//------------------------------// // Chapter 38 - Impasse // Story: Off The Mark // by Goldfur //------------------------------// Even with an alicorn on my side, I didn’t think it would be enough to survive an encounter with Nightmare Moon for long. When she raised her shield, I thought our chances got even lower. Fighting was not an option, and from what I had heard about her, she was unlikely to be reasoned with if I showed my true self. One alternative was left – take advantage of her confusing me with Celestia to buy time. “You’ve changed, Moony,” I said. Nightmare Moon frowned. “How, pray tell?” “You didn’t use to care about the common pony. You would have just let them all starve to death.” She smirked. “Ah. Is that what thou dost think?” I gave her a haunted stare and shook my head. “That is what I know.” She stopped smiling. “Thou dost know nothing, sister! Thou never did!” Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed brighter, doubtless preparing a spell to disable or kill us both. I thought about how it took a few seconds to activate the scroll and float up to the portal. We would need a distraction. I gaped as I sidestepped closer to the map table. “Is that... it is!” Nightmare Moon furrowed her brow. “Doth our countenance—” I pointed a forehoof to where I was staring – a spot above and behind her. “It’s the Goodrich Blimp!” When Nightmare Moon turned to look, Twilight triggered the spell and threw up a shield covering us and the table. The dark alicorn whipped around and saw Twilight and I drifting towards the portal. She fired a blast from her horn that Twilight’s shield effortlessly deflected. Before the dark alicorn could voice her rage, I yelled down to her, “Silly mare! Goodrich doesn’t have a blimp!” Back in Cloudsdale again, Twilight tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow at me. I shrugged. “Hey, whatever works. Let’s find Starlight.” Twilight’s response was to throw up her shield, blocking a magic blast. “Found her,” she replied smugly. We hurtled toward the source of the magic attack but Starlight was already on the move. A dogfight started up between us with Twilight and Starlight exchanging fire while I took the opportunity to dive-bomb her whenever she left an opening, easily dodging her counterattacks. While the unicorn was managing to hold up against us, the stalemate couldn’t last. She didn’t have alicorn stamina, so levitating and exchanging magic blasts would deplete her long before we tired. I was beginning to scent victory when I noticed something wrong. We had an audience! All the foals had settled down on a convenient cloud to watch the fight, including the filly who was supposed to be racing her heart out. “Twilight! Rainbow Dash isn’t doing her rainboom!” Said filly dropped her bag of popcorn and switched her wide-eyed stare between the two of us. Starlight started laughing as the familiar feel of the world lurching shook us and the time portal opened to draw us in once more. As before, we were dumped out onto the map table, but this time a lowering sun bathed it in light. Still no castle, so history had not been restored, but what alternate future had we arrived in this time? Nightmare Moon obviously was not in control, so what had changed? Our arrival had attracted some attention. Several ponies started trotting over to investigate. I hastily shifted back to my normal stallion form, hoping that I was too far away to identify. Helpfully, I had fallen off the table on the side farthest from the town, concealing much of me. The first ponies to reach us only had eyes for Twilight though. The purple alicorn shifted uncomfortably under their awed gaze and I wondered what the heck was going on. Just then, four fillies ran up, three of them very familiar. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had a new member, and it was my turn to gape at the black-coated filly with a dark purple mane and tail. “What’s happened to Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked Scootaloo. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing, Nyx?” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. The alicorn filly’s mouth hung open as her slit-pupiled teal eyes stared at Twilight in wonder. “Mom! You’re an alicorn now too!” She rushed up to embrace a very confused Twilight. I noticed that she had a cutie mark – a dark blue shield with a light blue crescent moon. “Mom?” she repeated as Twilight hesitantly returned the hug. She looked desperately at me for answers, but I had none. How could I explain a foal version of Nightmare Moon being the daughter of Twilight Sparkle? A crowd of townsponies developed around us, all of them curious about Twilight’s ascension. I was more concerned about what other surprises this timeline had for us. The lack of a crystal castle was a clear enough indication that something was still very wrong, but it was hard to believe considering the normalcy of the scene otherwise. We would have to go back and try again, but a lot could happen in the twenty or so minutes needed for the table to recharge. It took less than two. “Get away from my daughter, imposter!” An angry and wingless version of Twilight Sparkle pushed her way through the crowd, her horn lit and ready to use. Nyx looked around in confusion. “Mom?” “Get over here, Nyx!” unicorn Twilight commanded. Nyx stared up at my Twilight who said, “It’s alright. Go!” As the filly joined her actual mother, that Twilight said, “Not even a changeling would be stupid enough to imitate me with wings. Who and what are you?” “I am exactly who I seem to be, but I’m not from this timeline,” alicorn Twilight replied. “A fanatical unicorn mare named Starlight Glimmer modified Star Swirl the Bearded’s time travel spell to change history. Mark Wells and I have been trying to stop her.” The other Twilight looked at me for the first time, then apparently dismissed me as being unimportant. It seemed that my first meeting with Twilight in this timeline went almost as badly as the one in mine, and I resisted the temptation to change into Marklestia just to give her a shock. “Do you have that spell to prove your words?” My Twilight levitated the scroll from her saddlebag and passed it to her counterpart who unfurled it and read its contents. Nodding occasionally, she eventually rolled it up and gave it back. “You’re telling the truth. I have seldom seen such a complex spell, but it seems to do what you said it does. The question now is what to do about it.” Nyx said, “Does that mean that she’s really another you, Mom?” Unicorn Twilight nodded. “Yes, darling, but one who has never known you, I wager. I’m very curious as to how I became an alicorn in your timeline though.” Alicorn Twilight replied, “I’ll tell you all about it if you tell me how you defeated Nightmare Moon.” Nyx’s mother blinked in confusion. “How I defeated her? No, that was Sunset Shimmer and her friends, the Element Bearers.” I spoke up. “Do you know a pegasus named Rainbow Dash?” “The lazy weather mare? I don’t know her personally.” “Believe it or not, she’s the key to the change in history.” The unicorn gave me a flat disbelieving look. I sighed. “Look – we can’t go back to fix history for a while yet, so why don’t we exchange knowledge. It could be useful in our fight with Starlight.” Unicorn Twilight said, “If I’m right, if you reset history, Nyx will not exist. Correct?” I exchanged a nervous glance with my Twilight. We both realized at that moment that we were coming between a mother and her child. I prevaricated. “Nyx has not shown up in our timeline yet.” I was bargaining on the fact that this filly could not possibly be Twilight’s natural foal due to insufficient time passing between the Nightmare Moon incident and the present. There had to be another cause, one that had yet to occur in our timeline. Twilight stared at us silently for an eternity while holding her daughter in a protective hug. Eventually, she sighed and said, “Let’s go somewhere private to talk. I’ll tell you how Nyx came to be my daughter so that if the same circumstances come about in your timeline, you will be able to avoid the mistakes I made. In return, you will explain why your timeline is better for Equestria than the current one and why I should not try to stop you.” I exchanged glances with my Twilight and we nodded. It was a reasonable compromise. The only alternative was to start a fight that would be nasty for all involved, regardless of who won. “We agree,” I replied. Nyx helped her mother serve up refreshments for us in the Golden Oak Library. This world’s Twilight was the town’s librarian, unsurprisingly, but that was about all she was. She had attended Celestia’s school but was never her most important student. That role was fulfilled by Sunset Shimmer whose story went a lot differently from the one I’d met. That had probably blinded Celestia to Twilight’s potential, so the filly hadn’t gotten the support and encouragement that she otherwise would have. That didn’t mean that she was any less smart though. She had come to Ponyville to fill in for the retiring librarian and solve a problem with the Everfree Forest, but she ended up staying as she fell in love with the town and its citizens. Unfortunately, her magical strength had made her a target for the Children of Nightmare cult. Led by a unicorn named Spell Nexus, they were trying to reincarnate Nightmare Moon for whatever insane reasons that fanatics use to convince themselves. Instead, unbeknownst to them, they created a filly version who remembered nothing about being that villain. While Twilight had been fearful of the filly at first, she eventually decided to adopt her and raise her as a daughter, giving her the name Nyx, a character from a book that Twilight liked. After some dastardly manipulation of Celestia by Spell Nexus, the Headmaster of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, Nyx was forcibly transformed into Nightmare Moon who set about establishing her rule of Equestria and banished Celestia and Luna. Equestria was in the thrall of night for a fortnight before Nightmare Moon relented. It had taken the love and friendship of her mother and the Cutie Mark Crusaders along with Nightmare Moon’s self-doubts and previously unknown feelings of empathy to bring about the fall of the cult and Nightmare’s rejection of their plans for her. Celestia and Luna were released and Nightmare Moon was subjected to their judgement. After some passionate support by those who loved Nyx, Luna decreed that she was not to blame for the cult’s actions. Luna then removed all the magic and memories that the Spell Nexus had imbued Nyx with, returning her to her innocent filly state. Now, she was growing up as a normal alicorn filly, although not without dealing with some ponies who hated and resented her for what the Nightmare had done. From what I had seen so far, and hearing how the CMC had taken to her, Nyx was indeed a perfectly nice filly who loved her mother as much as Twilight loved her. It occurred to me that this Twilight had managed to have a daughter before her brother back in our world. The difference was that Twilight had an alicorn child, while Cadance and Shining expected either a unicorn or pegasus. I wondered what they would think about this when we got the chance to tell them. If we got the chance to tell them. We still had to convince this Twilight that our history was better than this alternate one. Frankly, if my Twilight hadn’t ascended, I don’t think we would have stood much chance of succeeding. Unicorn Twilight was fascinated by alicorn Twilight’s synopsis of how her life had taken a different course since the test for Celestia’s school. The friends that she had made and the challenges that she had met until eventually ascending to alicorn status made that Twilight feel regret for a life not lived to her full potential. But she still held that our timeline was not inherently superior to hers. I argued that our Twilight and her friends had successfully defeated Tirek, Chrysalis, and even reformed Discord. This reality’s Twilight related how the same had happened here, though with more direct involvement from the Royal Sisters. Belatedly, I regretted passing on that bit of information because it weighed in favor of keeping things as they were. The news that caused the strongest reaction was not what I would have expected. “Wait! Your Cadance is pregnant!?” I blinked. “Yes. Is that a surprise?” This timeline’s Twilight sighed. “Not long after Shiny and Cadance started ruling the Crystal Empire, the windigoes attacked. Sunset Shimmer and the other Element Bearers went north to help defeat them, but Cadance was gravely injured in the battle. She can’t have foals now.” The silence hung in the air for several seconds after that. Nyx nuzzled her mother while the unicorn absently stroked her mane with a hoof. My Twilight and I shared a sympathetic glance. Not knowing what else to do, we continued to talk about the recent developments in our dimension. Soon, I finished covering the important parts of our history, leaving out my transformations which I didn’t think were relevant. Sadly, unicorn Twilight concluded that she had to oppose our efforts to change history once more. My Twilight nodded in understanding. “I know exactly how you feel. It’s how I feel about my friends and my special somepony, none of whom know this version of me in this timeline. That is why I can’t let you stop me.” I had never encountered this kind of situation before. A year spent as an advisor to the Royal Court did not prepare me to deal with a situation where both sides were in the right and equally deserving of resolution in their favor. That left just one distasteful alternative – we had to follow our course in spite of what would inevitably be vehement opposition. Frankly, though, my Twilight was a highly trained alicorn while this timeline’s was a far less experienced unicorn. The mare didn’t stand much of a chance of stopping the two of us and might get hurt trying. The fact that she would cease to exist once we succeeded did not make it any more right to either of us. “Can we sleep on this?” I asked. When both Twilights looked at me questioningly, I added, “It doesn’t make a scrap of difference if we go back in time now or tomorrow, does it?” My Twilight shook her head. “No, it doesn’t. It’s just hard to sit here doing nothing.” “Then perhaps we’ll come up with a solution once we’ve rested and had more time to think about this.” Both of the purple mares looked relieved to put off the inevitable for a while. “You can use my guest room,” the unicorn said before hesitating. “Umm… do you mind sharing?” Mischievously, I replied, “We’ve slept together before.” My Twilight rolled her eyes which did not go unnoticed by the other. “I’m sensing that there’s more to that than you’re telling, but as long as you’re okay with it, the room’s yours. Nyx, dear, will you show our guests to their room? I’m going to start dinner.” Nyx practically danced on her hooves. “Okay, Mom! C’mon, Princess!” I wasn’t sure if Nyx fully understood the implications because she was still so upbeat. I had a hard time visualizing relegating the likeable filly to an unrealized possibility. There had to be a solution to this awful situation. The room had a bed large enough for at least three average ponies, which was good because I would be taking up two places. I did not expect Twilight to share her bed with a stallion, even one who was a trusted friend. Maybe especially not a close friend. It was too easy to want to find comfort with each other under these trying circumstances. I was woken by the sound of a cheerful filly’s voice. “Morning! Mom says that breakfast will be ready in ten… GASP! Oh, wow!” There was a clatter of little hooves and a receding voice shouting, “Mom! Princess Celestia is in the guest room!” Oops. I didn’t count on Nyx barging in without regard to our privacy. I hadn’t planned to show my pegacorn form, but it was too late to hide that now. I got out of bed as Twilight groaned at being forced to leave Slumberland. I was in my preferred short mane form but I turned sideways to the door to show my cutie mark to our host when she burst into the room moments later. “Omigosh! Princess! What are you doing… I mean, welcome to my home! I suppose you’ve come to investigate this alicorn that looks like me—” “Calm down, Twilight! I’m not Celestia – I’m Mark Wells. See my cutie mark? I’m a shape-changer and this is my alter form. Long story!” “She’s telling the truth,” my Twilight said blearily while scratching at her belly fur. I shifted back to my stallion form. “And not a changeling either.” The unicorn stared at me for a long moment before groaning. “You can tell me over breakfast,” she said as she turned away to head back to the kitchen, followed by her daughter. “Want to use the bathroom first, Twi?” I asked when we were alone once more. “You go. I’m still waking up.” That was my Twilight – definitely not a morning person. After quickly freshening up, I threatened to dump a bowl of cold water on the alicorn if she didn’t get out of bed. She said something rude but complied. She knew I wasn’t bluffing. We made it to the breakfast table relatively on time. It was laden with bowls of oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, toast and jams, and various fruits. Our host had really laid on a feast. I told the story about how I came to be a pegacorn, with occasional curious questions from Nyx. She asked me to change again and I obliged, giving her the full-maned version. I gave her a motherly look and asked in Celestia’s sweetest tones, “It’s so cool, right?” Okay, Celestia wouldn’t ever say that, but I’m not her. Nyx squeeed and gave me a hug. I giggled and hugged her back before resuming my stallion form. When breakfast was finished, our host looked at the dirty crockery and utensils sadly. “I don’t suppose there’s any point in cleaning up. It’ll all be gone soon anyway.” “Does that mean that you have decided not to oppose us?” my Twilight asked. “Not exactly. I first had to face the reality that I could not stop you without trying to incapacitate you, and I would never do that. I spent all night trying to work out a solution to our dilemma, and I believe I have one.” “Oh? Let’s hear it,” I said. “I don’t care what happens to me – if everything works out, I’ll be you anyway,” she said to her counterpart. “It’s Nyx who matters above all.” We nodded in agreement and waited for more. “What I propose is mind magic,” Nyx’s mom said. “I will give you memories of my entire experience with Nyx so that you will know and understand everything you need to be her mother. Since we’re essentially the same person, it shouldn’t be difficult to do this.” The alicorn looked at the little filly who was listening keenly. “How will Nyx feel about that?” “I’ve already talked to her about my plans. She understands… or at least as much as a filly her age can do so. It only remains for you to agree to it.” My Twilight smiled sadly. “You already know the answer to that.” “Then, there’s no sense in putting this off any longer.” The unicorn moved in front of her alicorn counterpart. “Touch your horn to mine and we can begin.” I stood back from the two and Nyx leaned up against my foreleg, wanting reassurance. I wing-hugged her as we watched the glow of magic build on their horns. Whatever they were doing seemed to be proceeding uneventfully when my Twilight’s eyes flew open. “Wait! That’s not—” She suddenly froze and I was filled with dread. Had this timeline’s Twilight deceived us after all? If so, I didn’t think I could do anything about it now. My magic lessons had been punctuated with stern warnings about disrupting complex spells. The consequences ranged from uncomfortable to dire. I had no choice but to trust in Twilight’s base nature whatever its iteration. I watched helplessly, but then I blinked as I saw the unicorn fading away. Within seconds of it beginning, she was gone and just one Twilight remained. She gasped, staring at nothing in particular, her lips moving silently as if talking to somepony we could not see. “Twi? Are you alright?” After a very long moment, she turned to face me, her eyes haunted. “She tricked me. She didn’t just give me her memories – she merged herself totally with me.” “You mean there are two of you in your head?” I asked. “Something like that. I just have an extra set of memories that diverge from when I joined Celestia’s school. I remember everything!” Tears started rolling down her cheeks. “I remember how badly I needed to prove myself after failing to hatch the dragon egg but was still admitted to the school. I remember how obsessed I was about becoming Celestia’s special student, only to learn that Celestia had traveled to another dimension to convince Sunset Shimmer to return. I remember how I ignored the other students to study instead and ended up alone. I remember accepting a job here in Ponyville and staying because my skills were appreciated, but the loneliness was awful. Then I found Nyx and everything changed. I remember the terrible things that happened but my faith in Nyx never wavered. I remember that she’s my beloved daughter and I’m not lonely anymore.” Nyx stepped out from under my wing and said, “Are you okay, Princess?” Twilight looked at her with tear-stained cheeks and gave her a trembling smile and held out her forehooves. “Mommy needs a hug.” Nyx didn't hesitate. She flew into the embrace and hugged the stuffing out of Twilight. I didn't intrude, but I had to smile. Maybe this timeline’s Twilight had pulled a fast one on us, but I think it was going to work out. When the two finally drew apart, Twilight said to Nyx, “You know, your mommy is a princess, so that means you’re one now too.” Nyx’s eyes went wide. “Oh, wow! I can’t wait to tell the other Crusaders!” Twilight gave her a serious look. “You understand what I told you about going to another timeline with me? The Crusaders there have never met you, but I’m sure they’ll love having you join them. Especially now that Thorax has stopped becoming a little colt to play with them.” “Who’s Thorax, Mom?” Twilight fondly smiled. “Someone who I think you’re really going to like. In fact, how would you like to have a daddy as well as a mommy?” Nyx looked as if all her birthdays had come at once. “Really?! That’s super awesome, Mom!” She hugged Twilight again and then said, “I gotta tell the others!” She dashed out of the room, her hooves clattering down the passage at a gallop. I chuckled. “That was so adorable.” I turned to look at Twilight. “So – how are you really, Twi?” She gave me a crooked smile. “Still sorting out memories, but now that I’m not so overwhelmed, I can tell the new memories from the old much better. Not that I want to ignore some of them. I’m truly merged with my other self, and my feelings for Nyx are genuine. I would have been happy to become Nyx’s mom, but now I really am.” “Then congratulations on gaining an instant daughter. I think I’m going to like having her around.” I smirked. “But what’s this about giving her a father?” Twilight blushed. “Well… you see…” I held up a hoof. “Don’t bother. Worst kept secret. Just make sure that Thorax knows to turn up for the wedding.” Twilight’s cheek fur turned a deeper shade of red. I’ll never get over how that’s possible, but it looked adorable on her. The alicorn giggled. “As long as you help get him to the ceremony. He’s a little shy.” “Oh? I thought I could be Best Mare,” I replied, switching to Celestial form. Twilight laughed and replied, “You’re going to have a lot of competition for that position.” “Bring 'em on!” I declared with a grin. We laughed together. It was good to see her do so again. Eventually, our current situation reasserted itself and I returned to stallion form. “How are we going to deal with bringing Nyx along?” I asked. “I already figured that out. I mean, the other me did. Oh, this is going to be so weird for a while.” “Take it easy, Sparkles. You don’t have to deal with it all at once. Don’t bother explaining which of you knew or did what. Just accept that it’s all you now and get on with the job. So – what did you work out?” “I prepared a set of saddlebags and applied a Bag of Holding spell to each side of it. Nyx can travel in one and she’ll be safely in stasis while inside.” “And the other side?” “Lots of personal stuff that I lost when Tirek blew up my old home. I never thought I’d be able to get them back after they were destroyed.” I chuckled. “Go nuts, then. I’m pretty sure that you’ll have plenty of time, if I know the Crusaders well. It’s not as if it’ll make any difference how long we spend here. We can chase after Starlight again anytime.” Twilight paused as she was sorting through some books on the shelves to find those that she hadn’t been able to replace. “That’s not strictly true.” “Huh? Why not?” “Because the more time we spend in alternate futures, the firmer the new timelines become. Eventually, the spell won’t be able to overcome the time inertia anymore. That’s why Star Swirl’s original spell could only be used once.” “How long have we got then?” I asked with trepidation. “I estimate several days, but we’ve used a large portion of one already. Starlight is going to be tricky to stop, and if we need to rest between attempts, we’re going to use up that time.” I sighed with relief. “I thought that you were going to say we had only an hour or so.” She poked her tongue out at me. “That’s for making me feel embarrassed.” “Sorry, not sorry.” She smirked. “I know.” I had a thought. “Is there anything from this dimension we can use to subdue Starlight?” Twilight looked down and furrowed her brow for several seconds. “No. In fact, searching my new memories, they haven’t even developed the countermeasures that we tried to use on Starlight.” She looked up. “You still have the nullstone horn pacifier?” I nodded. “We’ll have to settle for that and our wits. We’ll keep forcing her to do something different than the previous times she was able to stop the rainboom. Eventually, she’ll slip up.” I bit my lip. “Twilight – do you think we should ask this dimension’s Celestia and Luna to come with us? Equestria would have the Royal Sisters again and Starlight Glimmer wouldn’t stand a chance.” The alicorn’s face turned serious. “If someone asked you to be complicit with the destruction of your timeline, including all the ponies you’ve sworn to protect, what would your answer be?” I winced. “Scratch that idea, and if we ever run across them in an alternate future, I’ll keep my big mouth shut.” “Probably a good idea,” Twilight replied, going back to pulling out books. I shrugged and wandered off. It was a nice day and I thought I’d take the opportunity to enjoy a bit of it while I could. Nyx insisted on a lengthy farewell to Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom. They all seemed to believe that Nyx was going away with her mother to a new home. I don’t think even the alicorn filly understood that when we left, this timeline would become unrealized and simply cease to exist. And while we hoped that the next time we came back to the present, it would be to find the castle restored, even those realities would never be our home if we failed to stop Starlight. It was fascinating to watch Nyx entering a saddlebag that was obviously too small for her, and yet showed no signs of its burden when she was completely within. My friend reassured me that the stasis effect was completely harmless to living creatures, feeling like holding your breath for a few seconds as you entered and left the bag. It was amazing magic, and I wondered how many tons of goods were being carried effortlessly due to that one spell. Belatedly, I understood that this was how Twilight had moved the library at the Castle of Two Sisters to her own which she confirmed. NASA would kill for a working dimensionally transcendental container. They would be able to carry as much fuel and supplies as they wished, thereby truly opening up space exploration. Twilight levitated the saddlebags onto my back. When I raised my eyebrow questioningly, she said, “I applied the same Bag of Holding spell to my saddlebags, but Starlight will concentrate her attacks on me while you’re better at dodging. I want Nyx to be put at the least possible risk.” I nodded. That was the drawback of having to take the filly with us – there was no totally safe place to leave her while we went after Starlight. I transferred everything from my original bags to the side that did not contain the filly. I then ensured the flexible cinch that went around my flanks held the saddlebags securely in both my pegasus and larger alicorn forms. It was time to stop procrastinating. We flew back to the map table and I felt very awkward waving back to the few ponies who greeted us along the way. Twilight pulled out the scroll and activated the spell. Once again, we dived into the past to try to save history. This time, when we dropped out of the portal, Twilight put up her shield as soon as we hit the ground. Meanwhile, I had been looking in the general direction Starlight’s spell blast had come from in the previous iteration. There were a dozen or so clouds in that area, but only one changed shape suddenly, abruptly pinching in at one corner. I smirked and thought to myself, “Gotcha!” Next time around would be different. Twilight and I spent several minutes in a fruitless hunt for the unicorn, only to find her talking with a much younger Fluttershy and two colts. As we watched, the three youngsters hugged and flapped off together while Starlight gave us a triumphant grin. “Twilight, what just happened?” “Rainbow Dash challenged Hoops and Dumb-bell to the race after she saw them bullying Fluttershy. I think Starlight just talked them into getting along instead of fighting—” She stiffened. “Don’t say it.” I couldn’t help myself. “Undone by friendship.” The familiar time portal opening behind us removed all doubt. Again, Twilight and I were helplessly pulled out of the past. This time, when we flared our wings and settled directly on the map table, the countryside was as different as it could be. The wan daylight showed Friendship Castle was still gone and only a few free-standing walls were left of Ponyville. The moon was also in the sky, low on the opposite horizon, but while that would not have been odd on Earth, it was very strange for Equestria. Pools of green and yellow chemicals disfigured the landscape in what I could only assume to be bomb craters. The ground had been churned into an irregular mess of clods, stones, and boulders. What were undoubtedly bones and limbs of ponies were scattered around the landscape like macabre decorations. The worst part, however, was the stench. The nearby lake was no longer being filled by a clear waterfall. Instead, the black, viscous fluid inside smelled like a combination of burned rubber and petroleum. “Twilight – shield,” I said. She did so, covering the entire map table as well. “What in… I don’t even think Tartarus smells this bad. And there’s death everywhere! What happened here?” I took a deep breath. “Do you remember that human war I told you about? The one where thousands died every day?” I spotted something familiar and levitated it to just outside Twilight's shield. It was a simple metal tube with a rectangular magazine connected to a small spherical chamber on one end. The tube had split and the weapon abandoned. The peeled-back sections showed somepony had rifled the inside of the barrel. I tossed the weapon away from the table. “This battlefield looks like the very worst of it. The only thing missing is acres of mud, but with weather control, I bet the combatants had to deal with that, too.” I pointed to a foreleg nearby that didn’t show any signs of decay. “This battle was fairly recent. I suggest we get out of here as soon as possible. We might be in no-pony’s-land right now, or we might be behind the front lines, but I don’t want to wait for us to be discovered.” I looked over to Twilight then followed her gaze. The moon was moving higher in the sky. Some force pulled it upwards a bit, then it would stop, only to resume its journey a short time later. The sun kept to the same spot near the horizon, but it grew progressively larger and brighter. Twilight cleared her throat. “Or the sudden appearance of a powerful magical artifact could have tipped off somepony already.” I glanced at my fetlock band: about eighty percent. I latched onto the nearest ley line, which so far had not been different anywhere or anywhen. Turning around in a full circle, I saw the Everfree Forest to the south, unyielding and unchanged. To the east, Canterlot looked the same, except for a swarm of black dots headed straight for us. The blackness dissipated as it moved to the right, revealing to me what I was seeing. My guess was that either missiles or planes were heading our way. As Twilight and I waited, the shapes became more distinct. Individual ponies with jetpacks of some sort, each trailing a plume of black smoke. Just then, numerous portals opened in the field to our west. The seed of an idea sprouted in my head. I whispered to Twilight, “Just lie down and act disinterested. Let me do all the talking and play along.” I raised my head high and marched to the west side of the map table, being careful not to block Twilight’s view of the largest portal at the center of the group. Ponies marched lockstep out of each portal, taking up positions with no regards to the cover available. Almost all were earth ponies—no, make that crystal ponies—and every one wore an identical metal mask with glowing green slits where the eyes would be. Each carried two weapons: a spear or sword for close combat and an unbroken rifle of the same design as the one I had seen earlier. They stood neither at attention nor at rest. Somehow, I imagined they would continue standing where they were until either they received a new order or died of exposure and starvation. The largest portal swept backward quickly, revealing a smiling unicorn stallion the likes of which I had never seen before. He wore a full set of plate mail that ended at the top of his neck, over which rested a red cape trimmed in white fur with black spots. The stallion’s mane and tail seemed to absorb all light—only the edges were visible. The unicorn’s most distinctive feature was his curving horn that shifted from gray to bright red along its length. The combination made his identity unmistakable: Sombra. Behind him spun the Crystal Heart, though this version was riddled with red streaks and gave off a pulsing glow of the same color. His haughty smile faltered when he saw my alicorn form. Before he had the chance to speak, I took the initiative. “Who are you and why do you bother the Time Lord Doctor Sparkle during her contemplations?” Slowly, he turned his attention away from ‘Celestia’ and looked at the purple alicorn by my side. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an unconcerned Twilight float a blank scroll and a ballpoint pen from her saddlebags. She placed the parchment on the table surface and began writing. The entire time, she had not spared the unicorn more than a single bored glance. Those acting lessons with Trixie were now paying off in spades. Sombra frowned, apparently evaluating his options. I began to turn away from him dismissively when he spoke. “I am Sombra, King of Equestria. I require the artifact you are protecting. Give it to me now.” Twilight flicked an ear as if shooing away a bothersome fly. I didn’t do quite so well and managed only an unconvincing laugh. “Oh, please. Can we refrain from speaking nothing but falsehoods? You are obviously not the only ruler who claims this land. You do not ‘require this artifact’ because you don’t know what it is or the first thing about it, and a being of my Mistress’ power has no reason to accede to your demands.” He glared at me. “I do not negotiate with sycophants. I will have what I want. Leave or die.” I leaned forward, matching his stare. I decided to take a risk by revealing something that I hoped would give him pause. “Must we? Must my Mistress obliterate this timeline entirely? I suppose, after a fashion, that would convince you.” “Ah wouldn’t tempt her, if’n Ah was you, ya damn bastard.” The familiar drawl drew Twilight’s and my attention to the south. A thin and scarred Applejack was set on the ground by the changeling carrying her. In quick succession, numerous other ponies were dropped off to immediately take what little cover was available. Pegasi and changelings flew together in formation over their troops. They likewise carried a longer version of the metal-tube firearm and a ragged assortment of hoof-to-hoof combat weapons. What was obviously Chrysalis alighted next to Applejack. She smiled at Sombra. “I would believe the mare if I were you, pretender. She has quite the talent for detecting falsehoods. Don’t go doing anything to get yourself and everypony else snuffed out of existence, will you?” When Chrysalis smiled, I noticed a number of odd details. She was wearing Celestia’s crown, of all things, and her irises were round like pony’s instead of the slits of a cat or dragon. She had no holes in her legs, mane, or tail, and she was perhaps twice Applejack’s height. A twisting pink beam connected her to a couple of figures floating a distance behind her. I almost jumped when I recognized them as Cadance and Shining Armor wrapped in an embrace. Their eyes glowed green and their expressions were blank. The dozen or so unicorns surrounding them scanned the area for threats, their horns already lit and their eyes free of any hypnotizing magic. I recognized two mares from the Guild of Mages and a stallion from Princess Trixie’s private guard. Sombra sneered. “There is nopony here that will listen to your falsehoods, insect. You only know how to achieve power through the lies and treachery that is endemic to your loathsome species.” “I will rule this land. My children will flourish here after you are dead and buried. All my children, including the ponies I have accepted into my hive after they pledged their fealty. All it will take is killing the only creature in the Crystal Empire that is still capable of independent thought.” “We are insulted to be forgotten so.” The voice carried over to us from the east. I turned that way to see Nightmare Moon, now wearing considerably more armor than when I saw her in a previous timeline. To her right stood a unicorn Twilight Sparkle who glared at my Twilight. For her part, the alicorn smirked, beat her wings once playfully, then resumed work on whatever she was writing. Goodness, she was doing a fantastic job. Behind the dark alicorn, her troops arrived in waves, the unicorns and earth ponies unbuckling from their jetpacks and immediately digging into the ground to create defensible positions. They carried firearms with two, shorter barrels. Behind the first line of troops, what must be this universe’s equivalent of multi-barreled Gatling guns were set on the ground by teams of pegasi. Nightmare Moon raised her voice to be heard over the cacophony behind her. “We believe the artifice to be dispelled. None can possess yon artifact by sheer might ere the others arrive.” This universe’s Twilight moved closer and whispered something into the alicorn’s ear. Nightmare Moon straightened her neck and smiled in a way that was not at all pleasant. “However, we are most curious why thou dost take such particular forms.” I scoffed and started slowly walking around the table. “Ah, indeed.” Step. “We had forgotten…” Step. Straight, pink-haired Celestia. “…how much importance…” Step. Pegasus stallion form. “… you ponies place…” Step. Long-maned Celestia again. “… in appearance. Time Lords and their servants do not have such restrictions. My apologies.” Nightmare Moon looked at Chrysalis and I followed the glance. I saw from the changeling queen’s expression that she was just as surprised. I hoped that my Twilight would give me a signal when the map table was charged, and soon. I was starting to run out of tricks. Sombra spoke from behind me. “I will give a place by my side as co-ruler of Equestria for the Time Lord’s support in destroying these two fools.” Chrysalis laughed. “Lies. You have nothing but lies to offer to anypony. Still, I will pay a million bits of gold for your support, Time Lord.” The dark alicorn lit her horn. “The dead cannot make promises, for they have no way to keep them. I will turn over every treasure in Canterlot.” Sombra said, “Your threats are as meaningless as your promises. The sun moves in the sky at my will and mine alone. Without me, all life on this planet will end. I will add the treasures of Canterlot to my offer.” “And I will likewise add a hundred of my finest drone warriors and infiltrators to what has been committed so far.” The king laughed. “And if you help me capture these two mares, I will break their minds with my magic so they become your eager playthings for all time. Truly, this was a pleasure I had hoped to keep for myself, but I am feeling especially generous today.” Nightmare Moon snarled. “Untruths heaped on more untruths. I am willing to swear my offer and true allegiance to the Great One.” All ponies and many of the changelings present shook for a moment, then crossed their hearts in a familiar gesture. Sombra’s soldiers all moved their right forehoof in exact synchronization to their leader’s. Nightmare Moon continued. “Would you do the same, deceiver?” Sombra frowned but did not answer. I spoke up. “Oh, you mean Pinkie Pie?” This time, everypony gasped. Those digging trenches stopped their movements and a few pegasi fell out of the sky. I was looking at Nightmare Moon at that moment and saw her ears flatten back onto her head. Next to her, this universe’s Twilight stammered out, “The Great One’s pony name is never spoken, lest she hears!” A cool breeze blew across the battlefield. Applejack took off her Stetson, revealing a metal helmet underneath, “Did the two of y’all also leave the mirror pool by goin’ sideways?” I shook my head and waved a forehoof in what I hoped was an unconcerned manner. “The Mistress and I are in the good graces of the Pink One.” Much murmuring all around us now. My Twilight stood up and all talking ceased. I dutifully moved to her side, keeping my head low in obvious supplication. I almost laughed when I saw Twilight had been working on building a crossword puzzle this whole time. She lowered her lips to my left ear. “I need all the powerful spellcasters distracted for the three seconds it takes for the portal to draw us in.” I prostrated myself fully with a flare of my wings. Twilight smiled and resumed her prone position, this time working on a vertical set of letters. After enough time to demonstrate my respect for my ‘Mistress’, not to mention thinking up how to play this, I rose to my hooves. “All these competing offers to my Mistress – slaves, warriors, gold, treasures. And everypony promising some of what the others are offering. It’s just so confusing. Come back to my Mistress when there are fewer of you to bargain,” I said disdainfully. The silence lasted about one second. Then the noise came from everywhere – screams, explosions, gunfire, cries, magical blasts, everything. I threw up my own shield just outside of Twilight’s and my head immediately started to ache from the repeated blows. Twilight and I were not the targets, but the area around the map table was in the way of the fighting armies. The portal appeared above us and my shield winked out the moment the bubble touched it. I reformed my shield around myself just in time to see Sombra glaring at me, the tip of his red horn glowing with incredible power. His shot went wide when a teleporting Nightmare Moon rammed her horn into the left side of his neck. The last thing that I saw a moment later was a green blast from his right which twisted his head nearly around backward. When we re-appeared in Cloudsdale, both Twilight and I took a few moments to compose ourselves behind our shields. “That was too close,” I said. “I agree. If we enter a future where there is no breathable atmosphere or is overrun with dragons, we won’t be so fortunate. We need to find Starlight as quickly as possible.” “That reminds me. I saw exactly where she appears in the past. Don’t look directly at it, but do you see the big cloud bank to your right? And the small cloud just below it? The very right edge is where Starlight started out in the previous iteration.” Twilight smiled. “OK. That will be helpful. You keep an eye on Rainbow Dash and I’ll look for Starlight.” Several minutes later, I had seen nothing but occasional glimpses of Twilight zipping through the clouds. The two colts and Rainbow were lined up at the starting line and Fluttershy was getting ready to wave the flag to start the race. A loud boom followed by pelting hail caused the racers and spectators to scatter. Looking up, I saw three pegasi foals jumping up and down on a dark cloud above the starting line, laughing at the panic they caused. Twilight zoomed back to my side. “I never saw her. Starlight must have found those three and convinced them to disrupt the race.” The sound of the time portal opening behind me confirmed what I already knew. “Shit!” Although I was in my pegacorn form, my bad luck chose to intervene, and I found myself being spat out of the time portal at an extremely awkward angle. Before I had time to correct my fall, my head encountered the map table. I don’t think Twilight fared much better as I heard a thump and a cry from my left. Now, it’s not as if I haven’t collided with walls or fountains or the ground itself faster and harder than that, but this time I had a horn to take some of the impact, and that left me dizzy with a huge headache. I groaned in pain, my eyes scrunched tight as I tried to calm my throbbing brain. “Ooh! That looked like it smarted,” came a mare’s voice that sounded vaguely familiar but definitely wasn’t Twilight’s. “I thought you’d given up one-point landings, Captain Klutz?” My eyes shot open. Only one person ever called me that, but it wasn’t the dark orange-coated mare with a tri-tone blue mane in front of me. “Wha–? Who are you?” The mare looked at me quizzically. “What do you mean? Come on, Mark – you’ve hit your head harder than that before, so stop screwing around.” “Why’d you call me Captain Klutz?” She stared at me as if I’d gone crazy, and then a worried frown replaced her expression. “I’ve been calling you that since we were kids. Don’t you remember? It’s me – Phil.” “Phil? Phillip Martine?” She nodded. “But… you’re a mare!” “So are you, at the moment,” Phil pointed out. “Besides, it’d be hard to be your wife if I was a stallion now, wouldn’t it?” she asked with a smirk. My… wife? That was one too many shocks for me, and my world went black. # # # # # # # # #