//------------------------------//
// S5 E25: The Cutie Re-Mark, Part 1 (What If?) 
// Story: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 4 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Twilight stood before a podium in a classroom at Celestia's School of Magic (a spin-off of her School for Gifted Unicorns), it was hard not to feel the pressure of being in the spotlight and being asked to give a speech. Fortunately, Twilight had decided to come prepared with a set of note cards, and she kept them close by as she spoke. "If somepony had told me when I was just a blank flank that one day I'd give a speech to a class at Celestia's School of Magic, I wouldn't have believed it, but..." She paused, as she struggled to remember what she wanted to say next. She nervously shuffled through her note cards, before she found what she wanted to say and continued. "I just hope that I have been up to the task, because I can tell that all of you are and that the future of Equestrian magic is in good hooves."

Spike clapped his claws together, he was the only one in the audience so it wasn't hard to notice him or hear him. "Wow, hehe. That was even better than the first eleven times you gave it." He complimented, before clearing his throat.

Twilight wasn't so convinced. "Eh, I don't know, Spike. I'd like to be able to get through the whole speech without looking at the cards. I want to project the utmost confidence in my words."

"Come on, Twilight! You can't be nervous about giving a speech to a bunch of magic students!" Spike remarked. "This is nothing compared to all those big threats you and your friends have faced down, not to mention the many friendship problems you've helped to solve. Take it from someone who's been there from the very beginning of your journey, you can do this!"

"Oh, I'm not nervous, Spike," Twilight replied, though her words and body language didn't exactly reassure him. "But I do have to set a good, professional, scholarly example, especially for those magic students. And that's why this speech has to be..."

Spike rolled his eyes as he groaned and sighed. "Perfect?"

Twilight smiled. "Exactly. Now let's go through it one more time," After clearing her throat, she began to speak once. "When Princess Celestia asked me to speak to you today, I was honored to have the opportunity to talk about my favorite subject: magic."

Spike just sighed. "This is gonna be a long night." He thought to himself. But what he neither or Twilight knew, was that from a distance, a mysterious figure was watching them. And this figure was finalizing its plans to get revenge on Twilight, a revenge scheme that would threaten the very future of Equestria.



The very next day, the classroom was packed with ponies of all ages. Many of them were magic students, but some (such as Twilight's friend Moondancer) had come simply because they heard Princess Twilight was going to speak, and they didn't want to miss the opportunity.

Twilight stood before a podium, while behind there was a screen projecting a series of slides. The one currently on display, was the one showing the three Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, along with their recently obtained cutie marks. "Obviously, the long term effects of the simultaneous acquisition of cutie marks has yet to be determined, but," She began, before she took a break to sip her water. She had expected to be the cue for the slides to change, but nothing happened. Reluctantly, she had to clear her throat and say. "Ahem. Next slide, please."

Spike had been snoring away almost from the minute Twilight had started talking, so Moondancer had to rub the dragon's belly with a hoof to get him to wake up (something she found rather adorable, it made her wish she had her own dragon assistant to interact with. It would certainly give her someone to talk to when the rest of her friends weren't available). Spike stumbled awake, before he realized what he had to do! "Huh? Huh! Oh, just a second!" He hastily spoke, and started changing out the slides. Unfortunately, he accidentally inserted the wrong one (a slide depicting him on the beach, relaxing), and he had to swap that one out for the correct one (and even then he had to put in the right way, the first time he inserted it, it was upside down).

Twilight apparently didn't notice any of this, as she just continued to speak. "I can speak from my own experience that the power of Cutie Mark Magic is very real, and in the instance of my friends and I, it can be traced to a single event!" The slide changed to show the once thought to be a myth Sonic Rainboom. "Without Rainbow Dash's race to defend Fluttershy's honor, this rainboom wouldn't have happened," She explained, as the slide changed to show each of the cutie marks of her friends one by one. "Fluttershy might never have discovered her love of animals. Applejack might never have realized that she belonged on her farm. And Pinkie Pie might never have decided to leave hers. It must be hard to imagine Rarity without her sense of fabulousness. But it's even harder to fathom what my life would be like," 

The slide changed once again, this time depicting the aftermath of Twilight's entrance exam at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. "Without this rainboom, I might not have gotten into magic school. Celestia wouldn't have taken me on as her pupil or sent me to Ponyville to meet my friends," The next part was something that she hadn't originally planned to add, but in the heat of the moment it was something she knew she had to say. 

"To say nothing of how my life might be different without Spike. I can't imagine what my life would be like without my number one assistant, my only son, and the first friend I ever truly had. In many ways, Spike has always been there for me when I've needed him most, and our lives are so connected now that I find myself actually dreading the day when he will grow up and no longer need me," That prompted quite a few chuckles from the audience, while some gave out a few awws. Getting back on topic, Twilight then explained. "And the most powerful thing about Cutie Mark Magic that I found is the connection I share with them." She pointed to the slide depicting each of her friends.

Twilight struggled to remember what she wanted to say next, the added part about Spike had thrown her off course. As she looked around at the audience, she could swear she saw a familiar light grayish purple coated unicorn! She blinked, and the unicorn seemed to vanish. Struggling to get back on track, Twilight started nervously shuffling through her cards as she said. "But, um..." And after a moment she added. "The real question about... Cutie Mark Magic is... who it seems to affect."





After the speech, Twilight and Spike returned to Ponyville. When Spike asked why Twilight had seemed to hesitate in the middle of her speech, Twilight told him about what she'd thought she had seen.

"Starlight Glimmer? You actually saw her?" Spike asked with concern. "I mean, you've been stressing out about this speech for a while now, maybe the pressure made you see something that wasn't there?"

Twilight shook her head. "I was sure I saw her, Spike. But when I looked again, she was gone!" Then she added in a worried tone. "I'm just worried what she could be up to, I would've thought for sure she'd go back to her old village and cause trouble, but nopony in the village has seen hide or hair of her."

"Well, whatever she's up to, it's probably no good!" Spike growled.

Twilight somewhat glumly commented. "Forcing everypony in her village to have the same cutie mark wasn't right. We had to do something! I just wish I would've thought to put some kind of tracking spell or something on her, or at least maybe told Princess Celestia about her. But in the heat of the moment, I couldn't really think of much beyond making sure everypony was safe."

"And now she's coming back for revenge," Spike said in a low tone, before he noticed how much the thought of that made Twilight uneasy, so he rushed to reassure her as he added. "Uh, or she was just really interested in your speech! Maybe she's just content to wander from place to place like Trixie, except you know without the whole 'Great and Powerful' shtick."

Twilight chuckled. "Last I heard, Trixie's hung up her cape for good," She then added. "And to be honest, Spike, I'm not really sure what I saw. But as long as I have my friends, I know everything will be alright."





Twilight and Spike entered the castle, and after Spike had tucked away their suitcases, they made their way to the throne room. "Maybe I was just more stressed about that speech than I thought," Twilight said to herself. "If Starlight was going to try anything, I'm sure she would've done it by now. She'd have to be crazy to think she could get the best of me again."

"Yeah," Spike laughed. "That sounds way better than Starlight Glimmer coming back with an evil plot for revenge."

Twilight had to agree with Spike's comment, as she chuckled. "Well, when you say it like that, it does sound kinda silly." And she pushed open the doors to the throne room.

"Or it's totally true after all!" Spike suddenly suggested, as he and Twilight both laid eyes on a unicorn mare with light grayish purple coat, and moderate blue eyes.

"Welcome home, Twilight!" The mare greeted, lounging in Fluttershy's throne with her legs resting on the table map.

Twilight was shocked, as Spike immediately dashed behind her for protection! "You again?!" She exclaimed to Starlight. "I'll have you know that breaking into the castle of a princess of Equestria is a big no no! So I suggest you scram, before I have to throw you in the dungeon!"

Starlight just chuckled. "Relax, princess," She delivered the last line with a great hint of malice in her voice. "I'll be out of your mane soon enough. You actually wouldn't believe how hard it was to find my way around this place, seriously do you not have any kind of map besides this stupid table one?"

Twilight watched, as Starlight pulled out a scroll and zapped it with her magic. "What are you doing, Starlight?!" Twilight demanded. "And where did you get that scroll?!"

Starlight only laughed wickedly. "I'd tell you, but I don't want to ruin the surprise! Trust me, it's gonna be a real doozy!" After cackling, she tossed the scroll aside as she said. "Won't be needing that anymore. So long, suckers!" And after casting a beam of magic at the table map, Starlight was sucked up into what appeared to be a giant, magical bubble, with ticking clocks all around it. In a blinding flash of light she disappeared!

"Where'd she go?!" Spike asked, looking all around.

"I don't know, Spike, but I think we better find out!" Twilight anxiously replied. "And I need to write myself a reminder to invest in some castle security next time I get a chance."

"Well, I don't know about castle security, but I think we can start search for Starlight Glimmer with this." Spike spoke up, eyeing the scroll Starlight had tossed aside earlier.

Twilight's eyes grew wide as she realized what that scroll contained, and what it would do! "Spike, no! Don't touch that!" Twilight cried out, but it was too late! Spike grabbed the scroll with a claw, and a bubble similar to the one Starlight had been sucked up into appeared! Twilight and Spike were unable to avoid being sucked up into it, and they disappeared!

Just a few seconds later, Pinkie Pie entered the throne room pushing a cart filled with sweets. She'd thought she'd heard screaming, but there was no one in sight. "Huh! Odd." She said to herself, then started chewing rather loudly on the sweets. "Feels like somepony was just here," She thought to herself in between bites. "Is my mind playing tricks on me again?"





Twilight and Spike kept on screaming, as they tumbled through what could only be described as a time bubble. At last, the bubble spit them on the familiar grounds of Cloudsdale, though it looked like they were at some kind of camp.

"Cloudsdale? Starlight doesn't even have wings! Why would she come here?" Spike wondered outloud. "What could she possibly be after?"

"I don't know, Spike, but it looked like she could fly with just magic!" Twilight replied most anxiously. "Keep your eyes open. We don't know what she might have planned."

Just then there was a woosh, and a filly and two pegasus colts zipped past. The filly seemed to be oddly familiar for some reason.

"Hey, isn't that, Rainbow Dash?" Spike asked.

"Did Rainbow Dash look really young to you?" Twilight asked in reply. "And I didn't see a cutie mark on her. You don't think..."

"...We traveled back in time to when Rainbow Dash raced the bullies who made fun of Fluttershy and performed her first sonic rainboom?" Spike guessed. "Sure looks that way to me."

Twilight was most puzzled by this, as she recalled her own time travel experience from back when she was only a unicorn. "Spike, only Star Swirl the Bearded could do something like that, and even his spell just went back a week! How could Starlight do more than the greatest wizard in Equestria?" She pondered. "There's no way she just happened to get that good in the span of a few months, even if she trained a lot time travel wouldn't come naturally to her. Something must explain how she could pull this off, but what?"

Just then, the rustling of paper caught Twilight's eye, as she saw Spike pull the scroll that had brought them here in the first place. "Perhaps, with this." Spike suggested, giving the scroll to Twilight.

Twilight examined the scroll, and instantly recognized what it was! She gasped! "Star Swirl's spell?! Oh, no! This is worse than I feared!"

"Come on, let's go!" Spike immediately suggested.

"Go where?" Twilight asked. "In case you haven't noticed, we need to be extra careful here. If we do anything that interferes with the race, history could be completely changed, forever!"

"I know that!" Spike replied. "But there's no way I'm gonna miss that Sonic Rainboom, not this time!" He dashed off, only to lose his footing and start to stumble through the clouds, before Twilight quickly caught him. "Oh right, forgot about the need for a cloud walking spell." He realized.





Twilight and Spike quickly found a good vantage point on a lone cloud, from which to watch the race. It took Twilight every ounce of determination she had not to leap off the cloud and rescue Fluttershy when she was knocked off at the start of the race.

Before long, the fateful moment of the Sonic Rainboom was drawing near.

But suddenly, from out of nowhere, Starlight appeared and started rubbing her hooves together. "Aw, so sorry about this." She said, lying through her teeth. She then fired off a magical beam that imprisoned Rainbow Dash in a giant crystal!

"Hey! What gives?" The young Rainbow Dash demanded, but Starlight had already flown off. She had managed to prevent the rainboom, and that was good enough for her.

Twilight immediately flew up to confront Starlight, glaring angrily at the unicorn. "Do you even realize what you just did?!" She shouted.

Starlight laughed. "I'm sure you'd tell me, but it looks like you're needed elsewhere. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough what I have planned." And she watched as another time bubble sucked up Twilight and Spike, before it disappeared. "Starlight: 1, Twilight: 0." She thought to herself.





The time bubble deposited Twilight and Spike with a thud, and already they could tell things were different. But Twilight could only think about Starlight at the moment. "Ugh... I don't know what Starlight's hoping to accomplish to by stopping the rainboom, but we'd better figure it out before it's too late to stop her." She said to herself.

"Um, Twilight? Look around you," Spike suggested. "I think it already is."

Twilight did as Spike had suggested, and she instantly noticed things were indeed different, and far more so than she'd first thought. "Where's my castle?!" She asked outloud.

"I don't know, something's not right here." Spike nervously commented.

"The map pulled us back, but whatever Starlight did in the past must've changed things here!" Twilight realized.

"But why? And how did we get here?" Spike asked, as he looked around. "And for the record, where's here? I don't recognize this place."

"Not where, when!" Twilight concluded, and explained. "Starlight must've altered Star Swirl's spell, then somehow used it on the map to travel into the past and change history by stopping the rainboom! And once she did, the map pulled us back to the present!"

Spike was a bit confused at Twilight's statement. "So then, we're back to where— I mean, when we started?" He asked, scratching his head. "Who knew time travel could be such a headache?"

Twilight nodded. "Trust me, I know," Then she looked at the map, which had somehow not been removed despite the lack of a castle. "The map doesn't even make sense anymore! The Crystal Empire takes up half of Equestria, that is not supposed to happen! What in the wide world of Equestria is going on?!"

"Whatever it is, I'll bet it has to do with the whole missing castle thing." Spike added.

"Right! This is too big for us to handle on our own!" Twilight realized. "We need to find our friends, assuming they exist in this timeline, and get help! With any luck, maybe they can tell us just what's going on."





Twilight and Spike made their way into the center of Ponyville, but they were shocked to find just how different things were! It seemed that even recognizable locations like Sugarcube Corner and Carousel Boutique had changed. The entire area felt more urban, almost like Manehattan or Fillydelphia, and it seemed like any traces of the quaint and friendly little town it had once been were gone.

"This isn't good," Spike nervously commented. "Ponyville's completely unrecognizable now, I don't understand how things could change like this."

"Nothing we know is probably the same anymore," Twilight reluctantly concluded. "But there's no point crying over spilled milk. Besides, I know one place that could never change! Come on!"

Twilight and Spike made their way through town and came upon Sweet Apple Acres, but they were dismayed to see that even it had changed! The area had been converted into a factory to make canned apple products for whatever reason, and Applejack and Big Macintosh had traded in their farm attire for face masks and factory uniforms.

Just then, Applejack came out, pushing a barrel of some substance onto a cart. Realizing she was probably the best option at the moment, Twilight approached her. "Applejack?!" She called out.

Applejack turned and looked at Twilight, but whatever reaction Twilight had been expecting was not the one she caught. "You look like an alicorn, what's your deal?" She asked Twilight. "Can't you see I'm busy?!"

"You... don't know who I am?" Twilight asked in confusion. "What about Pinkie Pie, or Fluttershy, or Rainbow Dash, or even Rarity? Where are they?"

"Did you bump your head on a crate of cider or somethin'?" Applejack remarked rather bluntly. "Who in tarnation is Pinkie Bow and Flutterdash? Or you for that matter? If you ain't gonna answer my questions, I'm not gonna waste my talkin' to ya, I've got more important things to worry 'bout."

"I know this is hard to believe, but you and I and those other ponies I mentioned are friends! Or at least we were, in another timeline," Twilight explained to Applejack. "We're time travelers."

Applejack just snorted. "You been hangin' out with that clock maker Time Turner again? Everypony calls him the doctor but that's because they all say he's lost his marbles from workin' on clocks all the time. There's no such thing as time travelers. I don't have time for these lies of yours, either tell me the truth or get out of my sight! The only name in that bunch I recognize is Rarity, and last I heard she went to Manehattan to help with the cause like everyone else."

"The cause wouldn't have anything to do with why the Crystal Empire takes up half of Equestria, would it?" Twilight asked Applejack. "My... son and I aren't from these parts, our homeland was taken over by the Crystal Empire a long time ago, but we just recently decided to come here."

Applejack eyed Twilight and Spike suspiciously. "I can't put my hoof on it, but you two look awfully familiar, as if I should know ya. Where have you two been? Tell me honestly, I ain't gonna sabotage the war effort by tellin' spies!"

"What war?! Equestria's at war?!" Spike nervously asked.

Applejack sighed. "The war against King Sombra and the Crystal Empire? Tell me if that don't ring any bells for ya?"

"No, sorry," Twilight apologized. "I don't suppose you could tell us what the war's about it, right?"

"I can tell ya this much, it all started when King Sombra took over the Crystal Empire. Which happened shortly after the empire returned after 1,000 years of absence," Applejack spoke up. "But I reckon it's easier to show ya, then to tell ya. There's a projection reel in the barn, it'll tell ya all you need to know." And she led Twilight and Spike into the barn, turned on the projector, and then dimmed the lights. A voiceover reel started to play, showcasing what was going on!

"My beloved subjects of Equestria," The reel began, showing Princess Celestia as she stood in the gardens of Canterlot Castle and speaking directly to the citizens of Equestria. "I know I have asked a lot of you already, with the threats of Discord, Queen Chrysalis," She paused and seemed to struggle not to shed tears as she then said. "And Nightmare Moon, in the span of not even a year. I know you are all weary of further conflict, but we must all stand strong and united, for now we face our greatest threat yet!"

As Celestia spoke, the reel changed to show footage of King Sombra reigning over the Crystal Empire and laughing wickedly. "King Sombra has forced all his subjects to fight for him on his behalf, and we must show him that we are not afraid to stand up for what we believe in!" Celestia's  voice seemed to project a sense of pride, anger, and above all else authority. "Know that I would not ask you to do something I was not willing to do myself. I will march into battle with the bravest of you, and do everything in my power to protect you."

The reel changed to show Princess Celestia marching onto the battle field alongside her royal guards. In addition, however, a stream of pegasi surrounded her in the air. One of them was an instantly recognizable rainbow maned mare, Rainbow Dash! But although she had her cutie mark, she looked quite different. There was a scar across her left eye, and her left wing had been replaced by one made of metal (Twilight and Spike didn't dare to imagine what injury could've required such a thing). Even more surprising was when she was saved from a huge boulder that would've crushed her, by two earth ponies with similar manes and tails, not to mention outfits. But one had a gray coat, and the other a pink coat. 

"But even with the might of our finest unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, we can only do so much," The next reel showed Fluttershy helping to shave sheep in order to collect their wool, and Rarity was working to convert the wool into blankets and outfits to be shipped off to the front lines. "It will require great scarifice, even from those of you who will stay in your cities and towns and support the war effort. It will take every last pony in Equestria doing their part, working day and night, to keep up the fight!" 

The last reel showed Celestia gazing up at Sombra, who was perched on a massive crystal podium amidst a battle field full of soldiers from both sides combating each other. Sometimes with weapons, and sometimes with their bare hooves. "We shall not be cowered into submission! Together, let the spirits of harmony, and the almighty maker above, give us the strength to repel this threat to our world!"

Twilight and Spike were speechless, as the reels came to an end! The horrors of war were a lot more terrifying when actually witnessed instead of just hearing about them. "I can't believe it, to think that such a thing could happen," Twilight glumly commented. "We stopped King Sombra! You and I and all of our friends!"

"But we ain't friends, at least not here," Applejack replied, leading them out of the barn. "Look. I hope all this helped, but I really need to get back to cannin' those apples. Ma and Pa put themselves out on the front lines and they payed the ultimate price for it, I'll be darned if I let their scarifice be for nothin'!"

"I'm sorry to hear that, really," Twilight commented to Applejack. "I know all of what I've told you may seem like a lie, but if you come with me, I'll prove it."

Applejack reluctantly followed Twilight and Spike to where the remaints of Twilight's castle stood, along with the table map. "Here we are, home sweet home," Spike said to Applejack. "Or at least, it was home in the timeline we came from. Funny thing is, it wasn't our first home. Long story short, our old home kind of blew up."

"Blew up?!" Applejack exclaimed, as if this was the first time she were hearing such a thing.

"It's true, and I'd rather not talk about it, the experience was... difficult to say the least," Twilight said, struggling to hold back tears. "So tell me, does any of this ring a bell? Even just a little?"

"Well, I'll admit. I've lived in these parts my whole life and I've never seen this before," Applejack confessed, looking around. "Although, now that I think about it, somethin' about it...... is vaguely familiar. Like somehow I'm supposed to know what this is," Looking at Twilight and Spike she asked them. "So, ya really come from another timeline huh? And where you're from, there's no war with Sombra or the Crystal Empire?"

"Nope," Spike boasted. "In fact, in our timeline, I'm a hero to the empire. It's actually kind of embarrassing how much they adore me."

Applejack reluctantly asked. "So, what happened to change all this?"

"A pony named Starlight Glimmer," Twilight explained, gritting her teeth in frustration. "She used this map to travel through time and change things in the past. For some reason, the map's here but everything else is different! But we're going to set things right, I promise you!"

Spike looked across to Twilight as he asked her. "So... how are we gonna set things right, exactly?"

Twilight didn't answer, she just looked at the map for a minute, before she gasped and realized! "Of course, why didn't I think of it before?! It's so obvious!"

"Enlighten me." Spike suggested.

Twilight tried to explain to Spike and Applejack to the best of her ability. "The map is connected to the Tree of Harmony! So it must sense that something isn't right! That's why it's still here! We'll just have to use Starlight's version of the spell, go back a little earlier, and stop her before she even knows we're there!"

"And you think it's gonna be that simple?" Spike asked Twilight. "I mean, Starlight already managed to slip past us once before."

"She won't be so lucky a second time!" Twilight said rather seriously. "Messing with the flow of time is a grave offense, the penalty can easily be banishment for life! And if we don't stop Starlight, there's no telling who will or what other changes she might make!"

Applejack smiled. "Sounds like you have a mission, and I wish you both the best of luck. I hope that, if there is a timeline where we're all friends, it's every bit as nice as you say it is," Then she reluctantly asked. "And uh.... where you come from, my folks are still.... you know?"

It pained Twilight greatly to say to Applejack. "I'm afraid so."

"Part of me figured as much, guess some things are set in stone no matter what," Applejack replied, shedding a few tears. "Well, either way, I hope you'll teach that no gooder Starlight what's her face a thing or two."

"We will, and thank you," Twilight called, as she began to focus her efforts on the scroll Spike had held onto. "You've been a bigger help than you'll ever know." Concentrating her magical powers on the table map, Twilight soon produced a new time bubble that sucked both her and Spike up, and they disappeared in a blinding flash of light.





When the flash faded, Twilight and Spike were back in Cloudsdale, and a quick look around assured them they were on the grounds of the flight camp.

"Okay, all we have to do now is find Starlight and—" Twilight began only to be cut off, as she and Spike were hit by a magical beam that trapped them inside a giant crystal prison.

"Well, finding her will be easy! But stopping her's gonna be harder than you think," Starlight smirked, emerging from her hiding place and perching on top of the crystal prison. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I rewrote Star Swirl's spell so that even if you go back in time, I go back in time with you. I must admit it wasn't easy to tweak the spell, let alone combine it with the powers of that table map, but I might've known you'd try to follow me and stop me. Now you're going to pay for ruining my life!"

As Starlight began to rant on and on about her village, Twilight waited until the crystal prison had dipped below the cloud base and then teleported her and Spike out of it. Without hesitation, Twilight immediately hit Starlight square in the face with a magical beam, knocking the unicorn backward a little.

Starlight groaned, but managed to rise to her hooves without much trouble. "Oh, you caught me in the middle of monologuing," Starlight realized. "You should really give yourself a pat on the back, princess. Because I assure you, you're not gonna get lucky a second time!"

"Starlight, please, enough of this! This isn't a game!" Twilight pleaded. "Tampering with the past has serious consequences, do you even realize the trouble you could be in if you're caught?!"

"Spare me your overblown ego," Starlight snarled, glaring at Twilight. "Not everypony's lucky enough to get her cutie mark at the same time as her friends. That's why I created that little village, it was supposed to be a sanctuary of equality, but you and your friends took it all away! So now it's my turn to take something special from you! Cutie marks for cutie marks! Sounds like a fair trade to me!"

Twilight narrowed her eyes, as she glared at Starlight and sighed. "I really didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice. You have to be stopped!"

Starlight just laughed. "You can't stop me no matter what you do, princess! In fact, you weren't supposed to be here! So all I want to know is, how did you get back here in the first place?!" It was then that she noticed the scroll clutched in Spike's claws, and the realization dawned on her. "How could I have been so stupid?!" She thought. "I sensed that boy was hiding something from me, that wretched little brat swiped the scroll when I left it behind! Well, I think it's time he gave it back to its rightful owner, me!"

All of a sudden, Spike was hit by a blast of magic and nearly lost his footing. "Hey! What was that for?!" He shouted at Starlight, before he felt the scroll being yanked out of his grasp by her magic.

"Hey, Princess!" Starlight smirked. "Maybe you oughta teach your so called son not to take things that don't belong to him!" She began to concentrate her attention and magical powers on Spike.

Twilight was alarmed, and jumped in front of Spike to protect him! "Don't you DARE hurt him, Starlight!" She bellowed. "He's done nothing to you, leave him out of this!"

Starlight only laughed. "Relax, I've got what I came for. And since I'm feeling 'generous', I'll let the two of you walk away in one piece. But get in my way again, and you won't live to regret it! I'm stopping that rainboom, and there's nothing you can do about it!" The unicorn taunted, before she disappeared in a flash of blinding light.

When the light faded, Starlight was nowhere to be seen. Twilight and Spike exchanged nervous looks. "Come on, Spike! We need to track down Starlight before it's too late! She couldn't have gotten far!" And flapping her wings, Twilight took off in pursuit of the unicorn.





Finding Starlight proved to be harder than either Twilight or Spike had thought, but at last they found her. Unfortunately, when they did, Starlight had already found a way to stop the rainboom!

"Just remember how you would feel if someone said such mean and hurtful things to you." Starlight lectured to the young Hoops and Dumb-Bell, in a tone that sounded surprisingly sweet (almost sickeningly in Twilight's case).

"What's going on here?" Twilight asked, feigning innocence.

Knowing Twilight couldn't do anything to her in the vicinity of children, Starlight just grinned at her and explained. "Oh, I was just reminding these two colts here how hurtful teasing can be."

"Well, don't!" Twilight replied, before she realized what she was implying. "I mean, you all of ponies shouldn't be lecturing them."

Starlight only laughed, as the two colts and Fluttershy exchanged confused looks. "Oh come now, princess. In a world where everypony is unique, some are bound to feel more special than others. But that isn't a license to be cruel, now is it?"

"No, of course not..." Twilight began, but was cut off before she could say anymore.

"Oh, isn't it a shame we don't live in a world where everypony is equal? No one would ever tease anyone there! Wouldn't that be nice?" Starlight asked, looking at the colts and Fluttershy.

Twilight couldn't believe Starlight was attempting to manipulate children, so she quickly shouted out. "No, it wouldn't!" She then quickly added. "I mean, it'd be nice not to be teased, of course, but that's not the same thing as having everypony be equal!"

Alas, Twilight's words failed to convince Hoops, Dumb-Bell, or Fluttershy. Hoops broke the silence by saying to Fluttershy. "Come on. Maybe I can help you get through the course this time, and I'm sorry about earlier."

"It's alright, and thank you," Fluttershy replied, flying off with Hoops and Dumb-Bell. "I mean, I could probably use the practice."

Once the children were out of sight, Twilight approached Starlight and glared at her. "You don't fool me, Starlight. I know you only convinced those bullies to not tease Fluttershy in order to stop the rainboom!"

Starlight laughed and feigned innocence. "Oh, that's not true. I convinced them not to be bullies because everypony should be equal," But then in a malicious tone she added. "Stopping the rainboom is just a nice little bonus. But what are you gonna do about it, huh? Surely the Princess of Friendship wouldn't dare break up a blossoming friendship between two former bullies and one of their victims."

Just then, there was a whoosh, and a filly Rainbow Dash zoomed past. That gave Twilight an idea. "This isn't over yet!" She vowed to Starlight.

Starlight just chuckled. "If you say so, but I wouldn't count on it."

Twilight and Spike payed her no mind, they just took off in pursuit of Rainbow Dash. There was still a chance they could make things right.





Rainbow Dash was flying across the sky without a care in the world, and not particularly motivated or inspired to fly fast. She had a little time to herself, and she intended to make the most of it. But all of a sudden, the filly was surprised to see what appeared to be an alicorn fly up alongside her. "Hi there!" The alicorn greeted.

"Um... hi?" Rainbow reluctantly greeted, unsure of what else to say or do. Her parents had warned her not to talk to strangers, but then again wasn't everypony you hadn't met yet a stranger?

"You think you can stop for a moment or two?" The alicorn asked Rainbow.

"Sure, just make it quick." Rainbow replied, and came to abrupt halt. The alicorn apparently hadn't been expecting that, as she ran into a cloud.

The alicorn (with what looked like a small dragon of some kind clinging to her tail) recovered, and approached Rainbow as she said to the filly. "So, I hear you're pretty fast!"

"Pretty fast? Please! I'm even faster than that!" Rainbow boasted.

"Wanna prove it?" The alicorn asked the filly. "You know, you and me, a race to the finish line?"

"Um, that wouldn't really be fair. I mean, you're a full-grown pony, and aren't you an alicorn?" Rainbow asked in reply.

"Come on, I thought you were fast!" The alicorn taunted. "What's wrong, you chicken?"

Rainbow didn't really like being mocked, but something in the back of her mind was telling her that racing a fully grown alicorn was no a win situation. "Uh, actually, I just remembered I have somewhere I need to be." She nervously replied, and bolted away from the alicorn.

However, the alicorn merely chased after Rainbow Dash and said to her. "Come on, I'll hold back on you if that'll make it fair."

"You'd still beat me, there's no way I can beat an alicorn!" Rainbow complained. "I may be crazy but I'm not stupid! It's one thing to race a pegasus, it's another thing entirely to race an alicorn! Especially one I've never heard of before! You could hold back all you want, you'd still beat me! And even then, how would I prove anything if I won because my opponent went easy on me?"

The alicorn seemed to consider this, before it said to Rainbow. "Okay, listen. You don't have to race me. I just need you to fly fast enough for a Sonic Rainboom!"

Rainbow was shocked to hear such a thing! "What?! I can't do that! Nopony can! It's not even a real thing! It's just an old mare's tale!" She protested.

"But it's not! I know it's not! And I know you can do it!" The alicorn insisted.

"Really, how do you know?!" Rainbow demanded of the alicorn.

"Because.... I just know!" The alicorn answered. "Come on, please! You don't know how important that rainboom is!"

Rainbow decided the alicorn was crazy and it was better to just get way from her entirely. "Ooookay... I'm gonna go now. Bye." She nervously replied, and zipped away.

"Wait, no!" The alicorn cried, but it was too late, Rainbow Dash was gone!

Starlight just stood on a cloud and clapped her hooves, she had seen the entire thing. "Gee, Twilight, what's the matter? Couldn't convince her to do the impossible? That's too bad," She taunted, rubbing her victory in Twilight's face. Just then, another time bubble appeared in the sky. "Ah, I believe that's for you. Enjoy your one way trip, because this time you're not coming back!"

But Twilight was quite furious, and she knew she couldn't leave Starlight to keep messing with time! Rushing forward, she managed to grab hold of the unicorn just before she and Spike were sucked into the time bubble! "You're going to see for yourself just what your actions have caused!" She said to Starlight, and the three of them disappeared just a few seconds later in a blinding flash of light.





When the flash of light faded, Twilight, Spike, and Starlight all landed with a thud in what seemed to be the Everfree Forest. The map was still intact, but once again the castle was gone.

"Ugh. Well, that didn't work." Spike remarked, picking himself up and dusting himself off.

Starlight looked all around, she didn't recognize anything. "Where am I now?" She wondered outloud.

"I don't know, this doesn't look at all like the future I saw last time." Twilight realized.

Starlight growled and glared at Twilight. "You just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you, princess?! No, you had to play the big darn hero and ruin everything again! I don't know what this place is or why you brought me to it, but I don't care! I'll find a way out of here and make sure you and that dragon of yours can never follow me again!"

Twilight lost her patience, she was getting fed up with Starlight's behavior. "Alright, that's it! You've pushed me far enough, Starlight! I tried to reason with you, tried to make you see sense, but if you insist on provoking me I'll show you no mercy!"

"Bring it on, grandma!" Starlight replied, lunging at Twilight. The two began to tussle with each other, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

"Uh, girls?" Spike called, as he looked around.

"Not now, Spike! I have to teach a certain somepony a thing or two about messing with time!" Twilight replied, and went back to attacking Starlight.

"Girls?" Spike called, a little louder, hoping they'd listen. They didn't.

"Just shut up, no asked for your opinion anyways, dragon!" Starlight shouted back. "It's your fault we're in this mess to begin with!"

Spike groaned, and shouted at the top of his lungs! "GIRLS!" That did the trick, Twilight and Starlight stopped fighting and looked at Spike. "Yes?" They asked him at the same time.

"Uh, don't look now but, we've got company." Spike nervously explained, before he, Twilight, and Starlight found themselves facing down the business end of a bunch of spears.

Twilight looked at the ponies wielding the spears, and gasped! Two of them were instantly recognizable, one was a pink coated earth pony, and the other a yellow coated pegasus. "Pinkie? Fluttershy?" She asked them.

Pinkie just pointed her spear further towards Twilight. "Silence, changeling!" She said in a rather ominous tone of voice.

Fluttershy then spoke up. "All servants of Queen Chrysalis found in these woods must be... destroyed!" Prompting Twilight, Spike, and Starlight to gulp.