> When Times Collide > by RobtheMorpherPony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: When Times Collide > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight, Starlight, and Spike all soon fell into the Castle of Friendship; afterwards the modified spell Starlight had made was swallowed up by the time vortex. "...Glad that thing's no longer going to cause trouble." Spike said as the rest of the elements soon entered the room. "...Did something happen here?" Rarity asked. "You could say that. There's a lot to talk about." Twilight said. "You can start by talking about that strange vortex above the map." Rainbow Dash said. "Wait what?" Twilgiht said. She, Starlight, and Spike soon noticed the time vortex had yet to disappear. "Why is that still here?" The purple alicorn asked. Suddenly Flash Sentry soon barged into the room. "Twilight, there's something happening...WHAT THE HELL, THERE'S ONE IN HERE TOO?!" Flash Sentry exclaimed. "Wait whose the pegasus?" Starlight asked. "That would be my only real guard, Flash Sentry...although he's also my stallionfriend and special somepony." Twilight said. "...Huh...how did I miss that?" Starlight asked herself. "What do you mean there's one in here too Flash?" Applejack asked. "There's several copies of that same portal above the map table popping up over Ponyville with reports of the same happening in Canterlot and the Everfree forest!" Flash Sentry said. "WAIT WHAT?!" Twilight exclaimed. Suddenly the entire earth began to shake. "What in tartarus is going on? I don't remember my modifications being able to do this!" Starlight panickly said. "I don't think this has anything to do with your modifications any longer..." Twilight said in a tone that was obvious: Things were getting serious. Meanwhile in Canterlot, the portals opening had interupted even Celestia's court and in fact, Canterlot Castle itself was suddenly transforming into Luna knows what. Elsewhere, Zecora was out in the forest when she too was caught off guard by the portals and the shaking. "I think I speak for everyone in all of the land, when I dare say that whatever is going on isn't something that's bland." The Zebra mare said. Even the avatar of chaos himself Discord was being caught off guard by everything. "I can most certainly guarantee that I have NOTHING to do with this one!" He said. Meanwhile, in the far-off future of Equestria... "Thanks so much for showing up every pony." Sunny Starscout said to the gathering of her friends, the leaders of each tribe, and of course Sprout who was still doing community service. "But of course, we would all show up. So, this is what the combined crystals look like?" Alphabittle said. "Yep. Several texts I've found have called them the Unity Crystals." Sunny said. "So why is he here? You know full well what he almost did." Queen Haven pointed a hoof at Sprout. "Sprout just so happened to mention that now that we have all three crystals together as one once more, it would be interesting to see what exactly they are made of so we can better learn how to prevent magic from disappearing again." Sunny said. "I meant it as a joke really. Look how far she's taking it too." Sprout said. "Even if you meant it as a joke Sprout, it's not entirely a bad idea." Hitch noted. "Whatever! I shouldn't even be here. Especially with all you unicorns and Pegasi." Sprout said. "You are staying very well much put young man." Phyllis snapped at Sprout. "...Yes mother..." Sprout said, gulping in cowerdice. "You should be thankful that after what you did, community service was the most I saddled you with on top of firing you as my deputy. I specifically told you not to start a war when I left, and what did you do?" Hitch asked. "...Start a war..." Sprout admitted. "Exactly. Though I'm sure that the unicorns and pegasi will have their own brands of punishment for you once your done with community service on my terms, that is out of my hooves." Hitch said. "Regardless of Sprout's intentions, I've been performing quite a few experiments myself, but there's one experiment I needed everyone together for." Sunny said, suddenly shifting into her alicorn form. "...And that's to pour as much of our combined tribe magics into this thing as possible. I'm hoping it'll do something super amazing and awesome." She added. "Uh...not to actually discredit you, Sunny, but is that safe?" Queen Haven asked. "...I actually have to agree on that: This sounds like it could be dangerous." Phyllis said. "I'm sure Sunny's tried other more safe ways to see about making copies of these things. Right?" Zipp asked. "You got that right. Izzy's been really valuable with that." Sunny said. "I'd do anything to prevent our tribes from growing apart ever again, let alone loosing magic." Izzy said. "Heh...I can agree with the not loosing magic part." Alphabittle said. "Same. Perhaps this can be another step forward for us all in general in the process." Queen Haven said. "Well I'm certainly not going to pass up this oppertunity." Phyllis said. "Mom! Their Unicorns! And Pegasi!" Sprout spoke up.lp "You are going to help too young man, and that's final!" Phyllis said. Sprout gulped. "...Yes mother..." He said. "Mothers will always be mothers no matter what, huh?" Pipp said. "The way you talk to Sprout reminds me of how Queen Haven talks with me from time to time." She added. "Maternity is a thing that all mares; regardless of their race; do share in common when they have their own children to look after." Queen Haven said. "I can most certainly attest to that, though part of me is looking to see about trying again for another; I was way too involved with making Sprout too hateful of other pony races and you saw the result of that. I really shouldn't have pushed it so hard." Phyllis said. "At the time, you knew no different than us; as such it lead to such an event." Alphabittle said. "While you see yourself as responsible for what occured, you shouldn't blame yourself for it. He will no doubt be regretting the choices he's made one day." He added. "...Maybe I wasn't too far off the mark on mind reading..." Phyllis said. Alphabittle laughed. "Did you think you and Queen Haven were the only two parents involved in this? I may not be a mare, but I am a father." He said. "Seems Parental instincts are just a thing in general." Zipp said. "Very true, but I don't remember Alphabittle having any children." Izzy said. "I don't; at least not anymore. My only son left one day and never returned. I haven't seen him since. I can't help but worry what happened to him.' Alphabittle said. "Now that is disheartning. I'm sure we'll find him some day." Sunny said. "But let's focus on the now. Who knows? He may return once we've ensured the future of our races!" She added. Alphabittle laughed. "Now I can most certainly see how you were able to unite us all Sunny Starscout. Yes, you may just be correct." He added. The entire group soon put their hooves on the unity crystal, and started focusing on their latent magics. Suddenly, the entire crystal starting going critical. "Wh-what's happening?" Sprout asked. "I don't know." Sunny said. "Maybe it's making a doublicate of itself?" She asked. Suddenly the entire ground began to shake and a giant portal appeared. "I don't think the crystal is doing anything on it's own; everyone hang on!" Hitch shouted over the howling winds before one by one, everyone was sucked into the mysterious vortex. Back in Equestria's Present time... Suddenly Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, and Izzy were all spat out of the time portal onto the Friendship Map before the time vortex closed up behind them. Pipp suddenly screamed when she looked at her hoof. "What's wrong now sis?" Zipp asked. "My gold hoof polish...IT'S COMING OFF!" Pipp excalimed. Each one of the other four that just dropped into the Castle of Friendship sighed a deep but accepting sigh. "I think what's more important right now is--oh...my...stars." Sunny started, and then caught glimpse of six very familiar figures. "P-p-princess...T-t-t-twilight and her friends!" Sunny said. Suddenly Spike burped up a letter which Twilight caught in her magic and didn't open it. "Aren't you going to read that? It's from Princess Celestia." Rarity said. "I believe I already know what it's about: These aren't our only new residents of Equestria." Twilight said. I am going to be in so much trouble for what I tried to do, aren't I? Starlight thought to herself. To be continued... > Chapter 2: Stuck in Generation 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- At Canterlot, Twilight was currently doing some deep breathing to calm herself down with the gathered future residents of Equestria as the purple alicorn and their friends were just finding out about. Shortly after being told how they got to the present, Rainbow Dash took Zipp out to see how the later handled flying. And now there were two in charge figures and one worried mother in their mist alongside the two alicorn sisters. "I must admit, I'd never would have imagined meeting Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna in my life time. After all, Zepher hieights was built on a nearby mountain from Canterlot Castle." Queen Haven said. "Admittedly, I feel the same." Phyllis said. "But I'm more worried about what my son is up to right now." She added. Suddenly Cadence and Shining Armor teleported into the throne room with Sprout in tow; the red earth pony was still in complete shock and fainted. "Oh my...what's happened to him now?" Phyllis asked. "He got overwhelmed by the sight in the Crystal Empire." Shining Armor said. "That's...probably a good thing." Phyllis said. "Did we miss something? Whose this mare?" Cadence asked. "I'll fill you in while we wait for Rainbow Dash to come back with Zipp." Flash Sentry admitted. Some time later, Flash Sentry had explained everything. Just in time for Rainbow Dash and Zipp to return. "So let me get this straight: Somehow a bunch of time portals dumped a bunch of ponies from Equestria's supposed future here in our time, and in that future, this red stallion basically pulled a King Sombra on the Earth Ponies and almost killed Sunny Starscout over there?!" Shining Armor exclaimed. "I was partly responsible for that occurring, as I had pushed my hatred of non-earth pony races way too much onto my own son." Phyllis said. "The result was the near total damnation of all ponies." She said with a heavy sigh. "Blame not yourself for your child's own doings." Luna tried to comfort. "Thanks for trying, but a parent can't help but be concerned that they may have unintentionally almost ended all of pony kind." Phyllis said. "Admittedly, I'm glad things turned out for the best anyways. I'd hate to see what would happen if Sunny was unsuccessful in uniting the pony races when my own son became as power hungry as he did." She explained. Starlight looked right at Sprout. Now...now I can't help but think what would've happened if I did stop the Sonic Rainboom anyways and prevented Twilight and her friends from ever becoming friends in the first place. I don't know if the results would've been like Twilight showed me, but I can at least guarantee it probably wouldn't be very good at all. Starlight said. "So, this is nice and all; what with getting to meet the six ponies my father always talked about; but...uh..." Sunny Starscout said. "But what?" Applejack asked. "We all should really get back to our own time, admittedly." Sunny Starscout said. "I'm afraid, based on the information I've collected from how you ended up here in our time and the circumstances around it, going back to your own time is very much impossible." Twilight added. "...Say what now? What do you mean? What information could you have collected that made you come to that assumption?" Sprout asked. Suddenly the main six other then Twilight gasped. "What? What did I say?" He asked before Twilight teleported a chalkboard into the room and began writing on it. "You just asked Twilight what information she's collected. And judging from what's happening, she's about to give us a lecture." Rainbow Dash said. "Better get comfortable, none of us are leaving until she's done.' She added. "Does anyone got any popcorn?" Zipp asked. "...That's the first thing your asking about is if anyone has any popcorn?" Rainbow Dash said. "Well if we're forced to sit here until it's over, might as well have a snack." Zipp said. "...Huh...never thought of that. I'll have to remember that." Rainbow Dash said. "So, judging from what I know happened here in the present compared to what happened in the future, when you were all teleported here, the nine of you were touching what you called the combined Unity Crystals which I had created to try and stop ponies from fighting one another poring your magics into it. Now, at that same time, I believe that I had just managed to convince Starlight Glimmer from preventing Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom which resulted in me and my friends all getting our cutie marks at the exact same time as one another. Now, here's where it gets interesting: I believe that the magics you were pouring into the combined Unity Crystals and Starlight's modified Time Travel spell worked in tandom witch each other to cause you to come to our time. Now, while a copy of the original time travel spell does still exist and all we'd have to do is get Starlight to make the same modifications again, there's no guarantee that would work and send you all back to your own time. And even if we did use it, we'd obviously need to combine it with the unity crystals and you'd need to pour your magics into them once more. But that's where the problem lies: According to the reports that have been collected, only ponies from your time period in the far future came out of those time rifts. No reports of any crystals poring out of them what-so-ever. So, in other words, the unity crystals didn't come with you. Your essentially stuck here in our time." Twilight said. "...That being said, I am going to work hard to make sure that ponies don't end up fighting each other ever again." She added. "So long story short, is that we're stuck here in what is essentially the past?" Sunny Starscout asked. "But...there has to be something!" Sprout said. "There's one other factor that leads me to the conclusion that you are all stuck here: Canterlot Castle itself has transformed slightly. Now tell me, looking around, do you see anything that resembles something from your time period?" Twilight asked. "Now that you mention it, some of the features do look like they match how the castle ruins looked back in our time..." Pipp pointed out. "And that's the other thing: The combination of the magics of the modified time travel spell and the super powered Unity Crystals caused aspects of your time period to seep into ours; merging the two into one. As such, that is further evidence that trying the same combination again may not result in returning you to the Equestria you are all familiar with." Twilight said. "Oh buck us..." Hitch said. "...Buck us hard..." He added. "A-all I wanted was to make sure that the tribes could never be separated again...not this...." Sunny Starscout said. "It's fine Sunny. Really. I know your heart was in the right place. None of us could've ever predicted this happening." Hitch said. "I got to know something: You gathered Haven here for the Pegasi leader and Alphabittle as the Unicorn leader. But you only invited Phyllis over there because of Sprout. So then, where's the earth pony leader from your time?" Rainbow Dash asked. "As much as ah hate to admit it, but Rainbow Dash is right in asking that question." Applejack said. "Um...actually, as Maretime Bay's sheriff; which is where the earth ponies were situated in our time; I am practically the authority figure of the earth ponies. Sprout used to be my deputy, but after what he did, I fired him and was currently on the look for a new deputy after making Sprout do community service on my terms." Hitch admitted. "Considering he almost killed a pony, that's rather light sentencing." Shining Armor said. "Actually, after that he was going to have to see what punishments Haven and Alphabittle had in store from him for what he did, which is when I'd essentially cut him loose for good." Hitch admitted. "...Never mind then, I'm sure neither of them would've been so light." Shining Armor said. "Especially Nova." He added. "So everyone is stuck here then huh? Well after doing some flying with Zipp here, I can defiantly see her as part of this team Soarin and I are putting together with Luna being the princess we communicate with. We haven't exactly come up with a name yet as we're still looking for Pegasi who'd be up for joining, and I think Zipp defiantly fits the bill." Rainbow Dash said. "Hey, if they are all stuck here, they might as well get comfortable." She said "That's not why we are looking at you. What happened to wanting to become a Wonderbolt, Rainbow?" Rarity asked. "Oh. That. See, Soarin told me some things, and it made me realize that if Spitfire was wiling to have me replace Soarin for some medal, then I'd rather go about making my own stunt team. But...I've already decided that Soarin is going to be in charge." Rainbow Dash said. "That bit about Soarin being in charge doesn't sound like the Rainbow Dash ah know." Applejack said. "Soarin has more experience leading a team being the former second in command of the Wonderbolts. I don't have any experience like that. So, I'm perfectly fine with taking orders because I need to know what it's like to be on a stunt team before I consider leading one. Plus, I would rather earn that sort of leadership position then have it handed to me on a silver platter." Rainbow Dash said. "...Now there's the Rainbow Dash we know..." Twilight admitted. "Huh...heard about the Wonderbolts. Sure, why not? Might as well join up if indeed we are stuck here. I'm sure the rest of us would also like to see where we'll be able to fit in this time period." Zipp said. "It'll be exciting to work with Twilight at least!" Sunny Starscout said, her alicorn form suddenly shining through. "Whoa! What's with the magic wings and horn?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "It's...something that I can do after having unified all the pony tribes from my time period." Sunny Starscout said. "So you somehow have some sort of faux alicorn state. This deserves much research!" Twilight said before running off ahead. "...Way to go Sunny. You've been here less than a day and your already being subject to one of Twilight's research projects." Flash Sentry said, deciding to escort Sunny back to the Friendship Castle. > Chapter 3: That's Ponyville for you > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunny's group were all quickly gathered inside the Friendship Castle back in Ponyville, with Sprout and Sunny being specifically with Twilight & Starlight; Hitch and Pipp were with Applejack and Fluttershy accordingly; finally Zipp was still with Rainbow Dash while Izzy Moonbow was with Rarity. As for Phyllis, Haven, and Alphabittle, after being taken to a room by Flash Sentry, the Pegasus Stallion had left to go round up more of the ponies who had arrived from the far off future as it turns out that the nine who were there with the crystal weren't the only ones who got sent back to what was essentially the past for them: All the ponies from their time period had dropped across Ponvyille though one in particular was brought to the Friendship Castle by Zecora. "Greetings strangers to this town and time; allow me to give you welcome and rhyme." Zecora said. "Err...thanks." Sunny Starscout said. Zecora had then left. "...Funny, I don't remember my father mentioning anything about a Zebra in this time period." Sunny admitted. "That's because Zecora doesn't, she instead lives in the Everfree Forest which seemed to also have undergone a few changes." Twilight said. "You've got that right, it looks a little bit like the woods we unicorns were living in just not as tamed." Alphabittle said. "I don't see how any form of pony society could live in the Everfree Forest. During our time, it's very much a habitat for some dangerous creatures such as Manticores, but the most common one seen in there are the Timberwolves." Rainbow Dash said. "And if'n you ask me, the Timberwolves are the worst of the worst of them as they tend to attack in packs." Applejack said. "If a group of 'em magest to surround even a couple of ponies, those ponies won't make it ah'm afriad." She added. "Tch, I've seen what they look like in one of those books. They don't look so tough." Sprout said. Suddenly while Applejack tilted her hat over her face, Rainbow Dash wing smacked the back of Sprout's head. "Ow! What was that for?!" The Earth Pony Stallion exclaimed. Rainbow Dash pointed at Applejack. "Watch your tongue on that. Applejack's mother and father were killed by those things." The pegasus noted. "It's true. And while ah don't like talkin' about it, it doesn't really hide the truth much now, don't it?" Applejack asked. "Oh...I...see..." Sprout said suddenly looking very shaken. "I...apologize..." Sprout said. "Did I just hear Sprout apologize? Never thought I'd see the day." Hitch said. "I kind of understand how Applejack feels. My own father died while I had moved away from the lighthouse for a couple of years." Sunny said. "I may have never found out how he died, and my own mother died shortly after giving birth to me. I know more than anyone here what never getting to say goodbye to your parents properly is like." She added. "You too huh?" Applejack asked. "Yeah. The stories my father would tell about this time period of Equestria are what drove me to want to unite the three pony tribes again." Sunny Starscout said. "Most especially the ones father tell me about Twilight Sparkle and her group of five friends." She added. "Wait your own father told you stories about us when you were young? I didn't know we could turn out to be such role models." Pinkie Pie said. "Not even my patented Pinkie Sense can see that far into the future." She added. "It's just sucks that every pony from our time is now stuck here. And meanwhile Twilight is over there with Spike and Starlight trying to figure out what makes my alicorn form different from the actual alicorns." Sunny Starscout said. "Hold one moment, Twilight, if this reading is correct..." Spike said. "I know I did my testing right, which means...oh my gosh! This is the discovery of a lifetime!" Twilight said. "What? What's the discovery of a lifetime?" Hitch asked. "I'm sensing a doozy coming!" Pinkie Pie said. "In our time, there's the tale behind a traditional holiday called Hearth's Warming's Eve which celebrates when the three tribes first came together and put aside their differences once and for all. The story involves how in ancient times, the three tribes were once only communicating with each other through a complicated trade process when soon tensions rised between the three tribes which attracted the Windingos. While trapped in a cavern, a Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth Pony at some point became close friends, and just when it looked like the last of the ponies would be frozen over by the winter storm the Windingos brought with them, the Friendship Fire was created and brought forth, expelling the Windingos." Twilight explained. "So tensions between the three tribes existed in your history at some point too? But then how did after that, did they split up again by our time?" Sunny Starlight asked. "I don't care how it could happen, I'm going to do my part to prevent it from ever happening again this time." Twilight said. "...I suppose if we're really stuck here, we might as well help out. I know that it eventually brought me and my friends together, if we can't get back to our proper time period, we might as well prevent another situation like with Sprout from ever happening again." Sunny said. "Hey don't lump me in with--" Sprout started. "Your going to help if you know what's good for you Sprout. It's the least you could do after you almost killed Sunny. And don't forget, I'm not the only authority figure you've pissed off for what you did." Hitch said. "...Meep..." Sprout said simply. "...So, back on topic here, what's this Friendship Fire got to do with Sunny's Alicorn form?" He asked. "That's just it: The magics demonstrated when Sunny is using her alicorn form are in fact very similar to the Friendship Fire. I believe that by uniting the pony tribes once more in your time together with the three Unity Crystals had a combined effect where it allows for Sunny to use the magics of all three pony tribes without being an actual alicorn in her normal form." Twilight said. "In other words, when your three tribes finally came together once more in unity, it allowed for the Unity Crystals to bestow a sort of magical aura on Sunny that allows her to use all three pony tribe magics." She added. "Wow...I guess you could see the similarities." Izzy Said. "I just have one question: How come none of the ponies of this time period reacted much to us dropping from the sky? From what I was seeing, they were all mingling just fine." Phyllis said. "That's Ponyville for you; something crazy tends to happen around here at least once a week so a bunch of ponies dropping from the sky out of portals that just want to mingle and be friendly isn't something that will through the town into a panic." Rainbow Dash said. Suddenly a bunch of ponies were heard screaming. "...And what's that about?" Hitch said. Looking out the window, Twilight spotted a Manticore that had made it's way into town. "...There's also a monster attack at least once a month here too. That's more of a concern then a bunch of new ponies dropping form the sky that just want to mingle." Twilight said. "Come on girls." She said. "...Is it just me, or is the fact that this town is so used to crazy random dung happening that they aren't even phased by us being here is concerning?" Sprout asked. "You're not the only one thinking that I believe." Hitch admitted. > Chapter 4: Don't Question Pinkie > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Sunny's group had gone outside to see the Main Six in action (even if it was mostly just Sunny who was the most excited about it), when the Manticore had finally left, Sprout's eyes were wide and his jaw had dropped, the red stallion practically speechless. "That...was something else..." Phyllis said. "The six of them worked together to deal with that mysterious creature." She added. "That was a Manticore Phyllis. Such great teamwork." Alphabittle said. "You know what that was?" Haven asked. "Tales of Bridlewood once being home to such a creature from before our time. Perhaps this is when that was talking about." Alphabittle said. "That poor manticore was just spooked from all the 'holes' that were appearing in the sky. Poor kitty." Fluttershy said. "A kitty? You consider that thing a kitty?" Haven asked. "You should've seen fluttershy's first dealing with a Manticore; she removed a thorn from it's paw and afterwards it was licking her all friendly like." Rainbow Dash said. "I haven't seen anyone be as good as animals as I have Fluttershy." She added. At that moment, a particular bunny rabbit showed up. "Oh. Hello Angel." Fluttershy said. "Oh great, it's him. Fluttershy's pet is kind of a problem." Rainbow Dash said. Angel started to chitter. "Now Angel, you should know better than to say things like that!" Fluttershy said. Best not reveal a certain factoid just yet... Hitch thought to himself. Suddenly a whole bunch of animals showed up and started to pal around Hitch. "OH COME ON! EVEN ALL THE WAY IN THE PAST?!" Hitch exclaimed, very much annoyed. "What's with that?" Rainbow Dash said. "We can't really explain why, but animals back in our time seem to really like Hitch for some reason." Zipp said. "Huh...that's a new one." Rainbow Dash admitted. "So, now that the manticore is gone, shall we head back inside the castle?" Twilight asked. "Yes please! And quickly before I get animal Swarmed." Hitch said. "I guess you weren't kidding earlier about the monster attacks." Sunny Starscout said once everyone was back in the castle. "Flash is still rounding up the rest of the ponies who came from the future, but I think it's best that that information is kept underwraps." Twilight said. "So we are all really stuck here in your time period then? You're sure there's no way for us to get back to our own time?" Zipp asked. "She's already been over that, Zipp." Hitch said. "As much as I wish I could say that getting you back to the future was as easy as just making the spells and materials to do so, there's no garentee that when you do go back to the future, it'll be the same as when you left. After all, judging from the fact that both Canterlot Castle and the Everfree Forest have changed to become a mix of our time period's version of them and your time period's version of them, I believe that the combination of time travel magics and the unity crystals has created what one might call a collision of our times." Twilight said. "Ugh...maybe I really shouldn't have messed with Time Travel. When you dismissed Pinkie Pie bringing it up outright, I thought that that meant you were afraid of it." Starlight said. "I once used Time Travel to try and warn my past self to not stress out over a disaster that would not come, but due to the way the spell worked, I was unable to do so, making my past self-end up stressing over a disaster that would not come." Twilight said. "...What? But your Twilight Sparkle! How could you do something so...amaturish..." Sunny said. "No pony is perfect Sunny. Even Twilight's made a few mistakes. And I'm sure there's some you've all made yourselves too." Rainbow Dash said. The nine ponies from the future in that room said nothing to counter that as they all knew that Rainbow Dash was right: No pony could ever hope to be perfect, and they were all examples of that in one way, shape, or form. "And that's a good thing though. Don't let it bum you out. Even if no pony could ever hope to be perfect, that's why you have friends, to help you when you get let down." Pinkie Pie said. Suddenly she took out some cookies from her hair. "Cookies anyone?" She asked. "What the...when did you make cookies?" Izzy asked. "This morning, as I had a feeling that I'd want to have cookies for later today." Pinkie said. "Call it a hunch." She added. "But...but as far as I know, you came to the castle shortly after Twilight convinced Starlight to let the Sonic Rainboom happen. How the buck did you think to make cookies?!" Izzy exclaimed. "Izzy Moonbow was it? Want to know something I've learnt about Pinkie Pie over the years of staying here in Ponyville?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "What would that be?" Izzy asked. "NEVER QUESTION PINKIE PIE!" Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all yelled out at once. "...Sorry I asked..." Izzy said. > Chapter 4.5: A mysterious being > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the group was continuing to chat about this and that, all of them were unaware that their actions were being monitered by a mysterious being. This being's body was made out of pure energy; one half of their body was made up of white colored energy and the other half was made out of black colored energy. "These mortals haven't the slightest clue..." The being said. "But then again, I shouldn't have expected much from such beings." They said. The being continued to watch the two groups through what appeared to be a glass orb. "But I must figure out what caused my brother to grow so found of these mortals, so much to the point where he was willing to reincarnate his power into one." The being said. Still monitoring the groups, the being continued to speak. "None of them have a clue, that it was I; Yin-yang; the god of two sides who caused the combination of Starlight's modified time travel spell and the super powered unity crystals to happen in the first place. After all, such an occurrence is only possible by a god." The being said. "If nothing else, this has provided me with some decent entertainment." They added. The being continued to observe the groups. "So brother, if you were here right now, what would you say about this situation?" The being asked. > Chapter 5: Making plans > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, after what seemed like a very long day, the sun began to set thanks to Celestia's magic. "...I find it odd that the sun and moon are moved by magic. They seemed to have moved on their own in our own time." Sunny said. "I guess in that future, I must have figured out how to make them move without the need for magic to do it because of the whole 'magic needing to disappear' aspect of that future." Twilight said. "Sounds like Twilight alright, always having some plan in mind." Rainbow Dash said. "Well if we're truly stuck here in the past, perhaps it's best that we figure out how to fit in around here." Phyllis said. "Don't think that means your off the hook, Sprout: These ponies know full well about your crimes. So even here in what is the past to us, you won't be running away from your crimes if I have anything to say about it." Hitch said. "Speaking of, since you said you were the sheriff of Maretime Bay in your time, as much as I hate to burst your bubble, Ponyville has a rather low crime rate. The most criminal thing that happens around to Ponyville tend to be the things that threaten the entire country, not just the town." Twilight said. "There was Nightmare Moon which was when Luna got all jealous over her sister. Discord who is Discord and trust me when I say that you might be meeting him sooner rather than later, no doubt he knows by now. Then there was Queen Chrysalis who tried to turn all of us into cattle. And not that long ago was Lord Tirek who was draining ponies of their magic, and he's currently in Tartarus." Rainbow Dash said. "What am I, chopped liver?" Starlight asked. "I was creating a cult of ponies that no longer wanted cutie marks." She noted. "Except you hadn't grown large enough to threaten all of Equestria quite yet, and that was because you blammed cutie marks for making you and sunburst lose touch." Twilight said. "Wait what? How'd you find that out?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Starlight showed me the whole reason with the time travel spell. But I managed to convince her to try and give friendship a chance again." Twilight said. "So, your just going to overlook the whole 'almost changed history in it's entirety and brought a whole bunch of ponies from the future into your time period' part of what she did?" Hitch asked. Suddenly he relaxed his tone. "...Actually, upon saying that out loud, I realize how crazy that sounds..." The yellow stallion said. "Besides, in case you forgot, she's PRINCESS Twilight Sparkle. If she's willing to want to teach Starlight about real friendship, then that's her call." Sunny Starscout said. "Fair enough point...she does technically have the highest authority possible." Hitch said. "The all of us are going to have to figure out where we will fit best in this time period. Even you Hitch. I'm personally thinking about helping Twilight out whenever and however I possibly can; not only would it be a dream come true for me, but I'm sure Twilight would appreciate having some of her workload off her shoulders." Sunny said. "Good idea Sunny. Perhaps I'll join Rainbow Dash and Soarin's upcoming stunt team. After all, the flight magic is the whole reason why I helped get the magic back to begin with." Zipp said. "Too true. There's also the fact that before we returned the magic, me and Izzy did unintentionally catch you utilizing wind and stuff to do presudo-flying." Sunny said. "Wow, that's dedication Zipp. I definatly think you've got the right kind of attitude." Rainbow Dash said. "I never really cared about the whole being Haven's daughter thing. I wanted flight magic back so I could actually use actual flight tricks as I wanted to perform for other ponies the right way." Zipp said, though with a passing glare at both her sister and her mother. "Hey that was then, this is now." Pipp said. "Though I'm unsure of where I could go." She added. "Well I wouldn't mind it if you considered helping me; you seem like a lady who enjoys her glamour." Rarity said. "Yeah...you and Rarity are like two peas in a pod on that front." Rainbow Dash admitted. "But I'm the one who actually does arts and crafts; wouldn't I be better suited with working with Rarity?" Izzy asked. "...That's an extremely good point...Pipp has no experience with Rarity's whole dress making business, you at least have arts and crafts as your speciality." Sunny said. "That's interesting to note down." Applejack said. "Not sure what I can do just yet. I've got time to figure it out though." Hitch said. "Um...just a suggestion, but...after Celestia makes an announcement over the new ponies, you might want to see about either asking Mayor Mare if she would be willing to hire you on as a watchman, keeping an eye out for when anything dangerous wonders into town..." Fluttershy suggested. "...That's actually not a bad idea..." Hitch said. "That's the most I've ever seen Fluttershy talk at once. She's really coming out of her shell." Rainbow Dash said. "I think being in Ponvyille has been doing you some good Flutters." Rainbow Dash said. "Oh...um...that's nice of you to say Rainbow Dash...." Fluttershy said, before trying to hide behind her hair. "...And the more things change the more they stay the same..." Rainbow Dash sighed out. "But what about the rest of us?" Phyllis asked. "I think I can help keep an eye on my son at least, but what about the other two?" She asked. "I'm sure we'll figure something out at some point." Alphabittle said. "He's got a point." Haven said. "See, I knew you'd come to an agreement of some kind. It'll be nice to have even more help at the castle, but if you'd all rather do something else, I understand. It'll just be nice to have some new friends to make." Twilight said. "Yeah, your most certainly going to have to get used to us, that's for sure." Izzy said. "...Funny, I thought for sure he'd..." Rainbow Dash started when Discord suddenly showed up. "Sorry I'm late, I just had to make sure all of Fluttershy's animals were all okay and...oh...oh my...' Discord said. "...oh great...why now?" Twilight said, face desking right onto the map table. > Chapter 6: Showdown Part 1 - There are two sides... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It's late Discord. Now is not the time to be noticing the fact that we have all new ponies very much stuck here for the forseeable future." Twilight said. "Wait, from what my father said, Discord can bend reality. Can't he just...I don't know...send us back and fix things that way?" Sunny asked. "Actually not a bad idea..." Rainbow Dash considered. "As much as I'd be all for doing that, I'm afraid I'm outclassed in that department. After all, if you're looking for the reason, you'll find it goes way above my head." Discord said. "Now's not the time for jokes Discord." Twilight said. "...Twilight..." Fluttershy noted. "What?" Twilgiht asked. "I don't think he's joking." Fluttershy said. "...What?" Twilight said. "While it's all too true that the magics these nine poured into those unity crystals and Starlight's modifications to Starswirl the Bearded's spell both played a huge role in causing your times to collide like they have; that wouldn't have been enough to drag every pony from the future to the present on it's own as well as cause the changes to the Everfree Forest and Canterlot Castle." Discord noted. "You mean there's more I haven't considered?" Twilight said. "Spill it, whose responsible Discord." Rainbow Dash said. "Why don't you all get some well-deserved rest first. Trust me, you'll need it if you hope to actually take out the one responsible. After all, against him you'll need to be in top form." Discord said. "The fact that Discord of all things is telling us we need rest before we out the one responsible, must be a serious thing." Twilight said. "I'm just not sure why you're helping us." She added. "Oh, the very fact that the lot of you will be trying to go up against the one responsible will be chaos enough; after all, I'm not doing anything, and I'm being treated to quite a lot of chaos." Discord said. The next day... "So, who are we up against really? I'm all for kicking another bad guy's flank." Rainbow Dash said. "There's just one little hitch. The one you're after isn't of a classification to be considered a bad guy by your standards. After all, he's one of the two sons of The Creator." Discord said. "And who in Equestria is 'The Creator' exactly?" Twilight asked. "A being who existed long before I ever did. The Creator has been given lots of titles; God of all creation, the god of all gods, the creator god...all titles bestowed upon one being by non-immortals that describe the same thing: The Creator. It's why when an immortal being like myself refers to him, we refer to him as The Creator. He crafted every world that exists and will continue to create more worlds in the future. But the Creator is as benevolent as gods get, as he simply creates a world, gives it the building blocks necessary for growth, creates life on that planet, before giving all life free will and leaving to continue the cycle elsewhere." Discord said "You call that Benevolent?" Sprout asked. "Sprout, don't be so rude." Hitch said. "Actually, Sprout raises an interesting point. What mortal beings such as yourselves consider benevolent isn't the same thing for gods, as The Creator believes that gods are simply meant to be guiding forces; only getting involves in the matters of fully mortal beings if they absolutely must. And one of his two sons, The Greater God; whose name cannot be spoken nor heard by non-gods; shares this sentiment. But The Greater God's brother on the hoof, is a much different story. He believes that it's impossible for mortals to go without gods interfering with their lives, so he was under the belief that immortals should never mingle with mortal kind. That same brother is the one you're after." Discord said. "So, we're essentially dealing with a god who believes that immortals should never mingle with us. But then why did he go and mess with us then?" Sunny asked. "...Now that even I don't know..." Discord said. "Well, no sense in dwelling on it. We know who we're after. Now, question is, where do we find him?" Rainbow Dash said. "I believe that a mysterious black and white cave appeared just outside of Ponyville. You might consider looking there." Discord said. "...This town really is a weirdness magnet." Haven said. The group of sixteen ponies soon found the cave in question. "Wait a moment, how the buck did we miss this? It's not that far from the train line." Starlight questioned. "...Maybe we just weren't paying that much attention. After all, I think we were all caught up in the whole 'ponies from the future getting stuck in what is their past' ordeal." Applejack suggested. "I was flying, and I didn't see it before now." Rainbow Dash said. "...What's that got to do with anything?" Applejack asked. "When it comes to things I so much as glance at during flight, I have a near photographic memory." Rainbow Dash said. "...Huh..." Was all Applejack could say in response. "So, it wasn't here yesterday then. But does that really matter? I want to go back home." Haven said. "In we all go then." Twilight said as the group entered the cave. Inside, they were greeted by two hovering lights which soon smooshed together, creating a being that was pure energy, with one half of the body being made of white colored energy, and the other half was made up of black colored energy. "You've come into my little abode. I thought I had hidden it well, but that chimera of a creature you call a Draconequus went and revealed the basic magics I had shielding this cave of mine." The mysterious being said. "So, Discord revealed it." Zipp said. "That's why we didn't see it before hand." She added. "Don't go thinking your chimera friend help you out all the same; he may be ageless and unable to die, but he is no god. Unlike myself of course." The being said. "What are you, exactly?" Twilight said. "A god. That plain and simple." The being said. "Well, is it true: You caused the mess that happened with the ponies from future Equestria?" Flash Sentry asked. "Why yes, yes I did. And I don't regret it. After all, I have so many questions, and thus I demand answers." The being said. "I'll be more than willing to answer your questions after you take these ponies back to their time." Twilight said. "And should I refuse, what do you plan to do?" The being asked, curious. "We'll beat the stuffing out of you." Rainbow Dash said. The being laughed. "You believe you can beat me up? Pegasi, Unicorn, Alicorn, or Earth Pony...it doesn't matter what your form may be...you are still just mortals. Whereas I am a god; the god of two sides Yin-Yang!" He said. (Recommended Listening) The ponies all began to attack the floating mass of energy, with Pinkie Pie somehow supplying rocks which the rest of the main six were quick to mention not to question. After a few bouts of zapping the mass of energy, it suddenly split apart, and then started attacking as two separate bodies. "Did you really think I don't have a few of my own tricks up my non-existent sleeves? I am the god of two sides, my title and my name are quite literal in that regard. For every white, there is black; for every good there is evil; for every hope, there is despair. If you mortals seek to beat me, you'll have to put more effort into your attacks; you are dealing with the same god that once caused other gods to turn on another and managed to cause events that killed twelve of them. I suggest stepping up your game if you wish to beat me, as I haven't even begun to show you all of my various tricks." Yin-Yang said. "How many tricks can one bad-guy have?" Izzy asked. "Come on every pony, focus!" Flash Sentry said. After a few more rounds of attacks, the energy being suddenly using more colored attacks. "For the longest time, I've always believed you mortals were nothing; you were always beneath us gods, and forever unable to deal with problems on your own. But things have changed since those days. I've had my own belief challenged and questioned more than I could ever imagine. And just when I thought I finally had the answer, I found more questions popping up then I could hope to count. I MUST HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS! I NEED THEM!" Yin-Yang practically shouted. "This dude is practically bad-crap insane!" Sprout said. "Like your one to talk for what we heard you caused." Rainbow Dash said. "This ain't got anything on what I did!" Sprout countered. "For once, I'm inclined to agree on that; what kind of god does something like this for answers?" Hitch asked. Finally, after another round of attacks, Yin-Yang started to explode, and when the explosions ended, his two souls were just floating in the air. "Is it over?" Sunny asked. Suddenly, a bunch of beams mixed with white and black colors erupted around the cave as it transformed. "...No...I fear we've only just begun this battle..." Twilight said. To be continued... > Chapter 7: Showdown Part 2 - ...To every coin > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Previously, the main six and nine ponies from future Equestria started a battle against the god of two sides Yin-Yang. Just when it looked like they had managed to overpower the mysterious being, the entire battlefield had transformed! "Has it really been so long since I've last unleashed my full power and taken on my true form?" Yin-Yang asked. "Hundreds upon thousands of eons have passed without the need. But I still have questions, and I won't stop until I discover the answers." Yin-Yang said before suddenly the soul on the left became pure black and the soul on the right became pure white before he took the shape of a strange giant-sized monster with a body that was half black and half white; the souls of yin-yang becoming the monster's eyes, with the black soul on the white half and the white soul on the black half, which translated to the white half being on the left side and the black half being on the right. "You mortals should feel privileged, as normally do not bust out my true form and utilize my full power for mere mortal beings. But I am willing to make the ultimate exception, even if it kills me!" Yin-Yang said. (Recommended Listening) "Do you remember how I said that I had caused events that took the lives of twelve gods? Each one of those gods would later go on to reincarnate as mortal beings. Each one chose to shed their immortal status and instead walk amongst mortal kind. As I watched god after god do the same thing upon the countless eons I watched, I at first blamed mortal kind for taking the creations of my brother away from me." Yin-yang added. "I believed that mortal kind was somehow tricking the other gods into giving up their immortal lives so they could have an easier time killing the gods themselves, as such, I sought to continually try and bring mortal kind to a mass extinction. And yet, my brother and my father both would continually list mortals to stop me." He continued. "See, I told you this guy had nothing on what I did." Sprout said. "Oh I'm going to have so much fun helping beat your flank." Pinkie Pie said. "But then, something changed. My brother, sensing the approach of a rogue elder god by the name of 'The Omega', chose one mortal to ride along in the body of, sharing his power with that mortal and their body. It wasn't long before I too sensed The Omega had arrived. Even if I despised mortals for the gods choosing to reincarnate as their kind, I chose to assist them as mortal or not, they still had their god powers. During that battle, just when it looked like The Omega would win, my brother did something no one; not even my father; could've expected: In order to defeat The Omega, my brother chose to give the mortal he was sharing a body with his full power, knowing full well he'd no longer be himself or immortal in the process. But I knew he didn't care. In that moment, I realized that my brother was willing to sacrifice himself just to stop a rogue elder god for the good of all mortal kind. There had to be a reason, there must have! What really made mortals so unique that my brother would sacrifice himself to save them all. WHAT REASON COULD'VE EXPLAINED IT? I needed answers, and so, I began to observe mortal kind, when the perfect opportunity arose for me to get the answers I so desired." Yin-Yang explained. "! Twilight's numerous attempts to stop me from stopping the Sonic Rainboom and the superpowered Unity Crystals!" Starlight said. "You hijacked it on purpose!? You're sick." Sunny said. "Why do the gods decide to become mortal? Why did my brother make the ultimate sacrifice to save you all? What really makes Mortal Kind so special that it caused many gods to shed their immortal forms and live as mortals? No matter how much time I would spend simply observing, I knew I wasn't getting the answer. Father once said that mortal kind has something called the undying will to live. Could that really be the answer? I had to find out. And the perfect way to achieve the answer I've been looking for just so happened to fall into my lap. I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME WHAT MAKES YOU MORTALS SO SPECIAL! I NEED TO KNOW THE ANSWER! AND I'M WILLING TO GO SO FAR AS TO KILL ALL MORTALS RIGHT HERE AND NOW SHOULD I FIND YOU WANTING!" Yin-yang had explained. "This guy is bad-ass insane!" Rainbow Dash said. "Really? What was your first clue?" Pipp said. Finally, after what seemed like a long and gruelling battle, the form of Yin-yang exploded once more. "...I...I see...I think I finally see..." Yin-yang said as his form exploded. "So...that's why gods chose to become mortal..." He said. "Hey Yin-yang, how about you go and restore things back to the way they were?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You...ask the impossible...of me..." Yin-yang said. "...Because somehow...you've managed to destroy...my entire being..." He added. "Y-you mean we killed you?!" Sunny exclaimed. "Silly...mortals...gods...can't die...not forever at least..." Yin-yang said. "Brother...I'm coming..." He said before he completely exploded as the cave returned to normal. However, the cave itself began to shake. "I think we need to get out of here!" Twilight said. The sixteen ponies then left the cave itself, which soon collapsed behind them once every pony made it out safely. "Is it just me, or in his final moments, was Yin-Yang...happy?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I...honestly could not tell you Pinkie." Twilight said. Except I did notice, and he was more or less happy. It's the why I am confused about. She thought to herself. "So...we really are stuck here..." Sunny said. "Unfortunately, you are correct..." A voice said before a strange ball of light slowly decended upon their location. "...And you...must be The Creator." Twilight noted. To be continued... > Chapter 7.5: Answers from above. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Previously, the main six and nine ponies from future Equestria managed to defeat and somehow 'kill' Yin-yang who in his final moments was somehow happy that he was dying. And now, the group is face to face with his father, The Creator. "I apologize for not being fully aware of Yin-Yang's involvment in your world. By the time I had realized what it was he was trying to accomplish, you were already in his cave. And at that point, it was far too late." The Creator said. "Maybe it's not too late to fix our world though. You are his father after all and The Creator." Sprout said. "Trust me, if it was really that simple, I'd be all too happy to do so. And yet, I'm afraid my son has done the unthinkable." The Creator said. "What exactly did he do?" Applejack asked. "Not only did Yin-Yang cause your times to collide, but he also locked the ability to undo all of this behind his powers and his powers alone; knowing full well that your Discord would point him out as the culprit and essentially lead to his demise. As much as I want to help, the lock my own son placed on the collusion of your two time periods won't budge even for the likes of me." The Creator said. "That bucking maniac!" Starlight said. "So...there's nothing we can do now? We're stuck in this time period for good now?" Sunny asked. "I'm afraid so. It would take a thousand of your years before his powers would reincarnate. By that point, you would all have passed on. This is unfortunately out of my non-existent hands now." The Creator said. "What are hands?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Hmph...wouldn't you like to know?" The Creator said before leaving. "...I guess if even The Creator can't help us, then there's not much for it; you are all stuck here." Twilight said. "It's not all bad. I actually get to hang out with the ponies my father would tell me stories about. There's a silver lining with all of this after all." Sunny said. "Speak for yourself; now I can't rule over the Pegasi." Haven said. "The flight team me and Soarin are making could use a manager though." Rainbow Dash suggested. "...I shall think on that..." Haven noted. "I'm sure there is something we can all do. But we don't have to figure it out right away. We have plenty of time after all." Alphabittle said. > Sequel Link > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR THE CONTINUATION OF THIS SCENARIO, CHECK OUT THE SEQUEL "My Little Pony: When Generations Collide" OUT NOW IN THE LINK BELOW