Chapter 17
___________________________________________________________
I heave a sigh as the castle comes within view. I just spent my morning helping Applejack on the farm.
I still marvel at the fact I was such a couch potato back home, who didn’t like exercising unless I had to, yet now I love being active and working up a sweat.
Rainbow herself has even mentioned that if we compared my physical prowess to Twilight’s I’d win in by a landslide regarding who is the more physically strong.
I chuckle, thinking about how demure her legs are compared to my own. Though twig by comparison legs. So slim and gentle. So soft and— oh, no you don’t!
I stop, shaking my head violently. “No, Ken! Twilight’s your sister! Sisters don’t think of they’re sister like that!”
Ever since Hearth’s Warming Eve, I’ve been feeling a desire to be near Twilight, as if I desperately never want to lose her.
It hasn’t made any sense.
I spoke with Rarity about it a couple days ago, the confusion nagging too much to ignore or keep silent about anymore, feeling too embarrassed to ask Twilight about it hoping Rarity could give me some clarity… and honestly wishing I hadn’t asked.
I had told her these strange feelings I’d been having, while making sure not to allude to the fact Twilight was the subject matter… and what Rarity explained is deeply concerning.
According to Rarity, what I’ve been feeling is like what one feels towards their special somepony.
But, Twilight’s my sister! I can’t be falling in love with my own sister!
I’m so distracted by my thoughts, I don’t pay attention to the fact the front door is slightly open, just pushing it further with my head, assuming Twilight and Spike are back from that lecture she was supposed to be giving about Cutie Marks at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.
Oh, and on the matter of Celestia and Luna? Yeah, they’re still avoiding me. If I’m lucky, Twilight will be able to ask Celestia about the way she and Luna have been acting since Hearth’s Warming and actually get us some answers.
I walk into the library and pull down a book to read. I need to distract myself from these thoughts. I asked Applejack to get the others over so we could all welcome Twilight back and ask how things went, but until they get here, I may as well do some reading.
I scroll through the books on the shelf, before my attention is grabbed by a bright pink book I don’t recognize from before sitting among the Family Guides sections
Yeah, Twilight has one of those. She actually has a ridiculous number of sections, to the point it can get really damn confusing.
She even has one shelf marked as Discontinued But Potentially Useful Ancient Texts and another marked as Hopeful With A Slight Chance Of Applications. Why? I have no clue! But she does!
Anyway, I don’t recognize this book belonging in this section. In fact, it looks like it was only recently shoved back in there.
That’s not normal for Twilight. Usually she’s far more orderly with her books. Why’s this here?
I take it in my magic and levitate, sit down and open the book... before I blanch and snarl as I start reading though, as I didn’t look at the title until just now. Incest: A Herd Norm When Done Sparsely.
Why does Twilight have a book about that?!
Shaking my head, I quickly return the book to the shelf, grabbing a random one and trying to read it to take my mind off things as I wait. I try for a few minutes, before giving up, the contents of the book not interesting me, putting it back on the shelf.
“Maybe I was just more stressed about that speech than I thought,” Twilight’s voice says from the hallway, followed by the sound of the front door closing.
I pause. Wait. Why does it sound like she’s just come home? If she was already home, why was the door open?
“Yeah. That sounds better than Starlight Glimmer coming back with an evil plot for revenge,” Spike’s voice says in a joking tone as I step out, looking for the pair.
I blink, before my eyes widen. Starlight? That unicorn who tried to steal my Cutie Mark when we met in that cave after I first arrived in Equestria?
Oh no. I think I know exactly why the door was open!
I gallop down the hall, catching a glimpse of Twilight and Spike as they head into the Map Room.
“Well, when you say it like that, it does sound kinda silly,” Twilight’s saying.
“Or it’s totally true!” Spike’s voice cries in alarm, making me run faster, before I freeze in place upon sensing a powerful spell being cast.
It feels… vaguely familiar, but different and I have no idea why.
Shaking it off, I hurry and as I reach the room, I catch a glimpse of a tail disappearing through some odd shape dome above the Map, which is now active, before the dome vanishes and the magic is gone.
“Where’d she go?” Spike asks, moving over to the Map.
“I don’t know, Spike, but I think we better find out!” Twilight says, putting a hoof on the Map.
“So she was here?” Twilight turns as I stop next to her. “Starlight Glimmer? She was here?”
Twilight nods, frowning at the Map. “I don’t know what she has planned, but we need to figure it out before something goes wrong.”
“I guess we could start with this.” With both turn to see Spike reaching for some crumpled up piece of parchment.
Twilight’s eyes widen in fear. “Spike, no! Don’t touch that!”
But she’s too late. The little drake grabs hold of the ball of parchment and the dome opens up above the Map again, winds sucking into it, pulling Spike with towards it.
Without thinking, Twilight and I both grab him as he passes us, but it doesn’t do anything. Instead of us grabbing him and stopping whatever that dome is from pulling Spike in, it just pulls us in too.
We’re surrounded by swirling blue energy as we tumble through seemingly nothing, holding onto Spike as wind rushes against us, making it hard to hold onto him.
Struggling to keep my eyes open from the wind blowing into the them, I blink, thinking for a second I saw some kind of blue box pass us by, but a blind white light pulls me from those thoughts.
When it clears, there’s now empty sky below us. At once, I flare my wings and look for Spike, diving down and catching him on my back. Turning in mid-air, I see Twilight has a sheepish expression as we both hover down to a road like something on top of clouds.
I cock an eyebrow.
“I… forgot I have wings,” she says, scratching behind her neck, blushing.
I roll my eyes. Seriously? I’ve had my wings for way less time than her yet I’m better at the whole having them thing?
“Cloudsdale?” Spike hops off my back, looking around, bringing my attention to the fact we were indeed in that location. “Starlight doesn’t even have wings! Why would she come here?”
Twilight shakes her head. “I don’t know, Spike—”
My attention is drawn by something whizzing through the sky behind her. It was cyan and blurred, but… wait. Why would Dash be in Cloudsdale? Wasn’t she over at Sugar Cube Corner helping Pinkie with something this morning?
I turn to Twilight to ask about it, having missed whatever she was talking about, but am interrupted by something flashing between the three of us.
“Isn’t that Rainbow Dash?” Spike asks, though my mind is caught on something.
As she was passing me, her mass felt way smaller than it should. We’ve raced a few times in the sky and whenever she passed me, the air movement felt way heavier than it did just then.
“Did Rainbow Dash look really young to you?” Wait, what? “And I didn’t see a Cutie Mark. You don’t think...”
Spike puts down the binoculars he’d just taken out of his backpack and had been looking through. “We travelled back in time to when Rainbow Dash raced the bullies who made fun of Fluttershy and performed her first Sonic Rainboom?”
Wait, WHAT?! Time Travel is a thing is this world too?!
Twilight shakes her head. “Spike, only Star Swirl the Bearded could do something like that, and even his spell just went back a week! How could Starlight do more than the greatest wizard in Equestria?”
Though he was really bad a missing social cues, the bearded idiot, I shake my head. No wonder the girls struggled at times with his lessons.
I pause, blinking. What? Where the heck did that come from?
A paper rustling sound draws my attention to Spike, who holds up the parchment from earlier. “With this.”
My eyes widen upon seeing it. I… I know this scroll. I’ve seen it before, but… where? I don’t ever remember going to look for such a scroll. I had no idea Time Travel was even a thing is this world til now. I’d thought Pinkie was just joking around that one time. I do still question how she knows about Back to the Future enough to cosplay as Marty McFly.
“Come on, let’s go!” Spile’s voice pulls me from my thouhts and I see he’s walking away.
“Go where?” Twilight asks what I’m thinking.
Spike keeps walking, holding up a claw. “To watch the race. I don’t wanna miss the Rainboom! Whoa!” he adds, falling through the clouds.
Twilight lights her horn, bringing him back up.
I really need to find out why Spike doesn’t have wings like other dragons.
We go over to where a bunch of Pegasus fillies and colts have gathered, Rainbow Dash and two colts standing at what I’m guessing is the starting line.
I blink, noticing a little filly holding a flag who looks an awful lot like… Oh, sweet Celestia, it is! That’s Fluttershy!
I have to use all my willpower to resist the urge to leap over and hug her. She’s so freaking adorable as a filly!
The race starts, before my eyes widen in horror as Fluttershy is knocked off the cloud she was on by the backdraft from the three racing pegasi.
I flare my wings to fly down and catch her, only to feel my left wing yanked back, causing me to stumble.
Looking back in anger, I see Spike shaking his head, his other claw holding Twilight’s right wing.
When I give him a look that asks why in Celestia’s name I shouldn’t save a future friend, he says, “Nopony saved her. Butterflies do. She told us herself. If we try to save her, we’ll change the past and she might not get her Cutie Mark.”
I blink, before looking to Twilight, who’s nodding in understanding. “Um, what in the blue blazes is he talking about? And why aren’t we saving Fluttershy?!”
Twilight quickly explains to me that Fluttershy got her Cutie Mark this day, but only because she was down on the ground after falling. If she doesn’t fall, she won’t be down on the ground to reassure the animals they’re safe after Dash’s Sonic Rainboom startles them and ends up getting her Cutie Mark.
Thinking it over, I nod, deciding to look back at the race, before my eyes widen in horror as I see a beam of cyan magic fly from a pink dot floating above a cloud, the beam hitting what is clearly Rainbow about to do the Rainboom, freezing her in mid-air.
I look to Twilight, who’s eyes are just as wide in horror and we both flare our wings, flying down to confront the pink dot, whose identity we easily know.
“What did you do?!” Twilight demands as we stop in front of the mare.
She blinks, looking confused at the sight of me, before smirking. “You are about to find out.”
Next thing I know, the dome from the Map has opened above us and pulls Spike, Twilight and myself back in.
After tumbling through blue nothingness for several seconds, we’re dumped out again, thumping hard against something.
“Ow,” I say through gritted teeth, pushing myself up and opening my eyes… only for them to widen in shock.
“Ugh...” Twilight’s voice says from behind me. “I don’t know what Starlight’s up to yet, but we’d better figure it out before it’s too late.”
“Um, Twilight? I think it already is,” Spike says, followed by her gasping as she see what we’re seeing.
The castle is gone. It’s just… gone. The only thing left is the Map and the thrones, most of which are severely damaged.
What in the world happened?
“Uh, Twilight?” Spike asks as she looks around. “Where’s your castle?”
Twilight looks to the Map. “The Map pulled us back, but whatever Starlight did in the past changed things here!”
Spike frowns. “But why? And how did we get here? Where’s here?”
Twilight levitates the scroll out of Spike’s bag, pointing to it before reading it over. “More like when.”
Spike cocks his head. “What do you mean?”
“If I had to guess,” I look over Twilight’s shoulder and the spell and nod, my theory confirmed, “Starlight altered Star Swirl’s spell, then somehow used it on the Map to travel into the past and change something! Once she did, the map pulled us back to the present!”
Though I’m still confused how I know the spell didn’t look the way it does now without ever having seen the spell myself before.
Spike folds his arms, scratching his chin. “So we’re back where— I mean, when we started?”
Twilight shakes her head, before indicating to the Map… which it now occurs to me is covered in a red hue it was not before. “Not exactly. Everything’s different. Look. The map doesn’t even make sense anymore! The Crystal Empire takes up half of Equestria!”
Spike points up. “Plus there’s the whole missing castle thing.”
Twilight looks back to the Map, before stomping a hoof firmly on it. “Right! This is too big to handle on our own.”
Spike gives her a deadpan stare. “You think?”
“Yeah, Twi, I don’t think either of us has ever really had any proper experience with time being altered around us before,” I nod, just as deadpanned.
Twilight nods, somehow oblivious to what we’ve said. “We need to find our friends and get help!”
“Provided they’re even around anymore,” I murmur.
They both look to me in confusion. “Huh?”
I frown at the both of them. “Guys, we’re in an altered timeline. Every TV show and movie I watched back on Earth made it clear that if something is altered in the past, the present you return to will be either slightly or very different. There’s a chance altering the past might have stopped several of our friends from ever even moving to Ponyville. The only ones likely living there at the time were Rarity and Applejack, correct?”
Spike looks worried. “Well, actually, back then, Applejack was living with her Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehatten.”
I blink. Huh? AJ never told me about that.
“I’m sure whatever changes to the past Starlight made, it wouldn’t have stopped our friends from coming to Ponyville,” Twilight says, though I can hear the uncertainty in her voice. “Come on.”
___________________________________________________________
“I’m gettin’ a bad feeling about this, guys,” Spike says as we walk through what should be Ponyville.
I say should be because I honestly feel more like we’re walking through a version of Ponyville if it were set in one of those post-apocalyptic movies, like I Am Legend.
Houses are empty and boarded up. Other houses are ragged or falling apart. The one time we see a pony, Carrot Top, she’s looking at us from an upstairs window of a house that wasn’t hers in the original timeline and she shuts the blinds the moment she sees Spike and I look at her, the former waving.
What happened here?
“I know it seems bad, Spike, but this is Ponyville. How bad could things be?” Twilight asks.
I give her a deadpan she can’t see, before our eyes widen as we come across what should be Sugar Cube Corner, but its colours are brown, less happy and instead of a cupcake on the top, there’s a simple loaf of bread.
“Is that Sugarcube Corner?” Spike asks.
Twilight stares in shock. “I don’t understand.”
I frown at her. “Didn’t I already explain this, Twilight? Time has been altered. Things aren’t going to be exactly as we remember them.”
Spike gasps, running off.
We both look to each other and hurry after him to find he’s running to Carousel Boutique, which looks in better condition than the rest of the town, even still has its colours, but is boarded up.
“Rarity?” he calls, banging of the door, before trying to yank it open. “Rarity?!”
Twilight sighs. “I don’t think she’s here, Spike. I’m not sure anything we know is the same.”
I nod. “Like I said, Starlight changed the past and the ripple effect seems a lot worse than we could’ve hoped.”
“I’m a little confused how you’re adapting to this so easily, Ken,” Twilight looks to me, an eyebrow raised. “You acted before like the idea of Time Travel being a thing was mind blowing, but now you’re talking matter-of-factly about altered timelines.”
I look to her, before shrugging. “Like I said, I’ve seen enough TV shows and movies involving time travel to know what’s going on and once you get over the idea time travel is possible, it’s easy to think with that in mind.” I frown, looking from the abandoned clothing store to the rest of the town around us. “But the way everything is… Just what happened here?”
We stand in silence for a moment, before Twilight brightens up. “But I know one place that could never change!”
She leads us towards Sweet Apple Acres… but it is not anything like we remember. There are massive pipes all around the barn, black smoke billowing out.
I find myself looking to my double with a deadpan. “Do you ever get tired of being wrong?”
Twilight puffs her cheeks in a pout. “You don’t have to be so mean, Ken. And aren’t you worried?”
“Fucking petrified,” I say with no emotion. “But this is kind of a coping mechanism I developed back on Earth. When I knew I wasn’t totally fucked, but was still extremely worried, deadpanning humour was the only thing keeping me from freaking the fuck out. The same applies here. I’m scared out of my mind about what could be going on, but I know I at least have you two here. That’s keeping me grounded.”
We walk over to a window and, after rubbing the soot from it to see inside, I see a large number of machines that remind me of those old Looney Tunes factory cartoons. Only thing missing is the music… and my being able to enjoy it without the looming fear that the very history I’ve come to know has change.
A rolling sound draws our attention to a nearby door, where a mare steps out, rolling a barrel of the mushed apples from within.
I frown. She looks familiar.
“Applejack?!” Twilight cries, rushing forward and hugging the mare, my eyes widening as I realize she’s right.
“Huh,” Spike says, looking up at me. “Guess she came back after all, even without the Rainboom.”
“What can I do for you?” Applejack pushes Twilight back, seeming uninterested.
I blink. Something’s off about her voice. Her accent sounds… less Applejacky, I guess?
Twilight is smiling and I realize she sadly seems to have forgotten we’re in a different timeline. “It’s so good to see you! We couldn’t find Pinkie or Rarity or Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash, but I just knew you’d still be here!”
Applejack pushes the barrel up onto a cart. “Of course I am. This is my home.” She frowns, before looking to the Alicorn. “But who in tarnation is Pinkie Bow and Flutterdash?” She then gets down, walking past us. “Or you for that matter?”
Twilight’s face falls and I find myself hugging her with a wing, trying to comfort her. I don’t want her to be that sad. “You... don’t know who I am?”
I rub my face against hers, whispering, “Different timeline, Twilight. Chances are she hasn’t even met the you of this time.”
Applejack confirms this with a simple, “Nope”, before moving another barrel past us. “Honestly, the only name I recognize is Rarity, but she left for Manehattan years ago.”
Spike smiles at us. “Probably to become a world-famous fashion designer, I bet.”
“Not that I know of,” Applejack says, her voicing sounding duller somehow. “Last I heard, she went to help with the cause like everypony else.”
Twilight pulls away from my, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “The cause?”
“The war against King Sombra and the Crystal Empire?” the farm mare replies flatly.
“What?!” the three of us yell, startling her.
Applejack frowns. “Where have you three been?”
Spike smirks. “Actually, it’s when.”
Twilight glances at him, before looking to the orange mare. “I know this is hard to believe, but you and I and those other ponies I mentioned are friends!”
Applejack cocks an annoyed eyebrow. “Did you bump your head on a crate of cider or somethin’?”
Twilight stands firm. “I’m telling you the truth! And if you come with me, I’ll prove it.”
“Plus,” I frown, “I think that’s a question we should be asking you.”
Applejack looks to me with an unamused expression.
I flare my wings, Twilight taking the hint a second later and doing the same.
Applejack looks between the two of us, before her eyes widen.
“What? New Alicorns?! Since when? And, why do you both look…?” her eyes narrow and she gets into a defensive stances. “Oh, nice try! You ain’t taking me and my family!”
Before I can question it, she lunges at us.
However, with reflexes I didn’t even know I had, I light my horn, catching her in mid-air.
Spike and Twilight stare at me in surprise and I’m pretty sure I look just as shocked as they are. Since when were my magic reflexes that good?
“Let me go!” Applejack yells, struggling against my magic. “You rotten love-sucking parasites ain’t gettin’ me!”
“Love-sucking…?” Twilight frowns, before narrowing her eyes. “How dare you? We’re not Changelings! Applejack, how could you think such a thing?!”
I blink, before giving a slightly nervous smile. “Uh, actually, Twilight, her reaction makes a lot of sense.”
She and Spike look at me in confusion.
“We’re in a different timeline than our own where AJ literally doesn’t know us and now she sees two Alicorns she’s never heard of and” I point to myself, then Twilight.
There’s a pause, before understanding enters the Alicorn and dragon’s eyes as they say, “Oh,” before smiling sheepishly.
I look to Applejack, my expression firm. “I swear to you, Applejack, that none of us are Changelings. We truly are Alicorns.”
“Then how come you both look exactly alike, even down to your Cutie Marks?!” she demands, pointing at my flank.
I sigh. “That’s a long story. But I also feel you have a story we need to hear too. Promise to come quietly and we’ll show you something important and explain everything.”
“And why should I trust you, exactly?” she asks, eyebrow raised.
I shake my head. “I can’t give you a reason. Not one you’d believe anyway. All I can do is ask you to trust us a little.”
There’s silence for a few moments as she studies me, before finally sighing and nodding firmly. “Fine, I’ll follow you. But either of you try anything funny and I’ll buck you into the next century.”
I nod, lowering her and dropping my spell.
We walk off, leading her to the Map.
“Well, I’ll admit,” she says, looking it over, “I’ve lived in these parts my whole life and I’ve never seen this before.”
Spike sits on one of the broken throne. “There’s also supposed to be a castle that goes with it.”
Applejack frowns at the Map, before looking between myself and Twilight. “But I still don’t see what this has to do with you and I bein’ friends.”
Twilight sighs. “Another pony named Starlight Glimmer used this map to travel through time and change things in the past. For some reason, the map’s here but everything else is different!”
Applejack’s eyes narrow. “Different how?”
“Well, for one thing, where we came from, there’s no war with King Sombra,” I facehoof at how bluntly Twilight says that, causing Applejack’s expression to sadden heavily.
I put a hoof on her shoulder and briefly explain what I can about our time and why Twilight and I look exactly alike aside from our mane styles. “Maybe you could tell us how the war started, then we can figure out when everything changed!”
Applejack looks to me. “That’s easy enough.” She sighs. “When the Crystal Empire returned, it brought King Sombra back with it.”
I know somewhat about King Sombra. After Shining and I made up, I visited the two of them at the Crystal Empire at got the full explanation… which is why what Applejack tells me is so worrying.
Cadance never was able to stop him in this timeline. She and Shining not only failed, but it took extreme efforts from the Royal Guard and the Wonderbolts to infiltrate the Empire and get them out and it wasn’t without cost.
Many ponies lost their lives, or worse, were taken as prisoner by Sombra’s brainwashed forces. And Shining lost a leg.
Not long after, Sombra started his war with Equestria. As she talks about those fighting the war, their descriptions catch my attention, Maud, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash being among those fighting on the front lines.
It’s a painful war, both because of the lives lost on Equestria’s side, but also because Equestria doesn’t want to harm the Crystal Ponies. They’re fighting against their will.
“And even with Princess Celestia leadin’ the charge, it still takes every last pony in Equestria doin’ their part, workin’ day and night, to keep up the fight,” Applejack finishes, her expression beyond depressed.
Twilight stares at her in shock, before grabbing Applejack by the shoulders. “I just can’t believe it! We stopped King Sombra! You and me and all of our friends!”
Applejack calmly takes the Alicorn’s hooves off of her. “But we aren’t friends. At least not here.”
Twilight looks down dejectedly. “Right.”
Applejack looks between the three of us, before sighing. “Look. I hope all this helped, but I really need to get back to cannin’ those apples.”
Twilight looks to her as she starts walking back in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. “Thank you. We’re going to set things right.”
Applejack pauses and sighs. “I hope you do.”
We watch her go until she’s beyond our field of vision.
“So... how are we gonna set things right?” Spike asks.
“I don’t know!” Twilight flops her head on the Map. “The only thing we know for sure is that Starlight stopped the Rainboom.”
“And that the map’s still here,” Spike points out.
Twilight frowns in thought, before gasping and shouting, “Spike, that’s it!” startling the poor guy, causing him to loosen his grip and flop to the ground. “The map is connected to the Tree of Harmony! It must sense that something isn’t right! That’s why it’s still here!”
I frown, thinking. That does kind of make sense. The Tree of Harmony is a power source of magic. The idea it could reach across the timelines is a bit of a stretch, but not too big. After all, the Map is connected to the Tree and Starlight used the Map to cast her spell. The Tree is connected to the spell; therefore it has been given a way to give us a window of return.
“I’ll just use Starlight’s version of the spell and go back a little earlier and stop her before she even knows we’re there!”
At once alarm bells go off in my head and I see Twilight levitating the scroll out of Spike’s magic.
Flaring my own, I teleport the scroll over to myself.
“Ken?” Twilight asks, looking confused.
Sighing with relief, I glare, my blood boiling, stomping up to her and prodding her in the chest with a hoof. “Twilight Sparkle, you did not just say we are going to abandon these ponies after you essentially just promised Applejack we’d fix this!”
Twilight looks to me in confusion. “But… we are. If we go back in time, we can stop Starlight from making this timeline.”
“Wrong!” I snort, levitating the scroll back into Spike’s bag without even looking. “Are you forgetting I’m from another universe, Twilight?”
Her confusion seems to deepen. “No, Ken. But what does that have to do with—?”
“In the timeline of my world, Celestia and Luna aren’t even a thing!” I prod her chest. “In my timeline, things were drastically different, because it wasn’t Equestria’s timeline! For all we know, my world would have been like Equestria, but something differed in our timeline just enough for drastic differences!”
She still doesn’t seem to get it. “Ken, what does that have to do with us going back in time again to stop Starlight?”
I’m pretty sure a vein is showing somewhere on my head. “Multiverse theory, Twilight! Even if we go back in time and stop Starlight, this timeline will still exist! A timeline where Equestria is at war and Applejack has clearly lost all hope that the war will end anytime soon. Hope you just restored to her! If we just up and leave now, this timeline won’t change in the slightest and Applejack’s hopes will be destroyed and you’ll be reasonable for it! War is horrible, Twilight! It feels like it never ends and even if it does, you’re left feeling hollow and struggle to figure out how to move on after all the death and destruction! Is that what you want? Is that what you would honestly feel comfortable doing, Princess of Friendship? Because I don’t think you deserve that title if you’re fully willing to leave a version of one of our best friends to suffer through this nightmare after giving her hope!”
Twilight stares, her eyes wide.
Spike walks up to me, his hands held up. “Whoa, whoa, Ken. Take it easy.”
I blink, looking from him to a horrified Twilight, before shaking my head and taking a step back. I… whoa. What was that? Sure, I know how horrible war can be, I did used to be human, after all, but… where did that come from. I felt… justifiably angry. As if I’d been in war myself and knew the pain of it… but I’ve never fought in a war. What the heck is wrong with me?
We all stand in silence for some time, the only sound the wind.
“I… Twilight, I…” I try to say after what feels like hours, but stop. I don’t know what to say.
“Maybe… maybe we can try to find Cadance or Celestia?” Spike suggests. “I mean, we’ve got two Alicorn’s whose special talent is magic. I’m pretty sure that could help in the war, right?”
“It’s possible,” I say, thankful for something to talk about. “Problem is, we don’t know where Celestia is. I mean, we didn’t exactly ask Applejack for all the details, plus, she probably wouldn’t even know. I doubt military operations are something discussed with apple farmers.”
Good grief. Using the phrase “military operations” is something I never thought I would be applying to anything in Equestria. This is fucked up.
“We… we can ask around town,” Twilight suggests. “Surely there’s somepony from the Royal Guard here, to keep the peace, right?”
We nod, before making our way back towards town.
___________________________________________________________
“No answer?” Spike asks as I return to the two of them.
We’ve just spent the last ten minutes going from door to door, trying to find somepony who might have an idea what to do, but either nopony has lived in the houses we went to, or they’re too scared to answer their doors.
“This is hopeless,” Twilight slumps, tears welling in her eyes. “Ponyville. I… I failed it. Because of me, everypony’s suffering.”
My eyes widen and I go over, wrapping a wing around her. “Hey, hey, hey. That’s not true, Twilight. We couldn’t have known what Starlight was going to do.”
Spike nods. “Yeah. How were we supposed to know she was so insane she’d think ruining history was a good idea. If anypony’s to blame, it’s Starlight for messing with time travel.”
I nod. “Yeah. There’s a reason I told Star Swirl to hide that thing.”
There’s a long pause, before the two look to me, eyebrows raised.
“What?’ I say, shaking my head. “I… I don’t know why I just said that.”
Spike chuckles, folding his arm. “Yeah. Star Swirl lived a thousand years ago. I doubt you were around back then, Ken.”
We nod, though I’m still wondering why I said that.
“Halt!”
We all start, looking up to see three pegasi walking towards us. Two are white stallions with light-blue manes and tails. The other is a mare the same colours. They’re all wearing Royal Guard armour.
“Finally,” Spike mutters as we all stand. “I was starting to think there weren’t any guards here.”
The three pause upon the sight of Twilight and myself. The stallions look confused, while the mare is suspicious and confused.
“Admiral Sparkle?” one of the stallions asks. “What’re you doing here? Weren’t you at the battle of Ghastly Gorge?”
“And what happened to your eye?” the other asks, before his eyes widen. “And since did you become an Alicorn?”
The mare steps forward. “Who are you three? There aren’t two Admiral Sparkles and there was no word of her ever finding a way to become an Alicorn. State your intent!”
Twilight becomes worried. It’s clear she’s never dealt with sternness from the Royal Guard like this before.
I, on the other hoof? Well, maybe not Royal Guards, but authority figures, for sure.
“We request an audience with Princesses Celestia and Luna,” I say, keeping my voice strong. “We have vital information they will wish to hear.”
The first stallion suddenly gets very defensive. “How dare you? Princess Luna is in no condition to travel, and you have to gale to demand she come to you?!”
I look to him with cool firmness. “As I recall, I said we request, not demand.”
The other two guards look to each other, before the mare gives me a firm look. “And your names? We are suspicious what a dragon is doing with a pair of ponies when Dragon Lord Torch made it very clear that he will not be taking part in this war.”
I have no idea who this Dragon Lord Torch is, but I’ll roll with it. “He is unaware of our son. Spike’s egg was lost here long ago and he was raised as part of our family.”
“Unaware?” the first stallion snarls. “You would risk us going to war with the dragons too by stealing a dragon egg?”
Twilight steps forward, her expression firm. “Excuse me? I did not steal Spike’s egg! I accidentally hatched it and he imprinted on me!”
“That’s right!” Spike growls, stepping in front of Twilight, looking ready to brawl. “Twilight is my mother and you can’t change that!”
“Hmm.” The mare rubs her chin. “It’s true. If that dragon imprinted on you as it’s mother, by Dragon Law, he is your child and no one, not even the Dragon Lord, can chance that.”
I look to the first stallion, scowling, with an eyebrow raised. “By the way, why exactly did you assume we’d stolen Spike? I said nothing to indicate as such and yet you somehow jumped to that conclusion.”
The other two guards look to the first, who glances at them in surprise and I notice a flicker of something in his eye. It wasn’t emotion, it was something else. Something… magical.
“Listen,” he says, pointing at us. “The fact is, these three are strangers and in war, strangers are a threat until proven otherwise. Plus, what are the chances of that? A dragon being hatched by a pony? And how come they both look so much alike? Even their Cutie Marks are the same.” He looks firmly at us. “More likely the three of them are all Changelings and pretty dumb ones at that, taking on the same form of a pony twice and screwing up their race.”
“That’s a good point,” the mare guard says, slowly moving to stand between myself and the guard, facing him. “In times like these, it would be very dumb for a trio of Changelings to try hiding as a dragon and two ponies, especially two identical ponies, and especially when said pony is Admiral Sparkle.”
I blink, before it clicks.
Of course, it’s so stupid an idea that Changelings would do that, to suggest it sounds even crazier than the idea of two ponies happening to be physically exactly alike.
“Apple Turnovers?” the mare suddenly asks.
Is that the guard’s name?
He frowns in confusion. “Um… no. Apple Turnover is fighting on the front lines, remember? And his name doesn’t end in an “s”. Are you okay, Silver Line?”
Silver Line hunches over, snarling and leaps forward. Her sudden actions catch the three of us off guard, but the other stallion doesn’t miss a beat, leaping too.
The two pin down the first guard.
“I should’ve known something was up!” Silver Line snarls at him. “Break Away! Tell us where he is!”
I blink, before it clicks. That stallion is a Changeling! He was hiding and was going to use us as scapegoats.
The stallion snarls, flaring with green magic, revealing something that looks like a pony mixed with an insect, with holes in its legs and bug wings.
It lights its horn, sending the two guards flying off it.
“Twilight, come on!” I yell, flaring my own horn and charging at the bug pony.
It flies up, swerving past me, only to get bucked in the face by my back legs, followed by a sickening crunching sound.
It topples through the air, skidding on the ground. It gets up, its mouth foaming in rage. It opens its mouth and some kind of green gunk flies out, aimed right for Twilight.
“Twilight!” Spike yells, pushing her out of the way, the gunk hitting him instead.
“SPIKE!” we both yell, before turning to the bug creature in unison, our horns flaring.
It falters at the sight of us, before being slammed into the ground from above by the two guards.
We all watch it. It twitches for a few moments, before going limp.
Silver Line puts a hoof to its side. “Still breathing. Stone Wall, get the magical dampener braces. We’ll have somepony come to take this one to HQ for questioning.”
“Spike!” Twilight’s cry reminds me why I’m so angry and I turn, only for my eyes to widen in horror.
Spike is frozen in place, encased in some kind of green crystal-like substance.
I look to the guards. “Is he alright?”
Silver Line moves forward, looking his frozen form over and nods. “I’ve seen this before. Don’t worry, he’s just frozen in suspended animation. It’s what they do so they can feed on you.”
“Can you get him out?!” Twilight begs.
Silver Line nods. “There are mages at HQ. They should be able to restore him in time. You have to be careful with these. After the war started, the Changelings changed the way they hold their captives. If it’s not taken slow, it could be bad.”
“Then how long will it take to free him?” I ask firmly.
She frowns, rubbing her chin. “Well, I’m no mage, but if I had to guess, at least three months.”
“Three months?!” Twilight stares in horror.
Silver Line shakes her head. “No. My apologies. I didn’t explain. Freeing him should take a week at the least, three at the most. His recovery, however, will take at least three months.” She gives Twilight a sympatric look. “I’m sorry. I know he means a lot to you. Best thing to do is let our mages do their thing and let him recover at the right pace.”
“Plus, he could really help us out,” Stone Wall says, looking to us. “If anything, we should thank you both.”
I frown. “Why?”
Silver Line blinks, before her eyes widen. “Of course! If a dragon has imprinted on a pony, making her his mother and fights in the war with us, it means the dragons officially are part of the war. Dragon Lord Torch will have to fight alongside us now! With the dragons, we could win!”
“What about the hippogriffs?” I ask.
The three look to me in confusion… which I share in. What? Since when did I know anything about hippogriffs? Are they even a thing in this world?
“We’ll see about that,” Stone Wall says, looking from us to Spike and then the captive Changeling. “For now, I think we should report this all so you both can get in touch with the higher ups. Something tells me things are about to get interesting.”