So, in this one, mostly Admirer Boy and Darkstalker728 are helping me out, but only on some of the more larger parts.
Hope you enjoy!
"Are you sure they'll be here?" a human warrior asked in a whispered tone as he and a total of five other humans and robots crept through the city of Canterlot in search of Bubble Heart and her children. They had been assigned by The Nameless One to find and "silence" the group in an attempt to motivate the prince. Only one was to be left alive, but there was no specification on who to keep alive.
"The master says they're here. Has he scared us wrong yet?" one of the robots answered.
"Contact up ahead," the lead human warned. "Active Camouflage, now."
They pressed buttons on their wrists and they all turned invisible. The only indication of their presence would be if one was to just barely catch the outlines of their forms that gave them away. In the Canterlot palace, some royal guards were watching over the town from the balcony, through telescopes. Soon, one of them barely noticed the suspicious group of humans and robots.
"They're here!" the Guard spoke up. "We must warn the Princess!"
The other guard nodded at this and trotted towards the throne room, where Princess Bubble, and Princess Celestia was sitting.
"Princess!" the Guard yelled. "They're here!"
"Already?" Princess Celestia gasped and looked towards Bubble. "Quick, we need to take Princess Bubble and her foals to safety."
Back outside, the group seemed to realize that the gig was up.
"We're spotted! Go loud!" the lead human shouted, and then they all pulled out some kind of laser guns and started firing at anyone who appeared on the balcony or at the front doors while moving forward, being smart enough to keep their camouflage on so as to give their enemy a hard time hitting them. In this fashion, they quickly managed to get inside the palace. By now, the camouflage had worn off and they looked about.
"Spread out!" a robot ordered. "If you find one of the family members, use the tasers!"
"Keep Princess Bubble in cover! Get to the young ones and protect them!" A royal guard shouted. "Enemy has entered the palace!"
Bubble ran towards the hall along with royal guards guarding her from all around. She was now really scared, not for herself, but for her children. In a moment they reached the halls. When they did, they noticed one of the robots staring them down. An electrical baton appeared in its hand and it rushed at Bubble, easily taking down the guards around her.
"End of the line, Princess!" the bot scoffed, then swung the baton at her.
"You wish!" Bubble challenged violently, and passed a look to her children's room. She had to think fast now, otherwise... No she wouldn't let that happen.
"Take this!" she shouted, firing a shockwave from her horn. The robot was thrown back from the attack and a loud "Squark!" was heard from it as it fell to the ground, defeated and deactivated. Bubble smirked to see this and headed towards her children's room. The door was still locked thankfully, but her rest didn't last long as another soldier appeared and activated something on his arm that beeped with a red light.
"My men will soon arrive and we'll be taking you with us. There's someone who's dying to meet you again, princess," he scoffed.
"Tell him that I'm not going anywhere!" Bubble scolded him in response.
"Come on princess, this may be the last time he gets to see an old friend," the man mockingly pleaded as the rest of his squad arrived. "We insist."
Truthfully, Bubble was now starting to get a little intimidated inside, but she kept herself together as she stood in front of the whole squad.
"YOU'LL HAVE TO MAKE ME!" She shouted in her Royal Canterlot voice as her horn started to give a violent glow once again. The men and robots chuckled, then aimed their rifles at Bubble and they began to power up. But right before they fired, a golden beam struck one of them as Princess Celestia rounded one of the corner in the halls.
"Get away from her!" she shouted and prepared for another attack. A robot scowled at her with its eyes and then fired some beams at the white alicorn, who placed up a shield to block them all as the other two fired at Bubble. They barely missed her and instead struck the door behind her. Just when they were about to fire a second time, a howl of some kind was heard and then suddenly a large icy spirit flew into the halls and a beam of ice struck all but one of the fiends. The last one, a robot, realizing he was beaten, pressed a button on his person and started to glow dangerously. Seeing this, the ice spirit, which the Equestrians recognized as a Windago, fired another beam of ice and froze the enemy solid very quickly, stopping only when the glow ceased.
Bubble looked up towards Celestia and a tearful smile came upon her face.
"Thanks mom," She then looked towards Winter. "Thank you too... I hope that'll buy us some time..."
The Windago smiled.
"I'm glad I decided to visit when I did," he remarked. "How are the kids?"
"They're fine..." Bubble smiled. "Thank you for coming here in time..." Then she looked towards Celestia. "We have to get the children to safety..."
Celestia nodded. "Ironic as it sounds... I think they'd be safer in William's Equestria."
"I agree. At least they have more watchful eyes there," Winter nodded.
"I agree too..." Bubble sighed. She turned to the the children's room and opened the door. The three of them were gathered in a corner, her sons hugging close to their elder sister, while they were shivering in fear. Sunny's eyes were also closed.
"Don't worry little brothers..." She said. "Mommy will be alright..."
"I am, my dear filly..."
As they heard their mother's voice, they opened their eyes and trotted towards her, and hugged her sobbingly. Then Sunny whined, "Mom, we heard a loud noise, and then someone at the door, and then..."
"Shhh. Hush my little foals, you're okay now..." Bubble reassured.
"It was so scary..." Bold remarked.
"It's okay my foal," Bubble replied. "But for now, we have to leave..."
Winter poked his head into the room and glanced about. When he noticed the three foals, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank the Cold you're alright!" he managed. They looked towards the Windago and passed a smile.
Sunny spoke, "Winter, when did you come?"
"I was coming over to visit, and then I heard gunshots and explosions, so I rushed over here," he answered. "I was so worried that one of you would get hurt."
Just then, Celestia looked into the room.
"Hurry, my little ponies, there's not much time!" she ordered. "William just opened a portal for you and it won't be long before it closes again."
Bubble looked towards her daughter and said, "Sunny, let's go!"
She picked up her foals in her front hooves and flew out of the room along with Sunny, while Winter went after them. The portal was waiting for them in the halls and on the other side they could see a human figure standing beside what was undoubtedly their father, beckoning them to enter. Before they did, Celestia gave them all one last family hug.
"Be safe, my little angels," she said tearfully. "I love you all so very much."
"We'll be alright," Bubble replied with equal sadness in her tone. "Please take care of yourself as well..."
They released her from the hug and entered the portal while Aqua was saying, "We're coming daddy!"
They leaped through the portal together and found themselves in TD's Equestria. Because of how close he had been standing to the portal, TD actually got tackled a bit as they enter, laughing cheerfully as they exited.
"Hey, kids! Good to see you again," he said with a smile, ruffling their manes.
"It's nice to see you too Uncle William!" Sunny cheered.
"I'm so glad you're alright my foals," Joy sighed in relief and then looked towards his dear sweetheart. "I'm so thankful that you're alright as well, my dear."
"Hey, you didn't forget about me, now did you?" Winter joked as he floated up to them.
"Wait a minute, there's one extra foal here," TD noted and looked to Aqua. His face lit up. "Is that who I think it is?"
"Yep," Joy confirmed. "My little Aqua Blaze..." he said as he nuzzled his foal's mane.
"Wow... time flies," TD remarked. "Hello Aqua. Name's William. I'm an old friend of your parents'. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to... see you too..." Aqua said.
Tempus suddenly walked into the room, his green eyes glittering as he observed what was going on.
"So, anypony going to tell me what I just walked in on?" The alicorn asked as his dark personality walked up beside him, his red glowing eyes scanning the room.
"Oh," TD stood to his feet after managing to get the foals off him gently. "Tempus, these would be Joy's family. As well as their friend, Cold Winter the Windago."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Tempus said, smiling.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Tempus's dark personality added with a smile, which looked slightly disconcerting thanks to his jagged teeth.
"It's a... pleasure," Bubble replied.
TD chuckled. "Don't worry, he's on our side. Both sides of him are."
"That's a relief," the Windago remarked. Tempus sighed and rolled his eyes, before his dark personality absorbed into his body and he smiled apologetically.
"Sorry... He's on our side, but his appearance can be slightly disturbing. Guardian of Time, Prince of Time, Life, and Death, at your service," he said, bowing slightly.
"Well, that's reassuring..." Bubble then smiled with confidence. "Princess Bubble Heart," she greeted as her wings flared open. "Princess of Hope, and fifth crowned Princess of Equestria."
Tempus chuckled as he opened his own wings.
"In your Equestria maybe. From where I come from, we have nine alicorns, myself included," he explained as a blue mist suddenly shot up beside him, forming into Nightmare Moon.
"Is that... Nightmare Moon?" Bubble gave her a brief look before realizing, "I guess, she's on our side as well?"
"Yep!" TD remarked. "She and Task Force Omega. On that note, how fairs the training Nightmare?"
Nightmare grunted. "We could use Prince Sunrise's help getting the recruits in order. They're hopelessly confused by the tactics Crystal's trying to teach them."
Tempus smirked. "I'll check with my sisters to see if they're able to spare Sunrise and a contingent of royal guards. Although knowing Celestia, she'll want to come here if her husband is coming here," he said, as his dark personality materialized beside him before vanishing with a small flash of light.
"That would help immensely," TD agreed as another figure walked into the room.
"Uncle William, we just received some more recruits-" Serena started, but then went silent when she saw the group before her, especially Winter. With a squeal of joy she tackled the Windago spirit in a big embrace.
"Winter! You're here!" the siren-hybrid squealed as she nuzzled up against him. Winter smiled and returned the affection as well.
"Good to see you again, my beautiful Siren," he answered.
"Serena!" Joy and Bubble spoke up as they saw her and gave a light chuckle.
"You know, Winter always talks about you!" Sunny exclaimed. "I knew he likes you very much..."
Sunny gave a sly smile at this. Tempus smiled as he saw the two, before turning as a portal opened up behind him, made of an extremely dark blue magic. His dark personality stepped through, followed immediately by a white pegasus with piercing blue eyes, which were constantly darting around. The pegasus wore armor made from the same material as Crystal Guards armor was, yet it was styled in the fashion of the type the Royal Guard of Canterlot wore.
"They agreed to it, although you got a bit more of a bargain than you expected," Tempus's dark personality said as Tempus's Celestia and Luna came out of the portal as well, followed by Luna's husband, Star Seeker. Tempus's Starlight came through the portal next, and with a squeal the alicorn rushed over to her husband, hugging him tightly just as Royal Guards started pouring from the portal, arranging themselves in formation behind the group. The last pony to come through the portal before it closed was a white unicorn with an icy blue mane and tail, her dark blue eyes scanning her surroundings as she walked up to stand beside Tempus.
"Yeah, I'd call that a lot more of a bargain than you expected," Nightmare said with a smirk.
"Quite a clowd here..." Bold muttered to his sister. "Is evelything allight?"
"I don't know..." Sunny replied in a whisper. "I guess there is a big fight ahead..."
"Oh..." Bold said. Sunrise walked up to TD, removing his helmet as he stopped.
"I believe you needed a drill sergeant?" The Pegasus asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.
TD chuckled. "About time. The others are training in the throne room. I made it particularly large on the inside for this session for... obvious reasons. And yes, Bold, sadly we're preparing for war."
"Oh, that's not... good," Bold said to himself. Meanwhile, Joy and Bubble were pondering over the situation. Bubble gave a sigh and looked towards her husband.
"This should feel stranger than it does... don't you think so my sweetie?" Bubble asked.
"Hmm... I guess we're too used to these kind of things now..." Joy replied.
TD started out the doors. "Everyone, follow me please. I'm sure some of you may or may not recognize all of the figures I've invited. Especially if you were part of Red Team. On that note, I think they're down there too."
He led them down the halls to the throne room, which (as he said) was now about the size of several football fields somehow, filled with soldiers of all kinds, mostly Changeling and pony recruits. Although, a few other figures stood out from the rest... like the three dragons or the pony in Clone armor, or even the Mobians that were giving instructions to some newbies.
"Wow, now I am surprised..." Bubble said. Sunrise looked around, before he put his helmet back on, his blue eyes staring out through the eye slits.
"So, which group do you want me to take over TD?" He asked. "I can take around 500 recruits and whip them into shape as soldiers easily."
TD pointed to a group of at least one thousand just now being assembled by the vampire pony Tracker.
"Take half of Tracker's assembly there," he suggested. "They're fresh recruits, just came in from the other areas."
Just then, the sound of steel against steel rang out and they turned to see Bill Prower sparring with another human. The human was a female with white hair, a grey fencing dress, and blue eyes. Her sword seemed a bit odd and filled with colored cylinders that seemed to give her sword an elemental aspect. They could hear the fox giving her pointers as they sparred with each other.
"Focus, Weiss!" Bill encouraged as he parried one of her strikes. Remember, it's all in the wrist!"
Sunrise nodded, before he trotted towards Tracker, unslinging his gleaming spear from his back. Tempus walked up beside TD, the white unicorn beside him.
"TD, remember Frost here?" the alicorn asked, as the white unicorn extended a hoof. "She's willing to teach any unicorn recruits how to do ice magic."
"Ah, yes!" he said, giving her hoof a shake. "We have some elemental soldiers over in that corner..." He pointed at one end of the room. "We could use another teacher of ice magic here."
Nightblade arrived just then in his Mobian form through one of the doors.
"Sorry I'm late. I was bringing some equipment from my lab," he apologized.
"Nightblade! Welcome!" TD greeted. "You're not late at all, friend."
"Thank Souls," Blade said. "Anyways, I have some Equipment for the Elite Troops. It could be useful," he explained. Frost smiled, before racing off, her icy blue mane and tail trailing behind her. Tempus glanced around, his green eyes taking in all the recruits, before he let out a grunt.
"Hopefullt Michael will have some luck retrieving Pyrunian guns and ammunition from a possible warehouse on Earth," The alicorn said to TD. "If he does, Chris may be able to redesign them to work for our soldiers, as well as upgrade the weaponry on his own suit."
"Knowing Red, he might try to mess with them too," TD chuckled.
"You're darn right I would!" Red called, using a welder to seal shut the torn apart helmet of T-bone's armor. "Alright, T-bone! Your last upgrade has been installed!"
The former Clone thanked the hedgehog and put the helmet one.
"Whoa!" he remarked. "Now that's an improvement! If the boys could see this, they'd be jealous."
"For real..." Red agreed. Just then, a gasp was heard from across the room and they looked to see Pinkie Pie and a red-hooded girl looking at each other.
"Pinkie Pie!"
"Ruby!"
The two collided and gave each other a big hug, speaking rapidly and excitedly at the same time so no one really knew what they were saying. There was a sudden snapping sound before Michael materialized nearby, grunting as he struggled with the massive crate he was carrying on his back.
"Little help here?" The Pyrunian asked, staggering slightly.
"I think... uh... yeah..." Blade walked over to Michael and he lifted the crate with his magic.
"Thanks," Michael said as he then used his own magic to levitate the lid off, a complicated looking gun floating out and floating down to rest in the Pyrunian's hands as he looked it over.
"So, I guess now it's best to bring you and the foals to a safe spot in the palace," Joy said as he placed his hands on Bubble's shoulder.
"Alright, I understand," she said as she looked towards her foals. "William, a word please..."
"Sure!" TD walked over to Joy and Bubble. "What's up?"
"I thought it'd be better if we send the foals to a less crowded place in the palace, Joy explained. "They shouldn't be around while we're training..."
"I see your point," TD agreed. "Try the section of the palace where your room would be back in your Equestria. It's to the right after you get to the end of the stain glass windows. Who knows? Maybe you'll run into Sunshine. She always likes new friends."
"Alright," Bubble said. "I'll take them there... follow me children."
"Alright, Mom," Sunny complied as she walked behind her mother along with her little brothers, leaving their father in the throne room. Blade looked at the weapon from earlier.
"That's a fine lookin' gun you got there," he complimented.
"Thanks. Now, if I can figure out how to activate it..." Michael said as he turned the gun over, before suddenly his hands flared with icy magic and the gun suddenly powered up, icy blue light glowing along its sides as it hummed softly. "Woah!"
Blade whistled. "I was not expecting that."
Michael turned and aimed the gun at a section of the wall. Bracing himself, the Pyrunian pulled the trigger, and with a cracking sound a blast of ice shot out, freezing a massive section of the wall before he released the trigger.
"Okay, this is freaking awesome!" Michael exclaimed, grinning crazily as he looked the gun over again.
"That was amazing! This Behemoth of a gun can quite pack a punch!" Blade remarked with a smile.
"Apologies gents," TD stated as he walked over to Michael and Blade. "Had some technical difficulties to deal with. That's a neat gun."
"Ooo! Ooo! Please let me study one of those!" Red shouted as he rushed up to them. "I've been DYING to get my hands on one of these!"
Michael grinned as he used his magic to levitate another one out, floating it down to Red.
"Just don't blow anything up Red," the Pyrunian said with a wry grin.
"Yeah... I'm just gonna... take a step back..." Blade took a step back.
"Relax, comrades. If anyone or anything is gonna get blown up, it's me from my own stupidity!" Red stated cheerfully as he walked back towards his workbench.
"You're not stupid!" Bill called as he continued to spar with Weiss. "You just don't know when to call it quits on the experiments."
"Why am I having a bad feeling about this?" Joy muttered to himself. "Oh yeah. Crazy hedgehog with a powerful weapon; does seem pretty dangerous."
Michael rolled his eyes as he sat down, examining his new weapon. Tempus walked around, the alicorn itching to spar with someone but not knowing who to ask.
"Hey Tempus!" TD called. "If you're looking for a spar, maybe try and see if Diego's ready. Or heck, try fighting Cobra and Lantana. I have a feeling they'll give you a run for your money!"
"Hey hey hey!" Red interrupted, cloning himself with a potion so that he could work and speak at once. "I already challenged Cobra to a spar! He's taken!"
Cobra let out a snort from where he stood. "Then why don't you get over here before I just spar with someone else while I wait?" The SandWing challenged as he swung his axe by his side. Tempus nodded at TD's previous statement, then he took off running, searching for Diego.
"I guess I can use some training too," Joy said with a smirk. "Anyone need a sparing partner?"
"Well now that you say so Joy... I'd like to see just how much you learned from me," TD chuckled. "I could use the training."
Meanwhile, Red smirked at Cobra as he walked over to him.
"You wanna spar, dragon boy? It's on!" he shouted with a giggle, then rushed on over.
"Alright William!" Joy exclaimed, cracking his knuckles as a golden aura flared around him and he turned into his Blazing form. Now he had golden wings sprouting from his back, and his iris became slightly larger. "I am ready!"
"Then let's get ready to RUMBLE!" TD called out as he began the spar...
-Time Skip-
Ten minutes later, a bell rang out signaling break time for everyone around. Spars ended abruptly, training drills came to a halt, and peace fell upon the throne room. Although, perhaps the most satisfied in the rooms were Red, Cobra, Tempus and Diego, who had thought their spars to be quite a worthy challenge.
"Man Cobra, your Animus magic is perhaps the hardest thing I've had to fight yet!" Red remarked with a whistle. "You almost beat me five times in the first minute with that stuff!"
Cobra grinned as he slung his axe across his back, breathing heavily.
"Now you know why I enchanted my soul to be safe from the consequences of using my magic. It's the one thing that makes me such a formidable opponent," the SandWing replied, chuckling. Tempus dipped his head respectfully to Diego, his sides heaving as he caught his breath.
"Good fight," the alicorn remarked with a smile.
"And well fought too," Diego agreed. "You are a true warrior, Tempus. I'm honored to fight with you."
"Well done, Joy!" TD congratulated his former student, not looking too winded. "It would seem that the student has become the teacher!"
"Well that's... impressive," Blade spoke up.
"Thanks," Joy said with a sheepish smile. "Now, I am sure that I am prepared for whatever is coming ahead!"
"I think you are," TD nodded, then called out to the recruits, "Good job everybody! Take a break for now and meet back in half an hour!"
Sunrise trotted over, a grin on the pegasus's face as he pulled his helmet off.
"Well, this is going easier then I expected," he said, chuckling. "They sure take instructions well once you start getting tough on them."
"I don't believe I could ever do it personally," TD commented. "No offense to you ponies, but I tend to find that Equestrians not only have to be told what to do, but also have it explained to them WHY and the concept of it too!" He groaned. "Seriously, how hard is it to understand how to hand up a banner?!"
Joy blinked in surprise as TD said this. "You're still holding that grudge against them...?" he asked with chuckle.
Blade looked at TD. "You need to calm down..." he said.
"I always have held that grudge on them!" TD remarked. "It's more than half the reason why I've never officially dubbed myself a prince in this world!"
Joy found this sentence a little bit offensive, but tried to shrug this off with an, "Alright..."
"I don't know how it works. I'm sorry! Do I just not know how they're motivated?" TD asked no one in particular.
"You better hope Twilight didn't hear any of that," Bill laughed, then looked back over to his sparring partner Weiss, who was shaking her head.
"I swear, I will never know how any of you work," she stated.
"I don't really have any special way I work," Tempus said, grinning. "I just do what feels right."
"That's not too difficult, alright," Joy commented. "Everything works in its own way, and so do we."
"Nothing can ever describe how I work," TD agreed, then looked around. "Hey, I just thought of something... where's all the kids? I mean, like the babies and such? Please tell me we have a way for them to be cared for at the moment."
"Especially AJ and Evan's Cheerilee," Red added from his workbench, the cloning effect having worn off. "They both look as if they'll be due any day now. Although, there's not much we can do about AJ. When she wants to do something to help, she ain't taking no for an answer. Real stubborn that way."
"I believe we, meaning my family, managed to trick our kids into a room from which they can't escape so we could do this," Tempus said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We didn't want them getting hurt..."
"That's not what I meant, and it's a section of the palace, not a room," TD corrected.
"I meant before we even left our world TD," Tempus countered.
"Oh... well what about the ones already here?" TD inquired. "How do we deal with them when the whole thing comes crashing down on us?"
Tempus shrugged. "I don't know. Ask the parents," he said flatly. Suddenly, they heard Diego slap his forehead.
"You know who we forgot to invite?" he remarked. "We forgot Tempest Shadow!"
"Don't you mean Fizzlepop Berrytwist?" Red asked with a cheeky smile.
"Tempest is easier to remember, Red," TD pointed out. "The only problem I see with that is having to call a certain alicorn Temp just to avoid confusion."
"My name's Tempus, but I'm fine with Temp for the time being," Tempus muttered sourly. "Even if I dislike it, it gets the job done."
"Alright..." Joy said in confusion. "Anyone else? Do you have any suggestions to protect the babies, and other young ones who can't defend themselves?"
"I may," Michael said as he stood, black lightning flickering around him. "I can get a time remnant to stand guard while I'm out doing the actual fighting." He jerked his head at TD. "TD knows what a time remnant is, so he can fill you all in on that."
"Isn't that like a time loop or an unaccessible point in time?" TD asked. "Sorry if my memory is a bit rusty; it's been a while."
"No, it's this," Michael said as he set down his gun, before taking off at super speed, black lightning trailing behind him as he raced around the throne room. After a few seconds, he skidded to a stop before them, just as a streak of black lightning raced past him and skidded to a stop on their other side, revealing a duplicate of the Pyrunian.
"Oh... I just call that being in two places at once," TD remarked. "Only this time, one is fake and the other's real. At least, that's how it always worked for me."
"So, it's like using a combination of Accellero and Duplication spell, right?" Joy asked.
"Neither of us is a fake," one of the Pyrunians said, picking up the gun he'd set down.
"I'm just him from two minutes in the past," the other Michael added with a grin. "And no, it's called time travel plus taking yourself out of the past and into the present. We're both real, and we can both die. I'm not just an extension of myself; I am a separate Michael Watcher entirely."
"Like when Herobrine supposedly killed me in the war against him. Remember that TD?" Tempus asked his friend.
"Oh... Right. I haven't used that too often, so my apologies if I get things wrong," he said, then asked, "So how does this apply to the kids?"
"I can be guarding them," the Michael without the gun started.
"While I'm out fighting," the one holding the gun finished.
"That'll do it," TD agreed.
"Very simple and efficient; this definitely is the best idea," Joy said.
"Alright, we have a plan down. Now, we follow through with it," TD agreed. "And for safety reasons, I won't tell you where to hide them while the author is watching."
Actually, believe it or not, that's a smart idea.
"I can still hear ya you know!" Tempus yelled towards the sky.
"You too?" Joy asked as he looked around. "Tell me, how many of you behave like Pinkie as well? So I don't feel so confused at acts like these..."
"I can also break the 4th wall, so consider yourself warned," the Michael with the gun said.
"And then there's me, Red, Bill, Diego, my Twilight, maybe good ol' Tia, Screwball, Discord, and Chuck's son Sterling!" TD listed. "Anyone else, I am currently unaware of."
"Don't forget me," Nightmare Moon said as she suddenly materialized beside TD.
"Well, that'll do it," Joy said with a sly chuckle. "I hope that's all..."
"Nope, I am also one of them," Evan remarked as he suddenly was standing beside Joy, surprising him in the process. "I'm not just as obvious as others."
Tempus chuckled. "So how many is that now?"
"Hmm... Don't know, don't care. As long as they're on our side," TD stated. As he spoke, another bell rang and he sighed, pulling out a megaphone. "Alright, you lazy bums! Get back in here and form ranks! Training begins now!"
Sunrise raced off, heading for the troops he was training and TD sighed aloud as he looked about.
"This is gonna be a long day..."
The blue unicorn named Aqua Blaze was roaming around in the Canterlot Palace. Looking through the vast halls, he noticed the stained glass images of some recent events in that Equestria.
"Hmm... not that different if everything's the same," Aqua thought to himself aloud. "I'm... bored..."
As he looked around, he suddenly noticed a burst of rainbow-colored flames on one of the walls and a figure appeared that looked much like his mother Bubble... but smaller.
"Nope, that's the wrong one," he heard the figure say, then another burst of flames occurred around her and this time she was Twilight sticking to the wall. "There we go! Yes!"
The false Twilight cheered, and then yet another burst of flames engulfed her and cleared to reveal an eight-eyed, wingless Changeling with a rainbow mane. One of her eyes seemed to notice Aqua and then she turned to him as all eight eyes focused on the colt.
"Oh... hi there! Who are you?" she asked.
"Gah!" Aqua was a little startled and backed off a few steps, as his horn glowed not in a violent, but a protective light. "Don't try to hurt me, I'm warning you..."
"Whoa, take it easy," the Changeling reasoned, giving him a non-threatening gesture with her mismatched hooves. "I'm not here to hurt you. I was just curious of who you are. I've never seen you here in the palace before."
Aqua's horn ceased to glow at this as he gave a her curious look, and blushed out of embarrassment. He took a few steps towards her.
"I am Aqua Blaze. Me, my siblings, and my mother came here to be safe, while my father is here to fight a monster along with his friend..." he replied looking down to his hooves, still blushed for misunderstanding her.
"Father?" The Changeling then got a look of realization. "Oh, you're Prince Joy's son! I knew you smelled familiar!"
She walked off of the wall as naturally as one normally walked and held out her hoof.
"My name is Sunshine," she greeted. "I'm Celestia's daughter... well, at least in this world."
My smell? he thought in a little confusion before realizing what she meant. He looked towards her hoof and then towards her, and held out his hoof as well.
"Nice to... meet you," he said. They both gave each other a hoofshake, then Sunshine giggled.
"I'm sorry if I scared you earlier," she said with a small blush. "I didn't mean to frighten you."
Aqua smiled a little at this. "I'm sorry too, for being scared like that... I didn't mean to act like that..."
"It's okay," Sunshine reassured him. "I'm not the best looking Changeling around... I sometimes make some ponies get scared like you were." She sighed. "Those stuck up nobles for one... They keep saying that I'm creepy."
"Those crappy nobles..." Aqua muttered somewhat in anger. Sunshine looked to him with some sympathy and surprise.
"You have them too?" she asked.
"I... yes..." Aqua admitted. "The fact that I'm what they call a... hybrid; they look to me and my brother like we're... creeps..."
"Oh, that's terrible!" Sunshine remarked, giving him a sympathetic look. "Don't let them get to you. They're just bullies with fancy clothes on." She chuckled a bit. "I remember when I first told Uncle William about a time when they called me a mistake." Her form changed into the human in question and she mimicked his voice. "What?! And they don't notice that they themselves are the mistakes? The scoundrels!" She returned to her normal form and giggled. "I hear that he scared them senseless for that one."
Aqua giggled at this and eventually gave a light laugh. "That's what they truly deserve!"
Sunshine laughed herself. "You know, I think I'm starting to like you. You're cool in my book, no matter what those nobles or bullies say to you."
"You... like me?" Aqua smiled sheepishly. "I guess... I do too."
"Ah, shucks," Sunshine blushed and gave him a small shrug. "Hey, tell you what. If any bullies come around while you're here, you let me know, okay?" She smirked. "I'll be sure to scare any pants they may be wearing right off, just for you!"
"Really?" Aqua said. "Thanks! And if any noble tries to bully you, you let me know..." He looked around quickly for a bit. "My brother won't like this, but I'll make sure to scare the...Tartarus outta them!" Aqua whispered.
"Ooo! I like it!" Sunshine chuckled in an obviously fake sinister manner. Then she smiled and gave him a hug. "Thanks. You're the best!"
Aqua returned the hug while giving her a smile. "Thank you too..."
"Ah! Hashtag cute!" a voice commented, breaking in on them and causing them both to look to the voice of the one who had spoken. It was Red and he was sporting a huge smile with puppy eyes.
"I can already sense a romance blooming here," he remarked, making the two kids blush furiously.
"Uncle Red, cut it out!" Sunshine protested, while Red just laughed.
"Don't worry," he said. "I won't tell your mothers. You look too cute together for me to do that."
"Umm," Aqua seemed a little too confused to reply.
"Red! Stop teasing the young ones and get in here!" TD's voice called out. Red gave a fake pout.
"Never let's me have any fun," he muttered, then gave the two foals a wink. "See you two later!"
Red took off down the hall, leaving Sunshine and Aqua feeling very confused. Well, Aqua mostly; thanks to being a Changeling (as well as having a few chats with TD), Sunshine knew to some extent what Red had been implying.
"We should... probably go see how our parents are doing," she suggested, releasing Aqua from her hug.
Aqua nodded. "Okay..."
"Come on! I think Mom's this way..." Sunshine exclaimed as she started trotting quickly down the halls, occasionally crawling on the walls as naturally as Aqua could run on the ground.
"Awesome!" Aqua complemented her ability to walk on the walls.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Sunshine noted, two of her eyes glancing behind her to look to him. "Apparently, my species makes up for lack of flight with this ability."
She led him down the halls until they reached a familiar room... or what seemed to be familiar to Aqua. Behind the door, they could hear two voices that sounded like Celestia and Bubble both.
"It looks like my dad's room..." Aqua said in surprise as they looked towards the door. "I guess Mommy is in there."
"I think so too," Sunshine agreed, and then opened the door to find Celestia and Bubble both talking to each other. When the two alicorns noticed their children, they smiled warmly.
"Hi Mom!" Sunshine greeted, giving Celestia a big hug.
"Hello my Sunshine," Celestia answered, nuzzling her child affectionately. Aqua went closer to his mother and also gave a her a hug.
"How's my brave little colt?" Bubble asked as she nuzzled him softly.
"I'm fine, mommy," Aqua said. Celestia giggled as she looked between the two of them.
"I'm assuming you've made a new friend, Sunshine?" she remarked.
"Yeah!" Sunshine agreed. "He's a really nice colt. Is he staying here?"
"For now, yes," Bubble smiled. "So you both will have plenty of time to play together."
"Yay!" Sunshine cheered.
"Yay!" Aqua cheered with almost equal enthusiasm. Bubble managed a small smile. While she was glad that her child was happy, she couldn't ignore how serious the situations were right now.
Please be safe, my sweetie.
Sunshine seemed to sense this change of emotion inwardly, because she looked to Bubble with a curious expression.
"Aunt Bubble, are you okay?" she asked. "You feel... worried or sad."
Celestia looked to Bubble with a shrug.
"Changelings. You can't hide anything from them," she explained.
"No, it's okay," Bubble smiled and ruffled the Changeling's mane with her hoof. "I'll be alright, my dear."
Sunshine nodded, deciding it was best not to question it for the moment. Celestia seemed to notice this and gave a suggestion.
"Why don't you show Aqua around the palace, Sunshine?" she suggested. "I'll bet he'd love to see what's different from his Canterlot back home."
"Okay!" Sunshine answered cheerfully, hopping towards the door and stopping to see if Aqua would follow. "Come on, Aqua!"
"Alright..." Aqua followed after. "Right behind you..."
Sunshine bounced up and down excitedly, and led him out the door, leaving the two alicorns alone once more. Celestia giggled.
"I think I can already tell where that is going to lead," she commented with a teasing smile towards Bubble.
"I see that..." Bubble giggled as well.
"And this is the garden!" Sunshine exclaimed excitedly as she was showing Aqua around. "It's my favorite place in the palace! So many different kinds of animals and plants... My personal favorites are the flowers and bees." She walked over to a patch of rather odd-looking roses nearby; dark blue ones that sparkled like Luna's mane. "These are Night Roses. Uncle William says that they come from a different planet, and they only bloom at night. Aunt Luna really likes them."
There was a chuckle from near the roses, and then a soft voice spoke out of thin air.
"The gardens are one of my favorite places in Canterlot. It reminds me of the stories my parents tell me of the rainforest where they grew up," the voice said.
"Who was that?" Aqua suddenly looked around. "Sunshine, did you hear that too...?"
Sunshine gave a giggle. "I did, and I think I know who it was." She looked at a specific location near the roses and said, "You can come out now, Sandflower."
The air shimmered, before colors suddenly spread through the air, eventually revealing a female dragon, her bright eyes focused on Sunshine and Aqua as her barbed tail curled up behind her protectively.
"Hi Sunshine!" she said happily, smiling.
"Hi Sandflower! Good to see you again," the Changeling answered, giving the dragon a big hug. Aqua just gave her a look of wonder, which was clearly asking, "How can she hide herself like this?" Then he placed a hoof on his chin and spoke.
"You're... Sandflower?"
Sandflower nodded.
"That's right! The daughter of Cobra and Lantana! I'm one of Sunshine's best friends!" she said, hugging the Changeling back.
"Oh," Aqua smiled. "It's nice to meet you then."
"Nice to meet you too! What's your name?" Sandflower asked, smiling widely as she released Sunshine.
"My name's Aqua Blaze," Aqua replied.
"He's Prince Joy and Princess Bubble's son," Sunshine explained. "His family just arrived from their Equestria."
Sandflower nodded, smiling.
"It's kind of confusing for me to try and think about all the other worlds out there. I mean, it's hard enough knowing about my parents' home world, and then the one that Tempus lives on, but if I learn about any more my brain may melt," she remarked, making a sour face.
Sunshine giggled. "Mommy and I have learned to just roll with it!"
"My aunt Twilight told me about this alternate world thing... but I don't think I understood that much either..." Aqua said with a bashful smile.
"So, what do you guys want to do now?" Sandflower asked, lifting into the air restlessly. "I'm bored!"
As if on their own accord, colors started rippling over Sandflower's scales, reflecting every single color possible in the world.
"Well... Mommy and the other adults are busy, so maybe we could go out and have some fun!" Sunshine suggested, then looked to Aqua. "Have you ever flown before?"
"Me? No... I mean yes, but not by myself..." Aqua said.
"Ever flown on a dragon before?" Sandflower asked, still hovering in the air.
"No," Aqua shook his head.
"Well, you may be able to now," Sunshine remarked. "Uh, you want to ride shotgun? I feel that it's only fair, being the new one in the party."
"You're not kidding me, right?" Aqua asked in disbelief. "I'm really gonna ride a dragon?!" His tone was full of excitement. Sandflower landed, crouching and extending a wing as a ramp.
"You sure bet ya you are!" she said, grinning.
"All aboard the Dragon Express!" Sunshine cheered, crawling up onto the dragon's back.
"Now, you're talking!" Aqua exclaimed as he sat on the dragon's back as well.
"Hang on!" Sandflower shouted as she took off.
"WAHOOOO!" Sunshine squealed joyfully, sounding almost like a very young Pinkie Pie.
"WHOOH!" Aqua shouted. "IT'S EVEN MORE FUN THAN DAD'S BACK RIDES!"
"It's amazing, isn't it!" Sandflower yelled back, grinning crazily.
"Yeah!" Aqua shouted in excitement. Sunshine laughed aloud, and then leaned out a ways from her perch, somehow managing to hang on with only her back hooves as she let the wind blow through her web-like mane. Her eight eyes closed and a peaceful smile formed on her face. It looked as if she was a free spirit flying through the air, finally free from the worries of the world.
"Hang on!" Sandflower yelled. "It's about to be a bumpy ride!"
"Fire her up! Full speed ahead!" Sunshine shouted. "Full throttle!"
Aqua was just smiling and quiet for a moment, before he heard what Sunshine just said.
"Full throttle?" Aqua asked in half surprise.
"It's something I've heard Uncle Red say!" Sunshine explained, shouting to be heard over the wind in their ears. "It's a way to say go as fast as possible!"
"Just hang on!" Sandflower shouted as she started to lean forwards, slowly picking up speed as she went into a dive. Sunshine nodded and finally settled down on Sandflower's back, sitting in a way that seemed as if she was sitting normally and not holding on for dear life. But considering that she could climb walls naturally, it wasn't a big deal.
"Sweet mother of my father!" Aqua suddenly yelled as she started to catch the pace. Sandflower let out a whoop as she started to accelerate even faster.
"You think going this fast is alright...?" Aqua asked sheepishly. "Not that... I am complaining or... anything..."
"She's done this before! We'll be fine!" Sunshine reassured.
"Yeah, it's perfectly fine!" Sandlfower yelled back.
"But, in case you want to land... Sandflower, where's a good spot for us to land and hang out?" Sunshine inquired. Sandflower thought for a few seconds, before shrugging.
"I don't know. I could take us to my place outside Ponyville, but that's a bit far," she said. "We could go back to the gardens, but I don't think that would be extremely fun."
"Let's try your place. I haven't been there since I was three!" Sunshine suggested.
Aqua smiled and nodded. "Alright... Let's go there."
"Okay!" Sandflower said, as she pulled out of her dive, gravity forcing down hard on her passengers as she returned to her normal flying speed.
"I remember the first time that happened to me," Sunshine reminisced with a giggle. "I thought my exoskeleton was getting smaller!" She gave a sheepish smile. "And then I realized that it was just gravity."
"I don't feel..." Aqua's face color was changed to light yellowish before returning to normal "...so good."
"Uh oh... Sandflower, we may need to make that landing a quick one," Sunshine remarked. "We have a sick passenger."
Sandflower turned back, sheepishly smiling. "I may be able to take care of that before we land," she said softly. "See, there's a secret I've been keeping for a while... nobody knows about it, not even my parents."
"What is it?" Sunshine asked.
"You may be able to just guess Sunshine," Sandflower said as she held up one of her talons, looking at it thoughtfully. "I mean, you do know what my dad's capable of, right?"
"The poison barb?" Sunshine thought, then she looked to her friend. "Are you suggesting...?"
"No!" Sandflower yelped. "Not the barb! The other thing he can do! Or do you not know about that?"
"Oh, probably not," Sunshine remarked. "Though I'm kinda glad it's not the barb. What is it then? The only other thing I know he can do is Animus magic."
Sandflower smiled as she looked back, a small twinkle in her eyes. "You hit the nail on the head. That's the secret I've been keeping from them since I was about five or six."
"Are we are there yet?" Aqua asked in a half-dazed condition.
"Well then use it please, before he goes unconscious," Sunshine pleaded, a bit of worry in her tone. "I didn't make a new friend just to lose him mid-flight."
Sandflower nodded, before aiming a claw at Aqua. "I enchant anything affecting Aqua currently to go away, and return him to how he was before I pulled out of my dive, when he was perfectly healthy and not feeling sick!"
Aqua opened his eyes completely and shook his head. "I feel... weird... don't feel like riding the dragon anytime soon now..."
"Don't worry, you just had some air sickness," Sunshine reassured. "It happens to all of us. You'll get used to it over time." She noticed a cave off in the distance and smiled. "I think we're here!" She then gave a questioning look to Sandflower. "Is that it? Again, haven't been here since I was three, so my memory's a bit rusty."
Sandflower nodded, smiling as she neared the cave.
"It is! Home sweet home!" She said as she dove towards the entrance, pulling up and landing gently on the ledge outside the entrance, before walking inside and crouching to allow her passengers to get off. "Welcome to my home!"
For decorations, there wasn't a lot to see. There was a few paintings around the cave, a mass of blankets in one area that was obviously her sleeping area, and a table with a bunch of open scrolls and ink vials.
"This is... huge," Aqua said. "I think I know about this cave..." He looked around for a moment before shrugging it off. Then he smiled. "Anyways, this is very well-decorated for a cave..."
"Thanks. I try my hardest," Sandflower said, before adding sheepishly. "You can get off now."
"Oh, sure..." Aqua smiled at his own silliness, and got off her back.
"Canon ball!" Sunshine called out, her form suddenly changing into a bouncy ball of fluff or whatnot and falling to the floor lightly, then her form changed back in a flash. Sandflower walked over to the table, picking up one of the scrolls and rolling it up, setting it on a rack before doing the same with another.
"Feel free to look around," She said. "Just be careful, okay? A lot of things in here are fragile."
"Okay... I'll keep that in mind," Aqua passed her a smile and trotted towards Sunshine.
"This cave used to belong to a mean dragon about twenty or more years ago," Sunshine commented to Aqua as she started trotting up a wall to examine a small stalactite. "The dragon hasn't been back since then, so Uncle William gave the cave to Sandflower so she could live close to Ponyville."
"And I've been trying to get into some sort of writing career, but so far most of what I write is just things that I don't think anyone would find interesting," Sandflower sighed as she set the last scroll on its rack, beginning to pick up different colored vials of ink.
"I thought some of them were fun to read!" Sunshine remarked.
"I'd like to read them as well..." Aqua said.
"You really think that they're good Sunshine?" Sandflower asked, turning to her friend. "And you'd want to read one Aqua?"
"Yeah," Sunshine nodded. "You're even better than that one teacher I had for literary classes!"
"Geez, thanks Sunshine," Sandflower said as she rubbed the back of her neck with one of her talons. "I never knew anybody liked my writing that much..."
"Can I see your books too...?" Aqua asked. Sandflower nodded, reaching over to the rack of scrolls and sorting through them, before letting out a small noise of success as she lifted a book from the bottom of the stack, the cover plain leather with simple cold inlay for the title. She held it out to Aqua.
"Hopefully you like it... I never seem to find what I write any good."
"You shouldn't downplay yourself so willingly," Sunshine remarked. "You've got quite the potential in my opinion."
"Yeah, I agree..." Aqua said as he was reading the book while holding it in his aura. "Beside, it seems really interesting to me."
"Which one's that?" Sunshine asked, tilting her head a bit to get a better view, unintentionally looking a bit unsettling since her head had given an almost complete 180 turn from it's original position.
"Oh, that one's just a story I made up about some adventures I think I'd have if I grew up in my parents' homeworld instead of here," Sandflower said softly. "I didn't think it was that good."
"Why not...?" Aqua asked as he looked towards her. "You're a nice writer... at least me and Sunshine think so... right?" He looked towards Sunshine, who had by now turned herself completely towards him.
"Yeah! I give it a star!" Sunshine cheered, then noticed the way she was perched. "I'm sorry, is this freaking you out a bit?"
Sandflower shrugged. "I've gotten use to it," the dragon said with a wry smile.
"It would at first... but it doesn't anymore..." Aqua reassured with a sly smile. "I'll get used to this soon."
"Just checking. It took Mommy a while to get used to that," Sunshine answered with a small blush of her own."
"So what do you want to do now?" Sandflower asked as she climbed up the side of cave, courtesy of some indents carved into the wall.
"I don't know..." Aqua said with some confusion, then looked towards Sunshine as he seemed to get concerned about something. "Umm... do you think my big brother and sister will be mad at me for leaving without telling them?"
"Aqua, you're in the company of a Changeling who's the daughter of Princess Celestia and a dragon who can spit venom, stab enemies with a poisonous tail barb, and use magic," Sandflower said, looking down at Aqua from her perch on the cave ceiling, hanging onto the indentations with her claws. "You're safe, trust me."
Aqua smiled and nodded. "I trust you... thanks."
"You're welcome!" Sandflower said, giggling as she let her wings droop downwards, multiple colors rippling over her scales. "For the record, I trust you as well."
"And me!" Sunshine joined in. "I can tell you're a nice pony." She then added, "Blame being a Changeling for knowing that."
Aqua blushed at this. "I know you are a nice pony as well..."
"Sunshine's one of the nicest ponies I've ever met!" Sandflower exclaimed, turning her head to look at the Changeling. "That's why she's my best friend!"
The Changeling giggled. "And to think, this all started when I was still a baby!"
"Oh... when you were a baby?" Aqua asked in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, and when I was only seven!" Sandflower said, smiling as she remembered the day. "Remember the first time you rode on my back Sunshine?"
"How could I forget?" Sunshine remarked with a smile, reminiscing on that time. "It was the most thrilling experience I'd ever felt!"
"I don't know... if riding a dragon was all that thrilling to me..." Aqua commented rubbing the back of his head. "But I can say... I never had such a fun ride before..."
"Thanks! I'm sorry I made you sick," Sandflower said with a sheepish grin.
"It's okay. Daddy just doesn't fly that fast..." Aqua giggled.
"Whoa... nice cave," a voice called outside. "Hello!"
The voice echoed through the cave and then a familiar red hedgehog stepped inside, looking about. He noticed the children and smiled.
"Hi everyone!" Red cheerfully called out.
"Uncle Red, what are you doing here?" Sunshine asked. Sandflower turned her head and looked towards Red, grinning slightly as she camouflaged herself against the cave roof. Aqua was more than a little surprised to see the hedgehog there.
"I'm not here. I'm still at the palace!" Red remarked. "It's an easy spell Twilight showed me. Celestia wanted to make sure the two younger ones present were okay, so I volunteered to check things out." He chuckled. "Guess they were worried over nothing."
"I'd keep them safe," Sandflower's voice said from thin air. "I'm very good at that!"
Red looked around, then chuckled.
"Nice going there, Sandflower. I almost forgot you can do that," he stated.
"Thanks! Are you able to see me with my mixed heritage?" Sandflower asked, curious. Aqua looked towards the place where Sandflower was hiding while camouflaged, wondering how Red could see her.
"Truth be told, I can't see you period, that's how advanced the camo is," Red explained. "In truth, I guess I have what you could call a 'sixth sense' that allows me to detect you even if I can't sense you with my other senses. But even then, I heard where your voice was coming from and the near-silent sound of your claws moving on the roof, and pinpointed where you are through that."
"Wow! That's cool!" Sunshine exclaimed.
"Oh," Sandflower said, before appearing as she crawled back down to the ground, grinning sheepishly.
"So, are you here to take us back...?" Aqua asked. "Was my mommy worried about me?"
Red smiled reassuringly. "I'm not here to take you back; I was just checking up on you. And yes Aqua, your mother was worried for a second, but she won't be once I let her know." He gave them one last sad smile. "Have fun while you still can and keep your innocence too. It's the one thing I wish you could keep forever..."
He then sped out of the cave like a speeding bullet. Sandflower smiled as she stretched.
"I like Red. He's cool."
Aqua was just staring the entrance in confusion for some moment before he smiled.
"I... can agree," He said giving a small giggle.
"He's a cool uncle," Sunshine agreed, crawling down to the floor. "Well, now that they know where we are, who's up for story time?"
This chapter was mostly done by three authors (including myself) but I'm glad it is finally done! Thank you Admirer Boy, Nightsoul Distortion, and Darkstalker728 for helping out in this chapter!
Cya in the next one!