Discord sagged against a threadbare old cot as the others sat on frayed pillows. Watery tea sat before each of them. Outside, the wind howled and the storm raged.
"What happened to you, Fluttershy?" Discord asked. "I searched everywhere. We all did. You, the Crusaders, you just...vanished..." He shook his head. "Ponyville was never the same after..." He gave Fluttershy a pleading look. "Where did you go that I couldn't find you?"
Fluttershy ducked her head. "We, umm...accidentally ate some time truffles," she said. "We, err...sort of wound up in the past..."
"The...past..." Discord smacked his face with his lion paw. "I didn't even think to look everywhen," he muttered. "That's not like me."
"More importantly, what happened to Equestria?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Who's this Shattered Empress?"
Discord went still. "Oh...oh, you poor girls..." he whispered. "I'm so sorry. Just so you know, I...I tried. We all tried..."
"What happened?" Scootaloo insisted.
Discord sighed. "It happened so suddenly. She showed up out of nowhere one day. Her magic was so powerful...so explosive. She brought with her dangerous artifacts from far beyond Equestria. She...she used them to steal the four alicorn princess' magic. The Royal Guards were no match for her, and the princesses, well..." He closed his eyes and winced. "She came prepared for their power. None of them could break down her shields. And...and when I tried to stop her, she stole my powers too. I at least escaped the worst of their fate." He drooped. "The princesses stand in the Storm Palace in Canterlot, petrified in obsidian for all time, monuments to her triumph."
The ponies gasped in horror.
"There are camps such as this one for refugees with no pony magic," Discord said. "We've managed to survive despite, well..." He waved a claw vaguely. "You saw what she did to the forest. Of course, the resistance has never stopped fighting. The Dragons are constantly at war with the Shattered Empress on the western front. The Griffons fight from the east. Princess Flurry Heart is keeping the Crystal Empire out of her hooves, but being the only alicorn left in all of Equestria is a constant strain on her."
"Princess Flurry Heart?" Fluttershy asked.
"Cadance's daughter," Discord said. "She...she wasn't born yet when you disappeared. When the Empress attacked Canterlot, Flurry was safe in the Crystal Empire, in the care of her Crystaller. He raised and trained her in secret. She's...she's the last hope we have, other than the Dragon Lord and his mate."
"And...and Ponyville? Our...our families?" Apple Bloom asked quietly.
Discord looked away, bowing his head.
The fillies began to sniffle. Their sniffles soon broke into wretching sobs. Fluttershy's eyes brimmed with tears. "This is...this is horrible," she whimpered. "We...we have to do something...we have to..."
"There's nothing you can do," Discord said miserably. "Nothing anypony can do." He paused, frowning. "Unless..."
"Unless?" Fluttershy asked.
Discord looked over the three fillies shrewdly. "You three have that...that Trinity Magic thing," he said.
"W-well, yeah," Apple Bloom said, sniffling and wiping her nose. "But we don't got th' gems."
"We...we left them in Twilight's castle," Sweetie Belle said.
Discord went pale. "I see," he said. "That's..." He grimaced. "Then again, perhaps..."
"Perhaps?" Fluttershy asked.
Discord frowned, stroking his beard. "Twilight's castle still stands...mostly," he said. "The problem is, it's been taken over by the Mad Witch. She's...she's dangerous. Unpredictable. And so powerful even the Shattered Empress has given up trying to subdue her. They...they largely ignore one another. The Mad Witch doesn't care about Equestria, so long as nopony bothers her. She has what she wants."
"Which is...?" Fluttershy asked.
Discord blinked. "Why...Twilight Sparkle dead, of course."
A particularly loud crash of thunder shook the forest. Lightning flashed so brightly it threw strobing illumination into the shanty.
"If you can get into the castle, find your Trinity Gems..." Discord frowned, nodding. "Yes. It could work..."
"What could work?" Scootaloo asked.
"Well, there's nothing the four of you can do to dethrone the Shattered Empress, and even if you could, it wouldn't bring back Equestria or the princesses," Discord said. "But...but if you could use your Trinity Magic to reactivate that map table in Twilight's castle..." He nodded absently. "It's been done before. The Mad Witch did it before..."
"Did what?" Fluttershy asked hesitantly.
"You could return to your own time," Discord said. "Back before any of us knew you were missing. And...and you could warn Celestia and Luna about...all this." He waved his hands vaguely. "You could stop all this from ever happening."
Fluttershy and the Crusaders looked at each other. Fluttershy squared her jaw and fluffed her wings. "Tell us everything we need to know," she said.
* * * * *
Ponyville.
Once upon a time, generations ago, it had been a bright, sunny hamlet where ponies from all trots of life lived, worked, and played together in harmony. Today, it was a perfectly ordered internment camp, rows of squat steel huts erected in a grid of paved roads, with signs pointing to work assignments. Colorless, lifeless ponies shuffled listlessly to their assigned jobs every day, toiling away for the Empress, eating what they were told, sleeping when they were told. There was no joy to be had. There was no deviation from the routine. There was only the work, the endless drudge. Like every city in the Equestrian Empire, it was founded on the principles of rigid structure and rigorous order, all in the service of the Shattered Empress.
She was power without purpose, and her Empire reflected this in its endless, pointless stagnation.
On the outskirts of Ponyville stood a jagged black crystal tree, massive and impossible. In its high branches sat what had once been a glorious crystal palace. Its gold towers and fine banners were tarnished and tattered; anything bearing the mark of its rightful mistress had long since been burned or destroyed. What remained was, like Ponyville itself, a shell of what once was.
Deep within this ancient ruin, there was a room with seven crystal thrones arranged around a large crystal table. The thrones were the only remaining trace of the castle's original occupants; after several years, the current resident gave up trying to destroy them or even erase their marks from the high backs. She had finally resorted to covering them with drab black tapestries.
A deep, whirring thrum sounded from within the crystal table as a flickering illumination struggled to light it up from within. Dim at first, its brightness increased in fits and starts. Bright blue arcs of electricity crawled across the table's surface, accompanied by a grinding sound and a thrill of static in the air.
In an electric blue flash, a cloaked, hooded unicorn appeared in the room. Old, tired eyes framed by heavy wrinkles watched in dismay, confusion, and anxiety as, slowly, flickering magic filled the room, the table shining brilliantly as the whirring and thrumming increased to a frantic pitch. A map of the Equestrian Empire faded into view on the table; in a bright flash, four Cutie Marks appeared above the map, spinning and flashing and strobing urgently, insistently.
Three butterflies.
Three near-identical crests, each with a different purple insignia in the center: a heart and apple, a pegasus wing and lightning bolt, and a star and musical note.
The wild display of old, forgotten magic reflected from the surprised light purple eyes of the old mare, whose mouth worked soundlessly as she lowered her hood, allowing a messy tangle of faded purple mane with pale silver-green streaks to spill out, cascading down her wrinkled grey-purple face and neck.
"No," she whispered in a dry, croaking wheeze. "No, you can't. I won't let you! You can't! I won't let you! You can't! I won't let you! You can't! I won't let you!"
The map ignored her, continuing its insistent summons of four ponies who hadn't been seen in two hundred years.
"But they're gone! They're gone! They're gone! They're gone! Gone! They..."
Her eyes widened, her ears standing straight up.
"Here. They went here. They went here."
She bit her lip.
"They're going to save her. Can't let them save her. They're going to save her. Can't let them save her. They're going to save her. Can't let them save her..."
Dancing lightly on her hooves, she charged into the castle's dusty, dilapidated old library. Her horn lit up; dozens of books and scrolls flew hither and yon. Flasks full of powders and potions went sailing this way and that. A furnace burst into magical flames.
The light of spells danced off the walls. Colorful, odorous smoke billowed out of the library. A great magical explosion shook the old castle.
A laugh, clear and malevolent, tinged with insanity, rang through the old crystal halls.
The mare reappeared in the throne room, only...changed. The faded colors and heavy wrinkles of extreme age were gone, replaced with smooth skin, a glossy coat, and a vibrant purple mane with aquamarine streaks. Bright purple eyes full of madness and fury gleamed wickedly above a smooth, young muzzle. The tattered, worn cloak was gone, replaced with a sleek black silk cape that covered her pinkish-purple flanks.
She sneered at the Cutie Marks hovering above the Map.
"Well, well," she said. "Fluttershy. I still have a score to settle with you. After all, you're the one who cost me everything...aren't you?"
She smiled sadistically.
"I'll be waiting for you, my little ponies..."
Starlight Glimmer, the Mad Witch of Ponyville, threw back her head and laughed.
I knew it, the Mad Witch just had to be Starlight Glimmer, the Diet Unicorn version of Twilight Sparkle and the pale version of Sunset Shimmer, say will Sunset ever make an appearance in this story?
I'm guessing the Shattered Empress is Tempest?
Oh, boy. Looks like we're seeing a version of Starlight where she didn't get redeemed. Incidentally, I know that this story has veered off from the canon, but will Starlight still get reformed? Incidentally, I wonder how she's managed to survive for all these years. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Hope that Fluttershy and the CMC can change the future, otherwise Equestria's in trouble.
Looking forward to the next chapter!
Damn...this story just got super dark.
Wait wait wait...if Starlight is the Mad Witch, than who the HELL is the Shattered Empress?! O.O
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I’m pretty sure it’s Tempest in case you haven’t watched the movie go watch it now!
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Probably Tempest Shadow based on the description of her magic and how the princesses were defeated, as well as the fact that the Author's Note warned of Movie Spoilers.
Called it on Starlight, but I'm interested in what she's become. And how she's alive. Questions, questions...
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I think I must have missed that movie spoiler, but it looks like now I HAVE to watch that movie @.@
Huh... need to find a way to watch the movie then. Pronto.
Oh great TWO Villain Sues with over-powered plot-convenient McGuffins in one story...
*sighs* Seriously, Saitama might as well show up now and just punch everything.
So Starlight and Tempest have turned Equestria into a living hell. I hope they can get back to the past and put this time traveling stuff behind them.
Wow, Starlight is really holding grudge (an unreasonable one at that) after two hundreds years. And I wonder what happened to the Changelings at this point.
Oh cool, there was another chapter! Friggin' Starlight, man. Hopefully Fluttershy and the Crusaders get her crazy ass under control before she hurts them. Nice work.
Ah. That kind of shattered. As for Glimglam the Mad, that could go one of several ways. The thing about insanity is that it comes with irrationality, making the madman's behavior function along different rules. If you can discern those rules, you can get through them fairly peacefully...
... until and unless they decide to change the rules mid-thought. In any case, this should be quite thrilling. If nothing else, I've always wanted to see the Crusaders face an unreformed Starlight.
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I think this is gonna show how Fluttershy was a big part of getting her reformed in the first place.
Um... Starlight, your entire homeland is literally getting destroyed. Maybe there are more important opponents than some centuries-past petrified purple pony princess you have a
crushgrudge for?*Reads introductary chapter note*
No, no, actually I would have had no idea, since I avoid spoilers and the movie isn't out in the UK yet. (I was expecting one of the alternate timelines from season 5's finale, actually.) So, yeah, thanks for the warning.
I shall return once I have had chance to see said movie.
*tips helmet*
Despite having already seen the movie, I did not see this coming.
Is there any chance of this story being continued sometime soon ( 3-6 months) ??
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Is there any chance of you checking my user page, checking my blog, and/or being patient?
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Sorry for annoying you.
I was really getting into this story. The exploration of Trinity magic interspersed with the CMC growing into their roles was enjoyable, and I was looking forward to seeing how that continued and where it might lead.
I was definitely not expecting a time travel plot.
I really don't understand where this came from. The story feels like it has gone off the rails entirely. Three chapters of the CMC and Fluttershy experiencing and influencing the formation of Equestria? Just so happening to meet all of the big name ponies of the day? Star Swirl and Clover readily believing their time travel story? It doesn't so much feel like the truffles sent them to a different time, it feels like they sent them to a different plot. I don't wish to be rude, but this is cliched, and it is a significant downgrade from what I was seeing in prior chapters. The CMC have had no character progression in almost 5 chapters due to this tangent. I'm kind of flabbergasted, and it bothers me because up until the time truffles I was really enjoying the story and was anxious to see where it went. Now it doesn't feel like the same story at all.