Wanda, with her rocket wings and jetpack, leaped across the tree line as she was getting closer to the crater. She could see the fighting was ending as fewer beams of light were going off. She saw a red beam of light shoot up in the sky as she arrived at the site, and it was suddenly heading towards her. Wanda used her horn to take out a small device from her pocket and activate it just as the beam landed near her. She was saved by a bubble barrier as she hovered in front of the smoke. The bubble popped as it expired, and she slowly landed and could see a very small person as they were holding something bright. She stepped forward and called out to it. "Excuse me, are you alright?" It was not until she walked closer that she could see a tiny chibi blue pony wearing a rainbow dress and having a rainbow mane. "Ah, another version of 'her', I hope "Three" is doing okay without me back home," thought Wanda as she trotted to the chibi pony.
The little one looked up and spoke. "You are not her, but you look just like her," said the chibi pony.
Wanda stopped, realizing what she meant, and looked at the small pony. "I am sorry; my name is Wanda, and you are?"
The pony smiled. "My name is Blue Berry Rainbow, and I am a magical girl pony and member of the Magical Element Fruits! Oh, and this is my partner, Tank! He's a space turtle," said Blue as she pointed at the turtle on her head, who waved at Wanda.
Wanda chuckled at the cuteness. She could see that this Blue Berry was just a cute, innocent soul, but her comment caught her attention. "What did you mean that I am not "her"? Did you know someone like me?"
Blueberry smiled and was going to say something until a voice was heard.
"I think she's talking about me!"
Wanda looked down and could see that Blue Berry was on top of a human woman with the same purple hair as her, but she was wearing a witch outfit.
"Oh my! Are you okay?" said Wanda, as the human woman sat up as Blue Berry hopped off of her.
"Yeah, I am fine. My name is Dr. Sue Wonder, or just Dr. Wonder, and I am the protector of the Equestria universe (8720). The witch who guards the harmony stone!"
"Aww, your outfit is so pretty!" smiled Blue Berry as she was touching the cape but turned into wings and petted her.
"Thank you. Yours is too," said Dr. Wonder as she stared at Blue and started to sweat. "She's so cute but has such unbelievable magical power that even beats the Harmony Stone magic. The multiverse can be scary."
Wanda, who was looking at the crater, did not notice the staring contest between Dr. Wonder and Blue Berry. She noticed some familiar faces coming from the forest; they were the people she had met before.
Flash stopped running as she stood in front of Blue, and waved hello to her. "Hi, tiny version of me."
"Hi, big me. I have a name, you know. It's Blue Berry." She answered back.
"Well, mine is Flash." She replied
Terra came to a dashing halt as she bumped into Flash and fell backward on the ground. "It feels like I crashed into a steel wall!"
"Thank you! I'm proud of my back muscles!" laughed Flash as she started to flex.
"I was not complimenting you! More like complaining," replied Terra.
"It was a compliment," laughed Flash.
Terra was not amused as Dr. Wonder and Blueberry giggled at the exchange, and Flash helped Terra get back on their feet and looked at the two new women. "Sorry, my name is Flash, and the one that has a big mouth is Terra. It's nice to meet you," smiled Flash as Terra gave her a stare of anger.
"Nice to meet you too," replied the doctor as the three shook each other's hands.
"You said something about the multiverse. Do you know what happened here?" asked Wanda as the others turned their attention to her.
"I'm from the Equestria universe, known as 8720, because that's where my universe number in line is after it branched off from the prime Equestria. Going by that logo on the jetpack, I take it from 2014, the world where Elements Watchers are protecting the earth from Dark Storm. That explains the futuristic jet pack. I can also pin point all of you in your own numbered universe with ease too."
"That's correct. You seem to be knowledgeable," replied Wanda.
"Well, I was a librarian before becoming the Sorceress Supreme. So it makes sense that I would know who comes from where." smiled Dr. Wonder.
"So you know our universe and all that?" asked Terra.
"Yup. This isn't my first time dealing with the multiverse or the danger it comes with," said Wonder as she pointed to falling reality above them. "Another Monday for me."
"So this isn't your first time. What do you make of this mess? And do you have any idea what caused it?" asked Wanda as she trotted over to her.
"Not a clue, but I will find out and help. Sorry, I didn't catch your name?" said Wonder.
"Dr. Wanda." smiled Wanda as she fixed her glasses and rose her hoof for a hoof shake.
"Ah, other doctor! I will help and get to the bottom of this," said Wonder as she reached out for a handshake.
As they was doing this, Tank, the space turtle, was looking at the sky and started to wave at something.
"Is something wrong, Tank?" questioned Blue as she felt her little friend moving on her head.
He kept pointing at the sky and was flapping his arms, which got everyone's attention.
"He's not a happy turtle," said Flash.
"Do turtles normally smile?" said Terra as she was leaning forward at Blue's head.
"Let me see..." said Dr. Wonder as she moved past them and was staring up. She then gasped. "Everyone, behind me now! Quick!"
"What's wrong?" said Terra.
"Something is coming!"
The group followed Dr. Wonder's orders and were behind her, looking at the sky, waiting for the mysterious object.
"You might want to brace yourselves; whatever this thing is, it is heading straight towards us at lightning speed," said Dr. Wonder.
"I don't feel anything yet," replied Flash as she tried to sense any magical power level.
"Well, I have a good feeling it's not friendly," said Wanda as she could see a blur coming their way without any signs of slowing down.
"Tank, hide!" said Blue Berry as Tank hid inside her mane.
"This is going to be bad!" said Terra, putting on her face mask and eye visor back on.
Dr. Wonder and Wanda put up their barriers in front of them and waited for the object to come.
"It's here!"
Everyone watched as a blur flew past the barriers and slammed into the ground behind them. Both doctors dispelled their barriers and looked at the figure as red eyes started to glow from within the smoke. "What is that?" said Wonder.
"Thought you knew everything?" asked Flash as she prepared herself for a fight.
"I was a librarian! I just know general stuff about the multiverse. I don't know everything within it!" admitted Dr. Wonder.
The smoke cleared and slowly hovered towards them.
"Another version of me, but scary!" cried Blue Berry as she hid behind Wanda's leg.
The light blue anthro woman's eyes kept glowing red as she scanned the group and finally spoke, "What happened to my world? Was it you!?"
"Your world? Oh, no this isn-" said Wanda before getting cut off by a strong gust of wind and watching as Flash punched the woman, but she didn't move or react to it.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" yelled everyone
Flash turned her head to them and said, "She's strong! I want to fight he-" But before she could finish, Flash was punched in the sides and sent flying through the trees, but quickly returned, and both women clashed with each other.
"Trying to strike me down with such power! You must have done this to my earth!" yelled the woman as she blasted her laser vision at Flash's face, who stopped the clash and blocked the beam with her hands.
"You can have a go at it later, you two. You two need to stop!" yelled Dr. Wonder.
The woman stopped her beam, and in a flash, she kicked Flash away and turned to the group. "Stop me!? How!?"
"This!" said Dr. Wonder as she did hand symbols, and then suddenly, the woman was trapped inside a magical barrier box.
"You think a barrier can stop me!? Let's see if you can contain this!" said the woman as she unleashed her heat vision, but with more force behind it. It was like the barrier was holding a small sun inside.
"This isn't good!" said Terra.
"I agree. Dr. Wonder, do something." said Wanda.
"I'm trying! But there's a reason why the barrier isn't breaking. She has a lot of power, and I don't know how long it will last!" replied, Dr. Wonder.
"Then what should we do? We can't just let her destroy the barrier!" replied Wanda.
Flash returned and blowing air at her burned hands, and turned to the others. "Guys! What is happening?"
"Flash, you freaking idiot, you caused this mess! Can you deal with her somewhere else?" angry replied Terra as she grabbed Flash by her collar.
"But I-"
"No buts! You're going to get us killed if you don't!" said Terra.
Flash looked at the burning barrier and sighed, "Okay," and with that, she ran towards the barrier, lifted it, and kicked it into the air.
"Done!"
"What the fuck! I need to be close to the person, or the spell won't last!" yelled Dr. Wonder.
Flash was about to answer when a loud boom was heard, and the group could see an explosion in the sky.
"We're fucked now. Great job, Flash." said Terra.
Flash was about to reply until the woman appeared in front of her, grabbed her by the throat, and lifted her up.
"You're a strong one, aren't you? But no matter, I am stronger."
"Flash!" said Wanda as the others watched the two.
"Oh no, we need to think of something, or Flash is going to be killed!" cried Berry.
"To be honest, let it happen." whispered Terra in a deadpan tone.
"I second that." chimed in Dr. Wonder.
"But that's mean!" cried Blue Berry as she flew between the two
"And?" replied Terra.
"If that is the case, then I will try to do something!" yelled Berry as she ran towards the caped woman while her wand was beaming with blue magic.
"Blue Berry, stop!" yelled Dr. Wonder in fear as the others were confused. "She's going to use the ultimate magical spell that beat me in battle!" explained Dr. Wonder as she summoned a barrier around everyone.
"Ultimate spell?" asked Terra as they watched Berry stop in front of the woman and jump at her head, hitting her, but nothing happened.
The woman touched her head, and blue dust came falling out. "What is this?"
"The Blue Beam of Love and Justice! My greatest attack! And now, for the finale!" said Berry as she spun her wand around and then pointed it at the woman.
"No way!" said Flash, as she was amazed by Berry's power as she could see a blue star above them.
"Now, stop fighting!"
The wand sparkled and fired a tiny beam at the woman, and once it hit, the blue star came crashing down, crushing her and Flash. Everyone was confused by what they saw and slowly turned to Dr. Wonder, who wasn't shocked by it. In front of them was a huge blueberry cake.
"A cake?" said Flash as her head pop out of the cake, which was covered in white cream.
"Yes, a cake." replied Dr. Wonder.
"You were beaten by a cake?" asked Terra as she tried to hide her laughter from a blushing Wonder.
"The tastiest and most powerful cake in the world! It's made from the love and justice of every past blue magical girl! One bite, and you will instantly give up!" Berry said as she was floating in the air and looking at the group with her arms crossed.
"But that cake should have been more than enough to turn them into a pile of blue dust. So how?" wondered Wanda as she walked over and checked the cake as Flash was eating it.
"Cake?" whispered the cape woman as her head popped out and she licked the frosting from her face. "This is pretty good."
"Oh, you're alive?" replied Wanda, as she was surprised to see her.
"Alive? Yes, but not okay. This cake has defeated me, and now I will live a life of a blueberry." laughed the woman as she floated out of her delicious dessert cell and over to Blue Berry and lower herself to Berry level. "Do you mind sharing the recipe with me?"
"Recipe? Well, it's a secret, but I can teach you how to make one if you like," smiled Berry.
"Deal!"
"Hold it! Not so fast, you!" pointed Terra in disbelief. "You were trying to kill us, and now you're all friendly!"
"I'm sorry; I jump to conclusions after seeing this place. I was flying above my world and trying to get a sample of the passing comet trail, and I found myself being covered in a light and saw the world," said the woman as she looked around the ruinous universe, "like this."
"You have been transported from a different reality to this one, like the rest of us. Who, by the way, are different versions of each other? You can guess by looks or by the hair," explained Wanda.
"I see," said the woman as she turned to the others. "I apologize. Let me introduce myself. I go by Supermare as my superhero name, but my real name is Flare Rainbow." said Flare as she did a slight bow.
"I'm Blue Berry. Nice to meet you!" smiled Berry as she did the same.
"Nice to meet you. The name's Terra, and if you ever attack us again, the magical baker girl here will beat you again." laughed Terra, as Berry was upset by her new name.
"My name is Dr. Wanda, a scientist and a talking pony."
"Flash!" yelled Flash as she waved at Flare, still eating the cake.
"Name is Dr. Wonder, I'm a sorceress and also a super hero like you."
"Nice to meet you all. Now that's settled, care to explain what's going on?" Flare said this as she flew over to Dr. Wonder and was waiting for an answer.
"Well, we were going to find out why as well. We know as much as you do," explained Wonder as the others nodded.
"Great, so how do we leave here?" Flare said as she started flying around and looked at the island, which was slowly breaking away and vanishing into the surrounding colorful, cracking void.
"Leave? We don't have a way of doing that. The best chance we have is to find the one who brought us here, so we're checking ground zero here for answers or clues to what happened." explained Wanda as she walked past Flare and looked down the crater.
"I see, then I will lend a hand. I'm a fast learner," said Flare as she joined her at the crater.
"Let's see."
They climbed down and started to check out the crater. Flare used her x-ray vision and scanned the area, while Wanda took out a tablet and scanned the dirt. Meanwhile, Dr. Wonder sat down and started to chant a spell.
"What are you doing, Ms. Wonder?" asked Berry.
"I'm going to turn back time and look into the past and see what happened," said Wonder as she waved her wand around and her necklace started to float in front of her.
"Wait, like time travel!" asked Terra.
"I'm not really turning back time; it's a type of spell that allows me to look back in time. But I can only look, not touch."
"Like watching a movie?" replied Flash as she came over after eating the whole cake.
"Yes, that's a good example," said Wonder as her necklace started to glow and the area became engulfed in light.
"Whoa."
"Everyone, look," said Terra as she looked at Wanda and Flare and pointed behind them as a light appeared and started to become clear.
In the middle of the crater, there was a large crack. Four figures were staring at each other, but something was wrong. The vision was all blurry. "No, the spell should have worked. Why isn't it? Wasn't the Harmony stone enough?" whispered Wonder as she kept the spell going.
"Maybe it's because the explosion or the blast wave destroyed everything that could be used to recreate it, even time itself," explained Flare as she hovered over to Wonder.
"Then we can't learn anything from this?" said Wonder as she closed her eyes and the vision disappeared.
"Maybe we can!" shouted Wanda from the middle of the crater.
"How so?" said Terra as the others joined her in walking to Wanda.
Wanda was holding her tablet as she turned to everyone. "Whatever exploded, it damaged everything, including time, and your time magic is like rewinding a movie; maybe we can repair it like fixing a movie tape," explained Wanda.
"But is there a way for us to do that?" asked Berry.
"There is one way," said Wonder as she looked at the necklace, which started to float above her, and she pulled out a rainbow crystal stone. "This is the Harmony Stone, one of the strongest artifacts in the world. It's able to control all types of magic, even time itself."
"But didn't you just say it wasn't enough?" asked Terra
"I did, by itself, but if we had another version of it from another universe, the spell might work as it becomes stronger."
"So, if we get one from a different universe, will the spell work? and we can find out what happened and maybe undo everything." asked Flare
"Yes," simply said Wonder.
"Where do we find one?"
"I'm not sure..."
Everyone went quiet, as their only plan didn't have a way for them to do it. Wanda put the tablet back and thought for a moment, while Dr. Wonder looked down at her necklace and wondered what her celestial master would do. She would probably have the answer and would tell her something like, "Just believe in the harmony." She always tells her this.
"There has to be a way!" cried Berry. "Never give up! Friendship always finds a way! That's what Grape Jelly always says when things look bad!"
"Grape Jelly?" said the group.
"She's the leader of the Magical Element Fruits! She also looks like you girls!" explained Berry as she pointed to every purple-haired woman here.
"Element Fruits?" said Wonder as Berry's words were sinking into her head, until she floated over to Berry. "Blue Berry, why is your group called that?"
"Why? Oh, because of Tank!" smiled Berry as she pulled Tank out of her mane and held him to her. "He's a living avatar of the Element of Fruits. It's how I'm in this form right now."
"Element of Fruits? Could that be?" whispered Wonder.
"It could be." replied Wanda.
"Yes, it could be!" smiled Terra.
"Yes, it has to be it," said Flare as she nodded.
Flash was completely lost on what's going on and turned away from the egghead talk and suddenly saw Rain as she was standing on the edge of the crater, but with her hands up.
"Rain?"
"What's up?" said Rain.
"Rain!" yelled Terra as she and the others took notice of her. "Why are your hands up?"
"Because this chick has me by..." stopped Rain as she turned her head behind. "A stick?"
"Horn cutter!" said a voice from behind her, and a purple beam was shot in the air as it flew close to Rain's hair.
Rain quickly turned back, facing the group, and the beam wielder's body came into view. It was a woman in some kind of armor suit, and the helmet had purple glowing grill lights, but the helmet broke down piece by piece and into the sides of the helmet, revealing the face of the new person.
"Who are you people? Things? Whatever you are! Where the fuck am I?" yelled the power suit woman as she looked around and sweated.
"Ah, another version of "us," I see." Said Wonder as the others looked at the new person.
"Who? Another version?" shouted back the woman. "So, a clone?"
"No, a version of you. Just like Wanda and Terra over there." explained Wonder as she slowly floated to her but stopped as a laser beam was shot at the ground in front of her.
"Stay back or the next one goes through your head," threatened the woman as she was pointing a gun at her and back to Rain's head.
"Wait, calm down; we can talk about this." yelled Wanda
"Yeah, you can't just show up and point a gun at someone and attack them if you just met them!" angry said Flash as everyone looked at her in the most pissed-off look ever.
"I have been through a lot! How do I know you're even real? Is this the Pillar fucking doing?" She shouted as she looked around, seeing something that wasn't there as she heard voices.
"Aaira, make us whole," whispered a bloody and yellow-skinned female doctor with long pink hair as she slowly walked out of the shadows, standing behind Aaira and slowly raising her head to reveal her eyeless eyes and bloody, deep-cut face. "I’m so cold, Aaira. It hurts. Where are you?"
Aaira tripped as she backed away from the dead-looking woman and fired her horn cutter at her. "You aren't real! SHE'S DEAD! Faye is dead!" yelled Aaira as she fired at the bloody woman known as Faye, but nothing happened, and the dead woman walked toward her. "No, this can't be happening! You are dead, Faye! They are all dead!" cried Aaira as she could see two other people who died in the Element Runner extraction spaceship.
"Why do you think that is? That’s right. Ignore the pain. Bury it deep inside. Let me fester; let us rot."
As this was happening, Rain quickly dashed to the others, hid behind Terra, and was asked by the group what was happening to the woman.
"No fucking clue! Crazy bitch caught me off guard and has been talking to herself like that as we were walking here."
"What's wrong with her? Did she hit her head?" asked Berry
"Not sure, but maybe she's having a form of schizophrenia," guessed Wanda.
"So, she's crazy?" said Flash.
"That's not a medical term for it," replied Wanda, angry.
"Okay, so what do we do?"
"Calm her down," said Flare as she flew up to Aaira.
Aaira continued to have delusions about her dead friends and her lover, Faye, as she tried to fight them off, but nothing was working. Then a blue light came into her view, and she looked to see a white-suited woman floating before her.
"Get away!" yelled Aaira as she aimed her horn cutter at her.
"We're not going to hurt you," said Flare calmly. "Just take it easy."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Flare, and I'm a super hero. So, don't worry, you are safe."
"Super hero? What are you, a comic book character or a cartoon character?" laughed Aaira as the delusion got stronger, and they're moving closer to her.
"It doesn't matter who I am. Just put the gun down."
"Yeah, I can't do that. Because if I do, I'll be dead," said Aaira.
"Dead? What do you mean?"
"These dead people want me to die."
"Dead people? Who are they?"
"People who died at the Changers out break...All my friends, my lover, Faye They are all dead and are here. They want me dead, and I can't die."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I can't die anyway. Not yet. Not until I destroy all those fucking pillars."
"Pillars?"
"Of course. Those bastards spread them around the system and caused the second Changers outbreak. They have to be destroyed, or else I'll never be free from the pain. Right," whispered Aaira as she pointed her gun at her head. "Right, Faye?"
The gun fired, and the laser bullet was inches from her face but was caught as Flare flew in front of her at light speed and held the beam in her fist.
"Stop; don't do this. Just calm down." said Flare
"Don't touch me!" yelled Aaira as she was pushed back, fell to the ground, and started to hyperventilate. "Faye! Faye, I'm sorry! I should have never made you go!"
"Look at me, not them," demanded Flare as she walked through the dead bodies and looked down at her. "I'm real and here for you."
Aaira was struggling as her mind was fighting against her. She could see the white-suited girl's blue glove hand on her but also see the bloody hand of Faye touching her. She closed her eyes and felt both hands and knew one wasn't real, but which one was real? Her mind was going crazy.
"Just breathe; it's going to be okay."
She opened her eyes and looked up to see Flare's face. She wasn't smiling, but she was concerned. The bloody hands from her dead friends and Faye were gone, and Flare was the only thing she could see.
"That's it; keep looking at me."
"You're real. You're real."
"Yes, I am. And we'll help you."
"Why, you don't even know me."
"True, but I know you need help. I'm a superhero, remember? We do that."
"A hero, huh? Kelly said I was a hero for destroying the pillar on that planet and saving the universe from the first Changers outbreak. I didn't feel like a hero. I let my friends and the woman I love die! Aren't heroes meant to save people?!"
"Yes, but not everyone can be saved."
Aaira pushed Flare away, crying as she held her head in shame. "You don't understand my pain!"
"I do," whispered Flare.
"Huh?"
"There was a little girl, a big fan of mine, who would write to the league every chance she got. Her pen name was Scoots." Flare smiled as she remembered all those letters. "She wanted to be me—someone cool and caring. She wanted me to visit her city. Soon, the letters stopped, and I never heard from her again. One day, I stopped a villain from attacking her city and was heading home as I heard a weak voice," explained Flare as sadness filled her face. "She called me Dashing Girl, a nickname she gave me. I hurried to where I heard her weak voice and found her in her older brother's basement."
"What happened to her?"
"She was dead, right in front of me; I wasn't fast enough. I told myself that I should have asked Nightmare where the letters came from. It was my fault she died, as she was writing me to notice she was hurting and needed help. I wanted to kill her brother so much!" cried Flare as she shook her fist in rage.
"Did you?" asked Aaira as she looked up.
"No, killing her brother won't bring her back. It's my fault, and I have to live with that."
"Why tell me this?"
"Because no one is perfect. We aren't all strong and can save everyone, even the people we care about. It's a hard thing to understand, but it's a part of being a hero. You can't be everywhere, and sometimes the ones you want to save are out of your reach. I understand your pain and can't stop your suffering, but I can be with you as you walk the path. I'm sorry."
"No, don't be. You did what no one did for me; you listened. I thought I was going mad. I was ready to end my life, until you came. I'm still a bit crazy, but thanks. Sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"Flare and anytime, miss," smiled Flare as she reached down and offered her hand to Aaira.
Aaira reached and took her hand as Flare pulled her up. "My name is Aaira Kaison. I'm an engineer."
"Tv news reporter myself."
"So, you are a superhero, huh? So, does that mean I'm in a comic book or TV show or something?"
"Nope, we're all real, and this is the real world. Well, what's left of it?" Flare said as she looked around the destroyed reality.
"Can someone fill me in?" asked Aaira as the group came up to her.
As the group was filling Aaira in on what was happening, Flare, Wanda, and Dr. Wonder were hovering over the forest, and they could see the island was getting much smaller and reality was breaking down at a faster rate.
"We're running out of time," said Flare.
"Yes, if our theory is correct, we can use Blue Berry's magical pet and see into the past," replied Dr. Wonder as she held her necklace tight.
"After that, whatever we see, we can understand what caused this, but I have a theory myself." chimed in Wanda as she looked up, seeing the Rainbow Comet still frozen in time but glitching out more. "...and I think it has to do with the comet."
end of chapter 3