That world faded, and Amicitia became aware of Havoc once more, casting his monstrous shadow across the aetheral void. "Why did you show me that?" she asked, shaken.
Mercifully, Havoc did not look at her directly. "You've Always Been Afraid of Failure, Amicitia. Failing Your Teacher, Failing To Do Your Absolute Best, Failing To Save Everyone." Far too many pairs of burning eyes narrowed. "Are You Truly Prepared To Face The Friends That You Failed In The Worst Possible Way?"
Amicitia hesitated, then nodded firmly. "Ready as I'm going to be."
Everything went black, even to all of Amicitia's senses. Somepony screamed. It might have even been her. And then...
She stood on a crumbling castle rooftop, her coat deep violet and her mane and tail ablaze with dark flame. Bone white barding and a half-mask weighed heavily on her. In front of her and all around in the twilight sky, six rainbow circles glowed, ripples of light surging round and round in slow motion.
"But... if I'm here, then..." She spun around, and there they were. Her friends. Nightmare Manacle, her rainbow mane jagged and heavy shackles on her legs. Nightmare Mirror, her unblinking eyes smoldering with cruel truth. Nightmare Whisper, meek and sad and just wanting all this to go away. Nightmare Granfalloon, with the crayon-sketch horn and wings that Paradox/Nightmare Eclipse had never entirely understood, not in hundreds of thousands of years. And Nightdrake Banneret, huge and hulking in golden armor over purple gem-encrusted dragon hide.
Each of them had a huge floating Element crystal summoned, but... she remembered them trying to cheer her up at this point, urging her to bring out her own Element so they could finish this... and instead, they seemed hesitant, as surprised as she was to be here, at this moment.
Manacle was the first to step forward. "Twilight?"
Twilight reached up with a hoof, pulled the half-mask from her face, and let it fall. The flames of her mane flared, and died out. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Tears ran down her cheeks.
"Twilight!" boomed Banneret, and they all came to her in a rush.
"Did you go crazy!?" cried Granfalloon. "Or did you go uncrazy?" She grinned squeakily. "I probably should have said crazy-crazy-crazy there, heehee!"
The rainbow circles flared, glowing lines starting to connect them together.
Twilight smiled, even though she couldn't stop crying. "I know this isn't going to make any sense. I'm not the Twilight who hurt all of you so badly... but that doesn't matter. I *am* Twilight Sparkle. Given the same initial conditions, I would have done exactly the same. I... I accepted that a long time ago, so it's my responsibility and I am so, SO sorry for everything I did to you!" She wiped her face with a foreleg, still sobbing.
Unexpectedly, Manacle hugged her. "Pfft, egghead. We forgive you."
Twilight froze. "What? But..."
Whisper hugged her too, nuzzling. "Of course we forgive you."
"Did you think we wouldn't?" asked Granfalloon.
Mirror just threw her hooves around Twilight. "Hug!"
"But, I can't *fix* this!" protested Twilight. "I made happy endings for so many other ponies, but I can't do anything to give you the happy ending you deserve after so much suffering." She hung her head. "All I could do... was accept that it happened and... move on."
"Then that's what we'll do," boomed Banneret, wrapping the whole group in a huge hug with Twilight in the middle.
The rainbow lights were growing almost painfully bright. The power of Harmony bore down on them, just moments of realtime away. Twilight felt a sudden dread. If *this* was the only time that Havoc could let her see her friends again... "But what if there's nothing after this? No future, no hope..."
Manacle grinned. "Well, we're not going back and doing all that again, that's for sure!"
"Whatever comes next, comes next," said Banneret. "No regrets." He smiled and carefully wiped Twilight's eyes with a huge claw. "And no more tears."
Rainbows crashed over them from every direction at once, washing out everything in brilliant white...
Amicitia blinked, opening her eyes slowly.
"Did You Find That Which You Hoped?" asked Havoc. "Or That Which You Feared?"
Amicitia smiled. "I'm not sure whether that was real or not, but I feel like... I finally got to say goodbye. Thank you."
Far away, in a universe yet to come...
"Who's a good girl?" said Fluttershy, still Nightmare Whisper outwardly, bouncing a happy, squealing baby Veritas in her magic. "You are, yes you are!"
"Hug!" giggled Veritas, wrapping small hooves around Fluttershy.
Princess Fidelitas grinned, yawning and rolling over on her cloud couch. "Well, somepony's in a good mood. I had the craziest dream last night."
Pinkie Pie appeared in a teleport flash, jumping into the conversation like she'd been there the whole time. "Whoa! You too?"
"Yeah! It was like a nightmare at first, but then Paradox took off her mask and..." Fidelitas realized that both Pinkie and Fluttershy were staring at her. "What?"
A burst of green flames lit up the Realm of Loyalty, becoming Spike the Nightdrake. "Hey guys, check it out!" Spike was *glowing* from crest to claws, all his scales shining with a warm radiant heat. He set baby Half-Light Midnight down next to Veritas, making it clear that she wasn't glowing, only him.
"The heck?" said Princess Fidelitas. "Don't tell me someone wants you to be Dragon Lord." She scratched her chin. "Did we even create dragonkind yet?"
Spike grinned. "That's not why I'm being summoned. Tiamat wants me. Guys... I'm ready."
Alex Warlorn
Deus Ex Machina,an Alicorn incarnation of Twilight, sat frowning and bored. She was at a schoolhouse desk, and in front of her was an Alicorn version of Fluttershy.
Except she was wearing a pearl necklace, had a relatively shorter hair cut, and wore pink thick framed glasses. "And that is why we don't say 'peeved' in front of foals. Or include the word peeved in stories aimed at foals." Said the Alicorn Fluttershy in a calm and collect tone.
"Yes Aesop, The Guardian of Morals." She droned.
"No need to be so formal, we're all friends here."
"Didn't your version of Ogres and Oubliettes say that a teacher or parent or other authority figure should be GM so the peer wouldn't lord his authority either in game or out of game?"
"That's neither here, nor there Twilight."
A realistic Alicorn AJ, Deconstruction snorted nearby.
A still realistic, but still beautiful and adorable Alicorn Rarity, Reconstruction, giggled.
There was Darker And Edger, and Lighter And Softer, the Alicorns of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie giving each other a staring contest.
And finally there was the Ryujin of Spike... Focus. Who just sighed.
Ardashir
Deus called to her friends quickly. "Oh! I found a new universe that needs to be changed before it self-destructs in grimdarkness!"
Darker and Edgier rolled her eyes. "Oh, man, what, did someone stub their hoof?"
Lighter and Softer smiled. "I'm all ready! I have my copy of How To Resolve All Conflict With Games And Laughter!"
Deconstruction snorted. "Ya know that ain't always gonna work! Sometimes ponies have ta face the consequences of their decisions if they're gonna learn anything."
Reconstruction smiled. "True, dear, but only so we can show how the light is so much brighter after passing through darkness to get there."
Deconstruction kicked a hoof. "Aww, fiddlesticks! MMPH!" As a bar of soap appeared in her mouth.
Guardian of Morals said motherly. "Applejack! What have I told you about using the F-word like that?"
Mtangalion (with a bit by me at the end)
A more cartoonish version of Applejack 'just happened' to be passing by the schoolhouse window at that moment. "Boy howdy!" said Veritas loudly. "Ah can honestly say that Ah sure am peeved about that peeved nonsense getting a hoofhold in my world. Peeved, peeved, peeved!"
Aesop's magic hauled Veritas through the window and jammed a wet bar of soap into her mouth. "Veritas! Foals could be listening in!" She started scrubbing away.
Veritas spat the soap out. "Peeved ain't a bad word!" Then she did a double-take. "Uh oh..."
Aesop was clenching a stick of chalk in her hoof, grinding it to dust, and her eyes glowed demonically. "You can't just make things true in this universe, you, you... potty-mouth!"
Discord flashed into existence at one of the empty desks, complete with an old-fashioned schoolcolt's uniform and a golden apple for the teacher. "Oh stop complaining, Veritas." He leaned closer, whispering. "You should see how she acted when I said 'crap' around my little sister Rancor."
Discord hadn't whispered enough Aesop had heard.
Outside the cosmic schoolhouse, lightning shot out the windows, and there were sounds of a draconequus getting zapped with enough electricity to light up a country.
whitebearboy
As Amicitia floated through the spirit world, she was shocked to find yet another worldline where ponies had enslaved humans. Only this one was even more shocking.
In this universe, ponies were gigantic compared to humans! And, rather than humans and ponies having existed in the same world from the beginning, ponies had discovered Earth while human civilization was still in its youth and, seeing how violent the tiny beings were, had seen fit to enslave them in order to shape them to more harmonious ways.
MtangaLion
It was never easy for Amicitia, dealing with worlds where ponies with the names and faces of her dear friends simply *were not* the ponies she had known.
The tragic thing was, the Shadow guiding this world had probably not even meant to make Princess Celestia a bad pony. But ponies had conquered a planet of tiny people too weak to fight back or threaten ponies in any way. What kind of ruler permitted that? How hypocritical were her teachings of harmony, when humans had been kept as slaves in her kingdom for over a thousand years? What kind of a society did she inspire, when such ponies as Rarity and Twilight Sparkle bought humans and regarded them as clever pets, seeing no serious wrong in it?
Amicitia peered deeper into the world, searching. Perhaps recent events would make a difference, give her some cause for hope...
In her private study at Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia shook her head. "I must say, Twilight, I'm disappointed in your recent conduct."
Princess Twilight tensed, ears drooping. "But, Princess... I mean, Celestia! Blueblood's been mistreating his humans, and he attacked me!"
Celestia sighed. "And he certainly will be punished for that. Honestly, assaulting your home with a squadron of his personal guards? Attempting to take a Princess captive with no warrant or authority? I can't imagine what he was thinking."
Celestia narrowed her eyes. "But you, Twilight... you stole a human from him in the dead of night like some common thief, when you might have simply asserted royal privilege, taken the human you fancied and compensated him. And then, I'm told, you and your friends engaged him in a pitched battle, without even trying to defuse the situation?" She offered Twilight a smile, then. "You are a princess now, Twilight. Princesses should not be getting snubbed by common cab-drivers, or loutish Princes."
Twilight spread her wings sheepishly. "I'm trying, Princess. You know that all I really wanted to do was study."
Celestia chuckled. "Indeed. You may take charge of reviewing the laws for care of humans, if you like. Perhaps your friend Fluttershy could help. I'm told she's good with pets."
Amicitia shuddered. Then she realized that she was waiting for Deus to suggest freeing the humans with giant robots or for Mirror to make some cutting remark. "Heh, I guess I miss working with them. Well... time to bring out the big guns."
In one of the godly realms of this world, a draconequus sat on a mountain of discarded candy wrappers and soda cans, game controller in claws and laser-focused on the screen that floated in front of him. He could have simply snapped his claws and cleaned up the whole mess instantly... and he definitely would, just as soon as he got to a good stopping point in his game.
(Ugh... how long has it been since you looked outside?)
He scowled. "I can't lose focus now! I'm on level 999,999 of Ultimate Rogue's Definitely Super Final Dungeon."
(Remember the time Dad yanked the power plug out and atomized your save game data card?)
He glanced over his shoulder at the mortal world, did a double-take, and then very delicately pressed the Pause button on his controller.
"Sheesh, I've been slacking, even for me." mused Anarchy. He grinned darkly. "So, you say you want a revolution?"
(No one said that, but that was implied, yes. Why not get Fluttershy in touch with Princess Cadence...)
"Don't tell me how to do my job, funny voice in my head that I'm taking no official notice of, wink, wink!" Anarchy folded his arms, carefully considering the situation on the ground. "Now, Fluttershy and Cadence..."
Alex Warlorn
"So you call on me, after your two buddies up and leave you, I'm soooo honored." Anarchy said biting. He looked at the world line. "So you want me to fix this... "
"I want your help to fix it, without introducing anything that doesn't already exist in the heart world."
"... Well, if ALL ponies are this big... or humans are this tiny... always hard to tell... isn't there some species of pony that's been reintroduced in the heart world that can help ponies with an object lesson?"
"Eh?"
"Come on, you're not THAT dense. They're not even OCs! Or even 'secondary' canon! Okay, it says that they found Earth and humans when human culture was still young. Which means this has been going on for quite a while... But since everything is the same unless said so differently... Tell me? Did the shadow who created this worldline say anything about THEM?!"
-
Seabreeze of the breezies, a husband and a father, was part of the latest expedition to the outside world for the pollen needed to support their world. Why they didn't just grow these flowers in their own world was truly and sincerely beyond his comprehension. It was better than venturing out into this world of giants over and over.
The giant Ponies treated all the giant beasts that inhabited their world like they were fully sapient creatures... which given how they acted even when the ponies weren't around, Seabreeze couldn't argue with... but then why weren't THEY building houses and farming and making laws and doing businesses like civilized creatures? Why didn't they WORK for their food and loggings instead of the ponies giving them infinite handouts? If they were really intelligent creatures as all appearances gave, then they were nothing more than damn parasites. And seabreeze loathed parasites, those who never worked and expected everybreezie else to carry their load. He wasn't a follower of Andrew Rybread, that giant lunatic didn't understand the love of family if it hit him in the head.
Seabreeze was not heartless despite all appearances. He just had a temper. He was in particular angry when a little unicorn foal snatched up Twirly, a girl breezie who was one of his teammates... and the filly declared she wanted to keep her as a pet! Saying how nice she'd look next to her pet human.
As much as it would cost time, he wouldn't leave a teammate behind just for getting caught by a ignorant foal. But the goal ran away into the town full of giants.
So Twirly spent some time in a little toy home with her wings being beaten and snagged on everything rather painfully, next a little hairless ape.
While Seabreeze was taking his complaints to the nearest authority figure.
Mtangalion
(Are you sure that Melissa and Joshua are okay, staying with Twilight again? It's true that things are quieting down, and you'll be able to smuggle them off to the secret human village in a few more days, but it wouldn't hurt to check again, just to be safe...)
Fluttershy tapped a hoof on the door of the Golden Oaks Library. "Um... Twilight?" she called timidly. "I really don't want to intrude, but I was wondering..." She nudged the door open, and a gust of wind blew past her.
"No, don't!" cried Twilight. Her magic glowed, catching something in the air before it could go sailing away. "Whew... Come inside and close the door, would you?" She looked over her shoulder. "Oh! Hello, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy saw Melissa and Joshua, the tiny humans no bigger than her hoof, standing on Twilight's desk safe and sound, thank goodness. Then she got a look at the equally tiny creature that Twilight was placing next to them, and gasped, rushing forward as softly as she could. "Is that... a pony?!"
The tiny pony bristled at them. It wasn't quite a pegasus... it had gossamer wings and feelers like an insect, but the rest of it very definitely pony. "As I was trying to tell your giant nosy princess, I am a breezie! My name is Seabreeze!"
The little creature was so adorable, Fluttershy wanted to grab him and hug him on the spot, but she knew it wasn't right to treat a human that way, and if breezies were the same...
"You're so small," breathed Twilight. "But you can speak and understand me clearly?"
"Your accent is quite ridiculous, but I can understand you, yes!" Seabreeze buzzed his wings, hovering inches from Twilight's muzzle. "One of your subjects has taken Twirly prisoner. I demand you help me set her free!"
Soon after that, Twilight and Fluttershy paid a royal visit to the house were Seabreeze had seen Twirly last. They brought Seabreeze, Melissa, and Joshua along in a picnic basket, which made Fluttershy cringe, though it was a convenient size.
The foal and her parents were in awe of Princess Twilight, but the foal wasn't happy at all when she found out that Twilight wanted her "pets." She grudgingly handed Twirly over, but she clutched at the third human like a favorite doll. "No, mine! Why do you want to take my pet?" Tears brimmed in the foal's eyes.
"Please, Mistress!" begged Joshua. "Can't you rescue him too?"
"He's so bruised and battered, Mistress," said Melissa. "I don't know if he'll last much longer here!"
Fluttershy took a deep breath... and laid down to look the foal in the eyes. "But don't you see, little one? This human shouldn't be a pet. He's small, like these breezies, but he talks like a pony. How is he any different from the breezies, or you or me?" She turned a pleading look on Twilight.
"Yes, how are we any different?" complained Seabreeze. "I am thinking that we should go home and tell breezies to stay far far away from big ponies, if big ponies treat us little folks this badly!"
Twilight opened her mouth... and closed it again, several times. "I think... we need to take all of these breezies and humans back to my library and have a long talk about some things."
Alex Warlorn
Anarchy smacked his lips. "Of course... then comes one of Princess Celestia's failures... to claim what she thinks was rightfully hers from the beginning, and that you stole from her."
"... The Element of Magic can dangerous in the wrong hooves."
"I wasn't talking about the magic jewelry. I meant the spot by Princess Celestia's side, her love and approval, and of course the whole becoming a princess thing... which Sunset Shimmer, ACTUALLY WANTED, and ACTUALLY ASKED FOR, opposed to good old mortal book worm you, who never wanted to be a princess, and never asked to be a princess, yet got saddled with anyway, and your beloved mentor never once asked if it was what you wanted... she's such a wonderful mare isn't she?" Anarchy laughed. And Amicitia finally saw how Anarchy and Discord were related, and she didn't mean by chaotic appearance.
"... The universe were we all have counter parts, ISN'T the human world Megan came from... humans aren't normally purple and blue. So it logically still exists on its own... And... when Princess Twilight Sparkle steps through..."
"AGGGGGH!!!! I'M A HUMAN?! How did I get so tiny?! Why is everything so tiny?!"
Amcitia continued, "And she gets to see what humans could have accomplished if ponies hadn't turned them into a pet species."
Anarchy grinned. "Do you think horses in that version of that reality are all miniature pets with another animal having been bred and raised to serve as humanity's prime beast of burden?"
"I... I don't know."
Mtangalion
The portal didn't spit Princess Twilight out in the trendy purple schoolgirl outfit that Amicitia remembered from other variant worlds. It didn't even dress her in the clothes humans wore in the world that ponies had enslaved... at least those humans had a civilization, which ponies found useful enough to leave mostly intact.
"What is this?" asked Twilight, somewhat revolted as she tugged at her clothing. "Crudely woven cloth and... is this animal leather!?" She looked at the deep, wild forest surrounding her, complete with trees that towered like Manehatten skyscrapers. "I feel like I just stepped into the paleopony era!"
She turned around to see what the other side of the portal looked like, and while she was gawking at a crude, colossal statue of a rearing horse... who in this world could have carved *that*? ... she nearly missed the enormous feline stalking her.
It was just a housecat, Twilight's rational mind tried to tell her... but this was no pampered kitty like Opalescence. This was a wild, mangy cat, wearing a leather harness, with Sunset Shimmer in human form riding on her back, as barbarically dressed as Twilight. She patted a miniature Crown of Magic in her lap and grinned darkly. "How does it feel being puny and powerless... Twilight? I hate you even more now for making me retreat back into this hell world, but hey, at least you won't suffer long."
Sunset flicked the reins, and the feline hissed and advanced. Twilight backed towards the statue, shaking... it was too far to run... and giant purple paws stamped down on either side of her.
"Leave her alone!" snarled Spike. Not a goofy purple puppy with a collar... dogs had never been domesticated and selectively bred from ancient times either on this world. Spike was a purple and green-maned wolf pup!
Sunset's cat leapt back, yowling and spitting with all her fur standing on end. "A wolf?" said Sunset, outraged. "You get a tame wolf!? Hmph, just one more undeserved, unfair advantage!" She scowled and tugged her reins hard, ordering her cat to turn and run for it.
Twilight threw her arms around Spike's ankle, hugging tight and still trembling. "Spike! If you hadn't been here... I'd have been done for!"
Spike grinned toothily. "Aw, you know you can always count on me, Twilight! It's amazing... you're really as small as the humans back home." That made Twilight freeze up, until Spike barked, "Well, come on, climb on my back! We have to catch Sunset!"
Spike made sure Twilight was secure, then howled and ran, chasing the cat's scent. A terrifying (to Twilight) high speed chase followed, dashing past and around huge trees, and through piles of fallen leaves that Twilight could have gotten completely buried in. Spike actually cornered Sunset and they would have had her, if Sunset hadn't thrown some kind of itchy powder in Spike's face so they could flee.
None of the Equestrians noticed in the heat of the chase, but the Crown fell out of Sunset's bag and was lost in the woods... until a very curious Chieftain Celestia found it. "How did the holy relic get here?" she wondered aloud, poking it with her staff before she picked it up. She shrugged. "Come, Amaterasu!"
Her white wolf padded closer, each paw-step booming and making the earth shake, from a tiny human's perspective. She knelt down so Celestia could climb back into her harness. Celestia smiled, rubbing the wolf's shoulder. "Let's get this back to Canterlot."
Alex Warlorn
Amicitia stared. "That... was unexpected... the whole idea was that Twilight would see humans if ponies hadn't lorded over them and enslaved them would have been able to build a complex and modern civilization by now... not STILL be in the stone age eons later after they'd have been discovered by ponies... This... makes things awkward. This was kinda meant to be the hammer in the coffin to get Twilight Sparkle to realize humans were sapient beings, and not pets."
"Heh, like Pony-mon Trainers treat Pony-Mon?" Anarchy said.
".... That... undermines the entire premise and tone of those game. And don't change the subject!"
Mtangalion
Twilight was quickly learning more than she'd ever wanted to know about what it was like to be human. Flutterponies were frail and helpless too, but at least they could fly and use magic! As she was now, Twilight was powerless against common wild animals, and even nature itself. Maybe the nobles were right, and humans really did need ponies taking care of them, for their own good. She and Sunset Shimmer might even be the only humans living in these woods.
And then Rainbow Dash had found her, riding on a bird of all things. Not *her* Rainbow Dash, but a human who looked like Dash, sounded like Dash, and even had the same name! This Rainbow Dash didn't know any Twilight Sparkle, but when she discovered that Twilight had 'tamed' a wolf, and a talking wolf at that, this immediately gained Twilight something close to hero worship.
More shocks followed... Flying on ahead, Rainbow and her 'giant' pidgeon guided Twilight and Spike to a human village sheltered in a cave, a village they called *Canterlot*. The stables outside the village had many more tamed birds, and cats and squirrels, and mice that were small enough to go into the village like pets... but only two other wolves. Twilight was not so surprised, now, to learn that Chieftain Celestia and Hunt Mistress Luna had been the only humans brave and daring enough to befriend them.
Duplicates of all of Twilight's friends lived here... only, they weren't friends. It didn't long to discover that Sunset Shimmer was the cause of that as well. Before she quite knew what had happened, Twilight was committed to winning a contest with Sunset to gain a mysterious holy relic... *her Crown of Magic*!
It would have been more pragmatic to explain the mix-up to this Celestia, or to devise some other plan to steal the crown back and flee. This wasn't her world... these humans weren't her pony friends... this shouldn't have been her problem.
But what about the mess she'd be leaving behind? If bringing ponies... or humans together and restoring lost and broken friendships wasn't the purpose of the *Princess* of Friendship, then what *was*?"
Far away, Amicitia felt like dancing. (Now you're getting it! This world can take away your Alicorn powers, but nothing can stop the Magic of Friendship.)
Mtangalion
Many events in the upcoming competition turned out to be things that Twilight was woefully unprepared for. There was a strategy game, a riddle contest, and a test of leading blindfolded followers through a maze... but there was also a flying obstacle course, a spear-throwing contest, and even a one on one duel!
Each of the human versions of her friends had something to teach, though. Rainbow Dash, the young warrior and fearless bird-rider. Applejack the crop-tender, who coaxed Twilight into admitting that she wasn't from this world. Fluttershy the animal-handler, who especially loved the birds but was terrified of flying on one herself. Pinkie Pie, the cook who sang songs to keep everyone in good spirits. Rarity, skilled cloth and leather-worker, elegant and precise in everything she did.
And... Flash Sentry, warrior in training and musician? Why did Twilight feel like she'd known him for years? Why did he make her heart race whenever he smiled? When had she started finding humans attractive in the first place?
As Twilight worked with each of them in turn, years-old misunderstandings were cleared up. Old friends apologized and became friends once more. When Sunset let wild mice into the village's food stores and pinned the blame on Twilight, Twilight's new friends stood by her, and even helped clean up the damage.
When the day of the competition came, Twilight tried her best, though she was no match for Sunset Shimmer in the more physical contests. How could she be, when Sunset had spent years living in this world and practicing those skills in a human body? Sunset shocked everyone by grabbing the crown from Celestia before the final results were announced, as if beating Twilight down with her own hands was all that mattered. When Sunset arrogantly put the crown on right there and then...
Disaster. The magic ran wild, transforming Sunset into a fiery winged demon. They got the crown back, thanks to some luck and Applejack's talent with a lasso, but it seemed like nothing could prevent Sunset from burning Canterlot right down to the stones and bending all the villagers and their animals to her will. The rest of the Elements were back in Equestria... what could Twilight do alone?
She shouldn't have doubted. Once again, the Elements... her friends... were right beside her.
Magic awakened... they were actually creating magic that hadn't existed in this world before. It swept up their group, physically transforming them with pony ears and manes. Applejack and Pinkie grew taller and stronger, easily able to wrestle down the villagers that Sunset transformed. Rarity began lifting objects with a wave of her hand, bring water to put out the fires. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash sprouted wings and took the fight to the skies... and so did Flash Sentry?!
Why him, why now!? Why seven instead of six? Twilight couldn't even explain why... she barely knew him, but she trusted him for some reason, and so she plunged on ahead.
Twilight, the Alicorn, put on the crown that was rightly hers and got wings, strength, and levitation all once.
Out in the kennel, Spike helped the other two wolves corral all the possessed animals without hurting a single one.
And when Twilight joined hands with all her friends, she got the most dramatic proof possible that humans were creatures of honesty, laughter, loyalty, trust, kindness, and generosity... when the Rainbow of Light mended the entire village and blasted Sunset back to her normal self and her senses.
It was hard saying goodbye to everyone. Twilight urged Sunset to return with her, but the humbled Sunset insisted that she felt too guilty about all the things she'd done, that she couldn't leave until she'd made amends. Twilight thought that Sunset really just wasn't ready to face Princess Celestia again, but she gave Sunset one of the magical journals that she'd almost completely forgotten about, and let Sunset be.
Twilight climbed into a new harness and grinned, waving back as Spike the wolf trotted briskly away from the village. "Let's go home, Spike! I know *exactly* what I'm going to present at the Princess Summit now."
Alex Warlorn
Amicitia breathed in a sigh of relief. "Well, at least that turned out well, that was harder than it should have been."
Anarchy grumbled. "Ah, no toppled government?"
"Not every great social change needs to have a government fall. I'm sure Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends can get humans now to stop being treated as property with the Breezies and one of the Princesses on their side."
"You think it's going to be easy?"
"No. But I do think that ponies can solve their problems without bloodshed."
Alex Warlorn
I am Princess Amicitia. More simply, Twilight Sparkle. I've been criticized by more than one by my post-ascension Alicorn relatives, as well my draconequus 'in-laws', that I just want quick and easy solutions. That I just want to bully universes into what I want still. That I don't really care about, nor even respect the worlds that I try to steer towards a happier conclusion.
I wish that were true.
This worldline, it's not infamous like some worldlines. But it still massive, still powerful and still gives out a terrible presence.
I wish I could just 'reveal' there was an illusion behind the illusion and that the rest of the universe besides Equus wasn't dead. But it's a fundamental law of reality in this universe, it's a matter of the physical and magical rules of this reality, not of ponies' choices.
There's also the unique creature here, two in fact, visitors from other universes. Both of them basically puppets and mouthpieces for the Shadow Who Makes who brought this worldline into existence in the first place. Able to brute force and bully their way through several events, and of course, lecture Princess Celestia like no tomorrow once they have 'had enough.' It doesn't matter the visitor who was supposed to be good had done nothing to actually earn trust with their brutish self-righteous actions, and in fact had done the opposite with many said actions. Let alone the sickening pattern I've seen across countless world lines, 'she did a bad thing, but it turned out for the best, so let's just ignore that.' (Yes I am fully aware of the irony thank you very much).
I think of trying to give ponies the spine to call her out for her actions, but it wouldn't change anything. Her TRUE creator would just give her more power, more might, and browbeat those who'd dare stand up to her verbally even worse as punishment. After all, for beings like her, their creator has put so many of their own traits and beliefs into her, that for her to be insulted, is to insult the creator, and there is nothing more futile than to try to ague with a creator within their own domain.
I am Princess Amicitia. More simply, Twilight Sparkle. I've been accused by members of my family that all I want are quick and neat little solutions, that I'll do anything to bully a timeline to be the way I want, instead of what's best for those who inhabit it. I wish that were true.
Mtangalion
Amicitia remained there brooding for some while, idly tracing the flows of magic around the Gate of Myriad Worlds. No matter how much time she spent studying this Equestria, the last shining jewel of a cold, dead universe, there were no easy answers.
Unexpectedly, a presence touched her, faint but drawing nearer. "This isn't good," she murmured to herself. "This world was nearly destroyed by an extra-dimensional intruder. Anyone might see me and assume the worst." Her ears flicked. "What if that wolf came back?!"
Amicitia braced herself, watching shadows lengthen and pool together, rising into a fearsome silhouette... not *that* wolf, but another, one with stark white fur and a long, flowing mane. Recognition came, startling her. "This world has a Blank Wolf?"
The wolf bowed respectfully. Golden eyes regarded her. "Not that I am aware," he rumbled. "This is not my world... nor yours, I think." He lifted a hand-paw and flexed the long digits one by one. "I've never quite gotten used to the sort of paws wolves have in some worlds."
Amicitia approached cautiously. At least he wasn't shouting, 'Die, infection!' at her. "You.... you're one of the Blank Wolves who was befriended by an Element of Honesty. You're male. I guess that makes you... Snow Bound?"
Snow Bound grinned, fangs glinting. "And you are the Time Devourer, reborn as Amicitia the Great Meddler, who puts her hooves into the business of every world except the one she is actually responsible for. Or, so wolves say."
The Alicorn grimaced. "What are you even doing here?"
"I could ask the same." Snow Bound flicked his fluffy tail, glancing down at the same world she'd been watching. "But for my part, duty can be deferred, and now I have my brother to help. I've been curious, lately, about the place of wolf-kind in the wider web of Fate, what they are, those who are not Blank Wolves. This is one of the worlds Mother suggested. I admit, viewing its history... seeing what that other wolf did gave me pause. Have I not also been high-pawed, enacting my judgments as I will and cuffing aside all opposition with sheer brute strength?"
"That's not the same at all!" said Amicitia. "I never thought I'd be saying this, but that's your *job*. You're divinely appointed to do what you do. You're not some rookie, thinking that power alone gives you the right to judge everyone and do as you please." She sighed. "She did save that world, and she did admit to her mistakes in the end, but those mistakes nearly cost that world everything."
"So it would seem," mused Snow Bound, still a bit lost in his own thoughts.
"Being a powerful wolf doesn't make you her," said Amicitia. "Otherwise, you'd be tearing into me for every one of *my* mistakes, and Fauna Luster knows I've made plenty." She smiled. "Well? Got any more wise, superior advice for me?"
Snow Bound matched that smile, hiding the fangs this time. "I think I will fall back on The Rules, here. You are not of my world, and I will not judge. I have not the right."
The wolf dipped a paw into the raw aether surrounding them, and drew out swirls of magic which rose and took forms of wolves and ponies. Snow Bound and Blanky, big brother and little brother. By his side, Applejack and Apple Bloom, sister Alicorns, with Applejack casting the long shadow of the Opaque Wolf. Sweetie Belle trotting by his other side, and Scootaloo and Button. Even Twilight Sparkle the unicorn appeared, with a whole checklist of prioritized questions, waiting for the day when Snow Bound the earth pony stallion might come to her library door again.
Snow Bound nodded firmly. "I am power given purpose, the Editor, never the Author. The only story I lay claim to... is my own. I suppose that would be my advice to you. Do not become so absorbed in your self-appointed mission that you forget the ones close to you, the lives you've changed with your own hooves."
Amicitia turned that over in her head thoughtfully. "I wonder... is that Wolf Bar open?"
Snow Bound arched a brow. "I don't think it ever closes. Why?"
Ardashir
Time passed, and Amicitia set her cares and duties aside briefly.
Amicitia, now in wolf form, was howling her way through another old wolf song when a light blue she-wolf with silvery guard hairs and tail loped in. Amicitia gave an embarrassed tongue-lolling lupine grin when the newcomer spoke.
"Amicitia! So!" She grinned, showing gleaming fangs. "This is what you do with your time! Anasi will remember it the next time you criticize her for allowing her mortal worshipers to bathe her with cream and shower her with lilies on that one world."
The Black Wolf blinked. "What is she talking about?"
"It's, well," Amicitia cringed a bit. "It's kind of a long story."
In the past, on a world far, far away
"ANASI!"
"Hmm, what?" Anasi lazily opened one eye. The temple maidens about her cringed back against their visiting goddess. Anasi set her wings comfortingly over them as the angry-looking pink and purple alicorn scowled down at her. "Oh, greetings, Amicitia. What is the problem? Anasi is taking a brief break from her duties."
"A 'brief' break?" Amicitia shook her head. "Sis, it's been twelve years! You were supposed to be helping Liberalis and Ryujin Spike with the problems on their world, not," Amicitia snorted at the servants who'd just entered the chamber, bearing heavy vases. "Not getting bathed in cream and rubbed down every day!" The servants gaped and fled, dropping the vases. Anasi's horn glowed and she snatched them up before they hit the floor.
"Anarchy advised Anasi to 'take it easy' for a while, and she agreed," Anasi rose with a sniff. "And she has NOT been wasting her time! I have made sure these mortals have good crops and safety to harvest them in, and have encouraged the arts among them!" She nodded at the wall. It was covered in paintings and tapestries and statuary, all of them depicting Anasi performing wonders and defeating monsters. In many of them a lesser, somewhat silly-looking purple alicorn functioned as her comic sidekick.
Amicitia scowled. Anasi just grinned sheepishly.
"Anasi, no other alicorn ever turns aside from their duties to cater to their ego!"
"Indeed?" Anasi sniffed.
Mtangalion
Amicitia caught herself scratching an itchy shoulder with her hind-paw before she realized what she was doing. Worse, Anasi caught her doing it too, tail wagging. Snow Bound, the smallest wolf at the table for once, didn't seem to care... he scratched at an itchy spot of his own and licked it, as if that sort of thing was as contagious as yawning.
"You're certainly keeping interesting company these days," said Anasi, winking at Snow Bound. "Handsome, too. Oh! Anasi hasn't interrupted a date, has she?"
Amicitia coughed loudly, before Snow could open his muzzle and make this more embarrassing. "So what brings you here, Trixie?"
One of the spirit wolves brought a tray to their table and set a cider in front of each of them. Anasi blinked at hers, then tapped a claw on her chin and cast a spell by waving a glowing forepaw over the cup. "Anasi did not order a cider spiked with liquid rainbow. Indeed, she does not recall ordering drinks at all! "Please bring her another."
Snow Bound sniffed at his own cup, then growled, lifting a paw... only to sigh and put it back down. Indeed, the bar had a prominent sign which read "Please, don't erase glasses, furniture, or customers." The 'please' was underlined, and there was a cute wolf pawprint in the corner.
Amicitia raised a brow, then glanced left and right. "Somewolf is playing tricks? On *you*?"
Anasi closed her eyes, breathing deep. "Oh yes, and he's close. I can feel the adoration." She leaned closer. "Tell me, have you heard of... Diamond Wolves?"
"Diamond Wolves?" Amicitia scratched her headfur with her claws, then began to recite out of the encyclopedia that was her memory. "Diamond Wolves are an offshoot of Diamond Dogs, found living in the snowy northern wastes in many variants of Equestria. They possess the same innate digging ability and are also able to cast spells, with affinities for Earth, Ice, and Dark."
Anasi nodded. "You'd know best about that."
"They are also known for..." Amicitia trailed off.
Anasi grinned wolfishly. "Go on."
Amicitia suddenly saw where this was going. "Making overcomplicated plans and schemes, with a particular love of pranks and trickery. Let me guess... they've been worshiping you?"
Anasi seemed at once tired and smug. "By name. 'Great Anasi, inspire me with perfect scheme to show up my rival pack!' 'Anasi, help me get even with Iosef for getting even with me!' 'Anasi dang it, I dropped big rock on my paw!' On and on and on..." She shrugged her shoulders. "Anasi was quite confused at first. She thought that wolves were solidly in Fate's domain."
Snow Bound lifted a claw. "Blank Wolves, yes. Others, less so, even though the Rota Fortuna who runs this bar is called the Wolf Queen."
"That's good," said Anasi. "I don't want all my schemes becoming destined to fail." She laughed weakly. "Ahem. They're eager to please, and they definitely do things in the spirit of me, so I empowered some of my favorites, to see if they'd make good spirit wolves, or angels or what not." She sighed. "I just can't figure out how my name got spread around to all those worlds so quickly.
Prince Erik answered a loud knocking on his door, muttering loudly, and found an eager young Diamond Wolf on the other side, grinning far too broadly for this early in the morning. "What!?"
The visitor wagged her tail. "I come bearing the great and powerful words of Anasi! You want pamphlet?"
"No," growled Erik, slamming the door.
The other wolf shouted through the closed door. "But Anasi can help you outdo Crystal ponies and get back at dumb yaks!"
Erik paused, then twirled a claw in the air, magically opening the door again. "Let me see that." The pamphlet had a large color photo of a blue and silver Dire Wolf...
A Diamond Wolf trotted up to their table, a camera around his neck. "Say 'great and powerful!'"
Instantly, Anasi was standing up tall and grinning proudly, wearing a flash-conjured hat and billowing cloak, perfectly sized to her wolf form. "Did somewolf say..." She bared her fangs. "Great and Powerful?"
The other wolf snapped a photo. Amicitia smiled at Snow Bound, and Snow rolled his eyes.
Ardashir
"GRRRRR."
Every wolf and alicorn in the Wolf Bar froze as a savage growl echoed through the room. Anasi and Amicitia turned to look -- and found themselves muzzle to muzzle with an utterly gigantic wolf, one big enough to match some elder dragons in size.
"Fenris!" Anasi yipped. "Ah, Great Father of Wolves? I hope you have no problem with Anasi's minor wolf cult?" He bristled at her. Anasi gulped, set her side against Amicitia's, and said, "Fenris? The child of Strife as Concept of Predation, that Fenris? Oh, good, maybe you can tell those wolves to praise Anasi more and take her name in vain less. No, they aren't minding me at all. I'm sneakiness incarnate, not a rival alpha, so don't you get your fur all fluffed up at me."
"GRRRRR." He repeated the growl, glaring at Anasi. She swiftly ducked behind Amicitia as the huge wolf said, "So I finally find the false Dire Wolf that is stealing my Diamond Wolves from me. Now I'll teach you the same lesson I once taught Celestia and Luna when they interfered with me." His jaws opened, looking like a crimson cave big enough for an alicorn to walk into lined with fangs.
"Wait!" Amicitia winced as a blast of foul air, reeking of meat, washed over her. "Great Fenris, this place is for the Blank Wolves and Concepts! You have no business being here."
"Oh yes he does," another she-Dire Wolf said, looking both lovely (by Wolf standards) and fierce as she walked out from behind the massive Fenris. "He's the Lord of Wolves, Eater of the Sun and Moon, Avenger of Betrayal -- he remembers how he was bound, and by who -- and Endless Hunger." She nuzzled the great wolf. "He's also one of my children."
"Thank you, Angrboda, Mother Strife," Fenris said. "Thank you for bringing me to my enemy," he bared his fangs at the shivering Anasi, "that I may avenge the insult she has set upon me!" He looked at her, big enough for a reflection of Anasi to show in one massive eye. "I will devour her whole and remove her pony taint from my Diamond Wolves!"
"Amicitia?" Anasi hissed as the other Wolves in the bar cleared away, watching intently as Fenris towered over the two wolf-suited alicorns, hungrily licking his fangs. "If you have any good ideas, Anasi would appreciate hearing them now!"
Alex Warlorn
Meanwhile a slimly green and black wolf with Egyptian tattoos and a mass of tentacles for a 'head' said, "Now I'm conflicted, do I want to see Amicitia humiliated by anyone but me?"
Mtangalion
Amicitia felt a jab of fear. What was she doing, prey, in this den of hungry wolves? She lifted a hoof... and it *was* a hoof, hidden in the cloth and felt of her magical costume.
"Why are we wearing wolf suits?" hissed Anasi urgently. "Anasi definitely remembers transforming into a Dire Wolf before coming here!"
"You haven't earned that!" roared Fenris. Surely, the Wolf Bar hadn't been big enough for the father of wolves to so much as get his head in the door, but now it was a cavernous feast-hall, as if the space had simply stretched around him. His muzzle curled in another fang-filled grin. "So I took it from you."
Snow Bound growled, stepping in between them. "Lord Fenris, they meant no..." Fenris merely stood tall and stared the Blank Wolf down, and Snow Bound immediately bowed and pressed himself to the wooden floor, even whimpering and rolling onto his side.
"Our hero," snarked Anasi, until another glare from Fenris left her quivering in fear too much to speak.
There was a shift in the Wolf Bar's atmosphere as yet another deity arrived. A large grey Dire Wolf with a deep scar on one side of her face was sitting in her usual place... Rota Fortuna the Wolf Queen. The Blank Wolves flickered, gathering near and nuzzling her, just as the powerful spirits raised from mortal wolves gathered around Fenris and Angrboda. "Such anger," Fate growled. "Who got him all riled up this time?" She noted Amicitia and Anasi. "Oh."
"Rota Fortuna, thank goodness you're here!" said Amicitia. "There's been a little misunderstanding."
The Wolf Queen stared at her, then threw back her head and barked with laughter. The ears of Amicitia's costume drooped, mirroring her pony ears. "Little Meddler," growled the Wolf Queen, "you will learn what it means to be a wolf, just as Celestia and Luna and even I myself learned. Or not. That is your choice."
Fenris lifted a huge, heavy paw, jabbing a claw towards Anasi. "This one does not get to choose. Trickery stole from me. She will become worthy of what she took, or it will be taken from *her*."
Strife spoke, "You may decline this trial, Amicitia, but if you do, you will *never* wear a wolf's flesh and fur again."
And Rota Fortuna growled to Snow Bound, "Pup, wolf of Law, you wished to know more about wolves of Fury. You may learn. Be assured, this will not affect your fitness to do your duty as a Blank Wolf."
Anasi, Amicitia, and Snow Bound all looked at each other, but they remained standing together.
"So be it," growled Fenris. He lunged with impossible speed, jaws snapping closed around all three of them...
In a deep forest, on a wild and untamed world in a time unknown, a wolf nuzzled his mate proudly, grinning down with her at the three blind and squirming wolf pups pawing at her belly... one purple, one blue and silver, and the third snowy white.
A gruff voice seemed to speak from a presence filling the red, stormy sky. "Drink, and grow strong. Breath, and know the scents of your brothers and sisters. The pack is your life and death."
The wolf pups, older now, growled and pounced and snapped at each other, playing. Other wolves brought meat, feasting as they wished before giving the pups a share.
"Test your strength," growled the voice from before. "Learn to fight! These are your life and death. Eat your fill, and honor the lives that were taken for you." Thunder rumbled... the wolves froze, then howled hauntingly.
Time spun on and spun for the wolf pack and the new pups, but what was time to a Concept?
Alex Warlorn
"Now for your trial Ferris."
"Wait-WHAT-, who said-" He was hit in the face with a cream pie.
(In The Breezie Kingdom)
"It's a girl!" Said a proud father as he held up his newborn for the entire swarm to see outside of the flower they called their home.
"YAAAAY!" The swarm of breezies cheered in the garden/town (same thing to a breezie) of Breezie Blossom.
The newborn breezie just lazily yawned and she was hoofed back to her mother. Breezes were generally considered the weakest of the weak, but they didn't mean they didn't have their pride as gardeners and put most earth ponies to shame and sensitivity to magic that would awe unicorns.
Mtangalion
Angrboda growled deeply, making dishes and cups rattle on tables. "Really, my sister? Really?"
Pandora gave her a loopy grin, standing on top of a table. Her wolf form was a motley mutt, a draconequus-like pastiche of at least ten different dog and wolf breeds. "Fenris is a good boy, but he's way too serious, sis!" She took the backup pie she'd conjured in case the first missed, and bit a huge chunk out of it, tail wagging. "Mmmf! Want some?"
Angrboda sighed grimly. "This is why we stopped inviting you to the celestial wolfpack howls... Bragi."
Pandora razzed her. "Aw, and I thought it was because I wouldn't wear that stupid hat. Look, Fenris made his trial world way too grim and gritty! Might as well put out a *welcome mat* for old Pyramid Butt. Now, here's my ideas for spicing things up..."
Amicitia and Anasi weren't like other wolves.
Each of them had a bright patch of fur on her forehead, shaped like a star. The sages had never seen anything like it. Wolves muttered and whispered, but it seemed harmless. As the first litters they raised came of age and began siring cubs of their own, though, and other wolves their age became old and grey, Amicitia and Anasi stayed young and strong, and kept growing stronger. Their beloved brother Snow passed on, but the sisters continued, and wolves began to be in awe of them, to follow them.
Amicitia dreamed of making peace between all the wolf packs, of allying with the mysterious sea ponies, of ending skirmishes and raids and rivalries and helping wolves stand strong together against the cruel griffons and the marauding centaurs.
It seemed easy, destiny almost. The immortal sisters continue to grow until they stood half again as large as any other wolf, and magic stirred in them... they could do things that sages and wizards who'd studied their whole lives could not. More and more wolf packs joined Amicitia's cause.
Sadly, Anasi grew to mistrust her sister. She missed the wild world of their youth, and loved tricks and schemes, not peace. She took her loyal pack and departed. Amicitia would not see her sister again for over a century.
Amicitia struggled ever onward, though, and on the day the wolf clans gathered to proclaim the first grand alliance of packs and name her queen... a miracle occurred. The heavens seemed to open before Amicitia, and suddenly she knew that there was a much wider world beyond this one, and she and Anasi were *not* the only Dire Wolves. Her mane became like a flowing aurora, rich purple and blue flecked with silver, and wolves howled their approval all the more.
Amicitia's first awakened thought was that someday, probably thousands of years from now, she needed to find Celestia, have a few ciders with her, and compare notes.
Her second thought was that wolves hadn't invented anything resembling cider yet. She'd have to fix that. First things first. "My little wolves," she growled, "I am humbled and honored by the trust you've placed in me! A new era begins *today* for wolves... an era of Friendship."
Alex Warlorn
"So that doesn't count as a mortal life after all." Pandora noted. "Since the whole bang POINT of a mortal life is to be born like a mortal, live like one, and die like one with only awakening AFTER you die. Like the time Celly was born as a mundane horse on the human world. And even if she became a divine beast, she shouldn't have remembered her divine self until after her death. Ferris seems to be doing good at least."
-
"Whose my cutest widdle baby ever?!" Oceanbreeze cooed at her absolutely adorable daughter.
"Aw wuv you too mommy!" Fern Gully answered back.
For little Fern Gully, Breezie Blossom was the entire universe. She didn't think about, nor even comprehend that there might be something beyond those bright colorful woods that surrounded her swarm's garden. And why would she care? She had friends, she had family, and to the breezies, work and play were one and the same, they were hardwired to enjoy their helping life grow. She even had a pet ladybug, creativity named 'Lady Bug'. What more could she possible need or desire? It was always spring in Breezie Blossom.
None where surprised when Fern Gully got her cutie mark in flower arrangement. Her patterns were always so beautiful, and the flowers liked them too.
Mtangalion
"You've ruined it," rumbled Strife, sounding more disappointed than angry now. "How can they learn of the struggle to survive which is a Wolf, if they are immortal?"
"I didn't do *that!*" snapped Pandora.
"Of course you must have," muttered Strife. "Always with your flights of fancy, never pausing to consider the consequence..."
The argument trailed off. A dozen wolves winced in unison, Strife especially... nearly half of the bar seemed to have gathered around to watch.
"Our proud wolf father..." whimpered a Blank Wolf. "He's cute and adorable!"
"And singing a happy song!" cried one of the spirit wolves.
"About morning dewdrops!" wailed another.
A Big Mac who had become the Opaque Wolf of his world growled, rolling his eyes. "Yer acting like a bunch of overgrown puppies. My Rainbow Dash tried to die when anypony got near her with a hoofacure file, and even she was tougher than whole bunch of ya."
Over in her corner, Rota Fortuna had a paw over her muzzle, barely holding back her gales of laughter.
The door of the Wolf Bar banged open, and Snow Bound padded inside, looking scruffier and more muscular than before. He went straight to the bar, ordered a large cup of cider, and stared at it without drinking it. Unlike Amicitia and Anasi, he *had* come back with a whole lifetime of mortal memories to think over.
And in a deep and dark corner of that wolf world, grim darkness stirred in the form of a monstrous Barghest. "That's better," he spoke, in a sickening, squelching growl. "One mortal lifetime isn't nearly enough for all the fun I have in mind."
Alex Warlorn
Anarchy sat on his rear, playing Pony-mon Go while somehow remaining stationary. "If you ask ME, not that anyone is, I think you dumb mutts have been vying for way too much attention lately. What about Starlight The First and her friends? And for Entropy's Sake, there's MORE in the world than dang wolves! At least Pandora's 1000 monkeys and their 1000 type writers occasionally churn out a silly sentence or two."
"Your domain is full of nothing both sloths!"
"Not true, I also have ant-eaters, echidna, snails, slugs, moles, gofers, fire-bugs, and turkeys too. I get why old Frankie thought they'd make a great national bird! Oh, and the rain and drowning thing? Total myth. Hey, why don't we have cosmic BEAVERS for a while trouble shoot paradoxes?"
"... You wouldn't dare."
"You forget who my little brother is? Oh. And grim and gritty might be up to something, but then again, he alway is. How's Anasi doin' BTW?"
"... Looks she's establishing the foundations of a benign theocracy."
"So like the first Babylonians."
"Anasi's pack is absorbing factions as well, except hers is based on spiritual and philosophical growth."
"So the night to Amicitia's day eh? Heh! Doesn't THAT sound familiar."
"And Fern Gully was just told by her elders that there is more to the world just Breezie Blossom."
Mtangalion
Anarchy yawned. "You also might want to know, Pandora rounded up Firejack and her whole pack, and they're recording the new My Little Wolfy theme song. So, good luck. Ugh, this sucks... I don't wanna have to design my wolf form."
He glanced up at the fifth and a half wall that he'd never gotten around to finishing. "Oh yeah... who am I talking to again?"
In the All-Worlds Alicorn Bar next door, Deus ex Machina gulped the last of her cider, then thumped the glass down. "Sempai is so brave, going into that savage world all alone with just her two friends!" She clenched a hoof. "Why, oh why didn't sempai invite me? I want to be a cute wolf too, and she'll be away for so long!"
Deconstruction took a gulp of her definitely not alcoholic cider. "Actually, she'll be back before ya know it, due to time and space being relative between different dimensions and all."
At a nearby table, Kronos sneezed so hard his fez fell off, and a Derpy with wings and a horn smiled and offered him a tissue.
"She'll be away for Ever! So! Long!" repeated Deus. "But it's okay. I know there has to be a reason! And the reason is... she wanted me to carry on her work of troubleshooting grim worlds!" She pulled a sparkly cardboard Crown of Magic from underneath the table and jammed it on her head.
Darker and Edgier snerked, trying to cram the giggles back in her muzzle with a hoof, then burst out laughing. She was a deep blue thestral with exaggerated 'cool' vampire fangs, eyes an unnaturally vivid shade of red, and a jagged mane with seven distinct bands of color. "Bwa-hah! Oh sure. Cause *that's* not going to be a total disaster."
Reconstruction sniffed, sipping from her wine glass. "Really, Rainbow Dash. Sometimes, I believe that your Alicorn name should have been Sarcasm."
Darker smirked, leaning across the table. "Gee, why would anypony ever think that?"
Lighter and Softer bounced in her seat. "If she's really going... ooh, then I could go with her!" In contrast to Deconstruction, who resembled an earth horse, the pink Alicorn looked like a living plush toy.
"Better her than me," said Darker. She kicked back, putting her rear hooves on the table. "Heck, if I even saw that jerk Nythy, I'd say 'Screw the rules! I'm gonna beat his face in right now!'"
"Language!" Aesop took a dainty sip of water, then shoved Darker's hooves off the table. "That would be really, *really* naughty of you, and I'd be terribly disappointed..." She added sweetly, "If I didn't know know you were just kidding with us again."
Darker laughed nervously, sinking lower in her seat.
Deus squealed with glee. "It's settled, then! I'll find the toughest, nastiest dark world there is and fix it right up! Sempai will be so impressed!"
Focus gently pushed her back down into her chair with a purple scaly paw. "Or," said the Ryujin brightly, "you could start out with a world that's only gone a little wrong, that you know you can handle without messing up."
Deus grinned sheepishly. "Or I could do that."
Alex Warlorn
'Now I know how Celestia feels,' Amicitia thought, as the idea of looking over her wolves until the 'cosmic cows returned' and raising them to greatness in what was SUPPOSED to be a simple mortal life of being born, living, and dying, was very very jarring. She hoped Ansai didn't have to endure this too.
It had been centuries since she heard from her, hopefully she'd grown old and died of old age... no wait, that was cruel, since that would mean she died never reconciling WITH HER OWN SISTER! Dammit.
And she knew how Celestia felt about having to sneak about in disguise just to get some normal time about.
And so she overheard two wolves chatting.
"So in my story, a best friend is told by their friend to visit a concert they're performing at... but they came late, and aren't allowed in, making her think she didn't show for the most important night of her life, ruining their friendship, it's a tragedy.
".... BUT THEN she gains super-strength and blasts a hole right through the wall and declaring her undying friendship for her friend!"
"... And disrupts the whole concert? The very event that was so important to her friend to begin with? Making things worse?"
"Uh, oops."
'I am Octavia!' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZvGGGHekU4
'Deus! Ex! Machina! And here I am trapped on the mortal plane while she quick fixes events into the ground for eternity! I owe Celestia a thank you for putting up with ponies as long as she has.'
Alex Warlorn
-1000 Years Later-
"Well. That was a thing," Trixie said.
"Fate seems to like things repeating themselves across realities," Twilight said.
"I've taken a hundred showers and I still don't feel clean."
"Well... as the goddess of Trickery, Illusion, and Theater... I guess I should have been able to see that you'd be able to turn the tables on the crawling chaos and pretend to be manipulated by him into attacking your own sister, meaning ME, and then have you and your army blast him into oblivion, clearing our world of him... but did you have to zap me so hard?"
"... Sorry."
-
"Can we hit the fast forward button already? This whole wolves thing has really overstayed its welcome," Anarchy said. "And why is it always wolves? Why not turtles, lions, or sangheili?"
"I do think we've gotten rather off track," Pandora admitted reluctantly.