This story is a sequel to CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence, Book 2
Seven years ago, Twilight Sparkle and her friends ventured to another world quite different from their own, where they made new friends, forged new relationships, and helped to overthrow and destroy a goddess of evil before returning home. Their lives have progressed since then, with Twilight becoming the alicorn princess who rules over all of Equestria, her friends at her side to help her.
When an experiment goes awry, she and her friends find themselves returning to that other world once again, which, like their own, has changed in that time, as their otherworldly friends have grown and made lives for themselves for better or worse. Their reunion brings on mixed feelings, as not everything is their friends' lives are what they seem.
But not all is well in this otherworld, as a dark force once thought defeated is making a return, and it will take everything our heroes have to triumph over evil.
Co-authored and edited by Devnator.
Cover art by Starlight Spark.
This is the third and final part of the three-part Divergence series, an alternate retelling of the CRISIS: Equestria story, and the final entry in the CRISIS-verse.
Updates Fridays.
How many books will this series have? I'm not complaining, mind you, I just want to wait until this series is 100% complete before I start to read this.
This is the last book in the Divergence series. With the weekly release schedule, Book 3 should be finished sometime around mid-April. If you read a chapter every week of Books 1 & 2, you should be done around that time and can get right into binging Book 3.
Okay, so it's not just those two that got sent in. It seems like the whole group got dragged in and split up to god-knows where. Welp, the already dicey situation in Equestria V just got a whole lot dicier. Let the new adventures begin.
I've gotta wonder if them getting pulled in Dawn's doing by unforutnate accidental application of Void magic or Nihilia's. My money's on the latter because tentacles are one thing but those "eyes" that appeared...yeah, that's sinister.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2021/8/12/2676512.png
Haaaaaaaa...
Looks like Twi and AJ are going to have the hardest time getting back on their hooves, limited supplies and all in basically the middle of nowhere...
Meanwhile, everyone else finds new and interesting ways to be pissed off at Dawn.
I think Silvertongue blames himself.
And there's the talk we've been waiting for from Silvertongue. In some manner at least. He was a bit more indirect than I expected. Dawn's still going to have to learn for herself. Let's see if she does so before something really awful happens.
Two tours of the area for the first two groups. Wonder if the pattern is going to continue with whatever wonders Twilight and AJ encounter underground with Winter and Hourglass.
I feel as though Winter is trying now to fend off Twilight just because she can't cope with the fact she's here now and she had just resigned herself to never seeing her again, in addition to all the other crud going on in the world.
Hmm...interesting. I believe now the Mane Six's special abilities are starting to manifest...
Guess that answers one earlier question. Those void tentacles were definitely Nihilia grabbing Twilight through the rift she opened. Guess Twi holding it open for everyone to view kept her there long enough to catch Nihilia's attention.
Pandemonia's not the main target anymore.
Okaythat'sbad. Now the whole multiverse is in trouble.
Oooohhh...that was a thorough and well-needed beatdown. Can't overlook your past mistakes forever, Dawn. Can't keep ignoring the trouble piling up at your door.
It'll all come to bite you in the end.
Heh.
That was way more satisfying than it should have been. Dawn had it coming and then some. Wonderful work as always. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Well, everyone seems to have taken that news about the cloning quite well.
Highbrow is pretty funny just being him. hope to see more of him later.
Liked hearing Rarity compare Canterlot to Utopia and Hope's Point. I always like juxtaposition stuff like that. I hope that she makes an outfit for Blackburn by the end of this story.
Oof. Guess that combo of Blackburn's inquiries about her relationship with Lockwood, the revelation of the extent of what she already knew, and her comparison to Silver Glow all hit her really hard.
Hope Twi recoups enough soon. Trouble is always just a short distance away where these goons are concerned.
I really liked the scene with AJ and Hourglass and hearing about Hourglass's world. Good stuff there.
Aw, hell...Something tells me we're actually not gonna make it through this timeline without seeing the Blood Mire again.
I mean, not really. Lightning is just static buildup caused by clouds of particles rubbing up against each other. There's documented cases of lightning in sandstorms.
This...this is a bad idea...which will not end well.
Wait, "again"!?
Heh. Sandblasted.
I think you meant "rarely"?
I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this chapter - lots of fun all the way through :)
Pinkie organizing a surprise party for Red was extraordinarily wholesome.
And man, oh man...Pedigree and Red being an item. He has gone such a massively different way from the other timeline.
Insipid's certainly gotten a lot smarter in the past few years. Elevator still occasionally doesn't reach the top floor with her, though.
Threesome with Rainbow, Pinkie, and Insipid? Oh myyy.
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100307212435/muppet/images/7/79/Drbunsen.jpg
...
...
...Aw, shit.
I wonder if our esteemed Bunsen Burner has a colleague with Tourette Syndrome who can't help himself but say "meep meep"?😉
Hmmyess...definitely no zebra this time around...
Definitely looking forward to Pandemonia's adventure's in modern life.
letswatchstartrek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Picture-1115.png
Oh nooooooo
Friendship problems? Applejack is on the case.👍
Ah, next in the line of badly-needed verbal beatdowns: Winter.
Poor suffering Hourglass.
I hope Twilight's kindness and empathy towards Aculeata pays off dividends. If anyone can get it done though, it's the Princess of Friendship.
Things are gonna get complicated in a bit with that cultist squad on the way.
Yep, I'd say that paid off dividends quite quickly, and just in the nick of time. Glad to see Aculeta's sticking along, and from that short POV, definitely recognizes Twilight and her group as firends/friendlies.
Sheesh, I keep forgetting these cultists aren't your average mooks. They've already dealt serious damage to Red before and they just nearly killed one of Twilight group while incapacitating her. Good on Winter for being able to stop that bullet.
So Aculeta seems to be transforming into something close to a changeling from Twilight's universe. Wonder just how far along that'll go.
Uhh...wow. Just, uh....goddamn...
That...that was a curveball I did not expect coming at all. Jesus.
Well, Occam's Razor say's she's going for option three: world merger. Dang, that is an interesting situation to wrap my head around. How the heck is that going to work out? The possible outcomes are just...zany endless.
Forty days to work it out. Clock's ticking in many more ways than one.
I'm fairly certain that over the past several years that Winter's developed some kind of liver damage by now. Also that was quite a turnaround from quip to bottle.
Another verbal beatdown for Dawn, but it still seems she hasn't learned to stop being underhanded.
...Reaaally got to wonder what she's planning here.
Yikes.
...I bet she also tastes like rusty datapads or something.
Hope Aculeta manages to stay safe while everyone's away.
Actually, I bet she'll definitely be around later on to help out with the cultist camp. It's in that area if I recall correctly.
Whoa intense! I'm loving this twist
I am anticipating Twilight, and the gang commencing a curveball, and macgyvering 4th solution.
Chronomancer headquarters are not omnipotent.
10929486
But... It's not mid-April anymore, and it's still not complete. ...Er, not that I'm complaining.
Just a proposition.
11040510
Ganon means mid-April 2022
Well...that went better than expected?
Got to be a weight off everypony's shoulders, that.
I... was not expecting this at all...
Fluttershy, Mistress of the Animal Kingdom can tell you what your cat is truly thinking about you.
Man, as upsetting as it is that the world is collapsing, I'm absolutely excited at the prospect/results of the merger with Equestria IV. Sadly, I don't expect it to be explored into too much since this is the last book in this series. Oh well...
Typo on "Pandemonia".
Man I sure do love the zebras in this world.
I'm excited to see what happens on the expedition.
The world gives further smacks upon Dawn's head and she continues to not get the idea. Shocker.
One day,
(within the next 40)she'll learn.And quickly, the cracks of New Pandemonium's façade start to show before Serendipity.
Hmm...yes. Gotta wonder how much of that action from Winter during the ordeal with the sea monster and storm was subconscious or intentional.
Don't like the implications of that sea monster not being the biggest fish in the sea. I wonder if either might be faintly related to the disappearance of the Minotaur empire or something.
Twilight, and Dawn really need to have a heart-to-heart conversation. People with Asperger's can have friends too, and I don't think there is no one better than Twilight "Princess of friendship" to help Dawn.
Well, I guess that's some of the dark past revealed. Doesn't seem like the Minotaurs were very good dudes, not just for raiding ponykind but also for bringing out Nihilia.
I don't know who's going to make the calls on what does and doesn't get ported over in the world merge but, uhhh...Malygnes and his legion of soulstoned acolytes aren't making a good case of picking them over Corelia and the seaponies.
That something was probably something along the lines of "stupid sexy Twilight"
*concern*
Got a good kick out of Rainbow going "genre-savvy" over the ruins.
To be completely honest, I'd forgotten about the noble houses in the South. Generally my first thoughts of the South go to the Romanique-speaking regions, the Newhaven regions with accents similar to AJ's, and the culture of Zeb'ra'den. That being said, it'll be quite, uh...interesting to see how the noble houses of Equestria V would integrate with Equestria IV.
Why is my mind suddenly springing to "Cajun French" with this?
Ah yes, playing politics all the while, I see.
Their minds are going to be absolutely blown when the news breaks at the summit.
That was quite the lore dump with Silverluck. Figured Silvertongue would be brought up eventually, though I guess not this soon.
Moving back to the zebras, really liked the bits with Zircon and his analysis of the Hope's Point guard and his sparring with AJ.
It might be headcanon influence from spending time in the fandom for so long but there's just some kind of overarching tie/bond/link between Applejack and Rarity. So to see Zircon, who was once so bound to Rarity in the other timeline, now taking notice of Applejack. Well...yeah just something sort of ironic(?) there.
Do you truly get it yet, Dawn?
Do you now?
11088302
She did everything she thought Silvertongue wanted her to do, as perfectly as possible.
That coupled with her pre-existing Asperger's, and Silvertongs thousand years of cold calculation rubbing off of her. I don't blame Dawn for being the Pony that she is.
I want to hug her and tell her, and tell her, it's okay we can help you.
Yeah, Nihilia having the power to reach out to other worlds and be a threat if not fully stopped once and for all here is...definitely concerning.
What if...what if this has happened before? What if Nihilia's actually responsible for the destruction of other worlds, like Hourglass's? That's even more troubling.
I guess I didn't really know what exactly to expect, but Pandemonia took the news about Athenos and the fate of her warden more calmly than I expected.
Man, the burning shots at Twilight and Winter here.
Ahh, prepubescent/teen angst. And poor Sunspire has no clue.
That's it. That's it right there. That's the turning point. The breakdown.
I love how this is this thing that Winter fixates on.
Big points to Blackburn for being the one here playing logic here/being the reassuring voice where Dawn's logic/thought process has otherwise hit a solid wall. She really has grown on me as a character since her first appearance years ago.
I have to wonder a little bit here if those pains are actually guilt or if Silvertongue subltely did something after their meeting to prod her in the right direction. I'm pretty sure he's quite aware how much of her drive is looking up to him and not disappointing him and tying physical pain to thoughts of him could prod her along.
On the other hand, maybe that theory is a bit of a stretch.🤔
And to be fair, I never got the vibe she was getting off on being malicious or anything. Dawn's always been business, logic, and "the plan" comes first no matter what. But she really, really needed a wake-up call to what her actions have been doing because she was inexcusably oblivious.
But now she finally has, acknowledges her mistakes, and is genuinely trying to figure out how to make amends.
Heh.
Oh baby a double chapter
My brain still can't click with the fact that this is Blackburn here. Calculating, logical, authoritative Blackburn, ready to take charge and deal with business...
Being all cuddles and "marshmallow" in bed.
Yeah, she really is still a pony underneath.
Mmyess, athletic eye candy.
I guess handling all of this clicks with everyone in different ways and it hasn't really hit Rarity in the same way as Applejack. A way that triggers the same kind of drive that AJ, Rainbow, and others have to train and prepare (and fight) like there's no tomorrow.
Heck, I don't think she's even used her abilities yet after Gilderoy unlocked them.
Heh.
Yeah, even Curaçao is starting to show signs of strain from all that bs, if I recall.
I for one think that this is a good first step that Dawn is making towards fixing things.
Man, it's not accurate but all I could think of was this:
vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/acecombat/images/6/68/P-1112_Aigaion.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130719220505
Given a ship that size and considering all the people onboard, kinda just waiting for something to go wrong or for there to be an attack...
Hmm...if memory serves from the other timeline, aren't there Gryphon structures and items of...particular importance near or around the southern beacon?...
I wonder how much this theory is going to come into play towards the ending of this world itself and the reaction of Equestria IV towards its transplants.
Yep, this feels like it's gonna be dealt with pretty soon, mhm.
11099459
"Oh baby a double chapter"
Merr Crimbus!
Flutters finally around critters. All is temporarily right in this world.
AJ and Zircon together? I am okay with this.
Dawn's evening with Insipid at the fashion show and dinner to make amends was really nice. Seems like one of the few moments she's had to actually sit and relax loosen up in this crazy world. Her apology went over quite well, too. Great that Insipid readily accepted it. I feel as though she's gained a lot of insight through her time in the cutthroat world of fashion that played a part of that. Aside from the fact that she still loves her sister, there's too little time and so much going on to hold any sort of a grudge. Like what she's doing with the SPLASH group, too.
I can't even begin to think how things are going to be organized in the merger, but between Equestrian nobility and Utopian Nobility, politics gonna be wacky af for a while.
I'm looking forward to seeing AJ in Zeb'ra'den.
Poor, poor socially awkward and oblivious Sunspire...
I hope she does, too.
Yeah, I kinda wonder how Arch is doing, too.
...Dayum.
Sucks that Twi doesn't have the time to spend at the library, I can picture her going absolutely nuts over everything.
Yes! I'm glad this finally got resolved. Or at least I hope so. That was the talk the both of them long needed to have.
Again, sucks that poor Twi doesn't have the time to go book-crazy right now.
Guess afterlives aren't quite separate worlds mechanics-wise and are each tied to a specific universe? I was kinda wondering about all that.
...Well, shoot.
Yeah, anything that can be moved will be moved, but there's definitely going to be loss. A lot of loss.
Oh, politics...how ever so tiresome.
I'm guessing this might be where a little more conflict arises. Speaking of conflict, wonder what the heck the cultists are up to right now? It's been a bit of a while...
Well damn...if that was the twist I was never expecting.
Awww that is so adorable!
I hope to see this plays out. I'd like to see some of the students attending Dawn's classes.
Okay I admit, it took me until about here to figure out what was going on.
Lewd.
Really makes you wonder about how people who speak different languages process words differently, and just what kind of brainwork goes into thinking up words that fit a specific rhyme and meter on the fly like that.
Ah yes, the return of "normal-speaking" Blackburn.
Rarity - inadvertently finding new and interesting ways to stun ponies with her appearance across dimensions.
Oh my.
Oh heck, I remember these things. Weren't they different before, more comparable to an apple and with different coloration? Or am I misremembering?
I do recall that some of the suckers got sent back with AJ for growing. Hope a bunch of them make it now.
Oh yeah, he wants her apple.
One of these statements is not like the others.
Hah.
Dawwwww.
Hot damn, Rarity gave back way more than she took there. Good job.
Y'know, knowing Blackburn, a bit of me wonders if she planned out for something like that specifically happening well in advance...
King Zaratite has got quite the head on his shoulders. Clearly, he's the head honcho for a reason.
When the trial by combat was thrown down, I was half expecting it to be Applejack vs Zircon when the latter first stepped forwards. Still, Gray getting the chance to kick ass was pretty cool.
Hah, get one-two punched ya' loser.
Ah yes, there it is. All still there.
The gryphon race of Equestria V gets a second lease on life, all thanks to some well advanced foresight. Now it is more impearative than ever that Nihlia is removed from the picture and things get saved.
Damn, a grand repository of millennia of advanced technomagic, held up by effectively a AA battery. That's nuts. And the implications of all of this getting preserved is also nuts.
If this all works out okay in the end.
Yeah sure would suck if the process ended up taking like 20 minutes and Twilight got attacked while working on it.
Or something like that.
Everything I've seen of these cultists to this point makes me feel like they're gonna get completely massacred. All they've ever had going for them is surprise and subterfuge. Even with anti-magic weaponry, right now they're walking right into a Kevin McCallister level house of death.
Twilight on the other hand, she's walking into an obvious trap set by some sort of eldritch horror.
Well dang, now if that ain't the kicker!
Alright, that's not good. Since Nihlia's goons have largely been seen active in that area, the volcanoes suddenly becoming active and spewing large amounts of smoke could mean that they're all up to something. Could be a cover for troop movement, supply activity, or some project Nihlia really doesn't want seen. Could also be a trap to draw people in.
Or it could also just be volcanoes getting more active and leading to an eruption or something, and that's just not good for the area in general.
A massive airship battle would be awesome, no gonna lie. Airships are my jam.
...Things are about to get pretty dangerous for some characters soon, aren't they?
Dang, everyone going for the "we're all gonna die tomorrow" lovemaking.
already happened once, lolWas wondering about Aculeta. Been a while since we've last seen here and now there's all that concern about the volcanic activity in the area...
Thorax is gonna be pleased to help her out, I bet.
Publicly called out!
Curaçao withholding info in order to keep a plan secure wouldn't really surprise me, but all these statements still fill me with a vague sense of unease.
Oh. My. God.
Gotta be some kind of magical link with them, how they came to be, and the usage of the tower.
So...it ends tonight, does it?
We're approaching endgame.
Fingers crossed, knocking on all kinds of wood.
These guys have already displayed the ability to be really covert when they want to. I wouldn't doubt they find some way to arrive undetected.
AND THERE IT IS.
Fuck.