> Destiny or Coincidence? > by TalB > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Uncovering a hidden past > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After having a meeting with both Princesses Celestia and Luna over at Canterlot Castle, Twilight Sparkle would head over to the library to read some books due to the fact that she was known for being a bookworm. Sometimes she would spend a good part of the day reading entire sections. Other times, she would even take some of the books with her realizing that she has been there too long as either princess would tell her it was time for her to go and would promise them, she would bring them back when she was done with them. "As much as I enjoy reading these books, it feels as if I have read the same ones over and over again. It would be nice if there was at least one book here that I never read before.", said Twilight. Wandering through the library for new books, she found herself bumping into a huge portrait of Celestia that went all the way down to the floor. She then tapped on the portrait with one of her hooves and felt as if it was part of the wall itself. This made her think if this portrait was really a door and if there is something special behind it. Twilight then thought, "Could Princess Celestia be hiding something behind her own portrait?" Walking back a little bit had her back hooves step on what seemed to be a panel that opened up the portrait revealing a book that was titled, The Legacy of Megan Williams and Her Adventures in Ponyland, and she was thinking to herself why was this book hidden in the first place and for what purpose as she thought to herself, "I have never heard any mention before of either Ponyland or Megan Williams before in the history of Equestria, but I need to take this book back with me and figure out why was it kept a secret." She placed the book back where she got it from and came back the next day with a backpack to carry the book while trying to avoid any suspicions from either the guards or the Royal Sisters themselves. She later on headed back to her castle in Ponyville and started going through the pages to know more about who Megan Williams was and why she came in the first place and realized that she only became a hero by accident just for getting a particular pony who fell down a well, but it didn't seem to make her stop reading about her and what she did. As she started to read more about Megan she then thought, "Although I have seen and read a lot about other creatures that lived in Equestria, nothing like this one has seemed to come up before, but that's probably because this one isn't even native to Equestria or even Ponyland in that matter." While she was continuing to read the book, she didn't realize that the rest of her friends were coming in and wanting to know what she was doing. "Wacha reading, Twilight?" said Rainbow Dash. "Nothing that you will find important unless it's about Daring Do." said Twilight. The rest of Mane 6 along with Spike started to become curious and go towards the book as Twilight showed each of them the pictures and descriptions of the ponies that reminded her of each of them including herself as well talk about Megan herself. "Why does the shade of your fur look much lighter, and your mane and tail seem to be white not to mention your wings are missing?" asked Spike. "That's because this isn't me, but another pony named Twilight." answered Twilight. "Why does this picture of me look like I don't have my wings?" said Fluttershy. "That's because it's not you, but a different pony named Posey" answered Twilight "Wait a minute here!" said Pinkie Pie, "I know I like to have parties, but I don't look anything like that, nor do I have wings, plus I don't remember my fur being white with my mane and tail being green, though it does look like she shares a cutie mark similar to mine." "Again, it isn't you, it's Surprise", said Twilight "I do like to have surprises!" as Pinkie said back. "No, that's the name of that pony in the book." as Twilight tried to clarify with her. "I just thought I saw myself in there." as Applejack said feeling surprised about what she saw. "This isn't you, but rather a pony that almost looks like you and even has your name for some reason." as Twilight gave her explanation to Applejack. "How can they get my cutie mark wrong and even my mane discolored?" said Rarity thinking that her picture was messed up on purpose. "You're not looking at yourself, you're looking at Glory." explained Twilight. "Is this pony supposed to be me because it seems as if the fur and mane are all wrong?" said Rainbow Dash. "That's because it's not you, it's Firefly." said Twilight. "Why does it look like I gained weight?" said Spike. "That's because you are looking at a picture of Spike that isn't you." said Twilight. The rest then read more about Megan Williams and what she was known for. "Reading about Megan Williams almost made me think about Daring Do." said Rainbow Dash. "According to these pages, if Megan Williams really does exist, she actually predates that pony by thousands of years." replied Twilight. Spike with now a lot of interest asked Twilight, "What exactly is Ponyland and how come I never I heard of it before?" Twilight gave her explanation to Spike and said, "Until now, I haven't heard of Ponyland either, but I guess that's what this very land was called before being known as Equestria should it be true." Now wanting to get answers, they head back to Canterlot to find out what is the purpose of hiding the book. Twilight levitated the book out of her backpack and mentioned, "Princess Celestia, I would like to know why this book was hidden as well as know more about Megan Williams and her purpose for being here." "How exactly did you find that book especially when it was placed where nobody would ever look for it?" said Princess Celestia. Twilight angrily responded by saying to both princesses, "I found this book behind your portrait over at the library. Perhaps you have other secrets besides having dark sides such as Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker!" Princess Luna weighed in and stated, "Just tell them already, Sister since they got the book and know about its secrets." "Exactly what secrets does this book hold?" asked Twilight. "Alright, since you know about this book, everything mentioned about Megan Williams and her adventures in Ponyland did happen." said Celestia. "Why did you hide this book in the first place?" replied Twilight. Celestia explained, "This book didn't originally belong to us either, but we kept it safe all this time after taking it from a fellow unicorn that was in our tribe." "However, that still doesn't explain why this book was hidden and for what reasons." as Twilight continued to shout back. "Since you want to know," as Celestia mentioned, "after what happened long after she left and when Luna and I got our royalty status, we wanted to give Ponyland a clean slate by calling it Equestria even if that meant trying to erase everything that reminded us of the original name including Megan herself." Twilight responded, "I would like to know if Megan Williams did something that tainted her history of being here that possibly lead to hiding that very book about her." Celestia said back at Twilight and the others, "It's not that she did something that would have someone question her actions on being Ponyland's savior, it was more about what happened to Ponyland after she no longer came back, and this has been a secret even to her. I suggest that you try to bring her here so that she can know in person what happened to Ponyland and why that was the case." Hearing this brought shock to them. "Seeing that this happened thousands of years ago, this Megan Williams is probably dead by now assuming that she can't live that long even for her kind unless she managed to live as long as both of you did." said Twilight. "Not quite," said Luna, "She's still alive to this very day." Twilight now feeling confused asked, "How do you know that she's still alive?" "What she doesn't know that is that traveling here thousands of years ago is only equal to a few years in her world known as Earth, plus I do go into her dreams every now and then to see what's on her mind or what she might be dreaming." explained Luna. "Does she even know that you are even in her dreams?" asked Twilight. "As long as I don't interfere, she would never know I was there." said Luna "How do either of you know about Megan Williams?" said Twilight. "At the time we were just fillies that were just brought over to Paradise Estate in a basket with no knowledge of who our parents were or even having any names given to us. She then picked us up and gave us our names in claiming that what we reminded her of when she was looking at us.", said Celestia. "Now that you know who she is, your destinies are now intertwined with her own," said Luna, "and what you don't know is that you are all descendants of those ponies mentioned with her" "Say what now!?" shouted the Mane 6 in unison. "Twilight Sparkle, you are descended from Twilight." said Luna "I thought I saw something similar there." said Twilight "Rainbow Dash, you are descended from Firefly." said Luna "Could it be that we are both awesome?" said Rainbow Dash. "Applejack, you are descended from Applejack." said Luna "Isn't that darn obvious?" replied Applejack. "Rarity, Glory is your ancestor." said Luna "I thought there was something we had in common, Darling." said Rarity. "Pinkie Pie, Surprise is your ancestor." said Luna "Again, I love surprises." said Pinkie "Finally, Fluttershy, you come from Posey." said Luna "I thought there were something more to just a near resemblance here." said Fluttershy. "What about me?" said Spike. "Spike, you are from Spike." "I should have known that from the start." said Spike. "However, according to the book, she came to what was once Ponyland with a pegasus flying her over the Rainbow Bridge near Dream Castle, and we have no idea where in present day Equestria that could be today or if that passageway will ever open again.", said Twilight. "The Rainbow Bridge never exactly closed, it was just made invisible to give that illusion," said Celestia, "Also, there was a special barrier that was placed so that nobody from here could go and invade Earth and vice versa." "We still don't know where exactly where those places are or even how to stop the barrier let alone make the bridge visible to bring her here." said Twilight. Celestia mentioned, "There is a spell that will do just that. Although Dream Castle is no longer around, Paradise Estate still exists and is actually on the outskirts of Ponyville as the very town itself was built on what was once known as Dream Valley. Also, Midnight Castle, where she had her first adventure, was the very castle we were once living in to seek refuge before building the one over by Everfree Forest near the Tree of Harmony." "Now it's time for you to meet your destiny," said Luna, "However, you may have to convince her to return as times may have changed and she could have just moved on since then." The Mane 6 along with Spike set off to bring Megan to Equestria. > Meeting a past legend > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Mane 7 headed towards the site of Paradise Estate, and Twilight read the spell that not only broke the barrier but made the Rainbow Bridge visible again. At first Rainbow Dash thought, "Perhaps I should cross it since it was my ancestor, Firefly, that did it." Twilight responded while making a chuckle, "Maybe you can get Megan to rescue you the same way she did to your ancestor by falling down a well, because like her you sometimes don't see where you're flying at times." The rest of the group laughed while Rainbow Dash felt embarrassed about it. "Seriously, it should be me since I was the one who found about it and will be able to cross this bridge." said Twilight. Fluttershy thought by saying, "Isn't there a chance that she might confuse you for your ancestor?" Twilight responded by saying, "I will have to explain to her that I'm not the pony she was expecting to see and that times have changed." Applejack then though of this, "What if she doesn't want to come back anymore?" Twilight said in response, "Hopefully I can convince her if that's the case, but it might not be that easy if she's not the same age she was when she last came to Ponyland." Twilight flew across the Rainbow Bridge and found her way heading towards her ranch. As she walked up, she noticed a blond cowgirl with a hairbow taking care of a pony and tried to make small talk with her by saying, "It must be something to be taking care of a pony." The cowgirl responded but didn't face her and said, "Sometimes this isn't easy work." "I wonder if you ever wish you could go back to a place you haven't been for years." said Twilight "Part of me would always love to go back to a place where I actually felt like someone important for once compared to what I have to deal with here, but that's all in the past." replied the cowgirl still not facing Twilight. "What if I could make that happen for you again?" said Twilight, "Your name doesn't happen to be Megan Williams who is the savior of Ponyland and the keeper of the Rainbow of Light?" The cowgirl then felt the locket from under her shirt with her back still facing Twilight and asked, "How do you know any of this or even my name?" "Just turn around and your question will be answered." said Twilight. The cowgirl now faces Twilight and is very surprised in seeing her, but at the same time can't seem to understand why she looks the way she does. "Twilight is that you, because you look a lot different the last time you helped me free the other ponies from Tirac back at Midnight Castle. However, I never remembered you being able to cross the Rainbow Bridge due to your inability to fly, though you could have always just teleported by wishing for it?" said Megan. "I'm not the Twilight you remember, my name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm her descendant as the one you know hasn't been around for thousands of years." Megan responded, "Twilight Sparkle, how does this make any sense especially when I was only in Ponyland only a few a years ago?" Twilight answered back, "First of all, you can just call me Twilight and what you don't know is that time you spent in Ponyland, which is now known as Equestria, moves more slower than in your world." "I'm starting to feel like a Digidestined who entered the Digital World in Digimon only to find out that hardly any time as passed back when I came back." Twilight then asked, "What is this Digimon you speak of?" "I only said it because of your statement about time passing Ponlyand (now Equestria) reminded me of that," said Megan, "It's a show on TV I remembered watching back during most of the 2000s. I loved that show a lot even though Danny and Molly where Pokemon fans. They would constantly call it a rip-off despite never finding any proof as well as only seeing certain episodes just to call them Pokemon names." "Unfortunately, we don't get this TV you speak of back in Equestria either, so I would never what you were just talking about." said Twilight. "Here I thought about a thousand years later, you ponies would have the same technology that we humans would have by now." said Megan. Twilight then said, "Sorry, but we're not that advanced. On one occasion I once crossed a portal to become something similar to you humans, and I had to admit I saw a lot of things there I have never seen before such as a computer or a copy machine. When I went back the second time, I got something called a cell phone that I had to learn how to use in order to communicate with Sunset Shimmer and the other friends I made there while being there." "You mean like the cell phone I have right now?" said Megan. "Exactly like that." said Twilight. Megan that looked further at Twilight and noticed, "You look pretty evolved because I have never before seen a pony from your world before with both wings and a horn in that they usually had one or the other or sometimes neither." Twilight mentioned, "That's because I'm an alicorn, though I wasn't always this way from start as I was a unicorn originally, but then I later on got changed to this thanks to Princess Celestia due to understanding friendship so much." Megan being surprised at Twilight's statement said, "Did you just say Princess Celestia and is her sister Luna one as well?" "Yes, and why do you ask that question, Megan?" said Twilight As Megan responded, "That's because I haven't seen her and Luna since they were fillies back when they were brought to Paradise Estate, and I never knew they got fully grown and became princesses." "Don't forget that they are also alicorns at least to my knowledge." said Twilight. "What about Luna?" said Megan. "Princess Luna has actually gone into your dreams every now and then and knows that you wished one day that you could come back." said Twilight. Megan was then thinking, "How come I have never noticed her in my dreams?" Twilight answered with saying, "That's because if she doesn't interfere with anyone's dreams, nobody will ever know that she is there in the first place." As Megan answered back, "I find that strange because I didn't notice them with wings the last time, I saw them. Then again, I guess that alicorns aren't exactly natural unlike the other three types of ponies." Twilight then said, "For the most part we aren't natural, we are just granted this, and Princess Cadence, who is also my sister-in-law, is one to, though she was originally a pegasus unlike me." "Could any pony become an alicorn?" asked Megan. "I guess in theory any pony can become an alicorn no matter who they are, but I have still yet to hear of an earth pony becoming one especially since they don't have wings or a horn, though that doesn't mean that they can't achieve this." said Twilight. "Nonetheless, how did you find out about me?" asked Megan. Twilight then answered, "I found out when I was reading a secret book about you and what you did when you last came to my world." Megan explained to Twilight, "The reason I came to Ponyland in the first place was because I heard someone fall down a well and found out it was a pegasus pony named Firefly who asked me to join her in rescuing her friends over at Midnight Castle." "Was there something wrong with that?" asked Twilight Megan then explained to Twilight, "In reality, I only became this savior by accident, and I may not have been the one she was actually looking for especially for feeling as if I was just in wrong place at the wrong time." Twilight then stated, "Megan, even if that was the case, you still did what you had to do for the ponies at that time and that's what really mattered. Also, I'm sure many become a hero or savior by accident be it my world or yours." Megan then said, "Well Twilight, I can't say that I didn't enjoy my time in Ponyland." "What about the Rainbow of Light?" asked Twilight, "Do you still have that or is that gone forever?" "As a matter of fact, it's still with me," said Megan showing Twilight the locket from being under her shirt, "However, my guess is that one of the ponies from the time must have left it at my door in a bag with a note saying that I need to guard it with my life, which is why I take it everywhere I go. However, I don't know why that was the case or even why they just left it there and ran away without me ever noticing them being here." Megan then thought, "As much as I would love to go back to what's now Equestria, I'm not sure how I will fit in especially since I haven't been back there in a long time. The last time I was there was when I had to help a unicorn named Mimic with special golden horseshoes to help her from fading away. Since then, it didn't seem like they needed me again." Twilight answered, "I'm sure even with the new ponies, you can fit right in with them." Megan said in response, "Would the new ponies even accept me even if they don't know anything about me?" "I'm certain they will once they get to know you," said Twilight, "More importantly, you should come back, because both Celestia and Luna want to tell you what happened to Ponyland after you no longer came back and feel that you should know mainly due to the fact that you weren't there when it happened." As Megan replied, "Alright, you have convinced me to go back to Equestria with you." Twilight then thought she could have a conversation with TJ, Megan's pony, but Megan explained, "Sorry Twilight, but TJ is just a normal pony, so he won't be able to talk to you." "I know some magic that can make him talk." said Twilight. "I would rather you not, because if it will be permanent, many will find it strange if any horses here can talk. Just having you here alone means that you could be taken and placed under an operating table to be dissected and possibly killed in the process." said Megan. Twilight then understood what Megan was saying and decided not to do that and then said, "Hop on and I will take you to Equestria to meet my friends and everyone else who is there." After Twilight was able to convince Megan to return with her, the two went flying over the top of the Rainbow Bridge and back into Equestria. > Exploring Equestria > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight has taken Megan back to Equestria to introduce her to the rest of her group as well take her around Equestria. "Hello everyone, this is Megan Williams, Ponyland's original savior." said Twilight to the rest of the group. Rainbow Dash was the first to come over to her and say, "Meeting you is so awesome!" Megan thought and said, "Hearing that attitude almost made me think of Firefly for moment." As Rainbow Dash responded, "As matter of fact, I'm her descendant. I was the one who originally wanted to get you, but Twilight insisted to do it herself. She even claimed that I might just fall down a well with you getting me out just like you did with Firefly." The rest of the group along with Megan laughed as Rainbow Dash again felt embarrassed by that. Applejack approached Megan and said, "Howdy Megan! It's a pleasure to meet you." Megan answered with, "You pretty much look like the Applejack I knew long ago only sounding different and wearing a cowboy hat." Applejack blushed after hearing that. Rarity was the next to come up to Megan and say, "Perhaps, I should make a clothing line of what you wear and give it to the other ponies." Megan answered back with, "You do remind me of Glory except for your cutie mark, though I do know another pony who had one just like yours and her name was Sparkler." Rarity thought that she might have been a combination of the two. Pinkie Pie approached Megan and shouted, "I'm so excited to meet you!" Megan being lucky enough to not lose her hearing from that said, "With that you could almost be Surprise." Pinkie still thought that Megan was talking about surprises in which she loved so much. At first Fluttershy was afraid to approach Megan in the fear that never seeing someone like her before meant that she could harm or even eat her, but Twilight convinced her otherwise and she said quietly, "You're not going to do something bad to me." Megan said in confidence, "You do look like Posey only with wings. However, you don't have to worry, because I won't try to do anything bad to you. Also, I can always pet you if that will make you feel better as do with TJ, who is a pony back in my world, when he feels scared or nervous." Fluttershy accepted Megan's request to pet her and felt calm as her fingers went across her fur and mane making it go away, while the rest of the Mane 6 came to Megan as she petted them as well. Spike came up and said, "What am I? Chopped liver!" Megan then said, "You do look different from the Spike I knew, and it's not sounding different, but also looking sort of slimmer but even having wings that even the Spike I knew didn't have." Megan also asked, "Is the rest of your group also descendants from those I knew in the past just like you are, Twilight?" Twilight then stated, "Yes they are especially since they seem to remind you of them." As they walked by the former site of Midnight Castle, Twilight mentioned to Megan as they faced the former castle, "Although this used to be Midnight Castle where you started your adventures in Ponyland, it was also home to the princesses at one time before moving into the one they built in Everfree Forest." They were ready to head back and explore Equestria with leaving Canterlot Castle at the end of the day knowing how busy the princesses were throughout the day. While walking. a bigger dragon named Discord starts appearing out of dimensional holes and even starts touching Megan in places that makes her feel uncomfortable and said, "Hello, my name is Discord and I have never seen someone like you before." Megan after being touched by him and feeling uncomfortable said, "My name is Megan, and I can't understand why you are so touchy." Discord responded with, "Don't take it the wrong way, I just happen to be very affectionate." Megan than asked Twilight, "Does he do this to the rest of you?" Twilight answered with, "Unfortunately, he does this to us all the time." Megan replied, "Is there a way to get him to stop doing this?" Twilight then mentioned, "Unfortunately, we couldn't even if we wanted to, but we should be at least happy that he doesn't use his power of chaos for evil anymore." "I used to be so evil that I was even turned a statue by the Elements of Harmony by the very princesses, but I was freed thanks to some fillies arguing over each other." said Discord. Megan decided to ask, "Why were you evil to begin with?" Discord responded with, "They don't call me the spirit of chaos for nothing, and I was even a threat to the princesses so much that I even tried to overthrow them." Fluttershy then answered, "Even though we used the Elements of Harmony to turn him back into a statue again, we believed that he could be reformed, and he has been a great friend to me." Twilight then continued the conversation, "However, there was a point where we felt he was going back to his old ways by joining up with Tirek, but then got betrayed by him and helped me beat him, which made him good ever since." As they went towards Everfree Forest, they noticed a bearded pony with a wizard hat named Star Swirl the Bearded and he said, "I'm very happy to finally see you, Megan Williams." "Who are you and how do you know my name, plus are you some kind of psychic?" asked Megan. "I'm more of a wizard and my name is Star Swirl the Bearded," explained Star Swirl, "When I used to be mentored by the Moochick in learning how to really use my telekinesis powers as he did with the other unicorns. Also, he mentioned you a number of times. Now I'm glad that I can actually meet you rather than just hear all the stories about you." Megan said out of interest, "You must be very old to be with the Moochick, plus I never knew he was training the unicorn ponies to use their powers to the fullest extent." Star Swirl then answered, "It wasn't just us unicorns, he also gave the pegasi a purpose to control the weather when needed, and even helped the earth ponies do what they needed for the ground." Megan couldn't believe what she heard and replied, "Back when I was here, I just saw the Moochick as a mischievous gnome, though he did give help to me and the ponies when needed. More importantly, he was the one who first gave me the locket that contained the Rainbow of Light that I currently have right now when I first arrived." "It's good to see that it's still around and safe with you, so now I know that he picked the right creature to be its holder." replied Star Swirl. In addition, Star Swirl mentioned, "Along with me and the other unicorns that made the pillars. He believed he could create something with similar powers to the Rainbow of Light itself by planting a seed with our magic powers. With such magic, we were able to create the Tree of Harmony." Megan then asked, "Is the Tree of Harmony still around today?" Twilight then answered with, "Unfortunately, it was destroyed by King Sombra, but some of the students over at the School of Friendship did make it into a treehouse with what was left of it. They all went to the Treehouse of Harmony to see what was left of the very tree, though Megan still wished it wasn't destroyed due to never seeing the actual tree herself. Nonetheless, she was at least happy to see pictures of what it looked like before it was destroyed that were placed there as a reminder to what it looked like. As they continued on, they all found themselves by the sea, but Megan wasn't sure why they stopped here. Popping came a sea pony who was also a Hippofgriff named Queen Novo as well as her daughter Princess Skystar, and she said, "It's good to see you again Twilight, and I can see that not only are you with your friends, but even brought back someone we sea ponies' thought would never see again since our ancestors." Megan responded, "In all honesty, it's been a long time since I have seen any sea ponies, but the ones I remembered were always known for singing most of the time, though they did help stop me and the original Applejack from drowning as well as help us get into Midnight Castle." Queen Novo said, "We may not sing much today, but we do have an entire community below known as Seaquestria, which I would like you to see." "I don't think we will be able to breathe long enough to see it, plus I will probably have to take off my clothes so that they won't get wet." replied Megan "Don't worry about it, your clothes won't get wet, and they will even be dry when you come out." Queen Novo said. She uses her magic to help everyone go into the water. Megan then said, "Nothing happened, and we still look the same." Queen Novo then said, "You have to jump into the water to in order for it to take full effect." They all jumped in, and Megan noticed herself with a fish tail in place of her legs as well as a bikini top that looked like seashells and said, "I can't believe that I'm now a mermaid!" Megan couldn't believe her eyes when approaching Seaquestria as she noticed what looked like an entire city. The gang got back up and their bodies returned to normal shortly after coming up and Megan still felt surprised that neither her clothes nor hair were wet despite the fact that she was just in the water. Next up was going to Crystal Empire to meet Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart, and Megan bowed down before them as she was introducing herself towards them, but they felt as if it was unnecessary for her to do that. Princess Cadence said to Megan, "You don't have to do that, because I'm not that formal unlike my aunts Celestia and Luna, and even Twilight herself despite being a princess isn't like that either." Megan then asked her, "What was Twilight's reaction when you married her brother Shining Armor?" Cadence stated, "At first she didn't like it and thought I was using this to get at her. Later on, she found me in a mine and realized that I was never at the wedding but to be impersonated by a changeling known as Queen Chrysalis, who can take anyone's form." "If this Queen Chrysalis saw me, could she take my form as well?" asked Megan. Twilight answered, "In theory, she probably could especially since you would be someone she has never seen before. Knowing this, that would be a big bonus for her. However, we're lucky that she's no longer around so you won't have to worry about that." Megan then asked Cadence, "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly made you an alicorn?" Cadence said, "When I was a very young pegasus, I did help stop a witch pony known Prismia by talking her necklace used to stop any form of love and that made her stop her evil ways. Doing such lead to me to being transported and adopted by Princess Celestia who made me the very alicorn I am right now." Looking at Flurry Heart, Megan seemed both impressed but also confused at the same time in having her say, "I thought you said that alicorns aren't naturally born." Twilight then mentioned, "Megan, remember when I said to you earlier that alicorns aren't naturally born for the most part?" Megan answered, "Yes and why do you say that?" Twilight stated, "That's because Flurry Heart was actually born an alicorn for some reason. This not only surprised Cadence herself, but also the rest of us along with both Celestia and Luna feeling surprised as if they have never saw something like this before. Witnessing such an event made her an exception to this claim." Megan said, "I can see why that was the case." Their next stop was towards Sweet Apple Acres, a farm where Applejack resided when a green, wrinkly pony known as Granny Smith come out to welcome them along with a yellow filly known as Apple Bloom, who looked up to Megan and said, "You are one strange creature." Megan then answered to the filly, "I'm known as a human being or just human for short." Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle came out as well to join Apple Bloom and they all mentioned to her that they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders in that they were using that name as a way to help themselves earn their cutie marks. However, Megan feeling confused by the group's name asked, "Why do you still keep that name even though you now have your cutie marks?" They each mentioned, "We just like keeping this name because it also helped us find out more about ourselves not to mention made us friends." After that, all three jumped up into Megan's arms as she hugged them and then got back down. The group then left for Ponyville as those that lived there showed her around to where they lived and worked as well as Twilight showing her the castle where she now resides in, but then a light green pony comes running up to her and said, "OMG, I can't believe it, but humans really are real, which means that I'm not crazy!" "Who are you supposed to be?" said Megan. The pony answered with, "My name is Lyra Heartstrings, and I have never doubted the existence of your kind. Now that I am right, everyone here owes me an apology and even some bits for saying that I was wrong." Twilight then answered to Lyra, "Lyra, we never did say humans such as Megan don't exist, we just said that they normally don't come here since they're not native to Equestria." Megan than thought that land Ponyville was in sort of reminded her of Dream Valley, but then Twilight told her that it was the case as it turned into what was once an open space into a bustling town that is there now. "Are any of the places from Dream Valley still here today?" asked Megan. Twilight stated, "Unfortunately, Dream Castle no longer exists, but that was mainly because it wasn't very livable after what an entity such as The Smooze did to it along with it sitting on a site that was known to be prime real estate. However, the house known as Paradise Estate that we passed by earlier is still around despite being empty, but that's mainly due to disputes on whether or not it should be landmarked and preserved to which a number of ponies are mixed on." "Maybe I can help give a case to save it especially since I was known for being there." said Megan "That would be a good idea and I hope it will work." replied Twilight. The group was now ready to head to Canterlot to meet the Royal Sisters and have Megan learn what happened to Ponyland after she left. > Learning the truth > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coming to Canterlot they approached the castle as they royal guards were ready to announce their arrival and they were brought into the throne room to meet the Royal Sisters. "Me and my sister are pleased to see you again even if it has been over a thousand years, Megan Williams.", said Celestia. "I'm pleased to see both of you too as I haven't seen either of you since you were fillies brought up to Paradise Estate left in a basket with no names for either of you.", as Megan replied. Luna then added, "It was you who helped start our lives especially since Tia and I never knew who our actual parents were but looking at you and giving us our names helped turned it all around for us." "You both have come a long way from when I last saw you as you weren't princesses or even alicorns when I last saw you." said Megan. They both started to blush after hearing that and even let Megan come over to pet them both. Before telling her, what happened, they all took a walk in the courtyard and Megan noticed the statue of Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow and asked, "What is the purpose of this statue and why is it here?" Twilight mentioned, "Believe it or not, this statue of the three is actually their prison as they were turned into this rather than just killed or imprisoned for what they did." Megan then looked at the part that was Tirek and asked, "Is it possible that Tirek is the descendant of Tirac, who I faced back at Midnight Castle?" Twilight then answered with, "He probably is, and if he was still alive, he would most likely want to seek his revenge on you for killing his ancestor to avenge his defeat." After knowing about Chrysalis, Megan asked after getting a better look at her portion, "Seeing that her wings sort of look like that of a butterfly, is there is chance that she and the other changelings were Flutter Ponies at one point?" Celestia answered her with, "Unfortunately, they were, and Chrysalis herself was once Queen Rosedust, their very queen. She and the rest became this way for wanting to avoid extinction, live longer, and to become more powerful due to her jealousy towards me and Luna." Megan with a better understanding about what occurred answered, "So in other words, Queen Rosedust made a deal with the devil, and that was very unfortunate for her especially in how she and the other Flutter Ponies helped us stop the Smooze and the witches that used to cover all of Ponyland." Now looking at the part that was Cozy Glow, she wanted to know who she was and said, "What exactly was Cozy Glow known for?" Twilight stated, "At first I thought she was just another student interested in my school, but it turns she was really there to steal magic to make herself more powerful." After knowing about the three, Megan wanted to know, "Why exactly they were turned into a statue rather than just imprisoned?" Luna then said, "If they were still alive, they would find a way to get out and attack us again, but we didn't want to kill them either, so this was the next best thing." After that, they went into the Canterlot Library where Twilight showed Megan where she even found the book about her, and later returned to the throne room so that the princesses can now tell Megan what happened to Ponyland after she left and said, "Megan, not too long after you left Ponyland, Grogar finally found his way out of the realm of the darkness and became more powerful and relentless than ever. He was vowing to seek his revenge on you and the ponies for trapping him there, but who he really wanted was you especially for being seen as a thorn in his side for stopping on last his encounter with you." This got Megan to knowing and asking them, "Why didn't the ponies send for me to help stop him?" Celestia then said, "It was mainly to help protect you from possibly getting killed by him even if it meant that they had to sacrifice their own lives, and with what he had, you probably wouldn't have stood a chance with what new powers he got." "Megan then started to cry and said, "I could have given them a fighting chance to help stop him." Luna added with, "Sometimes even a savior needs to be saved." Megan responded with, "I don't get this and why I was left out of this battle or even left to have the Rainbow of Light." Celestia then said, "If Grogar did manage to kill you with his new powers, your siblings won't have a good way to explain what happened to you to your parents. It's not as if they can just tell them their older sister went to some special world to never come back alive when that was supposed to be a secret." Megan started to say as tears were continuing to come out of her eyes, "I'm starting to feel that their sacrifice and the fall of Ponyland was all my fault especially for not being there." Luna responded, "You should try looking at the bigger picture. If he managed to figure out where the Rainbow Bridge was, he would be able to send his army of fliers to cross it and either get you or even possibly invade your world as well. As a result, you wouldn't be alive today with the Rainbow of Light, which would have been either destroyed or lost forever if not kept back on Earth with you in which we all thank you for that." Celestia added to the conversation, "If it was no consolation, the Moochick did manage to use a spell that got him sent into space and hoping that he will never come back again, but then disappeared and was never seen again as saw this as nothing more than a victory that wasn't deserved after all the destruction Grogar did to Ponyland." Twilight feeling shocked said, "I thought that it was Gusty the Great who did that!" Celestia responded, "I'm sorry Twilight, but that book that you read to a bunch of fillies and colts along with Flurry Heart was actually fake and made to cover up what really happened not to mention that Scorpan wasn't really Tirac's brother." Megan mentioned, "I knew a pony at my time named Gusty, and I never found anything great about her. As for Scorpan's form shown, that wasn't even his true form, but the one he was turned into by Tirac in that he was a human just like me as well as being a prince." As Celestia apologized, "Megan, I'm sorry I had those books written that way while hiding yours, but we couldn't just have Equestria without a history behind it even if it had been faked especially with certain ponies such as Twilight expressing interest in it. Please don't take this the wrong way, because Luna and I really did enjoy reading about your adventures." Megan's then stated, "I won't get angry at you for this, but I don't understand why you went through so much trouble into hiding a book that chronicled my history of being here." "I too am sorry, and I convinced Celestia to not destroy that book, but rather hide it instead only to be revealed when the time was right. We wanted to give Ponyland a clean slate by renaming it Equestria, but that was until Twilight accidently discovered it, and you know the rest from there." added Luna. "It still doesn't explain why I was only able to come back only now and not then." Megan said. Celestia then said, "It was because a special barrier was placed up and the Rainbow Bridge was made invisible through a spell in order to prevent anyone from our world in wanting to invade yours and vice versa." "Until Twilight came to me, the Rainbow of Light was all I had left as a reminder of my time in Ponyland." said Megan. Luna then mentioned, "If it wasn't for me knowing that you wanted to return in your dream and Twilight discovering that book, you wouldn't be here standing in front of us right now, so think of this as having a dream come true." Megan understood what happened to Ponyland and was allowed by Twilight to stay at her castle for the night back in Ponyville as it was getting late, but knowing how time worked in Equestria, she now knew that whatever time she spent there, it wouldn't be too much back on Earth. > Feeling guilty and making amends > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After hearing from the Royal Sisters about what happened to Ponyland after she left, Megan had trouble sleeping over at Twilight's castle, and said, "Twilight, I can't sleep after what I was told happened to Ponyland, and after hearing from them it feels as if I'm the one at fault here." Twilight replied with, "Nobody said it was your fault about what happened to Ponyland, and you were told that the sacrifices those ponies made was for you so that you can still be around today." "Why do I still feel that it was my fault especially when Grogar returned to exact his revenge on me especially for being considered a thorn in his side ever since I left him trapped in the realm of darkness with almost no way for him get out?" said Megan. Twilight then said, "It wasn't just you he was after, it was everyone else who foiled him, so you're not alone here." Megan then answered, "However, I'm the one who is still alive here while they are all dead. Hearing about that has been stuck in my head while giving me a bad dream or even a nightmare. Whenever I try to go near them, they turn to dust and blow away and then I see Grogar showing up with an evil laughter in feeling that he was ready to achieve his victory." "Princess Luna will soon be going into the dream realm, so I suggest you go back to sleep and let her help you with this." said Twilight. Megan agreed to go back to sleep and then saw Luna appearing and witnessing what she dreamed. "I can see that hearing about what happened as given you a repressed memory." said Luna. Megan said, "First of all, I'm sorry for the scene I made in front of you and Celestia about what I heard and will probably think less of me now, but now I would have felt better not knowing about this." Luna replied, "It's alright Megan, because neither of us felt less of you because of that. We would have felt the same way if someone we knew died especially due to the fact that we are both alicorns and tend to have a longer lifespan than the other ponies. In other words, pretty much everyone from our early days are long dead as well." After understanding what Luna mentioned, Megan responded, "Do you know how to make it go away?" Luna then answered, "Unfortunately, I don't have the power to make such dreams, nightmares, or even memories simply go away." Hearing that made Megan say, "What do you mean by that?" Luna continued and stated, "I can only assist the dreamer on this, but it's the dreamer themselves that can make it go away." "I once heard that you and the other ponies once stopped a dream creature named Tantabus." replied Megan. "Tantabus was originally from my dreams. For the most part, it was only me who could get rid of it in the end, but I did create a special pocket that allowed them to actually fight even though it was mostly me who could really touch it." said Luna. "I'm not understanding this." said Megan. Luna then answered, "In reality, I can't actually touch whatever is anyone's dreams no matter who's dream it is just as they couldn't originally touch the Tantabus due to being from my dream." After hearing all of that, Megan then asked, "Now that I understand how this works with you, is there a way you can help me get over this repressed memory?" Luna's then stated, "I feel that there is something more to this than you just witnessing what happened." Megan replied, "I just felt that if I was no longer needed to help them, they could at least have said good-bye to me rather than just take me back home and leaving me in the dark about this. Now I can't since they are all dead. However, I wasn't trying to offend you with that expression." "There is a shaman who can help you communicate with them, and you should tell this Twilight and her friends as they would know more about it. As for your expression I wasn't offended by that since I also know what it means when one is left in the dark. After what you mentioned and giving you my advice, I will leave your dream." said Luna. Morning came and Megan went to Twilight's room and asked, "Do you know about a shaman who can possibly help me talk to the dead?" Twilight answered, "I do, and her name is Zecora, who happens to have a hut in Everfree Forest." They all go over to her hut and Twilight introduces Megan to Zecora as the zebra states, "So the rumors are true that Ponyland's savior has returned to Equestria." "My name is Megan Williams, and I was told by Princess Luna that you can help me talk to the dead." said Megan. Zecora answered, "I have a special potion that you must take in order to do so." Megan feeling concerned about it said, "There aren't any dangerous side effects to this?" Zecora replied, "I made these myself, and I'm certain they won't kill you or turn you into some kind of creature." Megan the ingested part of the potion and everything around her turned black with the ponies from her time showing up in front of her, and she said, "Firefly, Twilight (G1), Applejack (G1), Glory, Posey, Surprise, I'm glad to see all of you again even if it's been over a thousand years." The ponies were pleased to see here as some of them had said, "Megan, it's very nice to see you again." Megan then said to them, "What was the reason you no longer wanted to come to Ponyland to stop Grogar?" Firefly answered her by saying, "Being that he was more powerful than ever, you most likely wouldn't have stood a chance with him even if you had used the Rainbow of Light." Megan's response led to her saying, "I could have at least given a fighting chance in stopping him." Posey answered, "I understand how much you cared for us, and you would even throw yourself into harm's way when needed, but this was a battle where you had to stay out of especially for your sake." Megan then started saying, "That still doesn't explain why one of you left the Rainbow of Light back at my home without me ever noticing." Twilight (G1) mentioned, "That was your real task, and the Moochick felt that it was best to be left with you in knowing how much you have been the worthy keeper of it as well as that it will be kept safe with you should something happen to him." Megan then looked towards Firefly and said, "I still feel that I was only your savior by accident especially since you probably just took me just for getting you out of the well. However, I probably wasn't really the one you were looking for making me feel as if I was really in the wrong place at the wrong time." Firefly responded with, "Megan, even if that was the case when I got you to help me rescue my friends, that didn't stop you from becoming Ponyland's savior in the end more or less. Despite all of that, you are still a human from Earth." "I still don't know why you didn't let me come to help stop Grogar." Megan asked them. Firefly then added, "Megan, you need to look at the bigger picture, because if he managed to kill you, then both Danny and Molly would have had a tough time explaining to your parents about what happened to you. More importantly, I doubt that they will believe them by saying that you got killed in some land that most of your kind doesn't even know about. In the end, we know that you aren't from our world, and a sacrifice will be the last thing we will ever ask you to do despite that fact that you were made the savior of Ponyland." Megan then started to get suspicious at Firefly and said, "How do you know about Danny and Molly since you never actually met them yourself along with Twilight (G1), Applejack (G1), and Glory let alone fighting Grogar?" As Firefly replied, "We knew of them through both Posey and Surprise. They told me when we heard about Grogar's return and was said that every pony no matter who they were had to return to help stop him from trying to reach your world after he knew about the Rainbow Bridge even if we had to sacrifice our own lives just to save yours. In other words, think of that as us repaying a debt to all the times you put yourself in the way for us." Megan then said, "Nevertheless, I never got to say good-bye to any of you, and it felt as if you just left me in the dark since then without me ever knowing if my time in Ponyland was finished." They all said in unison, "We never had to say good-bye, because in a way we are still here even right now." Now starting to feel confused, Megan then asked, "What do you mean by that?" Each of them started to explain to her why that was the case. Twilight (G1) said, "If not for Twilight Sparkle convincing you to return, you wouldn't be back in what's now Equestria." Firefly said, "I'm sure you will get the same kind of adventures and excitement with Rainbow Dash as you did with me." Applejack (G1) said, "You might find the Applejack you see now stronger and understanding than you did with me." Glory said, "At least Rarity will spend more time with you as that was hardly the case for me due to me being afraid to even leave Dream Castle when you arrived." Surprise said, "You can have as much fun with Pinkie Pie as you did with me." Posey said, "Fluttershy might be scared at first, but like me, she enjoys nature as much as I do." Megan then thought, "How do you all know about this?" Once again, the ponies said in unison, "That's because our spirits and souls now live inside our very descendants." Everything went back to normal for Megan, and the Mane 6 wanted to know what happened as Megan said, "I just realized that the ponies I once knew never really left me as they continue to live within each of you, which is why you reminded me of them when I saw you. By the way, you don't have to always see me as Ponyland's savior, but rather as myself who is nothing more than a human girl from Earth who just wound up being here." Twilight then said, "Don't worry, we will. Also, you shouldn't forget the fact that there are two ponies that still remember you now even though they were just fillies when you first saw them." "I won't forget that either, and now I should say good-bye to all of you and return home." said Megan. They all headed back to Ponyville, and Celestia shows up along with Luna and Spike and said, "You are always welcomed to return to Equestria whenever you need to, and we can send for either a pegasus or alicorn to bring you here and back." Just before getting ready to leave, Photo Finish has them all pose along with a good number of residents in Ponyville come up and take their picture. After it was done the Royal Sisters took the picture back with them to place it in the very book about Megan and thought to themselves whenever they saw it and said, "Welcome back, old friend." Megan then waved good-bye to all of them, and Twilight flew her back home afterwards.