//------------------------------// // A new world // Story: Innocence Once Lost // by Scorched Earth //------------------------------// Proof reader/Editor: Biker_Dash Life had been easy ever since the Changelings had been beaten back six years ago. With the defeat of Changelings, no other force of chaos or disharmony would dare to threaten the ponykind. Twilight and her friends had been living in peace and quietness, each one pursuing their own dreams. One day, Twilight found a spell in Royal Library. A spell, that would allow the caster to create a magical view port, to allow to gaze into other universes. She had called her friends to test it with her in the Royal Library. "Oh my gosh, this is going to be AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash shouted in excitement as the view port started to form. "Okay, let's see... let me see if I can zoom in to one of ourselves..." Twilight concentrated her magic on the view port, when suddenly, a surge of magic poured through the view port. "Twilight! What's going on?" Applejack shouted. "I don't know! This wasn't in the book!" There was a distant rumble and suddenly, everyone's worst fear came true. Discord broke free from his prison. "FREE AT LAST! MUAHAHAHAAA!" Discord shouted. However, this turned out to be mistake as a spell was cast to shield Canterlot and to prevent his escape. Very soon Discord found himself being chased by Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Elements of Harmony. Not the best way to be freed from a stone prison. "I need to get away from here, I am nowhere near the powerful enough to take them on in a direct fight... I was careless last time," Discord muttered to himself as he avoided one more spell. "But where could I go? I can't break that shield, not yet, and I don't have time to wait here." Then he reached a library and saw a portal. It was not a normal, send-matter-through portal, but that was quickly remedied. "STOP RIGHT THERE DISCORD!" He turned around to see the cursed elements running after him. "Catch me if you can!" He said and jumped through the portal. "Oh no you don't!" Rainbow Dash said and flew after him. "Wait, he did something to..." Twilight tried to shout after her, but it was too late. RD has flown in to the portal. "It can wait, Sugarcube, now we need to get him before he gets away," Applejack said and jumped through the portal. Twilight shook her head and followed the lead, alongside the others. She had weird feeling that the portal had changed in more than one way, but AJ was right. They needed to stop Discord right now. The trip through the portal was definitely not nice. He guessed he had not completely managed to change the location where the portal, but then again, why had that unicorn set exit the same place as enter? Discord flew outside the window before the Elements could find him and notice that the sky was missing an one distinct feature; the shield. He quickly escaped the castle and gave it one last look. There was something wrong it... Didn't it used to be more on 'fairy tale castle' and less on 'sensible military design'? And why did it look like it had been recently rebuild? And what was THAT ugly building? Why did Canterlot like the buildings plans had went through a military committee before being approved? Oh well. It could wait. Right now he would need to hide and gather his strength. "So this thing appeared yesterday in here?" Twilight asked Captain Lulamoon. She had been called to investigate a magical anomaly that had appeared in Canterlot library yesterday. Trixie and her unit had surrounded the area and called Twilight to check it out. "Yes. Princess Celestia told me to contact you in case you would know something about it." "Has anything come through it?" Trixie just shrugged. "Beats me. I wasn't on duty when it happened. I just got informed and called you. Maybe you got better idea what it is." "Well, so far I got nothing except it might be a portal." The universe, once again demonstrating it's knack for humorous timing, decided to drop Mane Six exactly at that point through the portal. Trixie and Twilight just stared, with their jaws hitting the floor. Behind the new group of ponies, the portal flickered and disappeared. "Oooh... let's not do that again." Rainbow Dash said. "Oh mah back... could someone get of mah back? Ah don't feel so good...." "Oh, sorry Applejack." Fluttershy said and climbed off. She looked around and saw guards around them. "Oh, uh, you didn't see Discord coming through here?" Silence continued as the guards stared at the strange group in front of them. "Um, hello?" "Hey, what's wrong with you? Shouldn't you be hunting Discord right now?" Twilight asked. "Who ARE you?" Twilight turned around and saw... herself. "Oh wow." Original!Twilight said. At this point, Trixie finally managed to pull herself together. "Okay, nobody make any sudden moves until we know what is going on! Guards!" Guards seemed to also awaken and moved to surround the group. "Hey, is that Trixie? Why are you in an armor? A captain's armor, in fact?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You will address me as Captain Lulamoon or Captain for now. Hooves where I can see them!" "Trixie, I don't think these ponies are a threat..." "The same we thought back then and that lead to Lunar Crisis. I am not taking any chances." "Umm, I know this is little bit of a bad time but... Discord?" Original!Twilight asked as the guards moved around them. "What? Oh, Discord. No, we didn't see him. Not today or yesterday when the portal appeared. Which also seems to have disappeared..." Alternative!Twilight said, pointing towards where the portal had been. Original!Twilight looked around and confirmed to her horror that their only way to return was gone. "Oh no! How are we now going to get back!? How do I contact The Princess!? What should I do!? Does anypony have a spare spell with them?" "How about you take breath first?" Rainbow Dash said. "I don't have time to breathe!" "Twilight, calm down!" Applejack said. "Yeah, we can figure this out." Rainbow Dash said. "Darling, stress is not good for you..." Rarity said. "Um, maybe you should have some tea?" Fluttershy suggested. "Oooh! Let's have a party!" Pinkie Pie said. "Yeah! Let's call it 'Welcome To Alternative Universe Party!'" Pinkie Pie said. "PINKIE! Where did you come from!? And how..." Alternative!Twilight shouted. "Wait what!? How did you get past the guards!?" Trixie asked, even if she had come to used to these type if breaches. If Pinkie Pie wanted to get somewhere, she did. "Ooh! A doppelganger!" Pinkie Pie #1 said. At this point nobody was sure which one was the which one. "AYA! Now we can make twice as big parties!" Pinkie Pie #2 said. They were soon engaged in rapid fire conversation that include parties, Pinkie sense, Gummy, Ponyville and 300 gallons of ice cream on a zeppelin with someone named Hunk. Nobody really wanted to find out what the last one was for and promptly ignored it. "Okay, everyone just calm down. Why don't we go and talk to Princesses about this? Maybe they can figure out what the hay is going on." Alternative!Twilight said. She was going to have an epic headache from this. Celestia was going to have a headache. It had been an year since The Lunar Crisis and the relations between two species were on their all-time warmest. Anti-human groups had tried to rally behind Luna, thinking she would be supporting for a war. Oh how wrong they had been. By Tartarus, even random humans gave their respect to Luna when they saw her. She was currently visiting the governor of New Baltimore. Still they occasionally had issues that needed to be dealt with. "Ambassador, I can't just order my guards into Everfree Forest and kill every single creature in there. You were warned of it when your people started to live near it. I don't care how much lumber it provides for you. You can protect your settlement from attacks if you wish, but I won't send my guards in to the forest and I am not going to allow you to raze the forest." "That place is a real nightmare. I mean, trees attack you, how screwed up is that? Then there are cockatrices, manticores... How can you allow such place to exist!?" A group of humans had suddenly got an excellent idea of setting up a lumber camp near Everfree Forest. Unsurprisingly, they soon found out why human military didn't go within a hundred kilometers from the place. "Because we got an unspoken agreement. We keep out of the forest, monsters stay inside the forest, most of the time. I swear that forest itself is alive and directs the monsters to attack anything that threatens it. In this case, you and your lumberjacks. Faust knows we have tried to deal with who knows what how many times. Can't you find some other place? New Baltimore has ample supply of wood too." "It's called free enterprise. Someone decided that wood from Everfree is good and set up a shop. Fine. We won' try to torch the forest. We will tell them that the forest is off-limits and that we won't guarantee anyone's safety near it. In exchange, you set up a few guard patrols to keep the worst of the monsters in control. Deal?" "Sounds good to me." A door opened and Twilight and Captain Lulamoon walked in. "Oh, hello my little ponies. Did you find out what that magical anomaly was?" "To a certain degree. Bring them in," Trixie answered before assuming her position on the side. Celestia stared in confusion as a group of ponies, or more specifically, The Bearers of Elements of Harmony were brought in. "Princess, I don't think I am old enough to require eye surgery but am I seeing doubles?" "Yes, yes you are. I see them too." "Ooh! What are you!?" Pinkie Pie asked, pointing her hoof at the human. To the credit of the guards, they managed to grab her mane before she managed to jump at the ambassador. The ambassador just stared at the ponies and answered out of habit. "Ambassador Fahrenheit of The Human Refuge, which you should be aware." "What's a human?" Original!Twilight asked. Alternative!Twilight took over before questioning could go any further. "A species we have some history with. Anyway, these six came trough the portal that was in the library. However, what I find more troubling is... well, let's hear it from them. Tell Princess what you told to us while we were coming here." "Oh right. Uh, I was trying a spell that would allow me to see into alternative universes. So after I opened the view port, some strange magic poured through and let Discord free. So, we chased him and he turned the view port into a portal and escaped here." Celestia remained silent for a moment before turning to the ambassador. "Ambassador. I would suggest that you contact Luna Aeternal and tell them to prepare for anything. Discords magic is powerful. Anything could happen, from sudden appearance of traitor Royal Guard to rain of chocolate. I would suggest DEFCON 3, although if I am to understand how the new general operates, he will only raise it to DEFCON 4." "A rain of what now?" "You heard me. Discord is a creature of chaos and immensely powerful. Captain Lulamoon, I need you to double check our Discords prison. Make sure that nobody is allowed to enter it without my or my sister's permission." Trixie saluted. "Yes, your Highness!" Trixie left the throne room to carry out her duty. "I guess I got a military to contact. I will return later," Fahrenheit said and left the room, giving a quick bow. After both had left, Celestia turned to face the group. "I must say, this is highly unexpected. An alternative universe you say? I wonder how does your world differ from ours?" "Well... for one thing we have never encountered these... humans, you called them?" "What, you never met humans? They launched an attack ten years ago! Well, can't really blame you for that, now that we know the truth behind it but still. It was bloodiest and worst four years of Equestria. There is no way anyone could have missed that Tartarus on Equestria." Alternative!Twilight said. "WHAT!? Wait, you said ten years ago? What year is it?" "Well, since we are using Discord here... it's been fourteen years since Discord was resealed. How long has it been in your time?" "Well, let's see... six years? So it means humans might..." "No, if humans were to attack you like they did us, they would have already. The War should have started two years ago, from your perspective," Celestia said. "I guess humans simply don't exist in your universe. Either they died out long time ago... or they never arrived." "Um, can you tell us more about these humans?" Original!Twilight asked Princess and Alternative!Twilight. "Humans, scientific name Homo Sapiens Sapiens, are a race of bipedal creatures who are vulnerable to even smallest amounts of magic. They are unable to use magic themselves, but posses unrivaled technology and engineering skills. They have been on self-imposed exile on the moon for nearly 3 000 years. Only after The War and New Zebas Peace Treaty have they started to slowly migrate back to the surface. They posses the most powerful military force in the world. They control most of the former southern Equestria, which was seceded to them according to the peace treaty," Alternative!Twilight said. She spoke in monotone voice, as if reciting from a list. "You can find more later. Twilight, could you take them to Ponyville? I think it would be better for them to be in a familiar place. Canterlot Castle is not exactly what it used to be." "Very well, Princess. Please, follow me." Alternative!Twilight gestured to them. As they walked through the halls, she suddenly spoke up. "Watch out Rarity, we changed some armors locations. So try to stick close the group." "What's that supposed to mean?" "What? Oh, right. Not our Rarity... nothing." Alternative!Twilight looked embarrassed. "What did that mean?" Rarity repeated, curious now. "Nothing. Just a honest mistake." "Come on, you can tell us? Please? Or I will whine," Rarity said with an evil grin. Alternative!Twilight sighed. "Fine. Our version of Rarity has lost her sight. She moves mainly by the memory or with assistance from someone else. Happy now?" She said with irritation. "Lost her sight? How!?" Applejack said. "It's the result from getting her face hit by a human grenade. It's a small wonder she survived it. She shouldn't have been in Canterlot back then..." Alternative! Twilight's voice seemed to fade before shaking her head. "Sorry. Bad memories. The War was not like anything we had experienced before. It... left its mark on everyone," She said quietly. "Now wait a moment, what could be so horrible? How could these... 'humans' cause so much destruction? Didn't you have The Element Of The Harmony and Princess on your side?" Rainbow Dash asked. It didn't make much sense, considering what little they had heard about this 'war' ponies spoke of. "...Friendship is all nice and dandy when you are dealing with Discord or Changelings or creatures like that. Against humans? No. Humans have weapons capable of destroying the entire planet. If it weren't for the fact that humans don't want to do it, we would be all dead," Alternative!Twilight said with bitterness. "We were blind. We trusted that the harmony would be eternal. Well, it wasn't." She remained silent after that. It didn't do any good to delve on those memories. After getting out she found a human transport waiting for them. "Miss Sparkle, we are here to take you to Ponyville. We were told that the skies were too dangerous to use carriages, so Captain Lulamoon requested our help. Will you accept the offer?" "Hmm... You never know about Discord. very well. Everyone, jump in and strap on. We are taking a different ride than what you are used to," Alternative!Twilight said. It would be a bumpy ride, if her experiences with the human machines proved to be correct. Discord was very confused at the moment. First of all, he sensed that something was wrong with Equesteria. As if something that was not supposed to be there was walking on it. His feelings proved correct when he visited the southern areas, the place where the feeling of 'wrong' was the most powerful. Strange creatures walked there, using even stranger machines. He kept himself hidden; there was no knowing what these creatures would do. Furthermore, he finally realized what that 'wrongness' had been. An anti-magic field, covering near the entire southern Equesteria. It was so massive that even he couldn't hope to break it down any time soon. It was clear that these creatures were behind it, but how? How could these creatures claim so large an area? He also noticed that the landscape still had scars from what appeared to be a massive war. He saw rusted and ruined machines. That war had created a massive amounts of chaos energy, and so much death and destruction. If it weren't for the field, he could absorb it. Absorb it and become more powerful than ever! Even powerful enough to change the entire universe with one snap of a finger! Were these new creatures? Creatures of chaos themselves? Was that why this place was so full of chaos, even if it was only traces of much greater power wielded once? Question was... how to absorb it. He needed to get rid of the anti-magic field, somehow. He would need help. He rarely worked together with anyone, but this might be the time to change that. He could always erase them if he got bored with them. But who should he recruit? Who would carry a grudge against ponies, strong enough to have them ally with him? Then he remembered someone...