Fluttershy wanted nothing more than to flee the scene, but both her worry for Rainbow Dash, and the words of the unnerving alicorn kept her frozen on the spot. She was scared, that much was certain, but along with that came indecision, and looking to Big Mac had been no help, as he was just as indecisive on the matter.

While Big Mac was just as indecisive as Fluttershy, he was also rather distracted by the fact that his new dragon companion had been staring at the the alicorn thing with a hint of recognition. At first it was open mouthed shock like the rest of the group, but as the pony—whom Big Mac still wasn't entirely sure was a pony at all—spoke, the drakeling's expression began to change, and now he was looking at the creature as one might some sort of particularly difficult puzzle.

Rainbow Dash for her part, was eyeing the 'alicorn' with a look of absolute disbelief. She opened her mouth, closed it, then looked back at the others. None of them had anything to say, so she turned back to the unsettling pony standing silently before them. Rainbow would've laughed at how absurd the mare's story was, had it not been for a few factors that gave her some pause.

"So let me get this straight," Rainbow finally said, her tone incredulous, "you came here from a different timeline, meant to go back to another timeline, but somehow wound up here instead?"

"Correct," the alicorn replied tonelessly, "I don't quite remember the details, but I know this is not where we're supposed to be. Something went wrong and I believe I may have been the one at fault."

"Right," Rainbow replied slowly. She turned to the dragon standing on Big Mac's back. Spike was making all kinds of strange faces as he struggled with... something, and Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the drakeling, "and you said this dragon and two other ponies came with you—one of them being your alternate self—but you all got separated."

"Also true," the alicorn confirmed with a slight nod of her head, "I woke up here in the Everfree Forest, but when I came to, the others were nowhere to be found. I wouldn't mind a bit of help in finding them, but I'm fine with you simply escorting me to Ponyville."

"And that's where we have a problem," Rainbow Dash replied, turning back to the other 'mare', "even if I did believe a word of what you're saying—which I don't naturally—how do I know you wouldn't start slaughtering everypony in sight or something?"

"Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy chimed in quietly, "I'm not sure that's—"

"And another thing," Rainbow pushed, ignoring Fluttershy and taking a challenging step towards the 'pony', "we all came here because there was an earthquake and a creepy scream in the Everfree, and what do we find?" she stabbed a hoof in the 'alicorn's' direction and sneered, "You."

"It seems my mind and body were in a volatile state upon re-entry into the timestream," the mare replied, unmoved by Rainbow's implied accusation, "I'm not sure what effect that would've had here, and I don't remember what happened immediately before I woke up, but I don't believe it would be a stretch to say that I was the one who caused the tremor and cried out like that."

"That's funny," Rainbow sneered angrily, "because there was this little incident thirteen years ago where some huge hideous monster appeared out of nowhere and made that exact same noise before killing dozens of pegasi in one fell swoop," she took another step forward and winced as she stretched her mutilated wings as far as they would go, "not to mention making me some pathetic cripple who can't even do the one thing she was best at!"

For a long tense moment, no one moved.

Rainbow stood there before the alicorn as if daring her to refute the implications. The eerie mare looked back at Rainbow silently, completely passive and expressionless in the face of Rainbow's ire. Fluttershy looked between the two, growing more horrified and afraid for her friend by the second.

Big Mac remained as calm as ever, though he watched the exchange with a careful eye. The stallion wasn't sure what would happen next, but there was a subtle tension in his frame that spoke of a readiness to act immediately if necessary. Spike's expression had gone back to shock as certain memories of a past encounter began to fill his mind.

"Well!?" Rainbow snapped suddenly. She herself had no idea if it was fear or rage that made her lash out, but her guess was a lot of both, "say something! You were the one who killed all those pegasi weren't you?"

"That... is a high possibility," the alicorn replied with a slow, almost thoughtful tone. She blinked once, raised a hoof and stared at it as she continued to speak, "due to various... circumstances, I am not a normal pony. I in fact don't believe that I'm a pony at all, not anymore—"

That was all Rainbow Dash needed to hear.

With a strangled cry of raw emotion, she hurled herself at the mare—all the pain and hate that'd been building for years released all at once. She had no idea what she was going to do to the emotionless creature standing in front of her, but she knew it was going to be violent, visceral and satisfying.

The cry was enough to snap Spike out of his reverie, but before he could react, he found himself flailing for purchase as Big Mac burst into action. With a speed that seemed unlikely for somepony of his bulk, the stallion charged forward and latched onto the furious cyan pegasus before she could get much farther than a few strides. His grip was like iron, yet somehow he managed to avoid putting too much strain on Rainbow's wings.

"Wha—lemme go!" Rainbow cried angrily, "get... offa me!"

"Nope," Big Mac grunted, "not until... ya calm down. Flyin'... off the... handle like that... ain't gonna help nopony."

The sudden movement had caught Spike off guard and he'd fallen clean off the stallion, bag and all. Fluttershy watched all of this with an increasingly frantic look, completely unsure of what to do in this situation. She cast a glance at the bag Spike had dropped and a thought crossed her mind, but Rainbow's angry grunts and growls brought her attention back to the scene playing out before her.

Rainbow Dash was struggling in Big Mac's grip, her teeth gnashing and her wild, teary eyes fixed on the stoic alicorn mare. Fluttershy had never seen Rainbow Dash like this, not even right after the incident. Back then she just looked... hollow, like she'd been completely drained of life.

Like she was dead and her body just didn't know it.

She'd been that way for months, and Fluttershy had done everything she could to help, but no matter how hard she tried, she got no response. Then one day, Rainbow had just started speaking again; she was active in a way she hadn't been in ages. She'd become a lot surlier and bitter than she used to be, but Fluttershy was just happy the mare was on her hooves again.

She remained that way for years afterward, growing from a depressed filly to a bitter mare, and Fluttershy was with her every step of the way. For the longest time, Fluttershy had thought Rainbow had managed to sort out all of her issues somehow in her own way—Rainbow had said as much herself. As they both grew older however, she realized just how much Rainbow was still hurting, but by that point it was too late. Rainbow Dash had changed, and Fluttershy feared she'd never get the old brash, confident, positive Rainbow back.

Certainly Rainbow was still kind to the meeker pegasus, but there was still an emptiness in her tone a lot of the time, even on the rare occasions when she did smile. Looking at her now, Fluttershy could feel guilt and fear welling up inside, as well as anger in herself for not being able to do more for her crippled and sullen friend.

The butter yellow pegasus turned back to the object of Rainbow's ire, seeing nothing in the way of a reaction out of the creature; the eerie alicorn who'd denied she was even a pony to begin with. Fluttershy wasn't sure what manner of creature she may have been, but if it really was the one that'd caused that tragedy all those years ago then Rainbow was right.

They couldn't trust it, something had to be done and Rainbow Dash was too distraught to be of any help. Big Mac had managed to restrain the mare and had stopped her from doing anything reckless, but that might not have been enough. The creature looked passive enough, but what if that was a ruse, Fluttershy thought. What if it suddenly snapped and did something horrible like back then?

What if she attacked Rainbow and the rest of them? The shy mare furrowed her brows and frowned, desperately trying to will her frame to stop shaking. She'd followed Rainbow Dash into the Everfree to make sure she kept her promise to return alive and well, and when compared to the life of her friend, her own toxic fear was an insignificant thing.

Just looking at the creature, Fluttershy knew there was something terribly off about it, and if she or Rainbow Dash or even Big Mac tried anything, she was sure there'd be nasty consequences. No, there was nothing any of them could do, but maybe there was another solution...

She glanced back to the bag the baby dragon had dropped.

Spike, who'd been recovering from his fall off of Big Mac's back, scrambled back to his feet and shook his head free of the spots in his eyes. He'd landed face first on the hard ground and was only now regaining his senses. Along with that, he'd more or less pieced together a few things from before, and the fall had shaken a few more things loose.

Upon seeing her for the first time, he remembered meeting that strange, unsettling pony somewhere before, but couldn't place where. Then, as she described how she'd wound up in the Everfree, he began to remember where he'd met her. It had been in a dark and empty place, and he'd come there along with another mare that looked exactly like the alicorn thing.

He knew that other mare, and he knew it wasn't just a passing acquaintance either. They'd been close—very close. He didn't know much about the other mare mentioned, but the fact that Spike couldn't remember the lavender mare's name was eating at him. He looked at the cyan mare, loudly protesting and spewing all kinds of obscenities at both the stoic alicorn and Big Mac himself.

Spike had the distinct feeling he knew that pegasus along with the yellow one as well, but the memory, if that indeed was what it was, was a vague, distant, hazy thing. Before he could think too much more on the matter, the lavender mare began to speak again, somehow able to make herself clearly heard over Rainbow's outburst without yelling.

"In order to travel to the timeline my other self inhabited, we had to travel to the past," the alicorn continued to explain, very much as if Rainbow hadn't lashed out at all. Her blank white eyes were focused on the snarling mare—more specifically, her wings—as she spoke, "I still know very little about what I am exactly, but it seems returning to the past had quite a few... unexpected consequences. Whatever tragedy I may have caused, please understand that I had no intention of harming anypony."

"Buck you!" Rainbow cried, "I lost everything because of you! My wings, my dream... my family..." she paused and sniffed, but the unshed tears in her eyes did nothing to soften her caustic glare and she continued to stare daggers at the alicorn, "I don't care what you intended to do. You ruined my life, you bucking monster."

There was a brief silence in which the two stared at each other. Rainbow continued to glare at the blank faced mare, and the alicorn in turn stared back, her flat expression unchanged in the slightest by Rainbow's words. The others watched with a sort of nervous anticipation, each of them holding their breath as they waited for something to happen.

"What happened to your family is unfortunate," the alicorn finally replied, her dull tone undiminished, "I may not be able to bring them back and I might not be able to give you back your dream, but at the very least, I think I might be able to give you back your wings, or the ability to fly again at any rate."

Rainbow Dash blinked.

"You... what?" she uttered, completely caught off guard and fumbling for a response, "you can give me..." she shook her head and sneered, "what kind of idiot do you think I am? Back when the Queen was still the Princess, she personally made sure I got the best doctors in Canterlot to fix my wings, but even with all their fancy medicine and healing magic, they couldn't do a thing!

"I got caught in one of your stupid tentacle things and was nearly crushed to death! They said some of the bones in my wings were practically powderized! They said I was lucky to be alive!"

Rainbow tried to wriggle free of Big Mac's grip and winced again before looking up at the stallion. Big Mac looked back down at her and after some kind of silent conversation, the stallion let her go and stepped back. Rainbow Dash shuffled her wings painfully before turning back to the alicorn.

"You see this?" she said, splaying her crumpled wings out as best she could for the mare to see, "this is permanent. I'm never gonna fly again, and it's all your fault."

Though her hate for the thing calling itself an alicorn still burned just as hot as it ever had, there was no doubt its words had had an effect on Rainbow Dash, no matter how she tried to mask it. The blind rage and fear had mostly vanished, leaving the hate and—to Rainbow's own shame—just the smallest glimmer of hope that the creature's words were true.

But it couldn't have been... could it?

"As I said, it might be possible," the alicorn replied, taking a step towards the cyan pegasus. She paused a moment, giving one of her ears an idle flick before speaking again, "I am still unsure of how this body and my abilities work, and I can't fix your wings directly, but there may be another solution."

The temperature around them all suddenly dropped a few degrees and Rainbow Dash shivered before taking a step back.

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow asked warily, her heart rate picking up ever so slightly. Something wasn't right about the situation, she could feel it, "I told you it was impossible. I don't know what you think you can do, but—"

"Twilight!"

All eyes snapped towards the baby dragon, who rushed past Rainbow, his eyes locked on the slowly approaching alicorn. The alicorn in turn, paused and stared down at him passively. Spike didn't stop until he was standing in front of the creature, and for a moment they simply looked into each others eyes.

"You're Twilight... right?" Spike asked, searching for something in the alicorn's white eyes, "not my Twilight, but... I remember you, and I remember her," he slowly lowered his gaze, backing away a step and frowning in thought, "I remember she wanted to help you—to get you back, just like you said."

Shocked, Fluttershy looked from Spike and the alicorn creature, to Big Mac. The two shared a bemused look before turning to Rainbow Dash. For once, Rainbow looked just as unsure about the situation as Fluttershy herself felt, but all focus returned to Spike and the alicorn as she spoke again.

"You're Twilight was suppose to send all of us back to her own timeline, yes," the alicorn finally replied after a moment, "she did agree to help me, but it seems pulling me from my own time was a mistake. I did warn her of the possible consequences, but that is now neither here nor there," she looked back up at Rainbow Dash, who flinched and glared back defiantly, "what matters now is that I do what little I can to right the wrong I've caused. We can seek out the other Twilight and Starlight Glimmer together once I'm done here."

Before Spike could respond—before any of the others could react at all, the alicorn vanished from sight and reappeared before Rainbow an instant later. The others cried out in surprise and Rainbow tried to scrambled away, but the alicorn's eyes held her fast where she stood. Though she was only about half a head taller, the creature seemed to positively tower over Rainbow, and the pegasus could feel the icy breath washing over her face as the thing spoke.

"How badly do you want to fly again, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash only continued to stare back at the alicorn, her eyes wide and her mouth flapping wordlessly, uselessly. At the alicorn's words, images of her as a filly flashed through her mind; memories of being able to zip past the clouds and outpacing most adults at her age. The wind through her mane and wings, push against her even as she pushed back harder.

Maybe it was something in the way the alicorn had asked, maybe it was the heat of the moment, maybe Rainbow was more broken than she realized, but that one question had a profound effect. Something snapped, and just like that, the rage, fear, and hatred evaporated. The small spark of hope the alicorn had lit within Rainbow flared into a desperate blazing inferno of need; an overpowering desire to have her greatest wish granted.

"...I'd give anything to get my wings back."

The words were quiet, and slipped from her mouth almost unbidden, as if a completely different pony had said them. Immediate regret washed over her, but as she thought on it, Rainbow Dash realized it was true. She'd give literally anything to be able to fly again. She'd spoken the truth; a truth she'd long kept hidden from Fluttershy and from herself.

She'd tried in the past to take Fluttershy's words to heart. She tried to move on, she tried to appreciate what she still had, but ultimately—when it came right down to it... she still wanted her wings back, and no price was too high.

"I know of a way to restore your ability to fly, but it may result in an... irreversible change," the alicorn continued. She paused and cocked her head as if listening to something only she could hear. After a moment she frowned and spoke again, "...do you know what a thestral is?"

Rainbow's eyes widened, the implications far from lost on her. She knew exactly what a thestral was; they all did. When Nightmare Moon returned, the thestrals had arrived from seemingly nowhere at all and flocked to the mad Queen of the Night. Rainbow didn't see it herself, but it was said they fought against the Royal Guard in an attempt to keep them from interfering with Celestia and Nightmare Moon's battle.

After Nightmare Moon was killed, they scattered and most of them vanished off to nopony-knows-where. Once the Princess had elevated herself to a Queen, she issued a decree to hunt them all down and exterminate them. The thestrals were powerful creatures, and part of the reason Daybreaker had formed the elite Solar Guard was to track and combat them specifically.

Based on the stories Rainbow had heard about the Solar Guard, they were terribly efficient and horribly brutal in their methods. If the alicorn before her now was suggesting what Rainbow suspected she was suggesting...

"Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow sucked in a breath, her body stiffening with surprise. For a moment, it was as if the world had been reduced to just Rainbow herself and the alicorn creature. Hearing Fluttershy's voice; the soft yet commanding tone she'd used, it shocked her out of whatever reverie the alicorn had put her in. She shook her head and turned to see Fluttershy standing a stride or so away.

The bag Spike had dropped lay next to her hooves and her expression was uncharacteristically hard. Even more surprising was the fact that the mare was looking not at Rainbow, but the alicorn. Wrapped beneath one wing was a familiar looking scroll, and seeing that, something clicked in Rainbow's head.

Her mouth still hanging slightly open in bewilderment, Rainbow turned to Big Mac who stood near Fluttershy looking troubled—almost conflicted. The stallion didn't say anything, though his eyes were also fixed to the alicorn. Spike still stood where he'd been before a little ways behind the alicorn. His unsure gaze switched from the alicorn to Rainbow and the others, but all eyes, including the alicorn's, turned to Fluttershy once she began speaking again.

"I think you were right after all, Rainbow," Fluttershy began, pulling the scroll from under wing and holding it delicately in one hoof, "I'm not sure what she has in mind, but if it involves thestrals, it can't be good. You know what happens to thestrals—how they're treated and where their allegiances lie, and if she's working with them, we can't trust her."

Rainbow Dash swallowed and looked back to the lavender mare, who now had her blank white eyes affixed to the scroll in Fluttershy's hoof. The cyan mare took a step back away from the alicorn Spike had called Twilight. Somewhere in a distant corner of her mind, she recognized the name, but she couldn't remember where.

More pressing at the moment were the words Fluttershy spoke and the effect they had. Seeing Rainbow's hesitation, Fluttershy pushed on, her expression softening and a sharp pang of guilt and sorrow welling up in her chest.

"I knew you were still hurting, Rainbow Dash," she continued, "but I had no idea just how badly until now. To think you were still willing to give up everything like that... I'm sorry I didn't notice it sooner," her expression once more turned grim as she looked the alicorn in the eye, "I wish I could give you what you want, Rainbow, but I can't... and neither can she. You know that."

Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy and the yellow pegasus looked back. For a long moment, neither spoke, and a cold wave of guilt and shame washed over Rainbow. She'd been willing to sacrifice everything for a chance to take to the skies once again, even if it meant abandoning the mare that had been there for her all those years when she had nopony left.

Just the thought of it made her physically ill, and what was worse, was that deep down, the feeling—that desperate desire was still there. She'd come back to her senses, but the desire to fly amongst her own again was still there, and she knew it always would be.

"She's right," Big Mac suddenly exclaimed, snapping Rainbow Dash out of her self-loathing thoughts and surprising everyone present. He took a step forward and grimaced in the alicorn's direction, "if mah hunch is right, yer fixin' ta turn Rainbow into a thestral somehow ta give her wings, am ah wrong?"

The alicorn looked at Big Mac, blinked, and gave a slow nod.

"No, you're correct, that was my intention," she replied, "even with all the power and knowledge at my disposal, I can't fix Rainbow's wings—or rather, if what Rainbow says about her wings is true, I lack the specific knowledge I'd need in order to do so. That said, I know of a rather... ancient spell that can change Rainbow's form to that of a thestral, but the change is permanent."

"Ya seem like a mighty powerful sort," Big Mac pointed out with a bemused frown, "ah'm not too sure ah completely buy the fact that ya can't just fix her up with a wave o' yer horn."

The alicorn merely shook her head in response.

"Even as magically powerful as I am, what little healing magic I do know is not sufficiently advanced enough to fully restore functionality to limbs in Rainbow's condition. Trying to 'brute force' the healing process by pumping additional mana into the mix would only cause further problems, and it's too risky to try using any other power at my disposal when I don't fully understand what I can and can't do.

"With all of that in mind, this was the only viable option I could think of to regain her ability to fly," she looked around at them all silently for a second, "though judging by your words and reactions, it seems that option is out of the question."

"Eeyup," Big Mac replied with a nod of his own, "there ain't no place in Equestria fer a thestral, not while Queen Daybreaker an' her Solar Guard are around. If ya turned Miss Dash into a thestral, she may get a new pair o' wings, but you'd be doomin' her to a life on the run," his face turned grave, "...an' she wouldn't get far."

"And aside from that," Fluttershy continued, holding the scroll close to her chest as her newfound resolve faltered, "if it was possible to turn a pony into a thestral, there would only be one pony I could think of that could do it."

"Yeah... you're right," Rainbow muttered, backing further away from the alicorn and towards Fluttershy, "I didn't even know it was possible to turn a pony into a thestral. I thought they were just lackeys Nightmare Moon summoned when she showed up or something, but if you can turn ponies into those things..."

"She'd have to be Nightmare Moon herself. But... that can't be right though," Fluttershy nearly whispered as the implications finally settled in, "Nightmare Moon is... the Queen... she..."

"Queen Daybreaker killed her," Rainbow Dash finished, her eyes narrowing dangerously, "she burned her to a crisp, a bunch of ponies saw it happen."

"Ah heard tell from mah cousin there's a cult somewhere in Equestria that worships Nightmare Moon," Big Mac said with a heavy grimace, "the way he tells it, they use all sorts o' weird magic an' the like in their rituals. Maybe she's in cahoots with the lot of 'em?"

"She's not Nightmare Moon and she isn't working with her or any sort of weird cult!" came another, panicked voice. Fluttershy, Rainbow and Big Mac watched in bemusement as Spike ran over to stand by the alicorn's side. The baby dragon spoke again, his expression pleading, "she's kind of scary, yeah, but she has nothing to do with Nightmare Moon! She came here from another timeline—we both did! We just wanna go home, back to our own timeline!"

"Oh please," Rainbow scoffed, "there's no way that load of horseapples about time travel is true, and even if it was," she raised a hoof and pointed at the alicorn, her vicious glare from earlier returning in earnest, "she's still responsible for what happened all those years ago. She even admitted it herself!"

Now that she'd been freed from whatever influence the alicorn had exerted over her, Rainbow's rage had returned in full and burned brighter than ever. She wouldn't be fooled again, not for anything; not even for a chance to fly again, whether as a thestral or a pegasus.

She owed at least that much to Fluttershy if not herself.

"Well, that's... I..." Spike faltered, at a loss for how to respond. He bit his lip and glanced nervously in the accused mare's direction. Though he remembered most of what had transpired back in that horrible timeline, he still had no idea what had happened during their trip into the past, "it was an accident... I'm sure she didn't mean to—"

"It doesn't matter what she meant to do!" Rainbow snarled in reply, "that thing ruined my life! She killed a bunch of pegasi and caused one of the worst disasters Equestria has ever seen! My mom and dad are gone because of her! I can't fly because of her, and I'm not letting her get away with it!"

Fluttershy yelped in surprise as the furious mare snatched the scroll from her hooves.

"I'm done talking," she growled, "I'm not gonna stand here and listen to your lies anymore. I know I probably can't do anything to hurt you, but if this thing does what it's supposed to, I won't have to."

With those words, Rainbow flung the scroll into the air.

Complete silence fell over the group as they all watched the piece of parchment rise higher and higher until it stopped suddenly and hung in the air. As the silence continued, Fluttershy whimpered, a horrible tension twisting her insides in knots. She wasn't alone, and both Big Mac and Spike could feel it as well.

Rainbow and the alicorn merely continued to eye the thing—Rainbow with grim satisfaction and the alicorn with a curious frown. The alicorn wasn't sure what would happen, but she could feel something odd coming from the scroll. She thought about stopping it from activating whatever magic was held within, but decided to see what would transpire instead.

An instant later the scroll snapped open and, with a sound oddly reminiscent of a hawk's cry, a thin but blinding pillar of golden light erupted from its surface, shooting high into the sky above. The ray of light vanished after a few seconds, once again leaving the forest quiet. The group stood in a small clearing just wide enough to see the sky beyond the trees, and each of their gazes were drawn skyward, all of them waiting to see what would happen next.

They didn't have to wait long.

Another bright flash of golden light lit up the Everfree, making all but the lavender alicorn shield their eyes and turn away from the sight. The light eventually died down enough to show the large and slowly rotating forms of complex magical sigils above. Spike recognized it as the same series of twisting lines and runes he'd seen printed on the parchment, and it was only now that he'd find out what they meant.

Then the sigils began to converge on each other, glowing brighter and brighter in the process. As each individual sigil moved to form one large circle, there was sound—soft at first, like a whistling wind. Then the sound grew until it mimicked a howling tempest. The sheer force of it made the trees below sway and the earth tremble slightly beneath everyone's hooves and feet.

"We should move," Big Mac muttered, staring up at the sight with wide eyes. As the sound grew louder, so too did his voice, "we need ta move... NOW!"

His voice managed to break through to the other transfixed ponies and dragon and they all scattered. The alicorn merely snapped out of existence and reappeared a safe distance away just as another, larger pillar of golden light burst forth from the magic circle above and slammed down onto the ground below it with a deafening boom.

All manner of forest debris was thrown into the air, bits of dirt, rock, leaves and dislodged branches pelted the others as they scrambled to get away. Both the trees and the ponies nearest to the pillar were pushed back. Spike cried out as he was flung off his feet, though he hadn't gone far before the alicorn's dark blue aura caught him and set him down beside her.

All the while the alicorn stood and watched the pillar carefully, frowning slightly as the outlines of three figures gradually came into focus within the pillar's light. Something about this whole thing felt off, but the alicorn couldn't figure out why—that is, until the golden light and howling began to fade.

It took a minute, but the howl of raw magic and blinding light subsided completely, leaving most of the group disoriented and seeing spots. The alicorn, unlike the rest in almost every sense, stood as the only one not affected, and her troubled frown only deepened at what—or rather who—she saw standing in the middle of the clearing.

The fading light revealed three ponies, one in the middle and flanked by two others wearing barding the alicorn had never seen before. Two of the ponies, both pegasi from the looks of it, wore something that looked like a mix of the standard Wonderbolt uniform and the lighter armor the pegasi in the Royal Guard wore.

form-fitting metal plates covered the majority of the legs, flank, barrel and chest while a crinet and shaffron covered the entirety of the face and neck, leaving the pony's identity hidden including the eyes which were covered by thick dark goggles. Beneath the armor, the alicorn could see evidence of the suit that had reminded her so much of the Wonderbolts uniform she'd seen in the past.

While she could tell the suit was made of a different material, she couldn't discern what material had replaced it from sight alone, though it certainly looked tougher than what the original uniform used. Only the wings were exposed, but even then, the alicorn could tell they'd been coated in some kind of transparent magical field—most likely meant to keep them from harm.

The entirety of the armor was colored in an elegant mix of fiery hues, with orange, red and yellow being the primary focus. Both pegasi were armed with retractable hoofblades, something the alicorn had seen once before during a military demonstration she'd gone to with her brother back when she was an actual pony and not an inequine abomination. Each of them looked intimidating in their own right, but what held the alicorn's attention was the pony in the middle.

With the way the armor covered almost every inch of the pegasi, it was nearly impossible to tell their gender, but the pony in front was clearly a unicorn mare. She wore no armor whatsoever, only a dark red double breasted military tailcoat fastened up to the neck with brass buttons. It reminded the alicorn somewhat of her brother's ceremonial uniform, though much simpler in design.

All in all, the mare cut an impressive figure, standing tall and imposing with a dangerous air that somehow surpassed that of even the more heavily armored ponies behind her. Cold amethyst eyes surveyed the scene falling first on the still recovering ponies, then the baby dragon and blank eyed alicorn, before focusing solely on the alicorn.

A frown crossed her face, matching that of the alicorn's own and the two stared at each other. It took very little effort for the alicorn to remain outwardly impassive, but she could see the military mare sizing her up, assessing the rather unbelievable situation she found herself in, running through each and every possible explanation she could think of for what she was seeing.

To her credit, the mare still looked calm and composed. The alicorn doubted any other pony would be able to tell that she was troubled by the sight of her at all. The only reason she herself knew otherwise was because she'd worn that same face every day of her life; she'd been born with that face, and knew every tell and facial cue she had.

Staring back at the alicorn shaped entity formerly known as Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, was none other than the unicorn mare currently known as Twilight Sparkle, apparently of the Queen's own Solar Guard.

At least, this is what the relatively new Avatar of Retribution assumed.

Seeing her in that uniform flanked by two armed and armored ponies, what else could she think? She remembered Big Mac talking about the Solar Guard, something that didn't in any way shape or form exist in her own timeline. These ponies were wearing barding that she'd never seen before, it was a safe assumption to say that they were all part of the aforementioned Solar Guard and until proven otherwise, the alicorn would assume as much.

Evidently done with her assessment, the lavender unicorn narrowed her eyes and took a cautious step forward towards her alicorn counterpart, pulling said alicorn away from her thoughts. She stopped a few strides away and spoke, her tone curious, but with a sharp, cruel edge the former Twilight herself had never used—at least, not before her own world had ended.

"I was a bit skeptical of the Queen's hunch, but I guess she was onto something after all. She said I'd probably find something interesting if I waited long enough and it looks like the wait paid off."

Sorry for the wait, but this turned out to be a rather meaty chapter. Also, if you guys thought I wasn't gonna involve this timeline's Twilight in some way, ya'll best think again.