Everfree Forest Phenomenal Cosmic Power! (Closed - SteelEagle, BrianBlackberry, Imagination)

[SteelEagle]

Her mom was such a worry wart! So much worrying that when she was older she would get warts and who wanted warts? They made you look ugly and ugly ponies were villains in books and the pretty ponies were the heroes! Well, most of the time. Sometimes the trend was bucked but in this case her mommy was already very pretty so she should probably be the hero. Unless she was the type of mom who gave her daughter the sort of chores that moms sometimes give that made them super villains, like cleaning their room or making their bed. That was mean. So maybe she was a villain. But probably not because she made cookies and rarely was somepony who could make cookies a real villain. So she was probably a cute hero who needed to be th best mommy of all time. These things worked together pretty well she thought!

“Mama, don't worry! Flighty the Butterfly just was being really silly!” Pathfinder chirped pleasantly as she forgot all about Flighty and glided on towards her momma, burying her head in her mom's lucious mane. Everything was just about perfect I Pathfinder world, after all. Mommy was here, Aunt Trixie, that strange alicorn who was all over aunt trixie, and that creepy voice in her head that told her to lose more of whatever she was before. Huh. What was she losing? That weird scratching at the back of her head was starting to vanish. Whatever it was it wasn't as important as how much she loved her mom. It was then that Trixie used the last wish and Pathfinder felt a strange sense of...organization. And concern. Responsibility, or at least as much as she could stomach. Still buried in her mother's mane, Pathfinder's voice took on a concerned tone: “Mom, does anything seem strange to you?”

Meanwhile, all Twilight could feel was a strange absence- Trixie went withouther! No! No No no no NO NO NO NO NO no no no no no no no NO NO NO NO No No no no NO NO NO NO NO no no no no no no no! Twilight desperately knocked against the lamp, pushing it on its side, at the point of tears! “No! No! Not without me!”

“...Besides that?”

[Imagination]

"Wait, what?!"

 

Oh darn... There she went asking Pathfinder to be more careful and she just wasted their last wish in doing so! And now she was going away!

 

"Wait, NO! TRIXIE!" But it was too late, into the lamp she went. Now she had to find them some other way to fix this. At least they were out of the cave. That dark, dangerous cave... And into the even darker, more dangerous forest. 

 

But all that seemed a faint memory once Pathfinder returned, the mare visibly calming as the filly got herself comfortable in her mane. Though with Pathfinder being close by now, she could focus on other things a bit better! She wasn't so clouded with worry and a need to care for her with her within hoof's reach. Just as she was getting to pondering their situation again, Trailblazer's ears perked to her young's question, looking on to the frantic Twilight and the lamp. She heaved a sigh, giving the enamored alicorn a disapproving glare. "For Celestia's sake, Princess, you're embarrassing yourself" A bit of the former stallion's personality slipping through, thanks to just a slight moment of clarity.

 

"Strange...?"

 

As much as she hated to admit it, now that she was in this mindset, nothing felt... right. 

"Very, honey. I think we need to get the genie back out... I don't have anymore wishes, but that was an accident... I think you and the Princess do!" she noted with a smile, bringing herself and the filly to the alicorn/vase pairing. A match made in heaven, if you believed Twilight's current disposition.

[brianblackberry]

To the casual observer, the impossibly enormous world contained inside the bottle could only be described as a paradise.  Trixie could see no edge, no wall, no barrier on the distant horizon in any direction, just blue sky, distant mountains, and endless forests.  Equally as amazing was the magnificent castle she stood outside of; the facades were colorful streaked marble adorned with jewels, with immense spires capped in gold rising high above.  Indeed, the buildings easily dwarfed the castle of Canterlot or the Spire of the Crystal Empire.  If that wasn’t enough, the grounds surrounding this monument to magnificence were covered in acres and acres of colorful gardens, huge fountains, crystal clear reflecting pools and pathways shaded from the sun by overhanging trellises of vines and walls of shrubbery.

 

Within the palace it was abound with countless treasures – it was a castle, yes, and it did have tapestries, as well as luxurious furnishings, sculptures, stained glass windows, paintings, priceless vases, thick carpets, and every luxury she could think of.  It was a palace beyond the dreams of the wealthiest and most egocentric of ponies.  The only thing she couldn’t seem to find was a library, where perhaps she could find some ancient tome of rare magical lore.

 

Despite the luxury, though, the castle, and the rest of it, was eerily quiet.  Not only did it lack servants or any other pony – no birdsong twittered in the garden.  No distant bark of a dog broke the silence - only the quiet rustle of the wind in the leaves.  As far as Trixie could tell, she was the only one here.  Perhaps just as disturbing but not immediately obvious was no sense of time.  It only dawned on Trixie after a little while as she wandered the gardens, the shadows never changed, the sun never moved, was it not real?  She wished for it to be darker as then as if on cue, it became dusk. 

 

Trixie blinked, and rose her hoof.  The sun rose.  She lowered it.  The sun set.  She filled her lungs, and blew outwards, and a tremendous wind swept across the forest, bending the trees down.  A wave of her hoof, and thick thunderclouds boiled .  With gestures, she returned the sun and the bright blue sky, then, with no more than a look, swept her eyes across the flowering trees.  In a rippling rustle, the petals fell as the blossoms swelled into thick, lush, ripe fruit, and the tangy aroma of countless rare edibles filled her nostrils.

 

A slow smile spread over her face, a light shone in her eyes.  This was her world, and here she had more power than any mere bookwormish, inexperienced, sheltered, weirdly obsessed lavender princess!

 

Trixie felt like celebrating!   Her horn glowed a blazingly bright lavender, igniting the canopy of the night sky, engulfing it in a continuous cornucopia of brilliant fireworks stretching from horizon to horizon, bathing the ground below in the light of an endless rainbow of brilliant colors.  It was the greatest fireworks show of all time, the greatest display of colorful pyrotechnics anypony had ever had the privilege to witness.

 

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks, there was nopony to witness her show, nopony to watch in awe, no foals to cheer and scream in amazement, no accolades, no applause, just the silent witness of the innumerable trees and mountains.  Trixie was all alone, alone in a world that in the end was a gilded prison, one she suddenly wanted to desperately escape.

[SteelEagle]

Twilight Sparkle caressed the lamp in anything but gentle ways, hard stroking and incessant movement gliding along the length and breadth of it in a panicked yet demonstrably awed manner. All she could consider was why, why, why she had been left behind. Was she not pleasing enough for her Mistress? Was she not pretty enough for her, devoted enough for her? On all the alabaster plains of sorrow hidden behind the aether there was no greater heartbreak and sorrow than hers and in all the raging waters of emotion there was no greater turbulence to be found than in the bubbling madness that was her obsession with genie Trixie. Twilight kept on rubbing the lamp to try and get her genie out, but it wasn't working. Why? WHY?

Well, Pathfinder knew why. She didn't know why she knew, but she knew. You had to not be in a highly emotional state to call out a genie. That was because...they could only answer wishes that were borne out of a clear mind. You could still say or do something silly or undeserving, and a genie didn't want to grant a wish to make the world end simply because a lover found that his or her significant other had been unfaithful. She was sure she read it somewhere but she couldn't quite remember where or how. What she did know was that she didn't want that strange alicorn to make a wish. She was bound to do something really silly with it and as much as Pathfinder thought really silly stuff was the best stuff ever most of the time, today felt a little different.

“Yeah, we need to get it away from her first, momma. If we summon it and she's right there- well, she might use all the wishes in the whole big world on herself and that's selfish and we're supposed to share, ain't that right momma?” Pathfinder asked, knowing the answer even before she asked. She then hovered above the ground and turned to her mom. “Huddle time!” she huddled, “Okay! So! We need to get that away from her. I say we fly over there and totally just snatch it! That would be super cool fun times, right mom? Right? Right?” Pathfinder asked, shaking her mom in excitement. The only thing more exciting than adventuring was adventuring with your momma!

[Imagination]

Trailblazer couldn't help but be concerned for the Princess. Some protective instinct wanted to help her, but she wasn't sure how. They needed the genie!

 

Pathy was right, they had to get the vase away from her! But how...? True, if the genie was summoned she might try to make a wish... But chances are it wouldn't be granted. "Right, sweetie..."

How to get it away...?

 

Many plans played in her head. She thought about simply attempting to restrain the Princess, but she might have some kind of magical freakout and make their situation even worse, or cause her child serious harm!

 

Maybe they could steal it from her? But seeing how attached she is to it, she would very lightly fight for it. As confident as Trailblazer was in her abilities, she didn't want to bring harm to the Princess, nor did she think she'd be able to if Twilight really really fought for it...

 

"Hmm... If we flew off with it, the Princess may fly after us and try to take it back... We don't want to drop it... She looks pretty desperate."

 

She immediately perked up, a happy shimmer in her eyes as she dug through her pack. The smoke bombs! Trailblazer still had a couple she held on to! Dealing with those sapient sappers was far, far too dangerous for her child. She tried not to think about it too much. She was just going to fret. But that doesn't matter now! She took the two remaining bombs out of her pack, handing one confidently to Pathfinder. "Be careful, dear... Now, are you thinking what I'm thinking~?" she asked playfully, gently tossing the bomb in her hoof. 

 

Maybe if they could smoke the Princess out, it could serve as enough of a distraction to get the vase away and summon the genie!

Leaning in close to her daughter, she whispered what she was thinking anyway, wanting to speak in a hushed tone to avoid the Princess overhearing and thwarting their plan before it even began. "We just need to activate these and roll them near the Princess. Even if she doesn't let go, the smoke should make her cough and blind her a bit, and maybe disorient her enough to give us a window to pry the vase away! Then you can make your wish, honey, but you have to be quick! It won't last long!" 

[brianblackberry]

Trixie sat, alone and dejected, inside the empty world where she had ultimate power ... and no purpose for it.  She sighed... "Having the phenomenal and awesome power of the genie is ... boring." she grumped, kicking a pebble.  Just for kicks, she made the pebble explode when it landed.  Then she sighed and dropped her head into her forehooves.

SQUEEEEEEEEKA!

What... in Equestria... was that awful, reverberating, deep note?

SQUEEEEEEKA!

Great source of magic, it was coming from all around her!  Some sort of terrible curse?  A genie-devouring being from the great beyond?  What was it?

SQUEEEEEKA!

Something caught Trixie's notice out of the corner of her eye, and she looked up into the sky.  A giant lavender hoof waved past, on the far side of the clouds, taking up much of the sky, and mushed as if it was pressing against a giant glass window.

SQUEEEEEEKA!

That was Twilight's hoof!  She was rubbing the lamp!  So Trixie was being summoned!  Oh, thank the flame of friendship!  She ... she ... wait, how was she supposed to get out?  Shouldn't she just get ... yanked?  There must be a way...

As she watched the path of that massive, world-crushing hoof, she noticed for the first time the faint, semi-transparent circle in the sky - that must be it!  The bottle's exit!  Of course!

...

How was she supposed to reach it?

She gritted her teeth, the sheer UNFAIRNESS of it all massing around her.  What kind of blasted, idiotic horse-apples for brains architect puts the exit IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SKY!?  She was a genie, not a pegasus!  Sure, she could float around, but ...

Oh, wait.  Could she fly?  Maybe?  At her thought, her hind hooves puffed away into the lovely blue smoke once more.  Well, one way to find out!  She reached out a hoof above her and concentrated, and little 'putt-putt-putts' of blue smoke billowed out of the tip of her trailing wisp of a rear half, propelling her upwards... very ... very slowly...

Ugh...

"C'mon, Trixie has to be able to fly better than this!  I was a pegasus once!  I've flown before!"  She felt an itch at her back, and twisted her head to see...

"Haha! Trixie have wings now!  ... wait..."  She felt her head carefully.  She remembered the price last time she'd gotten wings!  No, no, she still had her horn!  

Wings and a horn.  That meant... "MUAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!  YES!  The world shall behold the GREAT and POWERFUL!   PRINCESS!  TRIXIE!" she laughed her laugh of victory as she rocketed up into the air, heading for that magnificent round exit, looking forward to having an audience again!  Yes, as Princess Trixie, she would be a kind and benevolent ruler!  She would pass fair laws, like requiring every pony to come and rejoice in her amazing showponyship at least once a year!  And rewrite the national anthem to include refrains to her flowing mane!  And then she'd-

*WHAM!!*

Trixie found herself flattened against the glass underside of the bottle's plug... she gave a faint whimper, her hind hoof giving a small twitch.. then peeled slowly free and started drifting down to the ground far below like a falling leaf.
 

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder nodded along to her momma's plan, but she wasn't totally taken in by the mundane reality of the situation. After all, there was daydreaming to do. What would happen when they went up against the Princess? What if they lost? Pathfinder didn't know what being a statue was like but if there was one sure way to find out, losing to Twilight would be the way. Or maybe she'd be exiled? It would be pretty fun surviving in the badlands. She could fish and when she got the fish barter with the outlaw griffons whom she'd befriend and from the griffons get hay bales! Or maybe they'd win. And then they'd be made Princesses too! Pathfinder would make a wonderful Princess. The Princess of Fun and Adventure. The Princess of Motherhood. Together, they would lead to the very best Equestrian future ever. So maybe it is best to just fight her.

 

Pathfinder took the smoke bomb hoofed over to her with great excitement, a glint in her eye as she imagined all the possibilities inherent. Something about the device felt really familiar, like it belonged in her hoof. She listened to the plan then. Okay, so just roll it under the Princess, get the lamp, wish for the genie. Got it! “Okay, so on the count of five mommy we roll this under that silly Princess. Then we take it, get the genie, make wishes, and then we can go home and just get some cocoa? I want some cocoa. Is it okay if I wish for cocoa?” Pathfinder asked she she looked up at her momma, priming her smoke grenade because it was about to kick off...

Meanwhile, the Princess frantically rubbed it more and more. She could swear she felt her Mistress about to escape from her prison, but then something went wrong. “No, please, please no! Stop this! Just get out, PLEASE!” she moaned, and then her horn lit up. “I'll get you out, Mistress! I'll SMASH THIS LAMP if I have to!” She said as it rose up. With a grunt of fury she-
 

Smoke bombs went off, causing her to cough- “w-w-w-what?!”- and drop the lamp, but before it smashed into the ground...

[Imagination]

...Trailblazer swooped in!

Holding her breath, she made a sliding catch after a crash landing on the dusty floor, scrambling to get airborne again. She had to get out of the smoke and create some distance! When the Princess found out what had happened, she wasn't going to be happy! Not one bit! 

Once she was a confident distance away, she frantically rubbed at it, but remembered she had used up her wishes! "UGH! Stupid genie rules!" she snarled to herself, quickly looking for her daughter. "Pathy! Quick! Take it take it take it-!!" She repeated in a panic, flying toward the small pegasus and holding it out for her to intercept. Assuming they didn't crash into each other, Trailblazer knew she had to hand it off! She couldn't risk Twilight going after it and destroying it! Then they'd be stuck here! Like this!

Not that she'd mind.

...No, of course she would! HE would! Starting to lose focus on what was reality, but then again that was the point of the spell, wasn't it?

 

[brianblackberry]

 

Trixie shook the cobwebs from her head, as she floated back towards the ground.  She should have known it wouldn't have been as easy as simply flying her way out.  Surely she wouldn't have been the first genie to try that idea, even if she was surely smarter than the average djinn.  No, she would need a better way if she was to escape her gilded prison.

What about magic?!  Oh course! She was a powerful and talented unicorn before her transformation, imagine the magic she could create now!  With a determined grin, she aimed her horn towards the sky and fired an enormous, brilliant lavender blast form her horn.  The entire landscape shifted to shades of purple from the intensity of the mystic beam as it splashed against some invisible surface.  "That's it!  Now Trixie shall be the first genie to escape of her own volition and become the greatest magic user of all history!"

Trixie intensified the amount of magic pouring from her horn to the point where it was becoming physically strenuous, but as much force as she threw against the mysterious barrier in the sky, it easily dissipated that same energy along it's perfectly clear surface without the slightest hint of damage.  She kept trying for several more minutes until the physical stress became too much and Trixie collapsed onto her stomach, panting.  As far as she could tell, nothing had changed!  "Is Trixie doomed to be trapped in here until one of those idiots summons her?!  Ugggggh!! What is taking them so long!!  What ponies would not want a wish or three!"

The situation became only stranger as she felt the entire world shake.  What the hay was going on out there?!  They weren't tossing the bottle around like it was some toy, were they?!  Then again, maybe she would get lucky and one of them would actually break it, letting her free.  That was how it worked, right?  As Trixie clung to a fence post as the world tossed around, she also clung to that hope.

 

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder needed no encouragement to go after the shiny object as it fell. She was willing to go after shiny objects all day, every day! It was fun. Lots of fun. She was starting to forget the real reason it was so fun as it was being replaced by how fun shiny objects were. And here was the funnest shiny object of them all, mostly because everypony wanted it and Pathfinder knew that inside it was unstoppable power! The power of FUN! As her mommy flew towards her, Pathfinder prepared for a consequence free hoof-off in the air. It was going to be quick and easy and clean and without any troubles, of that she was sure. As her mommy approached and they reached out for one another-

BAM!

-A magical bolt came out of nowhere- bit more accurately, from a smoking hot alicorn horn- and struck mommyblazer in the flank. It sent her careening into Pathfinder, and the pair tumbled down to the ground and into a wall with a thud. "MINE MINE MINE! MY MISTRESS!" Twilight screamed as she lunged towards the group. Pathfinder's head was swimming but in her belly, held tight, was the lamp. She rubbed it- and the arrival of the pretty genie forced mother and daughter apart. Without wasting a moment, and as Pathfinder fell into unconsciousness, she whispered. "I wish to please pretty send us back like a few hours in time before everypony became...mean..." she whimpered and passed out.

******

Twilight studied the patchwork quilt of magical barriers keeping them from exploring the ground underneath with a fine tooth comb. Twilight felt shivers go up and down her spine. The magic here was twisted and cruel. Too dangerous to be played with, too mischievous to be laughed at. More importantly, removing these magical barriers would allow the doors to sense the presences above and they would collapse. Further investigation revealed that the mechanics driving the door were exquisitely well maintained against all sense, but also that it would only close again once the above-ground situation was cleared of added weight.

So the plan was simple. She would cut certain parts of the 'quilt' off, then levitate some objects in place to maintain the weight ratio. All she had to do was get to work. "I suppose now would be a good-" she said as she felt the aether tremble around her, sending a sharp pain through her horn a brief moment before outside of her tent there was a bright flash. "What in the wide wide world of Equestria is going on?" she whispered with worry before poking her head out.

And what she saw made her jaw drop. There was Trixie seemingly whisping her way out of a lamp. There was a mare who looked very much like Trailblazer, and what could only be a little filly Pathfinder. And above them all, with a crying, half-made glare, was her...preparing to fire at them all! Twilight teleported just as the hovering version of herself fired and immediately sent a shield up, blocking and absorbing the spell blast. "What's happening?!"

"GIVE ME MY MISTRESS!"

[Imagination]

Trailblazer was blasted into her daughter, not having the opportunity to see if her hoof-off of the lamp was successful. The sudden impact of the wall brought a sudden flash to her senses, and she was out like a light, just dead weight on top of the filly summoned the genie. Her arrival tossed the unconscious mare aside like a ragdoll before the final wish was made. If Trailblazer were conscious and in her right mind, she probably would have commented on how responsible it was of her as a child to wish to go back to where she could stop her adult self from screwing everything up. That, or how proud she was of her.

----------------------

Trailblazer was preparing himself for nightly rounds... Of course, he couldn't get the idea of sabotage out of his mind. Trixie just had to bring her along. Well, so far things were going smoothly. He just had to keep this up and stay on the Princess' good side! But he was jostled from his thoughts as he heard the commotion outside. He quickly ran out of his own tent, meeting the Princess as she left hers. He noticed the other strange group of ponies, but they seemed very familiar.

Not only that but looking at them felt... Wrong. Existentially wrong. Multiple thoughts raced into his head about what could be happening until he too heard the manic cries on none other than... The princess? In some rather racy attire. But he didn't have long to admire before he saw her attack with magic. All of the mad Twilight's focus seemed to be on the real Twilight. As soon as the Princess threw her shield up, Trailblazer had to get to work. He guided them to this place, he promised the Princess' safety, and in this case that meant from some... apparent impostor. No matter. All questions would be answered soon.

He was a blur going into action. He had a trap he meant to set earlier, but decided against it. He had spent a significant amount of money on a magical snare, made with enchanted rope embedded with a dampening ward. The Everfree Forest was full of dangerously magical beings. Simple rope wouldn't be enough. He could think of no better opportunity. The net itself was kept in a tube with a spring release. He'd have to trigger it himself. Quickly going back outside his tent and taking flight, he positioned himself above the attacking Twilight and set the tube on his shoulder to take aim before pressing the spring trigger with his free hoof. "Here's your mistress!" There was a loud *POFF* as the net sprung free and rocketed toward the maddened Twilight, spreading out like a spider web. Hopefully his call would have the delusional attacker look back into her own capture.

 

[brianblackberry]

 

Finally! Finally!! Trixie was summoned, it sure took them long enough to recall her from the bottle, now maybe they can figure out a way to get themselves back to normal using Trixie's oh so amazing powers over the universe!  "You have summoned the Magnificent Might of the Great and Powerful Trixie!  The Most Beautiful and Magnificent Genie in all of Creation!  What is your wish oh little one!"  Ugh, all this wonderful magical ability and to be nothing but a slave to a filly?  She was truly ready to be a unicorn again, or many she can at least get to be an alicorn after this ordeal of magic, after all it was 'new' magic, that was how it worked, right?

Little Pathfinder wished to turn back the clock, Trixie had no idea what this would truly entail or the consequences of such a radical desire, the very idea of time manipulation was considered a great magical taboo even if only the most skilled unicorns could only hope to learn due to the tremendous potential disaster such powerful tomes could unleash, but she had no choice, she was compelled to grant the filly's desires.  Even though she consciousness didn't understand the method by which to do this, she somehow knew it was with in her powers to do so.  "Very well little filly, your wish shall be my command!  To the past we shall travel!!"

Trixie's gold capped horn glowed a brilliant yellow that grew brighter and brighter until everything within reach was consumed by the light.  For a few seconds everything must have appeared only as an empty void of pure white to the troupe of ponies before suddenly everything faded back into view as the light receded back into Trixie's horn, "It is done!  We are in the same place but a few hours earlier in time, just as you wished!  You have two more wishes young filly!"

*****

A brilliant flash outside her tent could only mean one thing to the azure unicorn, that sneaky Twilight Sparkle was trying to get to the Djinn Eye before anypony else knew what was going on so she could claim it all for herself!  No way Trixie was going to allow that to happen!  This was a shared expedition, which mean a share in the glory!  A share in the artifact, unless of course Trixie just happened to find it first.

She leapt out of her tent in an indignant pose, "halt right there Twilight Spar-  Whaaaaaa?  What the hay!?!"  There before her was the impossible, but her mind couldn't deny what her eyes witnessed before her.  Before another syllable could be uttered from her mouth though, one of the Twilight's, who seemingly gone bad was quickly ensnared by Trailblazer's net.  As interesting and weird as that alone was, what really stood out was the beautiful blue genie before her.

"Hi Trixie, it is good to see myself, no doubt you, er I, er Trixie is wondering why Trixie is now a magnificent genie."

Unicorn Trixie just stood there, wide eyed and mouth agape, "Uhhhhh...".

 

[SteelEagle]

The Future Twilight, caught in the dampening net, did not lose her gaze as she saw her Mistress finally. Her heart pounded and every last nerve of her body came alive with quaking desire, but standing between her and her just Mistress, the most Splendid and Sensual, the Wonderful and Mesmerizing, the Perfect and Dazzling Trixie, was a group of vicious and vile ponies. Whether or not they knew what true devotion was or whether they stood between destiny and her for the thrill of evil, she did not know or care. All she knew is she must destroy them. "Get OUT OF MY WAY!" She roared, the skies growing dark enough to blot out the twinkling stars above. Underneath them, the aether started to tear and rumble due to the presence of such powerful magics above. The genie below stirred.

Present Twilight felt it, could feel the aether shifting around like waves in a restless ocean. She wasn't sure what was going on, and nopony was willing to tell her. The small filly Pathfinder looked dazed, but there was that same glimmer in her eye. Where was the older Pathfinder? Trailblazer was a mare- what? Was this an alternate universe, or something worse? Normal Trailblazer had responded fast. That net wouldn't hold- dampening or not, this was an Alicorn. It was a matter of time, not if. And there was Trixie, and then- what, a genie version of her? Everything she saw only increased the amount of confusion she felt. "What is happening?!" she asked desperately. As she did so, the Future Twilight growled and teleported out of the net after more than ten seconds of attempting to and then attacked. Instead of one large blast, it split off into many smaller, but still powerful, beams that targeted everypony. Present Twilight reacted as swiftly as she could, putting up refractor shields made of aether as quickly as possible- putting enormous strain on herself to do it.

The shields absorbed and then shattered, defeating the attack. However, the aether feedback stunned Present Twilight, who stumbled backwards in a haze for a moment. Such shield were powerful magics even normally, but she had to create so many and in such a short amount of time, channeling many times more aether than normally required. And when the magics connected, the fact that the aetheral signature was the same meant that it misjudged what and where the attack had come from, channeling some of it back to her. The result was a stunned alicorn, whose head and horn seemingly swam in an boiling ocean.

Filly Pathfinder saw this as she woke up fully, her little body aching from the attack before they came here. Her mommy lay on top of her. She felt like crying, but there was no crying in adventuring! But what next?
"Tra-la-la-la-la," Big Pathfinder mused and sang to nopony in particular as she traveled the stretches of the perimeter with excitement. It was always fun to secure perimeters, especially perimeters that couldn't really be secured! Besides, with what she had planned for later she would need to be fast and smart when the opportunity presented itself. Which, as she rounded the corner and saw these events, meant that it was time.
"Ah cool, it worked! Hey there little me, I'm big you!" She said, leafing through her saddlebag as she prepared. Okay, they had to get below and then destroy the Genie before the magic hit them. Then they'd defeat the genie, and the Tomb of the Old Djinn would be revealed in Saddle Arabia as long as the Pearl of Arabia was still here. All of this would be totally worth it. She pulled the filly out and slapped the gunk out of the mare's face. She needed to be awake and there too for this to work!
"Wow, I grow up pretty!"
"Yeah you do! Anyway, who has the genie wishes?"
"I do!"
"Awesome sauce! Okay, here is what you do if you wanna be totally, one hundred percent awesome. Go to her and say..." she whispers into the filly's ears. The filly nods several times.
"Okay! I'll see you later, right?"
"Probably not, but if it's any consolation, I'm you and you'll be the best soon!"
The filly pondered.
"Yay! I'm the best! Will mommy be okay?"
"Oh yeah she'll be. We'll have cocoa and everything."
"Awesome! Okay, bye bye!"

She slinked off into the area, dodging events as she tried to get to the genie. Meanwhile, Big Pathfinder watched the magical fight unfold. She'd have to help. Hmm- what about some discharge bombs? Unicorns hated them. Alicorns would probably loathe them. She picked three and turned the little key, which shattered once it worked right. She could feel a growing hum and flew towards the crazy looking Twilight.
This Twilight was preparing to launch another attack while Present Twilight was still recovering. Her horn lit up. "Say hello to the Aether, you IMPOSTOR!" she screamed and- ZABOOM ZABOOM ZABOOM, three dull cracks as Pathfinder flew above and dropped her three discharge bombs on the crazy one. Each one took and weaponized the aether, inflicting harm the more magic a pony had. And for the Element of Magic, it must have hurt more than it could hurt anypony. She gave out a pained screech and fell to the ground as purple wisps of shattered aether and broken magic became visible and left hr looking like a purple smoke machine. She growled and roared in further pain for a few more seconds until she staggered to her feet. "No...I NEED...HER!"

Big Pathfinder landed next to Present, non-genie Trixie. "See, told you I'd keep you safe! I'm the best there is. Also, prepare to drop down," she said, oddly enough without the barest hint of arrogance despite her words. Filly Pathfinder made her way to the Genie and tugged at her "Hey! I know what my second wish is," she cleared her throat and spoke loud and clear. "I wish for the barrier below us to vanish right now, please."

[Imagination]

"What is happening?!"

 

"I've caught a doppelganger, your highness!" Trailblazer dutifully reported from above. At least it was true while this crazy Twilight was stuck in the net. Once she teleported out, he needed to act fast-!

 

Or the princess could act fast for him. A sudden bubble appeared around him as the magic thrown wildly about by the future Twilight was deflected. Trailblazer again prepared to dive into the fray, but Pathfinder swooped in with her little busters or whatever they were. He was surprised she didn't wait for him to be in the middle of it before dropping them.

 

At this point, the female Trailblazer had started to come to. That was quite the shot. But as her vision cleared, she could only see two Twilights, herself, and other confused ponies. But all she knew was she had to keep the crazed Twilight away from Trixie. While she was dazed and steaming from the bombs, she flew in as fast as she could and took hold of the crazed Twilight's front leg. It seemed the other Trailblazer had the same idea, as he met her on the other side with the other leg! Both Trailblazers worked to force this Twilight on the ground and pin her there, falling back on hoof-to-hoof training to take her down. "Stay down-! Huh...?" they both commanded, and questioned, in unison, looking up at eachother while keeping physical force on the disabled Alicorn.

 

Trailblazer couldn't help himself, flashing a charming smile. "Hey there, beautif-" he was immediately cut off with a hoof aggressively pressing into his snout. "Don't." She said sternly, clearly having none of it. She knew what he was doing! She wasn't going to fall for herself! Right now, their job was to make sure the exploration party was safe... Or the female Trailblazer's job was to make sure Fillyfinder was safe. "Pathy...?!" she called out, having lost the little one from her sight for the moment.

 

(Autohit on the takedown was with SteelEagle's permission)

 

[brianblackberry]

 

Possessed Twilight was out of control, she had almost blasted Trixie!  Well the other Trixie, the normal Trixie, which genie Trixie envied, not realizing until now how free she was as a 'mere' unicorn.  As upset as the enraged princess attacking her other self was, what motivated the azure djinn into action was the threat to little Pathfinder, as she was compelled to protect her diminutive mistress.   She raised her hoof and above it formed a sphere of golden light orbited by various brilliant yellow-white archaic Saddle Arabian symbols, it was a containment field she planned to encase the lovelorn alicorn in, but before she could throw it, both Trailblazers had tackled Twilight and held her down.  Genie Trixie was admittedly disappointed - she would have found it amusing to cage Twilight in such a powerful spell that not even an alicorn had any hope of breaking free.

 

****

 

Trixie didn't know any deflection spell, much to her chagrin and fear.  How could she have gone on so many adventures and not know how to put up a defensive wall!  Fortunately rather than taking the hit, a lavender shield appeared around her that took the brunt of the blast, it shattered away as soon as it had formed, leaving her unharmed.  "Thanks Twilight!  Er, real twilight?  Are you the real one or is she?  What the hay is going on here and why is Trixie a genie?  Oh..  Wait!  Did Trixie find the eye and finally acquired the magic she so rightfully deserves?!? HA!! Destiny awaits!! Allons-y!!"  Wait, did she just say on of Whooves' catchphrases!?!

 

****

 

The djinn was about speak up about the terrible price of such power to her unicorn self when she felt a small tug on her hind left leg, it was filly Pathfinder with another wish.  "Very well!  The Great and Wonderous Trixie, Greatest Genie of Equestria  thus hereby grants your second wish oh little mistress!"  With a sudden golden flash of her horn, the barrier and floor before them poofed into an enormous amount of colorful confetti, surely her little mistress would enjoy that!

 

Of course creating a giant hole below everypony had its own problems, well not for the genie as she just floated down, and not for the peagsus filly next to her, although no doubt little Pathfinder could fly, however in this instance, she was floated down on a soft, fluffy golden cloud that gently lowered the little filly to the ground.  Unicorn Trixie found herself encased in a golden sphere and levitated downwards until it touched the ancient dirt below and popped, landing the azure unicorn on all four hooves, as for everypony else, well they could fly, right?

 

"You second wish is granted little mistress, you have but one more to ask of the Generous and Wonderful Trixie!! Consider wisely before you ask!!"  Oh Luna above, consider wisely!! Trixie wanted to be her normal self again, well maybe plus being a princess, that would be nice wouldn't it?  Trixie - Princess of Magic!!

 

[SteelEagle]

Little Pathfinder, contrary to belief, could not fly just yet. Well, fly well. She figured she could have floated down but this was so much cooler- a golden cloud! She jumped up and down on it, giggling all the while. This was super fun! "Thanks, genie! You're super cool!" she said as they touched down in the ruin below. Big Pathfinder jumped off of her cloud because time was of the essence- she flew next to Little Pathfinder, and then zoomed away into the deeper part of the ruin after whispering something. Good, this was working super cool and well. But now time was of the essence. If Pathfinder was right, and she was judging by the state of the dopplegangers, the Djinn's altering magic had done a number on them when they first entered. It had altered them in every way and even how they perceived this location. It was very powerful magic and there wasn't anything you could do to stop it. That was why ponies would have built defenses against it above. They couldn't once they entered here.

So really, unless you knew exactly where the lamp was from the moment you entered, you were absolutely guaranteed to fail, full stop. So this was a fool's errand unless you had...

 

...Sacrificial lambs, like future dopplegangers. See, the Djinn was limited in such a sense that it couldn't re-infect ponies it had already infected. Pathfinder had already been changed, so Pathfinder was safe. Twilight had been changed, and she could not be changed. Trailblazer was changed and, sadly, could not be changed again. Trixie was a genie- only one could exist. The magic of this place was active but instead of trying to attack the old set of ponies, it just flowed into the ones already effected. Little Pathfinder's body would start to shrink some more as she was going to go from filly to foal to newborn in the next few minutes, complete with mental changes. Luckily, she didn't need the soon to be foal to do anything more than give her third wish.

 

"H-hey genie lady...umm...I wish for..." she tried to think as her brain started to change, "you to give her," she pointed at the crazed Twilight, "what she...wants?" she asked before she tripped over herself, getting smaller, her wings shrinking as well as she started her final transformation.

 

Meanwhile, Pathfinder zoomed back to Trixie. "Go down the tunnel until you find the door! Go go go!" She patted her employer on the back before finding Twilight.

Twilight, sane one, was at full power by the time she landed. She was trying to process what was happening when Pathfinder found her examining the falling trio of her crazed doppleganger and the Blazes. She was trying to fit the pieces together when Pathfinder tapped her on the shoulder. "Princess, just follow that tunnel but do it fast- we don't have lots of time. I know you've got questions but we need to do this now," she said before zooming off, this time to fetch a stallion.

As the barrier vanished and the ground gave away, many things happened. The loss of sight of fillyfinder, and the additional input of magic, would have stuffed MotherBlazer full of feelings and memories, emotions and beliefs, worries and concerns, that made previous ones look like foaplay. Any semblance of the adventurous stallion who once existed was blown away, torn down, and forgotten- she was a mother first, foremost, and only. her body continued to change. She was curvy and feminine before, but there was still that bit of adventerus tone and form to her. Soon though- she looked more like a model, and had the physique of one too. And her daughter was out of sight. 

 

That may have been enough to end the two-blaze takedown by itself, but there was more. The magic flowed into the crazed Twilight as well, and she felt her whole mind refocus on what she was here for and what she needed to do. As the group fell, she shattered the lightness of the genie's spell with a violent and obscene counter-spell, followed by a twisting motion like that of a tornado. Momma Blazer was sent flying- right into her daughter, and the pair tumbled into a column. Luckily momma endured all the major damage, leaving a scared little foal to wail on her belly and search for a wing to snuggle against, before finding a teat with which to suck, which she did.

 

Brave Blazer, meanwhile, was sent flying into the collapsing camp, colliding with many fun items. The exact specifics didn't matter much as much as the fact that when he poked his head up, Pathfinder was there to greet him. "Get something that can blow a hole forward in a big granite door and go down that tunnel! Go! We don't have much time!" she said before patting him on his head and flying off down the tunnel.

 

At the end of the tunnel was a giant slab door. The whole tunnel looked different than it would have last time- the Djinn's magic was not harming their perception of it all, after all. The giant slab door had four charges placed on each corner, hastily applied using wood sap Pathfinder had found earlier, and were attached to a single line. She flew there and when everypony she had told to meet there met, she became excited.

 

"Awesome sauce! Looks like my plan has worked super perfect! Now that our future selves are dealing with one another and soaking up all the ambient, reality warping magic that follows the Djinn, we can go in there, get that lamp, and get out super fast. We gotta move though, 'cause I'm not sure how much longer the magic will filter to only them. So when I pull this string, my charges will weaken the door. Then all of you hit the middle until it falls over! Then we can get the lamp, and I can go and get myself to the Tomb in Saddle Arabia! Yay!" She yelled, dropping the line for a second before picking it back up, "woopsie. Anyway- five- four- three- two- one- yay!" she said, pulling the string- and a moment later, four small magical explosions rocked the corner of the door!