Note: Don't worry everyone, the dimensional travelers will eventually start showing up. Just not yet. I need to make sure everything here is finished off first. I will actually release the guide slightly before any of the travelers see action, though.
Dimension: Unknown
Planet: Unknown
Specific Location: Unknown
Time: Unknown
"You know what Paradox? Screw you," snarled Pictor as he cut off the live feed.
He then turned to the barely conscious Twilight.
"I've always wanted to perform an autopsy on a living subject," he chuckled. Slowly he drew the blade across her flesh from her collarbone to just above her pelvic region. Twilight was in too much shock to do anything but give a little gasp.
"Let's see, I think I'll pull your small intestines out first… then your kidney. If you die, I'll defibrillate your heart and keep you conscious. We will have plenty of fun until the day is over, little pony."
He extended a hand and slowly reached for her exposed organs as he laughed sadistically. Suddenly the automatic door opened and another being like Pictor strolled in.
He was a little taller than the Paradox and Pictor, but a little less broad. He too wore white body armor with a masked helmet. His visor was that of an open flame, glowing red. Bands of red and purple ran down his arms.
"What do you want brother?" snapped Pictor, "Can't you see I'm busy?"
The other being didn't break his stride. He strolled straight up to Pictor and punched his face with all his might. The shockwave cause the door to buckle and the wall to crack and crumble. Pictor collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Immediately shouts rang out from the door, but the new being simply snapped his fingers once. The damaged automatic doors became fused together into a solid wall of metal.
"Oh Twilight, you're going to be okay," the being said with genuine concern straining his voice, "I'm going to get you to Flaming Star. He'll have the time to heal you. And don't worry, I'm breaking out all your other friends as well."
Twilight didn't even react. She was barely hovering above death. The being quickly opened a portal and it began to surround her and the table with it. In a moment it had engulfed her and spirited her away to the My Little Pony dimension.
Dimension: My Little Pony
Planet: Equestria Earth
Specific Location: The Everfree Forest
Time: 4 days after the arrival of the Brothers in Arms corps
"Great, so we've decided not to save the multiverse then. Instead we've opted to host a free-for-all catfight. Wonderful," snapped Miranda, "If you ask my honest opinion, I think you're all being idiots. We need to reach a non-violent understanding, and we need to reach it now."
"I'll be more than happy to after I've knocked out Franklin," said Flaming Star as he took a step forward. Sunset scrambled between them and yelled, "Stop! We have to stop!"
"I'm not stopping until Twilight's safe," said Flaming Star as he pushed by Sunset.
"Oh, well then it's good that she is," said Discord airily. The whole group stopped arguing and looked to where Discord was pointing. A couple of meters away a portal opened up and deposited the white torture table, with Twilight still on it, on the forest floor.
Flaming Star, not questioning anything he had just seen, dashed towards her. There she was, a hairsbreadth from death, her body cut open.
Spike scrambled up to her as well. "Oh no... Twilight! Twilight! Is she going to be okay?" Then he noticed the state Twilight was in. His face turned a dark green, and then he fainted.
Flaming Star didn't answer. He then turned to the rest of the group and said, "Twilight's safe. Go down there and kill them all."
Immediately Franklin pulled out his sniper rifle and began to shoot the Elite Phasetroopers. In seconds three of them were down. Daniel spread his wings and, with Sunset and Miranda on his back, swooped in low to engage the others. The Elite Phasetroopers immediately opened up with a hail of energy bolts, but an energy shield from Sunset protected them. Taking a deep breath, Daniel blasted the whole gorge with a massive storm of fire. It melted the rock walls and scorched the earth. The fire cleared to reveal the dead body of one more Phasetrooper. Three more to go. These Phasetroopers immediately formed up in a delta formation and unleashed a massive blast of pure power. It shattered Sunset's shield and blasted Daniel and his friends back. The Phasetroopers were about to redouble their attacks when suddenly a pink elephant popped into existence above them and dropped straight on top of them, breaking their formation. Discord laughed as he snapped his fingers once more. Suddenly the Phasetroopers were dressed as clowns with ridiculously large footwear. They stumbled and tripped… that was the last thing they ever did. The second they hit the ground a hail of lethal energy bolts from Franklin wiped them out. Daniel, Sunset, and Miranda entered the harmony cave and rushed to meet Night Shade.
The black Pegasus was crying, actually crying, in a corner as the Paradox simply continued working on the tree of Harmony. The Paradox was holding the mysterious six-keyhole box that Twilight had discovered when she had first found the tree of Harmony with her friends. He placed three fingers from his left hand over three keyholes, and then he placed three fingers from his right hand over the other three keyholes. The box began to glow. Then it opened. There was a mysterious multifaceted cube in the center. The Paradox picked it up and tapped it in several places lightly. Immediately it and the tree of Harmony began to glow. Sunset, Daniel, and Miranda began to rush forward.
"Don't come any closer, or I'll call for Twilight's head," said Paradox briskly without turning around. Daniel just rolled his eyes and lashed out with his tail. He wrapped it around the Paradox and threw him away from the tree. Surprised as he was, the Paradox elegantly twisted in the air and landed on his feet without a slip. He looked at them curiously for moment. Then he opened a channel with Pictor in the torture chamber.
The feed went live, but all he saw was Pictor, laying on the ground, with a massive dent in his helmet. He closed it and said, "Doxia… I should have known."
He looked at Daniel, Sunset, and Miranda. He then snapped a finger. Suddenly Sunset felt his power drain from him. He immediately tried to hurl a bolt of lightning, but the attack fizzed to nothing on his hoof. They were powerless.
"I should have done that hours ago," said the Paradox promptly. He began to stroll back to the tree of Harmony, but Sunset dashed in front of him; blocking his path.
"Get out of my way Joseph," said the Paradox calmly.
"No, Paradox, if you want to get by me, you're going to have to kill me," Sunset said stoutly.
"Think about your family, Joseph, think about your lovely wife," persisted the Paradox.
"It won't matter. If I let you pass, we'll all be dead anyway," continued Sunset.
"You have all shown remarkable resourcefulness and morality," mused the Paradox calmly, "So much so that… I know, I'll let this dimension exist indefinitely. The multiverse shall be cleansed, but this one little universe will be safe. If you just step aside, I promise you that this place will not be harmed."
Sunset faltered when he heard this. That was all he had ever wanted to be: safe. The Paradox was offering him a safe house. He and his family could live in peace and safety forever… Then he remembered. He remembered the other families and the other lives of the multiverse. They had the same right to live in peace as well. If he let the Paradox kill them, he would be no better than his former self: a psychopathic killer, a murderer. It didn't matter what happened to him, he had to be willing to give up his life to protect the innocents.
"Well? What say you?" said the Paradox.
"I say no," said Sunset slowly. "Why Paradox? Why? You said that I would soon have a chance to redeem myself, that an evil darker than demons was working in the multiverse! And what of Celestia's vision three years ago? What of that?"
"I lied," said the Paradox simply, "I just told everyone what they wanted to hear. I was always good at that."
Sunset nearly fainted right there. This was his worst nightmare come true. Over the eons, dimensional travelers had grown to pretty much worship the Paradox. He was the embodiment of all that was good. He was joy, love, peace, longsuffering, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. He was generosity, loyalty, laughter, honesty, kindness, and magic. Now all saw him for what he truly was: an extremely powerful and extremely intelligent liar. He was nothing more than a glorified evil mastermind.
The Paradox slowly got down on one knee and said, "I've never killed a single being in my life, do not make you my first. And believe me; I will have no regrets if I do kill you. The things you have done in the past will most certainly balance out my conscious. Just imagine it to be something of a little payback from all those families you killed back in the dark days… madman of the multiverse."
Sunset shook his head and said, "I am no longer the madman of the multiverse. I am a hero. I will protect this dimension to my last breath, and everpony knows it."
"Apparently," said the Paradox. He then stood up and charged his fist with deadly energy. He fired.
Time seemed to slow down as Sunset watched the coiling bolts of energy flash towards him. He closed his eyes and waited for the searing pain and the cold darkness to envelope him… but they didn't come. Suddenly a massive shove from behind sent him spiraling away and he opened his eyes to see another nightmare come true: Miranda… taking the full bolt through her chest.
The Paradox stared complacently as Miranda collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood. He then turned slowly around and opened a portal. All he said before he left was, "I will be back. But you've earned a moment of silence."
The moment the Paradox left, Sunset's powers returned in all their might. He dashed over to Miranda and began to pour healing energy into her, but to no avail. As he did so, he said over the intercom, "Franklin, get in here now."
"Give me a second, Sunset," snapped Franklin, "I'm helping Flaming Star!"
"Franklin… you're sister is dying," said Daniel, who, with Night Shade, had joined Sunset. There was a pause. Suddenly Franklin flashed into existence along with Discord next to Miranda.
"No… no sis… no…" he said, his voice becoming strained.
Miranda smiled. "Oh, this is much better," she sighed dreamily, "Just get me the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the cute little pony Button Mash here and I'll be just fine." Franklin disappeared with a flash. A moment later a portal opened and Franklin ushered in the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Button Mash. Then Rarity, Applejack, Ditzy Doo, Fluttershy, Starlight Amber, and Pinkie Pie came through.
"Oh Miranda," sobbed Sweetie Bell as she clutched Miranda's hoof, "Oh Miranda… you're going to be okay!"
"Of course you are!" squeaked Scootaloo, her eyes full of pain, "Right?"
"Of course!" said Apple Bloom, her eyes brimming with tears. Button Mash just stood to one side, his eyes overflowing with tears.
Miranda smiled calmly. "Of course I am, sweeties, I am going to be just fine. Bright skies… Quiet brooks… Lush forests… all those are waiting for me. All it takes is a single… step…"
Miranda died. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Button Mash broke down crying. Franklin slowly stood up and bowed his head. He didn't say anything. No cries of pain, no oaths for revenge, just silence.
In that moment, several things happened at once: Portals opened up in the Crystal Empire, Irrum, Saddle Arabia, and Equus and these countries' true leaders entered their respective homelands from the Paradox's prison; confused, disheveled, but well. Also at the same time, the invading alliance army surrendered in Ponyville as they became surrounded by a massive Equestria army led by Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Commander Rainbow Dash. And finally… Twilight opened her eyes.
"Wha… what's going on?" she croaked.
Flaming Star didn't reply at first. He was pouring untold amounts of energy into her body, knitting together her flesh, sealing up internal bleeding, and reconnecting severed nerves and veins. He didn't stint, he took every bit of reserved energy to ensure that her body was well again.
"Flaming Star? Is that you?" she croaked again.
Flaming Star, who was still pouring incredible amounts of energy repairing all the damage Pictor had wrought upon his fillyfriend, just shook his head. "Hush Twilight," he gasped, "I'm… almost…"
He collapsed on top of her. "Done…" he whispered. There was a pause.
"Twilight?" he said quietly, "Will you marry me?"
Twilight Sparkle smiled a little smile. "Yes."
That was all she said. Then Twilight and Flaming Star both passed out as the sounds of mourning echoed throughout the Everfree forest.
Note: Aaaaannndddd we're done with this part! That's right! Part 3 is completed! Now on to part 4! See you guys on the other side! So, what did you all think of part 3's finale?