• Published 10th Mar 2012
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Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Magic - nightelf37



Basically, it's a 'retelling' of the popular "Friendship is Magic" TV series with an OC.

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BONUS 3: OaC&A Report

Bonus 3: OAC&A Report

A few weeks after the Grand Galloping Gala, as well as an extremely special event, Chronicle found himself being called to Story Crew Equestria once again. He was currently in some sort of interrogation room. His twin sister Timerity sat beside him and opposite them was their father Lord Record Keeper, who was looking rather cross. Right now, he was in his humble earth pony form, but was no less intimidating.

As it was, they were involved in a serious breach of Story Crew protocol; unless they already do so on their own, inhabitants of a world without reliable and "commercial" means of cross-world/space/intergalactic travel are not allowed to discover the existence of other worlds through Field Operatives. They're also not supposed to know that the Field Operatives are not "world natives" if that is the case.

"All right, Chronicle," Record began in a stern tone. "Explain to me how you and your friends ended up in Solaris Equestria where your sister is assigned in." He pointedly aimed his eyes at Timerity on finishing this sentence.

Th unicorn stallion gave a deep sigh. "All right, all right, Dad. It's like this. For starters, I did not take them there. My friend Twilight Sparkle is to blame. No, she did not intend to teleport to where we ended up. In fact, it was supposed to be just a trip to Manehattan, where Applejack once went to as a filly to live with her cousins the Oranges. Anyway, after our…crash landing, it was only when we saw her world's versions of Bon Bon and Heartstrings did I have an idea on where I was."

F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

As Twilight and company looked over the park, a pair of manes peeked over the edge of a bench's back. A mint-green with a stripe, and a more curly pink-and-purple do.

Suddenly all six mares and one stallion were tripping over each other as they galloped to the bench. Twilight was the first to round the corner as she spun and faced them. "Lyra! Bon Bon! It's so good to—" She stopped in mid-sentence as she stared in wide-eyed confusion. The rest of the group caught up with her, and one-by-one, they too paused and stared, Dash adding a gaping mouth to hers.

The two ponies on the bench were giving them confused looks of their own. The green one was a unicorn, perched on their rear with their back against the rest, hind legs draped over the edge in exactly the way a pony doesn't sit. Curled up next to the pony, was a cream-coated equine with wide blue eyes.

What surprised the group was the fact that these two also possessed sloped and squared noses, a slightly larger stature, and toned chests. Though the green pony had a lyre cutie mark, and the earth-pony a trio of candies... these two were unmistakably stallions.

"Um..." the not-Bon Bon started. "Can we help you?"

Oh dear, Chronicle grumbled. Dad's gonna kill me if he finds out.

E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"Still, I managed not to have to explain my origins…yet. Even when my friends speculated on Gray Equestria, where the Sonic Rainboom didn't happen and where our cousin Mindy a.k.a. Dark Narrative is, even hinted on Luna Equestria, where Blue Diary is assigned to. Anyway, we then went to the library to look for answers. Thankfully, it was empty… or so we thought. As it was, Dusk Shine's assistant Barbara was there and nearly found us."

Timerity decided to join in the explanation. "Dusk was outside where he found the place they arrived in, while I was at Magic Armour's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns."

The unicorn stallion turned to his sister. "Even now, I still can't believe you actually met with and are a co-teacher with your world's counterpart of Mystic Shield in mine."

The mare agreed. "Strange, isn't it?"

F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" came a voice from upstairs, followed by the patter of dragonoid feet.

"Let me handle this," Chronicle said as he took out his black coat and quickly put it on, completely concealing his identity. He then got the others to leave just as—

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was napping! I'll be down innaWOAA-HOHOAAH!!"

The small dragon had tripped, their journey down the stairs a bumpy one. As they finally landed in a heap at the bottom, Chronicle got a good look at whom Timerity called Barbara. This small dragon was indeed about as big as Spike, but she had lime green spines, which were smaller and a bit limp, and her ears were also somewhat larger and were folded down, acting like bangs.

The purple lizard got back on her feet, before dusting herself off. "Sorry about that. Just not my day today... oh!"

E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"Anyway, she didn't recognize me or connect me to Timerity and just saw me as a customer who was new in town," Chronicle continued. "She did suspect the cloak though, but I managed to make a good excuse. I requested Supernaturals, the very book that provided the cure to poison joke. I also ran into Dusk Shine, but he didn't notice anything that would've connected me to my sister either. I made it out without problems, but then I encountered a new one.

"Because this is their first time in another world, Twilight thought 'never the selves shall meet' lest we pull a paradox and cease to exist. We needed a place to hide, but she also reasoned that whatever they knew, their male counterparts did too. That extended to my 'female counterpart'."

"Even though it's obvious that I'm not him as a girl nor is he me as a guy," Timerity pointed out.

"That was before they found out our family connection. Or that I indeed ended up in your Equestria. Anyway, we received some help from her world's Cutie Mark Crusaders and got them to take us to a hideout called the Hedge, which was in the Everfree Forest. No encounters with Zircon—her world's counterpart for Zecora—thankfully. I should also note that Silver Bell, unlike Sweetie Belle, knows some magic.

"He was considered by Magic Armour as a potential student, but refused him because of his clumsiness. The only reason me and my friends didn't end up in their Equestria as well is because the events in my world that mirror his are separated by a couple of minutes, maybe half an hour or more. From what Dusk told me, he was even considering trying out the mass long-distance teleportation spell before sensing the anomaly that was Chronicle and company arriving.

"When I came in, he was reading the book his female counterpart had read that led to this, then realized something; the stranger who had visited had a blue coat, an orange-yellow mane, and sounded like a mare. He thought it was me, but I said it wasn't, even though I owned a similar cloak. He then asked me if I had any relatives with similar colors, I said I did, but did not go into any specifics.

"He then read deeper into something Twilight apparently didn't, although the dimension-travel could be reason enough for the 'event mirroring' to not happen."

Chronicle then spoke up again, their father listening intently. "Meanwhile, even though I already volunteered, Fluttershy went shopping since we were in hiding and all, and none of us were good at foraging, not that the bushes that made the Hedge had anything edible. While I was doing reconnaissance elsewhere, hiding from my sister's magical clones, she bumped into Butterscotch, and they nearly got…you know…"

"In any case, the two eventually parted without much suspicion, but then Rainbow Blitz met up with his fellow pegasus buddy and talked with 'Scotch for a while before the subject went on romance, which Blitzy wasn't into."

"Blitzy?", Chronicle interrupted with a teasing laugh.

His sister blushed as she turned away. "Hey! I have the right to call him whatever I want, okay?"

"Okay." He turned back to Record. "Anyway, I got back shortly after Fluttershy and met back at the Hedge. There, they discovered that that paradox thing between the 'meeting the selves' is wrong. However, there came a new problem Twilight discovered; problems in the long run about 'meeting the selves' and that it should be avoided for as long as possible. Very aggravating. She asked me to be careful since my 'female counterpart' could get suspicious, and we all know we have our differences apart from gender."

"Right, though again they didn't know that yet. Dusk was reading more on the theory of alternate selves when Blitz went in and told him about Butterscotch's encounter and that he's seen my possible 'alternate counterpart' thereabouts. At first, he thought Chronicle was just another of my magical clones, but he bumped into some stuff and did not dissipate."

"Hey, I couldn't've used that black cloak for long," her brother retorted. "It would make me conspicuous in a different way."

She ignored him. "After seeing me in the library, when he asked if any of my clones were out in Ponyville wearing whatever by brother was wearing, when I said no, Dusk then told Blitz to notify him at once if he sees anypony he doesn't recognize. And to make it easier, he ordered me to dismiss all my clones immediately, that any further ones will be attacked on sight just to be safe, and that I stay by Dusk's side until then." She seethed on recalling the memory. "The nerve! Even though it could be just a relative of mine, he wanted to make absolutely sure."

"On the second day, I had to work extra hard on my reconnaissance and shopping due to that condition. Of course, having to have to stay in hiding got my friends cranky. While I'm not above stealing, my friends are and Applejack was sent off to buy supplies. I put my stealth work to the limit and got into Sugarcube Corner a few minutes before Applejack did, ordering some snacks, though I lay off of the cupcakes."

"Still getting those nightmares?" Timerity teased.

"A bit. Anyway, I saw Applejack leave and continue buying, only to run into Applebuck (his counterpart in my world Apple Bloom), who was tending to his brother's stall. She also encountered Butterscotch. And her male counterpart."

"Things got a bit tense and she almost said something Applejack had said exactly some time before. Before he could delve in the matter any further, we all saw Blitzy chasing Rainbow Dash. There was no way she could've outflown him, yet she did, and even did the Double Rainboom."

"I'm sure it was done thanks to both of them. I mean, there's a reason it's called the Double Rainboom, right?"

"No, your Rainbow pulled it off without him; the force of the boom pushed him back. And while my friends were watching, you and your Applejack slipped away."

"Yeah. Anyway, we made it back to the Hedge without any followers, where Twilight voiced her worries of them falling in love with our gender-swapped selves. But you know we're not into that sort of thing, right?"

"All too true. Again, they didn't know we were brother and sister at that time, though."

"Of course, Twilight was ballistic from all this. And worse, her friends—" he emphasized on his sister. "—or Dusk at least at that time, were now aware of us."

"Back at the library, I haven't since left, even though I haven't yet asked for a leave of absence from Magic Armour. Thankfully, she came and asked and I told and she understood. Anyhow, Blitz returned with a bruise on his face. A bruise left by Dash. After hearing about the Double Rainboom, Dusk soon confirmed an idea on what Twilight already knew; alternate worlds."

"At the third day, Rarity was already complaining about her hair condition, and I still couldn't transfer my magic to my charge. She had to go out because the sunflower oil, an ingredient we used to get here unintentionally, had slipped all our minds, even me. I still offered to go, and I also learned a temporary cutie-mark removing spell while I was at it. And some more disguising techniques. Little did I realize until later that she planned to meet—"

"Elusive. A very interesting encounter even though I don't like the guy too much. Seriously, he tries every so often to make a dress for me."

Chronicle raised an eyebrow at this. "Wow. Not once did Rarity ever thought of forcing a suit on me."

"Another reason we're so different. I probably have that look that calls, 'Dress me up!'. Sometime after Rarity and my brother left, Dusk, Barbara, and I were searching in the forest for you-know-who."

"Meanwhile, I was planning to go to the library to see if I would indeed see you instead of an actual female counterpart of myself. Of course, you weren't home."

Record was a little confused on the inconsistency of the 'report'. "I thought you knew you ended up in her world."

"That's what I assumed too at first, but I later had doubts and needed to be absolutely sure. Anything's possible with so many alternate worlds out in the cosmos."

"All too true," their father agreed. "Continue."

Timerity decided to take it from here. "Anyway, While Rarity was making love with Elusive, at least that's what I think they were doing, Rainbow Blitz came in and tried to oust 'Lucy''s female counterpart, but it wasn't doing well, so he convinced him to have her stick around while he fetches Dusk Shine. Meanwhile, speaking of him, our stakeout continued and we kept ending up ending our search near where Chronicle's friends were hiding. Just as Dusk was wondering if they were in there or not, Blitz came over with the news. Immediately, we were off. I wanted to stay behind, but he insisted I stay with him until all those 'weird ponies' have been rounded up."

Chronicle decided to take over once more. "During that time, I checked the library and no one was there. I then checked Magic Armour's dojo, and she was there with her students. And believe me I never thought she'd be such a beauty."

F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

After bypassing Alex and Lexi, the male counterparts of the spa sisters Lotus and Aloe, Chronicle, wearing a cloak similar to what Zecora wore, went up to Magic Armor's dojo, and opened it to take a peek.

Inside, ignoring her students, his eyes locked upon Magic Armour. Obviously, her colors and cutie mark were similar to Mystic Shield, but her mane was styled in a bob (styled that way for the week it turns out), her tail was clean and shaped like Twilight Sparkle's, and in place of an ascot was a bonnet. And she looked gorgeous, something Mystic never pulled the effect on. Then again, he wasn't attracted to males.

And the way she moved, the way she cast her spells, and the way she directed her students…

Just then, he saw Magic notice him, and he quickly left before he was found out and was left slightly flustered.

E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"Still nothing on Fluttershy, though. Speaking of which, she came up to Elusive's boutique to fetch Rarity, disguised of course, however crude. They managed to get away, and I soon returned in a separate time."

"As for me, Dusk, and Blitzy, we arrived a few minutes too late," Timerity continued. "Already, I was beginning to prefer Elusive less and Dusk was beginning to doubt himself much more. Of course, we never thought to ask Silver Bell or Applebuck as we didn't think they met them."

"Back at the Hedge, all the ingredients were ready, and after bashing Rarity on what she did, we prepared to go home. Unfortunately, not only did the spell fail, I still can't transfer magic over to her nor could I assist in her spell since not only does it need power, it needs skill, and I don't have the time, patience, or knowledge to help her. Asking Dusk wasn't an option as Twilight still feared the worst, even though the 'paradox risks' have already been proven false. The next day, we faced another problem, rather than Dusk Shine coming over, it was—"

"Berry Bubble. Upon reaching the Hedge, his Sense went wild."

"Coincidentally, Pinkie's went off too. Then again, nothing's a coincidence when it comes to the Pinkie Sense. And Berry Sense." He gave a look to his sister. "Anyway, he called out to us and what he said eventually made Pinkie vanish and join Berry. We couldn't follow because Angela, her Equestria's counterpart for Angel, was in and was gonna snitch us. We locked her in our pantry, then took off with Applejack after our friend, with disguises of course."

"Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Elusive encountered the two, then fainted on the spot. The two then went to Sugarcube Corner and started working."

"Unfortunately, we hadn't gotten around to Pinkie Swearing, so she ended up blurting out our secret, but since Pinkie's like Berry it was passed off as randomness. They then started to leave to shop for partying supplies. Applejack and I came in together and asked Mrs. Cake—who was colored like Mr. Cake in my world, and the same goes vice-versa—about our friend. After getting directions, we continued our search and encountered two fillies named Sugar and Spice."

"Counterparts for your Snips and Snails, I presume?"

"Yes. Anyway, we had them in our sights and caught them, only to encounter her Applejack. We tried to leave, but things got complicated. Applejack made a slip of the tongue by mentioning the Clover Derby—which I never got the chance of participating in—and was known only by the Apple family and the Mayor. With that, the three of us bid farewell and got the hay out of dodge."

"Only to then really hightail it when Dusk, Barbara, and I saw you and we took chase, followed by Applejack and Berry."

Record interrupted their (overly long) report by raising a hoof. "Please hold up. I'm getting confused with the two Applejacks. It doesn't help that they share the same name."

"Apologies," said his (only) daughter. "That's the problem with gender-neutral names. Anyway, I caught up with my fellow farmpony and we tried to reason with them. However, things took a turn for the more hectic as my Applejack began to use the lasso. I also began to open fire on my brother, whom I thought was just a gender-swapped version of me just like he did."

"It was a tense chase," agreed Chronicle. "Running from my 'female self'—as I thought at that time—and trading blows one who shared my skills never felt so…so…" He couldn't find the words for it. "I don't know. Midway, I broke off from my friends in hopes of getting any of our pursuers to come after me. Unfortunately, I got my sister and I eventually stopped to face off against her. Even though I had a clear look on who she was, I didn't think it was her until much later."

"We dueled. Hard. We even drew our 'magic horn blades', but that wasn't proof enough to show each other that we weren't just gender-swapped versions of each other."

"However, she then used some other spell that I knew only my sister had knowledge of; the 'cat-claw'." Timerity demonstrated—even though their father already knew—by raising a hoof, then magic began to form around it, taking the shape of claws. "I knew immediately that the mare in front of me was my sister…and that she wasn't in the mood to listen, so I escaped after pretending to just duck behind a tree."

"I was so frustrated from that, then I decided to check up on my Applejack, only to find out that he lost them. Dusk, Barbara, and Berry caught up by the time I found him. When Berry mentioned where he found Pinkie, Dusk asked him if he remembered the place, only to find out he doesn't. He got so frustrated he entered a state my brother would've been scared of had he seen it."

"Which one? The fire one, or the psycho-cute one?"

"Fire."

"Oh. Back in the Hedge, we discussed what happened, and Twilight got into a point of despair, thankfully snapped out by Fluttershy, who then asked if she felt…weird when her other self was nearby. Everypony else had those same feelings too, save for me for obvious reasons. My charge considered us leaving, perhaps to Manehatten, but the other alternative came; meeting up with them on our own terms.

"Of course, she was vehemently against it, but only because she was scared of meeting Dusk and of what might happen, not to mention all her other paranoid thoughts like being locked up or being sent to the moon. Believe me, I once asked Celestia about this and she said she can't do such a thing without the Elements. In the end, she decided to go, and as her bodyguard, I accompanied her. We went to the library, and saw Dusk poring through a heavy book."

"I was there with him, being a late sleeper," Chronicle's sister continued. "While my charge read Aristrotle's rules of Causality, as he did, I heard Twilight begin to quote from the book in tandem with him. Once they finished the Final Cause, he then asked her what she needed, and and she answered…"

F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"...All we want…all we want... is just to go home..."

Dusk Shine, mane in disarray from the late night reading, remained still for a few more seconds before turning around and seeing his female counterpart for the first time with her hooded companion. His pupils shrunk at the sight as he then gestured Timerity to turn as well.

And she did, seeing the hooded mare-faced stallion. She didn't attack him though; after all, she was just caught up in the moment during the chase earlier in the day.

"My name is Dusk Shine," her charge said. "I am the prized student of our benevolent leader, Prince Solaris, ruler of Equestria. And I am also the librarian of the Books and Branches Ponyville Public Library, renamed Golden Oaks Ponyville Public Library after the…parasprite infestation."

After a while, Dusk's counterpart said, "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am the prized student of our benevolent leader, Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. And I am ALSO… the librarian of the Books and Branches Ponyville Public Library ALSO renamed Golden Oaks Ponyville Public Library after the…parasprite infestation."

Timerity tuned out their small talk and comparisons of each other's friends as she continued perusing the hooded pony as he then revealed his face. He looked like her brother all right, but he could easily be a male counterpart of herself. There's only one way to find out…

Just after the two finished comparing their fellow Keepers of the Elements of Harmony, Dusk then said, "Timerity?"

Twilight replied, "Chronicle."

Upon hearing that name, Dusk's charge raised her eyebrows, speechless and sputtering for a moment, then turned to the mare-faced stallion in front of her and said, "Chronicle… if that's really you… recite the oath our father has made us memorize each day."

He took a few deep breaths, then began to recite as he 'took out' the white glove Pinkie Pie had given him and 'made' a series of complex motions with it, manipulating its fingers and moving it around. "In fearful day, in raging night."

Timerity 'took out' a similar glove and made maneuvers with it as well, complimenting it with Chronicle's but not mirroring them. "With strong hearts full, our souls ignite," she continued.

"When all seems lost in the War of Light, look to the stars—for hope burns bright," they finished in tandem.

Why did Dad have to make us memorize the oath of the Blue Lanterns?, Chronicle grumbled before finding his sister's front legs around him in a hug.

"Oh, brother! It's so good to see you again!", she exclaimed. Definitely my brother; a male counterpart of me would've mirrored my moves. He returned the hug for a few seconds before they broke off…after which she then punched him in the face, shocking and leaving their charges puzzled.

"What was that for?!" Chronicle managed to sputter, still in disbelief that his sister punched him.

"What else do you think?! It's for sending your friends here! You very well know we're not supposed to do that!"

Luckily for Chronicle, Twilight butted in. "Actually, that was my fault."

Timerity turned to the mare version of her charge and gave a "Hmm?"

"We were just trying to visit Manehattan. Applejack said she knew the place well, and I had found this book called—"

"Exploring the Aether for Fun and Profit?", Dusk cut in, taking out the spell book from the shelves.

E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"They then pieced together all of the events that have transpired, and they figured out the time gap between our Equestrias and that the arrival of Chronicle and his friends perhaps spared the possibility of me and my friends experiencing what had happened in my world in theirs."

"And as I suspected, All this 'keep away from the other self' was not because of wanting to affect it since that was unavoidable; Twilight was afraid of Dusk because she didn't know how to treat him. Once they finished talking about Spike and Barbara, and about the awkwardness of talking to oneself, though of a different gender, and the issue of where to sleep…"

F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"Dusk, I-I...Do you want to... y'know... share the bed?", Twilight asked.

The male bookworm stopped in his tracks, and looked at her in disbelief. Slowly, he turned his body back around to give her a long gaze. She returned his look with equal curiosity.

"...um... are you sure that'd be... proper?"

"Well... why not? Either way it's okay, I'd still wake up with myself."

Timerity groaned. "Are you sure about that, Twilight? Why not sleep with me while my brother sleeps with Dusk? I'm still not comfortable sharing a bed with Chronicle."

"Speaking of which, I wanted to ask you about that," Dusk said.

"About what?"

"Your brother."

"What about him?"

"Unlike the rest of us, not only are you two actually different in ways aside from gender, you two actually seem to know each other very well," Twilight pointed out. "Just who are you two?"

The two blue, carrot-top-blond unicorns turned to one another,Timerity with a sheepish grin, and Chronicle with a stern glare. While he was indeed partly responsible for coming here, it was she who implied they were related, which would not be the case were they really just gender-swapped versions of each other.

"Umm…is it possible for you to keep this between ourselves?" Timerity asked. "Or will you be telling the rest of our friends?"

"Why don't we save this matter for tomorrow?" Chronicle suggested. "If we are going to tell our friends, might as well do it all at once. We got a lot of explaining to do, and we don't want to tell it twice." And depending on whether or not Barbara will be in on this, I'll be telling Spike, too.

E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"In the end, our charges slept with each other and I slept with my sister. It wasn't that comforting, even with our current forms. The next day, we went to the Hedge to get my friends out and gather them to Ponyville, where we talked about what we could've done. Just as we reached the library however, Dusk left a note for Barbara to gather the others."

"Applejack, Blitzy, Berry, 'Lucy', and 'Scotch. I considered letting Magic Armour in as well, but decided against it. Anyway, once we reached the library, all sorts of conversations ensued, especially comparisons between our Equestrias. Once that was over, Dusk and Twilight reminded me and my brother to explain our…origins."

Record turned stern at this and spoke in a manner that made it clear he was not happy about this. "What did you tell them and how much?"

"All we said was that we hailed from another world, and that we were sent down on a secret mission. And that we were sworn not to tell what it was, only that there was no ill intent, which we Berry and Pinkie Swore on. We didn't mention our true forms either."

Their father seemed content with this as he nodded. "Good."

"While Dusk and Twilight got to work, the rest of us played games like Go Graze—which is their version of Go Fish—and Texas Hold 'Em, we also began comparing stuff I did to my sister's. Like after Berry sang his Laughter song, Timerity joined in the laughing at the end and continued laughing louder for so long that she had to be dragged along."

"Come on. A bunch of scared boys is much funnier than a bunch of scared girls."

Timerity's brother agreed. "True. Or that a slumber party was awkward with boys. Or that you managed to evade Applejack's buck on your face whereas I didn't back when they overworked themselves during applebuck season."

"Or that I don't share your fear of beings-with-fire-coming-out-of-their-bodies-save-for-phoenixes-and-firebreathers or cuties-going-mad."

"And that you jumped in yourself to try and save the Wonderbolts and thus needed Rainbow Blitz to save you as well after Elusive knocked you out."

"Uh-huh. And a lot more comparisons. Soon, our charges were finished with the preparations and it was time to leave. While we knew Chronicle and I could see each other anytime via our dreams, it was highly unlikely for our fellow EOH keepers to meet again. They even asked if they could pass messages to each other through us, although we gave a perhaps-false assurance that after this, our events will mirror one another's again."

"Even though we aren't the same pony but of different genders. Just as the ritual began, the Crusaders crashed in. As it was, Fluttershy had left them a note of thanks. There were tearful farewells from them and—surprisingly—from both our Rainbows. In the end, we finally returned home."

"A few days passed, and when Spike asked where we've been, Twilight jokingly recommended he read some sci-fi Nann-ga—otherwise known to us as manga—and took him to the Hedge, where the rest of my friends were waiting. Along with our Crusaders and Spike, we had a pizza party, although I still had no idea how ponies would eat it."

"Incidentally, we had a party on the Hedge as well. There, Dusk asked Barbara to send a special letter to Solaris—still can't remember if he was a Lord or Prince."

"You're still confused as to what his title is?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Timerity seriously needed to be certain. "When I asked him later through a curious letter, it turns out that not only the letter was actually meant for Princess Celestia, the two of them have means of contacting each other. Things went normal after that."

"Also, since Barbara was in on our secret, I thought it'd be fair to tell Spike too." Chronicle finished. "I'm sorry."

Record just rubbed his head with his hoof, taking in everything, then finally said, "Well it can't be helped. Is that all on that incident?"

"Yes, Father. Yes it is."

"All right. I'll try to appeal with the higher-ups on your case. No promises on what they'll have to do in response though."

"Yes, Father," both of them sullenly replied. Responses to these violations usually result in a lot of interference by the Story Crew, most involving selective memory wipes and evidence removal. It was very tiring work. Worse, the Field Operatives might be pulled out, all trace of their time in their assigned worlds removed, down to the memories of whatever friends they made.

That was what happened with the Shisno siblings Idano, Aixata, and Moritz, who were assigned to the world Four Nations. They had done so many 'deviations', have told their native friends from the get go (well, after one of them suffered an accident that revealed a non-natural part of him) that they were not native to the world, and have openly used technology ahead of its time, they would've been long since pulled back were it not for the discovery that their rivals the Book Troop were doing the same.

Once the bad guys were taken care of (i.e. the Book Troop Field Operatives killed or detained for arrest), the three were pulled out, and their friends' memories wiped, but the damage has been done, and the 'recorded' results to be sent to the client worlds were rather…"less than satisfactory" in their point of view.

C—T—RK—C—T—RK—C—T—RK—C—T—RK

As Timerity and Chronicle left the interrogation room, they were greeted by their younger brother.

"Blue Diary!" they greeted.

"Hey guys," he greeted in return. "How was the…interrogation?"

"It went well," Timerity answered. "How was the Gala? Ours were total disasters no thanks to some of our friends." Chronicle nodded as the two unicorns scowled a it, since their events mirror one another in a lot of ways.

"There was a disaster in the form of…somepony we had to hire who had opposed us in the past turning on us and putting a wrench in our plan. Still, the plan was a success. Luna chewed out the Night Court, and now they'll now behave themselves from now on, especially Duke Greengrass. Also, me and the Elements of Harmony were 'knighted'. Now we got some real political power and are not merely pawns to be manipulated."

"You must be proud," said Chronicle.

"Not really. Given the underhoofed methods we had to use."

"I see."

"Well, I better get back to my 'world home' soon," said Timerity. 'World home' meant their homes in their assigned worlds. 'Home base' meant Story Crew Equestria, also called Hub Equestria, which they were in right now. 'Home' home meant their actual home world, where most people in the Story Crew were born, which is called Hadithi.

"All right. See ya."

With that, the unicorn mare walked away. Once she was gone, Blue raised a forehoof and turned it so that he could see its underside.

Chronicle noticed and said, "Um, what are you doing?"

"I know I should've had time to do this by now, but I've been doing most stuff either by wing, mouth, or sword aura. I haven't actually tried out my hooves for anything other than standing or feeble attempts on walking. Cheerilee is giving me lessons though. Chronicle, do you have something to poke my hoof with?"

The unicorn was a bit confused, but did as told, taking out the white glove from "hammerspace".

"Lightly scratch my hoof with it."

Chronicle complied, and he could see that his hooves weren't hard and smooth like horse hooves, but have a fleshy interior. Blue winced as if trying not to laugh. Suddenly, he felt something grab the glove. "Huh? What was that?"

"What was what?" Blue asked as he looked at his hoof again.

"I sensed something try and grab the glove."

"Hmm…" Four little, narrow bumps suddenly moved around the skin inside his hoof. "Hey, do you have something that would normally be held by hands?"

"Those would be equine phalanges, also called digits."

Blue looked up and Chronicle turned around to see their father standing close to them. "Father!" they gasped.

"All ponies have such, although I can expect unicorns to not use them normally thanks to magic. Those digits are used to hold books, stir with spoons, grab onto a small pile of sticks, things like that. Of course, they're more limited than hands, as they only extend out a couple inches out and don’t really allow for much grasping. They’re mostly to be used for stable holds of things that ponies normally wouldn’t find comfortable holding with their mouths if they can help it." Record turned to the pegasus and gave a stern glare. "You haven't had much practice with them, have you?"

"No." Blue put the hoof he raised behind his head as his brother retrieved his glove and put it away.

"This lesson should have been mandatory for all non-unicorns, even if they have artifacts that grant telekinesis-like abilities. Did you skip them, Crais?"

"Yes, Father."

Record's frown deepened. "I am disappointed in you. You should know how to hold items by hooves the next time you come back, am I clear?"

Blue instantly saluted him — "Yes, Father!" — then was off, leaving Chronicle alone with the older earth pony, who turned to face him.

"Chronicle. I got this message during our…interrogation session; there are three off-worlders who have arrived in your Equestria. We didn't evict them outright—but have kept a close eye on them—because they were wielding 'SWORD-K's."

"SWORD-Ks?!" SWORD-K was a code word for a special kind of weapon capable of eliminating for good certain enemies code named HAT-7378.

"Yes. If you hurry, you could still see them off. Failing that, Surveillance is sure to catch it."

"Thank you, Father."

C—T—BD—RK—C—T—BD—RK—C—T—BD—RK

Some time later, Equestria Prime, Canterlot…

In some nondescript bar, Chronicle emerged into the sunlight, basking in its radiance, even though it was daytime back in Hub Equestria. He then remembered why he was back already. Well, he went because his father called so he and Timerity could explain their…cross-world incident, and it might've taken too long to do so in the dreamscape.

There was a train station, but it was still under construction, so after running as fast as allowed in the Canterlot streets, once he was outside its borders, he began making his way back to Ponyville with a combination of running and long range teleportation. It took him significantly shorter amount of time than when they first headed to it for the Gala, but it was also significantly taxing for him on his body and magic. Still, he had more stamina than the average unicorn and (he discovered) able to expend more and more energy before needing to rest and even then he doesn't seem to suffer from over-channeling for some reason.

Twenty minutes later, he was finally back in Ponyville, breathing heavy. The first pony to greet him was Skyla.

"Chronicle! You will not believe what just happened! We had three newcomers to Ponyville! And what's more, they did not seem to know who the Princesses were!"

This surprised the unicorn. "What?! Shouldn't she be known even in the farthest corners of Equestria?"

"That's what Twilight Sparkle said! And then, said Princesses, both Celestia and Luna, arrived, wishing to speak with the newcomers in private, the former also saying that it was possible for somepony to not know of her."

"That's sounds pretty suspicious. Where did they go?"

Skyla took off, making a motion for him to follow her, which he did. "I know! Your friends thought so too! They gathered at the library, probably looking up answers. But that was minutes ago; they're already at the forest as we speak."

"Everfree?"

"No. Whitetail Woods." As she said that, they entered said area, and a bright light emerged from somewhere in the woods.

"They must be that way! We must hurry!"

"Allow me!" Skyla then suddenly turned around. Seeing where she was going and understanding what she was about to do. Chronicle stopped, then positioned himself to be picked up by the pegasus, which was what she did.

Despite how fast she was flying (and she had to be fast to be a Wonderbolt), it took another minute before something else happened. In the sky, a portal opened, wide enough for both Celestia and Luna to fly through. Then, three small items were hurled from the ground into the sky, and they transformed into what seemed to be personal vehicles. Three figures then leaped onto them, and used them to cross the portal. He was too far to do anything about them though.

"WE PROMISE WE'LL COME BACK TO VISIT!!!" the two of them heard three voices say as they disappeared through the portal, which also closed.

"Aww, we sure missed something awesome!" Skyla said as they continued.

"Just drop me off to where they last were," Chronicle told her, and she complied.

By the time the two of them made it, he saw that the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Spike, and the two Princesses. He could swear that Luna was a shade darker than when they last saw her.

"You should probably sit down, it is a long story…" Celestia was saying by the time he was within earshot.

"Yay, story time!" Pinkie Pie cheered, pulling a pillow and teddy bear out of nowhere.

Before she could begin, Skyla landed in front of all of them, but thankfully Chronicle wasn't harmed much. Everypony cried out his name, and those who were introduced to Skyla cried out hers as she bowed before the Princesses, profusely apologizing for crashing right in front of them.

"How did you get here?" asked Twilight. "How did you find us?"

"That shining light in the woods got my attention," the sole stallion answered. "And from what Skyla told me, something extraordinary happened while I was gone. Something involving three visitors." He furrowed his eyebrows at his friends. "You know I'm gonna figure it out eventually." He was talking about Surveillance, but he couldn't very well say it in front of Skyla or—them forbid—the Princesses.

Twilight looked at him, then to her teacher, who seemed to give a weak smile. "All right." Luna meanwhile was just finished getting Skyla to stand up and that it was all right. The white pegasus bid farewell and took off, headed back to Ponyville.

Chronicle didn't know why Skyla was leaving, but figured she didn't want to know. He turned to face Celestia, who began to narrate the events that took place while he was gone, as well as a lot of other things he had no idea they knew, things the Story Crew should know; they had been involved with wielders of the SWORD-K.

Father must know of this as soon as possible, thought Chronicle.

Author's Note:

Thankfully, you will have footnotes here because the only thing that would be at the top is the disclaimer, which is already applied in almost every chapter anyway.

1. If you see a bit of inconsistency with Magic Armour's style, I'll just say that she has a touch of fashion sense compared to Mystic Shield.

The reason I 'covered' "On A Cross and Arrow" like this is because while it's okay to base a fanfic off the canon show, which is what this fic is doing, it's not okay to base a fanfic off of another fanfic. Not when I'm just copying them off and merely adding a few extra characters in the center. That would be ripping off another fanfic author, which is not cool for me.

The crossover fic I provided a link to is vital for this to tie-in (or "cross over") to another fic of mine in FanFiction.Net, which is where Chronicle actually first appeared, just as Nyx of "Past Sins" did not 'debut' from there but another story called "Creeping Darkness" by the same author and another. No, neither SWORD-K nor HAT-7378 will make any future appearances in the story; they're Story Crew exclusive, not every strange thing mentioned has significance.

I'd like to apologize for its length and how I ended it. See ya on Third!

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