//------------------------------// // Fixing a Repaired Wedding That's Wasn't Broken // Story: Pony POV Princess Twilight's Lightly visits to Grim Worlds // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// On the other side of the palace steps, Gilda and Snow Bound watched in dismay as Canterlot was invaded by the changeling swarm all over again. The drones had equal marks now, but otherwise they weren't that much different, but that was bad enough. Celestia and Luna were dueling *two* identical faded pink Alicorns. "Sister, I cannot pierce this illusion!" exclaimed Luna. "Which one is the real Cadence?" Candence and Cadenza laughed tonelessly. "Does it matter?" Gilda eyed the changeling swarm... and grinned wildly. "Now this is what I signed up for." She grasped the Element of Discipline in her talon. "Cruel to be kind!" The element glowed, and she took up a perfect warrior stance, charging into battle. "Move it, Snow! Time for some of that Wrath!" The white stallion blinked, realizing something. "The drones are not Alicorns..." Un-pony-like fangs gleamed. "This is an enemy I can fight!" But before he could join Gilda, an Alicorn stallion swooped over the battlefield. Shining Armor wore plain Guard barding now, with no insignia or colors... a pegasus soldier's barding, to accommodate his new wings. "Primary target sighted: Elements of False Harmony. His horn glowed, and six shield orbs formed, reshaping themselves into invulnerable missiles. "Targets are now enemies. Subdue and restore equality." "No!" snarled Snow Bound, and before he knew what he was doing, he'd already leapt, spun in midair, and bucked Shining Armor right in the jaw, spoiling his aim. He landed unsteadily, shocked. "I... I harmed an Alicorn." He held up a shaking hoof. "Impossible. The wolf cannot..." A gasp. "But a pony can!" "New primary target," said Shining Armor emotionlessly, as he came in for a landing. "Element of Chaos." Snow Bound lowered his head and pawed at the ground, his Element burning with an angry light. "You will NOT harm my friends again." Shining smiled slightly, no more or less than any other pony might. "I don't know why, but this battle seems fitting." Snow Bound grinned, fangs showing again. "Likewise." Amicitia frowned. "Something is VERY WRONG here. The ante just keeps rising. Oh no....OH NO!!!!" Dues Ex Machina flinched. "What is it?" "...Will of the Shadow." "Huh?" "Once upon a time, I visited a world where it wasn't just the beings, but REALITY ITSELF there was fighting me, subverting me, doing its hardest to protect its status quo. To keep me from creating a new timeline. I only later realized that the Shadow Who Makes of that reality himself was the one fighting me...Shadows Who Make, are VERY protective of their creations...they don't like some meddling outsider coming along and fixing everything for everyone. That's WHY I have the rules in place I do to keep things civil, so it doesn't devolve into...into what this is...where the ante just keeps rising and rising. Where...well, where it becomes YOU Deus Ex Machina batting for both teams! "And the thing is? The shadow who do NOT do this consciously! Not always. Normally they just see it as applying common sense, reason, how things would naturally go in their setting. Like say, the sirens visiting a world where if they fed they'd be goddesses in a minute from all the negativity around, they'd be shot dead in the most dismissive, inane way. Because it ISN'T the story the creator of that worldline wants to tell. Like world lines were threats are reduced to trivialities...The problem is...the shadow who makes... of both me, and this world line...are one in the same, I'm effectively fighting against myself!" "You are like a snake biting its own tail." Both purple Alicorns noticed the new present. An Alicorn with one mechanical wing, with a wheel of fate cutie mark. "Rota Fortuna." Amicitia politely bowed, then forced Dues to do the same. "Shall I tell how things are going to go? Either Starlight Glimmer's cutie mark is returned to her, and she goes mad at the horror of having individuality 'forced' on her again. Or she is the only pony NOT to have her cutie mark restored, and she goes made with being ALONE, no pony to BE equal with. In either case, she becomes the new Nightmare Eclipse." "...No...that's...THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! She's not me! Every Nightmare is unique!" "But she will, she will. In every dark world worldline Starlight Glimmer worshipped and admired you, even her shadows in oblivion still admire and look up to Nightmare Eclipse even after she erased them from existence and are still loyal to her. Nightmare Eclipse is her ideal self." "NO! I promised I'd NEVER let another Nightmare Eclipse come into being! NEVER!!!" "So what are you going to do meddler? Will you kill her?" "...I couldn't do that with Titan, and I can't do that now. I can't manipulate cause and effect into killing her just because the 'script' would be inconvenienced by her being alive. If I twist events so she dies . . . I'll crossing a line I vowed I'd never cross." "So what shall you do my meddling little sister? Allow a new Nightmare Eclipse to be born? Or shall you betray the rules you placed upon yourself to keep from becoming a tyrant who decided ponies' fates for them? Like I've been accused of time and again by ponies who refused to face the results of their own actions. I am going to enjoy watching you squirm little sister." Rota Fortuna said with a stone like expression. - "So, if she's an Alicorn she can become a Nightmare, right? Does that have to be? Can we make her not an Alicorn? Or make it so Alicorns can't just become Nightmares by getting screwed up in the head?" Deus asked. "There are worlds where Nightmares come from an outside source, but the nature of those worlds are different from the start. I don't think we could just fundamentally shift the entire nature of the world, and would go against my most basic rules." - Just then, another precense appeared before them. A female draconequus that neither Amicitia or Deus had seen before, however Rota Fortuna did recognize her. And was not pleased. "Wow, Rota, that was cold. I always knew you were a stick in the mud, but not THAT much." said the draconequus. Amicitia looked at Deus as if expecting some sort of explanation, but Deus was just as surpirsed as she was to see the newcomer. "You!" exclaimed Rota Fortuna. "Who... who are you?" asked Amicitia. "Oh, yeah, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chance, the spirit of luck and unpredictable events." said the draconequus, bowing a little in a playful manner, "I oversee some timelines with Rota Fortuna." "Some timelines?" asked Amicitia. "Yes, you see, I don't exist on all timelines, just some of them. Me existing, or not existing, is completely decided by luck. If I'm lucky to exist in a timeline, then both me and Rota here are in charge of overseeing the timeline. If I don't, then Rota works solo." explaind the draconequus. "Enough of this. Why are you here Chance?" demanded Rota Fortuna. Chance sighed and rolled her eyes, "Oh, please spare me your melodramas. I'm here to, lets say, help these two, in a manner of speaking." said Chance, pointing at Amicitia and Deus ex Machina. "Not to sound ungrateful... but what do you mean by that?" asked Amicitia. "And why would you help us?" asked Deus. "Well, I'm a big fan of both of you." explined Chance, "What you do, how you do it, I just love it! It's so... so... NOT predictable. It is always nice to see someone showing Rota here that it's always possible for mortals to have more options." "You don't give them options! You make a mess of everything!" said Rota Fortuna, "You will NOT do anything here. I forbid it!" "You don't have veto power here Rota. Both Our Parents agreed that overlooking the timelines is a job for the two of us." said Chance, "Is this about that triple lottery winning thing with the lobster again?" Rota Fortuna rubbed her forehead with ther hoof, "Just... just don't mention that..." "Fine," the draconequus turned again to look at Amicitia and Deus, "Now, back to business. What I'm offering you is an opportunity... a third option besides the other two possible outcome of things Rota just explained." Amicitia's eyes seemed to light up at that, "You mean its possible to stop Starlight Glimmer from becoming Nightmare Eclipse without killing her?" "Of course. There are NO impossibles. Just very IMPROBABLE things." said Chance with a grin, she then snapped her fingers and a six sided dice appeared on her hand. "This is what I'm offering. When I toss this dice, something will happen depending on what side turns up, something possible but completely unpredictable, it might be a lucky thing, it might be an unlucky thing, or a miracle, or a catastrophe, something that will save everyone, or something that will make the world explode into a gazillion tiny pieces... well, you get the idea. This is your third choice." "But, how do we know what side the dice might fall on?" asked Deus. "You don't. I don't know! Rota does not know! That's the beauty of it! Nocreature can predict an unpredictable event! I can't predict what luck you will have no more than Rota Fortuna here can force a mortal to make a choice." said Chance with a smile, then turned serious, completely serious, "Oh, and don't you EVEN THINK about using some spell or anything to try an cheat. It's my golden rule, NO CHEATING. Is that clear!?" Amicitia and Deus were surprised that the draconequus had turned so serious suddenly. They nodded. Chance again relaxed and smiled, "Okay then. So, what will you chose, Alicorns? Allow a new Nightmare Eclipse to be born? Betray the rules you placed upon yourself? Or do you make a gamble? Risk everything into the roll of this dice and whatever happens, happens?" Amicitia was pondering what could happen, difficult task since Chance had said that anything could happen, but before she could say anything, Deus exclaimed, "The dice! Roll the dice!" Amicitia's and Rota Fortuna's eyes opened wide as Chance grinned and tossed the dice on the ground with a twist of her wrist. The dice rolled for a few seconds on the ground, which seemed like an eternity for the three Alicorns wathcing it, as they all held their breaths. Finally, the dice landed. "Okay then," said Chance, smiling, as she snapped her fingers. A muscle twitched in Starlight Glimmer's cheek. "You... you!" A black mist began to rise from the ground. Streamers of inky darkness curled around her legs. "I entrusted my ideals to you, Twilight! I was happy to step aside... I thought you could spread equality better than I ever could... but you were not *worthy*!" Starlight lashed out. With Alicorn magic, she too was able to cast the Sameness spell without a cutie mark, but Twilight was faster, throwing up a shield to deflect it. "Starlight Glimmer, please! Can't you see that this isn't the way? If cutie marks were really a curse, and sameness was better, would it be so easy to free ponies from sameness, just by reminding them of their bonds with each other?" Starlight squealed in frustration, stamping her hooves hard enough to crack the pavement stones. "I just haven't gone far enough, then!" She leaned forward, firing her spell continuously and putting more and more power into it. "Yes... now that I have the power of an Alicorn, I can take matters back into my own hooves. Nothing will stop me! I'm going to make a fair world, a perfect world!" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Um, hello? We're kind of all Alicorns now." "Shut up!" bellowed Starlight Glimmer. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" She stamped her hoof again... and the ground gave way. An unlikely fault in the palace courtyard, somehow never detected before, collapsed, sending both Starlight Glimmer and Twilight Sparkle tumbling into a sinkhole. Multiple layers of arcane wards which had been checked and rechecked... inexplicably failed, allowing them to fall all the way into an underground pool... ... the Well of Truth. - A muscle twitched in Rota Fortuna's cheek. "Seriously? A random fault line creates a sinkhole, and all of the magical wards to the Well of Truth inexplicably fail? How improbable is that?" Chance said, "I'll admit, it it extremely improbably. Bu~t...it is not impossible." She then turned to Amicitia and Deus. "Anyhow, there you have it. The Well of Truth is your third option. What you do with it is up to you now. As for me, there are other worlds that need a wild card to be provided to them, so for now I'm afraid it's adieu!" With that Chance left. Amicitia looked at Deus. "I don't know about you, but I think what Chance gave us is more than enough. Time to stop Starlight Glimmer from becoming another Nightmare Eclipse without killing her." - Nyarlathotrot laughed. "I never thought you were on my side Rota." She blasted in the gut. "I am NOT! Do not mistake me for ensuring ponies face the results of their own actions as endorsing you distorting reality to cater to the sick pleasures of Those Who Watch. Do not assume because I tolerate Amicitia's meddling to counter act YOUR meddling that I endorse hers, OR YOURS." - Rota glared right into the eyes of Grim Dark itself. "You and the Shadows who birthed you wish to know why I do not interfere? Because as She Who Crafts the Lines of Fate, I must not have favorites. I must grant every single being in creation fair potential futures. Every being has good ends, bad ends, neutral ends, and every potential type of end, it's the sum of their choices. If I ever began playing favorites? I could become a much worse devil than Morning Star. But know this: no matter however I craft the many possibilities that await all life, while there are negative choice and consequences for them, there will ALWAYS be fates in EVERY world where monsters like you and the evils you sow fall. Even in the darkest of your tainted worlds, there will always exist a way for life to tear itself free from your tendrils. I swear on my Mother that is true." As the twin Twilights headed to do their thing, they found an angel flying along side them. "Starlight Angel?" Amicitia asked, making sure to use her full name to tell the two Starlight's apart. The Angel of Death looked to them. "Pane Glimmer is her birth name, she chose Starlight as a tribute to me...now every time ponies hear my name they'll think of that witch. She's where I can speak with her now...as her idol I'm one of the few she might listen to...and as an Angel, I'm capable of helping deal with a Nightmare in the realm those two will be connected to if I may have to." - As they fell through the truth, Starlight Glimmer, as falling through the truth tended to do, witnessed another world. An Alicorn of Trixie panted, doing lifts with a large weight on her back, Starlight's mirror image watching over her. "Five more, Trixie," Starlight said in a genuinely supportive voice. "Remember, if you wish to match the Princesses, you can't just focus on your unicorn magic. That is only stifling your true potential." When Trixie reached five, she helped her get from under the weight and patted her on the back. The same Starlight trotted through Our Town. Like the prime version, the town's layout was like a giant equals sign. But instead of each house being identical, each one was customized and fitting to that pony's individual tastes, the only limitation being that they expressed their creativity. Of course one of Our Town's rules was that to insult another for liking something you didn't was forbidden. Constructive criticism was still allowed, but never insults disguised as such. She finally came up to one that was decorated with a large number of sculptures and decorations crafted from all manner of items that, individually, would seem like trash, but when assembled as they were had a certain beauty. She looked at the note on the door, directing her to the backyard. Teleporting, she appeared in the backyard, which was also the town's landfill and junkyard. The mare quickly put a hoof over her nose, but said nothing. Landfills were never known for smelling pleasant after all. Not that that bothered the owner. Though the yard was divided into useful piles, and most anything that was not a reusable item was in a series of large compost bins orderly aligned as far back from the town as possible to minimize the stench. "Squeaky Clean?" she called. "Over here Starlight!" Trotting over, she found a grey stallion with a blue mane, his Cutie Mark actually trash can (his brother Pig Pen ironically had soap for his), representing a talent for waste disposal. His ironic name coming from how squeaky clean he made the rest of the town, though he himself preferred being rather remaining filthy. As per Our Town rules, he was allowed to do so, though he normally wore several air fresheners around his neck when out in town out of consideration of others (and to stop him from making someone's flowers wilt). "What do you think, Starlight?" he asked, pointing to a new creation. Namely a colossal statue of what appeared to be a benevolent, handsome King Sombra, built out of nothing but scrap metal and other discarded things, even it's eyes being made from broken lamps. Starlight gave a smile, even moving the hoof covering her nose slightly to let him see it. "It's wonderful, Squeaky Clean, you've certainly improved since you came here. I knew you could." "Thanks, Miss Starlight," he replied with a proud smile. When the stallion had arrived here, he'd believed himself to be useless and a one trick pony. After coming to Our Town, he'd learned what his true talent was: to turn trash into treasure. And he was making leaps and bonds every day in that regard. All he'd needed was encouragement and some supplementary skills to get every bit of potential out of it to realize just "Now, could I please get some compost?" asked Starlight. "Our crops are in need of it." Squeaky Clean provided good compost for the entire town from the trash they all through a way, being exceptionally skilled at it. "Certainly, Starlight, one sec." - Nyarlathotrot chuckled and shook his head. "I am amazed that you have such a poor understanding of those who's fates you decide, Rota. No one has ever accused you of having favorite worlds or timelines. They accuse you of having favorite MORTALS. You say everyone gets good ends, bad ends and even neutral ends they can work towards. And no one denies that. But if you compare ponies.... Twilight Sparkle, for example, surely had a huge amount of fates where she is the greatest hero of Equestria or a ruler of great skill. And she has less, but still a lot, of ends where she dies heroically or becomes a tyrant. But how many ends does she have where she settles into a role as a librarian? Or after freeing Luna she returns to Canterlot, becomes a magical researcher and keeps in touch with her friends via letters? Where she is an essence just a background pony." "Now compare her to that pony," he said pointing to Equalist Princess Flower Wishes/Daisy, "How often is she the hero Equestria needs? How often is she the doom of it all? How often is she just a pony who sells flowers and lives in a town with heroes in it?" Rota Fortuna glared at Nyarlathotrot. "As often as Daisy CHOOSES to be. There ARE lines of fate were she does all you say...but there's a difference between lines that EXIST and the lines mortals CHOOSE...You have no place to lecture me on that, matter, Corrupter of the Innocent. Those who doom Equestria because of you, are those you CORRUPT into that role. You care nothing for the choices of ponies. All you care for is 'entertainment' for the most depraved of those who spawned you." Inside the truth. Starlight growled at herself as she and Twilight landed in a massive white void. "So that's it? Ponies should get SPECIAL treatment for whatever their talent is instead every pony being ACTUALLY equal?" Twilight got to her hooves and snarled, glaring at her. "If we saw the same thing...then you're missing the point of what that other Starlight was doing!...She saw the potential in ALL Cutie Marks...that with effort there's no such thing as a BAD mark...That other you is a very wise mare." The mad mare growled more. "Everyone should be able to get just as far ahead with the same amount of effort! But ponies born into a poor family has to work much harder than a pony born into a rich family! There was no balance to the world!" Twilight actually laughed. A sad laugh. "You know, I've heard that argument from Ponyville during Winter Wrap Up about our entire KIND...You think my life has been so effortless,Starlight? Then why am I so much stronger than you when we have the SAME talent? Or Trixie?...Because you only put effort into finding a way to STRIP yourself of your talent and Trixie thought she was less talented than she is, this power of mine?...It's the result of years worth of effort. Of studying every day constantly! You're no different than those Earth Ponies who believe unicorns don't put effort into their magic: all you see is the power, not how it's GOTTEN...While we were falling through this place, I saw a world where I believed myself above effort. You know what happened? That universe's Trixie picked up my slack and when we actually faced off she CRUSHED me...before she put effort into it and I didn't. If you think ANY talent requires no effort, you're a fool. Your world isn't a world of balance, it's STAGNANT." Twilight had to shield herself from a magical blast. Darkness continued to grow around Starlight Glimmer. "STAGNANT?! WE CREATED HARMONY! HOW CAN THAT BE WRONG?!" "Because it's treating a scapegoat instead of the real problem." The two blinked, turning as Starlight Angel descended, black wings flapping slowly. "Hello Pane Glimmer..." Starlight Glimmer snarled. "And just who are you?!" "...Starlight. Of the Age of Wonders." Starlight Glimmer's eyes went wide, the mare taking a step back. "You...Starlight! You're the one who inspired me! It's an honor to meet you!" Starlight Angel glared. "...And I'm sorry for that...If I'd known it'd inspire you to do this, then I'd have told Bon Bon to let my name die...Now all anypony thinks of when they here my name will be YOU." Starlight Glimmer looked like she'd been stabbed in the heart. "But...I'm trying to make the world you wanted! A utopia!" "...Then why are you making up symptoms to the real problem instead of treating it?" Starlight Angel growled. "You blame Cutie marks. You blame difference...when you should be blaming things like HATRED and INTOLERANCE...my world had no hate, no intolerance, no suffering...but it DID have difference and Cutie Marks! You aren't promoting the world I wanted, you're promoting one intolerant of anypony who thinks or acts differently than you!" Glimmer froze for a moment, looking like her mind was about to crash. "But...you...you're testing me! That's it! You're testing me! Well I'm not going to be swayed from the pat-" Angel sighed. "No. I was trying to reason with you...but it looks like I'm going to have to show you what a utopia really needs at it's heart..." Starlight Glimmer's face contorted in pure rage. "Clearly I need to free you from your curse as well!" she roared, firing a beam at the Angel, who batted the attack aside with her scythe. Suddenly, Starlight Angel disappeared in a flurry of black feathers and appeared behind Starlight Glimmer, holding her tight and not letting go. "Twilight! Help me!" Twilight jumped, having been left speechless trying to understand what she was seeing. She then teleported in and helped hold Starlight Glimmer as the Alicorn struggled against them. Starlight Angel used her scythe to rip open a portal, the three getting sucked into another realm, one that seemed to be in an infinite night sky. Everything seeming to stretch for eternity. The three were knocked away from one another when they hit the 'ground'. Starlight Glimmer leapt to her hooves and fired another beam at Starlight Angel. Only for an indescribably massive, ethereal white wing to come between the angel and Princess in their defense. The attack's impact could be compared to an electron attempting to harm an entire aircraft carrier. [=Okami Soundtrack - White Light=] Starlight Glimmer gasped, watching the gigantic wing receded, suddenly getting a headache as the wing seemed to continue infinitely and forcing her to blink. The mare turned, looking up to find an impossibly massive white Alicorn staring down at her. Though those were only the terms her mind could possibly comprehend her to be. She seemed to be a filly, a young mare, and an adult all at once. She made her feel impossibly tiny but also invaluable in every sense. If Starlight had to describe her appearance, she was like a white nebula in the shape of an unfathomably massive Alicorn. But that was only what her mind could comprehend, she could just feel there was so much more. Twilight could only stare up in awe of the site before her. "Who...who is that?" she asked, but couldn't resist the feeling that she'd met this being before...that she felt an overwhelming sense of love just being in her presence. "...Meet Fauna Luster, the Mother of All Things," Starlight Angel explained, unable to help smiling just looking upon the Source of all Souls. Twilight gasped. "The...Mothe of...All Things?" she asked, finally noting the seemingly endless stream of innocent little Lights emerging from the source of all life. Starlight Glimmer stood in awe. "She's...she's beautiful..." Starlight Angel nodded. "She is...Can't you see it, Pane?...Can't you FEEL it?...She...Existence Herself...She's the ultimate equality...Nothing in creation is worth any more or LESS than anything else...She loves them ALL equally. She loves all of US equally...as far as She is concerned...there is no rich or poor, no haves and have nots. No ponies and Griffons...only LIVES, and She loves each and everyone of them...MY utopia...had HER as its corner stone." Starlight Glimmer slowly approached the Spirit of Life Itself. She slowly reached out a hoof and Fauna Luster reached out one of her impossibly massive ones, but used all the gentleness of a mother touching a newborn child. When they touched, Starlight Glimmer gasped as if seeing something, tears slowly began to fall down her face, staring. Twilight blinked. "What did she do to her?" she asked Starlight Angel. "Starlight, uh, Starlight Glimmer? What's going on?!" The Angel smiled. "You'll have to forgive Pane, Twilight. She just figured out how everything works." Fauna Luster turned her head to Twilight, offering the tip of her wing. Twilight slowly, gingerly touched the immeasurable wing. And gasped, seeing it. Seeing everything. In a nanosecond, she felt everything. The others back home. Her parents, her friends. Ponies she'd never even met. But it went further. She felt every last living thing on Equus. From Queen Tiamat to the smallest simplest single celled organism. Then it went further, and she felt the same billions of times over. On billions of worlds. On infinite worlds. Anything with the spark of life in it, she felt it. She even felt robot ponies on a distant world were organic life had long since died. Their feelings, their hopes, their love, their empathy. Anything in existence with a soul, she felt in that moment. She even felt the countless little Lights heading off to live their lives. They weren't just lights, they were Souls. And she felt how Fauna Luster felt. She felt the endless love towards each and every last life she felt. The empathy and understanding. It was like feeling every last being that ever lived and ever would live was her beloved child. None of them, no matter how small, was without meaning. Even the lights that had yet to draw breath and those currently being taken by Mortis to their final resting place. Even the souls in Tartarus...Fauna Luster hated their DEEDS, but there was not one ounce of hate in Her for THEM. Twilight and Starlight Glimmer both staggered back, tears streaming down both their faces. "...She...she's..." Starlight Glimmer said, trying to find words to describe what she'd just seen. "...She's Equality..." Twilight blinked, turning to Starlight Glimmer. "W-What?" "...She's an equality that..." Starlight Glimmer began to SOB. "...How? How can you...how can you feel that way about everything?" she asked, looking up at Fauna Luster with pleading eyes. Trying to understand it as best her still mortal mind could possibly comprehend. It was like a blind mare being desperate to see. Fauna luster looked down at Starlight Glimmer, giving a smile. "YOU SEE DIFFERENCES. YOU SEE DIFFERENT IDEAS, DIFFERENT TALENTS, DIFFERENT CUTIE MARKS. MY LITTLE PONY, TRUE EQUALITY ISN'T LOOKING AT DIFFERENCES. AND IT MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT INTOLERANCE OF THEM. IT'S LOOKING AT THE ONE SIMILARITY THAT MATTERS AND JUDGING ONLY BY THAT. AND THAT SIMILARITY IS THIS: THEY ARE LIFE." Starlight Glimmer looked at Fauna Luster's eyes, each far more massive than her entire body. She could feel it. The Mother of All felt disappointed in her...but she still loved her. She loved her no different than Twilight Sparkle or Starlight Angel. Or anything else. And that didn't make that love has any less value. It meant that all things in creation were loved. Even if they were hated by the rest of the universe, Fauna Luster's love would always exist. Starlight Glimmer looked to Twilight. "...I'm...I'm sorry..." Twilight blinked. "What?" "...I thought I knew what equality and harmony really was..." Starlight Glimmer and looked up at Fauna Luster. "...But...She...She doesn't see anything but life...if...True equality isn't sameness...it's...it's seeing the world like She does. It's treating each other like She sees us...Compared to Her..My Equality is...was less than a shadow...I was just a naive fool who thought she was wise..." Starlight Angel looked to Twilight. "...There are some revelations that'd drive an unprepared pony mad...but there are others that can drive a mad pony them sane." Twilight nodded and hugged Starlight Glimmer. "...I was a naive fool when I started...part of life is learning..." Starlight hesitantly returned the hug. "...Yes...yes it is..." The two parted. "So...what now?" Starlight Glimmer looked up to Fauna Luster. "...I...I think I've got much to learn...I think the universe needs a Concept of Equality...but one a lot wiser than I am right now..." "...That sounds good, Starlight Glimmer..." "...Please...call me Pane Glimmer...I think it'll be awhile before I live up to that name..." Meanwhile in 'reality,' Octavia said, "Pinkie Pie, it's time for you to be a good sister and return to being equal!" Pinkie dodged Octavia's attack. "I'm sorry, but as long as you're going to be an equal pony...I can't call you my sister!" Hearing this made Octavia stop in her tracks. "What are you talking about, Pinkie? Pinkie said, "The reason I love you is because of all of the things that make you unique. Without that, you're nothing but a stranger to me." Vinyl Scratch scoffed at this. "Please, do you seriously expect that to have any effect on Tavi?" Octavia said, "...if being an equal pony would make me lose my sister...then I reject equality!" With those words, her equal sign cutie mark vanished, and a purple treble clef cutie mark emerged from Diamond Tiara's bag and took its place. And Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Starlight Glimmer emerged from the truth . . . Glimmer's horn glowed . . . and it spread from her, to every equal pony everywhere that made the choice free of her brainwashing, and the cutie marks flew everything back to their owners. Outside the world line, Amicitia grunted. "THAT . . . took a lot longer than it should have! REALLY LONGER than it should have! I'm scared to wonder what Nyarlathotrot was keeping me busy from." "Trust me sugar cube, it won't be pretty." "APPLEJACK?!" An Alicorn version of Applejack was before her outside the world line, but . . . she was as different from Veritas as Deus Ex Machinca was from Amicitia. "Not . . . Not really . . . well, once, maybe, hard to say, the name's Deconstruction. Maybe we'll see each other soon, maybe not, who can see? Just be ready for some nasty stuff . . . well, that goes without saying doesn't it?" Deconstruction vanished. Amicitia wondered what that was all about. - The battlefield had fallen silent. The changelings were descending to earth in orderly ranks, looking around in confusion. Gilda hobbled away, carrying one battered changeling, with several more supporting her. Nopony was close enough to hear the words exchanged by the pink Alicorns, but at the end of it, Cadenza had tears in her eyes and a brand new cutie mark, one that hadn't been in Diamond Tiara's bag or any cutie mark vault. Cadence threw her hooves around her sister from before time, and gave her a big hug. The only fighting still going on was between two exhausted, panting stallions, rolling back and forth in the mud as they snarled and grappled with each other, their snowy white coats caked in mud. Shining Armor pinned Snow Bound, and only then did the Alicorn realize how much larger he'd grown with his cutie mark restored, a true and regal guardian among Concepts. "Ah think ya'll can stop now," said AJ, smirking. "Unless you wanna go for round two!" said Pinkie brightly, as she passed out the winnings from the betting pool. The stallions looked at each other awkwardly. Shining Armor rolled aside, then staggered to his hooves, spreading huge wings for balance. "Uh... good match." Snow Bound fidgeted his hooves. "Yes. I am... glad we got that all sorted out. Excuse me." Slipping through the crowd, the earth pony chose a moment when nopony was watching and started to shift back into his wolf form for a meeting long overdue... only, nothing happened when he tried. Rota Fortuna tapped a hoof. She hadn't even bothered making herself invisible... what was one more Alicorn in this crowd? Snow gulped. "I..." "You took irresponsible risks," said Rota Fortuna slowly, as if this pained her... not her usual stoic self at all. "You ignored your duty." Snow Bound was taken aback, but he would not cower before Mother. "I fought against the Sameness, which could have ended all decisions, all fate in this world. The birth of a powerful Nightmare was averted." "It was," Rota allowed, "but you went too far. You played favorites with fate." She rested a hoof on his shoulder. "You are no longer able to be impartial." The stallion swallowed hard. "Then, I am prepared to accept your punishment, Mother." Rota Fortuna lifted her gaze, watching Twilight and Pane emerge from a portal and hug everyone around them. "Your punishment... is to live out the mortal life you've embraced, with your friends." Snow blinked. "But, my duties..." "Will be handled by your brother." She leaned and nudged an invisible presence, and a small white wolf pup appeared, staring up at him with wide, curious eyes. Rota fixed Snow with a stern glare. "We'll talk again afterward. Your former state, or judgment as a mortal. Your choice." Snow Bound watched them fade away, then smiled and headed back. Pinkie Pie was already cooking up a "We're so sorry for brainwashing you all" party. - Deconstruction was right, I didn't like what Nythy had created while I was gone. Nythy had made a new 'story' while I was away dealing with Starlight's universe...and it was a nasty one. Sunset Shimmer had...apparently there was a restaurant that he seemed to create solely for his own narrative, one with animatronic versions of us as mascots. It was owned by Applejack's family, and thus she was the star attraction...and a golden version of her animatronic. One night, while we and Applebloom were at a party there one night. Having fun...but it turns out we weren't alone. Sunset Shimmer had returned to Equestria and thanks to Nythy's tampering...she...she puts on the suit of the Golden Applejack robot and...uses it to get Applebloom to lure us into the back room and... Despite our combat experience and me being an Alicorn too...she killed us all with a knife. Yes...even Applebloom...after walking in on the scene afterwards. I wish I could say Nythy was merciful and spared Pinkie Pie, but Nythy has none...he didn't cause her death because he needed six victims and felt Applebloom was a much 'funner.' Yes, I thought he was sick too. Why Sunset? "She's the bad guy, Amicitia. I thought you'd much prefer this to your friends being my star this time," Nythy told me, gloating. "So I decided to do both." ...Rarity's spirit, who managed to possess a puppet's body. She wasn't killed with us...She killed herself out of grief...She put our spirits into the animatronics to preserve us, Applebloom in the same suit Sunset. And... We ended up slaughtering countless security guards thinking they're Sunset and blinded by rage and hate... Until finally Sunset comes back herself. Forced from her universe by the Sirens (we hadn't been there to stop them and she'd never taken back the Elements to it) and Celestia still unwilling to give her Alicornhood like she felt she deserved (still seeing the darkness in her heart, but relieved to see her, if only because she was unaware she was the killer, and that's in potential fates where she doesn't figure it out), she decided to take out her frustrations on the animatronics she'd unknowingly turned us into at losing the world she'd decided to make her own. I imagine Tirek only didn't conquer the world simply because Nythy preferred this tragedy to that one. She smashed us to bits...and unknowingly freed our souls to take our revenge, luring her into a faulty suit that's springlocks failed and...she was left with her soul imprisoned in that suit for decades while ours could finally rest in peace...but with many dead by our hooves and six new reapers now sharing Starlight Angel's burden as willing penance. The worst part is, the catalyst for this was not any of us. It was Sunset Shimmer herself...and until she became Nightmare Inferno and had her pride broken, she genuinely was a bad pony...there was no way I could convince her to turn good on the spot as I'd done with many others...so I had to do things a little differently. *Sunset, will this really get you what you want?* Tsk, who cares. This little life stealer staying on this side of the mirror living MY life? I can't even enjoy what I have at Canterlot High. I can't take it! She deserves it! And I can't leave any witnesses! Besides, if little miss fake is gone, then maybe Celestia will finally give me what I deserve. *And if she finds out?* ...She won't... *And if she does? Celestia is CELESTIA, she's smart...If she ever finds out, all her faith in you will be gone. You'll never get what you want.* ...Then...then I'll just be careful! *And...if you do this, doesn't that mean Twilight wins?* WHAT?! *If you do this, you'll be living TWILIGHT'S life, not yours...if you prove you're better and earn Celestia's good graces back, then you'll have none of these problems...besides. Isn't murder dressed as a fast food mascot beneath a pony like you?* ...I guess...I...I guess I just got so clopped off at seeing MY wings on HER I wanted her to pay...Eh, like I'd really be able to murder a foal anyway, I'm not that heartless. *If stealing her life isn't valuable, what else would earn Celestia's respect?* Duh, becoming an Alicorn. *And if the Elements made her an alicorn...* ...Maybe they can make me one...hehe...Now that's an idea I can get onboard with. While Sunset wouldn't admit it, even she was horrified she'd almost committed murder...just like she was horrified when she nearly killed us as Nightmare Inferno...only now, she carried the guilt of that failed plan with her...I don't think it's my place to say if she ever told that Twilight what she'd nearly done... Oh, and also the restaurant ended up getting new management, as with that Twilight still alive she realized how many safety hazards it had and got Applejack's relative to get a new manager...now that place would actually be happy. ...I hope that's the only rotten world Nythy cooked up while I was gone... - I had managed to get some good results before, running interference against my Nightmare self. But every time, I still felt like even letting her complete one loop was too many lives lost. Time to go back to the beginning. There's Twilight, getting ready to use the time travel spell for the first time. *Will it really be worth it?* Worth it...this horrible world will never have been, why wouldn't it... *If this world will have never been...what about Apple Pie?* With those two questions, Nightmare Purgatory was ultimately defeated while she is still nothing but a Lingering Nightmare. - Amicitia was overjoyed, and at the same time, so very frustrated. "I'm so close to where it really all began. Just a few words... that's all I need!" She cast her gaze back through time and saw it... the very first time... a Discorded Twilight Sparkle, wearing a useless crown of magic, ready to walk out and give up on her friends, on everything... Suddenly, it was too much, too tempting. * Don't give up! Please, it isn't hopeless, not yet... * Amicitia waited breathlessly to see what would happen. Nothing happened. Nothing happened anywhere, ever again... until a rainbow flash transported Amicitia into the body of a small Alicorn filly, sitting in the old pre-Discord Ponyville schoolhouse. A tall Alicorn stallion with a glorious rainbow aurora mane waved a pointer. "Alright Class, Kindly Close Your Books And Get Ready To Take The Test." "Test!?" yelped Amicitia. "I'm not ready! I haven't studied!" She rose from her desk, waving her hooves in a panic. "I don't even know what it's about!" A single sheet of paper fluttered over and magically settled onto her desk. It read, in plain type, "What happens when an eternal pillar of creation attempts to prevent her own birth?" Amicitia stared at it, ears drooping. "I'm sorry. I should have known better." The Teacher gave her a stern look, then nosed her warmly. "This Is Unlike You, Child. Why Don't You Take a Rest While I Fix This? Relax. Have Some Fun For Once." Amicitia blinked. "But..." "I Know Just The Place..." Rainbow light blinded her again, dropping her into a torchlit wooden hall... filled with wolves. Large, angry, ominously growling wolves. Blank Wolves. "Amicitia?" roared a particularly massive grey wolf, Rota Fortuna herself in dire wolf form. "You seem a little lost! This is the Wolf Bar. The All-Worlds Alicorn Bar is across the street!" The wolves roared with laughter, and Amicitia cringed, cheeks coloring. "Right... there's been a small mix-up! I'll just be going..." "Ah, ah!" Some of the wolves swiftly barred her way. Rota chuckled darkly. "You're in my territory now, and we have a rule here! Only members of the pack are welcome after dark." She twirled a claw. Two of the white wolves dashed off and brought back something like a rumpled purple rug. Not a rug... that was a wolf costume! Amicitia's pupils shrank to pinpoints. "Please wait... I'm sure we can..." That was as far as she got before the wolves mobbed her, fluffy tails all wagging. Then they backed away, revealing a perfect new purple wolf. The costume was good... it even hid her horn and wings somehow." An orange wolf with a golden mane hugged her. "Welcome ta the pack, Twi!" "One of us!" chanted the Opaque Wolves. "One of us!" hollered an oddly multicolored bunch of wolves... a bright candy red one, a younger yellow and red one, and an elderly green one. "Howdy," added the hulking brick-red wolf in the back. "One of us!" barked Blaze, Gloom of Night, Rain, Snow, and Sleet, sitting around a table playing poker. "One of us!" cheered a full dozen orange and purple wolf pups, bouncing happily all over the place and spilling their root beer. "Ugh, I am not one of you!" shouted Amicitia. "I'm not wearing this." She tried to yank the costume off, then yelped in pain. "Okay... you can make me wear it, but there's no way you can make me enjoy it!" Three hours later... "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!" sang Amicitia, swaying and off-key. She slammed down another hard apple cider while the grinning wolves around her chorused "We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot! Drink up me hearties, yo ho!" Three more hours later... A groaning Amicitia lay on the pavement outside the bar, cursing the early morning sunlight. At least she was finally herself again. Hoofsteps approached... Deus grinned, offering a hoof to help her up. "Oh, so you're the one who was using the costume! Heehee... I'll tell Rota to make another one so next time we can both go together!" Amicitia covered her face with a hoof. - "I even did some good while you were busy." "Oh no." "Don't worry! It's nothing fate shattering! In fact, I think I REMOVED a horribly traumatizing moment from Twilight Sparkle's life! I made a new an improved world line! I made it so ours friends and Celestia REALIZED she was right about the fake Cadence!" Amicitia's head was still pounding, she was a LAW OF THE UNIVERSE, how could a law of physics get a hang over?! "Wouldn't, that possibly make her more arrogant, since she went about it entirely the wrong way, but as fate would have it she was right after all?" Deus Ex Machina did a cat's cradle with the worldlines, taking a closer look. "Oh don't be silly! It's not like she's then going to be too proud to ask Spike to help her during the quest to retrieve the crystal heart! And--Uh-oh." Amicitia felt scared after Amicita's LAST 'improvement' resulted in a broken Equestria worldline. "WHAT 'Uh-oh?'" "I think I might have goofed myself . . . Twilight Sparkle got all her friends to realize that Cadence was evil and maybe an imposture and got her locked up in the dungeon and the wedding suspended and a search for the real Cadence . . .but . . ." "But what?" "Uh . . . eheheh, in THAT worldline? . . . Heheh, Chrysalis didn't invade, I'm not sure the changelings exist there. In that world? It REALLY WAS just stress making Cadence be a jerk, the secret hoof-shake from years ago slipped her mind after traveling the world, and the stress making her jump to the conclusion Minuette, Twinkle Shine, and Lyra were her friends just for the sake of social climbing, and she WAS using her magic to heal Shining Armor's headache . . . " "So you're saying . . . that version of me, SELF-RIGHTEOUS LOCKED-UP our beloved foalsitter and future sister-in-law?!" "Well . . . technically we got our FRIENDS and our BROTHER and MENTOR to lock-up their innocent Princess, Fiancee, and Niece . . . Which . . . hehe h, either leads to the changeling sending an imposter Cadence to be 'found' and 'rescued', and/or Twilight completely alienating her brother and sister-in-lawing, crushing her friends' trust in her ability to make right decisions, and Celestia's faith in her, and make Twilight unsure of every choice and hesitant to label even the most obvious of circumstances as evil." Dues Ex Machina made some pathetic, weak, nervous laughs. And Amcitia now felt sick and hung over. - "Um...on the bright side the Flutterponies are still alive and attending the wedding..." Deus said with a sheepish smile. "Enjoying the show, infantile concepts?" "Nyarlathotrot!" yelled Amicitia, giving a growl as the Shadows Darkness made his presence known. "What did you do?!" Grimdark Itself put a tendril to his chest. "Me? This is HER doing..." he said, pointing a hoof to Deus. Deus gasped. "M-Me?" "Did the Lost Age teach you nothing? When a change is made without proper thought, it WILL have consequences." As Deus pinned her ears, Amicitia growled. "That doesn't mean that you won't PREY on it." Nythy gave a laugh. "You've got me there...However, this time, I'm not the one you need to worry about." Deus blinked. "You're not?" "I'm not the only lion waiting in the dark to devour mortals. I hope you don't mind that I invited another of my cousins this time." Amicitia snapped back to the timeline in time to see a shapely blue unicorn with a light blue mane done up in a ponytail. A coyote totem necklace hanging around her neck, her Cutie Mark an apple with a serpent coiled around it. "Oh no..." ~~~ The mare was currently finishing a discussion with the emotionally vulnerable unicorn. "Just to go back over the terms. Sign here, and the spell will turn back the hands of time and you can be in the right." Twilight still had tears in her eyes. "W-What's the catch?" "Oh, nothing major, just an invite to the wedding and a chance to chat with the bride before it," Temptation in the shape of a pony replied, giving a reassuring smile. "Would you rather be in the right or in the wrong?" Twilight flinched, remembering her brother's anger. She nodded. "I...I want to be right." The 'helpful spirit' nodded and offered her a golden contract and a quill which Twilight desperately signed, not noticing Temptation's eyes flash orange. "Thank you dear...now...are you ready?" ~~~ Amicitia blinked. "But why would SHE ask...wait..." Amicitia looked at the contract closely from outside time. "Time will be undone, Twilight will get here due, her accusation this day shall be done, her accusation of evil will be true..." she gasped. "...Wait..." She saw the Flutterponies' existence be rewritten to a different form. "...The Changelings DIDN'T exist here before...but now they will...And Twilight doesn't realize this isn't a second chance..." Deus whimpered. "This...this isn't what I wanted!" "But why would she ask to..." Amicitia asked, then looked back to the timeline. "She's going to make a deal with Chrysalis too..." - Deus asked. "Deal?" "Yes deal!" - "What KIND?!" "I can't tell! That world line isn't fully formed yet! We need to repair this disaster!" "It seems, whenever any of my siblings have a wedding, I always have to jump to conclusions." Said a deputized angel. "Clover?" Amicitia gasped at her former incarnation. "What are YOU doing here?" "I had my friends to help fix up my sisters' wedding when I screwed it up thinking I was being the big hero. This Twilight doesn't have her friends right now, I want to help her SOMEHOW if I can!" - In another place, in her true form, Queen Chrysalis snarled at the strange and fearless pony that stood before her. Something inside of her shrieked to kill it; another gave a horrified warning against it. "It's very simple, niece," Ispita said. She held out a formal contract. "You want to become the Queen of Equestria and to become more than, well," she grinned. "More than a half-rotted bug pony." Chrysalis shivered with the urge to rip this vermin's throat out. The Changelings normally appearing as 'Cadence's' bridesmaids buzzed their wings in anger. Chrysalis raised one foreclaw and they calmed down, still regarding Ispita with glittering hatred in their eyes. "Get to the point." Chrysalis seized the contract with her magic. "Tell me why I shouldn't just burn this and you." "Because if you do, then you'll never look like this." Chrysalis and her escorts gasped as their forms rippled. It felt like their shapechanging was working properly for the first time ever as they gazed one each other, seeing forms more beautiful than words could say, magnificent beyond even the alicorns. Cadence and Celestia were sway-backed plug mules next to them. "Yes," Chrysalis preened herself. "No!" Her new form melted away and back into her normal form. She glared at Ispita. "That was no illusion. Those were our true forms. I know it somehow. How did you?..." "I didn't do anything," Ispita said. She made an image of Twilight Sparkle appear, signing the contract. Chrysalis ground her fangs to see herself change from the very image of Queen Rosedust to her current form, and her Flutter Ponies become the hideous love-sucking Changelings."She did. To make herself look like a hero instead of a donkey. She created you and your kind, Chrysalis." "I'll kill her," Chrysalis hissed, her horn glowing as she sent a bolt of energy through the image, dispelling it. "No, I'll control her and make her clean out the hive's latrines with her bare hooves. I'll..." "You won't be able to do anything if you get caught." Ispita gave an innocent smile and held out the contract. "Sign this and you won't be discovered until you have Canterlot under your control," for five minutes or until somepony else makes a deal to stop you, "I promise." Chrysalis bit at her foreleg and, blood dripping down her claw, signed her name to the contract in Ispita's magical grip. - "NO!" Amicitia snapped, going back from the world line. "There has to be a way to fix this! A way to repair this! The strength of my friendship between me and my friends is unbreakable! It can't be killed because of this! I can't lose my friends and my mentor's respect because of this! I can't lose this love! No! It can't! It won't! There has to be something I can do! There ALWAYS IS!" Clover hugged her, hugged herself. "Amcitia . . . calm down . . . we'll figure something out . . .I promise . . . we have to." "Something always goes wrong." Deus sighed. "What do you mean?" Amicitia asked, not really wanting to know. "Before we met . . . I tried to fix the wedding before . . . every pony listened to us . . . Cadence was thrown in the dungeon for not acting like Cadence . . . except, in that world . . . it turns out TWILIGHT SPARKLE was the one Chrysalis replaced, Shining Armor was never touched, . . . but 'Twilight Sparkle' took the chance to brainwash our five friends into her loyal minions . . . the . . . what did you call it? The ante, only kept going up from there." - "So, how did you fix that one?" asked Amicitia. "Anything that could help us now?" Deus blushed. "It... kind of fixed itself while I was still panicking. Somehow, Princess Luna became suspicious early on, and she secretly put the Night Guard on full alert. They came down on Chrysalis like a ton of bricks the moment she revealed herself, and without Shining Armor she couldn't just throw them out of the city." The younger Alicorn smirked, remembering. "Then it turned out that Chrysalis had banished Shining and Cadence to the crystal mines to get them out of the way, but they turned up again in the middle of the battle with the real Twilight Sparkle." Amicitia nodded thoughtfully. "I keep running into similar events, over and over again. Events that, for me, never had a chance to happen. This wedding. The changelings. The brother I never had." She focused her magic on the worldline that was in crisis now, drawing out an image of Shining Armor with vivid green eyes, standing on a balcony flanked by changeling guards, proclaiming Queen Chrysalis' new laws for Canterlot. The ponies below shouted angrily and threw rotten fruit at him, but he merely caught the missiles on a shield and ordered the changeling squads to fly down and arrest the "traitors." Amicitia shook her head. "If it was purely a matter of random chance and genetics, then I might have had any number of alternate brothers and sisters, but surprisingly often it's that pony, that Shining Armor. What it is about him..." She gasped, spotting the blue unicorn in the cloak, waiting close by. "And what does Temptation want with him?" - The sealed deity, trusted by Chrysalis as her benefactor touched a horn to Shining's head, using the deity favorite 'have an entire conversation in the space of a few seconds at the cost of a massive headache later' spell. Shining Armor, beneath the Queen's brainwashing, stood Ispita, in the mindscape taking the shape of an Alicorn. "W-Who?" Shining Armor asked. "Who are you?" "My name is Mara, consider me a deity with a very personal stake in all of this," 'Mara' said. "And you've met an awful fate, haven't you?" Shining looked down. "...I...I want to just...I don't WANT to do this...but...I can't stop her...Cadence...Twiley." 'Mara' gave a look of well practiced 'sympathy'. "I know...isn't it unfair? Your wedding day stolen..." "...I know..." "The one who you want to protect more than anything now a prisoner." "...Yeah..." "You beloved little sister in the biggest danger she's been in since Discord." "...Y-Yeah..." "All the while you're standing here, held back by invisible chains that hold you back," Mara said, circling him like a serpent. Shining Armor saw the image of Twilight and Cadence in a cage right in front of him, he attempted to reach them but was held back by sickly green chains from moving one inch closer. "It's the most unfair thing in the world isn't it? To have somepony you want to protect but can't..." Mara said softly. "Isn't it?" "Y-Yes...it's...Twilight...Cadence..." Amicitia gasped, watching dark tendrils begin climbing up. Something she saw that Shining Armor didn't was a little filly with a yellow flower in her black sun hat who'd introduce herself as 'I'm scared' if asked, holding out a crown. "She's...why?! How does..." Nythy chuckled. "Oh, Twilight, you should know better than anyone, considering the worlds YOU'VE saved from her. Ispita's bread and butter is desperation...Her creed is 'take the easy way out'." Something clicked in Amicitia's head. "Oh no...Chrysalis and Shining are just secondary targets...They're just tools to get to..." Deus gasped. "...Us..." "...She's going to try and get Twilight to release her by escalating the situation as high as it will go...So Twilight thinks her only option is to free her to undo her mistake." [=-Noi! the Clara Dolls - Madoka Magica Rebellion=] "And it's not just you, is it?" Mara asked Shining. "It's every big brother, big sister, good queen, or soldier...all of them one day see somepony suffer they could have helped but they just can't..." Shining shuddered, darkness continuing to surge up. "...And when that happens, they see their loved ones hurt...their own hearts broken...they both lose so much because something got in the way." "Everypony ends up hurt because of that unfairness...It's so sad that no pony can do anything about it..." "...I can..." "NO!" yelled Amicitia. "I'll make it fair..." A red crystal in the shape of Shining's Cutie Mark exploded in darkness, converting to a blood red, sharp pointed version of itself. The unicorn smirked, severing the connection and vanishing into purple smoke as darkness erupted around Shining Armor, blowing all those around him in all direction his mind deemed as evil. The black magic surged around him, forming a pitch black shield sphere before exploding outwards in a cascade of darkness. When the transformation ended, Shining Armor was replaced by an Alicorn Stallion with dark grey fur, his Cutie Mark now magenta shield with blue stars. His armor was similar to that of a royal guard, except onyx in color. Draconic blue eyes stared out, showing utter hatred for the Changelings and all their leader represented. Chrysalis gasped. "What?!" "...I am Nightstallion Phalanx. You are a threat to Equestria...all threats to Equestria will be terminated." Chrysalis had to fly to dodge a massive beam of darkness tainted magenta magic. The Queen snarled. "I'm not letting all that awaits me be denied!" she roared, flying into the battle. "...Shining..." Amicitia muttered as Chrysalis and Nightstallion Phalanx battled it out, Phalanx's power infecting any Royal Guard around him and converting them into his nights, escalating the battle into a war in the middle of Canterlot. An even one between two forces of mass destruction. Deus was panicking. "I keep trying to change something but...it's like somepony is just using it to make things worse." Nythy gave a laugh. "Don't you know dear?" he questioned, trotting forwards. "When you alter the past, a deity will always recall it...Ispita may be sealed, but she IS a Deity. So...every time you try to alter the past she forged with this dark wish, you're just showing her more and more who the key players she should be keeping an eye on are." Amicitia nodded grimly. "...The only way we can fix this...is to help Twilight stop it NOW...attempting to change the past is what started this mess, it CAN'T be what ends it." - Deus whimpered. "I just, wanted every pony to listen to Twilight." Amcitia sighed. "It was a lesson Twilight Sparkle had to LEARN! It was a lesson every pony there had to learn. From the changelings themselves to the ponies. It wasn't fair to Cadence or Shining Armor, but every pony got their happy ending in the end. Shining Armor has turned into a nightmare in the name of fairness! Starlight Glimmer became a monster without becoming a Nightmare in the name of fairness! Unfairness is awful, but forced fairness is horrific!" Amicitia realized she was sitting on a big cosmic soap box. "Seriously, we need to help Twilight stop this before it gets EVEN WORSE and Ispita gets her, or one of the others into a corner where releasing her becomes the lesser of two evils!" Deus sighed. "I never meant for the flutter ponies to be turned into changelings in this world line too!" - Nightstallion Phalanx and Queen Chrysalis locked hooves, wings pumping hard as they shoved each over back and forth in the sky. She snarled, building up a surge of energy to blast him away. He grinned darkly, matching her, until both of them had to dart away from a titanic midair blast that rained smoke and ash over the merchant district. "It's all so simple, when you think about it," said Phalanx with a sneer. "Celestia and Luna failed to protect Equestria. Heck, Celestia failed to protect Equestria from her own sister. Shining Armor failed to protect Equestria. You don't win a war by hiding behind a shield! When ponies with power just sit back on their hooves and wait for evil to come to them, innocent ponies suffer and die! No more!" He rubbed the chin of his horned black helmet with an armored hoof, thinking. "They say the best defense is a good offense, right? That's what I am now." Dozens of magenta shield orbs spun into existence, then flattered into spears floating on his left and right. "The Best Defense!" The spears began hurtling towards Chrysalis in twos and threes. Chrysalis dodged and weaved expertly, evading some spears, knocking others out of the sky with bursts of emerald chaff, and darting behind buildings when the rest approached. Each spear that hit a castle wall instead of the changeling queen punched a foot into solid stone. Down below, a brown unicorn pony looked both ways, then darted out of an alleyway, only to have a stray spear give him the fright of his life... but the glowing spear froze and dissipated, inches from his chest. Phalanx casually teleported next to him, fixing him with burning draconic eyes. "Stay off the streets for now, citizen. Canterlot will be safe once again..." He clenched a hoof. "Once I've crushed our enemies." "You don't have to tell me twice!" whimpered the fleeing unicorn. Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Hmph! What is it about becoming a nightmare that makes a pony want to talk and talk and talk?" Phalanx scowled, suddenly incensed. "Don't you even start!" The nightstallion drew enough power to make all the glowgems in the area flicker, conjuring a floating magical sword big enough to decapitate a great wyrm... a two-hooved greatsword, Shining's old arms master would have called it, though historically few earth ponies had ever been both strong and crazy enough to wield such a weapon. "I might have been under your spell, but I remember every word of every crazy rant!" He took a swing at Chrysalis... the sword moved *fast*, and she lost a few flakes of chitin. "Blah blah blah, survival of the fittest! Fate is so mean to me, boo hoo!" He swung again... Chrysalis dodged frantically, and the sword lopped off the top third of a castle tower. Tons of bricks and mortar came crashing down into an empty street. Chrysalis tisked. "Impressive destructive force... a pity it's in the hooves of a foal having a temper tantrum!" Suddenly, three steel orbs glowing with Kabuto's alchemical runes rose into the air behind her. "I will make better use of it." The changeling queen smiled. "You've played right into my hooves." - "NO!" Amicitia gasped. "NO!" Clover fluttered on her wings. "HAVE EVERYPONY FORGOTTEN I'M EVEN HERE?! WHY DOES EVERYPONY FORGET ABOUT ME AND MY FRIENDS?! WHY?! Because it's not cool enough to hate us like Minty's world, but not cool enough to like us like Megan's adventures?! WHY?! I'M HERE BECAUSE I SCREWED UP MY BIG SIBLINGS' WEDDING BY JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS TOO!!!! I CAME HERE TO help Twilight figure out a way to fix things WITHOUT having to make a deal with a demon or some horse apples like that! BUT ALL ANY OF YOU STUPID CONCEPTS HAVE DONE SO FAR IS IGNORE ME!!!! YOU THINK I CAN'T HELP SOMEHOW?!"