//------------------------------//
// Ch:18 The Cutie Re-mark Pt 1 
// Story: My Little Pony Dimensions 
// by PhantomSage21098 
//------------------------------//

After returning to Vorton, the ponies explained to Jacob that a lot had happened while he was gone. Most importantly, gaining a powerful ally with the Yaks of Yakyakistan, who dwell in the mountains of the Frozen North, past the Crystal Empire. Some of the warriors of this kingdom are with them in Vorton, and Jacob held back a laugh when he heard the name of their home. On other things, the group managed to find 5 other world tokens while Jacob was gone. He gladly helped identify some of them. The worlds were Marvel, Mario, Portal 2, Psychonauts, and Fallout. Jacob was familiar with Marvel, Mario, Portal 2, and Fallout as he's seen the Marvel movies and played the games, but as for the third world, he hadn't heard of it, but he felt he had seen it before. That was a thought he put to the side, for no. Twilight wanted Jacob and Spike to accompany her back to her castle to collect several spell books and enchantments. They spent some time digging through the books scattered all over the library because of looters and thugs finding their way inside, not to mention some Everfree plants growing from the windows and walls. Jacob is in his unicorn form as he carries books to the table in the library. "Sheesh," Jacob said as he placed a stack of books on the table, "Sure had some cowboys here. They were not very kind to the books." He wasn't lying; he found a book ripped in half and another with its pages burned to ashes. The sight brings a small tear from Twilight's eye.

"How could they do this?" Twilight said, "Some of these are from my old home before Tirek." Several more tears streamed down her face. Spike finished putting away a few books and then hugged her.

"It's ok, Twilight," Spike said as Jacob came over and hugged her.

"Yeah, once this is all over, we can find new books and make new memories from them," Jacob said smiling, "Like my collection of Goosebumps books. Classic." Twilight smiles, wiping the tears from her eyes. She felt much better from their kindness. Especially Jacob offering to let her read what books he had. They then broke up from the hug and continued to search for the right books. Jacob took out his tablet and played a song while they worked, Roar by Katie Perry. Twilight nods her head to the beat while Spike just silently gags from the song. Jacob then thought back to when he was with his family, back in his hometown of Railman's Glen, the house and his family with his grandmother's home just right across the street, the high school up on the hill in the town, even a few of his old friends. Jacob got his class ring at the end of his third year then. Then he remembered the memories he didn't want to think about; he heard the voices of his mom and dad arguing in his head. Whenever they fought, his grandma would take him and his sister, Carly, to her house until they cooled off. It stopped after he finished his second year. Jacob quickly shook his head and breathed silently fast: as if those memories weren't ones he liked. Not very happy then. His train of thought had stopped when he felt his tail tugged by Spike.

"Jacob, are you ok?" He asked as Jacob looked up and back at the little dragon.

"Uhm, yeah, little bud. I was just deep in thought. Did you find the books?"

"Yep, we're all set. Time for us to head back to Vorton." Jacob followed the dragon and Twilight into the castle corridors. They stepped on the pieces that came from the walls and decorations. Jumanji's stampede came through earlier and is still running across Equestria.

"Sheesh, we need more than a broom and dustpan for this. Right, Spike?"

"I agree." Spike sounded irritated.

"Don't worry, you two," Twilight said, "Once Kronus is defeated, I'll use my magic to fix the castle. We'll also help other ponies who had their homes destroyed."

"Well, that is if we can defeat him." Jacob said, "Frost told me that this all started longer than Equestria's founding. Even before the three tribe's feuds. These guys are ancient history coming back to finish what they started."

"I tried to read about the Mystic Kingdom. Any books about them in The Archive in Vorton, but I only found books about the seven tribes."

"Seven? That can't be a coincidence."

"What do you mean?" Twilight said as she looked at Jacob.

"Seven tribes, seven generals, seven sins. He had what was available to him. He's a scavenger." Before they moved any further, they heard a door slam shut. The doors were to the map room. Jacob takes out his revolver and readies it. He slowly makes his way to the map room, Twilight and Spike following him. Jacob assumes his human form and hides against one of the doors. He motioned Twilight to open the other door. She nods and uses her magic to open it. Jacob rushes in and aims his gun around the room, spotting Starlight sitting on Twilight's throne, her hind legs propped up on the table in a relaxed pose. Lust was standing with her by the map, holding a scroll in one of his straps. Jacob didn't hold back and shot them, but Starlight had a shield to protect her.

"Welcome home, you three." Starlight smirked. Lust reads from the scroll, creating a portal above the table with ticking sounds.

"What the flipping heck? Is this a time portal?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Starlight smiles and jumps into the portal with Lust, making him drop it. The portal closes behind them before the trio can follow. Twilight and Spike are left confused as Jacob goes over to the scroll.

"Well, now this got bad."

"Bad?" Twilight said, "You said it was a time portal. I can believe how bad it is."

"Time travel is a dangerous weapon. Damaging. The harm they can cause from the past. They might be attempting to stop your rainbow connection Rainbow Dash made." Twilight's eyes went wide as he said that. She imagined her friendship being ripped apart by Starlight and Lust. The time spent with the five most amazing ponies will be gone by two terrible characters. Her thoughts stopped when Jacob clapped his hands in front of her. "Hey, Twilight! Snap out of it! It's not too late. We can use the scroll to catch up with them."

"Way ahead of you, Jacob," Spike said. Jacob quickly looks back to see Spike picking up the scroll.

"Spike, no!" Before they can react, the time portal opens again, and the trio gets pulled into it. They were tossed around like toys in a washing machine until they arrived at the portal's exit. They all landed on an airstrip in Cloudsdale. Jacob and Twilight get up and look around while the human quickly takes his pony form.

"Cloudsdale? How did we end up here? I thought we traveled back in time."

"We did, shorty. Look around. The Pegasi were supposed to be building shelters for unicorns and earth ponies. This place seems to be Junior Speedster's Flight Camp, where Fluttershy and Dash spent their childhood."

"Not to mention where Rainbow Dash did the Sonic Rainboom." Twilight inquired.

"Yeah, that. Best we keep an eye out for the villains while here. Best we head for the race. Let's go."

"Hold on, Jacob, you should use a spell to help you walk on clouds."

"Way ahead of you, Twi," Jacob said, illuminating himself in his magic. Before they could proceed, a young Rainbow Dash zoomed by them towards the start of the race. They found an excellent spot to watch the race, and they saw the young pegasus at the starting line with the two bullies who picked on Young Fluttershy.

"You're going down!" Said one bully.

"In history, maybe." Rainbow retorted. In front of the three racers was the young, yellow pegasus holding the checkered flag in her mouth, ready to begin the race.

"Hmm, I would retort this, but this is a fixed point. What's happening here isn't supposed to change. So, you two look out for Starlight or Lust." Once the race had started, Fluttershy spun like a top by the racer's speed. She then fell from the cloud she stood on and down to the ground below. Twilight was about to swoop down to save her but was stopped by Jacob grabbing onto her wings. "Hey, what did I just explain to you?" Twilight smiled out of embarrassment, then returned to watching the race. It was getting good; one racer crashed into a cloud pillar, leaving only one bully and Rainbow Dash left, speaking of which, the bully knocks Rainbow off course and zooms off. It was the moment that Rainbow Dash started to perform her Sonic Rainboom, the one moment that ties in. But it got canceled because of Starlight's aura. Jacob, Twilight, and Spike spot her down below, at the point where the rainboom happens. Before they race down to stop her, Rainbow Dash gets catapulted into the sky, giving the last bully victory in the race. "Oh, no, no, no. That won't pass!" Jacob jumps down to tackle Starlight, but Lust uses straps as extra limbs to grab him, Twilight, and Spike.

"Too late, heroes." Lust said, lifting himself from a cloud layer with a sinister smirk. "You'll always be too late from now on." The time portal from before opens up again, sending the heroic trio back to the present.





The time portal opened up once again, spitting the trio back to the map room. The group got up from the ground and looked around. "Ok, now this is not good," Jacob said.

"It's not too late, Jacob," Twilight Said, "We can still stop them before it's too late."

"It's already too late. The castle's gone." Jacob points out that Twilight's castle is now gone, leaving only behind the map table and some broken thrones.

"Guys, where's the castle?" Spike asked.

"It's pretty evident that Starlight changed the past," Jacob said. "The map brought us back to the present."

"But whatever Starlight and Lust changed in the past, changed things here." Twilight explained.

"But why?" Spike asked. "How did we get here? And where's here?"

"More like when," Twilight said, taking the Time Spell out of Spike's backpack.

"As I said, Time Travel is dangerous no matter what," Jacob explained while readying his weapons. "I've seen a movie about time traveling, and one small thing cascaded into disaster. Rainbow Dash's race was a fixed point. Something not to be rewritten."

"Starlight altered Starswirl's spell, then somehow used it on the map to travel back in time and change the past." Twilight explained, "What she and Lust did then; brought us back here."

"So, we're back to where... I mean to when we started?" Spike asked.

"Not really. The map doesn't even make sense. From what I can see, some mega-cooperation has taken over every corner of our world. I never even heard of it."

"What's the company?" Jacob asked as he stood up to look at the map. His eyes then go wide as he sees the logo. "Holy smokes. A.I.M."

"What's A.I.M.?"

"Advance Idea Mechanics. It's a criminal company from Marvel Comics. They have advanced technology and weapons to use for bad things. If these guys are everywhere, then we're in trouble." Twilight looks at the map and then thinks to herself.

"This sounds too big for us three to handle. Jacob, call Vorton and get some help." Jacob nods and uses his tablet to call Vorton, but he only gets a dial tone. "Or we could find our friends and get help."





As the group walked through the streets of Ponyville, they saw nobody around, not even kids at the schoolhouse. The town looked almost abandoned. They saw one family walking by them, the mother carrying a basket of food while a little colt slept on the father's back. When they walked by the remains of the town hall, it was nothing but ashes and burnt support beams poking up from a large pile of ashes. They find some Diamond Dogs breaking into a house to steal a few things. The town was a sight of depression and sadness. So many ponies they once knew were no longer around. Now the streets are overgrown, homes and buildings boarded up and in disrepair, and worse, a robot patrol walking through the streets. Jacob sees them and pulls Twilight and Spike into an alley to hide from the incoming robots and pony A.I.M. agents. They searched the entire town and found no traces of their friends. Pinkie's home had shut down its business, but the Cakes remained to take their babies with what little they had, Rarity's home had its windows boarded with no one inside, and they couldn't see Rainbow's cloud home anywhere. They traveled out of the town where the only things on patrol were flying drones with scanning searchlights. After traveling through the brush, they find Fluttershy's cottage overgrown with vines and brambles, so she's not here either. They moved on to the last location, Sweet Apple Acres. They cut through the forests and fields to reach the orchard. They find the farm partially abandoned. The paint on the barn was peeling and flaking, and the farm equipment was old and falling apart. They see lights in the windows and smoke rising from the chimney. The Apple Family is still here. Twilight and Spike smile and sigh as the alicorn trots up to the door. Jacob stops them. "Wait, hold on." Jacob said, "This won't be the same Applejack we remember. Drastically different timeline."

"Oh, right," Twilight said with sadness in her voice.

"But maybe she can still help us?" Spike added, "I mean Applejack-"

"Is not our Applejack." Jacob interrupted, "This is your first time with time travel. Allow me to explain it first." He then goes over to a patch of dirt and takes a stick to draw a line. "Imagine this line represents time. The point involving your cutie mark connection is when things have changed. Rainbow Dash never won the race. So, you six never got your marks at the same time." Twilight takes the scroll from her saddle bag and looks at it.

"This is Starswirl's Time Scroll," Twilight said.

"Starlight must've altered it to some degree with some added parts by Lust. Not only was time rewritten, but new things got added to change the world. Not only did you girls not get your marks, you never met to stop any villains on the rise." After explaining, they see someone exit the barn wearing a tattered black coat and a Stetson hat. This pony was female because of their size.

"Applejack!" Twilight said with joy, then went to hug the farm pony, who wasn't as happy as the alicorn was. She looks at the alicorn with confusion and surprise as some random stranger hugs her.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Applejack asked.

"Applejack, it's me. Twilight. We're friends."

"I'm sorry, but I've never met you before in my life," Those words broke Twilight's heart like a peanut. This pony wasn't the Applejack she knew. "If you came here to seek shelter, there's a spare space inside the barn where you three can sleep. It's been getting worse and worse with A.I.M. on patrol." Jacob approaches the farm pony.

"How long has A.I.M. been here?" He asked.

"I'm not sure how long. When I was in Manehatten as a filly, I saw this science showcase at the Project Gallery. They showed off some fancy gadgets and machines I'd never seen before. The next thing I knew, they started delivering their products all over the country. They even demonstrated their superior security when Nightmare Moon returned. They even took out some other rotten apples that came along. Discord, Chrysalis, King Sombra, even Tirek. It was like nothing stood in their way. Then everything changed when Celestia retired her crown to them."

"She did what?!" Twilight shouted in shock, unable to believe that the Princess would give them the kingdom. Jacob did, but he thinks it was the reason why.

"She passed the crown to the head of A.I.M. Never really explained why."

"I think I have a few ideas," Jacob said, "but they're just guessing right now. After Nightmare Moon's defeat, A.I.M. took Luna as their prisoner for several years and used her as a bargaining chip to get Celestia's crown."

"I knew something didn't feel right. How did you guess this? Do you know about A.I.M.?"

"Yeah, kind of. Only from several sources from where I come from."

"Well, It's too late now. There's no chance for a revolution."

"Well... there might be one option," Jacob said, holding up the time scroll. Twilight and Spike nod in agreement.





The group made their way back to the map table in town. The patrols increased, making it harder to sneak through the streets and alleys. The robots and drones were on the hunt for the group now. Twilight sets up an invisibility dome around them to hide from the mechanical monsters. Jacob looks at the patrols and notes the heavy weaponry. "Their leader probably knows about us," Jacob said, "He's got his forces on high alert and bringing heavy stuff for us. That's just overkill."

"I've never seen them with those weapons before." Applejack said, "As for this map, I've never seen this here before."

"There's also supposed to be a huge castle to go with it," Spike said while sitting on one of the collapsed thrones.

"I still don't see why this has to do with us being friends."

"Another pony named Starlight Glimmer used a spell on this map to travel through time and change things in the past." Twilight explained.

"But she wasn't working alone." Jacob said, "A leatherbound jerk took advantage of this time travel spell to plant a villain in the past so they'll integrate themselves easily into the world."

"So, you're saying this was all because of these ponies that Equestria is collapsing?" Applejack said.

"Exactly. Twilight, Spike, and I already know that our friends do not exist. You may look like our Applejack, but you're just one of many variants. We're on our own." Applejack sighed upon hearing this.

"I wish I could help you three, but I need to help my family. Granny isn't doing so well. We won't be getting a shipment of medicine till the next few weeks. I truly am sorry, y'all." Jacob puts a hoof on the farm pony's shoulder with sympathy.

"I understand. I promise you things will be alright once we stop Starlight and Lust." Twilight takes out the time scroll and examines it. She then has a realization about why they were still themselves.

"Of course." She said with a smile.

"Figure something out, Princess Sparkles?"

"Yes. The map's connected to the Tree of Harmony; it must sense something isn't right. That's why it's still here. We'll use Starlight's spell to go back a little earlier and stop her and Lust before they know we're there."

"Are you sure that'll work? They'll probably have something up their sleeves."

"It's worth a shot, but I know it'll work."

"Alright, but to be on the safe side, we'll need to be on our guard if something happens. Got it?"

"Ok. Get ready, you two." Twilight then casts the spell, opening the time portal to send them back to the past.





The trio soon arrived at the airstrip in Cloudsdale several moments before the Sonic Rainboom took place. "Ok, you two. Now we need to find-" Twilight got cut off by Starlight, who has them trapped in a chunk of ice.

"Finding them will be easy, but stopping them will be harder than you think." Starlight said as she and Lust appeared from behind a cloud cover. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I created that spell to send myself and Lust back in time. So, even when either of you cast it, we still get sent back here."

"You certainly must give her credit." Lust boasted, "It wasn't difficult to change the spell to travel in time. The old fool did the hard part for her."

"Even figuring out that I can use the map to go to any time or place and pull you along with us. Haha! I even impressed myself with that."

"I foresaw the two of you try to stop us. Heroes like you are predictable. It's the reason why she left the map behind, to bring you here. So that you can be defeated time and time again as you fruitlessly try to stop us." Starlight stood atop the ice block, causing it to sink into the cloud below them.

"My village was a sanctuary of equality where no pony's cutie mark made them feel superior. It was a special place until you and your friends took it away." When she looked down, she saw the ice was gone below the cloud. She and Lust then go below to continue their gloat, only to find that trio escaped. They find them on a cloud below, looking up at them.

"We were getting too chilling in that cube, Whiny Baby," Jacob said while brushing off small chunks of ice. "I get it. You're doing this to take revenge on Twilight and me for destroying your utopia. You still won't gain anything! Your people were miserable because of you!" For a moment, Lust and Starlight saw Jacob's eyes steadily shift colors from natural blue to crimson red as he grew angry at them. "We will stop you. You're too busy being too full of yourself to do your job right." Starlight snarled and blasted at the trio, but they teleported just in time to avoid harm.

"Keep calm, Starlight." Lust said, "Words are words and nothing more. Just remember what we came here to do." Jacob, Twilight, and Spike reappeared upon the safe platforms of the cloudy city.

"Phew, that was close." Jacob said with relief, "Twi, remind me to keep my mouth shut next time."

"I'll make sure I try to keep you in line." Twilight said, "Now, we gotta find those two. They could be anywhere."

"Or over there," Spike said while pointing to Starlight, talking to young Fluttershy and the bullies.

"Oh, crap," Jacob uttered before Twilight swooped down to the group to stop their conversation. From where Spike and Jacob were, it looked like it didn't work. The young ponies go off to practice flying. Lust gently climbs up next to Jacob so he'll speak with him.

"You see now?" He said with a smirk, "No matter what any of you do, you'll never win."

"Even a race with Rainbow won't do any good. But that doesn't mean we're defeated."

"Yes, it does. Accept it." The time portal opens again, pulling Twilight, Jacob, and Spike back to the present.





Spike and Twilight fell onto the ground while Jacob landed headfirst on the table with a landing that should have smashed his head open. Jacob yelped, grasping his head, grunting in pain repeatedly while in the fetal position. Twilight gets up and worriedly checks on him. "Jacob, are you ok?" She said as she checked him. "Where were you hit?"

"I just landed on my head, Twilight," Jacob said through gritted teeth. Twilight uses her magic to levitate her friend onto the ground and then notices the map table. The Everfree Forest has taken over much of the land, turning it into an ocean of overgrown trees and plants, only the city of Canterlot is seen from its usual spot: the top of the mountain in the heart of the kingdom. "What timeline is this?"

"Seems like the one where the Everfree has taken over Equestria."

"And since the elements aren't in the tree, the Everfree was free to continue growing to the rest of the country."

"And we've got worse problems. The Changelings have taken over."

"You mean we get to meet Quen Chrysalis? Well, that'll be something."

"Jacob, we don't have time for this. We need to think of a plan to stop Lust and Starlight." While the two ponies were speaking, Spike got up and brushed himself off. He looks up to see a set of spears pointed in his direction. He sees tribal ponies with hostile expressions on their painted faces. Among them were Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, with the same expression as the tribal ponies and holding their spears. Spike nervously backed away and tugged on Twilight's tail.

"Um, we got much bigger problems right now." Twilight and Jacob turned to see the savages aiming their pointed weapons toward the trio.

"Oh, man." Jacob said calmly, "Trapped in a new future and already surrounded by ponies ready to kill us. We're having such a good day."

"Silence, Changeling!" Pinkie hissed.

"All servants of Queen Chrysalis found in these woods must be... destroyed!" Fluttershy declared. Twilight audibly gulps while Jacob looks at each pony with wide eyes.

"Wait, we're not Changelings," Twilight said quickly, "We're ponies."

"And one dragon," Jacob added while pointing to Spike. Pinkie aimed her spear close to Spike's face.

"A likely story." She said, "Do something dragonish." To prove he was a dragon, he belched out green fire and smoke into Pinkie's face, making her cough smoke. "That works." She joins back with the other tribe ponies.

"The servants of Chrysalis will do anything to save their evil scales," Fluttershy says as she raises a spear to Jacob's face.

"Aren't Changelings bugs?" Jacob asked, "Don't they have a form of chitin?" Fluttershy presses the spear up against Jacob's muzzle.

"Like you'd know." Jacob stares at the spear while breathing calmly, even though he's scared.

"You know you can take someone's eye out with that."

"STOP!" Shouted a voice from the top of the tree greenery. Leaping down to join the group was Zecora. She wore a mask with her mane was a larger mohawk compared to her original self. Jacob looks at her and the other ponies, guessing she is their leader. "If they are Changelings, we'll soon see. Though I think they're not what they appear to be."

"Ah, Zecora. If anyone can believe us, it's you." The zebra trots up to the trio and holds out a wooden bowl of some green salve that she rubs on them.

"Beneath this salve, no changeling hides, for it reveals the truth inside." Once finished, Twilight, Spike, and Jacob glowed brightly, making everyone gasp in surprise.

"What does this mean?" Pinkie asked.

"The meaning is far worse than I see, for it is we who should not be. The stallion we see is a mystery far stranger. You threaten something of far more danger."

"You can tell just by rubbing some weird-smelling gunk on us?" He said after raising a brow and sniffing the salve. He shivered with disgust at how weird the stuff smelled. "But yes, we got a lot of explaining."

"I'm sure you do, but not here. Chrysalis and her changelings may draw near." And so, the group then traveled into the dense jungles to seek safety from any Changelings that could be nearby. A few tribe ponies swing from the trees to scout the surrounding area and guide the group traveling below. "The Changelings took over a while ago, though I'll wager in your world that isn't so."

"Twilight's brother and sister-in-law defeated Chrysalis and her army during their wedding in Canterlot several years ago. They tried taking over to feed on love from the kingdom's populace. If it weren't for Twilight and her friends, Queenie would've had her way."

"Those friends as she knows them are not here, alas. But tell me how all this came to pass."

"Powerful unicorns named Starlight and Lust used a time spell to travel back through time to stop my friends and me from ever coming together." Twilight explained.

"And is it these friends in life that keep Equestria free from strife?"

"I guess so, but this is the second time we've come back, and this world is worse than the last one. If Starlight and Lust keep doing the same things in the past, how could the present be so different?" Zecora stops by a small stream and explains to them.

"Time is a river where even the tiniest changes seen." She puts her hoof in the water, changing the flow. "Can lead to a cascade of effects downstream." Jacob watches this demonstration and then recalls the talk with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"The Butterfly Effect," Jacob said. "A butterfly flapping its wings today can lead to a devastating hurricane weeks later." Zecora then nods to Jacob then proceeds to lead the group. They soon came up to a thick curtain of weeping willow leaves, moving them aside to reveal a refugee camp.

"This part of the forest is dark and damp, but it does well to hide our camp." As the group entered, they drew the attention of the other survivors. They look at the newcomers with fear. Jacob looks around while Spike waves at the staring ponies.

"Hmm, nice place. Cozy. I will probably set up a treehouse near the Castle of the Two Sisters."

"Jacob, please focus," Twilight said.

"I am. I was only commenting." They then heard a familiar scream and then a trio of ponies running out of the trees. It was on Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.

"Please," Rarity begged, "You have to help us."

"The Changelings attacked Ponyville." Rainbow said, "We barely escaped with our lives." As the newest ponies tried to regain their strength, Twilight was about to run over to welcome them, but Jacob stopped her. Zecora steps up to confront the ponies.

"The only Changeling attack I see," She said, "is the one that comes here looking for me." Applejack smirks and approaches Zecora.

"It's taken quite a while to find you, Zecora." Applejack said before getting swallowed inside a column of green light. Her body blackens, limbs elongate with holes appearing, tattered insect wings sprout from her back, her hair turns long and green, and her hat vanishes and replaces with a jagged horn. The light dissipates to reveal it to be the bug queen herself, Chrysalis. Jacob watched the scene with fear and excitement as this was his first meeting with this villain. The insect horse laughed wickedly, approaching the survivors. "What a lovely village you've chosen to stage your little... resistance. It looks absolutely delicious." She licks her exposed fangs as her two guards remove their disguises.

"I wouldn't say "delicious" it's more like lush and green," Jacob said. Twilight tried to signal him to keep quiet, but he didn't obey. Chrysalis looks at the unicorn and walks up to him. Jacob was impressed by her height, equal to Celestia's, even with her jagged horn.

"And who might you be? The overachieving imbecile?"

"No, it's Jacob. Get it right next time."

"My, my, aren't you confident? Once my swarm is through with this village, I'll have them teach you your place."

"Let me guess, is it at the tip top of the pile of knocked-out shapeshifters?" She flares out her wings, summoning a large swarm from the trees around the village.

"More like rotting in the dungeons of Canterlot if Zecora surrenders and comes quietly. I promise not to harm her ponies if she does."

"Like you would honor your word. There's not one version of you that would." Zecora whispers to Twilight to take her friends and race back to the map and correct the events in history. "Such a shame that you and your spawn are wasted on evil."

"Enough of your idiotic ramblings! Make your decision, Zecora." The zebra walks past Jacob to speak to the insect queen.

"Even if what you are saying were true," She said, "we'd never surrender to a creature like you!" She then screams, sending the tribal ponies to charge to fight with her. Chrysalis and her army do the same as well. Jacob saw Twilight running back to the map table, so he ran after her. A swarm of changelings pursued the trio, but no one stopped them. The changeling looked like the others of its kind, but it had purple eyes and chitin with a red spine and tail.

"Not so fast!" The changeling said, "By orders of Queen Chrysalis, you three are under arrest."

"Alright, alright." Jacob said, "But first... WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!" He points behind the changeling, making him look. When the changeling looked, Jacob quickly turned around and bucked the bug with his hind legs, sending it flying into a tree. The time spent with Applejack paid off. Twilight blasts the other changelings with her magic. They stood on the table as another swarm flew their way. Twilight quickly cast the time spell to help her, Jacob, and Spike escape. The Changelings missed them, piling onto the table and groaning in pain.





They soon as they arrived in the Past, Twilight cast a shield spell to block Starlight's freezing spell from freezing them again. Using his revolver like a cowboy, Jacob shoots the villains standing on the cloud above them. Lust smirks, whipping the magic bullets away with leather straps. "Not bad," Starlight said, "but it's gonna take a lot more than that."

"Well, we're going keep coming back here and fight you. Our minds are reliable assets in time traveling; you can expect an attack." Twilight then flew up and shot a laser from her horn at Starlight, forcing her to teleport. Lust leapt at Jacob, using his leather straps as weapons to give the unicorn lashings. Jacob had to be quick on his hooves to avoid them and cut them. While the two mares tried to zap each other, Starlight unknowingly dropped the letter she was given back in Colombia and landed on the runway where Lust and Jacob dueled. Jacob spotted the envelope and swiped it. Both teams (sans Spike) fought for a long time until they were exhausted and couldn't fight anymore.

"Woah!" Said a familiar voice. Twilight and Jacob looked behind them with panicked faces to see Rainbow Dash sitting nearby with a box of popcorn in her hooves. She stopped the race so she could watch the battle.

"Seriously? You have a race that needs finishing!"

"No way! This is way more exciting!" Jacob smacks his face into his hoof and groans irritably.

"See?" Starlight said, "You can't stop me no matter what you do."

"We aren't going to stop trying," Jacob said, rubbing his head, "Be ready for round four next time." Starlight gasps in horror when she sees the letter in Jacob's saddlebags. A portal opens, taking away three heroes.

"Oh no." Starlight said with dread, knowing she had made a mistake. She was told to give that letter to Jacob, but why would she? She just kept it hidden from everyone.

"What's wrong?" Lust said, looking at her.

"He has the letter."

"What letter? What are you talking about?"





The portal opens once again and drops off the three travelers. Groaning, the three stood up to get their bearings. "That's strange," Spike said.

"What is other than us falling out of a wormhole every time?" Jacob said, cracking his stiff neck.

"No, it's just the other times we've come back; it's been day! But look!" Spike then pointed up at a dark, star-filled sky with the moon shining through the trees of the Everfree Forest.

"Why would the map bring us back to a different time of day than when we left?" Twilight said. They heard a twig snap behind them.

"Let's figure this out once we're safe," Jacob said, "I smell several logs that need peppermints. Run!" The three then ran through the forest as a pack of Timberwolves howled in the night. Through the darkness, they saw the glowing eyes of the wooden canines glaring at them as they went by. They stopped at the foot of a gorge. Ahead of them was a castle.



"The Castle of the Two Sisters."

"Better than nothing. Let's go!" The three raced over the bridge and entered the castle, closing the door behind them. After taking a few recovering breaths, they look at the entry hall. Blue torches lined the walls with night-themed tapestries draped between them. They even see several lunar statues decorated around the room. "Night-themed decorations. Nightmare Moon. Be on your guard, guys." Spike and Twilight nod to Jacob and then proceed. Not too later, they found a familiar marshmallow pony with purple hair.

"Rarity!" Spike and Twilight said with cheer. They saw she was wearing a dark blue outfit with her hair and tail tied in a top knot.

"The castle isn't open for viewing today," Rarity said, "The tapestries all need changing. Again."

"Sorry for the intrusion, Miss." Jacob said, "We just had a nasty run-in with the Timberwolves outside. This castle was the closet's place for shelter.

"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to leave. The point of being closed is that peasants aren't allowed to roam around where they're not wanted, especially if those peasants are poor impersonators of the rulers who are friends with filthy dragons." The comment about dragons hurt Spike, breaking his heart like a walnut. Jacob shook his head disapprovingly.

"Most definitely not our Rarity. A lot nicer than you and doesn't call a baby dragon hurtful things."

"I don't know how you got here, but leave immediately before I call the guards."

"We're not leaving right away. Our energy is worn out from a fight earlier, and we don't have the strength to fight living splinters. I've had it going back and forth between times to try and stop a pair of villains from wrecking history with time travel."

"Time travel, you say?" Said, Nightmare Moon. Jacob, Twilight, and Spike look to see the silhouette of the evil night queen sitting on a throne. "Now that's something I would like to see." Jacob groaned from this sight.

"Me and my big mouth."




To be Continued