"Fluttershy, come quick, we don't know how but we found Twilight on the edge of the
Everfree forest," Dash called down to where the yellow pegasus was feeding her animal
friends in front of the cottage.
"What?" She asked in disbelief, a glimmer of hope suddenly coming to her eyes.
"Hurry, she seems to be hurt and needs help, but she is alive." Dash said urgently and
zipped off towards the forest.
Fluttershy quickly told her animal friends to wait there and quickly took off after Dash
excitedly. She was having trouble keeping up but she pressed on, getting more and
more excited at finding her friend alive.
Dash entered the forest ahead of her and after a few turns under the tree tops, disappeared
around a bend ahead. Suppressing her fear of being in the woods, Fluttershy made her way
after her friend. As she turned into the bend she heard a buzz all around her and she let out
a small scream as she saw what was in the clearing.
______________________________________________________________________
"Oh, um Rarity, sorry to disturb you, but I was just wondering, if..."
"She was just wondering if you could help her out with her dress, spiff it up a bit." Dash
interrupted the yellow pegasus, with a look of impatience, as she held up a black dress.
"Oh yes, I can see how you'd need that soon." Rarity said sadly, as she looked over at
her friends." Glad to see you back to normal Dash, I know its been hardest for you"
"Yeah, it has." Dash said, her face falling into a sad frown for a moment, "but we need to
move on, its what she would have wanted."
"Well spoken, here give me that, I have some ideas." Rarity said as she telekinetically
took the dress from Dash and turned her back on her friends, heading to a pile of scraps
in the corner.
With her back to them, she didn't see the looks of determination on her friends faces as
they followed after her.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
No pony noticed, as Rarity and Fluttershy made their way out of town with a large laundry
hamper or that the route they took headed right to the Everfree forest.
_____________________________________________________________________________
"C'mon Pinkie Pie, you can't just mope around here, she wouldn't want us like this." Dash
said.
"But, why do I need to go with you to the Everfree forest." Pinkie pouted.
"I told you, its a secret, we're meeting everyone at Zacora's place." Dash explained again,
"please come, for me."
"Alright, but then I want to be alone some more."
"That's fine, I'll give you all the free space you need"
As they walked through town, ponies stopped and watched with pained faces on their faces,
seeing the once ever cheerful pony dragging her hooves sullenly as her straight maned head
hung down.
She just followed her friend never looking up or paying attention to the route they took into the
forest, until a slight buzzing sound growing louder brought her head up in surprise.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Why do we need to go there again Dash? and ah thought you wouldn't be feelin' up to anything
anytime soon." AJ said looking at Dash suspiciously.
"The others are already there, we thought we might ask Zacora if she could maybe do somethjng"
"Do somethin'? you said she was dead."
"But maybe-"
"Applejack she's alive!" a cyan pegasus shouted happily as she flew towards them, a blue unicorn
galloping not far behind her.
"Dash?!? what's going on?" AJ said as her head kept turning back and forth to look at the approaching
pegasus and the one right in front of her.
"Huh, hey that's not me!" Dash shouted as she spotted the cyan pegasus next to her friend.
"That's an imposter!' The one next to AJ shouted, pointing a hoof at the approaching Rainbow Dash.
All four ponies came to a halt facing each other, the two pegasi alighting on the ground, to glare at
each other.
"How can you think that's me." The one next to Trixie growled.
"Cause she's not fooled by such an obvious fake like you-" The other Dash was cut off as she was tackled
and soon AJ and Trixie were watching as the two Dashs rolled around on the ground, tussling and
fighting.
"Do you know what in the hay is going on? "AJ asked Trixie absently, her attention caught up in the
ongoing fight.
"No, we were just coming to tell you Twilight isn't dead, when we saw her." Trixie said pointing to the
wrestling ponies.
"Wait a minute, did you say Twilight is alive?" AJ said, her attention momentarily drawn away from
the strange fight.
"Yes, we need to tell the others."
"Your right, but what do you reckon we should do about this here mix up?"
The two looked on in confusion and were soon thrown another crazy curve ball. A black unicorn
stallion, wearing a cloak that the hood had fallen back on, appeared suddenly out from under an
apple tree. Spotting them his face lit up with relieve and he collapsed on the spot. closing his eyes
and panting heavily. Right behind him Twilight came out too and barely stopped to take in what was
going on before she ran over to the fighting pegasi.
Her horn glowed and she swept it over them, the fighting came to a halt and Dash found herself
pinning a dazed changeling under her.
"Awright, now somepony tell me whats going on right now!"
__________________________________________________________________________________
They were all gathered back at the library, Twilight and AJ had already searched all over town for their
friends, while Trixie and Dash kept an eye on their prisoner and the recovering unicorn.
"We can't find them anywhere, I think we were too late." Twilight reported as she entered the library,
AJ right behind her.
"Too late for what? and who's he?" Dash demanded.
"I don't know, but I think he does. I still don't know who he is, but I don't think he's our enemy anymore.
He ran himself to the limit using his magic to get me here in time to help you all." Twi said as she gazed
over at the unicorn, laid out on the floor, the only sign he was still alive, the rising and falling of his chest.
"Should we wake him?" AJ asked.
"Not yet, lets see if our other guest can supply us with some answers." Twilight answered, turning to a
chair, with the still dazed changeling tied to it.
"Hey you! snap out of it." Dash demanded, waving her hoof in front of its face.
Slowly the eyes started to dilate and track the limb in front of it.
"That's better, lets start with something easy, who are you?" Twilight asked.
It just stared at her.
"C'mon, we know you can talk, so come on out with it." AJ growled at it.
"You better start talking, or I'll finish what I started earlier!" Dash snarled.
"That won't work, there isn't a thing you can do to make it betray her, its literally incapable of betraying
her." They all jumped at the sound of the voice behind them. Carefully the Stallion was getting to his
hooves.
"Oh yeah and how would you know that?" Dash said flying over to glare down suspiciously at the Unicorn,
"who are you anyway?"
"Dash! give the feller a minute to recover." AJ reprimanded Dash.
"No it's alright, if your gonna help me get back your friends, then I think its time you knew everything,
but for that I'm gonna have to tell you where I come from and how I got here." He said, his voice tired.
"We're listening." AJ said encouragingly.
"Well as Twilight has already guessed, it happened a long time ago....."
____________________________________________________________________________________
He nuzzled her mane again happily, as they entered the lab, all around the room were tables covered in
scrolls, artifacts, power stones and crystals.
"Stop that!" She giggled, "I told you, not in front of the others."
"Oh come on Joi Rah, no one cares."
"I'm sorry but I just have a problem with public displays."
"Fine," He pouted mockingly, "but you owe me later"
"We'll see, now get yourself together, here comes Star Swirl." She said giggling again, quickly suppressed
and a professional look taking its place.
"Ah Joi Rah and Reef Ti, glad you could make it, wouldn't want you to miss the big day." The bearded
stallion greeted them.
"What's the problem? can't handle it all on your own?" Reef answered.
"Stop it! Star, he didn't mean it, we're all just a little tensed up about what we're gonna try today" Joi,
quickly said as she pulled the blue unicorn past Star Swirl and his glare.
"What was that all about?" She hissed at him under her breath.
"You know he just honored for that amazing new levitation spell." He grumbled.
"Yeah, so what?"
"We all developed that, what right does he have to take all the credit, just because SHE takes a
special interest in him."
"Your being silly, who cares who gets the credit, we're doing this for a better future. Now set aside
your silly jealousy and lets get to work." She scolded him.
"I love the way your mane starts to frazzle up when your angry." He grinned mischievously, as he
quickly ran a hoof through her purple mane before she could stop him.
"Hey quit it or you'll be in real trouble!" She warned him, but couldn't hide the grin on her face.
They separated reluctantly as they moved off to their respective research. The room was in a flurry
as unicorns moved around, checking calculations and sharing them with their fellow researchers.
There was an electric excitement in the air as months of research and testing was soon to be
reimbursed with the coming accomplishment.
A quietness fell over the room as one by one they finished their formulas and declared it to be time.
"Ok, are we all ready, have we missed anything?" Star Swirl addressed the room.
A ripple of affirmative comments and assurances were heard around the room. "Today we make
history! this moment will be remembered forever by our accomplishments, now I have to ask, do
any of you want to volunteer to try first?" Star Swirl called in a crowd pleasing voice.
'Thinks none of us will, the confident blowhard, thinks he can once again just show us up as he
magnanimously accedes to do it himself, well I'll show him' Reef thought to himself, "I'll go first."
The room went silent as they all turned to look at him in surprise.
"What are you doing?" Joi hissed at him under her breath.
"Trust me." He whispered back.
"Thank you Reef, I'm sure you'll make us proud." Star Swirl said a slight bit of annoyance in his
voice.
A moment of stillness followed, then the room broke into activity again as they all rushed around
for last minute preparations. Reef walked through it all towards the alcove in the back where the
power stones were being set up specifically around the room. Joi followed, a slight frown on her
face.
"Don't worry it will be fine." He assured her, "we've figured out everything."
"Mule headed buffoon, this has nothing to do about the experiment! you just wanted to show him
up, I hope its worth it!" She seethed.
"Don't be like that." He said softly as he stopped and lifted her chin up with his right hoof,
"Everything will be fine, I promise."
He saw a small tear roll down her cheek and brushed it away. "Just be safe." She said and turned
to go and help with the set up.
He resumed his heading, as he reached the alcove and the others stopped and looked up at
him, he threw back his head, whipping around his long red mane and entered in what he hoped
was an impressive show of confidants. Behind him a Dark green unicorn mare with a black mane
erected up a magical barrier to separate him from the rest of the room.
"Are you ready?" Star Swirl called to him.
Feeling a little nervous he nodded.
"Ok, then you can begin!" The facial haired pony announced.
Taking a deep breath, Reef started summoning the magic he needed, his horn glowed and soon
the stones around the room glowed with him. He felt the hum of the magic under his coat and for
a minute reveled in the sweet feeling of it, the alcove got brighter and he could see the eager faces
of his colleagues watching as their work bore fruit.
A sudden spasm ran through his body and he was knocked to the floor. Sitting up quickly he looked
around at the room as the stones increased the rate in which they were glowing. Another magic
shock ran through his system, his eyes widened in fear as he looked out, seeing all the ponies
running around grabbing notes and shouting at each other. After he got up from the third magical
backlash, he looked over and saw Joi shouting at the green unicorn and pointing at him frantically.
His blood ran cold as the green mare shook her head and shrugged, a look of confusion on her face.
Reef ran towards the barrier reaching it in seconds, as Joi ran over at the same time. He watched
as her face grew more frantic, as her horn glowed a deep lavender and she tried to bring down the
barrier. He already knew it wouldn't work, whatever had gone wrong, had caused everything to fail.
Wiping sweat from his brow, his red mane fell over his left eye but he ignored it. Another surge went
through his body, but he gritted his teeth and managed to stay standing. Fighting every inch of the
way he slowly lowered his horn to where hers touched the barrier. Her eyes caught the movement
and looked up, their eyes locking together. He saw her fear and he wanted nothing more, but to take
it away and never let it hurt her again.
With the light increasing to a painful brightness, he knew his time was short, "It'll be ok." He said,
her eyes opening wide in horror as he felt the room around him explode in an inferno of flame. As
the flames burned away his coat and mane, he let out an involuntary scream, as he felt his flesh
cooking. It was unbearable, every nerve was sending him signals he didn't want. He cursed and
moaned in agony, waiting for the bliss that death wood bring, but as time passed and his pain,
neither increased or abated, he forced his eyes open.
The flames were all around him, eating at him, but not more than they already had. Looking at his
body he couldn't see a bit of him not covered in burns, even his horn was charred black. The pain
continued but no more damage was inflicted on him, he knew he should be mad by now, no sane
pony could tolerate this much damage to the body and not lose his grip on reality. Somehow though
his thoughts were still his own and cohesive, whatever was buffering him from death, was also
protecting his mind. Whatever it was he didn't feel an once of gratitude for it.
Pulling his attention to what was happening outside, he stared in amazement as he watched the
unicorns work at what seemed incredible speed. Gnashing his teeth in pain, he managed to start
trying to piece together what was going on. He deduced that he seemed to be in some kind of time
bubble, to them he probably wasn't even moving, at least not to the naked eye. But that was wrong
he realized, on closer inspection of what was going on to his body, he saw that time seemed to
have completely stopped, somehow his consciousness seemed to be in a different state of time than
the rest of him. Not knowing how that was even possible he diverted his thoughts from that train of
thought, time paradox being to much for him to contemplate at the moment. Horror invaded him as
he realized he could stay burning here forever, unable to tell when his time would finally run out.
For a time he drew into himself, the pain coursing through him and cursed the fate the universe had
assigned him, eventually though he turned his focus outward again. His mind reeled as he saw Joi
much older than she had been, zipping around the room, writing notes and showing them to others.
Whenever he saw ponies heading for the door, he'd see her yell at them and point back at him. But
one by one they each left, returning later, then going again, till they didn't return.
As he watched time go by, his aging love working relentlessly to save him, the place was soon
devoid of all life, but for her. Left to toil alone, all alone. It was torture to him, more so than the never
ending pain, to watch as her body grew more and more weak, till one day she laid her head down on
the table and never lifted it again. He didn't know how much time passed, but eventually, her body was
discovered and taken away. The enchanted lights were turned off and the door closed, he was left to
suffer for all of eternity, alone.
Time passed, but was meaningless to him, till the door opening again caught his attention. Through
the accelerated time window he observed reality, ugly black creatures, vaguely resembling ponies,
but only in general shape, not appearance poured in followed by a huge one, with slight feminine features.
Changelings weren't supposed to be this deep in Equestria, but here they were and with their queen too.
In no time flat by his perspective she was peering in at him, little changelings leaving and returning with
buckets of water. In an amazing feat of choreography, he had to admit to himself, the little guys threw the
contents of the buckets, just as she leaned forward and miraculously tore down the barrier and popped the
time bubble.
He lay shaking in shock and cold, completely covered in water, cowering on the floor. Naked with not
a single hair on his body, he moaned as for the first time he could remember he wasn't inflicted with
pain. His body still hurt all over greatly from the burns, but it was nothing compared to what he had
just been through.
The clicking sounds around him brought his mind to the present. He tried to talk, ask how she freed
him, but could not as he was forced into a coughing fit. She ordered her minions to take him and he
was soon transported to her current realm. He was put in a room, with a comfy bed and left on it, his body
completely covered in bandages. The queen and her children nursed him back to health, it was soon
clear to him, that his mane and coat would never grow back, the burns were too deep.