“Um, Discord? Before we end up in the next world I kind of just remembered something that might be important,” Starlight said as she fell through the interspace with Spike and the Former Empress beside her. Her other self in particular was tumbling around upside-down and holding her hooves to her mouth—starting to go green in the face.
“We better not have to go back to that world—and you better not want me to drag any others along,” Discord narrowed his eyes at her. He was still floating on with her in his tiny flute body, not having gone back to rest in Spike’s bag yet.
“No it’s not that, it’s just, well… what’s a Harlequin?” Starlight asked him.
Discord’s eyes widened slightly before he raised an eyebrow at her. “Where did you hear that word?”
“Uhhhhh, places?” Starlight awkwardly grinned.
“Hmpf, very well. It’s not like there’s any danger from them with me around,” Discord said.
“So what are they then?” Starlight repeated.
“Mistakes,” Discord shrugged. “They’re chaotic entities made by mistakes purely on accident. Grogar created the first one about… oh I wanna say 3,000 years ago now? He wanted to make something that could steal my powers and use chaos magic so he could then harness the power himself. Instead what he got was the exact opposite—a chaotic being that hated chaos and wanted nothing to do with it. I believe it called itself… Harlequin Grey. Either way it was a mistake and a failure, and ever since then other magical mistakes would sometimes result in the creation of Harlequins. Their nature and power would depend on the type of mistake but the one thing they shared in common was that their “creators” were totally oblivious. They had no idea what Harlequins were beforehand—they could only be created by total and complete accident. I thought they were all long gone in the world, but lately it seems like I was wrong about that.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Now really—why are you asking about them?”
“Well it just so happens that when traveling between dimensions a little while ago, one of them calling itself Harlequin Rainbow came out to talk to me and thank me for what I was doing. Right before disappearing. And I haven’t seen him since,” Starlight answered. “Is this bad?”
Discord merely had an amused grin on his face as he listened. “Well congratulations Starlight—you’re a mother.”
“What?”
“You must have created that Harlequin just recently on your previous misadventure through the various worlds and timelines. Good work,” he mockingly clapped.
“Great! Fantastic!” Starlight threw up her hooves in frustration.
“Is that what happened back before we went to Princess Starlight’s world? You were acting weird,” Spike asked.
“Yeah… sorry for keeping it secret until now,” Starlight winced. “But I was really confused! And I don’t know if it was actually important or not.”
Spike rolled his eyes but looked over at Discord. “Well is that thing dangerous?”
“Who knows what it might want,” Discord shrugged. “But it’s no danger as long as I’m here. Master of Chaos after all. I’d say just keep your eyes open, but if it tries anything funny all I need is one snap of my fingers to get rid of it. So don’t worry.”
“If you say so...” Spike said.
Starlight meanwhile was frowning, annoyed at herself and what could possibly be another problem for them to deal with.
“C-Can someone please help me stop spinning?” Former Empress Starlight said from next to them.
“Oops, sorry,” Spike said and grabbed her. “Don’t worry—you’ll get used to it soon.”
“I think I’m going to be sick...”
Moments later and they reached the next portal, falling out onto some grass beside a sidewalk. The former Empress groaned in displeasure, barely managing to keep her stomach from expelling its contents. While Spike helped her up, Starlight took a look around so they could get their bearings here as quickly as possible. It seemed important for them to figure where they were and what they were doing as fast as possible. After the world with Princess Starlight, Starlight wanted to pick out any differences or strange phenomena quickly.
There was one thing she noticed pretty quickly. It was approaching nightfall and when she looked up at the sky she saw the moon hanging there.
With the Mare in the Moon staring back at her.
“Hmm...” Starlight rubbed her chin. “So either we’re at some point in a past timeline or something has happened to keep Luna from returning.”
“We’re at Canterlot again too,” Spike said as he looked around, the former Empress sitting down and catching her breath.
Starlight followed his gaze to find that they were on the outskirts of the city, close to where the train station let off. “Yep. Well we spent most of our time in Canterlot when we were stuck so it’s not surprising that we’d keep coming back here.”
“Are you both really able to handle this so normally?” The former Empress asked them.
“I wouldn’t exactly call Starlight’s behavior towards everything we’ve been through normal,” Spike snorted.
Starlight was about to retort when a thunderbolt of magic erupted behind her. The three of them felt their eyes widen as they looked at a crackling, sunny, flash of magic that had appeared. From the flash, a tall figure stood, briefly silhouetted before the light faded away and the pony responsible for the explosive teleportation was revealed.
Princess Celestia stared down at Starlight with a stoic expression on her face that was at odds with her frayed mane and tail and the bags under her eyes. “Hello, Starlight Glimmer. It’s been a while.”
Starlight chuckled nervously and tried to smile up at the Princess. “H-Hello… you’re the Celestia that we met and stayed with at the castle for a long time aren’t you?”
“Quite astute of you to realize,” Princess Celestia’s eye twitched. She then notice Spike was also here and there was- “Why are there two of you here? Are you perhaps in some sort of trouble again?”
“We’re fixing some trouble,” Starlight stressed.
“Is there uh… perhaps something going on in this world that could be hurting harmony and causing chaos?” Spike asked, even more nervous than Starlight.
Princess Celestia’s eyes flickered to him and he twitched, the other Starlight as frozen as a block of ice as well.
“Perhaps,” Princess Celestia said. “It seems like it might be a good idea for us to talk. I wasn’t sure if you would ever be back here after all, so I’m not really sure what I want to do with you.” Her head turned back in the direction of the castle. “And I must be getting back to my student, I can’t stand to leave her alone.”
“T-That sounds like a good idea to me,” Starlight said and then gulped. “Umm… are you perhaps… angry at me over something?”
Celestia’s eyes sharply turned back to her, their pupils thinning down to needles. “I just realized that things started to change outside of my projections when you came here. Lots of things happened that I had never foreseen or predicted. It worried me. I made sure I could detect your magic if you ever appeared here again. That doesn’t mean I plan on harming you. Just that… we should probably talk first and I should keep an eye on you.”
“P-Perfectly fine to me,” Starlight nodded. “Let’s take a trip to your castle then.”
“Is this alright?” Former Empress Starlight whispered to Spike.
“Just… just go along with it. You’ll learn soon enough to just go with the current,” Spike shook his head.
Perhaps hearing their whispering, Celestia’s head once again swung towards Spike and the other Starlight. “By the way—what exactly is your story?”
“Um, well, the short version is that I’m another Starlight Glimmer who wants to help ponies,” the former Empress shrugged and gave her best smile to the Alicorn Princess.
“I see,” Celestia gazed harder at her but didn’t question her further. “Well, if anything needs to be discussed we can do that shortly.”
Without another word her horn lit up and a powerful flash and thunderclap exploded around them as the trio was instantly whisked back to the castle. If there had been any other ponies around them what that happened they would’ve surely been startled. The two Starlight’s and Spike already were quite startled about being forcibly teleported themselves. When the flash was over they still had spots in their eyes and birds dancing around their heads.
“That was unpleasant...” Starlight said.
“Are we in the castle?” Spike asked.
“We are,” Princess Celestia replied. “Inside my personal study for that matter.”
Starlight blinked away the spots and took a look around. The three of them had been brought into a circular room, still larger than the average study, with tall windows letting in the sun around three quarters of the room and several bookcases lined up in rows between the windows. A circular table with several chairs around it sat in the middle of the room—books covering most of the available space on it.
With a certain purple unicorn seated on one of the chairs.
“Princess Celestia? Why did you leave so suddenly?” Twilight Sparkle asked her Princess.
“I’m so sorry, Twilight!” Princess Celestia nearly shouted, immediately darting over to her side and hugging her tightly. “You know how much I hate leaving you alone where I can’t watch over you to make sure you’re safe. But something required my attention. I’m sorry, my most precious student.”
Twilight for her part frowned at the tight hug and tried to pry the Princess off of her. “It’s okay, Princess! It was just for a minute, and how could something happen to me in the castle of all places? And I believe I can take care of myself.”
“Yes, you’re right, sorry,” Princess Celestia cleared her throat and stopped hugging Twilight. “You know how I worry.”
Twilight, Twilight Sparkle, rolled her eyes at Princess Celestia. “Yes. I know.”
She then noticed the others now in the study.
“Princess, you brought others into your study? You’ve never allowed anyone else in here with me before,” Twilight said as she stood up, recognition crossing her face after she looked at Starlight for a moment longer. “Oh, Starlight! I almost didn’t recognize you with your mane different and all your accessories gone. And-” her eyes bugged out and she tilted her head. “Since when did you have a twin sister?” Her jaw then dropped as she saw Spike. “SPIKE?! Since when do you have wings?!”
“This is already strange...” Starlight murmured.
Spike meanwhile deflated. “Another world where I don’t have wings? I feel bad for myself.”
“This happens to be a special occasion, my precious student,” Celestia said. “Neither of these two are the Starlight Glimmer you know. Nor is this the Spike you know.”
“I am… very confused right now,” Twilight scratched her head.
“You and me both,” the former Empress said and mimicked her. “Maybe coming along was a mistake...”
Starlight rubbed her chin in consideration. “Hm, so Twilight already knows me in this world though? But Luna hasn’t come back from the moon? What year is it?”
At the mention of Luna, Princess Celestia’s eyes widened and she tried to stealthily shake her head back and forth at Starlight.
“Luna? Who’s that?” Twilight asked.
Starlight’s eyes widened but before she answered-
“Now, now, our guests here have traveled from far away, Twilight. We shouldn’t pry them with questions,” Celestia smiled awkwardly.
“From how far away? Why are they here?” Twilight asked.
Celestia coughed. “Well, there are two others who I think should also be here for this before we start getting into things.” She looked over at Starlight. “Two others who had their lives altered just a tiny bit the last time you were here.”
Her horn lit up again and Twilight brought a hoof to her face.
“Wait, Princess, don’t-”
It was too late—another flash of magic erupted in the middle of the study and two ponies appeared—forcefully teleported in here by Celestia. Since they were in the middle of a conversation still it looked like they hadn’t realized what had just happened.
“I’m telling you it’s not like that, we’re just… going… to...” Sunburst slowed down and trailed off as he finally noticed he was no longer walking down the streets of Canterlot.
“You can weasel out of this all you want but… uhhhhh...” Starlight Glimmer blinked in realization at where she was as well. “Hold on. Where are we?”
“Hello, Sunburst. Hello, Starlight,” Princess Celestia said to them.
“Princesssss. I’ve told you you have to stop forcibly teleporting ponies like that without warning,” Twilight frowned at her mentor.
Spike meanwhile was caught up on a different fact. “Another Starlight?”
And of course, both Starlight and the former Empress were staring at their alternate as well. She was… a little bit different. While she might have had the same colored coat, the same colored mane, and the same Cutie Mark on her flank, the rest was different. Her mane was made into two large pigtails going off the sides of her head, tied with black ribbons and leaving her bangs parted evenly. Around her neck she wore a spike studded black collar and her eyes were painted with black eyeliner. Her mouth was twisted down into what appeared to be a constant frown and the rest of her body language screamed “annoyed”.
“Oh wow, it’s me if I never got over that phase,” Starlight and Former Empress Starlight said together.
“Princess Celestia?” Sunburst blinked. “Oh, another impromptu teleportation. Do you need me for something?”
The third Starlight’s eyes had finally met her alternates and her jaw dropped in shock. “W-What’s going on here?”
“Ahem,” Celestia cleared her throat and stood up tall, trying to appear as calm and regal as possible. “Now that we’re all here—allow me to introduce you.” She held out a hoof to the three dimension hoppers. “My little ponies, meet Starlight Glimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike from another world. Or timeline. Or however it should be called.”
“An alternate dimension?” Twilight’s eyes lit up in curiosity and excitement.
“Technically two,” the former Empress held up a hoof nervously.
“This is… a surprise. Why are they here?” Sunburst asked.
“Why would two other me’s come here?” The third Starlight asked, now glaring outright at her two alternates.
“Allow me to explain the best I can. Then if appropriate, I may allow you to converse with each other. I myself am still not entirely certain as to why this Starlight and Spike have decided to return here—or why they have brought along another Starlight,” Princess Celestia said, her eyes roaming over the three of them briefly before she turned to the three ponies from her own world. “First of all, Starlight Glimmer time-traveled from the future on accident and brought Spike along with her, they later on came here and met me, living in Canterlot briefly while trying to find a way home. Just as quickly they vanished without warning and I thought that was the end of it. I realized however that their appearance here and their… deeds, whatever they might have been, had altered the timeline and resulted in many new worlds splitting off from where they started. Or it’s more accurate to say I inferred that based on so many things happening that I did not foresee or predict… which was a frightening thing to me.” She bit her lip and got a slight manic look in her eyes for a moment. “So many unexpected things… so many things wrong...”
“Um, Princess? Are you alright?” Twilight asked her.
Celestia blinked and shook her head. “Y-Yes, quite alright. Either way, shortly after they had left I did some research and discovered that a student at my school was from the same town as Starlight Glimmer and that you had once been friends. I wanted to keep a potential tab on her so-”
“That’s why my dad moved here?” The third Starlight interrupted. “He said a rich relative was moving out from Canterlot and wanted him to have the place!”
“Well that was maybe a little excessive on my part. Sunburst was already getting back in touch with you on his own. I just wanted to make sure I could keep an eye on you,” Celestia said.
“See Twilight, I told you she was crazy!” The third Starlight yelled.
“Hey! The Princess may be a bit overprotective and overbearing but she’s very kind and well meaning,” Twilight yelled back at her.
“Hold on, now that I remember… a mare and a dragon were the ones who talked to me and got me to think about getting back in touch with Starlight,” Sunburst said as he looked at Starlight and Spike. “Was that you?”
“Just doing a good deed?” Starlight shrugged. “You two are friends now, right?”
“He still ditched me back then, I’m not exactly over it,” the third Starlight glared. And she wasn’t done either, quickly rounding on Princess Celestia. “And you! I always thought it was suspicious how you “just so happened” to always be around, and how you took a special interest in Sunburst despite him being a terrible student-”
“Hey...”
“-and how weird you acted around Twilight, treating her like some fragile glass sculpture, you’re a total nut! I can’t believe our own Princess would act this way!” The third Starlight finished.
“Starlight! You can’t speak to Princess Celestia like that!” Twilight shouted.
“Oh come on, Twilight! Shouldn’t you be concerned about what she’s done too and how she acts? She’s a mess! The leader of Equestria should have her act together a little bit more—especially when we’re practically in a war!”
“War?” Starlight and Spike shared an uncomfortable look.
“Can everyone calm down for a moment? I feel like we’re losing sight of the important things here,” Sunburst tried to reason.
“Sunburst is correct,” Princess Celestia said, apparently not bothered by what her Starlight had said to her, though her mane had gotten a bit more frazzled. “I apologize for wanting to keep tabs on you, Starlight, but with so many dangers in the world I had to be sure of you. Maybe I’ve been a little too careful...” her pupils shrank. “But what if something happens again?!” She swiftly shook her head. “No, no, here and now isn’t the time!”
“Is she actually okay?” Spike asked the room.
“I’m fine!” Celestia answered, looking at him and the other two Starlight’s. “The three of you… please now, what is your purpose for coming here?” Her gaze lingered on the former Empress. “And what is your story exactly?”
Starlight took a glance at Spike, who shrugged back at her, and looked at the former Empress who also gave an uncertain shrug. She turned back to face Princess Celestia, Sunburst, a not quite as Celestia loving Twilight Sparkle, and a very rude version of herself. “Well… where do we begin?”
After that, it took some time for Starlight to explain things, and a little more for the former Empress to share her story as well. They left out certain things that should be kept private—and didn’t mention Discord either, but at least Princess Celestia and the others knew why they were here and what had to be fixed. Theoretically at least. Starlight was just as curious about this world as its denizens were about her for certain. It was clear though that Princess Celestia wasn’t planning on telling all her secrets while the others were around though.
“Is the entire space-time continuum really in danger?” Twilight Sparkle asked, barely believing it.
“Sadly, yes. Even if you can’t trust a Starlight I hope you can trust me,” Spike said to her.
Twilight managed a small smile and nod. “I can always trust you, Spike. Any version of you.”
“So what do you think is wrong about this world? Where is harmony lacking?” Sunburst asked.
The third, angry, Starlight snorted and rolled her eyes. “That’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard. There’s wrong everywhere in this world! Harmony is lacking everywhere! If that’s the kind of thing they need to fix they’re going to be here for a long time.”
“Actually it seems like we kind of just need to get the ball rolling...” former Empress Starlight quietly said, but was silenced before she could say anything else by a glare from her alternate in this world.
“Anyways, that’s the important stuff and that’s why we’re here. This is kind of a big deal,” Starlight said. “Now—each world I’ve been to has been a little different or a lot different. I’m not here to fix or change everything, or unravel your whole lives or anything like that, I’m here to help—we’re here to help. I know some of this might be my fault to begin with, but now I just want to get your world back on track, get rid of chaos, and make friendship as powerful here as it should be.”
“Some?” Spike raised an eyebrow at her. “Some might be your fault? Is that what you said?”
“Shh!” Starlight shushed him.
“How trustworthy. After what I’ve heard from the both of you I really don’t think I like either one of you. Hah! I hate myself!” Angry Starlight threw up her hooves and started laughing in amusement at the absurdity of it all.
Starlight merely groaned and squeezed the bridge of her nose. “I know we probably don’t come off the best but we could really use the benefit of the doubt right now. First of all…” She looked at Princess Celestia. “Can we talk with you alone?”
“Why do you need to speak to the Princess alone?” Twilight asked.
“Just need to ask her some things and get clued in a little. And I get the feeling she’d prefer to talk about it alone too,” Starlight said.
“She’s right, Twilight. I need to speak alone with them again,” Princess Celestia said. “Just give us a moment in the study. Sunburst? Would you please watch over Twilight to make sure she doesn’t get lost, or hurt, or gets stung by a bee, or anyone looks at her the wrong way, or gets lonely, or has a sudden illness that needs attending, or-”
“I’ll take care of it, Princess,” Sunburst stopped her before she could continue. Meanwhile Angry Starlight shook her head.
“I’m not a child, Princess. I’m your student,” Twilight frowned.
“Yes. Exactly,” Celestia nodded ominously. “Now please, just give me a moment with our visitors.”
“Come on,” Sunburst said and started to usher the two other mares out. Neither of them looked happy but they didn’t cause a fuss either.
Once the door was closed, Starlight frowned and looked at the Princess questioningly. “What is happening here? Why is Luna still in the moon? Why doesn’t Twilight know about her? Why have you done all this weird stuff and what was that about a war?”
“You don’t know what it was like!” Princess Celesia cried out, practically throwing herself to the floor and covering her head with her hooves. “After you left I just didn’t know what to do anymore! First Sunset vanished, and then you and Spike disappeared without any notice too! I lost my student and once you were gone I thought something else must have happened too! Do you have any idea what it’s like to be alone for almost a thousand years, meticulously planning and foreseeing everything, waiting for the time when the Elements of Harmony would be ready and your sister can return, and then all of a sudden things you could have never possibly predicted start happening?! Everything I thought I knew was thrown into question!”
Spike slowly turned his head to flatly stare at Starlight.
“If I could be wrong and taken by surprise by little things like that then what about the big things?” Celestia continued. “What if Luna couldn’t be helped? What if Twilight failed somehow? What if the Elements didn’t work properly? I’m not putting another precious student in danger! What if she ends up disappearing just like Sunset?”
“Oh boy...” Starlight grimaced, fully realizing how messed up this Celestia had become. “And so because you were afraid of things going wrong you never let Twilight realize what she was supposed to become… you never sent her to Ponyville… and I’m assuming you’ve worked to keep her from finding out Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna are real. Which means you’ve also let Luna stay on the moon for a few extra years...”
“Wait, hold on, how is that even possible? The Mare in the Moon was supposed to escape her imprisonment after exactly 1,000 years,” Spike asked.
“That’s just the storybook. Luna can only be returned to Equestria with my aid,” Celestia shook her head.
“You’re keeping your sister imprisoned on the moon when you could’ve freed her years ago?!” Starlight yelled.
“What if something goes wrong!” Celestia cried out. “I’d rather make sure she and Equestria don’t get hurt...”
Starlight sighed. “Okay—we’ll need to do something about that—now what about the war?”
Princess Celestia despondently looked at the floor. “It happened a year ago now. Queen Chrysalis and her changeling hive emerged in Yakyakistan—taking over the country completely. However, before they could invade Equestria, the Crystal Empire returned at the same time along with King Sombra. They started fighting with each other and then us, but only for a moment before Chrysalis and Sombra realized it was a stalemate. All three of us couldn’t advance or do anything without the other two taking advantage of it. There hasn’t been a fight since and we’re all just sort of staring at each other. I-I want to rescue the Yaks and the Crystal Ponies so badly but… but...”
“You wouldn’t be able to without the Elements of Harmony to begin with,” Starlight said.
“Yes...” Celestia nodded. “Equestria has remained unharmed but ponies are starting to get very antsy about what’s happening right outside our borders.”
“I guess that’s why the other me is a little concerned too,” Starlight said (and her former Empress self standing behind her nodded discreetly).
“Princess Celestia, you have to do something about all this!” Spike said, holding his arms wide open. “You have to let Twilight fulfill her destiny, let her meet her friends, save Princess Luna and have them try and save the rest of the world now too. If you don’t, all of Equestria, worse, all of the world is going to fall to pieces!”
“I can’t! What if something bad happens to her like Sunset!” Princess Celestia kept shaking her head.
Spike looked over at Starlight and glared.
Starlight coughed. “Ahem, well, Princess Celestia? Do you think you can maybe give the three of us a little alone time? Just a minute or two?”
“A-Alright,” the Alicorn picked herself up and started to try and pat down some of her frizzled mane. “I suppose it would be good to check on Twilight anyways, she might have stubbed her hoof.”
“Right, you do that...” Starlight grimaced and watched as Celestia left the room, closing the door behind her.
“I never thought any version of Princess Celestia would be like this,” the former Empress said the moment they were alone.
“Yep, good job, Starlight! Because of what you did here, Princess Celestia is a complete nervous wreck!” Spike yelled at her.
“Hey—I don’t think I can entirely be blamed for this. How can anyone imagine that she would turn out like this just from the things I did back here?” Starlight “defended” herself.
“I can because it’s entirely those things that caused any changes!” Spike said. “None of this would be happening otherwise!”
“W-Wait, please stop arguing,” the former Empress got between them. “We need to work together, don’t we? There’s a lot that needs to be done here so let’s not get at each other’s throats. Please?”
Spike sighed and rubbed his temples, but nodded. “Yeah, you’re right, I can argue with Starlight after we’ve saved the world.”
“I’m still not sure what needs to be done though. I’m not exactly used to this sort of thing,” the former Empress said.
“Actually, after listening to her I know what to do,” Starlight said.
Spike raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“This all started with one thing. There was one major thing we—I—did in the past that set Princess Celestia down this path,” Starlight took a deep breath and exhaled. “We need to find Sunset Shimmer.”