My God Luna, What Have We Done!?

by Foals Errand

The train wreck

It was a bright and shiny morning, Twilight Mmmed happily as she wiggled under the covers. She could feel Chrysalis's body curled up to her. Twilight blinked, something felt... off. She lifted her head to look more closely at her wife and gasped. Lying in bed next to her was a charcoal colored unicorn with a long blueish mane.

"Ch-chryssy?"

The unicorn murmured a bit, obviously still mostly asleep. "Twily, to early..."

Twilight's jaw dropped, it sounded like Chrysalis but without the normal reverb she had grown to love so much. "Chryssy wake up, please wake up!"

The unicorn grumbled but opened dark green eyes and sat up, "What is it Twilight? I was asleep!" She stopped her hoof clasping at her mouth. "M-my voice!"

Twilight shook her head. "It's alright Chryssy, you must have disguised yourself in your sleep! Just you know turn back."

Chrysalis nodded her horn glowed with a green light but nothing happened. "I-I can't!"

Twilight simply stared her eyes going to her wife's shapely flank. Her eyes widened and her breath caught. "C-chryssy?"

Chrysalis looked to Twilight nervously, "Twi-twily?"

"You-your flank!"

Chrysalis slowly turned her head and gasped, there on her flank was a heart.

Twilight sat stock still in the middle of the palace library, watching her wife running around like a maniac, pulling down volumes and volumes of tomes from the shelves, inspecting their covers, then throwing them aside into a large “discard pile”, which was beginning to look like one of the book fortresses Twilight used to build as a filly when she was pulling an all-nighter of research, without Princess Celestia’s knowledge.

“There has to be a book in this library somewhere about ponies randomly changing species!” The changeling-turned-unicorn was practically pulling her hair out trying to piece together some half-baked theory of who, or what, had done this to her.

“Chryssy, calm down.” Twilight walked up to her lover and wrapped her hooves around her neck, giving her a gentle squeeze as she pulled the ex-changeling into a loving embrace. Chrysalis tensed for a second at the touch, but swiftly melted into the cuddle.

“Twily, you cannot be telling me that, if this were you who had been turned into something you’re not, you wouldn’t be the freaking out about it like I am.” The Alicorn nuzzled the newly transformed unicorn gently between the ears, making her wag her tail like a happy puppy.

“I’ll admit, I’d be pretty worked up about it, but I know that you would be doing exactly what I’m doing for you.” Chrysalis knew she couldn’t argue with her wife on that front, so she turned herself around in her lover’s hooves, and locked lips with her for a short, passionate kiss.

“You’re right, sweetie. Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Chryssy.” Twilight kissed the obsidian unicorn on the nose before scratching her chin with a hoof. “Now, let’s think about this logically. What have we done in the last twenty four hours that could have caused this to happen?” The Alicorn rushed over to her writing desk, pulling out a parchment scroll, an inkwell and a quill and prepared herself to write. “Let’s make a checklist.”

After compiling a list of everything they could imagine that would possibly do something like... well, that, Chrysalis was acting a lot more calm and collected, more like the queen she was. Seeing the things that could've done it to her on a list, ready to be knocked out one by one, had done wonders for her nerves. She could see why Twilight liked those things so much.

"Alright," Twilight said. "The Elements - and by extension the Rainbow Power - have been known to do these kind of things before. The artifact that ascended Cadance - " Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the mention of the pretty pink pony princess. " - is apparently gone, so that leaves our most likely candidate as..."

"Discord," Chrysalis finished, leaning back in Twilight's hooves. "Well, let's go find him." She got up from Twily's grip, and the alicorn also stood. Together, the princess and the former-changeling trotted out of the palace into the streets of Ponyville. Everywhere they walked, ponies looked at her, wondering who the new pony was. Several of them got the right idea and began to spread gossip - for once, it was spot on.

Before long the pair reached Fluttershy's cottage, and the Chaos Serpent was already there, coiled on top of the house. He had his head in his paw and his talons were tapping rhythmically along the wood.

"Well well, if it isn't Sparkle butt and her wife, Hole butt!" he said, staying on the roof. "What brings you here?"

"You did this to me!" Chrysalis accused.

He pulled his head back and pointed to himself with his lion paw. "Moi?" They glared, and he waved it away; quite literally, as when he waved their glares supernaturally vanished. "Well, now you know why not to break into my house for a prank."

Discord's neck extended to a gruesome limit and his head approached them."Noone out pranks the draconequus," he said in some tone halfway between a sneer and a cheer, before vanishing in a flash of white.

Twilight scrunched her brow. Had she just seen Discord's eyes flash all red?!

Twilight was about to tell Chryssy about her sighting when Chryssy stomped around, anger pouring over her features.

"YOU DIRTY BUCKING DRAGCO-E-E- WHAT EVER YOU ARE!!! TURN ME BACK YOU BUCKING PIECE OF DUNG!!"

When Discord did not answer, she screamed out loud, so loud that trees tipped over and broke in half. She said " YOU ARE THE WORST TRICKSTER IN THE WORLD!!"

This made Discord appear, glaring at unicorn-Chryssy, bouncing a beach ball with his lion paw.

Discord said "But what did I d-"

But then all of the sudden his eyes flashed red and his mouth curved into a frown, the beach ball falling to the ground and deflating.
"I did it alright." Discord said.

Chryssy gasped and then smacked into Discord, sending him flying. He landed and shook his head, his eyes red and yellow now.

Chryssy was about to leap on him when he put his paw/talons up, throwing her off him. He was about to say something when his eyes flashed red a second time.

"Oh, woe is me," Discord said, mocking Chryssy's new voice perfectly.

Chryssy was about to smack the draconequus when he flashed away again. Chrysalis insulted him endlessly, but he did not return. She just huffed and flopped onto the ground, groaning. Fluttershy came out from her cottage, a cup of tea in her hooves. She had been too scared to come out before.

"Tea?" she asked Chrysalis meekly.

Soon that tea was all over Fluttershy.

Meanwhile…

A dark figure sat in a dark cave, cackling in a masculine voice.

"My plans are going as planned. Soon no pony will be able to stop me!!!!"

It took no less than seven minutes to get Fluttershy to stop apologizing and get Chrysalis to apologize instead. Once Twilight had managed that little crisis, she put all her considerable brain power towards figuring out how to convince Discord to change Chrysalis back into a changeling.

"We might want to find him first," Chrysalis said.

Twilight shot a glare at Chrysalis. "Stop reading my emotions."

"Oh, so you're mad at me now?"

"If you hadn't blown up at Discord all we'd have to do is get Fluttershy to tell him off."

Chrysalis glanced at the pegasus. "You mean she can control him?"

"Yes."

"And why didn't you mention that before?"

Twilight brought her hooves to her face. "Damnit Chryssy," she sighed and turned to Fluttershy, who was drying off with the assistance of several blue jays.

"Fluttershy, where does Discord usually go when he's upset?"

The Pegasus thought for a moment. "Well, he usually comes to me, but if he's not here, then maybe he went to go see Eris."

Twilight tilted her head to the side. "Eris? Who's Eris?"

Somewhere, thousands of miles (or kilometers, if you're British) away, Eris, Spirit of Mayhem, glanced away from her mirror, half applied lipstick smudging as she bit her lip.

"They know."

“Eris is a female Draconequus.” Fluttershy informed. “Though I don’t know where she lives.”

“What? Why not?” Twilight inquired, tilting her head to the side.

“Er, I never thought to pry into Discord’s life. He never saw fit to share with me where she lives, only that she was a female Draconequus, and he’d let me know whenever he was off to visit her. Besides, Discord is an adult, and fully capable of taking care of himself.”

Twilight looked over to Chrysalis, her eyes narrowed, her lips curled into a snarl, and with her body trembling, she looked like she was about ready to explode.

Twilight moved before her sight. “Calm down.”

“Calm down!? Calm down!? How can you expect me to calm down!?”

“Take deep breaths. Breathe in, and breathe out. Breathe in, and breathe out.”

Chrysalis followed Twilight’s advice calming down, somewhat.

“So what now?”

“Let us try at the Ponyville Post Office.”

“Why?”

“Because they keep track of anyone with a physical mailing address. As long as this Eris is on the planet, and not doing something counter logical like hanging out in the molten core of the planet, then the Post Office ought to have her address.” Twilight reasoned.

“What if she lives in a cave?”

“Then it eliminates densely populated areas, and we can get in touch with guilds such as the Miner’s Guild and the Treasure Hunter’s Guild to narrow our search to specific areas.”

“What if she’s not even inside the kingdom?”

“Then we have a couple of options that we can pursue. One would be a bulletin requesting the location of where a female Draconequus by the name of Eris might be seen. Another would be to place a bounty on her head, alive, of course and let the bounty hunters find her and bring her here. We could go to an information broker, and buy any information he, she or they might have regarding Eris. We could contact Celestia, and search for records regarding Eris, or even use the Equestrian government to make inquiries with other countries regarding Eris. I simply chose the Post Office as it was the most logical method of determining whether or not she was in Equestria, at least where the densely populated areas are, anyways.”

Chrysalis pouted, turning her head away from Twilight. “I’m still upset. It just feels wrong and unnatural to be in a body that isn’t the one I was born with.”

Twilight nuzzled her, trying to comfort and reassure her beloved. “I love you, no matter what form you take. Because what makes you, you is what is in here and in here.” She pointed towards Chrysalis’ head and where her heart was. “Besides, Discord might be amenable to changing you back once he’s calmed down and you’ve apologized to him.”

“Do I really have to? It’s his fault that I’m like … this.” She gestured to her new body, hoof sweeping from the front of her barrel to the back of her flanks.
“I don’t think that was Discord’s fault.”

“What!? You heard it with your own mouth that he admitted to doing it!”

“Didn’t his eyes seem different than normal? Also his speech was unnatural. No, I think that Discord is merely a victim as you are. Someone’s making him be their puppet, and making him do things that he wouldn’t do.”

“Should we talk to Celestia? I can’t imagine that there would be too many beings with enough magical power to control someone as powerful as Discord.”

“I don’t know about talking to her, at least not yet. We should send her a letter via Spike and let her know of our suspicions.

***

{Elsewhere}

“Go ahead, pretty pony, run to your teacher. The plans are in motion even as we speak. Even you informing your precious Celestia has been a part of my plans .” The figure shrouded in darkness spoke in a deep, gravelly masculine voice.

“Master Plan Zeta has everything in place. We only await your orders to enact them.” A smaller figure informed, in a nasally wheedling voice.

“Good, good! Go and get everyone into place and await my signal. Soon my deepest desires shall be accomplished, and no pony will know until it is too late!” The voice commenced cackling darkly, as he was left alone again in the darkness to wait, as he had waited patiently for what seemed to him a very, very long time.”

{Back in Ponyville}

“Are you sure you can’t tell us?” Twilight pleaded, leaning forward in an unconscious attempt to assert dominance over the other pony and get the information they were seeking.

“I’m quite sure. In the Equestrian Postal Code in Volume 1, Chapter 1, Section 10, subsection A prime, it is a felony offense for any pony employed by the Equestrian Government in the capacity of a postal worker to dispense information regarding the physical addresses of anypony which happen to use their services, without the appropriate authorization.” A middle aged mare looked at Twilight and Chrysalis over her thick black-rimmed spectacles with disapproval. She had a creamy coat, as her mane was a light straw yellow, and on her flank was the image of an weathered, wrinkled envelope with a black quill laid diagonally across it.

“Well, thank you Miss-”

“It’s Mrs. Manilla”

“Mrs. Manilla, for informing us of that fact. Have a wonderful day!” Twilight called out, as the two departed.

“Well, that was a bust.” Chrysalis complained, looking dejected.

“Cheer up Chrysalis. It’s a little sooner than I had expected, but we’ll get in touch with Princess Celestia, and see if we can’t get her permission for the Post Offices of Equestria to release Eris’ whereabouts, if she has a mailing address. We can also contact her about Discord’s abnormal behavior and my suspicions thereof.” She threw a fore hoof about the barrel of her beloved, drawing her in for a hug and a soothing kiss.

Chrysalis felt her tension ebb, as the kiss made her heart flutter, and a smile on her face that remained there for a good while afterwards.

{Later in Ponyville Golden Oaks Library}

“Spike, take a letter!”

“Right!” Spike rummaged about in the desk, removing a scroll roll, several quills, and a capped inkwell. After removing the cap, he dipped a quill and waited for his mom to dictate to him what she wanted to write to Princess Celestia.

“Dear Princess Celestia,
It has come to our attention that there may be someone in the shadows that is capable of controlling our friend Discord. I have personally observed Discord’s eyes appearing in a reddish hue, contrary to their normal golden ones. His speech also seemed similarly affected, suddenly shifting from animated and jocular, to monotone and emotionless. At this point in time, I am unaware of anypony capable of being stronger than Discord. However, Discord’s odd behavior indicates to me that this is in fact the most logical reason. As your faithful student, it behooves me to insure that you were made aware of this, so that plans and preparations can be made. I don’t know what this shadow master’s plans or goals are, but if it involves the interest of Equestria and its citizens, then you are now aware, should anything odd happen.

I am also requesting royal dispensation to acquire permission for the Equestrian Post Offices to dispense information regarding another Draconequus by the name of Eris, as Fluttershy informs me that Discord most likely will be found in her company.

On a side note, this shadow master has seen fit to use Discord’s powers to transform Chrysalis into an unicorn! This is part of the reason why we are seeking him, and therefore Eris, to see if he won’t turn her back to how she was before. I’ll love her either way, but she doesn’t feel comfortable inhabiting her new form.

   Your most faithful student,
       Twilight Sparkle

As Celestia finished reading the letter from her very naughty student she began to laugh, and laugh...and laugh. She had not laughed like this in centuries. Not since she and Luna had told everypony they were gods and they had opened churches devoted to their worship and brought them offerings. As her laughter died down Luna walked into the throne room, sat down beside her, and read the letter herself. Soon Luna finished reading the letter and gave her sister a quizzical look. Celestia turned her head slightly towards her sister and nodded once. They both burst into immediate, near hysterical laughter that rang throughout the halls. The guards standing just outside the doors to the throne room turned to face one another. One had a very smug grin, the other had the look of a pony who had just been told he had his balls cut off in his sleep. The former held out a hoof to the latter and said," They cracked, I win so pay up." The guard stallion of testicular disfigurement hoofed over a small sack of bits, and grunted irritably.

Meanwhile back in the throne room Celestia had begun to mouth the words, 'Three two one...'

As soon as she stopped a bright flash of light and a small plume of smoke erupted in front of them and Eris stepped out. "You can't let those lesbiponies find me!" she shrieked."They already turned all of Ponyville into their sex toy once! And sliced one another open for the experience! Who knows what they will try to make me do for them, or to them!"

"Calm yourself Eris, we had no intention of doing so. we were actually just having one of my counterparts, Princess Trollestia prank some sense into them."
Celestia explained as she moved the distraught Eris' side. "Though it seems Trollestia has gathered some help for this from a source we are unfamiliar with. Would you be willing to help us as well provided we keep watch over the situation, to make sure they attempt nothing you would deem inappropriate?" Luna asked with a grin.

"Help with a prank while a possibly unimaginable evil threatens to destroy your rather sexually deviant student and all of equis?" Eris gave a toothy grin. "How do we start?"

Celestia gave a mischievous grin and conjured a scroll, a quill, and an ink pot.  " Like this, Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, I would normally suggest spending time with Chrysalis' now completely different anatomy as a means to discover whether or not the transformation had caused her to be out of the norm with Equestria's average unicorn. But since you have gone to the trouble to seek my advice I would say that you must acquire your friend Applejack's hat, Rarity's favorite dress, Rainbow Dash's Spitfire porn collection, and burn them all within the fires of the heart of Mt. Doom. And only when you have done this will Eris appear before you and attempt to help."

"That should teach my student to embarrass Equestria in front of those dignitaries. I mean really! Princesses do not behave in such a manner...at least not in public."

Meanwhile at the cave of doom...

"And so the those foals continue to play right into my hooves..." The dark shape within the cave laughed his extremely masculine laugh. "Soon both of you shall feel my vengeance!" the dark shape continued to talk to himself, despite the knowledge that it wasn't a good sign in regards to his mental well being.

Twilight read through the letter for the umpteenth time, trying to make sense of the weird request her former mentor had sent her.

“Applejack’s hat, Rarity’s favorite dress and Rainbow’s what now‽” Chrysalis’ jaw was practically on the ground at the bizarre demand. Twilight blushed as she read the list once more in her head.

“Well, this is all shades of awkward.” The Alicorn gulped as she thought about how she was going to “borrow” a mountainous stack of pornographic material featuring the leader of the Wonderbolts from her friend, before carting it hundreds of miles to the summit of Mount Doom.

“Wait a minute. Mount Doom‽” The obsidian unicorn’s eyes bugged out in horror as realization conked her over the head like a ton of bricks. “I’ve heard of that place before. Isn’t that the volcano out in the Badlands where, supposedly, a family of witches used to live?”

“Oh, Chryssy,” Twilight nuzzled her lover, “That’s just an old pony’s tale.”

“So was Nightmare Moon and Tirek,” Chrysalis muttered through gritted teeth. Twilight rolled her eyes and lightly booped her wife on the nose with her hoof.
“Nevertheless, if Celestia thinks this will work, then who am I to question her wisdom?” Twilight smiled as she rolled the scroll up neatly and tucked it into a pocket in her saddlebag. “So, how about you go talk to Rarity about that dress, and I’ll go ask Applejack for her hat. We could then meet up at Rainbow’s house for… you know.” The Alicorn blushed awkwardly before heading off to Sweet Apple Acres, leaving Chrysalis with the task of facing Rarity. Oh, how much fun she wasn’t going to have.

“Celestia wanted you to do what‽” Rarity shrieked, causing Chrysalis to cover her ears tightly with her hooves at the fashionista’s volume.

“She suggested that we use your favorite dress and Applejack’s hat and… do a ritual dance together, to apologize to Discord for pranking him.” Chrysalis wasn’t proud of her lies, and she suspected she would get a stern telling off from Twilight once this whole ordeal was over. Rarity’s lips curled inward as she tried her hardest not to burst out into a very unladylike fit of giggles.

“Oh really?” the alabaster unicorn tittered. “Care to demonstrate this little ‘dance’?” She crooked her hooves in air quotations as she let out an indignant squeak of laughter. Chrysalis rolled her eyes and lifted herself to stand on her hind hooves. She started performing a half-arsed, uninterested, impromptu ballet routine, eliciting high pitched giggles from the fashion pony, who fell about the boutique floor, laughing like a lunatic.

“Oh, that’s priceless,” she guffawed, barely containing herself long enough to bring herself back to her hooves and wipe a tear from her eye. “Alright then, darling. I’ll let you borrow my dress.” She levitated the garment from her bedroom, placing it in a carefully folded bundle on the black unicorn’s back. “But be sure to bring it back without a speck of dirt on it.”

“We’ll do our best, Rarity.” Chrysalis made good her escape, leaving Rarity to roll about laughing, looking very uncouth.

“Ya’ll wanna do what now with mah hat?” Applejack raised her Vulcan eyebrow at Twilight’s peculiar request, causing the Alicorn to shift her weight uncomfortably.
“Well, you see, Discord kinda turned Chryssy into a unicorn, in a sort of revenge prank for breaking into his house to prank him a few months ago. So Celestia said that if I were to wear your hat and play a country song, he’d forgive us and turn her back.” Applejack snickered at her friend’s explanation.

“No offense, Twi, but can ya’ll even play?” Twilight ground her teeth in annoyance, but tried not to let her impatience show.

“Of course I can play,” she retorted, summoning a banjo with her magic and catching it, clumsily, in her hooves. “Just watch.” She started strumming the instrument tunelessly, stomping her hind hoof and shouting “Yee-haw” at spastically random intervals. Applejack roared with laughter, falling flat on her belly as her legs gave way from underneath her. The farm pony rolled in the dirt like a pig in swill as she guffawed gaily.

“Alright, Sugarcube. Since ya’ll have given me a smile that’ll last me all week, I’ll let ya borrow mah hat.” She lifted her prized Stetson from her head and placed it between Twilight’s ears. “Just don’t muss it up. That hat belonged to mah daddy, and it’s all I got lefta ‘im.” Twilight felt a little guilty at the thought of taking her friend’s hat just to throw it into a volcano, but feigned a smile as she made her excuses and left. In a big hurry. Applejack snorted to herself and went about her daily chores. “Good luck to yer, Discord,” she chortled.

Twilight and Chrysalis met underneath Rainbow Dash’s cloud palace with their prizes. Twilight accepted the dress from Chrysalis and tucked it into her saddlebag before looking up, tentatively, at the floating mansion overhead.

“You’ll have to be the one to go up there, Twi,” Chrysalis stated, dryly. When her wife looked back at her with an accusing glare, she arched her back, displaying her wingless back. Twilight gulped and slowly began her ascent to Rainbow’s front door. She took a deep breath and hesitantly knocked at the door.

It took a minute or two of waiting, but the door finally opened to a very rough looking Rainbow Dash. Her mane was ruffled, and she reeked of sweat and… Twilight blushed at the familiar scent surrounding her cyan friend.

“Oh, uh, hey there, Twi,” Rainbow greeted her, awkwardly. “Erm… what can a I do ya for?” Twilight couldn’t help but smirk as a retort formed in her head.

“Well, I usually charge twenty bits. But for you, I’ll give you a friend’s discount of ten bits.” Rainbow blushed as the Alicorn’s eyebrows waggled in an “I know what you’re doing” kind of way.

“Not funny,” the prismatic Pegasus mumbled.

“I was wondering if, erm… Chryssy and I could borrow your collection of, uh… Spitfire literature?” Twilight blushed, rubbing her right foreleg with her hoof and looking in any direction but Rainbow’s. the Pegasus tilted her head in confusion before realization sparked in her eyes.

“Oh! You mean my porn collection!” Rainbow shouted, her voice carrying for miles and making Twilight’s blush brighten. The Pegasus smirked at her victory. “Sure, let me go get it.” Twilight blinked as the weather pony dashed up the stairwell, returning ten seconds later with a large cardboard box filled to the brim with pornographic magazines featuring Spitfire in all manner of erotic, provocative, poses. “You two have fun with that,” she chuckled. “I don’t need it anymore. I got the genuine article.” She winked on the final word of her sentence before slamming the door shut and hurrying back up stairs. Twilight grabbed the box in her magic and bolted as quickly as she could as the sound of pleasured moans drifted out of Rainbow’s bedroom window.

Twilight returned to Chrysalis’ side, her face now bright crimson from her experience.

“Note to selves. Never get on Discord’s bad side ever again.”

“Agreed.” Chrysalis nodded, taking the box in her own magic. “Come on. I know a tunnel system we can take to the Badlands.”

After three days of walking through the tunnels of Chrysalis’ old Badlands hive, the two mares found themselves emerging from the darkened passage at the foot of Mount Doom. The volcano stood several stories high, with nothing but sheer vertical cliff faces walling off its cavernous magma chamber.

After a long and difficult climb, the two ponies reached the peak of the volcano. Looking down over the lip of the volcano’s rim, the drop to the bubbling lava below was dizzying, and the heat was almost too much to bear.

“This had better work,” Chrysalis all but snarled as Twilight retrieved her offerings from her bags.

“Celestia wouldn’t misguide me,” she replied, throwing Applejack’s leather Stetson into the fiery pit, allowing it to fall alone before throwing out Rarity’s dress to join it. Chrysalis unceremoniously dumped the box of porn over the edge, the heavy crate causing a large plume of flames to erupt from the lava. A large pink ass of clouds swirled into existence and, with an almighty clap of thunder, a large, mismatched creature – very much a female counterpart to Discord – hovered before them.

“Who dares to summon the great and magnificent Eris?” the draconequus boomed, using – what sounded very much like – an old Canterlot Royal Voice. Twilight and Chrysalis bowed, only in formality, before the Alicorn stood to address the new arrival.

“Miss Eris, a friend of ours; Discord, has pranked my wife by turning her into a unicorn. Please, can you help us turn her back?” Eris stroked her chin, which was lacking in a long goat like beard, unlike her male doppelganger, in mock contemplation.

“Hmm, perhaps,” she said, making her body coil around itself like a serpent. “But first, you must bear witness to my magnificent power.” She raised her eagle claw to snap her talons. But, before she had chance to snap, a bolt of lightning came down from the clouds behind her and struck the pit of bubbling lava below her.
The lava gurgled and spat. And a large mass began to coagulate in the pit, like a living creature rising from the searing hot liquid. Soon, a large mass of molten rock lifted itself from the lava pool, roaring like a feral beast as it took shape before Eris, Chrysalis and Twilight’s eyes. Two long tendrils of lava extended from the sides of the blob, the ends splitting into finger opposable digits, and the mass of molten rock in the facial area morphed into the shape of eyes, lips and a big, bulbous nose. Twilight gasped in horror at the creature that now towered above her and her company.

“Eris! What did you do‽”

“Nothing! I swear, this is nothing to do with me,” the draconequus protested, frozen in fear at the monstrosity of the lava pit. The sound of a bell ringing caught the attention of all present. They all looked to the opposite side of the volcano’s mouth, finding a large blue goat stood on the lip of the mountain, shaking his head from side to side, causing the bell around his neck to chime. The goat cackled maniacally as the lava monster swayed and staggered under the influence of the bell.

“So this is what has become of Ponyland,” the goat bleated in a gruff, masculine voice. “How the mighty nation hath fallen. No matter,” he shrugged. “If Ponyland is no more, then I shall set my sights on a new land; Equestria.” The goat leapt over the lava monster’s shoulder, placing a large slate underneath his hooves, to prevent himself being swallowed by the creature's liquid skin. “Come, Lavan. We must away. Oh. And, take care of those three, while we go.”

The molten creature; Lavan, roared in response and began heaving himself out of the volcano, spitting globs of purple goo at the ponies and draconequus as he went. The three stunned spectators ducked and weaved around the gloopy projectiles as the mighty lava behemoth made its way down the mountainside. The purple ooze bubbled and spat as it corroded into the rock at their hooves. Twilight turned to the stunned draconequus, her stare hard and furious.
“What the bucking Tartarus is going on here?”

Eris held up her hands while a bright neon sign in glaring, clashing colours appeared above her spelling out “MERCY!”

“I don’t know, I thought that old goat was dead.”

“Well he’s not!” Twilight yelled, “Now we need to deal with him and figure out how to change Chrysalis back.”

“How would have even known that he was dead?” Chrysalis asked.

“Simple! This!” with a flourish Eris whips out a long scroll, “See dead goat pointing to a small picture.”

Twilight examined it closely, “That not even a goat! I’m not sure what it is but it’s not a goat.”

Chrysalis also had a close look, “Here is the goat, imprisoned for all eternity under a mountain.”

Eris took a quick glance, “Oh! That’s the goat.”

“Well as fun as it is to debate the death of the old goat, could we keep running?” Chrysalis yelled as she saw Lavan closing in on them.

Suddenly a grey barrier tinged with blue appeared before them, with a loud bang and a bright flash a grizzled grey stallion with a long white beard and a blue hat and cloak appeared before them. Raising his long wooden staff he yelled, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”

The Lavan took one glance and shrugged before pushing ahead.

The new arrival muttered, “Well that didn’t work….”

He aimed his staff and sent forth a bolt of magic, “BACK! Foul beast of the deep, back!”

The Lavan was pushed back by the newcomer while the other three watched, “Spirit of Disharmony, magic now!”

Eris snapped her fingers and Lavan was sealed back into Mount Doom to be forgotten about…. again

Twilight took a quick glance at the new arrival, “Starswirl the Bearded!” she said with glee at seeing her lifelong idol. “Oh, so many questions to ask you. How are you still alive for o-“

Chrysalis pulled Twilight in for a deep kiss which Twilight returned, “Twilight, please stop gushing about a stallion, an old stallion. We have other things to worry about.”

Starswirl grumbled, “I’m not that old.”

He pointed to Eris, “She’s older than this sphere, how’s that for ancient!”

Eris in a fashionable outfit swooned, “ME? You’re calling a lady like moi, ancient?”

“Of course, who else is older than a being like you?” Starswirl said.

Twilight face hoofed, “Stop this now, we have an old goat named Grogar back from the ancient history of Ponykind bent on destroying us. Chrysalis whose form was changed into a unicorn and now we still need to fix both!”

“Well don’t look at me!” Eris declared from on top of her floating soapbox, “I have no power to change her back or solve the old goat problem.”

“I do! With the Heartwood of the Tree of the World and the Water from the Spring of Life we shall have THE QUESTION!”

Chrysalis sighed, “A question? We need an answer!”

“Isn’t the pursuit of the Ultimate Question better than such petty concerns?” Starswirl asked, “Who doesn’t wish to know the Question to Life, the Universe, and Everything.”

“Don’t we need the Answer too?” Twilight asked.

“That we have or rather I have.” Starswirl proclaimed, “It’s-“

Chrysalis cut him off, “Less research, more problem solving.”

“Fine,” Starswirl groused.

Eris who had been sitting in an armchair jumped up with a cry of “Eureka!”

“We need the Chains of Eternal Imprisonment to seal the old goat back.” Eris said.

“Which are located where?” Twilight asked hoping that sealing the old goat would let them get back to the task at hoof.

Eris shrugged, “No idea. Good luck!” With a brilliant flourish she disappeared.

Starswirl chuckled, “Now with the ancient one gone we shall begin THE QUEST!”

“Well, In that case I propose…” Starswirl started, only to be interrupted as Twilight turned to confront him with a visage of fury.

“No, stop this, stop right there! I am done, I’m bucking DONE!”

“Twi…” Chrysalis started, hoping to calm the near-hysterical mare

“This is ridiculous! What are we doing here? What we have we accomplished?! We have messing around for weeks…”

“Days.”

“Days! And what have we accomplished? Being sent on a wild goose chase across Equestria, destroying personal property of our friends, inadvertently freeing an ancient evil, getting my wife turned into a unicorn, and meeting a time-travelling Starswirl and some kind of gender-bent Discord clone!”

“I heard that” came a voice from somewhere over the hills

“Twilight…” Chrysalis moved towards her slowly, noting the fraying hairs and the scowl on her face, which was rated at a Scowl level 4, ‘Where’s the nearest punching bag, followed by an exasperated moan’ sort of scowl, “calm down, it’s really not that ba—”

“Yes Chrysalis! It is that bad, but I have had it! So we are going to go and get these chains, capture the stupid goat, change you back, send YOU back to your time.” She leveled an accusing hoof at the time-travelling scholar “and I’m going to get a LOT of wine, cuddle with my wife and then try to pretend that none of this ever HAPPENED!”

A thoroughly exasperated Twilight slumped against the now rather soft body of her partner and huffed in tired annoyance.

“Feel better?” The sort of pony asked, giving her a peck on the cheek

“Yes actually.” Twilight replied, seeming to have composed herself, “Just be glad I didn’t burst into flames this time.”

“I never figured out how…” Chrysalis muttered to herself

“Okay, Starswirl, game plan, do you know about these chains she mentioned?”

The wizened stallion looked up from trying to avoid the display between the two mares.

“Erm… aha, yes! The CHAINS OF IMPRISONMENT!” He declared in a rather overly dramatic voice.

Twilight stared, he was leaning on his staff dramatically with his other hoof in the air, and didn’t seem to be moving.

“And what are they?”

“Ancient artifacts of the land, chains forged from pure obsidian and imbued with the power of the sun, they have been used to…”

“Oh those…” Twilight interrupted nonchalantly, “Why didn’t you say so.” And before anyone could reply, she had lit her horn and the party vanished.

In a flash of indigo magic, 3 ponies appeared in a rather messy pile in Canterlot palace’s throne room.

“Oof, could’ve worked on the landing there Twilight.” Oh great, Chrysalis had started moaning again.

“Sorry, I’m a little tired, as you might’ve expected.”

Chrysalis stared at her, something clearly clicked together in her mind.

“Wait a minute, you could’ve teleported us there the whole time?!”

“Uh…” Twilight started, only to be saved by their third party member.

“What’s a teleport? Also what happened? Why are we here now?” Starswirl was full of questions and no answers today it seemed…

“Wait, you don’t know what a teleport spell is? You invented it!”

“Did not.”

“*ahem*” Chrysalis cleared her throat, they had all appeared to have forgotten they were in the throne room, and a rather surprised Princess sat upon the regal throne, staring at the scene in a bizarre mixture of horror and confusion.

“Celestia!” Twilight jumped to her hooves, “We need the Chains of imprisonment right away, an evil goat is bent on terrorising the land after he rose from mount Doom, after we threw in… the things… you told us to…”

A very unsure Twilight looked up to the mare on the throne.

“Celestia, did you know…”

From every corner of the throne room a faint whisper was heard from the solar diarch.

“Buck…”

Some hours and ear-splitting shouts later, they left Eris and Starswirl to entertain themselves while Twilight, Celestia, and Chrysalis went to the Day Bringer's private chambers to discuss what to do with Grogar.

"He was a follower of Tirek," she explained. "When my sister and I banished him all those years ago, he attempted to replicate his method of draining magic for himself. Of course, it didn't go well, and instead he inadvertently invented the field of magic known today as necromancy. He wasn't very subtle, either, and we threw him into the volcano before he could do too much harm."

Deciding to ignore why Celestia had sent them there in the first place, lest she suffer an aneurysm, Twilight sighed. "Alright, let's just do what we should've done in the first place; gather the girls and shoot rainbows at the problem until it fixes itself."

Chrysalis trembled, visibly trying not to laugh at her candid description of the Elements. "Maybe they can fix me, too," she said. "But really, Twilight's right. Let's not be stupid about this; we have an immensely powerful weapon at our disposal, let's not be 'sporting' and only use it as a last resort. Use them as often as possible."

The ex-changeling's horn lit up green and she focused. "Come on hivemind, I know you're in there... got it. Some of my subjects will bring your friends here, Twilight."

"Good," she said with a smile. "Now hopefully Discord and Eris will meet up and take care of each other. Starswirl..."

Celestia sighed. "It's been so long since I've seen him. I think I'll go catch up with old Beardy." The Sun Goddess's form dissolved into sunlight, which flowed out the windows and out of sight.

Twilight walked over to Chrysalis and hugged her. It was strange, expecting to feel her warm chitin on her skin and instead feeling a coat of coarse fur. She didn't like it. "We'll be okay, Chryssy, just wait. We're going to make this right."

"You know it, Twilight." Chrysalis quirked a brow. "You know, it's a few hours before your friends get here, and in the meantime we're all alone..."

"In Celestia's bedroom?" she asked.

The ex-changeling's grin simply expanded. "Oh yes, in Celestia's bedroom."

Twilight and Chrysalis were on the move again....

A few hours ago everything seemed solved, they had the Chains of Eternal Imprisonment and if that failed the Elements to blast at every problem. But it seems they really were the universe's chew toy as not an hour after the Guards inform them that they would retrieve the Element Bearers from Ponyville did they get a new message.

Ponyville was deserted.... No it was not the Everfree Forest or its many beasts, it was not some ancient evil or prophecy (that comes in a few years, possibly), Nightmare Moon had not possessed a friend that required a dramatic rescue on the Moon, Sombra was gone, Tirek sealed, no Twilight magical experiments gone awry, no desire to use the citizens as equine resources by corrupt bureaucrats, no mad Fluttershy or Pinkie.... You get the idea.

No, the entire town has been offered an all-expenses paid vacation. Unfortunately the place their vacation was in while very nice was warded to prevent any teleport in (but not out). This was a ward powered by as many immortals as possible. Why? To keep Celestia from cakes, the Cosmic Creation Cake Catering was there and Celestia was cheesy enough to call them "Out of this world". Upon hearing this everyone in earshot pretended they didn't know her.

Twilight sighed, "We're on our way to a popular vacation spot and ironically the first Equestrian territory from Mount Doom."

Chrysalis added, "We have no Royal Statuary" Chrysalis paused at Twilight's glare, "No Royal Guards with us only the Elements and the Chains.

Twilight sighed, "I checked the train's schedule and it's unfortunately Tuesday, or rather the Tuesday so going there will be unpredictable in every way possible and impossible."

"Why does that happen anyway? Makes no sense...." Chrysalis paused, "Discord?"

Twilight nodded, "It was to prevent Celestia from more cake binging. After the last one.... well no one speaks of it."

Twilight groaned, "At this rate Grogar will invade before we can imprison him again. You're still stuck as a unicorn and this is frustrating that there's no end to this madness."

Chrysalis also sighed, "So close! I might have had my body back but no! I agree the universe seems to hate us."

"Hello, dear Chrysalis." said a slow careful voice. They turned to see a deep grey stallion with a blood red horn.

"Sombra!" they both yelled, "How are you still alive?"

"You know what?" Twilight said as she prepared her magic, "I don't care! We're not dealing with this or why!"

Chrysalis mimicked her wife and both banished Sombra to wherever.

"I was hoping I never see him again."

Twilight turned to her wife, "You know him how?"

Chrysalis blushed, "Thought he could give us food so I took on a pegasus disguise similar to how I look right now. One pity date, that's all." Chrysalis pouted, "Horribly hateful stallion with a voice like you wouldn't believe."

"What?" Twilight asked.

Chrysalis smirked,  "He talks slow so his voice can sound deep. He practices so it won't sound like the high pitched whine it's suppose to be."
Twilight was about to answer when a cheerful clown poofed in, "We're here!"

Twilight face hoofed, "Discord is not helping with protection magic again."

"Agreed," Chrysalis said as they walked out to a massive beach teeming with ponies.

"I swear there's no day when the universe does not desire to screw us over." they both said together as they saw the highly crowded resort.

Twilight leaned back into her beach chair, lounging out in the warm rays of the sun, the symbol of the crazy-cake-crackup known as Celestia.

Chrysalis was next to her, quietly reading a scroll. She soon finished and sighed, tossing the scroll. It landed on one of her subject's heads with a loud "BONK." The changeling, named Swiper, promptly slid on the wet ground near the pool and careened into the ice cold water with a loud splash.

Suddenly dark clouds rumbled in from all sides, covering the luscious blue sky that stretched across the resort.

A dark figure appeared, her giant purple and white mane blowing behind her as she dropped from the clouds, landing on the ground outside the pool.

"I AM NIGHTMARE RARITY AND I HAVE COME TO GET YOU FOR DESTROYING MY FAVORITE DRESS!" She then summoned a large bolt of dark black lightning to strike down on Twi and Chryssy.

Nightmare Rarity then promptly stepped on a foal's rubber ducky and fell into the pool, disappearing under the blue waves.

Twilight huffed and froze the whole pool, also freezing several ponies that were also inside the pool. Chrysalis's minion, Swiper, had his rear encased in ice as he struggled frantically to get out.

Twilight was ready to teleport the prodigious ice block to the Far North, outside of the Crystal Empire, but Chryssy slowed her down and made her melt all the other ponies out before sending Nightmare Rarity to the Far North.

Swiper crawled over to his master, handing her the requested glass of lemonade.

"Next time, be quicker! I know you were trapped in a big block of ice with a nightmare version of an element of harmony, but that is not a good enough excuse!"

Swiper rolled his eyes as he made his way to the now empty pool to sit down at the dry edge.

"Wait," Twilight said. "How are we going to get Rarity back? We can't use the elements of harmony without her!"

"Just bring her back!" Chryssy said.

"I-i can't! It's like somepony... took her.

Meanwhile…

Grogar trotted through the snowy mountains of the Far North with Sombra, who he had rescued from his banishment, and with Nightmare Rarity, who he had had Sombra put to sleep with a spell. She was in a cage that was being carried on the back of Snowtop, a giant snowy being, quite like Lavan, except made of snow.

"Now those bags of scum cannot defeat me, for they do not have the element of generosity!"

"I could," Sombra said bluntly.

Grogar slapped him before turning his attention back to the path. Soon the Crystal Empire came into view.

"I think I have found my first conquest..." Grogar whispered.

"What did you say?" Sombra said. "I didn't hear you."

As Grogar and Co continued their way to the Crystal Empire as Nightmare Rarity awoke and had begun to question their plan. Or as Sombra had referred to it, making them look like idiots due to lack of one."Really? Your plan to take over the Crystal Empire is to just walk in and take it? Sombra for you this understandable after all you did fail twice already to the Empire. But Goat Boy, I had hoped was slightly more intelligent. An alicorn princess and her husband, who was the captain of Princess Celestia's royal guard and is currently a prince, and you are just going to walk into their domain and say 'mine'?" Nightmare Rarity said with a skeptical look and a condescending tone.

"Actually I have come up with a plan," Sombra said rather happily.

Grogar turned to look at him with a somewhat surprised look upon his face. "Well then, do share." he said with a malicious grin.

"First Snowtop will have to stay here. And you Goaty-"

"MY NAME ISN'T GOATY! MY NAME IS GROGAR!"

"I am sorry... GOATY," Sombra said with a smirk. "Now as I was saying you will sneak along behind me staying in the shadows and out of sight, NOTHING else as it may draw attention, and then-"
______________________________________________________________________________

The crystal ponies couldn't believe their eyes. Walking through the streets, was none other than King Sombra. Not one of them was able to do anything other than stare at him as he walked past. While fear certainly had it's role in the reasons why this was so, it was also due to confusion. Because held aloft in his magic, was a twisted version of one of the Elements of Harmony, held in cage made out of crystal. And she hadn't stopped yelling at Sombra to free her, in addition to insulting him and his mother the entire time. He was forced to endure the odd looks of his former slaves, as he fought back against the urge to make them cower in fear. When he began to closer to the palace however, was when the crystal guards had come after him. He was a bit over three quarters of the way to the palace but this incident would serve it's purpose.

"Halt in the name of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour!"

"Finally you show up. Listen I found one of the Elements of Harmony out in the mountains, but I fear that she has been twisted by dark magic," Sombra explained as he gestured towards the cage which held Nightmare Rarity. "I was hoping that Princess Cadence might be able to fix this or perhaps the crystal heart. And while I realize why you all have just cause to hate and fear me, please realize that the I am in fact trying to help," Sombra said to the guards who had been cowering behind one another, and now just looked at him dumbly.

The guard towards the front had been expecting to be goo at this point, and was therefore understandably confused when he discovered this wasn't what had happened.

"So you aren't here to destroy and enslave us?"

"No, and quite frankly if I was, wouldn't I have started by now?" Sombra asked in exasperation.

"Very well, we shall take the two of you to the Princess for her to decide your fate, and hopefully help that poor mare," the guard said as he walked away.

Nightmare Rarity was stunned, though she had the common sense to not show it. Sombra's plan had actually worked so far! 'Now provided Cadence doesn't kill us on sight, and nothing crazy happens, this may actually be that old fools best shot at taking the Crystal Empire,' she thought as her cage continued it's motion thanks to Sombra's magic.
______________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile at the resort of Doom

"Twilight calm down," Chrysalis had been pleading with her wife for the better part of two hours now, hoping that she would be able to talk some sense into her. She had not done well, nor had any of Twilight's friends. But now their efforts were beginning to show.

"Sheesh Twi, we know it wasn't yer fault, but you keep trying to bring her back an' it ain't workin. Just take a few deep breaths an-" Applejack was cut off as Rainbow interceded.

"AJ is right on this one, besides after that whole Diamond Dog fiasco, we know Rarity is more than able to deal with this stuff. Plus after the way you described her I am more afraid that she will deal with Goaty before we even get a shot." Rainbow said as she hugged her friend in a rare display of physical affection.

With a sigh and all of her friends minus one and her wife hugging her at the same time, she gave in and promptly fell over.

"You girls are right, I'm sorry. I mean it's not like Goaty met up with Sombra and is now in league with Rarity and a snow version of Lavan and are currently attempting to overthrow the Crystal Empire." Twilight said as she started to laugh.

And with that the group shared a laugh that was long and relieving. They all came to a decision that they would go together in an hour, and teleport to where Twilight had sent Rarity to begin their search for their missing friend.

"Okay girls lets do this," Twilight said as she began to charge her spell to accommodate the extra ponies she would be transporting. She was very grateful that Spitfire had asked to go with them. Having a pony who has been trained in combat was a valuable asset after all. Rainbow enjoyed the idea as well. And with a flash of light they arrived on a mountain, only to be confronted by what appeared to be a snow version of Lavan. Chrysalis was the first to attempt to sum up this situation.

"Well buck."
______________________________________________________________________________

The guards had been gone for at least five minutes now and the only thing that had happened so far was Cadence glaring at Sombra, and Sombra shifting awkwardly as the intensity of her gaze only increased.

At the ten minute mark, Nightmare Rarity had decided that Grogar not acting to take out Cadence (as according to the plan) was because either he enjoyed watching Sombra squirm, or he had not had the needed opportunity to do so yet.

As they neared the twenty minute mark, she had decided that the plan hadn't covered this particular situation and Sombra didn't know what do anymore. So she decided that a nap was in order,(since she was still in the cage there wasn't a lot to do) perhaps she would even dream of a certain hunky farm stallion again.

The instant Cadence knew that the twisted version of Rarity was asleep she said" So, why don't I just kill you now and save the Crystal Empire, and Equestria the trouble of having to deal with you again?"

"While I certainly wouldn't blame you for doing it, we both know you won't. The reason why is quite clear to me now, why YOU didn't just finish me off instead of keeping that shield up," Sombra said with a smile. Realizing that he was more powerful than the alicorns had been a major confidence booster for him. They hadn't even attempted to fight him, they had simply used those blasted elements and that had been that. But the reason why had been lost on him until recently.
Cadence's eyes went wide with shock as the words left his lips and tears began to form under in them as she slowly approached him.

Sombra was now utterly confused, first that uncomfortable feeling he had whenever he thought of Cadence was back, second because this was nowhere near the reaction he had been expecting, third because either Grogar was also taking a nap, or he was watching and enjoying the effect this was having on his fellow conspirator. Sombra made a mental note to call him 'Goaty'  as much as possible from now on.

Cadence stopped directly in front of Sombra sat down and looked into his eye's as he looked into hers which were now overflowing with tears. She reached up with her fore hooves and for less than a moment, Sombra feared it was because she was going to try to strangle him. But instead she put her hooves around the back of his neck, rested her head upon one of his shoulders, and pulled him into an embrace. It was her next words however that truly filled him with shock, and a warmth he couldn't remember feeling before now.

"Celestia said there was no way you would remember me that it just wasn't within the realm of possibility. But I always knew, deep in my heart that you couldn't truly forget the only other pony who has a Cutie Mark similar to yours. I knew you wouldn't forget me.........Dad."

The resulting memories that one word unleashed within Sombra's mind proved to be too much for him to deal with however, and he promptly collapsed.

Twilight grit her teeth as she focused her fire magic at the snow beast’s face. The icy behemoth roared in terror as its frozen form began to melt under the intense heat, reducing the abomination to little more than a puddle as the Alicorn levitated above the resort, steam puffing from her nostrils. Chrysalis enshrouded her wife in her magic and guided her into her open arms for a cuddle, nuzzling her lover’s neck.

“This doesn’t make any Celestia damned sense,” the purple Alicorn huffed. “I mean, some weird force of magic turning you into a unicorn, I can believe that without so much as batting an eyelid. Discord being possessed by some higher power, while unlikely, I could probably see happening. But all of this… throwing AJ’s hat, Rarity’s dress and… Rainbow’s magazines into a volcano, summoning the long dead lava king, spitting purple smooze and some maniacal goat? And SOMBRA‽ Nightmare Rarity‽ Am I being punished for something?” Twilight gasped as a sudden wave of realisation washed over her. She slowly extricated herself from Chrysalis’ embrace and turned to face her friends, finding Celestia trying to slowly slink away.

“You!” Twilight roared, teleporting in front of the solar princess, making her yelp in surprise and collapse on her haunches. “This is all YOUR doing! I can tell!” Celestia tried not to look Twilight in the face as she cursed and swore at her former mentor. “This is meant to teach me a lesson‽ To show me “the error of my ways”? What, pray tell, carnal sin have I committed that would warrant me getting this level of abuse from the mare I loved and trusted with my life?” If looks could kill, Twilight’s glare would’ve buried Celestia in the heart of planet. The solar goddess stumbled and stuttered, looking for any way to escape the wrath of her former pupil. Seeing no way out, and the equally displeased glares she was receiving from Twilight’s friends and wife, she let out a defeated sigh and explained everything that happened.

She explained the transformation, thanks to Princess Trollestia, and some unnamed external force. She explained the pranks, the jokes, the sexual ventures, and everything that lead to this moment. Twilight stood still, staring wide mouthed at her past teacher.

“You’re embarrassed by me?” she mumbled, flabbergasted. “The things I do with my lover EMBARRASS YOU‽” Twilight’s horn erupted with magical energy, her eyes turning white with ethereal power as her aura lifted her high into the sky. Her friends looked on in shock, horror and awe.

“T-Twi? What’re y’all doin’?” Applejack asked in terror. The tyrannical Princess of Friendship looked down at the miniscule ponies below her, rage and absolution burning through her body.

“I’m going to erase everything,” she proclaimed, in a perfect Canterlot Royal Voice. “I’m going to reverse the flow of time and return us to a point in our lives where everything made sense. I’ve had enough of this nonsense. No more lava monsters. No more smooze. No more maniacal goats. I just want to wake up from this NIGHTMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE!” The Alicorn let out a primal scream as her magic flared, swallowing all of creation in a white void of nothingness.

Twilight awoke with a start, screaming as she bolted upright in her bed. Her breaths were hard and heavy, her mane tangled with sweat. She gasped as a sudden thought popped up in her mind.

“Chryssy!” She turned to find her bed occupied by herself and the changeling queen she fell in love with many moons ago. The Alicorn princess sighed happily and snuggled up to her lover, burying herself in the warm chitin. “Just a dream,” she mumbled to herself. “Just a dream.”

In a never-ending pocket of never space; the void between one world and the next, three Alicorns stood among the stars of the aether. Celestia looked at her counterpart with a disdainful scowl.

“What Twilight did could have erased all of creation,” the solar princess fumed, making her trickster counterpart flinch at the forcefulness in her tone. “You were only supposed to teach her a lesson in restraint and order, not nearly destroy all of Faust’s creation!” Trollestia wilted under the scolding. “I allowed you entrance to my world, and to pose as me, under the agreement that no harm was to come to anypony under my care.”

“I promise you, Celestia, I had no idea things would get so far out of hoof-“

“Horse Apples!” Luna bellowed, her Canterlot Voice echoing through the eternal expanse of space. “You never know when to quit! Twilight’s time reversal spell could’ve spelled doom for us all!”

“I understand that Luna.” Trollestia countered. “And I promise you, my external accomplices will never receive work from me again.”

“The last remaining puzzle in my mind,” Celestia said, raising a hoof to chin in thought. “Is how did things get so out of control in the first place?” Trollestia looked to the viewers and raised her right eyebrow disapprovingly.

“Bad fan fiction writers!” She hissed.