//------------------------------// // Meet and Greet // Story: Amending the Future // by Nocturnal Reverie //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle’s mind turned to autopilot as she shuffled the books from the return rack and back to their proper places. She read the letter from Princess Celestia for about the fifth time that morning. Still nothing? She pondered, her stomach drooping even further. She’d have to tell Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash that there were still no leads on their little sisters’ whereabouts. She put the letter down and rest her head on her hoof, letting her eyes fall closed. Her ear flicked as she heard Spike’s voice down the hallway, calling her name. “In here, Spike!” she called back. The door to the library swung open. “TWILIGHT!” Spike yelled. “Spike, calm down, I’m right here,” she replied calmly, rising to meet her assistant. “Now, what’s wrong?” Spike panted as if he had run all the way across town. “Twilight…you’re not gonna believe it. There are…a bunch of ponies at Town Square…and they’re all wearing cloaks…and they—well, not really, but…I’m pretty sure…” he stopped, trailing off to think. “Pretty sure of what, Spike?” Twilight inquired, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Well…it’s just…they kinda look like…the foals that went missing.” Spike watched Twilight’s face morph from its previous exhausted hopelessness, to confusion, to downright concern. “Uh, Twilight?” Spike asked. Twilight’s horn ignited with its orchid aura, enveloping Spike in its glow. The young alicorn about-faced and galloped out of the library and down the hallway, exiting the library at full sprint heading to Town Square. “Chief!” Muddy called out, trotting over to another cloaked pony. “Muddy, good to see you,” the cloaked pony replied. Another pony next to her stood silently as she pulled back her hood and looked to the other ponies accompanying her and Chicken. “Good to see you found her. Chicken, too.” Chicken nodded and joined Muddy with Chief. Applejack, Big Mac, and Rainbow Dash stayed behind, realizing who Chief was. “Isn’t that…?” Rainbow Dash asked slowly. “Eeyup,” Big Mac confirmed. “…Diamond Tiara?” Applejack asked breathlessly. “What in Equestria?” The mare now known as Chief stood with an air of authority about her. Her sharp blue eyes looked over her surroundings, constantly calculating any possibility that could come about. A plate of metal jutted out from the base of her right ear, a metal extension coming to the front of her face, where a small, bright green screen positioned itself in front of her eye, tiny lines of text running across it as she checked of parts of the plan and made various changes. Her coat, just like her comrades’, was covered in a decent layer of dirt. Her dirtied mane was pulled back in a high ponytail, the lavender and white stripes mussed up from an unknown tussle. Chief’s ear twitched, and she turned to greet another pony who came to join the group. “Piglet, everything alright?” “Sure is, Chief!” came the happy reply, a white unicorn mare joining Muddy and Chicken in front of their leader. Once again, the three ponies off to the side couldn’t help but gawk at the newcomer’s appearance. This time, however, they weren’t the only ones. “Oh my…sweet Celestia,” Rarity spoke in an awed voice from where Piglet had come from. “Rarity?” Rainbow Dash asked. Rarity saw her two friends and trotted over, keeping an eye on the scene unfolding in front of her. “Can either of you please explain to me what is going on?” “Wish we knew the whole story, Rare,” Applejack answered. “I see Sweetie Belle suddenly reappeared.” “Yes, it would seem so,” Rarity answered, her eyes never leaving the mare that used to be her little sister. Piglet was in the same disheveled state as the rest of her comrades. Her dirty coat demanded brushing and her two-toned mane hung in knots to her shoulders, with her horn sporting a thin metal band. “How’s it going, Shiner?” she asked the silent pony next to Chief with a forced-cheerful tone. “Fine,” Shiner replied, refusing to pull back her hood. “Good,” replied Piglet, lugging a smile to her face. “Did I miss anything?” another cloaked mare asked as she trotted to the group. Her dusty purple coat was spotted with dirt, her golden mane pulled to the side and tied together with a teal ribbon. Instead of a metal band at the base of her horn, a piece of metal wound its way from the bottom of her horn to the tip, lying over the natural crevice of her horn. “No, you’re right on time, Bright Beam,” Chief answered. “Dinky! Wait up!” came a shout from where Bright Beam had come from. A gray pegasus mare and a bright pink unicorn mare rushed into the alley, chasing after Bright Beam. Bright Beam looked back at the two and smiled sheepishly, carefully. “Sorry,” she apologized. “Hey, Derpy!” Rainbow Dash called, waving over the two mares. “Hiya, Rainbow Dash!” Derpy replied, leaving her daughter to talk with her comrades and joining Rainbow Dash and her friends. “Sparkler,” she called over her shoulder. Amethyst snapped out of her stupor, joining her mother and leaving her little sister with her other friends. “So, um…how are you holding up?” Rainbow asked Derpy. “All things considered? Um…okay, I guess?” Derpy shakily replied. “Okay?” Amethyst jut in. “Dinky just…just…showed up out of nowhere, all grown up, and has no answers for us whatsoever. I mean, just…what?” “I understand yer confusion,” Applejack replied, offering Amethyst a smile. “But Apple Bloom told me an’ Big Mac that all our answers will come soon. Looks ta me like they need the rest of their…uh…team to show up before they can start answerin’ our questions.” “I guess you’re right,” Amethyst said, calming down a bit. “I’ve just been so worried about her, and suddenly she shows up looking like you six when you get out of a crazy battle with something from the Everfree Forest.” “Oh, don’t I know it, darling,” Rarity added. “As soon as I get some answers, I’m taking Sweetie Belle home to have a serious cleaning. Dirt on that level for any amount of time is just horrible for the complexion.” “Wait a second, isn’t that…?” Rainbow Dash asked again, trailing off as she pointed out two ponies who joined the fray. One, another mare with a light-yellow coat and strawberry mane pulled up into a messy bun. At either temple, a plate of metal served as an anchor for a purple pane of glass that spread across her amber eyes. The second, a pinto stallion whose brown mane was held back in a small, low ponytail. He sported a single green glass eyepiece that mirrored Chief’s, which was settled on his left eye instead of his right. “Isn’t that…Twist and Pipsqueak?” Applejack asked. “Ah remember Apple Bloom bein’ friends with Twist; an’ she told ‘bout her and the rest of the CMC helpin’ out Pipsqueak with somethin’ at school.” “Hi, Sugar Shock. Hi, Governor,” Muddy called out to the two approaching ponies. “Hey, Muddy, everyone,” greeted Sugar Shock. “Looks like everything worked out, huh?” “Seems so,” Piglet answered. “What in Equestria is going on out here?!” shouted a frantic-looking Twilight, running onto the scene. Chief merely blinked before pulling a relieved smile to her face. “Ah, Princess Twilight. We were just about to come to your castle.” “You were WHAT?” Twilight asked, trying her hardest to take in everything she was seeing. Spike was right: it seemed every single missing foal had suddenly turned up, looking fifteen to twenty years older and like they had just jumped out of one of her sci-fi adventure books. “As soon as we all met here, we were going to go to your castle to explain the situation. That, and we need to bring someone here who wasn’t able to come with the rest of us…and it’d be best to do that in your castle,” Chief explained as best and calmly as she could. “Why? Who do you need to bring?” Twilight questioned, trying to calm herself down. At this, Chief floundered. “Oh, uh, well…actually, she told me not to tell you anything about her identity until she gets here.” “And why would you need to do that?” Twilight inquired. “In her words: you’d freak out too much,” Chief replied coolly. “Wh-at,” Twilight guffawed. “The answer to a month-long mystery just appeared out of thin air with no explanation whatsoever. Why would I be freaking out?” Twilight’s eye twitched as she struggled to maintain her composure. “Oh, right. About that,” Chief added. “The pony we need to bring here will help explain everything. I promise, as soon as she’s here, we’ll answer all your questions.” Twilight closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. Panicking right now would get her nowhere. It would be best to wait and see what these ponies had to say before she bombarded them with too many questions. They seemed like they didn’t mean any harm, and if they did indeed end up attacking, she knew her and her friends could handle them. She knew exactly where the Elements of Harmony were, and could teleport them to her should the need arise. They’d been in worse situations before. Everything would be fine. Only about half as panicked as she was, Twilight opened her eyes, a serious look adorning her face. “Okay. I’ll take you to the castle. I’ll help you out in any way I can, but I’m gonna need you to tell me everything you can on the way there.” Chief glanced at her comrades behind her. Muddy gave a nervous look back, and Piglet tried even harder to hold her smile. Looking back at Twilight, she replied, “I’m sorry, ma’am. I can’t really tell you anything until our friend gets here. But you have my word: she’s a friend of yours; and she will help us explain absolutely everything.” Twilight gave an annoyed sigh. “Is there anything at all you can tell me about the situation?” Chief looked to the ground in thought before looking Twilight in the eye again. “Basically, we are here to bring our younger selves back home.”