The Beginning of the End [Closed]

Cross came to a sudden stopped, kicking up a storm of dirt and turning his fearful gaze towards the others. He sighed, they wanted answers, and by Luna, he at leasted owed them that....dammit, no they didn't but he'd give them anyway

"It's....Luna's School for Unicorns, tommorow's the Littlehorn Massacre!!! The genocide, the war, the beginning of the end!!! We have to get over there, just maybe....we can do something....." Cross tried to plead with them,

"You have to trust me on this! I know what we need to do, I've studied this history time...and time again, and I have a plan"

This was a rare moment, ....maybe the spell would actually allow them to change the past, as Cross always imagined, A single pony in the right place.....at the right time....can make a difference, ...and win a War.

Techno skidded to a stop when Cross proposed his plan. "Wait, you want to cause a time paradox and prevent the war?" he asked in disbelief. "I'm not against that, but you do know that if we succeed, we'll never have existed, right?" he said, expressing his concerns about self-preservation.

Littlehorn Massacre? Kes had heard about that once, quite a nasty battle. Some kind of school getting flooded by that pink cloud stuff by some zebra radical after a zebra refugee convoy got shot to pieces.

And here Kes thought that Red Eye's propaganda would never come in handy.

That self-righteous bigot loved to preach about how he would heal Equestria and the mistakes of the past, the massacre at Littlehorn was a fan favorite. Or so he said, Kes had started ignoring the damn broadcasts after the first few weeks.

Now he was glad he still remembered a few of them.

Techno presented a valid point however.

"Tech's got a point. We can't go changin' the past like this." Kes said, still keeping up with the group.

What the fuck, he wanted to change the past. "Wait if we go through this, we won exist anymore." Sky pondered the question, was he really that crazy enough to do this.

"Who said anything about *changing* the past?" Cross glared at them.... "We have a rare opportunity here to do alot better, ....and really? you guys care more for yourselves than every single scream and cry of the wasteland?" Cross was seriously embittered with some of these ponies....

"What is going to happen, WILL happen, we cannot change the past, but maybe....I can find something to our salvations."

Scrap jaw dropped when Cross told them when they were, at first he agreed with Cross about changing the past but then the fact that if they did they wouldn't exist caught up to him.

"So if we can't change the past, and prevent the war, why are we going there? What could you possibly find at the soon to be site of a massacre that could help us?"

Sky just stayed silent at the thought of Cross, put out. And what Scrap has told, this is some really fucked up shit they are in. "If it helps, i guess im in."

"You might not change anything Red, but what about Grey Mane. He wasn't with us when we woke." Kes rumbled out. Well isn't today just wonderful. Kes wakes up with a bunch of ponies he barely knows/trusts, finds a megaspell, gets knocked out twice, thrown into the past, and now he is going to have to try and preserve the balance of time by doing...something in some town he barely knew anything about, and he was having to listen to Cross talk again.

"Fucking ponies..." Kes grumbled mentally. Why couldn't they learn to adapt to their situation instead of clinging to the past like a babe to its mothers teat.

At least Cross understood that the past was locked in. Kes knew that fact well enough. The past was like stone it can either be used to build a foundation for the future, or it can drag you down to the bottom of the sea without warning.

Starry had been listening closely, and thinking deeply. As much as she loved this place, the green grass and Celestia's sun hanging in the blue sky, it wasn't her Equestria. Saving these ponies from their mistakes, as much as she would like to, would mean sacrificing the lives of every single pony in her own world, and Starry couldn't rightfully ask that sacrifice of them.

There was one, though, who was apparently willing to sacrifice all of the ponies in the wastes. Starry had misjudged Gray Mane. He wasn't just some grumpy old grandpa trying to make the wastes a better place, he was actively trying to destroy it!

"We have to stop him! No good can justify a genocide of this scale!" Starry declared, "and if possible, we've got to find a way back."

Zestari went cold when Cross mentioned their destination. This was it, the point where the war escalated into the brutal unforgiving conflict that would go on to destroy the world.

She'd never been convinced that anything born of the stars was evil, and thus didn't have a hatred of Luna. but she knew that her belief was in the minority.

As for Cross’ plan, she wasn't entirely sure what to do. Playing with time seemed a very dangerous thing to her. But on the other hoof, if they could prevent the horrible atrocities that were to come it would be worth it, even if that meant the cessation of their own existence. A few lives for the fate of the world. None of the other ponies of the future would even know, they would just cease to exist, or be born into drastically different circumstances. If that was indeed how time worked. She remained quiet as she considered things.

She also moved up into the middle of the group as much as possible, terrified at the prospect of an armed group of Equestrian soldiers showing up, and slaughtering her on the spot.

"I hadn't thought about Gray Mane...Starry's right though we need to stop him... although either way we assist in a genocide..." Scrap said to the group. "It may be cruel but we have to stop Grey Mane from changing anything-if we have to cause a genocide, I'd prefer it to be the one that results with us existing."

Shutter was completely silent when he heard what Cross and the others were saying, the concept racing in his head of what it sounded like Grey Mane's plan was...

He knew that, if this war was stopped, then the wasteland wouldn't exist and Equestria might return to this! Green Grass, clear skies, and actual communities that didn't have to live in fear of Raiders or Slavers!

...But...this was time travel...if they stopped it, and ceased to exist...then how could they exist to stop it? If the wastelands never exists, then Grey mane would never have to come back to remove them (If he even still existed at all!)

Agh! The concept was making his head hurt! And with a grunt of pain, he continued to chanse after the group. Not sure what the right thing to do was...

Cross stared at them...."Guys, we AREN'T changing anything" (insert facehoof here)

"And I'm still shocked you would pick your own lives over that of all of Equestria....come on, you aren't that important, whether we interfere or NOT, it WILL happen, all we can do is what we can, but under no circumstances do you CAUSE THE MASSACRE!!! undersand.....? It'll happen on its own, no need for anypony to carry that weight.....Even if somehow Grey Mane came back here, he can't change the past anymore than we could"

Cross’s path to the School soon took the group into town, it was faster than going around. Zestari stayed in the middle of the group, cloak obscuring here, and nopony managed to spot her as the group moved through the town.

However, the unicorns in the group felt a strange....energy, in the air. It felt a lot like the energy emitted by the megaspell before it activated, almost exactly like it in fact. Except...it wasn’t. The energy felt wrong, twisted, corrupted. Like it’s changed somehow. Whatever it means, it can’t be any good.

Starry stopped in her tracks. "Do you ponies feel that? It feels... wrong. Not like, 'I don't like how that feels' wrong, but like, 'this is violating the fundamental forces of physics' wrong." Starry began trotting, cautiously. She was hoping that the other ponies were heeding her warning."

If anypony feels like their molecules are being ripped apart at a sub-atomic level, that's probably a result of a massive decay in the strong nuclear force, and you should... well, that's bad. Try not to panic."

Cross started getting dizzy.....He felt a great disturbance....in the friendship.

"Somethings wrong......Theres a megaspell....Its ....unatural" Cross turned to the others,

"The spiral relays are drawing out from the surrounding land as a catalyst, whatever the buck is going on its going on now! Whatever this is....it shouldn't be happening!!"

The energy seemed to be...drawing itself into a large sphere, about 10 feet wide, inside a small, nearby house. The group could feel the ground quake as the energy intensified, becoming visible as a crackling blue sphere if light. The house cracked and ripped as the forces of the sphere teared it apart, ponies screaming as they ran away from the light. The light from the sphere continued to intensify, becoming painful to look at (Especially for Kestrel) as the remaining wood began to bend and twist around the sphere. The energy of the sphere began to burn and char the wood around it, before the sphere imploded with a loud CRACK, vanishing as all the energy went inward.

Inside the smoking house there was a large figure, crouched down with its back hunched up. It began to look around, as if it just awoke, and rose to a full height of over ten feet tall. The figure was huge, with powerful looking legs and long, thick arms, each ending in a clawed hand with each finger adorned with a talon that was almost a foot long. The figure’s head lifted up as it smelled the air, before it turned around towards the group and the townsponies. A massive clawed hand reached out of the fire and clasped a twisted wooden board, followed by another, before the behemoth ripped the wood out of the way, giving it a clear opening as it stepped out of the smoke. The moment the wasteland ponies saw the creature, the bulging muscles, the gaunt face, the maw of sharp teeth, their blood ran cold.

They were staring at a Hellhound.

"H-hello!" Starry called to the hellhound. She'd never seen one before, but it looked like a massive, monstrous diamond dog(there were some diamond dogs back in the stable). Starry had heard of hell hounds before, and this seemed to fit the description.

"My name is Starry Night, a-and these are my friends. We're from the wastelands, you know, home, you must have come from there too! Would you like to go back with us? We're stuck here too, but we have a plan to get back!" Starry wasn't totally bluffing. She didn't know how exactly they would get back, but she knew that Gray Mane caused this mess, maybe he'd know how to fix it.

Still, Starry stayed light on her hooves. she hadn't approached the Hellhound, she preferred to shout from a safe distance, but she was prepared to turn tail and run at the first sign of hostility.

Shutter just...stared at the massive beast for a few seconds...what WAS this thing? It almost looked like a diamond dog from back in the stable, but...different...

Slowly, the pony stepped a little bit forwards, to the front of the group...sure this thing looked like it could easily cleave him in two...but if it WAS a diamond dog...maybe he could make peace?

However, before he could even say anything, Starry started talking, and he shrunk back, trying to think fo something to say as his original greeting flew out the window...probably for the best though, since he only really had 'Hello, who are you?' down at the time...

Instead, he tried to add to what Starry had said, hoping he could help the two of them sound persuasive enough to make this diamond dog(?) NOT try and destroy them.

"Er...Y-yeah! We're looking for two scientists who went and stranded us here too! If we can...well...find them, we can get them to send us all back home!"

Shutter offered, as he slowly shuffled over, next to Starry.

Cross saw Starry and Shutter try to negotiate with the beast....but it was no use, the only one who had that power to send something that massive back through time was Grey Mane....and it was pretty obvious why he would send it someplace back so close to them.....

Cross's heartbeat lept, they were going to attack his friends...his friends? perhaps so, but this wasn't time to debate that. He had to do something.
Cross quickly thought of a plan, he didn't have teleportation, so he was forced to run towards the far side of the behemoth, making sure to keep a safe distance.

"HEY YOU MANGY MUTT!!!!" The outline of Cross's mask blazed out and and a flame spat out, Cross shot straight up into the sky as far as he could muster with his magic, a fiery fountain of flames to attract attention

"Tell Grey Mane that the Specking Twilight Society Sends their regards!!!" the metallic wail ringing into the surrounding area, shaking glass and gravel alike. Cross hoped that got his attention, if he was right....and this thing was here to 'erase' them, then Starry and Shutter would be defenseless if it came to a fight, but Cross was a much father reach, and he would have to turn to come get him...

Working on that knowledge, Cross spat out another flame into the air to attract attention and then ran into the back of a nearby house.... If the the hound came after him, odds were itd have to lower its head to not trip or even bring down the whole building.....He needed a confined area....

As the group went further into the town, Zestari became increasingly worried about being spotted.

What would happen if the equestrians captured her? Would they lock her up in an internment camp? Or would they realise she was from the future and torture her for information? Or would she be executed as a spy? Would any of the future change?

Fortunately she was dragged from her ruminating by the abrupt appearance of the hulking taloned beast of a Hellhound that had just appeared in front of the group. She'd never seen one before, but tales of those monstrosities travelled around the wasteland. Her eyes went wide in fear. We're all going to die.

As Starry and Shutter pushed to the front of the group trying to talk the beast, Zestari was going in the opposite direction and slowly reversed away from the beast. When Cross decided to taunt it, all she could do was gasp in surprise.

What could they do? They had to try and protect the citizens! But they also had to help Cross escape! But then there was also the likely possibility that somepony would raise the alarm and the army wouldn't be far off.

She frowned. What to do?!

"What the fuck." Sky muttered to herself, as her eyes went the widest they ever been. a Hellhound, A dam hellhound out of nowhere.

A hellhound. There was a hellhound right in front of them-one of the wastelands most deadly creations. And Cross had decided to piss it off.

Sighing, Scrap reversed his course and backed away from the hellhound, slowly drawing his lightning pistol out.

I knew it was gonna get worse.

To avoid being completely blinded by the light Kes clamped his eyes shut and turned away from the crackling energy field. It worked a bit, but still the bird had to blink a few times to regain the focus and clarity his vision once had.

And the first thing he saw was a Hellhound. And Cross was yelling at it.

"Red, I'm going to hurt you after this." Kes thought to himself as he watched the supposedly intelligent unicorn insult one of the deadliest creatures in the wasteland.

Even the gryphon knew that when you saw a Hellhound you either ran, or you hid and hoped the damn thing hadn't seen you; or you could try killing it if you had the firepower to back it all up. They were big, strong, tough son's a bitches. Literally.

Kes's mind ran over his inventory, thinking of what he could do if this thing decided it didn't like being yelled at. Only thing he had that could possibly deal damage was his sniper rifle and his hunting rifle. The Sniper rifle being the better of the two.

Kes locked his cold hard gaze onto that of the Hellhound's, staring it down with all the icy calm he could muster. Then, slowly so as not to spook the beast, he carefully began to back away. He would have to put distance between himself and the Hellhound if he wanted to start dealing some damage.

"Uh, Cross didn't mean that! You don't look mangy in the slightest! In fact, I think you look very charming. Such powerful looking claws, rippingly powerful muscles, why, you're the very definition of handsome!" Starry said, trying her best to flatter him.

"And don't worry about those silly accusations being flung at you, why, I don't think your at all an accomplice in what's been going on here! You must be just as confused as we are, but we're willing to help you get back!"