//------------------------------// // The Five Unicorns: It's a Long Story // Story: Where We May Lead // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// Everyone found themselves gathered at a coffee shop, seated around a large, round table. The human Main Six sat with smoothies, while everyone from Equestria sat without—minus Starlight, who also held a beverage in her hands and was sipping it with contentment. Sunset sat with Twilight, Starlight, and their company as she also came from Equestria deep down. All of them had a lot of questions that they wanted answers to. The humans about how it was possible for a figure from their history to be walking among them, Sunset as to what had been going on in Equestria as of late, and Starswirl and Stygian about the world that they now walked among. The silence among the twelve was deafening, to say the least. Had it not been for the other patrons of the shop with their beverages and conversations, the entire place would have been dead in terms of sound. It was soon brought to an end by Sunset, who said, "Okay. First things first, I think we need to get the introductions out of the way first, just so that it's clear as to what's going on and what we're dealing with." She gave everyone on the table a once-over with her eyes. "I think the obvious ones are out of the way. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Twilight." "And Twilight! Don't forget that there's two of them!" Pinkie shot her arm up, pointing at both Twilight and Sci-Twi. "A Twilight Sparkle here and a Twilight Sparkle there. Twilight, Twilight. At least, I think both of their last names are Sparkle. Who knows? Ours could be called Twilight Twinkle or something like that. Hoo boy, this is gonna be awkward..." "It doesn't have to be, y'know. You could just give each other some nicknames so you don't get the two of them confused." Starlight spoke, putting her drink down. Her lips were still showing signs of the drink, which she quickly licked off. "If there are two Twilights, we have to find out what makes this one different from the original. Like how our Twilight is a magical alicorn princess, so to speak." "So, what does make this Twilight Sparkle special, might I ask?" Stygian asked, looking into the eyes of Sci-Twi with his hands placed together. "What do you like doing most of all in this world?" "Well... I guess if anything my main hobby is science. I've always found an affinity for making machines and other kinds of high-tech stuff." Sci-Twi danced her fingers across the table, making them pirouette and stretch elegantly like ballet dancer legs. "Do you... have science in your world, other me?" "Oh yeah. There's science in Equestria. It's not all magic and fantasy stuff like you'd think it is." Twilight nodded, pressing her fingertips together. "In fact, I used to dabble in some science stuff before I became an alicorn back home." "So, how does the nickname Sci-Twi sound, other Twilight?" Starlight asked, leaning over the table towards Sci-Twi. "I mean, it's a play on science fiction and it's got the start of your name in it too. I'd say it separates you and Twilight Sparkle pretty well." "I guess..." Sci-Twi repeated the name over and over again in her head, trying to make it sound as comfortable as possible without taking away from her actual name. In the end, she ended up smiling as she recited the name once more. "Sci-Twi. I like that. Sure, you can call me that if you want. Now, what should I call you three?" "Well, first, we have Sunburst. He was my old friend from when I was a filly." Starlight wrapped her arm around Sunburst's shoulders, pulling him close while knocking his glasses slightly. "He can be a bit of a nerd at times, but deep down, he's really a relaxed kind of guy when you get to know him." "Relaxed being relative. Right now, my mind is running a million miles a minute. This new world is pretty interesting already, looking at all of you." Sunburst spoke to the Rainbooms. "Perfect replications of Twilight Sparkle and her friends; of the Spirits of Harmony who preceded the Pillars of Equestria. It's definitely worth talking about in any sense of the word. Does that mean that your world also had Pillars?" "Pillars? As in stone pillars?" Applejack cocked a brow, taking another sip of her drink. "Don't think we've ever had some fancy schmancy pillars in those days, if that's what you're asking. We did have some different cultures, though, if that's what you're asking." "In Equestria, there are six Pillars of Virtue, embodied by six legendary ponies. I am one of them. I am the Pillar of Sorcery, Starswirl the Bearded," he said, placing his hand out on the table. "Though, in this world, it seems that I am revered for other such reasons. Being a philosopher who spent his time with constellations. If that crowd that we greeted us was any indication." "Yes, it is. But the Starswirl of this world was ancient. Over a thousand years ago kind of ancient. In fact, the Starswirl here died in the 8th century, peacefully in bed at old age." Rarity could not take her eyes off of Starswirl the entire time. It was like a ghost of the past had returned from the afterlife, living among her and her friends. "I simply must ask what the world you used to know is like if it is true that you are over a millennium old..." "I could spare you some details if you have, say, a few dozen days to spare, Miss Rarity?" Starswirl replied. At those words, Rarity couldn't help but retract her hand, returning idly to her drink. "On second thought, I suppose it's best if I don't listen to it right now. I've still got a lot of work to do at my establishment, preparing myself and my friends for the upcoming Summer Sun Party at CHS." "Anyway, back on the topic of the Pillars of Equestria. Starswirl leads the Pillars, being the Pillar of Sorcery." Stygian took over the conversation, spreading his arm out. "The other five are Beauty, Healing, Hope, Strength, and Bravery. Those being governed by Mistmane, Meadowbrook, Somnambula, Rockhoof, and Flash Magnus, in that order. And I am just the humble pony who brought them together. Stygian, at your service." He bowed before the group of humans. "I see. I remember all of those names myself." Sci-Twi pushed her glasses to her face. "Again, all famous in our world's history, but all who passed away. If they're alive in Equestria, I really should give it a visit sometime. I mean, that being said, we're already talking to someone right now who's a living legend. I'm trying to reserve my inner fangirl, but I just can't! Who wouldn't want to talk with someone from the past?!" She put her elbows together and put on the biggest smile that she could. "She takes after you pretty well, don't ya think, Twilight?" Starlight chuckled as she playfully elbowed Twilight. Twilight just rolled her eyes. "I do not get that geeky. Do I?" "Oh, you should've seen her when we brought the Pillars back from Limbo, she was squealing like a school filly with how excited she was to be meeting with Starswirl and the others." Starlight winked to the Rainbooms. "Trust me, girls. She's pretty much a perfect duplicate of your Twilight outside of the princess stuff." The Rainbooms just shared a chuckle with each other as they looked at the unamused Twilight, scrunching up her cheeks and folding her arms. Having being degraded to the butt of a joke wasn't what she had expected at all. "The Pillars of Equestria just got out of Limbo quite recently, after Twilight ended up freeing them by use of some of their old stuff, so we're trying to help them adjust to Equestria as it is now." Starlight took another drink of her smoothie. "The versions of you are working with the other pillars right now. Pinkie with Somnambula, Rarity with Mistmane, Fluttershy with Meadowbrook, Applejack with Rockhoof, and Rainbow Dash with Flash Magnus." "Unless this Flash Magnus guy is as awesome as I am, I'm not sure why my pony self would wanna hang with him." Rainbow Dash flexed her fingers outward. "How does staring down the barrel of an entire fire-breathing dragon race with nothing more than a shield to protect himself sound for awesome, Rainbow Dash?" Stygian questioned, awaiting her reaction. Sure enough, a smile formed with each word he spouted, until Rainbow couldn't help but fist-pump to herself. "As much as I would like to recap the tales of my fellow pillars to the lot of you, I'm more interested in this world, its' dealings and your stories in general." Starswirl nodded, putting his hands together. "If you are indeed the mirror counterparts of Twilight Sparkle and the Spirits of Harmony, I've no doubt that you've all inherited the Magic of Friendship as she and her friends have, correct?" "Oh, we've got the Magic of Friendship for sure, mister Starswirl. Twilight here taught us everything about it." Pinkie pointed towards the Equestrian Twilight. "And I know that it was this one because the Twilight who lives here never went to CHS a day in her life until after the Friendship Games happened, and this world's Twilight wears glasses all the time while this one never needed glasses in her entire life. Well, except if she went through some kind of magic eye surgery thingy in Equestria, that is. Did you ever have eye surgery done, Twilight? Because you look pretty good without the glasses on." "Not... necessarily. My vision's been pretty good since fillyhood." Twilight blinked on the spot in response to Pinkie's answer. "Anyway, when I tried to steal Twilight's crown; her Element of Harmony, she chased me down into this world, rallied her friends and the school together and won it against me in the Fall Formal; a competition in this school that people vote on." Sunset started, putting her cup down on the table as she put her elbows down on it. "She managed to win because of the idea of friendship, while I was a cold-hearted pony thinking of no-one but myself. After that, she and these girls showed me another way, and I've never been happier since." She pulled the rest of the Rainbooms in close, who all just grinned as they gave their bodies to Sunset. "The Magic of Friendship is a powerful kind of magic when used correctly. A similar example to reformation came in the form of our recent battle with the Pony of Shadows; a dark entity who bonded itself to Stygian's being after we wrongfully cast him out." Starswirl stared into Sunset's eyes, feeling a warm feeling building up in his mind. It had been a long time since he had spoken to someone he hadn't known about a topic that they both enjoyed. "While our original plan was to cast out the Shadow, it would have taken Stygian with him if not for Twilight's bold act of courage and kindness. She was able to talk down the darkness within Stygian, freeing himself from its' clutches. The pieces that were once fractured between us all are now being picked back up, all thanks to her." Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but shed a tear of pride as she saw Starswirl giving her a grin. As her smile grew and grew, Sci-Twi began to ponder more and more. A neverending list of accomplishments from her pony counterpart. Needless to say, she felt a sensation that all of her accomplishments were for nought in the eyes of her other self. "After her little visit here for the Fall Formal, there was only one other encounter that your Twilight had in our world. And I think we all know what that one was, don't we, girls?" Sunset asked, causing small shivers to run up the spines of the other Rainbooms. To them, the air got colder, as the memories and songs played out in their minds once more. "Just thinking about them makes me nervous. They nearly tore down everything that we'd worked so hard to make for ourselves..." Fluttershy's fingers shivered, nearly spilling her drink as she put it down on the table. "If I see those jerks again, I'm gonna pound them hard for what they did to the students of CHS..." Rainbow punched her fist and ground the knuckles into her palm. "I'm confused. Whatever do you mean, them?" Stygian lifted his hand off of the table. "After Twilight left and everyone was starting to embrace the Magic of Friendships. Three new students came to Canterlot High. We thought that it was just for an education, but they had different motives altogether." Sunset's tone of voice lowered as her fingers slid through the cracks between them. "Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. Otherwise known as the Dazzlings." "Do you remember when you and the other Pillars had to fight three sirens together? Ending with you all banishing them to another dimension?" Twilight asked, tugging at Starswirl's cape. "Yes. I remember them quite well. Had it not been for our actions, our world would have become a wasteland, ravaged by endless war and conflict, while they just sat back and drank from the spoils of conflicts not of their own." Starswirl too felt the air grow acrid, festering with negativity. "Turns out, where you sent them was right here. They were turned from hippocampuses into humans but still had their powers to make people fight, while they just sucked up all of the hatred for themselves. Our friends essentially had to clean up your mess by beating them at their own game," Twilight continued. "They made a music showcase into a tournament called a Battle of the Bands, their songs making everyone fall in love with them while spiting everyone else to the point of violence and sabotage. We had to sing a really powerful song in order to break the spell that they had put on everyone." "A song imbued with the Magic of Friendship, I presume." He turned to the others, feeling like a great weight had been taken off of his body. His smile returned as he spoke. "For a second, I was worried that I would have had to take matters into my own hooves and stomp out an evil in this world sent over from ours. But if it is true that you have erased Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk from the mortal coil, then I guess there is no need to worry. All is as it should be." "Well... not exactly erased, so to speak. They're still alive and well." Rainbow Dash pointed her fingers out and wobbled her hand. "They're just—" "They're ALIVE?!" Starswirl yelled boisterously and slammed the table with his hand, attracting the attention of everyone else in the building. The silence returned, though not as long as it did before. Only now, the silence was on Starswirl's reaction rather than the thoughts of the company present. "No, no, no, no, no. This will not stand! An evil like that who feeds off of negativity is too far gone. Even if the Magic of Friendship defeated them, they LIVE for evil thoughts. Abhorrent monsters like that should never have had existed in the first place. One must shudder to think of the horror that would spawn such beasts..." "Starswirl, don't you think you're flying off of the handle a bit?" Stygian lifted his hand to Starswirl, only for it to be lightly swatted away. "Stygian. Whereas you were trapped within the Pony of Shadows, these three Sirens were born and raised with the power to siphon negative emotions, using it for their own gain and nothing more." Starswirl shot a glare down to Stygian, who recoiled as he did so. "In Equestrian Mythology, it's even stated that Sirens must feed off of the emotions cast into their heartstone at all times. Failure to do so leads them to starve; not just in the physical way like most creatures do. They fed off of hatred and openly used that to hurt other people. Those are the kind of Sirens that hold no place in this world or any other." "I get that they were evil and all, but that seems a little bit harsh if you ask me. And I know harsh." Sunset Shimmer leaned across the table, looking into Starswirl's eyes with a stare of her own. "After all, we haven't seen them in our world since, and they've not been doing anyone else any trouble. In fact, those heartstones that you called them were destroyed after we sang them down with our song. So any kind of magic that they did have is gone. Kaput. Disappeared. In more fantasy terms, Gandalf, we've turned them into mortals." "Gandalf? What is a Gandalf?" Starswirl asked, his eyes widening slightly at the name he had been given. "Ugh! Never mind." Sunset groaned, slapping her forehead. "What we're trying to say is that the Sirens didn't technically die, but we did destroy all of their magic permanently. No chance that they're ever gonna come back from this one. I don't think we've even had to think about them since until now. So thanks for the reminder on just how evil they were, Starswirl." "Well, in any case, I cannot just let them roam this city freely. Someone needs to make sure that they don't find some way back to our world so that they can recuperate and find a way to restore their heartstones." Starswirl stood up from the table, looming over all of the teenagers like a giant. "The last thing either of our worlds want is a trio of temptresses turning friendships into feuds, do we?" As soon as he stopped talking, the bell to the shop rang, and through it walked three figures that all of the Rainbooms knew all too well. Draped in their glitzy clothes, armed with their oversized hairdos and hair accessories, with a bare black choker around their necks were the Dazzlings in all of their reviled glory. Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. Starswirl didn't recognize them at first, but the Rainbooms were immediately up in arms, launching themselves off of the table as they all grit their teeth unanimously. That just left Starlight, Stygian, and Sunburst with Twilight, still trying to curb her temper. "There they are, Starswirl. Those are the sirens themselves. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata." Sunset's tone of voice went sour, fires building in her body as she thought back once more to the events of the Battle of the bands. "Hey, Dazzlings! Do you remember who this is?!" She screamed as loud as she could, immediately grabbing the attention of the three mortal sirens. "Look, I'm not having a good day as it is, so if we could just not... do... this..." Adagio's words just melted away as soon as she locked gazes with Starswirl the Bearded once more. One look at the cape, the hat, and the long, luscious beard and it all came back to her. Memories of her ravaging Equestria, causing harm for other ponies, only ot be thwarted by a pony identical to him in stature. Her vision distorted, turning to coffee shop into a purple landscape of nothingness, with Starswirl the Bearded growing larger and larger by the second, to the point where he was all to be seen for miles on end. Her nightmare-scape vanished as soon as she tumbled onto her haunches, mouth hanging agape as she skittered backwards in shock at the sight of Starswirl. "Sweet mother of... It's him!" Aria also tumbled at the sight of the wizard staring him down. Any sense of toughness exerting from her turned into goo as she tumbled onto her rear end. "I thought we were rid of that poncy wizard the moment he banished us!" "I thought we'd never have to see you again, that we'd have been happier without having to look at you and your friends' faces again, beardy!" Sonata's fists burst open as she locked gazes with Starswirl. "Look, I know that we've had our mistakes in the past and we may or may not have had something to do with making everyone angry at everyone, but we had a good enough reason, alright?" "SAVE YOUR EXCUSES, MONSTERS. I WILL SEND YOU BACK TO WHATEVER DEPTHS OF THE ABYSS THAT YOU CRAWLED OUT OF." Starswirl boomed loudly, his voice running through the sirens' hairs, causing them to flow as if they were caught in a wind tunnel. "YOUR CRIMES AGAINST EQUESTRIA AND THIS WORLD ARE NOT TO BE TOLERATED." "Look, Starswirl, we can talk about this. I... I... I know that you're easy to please. Look, how about we just... uhh..." Adagio hastily tried to find some form of an excuse to worm her way out of a conflict, but she knew that it wasn't going to happen. "Girls, BAIL!" As fast as she could, she dashed through the kitchen and out of the back door, earning yells from Mr and Mrs Cake. It didn't take long for Aria and Sonata to nod and run after Adagio as well, showing no regard for the workers as they pushed and pulled them to the ground, clearing their path. "GET BACK HERE!" Starswirl immediately ran after the sirens, barrelling through the kitchen as fast as he could. "Twilight! Stygian! Take your friends and make sure that they can't get away!" "Uh, okay!" Twilight, put on the spot got up so quickly that she nearly ended up falling over her chair in the process. "Come on, everyone. We've gotta move. Fast!" Everyone ran in such a hurry that the drinks nearly fell over in the ensuing rush. If it wasn't for Pinkie Pie hastily snatching every single drink up and downing them all at once, it would have left a massive mess all over the table. The slender cups emptied, she hurried off with her friends in pursuit of the Dazzlings.