Chapter One: Unearthed

Maretime Bay

The mood of the seaside town in the months after Winter Wishday always seemed less...bright, in a way. Perhaps it was just that the holidays were over, and ponies longed for the cheery times once again. Maybe everypony was just tired out from all the holiday planning that had to be done. Whatever the reason, most ponies seemed a tiny bit downcast after the snow melted away.

However, this wasn't the case for everypony. Sunny Starscout certainly didn't let it bring her down.

The bright orange earth pony zoomed across the town on her favorite roller skates, towing a case of smoothies behind her as she went. While most of the ponies she passed had neutral expressions on their faces, even if they did wave to her, Sunny's smile stretched from eye to eye. For her, apparently, all was right with the world.

Sunny wheeled her way over to the sheriff's station, coming to a complete stop in front of the building. Here, she unstrapped her skates, and disconnected the cart from her barrel. She popped open the lid with one hoof, grabbed two smoothies, and strolled inside.

"Hey, everypony!" she announced as she pushed open the door. "I've got your orders right here!"

The station was neat and tidy, as was the norm. Hitch sat at his desk, doing some paperwork. Sparky lay on the ground behind his stool, occasionally swiping at Hitch's flicking tail. Zipp was parked at what used to be Sprout's desk, scribbling away at something, sporadically looking at her phone.

"Oh, thanks, Sunny," said the pegasus, grabbing her smoothie. "Mmmm, oopsie doopsie banana." She gave a small giggle at the name, but Sunny didn't even seem to notice. She kept the same wide smile on her face the whole time.

"Wow, you must really be in a good mood if being reminded of 'My Bananas' can't bring you down," said Hitch, taking his strawberry sunshine. "What's got you so happy, Sunny? Usually, even you're feeling the seasonal depression right about now."

"Well, for me, there's nothing to be sad about!" exclaimed Sunny, doing a little dance where she stood. "We just had our first holiday season as a united pony community, and it was a great success! Think of all the great holiday memories we'll be able to make over the next few decades!"

Hitch smiled. Sunny's joy was just that infectious. "Argyle would be proud of you, Sunny," he responded, patting his lifelong friend on the back.

Sunny's grin grew just a tiny bit wider. Looking at her, one would think her face hurt just from the effort. "Thanks, Hitch," she said. "Enough about me, though. What are you up to?"

Hitch rolled his eyes towards the form he'd been filling out. "Just another complaint from Posey that I've got to file. How many times do I have to tell her that unicorns and pegasi using their powers in public isn't an emergency? You know, she never whines about earth pony magic."

Zipp put down her pen and took a sip from her smoothie. "I'm still trying to figure out that message from Twilight Sparkle the Unity Crystals showed us. No luck so far, there's gotta be something I'm missing."

For the first time that day, Sunny's ever-present smile faltered a little. "I'm sorry, Zipp," she said, placing a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder. "But you shouldn't take that entire burden on your own shoulders. Remember to take breaks, so you don't wear yourself thin."

"Don't worry. I won't." Zipp looked down at her research one more time." I just wish I knew what she was trying to warn us about. Who tried to take all the magic in Equestria? Why would they do that? What happened to them, anyway?"

"I'm sure we'll find out," said Hitch. "With the way we've become magnets for crazy magic stuff these past few months, if that pony is still out there, odds are we'll meet them soon enough. Assuming they're a pony, of course."

Sunny shivered, but her grin returned quickly. "Well, until then, we'll just take life as it comes, I guess." She trotted back out of the office. "See you guys later!" The door swung closed behind her.

Maretime Bay's beach had long been a hangout place for fillies and colts. After the reunification of the three pony tribes, the amount of foals hanging out there more than doubled. The massive congregation of ponies included the triplets, Peach Fizz, Glory, and Seashell.

Glory used her tiny wings to fly just above the surface of sand, her flapping occasionally kicking up clouds as she went. Peach Fizz and Seashell chased after her, laughing all the way. Then, as Seashell's hoof was coming down, it made contact with something hard beneath the sand. The small earth pony was thrown off-balance, and sent rolling forward, stopping a good distance from where she started, face-down.

"Seashell!" exclaimed Peach and Glory, rushing towards their fallen friend. Peach lit up her horn, straining as her magical aura surrounded Seashell, lifting her up and setting her back on her hooves. "Are you okay?"

Seashell shook her head, dislodging grains from her mane. "Yeah, I'm fine. I must've bumped into something."

"Something buried in the sand?" asked Glory, perking up. "Maybe it's buried treasure!"

"Let's find out!" shouted Peach.

The three fillies immediately retraced their steps, searching for the spot where Seashell had tripped. It only took about a minute before they found it. The surface of the object was difficult to see, as it was mostly buried, but a faint, bronze-colored line was just visible. Glory put her wings to work, blowing sand off the object and uncovering it.

The thing resembled a stopwatch, like the ones the three fillies had seen in museums. However, this one had a pair of pegasus-like wings stretching out on either side. The middle had three stars in an arc in front of a night sky background, and a large lid covering something below that.

"I don't think that's buried treasure," muttered Glory, the disappointment palpable in her voice.

"No, but it's kinda cool," replied Peach. She lifted the device with her magic to take a closer look at it. "I wonder if it does anything?"

"Hey! I found it!" protested Seashell, reaching for the object. She pressed the tip of her hoof against the surface before anypony could stop her.

Suddenly, the lid in the center of the device retracted, revealing what looked like a glass eye beneath it. The three fillies froze in fear, Peach releasing her magic grip on it, but it didn't drop. Instead, it floated of its own accord, and a white glow began to gather around it.

Then, there was a blinding flash of light.

"Eeeeew," groaned Pipp, dodging a crushed soda can. "Izzy, do we really have to dig through the garbage like this?"

Izzy stopped tossing pieces of trash out of the dumpster, and poked her head up.

"Come on, Pipp!" she said to the cringing pegasus. "You know the dumpster is the best place to find uni-cycling stuff! And I need more materials for everpony's upcoming birthdays!"

"Okay, I get that, but why am I here?" Pipp complained. "Ugh, I'm gonna have to take at least five showers to get the germs off!"

"Well, I can't carry all this stuff by myself! Even with my magic and my craft cart!" explained Izzy.

Pipp opened her mouth, likely to whine some more about how disgusting this all was, but she was interrupted before she could make a sound. That interruption took the form of a huge, invisible pulse of magic energy that washed over the entire town. Izzy shouted in pain as her horn began sparking like a firework. Pipp's wings started to glow, and she grunted as the sheer power forced her to her knees.

A crackle in the skies above Maretime Bay prompted both ponies to look up, where a giant ball of white light was forming. All of a sudden, a massive lightning bolt blasted from the bottom of the sphere, striking down in the town square with a thunderous boom. The impact was so strong it shook Maretime Bay to its very foundations. Pipp was knocked onto her side, while Izzy fell backwards into the dumpster.

"What the heck was that?!" exclaimed Pipp, climbing to her hooves once again. The glow that emanated from her wings, as well as Izzy's horn, had faded away.

"I don't know!" replied Izzy. "But we'd better go find out! Somepony might be hurt!" She climbed out of the dumpster.

Pipp nodded, all sense of disgust forgotten, and the two mares raced off to find the impact site.

Everypony in town had, naturally, hurried to the site of the bolt strike as soon as they could. Presumably, they all expected to find the area scorched and damaged, based on how powerful it had seemed to be. However, that wasn't what awaited them. In fact, the town square looked fairly undisturbed, save for one addition.

Where the bolt had struck, there now floated a bright, bluish-white hole in the air, levitating just above the concrete surface. The vortex, when viewed from head on, was an endlessly spiraling tunnel that had nothing at the other end. Or at least nothing that could be discerned.

Everypony stayed stationary, staring at the vortex in the air, terrified. Nopony dared to take a step towards it, for fear it would swallow them up like a wild animal. At the same time, nopony could pull their eyes away. A panicked muttering rose up from the crowd.

Within a minute, Sunny, Izzy, and their group of friends arrived. Seeing the beloved sheriff, several ponies rushed up to Hitch and commenced their usual bombarding him with questions, demanding to know exactly what was going on and if they were safe. Hitch, prepared for this, put his whistle in his mouth and blew it three times, silencing everypony.

"Everyone calm down!" he shouted. "Back away from the...whatever that is! PICK UP THAT LITTER!" He pointed to a rotting apple core on the ground. Sprout, being the closest, sheepishly picked it up and tossed it into the trash.

"Okay, what happened here?" Hitch demanded. "Did anypony touch it? Anypony go through?" Everyone hurriedly shook their heads. "Okay, good. Nopony do those things."

"What is that?" asked Izzy, tiptoeing closer to the strange void. Zipp grabbed her by the tail and pulled her back gently.

"Careful, Iz," she said.

"I'm guessing it must've come from that lightning bolt," said Sunny. "But...where does it go, if it is a portal? And did anypony else feel that pain in their hooves before it struck?"

"I did," replied Hitch.

"I felt it in my wings," said Pipp. Zipp nodded alongside her.

"I felt my horn sparking!" chimed in Izzy. "Like it did when magic came back!"

"Okay," Sunny continued, "so clearly, whatever we're looking at, it was caused by magic." She studied the spinning vortex for a few seconds. "It kinda reminds me of that hole that opened in the ground during the Maretime Bay Day Festival."

"But no ponies were being unkind or anything," said Zipp. "And this one happened all of a sudden. There was no magic storm buildup. So it can't be the same thing."

"Sunny, could you close it with your alicorn powers?" asked Pipp.

"Well, I can certainly try."

Sunny closed her eyes, reaching deep inside herself for the magic that was there. Soon, an ethereal horn and wings began to materialize on her body and with a flap of her wings, she lifted off the ground. However, before she could do anything, her horn and wings started glitching, and faded away, leaving her to drop to the ground once again. Fortunately for her, she landed on her hooves.

"Stupid, inconsistent alicorn magic," she grumbled. "I'm sorry, guys, I can't get them to stay for a substantial length of time. They've been...malfunctioning, lately."

"It's alright, Sunny," Izzy assured her friend. "We'll figure it out."

"So what are we gonna do?" Jazz called from the crowd.

"Something could come through that portal and eat us!" screamed Posey, stirring up others to freak out.

Hitch silenced them with more blows of his whistle. "We know nothing about what we're looking at!" he shouted again. "Everypony stay calm! We can figure this out!"

"Um, Sheriff Hitch?" said a tiny voice behind the group. The five turned around, finding Peach Fizz, Glory, and Seashell standing there, holding the stopwatch-like device. "We dug this up at the beach. That magic wave started when we touched it. I think...it might have opened that hole."

Hitch reached forward, taking the object in his hooves. He ran his hooves over the surfaces, but nothing further happened.

"What is this?" he asked. "Sunny, have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"No," replied Sunny, taking the device from him. "Not even in Dad's research."

"Uh, guys?" said Pipp, drawing their attention. "I hate to interrupt, but can anypony else hear those hoofsteps?"

Everypony quieted down and listened closely. Indeed, they could hear the faint "clop, clop" of hooves on concrete, yet nopony was moving.

"I think..." Zipp began, "it's coming from the portal."

Every pair of eyes turned towards the vortex. It was faint, but they could just about make out six silhouettes coming towards them. They were shaped like ponies.

Chapter Two: Disruption

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Ponyville

Twilight Sparkle hummed happily as she trotted down the halls of the crystal castle. In her magic, she held a serving plate, upon which sat seven different sandwiches, one of which had several small, precious stones sticking out of it. She'd prepared all of them by hoof just minutes before. When she reached her destination, Twilight pushed the door to the throne room open with one hoof.

"Lunch is served, everypony!" she proclaimed.

Inside the Cutie Map room, her six best friends were all parked on the thrones bearing their Cutie Marks, eagerly awaiting her arrival. Twilight gently set the plate down onto the map table, which was currently deactivated. Then, she lit up her horn again, sending each sandwich to the pony (or dragon) who'd requested it. Spike, of course, immediately dug into his gem-encrusted treat. Ever since he'd grown his wings, the drake's hunger had been insatiable.

"Mmmm-mmmm! Pretty good, Twilight!" said Rainbow, smacking her lips as she swallowed her first bite. "Your cooking's gotten way better since last time!"

"Well, I haven't got much to do while the school is out for summer vacation," replied Twilight. "So I figured I might as well practice. I'm sure I'll never be a Pinkie Pie level baker, but I can make some things well!"

"Hear, hear!" chimed in Pinkie, waving her forehoof in the air.

"Wait a minute," said Applejack. "I thought that you said you were gonna be workin' on your lesson plans for next year."

"I did. I already finished them," said Twilight as nonchalantly as one could say anything.

Rarity groaned. "Darling, I don't know how you manage to take on such a colossal workload," she said as she put one hoof over her forehead. "When the School of Friendship was in session, I barely managed to get my lessons done alongside my dress orders! Honestly, it's insane!"

"I think it's impressive!" added Fluttershy. "I've already started working on my lessons for next year, too. I'm not as far as Twilight is, of course, but I'm making progress."

"Even with the whole animal sanctuary you have to manage now?" asked Spike, in between bites.

"Yep! Angel's been a big help in keeping all the animals from fighting. Kind of odd, since he's just a small bunny, but he's learning to Stare almost as well as I do!"

"Ooh, you'd better be careful, Fluttershy!" said Pinkie. "If he keeps that up, soon you won't be able to stop his demands with your own Stare!"

Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply, only for it to suddenly clamp shut. She made an agonized grunting sound, lurching forward onto the map table like she was going to vomit. Her wings began to glow bright white, and from the way they were moving, it was painful.

"Fluttershy?" asked Twilight. "Are you alright? What's—"

But she didn't get to finish, as suddenly everypony in the room started feeling the same discomfort as Fluttershy was. The hooves of Applejack and Pinkie, the wings of Rainbow, and Rarity's horn all had the same light coming from them. As for Twilight, her hooves, wings, and horn all glowed, and she nearly fell onto her face from the pain. Spike was rushing between the ponies, asking in vain what was wrong. Then, there was a thunderous banging sound outside, and the glowing lights faded away, taking the pain with them.

"What...in Equestria...was that?!" exclaimed Twilight, as she shakily rose up again.

"I don't know," said Applejack. "One second, everything was fine, and the next, we're all aching like we've just been bucking apples all day. Where did that come from?"

"And why didn't I feel anything?" asked Spike. "I was so scared for all of you, but there was no pain for me."

Twilight shut her eyes and lit up her horn. The others, recognizing her working face, quieted down so she could concentrate. After about a minute, Twilight opened her eyes again.

"There's been some sort of disruption to Equestria's ambient magical field," she announced. "I think it's just contained to Ponyville, but we all felt it in the conduits we use to channel magic. I can't identify where it came from, though."

"But what is it?" asked Rainbow. "What kind of disruption could make all of us fall over like that? Even Discord's never made us feel that kind of pain."

"I don't know," said Twilight. "It doesn't feel like his magic, either. It feels like...something I've never felt before."

She would've continued, but a knock at the door cut her off. Twilight turned, powering up her horn as she did so, using it to pull open the door, revealing a familiar gray pegasus.

"Uh, hey, Twilight," said Derpy. "So...did you guys also feel that...whatever it was just now?"

"Yes," Twilight replied, her voice uneasy.

"And you also heard that big boom outside, right?"

"Yes. What happened?"

"Well..." Derpy fiddled nervously with her hooves. "It's probably best if you come and see this for yourself."

"I don't like this," mumbled Fluttershy as she got off her throne. The others followed her example.

Twilight stared, mouth agape, at the site smack-dab in the middle of Ponyville. Just above the surface of the grass, there now floated a bright, bluish-white hole in the air. The vortex, when viewed from head on, was an endlessly spiraling tunnel that had nothing at the other end. Or at least nothing that could be discerned. Around the void, a conglomeration of ponies had gathered, staring intensely at the new addition to the town.

"What...is that, Twilight?" asked Rarity, nervously hiding behind her friend.

"Well, I think we can safely say we found whatever that magic disturbance was," said Spike.

Twilight took a few more steps towards the hole, but made no move to go in. Instead, she lit up her horn yet again, and a soft raspberry aura surrounded the void. Twilight closed her eyes, focusing on the magic of the vortex. After a couple of tense minutes, she finally opened them again.

"It's a tear in the fabric of time and space," she said to everypony present. "At least, I think it is."

"You mean..." Applejack began, "if we go into that hole...we'll time travel?"

"Spike," said Twilight, as though she hadn't even noticed her friend talking, "send letters to Celestia, Luna, Star Swirl, and Starlight. We're gonna need all hooves on deck for this one."

Within hours, a research station was set up around the mysterious vortex. Tents were erected to conceal it from view, so that the ponies of Ponyville could move on with their lives. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had sent for the best magical scholars in Canterlot to study the phenomenon. Star Swirl and Starlight were there as well, since they had the most hooves-on experience with time magic. Twilight trotted between the tents, observing everypony's work, before coming to the center, where Star Swirl was probing the void itself.

"It looks like your initial assessment was correct, Twilight," he said. "What we have here is a perfectly formed, currently stable tear in the time-space continuum. However, without passing through, I can't determine where or when it leads to."

"Thank you, sir," said Twilight. "At least we know what we're dealing with now. Have you been able to trace that magical surge that caused it to the source?"

"Unfortunately, no. The surge seems to have emerged directly out of the portal itself. My current theory is that, whatever caused this, it did so on the other side." He smiled a little and patted Twilight's wing. "And there's no need to call me 'sir.' You've more than earned the right to simply call me Star Swirl."

"I know, it's just a force of habit," replied the princess, grinning back at her idol.

A turquoise magical aura enveloped the tent flap, pushing it aside, and Starlight Glimmer stepped through. In her magical grip, she held several rolled-up scrolls.

"I finished collecting all the reports from around Equestria," she announced. "There are no reports of other magic surges or holes opening anywhere else. This was localized entirely to Ponyville."

"Good," responded Twilight. "We don't have to worry about time holes popping up all over the place and ponies panicking. How's the situation in town?"

"From what I've heard, Pinkie Pie is keeping everypony else distracted for now. Unfortunately, news got out about the portal before we could stop them, and it'll probably be in papers all over Equestria by morning. Unless Celestia and Luna want to shut down the press for a while, we can't keep the knowledge limited to Ponyville."

Twilight shook her head. "Shutting the flow of news off would only cause more unnecessary fear. Our best bet is to hope we can take care of this before the day is over. Have the other princesses arrived yet?"

Starlight nodded. "They're waiting back at the castle. They said you can take your time, they'll wait as long as they need to."

"No, I'd better go now." Twilight put down the notes she'd been writing on the vortex, and trotted to the door. "Will you two keep an eye on the portal? If anypony comes out, let us know immediately, and don't freak out. Moondancer should be around if you need any help."

"We will," replied Star Swirl, lighting up his horn for another scan.

Making her way through the castle, Twilight reached the Cutie Map room once more. The other Element Bearers weren't present, but Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence all were. Spike was busying himself by handing out refreshments to everyone.

"Twilight! Great to see you!" said Cadence, coming over to her sister in law and hugging her with one leg.

"I just wish it was under better circumstances," said Twilight. "We only ever seem to see each other when there's a crisis."

Cadence frowned a little, but said nothing. Twilight walked over to her throne and sat down on it, facing her three counterparts.

"Thank you for calling us, Twilight," said Celestia. "What are the latest updates on the void?"

"According to our scans," Twilight began, "it's definitely magical in origin, which explains the surge Ponyville felt before it opened. Star Swirl can't pinpoint whether it opens in the past or the future, but he believes it may have been opened on the other side. We've determined it's the only portal currently open in Equestria, but that's as far as we've gotten. Nothing's come out, nothing's gone in."

"I suppose that's one small victory," said Luna. "What about the void itself? Is it growing? Is the damage to the space-time continuum a risk to Equestria?"

"At the moment, it's stable. I believe somepony would be able to completely pass through it without harm. However, long term, I don't know what the consequences of leaving it open would be. In theory, if we just left it alone, it could...expand and tear Equestria apart."

"So, obviously, we need to take care of it before that happens," said Cadence.

"Yes, but like I said, whatever caused it appears to have originated from the other end," said Twilight. "We could begin work on a counterspell to seal the vortex shut, but without knowing the nature of the magic that caused it, that could take months that we don't have. We had Discord come over and try to close it, but it's immune to his magic. We're not sure why or how. The only way we're going to find out what caused this is to..." She paled as her brain caught up with her mouth.

"I understand, Twilight," said Celestia. "I propose we send an expedition through the time hole in order to determine the exact explanation for this occurrence."

"Are you sure, Sister?" asked Luna. "We don't have any idea where or when that portal leads to, and it could be extraordinarily dangerous."

"Oh, I agree. However, I don't believe we have any other viable options. If we don't deal with the portal now, it poses a danger to all of Equestria."

"You make a fair point," said Cadence. "But whom should we send through? If we send a group of royal guards, we might inadvertently antagonize whoever or whatever is on the other side. We've got enough on our hooves without starting a cross-temporal war."

Twilight took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and placed both forehooves on the table. Spike watched his older sister with fascination in his eyes.

"I volunteer," she said, breaking up the others' discussion. "I'll go."

The others all stared at her, eyes wide. Cadence's mouth actually dropped open.

"Are you sure, Twilight?" asked Celestia. "This mission is unlike anything you have ever faced before. Even with your journey through the mirror portal, at least I had some knowledge as to what you would face. Here, nopony knows what lies ahead."

"I understand," replied Twilight. "But I'm ready to step up and be the princess everypony needs right now. With my friends by my side, there's nothing I fear. Of course, I would never force them to go, but I'm sure they would come if I asked."

The expressions on the princesses' faces changed. Celestia smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. By contrast, Cadence and Luna both bore wide grins.

"Very well, Twilight," said Luna. "If you truly wish to undertake this task, we will not stop you. We'll provide any support you need."

"Just make sure you come back safely," added Cadence.

"Don't worry about that. We'll make it," said Twilight, before she quietly swallowed.

"So, let me get this straight," began Rainbow. "You want us to go with you through that portal, which leads to an unknown time period, in an unknown location, on a journey we might not even come back from, that's probably fraught with danger. Is that right?"

"Pretty much," replied Twilight.

"Where do I sign?!" Rainbow exclaimed, her voice ecstatic and the widest possible smile on her face.

"Now hold up, sugar cube," interrupted Applejack. "I know you're the type of pony to run headfirst into danger and ask questions later, but not all of us are like that." She turned to Twilight. "Not that we ain't gonna support you, Twi, it's just there are risks involved. This is one of those times when your compulsive need to plan everything out might come in handy."

"I agree," said Twilight. "Especially since we know nothing about our destination. From our study of the portal, we've learned it was made by Equestrian magic, so we'll most likely still end up on Equestria. However, it'll probably be an Equestria we don't recognize."

"Yeah, but that just adds to the awesomeness!" countered Rainbow Dash. "Think about it! Us, in a completely unknown version of Equestria, working to prevent time and space itself from unraveling! This is cooler than any Daring Do story could ever hope to be!"

"I don't know, Rainbow," said Fluttershy. "What if the portal leads to a world filled with monsters the size of the buildings in Manehattan? Or worse?!" She started quivering at the thought.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad, dear," said Rarity. "No matter what, as long as we're working together, we can face anything."

"Besides, this is my chance to throw an epic, cross-temporal party!" said Pinkie. "Unless they've banned parties in whatever time we're going to, but why would they do that?"

"So that's it? You're all prepared to follow me on this journey?" asked Twilight.

"Do you have to ask?" said Rainbow.

"I'm with you to the end of the line," replied Applejack.

"I'm willing to get my hooves dirty for the sake of Equestria," added Rarity.

"Yep!" was all Pinkie had to say.

Everypony waited eagerly for Fluttershy to chime in, but the pegasus remained silent. Five pairs of eyes turned towards her, and she shrank back under their gaze.

"Oh, do I really have to?" she squeaked. Then a wide smile spread across her face. "I'm just kidding, of course I'll come!"

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Everypony try to pack only the things you need. We're leaving in half an hour."

Thirty minutes later, the six mares gathered back in the tent that contained the vortex itself. Each had packed a set of saddlebags filled with the essentials. Even Rarity had managed to restrain herself from overpacking, though exactly why she'd brought sewing equipment was a mystery. They were surrounded by family and friends who were seeing them off, including Discord, Big Mac, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Starlight Glimmer, the princesses, and Spike.

"Ah, why can't I go?" protested the dragon.

"Because I need someone to look after the castle," said Twilight. "And Starlight's looking after the school. Don't worry, Spike. If it turns out to be safe, I promise, I'll take you on a trip through before we close it."

"You stay safe, you hear me?" said Discord. "We have our tea time coming up this week, remember?"

"We will," responded Fluttershy. "There's nothing we can't overcome together." Then she wrapped her forelegs around Discord's neck, and he hugged her back.

"Whatever's on the other side of that portal better be ready for the most awesome pony in Equestria!" cheered Scootaloo, jumping up and down. The other Crusaders joined their friend with equal amounts of enthusiasm.

"Aw, thanks, squirt," replied Rainbow, patting Scootaloo on the head. "I almost wish I could bring you three along to be my cheering squad."

"I think you'll be fine without that, Rainbow," said Starlight, though she was barely hiding the smirk on her face.

Meanwhile, Celestia and Twilight shared one last hug, while Luna and Cadence looked on. "I know you can do this, Twilight," said the white alicorn. "As long as your friendship endures, you can do anything."

"Thank you," replied Twilight. "We'll do our best."

She fired up her horn one last time, levitating her saddlebags onto her back. The others followed suit with their own hooves (with the exception of Rarity), and then they all walked up to the portal together. As they approached, the ambient magic surrounding it sent chills down their spines.

"Twilight?" ventured Fluttershy. "You're sure we can go through safely, right?"

"Of course," said the alicorn. "But you can hang towards the back if you like."

Fluttershy took that offer, positioning herself behind Pinkie and Rainbow. Twilight looked towards the void, and after taking one last swallow, she began to step through, the others on her tail.

Chapter Three: Future Shock

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Maretime Bay

Sunny and her friends, as well as the rest of the ponies that had gathered, could only stare in surprise as the six forms suddenly emerged from within the portal. They looked like normal, everyday ponies, but most of the onlookers' eyes were drawn to the purple mare, who had both wings and a horn. Unlike Sunny's, which were made of solid magic and disappeared when she wasn't using them, this one's were flesh. Many ponies began filming with their mobile phones.

Twilight looked around at the assembled crowd. She took a deep breath, and began speaking in a formal voice.

"Hello, everypony. I want to start off by assuring you that myself and my friends come in peace. My name is Princess—"

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" screamed Sunny, making everypony else jump in fright.

There was silence for the next few seconds. Sunny had the widest possible smile on her face, surpassing even ones that Izzy had had in the past. Twilight froze in shock, but managed to compose herself.

"Yes, thank you," she continued. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. I—"

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE AND THE GUARDIANS OF HARMONY!" Sunny screamed again. "THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" She began jumping up and down in pure joy, before falling onto her back, squealing all the way.

"Well, if they know who we are, I guess that means we're in the future!" Applejack shouted above the noise.

"Sorry about this!" Zipp yelled to Twilight and her friends. "She's a big fan of yours!"

Hitch, with his forehooves clamped over his ears, stomped over to Sunny, grabbed her by the tail with his mouth, and shook her back and forth as hard as he could. Sunny's constant squeeing finally stopped as she vibrated, and Hitch set her back down on her hooves.

"Thanks, Hitch," she said. "I guess I got a little carried away there."

"Gee, ya think?" Hitch muttered back, though the smile on his face betrayed him.

Rainbow Dash took a quick glance around at the crowd. "What are those square things you're pointing at us?" she demanded.

"Are those...phones?" said Twilight under her breath.

"Hello, Pippsqueaks!" proclaimed Pipp into her phone. "We're live here in Maretime Bay, where six ponies have just come through the strange portal, and—"

"Pipp, are you seriously live-streaming this?" demanded Zipp. "There are times when your phone isn't needed, you know!"

"Come on, Zipp! Everypony in Equestria's gonna wanna see this! Besides, we're gonna want to let everyone know what's going on with that whole portal thing!"

"Yeah, but everyone in town is already filming this! I think we can afford to let them—"

Everypony was suddenly silenced as Hitch blew into his whistle three times. He stomped his hooves for extra emphasis.

"Okay, everypony, show's over!" he shouted. "You can go back to your homes, your businesses, whatever you were doing. We'll handle this!"

"Do we have to?" complained Sprout. A quick glare from Hitch silenced his fellow earth pony, and the crowd soon began to dissipate.

"Thank you," said Twilight. "Are you the leader of this town?"

"Not really the leader, but I am the sheriff," he answered. "Hitch Trailblazer of Maretime Bay, at your service."

"Pleasure to meet you, sheriff," Twilight continued. "As I've said, my name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight. These are my closest friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy." She pointed to each pony as she named them.Then her ears swiveled towards a nearby source of noise, which turned out to be Sunny squeeing again, barely holding it in. "Uh, is she alright?"

"She's fine," responded Izzy. "She's just freaking out because she gets to meet her idols in the flesh!"

Zipp rolled her eyes. "Sunny, I think you'd better do the introductions. Otherwise, you might explode from holding it in."

Sunny wasted no time, rushing over to Twilight, grabbing her by the hoof with both of hers, and wringing it like crazy.

"Hello!" she said, smiling as wide as possible. She spoke so fast it was hard for anypony to understand her. "My name's Sunny Starscout, it's always been my dream to meet you, my Dad studied you for his entire life, and now I'm meeting you, and this is the greatest day ever, and I—"

"Sunny, priorities!" said Zipp.

"Sorry, sorry." Sunny let got of Twilight's leg, although the purple alicorn was still shaking. "Like I said, my name's Sunny Starscout. These are my best friends. You've already met Hitch. This is Izzy Moonbow."

"Hi, new friends!" said the unicorn.

"Hi, new friends!" replied Pinkie.

"Princess Zephyrina Storm."

"Ugh, just call me Zipp."

"And her sister, Princess Pipp Petals."

Pipp waved politely. Rarity stared at her, with an intrigued look on her face.

"That tiara goes wonderfully with your mane, darling," she commented.

"Thank you," replied Pipp. Then she whispered to Zipp "See? She gets it."

"Whatever," replied the white pegasus.

"Anyway," Twilight loudly proclaimed, drawing everypony's attention again, "as Applejack said, we can now say for certain this is the future. I'm assuming the stories of my friends and I have been passed down?"

"Oh, yes, definitely!" replied Sunny. "My Dad dedicated his life to studying your era of Equestria."

Twilight smiled. "I'll bet that has some interesting stories attached to it. However, first things first. We came here because that," she pointed to the still swirling portal, "suddenly appeared in Ponyville in our time. From our magical scans, we determined that it was caused by something in this time. Do you have any idea what could've created this tear in the time-space continuum?"

"Well, we do have an idea," admitted Sunny. She held up the stopwatch-like device. "Some fillies uncovered this at the beach. We have no idea what it is, but according to them, that thing opened as soon as they touched it."

Twilight's eyebrows shot upwards. Clearly, that wasn't the response she'd been expecting. She frowned as she took the object in her magic, floating it over so she could examine it.

"The Time Twirler?" she asked to nopony in particular. "But it was broken. I know Sunset gave me the pieces, but how did it get fixed? Plus, it didn't have the power to do this before..." She looked back at Sunny. "Do you mind if we take this? It'll probably help us in our efforts to deal with the portal."

"Of course! Keep it, it's yours!" replied the earth pony, some of the enthusiasm slipping back into her voice.

Twilight levitated the Time Twirler into her saddlebags and closed them. "That was easier than expected," she said.

"Wait a minute," said Hitch. "Are you saying that the portal thing is dangerous?"

"Not at the moment," replied Twilight. "Currently, it's stable. But, if left unchecked, in theory, it could expand and pull all of Equestria into it on both sides. We're working on a counter-spell to seal it shut now."

"Yeah, but while we're waiting for that, you know what we could do?" asked Pinkie, producing one of her confetti cannons from nowhere. "Throw a party!"

Sunny and her friends (except Izzy) all jumped at the sight of the party cannon. "What—how—where did you pull that from?!" demanded Zipp.

"It's Pinkie Pie. We've learned not to question it," answered Applejack.

"Uh, not to be a party pooper, but don't we have stuff to do?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Shouldn't we get this Time Twirler thing back to our time right away?"

"Aw, come on, Dashie!" said Pinkie. "We just made five new friends! That definitely calls for a celebration."

The other five all turned towards Twilight, no doubt expecting her input on the situation. Twilight put one hoof on her chin, apparently thinking.

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to spend a little time here," she said. "Let's not take anything besides the Time Twirler and maybe some pictures, though. I don't want to mess with the timeline any more than we have to."

"Yipee!" Pinkie and Izzy yelled at the same time. Pinkie jammed down on the fire button of her party cannon, launching a spray of confetti into the air, which Izzy proceeded to dance around in.

"I think Izzy's found a kindred spirit," said Zipp.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy looked around, discovering a small crab was sitting behind her, occasionally punching her in the back of the legs. Luckily, it didn't seem to be hurting her. Hitch noticed this, and rushed up, scooping up the crab.

"McSnipsalot!" he scolded. "We talked about being aggressive towards strangers!" The crab turned to look at him, before making a few small vocalizations. "Yes, I know you have territory to defend, but they're not intruding!"

"Wait a minute," Fluttershy began, as a smile appeared on her face, "you can talk to animals, too?!"

"Well, yes," replied Hitch. "Though I seem to be the only pony who can do it."

Fluttershy took to the air with a flap of her wings, joyously clapping her forehooves together. "I've never met anypony else who could do that! This is incredible!" Then she took notice of Sparky sitting on Hitch's back, and gasped. "Another baby dragon! Just like Spike, only smaller!"

"Wow," said Twilight, as Hitch held out Sparky for Fluttershy to pet. "A group of ponies and a baby dragon? Seems like history actually does repeat itself."

"Oh, right! You had that little dragon companion! What was his name? Spike?" asked Sunny.

"That's correct. How far in the future are we, anyway? It seems like you were the only pony who recognized us. Are we not well-known historical figures?"

"Well..." Sunny fiddled with her hooves. "Nopony's really sure when the reign of Princess Twilight ended. It's one of those things that got muddled up in history. The best I can guess is that you've come at least eight hundred years into the future."

Twilight frowned a little, but her smile returned soon enough. "Well, I am interested in seeing how far Equestria has come. Technology has certainly advanced. I assume, with all the phones, ponies have the internet now?"

"Yes, we—" Sunny froze. "Wait, how do you have any idea what those things are?"

"It's a long story that involves travel through a magic mirror to an alternate dimension," replied Twilight. "I'll...try to find the time to tell you about it."

Sunny smiled back at her. "I'd really appreciate that. Oh wait, I just remembered! I gotta show you this!"

She closed her eyes, clearly focusing internally on something. Twilight watched with fascination. Suddenly, Sunny's golden alicorn wings and horn appeared on her body, and her wings flapped, lifting her a bit off the ground.

"WHOA!" Twilight yelled. "You're an alicorn?!"

"Sort of," Sunny admitted, as she drifted back down to the ground. Her wings and horn faded away. "They come and go, and I haven't figured out exactly how to call them out. I can get them out for a couple of seconds, but that's it."

"Wow," replied Twilight. "I've never seen wings or horns like that before! This could be a completely new type of alicorn!" She lit up her horn, magically scanning Sunny's body. Sunny didn't seem to mind at all.

At the same time, Zipp was recording some notes into her phone, and Rainbow trotted over to her, examining her wings. It wasn't long before Zipp took notice.

"You got some muscle there, newbie," she remarked, as Zipp stared at her. "Maybe even Wonderbolt material. The Wonderbolts are still around in this future, right?"

"Uh, not exactly," replied Zipp. "I know I uncovered some old Wonderbolt posters in Zephyr Heights, but that's it. Though, maybe we'll end up starting another team."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Rainbow. "The most awesome flying team in Equestria's history breaks up in the future?! What the heck happened?!"

"If it's any consolation, I'm sure it was ages after your time. It didn't help that we lost the ability to fly for a while."

Twilight's sensitive ear swiveled towards Zipp, and she stopped her conversation with Sunny in the middle of it. She turned around to face the white pegasus.

"Pegasi couldn't fly?" she asked, her eyebrows raising. "What happened?"

"Well..." Zipp began, seemingly unsure of how to breach the subject. "Oh wait! That reminds me! Can you tell us the rest of the message you left in the Unity Crystals? The things glitched out and we couldn't get the whole thing."

Twilight's face was blank. "Unity Crystals? Message? I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Realization dawned on Zipp's face. "You're from a point in time before they were made," she said. "So you don't know!"

"Know about what?!" Twilight demanded.

"We have earth pony magic now!" said Sunny, her excitement palpable in the air. She raised one of her forelegs, and the hoof began to glow green. When she brought it down, the glow transferred from her to the earth, and a small patch of flowers suddenly sprouted up right next to her.

"WHAT THE—?!" Twilight shouted, leaping into the air at the sight. She flew down to the flowers and studied them, finding that they were definitely real. "How...what...I don't understand..."

"Yeah," said Hitch. "You guys can't do that, huh?"

"Not as far as we know," responded Applejack. "I mean, in our time, earth ponies always did have a connection to the land. We could purify soil, and had enhanced strength that made it easier for us to do farm work, but not grow plants spontaneously."

"We can also manipulate existing plant life," added Sunny.

"That's crazy," said Pinkie. She looked at her own hooves. "I wonder..." She closed her eyes, raised both forehooves, and stomped the ground. The same green glow dripped from her hooves into the ground, and out sprang several large vines. One of them wrapped around Pinkie's torso and started swinging her around. "WEEEEEEE!"

"Amazing," said Twilight. "Still, though, what's all this about Unity Crystals, and pegasi not being able to fly for a time?"

"Maybe it's best if we just show you," said Izzy. "Follow us! We'll show you to the Crystal Brighthouse!" She pointed with one hoof towards the building at the edge of the cliff. "We can explain everything on the way."

"Hold on a minute, darlings," interrupted Rarity. "Shouldn't we do something to block off the portal so nopony else goes through it? Just for safety's sake?"

"Already on it!" came Pipp's voice. The others looked to find Zipp and Pipp surrounding the vortex with traffic cones and "DO NOT CROSS" lines.

"That'll do," said Hitch. At Twilight's skeptical look, he added, "Don't worry, everypony knows not to disobey a direct order from the sheriff."

"Well, if you're sure," responded Twilight.

Unfortunately for the ponies, none of them noticed the pair of eyes watching them, hiding behind a bush, or heard the telltale clicking of a camera.

Misty galloped away from the site of the portal as fast as she could. Sunny and the other ponies had just departed for the Brighthouse, and activity was starting to pick up again in Maretime Bay. In one hoof, Misty held the digital camera she'd swiped earlier, filled with photos of the new ponies that had come through the void, carefully taken from her hiding place. It wasn't hard to guess what she was planning to do with them.

Misty finally came to a stop around the back of Mane Melody. Nopony ever came to that particular spot, so she was sure to be alone and safe from prying eyes. After a quick look around to make sure she was absolutely alone, she reached up and tapped the amulet hanging around her neck.

"Opaline? We've got a real problem here," she whispered.

The bright gold covering slid away like an eyelid opening, revealing a pitch-dark center. A trail of dark purple smoke flowed out of the amulet, floating upwards and coalescing into the shape of a pony's head. The projection of Opaline opened her eyes and yawned loudly.

"Misty, you know this is the time of day when I take my naps," she complained. "Now what have you called me for? Have you managed to capture that dragon?"

"Well, no," Misty admitted. "But I think—"

"Then there's nothing for us to discuss, is there?!" Opaline snarled. Misty shrank back. "Listen, Misty. You'd better retrieve that dragon, or you'll never get a real Cutie Mark from me."

"I-I understand, Opaline," Misty stammered back. "But there's something you really need to know—"

"Need I remind you that dragon fire is the one thing that can restore my alicorn powers?" Opaline demanded. "You're wasting time calling me instead of doing what I told you to do and capturing the dragon!"

"Opaline, I think you'll want to see this—"

"Next time, don't call me up unless—"

That was when Misty reached her limit. "OPALINE! WILL YOU PLEASE LISTEN TO ME FOR ONE SECOND?!" Opaline actually froze, surprise written all over her face, and as comprehension slowly dawned on Misty, she began to quiver. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me—"

"Speak. Now," Opaline said, simply. "You'd better hope this is good. For your sake."

Misty, taking that as a good sign, began to relay information. "Okay, so this weird vortex thing opened in the middle of Maretime Bay, and Sunny and her friends were looking at it, but then these six ponies came out of it, and one of them is an alicorn."

"Wait a minute," Opaline cut her off. "Are you telling me there's another alicorn in Equestria?!"

"Yeah! But that's not all! Look!" Misty held up the camera with the screen facing Opaline, and began clicking through the pictures she'd taken. Opaline's eyes opened wider and wider with each passing photo, and her mouth morphed into an angry grimace. "See the purple one? It's exactly like you showed me! It's—"

"Twilight Sparkle," Opaline growled. "Misty, I've changed my mind. Report back to the castle at once. We have work to do." With those words, her projected head faded back into blue smoke, and drifted back down into Misty's amulet, which shut with a click.

Misty's face changed, becoming clouded with what an observant pony might realize was disappointment. However, she shook it off after a few seconds, and began galloping back towards Opaline's castle.

"So, let me get this straight," Twilight began, as the ponies pushed open the door to the Crystal Brighthouse, "not only did the three tribes of ponies grow to hate each other again, not only did they live in separate towns and fear each other, but because of that, all the magic in Equestria just disappeared?!"

Sunny smiled nervously as Izzy chimed in with, "Yep! That's a pretty good way of putting it."

"We did manage to bring it back," added Zipp. "It took a lot of effort, but the three tribes are all friendly with each other now. We have a lot of integration between Zephyr Heights, Bridlewood, and Maretime Bay now."

"Yes, I understood that part," said Twilight, "but how'd things get that bad in the first place? And for that matter, if you had no magic, how'd you move the sun and moon?"

"'Move the sun and moon?'" asked Pipp. "Don't they move on their own?"

"Actually, in ancient Equestria, the celestial bodies were moved by the magic of the princesses," said Sunny. "From what my Dad's research uncovered, when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna passed on, they used all of their magic to ensure the sun and moon would always move in the same steady orbit. As for your first question...that I don't know."

"Well, is there a chance I could examine your father's research?" asked Twilight. "I'm just...confused as to how that could've happened."

"Sure, I don't mind. But there are some things I wanted to show you, first."

Sunny led the group up the Brighthouse ramps, towards the sleeping quarters. Eventually, they reached the central chamber, where beds surrounded a central elevator in a circle.

"So you all live here, together?" asked Applejack.

"All except me," replied Hitch. "I had a home in town already, and my job as sheriff means I can't be away for too long. Still, I come up here whenever I'm not working."

"And you say these 'unity crystals' rebuilt the lighthouse into this building for you?" asked Rarity. "My, it isn't as marvelous as your castle, is it, Twilight?"

"Oh, you've gotta show me the Castle of Friendship before we close the portal!" insisted Sunny. "But first, look at these!"

She grabbed a book, ran over to her bed, and returned balancing six little wooden figurines on top of the book. "My Dad hoof-carved these for me when I was just a filly! I used to play with them all the time!"

Twilight and the others looked, discovering that the figures were, in fact, lifelike versions of themselves. Curious, Twilight levitated over the figure of herself to examine it. The disturbance at the future left her face, replaced with something that might've been pride. The other five mares followed suit.

"How'd your dad know exactly what we looked like?" asked Fluttershy. "You said we weren't that well-known in this time."

"I don't care, as long as he got my good side!" said Rainbow, triumphantly holding up her figure. "I just wish it was me wearing my Wonderbolt uniform!"

"Argyle-Sunny's dad-was crazy into researching you and your period of Equestrian history," said Hitch. "He was the only one who knew that earth ponies, pegasi ,and unicorns were meant to be friends. Everypony else thought he was crazy (and Sunny by extension, I'm ashamed to admit), but as you can see, he was right all along."

"But that's not the main attraction," said Izzy, stepping up to the elevator. "You gotta check out the unity crystals!"

"If you insist!" said Pinkie, as she bounced over to join the lilac unicorn.

Once everypony was on the elevator, Sunny pressed the button, and the platform was raised skyward. Soon, the eleven ponies (and one dragon) found themselves standing in the dome of glass atop the Brighthouse, where a massive rainbow beam emanated from the pegasus winged crystal, the earth pony diamond, and the unicorn pointed gem. Twilight took the initiative, stepping towards the crystals.

"They seem like standard magical artifacts at a glance," she noted. "I wish I'd brought some notebooks." She fired up her horn once again, and a soft raspberry aura surrounded the floating crystals. Sunny opened her mouth, presumably to ask what she was doing.

"She's doing a probing spell," Pinkie chimed in, before the question could even be asked. "She's trying to figure out what kind of magic powers the crystals!"

Twilight kept her focus on the spell for a few more seconds, before her horn powered down and she opened her eyes.

"It's a lot like the magic of the Elements of Harmony," she remarked. "Not exactly the same, but similar. Do you have any idea who made these?"

"No. We have yet to figure that out," replied Zipp. "We were kinda hoping you could tell us when you showed up here."

"What was this about a message in the crystals?" asked Rainbow.

"Let me show you," said Sunny.

She raised her hoof, pressing it flat against the crystals. As she did, her Cutie Mark, as well as the Cutie Marks of her four best friends, began glowing, and rainbow-colored magic began flowing from the marks into the crystals. Twilight and her friends looked down, seeing that magic was coming from their marks as well.

"Uh, what's happening?" asked Applejack.

"I don't know," replied Twilight. "It seems like the crystals are...responding to our Cutie Marks?"

Then, without warning, a massive, transparent image of a pony was projected from the Unity Crystals. An all too familiar looking pony.

"Oh my stars!" exclaimed Rarity, wobbling like she was going to faint. Izzy managed to catch her just in time.

Twilight could only stare in sheer surprise. Her eyes were spellbound, staring back at the image of herself. The same purple eyes, the same lavender coat, the same midnight blue mane with one magenta stripe through it. The same everything. The projection didn't even notice, of course.

"If you're seeing this, magic is now more powerful than it's ever been, and earth pony magic has been activated for the first time in the history of Equestria!" said the Twilight hologram. Applejack and Pinkie looked down at their own hooves, no doubt remembering the new powers they had available to them. "Magic is alive, always changing, growing stronger. There are evil forces out there who will want to exploit it. Once, a pony tried to steal all the magic in Equestria for herself, and almost succeeded." Twilight kept her eyes on the hologram, listening intently. Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity all traded glances, looking nervous.

The speech continued. "I did all that I could to protect it from—" The hologram fazed, like static on a tv screen. "—by summoning all my magic to achieve placing the magic in the crystals—" The hologram sparked a few more times. "But the spell is broken. You are exposed to the world once again! You must watch out for Op—before she—I'm with you." With a little more static, the hologram faded away, leaving only the glowing Unity Crystals.

There was a blanket of silence hanging over the group. Nopony spoke up. Perhaps they feared what would happen if they broke the tension. Even Twilight could only stare at where the projection had been, her mouth hanging open. Eventually, Applejack got the courage to walk up to her, and place a hoof on her barrel.

"Twilight? You okay?"

"I...I..." Twilight breathed. "I can't believe it."

"Neither could I," replied Sunny. "When we first saw that message, it was like everything I'd been raised to believe in was validated, even more than when we brought magic back. Most ponies only believed you and your friends to be old ponies' tales, but this proved they were wrong!"

Twilight didn't respond. Instead, she lit up her horn once again, probing the depths of the crystals with her magic.

"The message has degraded," she finally announced. "The only thing I can think of is that it's been in there for so long that it's become corrupted. Whenever she-I-put that message inside the crystals, it must've happened a very, very long time ago."

"Like a computer file becoming corrupted as the system breaks down," said Pipp.

"Totally! I'm not sure what that means, but totally!" responded Pinkie Pie.

"But what was I trying to warn everypony about?" asked Twilight, talking to nopony in particular. "What kind of pony would try and steal all the magic in Equestria for herself?"

"I don't know," admitted Sunny. "I figure it must've happened sometime after you took over as princess of all Equestria from Celestia and Luna. I—"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Twilight. "I-I take over from Celestia and Luna?! I rule all of Equestria?!"

Sunny blinked, as everypony's eyes turned to look at her. Her ears drooped down. "Oooh," she mumbled. "I kinda forgot you might not already know that. I'm sorry."

Twilight didn't respond. All she did was place her forehooves onto her head, staring intently at nothing in front of her, while panting furiously.

"Oh, no, Twilight's having another breakdown!" exclaimed Pinkie. She rushed over and pushed a paper bag into Twilight's face for her to breathe into. Where she got the paper bag was anypony's guess. Twilight began panting into the bag, after mumbling some thanks to her friend.

"Is she...alright?" asked Zipp.

"She'll be fine," replied Rainbow. "She just needs a minute to ingest this. She has...let's say a hard time with unexpected stress."

Twilight took a few more deep breaths into the bags, before setting it down on the floor.

"Is there somewhere I could lie down?" she asked. "I don't need a bed or anything, I just...I need a break."

"Oh, sure. We have a couple of couches. You want a blanket?" said Hitch.

Sunny could only stare after the pony she idolized, who was currently in the middle of a freakout, due to her actions.

Chapter Four: Darkness Gathers

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Opaline's Castle

Misty hurried as fast as her hooves could carry her back to the shadowy castle. It was a good distance to the northwest of Maretime Bay, but close enough that she didn't need a ride or anything. The castle itself sat in the middle of what had once been a densely populated town, but as ponies had grown apart, the town fell into ruin, and now, nopony even remembered the name. Opaline claimed the castle was hers by right, but as with all of her statements, the veracity of that could be called into question.

Misty reached the front door, stopping only to catch her breath. She tried lighting up her horn, attempting to use her magic to push open the door, but all that came from the appendage was a few weak sparks. Sighing with resignation to herself, Misty pushed the door open with her hooves, and strolled inside.

She made her way to Opaline's scrying chamber, moving as quickly as she could without scuffing the floor (that was one of Opaline's rules). She found her master sitting at the scrying pool, intently staring at the still image of the Crystal Brighthouse. Opaline's expression was one of tranquil fury, and her tail flicked back and forth, like a cat on the hunt.

"Ah, Misty. You've finally returned," she noted without looking up. "Come to me. There's work to be done."

"Yes. I-I mean, yes, Opaline," replied the bushy-maned unicorn. Opaline had insisted that Misty always address her by name whenever they spoke. She sat down on Opaline's left side.

"You know, Misty," Opaline began, "I used to believe that my troubles, for the most part, were over. Sure, your incompetence and failure have held me back, but those things would eventually fade." Misty flinched, but Opaline either didn't notice or didn't care. "Now, I see that I was wrong. Because today, Twilight Sparkle returned to plague me once more!"

She stomped one hoof, and the image within the reflecting pool changed to a picture of Twilight. The lavender alicorn looked much older than the one that had come out of the portal. The telltale signs of aging were beginning to show on her face. She wore a golden crown with her Cutie Mark imprinted on it.

"I thought I'd seen the last of Twilight Sparkle centuries ago. Even alicorns pass on, though much later than ponies like you. Yet, here she is, appearing in Equestria yet again! Do you know what I feel when I see that, Misty?"

"Um...you feel angry?" asked Misty.

Opaline was already starting to yell. She hadn't even noticed Misty didn't address her by name. "RAGE! MANIA! MADNESS! WHY MUST THAT PONY CONSTANTLY GET IN MY WAY, EVEN FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE?!" She picked up an empty potion bottle and hurled it across the room, where it shattered into hundreds of pieces against the wall. Snorting, Opaline turned back to Misty. "Tell me everything you saw and overheard, quickly. Before my anger grows any further."

"O-okay, Opaline," replied Misty, speaking quickly to avoid another outburst. "So Twilight Sparkle and her friends came out of that portal, and then they met up with Sunny's group. And then Sunny started freaking out because of Twilight, and Hitch blew his whistle and made everypony else go away, and—"

Opaline groaned, placing her hoof against her face. "Misty, change of plans, just skip to the important part."

"Y-yes, Opaline. So Zipp asked Twilight about the message she left in the Unity Crystals, but Twilight didn't know what she was talking about. Then Izzy said they could come to the Brighthouse, and—"

"Wait, wait," Opaline interrupted. "Twilight didn't know about the Unity Crystals at all? She had no knowledge of them?"

"No, Opaline." Misty hurriedly shook her head.

Opaline put a hoof on her chin, deep in thought. "But I remember seeing those crystals from the first day I was her student," she noted. "If this Twilight doesn't know about them, that means she must've come from a time before they were created. Which means that she doesn't know who I am, because I don't exist in her time." A smile slowly returned to her face. "Perhaps we can work this situation to our advantage."

"How, Opaline?" asked Misty. "I don't understand."

Opaline rolled her eyes. "It's simple, Misty. If Twilight's come from a time before I met her, that means she won't be able to warn Sunny Starscout about me. Plus, if I regain my powers and take down Twilight now, that means I can undo my previous defeat at her hooves. I could take over Equestria in the past and the present! I will become the Empress I was always destined to be!"

She threw back her head and cackled, while Misty sat quietly. She was probably remembering the times Opaline had scolded her before. Opaline's laughter continued for a few more minutes, until she came to a stop. She settled back down onto her throne.

"Now, Misty," she continued, never missing a beat, "we must redouble our efforts to capture that dragon. And by we, I mean you, as Twilight's spell keeps me confined to this castle. I need to reactivate my powers before Twilight figures out how to close that portal! With Sunny and her friends distracted, it should be easier for you to obtain it."

"O-okay, Opaline," replied Misty, shivering where she stood. "So, go back to Maretime Bay and get Sparky?"

"YES!" Opaline shouted. "Go and get me that dragon's fire!"

Misty squeaked in fear, but managed to bow before turning around and running out of the castle.

Maretime Bay

Twilight stretched her limbs as she climbed off the couch. The paper bag she'd been breathing into lay discarded next to it, with multiple holes punched into it from usage. Twilight got back onto her hooves, and strolled around the Brighthouse.

"Ruler of all Equestria," she mumbled to herself. "When were they gonna tell me that?"

Sunny came up the ramp from the bottom of the Brighthouse, where the rest of the group had gathered and were engaged in conversation.

"Are you feeling any better, Princess Twilight?" she asked. "I'm sorry I let that fact slip. I should've thought before I spoke."

"It wasn't your fault, Sunny," replied Twilight. "There's no way you could've known. And you don't have to call me princess. From what I understand about this time period, I don't have any authority."

"Okay, if you're sure." Sunny reached into her bag, pulling out a leather-bound book. "Here's my Dad's journal if you want to look at it. I've marked some spots you might want to avoid, because of the future...I don't know what word to say, spoilers?"

"Thank you, Sunny." Twilight lit up her horn, levitating the journal over to her. "Do you mind if I ask you some questions about your alicorn powers? I've never seen one like you before, and it makes me curious."

"I'm an open book," said Sunny. "Though, to be honest, I don't know that much about it myself. I don't even understand what makes me transform. Even Zipp hasn't figured it out."

"Well, there goes most of my questions," said Twilight. At the look on Sunny's face, she hastily added, "I'm sorry, I was just making a joke. I'm also sorry you didn't have anypony to help you understand it like I did. That must've made things difficult."

"Oh, yeah! I mean, I don't mind having alicorn powers, but it's kinda nice to not have to be a princess or anything. I can't imagine the stress you must have to go through, making sure friendship is spread all across Equestria. And then you opened the School of Friendship."

"It is stressful, I admit, but truth be told, I enjoy it. I love showing ponies and other creatures how much friendship can bring into their lives. It makes me feel like I'm part of something really special."

Sunny smiled warmly at her. "Dad always said you and your friends were the brightest beacons of friendship in Equestria. When the whole Unity Crystal debacle happened, I hoped my group could be half as inspiring as yours."

Twilight put a comforting hoof on Sunny's shoulder. "Don't worry so much about that, Sunny. Just do the best you can. I'm glad we could encourage you after all this time, but you don't have to think about measuring up to us or anything."

Sunny's eyes widened, as a thought apparently occurred to her. "Oh, there's something else I wanted to show you! Follow me!"

She led Twilight back downstairs, where she pointed to a round blanket hanging on the wall. Twilight looked, discovering the blanket held an image of all five of the ponies in Sunny's friend group, with Sunny in her alicorn form in the center. Twilight's eyes widened, and she lit up her horn, probing the blanket with magic.

"This is...old. Maybe the same age as the Unity Crystals! It has an anti-decaying charm woven into it!" she exclaimed. "Did this predict that you were going to become an alicorn?"

"I didn't find the first piece until after we'd all moved in here," Sunny explained. "We tracked down the other two in Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood. I think Dad knew what we were gonna do before I was even born."

She grabbed a picture from beside her bed, and passed it to Twilight. The alicorn looked at the image contained within, which depicted a small, filly version of Sunny, minus the rainbow streak in her mane. Beside her was a pale blue, earth pony stallion. Obviously Sunny's father.

"His name was Argyle Starshine," said Sunny. "Even when other ponies mocked him behind his back, he never stopped believing ponies could be friends. And he taught me to believe the same things. I promised him I'd work to bring our dream to life." Sunny placed a hoof over her chest. "'Do our part, hoof to heart.'"

"I'm glad," replied Twilight.

The two trotted downstairs, where the other nine ponies were still talking to each other.

"And this is Señor Butterscotch!" said Izzy, proudly levitating her homemade unicorn friend up to show Rarity. "I made him for T.U.E.S. Day! I don't have a lot of unicorn friends, so he's a lot of fun!"

"Oh! Um, h-hello, Señor Butterscotch," said Rarity, as her eyes blinked rapidly and looked from side to side.

"Wait, so you tried to buck all those apples down by yourself?" asked Zipp. Applejack gave a small nod in return, blushing from embarrassment. "Wow. I thought I was stubborn."

Fluttershy was playing with Sparky, waving her hoof so that he could swipe at it, while Hitch supervised. All of a sudden, Sparky burped a purple fireball, which hit a nearby pillow, transforming it into a hayburger.

"Sparky!" Hitch scolded. However, the smile on his face betrayed him.

"That's interesting," noted Fluttershy, looking at the new burger. "In our time, Spike's fire can be used to send messages, but not transform things. I guess dragon fire changes in the future. Where'd you find Sparky, anyway?"

"Well, funny story," replied Hitch. "His egg just washed up on the beach one day. Nopony knows where it came from."

"Are you sure you won't let me style your mane?" whined Pipp, pulling on Rainbow's wing. "I don't want to mess with your amazing rainbow colors, but think how good you'd look with a manehawk!"

"Uh, thanks, but no thanks," replied Rainbow. "I have enough trouble with Rarity trying to make me curl it every day."

"She tried that with mine!" chimed in Pinkie. "It just kept popping right back into the poof!" She flattened her mane with one foreleg to demonstrate, only for it to snap back into shape one second later.

Twilight cleared her throat, drawing everypony's attention. "Everypony, I'm glad we're all getting along," she said to the room. "However, at this point, I think my friends and I should go back to our own time. We have to get the Time Twirler to Star Swirl, and figure out how to deal with the rift."

"Aw, already?" complained Izzy. "We were all just starting to make new friends! We haven't even shown you guys the Marestream!"

"The what?" asked Applejack.

"Long story," said Zipp. "It's better to show than to explain."

Suddenly, Sunny's eyes lit up. "I've got an idea!" she exclaimed. "Why don't we go with you guys? I've always wanted to get the chance to see ancient Equestria up close!"

"I don't know," replied Twilight. "We're not entirely sure how this type of time travel works, and we don't want to risk changing this time period by bringing any of you back."

"Are you sure? I mean, what if we didn't mess with anything that could impact the future? Like in that movie?"

"Movie?" asked Fluttershy.

"Something I guess you don't have back in your time," replied Hitch.

"Well..." Twilight placed a hoof on her chin, deep in thought. "If we didn't take anything between times, I guess it wouldn't hurt. We'd need to have you stick close by us, just so you don't get into anything. Not that we don't trust you, but we don't want you to alter anything."

"Oh, of course! We'll do everything you say! Right guys?" said Sunny. Four affirmations came from her friends, while Sparky made a gurgling noise.

"And after that, we can show you around our time!" said Izzy, jumping up and down with joy. Pinkie joined in.

"Alright. Let's go," said Twilight. "While we're there, there's something I want to ask Celestia."

Chapter Five: Respect the Past...

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Ponyville

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and Star Swirl all remained in the tent obscuring the space-time rift ever since Twilight and the others left. Exactly what they were waiting for, nopony could say. Perhaps they were hoping against the odds that Twilight's group would reappear quickly. Or maybe they simply didn't know what to do with themselves since the six ponies had left. Whatever the reason, they remained. Starlight Glimmer and Spike had wanted to stay, too, but they'd had duties to tend to at the School of Friendship and Twilight's castle. Discord had opted to leave, saying it was making him anxious to wait.

"I almost wish she hadn't volunteered to go," admitted Celestia.

"What happened to 'I have the utmost confidence in you, Twilight?'" Cadence demanded. She didn't look angry, but she wasn't smiling, either.

"I'm not saying I don't have faith in her, or any of them for that matter. The fact is, when I sent Twilight into danger before, I usually had some knowledge of what she'd be facing. I could prepare her for what lay ahead. This time, nopony knows what's on the other side of that portal."

"I understand, sister," replied Luna. "But we don't know for certain that what lies beyond the void is, in fact, perilous. We need to have faith that Twilight and the others will triumph, as they always have."

"I agree," added Star Swirl. "Twilight has proven to be the most capable pony I've ever known. She will find a way."

Celestia nodded, but her eyes still looked downcast. Luna draped a comforting wing over her sister's shoulder without speaking.

Suddenly, Cadence's voice rang out, knocking the other two alicorns out of their stupor. "Look! Something's coming out!"

Three additional pairs of eyes snapped onto the portal. Celestia sucked in a breath and held it. Within the blue and white spirals, several silhouettes began to take shape. They appeared to be ponies, but they were clustered so close together, they couldn't be counted. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Twilight's head poked out from inside the vortex. She strolled onto the grass, followed by her five best friends. Then, five additional ponies emerged, four mares and one stallion carrying a baby dragon on his back.

"We're back!" exclaimed Pinkie, firing her party cannon into the air once again. "I know we've only been gone a couple of hours, but we're back!"

"Does she always do that?" asked Hitch, brushing confetti off the top of his head.

"Oh, you have no idea," replied Applejack.

Celestia approached Twilight. "You're back!" she exclaimed, before composing herself. "I didn't expect you'd be here so soon. Did you find the source of the time rift?"

"We did, actually," said Twilight, though her reply was a bit more terse than usual. She lit up her horn, popping open her saddlebags, and levitated out a single object. "It was this. In the future."

"The Time Twirler?" asked Star Swirl, looking at the device. "But I thought Clover sent that artifact to another dimension more than a thousand years ago. And it didn't have that kind of power before."

"We actually got it back in this time a while ago," said Twilight, passing the device to him. "We'll need to do some magic scans on it. Besides that, we—"

"Oh. My. Goodness!" exclaimed Sunny, rushing past Twilight. "Are you really Celestia and Luna?! The princesses of the sun and moon?!" She hurriedly bowed, but kept talking. "I'm so excited! I've always wanted to meet you two! I'm Sunny Starscout, and my Dad—"

Twilight cut her off by enveloping her in magic, levitating her off the ground. "Sunny, I love your enthusiasm, but you're gonna need to slow down."

Cadence looked between Twilight's group, and Sunny's. "Are these new friends of yours?" she asked.

"Yes," said Twilight. "They're from the future. She's really interested in...what she calls 'Ancient Equestria,' and wanted to see it up close."

"Plus, I wanted to record a whole bunch of footage for the Pippsqueaks when I get back home!" added Pipp, who was filming everything on her phone. Zipp rolled her eyes. Star Swirl watched Pipp's phone with fascination in his eyes.

"Well, alright, then," said Luna. "What do they want to see?"

"I was thinking we could split up," said Twilight. "As long as one of us is always with them, it should be fine. Sunny, before I give you the tour of Ponyville, would you mind if I had a word with Celestia and Luna?"

"Oh, no. Not at all," replied Sunny.

The group dispersed slowly, with Cadence and Star Swirl staying to guard the portal. Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Sunny all went into the castle, with Sunny gawking at the crystal architecture the whole time. Spike was, naturally, delighted to see his big sister once again. Twilight asked him to show Sunny around the castle, while she led the two alicorns into the Cutie Map room. Once Sunny and Spike were out of earshot, Twilight rounded on Celestia and Luna.

"So," she began, sounding irritated, "when exactly were you going to tell me that I'm going to replace you as the ruler of all Equestria?!"

Luna and Celestia both paled. Clearly, they hadn't expected this line of questioning.

"I'm guessing there were historical records in Sunny's future that led to you discovering that?" asked Celestia, biting her lip nervously.

"Yes," replied Twilight. She levitated Argyle/Sunny's journal out of her saddlebags. "I haven't looked through this yet, but I'm guessing it's going to raise some more questions."

Celestia squirmed a little. Luna took over.

"Twilight, I want to assure you that it was not always my sister's intention to have you take the throne of Equestria," she explained, speaking quickly. "She knew you were destined to be the wielder of the Element of Magic as soon as she saw your Cutie Mark, but we only decided to retire a few months ago."

"Which brings us back to my first question: when were you going to tell me?"

"We were planning to ask you to take over once the current moon had passed," said Celestia. "Ask, not tell."

"And why were you retiring in the first place?" demanded Twilight. "We're alicorns, aren't we immortal?"

"Actually, no. Luna and I only have a thousand year life span because of our connections to the sun and moon. You and Cadence don't have that, so while you'll live longer than most ponies, you won't be alive for thousands of years. Flurry Heart, we're not sure about, given that there has never been a natural born alicorn before."

Twilight sighed, rubbing her face between her forehooves.

"I'm sorry, this is just...this is a lot to take in. I feel like you two dragged me into a test I didn't even know I was being prepared for. I don't hate pop quizzes, in fact, I enjoy them, but some warning would've been nice this time around."

"We apologize, Twilight," said Celestia. "We believed that, since you knew more about friendship than any other pony in Equestria, you could manage the kingdom with the help of your friends. We're sorry if you didn't feel like we adequately prepared you, or if we forced you into something you didn't want."

"I'm not angry, I'm just...I don't know what I am. I'm frustrated." Twilight sighed to herself. "But we'll figure it out. We always do."

Sunny's intense fawning had led Spike all over the crystal castle, barely catching up with the earth pony wherever she went.

"Oh, if only she hadn't taken the Cutie Map room!" exclaimed Sunny, using her phone to take yet another photo of the castle's interior. "But still, this is the sight of the century! This is incredible! I can't believe I'm actually standing in Princess Twilight's castle!"

Spike panted as he ran up to Sunny's side once again. "Could...we slow down...a little bit?" he pleaded in between breaths. "I think...I'm gonna pass out."

Sunny noticed his plight. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she hurriedly apologized, helping Spike to not fall over. "I shouldn't have pushed you that much. You're still a juvenile dragon in this time, and not the big time Royal Advisor you'll be in the future."

Spike suddenly snapped to attention as he heard what she said. "I become what?!" he demanded. "Twilight appoints me as the Royal Advisor?!"

Sunny paled a little. "I probably shouldn't keep letting details about the future slip, should I?" she asked, rhetorically. "I don't want to screw up the timeline or anything."

But Spike wasn't listening to her. He was staring off into the distance, his eyes glazed over. "Royal Advisor," he breathed. "Twilight gives me that much power and work in running Equestria?"

Sunny nodded. "Apparently, you become one of the most successful ambassadors in Equestria's history, stopping wars before they even start. You work alongside Twilight and the others to usher in a new era of peace across not just Equestria, but the entire planet."

"Wow," Spike continued. "I can't believe I get to be a part of that! Isn't Twilight amazing? The way that she gives everypony so much hope?"

"She is, yeah," agreed Sunny. Her ears drooped a little. "She's pretty much everything I imagined when I thought about meeting her."

Suddenly, the clip clop of hooves down the hall alerted them to the approach of Twilight, Celestia, and Luna. Sunny and Spike turned towards the three alicorns.

"We've finished our...discussion," said Twilight. "Sunny, would you like me and Spike to show you the School of Friendship? It's closed for the summer, but you can go inside and see it."

Sunny immediately brightened up. "Absolutely!" she declared, jumping for joy.

Rainbow Dash and Zipp soared high in the skies above Ponyville, beating their wings occasionally to stay aloft. They punched through the clouds, sending white particles dancing across the sky as they went. Rainbow made a quick diving maneuver, placing her in front of Zipp.

"You've definitely got the speed for a Wonderbolt!" Rainbow called behind her. "Not as much as me, of course, but you've clearly got the skills!"

"Oh, you say I'm not as fast as you?!" demanded Zipp. She did a quick barrel roll, managing to nudge Rainbow Dash out of the way. Now in the lead, Zipp took off like an arrow. "Catch me, then, and prove it!"

Rainbow grinned. "This opportunity is so good, I couldn't have planned it better if I'd tried," she said to herself.

The sky-blue pegasus took off, speeding straight ahead and placing her neck and neck with Zipp. The princess immediately responded in kind, pushing herself to her limit. However, as she went, her wingbeats were beginning to slow, and a cone of air was forming around the front of Rainbow's body. Rainbow was flying so fast, her lip was being blown backwards by the force, but she didn't let that stop her. She kept flapping, until there was a sudden explosion of force that nearly knocked Zipp out of the air.

Once she'd regained her senses, Zipp looked. She discovered that a circle of rainbow light had burst out from the point, and a trail of every color was following in Rainbow's wake. Zipp's jaw dropped open from sheer shock. Finally, the kaleidoscope of light faded away, and Rainbow zipped back up to her.

"And that's how you do a Sonic Rainboom!" she said, proudly.

"I don't—I can't even—how?!" Zipp exclaimed.

"A magically charged sonic boom," Rainbow explained. "Thought to be an old mare's tale until I proved it to be true when I was a filly!" She frowned a little. "Okay, I wasn't trying to do it at the time, and it took me years of training before I managed to do it again, but I can do it pretty easily now!"

"Wow!" said Zipp. "I don't think any pegasus in my time would even dare try to pull that off! I don't even think I could do it!"

"Well, in fairness to you, nopony was able to fly for most of your life," said Rainbow. "Like I said, it's extremely difficult to pull off. I only really did it by accident the first time. It's a good thing I did, though. It ended up giving me and all my best friends our Cutie Marks."

Zipp blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Rainbow proceeded to tell Zipp the story of her first Rainboom, and how it had led to Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie discovering their Cutie Marks.

"So...you were all connected before you even knew each other existed?" summarized Zipp. Rainbow nodded. "Whoa. I almost wish my group had something like that."

"It is nice, but you don't need it in order to know your friendship is strong. From what you told me about your adventure, you guys have been through a lot together, too."

"Oh, yeah. For sure. My friends know I'll always be there for them, and vice versa."

"That's what we do."

Rainbow and Zipp shared a midair hoof bump.

Pipp followed Rarity into Carousel Boutique, hearing the bell jingle as she closed the door behind her. Taking a quick look around, the pegasus found herself surrounded by beautiful outfits hanging onto ponnequins, inside a modest, yet gorgeous workspace. Many of Rarities' clothes incorporated gemstones for extra shimmer, and Pipp's eyes gleamed at the sites.

"Wow! When you said you were the most fashionable pony in your Equestria, you weren't kidding!" she exclaimed. She flapped her wings, coming over to a set of six dresses on hangers. "These are impressive!"

"Those dresses were the ones my friends wore to their first Grand Galloping Gala!" said Rarity, proudly. "Well, those are replicas. I still get orders for them from time to time. My friends have the originals."

"What's the Grand Galloping Gala?" asked Pipp.

"Oh, darling! The gala is only the most fabulous party to ever be thrown every year in Equestria!" proclaimed Rarity. "A party where only the most elegant of the elegant gather together in Canterlot!" Her wide smile was replaced by an annoyed frown. "And, unfortunately, Prince Blueblood."

"Bad experience?" asked Pipp. Rarity nodded. "Don't worry, I won't ask."

"Thank you, dear. Now, we simply must discuss your impeccable style! Your mane, your tiara, and those gorgeous wings of yours! How do you achieve that effect?!"

"Finally, somepony notices them!" exclaimed Pipp, stretching out her fluffy wings. "It takes a lot of effort to get them to look like this, I'll have you know! I have a strict shampoo ritual to keep them in this shape. I keep telling Zipp if she put in the effort, she could make hers like this, too, and it would look great, but she doesn't care!"

"Oh, I understand that!" replied Rarity. "I've told Rainbow Dash that if she took the tiniest bit of time to care for her mane and tail, she'd be gorgeous, but she never takes my advice! It's aggravating!"

"It seems like we're the only ones with any sense of style in our friend groups. Well, okay, Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy let me style their manes, but I wish Zipp would, too. I know she doesn't care much for style, but I just want to help her shine a little."

"Still, they are our friends, and we love them, no matter our differences," summed up Rarity. "They may not share our passion for fashion, but we can always count on them."

"Definitely," agreed Pipp. She took another look around. "So, where do you get all the gemstones? I can't imagine they're very cheap."

"Oh, that's actually my special talent!" Rarity proceeded to relay the story of how she'd gotten her Cutie Mark. "And so, I can simply cast a spell to detect any gems in the vicinity! They go so wonderfully with my designs, and they always catch ponies' eyes!"

"Wow," breathed Pipp. "We've lost a lot of magical knowledge in my time. Maybe you and the others can teach us some spells."

"That sounds lovely, darling," replied Rarity.

Pinkie Pie happily bounced her way down Ponyville's central street. This was not an unusual sight, as it happened pretty much every day. Ponies were pretty accustomed to it at this point. What they weren't used to was the lilac-colored unicorn bouncing in Pinkie's wake. The citizens of Ponyville could only stare in shock at the sight.

"Dear Celestia, there's two of them," breathed Roseluck.

"Eh, it's not so bad," said Derpy. "It's not like it was when there were dozens of Pinkie's rampaging throughout the town."

Pinkie and Izzy, naturally, were oblivious to the stares they were getting. Instead, Pinkie led the way as they bounced over to Sugar Cube Corner. She pushed open the door, standing aside to let Izzy inside.

"Here we are!" she proclaimed, happily. "This is where I live and work! Two for the price of one!"

"Ooh, nice!" said Izzy. Her eyes swiveled around, taking in everything she could see at the bakery. "I guess I am hungry. I don't have any money, though..."

"Here, have a cupcake!" said Pinkie, passing Izzy one of the sugary treats. "On the house! Anything to help out a friend!"

Izzy's smile grew even wider. She levitated the delicacy upwards, biting into it. As the food hit her tongue, her eyes began to water, most likely from sheer joy.

"This. Is. AMAZING!" she squealed. "This is almost as good as Alphabittle's Wishiehoof cookies!"

"It comes from years of practice, my friend! After all, making ponies smile is my calling in life, and what makes ponies smile more than sugary goodness? Of course, that's not the only thing that helps."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I always tried to bring the unicorns of Bridlewood joy with my crafting, but they just thought I was annoying." Izzy frowned a little. "Maybe I'm just not good at it..."

"Aw, don't feel down!" Pinkie encouraged her. "Sometimes, it's really hard for me, too. I spent a lot of time figuring out how to do it without annoying ponies. And everypony's different, so they require different approaches. Let me show you."

Pinkie led Izzy up to her bedroom on the second floor, before reaching over to the ice cream-shaped banister on the stairs. She pressed down on the top layer, which was revealed to be a switch. Suddenly, a trapdoor opened beneath their hooves, and both ponies fell down, landing on a curved slide that descended deeper. Izzy squealed with joy as they went, before they reached the bottom, and landed with a thump. The two were now in a cavern beneath Sugar Cube Corner, illuminated by three shining disco balls hanging from the ceiling, and filled with filing cabinets and party supplies.

"Wow!" exclaimed Izzy. "What's all this?"

"I managed to convince Mr. and Mrs. Cake to let me install this years ago," replied Pinkie. "This is my secret Party Planning cave." She pulled open one of the cabinet drawers. "Here, I keep lists detailing everything everypony in town likes at their parties, or if they like parties or not, so I can plan ahead for birthdays and other special occasions!"

"How...how'd you learn all this?!" exclaimed Izzy again. "All this stuff would take years just to write down! Are you some kind of genius party pony?!"

"Well, I wouldn't call myself a genius," admitted Pinkie. "To be honest, I found out most of this stuff through trial and error. I had a lot of ponies get kind of annoyed with me when I didn't know their preferences. So I took things up a notch."

Izzy flipped through the files. "You don't have your own name here," she noticed. "Do you not plan parties for yourself?"

"Nah. I used to, but after I got together with my best friends, they always came through for me on my birthday and things like that." Pinkie smiled as she looked off into the distance. "Friends are a great thing to have, aren't they?"

Izzy relaxed. "Yeah, they are."

"Whoa!" exclaimed Hitch, as he took in Fluttershy's massive animal sanctuary. "This place is incredible!"

Fluttershy smiled bashfully. "Thank you, Hitch. I did my best when I was having this place built."

Hitch, Sparky, Applejack, and Fluttershy were currently surrounded by the animal denizens of the sanctuary, led by Angel Bunny. There were all sorts of animals, from otters, to snakes, to Beary. Angel, being Angel, was busy shooting dirty looks at Hitch, but he didn't seem to notice.

"So how'd you learn you could talk to animals, Hitch?" asked Applejack. "Fluttershy's been doing it for longer than any of us have known her. Except Rainbow, of course."

"It was sometime after magic came back to my Equestria," replied the sheriff. "I've always attracted small critters to follow me. A lot of them will listen to what I say. I never knew where it came from, but on the day we discovered the new earth pony magic, I started being able to understand them. I don't think Sunny or anypony ever figured out why it was me, or anything else. I wonder if it's just part of my special talent." He gently stroked Sparky's head, causing the baby dragon to coo gently.

"I wonder if we might be distantly related somehow," pondered Fluttershy. "Then again, as Zephyr proved, the whole gift with animals doesn't automatically run in the family." Her expression turned sour at the thought.

"Zephyr?" asked Hitch.

"Her little brother," replied Applejack. "Not a bad guy, but he's the only pony I know who can turn slacking into a competitive sport."

"Oh, the stories I could tell you about a guy named Sprout," said Hitch. He continued to stroke Sparky, and the baby dragon occasionally swiped at his hoof. "I wish I could understand him, but he's too young. It sure would make being a dragon dad a little easier. At least I know now he'll learn to talk eventually."

"From what you've told us, his breath is a lot more powerful than Spike's was at his age," said Fluttershy. "Spike's breath can't transmute objects. I guess dragon magic changes in the future. Still, he looks happy and healthy. You seem to be doing a really good job with him, Hitch!"

"Thanks. I'm trying my best. I've had a lot of help from the girls, of course. The little guy's breath changes things all the time, he's always wandering off, and he eats everything! It's kinda crazy!"

"Well, you're doing your best, Hitch," said Applejack. "Have you been feeding him any gems?"

Hitch blinked. "Gems? Why would I be feeding him gems? I mean, granted, I've been sorta playing guesswork with his diet, but..."

"Well, in our time, gemstones are a dragon delicacy. Spike loves 'em! Of course, they shouldn't be the only thing his diet consists of, but once in a while, they're a good supplement. I don't know how easy they are to find in your time, but Rarity has loads of extras, and can find them easily! You should definitely ask her for some."

Hitch rubbed his head. "Thanks for that. I just wish I knew everything I needed to know to take care of Sparky. I feel like I've been a bad dragon dad sometimes."

"Are there not other dragons you can ask about how to take care of him?" asked Fluttershy. "Equestria is close to the Dragon Lord in this time. Did relations break down sometime in your future?"

Hitch shrugged. "Nopony's seen dragons in ages. In fact, when I found Sparky's egg washed up on the beach, I didn't even know what it was."

Applejack looked thoughtful. "That doesn't sound good. What could've happened to the dragons?"

Twilight and Spike led Sunny through the corridors of the empty School of Friendship. The orange mare's eyes were wide with wonder at every sight, occasionally pausing to take out her phone and photograph something, or write a quick note in her father's journal. She flipped through books, especially the published edition of Twilight's friendship journal.

"I never thought I'd get to see this place in its prime," she breathed. "Dad dug up so many stories from ponies and other creatures who went here. It's legendary!"

"I'm glad," said Twilight, though she said it quietly. "Did Argyle ever learn why the school shut down? Or when it did?"

"As far as I know, it was years after your rule ended," said Sunny. "It probably had something to do with ponies growing to distrust the other tribes again. It makes sense, with all the paranoia going around. For a while, friendship basically became a thing of the past." Sunny's smile dropped a little. "I'm so sorry, Twilight. I know that facing that future can't be easy for you, given how much you did for the sake of friendship."

"I'm not mad at you, Sunny," Twilight responded. "You did everything you could to bring harmony back to ponykind. Heck, you and your friends succeeded in reuniting the three tribes. It just feels...humbling. And not in a good way."

"What do you mean, Twilight?" asked Spike. "I mean, from what you've told me, there are still ponies that believe in your ideals in Sunny's time. Doesn't that count for something?"

"It does, yes, but look at ponies as a whole. Distrust and fear spread so deeply that ponies lost magic altogether. After everything we worked for, everything we fought to preserve, it hurts to know that will happen in the future. It especially hurts, knowing that my rule wasn't good enough to prevent it. Like I said, I don't blame you, Sunny. I'm glad there will be ponies like you to carry on the good fight, but it makes me wonder: are ponies just so inherently prejudiced against each other that we're just destined to keep making the same mistakes every few generations?"

Twilight lowered her head in grief, and her eyes started to water. Spike hurriedly threw his arms around his big sister's foreleg, and that brought the ghost of a smile onto Twilight's face. Sunny, apparently unsure of what to do, reached out with one leg and patted Twilight on the back to reassure her.

"If...if it's any consolation," Sunny said, "I don't think it was your reign that caused the rift between the tribes to rip open again. From my Dad's research, ponies prospered while you were on the throne. It seems like it was only after you stepped down that things started to get bad. Dad could never figure out exactly what the catalyst was, but apparently, the earth ponies suddenly blamed the unicorns for hurting them. Then, the unicorns claimed the pegasi were plotting against them, and it all just spiraled into a disaster."

"Really? That did it?" Twilight put a hoof against her chin, the way she did when she was deep in thought. "Is it just me, or does that sound kind of...suspicious?"

"Suspicious?" repeated Spike. "You mean...are you thinking somepony made ponies turn against each other?"

"Remember that message from the Unity Crystals? That projection of me said that somepony tried to steal all the magic in Equestria, and she/I was forced to seal it in the crystals. What if that same pony was the one who caused the division in the first place? So they could keep ponies from coming together to fight back?

"Doesn't sound like anybody we know," said Spike, "but that doesn't mean that somepony couldn't do that. It could've been some villain we know nothing about right now."

"Ooh, that reminds me!" Sunny whipped out her father's journal once more. "What can you tell me about the villains you defeated in the past? You know, like Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis?"

That brought a smile back to Twilight's face. It seemed Sunny's hunger for knowledge of Twilight's Equestria would never be sated.

After exploring a bit more, all eleven ponies, plus the two baby dragons, gathered back at the sight of the portal. Star Swirl, Starlight, and Discord were currently back in the castle, running magic tests on the Time Twirler, leaving only Celestia, Luna, and Cadence to see Twilight and the others off.

"So, what did you guys think of ancient Equestria?" asked Pinkie, bouncing up and down eagerly. "Pretty cool, right?"

"Even without electronics, it is a pretty interesting place!" replied Pipp. "So vintage! This is gonna make some great content when I get home!"

"I agree, I think I learned a lot today!" added Hitch. "And I'll be able to use it to help take care of you, Sparky!" Sparky burped purple flames excitedly.

Spike watched the tiny green dragon with fascination. "Was I at all like that when I first hatched?" he asked. "Because, if so, I want to apologize for my behavior."

Twilight giggled a little. "Don't worry, Spike. You were fun to take care of. Besides, Celestia was there to help me when I needed it." After a moment of deliberation, she added, "Yes, you were like that."

Spike groaned, but calmed down when he received a comforting pat on the head from Rarity.

"Ooh! Ooh!" exclaimed Izzy. "Now we have to show you guys what our Equestria is like! Sure, you saw a bit of Maretime Bay, and the inside of the Crystal Brighthouse, but that's just scratching the surface!"

"Do we have time for that?" asked Rainbow. "I know we only took a couple of hours to show you guys everything here, but we stuck to Ponyville. From what you've told us, you guys come from different towns entirely. Could we cover that much ground quickly?"

"Oh, don't worry about covering ground," replied Zipp. "We've got just the thing for that."

Twilight thought for a moment. "I guess I would like to see the differences between our Equestrias. Spike, do you want to come?"

"Oh, heck yeah!" replied the young drake. "I want to explore the future!"

"So then we're all in agreement?" asked Sunny. Everypony else nodded. "Alright. I know exactly what I want to show you guys next!"

"Sounds good to me!" said Applejack.

"We'll watch over the portal from this side, Twilight," said Celestia. "You have nothing to worry about."

"Thanks," replied Twilight. "With all that's going on right now, I could use a break from the stress."

With that, the ten mares, one stallion, and two young dragons turned around, and walked back through the portal. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence watched them leave.

"I suppose it was too much to ask that Twilight wouldn't discover what we were planning by going into the future," said Luna.

Celestia sighed to herself.

Chapter Six: ...Embrace the Future

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Maretime Bay

The two groups made their way out of the portal, back onto the concrete streets. Twilight lit up her horn to levitate the “Do Not Cross” lines out of their way. A quick glance around showed ponies going about their business, ignoring the swirling vortex in the middle of the city. Perhaps it was all the strange things that had happened in the seaside town over the past few months, numbing ponies to the unexpected. Or maybe Hitch was just that good at cracking down on ponies.

"So, this is the future?" asked Spike, looking from side to side. "It's not anything like it is in the Power Ponies comics! Where are the skyscrapers?"

"Oh, we've got plenty of those in Zephyr Heights," said Zipp. "Speaking of which, Rainbow, do you want to check my hometown out? I'm sure you'll be impressed!"

"And I wanted to show Pinkie around Bridlewood!" said Izzy, bouncing up and down on her hooves. "We can make friendship bracelets, and have tea, and—"

"Not to make anypony feel bad," interrupted Twilight, "but how are we going to get to all these places? Only a few of us can fly, and from what I understand, the art of teleportation has been lost in this time. How will we have time to see all these things?"

"Don't worry about that," said Sunny. "We have the perfect solution back at the Brighthouse. Follow me, everypony!" She turned and started trotting back towards her home. Twilight's group all looked at each other, before sharing a collective shrug, and following after the orange mare.

"WHOA!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, as she took in the sight before her. "This thing actually flies?!"

The Marestream sat on the landing pad next to the Brighthouse. In its inactive state, it was white, pink, and purple, and the highlights didn't glow with rainbow colors. The wings were collapsed to the sides, but they looked impressive enough. Twilight and her group all stared, slack-jawed, at the vehicle.

"You...built this?" Twilight breathed.

"Well, sorta," admitted Izzy. "It started as this old trolley cart that I took in, because nopony else wanted it. Then, I started thinking about how cool it would be if we could all fly together, and Zipp and I started working on it. Later, we put Sunny's lantern in it, and the whole thing sorta transformed into...this. And yes, it flies."

"AMAZING!" squealed Pinkie Pie, jumping up and down. "It's like a pegasus chariot times a thousand! If only we had one back home, I could attach a couple of party cannons to it, and spread parties all over Equestria!"

"Are you sure it's safe?" asked Fluttershy. "Not that I doubt you guys, but I get nervous enough flying under my own power."

"We had a bit of a hassle getting it through the snow in the winter," admitted Sunny. "But now that that's all gone, it should be fine! We all know how to drive it, just in case."

"I think we'll stay here," said Pipp. "I'd rather show Rarity around Mane Melody than take her back home, for now." The unicorn in question perked up at the mention of her name.

"Yeah, I wanna stay here, too," said Hitch.

"Alrighty, then," said Zipp. She opened the side door of the Marestream, beckoning Rainbow to join her. Izzy and Pinkie followed happily. "We'll swing by Zephyr Heights, dropping us off, and Pinkie and Izzy can go to Bridlewood. We'll be back by sundown."

"Sounds like a plan!" said Sunny. "Let's do it!"

Izzy used her magic to close the door behind them. The Marestream spread its wings and began driving forward, before launching off the edge of the landing pad. With a roar, it took off, soaring into the clouds and zooming away. The remaining seven ponies and two dragons watched the flying vehicle as it got smaller and smaller.

"I guess that's that," said Sunny. "Now, who wants to see Maretime Bay for real?!"

"You run a smoothie cart?" asked Twilight, clearly surprised.

Sunny smiled sheepishly at the princess as she dumped the contents of her blender into a smoothie cup, and passed it to the nearby customer. "I know. Not exactly a glamorous occupation for the alicorn defender of pony unity, is it?" she asked. "It's basically how I paid the bills while I was trying to promote friendship, before the whole Unity Crystal thing."

"Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of," said Twilight. "I worked in a library before I became a princess, and that's not what you'd expect me to do, is it?"

"Fair enough," replied Sunny. "And my friends who helped me bring unity to the tribes work pretty ordinary jobs. Except for Pipp and Zipp, since they're princesses, but neither of them really flaunt their titles. Pipp's popularity on social media is based more on her singing ability."

"Exactly. Just because we do extraordinary things doesn't mean we have to be extraordinary all the time."

"That's a good thing, at least," said Sunny, looking down. "I think the pressure would drive me crazy." Her ears drooped a little, and Twilight looked on, curious.

"Sunny, are you alright?" she asked. "Ever since we got back here, you've seemed kind of...somber."

"Well..." Sunny began, "it's hard to explain. Remember that talk we had back at the School of Friendship?" Twilight nodded. "Well, I know you don't blame me, or anypony for letting the divide get as bad as it did. Especially since, according to that message in the crystals, somepony engineered the split. But, if I'm being honest, which is one of your pillars of friendship, I don't feel like I'm living up to your legacy." Sunny put down the blender, and looked off towards the sea.

"Before Izzy came to town, I did everything I could to convince earth ponies to accept pegasi and unicorns. I even broke into Canterlogic during the demonstration of pony safety devices, and they wouldn't listen to me. I couldn't bring any semblance of unity to Maretime Bay, until Sprout tried to start a war. The biggest reason my friends started to follow my lead is because most of them didn't believe what others said about the other tribes to begin with. Sure, Pipp and Hitch turned around, but it took the destruction of my home to bring any lasting change." She turned back to Twilight, frowning sadly. "How can I claim to be a disciple of your teachings if I couldn't even convince anypony?"

"Sunny," Twilight began, "you have to understand, all those things you praise me for, all those qualities you admire about me? I didn't do any of them, or learn to become that pony, on my own. Everything I did, I did with the help of my best friends. I'm sure that still applies to the things I haven't done yet in my time. Friendship is the most powerful form of magic in our world, and it can overcome anything. From what I've heard about you, your situation is just like mine.

"You and your friends brought back pony unity, and you all contributed. I could never have defeated Nightmare Moon, or Discord, or any of them without the help of my friends. Especially because the Elements of Harmony require ponies that embody all their virtues. Even Princess Celestia couldn't use their full power by herself. You may not have Elements of Harmony, but you needed the help of your best friends. The Unity Crystals are symbols of what the three tribes can accomplish if they work together. And, as alicorns, we combine the powers of all three tribes. Do you understand?"

Sunny had been listening intently, and now she nodded. "I think so. You're saying that every aspect of our whole saving Equestria situation, and our alicorn status, we owe to our friends, and friendship in general. We can't do these incredible things on our own."

"Exactly," replied Twilight. "And we'll figure out what that future version of me in the crystals was talking about together. If there's somepony out there who wants to divide the tribes and steal all the magic, we'll stop them together, too." Twilight placed a hoof on Sunny's back. "Because we're friends now, and friends help each other, no matter what."

Sunny smiled warmly at Twilight's words. "Thanks, Twilight. Honestly, this is the best outcome I could've hoped for when I met you." She prepared another smoothie, with some strange fruits that Twilight couldn't identify. "Want to try this? It's made with some fruits that earth ponies have grown in our community garden. Some of the fruits ended up being hybrids, like pearnanas. Sounds odd, but they're actually quite delicious!"

Twilight put the straw in her mouth and took a sip. As the liquid hit her taste buds, she smiled. "Not bad," she admitted. "Could use a little work, but still, pretty good."

"Thanks," replied Sunny.

"This is my office," said Hitch.

The yellow stallion had taken Fluttershy, Applejack, Spike, and Sparky down to the station in order to show them the ins and outs of his job. Spike had initially wanted to stick with Twilight, but changed his mind, and decided to hang around Sparky, hoping he could help out with the younger dragon. Currently, Spike was giving Sparky various gemstones, borrowed from Rarity's stash, to figure out what Sparky liked.

"He seems to be responding best to emeralds," said Spike. Sparky burped happily as he chewed up another gem.

Hitch scribbled down a note, and slipped it into a folder marked "How to Take Care of Sparky." "Thanks for the help, Spike. I'm glad you guys showed up when you did. I had nopony to tell me what to do for Sparky before."

"So what's your job like, Hitch?" asked Applejack. "Back in Ponyville, we barely have any law enforcement at all. Do you have a lot to do?"

"Not really," admitted the stallion. "Mostly, I spend my time convincing ponies to pick up litter. Back before the tribes reunited, ponies relied on me and Canterlogic's inventions to keep them safe from pegasi and unicorns. I also had to spend a lot of time keeping Sunny from sabotaging Canterlogic's expos." Shame and guilt swelled up in his chest. "She knew better than all of us. She was the only one who realized all the things we said about non-earth ponies were wrong. I wish I'd listened to her all those years."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," said Fluttershy. "Sure, you may not have done the best thing at the time, but you learned and grew out of those prejudices. Besides, it wasn't entirely your fault you thought that way. You were raised to believe those things."

"Yeah, I suppose that's true. I guess the biggest reason Sunny knew better was because of Argyle. I wish Phyllis had been better to him. She led basically the whole town in mocking the poor guy for his beliefs, when really, all he was asking was for ponies to be better to each other. Not to mention how Sprout tried to start a war with the others."

"Where is he, anyway?" asked Applejack. "Isn't he your deputy?"

"He was, but after the whole incident, I forced him into community service to try and mellow him out. I think it worked, because he quit his job here. I think he might be working at Canterlogic now. Even since the reunification, they've been pumping out phones and things like that for Maretime Bay."

"At least somepony learned their lesson," said Spike. "When we defeated Queen Chrysalis for the second time, Starlight offered her friendship, but she rejected it, swore revenge, and ran away. It's kinda sad when you extend the hoof of friendship to somepony and they throw it back in your face."

"Hey, Discord reformed!" retorted Fluttershy. "Don't discount that!"

"I'm not, but it seems like he's an outlier," responded Spike. "Sure, him, Tempest Shadow, Sunset Shimmer, Stygian, and Princess Luna reformed, but King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, the Storm King, and Cozy Glow all refused to change their ways."

"Wow, you guys have been through a lot," remarked Hitch. "Sunny wasn't kidding."

"I guess that's just part of life," said Applejack. "We can offer friendship to every creature we meet, but we can't force them to take it. That would just make us tyrants. It's up to them to make the right choices."

"What about Sprout?" asked Fluttershy. "Did he accept the other tribes moving to Maretime Bay, or is he still bitter over it?"

"All things considered, he took it way better than I would've anticipated," said Hitch. "I haven't seen him go out of his way to make friends with non-earth ponies, but he hasn't been rude to them or anything, either. I don't want to push him or anything, so that's probably the best we could hope for." He looked off into the distance. "How do you guys deal with it? When Sprout attacked the lighthouse, Sunny couldn't sleep for days, and neither could I. We almost got killed, and that was just one incident. You've had to do it so many times. How do you deal with the terror and the fighting villains?"

"It ain't easy, sugar cube," said Applejack. "All I can say is you gotta take it one day at a time, put one hoof in front of the other, and you'll be fine."

Zephyr Heights

Having climbed out of the Marestream, Rainbow and Zipp watched as the flying vehicle, still carrying Izzy and Pinkie, flew away again, making its way towards Bridlewood. The ship wobbled a little as it went, but didn't crash into anything, which the two pegasi took as a good sign.

"I swear, nopony can fly that thing as straight as me," said Zipp. "Least of all Izzy. She won't wreck it or anything, but..."

"Don't worry. Pinkie will make sure she's fine," insisted Rainbow. "She might seem like an airhead, but she knows when to get serious." She turned to look at the golden city stretching towards the sky. "So, this is your home, huh?"

"Yep," replied Zipp. "It may be flashy, but underneath all that, it isn't a bad place to live. I know you're probably used to pegasi living in cities made out of solid clouds and things like that—"

"But without magic, that became impossible," Rainbow finished for her. "Don't worry, I understand. Though, now that everypony can fly again, maybe you could start building those cloud houses again."

"We'll see," said Zipp.

The two pegasi spread their wings and took off, flying over the top of Zephyr Heights. Below them, the citizens alternatively trotted or flew, while massive screens displayed advertisements for various products.

"We had those, too," said Rainbow, pointing to the screens. "Though ours ran entirely on magic batteries created by unicorns, and they only existed in Manehattan."

"Technology really has evolved since your time," replied Zipp. "Though we don't need to control the weather anymore, and nopony would know how to. Would you call that a step forward or backward?"

"Honestly, I can't say," admitted Rainbow. "I guess there should be some gratitude that pegasi no longer have to make sure everywhere gets enough rain and stuff like that, but it's also kinda sad, if you know what I mean. It feels like an era passing by. Did Sunny ever figure out why the weather operates on its own in this time?"

"I don't think she did. She definitely has some theories, but none that have been proven."

Zipp took the front as the two pegasi flew towards the Zephyr Heights Royal Palace. Rainbow followed, as Zipp circled the palace, searching for something. Eventually, she settled on a particular window, and pushed it open, before beckoning Rainbow to join her. The mares then slipped inside, discovering a hallway lined with gold, with white tiles on the floor.

"Wait a minute. If you lived here, why are we sneaking in instead of going through the front door?" asked Rainbow.

"Because if we let everypony know we're here, my mom—Queen Haven—will want to chat, and that'll spiral into a stay-all-day kinda thing," responded Zipp. "I love my mom to death, but she's kinda overbearing. Trust me, this is for the best."

"If you say so," said Rainbow. The expression on her face gave away the fact that she was probably thinking of a certain pegasus named Windy Whistles.

Zipp directed Rainbow down into the depths of the palace, with the duo occasionally having to hide from patrolling guards. Rainbow managed easily, having done the same thing at the weather factory a while back. Eventually, Zipp pushed open a door, revealing a room that had clearly fallen into disuse at some point. Dust covered most objects, with the exception of a blackboard, upon which were written dozens of equations, and a large fan. Looking up, Rainbow noticed a stained glass window, depicting a pegasus and a unicorn carrying their respective unity crystals. Above them was an image of an asymmetrical six-pointed star, just like Twilight's Cutie Mark.

"What's this place?" she asked Zipp.

"I'm still not entirely sure what it was. Maybe some kind of docking bay for hot air balloons. Back before Sunny and Izzy showed up," Zipp began, "the pegasus Royal Family—myself included—used to fake that we could still fly even after everypony else lost the ability. It's how we stayed in power. Before you say anything, I absolutely hated it. We were living a lie in front of all our subjects, and I wanted everypony to fly for real." She pointed to the blackboard. "I used to come down here to think about it, to get away from everything."

She reached over, and pushed down on a lever that Rainbow hadn't noticed. This action activated the fan, sending air pushing upwards.

"That had enough power to lift me, and make me at least feel like I was flying. Thankfully, I don't need it anymore."

"No wonder you were so good at flying when magic came back," said Rainbow, looking over the equations. "I give Twilight a lot of crap about being an egghead, but the truth is there's a lot of thought that goes into flight. But to have wings and be unable to use them..." Rainbow shivered. "I don't even want to think about what that's like. No offense."

"I don't blame you," replied Zipp. "You've lived with flight your entire life. Losing that would feel like losing a limb."

"Good analogy. Did the other pegasi take to flight as easily as you did?"

"In all honesty, no. There were a lot of crashes in the beginning." Zipp stared towards the horizon. "The others convinced me to set up a flight school for others a few weeks after magic came back, and I was kinda good at it, but to be honest, I don't think it's a long term career path for me."

"Aren't you next in line for the throne of Zephyr Heights?" Rainbow asked.

Zipp chuckled, but the laughter was hollow. "Yes, although I don't understand why. Just because I'm the oldest? Mom and I both know Pipp cares more about that kinda stuff than I do. Pipp's the one who puts herself out there on the Canternet everyday. Me? I'd rather just go flying by myself."

"Maybe that's why you were picked," suggested Rainbow. "Because you don't care about power and influence. It means you won't abuse it, and you'll actually try to make life better for your subjects. I'm not saying Pipp would be a bad ruler, but maybe your mom realized you'd do a better job."

Zipp turned back towards the sun. "Maybe," she said, though her tone betrayed her thoughts.

Bridlewood

Izzy brought the Marestream to a safe, albeit bumpy, landing just outside the tree that held her cottage. Pinkie didn't mind the turbulence, as she stuck her forelegs in the air and yelled "WEEEEEE!" as the vehicle descended. Once they'd landed, Izzy opened the door, and the two perky ponies bounced out into the world once more. Pinkie Pie looked around at the bright trees and the crystals sticking out of the earth.

"Wow, Izzy! So this is the place you grew up in?" she asked. "It's beautiful!"

"Thanks!" replied the unicorn, enthusiastically. "You wouldn't have said that a few months ago, though. Before we brought magic back, everypony here was just super depressed, and the entrance was covered with signs saying 'KEEP OUT' and stuff like that."

"But not you, of course," said Pinkie. "My life was kinda similar. I grew up on a rock farm, and before I discovered my special talent for throwing parties, nopony ever smiled. Granted, I didn't smile before then, either, but still."

"Yeah..." Izzy looked downcast for a second, before her bright and cheery attitude returned. "Anyway, let's go inside my old house!"

She led Pinkie down the path to her front door. With a quick pulse of her horn, she opened up the door, revealing an interior covered with Izzy's hoofcrafted creations. It was easy to notice the progression from Izzy's foalhood to the things she'd made as an adult. Pinkie's eyes glazed over the various macaroni art and metallic sculptures lining the walls. Izzy wheeled out a metal, flower-shaped stand that was currently folded up.

"I haven't gotten to use this since I met Sunny and the others!" she exclaimed, before cranking the handle with her hoof. The petals of the flower spread open, revealing a complete tea set with six cups. Izzy then set about pouring the tea into two of them.

"Where do you get the materials you use?" asked Pinkie. "This all looks kinda expensive."

"Oh, I mostly get it from the garbage," replied Izzy. "Uni-cycling, you know? Ponies throw so much useful stuff away!" She started to pass Pinkie a cup, but stopped midway, and lit up her horn to levitate it over instead. "Sorry. Even after all these months, I keep forgetting I can do that."

Pinkie took the tea in her forehooves, blowing on it slightly. "I don't blame you. You spent most of your life without magic, it's probably hard to adjust to having it again. Honestly, I'm kinda amazed you managed to make all this stuff without magic."

Izzy smiled proudly, before sipping her own tea. "It always made me happy to make things. I was always good at it, and I could bring things everypony could imagine to life." Her ears swiveled to point down as her face fell. "But nopony seemed to care about what I created. Everypony was just too depressed over the loss of magic."

Pinkie frowned. "From what I saw of Zephyr Heights and Maretime Bay, it seems that pegasi and earth ponies had a lot more advanced technology than unicorns did. Unicorns didn't seem to be able to make as much stuff without magic. I don't want to stereotype or anything, but it seems like they couldn't figure it out."

"That probably didn't help with the depressed part. Luckily, we've been expanding ever since magic came back, and unicorns have phones and stuff now. But if you could've seen Bridlewood when I was growing up..." Izzy shivered. "It's hard to stay positive when you're one of the few who's trying to."

"I know what that's like," said Pinkie. "In my time, keeping everypony happy was a super big deal, because of the windigos. But it doesn't seem like there around anymore. It was a real bummer that you lost magic, but maybe that helped."

"What're the windigos?" asked Izzy, curious.

"Evil, meanie spirits that feed off conflict and strife, and bring never-ending winter. They froze all of Equestria before the three tribes united for the first time. A lot of ponies just think they're just a foal's tale, but I believe in all legends and stuff like that. They always seem to come back in our adventures."

"Cool!" Izzy smiled, then looked down a little. "Hey, Pinkie? Do you think we'll still be friends when this whole mess is over? I know we live in different time periods and everything, so..."

"Don't worry, silly! Of course we'll still be friends!" Pinkie stretched out her forelegs, pulling Izzy in for a hug. "Friendship is something that survives through the ages. You guys proved that when you brought back friendship and magic to the three tribes."

Izzy smiled again. "Well, I guess we'll use the time that we have! Wanna make friendship bracelets?!"

"Do I ever!"

Maretime Bay

Rarity stood outside of Mane Melody, taking in the exterior appearance of the building. It was fairly ordinary, unlike Carousel Boutique, sticking out at the end of a city block. It was painted a bright shade of pink, almost like Pipp's coat. The building sign also had a fancy logo, with two stylized music notes that doubled as M's, like Pipp's Cutie Mark. Unless one was familiar with her, they might not have guessed that Princess Pipp Petals worked here.

Speaking of Pipp, the pegasus proudly threw open the doors of Mane Melody, wearing one of the biggest grins Rarity had ever seen.

"Alright, Rares!" chimed Pipp. "We're all ready! Come on in!"

Rarity obeyed and strolled inside, finding a location she was more than familiar with: a beauty salon. It appeared this kind of technology hadn't changed as much as others. Rarity knew every item in the building, and smiled fondly as she looked over each one, remembering all her trips to her beloved Ponyville spa. The only thing that seemed to catch her off guard was the karaoke stage set up in the back of the room.

"This is quite the impressive setup you have here, Pipp," she remarked. "How did you manage to throw all this together so quickly?"

Pipp smiled. "Well, it helps to be a princess," she admitted. "But I couldn't have done it without the support of my fans. Speaking of which..." She pulled her phone out, tapped it a few times, and set up a livestream. "Hello, Pippsqueaks! Welcome to Mane Melody, where today, we're hosting Rarity, the bearer of the Element of Generosity, and the most fashionable pony Equestria has ever seen!"

Rarity blushed a little at Pipp's flattery. "I don't know if I'd say the 'most fashionable,' darling, but I certainly do my best!"

Pipp pulled Rarity into the view of her phone's camera. "Today, Jazz, Rocky, and I are gonna give Rarity the full package, showing her how we do style in modern Equestria!"

"Are you sure about that?" asked Jazz. "I mean, not to slam on our skill, but she looks like she's been made up more than enough already."

"Oh, don't worry, dears!" Rarity responded, sitting down in one of the chairs. "I actually requested this from Pipp once she told me about Mane Melody! I want to see what you're capable of!"

Pipp smiled, before cracking her hooves. "Alright, everypony! We're giving her the works, so let's get to it!"

Soon enough, they had Rarity reclined in the chair, head lowered backwards into a sink to wash her mane. Rarity closed her ice-blue eyes and hummed to herself, while Pipp worked away, styling at Rarity's purple locks. Jazz produced her hooficure kit, and Rocky applied Pipp's natural fruity face mask (minus the magic glitter, of course). A cucumber slice was placed over each of Rarity's eyes.

"You take excellent care of your mane!" Pipp commented as she put Rarity's mane into curlers. "No split ends, no nothing!"

"Oh, that's to say nothing of her hooves!" said Jazz. "Not a crack to be seen! Honestly, I barely have to do any filing here!"

"What can I say? I take pride in my appearance," Rarity responded, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course, it's what's on the inside that's most important, but there's no reason you can't take care of the outside as well."

Pipp and the others continued their work, with Jazz applying an original color pattern to her hooves, and Pipp styling her mane. They even filed down Rarity's horn, a treatment they'd created specifically for unicorns. Rocky gave Rarity's white coat a quick brushing. Finally, the face mask was washed off, and Pipp pulled off the cucumbers, revealing Rarity's face to the mirror.

"So what do you think?" asked Pipp.

Rarity's eyes widened. Her mane, which was usually poofed outwards, had been draped downwards, reaching her shoulders on both sides. The hair curled at the very tip in six different places, with three on each side of Rarity's head. On her hooves, Jazz had added a coat of purple, with a circle of diamonds (similar to her Cutie Mark) going around the edge of each hoof.

"I decided to do something similar to what you already had," said Pipp. "Your mane style is just so unique already, I didn't know how to improve upon it."

"Oh, I LOVE IT!" exclaimed Rarity, pushing up her new mane curls. "I usually prop my mane up, but this frames my face so wonderfully!" She admired the new pattern on her hooves. "And I must say, this effect is simply glamorous! You ponies certainly know what you're doing!"

Pipp responded with a smile, gave a quick sendoff to her viewers, and shut off her stream. Then she sighed with relief. "You honestly have now idea how good that makes me feel," she admitted. "I know it wouldn't have actually cost me anything, but after all those compliments you gave me, and seeing what an icon you are in your Equestria, I really wanted to impress you."

"Oh, Pipp, there was no need to worry about making an impression on me!" Rarity insisted. "You gave me a gift out of your own generous nature! I wasn't going to insult you or criticize you, no matter what! It's the thought and effort behind the gesture that matters!"

"I know, and I really appreciate you saying that. It's just...you're a creator, too, even if you live in a time without the Canternet. You know how difficult it is to keep making things for your base, trying to one-up yourself constantly. It's stressful. I've never related to another pony in that way before, and I just wanted to show you what I was capable of." She chuckled to herself. "At least I didn't have to write you a song, too. That would've been a nightmare!"

"From what I've heard, you are a talented musician," said Rarity, pondering. "I won't ask for anything new, of course, but could you show me some of your past work?"

"Oh, I'd love that!" exclaimed Pipp, whipping out her phone again. "Let's go through my entire discography!"

It was late into the night when Misty finally made it back to Maretime Bay. She panted, having run both to and back from Opaline's castle, and nearly fell onto her knees in the process. The bushy-maned unicorn just barely managed to keep her balance, and looked out over the seaside town. She saw that the lights of the Crystal Brighthouse were lit up once again.

"Okay," she breathed through the exhaustion, "just gotta get Sparky, bring him to Opaline, get my Cutie Mark, and then this whole thing will be over with. And only eleven ponies standing between me and that baby dragon." She paled. "Yeah, only eleven..."

Chapter Seven: Taken

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Maretime Bay

It was the day after the eleven ponies and two dragons had their bonding session in the future. Twilight and the others had stayed overnight for a sleepover in the Crystal Brighthouse, after retrieving their sleeping bags from Ponyville. As the sun crept in through the windows, Twilight stretched her wings, and climbed out of her sleeping bag, waking up the others in the process. Soon enough, Hitch arrived, with Sparky in tow, and began whipping up pancakes for everypony.

"So, Hearth's Warming basically got split into a different holiday for each different tribe of ponies at some point?" asked Rainbow, taking a big bite out of her pancake.

"Pretty much, yeah," said Sunny. "Though they're all basically the same holiday. Some of the traditions are different, but that's it."

"And yet Nightmare Night stayed the same?" said Rarity. "Interesting. How did that happen?"

"Good question," replied Zipp. "It's been hundreds of years since your time, and we don't know everything that's happened since then. It's perplexing."

"I agree," said Twilight. "Though we probably shouldn't learn too much, or we could change the future." She finished the last bite of her breakfast, then cleaned her plate and put it in the dishwasher. "Anyway, my group and I should probably go back to our time and work on closing the portal."

"Awww, do you have to?" Izzy whined, while simultaneously using her magic to make Señor Butterscotch dance. "We've only gotten to spend one day together, and there's so many ideas I have for stuff we could do!"

"Yeah!" agreed Pinkie, shaking her hoof with the new friendship bracelet from yesterday on it. "I haven't gotten to throw one of my super special Pinkie Pie parties with stuff from the future!"

"Now, girls," Twilight began, "I know we've gotten close to Sunny's group and all, but remember, we can't leave the portal open too long or the consequences could be catastrophic."

"Come on, Twilight," said Applejack. "We know the portal's dangerous, but couldn't we hang out for one more day? Or at least part of one? Star Swirl and Starlight have the portal research handled right now, and you said the portal won't collapse anytime soon, right?"

Twilight bit her lip. "Well, yeah, but still..."

"Don't worry, Twilight," insisted Fluttershy. "It's just one day, right?"

Twilight's smile returned. "Yes, you're right. We could have a bit more fun. Let's try to keep it close to Maretime Bay, though. Just in case something goes wrong."

"Sounds good!" said everypony else. Sparky cooed happily.

"That reminds me," said Hitch. "Izzy? Pinkie? Could you two watch Sparky today while I'm out on patrol? It'll only be for an hour, maybe a little longer."

"Sure thing!" replied Pinkie, bouncing over and picking up the small dragon in her hooves. "Oh, we're gonna have such a fun time, Sparky!" Izzy gave her own nod of agreement.

"Do you need any extra help with your patrol, Hitch?" asked Fluttershy. "After all, I know you deal with a lot of critters, so having two ponies that talk to animals would make it go faster."

"Good point, I hadn't thought of that," replied the stallion.

From beneath a bush, Misty's pair of binoculars protruded, focused on the front door of the Crystal Brighthouse. She'd set up a small campsite near the community garden where nopony would see her, waiting for the moment Maretime Bay's newest visitors (along with Sunny's group) would come out, and hopefully bring Sparky with them. Her eyes were drooping, as she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, but she kept her gaze on the doors.

As fate would have it, her patience paid off, as the entrance swung open, revealing Hitch, sans Sparky. Fluttershy hovered a few feet above him, and the two trotted down the road towards the main part of town. Zipp and Rainbow were next, zooming out on their gleaming wings, multicolored trails spreading out behind them. After that came Rarity and Pipp, Sunny, Spike, and Twilight, and finally, Izzy and Pinkie. Sparky was held in Izzy's magic, and the little drake seemed to actually enjoy being floated through the air.

"Okay," Misty whispered, "so Izzy and the pink one have Sparky. That's good, Izzy trusts me. She'll let me get close. How to actually get Sparky, though..." Then her eyes widened. "I'm gonna need some supplies."

Sunny had decided to take the day off from her smoothie business, in order to show Twilight more of Maretime Bay. Spike flew alongside Twilight as the alicorn hovered just above the ground, while Sunny led the way on her roller skates. More than a few ponies they passed stared at Twilight, but they were gone before any words could be spoken.

"I bet this was a fun place to grow up," said Twilight, as they reached the edge of the beach. "Living by the sea sounds exciting. Were you any good at socializing as a filly?"

"Not exactly," admitted Sunny. "Although, I think a big part of that was me constantly repeating the stuff my Dad told me about pegasi and unicorns. That alienated a lot of earth ponies who heard and believed nothing but the propaganda. Still, at least I had Hitch. And maybe Sprout, though he never wanted to play the way I wanted."

"That reminds me a lot of myself," said Twilight, looking off towards the horizon. "I was always so focused on my studies, I never found the time for making friends. There were exceptions, like Spike and Cadence, and I was always close with my family, but overall, I wasn't great at connecting with others. I think, if Princess Celestia hadn't sent me to Ponyville to study friendship, I never would've come out of my shell."

"Maybe, maybe not," said Spike. "But I guess that's not important. After all, you both have the best friends you could ask for now, right?"

Sunny and Twilight both nodded. "Through some pretty unlikely circumstances," said Sunny. "You met your friends to help defeat a thousand-year-old corrupted princess, and I met mine to reforge pony unity. You don't see those kinds of things every day."

"You really don't," replied Twilight. She took another look around the beach. "Is this where those fillies found the Time Twirler?"

"Yeah, they said it was half-buried in the sand. Why?"

Twilight placed a hoof against her chin. "Well, the only way I can think of it ending up here is that it washed up from the ocean. Of course, that begs the question: how did it get in the ocean in the first place? How did it have the power to open that portal? And that tapestry you showed me has been bothering me as well. Who made it? Why did they make it? Could it have something to do with us?"

"What do you mean?" asked Sunny, tilting her head in confusion.

"Well, you see—" Twilight began, only for an interruption to cut her off. That interruption took the form of another pony, carrying a full, sealed box, slamming into her from the side, causing Spike to fall off her back. The two rolling ponies tumbled forward and crashed into Sunny, bringing them to a stop.

"Oooow..." groaned Twilight from her position trapped beneath Sunny and the unknown pony.

"You okay, Twilight?" asked Spike, flying over to them with a flap of his wings.

After a minute, Sunny, Twilight, and the third pony managed to disentangle themselves from each other. "Sorry, sorry!" insisted the pony, a blue unicorn. "I'm in a hurry, and I wasn't watching where I was going!"

"It's okay," insisted Sunny. "It was just an accident—Oh, hi, Misty!"

Misty winced, probably because she'd realized exactly who she'd run into. Twilight got to her hooves, and took a look at the unicorn. Misty paled a little.

"Twilight, this is Misty Brightdawn. She's a friend of ours," explained Sunny. "Misty, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle! She's here because an ancient Equestrian artifact tore a hole in space time! Isn't that awesome?"

Twilight shook the sand out of her mane, and extended a hoof. "Hello, Misty. It's nice to meet you. Any friend of Sunny's is a friend of mine."

"Um, uh, hi, Princess Twilight!" Misty squeaked, pressing her hoof against Twilight's. Beads of sweat were beginning to drip down her face.

"There's no need to be nervous," Twilight replied, keeping her voice level and calm. "And you can just call me Twilight. In this time, my title doesn't mean anything."

"Th-Thanks, Twilight," said Misty. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm running late for...a dentist appointment! Sorry to meet and run!" She scooped up the box she'd been carrying with her hooves, and scurried away down the beach, heading for the main part of town. Twilight, Sunny, and Spike blinked as they watched her go.

"That's a shame. I didn't even get to introduce her to Spike," Sunny lamented.

"Sunny, is it just me, or did she seem a little...off to you?" asked Twilight. "I mean, I get somepony being in a rush, but she seemed almost...scared of me."

"And why didn't she levitate that box?" Spike pointed out. "She's a unicorn."

"Now that you mention it, she's always been like that around us," admitted Sunny. "I mean, it's probably nothing, but she's always been awkward and nervous, and she runs off a lot. I've never seen her use magic, either. But maybe she just has social anxiety. Nothing serious."

"That's some pretty extreme social anxiety," Twilight replied, putting her hoof on her chin again.

Back at Hitch's office, Sparky cooed happily, rolling around on his back, while Izzy levitated Señor Butterscotch in the air above him. The baby dragon was swiping at the fake unicorn's legs, trying to pull him down, but Izzy would always yank him just out of reach. Meanwhile, Pinkie was busy writing down a list of party supplies that they would need for a cross-temporal celebration before the portal was closed.

"Don't forget the glitter!" Izzy chimed in, while using Señor Butterscotch's golf club leg to prod Sparky's belly. "Do you have any cannons that shoot glitter instead of confetti?"

"No, but I'm sure I could modify one of them!" replied Pinkie. "That's a great idea!" She made a quick note on the list, which was already as long as Hitch's entire office. "How's that collar coming along?"

"Great! I'm just finishing it up now!" While using her magic to play with Sparky, Izzy was also using her hooves to decorate a collar she'd been making for him. She was gluing brightly colored plastic beads around the outer edge. Satisfied, she levitated Señor Butterscotch down onto the floor, trotted over to Sparky, and slipped the collar around his neck. The baby dragon immediately began pawing at the collar, but was distracted when Izzy offered him an emerald snack.

Pinkie, meanwhile, rolled up the list, and stuffed it into her mane. "Alright! I just need to remember to stock up on all that supplies when I go back to Ponyville!"

Izzy opened her mouth to reply, but a knock on the door cut her off. The unicorn then lit up her horn, and the doorknob was enveloped in a pink glow, before being pulled open. On the other side was Misty, carrying a large cardboard box.

"H-hi, Izzy!" Misty squeaked, rocking from side to side. Clearly, she was having trouble carrying the box.

"Hi, Misty!" Izzy enthusiastically responded. "Let me help you with that!" She lit up her horn and pulled the box out of Misty's grip, levitating it inside the office.

"Thanks for that," said Misty. "I just wanted to drop by to..." She noticed Pinkie staring at her. The earth pony's jaw was dropped as low as it would go.

"Oh. My. Goodness!" squealed Pinkie. She bounced over to Misty and grabbed one of her forehooves, shaking it as hard as possible. "Are you a friend of Izzy's?! Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'm a time traveler from the past, and I've wanted to meet more of Izzy's friends all day! Normally, I'd sing the welcome song, but we're not in Ponyville right now, so instead, I can—"

"Uh, Pinkie? Can I talk to you?" asked Izzy in a hushed voice, pulling her away from Misty. The two perky ponies trotted over to the corner.

"Could you tone it down a little?" Izzy requested. "I did the same thing when I first met her, and she got really afraid. She's a nice pony, but her sparkle's kinda out of whack, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, okay," replied Pinkie. "Thanks for stopping me, I've made that mistake before."

Satisfied, Izzy led Pinkie back to the door. "Pinkie, this is Misty Brightdawn. She's my unicorn friend. Misty, this is Pinkie Pie. She's a time traveler." The last sentence came out as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh, uh, nice to meet you, Pinkie," said Misty, holding up her hoof. Pinkie pressed hers against Misty's. "Are you watching Sparky today, Izzy?" She pointed to the spot where the young dragon was rolling around on his back.

"Yep! Hitch is out on patrol, so we're keeping an eye on him."

"What brings you down here, Misty?" asked Pinkie.

"I thought you guys might be bored, so I brought you some party supplies!" Misty popped open the tabs of the box, revealing a collection of rocket balloons in all colors of the rainbow, along with an air pump to fill them. There were also streamers and eggshells filled with confetti.

"OOH!" squealed Pinkie, before she composed herself. "I haven't had a chance to use those things in Ponyville for years! They're a little loud, so not everypony likes them. But I'm sure we can get away with them here!"

"Nice! Thank you, Misty!" said Izzy. She levitated out the balloons and the air pump. "Shall we start with these? I like to fill them up and let them fly around the room!"

"Sure thing!" replied Pinkie. "But forget the air pump!" She tossed it to the side. "Let me show you how a real party pony does it!"

Entranced, Izzy sat down to watch as Pinkie began filling the balloons solely on the power of her lungs. She pinched the ends to keep the air from escaping, until she had about five of them. Then she let them loose, allowing them to fly free all over the office, bouncing off the walls.

"Cool!" exclaimed Izzy over the squealing of the balloons. However, she didn't notice Pinkie chucking one of the confetti eggs at her, where it shattered, covering Izzy's face with bright purple plastic pieces. Izzy just laughed it off, and soon enough, the two ponies were busy hurling eggs and balloons at each other, and running around with streamers tied to their tails. Señor Butterscotch was soon covered in confetti as well.

Meanwhile, Misty crept over to Sparky. The baby dragon was so busy watching his two caretakers having fun, he didn't notice the unicorn sneaking up behind him. Once she was within reach, Misty seized Sparky with her forehooves, shoved a needle-less syringe in his mouth, and depressed the plunger. The syringe was filled with a sedative Misty had "borrowed" from the local Maretime Bay veterinarian. It would've taken effect more quickly if injected, but Sparky's scaled hide would've prevented that.

Once Sparky had taken the entire solution, Misty released Sparky, who rounded on her, not looking happy. Misty dropped the now empty syringe in fear, and started to trot backwards, as Sparky advanced on her, panting purple flames. However, the dragon's steps soon slowed, and his eyelids began to droop.

Misty released the breath she'd been holding. "Good," she whispered. "Now to get you to Opaline."

Picking up the now-empty box she'd brought, Misty scooped Sparky off his feet, and slammed the flaps closed. She grabbed a roll of scotch tape from Hitch's desk, and pinned them down, but not so much that Sparky couldn't breathe. Then she hoisted the box onto her back, and with a quick check to confirm Izzy and Pinkie were still lost in their game, scurried out the door.

After another minute of giggling together, Izzy took a breath, and glanced around the room. Her eyes widened.

"Uh, Pinkie?" she asked, tentatively.

"What?"

"Where are Sparky and Misty?"

Misty galloped as fast as she could towards Opaline's castle. Inside the box on her back, she could hear Sparky snoring away. She made a quick glance back at Maretime Bay.

"I'm sorry, everypony," she whispered to herself.

Ponyville

Inside the research lab of Twilight's castle, Starlight and Star Swirl worked away on the Time Twirler. They'd been studying it for the past day and a half, running magical scans on the device to try and determine how it opened the portal.

"Any progress on your end?" asked Starlight, going over her notes once again. "I still can't understand how this thing got so altered."

"Sort of," admitted Star Swirl. He levitated up a pen and scribbled more on some parchment. "I've isolated the magical signature that imprinted the spell inside, but I don't recognize it. The time travel spell actually reminds me of one of my own, but I never tested it."

"Can I take a look?" asked Starlight. Star Swirl nodded and levitated over his scroll. Starlight took it in her hoof, and examined the writing. As her eyes scanned over his measurements, her eyes widened more and more.

"Is something wrong?" asked Star Swirl.

"Are you one-hundred percent sure about this?" demanded Starlight. He nodded. "Hold on, I need to check something!"

She fired up her horn, and teleported away. Star Swirl blinked in confusion, but before he could do anything else, a flash of light proceeded Starlight warping back into the room. In her magic, she held a purple file folder. She placed the folder down next to the scroll and opened it, comparing the contents to what Star Swirl had just written down. Once she was certain, she rounded on Star Swirl.

"Call Twilight. Now. She's gonna want to see this."

Chapter Eight: Resurrection

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Maretime Bay

"YOU LOST SPARKY?!" screamed Hitch. He tried to lunge at Pinkie and Izzy, who made no attempt to dodge, only for Applejack to wrap her forelegs around his midsection, holding him back.

"HITCH, CALM DOWN, FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE!" she shouted.

The group was currently gathered back at the Crystal Brighthouse. After Izzy and Pinkie had realized what happened, they immediately ran to tell Twilight and Sunny. Twilight, realizing everypony should know about it, had sent out a magical pulse, calling the others back to the Brighthouse.

"You two had one job," Hitch growled, somehow sounding like he was close to crying at the same time, "and you couldn't even do it! What, were you too busy playing around to keep an eye on my little buddy?! Now, he could be anywhere, and I'm never gonna see him again, and—!"

"HITCH!" Applejack yelled again, forcing her fellow earth pony to the ground. "Shouting at them isn't gonna do any good! We're gonna find Sparky, so just take a deep breath and relax for two seconds!"

Hitch still looked furious, but he obeyed, inhaling as much as he could, and letting it out slowly. Applejack released her grip on him, allowing him to settle down onto all four hooves.

"Thank you, Applejack," said Twilight.

Hitch's little outburst had the desired effect. Pinkie and Izzy looked absolutely miserable. Then again, that was how they'd looked even before he'd started screaming. Pinkie's mane was completely deflated. Everypony else was clearly on edge, not knowing what to say or do to defuse the situation. Zipp was going full detective mode, grabbing her super goggles and writing down notes.

"Would it help if we said we were sorry?" Pinkie asked, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. A quick glare from Hitch was all the response she needed, and she quickly clammed up.

"Okay, everypony remain calm. Losing our minds isn't gonna help Sparky," insisted Zipp. "Izzy, Pinkie, we need to know every detail, from the beginning. Tell us what happened."

Pinkie and Izzy were still downcast, but nonetheless, they told their short tale. How everything had been normal with Sparky, until Misty showed up. How Misty's gifts had distracted them, and when they looked back, both her and the baby dragon were gone.

"I found this on the floor," said Izzy, levitating up a small syringe.

Zipp grabbed the clue with one hoof, immediately putting on her super goggles and scanning it. "Looks like it was filled with a tranquilizer," she commented. "Makes sense. Sparky would just come running back if she took him while he was awake."

"So we're sure Misty took him?" mumbled Izzy, sounding even more heartbroken.

"I don't understand!" protested Sunny. "Why would Misty take him? What could she possibly have to gain from it?"

Twilight was pacing around the middle of the room. "I don't know," she said. "But I don't think you guys know everything about her. You saw the way she acted when she saw us at the beach. She must be hiding something."

"I've had my suspicions about her for a long time," added Zipp. "She was always nervous and awkward around us, and even though she claimed to come from Bridlewood like Izzy, she didn't know anything about the traditional unicorn sleepover. Plus, she freaked out and ran away in the middle of it."

"But...but she was...our friend..." whimpered Izzy, starting to cry. Pinkie put a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder, while the others looked depressed. Even Hitch's expression softened.

"Well, it doesn't matter now," declared Rarity. "We have to find Misty and Sparky, fast. Surely they couldn't have gotten far?"

"We'll need to spread our net as far out as possible." said Fluttershy. "Rainbow, Zipp, Twilight, and I can fly out in different directions and search from above. I don't want to think they got out of Maretime Bay yet, but we need to be realistic. Hitch, can you spread the word among the critters without me?" Hitch nodded.

"I can get all the Pippsqueaks on it, too!" added Pipp. "This is totally their thing!"

"Actually..." Izzy squeaked out, wiping the tears from her face, "that...might not be necessary."

"What do you mean?" asked Rainbow.

"Before Misty...showed up," Izzy continued, "I put a collar on Sparky. I put a GPS tracker in that collar." She pulled out her cell phone. "We can track him anywhere they go, as long as she doesn't take the collar off."

"Wow, good thinking, Izzy!" said Zipp. "We'd better hurry up! To the Marestream, everypony!"

She spread her wings, taking off from ground level and flying towards the platform where the Marestream was parked. Rainbow, Sunny, Rarity, Applejack, Spike, Twilight, and Pipp all hurried after her. Izzy and Pinkie, however, merely climbed to their hooves, slowly trotting their way towards the door. This didn't escape the notice of Hitch and Fluttershy.

"Hey, girls?" asked Hitch, drawing their attention. "Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you. None of us could've predicted that somepony was out to actually foalnap Sparky. And Misty's been hanging around us long enough that she knew how to play you two. It's not your fault."

"But still, we should've been more careful," insisted Pinkie. "I know ponies think I'm oblivious, but it never bothered me before. Now, I've screwed up because of my obsession with having fun, and—"

"It's not just you," added Izzy, sadly. "I was so excited to meet somepony like me, I let it go to my head, and now, Sparky is out there somewhere, and Misty's doing who knows what to him..."

"We won't let anything happen to him," said Fluttershy, sternly. "The fact that you thought to put that collar on him means you're not stupid. We can still fix this, don't worry. Besides, you can learn from this, and not make the same mistake again."

Pinkie and Izzy smiled slightly at her encouragement, and Pinkie' mane got some of its poof back. The four remaining ponies then scurried out to the Marestream.

Opaline's Castle

Misty panted as she finally reached the front doors of the castle. She'd been running constantly ever since she left the sheriff's office, and given that Misty wasn't the most athletic pony, she was completely exhausted. She set down the box containing Sparky and took several deep breaths to regain her energy. After a quick peek inside the box (to make sure Sparky was still unconscious), she pushed the front doors open with one hoof.

Opaline, as usual, was seated on the throne in front of her scrying pool. She was currently draining a tea cup of something, with a bemused look on her face. When she finished, she placed it down on the armrest.

"Opaline! Opaline!" exclaimed Misty, rushing up to the bottom of the throne. "I did it! I captured Sparky! I've got him right here!" She pulled the box off her back, presenting it to Opaline proudly.

"Oh, did you now, Misty?" replied Opaline, casually looking at her new hooficure. "As much as I'd love to believe that, you've brought me the wrong animal in a box before, so at this point, I know not to get my hopes up."

Misty frowned, but she shook off the expression. "No, really! I did it! Let me show you!" She grabbed a butter knife and used it to slice the tape, before popping the box lid, revealing the still-sleeping baby dragon laying within. "See? I've got him!"

Upon seeing Sparky, Opaline's eyes widened, and her eyebrows shot upwards. She leaped off the throne and trotted over to Misty, looking over Sparky. A smile slowly began to form on her face.

"Well, Misty, it seems you've actually accomplished something!" she noted. She stopped to cackle a little. "I'd ask how you pulled it off, but at this point, I don't care. I finally have the means to restore my alicorn powers!"

"And give me a Cutie Mark, right?" asked Misty, her eagerness palpable.

"Yes, yes, but first things first," replied Opaline, stretching her wings. "Time to remove that pesky enchantment Twilight Sparkle placed on me!"

She reached into the box with both forelegs, lifting Sparky gently out. The baby dragon continued to snore, the tranquilizer still in effect. Opaline wrapped her forelegs around Sparky's stomach, squeezing gently. Sparky's eyes slowly opened, and a faint burp of purple fire emerged from his mouth. Opaline's horn began to glow with purple electricity, and the dragon fire was absorbed into her horn. The magical aura around the appendage intensified, and the glow spread to Sparky's entire body. Suddenly, a stream of dragon fire began to climb out of Sparky's throat, as though being pulled by Opaline's magic. The baby dragon was fully awake now, and struggling to get away, but his efforts were futile.

"More, give me more!" Opaline snarled.

The flames from Sparky continued to be absorbed into Opaline's being, and her magical aura glowed brighter and brighter. Opaline spread her wings, taking off from the floor. Bolts of electricity zapped outwards from her hooves, nearly striking Misty, who leaped away in fright. Sparky garbled as he squirmed in Opaline's grip. His vibrant green scales seemed to dull as more and more fire came out of him, until his eyes glazed over. Opaline laughed as she released her physical grip on him, though she kept him in her telekinesis, and she gently floated down to the floor. Sparky dropped to the ground as well, lying limply on his back.

"My powers are finally restored!" she cheered, lighting up her horn and firing a lightning bolt. The blast destroyed a nearby wall and made the whole castle shake. "Now I can take my revenge on Twilight Sparkle at last, and she won't even know what she did to me! Oh, this is delightful! Soon, all of Equestria's magic will belong to me, and then I can—"

"Um, Opaline?" Misty interrupted. The magenta alicorn snapped her gaze onto Misty, who quivered in fear, but kept talking. "Not to be rude or anything, but could I please have my Cutie Mark now? You told me it would be really simple, so I was hoping we could—"

Opaline said nothing for the next few seconds. Misty continued to shake in terror, but kept the optimistic smile on her face. Finally, Opaline's face changed into a wicked smile, and she threw back her head and laughed.

"Oh, Misty," she said, casually running a hoof through Misty's bushy mane, "I can't believe, after all this time, you still believe I could give you a Cutie Mark."

For the next few seconds, nopony responded. The only sound that could be heard was a faint groaning from Sparky on the floor. Then, Misty sat up from her position.

"...what?" she asked.

"I may be an all-powerful alicorn," Opaline continued, "but it is beyond even my power to give a Cutie Mark to a pony. A mark must be brought to the surface through a pony finding their special talent. And yet, you honestly believed me when I said I'd give you a Cutie Mark." Opaline threw her head back and cackled some more. "It's sad, pathetic, and hilarious at the same time."

Misty began to tremble, and water began to pool around both her eyes. "But...b-but...you promised—" she whimpered.

"I lied, Misty," Opaline cut her off. "That's something that ponies do. I knew what to do from the minute you wandered out of that forest into my castle. I needed somepony to help me break the seal, and you did just that. But now, I have no further need for you." She powered up her horn once again. "So now, I'm going to do the entire world a favor."

"But I gave you so much!" begged Misty, falling to her knees. "You took me in, and I did everything I could to repay you! Did that mean nothing to you?! I don't...I did everything you asked me to!"

"That was your purpose, Misty," Opaline replied with a giggle. "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't get a Cutie Mark from doing that. Truly, that's a shame. But you've done all that I needed of you." Lightning began to gather around her horn. "Good-bye, Misty."

A Few Minutes Earlier...

Zipp carefully steered the Marestream, keeping it just above the trees as they went. The eleven ponies and one dragon were all crammed into the back, considering there were only six seats. Spike, Rainbow, and Fluttershy had tried to help by hovering above everypony else, but the constant turbulence had tossed them around, so they'd settled back down on the floor. Izzy was currently guiding them through her phone, tracking Sparky by the collar.

"Please tell me we're close to them," moaned Rainbow Dash, who was currently squished between Pipp and Applejack. "My wings are all cramped."

"Well, we are almost there," replied Izzy, looking at her phone again. "Sparky's stopped moving, so either they took off the collar, or Misty's reached her destination. Come to think of it, we never did ask where she lived."

"I still don't like this," Twilight muttered from her spot between the wall and Sunny.

"Why? What do you think Misty's gonna do?" asked Sunny.

"That's just the thing: I don't know what she could do. Sparky's breath has powers that dragons in our time never possessed. Whatever she's planning on doing with him, I doubt it's good. Otherwise, she would've just asked."

"Sparky! We're coming, little guy!" shouted Hitch.

"Hold on, everypony! I think we're...there?" said Zipp.

Everypony (and Spike) directed their gaze towards the windshield, where they saw what had caught their pilot's attention. A large castle stood over the horizon, sticking out from the side of a hill, with one large spire jutting towards the heavens. The castle glowed a faint black color from some magical source.

"Whoa," said Spike. "Izzy, you're saying Misty lives here?"

"I guess," replied the unicorn. "The signal from Sparky's collar is coming from inside."

Twilight kept staring at the castle, her jaw dropping lower and lower as she took it in. "That's..." she breathed. She lit up her horn, casting a quick, unseen spell. "Impossible..."

Zipp guided the Marestream down to the grassy plain just outside the castle, and landed it softly. As the ponies spilled out the sides to get the cramps out, she produced her super goggles, giving the castle a quick scan.

"There's tons of ambient magic floating around that place," she announced. "Just like the Brighthouse. Only this time, I can't tell where the magic's coming from."

Twilight continued to stare in silence at the castle. "Twilight? What's wrong?" asked Sunny.

"Sunny..." Twilight said, "that's my castle*."

Sunny almost jumped. "What?!" she demanded. "But your castle was made out of crystal from the Tree of Harmony—"

"I know it doesn't look the same," replied Twilight. "Clearly, whoever's been living there has altered it over the years. But I can sense the same magical signature around it. It's the same building."

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." muttered Applejack.

And that was when the blinding light emerged from inside the castle, bathing the surrounding area in a deep purple glow. This was followed by an intense scream of agony. Twilight, Sunny, and the others all looked at each other, then charged towards the doors.

Chapter Nine: Opaline's Tale

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Opaline's Castle

Twilight and Sunny were the first to burst through the castle doors. They both immediately covered their noses upon entering to block out the smell of burning hair. As their friends poured in after them, their eyes swiveled around, taking in everything in the room.

First, there was Sparky, lying on his back on the floor. His chest rose and fell, indicating that he was still breathing, but the breaths were shallow. Upon seeing him, Twilight immediately lit up her horn, engulfing the baby dragon in magic and pulling him over to them. Hitch reached out with both forelegs and grabbed Sparky out of the air.

"Sparky? Buddy? You okay?!" he said, frantically rocking Sparky back and forth. Sparky continued to breathe, but his eyes didn't open.

Second, there was Misty. The blue unicorn was laying against one of the massive stone columns that surrounded the room. Evidently, she'd been hit by some powerful magic lightning, as faint sparks of purple electricity still danced across her body. A large burn mark marred her flank, and she looked like she was fighting to stay conscious. Izzy rushed over to attend to her.

"Misty! Are you alright?!" she implored, using her magic to prop Misty up. Misty turned, her eyes barely open.

"Izzy..." she wheezed, "sorry...so sorry..."

The final noteworthy sight in the room was the magenta-colored alicorn mare currently flying above the throne. Her mane was white with cyan streaks, split into two braids that framed her face. Unlike Sunny, her horn and wings were organic, instead of magic-formed. Her eyes took in the eleven new ponies and one dragon that had arrived in her throne room.

"Ah, Princess Twilight Sparkle," she said, as her lips curled into a smile. "What a pleasant surprise to see you again after all these years. Not that I've missed you, of course, but why speak ill of the dead?"

"Who are you?!" Twilight demanded. "What did you do to Sparky and Misty?!"

"Oh, you're not going to get those answers out of me," Opaline snarled back. "I want you to die ignorant and unsatisfied. It'll give me some closure after what you did to me. However, I will at least give you the honor of knowing my name: I am Opaline Arcana."

"That voice..." Sunny muttered, with a twitch of her ears. "I know that voice..." Her eyes locked onto Opaline. "You were the one speaking to me through the alicorn mirror!"

Opaline put a hoof against her chin. "Hm. Perhaps you're not completely brainless after all, Sunny Starscout. At least you can take consolation in that."

Her horn began to spark with purple electricity again, and Twilight's eyes widened in fear.

"EVERYPONY MOVE!" she shouted, grabbing Sunny with her forelegs and yanking her to the side. Everypony else charged in different directions, and Opaline's lightning blast merely burned a black mark into the floor. Twilight responded with a magic beam of her own, but Opaline raised a shield to intercept it. Undeterred, Twilight kept her beam going, forcing Opaline to keep blocking it.

"Sunny! Listen to me!" Twilight shouted again. "Take your friends and get back to the Marestream! Go back to Maretime Bay! We'll deal with this!"

"What?!" Sunny shouted back. "No way we're leaving you alone! We can help!" She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will her alicorn wings and horn out. The glowing gold appendages did appear, but only for a second. Sunny groaned in frustration.

"You're not used to fighting!" Twilight insisted. "Sparky and Misty need medical attention! Get to the Marestream, now!"

Sunny opened her mouth again, but whatever response she had died in her throat as Opaline poked out one hoof from behind her shield, and launched a ball of electricity towards the group of ponies. Sunny hurriedly stomped the ground with one green glowing hoof, causing a small hedge to burst out of the floor to absorb Opaline's attack. While the plant did what it was intended to do, it burned up immediately from the magical strike.

"Izzy, get Misty! Pipp, Hitch, and Zipp, follow me!" Sunny called out. While her friends looked reluctant, they nonetheless obeyed her command, racing after her through the front doors of the castle. Hitch held the weak Sparky in his forehooves, while Izzy levitated Misty onto her back. Opaline watched them go with a smug look on her face.

"Sending your new friends away, I see," she said, clearly taunting Twilight. "Don't worry, I'll get to them as soon as I'm finished with you. Or perhaps I won't even need to, all things considered. Once I eliminate you, Twilight, they may just vanish from existence."

"I don't know who you are, Opaline," Twilight shot back, "but we're not afraid of you. We've taken down Equestria conquering villains before. You're no different!"

"Yeah, you big meanie!" added Pinkie.

"You and your horrendous manestyle won't be the end of us!" said Rarity.

Opaline gave one more chuckle. "I wouldn't be too sure of that if I were you," she replied.

Sunny and her friends raced out to the Marestream. Though Sunny was in the lead, she kept turning her head and looking back at what had once been Twilight's castle of friendship. The second they'd gotten out, bursts of explosive magical light had begun to shine through the windows, bathing the surrounding area in a purple glow.

"Twilight..." Sunny breathed. Her ears had swiveled back, laying flat on her head, ever since Twilight had told her to flee.

"Sunny!" called Izzy. "Come on! We need to get Sparky and Misty to a hospital!"

Sunny kept her gaze on the castle for a few more seconds, before turning to follow her friends. Zipp started up the Marestream, and soon, they were flying back towards Maretime Bay.

Opaline's horn fired three different streams of lightning at once, aiming to reduce the seven individuals in front of her to ashes. The ponies and Spike were forced to split, all rushing in different directions at once, in order to evade the attack. Twilight responded with another magic beam, which Opaline dodged quite nimbly. However, the magenta alicorn ended up flying right into the loop of Applejack's lasso. On the other end of the rope, Applejack and Rainbow both yanked as hard as they could, pulling Opaline out of the air, and causing her to slam into the floor.

"Everypony get her now!" yelled Applejack.

The six mares and one dragon all charged towards the fallen Opaline, but she stopped them with a stomp of her forehooves. She channeled her earth pony magic into the ground, causing several long roots to bust up through the floor. The new plant tentacles swung in a wide arc, forcing Twilight and her friends to jump up to dodge them. This gave Opaline time to flap her wings and take to the air once again. She powered up her horn for another lightning blast.

"Oh, no you don't!" shouted Rarity.

She lit up her own horn, focusing her magic around Opaline's mane. Her braids came undone, and wrapped around her face, obscuring her eyes like a blindfold. Opaline immediately ceased her build up of power in her horn, and instead reached up with her forehooves, trying to pry the hair away from her eyes.

"Insolent little wench!" she snarled. "You dare interfere in the affairs of your superior?!"

"Wench?!" exclaimed Rarity. "How dare you! Have you no—"

"Rarity, focus on the important stuff!" implored Fluttershy.

Twilight hadn't lost focus, fortunately. She launched yet another magic beam at Opaline, catching her opponent in the side, and sending her plummeting out of the air. Pinkie Pie was waiting on the ground, and jumped into the air, kicking so that Opaline bounced off her. Opaline was sent flying towards Rainbow, but before the pegasus could strike her, she managed to recover, remove the hair from her eyes, and blast Rainbow out of the sky with a quick beam. Twilight used her magic to snag Rainbow out of the air before she hit the floor.

"Now, where were we?" asked Opaline, grinning like a mad mare. A quick pulse of magic restored her mane to its original style.

She raised one hoof, charging another ball of electricity in the center. She took aim at Twilight, preparing to hurl the sphere, but before she could, Fluttershy zipped in front of her.

"Listen to me, lady!" the timid pegasus snapped, putting on the voice of an angered parent. "You can't just use alicorn magic for evil like this! You have a responsibility to use your powers for the greater good! Now say you're sorry this instant and stop fighting us, or so help me, you'll regret it!" Fluttershy then gave one of the most intense Stares she'd ever fired off in her life, boring into Opaline's head with her eyes.

"Oh...oh no..." Opaline whimpered, shriveling back under Fluttershy's gaze. "No...please don't do that..." She turned around, planting her forehooves on the ground. "I can't take it..."

Then she bucked outwards with her back legs, kicking Fluttershy in the face with both hooves. Fluttershy was sent spiraling backwards, crashing into both Twilight and Rainbow. The three ponies fell into a tangled mess of limbs.

"Or not," Opaline continued with a smirk. "Honestly, if that's your best effort, this battle was over before it started."

Rainbow and Twilight got to their hooves. Fluttershy, meanwhile, remained on her back, a blank look on her face, as though she couldn't quite believe what she'd seen.

"The Stare...it failed?" she asked. "Why...why didn't it work?"

"Forget that!" shouted Twilight, yanking Fluttershy away from another lightning bolt. "We're in trouble!"

Twilight returned fire with her own magic beam, but Opaline blocked it with another electric attack. Before she could blast Twilight again, a burst of confetti, courtesy of Pinkie's party cannon, hit her from behind. Opaline was knocked off her hooves, small bits of paper fluttering all around her, getting in one of her eyes, and in her mouth. Rarity and Applejack took the opportunity to give her a double buck from behind, sending her flying into a wall.

"Everypony regroup!" yelled Twilight. The others followed the command, coming together in a semicircle around the fallen Opaline. Twilight and Rarity's horns were both blaring with magic, ready for when their enemy got to her hooves again.

Opaline coughed, spitting out a few pieces of confetti. "You will pay dearly for that," she sneered. She took off with another flap of her wings, lighting up her horn yet again. Instead of firing more lightning, however, the magic began to mold itself around the bony appendage, forming a long, curved blade of solid magic. This did not escape the notice of Twilight, who began casting the same spell around her own horn.

"Rarity, Pinkie, Spike," she whispered under her breath, "I need you three to be ready to immobilize her." Both mares and dragon nodded.

Opaline didn't waste any more time on words, opting instead to lunge forward and slice downwards with her magical blade. Twilight responded by tilting her head to block it, resulting in the two locking swords. Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie circled around the two of them, attempting to jump onto Opaline's back and pin her down, but she flared her magic, creating a shock wave that knocked them away. Twilight was barely able to avoid being blown off her hooves.

"Will...you...just...stop?!" she grunted through clenched teeth.

"Not this time, Sparkle!" Opaline growled back, putting more pressure on the blade.

Twilight began pouring more magic into her horn blade. She slowly stood up to her full height, pushing harder and harder against Opaline. Opaline was forced to drop back onto the floor, planting all four hooves to try and push against Twilight. In an attempt to catch Opaline off-guard, Twilight tried to cast another spell in the midst of their sword lock. This spell would allow her a quick glimpse into Opaline's mind to predict her next move. But as her horn powered up, the magic she was already casting interfered. Then their horns touched.

"Wait a minute, what are you—?" Opaline started to demand.

A magical spark zapped from Twilight's horn to Opaline's. Twilight blinked, and saw no more.

I was born Opaline Arcana.

I was born into a family of relative wealth in Canterlot, a few hundred years following Princess Twilight's ascension to the throne of Equestria. I never knew the exact length of time. Being the powerful unicorn that I was, I applied to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, instead of Princess Twilight's ridiculous "School of Friendship." I quickly rose through the ranks, impressing Princess Twilight herself so much that she decided to appoint me as her newest personal pupil. She'd had many over the years, beginning with Luster Dawn, but none had ascended to alicorn status. I was determined to break that trend.

I threw myself into my studies, learning all the most powerful magical techniques and skills that I would need in order to become Queen of Equestria. Though Twilight kept up some idiotic notion of humility with her subjects, I knew better. Alicorns possessed the abilities of all three pony tribes, and magic beyond the capacity of any normal pony. Alicorns were destined to rule over all ponykind, and all other ponies should bow down to them out of obligation. In fact, normal ponies didn't deserve magic. Once I had my alicorn wings, I would strip my new subjects of their power, and teach them to respect their superiors.

Of course, Twilight didn't see it that way. She kept going on and on about "friendship" and "equality" with other ponies, how true harmony could only be achieved by working together. Hogwash. Friendship is a ruse, merely a tool to get other ponies to do what you want. I'll admit, it had its uses, but overall, friendship is something for lesser ponies to concern themselves with.

Still, I endured. I followed Twilight's "friendship" lessons, memorizing her pathetic morals until my ears bled. I studied those blasted "Unity Crystals" that symbolized the idiotic cooperation between the three tribes. But I never lost sight of my end goal. Eventually, I convinced Twilight I was ready to gain the power I'd craved. She transformed me into Equestria's newest alicorn, and told me that I'd soon take her place as ruler. And then, I began the next phase I'd been planning.

I'd studied Equestrian history extensively, of course. I remembered how strong ponies could be if they managed to work together. Hearth's Warming reminded me of it every year, annoyingly enough. So I decided I'd make sure that ponies would never stick together, in order to secure my rule as much as possible. Then there was the matter of those filthy other creatures who'd started integrating into Equestria.

I began by spreading rumors. Rumors that pegasi were snatching grounded ponies off the earth and grinding them down. Rumors that unicorns could read minds and disintegrate ponies they didn't like. Rumors that earth ponies would hoard all the food they grew to themselves if they caught so much as a whiff of trouble. Rumors that dragons, yaks, changelings, buffalos, griffons, kirin, and hippogriffs were only befriending ponies as part of a plot to eventually seize control and divide Equestria up between their kingdoms. I even created incidents with my new magic, disguising myself as a pegasus or unicorn to abduct some worthless earth ponies, in order to scare them. No one would miss those earth ponies, anyway. I eliminated some pegasi and unicorns as well.

Given enough time, it began to work. The pegasi began to isolate themselves in their cloud cities. The unicorns retreated into the woods. The earth ponies fled near to the coast. All the other races withdrew entirely from Equestria, severing ties. Of course, the fear and discord caused the return of the windigos, but I was far beyond their power by then. I destroyed them with little effort, and I soon began work on a spell that would give me all the magic in Equestria, leaving everypony else powerless. The Unity Crystals would be the conduit, channeling all the magic into me.

Unfortunately, that was where I got careless.

Twilight revealed that she had deduced my plan, and intended to stop me with the power of the Unity Crystals. Being the all-powerful alicorn that I was, I would not go down without a fight. Twilight and I battled across Equestria, leveling mountains through our sheer magical might. I managed to mortally wound her, but she had the last laugh. She forced me into her old castle in the ruins of what was once Ponyville, long since abandoned. Using the Unity Crystals, she stripped me of my magic, placing a seal on the castle that prevented me from leaving. She told me that the spell could only be undone through the magic of dragon fire, and separated the unity crystals. She promised me that, before she succumbed to her wounds, she would put the crystals in safe places, to be passed down, and ensure that I would never find them. But I would never give in. I would find a way to reclaim my powers, and take back the magic she'd stolen from me.

With a pained scream, Twilight wrenched her horn off of Opaline's, breaking the magical mind-meld and causing both alicorns to drop onto their rear ends.

"Twilight!" shouted Spike, running towards his sister figure. He propped her up with both arms. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Twilight blinked a couple of times, shaking her head clear. Then, her eyebrows shot upwards, presumably as her brain processed exactly what she'd seen in Opaline's mind.

"You...you..." she stammered, pointing at Opaline with one hoof. Opaline rolled her eyes. "You're...a monster. And I enabled you. You're my Sunset Shimmer..."

"You said those exact same things centuries ago, Twilight," Opaline snarked. "And it was just as pointless back then. You're pathetically predictable." Twilight didn't respond. She just trembled even more.

"What did you do to her?!" demanded Spike. He took in a deep breath, launching an emerald fireball towards Opaline, who nimbly dodged it.

"I did nothing. At least, not on purpose," responded Opaline. "I suppose I've wasted enough of my time now. I'm free from the seal you placed on me so long ago, so I'll do us all a favor and end this now."

She powered up her horn one more time, and everyone braced themselves for the next attack. However, instead of blasting at them, Opaline directed her attack towards the ceiling. Her magical attack busted a hole in the roof, sending chunks raining down onto Twilight and the others, while she, who'd known what was coming, dodged every one. Once Twilight and the others were sufficiently buried, she smiled to herself.

"There," she declared. "Even if that didn't kill them, it should give me enough of a head start."

Turning around, Opaline took off and flew through the newly created hole in the castle's roof.

Under the rubble, a faint, raspberry-colored glow began to emerge. Suddenly, a powerful pulse of magic shot outwards, shattering the rocks and pushing them away. Twilight and the others were revealed, unharmed, beneath a dome-shaped shield of Twilight's magic.

"Good move, Twi," said Applejack. "Dang, that pony is tough. We hit her with everything we had and it didn't do anything!"

"That doesn't matter now," said Twilight. "We need to get back to Sunny and the others. They're in terrible danger!"

Chapter Ten: Misty's Tale

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Maretime Bay

The Marestream touched down near the Maretime Bay Hospital within half an hour of departing. Several ponies had freaked out upon seeing the vehicle descend from the skies, but naturally, that wasn't the biggest concern of those inside. Upon parking the ship, the five ponies charged into the hospital, carrying Misty and Sparky with them.

That had been thirty minutes ago. Since then, Sunny and her friends had remained in the hospital lobby. Misty and Sparky had been taken away, and the five had nothing else to do, besides wait for news.

"We shouldn't have left Twilight and the others," said Sunny, keeping her sad gaze locked onto the floor.

"We had no choice, Sunny," responded Izzy. "We couldn't fight and leave Misty and Sparky wounded in the castle!"

"Besides, I'm sure Twilight and the others can handle Opaline," added Pipp. "They have years of experience fighting Equestria-conquering villains and stuff like that. Not like they need our help."

"I hope you're right," said Sunny. She didn't look any happier.

IV Injection, the attending doctor, came trotting down the hall. The five friends got off the bench, and formed a semicircle around him.

"How are they?" asked Hitch.

"Well," began the doctor, "the good news is that Misty should make a full recovery. She just suffered some burns to the side of her body. I'm not sure what exactly burned her, but it doesn't appear to be anything life-threatening. Sparky, on the other hoof..." Injection fumbled with his forehooves. Hitch looked like he was about to break down sobbing.

"Please, tell us," implored Zipp.

"We're not sure how to treat Sparky. In fact, we're not exactly certain about what's wrong with him. He's stable, but his vitals are pretty low, at least by pony standards. He won't wake up."

Hitch cradled his face in his forehooves, barely stopping the tears that began to flow. Sunny put a comforting hoof on his back, patting gently.

"You can see them now," continued Injection. "We've put them in the same room. We'll keep trying to help Sparky, but the prognosis is..." He looked down. Perhaps he couldn't finish that sentence. Hitch kept crying.

"Thanks, Doc," replied Zipp.

Injection nodded, and turned on one hoof, trotting off into the depths of the hospital. As Hitch continued to sob, the other four ponies all looked at each other.

"Now what?" asked Izzy. "There has to be something we can do!"

"Twilight and the others might know how to treat Sparky," said Zipp. "But we don't know how to contact them!"

Sunny opened her mouth to reply, only to be cut off as the hospital doors burst open. All five ponies spun towards the entrance, Hitch even ceasing his crying, to discover that Twilight's group stood there. As they looked closer, they noticed that the group was a little worse for the wear. All their manes were disheveled and messy, Rainbow Dash had a burn mark on her chest, and even Twilight was panting.

"Sunny!" exclaimed Twilight, rushing over to the earth pony. "You're all in danger! We need to—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down!" interrupted Pipp. "How'd you guys even get back?! What's going on?! Did you stop Opaline?!"

"I teleported us all back to Maretime Bay," replied Twilight. "My magic's reached its limit, though. I'm in no condition for another match with that monster." She spat those last two words out.

"To answer your last question, sugar cube," added Applejack, "no. We tried, but she's crazy powerful. We have no idea where she is now."

"But we've got a pretty good idea where she might be going," said Spike.

"Sunny, you have to listen," Twilight continued. Then, she quickly summarized the horrific truths she'd seen unfold inside Opaline's mind. By the time she was finished, the jaws of Sunny and all the others were nearly hitting the floor.

"Are you serious?!" exclaimed Zipp. "So it was Opaline's fault that the three tribes separated in the first place?!"

"And she drove away all the other sapient races from Equestria?!" added Hitch.

"And she killed you in the future?!" shouted Sunny, only to receive annoyed glares from the hospital staff. Her ears swiveled backwards in embarrassment.

"Well, it was more like she mortally wounded me," replied Twilight. "For all we know, future me could've survived—"

"Not the time, Twilight!" interrupted Rainbow.

Twilight opened her mouth, but then closed it, conceding that Rainbow had a point this time. "Anyway," she continued, "we have a feeling Opaline will be going after the Unity Crystals. The magic around the Brighthouse will probably keep her at bay briefly but if she gets access to the crystals, she could, in theory, take all the magic from everypony in Equestria. Combined with the power she already has, she'd be unstoppable."

Sunny swallowed in fear. "So what do we do now?" she asked. "Go back to the Brighthouse and try to defend it?"

"I suggest we ask Misty," said Rarity. "Even with all eleven of us working together, our chances might not be much better. Perhaps Misty knows some secret weakness of Opaline's that we could use against her."

"And we should probably check up on Sparky while we're at it!" said Pinkie, looking a little more guilty.

Everypony agreed. Within a minute, they'd made their way to the room where Sparky and Misty were intubated. The baby dragon was hooked up to multiple monitors, with a mask hooked over his face, as his body shivered with each breath he took. Hitch reiterated what the doctor had said, how they had no idea of what kind of treatment Sparky required. Twilight cast a quick probing spell on Sparky's unconscious body.

"His condition is stable right now," she said, once she'd finished, "but Opaline didn't just take his fire, she stole the magic that makes up Sparky's very life force. I don't know how to replenish it, besides forcing her to relinquish that magic. Without it...I don't think he'll make it."

Hitch nodded somberly. His grief had advanced beyond anything tears could express.

The eleven ponies and one young dragon turned towards the room's other occupant. Misty lay on her side on the bed, with her flank covered with bandages. An IV line was placed inside her right foreleg. She faced away from them, her head buried in the pillow. Izzy was the first to venture forward, gently pressing against Misty's side with one hoof.

"Misty?" she asked. "I know this is the worst possible time, but can you talk to us?"

Misty rolled over to face them, and though her eyes were dry now, it was obvious that she'd been crying as hard as Hitch had been. Her eyes were red, and her face was streaked with dried tears.

"Please..." she whimpered, trembling with fear, "I didn't mean to...I'm so sorry..."

Fluttershy stepped forward next. She unfolded one of her wings, draping it like a comforting blanket over Misty's body. "We're not angry at you, Misty," she promised. "We just wanted to talk to you."

Misty sniffled, and Pinkie passed her a tissue so she could blow her nose. Once she was finished, she looked back up at the assembled group, none of whom were looking at her with angry expressions. Rather, they seemed sympathetic, and unsure of what to say.

"I swear, I didn't know what she would do to Sparky," she began. "I knew it would restore her powers, but she didn't tell me what would happen to him. She promised she'd give me a Cutie Mark if only I helped her get her magic back. I had nopony else to turn to."

"Wait, a Cutie Mark?" interrupted Applejack. "Don't you already have one?" She pointed to the butterfly on Misty's flank.

Misty snorted. "It's fake," she replied, reaching over with one hoof. Sure enough, with a quick wipe, the butterfly smeared away, unlike any true Cutie Mark.

"You're a blank flank?" asked Twilight. "At your age? I've never heard of a pony going that long without..." She paled, apparently just noticing the others giving her looks. "Sorry. Never mind. Wrong time."

Misty sighed. "She promised she'd give me one for my entire life. So I did everything for her. I spied on you all, concocted about a million schemes to steal Sparky. Then, the second I brought him to her, she told me magic can't give a pony a Cutie Mark. She told me that it had to be earned." She looked pleadingly at Twilight. "Was she telling the truth?"

"I'm...afraid so," replied the alicorn.

Misty's face didn't fall, but perhaps that was because she was already so deep in grief that she couldn't fall any further. She settled down onto the bed, looking at her forehooves with a dead expression.

"Misty, dear..." Rarity ventured, "I hate to ask, but is there anything else you could tell us about Opaline? We need to stop her, and anything you could give us could help."

"I'll tell you everything, but I don't think it'll help," replied the unicorn, sadly.

The first thing I remember is being alone. I don't know the reason why, or how I ended up that way. I remember wandering through the woods, all by myself, not knowing who anypony was, or what anything was. I had nothing to my name. Heck, I didn't even have a name. I just walked endlessly, looking for anyone I could find. Sometimes, I thought I was the only living thing in the world.

That was when I found her castle.

It was the first time in my life that I remember seeing a building. Of course, I didn't know that's what it was at the time. All I knew was that the rain and the wind couldn't get to me inside that building. So, having no other option, I went inside.

Opaline, of course, was trapped inside that castle. She found me as soon as I got in. She claimed she rescued me without a second thought, but considering recent events, I think we can safely doubt the truth of that statement. Whatever. Anyway, she took me in, and raised me from that day forward. It was her that gave me the name Misty. Looking back, I think I figured out early on that she only cared about how I could bring her imprisonment to an end, but I didn't care. She was the only pony in the world who I'd ever known. I had no choice.

Opaline told me that she was the source of all the magic in Equestria, that Princess Twilight had stolen it from her because everypony else was jealous of Opaline's alicorn powers. She told me her powers had been sealed away, and that she could give me a Cutie Mark if she regained them. Once I learned what a Cutie Mark was, I wanted one more than anything in the world. Because I'd never had a purpose for my existence. Opaline promised me I'd find one just by serving her. Well, we can all see how that turned out.

Opaline spied on Equestria through her scrying pool, watching for when magic would return to Equestria. When Sunny and the others restored it, she saw an opportunity. First, she wanted me to steal Sunny's lantern containing the harmony power, believing she could leach the magic from it somehow. But it only got worse when she discovered Sparky. She knew his fire could break the seal on her, so she endlessly demanded that I get him. Sure enough, when I managed to get a sample of dragon fire, she was able to restore some of her strength, but it wasn't enough.

And when Twilight and the others showed up, she completely lost it. I'm guessing that's because Twilight defeated her before. She wanted me to bring Sparky before the portal closed, so she could undo her loss. After all this time, I finally managed to pull it off by tricking Izzy and Pinkie, and drugging Sparky. But as soon as Opaline had her powers back, she told me about how everything I had worked for was for nothing. How my entire purpose in life didn't matter. And then she tried to kill me.

As Misty finished her story, the others all stared on in shock. Clearly, they hadn't expected Misty's life to be that bad. Pinkie and Fluttershy looked like they might burst into tears at any second.

"So, yeah. That's everything," Misty continued. She turned to look at Sunny. "That story you told at the sleepover. That's the truth, isn't it? And Twilight was the pony sent to study friendship?"

Sunny stared numbly for another second, but finally nodded. "Y-yes," she replied.

Misty laid her head back. "I'm sorry that I spied on you for all those months, pretending to be your friend. Honestly, I'm shocked you never figured it out, with how dumb I was."

"I had my suspicions about you," admitted Zipp, "but I never knew anything about Opaline."

Applejack trotted up to the side of the bed. "Sugar cube," she started, "you didn't have a choice. Nopony blames you for what you did. It was Opaline forcing you. Right?" She turned to look back at the others. Sunny's group hurriedly nodded in response. "See?"

Misty sighed, still not looking at them. "It doesn't change the fact that I did those things," she replied. "I don't know how to fight Opaline. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do to help you."

No one responded for the next few seconds. Applejack placed a hoof against Misty's side, but the unicorn didn't move. Twilight looked her friend in the eye, and silently shook her head. Applejack's ears swiveled backwards, but she nonetheless removed her hoof. The eleven ponies plus one dragon all turned around and left the room, leaving Misty alone with her thoughts and a comatose Sparky.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Izzy, once they'd walked out the front doors of the hospital.

"We have to fight back!" replied Sunny. "Opaline's gonna take the Unity Crystals and use them to take all the magic in Equestria! Plus, Sparky could die if we don't stop her! Surely all of us together can beat her! Right?" She turned to Twilight.

However, the purple alicorn's head hung low, as though nothing in the world mattered anymore. Twilight didn't even meet Sunny's gaze.

"I don't know," she responded. "I just don't know. Opaline is strong. Stronger than me. Seven of us weren't enough to stop her, and you aren't used to fighting." She sighed to herself. "I don't know if we can win."

"What?!" cried Sunny. "But you and the other Guardians of Harmony always win! You beat Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek—"

"Well, we didn't know we would win in those situations, Sunny!" shouted Twilight. "In fact, in every one of those fights, it always seemed hopeless!"

"Then how is this any different?!" Sunny demanded. "You're still all together, and you've got us! How can you not believe in us?!"

"You aren't ready! You told me about what happened when you first restored magic, how you barely survived by luck instead of working as a team! This isn't some fairy tale, this is life! And I have no idea how we can defeat Opaline!"

"Is that so?" Sunny growled back. "Well, maybe I should find some other pony to look up to, then!"

"Maybe you should realize that the ponies you look up to are just as fallible as you!" Twilight shot back.

By this point, the two mares were pressing their noses against each other, glaring directly into each other's eyes. This was only halted when Zipp grabbed Sunny from behind, and Applejack grabbed Twilight by the tail.

"Alright, you two, that's enough! Break it up!" Zipp yelled.

"Yeah! We may be in trouble, but screaming in each other's faces ain't gonna solve anything!" added Applejack.

Twilight and Sunny each took a deep breath, and turned to face away from each other. After several more inhalations, their postures relaxed, and the tension left their bodies.

"Thank you, Applejack," said Twilight. "I really needed that."

"Me too," admitted Sunny. "I appreciate that, Zipp."

Once the two had sufficiently calmed down, they turned towards each other once more.

"I'm sorry," Twilight said first. "I just...you know by now that I don't do well with stress. Especially considering this is partially my future self's fault for making Opaline an alicorn in the first place."

"You don't have to apologize for being honest," replied Sunny. "I shouldn't have put you on a pedestal like that. You deserve more respect than I've been giving you."

"Uh, girls?" interrupted Hitch. "I hate to ruin the moment, especially since it seems like we were getting somewhere, but we still have no plan. From what Twilight's told us, rushing in blindly isn't going to work. We need to think of something."

Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by another voice yelling "TWILIGHT!" in the distance. As the ponies searched for the source of the voice, a sudden flash of white and turquoise light appeared, before fading to reveal a familiar pink unicorn.

"Starlight?" What are you doing here?" demanded Rainbow.

Starlight Glimmer ignored her. "Twilight, I've been sending a magical pulse all around town looking for you for the past thirty minutes! Where have you been?!"

"Um, we kinda had a bit of a crisis to deal with, Starlight," replied the alicorn. "Can this wait? It turns out, the situation is a lot more dire than we initially thought, and—"

"No, this cannot wait," Starlight insisted. "I don't know what's going on on your end, but Star Swirl and I made a huge discovery when we took apart the Time Twirler."

Twilight perked up a little at that. "Really? Did you find out how it was modified to open the portal?"

'Not exactly," admitted Starlight. "What we learned raises way more questions than answers. Because the magical signature, the one that cast the spell on the Time Twirler to make it the way it was in this future...was you."

Chapter Eleven: The Plan

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Maretime Bay

Twilight only stood there, blinking, for what seemed like hours. She just stared at Starlight, not really seeing the unicorn. The others didn't have anything to say either.

"I...I'm sorry," Twilight finally managed to squeak out, "but could you repeat that, Starlight?"

"You were the one that cast the time portal spell on the Time Twirler," Starlight reiterated. "The spell's signature is a perfect match for your unique magical signature. Well, there's some of my magic in there, Star Swirl's, and Discord's, too. But the base of the spell comes from you. And before you ask, yes, I checked it against the records of our magical signatures. That's how I knew."

Twilight's jaw dropped. "WHAT?!" she shouted. "BUT...I...HOW...I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!"

"So, um...I'm guessing you don't remember doing that," said Sunny, awkwardly patting Twilight on the back with one hoof.

"No! I don't remember doing that at all!" insisted Twilight, holding her head with both forehooves. "How could I have..." She stopped mid-sentence. Behind her eyes, one could see the gears in her head turning, an electric connect-the-dots firing through her brain. "Oh my Celestia."

"What is it, Twilight?" asked Applejack. "Did you figure something out?"

"Well, we can rule out the idea that my future self somehow survived her battle with Opaline. Because if Starlight, Star Swirl, and Discord all helped with the spell, it must've happened closer to my current present. Meaning that, after this affair is over, we create that spell on the past version of the Time Twirler, throw it in the ocean, and it washes up on Maretime Bay's beach, setting this whole thing in motion! It's a time paradox!"

Everypony else all blinked, staring blankly at Twilight. Spike looked like the mere suggestion was hurting his brain. He'd figured out where it was going already.

"I'm sorry, could you elaborate?" asked Zipp. "I don't get it."

"Who's Opaline?" asked Starlight.

"Sorry. I didn't explain it very well," replied Twilight. "Starlight, we'll get to that in a minute. Anyway, let me tell you a story from my past that might help it make sense. One day, I was sitting in my house, when suddenly, a future version of myself from a few days later appeared before me. She was trying to convey some message to me, but I kept interrupting her, so she disappeared before she could get it out. I became convinced she was trying to warn me of some coming disaster, and I started panicking, as I tend to do." She sheepishly placed a hoof behind her head. "I'm sure my group remembers that particular...incident well."

Her six best friends all nodded. "We don't blame you though, darling," said Rarity. "If my future self tried to give me a message and failed, I'd become sick with worry as well."

"Thank you, Rarity. As I was saying, I thought some calamity was about to befall us, but as it turns out, it was nothing. The day my future self came from occurred, and it was a perfectly normal day. So I used one of Star Swirl's time travel spells to go back in time and tried to tell my past self that there was nothing to worry about, but the conversation with my past self went exactly as it did the first time. Meaning, it was the very act of me going back in time that caused me to go back in the first place. It's a stable time loop. It's a cycle that has no beginning. I know, logically, it should make no sense, but it does."

"Wait a minute," Sunny cut her off. "So you're telling us that your visit to our future will lead to you developing the time portal spell on the Time Twirler after we defeat Opaline, thus enabling us to meet in the first place?"

"That's a good way of putting it, yes," replied Twilight.

"Oh, my poor brain hurts," groaned Pipp.

"I get it!" said Izzy.

"So does that mean we've already defeated Opaline?" asked Applejack. "Since you already cast the spell on the Time Twirler in Sunny's future, does that mean we're guaranteed to win?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know what will happen if we don't defeat her, so let's make sure we don't find out," said Twilight. "And I think I might have an idea as to how."

"How?" asked Sunny.

"Remember how, in Opaline's memories that I saw, the Unity Crystals were always on display at Canterlot during my rule? What if that's because we created them now, and used them to seal away Opaline's magic?"

"So...you're saying...we get to actually participate in the creation of the Unity Crystals?!" Sunny squealed, bouncing up and down on the tips of her hooves.

Twilight opened her mouth, but before any words could come out, an explosive burst of lightning in the skies above cut her off. Everypony turned their gaze towards the Crystal Brighthouse, where a bunch of dark black clouds were rolling in, blotting out the sun. More lightning strikes came from the clouds, only these bolts were purple instead of yellow.

"Opaline," snarled Rainbow Dash, punching her forehooves together. Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder to calm her.

"We need to act fast," said Twilight. "The ambient magic around the crystals at the Brighthouse will keep her busy for a minute, but not long enough." She turned to the others. "Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Spike, Hitch, Zipp, Izzy, Pipp. I hate to ask this of all of you, but can you hold her off long enough for us to go back to Ponyville and forge the crystals?"

"You can count on us!" said Pinkie.

"Affirmative!" said Zipp.

"I've been itching to take a crack at her," said Hitch, with a grin.

"Wait a minute, what about me?" asked Sunny.

"You're gonna help me," replied Twilight. "To put the magic of all three tribes in the crystals, we're gonna need more than one alicorn. And I don't want the princesses in my time to leave the portal unguarded."

"But I can't control my alicorn powers!" protested Sunny, nervous. "I can't—"

"Yes, you can," insisted Twilight, placing a hoof on Sunny's withers. "You're stronger than Opaline, you're smarter than her, and you have the power to do this. I'll help you as much as I can."

Sunny swallowed fearfully. "Well, okay. If you say so."

"Seriously, who is Opaline?!" complained Starlight. "I have no idea what's going on!"

"Come on, Starlight! I'll explain on the way. We'll probably need your help to stabilize the magic," said Twilight.

She grabbed the unicorn in her telekinesis, and rushed off towards the portal, with Sunny following. The remaining ponies, plus Spike, all looked at each other.

"So we gotta keep Opaline busy?" asked Pipp.

"Yep," replied Pinkie. "Sounds like fun to me!"

Zipp groaned quietly. "This is gonna be a long day."

Crystal Brighthouse

Opaline's smile only grew wider and wider as she flew closer and closer to the Brighthouse.

"Those fools left the crystals unguarded," she said, smugly. "Probably too busy worrying about that stupid baby dragon. This is why love is pointless and idiotic. Soon, all the magic in Equestria will belong to me, finally! And I'll erase Twilight Sparkle from history!"

She locked her gaze onto the Unity Crystals floating in the top of the Brighthouse, through the glass dome. Lighting up her horn, she surrounded herself with an aura of pure flame, while simultaneously causing her body to accelerate. She prepared to smash through the glass and seize the crystals.

And that was when she smacked into the side of the building, spreading her body against the wall, and slid downwards.

With a grunt, Opaline flapped her wings, getting herself back into the air. She fired up her horn once again, and cast a quick probing spell.

"So the crystals have a defense mechanism now," she growled. "Well, it doesn't matter. My magic is strong enough that I can get through it."

"Guess again!" came a voice from below.

Opaline yelped as vines emerged from the earth below her, and wrapped themselves around her body. Then they began twirling around, taking Opaline for a crazy ride in the air. Finally, Opaline powered up, and sent a fireball downwards, burning through the vines and releasing her. Once she'd regained her bearings, Opaline looked down, discovering nine ponies, plus Spike, staring back up at her from below. They didn't look happy. Twilight Sparkle and Sunny Starscout were absent.

"So, you decided to face me after all," Opaline said with a sneer. "And I see those two unworthy alicorns didn't show up. Were they too scared to face me?"

Zipp stepped up. "Listen up, Opaline!" she shouted. "You're never getting those Unity Crystals! So you can either lay down and give up, or put up a fight you can never win!"

"Yeah!" added Spike. "And don't think you can take us! We've beaten down plenty of Equestria-conquering maniacs before!"

"Well, you have," Pipp muttered quietly.

Opaline chuckled wickedly. "I'd say this display is foolish and pointless, but it does bring me a moment of amusement. I might as well have some fun before I finally claim what is rightfully mine. I'll enjoy destroying Twilight Sparkle's best friends before I take her life and—"

"Señor Butterscotch, attack!" yelled Izzy. In her telekinesis, she held her homemade unicorn friend, and hurled him towards Opaline. He landed on top of the alicorn, and slumped over her like a limp blanket.

Opaline, clearly caught off-guard, blinked a couple of times. She looked at the homemade unicorn covering her body, before rolling her eyes. Then, she levitated Señor Butterscotch off her body and fired a blast directly into his chest, breaking him into bits. The pieces flew everywhere, and the charred head landed in front of Izzy.

"SEÑOR BUTTERSCOTCH, NO!!!" screamed Izzy, as she scooped up the head and cradled it in her forelegs.

"Uh, Izzy? Not to be rude, but could we focus?!" demanded Rainbow.

"Do you have any more garbage to hurl at me?" asked Opaline, looking unamused.

Hitch turned back towards her. "You'll pay for what you did to Sparky," he growled.

Maretime Bay Hospital

Misty lay on her back in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her mane was unkempt, and her mouth was stuck in a permanent frown. Considering that Opaline had basically stomped out her entire purpose in life only an hour before, her mood made sense.

A flash of light from the window attracted her attention. She turned in the bed, and looked towards the Crystal Brighthouse. She saw more bursts of purple lightning blaring, and her eyes widened. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.

"Opaline..." she said to herself.

She sat there, staring for a few seconds. Then she leaned down, seized her IV line with her teeth, and pulled it out.

Chapter Twelve: The Battle of the Brighthouse Part One

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Everfree Forest

Twilight, Sunny, and Starlight barely had a second to speak to the princesses once they emerged from the portal. Twilight shut down any and all attempts at their questions, instead begging Celestia to recharge her magic and telling her that there was no time. The solar alicorn had complied, and the three mares were off in an instant, flying towards the heart of the forest. Twilight held Sunny aloft in her magic as she flew, heading for the gorge near the Castle of the Two Sisters. Starlight Glimmer floated alongside them, propelled by her self-telekinesis.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Sunny. "I mean, you creating a whole stable time loop for yourself over a couple of days is one thing, but this..."

"To be honest, no, I'm not sure," admitted Twilight. "But right now, it's our best hope for taking down Opaline. And we're gonna need some pretty powerful magic in order to do that."

"Why not just use the Elements of Harmony?" Sunny asked again. "They worked on every enemy you ever faced before."

"True, but that was in my time," said Twilight. "You heard that message my future self left in the crystals. Magic is changing. Constantly evolving. Pinkie and Applejack have access to new magic in your time. We don't know if the Elements will do the same thing in the future. With the crystals, at least we're making something where we know exactly what it will do."

"If you say so," replied Sunny.

"So, let me get this straight," said Starlight. "After you rule Equestria for a couple hundred years, you take Opaline as a student and make her an alicorn, but she turns out to be a genocidal maniac who divides the three tribes of ponies and drives all other creatures away from Equestria. Oh, and the spell on the Time Twirler is something we create after we defeat her to ensure that this event can happen?"

"Pretty much, yeah," replied Twilight. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not proud of what my future self will do, giving Opaline everything she needs to become the master of Equestria. But we can't worry about that now. We have to stop her."

The three glided down gently, drifting into the gorge where the Tree of Harmony lay hidden. Sunny gazed in awe as she beheld something she'd only heard legends about before. The tree was solid crystal, with five branches jutting outwards from the trunk, each carrying one of the Elements of Harmony, while the Element of Magic lay in the center. The tree even glowed with a bright light. Twilight landed on her hooves, and gently set Sunny down. Starlight settled down as well.

"Whoa," Sunny breathed, staring into her reflection of the crystal of the tree. "So, if we're not using the Elements, what are we doing here?"

"Well, we're gonna need crystals that are already capable of absorbing vast amounts of magic," replied Twilight. "I figured this would be our best option. The Storm King's staff was made from a branch of the tree, and capable of holding the magic of all four alicorn princesses. It should work."

No sooner had the three mares taken one step towards the tree that a blinding flash of white light obscured their vision. Twilight, Sunny, and Starlight clamped their eyes shut, and when they opened them again, another pony stood in front of them. This pony looked to be an exact copy of Twilight, only her body was transparent, and dotted with white stars.

Twilight frowned a little. "Tree of Harmony, or whatever you want me to call you, do you really have to use me as your avatar to communicate? This is just weird."

"Ooh, just like Sandbar and his friends said!" added Starlight.

"Wait, that's the tree doing that?" demanded Sunny.

"Indeed, Sunny Starscout," replied the transparent Twilight. "I apologize, Princess Twilight Sparkle. My method for speaking to ponies may be odd, but I never intended to offend. Your form is simply an easy one to use for communication."

Sunny blinked. "How do you already know my name?" she asked.

"I am Harmony itself," said the tree's avatar. "The laws of time don't apply to me the same way they do to you. Even if this particular vessel of myself is destroyed," she indicated the tree itself, "I will still live on."

"I take it you know why we're here, then?" asked Twilight. "We need those crystals. Without them, I don't think we can stop Opaline."

"I am aware. And I have already prepared the necessary materials. However, you must be aware that I cannot cast the enchantments you require on the crystals. That part you must do on your own."

"I figured that would be the case," said Twilight. "Thank you for your help. We'll take it from here."

The tree's avatar nodded, before she faded from sight. The glow around the Tree of Harmony began to intensify, and the light gathered around the socket where the Element of Magic lay hidden. Then, three pulses traveled from the center of the tree. One went downwards, towards the roots. One barely moved at all, traveling to an undeveloped branch sticking out of the trunk. The final pulse went up, touching the highest branches of the tree.

Suddenly, a glowing root of the tree emerged from the earth beneath it, wrapped around a diamond that was clearly the earth pony crystal. The tiny branch grew outwards, forming the long sapphire of the unicorn crystal. And from the top of the tree, out of a white glow emerged the turquoise wings of the pegasus crystal. The three gems were laid upon the ground in front of Sunny and Twilight.

"Okay," Twilight breathed, "now for the hard part."

She powered up her horn, levitating the three crystals upwards. She slipped the diamond into the hole of the pegasus gem, and stacked the unicorn crystal on top of them. Once she had them arranged the exact way they would be in the Brighthouse in the future, she turned to Sunny.

"I can cast the spell, but I'll need your magic to boost me. It'll ensure that the crystals can give you your alicorn powers in the future. Starlight, I'll need you to keep the energies stable, so we don't blow something up." The pink unicorn nodded.

"Okay," Sunny began, "but how do I bring out my alicorn form? We never managed to deduce exactly what triggers it. It seems to come out when I'm helping somepony, but beyond that..."

"Think of it as you helping me with this task," replied Twilight. "Focus on your friends, on the harmony we want to protect in Equestria, on the peace between the tribes that you helped restore. Remember, Opaline wants to destroy all of those things, and you have the power to stop her. Concentrate on the pillars of generosity, loyalty, laughter, kindness, honesty, and the magic of friendship."

Sunny's eye twitched, but she kept her face neutral. "Okay, I'll try."

She closed her eyes and bent down, reaching deep inside herself again. For the first few seconds, nothing happened. Then, a faint golden light illuminated Sunny's entire body, and her mane bega to wave in a non-existent breeze. The yellow gleam coalesced around Sunny's head and the sides of her body, forming a transparent horn and wings. The wings flapped once, lifting Sunny ever so slightly off the ground.

"That's it! You're doing it, Sunny!" Twilight encouraged. "Just keep doing what you're doing!"

Twilight's horn flared with magic, and a thin, raspberry trail of energy came out of the tip, lazily drifting through the air, and connecting to Sunny's horn. Small beads of light came from Sunny, floating down the magical tether into Twilight, as the combined magic of two alicorns charged up. Building up her power, Twilight aimed her horn at the crystals, and fired.

A beam of mixed colors (raspberry, gold, and white) launched from Twilight, bathing the crystals in an ethereal glow. The crystals shook with power as Twilight imbued them with the pooled magic. At the same time, Starlight lit up her own horn, and her turquoise aura surrounded the crystals, keeping the magic from escaping. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut from the strain, and carefully fed the crystals the spell they would need. Sunny's eyes opened, and she stared in awe at the sight of Twilight charging the crystals. Still, both mares kept the magical chain going, and eventually, a white bubble formed around the crystals.

"Okay, that's enough!" Twilight announced.

Sunny relaxed, and her magical horn and wings faded away. Twilight cut off the spell, leaving the crystals floating in a transparent sphere of white light. With a quick pulse of magic, Twilight pulled the crystals over to them.

"There," she said. "That's the strongest magic we can put into them. Now we just have to put them into action."

"Whew!" breathed Starlight. "That's a lotta magic. Those things might even be a match for the Elements at this point."

"So what do we do? Just point them at Opaline?" asked Sunny.

"It's a bit more complicated than that," replied Twilight. "It'll take the magic of us and all our friends to activate the spell I placed on them. We'll need to wear Opaline down enough that she won't be able to dodge the spell. Then, it should drain away all her magic, and we can hold her easily."

"Alright," said Sunny. "I hope we're ready for this. This is kinda nerve-wracking."

"I understand," admitted Twilight. "But remember, you're not fighting alone. We're doing this together. We'll have all our friends by our side."

"Good." Sunny smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Twilight placed the combined Unity Crystals into her saddlebags. "We'd better hurry."

Crystal Brighthouse

Opaline roared with fury as she tossed more fireballs down at the ponies racing beneath her. None of them hit, but that was only due to the speed of the ponies. Not even Rarity got injured. Meanwhile, she had four pegasi flying rings around her, messing up the air. Her horn sparked with electricity, and she fired several lightning bolts, forcing Zipp, Rainbow, Pipp, and Fluttershy into evasive maneuvers. One of the bolts clipped Pipp's wing, sending the pop star pegasus tumbling out of the sky.

"Hold on, Pipp! I gotcha!" called Applejack. The earth pony charged over to where Pipp was about to impact, leaped upwards, and caught her with both forelegs just in time.

"Thanks, Applejack," said Pipp, brushing off her wing. "I'm gonna need a ton of conditioner for this when we finish here."

"No offense, Princess, but can we keep the focus on the important stuff?"

Opaline, seeing that she had an opening, took aim at Applejack and Pipp, charging more fire in her hoof. However, she didn't notice the massive vine, grown with earth pony magic, that erupted from the ground under her, punching her in the stomach and sending her into the wall of the Brighthouse. Grunting, Opaline looked at the vine to see Hitch climbing it, charging towards her. The fury in his eyes even gave her pause.

Before she could break free, Hitch tackled Opaline and sent the two plummeting to the ground. Hitch then reared back and punched Opaline in the face, knocking one of her braids loose, and sending some spit flying from between her lips onto the ground.

"That's for what you did to Sparky, you creep!" he snarled. "This one's also for Sparky! In fact, they're all for Sparky!" He raised his hoof once again, only for Opaline's telekinesis to freeze him in place. Hitch blinked in surprise, before being hurled off of her. He was only prevented from falling into the ocean by Fluttershy catching him.

"Sparky?" Opaline growled back as she climbed to her hooves. "That simpering, pointless baby dragon? You should be thanking me for putting his power to good use. After all, what better purpose could one serve than to restore the might of Equestria's rightful queen?!"

"You're no Queen!" snapped Izzy. She telekinetically tossed Señor Butterscotch's charred head into Opaline's face, where it bounced off, causing little harm. "You're just a big meanie who wants a bigger piece of pie than they deserve!"

"For your information, that entire pie is mine by right!" Opaline charged up her horn and fired a lightning bolt at Izzy, who was quickly yanked out of the danger zone by Rarity's magic.

"Being an alicorn doesn't make you better than everypony else!" she shouted at Opaline.

Opaline didn't bother to answer this time, instead opting to take to the air once more. Rainbow and Zipp came flying at her from opposite directions, clearly intending to smash into her. However, Opaline simply teleported away, leaving the pegasi with no target. Fortunately, Rainbow and Zipp managed to swerve past each other to avoid a collision.

Opaline, now standing on top of the Brighthouse, launched a steady stream of purple fire from her horn, putting everypony on the run again.

"That's right, run!" Opaline shouted. "Run, like the little insects you are beneath my hooves! I will crush all of you puny ants!" As she glanced around, Opaline took a quick head count, and realized that Izzy and Pinkie were missing from her sight.

"SURPRISE ATTACK!" came a jubilant voice from behind her. Opaline whirled around, finding herself face to face with Pinkie Pie, who was being levitated up by Izzy's magic. She had a party bazooka in her hooves. At some point, the two had sneaked back around to the back of the Brighthouse, and Izzy had raised Pinkie upwards.

Opaline grunted, and tried to raise a shield, but it was too late. Pinkie fired, and Opaline was hit with a blast of compressed air and confetti. The attack was powerful enough to launch her off the roof of the Brighthouse, and send her head-first into the community garden. Opaline was jammed from her horn to her neck in dirt.

"Quick! Everypony get her now!" shouted Applejack.

The nine ponies and one dragon all charged towards the fallen alicorn, but Opaline teleported yet again before they could get to her. Reappearing a short distance away, she charged a sphere of electricity in her hoof and pitched it, hitting Hitch and Applejack. The two earth ponies fell to the ground.

"No!" screamed Fluttershy. She immediately flew down to her friends, unfortunately leaving herself wide open. Opaline created another lightning ball and took aim, hurling it towards the yellow pegasus.

"Fluttershy, move!" called out Rarity. She galloped in front of Fluttershy and projected a diamond barrier, which absorbed Opaline's attack. Seeing her friend's plight, Fluttershy came to her senses again, and yanked the weakened Applejack and Hitch away.

"You honestly believe your magic can compete with mine?" Opaline growled. She tossed another blast at Rarity, who blocked it again, though her shield was starting to crack.

"No," replied the unicorn. "But it can keep you busy."

Opaline's eyes widened, and she turned, but it wasn't fast enough. Rainbow and Zipp hit her with a double uppercut, knocking her skyward. Pipp followed up by ramming into her, pushing her over the railing alongside the Brighthouse. Clearly, they were trying to send Opaline falling into the ocean.

However, the alicorn recovered too quickly. Opaline made a quick U-turn before she hit the water, and flew back towards the Brighthouse. Her eyes were burning with rage.

"Okay, so that plan didn't work," commented Rainbow. "Please tell me we have a backup."

"Honestly? I don't think we do," responded Zipp.

Opaline howled like a wounded animal, launching another stream of fire from her horn. The ponies scattered from the attack, allowing her to land in the middle of the community garden. Applejack, having recovered from her earlier attack, attempted to leap onto Opaline, but the alicorn saw her coming and bucked, kicking Applejack in the face. She was made to regret that a second later, as Spike took advantage of Opaline's distracted nature to fly up and punch her in the nose.

"Insolent little drake!" Opaline snarled. She seized Spike by the leg, and prepared to smash him against the ground. Before she could, a glitter bomb, propelled by Izzy's magic, flew over and smacked against her face, where it burst. Opaline was blinded by the purple sparkles filling her eyes. Spike wiggled free of her grip. Clearly not happy with this latest development, Opaline began firing bolts of lightning and fireballs in all directions like a maniac.

"Okay, so does anypony know what we're doing here?!" demanded Pipp, as she swerved to dodge a blast from Opaline. "Seriously, we don't seem to be making any progress!"

"I hate to be on the negative side, but I agree with Pipp!" exclaimed Fluttershy. "What are we going to do?!"

"Remember, we need to give Sunny and Twilight enough time," replied Applejack in a low voice. She didn't want Opaline hearing. "Our only goal here is to stall."

"Can somepony tell them to hurry up?!" said Spike. "I'm not sure how much longer we can hold out!"

Opaline finally shook the last of the glitter out of her eyes, and glared at the ponies (and dragon) opposing her.

"Perhaps I have made a slight error in this little game," she remarked, sounding oddly calm. "I merely sought to entertain myself for a few minutes before I reclaimed my rightful place as ruler of all Equestria. However, I feel this has gone on too long." She started powering up her horn once more. "So I'm going to put an end to you pathetic ponies now."

"Oh, really?" demanded Hitch. "And how do you plan to pull that off?"

"Easily," replied Opaline.

She launched yet another stream of flame from her horn. Spike responded with fire of his own, and the two beams met in the center. At first, the two looked evenly matched, but soon enough, Spike's emerald fire seemed to overpower hers. His flames reached the spot where Opaline had been standing, only to meet with nothing, as Opaline had teleported away again.

"Now where'd she go?" demanded Izzy.

The group looked from side to side, searching for Opaline, only to be interrupted by a bolt of electricity that lanced from the left, blasting Spike in the stomach. The young drake screamed as he fell out of the air, hit the dirt of the community garden, and dug a long trench into it.

"Spike!" exclaimed Hitch, rushing over to his friend. He lifted Spike up and cradled the dragon in his hooves.

"Can't...move..." Spike mumbled. His limbs twitched, but all the strength seemed to have left them.

Hitch opened his mouth, but another bolt hit him in the back, and he rolled forward on his head, stuck in the same paralyzed state as Spike. Spike dropped out of his hooves, and the two were left sprawled out in the earth. Opaline floated up from the side of the Brighthouse.

"Two down," she cackled.

"Why you rotten, evil meanie!" Fluttershy growled. She lunged at Opaline, only for the alicorn to dodge nimbly. Zipp followed after them, and the three were soon engaged in an aerial chase across the sky.

"Fluttershy, don't let your temper get a hold of you!" shouted Rainbow. "Remember, if you lose control, you could—"

But it was too late. Fluttershy made a dashing motion, pushing herself into Opaline, and attempting to punch her. Opaline simply caught the careless attack, and blasted Fluttershy point blank with the same paralysis spell she'd used on Hitch and Spike. With her body immobilized, Fluttershy plummeted out of the air like a rock, and was only saved from the impact by Zipp and Rainbow flying over to grab her.

"I told you not to let your anger get the best of you!" Rainbow complained, as they set down Fluttershy. Opaline attempted to paralyze them as well, but Rarity raised a diamond barrier to intercept the attack.

"Rainbow, this is not the time for 'I told you so!'" said Zipp. Fluttershy made a mumbling noise, probably an attempt at an apology, but since she could barely open her mouth, nopony knew for sure.

Meanwhile, Izzy pulled out an entire bag of glitter bombs, and began using her magic to fling them furiously at Opaline. Pinkie helped out, using her hooves to chuck the bombs. Unfortunately for her, this time, Opaline wasn't distracted, and kept swerving and swooping in the air to dodge each and every one.

"Hold still, you creep!" Izzy shouted, clearly getting angrier and angrier.

Zipp and Pipp, eager to help, flew up to try and grab Opaline and pin her in place. Opaline merely smirked, and allowed the two pegasi to grab her, before lighting up her horn and redirecting one of the glitter bombs upwards, where it exploded against Zipp's face. Pipp got a share of the glitter, too. With her opponents blinded, Opaline sent an electric charge through her body, zapping both of them and causing them to fall out of the sky. They were low enough that the collision with the ground didn't hurt, but they were still frozen.

"Oops," mumbled Izzy, looking guilty. Pinkie didn't look too proud of herself, either. Zipp and Pipp just glared at them.

"That's five," Opaline sneered. "Any of the rest of you want to try?"

"We gotta stop her, y'all!" shouted Applejack. She produced her lasso once again. "We can't let her get away with this!"

She tossed the rope forward, intending to snare Opaline, but the alicorn dodged it. However, Izzy and Rarity soon enveloped the lasso with their magic, causing it to abruptly change direction in midair, and fly backwards, snagging Opaline around the chest. Opaline immediately began beating her wings rapidly, trying to ascend, but Pinkie and Applejack held on tight to the rope, preventing her from flying away. With their enemy occupied, Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to fly up and smack her across the face.

"You little..." Opaline growled. She formed a ball of electricity in her hoof and pitched it at Rainbow, who barely managed to dodge. While she was occupied, Opaline fired two more paralyzing bolts, aiming at Applejack and Pinkie. Though Izzy rushed towards them to shove them aside, she failed to do so. With the two earth ponies mares stunned, Opaline ignited a fiery aura around her, burning the rope on her body to ash.

With a few flaps, she floated down and landed, facing Izzy, Rainbow, and Rarity, the only three ponies she hadn't yet incapacitated.

"If any of you feel like begging for mercy right now, I might listen," she said with a wicked grin. "Although, to be fair, that's a small 'might.'"

"We're not backing down!" Rainbow snapped back. "Come on, girls! Let's teach her a lesson."

Izzy and Rarity roared in affirmation, showing no fear as they charged Opaline together. Opaline tutted impatiently, and began firing more stun spells, only for her enemies to avoid them. Rainbow made a circle around her, and began charging from the back, while Izzy and Rarity continued their approach from the front.

"Fools," Opaline muttered quietly.

At the last second, she teleported away, leaving the three mares with no target. Rainbow, unable to stop her momentum, crashed into Rarity and Izzy like a bowling ball, smacking them aside and leaving all three dazed. Opaline reappeared a short distance away, and fired three more shots, stunning the three remaining ponies.

"There," she said with another smile. "I've put an end to that little waste of my time. Now I'll just take the Unity Crystals and reclaim what's—"

A magic beam to the face cut her off, sending her flying into the side of the Crystal Brighthouse. Opaline slammed into the concrete, and fell down with a painful thump. She jumped up a second later, discovering Twilight and Sunny (in alicorn form) floating a short distance above her.

"So, you decided to face me after all," she spat at them.

"Sorry to show up late," responded Twilight. "It's time you answered for the atrocities you committed, Opaline!"

She powered up her horn once more, sending out a pulse of white magic from the tip. As the pulse touched each of her paralyzed friends, the spell Opaline had placed on them was lifted, and they climbed to their hooves once again. Even Spike broke free, taking to the air with a flap of his wings.

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are," Opaline shot back. "I am the most powerful alicorn of all time! I will tear you all down again and again if I must!"

"We'll see about that," replied Sunny.

Chapter Thirteen: The Battle of the Brighthouse Part Two

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Crystal Brighthouse

Apparently, Opaline's hatred for Twilight was intact, as she went for the purple alicorn first. She launched a bolt of lightning from her horn at Twilight, completely ignoring Sunny's presence. Twilight, naturally, raised her shield to block the attack, but it clearly took some effort. Undeterred, Opaline kept the blast going, forcing Twilight back. However, with her attention focused on one pony, that left ten others (plus Spike) free to attack. Sunny, with the aid of her ethereal alicorn wings, flew down towards Opaline, and sent out a shockwave of white energy, knocking Opaline off her hooves. Twilight was freed from having to block the attack, and the fallen Opaline was quickly surrounded on all sides by ponies and one dragon.

"You may have beaten us in round one," said Hitch, "but it looks like you're outmatched now."

"He's right, you know," said Sunny. "You're beginning to look worn down. Just give up now, Opaline. It's not worth it."

Twilight landed directly in front of Opaline. Her horn blared with raspberry-colored magic. "It's over, Opaline. Surrender, and we may be lenient with your sentencing."

Opaline climbed to her hooves once more, and despite bleeding from a small cut on her forehead, she was smiling. "Funny. I seem to recall you saying something similar the first time we fought, Twilight Sparkle," she taunted. "And look at me now. All the efforts of your future self went to waste."

If that insult bothered Twilight, she didn't show it. She kept her face neutral, and spread her wings. "Opaline, this is your chance to avoid a great deal of pain," she announced. "Just accept your defeat while we're feeling merciful."

"Good for you," Opaline snapped back. "Because I won't be."

She stomped one green glowing hoof, releasing a pulse of earth pony magic into the ground. From the ground beneath them, plant life began to erupt. Vines and ivy burst from the dirt, wrapping themselves around the ponies, snaring them and preventing those with wings from taking off. Spike managed to escape by breathing fire on his bonds, but everypony else was stuck.

"I was a fool to use a simple paralysis spell before," Opaline growled as she hovered above the trapped ponies. "I should've just ended you all when I had the chance. I won't make that mistake again." She began powering up her horn, causing tiny bolts of purple lightning to travel up the appendage. One didn't have to be a genius to realize she was going for the kill.

Unfortunately for her, she'd forgotten Spike in her haste to execute her enemies. The purple dragon flew up behind Opaline, and punched her in the back of the head. As the power around her horn dissipated, she rounded on Spike.

"You wretched brat!" she screeched.

"What, that's the best comeback you've got?" Spike shot back. "You're losing your touch, lady."

He took off flying in another direction, prompting Opaline to chase him, firing bolts of lightning at him. Fortunately for Spike, every blast was preceded by an electrical hum, giving him just enough time to zip away from the strike zone.

"We have to get out of this!" yelled Twilight, as she squirmed against her bonds. "Spike can keep her busy for a while, but not forever!"

"Working on it!" replied Sunny, pushing her leg downwards through the ivy. Her hoof glowed green, and when it finally made contact with the ground, it sent out another pulse of earth pony magic, giving Sunny control over the plants Opaline had created. They immediately retracted into the dirt, releasing the eleven ponies. Rainbow and Zipp instantly spread their wings.

"Let's go save Spike!" Rainbow announced, before taking off. Zipp shot after her like an arrow.

Spike, meanwhile, wasn't having the easiest time. Opaline, having apparently realized he could hear her lightning attacks coming, had switched to using her telekinesis to chuck objects at him. Spike flew in an unpredictable pattern, but Opaline's attacks kept missing by less and less. Finally, she managed to clip him with a piece of concrete broken off from the Brighthouse, sending him into a downward spiral.

"Fool," she muttered, before taking aim with her horn.

And that was when Rainbow and Zipp punched her from two different directions, dazing her. Meanwhile, Pipp flew down and grabbed Spike before he could land in the ocean. Opaline tried to round on the new threat, but Pinkie pitched their last glitter bomb into her face. Rainbow and Zipp then bucked her in the stomach together, sending her flying backwards.

"Okay, everypony regroup now!" shouted Sunny. "We need to stand together!"

Rainbow, Zipp, Pipp, and Spike obeyed, flying back to rejoin with the others. Opaline brushed the remaining glitter out of her eyes, staring down Twilight and the others with murder in her eyes.

"Can't I ever be rid of you?!" she demanded. She fired a lighting blast towards the two alicorns, only for Sunny and Twilight to intercept it with their own magic beams. The three were soon caught in a beam struggle, none of them able to gain any ground.

Unfortunately for Opaline, she'd left herself vulnerable again, even in midair. Rarity, straining from the effort but doing it anyway, levitated up a boulder that was as big as she, and chucked it at Opaline, smacking the magenta alicorn to the side. She was then snared around the barrel by a rope made of neckties tossed by Izzy.

"You aren't the only one who can lasso stuff, Applejack!" cheered the unicorn.

Applejack just laughed. "Maybe you should try out for the rodeo, Izzy!" she joked.

Izzy swung the rope in a wide arc, taking Opaline for a ride through the air. Opaline screamed as she went flying in a massive circle, sending drops of her saliva down raining down on the others. Her remaining braid came undone, making her look far more disheveled than usual. She lit her hoof on fire, and with a swipe, burned through the rope, setting her free.

"Oh, come on!" Izzy complained as the remains of her creation dropped to the ground. "Do you know how much digging through the trash I had to do to get those ties? You're a jerk!"

Opaline didn't bother to answer this time, instead opting for another screech of rage. She formed a ball of flame in each hoof, and began raining fire down on those who opposed her. Twilight threw up an energy shield to intercept them.

"Is that thing two-way?" asked Sunny.

"Yep!" was all Twilight got out, as she strained to keep blocking Opaline's attack.

"Good!"

Sunny lit up her ethereal horn, and fired her own magic beam through the barrier, punching Opaline in the stomach. With the onslaught stopped, Sunny flapped her wings once, taking off from the ground and zooming towards Opaline. She tackled the larger alicorn out of the air, sending the two plummeting down into the community garden.

They struggled for a minute, with Sunny eventually pinning Opaline to the dirt.

"You...false alicorn!" Opaline snarled. "How dare you...lay hooves on me!"

"Oh, I dare, alright!" Sunny growled back. "A monster like you doesn't deserve those powers you have! A true alicorn rules by—"

Opaline cut her off with a blast to the stomach, sending her flying backwards. Twilight managed to catch Sunny in her magic, gently lowering her back down to the earth.

"Good try, Sunny," said Twilight. "I'm sure that speech would've been heartfelt."

"I was working on that the whole way here!" Sunny complained. "Now it's gonna go to waste in my head!"

Any further discussion on the subject of heroic speeches would have to wait, as Opaline flew into the air once again. Hitch and Applejack stomped the ground with their hooves, creating more vines that rose up to try and snare her, but Opaline had gotten wise to earth pony magic at this point. She dodged and swerved, occasionally using her magic to burn the plants away. Twilight and Sunny added to the mix, firing their magic beams at her, but Opaline dodged those, too. It was like they couldn't touch her.

"We need something unexpected," said Fluttershy. "Something she can't predict. Otherwise, we won't be able to lay a hoof on her."

"I got something!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, producing her party cannon again. She contorted herself into a ball, and stuffed herself into the barrel of the cannon. "Ready, aim, and fire, ponies!"

"You sure about this?" asked Zipp.

"Not in the slightest!"

"Good enough for me!" said Izzy, grabbing the cannon in her magic. She kept the barrel trained on Opaline, before jamming down on the fire button at the exact right time. Pinkie was launched outwards in an explosion of confetti, and crashed into Opaline like a cannonball. Opaline was knocked out of the air yet again, while Pinkie merely bounced away.

"Now!" yelled Twilight. She, Sunny, Hitch, and Applejack all stomped the ground with glowing green hooves, channeling their earth pony magic. More roots burst from the ground around Opaline, wrapping themselves around her legs, wings, horn and neck. She strained against her new bindings, but physical strength wasn't enough.

"You have to know by now that you can't hold me like this for long," she sneered at the ponies. She was already charging her horn, even though the effort clearly hurt her.

"We weren't planning on it," replied Twilight. "Our goal here is to give you one more chance to surrender."

Opaline just laughed. Sunny looked rather downcast, but she stepped forward anyway.

"Opaline, please," she implored. "Somewhere, you have to understand that what you're doing is wrong. Ponies deserve to have magic. You can return Sparky's magic now and he'll be fine! If you keep fighting...I don't know what's going to happen to you!"

"Let me explain something to you, Sunny," Opaline spat. "I would rather die a thousand deaths than submit to your idiotic 'friendship.' Alicorns deserve all the magic in the world, and it's not my fault you're too weak to take it. I will take what's mine, and destroy every last one of you!"

Her wings and horn began to ignite with purple flames, burning at the wood that held her. Before she could fully break free, Twilight fired another magic beam at her, stunning her, and Sunny followed up with one of her own.

"Don't feel too bad, Sunny," Twilight said. "We knew it was a long shot. After what I saw in her memories, I doubted she'd ever give up."

"Thanks, Twilight," replied Sunny. "But that doesn't make me feel much better."

With a roar, Opaline finally broke free from her bonds, and fired a lightning blast, forcing everyone to scatter. Twilight and Sunny returned fire from opposing sides, but Opaline dodged. Everypony else, having little in the way of projectile attacks (except Spike), instead opted to grab the hybrid fruits from the community garden (which was now in ruins) and hurl them at Opaline.

Opaline kept up the evasive maneuvers, until a rogue kiwipaya, thrown by Pipp, smacked her in the face, splattering juice all over. She actually screamed in fury, before taking aim at Pipp with her horn.

"Uh, heh heh," Pipp chuckled, clearly terrified but trying to hide it. "Is it too late to apologize?"

Opaline didn't even respond, instead opting to fire her lightning once more. With a squeak, Pipp leaped into the air, dodging the incoming attack. Undeterred, Opaline kept shooting, forcing Pipp to dodge again and again. Hitch and Rainbow attempted to jump onto her back to cease the assault, but Opaline flared her magic aura again, knocking them off.

"Okay, you know what?" Pipp snapped, after avoiding the seventh bolt. "I'm tired of this! Izzy was right, you are a jerk!"

With a quick flap of her wings, she closed the gap between the two of them, and struck Opaline's muzzle with both forehooves. The alicorn, dazed by yet another blow to the face, reeled backwards, giving Zipp time to tackle her.

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Pipp, looking down at her hooves. "I just punched her in the face! What is wrong with me?!"

"Nothing, darling," said Rarity, bluntly. "I believe you simply hit your limit."

"It happens to me all the time," remarked Fluttershy.

Meanwhile, Zipp and Opaline kept wrestling across the dirt. Applejack and Izzy attempted to jump in to help, but Opaline managed to aim well enough to blast them both away. Then she launched more fire from her horn, an attack Zipp barely avoided.

"Are we making progress?" demanded the pegasus as she flew back to rejoin the others.

Twilight took a look. Opaline climbed back to her hooves yet again, but her face was covered in small scratches and bruises, her mane had come undone and was loaded with branches and leaves, and even the feathers on her wings were disheveled. One of her eyes was already beginning to blacken. Her coat was covered with fruit juice.

"I think we've reached the threshold now," answered Twilight. "We just need to pin her down and—"

Opaline's scream cut her off. Plus, this was no ordinary scream. It was a magically amplified scream, blasting everypony off their hooves (and Spike off his feet) and blowing their ears out at the same time. Little drops of blood began to drip from their ears. Everyone was thrown into the sides of the Crystal Brighthouse, smacking into the concrete. Once Opaline ceased the scream, the eleven ponies and one dragon all fell to the ground in a heap.

Opaline wasted no time in powering up her horn again. Electricity lanced out from the appendage, flowing down to encircle her fallen enemies. Then it rose upwards, creating a spherical cage of energy that trapped everyone. Opaline finally released a long sigh.

"Scum," she moaned, clearly too tired for anything else. She powered up her horn once more, creating spikes of energy on the inside of the cage. "I'll finish you now, and then I'll—"

This time, Opaline was the one interrupted by a rock that flew in from behind her, and clocked her on the back of the head. While not hard enough to be fatal or cause any lasting damage, a blow like that certainly caught her attention. Opaline whirled around on one hoof, discovering her assailant standing behind her, next to a pile of stones.

"And the next one's really gonna hurt!" shouted Misty, picking up a second rock.

Opaline just stared. "Misty," she began, "I would think long and hard on what you're about to do before you—" She didn't finish, as Misty bounced another rock off her face. "Okay, fine. Have it your way. You can die like the waste of space you are!"

She tried to fly at Misty, only for the unicorn to keep pelting Opaline with stones. She grunted, and began blasting the rocks out of the air, but Misty's supply seemed inexhaustible, and her adrenaline rush made her keep throwing. Finally, Misty hit her in the eye that was starting to blacken, and Opaline snapped. With a scream, she threw a fireball that hit Misty in the stomach, burning her again and knocking her over. Misty rolled away a little, and attempted to climb back onto her hooves, only for Opaline to pin her down with one.

"You should've just stayed in your hospital bed," Opaline growled. "I might've let you live in my new world. But now you'll die alone."

"She's not alone."

Opaline spun around. While she'd been distracted, Twilight and the others had broken out of her magic cage, and had formed a semicircle around her. With a shout, she tried to power up, but Twilight and Sunny combined their magic beams, blasting her off of Misty. Hitch, Applejack, and Pinkie all stomped their hooves, using more earth pony magic to tie Opaline down again. Izzy added a few squirts of glue to the mix, pinning Opaline's legs to the ground.

"Okay, we're ready!" announced Twilight. She opened her saddlebags, revealing the three newly created Unity Crystals. "It's now or never!"

"Sounds good!" added Sunny. "Misty, you in?" She used her horn to levitate the fallen unicorn up and over to their group. Misty said nothing, but nodded, a grim look of determination crossing her face.

"Everypony, focus all your magic into the crystals!" shouted Twilight. "Think of harmony, think of your friends, think of everything in Equestria you love!"

The others all shut their eyes, except Sunny and Twilight, who began pouring their magic into the crystals. Opaline, tied down and glued to the ground, looked up at the sight, comprehension slowly crossing her features. The Cutie Marks of everypony present began to glow pure white, and magic trails matching the colors of their coats began to attach to the Unity Crystals. Spike and Misty didn't have Cutie Marks, but a beam of light came from their hearts, joining the rainbow of light that was fueling the crystals.

"NO!" Opaline screamed, frantically wiggling to try and get free. Sparks began to flow up her horn, but it was too late. A kaleidoscope of rainbow-colored light launched from the crystals, enveloping Opaline with the full force of everyone's magic. Then, a stream of purple fire began to drift out from her horn, representing Opaline's magic being drained into the Unity Crystals. She burped up a bubble of green energy that took off and flew back towards Maretime Bay Hospital.

"That's Sparky's magic!" shouted Hitch.

"Keep it going!" yelled Twilight. "We need to remove all her power in order for this to work!"

And so they kept the magic drain going, pulling all of Opaline's magic away. Opaline, to her credit, fought tooth and nail for every drop, but it just wasn't enough. The sparks from her horn grew smaller and weaker with each passing second.

Suddenly, Opaline squeezed her eyes shut. Fire began to gather around her, melting the glue that pinned her down and the roots that tied her up. She managed to get all four hooves onto the ground once again, and ignited her body once more.

"I...will not be caged again," she spat. "I am...Opaline Aracana! I am the rightful ruler of Equestria!"

Her eyes snapped open, and she launched another stream of fire against the rainbow beam. While it wasn't strong enough to overpower Twilight and the others, it was pushing back against them. This didn't escape Twilight's notice, of course, and she cast a quick spell. The results she got back caused her eyes to widen.

"Oh, no," she breathed.

"What? What's going on?" demanded Sunny. "Is she blocking us?"

"No. She's using her own life force to try and bolster the last of her magic," said Twilight. "But the spell we cast is too far gone to stop now!"

She called out "Opaline! You have to stop fighting! If you keep drawing on your life force, it could kill you!"

"Clearly, you didn't listen to me before!" Opaline shouted back. "I surrender to nopony! I am the greatest alicorn in history! AND I WILL NOT BE FELLED BY ANTS SUCH AS YOU!"

"OPALINE!" Twilight screamed. "IF YOU KEEP DOING THIS, THE SPELL WILL—"

"SHUT UP!" Opaline screamed back. "I'LL SEE YOU IN TARTARUS, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"

The rainbow and the fire kept up their struggle, but it was clear that Opaline was losing. She didn't let up, though. As the rainbow kept advancing towards her, she never let up, and stood proud on her hooves. Eventually, the rainbow beam reached her horn, and cracks began to appear down the appendage. This didn't escape the notice of Sunny.

"Twilight! We have to cut off the spell!" she shouted.

"WE CAN'T! IT'S SELF-SUSTAINING NOW!"

The spell continued to travel down Opaline's horn, causing yet more cracks to form. White light leaked out from beneath them, and Opaline's eyes and mouth soon began emitting the same light. Yet she still stood her ground, laughing.

"I WIN, TWILIGHT! I WIN! I BEAT YOU AT—"

In one more blinding flash of light, Opaline exploded.

Chapteer Fourteen: The Aftermath

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Maretime Bay Hospital

The current nurse who was watching over Sparky looked on with misery in her eyes. So far, none of the treatments they'd tried had been any help to the baby dragon. His vitals were dropping slowly but surely, and the color of his scales was becoming more gray by the second. It seemed like there was nothing they could do for him.

Then there was the missing unicorn, Misty. When IV Injection had discovered his patient gone, he'd lost his mind, chewing out the nurses for not keeping a closer eye on her. Sure, her condition wasn't nearly as bad as Sparky's, and she would probably be fine, but clearly, they'd neglected their duties. IV Injection was already trying to reach Sheriff Trailblazer on the phone to inform him of the missing pony. However, Hitch hadn't picked up yet. In the meantime, he'd ordered somepony to always remain on standby to keep an eye on Sparky. It was unlikely the dragon was going anywhere in his current condition, but better safe than sorry.

From her position by Sparky's bedside, the nurse could see the lights blaring over at the Crystal Brighthouse, but she ignored them. After all, they were inconsequential to her job.

At least, they were, until one of the magical lights, a green bubble, came flying towards the hospital. As it grew closer, the light intensified, bathing the hospital room in an eerie glow. The nurse whirled around on one hoof, just in time to see the bubble phase through the window, zip around the room, come to a rest just above Sparky's head, and go into his mouth.

The effect was immediate. Sparky's body, dulled to a faint grey color, suddenly began to brighten up once more. His purple eyes snapped open, and he took a deep breath, before sitting up on the bed. He looked at his surroundings in surprise, making chirping noises as he did so. He touched his own face, clearly unsure of what was going on.

The nurse, naturally, jumped about a foot in the air at the sight. Once she'd regained her bearing, she jammed down on the "Call Doctor" button on the bedside table.

Crystal Brighthouse

For the first few minutes, no one said anything. What could be said, considering what had just happened? A smoldering black crater in the ground was all that remained of Opaline Arcana. Not a hair of her mane, or a feather of her wing was left. Sunny just stared at the black spot, not even breathing, her mouth hanging open. Twilight stared, too, but her expression was one of quiet sadness, instead of shocked disbelief.

"What...what have we done?" Sunny panted, finally breaking the silence.

"Sunny..." Twilight began, placing a hoof on her friend's back.

The orange alicorn collapsed to the ground in a heap. "WHY?! WHY DIDN'T SHE LISTEN?! THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THIS TO HAPPEN! I DON'T WANT TO BE THE ALICORN WHO MURDERS PONIES WHO STEP OUT OF LINE! WHY?! Why?! Why?"

Twilight used her magic to pull Sunny into a hug, wrapping her forelegs around Sunny's neck. She said nothing, merely closing her eyes and squeezing. Sunny hyperventilated for a minute more, before her breathing gradually slowed down. Eventually, she raised her legs and returned the hug, nestling her head into Twilight's shoulder.

"Why?" she pleaded one more time, looking for an answer that would never come. An answer that nopony had.

"It wasn't your fault," Twilight insisted. "It wasn't anypony's fault. It just...happened. And before anypony asks, yes, I blame myself, but the logical part of my brain knows I didn't do it."

Sunny continued to tremble, but her breathing steadied, and she managed to keep her balance. She backed off from Twilight.

"You okay, Sunny?" asked Izzy, trotting up to her friend.

"I...I don't know," admitted Sunny. "What exactly happened? Why did Opaline...?" She didn't need to finish.

"While the crystals were draining Opaline's magic, she tried to prevent it by drawing on the magic of her own life force. But the spell we started to siphon her energy was already self-sustaining. It would've just pulled out her life force in addition to her magic. However, that alone would've left a body. My best guess is Opaline...did that on purpose, just to gain one small victory over us." Twilight sighed, looking down at the ground. "Never had that one happen before."

"It's okay, Twilight," Fluttershy insisted, draping a wing over her friend's shoulder.

"I know I shouldn't blame any of us," Twilight continued, "but I can't help but feel as though we failed by not convincing Opaline to accept friendship."

"Twi, she was a genocidal maniac!" Rainbow pointed out. "Plus, after your future self locked her in the castle, she had hundreds of years to stew in her hate. By the time we caught up to her, there was nothing we could've done."

"Thanks, Rainbow, but that doesn't make me feel better."

"Normally, I'd say it's time for a victory party," said Pinkie, "but I don't feel like throwing a party right now."

"Me neither," said Izzy.

It was then that everyone's ears picked up the soft sound of sniffling. Twilight and the others turned around, discovering that Misty had trotted over to the spot where Opaline had exploded. The blue unicorn was sitting on her rear, staring at the spot, and shaking with quiet sobs. Everyone quietly walked up to her.

"Misty?" ventured Zipp. "Are you okay?"

"Do you want me to be honest?" she asked, turning around. Her eyes were watering. The others nodded. "No. I'm not." She looked back down at the black stain on the ground. Tears began to drip from her eyes, and her voice quivered as she spoke. "I know it's stupid. She wasn't a good pony. She treated me like dirt, lied to me to get usage out of me, tried to kill me, and tortured Sparky for no good reason. But...she was the only family I've ever known..." She broke then, starting to shake with sobs.

Applejack stepped forward, wrapping a foreleg around Misty's shoulders. She didn't say anything, instead letting Misty's heartbreak run its course. Misty cried for another few minutes, eventually nestling her head on Applejack's neck. Eventually, she pulled off, and wiped her eyes.

"Your feelings are perfectly natural," Applejack said. "With time, you'll feel better. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you will."

"Thank you," Misty wheezed. Pinkie Pie produced a handkerchief, and Misty blew her nose into it.

Twilight approached next. "Thanks for what you did, Misty. If you hadn't shown up, we might've lost this fight."

Misty smiled. "I couldn't just stay in bed while you guys were battling Opaline. It was my fault she got her powers back in the first place. If I did nothing and you all died...I couldn't live with that."

"See? I told you guys she was really our friend!" said Izzy. She trotted over to Misty, but after a quick look over her fellow unicorn, she froze. "Misty! You got your Cutie Mark!"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Misty. Her head whirled to her burned flank, looking at what had been bare for so long. Instead of the fake drawing she'd previously put on there, there was now a bright yellow and pink butterfly, in full view. "I...I don't understand."

"Well, when a pony finds their special talent, that's when they get their mark," said Pinkie.

"But what does it mean?" Misty asked. "It's similar to what I drew on before, but what do butterflies have to do with fighting evil alicorns?" She looked at Fluttershy. "Is that how you got your Cutie Mark?"

"No, my mark represents how I can communicate with animals," replied Fluttershy. "I think yours is different, though. I think yours represents how you grew, like a butterfly grows from a caterpillar. You matured, and you learned how Opaline was wrong. You even stood up to help up when it counted most."

"Do you want to change your name?" asked Rainbow. "Sometimes, when a pony gets their Cutie Mark, they change their name to something that's more related to their special talent. I didn't have to do that, and I wouldn't have, but you have that option."

Misty looked at her mark for a few more seconds, before a smile slowly grew on her face. "I think Misty Brightdawn is a good name. Besides, that's what my friends call me."

"Oh that's a wonderful name, dear!" chimed in Rarity. She stepped forward and hugged Misty, followed by several of the others.

"Dang it! You're making me all sappy again!" complained Rainbow.

"Same here!" whined Spike.

Twilight backed off, and levitated up the new versions of the Unity Crystals. The gems glowed with the traces of Opaline's power that they'd siphoned.

"Hopefully, these will look nice in Canterlot," she said. "They've got a long way to go before...you know." She gestured to the crystals at the top of the Brighthouse.

"Yeah. It's kind of crazy," added Sunny. "We've been wondering for months where the crystals came from, and we were just involved in their creation." She spread her glowing gold wings. "Anypony else notice how my alicorn appendages haven't disappeared since I got back?"

"I did," replied Zipp. "Usually, you have to concentrate just to keep yourself in alicorn form, but this time, it seems like it's coming so much easier to you."

"I don't know exactly how your alicorn form works, Sunny," said Twilight, "but you seem to be gaining greater control over it. Good thing, too."

"We're all proud of you, Sunny," said Hitch, patting his longtime friend on the back.

"Sorry about the Brighthouse," said Pinkie, looking up at the building. Indeed, the Crystal Brighthouse itself had suffered quite a bit over the course of the battle. It was covered in burn marks from Opaline's magic, cracks and indents lined the sides, and the community garden was completely ruined. Hybrid fruits were splattered all over the place, most of the plants were uprooted, and dirt was spread out everywhere.

"Don't worry," replied Sunny. "After Sprout's little...attack, it looked way worse than this. We can fix everything with some work and magic."

"We'll stay here and help you," insisted Twilight. "If that's not enough, I'm sure Celestia and Luna will be willing to provide some horsepower to help fix everything."

"Thanks, Twilight."

Misty raised her hoof, attracting the attention of the others. "Listen, I...I know you guys said you aren't mad at me, but I'm sorry I took Sparky. If it weren't for me, Opaline never would've gotten her powers back. She'd still be stuck in that old castle."

"We don't blame you, Misty," said Pipp. "You had nopony else for your entire life. Opaline was basically your mom. It's no wonder you did what she told you."

"We still consider you our friend," insisted Fluttershy. "You may have done something bad, but you worked to make up for it."

Misty's bright smile returned. "Thanks, everypony. I'll do my best to be a real friend to all of you from now on."

"Well, now that we've finished, what do we do?" asked Hitch. "Sparky should be feeling better now that Opaline's lost his magic, right?"

"Let's go back to the hospital and check up on him!" cheered Izzy.

"Then can we go to sleep?" asked Rainbow. "It's like three in the morning and we've been on the move ever since Sparky got dragon-napped. I feel like I just did three pegasus marathons, a Running of the Leaves, and a Wonderbolts show in rapid succession."

"My eyelids are so heavy right now," complained Spike.

"I agree," said Twilight. "We'll probably end up falling asleep at the hospital. Hopefully they won't kick us out if we do."

"They won't," replied Sunny. "Though they might be angry at you for sneaking out, Misty."

Misty giggled a little. "Yeah, that was kinda bad." She gestured to the burn marks on her side. "I should probably have them look at these."

With that, the twelve ponies and one dragon all set off towards the Maretime Bay Hospital.

Chapter Fifteen: A Good-Bye

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Maretime Bay

Twilight's prediction turned out to be accurate. After arriving at the hospital to check on Sparky (and enduring Hitch's happy cheering once the baby dragon turned out to be okay), everyone eventually passed out. Misty had to endure a bit of verbal thrashing from IV Injection, but he calmed down and let her rest alongside the others. No one needed any serious medical attention, even after the epic battle with Opaline, so they simply slept off their fatigue.

The next day passed in a blur. As Twilight had guessed, the damage to the Crystal Brighthouse had been greater than a couple of ponies could restore by themselves. However, Celestia and Luna, upon hearing the story, had been more than accommodating, providing plenty of Royal Guards to help with the reconstruction. It helped that Twilight knew plenty of rebuilding spells to assist. Earth pony magic restored the community garden within a few minutes, as well. Twilight's group sampled some of the hybrid fruits, finding them very palatable.

However, once the Brighthouse was fully repaired, Twilight brought everyone together in the living room.

"The portal's starting to destabilize," she announced. "If we don't close it soon, it'll start to expand, and it could threaten both Equestrias. Star Swirl and Starlight have finished the counter-spell to seal it shut. We have to do it pretty soon."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Pinkie. "Do we have to already? I haven't gotten the chance to throw a cross-temporal party yet!"

"Rainbow and I never got to actually race each other!" complained Zipp.

"I wanted to design an outfit for Pipp's next concert! Or a music video! Whichever!" whined Rarity.

More and more voices began to pipe up, issuing their complaints, until Twilight silenced them all by holding up her hoof.

"I know, I know we've all made friends here. I'm no exception to that." She gave a glance at Sunny, who smiled back. "If it was possible for us to establish a long-term passage between this time and ours, I would. But that kind of spell would take decades to develop, decades we don't have. We must close the portal, or disaster will befall all of us."

Everyone's face fell. It was clear they were thinking of the possibility of never seeing their new friends again, considering the distance that lay between them. Misty in particular looked as though she might tear up at the thought.

"How long do we have before we absolutely must close it?" asked Hitch.

Twilight levitated up a scroll, upon which were written some indecipherable equations. "I wouldn't leave it open past noon tomorrow. I guess we still have the rest of the day."

"Well, at least that's something," remarked Fluttershy.

"We can show Misty around our Equestria a little," said Applejack. "She hasn't gotten to see the past."

"That sounds kinda cool," replied the bushy-maned unicorn.

"Well, if we've only got one day, we'd better hurry," said Rainbow. She grabbed Zipp by one leg and began pulling her out of the room. "Come on, newbie! I know exactly what we're gonna be doing!"

"Hey! I know how to walk! Or fly, whichever," complained Zipp.

Rarity produced a long strip of measuring tape from her saddlebags. "Pipp, I'll need your measurements. We're burning daylight here."

Pipp's eyes lit up. "Ooh! Sounds good to me!"

One by one, ponies filed out of the room, Hitch taking Sparky and Spike with him. Sunny and Twilight were soon left alone.

"So..." Sunny began, "what do you want to do, Twilight?"

Twilight eyed the blanket depicting Sunny and her friends that hung on the wall.

"I can think of a few things," she responded.

Wonderbolt HQ

"Come on, Rainbow, you don't have to do this," Zipp protested.

"No. But I do want to," replied the prismatic pegasus. "It'll look great on you!"

The Wonderbolts' tailor was currently working away on a classic blue and yellow suit for Zipp after taking her measurements. Rainbow Dash had called in a favor to Spitfire, convincing her to let Rainbow give Zipp her own suit. Of course, it was coming out of Rainbow's salary, but that didn't bother her. The tailor came in about a minute later, carrying the suit.

"Alright," she announced, "it's finished. Wanna try it on?"

Zipp's attention was drawn to the suit. Rainbow smiled at the expression on her friend's face. Zipp had only heard of the Wonderbolts in faint legends from old stuff in Zephyr Heights, so this was quite an experience for her.

"Uh...sure. Yes, definitely!" she finally answered. Taking the suit in one of her legs, she dashed off to the locker room, leaving a grinning Rainbow in her wake. About one minute later, Zipp returned wearing the uniform, complete with goggles. She looked into the full-length mirror, sizing herself up.

"Looks pretty good on you," commented Rainbow. "You've got the muscles to pull that look off. Plus, since you know so much about flying, you'd fit right in."

Zipp's expression was one of pure contentment. "Thanks, Dash. I gotta admit, I like this. Maybe...maybe resurrecting the Wonderbolts isn't such a bad idea."

Rainbow's eyebrows shot upwards, and her smile stretched impossibly wide. "Seriously?! You're telling me that I play a part in the restoration of the Wonderbolts generations into the future?!"

"Yeah. I'd have to find somepony else to be captain, though." At the look on Rainbow's face, she continued, "Don't give me that. I told you how I didn't even want to be the lead instructor of a flight school. Sure, I liked it when I tried it, but I didn't want to do it long term. There's no way I could build up the Wonderbolts all by myself. It's bad enough that I'll have to be queen of Zephyr Heights someday."

Rainbow opened her mouth, presumably to issue some kind of sharp retort, but realization crossed her eyes, and she backed off. "Yeah, I guess I can understand that," she answered. "I wouldn't want a leadership position to be suddenly thrown at me without being prepared. I wonder if that's how Twilight feels about becoming ruler of Equestria."

"Maybe," replied Zipp. "Any chance we can go outside and practice some moves before our time's up?"

"Oh, heck yeah! Let me get my uniform!" Rainbow rushed off to the locker room to suit up.

Canterlot

The newly forged Unity Crystals found their place in Canterlot Castle fairly easily. After some debate between Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Sunny, the three conjoined gems were placed above the thrones, enshrined in a place where everypony would see them.

"At least, everypony will see them until they need to be split up in the future," said Twilight. "Hopefully, I won't have to worry about putting them in the hooves of specific ponies."

"Yeah, same here," replied Sunny. "By my time, we'll be able to display them as symbols again. Of course, they'll also serve the purpose of keeping all of everypony's magic working."

The two mares were sitting in the throne room, staring at the crystals in their new home. Celestia and Luna had been there as well, but had left to give the two some privacy. After all, they wouldn't get much more time together.

"So this is where you'll be living once you take over?" asked Sunny, before whipping out her phone and taking a picture of the throne room. "It's impressive. Even more impressive than the throne room of Zephyr Heights!"

"Yeah. I grew up spending a lot of time in this castle. It came with being Princess Celestia's personal student. Now..." Twilight sighed, closing her eyes. "I'll miss Ponyville, though. Sure, Spike will be with me, but I'll never forget the others. It's not like we'll never see each other again, but we'll still be going from seeing each other every day to...I don't know how often."

Sunny frowned. "I don't blame you one bit. If I suddenly had to move to Zephyr Heights and rule over everypony else once I became an alicorn..." She shivered. "I honestly don't think I could take being separated from Hitch and the others like that. Not to mention I'd leave dad's lighthouse behind."

Twilight draped a wing over her friend's back. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Sunny. For the foreseeable future, you'll probably be the only alicorn in Equestria." Her face fell a little. "I...I'm sorry we couldn't reform Opaline. I didn't want your first big villain encounter to end like the way it did."

Sunny's face drooped as well. "Me neither." She played with her braid. "I know, there probably wasn't anything we could've done, but I still feel horrible about it. Sprout wasn't even a villain, he was just...misguided. Okay, misguided and stupid. But even he gave up on the whole 'being a dictator' thing once he saw that unicorns and pegasi weren't evil."

Twilight nodded. "As much as I love friendship, and as much as I truly believe it is the most powerful magic of all, we can't force other creatures to accept it. All we can do is present the opportunity. If we really did compel everyone to accept our philosophy, would we be any better than, say, Starlight was when she stole the Cutie Marks of an entire town and forced them to believe marks were evil?"

"Probably not. Don't tell Misty that it's possible to lose your Cutie Mark, even temporarily. It'd probably freak her out."

The two mares shared a small laugh, before their faces dropped once more. They thought about how their time together was coming to an end.

"Are you sure there's no way we can make the portal permanent?" Sunny pleaded. "Or just open another one?"

Twilight shook her head. "I'm sorry, Sunny. Opening portals repeatedly could permanently damage the space-time continuum. Creating a stable one could take a lifetime. Even with my alicorn longevity, I don't know if I could pull it off."

Sunny's face fell even further. "I know, I get it. It's just part of life, but..."

Twilight nuzzled her friend's head. "I wish I could fix it so we could see each other any time, but I don't know how. I promise, it'll be okay."

Sweet Apple Acres

Applejack led Misty through the fields of trees, each brimming with bright red fruits hanging from the branches. Along the way, the blue unicorn munched on an apple she held in her unicorn magic.

"It's nice I can finally use this thing," she commented, gesturing to her horn. "I guess it must come with having my Cutie Mark."

"Kinda odd," remarked Applejack. "In my time, unicorn fillies can learn to use their magic without Cutie Marks. Then again, magic works differently when you come from, and it only just came back. Plus, I'm sure that Opaline wasn't willing to really teach you how to use yours."

"Oh yeah. When magic came back, I asked her how to use it, and she just changed the subject. She probably didn't want me getting any independent ideas or anything." Misty frowned a little. "I just wish...she hadn't blown herself up like that. As cruel as she was to me...I..." Her eyes started to water again.

Applejack placed a hoof against her friend's barrel. "It's alright, Misty. She was pretty much your mom by fate. Like I said back at the Brighthouse, it's natural to feel the way you do. And those feelings will fade away with time. Especially since you've got so many new friends to spend time with."

Misty wiped her eyes with one leg, but the ghost of a smile came across her face. "Thank you, Applejack. I just wish I'd realized how important my friends were before I gave Sparky to Opaline. Then the entire mess could've been avoided."

"I wish the same thing, sugar cube. But we can't change the past. If anything, this little adventure proved that."

"Yeah." Misty looked up, discovering that they'd reached their destination: the barn of Sweet Apple Acres. "So this is where you and your family live?"

Applejack nodded. "Since you're so new to having a Cutie Mark and everything, I figured you could use some help figuring out what to do next. And luckily, I happen to know three fillies who specialize in that kinda thing."

Misty's eyes brightened. "Really?!" she asked. Applejack whistled, and the front door of the barn opened. Out came three small ponies. One was a bright yellow earth pony with a red mane, complete with a bow, one a white unicorn with a two-toned pink and purple mane, and one an orange pegasus with a magenta-colored mane, and small wings.

"Howdy, Applejack!" cheered Apple Bloom as the Cutie Mark Crusaders bounded up to them. "You said you had a mare in need of some Cutie Mark Counseling?"

"I guess that would be me," Misty admitted, awkwardly waving her forehoof. The fillies noticed her for the first time.

"Hello there!" said Scootaloo, grabbing Misty's hoof and shaking it. "Glad to meet you! We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and we're here to help!"

"Thank you. My name's Misty Brightdawn."

"Well, you've come to the right ponies!" replied Sweetie Belle. "Come on, girls! Let's take her to our clubhouse!"

As the three excited foals dragged Misty off, Applejack stood and watched, a large smile adorning her features.*

Maretime Bay

It was the end of everpony's last day together. The twelve ponies and two dragons had gathered at the portal, still smack in the middle of Maretime Bay's most popular street. On the other side, Starlight and Star Swirl had prepared the counter-spell to seal the vortex closed forever.

"So...that's it, then?" asked Applejack.

"I guess," admitted Sunny. "I...I'm still not used to it. It's not every day you have to say good-bye to your heroes forever." A single tear dropped out of her eye.

Hitch trotted up to his foalhood friend and placed a hoof on her back. "I know it's painful, Sunny. At least we got to meet them at all, right?"

"Fair enough," she replied, smiling a little.

However, even Sunny's heartbreak had nothing on Pinkie and Izzy. The two mares were bawling their eyes out, hugging each other so hard, it looked like they might hurt each other.

"I'll never forget you, Izzy!" Pinkie choked out in between sobs.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "And ponies say I'm a drama queen," she whispered.

Misty stepped forward, drawing everypony's attention. "I know we don't know each other that well," she said to Twilight's group, "but I want you to know that our time together gave me some of the best memories of my short life. Thank you so much."

Twilight beamed at the sight. "You're welcome Misty." She addressed all of Sunny's group. "Take care of this future for us, will you? Keep up the good fight. For friendship's sake."

"Of course we will," replied Sunny. The only one present with dry eyes was Sparky.

"Dang it!" complained Rainbow, wiping her eyes. "Now you've got me acting all sappy! Again!"

Zipp chuckled to herself. "Don't worry, Dash. We won't tell." She pulled out her Wonderbolt uniform. "Thanks again for the suit. I can't wait to see what kind of stunts I can pull off wearing it."

"No problem, Zipp. Good luck with the whole 'Ruling Zephyr Heights' thing."

"There's also something I wanted to give you," Zipp continued. She reached into her saddlebags, producing a rolled-up Wonderbolts poster, taken from her secret place in the Zephyr Heights palace. "When we visited your house, I saw you didn't have this one. Maybe it doesn't exist yet in your time. It'll look good next to the others."

"Awesome! Thanks, Zipp!" exclaimed Rainbow, hugging the poster, but also being careful not to wrinkle it.

Rarity advanced forward next. "I, too, have a gift to give." She produced a box, and opened it with her magic. Inside which was a beautiful pink and purple gown, covered with gems of various colors. "I hope you find a use for this, Pipp. I'm sure it'll make you look fabulous!"

Pipp beamed as she took the dress. "Thank you, Rarity. Don't worry, I've got something in mind for it." She pulled out a box which contained several Mane Melody beauty products. "I want you to have these. It's as close as I could get to giving you free visits to Mane Melody for life."

Rarity took the box in her magic. "Oh, how wonderful! I appreciate you, darling." The two mares shared a hug.

Izzy and Pinkie, meanwhile, had finished crying their eyes out. Stepping back from each other, they wiped their eyes, and put smiles back on their faces.

"No frowny faces, okay?" said Pinkie. "We'll always have the time we spent together." From seemingly nowhere, she produced one of her many party cannons. "Take this with you, Izzy. Just don't forget me, okay?"

"Just as long as you do the same," replied Izzy. She levitated the head of Señor Butterscotch, still charred from Opaline's magical blast, but intact. "I would've given you all of him, but you know what happened. I don't need him anymore. I've got a real unicorn friend." She gestured towards Misty. Pinkie took the head with a sad smile.

Fluttershy and Hitch watched the two with amused grins. "I can't really blame them, but they are kinda over-blowing it," said the sheriff, smiling.

"Yeah. I will miss you guys, but we've taught each other all we could, and those things will stay with us for life," replied Fluttershy.

Hitch passed her a small box depicting many animals eating small brown pellets. "Here. Some all-purpose critter treats. The animals at your sanctuary will love them."

"Thank you. I actually got you something as well." Fluttershy reached into her wing, and pulled out what looked like a small, silver cylinder. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be a whistle. "The sound of this can only be heard by animals. I thought it might come in handy if you're dealing with critters."

"Thanks," replied Hitch. He put the whistle around his neck. "Say good-bye, Sparky." Sparky gurgled with a smile.

Applejack came up to Misty, presenting her with a bottle. "Here's some Sweet Apple Acres specialty cider. I wasn't sure what else to give you, so I hope you enjoy this batch." She looked around, and lowered her voice. "Don't tell Rainbow about this. She'll lose it if she finds out I gave some of this season's cider away."

"Thank you," replied Misty. "I wish I had something to give you." Her eyes widened a little, as she thought of something. "I do have one thing." She reached into her saddlebags, pulling out a small, unicorn-like toy made of a tennis ball and other assorted items. "This is Madame Taffytail. I used her to vent my uncertainty and stuff when I worked for Opaline. But since she's gone, I guess I don't really need this anymore." She passed Madame Taffytail to Applejack. "Please take care of her."

"I will. I promise," replied the farmer. "I know it'll be hard, but you'll make it through with the help of your friends. You'll be fine, sugar cube."

Misty smiled, her eyes beginning to water, but she held firm. Whatever it was the Cutie Mark Crusaders had said to her, it had clearly had an impact.

Finally, Sunny and Twilight stepped up to each other. Spike stood behind Twilight, hugging his sister's back leg. Sunny looked down, seemingly unable to meet the eyes of her hero. Twilight frowned a little.

"It's hard, isn't it, Sunny?" she asked. "I know it hurts. I'm feeling it, too."

"It just isn't fair," Sunny admitted. "I got to meet all of you, which is more than I ever dreamed would actually happen, but now I have to say good-bye forever..." A few tears dripped out of her eyes.

Twilight put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "I won't lie to you and tell you it's fair. I will say, however, that friendship carries on. Even if we never meet again, we'll always be friends." Her horn lit up, and she opened her saddlebags. "I thought you might get some mileage out of this." She levitated out a book, with the six-pointed star from her Cutie Mark inside a horseshoe on the cover. Sunny's eyes lit up.

"Your friendship journal!" she exclaimed, grabbing the book in her forehooves. "Dad spent decades searching for a copy of this! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome. Don't worry if you didn't get me anything, I don't mind—"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous! Of course I got you something!" Sunny reached into her bag, pulling out a printed photo, which depicted all twelve ponies together, plus the two dragons. "I figured, since you don't have electronics in your time, this would be the best way for you to remember us."

Twilight accepted the picture with a smile. "Thank you, Sunny." Stepping forward, she nuzzled her nose against Sunny's neck, an act which Sunny copied. Spike actually started to tear up at the sight. Once the two finished, Sunny bent down to look Spike in the eyes.

"Take care of her, would you?" she asked the dragon. "Especially when you become Royal Advisor."

"Of course I will," replied Spike. "You don't even have to ask."

Their business concluded, the six ponies from another era all said one last good-bye to their newest friends. With Twilight leading the way, they walked into the swirling portal, stopping only to return the waves Sunny's group was giving them. Once they'd vanished, a few seconds passed without incident, only for the vortex to suddenly collapse on itself, sealing shut and disappearing as though it had never existed.

Sunny sniffed, wiping the last of her tears away. Hitch trotted up to his longtime friend.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "eventually."

Epilogue

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Canterlot

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Discord. "I mean, there's no chance that I'll screw up and leave you brain-damaged or anything, but—"

"Gee, thanks for putting that idea in her head, Discord," groaned Rainbow Dash. Discord glared at her.

"Now, now, every creature," said Twilight, using her magic to push them apart, "there's no need to bicker. And yes, Discord, I'm sure. I need you to remove the memory of Opaline's name from my brain. If I remember who she is, I won't ever make her an alicorn, and Sunny's future will cease to exist, leaving who knows what in its place."

"But doesn't that mean that we'll have to let Opaline do all those horrible things you saw in her memory?" asked Fluttershy.

"Well, the five of you won't. But it's my responsibility to make sure that the loop is completed. Don't get me wrong, I hate the idea of letting Opaline divide ponies, but if we don't, our adventure in the future will never happen, and...I don't know what it could do to time. Opaline was far from the first apprentice my future self took, so at least we have a few centuries before then."

Discord shivered. "I never thought any of the villains we faced would be worse than Tirek," he muttered, "but from what you've told me, this Opaline takes the cake."

"Don't do it now, though," said Twilight. "We still have to finish the spell on the Time Twirler. Just...after I take the throne, okay? And please don't remove any memories of Sunny and her friends. I can't do without those."

"Alright, I'll do my best," said Discord. "It'll be hard, but not impossible, with my magic."

"Thanks, Discord," said Fluttershy, hugging her friend.

The six mares turned around and trotted out of the throne room. Once they were gone, Discord reached into his ear and pulled out a note, upon which was written some words:

My Ultimate Plan to Boost Twilight's Confidence

Step 1. Disguise myself as Grogar

Step 2. Recruit the remaining villains

Step 3.

With a grimace, Discord crumpled up the list, then snapped his fingers, opening a dimensional portal to a world composed entirely of lava behind him. He tossed the paper inside.`

"How's that quilt coming, girls?" asked Twilight, as she ran another magical scan over the original Time Twirler. She, Star Swirl, and Starlight had just finished casting the spell on it that would allow it to tear open the time portal hundreds of years from now.

"Fabulously!" said Rarity, with all of her usual flamboyance. "I must say, we are lucky Sunny decided to give you that photo. Otherwise, I may have had trouble remembering what she and the others looked like!"

Rarity, assisted by Fluttershy, was currently sewing the blanket Sunny and her friends had found in pieces in the future. Twilight had already cast an anti-deterioration spell on it, ensuring it would survive until it was found.

"Do you think we'll have to find those specific places where they found the pieces?" asked Pinkie. "I mean, according to Izzy, they looked like they hadn't been touched in centuries."

"Hopefully, not," said Twilight. "I'm planning to keep it in my possession while I rule, and we'll go from there." She levitated up the Time Twirler. "You're sure the spell will work as soon as it comes into contact with a pony's hoof?"

"Twilight, you've scanned it, what, twelve times now?" asked Starlight. "We're absolutely sure. Just toss that sucker into the ocean."

Twilight smiled. "It's kinda fun, getting to set up all these things for Sunny and the others, ages before they're even born," she said with a laugh. Her smile dropped a little. "I just hope that, wherever they are now, they're alright. Especially Misty."

"I feel bad for her," said Rainbow. "Opaline lied to her and abused her for her entire life, then tried to kill her as soon as she outlived her usefulness. What kind of pony does that?!"

"Opaline, I guess. What a meanie!" said Pinkie.

"Misty's tougher than she looks," insisted Applejack. "Plus she's got Sunny and the others to hold her up. She'll survive, and live happily."

"I hope you're right," said Twilight. "You all want to come with me?" The other six mares, plus Spike and Starlight, nodded. "Then let's go."

With a quick teleportation, Twilight brought everyone down to the beach, just outside Manehattan. With alicorn magic, plus a little boost from Starlight, it only took a second. Twilight took a few steps towards the drifting waves, levitating up the Time Twirler.

"Are you certain about this?" asked Rarity. "Couldn't we just bury it in the sand where Maretime Bay will be?"

"Somepony else might dig it up," said Twilight. "We need those three fillies to find it at the exact time." Looking down at the water, she sighed, and with a swerve of her horn, tossed it into the water. The Time Twirler bobbed for a few seconds, before sinking below the churning ocean.

"So...did it work?" asked Spike.

Twilight telekinetically opened her saddlebags. She produced the photo Sunny had given her, safely encased in a frame. "I think it has. I guess those things they gave us are all we'll have to remember them by." A smile slowly graced her features. "But maybe they'll be enough."

Crystal Brighthouse

Sunny remained on her knees, staring into the prisbeam that surrounded the Unity Crystals. A rattling noise signaled the elevator rising up, revealing her five best friends (and Sparky), who trotted into the room with concern on their faces.

"Sunny, you've been up here for hours," said Zipp. "Aren't you hungry by now? Or bored?"

"Sorta," admitted Sunny. "I was just thinking about...stuff."

"About Twilight and the others?" asked Hitch. Sunny nodded. "Me too. It was a lot of fun to meet them. Sure, fighting Opaline wasn't so great, but I do miss them."

"Yeah," replied Sunny. "I know Twilight talked about how our friendship would endure across time itself, but I just wish...I could see her again." She pulled her copy of Twilight's Friendship Journal out of the corner. "I've already read it cover to cover."

"No surprises there!" said Izzy. She frowned. "If only Pinkie and I had been able to throw a cross-temporal party before they left." A tear began to gather at the corner of her eye.

"I wish I'd gotten to know them better," said Misty, sadly. "They did a lot for me in a short amount of time."

Sunny opened her mouth to continue, but a bright flash of light began to emit from her Cutie Mark, cutting her off. She looked down, discovering her mark creating an energy tether to the combined Unity Crystals. The marks of the other five ponies began reacting as well, causing the crystals to glow with a mixture of orange, pink, lilac, blue, yellow, and white. They pulsed brightly.

"What's going on?" asked Pipp.

"It looks like when we first uncovered the message from Twilight!" said Zipp, immediately whipping out her phone to record it. "But it's different because Misty's here now!"

In the center of the crystals, a white dot appeared, growing bigger with each passing second. The entire Crystal Brighthouse began to vibrate with magical energy, causing the six ponies to nearly fall on their faces in the process. Soon enough, the white ball was big enough to eclipse the crystals from view entirely. All of a sudden, it shot upwards, phasing through the roof of the Brighthouse without causing any damage, rising higher and higher into the sky until it burst like a firecracker, leaving a massive sphere of multi-colored dots. The explosive roar was so great, everypony had to clamp their hooves over their ears, except Hitch, who covered Sparky's.

"What the heck was that?!" exclaimed Izzy. "Since when were the Unity Crystals firework dispensers?!"

"I...I don't know!" replied Sunny. "Twilight never mentioned anything like that! What could she have—"

This time, the interruption took the form of a sound from outside the Crystal Brighthouse. The noise was a loud "Fwwwwump!" like the beating of a massive pair of wings. This was followed by a heavy thump that seemed to shake all of Maretime Bay for about a second. Hitch nearly fell onto Sparky from the impact. Everypony began searching to find the source of the mysterious sound. As it turned out, they didn't have to look far, because the transparent glass of the Brighthouse allowed them to see what looked like an endless expanse of purple.

Sunny activated her alicorn form, flying down and out the front door of the Brighthouse, with her friends on her tail. Standing on the beach beneath the cliff that the Brighthouse rested on was an absolutely gargantuan dragon, with purple scales, green spines, and a pair of folded up wings. It didn't take a genius to deduce his identity.

"SPIKE!" exclaimed Sunny, taking off with a flap of her golden wings. She flew up to the drake's nose and tried to hug it, though her legs weren't long enough.

"Hey, Sunny," replied Spike, his voice having grown so much deeper since their last encounter. He waved to the five shocked ponies standing in front of the Brighthouse entrance. "Hello, everypony. Nice to see you all again."

"Spike?! You're still alive?!" shouted Zipp. "That's...how old are you?!"

Spike shrugged. "I stopped counting after a while," he admitted. "By the way, how long has it been since Opaline's defeat?"

"Just one day," replied Hitch, who looked perhaps the most flabbergasted of them all.

"Oh, good. So you activated the signal just in time. Sorry for the wait. I would've been here sooner, but I didn't remember meeting my future self."

Sunny's eyes lit up as her brain put it all together. "So Twilight put that in so you'd know when to come see us again!" she exclaimed. "That's great! I had no idea you were still around!"

"Who do you think put Sparky's egg on the beach?" replied Spike. The fully-grown dragon looked down at the tiny Sparky sitting on Hitch's back, who babbled happily. "There's also something else you should know."

"What? What is it?!" asked Sunny, excitedly flapping her wings.

"Well, as current Dragon Lord, I'm obligated to offer the claw of friendship to ponies, considering they've reunited again," said Spike. "Plus, there are plenty of other creatures who might be interested in resuming diplomatic relations with Equestria. How does that sound?"

Sunny beamed, and her joy was matched by all of her friends. "It sounds like we've got a lot of work to do," she replied.

Generational Divide

by Boltstrike58

Chapter One: Unearthed

Chapter Two: Disruption

Chapter Three: Future Shock

Chapter Four: Darkness Gathers

Chapter Five: Respect the Past...

Chapter Six: ...Embrace the Future

Chapter Seven: Taken

Chapter Eight: Resurrection

Chapter Nine: Opaline's Tale

Chapter Ten: Misty's Tale

Chapter Eleven: The Plan

Chapter Twelve: The Battle of the Brighthouse Part One

Chapter Thirteen: The Battle of the Brighthouse Part Two

Chapteer Fourteen: The Aftermath

Chapter Fifteen: A Good-Bye

Epilogue