Everything went from bright to dark in an instant, and Fizzy felt a sudden pain shoot up her side. She reached for the area to see what caused it, only for her hoof to find a fuzzy leg.
“Gehoffme,” said a voice Fizzy identified as Starlight.
A muffled sound was heard, proving Firebrand was also alive, though neither Fizzy nor Starlight was quite sure what she said. Fizzy flapped her wings, picking herself up of the jumble of limbs. Firebrand was able to roll off Starlight, and as a result, unfaceplant herself. Starlight stood up, brushing dirt off her stomach, levitating the scroll over to her from where it had fallen. Firebrand spat dirt out of her mouth as she stood up. As Fizzy landed, she looked around. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she was able to see they were in the Everfree Forest, near a large castle, adorned with blue and purple lights, and topped with blue spired roofs. Atop the tallest tower, was a glowing crescent moon.
“Let me guess,” Fizzy deadpanned, looking at Starlight. “This is the Nightmare Moon timeline.”
Starlight shrugged, tucking the scroll into Fizzy’s pouch with her magic. “Don’t look at me. I just cast the spell so it would go to its place of origin.”
“Wait…,” said Firebrand. “Then wouldn’t that take us to where ever Starswirl created the spell?”
“Not technically, no,” said Starlight. “Every time the spell was edited, it became a new spell. So, I took us to the place where the most recent edits were made. A sort of Control-Z, if you will.”
“A what?” asked Fizzy and Firebrand simultaneously.
Starlight shook her head. “Never mind. We should probably make our way towards the castle.”
Fizzy glanced at the castle, looming ominously in the distance. “Uh… are you sure we want to go where Equestria’s first greatest threat is? You know, a vengeful moon goddess?”
“You won’t be going anywhere,” said a voice, followed by rustling leaves. Firebrand and Starlight lowered into defensive stances, horns glowing. From out of the underbrush of the forest came a small group of ponies, surrounding the trio. The unicorns of the surrounding group also had their horns aglow, with the pegasi spreading their wings, ready to take flight. The leader, a blue unicorn mare with a two-tone mane stepped forward. “Who are you?” she asked, eyes narrowed. Fizzy identified her as the speaker in the bushes.
“We are travelers,” said Fizzy, stepping forward. “We mean you no harm.”
The mare eyed her warily. “How do we know you aren’t lying? You obviously know of Nightmare Moon, so you aren’t as uninformed as you seem.”
“Are you sure about that?” Fizzy mumbled before speaking up. “You don’t, but to be fair, we don’t exactly know we can trust you. But if it means anything, we didn’t immediately attack you when you made yourselves none. I doubt Nightmare Moon would have done such a thing.”
The mare raised an eyebrow, considering this. “True. You and your companions will come with us. But, use any magic, and you will regret it.”
Fizzy nodded. Starlight and Firebrand stood back up, the magic fading from around their horns. The mare turned and walked back into the underbrush, Fizzy and her friends following as they were escorted by their new guards.
Fizzy trotted up next to the mare. “So…” she began, “What’s your name?” she asked, trying to make small talk. The mare glanced over at her. “First, tell me yours,” she said. Fizzy blinked. “Oh, it’s Fizzy. Fizzy Wings,” she said. “Hmm,” said the mare. “And what manner of creature might you be? Because you certainly aren’t a pony.”
Fizzy smiled. “What gave it away? The chitin?” The mare glared at her. Fizzy coughed before continuing. “Uh… anyways. No, I’m a changeling.”
The mare stopped. “A changeling? As in the kind who replace ponies to feed on the love of their loved ones?” Her horn sprang to life, aimed at Fizzy. The unicorns in the group turned towards Starlight and Firebrand, their own horns aglow.
Fizzy gulped. “Uh… no. I don’t imagine you have the evolved version of changelings here. And I’m the only one. They are ponies,” she said, gesturing to her companions.
“Evolved? What do you mean, evolved?” demanded the mare.
“Where I’m from, changelings evolved so that we no longer need to feed on love. Well, we still feed on love, but we don’t replace ponies. We share love with each other and that does the job,” explained Fizzy hastily.
The mare’s eyes remained narrowed in suspicion, but she dropped her spell. “Very well. But try anything, changeling, and you won’t see your friends ever again.”
Fizzy nodded. The group carried on in silence, until they came across a giant ravine that stretched all the way to the castle. Fizzy, Starlight, and Firebrand followed the mare down a set of what Fizzy guessed were stairs. They were carved messily into the rock, and hard to spot even on them.
At the bottom of the stairs was a cave opening, leading into the side of the ravine. When they reached the bottom, the mare led them in. The cavern was dark, save only for the light of the mare’s horn. Fizzy eventually lost track of how many turns and crossroads they had gone through, as they wound deeper underground.
Eventually, Fizzy spotted a light in the distance. As they got closer, they entered a large, open space, lit by a campfire in the center. A small number of ponies milled about, entering and leaving small openings scattered along the walls of the area. The mare stopped, turning towards Fizzy and her friends.
“My name is Minuette. I lead this resistance against Nightmare Moon,” she said. “Now, you will tell me how you got here. And don’t try and claim you are travelers, for I know that isn’t true.”
“Uh… this might sound crazy,” said Firebrand, before Fizzy could open her mouth. “But, we were sent through time by a supervillain.”
Fizzy turned, staring at her in shock. Minuette’s voice drew her attention back to the mare in question. “So, that would explain the temporal anomaly I detected.”
Starlight stepped forward. “You can detect temporal anomalies?”
Minuette nodded. “Yes. Among other time-related things. I used to be a chronologist, before Nightmare Moon took over. When I was little, I sensed a massive chrono-shift, something that shouldn’t be possible unless somepony had messed with time.”
“A chrono-what?” asked Fizzy.
“A chrono-shift. Basically, it’s a shockwave of time energy, signaling the creation of an alternate timeline,” stated Minuette, matter-of-factly.
“And you were able to sense this? As a child?” asked Starlight.
“Yup. It’s how I got my Cutie Mark, and why I decided to become a chronologist,” said Minuette, gesturing to the hourglass on her flank.
Starlight glanced back at Fizzy, before speaking. “Were there any other time-related things you detected?”
Minuette nodded. “As a matter of fact, yes there were. Two, to be precise. About a year ago, a purple alicorn showed up with time-travel magic, before promptly leaving this timeline about 20 minutes later. I sent scouts to monitor the area where the alicorn had appeared for a month afterwards. On the last day of that month-long period, something else appeared. A scroll with the time-travel magic the alicorn spoke of. Come, I’ll show you.”
Minuette led them into an off-shooting tunnel. Starlight and Fizzy made eye contact as Starlight looked back, her face stricken with terror.
“The spell required a ‘Cutie Map’,” said Minuette as the continued down the natural corridor. “But, I was able to bypass the need to that with some changes of my own. I also changed it so one could move from timeline to timeline freely, without creating any more alternate ones.”
As they stepped into a new open area, Firebrand spoke up. “How were you able to do this? It would require a massive amount of magical energy. Nopony short of the Alicorn Princesses could do it.”
Minuette glanced back, smiling in a way that sent shivers down the trio’s spines. “I was able to do so, with this,” as she spoke, she stepped to the side, revealing a stone altar with two objects on it. One was the time-travel scroll. But the object beside it filled the trio with abject terror. On the altar, next to the scroll, was the Alicorn Amulet.