Sunshine’s eyes locked onto those of the white earth pony’s, Timespire. That was his name according to what Nighttide had told him and what the unicorn had said. The pony was not tall, but he was built. Even from twenty hooves away Sunshine could see his taunt muscles, the indents where they easily rippled out of his fur, the way they stretched when he took each and every step.

Timespire’s dark blue mane lay flat on his back. Sunshine saw his cutie mark, an hourglass in which the sands poured in both directions. Sunshine saw it starting to move, the sand appeared to be flowing on the pony’s cutie mark as he walked towards him.

His dark blue eyes were a match for his mane and tail. They were oceans of hate that could drown a pony in their depths if you were not careful. Nighttide hated this one, she hated him with a passion, this pony… this creature had control over an object’s time. He could speed it up or slow it down according to his own personal whim. A threat for sure, but to Sunshine he was nothing compared to how horrid his brother was.

Mindsink, everything about that pony was evil. The pegasus was green in coloring with a sky-blue mane. His cutie mark gave away his power as much as his brother’s did; although, at least Timespire’s cutie mark was somewhat ambiguous.

Mindsink’s cutie mark was that of a pony’s head being bombarded by his talent, his special ability. Mindsink can control your memories; he can change the very nature of who you are just by talking to you. It worked somewhat at range; however, it was most effective when you could hear his words, when you could see into his eyes. When he could directly implant the memory into your head.

There was no telling who was affected or who was not, at any moment your best friend could betray you for something he was made to think you did. For a change in his past he was made to think happened to him.

Sunshine suspected that the only reason Nighttide did not mind him that much is because he had her in his thrall. That she was under his power to not hate him. The thought was not a happy one, this pony, this creature; he could change the nature of his target. There was no way Sunshine could confirm or deny this theory, if Mindsink did do something to Nighttide it was already permanent, it could not be undone by anything Sunshine knew.

It was a risk trusting her, however, it was a risk not too. She had told him everything he knew about these three, including how to temporarily incapacitate her father. Based on the fact that the unicorn was not getting up and killing him, that information was at least somewhat true.

Sunshine watched as the two ponies walked closer. ‘Ponies my flank’, he thought. ‘These creatures were no more equines than a God is.’ He knew that much just by looking at them, they radiated magical energy as they approached; their power seemed to be an anathema to the world.

“Brother, shall I take this one?” Mindsink smiled at his brother, “After all, it would be awfully boring if we were to break such an amusing toy too quickly.”

“I don’t know Mindsink, I think we should make him pay for this, I want to hear him scream.”

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll let you take him first then, but just don’t kill him Timespire, I do want a turn after all.”

“You’re both going to need to come at me at the exact same time,” Sunshine said with a grin, “Otherwise, you won’t stand a chance.”

The grins on both brothers’ faces disappeared. “He’s a cocky little shit, isn’t he?” Mindsink asked.

“I think he is,” Timespire replied.

“He must be desperate to die seeing as he wants to face both of us at once.”

“Who said it was two on one?” Sunshine asked.

“There’s only one of you here,” Timespire said with a snarl.

“You might want to count again,” Sunshine spoke, but not from the pony in front of them. Both brothers looked directly behind them, to the right and left of the unicorn sitting on the throne, two more Sunshines had appeared.

The unicorn glared down at the first one, “How is the possible?” It brought a smile to Nighttide’s face that there was something her father did not know.

The first Sunshine laughed, “The legend of the mirror pond,” each clone spoke a different section of the rhyme. With the main one starting and ending it.

“And into his own reflection he stared,
Yearning for one whose reflection he shared,
And he solemnly swears not to be scared
At the prospect of being doubly made."

The rhyme was changed a little from the books he had studied, but as Sunshine suspected, it was not gender specific.

“Clever stallion, thank you for finding it for me. I’ll be sure to make good use of it after we torture its location out of you,” the unicorn spoke with a deep booming voice.

“It’s location would do you no good,” the Sunshine behind Mindsink spoke.

“We destroyed every trace of it before coming here,” the Sunshine behind Timespire said.

“Past, present, and future, there is nothing to bring back,” the Sunshine in front of the two added.

“You’re not that powerful,” Timespire glared at him.

“You would do well not to underestimate me. Sure, there was a cost, but what does not have a price?” The front Sunshine smiled back at him.

“You have no chance of winning this, the creations of the mirror pond are not the same as the original. For each race it’s different, but for unicorns they split their creator’s magical power.”

“Indeed they do, we each have roughly a third of my full strength. However, that should be more than sufficient to deal with these two.”

“Now who’s underestimating who?” Timespire said with a grin, “Mindsink, end this.”

“With pleasure,” Mindsink grinned as he walked closer to the front unicorn,.”Don’t yo-“ he tried talking to the Sunshine in front of him, he tried anyway. The one behind him lashed out with a magical blast from his horn and shot him clear through the back of his throat. The Sunshine directly in front of him tilted his head as the energy continued on past him, taking the creature’s tongue with it.

Timespire and Mindsink’s eyes went wide at that. Mindsink covered his mouth with a hoof, doing his best to stem the tide of blood. Had it been any other pony, any one that was actually a pony, that shot would have finished him. However, as Sunshine suspected these two were anything but ponies, he doubted they were even mortal.

Mindsink’s body was already starting to heal his wounds, however, he would not be able to speak for some time. Sunshine magically lifted the tongue up from off the floor, “What’s the matter, Mindsink? Pony got your tongue?”

Timespire growled as he powered up his own ability, whatever this pony was he would not be a threat at seven hundred years old.

…

“Sunshine, what are you doing?” Taz whispered the words to the wind, hoping and praying that he would get an answer. Already, he had seen the stallion display more magical power than he had in the past eight years. It was unreal to Taz, Sunshine was never that good at magic, as it was not his talent.

That Sunshine and this was not the same pony, this one was all about confidence and power. This Sunshine was not the wise pony Taz went to for advice. This one scared him, not necessarily for his power – Taz was more than used to being around power – but for the aura of confidence he seemed to radiate.

Nighttide pressed her coat next to him, trying to lead him away from the battle going on around them. ‘Sunshine’ did not need to be worried about accidentally hitting the two of them with a random spell, “Taz, we need to get away from this.”

Taz went nowhere; he refused to move from this spot. He heard her words; he was just not listening to them, “Nighttide, what is he doing here anyway?”

“D- Sunshine is here for us, actually.”

Taz looked at her, he caught the small gaff but did not comment on it, “He’s never been like this, this is a completely different pony. Sunshine’s special talent is not this.”

“Taz please, remember what you promised me.”

“I promised to trust you.”

“Yes, he’s here to save us, please believe me when I say that,” she was crying when she said those words. It was the aura of desperation that she had in her voice that caused him to consider it.

Taz looked back at the combat, unsure if he should keep that promise or not. What had Sunshine told him? ‘There is more to it than just keeping your promise?’

Nighttide pressed her muzzle up to his, she wanted him to get away, and she wanted to get away. However, she could not simply leave him, he’d freeze in here in no time at all, “You didn’t randomly find me, did you?” Taz looked back at her.

Nighttide shook her head no, “No Sunshine told me your general location.”

He glared at her at that. Sunshine had spent the last eight years trying to keep them apart, “What else are you not telling me?!”

“I swear I’ll tell you everything, just please… trust me.”

He did not know if he could, he had trusted his sister, and that had ruined his life.

Would history repeat itself?

…

When Timespire activated his ability, all three Sunshines teleported away at the last possible second. Timespire’s power sent itself off in every direction. In a radius around him he caused everything that he could affect to age seven hundred years in the blink of an eye. Unlike his early display of power to Nighttide, this was not controlled, this was him unleashing it to its fullest.

Mindsink glared on, unaffected by his brother’s power. The same could not be said for the pillars in the room. Seven hundred years were added to their lifespan in an instant, the radius of power affecting every object in sixty-three hooves.

Exactly sixty-three hooves.

At sixty-four hooves; all three Sunshines looked on with a smug grins, at one hundred hooves away Taz watched with grim fascination as a column gave out under its own weight. The rest of the columns groaned as they took on more weight than they should.

“Timespire! I like this place,” the unicorn shouted from his throne-prison.

Timespire looked back, a cringe on his face. It was not so much that he almost destroyed a large part of the throne room; it was that he almost destroyed a large part of the throne room and failed to get his target, “Sorry.”

That action cost him. A clone teleported directly in front of him when he turned his head and bucked him square in the jaw.

The earth pony was sent flying; he crashed into his brother with a groan from the two of them. Sunshine smiled as he noticed that the impact caused the two noticeable pain. Pain that even his blast to Mindsink failed to cause.

‘So they can hurt each other, interesting.’

Neither brother landed. Three sets of eyes went wide as they both dissipated into the shadows.

Taz noticed that all the Sunshines were back to back now, their eyes tracking the shadows. Even Nighttide increased her grip on the earth pony. The same ability she used to get them here was making itself known now. He saw lines of shadows flow out of the mare; they traced the ground in a defense posture, ready to strike any threat that came into range.

Taz almost laughed as he simply let loose with a little of his special talent. Nighttide’s protective barrier was gone, nullified as soon as his power canceled out the magic around them. He limited it; it would only work within ten hooves of their location. Regardless, it got the job done, the two shadows would not reveal themselves to try and attack them.

“Why do you think I wasn’t worried about being this close?” Taz asked his… friend? Could he call her that? He did not know.

“You truly are special,” Nighttide looked at him, she felt the same sense of wonder that she always did when they were together. It was not supposed to be this way; he was a colt, not even fourteen; she was a LOT older than him, and yet she loved him.

She loved him. Despite her age, her goals, and everything she had been raised to believe, everything she should have considered important, she truly did love him. It had been that love that brought Sunshine here.

It was that love that gave them a fighting chance.

Dayspring had been right; it was not worth breaking her own heart.

…

Mindsink and Timespire ignored the ‘children’ and went in for a pincer attack; there was no way they could take any of the three Sunshines by surprises, so they sought to take them with speed instead.

The shadows collected around them, increasing their speed ten-fold as they charged from two directions at the exact same time in a feat of timing worthy of a Wonderbolt’s performance. They zigzagged between pillars, using the natural shadows of the room to line up their attack perfectly with the three stallions in the room. When at last their vector was perfect, they attacked as one.

It would have worked on anyone that had not grown up with the parents that Sunshine had. His eyes were more than used to tracking fast moving objects without fail.

When they came into range, the two Sunshines that they meant to attack teleported away. They found their targets suddenly gone and the third one smirking at them. His horn flashed in a blinding white light as their shadows were forced away from their forms.

At the same moment, the other two teleported back in; they appeared directly behind the two confused brothers and lashed out with a binding circle.

It was a smaller version of the one used to trap the unicorn. The one that seemed to be effective on him should work on the other two just the same.

They each cried out as a symbol was stamped on their backs. Fuming, they turned to look at the three stallions. Each of which was smiling at them with a condescending grin on their faces, “Whaaaattt dod you do to usss?!” Mindsink tried to shouted at them his tongue was regrowing rapidly but he still had limited use..

One of the Sunshines walked forward, “Shadow melding can be such an annoying ability. We have simply, leveled the playing field,” he said with a smile.

“How do you know all of this?!” Timespire shouted, this pony had outplayed them at every turn. He was anticipating every move they made.

“We’ve beonn betrrrrayyyyed booother,” Mindsink mumbled out as he looked over at the two foals on the other side of the room, his face all but said: ‘You will pay for this betrayal, Nighttide.'

Nighttide shrunk her head down at that look, despite himself and all the contradictory feelings he felt, Taz covered her body with his own, symbolizing that she was under his protection for everyone in the room to see.

“This knowledge is not her doing,” Sunshine said, “Let’s just say, I have personal experiencing in the ability and know how to counter it.”

“You’re saying she didn’t betray us?” Timespire asked with one raised eyebrow.

“Oh no, she betrayed you. That’s how I’m here, I’m just clarifying that this was not her.”

“Oh, welllll I gosss that’sss nots so bad,” Mindsink tried to say. He was starting to worry Sunshine, his speech patterns were improving by the second.

“Would you two just kill him already!” the red unicorn yelled out. His face hidden by a hoof he was currently rubbing against his head.

At that they both attacked at once. Shadow’s shot out from the darkness seeking to impale the unicorns with their attack, “This again?” Sunshine was actually bored by this point. Their attacks were no more dangerous than Nighttide’s had been back at the old house.

This time he did not simply dissipate the magic heading at him. This time he redirected it. His opponents were powerful, of that there was no doubt, but it was apples to oranges when it came to his power.

Without the use of their abilities, it was almost foals play to redirect such an easy attack. Mindsink’s eyes went wide when he saw his attack heading to his brother and his brother’s attack heading to him.

Both brothers ended up impaled on their opposite's attack. Mindsink grunted in pain on Timespire’s spike, the same happened to Timespire. However, in his case something far worse happened.

Timespire’s body ended up striking the nearest column, one that fell under his own power not more than five minutes ago. The seven hundred year old column could no longer stand up with the additional force of his body slamming against it.

The entire thing came crashing over as the bricks that held it up gave out, Sadly, for Taz and Nighttide, they were right in the way with Taz’s power still blocking Nighttide’s.

“Look out!” Nighttide yelled as she dived to the right with barely enough time to avoid being crushed by a mountain of falling bricks. Taz dived in the opposite direction, while his power may protect them from any form of magical attack that came within his area of effect; physical damage was still a very real possibility, especially from that much falling debris.

He rolled as he jumped out of the way, extending his fall and avoiding any real damage. When he got back to his hooves, there was no sign of the pegasus that had been keeping him warm. The cold immediately took over, assaulting his body with its numbing presence. His teeth started chattering in his skull before he was even aware of it.

“Nighttide!” Taz shouted as he ran back to look for her. Of the pegasus there was no sign.

That yell cost Sunshine. The plan was that Nighttide would look after his brother while he was fighting these too. That yell only meant that things were not going as planned at her end. Which while unexpected, still had a butcher’s bill to pay.

In this case that bill came from a momentary distraction. The Sunshine closest to Mindsink found himself momentarily distracted by the sudden cry from Taz’s location. He looked; it was the last mistake he made.

Mindsink quickly capitalized to this opening, he lashed out with shadow spikes at the unicorn, impaling him four times through the torso and neck. The unicorn gasped in pain as his body suddenly found eight new holes, four on each side, bleeding out his life.

In the end, it was the one through his throat that ended his life. No longer able to take on oxygen, the unicorn died in one rasping breath of air, “One dooon,” Mindsink grunted as he cut apart the last of his brother’s spears that held him in place.

“Careless,” both remaining Sunshine’s said at the exact same time. They looked at each other, then back at the pegasus that was approaching. Together they both shot out a magical energy blast at the creature.

Mindsink dived to the right, dodging both attacks and wishing for the fiftieth time this battle that he had not been so careless himself when this started. His natural ability would have ended this. Sadly, it would still be some time before he could use it again.

Those thoughts made him miss one small detail. His opponent expected him to dodge; their attack was well timed, but easily choreographed. Mindsink found himself diving right into a magical bomb that Sunshine set up for this exact purpose.

The explosion went off as soon as his body touched it. Pure magical energy met the matter that made up his body. He felt the heat wash over him, the energy released caused him to cry out in agony as his front hooves were blasted apart. Huge swaths of meat and flesh suddenly found themselves detached from his form.

The largest part of him came to rest thirty-fives hooves away from where his body landed. His smoldering remains giving off steam in the cold air of the room.

Sunshine could already see the shadows gathering to heal the creature, to restore his form to life. He shook his head at that. He had expected that bomb to do a lot more damage; it seemed as if this battle was taking its toll on his magical reserves after all.

“One down,” Sunshine said with a smile as he mimicked the very same taunt Mindsink used against him. Unfortunately, the pegasus's distraction served to steal way Sunshine’s attention. A white earth pony jumped on the last remaining clone and pinned him to the ground.

Underneath the earth pony, the unicorn looked up in horror as the pony simply grinned down at him. sure, he could not simply use his ability nonchalant like he wanted too, but at this range, with his target directly under him, he was free to do as he wished.

Timespire grinned as he focused straight down, he grinned as the pony directly beneath him was suddenly twenty, thirty, fifty, a hundred, five hundred years older.

Sunshine’s bones were no longer able to support his own weight, never mind the weight of the pony that was on top of him. He cried out as they were crushed to powder. His throat dry and raspy from the sudden onslaught of age.

In no time at all the pony was reduced to dust. Timespire grinned as he finished his target. He was still grinning as the pony became nothing more than an outline of dust.

“From dust we come, to dust we return.”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” the first and last Sunshine said with a smile.

“Oh, why? Because I removed your last advantage?” Timespire asked with a smile.

“No, because now my power has been fully restored,” Timespire’s smile faded as Sunshine grinned at him.

The power returned to the unicorn in waves of magical energy so thick Timespire could see it. The energy coalesced around Sunshine’s horn. He lowered it at his target and fired.

The red unicorn on the throne watched it all, in truth he was impressed. ‘Sunshine’ was quite powerful, more so than any simple mortal ever had the right to be. He knew that Sunshine’s boast about destroying all traces of the mirror pond was anything but a bluff.

He smiled as he saw his brother’s body torn asunder right in front of him. He knew it must have hurt, but Timespire had been through worse, heck, he had put him through worse. Sure he was out of the fight, but he played his role in this little shindig.

Sunshine blinked clear the afterimage of the shot. The remains of the pony were splattered on the back wall of the room. He could see the shadows beginning to heal him, although it would take a long while before he was anywhere near back.

“What does it take to kill one of you?” Sunshine asked the room.

“In this place, more than even you are capable of. Had you fought them outside they'd both be dead,” the red unicorn replied. Sunshine turned to look at him, “Tell me, if you have this sort of power, why did you split it among clones of yourself?”

“I may be your enemy, but even I know not to tempt fate. You only had to get lucky once, meanwhile I had to deal with two different opponents.”

“Smart.”

“Your brothers are gone, I’ll be taking those two home now.”

“Those two?" The unicorn asked, placing special emphasis on the second word.

A chill went down Sunshine’s back at those words. He turned and saw the reason why.

Taz was desperately trying to remove the bricks from around Nighttide’s body. He kicked, tossed, and bucked as many as he could off her, “Nighttide! Wake up!” He shouted to the mare, “I can’t… I can’t lose you!”

Sunshine looked on in shock. The young mare’s body was silent and still. Sunshine could see that there were no shadows gathering around her.

Author's Notes:

Real power comes not from strength, but fighting for a cause.