The Crisis on Infinite Equestrias

by Redback Spino

The board is set, the pieces are moving.

By the time Twilight Sparkle had finished telling Celestia her tale, the sun was dipping low on the horizon, bathing the Crystal Empire in a low orange light. The afternoon had been most unusual for the Crystal Ponies, with reports of several local residents missing, or replaced by strange new ponies, as well as rumours of other strange creatures out and about during the day, or seen flying through the sky. But the citizens of the Empire did their best to work around these strange occurrences and get on with their day-to-day lives.

High above the Empire in the Crystal Palace, however, matters were very different. Princess Celestia had listened with rapt attention as this mysterious new Twilight Sparkle related her story. How she was from another Equestria, alike and yet very different from this one. How her Equestria had come under attack from a malevolent invader calling himself Emperor Sombra, Ruler of All Reality, whom she had followed from universe to universe as he continued his campaign of multiversal conquest, followed closely behind by the mysterious wave of nothingness that destroyed everything it touched.

"But what confuses me is this whole thing with the... nothingness, the wave that is constantly destroying whatever it touches. How can anypony have access to that level of power?" Cadance asked.

"Sombra and his forces have the ability to travel from universe to universe without the need for bridges," Twilight replied. "Who knows what sort of power he has at his command?"

"But then why does he use it?" Shining Armour asked. "I mean, if he wants to conquer all these different Equestrias, why does he then just destroy them?"

Cadance replied. "Perhaps it's his way of crushing opposition. If that Equestria won't bend to his will, then it doesn't deserve to exist, that sort of thing perhaps?"

Twilight shrugged. "Maybe, nopony's ever gotten the chance to ask. By the time the wave shows up, Sombra and his forces are always the first to run for it. What do you think, Celestia?"

All eyes turned to the Princess, who was sat in complete silence, her face betraying her feelings of shock and dread.

"...Celestia?" Cadance said. "Are you alright? I'd imagine this whole multiple universes thing would be alot to take in at once..."

"Oh no, it's not that," Celestia replied. "I was well aware of the existence of other worlds parallel to our own."

Shining Armour was surprised. "Seriously? How did you know?"

"Centuries ago, when I was still young," Celestia explained, "I studied under Starswirl the Bearded, the greatest mind of our time. And among other things, we did discover the existence of these other worlds. He actually created the original mirror portal, which was a prototype for the second mirror, the one that now sits a few floors below us.

"He used it to travel to other universes, other Equestrias, learning all sorts of fascinating secrets about magic, science and the nature of the cosmos. Some of what he learnt he could not replicate, since the natural laws of universes can be very different to one-another, but many he studied, replicated and documented. It is the great secret of Starswirl the Bearded's knowledge and wisdom."

Cadance interjected, "And you never thought to tell us any of this? To maybe warn us that there were other worlds out there apart from our own, and the one on the other side of our mirror?"

"I did not know," Celestia replied. "I thought that each mirror could only lead to specific worlds, and sometimes only at specific times. And yours was the only functional one, ever since Starswirl personally locked the other mirror."

"Why'd he do that?" Shining Armour asked.

For a moment, Celestia' face became dark, and her expression of shock changed to one of sorrow. "I... became greedy. I used the mirror for my own personal gains, with no concern for the consequences. Then one day, Starswirl caught me in the act, and personally sealed the doorway... I'd never seen him so furious before."

An awkward silence hung in the air as Celestia's eyes became distant with reminiscence. "Uh... Celestia, are you alright?" Cadance asked, reaching out with a comforting hoof.

Celestia countered her hoof with one of her own, taking a deep breath and blinking a few times. "It's fine, it's just, well... not a memory I like to reflect upon very much."

"But wait, something doesn't add up," Shining Armour said. "I thought our mirror was only supposed to open up once every thirty moons, and it hasn't been nearly that long a time since Twilight... our Twilight, went through it."

"I can answer that one," Twilight replied. "You see, there are several mirrors that can only be used at certain times, yours being one of them. However, I've found that that rule only actually applies to entering the portal from the universe's side. Going through it from the other side, travelling from the void into a universe is a different matter entirely, anypony can do that at any time as long as they can find the mirror that leads there. And that's how I ended up here: I saw that this was where Sombra had his eyes set upon, and got here before him so I could warn you."

"And what about all the strange things going on, ponies disappearing, strange creatures and places showing up out of thin air? Do you think that has anything to do with it?"

"Maybe, I can't say for certain. It's been happening in quite a few of the other universes I've been to, but not quite to the same degree as you seem to be getting here. But if Sombra is the cause, I can't really see any reasoning behind it," she replied.

Celestia stood up. "Well thank you Twilight Sparkle. If what you're saying is true, then this Emperor Sombra character could pose an enormous threat to not just all of Equestria, but all of the Multiverse. So, how long until we can expect him to attack?"

Twilight scratched her mane. "Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't made a move yet."

Just as she said those words, the doors of the throne room swung open and an armour-clad guardspony strode in. "Your highnesses, pardon the interruption, but there is a Spike the Dragon here to speak with you. He says it's urgent and judging by how agitated he appears, I'm inclined to believe him."

"Please, let him in," Celestia replied.

Before the guardspony could even so much as nod, Spike had barrelled past him, rushing into the throne room as fast as his little legs could carry him. "Princess Celestia! Cadance! Twilight! Taken! Hole in the sky! Black Tentacle! Gone! HELP!!"

"Spike!" Shining Armour rushed to Spike, holding him back with a forehoof. "Spike, calm down, you're not making any sense! Now, start from the beginning, what's happened to Twilight?"

Spike nodded, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. "Ookay, sorry... So Twilight and me got your message, something about another Twilight coming out of the mirror or something like that, so we got the train from Ponyville. But somewhere inbetween here and Canterlot, something attacked us! There was this thing, this... hole in the sky! It just ripped wide open, and this big black thing came out. It looked like smoke, but it was solid, and it came down into the train and took Twilight away into the hole! Sh-she's gone, and I dunno what's happened to her!!"

He grabbed onto Shining Armour's leg, hugging him tight. The unicorn patted him on the head. "Shh, it's okay Spike. We'll find her."
He looked up at Shining Armour, tears streaming down his face. "P-promise?"

"Of course!" Shining Armour tousled his scaly head. "She's a Princess of Equestria, and most importantly she's my little sister, we'll get her back no matter what!"

Twilight looked to Celestia, who now stood at the window. "Sounds like Sombra is making his first move. Your thoughts, Princess?"

The Princess looked over the Crystal Empire, watching the ponies going about their business in their glimmering crystal city. Aside from a few unusual faces and a few anxious glances, the crystal ponies seemed relatively calm, despite the bizarre goings-on affecting the land. And even as she watched, a small house on the outskirts vanished into thin air, to be replaced by a brown and white thatched cottage, the likes of which one would expect to see in Ponyville or some other Equestrian city. Its door opened, and out stepped a very confused-looking family of hippogriffs, who gawped at the sparkling metropolis that now surrounded them.

"Until Sombra's forces begin to show up, our top priorities are to keep the ponies calm and under control. We cannot allow them to panic, especially in the face of possible invasion," Celestia said, turning from the window. "And our second priority is getting Twilight Sparkle back. As Shining Armour said, she is not only very dear to all of us, but she is a Princess, and a bearer of an Element of Harmony. I do not want to think what these invaders may have in mind for her."

"But how can we find her?" Spike asked. "Where did that hole in the sky lead to?"

"Most likely to Sombra's forces, lying in wait just outside this universe."

For the first time, Spike noticed the dark purple alicorn that sat among the rest of the ponies, and his eyes went wide as dinner plates. "...T-Twilight?"

The alicorn waved. "Hi Spike. You look different."

"But... bu...wha... but she's...wha... huh?!" Spike wobbled on his feet as his head began to suddenly feel very light.

"Breathe, little guy, breathe," Shining Armour quickly conjured up a pillow, laying it on the floor just as Spike fell backwards to sit firmly upon it.

"It's a long story that we don't have time for at the moment Spike," Twilight said, anticipating the endless deluge of questions the little dragon no-doubt was preparing. "To give the short version, I'm Twilight Sparkle from another universe, here to warn your universe about a multiversal conqueror who has his eyes set on this version of Equestria. Your Twilight Sparkle may have been taken by him for whatever reason, and we need her back."

"But how?"

The solar Princess tapped her chin as she sat down again, in deep thought. "That is a very good question. I admit, I've forgotten most of what I learned about using the mirrors after Starswirl sealed the Canterlot mirror, however... there may be a way..."

"What?" Cadance asked, descending the stairs from her throne. "What's your idea?"

"Here is a question: How well would you all say that you know Twilight?" Celestia asked the assembled ponies around her.

"She's one of my best friends!" Cadance replied

"I've known her since she was born!" said Shining Armour

"I've known her since I was born!" added Spike.

"I might not know her personally, but if we're the same pony from different universes, I'll probably at least know how she thinks," Twilight said.

"Exactly, and I have been her mentor for over a decade now," Celestia replied. "And then there are her friends in Ponyville, the ponies who mean more to her than anything in the world. I know of an old spell that can use that kind of strong emotional and personal connection between ponies, and can be used to track them down, pinpointing exactly where they are. If we can somehow channel this spell via one of the mirror portals, we could use it to travel to wherever Twilight is being held."

Cadance gasped. "You really think that could work? I mean, that sounds like extremely complex magic."

Celestia stood up, her face grim with determination. "It will take enormous amounts of magical energy, but I feel that, with a strong enough emotional connection, it could be possible."

Spike leapt up from his cushion, having recovered from the initial shock of seeing the other Twilight Sparkle. "Then let's not waste any time! Let's get the girls from Ponyville up here, get to that mirror downstairs and do this thing!"

"I'm afraid the Crystal Empire's mirror will be of no use," Celestia replied. "That mirror is of the kind that can only send ponies to one universe: the same universe where you and Twilight travelled not long ago."

Spike's face reddened as he remembered. "And got turned into a dog by it..."

"Indeed," Celestia said with a slight grin. "However, there is a second mirror in Canterlot castle. It is capable of reaching any universe that its user can enchant it to reach, even though it has been deactivated for hundreds of years now. That is the mirror we will have to use."

Spike raised a claw. "So what's the plan?"

"I will return to Canterlot as soon as possible," she replied. "and begin going over my mentor's old research, and see if I can create the spell that can connect the mirror with wherever Twilight has been taken. In the mean time, the rest of you must travel to Ponyville as quickly as possible, gather up her friends and meet me in Canterlot."

"But what about the Crystal Empire?" Shining Armour interjected. "Cadance and I can't both leave it unprotected..."

"Which is why I'm staying behind."

The unicorn turned and looked at his wife in shock. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me," Cadance replied. "You go and find your sister for us, and bring her back. The ruler of a kingdom needs to stay with her people."

"But I'm a ruler too," Shining Armour replied.

Cadance shrugged. "Well, yeah, but I'm the holder of the title of Crystal Princess. No offence sweetie, but the only reason you're a prince is because you're married to me. You're the one marrying into royalty, so you're technically only a prince-consort."

"Ouch, Cadance," Shining Armour muttered.

"She has a point," Celestia added.

"Besides, you said yourself, you've known Twilight far longer than I have. So if this spell relies on emotional connection with the target, then it makes sense for somepony who has known them their whole life to be part of it, instead of somepony who's known them only a few years."

Shining Armour did not look entirely convinced, but he knew she was speaking sense. "Alright. I'll go with Celestia and the others, you stay here and keep the Crystal Ponies under control. But at the first sign of trouble, don't hesitate to contact me."

"Don't worry so much, Shiny," Cadance giggled. "I can take care of myself, you know."

He smiled. "I know I know... So then, I guess we'd better get going then?"

Celestia nodded. "Indeed you should. Shining Armour, you, Twilight and Spike head back to Ponyville and find Twilight's Ponyville friends, and then come straight to Canterlot Castle at once."

Shining Armour nodded, and with a beckoning hoof, led the way toward the train station. Twilight galloped after him, but skidded to a stop as she saw Spike barely able to keep up, jogging far behind her.

Fluttering to his side, she lowered a wing and gave an encouraging smile. "C'mon kiddo, hop on."

Spike eyes the strange alicorn with apprehension. "You sure?"

"Hey, I might be from a different universe, but I'm still Twilight," she replied.

Spike shrugged, and with a quick "Good point," hopped onto her back. Twilight flapped her wings, taking to the air and flying after Shining Armour.

Just as they disappeared down the stairs, Celestia looked once more to Cadance. "Good luck, Auntie Celestia," Cadance said, returning to her throne.

Celestia nodded and, with a blinding flash of white light, teleported out of the throne and vanished from sight.

---

"I still don't understand how you don't recognise me, Pinkie Pie. We've been friends for years!"

Pinkie Pie shrugged. "I'm sorry Minty, but I don't think I've ever seen you before in my life, and I never forget a face."

The two ponies sat in Sugarcube Corner. Opening hours were over, and as Mr. and Mrs. Cake tidied up the shop front, Pinkie Pie and Minty sat around a table, munching away on some leftover tarts. Minty rested her chin on the table. "Gosh, this whole day has been confusing. I wake up, all of Ponyville looks strange, there's much more ponies than usual, and then I find some ponies I know, but then they don't know me and... ooohh, this is all so strange!"

"Tell me about it," Pinkie replied. "There's been alot of strange ponies out and about today, even by my standards of strange! I wonder what's going on."

"Well, I hope it all sorts itself out soon. I don't know how much more confusion my head can take!"

Pinkie stood up, gulping down what remained of her tart in one go. "In the mean time, you're welcome to stay with me as long as you like. I like you, Minty, you seem really nice."

Minty smiled. "Thanks Pinkie Pie. Even if you're not the Pinkie Pie I know, I'm still glad to have a friend in all of this."

There came a knock at the door, followed by a familiar voice. "Pinkie Pie? Y'all okay in there?"

Pinkie's ears perked up at the sound of her name. Bouncing to the door, she unlocked it and pulled it open. "Hiya Applejack. I'd let you in but, well, it's past closing time."

Applejack shook her head. "It's alright Pinkie. I was just checkin' to see if ya were alright, what with everythin' going on today. Oh, who's yer friend?"

Pinkie beckoned Minty over to join her. "This is Minty, Applejack. Apparently she's lived in Ponyville all her life, but I've never seen her before, even though she say she has a friend named Pinkie Pie. Funny, huh?"

"Hi Applejack, nice hat!"

Applejack grinned and tipped her hat. "Gee, thanks! So, you say you've always lived in Ponyville?"

"Well, sort of," Minty replied. "I mean I have, but not in this Ponyville, if you know what I mean. Can there be more than one Ponyville?"

"I reckon it might have somethin' to do with that letter Twilight got before she left. And with the dragon that showed up earlier today that looks just like Rarity."

"You mean the one about another Twilight appearing in the Crystal Empire?" Pinkie asked. "Yeah, maybe... wait, there's a dragon that looks like Rarity? Why did nopony tell me about this?!"

She dashed past Applejack and hurried out into the town square, where, sure enough, just on the other side of the square stood Dragon-Rarity, with Rarity the Unicorn now sitting on her head. Rarity stood on the ground below the dragon, and waved when she saw Pinkie staring wide-eyed at the dragon.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! This... Is... Amazing!!" the pink pony zipped over to the strange trio, her mouth going a mile a minute. "Applejack wasn't kidding, you really do look like Rarity!"

The dragon smiled, revealing rows of teeth like knives. "No, she looks like me... And come to think of it, you rather look like a friend of mine. Your name isn't... Pinkie Pie, is it?"

Pinkie nodded. "Sure is! So wait, there's a Pinkie dragon too? And is there an Applejack dragon, and a Fluttershy dragon, and a Rainbow Dash dragon as well?!"

"Yes there are, actually," Dragon-Rarity replied, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. "How did you know their names?"

"Because those are my friends' names," she replied, looking up at the tiny filly on her head. "And who's your little friend up there?"

"I am Rarity the Unicorn," the filly called down. "Princess of Unicornia."

Pinkie tilted her head. "Unicornia? Huh, I didn't know that was a real place. Ah well, nice to meet ya!"

"A pleasure, I'm sure," Rarity the Unicorn replied.

But before the conversation could continue any further, the still evening air was rent asunder by a scream, ringing out long and loud from the direction of the Everfree Forest.

Dragon-Rarity's ears flattened against the shrill noise. "What in the wide world of Draconia was that?!"

"Land sakes, that sounded like Fluttershy," Applejack cried. "C'mon y'all!"

And so through the streets ran probably one of the stranger groups of people seen running through Ponyville: four ponies, a full-grown dragon flying overhead, with a filly who claimed to be a princess perched on her head. It was a common joke throughout Equestria that Ponyville was built on some sort of spacetime anomaly that just draws weirdness to it, due to the endless stories of travelling magicians, giant bears made of star-stuff, stampeding bunnies, armies of duplicate ponies and now a full-grown dragon flying through the streets. Perhaps there was some truth to that running-gag.

The ponies followed Fluttershy's screams, heading straight for her cottage on the edge of the Everfree Forest. But as they reached the edge of the town, they saw with horror the cause of the screams.

Another strange rip in the sky had appeared, just above the edge of the Forest, less than fifty feet away from Fluttershy's cottage. And from this rift there came great masses of shadowy, inky-black things, some of them vaguely shaped like ponies, but many of them were unlike any creature that the assembled ponies and dragon had ever seen. It was impossible to count how many there were, they seemed to merge together and split off into multiple forms almost at random. Many of them even seemed to be airborne, flying towards Ponyville while a smaller group were descending on the cottage of a terrified Fluttershy, who cowered with her animals inside her house.

Applejack scuffed the earth with a forehoof before charging headlong towards the cottage. "Hang on Fluttershy, we're comin'!"

"Hang on Fluttershy, I'm coming!"

But as they sprinted at the cottage, Applejack saw to her left a pony she did not recognise. It was a stallion, and earth pony around the same age as her, if not slightly younger, with pinkish-cream-coloured fur and a short, spiky brunette mane. She could not make out his cutie mark, he was galloping too quickly, but she could see it was something black and circular.

"Get away from her, you bastards!" the stallion shouted, eyes ablaze with anger staring directly at the strange shadowy things that closed in on the cottage. Leaping the fence in a single bound, he barrelled with full force into the shadows. Or he would have, had he not slipped right through them at the last second, tumbling along the ground until he collided with the cottage wall. His eyes snapped open, glancing left and right at the things that now not only surrounded the cottage, but were now closing in on him as well.

"Oh now, come on..." he muttered to himself.

"Hang in there, fella, help is on the way!"

Applejack leapt over the fence into Fluttershy's garden, kicking away at the shadows with her hind legs. A few kicks hit home, knocking the strange creatures back, but many blows seemed to sail right through the creatures' bodies like they were made of smoke.

Pinkie leapt into the fray, bouncing atop the heads of the shadowy masses, knocking a few to the floor and leading the rest on a merry chase around the garden. Applejack took the momentary respite to help the young stallion back onto his hooves.

"Oof... thanks Applejack," the stallion said, rubbing his head. "In hindsight that might not have been a smart idea of mine. Good to see you're here though."

Applejack was taken slightly aback. "Uh, yer welcome, but... do I know you?"

The stallion looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about? It's me Applejack, it's Connor!"

Before she could question any further the shadows came back around to attack, but were driven back as Rarity joined the fight, sending blast after blast at the inky-black things with her horn.

Dragon-Rarity stomped into the fight as well, crushing many of the shadows under her foot or her tail. But even as she crushed them, the shadow-creatures seemed to slither out from under her, once again becoming intangible like smoke. Minty, meanwhile, could see that this was far out of her comfort zone, and so she steered well clear of the fight with Rarity the Unicorn.

"It's no good, Applejack!" Pinkie cried as she slipped through another shadow to land on the ground with a bump. "These guys just won't quit, whatever they are!"

"I know Pinkie, and more of 'em just keep comin' out of that hole in the sky, headin' straight for Ponyville!" Applejack replied. "Any ideas how to beat them?"

A flare of light from Rarity's horn whizzed past the earth pony, slamming headlong into one of the shadows, seemingly blasting a wide hole through its midsection. it split apart and faded into wisps of blackness. "Look at that," Rarity shouted. "They don't seem to like bright lights very much."

Dragon-Rarity stooped low, taking a deep breath. "Bright light? I think I can provide..."

"No, no firebreathin'!" Applejack shouted, knocking another shadow-creature back. "We're too close to the trees, you could start a forest fire!"

"Well then what can we do?" Rarity asked. "I can only shine my horn so bright for so long, Applejack, and more of these beastly things just keep appearing!"

Sure enough, even as she spoke, the shadow creature she had blasted apart coalesced back together into a vaguely equine form, which then lunged straight for Rarity, who was being slowly backed up against the wall of the cottage. The unicorn closed her eyes, her whole body tensing up as the shadowy thing came at her.

But it never came.

A deafening bang and a bright flash rang out, dissipating the shadow-creature that was looming over Rarity. She cracked an eye open and saw with relief the shadows reeling back from her. Looking around for the source of her salvation, Rarity flinched as there was a second bang and a flash of light, blasting apart more shadows and bringing the melee to a standstill. All eyes, equine, dragon and shadow-creature, turned to the source of the noise.

Standing on a hillock to the side of the cottage, a few feet down the edge of the forest, there was a steel-grey unicorn mare with a brown mane. She was dressed in a strange blue and yellow jacket with a saddlebag hanging off her side, and around one of her forelegs she wore a strange bracelet with a small green glowing screen.

But what drew the most attention was the strange object she held in her magical grip, like a short metal tube attached to a cylindrical body, with a small light-brown protrusion out the back, and another, darker-grey tube attached ontop of it. The unicorn pointed the end of the still-smoking object at the shadowy creatures with a look of grim determination.

"Alright," Littlepip shouted. "Would somepony care to tell me just what the flying fuck is going on around here?!"

Author's Note:

Coming up next time:
Littlepip to the Rescue!
Twilight Sparkle is at the mercy of Sombra's minions!
And More strangely familiar creatures join the fray

All this and more, next time in Crisis on Infinite Equestrias!

A few notes:

"Not a memory I like to reflect upon very much"- See the IDW MLP comic #17
And yes, that is Littlepip from Fallout: Equestria, and Connor from Equestria's First Human.

Comments

[Ceehoff]

Cool :3

[Jonathon Smythe]

Littlepip? Consider me interested.

[Evowizard25]

Hmmm, multiple Equestria's? I always love fan/generation crossovers and this is no exception. It's too bad my 'Shimmerverse' story 'A different Sunset' isn't finished yet. (Though I'm hoping to be finished within this or next month....I would be honored if you checked it out.)

Anyways, love this story and please keep up the good work.

[Pyro The Reader]

Littlepip? YEHAW!

[Zero3451]

Littlepip. Hell yes

[pinkiepie4th]

Ooh I bloody love Littlepip! Bloody following this!

(Also the rest of the story is just amazing! Keep the up the incredible work!)

[Guner]

"Alright," Littlepip shouted. "Would somepony care to tell me just what the flying fuck is going on around here?!"

YEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!