> My Little Pony: Days of Future Past
>  by Charles Xavier
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prologue

…

The Sentinels. Nobody knew where they originally came from… or how exactly they set foot on Equestrian ground. Perfected, proficient and invincible, these colossal man-made robots were programmed to hunt relentlessly and stop at nothing. First, they were after the ponies… and shortly then, everyone else. They were merciless, cruel and took no prisoners. 

Nothing could stop their destructive nature. Within a few days, Equestria was swept into a new age of darkness. Lands were set ablaze, cities were left in ruins and countless lives were taken. Yet only a small handful of survivors remained…

…

In the late hours of night, a fierce and bloody battle raged on in Ponyville. Princess Celestia had dispatched her royal guards to protect the town’s citizens, but they couldn’t sustain the enormous invasion for long. The Sentinels swarmed in like a grand fleet of bombers and decimated everything in their sight. Their numbers only increased when hundreds overwhelmingly poured in.

The body count had risen to the thousands. The Sentinels heartlessly dealt with the ponies in the most horrendous of ways. Whether it was crushing them under their mighty feet, smashing them with their gargantuan hands or strangling them with their strong metallic tentacles. Worst of all, however, they would scorch them by means of their heated energy blasts emerging from the palms of their hands, leaving no if not little trace of them behind.

Who would have ever imagined that something so formidable and devoid of pity or remorse was capable of so much devastation? Nobody was prepared for this. It was far beyond evident that the ponies were about to lose the war…

…

BOOM!

Another loud explosion rocked the castle. In its throne room, Twilight Sparkle stood securely with her friends: Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash couldn’t keep her feet on the ground and flew in circles, sensing their enemies drawing closer and closer.

“They’re near! They gotta be!” Rainbow Dash said, glimpsing at every corner of her eyes. 

“Relax, Rainbow Dash!” hushed Twilight, trying to keep her cool. “There’s still time left. If they manage not to-“

“She’s right! They’re heading this way!” Pinkie Pie alerted, twitching as her Pinkie Sense kicked in.

“Well, fine by me!” Applejack yelled unafraid. “Let ‘em come, I ain’t afraid of any overgrown tin cans! I’ll give ‘em a kick or two in the head if I have to!”

“I think that would be much easier said than done.” remarked Fluttershy.

The sound of heavy footsteps grew stronger, followed by painful cries of ponies echoing through the walls. The six of them stayed on high alert, ready for any impending strike. They were not, however, anticipating Spike the dragon bursting through their doors, holding a scrolled up letter in his hands.

“Twilight! We have to leave, NOW!” Spike urged, unrolling the letter and showing it to Twilight to read. “There’s no time to waste. Princess Celestia wants all of you at Canterlot immediately! It’s urgent!”

“But we can’t leave Ponyville defenseless!” Rarity said.

Twilight read the letter carefully before making any rash decision. “No, we can’t. But according to what Princess Celestia says, we may have a better chance of victory if we leave this instant!”

The other ponies gasped in fright.

“NO!” Fluttershy cried out.

“Twilight, you can’t be cotton-pickin’ serious here!” Applejack exclaimed. “How in Sam Hill could we…”

Something interrupted the conversation when they felt the ground shaking and heard rattling above their heads. Within moments, cracks formed from the ceiling and spread down to the walls. The roof was raised and detached from the castle, held in the hands of a Sentinel, peering down with its soulless stare.

It sighted the ponies as an eerie and unnaturally yellow glow emanated from its eyes. It analyzed them, collecting various data for records such as their names, their physical appearances and their cutie marks. And then in its deep, cold and inhuman voice, it spoke.

“Ponies detected. Terminate all life forms.”

“I’ll terminate YOU, metal brain!” Rainbow Dash huffed.

Not willing to be a poor sitting duck, she extended her wings and charged straight at her foe impetuously. The Sentinel remained still, adamant at the forthcoming aggressor, as it exposed its palm at her. Twilight could only guess what was going to happen next and was forced to shout out:

“RAINBOW DASH, NO!” 

But it was too late. The Sentinel’s fiery energy blast exploded from its hand, tearing away Rainbow Dash’s skin, exposing her skeleton and then reducing her to a handful of ash within mere seconds. She had no time to even scream.

Everyone was stunned. The Sentinel spoke again:

“Foolish organic creature. Did you think your pathetic arrogance could outsmart, let alone defeat, our vastly superior intelligence?”

In an immediate fit of extreme rage, Twilight used her telekinesis and raised all of the ponies’ thrones, including other heavy objects nearby. And all at once, she hurled everything she possessed at the Sentinel furiously, damaging its circuits as the impact made it falter and collapse. This sudden act of retribution only signaled more Sentinels to come.

Twilight wasn’t going to stay idle in her castle any longer. Staying would only spell suicide. “Come on! Let’s move it!” she ordered her friends.

There was no time to mourn for Rainbow Dash. They had to move fast or else they would meet her same untimely demise. Such a pity it was.

…

Ponyville was in a state of pure chaos. Ponies were dropping like flies and the Sentinels were gaining the upper hand. Defending the town seemed pointless at this stage. Yet they still fought on bravely, unwilling to yield and fall to their knees before defeat. 

Twilight and her friends ran through the burning remains of town square and town hall, avoiding blasts from the Sentinels that were tracking them down. Stopping to fight or even helping anybody would only hinder their progress. As harsh as the latter was, surviving was more essential right now.

A daunting sight caught Applejack’s eyes when she ran past the lifeless and charred remains of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Babs Seed and even her own sister, Apple Bloom, were long dead. The Sentinels had killed them all without shame. Yet this hardly reflected a fraction of their never-ending massacre.

Just ahead in their pathway, three chariots steered by Pegasus guards awaited the ponies for their departure. Applejack jumped on the first, while Rarity and Spike shared the second. Fluttershy, far too anxious at this point to fly, hopped on the third with Pinkie Pie. 

Prepared to leave, Twilight spread her wings and took flight, boldly taking the lead. She and the chariots were abruptly halted, however, when a lone Sentinel obstructed them to impede their escape. It raised its hands before them, ready to fire two blasts in one go.

Then from the skies, Spitfire plunged down and struck the Sentinel on the head, knocking it sideways. She was soon joined by the rest of the Wonderbolts. Together, they assaulted their enemy in all directions, confusing it.

With this temporary distraction, this gave the ponies enough time to flee.

“This way, HURRY!” Twilight resumed to lead the way.

…

The Sentinels had not reached Canterlot… yet. 

It was heavily guarded, intensively fortified to protect the royalties. The ponies arrived at the scene. They raced speedily towards the castle without a word to any of the royal guards, who made clear way for them. Standing at the castle’s entrance was Shining Armor, who led the defense. He briefly glanced at Twilight as she passed him and winked at her, knowing that he may never see his younger sister again. Twilight felt disheartened for a moment when she realized this…

The castle doors opened to welcome the ponies into the main hall. There were no guards apparently protecting the interior, as they were all stationed outside. Twilight didn’t bother too much about this and continued to lead her group into Princess Celestia’s throne room.

…

The ponies entered the dim candle-lit room. Although there were no unusual or elaborate decorations to be seen, it strangely felt as if they were walking into a ritual of some sort. But regardless, there stood Princess Celestia, with her sister Princess Luna and Twilight’s sister-in-law, Princess Cadance. The Alicorns quietly welcomed the ponies and thanked them for arriving on such short notice, and alive better yet.

The first thing Princess Celestia noticed was that they were one short. “Where is Rainbow Dash?” she asked concernedly.

Nobody dared to answer. A grave feeling of loss and sorrow gripped the ponies as they stared down in dead silence. Applejack removed her hat while Twilight shook her head.

Gasps of dismay escaped Princess Luna and Princess Cadance.

“I’m very sorry.” Princess Celestia said, offering her deepest condolences. “This war has taken a much heavier toll on us than I possibly imagined. We’ve lost too many lives in so few days. And with only a small handful of us remaining, I fear that we will never live to see the light of tomorrow.”

“So why did you summon us here?” Twilight demanded to know.

“Because in spite of all the odds I see against us, there’s still a gleaming chance left that we can overcome this conflict.” Princess Celestia replied, offering a little speck of relief to the ponies. “But we won’t be able to do this alone. There’s somebody here to help us, who happens to know much about the Sentinels.”

“Sentinels?” Pinkie Pie intruded. “That’s what those giant killing machines out there are called?”

Princess Celestia nudged her head towards a dark brawny figure leaning against a pillar behind her. “You better ask ‘him’ that question.”

Out from the shadows surfaced Tirek; unshackled, free as a bird and returned to his strengthened form. This unforeseen revelation outraged the ponies as they directly took defensive stands. Spike almost tripped on the carpet, aghast from his presence.

“TIREK!” the ponies chorused.

“In the flesh.” Tirek replied with crossed arms, uninterested in the hostility he was already receiving. “Were you expecting maybe somebody else?”

“Uh-uh! No way!” Applejack shook her head in denial and asserted: “There ain’t NO chance that we will work with, or even trust, that filthy double-crossin’ son of a varmint! After all what happened the last time!”

The ponies were all in agreement with her.

“Everyone, please listen! He’s not here to do any harm!” Princess Cadance declared, hoping to quell the antagonistic feelings from the ponies. “We’ve had a long discussion with Tirek… and we are convinced that he knows how we can end this war… before it ever began.”

“What does she mean by ‘before it ever began’?” Fluttershy whispered in Twilight’s ear. But even she hadn’t a clue.

“I don’t believe him!” shouted Twilight in distrust. “How do we even know if he’s telling the truth?!”

“Ahem.” Tirek cleared his throat, uncrossing his arms. “You do realize that the Sentinels are after me as well, right? As hard as I’ve found it true to believe, you and I have crossed paths against a common enemy. Meaning that if you want to stay alive and live for tomorrow, then it’s going to take the two of us to work together and take them down.”

As genuine as Tirek’s words sounded, Twilight still wasn’t quite bought by them.

“Perhaps if I told you what I know about the Sentinels, then maybe you’ll reconsider.” Tirek encouraged her. “Lately, during my imprisonment back in Tartarus, I’d been having a series of strange dreams, déjà vu you might call it. They were visions… reminiscences of the past… my past… the past from my earlier life in the World Beyond.”

“The World… Beyond?” said Rarity, unclear of what he meant.

Princess Luna was inclined to explain. “The World Beyond was a once peaceful world that used to exist several millennia ago, far long before Equestria was ever born. Rumors suggest that magical ponies, quite common to us, once inhabited it. And like Tirek, we all may have well existed there in our previous lifetimes. But otherwise, nothing else further is known about it…”

“Except that it’s now burned to dust.” Tirek mentioned morbidly. “You can thank the Sentinels for doing that, since it was the World Beyond from where they came, I’m certain.”

“They’re robots, aren’t they? So that means somebody must have designed them, built them.” pointed out Spike. “Any idea by who?”

“I don’t know.” was the blunt response from Tirek. “These are fractured memories, you know. I only remember certain details, but not everything. Even if I knew who made them, I probably wouldn’t know the reason behind it.”

The ponies continued to listen.

“After years of their endless warfare in the World Beyond, having slayed ponykind, the Sentinels started to evolve. They enhanced their intelligence and acquired new capabilities with their ever-so sophisticating technology, so much enough that it enabled them to cross into other realities, other dimensions, and our own included. And from what I gather, they’ve come to repeat their cycle of bloodshed again, right here in Equestria.”

“Okay,” Twilight said in thought, rolling her eyes, “so how does all this connect to your so-called previous life precisely? Were YOU somehow involved in creating those murderous monstrosities?”

“Maybe… maybe not… like I’ve said, I don’t know who created them…” Tirek insisted, though he was unpleased when he said: “… but I do know one thing for sure. I was the one who activated them, determined to become the master of the World Beyond. As my first order, I authorized them to eradicate the ponies. That lasted only up to a period of course, when they finally became self-aware and slayed me in cold hands. In the end, I was unable to contain them or rival their infinite power. Then they began to destroy not only ponies, but all other life’s creatures as well. And as you can obviously see, it didn’t stop there.”

“So what’s your idea of endin’ this all?” Applejack begged the question. “Jump into the past to the World Beyond and stop this whole thing from ever…?”

She already spotted Tirek and the Alicorns nodding their heads.

“That is correct.” said Princess Celestia.

“No, wait. You can’t be serious. This is absurd, ludicrous!” Twilight expressed in utter disbelief. “Do you have ANY idea what’s happening out there? Ponies are dying every minute as we speak. And you’re saying that to stop all this madness is to go back through time, long before I was born, and prevent Tirek from ever activating the Sentinels? Sure, I mean, I could travel a few days or even weeks back maybe. But we’re talking about YEARS, let alone years in another world that we’ve hardly recognized!”

It sounded preposterous beyond question. But no one around her was laughing. Tirek and the Alicorns were sincere with their words.

“But… how?” Twilight speculated. “I’m not sure if any of the time spells in the Canterlot archives can bring anyone back that far, thousands of years.”

“That is where I come in.” Princess Cadance declared again, stepping forward. “With my magic alone, so long as I stay focused, I should be able to transport you back to the World Beyond, before it was destroyed. It won’t be easy, but given by how much short time there is left, we don’t have any other alternatives.”

“So...” Twilight thought. Her friends remained just as dubious as her. “… so you can send us back in time together and-“

“It will only be you.” Princess Cadence corrected. “My powers cannot exceed taking more than one pony. And something else you should know, I will only be sending your consciousness to the past.”

“My… consciousness?” Twilight asked, puzzled.

“But how does that even work?” asked Applejack, desiring to know like the other ponies.

“We’ll need Princess Twilight to fall asleep first.” explained Princess Luna. “When she does, Princess Cadance will transfer her mind across time and space while her physical body will remain here in the present. In the World Beyond, her mind will return to the body of her past incarnation, but with all of her current memories still intact.”

“No way!” said Spike.

“Could it be possible?” said Fluttershy.

“Unbelievable.” said Rarity.

“Lucky for you, Twilight.” said Pinkie Pie. “Or should I say unlucky…?”

“Well, that’s certainly somethin’ you don’t hear every day.” said Applejack.

Twilight felt uncomfortable. She had never experienced time travel quite in this fashion before. To make matters even more mind-boggling, like she mentioned, she was traveling to a place she knew very little, if not nothing, about. 

“But why me?” Twilight questioned. “Couldn’t you send Princess Celestia, or how about Tirek? Wouldn’t it be easier and make a whole lot more sense to send HIM back in time and stop himself from reaching the Sentinels?” 

“Ahem, excuse me, but I’m a centaur here.” Tirek firmly stated.

“What he’s saying is that Princess Cadance’s magic for this will only work on ponies.” Princess Celestia specified. “For centaurs or any other creature, it would simply be ineffective. As for myself, I have a sworn duty to protect Canterlot at all costs. I must remain here if any attack comes under way. I’m sure you understand.”

Twilight understood perfectly. Though something else began to bother her: “So once I wake up in my other body, will I have enough time to find Tirek?”

“Actually, there won’t be much time.” said Princess Cadance regretfully. “The furthest I can send you back is a day before the event happened, when the Sentinels awakened. You’ll have to be swift. You can’t linger or waste any time.”

“Princess Twilight, listen well to what I have to say.” Princess Celestia advised her dearly. “We ponies may not have been the same in the World Beyond. You’re going to have to convince us well to believe all this. When you encounter your friends, lead them like you have always done in Equestria. And if chances are that you find me, if I am weak or reckless, guide me like I have guided you. For even though my past identity is shrouded in mystery to me, something inside tells me that I may have been a VERY different pony. I probably didn’t know better then than I do in this lifetime. So no matter how stubborn or unwilling I may be, please… be patient with me. As much as your friends, I may be the best chance you have to bring this catastrophe to an end.”

As well learned as Twilight was, she wasn’t sure if patience would serve on her side with regards to Princess Celestia in the World Beyond. That assumed her predictions about her past self were true, and considering that she only had one day to change history. Yet she knew well enough in her mind why the Alicorns had chosen her to undertake this dangerous mission, given her role of leadership in the past. Equestria was counting on her once again. And in order to avert it from terminal disaster, she would have to seek help from her friends from the World Beyond. It was another challenge for her waiting to be accepted.

“All right. I’ll do it.” Twilight decided, reluctant to change her mind at this point. “But one other question: where will YOU be?”

Her eyes were pointing at Tirek.

“In a different place, a much darker place.” Tirek said, unable to remember much about his former being, save for his role with the Sentinels. “You ought to be careful, Twilight. I could have been more brutal and ruthless then than how you know me today.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t expect anything more or less, Tirek, but well noted.” Twilight responded. “You better not be pulling a fast one on us though. We’ll let the Sentinels get to you first if that happens.”

“Very well.” Tirek nodded with agreement, not intimidated by the threat. “But know one last thing, because this is important. In the World Beyond, I distinctly remember meeting with three witches, rather hideous ones, that kept a certain special artifact hidden somewhere within their gloomy lair. This artifact was the only key to access and unlock where the Sentinels lay dormant. When they refused to hand it over to me, I killed them mercilessly, not knowing that I had only driven myself into an even darker path.”

“So who are these witches?” Twilight asked. “Know where I can find them?”

“That’s for you to find out.” Tirek replied, again not knowing.

“Right, so if I can get to these witches early before they’re killed, then maybe there won’t be a chance for Tirek to find the Sentinels, and that could end the war for good!”

“It won’t be that simple, Princess Twilight.” cautioned Princess Celestia. “Bear in mind that Tirek may be very much the same in the World Beyond as you have dealt with him in Equestria. Who knows what kind of power he was capable of before? Under no circumstances should you underestimate him.”

Twilight took her mentor’s words truthfully and kept it in mind. After a few deep breaths, she took the courage and declared: “Okay, I’m ready for this. Let’s do it!”

Princess Cadance took her position as the tip of her horn glowed brightly with magical energy. Twilight took a moment to speak to her friends and bid them farewell before she departed. After all, there was no guarantee that she would return alive if things went awry.

“We’ll be cheering for you right here.” Spike said to her with enthusiasm.

“Take care, Twilight.” said Rarity with an amiable nod and smile. “Keep a sharp eye out there, in the World Beyond.”

“And please have a safe journey.” added Fluttershy earnestly.

“We’re all countin’ on you, partner!” said Applejack, offering Twilight a warmhearted hug. “Best of luck, because you’re gonna need it!”

Pinkie Pie tried to be as cheerful as she could when she approached Twilight, presenting her with a small chocolate cup cake, softly illuminated by a single candle of hope. “I baked this for you. I know it isn’t much, but I couldn’t forget your birthday today.”

The war with the Sentinels was not only taking away lives, but also the spirit of the ponies. Yet Pinkie Pie wished to stay positive amidst the onslaught outside. Twilight chuckled as a tear trickled down her face. “No worries, Pinkie Pie. You did your best. Thank you so much for remembering, but let’s save eating until I get back. I promise.”

“Okay.” Pinkie Pie nodded confidently. 

“Thanks, everyone.” Twilight announced, giving an encouraging smile to them all. “And Tirek, like I said, no funny business.”

“Hrm… fine.” he snorted.

Twilight settled herself down comfortably on the royal carpet in a resting position and calmly shut her eyes, well aware that if she failed the Alicorns, life in Equestria would truly be over.

“Take care, my dearest and most faithful student.” Princess Celestia said. 

An ocean colored beam emerged from Princess Candance’s horn and flowed towards Twilight, delving into her mind and transporting it far back years in time… into the World Beyond. Uncertainty loomed and new dangers were afoot. Yet time was short and precious. 

“Do you honestly think this plan is going to work?” Tirek asked Princess Celestia, rather incredulously. “You think she can do it?”

“Have faith, Tirek,” she answered with optimism. “I believe in her.”
> Chapter One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter One

…

She could hear the sound of birds chirping above her head. She could hear the cool summer’s breeze whispering calmly into her ears. And she could hear the faint laughter of ponies, a short distance away. 

A soft moan escaped Twilight’s breath as she gently lifted her eyes. Upon awakening, she found herself in a fresh grassy field, where a magnificent flowing river meandered from the far canyon down across under a sparkling rainbow. The morning skies were clear of clouds as the glittering rays from the glorious sun shimmered down upon the river’s fresh water, nearly blinding the baffled pony.

“W-where am I…?”

Twilight speculated. She rose to her feet and guided herself to the river to inspect her own reflection. She was relieved to know that she was still a pony. However, she jumped out of her skin when she noticed the change in her physical appearance.

“Well, what do you know? It actually worked!” Twilight murmured, amazed that she was back in the body of her previous incarnation, as Princess Luna stated. “I’m in the World Beyond!”

The good news was that she was a Unicorn pony, meaning that she must have still been able to cast magic… as far as she was aware at least. Although whether or not her level of magic in this world was on par with that of her future counterpart was yet to be determined. The not-so-good news was that she had no wings, which was disadvantageous for sure. Other changes she noticed was her cutie mark having changed to nine glittery purple stars, the color of her mane being white with purple streaks and her skin appearing now pink. 

“I can tell this might take some time getting used to.” Twilight said, hoping that these apparent changes wouldn’t affect her adventure. 

Her sharp ears picked up the sound of laughing ponies again. Looking around, Twilight discovered a huge apple orchard within reach. Her friends must have been there picking apples. Realizing that no time could be wasted, she sprinted immediately in search for them.

…

Twilight stopped on her tracks in the midst of the orchard, where she saw a baby purple dragon, exchanging sarcastic jokes with a yellow mane orange pony, bearing orange-red apples with green leaves as her cutie mark. They were happily conversing with each other, munching on their delicious apples freshly picked from the trees.

Judging by their appearances, it didn’t take long for Twilight to figure out who the two strangers were. She rushed to them both, shouting out their names.

“Spike…?! Applejack…?!”

Spike and Applejack noticed their close friend, Twilight, speeding towards them.

“Hmm…? Oh, hi Twilight!” Spike waved as he gulped down the last remains of his apple. “Don’t worry! We’ve saved some for you!” 

“Yeah. We wouldn’t let our best friend starve while napping.” Applejack chuckled as she presented a basket of apples for Twilight. “Good to see you’re awake. Did you have a good rest?”

“Err, I guess.” said Twilight doubtingly. She stared at Applejack for a little longer than a moment; surprised of how different she appeared and spoke. “Applejack? Is that REALLY you?”

“Um… of course it’s me.” Applejack replied, looking sideways, feeling uncomfortable with Twilight’s awkward stare. “Why wouldn’t I be…?”

Twilight was in disbelief. “But look at you! How come you’re not wearing your favorite hat, you’re not talking in your funny accent, and come to think of it, where’s your whole Apple family?”

Applejack rolled her eyes over to Spike, who did nothing but shrug, just as perplexed as her with Twilight’s spontaneous change in behavior. She shook her head and hesitantly said: “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about, Twilight.”

“You’re acting kinda strange.” commented Spike. “Do you have a fever?”

“A fever? No Spike, c’mon! Don’t be silly! Why would you think that?” Twilight frowned. “And how am I acting strange to you guys? I’m Twilight, right?”

It wasn’t just her behavior that startled Spike and Applejack. It was her new personality as well. Neither of them knew what to make of this.

“Are you?” Applejack asked, peering and squinting at Twilight rather suspiciously.

“Of course I am!” Twilight insisted robustly. “Well, I was, except, I’m not now.”

She already saw Applejack and Spike raising their brows at her. Twilight then froze when she felt someone sneaking up behind her.

“BOO!” A neon yellow Pegasus pony, named Surprise, who was known to be rather loud and mischievous, sprung out from behind an apple tree and scared the living daylights out of Twilight. “HEE-HEE-HEE! I GOTCHA THERE!”

Twilight caught her breath as Surprise and a couple more ponies showed up, carrying their baskets filled with apples. A yellow motherly Earth pony, called Posey, and a white graceful Unicorn pony rolling on her skates, called Glory, casually greeted her. And not a second later did a fearless pink Pegasus pony called Firefly swoop down upon the apple trees and crash into Applejack’s own apple basket, spilling everything over her.

“Oh, not again!” remarked Glory, turning away in embarrassment.

“Whoops! Sorry, Applejack!” Firefly apologized, having not watched her landing.

“That’s okay.” Applejack groaned, licking off the mess. There was a bigger problem to worry about after all. “Listen everyone, Twilight here is acting… a little… funny today. I’m not so sure if she’s herself lately…”

“I AM myself...” Twilight had to reiterate.  “… err, I mean, I’m not myself. I am, but I’m not. You understand? I AM, but I’m NOT. I AM Twilight, but NOT the Twilight I was a few minutes ago.”

Her friends were thrown into a muddle of feelings.

“So… who are you?” Spike queried, scratching his aching brain.

“Look, I know it’s complicated.” Twilight said. “But if you just hear me out and allow me to expl-”

“Complicated?! You’re sounding pretty complicated to us if you ask me!” spouted Surprise humorously.

Twilight was in no mood for jokes and shook her head in frustration. She might as well spill the beans and not hold anything back. “Listen to me, all of you! I come from the land of Equestria, from the future, thousands of years ahead from now! I was brought here by Princess Celestia, to save you from a horrible event that’ll wipe out the ponies and every life clean from existence! Your lands will be ravaged, your homes will be burned to ruins, and your friends and families will be hurled into the depths of a raging inferno! And it’s all going to happen tomorrow!”

Eyes widened fearfully as her friends were left flabbergasted. An apple rolled silently out of Surprise’s gaping jaw, bonking Spike on the head before dropping to the ground… but even he ignored the pain. Skepticism swept the minds of the ponies instantly amongst their finest companion. Twilight’s words seemed honest enough, but were her dire warnings actually true? Or perhaps had the heat from the sun frazzled her brain so badly that she was merely hallucinating and making up tall tales?

Twilight let out a sigh of grief. “I look into your eyes and I can’t tell if you guys are believing a word I’m saying.”

The ponies only answered her by shrugging vaguely.

“Twilight, are you feeling okay?” Posey asked, expressing a crooked smile. “Have you been eating rotten apples again?”

Twilight knew she hadn’t time to explain everything in detail with her friends. It was better to do so elsewhere, to someone higher up in charge. “Can I please speak to the Princess of… by the way, excuse me for asking, but what do you call this place?”

The ponies’ faces dropped; astounded when they learned that she was unfamiliar with the name of…

“Ponyland.” replied Spike. “But there is no Princess here.”

“Th-th-there’s…” Twilight hesitated as her eye twitched for a second in shock. “… no Princess…?! Are you kidding me?!”

The ponies shook their heads. Obviously they weren’t. Twilight knew for sure now that convincing her friends would be much tougher than she expected. Yet more especially, she had to convince the rest of the ponies of Ponyland as well.

“Ugh… there isn’t much time to waste!” said Twilight. “Are there any other ponies I can talk to?”

…

“IMBECILES!” The mad centaur, Tirek, snapped in his dark and desolate throne room. “INCOMPETENT FOOLS! Can’t you idiots do anything right?”

It had taken Tirek almost forever to build his new Midnight Castle, after the Rainbow of Light destroyed the first one. Having been stripped of his Rainbow of Darkness, a great source of power he once possessed, it had proven him difficult to enwrap the world into eternal darkness; something he had longed for in years. Discontented that his every attempt to do so had failed, thanks to the efforts of the ponies of Ponyland, he typically took his anger out upon his minions of armored gargoyles and dragons surrounding him. They stood there, cowering before their harsh superior, who continued to roar in his outburst of rage. A few of them took harsh beatings, which often happened at times like these.

“How many times must I…!“

A door creaked open, briefly silencing the room. A small and hunchbacked gargoyle concealed in a cloak, Grendel, stepped inside and made her appearance known. She carried in her old and frail arms an ancient but heavily massive book. This abrupt visit from her only fuelled Tirek with more fury.

“What do you want?!” he snapped rudely to his lackey. “I didn’t summon you here! How dare you show your presence before me without my permission! AWAY WITH YOU AND REMAIN GONE!”

Grendel, unfazed by his terrorizing voice, bowed submissively and said: “My most humble apologies for this disturbance, Master Tirek, but I was recently browsing through the Midnight Castle archives, searching deep through several of your father’s oldest books and records, hoping to find a solution to your… pony pest problem.”

“What’s that you’re holding?” Tirek pointed at the object in her hands.

Grendel advanced forwards, revealing the book to her master and presenting it to him.

“This I believe, as it is so written, dates back to your earliest ancestors… kept secret for generations, untouched and unread, until now. Perhaps there is something of use we could consider from their words of wisdom. Perhaps there is something here that could help us to achieve our goal of eternal darkness that you’ve yearned for so long.”

“Hmm… intriguing.” Tirek said, stroking his chin and accepting the book. He blew away the dust on the cover, examining it, before opening it up to reveal the contents. The book contained untold reports and detailed blueprints of a secret weapon that his ancestors designed centuries ago… something that grabbed his attention immediately. “Excellent work, Grendel. You’ve served well today, unlike my other subordinates.”

Grendel was at least relieved that Tirek wasn’t going to kick her again with his hooves. Tirek studied several pages of the book, seeking the information he needed about this secret weapon. It may have been just his ticket to rid himself of the pesky ponies.

“Yes, this is exactly what I needed!” he grinned and broke into a diabolical cackle, which echoed into the gloomy hallway. “At last, our key to victory is at hand! Soon, the ponies will cease to exist, and I shall proudly stand tall as the new Prince of Darkness in all of Ponyland!” 

Before his minions could rejoice, however, Tirek continued to analyze the pages of the book carefully again. He came across a vital part of information that he almost missed reading. “Although it appears that I need to pay a little visit to some old friends at the Volcano of Gloom.” he slammed the book shut in his hand and shouted out: “Prepare my Chariot of Darkness! I’m off!”

“As you wish, Master.” Grendel bowed again and limped away, exiting through the door from whence she came.

“Yes, that is exactly what I wish.” replied Tirek.

…

Since its first creation, the grand and heavenly Paradise Estate had drastically expanded and transformed into a bigger property. Throughout the years, more and more ponies began to move in. It was far bigger now than their former residence: Dream Castle.

The estate was crammed and busy today. For a great mass assembly was taking place in the main hall. Every pony in Ponyland was gathered for an urgent announcement. 

Twilight took the stage with her friends respectfully standing behind her. She cleared her throat and addressed to all of the ponies present:

“Listen and listen well, everyone!” she declared aloud. “Your lives are all in grave danger! Starting from tomorrow, Tirek will do the unthinkable and unleash a vast army of robots upon us, the Sentinels! And they’re gonna destroy everything in Ponyland that we know of. If we don’t act fast and do something about it, none of us will be safe from this impending onslaught and we will perish as our world crumbles! We gotta find Tirek and stop him from reaching the Sentinels… NOW! We’re a step away from being blown to Kingdom Come! Who’s with me?”

There was a hushed moment while the ponies were left disoriented. That was until a turquoise Unicorn pony called Fizzy, began to giggle. Then two Earth ponies, named Bubbles and Cotton Candy, followed her. A Big Brother pony called Tex quickly erupted into laughter. This only caused the rest of the entire pony community to do the same. Not surprisingly, they found Twilight’s hysteric performance most amusing.

“HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAA!” The voices in the main hall clamored.

Twilight was dumbstruck. 

“I told you they wouldn’t believe your story.” Spike informed her for the third time. 

The only pony not laughing was the yellow Earth pony, Magic Star, who took a rather leadership role amongst her kin. Even she couldn’t quite deem Twilight’s story to be true, and found it somewhat absurd. She knew well in her experience that Tirek never relied on advanced technology against them. His powers were far more based upon black magic.

Magic Star approached Twilight with concern.

“That’s enough, Twilight. I’m not sure what’s gotten into you, but this harebrained tale of yours has gone far enough.” she said, gesturing the audience to disperse and go about their daily business. “You look tired… have you been getting less sleep lately?”

Twilight was fed up of this. She couldn’t stand the ponies assuming that she was simply fooling around, feeling weary or under the weather. She was about to raise her voice until…

“You know, we already have problems to deal with.” Magic Star added sternly. “Last week, a few ponies mysteriously vanished and haven’t been heard of since. We’ve been searching for them everywhere in Ponyland. They’re good friends and I’d hate to find out if anything horrible has befallen them.”

Twilight would have loved to help look for the missing ponies, but that could evidently wait. There were bigger fish to fry. Far more lives were at stake and she wasn’t willing to dilly-dally in an expensive looking mansion and wait until the cows come home. 

“Please. You have to believe me!” Twilight begged.

“Now is not the time, Twilight.” Magic Star turned her tail and began to leave like the other ponies. “You should probably get some rest. You’ll feel better afterwards.”

A question struck Twilight’s mind. “Wait, can you at least tell me where I can find three witches?”

Magic Star halted. She glanced round to Twilight and then slightly grimaced, saying:  

“You wouldn’t happen to be referring to Hydia, Reeka and Draggle now, would you?”

“Um… maybe?” replied Twilight innocently, having no idea of who they were.

“Why would you want to see them? They’ve been nothing but trouble.” Magic Star wondered. “Look, whatever the reason, you should stay well away from them. Nobody knows where they live anyway. So I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”

Magic Star disappeared out through the entrance, abandoning Twilight and her friends. Twilight was about to ask the same question to any other ponies still in the hall, but by this time they had already vamoosed. No one was keen to accept her story or offer any support.

Firefly walked up to Twilight and offered her a sympathetic hug. “Don’t worry, Twilight. We believe you… well, sorta at least.” she smiled with encouragement.

Twilight could slowly identify the relations of her friends to the ones waiting back in Equestria. Glory’s dignified elegance reflected that of Rarity’s, Posey’s generous and caring nature was reminiscent of Fluttershy’s, Surprise’s gleefully energetic behavior was obviously the spitting image of Pinkie Pie’s, and Firefly’s daring intrepidity was no doubt comparable to Rainbow Dash’s. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who Applejack and Spike resembled, although the former’s charisma was greatly lacking. Twilight could well acknowledge Spike’s sarcastic streak, which hadn’t changed.

In the World Beyond, Twilight was surprised that she and the ponies had already forged this special circle of friendship with each other. It was no coincidence that the same ponies would repeat this again in their future life and would reunite without ever knowing it. This inexplicable bond between them may have been what kept them together and why they weren’t willing to fully dismiss Twilight’s apocalyptic predictions.

“It’s strange that you didn’t know the names of those witches.” Applejack commented. 

“You mean Hydra, Reaper and Dongle?” said Twilight.

“BWA-HA-HA!” laughed out Surprise. “That’s Hydia, Reeka and Draggle, silly!”

“Every pony in Ponyland knows about them.” said Glory.

“Sure. They nearly drove us out of here with their Smooze!” said Posey.

“What’s the… Smooze?” Twilight asked peculiarly, plainly having no clue to what her friends were talking about. “Is that a kind of hairspray or something? I hope it’s not anything contagious… or flatulent for that matter…”

The ponies gasped at her. 

“Wow!” said Posey. “You really don’t know, do you?” 

Perhaps they felt that Twilight was being truthful when she claimed she was from the future. It was beyond stupidity for a pony not to know about the Smooze incident that occurred several years ago. Then again…

“Are you suffering from amnesia, Twilight?” Spike asked.

Twilight was tired of these questions. She huffed but then peacefully smiled. “No Spike, I’m NOT suffering from amnesia. I still know that I have to stop Tirek from getting his crummy claws on those Sentinels. And I know he’s going to come after Hydia, Reeka and Draggle and he’ll be after… oh, did I get their names right by the way?”

The ponies nodded.

“Good… ahem, and he’ll be after some special artifact from them… and then he’ll murder them.”

The ponies gasped again.

“Murder?” Glory exclaimed.

“Oh, no! That’s terrible!” Spike cried shamefully. 

“We have to find the witches as soon as possible!” Twilight demanded. “Is there anyone else who knows where I can find them?”

The ponies knew, but were reluctant to say it. That was all except for Firefly, of course. She wasn’t afraid to be a little outspoken sometimes.

“Yes, there’s one.” she softly replied. “There was somebody… a long time ago, I once went looking desperately for help when my friends were kidnapped by Tirek… that was when I first met her. She was always like a leader to us when we were in need.”

Applejack interrupted. “Firefly, maybe we shouldn’t tell her about-”

“She fought with the witches many times and might know where they dwell.” Firefly went on, ignoring Applejack. “Except…”

“Except what?” Twilight asked.

Firefly paused for a moment, rather tentative before continuing. “Six years ago… something terrible happened… she left us… and she never came back to see us again.”

“Why? What happened?” Twilight begged the answer.

“…”

“Do you know where she lives?”

“That’s another thing. She’s not from around these parts. She isn’t from Ponyland… she’s not exactly… a pony.”

Twilight was confused. “She’s not a pony… not from Ponyland? Then where is she from? What’s her name?”

Firefly gulped a lump down her throat. And without fear or regret, she told Twilight her name…



> Chapter Two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Two

…

The countryside cottage appeared anything but welcoming. It was in a state of extreme disrepair and was definitely showing its old age; especially with the abandoned horse stables nearby. Twilight even wondered whether anyone was still residing in this seemingly forsaken home. The atmosphere she felt was far too morbid.

“Are you sure this is where she lives?” she asked Firefly.

“Yes, this is it. I’m positive.” she insisted.

Spike and the other ponies watched patiently while Twilight approached the door of the boarded up cottage. She pressed her nose on the doorbell. No reply, since the mechanism was broken. She tried knocking with her hoof. Faint footsteps followed. Suspense gripped her as the door creaked open very slightly. 

“Yes, what do you want?” an icy female voice from the darkness groaned.

“Excuse me,” Twilight cleared her throat, “I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’m looking for somebody by the name of Megan Williams? Is she around?”

“Who wants to know?” the voice snarled.

“I’m Twilight, from Ponyland. My friends and I have come because-“

“Yeah-yeah, good joke, kid. Laugh it up, but Megan doesn’t live here. Go away.”

Twilight wasn’t entirely pleased with the cold shoulder she was getting. “Just for the record, I’m a Unicorn pony, not a kid. And my name IS Twilight.”

“Riiight… a likely tale.”

“I’m not bluffing, you know. We need to talk to Megan, urgently. It’s a matter of life and death.” Twilight pleaded. “I heard she used to visit Ponyland many times and help the ponies… that was until several years ago, when she vanished and never came back. Please, do you know where we can find her?”

There was doubt for a brief moment… then followed by a faint snort. 

“No, you’re only wasting your time. Leave me alone!” the voice replied reluctantly. 

The mysterious and paranoid girl attempted to slam the door shut on the uninvited guest’s face. But Twilight pushed it firmly against her and resisted. She knew well enough that searching for Megan wouldn’t be as straightforward as she hoped for.

“I’m not finished yet!” Twilight said with absolute persistence. She refused to be spurned so soon. “There’s so much I need to tell her in too little time! And judging by how uncivil you are, I’d sense that you’re hiding something secret from me!”

“Leave! I’ve said it before, there’s no Megan living here! She’s gone!” the girl asserted.

Twilight was unable to hold the door for long when it finally closed. She heard the clicking of locks on the other side. That was the last straw; if the girl wanted to play hardball, then that was what she was going to get.

“Open the door now!” Twilight demanded.

Her horn began to glow, summoning her magical energy. Her intent was to telekinetically swing the door open with sheer force, overpowering the locks. Instead though, within a flash, she disappeared out of sight, and then reappeared directly on the other side of the door. She was now inside the cottage.

“Huh?” Twilight said, surprised that her magic had teleported her right into the woman’s abode quite unintentionally. It was apparent that she lacked her telekinesis in the World Beyond. “Is that all I can do now?”

In front of her was the young face of a teenage girl, around eighteen or nineteen years. She was in a ghastly condition with dirty slippers and a torn nightgown, not to mention how unhealthily thin she appeared. She bore blue cerulean eyes and blonde hair that was messy and uncombed. From these physical characteristics alone, Twilight could tell right away that she was some nutcase, as if she had just escaped from some psychiatric ward.

Shocked by the pony standing before her inside her home, the girl rushed frantically to the storage room to fetch something. 

“Hey, relax. It’s okay.” Twilight tried to reassure her. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

She didn’t know sooner when her eyes met face-to-face with a polished double-barreled shotgun, fully loaded. Twilight went cross-eyed for a second, then her face dropped in severe terror. The girl cocked the firearm, aiming it at the frightened pony. She was unafraid to pull the trigger if needed. 

“YIKES! Don’t point that thing at me!” Twilight flinched nervously.

“Then GET OUT!” the girl yelled.

She kicked open the door and nudged her head outside, inadvertently exposing her identity from the sunlight. Spike and the ponies in the field watched motionless when they saw Twilight being forced at gunpoint to leave. The girl wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer.

Then from out of the blue…

“MEGAN!” Firefly called out.

Megan stopped what she was doing and glanced sideways to see a familiar face come rushing towards her. With a blink of an eye, she recognized Firefly, for she was the first ever pony she encountered long before who could talk to her, when she was in dire need of help to save the ponies from the clutches of the evil Tirek. She was the one who introduced her to Ponyland and its inhabitants. Those wonderful memories meeting on that faithful day, flying across the nightly moon in song, suddenly came flooding back to her. 

“F… Firefly?” Megan whispered, lowering her gun.

Firefly stood perfectly still as Megan slowly reached a hand out to her. She stroked her mane softly with her delicate fingers and then moved down to touch her nose. Megan could feel it; the warmth of her skin and her soft gentle breathing. This was no illusion. It was real.

“Megan, don’t you remember me?” Firefly asked.

Megan sighed, dropping her weapon. “Of course I do.” she answered as she fell to her knees and broke down in tears. “It’s just been too long since I last saw you!”

Spike and the other ponies approached Megan, seeing their long-lost friend in heartache. Along with Firefly, they gathered to embrace Megan affectionately after so many years. She had changed so dramatically yet little had her friends. It was a happy albeit unplanned reunion. Twilight, however, still remained inside of the cottage, astonished that the girl who had moments before threatened her life, was in fact Megan Williams.

…

The Volcano of Gloom still remained as the residence of Hydia and her two children, Reeka and Draggle. Despite their unceasing incompetence, Hydia continued to try ever so hard to teach the girls how to become a despicable and despising witch like herself, as it was in the long family heritage. And even though attempts such as the Smooze had worked to an extent, their schemes had always been thwarted. It appeared for a while that they couldn’t do anything right.

However, in recent years, Reeka had begun showing better potential to follow closer in her mother’s footsteps. This consequently made Hydia draw more of her attention towards her, leaving Draggle to fend on her own and feel neglected. It was unfair and unjustified, but old habits died hard. Such were the nature of witches to commit such cruel acts, even amongst themselves. 

Yet something else came to pass over time. Unbeknownst to everyone but herself, Draggle in her mind was gradually drifting apart from the way of sorcery and witchcraft and shared small interest in them. And bit-by-bit, hazardous to say, she grew to harbor sympathy for the ponies, likewise for nature’s other admirable creatures. As she matured, even under the wing of her sadistic and appalling mother, the question occurred to her in the course of time as to why she was pressured tremendously to abhor the most pleasant and charming aspects of life. Surely at first, she despised them far to the extreme, but was there any reason, any purpose in being so disgustedly antagonistic? Was her feeling of ambiguity the reason behind why her magic capabilities were currently dwindling? Perhaps it was her conscience reaching out to her, telling her that she didn’t have to follow in the footpath of witches after all…

“DRAGGLE! Get over here!” Hydia ordered. “See what new spell your sister is conjuring up today!”

“Coming, Mama.” Draggle shut her mouth and immediately corrected herself. “I mean, Hydia.” she stopped sweeping the floor with her broom and sped to her mother.

Hydia was about to scream at Draggle for addressing her as ‘Mama’, something she detested enormously, but forgave her this time for the common mistake. Besides, she was far too engaged with Reeka by the cauldron, teaching her how to cook up another evil witch spell with some raw and fresh ingredients. As usual, Draggle was left to handle the house chores. Not the most exciting job for one still young.

Reeka, still chubby as she used to be, was chewing on a millipede and other revolting creepy crawlies as she stirred the cauldron with a wooden spoon under Hydia’s watch.

“You make me proud, Reeka. You’re the best daughter that any witch could ever ask for!” Hydia said, smiling with glee. “There’s so much devotion and passion within you!” she patted her loyal daughter on the head, before deviating her eyes towards Draggle with a scowl. “Why is it that YOU can’t be like her?”

Draggle innocently shrugged, swinging her arms behind her back casually and thought. “Well, um… maybe that’s because you hardly give me a chance to practice MY magic, and er… I need help to improve them.” 

But her words only fell on deaf ears, for Hydia was distracted elsewhere; she was ensuring that Reeka wasn’t making any mistakes with her spell that might accidentally cause a massive explosion. Draggle grumbled, annoyed that nobody was listening to her. Of course, this wasn’t the first time Hydia had done this.

What prevented Draggle from shouting out of frustration was when she noticed how awfully youthful Hydia appeared today. Her face was somehow less droopy and her skin was smooth and devoid of wrinkles. She seemed almost ten to fifteen years younger. What’s more, she was wearing less makeup on her face, revealing more of her natural beauty. Reeka was far too set on pleasing her mother and commented nothing about this. Yet it caught Draggle’s notice considerably.

“Um, Hydia…?” she dared to say.

“What is it?” Hydia glared.

“Um, er… I just wanted to say how beautiful you are today.” Draggle meekly replied.

“Oh… why thank you, Draggle.” said Hydia, inspecting her physique in the reflection of the cauldron. “I’ve been taking more care of my looks lately, you know.”

“Um… something else that’s been bothering me. Something I’ve been meaning to ask in a while.” continued Draggle. “Why do we have to hate the ponies? I mean… I understand they’ve been nothing but a nuisance and granted, everything they do and represent tends to irk us… but why? Wouldn’t it be better maybe to talk to them and try to work out our differences, you know, work things out? I’ve been thinking… what’s wrong with just getting along with them?”

By this time, Hydia’s face was heating up to a boiling point already. “Are you questioning the way I’ve raised you?! Are you taking pity on those pesky ponies?! Are you defying me?!”

“N-no, mother, I mean, Hydia!” Draggle cringed in fear. “I would never mean to defy you. I was only asking if-”

“Allow me to remind you, Draggle. Your family has forever loathed the ponies and everything pretty they’ve brought upon our world for ages! Straying from our beliefs, our dignity that we strive for would be nothing but an uncompromising taboo! So I say this once, do NOT break our tradition! Child or no child of mine, you wouldn’t want to disappoint me if you value your life dearly. Is that clear?” 

The ominous warning from Hydia was enough to render Draggle mute as she nodded obediently. Hydia snorted and turned away, picking up a couple of rats and hurling them into the cauldron. She wanted to pretend her daughter had never asked those bold questions. 

“Now then, when you’re done sweeping up the floor, you can go fetch the flume that we’ll need later!”

“FLUME?!” Draggle exclaimed, knowing well enough how painstakingly difficult it was to gather such. “But why me? Why not send Reeka?”

“Because she’s going to become a better witch than me one day!” she laughed, hugging Reeka with arrogance. “And I wouldn’t want to endanger her life at this point.”

Reeka did nothing but extend her tongue and blow a raspberry at her skinny sister. “It stinks to be you, Draggle!” she remarked.

After six years, it was hurtful and embarrassing for Draggle to witness how much Hydia favored her sister over her. Yet there was little she could do about it. She could only assume that after Reeka had reached the top of her ladder of success in becoming a full villainous witch, there would be time for Hydia to shift more of her focus and care on Draggle. She could start to set a good example if she complied in obtaining the flume, even if she dreaded it immensely. 

Draggle gathered her bucket and pickaxe and was about to set off. But before she could step out through the entrance, she was abruptly halted by a towering and sinister figure. Its shadow loomed over her and she staggered back, almost afraid it was going to devour her.

There in the doorway stood the demonic centaur of darkness himself: Tirek. 

“Good afternoon, Draggle.” he said calmly, arms crossed. “Might your mother be home today? If it is not too inconvenient, I wish to have a word with her… now.” He stared at her piercingly, threatening to pulverize her if she didn’t summon Hydia promptly.

Draggle hesitantly nodded and called out: “Um, Hydia! There’s somebody here to see you! Sounds pretty important!” 

Tirek grinned, exposing his sharp teeth.

…

Megan poured herself another glass of Jack Daniel’s. She paced around her living room, after hearing everything about Twilight’s story. She gulped her fourth drink in one go and sat back down on her armchair. Spike and the ponies awaited her response.

Megan juggled the ice cubes in her glass and said: “So let me to put this straight. This Princess Celestia, you say, and all her pals from this Equestria place, as you call it, sent you here from the future to help save Ponyland from these giant metal men, who’ll apparently wreak havoc and decimate everything that we cherish. And you need ME to stop THEM from ever wakening and cross-stepping into other parallel universes?”

Twilight nodded affirmatively.

“HAH!” Megan scoffed, rolling her eyes away adversely. She was without any doubt tipsy from all the alcohol she consumed. “That’s one heck of a tale you have there, Twinkie.”

“It’s Twilight.”

“Yeah, Twilight, wh-whatever.” Megan shrugged nonchalantly, sinking into her armchair. “Look, I appreciate you coming back to see me, honestly. It’s great to see you ponies doing so well after this time. Thanks. But the fact is, I’m just not buying this story.”

“It’s not a story. It’s going to happen tomorrow!” Twilight corrected.

“Well, suppose that was true,” Megan thought, despite a bit of a headache, “suppose everything you said does happen, why do you need MY help?”

“Because you can show us the way to Hydia’s lair.” Twilight answered sharply. “Firefly told me about your encounters with her and the other witches, Reeka and Draggle. She also told me they once kidnapped you, threatened you to be cooked alive… that was until you managed to escape, suffice it to say. The ponies had no idea of your whereabouts until you returned to them safely.”

Megan knew about that incident all too well. It was a daunting experience and one that she couldn’t forget. She mumbled:

“You don’t say…” 

“I DO say.” Was Twilight’s quick response. “And if you don’t help us to find those witches in time before Tirek does, then it’ll be too late!”

Megan rested in contemplation, settling her glass on the table. Then without saying another word, she abandoned her armchair and calmly departed for the stairs, gesturing the ponies to leave her house.

“I have to get up from this bad dream… I’m sorry. I can’t help you. Not after what’s happened.” Megan shook her head in sorrow. “You guys know the way out. I’ll wave goodbye to you here before I head upstairs and back to bed. I need my rest.”

Twilight only huffed with impatience. “What’s wrong with you?! Why have you stopped caring so much about us, Ponyland, yourself?! The Megan Williams I was told about was always a great leader. The ponies looked up to you as a hero, cheered for you and shouted your name whenever trouble was afoot. Whatever brought you to all this?”

Twilight looked around Megan’s run-down cottage, which wasn’t too well maintained, truth be told. The ponies continued to watch the conversation in silence. Spike stepped forward, hoping that he could help bring Megan back onto her feet.

“Megan, I know it’s been long, but please try to understand. We need you, at least one last time.” he asked kindly. 

“Wake up! Don’t you see that our lives are in peril?” Twilight had to remind her. “This is our only chance to change that!”

“Like I actually give a darn.” Megan moaned. She burped discreetly and leaned against the wall, still drunk as her eyes began to drop. She said under her breath: “Can you… can you just leave now…? I wanna be alone… Twilight, I’ve told you… I can’t help… and I won’t… go back home with Firefly, Spike and the rest of your silly load of cockheads, will ya…?”

That did it. Twilight roared in protest and pounced onto Megan with her hooves, making her slump on the staircase. The ponies were stunned. Spike begged Twilight not to hurt their moody and dysfunctional friend.

“WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE, YOU MISERABLE HUNK OF JUNK!” snapped Twilight uncontrollably with her temper. “I didn’t come here from light years beyond just to lecture you about the woes of my decaying world! I’ve lost too many of my friends out there, good ones! And if you want to sit here cooped up in this heck hole, not giving a rat’s butt about what’s going on outside, then be my guest, go ahead sulking in your own self-pity, because in the end, we won’t stand for you when those murderous machines come knocking at your doorstep!”

Megan’s heart was beating so rapidly that it could have burst. A harsh tranquility filled the cottage as Twilight calmed herself down and released her.

“Please lead us, Megan,” Firefly spoke out, “if you don’t, we’ll die.”

Megan, still with a callous attitude about the fate of the world, simply replied: “We all have to sooner or later. It’s the circle of life.”

With that said, she returned upstairs and retired to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

…

The witches had their noses stuck in the ancient book Tirek had presented them. They read pages of detailed descriptions, accurate diagrams and old records and reports of giant robots, prone to destroy anything its master desired. They were equipped with weaponry so advanced that it left Reeka and Draggle scratching their heads. They were inconceivable yet also the ultimate tools for destruction.

Tirek tapped his fingers on the table as the witches continued reading on their couch. “The Sentinels,” he announced, “devised long ago by my ancestors, accomplished in every detail to hunt and kill any designated prey. Calculating, deadly and utterly emotionless. I firmly believe that this is the key to ridding us of the ponies for good.”

“So I don’t get it.” Reeka said, snatching a black widow spider crawling on her shoulder and munching on it. “What does this have to do with us?”

Tirek smiled, delighted that she raised the question. “Because… according to what’s written on the last page of the book, your dear mother, Hydia, holds the Scepter of Darkness, an essential artifact that my ancestors passed onto her before their passing. The Scepter of Darkness is required to open the sealed gates of the Shadowy Caverns, where the Sentinels have remained dormant for centuries. Inside there, the Crown of Darkness sits… and he who wears it commands the Sentinels to do his every bidding.”

Reeka laughed with ecstasy, bouncing on the couch and clapping her hands with excitement. Draggle was unsure of how to perceive this. Hydia remained still.

“Yeah! That sounds wonderful!” Reeka remarked. “Those Sentinels will teach those icky ponies a lesson or two! But Hydia… is it true what Tirek says? Do you have that Scepter of… um, Darkness somewhere?”

Hydia gave a firm nod but was in no mood for rejoicing.

“Indeed.” Hydia replied sedately, giving Tirek a stony stare. “But know this. Your ancestors entrusted me with that scepter for well-kept reasons. After fulfilling many of their conquests, they later discovered that the Sentinels, quite unexpectedly, were acting on their own accord. Soon enough before it came to be realized, they no longer adhered to the one who wielded the Crown of Darkness. Fearing much for their own lives, your ancestors were fortunate enough to render the Sentinels dormant with the crown in time, and before long, they sealed them deep underground within the Shadowy Caverns, praying that no man, good or evil, would ever unearth them. I have protected and maintained the Scepter of Darkness safely since then I’ll say that. But I have no intentions of handing it over.”

“And why do you say that?” Tirek asked, his fists clenching.

“Isn’t it obvious? Because unleashing the Sentinels would jeopardize not only the ponies but us as well.” warned Hydia sternly.  “You cannot control them, Tirek. Even with your vastest armies, your mightiest strength and your darkest magic, nothing will be able to stop them once they’re awake. Even as a cold and heartless witch like myself for hundreds of years, I’m wise enough to know that.”

Tirek rose, pounding his fist on the wooden table, splitting it clean in half. He shouted in an uproar:

“NONSENSE! My ancestors were weak, foolish and ignorant! They didn’t know better!” Tirek claimed, regarding himself far more intelligent and superior compared to them. “I, however, will possess every control of those Sentinels! They’ll belong to me! And believe this Hydia, you wretched toad, if you do not deliver me the Scepter of Darkness now, I won’t guarantee that I’ll spare your lives!”

“Your words alone don’t frighten us, Tirek!” yelled Hydia in return. “I could cast a spell right now and transform you into the tiniest feeble fly if I wanted to!”

Tirek snarled. He could have very well trampled Hydia under his hooves; yet little known fact was that he also loved making surprises, especially when it came to killing. Why waste the fun when he could take more enjoyment disposing of Hydia and her daughters later when they least expected it? 

“Fair enough, dear Hydia,” Tirek calmed himself rather uncommonly, “you’ve made your point clear. Perhaps I was a little impulsive with my sudden outburst. My apologies. I suppose if there’s one thing that we can agree on together, it’s not having a war spill out between us. And so for today, I shall say goodbye and bid you and your daughters farewell. Thank you for your time.” 

He turned and quietly left for the exit, sending his final words:

“Have a pleasant evening, ladies. I know I will.” 

…

A few hours had passed.

A tense Twilight and her group wandered in circles in the grass field in front of Megan’s cottage. She wondered what would be the next best plan of action. Things weren’t leaning towards her favor, for sure.

“I had a bad feeling we shouldn’t have come back.” said Surprise with a doleful look on her face.

“Cheer up, Surprise.” suggested Posey. “Where’s your optimism?”

“I must find a way to reach Megan.” said Twilight. “I won’t leave without her.”

“Do you truly not know about what happened to Megan?” Firefly asked her. “Sounds like you have no idea.”

Twilight stopped on her tracks. “Of course I don’t because NOBODY’S TOLD ME!” she snapped, scaring Firefly out of her skin.

“Twilight... let’s calm down.” Applejack requested peacefully.

“It’s not our fault for how Megan is acting now, Twilight.” Glory spoke. “We swear.”

Twilight sighed with regret. “I’m sorry, Firefly. I didn’t mean to get worked up on you like that. Could you please shed some light on Megan for me? Sounds like there’s a lot of background information I’m missing here.”

“Um,” hesitated Firefly, “okay, though I’m not sure if you’re going to like it.”

…

Megan observed the ponies from her bedroom window. She saw them gazing up at her, and shut the curtains fiercely. No question she had grown a strong stubborn streak… yet how long could her stubbornness last before misery would sink in again?

Thanks to Twilight’s tantrum, her favorite nightgown was now filthy and stained with mud. She was in desperate need of a new one. She let out a grumpy groan and marched to her wardrobe, swinging it open furiously. She browsed through her other gowns inside, pulling out one after another.

She reached the back of her wardrobe, finding nothing that pleased her. Though much to her surprise, she accidentally stumbled upon something familiar: an orange button shirt, a brown leather sleeveless jacket, a navy blue pair of jeans, a red hair ribbon tie, and just below, a dusty pair of cowgirl boots. It was her old cowgirl outfit she wore from the same day she met Firefly and experienced her first adventure in Ponyland. The sudden flashbacks rushed to her head again. It was one of the scariest yet blessed times of her life for certain. What she would do to get back those precious fond memories…

There was something else there, however. Attached to the button shirt was an old photograph taken from Megan’s first camera, one she received as a present on her twelfth birthday. In the photo was Megan herself, posing together with her younger lively siblings: Danny and Molly. How much she missed them both.

A moment of warmth embraced Megan’s heart, as she looked closer at the photo and remembered the best years she had spending time with Molly, especially. She wished that she were still with her now. She missed her so much that… it merely raised the question to mind:

“What would you ask me to do right now, Molly?”

Stillness. Megan went back to her window and withdrew the curtains, seeing that the ponies hadn’t left yet. She hurried and retrieved her cowgirl outfit, seizing a pair of scissors from her drawer. Positioning herself in front of her mirror, she stared at her own reflection for a short period, asking herself if this was what she wanted to do, before snipping off a piece of her own hair.

…

“My gosh, that’s terrible!” Twilight shook her head in unbelief, after hearing everything that Firefly had told her. “No wonder she’s become so sour.”

Firefly looked away in pity. “Well, there you go, now you understand why some of us were afraid of coming back here.”

Just then, the door of Megan’s cottage opened. All eyes were set on Megan as she stepped out, dressed in her cowgirl outfit, which by miracle still fitted her perfectly. She had straightened and disentangled her hair, and now it appeared in a neat ponytail.

“Megan!” Firefly shouted with elation. “You’re wearing your old clothes!”

Megan wiped the dirt off her sleeves and tidied herself, straightening up her shirt, jacket and jeans and adjusting her boots. And with a deep sigh of admittance and a clear voice, she announced:

“Okay, I’ve thought about it for a while… and I’ve decided to help. But know that I’m not doing this for you… or Twilight’s future friends… I’m doing this for a special little girl...”

All heads turned to Twilight, who was staring at Megan soundlessly.

“Good enough for me.” she nodded confidently. “Let’s go and find those witches!”

Spike and the ponies formed a circle, beckoning Megan to join them. The rainbow in the far distance was beginning to fade. Glory summoned her magic and within a second, they vanished and were transported away across the rainbow, the gateway to Ponyland.
> Chapter Three
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Three

…

Bruised and battered, Draggle limped her way up the stairs of the Volcano of Gloom, back to her home. Having acquired the flume that Hydia requested, she was thoroughly exhausted. The strenuous labor she had to contend with was growing more intolerable, even when being the slave of her own mother. She didn’t know how much longer she could manage this.

Halfway up, Draggle ran out of breath. She needed to stop a while for a short break. The stairs were awfully steep and weren’t getting any easier to climb. She wearily leaned against a nearby rock… and quite unwittingly, activated an invisible switch. The wall beside her suddenly shifted aside, uncovering a secret room… one which she would soon understand, belonged to Hydia. 

Startled by this unforeseen discovery, Draggle stepped inside cautiously…

However… when she stepped out minutes later, she was no longer the same person she was before. Her skin had grown pale, her face had become stricken with despair, and her body was shuddering beyond her control. Of all her years being a witch, what she saw in the room was the last thing she ever expected to find. And in that very instant, she was scarred for life.

Hydia had been keeping a dark secret from her daughters, and Draggle wasn’t willing to accept it. She firmly gripped her pickaxe, and continued to ascend up the stairs. She was going to serve justice in a cold dish.

…

The sun was setting in Ponyland. The clock was ticking and time was running short, but under the leadership of Megan, the ponies were on the right direction towards the Volcano of Gloom without delay. They hurried across the last stretch of grassland; their destination was just behind a few mountains beyond their sight. It seemed like a long way, but with the wings of Surprise and Firefly, and the magic of teleportation from Glory and Twilight, they were able to pick up the pace faster than they anticipated.

"Over there, I can see the Volcano of Gloom!" pointed out Surprise.

"Come on! Let's hurry!" shouted Firefly to the other ponies.

Posey, being an Earth pony, was finding it hard to keep up with the speed. "Ow, my feet are killing me." she sighed.

Glory stopped on her path and looked back. She saw Twilight and Megan falling behind with Spike and Applejack. "Hang on a minute, guys!" she said.

Firefly, Posey and Surprise waited for their allies to catch up. Megan and Twilight were having a chat…

"I don't see how on Earth you're going to stop Tirek." Megan remarked, rather pessimistically. "He's nothing but a heartless and cruel monster. There's no way of defeating him without the Rainbow of Light."

Spike and Applejack were listening closely. Both knew too well what it was like 'serving' under the force of Tirek, given their past encounters with him.

"She's got a point, you know." Spike admitted.

"Whatever happens, I am NOT turning into a monster again!" stressed out Applejack. She dreaded the time when Tirek transformed her into a beast against her will, and made her pull his Chariot of Darkness amongst a few other ponies. It was unpleasant once enough for her, and she needn't endure it again.

"So what's your plan?" asked Megan.

To be frank, Twilight didn't have one, ever since stepping into the World Beyond. Whatever the cost though, she still knew her first priority was to save the witches and ensure that Tirek didn't get his claws on whatever key they held, which would lead him straight to the Sentinels. Yet then again, something else troubling bothered her.

"Hey Megan, listen." she asked her, switching the subject. "Firefly… she told me about what happened to you… during 'those' years. I… I wasn't aware of the pain that you're still going through, I had no idea of it when I first met you today. I know how it must feel for you…"

Megan paused. An equivocal expression passed over her face. It gradually melted into anguish and then of resentment. She was upset with Twilight's words, having brought up something so sensitive to her.

"Do you…? DO YOU…?!" Megan snapped in utmost fury. "Six years gone and that's all you can say?! You don't understand how it felt to be alone, ostracized, segregated from all the people who were your friends! And where were YOU ponies? YOU ABANDONED ME! YOU LEFT ME ON MY OWN!"

Firefly distinctly heard Megan's yelling and flew down to intrude in Twilight's defense.

"Megan, that isn't true! I've told you before!" Firefly reminded her, seeing how erratic and irrational her former best friend was growing… and this wasn't the first time. "We'd NEVER abandon you! We had no idea what happened when…”

"Well, either way, you should consider it darn well lucky that I decided to come back to Ponyland!" Megan huffed.

Twilight was thunderstruck by Megan's volatile temper, as were Applejack and Spike, who were far beyond unnerved at this point.

"Megan, you gotta take it easy!" urged Firefly. "This isn't like you."

It didn't take long for Megan to feel regretful for her actions, and she softly replied: "I… I'm sorry, Twilight… I… didn't mean to shout and get angry at you like that."

"Wow, what a mood swing." Surprise mumbled to herself.

She had to interrupt the drama when she noticed the sun continuing to set in the distance.

"Guys, I don't mean to interrupt, but…!" she warned.

There was no time to dawdle. Megan cast aside her emotional feelings and proceeded to lead the way again.

…

“Behold.”

Hydia presented a chest on the table before Reeka. With her key, she unlocked it, opening it to unveil a mysterious scepter. Its orb contained within itself pure darkness... and not a speck of light. It was an evil weapon for diabolical purposes. Reeka wasn’t sure why her mother displayed such a dangerous artifact to her, but nevertheless, it caught much of her attention.

“Is that what I think it is?” Reeka asked in awe.

“Indeed, and I strongly suspect Tirek will be after it soon.” Hydia gently removed the scepter from the chest. “Listen well, Reeka. As my most honorable and trustworthy child, I appoint you to take great care of the Scepter of Darkness and protect it well. Do not, under any circumstances, tell a soul about this, not even to your own sister Draggle.”

She was right to be concerned that Tirek would strike back to take what he demanded. The centaur always had a vengeful streak and fought to get his way after all. However, she didn’t expect a tall skinny figure standing behind her in the open doorway, eavesdropping on the conversation.

“Tell me about what?” Draggle inquired. 

Hydia jumped in fright and spun round to greet her other daughter. She hid the scepter well within her cloak… or so she thought. The tired and worn Draggle glanced at her mother skeptically. 

“Oh, nothing, Draggle.” Hydia denied, shaking her head innocently. “I was just telling dear Reeka here about another witch’s spell that I conceived only yesterday. Nothing of too much significance.”

Draggle began to squint at her mother, unconvinced of her tale.

“By the way…” Hydia tried to shift subject. “… did you manage to get the flume I asked for?”

Draggle stepped forwards, holding in one hand the sample of flume and in the other a pickaxe, concealed behind her back. She was still displeased with Hydia’s lies. The fact that her mother was passing over the Scepter of Darkness to her ungrateful sister and entrusting her with it was the last straw for Draggle’s jealousy. That and the hideous secret she untimely discovered mere minutes ago.

“Oh, I got your flume all right,” Draggle sneered, “and I brought something a little extra for you.”

“Excellent.” Hydia said as Draggle handed her the flume. “And… what is this other thing you brought for me?”

She noticed Draggle raising her pickaxe into the air with both her hands. Reeka hesitated. She couldn’t ever predict such horrifying turn of events. It was clear that Draggle meant to murder her own mother.

“DRAGGLE!” Hydia shrieked.

“NO!” Reeka tackled her sister as her instincts finally kicked in.

Before any attack could commence, however, a loud crash rocked the witches’ household. Furniture rattled, pots and potions fell off their shelves, rodents and insects fled into their holes in panic, and Hydia’s boiling cauldron toppled over. Was it an earthquake, or a volcanic eruption? 

The truth was that it was neither. For within moments, dozens of armored gargoyles and dragons stormed in. Some burst through the walls and others from the ceiling. They surrounded the three witches who froze in complete surprise from this unwelcomed visit. Then out from the main entrance, marched in the looming figure of Tirek himself.

He grinned, exposing his sharp teeth at the witches. “Hello again, ladies.” he said calmly. “Do excuse this unscheduled visit, let alone the damage my men have done to your comfortable abode, but that won’t matter in due time.”

Reeka and Draggle stood paralyzed. Hydia stood fearless, crying out: “You’re NOT getting the scepter, Tirek, I’ve already said it! It doesn’t belong to you! Those Sentinels won’t bow to your every command forever!”

“SIIIILENCE!” Tirek’s voice boomed as he stamped his hoof, shaking the floor. ”Your purpose of preserving the Scepter of Darkness has outlived itself, dear Hydia, and now the time has come to claim what is mine. Don’t fight it!  You and your children will be spared and can rule beside me, if you kindly cooperate.”

Hydia knew Tirek well enough, lying through his teeth. She remained in her stance, answering: “Over our dead bodies!”

This only made an irritated Tirek grunt. “Very well! Have it your way!”

He strode forward, raising his hooves, ready to trample on the witches to death. Draggle cowered into a ball while Reeka and Hydia embraced in each other’s arms. They knew this would be their last moment in life as a family.

Then from out from nowhere, a cloud of sparkles exploded before them. Tirek stepped back as his army stepped forward for safeguard. There between them stood Twilight, having teleported herself, Megan, Spike and the other ponies to the Volcano of Gloom at long last.

“SHOW’S OVER, FOLKS!” Firefly announced.

“All right! Just in the nick of time!” said Twilight, glad in finding the witches still alive.

“Twilight, you were right!” exclaimed Applejack. 

Spike, Surprise, Posey, and Glory couldn’t agree with her more. They had come face-to-face with Tirek. They now assuredly realized that she had indeed told the truth about him attempting to kill the witches.

“WHAT?! What foolery is this?” Tirek bellowed out. “It’s that mangy girl again and her annoying ponies! How did you know I was here?!”

For Twilight, this was her first meeting with the Tirek of the past. 

“So YOU’RE Tirek!” Twilight declared.

“Of course I am, you moron! And YOU!” Tirek coarsely pointed at her. “I remember when YOU stormed into Midnight Castle years before, along with your company of foolhardy chumps!”

“Oh, believe me when I say this,” Twilight replied, smirking in spite of having no clue to what Tirek was talking about, “but you’re going to be giving us one heck of a fight in our next lifetime.”

“Enough with this nonsense!” Tirek cried, ignoring Twilight’s meaningless comments. He snapped his fingers and ordered his dragons and gargoyles to assault the ponies as they closed in on them. “Dispose of these insects immediately!”

An all out clash ensued. Twilight made the first move, flashing in front of a gargoyle, kicking him high with her rear legs and then disappearing at lightning speed to do the same to another. Glory followed her lead closely. Firefly and Surprise took flight and made chase with the dragons. Spike inhaled and let loose a fireball at a group of gargoyles, with Applejack and Posey as his aid, kicking away as the three defended Megan and the witches.

With everyone distracted, Draggle took this opportunity to resume her savage act. She discreetly fetched her pickaxe from the floor and raised it menacingly again at Hydia behind her back. Hydia caught sight of Draggle’s threatening shadow on the wall and managed to avoid her swing in time. 

“No, Draggle!” Hydia pleaded.

Megan spotted Draggle swinging her pickaxe fiercely several more times, making Hydia stagger backwards. Reeka became hesitant again at her sister’s attitude and wasn’t quick enough to react when she saw them exit through an open doorway to long staircase, leading down to Hydia’s outdoor hot spring.

Hydia lost balance and dropped the scepter in her hands, letting it roll away to Megan’s feet. She tugged onto Draggle’s shirt before tumbling down the stairs. Draggle fell after her and lost her pickaxe.

When they crashed to the bottom, Draggle was nimble and picked up her mother, dragging her over to the steaming springs. She hurled her in viciously and submerged her head underwater. Hydia struggled helplessly. Reeka scrambled madly down the stairs to save her poor mother from drowning.

Megan, noticing the scepter at her feet, reached to pick it up. Then at once, two gargoyles restrained her while a third one grabbed hold of it instead. Glory and Twilight appeared. The latter helped Megan by beating the two gargoyles holding her, while the former leapt at the one with the scepter. 

The scepter was tossed into the air. Many ran to retrieve it but it was Applejack who succeeded.

“Seize her!” Tirek ordered his gargoyles.

Applejack tried to find a place to run but she was already surrounded. Then for a split-second, she saw Posey waving at her, shouting:

“Over here!”

Applejack threw the scepter over at Posey. Posey caught it and fled from her pursuers, but unfortunately tripped over. Another gargoyle scurried to take what she had dropped… until he was stomped on by Spike, who jumped onto his shoulders. 

“I got it!” Spike claimed, grasping the scepter.

But it wasn’t for long. A dragon swooped by and swiped it away from his hands, screeching and alerting its master.

“Bring it to me!” Tirek ordered, reaching his hands out.

His wish was not granted when Firefly came and head-butted the dragon. She and Surprise bit the scepter together with their mouths and flew as far away from Tirek as possible. A massive swarm of other dragons ambushed them. They released burning flames from their nostrils. One of them hurt Surprise’s tail, making her yelp loudly. Firefly couldn’t sustain the scepter’s heavy weight by herself and thus dropped it.

The scepter fell and was caught right in the jaws of Twilight, who leaped higher than the gargoyles did. She landed safely and swiftly escaped from them… but didn’t look ahead at where she was heading. She ended up captured in the clutches of Tirek, who grappled Twilight by her neck, strangling her and raising her off the ground. He forced her to deliver the scepter. 

“There’s a good pony.” Tirek smirked.

He extracted it from her mouth. Twilight choked and was thrown aside violently against the wall. After all the bedlam, the advantage in the end had leaned towards Tirek’s favor.

“HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAA!” he laughed victoriously, holding up his prized possession as it let loose crackles of thunder. “At last, the Scepter of Darkness is mine!”

Megan helped Twilight up onto her feet from her minor injuries. Spike and the other ponies rushed at Tirek together, hoping they could still stop him. But their efforts proved useless when Tirek fired a massive energy beam from the scepter onto the floor near them, firmly warning them not to take another step.

“Don’t even try.” threatened Tirek to his adversaries. “You cannot stop the coming of the Sentinels! You are all doomed!” he shifted his attention to his minions and announced: “We have what we came for! Leave this place and head for the Shadowy Caverns!”

Tirek waved the scepter in his hands in triumph as he fled the scene, leaping onto his Chariot of Darkness waiting outside for him. The gargoyles and dragons followed their leader, departing from the Volcano of Gloom, cackling in a chorus. Soon, they had vanished. Megan, Twilight and the others stood motionless in defeat.

They had failed to stop Tirek. No doubt he was going to activate the Sentinels and there seemed nothing now to stand in his way. Was it possible that the future was set despite the heroes’ best efforts?

The silence was interrupted when Megan heard the cries of the witches down at the hot spring. She dashed to the stairs, gazing down horrifically to watch Hydia being drowned by Draggle. Reeka wrestled hard against her sister but it was futile. A sudden rush of conscience overcame Megan. 

As much as she scorned the witches and their repulsive ways, letting one of them die was too inhumane. And having someone commit matricide was unfathomable and barbaric. Megan ran downstairs, ignoring the cries of the ponies.

“Megan! Where are you going?!” shouted Twilight. “We have to follow Tirek while there’s time left! We still have a chance to stop him from summoning the Sentinels!”

Priorities changed for Megan in an impulse. Lives might be lost in later time, but there was one life to be lost within seconds from now. She had to do something about it fast.

Hydia was losing oxygen as she felt her face burn from the heat of the boiling water. Draggle didn’t loosen her tight clasp on her mother’s neck, only wishing she’d die sooner. She grit her teeth intensely, waiting for that glorious moment.

“Draggle, knock it off!” begged Reeka.

“I may be a dirty rotten witch who despises nice things!” growled Draggle to her mother. “But you… YOU HYDIA, ARE SIIIIIICK!”

Hydia tried to speak out but found it difficult to. 

“No wonder you make yourself look so young!” continued Draggle. “It was all for your own selfish cold needs!”

Megan leaped into the hot spring at once and helped Reeka pull Draggle away. It wasn’t easy, but they both managed to do so with a good strong tug. Hydia was about to take her final breath until she was saved at the very last second.

She gasped desperately for air, choking as she leaned against the edge of the spring. With her face scalded, her youthfulness had dissolved and she was left bare to the wrinkles of old age. Megan, Reeka and Draggle were not blind to perceive it.

“Hydia, your face!” cried out Reeka.

Hydia inspected her reflection in the water… and was in utter horror. 

“OH, NO!” she croaked, hiding her face ashamed. “This can’t be! This can’t be happening to me!”

Megan tried to restrain Draggle the best she could. She even tried talking some sense into her. It was absurd, considering that they were once enemies, but what other reasonable choice did she have?

“Draggle, what’s wrong with you?” asked Megan.

“She’s a killer!” Draggle hissed, pointing to her wretched mother. “She’s gone too far!”

“What are you talking about? What do you mean?”

Draggle paused, turning her head slowly towards Megan. 

“Look inside her secret room.” Was her meek answer. “You’ll see.”

With that said, Megan loosened up on Draggle, baffled by her words. Draggle broke free, racing down a flight of the stairs and disappearing without a trace.

Hydia and Reeka had no clue what to make of this and were left disconcerted. Then Hydia remembered that Tirek had the Scepter of Darkness. She abruptly swept away all thoughts of Draggle’s horrifying tantrum and called out:

“Run for your life, Reeka! This place isn’t safe for us any longer! We have to flee! Tirek is bringing the Sentinels down upon us all! We can’t stop them!”

Without a word to Megan or offering her any gratitude for saving her life, she grabbed Reeka’s hand and left down another flight of stairs… and they were out of sight. Twilight and the ponies had watched everything unfold, and were left stunned.

A lone gargoyle, hiding from behind a boulder, had also witnessed the events… leaving discreetly to report back to his master, Tirek.

…

The sun had almost finished setting...

It didn’t take long for Megan to find the Volcano of Gloom’s secret room that Draggle was referring to, since she left the door open. She decided to enter alone. Twilight and the others waited outside for her.

“Megan, we don’t have time for this!” insisted Twilight.

But Megan didn’t bother listening. For she was already overwhelmed from what she found inside. She was traumatized.

Megan couldn’t believe the sights before her. They were so appalling and disturbing that they made her collapse to her knees scared stiff. Adrenaline rushed along her spine and through her body as she covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming… let alone throwing up. 

Surrounding her on wooden tables were the grisly remains of the missing ponies that Magic Star mentioned about. Heads, hearts, limbs, hair and other bodily parts and organs were scattered in the bloody room. It was like walking into a slaughterhouse, possibly worse.

Grotesque drawings and diagrams were posted on the walls, with notes detailing how ponies’ flesh and blood could keep old witches young, healthy and slow down their aging. Drinking was also practiced, as Megan saw bottles, flasks and pitchers filled with pony blood. What was most disheartening, however, hung right above her head, were the revealing photos of several ponies’ dead faces staring pitifully down upon Megan.

She recognized them immediately. Moondancer… Wind Whistler… Sundance… Baby Lickety-Split… Galaxy... Buttons… Bow Tie… even the Flutter pony Morning Glory was among the unlucky victims…

It was insufferable. It was sickening. It was a nightmare come true.

…

Megan had walked in bravely but came out petrified, as if she had just witnessed a ghostly apparition. Her soul was tarnished with grief and guilt. Had she still been with the ponies years earlier to help, this wouldn’t have had to happen. 

Twilight for a moment thought her friend had fallen catatonic. “Megan, are you okay?” Twilight asked, but she didn’t answer her. “What happened, what did you see in there?”

Spike was about to peek his head into the room, but Megan drew her arm out and prevented him from doing so. She simply shook her head, signifying that it wasn’t something for him to see. The ponies knew that whatever Megan saw in there, it was heartbreaking. And within moments, she burst into tears and fell into a mental breakdown. Her confidence was shattered and deteriorated.

Twilight couldn’t dismiss it. She knew Megan was in grave agony. Too much had happened during her unsteady life that it was eating away the eighteen-year-old girl slowly. 

“This is terrible.” Twilight said in sorrow. “Isn’t there anyone who can help her?”

The ponies pondered for a while, feeling just as bad as Twilight for Megan.

“There might be one, I think so.” Firefly broke the silence. “He may be able to pick Megan up if he’s still awake. And you know, come to think of it, he may be able to provide a solution for us to stop the Sentinels as well.”

“Who…?” asked Twilight.

“The Moochick.”
> Chapter Four
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Four

…

Draggle sat silently alone in the dreary swamps, crouched in a fetal position. She wished not to be disturbed, but the toads’ constant croaking wouldn’t spare her a minute of peace. The annoyance triggered her to hurl a stone at the slimy amphibians and scare them away into the waters. Being so young and impetuous, she was unashamed for her savage actions at the Volcano of Gloom.

The very thought of Hydia deserving nothing else but death was still glued to her. There was no question that she had gone to extremes with her wickedness. Yet at the moment, she felt powerless, incapable of doing anything…

As Draggle gazed down at her own rippled reflection, she noticed another figure rising up behind her. She spun her head and saw Tirek greeting her with a casual nod. Still though, his haunting presence alarmed her.

“Whaddya want?!” hissed Draggle aggressively. “You got your lousy scepter. What are you here for this time?”

Tirek grinned, for he was glad she asked that question. 

“One of my subordinates left behind at the Volcano of Gloom… informed me of your dramatic confrontation with dear Hydia. Your rebellious demeanor has intrigued me.” he said, placing a hand upon the witch’s shoulder with ‘sympathy’. “Draggle, darling, do listen. I perfectly understand how family matters have been tough on you lately. I’ve been aware over time how your mother’s favored more of your sister Reeka for so long that it’s grown unjust. I’m willing to offer you an opportunity to even out the odds, exact justice on your own accord by joining my ranks and ridding your mother and sister once and for all.”

Draggle continued to listen, captivated by his words, but had to ask: “Why do YOU care so much?”

“Have I not made it clear? I truly admire your murderous and hateful streak. You should harness that rage; channel it for something greater… such as… to command the Sentinels under my wing! Show your vast superiority amongst the weak and fragile. You can live a life of domination and absolute supremacy.”

Draggle paused in thought and glared up at Tirek, unafraid of his towering height yet uncertain of a decision. If this was her only chance to dispose of her mother, to get the revenge she craved so dearly, then it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. 

“Fine.” Draggle accepted. “But just one thing; leave the ponies out of this. It’s Hydia we’re after.”

“Very well….” Tirek said without objection… at first.

A flash occurred when Tirek blinked once with his devious eyes. A red aura quickly surrounded Draggle, casting her under a dark and malevolent spell, one of manipulation. Unbeknownst to the young girl, Tirek had now plagued her body and soul with pure hatred, rendering her into his deadly puppet.

“Now then.” Tirek crossed his arms and said politely: “Allow me to ask again, but who did you say we’re after?”

“Hydia… the ponies… everyone!” Draggle hissed.

…

“Mr. Moochick… Mr. Moochick?” Firefly called for him.

The ponies searched high and low in the mushroom village for the Moochick. Nobody was sure whether or not he was awake at this hour. Regardless, Megan needed as much help as they could find at this moment. Ever since the gruesome uncovering of Hydia’s room, she had become mostly unresponsive, save for a few senseless murmurs escaping from her lips. Moreover, the ponies were out of options of what to do next, now that Tirek was in possession of the Scepter of Darkness. Twilight wished she could have done more to prevent it, but with her limited powers, it was unavoidable.

Twilight guided the distraught Megan through the Moochick’s mushroom sanctuary. All the while, she wondered where in Sam Hill he was… or what he was, so to speak. The other ponies knew that he never left his grounds; he had to be around somewhere. Spike helped Firefly summoning him.

“Mr. Moochick! Where are you?!” he shouted.

Then from a puff of smoke, atop of a short mushroom, the magical gnome known as the Moochick revealed himself. He was dressed in colorfully striped pajamas, yawning from his slumber. His rabbit assistant, Habbit, was with him, just as surprised as his master of the ponies’ sudden visit.

“Oh, hello…” the Moochick yawned again. “… it’s rather late at night for calling, didn’t you know that?”

Habbit hopped over to Megan, who he hadn’t seen for years but was already worried for her, telling from how upset she appeared. He wasn’t blind to see that she was in anguish, grief-stricken and out of order. He therefore treated her with extra care and gently guided her to a mushroom to sit on, setting his delicate paws onto her trembling hands and stroking them gently for warmth and comfort.

“Yes, it is.” said Applejack. “But we desperately need your help. Megan here, she’s feeling real bad. Something’s happened to her, and we don’t know what it is!”

“Yes.” agreed Spike. “But what’s worse news is that Tirek’s going to wake up the Sentinels!”

The Moochick leapt in pure fright.

“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!” he said, pacing around in distress. “Not the Sentinels! Our goose is cooked if that happens! It will be, yes!” 

Twilight approached him cautiously. “Mr. Moochick,” she asked, “we may have spoken previously in the past, but believe it or not, this is MY first time speaking to you.”

A muddled expression crossed the Moochick’s face.

Twilight sighed hopelessly. She was tired of being repetitive to explain her mission again. “Look… I’ll cut a long story short. I’ve been brought here from the future in a desperate hope to stop the Sentinels from destroying Dream Valley and the rest of Ponyland. Firefly… she told me that you’re a master of magic and wisdom and can solve any problem that arises. So please… is there anything you can possibly do to help us stop this awful disaster from unfolding?”

Twilight heard Megan sobbing behind her and couldn’t ignore it.

She sighed again, this time with pity. “But besides that… can you also help Megan? I feel she’s in need of much better guidance than mine. We wouldn’t have gotten this far to try and thwart Tirek if it wasn’t for her.”

There was much to contemplate for the Moochick. He rubbed his chin, walking in a circle for a while. Examining Megan from his distance and seeing how mentally unstable she was, he shook his head with regret, saying: 

“Twilight, my dear… it’s true that I can work wonders. But regarding the Sentinels, I’m afraid that my greatest powers alone do not exceed their incalculable own. The only way to truly defeat them is to destroy the Crown of Darkness, the very artifact that is their sole life vessel, which I’m sure Tirek will claim soon enough. But without it, they’ll no longer be functional.”

Twilight could already guess how troublesome it would be to extract the Crown of Darkness from Tirek.

“And secondly,” the Moochick continued, “if there is one thing I cannot do that I wish I could, it is to relieve people from woeful sentiments. I’m deeply sorry, but my powers cannot ease the severe grief and heartache that is tormenting your beloved friend.”

Twilight’s eyes dropped to the ground for a moment, thinking of any alternate solutions… and fast.

“Wait…” she said when a fantastic idea sprang to her. “… is it possible… can you have Megan look into my mind?”

The Moochick and the ponies paused. They were puzzled with Twilight’s odd request. Even Habbit was scratching his head.

“Um… begging your pardon?” asked the Moochick graciously.

“I know it doesn’t make a whole of sense. But if you can somehow transfer her consciousness into mine, there’s somebody I’m sure who can counsel her.”

It was obvious there was no time for Twilight to explain. But by now, the ponies trusted her well enough to know what she was doing. If this was to pick up Megan on her feet again, then it was worth a try.

“Well, all right, I suppose.” The Moochick began to rub his brain ponderously. “But how… how, how?

Habbit nudged him by the arm and gestured him to use his magic walking stick. His eyes pointed at Megan and then at Twilight. The Moochick was known to be occasionally absentminded. 

“Ah, yes! Right, of course!” the Moochick snapped his fingers. 

Megan sat calmly, though uncaring of the conversation. Twilight wasn’t willing to give up on her. She knew that she was only sinking deeper into sadness.

“Megan,” Twilight said as she approached her, “listen to me, the Moochick’s going to help…”

“How?” Megan replied bleakly. “He can’t help me, and neither can you…”

“You’re right. I can’t.” Twilight admitted. “But there’s someone I hold very dear, very special to me who just might be able to. She taught everything I knew… as my teacher, my guide, my mentor. I may never have become the Alicorn I am in Equestria if it wasn’t for her. If she could pick me up on my feet, then she can do the same for you. I promise. But you just need to look into my mind.”

Spike and the ponies watched in suspense as the Moochick waved a magic spell with his stick and formed a telepathic bridge between the minds of Twilight’s and Megan’s, both of whom softly shut their eyes…

A tremendous flood of past events rushed through Megan’s head, from Twilight’s birth as baby unicorn up to her epic battle against Tirek with her closest allies. At first, they seemed pleasant enough… but once visions of the Sentinels began to take over, they turned very much for the worst. She saw various cities and villages burning under fiery infernos, and darling friends that Twilight knew dropping dead at her feet. There came overwhelming feelings of her bitter loss and relentless pain. In one instance she watched Twilight embracing her lifeless parents who had perished under ruins of their shattered home. In another, she watched Twilight pulling Applejack away from her family members, who were incinerated one by one. In another, she watched Discord protecting Twilight as he was torched alive, shielding her from attack and sacrificing his own life to save her. Then finally, there was Rainbow Dash, her skin melting within seconds as her exposed skull opened its gaping jaw and stared lifelessly back at Megan with its empty sockets.

Megan unleashed a high-pitched and blood-curdling scream as she woke up. She recoiled anxiously away from Twilight, who also awoke. Habbit hid behind the Moochick in panic, while Spike and the ponies became bewildered. None of them could fathom what exactly Megan saw whilst asleep, but it terrified her beyond belief. 

Megan’s face was deathly pale. She stared at a teary-eyed Twilight remorsefully.

“You poor, poor pony. What happened to you?” she whispered somberly under her breath as she started to weep. “This was a mistake. Coming back here was a whole mistake! I shouldn’t have returned! I have to leave!”

Megan was about to run away and escape the mushroom village. Twilight stopped her, however, gnawing on her leg and tugging her back forcefully. She wouldn’t allow her to hide away in fear any longer.

“Megan, COME BACK! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!” Twilight begged. 

“NO! LET ME GO! LEAVE ME ALONE!” Megan shrieked as she tripped. She kicked Twilight as she was dragged back against her will. “I don’t want your suffering! I DON’T WANT YOUR FUTURE!”

“What would Molly say if she were here right now?!” Twilight shouted back. “What would she say if she saw you cowering back into your crummy cottage, paralyzed with angst and desperation while lives are being torn away by mindless machines? Would she want this?”

Twilight couldn’t have made her point any clearer. Megan froze... feeling all the more ashamed. She came to understand from there that she couldn’t cope alone with her terrible memories of the past. It was best now to confront them. Thus, she surrendered herself and voluntarily returned to the Moochick.

“I know it’s difficult.” said Twilight. “But you have to try and search deeper. Look past beyond the agony. Look at YOUR future, not mine. You’ll find her… talk to her.”

“Who?” wondered Megan.

“You’ll see…” was Twilight’s simple answer.

She signaled to a hesitant Moochick, telling him they were ready to resume. Twilight and Megan shut their eyes again as the Moochick summoned his magic to rebuild the telepathic bridge. And again, Megan was transported back into Twilight’s consciousness, but this time with no intention of turning back. 

…

When Megan awoke, she found herself in a different place, a very different one. She was lying on her back in a massive throne room; a dark and candle lit one. It was exceptionally quiet… where the only sound she heard was that of her own breathing. Yet she discovered that she was not the only person present.

Surrounding her were several ponies, of various colors and sizes, in addition to a baby dragon and a muscular centaur. They stared at her blankly, as if waiting for her to say something. Megan felt uncomfortable and nervous, tugging on her collar. She spoke out:

“Hello…?”

None of them reacted to her response and remained mute. Was it possible that she was invisible to them? And if so, why were they staring at her? Megan rose to her feet and looked around wondrously.

She soon found the reason behind the stares, for she realized that right beside her on the royal red carpet, was the Unicorn pony Twilight Sparkle. She was resting peacefully, curled up comfortably in a ball, still under the slumbering spell of Princess Cadance. All eyes were set upon Twilight.

Megan knew that she was indeed invisible. She was standing in the present of the future as a ghost. The spiritual experience was far beyond the belief of her imagination. She wanted to dismiss this as real, but couldn’t.

Megan examined several of the ponies, some appearing somewhat familiar yet others rather unrecognizable to her.

“Applejack…” Megan said to the pony with the cowboy hat, identifying her similar cutie mark.  “…Spike…” she said to the baby dragon, slightly shorter in height than the one she knew but still, she was certain it was him. “…Tirek…” she said to the muscular centaur, who appeared much alike to his own counterpart. 

She glanced over at the Alicorns; Princess Luna and Princess Cadance, neither of which she knew. However, the one that attracted her attention greatly was the white Alicorn with a multi-colored mane and tail. It was Princess Celestia… her eyes remained shut. Megan stepped forward carefully but quietly towards her, marveled by her transcendent beauty.

“Princess… Celestia…?” she spoke softly.

Princess Celestia awakened to her caller. She gazed directly into Megan’s eyes, at first with utter astonishment but then her expression quickly dissolved into a heartwarming smile. She was pleased to see her.

“Megan… Megan Williams.” she replied, knowing well already who she was. “Now I remember…”

“Remember what…?” asked Megan.

“Everything…”

“I don’t understand…”

Princess Celestia laughed joyously with amusement. “It should come to no surprise for an Alicorn to regain her forgotten memories… merely from a glimpse at her former self… from the life she once lived as a different individual… as a confused and misguided young girl…”

Megan fell speechless as her heart dropped, realizing that she was speaking with her future incarnation.

“It can’t be. You’re m-me…?” Megan stammered.

Princess Celestia humbly nodded with confirmation.

“So this is the future… this is what becomes of us.” Megan commented, looking around the cold and bleak throne room. “Twilight was right about all this; Equestria… Tirek… the Sentinels… I should have listened to her sooner. Fate has doomed us in spite of our best efforts. It’s too late.”

“Not if we can change it. Not if we can show even our greatest enemies a better path. It’s never too late.”

“How could you say that?” Megan asked meekly, yet yearning for an answer. “Do you honestly still believe Ponyland can be saved, that I can still help the ponies?”

Princess Celestia sighed and smiled again. “Just because you stumble and lose your way, doesn’t mean you’re lost forever. Sometimes we all need a little helping hand.”

“But I’m not the girl I was before. She died a long time ago.”

“No, she hasn’t.” Princess Celestia said, shaking her head in denial. “She’s merely been hiding because she’s scared…”

“It doesn’t matter!” Megan burst out, tears already running down her face. “Nothing can change what’s already happened. Nothing can bring Molly… Danny… or my parents back. Thinking about them breaks my heart…”

“You promised to take Molly to Ponyland on her eight birthday. Yet she and your family suffered that fateful car crash, and you alone by miracle, survived unscathed. Left with a shattered heart, unable to recover from their loss, you were submitted into shock treatment; the most unbearable time of your life, no question. Six years on, after you escaped from that horror, you fled back to your home, secluded from the outside world. And because of your fractured mind and unending trauma, you unthinkably blamed the ponies for everything that happened… for the cause of Molly’s death, for neglecting you, for abandoning you, and vowed never to see them again.”

Megan broke down into tears, remembering too well of those torturous memories. “I’m sorry… I was wrong… it wasn’t their fault…  I didn’t know what to do… they didn’t know that I was in… so…  much… pain…”

“You’re in grave pain, Megan, I know. I lived through it.” Princess Celestia reassured her past self.  “But as frightening as it is, that pain will make you stronger, wiser. If you allow yourself to feel it, embrace it, it will make you more powerful than you could possibly imagine. It is the greatest gift we possess: to bear pain without ever breaking. And it comes from the most valuable and precious part of ponies, humans and all creatures alike: hope.”

A series of flashbacks rushed to Megan’s mind that instant. She was suddenly reminded of her earlier years in Ponyland that she had long forgotten… the fabulous adventures she underwent… and the adversaries she had to deal with. But through it all, she was rewarded with the kindest love, friendship and affection from ponies of all ages. Surrounding her with their endless laughter and joy… it was the best experience Megan hadn’t felt for years.

“Please Megan, we need you to hope again.” Princess Celestia pleaded.

Moved by the Alicorn’s wise words, Megan nodded in agreement.

…

Megan shot her eyes wide open, awaking from her dream. She startled Twilight, Spike and the ponies. The Moochick and Habbit leaned back slightly, uncertain of the girl’s current feelings.

“Oh, you’re back, my dear. You’ve been gone for quite a while.” said the Moochick. “Well then, how did everything go? Did you find what you were looking for?”

Megan stared at the Moochick and then at Twilight, who was awaiting her answer. The rest of the group listened curiously.

“Yes…” Megan nodded with a hint of a smile, cured from her harrowing past and reborn with her confidence, courage and heroism restored. “… very much. And I’m ready to save the world.”

> Chapter Five
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Five

…

Deep within the Shadowy Caverns, Tirek stood before a massive pair of sealed gates. After countless hours of digging, his gargoyles were ordered to force them open, but couldn’t. Tirek could only guess what was hiding a few steps away on the other side…

He handed over the Scepter of Darkness to Draggle, still under his black spell. Draggle raised the scepter as a shining light glowed from its orb, magically breaking the seal. The gates opened at their own will, revealing the tremendous army of Sentinels. Untouched, undamaged, dormant yet completely functional, they were filed neatly in straight rows stretching beyond the darkness from where the eyes could see.

Tirek was astonished beyond measure by the hundreds of thousands of killing machines lined before him. A single one was arranged in the lead. And in front of it, sitting there on a stone table was the Crown of Darkness itself.

Tirek claimed the crown and placed it over Draggle’s head. Its black jewel illuminated, transmitting its ultimate and indomitable power to Draggle. The feeling to her was liberating… sensational, and soon an eerie and unnaturally yellow glow emanated from the Sentinels’ eyes as Draggle activated them with a single gesture.

“Lead them for me, Draggle.” Tirek grinned. “Wipe out Ponyland and leave no survivors!”

“Yes, master.” Draggle replied coldly.

…

Dawn was breaking. The sun was rising. The end of Ponyland was fast approaching…

After bidding goodbye to the Moochick and thanking him for his kindly assistance, Megan led the ponies out of the mushroom village hastily. She was determined to save Ponyland at last. She knew she had to pursue Tirek and destroy the Crown of Darkness now before he’d reach the ponies.

“Tirek must have activated the Sentinels by now!” Megan announced. “But we haven’t lost yet! If we can snatch the Crown of Darkness and get rid of it for good, then Ponyland will be saved!”

“So where do you suppose Tirek is now?” asked Spike.

“On his way to Paradise Estate, I’d believe.” answered Megan. “The first thing he’d want to do is eliminate the ponies. If we hurry, we might be able to reach him before he gets to them first!”

Everyone followed Megan as they headed in the direction towards Paradise Estate, but Twilight for her own reasons, stopped dead in her tracks. Glory was the first one to notice this, then it was Surprise, then Posey, then Applejack, then Spike, then Firefly and lastly Megan. Something was troubling Twilight emotionally.

“Twilight, what’s the matter?” Megan kindly asked. 

“Listen…” she said. “… I don’t mean to scare you, but when this day is done, after this ordeal is finished, I may not see you guys for a while… in fact, for a VERY long time. So just in case, I want to say something… that we’ve made one great team together. Granted, I’ve only known you guys since yesterday, but nonetheless, I must thank you for all for believing in me. If none of you had, we wouldn’t have made it this far. We seized that chance to stop Tirek… and even if we failed, we put up a terrific fight.”

Megan and the ponies were moved profoundly by Twilight’s words. Twilight then continued, addressing each of her friends.

“Applejack… honestly, you’ll have one AMAZING family of whom you’ll love and be proud of. Keep them close to your heart always.”

“Oh, shucks.” Applejack looked away, a little embarrassed as she scratched her hoof.

“Posey, your kindness and motherly compassion towards others is incomparable to anyone’s and will never cease to be. Don’t you dare abandon those feelings.”

“Gosh, thanks.” Posey replied, blushing slightly. “I’m not sure what to say to that.”

“Surprise, even if your mischief may get out of hand sometimes, your happiness and laughter are what will help us stay positive when faced against the odds. Remember that.”

“Hee-hee! I’m glad to hear that!” chuckled Surprise.

“Glory, you’ll be one of the most generous ponies I’ll ever meet... and one who much values her beauty, might I add. And I’d like to mention but probably shouldn’t, but Spike… well, you two will get along great together in the future.”

“Are you implying that we’ll be… in love?” Glory dared to ask. She glanced over at Spike who heard everything. Both of them exchanged looks at each other briefly and groaned in minor disgust. “Nah!”

“No offense, Glory… but I don’t think you’re really my type.” remarked Spike.

Twilight laughed. “That’s okay, Spike. You and I are going to be best buddies, kind of like brother and sister, but you just don’t know it yet.” she winked at him trustfully.

“Um, Twilight?” asked Firefly. “I don’t mean to butt in, but there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask for a while. Do I ever make it in the future… you know, in Equestria?” 

“Um… no, I’m afraid.” Twilight replied reluctantly yet bluntly. She could already see Firefly’s jaw dropping, eyes widening with dread. “But hey, not to worry, we can change that for sure. As long as you stick close and stay loyal to your friends, you’ll be just fine.”

Firefly considered her advice for a moment and then calmed herself, nodding confidently. Twilight turned to Megan, who was curious to know what she had to say to her. Both were well aware that this might be the last time they would speak to each other.

“Megan…” said Twilight sincerely. “… from the day I first met you, I knew in the back of my mind, that you were destined to become someone greater. Princess Celestia… you saw her, and she must have seen herself in you… she was right in telling me you might have been reckless and stubborn. But through all that, I see a born leader in your eyes. Now I understand why so many ponies adore you… respect you… I know that you’ll be the best mentor they‘ll ever have. And my friends… you’ll be seeing us together again some day. But promise me that you’ll always watch over us… and that you’ll take extra special care of Luna.”

“Luna?” Megan asked clueless.

“Yes, Princess Luna… she’ll be your younger sister, like how Molly was, and you’ll love each other just the same. Promise that you two will NEVER separate, and you will work hard to resolve your differences, no matter what.” 

“Well… all right… I’ll do my best.” Megan said, looking away in thought, acknowledging her words. She knelt down to Twilight, offering her a kiss on the forehead and the warmest of hugs. “Thank you, Twilight. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

Twilight looked back at Megan with innocent eyes and smiled happily in return… until she felt a sharp pain snap in her brain, which forced her rolling onto her back, moaning in severe agony. Her friends recoiled in shock while Megan tried to restrain her. Nobody knew what had happened.

“Twilight! What’s wrong?!” Megan shouted. “Hang in there!”

Twilight couldn’t respond as her mind rocked back and forth between Ponyland and Equestria. And then… she found herself in the center of the blazing ruins of Ponyville. Sentinels marched in a circle, entrapping her. Her heart pounded faster as they closed in. There was no escape for her.

Then from out of nowhere, she heard the faint but comforting voice of Megan. She called out her name, assuring her that everything was going to be okay. She asked her to come back… back to her and her friends waiting… back to reality. Twilight shut her eyes and bit her lip, telling herself that this only a hellish nightmare, nothing more… and within moments… she regained consciousness… 

Twilight awoke from her dream, staring straight into Megan’s eyes.

“Twilight, are you okay?!” Megan asked concerned as she saw the pony’s eyes focusing back to normal. “What happened to you?”

“I… I don’t know.” Twilight said, rubbing her head. “But something tells me that we have to move fast. There’s isn’t much time left!”

…

After a small slip-up, Princess Cadance struggled greatly to hold onto Twilight with her spell. Her powers were gradually dwindling as her energy was slowly draining. Princess Luna looked at her distressfully, as did Spike and the other ponies. Nobody knew how much longer she could keep this up.

Princess Celestia continued to observe the slumbering Twilight, worrying exceedingly about her and Megan, wondering whatever events were unraveling. Twilight’s friends prayed harder for her with each hour’s passing. Who knew how much longer they could stay hiding in the shadows from imminent death?

“I can’t take it anymore!” Tirek complained impatiently, pounding his fist in frustration. “This is getting us nowhere… we’re nothing but sitting ducks here! Somebody wake her up already!”

“NO! We mustn’t!” Princess Celestia strongly insisted, and then revealed: “I… had a glimpse into the past. There’s a very special friend with Twilight right now, helping her all she can. They still have a fighting chance, I know it, I feel it. But we just need to give them a little more time.”

Gasps escaped. 

“Jumpin’ jelly beans!” exclaimed Applejack to Tirek. “You WERE tellin’ the truth!”

“It was about time you realized.” he grumbled back.

All continued to stand and wait in suspense.

A sudden question arose from Rarity, which broke the silence. “It just occurred to me,” she said, “but what will happen to us once this is over, what will come to pass after Twilight succeeds in ending the Sentinels’ existence?”

Eyes stared at each other in confusion and doubt. The truth was that no one was certain.

“I can only predict,” said Princess Luna, “that everything that we’ve lived for until this incident will be erased and become nothing but forgotten history. Time will amend itself and take a different course, and we shall retain no memory, no recollection of any events that have transpired before, including this world, this war. None of us will remember… except maybe, just maybe, Twilight herself.”

The room returned to silence once more. Pinkie Pie raised her cup cake and softly blew out the candle in sad disappointment. She saw now that they wouldn’t be eating it after all.

…

It started as a normal day in Dream Valley. Ponies were out and about, gathered in their own social groups and activities. Joining them were friendly woodland creatures, the Bushwoolies, and the Furbobs.

Earth pony Ember took a dive and belly flopped into a river, playing with Skydancer, Medley, Cotton Candy and the Sea Ponies. As it was warm, the ponies needed to cool down from the heat. However, little did they know that the water wouldn’t be their sanctuary for too long. 

They were scared unexpectedly when Hydia and Reeka emerged from atop a hill, running for their very lives in panic, ignoring the ponies as they passed. Reeka stumbled over a rock and rolled downhill, but picked herself up quickly. Hydia shrieked at the top of her voice:

“RUN! THEY’RE HERE! THE SENTINELS ARE COMING!”

The looming shadow of a tall dark figure overwhelmed the baffled ponies. Rolling their eyes up, they were in deep shock when they came face to face with a Sentinel, peering down and scrutinizing them. On its shoulder stood Draggle, the Scepter of Darkness in one hand and the Crown of Darkness on her head. Her malicious eyes lusted for the sight of bloodshed. She pointed her scepter menacingly at the small life forms below her, yelling at her robotic slave:

“ANNIHILATE THEM!” 

The Sentinel raised its hand, opening it. An ominous bright light radiated from its palm, prompting the ponies and their friends to immediately scatter. An enormous energy blast burst open, causing a heavy explosion that rocked the valley.

In an instant, more Sentinels appeared, hovering across the sky like bombers. Programmed to terminate the ponies, let alone Hydia, they laid waste upon the grassy fields and green forests, spreading immense chaos and ruin. Animals fled in terror back to their homes, the Sea Ponies dived back underwater for shelter, while the Furbobs followed the Bushwoolies hopping back into their holes underground beyond horrified.

The Sentinels landed, relentlessly hunting the ponies that cowered away. Nature was trampled as they marched fearlessly across Dream Valley. Draggle fired beam after beam randomly from the Scepter of Darkness. Tirek, riding on his Chariot of Darkness, monitored the whole crisis from above while his general led the Sentinels onwards, scouring the land.

He couldn’t help but laugh.

Ember ran as far away as she could from the titanic behemoths, avoiding their blasts in hysteria. A tentacle reached for her rear leg and entangled itself around it. Ember tripped as she was dragged along the grass towards the Sentinel that had seized her. She fought, she wrestled and she squealed, but with everyone’s life in danger, help seemed fruitless. 

That was until she spotted a baby dragon dashing towards her, along with two Earth ponies.

“SPIKE!” she cried out in sheer desperation. “HELP ME!”

“Hang on, Ember!” shouted Spike under his breath. “We’ll save you!”

Applejack and Posey helped pull the young pony away from the Sentinel’s hold. They tugged on her arms with all their might, but it proved nothing to overpower the strong will of their enemy. They clearly underestimated its unknown strength.

Spike deeply inhaled, gathering as much air as possible… and released a flaming fireball, directly hitting the enemy’s chest. It did little damage. The Sentinel hardly flinched as it prepared to lock its target on the small dragon for counter-attack. It had become a pest to its objective.

“Terminate insolent reptile!” it spoke in its inhuman voice.

It raised its hand, ready to execute an exhausted Spike with a blast powerful enough to incinerate him in one go. Spike didn’t know what to do next, for he had used a large portion of his strength on that one attack. Just then, however…

“BOO!”

Surprise made her entrance and struck the Sentinel behind the head as she swooped down upon it. Glory then magically appeared on its shoulder and smashed its eyes before it even sighted her. The Sentinel tumbled and collapsed, setting Ember free. 

“Thank you!” Ember said in gratitude.

“Run, Ember!” ordered Applejack. 

Ember obeyed and departed as her friends tried to stall the Sentinels’ progress. 

…

Megan rode steadily on Firefly through the clouds, watching Draggle pursue the ponies ruthlessly. The view was terrible. The Sentinels continued to advance towards Paradise Estate, where the ponies were fleeing inside.

“OH, NO!” Firefly cried. She wasn’t so worried about Paradise Estate, but more so… “Megan, over there! Look who it is!”

Megan gazed down upon the mad witch on the Sentinel’s shoulder, and gasped in utter dismay. “DRAGGLE!” she cried out.

“But… how could this be?!” Firefly wondered.

Megan shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t know… but I think I know why she’s doing this. And I’m certain Tirek’s behind this. I hate to say it, but I fear now that our future has turned much for the worst.”

Firefly knew what had to be done and was not willing to let Draggle get her way. She would gladly risk life and limb from hereon, for the sake of pony-kind and for ensuring that the future would be safe. Thus she was bold and said:

“Megan… it’s been wonderful knowing you. Whether or not we’ll live through this day, I want you to know that you’ve always been my best companion.”

“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said, Firefly, thank you. I’ve cared about all of you ponies, always.” Megan said, hugging her friend dearly and kissing her mane. “Now let’s stop Draggle and save Ponyland!”

“All right, just hang on tight for the ride of your life!” Firefly swooped down fearlessly, narrowly avoiding fire from the Sentinels.

…

“Yes, drive them back!” Draggle cackled. “Leave no escape for them!”

It seemed too easy as her invincible army treaded further. However, she nearly jumped out of her skin when Twilight magically appeared before her via teleportation. Twilight was stunned to see the young witch commanding the Sentinels.

“DRAGGLE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” she exclaimed. “Listen to me, you can’t do this! Too many lives are at stake! Not just in the present, but in the future as well!”

“I DON’T CARE!” answered back Draggle. “You’re all worthless little insects that deserve to be squashed! Soon you will all be history and nothing will remain!”

“That’s what YOU think!” Twilight huffed.

Without warning, she charged and rammed into Draggle’s stomach. Draggle bore the impact of Twilight’s horn, which lucky for her, wasn’t sharp enough to penetrate into her. She kicked Twilight in the face, pushing her back and aimed the Scepter of Darkness at her, ready to fire a fully charged beam. 

Using with her wits, Twilight narrowly avoided it and the beam struck a neighboring Sentinel in the head, killing it instantly as it fell. Draggle growled at her blunder. She fired more beams at Twilight, who continued to avoid them, sometimes using her teleportation to help. 

When she was close enough to Draggle, Twilight kicked her with her hind legs. Draggle lost her balance and almost toppled backwards, still with the scepter in hand. The Unicorn pony was proving to be quite the nuisance. 

Twilight scraped her hooves and prepared to charge again. But Draggle wouldn’t let her opponent gain the advantage. With her Crown of Darkness, she commanded the Sentinel she was riding on to seize Twilight off its shoulder. 

Twilight didn’t see what was coming when a mighty hand grabbed her with ease. She tried running away but felt the cold fingers wrap around her delicate body and hold her in its tight firm grip. The Sentinel stared at her with intimidating eyes. Draggle smirked and stuck her tongue out, happy she outsmarted the Unicorn pony. 

Escape seemed futile.

“SQUEEZE HER!” Draggle ordered. “Squeeze her until her head pops off!”

Twilight gasped in fright. But just as luck would have it, Megan descended down behind Draggle on Firefly, after having withstood a sharp dive of endless attacks.

“DRAGGLE, STOP!” Megan called out to her. “Killing Twilight… killing Hydia won’t solve anything! You’ll only continue to kill many others more!”

She knew well of the cycle of violence that would befall the poor, inexperienced and confused witch. But Draggle wasn’t willing to listen, let alone to a pathetic girl who lacked magic powers. Rage swept her over again, thanks to Tirek’s spell. It consumed her and clouded her mind of any soft feelings.

“Shut your trap!” snapped Draggle, pointing her scepter at her and Firefly. “Nobody gets in my way!”

She fired a beam at them without warning. Firefly swerved but accidentally threw Megan off her ride. She was about to call her name until Megan grappled onto the shoulder of the Sentinel and carefully climbed up. 

She grabbed Draggle by the ankle, making her slip, and dragged her down with her. Draggle growled and kicked Megan in the face. The girls rose and scuffled with each other. Megan tried ever so hard to disarm her adversary and extract the Crown of Darkness from her head, but Draggle obviously wasn’t going to let her to do that.

Meanwhile, Tirek calmly continued to watch the events unfurl…

…

Shining Armor scanned far away from the watchtower. He swore he heard strange sounds in the wind, coming from the distance ahead. His claims were confirmed when he saw within the mists of the mountains, a disturbing pair of yellow lights, heading towards their direction. He knew what was coming.

“SENTINELS!” he shouted.

The royal guards took their defensive positions around Canterlot. Shining Armor barked out his orders, preparing for the very worst. They were not going to allow their enemies to destroy their most precious home, let alone the Royalty.

Inside the castle, the heroes heard their cries…

“They’ve found us!” Princess Celestia announced timorously.

Tirek cracked his knuckles, gung-ho for battle… possibly his last. “Don’t lose heart just yet. No one’s getting in here when you still have Tirek on your side. But I’ll be needing all the magic I can get.”

There was no need for quarrel. It was far beyond convincing by now that Tirek wasn’t going to betray them during this dire hour. He was simply planning to buy more time for the Alicorns.

So without hesitation, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna nodded together in agreement. Their horns emitted angelic beams of light as they transferred all of their power and energy to Tirek. Tirek roared as his muscular body increased heavily in size and grew stronger.

“Groovy.” he said, pounding a fist to his palm and flexing his muscles. “I’m off to clean some clocks…. I started this whole mess, and I’m going to finish it… who’s with me?”

Applejack stepped forward, unafraid.

“Come on, fellas!” Applejack said to the other ponies. “Twilight needs all the help and time we can give her. Now we may not be able to stop every single one of ‘em screwheads, but we can sure well slow ‘em down! It’s now or never!”

The ponies clamored in agreement.

“YES!” shouted Rarity assuredly. “Let’s show those robotic ruffians who’s REALLY in charge!”

“FOR RAINBOW DASH!” cried Pinkie Pie.

“FOR EQUESTRIA!” cried Fluttershy.

“Lead the way, Tirek!” Applejack insisted.

Without another word, Tirek burst through the doors into the hallway and stormed out of the castle with the ponies by his side, while Spike and the Alicorns remained in the throne room. Now powerless, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna could only sit and pray. Princess Cadance continued focusing on what magic she had left to keep Twilight present in the past.

“Hang in there, Twilight.” she said under her breath. “Stay with us.”

“Come on, Twilight.” Spike whispered in her ear. “I know you can do it.”

Time was running out…

…

Megan continued to contend with Draggle. The Scepter of Darkness began to charge up again for another shot. Megan thrust it aside. The beam struck another neighboring Sentinel through the chest, deactivating it instantly.  

Meanwhile, Firefly was trying to set Twilight free from the Sentinel’s grasp. She tugged fiercely on its fingers, but it proved hopeless. Her helpless friend remained stuck.

Twilight tried to pull herself out, but with every movement she made, it triggered the Sentinel to squeeze her harder. She couldn’t help but holler in pain. Firefly paused, seeing that any further attempt would only bring Twilight closer to death.

Spike and the other ponies distracted the Sentinels, in efforts to lure them away from the defenseless Paradise Estate. Even if they couldn’t beat them, they could hold them long enough until Megan finally got her hands on the Crown of Darkness. Pure bedlam ran rampantly across the valley…

Draggle charged another beam on her scepter. Megan was too weak in fighting her any longer.

“Look at yourself, Draggle!” she pleaded. “Is that what you want? Is this how you really want to end Dream Valley, Ponyland… in shambles and shame? Don’t do this!”

Draggled looked around at the destruction she had caused, casting a short moment of doubt. But then bitterness swept in again, as a nefarious expression crossed her face. Her heart was being overpowered by Tirek’s spell once again.

“Why should I listen to some annoying mangy twerp like YOU?!”

She pointed the scepter at Megan, who thrust it aside again. This time, it struck the face of the Sentinel they were riding. Knowing well what this meant for them, they didn’t have time to clasp onto anything, as the Sentinel broke apart.

Megan and Draggle took a dive and went for a hard landing. Both were left with several bones fractured from the high plummet. Twilight, miraculously unhurt, crawled out of the wreckage with Firefly. 

“MEGAN!” Twilight shouted as she and Firefly sprinted over to her care. “Megan, please stay awake!”

“T… Twilight.” a half-conscious Megan spoke softly, reaching a tender hand out for Twilight’s mane.

She was in critical condition. Her clothes were ripped and shredded from her severe injuries. Draggle was in as bad shape as her, already passed out. Yet just several feet away from her sat the Crown of Darkness.

Without another moment to waste, Twilight galloped to retrieve the accursed artifact before somebody else would. And just when she thought she would succeed, the hoof of Tirek kicked her viciously aside. He picked up the crown for himself and placed it on his head, grinning satanically.

“How unlucky.” He smirked, crossing his arms, now in proud ownership of the Sentinels. “You may have taken out my general, but that gives me all the power I’ll need to finish you ponies off myself!”

Sentinels assembled around Tirek, who pointed a claw at Firefly.

“FIREFLY, WATCH OUT!” Twilight warned her.

A shower of blasts rained down on the Pegasus pony as she immediately took flight to save herself. The Sentinels fired repeatedly at their moving mark. But something broke off their concentration…

Twilight, using teleportation once again, jumped on the Sentinels, knocking their heads one by one with her hind legs. The Sentinels couldn’t keep track of her nor could they land a hit…  with some killing one another by accident. This helped Firefly survive through the pandemonium.

“STOP!” the voice of Megan summoned Tirek. “I won’t let you do this!”

Careless but out of ideas, she dashed defenselessly towards Tirek, Tirek was not blind to see his wounded attacker approaching. He casually slapped the girl across the face leaving a red mark, sending her flying across the field, already knocked out before she even hit the ground.

“Foolish child.” he snorted.

Firefly, fatigued at this point, let her guard down for one second. A Sentinel took this chance and fired. The blast partially missed her but scathed her wings badly, rendering her flightless. Firefly dropped to the ground in defeat.

Spike and the other ponies saw Tirek with the crown and in instinct, raced to stop him. A Sentinel detecting them picked up an entire log of a tree from its roots and hurled it in the air directly at Surprise. Surprise ironically got the surprise of her life when she was struck and fell. Spike, Glory, Applejack and Posey were caught in the fall with her. Buried under the heavy weight of the tree, they became immobile.

Twilight saw her friends beaten. It was up to her now. She scraped her hooves once more, making for a desperate charge against Tirek.

Tirek spotted Twilight. He ordered the Sentinels to blast her, stomp her or flatten her. Twilight magically disappeared and reappeared, shifting locations, misleading the Sentinels and avoiding each attempted attack. Twilight was merely an inch away from her foe…

She was knocked aside harshly when a Sentinel kicked her like a football. Twilight flew and slammed her head smack against a boulder, causing a serious concussion. She sank to the ground barely still awake. She had fought bravely, but alas, her bravest wasn’t enough to prevent the supposedly inevitable.

Tirek strode arrogantly towards the vulnerable Twilight. With a flick of his wrist, the Sentinels locked their sights onto her, ready to eradicate her without any trace. However, the execution was disrupted when Tirek heard the faint cries of ponies in the far distance… coming from the direction of Paradise Estate.

He glanced over his shoulder, and then glanced back at Twilight.

“I’ll dispose of you and your bumbling oafs later.” he grunted, inspecting Twilight’s allies then Megan and finally Draggle. “Farewell, Draggle. You have served and outlived your purpose. You are no longer of use to me.”

Twilight passed out after Tirek left, with the Sentinels following him silently. She had failed. Her friends had failed. Megan had failed. It was a pity for Tirek though, that he failed himself to notice the Scepter of Darkness, sticking out of a bush next to Draggle.

…

An ostensibly infinite swarm of Sentinels headed towards Canterlot. Through the bitter nightly cold they came, sighting the ponies dead ahead, targeting them. They were to leave none alive.

“Terminate ponies.” announced its leader.

Tirek stood intrepidly on the castle grounds, waving his arms and beckoning the Sentinels eagerly. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were at his side, proud to be ponies that would willingly die to defend their land and protect their dearest friend in need. Shining Armor and his thousands of royal guards remained in their positions, watching their enemies draw near.

“BRING IT ON, YOU PIECES OF TRASH!” Tirek shouted aggressively. “SHOW ME WHAT YOU’RE MADE OF!”

As the Sentinels closed in, Shining Armor fixed on his helmet, tightened his armor and let out a pony war cry for Equestria. The royal guards did the same and were followed by Twilight’s friends. Tirek participated also, letting out a monstrous roar. They knew more than well that this was their final stand.

Cries did not intimidate the Sentinels however. They initiated an all out aerial attack, blasting royal guards with extreme prejudice. Tirek returned the favor by gathering enough magic between his horns and exerting an enormous fire beam, eliminating dozens of Sentinels in one go.

Shining Armor and the remaining royal guards attacked the Sentinels as they landed, wasting no time to strike and clashing against them in a wave of fury. Pinkie Pie climbed and leaped onto a Sentinel, beating the living stuffing out of it and kicking its head continuously, decapitating it from its body. Applejack tossed her lasso around another Sentinel, tying it firmly and yanking it back with all her vigor, forcing it to topple and knock over a row of other Sentinels in a domino effect. Fluttershy, with her quickest speed, flew in all directions like an aggravating housefly, giving intense chase to the Sentinels and confusing them as they haphazardly blasted away one another. Rarity, using her telekinesis, raised heavy rocks and boulders, hurling them ferociously at the Sentinels, and at the same time, let loose her martial arts in close combat.

Tirek fired several more fire beams, even spinning whilst doing so at one point, when Sentinels encircled him. They ended up exploding in a huge ring of fire. When low on his magic, Tirek resorted to his fists. He pounded Sentinel after Sentinel… smashing them, crushing them, tossing them, breaking them, stomping them, disassembling them and shattering them with ease. Swallowing in a lot of pain but hardly hindered, it was all pleasant fun for him.

The battle in Canterlot raged on…

…

“HURRY, GET INSIDE!” Magic Star called out as she watched the last group of baby ponies retreat into Paradise Estate. “Is that everyone?!”

Heart Throb and her daughter, Baby Heart Throb, were seen in the distance as the last two ponies. Magic Star waved to get their attention and they rushed inside urgently… but not without the company of Sentinels following behind their tail. Magic Star gasped and slammed the doors shut, locking them with haste. 

All the ponies were assembled in the main hall. Scared and dubious of what was to become of them, they now realized they should have listened to Twilight and felt ashamed. Hydia and Reeka were the unlucky ones to be standing in the front and nearest to the entrance doors. The ponies were not concerned of their presence, as there were worse problems waiting outside.

“Mama, please don’t let them find me!” a shivering Reeka clung to her mother. “I DON’T WANNA DIE!”

Hydia, despite being in a most life-threatening situation, turned red at her daughter and screeched: “WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!”

Something then shook Paradise Estate. Before anyone knew, a Sentinel destroyed the front exterior of the mansion, demolishing the entrance completely and exposing the main hall to the open air. Behind it, thousands more stood; their hands glowing with fully charged energy, ready to blast anything that moved. And before the lines of these mean mechanical monsters posed Tirek.

His unnerving shadow made the ponies and witches shudder, as he frowned at them humorlessly and made his grand speech:

“Look at you… all of you. You hide from these weapons that my forefathers built to destroy you… why? Because you are afraid…”

…

“… afraid to embrace the true essence of darkness."

The everlasting battle in Canterlot would not cease. The ponies by this time were growing weary. The number of surviving royal guards declined rapidly, heavily outnumbered by the increasing Sentinels.

Shining Armor fought hardheartedly to still hold them back. But the opposition refused to surrender. He couldn’t keep up with their numbers much longer. One of them crept up from behind and blasted directly into his back, hurling him to the ground with excruciating pain as the heat chewed through his armor. Four more joined in and blasted away, disintegrating the royal guard captain into lifeless dust.

"Ponies have always feared everything that is darkness." 

With her lasso torn, Applejack became cornered by two Sentinels. One grabbed her by the tail with ease. Hung upside-down, Applejack was brought to the other Sentinel as it exposed a radiating blast from its hand below her head. She shrieked, kicking her legs and writhing for freedom as she was slowly raised down… feeling the intensity of the blast’s heat as it touched her mane… then the tip of her head… and then her face, which gradually melted away.

Fluttershy tried to shake off a stubborn Sentinel behind her tail who wouldn’t lose sight of her. It expelled a tentacle from its wrist, which fastened around the neck of the Pegasus pony, stopping her in mid-air and strangling her cruelly. She began to lose breath…

"Well, I’m here to tell you, to tell the world, that you’re right to fear it!"

Rarity sped to Fluttershy’s aid. Sentinels blocked her path but she dodged them or whacked them aside without difficulty. Yet one that tracked her managed to calculate her every movement, and trapped her in its hands like a runaway lab rat.

Rarity was held securely within the robot’s grasp. She wrestled dearly to break free as it paced. Pinkie Pie, who was in its way, didn’t run away fast enough and was consequently crushed to death when the Sentinel trampled on her.

"For too long, you have lived in harmony and flourished in peace…"

Rarity struggled so desperately to break free and save Flutttershy. But then the Sentinel squeezed her within its cold hard fingers. Rarity heard the sound of her bones crunch as she tried to scream for help but couldn’t… for her voice box was crushed. The Sentinel casually discarded her once she was dead.

Fluttershy felt her windpipe sealed, still under the hold of the Sentinel, staring at her with its unsympathetic eyes. Her face turned blue as she choked, drained of her supply of last oxygen as her eyes shed tears. And within seconds of her dying breath, she went limp. The Sentinel released its victim as her body fell to the ground lifeless.

"... but today instead, you cower before the devastation my army has unleashed."

Tirek was still keeping up his guard; slaying as many more Sentinels with what magic remained within his power and pummeling them with his bare hands. Having taken out several of hundreds within the hour, the same hundreds more simply took their places. And soon enough, the last surviving centaur took his fall. 

"We shall ravage your precious lands in our wake, tearing them apart until nothing remains as we obliterate those who stand in our way…”

The Sentinels surrounded him. Despite Tirek’s best resistance, they restrained him and lifted him up off his feet. Four of them grabbed each of his hooves while another two grabbed each of his horns and another two his arms. And together as a heartless team, they pulled him, stretching his limbs and horns far beyond their normal reach. Yet Tirek wouldn’t yield, roaring madly in defiance and denying the Sentinels to get the better of him. 

Then Tirek fell deathly quiet as he felt his horns detach, his arms fall out of place and his legs rip apart. 

…

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were the first ones to hear the Sentinels banging on the castle doors. Princess Cadance’s heart raced as she looked over at the open door of the throne room apprehensively. Spike on the other hand, rose gallantly, willing to take on their uninvited guests alone.

Without a word of goodbye or turning his back, he sprinted out of the throne room and headed to the main hall. There, he saw the entrance doors already partially splintered, exposing the faces of the Sentinels staring back at him emotionlessly. Spike only scowled.

With deep inhaling, he ripped open a barrage of green flames, holding back his enemies a little while longer…

…

“… a new age starts today, the new age of your lord; Tirek! May the earth and heavens kneel and tremble before my godly presence!”

The ponies dropped speechless before Tirek. One pony, however, refused to submit so easily. Magic Star shifted from the crowd and stepped forwards. This unexpected act of heroism caught the mad centaur’s attention.

“We will NEVER let that happen, Tirek!” Magic Star snapped. “If you want to kill us so badly, then you’ll have to go through me first!”

The ponies gasped in fright. 

Tirek only laughed with amusement, scoffing. “That’s incredibly brave of you, my dear. But very well, allow me to grant your wish and assist you in being the first to taste the utmost force of the almighty Sentinels!”

The Sentinels locked onto Magic Star and fixed aim at her. Magic Star stood unshaken. She was more than willing to sacrifice herself for the ponies.

However, Tirek heard a bizarre noise behind him, and it wasn’t from the Sentinels. Before he could turn around, he was violently struck on the back by a beam from the Scepter of Darkness, wielded in the hands of Draggle. Though in the most haggard appearance, she scored a direct hit as the Crown of Darkness fell off Tirek’s head.

“NOBODY LAYS A FINGER ON HYDIA EXCEPT ME!” she yelled.

Everyone froze as the Sentinels came to a temporary halt. Draggle reclaimed the Crown of Darkness for herself, wearing it. She then faced Hydia with utter despise and loathsomeness.

The Sentinels were reactivated and adjusted their targets, charging up again for full blast. At the same time, Draggle powered up her scepter and drew it at Hydia, ready for a double strike. Hydia was petrified beyond comprehension and for the first time in many years, feared for her own life. Magic Star retreated to the ponies, spreading her arms out to protect as many of her kind as she could as they gathered, cherishing their last moments together. Reeka was motionless, not even capable of defending her own mother from impending death.

Draggle clenched her teeth, the scepter glowing with pure malice as her body was fuelling with ferocity. The moment was here. All the years of torment and abuse from her mother was going to finally come to an abrupt end.

“DIE HYDIAAAAA!” Draggle shrieked at the top of her lungs, just as she was to command the Sentinels to open fire.

Suddenly, a cloud of sparkles startled the crowd. There in a flash, was Twilight and Megan, both still barely alive yet still in critical condition. They stood before Draggle, obstructing her from causing any further harm. 

“MEGAN!” Fizzy shouted amongst the ponies… she was followed by a few others who shouted the same name, just in as much awe as her by her unexpected return.

Another cloud of sparkles appeared, revealing Glory with Surprise, Posey, Firefly, Applejack and Spike. Likewise, they were all in terrible shape. Courageously they took their stand with Twilight and Megan, resistant to budge.

Though hardly able to stand, Megan staggered forwards, clutching her left arm dripping with blood, making her last plea.

“DRAGGLE, THAT’S ENOUGH!” she cried out.

“MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!” Draggle warned her, her arms shaking nervously as adrenaline rushed through her veins. “THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!”

“No, it isn’t.” Megan answered. “But this won’t undo the horrible things Hydia has done. I’ve said it to you before, but killing won’t solve anything. It will only lead you into an even darker path. Please do not make yourself the villain again.” she begged, struggling to keep her balance.

“What are you talking about?!” Draggle replied, shaking her head in denial. “I already am!”

“No, you’re not.” Megan said meekly. “Look around you. What you’ve done is save the lives of these innocent ponies.”

Draggle paused in doubt.

“It proves… that there’s still much good in you. You can show witches like yourself a better path, a better life, and that you can be a better person. Ever since you were born, your mother has been controlling you, feeding you with hatred, and look where that’s brought us, and for what reason…?”

Draggle felt her vile inner feelings begin to slowly crumble and dissolve…

“Everything that happens now rests in your hands. I believe in you, Draggle.”

… into nothing but sorrow.

…

The bloodcurdling cries of Spike echoed in the main hall and through the hallway as he burned from the Sentinels’ fire. The Alicorns listened all too well. They were now helpless.

…

Draggle stared at Megan and Twilight falteringly. Applejack, Glory, Surprise, Posey, Firefly and Spike watched in suspense. Hydia, Reeka and the ponies did the same, awaiting her ultimate response.

…

The Sentinels entered the throne room one by one, enclosing the Alicorns, eyeing down at them emotionlessly. With no way out and all hope seemingly abandoned, there was nothing else the Alicorns could do except sit and watch in despair. The Sentinels raised their hands, their palms flaring with blinding solar light upon the last four surviving ponies.

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadance shared their last moments together as they prepared to face their own fatal demise.
…

Heartfelt tears ran down Draggle’s face. Tirek’s spell on her slowly diminished as its aura faded. She had no words. Deep inside, she did the very thing that no other witch had ever done before; listen to what her heart was telling her and do what was right.

Hence, Draggle lowered the Scepter of Darkness, dropping it to the ground, cracking its orb as its energy evaporated. She removed the Crown of Darkness off her head, throwing it to the floor and stomping on it, shattering its jewel and destroying its power forever.

The Sentinels deactivated for the very last time… the eerie and unnaturally yellow glow emanating from their eyes was no more.

…

The Alicorns shut their eyes as the Sentinels blasted away. But just an inch away from being scorched, everything including them, vanished right out of thin air. All fell quiet in Canterlot.

…

“NOOOOOO!” Tirek howled after seeing what Draggle did. “YOU STUPID LITTLE GIRL! Do you have any idea what you have DONE?!”

Burned and weakened, he crawled to the broken Scepter and Crown of Darkness, reaching his hands for them both but realized it was pointless. His plot to rid the ponies had been foiled, against all the odds. It was disbelieving.

Tirek snarled obnoxiously as he rose, staring for a long silent period at Megan, Twilight, her friends, the ponies, the witches, and finally Draggle. The Sentinels were dead. The lifeless giants no longer posed any threat, switched off permanently and now forever useless.

It was an embarrassing enough defeat. Tirek saw no point in bringing this conflict any further. He let out a high whistle and within moments, his dragons arrived pulling his Chariot of Darkness, descending down upon him.

“You’ve saved this day, ponies! But don’t think this is over!” he hissed, shaking his fist vehemently as he embarked on his ride. “UNTIL NEXT TIME! YOU’VE HAVEN’T HEARD THE LAST FROM MEEEEE!”

The Chariot of Darkness left the scene and Tirek disappeared into the clouds.

With the malefactor gone, Draggle then did something that nobody ever expected from her, even Megan. She untied the bows binding her long and rumpled hair, casting them aside as they were whisked away by the summer’s breeze. Mouths dropped open at the sight of how truly elegant and naturally beautiful she was.

She glanced at Hydia sternly.

“So long, Mama.” she said, and then to Megan, faintly smiling. “Goodbye, Megan.”

And with a sigh of relief, she quietly turned her back and walked away, pass the Sentinels and down a steep hill, never to be seen or heard from again.

Hydia and Reeka were heartbroken; learning that they had lost a family member. The ponies eased from their clustered state and dispersed, cheering for Megan and welcoming her back to Ponyland. Applejack, Glory, Firefly, Posey, Surprise and Spike limped to Megan, congratulating her ever so gratefully.

“YAHOO!” Spike rejoiced, hugging her joyfully.

“I knew you could do it, Megan!” said Glory, springing with glee.

“Ponyland has been saved thanks to you!” Applejack laughed, licking her face.

“HOORAY! YIPEE-ouch! We won!” said an overexcited Surprise, trying not to exert herself too much due to her pains.

Posey searched around for her garden, hoping it hadn’t been damaged. “I wonder if my flowers are still standing after all this disaster.”

The ponies chuckled, as Megan patted them all on the head for their jobs well done.

“What about Draggle?” asked Firefly. “Should we really just let her go?”

“Yes.” Megan nodded. “It’s time she paved the way for herself, rather than live the rest of her life under wicked shadows. She’ll soon realize that ponies are magnificent, kind and tender loving creatures. I know there will come a day, Firefly, where we won’t have to fear from witches anymore, and we can finally live together in peace.”

It took a while for anyone to notice Twilight getting dizzy, for she was still worn from battle and losing much of her blood. 

Megan hurriedly rushed to her aid. “TWILIGHT!” she uttered.

Twilight fainted, her consciousness fading fast. Megan and the ponies gathered around her in vital urgency. They held her, spoke to her, tried everything to keep her awake, but it didn’t help.

And soon enough… Twilight passed out… but not before hearing Megan’s last words:

“You’ll be okay now. It’s over.”

Twilight Sparkle’s mission was fulfilled. Her work in the World Beyond was done. It was time for her to rest at long last.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Epilogue

…

A ringing alarm clock shook up Twilight out of bed. Moaning in fatigue, she reached a hoof out to silence the clattery mechanism. She rolled around, trying to return to her peaceful sleep. But then she heard the morning birds chirping from outside her window.

Twilight slightly lifted her eyes, and saw the rays of the sun shining down into her bedroom. It was a clear summer’s day… and a glorious one indeed. All was quiet; the typical busy and bustling noises from ponies outside were peculiarly absent. She couldn’t recall the last morning she ever found it this tranquil.

Rising from her bed, Twilight rubbed her aching head. The first thing she noticed odd was that her arms appeared purple. Disconcerted, she rushed to inspect her own reflection in the mirror and discovered that not only her arms, but her entire her skin was now purple. She bore wings again, and her mane and tail were violet with pink and purple streaks. She had the cutie mark of a dark pink star with five smaller white ones surrounding it. She was no longer Twilight, but Twilight Sparkle again.

The feeling overwhelmed her. She was in Golden Oak Library, back in her own world, back in Equestria. Yet she wasn’t entirely sure if time had changed anything. Granted, her home was still standing, but had the horrible invasion of the Sentinels truly been thwarted?

Her pet owl, Owlowiscious, was nowhere to be found, which was strange. Twilight rushed out of her bedroom and into the living room, hoping to find him or somebody else there. Yet there was no one. She called out a name:

“SPIKE?!”

No answer. There was no other pony present except herself. The chill of deathly silence only unnerved Twilight.

…

Twilight burst outside and ran to the town center of Ponyville. She discovered the town completely devoid of life. The silence again swept over her with an eerie sensation. 

“Hello?!” Twilight’s voice echoed amongst the empty houses and streets. “HELLO…?! IS THERE ANYBODY HERE…?!”

Nobody. Twilight was mystified. Having prevented the tragedy that befell Ponyland, stopping Draggle from killing her mother and deactivating the Sentinels permanently, she should have ended the crisis for good. Yet how did her actions lead to this seemingly cryptic outcome?

She hadn’t a clue of what to make of this, whether to rejoice or feel guilty for what she had done. Was the world now a safer place or a more threatening one, waiting to be disintegrated in a matter of time? Time itself still seemed to be Twilight’s worst enemy… she was not going to let it beat her.

She took flight, making her way to Canterlot.

…

Canterlot was the same as Ponyville; completed deserted. There were no royal guards patrolling the grounds, there was no Shining Armor, and no other ponies roaming the area. What could have happened?

Twilight wondered whether the place had been evacuated, but nothing out of the ordinary indicated anything of such. Everything was neatly in place and she sensed no signs of panic anywhere. Just where had everyone gone?

“PRINCESS CELESTIA…?!” Twilight called out, receiving no answer. “PRINCESS LUNA…?! PRINCESS CADANCE…?! APPLEJACK…?! RARITY…?! FLUTTERSHY…?! PINKIE PIE…?! RAINBOW DASH…?!”

She searched hectically for her friends but found none of them. Something had happened to them for sure, she knew. But what exactly was beyond her knowledge. Might it have been that another disaster had occurred when she changed the course of history… an even worse one? 

Twilight wasn’t willing to wait. She rushed into the castle without haste.

…

“HELLO?! IS THERE ANYONE…!”

When Twilight burst through the doors into the main hall, she was hailed with the grandest of celebrations, surrounded by ponies in the hundreds.

“SURPRISE!”

They clamored joyously. Balloons were dropped, confetti rained down, thunderous applause was heard and the happiest cheers from all of Twilight’s dearest friends deafened her ears. A sign above her head, hung by Fluttershy and Owlowiscious, clearly read:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TWILIGHT!

In the center of the hall sat a massive multi-tiered double dark chocolate fudge cake, lit gloriously with candles, baked and presented by Rarity and Spike. It was well secured by Shining Armor, a circle of royal guards and the Alicorn princesses; Cadance, Luna and Celestia. The three smiled graciously and greeted Twilight with a heartwarming welcome.

Twilight leapt in fright when Pinkie Pie snuck up behind her and blew her party horn into her ear, shouting out: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ” she danced, showering her with more confetti. 

Applejack was seen busy in the corner with her whole Apple family, preparing homemade apple soda drinks and helping her siblings distribute them for the party guests. The Pegasus pony, Rainbow Dash, zoomed past above her head and went for the birthday cake, encircling and ascending it as she made the finishing touch with whipped cream topping.

Twilight thought she was dreaming. She rubbed her eyes, afraid that this was a hallucination. Yet nothing changed. There she was, beholding the biggest birthday cake she had ever seen with the most festive crowd. Still, however, one thing still concerned her greatly.

In a fit of panic, Twilight flew madly across the hall. Peering through every window, every door, inspecting the chandelier and searching every nook and cranny, she found nothing hostile. Nevertheless, she had to ensure that her mission was accomplished.

“WHERE ARE THE SENTINELS?!” she asked restlessly. Her audience dropped speechless, bewildered by her nonsensical question and abrupt behavior. “WHERE ARE THEY?! ARE THEY HERE YET?! HAS THE INVASION STARTED?! HAVE THEY INITIATED ATTACK?!”

Her friends only glanced at each other dazed. Twilight approached Rarity and Spike with the Alicorns. 

“Princess Celestia, I’ve returned!” she announced. “I stopped Tirek, I stopped the Sentinels from destroying the World Beyond! Is everyone all right here, is everything safe?!” 

Twilight was only met with frowns. No one had a clue of what she was talking about. Even Rainbow Dash was baffled when she slowly descended down upon her disturbed companion.

“Sentinels…?” asked Spike. “What’s a Sentinel?”

“You guys… don’t know…?” said Twilight.

“Don’t know about what?” wondered Rarity.

“The war! The Sentinels… they nearly wiped out all of Equestria! It was terrible! They coldheartedly murdered millions, demolished our homes, bent to exterminate all life! The Alicorns… Tirek… we worked together to help change the past in order to evade our cataclysmic fate…!”

Again, nothing but frowns and shocked expressions. Nobody could comprehend a word Twilight was saying. The more she spoke, the more uncomfortable she was making everyone.

However, the awkwardness was then broken when…

“PFFFT! HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEEEE!” Pinkie Pie erupted in giggles, leaning against the wall in sheer pain. “That’s a good one, Twilight! That’s the best joke you’ve come up with in a long while!”

It didn’t take long for the other ponies to follow and soon the hall burst into absolute hilarity. To many it was by far the biggest surprise that Twilight had given in return. They regarded her tall tale highly amusing. Twilight, once worried to the bone, slowly subsided… 

There was no uncertainty about it. Everyone surrounding her had no memory of events before time and history were altered. To them, there was no such thing as the Sentinels, for they never stepped into Equestria. She had indeed saved the lives of millions, and she alone was the only one who knew it.

“We did it…” Twilight smiled, shedding tears, weeping in utter jubilation. “… we did it! WE ACTUALLY DID IT!” she burst out rejoicing.

Without warning, she grabbed Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and took flight. She grabbed Fluttershy in mid-air, then Applejack and finally Rarity. With all her utmost passion and tender lovingness, she brought them all in her strong warming embrace, refusing to let go even for a second. It was happy to be home again.

“Twilight!” Rarity said, surprised at how overly sad yet elated she was. “You’re crying. Is everything all right?”

“Whoa, easy there, Twilight.” said Rainbow Dash, a little taken back at the overly affectionate group hug. “You’re getting a little TOO friendly, relax. You don’t have to miss us that much. We were only gone this morning.”

Twilight couldn’t control herself or hold back her tears. “I know… but it felt longer than that. I’m just so glad that you’re all still alive, that we’re all still together. I want to keep friendship forever.”

Applejack smiled and laughed. “Of course we will, partner.” she said reassuringly and gave a wink. “Of course we will.”

The ponies cuddled Twilight, promising their long-lasting friendship to thrive in the years to come. It was a heavenly feeling. Twilight knew that none of them would possibly realize the hardships and internal pain she endured, but that barely mattered. She was back, and she couldn’t have felt more contented in her life. This was a moment she wanted to remember and cherish as much as possible…

“Um… you can let us go anytime now.” said Fluttershy bashfully.

“Oops, sorry!” Twilight grinned sheepishly, releasing them after a long period of time.

Pinkie Pie caught her breath and suddenly made an announcement to all the guests. “Make way for the birthday clown!”

A short distance away, Cerberus walked in. pulling with him a wheeled cage. Inside it was the idle and miserable Tirek, dressed ridiculously as a circus clown with the full wardrobe. No words came out from him, except for a single honk on his clown nose when he squeezed it. 

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at the humorous sight. 

“Hey, Twilight! Don’t forget the cake!” reminded Spike, worried that the cake he and Rarity prepared would be forgotten. “Make a wish and blow out the candles!”

The ponies cheered her on in support. Twilight looked around at her friends enthusiastically, and then stared at the enormous cake before her. She thought carefully and considerately for a moment. She wanted the wish count, and after a somewhat long period of silence, it finally came to her…

“For a bright and hopeful future.”

Twilight inhaled and blew out the candles in one go. Loud cheers erupted again and the party commenced at last. 

…

A few hours passed and the party was still in full swing. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were singing karaoke on a lit stage while Fluttershy cheered them on with the audience. At the same time, DJ Pon-3 and Octavia Melody competed in a music battle, almost rocking the castle with maximum volume. Spike and Rarity continued to serve the last remains of the cake to starving ponies and Applejack still served her apple drinks with her family.

Twilight, outside from all the thrills and excitement she was missing, sat calmly alone at the terrace, enjoying the panoramic view of Equestria’s countryside beauty. To think of how it appeared when the Sentinels ran amuck… she felt relieved to see it unharmed and unspoiled again.

“I just saved two worlds from total annihilation, and the reward I get for all the break and sweat is a slice of cake…” she thought, tasting the piece on her plate for the first time. It was the best chocolate cake she had ever tasted. “… but it’s SOOOO GOOD!”

As she indulged in her scrumptious treat, a shadow appeared beside her. Twilight spun round and saw that it was Princess Celestia’s. She shut the door for privacy and quietly approached her personal protégé. 

“Good afternoon, Princess Twilight.” she said with an amicable voice. “May I join you?”

“Oh, of course, Princess Celestia, please.” Twilight insisted.

“You know, you caused quite a stir back there… with all that talk about… Sentinels.”

“I’m sorry, Princess Celestia.” apologized Twilight. She felt guilty for causing such needless alarm. “I didn’t mean to scare everyone like that, I-“

“What was that about?”

Twilight expressed a deep sigh. “It’s complicated… it would take too long to explain everything… but it doesn’t matter. It’s nothing to worry about now… I guess we’ve already had our share of problems in Equestria… Tirek…. Sunset Shimmer… Queen Chrysalis…. King Sombra… Nightmare Moon…”

“Nightmare Moon?” Princess Celestia questioned. “Who is Nightmare Moon?”

“You know, your sister… Princess Luna…. when she turned evil and you banished her… to the moon…?”

Princess Celestia smiled and simply shook her head. “I haven’t the faintest idea of whom you refer to, Princess Twilight, but I assure you, Princess Luna has always been good and stayed out of trouble. I’ve kept her under my close wing in all our years spent together… after all, I had a solemn promise to keep.”

“Wait…” Twilight replied, suddenly intrigued. “… what promise do you mean?”

“A promise I made to a very persistent and willful pony long ago, who for a while, was my own mentor… and changed my life for the better. I never had the chance to personally say goodbye to her… I never thought I would have ever had the chance to meet her again, until now…”

Princess Celestia humbly yet honorably genuflected before Twilight, saying:

“Welcome back… my dearest and most faithful student, Twilight.”

Twilight paused… then smiled joyfully as she shed a single tear of ecstasy, replying:

“It’s good to see you again too… Megan.”

…

It took time for Twilight to heal from her wounds. Yet when she finally awoke, she had no remembrance of anything that had occurred since that very day she took a nap at the apple orchard. Megan, the ponies and all their friends wholeheartedly agreed never to say a word about the Sentinels or the events surrounding them, in hopes to avoid frightening her dearly.

Within the next few years, Ponyland began to make its speedy recovery…

Megan never returned to Earth, seeing no purpose for her left there and decided to live with the ponies, eventually being crowned as the first Queen of Ponyland. She ruled in Dream Castle, bringing eternal hope and prosperity beyond her ripe old age. During her reign, she was adored and respected by everyone… or almost everyone.

Tirek continued to find numerous ways to rid the ponies and usurp rule over Ponyland from Megan. In the end though, in spite of all his attempts, he never succeeded. He passed away miserably.

Hydia and Reeka returned to the Volcano of Gloom, remaining secluded for the rest of their lives. They never caused trouble again. Disgraced, scarred with guilt and too stricken with grief, they too passed away miserably. Members of their family tree retired from witchcraft, and in the course of time, sought peace with the ponies.

As for Draggle, it was unknown of her fate. Although rumors circulating from Firefly suggest that she had moved to Earth, settling down in a quiet farm with a newly found husband, where she gave birth and raised two children; a strapping young boy and a shy timid girl. She never used magic again, and embellished her new life to the fullest. She passed away blissfully.

…

“Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others. Past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.”

- Seonmi-451, Cloud Atlas

…

The End


> Alternate Ending
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alternate Ending

…

Princess Celestia humbly yet honorably genuflected before Twilight, saying:

“Welcome back… my dearest and most faithful student, Twilight.”

Twilight paused… then smiled joyfully as she shed a single tear of ecstasy, replying:

“It’s good to see you again too… Megan.” she then paused again, uncertain for a moment. “But, I don’t really understand. How come you’re the only one who remembers what happened back when…?”

Princess Celestia chuckled mildly. “Well, like you say, it’s… complicated. Although in short… I had some help with a little magic from a gnome in a mushroom village.” she hugged her student under her wings and kissed her forehead tenderly… just like Megan. “You should know that Draggle’s here as well. Would you like to say hello to her?”

“Draggle?!” Twilight gulped apprehensively. “W-w-wait! She’s here in Equestria?!”

“Rest assured, Princess Twilight.” Princess Celestia said, calming her trustful student. “She is of no harm. As a matter of fact, I believe you’ve met her before… as a pony, that is. She’ll be coming any minute now, I’m sure.”

Just as she had spoken, the door behind Twilight opened again. A blue unicorn pony stepped outside onto the terrace, greeting Twilight and Princess Celestia amicably. Twilight recognized her almost instantly. 

“Trixie.” she said, relieved yet utterly amazed. “I should have known.”

“The Great and Apologetic Trixie is glad to meet you at last… Twilight.” she announced, approaching her friend with a graceful smile. “I’ve waited too long.”

“I guess some things just never change.” Twilight laughed cheerfully. “So… what have I missed these past… thousands of years?”

Princess Celestia chuckled again, simply replying: “You have a lot of catching up to do, Princess Twilight.”

…

With Hydia’s daughter gone, the Volcano of Gloom had fallen deathly silent… not to mention cold. Reeka was helpless in supporting her grieving mother… although her thriving appetite for small creatures showed no sign of diminishing. Yet there the two miserable witches sat, besides an empty cauldron that once bubbled with heinous magic. Hydia was in no mood to mentor her remaining child further in becoming as wicked as her, too wracked with guilt. 

The tranquility was broken, however, when the eerie voice of a mysterious and uninvited guest was heard. Reeka leapt in fright, grasping her mother’s shoulders in fear. Hydia remained calm, watching a short and hunchbacked figure in a cloak gradually lurch out from the shadows.

It was Grendel. The frail and aged gargoyle raised her head, eyeing the witches ambiguously. Her frozen stare made Hydia and Reeka unsettled.

“What an absolute pity.” Grendel remarked. “It appears that our plans for Tirek didn’t go as well as we anticipated. King Sombra and I couldn’t predict that he was incapable of handling the Sentinels.”

“Who are you?!” asked Hydia sternly, ignoring Grendel’s meaningless words. “What do you want?!”

Grendel did not answer. Instead, her body began to quiver... not from the chilliness felt in the air, but because she was transforming. Flames of jade suddenly arose, engulfing her in a circle, its heights rising above to the ceiling. Hydia and Reeka stood motionless, afraid of whatever evil was afoot.

Grendel’s silhouette grew taller, less stout. As she unveiled her hood and the flames vanished, she was no longer a hideous and ugly gargoyle, but a young, beautiful and dazzling enchantress. She bore long black raven hair and a face so innocent and pure that it looked far from deceiving. She eyed Hydia and Reeka again, but this time with pity, feeling ashamed that they weren’t as elegant looking as her.

Hydia recognized her at once, uttering her name:

“Somnambula!” 

“Wh-wh-what is she doing here?” Reeka asked her hesitantly, yet Hydia was unsure.

Somnambula did not look amused. She straightened out her hair, saying: “Let’s cut the social chit-chat and get straight to the point, shall we? I’ve come here because YOU have something of great value, something of utmost importance to us. Something WE need.”

“We…?” said Hydia skeptically.

“Yes.” nodded Somnambula in agreement. “King Sombra asks for your Smooze. You conjured it up years ago. So we need you to conjure it up again, although this time… we’ll ensure that not even the Flutter ponies will have the power to stop it. With our input, we’ll enhance it into something far bigger… far stronger… far deadlier.”

“But how?” Hydia asked dubiously. “How can we possibly make the Smooze any more powerful than it already is? What makes you so convinced that we could create a Smooze that could better the Flutter ponies? There’s just no possible way!”

The enchantress frowned for a moment, but soon smiled demonically. “Oh, I beg to differ. For you see, ANYTHING is possible when you’ve brought friends along to assist you.”

“Friends…?” Hydia shook her head, having no clue of what friends Somnambula was referring to. “What are you talking about?”

Somnambula laughed whimsically. “Why, these ones of course.” she said, when suddenly without warning, a horde of equine yet insect-like creatures emerged from the shadows behind her and all around, encircling Hydia and Reeka menacingly. “My fellow changelings and I have spent quite some time traveling here from the future. Suffice to say, the long journey has given us quite an appetite.”

“HYDIA, I’M SCARED!” cried Reeka. She embraced her mother, who was already trembling in intimidation from the changelings.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” Hydia shouted, demanding an immediate answer.

“SILENCE, YOU IGNORANT WRETCH!” Somnambula snapped. “Tirek was weak. True he failed to usurp rule over the ponies. But no matter... if at first you don’t succeed, you try and try again… it’s time for Plan B. And I’m certain this time that we will succeed.”

“We…?!” Hydia hissed. “What’s with this ‘we’ you keep blabbering on about?! Just who are you in cahoots with?!”

“King Sombra, of course. Did I not mention his name already?” Somnambula sighed, narrowing her eyes at Hydia’s. “Or perhaps you know him better in this lifetime as… Grogar.”

“Grogar?!” Hydia shrieked.

“Yes.” Somnambula nodded again. “I said it before; he and I are in need of you, Hydia. You’re going to help me break Grogar out from his eternal prison in the Shadow World… by any means necessary.”

“Why should I trust you, Somnambula?!” Hydia scowled.

“DO NOT CALL ME SOMNAMBULA!” Somnambula shouted at the top of her voice. “From hereon, you will address me as your Queen.”

She calmed herself. Hydia and Reeka were in awe, for they knew nothing of the tremendous evil that was to come. A sudden chill ran down their spines and the hair on their backs stood straight when they watched Somnambula cross her arms… and for a few moments, her eyes emitted a disturbing and poisonous green glow… 

Queen Chrysalis couldn’t help but laugh whimsically again.

...


“The past: a new and uncertain world. A world of endless possibilities and infinite outcomes. Countless choices define our fate: each choice, each moment, a moment in the ripple of time. Enough ripple, and you change the tide... for the future is never truly set.”

- Charles Xavier, X-Men: Days of Future Past