Being held at spear point was not what I had in mind for a stag night, we had to think of something fast.

"Wait! We're not changelings! We're alicorns and we come in peace!" I exclaimed.

Just then, a familiar zebra showed up from behind them. "Stop! If they are changelings we'll soon see, though I think they're not what they appear to be." she said.

"Zecora! Please, you have to listen." Twilight said.

"Beneath this salve, no changeling hides, for it reveals the truth inside."

"What does it mean?" Pinkie asked.

"The meaning is far worse I see, for it is we who should not be."

"I think I can explain." Twilight said.

"I'm sure you can, but let's not talk here. Chrysalis and her army will soon draw near!"

We walked into a safer location and sat down, it was good to be not held hostage anymore.

"The changelings took over not long ago, though I'll wager in your world that isn't so."

"Chrysalis and her army tried to take over Canterlot, but my friends and I stopped her!" Twilight replied.

"Those friends as you know them are not here, alas. But tell me how all this came to pass."

"Starlight Glimmer, a pony who travelled back in time to stop my friends and me from ever coming together!"

"And it is these friends you have in life that keep Equestria free from strife?"

"I guess so. But this is the second time I've come back and this world is even worse than the last one! If Starlight keeps doing the same thing in the past, how could the present be so different?"

"Ah, time is a river, where even the tiniest changes seen, can lead to a cascade of effects downstream. This part of the forest is dark and damp, but it's done well to hide our camp."

We were inside and it looked like a decent village, at least we were safe here for the time being.

Just then, we heard a shriek and a unicorn mare appeared...it was Rarity! "Please, you have to help us!"

"The changelings attacked Ponyville! We barely escaped with our lives!" Rainbow added, showing up with her.

"The only changeling attack I see is the one that come here looking for me!" Zecora replied.

Applejack then showed up, but I was feeling suspicious. "It's taken quite a while to find you, Zecora." she laughed before turning into...Chrysalis!

"What a lovely village you've chosen to stage your little resistance. It looks absolutely delicious! Oh come now, Zecora. You're vastly outnumbered! I know you don't want your charges hurt. Come quietly to the dungeons of Canterlot and I promise to leave the others alone."

"Why would she ever trust you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Even if there's a chance Chrysalis will honour her word, shouldn't you try?" Twilight added.

We walked backwards from her. "Race to the map while we hold off their attack, stop Starlight and put the whole world back on track!"

"Time to make a decision, Zecora!"

"Even if what you are saying were true, we'd never surrender to a creature like you!"

We knew we couldn't stay here. Twilight and myself galloped away and to the map where we used our magic to zap back to the past, only ot find Starlight waiting for us again.

"Not bad, but it's gonna take a lot more than that!" she exclaimed.

"Lucky for you, there's more where that came from!" I retorted.

We aimed our magic, but she kept dodging with ease. "You've really gotta work on your aim."

Another moment of magic zapping and we were now outside the forest and a bridge that led to an abandoned castle.

"I know that place!" I gasped, before we heard a few growls behind us. I looked back to see werewolves coming towards us. "Uhhh, want a nice holiday ham?"

"The Castle of the Two Sisters! Come on!" We flew up and away from the timberwolves and into the castle.

"This place looks a lot cleaner than I remember it." I commented as we walked around. I gasped again as I saw..."Rarity?"

"The castle isn't open for viewings today." she replied. "The tapestries all need changing. Again."

"Rarity, it's me!" I said to her.

She looked at me with confusion. "Hmm, do I know you?"

Well, I couldn't be blamed for trying something that would backfire immediately.

"Rarity, you have to listen to me! The future of Equestria's at stake!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I don't know how you know my name, but I am far too busy to entertain some tourist's ridiculous fantasies."

"We have to get back to the map so we can stop Starlight from changing the past, because every present we've come to is worse than the last!"

"Time travel, you say? Now that's something I would like to see." a voice replied, we looked to see who was on the throne...Nightmare Moon who laughed. "Tell me how you came by this magic to travel through time!"

Rainbow then appeared. "The Princess asked you a question! And unless you wanna end up in the dungeon, you'll tell her what she wants to know!"

"Nopony in my kingdom but me should possess a magic powerful enough to change time."

"Your kingdom?" I asked.

"Who else?"

"Um... Celestia, of course!"

Nightmare laughed. "My sister has been imprisoned in the moon for years! But it is no less a fate than she'd sentence me to! Now, reveal to me the source of this time magic!"

"Alright." Twilight replied, causing me to gasp. "We have no choice, Bond." she looked at Nightmare. "I can take you to it, but you'll have to get past the timberwolves."

"I am the ruler of all of Equestria. Do you think I can't deal with timberwolves?"

"No. I know you can."

"And if you were thinking of trying to escape...it will be very unfortunate for your friend."

"Oh I won't go anywhere." I said. "I'll stay here if I have to."

Nightmare Moon and Twilight left, leaving me with Rainbow and Rarity, I tried to lighten up the mood with a few jokes of my own.

"Rainbow, wanna hear a joke? Middle of the afternoon-"

"As much as I like the thought of it, this is Nightmare Moon's realm and we have no time for jokes." Rarity said, cutting me off.

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold on Rarity, you're not exactly the leader here." Rainbow retorted. "I wanna hear this joke."

"Thank you Rainbow, now as I was saying. Middle of the afternoon, this crazy earth pony mare decides sets fire to the house she's living in. The fire brigade come and pull it out. A few hours later, she does it again, calls outside for help and said 'I've set fire to my house twice today, you better come and get me.'"

"Did they send those fire department ponies around to get her?" Rainbow asked.

"No that's the best part. The leader of the fire brigade gets his share of prank calls. He says "Alright miss, why don't you come down here?". An hour later and she shows up, her mane still smoking and her fur covered in soot, and smelling like a timberwolf."

Rainbow laughed out loud. "Good one, mister! I'll be sure to remember that joke."

"I didn't quite get the joke, but if it made somepony laugh, then I am impressed." Rarity added.

Suddenly, an aura appeared around me, it was time again. "Well, looks like I have to depart. Ta-ta!"

I was then alongside Twilight, back at Cloudsdale, seeing Starlight. "Up for another race-ending fight, Twilight?"

"No. You were right. I can't stop you." Twilight replied.

"But you can't stop me from trying, and we could be stuck doing this for all eternity!" I added.

"If that's what it takes to keep you and your friends from getting your cutie mark connection, then I'm game!" Starlight said proudly.

Twilight tried zapping at her. "What you're doing goes way beyond cutie marks! Everything we do here in the past, even the smallest change, can snowball into an avalanche of trouble for the future!"

"Oh, next I suppose you'll tell me that "the fate of all of Equestria hangs in the balance"!"

"It does!"

"Spare me your overblown ego! No group of friends, not even Princess Twilight's, is that important!"

"I don't know how important other ponies' friendships are to the future, but I can show you what the world is like without mine!"

Twilight used her magic to create a time moment or something and now were in a different place.

"Where are we?!" Starlight asked.

"The future. Or rather, the present." Twilight replied.

"But there's nothing here!"

"I wish I could say I was surprised, but every world I come back to is worse than the last. I don't know why my friends and I are so important to Equestria, but we are!"

"I don't believe you!"

"Come on, Starlight, look around!" I exclaimed, pointing to the surroundings around us.

"Like I said, everything in the past affects the future, even the tiniest act. And what you're doing leads here. I know I can't stop you, but I thought showing you this might change your mind." Twilight said.

Starlight didn't seem convinced. "Change my mind? You don't know anything about me! I was perfectly happy before you and your friends ruined what I built!"

"I don't know what happened that led you to make your village without cutie marks, and I'm sorry my friends and I had to take it away."

"You want to know what happened to me?! I'll show you!"

Starlight used her magic and now were in yet another different area.

"Where are we?" Twilight asked.

"That map of yours is connected to every part of Equestria, and this part is my home." Starlight said, showing us a school. There were two fillies, one that looked like Starlight and another mare. "Sunburst and I did everything together. In fact, I don't remember us ever being apart. Until today."

We saw Sunburst get her cutie mark and the younger Starlight not getting hers. I was now beginning to see where this was going. "And just like that, my friend was gone. His family recognized his magical talent and sent him off to Canterlot. I never saw him again."

"Well...why not?" I asked.

"Because of his cutie mark! He got his, and I didn't! He moved on, and I didn't! I stayed here and never made another friend because I was too afraid another cutie mark would take them away, too!"

"That's ridiculous. A cutie mark can't take your friends away!" Twilight said.

"Not everypony's lucky enough to get her cutie mark at the same time as her friends!" We then got zapped back and there was a piece of paper. "You don't know what it's like to lose a friend because of a cutie mark. But once I stop the rainboom, you will! And when I destroy this scroll, there'll be no way for you to change it!"

I was in deep shock, all of this...because of just not getting a cutie mark at the same time as Sunburst did. Jealousy knows no bounds!

"Starlight, you're right! I don't know what you went through!" I said. "But I do know you can't do this! Twilight and I have seen where this leads, and so have you!"

"I only saw what Twilight showed me! Who knows what'll really happen?"

"I've seen it a dozen times!" Twilight replied. "Things don't turn out well in Equestria without my friends!"

"Ugh, what's so special about your friends?! How can a group of ponies that are so different be so important?!"

"The differences between me and my friends are the very things that make our friendship strong!"

"I thought Sunburst and I were the same. But we turned out different, and it tore our friendship apart!"

"So try again! Make new friends! And if something that you can't control happens that changes things, work through it together! That's what friendship is! And it's not just my friendships that are important to Equestria, everypony's are! When yours ended, it led us here, but just imagine all the others that are out there waiting for you if you just give them a chance!"

"How do I know they won't all end the same way?"

"I guess it's up to you to make sure they don't."

We then whooshed through time once more and I tried my best, keeping up with what happened until eventually we were back in Ponyville along with the Castle of Friendship. We're not sure how, but we did it and everything looked just the same as it was before Starlight turned up. We then saw Spike who was watching over Starlight...and she was sleeping, I guess all that time travelling magic wore her out.

Soon, the rest of the mares turned up and we explained to them what happened.

"I mean, I knew my rainboom was awesome, but I never thought all of Equestria depended on it!" Rainbow said.

"Or on us!" Pinkie added.

"I think it's more than that. Friendship connects all of Equestria, and undoing one group of friends made its magic less powerful." Twilight replied.

"I can't believe y'all were able to travel through time like that." Applejack said.

"That Starlight must be pretty magical!" Rarity added as she hugged me...it felt great to be loved by her again.

"She obviously has more talent for magic than almost anypony I've seen." Twilight said. "My magic couldn't stop her, I had to convince her to stop on her own. Once I realized that, everything fell into place."

"But if she's as powerful as all that, we can't just send her on her way...can we?" I asked.

"Actually, I kind of have something else in mind."

Just then, Starlight woke up and was face to face with us, I had my magic on standby for just in case.

Starlight gulped however. "I know there's no excuse for what I did, but I want you all to know that I'm ready for whatever punishment you think is fair."

"I've been thinking a lot about how badly Equestria fared without just one group of friends, because even when one friendship dies, the results can be disastrous." Twilight replied.

"I know first-hoof how true that can be."

"And that's why I've asked you here. If you're willing to learn, I'm willing to teach you what I know. You'll have the power to make Equestria an even better place."

"How do I start?"

"Starting is easy! All you have to do is make a friend! And you've got eight of them right here."

Then I heard background music...is Starlight gonna sing?

I never thought that I would find a place

To step right in and start again

I never thought that I could just begin

Right where I left off and make a friend

Twilight then sang her part.

Don't ever think that it might be too late

You don't have to wait. There's no mistakes the friends you make.

A friendship's only made of what you bring

And you can do it right, you can do anything

Before the rest of us joined in.

Just use your eyes

This time, no lies

Just don't disguise

Who you are inside

Because your friends are always there for you

You don't have to be the same for friendship to be true

Because your friends are always there for you

Around the world, it's still the same

Together you have more to gain

There's nothing that a friend won't do

Everywhere you go

Friendship there will grow

When you find it, it's the key

Friends can change the world, you see

Everywhere you go

Friendship there will grow

When you find it, it's the key

Friends can change the world (ah-ah)

Friends can change the world (ah-ah)

Friends can change the world, you see

The song was over, looks like Starlight finally learned an important lesson, but now I had a question.

"So Starlight, where will you be going?" I asked.

"Back home, to my home in the far north east...there is some friends I need to make amends with." she replied.

"Well with all that magic you have, I'm sure you can teleport there in no time."

"Yes, but I will come and visit you all again soon...once again, I am really so sorry for everything I did and I know that's never gonna be enough for everypony."

"Oh come on, we forgave you." Rainbow replied. "Just accept it already."

"Alright...good bye you all, I will send you a scroll in advance."

And with that, Starlight vanished once more, probably back to her home.

Just then, Rarity began to pant heavily before falling to her side. "Darling!" she exclaimed. "It's starting!"

"Come on, we gotta get her to the hospital!" Twilight exclaimed.

We rushed as fast as we could with Rarity on top of me, panting and in a bit of pain. Soon we were at the hospital, I took her by the hoof and Nurse Redheart brought her into a delivery room. I vowed that I would stand by her for the duration of her delivery. The rest of the girls promised to wait outside in hope that everything will be okay.

"Alright miss Rarity, keep pushing." Redheart said. "You're halfway there."

"Oh...oh...oh!" she tried saying, trying to push but not too hard. "Darling, this is so...argh!"

"Don't stop love!" I said. "I'm here for you always and forever!"

She pushed several times more until eventually...I heard a tiny cry as Rarity panted and breathed heavily.

Nurse Redheart looked at us with smiles. "Congratulations Prince Bond and Rarity...it's a filly and she's a pegasus!"

"Where...is...she?"

Redheart cleaned her up and wrapped our newborn in a cloth. "Here she is..."

Rarity and I gasped quietly, she cried and I was nearly there. "She's beautiful...look, darling."

"I am, love...she is such a treasure..." I replied with emotion.

Redheart smiled back. "Take as much time as you both need, we'll discuss your evaluation and baby names soon." She left the room and possibly told the others to go into the foal viewing room.

Rarity and I were alone, along with our newborn who finally settled down and began sleeping away. "Ahhh, Crystal Shine."

"Crystal Shine, the name that we agreed." I added as we rested each other's heads with Rarity holding on to our foal.

Nothing else mattered to me than this moment, but I did have a quick second of thinking back to earlier today. I know ponies can hold grudges, but Starlight held such a grudge that I never knew and she went to extreme lengths just to prove a point. But now, thanks to Twilight and me, she's finally let go of it and learn to become a friend.

Never again will Starlight Glimmer try to go...back in time!