//------------------------------// // Changing the Timeline! Horrible Fate! // Story: Equestrian Tales: Friendship Quest // by PonyJoel //------------------------------// Its been a couple weeks since the Grand Galloping Gala. Discord and Sunset Shimmer been closer together ever since. Fluttershy still hangs out with Discord from time to time but the Friendship Map has called her and the others plenty of times in solving Friendship Quests all around Equestria. Sunset Shimmer and Discord have not been called by the Friendship Map by any means but they decided to offer their services from time to time. All is going well. Twilight giving Sunset some friendship lessons but seems that Sunset is making new friends faster as Twilight could have ever thought of a lesson. Twilight and Spike had to make a trip to Celestia's School of Magic to give out a speech for all the ponyfolk that'll be present. Twilight and Spike are on their way to Canterlot. It'll give Twilight preparations to perfect her speech about the foundation of Friendship that impacted her friends and her. Twilight took all the time she needed. She stood up all night to make sure everything is perfect for her practice run. When morning came, she got up bright and early. Spike groaned not wanting to get up but Twilight used her magic to levitate Spike. Twilight used a silencing bubble to allow Spike to sleep a bit longer until they were inside the auditorium of Celestia's School of Magic. 35 minutes later, Twilight woke Spike from his slumber. After the baby dragon blinked a few times, he noticed that he and Twilight are in the auditorium. Twilight told Spike to be an audience for Twilight to practice her speech. After a few tries, Twilight's conscious made her uncomfortable. Making her rethink her words when Spike already told her that she's fine. Twilight couldn't help herself. She needed to be 100% on the dot. Spike assured Twilight that there is nothing to worry about. 20 minutes later, there's a full house in the auditorium. Everypony there to learn Twilight's lesson about the birth of Friendship between her and her friends. How they each discovered their Cutie Marks in the same day. A familiar pony got to hear what Twilight had to say before leaving without anypony realizing a missing pony. After Twilight made her speech, she felt like there's nothing that can go wrong. Everything turned out for the best. Everypony now knows how crucial Twilight and her friends Cutie Marks are as well as them being the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. 5 hours later, Twilight and Spike were on their way back home. Everything going as planned. They'll soon be having dinner with their friends at Discord's house. Twilight couldn't wait to see her friends. She wished they came along but the Friendship Map told them otherwise. Twilight and Spike headed to the Friendship Castle. It'll be quicker for them to meet up with Discord in his dimension. Twilight and Spike decided to bring a few things from the Friendship Map before heading over to Discord's house. Unfortunately for them, they wind up seeing Starlight Glimmer. Starlight Glimmer was pleased to see Twilight Sparkle and little for Spike. Starlight read a magic scroll, tossed it away then used a magic spell on the Friendship, opening a portal in which Twilight and Spike wind up going into. At the end of the portal, Twilight and Spike landed at what seems to be Cloudsdale. They wind up seeing Rainbow Dash flying right past them but she turned out to be younger without a Cutie Mark. Spike showed the magic scroll to Twilight and she knew right off the back it came from Star Swirl the Bearded. Twilight was both impressed and terrified by the power of magic Starlight has. Twilight and Spike saw Rainbow Dash standing up for Fluttershy against the bullies. Then they decided to hide on a cloud to watch Rainbow perform the Sonic Rainboom. When the race started, Fluttershy wind up falling out of Cloudsdale, Twilight reluctantly wanted to rescue Fluttershy but it was Spike reminder her that she is not allowed to change anything that can alter the timeline. As Rainbow gaining speed and nearly going for the Sonic Rainboom, Starlight Glimmer intervene. By holding Rainbow Dash in place and losing the race, a time portal opened and swallowed Twilight and Spike sending them back to the present as Starlight remained in the past. She used an infinite loop spell to ensure that Twilight's next attempt at restoring the timeline falls short. Twilight and Spike are now back at the present. They landed on the Friendship Map but it's altered. Mostly the Crystal Empire took over the map. Then they decided to see what has changed since the Castle is no longer there. Just the table. Ponyville is a ghost town. Stores, houses, buildings, all abandoned. There was little hope for the scenery. Twilight had a hunch that Sweet Apple Acers is still active. After a long walk for the two, they saw Sweet Apple Acers but it wasn't the same to them. It's more manufactured now. Apple Bloom and Granny Smith weren't even present. It was only Applejack and Big Mac working at the barn for the time being. When Twilight saw Applejack for the first time in a while, Applejack has no memory of seeing Twilight nor Spike. She only knew Rarity but that's about it. To Applejack, Twilight was talking crazy until she used her magic to drag Applejack towards the Friendship Map. Applejack then explains to Twilight and Spike about the War against King Sombra and the Crystal Empire. The fall of Equestria mostly as ponies all across the nation stands to fight while others suffer. It's a cruel world to live knowing that Celestia is busy fighting Sombra. Unable to attend to her subjects' needs. After the story, Applejack left them and headed back to the barn. The only way that Twilight can fix the timeline is by correcting it. Twilight used the spell on the Friendship Map sending her and Spike back to the past. As soon as Twilight and Spike made it back to the past, Starlight crystallizes them. They remained frozen in the crystal as Starlight bragged about her revenge plan. By eliminating the Sonic Rainboom, their friendship bond would never exist and Starlight can have her friendship town back to the way it's supposed to be. The crystal was on a cloud sinking due to the weight. With one touch, the crystal fell until Twilight used her strength to break free of the crystal and flew back to Starlight where she was telling the bullies not to be mean to Fluttershy. Letting them know how fun it can be with all can be equal. Twilight was about to break it apart until she realized that Starlight trapped her. The Princess of Friendship about to break a new one in front of her. It got out of hoof as Twilight stepped back and saw Rainbow Dash flying. In her best efforts to at least get Rainbow to do the Sonic Rainboom, she tried talking to Rainbow about it but it was a bad move. Rainbow flew away from her making things awkward. Then a portal opened up as Spike and Twilight were sent back to the present when the timeline is altered once more. As Twilight and Spike landed a second time, they were greeted by ponies covered in dirt and green coverings. They had a magic to detect the truth. Apparently, Zecora saw them and added some of them. They were not changelings at all. Zecora and the other ponies headed back to their village. On the way there, Twilight and Zecora had a long talk about the two timelines. Chrysalis was able to take over Canterlot thus imprisoning the ponies in the Canterlot Dungeons. Zecora taught Twilight once a timeline has been altered, a new branch of time is created which flows with new events to unfold. Once the ponies, baby dragon, and zebra made it back to the village, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack found them. They were fleeing away from Ponyville claiming that they escaped from a changeling attack. Zecora and the others didn't buy into their story. Applejack walked towards them changing into Chrysalis. It took her and the swarm a long time finding the resistance. Now they can feed on the love of ponies once more. Zecora told Twilight to run and fix the timeline. Making sure this event doesn't occur. Twilight took Spike and headed back to the Friendship Map to go back in time. Twilight and Spike are back in the past once more. Twilight wasted no time and went on the attack on Starlight Glimmer. She had enough of the altered timelines of chaos and suffering. As the fight went on, the bullies and Rainbow Dash became friends and enjoyed the fight. When Twilight saw them, she got mad and the portal opened once more sending Twilight and Spike back to the past. When they arrived, it was night time. Timberwolves made themselves known. Twilight was too tired to use her magic to fight off the Timberwolves so they flee. They wind up seeing the Castle of the Two Sisters in nice condition. Once inside, they saw Rarity but like the previous timelines, she has no memory of seeing either Twilight or Spike. She made it obvious that she doesn't socialize with dragons. When Twilight basically shouted about fixing the timeline, they had no idea that Nightmare Moon heard what they said. Apparently, they were in her throne room. Nightmare Moon became intrigued in hearing the source of using time magic and feels that nopony but her should be powerful enough to use time magic in her kingdom. When Spike laughed for a second by saying her kingdom, Nightmare Moon demanded who else. Spike answered Celestia which made Nightmare Moon laughed. She then told them about imprisoning Celestia in the moon for years now. Nightmare Moon used her magic to levitate Spike and chained him Using him as bait for an agreement. Twilight agreed on showing Nightmare Moon how time travel works but warns her about the Timberwolves in the everfree. Nightmare Moon laughed and went forth into the everfree blasting every Timberwolf standing in her way. One by one, the Timberwolves were getting obliterated on the spot. Finally, everypony came at the Friendship Map. Nightmare Moon felt happy now that she can use it to ensure her future. Twilight quickly used her magic to bring Spike back to her and goes back in time. Now Nightmare Moon is doomed as her future will be lost for good. It's now a race against time. Twilight and Spike battling Starlight Glimmer. As Starlight continues to intervene with the Sonic Rainboom, more branches of time are created. Each one far worse than the next. Tirek destroying all the land ponies made, Discord ruling an absolute chaos world, Flim and Flam destroying Sweet Apple Acers. There have been numerous catastrophic events in all the timelines created by the interference of the Sonic Rainboom. It came to a point that Twilight had enough. When Starlight stopped Rainbow Dash from achieving the Sonic Rainboom, Twilight used her magic to drag Starlight back to the present. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike landed on the Friendship Map hard. As each of them got up, they were horrified to witness the unimaginable. Ponyville is in flames. Louds roarings can be heard in the skies. As they turned, a dragon fell out of the sky. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike moved out of the way as the dragon landed on the Friendship Map breaking it. The dragon was heavily scarred with fresh bite marks around it' wings and arms. Spike gathered enough courage and walked towards the dragon's eyes. As it opened, it spoke; "You...should...run away little one...it's not safe here...on suicide hill..." "Suicide Hill?" Spike questioned. "Have you...forgotten...about...the war...between...Dragons...and...Necromancers..?" "What?!" Spike shouted. "Run...before...they...get...you...There's an ally...in...equal...pacific...go...now..." The dragon died giving Spike emotional scars of seeing a dragon die. Twilight and Starlight heard the dragon's final words. "What and where is Equal Pacific?" Twilight asked. "It's my village." "Then that's where we have to go! Now!" Twilight, Starlight, and Spike ran towards Starlight's village. On the way there, they saw towns scorched, buildings breaking apart and collapsing, bodies of ponies killed, eaten or ripped apart, dragon blood, feces, and bones, necromancer body parts everywhere. The current timeline proved to be a hellish nightmare. 6 hours later, Twilight, Spike, and Starlight are at the Equal Village Starlight created but it's very different. Everypony there are military ponies, griffins, zebras, and yaks. All different creatures together and working. As they went down, all eyes were pointed at them until one pony, in particular, came up to them. "Starlight! What are you doing here? You're missing an important meeting!" Sunburst shouted. "Huh? What meeting?" "Oh Celestia, you have forgotten again." Sunburst dragged Starlight to the middle house. Twilight and Spike walked cautiously to the middle house. The door opened revealing that the meeting is over. Twilight eyes widen for the pony who started to walk out of the house. "Blaze!" "Amazing, here I thought you died. How did you escape Canterlot?" "What?!" "Wait a minute." He observed Starlight Glimmer. "Hmm, it seems that you are not Starlight Glimmer nor a changeling for that matter. Please tell us where are you three from?" "What?!" Sunburst shouted. Everyone in Equal Pacific overheard Blaze's words. Now they wanted to know what's happening. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike sighed. A pony walked out of the house, "Yes, please explain yourself Starlight." Twilight, Starlight, and Spike were shocked to see the present Starlight Glimmer. She's wearing an eye patch, her horn is broken and has metallic back legs. "Me?" "Surprise to see yourself looking like this?" "Since there's two of you, we'll be calling her Stars. Now please explain yourselves why are you here." "We're here because our Starlight Glimmer changed history." "Changed history? What did she change?" "My friendship with five other ponies are crucial because each of us wields the Elements of Harmony. When removing the Sonic Rainboom, it causes a chain reaction for my friends and me. We wind up not becoming, not having our Cutie Marks and allowing whatever evil creature to spread itself ruling or destroying life itself. I've seen many futures. Each one worse than the last but this future takes the cake." "You're telling us that you change one aspect that caused this to happen?" "I didn't," Twilight looked at Starlight. "She did." "That would make sense considering that the Elements of Harmony are destroyed. When Nightmare Moon came, she destroyed the elements but Celestia was able to stop her and revert her back to Luna." Eyes widen for Twilight and Spike. "Can I ask you something?" "What is it?" "What happened to the Princesses?" "Celestia and Luna are far away. They still don't trust me so those who believe me in changing the tides of the war, came here. Those who didn't go with them. Equestria is more divided. Two sides of a coin and in the middle, we have war." "Can you explain why necromancers and dragons are fighting each other?" "Yea, Nero came back stronger than ever. Turns out he went away to another dimension and had no problem feeding the hatred over there. There was a lot more there than here. When Nero came, he destroyed the Discord statue and drained the remaining chaotic magic. He became invincible but I'm still his weakness. You." Blaze pointed to Spike. "Me?" "What is your name?" "I'm Spike." "Oh great. I now have seen what baby Spike looks like." "Uh, excuse me." "Yea," Twilight said, "what did you mean by that?" "Judging from your expressions, I'm guessing your Celestia never told you." Spike and Twilight looked at each other then looked at Blaze. "Told us what?" "Celestia stole you from your parents years ago." "What?!" Both Spike and Twilight shouted. Starlight remained silent. Listening to everything that is being said. "It's true. How else would Twilight be able to hatch you when she was younger?" Twilight and Spike couldn't think straight after hearing that. Now they wish this is all a nightmare but after Spike pinching himself and Twilight, it wasn't a dream. "Spike," Blaze walked up to him, "You're parents are gone. Celestia broke a dragon, pony treaty thus sending everypony into the Dragon Wars. The Grand Dragon and I are best friends so no harm came towards me and a few others. The Dragon Wars lasted for a couple of years before another treaty was made. Ponies in Canterlot had to give up they're first born to the dragons. Then peace was made, however, Celestia and her scientific ponies kept you, Spike. They used their magic to manipulate your body. You changed and grew faster. Your mind also changed. Then once you were fully grown, you left Canterlot. I wind up finding and we became friends but we don't see eye to eye. 3 years later, Nero came and war happened a second time but this time, it's a one-sided affair. The ponies are no matched for Nero and his army's power. The Dragons are and they were fighting off the Necromancers ever since. Their scales are tough enough to withstand physical attacks. Their minds, however, can be manipulated which causes them to be infected with a Necromancer's power thus killing them from the inside. Now, we've been trying to find different ways to end this war. Right now, we only have one way. I need to find Nero and stop him but it'll be hard." "Twilight! We can go back in time and fix our history to prevent this!" Spike shouted. "Hmm?" "Sorry Spike, I can't. The dragon you spoke with crash landed broke the Friendship Map. I doubt we could go back now..." "Great. So much for that idea. Thanks a lot, stupid." "It's her fault anyway!" Starlight shouted pointing at Twilight. "Wrong! You had to mess up the timestream thus sending all of us into Tartarus itself. You're at fault here." Stars went up to Starlight Glimmer. "I can't believe the other me would throw away everything over vengeance. If I could trade places with you I will in a heartbeat but I can't. You created this so it seems fitting that you help us out here." Starlight remained silent. Not wanting to talk back. "You said that I died in Canterlot. Can you explain what happened there?" "Certainly, Nero and his forces attacked there first. It became an onslaught in Canterlot as nopony was prepared to fight. Shining Armor and the Royal Guards were defeated by an endless army of necromancers. The survivors of Canterlot either fleed or eaten. Canterlot fell off the mountainside. Crash landing killing other ponies in town. The necromancers were able to turn other ponies into necromancers themselves. If a pony has too much intellect, they will either drain your magic and knowledge or turn you into one of them. From what I heard, they drained Twilight." "What about Cadence or at least King Sombra?" Spike asked. "Cadence found the Crystal Empire along with King Sombra. Cadence begged, pleaded Sombra for assistance. Sombra agreed but under a few conditions. Cadence wind up marrying King Sombra to rule the Crystal Empire together and save the Crystal Ponies from being turned into necromancers. Right now, the Crystal Empire is our only ally on the pony side of Equestria. Everyone else chose to be with Celestia and Luna. What I do know is that they're in the depths of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Planning for a strike against Nero." "Right now, we need all the help we can get while the Dragons are holding off the necromancers in the skies." Stars said. "Will you help us?" Sunburst asked. "Yes, I will help you bring down Nero," Twilight said. "Me too!" Spike shouted. "Starlight? Are you going to back away from a mess you created or are you going to fix it?" Starlight Glimmer remained silent. The future she's in is mesmerizing. The horrors, the blood shattered even herself. Missing eye, broken horn and metallic back legs. She created a devastation and wants the madness to stop. "Alright, I'm in..." Starlight said while being unsure of herself. "Then it's settled. You three will be helping us take down Nero. Come Stars, its time to sleep." "Huh?" Spike, Twilight, and Starlight said at the same time. "Forgive us but he's a stallion that I had my eyes on for the longest. Also, he's my second friend I made in my life." Blaze and Stars kissed as they headed back to the house. "Tough crowd when you don't see the unexpected," Reaper said. "Sorry, but who are you?" Twilight asked. "I'm Reaper. One of Spike's best dragon buddies for the last 13 years. By the way, I now have a chance to mock him for his baby years." "So, where is Spike now?" Spike asked. "I don't know where he's at, to be honest." "Oh..." "But hey, at least you can see what we can do as a United Equestria." "United Equestria?" Starlight questioned. "That's Blaze's dream. To unite all creatures under one nation but Celestia forbade it. After this war, another one will begin for dominant power." Twilight and Spike sighed after hearing another war. "So, what's going to happen now?" Starlight asked. "We are moving in a few days. Looking for survivors first then plan a counterattack against the necromancer army. I can't wait to kill them. They took my family and friends away from me." Reaper said. "Nero will get what's coming to him. We guarantee that." Twilight shouted. "Good. It's time to start planning." Twilight, Starlight, Spike, Reaper, and all the other creatures began to work together. Now that the Friendship Map is destroyed, there is one way to set things right between the timeline and its by taking out Nero and his army. It'll be a difficult task but Twilight has faced the impossible and conquer it with friends all around. It may not be Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie but as long as the Magic of Friendship is by their side, they will not lose hope. Outside of the timeline, somepony else has witnessed the events unfold. She'll be joining the crew soon enough...