“Now, I don’t want to say that I told ya so, but… oh wait a minute, that’s exactly what I want to say. I told ya so, I told ya so, I told ya so!”
Crystal buries her face further inside her palms. She glances over at T, who's currently helping a still unconscious Fluttershy onto the couch, and then glares back at me. “Okay Lavender, I think we understand how much I messed up this time. You can stop shouting about it now.”
“Oh no, I am not done rubbing it in yet,” I state with a smirk. I clap my hands together and then start to dance and sing an annoying tune. “I was right and you were wrong, so now you get to hear my song. Your plan was faulty, now you’re pouty, but don’t get salty, cause then you’ll-”
“Shut up! Just, shut the hell up Lavender!” Crystal snaps. “If there’s one thing you’ve made very clear it’s that we’re in a bit a predicament here and your taunting is not helping it!”
I look at her with a smirk on my face, “No, but it sure does relieve stress. I’m surprised you don’t do it more often.”
One moment later and a blast of flames engulfs my face, scorching my skin and leaving me gagging on smoke. Crystal stomps off, grumbling obscenities under her breath. "I don't know how Illusion is interested in you with an attitude like that!" I shout between coughs, trying to clear the smoke from my lungs.
"Maybe because I'm more mature than you!" She snorts in rage before glaring back at me.
"This coming from the Dragon that wanted to sneak into the palace, broke the Crystal Heart, and got us all sent to the past?!" I roar in rage before storming up to her till I was face to face with my sister, T is muttering something, but at the moment I’m too consumed with anger to listen, or care for that matter.
“You followed us straight in there!”
“Yeah, after you pressured me into following you! Face it Crystal this is entirely your fault!”
Crystal hunches down like a tiger ready to pounce, and bares her razor sharp teeth.
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is!” Our brother's voice bellows throughout the cottage, silencing us both. My sister and I shiver, while T may be the youngest of us, he is by far the most intimidating, even if he doesn't show it that often.
“Incase you two haven’t noticed we have a serious situation here, and fighting each other isn’t helping! You’re calling each other immature, when really you both need to grow up!”
He stands lumbering over us with wings outstretched casting shadows over our shrinking forms. I’m guessing we must look as white as snow right now, because in the next moment our brother eases down with the slightest bit of embarrassment on his face. “I’m… I’m sorry about that, I, got a little worked up there.”
The silence could not be any more awkward if we purposed it to be that way. Me and Crystal glance at each other, and come to a subconscious agreement.
“No, you’re right T. We’re both acting like children.” My sister looks at me, but ultimately fails to make eye contact as she says it. “I’m… I’m sorry, for getting us into this whole mess.”
The words lift a whole world of stress off me. “And I’m sorry for teasing you about it… even if it was a little deserved.”
“Lavender!”
“Right, sorry, I really am.”
My sister retains a scowl for several moments, but eventually rolls her eyes and scoops me into a hug. “Oh Lavey, you may be the most annoying sister on the planet but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I grin at her and pat her on the back. “Right back at you sis.”
We giggle before letting go. Turquoise looks as though he just had a mountain lifted off of him. “Glad we could put that behind us, now maybe we can focus on getting back home.”
“Sounds good to me,” I declare. “I don’t think it’ll be easy, but then again we are from the future, so at the very least nothing will be able to catch us by surpri-
As if on cue, a loud shriek of terror echoes throughout the cottage. The three of us turn to see the now-awake Fluttershy backing away from us as if we we're going to maul her. I grimace at that thought, my little joke earlier didn't help in giving her a reason to think otherwise.
"P-P-Please d-don't hurt me! I don't have any rubies, sapphires, or emeralds, I swear!" She pleads, her eyes darting back and forth between us and the door, probably trying to see if she could make it out before any of us could catch her.
"Now, Miss Fluttershy..." I hear my brother start as he slowly approaches her, using the same tone I'd heard him use on his marefriend; Annie. Sadly, he forget's who he's talking to and does the worst. possible. thing.
He smiles, showing off all his razor-sharp teeth!
I cover my ears, waiting the inevitable-
"EEEEEEEEEKKKK! DON'T EAT ME! DON'T EAT ME! DON'T EAT ME!!!"
...that. Whatever was keeping her glued to the floor vanishes and she makes a beeline for the door...only to be enveloped by my sister's magic and lifted off the floor. The shy Pegasus stares at my sister in awe as she registers what's going on. "M-M-Magic?"
"Please hear us out Miss Fluttershy." My sister begins, speaking the way our mother would when addressing an important matter. "Ignoring my sister's poor choice in words, we don't-"
That's as far as she gets before I hear her gasp in shock, I see the look of utter fear on her and brother's faces and realize why;
Fluttershy is using the Stare!
"T, Sis! Close your eye's!" I call out, sadly my warning comes too late as my sister loses focus and faints, as a result the aura holding Fluttershy vanishes. She wastes no time and darts towards the door with a panicked look on her face.
"T, stop her!" I shout as I run to help my sister up. As I sling her claw over my shoulder I hear another shriek and turn to see T blocking her only exit.
"Please just listen-"
What happens next will be burned into my memory forever; Fluttershy turns around and proceeds to buck my brother in the face. He howls in pain and holds a claw to his wound, giving Fluttershy enough time to tackle him to the ground before galloping over his face and out the door.
I watch her run off towards town, squealing all the way. I turn back to my brother, groaning on the floor with a sea of bruises on his face, and then suddenly put two and two together.
My brother, the big, strong, silent, tough guy of our group, just got beat up by Fluttershy… Fluttershy!
My face scrunches up. I snort out breath and press both claws to my mouth, but whatever measures I take are completely in vain. I explode, hit the floor with thud and clutch at my chest as I suffocate on laughter. Tears form in my eyes, and I beat my fist against the floor.
“Lavender this is not funny!” my sister chastises as she gets up.
“I’m sorry!” I shout between fits. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it! Ha, haaaa, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!”
Crystal groans before moving to help Turquoise. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, nothing broken, except maybe my face, my pride, and… I’m not sure, do I have a black eye?”
“Yeah, you do,” I answer. “Oh dear Luna, I can’t believe you got beat up by Fluttershy.”
“Thank you, for those encouraging words Lavey,” Crystal chides. “This just goes to show that we can’t be careless like this anymore. We should head into town right now and try to sort this mess out before it gets out of hand.”
Whatever bit of humor that was left in me dies a horrible death at those words. “What! Are you insane, you can’t do that!”
“Why ever not?”
“Crystal, we’re in the past. What are we gonna say? ‘Hi mom and dad, we’re from the future, and also happen to be the kids you’ll have several years from now after you get married. Do you think you could help us?’”
Crystal goes silent for a moment. “Well, we don’t have to necessarily word it like that?”
“That’s not the point!” I blurt. “Don’t you read the stories? When you’re in the past you can’t do anything that might change the future, otherwise you end up with diamond dogs ruling the world, starting a full scale war, or worse, you could end up ceasing to exist altogether!”
I’m out of breath at the end of my rant, and as I take a moment to breath a disturbing fact crosses my mind. “Dear Luna, even that little scuffle with Fluttershy could’ve done something to affect the future, we really don’t have anyway of knowing. Guys, we need to be careful from now on. We shouldn’t even let anypony see us, much less talk to us.”
"And how exactly do you expect us to do that?" T asks while nursing his eye. "Celestia knows Fluttershy's running through town, screaming that there's dragons on the loose right now..."
"Okay Fluttershy, how many did you say there were?!"
Our ears perk up at the sound of a familiar voice. T glances out the window before turning to us in sheer panic. "It's Princess Twilight!"
My sister and I look at each other with matching expressions of terror. "We gotta get out of here, now!" I shout before making a mad dash for the back door.
The three of us race out of the cottage and into the forest. Behind us I can hear Twilight's voice, prompting me to run faster.
After a few more minutes of running we stop to take a breather, I'm pretty sure were somewhere close to Sweet Apple Acres right now.
"Okay, I don't think they're following us, now what do we do?" I ask between breaths.
Crystal lifts a claw to say ‘give me a minute’. She takes several deep breaths before answering. “Well, first thing’s first, we need to figure out a way to get back home. That mirror back in the Crystal Empire is probably our best bet, but we’ll need know more about it to be sure.”
“Great, no biggy,” I state. “We’ll just have to study up on some obscure magickal artifact, without anypony knowing about it whatsoever. Where are we suppose to look for that information anyway?”
“I think I might have an idea,” Turquoise states. “Did either of you happen to catch a glance at Princess Twilight when you were running?”
“No, sorry, I was a little too busy trying not to scream like a tiny filly at the time.”
“Right, well I did, and I happened to notice a rather... distinct feature missing from her.” T points to his wings in gesture.
“No wings? But that would mean-”
“We’re back before she was even a Princess,” Crystal finishes. “But how does that help us discover more about the mirror?”
“Girls, don’t you remember where Princess Twilight lived before she was a Princess?”
I think for a moment before an idea pops into my head. "That’s right! Ponyville had a library before the castle went in!"
"Yes!" Crystal smiles. "All we need to do is head over there, get a few books on mystical portals and whatnot, and we'll be on our way back home in no time!"
My brother gives Crystal a flat look. "Yes, but as I pointed out before, we are all dragons. There's no way we can just stroll through the town and not cause a panic."
"Hmm, yes that would be a bit of a dilemma..." My sister rubs her chin and paces back-and-forth, supposedly deep in thought. Then she stops and snaps her claws with a look of inspiration. "Idea~!" She proclaims, sounding awful lot like mom for a moment.
"You gotta plan?" I ask.
"But of course Lavey!" She says as her horns start to glow. "I just so happens that my dear boyfriend Illusion-the gentlecolt that he is-was nice enough to teach me a special type of illusionary magic for changing my appearance! And this will be the perfect time to test it out!" She explains as the glowing of her horns slow envelops her body. As the aura continues to glow however, I can't help but notice that she's starting to sweat. This spell must put quite the strain on her.
"Um...sis? Are you feeling okay?" I hear T ask in concern.
"I'm fine. Just... need to... focus a little..." She groans as the light around her body grows brighter.
Suddenly there's a blinding flash of light, I cover my eye's for a moment before light dies down, revealing my sister... or at least a pony that looks like her.
"Well don't keep me in suspense, how do I look?" She asks, although still seemingly out of breath if the beads of sweat are any indication.
I have to admit, this illusion was quite convincing. Besides her mane and face, everything other part of her body has been altered to look like a pony. On her forehead is a standard Unicorn horn. She has normal hooves in the place of claws, and her tail now looks like a normal furry one as opposed to our dragon-like ones. That said...
“Why don’t you have a cutie-mark?” I ask.
This question immediately throws her off and she checks to confirm that indeed, her flank is blank. “That… can probably be over-looked in town.”
“Also, are those horns I see poking out of your mane?”
To her credit the horns are a lot smaller than they once were and can barely be seen under the mane, but still, the fact that I could notice it doesn’t bode well.
“Lavey, please try to be less pessimistic about everything,” Crystal states, while at the same time adjusting her mane to better hide the horns. “It’s rather unbecoming of a young lady.”
“I’m not being pessimistic, I’m pointing out very valid concerns we should all be having, and you’re telling me to shut up in your own special language.”
“I could tell you to shut up directly if you’d like.”
“I’d prefer that more actually.”
“Okay then, shut up Lavender.” she says with an edge in her tone.
“Girls please, can we focus on what we’re doing here.” Turquoise says.
Crystal turns from me with a grunt. “Yeah, I guess you’re right Turquoise, we have other things to be concerned about.”
“I’m guessing from the strain it took just to cast that one spell, it probably means we won’t be seeing ourselves ponified any time soon.”
“You’d be correct Lavender. I’ll have to go into town alone, and you two should focus on staying hidden and not drawing any attention to yourselves.”
"Well, well, well. Look who we have here!"
All of our attention is drawn to another voice just beyond the trees. I arch a brow, something about that voice seems... familiar...
I quickly sneak through the trees and hide in the bushes, ignoring my sister’s warnings. As I peek through the leaves I see the most astonishing sight.
It was the mother of my best friend Sugar Snap; Diamond Tiara. Or at least a younger version of her. And she wasn't alone, with her was her best friend Silver Spoon. The two of them seemed to be circling three familiar looking fillies. My eyes widened as I instantly recognize them, it was my aunt Sweetie Bell and friends Scootaloo and Apple Bloom!
"Why I do believe it's the blank-flanks!" The younger Silver Spoon exclaims as she taunted my young aunt. "Still being your lame, useless selves?"
I scowl a little, where does she get off talking to my aunt like that?! I bite my tongue, maybe I'm overreacting. I mean, they're all good friends in our timeline, maybe this is just playful teasing.
"Don't ya'll got anything better to do than taunt us every day?!" The filly Apple Bloom snaps.
"And miss stating the obvious fact that you three will never get your cutie marks?" Diamond Tiara smirks. "I mean you've had at least how many failed attempts at getting them? Just face the facts, you'll just remain useless blank-flanks for the rest of your lives!"
Or, maybe they were a bunch of spoiled brats in their childhood, who quite clearly needed to be slapped upside the head. Thank Celestia my friend Sugar Snap never inherited this kind of attitude.
I hear a low growl and much to my horror, I see my Ponified sister strutting out of the bushes and straight towards them! I reach out to stop her, but Turquoise yanks me back into the bushes and tells me to wait.
This is not good. Knowing Crystal and her temper she’s likely to do something brash, if not downright stupid. I just pray we don’t see two fillies roasting on an open fire soon.
"Now, now. That's not exactly fair now, is it?" Crystal asks in a surprisingly calm voice as she approaches the five fillies. "After all, while they may not have marks to represent their talents, I highly doubt you are allowed to judge." She continues as she begins to pace around the two bullies.
"Oh yeah? Well what do you know? You're a blank-flank just like those losers!" The young Silver Spoon states, pointing to her flank. This gets the young CMC's attention.
"Yeah, and what's worse, your older! What kind of an adult mare doesn't have her cutie mark yet!?" Diamond Tiara taunts, earning a giggle from her friend. I'm starting to wonder if my sister has simply gone into "tranquil fury mode" and is just waiting for the right time to mual these little twerps.
"Well then if you're so knowledgeable about getting cutie marks, then let me ask you one simple question," She says as she leans down to the point what she's presently face-to-face with the two. "What do your cutie marks stand for?"
The two bullies immediately stop giggling, their eyes went wide as they stared at my sister in shock. My sister continues to speak. "I mean, your's is a tiara and your's is simply a spoon, what does that stand for? The ability to eat with spoons properly? The ability to wear a simple headpiece? That doesn't sound like a talent worth boasting about to me."
I bite my lip, trying to surpass a giggle, the looks on their faces are priceless! I notice my aunt and her friends have similar expressions.
"W-Well... uh... we... I mean..."
The more Diamond Tiara stutters the larger Crystal’s grin grows. “I don’t know about you, but personally, I’d much prefer being stuck with no cutie-mark than having one that’s pointless.”
“They-they are not pointless!” Diamond Tiara shouts. “Haven’t you ever heard of cutie marks that symbolize something? You know, have a deeper meaning than what they show at first glance?”
Crystal tilts her head to the side. “And what exactly do those marks of yours ‘symbolize’?”
Upon being asked those two almost immediately stood tall and proud with their chests pushed out, it’s like someone just reinflated the confidence in these two. “Well, I got my cutie mark after helping my dad impress an important client.”
“And I got my cutie mark after attending one of most high class banquets in Equestria.” Silver Spoon boasts.
Crystal cocks an eye at the two. She looks down at their cutie marks, and then back up at their faces. “So, what you’ve told me, essentially, is that you got your cutie mark in being a daddy’s girl, and you got your cutie mark in sitting on your butt and stuffing your face.”
Silence goes on for so long after that, it practically radiates off of the two boastful fillies my sister is speaking with. Apple Bloom and her friends manage to hold the silence as well, at least until they break down, fall to the ground and clutch at their sides in laughter. I barely managed to contain my own laughter, and T covers his mouth after snorting too loudly.
Diamond Tiara and her Silver Spoon don’t appear to share the amusement. They glare red faced at Crystal, attempting to bury her with under heated stares. Crystal giggles along with Apple Bloom and her friends, before turning to them with a smirk.
“Moral of the story kids, cutie marks are over rated.”
Sweetie Belle is still wiping tears out of her eyes when she answers. “Ha, ha, yeah, I think you might actually be right.”
“Yeah, who needs a dumb butt mark like theirs anyway? Being a blank flank is awesome!” Scootaloo states.
“Wait, does this mean we’re givin’ up tryin’ to find our cutie marks?" Applebloom asks.
There’s a brief silence between the three.
“What are you nuts? Of course not! It just means there's endless possibilities for us!” Scootaloo blurts. “We’re the cutie mark crusaders, we’re not gonna quit until the job is done!”
The three cheer in unison, prompting Crystal to shake her head. Well, you've gotta admire their persistence.
“Come on girls, we should try for a skydiving cutie mark this time.” Scootaloo states as they trotted off.
“Didn’t we already try that?” Sweetie asks.
“That was base jumping Sweetie, big difference.”
“Well, how are we going to get way up in the sky then?”
“We’ll find a way, Cutie Mark Crusaders, away!”
And with that they dash away on the road, galloping off into sunset on another grand adventure, or something cliche like that, I’m not really paying attention at that point. I’m much more focused on the two seething fillies stewing behind my sister.
Diamond Tiara sounds like she’s second away from erupting when she talks. “You know, my father is a very rich stallion, very powerful. He could make your life a living hell if you treat me badly.”
Crystal’s chuckles softly before turning to them with a large grin. “That’s rich, you know I might be scared if I actually believed that Filthy Rich would do anything of the sort.”
Diamond Tiara stutters, but never loses the wrath in her eyes. “He would, keep pushing me lady, he wouldn’t wait two seconds beat some respect into a stupid blank flank like you!”
“Such an amusing idle threat.” Crystal states in a blank monotone. “How about I show you girls what a real one looks like.”
My heart climbs into my throat at those words. No, Crystal, please don’t do something stupid, please don’t do something stupid, please...
My sister leans down to the two disrespectful fillies, meeting their glaring eyes head on.
“If, I, ever, see you picking on those three fillies again…” Her horn flares up and the spell around her face peels back, revealing her true, dragon face. “You will see more, than just harsh words coming out of my mouth.”
She blows a tiny whiff of flames just for emphasis, adding more horror to the increasingly pale faces of the fillies. They stare at her in wide eyed terror for a moment, and then scream at the top of their lungs, turn back, and run like their lives depend on it.
My sister laughs as they run off, her laughter is like grating metal to my ears. Something snaps inside me when I hear that laugh. I step out of the bush and walk up to her biting my lip so hard I taste blood.
Crystal is still laughing. “Oh Lavy, I think I know why Prizm loves doing things like that so much, the look on their faces was-”
My hand meets the back of her head before she can finish the sentence. "Clarie, do you want to explain to me what the buck you were thinking?!" I snap as my face stops inches away from hers.
Crystal holds a claw to the spot I hit her. Her head slowly cranes upward, her eyes give me a murderous glare. I’m half way toward regretting what I did when Turquoise comes to my rescue.
“As much as I found that amusing, I’m gonna side with Lavender on this. That wasn’t your smartest idea.”
Crystal turns her stare towards T, but her anger doesn't even last long enough to give a proper comeback. I guess even she knows on some level how stupid what she did right now was.
"I... Urrgh!... I'm sorry alright, but you know I can't stand other ponies picking on each other. Just seeing the way those two treated aunt Sweetie Belle and her friends made want to punch them into next week."
"Yeah, you don't need to tell us how you feel about bullies Crystal. Need I remind that I was there when you mauled those kids picking on me in school?”
“Yes, that’s exactly my point Lavey.”
“Or when you scared the ever loving crap out of that little kid just because he wouldn’t stop calling dragons monsters.”
“Well, yeah, but come on that brat was asking for it.”
“Not to mention that whole incident with the racist unicorn and the emerald writing quill.”
“Okay first off, no one can prove I did that; not even you. Second, shut up I get it already!” Crystal blares.
My heart rate spikes at her look, but I manage to keep myself composed. “Good, so you realize than that like all those bullies you scared off, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are probably on their way to regurgitate everything that happened here to their parents as we speak.”
Crystal’s face freezes in anger. She makes a few very unlady like sounds and throws her arms about as if trying to make a gesture, and then she stands straight stiff with a blank look on her face.
“Lets just go get that book already!” she blurts before stomping off towards town.
“Right, don’t mind us, we’ll just be waiting outside town trying not to be seen. Good luck Clare!”
She yells back something obscene enough to make Turquoise’s face go red.
“We love you too!” I chide back, before turning to T with a smile. “You know, Crystal’s anger is actually a little amusing when you’re not on the receiving end of it.”
Turquoise gives me a slanted look, and then heads into the forest with his back turned to me.
“What? It’s a joke, you’re supposed to laugh, it’s supposed to be funny!”
“Well, it’s not Lavender.” T replies in a deadpan tone.
"You'd find it funny if Annie had said it," I mumble. I crack a small smile when I see T's blush.