Twilight emerged from the time portal, instantly encasing herself and Spike in a powerful shield. Her horn flared up with violet fire, and she was ready for a fight.

But she wouldn't get one.

"Just think about how you would feel if someone was that mean to you." Starlight said to the bully-fillies, standing up for Fluttershy. "Being mean is just bad for everypony."

"Yes, miss Starlight!" Both fillies answered, ashamed of themselves.

"Perfect. Remember, bullying is bad." Starlight turned around, facing the stunned Twilight and Spike with a smile. "See that pony over there? She is the worst. A horrible bully, and a mean pony. Do not be like her."

"Wha… what? Starlight, stop that!" Twilight managed to say, shaking herself out of her stupor. "You have no idea what you're doing! You're only making everything worse!"

"Really, Princess? What 'horrible future' did you see this time?" Starlight laughed.

"You caused Chrysalis to win, and conquer Equestria!"

"Of course I did. And I probably also caused the end of the world on top of it." Starlight shook her head. "Really, Princess, you are a horrible liar. Are you sure you aren't the Element of Honesty, instead of Magic?"

"Starlight, listen…" The portal opened above Twilight and Spike, sucking them in. "Starlight!"

The unicorn laughed triumphantly in return, watching her enemies disappear.

Twilight and Spike tumbled out of the portal, landing on top of the Map. The alicorn already erected a shield around the Map and both of them, just in case, before she even got up and looked around.

"What… this time?" Spike asked, getting up. "More monsters? Another war? Worse?"

"I'm… not sure." Twilight looked around. It was day, so they were not in the Nightmare world. No sign of Discord and his crazy magic, and the Everfree Forest was not overgrowing everything. She could even see Ponyville close by.

"Alright, Spike. I don't see anything dangerous here. Let's go find out what's going on in this future, find Starlight, and then…" She tried to think of something, only to come up short. How was she supposed to convince Starlight? She was so… stubborn! She just couldn't believe in something unless she saw it herself!

Twilight hated ponies like this. When faced with evidence, one should just accept it, not stubbornly refuse to believe it! Starlight was really getting on her nerves with her dismissive attitude, not to mention the fact that she was risking the future of Equestria!

"Um, Twilight? Is it only me, or is there something weird with the map?" Spike asked.

"What do you mean, Spike?" She turned to the map.

Indeed, there was something weird going on there. "Why is Crystal Empire taking half of the map? It's almost up to Canterlot!"

"Maybe in this future… I don't know, Cadance is actually the ruler of Equestria?" Spike said, scratching his head.

"That would make it easier for us. Can't believe Cadance could ever be evil, she could help us with finding Starlight." Twilight said, now hopeful. "Let's go to Ponyville, see what we can learn there."

Seeing Ponyville up close was enough to trash any hopes of this future being a good one. It was abandoned. Homes just stood there, empty, with windows and doors closed and barred. They tried knocking on some doors, but there was no answer. In desperation, Spike even managed to break the door into Canterlot Boutique, only to find it empty and dusty, abandoned for months if not years.

"You think everypony is just… gone?" Spike nervously asked, looking around. "I don't like this. It reminds me of zombie-pony attack in Mane-iac."

"Spike, real life is not a comic book." Twilight answered, trying to mask her own nervousness. "There is no virus that can make ponies into mindless monsters. Everypony just left Ponyville, for some reason."

"The villain was mind-controlling them, it wasn't a virus.." Spike said, but Twilight ignored him, already coming up with a plan.

"Even if everyone moved up, I bet the Apples are still here! They would never abandon the farm. Come on Spike, we need to talk with Applejack."

She trotted ahead, feeling slightly hopeful. Surely, the farm had to still be there, right?

Right?

The farm was there, true. And definitely wasn't abandoned. However, it looked nothing like what she expected. Smoke was pouring out of multiple chimneys on top of now much bigger barn. The smell of apples was still there in the air, but it was mixed with smell of oil and metal.

All in all, it looked more like a Manehattan factory then a farm she used to know.

Twilight slowly walked up to the foggy, dirty window of the barn, and looked inside. The interior matched the exterior, now with a production line running through it. Multiple ponies worked inside, wearing face masks and using tools to pack something into cans – mashed apples?

The cans went through the production line, being checked for defects, filled with mashed apples, then an label was put on them – 'Apples for war effort!' – and they were finally packed in boxes and taken out of the building, while new apples were being continuously brought to be processed.

All in all, it looked more like that Film-Flalm device then a family business. In fact, twilight was sure that most ponies there were not even Apples. She could not see anypony she recognized in there. What happened to Applejack?

"Whatcha' doing here?"

Twilight jumped and squeaked in surprise, turning around quickly to face… Applejack! "Wait a' moment, don I know ya from somewhere?"

"Applejack!" Twilight happily said, only to suddenly remember the different versions of her friends she met in different futures. "I'm… I'm so happy to see you."

"If ya say so." Applejack put down a barrel of apples she was holding. "Now, you didn't asnwe ma question. Whatcha doin' here, in ma farm? Why are you in Ponyville?"

"I'm… It's…" Twilight hesitated. "I'm looking for someone."

"You do, huh? Ah think it's mighty suspicious of ya. Are you a spy?"

"What? Spy? Of course not!"

"Ah don't know. You didn't even tell ma ya name, you were just snoopin' around ma factory…" Applejack looked at her with suspicion.

"Why are you so suspicious? What's going on here? Where is everypony else? What happened to Rarity" Spike asked, causing Applejack to jump in surprise.

"A dragon?! Sorry, um, mista, I didn't see ya there." Applejack shook her head. "Rarity? Last Ah heard, she went to Manehattan, to make uniforms for our soldiers."

"Soldiers?" Twilight asked.

"Where have ya'll been? There is a war goin' on." Seeing their blank stares, Applejack shook her head. "Ah don't have time for this." She grabbed her barrel and kept going towards the door of the barn… former bar, now factory.

"Applejack, wait!" Twilight trotted up to her friend. "We need your help!"

"My help? For what?"

"You see…"

It took a while to convince Applejack that they were telling the truth. Or rather, she still had doubts at the end of this, but seeing the Map – something she haven't seen there just a day before – convinced her they may be telling the truth.

Furthermore, their story, though insane, felt oddly sincere.. In a way, she was pretty convinced they were telling the truth, even if it sounded insane.

"We are friends in tha' past? Present?" Applejack shook her head. "Ahm just a factory mare, not some magician. You'll need ta ask somepony else fer help with this."

"Is princess Celestia still in Canterlot?" Twilight hopefully asked.

"Nah, course not. She's still at tha frontline."

"Frontline? Who are we fighting?" Twilight pointed out at the map. "Why is Crystal Empire taking half of Equestria?"

"Crystal… Oh, ya meant the Imperium Crystale." Applejack shook her head. "They conquered it, that's why."

"What?" Twilight looked at the map in shock. "Cadance would never attack Equestria!"

"You really don't know, do ya." Applejak sighed. "Cadance had nothing to say. Sombra controls her."

Twilight just looked at her in shock and disbelief.

"Ya, see, after the Crystal ponies reappered, everyone was happy. We jus' finished the civil war, and it was tha best thing to happen in years. A bunch of long-lost ponies coming back to us."

Twilight was tempted to ask about this 'civil was', but she had a bad feeling that she already knew what her friend meant. Without the Elements of Harmony, Luna, or rather Nightmare Moon, could cause horrible amount of damage before being stopped.
And, as Twilight saw not long ago, she could even win and rule the nightmarish Equestria herself. She shuddered at the memory.

"But then, Sombra came back. He overpowered Cadance, Shining Armor, and everypony else." Applejack looked at the map, lost in the memories. "He had some dark magic he used to jus' force them to obey him. Some kinda magical helmet or somethin'. So now both of them are serving in his army."

"No…" Twilight felt sick.

"Cadance and Sombra just destroyed most of our forces in the opening battles. Celestia went to the frontline herself, and managed to fight them to a stall." Applejack sighed. "So that's how it is now. Ponies go to war to defend Equestria. Those who were captured by Sombra… now fight on the other side.."

"This… this is horrible!" Twilight looked at the map with a new perspective. Sombra had thousands of ponies, if not more, under his control. He almost reached Canterlot! "I can't believe it. I just can't."

"Better believe it. It's all true. Sombra would probably already reach Canterlot if not for th' Army." Applejack looked at the Map. "You shoulda both go back to your future. Nothin' good here for you."

"I will. And I will stop this, this future, from happening!" Twilight braced herself. She had to do this. At least it should be easier than last time. "Tell me, have you ever heard of Starlight Glimmer?"

"Tha' traitor? Course Ah did! Whatcha need that pony fer?"

"I need her to go back in time and fix everything. Do you know where she is?" Twilight was too focused on finding her way back to ask about 'treason'. Besides, considering it was Starlight, she wasn't surprised she would betray Equestria in her hour of need.
She and Starlight were nothing alike. If it came to this, she would fight for her home, not btreay it!

"Sure Ah do. In Canterlot's dungeons. She was spreadin' some lies about Cutie Marks an' trying to avoid draft." Applejack pointed at Canterlot Castle, clearly visible atop a mountain. "But Ah doubt they'll just let ya talk to her."

"I will think of something. Thank you, Applejack." Twilight said, looking at Canterlot. Her old, beloved home. She wondered what her alternate self in this timeline was doing. Was she fighting? Devising new powerful spells to win the war? She had no doubt that she was doing her all for Equestria.

"No problem. I hopa ya manage to go back and change th' future to something better then this." Applejack sighed. "Time for me ta get back ta work."

"Don't worry. I got this." Twilight said.

She totally did not get this.

Canterlot Castle was now a fully fortified area, not just a royal palace. Multiple layers of walls surrounded it, with heavy gates blocking the access. Patrols of pegasi made sure the sky was safe, and Twilight could see powerful ballistae on the walls, ready to fire.

She seriously doubted she could just walk to them and demand to be taken to the dungeons.

"Um, Twilight? What's the plan?" Spike asked, looking at the armed ponies on he walls. "I don't think we can fly through it…"

"No other way, Spike. We'll have to teleport." Twilight took a deep breath. She was tired, so tired. She fought Starlight, used her magic in so many of these crazy futures, and now this. She truly hoped this was the final future she had to witness. They were not getting better at all.

But how could she convince Starlight?

One thing at the time, Twilight thought to herself. For now, teleport. She looked at Spike, hesitating. "Spike, wait here. It will be easier for me to teleport by myself then taking both of us."

"Aright. But please be careful, Twiligh." Spike pleaded.

"I will." Twilight answered, her horn powering up already. She took a deep breath, and teleported.

Twilight couldn't see or feel anything. She couldn't hear anything. What was going on? Somehow, she felt something pulling at her, trapping her. It took her a moment to realize what was happening.

The prison had safeguards against teleportation. Of course. Sombra now had an army of mind-controlled unicorns, after all, and while teleportation is a rare feat for a unicorn – and a Cutie Mark for it was even rarer – he was bound to have some talented teleporters in his forces.

The spell was pushing her into a cell, doubtlessly prepared with powerful anti-magic wards. If she ended up there, she'd never find Starlight, she won't get home! She doubted she could persuade whoever was the head of a prison to just set her free.

She had to escape!

It was easier said then done. Twilight was weakened by the traumatic experiences and lack of rest. Even at her peak form, a unicorn could never break through these protective spells. An alicorn, maybe, if they were fully rested and prepared.

Twilight was neither. She could feel her powers failing, her magic fizzling out. In moments, she would end up in a dark cell, among Celestia knows how many other ponies. She would fail. Equestria would be doomed.

Twilight almost gave up, but then she remembered. Spike was there, waiting for her. She doubled her efforts, fighting the spells with all remaining strength she had. She couldn't afford to lose here! She remembered Applejack, working in the factory that had replaced her farm. She knew that somewhere, in this world, were the rest of her friends. She wouldn't let them down!

A light of Harmony lit up inside the Bearer of the Element of Magic. She could feel it. She was the embodiment of Magic, probably the most magically talented pony in Equestria. And she wasn't alone. Inside her, she could feel the memories of her friends pushing her forward. Giving her strength to go on.
Indeed, friendship was the strongest magic.

The powerful wards broke like soap bubbles.

Twilight tried, and failed, to get up. Everything around her was spinning like crazy, she heard weird ringing in her ears and she felt weightless. Like she was going to fly again. Considering the corridor was spinning, she was probably going to fly soon, once the floor changes to ceiling.

"Sparkle?"

That voice… Twilight tried to focus. The ringing, she recognized now, was an alarm. It was very loud and she already had a horrible headache. Why was it so loud? She slowly got up, trying to shake off the confusion. She remembered now. She was breaking into Canterlot dungeons, but there was this powerful spell blocking her. Did she got through?

"… Since when did you have wings?"

She recognized this voice. Twilight looked to the side, facing the cell next to her. In it stood nopony other then Starlight Glimmer herself, with a concerned and surprised look on her face.

"Starlight!" Twilight tried to focus. It was hard, with the headache she felt now. "I… you need to get out..."

"What are you talking about?" Starlight was going to ask for an explanation, but then she heard the guards shouting and running in their direction. The unicorn instinctively tried to use her magic and, to her surprise, discovered that she could actually use it. "What?"

Leaving her confusion for later, Starlight teleported outside her cell. To her surprise, Twilight Sparkle – if it even was her; she has some doubts – grabbed her leg the moment she was close enough. "Sparkle? What are you…"

"Spike. Listen to… Spike." Twilight said, her headache becoming too strong to focus. She had only one thought left in mind. She had to get back to Spike. Get out of here.

As the guards run into the dungeon, all they saw was a flash of light as Twilight teleported herself and Starlight out.

Spike looked around nervously. He wasn't visible from the walls, or at least he hoped so, but despite Twilight being gone for less than a minute it felt like eternity. He wanted to… to do what? Go home, fight Starlight again? It wasn't working.

This train of thoughts was interrupted by a flash of light. Spike turned around, about to greet her happily, but his excitement faded when he realized that his best friend was unconscious. Starlight Glimmer grabbed her, making sure she won't roll down the mountain before looking at Spike with surprise. "You're Spike? A dragon?"

Before they could say anything else, they heard shouting. Guards noticed the bright flash of light, and they were already running – or flying – in their direction. "Oh crap!" Spike said, seeing the fast-approaching guards.

"Come with me." Starlight said, quickly grabbing Twilight in telekinetic grasp. "We need to go, now!"

"Where?" Spike asked. Guards were approaching fast, they won't make it!

"Jump!" Starlight said, running towards the Canterlot cliff. Starlight said, running toward the Canterlot cliff. Without hesitation, she jumped down. Seeing the guards approaching, Spike made a split-second decision and followed suit.

Unicorn and earth pony guards had to make their way down the mountain, a task that would take them considerable time. None of them decided to suicidally jump after the prisoners. However, pegasi guards did not have this problem, and went down at full speed, quickly catching up to prisoners.

However, while their innate magic allowed them to fly, they did not have the ability to cast any protective spells. Starlight turned around, firing a spell. Pegasi dodged easily, but the spell wasn't so easy to avoid. It exploded, a ball of light enveloping the guards instantly.

Spike looked back, worried that the guards were killed, but to his surprise they seemed physically unharmed. The spell seemed to mostly confuse them; they stopped flying, instead freefalling, as if they forgot how to use their wings.

Few unicorn guards noticed this and used their magic to try and grab the falling pegasi. Some of the flying guards managed to regain some ability to fly, but others were still failing. The situation turned into a chaotic rescue operation, with the prisoner making her escape easily.

When earth pony guards reached the place where the prisoner was supposed to land, they found no trace of her.

"We're safe now." Starlight said, dropping Twilight on the ground and sitting down herself, visibly exhausted. All three of them were in some kind of cave, with only source of light being Starfire's horn. Spike couldn't feel any airflow; the cave felt stale and old.

"Where are we?" He asked, sitting down next to Twilight. "And what's wrong with Twilight?" She was breathing, he could see that, but she was still unconscious.

"We're in a cave, not far from Canterlot. I doubt they even know it exists. I found it when I was looking for a way to save my ponies from draft." Starlight sighed. "Not that it helped much. And Sparkle is just exhausted. I have no idea how she got through that spell, but I doubt anypony could do it just like that. Maybe Starswirl himself. She'll need a lot of rest."

Spike looked at Twilight with relief, but also concern. She was pushing herself too hard. He understood why, but he could also see how it was hurting her inside. And all of this… this mess, with all these horrible futures. He was also scared, and tired, but he knew he needed to be there for her.
He could start crying into a pillow later. Twilight needed him now.

"Now, dragon. Spike. Spill it. Why was Sparkle breaking me out of prison she helped put me into, why is she an alicorn, and how is she so powerful?" Starlight asked.

Spike hesitated, but decided to say the truth. "We are from the future… or present, maybe, but a different one." Starlight now looked at him with disbelief. "Where we come from, there is no war with Sombra…"

It took a while for Spike to finish his story, and he got quite thirsty at the end from all the talking, but he pushed that aside. They needed to focus on their mission.

Starlight sat there in silence for a long time, occasionally looking at the spell she herself made in an alternate future. "What you're saying is… this is all my fault?" She sighed and closed her eyes. "When my village was gone, when my ponies were drafted into the Army or sent to work in the Manehattan factories, I thought about vengeance. I was going to hurt them. Celestia. Sparkle. All of them, they destroyed my village, my life!" She laughed bitterly. "And lo and behold, I already had me vengeance! This is the result of it! And from what you say, I am always losing my village, no matter what. I always lose."

"Kinda, yeah. Look, this is all just insane." Spike said, looking at Twilight who was still unconscious. "I don't even know what to tell you."

"That I'm responsible for almost destroying Equestria." Starlight looked at the scroll containing the spell with disgust. "Sure, I'd like to have some vengeance. But not this! What was I thinking?!"

"You… don't agree with her?"

"Of course I do not." Starlight put the spell scroll away. "Don't get me wrong, what Sparkle and her friends did… I'd be seething. But I can't imagine just going insane like this! I would happily see Celestia and Sparkle, my Sparkle, humiliated and punished for ruining my village. But I wouldn't want Sombra to conquer it!"

Starlight tried to calm herself. Her life, her achievements, her plotting and plans to achieve her vengeance… it was all pointless. She already did it, and the result was even worse! "I wish I could go with you. I would kick some sense into that Starlight!"

Spike would never say it out loud, but he was actually happy she can't follow them. Last thing he wanted was having two Starlights at once. One was bad enough.

But this got him to thinking. Starlight was much more complicated pony then he expected. When given a chance, she would even fight Nightmare Moon. But she could also be broken, almost lifeless pony under the rule of Chrysalis. And here, she was a rebel and a traitor to Equestria.

An insane pony, willing to break even time itself to get her revenge.
Hero.
Broken.
Rebel.

These were all Starlights, put in different situations. And the results were so different, it was like night and day. He had no doubt that Hero-Starlight would kick Insane-Starlight's flank and make her fix what she broke. But these were the very same ponies!

He was slowly coming to a conclusion that the situation one would find themselves in was the most defining factor in shaping them. Just like with Luna. She wasn't an evil pony inside, she was just hurt.

Of course, she needed to be stopped. Eternal night was a horrible nightmare. But perhaps, maybe, if Luna could be saved… what about Starlight?
Could she actually become a force for good?

When Twilight woke up, she was too weak to cast any spells or even walk. Starlight teleported out and stole some mashed apple from the factory.. She also brought some water with her in a bucket. It wasn't what they were used to, but both of them were hungry and thirsty.

Twilight was eyeing Starlight with suspicion, even when the unicorn declared her intent of sending them back. Spike vouched for her as well, but Twilight still had some doubts. After all, this Starlight betrayed Equestria, just like the one who created the spell that started this mess. How could she trust her?

In any case, while she wanted to return and deal with Starlight immediately, Starlight told her to rest first, and the princess reluctantly had to agree. In her current state, she wouldn't be able to take Starlight (original Starlight that is) down in combat. She decided to rest, and get ready to fight the crazy unicorn.

Spike spent some time talking with the (local) Starlight. She was genuinely interested in many things Spike told her about the original Equestria, how it was a land of peace. How Luna was redeemed (instead of, like in this universe, being brutally defeated in battle). How Chrysalis was banished from Canterlot.

Spike also learned a little bit about some of his other friends. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were apparently well-known soldiers, fighting alongside Maud Pie. They even fought against Sombra once, and survived, which was more then almost anypony else could say.

Twilight was apparently appointed by Celestia as a Mare of Internal Affairs. She dealt with dissidents, 'traitors', and anypony who was 'sabotaging' the war effort. According to bitter Starlight, local Twilight was ruthless and efficient in her tasks, and fanatically loyal to Celestia.

Spike didn't really like this description, but Twilight was beaming with pride. Ignoring the 'ruthless' comment as obvious overstating of her loyalty, she was proud to her that her 'local' equivalent was doing her part in this war.

In the end, Twilight and Starlight didn't talk much for the next day. Only then Twilight decided she was strong enough to come back in time, and face past-Starlight in battle.

Spike still had doubts, but Twilight already decided. She couldn't reach Starlight with words, so the only answer was to defeat her in battle. She was an alicorn, and an Element of Magic. She was sure she could defeat the insane unicorn and then undo the spell, making sure the past is not changed.

When they reached the Map, they were surprised to see Applejack here. "Ya know, I had tha strangest instinct ta come here now. I guess there is something true in what you were sayin." The mare took off her hat, looking at the two ponies and a dragon before here. "Ya leavin?"

"Yes. We will make things right, Applejack." Twilight promised.

"Ya better do. I want ta have my big brother again. And Apple Bloom." Applejack looked at shocked Twilight with iron resolve. "Fix it, Twilight. Make it right."

The alicorn couldn't find anything to say. She tried, but then she just nodded, and prepared the scroll. Starlight put a tiny bit of her power in it, and it started glowing. Portal appeared above them, sucking Twilight and Spike in it.

Starlight had no last words to say. She just observed the portal in silence. Please, she pleaded to her alternate self.
Please see reason.