• Published 19th Jan 2015
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Split Second - wille179



Twilight Sparkle broke time when she got her cutie mark. Now there's two of her with two different talents.

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Power Ponies and Soulless Constructs

Thorn shook his head to clear the cobwebs. When he opened his eyes, he realized that he was definitely not in the Ponyville library. Furthermore, he was standing in front of six mares that he recognized instantly. "The Power Ponies?"

And then Thorn noticed a key detail; of the six mares, only one of them had a soul, a soul he immediately recognized. "Cobalt? You're Filly-Second?"

"Thorn? Wait, Filly-Second?" He looked down at his costume. "OhhhaaaAAAHH!" One of his fore hooves shot back and felt around between his hind legs. "Ahh. I'm good. Crisis averted."

Thorn looked back at the soulless five, who had done nothing but breathe and stand still. "Let's go find out what the deal is with the rest of the team."

As Thorn approached, the five ponies relaxed slightly, as if they had been holding a pose up until then. "Filly-Second, Humdrum, there you are," the Masked Matterhorn said. Her voice, strangely enough, reminded Thorn of his mom's own voice.

Thorn looked down at his own costume and groaned. Of course he was Humdrum; why couldn't he have been one of the cooler power ponies, like Saddle Ranger? He would have been good as her.

When the five soulless heroes said nothing further, Thorn realized that they were waiting for him to say something. "Yes, we're here. What's going on?"

"It's the Mane-iac," Matterhorn replied. "She's come to steal the-"

"Thorn, play along."

"-Electro Orb to power-"

"Mom?" Thorn thought back over the link. "Where are you?"

"-her doomsday device. We must-"

"You'll see," she replied. "Remember, play along. And tell Cobalt."

"-stop her," Matterhorn replied.

Cobalt, who hadn't been privy to the silent conversation and had been listening exclusively to Matterhorn, nodded. He had no idea who the Mane-iac was, but a doomsday weapon sounded really bad.

Just as Thorn whispered Sparkle's message to Cobalt, an explosion punctuated the Maretropolis night. The Power Ponies ran to the edge of the roof. Down on the street below, the Mane-iac was emerging from the dust cloud.

"The Power Ponies! So kind of you to join me!" If one had been watching extra carefully, they would have noticed that the Mane-iac's eyes were moving as if she were reading something that only she could see. However, none of them were that close. And while the Power Ponies watched the villain toss the Electro Orb between her mane and tail tentacles, Thorn and Cobalt's eyes were affixed on the dark flame burning within the Mane-iac's head: Sparkle's Soul.

"Cobalt."

"Yes, Thorn?"

"I think we have to defeat Mom - who now has super powers, henchponies, and a doomsday weapon - to get out of the comic book."

Cobalt took a moment to let that sink in. "Well, I've always wanted a change of scenery. How much do you think comic book apartments cost?"

"Exactly," Thorn replied.

Meanwhile, as Thorn and Cobalt were making their observations, the rest of the Power Ponies had leapt into action. Zapp flew in low, charging lightning as she zipped in close, Mistress Marevelous pulled out her lasso, Radiance conjured a giant croquet mallet, and Matterhorn charged her horn with ice. Together, they unleashed their attacks against an ill-prepared Mane-iac...

Only for them to pass harmlessly through her.

"Hahaha!" The illusion faded, revealing the real villain on the other side of the street, hair already moving to strike.

Radiance and Matterhorn blocked the attacking hair with their powers, while Zapp and Mistress Marevelous dodged. Saddle Ranger, who was too calm to be powered up, had the physique of a normal pony, and thus couldn't dodge or block.

Mane-iac Sparkle lifted up the ensnared pony, and then flared her magic. Of the group, only Cobalt and Thorn had ever faced the full brunt of her presence, and consequently were the only ones still standing once the flare hit them.

But of all of them, none fared worse than Saddle Ranger, whose body started convulsing, as if seizing, and then convulsing and flickering as if reality around the pony was coming undone. Had computers existed at the time, witnesses might have described it as "glitching." From the mare, an inequine wail reverberated all the nearby glass.

Sparkle, surprised by the reaction, backed off with the pressure and set Saddle Ranger down, causing her to stop flickering. "I have what I need," she said. "Ta Ta!"

A strand of mane shot out and curled around a lamp post, slingshotting the mare away.

"What the hay was that?" Zapp asked. "Saddle Ranger, you alright?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I zoned out there for a minute... Did something happen?"

"You zoned out. During that." Radiance frowned. "Darling, it looked like you were in unimaginable agony."

"Really, I'm fine."

"Come on, we've got to stop her, even if she does have some freaky new power," Zapp declared.

"Right," the others all agreed.

Behind them, Thorn and Cobalt were worried for different reasons. Thorn, because what had happened there was not something that had happened with the Mane-iac or his Mom. And Cobalt, because his geasa prevented him from attacking his mistress, and the thought alone was making the curse act up.

However, with no other course of action available at the time, the two soul-bearing heroes followed their soulless companions to the lair of the Mane-iac.


The scene had shocked her. Sparkle really hadn't expected the mare to react like that to her magic.

No. It wasn't a mare.

A real pony was a soul. The soul was the basis of identity. The soul controls the body; the body is a puppet for the soul. A soul without a body is still a pony, but a body without a soul was either a corpse or a construct.

Since the mare hadn't had a soul, and yet had been running around, she'd obviously been a construct of this comic book world. And since the touch of Sparkle's magic had caused her to unwind...

Sparkle gathered her magic and spread it out, pressing it against her local area of space-time. The warehouse around her and her henchponies flickered, but remained solid.

Through the sensation her magic was returning, she could gather a lot of information about the world of the comic book. "So that's how that works," she said.

Just then, a boom-crash echoed from outside her warehouse. Sparkle jumped up and used a hair tentacle to shove the floating, only-visible-to-her script back in front of her face. Then, with another tentacle, she grabbed the Hair Spray Ray of Doom, as per the script's prompt.

As she emerged, Sparkle watched them again fall for the illusion trick. As they recovered from the failed attack, she sprayed them all. No fanfare, no monologue, just psssst and done. When the pink fog cleared, all seven heroes were petrified below the jaw.

"Sorry, Power Ponies. There's much to do and I don't have the time for you," Sparkle said. She picked up all seven statues. "Come along."

The necromancer-turned-supervillain lifted the soulless portion of the hero squad into a suspended cage. "Hairspray. Every five minutes. Got it?" Sparkle ordered her minions.

"Yes ma'am," they replied.

"Good. I'll be giving these two the V.I.P. treatment. I do not want to be disturbed," Sparkle said. Then, she walked into her private room, Thorn and Cobalt in tow.

Once the door closed, she hugged the still immobile Thorn. "I'm so glad you're safe! When I woke up and couldn't see you, I got really worried.

There was a crack as Thorn powered through some of the Hairspray's effect. "I'm fine, and so's Cobalt."

"Correct, ma'am."

"But it's so cool that you get to be the Mane-iac!" Thorn exclaimed while working out of the last of the hairspray’s petrification.

"But you have to beat me for us to get out, right?" Sparkle asked.

Thorn's expression fell. "Yeah, we do."

"Well, when I woke up, I could feel the odd nature of the magic around us. It's not like Equestria's background magical field," Sparkle explained, omitting a few details. "It's given me some ideas; I think that there might be another way out without anypony needing to defeat anypony else. I have to check.”

As Sparkle turned around, unwrapped her hair from around her horn, and called her magic to it in order to examine the nature of this strange world, she could feel the piece of paper that she had stuffed into her skintight suit earlier. In fact, it had been that note that had given her the idea to examine the background magical field in the first place.


Sparkle had regained consciousness only to discover a sheet of paper taped to her horn and hanging down in front of her eyes. She pulled it off with her hoof, since trying to remove anything stuck to her horn by using her magic always made her feel weird. The feedback was quite unpleasant.

Quickly, she read the note.

Sparkle,

My name is Obsidian Knife. I have been watching you for a while now, because I know what you will become. And right now, it is in my own best interests to give you a helping hoof.

Unfortunately, there are unbelievably strict rules regarding what I can and cannot do to help you with, and the last time I crossed the one who enforced those rules - accidentally, mind you - I was in a coma for five days.

Anyway, this comic book you’re in -

Sparkle looked up and took stock of her surroundings. She noticed her location in a museum and her strange costume. She paused, as the costume she was wearing looked like the one the villain on the cover was wearing.

She continued reading.

Anyway, this comic book you’re in - Yes, you are the Mane-iac. I know you looked. - was the easiest way that I could help you. I modified the enchantments on the book to make them easier to read, but I didn’t actually change how they worked. And while I didn’t make this book, I know how the enchantments work. I can’t tell you what they do. You have to figure them out yourself.

Best of luck,

Obsidian Knife

P.S. My friend, who shall only be known as T., would like me to inform you that it would be a good idea to not discuss the existence of this letter. Pretend that any ideas contained here are your own.

P.P.S. Tell Thorn to play along.

“Well... That’s certainly something,” Sparkle mumbled. “Now what?”

A little rectangle appeared in mid-air, in front of Sparkle’s head. On it were the words THE SCRIPT. Sparkle began to read. “You are the Mane-iac, and your plan is to...”


Sparkle was, at that moment, gushing with excitement. Her examination of Maretropolis’s magical field had revealed so much to her. “Cobalt, Thorn, we’re in a pocket dimension!”

“So?” Thorn asked. “We already figured that. The Everfree Exclusion Zone, Death’s Oasis, Tartarus, Canterlot, the inside of aunt Twilight’s tree... Pocket dimensions and curved spaces are everywhere.”

“No, Thorn, this one is completely artificial. Its not just a fold in our normal universe. Everything, the ponies, the air, even the laws of physics are controlled by these background spells woven into the fabric of this reality!” Sparkle exclaimed.

Cobalt blinked. “So that’s how I have super speed.”

“Exactly, and that’s how the Power Ponies exist. Illusion, well, illusions created by the primary spell matrix, are as good as real here. And I think I can tap into that,” Sparkle said. “I just need to examine one of the Power Ponies. Wait here.”

“Can I at least look through your eyes?” Thorn asked.

Even as she was trotting out of the room, Sparkle said, “Sure.” She opened the link just enough for him to see.

Trotting into the main room of the warehouse, she simply walked up to the Power Ponies suspended in the cage. Sparkle made no effort to talk to them or to anypony else.

“What have you done with Filly-Second and Humdrum?” one of the captives asked. Sparkle didn’t know enough about the franchise to know who that speaker was, though Thorn informed her that it was Saddle Ranger.

“We talked, nothing more. I assure you that I haven’t hurt them in the slightest,” Sparkle said. “But now I’m more interested in you. Who would like to help me with a little experiment?”

The Power Ponies were silent.

“No volunteers? A shame. Let’s go with...” One of her hair tentacles opened the cage door, while another withdrew the pegasus with a lightning motif. Zapp, as Thorn informed her.

“Let me go!” Zapp replied, obviously struggling against the fresh coat of hair spray and the tentacle-like mane of Sparkle.

“No, I don’t think so. There’s something I need from you,” Sparkle said.

“I’ll never help you!” the super-powered pegasus exclaimed defiantly.

“I don’t need your cooperation. I need your source code.” Before Zapp could voice her confusion, Sparkle unveiled her horn and tapped it against the pegasus’s forehead. Zapp’s form flickered once, twice, and then started warping and stretching into a glowing mass of tendrils. An ear-piercing shriek, not something a pony could ever conceivably make, erupted from her body.

The rest of the Power Ponies could only watch in horror as their friend unraveled into light, light which then condensed into recognizable symbols. Only three ponies in the room could read it: Matterhorn, Radiance, and Sparkle.

“Zapp... Zapp is an illusion!” the Masked Matterhorn shrieked in shock as she read the exposed magical matrix. “What in the name of Celestia is going on?”

“Oh, you work like a specter, but reference the minds of the occupants and the surrounding environment. Thorn, look at this... Fascinating,” Sparkle said as she read through the spell’s code. “Hmm... what’s this?”

“Matterhorn, what do you mean by ‘Zapp is an illusion’?” Mistress Marevelous asked.

“That spell matrix that she pulled out of Zapp, it tells how to construct her personality, her memories, her appearance, her powers... everything!” Matterhorn replied.

“Got it,” Mane-iac Sparkle replied. She released Zapp’s matrix, which folded itself back into the form of Zapp, who looked completely unharmed. “Oh, Humdrum~” Sparkle sang, “bring Filly-Second in here, would you? And henchponies, release them.”

The back door opened, allowing Thorn and Cobalt to enter the room. At the same time, the suspended cage lowered to the ground. A henchpony opened the door to the cage.

The Power Ponies stiffly waddled out of the cage and ran up to Zapp, to see if she was really unharmed, despite now knowing that she wasn’t real. “Humdrum, Filly-Second, hurry! Get over here!” Matterhorn called out.

“No.” With that one word, Sparkle captured the Power Ponies’ attention. “Thorn, my son, which power pony is your favorite?”

“Radiance, Mom.”

“SON? MOM?” the Power Ponies shouted.

“Well, I was curious on how faithfully this world recreated all five primary senses. Would you and her like to find out?” Sparkle asked. “Nopony in here but us is real, so do what you wish.”

Thorn, already growing in size, rumbled, “Thanks, Mom.”

“And Cobalt, in my office, there’s a barber’s knife. Would you kindly take this opportunity to practice your knife-throwing skills?” Sparkle asked, using his first geas’s command phrase.

“Sure,” he replied. The stallion flickered from sheer speed, reappearing in nearly the same place, but now holding a knife. “I haven’t had a good, live target in a while.”

He swiftly flicked the knife. Of course, swiftly was a relative term, and Filly-Second’s idea of swift was a mach 3 throwing speed. In an instant, Cobalt solved the equation: Barber’s Knife + 1020 m/s + pony neck. His answer? The closest shave.

The physical results of such an action are best left to the imagination. That said, Saddle Ranger wouldn’t be doing any imagining anytime soon.

As for Thorn, he had his sights set on a different mare. “Hello, Radiance,” he said, towering over her in all his massive, warehouse-filling bulk. “You’re looking particularly voluptuous today. The most common superpower, indeed.”

“Humdrum, darling, please can we talk about this?” She said, backing away. Fear rendered her unable to create her constructs, leaving her only options as diplomacy or retreat.

“Ah, as much as I would love to, no. I’m hungry, so I’m going to eat you now. It’s for Mom’s research; you understand, right?” Thorn asked, leaning in close. Radiance simply squeaked in fear. “You remind me of another mare. But you aren’t her. Ah well.” He opened his mouth wide.

Across the room, Sparkle took a moment to process the fact that she could currently taste Radiance. “Huh. She does taste like unicorn.”

Cobalt, in the midst of reducing the length of his character’s former team’s necks, paused. “Mistress, we need to have a serious talk about why you know what unicorn tastes like.”

Sparkle shrugged, and then smirked. “Of course, my delicious little student.” She readied her horn one last time. “Comic Book, grant me authorship.”

Her horn darkened, and the world paused.

Thorn and Cobalt, the only two not frozen aside from Sparkle herself, walked up to her. Sparkle simply floated backwards and landed in a chair that appeared for her. Waving her hoof, she conjured two more. “This is fun,” Sparkle said.

“What’s going on?” Thorn asked.

“I took control of the comic dimension’s magic,” She answered. The world around them faded to white. “Anything I could create with an illusion is now real here. I can’t take it out of this place, but I can make whatever I want.”

A massive fortress appeared out of the ground, created from Sparkle’s will. Thorn and Cobalt’s eyes went wide. “Wow.”

Cobalt asked, “Ms. Sparkle, could you make one of these dimensions?”

“Not yet,” she replied, “but certainly in the future once I study it a bit more. I’d just need more time.”

“Hey Mom, speaking of time, we’ve been in here a while. Shouldn’t we go out and let aunt Twilight know that we’re alright? We did kind of vanish on her,” Thorn commented.

Trees and a grassy field appeared around the fortress. The sky overhead turned blue, dotted with the occasional cloud. “Twilight can wait,” Sparkle said dismissively.

“And so can this comic book world,” Cobalt countered. “Besides, we need to talk.”

Sparkle looked at her little family, and then looked back at what she had built with the godlike power this world had given her. “Fine, you win.”

The necromancer was still in the Mane-iac costume, and still defined by the world’s magic as the Mane-iac herself. Since the Mane-iac had been “defeated,” the book took that as its cue to spit them out.

The white vortex opened up above them and sucked them in. It deposited them roughly in Twilight’s library. Picking herself off the floor, Sparkle suddenly found herself hugged by her sister. “You’re alright!” Twilight exclaimed. When I heard you scream a second ago and couldn’t find you, I thought something bad had happened to you.”

“I’m fine,” Sparkle said, wiggling out of the hug. “I was just... Wait, a second? That’s some serious time-dilation right there.”

“How long were you in there?”

“An hour or two.”

Twilight just hugged her sister again. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Thanks.” Sparkle turned around to grab the comic book, only to see it vanish into thin air. “NO! Where the buck did it go?” She searched for some magical signature to indicate where it might have gone, but her efforts were fruitless. “No! I wasn’t done with it.”

“Mom, forget about it,” Thorn said. “I’m sure we can find another.”

Sparkle sighed. “Fine. You’re right.”

“What happened in there, anyway?” Twilight asked.

“It was amazing!” Thorn exclaimed. “You see...”

Author's Note:

I hate villains that monologue. I hate witty banter. Real fights are impressive because of their speed.

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