The boom of a nearby explosion shook Ani and Solar's very bones. Solar Moon could hardly cope with it; Ani didn't notice it. The black-maned reality jumper had fainted as soon as he stepped out of his portal, leaving his scholar companion to face the landscape of ice and biting winds alone. It was as though Fate had decided to play dice with their lives by bringing them here; the two had walked right onto the frozen lake of a forsaken dimension. Squinting in the harsh frigidity of his new environment, Solar Moon swung his head desperately, searching for cover from the snowstorm. A flare of light and another earth-shaking boom shot through the atmosphere, muffled by the onslaught of wind and snow. The scholar lifted Ani onto his back to carry him. He'd barely gone two steps when a scarlet-eyed changeling landed in front of him, knocked out of the sky by a magical blast. The force of her impact cracked the ice, but she still landed on all four hooves. The changeling held a knife in her clenched teeth and, reacting with a precise sort of flinch, turned her head just in time to block the deadly slash from the pony descending on her. The attacker had swung a knife attached to her armor, just in front of her horn...
Solar Moon's stomach turned as he recognized the armored alicorn. Princess Twilight. Princess Twilight was trying to kill a changeling. Why would the Princess of Friendship, of all things -
Pain and ice clashed together as the stallion was knocked to the ice by a shockwave. There were no thoughts. There were no actions. There was only biting pain. In front of him, now a few feet away, the changeling parried a rain of blows from Twilight - a slash from the alicorn's helmet-blade, stab after stab from the blades affixed to her armored forelegs - avoiding a hundred deaths with her fast-twitch reflexes. The Princess looked to have the upper hand, until she lunged backwards, narrowly avoiding a sudden bite from the changeling's fangs. With the purple pony off-balance, the changeling went on the attack. Twilight responded to this by shattering the ice at her enemy's feet with a shot from her horn. The changeling fluttered her insectoid wings for balance. Before her enemy could have a chance to recover, Twilight moved to strike. With a flash of panic in her eye, the changeling chose that moment to transform. Solar Moon didn't recognize the mare, although she had similar hair to Twilight. Whoever the scarlet-eyed changeling had turned into, it certainly had an effect on the Princess: Twilight Sparkle stopped dead in her tracks, looking taken aback.
With a little grin, the changeling shifted the position of her head... She's going to throw the knife, the gold-flanked stallion realized as he struggled to find where Ani had been knocked to on the frozen lake. Magic tingled to life in his horn, though he didn't know what for - would he try to seize the knife in midair? make the Princess duck? - but in that same instant, a portal opened up beneath Twilight's assailant. Solar Moon looked around excitedly - was Ani awake? We're saved! Where is he? Where's -
But when his searching gaze finally fell upon Ani, it was not the Ani he knew. A unicorn stallion slid to a stop on the ice next to Twilight, kicking up a little spray of wetness. He, too, was clad in armor. Solar Moon groaned as the truth finally hit him.
The scholar was no stranger to the multiverse theory. It was often discussed by his companions, from the quantum visionaries to the speculative authors. The theory states that everything, every possibility that can happen does happen, but in a universe of its own. We've ended up in an alternate universe. Of course. Gosh, this is terrible, Solar Moon thought as he backed away from the fray. At least that tells me something about how his portals work.
Suddenly, the stallion's back hoof dipped down into water. Startled, Solar jerked his leg back up onto the ice and looked behind him. Apparently, part of the lake's ice had been cracked clean off, exposing the frigid waters beneath. The howling winds and snow died down for a moment, allowing the green-eyed unicorn a better look at his surroundings. The fighting had moved away from him as he moved away from it, putting a good amount of distance between them. That was good. Unfortunately, he could now see where Ani had ended up. A short way past the clashing ponies, on the liquid part of the lake, a dark figure floated on a piece of ice. Solar Moon could just barely make out the horn poking out of what appeared to be a pony's head. A flicker of anguish sprang to life in the scholar's heart. Then the wall of snow hit again, casting the world into an oppressive whiteness. The unicorn stallion knew where he needed to go; now he just needed to keep his footing on the ice long enough to get there.
Step. Breathe. Keep low. Don't get blown into the water.
He could feel himself slipping, steadily being pushed towards the icy slush.
Step. Step. Fight for air. Don't just inhale snow. Nose is freezing. Ignore it. Step. Stop sliding.
Briefly, Solar Moon wondered if he was nearing the changeling and the Princess again. There were flashes of blue and purple light ahead and to his right. But he didn't think he was in any dange-
A beam of pure heat momentarily turned the snow above his head into steam. His knees trembled, threatening to give out from fright. Shaking, he squinted through the snow, getting a quick sight of the beam's source. It hardly should've surprised him at this point, but the alternate universe's Starlight Glimmer could be seen levitating herself in a complex pattern to avoid lasers from Twilight, firing shots of her own all the while. Trepidation gripped Solar Moon as he noticed that they were tearing up the ice, cleaving it into floating shards. The alternate Ani appeared to be unfazed by this, simply disappearing into a portal every time the ice under his hooves became unsteady. Then he'd reappear far above the ponies' heads, throwing sharp objects into the fight. Starlight, nicked by of the projectiles, dropped out of the air. The changeling stepped forwards to protect the fallen mare. She didn't have to hold her attackers off for long; a spell pulsed outwards from Starlight's horn, causing everything within a sixty-foot radius of the fighters to float helplessly up into the air. Then snowfall thickened again, prickling the skin beneath his coat and cutting off his view of the fight. Pushing forwards, Solar Moon soon came to the edge of the ice once more. His field of vision was extremely limited, but it was enough to keep him out of the water. He made his way along the edge, going five feet… Ten feet… Were the explosions getting louder?
The hair on the back of Solar's neck stood up as he involuntarily ducked. The Princess of Friendship fell from the sky like a swatted insect, cracking the ice and sliding into the water. The scholar steadied himself as best he could, scrambling to stay standing and not swimming. The alicorn was already dragging herself out of the devilishly cold water. Her eyes darted around neurotically, expecting to see her enemies bearing down on her, but they found Solar Moon instead. She was obviously shocked to notice him there for the first time, and yet… "You have to get out of here," Twilight Sparkle yelled, somehow managing to speak clearly through the storm. Ever the practical one, Twilight; there was no time to ask how he'd gotten there. "This is no place for civilians!"
"I can't, Princess," Solar Moon shouted back, "I need to find my friend! He's not safe, he's passed out -"
The mare's eyes were still glued to the place where the sounds of clashing and conflict were coming from. She'd shaken some of the water off and was preparing to take flight. Solar spoke quickly:
"He's across from here, in that direction" he pointed "Princess Twilight, please -"
"Do you know how to break your fall with magic?" The question came tersely, cutting him off.
"I- I… No, I don't, I -"
"Fine then," the Princess muttered, exhaling through her nose. "Brace yourself."
In a single, fluid motion, the alicorn launched herself into the air, grabbing the scholar on the way. He could only open his mouth in a silent scream as he was lifted up and above the lake. Suddenly, he was soaring through the middle of the fight. Alternate Starlight floated menacingly above, haloed by a brief shine of light from the sun. The changeling hovered nearby, deflecting projectiles dropping out of the constantly appearing and disappearing portals. The alternate Ani was nimbly moving behind ice shards and rubbish floating in the air, courtesy of Starlight's earlier spell. And Twilight… Solar Moon realized that he was now falling in an arc, freed from the Princess' grip. What?! He looked back and saw her trading blows with Starlight Glimmer and a terrible feeling of panic swallowed his soul. He plummeted to his doom.
The Princess of Friendship, however, had not abandoned him. She swooped downwards, catching the unicorn before he could shatter every bone in his body on the unforgiving ice. The gold-flanked stallion blinked away his gut-wrenching certainty of death that had overtaken him earlier and mustered a grateful nod, but she was already gone. So Solar Moon began looking for the reality-jumper again. His piece of ice was only a few paces away, bobbing against the shore..!
By now, frost was forming around the eyes and noses of both stallions. Solar dragged Ani onto more solid ice and nudged him with his hoof. Then a dreadfully morbid thought occurred to the blue-maned unicorn, prompting him to press an ear to Ani's chest and listen for a heartbeat. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the ongoing battle, and concentrated. Come on, come on… Oh thank Celestia, Solar Moon thought. The joker was alive. Now, to wake him up. Instantly, the scholar was met with small, stinging doubts.
If a battle and an icy wasteland couldn't wake him up, what hope do I have of –
We'll be stuck here forever, won't we –
What an awful way to die.
Despite this, he proceeded to try waking him up by talking. Singing. Screaming. He gave Ani a push. He rolled his friend and his frosty mane across the frozen lake. Then, reluctantly, he soundly slapped the other stallion's face. Nothing. After fifteen minutes of trying, hopelessness sapped his heart. At some point, the ice underneath them cracked off from the rest of the lake. Solar tried to keep the both of them warm. A half an hour passed in the unrelenting cold.
One last time, Solar Moon cast a desperate gaze at his companion's passed-out face. Finally - blessedly! - the dark-maned portaler's eyes lolled open a crack.
"Universe, you're awake," the stallion screamed through the wintry gale, through his near-death panic and adrenaline. "Get us back to safety!"
The cold, the distant booms, and Solar's words - Get us to safety - thudded against Ani's dulled senses. Safe... Starlight was someplace safe, right? Ani opened the portal.
The eternal night grew still once the screams of hysteria died down. Townsponies had a penchant for squealing in any year. But Applejack was calm, drinking in how similar everything was to that fateful night so many years ago. Every spoken syllable and passing glance at the scenery was accompanied by a wave of déjà vu. Déjà vu... The farm pony wasn't much for French, but she knew that déjà vu meant "already seen". The feeling was appropriate; she had seen everything here before. The welcoming party thrown by Pinkie, Nightmare Moon's dramatic, panic-inducing entrance; it was like walking in a memory. Applejack, always one to think ahead, wondered if her test of honesty would be the same. Would it really be a test if Twilight had no doubts about whether she'd be ok? Would it even happen at all? Between her stream of thoughts and the beat of her hoofsteps as they approached the Everfree forest, she nearly missed what Twilight said to everyone:
"Girls, I'm sure you've all been wondering about the tests of harmony. I know I have."
There were murmurs of assent from all five ponies.
"I don't really mind helping out the manticore again," Fluttershy intoned.
"And I have no problem fixing that lovely serpent's moustache again, darling," Rarity piped up. "But I do wonder if it shall be a true test of generosity, since I know the Elements will make my tail grow back."
"Right? And now that I'm a Wonderbolt, the Shadowbolts are less than nothing to me," Rainbow Dash added in a tone that seemed to spit a challenge into cool night air.
"My thoughts exactly, Rainbow," Twilight Sparkle said. "And that's okay. I don't think the tests are completely necessary this time around. Last time, they strengthened our bond and showcased your guys' traits to help activate the Element of Magic. But right now, we're already friends and we've faced so many challenges together... I think we'll be fine."
They were a ways into the Everfree Forest by now. A cloud of purple smoke - the bidding of Nightmare Moon - darted overhead. And the second that "we'll be fine" left Twilight's lips, the cliff they were standing on gave out beneath them. The four ponies without wings careened downwards, squealing in terror as they skidded down the crumbling dirt. Luckily, everypony reacted as they had so long ago; before the purple unicorn knew it, she was hanging onto a ledge for dear life, looking up at Applejack. The panic she'd had a moment earlier at sliding off of a cliff faded under the farm pony's steady gaze.
"Let go?" Twilight Sparkle guessed, peering up at her green-eyed friend imploringly.
Applejack stopped herself mid-nod and craned her neck to look past Twi. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had just finished lowering Rarity and Pinkie to safety. They were getting into position to catch Twilight.
"Just wait a sec, now, sugarcube... All right, now!"
Twilight Sparkle let go, no questions asked. Her stomach dropped at the brief fall, but she was instantly still again, being held in place by a pressure on her ribs.
With a smile and a murmured "Thanks, girls," at the two pegasi, Twilight was lowered to the ground. The group paused a moment, waiting for Applejack to make her way down, and soon continued on their way. The purple smoke dashed ahead of them, off to activate their next delay.
Fluttershy could sometimes be a little scared of creatures. Bear needs a backrub? No problem. Dragon needs some scolding? She gets around to it. Large, hungry predators could be a little different, though. Her imagination wandered as the group plodded on towards the Elements. What if the manticore had been hungry, instead of just having a thorn in it? Then... The pink-haired caretaker shuddered, forcing the thought out of her head. No, she would've noticed. Hungry animals act differently. Why even think of such things? Fluttershy chuckled quietly. After all this time, the Everfree Forest still got to her.
Then the manticore's roar bellowed out in front of them. Fluttershy's friends stepped back, letting her handle the situation. Just as before, she spoke softly to the beast and removed the thorn.
The next two challenges were handled similarly; Pinkie didn't hesitate to sing her fear-banishing song and Rarity immediately soothed the serpent and sliced off her own tail.
Then came the bridge where the Shadowbolts were supposed to appear.
In the time where Twilight has been made a Princess, the time that these six ponies belong in, Luna's power to roam dreams is a power known by many. The concerned and benevolent Princess Luna can bring sweet dreams and meanings to the mind of a pony. But the sinister Nightmare Moon warps this ability in a very different way… The first time that the Shadowbolts appeared, all that time ago, how was a mare who'd been trapped in the moon for a thousand able to know what a modern-day team of elite flyers would look like?
Gliding undetected in the inky blackness of night, a small part of the pestering purple cloud broke off of the cloud's main body once the serpent had been overcome. It silently followed the group of friends, watching and waiting for the opportunity. Rainbow Dash flew across the foggy chasm to tie the rope bridge. That was the moment. The bit of the purple cloud quickly slunk towards the sky-blue pegasus, pressed itself to her chest, and sunk itself into her heart, just a small bit. It knows your dreams... I̡̮̤̟̺͍̥̫t̷̝̺̟̖͢͝ ͚k̸̛͈̖̦̝̟n͕̯o̖̥͡w̛̠͟͞ͅs͏̡̯̫̤͖̼̲̯͠ ̢̡͙̘̲̤͠ͅy͏̡̣͇̱̮͔͇̳o̗̟͓͇̖̞͟ú̴̝̱̙̯̘͖̞ͅͅr̵̳̯̭͙͘ͅ ͕͇̩d̵̗̰̺͕̖̀e̙͖s̶͏̛͖̺i̥̣̰͙̖͇̦͕r̛̪̬̭̱̪̺̲̕e͇̻̥͙͇s̢͉͕̺̪͉.̷̨͇̮̞̩͇̰̲̱ It was out in a wink. Joining the rest of the cloud once more, the wraith moved quickly to form a pony stepping out of the mist…
Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise. "Starlight Glimmer?" What's she doing here? The rainbow-haired Wonderbolt had been looking out for three weirdoes, not… Not her.
"Rainbow Dash," the illusion said, flashing the pegasus a little smile. "I found the way back! I'm here bring everyone back to where we belong." The fake Starlight waved a rolled-up piece of parchment, as if to prove her point.
Dashie was bewildered. "That's… That's great, Starlight! But, uh, how'd you find us?"
"I'll explain on the way," came the reply. "But you have to come with me, now."
On the other side of the bridge, Twilight watched, trying to figure out what was going on. That can't be the real Starlight, the unicorn reasoned, frowning a bit. This far back in time, Starlight was all the way across Equestria. She can't be here… That's not how the spell works. Behind her, Rarity wondered aloud about what Starlight could possibly be doing there. I have to warn her, Twilight Sparkle decided. "Hey!" she called across the chasm to her friend. "Rainbow! Dash! That's not -"
The illusion's eyes flicked over to Twilight. It smiled. Then the fog thickened maliciously, cutting Rainbow off from her friends.
"- the real Starlight Glimmer… Ugh," the unicorn sighed. "Fluttershy, c'mere for a second. Plan B."
Across the broken bridge, the young flier was all questions. "Why can't they come with us, too," Rainbow prodded.
"We have to go right this minute, Dash," fake Starlight insisted.
"You said that a minute ago," the pegasus pointed out, rolling her eyes. "You can wait just a little while."
"If you wait any longer, we won't be able to go back!"
That seemed to get Rainbow Dash's attention. The fake grew hopeful. Then the urgency faded from the pegasus mare's eyes again. "I don't want to go with you if they can't come, too," she said firmly.
"We'll come back for them! Hurry up and come with me already," fake Starlight said, grinding her teeth.
Come back for them… The thought bounced around in the pony's head. She could save her friends if she went right now, right?
Before the cloud-kicker could say another word, Fluttershy emerged from the fog and alighted on the gravel next to her. "Hi, Rainbow," the pale pegasus said, eyeing the fake Starlight warily. "Twilight wanted me to tell you that this Starlight Glimmer can't be real because the spell doesn't work like that."
The wraith looked taken aback.
"Do you need help tying the bridge," Fluttershy offered.
"Um," Rainbow Dash stammered, shaking her head, "Er, no, I've got this. Thank, Fluttershy." She took the rope up in her mouth and began lashing it around a rock. The fake Starlight ran away, vanishing into the mist.
Ani and Solar came back with frosted hooves and a case of the sniffles. They also came back directly into the library of the Two Sisters, bringing a tiny heap of snow with them. Starlight, sensing it was a time to act and not ask questions, took her longest break since entering the library so she could warm them up. It felt awful, at first, to stop trying to save Twilight and everyone, but deep down she knew she needed a rest. So she conjured some hot soup from a couple of mushrooms growing nearby. Then, after giving the soup to her two friends, she cast a spell that made her horn glow with a heat, which spread through their bodies in a single touch. Amazingly, neither stallion had been harmed by shrapnel. Once they looked a little less haggard, Starlight brought a large torch into the library from the hall. She pushed a few tables out of the way with her magic (so as not to catch them on fire), placed the torch in the space she cleared, and lit it. Ta-da: instant fireplace. All three ponies settled around it. As they ate, dried, and warmed up, Solar Moon told the story of what had happened to them.
"You were there, Starlight," he recounted, a glassy look in his eyes. His body shook with a small tremble as he exhaled.
Resting her head on a folded-up cloth, the pony in question asked sardonically: "Fighting Princess Twilight, right?"
The scholar's ears flicked in surprise. "How did you know that," he asked in astonishment. Starlight Glimmer could only groan and bury her face in the cloth as a response.
"Well, you were also there, Universe," he continued. "And a peculiar changeling. Do changelings have manes -" Starlight shook her head no, they generally don't "- well, this one did. Green and black, I believe,"
"What was I doing," Ani asked through his sniffles.
"You were passed out and floating away on some ice."
"No, the alternate me, silly," the reality-jumper yawned.
"Oh," Solar Moon said, and once again his eyes grew wide and glassy in awestruck remembrance. "You were clad in a sort of black and silver vest..."
The details of armor and weapons blurred together as the weight of Starlight's exhaustion gently overwhelmed her, like a full-grown whale gracefully twirling onto her face. Huh, the mare thought to herself. Get tired enough and your eyelids actually start to feel heavy. Her friends' pleasant chatter and the food in her belly made her feel so, so sleepy... Then the last millimeter of firelight was shut out by her eyelids. The spellcaster drifted off to the land of dreams.
It started out as a mild form of nightmare. She was working to find a counter-spell in the Castle of the Two Sisters, just like she had been all week. The library was a different shape than normal and grass grew out of some of the pages of her books, but this didn't seem strange to her sleeping brain. I need get to the starfish, dream-Starlight said to herself. By "starfish", one can only assume that she meant "answer". So, logically, the unicorn tried to scratch away the grass. It kept growing back, so she moved on.
Then, abruptly, she was crying for no reason in particular. Help me, Starlight Glimmer wept, crying out into the recesses of her own mind. Somepony help!
A shudder ran through the pony's body, in the dream and in real life. All at once, Starlight was aware that she was having a dream. She turned her head to the side. A door had appeared in the air beside her. It was opening up… Luna! The Princess of the Night stepped out of the door in her full, shimmery-haired glory.
Starlight Glimmer, the alicorn greeted the dreamer. You have, as the young fillies say nowadays, really screwed up.
Way to rub it in, dream-Starlight said, overcome by a fresh wave of tears.
What? No. I am here to help. Together, we shall bring Princess Twilight back into our time, yes?
Y-yes, the unicorn responded, feeling relieved already.
Luna guided her attention back to the grassy book pages. The Mistress of the Moon took a bite of the grass, clearing it away.
Oh, Starlight said. She'd read the book before, in real life, but whatever Luna had done… The information was clear now, unobstructed by a foggy brain. This might actually be the answer!
A/N: Heyo! Here I am, updating at midnight. Hi. This chapter was published on 11/6/16's 11:50-something at night and updated in the wee hours of 11/7. Whee
Snowfrost, you might've recognized the alternate-universe version of your OC. It's not the most dialogue-ridden encounter, but... Well, I hope you're okay with that representation of Nightshade.
I can't believe I've taken so long with updates that this fic is lasting from one hiatus into another.
Ani, whaaaat is Christmas in July - it sounds wonderful :p - and did you have a happy 4th of July? I hope all you lovely people reading this had a happy fourth. See you next time!