Princess Rainbow Dash vs Everything Part 2 of 2

OPTIONAL-CANON!!!!

"NIGHTDRAKE-BUSTER! ARMOR!" In an instant, where I had stood was a giant suit of armor all gold and purple designed to take a direct hit from one of Tiamat's fireballs.

Too bad I had to skip the awesomely cool transformation sequence with the spinning rings and the faux wireframe graphics of the armor appearing around me, but these ponies are way too genre savvy to politely wait for that.

Sides opened up and I unleashed a country's worth of missiles, I summoned a laser-cannon that would have made the God of Yaks' avatar pause and fired at full blast widespread. Followed by some good old fashioned punches and kicks!

Naturally they were all over me like ants on honey before you could blink. Pounding the armor in and ripping off weapons before I could use them.

I might have been worried if I was actually inside the armor. Yeah, heh, I'm running whole thing by remote. I teleported out when the armor appeared. I really hate seeing that beauty trashed, I never actually got to fight a Nightdrake in it. Me and Princess Progress (ya know, Apple Bloom) from that Mounty-Haul world line had fun designing that. Oh well, for the greater good.

Having seen every trick under every sun, however... the cyclists weren't fooled by my bait and switch for long. And I was on the receiving end again of an army of angry pseudo gods. The good news was that it had been so long since any of them had gone up against an opponent who could actually fight back without themselves holding back, they were a little rusty... but only a little! Here's hoping the plan is going to schedule!

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(Interviewer's Notes (Half-Light Dawn): Oh I know! I know how it was going!)

Skuld, norse goddess of the future, noticed she had a visitor. She wasn't alarmed, or even surprised. Her visit had come when they were supposed to.

"You're here, Yggdrasil said you'd come for her." Her visitor politely bowed to Skuld, showing the proper respect. Even if Skuld appeared a child goddess, her true age was anything but. Skuld stepped aside for the visitor and gestured. "Right this way, Yggdrasil is waiting for you." Her visitor smiled and entered.

(Interviewer's Notes (Half-Light Dawn): Hiiii everypony! We'll be back soon!)

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= Divine Entity - DDS2 =

I bet since I'm a walking rules patch to make sure a new Nightmare Eclipse powerhouse never comes into existence, some think that I'm so specialized that I can't handle anything outside my job description. I hope I've subverted your expectations on that one! I can kick flank as well as the next goddess! But I'm still the idea of loyalty and the breaking of cycles.

But if I'm going to keep this fight going, I'm going to have'ta pull out a trump card!

I create a short Ponygyptian scythe, and levitated it with my magic to make it glow, just in time to intercept Angel Bunny, flying at me with a thunderstorm's worth of force lightning.

Then, in my mind's eye, it's like there's a near infinite congo line of little white rabbits... then every one of those rabbits wanders off and goes to do their one thing across time and space instead of being glued to each other. A moment later, without his force powers, Angel was in a bubble to save his life from being millions of lightyears from the nearest atmosphere and warm sun.

"WHAT THE PINE DID YOU DO YOU, YOU BUCKING NAG?!?!" Fluttershy roared.

I brandish the scythe, matching fury with fury of my own. "I AM THE BREAKER OF CYCLES! I separated Angel into every cycle he's ever lived. All of them. Each one is free now to choose his own path, with a complete past and future. EVERY Angel, since the cycles STARTED, even the ones who weren't aware at the time, they now have their own timelines, with all of you."

Not even a second later, a blast of Alicorn magic obliterates the scythe right out of my hoof.

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST GO AWAY?!"

"Because I'm an idea. You can't just make ideas go away!"

And since I'm now part of the big cosmic rule book, that means I exist at the beginning and end of time, PLEASE don't ask me to explain how THAT WORKS, it'll just give you a headache!

I summon several scythes, one after the another. Now they're scared: I'm a danger, I'm an cosmic abomination.

The scythes were just constructs with no cosmic power to them at all, and the glow they gave off was just my telekinesis. But they were all too angry and scared to realize that. So I kept creating them, as the Alicorns kept obliterating them as fast I could put the scythes' atoms together. Starlight Glimmer inspired this trick. I had gone beyond doing something unthinkable, I'd done something incomprehensible, impossible, I was a horror that defied everything they knew about the rules of their world. And now I've taken down three of them.

Applejack teleports past the scythes and begins to brawl with me, this isn't one of our friendly spars, this Applejack is determined to take me down, she might even be stronger than Nightmare Mirror... back when Mirror was a young Nightmare. Chrysalis teleported past as well and tried to blast me from behind. I teleported so the blast hit Applejack instead. Shining Armor tried to trap my scythes in force fields, but they just vibrated through. Cadence tried to trap me in crystal, but I shattered it with a vibration too.

Cadence and Chrysalis got smart and began to blast cold beams at me to slow me down. Nice trick in space where there's nowhere for the heat to go. I really wish I'd figured out how to create Avatars. And Celestia rapid-fired Solar Flare spells that would have vaporized planets!

Like I said, there's no way I could ever hope to use this much magic as I was using here in a mortal universe that still had the surge protectors on to keep fragile galaxies from being torn apart, but here, I could create a barrier to hold them back no problem! Okay, not totally no problem, that still freakin' HURT.

Luna tried bashing my head in with a few moons, I wrapped my chains around one and used it as a mace right back at her. Dang did that make her mad! Trixie kept powering up Chrysalis to blast me in the face again, told you it took all kinds.

Gilda rushed in to try and help the CMC wipe out the Scootaloo Army, but the Apple Family Scootaloos weren't about to have that! They pulled out their own secret weapon! One I wouldn't have used for another million years, because I'd never let Baby Veritas into this kinda danger! And I'm not sure that kinda trauma would be good for these ponies!

"Unite Mirror!" And the glowing forceful shape the squirts flew in formation of became a giant hoof mirror. Seriously.

Gilda stopped dead center in the sight of her reflection, letting out a strangled squawk. "What are you little rats trying to pull? That isn't... it's just some kinda sick funhouse mm... mmmph! What the buck? Why can't I say it's a lie?!"

"Because Ah'm an Apple, and Apples don't lie!" said a Scootaloo wearing a plain green neck bandana. She was the one holding the giant mirror up. "Ah'm really sorry, Gilda. Ah know yer not really a bad griffon, but the truth is, that's what yer soul is like, after spendin' all this time flyin' 'round in circles… "

Gilda shrieked and slashed her paintbrush tail. "Shut up!" The mirror shattered, but the Scootaloos just melded back together instead of flying off. "I don't have to take this crap..." She slashed again, painting the whole mirror black with flecks of light, just like the space behind it. It split into pieces that flipped over in staggered waves before snapping back together, good as new. "...from a bunch of squirts like you!" Something seemed to snap in her. "I... I can't look at that. The fern?! I'm supposed to be tougher than this!" She turned away from the mirror and fled from the Scootaloos.

'Girls! Don't use that mirror again unless I tell ya for this fight!' I ordered mentally, I am their goddess and they are my angels after all.

Huh?! Dash! We could one-shot this whole battle!

Trust me, Scoots.

At least the non-CMC were hesitant to fight the SAAoA now.

"Why are you doing all this?!" Rarity demanded, trying to slice and dice me with crystal barriers. My beloved stubborn fillies were fighting off more Death Stars than any universe had a right to have (they were still nothing compared to the Earth-Bound Kings though).

"When I became a Concept... I saw the truth of truths... time, space, reality, it's not meant to be a cycle or a line... it's an ever growing pair of spirals."

I then teleported right in front of Rarity, we quickly fought hoof-to-hoof... if I'd still been a flesh and blood Pegasus, she'd have won before I even got the first swing in. I saw she'd figured out how to get her body to react without her consciously ordering it, and she'd absorbed more fighting styles than existed in a single world line. But a true Alicorn is of all tribes, and seapony magic isn't just making waves. I let out a high note in her face that made her ears bleed. With one moment of distraction I did it 'Hoof Of the North Star' style and poked her in pressure points most ponies didn't know they had! Her magic turned off and she was paralyzed until one of the others spent all of a few nanoseconds to fix her up.

Then a shadow fell over me, blotting out the light of the distant galaxies that surrounded us. I didn't need to be a changeling to feel the rage, the simmering draconic fury. It was Spike, growing to a cosmic size that would have dwarfed any giant mecha you could name. "HEY!" he roared, eyes narrowing to slits. "That's my wife you're messing with."

He reached out to swat me away, but I shrank down to the size of a breezie and teleported at random, basically the size of a germ to him. He countered with fire breath that would have turned Equestria to ash in an instant, so I fought dirty and teleported inside his brain.

"'Fraid you're not gonna like this, Spike!" I squeaked as only a breezie could. I thought about making Spike punch himself, but that felt too petty, so I began zapping his brain's motor functions to make the giant dragon do ballerina twirls instead. I provided music.

"All this power, and what good is it?" echoed my voice in his head. "How long has it been since you stopped even feeling guilty about the people who don't cycle? Ya know, the ones who live three, maybe four or five years before they disappear without ever knowing why, wiped away and dropped into Oblivion like trash?"

Spike clawed at one ear, shaking his head. "Do you think we wanted this? We're making the best of a bad situation! We've made Equestria a safe, peaceful refuge. We help all of the Cyclers who come here to stay sane, together!"

"What, so they'll do LESS damage than they're doing already?"

Spike roared and wrenched control of his body back, suddenly shrinking back down to 'only' the size of a small mountain, trying to crush me or just drive me out.

I teleported again, and instantly got caught in a teeny-tiny magic proof glass container with air holes. Kinda silly when there's no air in space to begin with.

I went for a low blow. "So how many times did you egg nap Peewee away from his parents instead of just stopping Garble and his gang from attacking his nest, just so you could have your pet? I thought you cyclers found fixating on how things 'should' go as unhealthy? Or did you just want to skip the formalities and didn't care about his parents after they did the work of laying his egg?"

If Spike had an answer, he didn't give one.

I used breezie magic to make flowers grow in the jar until it shattered, then shifted back to my normal and totally radical looking self. "Name one thing that's better now than if the Cycles had never happened at all. Just one!"

That quiet fury settles over Spike again. He holds out his claw, and Rarity lands lightly on it, his aura restoring her strength. "That," she says coldly, "was a mistake, darling." She closed her eyes, glowing, and her light swelled and washed over everything.

When the spots cleared from my eyes, I was floating before TWO immense and regal dragons, one purple, then other sparkling white. They nuzzled cheek to cheek, forepaws clasped. Don't get me wrong... I knew they were married in the cycles. I've seen this before with Queen Libra and King Heathspike, and I still wasn't prepared for THIS.

Rarity fixed her gaze on me. "This noble drake spent thousands upon thousands of years, patiently wooing me and winning my heart. I am his, and he is mine." Her eyes blazed. "Forever."

Spike held her close, his titanic tail casually swishing and bashing an unlucky asteroid to dust. "Even if your fancy goddess powers are more than even we can handle, and you take everything from us... I will find her again!"

The dragons stood and breathed fire together. If I'd thought Spike's fire was hot before... this flame probably would have melted the gates of Tartarus like taffy. I'm barely shielding myself, and Spike and Rarity just keep pouring it on.

This... was not going so hot. No pun intended! What was taking the rest of the team so long?! I can't keep this up forever, dudes! And, YEOW! Did somepony just toss the buckin' Master Sword at my head?! Don't you know it's sapient?! You're breaking your own rules, and it looks like they're tired of taking turns, too!

"Okay, okay!" I shout. "My bad! Heck, even somepony as dense as me should know by now that true love always finds a way. I'm not here to cheat anybody's happy endings. Except... it's not, is it? Nothing ever ends. Endings are supposed to be new beginnings, not the same beginning."

The dragonfire finally died down, revealing a half-melted glacier which shatters to reveal... yep, yours truly!

"Oh, come on!" bellowed Spike. "I swear to birch..."

"Swear to me!" I snarled.

And Spike actually grinned and said, "You have Batmare Begins in your universe too, huh?"

Rarity fumed, grinding her fangs. "Spikey-Wikey, would you kinda stop arguing with the mad goddess and end this? She's obviously beyond reasoning with."

AJ, Pinkie Pie, 'Shy, Cadence, Shining Armor, Luna, Celestia and the rest crowd me for another beat down and I know what the moon feels like after a meteor storm.

"I'm so sick and tired of having to face ponies with my friends' faces!"

Dangit! Signal already! Didn't want to have to pull out this trick! Here's a reminder, I'm not bound by just three dimensions, which means a part of me can slip out while looking like I'm all still here like a 3-D being butting in on some 2-D world's business.

I grab Applejack. "Hey, AJ! You and me! We'll be back in about 0.1 seconds for the rest of you!"

And I pull at Applejack... I do the trick you saw Rota Fortuna do with Apple Bloom in that world that was such a mess... except instead of being able to just perceive my domain that overlaps with her reality... I pull her awareness beyond existence... into the cold. Me guiding her every moment of the way.

"W-What is all..." Applejack's brain struggles to process what she's seeing, she's used to the impossible, or so she tells herself, there's always something more freaky you don't know about, take it from me!

I drag her along, place her perception in a bubble of normal reality... pulling at her soul just a bit... And she sees Oblivion. The infinite black sky, the infinite frozen ash... and the empty ghosts of ponies... standing around, moving, walking, waiting for forever to end...

"Welcome to the great cosmic dustbin, where they keep all the stuff that doesn't have a past anymore."

"What the heck is with the horizon!" Alicorn AJ demanded, I think her semi-divine state is how I was able to pull this off at all.

"When they call something an infinite plane of existence, mortal brains have a real hard time grasping the 'infinite' part."

"Those are... what are they? They're ponies, dragons, yaks, diamond dogs -HUMANS?!"

"This place is peaceful, but it isn't happy. It might not be sad, but there's no sunshine in this place." I flew her past countless empty replicas of Ponyville, 13.7 billion light years apart from each other. I landed at the one that mattered most to me.

Rarity... my Rarity... or at least her shadow... looked up at me.

"Hello Rainbow Dash! Nice for you to visit us again! Must be busy being a GODDESS! Oh and you brought a friend! Princess Applejack! Meet Applejack who never was! Be sure to see the Sea of Chaos while you're here! Along with the herds of empty shadow, memories, and choices without souls and without hearts... that would be us! There are ... SO MANY of us... but a few of us get to become real again somehow some day... so that makes everything worthwhile right?"

"Like those nature shows that focus on the one dog that lives, while the rest of the pack dies, and treats the whole thing like a happy success story!" Pinkie Pie's shadow cheered. Alicorn Applejack shuddered.

"I'm sorry," I said, I'd seen them before since becoming a goddess... and they weren't happy that I couldn't raise them up out of nothingness with a gesture.

"What's to be sorry about Rainbow Dash? Darling, it's not like we can suffer: like if the howling emptiness within is more unbearable than the torments of Tartarus itself, making us mad with hunger to consume the delicious and delectable light of existence of any whole soul we lay eyes on."

C.Applejack realized how all the shadows were looking at her... like she was a diver in a cage underwater, but it wasn't to protect the sharks!

The shadows of Fluttershy, AJ, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, the Tiaras, Derpy, Apple Pie and the rest... all began to gather around us, and around C.Applejack. My Applejack's shadow looked at C.AJ with a memory of envy.

"Yo! Princess! I'm here! You ready!"

"I am here as you can see,
If you consider this a 'here' to be."

Applejack's jaw fell away from her face. I told you I did my research on the cyclist worldlines.

"But... but you're... that's not... HOW?!"

"Applejack you are not all brawn,
you know that that nothing is ever truly gone.
Though this place where we're less than ghosts,
does indeed come very close. "

And I pulled Applejack back... and like sharks following blood in the water... they came. This is what happens when you have a universe with no limitations, and any world's rules can be brought in, it means ALL the different rules.

0.1 seconds from what it seemed to the rest, Applejack gasped and panted. "Ah... Ah saw 'er... Ah saw 'em! It's... it's..."

"There is no need to hold back!
Troops! Attack!"

The shadow of Princess Zecora broke through into the real world. The first time Zecora became an Alicorn, she had NOT been cycling, so her shadow faded into Oblivion. An entire tidal wave of shadows came crashing after her, forming from the point where I'd let AJ touch Oblivion and left the scent of existence for the sharks to follow. But these shadows weren't faceless monsters...

They were the ponies of Ponyville. Of Canterlot, Fillydelphia, and Manehattan... yak and Diamond Dog... the griffons of Griffonstone, or the Griffon Kingdom or the Griffon Empire, whichever one had been real that cycle. All of the beings who WEREN'T cycling, multiplied by all the cycles Equestria had been through. A trillion, trillion forgotten and lost souls.

"How dare you treat dear Starlight like that!" A shadow of Trixie did an imitation of a snarl. Who was nodded to by a shadow of Sunburst. Both giving a death rush straight at C. Trixie.

The rest of the Alicorns were shocked, alright... shocked and scared, staring at something that challenged everything they knew and understood. Titanic blasts of every color and element and description went flying, even more than what they'd hurled at me... blasting the entire shadow army back to Oblivion in a burst that might have outshone the Big Bang.

...


I'm sorry Princess Zecora. I should have seen that coming. The Alicorns and all the rest were still panting in shock. Me? ... I felt like the world's newest blind idiot goddess. What right did I have to drag my friends into this?

"That was one creepy jump scare," Pinkie Pie said.

"YOU BIG BULLIES!" One of the smock wearing Scootaloos shouted at them.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Shining Armor demanded.

I didn't know how much of what I said would actually stick, but if we were speaking, we weren't fighting.

"Like I said, the life cycle of the universe isn't a cycle at all. It's a spiral. I ... I can see it now... so many universes... Heaven and Hell have souls within them from ... there is literally no number that mortal brains have invented to count how many universes back those souls come from. In Hell, when they say ETERNAL damnation, they're not joking. And in Heaven... eternal true happiness is no joke. And Fauna Luster... the lesser Concepts come and go as each universe runs different rules.

"But the ponies who aren't in your little club, the ones who disappear at the end of every cycle? They don't get to go to Heaven or Hell. They're gone, erased. They never existed, and what Applejack just saw was the place where they've been piling up all this time.

"Part of being a true goddess is that you never forget, and you just hurt some friends of mine."

"You started it!"

"Yeah... I brought'em here, right into your crosshairs." It's hard to keep a lid on my anger. I feel my power welling up, coating my feathers, hooves, and horn in a hard-edged glittering light. Then I give'em both barrels. "You know what I think? I think you've let yourselves become empty vessels of power. You wanna see power for power's sake? You want to see what happens when you throw out the rules about power's limits? You want to know what it's like to become a goddess? There isn't any great shining celestial throne of Loyalty. There's just me.

"No power ceiling... means I doesn't have any limits. Undo all limiters!" I shout, making it up as I go, doing some Pony Rangers poses. "Code word: Saitama!"

The ones that have read enough Hub World fiction to get that reference shudder.

= One Punch Man Theme =

I punch Princess Luna... she's launched light years. I proceed to pow, kick, smack, and buck like a comet, smashing through barriers, and seeing through Trixie's illusions like they aren't even there (she's no Anasi) and make sure to double punch the couples... I sent them all flying, knocking them dizzy. They are COMPLETELY confused and shocked now, they're buzzing like a swarm now.

"Come on! I can do this for eternity!" I do my best super-villain laugh.

Actually this thing is a mana guzzler, and I've only got one trick left after this baby! And it's over. Kaput. And this whole thing becomes a wash.

I threw a punch, titan-sized Spike caught it... and it pulverized every bone in his arm, he tried to do a kick with a similar result for him. Spike blew his dragon breath, I showed him just what siren magic with limits removed feels like.

The next thing I say... I have to admit... I meant every word. Even as they began to transfer all their power to physical strength and reaction to match my punches. Creating shockwaves I'm sure they felt several galaxies over.

"You know... Dash? I never got to be a Wonderbolt. The dream for me never came true, and got replaced with nightmares. But seeing you here wearing that right now?... I'd rather have one chance and blow it, then have a million chances that don't actually mean a thing!"

Shining Armor kicked me in the face, one of my teeth went flying.

-

"FOUND YOU!" Urd declared triumphantly, as she pulled back a panel and revealed Ratatoskr inside, playing with the wires.

"Uh... hi?" said Ratatoskr. He blew a raspberry to the goddess of the past, and for his trouble he got zapped several ways from Sunday by every Norse God imaginable.

-

Ick! Rainbow Butt! I'm out! Sorry! Was fun!

Uh-oh. Without that distraction, the Admins would be free to come down on my head like a ton of bricks. Things aren't looking good!

The Scootaloo Army wasn't doing too hot either... they'd already destroyed more ships than the Empire of Man, the Lensmare Corps, and the Galactic Empire had ever had over their entire histories from beginning to end. But the Cyclist CMC still had plenty more where that came from, and they still had a Draconequus to fight too. By now they were playing defense, and covering each other's backs. I gave my angels as much of my power over our link as they could handle without exploding. But everything begins to wear thin by the time you've destroyed your 108th Death Star and played Death Mare's Volley with your one millionth Extermintus missile.

I was bloody, dirty, but what actually made me feel filthy was punching Celestia. Spike hated Discord for this in the Library during Discord's rampage. The Power Ponies hate whenever this happens to them. I'm hating this right now.

Fate, I know you're listening, please, don't make me fight my friends or versions or clones of my friends ever again. Please, I just want this over with.

I kept sending them flying like comets only for them to teleport back. I unleashed blast that would be seen by distant galaxies in several million years, overwhelming one of Fluttershy's horn blasts. Trixie and Chrysalis combine their magics to annihilate me, the nanosecond before it hits I teleport right in their faces and use changeling magic to force feed them both enough love to leave them spinning.

After I sent Pinkie Pie flying with a buck that made me feel sick to my stomach, the dragon and the griffon and the changeling queen and all the Alicorns lined up in formation.

The Alicorns and Dragon did a dance ... and I'd read enough Dragon Eggs Z to know what it was.

"FUUUUUUSION-HA!"

The resulting flash was like a miniature Big Bang. Again.

The result... was a bright glowing, purest of pure white Alicorn/Ryujin hybrid... her/his entire body burning bright, with a rainbow aura around them, her/his eyes the purest blue that shined brighter than the strongest stars. The amount of power inside this being was enough to destroy and create the universe if it wanted.

"Isn't Fusion Dance supposed to be limited to five at a time?" I heard myself say.

"Potara Earrings!" A united chorus of voices spoke, that made the cosmos quiver.

"WE WILL DEFEAT YOU!" In the next nanosecond, I was punched through a galaxy... hitting a few planet and stars along the way. I don't react as they appear the way I'd been sent soaring, and hit me again, and I go through another galaxy, and they repeat it, over and over, and I respond as much as a rag doll.

"DASH!" I hear Scootaloo shout at the top of her lungs.

Then, I get the message I'd been waiting for.

"''Bout done Rainbow."

Finally.

I said to the rainbow titan, "No... you won't... because it's over."

"The admins told us already about Discord's lackey that you duped into this! They've caught him! Your scheme is done!"

"I was the distraction... and Ratatoskr was the decoy. And I'm only telling you this, cause even if you use time travel, there's literally no way you can stop what's about to happen." I wheeze through a shattered rib cage. "Do you really think... Ratatoskr could ever do what needed to be done? That he could heal Yggdrasil?"

The Ultimate Perfect Alicorn's eyes widened in shock and alarm, rage, then overwhelming fear. So that was the look on Sauron's face when he realized the Ring was inside Mount Doom.

I said kindly, "It's time, my little ponies."

The rainbow titan forgot about me completely, not even sparing time for an insult. And I was looking forward to telling them to watch their language, oh well. The Admins wouldn't make it in time... not when Skuld accident shut the door on them, and made a very long string of apologizes to the rest of her family.

The rainbow titan moved faster than the concept of speed itself, tearing through reality towards where they knew and understood in their 'infinite' knowledge and wisdom had to be what was about to happen, happen. They ripped a HOLE in the universe, to jump straight to Yggdrasil's heart itself.

There... they found Princess Progress. She'd always said she'd grow into it, and here she was, a young Alicorn mare wearing plain old blue denim overalls and orange-tinted goggles. Her mane, glowing with all the colors of a bright new sunrise, was tied up in a ponytail to keep it out of her way. She hummed the Pony Pokey, cheerfully absorbed in her work.

On one layer of perception, she was fixing up circuit boards and wires too complex for any mortal brain to take in, reprogramming and debugging and restoring lost data at a skill and speed that none had ever seen. On another perception layer, she was carefully and gently untangling the branches and roots of a tree that reached all worlds, and all possibilities past and present. On yet another world layer... she’s just finished applying iodine and bandages, and setting bones and regenerating muscle for an Alicorn mare with one mechanical wing. True Princess Apple Bloom reached into her toolbox and took out the final band-aid and placed it on the mare's knee, the last injury... it looked like a snake bite. And she began to lean up to kiss the boo-boo to make it go away.

The rainbow titan reached for her.

In a flash of teleportation... Big Mac appeared... or rather, PRINCE Big Mac... between True Princess Apple Bloom and the rainbow titan. He could have put on fancy golden shoes and a tiara, or any kind of fancy barding he wanted, and there he was, an Alicorn Prince and still wearing his harness from the farm.

In the royal Canterlot Voice he shouted, "ENOUGH ALREADY!"

My jaw would have hit the floor, if there was a floor. "You. You're..."

Big Mac jabbed a big unshod hoof at me. "Ya need to stop pickin' fights and shooting your big mouth off, Miss Dash." He glared over his shoulder at the massive, combined form of all his friends. "And ya all oughta pipe down and listen when somepony shows up and offers to help. Or was she right, sayin' y'all didn't really want this party to ever end?"

He snorts, calming down before he Hulks out, on top of him being an Alicorn. "Sorry folks. Ah just figured it needed ta be said."

The titan hesitated. "Ah'm sorry too," she spoke, AJ's voice coming out clearest in the chorus.

Now. I light my horn and separate out the rainbow titan into all of its individual parts, gently as I can... no more Alicorns except for Celestia, Luna, and Cadence. I created an air and heat bubble around them, and flat ground for them to stand on. The Cyclist CMC popped into the bubble as well, three mere mortal fillies without their planet-busting arsenal or their cutie marks.

They looked at themselves in shock and confusion. Prince Big Mac, still an Alicorn, looked at me in surprise, then at his friends and family. "You... ya coulda done that... anytime ya wanted."

"Yggdrasil would have just reset everything to protect you, if Praegressus hadn't repaired it first, but yeah I could've..." I panted, and and heal my body back into shape. "And I'd have had to fight Thor's entire kick-flank family ready to kick mine and I don't want to be in the same space/time continue as Odin ready to crush me into cider.

"Breaking cycles is literally what I am, what I was born for. I don't so much 'call it' as 'hold it back'. What? Did you think I was just some beefed-up self-important knows-nothing-know-it-all?"

Big Mac snorted. "Like Ah said, ya could've fooled us."

"Look, I'm sorry! I had to play up the role of the bad guy."

"But no matter which of ya was right," Big Mac gave his friends and family a stern look, "... this whole thing... it ain't worth hurtin' ponies over..."

Princess Progress pushed her googles onto her forehead and wiped a spot of grease off her cheek with a levitating cloth, not even noticing us. "Whew!" On that other layer of reality, she kissed Fate's booboo, healing it. "There, all better!" Fate hugged the young Alicorn, who was happy to hug her right back.

EQUESTRIA WORLDLINE NOW AT 100% INTEGRITY. DISENGAGING SAFE MODE AND RESUMING NORMAL OPERATIONS. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.

Now fully healed and restored, Twilight shouted. "You mean, you were just BUYING TIME that entire fight?! You were just stringing us along?!"

"Yeah, no fun when somepony isn't fighting fair one way or the other is it?" I said... I... I was so tired now... I just wanted to rest... I had all these big speeches planned.... But... it didn't feel like it mattered so much anymore. "Kind of a joke... it was Age of Dreams Dash who was the most happy, and she didn't even know it... and these super epic ultra cool fights... what's the point of them?" I rambled. So tired. "You're all good ponies, griffins, dragons, draconequi."

The former Cyclists were all panicking.

Skuld walked into the room Fate and Princess Progress were in. "Don't worry, I'll make sure things go okay..."

I bowed to my elder and greater (like all of Thor's family in term of seniority). "Goddess Skuld... thank you for helping..."

"I'm just happy I could help Yggdrasil be healed at long last." She stroked the back of the Alicorn's mane, Fate nuzzled the future.

"Hey... Big Mac... I kinda gotta..."

"Go ahead... now that Ah know, Ah'll earn it back in no time, if Ah reckon Ah want it..."

My horn flickered as I stop pushing back against my own power around Big Mac... and he became an earth pony stallion as I teleported him into the bubble.

"There's already a worldline where I never showed up, all I did was build an off-ramp for this freeway going in circles. And since it's in circles... there will always be a choice now... for any willing to take it."

With that... I was done... kaput, my body fell under its own weight in the weightless void of space, I was done asking how that worked. I just wanted to rest.

Scootaloo, my little fillies... that flew around me, and grunted as they lifted me up.

"You girls... gotta explain... what got in yer heads to come along here..." I said, resting my eyes a little.

Scootaloo #1 smiled. "We all love you dumb divine big sister! What other reason do we need?!"

And I was hugged 171,015 times, and it wasn't boring.

See ya around... I need some sleep...

-

"It seems you have undone this crash...
Thank you Princess Rainbow Dash."

"Princess Zecora?"

"Today I will say,
Is a good day."

-

Epilogue:

Twilight Sparkle Awoke... for the last time.

She blinked slowly, taking in the peaceful Canterlot park, and the book that lay before her, the one with the legend of the Alicorn sisters that she'd woken up to so many times before.

"There you are, Twilight!" said Twinkleshine brightly. "Moon Dancer is having a little get-together in the west castle courtyard. You wanna come?"

Twilight hesitated. "Um... sure!" She smiled. "I just have to catch up on some studying first."

Twinkleshine sighed, already trotting away. "Does that pony do anything except study? I think she's more interested in books than friends."

"What do you think that crazy announcement was?" Lemon Hearts asked. "'Walkers of the Endless wheel?' Did they mean like Princess Celestia?"

"Know anypony else who's immortal?" Minuette asked.

"Those coordinates were weird, they just led to the middle of the ocean. Maybe it was an invite by the seaponies?"

"I heard a whole buncha ponies from Ponyville vanished for a few minutes and popped right back. Moondancer wants to find out what went on."

Twilight Sparkle flicked her ears, hearing quick footsteps.

"Twilight!" shouted Spike, dashing across the lawn to her on stubby little baby dragon legs. "Are you alright?"

Twilight frowned thoughtfully, confirming her fears. "It's all gone, Spike. My pocket, the powers, the ability to become an Alicorn... I mean, I know how to get there from here, but..." She hoof-shrugged. "It's gonna take a while."

Spike grinned suddenly. "I'm not sure I'd say that ALL our powers are gone." He got down on all fours, grunting as he grew bigger, stronger, more mature. He made it up to the size of a pony stallion before he flopped on his side, gasping for air.

"Spike!" exclaimed Twilight. "You did that with your baseline power, just on the strength of your desire for Rarity? Pretty impressive!"

The teenaged dragon chuckled. "Well, yeah, I don't want there to be any awkward questions when me and Rarity start dating again." He froze. "Unless... we're going to do this baseline. Please say we're not."

Twilight made a sour face. "Birch... no... no, I think I'm done with blindly revering trees for a while. Buck that nonsense. We can do better... while our foreknowledge holds out, at least."

Spike pumped a fist. "Yes!"

Twilight levitated a parchment and quill over to her much bigger number one assistant. "Ready to start a new checklist, Spike?"

Spike shifted his weight to free up his foreclaws. "All set!"

"Apologize to Moondancer for leaving her party early due to official royal business."

"Check!"

"Go speak to Princess Celestia."

"Check!"

"Take the train to Ponyville and arrange everything for Luna's welcome home party. We can go fetch the Elements the next day. We'd better let Discord out before he gets antsy, too."

"Check, check, and check!" Spike scratched the new green scales on his chin that resembled a goatee. "So, you don't want to play any awesome, epic pranks?"

Twilight laughed. "Whatever we do from now on, we have to live with the consequences of it. So no, Spike. No more pranks."

"Telegram!" called a voice from the sky.

Spike and Twilight looked at each other, confused and slightly alarmed. That wasn't in the script! Had they fallen into another fused cycle after all?

An orange filly in a delivery outfit descended towards them. Stitched beautifully on the foreleg sleeve was the number 300,010. The filly hoofed a note to the dragon, then shot off into the sky.

"Scoota-?! She's gone?" Spike looked at Twilight. "I'm guessing that wasn't our Scootaloo."

"Obviously." Twilight did a quick scan, but the note was just a note, nothing more.

Spike began to read,
"'Dear Spike and Twilight:
First Spike, Garble underestimated you and Ember trusted you because you were a 'harmless' baby dragon who couldn't possibly be a threat. Now you'll be their rival. Don't botch this... Ember needs to learn about friendship and EARN that sceptre.'

'Don't think you can totally chill out, just because Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Chrysalis are all reformed ex-cyclers. That might be a baaaad idea. Just sayin'!'

You might have a little trouble at first, getting the Elements to bond with you without a dramatic crisis. Don't panic, and remember what those Elements represent. I'm not sabotaging you. You're big fillies, I'm sure you'll figure it out!

In the Carousel Boutique, Rarity was reading a telegram of her own. "'It was the shock of nearly being part of another failed boutique, and then your kindness for showing her a better way that let Sassy Saddles become wiser and stronger.

If you'd rejected bringing Plaid Stripes on board, her own career wouldn't have gotten off the ground.'

= Twice Upon a Time - Twice Upon a time =

'Growth is a journey, not an end result. Mistakes aren't just part of YOUR growth. I've seen a 'perfect' world without mistakes, it wasn't pretty. Twice upon a time doesn't mean you redo everything and avoid your mistakes, it means accepting your mistakes happened, everypony learning from them, and moving forward.'

Rarity smiled, adjusting her reading glasses. "My word, doesn't she ever stop rambling?"

'P.S. Nice quip there Rarity.'

-

I bet that stuff sounds sappy, but sappy works for us ponies.

Rarity's letter ended there, but Twilight's had more to say...

-
'This part is super important! See, I underlined it twice and everything! Sunset Shimmer will Awaken in three years, right *after* you blast her with the power of Harmony. Your human friends *need* to become friends again and find their magic to beat the Sirens and everything else that's coming. I know it sucks but *follow the baseline* in the human world this one last time. If I find out you shortcutted things by putting the mirror in the ceiling of a dungeon cell or something, I swear I'll pound you, and I don't care what Odin and Sleipnir have to say about it!'

'Yours best, Princess Rainbow Dash. Good luck on living again. I suggest playing some roguelikes to get over not being able to save-state reality anymore.'

While Twilight Sparkle stood lost in her own thoughts, Spike read the letter over again, drumming his claws. "Wait. Did Rainbow Dash just write *you* a checklist?"

Twilight smiled. "These truly are the end times. Figuratively speaking, of course! Come on, Spike! We've got a lot to do today."

'Enjoy having life's challenges back! If I could feel regret, I'd envy you. Goodnight, Egg-Head!'