Spike suggested.

“Spike!” Starlight yelled.

“I’ll take you up on that,” Sunset smirked. “But look, that’s still not good enough. I want to know what life I could have led if you didn’t interrupt it. You’re going to answer every question I have once I’m finished meeting Celestia. You’re going to do what I want, you’re going to tell me what I want to know, and I’m not leaving and coming back here until I’m satisfied.”

Spike looked up at Starlight, silently pleading with her to take the deal.

Starlight was conflicted for multiple reasons on it but they really needed to bring Sunset back. And it looked like they probably couldn’t drag her back by force. There was likely an explosion waiting down the road in the future—but Starlight would just have to deal with it later.

“Alright,” Starlight nodded. “But I think you should just be happy with the life you have now, since it doesn’t seem so bad at all. I don’t think anything good comes from wondering what could have been. I know that really, really, well.”

Sunset snorted and put out her cigarette on one of the back supports of the bleachers. “Just take me back to Equestria. Missing a few days of school is just a decent vacation for me.”

“Not that word. Please,” Spike insisted.

“We’ll need to wait a moment until no one else is around the portal before we go back through… and then you can say hi to Equestria for the first time in years,” Starlight said.

“I suppose I am looking forward to it a little bit now,” Sunset smirked.

And now Starlight was the one who wasn’t so sure if this was a good idea or not.

A Long Way to Go

Starlight, Spike, and now Sunset Shimmer all came back out of the mirror into the empty room deep within Canterlot Castle. This time it was Sunset’s turn to wobble around and nearly collapse after reflexively trying to stand on two hooves and losing her balance nearly immediately before realizing that ponies stood on four legs. With a sharp exhale she stayed put where she was for a moment to get her bearings. After so long as a human this felt really weird.

“Need a moment?” Starlight asked her.

“No, I’m fine, it’s just-” Sunset’s eyes widened and she started frantically looking around, patting down her body. “Wait, my cigarettes are gone!”

“Oh for the love of—get over it!” Starlight rolled her eyes.

“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find cigarettes in Equestria?” Sunset asked her.

“Do you have any idea how much bigger things we have to worry about right now?” Starlight sarcastically asked.

“This is going to be even more miserable than I thought...” Sunset groaned.

Spike merely stared in frustration at the mare. “I’m not sure if this is actually going to help Celestia. She might be a little disappointed.”

“She’ll be overjoyed, Spike. You saw how she was. She’ll probably start acting the same weird way to Sunset that she is to Twilight,” Starlight said.

“What?” Sunset frowned at them. “What do you mean weird way? Exactly how much has she changed?”

“It’s fine, she’s fine, or she will be as soon as she see’s you’re okay. Don’t worry about it,” Starlight smiled. “You still want to learn all you can from me, right?”

“Yeah...” Sunset nodded.

“Then it’s time to come with me. And since we’re back here in Equestria and I have my magic and I really don’t want you running off on your own anywhere...” Starlight’s horn lit up.

Sunset grinned nervously. “N-Not still upset about that punch, are you?”

Starlight’s horn flashed and Sunset immediately found herself encased in a turquoise bubble and levitated off the ground. “Nope~”

“Arghhhh! This isn’t fair! I can barely remember how to use magic right now!” Sunset yelled as she kicked and shoved against the bubble, trying to pop it to no avail. “I’m going to get you back for this!”

“You should be trying to get on better terms with her, you know? Not doing stuff like this,” Spike said.

“We’re here to fix the problems in this world, Spike. Not do the impossible and try and fix my relationship with this Sunset,” Starlight said and walked out of the room, levitating Sunset behind her.

“Cause this couldn’t possibly have anything to do with friendship and harmony...” Spike sighed and followed along.

---

Former Empress Starlight was fiddling with her ponytail, acting like she couldn’t be bothered since she didn’t really want to converse with her twin-tailed alternate. Sunburst on the other hoof she would’ve liked to actually talk to but she couldn’t draw up the nerve. And he was pretty terrible himself at reading the atmosphere. The very strange Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle, so different from the ones she knew, were also not ponies she had an interest in talking to.

“What’s your deal?” The sharp voice suddenly cut across the table.

The former Empress startled a bit, sitting up straight in her chair. “Um, who? Me?”

Her angry self glared back at her. “Yes, you. How could I ever turn out like you? And do something as horrible as you did?”

“I really don’t want to talk about that...”

“Well I do. And you’re our guest so you should probably answer me. From what you and that other me told us, this whole situation is at least partially to blame on you too,” angry Starlight defiantly pressed her.

However before the confrontation could continue the doors to the room were loudly thrown open.

“TA-DA!~” Starlight Glimmer shouted as she strode in with Spike. “Princess Celestia, get ready to be amazed and happy once again! I’ve come back to fix your problems and show you that you never needed to be so worried and indecisive in the first place!”

Celestia dropped the brush she had been using on Twilight’s mane out of surprise. “W-What?”

The others were equally surprised, though not quite as caught in an embarrassing situation after being called out.

Starlight rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Whatever—it’s time for a happy reunion!”

Her horn glowed and in floated a floating bubble with a very put-out Sunset Shimmer inside it. Now actually, the other two Starlights, Twilight, and Sunburst, had no idea who this mare was, what was important about her, or how this was a happy reunion. The only other pony in the room who recognized Sunset and knew who she was was the Princess who had the closest connection to her. Sunset, as soon as her eyes met Princess Celestia’s, calmed down slightly, standing still in the bubble but still wearing a frown on her face.

Princess Celestia... she was just frozen up completely. If she had still been holding the brush she would’ve dropped it all over again. Instead she just sat there next to Twilight with her mouth slightly agape, her eyes wide, her pupils shrunken, and her mane flowing. Somehow she still managed to look more regal and pretty than the average pony ever could.

The others in the room were quiet, eyes going back and forth between the two mares to see if anyone would say anything.

Sunset’s expression slowly softened as she stared at Princess Celestia and saw the different aura the Princess exuded from what she remembered. She looked more confused and worried than annoyed or upset now.

“Sunset?” Princess Celestia finally whispered. “Is that really you?”

Starlight took the moment to set Sunset down on the floor and got rid of the bubble, her and Spike moving off to the side so the two could have an uninterrupted reunion. “We found her, Princess. She’s okay. She’s always been okay. It was... a good intention gone a little bad, but you never needed to worry about Sunset. She’s strong enough to thrive wherever she is.”

“I don’t entirely know what’s happened here since I’ve been gone but the problem causer is right,” Sunset said, stepping forward and nodding to the Princess. “You um... honestly you’ve really seen better days, Princess.”

“I was so worried. All this time I was so worried about you,” Princess Celestia said, her eyes starting to water. “I thought I had done something wrong, made a mistake, and I didn’t want to lose anyone else precious to me again.”

"So is that why there’s a war going on here? You’re too worried about what could go wrong to try and fix it?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound like the Princess I know.”

Celestia slowly shook her head. “No... it certainly doesn’t. But I’m not sure that Princess is here anymore.”

“Princess Celestia...” Sunset sighed and dragged a hoof down her face. “You need to get it together!”

Celestia shrank back while Twilight gasped and Sunburst’s eyebrows shot up.

“I can’t exactly say I know what it’s like to be in your horseshoes... as the ruler of Equestria you have so much more to worry about than I ever did. But how can you let a few unexpected things or the disappearance of one mare, even your student, turn you into this!” Sunset frowned.

“It was different than what I had gone through before, for the first time I felt real fear for everything around me,” Celestia said.

“I was lost and afraid when I ended up in that strange other world but I still stood up and moved on!” Sunset said. “You need to too, Princess! Geez, I didn’t think I’d be saying something like this or care half as much anymore, but seeing you like this has just made something snap in me.”

“Well...”

“At the very least you can look at me now and know that I’ve been okay. Stop worrying so much and do something!” Sunset shouted at her.

Princess Celestia slumped over in her seat, looking like an admonished dog almost. Her gaze drifted over to Twilight Sparkle, wordlessly asking what she thought.

“There’s... definitely some things that need to be fixed around Equestria, Princess,” Twilight Sparkle said.

Celestia looked at her for a long time before she nodded slightly. “Yes, and I’ve always known who could be the one to fix them.”

Starlight’s ears perked up, her eyes sparkling a bit in hope, and she grinned down at Spike. He also smiled and nodded right back up at her.

“I think this might be the start we needed,” Starlight said.

“I think so too,” he said.

Princess Celestia took a deep breath and stood up. “Sunburst? Could you notify Shining Armor and Princess Cadance that I need to speak with them? Set something up for two hours from now. And Twilight... I need to speak privately with you after that. I have many things I need to tell you.”

Twilight Sparkle was a bit confused, she had an eyebrow slightly raised in question but still silently nodded in acquiescence to Princess Celestia.

“Well, I don’t think the three of us need to be around here much longer,” Starlight said.

Meanwhile, her twin-tailed self from this world sent a silent glance over to her.

---

“So what exactly happens now? Do we just leave?” Former Empress Starlight asked as they all stood outside on one of the castle’s many balconies together.

Starlight nodded. “I kind of want to before Sunset remembers I was supposed to tell her about her potential life if I didn’t interfere. And we have helped things here a lot, Celestia looks like she’s going to take care of stuff now and let Twilight and her friends become the Elements of Harmony. This world is still going to have a long way to go with how crazy things have gotten, but it’s on the right path.”

“And we should probably leave before Starlight screws things up even worse,” Spike said.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Yes. That too.”

“I just... I feel like I didn’t help that much. You two were the ones that did everything,” the former Empress said.

“Hey,” Starlight smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “You’re here to help yourself, alright? You don’t need to worry about the big problems like me and Spike. Just do the best you can and try and find yourself. Also... are you sure you still need to keep your Cutie Mark off?”

The former Empress vehemently nodded. “Absolutely. I-I’m just not ready for that yet. I can’t trust myself.”

Starlight was about to reassure her again when-

“Aha! I knew you had snuck out of there for a reason! You’re trying to ditch me, aren’t you?” Sunset shouted as she found them.

“Oh great...” Starlight groaned.

“Don’t even start! I kept my promise, I’ve helped out Equestria and Princess Celestia, the least you can do is keep up your end of the bargain!” Sunset accused as she walked right up to Starlight and started poking her in the chest. “Tell me what you know about me, what could my life have been like if you didn’t interfere? I already know that that Twilight Sparkle pony is my replacement, what’s the deal with her too?”

Starlight looked back at the angry Sunset, frowning, she stood up tall and straight. “No.”

Sunset’s eyes shot open. “Excuse me?”

“Mistake I made or not, nothing good is going to come from telling you anything. If you want to just take up the offer of punching me or beating me up, go for it, but you have a good life and you should make peace with it. Especially after how you just helped Celestia,” Starlight said.

Sunset pulled back a hoof and prepared to punch Starlight—but put the shaking hoof back on the floor. She was very angry as she glared at the hated unicorn in front of her, but she wasn’t going to punch her just yet. “Then I’m coming with you.”

“What?!” Starlight jumped in shock.

“I’m coming with you. You’ve got more worlds to help out don’t you? Let me come with you. I wouldn’t be able to relax knowing the fate of all worlds everywhere lies on your shoulders,” Sunset said. “Besides, there’s nothing for me in this world anymore. Celestia may have needed me to help her but she doesn’t need me for anything else in Equestria. And school back in the human world is just school, I can afford to take a bigger break.”

“No way. No way, no way, no way!” Starlight shook her head.

“Let me make something of my life! Give me the opportunity I never had because of you!” Sunset argued.

“This is a really careful adventure we’re on, bringing you along could make things more chaotic! That’s the opposite of what we want,” Starlight said.

“You brought your double with you to another world,” Sunset pointed at the former Empress.

“She’s a special case,” Starlight said.

“I’m a special case. And honestly, from what I know about you, when did you start caring about the rules so much?” Sunset asked.

“She has a point there,” Spike said.

Starlight frowned at him. “Are you on her side now? Discord won’t like this.”

“I think she deserves at least a little respect from us,” Spike shrugged. “And you’re the one who’s been doing stuff based off your gut feelings. Right now that’s what I’m doing. If we make up with Sunset and let her come along to help with friendship and harmony across the timeline, that should be a good thing, shouldn’t it? Maybe this Sunset will learn to be even better.”

Like the Sunset we know, was the unspoken finish.

“I think it’s only fair if she wants to come along too...” Former Empress Starlight whispered.

“Ughhhh...” Starlight dragged a hoof down her face. “So now it’s my turn to be the annoyed one? I guess we’ll have to keep Discord from flipping out over this. Also—what about Princess Celestia? Won’t she be upset that you’re leaving again? We don’t want her to relapse.”

“I already told her before I came after you that I was planning on going again. Frankly I didn’t want to be around that Twilight Sparkle much longer. I didn’t plan on asking you this but I was going to go back through the mirror soon. She already knows that I’m okay and where she can find me. She’ll be alright,” Sunset smirked. “She’s starting to become the Princess I know again.”

“I can’t believe this...” Starlight shook her head.

“So that’s a “Welcome aboard”, isn’t it?” Sunset mockingly asked.

“Yeah. It is. We better get a move on quickly then before anything else crazy happens here,” Starlight said.

“I think you’re a little bit slow for that.”

The ponies and dragons on the balcony turned and saw the third Starlight Glimmer walk out from behind the doors, joining them. She gazed over the four of them and frowned.

“I want to come too.”

“Noooooooo...” Starlight slumped down to the ground. “Noooooo waaaaaay...”

Spike, deciding to be a little more cooperative, actually talked to her. “Um, why though? If you were listening to us and what you heard from Princess Celestia, why would you want to come with us instead of just stay here?”

“Because I’ve never liked my life here,” the angry Starlight shook her head. “I’ve never been happy with it, I’ve always just drifted around with no focus, no dream. I don’t want to be stuck here like that anymore. And-” she glared right at Starlight. “From what I’ve heard it’s because of you that my life is like this. This big, awful, directionless, nothing.”

“Hey,” Starlight’s head shot up and she glared right at her alternate. “Hey, hey, hey, hey. I can 100% guarantee you that your life has been better than 90% of mine and 99% of hers,” she pointed at the former Empress. “You have no idea how good you’ve had it compared to what we had to go through before coming here. You heard our stories, you should get it.”

“Well guess what, all it does is frustrate me with the fact that my life has been completely meaningless in comparison. You’re responsible for this so why don’t you take some responsibility. Let me come and do something meaningful with my life too,” the angry Starlight refused to back down.

Starlight glanced over at Spike.

He shrugged. “I mean, she has a point too.”

“And she’s just another one of us... so would it actually make things more chaotic?” The former Empress suggested. Angry Starlight’s glare turned to her in surprise and she wilted for a moment. “I-I know we haven’t gotten along and you don’t like me but I think you should be given a chance too. You certainly deserve it more than me.”

“Five of us and Discord now too, this is getting to be a little crazy,” Starlight said.

“By the way, who’s Discord?” Angry Starlight asked.

“Yeah, you mentioned that name before. Who is that?” Sunset asked.

The other three all shared a close look.

---

“Three Starlight Glimmers now? And a Sunset Shimmer to boot? Do you perhaps not recall what our mission is and why I refused to bring Twilight along?” Discord questioned Starlight, arms defiantly folded.

“I know, Discord. Believe me, I know. But even Spike thinks that this is probably the right thing to do now,” Starlight said as she held him.

“This is kind of weird,” angry Starlight whispered to Sunset as the two stood back and watched this.

“I guess traveling through dimensions takes some pretty strange magic,” Sunset shrugged.

Discord snorted. “You know what? I’m so beyond arguing at this point—the Lord of Chaos can’t be so responsible, it’s bad for my image. If you want to bring two more ponies along then so be it. Things seem to always turn out fine anyways.”

Starlight sighed in relief. “Thank you, Discord. I’ll make sure things work out.”

"There’s a little problem that needs to be sorted out first before we leave though,” Discord said.

“What?” Starlight asked.

He scoffed in faux-annoyance. “Like I said, three Starlight Glimmers? That’s far too confusing!”

“Well what are we supposed to do about that?” Starlight frowned.

“This,” Discord smirked and pointed at her. “From here on out, you shall be referred to as Starlight.” He pointed at the former Empress. “You shall be referred to as Glimmer.” And lastly he pointed at the alternate from this world. “And you shall be referred to as... eh, let’s go with Moonlight.”

“I’m just getting my last name?” Glimmer asked.

“That’s right,” Discord nodded.

“Wait, hold on, I don’t agree to this,” Moonlight angrily stomped up to Starlight and Discord. “And why Moonlight?”

“Well it fits the naming convention. And it’s a reference to one of the author’s favorite stories,” Discord immediately shuddered in disgust. “Eugh, breaking the fourth wall is the lowest form of comedy.”

“So I’m Moonlight now? Why does my name have to change?” Moonlight growled.

“Because you were the third one to show up,” Discord shrugged.

Spike sighed and patted Moonlight on the side. “Might as well get used to it, this is just how Discord is.”

Moonlight frowned and clicked her tongue. “Ugh, fine!”

“Well I guess this should make things a little easier for all of us,” Starlight said.

“I’m okay with it,” Glimmer shrugged.

“Glad I still get to keep my full name,” Sunset Shimmer smirked.

Moonlight glared at her.

“Okay, enough!” Starlight announced. “Discord, can you make the next portal now?”

“Wait a second,” Spike said and looked at Moonlight. “Don’t you need to tell anyone that you’re leaving?”

Moonlight thought for a second. “Meh. Sunburst will sort it out.”

“Works for me,” Discord said and snapped his fingers, a glowing blue portal appearing once more for all of them. “For you newcomers, keep close and try not to get lost in there.”

Starlight patted Spike on the head. “Don’t worry about it. I know me best, things will be okay for her here when she returns. I hope by the time she comes back the rest of the problems in this world have been fixed too, but we at least already know for sure that harmony has taken a big step here.”

The four ponies and one dragon lined up in front of the portal, and on Starlight’s cue they stepped in together.

The Snowball Effect

Through the mess of swirling colors, patterns, and constantly changing scenery, Starlight, Spike, Glimmer, Moonlight and Sunset all traveled through the corridor between space and time. Fell would be more accurate for some as Moonlight and Sunset were orbiting the other three in a figure-eight pattern, unable to stop themselves. Moonlight just looked annoyed while Sunset was considerably more stressed out.

“I need a cigarette so badly right now...” Sunset whined.

“No. Get over it, you’re definitely not having any until you go back home,” Starlight frowned.

“Can one of you please stop me from floating around like this? I don’t like it,” Moonlight said. “What’s the secret to staying still?”

“You just have to get used to it. It’s only my second time too,” Glimmer said.

“It won’t be that long before we get to the next world, just try and land on your hooves when you come back out. At least neither of you are upside-down right now either,” Spike said.

“Speaking of... I honestly have no idea what’s coming next,” Starlight said. “I don’t even remember what things we got up to that could’ve led to extra chaos in the space-time continuum. It seems like we’ve already done the big stuff, right?”

“I dunno,” Spike shrugged.

“What other things did I do that could’ve led to the creation of new timelines?” Starlight wondered, speaking mostly to herself.

“I don’t think I really trust you to be a reliable source of information on your past adventure in time,” Sunset snorted.

“Me neither,” Moonlight said.

“Oh, the mentally teenagers agree with each other. What a shock,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

Glimmer actually giggled at that.

“As if you’re so mature,” Moonlight said.

“I’m not sure if any of you are mature,” Spike muttered.

“Look—we need to stop arguing. Even if we don’t get along perfectly there’s still no telling what we might have to fix or go through next. We don’t need to make things worse by being at each other’s throats when we should be the ones fixing problems in other worlds. So let’s at least be civil,” Starlight said.

“Fine,” Moonlight frowned but agreed.

“I swear if I can just find a cigarette I’ll be able to relax,” Sunset said.

“No!”

Glimmer bit her lip. “I-I think we’re going to have some extra work cut out for us... aside from just saving the world.”

Spike silently agreed with her—finding it funny how much easier it was to get along with the mare who had previously tortured him than it was his own manic Starlight. It helped that after visiting her world again it was plain to see how much more sensible and reserved she had become. The other three ponies he was with were certainly a bit more rowdy. And Discord was Discord and not awake as much. Glimmer was much more willing and likely to listen to Spike and not do anything insane, preferring things to be done quietly and smartly. He appreciated having another pony around that didn’t want to do anything crazy.

The light in front of them suddenly got brighter and they realized the portal through space and time was about to dump them off again...

---

Starlight landed on her hooves. Spike landed on his feet. Glimmer landed on her hooves and stumbled a bit. Moonlight and Sunset landed on top of Starlight.

“Agh!” Starlight yelped as two ponies collapsed on top of her and she fell to the ground, at the bottom of an unfortunate ponypile.

“Ooohhhh… how do you get used to that?” Moonlight moaned as she rubbed her head.

“Seriously, that’s a million times worse than the mirror portal. Aside from not changing forms,” Sunset said. She was the first of the three to pick herself up, getting off of the doubles and wiping any dirt and dust off herself.

“Your stupid spiked necklace is poking into me!” Starlight growled at Moonlight.

“It’s a collar and it’s not stupid!” Moonlight glared and pushed herself off of Starlight. “It’s a fashion statement.”

“And it’s not a phase either...” Glimmer quietly whispered out of earshot of everyone but Spike, making him snicker lightly.

“Whatever… let’s just figure out where we are,” Starlight said as she stood up too.

“Looks like some alley,” Sunset shrugged.

It was an alley. A very dirty and cluttered alley with numerous overflowing dumpsters and trashcans filling it up. Even the few places where the stone ground wasn’t covered by trash receptacles was covered by trashbags or other pieces of refuse. Not a good look, wherever they were. Normally the alley would’ve been wide enough for the five of them to easily stand inside it but all the trash was crowding them out from the sides. The smell at least wasn’t the worst for them but it definitely wasn’t pleasant either. It was dark too, wherever they had gone to it had switched to night once more, without any lights in here they couldn’t really see anything notable or see outside onto the street.

“The rest of you are a little unfamiliar with this kind of thing, so let me tell you it could also be when are we,” Spike said, puffing out his chest as he talked to Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset. “We might’ve gone back years from where we left.”

“You don’t normally get to be the expert on things, do you?” Sunset raised an eyebrow at him.

Spike frowned. “Uhhh…”

“He doesn’t. I know the Spike from our world,” Moonlight smirked.

“Stop being mean to Spike,” Starlight frowned at the both of them. “Only I’m allowed to argue with him. Now come on—we still need to find where we are.”

She lit up her horn and moved some of the trash out of the way so they could get through the alley, walking towards its exit while the others followed her. The unstable towers she was creating by placing bags and cans atop one another would probably fall in at most a minute after they left.

“I already don’t like the look of this place,” Glimmer said. “Where in Equestria have ponies ever let things get so dirty?”

“It’s possible we aren’t in Equestria anymore,” Starlight said.

She pushed the last few bags aside and the whole group was able to step out from between the buildings and take a look around.

Immediately, Spike shook his head. “Nope, we’re definitely still in Equestria.”

In front of them the streets of Canterlot opened up into a wide plaza with many ponies trotting through it despite the later hour. Though the city of Canterlot was now recognizable through the architecture of its building and the mountain it rested on, not much else about the city was familiar. Or even the ponies. The classy and hoity-toity ponies common to Canterlot were replaced by those in dime-store suits and gowns, fake jewelry, cheap hats, and carefree expressions. Raucous laughter came from the plaza along with the sounds of playful shouting and hollering. Looking up, neon signs and billboards covered the once beautiful buildings, their high-class domains replaced by loudly advertised lounges, nightclubs, dives, gambling dens, and pubs. On the sides of the streets and nestled up against buildings, plenty of ponies sat around boxes and sheets of cardboard shooting dice and shuffling money around while a few beggars held out empty cans and continued to be ignored. Quite a few ponies who looked of ill-repute had their eyes on the crowd or stood as door watchers. The very few guards that could be seen also hardly looked to be taking their jobs seriously, genially talking to a few pretty mares or even chatting with some of the ponies running dice games.

The five newcomers were stupefied by what they saw—a Canterlot so far removed from what they knew it was like a madness had overtaken the city.

“Well I think we know what’s wrong here,” Moonlight snorted.

“Now we just have to figure out why it’s gotten like this,” Starlight said.

“Any idea on what you could’ve done that might’ve resulted in this?” Sunset asked her.

Starlight looked around, dismay evident on her face. “Not a clue. This isn’t a conquered or destroyed Canterlot, the character of the entire city has changed.”

“It makes me wonder what the rest of Equestria looks like,” Glimmer said.

“Yeah. Not even Las Pegasus is as wild as this,” Spike said.

“So what do we actually do now?” Sunset asked.

Starlight shrugged. “We wander around until we figure things out.”

Sunset and Moonlight both raised an eyebrow and sent a sidelong glance at her.

“Is that how you’ve been doing things?” Moonlight asked.

“Usually the problem ends up finding us just as often,” Spike said.

“I know it sounds dumb-” Starlight started.

“It doesn’t sound dumb, it is dumb,” Sunset interrupted.

“But. Think of it as fate or destiny. We’ll figure things out quickly enough or something will happen that gives us a clue. To begin with, Discord is able to zero in on the source of the chaos, so the answer has to be somewhere relatively close by,” Starlight finished.

“Whatever then, time to search through Canterlot’s debauchery timeline,” Sunset said. “You know right now this actually looks a lot like some of the cities I’ve seen in history books back in the human world.

“Why would it be in the history books?” Moonlight asked.

“Because Equestria is… a bit all over the place when it comes to technology and development compared to the human world. Some places only look a few decades behind, others a few centuries,” Sunset answered.

“There are way too many ponies around right now, and it’s too loud for my tastes,” Glimmer said.

“We can just keep to ourselves, a place like this we should be able to find more and more things out of place easily just by walking,” Starlight said and ushered them to follow her as they walked through the plaza.

Though Starlight didn’t think the small group would really draw much attention in this noisy crowd, she was proven wrong pretty quickly. Whether it was because three of them looked like triplets, they had a dragon, or Sunset was recognized as Celestia’s student, quite a few heads turned their way. However there was quite the mix of reactions too. Some stared in awe, surprise, plain confusion, others smiled widely and some still looked afraid or concerned. What was it about their group that could bring such a wide range of feelings out from a crowd that moments ago had been so drunken on their own fun?

“I’m not used to being stared at this much,” Moonlight said. “Back home most ponies in Canterlot had no idea who I was.”

“I’m used to stares but, um, usually a lot meaner ones than this. So this isn’t so bad,” Glimmer said.

Spike though noticed something pretty quickly, following the eyes of the crowd and where exactly they were looking. “It’s not either of you they’re really staring at though—it’s Sunset.”

“Why me though?” Sunset raised an eyebrow as she looked around at the crowd—many faces not so discreetly looking away the moment she made direct eye-contact. “Is there something special about me in this world?”

“I get the feeling that figuring that out is probably going to be tied to fixing the problem here. Call it a hunch,” Starlight said.

“Can we maybe get out of this huge crowd soon? Shouldn’t we go straight to the castle if we want answers?” Moonlight suggested.

“Probably,” Starlight said. “Usually seems like the safe bet. Honestly the stares are getting to be a little too much for me too.”

They slowly had to make their way across the plaza, loud jazz music pouring out from many of the buildings around them the entire time and the smells of all sorts of food and drinks and other things creating an intoxicating aroma. None of the ponies who had noticed them and had their eyes on Sunset actually came up to talk to them—for whatever reason. Though all the new signs and the facades of many buildings were different and more than a little confusing, especially at night like this, the actual streets and buildings themselves were more or less the same. Because of that, Spike realized something else when the five of them started to walk down one of the less busy streets.

“Hey, Donut Joe’s shop is just up ahead!” He said. “Man I could go for some donuts right now…”

“If it’s still the same shop. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s changed into something else too,” Starlight said.

“The dragon reminds me though, I haven’t had anything to eat since lunch. Can we try and find a place to stop?” Sunset said.

“It’s Spike. Not “the dragon”, got it?” Starlight glared at her while Spike folded his arms and nodded.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Sorry. But can we still eat somewhere? When was the last time you all ate?”

“Princess Celestia had food for the rest of us when Starlight and Spike went looking for you earlier today. Is today the right word?” Moonlight said, scrunching her face up in thought.

“Best not to think about it,” Starlight said. “But Spike and I haven’t eaten for a while either. If there are donuts ahead we might as well eat…”

“Without any money?” Glimmer raised an eyebrow.

“We’ll figure something out,” Starlight shrugged.

“You say that too much…” Glimmer muttered.

Starlight grinned at her. “And I know from experience that it works out.”

“Wish I could have your confidence on life bending to your will,” Moonlight said.

“I’d say it’s more like stumbling onto the right path by chance than that,” Starlight said.

“That’s closer at least. I’d say it’s more like the world laughing at us, me in particular, until finally throwing us a bone,” Spike said. “At least that’s how I felt on our first trip back through time, being dragged around by Starlight everywhere without anyone else to help.”

“What are friends for?” Starlight just rolled her eyes in amusement, knowing it would get on Spike’s nerves more than to argue—and knowing in the end it was all in good fun.

They only had to walk a little further to see their next additional destination. Or at least what it was now, since it indeed was not a donut shop. The streets and sidewalks out in front of it weren’t crowded with easygoing pleasure-seekers, instead it was nearly the opposite with several clearly homeless ponies in rags with cardboard “dwellings” at best covering them. Donut Joe’s shop had been turned into some sketchy bar or den without even a name on it, just a neon sign flashing open and several broken and boarded up windows on its outside. It didn’t look like a place they wanted to stop and eat at.

“Well that’s disappointing,” Spike frowned.

“Hope he’s still doing okay if that’s what happened to his shop,” Starlight said.

Sunset meanwhile noticed that all the homeless ponies around the street had started to stare at her. She walked up behind Starlight with a grimace. “Er, can we keep moving? I’m getting a little uncomfortable.”

“Hey!” A loud voice yelled from the row of homeless encampments.

The group of five stood together as a single pony rose from the refuse and the other poor panhandlers. He stumbled out onto the street towards them, dirty rags hanging off his body and stubble on his face. His eyes were half-lidded and glassy, the pony clearly inebriated. But he still managed to stumble forth with a purpose as he kept his focus on Sunset Shimmer.

“You!” He pointed at her.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at him, a little perturbed, but she didn’t step back. “Do I know you?”

Spike’s eyes widened. “Donut Joe?”

“T-That’s what they call me,” Donut Joe wavered as he stood, body listing back and forth. “Even with the shop gone, that’s my name.” His eyes narrowed at Sunset. “So no, you didn’t know me, but I sure as Celestia know you.”

“What happened to you?” Starlight asked.

“She did,” Donut Joe pointed at Sunset. “She’s what happened to everything. To me, to Canterlot, to all of Equestria!”

“Uhhh...” Sunset frowned as her eyes shifted back and forth.

“What’s the matter, Queenie? Not used to ponies talking to you this way? Telling you just what you deserve?” Donut Joe continued to list and slur his words.

“Well no, but not for the reason you think,” Sunset answered.

“Queenie?” Starlight and Spike shared a look.

“You… you think you can… you think you can...” Donut Joe stumbled and belched. “You think you can just depose Princess Celestia and do this? Think you can let those rich nobles do whatever they want and trample all over ponies like me?”

Starlight, Spike, Glimmer, and Moonlight all slowly turned their faces to Sunset.

“Hehe...” Sunset nervously chuckled. “Sounds like the me from here isn’t too nice of a pony.”

Glimmer offered her a joyless smile. “Don’t worry, that’s nothing new for us.”

“Ahem,” Starlight cleared her throat and stood in front of Donut Joe. “Joe? Would you mind telling me exactly what happened and what Sunset did?”

If Donut Joe wasn’t so inebriated he might have been able to notice several strange things about the situation and that question. However at the moment he couldn’t even tell that three of the mares in front of him looked exactly the same. “Y-Years back now… Celestia’s own dang student here!” He pointed angrily at Sunset. “She did something… used some sort of magic book… to take Princess Celestia’s magic and started calling herself the Queen… and the Princess got locked up somewhere. She had been… she had been colluding or something with a bunch of rich noble ponies before that… getting chummy with them and telling them they’d be on top and get a ton of favors from her if they helped her out.”

“I can’t believe that even the worst ponies in Equestria would help someone do that though—much less a bunch of rich jerks from Canterlot,” Starlight said.

“You’ve never personally met Blueblood, have you?” Spike raised an eyebrow at her.

“They had… they’d all been angry at Celestia already… over something or another. A Grand Galloping Gala that had been ruined… and a mansion set on fire by some important guest of hers… a lot of big ponies were secretly upset with the Princess...” Donut Joe continued.

Starlight gulped. “Oops.”

Moonlight shot her a sidelong glance. “Your doing?”

“Ehehe… heh,” Starlight shrugged.

“Because of them… they tricked ponies into thinking it was okay… that nothing was wrong until it was too late to do anything. A-And our new Queen was the only one who could move the sun and the moon… t-that’s what everyone said at least… so we couldn’t do nothing about that,” Donut Joe’s stumbling got a little worse. “Those rich ponies that supported her… she let them do everything. They could take whatever property they wanted, do anything to Canterlot and Equestria. T-They turned it all into this.”

He wobbled a bit, glaring at Sunset. “They took my shop, took the shops and homes of so many others… they don’t care… and neither does she. Without the Princess… everything’s gone straight to the gutter...”

Donut Joe finally couldn’t take standing anymore and slumped down to the ground, grumbling and mumbling before finally falling asleep.

“See?” Starlight said as she looked at the others. “We always stumble onto things eventually. Wandering around worked out fine—now we know everything.”

“I’m not giving you any credit whatsoever for that,” Moonlight frowned.

“So uh… what now exactly?” Sunset asked. “Are we going to have to confront the evil me here who’s taken over Equestria and ran it into the ground?” She winced, upset, and looked down at the ground. “W-Was I really ever the type of pony who would do something like that?”

“Well we definitely have to fix this place so… it’s guaranteed that we have to do something about her,” Glimmer said.

“I think this is a timeline that must have branched off earlier than the last. After we had met you and done a few things here last time but before I threw you into the mirror portal,” Starlight said. “Sunset… maybe you made some bad choices here, but you wanted to learn how your life wanted to turn out, didn’t you? It might be a dark mirror of what you expected but I think this could give you some perspective on your life.”

Sunset frowned, angrily shooting Starlight a brief glare, but not speaking up otherwise.

“You have the capacity to be a lot better than this though,” Spike said. “I know what it looks like when you’re the best and the worst you can be. We’ll help you learn for yourself.”

Sunset looked at him, surprised by the encouraging words from the companion she had disparaged more than once already. If he was forgiving enough to show her that kindness then she could at least be a little mature too. She nodded. “Alright. I’ll see what the me here is really like.”

“Does that mean we’re going straight to the castle? Like we should have been doing?” Moonlight asked.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Yes, that’s right, not like anyone didn’t see that coming. The problem needs to be fixed in Canterlot Castle.” She started walking back down the street, ignoring the former donut shop. “Come on everyone—let’s bring some harmony to this Equestria and then get something to eat.”

Again, This is Still Better

“Is this going to end in a fight like with Tempest?” Spike asked Starlight as they walked towards the castle.

“We’re going to try talking again. That’s worked out for most of these worlds,” Starlight said.

“Yeah but… this really doesn’t seem like one of those times where talking things over peacefully is going to work,” Spike said.

“We’re still going to do our best.”

“Um, I trust you,” Glimmer said. “You did make things better for my world. Twice.”

“I don’t trust you. But I also don’t have any better ideas,” Moonlight shrugged.

“You just need some firsthoof experience,” Starlight smiled at her.

Sunset meanwhile was the only quiet one of their group. A lot on her mind as they traveled to the castle. Frankly, after spending a bit of time in the human world, going to school like a normal girl, making actual friends, she was able to look back on her time in Equestria and realize how bad she was. How unfriendly, mean, haughty, and ambitious she was as a young pony, and that she was wrong to think everything she did was right or okay because it was her doing it. But never in a million years did she think she was this bad or had the capability for it. Did she? If Starlight hadn’t come and changed things could she have actually turned out so rotten and… evil? Actually evil? Sunset didn’t like that thought. Didn’t like thinking she could be so wrong if no one had gotten her to change.

That also meant she might have to be slightly grateful to Starlight. An equally horrifying thought.

The good news was that when it came to this world there was clearly no such thing as a curfew and no real guard presence. Only those few lazy guards back in the plaza had been seen and that didn’t change as they approached the castle. Queen Sunset obviously didn’t care about stuff like that, or seemed to be worried about getting overthrown. If she was the only one who could move the sun and moon now though that might be the reason why.

“There’s the castle. It uh, doesn’t look so good right now,” Moonlight said as the landmark fully came into view.

Starlight took a look at it and grimaced. Moonlight was very right. Far from the pristine white castle they all knew, this one was dirty and falling apart. Graffiti and carelessly tossed paint covered its walls and towers, windows were smashed, flags had been taken down or shredded, and a haze of smog had settled around it.

“I don’t think this world’s version of you cares too much about appearances,” Moonlight said to Sunset.

Sunset herself only frowned in displeasure at the state of the castle. She had let it come to this?

“We’ve seen worse than this, don’t worry about it,” Spike patted Sunset on the side.

Glimmer nodded. “Yeah, I hardly have the right to criticize anyone either. I can already say for a fact that what I did in my world is a lot worse than this.”

“Thanks for the encouragement but it still isn’t exactly helpful right now...” Sunset said.

“Gates are open, we can just walk on in,” Starlight said and pointed ahead. Indeed another aspect of how broken and trashy the castle looked was the gates leading onto its grounds were gone. Not just open, the usually closed metal gate was missing entirely.

“No need for any slick teleporting or breaking in?” Spike jokingly asked her.

“Doesn’t look like it. That’s a relief,” Starlight shook her head.

“I can’t believe any so-called Queen is this lazy and careless to her own castle’s upkeep,” Moonlight said as they walked in. “Princess Celestia would never let this happen.”

“Yes, Moonlight, thank you. Please keep rubbing it in,” Sunset grit her teeth and glared at the other mare.

“I’m just saying,” Moonlight shrugged.

The further they walked towards the main building of the castle the more they noticed around them. The formerly lush and beautiful gardens had been left to rot and even the marble paths beneath their hooves were chipped and covered in garbage. From the windows came the sounds of raucous laughter, yelling and music, it seemed a lot of partying was going on inside the castle.

“Do you think she’s going to be in the throne room right now?” Spike asked Starlight, trying to ignore the noise around them.

Starlight shrugged. “Not sure. It’s actually kind of late at night so she might be asleep. Although maybe she enjoys the nightlife like the rest of Canterlot seems to now.”

It didn’t take them long to reach the doors leading inside Canterlot Castle, Starlight casually pushing them open and striding on in. Some loud music came pouring down the hall from ahead—in the throne room’s direction—and around them the tapestries and statues that normally beautified the castle were torn up or had fallen over. When they walked further they started to see drunken ponies collapsed in a stupor along the walls, in the alcoves, and stumbling out of doors. It gave them all a queasy feeling at how shockingly awful the castle had become. When they passed by a set of large doors on the wall to their right, they happened to get a little too curious. Each of them knew that a small, more casual, ballroom existed behind these doors.

They kind of wanted to see what all the noise was. What kind of partying was going on in Canterlot Castle if what they saw back in the streets of Canterlot was bad enough already? Things were really loud even with the doors closed right now. Starlight glanced down at Spike, who merely shrugged back at her.

“She might even be in there for all we know,” he said.

Starlight lit up her horn and pulled the doors open—immediately all five of them were hit by a wave of perfume, cologne, body odor, and alcohol as the wild party had clearly been in swing for far too long. The smells were also accompanied by the banging of loud music on their eardrums from a band playing an array of drums, trumpets, saxophones, and sousaphones. Quite a few ponies the five of them actually recognized were here inside the ballroom. Prince Blueblood, Flim and Flam, a few Wonderbolts, Sapphire Shores, Svengallop, and many other celebrities or ponies that made up the uppercrust of Canterlot and Equestria.

They were gambling, drinking, laughing. roughhousing, dancing, and some were doing a little bit more than that even.

“Well this is certainly rich and tasteful,” Moonlight snorted.

Starlight was looking around. “I don’t see Sunset—a Sunset—here though. It’s just a party.”

“Do we keep moving? I kind of don’t like it here...” Glimmer said.

Spike was holding his hands to his nose as he nodded in agreement. “Seriously, not only is it louder than Twilight when she tears a page, it smells awful.”

“Maybe one of them knows where Queen Sunset is though?” Starlight said.

“But if we went around asking when there’s already a Sunset with us, wouldn’t they know something strange is up?” Moonlight raised an eyebrow.

Starlight didn’t have to answer that, because Moonlight was almost immediately proven right. Prince Blueblood looked up from the craps table he was currently enjoying and noticed their group standing at the entrance to the ballroom/gambling den. His mane was messy and his clothes dirty, but his teeth were still as white and flashy as ever as he smiled at Queen Sunset. He pushed away from the others at the table and strode over to greet his Queen, the uneven gait he walked at betraying the amount of alcohol in his system at the moment.

“Careful everyone,” Starlight whispered to her group.

“Sunset!” Blueblood pleasantly shouted as he ignored the others and walked right up to her. “I thought you would still be in the throne room right now! Came out for some fun?”

“Uhhh...” Sunset stumbled for a moment but saw Starlight gesturing to her to keep the conversation going. “Y-Yeah, just got a little bored sitting around. I guess I usually spend too much time in there?”

“Tell me about it!” Blueblood merrily laughed. “As if you need to bother with running things anymore or planning to take over more, you can already do anything you wish with Equestria. Who cares about anything else! Boy, I sure was worried at first when you took over, but all the fun we’ve had since has been the best! All those ponies whining about the garbage piling up, the food shortages, blah, blah, blah, can’t the silly commoners handle it themselves?”

Starlight, Glimmer, Moonlight, and Spike glared at him but he didn’t even seem to notice.

“Yeah... right,” Sunset grimaced. “Well uh, I think this place is already a little too loud for my tastes. Maybe I’ll come back for a different party.”

Blueblood shrugged. “Suit yourself, we’ve got plenty of parties to go around. Come back again sometime soon!”

He waved to her and turned around to go back to his craps table but not before finding a glass of some kind of cocktail to drown.

Moonlight rolled her eyes in annoyance. “This Blueblood is even worse than the one I know.”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded.

“Are we getting out of here now that we’re pretty sure we know where Sunset is?” Glimmer asked.

“I hope so, I can’t take this gross place much longer,” Spike said.

“We are, just a second though,” Starlight said and grabbed a half-empty bottle of wine off a nearby table with her magic.

Spike frowned at her. “Hey, you’re not-”

“No, Spike, I’m not,” Starlight rolled her eyes. “Just preparing for something...”

She pulled the cork from the wine bottle and dumped its remaining contents into an already dead potted plant, leaving herself with just an empty bottle.

“Um, why did you do that?” Moonlight asked her.

“I just have a hunch that it might come in handy in a minute,” Starlight said.

The others had no idea what she was talking about, but since she was essentially the “leader” they didn’t give her any issue. Sunset anyways wasn’t paying attention, her mind on a million other things. First and foremost she was worried about meeting herself. Blueblood’s words had made her mental image of her alternate even worse. And this whole Equestria seemed to have gone crazy! How could those ponies in there be happy about any of this? Or accept Celestia being gone or imprisoned or whatever really happened with her? It was all such a mess.

Together though they left the ballroom, closing the doors behind them. If Sunset wanted answers it was looking like the best pony to ask was going to be herself. And besides, if her home world, timeline, whatever, was any indication it’s not like they needed to fix everything here and get it all sorted out. They just needed to do something big and get harmony and friendship back on track.

Starlight led the way, empty wine bottle carried in her magic behind her, as the group of five once more made its way to the throne room. Spike walked alongside her, with Glimmer and Moonlight behind them, and Sunset pulling up the rear. There was more graffiti all along the walls, broken statues and art, paintings thrown down, potted plants with their vases shattered, leaving dirt and ceramic on the floors. Not a guard in sight either, which was a positive for them. They wondered if most guards had abandoned Sunset or been imprisoned too, maybe the few they had seen in the city were actually new recruits?

However, unlike the rest of the castle and the hall leading up to it, the doors to the throne room were pristinely clean. Queen Sunset seemed to at least want her throne room looking good.

“I’m a little worried about this if I’m being honest,” Glimmer said.

“Yeah, what if by taking Celestia’s power it means she’s as strong as an Alicorn or something?” Moonlight asked.

Glimmer frowned. “I didn’t mean worried in that way... I don’t want us to even fight at all.”

"It’s fine. Regardless of what happens, I’ve faced off with real Alicorns and worse before this anyways,” Starlight said.

“You can be a little scary sometimes. And the fact you’re me makes that even weirder,” Moonlight said.

“It’s not about fighting her,” Sunset said, all the others briefly stopping and looking back at her. “It’s just... coming face to face with a me that really might be evil. Not just bad or misguided. But being confronted with the fact that I might really have the capacity for something like that.” She looked at Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight. “You three all have personal experience with that.”

“Oh yeah,” Starlight nodded.

“But we’ll work through it,” Spike grinned. “Sunset, the fact that you’re even voicing those feelings right now is a good thing.”

“Mm...” Sunset grunted, still uncertain but willing to continue on.

"Well alright then, do you want to open up the doors, Starlight? I feel like if Sunset leads us in it’s going to be a little too weird for the Queen right off the bat,” Moonlight said.

“Was planning to,” Starlight smirked and glanced at Sunset. “I think you should stay behind us for the moment. Let me introduce you to her after I explain what’s going on.”

Sunset nodded. “Alright.”

Starlight focused on the doors to the throne room and pulled them open with her magic, this time all others but Sunset walking beside her so Sunset could “hide” for the moment behind them. When they all stepped inside they saw that the throne room was a little different both from what they knew and what the rest of the castle was like. Statues, of gold and marble and everything in-between, filled it up. These were not broken statues either and they were all of one pony—Sunset Shimmer. They lined the carpet and were placed all around by the stained glass windows and up around the throne itself. The designs of the stained glass windows had also been changed, showing only large recreations of Sunset in them.

The throne itself also wasn’t occupied at the moment though. The only pony who had been in the room was currently hunched over a large map table that showed off Equestria and the lands beyond its borders.

“Not now, I told you I’m not interested in any of your parties,” Queen Sunset said without looking up—Celestia’s little crown on her head. But her body still just that of a unicorn’s.

“Ahem,” Starlight cleared her throat.

Queen Sunset looked up from her table with a frown on her face, her expression morphed into one of brief confusion before recognition lit up her features. “You. Starlight Glimmer. What are you doing here? You vanished long ago and... why are there three of you?”

“So you remember me? You really are a version of Sunset I met in the past then,” Starlight said to her.

Queen Sunset’s brow furrowed for a moment before she grinned. “I see... that explains some things. You were always abnormal. So what? You just time-travel and go around places for fun? Decided to bring some other versions of yourself along?” She glanced down at Spike. “Ah, the dragon is here too.”

“Spike,” Spike frowned.

“Whatever,” Queen Sunset dismissively waved a hoof and frowned at Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight. “I don’t care if there are three of you here now either. I’m not a filly anymore. What do you want?”

“You’re a really nice ruler,” Moonlight snorted and rolled her eyes.

Glimmer sighed and brought a hoof to her face.

“I don’t need to be nice. I’m the Queen,” Sunset grinned. “Soon of far more than just Equestria.”

“Your Equestria is just a junk heap if Canterlot is anything to go by,” Moonlight said.

“And I’m the one on top of that junk heap. I’ll take that any day of the week. Every pony has to look up at me and acknowledge me as their ruler. As their better. I finally got everything I wanted. Well, almost everything. Haven’t figured out how to become an Alicorn just yet, and there are some other places that don’t understand yet that because I control the sun and the moon that they need to bow down to me. But they will soon,” Queen Sunset said.

Starlight groaned in distress and shook her head. “Is that really what you want and what you’ve done this for? At least Tempest was well meaning...”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about and frankly I don’t care. I can do whatever I want so why not do it? That’s what was so great about being Celestia’s student and now being Queen,” Sunset shrugged. “So just spit it out—what are you here for?”

“We’re here to bring friendship and harmony to this world that’s been led astray,” Starlight said. “Would you kindly free Celestia from wherever you’ve imprisoned her and help get things back to normal?”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Queen Sunset reared back her head and laughed. “You have to be joking! You’re kidding, right?! Celestia is in Tartarus where she belongs, along with everyone else who was too dumb to just go along with me. Friendship? Harmony? Who cares about any of that? This is my world now.” She lit up her horn and levitated up something from beside her. It looked like some kind of strange oversized stopwatch with half of the face being emblazoned with the sun and the other half emblazoned with the moon. “This is proof of that. Celestia’s magic in here gives me control of the heavens. No one but me can even use it.”

“You used that strange forbidden tome to discover all this, didn’t you?” Starlight asked her. “The one that almost ended up with you getting eaten by an interdimensional monster?”

“That’s right. I knew there had to be more useful magic in there,” Queen Sunset nodded.

“And that led to you getting your little god-complex and thinking you could do all this?” Moonlight sarcastically asked.

“I just took what I deserved,” Queen Sunset shrugged.

“I’m starting to see a few more similarities between myself and her,” Glimmer muttered.

“You don’t even care how awful everything is? Is being the Queen of the junk heap that great?” Spike asked her.

“Yes,” Queen Sunset answered. “Being Queen is always great.”

“Is it? Do you not feel bad about any of this at all?”

Queen Sunset’s eyes widened at the new but familiar voice as Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight, moved aside and allowed Sunset to walk forward.

Her jaw dropped open in surprise. “W-What the? What is this?”

Sunset walked in front of the others with a sad frown on her face. “Are you really me? I never thought I could be so awful. I can understand what you’re saying... but unlike you there’s something inside me that would never let me act on it.” She looked over her shoulder at Starlight. “I think it’s probably what I found through the mirror.”

“Oh...” Queen Sunset gathered her wits again and glared at her alternate. “So you’re another me she found? Why? To try and convince me to change or stop what I’m doing?”

“Actually this is all pure happenstance,” Starlight shrugged while Spike rolled his eyes at her.

“It’s just chance. Or fate maybe,” Sunset said as she continued to stare down her other self. “When we learned that it was me, you, who was in charge here and was responsible for Equestria being like this I knew I had to see you. I didn’t exactly want to the more we learned but... I still knew it needed to happen. How could you do this to Celestia? I don’t even like Celestia that much but I would still never do something like throwing her into Tartarus. And making Equestria so awful like this and not caring just because I’m in charge? What’s wrong with you?!”

Queen Sunset snorted and curled her nose in disgust. “Are you really me? How could I ever become such a loser?”

“I made friends, that’s how! Something you clearly never did!” Sunset yelled at her.

“Who needs friends?” Queen Sunset scoffed.

“Everyone! Everyone needs friends!” Sunset yelled and then blinked in realization, dragging a hoof down her face. “Oh wow, I really have changed... that’s the lamest thing I’ve ever said... my friends back home would never let me live that down.”

“I think you’ve got the right of it though,” Starlight smiled and winked at her.

Sunset sighed and took a deep breath, glaring at her other once more. “Do you really just not have any empathy or sympathy? Are you this messed up and self-centered?”

“How does having empathy or sympathy help me?” Queen Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“Oh wow—I really am terrible,” Sunset blinked. “Meeting you was definitely a good thing. I’m never going to let myself become like you.”

“That’s the spirit,” Starlight patted her on the shoulder and walked up next to her. “Now then—Queen Sunset—I’d really like to talk things out with you and solve this peacefully if we could. You’ve met Sunset here now, you’ve seen that there’s another way, are you really just going to disregard and ignore that? Please, this is a time for introspection.”

“You’re all really nuts,” Queen Sunset said as she looked over the interlopers. “Why would I give up any of this? And do you really think you can threaten me? I have the power of an Alicorn in my hooves.”

Starlight glanced at Spike.

He shrugged back up at her. “Honestly, in this situation I wouldn’t blame you. And we’ve got who knows how many other problems to take care of after this.”

“Okay then. Peaceful solution is no good. Plan B it is,” Starlight said as her horn lit up brighter.

A powerful beam of magic shot out from it directly at Queen Sunset, who was overtaken from shock as the beam hit her in an instant and wrapped her in its powerful aura. The strange stopwatch device was dropped and Queen Sunset was levitated in the air, helpless no matter how she tried to do anything. As she raged and tried to fight her way out, horn and body failing to do anything, Starlight’s magic peeled the Cutie Mark off her flank and dropped her back to the ground. The queen was dazed and exhausted from the sudden lifting of her Cutie Mark, feeling strangely drained and weak, the color of her body dulling before her eyes, only barely able to watch as it was pulled through the air towards the empty wine bottle Starlight was carrying with her.

Starlight popped the cork off and safely deposited the Cutie Mark inside the bottle, recorking it immediately.

“There we go,” she smiled in success.

“Huh. That was easy,” Moonlight said.

“I like being direct,” Starlight said.

“What did you do to her?” Sunset asked.

“Something not very nice,” Glimmer frowned. “I-I understand she needed to be stopped and talking wasn’t going to work. But did you need to do that?”

“It’s just temporary. It was the easiest way to stop her and start to fix this,” Starlight said.

“What... how...” Queen Sunset stood up on wobbly legs, her crown falling off and rolling across the table. “What did you do to me?” She looked back at her flank and saw the equal sign Cutie Mark. “H-How can this be happening?”

“Sunset, Sunset, Sunset...” Starlight said as she strode up to the table, coldly staring at the queen. “You can think about what you’ve done as you take Celestia’s place in Tartarus. But don’t worry about that too much, I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t tell them to go easy on you and give you another chance. You may still be angry right now but there’s a better life out there for you if you’re willing to work for it. For the moment though...”

Her horn sparked again and before Queen Sunset could yell at her once more she was blasted and banished into Tartarus.

“You... you have some really crazy magic. Could I learn to do stuff like that? Can Glimmer do that stuff too?” Moonlight asked.

“Now’s not the time,” Starlight said to her. “There’s actually still a lot we need to do here before we leave.”

“Yeah, until we bring Celestia back and tell her everything, this place isn’t going to get any better,” Spike said.

Sunset and Glimmer meanwhile were both looking at where Queen Sunset had just been. Sunset wasn’t sure how she felt about this. She wasn’t sure how she felt about herself. This was the exact opposite of what she originally wanted to see. Instead of her best life she had been confronted with her worst. It was a lot to think about. Glimmer understood that, and was going through her own feelings of empathy and pity for the queen. She put a hoof over Sunset’s back and the two of them stood there silently.

“First though, before we bring Celestia back, there are some others who need to go down there to Tartarus with Sunset,” Starlight said with a grin forming on her face. “I think Canterlot is going to be grateful for this—time to take out the trash.”

---

After Starlight got finished sending a few other “collaborators” down to Tartarus with Queen Sunset, the group had to spend another entire day in this world. There was simply too much that needed to be fixed—deposing the Queen wasn’t enough. Bringing back Princess Celestia and returning her magic to her was one of the first major things, but just like the Celestia in the last world this one had a lot of work to do. So much had fallen apart in such a short amount of time. And she had to be told who they were and why they were here. And of course that the Sunset Shimmer she was seeing now was not the student she knew. All in all it was a lot for the monarch to take in.

It was a lot for them all to try and coordinate. After all in this world Twilight Sparkle never even became Celestia’s student. The Elements of Harmony hadn’t been found and brought together. Among other things. The general attitude across Equestria, the very bonds of harmony and friendship that empowered the country, were so weak. Anyone could see that.

And yet the first few steps necessary to fix all that had been taken. Friendship and harmony were hard to get rid of, they had been weakened, but not destroyed. With time and the right ponies still working to make things better, Equestria would heal.

Sunset didn’t really want to stay here any longer—she had gotten what she needed to out of it and everything else was just going to make her sick. Glimmer and Moonlight too had nothing else to say or do here, the problems facing this world hadn’t been as personal for them. Only Spike and Starlight—the ones who originally had been put on this mission in the first place—really had to make sure things were okay before they woke up Discord and left. It did of course leave Moonlight a little unsatisfied, since she had wanted to be able to do something herself but hadn’t gotten any such opportunity. She was hoping that would change at some point. She wanted to matter. Not be like the irrelevant mare she was back home. Glimmer was still internally a bit torn up, confronted once more with a megalomaniac who reminded her of how awful she had been. And she hadn’t helped much either, despite wanting to make up for things, it felt like she was still just being dragged along and not carrying her weight. She was still looking for herself.

But despite some personal worries and reservations from some members of the group, after they had gotten a night’s rest and a good meal they were all prepared to go onto the next world. Spike woke Discord up and the portal was created.

---

“How many more worlds do you think we need to travel to and fix?” Moonlight asked as their whole group once more flew through the colorful space between worlds.

“I don’t know, but it can’t be that many more. I didn’t make that many changes when Spike and I traveled through time,” Starlight said.

“Yeah... not that many,” Spike muttered.

“It’s true though, there really can’t be many more left,” Starlight said.

“I hope the remaining worlds aren’t as personal as the last one,” Sunset sighed.

“I hope we never meet another me who’s somehow worse than me,” Glimmer said.

“Pessimist,” Moonlight snorted.

“Look—either way right now I’d say we’re kicking chaos’s butt. Let’s just focus on that, because that’s the biggest positive of all,” Starlight smiled at Spike and her now newfound friends. “We’ve got this. Also, the three of you aren’t spinning randomly through the air right now. Another plus.”

“That’s true... although I am upside-down right now,” Moonlight said. Indeed upside-down.

Starlight rolled her eyes, a sudden brightness ahead then catching her attention. “Look! The next exit is coming right up!”

Spike grinned and patted Glimmer on her leg. “Here we go, let’s do this!”

Glimmer managed a small smile. “Right.” She turned to Sunset and raised an eyebrow.

“Right,” Sunset nodded back.

“Still upside-down...” Moonlight said.

The brightness ahead grew even stronger and soon they could see nothing but a blue light...

They were watched.

A formless bit of slime from all the colors in the space between space converged and turned into a tie-dye pony.

“Well, well, well, things have been going far too smoothly, haven’t they?” Harlequin Rainbow said, his colors shifting and merging and changing constantly, eye-spots glowing and featureless mouth pulled up in a smile. “I do believe it’s time to change that. Just a little bit.”

He lifted a hoof as it spasmed and bubbled, shifting into a hand. Harlequin Rainbow snapped his newly made fingers and created a crack in the light ahead.

“Heeheehee, fun, fun, fun,” the Harlequin giggled as he splattered back into nothingness.

Scratch

Glimmer fell out from the space between worlds and landed on the ground without a problem this time. Her four hooves hit the dirt at the same time and she smiled to herself at the success. Right behind her, Moonlight came falling out and also managed to land fairly cleanly, only wobbling and stumbling a bit. But it was far better than coming face first with the dirt or landing on one another. A small cloud of dust had been kicked up by their landing so Glimmer shook her shawl to get any dirt off it.

“Well, where are we now?” Moonlight asked after stretching a little and looking around. “It’s really dark out.”

She was right, Glimmer thought as she looked around as well. They had entered this new timeline in the dead of night and there were only a few lights anywhere nearby. However—that was enough for Glimmer to identify where they were. Although it looked different than what she was familiar with in her world. “We’re right outside Ponyville.”

Moonlight raised an eyebrow at her. “This is Ponyville? I’ve heard of it but I’ve never been.”

Glimmer nodded, frowning at the lack of Twilight’s Castle as the two unicorns stood on the outskirts of town. They were either far back in time or something had happened in this world to stop its creation. She looked up at the moon hovering in the sky and saw the Mare in the Moon staring back at her. Unfortunately that also didn’t tell her anything concrete after visiting Moonlight’s world. They could again either be years back or something had kept Luna from returning.

“I have another question,” Moonlight said with an uncomfortable frown on her face, interrupting Glimmer’s thoughts.

“Yes?”

“Why are we alone?”

Glimmer blinked and looked around—Starlight, Spike, and Sunset nowhere to be seen.

“Umm...”

---

Spike and Sunset landed on a cold stone floor after dropping out of the portal. Sunset just barely managing to keep from tripping.

“Hey, looks like you got the hang of it,” Spike grinned at her.

“I guess next time I’ll come out and do a pirouette,” Sunset rolled her eyes. She then shivered and looked around. “It’s cold… and really dark, are we in some building?”

Spike took a gander around and noticed they were in what looked to be a narrow hallway with only a few barely flickering torches lighting up the way every twenty feet or so. “Yeah. That’s weird though, I don’t remember us ever ending up inside on one of these trips so far.”

“And uh… why is it just the two of us?” Sunset asked. “The triplets aren’t here.”

“Uhhh… I have no idea. But this isn’t good,” Spike frowned and scratched his head.

“Did Starlight do something?” Sunset asked. It was as good a guess as any.

Spike shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

“Well how do we know we even ended up in the right place? This might not even be the correct world or timeline,” Sunset looked at the dark stone walls surrounding them. “This is… this isn’t just some random building’s interior… I think this is a dungeon.”

“Yeah it’s kind of… spooky…” Spike narrowed his eyes as he stared at the walls. Something about this place was familiar to him. Then he realized something else. “Oh yeah! In times like this, just ask Discord!” He reached into his bag and pulled out the slumbering Discord flute, flicking it on the head.

“Ow!” Discord yelped and rubbed his head, angrily waking up and glaring at Spike. “And what was that for? I can tell it hasn’t been long enough for you to need me again.”

“It’s not that,” Spike shook his head. “Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight are missing. We got separated when we came through the portal or something.”

Discord blinked. “Huh. That shouldn’t have happened.”

Spike glared at him. “Well it did. What do we do now?”

“Hmm… I can tell they’re still in this world at least. So I think you’re just going to have to go and find them yourselves. Good luck,” Discord shrugged and went right back into stasis.

“Oh thanks a lot,” Spike scoffed in annoyance and shoved Discord back into his bag.

“He’s such a good friend, isn’t he,” Sunset smirked, holding back a chuckle.

“Takes a little time getting used to…” Spike said. “I guess we have to find our way out here first and look for Starlight and the others.”

“And figure out where here even is,” Sunset said.

“Actually, I already got that part figured out,” Spike said, causing Sunset to look at him with a surprised and expectant gaze. “I recognize these walls, and the feeling from this place. It’s somewhere I’ve been a few times before already—we’re in the Castle of the Two Sisters.”

---

Starlight’s hooves landed on a soft silk carpet—not what she was expecting when she came out of the portal into whatever world this was. There was a chill in the air but no wind as Starlight raised an eyebrow at the unexpected room she had found herself in. It was a large hall held up by pillars with tall windows and luxurious tapestries hanging down the walls. Outside the windows she saw the night sky and the moon providing the only source of illumination for the spacious hall. More curiously—she was utterly alone—her friends gone. And strangely as well, this place looked kind of familiar to her. She grimaced, worried that something had gone wrong once again.

“I do not know who you are or what you were thinking when you teleported inside my castle—but I can assure you that it is very likely the last mistake you will ever make.”

Starlight’s eyes widened at the deep and menacing voice as she turned around, looking to the end of the hall.

There sat a throne, and upon it was a pony she had only seen in her dreams. Or more accurately—in her nightmares.

Nightmare Moon coldly glared down at her, her dark mane billowing behind her head. A half-dozen guards wearing strange and ornate armor stood before her throne with spears raised, ready for the order to annihilate the intruder.

“Uh oh,” Starlight gulped.

All the Predictions of Mice and Ponies

“Well this is just great. What do we do now?” Moonlight asked as she walked around the small hill she and Glimmer were on that overlooked the sleepy town of Ponyville.

“I don’t know. Starlight and Spike always took charge,” Glimmer shrugged. She was watching Ponyville too, trying to see if any ponies were out this late at night but the town looked mostly asleep. Only a few windows had lights in them at all.

Which meant it would probably be the most peaceful trip she ever had through Ponyville if the two of them went down there.

“You’ve been with them longer than me, do you not have any ideas?” Moonlight asked.

“Not really… just like you and Sunset I tagged along for other reasons. It’s only them and Discord who really know much. And um, the last time I had any sort of leadership role… it wasn’t exactly a good time in my life,” Glimmer said.

Moonlight snorted. “Oh yeah. Right. Well I guess I have to lead the way then, even though of all three of us I have way less life experience.” Without even asking if Glimmer was coming along, Moonlight started walking towards Ponyville. “If you ever feel like contributing to anything—please hesitate to speak up.”

“Okay,” Glimmer said, without any sarcasm, as she followed behind.

Moonlight stopped, frowning, and turned her head to Glimmer. “I don’t like you.”

Glimmer shrugged. “That’s okay, I don’t like me either.”

“Tch,” Moonlight clicked her tongue and walked up to Glimmer, poking her in the chest. “Seriously, what’s wrong with you? Have some pride! Have some backbone! So what if you made mistakes? At least you did something with your life! You know powerful magic just like Starlight too, unlike me! You’re so annoying, I spent my whole life feeling worthless and I finally find a me who’s actually important and it’s you.”

“Y-You shouldn’t feel jealous of me… I’m the one who really feels jealous of you,” Glimmer said, eyes downcast. “You don’t know how good a boring life is until you’ve lived a life like mine. I wish my relationship with Sunburst was even half as friendly as yours...”

Moonlight rolled her eyes. “I can’t stand you. I wouldn’t just sulk like you if I was in your horseshoes.”

Glimmer frowned and looked up at her. “You can’t say that without having experienced it yourself.”

“Oh? So there’s enough fire in you to talk back a little?” Moonlight grinned.

“If I could, and if we didn’t have more important things to do, I’d teach you a lesson. You remind me too much of myself at a certain point in my life,” Glimmer said.

“If you’re going to teach me any lesson I’d like a lesson in magic. I want to be able to perform awesome spells like you and Starlight. I never bothered to get too into magic… never saw the point. But knowing what you can do and what potential I have now? It’s driving me crazy!” Moonlight nearly yelled.

“I-I can’t teach you that...” Glimmer looked away in shame.

“Why? Because you can’t trust me with magic?” Moonlight questioned, her eyes narrowing.

“No, it’s not that,” Glimmer shook her head. “Haven’t you noticed that I haven’t used any magic on this journey yet? Did you ever wonder why?” She reached down her shawl and pulled out her necklace with her Cutie Mark contained inside it. “Look… this is why I can’t help you right now.”

Moonlight’s eyes widened. “Wait, your Cutie Mark, it’s like… did Starlight do that to you too?”

“No!” Glimmer shouted. “I did it to myself! I can’t be trusted with my magic, it’s a punishment I’ve bestowed on myself.” She hid her Cutie Mark necklace back within her shawl but turned to her side and showed off the equal sign on her flank after pulling the dress up slightly. “Don’t be jealous of any life I’ve led.”

Moonlight now had an uncomfortable frown on her face, her eyes shifting back and forth as she thought, not willing to look Glimmer in the eyes. “I’m sorry. About being mean to you. I didn’t know you were being that tough on yourself.”

“It’s fine,” Glimmer shrugged and put her shawl down. “No matter what you or anyone says I feel like I deserve it anyways.”

“Okay, hold on again,” Moonlight frowned and walked up to Glimmer, putting her hooves on the mare’s shoulders and staring directly into her eyes. “I still hate that. I hate you saying things like that, regardless of what you did. It’s pathetic and you need to get over it. You’ve been punished, you lost and now you’ve faced the consequences. But it’s time for you to move on already. Stop saying things like that and learn to respect yourself.”

“Um… I’ll try,” Glimmer chewed on her lip and looked away.

Moonlight rolled her eyes. “It’s a start I guess...”

She let Glimmer go and the two of them looked at the small town of Ponyville again.

“Of course there’s still the big problem to deal with,” Moonlight sighed.

“Um… actually after thinking about it I have a couple of ideas,” Glimmer said.

“Thought of something, huh?” Moonlight raised an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t know anything.”

“I can still make guesses about what I know…” Glimmer muttered.

Moonlight rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, so what is it then?”

“Discord is supposed to bring us out to near wherever the problem that needs to be fixed is. Whatever the source of chaos or the reason for the lack of harmony in this world. Assuming nothing else went wrong besides us being separated, the problem has to be pretty close to Ponyville. And there are a few very important things about or near Ponyville. I think if we investigate those things we might find what’s wrong—or at least come across Starlight, Spike and Sunset again,” Glimmer said.

“Better idea than just randomly wandering through town I guess,” Moonlight shrugged. “Where should we investigate? I don’t know about any of this stuff.”

“Well when it comes to chaos and harmony… the biggest thing I can think of is the Tree of Harmony. Which is deep inside the Everfree Forest,” Glimmer said, looking over to the dark forest on the far side of Ponyville. It was even more imposing in the dead of night.

“Oh,” Moonlight flatly stared at it. “Fantastic.”

“I um, I think we should get going as soon as possible…” Glimmer said.

Moonlight sighed and started trudging on in the direction of the forest. “Way ahead of you.”

---

“What? But that doesn’t make any sense? The castle is just ruins—Celestia told me all about it,” Sunset said.

Spike rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but that was in a different world. And even back in your world I bet most of the castle still stood.”

Sunset frowned. “Okay, fair point. So we’re here alone in the castle and we know the annoying triplets are somewhere else. What do we actually do?”

“Umm...” Spike looked down the dark hallway. “Find a way out of here? Cause I may know what castle this is but I’m still totally lost.”

Sunset groaned. “Ugh! Great!”

“There are lit torches though… which is kind of weird. Who would be living here now?” Spike wondered.

“Maybe the Celestia in this world moved back in,” Sunset half-seriously suggested.

“Maybe,” Spike shrugged. “Also… I think you were right about this being a dungeon. It really gives off that feeling.”

“It’s claustrophobic enough… and the stone is actually black and not gray like stone typically used in construction,” Sunset rubbed her chin. “Which way do you think we should walk?”

“Umm...” Spike thought for a second before getting a bright idea—he spun around in a circle for a moment and then stopped—pointing ahead where Sunset was already facing. “That way!”

“Riiiight...” Sunset shook her head but started walking. Fifty-fifty chance they were going the right direction after all.

The sound of their hooves and feet clicking on the stone floor was the only sound as they continued to walk further into the castle’s dungeon. Whenever they weren’t talking it became evident that this dungeon was normally as quiet as the grave. The black hallway was only barely lit up by the torches, making Spike wish he could see in the dark and Sunset remember how to use a simple light spell. Why couldn’t one of the unicorns who actually knew how to use magic be here with them? It frustrated Sunset immensely—she used to be Princess Celestia’s student! But she couldn’t even really remember simple spells anymore after so long without magic. That was something she’d have to talk about Starlight with when she saw her next…

In another few minutes, the two of them finally saw the hallway end ahead. And realized they had probably been walking in the wrong direction. Lit up by two torches on either side of it was a heavy steel door that blocked off access to whatever was behind it.

And there was a guard in front of it.

Sort of. He was asleep at his post and leaning up against the wall.

But Spike recognized something about the armor the pegasus stallion wore and it made his stomach drop. That was armor he recognized from a previous trip through time. “Uh oh… I know why we’re here in this castle.”

“Why?” Sunset raised an eyebrow at him.

“Did you know that Princess Celestia has a sister called Princess Luna? And 1,000 years ago she kind of turned evil a little bit and became Nightmare Moon? Well it looks like in this world she’s back from being imprisoned on the moon and has taken over Equestria. Just guessing by the look of it,” Spike said.

“That… is a lot to take in. And none of it sounds good for us,” Sunset said.

“Nope,” Spike shook his head.

Their conversation though also happened to wake up the guard, he blinked a few times before standing up straight and noticing he wasn’t alone. “Wha… huh? Who goes there? Is that you again, Lightning?”

He finally noticed that the two in front of him were not people he recognized.

“W-Wait a minute… who are you and how did you get down here?” The guard asked, his eyes shifting nervously between them. “Uh oh… I’m gonna be in trouble again, aren’t I?”

“N-No, don’t worry about it,” Spike chuckled and shook his head. “We’re uh… we’re friends of Nightmare Moon. Don’t worry about us.”

“Nightmare Moon doesn’t have any friends,” the guard said and then blanched. “Oh crud… don’t tell her I said that.”

“Wait...” Sunset said as she realized something the more she listened to the guard speak. “Flash? Flash Sentry, is that you?”

Flash’s eyebrows shot up and he took off his helmet, revealing his yellow face and blue mane. “How do you know who I am? I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen you before.”

“Wow, it really is you… I’ve never seen you as a pony before,” Sunset said.

“Uhh…” Flash just tilted his head quizzically.

“Er, sorry, this must be confusing. I know you, but a different version of you, that also isn’t a pony. Or from this timeline, or-” she continued to blather until Spike stopped her.

“Sunset. Enough. It’s not helping,” he then looked up at Flash Sentry too. “I actually know him too though—this is kind of a surprise. But I guess you become a royal guard no matter what?”

“Actually I used to be a Wonderbolt before this,” Flash shrugged. “Now could the two of you explain what’s going on here? I really don’t want to have to get Nightmare Moon or anyone else involved, but it’s clear that you shouldn’t be down here.”

“Doesn’t sound like you really care too much about being a guard for her,” Sunset raised an eyebrow.

Flash scoffed. “Hardly anyone does. I just didn’t want to get imprisoned or worse, but I really hate working for her. I miss Princess Celestia…” he paled. “Wait, you two aren’t like secret police right? Testing me on my loyalty?”

“No, Flash,” Sunset rolled her eyes.

“We’re literally just lost,” Spike shrugged.

“Oh… well it’s not like it would matter at this point if you’re telling the truth or not. Why don’t you just turn around and leave? I won’t say anything,” Flash said.

“Well the problem is we’re looking for some friends of ours. And we’re trying to figure out what’s going on in this world too. We’re kind of deep in some important business,” Spike said.

“This world?” Flash asked, confused.

“You don’t need to believe us but we’re from an entirely different Equestria. We’ve traveled here to help fix things and make it better. Could you maybe fill us in on how all this started? What happened to Princess Celestia and how did Nightmare Moon take over?” Sunset asked.

Flash Sentry sighed and stared ahead wistfully. “Well it was only about a year ago now. I had just become a Wonderbolt and we were getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville. I don’t really know the details on a lot of things, but Princess Celestia had told us that this celebration would be special. I don’t think she quite meant it the way it turned out though. Something happened with her personal student, Twilight Sparkle, and the Princess never even showed up. No one ever saw her again. Instead Nightmare Moon appeared there and when Twilight Sparkle tried to stop her she failed. I don’t know why exactly but Twilight Sparkle and five other mares from Ponyville ended up being imprisoned in the dungeon here. And Nightmare Moon says she imprisoned Celestia in the moon… no one could really do anything about it.” He sighed. “Anyways, Nightmare Moon turned most of the Wonderbolts into her guards. The ones who refused, well, I don’t want to know what happened to them.”

“Why’d she care so much about the Wonderbolts?” Spike asked.

“She said Lightning helped her out on the night of her return so she wanted to reward the others who were willing to be loyal. Lightning Dust—she’s the current head of Nightmare Moon’s royal guard,” Flash coughed and looked away in embarrassment. “And, uh, my ex.”

“Well that answers some things,” Sunset said. “This Lightning Dust can’t be a good pony either—I know from personal experience that Flash has bad luck when it comes to getting tangled up with the wrong girls.”

“Yeah, seriously,” Spike nodded and then his eyes shot wide open. “Wait. Hold on. You said Twilight and her friends were imprisoned in the dungeon here? As in right here? As in right behind this door you’re guarding?”

“Uhhh…” Flash hesitantly looked between the two of them. “Maybe?”

Spike and Sunset shared a knowing glance with each other.

---

“Well this is unexpected...” Starlight said as she stared back at Nightmare Moon.

“Oh?” Nightmare Moon raised an unamused eyebrow, her voice reverberating through the hall. “From the way you speak it sounds as if you did not intend to barge into my castle. Is that true or are you merely trying to backpedal knowing how doomed you are?”

Starlight gulped. “Look… this really was just a mistake, I’m not from around here and-”

“You had best cut to the chase. Now,” Nightmare Moon commanded as her horn lit up.

“I’m from a different dimension! I traveled here without knowing that you were in charge and I didn’t know I would drop directly into your throne room!” Starlight quickly shouted.

Nightmare Moon was surprised enough to not immediately attack, although it seemed like she didn’t fully believe Starlight. “Really now? And how could a simple unicorn perform magic like that? Things like traveling through dimensions, between worlds, through space and time? Even an Alicorn can not easily do any of this.”

“Well I didn’t use my own magic to use it. I had Discord,” Starlight said.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened as her already narrow pupils turned to slits. “Discord. Is that fiend free?”

“H-He’s not here with me,” Starlight half lied, shaking her head. “He just made the portal.”

“Indeed? You had best be telling the truth. If you had brought Discord into my domain your punishment would be legendary,” Nightmare Moon threatened.

“Hehe… good thing I’m definitely telling the truth...” Starlight rubbed the back of her neck.

“But I do have another question for you,” Nightmare Moon said. “Why are you traveling through dimensions? What brought you here specifically?”

“Well to put it as simply as possible… friendship and harmony?” Starlight shrugged.

“Excuse me?” Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes.

“Um…” Starlight began to explain. “Thanks to some… prior incidents with time-travel, there’s a lot of chaos in the space-time continuum that’s kind of messing everything up. It’s putting all of reality in danger of being destroyed. So I’m trying to fix things by going to a bunch of worlds and getting rid of their chaos—and making things more friendly and harmonic. Yep.”

Nightmare Moon continued to stoically stare at Starlight upon her throne. Not moving. “And I believe I can guess what you mean by making things more harmonic here.”

“Uhhh...”

“Using the Elements of Harmony to destroy me and restore my sister to Equestria. Am I right?” Nightmare Moon growled.

“Well maybe you and Celestia could get along and rule together? That might work too,” Starlight grinned awkwardly and shrugged.

“Absolutely not,” Nightmare Moon huffed, an amused smirk actually briefly coming to her face. “Though it is now apparent that whether you meant it or otherwise—I can’t exactly let you go free. What you know, your mission, if it’s all true then you are a danger to my world.” Her eyes narrowed and she stood up on her throne. “Guards!”

The six armored guards flew in to surround Starlight, pointing their spears at her.

Starlight momentarily stood her ground—unsure about how well picking a fight with Nightmare Moon would actually go. “You don’t need to do this.”

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. “Spare me your pleas for mercy and lenience. Lightning Dust? Take her bag and bring it to me, I want to see if she’s hiding anything. Perhaps she has a journal or magical tome aiding her on this suppose mission.”

“Yes, Nightmare Moon,” one of the pegasus guards said with a grin on her face, momentarily putting down her spear and walking towards Starlight. “Now you better not do anything stupid now.”

She paused as she stood now directly in front of Starlight and actually got a good look at her. Starlight as well ended up staring into this “Lightning Dust’s” eyes and got a strangely familiar feeling.

“What is the matter, Lightning Dust?” Nightmare Moon shouted from her throne.

Lightning Dust gasped and turned back to look at her monarch. “I recognize this mare! I met her back in Canterlot years ago, Nightmare Moon!”

Nightmare Moon raised a single unamused eyebrow. “And so what if you did? Surely it was just her from our own world.”

“No,” Lightning Dust shook her head. “She’s the exact same age—I’m sure of it!” Lightning grinned and turned around to face Starlight. “That was you, wasn’t it? The mare I met in Canterlot, who took me to that Wonderbolts show where Wind Rider made his world record?”

“Oh yeah…” Starlight thought back to that day. “You were just a filly but yeah, that’s why you’re so familiar.”

Lightning Dust’s grin was downright vicious as she laughed. “Nightmare Moon, this is the mare who inspired me to really push myself even harder to become a Wonderbolt! It’s thanks to her that I became the youngest Wonderbolt in history and was there to help you that night!”

A smile appeared on Nightmare Moon’s face as she briefly chuckled as well. “Really? Is that true? Well the world certainly has a sense of humor.”

Starlight meanwhile just looked between the two of them. “I feel lost here.”

“Heh,” Lightning Dust wiped a tear from her eye. “I’ve been hoping I could meet you again one day to thank you for everything. Although after the past year I don’t think you’d be happy to have my thanks. See, thanks to you I became a Wonderbolt for Princess Celestia, and she was having me watch over her student Twilight Sparkle and Ponyville during the Summer Sun Celebration. But then Nightmare Moon came down—and I couldn’t believe it. Sure, Princess Celestia was always amazing and powerful, but when I saw Nightmare Moon I saw a real ruler right there. I saw the Alicorn that deserved to be in charge of Equestria.”

“Oh no…” Starlight put a hoof to her face and groaned.

“Uh-huh,” Lightning Dust eagerly nodded. “I tailed Twilight and those new friends of hers straight to this castle! When they were trying to use those weird Element thingies I stopped them so Nightmare Moon could take her rightful place as ruler of Equestria!”

“That’s insane. You’re insane,” Starlight flatly stared at her.

“Eh,” Lightning Dust just shrugged.

Starlight shook her head. “Spike will never let me hear the end of this…”

Nightmare Moon laughed at the story. “Ah, that truly was a miraculous day. And if you are to thank for it—well then it seems I’ve been far too unfair to you, Starlight. I suppose now instead of obliterating you I’ll merely throw you in my dungeon.”

“Uh, thanks,” Starlight frowned.

“Now, Lightning Dust, I still wish to examine her belongings. We have to make sure she isn’t lying or hiding anything,” Nightmare Moon commanded.

“On it,” Lightning Dust saluted and smirked as she stalked towards Starlight.

“Fine—take my bag, there’s nothing important in it anyways,” Starlight said and lit up her horn, removing her bag and levitating it over to Lightning Dust.

“We’ll be the judge of that,” Lightning Dust said as she took it and flew over to Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon smiled. “Thank you, Lightning Dust. Now let’s see if we can find anything you didn’t want me to see.” She said as she used her magic to open up the bag, one by one removing its contents. “A small blank journal… a half-eaten sandwich… an empty beer bottle-“

Starlight coughed

“-a broken pencil… a cough drop with lint on it… and—what’s this?” Nightmare Moon’s eyebrow raised as she pulled out a smaller bag and opened it up, looking inside. “A bag of green crystals?”

“They’re just for decorating,” Starlight shrugged.

“Well I suppose you weren’t lying then. But everything else you know I’ll get from you later. Whether it was your power or Discord’s that’s allowed you to travel between worlds, you must have quite the exquisite library of knowledge inside you,” Nightmare Moon began to darkly chuckle. “After a few months in my dungeon I’ll have you telling me everything. If there is any greater power for me to discover then I must have it!”

“Yeah… you can try but that’s not gonna work out for you,” Starlight defiantly stared up at Nightmare Moon. “Time to repeat myself but villains like you never get what they want. I’m here to fix the mistakes in this world and bring back friendship and harmony and there’s no way you’re stopping that.” A sly smirk pulled up her mouth. “And by the way that bag of crystals you’re holding is about to explode.”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened as she looked at the crystals—right in time for them to shine brightly with intense magical power. A second later a powerful “KABOOM” exploded in the throne room that shook the entire castle.

How About A Real Fix?

Glimmer and Moonlight had entered the Everfree Forest some time ago, with only the moon for their guide. Glimmer was barely familiar with the forest, and Moonlight completely unfamiliar, so they had to keep a look out for anything dangerous. Not like they had Starlight with them to use her magic for protection.

“How far is this Tree of Harmony thing?” Moonlight asked as she pushed through some overgrown vines and bushes.

“Umm...” Glimmer hummed.

“You don’t know?” Moonlight glared at her.

“Not… entirely. I know the general location and how to get there,” Glimmer said.

“Great. Let’s just hope we find it before we get eaten by any horrible monsters,” Moonlight rolled her eyes.

“I’m sure we don’t have to worry about that. The Everfree has a reputation but I never thought it could be as bad as ponies said,” Glimmer said.

Moonlight raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you trying to jinx us?”

“Are you always such a pessimist?” Glimmer said right back.

“You-” Moonlight’s eyes bulged out as she glared at Glimmer. “You’re calling me a pessimist when you-” She stopped as she saw the playful smirk on Glimmer’s face.

“Heh,” Glimmer giggled.

Moonlight’s eye twitched but then an amused smile eventually came to her face as well. “Huh, I’ll be, so you can smile and joke around instead of just moping? That’s good to know.”

“I figured I might as well try to work a little bit on my attitude as well after what you said,” Glimmer said. “There’s um… no reason we can’t become friends at least.”

“That’s true. And I’ll work hard to not be such a pessimist too,” Moonlight winked.

They smiled at each other in the dark forest—right as an explosion went off somewhere in the distance. The two mares looked over in the direction the sound came from, startled, and began to see a column of smoke drift up from beyond the trees. Glimmer and Moonlight quickly calmed back down and flatly glanced at each other with annoyed expressions on their faces.

“Starlight.”

---

The dungeon hallway shook from the blast that had occurred above it and the three in front of the door looked around in surprise as dust fell from the ceiling and the torches flickered.

“W-What was that?” Flash Sentry asked.

Sunset and Spike merely glanced at each other. “Starlight.”

“Huh?” Flash tilted his head.

Sunset coughed. “Nevermind. Anyways, Flash, you said Twilight Sparkle and her friends were behind this door?”

“That’s right,” he nodded.

Sunset looked down at Spike. “Are they probably really important here?”

Spike nodded. “Definitely.”

“Okay,” Sunset smiled and looked at Flash. “Flash? Can you do something for us?”

“Um, wha-”

Sunset punched him in the face with enough force to spin him around and bounce him off the wall. Flash groaned and collapsed unconscious in a heap. He’d definitely have a black eye when he woke up. Spike just dragged a claw down his face in annoyance.

“You definitely didn’t need to do that, I think he would probably have helped us,” Spike said.

“This way is faster than talking,” Sunset shrugged.

“Okay—you’re definitely not fully reformed yet,” Spike rolled his eyes. “We always try for the peaceful solution first. It’s the right thing to do.”

“Look, I’m still working on the being good thing okay? Cut me a little slack,” Sunset said as she rooted through Flash’s armor before finding a key. The main door didn’t have a lock on it but the cells inside probably did. Now she and Spike opened up the big door to the true dungeon.

The two of them walked inside, making sure to not let the door close back behind them, and took a look around. The dungeon looked like it probably had about one thousand years ago, since it’s not like Princess Celestia and Luna back then would’ve had much use for it, just a simple large room with a low ceiling that housed several cells along the walls. Each cell was actually quite large too, big enough that they could’ve been a luxurious bedroom if furnished properly. Sunset and Spike walked past the first few cells, they were all empty, until they heard a voice from one down a few rows:

“HEY! What was that big explosion? We could feel it down here! What’s going on, Flash?!”

Spike and Sunset’s eyes widened as they recognized the voice. “Rainbow Dash!”

“Yeah—what in the hay is happening? Y’all keeping us down here in the dark is bad enough already.”

“I knooowww, it’s so hard to throw parties without any party supplies!”

“Pinkie Pie, darling, though your optimism has been a joy in these times I don’t exactly think now is the moment to talk about parties.”

“I’m hiding under my bed until I’m sure there won’t be anymore shaking...”

“Everyone—please! Something big has obviously happened. Flash? Could you please come down here and talk to me?”

Spike got especially excited at that last voice. “Twilight! Twilight, is that you?” He began running towards the cell her voice had come from while Sunset followed him.

There was a gasp of shock. “S-Spike?!”

It was the final six cells in the dungeon, the last three rows. These six were all actually quite nice looking, with large four-poster beds, desks, tables, bookcases, and other amenities in each one of them. And of course—each one was occupied by a very familiar pony. Well, not so much for Sunset who had only seen a pony Twilight before, but Spike was more than happy to see all of them.

Twilight was pressing herself up against the bars of the cell—an inhibitor ring on her horn, her eyes wide in disbelief and nearly beginning to water. “S-Spike, it’s really you! It’s been over a year, I can’t believe it!”

“What happened up above? Is someone finally taking it to Nightmare Moon?” Rainbow Dash asked from her cell, her wings bound in chains.

“You could kind of say that...” Sunset said.

“Who are you?” Rainbow Dash frowned and looked to the cell across from her. “And Fluttershy, come out from under your bed already!”

“No thank you...”

Spike ignored the other chatter and ran up to Twilight Sparkle’s cell. “Has Nightmare Moon actually kept you all down here ever since the Summer Sun Celebration?”

“Yes… ever since that Wonderbolt Lightning Dust attacked me while we were just about to use the Elements, Nightmare Moon trapped us down here so we couldn’t threaten her again,” Twilight sighed but smiled after. “But I’m so happy to finally see you again, what’s happened since we’ve been down here? Was that explosion earlier caused by you?”

“No, that was almost definitely done by a friend of mine called Starlight,” Spike scratched the back of his head. “And, uh, sorry to really rain on your parade right now but… I’m not the Spike you know.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight tiled her head.

“He’s a spy!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

Applejack glared at her from her cell. “Dash, shut up for a second and let them talk. Something big is happening.”

“I’m from an entirely different world and timeline—look,” Spike said and showed off his wings to her.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Y-You have wings? Spike, you’re all grown up!”

Spike’s eyes nearly watered as she said that as well. “Yeah, yeah I am. I’m sorry that I’m still not your Spike though. Me and my friends-”

“My friends and I,” Twilight corrected.

Spike rolled his eyes. “We’re here to fix this world and bring back friendship and harmony. We’ve been doing that in a lot of different worlds. In my world Nightmare Moon was stopped by you the same night she came back.”

Twilight frowned and despondently looked down. “It didn’t go that way here.”

“But you can still stop her now, I’m sure of it! You’re all still together and friends, right?” Spike asked her.

“We’ve had pretty much nothing to do over the past year except get to know each other after all,” Rarity snarked.

“Yeah, at least we haven’t been alone! That would’ve been super-duper sad. But since that meanypants Nightmare Moon put us down here together it’s been okay,” Pinkie Pie said.

“I wouldn’t say okay...” Fluttershy whispered from under her bed.

“I learned the value—the magic—of friendship that day. That’s true,” Twilight nodded. “But I just don’t know what we can do now.”

Spike bit his lip. For obvious reasons this Twilight Sparkle didn’t exactly have the same indomitable attitude and will as his Twilight Sparkle.

“Well first I can get you out of these cells and take those rings off you,” Sunset said and took out Flash’s key, bringing it to the lock on Twilight’s cell. “Name is Sunset Shimmer by the way, nice to meet you. Again.”

“Could you also get these chains off my wings? I’d kind of like to be able to fly again,” Rainbow asked.

“I’ll get there too,” Sunset said to her.

She unlocked Twilight Sparkle’s cell and then went to the others as well. Both Twilight and Rarity were wearing the same kind of magic inhibiting ring, but they were easy for anyone to remove them who wasn’t the one they were being used on. Rainbow also had her wings freed and with some coaxing Fluttershy came out from under her bed and had her wings freed as well. It would’ve been a very nice moment to celebrate if they had the time and weren’t still in a dungeon. Only Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie really seemed to be enjoying themselves—Rainbow mainly because she could actually flap her wings again.

“So what should we do now? Join up with your friend Starlight? If you’re from another world and you’ve done lots of stuff like this before then you must have a better idea of what to do than me, Spike.” Twilight said.

“No,” Spike shook his head. “There’s only one thing that can stop Nightmare Moon—the Elements of Harmony.”

“The Elements were destroyed, Spike!” Twilight shouted. “There’s nothing we can do!”

“They weren’t destroyed! That can’t be destroyed!” Spike shook his head. “The Elements of Harmony are a part of you—they’re inside each and every one of you! And as long as you’re friends and believe in the magic of friendship you can use them. It doesn’t matter if you have your tiara or not, or if those rocks were pulverized, or if they’re in the Tree of Harmony. You are the Element of Magic, Twilight. And with your friends you can stop Nightmare Moon.”

“I hope you’re talking from actual experience and knowledge and not just being unscientific right now,” Twilight said.

Spike groaned. “Yes, Twilight, I’m speaking from experience. Everything I just said is true.” He looked around at the others. “Don’t you all want to give it a shot too? Don’t you need to if you want to save Equestria, see your families again, and get out of here?”

“Well—can’t disagree with that,” Applejack said.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Yeah, he’s definitely right about that. Why not just try it out, Twilight?”

“We’ve gotta bring those smiles back to Equestria!” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down.

“Yes, can’t exactly let it stay night forever, now can we?” Rarity smirked.

“A-And we have to help those in need...” Fluttershy added.

Twilight looked around at the faces of her friends. Finally she smiled. “You girls are right. We may have only briefly known each other before getting locked in here… but I couldn’t imagine ever meeting any better friends in my entire life.”

Spike grinned up at her. “You’ll try it? You really believe in it?”

“Yes, Spike. I just needed my number one assistant to help me out a little,” Twilight giggled.

“Let’s hope this works then,” Sunset said.

“So… what? Do we all gotta get in a circle and hold hooves or something?” Applejack asked.

“Um...” Twilight thought for a second and looked down at Spike, curiously.

He shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe.”

Sunset sighed and shook her head. “This could take a little while. I hope the triplets are okay.”

---

Glimmer and Moonlight ran through the forest towards the source of the explosion.

“That came from the direction of the Castle of the Two Sisters!” Glimmer shouted.

“The what?” Moonlight shouted back.

Glimmer rolled her eyes. “Never mind, let’s just find Starlight.”

They didn’t have to go very far to find her. In fact, it was kind of like she found them. On an overgrown pathway through the forest, while the two of them were pushing their way past roots and vines and big leafy branches, they heard the sound of something running towards them. Glimmer and Moonlight stopped, soon seeing a figure running through the darkness.

“Starlight!” Glimmer yelled.

“RUN!” Starlight yelled and grabbed them with her magic, pulling the two of them right after her as she ran by them.

“W-What’s going on?” Glimmer asked as Starlight carried them along with her.

“Seriously, put me down!” Moonlight yelled.

“No—you do not want that to happen!” Starlight said and started running off the path, trying to hide and get lost in the brush with the two of them levitating beside her.

Glimmer was about to ask why when-

“INSOLENT MARE!”

The shout tore through the entire Everfree Forest and probably woke up all of Ponyville as well. Glimmer and Moonlight’s eyes widened and they looked up into the barely visible sky between the trees. For just a moment they caught the sight of a large figure silhouetted by the moon, her features darker than the night sky.

“HOW DARE YOU DO SUCH A THING TO MY CASTLE! UPON MY RETURN I REBUILT IT AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS OF DECAY AND NOW YOU HAVE GONE AND BLOWN UP PART OF IT! I WILL DESTROY YOU, STARLIGHT!”

“Oh, Nightmare Moon. That makes sense,” Glimmer said.

“Who?” Moonlight asked.

“Shhh!” Starlight shushed them.

A powerful beam of magic blasted part of the Everfree Forest not far from where they were, vaporizing the trees and leaving nothing more than a hole in the ground.

The three gulped.

“WHERE ARE YOU?! COME OUT SO YOU CAN FACE YOUR DOOM!”

“Okay… we probably should try and be quiet right now,” Glimmer whispered.

“You weren’t afraid of fighting Queen Sunset, what’s different this time?” Moonlight asked Starlight.

“There’s a big difference between upjumped unicorn and Nightmare Moon,” Starlight said.

Another blast of magic hit the Everfree Forest and blew more of it to pieces.

“Yeah… does kind of seem like it,” Moonlight admitted.

“So what’s the actual plan then?” Glimmer asked. “And turn off your magic and put us down—she’ll see the light, we can run with you now that we know what’s going on.”

Another beam of dark magic carved a scar into the Everfree Forest not far from where they were.

“Right...” Starlight acquiesced and put the two other mares down, turning off her horn so the two of them could hide in the darkness. They didn’t stand still—they couldn’t—so together they kept making it through the brush as Starlight explained things: “I don’t know what we’re doing.”

“What?” Both Glimmer and Moonlight flatly said.

“Uh, well, I have an idea or two… but I don’t really know how we’re supposed to stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony,” Starlight awkwardly smiled and began to sweat. “There’s also the fact that Spike and Sunset are still missing, and that means Discord too. I thought they were with you but I guess not.”

“We thought they were with you,” Moonlight groaned.

“So we’re just running around randomly until she blows us up?” Glimmer asked.

“No, I was thinking we can maybe lead her to the Tree of Harmony and it would do something,” Starlight said.

“Something?” Glimmer raised an eyebrow.

“The Tree of Harmony is alive… I was thinking maybe it would stop her, or purify her with a rainbow laser… or something,” Starlight shrugged.

“Oh wow, we really are doomed aren’t we?” Moonlight said.

“I think it’s a decent shot!” Starlight glared at her.

The forest in front of them exploded from another blast of magic and they found their way suddenly blocked off by a smoking hole.

“I’ve found you,” Nightmare Moon said as she descended from the sky in front of them, hovering over the hole. She smirked viciously down at Starlight… and then her face morphed into confusion. “Why are there three of you?”

“It’s a long story… but if you promise not to blow us up I’ll tell you?” Starlight bargained.

“No,” Nightmare Moon’s horn lit up.

Starlight lit hers up in turn, preparing to at least fight and defend the others-

Suddenly a bright rainbow of light and magic erupted from further away in the forest. Starlight, Glimmer, Moonlight, and Nightmare Moon looked over in shock as the rainbow shot high into the dark sky. It was gigantic, and just seeing it seemed to usher forth warm feelings into the unicorns but fear into Nightmare Moon. They could all tell it was coming right from the castle. It hit an apex high into the sky and instead of arcing down it almost looked to “erupt” into bright light before another beam of rainbow magic shot down from it directly towards Nightmare Moon.

The dark Alicorn reared up and her eyes widened in fear. “N-NO! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!”

The rainbow washed over her and Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight watched as the darkness was washed away and destroyed—the brightness becoming so powerful they had to squeeze their eyes shut and look away at the end.

When they finally opened their eyes again, Glimmer and Moonlight gasped in surprise—seeing a much different Alicorn lying on the ground in front of the smoking hole.

“Who’s that?” Moonlight asked.

“It’s Princess Luna,” Glimmer said. “Princess Celestia’s sister.”

Luna opened her eyes, tears already gathered at them, and brought her hooves to her face. “What have I done? Oh dear sister… all my little ponies… what have I done?”

Starlight walked forward and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder as Princess Luna cried.

---

“Oh, so that’s what you two were doing,” Starlight said after Spike and Sunset had met back up with them and explained things.

“Yeah… it took a couple tries but they figured it out in the end,” Spike rubbed the back of his head and looked over at the other thing that was going on right now.

Princess Luna was standing before this world’s Elements of Harmony as she explained everything that had happened to her and the ponies discussed what would happen to their world now. It was a lot to go over but at least they had one Alicorn princess back to normal. She was the linchpin of this entire world, and now that Princess Luna was okay there shouldn’t be any other major problems facing them. It just might take a little time for things to be put in order.

And a certain guard or two might have needed to be imprisoned for a while.

“So we can leave now then? This world shouldn’t need our help anymore,” Sunset said.

“I think so. Princess Luna will probably bring back Princess Celestia and lower the moon once she’s… calmed down a little. Yeah, honestly I think we’ve left this world in a better place than most we’ve visited,” Starlight said.

“Kind of feels nice,” Glimmer said, smiling at the locals.

“It’s definitely better than the last world,” Sunset rolled her eyes.

“Now maybe next world I’ll get to do something...” Moonlight grumbled.

Starlight smirked and looked over at Spike. “Spike? You wanna wake up Discord?”

“Yeah just a-” Spike paused.

“Spike?” Starlight raised an eyebrow at him.

“Give me a second,” the dragon said as he looked over at the others. His eyes settling on Twilight Sparkle. Spike ran over to her to get her attention as she was talking with her friends. “Twilight! Hey, Twilight!”

Her eyebrows shot up and she looked over at him. “Spike! What is it? What were you and your friends talking about?”

“Well… we’re about to leave actually,” Spike said.

“Wait—already?! But I just got to see you again! I want to meet your other friends, and, and-” Twilight sputtered.

“Twilight, I’m not your Spike, remember? You’ll be able to see the real me again soon. And I’m sorry but we’ve still got important work to do,” he glanced at Princess Luna briefly and then back to Twilight. “It was you who really fixed things here—you and your friends—and you don’t need us around anymore. I just wanted to say goodbye to you and let you know what was happening. You deserved that much.”

“I-” tears were starting to gather at her eyes. “I understand. Thank you, Spike. Tell your friends thank you too. And let them know that we’ll be sure to fix things here.”

“I will, Twilight,” Spike hugged her and she hugged him back for just a moment. Then they let each other go and Spike ran back to Starlight and the others.

Let's Take the Day Off

The mood as the four ponies and one dragon traveled through the space between worlds was much improved from last time. Everyone just felt good. It helped that everyone had actually gotten to know one another. Sunset and Spike got along better and she was no longer being nasty to him, Glimmer and Moonlight could converse like normal now and Moonlight didn’t seem quite so annoyed with everything. Starlight really thought things were going pretty well now. Their mission had been continuously successful and now their little party actually felt like friends. It was a pretty darn good feeling. The kaleidoscope of colors around them as they barreled to their next destination even felt a little softer too.

“Wonder where we’ll end up this time,” Spike said as the light ahead of them brightened up, signifying their approaching destination.

“Hopefully wherever it is we don’t get separated again,” Sunset said.

“Seriously, what was up with that anyways?” Moonlight asked.

“I don’t know, it wasn’t like that the other times I’ve traveled through here either,” Glimmer said.

“Discord said he didn’t know either,” Starlight shrugged. “But I’m not surprised weird things would happen considering what we’re doing. I’m not sure what the next world or timeline might be… I can’t think of any major changes that I made before meeting Lightning Dust in Canterlot that we haven’t already resolved.”

“It could be something small or totally unexpected that snowballed into something bigger. I mean, that’s kind of like what happened with Lightning Dust,” Spike said.

Starlight nodded. “That’s true—but there’s nothing we can do now except see what’s coming next.”

Discord stuck his head out of Spike’s bag. “And I’m getting tired of all this ferrying you around and being stuck in here—so hopefully we’re almost done.”

Starlight and the others ignored him as they reached the light and it completely overtook their vision…

---

Starlight dropped out onto the grassy ground.

Spike dropped out onto the grassy ground.

Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset fell on top of them.

“Agh!” Starlight groaned as she was buried under the other ponies. The five bodies now creating a tangled heap of limbs.

“Ughh… I think Discord made us come out like this on purpose…” Spike said, also squished.

“N-Next time, next time we’ll come out better…” Glimmer said.

“Um… howdy. Do y’all need a little help?” An unfamiliar country voice asked them.

The five of them turned to see a burly stallion of a light yellow complexion with a light red mane and tail curiously looking at them with green eyes. He wore a Stetson hat and had a split open apple Cutie Mark on his flank. Apparently they had fallen out from their portal pretty much right in front of him. Lucky that the pony they dropped in front of didn’t run off screaming…

“N-No need,” Starlight said as she extricated herself from the pile and stood up. “Sorry to surprise you like this, we um… we’re just traveling through.”

Spike meanwhile looked around as the others also finally stood up. “Wait a minute…”

“What brought you out to a place like Ponyville then?” The stallion asked. “Here to see the Summer Sun Celebration?”

Starlight blinked and also now realized where she was. “Wait.”

The five of them hadn’t landed just anywhere. They were in the middle of an apple orchard that spread all around them, covered in hundreds, maybe thousands, of the best and healthiest looking apple trees any of them had ever seen. Right now seemed to be the middle of harvest as the trees were bursting with plenty of apples. This was a farm and orchard that Starlight and Spike recognized very well, that even Glimmer recognized quite well too.

“This is Sweet Apple Acres,” Starlight said as she looked around.

The stallion’s face lit up with a bright smile. “You’ve heard of us? Well it’s really nice to meet you then!”

Spike gasped in shock as another realization hit him—he and Starlight had met this stallion before. Briefly. But they had met him.

“Bright Mac?” Spike tilted his head.

Bright Mac’s eyebrows shot up as he looked down at Spike. “You know my name too? But we’ve…” The wheels started to turn in his head as some vague memories resurfaced. “Wait a second… have we met before? I remember years back… a dragon and a lilac unicorn mare came by and helped out at our farm…” He gawked at Spike and Starlight. “Was that the two of you?”

“Applejack’s father…” Starlight mumbled.

“Um, yes, that’s right too,” Bright Mac nodded and looked behind the two of them at the three other ponies. “I… I get the feeling that something strange just fell into my farm.”

“C-Can we talk privately for a moment?” Starlight smiled awkwardly before grabbing Spike and the others with her magic and pulling them behind the nearest tree.

“Go right ahead…” Bright Mac muttered and stood there, a bit flummoxed.

“What’s going on here?” Sunset asked as soon as they got out of earshot.

“Yeah, seriously, what’s the big deal with being here and meeting that stallion?” Moonlight asked.

“It’s because that stallion should be dead,” Glimmer helpfully filled them in. “You don’t know her well enough, but Applejack, the Element of Honesty, her parents died years ago. Bright Mac being alive… the way he spoke and what he said about the Summer Sun Celebration being in Ponyville… he’s lived far longer in this world than mine.” She raised an eyebrow at Starlight and Spike. “And I’m assuming yours?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah. Bright Mac and his wife, uh, Pear Butter? Applejack told Twilight and I the story about them…”

“So we already know one big difference here then,” Moonlight said.

“That’s not a problem to fix though. What does the space-time continuum expect me to do in this situation? Kill them?” Starlight snorted.

“Yeah. No,” Spike frowned. “That’s definitely not going to happen.”

“Even I have to say I’m pretty against that idea,” Sunset said.

“So what actually needs to be done here though? You told us Discord always drops us off nearby the issue we need to fix,” Moonlight said.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to figure things out ourselves,” Starlight shrugged. “I’m not letting a horrible tragedy take place here though. There’s nothing harmonic about that.”

“Can we maybe stop talking like this then and making him suspicious of us? Because if I was him right now I’d be getting ready to alert the authorities,” Glimmer said.

“Good point,” Starlight said and nodded. “Well, I’m going to go back and tell him what we’re doing here.”

“Wait—you’re going to tell him we’re from another dimension?” Spike asked.

“Yep. I know you think it might seem stupid but I honestly don’t think there’s anything to lose by telling the truth. We might as well be honest, make friends, and figure this out. At the very least we clearly aren’t in an Equestria that’s facing an immediate crisis. Let’s just… make some friends for now,” Starlight said.

Spike scratched his head. “I mean… that’s not as dumb as your usual suggestions I guess?”

Sunset grinned and gave him a high-five.

“Thanks,” Starlight rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure he’d notice that Glimmer, Moonlight and I aren’t just triplets quickly enough too.”

---

“Um, Bright Mac? Not that I’m disagreeing with your Apple family hospitality, but do you really think they’re telling the truth about everything?” Pear Butter asked her husband as their living room was taken up by several unexpected guests. “This whole situation is a little bit strange.”

“I know it seems weird and impossible but… have you ever seen two identical mares with identical Cutie Marks? And a third one with that same Cutie Mark hanging around her neck? There’s definitely something special about them. Not to mention dragons are rare enough around here and-” he looked at Sunset. “Well uh, she’s normal I guess. Anyways—that Starlight and Spike, they’re definitely the two who came here those years back. I’m sure of it. And they haven’t aged one bit. They gotta be telling the truth.”

“I suppose there are plenty of other strange things we’ve seen while living in Ponyville...” Pear Butter sighed. It’s not like she was against them being here, she was just understandably confused.

“At least they didn’t end up here the day of the Summer Sun Celebration. That would’ve been a real mess,” Bright Mac chuckled. “Let’s just treat them like we would any guests for the time being.”

“I just wonder what sort of “harmony problem” needs fixing around here...” Pear Butter wondered.

Meanwhile, the living room table in the house of the Apple family was indeed quite busier than normal. After all it had practically double as many ponies as it was used to sitting at it.

“So you’re really triplets and you all three got the same Cutie Mark? Wow! That’s amazing! I aint ever heard of nothing like that,” Apple Bloom said as she talked to Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight.

“Y-Yeah, it was very special…” Starlight said, grinning at the filly.

Bright Mac had elected to not tell Apple Bloom the truth of the matter after going over things with Starlight—due to being pretty sure she’d almost immediately try and tell every other pony she knew.

Glimmer and Big Mac were sitting next to each other, the two most taciturn of the groups having a perfectly nice time just not talking. Sunset had offered to help Granny Smith out with getting the food and table ready after recognizing her as the helpful cafeteria lady back from her home. Applejack and Moonlight were actually talking a little bit about how neither one of them liked Canterlot ponies. Things were actually pretty dang decent here at Sweet Apple Acres. And of course because everyone else was busy, curious Apple Bloom had been bombarding Starlight and Spike with questions.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dragon before either, where’d y’all come from?” Apple Bloom asked the both of them.

“Umm… we’re all from out of town… kind of from all over...” Starlight awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

“I thought dragons were supposed to be bigger too though,” Apple Bloom tilted her head at Spike.

“Maybe one of these days...” Spike sighed.

“Apple Bloom, be a little more courteous to our guests,” Pear Butter said as she came up to the table.

“I’m just curious...” the filly pouted.

“It’s really not a bother either. It’s kind of nice just having a normal conversation,” Starlight smiled.

“Heh, thanks for being so kind to our little one,” Bright Mac said, walking up and ruffling Apple Bloom’s mane.

Granny Smith suddenly whistled and banged a wooden spoon on an empty pan to get the attention of everyone else. “Alright, alright, enough chitter chatter! It’s time to eat!”

With the help of Sunset’s newly practiced magic, several plates and bowls of food were brought over to the crowded table. Apple pies, apple fritters, apple muffins, apple brown betties, and just plain apples covered near every inch of the tablecloth. There were a couple of non-apple related dishes but they were easily outnumbered by the fruits of the farm. Starlight and Spike sat side by side at one end of the table—directly opposite from Granny Smith, while the rest of the Apples scrunched up closer to that end and their group squeezed onto the other.

“I’m glad we could share this meal with a couple of old friends and a few new ones as well,” Bright Mac said before the actual eating began. “Cause that’s the Apple family way.”

“Sure is, Pa, now let’s dig in!” Applejack cheered with gusto.

“Applejack, show a little more manners,” Pear Butter sighed but smiled right after.

“Aint nothing wrong with showing some new mares—and uh, a new dragon—how the Apple family likes to chow down at the kitchen table. Hay, if we held back it’d just be plum dishonest!” Applejack said. “Sides, there’s more than enough food for everyone.” She finished and took a big bite of apple pie.

The rest of the ponies at the table more or less agreed with that sentiment and started to eat as well. A few small conversations went on, some curious questions were asked, but for the most part the two groups merely enjoyed each other’s presence and the food.

A happy realization struck Starlight and she smiled as she watched it all.

“I understand it now,” she quietly said.

Spike heard her and glanced up with a raised eyebrow. “Huh?”

“I know what needs to be done here, Spike,” Starlight said.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Uh… what?” Spike asked again, still confused.

“Nothing. We’ve already changed what needed to be changed here. We’ve already made things more harmonic… better,” Starlight said to Spike as she looked at Bright Mac and Pear Butter, then at the faces of Granny Smith, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Applejack. “Of all the changes I made, whether my intentions were totally noble or not, whether I meant to make any changes or not, this is the one wholly good one. The one truly better world we’ve stumbled into. I don’t think Discord even brought us here on purpose… I think it was just fate. I think it was just something we needed to see.”

She sighed in contentment as she watched her friends and the Apple family. “I’m not going to let this enable any of my bad behavior… but this sure does make me happy.”

Spike watched them too and a smile crawled up his face as well. He nodded. “I think you can at least give yourself a small pat on the back for this one. It makes me pretty happy too.”

---

“Are you sure about this?” Glimmer asked.

“About fifty/fifty,” Starlight replied.

“But even if we don’t have anything to do here shouldn’t we just go as soon as possible?” Sunset asked.

“Normally I’d agree with you but after the last two worlds we visited? How rushed we were and everything we went through? I think you girls deserve a little rest,” Starlight said.

“You girls?” Moonlight raised an eyebrow.

“Yes—give me the benefit of the doubt, I’m not being selfish here. I want you to just have a nice day where we aren’t facing the fate of all reality,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

“I’ll put in a good word for Starlight too,” Spike interjected. “Discord said that the more we fix the more stable things will have become everywhere. With all the worlds we’ve helped, the space-time continuum should be doing much better. I think just taking one day to relax is alright. And I’ve usually been the one trying to keep her focused.”

“That is true...” Sunset considered.

Starlight smirked. “So come on, let’s take the day off here and have some fun with our new friends.”

“Just relax? Help around the farm a little?” Moonlight asked.

“We should help around a bit, I don’t want to impose on them anymore than we already have,” Glimmer said.

“I can guarantee the Apples will be kind enough to show us a good time whatever any of us to decide to do,” Starlight said.

“I’ll make sure Apple Bloom doesn’t feel left out of anything either. After all, I’ve got enough experience with knowing what that feels like,” Spike said.

“Okay, I’m sold,” Sunset shrugged. “Let’s have ourselves a little vacation.”

“Wait, let’s still not use that word,” Spike said, grimacing.

“I’m going to go find Applejack then and talk to her about how much Canterlot sucks. She seemed to be getting a kick out of that earlier,” Moonlight shrugged and wandered off.

“She’s probably somewhere in the orchard bucking trees!” Starlight called after her.

“I’m just… I think I’m just gonna go for a rest outside. I just want to sit down somewhere bright and warm and relax,” Glimmer smiled. She waved to the others and started walking towards the front door of the house, likely going to spend her afternoon on the porch or out by the trees somewhere.

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck as she looked at Starlight nervously. “Do you mind if I… do you mind if I go into town and look around? I promise I wont do anything I just want to sight-see. From what I’ve heard, most of the people I know back at school are ponies from Ponyville. I just… I think it would be cool to see them.”

“You know a couple of worlds ago I would’ve said no. But I trust you, Sunset,” Starlight smiled. “Just don’t get into any big conversations or anything. We need to not really make any changes or do anything here this time around.”

“Thanks,” Sunset smirked and saluted. “I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“I really do think this is going to be a good day, Spike,” Starlight said as Sunset left.

“Me too,” Spike said and looked up at her. “So what are you going to do then? Me and everyone else already got ideas, what about you?”

Starlight’s eyes glanced over at a picture on the wall. It was a family photo from a few years back when Apple Bloom was still a baby, being carried by her mother. But all of the Apple family was still smiling happily at the camera. “I think I just want to talk to Bright Mac and Pear Butter until we go.”

“Heh, I bet they have a lot of stories to tell. Plenty of time to fill you in on,” Spike said.

Starlight nodded. “Oh yeah. Have fun with Apple Bloom, I think… I think it’s best if we spend the night here and get some actual good rest. Then we can leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

“For as much as time and tomorrow means anything when we’re doing what we’re doing,” Spike smirked.

“Make as many clever comments as you want before we’re done,” Starlight giggled.

And soon each member of the group was having their perfect relaxed day here in the one good timeline. It was something they all deserved too—Starlight was an adamant believer in that. While her own day was progressing, and she was enjoying the friendly conversation she was making with Bright Mac and Pear Butter, she wondered if she should probably not tell anyone back home about this world. Applejack might… not have the best reaction. But it was probably giving her a more profound view and knowledge of one of her close friends, a different sort of appreciation. Either way besides what she was doing—she also saw the others throughout the rest of the day. Spike and Apple Bloom were having a ton of fun just messing around, Glimmer was for one of the first times since she stopped being an Empress just lying down and relaxing without a care in the world, she saw Moonlight and Applejack wandering through the trees together, chatting about who knows what, and it was getting late when Sunset finally arrived back after spending time in town, the other unicorn looking quite pleased and fulfilled.

Starlight wasn’t surprised at all that when she asked if they could spend the night here Bright Mac and Pear Butter immediately responded in the affirmative.

There was plenty of guest room even for the five of them as well, no surprise there with all the family reunions and parties commonly held at Sweet Apple Acres. If the Summer Sun Celebration was soon they were probably getting ready for a big party in the first place well before Starlight and the others dropped in. As Starlight slept she kept a smile on her face the entire time. There was nothing to worry about this time, nothing to be stressed out about, nothing looming over their heads. It was more than just something for her—despite Moonlight’s cynical response, Starlight really wanted to give this gift to the others. They, who didn’t have quite as nice lives to go back to as she did when this was all over, deserved a quiet day of fun.

When morning came around though it was of course time to leave, they still had to save the space-time continuum after all.

“You gotta go so soon?” Bright Mac asked Starlight as the Apple family and the group of friends stood outside the farmhouse.

“Sorry—but yeah,” Starlight smiled apologetically. “Duty calls and all.”

“Huh? I thought you were all just traveling through before the Summer Sun Celebration?” Apple Bloom asked.

Starlight coughed. “Yeah, right, exactly…”

As Apple Bloom looked back at her curiously, and Applejack smiled, Starlight realized something problematic.

“You’ve all… it was a nice day we spent together, wasn’t it?” Starlight asked them. Spike noticed a change in her tone and also raised an eyebrow at her, but Starlight ignored him for now.

“Sure was!” Bright Mac happily replied, looking to his wife. “Right?”

“That’s right, it was great to see you again,” Pear Butter said.

Starlight rubbed the back of her head. “Won’t be forgetting us anytime soon, will you?”

“No way!” Applejack proudly said, shaking her head.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought…” Starlight sighed, and even Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset now realized something was up. She looked down at Spike. “Spike? Don’t flip out immediately alright?”

“What are you-” Spike started to ask but before he could finish, Starlight lit her horn up and aimed it at the Apple family.

It wasn’t a beam of magic. It was just a flash. It sparkled right into the eyes of the Apples just like a camera. Their pupils dilated and they all stood up straight, eyes glazing over and going silent, vacantly staring ahead.

“Uhhh…” Sunset said.

“Starlight! What did you do?!” Spike yelled.

“I told you not to just flip out, Spike,” Starlight frowned. “And you can relax, they’re just stunned for a little bit. It’s a simple spell.”

“But may I ask why exactly you decided to stun our new friends?” Glimmer asked her, looking plenty annoyed herself.

“Because I need to remove us from their memories,” Starlight answered.

“What for?” Moonlight frowned.

“Yeah, seriously, what’s going on?” Sunset questioned.

“Think about it, you should understand this quickly too, Spike, what happens when Applejack here meets Twilight Sparkle in a few days?” Starlight said.

Spike’s eyes widened. “She would… she’d see this world’s me with her.”

“And she’d mention that. And Twilight would be surprised. And since we told Applejack and everyone but Apple Bloom about where we’re from, the incessantly curious Twilight Sparkle would never be able to just let that go. Not only that, but what if it changes Applejack’s relationship with Spike and Twilight? What if later on when she meets the me from this world something else unexpected happens too?” Starlight sighed. “We can’t let our presence here change things. So it has to be like we were never here to begin with.” She looked at Sunset. “Your trip into town is okay because no one there was ever going to meet you anyways.”

“Is it really necessary?” Glimmer asked.

“Absolutely,” Starlight nodded. “This timeline can’t be mucked up by our being here. It’s the exact opposite case of the other worlds we’ve visited—we can’t let anything change. I’ll remove us from their memories and they’ll wake up soon thinking yesterday was just like any other.”

Spike scratched his head in consternation. “To be fair, I’m pretty sure Apple Bloom would’ve immediately told the whole school about how she met a dragon today…”

“Oh yeah, you know those Crusaders,” Starlight nodded with a small smile. “Guess I should get started…”

“Darn, I told Applejack a bunch of secrets she could use against those jerks from Canterlot if she ever met them. Oh well,” Moonlight sighed.

“That’s probably good to remove anyways,” Starlight frowned.

“Well at least they’ll still be friends in our hearts…” Glimmer said.

Sunset smirked and put a hoof around Glimmer’s shoulders. “Yep. That’s not so bad.”

Starlight, being Starlight, was able to do her job simply enough and left each member of the Apple family standing in front of their home when she was done. They were still vacantly staring ahead but that portion of the spell would wear off in under an hour. Then it would be like their visit never happened and this world could go on just like it was. In the end, that was probably the best outcome. They didn’t need dimension hoppers here.

To get out of the open, the group traveled a bit into the trees and Spike woke up Discord.

The living flute yawned. “That took a bit longer than usual—what happened here?”

“Not as much as you’d think,” Starlight smirked. “Mind opening up that portal for us again?”

“Of course. Anything to get this over with quicker so I can go back to being my lovely self. I’m getting a little tired of being a wooden flute stuffed in a tiny dragon’s bag,” Discord snorted and snapped his fingers, blue portal opening up.

“Don’t blame me for any of this,” Spike grumbled. “Most of this was your own decision, you know?”

“Yes, yes, let’s just go,” Discord said.

Spike rolled his eyes and was the first to jump into the portal with Discord in hand. Sunset smiled and hopped in right after. Moonlight took one last look at the apple trees before sighing and jumping in as well. Glimmer turned her head to Starlight and smiled, giving her a small nod before daintily stepping into the portal. The unspoken words between the two of them carrying a lot of weight. And lastly, Starlight walked into the portal as well—leaving her one good change behind.

For a moment she thought she saw a tie-dye pony smiling at her as the portal closed up.

The Closest and the Furthest

“Well everyone, I’ve actually got some good news,” Discord said as they all flew through the colorful space.

“And what good news might that be?” Starlight asked him, the others actually now all floating calmly around her, having finally gotten used to traveling between worlds in this strange space.

“I can feel it now that we’re almost there… but this is the last one,” Discord grinned.

“The last one?” Spike raised an eyebrow.

“The last trace of chaos. The last world that you’ll need to fix up and bring harmony too. After that, the space-time continuum will have been healed enough and everyone can go back home,” Discord said.

“Oh thank Celestia...” Starlight groaned in relief, wiping sweat from her brow. “You said good news but honestly I thought you were going to deliver bad news. Just seemed like your kind of thing.”

“I would never!” Discord mockingly scoffed.

“That actually is really great though. We’ll finally be able to go home and relax,” Spike said.

“Maybe great for you guys, going back home for the three of us isn’t as fun,” Moonlight said.

“Yeah—school bites,” Sunset said.

Glimmer coughed. “I’m, um, not complaining. I knew this would happen eventually and I’d have to face going back home. I’m just happy we could help others.”

“Well I get to go back to being an inconsequential mare who doesn’t do anything and who no one looks up to,” Moonlight rolled her eyes.

“It’s not so bad… I think you’ll really have a new perspective on your life when you get back,” Glimmer said.

“Yeah even I...” Sunset nodded after a moment of consideration. “Even I’m just whining, I know things won’t be so bad just getting back to normal. Traveling more, seeing more amazing things, solving more problems in the world, that would’ve been pretty nice, but even with just this it’s already been a trip worth taking.”

“Well it doesn’t it doesn’t have to end immediately...” Starlight said.

Glimmer raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

“Actually I was kind of thinking about this yesterday but… when we’re done fixing what needs to be fixed, why don’t the three of you come back to my and Spike’s world for a little bit?” Starlight shrugged. “I mean—there’s no harm in that, right? You can just come by, we’ll have a big party, and then we can say goodbye and all go back on our ways. I think that’ll be a nicer way to send things off than just me dropping the three of you off back in your worlds.”

Spike opened his mouth but then closed it and thought for a second. “Huh, actually I don’t really see any problem with that either. Sounds fun.”

“Right?” Starlight smiled. “And you just know that Pinkie Pie is going to love having the opportunity to throw a party for ponies from different dimensions. Twilight will probably want to meet them too.”

“Yeah...” Spike grinned. “You know what, that’s awesome. Let’s do it.” He looked at Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset. “And the three of you have earned a nice sendoff anyways.”

“So let’s finish whatever we need to do here and then we can have some fun!” Starlight cheered.

“Actually that’s something I can look forward to too,” Discord smirked. “For now—good luck.”

He went back into his usual stasis mode and Spike put him away. The five left flying through the colorful and mesmerizing space between worlds now focusing ahead again as the tell-tale bright light of their exit appeared. The group was in an even better mood than before, the good experience with the Apple family and now with something truly fun to look forward to had really raised their spirits. Even the especially grumpy Moonlight. Knowing things weren’t just going to end immediately once they got rid of the chaos was nice.

The brightness ahead soon enveloped them all and they prepared for their exit…

---

Starlight landed softly on the ground.

Spike landed right next to her.

Glimmer came out with a comfortable huff as well.

Moonlight landed next to her and immediately pirouetted, posing.

Sunset came out last and did the same.

Starlight looked over and raised an eyebrow at all of them.

“Hah! Got it!” Sunset and Moonlight clapped their hooves together.

“No one fell this time,” Glimmer smiled.

“If that’s what you really needed to accomplish before we stopped this...” Starlight shrugged.

“Come on, we’ve got more important things to do right now. Like figure out where we are,” Spike said.

“That’s true but...” Starlight frowned as she looked around. “I’m pretty sure I know where we are.”

Spike took a look with her and realized how correct that statement was. “Oh. Yeah.”

They were in Ponyville. Right in the middle of Ponyville right during the middle of the day. It was familiar to all of them by now, even Moonlight and Sunset, and they probably could’ve figured out where they were with their eyes closed. It seemed to be a perfectly normal day too, with ponies out walking around, enjoying the day, doing business, there were plenty of happy ponies around talking and the pleasant atmosphere of the town was being carried on the wind all around them. A few ponies had probably noticed their sudden arrival but—this was Ponyville—that kind of weird stuff was normal. Starlight took a closer look to try and figure out what year they might’ve been in and saw quite a few ponies she recognized that looked no different than back in her and Spike’s world and time. Bon Bon, Lyra, Amethyst Star, Bulk Biceps, Cherry Berry, Filthy Rich, Cranky Doodle and Matilda, Berry Punch. This looked like a Ponyville that could pass for their own.

Technically a good sign, but it might make the problem they needed to fix harder to find. Most other worlds had something very obvious going on.

“Looks almost exactly like the town I visited yesterday,” Sunset added.

“Looks almost exactly like the town I live in,” Glimmer said.

“Looks almost exactly like what you guys have described Ponyville as being like,” Moonlight rolled her eyes.

“You’re all correct,” Starlight said. “But if we were dropped off here then there might be something different we’re not seeing. Look a little harder, is there any pony who’s out of place? Any building that should or shouldn’t be here?”

“There’s no castle or school but we could just be too early for that,” Spike shrugged.

“Can’t see the moon yet to check out if Princess Luna is still up there or not,” Glimmer said, looking up at the blue sky.

“I don’t think Sunset or I know quite enough about this place to really help out in this situation,” Moonlight said.

Starlight turned around to take a full look at the town of Ponyville around her group and came face to face with something she actually didn’t recognize from back home. There was a small tree growing up from the ground, a young oak, with a plaque in the ground in front of it. Starlight raised an eyebrow and walked towards it, the others noticing what caught her attention and following behind her.

She looked down at the plaque and read it for everyone: “In memory of our beloved Golden Oaks Library”.

“Golden Oaks Library? That was the name of Twilight’s old home. She told me about it,” Glimmer said. “She said that Tirek blew it up and then her castle grew later. But… I know there isn’t any sort of memorial for the library back in my world.”

“Oh,” Starlight gulped, remembering something.

“Oh what?” Sunset asked her.

“I remember,” Spike frowned and glared up at Starlight.

“Ehehe...” Starlight awkwardly grimaced and rubbed the back of her neck.

“What is it?” Moonlight asked, also frowning.

“Well uh… I just remembered that one of the first things that happened when Spike and I traveled through time originally was… was that I accidentally burned down Golden Oaks Library. Whoops,” Starlight shrugged.

“You burnt down her home in this timeline?” Glimmer gawked.

“It was years before she came to Ponyville! She doesn’t even know what she missed here!” Starlight defended herself.

“Well considering that we’ve been brought here I doubt that’s good enough,” Sunset snorted. “Obviously you burning down the library caused a big enough change to spread more chaos through the space-time continuum.”

Starlight pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, yeah, I get it. We’ve probably got to find where Twilight is living now and figure out what else might have happened here that’s different because of this...”

“Where do we begin?” Glimmer asked.

“I don’t know… maybe she had a new house built for her in Ponyville? Maybe she moved in at Sweet Apple Acres, or Sugarcube Corner, or even in with Fluttershy?” Starlight shrugged. “We’ll just have to ask around.”

“You know you’re so lucky I never told Twilight about this. If she learned you burned down the library in the past she would’ve been way angrier with you than she already was,” Spike said.

“Yeah you only partially sold me out,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

“Guys, focus,” Sunset said. “Let’s go look for Twilight.”

“Should we split up?” Moonlight asked.

“No,” Starlight shook her head. “I don’t really want us splitting up again in a world where there could actually be numerous problems. Let’s just… let’s try Sugarcube Corner first, it’s the closest. Even if Twilight isn’t there, Pinkie Pie or someone else will know where she is.”

The group didn’t really have any disagreements with that so they followed Starlight to the delightful bakery and sweets shop that was one of the pillars of Ponyville. Since it was still the middle of the day they weren’t surprised to find a few ponies already inside the store. What was a surprise was that Rarity happened to be among those ponies. It looked like she was getting a cake for herself from Mr. and Mrs. Cake—Pinkie Pie likely in the back cooking things up right now.

When their group of five entered the store, Rarity was in the middle of turning around and leaving. Her eyes quickly focused on Spike and a delighted smile lit up her features.

“Spikey!” Rarity said and walked over to him. “Darling, how are you doing? Is Twilight in town?”

“Uh, not exactly,” Spike said.

Rarity’s eyes then widened in surprise. “Spike! You have wings! When did you get those? My, my, you must be growing up.” She giggled and patted him on the head. “They make you quite dashing.”

“Eheh… thanks,” Spike blushed and puffed out his chest for her.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “That’s enough of that, dreamer.”

Rarity looked over and raised an eyebrow at her and the others. “Oh, hello there. Are you friends of Spike?”

“Yes. And friends of Twilight. Sort of,” Starlight said.

“I beg your pardon?” Rarity asked, her brow furrowed as she looked at Glimmer and Moonlight. “And are you… triplets?”

“Nope!” Pinkie Pie said, suddenly bouncing up between them. “They’re the same pony but from different worlds! And since we don’t usually get ponies like that here I think I should throw a party for them!”

“...what?” Rarity tilted her head.

Starlight sighed and dragged a hoof down her face. “Hello, Pinkie Pie. And how do you—actually I’m not going to even bother asking. But we don’t have the time for a party.”

“Awwww...” Pinkie Pie deflated.

Starlight cleared her throat and smiled at Rarity. “Um, sorry to not just tell you this immediately but we’re… not from around here, as Pinkie Pie said. This Spike isn’t the Spike you know either.” She frowned. “But something you said got my attention. Does Twilight Sparkle not live in Ponyville?”

Rarity blinked a few times, likely still rather confused before she shook her head and answered anyways. “Of course not, Twilight lives in Canterlot.”

“Yep! She comes out here every now and then and when important stuff comes up but she still lives in Canterlot with her family and near Princess Celestia,” Pinkie added.

“But… you’re still friends right. You’re still the Elements of Harmony aren’t you?” Starlight asked.

“Absolutely, we’d never stop being friends with Twilight just because she doesn’t live nearby. Rainbow Dash is usually around but she doesn’t exactly live in Ponyville either,” Rarity said.

Starlight glanced at Spike who shrugged back at her.

“Hm… this still has to be something that needs to be fixed,” Starlight mused.

“Fixed?” Rarity suspiciously looked at her and the others. “Pinkie Pie, are you sure these ponies are… alright?”

“They seem nice,” Pinkie Pie innocently shrugged.

“We really are here to help, even if you don’t know you need to be helped,” Starlight tried to explain. “Back in the world Spike and I come from, Twilight Sparkle lives here in Ponyville and you’re all practically inseparable. Are you that close of friends with Twilight here?”

“Well… Twilight is a dear of course and a great friend but...” Rarity frowned.

Pinkie Pie thought too, grinding her jaw back and forth. “Hmm… we haven’t really gotten to hang out enough… she’s totally definitely one of my best friends but… I don’t know if I’m as close to her as I am with everyone else.”

“And is she… an Alicorn here?” Starlight asked.

“An Alicorn? Of course not, whatever would give… you...” Rarity trailed off.

“Yeahhh… there’s definitely a lack of friendship and harmony here,” Starlight coughed. “Er, not that things seem bad, but I think the bonds of friendship between Twilight and you could probably see some improvement. Thanks for cluing us in on all of this. I don’t mean to upset you or anything but this is kind of an important matter.”

“Exactly how important? And what’s your name anyways? Why and how have you all come here? Surely it can’t be just for something so simple?” Rarity questioned, she wasn’t letting this go so easily.

“I’m Starlight,” Starlight said and pointed to the others. “And this is Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset Shimmer. Honestly I don’t know how much I should really tell you but… I know how well meaning you are, just don’t let it get out to the entire rest of Equestria please. Spike and I have been sent by our world’s Twilight Sparkle on a mission of harmony. I… did some stuff that caused a bunch of chaos to appear in reality and it’s kind of putting the world in danger. Along the way-” she looked at the others with her. “Things got a little complicated but it’s still turning out well. This world—your world—is the last place we need to visit and fix up before things are totally okay. I’m just… right now I’m just asking you to trust us. We’re going to go visit Twilight Sparkle and talk to her now. You don’t need to do anything or worry about us at all anymore.”

“I-” Rarity began.

“I trust you!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, I suppose if Pinkie is okay with you then I am as well.”

“Thank you,” Starlight smiled. “You’ve both been a big help but I think it’s time we get on our way now.”

“Very well… I suppose if anything happens you’re more than welcome here in Ponyville. Just ask if you need anything,” Rarity said.

“And if you have time then come back for that party!” Pinkie cheered.

“We’ll keep that in mind but it’s probably not going to happen,” Starlight said.

“Sorry, Pinkie,” Spike said.

“It’s fine, if things go well and maybe Twilight ends up moving here or something I’ll put on a party for that,” the party pony shrugged. She smiled at them. “It was still nice meeting you! Have fun wherever it is you’re going back to when you’re done!”

Starlight waved goodbye to her and they all stepped out of Sugarcube Corner while the very exuberant Pinkie Pie went back to work. Rarity wasn’t quite so ecstatic but she didn’t say anything else suspicious or negative to Starlight’s group, just a small smile and a pleasant nod as she went back to Carousel Boutique with her cake. Spike waved her goodbye extra long. Now the five world-travelers were standing outside Sugarcube Corner once more, preparing to leave.

“Well it’s pretty obvious what we need to do now, isn’t it?” Glimmer said. “Go and see Twilight Sparkle and convince her to move to Ponyville.”

“Not just move—we need to stress getting closer to her friends,” Sunset said.

“Yeah… I know Rarity and Pinkie Pie were positive enough about their relationship with Twilight, but how close can they really be? It’s not like they’ve been through as much together or spent nearly as much time with their Twilight. Pinkie Pie would say practically the same thing about any pony to begin with. But are the others really friends with Twilight or are they just acquaintances who work together sometimes when the Elements are needed?” Starlight frowned. “We have to find out.”

“I don’t think you can quantify a friendship by time spent together though,” Glimmer said.

“What she said,” Spike agreed. “Twilight was practically inseparable with all of them right after they defeated Nightmare Moon together.”

“I wonder if not having a house of her own to move into when she came here kind of sent her off course?” Sunset guessed. “Like, maybe she was super excited to make her new friends and everything, but she still needed to return to Canterlot for a while before she could move to Ponyville. And maybe she just… never did. Never got around to it, or something like that.”

“Or overthought things, or got nervous, or had a breakdown. I could picture any of those things happening to Twilight,” Glimmer said.

Starlight coughed. “Could be...”

Spike rolled his eyes. “We already know this is your fault, you don’t need to get embarrassed or try and sweep it under the rug.”

“So it’s straight to Canterlot now? Great, I love that city. Totally haven’t been there enough times,” Moonlight groaned.

“We have to talk to Twilight, figure out exactly what she thinks and why she isn’t living in Ponyville even after all this time, there’s no avoiding it,” Starlight said. “At least the thing we need to fix is obvious. I don’t think it will be too difficult either since she clearly has a positive relationship with her friends still.”

“Don’t jinx it. Please,” Spike said.

Take A Step Out Your Door

The train ride to Canterlot was a mostly quiet one. The girls, and Spike, finding that they didn’t have much to talk about right now.

“So-” Moonlight suddenly said. “Who wants to bet that things are going to get far more complicated than we expect?”

“No,” Starlight frowned.

“Nobody wants to do that,” Glimmer said.

“Uhh...” Sunset slowly raised a hoof. “I’ll bet on that, actually.”

Starlight rolled her eyes and looked out the window. “Can we maybe not?”

The lands between Ponyville and Canterlot rolled by peacefully, showing that at the very least they had come to another Equestria that was doing well. Spike joined her in looking out the window, waiting to see when the mountain would become visible. The fact that this was their last trip had them both relieved. Once they made it to Canterlot and stepped off the train things would pretty much be over. That’s what they hoped at least. Convincing Twilight Sparkle to move closer to her friends shouldn’t be difficult at all compared to deposing a few tyrants and fixing a mentally drained Celestia and solving the madness of that world where she’s an Alicorn Princess.

She probably shouldn’t put those thoughts into words and jinx it. Nobody would appreciate that.

“I think it’s kind of anti-climactic though if it ends like this. It feels like something more should be happening...” Moonlight sighed as she slumped in her seat.

Sunset smiled and put a comforting hoof around her shoulders. “I think someone’s just a little upset they didn’t get a big moment to shine. Am I right?”

Moonlight snorted. “A little. It’s not just a big moment—it’s not like you really had one either—but I haven’t gotten what I wanted out of this trip yet...”

“I know you were talking about that earlier, don’t worry about it too much. We’ll find something, you’ll find something, even if it has to be at the party at the end of all of this,” Glimmer said.

A small smile graced Moonlight’s features. “Thanks, I suppose.”

“We’re coming up on the mountain, should be at the station soon,” Spike said as he continued to look out the window.

“Good—I really want to finish this today if we can,” Starlight said.

“Where does Twilight Sparkle actually live here in this world?” Sunset asked. “The castle? With her parents?”

“Our world’s Twilight lived in the castle because Celestia didn’t like her to be out of her sight,” Moonlight rolled her eyes.

“This world should be closer to mine and Starlight’s world—and if that’s the case I know exactly where she’s living. I can take us all there once the train stops,” Spike said.

Starlight grinned. “Lead the way, Spike.”

The train chugged up the mountain to the busy Canterlot station right at the edge of Equestria’s capitol city, eventually coming to a stop at the end of the line. When the five of them stepped off they saw that Canterlot looked pretty much the same, just like Ponyville. A busy day like any other with a capitol full of ponies coming and going. Starlight and Spike saw a lot of ponies they recognized from the upper crust of Equestria. The normal scene lent more credence to the fact that this was an Equestria close to how their’s had been at one point.

“Okay, follow me everybody! Let’s go save Twilight Sparkle!” Spike shouted and pointed ahead.

“It’s not that exciting,” Sunset said.

“Hopefully,” Glimmer added.

Their trip through Canterlot was at least a lot better than last time. Not only was the sun out and shining happily down on them, the city wasn’t a gigantic garbage-filled slum.

“Eugh, I still hate this city,” Moonlight stuck out her tongue in disgust.

“It’s not that bad,” Starlight said.

“It’s stuffy and the ponies are annoying.”

“It’s a lot nicer in our world,” Spike shrugged.

“I haven’t been to my Canterlot since, um, the change. So I’m not really sure what it’s like in my world,” Glimmer said.

Sunset looked around the buildings and at the ponies. “It’s... nice, and pretty, but kind of boring to the cities back in the human world. I wish there was a mall here.” She sighed. “And I haven’t had a cigarette in forever now...”

“Good. Maybe you’ll stop needing them,” Starlight said.

“But I want them,” Sunset whined.

The others ignored her as Spike continued to lead them through the now busy streets of Canterlot. They at least didn’t get stopped by anyone or have anything else come up. If it wasn’t for the last world they visited, Starlight would probably consider this the most normal trip they had had so far. And after last world her mood was still up too, all of them still felt like that, they felt good, they felt confident. This was going to be the cherry on the sundae. Even Moonlight still felt good about their success and what they were doing, even if she wanted a little more out of their journey.

They reached one of the more noble and elite sections of Canterlot, which was funny when thinking that it was Twilight Sparkle of all ponies that lived here, and Spike led them right up to her door.

“This is it,” Spike gestured to the unassuming door.

“Alright then, let’s get this finished up and give Twilight Sparkle a happier life,” Starlight said and swiftly knocked on the door a few times.

“What if she’s not even home?” Moonlight asked.

“Uhh...” Starlight didn’t have an answer for that.

It didn’t need to be answered though as a familiar voice shouted from inside the house. “Coming! I’ll be right there!”

The five stood there for a moment right up until the door was swung open and a smiling Twilight Sparkle stood there. Her mane was a little ragged, with a few stray hairs curling up, but her smile was genuine and welcoming.

“Hello! How can I help-” she looked down and noticed Spike. “You? Um—Spike? Weren’t you just-”

“Who is it, Twilight?” Another familiar voice came from behind her and Spike came waddling into view, standing in the entryway to their home along with the unicorn.

This Spike’s eyes widened when he saw his double and Twilight similarly was very confused as she kept looking back and forth between the two of them.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked.

“Allow me and my friends to explain,” Starlight said, smiling warmly at Twilight. “May we come in?”

Twilight looked at her and then at the two nearly identical mares behind her. “I... yes, you may. Although it certainly looks like a lot of explaining needs to be done.”

“I’ll keep it concise. I’m good at that,” Starlight grinned.

---

“That is absolutely absurd and not scientifically possible. You expect me to believe any of what you just said?”

“Well if you care about science I expect you to believe your eyes and ears right now,” Starlight’s eye twitched.

“Yeah, Twilight... I mean he does look just like me,” this world’s Spike said, doing an odd mirror routine with Spike. “Aside from the wings. Do I grow wings one day?”

“Sure do, just give it a year or two,” Spike gave him a thumb’s up.

“Sweet.”

Twilight frowned, looking hard at Starlight, Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset. “It’s all so absurd... but I can’t exactly come up with another possible solution for you all being here unless someone is going out of their way to play the biggest practical joke of all time on me.” She glanced at the triplets. “The three of you... there’s never been any case ever recorded of two ponies with the same Cutie Mark.” She looked at Sunset. “And the things you’ve described could only be the truth or the ravings of an absolute madmare. And you don’t seem insane to me.”

“Thanks,” Sunset sarcastically replied.

“I’m telling you the truth. It’s all true,” Starlight said.

“Alright. So you’re a group from multiple different dimensions who have traveled through multiple other different dimensions on a mission to save reality. Let’s say I do fully believe that. But why are you here in this world then? Why did you come to me?” Twilight asked.

“Well let me ask you another question first-” Moonlight interrupted. “Are you happy right now?”

“Moonlight,” Starlight frowned.

“What?” Twilight Sparkle furrowed her brow. “Of course I’m happy, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Then let me ask you this—how many close friends do you have?” Moonlight persisted.

“Stop that,” Glimmer put a hoof over her mouth and looked at Starlight. “Continue.”

“Er, what she means with all of that is why aren’t you living in Ponyville? Why aren’t you living closer to all your friends? We know you’re the Element of Magic and you became the Elements of Harmony with them. So why are you still living here in Canterlot?” Starlight asked.

This world’s Spike stopped messing with his near double and glanced up at Twilight, a slight look of worry etched on his face.

“I... um... well does that really matter?” Twilight awkwardly grinned and chuckled.

The unconvinced faces staring back at her told her all she needed to know.

Twilight deflated slightly and sighed, glumly looking down at the floor. “I suppose it does.”

“What’s the matter?” Sunset asked. “What’s the full story behind this? You can start from the beginning.”

“I never thought it was much of a story to tell. But apparently I was wrong,” Twilight thought for a moment before nodding, chiefly to herself, and began to tell her guests about what had happened. “Princess Celestia told me about the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville, and there I found my friends and we stopped Nightmare Moon together. But unfortunately I didn’t have a place to live in town. The Princess had told me about that, she said I would have to find a place to stay for the time being and then a more permanent residence if I wanted to stay. At first I scoffed but once the day—er, night—was over, I really wanted to stay there in Ponyville. Applejack and Pinkie Pie both offered me a room if I wanted but I told them that first of all I didn’t want to impose and secondly I still needed to gather a lot of things from Canterlot and bring them here. So I told my new friends that I’d be in Canterlot for a little while longer still working on new living arrangements for when I came back to Ponyville.”

“And for some reason...” Starlight trailed off.

“I...” Twilight frowned. “It got to me on the train ride back to Canterlot. I was so happy but then when I really thought about things, when my friends weren’t around anymore, I got... worried. What if things didn’t turn out well? What if we all started living in Ponyville only for one of us to have a falling out? What if when they got to know me better they stopped liking me? They knew each other for years at that point but I had only known them for a day! What if when they actually spent time with me they thought I was boring, or rude, or annoying, or not a good fit? We... we got along so well just in that small brief moment, I didn’t want to ruin it. I didn’t want to take the chance that I could lose everything. I’m not used to having friends, I didn’t want to screw things up!”

“So instead you stayed in Canterlot, making excuses and only going to Ponyville every now and then?” Glimmer said. “You didn’t want them to get too close to you so you kept things superficial. And your friends are far too nice and friendly themselves to really notice or think anything else of the matter.”

“Reminds me of myself when I first moved to Ponyville a little bit,” Starlight said.

“Did you really think things would go that badly?” Sunset asked her.

“I don’t know!” Twilight screeched and pulled at her mane. “I know my friends are nice—but what if they don’t think I’m nice? They’ve all had plenty of friends before, how do I know I wouldn’t do something wrong?”

“They’d tell you and forgive you because they know you mean well,” Spike said.

“That’s pretty much exactly what I’ve been trying to tell her,” other Spike nodded.

“Twilight-” Starlight came up and put her hooves on the other mare’s shoulders. “You’re too scared. You’re letting the fear of losing your friends keep you from ever becoming truly close to them in the first place. You have to get over this.”

“Why? Why should I?” Twilight frowned and pushed Starlight away. “Things aren’t perfect exactly but they’re still good. We exchange letters, we meet up at least once a month, sometimes I spend a few days visiting Ponyville or they come here for a while. I still have friends even if we aren’t as close as we could be. A-And maybe I like it that way. Maybe I don’t want to risk things!”

“That’s stupid!”

The shout from Moonlight surprised all of them, the other six in the room staring at her in shock.

The unicorn’s eye twitched as she walked up to Twilight and started shaking her by the shoulders. “You could have the best friends any pony could ever ask for and you’re scared?! Are you kidding me?! Do you have any idea how much it sucks to not have friends? How awful it is to be stuck with some boring half-flanked acquaintanceships? How do you think I feel knowing there’s no one I could even try to get as close to as you? I remember how awful it was to not have any friends for a while, but you can bet I would take the chance for some real friendship in my life any day of the week! I wouldn’t let that chance of being miserable again stop me from becoming happy! Take a chance! You stopped Nightmare Moon, you already proved that you can leave your familiar life behind, you know you want some friends, so go out and get them!”

She was panting heavily by the time she finished her rant and everyone was looking at her, silent.

Moonlight caught her breath and calmed down, letting Twilight go and stepping back. “Just... it’s just some food for thought.”

“No, I think you got to the heart of the matter,” Sunset smirked and patted her on the back.

“Well... you did certainly give me something to think about...” Twilight said as she patted down her mane.

“Moonlight is pretty much right,” Starlight nodded. “You’re missing out on the greatest time of your life here.”

Twilight frowned. “But-”

“I promise you. And it’s not just an empty promise because I know from my own personal experience. But I promise you that the more you open yourself up to your friends, the more they’re going to like. The more time you spend with them the closer you’re going to become—not the opposite. Trust me. Believe in all of us, but more importantly believe in the friends you’ve already made,” Starlight smiled.

Twilight was still struggling internally, she looked over at her Spike, she looked at the other ponies here, and she started to pace around in a circle for a moment, trying to avoid a panic attack. “Is it... is it really that simple? Do I just have to open up and be myself? You’re sure they’ll like me?”

“Absolutely. And you’re going to become a mare who can even make friends with a pony as difficult as me,” Starlight winked. “Just gotta take that first step and embrace friendship, even if it’s a little scary at first. It’s worth it.”

“Don’t end up like me,” Moonlight said.

“Well, thank you for the advice,” Twilight said to her.

“Regardless of Moonlight, have we at least convinced you to give it a shot? Will you move to Ponyville and become closer with your friends?” Starlight asked.

Twilight bit her lip but nodded after a moment of hesitation. “Y-Yes. I will. I promise.”

There was a collective sigh of relief in the room and Starlight wiped a hoof across her brow.

“Whew! Awesome!” She said.

“I’m still struggling to accept that this is such a big deal but I’m glad I could help,” Twilight shrugged.

“I’m really glad too,” the other Spike said. “She’s been putting this off for way too long.”

“So what happens now?” Twilight asked.

“Now? You don’t have to worry about anything now. We leave and you get to enjoy your new life,” Starlight said.

“Have fun with it by the way,” Sunset said.

“Good luck,” Glimmer nodded.

“Remember what I told you,” Moonlight said.

Spike grinned at his double. “And you have a fun time living closer to Rarity.”

“Totally will,” other Spike gave him a thumb’s up.

“Then thank you for everything. And good luck finishing your adventure. I won’t forget this meeting,” Twilight said. “The five of you can be my treasured friends as well.”

Starlight smiled. “Thank you, Twilight. I think now we’ll step outside and be on our way, you don’t need us here anymore. Goodbye.”

Twilight Sparkle smiled. “Goodbye.”

---

“So that’s really it? We can go now?” Sunset asked Starlight and Spike as they all stood in an alley close to Twilight’s home.

“That’s it. We’ve done what we needed to for friendship and harmony, we fixed the worlds that were in a lot of trouble, and got the ball rolling for the worlds that just needed a little extra help. We’ve done it. The space-time continuum, all worlds, everything should be fine. It’s just time to go home now and have everyone get back to where they belong,” Starlight said.

“Feels like this has taken way longer than it really did... I can’t remember the last time I did something so stressful,” Spike groaned.

“And what about you?” Glimmer said as she looked at Moonlight. “It seems like you found your place a little, are you satisfied now?”

Moonlight scoffed and rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile on her face. “It wasn’t a big deal or anything but I suppose I’m happy now. Happier at least. I’m not going to feel like it was a waste when I go back home.”

“I’m... I’m really happy too. I’m almost surprised by how satisfied I am,” Sunset smiled.

“Me too,” Glimmer said as she briefly glanced back at her covered flank. “I-I don’t know if I’m ready to face myself yet... but it was good being able to help others.”

“And now it’s time to party. Wash all the stress away and forget about your worries. You’re coming back to our world for some fun first before you go back to yours,” Spike said, grinning up at the mares.

Starlight nodded and smiled. “You’re absolutely right, Spike. Wake up Discord, we’re going home!”

Harmonization to Discordization

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but thank Celestia things are finally over. I was really tired of being stuck like this you know,” Discord said as their whole group once more flew through the insane world of colors and patterns between worlds.

“Right there with you. Aside from the being in a different body part,” Starlight said. “But I’m just as happy things are over. How do you think things are going to be back in our world?”

“Miss Bookworm and Starswirl should already have noticed that the space-time continuum is more or less fixed. I bet she already came up with some kind of way to detect the ambient chaos in other worlds and can tell that we’ve done our job,” Discord said.

“Which means that Pinkie Pie probably already has a big party waiting for us the moment we arrive back home,” Spike said.

“Probably,” Starlight agreed.

“Are we really going to be welcome there? Your Twilight isn’t going to be bothered that you came back with us?” Sunset asked.

Starlight shook her head. “Definitely not—especially when she hears the full story. She’ll be totally fine with you staying for a party and getting the sort of goodbye you all deserve.”

“It’ll also be nice seeing what a good Equestria is supposed to look like,” Moonlight smirked.

“Our Equestrias should be getting close to that by the time we return,” Glimmer smiled.

“I suppose I might as well be optimistic. Sounds like we’re in for some fun,” Sunset smiled.

“Do not ask anyone for cigarettes at the party,” Starlight frowned.

“I won’t,” Sunset rolled her eyes.

“It’s also going to be really nice not having to travel through this anymore,” Moonlight said as she gestured around them. “I’ve gotten really tired of the rainbow vomit tunnel. This is like what a total nutjob sees when he looks into a kaleidoscope, I feel like I’m gonna go crazy each time we fly through here.”

“Yeah I won’t miss this either. And Spike and I have experienced it more than any of you,” Starlight said, glancing around at the starbursts and patterns of random colors. She really wasn’t going to miss it either.

“At least when we came out last time we didn’t fall on top of each other or anything,” Sunset said.

“Took you long enough to get the hang of it,” Starlight smirked at her.

Sunset snorted. “Pff, you and Spike can literally fly, it’s probably easier for you to come out safely.”

“She has a point,” Spike admitted.

“Hey wait—when we get out of here and come to your world, can we get our regular names back?” Moonlight asked Discord.

“No, there will still be three of you, it’s too confusing. Just wait until I send the two of you back home,” Discord scoffed and waved her off.

“I really don’t like you,” Moonlight glared at him.

“He’s an acquired taste,” Starlight said.

“How absolutely rude! I am beyond charming, you’re just a grump,” Discord turned his nose up at Moonlight.

A vein popped on her forehead while Glimmer giggled and patted her back.

“I don’t even mind going by Glimmer. It makes me feel kind of like a new me, sort of what I’ve been looking for. Maybe I’ll still go by Glimmer when I get back home,” Glimmer thought.

“Whatever floats your boat,” Moonlight shrugged. “I’m going to like having my actual name back, not a silly facsimile.”

“I’m amazed you know such a big word,” Discord grinned.

Moonlight’s eye twitched.

“There, there, we’ve got a party coming up, remember,” Glimmer said while trying to stifle more giggles.

“We do,” Starlight said and glanced over at Discord. “And you stop being rude to my friends, okay? They don’t know you like I do.”

“Alright, alright, fair enough,” Discord held up his hands—and frowned as he realized he still didn’t have full articulation of his body. “Good thing we’re almost back, I’m changing from this little wooden flute back into my normal body the second we’re out of that portal.”

“Gonna be glad I don’t have to carry you around anymore either,” Spike said.

“I know—I’m going to have quite the time with Fluttershy going over how miserable an experience it was riding in your bag for so long,” Discord sighed.

“You were asleep for most of it… and it’s not like I left old food in there or something,” Spike frowned.

“Being asleep doesn’t mean being totally unaware when you’re the Lord of Chaos,” Discord wagged a finger.

“Well then isn’t it your own fault for volunteering yourself for the job and putting yourself in my bag in the first place?” Spike said.

Discord opened his mouth to speak but then closed it after a moment of thought. “Point taken.”

Starlight smiled to herself as they talked, her eyes staying forward and looking towards the glowing bright spot ahead. They’d be out of here real soon. How many other worlds had they traveled to? How many problems had they solved? At least Starlight knew for absolute certainty now that she had done good. It wasn’t just good intentions, she really had left the places she visited far better off than before. Not only that, but she did something completely unexpected at the same time and made three new friends. Ones she never expected she’d ever make. She also had plenty to look forward to when she returned, lessons she could teach at the school, other friends to make, relationships and bonds to strengthen. This wasn’t just a lackadaisical vacation like last time where she was just blowing off steam and dealing with stress. She had really gotten something out of this trip.

The five others around her—even Discord—had gotten something out of it too. It really was just like what Twilight had taught her all that time ago, the smallest changes, the smallest actions, can have a huge impact on the future and individual ponies too. Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset were all on a great path towards the future now. And she and Spike were going to have a lot of great stories to tell all about this latest adventure.

The brightness ahead started to drown out all other colors and before Starlight knew it…

---

She fell out of the air onto the crystal floor of the map room of Twilight’s castle and right behind her came Spike holding onto Discord, Sunset, Moonlight, and lastly Glimmer.

Confetti blasted in their faces before they could even get their bearings.

“WELCOME BACK!” Pinkie Pie shouted loudly, blowing a party whistle in Starlight’s face.

“I should’ve bet money on this...” Spike said as he wringed out his ears.

“Thank you Pinkie… is everyone here?” Starlight slowly asked as she looked around. The map room was covered in streamers and balloons and the table itself had a big cake and numerous cupcakes on it. She saw the rest of her friends standing in the now pretty cramped space, the Elements, Trixie and Sunburst, along with Starswirl too.

“We are,” the voice of Twilight Sparkle said as she stepped in front of Pinkie Pie with a big smile on her face. “Welcome back, Starlight, Spike, Discord. It looks like everything went well.” She then looked behind Starlight at her two doubles and Sunset Shimmer. “Uhhh… I do think there’s something that needs to be explained though.”

“Why are there three Starlights?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew over to look at them closer. “Changelings? They haven’t done a very good job.”

Moonlight and Glimmer both frowned at her but held their tongues.

“And why are you here, Sunset? You didn’t come through the portal...” Twilight tilted her head.

“Uh, well...” Sunset rubbed the back of her head.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “You guys, just let me explain for a moment...”

“First thing’s first,” Discord said and flew out of Spike’s hand. He snapped his fingers and turned back to his normal size and body, taking an exaggerated stretch he grinned. “Ahhh, feels good to be back. I can’t wait to go home and really relax too, all that time I spent not being chaotic. How horrible.”

“Anyways-” Starlight said again and stepped aside, gesturing to her new friends. “Let me introduce you to Glimmer, Moonlight, and a Sunset Shimmer who you aren’t familiar with. After that we can get to the party and finally put this to rest.”

“Am I invited too?”

Starlight’s head turned to her right, and the other ponies and creatures in the room looked as well at the source of the voice, to see a tie-dye pony standing and smiling right next to her.

“Because I think things are a little too harmonic right now. Why not throw some chaos into the mix?” Harlequin Rainbow said.

Discord’s eyes narrowed and he prepared to snap his fingers. “You’re the Harlequin Starlight mentioned.”

“The Harlequin?” Twilight asked in confusion, while quite a few others in the room bristled at the word, as she looked between Starlight and the decidedly weird pony that had shown up out of nowhere. “Who are you?”

“Forget about it Twilight, I’ll take care of this,” Discord said and snapped his fingers.

Or he would have if a tie-dye hand hadn’t come out of Harlequin Rainbow’s back and grabbed his own—stopping him.

“No, no, I don’t think that’s happening,” Harlequin Rainbow’s stretched skin smile grew even wider as his head turned to look directly at Discord. “Because my soon to be former Lord of Chaos. You’ve made quite the big mistake.”

Starlight’s horn lit up but before she or anyone else could react, one of Harlequin Rainbow’s hooves morphed into a second hand and he snapped his fingers. The world spun around Starlight’s eyes, everything vanishing into a blur, before she ended up in total darkness with only the Harlequin and Discord standing before her. The map room, Twilight, Spike, everyone and everything else was gone.

Discord meanwhile was frozen, unable to remove his hand from Harlequin Rainbow’s grip or seemingly use his magic at all.

“What’s going on? What did you do?” Starlight said and grit her teeth in anger, leveling her horn at Harlequin Rainbow. “And let Discord go!”

“I can’t… my magic...” Discord said as sweat began to drip down his face.

“Hehehehe,” Harlequin Rainbow chuckled. “Sorry, but no can do.”

Starlight didn’t ask twice. She blasted him in the face with all the magic she could muster. The huge beam of magic completely enveloped his entire body and would’ve reduced most anything to dust. But once it was gone he was still standing there as if nothing had happened.

“Sorry, but you’re not facing someone that can be dealt with by normal magic anymore,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned and snapped his fingers once more.

A spotlight high above turned on and shone down on them, causing Starlight to wince and squeeze her eyes shut briefly.

“You’re lucky I’m not one for silly musical numbers but I do still have a flair for the dramatic. So let me show you both how badly you’ve screwed up,” another snap of the fingers and multiple screens appeared in the darkness around them, showing scenes from their recent escapades. Starlight and Discord both watched as they along with Spike traveled the various worlds and dealt with problems like Tempest, Nightmare Moon, and just little issues like Maud’s absence. “Well now look at all these good deeds! Look at how much you’ve helped! Too bad for you it’s led to something even worse.”

“What are you talking about?” Starlight growled, her horn still lit up even though it didn’t seem like it would help.

Harlequin Rainbow laughed. “Poor, dumb, Starlight, can’t even figure it out! You’ve worked so hard to remove all that chaos, trying to make things more harmonic, now who—during this entire debacle—was acting completely against their nature?”

Starlight’s eyes widened and she looked up at Discord, who was glaring helplessly at the Harlequin.

“Bingo!” Harlequin Rainbow clapped with a sudden extra set of hooves. “Mr. Lord of Chaos! Discord himself! He helped you make so many worlds free of chaos, setting things right, making things balanced, happy, and harmonic. That doesn’t sound like the Lord of Chaos to me, does it? At least not how the Lord of Chaos should be acting.”

“I’ve-” Discord started.

“Gone against your very nature. You don’t deserve to hold that title anymore. You’ve done too much in too short a time with this recent adventure that it’s weakened you enough for me to do this. I’m a chaotic being just like you and I say it’s time for a new sheriff in town,” Harlequin Rainbow chuckled menacingly. “Thank you. You, Starlight, Spike, your friends, thank you all for doing all these good deeds. Without them, Discord never would’ve weakened his connection to chaos enough that a being like me could usurp him. But here you are—acting far more like an avatar of harmony than anything. And here I am, ready to be the you that you turned your back on.”

“Stop this! I don’t know what you think you can do, but the Elements of Harmony will still stop you!” Starlight threatened.

“I’ll deal with them and all of you once I’m done here,” Harlequin Rainbow smirked. “But first, it’s time to take my place.”

A unicorn horn grew from the top of Harlequin Rainbow’s head and a dark tie-dye aura covered Discord’s body. His mouth was wrenched open despite his best efforts to fight it and his insanely unpredictable and disruptive chaos magic was torn out from his body. Despite its very nature it all neatly flowed one place—right into the Harlequin’s horn. As Starlight watched, Discord’s body became dull, limp, and almost empty like a deflated balloon, while Harlequin Rainbow started laughing and growing, his features all changing completely. The last of the chaos magic was absorbed and Discord was let go—crumbling to the floor and Starlight ran over to grab him to see if he was okay.

“Starlight… make sure Twilight and the others… they need to stop him...” Discord groaned.

“I will, Discord! Don’t worry, I’ll fix all of this!” Starlight said.

“As if I’d let that happen,” a dark laugh followed that statement and the shadow of Harlequin Rainbow crossed Starlight’s face.

She looked up at him and her pupils shrank down to pinpricks. His body was no longer that of a pony’s at all. He stood tall over the two of them, his mismatched body, a horn and antler growing from his head, tiny wings on his snakelike torso, and tie-dye skin stretched all over it, constantly morphing and changing.

“Oh yes, I can see why you like this form,” Harlequin Rainbow—a new Draconequus—said as he looked himself over. “It’s absolutely perfect for all that chaos magic.” He started giggling. “Maybe I should turn you into a pony or something then, Discord, since it’s all gone from you. That form doesn’t suit you anymore. It hasn’t ever since you started this little adventure for the sake of harmony and friendship. I think I’ve added my own flair to this body too, look at how my colors are constantly changing? Far more chaotic than you ever were.”

“You aren’t getting away with this. I don’t know what your goal is, but I won’t let you hurt my friends or leave Discord like this. Return his magic right now and get out of here!” Starlight commanded.

It was ineffectual though as Harlequin Rainbow just scoffed. “Oh please, an empty threat. And goal? What goal? Who do you think I am? You? I just want to bring back chaos! I’m just following my nature here—the nature that you’re responsible for I might add. I’m going to be making this world just like the phony should have been making it. Time for things to turn upside-down, for chocolate rain, dancing buffalo, the grass turning into soap, flying pigs, pie hail, time for all of that and more. I’m the Lord of Chaos now! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Let the Games Begin

Back in the Castle of Friendship, there was quite the panic going on. The Elements, Starlight’s friends, Starlight’s new friends, everyone had no idea what had just happened. Starlight, Discord, and that strange tie-dye pony had suddenly vanished, leaving them behind in the map room. Starswirl had his horn lit up, trying to find a trace of their magic and preparing for what might happen next, while Trixie panicked incoherently and Fluttershy worried for Discord. Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset were totally lost even more than the others.

Only Spike really had a clue—having been privy to an earlier conversation Starlight and Discord had.

Of course that didn’t stop others from making some accusations.

“What just happened? Are you two fakers responsible for it?” Rainbow Dash asked as she glared at Moonlight and Glimmer.

“Rainbow Dash, stop it!” Spike said to her and flew up between them and her. “I don’t know what’s going on but these are our friends, I promise!”

“Yes, please calm down, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said and rubbed her forehead. “The three of them just vanished… what was that strange pony?”

“Actually, Starlight and Discord talked about it earlier, he’s-” Spike started but before he could explain a portal opened up over their heads.

It looked like a portal into the stars, hanging right above the Cutie Map. Out of it slithered a familiar snake-like form and Fluttershy smiled and flew up to him.

“Dis-” her face fell as she noticed something was wrong. “-cord?”

“Not quite,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned at her. “He’s a bit out of date so I’ve decided to take his place.” A snap of his fingers and Starlight and the powerless Discord fell through the portal and onto the table as well. “You can have these two back for the moment by the way. But in return I’m going to be removing some other game pieces.”

Twilight spread her wings and flew up to face him directly. “I don’t know who you are and why you’re doing this but you better stop right now and leave my friends alone!”

“Twilight, we need to-” Starlight began to shout.

“I’m the new and improved Lord of Chaos. But it’s too crowded in here now,” he snapped his fingers and portals appeared above the heads of Starswirl, Trixie, and Sunburst. Just as quickly hands came out of the portals and grabbed the three ponies, pulling them up into the portals right as they closed.

“Trixie, Sunburst!” Starlight yelled.

Twilight gasped. “Where did you take them?!”

Before Harlequin Rainbow could answer, he briefly split in two and let Rainbow Dash fly right through him and into the wall.

“Ow...” Rainbow groaned.

“Hehehehehe,” Harlequin Rainbow chuckled and with another snap of his fingers, the streamers and banners in the map room came to life and flew down around to the Elements of Harmony. The six ponies were swiftly tied up by the living decorations. Even Applejack found her strength was useless against the chaotically imbued streamers. Twilight attempted to light up her horn but a single tap on its tip by Harlequin Rainbow’s finger somehow turned her magic off. “You and the Elements are the only threat to me left, but you’re soooo slow to react. Instead of trying to talk you should’ve just did what Rainbow Dash did from the start. Like this I can make sure you never use your powers against me.”

“Let them go!” Spike yelled and flew at him.

“Spike, no!” Starlight shouted.

Harlequin Rainbow scoffed and slapped Spike down to the floor. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“Spike!” Sunset Shimmer ran up and grabbed him before he could hit the crystal floor. “Tch, I wish I still had the hang of my magic right now...”

“Not like it would help you, useless,” Harlequin Rainbow laughed. “I’ve already won now that the Elements can’t do anything.”

He was blasted in the back by Starlight, the heavy beam of magic shooting him into the wall of the map room. She patted the weak Discord on his head and stood up, glaring at the new Lord of Chaos. “We’re not taking that sitting down!”

“Be careful, Starlight!” Twilight said as she continued to struggle against her bonds.

“But please still save us while you’re at it!” Rarity shouted.

“Yeah! This isn’t how party decorations are supposed to be used!” Pinkie said as she rolled around and fought with her own streamers.

“Can’t believe I’ve been hogtied by party streamers...” Applejack sighed in annoyance.

Fluttershy meanwhile tried to inch her way up to the table where Discord was. “D-Discord? Are you okay?”

“I’ve been better...” Discord groaned.

Harlequin Rainbow then peeled himself off the wall, thin as a sheet of paper, before jamming a thumb into his “mouth” and inflating himself back to normal. “No worse for wear, I never would’ve been able to handle things like that as my old self. Being the Lord of Chaos sure has its perks, gahahaha!”

“How do you have Discord’s powers?” Twilight furrowed her brow in frustration.

“He’s a chaotic being just like Discord, he took Discord’s powers for his own!” Starlight yelled.

“And now I fully intend to make this world just as chaotic as the previous slouch should have been making it,” Harlequin Rainbow rung his hands together and smirked at Starlight. “Unless you and your motley little group of friends wants to try and stop me? You said you won’t take this sitting down, did you? Do the others feel the same way? Spike the puny dragon, the wishy-washy Sunset, the irrelevant Starlight Glimmer, and my personal favorite—Miss Sulky Former Empress. Are you all going to try and stand against Chaos itself?”

“That’s right!” Spike said and immediately flew up to stand beside Starlight. He looked over at Sunset, Glimmer, and Moonlight, who were a little more hesitant than him. “Er, right?”

Moonlight was currently looking back and forth between Starlight and Harlequin Rainbow in pure confusion. “I genuinely have no idea what’s going on.”

“I’m a little lost too, actually,” Sunset raised a hoof.

“Me too… but there’s no doubt that we need to help,” Glimmer said, gulping and trying to put on her bravest face.

Sunset smirked. “I suppose that part’s true.”

Moonlight rolled her eyes and grinned. “Guess so.”

Together the three of them ran in front of the table, standing just beneath Starlight and Spike and facing off against Harlequin Rainbow.

“We’ll help you stop him and save your friends,” Glimmer said.

Starlight felt warmth building up in her chest and smiled widely, confidently looking back at the Harlequin. “There you have it.”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Harlequin Rainbow doubled over in uproarious laughter. “You can’t be serious! I was joking. So what if you stand up against me, you’re a group of nitwits and failures who have no idea what you’re doing. I’m literally the master of all chaos in the world now. I’m essentially a god—without the Elements of Harmony you ponies can’t do anything to me. I mean sure it’s amusing that you’re trying to protect your friends and all that silliness, but I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“It doesn’t matter if you find it funny. Or if it’s impossible. We’re going to save our friends and the whole world from you. Cause that’s just what we do,” Starlight said.

“Really now?” Harlequin Rainbow smirked and rubbed an imaginary tear from his eye. He thought for a second as he stroked his chin. “Well let’s have some fun then. Fighting is boring, far too plain and straightforward. Flat out zapping and vaporizing you all with my magic too, where’s the excitement there? Let’s do something more chaotic.” His eyes darted between each of the ponies, and dragon, facing off against him. “Five of you… alright then. First to five wins takes it all.”

“Five wins? Of what?” Starlight frowned.

Harlequin Rainbow grinned and snapped his fingers.

---

Things went dark for a moment. Then stage lights lit up the world.

Starlight, Spike, Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset found themselves standing on some kind of dark tiled floor with a huge blue curtain to one side and a large studio audience chamber to the other side. Most of the seats were empty but the front row was filled with Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Discord, Trixie, Sunburst, Starswirl, and now Princess Celestia and Luna as well. All of them cuffed to their seats and looking just as confused as the free mares (and dragon).

“What is the meaning of this?!” Princess Luna roared as soon as she noticed her condition.

“Twilight? What’s going on?” Princess Celestia asked in a much more subdued, but still noticeably panicked, manner.

“Something has taken Discord’s chaos magic and is doing this. I-I don’t know what’s happening now but Starlight and Spike are trying to stop him,” Twilight answered.

“Guys!” Starlight shouted and tried to run over to free them—but found herself running face first into an invisible wall. “Ow...”

“Starlight!” Trixie shouted, trying to get free of her cuffs. It seemed like none of the unicorns could use their magic.

“Are you okay?” Sunburst asked.

“Y-Yeah...” Starlight groaned, stepping back and shaking her head. “I just don’t think the obvious solution is going to work.”

Spike came up to her and held her steady. “Where’d he go? What do you think he’s doing?”

Before Starlight could answer a drumroll from nowhere began. The five of them looked around in confusion and suddenly the blue curtain opened up down the middle while a band of trumpets and trombones loudly roared and Harlequin Rainbow came spinning and dancing out onto the floor. Canned laughter from the empty seats in the audience joined the musical instruments and the stage lights started to move around in a dizzying pattern as they followed the tie-dye Draconequus. The invisible band reached its fever pitch right as Harlequin Rainbow made a final spin and slid across the tile, standing in front of his adversaries with his arms held wide open and a huge smile on his face.

The fake crowd clapped even louder.

“Thank you, thank you,” Harlequin Rainbow took a bow and snapped his fingers, the applause immediately stopping. “Ah, I truly love the appreciation.”

“Looks like you’ve got the annoying part of being the Lord of Chaos down pretty well,” Starlight frowned at him.

“You’re welcome,” he grinned.

“So what are we doing here. Where is here?” Spike asked.

“Just a stage I cooked up, a far better place to play than that boring castle,” Harlequin Rainbow shrugged.

“Play?” Starlight raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. Allow me to explain,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned at her and her friends. “We’re having a game show here to decide who wins and who loses. With the stakes being Equestria and all the world falling into endless chaos or not. It’s so much more fun to settle things like this than with a simple fight, right?”

“No,” Rainbow Dash commented from the audience.

Harlequin Rainbow snapped his fingers and a metal plate found itself welded to her mouth.

“Anyways. We’re going to play some fun games. The five of you will take turns playing me one on one. And the first side to five wins wins the whole thing. Easy enough, right?” He smirked.

“What games?” Starlight asked.

“I’ll be choosing that,” he chuckled.

“Oh, that sounds fair,” Moonlight rolled her eyes.

“It would be boring if I made it too easy for myself. So I won’t cheat or make things too unfair. Trust me,” he said.

“Oh, do a Pinkie Promise so we know you’re telling the-” a second metal plate welded itself over Pinkie Pie’s mouth.

Starlight’s group looked uncertainly at each other. They didn’t exactly like the sound of this but what else could they do.

Sunset shrugged. “We have to, right?”

“I think so...” Glimmer nodded.

“We’ll just do our best with whatever he throws at us,” Moonlight said.

“Yeah, right Starlight?” Spike looked to her for confirmation.

“That’s right. Rigged or not, we’ll win,” Starlight took a deep breath and glared at Harlequin Rainbow. “Alright—start things up, we’re doing this.”

“Excellent! So who’s going to compete against me first, hmm?” Harlequin Rainbow rubbed his hands together expectantly.

“I’ll start things off myself,” Starlight said. “I won’t ask anyone else to face you before me.”

“Good, that’s fine by me. Let’s see which one of us takes home the first win,” Harlequin Rainbow chuckled and snapped his fingers.

A table grew up from the floor, the floor itself looking like part of it turned to moldable clay as it grew and formed itself into a table with two chairs on opposite sides. The stage lights above shifted to only shine down on the table, leaving the rest of the game show arena studio in darkness. Harlequin Rainbow slithered over and took a seat, gesturing to the one left.

“Take a seat, Starlight.”

Starlight frowned and started to walk towards him when Spike grabbed her leg.

“Are you sure about this?” He asked her, clearly worried.

“I’ve—we’ve got this, Spike,” Starlight said and confidently smiled to the others. “Sunset, Glimmer, Moonlight, I’ll start us off with a win.”

“You better,” Sunset smirked.

“Good luck,” Glimmer said.

“Cheat if you can,” Moonlight said.

Starlight chuckled. “Thanks for the support… time to win this, whatever it is I’m doing.” She said and walked up to the table, taking her seat across from the Harlequin. “Alright, you’re choosing the game so just lay it on me.”

“Gladly,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned and reached behind his back. “We’re playing-” he swiftly pulled out a box from behind his back and held it in front of Starlight’s face. “Scrabble!”

“What?” Starlight blinked.

“Scrabble! Don’t you know it?”

“Well, yes, I just thought we’d be playing something a little more exciting, or dangerous, or competitive.”

Harlequin Rainbow snorted. “Pff, it’s exactly because of that that we’re playing this instead. How can I do something you expect me to do? What would be chaotic about that? That’s why we need to play a boring little game like this!” He set the box down and opened it up, quickly placing the board down and throwing the tiles on it upside-down along with two racks. “Go on, go on, grab your tiles! We’ll each make, oh, five or ten words and whoever has the most points at the end will win.”

“Okay...” Starlight bit her lip and grabbed several tiles at random to make her rack while Harlequin Rainbow did the same.

“I’ll go first because I always go first, that’s a rule,” Harlequin Rainbow snickered and put several tiles out on the board, taking the middle space.

HAT

Starlight looked at her pieces and made the best move she could.

TIME

Coming from the "T" at the end of HAT.

Harlequin Rainbow smiled and after picking up a few more tiles made his next move.

EEL

Starlight drew and made her second turn.

CHAT

“Oh please, you can do better than that can’t you?” Harlequin Rainbow put a few more tiles out.

ISLAND

Their board was now starting to get a bit more complex.

“You’ll see...” Starlight frowned.

DOOR

“Oh, another four letter word, I’m sooo impressed,” Harlequin Rainbow picked up more tiles and made his next move while Starlight glared at him.

ROUND

Starlight silently examined the board and the mish-mash of words before she picked up more tiles and placed a couple more on the board.

ONE

“Maybe I should make this the last turn? It doesn’t look like you’ll win once I do this,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned. He was quite snidely insulting of Starlight only managing to make a three letter word that time.

OUTDOORS

Starlight placed her hooves on her temples and stared at the board and all the opportunities it offered before placing a single tile down. “One more turn.”

FEEL

Not much of a turn at all.

“Giving up then? Because at this rate your score isn’t nearly as good as mine. I think this will settle things,” Harlequin Rainbow put four tiles down.

CHAOS

“There, make your final turn,” Harlequin Rainbow smugly crossed his arms.

Starlight was not impressed.

“Actually, I was just messing with you. If this is the final turn, that’s good, I didn’t want you to keep extending things until you won,” Starlight grinned and placed six new tiles down. “This game is mine.”

XYLOPHONE

The six new tiles came down to connect with the "ONE" she had placed earlier.

“Well?” Starlight leaned back in her chair and put her hooves behind her head.

Harlequin Rainbow squinted at the board, a frown on his face. “Hm… I suppose the clean-sweep is off the table.” Despite the loss a chuckle still emerged from his throat. “Well, well, though I’m quite upset you won, you are the most capable of your group. If I was going to lose to any of you it was going to be you, Starlight. Let’s see if the others can remotely match up.”

He snapped his fingers and the table and all the Scrabble pieces and box vanished, the stage going back to normal.

Also causing Starlight to fall with an oof to the floor when her chair disappeared.

“So fine, I’ll get us back to even in just a moment,” Harlequin Rainbow said and smiled at Spike, Sunset, Glimmer, and Moonlight. “Which of you wants to go next?”

Competition Not So Fierce

“I’m up,” Sunset raised her hoof in the air as she sharply glared at the Harlequin.

Starlight walked by her and gave her a high-hoof, leaning in to whisper to her. “Careful, he’s an idiot but there’s no telling what he might have in store either.” She nodded to Sunset and went to stand off to the side with Spike, Glimmer, and Moonlight.

“Nice work, I definitely would’ve tried cheating,” Moonlight grinned.

“That was a great job,” Glimmer smiled much more genuinely.

“Let’s hope Sunset can beat him now too,” Spike said.

“Well come on, come on over already!” Harlequin Rainbow clapped for Sunset and the fake audience joined in. “Oh I’m so excited to play against and beat the pathetic Sunset that couldn’t even figure out if she wanted to be good or bad. Compared to the real Sunset you’re not even second rate, you’re third or fourth rate.”

Sunset walked towards him with an angry glare on her face. “You know just a few days ago those words would’ve made me flip out. Primarily at Starlight. But I’m not the same pony I was. I’ve got my own life and I’m making what I want out of it. That’s real enough to me, even if it wasn’t the path I was meant to take from the start. So why don’t you shut up and pick the next game?”

“Ooooh, so haughty. That makes it even more fun when I beat you now,” Harlequin Rainbow snapped his fingers.

The blue curtain at the back of the stage came together and then parted once more to reveal a newly created two-lane bowling alley. The lacquered wood was so squeaky clean that it sparkled.

“Bowling? Seriously?” Sunset looked up at him.

“A true game of champions! Now come on, unless you’re already scared of losing?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Not even close. I’ve gone bowling with my friends plenty of time back home,” Sunset huffed as she walked up to the ball returner where several bowling balls were sitting. She rolled one of the balls over with her hoof and frowned. “Okay wait, how am I supposed to bowl like this? In fact, how is any pony in Equestria besides a unicorn expected to use a bowling ball? They still have finger holes!”

“I have no problem. And you’re a unicorn so why not use your magic?” Harlequin Rainbow said as he picked up his own bowling ball. “We’ll play three frames.”

Sunset clicked her tongue and looked up at her horn. “I guess it’s never too late to figure out how to do this again...”

She grabbed the bowling ball with her hooves and tried to lift it up, accidentally dropping it on the floor where it cracked the tile. She winced and forced what magic she could into her horn—doing her best to remember her lessons and what used to be pure reflex. Her horn sparked and a colorful aura appeared around the bowling ball. Step one complete. Breathing out, she focused harder and managed to lift the ball back up and hold it in her hooves.

“Okay… magic used to come easy to me after all...” Sunset said.

“Wow, you’ve managed to use simple telekinesis. How impressive,” Harlequin Rainbow sarcastically congratulated her. “Just like before—I’m going first. So watch this Strike.”

Harlequin Rainbow stepped right up to the lane’s edge and pulled his arm back before swinging it forward and rolling the bowling ball onto the lane. The ball zoomed down the lane towards the pins at high speed, curving and spinning completely unnaturally before hitting the center pin dead on and crashing through the rest. Every pin was knocked over and left either spinning around or already thrown back into the throat of the lane.

“Strike,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned at Sunset.

“Someone really wants to win,” Sunset frowned and stepped up to her lane. She awkwardly carried the bowling ball with her, it being a little too heavy just for her magic right now.

“Want me to lift the bumpers up so you can’t get a gutter ball?” Harlequin Rainbow snickered.

“Haha,” Sunset rolled her eyes and stood up on her hind legs, balancing for a moment and chucking the bowling ball down the center of the lane like she was throwing a bag of trash in the dumpster. It bounced more than rolled as it headed towards the pins.

Harlequin Rainbow couldn’t stop himself from laughing as he watched.

Until it smashed into the pins and knocked them all over.

“Wooh!” Sunset cheered for herself.

“…huh,” Harlequin Rainbow scratched his head.

“Gonna roll again?” Sunset smugly raised an eyebrow at him.

His ball came back up from the returner and he nonchalantly grabbed it, getting ready for frame two. “Yes. And if you want a real chance at winning this game you had best try to get a Strike every time.”

This time there was no silly movement from his ball—it shot like a lightning bolt and practically obliterated the pins.

“Strike. Again,” he said to her.

“I don’t know if blowing up your pins should count…” Sunset snorted and got her ball again.

“They’re all still in one piece, it was just for theatrics,” Harlequin Rainbow shrugged.

“Whatever. I’m going to get those pins down my way,” Sunset said and this time put a little more magic into her horn, trying to levitate the bowling ball completely. She raised it over her head and threw it down the lane once more. “I’m gonna need to try this when I go bowling back home next time!”

The bowling ball thudded down the lane and smashed into the pins, once more knocking them all over.

“Yes!” Sunset jumped up in celebration.

“How does that keep happening?!” Harelquin Rainbow shouted in frustration.

“I’m just good at bowling I guess,” Sunset shrugged.

“Tch,” Harlequin Rainbow clicked his tongue and got his ball again, frustration clearly written on his face. He didn’t even take time to focus before unleashing his ball down the lane.

This time it was slightly off course though because of that and only blasted down nine pins instead of the full ten. A vein throbbed on his forehead as his ball came back and he quickly rectified the air, picking up the Spare.

“Oh, just a Spare huh? Well that’s almost as good,” Sunset held a hoof up to her mouth and laughed.

“Well you need a third Strike to win because I’ve just decided on a new rule—all ties go to me,” Harlequin Rainbow glared at her.

Sunset’s face fell but she only grumbled in annoyance before grabbing her ball again. “Okay, if that’s how it’s going to be then there’s only one thing to do.” She walked to the edge of the lane and took a deep breath, becoming much calmer than her previous tries. She placed the bowling ball down and gently pushed it forward with her magic.

Together she and Harlequin Rainbow watched as it slowly spun down the lane towards the pins. Instead of crashing into them it just sort of gently nudged the first few down which then fell into the ones behind them and then the ones behind them until all ten pins had fallen down once more. It was kind of a subdued way to end things but Sunset was more than satisfied with it.

“Turkey!” She shouted.

“How?!” Harlequin Rainbow held his hand out towards the lane. “You have to be cheating!”

“Excuse me? How could I be cheating? You literally made all this stuff,” Sunset scoffed.

“Oh shut up! Get back there with the others, take your stupid little win!” He grumbled and shooed her away.

“Gladly. It’s two to zero now,” Sunset proudly stuck up her head as she walked back to her friends where they all greeted her with smiles and hugs.

“Great job, Sunset!” Starlight said as she wrapped her hooves around her.

“Nice job bowling without fingers,” Spike gave her a thumbs up.

“I’ve never bowled before so I guess we got lucky with that one. I don’t think they even have bowling in Canterlot,” Moonlight said.

“Good job,” Glimmer said and hugged her briefly as well.

“Thanks guys. I think we’ve got this in the bag,” Sunset said to them.

“Puny dragon! You’re next!” Harlequin Rainbow yelled at them.

Spike frowned. “I guess he’s deciding the order now. Alright—wish me luck everybody.”

“Good luck, Spike!” Starlight said, joined by the others as they waved him off while he flew over to Harlequin Rainbow.

Spike plopped down and defiantly folded his arms in front of the tall Draconequus looking down menacingly at him, not showing any fear. “Bring it on.”

Harlequin Rainbow snapped his fingers and two portals opened up above him, dumping out a pair of stools and easels along with a stream of various paint brushes and tubes of paint that all landed perfectly in place. The portals closed back up a moment later and the stage lights once again all turned towards the new objects in the center of things.

“Painting contest,” Harlequin Rainbow said.

Spike scratched the back of his head as he looked at the easels and various painting tools. “Uh… I don’t think I’ve ever really painted before.”

“Exactly,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned.

“You’ve got this, Spike! Just do your best!” Sunset cheered for him.

“Let your creativity flow, Spikey-Wikey!” Rarity shouted from the audience.

“No chatter from the studio audience! Only applause is allowed!” Harlequin Rainbow yelled and Rarity immediately quieted down. “Anyways—let’s get to painting.”

“What are we painting?” Spike asked.

“Anything. We’ll both paint whatever we want for fifteen minutes and whoever has the better painting when time’s up will win,” the Draconequus smirked and sat down on his stool, several paintbrushes and tubes of paint floating up around him. “I’d get started quickly if I were you.”

“Art is subjective!” Moonlight shouted at him.

“The rest of you shut up too when you’re just spectating!” Harlequin Rainbow shouted at her, much more annoyed now after two losses.

Spike gulped and grabbed one of the paintbrushes and a few random tubes of paint, but he still had no idea what to actually create. Meanwhile across from him Harlequin Rainbow was already getting to work, several levitating brushes swiping and painting across his easel. And because they were facing each other Spike had absolutely no idea what he was painting. Spike frowned at he stared at his own blank canvas. What was something he could paint that would really get him passionate? Really make those creative juices flow. He looked down at his hand and saw that one of the tubes he had picked up was for purple paint. He looked at it deeply before staring at his blank canvas and nodded, now he knew what he wanted to paint.

Spike took a deep breath and blotched out some purple on the palette also provided to him before he got to work.

Compared to the previous two matches, this was almost completely silent as both Spike and Harlequin Rainbow focused entirely on their own painting and the audience was too nervous to say anything themselves now. Both painters went through all the colors of the rainbow and more as they diligently worked on their canvases. Splotches and drops of paint sometimes falling to the floor or dripping onto their hands. Not like you could really tell when it came to the tie-dye Draconequus but Spike was noticeably getting messy. He seemed really into it though and that was all anyone could ask for at the moment.

Starlight wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to be judged but she hoped the villain didn’t rig it.

Harlequin Rainbow himself was grinning the whole time, able to do many times as much work as Spike thanks to all the levitating paintbrushes working together. It was clear he was even more confident in winning this time than before.

“Five minutes,” he snidely said after ten minutes had passed.

Spike bit his lip and started to work faster, whatever he was painting was taking a lot of work. “Don’t rush it…” he told himself.

Spike’s eyes were glued to his canvas, his brow furrowed, and his paintbrush flowing over it with color after color being used. He wasn’t sure how good the painting was quality wise, but he was putting his all into it. He may not have ever taken any art classes but he cared about what he was painting right now and what was on the line.

“Time’s up,” Harlequin Rainbow announced and stopped.

“Done,” Spike said and dropped his brush, wiping away some sweat from his brow. “Whew.”

“Well alright then, I’m quite satisfied with what I’ve painted, let’s show them off,” Harlequin Rainbow said and turned his easel around so Spike and the audience could see it. What they saw on his canvas was almost incomprehensible to most of them—in fact only Twilight and Sunburst really knew what they were looking at. It looked to be almost a self-portrait but very broken up and angular with multiple levels of shading all around the tie-dye colors.

“Uh… what am I looking at?” Spike asked.

“It’s me, the best possible subject to paint, in the style of Cubism. Beat that,” Harlequin Rainbow smugly grinned.

“I guess I’ll try…” Spike shrugged and turned his easel around.

What everyone saw was a painting of Spike standing beside Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Elements of Harmony, with Starlight Glimmer, Shining Armor, Big Mac, and Discord there too. It wasn’t painted super well, in fact it was painted fairly childishly and the ponies and other creatures weren’t exceptionally well-detailed, but the heart was there. They were all standing and smiling together, with a bright blue sky and the sun overhead.

“It’s my friends and family. And my Ogres and Oubliettes buddies. I figured painting who I love most I’d be able to make the best painting possible,” Spike said.

“Aww,” the ponies in the audience cooed.

Harlequin Rainbow rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, but it’s clearly inferior to my painting in both style and talent.”

“I’d vote for Spike’s painting!” Starlight shouted to him.

“Well you’re not the judge here, I’m bringing in someone impartial,” Harlequin Rainbow said and snapped his fingers, a portal appearing above them and in-between the two paintings.

Out fell Amethyst Star, right onto her stomach. “Oof! What just happened?!” She grumbled and stood up, looking around in confusion. It didn’t take her long for her to realize the strange situation she was in. “Oh great, what have I gotten into now?”

“Forget about it, just look at these two paintings and tell us which one is better,” Harlequin Rainbow said to her.

“Uh…” Amethyst Star frowned and scratched her head as she looked at them both. At Harlequin’s she tilted her head back and forth a couple of times and shrugged, while at Spike’s she merely seemed unimpressed and disinterested. She sat down and thought harder while everyone watched her with bated breath. Until she nodded to herself and stood up. “I like the one with the smiling ponies more, it’s cute.”

“Yeah!” Spike pumped his fist.

“Oh thanks for absolutely nothing!” Harlequin Rainbow shouted and snapped his fingers, a portal appearing beneath Amethyst Star that she immediately fell into.

“WAGH!” The unicorn shouted as she vanished.

“Tch! Fine, take your third win and get back there with the others!” Harlequin Rainbow yelled at Spike and pointed at his friends. “And no gloating! This is outrageous!”

“Fine, fine, I’m going, sheesh,” Spike said and waddled off back to the others.

“Ms. Irrelevant! It’s your turn so hurry up and get over here!” Harlequin Rainbow yelled.

“He means me, right?” Moonlight pointed at herself.

Starlight smiled awkwardly. “Yeahhh...”

“Like I didn’t already figure,” Moonlight rolled her eyes. “I’m coming! And I’m not irrelevant!”

“You’re completely irrelevant. Especially compared to the others, didn’t you realize how out of place you are with them? Shouldn’t you have had the decency to know you were tagging along and being a fifth wheel? Pathetic,” Harlequin Rainbow snorted.

Moonlight’s hooves were shaking with anger for a moment before she gained a little control over herself. “Just start the next game. What are we doing?”

He reached behind his back once more and pulled two objects out—fiddles.

“Fiddle contest,” Harlequin Rainbow smirked and handed one of the fiddles and bows to Moonlight.

“Fiddles? Really?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. Glimmer just shrugged.

“Aint nothing wrong with fiddling!” Applejack cheered from the audience. “You saw that thing good, Starlight!”

“It’s Moonlight right now actually!” Moonlight yelled back to her. She looked at the fiddle and bow, turning it over and inspecting it before glaring up at the Harlequin. “So do we play at the same time and whoever can’t keep up loses or-”

“No,” Harlequin Rainbow propped the fiddle up on his shoulder and against his neck. “I will be playing my piece first and then you can play yours. Whoever’s fiddling is superior wins.” He chuckled. “This time I’ve got this in the bag and I’m about to show you why.”

He dragged the bow across the strings of his fiddle to create a single, sustained, note and then began to quickly cut across it to begin a strong, sizzling, country medley. The bowing was lively and exaggerated, he wasn’t just playing well on a technical level but was putting a lot of showmanship into it for excitement. Suddenly the melody would change from a fast-pitched dance tune to a harder plucking that would’ve signaled everyone to start stomping and clapping in step with the music. There were even some specific songs and traditional dance numbers that Applejack and Pinkie recognized that he started playing, suddenly molding them into his original tune to create an entirely new melody. All the ponies listening, even those not familiar with fiddling, had to admit his playing was both good and surprisingly passionate. It reached a crescendo as he sawed intensely on his fiddle, creating a fast and heart-pumping finale to his music before he finally slid the bow across the strings one last time to drag the finale out. Once he was done he pulled the bow away and took a bow.

The fake and invisible studio audience applauded him loudly, enough to make the ponies in attendance wince.

“Thank you, thank you, I am an amazing fiddler, I know,” Harlequin Rainbow grinned. He then shot a nasty glance at Moonlight. “Your turn.”

Moonlight exhaled through her nose, unimpressed, and stood up to get her fiddle in the right spot. “Alright then.”

She closed her eyes and slowly started to bow, dragging each note out at first almost like she was playing a violin but there was still a noticeably country twang to it. The intro was building up to something slowly but because of that it was already captivating.

Starlight and the others eyes widened in surprise as they listened.

“Do either of you know how to fiddle?” Sunset asked Starlight and Glimmer.

“Nope,” they answered.

Moonlight then sucked in a deep breath and swiftly began sawing at the fiddle relentlessly, already creating a faster-paced tune than anything Harlequin Rainbow played. It wasn’t just random jamming of the bow back and forth either, it was all a careful melody, an amazing tune just being played incredibly fast, the kind of song that made one want to grab a partner and start dancing.

She too played several classics purely from memory but at a higher level than even Applejack had heard any of her relatives play them. It was like she was at an Appleloosan party right now. Moonlight started to get really into it too, tapping one hoof on the ground and grinning madly while playing the fiddle with all her heart. Her short and fast bow strokes brought to mind the fastest paced dancing one could do, the ponies listening shaking in place just from hearing it. The sawing of her bow was getting intense enough where it almost seemed like some of the fiddle’s strings would snap. The country tunes she was creating were on a completely different level from the repeated songs that had been played earlier. And she was starting to get more and more original the longer she went on, reaching a fierce crescendo just like her opponent had but dragging it out even more despite how tired her legs must be getting. She flopped onto her back and started spinning around, pushing herself with her back legs, all while playing the fiddle at the same time. At the end of it she jumped back up and make a few last lightning fast short strokes before coming to a sudden end.

Moonlight breathed out as sweat poured from her brow, panting heavily she dragged a hoof across her forehead and grinned. She dropped the bow and fiddle to the floor and looked up at Harlequin Rainbow. “By the way—I’m an awesome fiddle player.”

“Get back in line,” he glared at her.

“Heh. Four to zero now,” Moonlight said and sauntered back to her friends.

Starlight stared at her in shock as she came back. “Where did you learn to fiddle?”

“Oh, back home there’s this obnoxious violinist who lives next door. I started to take up fiddling just to annoy her and her snobby musician friends,” Moonlight shrugged. “I hate Canterlot.”

Glimmer smiled but it wavered once she realized what had to happen now. “S-So I guess it’s-“

“It’s your turn, Empress,” Harlequin Rainbow called for her.

Glimmer gulped.

“You’ve got this,” Starlight said and placed a hoof on her back.

“Definitely, you can totally do this, you’re a way stronger mare than you think,” Spike said.

“But her Cutie Mark...” Moonlight whispered. “What if she can’t do something because it keeps her equalized?”

“Would it do that?” Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t worry about that,” Starlight said. “Glimmer, you’ve got this anyways.”

“Okay… at least someone believes in me even if I don’t,” Glimmer said and walked up to Harlequin Rainbow. “What are we playing?”

He snapped his fingers and another table appeared with a small box full of cards on top of it. A stool then sprouted up underneath Glimmer and forced her to sit down on it, right in front of the table. He then grabbed one of the cards from the box and grinned at her. “I saved you for last because I knew you were a guaranteed win for me. You’re the most pathetic of the bunch. What we’re doing is a simple trivia game, I ask you questions and you have to answer correctly. Get even a single one wrong and it’s over.”

“Oh! If it’s a trivia game let me sub in!” Twilight shouted from the audience.

A metal plate bolted itself over her mouth.

“Anyways-” Harlequin Rainbow leaned in and glared at Glimmer. “Do you understand?”

“Y-Yes,” Glimmer nodded.

“Good. First question then,” Harlequin Rainbow said and looked down at the card. “What element has the highest melting point?”

Glimmer’s eyes lit up and she smiled. “Oh—that’s easy, it’s tungsten.”

The card dropped out of his hand as he quietly spoke. “What… why... why do you know that?”

“Well I’ve been living with Twilight Sparkle for a while and pretty much haven’t been doing anything except staying in my room reading. That’s really the only thing I was doing to pass the time, and she has a huge library. I’ve kind of just been soaking up everything,” Glimmer said. “By the way the element with the lowest melting and boiling point is helium.”

Harlequin Rainbow brought a hand to his head, flat out perplexed and just disappointed rather than angry. “I don’t even...” He scowled and grabbed another card. “Next question: Granite is what type of rock?”

“Igneous.”

“What are the other types of rocks?”

“Sedimentary and Metamorphic.”

He grabbed a new card. “What are the highest forming clouds?”

“Cirrus.”

“Largest weather phenomena?”

“Hurricanes.”

“What’s hotter, a lightning bolt or the sun?”

“A lightning bolt.”

He swatted the box of cards away. “What gets wet while drying?”

“A towel—but that’s not-”

“What has legs but doesn’t walk?”

“A table.”

“If you’re running in a race and you pass the pony in second place, what place are you in?”

“Second place.”

Harlequin Rainbow was completely seething as he glared down at Glimmer. “What’s the square root of one million?”

“Oh, um, just one thousand,” Glimmer shrugged. “That’s just simple math, it’s easy when you’re doing anything divisible by ten.”

“Arrrrggggghhhh!” Harlequin Rainbow roared and smashed the table. “Fine! You win!”

“Oh. Thanks,” Glimmer blinked.

“Hooray! We did it!” Starlight yelled and she and the others ran over to congratulate Glimmer.

“Great job, you nailed it!” Spike said to her.

“Wow, even without your Cutie Mark, really impressive,” Moonlight grinned.

“Nice going,” Sunset hugged her.

“T-Thanks… all of you,” Glimmer blushed.

Starlight then smirked up at Harlequin Rainbow. “Well, that’s five wins. You lose.”

The Harlequin glared down at her—before his eyes shifted to the side. “What do you mean? I said you needed six wins.”

“You so did not!” Starlight shouted at him.

“Yeah, what’s the big idea?” Spike asked, frowning.

“You need six wins,” Harlequin Rainbow defiantly put his hands on his “hips”. “Yes, six I say. And you have to win by two.”

“Well we’re already up by five already so...” Moonlight said.

“Shut up!” Harlequin Rainbow snapped his fingers and a baseball appeared in his hand. “Now we’re playing baseball, all of you on a team against me, you’re not winning this time!”

---

Smack!

The loud rapport of Starlight’s bat smashing the baseball high over the field and into the stands rang out through the entire stadium. Her teammates cheered as they all started to run around the bases, Starlight bringing them home in a Grand Slam. Spike, on the sidelines, whistled and waved them all in.

Harlequin Rainbow dropped his glove and his jaw in shock as he stood on the pitcher’s mound.

“I turned the ball invisible! How did you hit it?!” He yelled in disbelief. “S-S-Seven! You need to win seven times! Baking contest!”

---

Spike pulled his newly created cookies out of the oven, sparkling with tiny gemstone chips.

Garble took one bite and gave him a thumb’s up. “Spike wins.”

“Arrggghhh!” Harlequin Rainbow threw his cake to the ground. “Dance contest!”

---

Sunset and Moonlight tangoed together across the dance floor, the stage lights overhead following their each and every move while the audience watched, thoroughly mesmerized. At the end of it, Sunset dipped Moonlight down low while Moonlight levitated a rose over and stuck it behind Sunset’s ear. Pulling her back up, the pair of unicorns took a bow to the sounds of applause.

Harlequin Rainbow meanwhile kept tripping over his clone’s feet. “Urgh… p-poetry contest!”

---

“-And to sleep, and to never dream, no, never again,” Glimmer somberly said as she finished up the last line of her poem. The response was muted but no less powerful from the creatures who had been listening and Spike even wiped a tear from his eye.

Harlequin Rainbow tore up his own poem. “Ice sculpting!”

---

Starlight’s perfectly tuned beams of magic carved up the large block of ice in front of her, for a while it was difficult to tell what she was creating but the intricate details soon emerged. The others watching her ooh’d in wonder as a perfect recreation of Canterlot Castle emerged from the block of ice. It was almost impossible to think that something could’ve been carved so well from ice but she had managed to do it. Starlight stepped away and admired her work with a pleased grin and nod.

Harlequin Rainbow’s ice sculpture of a flying pig paled in comparison.

“Calvinball!”

---

Moonlight threw Spike to Glimmer, who he jumped off of and through a hoop while Sunset smashed a hockey puck with her stick into a goal and Starlight backflipped into a ball pit.

“Ten points!” Spike shouted.

“No way!” Harlequin Rainbow collapsed to his knees. “No way, no way, no way!”

Starlight climbed out of the ball pit and walked over to the others as they all came together. “Well looks like we won that game too.”

Harlequin Rainbow grabbed his head, his eyes spinning around as he pulled on his scalp. “NUTS TO THIIIIIIIISSSSSS!”

“Hey, they were your rules,” Starlight shrugged.

“Seriously. Sore loser,” Moonlight snorted.

“Yeah you couldn’t even win once,” Sunset said.

“It was pretty stacked in your favor too...” Glimmer said.

“I didn’t expect you to actually win though! I only said that because it would be funnier when you lost!” Harlequin Rainbow stood up and glared at them.

“Well you still lost, so keep up your end of the deal,” Spike folded his arms and glared right back.

“NO!” Harlequin Rainbow shouted. “That’s not happening! I don’t care that I lost, I’m not letting things go this way! I don’t care if it has to be boring now—if it comes down to sheer force, if I have to destroy you all myself, then so be it! Forget having fun, forget beating you fair and square in these silly games, I just want to obliterate you now and flood this world with chaos! You’re done!”

He snapped his fingers and the floor came alive, it turned into a wave that smacked into the five of them and sent them sprawling to the ground.

The captive ponies in the audience who didn’t have their mouths shut yelled out for their friends as they saw the situation start to take a turn for the worse.

“Starlight, look out!” Trixie yelled.

“Spike!” Rarity yelled.

Starlight got up and looked around, Glimmer and Moonlight right next to her while Sunset and Spike were getting up, but Harlequin Rainbow had disappeared. “Everyone—be careful!”

“You don’t have to worry about them.”

The voice came right from under her hooves and Starlight looked down to see a dark, oozing, portal right beneath her. Harlequin Rainbow’s head popped out and he grinned at her.

“It’s just you I’m going to destroy right now,” a hand reached out and grabbed her leg, pulling her down.

“Starlight!” Glimmer yelled and grabbed her tail, also getting yanked in right as Moonlight grabbed on as well.

Together the three Starlight Glimmer’s were pulled into darkness—Spike and Sunset jumping right at the dark portal the moment it closed up and turned back into a normal floor. Spike looked on in horror, clawing at the floor, trying to dig into it, even though he knew that it was pointless. Sunset grimaced and shook her head, looking back at the Elements of Harmony and the others tied up in the audience. Now what?

Fault

They had been in nothing but total darkness for a moment, falling without a sense of direction. When that stopped, Starlight had ended up on some sort of rocky ground, her vision blurry. She stood up and looked around to see a rather chaotic scene. She was standing on a large flat rock floating through the air, with many similar little boulders, platforms, and “planets” floating around her as well. The sky, if it could even be called that, was a mix of colors that was impossible to tell how far or close away it was. It all stretched down to the ground as well, becoming a spherical void that seemed to stretch in every direction. More random objects like clocks, trees, houses, strange animals, and clouds also floated by in the madness.

“Where are we?”

Starlight glanced behind her to see Glimmer and Moonlight standing up as well and looking around in confusion.

“We’re in the realm of chaos,” Starlight said. “This is Discord’s home.”

“Was Discord’s home, you mean.”

Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight looked up to see Harlequin Rainbow levitating above them with a smug grin on his face.

“And now the time for games is over,” he said. “You should know how godlike my power is, especially here, and there’s absolutely nothing you three can do. You’re not the Elements. I only wanted to destroy Starlight right now but three for the price of one does sound like an even better deal admittedly.”

“Big talk for someone who couldn’t even beat me at Scrabble! You don’t deserve to have Discord’s home or his chaos magic!” Starlight yelled.

“Yeah, you should be the one afraid of us!” Moonlight yelled.

“Um, y-yeah,” Glimmer gulped.

Harlequin Rainbow scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Please. It’s an entirely different situation now. I’m going to show you exactly how doomed you are.” He snapped his fingers and his Draconequus body morphed back into an earth pony body and he dropped down to a large rock, standing at the edge of it and grinning at them. “Come on, I’ll fight you like this at first, give you an even hoofing. You’ll see that you can’t do anything. It’s hopeless.”

“If it’s finally come down to a fight then that’s what you’re going to get,” Starlight glared to him and looked at her alternates. “Come on girls!”

“Uhh...” Moonlight hesitated, the reality of the situation setting in. “I know what I said but… are we really going to fight? I don’t really know how to fight—or know half as much magic as the two of you do.”

“And I can’t even use my magic right now. What are we going to do?” Glimmer asked Starlight.

“We have to do something,” Starlight persisted. “Listen to him, look at what he’s done, we’re the only ones who can stop him. For our friends, our worlds, all worlds everywhere, it’s up to us. I never wanted things to come down to a fight at all if it could be avoided, and I wish Twilight was here too, but she’s not. Whether we like it or not we have to do this.”

Moonlight sighed and looked up at where Harlequin Rainbow was. “I guess this is just another aspect of saving the world...”

Starlight grinned. “You’ve got that right.”

“I’ll… I’ll do whatever I can too. I’m not sure how much help I’ll be but I still have a lot to make up for,” Glimmer said.

“Okay,” Starlight nodded and lit up her horn. “Get ready, girls.”

Her horn flashed and she teleported the three of them right up onto the same floating rock as Harlequin Rainbow. Immediately she fired a blast of magic at his face as well, but Harlequin Rainbow had seen it coming from a mile away and his whole body seemed to crumple inward while he jumped to the side—dodging it easily. He may have been staying in the “form” of an earth pony but it seemed like he had no problem messing around with that form and doing things no normal creature could. Moonlight, not having much fighting experience just like she said, didn’t attempt to use magic and instead tried to tackle him to the ground. He liquefied his own body and turned into a puddle, oozing over the ground beneath her as she flew past him and landed with a thud on the rock.

“You’ll have to do better than that~” the puddle spoke as he reformed and grinned at them.

Starlight fired more lasers at him but he either danced out of the way or simply had a hole open up in his body so the lasers passed right through anyways. While he was focusing on her though, Moonlight had run up behind him and tried to replicate Starlight—focusing her magic as well as she could into a pure beam and firing it off at the back of his head. Before it hit, a horn sprouted from his head and lit up red—a barrier appearing around his entire body that shielded him easily from her attack.

“Tch!” Moonlight clicked her tongue in frustration.

“Come on, I’m not even trying,” Harlequin Rainbow laughed and dropped the shield.

Glimmer picked up a small rock and threw it at him.

He just swatted it out of the air with a hoof and rolled his eyes. “Really?”

“I-I don’t like violence,” Glimmer said.

“You were halfway to being psychotic before you met her,” Harlequin Rainbow pointed at Starlight.

“And that’s exactly why...”

While they were talking, Moonlight ran up behind him and took a swipe at his head but he ducked underneath it. She didn’t just give up there though, the angry unicorn kept throwing more punches at him even as he easily dodged and stepped around her. She couldn’t land anything and Harlequin Rainbow laughed the whole time.

“Ahahahaha! Come on, come on!” He taunted.

Starlight used her magic to create a wall of crystal behind him that he bumped into, keeping him from moving away. Moonlight now had a straight shot at his face and she took it—but his head just popped off and she ended up punching the wall of crystals instead. As she recoiled in pain, he put his head back on and kicked her away. Moonlight fired a reckless blast of magic at him as she fell away but a portal merely opened up in front of him that it disappeared into.

And then came out of a second portal above Starlight.

The beam of magic came crashing down, almost hitting her directly if she hadn’t noticed it in the nick of time and jumped away, but still getting hit by debris and the force of the blast. Both she and Moonlight were already feeling the pain and strain a little bit.

“Glimmer, we need you to help out more!” Moonlight said to her as she went to stand by Starlight’s side.

“I-I know, but I...” Glimmer hesitated.

“Are you going to just stand there and talk?” Harlequin Rainbow interrupted. “If that’s the case, I think I’ll go on offense starting now.”

He ran at them with a smile while Starlight braced herself and lit up her horn.

“All three of us, together!” Starlight shouted.

Glimmer bit her lip but nodded and joined Starlight and Moonlight. Harlequin Rainbow wasn’t using any magic just yet as he came at them, it seemed he was going to fight with his hooves. Starlight encased herself in a magical aura and stepped forward to meet him first so Moonlight and Glimmer would be okay and could potentially attack him while they traded blows. His hoof went sailing past her head as Starlight dodged it and threw a punch towards his head as well. For now he wasn’t treating his body like liquid, he was dodging and moving more normally, probably having fun playing with her. They traded several blows, neither of them actually landing a solid hit, with Starlight bolstered and protected by her magical aura. She wasn’t a hoof fighter like this so the best she could really do was use her magic to upgrade herself. Moonlight and Glimmer were incapable of even that so it was likely they were just going to have to try brawling or the most basic sort of tackles.

Speaking of, after a punch from Starlight had been jumped back from, Moonlight came at Harlequin Rainbow’s side and tried punching him. He spun on his hooves and twisted around her, then jumped to dodge the buck from her legs in return. Glimmer came at him from behind but she was slow, her attempted punch at his back legs was avoided and he kicked her in the stomach to knock her away. Right then Starlight jumped at him, trying to land on him just as much as punch him, but he stepped to the side and punched her in the face—sending her right towards Glimmer and causing the other mare to have to grab her and keep her from falling to the ground. That would’ve hurt a lot more without her magical aura. Moonlight attempted another attack on her own, wildly throwing out punches as she glared furiously at the Harlequin but his head bobbed and weaved between them all before he kicked her aside.

“Ahahahahaha, so pointless, so pointless! I’m not even using my chaos magic right now and you can’t do anything! How hopeless this is for you!” Harlequin Rainbow laughed as he bounced away from them so all three were in front of him.

Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight picked themselves up and ran at him but his horn spark red and he unleashed a wave of magic at them. It ran at high speed across the surface of the floating rock they were on, crashing into the three mares and knocking them to the ground.

“Ngh!” Starlight grunted as she hit the ground but immediately found herself lifted up, caught in a red aura of magic.

Harlequin Rainbow grinned sadistically at her. “Is this really the best you can do?”

A turquoise beam of magic came right at his head so he blocked it with a shield—Starlight falling back to the ground. He looked over at Moonlight, her horn smoking.

“Don’t touch her! I’m not letting you hurt either of my friends!” Moonlight shouted.

“Pathetic,” Harlequin Rainbow scoffed and kicked Starlight backwards, knocking her into Glimmer and throwing them both to nearly the edge of the floating rock.

“You?!” Moonlight roared and fired more beams of magic at Harlequin Rainbow, she was wild and uncontrolled but she had the same raw power as Starlight. Unfortunately every beam was easily blocked by his own shields or swallowed up by portals that fired them into the abyss. But right now Moonlight just wanted to occupy him so Starlight and Glimmer could recover—she fired a powerful beam at his hooves to blow up a chunk of the rock he was standing on and obscuring him in a cloud of dust.

Glimmer and Starlight picked themselves up, Glimmer helping Starlight up a little bit.

“Are you alright?” Glimmer asked.

“For now...” Starlight panted and brushed some dirt of her coat. “Glimmer, if you can’t fight directly just stay back and try to support us, okay?”

“B-But, I-” Glimmer hesitated. “I want to help but… m-my magic… I-I can’t...”

“It’s okay, Moonlight and I can take him down, we’ll do this,” Starlight said, but Glimmer could see that she was mostly trying to convince herself of that.

Starlight trotted out to join Moonlight, leaving Glimmer behind to watch them.

Harlequin Rainbow rose from the cloud of dust, his horn glowing red, levitating himself but still more or less using only “normal” magic. “I guess it’s time for a magic fight? This is going to be even more hopeless for you.”

“Moonlight, give me a second,” Starlight said and lit her horn up, a magical aura appearing around Moonlight’s body.

“What are you doing?” Moonlight asked.

“You can fly now. Come on, we’re taking him down,” Starlight said and floated up in the air with her own magic.

Moonlight blinked, looking at the magic around her and simply listened to her instincts, flying up after Starlight. “Cool.”

The two unicorns hovered in air, glowing from the effect of Starlight’s magic. Harlequin Rainbow renewed his offense as soon as they reached the same level as him, firing a pair of magical beams at them. Both unicorns flew around the red beams and fired lasers of their own at him, a spherical barrier popping up to protect him, the lasers simply running themselves out on it. Once the lasers were done he dropped his barrier and created several large hands of magic and sent them flying at the two unicorns. Some hands balled into fists, others stayed open and attempted to slap or grab Starlight and Moonlight. Moonlight started flying around trying to avoid them while Starlight just blasted them to pieces. Moonlight then saw one of the various floating objects in the void—a washing machine—and grasped it with her magic, throwing it at Harlequin Rainbow.

He simply scoffed and lowered another floating island in front of him, the washing machine slamming into it and breaking it apart, debris now flying everywhere in the chaotic realm.

For a moment all the debris blocked Moonlight’s vision of him—so she didn’t notice when he teleported behind her and blasted her with a beam of magic at Starlight. Moonlight cried out in pain as she went flying through the air but Starlight was able to catch her with a soft pillow of magic. Moonlight rubbed her slightly burnt and bruised back before glaring at the obnoxious Harlequin.

He smiled and waved back at the two of them while dozens of portals suddenly started to open up all across the realm of chaos.

“Uhhh...” Moonlight grimaced as she looked around.

“Probably not good,” Starlight said.

Harlequin Rainbow’s horn lit up and numerous missiles of red magic shot out from it, all of them going into the portals and coming out of new ones. It created a swarm of magic in the air, red bullets shooting all across the realm. It wasn’t completely random but there was so much going on that it was still impossible for Starlight and Moonlight to keep track of them all. They had to contend with dozens of missiles coming at them from every direction, sometimes multiple at once. Starlight was good with her own barriers, but sometimes she had to move Moonlight because the other mare wasn’t as quick or adept with her own magic.

Frustrated, Starlight drew Moonlight closed to her and created a simple sphere around the both of them, weathering the storm of magic until it had mostly stopped. Only a few remaining bullets of magic shot through the realm until they disappeared off into the void.

“What a boring solution, you couldn’t have tried to keep dodging and shielding them individually?” Harlequin Rainbow huffed.

Starlight then teleported behind him and tried to smash him with a large hammer of magic but he blocked it with an instantaneous shield over his head. A whip of red magic then curled around her body and threw her into the air just in time for him to move the shield to block the beam of magic from Moonlight aimed at his body.

“This is starting to get boring,” he said and his red aura engulfed one of the large floating islands in the vicinity and pushed it towards Starlight and Moonlight. It was too large for it to move fast but it was massive enough to make it difficult to avoid.

Starlight had to fly over to Moonlight and grab her, quickly teleporting them on top of the island as it crashed into an upside-down tree that was floating by. There was a half-house half-windmill on top of the island. Starlight frowned at it and got an idea.

Harlequin Rainbow looked up as he heard a heavy breaking noise come from the top of the thrown island and saw a half-house half-windmill falling towards him.

“Huh,” he tilted his head and fired an explosive beam of magic at it.

The entire building was blasted apart—to reveal Starlight and Moonlight flying towards him, having hidden behind it. The two pressed their horns together and fired a single combined beam of powerful magic at him, more powerful than any spell they had used so far. It was the kind of magic that the average pony could only ever dream of. The turquoise magic had a powerful shine to it, spiraling towards Harlequin Rainbow.

The new Lord of Chaos grinned as a vortex appeared over his head and the beam of magic was sucked in.

It didn’t matter how powerful it was. It was gone.

Starlight and Moonlight’s jaws dropped while Harlequin Rainbow’s horn sparked and a blast of red lightning shot at them. Starlight put up a shield but the lightning crashed right through it and electrocuted the two mares. Shocking and lighting them up painfully.

“AHHHGGHHH!” Starlight and Moonlight screamed.

“Starlight! Moonlight!” Glimmer shouted from below.

The electrocution stopped as Harlequin Rainbow canceled his magic and let the two unicorns fall back down through the air. They landed with a pained thud right on the floating rock they had started on—right in front of Glimmer. Both of them were still conscious, but in no condition to get up and fight anymore. Glimmer ran over to check on them, their coats and manes were burnt slightly but at least they were breathing.

“Guess that’s it.”

Glimmer looked up, seeing Harlequin Rainbow floating in the air above their rock—back in his Draconequus body. Starlight stirred as well and silently glared at him.

“Pathetic. But it’s not like there was any hope for you. I’m basically invincible and immortal right now with my control over all chaos. Fighting was never going to work out for you. And even if you had beaten me, which is impossible, I’ve already made sure you’ll never have a happy ending. Now it’s just time to erase your bothersome existence,” he lifted a hand and got ready to snap his fingers, but paused. “Wait—I remembered something else.” His eyes shifted over to Glimmer and he smirked. “Since you’re here too, I might as well tell you something very amusing.”

Glimmer gulped in fear, confused, and trembling, as Starlight and Moonlight tried to stand up but found their bodies still failing them.

“Miss Former Empress. Miss pathetic Glimmer. The one who even here and now when everything is all on the line couldn’t do anything. What a waste of space, what a useless friend. Even now you couldn’t contribute anything helpful,” he snickered and glanced at Starlight. “You remember how I told you I owed you for everything? That was only half-true. In reality… I never would’ve even been born if it wasn’t for her.”

“W-What? What are you talking about?” Glimmer asked.

“Ahahahaha! Shouldn’t you know? All the chaos you caused in your very own world—nullifying your Discord and the Tree of Harmony, brainwashing all of Equestria, everything you did that had absolutely nothing to do with Starlight’s interference? You think you can do that and not have it have any consequences? Hah! But most of all, was this-” Harlequin Rainbow snapped his fingers and a book appeared in his hand. A very familiar book.

“My manifesto...” Glimmer whispered.

“Yes, your updated manifesto that Starlight over there tried to take with her back home. Oops! It fell through a rift in space and time and ended up elsewhere in Starlight’s world, where it was used most heinously. Something that never should’ve existed, in this world or any other. That was the final spark I needed to come into existence. Even with what Starlight did, it never would’ve happened without you. And it wasn’t even Starlight’s fault that she went to your world in the first place. Your actions were what brought her there!” Harlequin Rainbow started laughing loudly. “Starlight’s been the one charged with going around and fixing the space-time continuum, but truly it’s not even on her! All of this, reality almost ending, me taking Discord’s powers, me about to destroy Starlight and all of her wretched friends, all of it is YOUR FAULT!”

He sadistically grinned down at her while Glimmer stared ahead, Starlight and Moonlight both looking at her as well.

Glimmer finally looked up at him.

“So what?”

Harlequin Rainbow’s face fell. “Huh?”

“So what if it’s my fault? I already know I’m responsible for horrible things. I’ve never denied or avoided that,” Glimmer frowned at him. “You seem to be mistaken about me. If this is all my fault—I’m not going to freak out or curl up and cry about it. I’ve never been the type to just give up and quit when I think something is wrong. I’ve always wanted to change it myself. Even when struggling with self-pity… I never wanted to stop helping the world around me. And right now… the world needs help… my friends need help!”

She reached up and pulled her shawl off, throwing it away into the wind and then tore off her necklace, holding it up in front of her eyes. Harlequin Rainbow glared intensely at her, angry that his taunts and words meant to break her had the opposite effect. Now she was full of resolve, hope, and strength,

“I don’t know if I’ve earned this. I don’t know if I can be trusted with the power. But what I do know is that you need to be stopped!” Glimmer yelled and smashed the necklace on the ground.

Her Cutie Mark zoomed free of the shattered glass—shooting back to her flank. Color washed over her body and mane, magical power rippled off of her, and a bright light came forth.

Trio

A superbly radiant light flashed from where Glimmer stood, growing in intensity and power until Harlequin Rainbow had to squeeze his eyes shut and look away—lest he be blinded by its magnificence. The entire floating island she and the other two Starlights were standing on became bathed in light and was totally obscured from view. Even when he managed to open his eyes just a slit, all he saw was a dazzling array of rainbow beams and a great white sun in the center of it all.

A growl of frustration escaped his Draconequus throat as he felt his chaos magic evaporating from the light’s glow.

“W-What’s going ooon?!”

---

Warm light cascaded over Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight as they held each other hoof in hoof. Despite the intense brilliance of the light it didn’t hurt their eyes at all as they faced each other, only a great feeling of love of friendship was welling up from their chests. They almost didn’t know what was happening themselves—possessed almost by an indescribable harmony they found themselves together like this shortly after Glimmer returned her Cutie Mark to herself. Their exhaustion was gone. Their hesitation was gone. Their doubts were gone. They floated in the light, just the three of them together, with only one thing left to do.

“Everything we’ve been through...” Starlight slowly said.

“Everything I’ve seen since changing...” Glimmer said.

“Everything I’ve learned about myself and others...” Moonlight said.

“All of it is what’s lead us here.”

“All of it is what makes life beautiful.”

“All of it is why we need to come through.”

Starlight smiled and tightly gripped the hooves of Glimmer and Moonlight. The two of them smiled and sagely nodded back to her.

“Out of infinite possibilities the three of us were still able to meet each other and become friends. So now...”

“With these hooves-”

“And with our hearts-”

“We’ll save everyone!”

Their horns lit up in unison and a grand magical power burst out from the trio.

---

“Ngh—now what?!” Harlequin Rainbow said as the light show disappeared, replaced by the turquoise burst of magic that washed over the chaotic realm for a moment before subsiding. It didn’t harm him or bother his eyes like the dazzling lights just before it though. After all, it was just unicorn magic from a few Starlight Glimmers. How could that harm the Lord of Chaos?

And now that it was over he stared back down at the floating island where the three of them were to see them standing together and defiantly staring up at him.

Harlequin Rainbow folded his arms over his chest and stared back, unimpressed. “Oh? Is that all? The light show was a bit excessive but all you did was give yourself back your Cutie Mark.” He smirked at Glimmer. “I thought something important was happening.”

A mocking chuckle came up from his throat before he burst out into extravagant laughter, slapping his knees and guffawing until exaggerated waterfalls of tears came from his eyes. He snapped his fingers and a spigot appeared out of thin air that he twisted until the tears stopped, then straightened back up and smugly continued to glare at the three of them. While his tie-dye colors shifted and merged back and forth he clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“So disappointing. You’re still just three pathetic ponies—more pathetic than average even,” he widely threw out his arms. “What do you even think you can do? I am the Lord of Chaos now! You aren’t the Elements of Harmony, you can’t stop me, there’s absolutely nothing-”

A huge beam of turquoise magic blasted through the air towards him and vaporized his left arm.

Harlequin Rainbow blinked, first looking down at Starlight’s smoking horn and then glancing over at his arm. It had been blown away at the elbow and the stump left over was bubbling and oozing in a thick oil of tie-dye colors.

What? Harlequin Rainbow thought, stunned.

“Let’s go!” Starlight shouted.

“Right!” Glimmer and Moonlight shouted in unison.

Together the three of them hopped from jagged island to island, or even jumping on some of the random objects floating through the world of chaos. All towards their opponent.

Starlight landed on an island to his left and fired another beam of magic at him but this time Harlequin Rainbow split his head down the middle and let it harmlessly pass between the two halves. Glimmer then landed beneath him and created a rope of turquoise magic that went shooting up towards his legs. Harlequin Rainbow scoffed and moved away from it—right towards a bunch of clocks, bowling balls, wardrobes, and bicycles that were being thrown at him by Moonlight.

“Oh please,” Harlequin Rainbow snapped his fingers and all the objects disappeared through a series of portals he created.

A mallet of magic then came at him from below, created and swung by Starlight. But with a smirk, Harlequin Rainbow grabbed Glimmer’s rope with his tail as it passed by and tangled it up with the mallet. The two of them got their magic all twisted up and were yanked towards each other. While they were flying through the chaotic air, Harlequin Grew snapped his fingers and created a flaming trashcan that he prepared to throw at the two of them.

However, a net of magic wrapped itself around the trashcan and pulled it away. Harlequin Rainbow scowled, looking over his shoulder at the culprit, Moonlight.

Starlight and Glimmer both canceled their magic as they got closer and instead of smacking into each other—they reached their hooves out and swung around each others legs, Starlight now flying towards the island Glimmer was on and vice versa. As soon as they landed, Starlight shot up another beam of magic at Harlequin Rainbow and so did Glimmer.

He didn’t dodge this time, instead creating two portals and letting the beams of magic go through them—and exit out towards themselves.

However before the beams could hit their very creators—shields popped up in front of them—courtesy of Moonlight.

“You’re getting very annoying!” Harlequin Rainbow’s head twisted around like an owl’s so he could glare at her.

But in his moment of distraction another rope of magic wrapped itself around his body. Harlequin Rainbow’s eyes opened in surprise before he was thrown up through the air by Glimmer’s rope. Right into the path of an even more gigantic mallet of magic created by Starlight. It was bigger than his entire body and it smashed right into him and knocked him down to a lower floating island. He impacted it with enough force to send cracks through the entire island.

And it hurt.

It actually hurt him as the Lord of Chaos.

Meanwhile Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight landed together on another island and stared down at him this time.

“Are you having trouble keeping up with all three of us at once? I thought we were just pathetic ponies?” Starlight mockingly grinned at him.

I am having trouble with them. Harlequin Rainbow begrudgingly admitted before sitting up and floating off the island as it broke apart beneath him. Keeping track of three Starlight Glimmers at once was proving to be a lot of trouble—way more trouble than when it was just two of them. And the way they were working together so flawlessly, it was almost unnatural.

“You still can’t do anything to me. Not anything permanent,” he said and the bubbling of his arm stopped as a fresh new tie-dye appendage appeared in his place. He smirked as he floated up to their level. “Good as new. And now I’m going to show you exactly why things are utterly hopeless for you.”

He snapped his fingers and a hurricane of wind started up in the chaos realm, centered around him and the three Starlight Glimmers. That was hardly all either. Flying pies with bat wings, laughing fish, self-playing instruments with eyeballs, and steam-powered tractors and washing machines flew through the air. The strange and downright silly objects were flying along with the wind, all spiraling towards the three Starlight Glimmers. Harlequin Rainbow knew they could teleport, knew they could do any number of things, and he was keeping his fingers ready to snap in case of any of it.

Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight looked to each other as the hurricane of objects got ready to crash in on them and nodded. They closed their eyes and leaned their horns together so the three tips touched. A powerful glow came from their horns and a turquoise wave of magic shot forth from the unicorns. There was no direction, no real spell, the three of them let their hearts guide the magic within them. A huge wall, a sphere of magic from Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight expanded across the chaos realm. It blew away the floating island they had been standing on along with the wind and all the crazy objects created by Harlequin Rainbow. It kept expanding out further and further too, the powerful, fast, wall of turquoise magic was going right towards the tie-dye Draconequus.

Harlequin Rainbow snapped his fingers and summoned a vacuum cleaner to suck it all up, but even when he turned it on the vacuum was merely turned to dust once the turquoise magic hit it.

His eyes didn’t even have the chance to widen before the magic hit him too and Harlequin Rainbow was knocked backwards by it, carried off further into the insane chaos realm before he hit the back of a flying upside-down house while the magic from the unicorns finally died down. He peeled himself off the wall and angrily glared in the direction of the three. “This shouldn’t be happening… I am the Lord of Chaos, only the Elements should be able to do something like this to me. So how? How are they doing this!”

A snap of his fingers and he teleported in front of and above them while they floated in an aura of turquoise magic.

“You think any of that means anything? I’m still basically a god right now, you can’t win. It’s inevitable that you’ll fall before me,” he said.

Glimmer and Moonlight responded with twin laser blasts of magic at him. He bent his body at impossible angles to let them harmlessly pass him by—right up until they bounced off a mirror of magic created by Starlight behind him. The lasers hit him and caused a painful electrical surge across his entire body. While he was shaking and convulsing from that, another hammer made from Starlight hit him in the stomach and knocked him up into the air. Spinning end over end, he came to a stop just in time to see Glimmer and Moonlight levitating in front of him and charging up two explosive blasts of magic on their horns. They fired their magic at him and Harlequin Rainbow was caught in a huge and painful explosion, blasted down across the chaotic realm once more, floating through the air while leaving a smoky trail behind.

I get it now… he narrowed his eyes. Three souls as one… three mares so different but the same as well… from so far away, from different lives, but joined together now… working together to accomplish something. It’s Harmony!

A few dazzling beams of turquoise light arcing through the chaos realm caught his attention and he stopped himself, snapping his fingers and removing all the soot and smoke from around him—just as good again. But the source of the light was still a bit concerning. The three Starlight Glimmer’s were floating together once more, magic gathered at their horns as they pointed them at him.

Harlequin Rainbow scoffed. “Fine. If that’s how you want to do things. There’s still only three of you—you’re just frauds! You’re nothing I really have to be afraid of, you can’t do the real thing, you can’t stand in their place.” He held out his left arm and extended his pinky finger at them. “Give me your best shot. I’ll stop you without any effort at all.”

Three beams of magic shot forth from the Starlight Glimmer’s towards him—spiraling around each other but never meeting. He focused all the chaotic power he had in his new body into his pinky finger right as the trio of beams hit, a flashing burst of magic shooting all around him now as he held the turquoise blasts back. The trio of beams still fought against him, Starlight, Glimmer and Moonlight throwing everything they had into them. Their magic wasn’t letting up for an instant. He still just kept his pinky extended—blocking it all with a smirk on his face.

“Is that it?” He mocked.

Meanwhile, Starlight, Glimmer and Moonlight were all sweating and gritting their teeth intensely as they kept pushing all the magic they had into their beams. They reached for each others hooves and gripped each other tightly—the magic glowing brighter and stronger along with them.

Harlequin Rainbow’s face dropped as he both felt and saw the much more powerful magic pushing against him. His entire left hand now extended to block it, then his right hand now along with it while beams of light shot past and around him, nearly blinding him with their power. It was so much more powerful than before, his chaos magic was being overwhelmed.

“T-This is still… this is still nothing!” He shouted. A tie-dye aura came from around him as he tried to pull up as much power as the incarnation of chaos as he could.

For a moment they were evenly matched. The magic from the three Starlights and the chaos magic from Harlequin Rainbow failed to move.

“I am the Lord of Chaos! No matter what I will—I will-!” Harlequin Rainbow shouted.

“And no matter what-” Starlight yelled.

“We’re going to stop you and save the world!” Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight yelled together. Their individual beams of turquoise magic, spiraling around one another, then combined into one pure beam of rainbow magic. Shining so much brighter than before—brighter than the sun—it lit up the entire chaos realm.

Like a lance of pure harmony it pierced through everything Harlequin Rainbow had summoned up to block it and overwhelmed him completely. The rainbow laser washed over him and blew his body to pieces while he yelled in frustration, his voice echoing for far longer than any shout should.

The three Starlight Glimmers horns’ powered down and they collapsed against each other in a heap. Sweating, panting with exhaustion. But they still managed to smile to each other.

“This doesn’t matter...”

The three of them perked up, shocked, and looked ahead to where Harlequin Rainbow used to be.

What was there, floating in that empty space now, was a cloud of tie-dye blobs and remnants of chaos magic, all darkening and swirling around towards a black center. A horribly cold sensation overcame the mares and the previously lit up chaos realm began to shake and crack. Starlight held the others close and narrowed her eyes at the phenomenon, refusing to back down or be frightened. Even as a wind picked up, ruffling her mane and tail, pulling dust and going towards the strangely changing remains of Harlequin Rainbow. Starlight stood courageously for the sake of Glimmer and Moonlight.

They saw her and both of them glanced at one another—with a curt nod they then stood tall with her.

“When one door closes… another one opens...” the disembodied voice of Harlequin Rainbow said as his remains and the chaos magic continued to spiral together into a black and quickly expanding sphere. “An ending is a new beginning, death is merely a transformation, and with my body’s death—I become chaos itself.”

All of the remains and magic were completely swallowed up by the black sphere as it now started to suck in everything else around it in the chaos realm. It grew and grew outwards towards them, so dark light could not escape, pulling them and the wind around them. The size of a house, city hall, a mansion, and growing bigger and bigger and bigger with each passing second.

“I will expand endlessly… and consume everything… all existence will swirl around endlessly and chaotically… never knowing rest.”

The three Starlight Glimmers clung to one another in the face of the all-consuming darkness.

“What do we do?” Glimmer asked.

“Is there anything we can do to stop that thing?” Moonlight asked.

“Yes,” Starlight nodded. “If we could make it this far in the first place, then we can make it to the finish line. As long as the three of us work together—we can do anything!”

Glimmer looked at her for a moment and smiled. “Alright. I suppose I just need to believe in us.”

“In the past I would’ve found it difficult to believe in myself… or any supposed alternate versions,” Moonlight said. “But now?” She smiled and held the hooves of Starlight and Glimmer. “Now that’s easy. So together?”

“Together,” Glimmer nodded.

“Together!” Starlight smirked and lit up her horn.

Just as before the three of them were united as one. Each horn lit up and they held each other, their magical auras washing over their bodies and creating a dazzling turquoise sphere in opposition to the darkness expanding towards them. So far their light and magic did nothing to stop it. But the three Starlight Glimmers ignored its approach, letting their happy feelings well up in them, the memories of what they had recently been through together, the bonds of friendship they had now built between them. Bonds of friendship that transcended space and time—that couldn’t be seen or felt like anything physical, couldn’t be quantified. Once more they leaned their heads in and their horns touched—the turquoise magic turning into a shining rainbow that wrapped around them before bursting forth to meet the darkness.

Three ponies in the middle of it all, doing everything they could to save the world. A bright flash silhouetted them against the darkness as the rainbow met it.

That's Not All, Folks!

“Um… what just happened?” Spike asked as he suddenly found himself standing in the field outside of Twilight’s castle.

“I… I really don’t know,” Sunset shook her head, just as confused as him.

“Whatever happened—we’re back home,” Twilight Sparkle said, looking around to make sure everyone and everything was okay.

“We were down in that dark place and now we’re back up here?” Applejack asked. Like her, the rest of the Elements of Harmony were here as well, along with Starswirl, Trixie, Sunburst, Discord, Celestia and Luna.

“I have no idea myself but I do know one thing-” Discord said as he grinned and stood up, as colorful as ever, and started twisting around, snapping his fingers to briefly summon a swarm of flying cupcakes before laughing in joy. “Haha! I’ve got my chaos magic back!”

“What about Starlight?” Trixie asked. “Where is she?”

“And we would both like to know what exactly was going on here in the first place?” Celestia asked as she stood by Luna.

“Well, uh, I can answer one or two questions maybe?” Spike rubbed the back of his head.

“It’s alright. Everything is over.”

The voice seemed to come from all around them and then a pillar of white light shot up from the ground, nearly blinding the ponies around it. When it was gone and they opened up their eyes again, Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight were standing there, safe and sound. They looked pristine, happy, without anything to worry about or weigh them down.

“Starlight?” Twilight said to her.

Starlight turned and smiled at her. “It’s okay, Twilight. Consider the world saved.”

Discord slithered through the air towards her. “No more silly Harlequins to worry about?”

“Since you have your magic back I think you already know the answer to that question,” Starlight grinned. “He’s gone. You’re back to being the Lord of Chaos, I guess that the magic had nowhere else to go but return to you the moment it was over.”

Spike ran up and hugged the three of them. “I’m just really glad you’re all okay...”

“Everyone’s going to be okay now. It’s really over,” Starlight sighed in relief.

Twilight was about to ask another question when Pinkie Pie pushed her way past her and jammed her face right up to Starlight’s.

“Hold on!” Pinkie loudly said. “So you’re done traveling through time, the space-time doohickey is alright, that evil monster thingy is defeated, and the whole world isn’t in danger anymore?”

“Uh, yes?” Starlight answered.

A huge smile split Pinkie Pie’s face. “Then there’s finally only one thing left to do!”

---

The delayed party inside Twilight’s castle was now in full swing, with a couple of extra guests at it to boot. Pinkie Pie made a huge fit when Twilight told her that maybe they should reschedule so here they all were. Starlight’s group, the Elements, and even Celestia and Luna here now too. It’s not like Starlight of all ponies was going to complain either—this was exactly the sort of thing she wanted for herself and her friends now that things were over. They deserved a party like this before they had to say goodbye to each other and Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset returned to their own worlds.

The party room had to be redecorated and spruced up a little bit, but Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were quick to take care of that. Glimmer, Moonlight, and Sunset for the beginning had been talking to Twilight and the others, telling their own stories and introducing themselves to the ponies of this world. Starlight was happy to see how well they got along despite at least Glimmer having done some not exactly nice things in the past.

But this was quite the forgiving and accepting group after all.

Glimmer and Moonlight for a little while had both been talking to Sunburst, who was not nearly as awkward or as reluctant as the Sunbursts they knew. Sunset was talking to Trixie, Spike was talking to Rarity and Twilight about everything they had gone through and how heroic he was. Discord was of course talking to Fluttershy and reassuring her he was fine. And Starlight through most of the party had gone from pony to pony, just having a good time, saying hello again after she hadn’t gotten to see some of them for a long time, and asking Twilight how things had been here while she and Spike were gone.

Hectic, to put it bluntly. Things were still shaky over here for a while as Starlight came to learn but it mostly subsided over time.

And now according to Twilight as well after checking on some things, and on Discord’s reassurance, they were all indeed certain that everything was fixed.

After this party things would be over and they’d all go back to their normal lives. And honestly? Starlight could not be happier. Aside from the fact that there was explicitly no alcohol allowed at this party.

“You’re really quite the mare, Starlight Glimmer,” Starswirl said to her. “When I first met you I didn’t quite know what to think, but you’ve impressed me.”

“I’m nothing special. Just my own flavor of screwup,” Starlight wryly grinned. “Also it’s just Starlight right now, need Discord to fix that…”

“My fellow Pillars will be interested to hear about the adventure you’ve been on. Maybe the next time we’re all in Ponyville we can have another party. I believe Pinkie Pie would be up for that as well,” Starswirl smiled.

“Oh yeah,” Starlight answered.

Starswirl then went on to mingle with Glimmer and Moonlight, quite curious about them as well, and Starlight was allowed to stand quietly by for a little while at the party. It had been too big a day. She ended up sitting down and started to slowly eat one of the many cupcakes Pinkie Pie had made, just relaxing now. Celestia and Luna were now talking with Sunset while Trixie looked to be annoying Twilight over something and Sunburst was talking to Discord. Spike had done a good enough job of telling Rarity about his awesome work that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were listening in as well, Rainbow Dash being far more interested in and far more jealous of his tales.

But Starlight couldn’t relax completely. There was still something there in the back of her head.

And even if you did beat me, which is impossible, I’ve still made sure you’ll never have a happy ending.

“What did he mean by that?” Starlight asked herself.

Starlight ended up lost in thought for quite a while, dwelling on those words. She didn’t even notice when Spike came up to her until he patted her on the shoulder and spoke.

“What’s up? You should be celebrating more, Starlight. Especially since Glimmer, Moonlight and Sunset are going to be leaving soon,” he said.

Starlight shook her head and smiled at him. “You’re right, I just had something on my mind but… it’s not important. I should be enjoying the party and...” Starlight trailed off as she looked at the three other mares. “Because I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see them again. It probably wouldn’t be good for harmony would it?”

Spike grimaced. “Probably not.”

“Well so what?”

Starlight and Spike jumped as Discord snaked his head down between them.

“Discord!” Starlight yelped.

“Starlight—this is going to sound monumentally dumb, careless, and short-sighted after what we just did. But so what? You think it’s really a problem if you go and visit them once in a while? Don’t sweat it—I’ll even help you out,” Discord smirked.

“Is that really okay?” Spike raised an eyebrow.

“Pinkie Promise,” Discord swore. “All you’ll be doing is strengthening a few more bonds of friendship after all.”

Starlight started to tear up slightly so she wiped away the tears and looked up at him. “Would you really?”

“Of course. As much as I tease, I’ll always be there for you,” Discord said.

Starlight wrapped him up in a big hug. “Yeah, you will be.”

“Yes, yes,” he patted her on the back. “Now take Spike’s advice and go have fun with them before they have to go for now. I’m going to work up a special portal just for them.”

“Alright, alright, I’m going,” Starlight said as she strode over to her three dimension-hopping friends. They were now talking to Twilight again, who probably had far too many questions for them. So Starlight decided to ease their load a little bit. “Hey there, how are you enjoying my world?”

“It’s kind of too nice actually. It’s a little weird,” Sunset smirked.

“Yeah it makes me a little uncomfortable,” Moonlight fake shivered.

“Very funny,” Starlight rolled her eyes and looked at Glimmer. “What about you?”

“I like it here. A lot. It’s nice having a Sunburst around who doesn’t hate me. And your friends have been very nice,” she look at Twilight. “And I was just apologizing to Twilight for what went on the last time we met.”

Twilight smiled. “And you’re already forgiven.”

“You’ve been having fun talking to my friends too?” Starlight asked Twilight.

“More than fun, it’s been amazing! Everything they’ve told me about their worlds—you can’t imagine how exciting it is to learn all of this!” Twilight giddily pranced in joy.

“Well I’ll fill you in on everything else later, why not let these three enjoy themselves just a little bit more?” Starlight smirked.

Twilight blushed. “You’re right, yes, they should.”

“It’s fine, don’t let her tease you,” Glimmer said. “When I get home I’m going to have to tell my Twilight Sparkle a whole bunch of stuff too.”

“I guess we are all going back right after this party ends?” Moonlight raised an eyebrow.

“If she’s anything like the human Pinkie I know, this Pinkie Pie can throw a party forever,” Sunset said.

“Well unfortunately...” Starlight rubbed the back of her neck. “As much as I’d like that to be the case...”

“We should be going back soon, shouldn’t we?” Glimmer smiled sadly.

“Yeah...” Starlight nodded.

Moonlight shrugged. “Not like we didn’t know. I wasn’t expecting us to stay the night and have a sleepover anyways.”

“Would’ve been fun though actually,” Sunset said, glancing away slightly out of embarrassment. “I’m going to miss you guys. Ugh, it’s so lame but it’s true.”

“Yeah… you’re like… the first real friends I’ve made in years,” Moonlight said.

Both Moonlight and Sunset sighed and hung their heads low.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on now!” Starlight said. “I know I said it’s time to go soon but I had some good news about that too! I’ll be able to come visit, we can still see each other, this isn’t the end!”

“For real?” Moonlight asked.

“For real,” Starlight grinned.

“Wait—how are you-” Twilight furrowed her brow.

“Discord,” Starlight answered.

“Oh,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well… I suppose that’s alright then as long as it’s supervised and carefully planned out.”

“Huh, wanna make plans to meet up again already in like a month?” Sunset shrugged.

“I was already planning to—but before that we’ve still got time here, let’s have a little more fun!” Starlight said.

And right on cue—Pinkie Pie brought out Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody, who had seemingly been left in the next room, and had them start up a dance tune. Nothing slow, this was fast and fun, lovely hip-hop beats and a crazy techno vibe. Moonlight and Sunset grinned to each other and immediately ran out onto the dance floor to start up the dance for everyone else, Fluttershy of course offered a hoof to Discord and he gladly accepted it, joining them. Rarity even gave Spike the time of day as well. For the most part everyone else was just dancing in their own way, throwing their bodies around to the beat and having fun. This wasn’t a time for style on form, it was a time for while and crazy action. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were stomping in two completely different ways, probably competing to see who could dance the hardest, while Pinkie Pie stayed by Vinyl’s table and messed around with the records to always keep the music fresh. Even Glimmer stepped out and let loose a little bit. Twilight and Starlight were the last ones to join the dancing, throwing all their cares behind them.

Midway through the dancing and Starlight walked up to Glimmer while the two of them now watched Moonlight and Sunset pulling Sunburst and Trixie around with them.

“You know out of all of us I really wanted to talk to you and see how you were doing,” Starlight said to her.

“I’m doing pretty well I’d say,” Glimmer smiled.

“Feeling a lot better about your life? Did you… find what you were looking for?” Starlight asked.

Glimmer looked back at her flank and the Cutie Mark that was once more right where it should be. “Yes, Starlight. After everything that’s happened, I feel great. I won’t get down again when I return home. I’ll keep working hard to fix my relationship with the rest of Equestria. And I’ll become real friends with everyone.”

Starlight hugged her warmly. “I’m… you can’t know how happy it makes me to hear that.”

“Thank you for everything by the way,” Glimmer said as she hugged her back. “And I’ll be looking forward to seeing you again.”

The party still carried on for hours after that, with many dance partners switching up, and many ponies dancing until they dropped. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were pretty much the only ones still dancing at that point—it was indeed a blatant competition between the two of them—while Vinyl and Octavia kept up the music.

But even that didn’t last forever. Soon enough the food and drinks were gone, the balloons had deflated, everyone was tired, the party was over.

And it was time to go.

Vinyl and Octavia took their leave first, and Celestia, Luna, and Starswirl soon left as well, all of them busy in their own way. Soon the remaining ponies, along with Spike and Discord, moved from the main room where they had been partying to where Twilight had the mirror portal up. Apparently Discord was going to use it to help make transporting them to exactly where they needed to be easier. With the natural magic from it, Twilight’s alterations, and his magic it was better than the dimensional travel they had been going through earlier. Would’ve been nice if they could’ve used this but it’s not like they could take the mirror portal with them.

“So,” Sunset said as she stood in front of the mirror portal. “This is kind of familiar.”

“A little different than the one you’re used to going though, from what I’ve heard,” Twilight said.

“We just walk through it?” Moonlight asked. “I’ve never seen this thing before.”

Discord grinned and slithered up right next to the mirror portal. “I’m putting my own special little touch on it. With my magic, you just need to walk through one at a time and it’ll put you back home exactly where you need to be. For Sunset that means she’ll be back in front of the school in her dimension’s human world. For you it means you’ll be back home in your Canterlot, and for Glimmer it means she’ll be back in her room in her Ponyville castle.”

“You all should at least stay the night,” Spike grumbled.

Sunset grinned and gave him a playful noogie on his head. “Sorry about that, Spike. But I probably shouldn’t miss anymore days of school.”

“Even I’m pretty curious about what my world looks like now,” Moonlight muttered.

“And I just… need to start my real life,” Glimmer smiled.

Spike sighed. “Yeah, but I’m seriously going to miss all of you.”

“We’ll keep in touch, just like with Starlight,” Glimmer said.

“I guess I’ll at least be able to look forward to that then,” Spike managed a small smile.

“It was also super cool getting to meet more Starlight Glimmers!” Pinkie Pie hugged both Glimmer and Moonlight. “And another Sunset Shimmer!” She bounced over and hugged her too.

“Oh, right!” Discord’s eyebrows shot up. “I almost forgot—how silly of me.”

“Forgot what?” Twilight asked.

Discord smirked and snapped his fingers. “There you go, you’ve got your names back.”

Starlight Glimmer’s eyes sparkled in joy as she jumped up. “Yes! I hated being called Moonlight!”

“I didn’t mind Glimmer so much,” Starlight Glimmer said.

“I thought they were both good names,” Starlight Glimmer shrugged.

Sunset glanced up at Discord. “You’re right—that is confusing.”

“Yeah, definitely needed to do something about that,” Spike agreed.

Discord then pressed a finger to the top of the mirror portal and flooded it with his magic. The mirror itself shifted and wavered, turning a myriad of colors, before finally settling back down and becoming perfectly clean and reflective. Somehow it was far shinier and reflective than any normal mirror, the glass completely impossible to see. “Alright then, who wants to head home first?”

The Starlights, Spike, and Sunset shared a few sad looks with each other until Sunset raised a hoof.

“I’ll head off first,” she said and walked over to the mirror portal.

“Take care!” Starlight (this world’s Starlight) said as she briskly walked up and gave the mare one last hug.

“Be cool and make some more friends back home too,” Spike said.

“Thanks,” Sunset smiled. “And I will.”

Discord then leaned down and grinned at her. “And how about a parting gift?” He snapped his fingers and a carton of cigarettes appeared in the air, falling right into Sunset’s hooves.

“Cigarettes!” Sunset cheered and rubbed her face against the carton.

“Those won’t vanish when you head back either, enjoy,” Discord winked.

“That’s not a good gift,” Starlight frowned at him.

“It’s the best gift,” Sunset smirked and gave a final wave to her and the others. “Goodbye!”

And with that she strode on into the portal. It glowed bright white for a second and then she was gone.

“Bye...” Starlight sighed after her and Spike patted her on the side.

“My turn now,” Twin-tailed Starlight Glimmer said and walked up to the portal. “See ya.”

“Goodbye,” Starlight said and hugged her again.

“Good luck back home,” Spike gave her a thumb’s up.

“I’m moving away from Canterlot as soon as I get back,” Twin-tailed Starlight grinned and walked into the mirror.

It flashed and she was gone.

Former Empress Starlight then walked up behind Starlight. “It won’t be long until we see each other again. And the next time you do see me, things will be even better. Goodbye, Starlight.”

“Goodbye...” Starlight hugged her, this one lingering on for quite some time until she finally pulled away.

“I think you’ve still got kind of a rough road ahead of you but I know you can overcome anything,” Spike said to her.

“Thank you,” Former Empress Starlight smiled and patted him on the head. “The two of you are the best friends a pony could ask for.”

She stopped to look at them both for a moment longer before she also turned and stepped through the mirror portal.

Starlight Glimmer stood there, looking at her own reflection as tears started to well up in her eyes.

“It’s alright,” Spike said to her.

“I know. I know, Spike. I just miss them already...” Starlight said.

Twilight put a comforting hoof on your back. “Do you need some time to yourself?”

Starlight shook her head. “No, I’m alright, I think it’ll just be good to get some sleep tonight now that everything is over. It was great getting to have this party and see all of you at once.”

“Just tell me whenever you want to go visiting them again. I’m a Fluttershy away,” Discord smirked and snapped his fingers, vanishing on the spot.

Twilight smiled and looked across the room at everyone else. “Well everyone, I think that about calls it for the party. Thank you Pinkie for putting it on, and thank you Sunburst and Trixie for coming to Ponyville for it.”

“But of course!” Trixie widely smiled and tossed back her mane.

“It’s late though so I think we’ll all be heading to bed for the night now,” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Trixie,” Starlight giggled.

“Well, then I suppose the rest of us will be heading on out too,” Applejack said. “Come on everybody, let’s let Starlight and Spike get some rest.”

A chorus of goodbyes and farewells came from their friends as they all departed Twilight’s castle. Some being quite a bit louder than others but eventually the castle was vacated after this very busy day and the only ones left were Starlight, Spike, and Twilight. After everything—it was suddenly unusually quiet. The mirror portal had gone back to normal, there was only a little light in the room with it being night out, and the high ceilings made them all feel small. Yet it was good. It was familiar. And Starlight was happy to be here.

Starlight exhaled deeply. “Well, I’m going to go pass out on my bed.

“Me too,” Spike nodded.

Twilight giggled. “I’m not quite as exhausted as either of you, but that certainly sounds like a plan.”

Starlight smiled. “It’s good to be able to relax and not have to worry about the world ending anymore.”

“It sure is,” Twilight agreed.

---

Later on it was quiet and well past midnight. The halls of the castle slumbered, bare and empty, only the occasional snore form a sleeping dragon could be heard. After the huge party it had become as still and quiet as the grave with all three occupants fast asleep...

Alone in its room, the mirror portal suddenly activated.

A pony came tumbling out of it.

She stood up, legs wobbling a bit, and looked around.

She then looked down at her own body and her eyes widened in surprise.

“That crazy guy was telling the truth,” Starlight Glimmer said as she looked at her pony body. “So there really is a world of magical ponies through the portal...” a smirk tugged up her lips as she adjusted the starry beanie hat on her head. “Alright then—time to get to work.”

The Fourth Starlight

Starlight woke up with a big yawn bright and early the next morning. In her own bed, under her own covers, with her own everything around her. A quick look to her wall showed her mirror with all the pictures of her friends around it. And Starlight smiled in relief. She had zero plans for the day. She wasn’t going to even think about work or the school or anything else. This was going to be a day entirely for herself and she figured the best way to spend it was going to be to take a nice walk around Ponyville and then come back to the castle to relax.

Today was a vacation.

She took an exceptionally long and decadent bubble bath that morning. Soaking in the tub and fully indulging in being back home with a day off. Honestly, she kind of wanted to spend all day in the tub but that would be a little much even for her. After still spending way too much time in it anyways she got out and dried herself off.

First thing she was going to do after waking up and freshening up was getting breakfast. The halls of the castle outside her room were quiet but she knew that Twilight and Spike were almost certainly up already.

Her suspicion was proven correct when she walked into the kitchen and found a plate of eggs and hashbrowns with a glass of orange juice sitting on the table waiting for her. And Spike on the other side of the table chowing down on a bowl of cereal.

“G’Morning,” the dragon said to her.

“Good morning,” Starlight smiled and pulled out her chair, sitting down and levitating a fork over to her plate. “Thanks for making this for me.”

“Figured you deserved to wake up to a nice breakfast,” Spike shrugged.

“What would Twilight or me do without you?” Starlight chuckled. “Speaking of-”

“She’s reading in her study. Something about law or governance or getting ready for her coronation,” Spike shrugged.

Starlight nodded and started to eat, the two of them enjoying breakfast together. When she was about halfway done with her plate she glanced up from it at him. “What are you doing today then after this?”

“Nothing. Was going to just stay here and see if Twilight needed me for anything. Like usual,” Spike answered.

Starlight smiled. “I was going to go on a walk through Ponyville today—nothing special, just walking around and maybe saying hi to a few friends. Wanna join me?”

“Sure, sounds fun!” Spike perked up. “Maybe we can visit Rarity for a bit too...”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Well I suppose it’s been a long time since you really got to talk to her. I guess the party last night wasn’t exactly casual.”

After that the two of them finished up their meals and it was time to get going, it was still pretty early in the morning, closer to dawn than noon, but not so early that there was still going to be a chill outside. For a town like Ponyville most of its citizens were probably already up and about. They didn’t want to bother Twilight so they simply exited the castle without telling her where they were going, not like it was far or anything anyways.

Starlight sighed in contentment the moment her hooves hit the dirt and she looked up at the already bright and blue sky overhead. “It really does feel nice...”

“I know what you mean,” Spike said from beside her.

“Happy to not be lugging around Discord anymore either?” Starlight smirked.

“Uh, yeah, but don’t tell him that,” Spike said.

“I promise. I’m happy to not have anything to lug along either… metaphorically speaking,” Starlight said.

The two of them made the short walk from the castle to the interior of Ponyville, waving and smiling at any pony they saw, whether they were close friends or just acquaintances it didn’t matter. Starlight and Spike had seen a lot of different versions of them in other worlds—but it wasn’t the same as seeing the ponies they knew. It made Starlight appreciate each and every one of them, made her want to become even better friends with them. Maybe when she was really in charge of the school it would give her the opportunity.

She also had to go to Canterlot and become friends with Sassy Saddles. Couldn’t forget that.

They had no set path they were walking on, and in fact went quite in a lazy and roundabout path through town, going past Quills and Sofas, the flower shop, the spa, coming out around city hall, and pretty much just going wherever their hooves and feet took them. A couple hellos even turned into longer conversations, casual chats about nothing, small talk catching up with others. Starlight somehow felt each little encounter was contributing to the warmth welling up in her chest.

Eventually they found themselves walking close to Sugarcube Corner and Starlight got an idea.

“How’s a late morning snack sound to you, Spike? My treat,” Starlight said.

“Serious?” Spike’s eyes widened.

“Of course! I won’t tell Twilight about it either, it can be our little secret,” Starlight winked.

“Then it sounds good to me!” Spike grinned and together the two walked into Sugarcube Corner.

As the bell rang, Starlight glanced over at Spike. “We can visit Rarity after. And Fluttershy and Applejack too. Rainbow Dash might be a little tougher but I’m sure we’ll see her out somewhere.”

“Got it—gonna be a fun day,” Spike said.

“You’ve got that right. After everything we’ve been through? I don’t think there’s anything that could bring me down,” Starlight said as she walked up to the counter where Pinkie Pie was working, getting the displays just right.

“Hi, Pinkie! Two cupcakes!” Starlight ordered.

“Hey there, Starlight! Hey there, Spike! They’ll be coming right up,” Pinkie saluted and reached for some cupcakes, getting two pristine looking ones on a tray and holding them out for Starlight. “There you go!”

“Thanks, they look as great as always,” Starlight smiled.

“You’re welcome!” Pinkie Pie smiled and then tilted her head, bringing a hoof up to her chin. “Huh, no hat anymore?”

Starlight frowned in confusion at Pinkie’s odd question. “What?”

“Well I’m just curious—when you were here earlier this morning you had a hat on. Didn’t like it?” Pinkie asked.

“Pinkie, what are you talking about? I was never here earlier this morning,” Starlight said.

“Uh oh...” Spike grimaced and looked up at Starlight. “What if it wasn’t you?”

Starlight’s pupils shrank. “Uh oh.”

“Ohhhhh,” Pinkie Pie tapped her chin. “That makes sense now. It was like another version of you like those other two from yesterday? That explains why she acted like she didn’t know me, and why she was saying all that confusing stuff, and why she told me that when I saw you next I should tell you that she’s waiting for you in the Everfree Forest.”

“Ugh!” Starlight dragged a hoof down her face. “Pinkie—you should’ve started with that!”

“Sorry,” Pinkie Pie shrugged.

Starlight rolled her eyes and started running for the door. “Look, can you just tell Twilight about this? And go find Fluttershy so you can tell Discord about it too? There shouldn’t be another me here right now.” She pulled open the door. “Come on, Spike! If there’s another me here there’s no telling what could happen. She could be up to anything!”

“Right!” Spike shouted in agreement and ran with her—the two of them barreling out of Sugarcube Corner and running straight for the Everfree.

As soon as the front door closed, the back door leading deeper into the kitchen opened up and another Starlight Glimmer with a pink beanie hat walked out.

“Great job, Pinkie, thanks for helping me out,” the other Starlight said.

“You got it! Told you Starlight was coming by soon,” Pinkie Pie smiled and giggled. “What are you going to do next? I’m always up to help out with a prank!”

“Prank. Right,” Starlight smirked. “It’s okay though, Pinkie, you’ve done more than enough already. But I promise that she’s going to have an absolute blast when she realizes what’s going on. You’ll all have a big laugh. I’m going to head out now but… I’ll see you again soon.”

“Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie said. “Have fun!”

“I certainly will,” Starlight said as she walked out of Sugarcube Corner and started heading back towards Twilight’s Castle. She chuckled to herself, a malevolent grin on her face. “Things really are just as that weird guy said on this side of the mirror… and that means that other thing he told me about must be hidden inside the castle where he said too. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. If I can’t do anything back home then at least I can make my dream world appear here.”

---

Starlight and Spike ran together into the forest, gnarled trees and vines around them, spooky eyes following along.

“How—why is there another version of you here?” Spike asked, breathing heavily.

“I think it’s a parting gift from Harlequin Rainbow,” Starlight furrowed her brow. “Now I understand what he meant...”

“Huh?” Spike said.

“When we were fighting, he said something about us not having a happy ending even if we beat him. I didn’t really get it at the time, but now I think this might be what he was talking about. At some point he must’ve contacted another version of me—since he had no trouble traveling through dimensions like Discord and the rest of us. And he must’ve told her about this world or done something with her to get her to come here,” Starlight explained.

“And if it’s another you then she might be as bad as Glimmer used to be...” Spike gulped.

“That’s right, she could have some sort of nefarious goal in mind or maybe just be as messed in the head as I used to be,” Starlight sighed.

“Why would that Harlequin guy do this anyways? What’s the point?” Spike asked.

“He’s a sore loser, Spike. You saw it as plain as I did. If he had to lose then he wanted to at least make sure we wouldn’t win. It’s just pure spite, I’m willing to bet on it,” Starlight frowned.

“If he thought that whatever she wanted to do was bad enough to give Equestria a bad ending then things really can’t be good,” Spike said.

Starlight nodded. “Which is why we need to find her and stop her immediately. I don’t know why she called us out to the Everfree, if it’s a trap she has something else coming, but we’ll get her. Hopefully we can just talk things out with her. I really, really, don’t want to have to fight another version of me again.”

“I hope so too… when Glimmer was evil she was, uh, pretty nasty,” Spike scrunched up his face in remembrance.

“Even if we can’t just talk things out, after everything else we’ve been through, after what we just saved the world from, I doubt this can be worse at least,” Starlight said.

---

Twilight Sparkle was busy studying in her library—practically oblivious to the entire world around her—when she heard a very familiar and friendly voice call out to her. Though strangely, the way it spoke, the strange questioning tone, was unusual. There was an off-putting timbre to the voice that she hadn’t heard since the very first time she had met the mare who owned it. It spoke volumes of how familiar Twilight was with her friends that she, even subconsciously, registered all of this.

“Twilight Sparkle?” Starlight Glimmer said to her from the doorway.

“Starlight?” Twilight said as she stood up and turned around, looking at her smiling friend standing there. The smile that was on Twilight’s own face froze up in a split second and dropped as she realized a few things.

She was wearing a hat that Twilight had never, ever, seen Starlight Glimmer wear.

She had a glint in her eyes that Twilight had not seen in years.

She was not the Starlight Glimmer that Twilight Sparkle called a friend.

And she was wearing Grogar’s Bell around her neck.

“From what I’ve heard, this castle would probably be the safest place in Equestria to keep dangerous things like this. So long as someone doesn’t know exactly where it’s hidden,” the other Starlight smiled.

Twilight felt a bead of sweat start to drip down the side of her head. “Where are you from? And what do you want with that?”

“I’m from the other side of the mirror—from a world not quite so magical. Being a unicorn is kind of an interesting treat, I must say,” Starlight smirked. “And this? This Bell is just a tool to help me create the perfect world.”

Grogar’s Bell started to glow and before Twilight could do anything a beam of arcane magic came from it and hit her, draining her entirely of her magic and powers. Twilight groaned in discomfort and collapsed to the floor as all her Alicorn magic was sucked up into the Bell. She hadn’t felt so weak in a long time, it was worse than when her Cutie Mark was stolen. Her vision was blurry and her head spinning, as she saw hooves walk up to her and the other Starlight standing over her now, mockingly grinning at her.

“Thank you for your contribution. Now I just need the others.”

---

Starlight and Spike were searching all throughout the Everfree but hadn’t found anything or anyone yet. It was starting to make Starlight frantic and the idea of a trap became more prominent in her head.

“Darn it, where is she, Spike?” Starlight asked, knowing he didn’t know.

“I don’t know, why would she even call us out here specifically anyways?” Spike shrugged. “We’ve checked the castle ruins, we checked the cave of the Tree of Harmony, we’ve checked everywhere important… why didn’t she tell Pinkie Pie where she was going to wait for us or just sit somewhere easy to find?”

“I don’t know either! It’s frustrating!” Starlight grumbled in annoyance.

Spike shook his head, a look of worry on his face. “No, Starlight, seriously. Why would she do any of this? What if she’s not actually in the Everfree at all? Like what if this isn’t a trap, but a trick?”

Starlight stopped. And slowly went pale. “If she wanted me here… then the only reason for that could be so she could move around Ponyville without potentially running into me, or anyone getting suspicious about two Starlight’s being around. S-She must actually be up to something in Ponyville, not here! We have to get back right now!”

The two of them started running back out of the Everfree, even more frantic and worried than before. It was bad enough knowing another her was here but now she was up to something in Ponyville.

They had to find her.

Unfortunately, the closer they got to Ponyville they realized that would actually be an easy task for all the wrong reasons.

The screams of terror would probably lead them right to her.

“That’s not good,” Spike blanched as a high-pitched shriek that sounded distinctly like Cheerilee rang from the direction of town.

There wasn’t smoke, there wasn’t any fire, but Ponyville was still in a mass panic. Something had happened to scare the citizens of Ponyville. Although to be fair it didn’t take much for that to happen. When Starlight and Spike finally reached the edge of the Everfree again and came out into town they saw a few ponies running around—shooting either confused and/or scared looks at Starlight when they noticed her—and more importantly saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash lying on the ground in the middle of town.

“Applejack! Rainbow Dash!” Spike yelled and flew over to them, Starlight right behind.

“What happened?!” Starlight asked as she leaned down to check on them.

Rainbow Dash rolled over onto her back and groaned. “Ugh… I feel awful.”

“It was you… another you,” Applejack breathed heavily and sat up, much more helpfully saying than Rainbow Dash. “And she had Grogar’s Bell with her. She used it to take our magic before we even knew what was going on. S-She said we were the last ones...”

“Uh oh. She must have taken the magic from every Element of Harmony!” Spike shouted and his eyes widened. “Twilight! She’s in danger too!”

“We’re all in danger,” Starlight frowned and looked towards the castle.

Applejack stood up and pulled Rainbow Dash with her. “I-I aint sure how much help we’ll be like this but we’ll come with you… she was heading back towards Twilight’s castle.”

“We should go find Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity too, the same thing had to have happened to them,” Rainbow Dash said.

Just then—Discord flashed into existence right next to them all.

“Gah!” Spike jumped in fright.

Starlight though had a much happier reaction. “Discord! Thank Celestia, did Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy tell you what’s going on?”

“What? No,” Discord frowned at her and looked at them and the panicking Ponyville in confusion. “I felt a strange fluctuation in magic here and thought something might be happening again.” His eyebrows shot up. “Wait—did something happen to Fluttershy?”

“There’s another me here, Discord!” Starlight told him. “It sounds like she took the magic from everyone but I don’t know why!”

“And she has Grogar’s Bell!” Spike yelled.

Discord blinked and even he looked a little worried now. “That’s bad.” He narrowed his eyes in the direction of Twilight’s castle. “I can sense something wrong going on over there. Applejack? Rainbow Dash? Be a couple of dears and go make sure Fluttershy is alright, along with Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Starlight, Spike and I will attempt to save the world—again—in the meantime.”

Before Starlight could say anything else, Discord snapped his fingers and the three of them were teleported into Twilight’s castle, right outside the room with the Cutie Map.

“She’s inside,” Discord frowned.

Starlight pulled open the doors and the three of them skidded to a halt before the map. Sitting in Twilight’s seat, in a manner that really gave Starlight a sense of Deja Vu, was another version of her she hadn’t seen before. It was almost like looking in a mirror, even moreso than the other Starlight Glimmer’s she had met recently, this one looked exactly like her aside from the hat she wore. The same hat Starlight remembered having when she traveled through the mirror to the human world. At least that told her exactly where this Starlight was from.

There was no time to really dwell on that though—the three of them froze up as they saw Grogar’s Bell glowing with immense magical power as it levitated above the map. And Twilight Sparkle was tied up and leaning against her chair.

“Everyone, stop her!” Twilight shouted.

“There is no stopping this,” the “human” Starlight grinned. “I just wanted to meet myself first before I started this world’s new beginning.”

Starlight gulped. “What new beginning?”

“Since you’re me you should understand. I’m making the world a better place. A happier place. A more equal place. So now watch as I create utopia, a perfect dream world that can exist nowhere else!” The human Starlight said as she gathered all her magic into her horn and fired it into Grogar’s Bell. The Bell reacted strongly, the yellow and black magic from it mixing with Starlight’s, crackling energy shooting from it and filling up the room. A monochrome rainbow then shot down at the Cutie Map and a bulging orb of magic began to spread out, close to exploding. “Equality—to every corner of the world!”

The magic, in a dull grey wave that would eventually spread over the entire world and more, erupted and washed over every creature in the room.

Twilight’s mind went blank.

Starlight’s mind went blank.

Spike’s mind went blank.

And right before Discord’s mind went blank he reached down and tapped Spike on the head.

A Grey World

Things were quiet in Ponyville.

Things were quiet in Equestria.

Things were quiet in the entire world.

After all, there was no longer any conflict. There was no longer any hate. There were no longer any differences. There was no longer any sorrow, no nightmares, no regret, no pain.

There was no love. There was no happiness. There was no freedom. There was no choice or will or thought. There was no friendship. Because after all, what did friendship mean when everyone felt and thought the same? When every pony had the same relationship, the same feelings, the same lack of like or dislike to anyone and everything.

Ponies walked with blank expressions on their faces as they went about their daily lives, living and working without feeling.

There would never be another argument. There would never be a moment where a pony tried to bilk extra money out of a shy customer. There would never be a filly bullying others because they didn’t have their Cutie Marks yet.

There were no longer any Cutie Marks.

There would never be a smile. There would never be a sudden party thrown just for the fun of it. There would never be a magic show performed by some magician traveling through town. The School of Friendship was meaningless as every creature in the world would never have a disagreement or need to learn about friendship now.

Nothing would ever change.

And everyone was okay with that.

After all, they didn’t feel one way or the other about anything.

---

“Hello, Pinkie Pie. May I have a slice of bread?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she stood in front of the counter at Sugarcube Corner. Spike stood beside her, stoic, he was no longer her assistant as it would be unfair for anyone to have a personal assistant.

“Of course Twilight Sparkle. Here is your bread,” Pinkie Pie mechanically replied.

They were both gray. Their Cutie Marks had vanished entirely, not stolen or replaced, just gone as if they had melted off their bodies. Pinkie’s hair was as straight as her mouth.

“This building is being changed is it not?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

“Yes. It stands out too much. It will be torn down and rebuilt to match the new style of buildings that have been decided upon,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Good. Everything would be better if it was the same. There’s no reason for differences,” Twilight Sparkle said. “The castle will be changed as well. Or at least vacated if it can not be torn down. Spike is currently helping with that—the statue of Discord is also being removed.”

“Good,” Pinkie Pie replied with a nod.

Actually, every building in Ponyville was planned for demolition. The town was going to be remade in a much more practical and space-efficient grid like manner. Everyone would have the same house and work in the same sort of building. No one would have more or less than anyone else. There was no room for argument.

---

Rarity no longer made anything.

If not everyone was going to wear something then no one should wear anything. Instead she was now part of a group working on a dye that would be distributed to everypony in Equestria that would make all their coats and manes identical. Plans were also in place for contact lenses and mane cuts.

Fluttershy still took care of the animals.

But she wasn’t any better at it than anyone else.

Applejack still worked on the farm.

But it was no longer her farm. The barnhouse was described as “too unique” as well and would have to be torn down. Because apple bucking no longer worked, many other helpers came to pick the apples from Sweet Apple Acres. The farm work that normally brought a smile to Applejack’s face elicited nothing in her. It was just her job after all.

Rainbow Dash continued to manage the weather.

But she never did any more or less than absolutely necessary.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were no longer the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They spent time at school with everyone else. They weren’t any closer friends with each other than any of the other kids.

---

Starlight Glimmer did nothing. She had no place or role to play. She was no longer anymore or any less important than any other pony in the world. There was no point for the school and it was already going to be turned into something else. There was no point to being the student of the Element of Magic as there was no more magic and no need for it anymore. There would never be conflict again.

There would never be a need to save the world again.

There would never be a Friendship Problem to resolve again.

Starlight Glimmer at the moment still had nothing to do, not having been designated anything, so she walked through Ponyville with her mind empty.

She saw things. She heard things. But she didn’t truly register any of it.

She didn’t feel anything.

But that was okay. Living like this wasn’t bad. There was nothing to worry about, nothing to fret over, nothing foreboding on the horizon. She and every other pony never had to worry about their futures or deal with anything negative. They were just living life without any other meaning or purpose to it. A peaceful and quiet life, one that would be no better or worse than anyone elses. An equal life.

---

The other Starlight Glimmer happily smiled as she traveled through Ponyville, seeing how well everything had turned out.

No one would ever fail again.

No one would ever be sad again.

No one would ever regret again.

No one would ever have to deal with or face any problem again.

Because if you removed the opportunity to succeed or fail, to be happy or sad, to have choices, to have conflict. Then what you were left with was true happiness. True equality.

Just like she had brought to this world.

“I’ve really done it,” she said as she watched the ponies around her, wearing Grogar’s Bell around her neck. “This is perfect, it’s almost like a dream. I’ve really created a world where nothing bad will ever happen again. Soon, soon I know I’ll be able to spread this back home, and then to all worlds everywhere. True peace and equality everywhere.”

She saw her other self walking by and smiled.

“You probably don’t even know how happy you are,” she said. “I owe you for all of this, so enjoy the rest of your quiet and peaceful life.”

---

There were no Princesses.

There were no villains.

There were no bad ponies.

There were no good ponies.

Everyone and everything was the same.

Everyday would be the same.

No hope or despair.

No anything.

A blank and grey world.

---

Spike woke up.

True, True Friends Help Their Friends in Need

Green and yellow rings of color flashed over Spike’s irises and he shook his head. It was like he had been in a dream, or hypnotized, and the fog in his mind was finally lifting.

“Woah… what happened? What have I been doing?” Spike asked himself as he looked around.

He was inside the castle and from a glance out the window it seemed to be early in the morning. His recent memories came flooding back to him and Spike jolted up straight, the last thing he remembered clearly was all of them confronting that other Starlight Glimmer. Ever since then… it was only vague images and feelings. He knew she had done something bad, something really bad, with Grogar’s Bell, her magic, and the map. What was that crazy magic and what did it do to him and everyone else?

“Ugh, focus, Spike!” He told himself. “Gotta remember what else happened...”

The harder he thought the more he started to remember more clearly. The last day… maybe the last few days… he had spent in some kind of fugue just helping out randomly with anything around Ponyville. He remembered how everyone had changed, how no one had their Cutie Marks anymore, how no one acted differently with anyone else, or how no one showed any emotion. No smiling, no frowning, nothing. All his friends… they acted like this was normal, they didn’t care anymore. Whatever that magic was it had changed him and them completely.

“Wait a minute. So why am I back to normal now?” Spike frowned. He looked down at his body, everything looked alright. “What’s going on? Did it just wear off?”

Suddenly thinking it might have, his eyes shot wide open and he ran throughout the castle, shouting. “Twilight! Twilight are you here?! Are you back to normal?!”

“There’s no need to yell, Spike. I’m in the library,” the cold and emotionless voice of Twilight Sparkle called from ahead.

But Spike was just happy to hear her. He ran straight for the library. “Twilight-”

His breath caught in his throat. There was his precious big sister, mother figure, Princess, and so many other things doing something he didn’t ever expect: taking down books and putting them away in boxes.

“Uhhh, Twilight? What are you doing?” Spike asked her.

“I’m getting these ready for removal. There’s no reason to have these books anymore—they’ll be recycled into something more useful,” Twilight said.

Spike nearly keeled over in shock.

“What are you talking about?!” Spike shouted.

“Books have no value anymore. There’s no reason to learn about anything, or study magic, what purpose does that serve in a world where all are already equal? If I had knowledge that others didn’t, or a capability that others didn’t, it wouldn’t be right. Why do you think eventually the pegasi will no longer fly once we have a different way to control the weather?” She said to him, not even looking up as she continued to randomly throw books into boxes.

The fact she wasn’t even being tidy or sorting the books was yet another red flag.

“I think I need to sit down...” Spike brought a claw to his forehead, feeling woozy.

“There’s no reason to feel upset or strange, Spike. There’s no conflict or reason to ever be upset again in this world,” Twilight said.

Spike frowned. “That’s not you talking, Twilight. This is not the kind of world you would ever be happy about. I know you better than anyone! You would never want ponies to give up what makes them unique and special! You’d never sacrifice everything just to make sure no one ever gets in an argument or gets upset again!”

“It’s better like this,” Twilight said.

“But you aren’t happy. I’m willing to bet my life on that. Neither you or any of the other ponies here are happy,” Spike said.

“Of course I’m happy. Why wouldn’t I be happy? There’s no reason to be sad anymore,” Twilight replied.

“Then why aren’t you smiling?”

Twilight paused for once and looked up, it seemed like the gears might have actually been turning in her head. “Smiling isn’t necessary. You don’t need to smile to be happy.”

“But you’ve always smiled. So has everyone else! Why would that change?”

“I disagree.”

Spike smirked. “Then doesn’t that mean there are two people right now who don’t think the same thing and agree on everything?”

Twilight Sparkle paused again. “That’s not… we’re still equals… it’s still a better world without true conflict.”

“Geez! I can’t believe I’d ever have to argue with you of all ponies over something like this,” Spike sighed exasperatedly and walked up to Twilight, grabbing her by the hoof and pulling her out of the library.

“Where are we going? I have work to do,” Twilight said.

“Just come here for a second,” Spike said and pulled her along. He was looking for something specific, and there were a few of them scattered throughout the castle.

He found one in the hallway—a mirror. And parked Twilight Sparkle right in front of it. He grabbed her by the cheeks and made her face her reflection, the pony now seeing a blank face staring back at her. She didn’t think anything of it. It was her face, so what? She was just another pony.

“What is the point of this?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight, you said you’re happy, right? But you’ve read enough and met enough ponies to know what happiness looks like. Do you look happy?” Spike asked her.

Twilight Sparkle blinked and peered into the mirror. Dull eyes. A face neither frowning nor smiling. Empty. It was true. Though she didn’t care, she had still seen old pictures of her and her friends here in the castle. She still remembered things, parties, moments of celebration and of joy, meeting new friends, overcoming differences, turning enemies to friends. All the smiles and all the reasons she had for being happy were still there for her, it was just like they were locked away in a fog.

“No. I don’t look happy,” Twilight said.

“If ponies aren’t even happy then what’s the point of this world, Twilight?” Spike asked.

“Safety. Contentment. There won’t be any pain, even if there aren’t successes it means there aren’t failures either. No one will suffer,” Twilight replied.

Spike frowned sadly as he looked at her. “Is that really worth it? You’ve been working hard to make the best world possible, even if bad things happen, it’s still a world full of happiness too. Full of friendship and ponies trying to help others.”

“Equality is better. If even a single pony is unhappy or below others, then the world I was making in the past is a failure.”

“That’s not you, Twilight! It’s not!” Spike yelled at her. “You would never give up and throw away your life’s work just because things aren’t perfect. You’d keep trying your best to help and you’d never take a deal like this that throws away everything that makes life worth living in the first place! That’s why you’re the Princess of Friendship! That’s why you made your school! That’s why you’re the Element of Magic and you’ve saved the world a dozen times over with the help of the best friends a pony could have!”

Twilight considered what he said for a moment and she looked from the mirror, looking into Spike’s intense eyes. “I remember I said something once. That everyone has unique talents and gifts. And when we share them with each other, that’s how real friendship and harmony are created.”

“That’s right,” Spike smiled.

“It doesn’t seem important now. Nothing seems important now.”

“It is, Twilight. It really is. Do you remember something else you said?” Spike said as he reached up and made her keep staring at him. “Do you remember when you became a Princess? How your friends had been changed, their lives ruined, and you needed to fix it? That’s just like what’s happened now, Twilight. Except this time you need to be helped too.”

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened and her mouth parted ever so slightly. “A true, true friend helps a friend in need...”

“A friend will be there to help them see,” Spike continued.

“A true, true friend helps a friend in need...” Twilight repeated, her body trembling slightly as a tear rolled down the side of her face.

“To see the light that shines from a true, true friend,” Spike finished.

Twilight’s eyes and wings fully shot open, her memories flashing before her eyes and a rainbow light erupting from her body. The color returned to her body and mane, the outline of her Cutie Mark flashed back into existence and filled in. The Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, stood in her castle with Spike.

“Oh Spike...” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut as tears welled up in them. “Thank you, thank you so much.”

“Twilight!” Spike cried and jumped into her chest to hug her, the two of them tightly wrapping hooves and arms around each other.

“I can’t believe I almost lost everything. Everyone has almost lost everything,” Twilight said, sighing and letting Spike go. “Thank you, Spike. But it’s not over yet and we can’t just sit here and hug all day. Our friends need our help!”

“Yeah!” Spike cheered.

And then calmed right down.

“Er—how? Is the same thing going to work on all of them? And that other Starlight might still be around with Grogar’s Bell...” Spike worried.

“You’re right,” Twilight nodded. “And speaking of—Spike? How did you get back to normal in the first place?”

“I honestly have no idea. It’s like I suddenly just woke up from a bad dream,” Spike shrugged. He thought back on what happened right before the other Starlight unleashed her magic and another realization struck him, he remembered feeling something right before it happened. Something tapped him on the head. “Discord… I think it was Discord somehow. He must’ve used his magic on me so I’d be able to snap out of this.”

“It must have been a split-second decision,” Twilight rubbed her chin. “And Discord… he was turned into a statue again by that magic. It had some sort of an adverse effect on his chaotic nature. We won’t be able to free him until all of our friends are back to normal.”

“This is all still really bad...” Spike grimaced.

“Yes, it is, but we’ve been in bad situations before, Spike,” Twilight grinned. “And we wouldn’t be true friends if we left them like this. Regardless of the danger—we’re going to save everyone!” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, quietly speaking to herself, almost singing. “A true, true friend helps a friend in need…” She opened her eyes and stood up straight and tall. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Starlight, just wait for us.”

---

“Applejack? Can we talk to you for a moment?” Twilight asked Applejack as she and Spike watched the farm pony stand atop a ladder picking apples and dropping them into buckets. It was kind of a surreal sight.

“Not now, I’m busy. Perhaps after the harvest is over,” Applejack replied.

What was also quite odd about her was that her accent and way of speech had completely changed. They lost all character. She was also no longer wearing either her hat or her mane and tail ties. Applejack was doing her very best to blend in and not stand out—and that’s something that she didn’t even normally care about in the first place!

Twilight and Spike couldn’t imagine what Rainbow Dash and Rarity would be like…

“I’m sorry Applejack, but this is important,” Twilight said and telekinetically grabbed Applejack off the ladder, placing her on the ground in front of them.

Applejack actually looked mildly surprised. “Why did you do that? You know ponies aren’t supposed to do things like use their magic or fly unless absolutely necessary. It’s wrong to do something that others can’t do.”

“Is that why you aren’t bucking the trees like normal?” Spike asked.

“Yes,” Applejack nodded. “Also bucking doesn’t work anymore for some reason. But this is better. Now any pony can grow and pick apples, regardless of who they are or where they’re from.”

“They could’ve done that in the first place though. They just would’ve had to do it a little differently than you and the Apple family,” Spike said.

“Differences are bad. They create division, arguments, jealousy. There should only be one way to do everything and it needs to be a way everyone can do it,” Applejack shook her head.

“So you don’t take any pride in your work either and you wouldn’t want the apples you grow to be better than the apples grown anywhere else?” Spike asked.

Applejack had to think for a second before nodding. “Yes.”

“This is really bad,” Twilight grimaced.

“Well you were about to get rid of your books too,” Spike shrugged.

Twilight sighed deeply and placed her hooves on Applejack’s shoulders. “Applejack, I know you don’t really think this. You’ve just been changed. And not for the better so don’t even try and say that. Your apples were the pride of Ponyville, you were proud that they were better than the apples, than all the fruit, grown anywhere else in the world because of the love and care you put into your work. And because of how the Sweet Apple Acres way has been passed down in your family! Each apple you grow is like a story telling ponies about the success of your farm and how much your family has put into it.”

“I don’t think Applejack would put it in quite as poetic a way as that...” Spike mumbled.

“What’s the point of making apples better than others though? It seems more friendly to not care about that or make others feel bad when their apples aren’t as good,” Applejack said.

“The point is to just love what you do and what makes you special! You can be considerate and helpful without being ashamed of what you’re good at and if you’re better than someone else! Applejack, you and everyone else can’t just abandon the things that make them unique, otherwise no one will ever be happy and there won’t be any true friendship or harmony!” Twilight reasoned.

Applejack began to shake her head. “I don’t-”

“Before you say anything, I know that Applejack is a pony who’s always cared far more about her family and her friends than her own well-being. Applejack, if your family and friends are in trouble, you’d help them wouldn’t you?” Twilight asked.

“Of course,” Applejack answered.

“Well guess what Applejack? They need help. They need you,” Twilight told her.

“More than ever pretty much,” Spike added.

“And they need the real you. So what’s more important, Applejack? Being equal, not even just potentially hurting the feelings of others, or helping the ponies you love?” Twilight asked.

“It’s… it’s wrong to care more about some ponies than others...” Applejack frowned.

“You can still care about and wish for the well-being of others without not caring about the true friends you have too. Remember all the times you helped your friends in the past, Applejack. Remember those feelings, remember what a true, true friend needs to do,” Twilight said and hugged her.

“I...” Applejack whispered, a surprised look coming to her face as the old memories resurfaced. Everything she had gone through, that moment when she and everyone else had helped Pinkie Pie out here on the farm and she regained her true self. The moment even earlier when Twilight had saved her from Discord’s brainwashing. It all came flooding back and with it were the powerful emotions and the bonds of friendship she had.

Her eyes and then her body flashed just as Twilight’s had and the color and then her familiar apple Cutie Mark returned as well.

Applejack rubbed her head, mentally exhausted. “Whoa… what in the hay just happened? And where’s my hat?”

“Applejack!” Twilight nuzzled her and Spike pumped a fist in success. “You’re back to normal!”

“Score one to us,” Spike grinned.

“I feel like I’ve been in a dream for days…” Applejack said, still working out of a daze.

“We can explain everything that’s happened on the way,” Twilight said. “But right now Rainbow Dash needs our help!”

---

“Hey there, Dash! Mind if we talk to you for a bit?” Applejack asked the rainbow pony as they found her walking in the streets of Ponyville aimlessly.

“That’s alright, weather duty is done for the day,” Rainbow Dash robotically replied.

“Don’t you have to fly for weather duty? Aint that not equal with all the ponies that can’t?” Applejack raised an eyebrow while Twilight and Spike stood smiling behind her.

“Yes but we’re working on that. Soon we’ll have an artificial way to work the weather so no pegasi will have to fly anymore. Everyone will stay on the ground where they should be. No flying. No magic,” Rainbow answered.

Applejack winced and looked back at Twilight and Spike. “I was this bad?”

“Yep,” Spike nodded.

Applejack returned her attention to Rainbow Dash. “So you don’t care about being the fastest pony in the world anymore, or the best flier, or being an awesome Wonderbolt?”

“No. None of those things matter, being a winner creates losers. Being the best means someone else has to be the worst. We should all be equal—being more than that just creates a big ego and selfishness,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well you’re not just not Rainbow Dash, you’re like the exact opposite of Rainbow Dash,” Applejack frowned.

“I’m better like this. No one will ever be sad again because they can’t match up to me. I’ll never make a pony upset by beating them,” Rainbow Dash shook her head.

Applejack scratched her head. “How in the hay are we supposed to deal with this...”

“Well we appealed to you by using your family and friends,” Twilight said.

“Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty, maybe we need to convince her that she has to help her friends too?” Spike suggested.

“I dunno… I’m kind of getting another idea,” Applejack said, narrowing her eyes at Rainbow Dash.

“What?” Twilight asked.

Applejack grinned and put a hoof on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “So you don’t care about winning or being the best anymore, Dash? That’s what you said?”

“That’s right,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “We should all be equal, there should never be any competition between ponies, no first place, no last place. Everyone is just as good as everyone else.”

“So you wouldn’t mind in the slightest if I beat you in every Running of the Leaves from here on out? Or won Teacher of the Month every single month from now on? Or beat you every time we competed over anything? Cause I’m certainly a lot stronger and faster than you now. Are you saying that none of that bothers you one bit?” Applejack smugly grinned at Rainbow Dash, really laying it on thick.

“Well...” Rainbow Dash frowned. “I wouldn’t care because I wouldn’t compete in the first place. I’d just be upset because you’re doing something you shouldn’t be. The Running of the Leaves is no longer a competition and the school has no purpose anymore either.”

“Sure, it wouldn’t affect you one bit knowing Applejack is beating you at everything,” Applejack taunted.

“I would only care since you’re hurting others by beating them,” Rainbow said.

“You don’t want ponies to be sad, I know that’s true, but you like winning more than anything. A Rainbow Dash who doesn’t care about winning and being the best at everything she does isn’t Rainbow Dash at all. If you didn’t push yourself you never would’ve done the Sonic Rainboom, you never would’ve made so many great friends, or saved our flanks so many times. Just because another pony might lose doesn’t mean you shouldn’t want to win, Rainbow Dash. Otherwise we get a world like this. Boring and plain and full of inaction where nothing changes and nobody has any fun or can really be their true self. That aint the kind of world for either of us or our friends, is it?” Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash’s mind flashed back to when she was just a filly, when she performed her first Sonic Rainboom and everything that had led up to it. “I...”

“Come on, Dash, let’s have a fun competition again the moment this is all over. I’ll even let you choose what we do,” Applejack smiled.

Rings of color washed over Rainbow Dash’s eyes and the many colors of her mane came back along with her sky blue coat and fantastic Cutie Mark. Her wings spread and she jumped up into the air, pointing down at Applejack.

“No way am I going to lose to you at… wait… what was I just doing?” Her eyes searched around as she scratched her head.

Applejack sighed in relief. “Welcome back, partner.”

“I’m not exactly happy with the way that was accomplished but I suppose I shouldn’t complain given the circumstances,” Twilight frowned.

“That’s just our Rainbow Dash,” Spike grinned and patted her on the side.

“No, seriously, what’s going on?” Rainbow asked as she landed down in front of them.

“We can explain to you in a second,” Twilight said. “But right now Rarity needs our help!”

---

The inside of Carousel Boutique was far different than any of them had ever seen it. It was so different, so un-Rarity that it was actually kind of disturbing. Every ponnequin had been removed, every sewing machine, every bit of fabric, her inspiration room had been cleaned up, there was no decoration, no flair anywhere. It was just so very, very wrong. As equally wrong as seeing Rarity without any makeup and her normally exquisitely done mane and tail as flat and lifeless as a depressed Pinkie Pie’s.

“Uh, Rarity? You okay with living in a place so… boring?” Rainbow Dash asked her.

“Of course,” Rarity replied, the darling noticeably absent. “However the exterior is still far too flamboyant and unique. We’re going to be tearing this building down and building something much more practical that doesn’t stand out in its place.”

“Okay—I don’t even care about fashion or how buildings look and even I know that’s lame and wrong and totally not what you should want to do,” Rainbow Dash frowned.

“Be like if I burned down my farm or Twilight threw out all her books,” Applejack said.

“Actually that’s what I was going to do before Spike snapped me out of this,” Twilight said.

“And it wasn’t a moment too soon,” Spike grimaced as he watched Rarity. Seeing her like this was terrible—the burning passion and creative spirit inside her were gone. The mare that he was so obsessed with just wasn’t here. “Rarity, you’ve got to get back to normal, you have to realize how horrible this is for you! Please, you have no idea how horrified you’ll be with yourself when you finally realize what you’re saying!”

“Yeah, of all ponies it feels like you’re losing the most of what makes you special,” Rainbow Dash nodded.

“There’s no reason to be special or stand out. It would be better if everyone looked and acted the same so no one feels left out or covets what they don’t have. The clothes I made just created divisions. It’s better without them,” Rarity said.

Spike shuddered. “That’s just so wrong… it wasn’t about making other ponies look worse for you, Rarity. It was about making ponies as awesome, pretty, stylish, and fashionable as possible! No one was hurt or anything by other ponies being unique...”

“Ridiculous,” Rarity shook her head.

“So what? Because you might not be able to raise everyone up you want to bring them all down to the same level instead?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. For equality,” Rarity answered.

Twilight grimaced. “It’s like a warped idea of generosity...”

“Rarity, that’s just stupid! You would never stop trying to make ponies look and feel their absolute best! That’s the kind of generosity you go for!” Rainbow Dash scoffed.

“But they could never all be equal, they’d be wearing different things, or looking different, if we accentuated their unique traits. We can’t have that or it would still stoke divisions,” Rarity said.

“So what?! Forget about equality! Rarity, you need to open up your eyes and see what you’ve become! If all you care about is equality then you’ll just end up with a plain and boring world that never changes or has any fun! You don’t want that, Rarity has never wanted something like that. You want to be creative, you want to bring out the best in ponies, you want to make them as happy as possible. In this world, the way you are, ponies will never be as happy as they can be!” Rainbow told her.

She grabbed Rarity and pulled her over to a mirror in the room and parked her in front of it.

“Look! The Rarity I know always takes her time to look her best—it’s not about winning or losing or being better than others, it’s about being the best you can be!” Rainbow said. “Remember what you really care about, what really inspires you, and how you’ve spent your whole life helping others already without giving up everything that made you special.”

Rarity stared into the mirror and from her mind came the memories of how she used to look, how she used to carry herself, and act, and what she cared about.

It was at such odds with how she looked now.

“Oh,” Rarity blinked and her mind flashed with scenes of working hard in her boutique, making dresses, thinking up ideas, forging connections, giving it her absolute all to accomplish her dreams.

The others had to jump back as light exploded from her as well and the color and luster came back to her body and mane, the Cutie Mark she was so proud of reappearing on her flank. Rarity’s eyes flashed with white light and regained their color and cognizance too. It took her a few seconds before she completely went back to normal—but soon she was looking at herself in the mirror and fully taking in her appearance.

“So it hasn’t all just been a bad nightmare, oh dear...” Rarity grimaced at her mane.

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash cheered. “One more back to normal!”

Rarity frowned and looked at her friends. “I’m still a bit confused over all of this… what exactly has been going on?”

“A lot, and there’s still a lot more that needs to be done,” Applejack said.

“Can I fix up my mane first?” Rarity asked.

“Sorry, Rarity but there’s no time,” Twilight shook her head.

“Don’t worry though, you always look amazing in my eyes,” Spike smiled up at her, his eyes glittering.

“Thank you, Spike,” Rarity smiled back, still happy to hear that.

Twilight hugged her. “I’m glad to have you back but now you’ve gotta come with us too, Fluttershy needs our help!”

---

“Fluttershy, darling, you can’t possibly think that things are alright like this?” Rarity asked as she looked over the state of her friend and her home.

The animal caretaker was covered in nicks and scratches and behind her the interior of her cottage looked like an absolute mess not dissimilar to the time Rainbow Dash had taken up residence in it. The wave of equalization hadn’t affected the animals of the world and they sure knew something was wrong with Fluttershy. She was still essentially doing the same job she used to but much like Applejack and Rainbow Dash she no longer had the special skills for it. And the animals she had bonded with didn’t respond well to that.

“It’s alright—it’s better this way to not stoke jealousy or divisions. And soon the animals will get used to it,” Fluttershy replied.

“But Fluttershy, look at your animals. They’re miserable!” Rarity said to her.

Fluttershy indeed looked around her cottage at all the various angry and upset animals, especially the very annoyed looking Angel Bunny. But she didn’t seem to have much of a reaction. “It’s alright—the feelings of ponies come first. It’s better to make sure no one else is miserable or feels outdone.”

“She’s kind of creepy like this...” Rainbow Dash grimaced.

Rarity sighed and rubbed her head, feeling a headache coming on. “This is simply outrageous. Fluttershy, you have more than enough kindness in you to want the best for both ponies and your animals. You would never be satisfied with a situation like this if you were thinking clearly.”

“This is the perfect world though. There’s nothing to not be satisfied about—there’s not even really a need for kindness anymore since ponies will never be unkind ever again,” Fluttershy said.

“I can’t even begin to go over what’s wrong with that,” Twilight shook her head.

“Seriously,” Spike nodded.

“If it was perfect you wouldn’t be covered in scratches and your animals wouldn’t be on the verge of revolting,” Rarity frowned. “Fluttershy—you need to open up your eyes, think back on what your cottage should really look like. Think about how happy your animals should be, what a paradise this little home you have normally is. And if you truly care about ponies being happy as well then you need to realize that they most assuredly are not right now. They need your kindness to help them too.”

“But they are happy. Even if they don’t know it. This is really the best for everyone,” Fluttershy said.

Rarity looked back at her friends for help. “I’m a little lost… what do we do?”

“Try and remind her about all the things we did in the past together, how she used her kindness to help us and others,” Twilight said.

Rarity thought for a second and then nodded to herself, a stalwart expression on her face as she stood in front of Fluttershy. “Do you remember when you became more “assertive”? You thought that you had become better, didn’t you? But it wasn’t the case at all because you had lost what truly made you such a great mare. In the end all you really did was hurt those who cared about you. You had gone too far then just like you’ve gone too far now. A Fluttershy with kindness, who would never let her animals feel this way, is the best possible Fluttershy.”

“I…” Fluttershy got a twinkle in her eyes as her memories came back a bit. All the times with her friends, the good and the bad, the tough and the easy, the times when she struggled with her shyness and when she came out of it a better pony than before. There were plenty of hard times where she wished the world was more like this. But not when it came at the expense of so many other’s happiness.

She only had to take one last look back at all the animals in her cottage watching her for the color to wash over her eyes and body and return her to normal.

“Oh…” Fluttershy wobbled a bit. “That was, um, unpleasant…”

“Darling!” Rarity grabbed and hugged her. “Oh it’s so good to have you back!”

“Something very strange has happened again, hasn’t it?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ll tell you everything in a moment,” Twilight said. “But right now you need to come with us, Pinkie Pie needs our help!”

---

“Oh dear… you look more like Maud right now. I haven’t seen you this depressed in ages,” Fluttershy said as she looked at Pinkie from across the counter of Sugarcube Corner.

“I’m fine. Everything is fine. I’m not depressed,” Pinkie Pie replied.

It was sort of true. She didn’t exactly look sad, her expression was completely blank and lifeless, her mouth neither up in a smile or down in a frown. But on Pinkie Pie the lack of even just the hint of a smile was very weird. The mane and tail, falling down straight, also brought back memories of the times Pinkie Pie had not quite been herself.

“Somehow this is even creepier than how Fluttershy was,” Spike said.

“But Pinkie Pie, where’s your smile? And the food here has… changed. You loved selling cakes and cupcakes and pies but now it’s all just bread,” Fluttershy said.

“This is better. If everything tastes the same there’s nothing to distract ponies. Nothing to feel good or bad about when you don’t get the meal you want or look forward to. And smiles are unnecessary too, since there’s never a moment when you’ll ever be more or less happy than normal,” Pinkie Pie explained.

“But you should always be smiling anyways, even if you’re just normally happy or even only content. A smile is always normal...” Fluttershy said. “Especially on your face.”

“You don’t need to smile or express yourself in anyway. Not in this world. That’s what makes it better. Ponies simply know.” Pinkie Pie said.

“Yeesh,” Rainbow Dash shivered in discomfort.

“Feeling the same way,” Applejack nodded.

“Perhaps we should just feed her some cupcakes to remind her of what she’s been missing?” Rarity suggested.

“Honestly that’s not a bad idea,” Spike shrugged.

“Let’s talk for now, I think it would be best to appeal to what we know is still inside her,” Twilight said.

“Pinkie, don’t you miss throwing parties? In a world like this there’s nothing to celebrate and no special occasions. You’ll never have those happy days again, ponies want something like that to look forward to. They want you to make them smile and laugh harder than they ever would on a normal day,” Fluttershy said.

“Throwing a party for one pony just means another one isn’t getting one. It’s unfair,” Pinkie Pie shook her head.

Fluttershy frowned and actually raised her voice. “No it isn’t! Because you, for every single pony in Equestria, would always find a party to throw! You would never leave any pony out! It doesn’t matter if it’s for a birthday, or because they just moved, or got married, or a new job, or just for any silly reason you could imagine, if a pony needed a party then you’d give it to them! No one gets left out when Pinkie Pie the party pony is around!”

She breathed out heavily as she finished and clamped her hooves over her mouth. “Oh dear… I’m a little embarrassed.”

“Don’t be,” Rainbow Dash patted her on the back. “It was good.”

“I just don’t see what the point of it all is anymore...” Pinkie Pie trailed off.

“The point is to be happy and have fun. Real happiness and fun, Pinkie Pie. The kind you could never make happen like you are now, in this world where ponies don’t smile,” Fluttershy told her. “Please Pinkie Pie, we, every pony in Equestria, needs your help right now to get their smiles back.”

Pinkie Pie thought back to all the parties she had thrown in town, all the times she had hopped through it while singing, as her memories resurfaced. She could picture all those smiling faces, so different from how things were now. So much more warm and alive and better. Could a world without parties actually be the perfect world? She had cheered up and helped so many with her friendship, smiles, and parties, there was no way the world could lose that.

Light flashed over her eyes and body as her mane and tail poofed back to normal and Pinkie Pie jumped up.

“Yippeee!” Pinkie yelled. “Oh wow, I feel like I totally just had the craziest dream and all my Pinkie Senses are going crazy and I gotta throw the biggest nicest party in ALL of Equestria and-”

Twilight clamped a hoof over her mouth and hugged her. “It’s great to have you back Pinkie but that’s all gotta wait.”

“Yeah, even with all of you back we’re not done yet,” Spike said.

Twilight nodded. “That’s right, now Starlight Glimmer needs our help!”

She turned to lead the rest out of Sugarcube Corner when she paused and looked back at Spike uncertainly.

“Er… where is Starlight going to be right now?”

---

Starlight Glimmer aimlessly roamed the halls of the School of Friendship that day. What was going to be her school soon, though she no longer cared about that and knew the building was going to be torn down and repurposed for something else later. She couldn’t really find it in her to care about anything. Everything was a daze. A meaningless, grey, daze where nothing seemed wrong or right, good or bad.

There were classes she passed that she recognized. Rooms, courtyards, paintings and statues. Recognized but ignored.

She knew what had happened. But she was content knowing that things were peaceful in the world, everything was equal, there was no more conflict. If others were happy and okay with this, then she was too. There was some part of her deep down, very deep, that seemed to be saying this was wrong—that she shouldn’t be happy or accepting of this. But it was too deep to listen to. Instead, Starlight would now spend the rest of her life in this neutral state, knowing the rest of the world was exactly the same.

As equal as she wished ponies to be before she made her friends.

“Starlight?”

She turned her head to see that not only had she unknowingly wandered to the front hall of the school, but her friends were there now too. Friends was inaccurate now though. No pony was anymore friends or enemies than with anyone else. But still, there the seven of them were.

“Hello. Can I help you?” Starlight asked.

Twilight smiled. “Not quite, not just yet, but we can help you.”

“I don’t need any help,” Starlight shook her head.

“Oh yes you do—because even at your absolute worst you would’ve been disgusted by this world,” Spike said. “I know that for a fact.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. This is the perfect world,” Starlight said. “Another me even created it herself.”

“Just because she’s another Starlight Glimmer doesn’t mean she’s you. Everyone is their own pony,” Applejack said.

“And every pony should strive to be as awesome as they can be,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Helping others while not giving up what makes them special,” Rarity said.

“Being kind without forsaking the happiness of others,” Fluttershy said.

“And making sure ponies everywhere can be happy—filing up the whole world with smiles!” Pinkie Pie said.

Starlight looked between each and everyone of them. “But it’s all unnecessary. Here you don’t need to do anything anymore. We can just live without worries, without foreboding, without regrets, or guilt. You can’t have a nightmare if you never dream, and now everyone finally sees eye to eye on everything.”

“Just because some things might go wrong, you might get sad, you might make others sad, doesn’t mean you should give up entirely,” Twilight said. “You know this, Starlight. You learned it better than anyone I can think of. Because you never gave up.”

“You became a pony who always wished for and wanted the best for others, Starlight,” Spike said. “That’s why ever since coming to Ponyville you’ve devoted your life to being better and helping others. It’s why you became guidance counselor here and now why you’re becoming the head of the school too. This world doesn’t help, Starlight. It doesn’t make ponies and other creatures happy.”

“It keeps them from being sad,” Starlight said.

“And that’s not the same. And it’s not enough,” Spike shook his head. “It’s not something you would ever be satisfied with or want.”

“You may have not been here the last time I spoke these words,” Twilight said as she walked up to Starlight with a smile. “But I know you’ll understand the importance of them. A true, true friend helps a friend in need—and you are a friend in need, Starlight. So are all your friends and everyone and everything else in the world right now. They all need your help.”

A tear fell from Starlight’s blank face. “My friends need help? I can help?”

“Yes,” Twilight said and hugged her. “And I know you want to—so let us help you first, remember who you’re supposed to be, and then help us save the world.”

“Again,” Spike grinned.

Twilight giggled and rolled her eyes. “Yes, again.”

Light flashed over Starlight’s eyes and the rest of her body. Her color returned, and her Cutie Mark warped back into place on her flank. Unlike the others she seemed to immediately be back into the correct state of mind and know exactly what had happened as a few more tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry… this is all my fault,” Starlight said to her friends.

“It’s not your fault, Starlight,” Twilight shook her head.

“If it wasn’t for what I had done she’d never be here...” Starlight glumly looked down at the ground.

“Then just make up for it again,” Spike told her, frowning as he grabbed her face and lifted it up so he could look into her eyes. “Do what you’ve been doing. Come on Starlight, be the great mare I know you are.”

Starlight looked into Spike’s eyes, confident eyes that believed in her.

She managed a small smile.

“I suppose it’s just one more mistake to fix, isn’t it?”

“Right on,” Spike grinned.

“Okay then let’s do this!” Rainbow Dash shouted and flew into the air, buzzing above their heads in the school’s entrance hall. “Come on! Let’s take her out and save the world!”

“Let me talk to her first,” Starlight said. “I think that’s the only real way we can fix this.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and drifted back to the ground. “Fiiiine.”

“Where is she though?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight shook her head and turned around, leading them to the front door of the school. “Let’s stick together and search through Ponyville for her.”

She pulled open the doors with her magic and the eight of them stepped outside.

Halfway across the bridge was the other Starlight Glimmer. The Bell around her neck and a cold glare on her face.

Starlight Glimmer

Starlight Glimmer stared down her alternate self. The fourth one she had met in her life and the third one she had spoken to—which on its own was already notable enough.

And of course her alternate stared right back, a mixture of anger, disappointment, and annoyance written on her face.

Starlight could feel the agitation from her friends, the worry, the hesitance about what they should do. Some (aka Rainbow Dash and Applejack) were ready to attack in an instant. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were more apprehensive. Twilight more measured, she was defensive and ready to act but she wouldn’t just try and attack this other Starlight immediately or without warning.

And Spike was on the same page that she was. It was time to talk.

She glanced over at him and he nodded, giving her a thumb’s up.

Starlight smiled and looked at Twilight. “I’ll handle this.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked her.

“I’m sure. Just stay here and let me talk to her. Trust me,” Starlight winked.

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Alright, good luck, Starlight.”

Starlight walked from the open front door and onto the bridge, normally, at an even pace, with a friendly smile on her face. It wasn’t just that she wasn’t showing fear or hesitation—she didn’t feel them anymore. She wanted to show this other self how genuinely friendly she wanted to be to her. So when Starlight got close enough she stopped in front of her and held out a hoof.

“Hey there! I feel like we didn’t exactly have a proper greeting last time. I’m the Starlight Glimmer from Equestria and you’re the Starlight Glimmer from the human world beyond the mirror. Right?”

The other Starlight didn’t lift her hoof in greeting. Her expression morphed into one of calm apathy as she stared at Starlight, an exact copy of her aside from the hat and Bell she wore.

“You do realize that with this magical artifact I still have the advantage. I can do anything with this,” the human Starlight said.

Starlight sighed but kept her smile on her face as she lowered her hoof. “Yeah, I know. If we tried to fight you we’d lose and you could just do this all over again. But you want to talk too, don’t you?”

“What gives you that idea?”

“The fact you didn’t blast us immediately and are holding this conversation right now?” Starlight raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re curious, aren’t you? You want to know why we would reject this and try and stop you.”

The human Starlight scoffed. “Please, I’m not an idiot. I know why you didn’t accept this world. It’s called a disagreement. A difference of opinion. I’m not deluded enough to think there’s truly a perfect world that can be made. A real utopia doesn’t exist. You and your friends didn’t think this was a better world so now here you are trying to convince me to change it back. But that isn’t going to happen. Perfect may be a lie, but it’s still the best possible world for me, and better than the life I came from. I won’t give this up. I can make this world exactly how I want it to be and finally be happy.”

“So you don’t care about all the lives you’re ruining and forcing to change against their will?” Starlight asked.

“No,” she answered resolutely.

“Well that’s a lie. It’s a lie I might’ve told myself in the past too,” Starlight frowned. “But I know myself, and I know you, enough to know you aren’t bereft of compassion and empathy. You’re just doing your best to push them down because you don’t want to feel bad about the ponies you’re hurting.”

A smirk halfway between amused and annoyed appeared on the other Starlight’s face. “Normally I’d yell and say “What do you know?” but since you’re me I can’t exactly call you out that way, can I?”

“True. But it’s also true that I don’t know everything about you. I don’t know what your situation is back home or what made you the way you are, what lead you to wanting to do this. Would you mind telling me? I’d like to get to know you better,” Starlight said.

“Oh, you want me to tell you about my trauma so you can fix me and we can all get along,” the other Starlight rolled her eyes.

Starlight only smirked. “Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly it.”

The other Starlight snorted. “There’s nothing even special to tell. There’s no real trauma. There’s not some single turning point, or some grand realization or anything, this is just how I came to be over years of being treated differently and seeing friends abandon me. You’ll be disappointed.”

“I promise I won’t judge. I don’t really have the right to judge you in the first place after how parts of my own past have been,” Starlight shrugged. “Though it sounds like we might have a couple more similarities.”

“Fine then,” the human Starlight glared at her. “I’ll tell you what lead up to this.”

Starlight smiled and sat down, giving her a small nod. “Alright, I’m listening.”

“What do you know about my world’s education system?” Human Starlight asked her.

“Um… not too much. It’s a little more uniform and regulated than the schooling and education system of Equestria, I know that,” Starlight said.

“I suppose that’s enough. You’re correct, my world isn’t as happy and fantastic as yours, there’s no magic and no pegasi that take care of the weather or ponies magically better suited for growing food. Things work differently and the average person goes to school from a young age until they’re a young adult. Some go for a longer or shorter amount of time depending on what they’re studying and what they want out of life,” she explained.

“Following along so far,” Starlight nodded.

The human Starlight smirked. “Well there’s also something called “Gifted” classes and courses, accelerated learning, elite schools, things like that. I had a friend who was taking a test to get onto that accelerated program and my parents thought it would be a good idea if I took it too to see if I could get into the program as well.”

“Sunburst...” Starlight said.

“Correct. He’s your friend here too, I’m sure. Either way we both took the test for the program-”

“And you failed,” Starlight finished.

But the human Starlight just slowly shook her head with that same smirk on her face. “Wrong. I passed with flying colors.”

Starlight’s eyes opened a bit wider. “I see… I’m beginning to think that maybe we had the opposite experience actually… did Sunburst fail?”

“No, he passed too. But he didn’t get the marks I did despite studying and preparing for it while I just took it at last minute notice,” human Starlight shrugged. “I guess that was the start of it all.”

“What happened from there?”

“My life changed as I was happily brought into the gifted program, much more enthusiastically than Sunburst, by the heads of the school and organization behind it all. Schooling became different, my parents pushed me to study harder, there were so many new expectations. But that wasn’t the issue. After all, I passed every test and became the top student in no time. I was the apple of the administration’s eye. All the lavish praise they gave me, telling me I was the smartest and most gifted student they had ever had. At first I thought it was a good thing...” she frowned and sadly looked down. “But it never gave me anything I cared about. So what if I was a genius? So what if I could do math that was years ahead of me? The downsides were… I lost my friend. I lost any ability to make other friends.”

“Why?” Starlight asked.

“Sunburst was never a bad student but he was never more than middle of the pack. Seeing me, me being at the top without even wanting it or trying for it at first made him resent me. He ended up dropping out of the program in just a few years. My parents and teachers said to not mind, that I shouldn’t care, that any other friends like that would just drag me down and distract me. I should focus on my studies. Studies that I never once cared about or wanted for myself. But at this point my parents didn’t even listen anymore. They were too proud of their little genius,” she scoffed. “They didn’t care about me or how I felt—just that I could be shown off and bragged about.”

“And it didn’t matter anymore anyways. The other students in the program resented me just as much. The lower placing ones didn’t think they could even talk to me like normal and the higher placing ones were envious of my ability to place first without putting in as much effort as them. Being the best, being special, all it did was separate me from others and cause everyone to be miserable.”

“I understand you a little better now...” Starlight said. “You didn’t want to drag everyone down out of jealousy, you wanted to make sure no one would ever feel the alienation you felt. You didn’t want anyone to suffer that sort of jealousy and misplaced anger directed at them...”

The human Starlight shrugged. “But I guess even with magic things don’t go perfectly. I was completely resigned to never having the life I wanted or having any peers back home, I felt like I had missed out on the best part of my life. All the genius and scholarly success I had never brought me any happiness. When I became a legal adult I quit it all and have been drifting around doing nothing ever since.”

“And let me guess: a little while ago some weird guy with really colorful clothes appeared before you and told you all about Equestria and how you could pull this off,” Starlight sighed.

“Bingo. I’m assuming he wasn’t a friend of yours?” The human Starlight sarcastically asked.

“Nope,” Starlight shook her head.

“Whoever he was—when he told me about this world, its inhabitants, and magic, it was like I suddenly had an opportunity again. A dream that I actually cared about,” the human Starlight continued. “I never saw a way to make the world I came from better, or find my place there, but here? Here I could do so much. Help so much. I actually had the tools to make the perfect world—or at the very least the best possible one. And I always had the goal to somehow spread this magic back to my home as well, so I could fix that world too.”

“You really wanted to make your perfect world that badly? That’s what drove you to do all of this?” Starlight asked.

Human Starlight frowned. “Of course, why else?”

“Well… just from hearing you talk, it sounds like you cared way more about making friends than anything. You even said that a real perfect world is impossible. Maybe you were embarrassed to do something so big for such a personal reason, but I think you just want some friends. You were given the opportunity to do something huge and use magic you never even knew existed before now—and I think you temporarily lost sight of what you really wanted,” Starlight said.

“I don’t...” the human Starlight bit her lip. “It’s true I always wanted friends but I can do so much more now. I don’t want to have traveled through dimensions for such a petty reason. I’m doing something bigger for the sake of everyone now.”

“There’s nothing petty about making friends. It’s a big deal,” Starlight admonished. “And you didn’t have to do any of this at all. You learned about another world that was different from your own—and you let some weird psycho plant a grandiose idea in your head instead of doing what deep down you really wanted. You could have just come here to become friends with us from the start. Instead you tried to force your will on the world and wouldn’t listen.” She smiled. “That part of you is very similar to myself.”

The human Starlight sadly looked back at her, no more fight was left in her body. “So what happens now?”

“Well I’ll tell you something else—it’s never too late to start making friends. And if you want, I’ll gladly be your very first,” Starlight said.

“Friends in two different dimensions?”

“I already have a couple like that, one more wouldn’t be too difficult,” Starlight shrugged.

“Is it really that easy for you? Are you saying that all would be forgiven—that we could just start off on a new page as if none of this had happened?” The human Starlight frowned.

“Believe me—this is practically just a normal day in Equestria. You haven’t done anything that can’t be fixed with a little time,” Starlight told her. “Thankfully we weren’t stuck like that for too long. My friends and I will all be willing to forgive you for this, and they might want to become friends with you too. And I’m pretty sure I know a few people back where you come from that will gladly become your friends. So if you want to be friends, if you want to put all this behind you and get the same kind of life of friendship and fulfillment that I have, you’ve gotta take that first step now.”

A joyless smile pulled up the human Starlight’s lips. “I guess it was silly to not just talk things over first.”

She pulled off Grogar’s Bell and dropped it on the ground. A few small tears dripped on it after.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done,” the human Starlight said and reached up a hoof towards Starlight. “Can we be friends?”

Starlight grabbed her hoof and shook it before pulling her into a tight and unexpected hug. “Yes.”

---

“So I’ll see you again soon?” The human Starlight Glimmer asked as she stood in front of the mirror portal, prepared to go home.

“I promise I’ll come visit you real soon, don’t worry,” Starlight Glimmer answered her.

She was standing with her friends as they saw her off together—the other mare more or less forgiven by all of them except a slightly grumpy Rainbow Dash. And Discord too, who after being unstatued was pretty much just flatly staring at the other Starlight. But he’d come around eventually. Things had been put back to normal easily enough, as was often the case in Equestria, and ponies were back to enjoying their normal lives. Lives that might have some sadness, disappointment, and disagreement in them, but their chosen lives nonetheless.

“I’ll come too,” Spike said. “Although not sure how much you’ll like being friends with a dog.”

“Thank you,” the human Starlight said, chuckling. “I think I’ll be fine with that.”

Starlight walked up and hugged her once more. “And don’t be afraid to try and make friends on your own and improve things over there. I think you’re the type who can do anything she sets her mind to.”

“I’ll try,” the human Starlight said and detached from Starlight’s hug, she turned around to face the portal, taking a deep breath and getting ready to step through it. She looked over her shoulder to smile and wave at the others. “Time to go then. Goodbye, Starlight. Goodbye everyone else, and thank you for everything!”

“Goodbye!” Starlight said and waved after her.

“We’ll see you soon!” Spike waved as well.

The others gave their own goodbyes and farewells as the Starlight Glimmer from the human world stepped into the mirror portal and went back to her home.

As soon as the mirror had gone back to normal, Twilight walked up to Starlight and placed a hoof on her.

“I’m proud of you, Starlight. You’ve made me even more certain that I’ve left the school and Ponyville in good hooves.”

“And you’ve made me certain that the rest of Equestria is in good hooves when you take over,” Starlight smiled to her. She sighed and took a deep breath, smiling over at Spike and Discord too. “And now I think we can finally relax. I think after this things are finally going to be fine. Just fine.”

Author's Notes:

Just one more epilogue chapter to go. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story.

The Last Page

Lilac hooves trotted at a carefree pace through the halls of the School of Friendship as it bustled with activity. Class was in session, a lot was going on, and it was music to her ears as the new headmistress. After all the chaos and insanity that had happened recently (some of which may or may not have been her fault) it was nice to see life moving on like normal.

Her hooves carried her past the office of a certain guidance counselor and for just a moment she took a peek inside-

---

“The Understanding and Helpful Trixie wants you to know she hears you. She knows this is not your first time having problems here at school, would you like to share what troubles you? You are quite a bit older than our typical student but be aware that it’s never too late to learn about friendship! All are welcome here. Trixie should know best,” Trixie said with a smile to the creature sitting before her desk.

He was large, large enough where the chair he was sitting in strained under his weight and even sitting down he towered over Trixie and her desk completely. He was a bipedal creature, with black and white fur, beady eyes, and wearing a pair of khaki pants.

“It’s not just that I’m older, it’s that I’m the only one of my kind here. It makes me stand out even more,” Berten the Troll confided as he nervously wrung his hands. “And as much as I’m trying to fix it I know I have a scary countenance and aura about myself… when I see young ponies, griffons, and kirin shy away from me it makes me upset… and I’m worried about lashing out.”

“The Caring and Understanding Trixie-”

“Did you just change your title?”

“-Understands what you’re going through on a deeply personal level,” Trixie nodded along to what Berten was saying. “She faced many of the same issues when she returned to Ponyville after briefly enslaving it previously.”

“What did you do?” Berten asked, genuinely curious and hopeful.

Trixie smiled. “I was lucky enough to make a great friend who helped me through it—and so much more. You may have not made that great friend yet, but you have me and plenty of others who will always be here to help you out. Find someone who’s also nervous and doesn’t seem like they have many friends either. Find some common ground. As long as you’re genuine and earnest about becoming friends it will definitely happen someday.”

Berten considered her words for a moment before a small smile graced his face. “Thank you, guidance counselor. I do have a friend here, but I didn’t want to just rely on her. But perhaps I’m just being silly. I’ll remember your words.”

“You’re welcome!” Trixie proudly sat back and smugly grinned. “And another job well done by the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

---

She left Trixie’s office behind and her hooves soon carried her past an open window that looked out over some of the school’s expansive grounds. Taking a look out the window she saw two ponies surrounded by a number of tweeting and colorful birds.

---

“Oh, they absolutely love you!” Fluttershy said as she watched her companion feed her warblers. The birds happily ate the seed right out of his hoof and thanked him with a song.

“I never thought I’d get to do something like this...” the orange stallion with a bag of overflowing seed as his Cutie Mark said. “I had given up on ever actually getting to experience what I got my Cutie Mark for.”

“I’m so happy for you—Applejack will be happy too. And it’s great to know there’s another set of caring hooves around to help take care of all my birds,” Fluttershy smiled at him.

“Caring...” Birdseed whispered. “That’s not something I ever would’ve used to describe me.”

Fluttershy patted him on the shoulder. “Some of us just take a little time before we find ourselves.” Before she could say anything else though, she suddenly remembered something important. “Oh no! I completely forgot I was supposed to visit the Moles and Magman today! I need to go now or I’ll be late! Birdseed, can you take over feeding the rest for me?”

“You can count on me,” Birdseed happily replied with a smile.

“Thank you so much! I’ll see you tomorrow!” Fluttershy said and flew away with a wave.

---

She walked away from the window but had barely traveled down the hallway at all before she heard two other ponies walking and talking down another hallway to her right. Taking a look she saw the familiar face of Rarity walking with a pegasus stallion she didn’t recognize. He was fit, with a trimmed mane, and carried himself in a very precise manner. Between the two of them Rarity was levitating a heavy winter coat in her magic—with built in wing holes for pegasus use.

She decided to take a step back so as not to get in their way as they walked by, becoming privy to their conversation at the same time.

“It’s a shame you have to leave so soon after touring Equestria, Mr. Crescent Moon, but I understand you really need to get back to your home,” Rarity said to the pegasus.

“It’s not like I can’t ever come back—and I had a really great time here at the very least. Your country is just as magical as I expected,” Crescent Moon said. “And thank you for the coats by the way.”

“Well when I heard how dreadfully cold it is where you live I figured I needed to give you and your friends a gift,” Rarity smiled. “You do like it, don’t you? I designed them myself.”

Crescent Moon nodded. “Yes, the box you gave us is already with my companion. And I can guarantee you they’ll be a hit back home, we don’t have anything like this. It’ll make the flight back a lot easier to endure as well.”

“Wonderful! And please keep in touch if you can, darling,” Rarity said.

“Of course, I’ll try and keep in touch with all of you,” Crescent Moon smiled.

They walked on by, still talking for a while as she watched them go with a smile on her face. Humming to herself now she started walking again until she passed one of the many staff rooms. This one was a favorite of Rainbow Dash’s since it had a skylight she could use to zip in and out of the building whenever she wanted. In fact right now she thought she heard Rainbow Dash talking from inside it-

---

“It’s seriously so cool that you could make it here, Gilbert,” Rainbow Dash said as she hugged a mustachioed griffon.

“Haha! Did you ever doubt that I would come?” Gilbert smiled widely.

“Knowing you I wouldn’t have been surprised if you got lost or stuck somewhere,” Rainbow let him go and shrugged.

“Fair enough—but I did still make it here and saw your show. Just as promised!” Gilbert proudly puffed out his chest.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes but a good-natured smile was still on her face. “Yeah, thanks for coming by the way. I’ve hardly gotten the chance to join any big Wonderbolts shows lately so you’re lucky you got to see such a good one. Before you leave again do you want to go see a magic show? My other friend Valentine is here and she invited me to go see one put on by someone called Vahar in Ponyville later today.”

“I suppose so. It’ll be a fun way to end my trip to Equestria before I fly back east,” Gilbert said.

“Yeah… and you’ll make sure my letter to Wish gets delivered, right?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Absolutely,” Gilbert nodded. “I’m going to stop in East Glade—Senax’s old home—first and then I’ll be back over the ocean heading to Vissidia.”

“Alright. And when you do see Wish again, tell her that the letter’s not all. I’m gonna be coming out again to see her soon. Definitely,” Rainbow Dash said.

“I promise I’ll let her know,” Gilbert saluted.

“Cool,” Rainbow nodded. “Then let’s get out there and have some fun before you leave!” She said and immediately jetted up through the open window in the ceiling.

“Right behind you!” Gilbert said and swiftly followed her out.

---

She giggled and trotted away from the staff room, now going back down the hall closer to several classrooms. Along the way she met several ponies, hippogriffs, changelings, dragons, and kirin going down the halls as well. More students who usually gave her a smile and wave along with a short greeting that was readily returned. It warmed her heart—this was the kind of thing she loved working for, to see so many young happy ponies and creatures who would hopefully never gave to go through anything bad like she did. Certainly not anything bad that was caused by her either.

One of the classrooms she was walking by had its door open so she decided to stop just out of view of anybody in the room and stood up against the wall to listen in on the class.

---

“Now remember, class. Don’t ever feel down just because other creatures might be leading a more exciting life than you. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being one of the normal ones,” Amethyst Star said as she wrote on her chalkboard in front of several rows of students. “It’s perfectly okay to just be a teacher, or a salespony, or a construction worker. Not everyone is going to have a life like Twilight Sparkle and her friends and that’s a good thing. It’s perfectly good to not be important and still take both pride and satisfaction in what you do. The rock at the top of the mountain can only be up there thanks to all the ones at the bottom holding it up. A nice, quiet, normal life is something that should be envied.”

The unicorn smiled widely to her class. “Any questions? I’m more than willing to talk about how I almost ruined my own life out of stupid decisions and not understanding what I just told you.”

At the back of the classroom another unicorn, teacher’s assistant Daylight Gleam, busy organizing books along the back wall, hesitantly raised an eyebrow in Amethyst Star’s direction as she listened to her lesson. “Is it really okay for a class like this to be held here?”

The class seemed to be okay with it though as many hooves and other appendages were raised and questions started to bounce back and forth between teacher and students…

---

When she left the classroom behind she didn’t walked much further before she heard a door open up and looked over to see Applejack walking out of it with a red filly with a bushy green mane by her side. Curiously enough, the filly wore the exact same kind of hat Applejack was wearing. It was a little big on her head but she still wore it well.

“Wow, Applejack! This whole place is so cool!” The little filly said.

“I figured you wouldn’t have really been to a place like this before. You want to see Twilight’s castle next?” Applejack asked.

“Is that really okay?”

“Of course! Specially when Twilight hears how far you’ve traveled and all the things you’ve seen, she’ll want to talk to you too about all that. Uh, just a head’s up but she might end up talking your ear off,” Applejack said.

The filly shook her head and grinned. “I don’t mind one bit! Getting to talk to a real life Princess? Wow!”

“Gonna have more fun than you did visiting my farm?” Applejack asked her with a teasing smile.

“What?” The filly looked up at her in shock. “No way! No way! Nothing is gonna beat getting to see your farm, Applejack. Your family was all so nice too, you gotta tell Apple Bloom I’m gonna miss her.”

“I will, sugarcube,” Applejack tussled the filly’s mane.

“And I know you aint gonna plant the strawberry seeds I gave you in your farm exactly but you’ll find a place for them, right? Even if you just grow em indoors somewhere,” the filly expectantly looked up at Applejack.

“Don’t worry about that, I promise I’ll find a place for them. In the past I never would have… but I promise I’ll grow the best tasting strawberry bush in Ponyville just for you, Wild Strawberry.”

“Thanks, Applejack,” Wild Strawberry hugged her. “And when I leave Ponyville you can bet I’ll be spreading word about how Sweet Apple Acres grows the best apples in the whole world.”

“Have a good time once you’re back out there. I get the feeling there’s still a lot of the world for you to see,” Applejack said.

The two of them walked down a hallway in the opposite direction from which she was going, so for a moment she just stood there and watched them go until they disappeared around a corner. For a while she continued to just stand there with a happy feeling in her head, like flowers blooming. Everything did just seem perfect today. Not just a nice day where she could see the sun and the blue sky whenever she looked out the window, but one where all her friends were around and clearly having just as good a time as she was.

Speaking of friends… another glance down in the courtyard showed her a certain purple dragon talking to a group of students at the school…

---

“-and so that’s how I saved the day! Once Discord used the last of his magic to turn me back to normal it was easy. All I had to do was snap my friends out of it too. And I know them all way more than good enough to help them if something like that ever happens again,” Spike proudly stated to the assorted ponies, griffons, and others listening to him.

“Wow… you’re a real hero, Spike!” A particularly sparkly-eyed griffon said as she gazed at him.

“I know, I know, it’s not a big deal though,” Spike yawned and folded his arms over his chest—his smile and behavior saying the exact opposite. “But hey, if you want some more stories have you ever heard about the time I saved the Crystal Empire too?”

The crowd of students almost trampled each other as they exuberantly shouted in the affirmative. Seemed like Spike would be there for a while longer telling them all about his many heroic exploits.

---

A giggle escaped her lips and she shook her head before walking on—now not far away from her office. Along the way she still saw the occasional students and other teachers going about their business, not wanting to interrupt—all she did was keep on walking until she reached a familiar door. Her magic pulled it open and she stepped inside, closing it back up and finding herself alone in the office.

Starlight Glimmer looked around at the numerous pictures and plaques, at Phyllis on her desk, all the scrolls in their shelves, the windows right behind her desk that allowed sunlight to pour in. She exhaled slowly, sighing in contentment, and walked over to her desk. Her home away from home, one of her favorite places to be—especially when Trixie, Sunburst, Spike and everybody else was around. All the insanity she had been through recently really made her appreciate it a lot more.

Starlight sat down in her chair and relaxed before her eyes settled on a particular photograph she had framed and sitting on her desk. It was different than the other ones she had—a stranger would’ve thought Starlight had quite the unusual family. It could’ve been mistaken for a photo of a set of quadruplets, or clones, or changelings, no one would’ve guessed that it was really four different Starlight Glimmer’s from different worlds. That would’ve just sounded silly.

They were sitting together in front of the Castle of Friendship, herself, the former Empress, the moody her who was now quite a bet better-adjusted, and the Starlight from the human world. The differences between them were obvious if you looked hard enough—the way they styled their manes, the hat her human self wore even as a pony, the slight difference in expression and way they smiled, the more demure and shy look of the former Empress, the ever so slight smirk from her twin-tailed version. And yet they were all still her—and all still friends. Despite the fact they probably weren’t supposed to visit or see each other that much what with the whole chaotic space-time continuum thing, they still met up to at least take this picture together. Each of them had a copy that they took with them when it was done. Starlight wondered how often the others looked at theirs and just what kind of feelings the picture brought up in them.

For her it was nothing but happiness.

Starlight Glimmer sat back with a smile. “In the end, if it meant making friends like you, it was all worth it.”

Author's Notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImsTS1Kb9ww