The Avengers face a new foe! After their formation following the defeat of the Masters of Evil, the heroes face a new, more dangerous threat!
Fizzy Wings is now in charge of a group of superheroes, named the Avengers in honor of her friend. It's been two months since Fizzy and her allies defeated the Masters of Evil, and after recruiting new members to their ranks, a far more sinister danger threatens Equestria! Featuring the introduction of the nefarious Kang the Conqueror!
Title parodying "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" (Note: I've never seen this movie, so don't take it as a plot description. It was this or "Days of Future Kang")
Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, 6 villains sought to overthrow Princess Twilight and her friends and take over Equestria themselves. They were defeated by a coalition of heroes, at the cost of the life of their leader, Shrinky Dink. In her honor, Shrinky’s friend, Fizzy Wings, leads this group of heroes as they recruit new heroes to help defend Equestria, dubbing their group “The Avengers”.
Two months later…
“Well, that was a bust,” said Fizzy, mildly upset.
“Yes, but even though we wasted the night, we learned her cause is valiant and right,” said Zecora, smiling.
Fizzy nodded. “True. With Kingpin running all the organized crime in Manehatten, it’s nice to know that Maredevil is fighting back, even at the cost of her reputation. Now, where did that Kirin get off to…” Fizzy looked around for their newest companion, a new recruit they had sought in the Kirin village. Autumn Blaze came galloping up, holding cotton candy in her magic. “Wow!” she said. “Is this what all pony cities are like? This is amazing. It’s very bright here. I hope it’s not like that in all pony cities, cuz then I’d go blind. Are they all bright? Tell me they aren’t all bright.”
Zecora placed a hoof over the Kirin’s rambling mouth, silencing her as she paused to take a breath, laughing. “Calm your tongue, speak nice and slow. Not all towns are all aglow.” Zecora removed her hoof from Autumn’s mouth, and the trio began walking down the sidewalk. “Now, Fizzy, before you ask, I did get started on that task.”
Fizzy looked confused for a moment before realization struck. “Oh! You mean the Goliath project?” Zecora nodded at this. “Starlight and I have made great gains. There should be no more growing pains.” Zecora emphasized the last two words, smiling as she did so. Fizzy sighed. “Puns, Zecora? Really? I thought better of you.”
Zecora laughed, and winked in response. Autumn Blaze also chuckled before asking, “So, we heading back to the train station?”
Fizzy nodded. “Yup, and from there we head to Abyssinia. We have a potential new recruit to find there.”
When they arrived at the train station, they saw white Earth pony mare, with her dark brown mane tied up in a large bun. She wore a white collar and red cravat, and she held a tied scroll in her foreleg. Raven Inkwell, former aide to Princess Celestia, and current aide to Princess Twilight. When she spotted them, she walked up to the trio. Addressing Fizzy, she said, “Ms. Fizzy, I have a message from the Princess for you.” With this, she held the scroll out to her. Fizzy took it in her magic and opened it. She read aloud,
“Dear Fizzy Wings, Zecora, and company, I have a request for you. We have received reports of Chaos magic-related incidents in Fillydelphia. I have confirmed both that these incidents were NOT caused by Discord, but instead by a unicorn who doesn’t seem to have any control over it. I would like you to locate her, and bring her to Canterlot Castle so Discord (hopefully) and I can provide assistance. Many thanks, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
When Fizzy looked up from reading, Raven had vanished. “Soooo,” began Autumn, “I guess we aren’t heading to Abyssinia.”
An hour and a half later, they arrived in Fillydelphia to an astonishing sight. The sky above the city was filled with bright pink clouds raining a brown liquid of some kind. “This kind of chaos is rather plain,” said Zecora. “Why, it’s only chocolate milk, not rain.”
Fizzy looked at Zecora. “How would you know that?”
Zecora gave her a deadpan stare. “The town I live near is an eccentric one. Plus, Discord often uses it for fun.”
Fizzy nodded. “Touché.” They walked further into the city, heading for the town square. As they made their way through the city, they could only describe their surroundings as increasingly chaotic. Buildings were missing, only to be discovered floating overhead, sometimes upside down. There were groups of birds that upon closer inspection were revealed to winged muffins. While Fizzy and Autumn were staring around with confused silence, Zecora just continued forward, unfazed. They could see ponies hiding inside, peeking through their windows. As they approached the city center, they noticed it was getting brighter. As they turned the corner to the city square, they saw a red unicorn mare, with an orange mane that faded to white. She was encased in a translucent white ball of magic, bolts of errant magic flying off, striking surrounding buildings. Winded swirled loudly around the square, kicking up debris. She hadn’t noticed the trio entering the square, but Fizzy could see she was sobbing heavily.
“Oh boy,” said Fizzy. Zecora nodded in agreement. Autumn was speechless, which Fizzy would later consider a novel occurrence. “Okay,” said Fizzy, turning to Autumn and Zecora. “We need to handle this carefully. She’s obviously unstable, though I doubt that’s through any fault of her own. If we can’t talk to her, we may have to use the magic neutralizer ring. You two, stay back, but Zecora, get that ring ready.” Zecora nodded, and with that Fizzy turned back towards the distressed unicorn.
“Hello!” she called over the din. “Miss? Can you hear me?” The unicorn looked up in shock. “Who’s there?” she asked, looking around. She spotted Fizzy, her eyes going wide. “No! You can’t be here! You’ll get hurt!”
As if responding to her cry, the torrent around her increased in strength. Bricks tore from the street, hurling at Fizzy. She dived out of the way as they flew past, but she wouldn’t have needed to. Just before passing through where she once stood, the bricks morphed into donuts with flashes, and then promptly splattered on a nearby wall.
Fizzy glanced back at the frosted carnage. “Uh…” she said, slowly turning back around. “Okay then.” She raised her voice. “I’m quite sure I’ll be fine. Now, what’s wrong?” she asked, attempting nonchalance. She failed. Behind her, Zecora facehoofed as the unstable unicorn continued sobbing.
“I don’t know!” she wailed. “My magic is out of control! I’ve become a monster!”
“Well,” began Fizzy, slowly stepping closer to the mare, sidestepping shapeshifting debris as she did so. “You don’t look like a monster to me. And you can take my word for it, cuz I definitely used to look like one.”
“I’ve hurt ponies,” said the mare, her crying starting to slow. “I’m turning the city into a disaster!”
Fizzy stepped closer. “That’s not your fault. This is chaos magic. Ponies aren’t supposed to be able to control it. I’m not even sure how you can do it, to be frank.”
The mare sniffed, the whirlwind starting to slow. “It started a couple of months ago. It was nothing big, so I kept it quiet. But it slowly got worse. I kept trying to hide it, but yesterday, it just exploded out of me and turned the city into a nightmare.” As she spoke, Fizzy slowly kept forward. The swirling air had died to a subtle breeze, and the mare was slowly descending, the magic bubble around her dissipating.
“Well, I’ll tell you what. If you come with me, I can get you to ponies who can help. Who want to help.” As the mare softly landed on the ground laying down, Fizzy extended a hoof out to her.
“Nopony can help me,” said the mare, turning away.
“I think you put too little faith in the Princess,” said Fizzy. At that, the mare turned around. “The Princess wants to help me?”
“Well, yeah,” said Fizzy. “She wants to help everyone, even at her own detriment. But I digress. Yes, the Princess wants to help you. And she sent us to come get you.” At that, she waved a hoof at Zecora and Autumn Blaze, signaling to them that they could come over. She offered her other hoof at the mare, who accepted it. Fizzy pulled her to her hooves as Zecora and Autumn drew close.
“Hello there, my unicorn friend,” said Zecora, trotting up to the mare. “I’m glad to see this had a pleasant end.” Zecora smiled at her.
The mare didn’t return the smile. “But it didn’t,” she said. She gestured around her. “Half the city is still either in the air or upside down. Or both.”
A voice tinged with mischief and tomfoolery floated through the air. “Oh yes, it's quite marvelous, isn’t it?” With a white flash, a strange, mismatched creature appeared in their midst.
“Discord, I presume,” said Fizzy. He bowed dramatically, a top hat appearing in his hand with a flash. “In the flesh,” he said. “Now,” he started, straightening back up “I’m to bring you four back to Canterlot on at the request of Sparkle-butt.”
Fizzy blinked, with Autumn snickering in the background. “You know what,” she said. “I’m not gonna question it for my own sake.”
Discord grinned mischievously. “Good idea,” he said condescendingly, patting her on the head with a bit too much force. He raised his claw in preparation to snap. “Now, let’s be on our way. But first, let’s fix the city for Twilight gets mad at me.” He snapped his claw, and with a flash, the city looked like it normally would, free of chocolate milk rain and floating buildings. With a second snap, a white light engulfed them suddenly. And as quickly as it appeared it was gone, but their surroundings had changed. They now stood in the throne room of Canterlot Castle, with Princess Twilight Sparkle giving them a perplexed look from the throne. Raven stood beside her, also looking mildly surprised.
Twilight’s confusion vanished when her eyes fell on Discord, exchanging befuddlement for an eye-roll. She turned her attention to Fizzy, who was still trying to shake the disorientation from the teleport. “So, I presume you found the pony I asked you to?”
Fizzy nodded, trying to blink the spots from her vision. “Yeah, your majesty. She’s right here… somewhere…” Fizzy turned around as her vision cleared, and spotted the mare in question, obscured by Zecora and Autumn. Fizzy waved her forward, and she obliged. She stepped out and bowed. “Hello, Your Majesty.”
Twilight looked immensely uncomfortable, but didn’t say anything about it. She instead got right on topic as the mare rose back up. “So, you’ve been having trouble with Chaos magic?”
The mare nodded. Twilight turned to Discord. “Well, since they’re all here, now will you explain what happened?”
Discord nodded and snapped his fingers. In a flash of light, a large chalkboard appeared, floating in midair. Draw on the board were small illustrations. One was of Grogar’s Bewitching Bell, another was of himself, and a third was of the red unicorn. There was also one of who Fizzy thought might be Shrinky Dink.
“So,” began Discord, who was now wearing a tweed coat and a bowtie, giving himself the appearance of a college professor. “When the Legion of Doom absorbed every-creature’s magic, my own included, the Bell held that magic.” He drew a circle around the Bell and one around his doodle-self, with an arrow going from his circle to the Bell’s. “But when the magic was returned to everyone, not all the magic was released. The Bell retains small portions of the magic it absorbs. Small enough to be insignificant on an individual basis. But since it absorbed so much magic, and already had a sizeable store to begin with, when Shrinky here…” he then drew a circle around Shrinky, with her own arrow going towards the Bell. “…destroyed the Bell…” he then erased the Bell, drawing an exploded one in its place. “… the magic in the Bell released all magic it had contained within in the form of a shockwave…” he then drew arrows of varying sizes radiating out from the circle around the Bell. “…and the bit of Chaos magic stored in the Bell from me went to you,” he said, looking at the red mare while simultaneously drawing a line going from the Bell to the drawing of the mare in question.
Princess Twilight nodded in understanding. “So that explains why creatures are popping up all over Equestria with magical abilities, or at least, enhancements, that by all reason, they shouldn’t have.”
Discord nodded. “Precisely,” he said. Twilight continued, “So, Discord, since you managed to explain that in a fairly straight-forward way without breaking any-creature’s brain, I want you to teach… uh… I’m sorry, but I don’t recall hearing your name,” said Twilight to the mare. Fizzy mentally kicked herself for not asking. “Oh,” said the mare. “Uh, my name is Firebrand, Your Highness.”
Twilight nodded before restarting her sentence. “Discord, I want you to teach Firebrand how to use Chaos magic.”
“No,” said Discord, almost immediately.
“Excuse me?” asked Twilight, taken aback. “What do you mean, ‘No’?”
“I mean: No. I can’t teach her.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Can’t, or won’t?”
“I can’t,” said Discord, raising his claw and paw defensively. “The way she uses and controls Chaos magic is drastically different from how I do it,” explained Discord. “It would be like trying to teach a dog how to fly.”
Before anyone could say anything, Zecora stepped forward, eyeing Discord suspiciously. He leaned down as if to say something, probably snarky, but before he could open his mouth, she reached out a hoof and laid it on his chest, closing her eyes. Discord glanced at Fizzy, frozen in his forward-leaning position. “What in Equestria is she doing?” he hissed. Fizzy shrugged.
“Oh, I know,” said Autumn Blaze. “Before the Kirin went through the Stream of Silence, we used to have a strong diplomatic relationship with the Zebras. She’s using Zebra magic to see if he’s lying or not. It’s really cool, Zebra magic.” Everypony stared at her. “What?” she asked. “Just because I’m admittedly a bit scatterbrained… okay, more than a bit scatterbrained, it doesn’t mean I’m not smart or that I don’t know things.”
Fizzy opened her mouth to protest that she hadn’t remotely thought anything of the sort, but Zecora spoke up first.
“I may not be the world’s best sleuth, but I can confirm, he tells the truth.”
Discord sighed in relief, standing up straight. “I told you. But I do have something that might help.” He snapped his paw, and a small book appeared floating in front of Firebrand. She leaned over it and read the title aloud. “Chaos Magic 101, a Foal’s Guide to Ripping the Fabric of Reality. Uh…”
Discord’s head detached itself from his body, scarring everyone unaccustomed to this as it floated over to Firebrand, making her noticeably nauseous. “It’s an excellent read. I’d give it a peruse on the train ride to Ponyville.” His head vanished in a flash, and in another, it reappeared back on his body.
“Well, Discord is right about that. I imagine you’ll be heading back to Ponyville now?” asked Princess Twilight.
Fizzy nodded, “If you don’t have anything else for us.”
Twilight shook her head. “Nope. Have a nice trip,” she said, smiling.
“Ta-ta!” said Discord, smiling. He snapped his claws, and the four companions were transported to the train station with a final, blinding flash.
Fizzy rubbed her eyes, again seeing spots. “He’s only done it twice and I already hate it,” she said. The others grumbled in agreement. They boarded the Ponyville-bound train and settled in for the ride.
During the ride, Fizzy and Zecora resumed their discussion of the Goliath project, Autumn Blaze watched out the window before falling asleep, and Firebrand did indeed peruse Discord’s book. She only made one comment during the entire trip.
“This thing reads like radio instructions.”
When the train pulled into the station, the sun was beginning to set. They stepped out onto the platform, and were greeted by two familiar faces.
“Hey guys,” said Tempest, smiling as she saw Fizzy and Zecora depart the train. She glanced behind them, seeing Firebrand still puzzling out the book, and Autumn looking around excitedly, enraptured by everything. “I see you’ve got a couple of new recruits. They’re quite an odd pair, aren’t they?”
Fizzy nodded, “Yeah, it’s quite the story. I’ll fill you in when we get to the castle. How’d your mission go?” They began heading through town towards the castle.
“It went well,” said Tempest. “We just had to deal with a boring supervillain in Tall Tale. It was easy.”
“All he did was mess with gravity,” said Spector. Tempest nodded. “Yeah. It was pretty lame. All I had to do was distract him with some fireworks while Spector flew above him. Then, when he cranked up the gravity, he pulled Spector down on top of him, allowing him to put the magic inhibitor ring on him. We were done in like 10 minutes. 15, tops. We went out for ice cream after we gave him over to the authorities.”
Fizzy laughed. “Well, at least you enjoyed yourselves.” They turned towards the Castle. “So, what’s the story?” asked Tempest.
“I’ll tell you when I can tell everyone at the Castle, so I don’t have to tell it twice,” said Fizzy, before yawning.
“Fair,” said Tempest. They were silent until they reached the Castle, where Zecora had to back into town to locate Autumn Blaze, who had wandered off. Tempest led Firebrand to the library, while Fizzy and Spector headed to the Map Room. When they entered, they saw Starlight and Sunburst in deep discussion, while Dane sat in one of the surrounding chairs, trying and failing to not look bored. She glanced up when she heard the pair enter, and her demeanor brightened immediately upon seeing Fizzy. As Spector went to sit in one of the chairs, Fizzy made a beeline for Dane.
“Hi, sweetie,” said Dane as Fizzy approached. “How’d it go?” she kissed Fizzy on the cheek when she got close enough. Fizzy yawned in response to her question. Dane chuckled. “That bad, huh?” Fizzy smiled before shaking her head. “Not bad, just kind tiring. Plus, I had to deal with Discord, so…”
Dane winced in empathy. “Oooo… I can understand that.”
At the mention of Discord, Starlight and Sunburst had stopped their own discussion. “What happened with Discord?”
“I’ll explain when the others get back,” said Fizzy. A short while later, Tempest and Zecora entered. “We put Autumn Blaze in the library with Firebrand. So, what’s the dish?”
Fizzy climbed into the same chair as Dane, cuddling up to her before launching into the day’s events. After she finished, Starlight spoke up. “So, we have a Chaos magic user who can’t control it?”
“And a Kirin who can spontaneously combust at will,” said Fizzy. “I saw we give Firebrand one of the training basements to practice her Chaos magic. Also, we need a better name than ‘training basement’. That just sounds ridiculous. But we can worry about all that later.”
“Agreed,” said Dane. “This little changeling needs to go to bed. It’s past her bedtime.”
“Uh, I will have you know I don’t have a bedtime,” said Fizzy defiantly. Dane smirked, and picked up Fizzy in her magic. “Uh-huh. Sure. Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.”
Fizzy responded by blowing a raspberry at her.
“Love you too, Fizzy.”
Everyone was holding back tears as they tried to spare Fizzy’s dignity by not laughing. Even Zecora was barely able to keep it together. “Good night, lovebirds,” she said as they walked out the door. As soon as it closed, Fizzy heard them finally break as raucous laughter came from the other side. Dane herself was snickering.
As Fizzy floated in Dane’s magic, she felt herself falling asleep. She was barely awake as Dane laid her on their bed as she climbed in next to her. The last thing Fizzy was aware of was a kiss from Dane before she fell into a deep slumber.
When Fizzy woke up, Dane had already left the room, leaving her alone. She was groggily making her way to the door when someone knocked on the door. She opened it to see Spector standing there, looking exceptionally dour for no perceivable reason. “Meeting time?” she asked. Spector gave a grunt as he nodded, and walked away. Fizzy shrugged, used to his more-than-a-little standoffish behavior, and followed him through the castle to the Map Room.
When the pair walked in, they saw everyone else had settled in, eating at a breakfast of pancakes, courtesy of Pinkie Pie, who insisted on making them breakfast once a week. Said pink pony was nowhere to be found, and Fizzy assumed she had already headed back to Sugarcube Corner. Fizzy climbed into the same chair as Dane, the chair emblazoned with a trio of apples, and began eating her stack. Starlight sat in the chair marked with the Cutie Mark of Princess Twilight, happily chewing on her pancakes. Sunburst sat in the slightly smaller chair to its immediate right, tuning out his surroundings in favor of his book, his breakfast untouched. Tempest had claimed Rainbow Dash’s chair, and Autumn Blaze had made herself right at home in Fluttershy’s chair, face deep in her pancakes. Spector stood off to the side, refusing to sit. Firebrand sat in the chair that had three diamonds on it, absentmindedly poking her pancakes with a fork, evidently not hungry.
Once everyone had settled, Starlight began. “So, after yesterday, we have two new prospective members, Autumn Blaze and Firebrand. We learned that Maredevil is busy fighting Kingpin, and I for one think we should help her when we can.” She looked to Fizzy for confirmation
Fizzy glanced up from her breakfast, temporarily forgetting she was technically in charge, before nodding in agreement. This was how it was. Starlight ran meetings and established locations of potential recruits, with Fizzy having the final say and taking point in the field. She took another bite while Starlight continued.
“We still have to meet with both the Abyssinian and the elemental magic user, but-”
A loud banging sound rang throughout the Castle. Starlight rolled her eyes. “I hate the acoustics of this castle. Makes a knock sound like a cannon.” She vanished in a flash, teleporting to the door. They could hear distant voices as Starlight conversed with the knocker, before quick hoofsteps perked their attention. Starlight burst through the door, looking panicked. “We have a situation. Like, big situation. Code red. Whatever. Bad,” she said between gasps. She turned around and ran back towards the door, everyone in quick pursuit. Fizzy’s mind raced as she tried to figure out what could be happening. ‘Masters of Evil?’ she thought. ‘No, they’re all depowered and arrested. Legion of Doom? Nope. They’ve been petrified in a statue. Maybe it’s-’
Her train of thought slammed to a screeching halt when the group ran outside. Hovering above Ponyville was the biggest sword Fizzy had ever seen. As she looked closer, she saw small lights running along its surface, and realized something.
“It’s a ship,” she said in a mix of terror and awe. A loud crackling sound filled the air, as if thousands of speakers had activated at once. “HELLO, EQUESTRIA,” said a voice from everywhere. A large image of a pony’s head appeared above the ship, its mouth moving with the everywhere voice. “I AM KANG, THE CONQUEROR. AS I’M SURE YOU CAN DEDUCE FROM MY NAME, I HAVE COME TO CONQUEROR EQUESTRIA.” As Fizzy listened, she tried to discern if she’d heard the voice before, as well as studying the floating face. She drew up short, not even being able to tell if the speaker was a mare or a stallion. The androgynous voice continued. “BUT, I AM NOT WITHOUT HONOR,” it said. “YOU HAVE 48 HOURS TO SURRENDER TO ME, OR I WILL TAKE THIS EQUESTRIA THROUGH FORCE.” The voice vanished with a crackle, the head vanishing simultaneously. The town below promptly went to shit.
As the group began hurrying to the town, beams of light descended from the ship down to the town below. As they ran into town, they saw ponies walking out, wearing the same helmets King Sombra used to take over Equestria before being defeated by the Princess and her friends. As the troops moved through the town, the began herding ponies into their homes, and the group slowly made their way back to the Castle. As they did, Fizzy noticed something. Excluding the helmets, they were all dressed in different clothes, or were different species entirely. Some wore the armor King Sombra used in his first attempt at conquest, but she noticed some were in war paint or mud. Some were wearing armor similar to Spector’s, and the thing that startled Fizzy the most was that some were Changelings. Pre-redemption Changelings.
“Fizzy,” whispered Dane. She, along with Tempest and Sunburst, were staring at her, as if hoping she had an explanation. She didn’t. Before Fizzy could say as much a group of them spotted the group of heroes. “Hey! Stop right there!” The leader called. The group spun on their hind hooves and bolted for the Castle, with the soldiers in hot pursuit. Starlight threw the doors open with her magic, and ushered everyone inside. Once Autumn Blaze, trailing just behind, was inside, Starlight slammed the doors shut just as the soldiers reached the steps. A moment later, they were hammering on the door. Starlight held the door shut as Dane, Tempest, and Sunburst stood behind her, horns glowing brightly (or sparking, in Tempest’s case). The Castle began to rumble and groan as the spell took effect. Fizzy watched as crystal began to encase the doors and windows. A klaxon began blaring from somewhere, and the magic from the unicorns created a pulsing, red-ish light. Within moments, every way out of the Castle had been sealed, plunging the building into darkness.
The magic-fueled lamps flickered to life down the halls of the Castle. The klaxon continued to wail until Starlight shut it off with a quick spell. They group quickly made their way to the Map Room. Once everyone had gathered around the table, Fizzy spoke up. “Okay, does anyone have any idea what the hell is going on out there?” She slammed her hoof down on the table as she said this, causing the map to flicker for a moment.
Silence reigned over the room until Starlight gave a slight cough. “I, uh… might have an idea…” she said hesitantly. Fizzy gave Starlight a look, hoping to signal both ‘Say what you need.’ and ‘No. Fucking. Games.’
Starlight gulped, breaking into a nervous sweat before continuing, “Uh… so… back before I was reformed (Yes, I am a reformed villain, for those who didn’t know), I had a plan to make Twilight pay for wronging me, but that’s a story for another day. So, my plan was to go back in time and stop Rainbow Dash from doing her Sonic Rainboom and to keep Twilight and her friends from getting their Cutie Marks, and by extension, keep them from becoming friends. It… uh… worked, actually… but, uh, at the expense of the timeline, and by extension, Equestria. Before Twilight dragged me to one timeline, she had visited numerous others, the most prominent (or at least the main three she told me about) were timelines where King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, and Nightmare Moon succeeded, respectively.”
Everyone was giving Starlight varying looks of shock and horror. Starlight was staring at the ground, looking like she’d rather be dead than talking about this, but she continued.
“After visiting those timelines, and many others, she dragged me into one timeline, one I wish I could forget.”
Dane spoke up. “Who won in that timeline?” she asked.
Starlight looked up, “Everyone. The timeline she took me to was one where every villain Twilight and her friends ever stopped won. It was a barren wasteland, devoid of life. After bringing me there, she got through to me before I destroyed the spell I used. After I fixed the timeline by letting the Rainboom occur, we were brought back to the present. This present. Or this timeline, anyway. After that, the spell I used sent itself into its time vortex, to be lost forever.
Those soldiers out there, those have to be the ones from the timelines Twilight visited, and I have a plan to check, but even if they are, we have a bigger problem. If those are soldiers from another time, that means one of those villains must’ve gotten ahold of the time spell. And now that we don’t have the Elements of Harmony, defeating Nightmare Moon will be near impossible. Not even our combined strength can re-banish Sombra, and Chrysalis is harder to keep down than a roach.”
As Starlight finished, the room was silent, the terror almost palpable. Everyone was looking to Fizzy, waiting for her to say something. “Well, before I say anything else,” she turned to Starlight. “No one here blames you. You aren’t the only reformed villain present, so we have no right to judge.” Starlight smiled with relief. Fizzy continued. “First, go do your spell. We need to send a message to Princess Twilight. Sunburst, can you do that?”
“Yes, of course,” he said. “I’ll get right on that. I’ll be in the library. I’m sure there’s writing supplies in there.” With that, he left the Map Room. Starlight went to follow but was stopped by Fizzy’s voice. “Starlight,” she said. Starlight turned. “Good luck,” said Fizzy. Starlight nodded, and teleported away. Fizzy glanced at Tempest, questioningly. Tempest seemed to understand Fizzy’s silent question as she spoke. “She can’t teleport out of the Castle. The only thing capable of leaving via magic are emergency messages, which is what Sunburst is using. She teleported to our secret exit.”
Fizzy nodded in understanding, vaguely remembering Starlight mention it at one point. “Alright,” she said, continuing. “What the rest of us need to do is be ready for anything. Hopefully, it won’t come to a fight, but we need to be prepared for that eventuality. For now, everyone’s dismissed, but stay vigilant. We don’t know if they’re still trying to get in.” Everyone except Fizzy and Dane silently walked out of the room, mentally prepping for a fight. Fizzy leaned her head on Dane’s shoulder, sighing. “This is exhausting. Can this villain problem wait until after I have a nap?”
Dane laughed as she nuzzled the top of Fizzy’s head affectionately. “Sorry, honey, but I’m afraid that’s gonna be a no. We have a job to do.”
Fizzy gave an over-exaggerated groan. “But I don’t wanna…” she moaned, grinning as she did so.
The door slammed open, startling the couple. Sunburst walked in, looking pissed off. He was holding a scroll in his magic. “So,” he said, teeth gritted. “Turns out that communications in and out of Ponyville are cut off. I tried sending this letter numerous times, tried calling her directly via magic, all with no result. This Kang guy knows what he’s doing.”
“Hmmm…” Fizzy pondered. “Can you please find Firebrand, and tell her to come here. Also, have her bring her chaos manual. Then, use the secret exit to leave the Castle, and try and bring a message to Princess Twilight in person. That might be our best option.”
Sunburst gave a slight nod, before stomping out of the room, still frustrated. A moment later, Starlight walked in. She looked shaken.
“You were right, weren’t you?” asked Dane right before Fizzy could. Starlight nodded. “Yup. They’re all from different timelines. Primarily from the main three I mentioned, but I’m seeing some from other timelines as well. I’m scared to see how many timelines Kang has conquered.”
Fizzy nodded. “Alright, that at least confirms something, giving us something we know about our enemy. That’s better than what we had before. Thank you, Starlight. Go get some rest.”
“I’ll try,” said Starlight. She left as Firebrand walked in, the chaos manual floating behind her.
“Did you need me?” she asked nervously.
Fizzy nodded. “Yes. Come with us.”
“Where are we going?” Firebrand asked. Dane lifted in eyebrow, silently asking the same thing.
“We’re going to the secret exit. Uh,” she turned to Dane. “Where is the secret exit again?”
Dane rolled her eyes, smiling. “It’s in the third basement.” Fizzy nodded, before stopping. “Wait…” she said. “I just realized something. Where’s Zecora? I thought she was here last night.”
Dane sighed. “Wow. You just now noticed she was gone? She went home early this morning, before you came downstairs. She probably trapped in her home due to the occupation.”
Fizzy blushed, embarrassed at her slowness. “Well, as long as she’s safe.”
Dane rolled her eyes. Fizzy stuck out her tongue in response. “I’ll be in the library if you need me,” Dane said, turning to leave. “Don’t blow anything up.”
“That was one time!” cried Fizzy in protest. “Alright,” she said, turning to Firebrand. “Time to get the chaos training underway.” Firebrand nodded.
It hadn’t even been five minutes before things when sideways, before doing a loop-de-loop, pirouetting five times, and promptly face-planting. Fizzy was stuck on the ceiling with suction cups for hooves, being pelted with chocolate candy hail. Firebrand was trying to swim through slime that had appeared on the floor, a meter deep. She was trying to get to the manual, which had grown wings and was determined to win a world record in keep-away.
“So, ow, what happened again? Ow,” asked Fizzy between grunts of pain. “If this is Discord’s idea of a lesson, I’m gonna kill him,” she muttered.
“I just tried casting magic like normal!” yelped Firebrand, who had discovered a cheese-grater shark was now inhabiting the slime. “Then my magic went haywire!”
“So, what did the manual say to do? Ow!” Fizzy yelped, after a particularly large chocolate chunk was fired into her side.
“It said, and I’m quoting here, ‘Unlearn what you have learned.’ What does that even mean?! How am I supposed to cast magic without casting it?!” Her horn sparked again, causing Fizzy’s chocolate-flavored torture to disappear, much to her relief. Somewhere in the room, ragtime piano music began playing.
“Well, did it say to that? To cast magic without casting it? Or is that what you think it meant?”
Firebrand was silent for a moment, still trying to swim towards where the book was floating. “I guess I assumed that’s what it meant. What do you think it means?”
“Well,” said Fizzy, before pausing for a moment. Blood was beginning to rush to her head, making her dizzy. She began walking towards a wall as best she could. “Maybe its something else. How does magic work?”
Firebrand looked up at her. “Seriously? Do you not know how magic works?”
Fizzy sighed. “Yes, I know how magic works. Just tell me anyways.”
Firebrand continued giving her a look before speaking. “The way magic works is different for each species. For unicorns, magic energy is stored in the horn. They can activate this energy to perform spells, such as levitation or teleportation. However, magic cannot be created or destroyed, but must be transferred to or from somewhere else, as stated in the first law of thermodymagicks, or the Law of Conservation of Magical Energy. Magic is also beholden to the laws of the universe, such as the Law of Conservation of Mass. Since matter and energy are linked, and energy can’t be created or destroyed, but must be transferred or change, the same applies to matter. Magic also cannot create life or-”
“That!” Fizzy said. She began making her way down the wall towards the slime sea on the floor. “Before the life thing. Well, and the life thing, but to a small degree. Mainly the first thing.”
“Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed? What does that have to do with anything?” Firebrand asked.
“Well, what did I have you attempt to do?”
“Summon a toad with wings and purple polka dots. But that doesn’t exist,” said Firebrand, trying to slowly reach for the book without it noticing.
“Exactly. It doesn’t exist. You would’ve had to create it out of nothing.”
“Yeah, but that’s impossible with magic,” said Firebrand.
“Normal magic, said Fizzy. “But this is chaos magic! I mean, even the book’s title has a hint.”
Firebrand quirked her eyebrow before looking at the book, which had noticed her and fluttered out of reach. “‘Chaos Magic 101, a Foal’s Guide to Ripping the Fabric of Reality’. Wha- oh. Oh! So what it’s saying is that since I think what I’m trying to do is impossible, I can’t do it. So I just need stop believing in the possible, and believe in the impossible.”
Fizzy rolled her eyes, smiling. “There ya go. Finally.”
Firebrand closed her eyes in concentration. Her horn began to glow, crackling with discordant energy. There was a flash, and everything was back to normal. Fizzy popped off the wall, stopping her descent by flying. Firebrand dropped as the slime vanished, landing on her rear. Just as Fizzy touched down on the ground, a loud THOOM thundered throughout the Castle. Fizzy glanced at Firebrand, who shrugged.
“It wasn’t me,” she said, raising her front hooves defensively. Fizzy’s eyes narrowed as she thought. “Then who-”
She was cut off by the sound of klaxons blaring around the Castle. There was a crackle of static before Starlight’s voice was broadcasted around the Castle. “KANG GOT IN! KANG GOT IN!!”
Fizzy’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. “Oh fuck,” she said. She quickly turned and ran towards the end of the room. Firebrand quickly jumped up and followed. “I’m glad we took the time to find this before we started. Granted, while it was in case of an emergency while you practiced, it was more for the “Castle is overrun with flying muffins” type of emergency, not Kang attacking.” She pressed crystal that protruded so slightly, it was barely noticeable. A part of the floor moved down into the ground, then slid out of the way, revealing a staircase that led deeper underground. She ushered Firebrand down the passage before quickly following, the door closing behind her. It slid into place right as Fizzy heard the door to the basement being blown open. Fizzy and Firebrand slowly crept down the hall, careful to not make noise. They eventually reached a large open cavern, decorated like a house. In said cavern was a gray Earth pony mare with a purple mane. She wore a plain, dark teal dress. She stared at them with a neutral expression and half-lidded green eyes that seemed to stare into their souls.
“Oh, hey, uh…” said Fizzy awkwardly, trying to remember the mare’s name.
“It’s Maud,” said Maud.
“Maud! Right! So, uh… I’m sure you’ve seen what’s going on outside, right?”
“Yes. Ponyville is being invaded again,” said Maud.
Firebrand glanced at Fizzy, looking uncomfortable. Fizzy felt equally uncomfortable.
“So, we’re, uh, just passin’ through. Goin’ to go stop the invasion… and all that…”, said Fizzy, trailing off as Maud continued to stare, blank-faced. An awkward silence fell over them.
“Well,” said Firebrand, a little too suddenly and a little too loudly. “We should really get going!”
“Yes! Right. Right. C’mon, Firebrand. Uh, see you later, Maud,” said Fizzy.
“Good luck,” said Maud. She turned and walk away, down into the cavern that made up her home.
Fizzy and Firebrand made their way out of the cavern, and found themselves on the outskirts of Ponyville. They could see small groups of mind-controlled soldiers patrolling the streets as the giant sword ship floated above the town, casting a shadow over it. The pair hunkered down behind a large rock, obscuring them from any watchful eyes.
“What’s the plan?” asked Firebrand.
“We need to get on that,” said Fizzy, pointing to the flying sword. Firebrand stared at her, mouth hanging open in shock. “Are you crazy?” she asked. “We’ll be captured for sure.”
Fizzy smirked. “Not necessarily. I’ve got my suit, so I can just put that on and we can steal a helmet for you.”
“A couple questions. First, where is your suit? Second, how are we getting a helmet for me?”
“I keep the suit tucked into my carapace with slime. Plus, don’t worry about getting the helmet. Leave that to me.”
A few moments later, Fizzy dragged the unconscious soldier behind the rock. She gave the helmet to Firebrand, who hesitantly picked it up in her magic.
“Don’t worry,” said Fizzy. It’s deactivated. I also did a bit of recon, and figured out how to get inside. Troops come up and down from outside the Town Hall. I’ll be right beside you. I’ve also hijacked their communications so I can hear their communications, and so I can communicate with you while you’re in the helmet. Ready?”
Firebrand took a shaky breathe before sliding the helmet over her head. The eyes began to glow green, signaling someone was underneath.
“You good,” Fizzy asked.
“Yeah,” came the response in her ear, accompanied by a nod.
“Excellent. Let’s go.” And with that, Fizzy activated her PYM, shrinking down. She flew up next to Firebrand as she stepped out behind the rock. They walked down the road unhindered until the reached a split in the road.
“Which way?” Firebrand’s voice asked into Fizzy’s ear. “The Town Hall. Left or right?”
“Left,” replied Fizzy. Firebrand obeyed, turning down the left street. At the end of it, she could see a large, pavilion-like structure in the center of the circle that marked the middle of the town. As she approached, she saw soldiers stepping up onto an elevated platform. When the got to the top, a beam of light shone down from the ship, enveloping the soldiers. When the light receded back into the ship, the soldiers were gone.
“So, that’s out way in,” whispered Fizzy over the communicator. Firebrand was silent as the number of soldiers near them increased as they entered the center of town. Firebrand made for the elevated platform, but before she could step up, a guard stopped her.
“What are you doing?” the guard asked.
“Uh… trying to get back on the ship. I was summoned to help deal with the prisoners.”
The eyes of the guard’s helmet bore into Firebrand as the guard seemingly analyzed Firebrand’s reason. “Alright,” said the guard suddenly, startling Firebrand and Fizzy. The guard stepped to the side, allowing Firebrand passage up the platform. Another soldier was at a pedestal adorned with buttons and levers at the top of the platform. A large disk sat in the center, which Firebrand stepped onto. Firebrand was starting to hyperventilate.
“Breathe normally,” said Fizzy. “These things always need you to breathe normally.” Firebrand’s breathing slowed as the operator soldier began pressing buttons. Light encompassed Firebrand and the two began floating upwards, rapidly gaining speed. Just as Fizzy was sure they were going to slam into the ceiling of whatever room they were beaming into, everything became still. They stood in a pure, white room, decorated only with a disk mirror to the one down in Ponyville, as well as another operator at a similar panel.
“You can step off the teleporter any time,” said the guard, annoyance lightly touching her tone.
“Er… sorry,” said Firebrand, quickly stepping off the disk and exiting the room. There were only a couple other helmeted ponies in the hall. The corridor shone with an off-yellow light, giving the prismarine-colored halls a sickly hue. Firebrand’s hooves clanked against the metal floor as she walked down the hall.
“Which way?” she mumbled quietly to Fizzy. Fizzy flew out of Firebrand’s helmet and down the hall. “Follow me,” said Fizzy. “I’ll fly a little ways ahead and tell you which way to go.” Fizzy directed Firebrand down the halls, wandering through the bowels of the giant sword.
Fizzy turned down a hall before gasping. “A lift! Perfect.” After checking it was empty, she flew in, with Firebrand quickly following behind. As soon as she was in, she closed the door, on two soldiers who had just turned to enter.
“Sorry!” said Firebrand as the door closed. Fizzy scanned the buttons and the screen above. It was displaying a key, denoting which rooms and such were on which level. She found a “Vault of Spoils” of Level 17, hitting the corresponding button. As the lift began to move, Firebrand quickly took off the helmet.
“Gods, it’s stuffy in there,” she said.
“I can imagine. But don’t get to comfortable. You’ve got to put that thing back on here in a sec,” said Fizzy over her comm, flying up to the display above the door, counting up to 17. It was currently on 14.
“Actually, you might want to get it on now,” she amended. Firebrand sighed, pulling the helmet back over her head. The doors slid open, revealing an empty hallway. Firebrand stepped out, Fizzy flying ahead as they had before. It was a much shorter trip to the Vault, the pair only having to go left, then right, before finding it. Fizzy flew back into Firebrand’s helmet as she rounded the corner to the vault. It was guarded by two helmeted Crystal ponies. Firebrand stepped forward to enter, surprised she wasn’t blocked by the guards.
‘Odd…,’ thought Fizzy. As they moved through the vault, beams of light were shining down from the ceiling, illuminating objects. Fizzy flew back out from the helmet and began analyzing the objects. She flew over to one, a squarish hammer, reading the accompanying plaque. “‘This is the mighty Mo- myo- mjo- myolenier? The mighty something of the god-pony, Thor.’ Hmm. Real mighty lookin’.”
Firebrand was also looking over the artifacts. “‘This is the Eye of Agamareto, an all-seeing relic used by the sorcerer it was named after.’ Weird.”
“Oh, we can grab that later for Sunburst. He’ll appre…ciate it…” Fizzy’s train of thought died as a very familiar sword and sheath caught her eye. She ran over to the blade, reading the description. “‘Claimed from the Black Knight, Dane Whitmare, upon her capture from the Castle in Ponyville.’” She went to grab it when Firebrand hissed to get her attention. “Fizzy! Is this it?” Fizzy looked to see Firebrand standing next to a scroll labelled ‘Time Spell, created by Starswirl the Bearded, with edits by ???’
“Yeah, grab it,” said Fizzy. She quickly resized, grabbing the sword in her magic. Expecting something to happen when it was removed from its place, she was relieved when nothing did. Firebrand, sensing it was safe, snatched the scroll.
“Here, give them to me. I’ll shrink them down and carry them with me,” said Fizzy. She laid both items in front of her, and took one of the spare shrinking potions out of its storage pouch on her suit. She tilted the vial over, allowing one drop of the potion to fall onto each item, shrinking it down to seemingly microscopic level, almost impossible to see. Fizzy restored the potion before shrinking back down, the small items returning to seemingly normal size, while the rest of her surroundings became gargantuan. Fizzy scooped up the items, slinging the sword on her back while storing the scroll into her pocket. “I’ll fly out through the vents, just in case there are detectors at the door. I’ll meet you at the lift,” said Fizzy. Firebrand nodded before pulling her helmet back on. “See you on the other side,” said Fizzy, before taking off and making for a vent, as Firebrand made her way to the door.
Fizzy was not overly fond of ventilation. The last time she had been in one was doing Mayor Mare a favor in the Town Hall. Vents were a new technology being pushed by the Princess, and Ponyville was one of the first towns to receive it, on account of it being the Princess’ home town.
The mayor had been hearing sounds coming from the vents, which Fizzy had initially dismissed as the vents were supposed to make sounds. That’s how you knew the air was flowing. But, at the continued insistence of Mayor Mare, Fizzy had relented and shrunken down to go in and investigate. She had found rats, and the experience traumatized her so badly, she couldn’t go into the town hall for a month afterwards.
As she climbed thought the vents of the ship, she had to reassure herself that ‘There are no rats on the flying sword,” repeatedly. She could see through the grates that Firebrand had made it out unhindered and was making her way towards the lift. Thankfully, the sheer amount of vents and square tubing made for slow moving air, which made Fizzy’s trek a lot easier. She made her way to the vent over the lift, lifting it up enough for her to slip out the bottom, and slowly lowered it shut again.
Firebrand was standing at the lift when Fizzy flew into her helmet, startling her. “Where to now?” she asked quietly as the hum of the lift got louder, signaling its approach. “Whatever passes for prisons here,” replied Fizzy. The doors slid open, revealing two soldiers. They stepped out of the elevator without a word, and marched down the hall. Firebrand stepped in, the doors sliding shut behind her with a subtle hiss. Fizzy flew out and over to the small screen that served as the ship map.
“There,” she said, pointing. “The detention level.”
“Where,” asked Firebrand? Fizzy was about to make a snarky reply when she realized that she was too small for Firebrand to see where she was pointing. “Oh. Uh, sub-level five,” she said. Firebrand pressed the corresponding button, and the lift gave a slight jolt before moving downwards.
“Do you think they’re all right?” asked Firebrand. Fizzy was silent as she hovered, staring at the numbers above the door counting down. 8… 7… 6…
“Fizzy?” asked Firebrand, trying to get the Changeling’s attention. Fizzy jumped at the mention of her name.
“Huh? What? Sorry,” said Fizzy, embarrassed. “What did you ask?”
“I had asked if you thought they were okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, of course,” said Fizzy, distractedly. “She’s tough.” Realizing what she had said, she quickly corrected herself. “They. They’re tough.” Fizzy swore she could hear Firebrand smiling, but hidden beneath her helmet, Fizzy would never know.
The elevator jolted to a stop, and the doors slid open. The hall outside was a glaring contrast to the upper levels. The hall before them was black, illuminated by a sole white light every few paces, and small red lights going all the way down the hall, along the floor. They could see an open room down at the end of the hall. Firebrand stepped out as Fizzy once more slipped into her hiding place of the helmet. Clanks of hooves on metal accompanied them as Firebrand stepped down the hall.
When they entered the room, they saw two ponies working at consoles in the center of the space. Four halls branched off from the room, including the one they had come from. Firebrand walked up to one and coughed, getting their attention.
“Which cell is the unicorn in, the one from the raid on the castle?” asked Firebrand, trying to lower her voice to sound intimidating.
“Which one,” asked a monotone voice. Fizzy wasn’t even sure it was a question.
“The pink one. Purple mane,” said Firebrand.
“Down that hall, Cell 2187,” said the soldier. “Although, we weren’t informed of anypony coming down to question the prisoners. I thought we had finished.”
Fizzy heard Firebrand gulp nervously, before continuing, her tough accent faltering. “Well, uh, take it up with Kang. We got the orders from them directly.”
“Okay,” said the guard. Not seeing any sign of continued conversation, Firebrand turned left towards the hall she had gestured to, and headed down it. As they looked from side to side, they saw ponies and other creatures trapped in the cells by a red force-field.
As they made there way further down the corridor, they began to see familiar faces. They saw Autumn Blaze looking particularly depressed, being comforted by Zecora from across the hall.
“My Kirin friend, do not be sad,” said Zecora, before looking up at them as they passed. “It does not seem like things are all bad,” they heard her say. Fizzy smiled. Zecora had recognized them, or at least Firebrand. They passed Sunburst, alone in his cell. Across from him was Spector, sitting silently. He glared at them as they passed. The cell next to his didn’t have a force-field, instead being shut by a large black door. Across from the closed cell was Dane. Fizzy slowly slipped out of the helmet, wanting to go rescue her. She flew over to the door, slipped out Dane’s sword, and swung it through the control panel. It sparked and flashed as the sword cut though it, causing the door to slide open, revealing Starlight inside. Starlight glanced up at Firebrand as she stepped in, not seeing Fizzy hovering just outside the door.
“I’ve already told you everything,” she said, venom lacing her voice. “Now, fuck off,” she said. Firebrand stepped back. Fizzy flew forward, regrowing to normal size as she did so, the sword also growing, much to Fizzy’s relief. “Now now,” she said in a chastising tone. “That’s not how you thank people for rescuing you.” Starlight stared at them in slack-jawed awe. Fizzy’s comment had drawn the attention of the surrounding inmates.
“Fizzy? Is that you?” asked Tempest’s voice.
“It is,” said Dane, voice murky from tears. “She came for us.”
Fizzy began blushing hard. “W-well, it wasn’t just me. Firebrand was just as much a part of this as I was. As if it was a cue to do so, Firebrand pulled the helmet off. “Hi,” she said. Fizzy pulled Starlight to her hooves.
“Alright,” she said. “Time to get the rest of you out of here.”
A crackle rang through the air, as a voice began to speak.
“I don’t think so.”
Fizzy, Firebrand, and Starlight ran into the corridor. They looked down towards the command center to see Kang standing there, flanked on either side by a unicorn guard.
“Starlight,” Fizzy mumbled. “Get the scroll out of the pouch on my right side.”
Starlight’s magic crackled to life, and Fizzy felt the scroll slide out of the pouch. As she stared down Kang, she heard Starlight unroll the scroll before gasping softly.
“What have you got there, my little ponies?” asked Kang, condescendingly.
“Uh, first, I’m a Changeling,” said Fizzy. “No one likes a racist.”
Kang raised an eyebrow.
“And second, well, it’s just a little somethin’ I picked up from your treasure vault. A little, uh, timey-wimey, somethin’.” At that, Kang’s eyes widened.
“The scroll…” they said slowly. “Give that back.” Kang’s horn began crackling with magic. It was a glaring red, similar to Dane’s magic. Fizzy didn’t like it. Dane’s magic was warm and comforting. This was cold, and evil.
“Uh… no,” said Starlight, stepping forward. “Since this is technically mine. Or at least, it was.”
“You? You made the changes to Starswirl’s spell?”
Starlight nodded. She glanced back down at it, smirking. “Hmmm, nice edits. Very helpful. So…” she glanced at Fizzy, then Firebrand. “Wanna give this a test run?”
Fizzy grinned. “By all means, go right ahead.”
Kang snapped. “STOP HER!” they roared. Their guards’ horns sprang to life, and they began firing magic bolts at them. Firebrand quickly cast a shield spell, although due to it being infused with chaos magic, it took the form of a Hearth’s Warming stocking.
“Starlight, how’s that spell coming?” asked Fizzy frantically. Despite her best effort, cracks were already starting to appear in Firebrand’s festive shield.
“Just a second!” cried Starlight. “I’ve got to make sure I get it right!”
Fizzy fired a couple magic bolts towards the oncoming fire, striking her targets, only to find it had done nothing. The unicorns continued their barrage, further crippling the shield.
“Starlight!” yelled Fizzy.
“I’ve got it!” she yelped. Her horn began to glow, and a white, glowing circle of magic appeared behind them, opening to a glowing vortex of greens and teals. A ticking sound was emanating from it. “Go!” yelled Fizzy. Starlight jumped through the portal, with Firebrand immediately after. Just as Firebrand’s shield dissipated, Fizzy jumped through, and the vortex closed, engulfing Fizzy in green and white light.
Everything went from bright to dark in an instant, and Fizzy felt a sudden pain shoot up her side. She reached for the area to see what caused it, only for her hoof to find a fuzzy leg.
“Gehoffme,” said a voice Fizzy identified as Starlight.
A muffled sound was heard, proving Firebrand was also alive, though neither Fizzy nor Starlight was quite sure what she said. Fizzy flapped her wings, picking herself up of the jumble of limbs. Firebrand was able to roll off Starlight, and as a result, unfaceplant herself. Starlight stood up, brushing dirt off her stomach, levitating the scroll over to her from where it had fallen. Firebrand spat dirt out of her mouth as she stood up. As Fizzy landed, she looked around. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she was able to see they were in the Everfree Forest, near a large castle, adorned with blue and purple lights, and topped with blue spired roofs. Atop the tallest tower, was a glowing crescent moon.
“Let me guess,” Fizzy deadpanned, looking at Starlight. “This is the Nightmare Moon timeline.”
Starlight shrugged, tucking the scroll into Fizzy’s pouch with her magic. “Don’t look at me. I just cast the spell so it would go to its place of origin.”
“Wait…,” said Firebrand. “Then wouldn’t that take us to where ever Starswirl created the spell?”
“Not technically, no,” said Starlight. “Every time the spell was edited, it became a new spell. So, I took us to the place where the most recent edits were made. A sort of Control-Z, if you will.”
“A what?” asked Fizzy and Firebrand simultaneously.
Starlight shook her head. “Never mind. We should probably make our way towards the castle.”
Fizzy glanced at the castle, looming ominously in the distance. “Uh… are you sure we want to go where Equestria’s first greatest threat is? You know, a vengeful moon goddess?”
“You won’t be going anywhere,” said a voice, followed by rustling leaves. Firebrand and Starlight lowered into defensive stances, horns glowing. From out of the underbrush of the forest came a small group of ponies, surrounding the trio. The unicorns of the surrounding group also had their horns aglow, with the pegasi spreading their wings, ready to take flight. The leader, a blue unicorn mare with a two-tone mane stepped forward. “Who are you?” she asked, eyes narrowed. Fizzy identified her as the speaker in the bushes.
“We are travelers,” said Fizzy, stepping forward. “We mean you no harm.”
The mare eyed her warily. “How do we know you aren’t lying? You obviously know of Nightmare Moon, so you aren’t as uninformed as you seem.”
“Are you sure about that?” Fizzy mumbled before speaking up. “You don’t, but to be fair, we don’t exactly know we can trust you. But if it means anything, we didn’t immediately attack you when you made yourselves none. I doubt Nightmare Moon would have done such a thing.”
The mare raised an eyebrow, considering this. “True. You and your companions will come with us. But, use any magic, and you will regret it.”
Fizzy nodded. Starlight and Firebrand stood back up, the magic fading from around their horns. The mare turned and walked back into the underbrush, Fizzy and her friends following as they were escorted by their new guards.
Fizzy trotted up next to the mare. “So…” she began, “What’s your name?” she asked, trying to make small talk. The mare glanced over at her. “First, tell me yours,” she said. Fizzy blinked. “Oh, it’s Fizzy. Fizzy Wings,” she said. “Hmm,” said the mare. “And what manner of creature might you be? Because you certainly aren’t a pony.”
Fizzy smiled. “What gave it away? The chitin?” The mare glared at her. Fizzy coughed before continuing. “Uh… anyways. No, I’m a changeling.”
The mare stopped. “A changeling? As in the kind who replace ponies to feed on the love of their loved ones?” Her horn sprang to life, aimed at Fizzy. The unicorns in the group turned towards Starlight and Firebrand, their own horns aglow.
Fizzy gulped. “Uh… no. I don’t imagine you have the evolved version of changelings here. And I’m the only one. They are ponies,” she said, gesturing to her companions.
“Evolved? What do you mean, evolved?” demanded the mare.
“Where I’m from, changelings evolved so that we no longer need to feed on love. Well, we still feed on love, but we don’t replace ponies. We share love with each other and that does the job,” explained Fizzy hastily.
The mare’s eyes remained narrowed in suspicion, but she dropped her spell. “Very well. But try anything, changeling, and you won’t see your friends ever again.”
Fizzy nodded. The group carried on in silence, until they came across a giant ravine that stretched all the way to the castle. Fizzy, Starlight, and Firebrand followed the mare down a set of what Fizzy guessed were stairs. They were carved messily into the rock, and hard to spot even on them.
At the bottom of the stairs was a cave opening, leading into the side of the ravine. When they reached the bottom, the mare led them in. The cavern was dark, save only for the light of the mare’s horn. Fizzy eventually lost track of how many turns and crossroads they had gone through, as they wound deeper underground.
Eventually, Fizzy spotted a light in the distance. As they got closer, they entered a large, open space, lit by a campfire in the center. A small number of ponies milled about, entering and leaving small openings scattered along the walls of the area. The mare stopped, turning towards Fizzy and her friends.
“My name is Minuette. I lead this resistance against Nightmare Moon,” she said. “Now, you will tell me how you got here. And don’t try and claim you are travelers, for I know that isn’t true.”
“Uh… this might sound crazy,” said Firebrand, before Fizzy could open her mouth. “But, we were sent through time by a supervillain.”
Fizzy turned, staring at her in shock. Minuette’s voice drew her attention back to the mare in question. “So, that would explain the temporal anomaly I detected.”
Starlight stepped forward. “You can detect temporal anomalies?”
Minuette nodded. “Yes. Among other time-related things. I used to be a chronologist, before Nightmare Moon took over. When I was little, I sensed a massive chrono-shift, something that shouldn’t be possible unless somepony had messed with time.”
“A chrono-what?” asked Fizzy.
“A chrono-shift. Basically, it’s a shockwave of time energy, signaling the creation of an alternate timeline,” stated Minuette, matter-of-factly.
“And you were able to sense this? As a child?” asked Starlight.
“Yup. It’s how I got my Cutie Mark, and why I decided to become a chronologist,” said Minuette, gesturing to the hourglass on her flank.
Starlight glanced back at Fizzy, before speaking. “Were there any other time-related things you detected?”
Minuette nodded. “As a matter of fact, yes there were. Two, to be precise. About a year ago, a purple alicorn showed up with time-travel magic, before promptly leaving this timeline about 20 minutes later. I sent scouts to monitor the area where the alicorn had appeared for a month afterwards. On the last day of that month-long period, something else appeared. A scroll with the time-travel magic the alicorn spoke of. Come, I’ll show you.”
Minuette led them into an off-shooting tunnel. Starlight and Fizzy made eye contact as Starlight looked back, her face stricken with terror.
“The spell required a ‘Cutie Map’,” said Minuette as the continued down the natural corridor. “But, I was able to bypass the need to that with some changes of my own. I also changed it so one could move from timeline to timeline freely, without creating any more alternate ones.”
As they stepped into a new open area, Firebrand spoke up. “How were you able to do this? It would require a massive amount of magical energy. Nopony short of the Alicorn Princesses could do it.”
Minuette glanced back, smiling in a way that sent shivers down the trio’s spines. “I was able to do so, with this,” as she spoke, she stepped to the side, revealing a stone altar with two objects on it. One was the time-travel scroll. But the object beside it filled the trio with abject terror. On the altar, next to the scroll, was the Alicorn Amulet.
“You can’t be serious!” cried Starlight. “That thing is too dangerous to be used!”
Minuette scoffed. “Please,” she said. “Only those who are weak fall victim to the Amulet’s effects.”
Starlight seemed speechless, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Firebrand spoke up, her voice quavering slightly. “It’s impossible to be immune to the Alicorn Amulet. It’s the literal embodiment of ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ It’s not a matter of willpower,” she said. “If you continue to use it, you’ll become no better than Nightmare Moon.”
Minuette’s eye twitched at that. “You’re wrong. I’m already better than Nightmare Moon. With this Amulet, I’m more powerful than her. And nopony can keep me from using it.”
Fizzy stepped forward. “Why are you using it to begin with? What’s worth the risk?”
Minuette stepped toward Fizzy in turn. “This,” she said, gesturing all around her. “Making sure this never happens. And like I said, nopony can stop me. Foster! Spitfire!”
Two ponies stepped into the cavern. One was a brown Earth pony mare with a blonde mane. The other was a yellow pegasus with a fiery mane. Fizzy recognized the latter as this universe’s version of Spitfire, the Wonderbolt. But the thing that stood out to her most of all was the Earth pony, (Foster, she assumed), didn’t have a Cutie Mark.
“Yes, Minuette?” asked Spitfire.
“Take these three and put them in a prison ce-” Minuette was never able to finish what she was saying before a loud THOOM echoed throughout the cave system. Dust and small pebbles fell from the cave ceiling. A gust of wind blew through the caverns, causing the torches lining the walls to flicker. They could hear shouts coming from the cave entrance.
“We’re under attack!” yelped Foster. Minuette snarled, before whipping around to snatch the Amulet and the scroll in her magic. She latched the Amulet around her neck and began casting the spell. Her horn began to glow with a cold, evil red as the Amulet crackled and sparked with magical energy. Fizzy recognized it as the same red color of Kang’s magic. Her eyes went wide as the pieces fell into place in her mind.
“Don’t do it!” cried Starlight, her mane beginning to wave and flap around as wind started to billow around Minuette.
Minuette glared at her, eyes glowing white, although ethereal red flames danced at the edges of her eyes. “You can’t stop me! Nopony can!” she yelled, a white light beginning to emanate from the scroll in Minuette’s magic. The wind grew stronger, snuffing out the flames of the torches, leaving Minuette the only light source in the room, causing the walls to take on a sinister red color.
“Starlight!” yelled Fizzy over the roaring wind. “Get us out of here!” Starlight gave a silent nod before quickly pulling the scroll out of the pouch on Fizzy’s suit. She began casting the spell as quickly as possible so as not to lose the scroll in the gale-force winds battering the room’s occupants, but Minuette saw what they were doing.
“NO!” she roared. “Stop them!” Spitfire and Foster dived, but before either of them could reach the trio, Fizzy saw the time portal open beneath them, and they fell through just as the crimson light from Minuette’s spell engulfed the room.
Fizzy rubbed her head as she stood up, thankful not to be in a pile of limbs again. “Where are we?” she asked, her eyes still adjusting from the series of bright lights that accompanied jaunts through time.
“Uh, judging from all the black crystal everywhere, the Sombra takes over everything timeline,” said Starlight. Fizzy’s eyes widened as the adjusted to see the Everfree Forest in ruins. Half the trees were gone, seemingly replaced with a stark amount of black, jagged crystals. What trees remained looked sick, with more black crystals growing off of them, like a parasitic fungus. Way off in the distance, the sounds of metal clanging on metal and voices drifted over the tortured wood.
As they approached the sound, they saw a large structure looming over where Ponyville would be. As the broke through the treeline, they saw Ponyville was no longer a quaint little hamlet. Instead, most of the houses had been replaced with factories and mills. A large skeletal structure made of metal was suspended over the town, covering it entirely.
“Minuette’s ship,” said Firebrand grimly, apparently having come to the same conclusion as Fizzy. Fizzy nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Pretty sure Kang and Minuette are one and the same.”
They stayed hidden behind the trees, surveying the hustle and bustle of ponies from a distance. But even from that distance, they could see a number of things. Each pony was wearing a helmet reminiscent of the ones worn by Kang’s army. They saw banners and flyers with Minuette’s face on them. Smoke was being poured into the sky by the factories, turning it a sickly brown, which resulted in Firebrand coughing violently before vomiting. The air was nearly poisonous.
“Hey,” said Fizzy. “Look.” She pointed towards town, where a group of unhelmeted ponies had gathered around an elevated platform. The group itself was surrounded by helmeted guards, making the group suspected the unhelmeted ponies were prisoners. They saw a pony step up onto the platform. They recognized her as Minuette immediately.
“I’m gonna fly in and get a closer look,” said Fizzy. She shrunk down and took flight, heading towards Minuette. As she got closer she could hear Minuette speaking. Fizzy also saw she was still wearing the Alicorn Amulet, and was flanked by Spitfire on one side, with Foster on the other.
“-and you will help in that glorious mission, by helping build my time-ship, before joining my army!”
A grey, yellow-maned pegasus mare at the front of the crowd spoke up. “Why would we join you? You’re crazy!”
Minuette’s eye twitched as she laughed shallowly. “Well, it looks like we have a volunteer who will help me answer that exact question.” Spitfire hauled the poor mare on stage and turned her towards the crowd. Fizzy could see the fear in the mare’s askew eyes, tears starting to form in the corners. Foster grabbed a helmet from a crate off to the side and lowered it over the mare’s head. Fizzy could see tears streaming out from underneath, the mare too scared to say anything. When the helmet was over her head, Foster flicked a switch, and the eye sockets began to glow green. The tears suddenly stopped, and the mare stood up straighter, sending a massive chill down Fizzy’s spine as her eyes widened in horror.
Minuette smiled cruelly over the crowd. “This is the price of freedom from tyranny. Time to pay up.” The guards moved forward, pushing the crowd up onto the platform via a side ramp, where Foster and Spitfire placed helmets on each pony as they passed. It took all of Fizzy’s willpower to not vomit in her helmet as she flew back to where Starlight and Firebrand were.
When she got there, she was met with quite a sight. Firebrand and Starlight were surrounded by helmeted ponies. Firebrand’s horn was crackling with chaos magic, randomly striking out and turning whatever it hit into rubber chickens. Starlight was also zapping the helmeted soldiers, trying to repel them without injuring them too badly. Fizzy swooped down, regrowing as she slammed into a soldier as their spear became a plush toy.
“Starlight! Get us the blazes out of here!” yelled Fizzy.
Starlight nodded, zapping an approaching soldier before pulling the scroll in front of her. She activated the spell, and the time vortex opened up beneath Starlight and Firebrand, swallowing them both. Fizzy dived in after them just as it closed.
As much as she hated it, Fizzy was getting more adept at the feeling of time-travel. She had recovered from the trip almost immediately, managing to catch herself before falling onto Firebrand and Starlight. As she surveyed the surrounding area, she wasn’t quite sure which timeline they were in.
“Are we home yet?” asked Firebrand, groaning as she stood.
“Nope,” replied Fizzy, landing softly next to the pair. “I’m not sure where we are though.”
“Well…,” began Starlight, rising to her hooves. “If the trend is continuing, you’re not going to like where we are.” She looked at Fizzy when she said this.
“What do you mean?” asked Fizzy.
“If my hunch is correct, this is the timeline where Chrysalis takes over.”
Fizzy’s mouth went dry. “Oh,” she said quietly. Fizzy followed Starlight and Firebrand through this dimension’s rendition of the Everfree Forest, which seemed swampier than normal, almost more jungle or marsh than forest.
Fizzy’s mind raced as she contemplated what Starlight had told her. Would they run into Chrysalis? Would she have to fight her? Would Chrysalis kill her? Force her back to the old way of things, where she was constantly starving and having to prey on innocent ponies just for a meal? Fizzy shook her head, trying to prevent herself from spiraling, but she couldn’t stop it completely. Her anxieties lurked in the back of her mind as the three of them trekked deeper into the marshy wood.
“Stop,” whispered Starlight, halting suddenly. Firebrand stopped so suddenly that Fizzy almost ran into her.
“What?” she asked. Fizzy crept up next to Starlight, the latter’s face grim. As she looked where Starlight was staring, she saw an opening in the wood that seemed to be home to a collection of ramshackle huts and shacks. When her gaze fell on the center of the area, she gasped. There was Chrysalis, flanked on either side by a Changeling guard. But what had made Fizzy gasp was that Chrysalis was prone on the ground, eyes shut, unmoving, as were her guards. Standing above her was a pony in an odd purple helmet, with a blue mask and green robes. Kang, or rather, Minuette had defeated Chrysalis, and by the looks of things, added the Changeling army to her own. Kang had a small group of her soldiers with her, all of varying races.
Kang nudged Chrysalis with her hoof, but she didn’t move. She waved a hoof and her contingent of troops followed her as they moved deeper into the woods. They heard the dull sounds of marching in the distance, slowly getting louder as Kang’s army approached the group’s position.
“We need to go,” said Starlight. Fizzy didn’t hear her. She continued to stare at Chrysalis’ unmoving body, her own paralyzed with fear. If Kang could take down the evilest creature Fizzy had ever known, she saw no chance of stopping her.
“Fizzy?” asked Firebrand, her voice concerned as she laid a hoof on Fizzy’s shoulder. Fizzy started at the contact, shaking her head slightly. “What?” she asked.
“We’re leaving,” said Starlight. She pulled out the scroll once more, and activated the spell. The vortex opened beneath them, and swallowed them once more.