Pinkamena slowly wiped her nose as she got up, noticing that her other self was holding out a box of tissues. “Thanks.”
The other Pinkamena simply shook her head and smiled. “Oh, it’s nothing!” she explained, giggling as she helped her up to her feet, “You must have had some rough dreams, but we don’t judge here. Some people need their good morning cry over breakfast to make everything alright.”
Pinkamena could see that the others were whispering amongst themselves or eyeing her up and down. “Feeling better?” the other her asked, not seeming to notice.
“Yeah… yeah, I think I-” Pinakmena then fell face-first into the table smmashing it, sending the assorted drinks and breakfast pastries flying. Even more eyes were on the now passed out body, with the other her moving in front.
“Sorry folks, but we’re temporarily closing up for a bit! We’ll be back to give you all the sweets you want by noon!”
---
Twilight looked over the passed out body again and again. Her body felt as real as anyone elses. “It could be possible that one of the mirror pool clones weren’t in the gazebo, but I’d have heard something, anything about it…”
Rarity washed off the girl’s face. “And you’re one hundred percent sure this isn’t just a girl with pink hair? I don’t mean to cast any doubt but colorful hair isn’t exactly a rare sight, and two of our friends happen to have it in the shade of pink.”
Twilight nodded. “If she hadn’t spoke, I’d be saying the same thing, but that voice… it’s undoubtedly pinkie’s. Just… how…”
“Maybe it’s just one of those cases where two people look exactly the same? Like all those celebrity impersonator types,” Rainbow Dash suggested.
“Ooo, I’ve always wanted one of those! Surprised it took so long! Though she could really work on getting that hair puffed up! Las Pegasus doesn’t take just any look-a-likes!”
“Perhaps I can give a suitable explanation for this?” a voice echoed throughout the bakery as all the girls looked around. Discord walked in from the kitchen, cleaning his teeth with a toothpick, “Really Pinkie, your chocolate pancakes are a delight, I must get that recipe from you one of these days.”
“Aw, thanks! So, what’s her deal?”
Discord smiled, snapping as the girl was lifted up into the air. “Well, you see, I wanted to show you how much I’ve grown. I think it was only fair if I helped someone else out like how you all helped me,” he chuckled when he saw the girls all looking at him with some doubt, “I know, I know, it seems odd that a god of chaos, even a reformed one, would do such a thing… but this one interested me. You see, this is indeed Pinkie Pie. Just not a mirror pool clone or the like.”
“Then… what is she?”
“She’s from another universe! Or, rather… what used to be another universe. You see, I was enjoying a day to myself, making sure that all my cutlery was good and dull when I see her mindlessly floating by my window! She’s still in a slightly… zombitized state from it all, so you’ll have to excuse her adjusting to things,” a halo formed around his head as he explained everything.
Twilight examined her more, pulling her back down. “I see… normally, taking others from other universes could have dangerous effects, but… if she somehow wound up in your dimension, I suppose it could be seen as different circumstances,” she looked up at him, “still, you should have told me this earlier! I could’ve helped make her arrival here much less awkward.”
“Apologies princess, it’s just that you’re so busy with everything and I wanted it to be a surprise. Tell me, Fluttershy, did I do good on this? I mean, wouldn’t you do the same if you found an abandoned animal outside your place?”
Fluttershy blushed from being put on the spot. “W-why of course, Discord. I think you did the best thing you could’ve in this situation,” she said, softly elbowing Rainbow in the side upon noticing that she was rolling her eyes.
“Ooo, looks like she’s ready to wake back up!” Pinkie exclaimed, seeing the other her was stirring, rubbing her head, “Alright everybody, we gotta make sure to make her feel nice and welcome here!”
---
Pinkamena groaned as she opened her eyes. She felt a twinge of pain in her head and started to rub at it. “Ach… jeez that stings,” she adjusted to the light around her and saw them. Her old friends, looking at her and watching her. They looked concerned, but in a happy way. It was just her dreams- “I… uh, hey. Sorry about breaking the table. I can make up for it, somehow.”
The other her simply shook her head, smiling, “No no! Don’t you worry about it! We know all about you and you don’t need to pay for a thing.”
Shit. “You know about me…?”
The other her nodded, giggling. “Yep, Discord told us all about it!”
She looked, seeing a man she had never seen before was now with them. He had on a button-up suit that seemed to be made of several materials that all clashed with one-another. He gave her a toothy smile that showed off a large and sharp fang. “Ah, good to see you’re up,” he said, walking over to her, taking her hand. “There are a few things I need to update you on before I let you loose. So come with me, my dear!” with that, she was whisked away into the kitchen before she could let out another word.
Her head was spinning as she watched Discord multiply, sitting her down in a chair and shine a light down on her. “So, who sent you here? Celestia? Luna? Twilight not even realizing she messed up an experiment of hers?”
She held up a hand and pressed it against his face. “Give. Me. A. Second.” she hissed, before taking slow and deep breaths. She could feel tears welling up again, but she was keeping them back. “…I don’t know who sent me here. It was a woman in a suit that I had never seen before. I don’t even know if she was real,” she slowly regained her composure, sitting up. “What… are you?”
“Ah, yes. My name is Discord, I’m the spirit of chaos and disharmony, and it is a pleasure to meet you, alternate Pinkie Pie.”
“...Pinkamena.”
“Hm? What was that?”
“My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie. You may call me Pinkamena, you may call me Diane, but do not call me Pinkie or Pie or Pinkie Pie. Got it?”
Discord nodded, stroking his chin as all the other hims walked back into himself. “Not much to go off of with that description, though… if they’re powerful enough to bring someone from another universe here, then they aren’t just going to watch from a distance.”
“How much do you know about me exactly? How much do they know about me?”
Discord smiled, flashing his fang again. “They know nothing. I don’t know the full story, but from the vibes you give off… I get the picture.” He chuckled as he watched her tense up. “Don’t try anything, as I’m more than willing to step in if you try to hurt any of those lovely ladies out there. Hope to see you again, Miss Diane Pie,” With that, he got up, dusting off his shoulders and walking back into the bakery.
Pinkamena blinked a few times before getting back up on her feet and taking another deep breath. She was never actually gonna be ready for all of this, but she couldn’t just keep panicking. She was alive, and she needed to understand how things worked around here. She slowly made her way back out to the others and smiled. “So… hello there. My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie.”
---
Pinkamena let out a huff as she leaned against the exterior of Sugarcube Corner. Her stomach felt ready to burst from all the pancakes that she had devoured and she just wanted some air more than anything. None of this felt real. Why was she here? Why seemingly now after she had been stuck in her room for who knows how many years at this point?
She silently watched the clouds pass by, the sky being a clear spring blue. She could hear the sounds of the town around her as she continued to think and try to put things together.
She could hear the sound of ice clinking around in a glass behind her as she turned and looked. The woman from her room was standing there, almost towering her with a martini glass in hand and wearing black cashmere sweater. “Well well, there you are,” she said, walking closer with a grin on her face. “I was a tad bit worried that I had accidentally dropped you too hard or that you got hit by a shooting star.”
She wore a pair of thin rectangular shades, one lens being sea mist green and the other grape purple. Her skin was eggshell gray with softer white hair bangs on each side. “So, how are thing so far?”
“...Who are you?”
The woman frowned at this. “I wish people like you would have more interesting questions than just ‘who are you’ and ‘where am I’,” she leaned in close, pulling her shades down to show that the colors of her pupils matched. Her left eye seemed slightly bigger than her right which had a cut over it. She looked Pinkamena up and down, “what, did you hit your head or something?”
“... at least give me a name. I get the hint that you’re not gonna just leave me alone.”
The woman pulled back, rubbing her chin as thought. “… you may call me Minerva. Minerva Gethsemane if you want a full name,” she smiled again. “Now then, let me ask again: how’re things for you?”
Pinkamena glanced around. No one else seemed to notice her. Of course not. “This is all real, isn’t it? Not some fever dream that came from cabin fever or the like?”
Minerva shook her head. “Sadly, no. That’s much too cheap. This is real as can be, your second chance at life,” she took another sip from her glass. “And don’t think I’ll let you just get away with killing yourself either.”
“Of course not.”
“Now then. Why don’t you walk around, get some air. Get those old bones moving! I’ll be back to check on you later.” With that, she turned and walked off, heading towards the bakery’s back alley and vanishing into the shadows.
Pinkamena watched the darkened alley for a few long seconds before turning back around and looking at the rest of the town.
“Hey. You still need some time to yourself?” Twilight asked, walking over to her.
“Nah, nah. I’m good. So, where to first?”
Twilight smiled, with a look that said she already had the perfect place in mind.
---
“Are you sure this thing is gonna work?”
“If it doesn’t, we’re all gonna have to change our names and fake our deaths.”
Three figures looked through the glass shield into the hangar at their creation. Two of them seemed to be peering at their clips boards.
“If it means we actually get to do something besides all this boring trash, I’m fine with that,” the third figure explained, bored out of their mind.
“Oh, don’t be like that. Our work is important, and even if nothing happens, we’re still-”
‘BEGINING LAUNCH PROTOCOL, ALL PERSONNEL STAY IN BLAST ZONE AND LEAVE TAKE OFF GROUNDS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.’
“Wait, what?”
“Wait, what?! It’s not a testing day! That wasn’t supposed to be for another few months! Abort, abort!”
“Oh, this should be fun-” As two of the figure ran towards the consoles in the room, all three of them were blasted back, the glass shield shattering as thick purple smoke filled the room. Alarms and sirens were going off as a loud crash was heard and a giant hole was now in the hangar doors.
The sound of a door opening could be heard as the three figures looked up, seeing a fourth shorter one enter. Coffee was spilled all over the front of their shirt as they observed the damage. “… what the fu-”
---
“So, the old library was…”
“Destroyed, yes.” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck as Pinkamena walked around the wooden interior of the new one. “Thankfully, I’m just glad the plans for this new one went through. I don’t think this town would really be the same without it.”
“Yeah. Yeah. This is a lot to take it, I gotta admit. Sorry if I’m ruining any plans for the day, princess,” Pinkamena ran her hand over the wooden bookcases. “…Elements reference guide still under E?”
Twilight giggled, “Oh, don’t worry about that. Politics aren’t as chaotic as you’d think. I’d be more than happy to help you move in here today.”
“I’m good. I think. I mean, I’d have to go shopping for clothes and the like, but I can manage on my own for a bit. You go be with your friends, I’m fine.”
“Well, actually, you won’t be on your own while here. There’s someone else living here at the moment.”
Pinkamena already had an idea on who it was as she saw them enter the room.
“Princess Twilight? Is it my check in day already?” The woman with red eyes asked, before looking at her. “… You know her?”
“Grey Skies, this is Pinkamena Diane Pie. She’s uh… hard to explain. She’ll be staying with you for the time being,” Twilight said, walking between the two. “Pinkamena, this is Grey Skies.”
“Already met her earlier today,” Grey said, taking Pinkie’s hand and shaking it with a frown. Her name seemed to fit both her attitude and her hair, with it being tied back in a mini-ponytail. “Listen, I gotta get to work soon. A co-worker’s out sick and I don’t need any asshole nicking the goods. Don’t mess with my stuff and I won’t mess with yours, Diane.” And with that, she sprinted off past the two and out the door, jacket blowing in the wind.
“...She here willingly?”
“She crashed Applejack’s truck, her taking care of this place counts as her community service. She’s a nice girl, just uh… not the most social.”
“Ah. Well, I think I’ll just get acquainted to this place for now, go shopping later, that alright?”
“Of course. I’m more than sure Rarity would love making something for you. We’re all here if you need us or help. Welcome to Ponyville Pinkamena, we’re all happy to have you.”
And with the closing of the door, Pinkamena was alone once again. She started walking around the place, examining it. It was one of the first times in a long while she didn’t mind being alone.
After walking around the library’s large entrance, she went back to where she had slept the night before and laid back down on the bed. She felt heavy, and she felt tired. Her eyes slowly closed as she drifted off, ready for the possibility of waking back up in her own personal hell in just a few seconds.
---
Grey Skies sighed to herself and she ran her usual path to work. Of course the one day where she had to work for two people was also the day she found out that she was getting a new ‘roommate’. Probably just some kind of probation officer in disguise.
Looking ahead, she could already see her co-worker smugly grinning as she made it to the front door. “If you had told me the night before that Max was sick, I would’ve been here sooner, Melody.”
Melody Black simply stuck out her tongue as she stepped aside to let Grey in. “He let me know around the same time as I let you know. New shipment of CDs in the back. Got some vinyls too.”
“Anything good?”
“Eh, re-release of a platinum album, rap stuff. I think we did some colored vinyls though,” Melody explained as she walked behind the register and clicking a tiny remote, music starting to play throughout the store, “we’re halfway through the energy drinks, should I put in the order for more?”
“Get more of those coffee drinks too! Those sell pretty well,” Grey replied, pulling two chocolate soda’s from the fridge and giving one to Melody and toasting. “No Music,”
“No Life!”
And with that, work began at ‘Towering Records’. As the sign out front would tell any customers ‘It’s a wild thing’.
---
Sitting up in bed, Pinkamena wiped the sweat from her forehead. She had grown hot, and the covers weren’t doing much to help. Got out of bed and slowly made her way to the bathroom. She felt groggy.
Turing the lights on, she splashed water on her face slowly looked in the mirror. It felt like forever since she really gotten a good look at herself. Purgatory had a way of wearing down the senses. Her undercut was in need of trimming and cutting, it felt too rough and knotted at the moment.
Her facial scars seemed much more visible. She just kinda assumed that they would’ve become less so by this point… but that would mean having to come up with some kind of story for each of them. Horrible cake batter tasting accident would do the trick probably…
God, looking at herself, it brought back the feelings of self loathing. She leaned in closer, hands gripping the sides of the sink. “You don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve a second chance in the slightest,” she said to her reflection, a grim scowl across her face.
“Ooo, there’s that imposing figure I remember so well. You always looked so good when you stood in doorways you know. When the victim could only see you flashing a smile and all,” Minerva said, popping up behind Pinkamena, causing her to bang her head against the bathroom light, “though, I must admit… your old webcam did a terrible job at showing the real you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean exactly?” Pinkamena asked, rubbing the back of her head.
“Everyone just kinda assumed you were a normal sized goth girl. White too. But now that I can see you more clearly? You’re one lanky, hairy sonofabitch!” Minerva said, laughing to herself. She only grinned more seeing Pinkamena glare at her through the mirror.
“What the hell do you want exactly, or are you just popping in to insult me?”
“Well, I was just checking to make sure you hadn’t done anything stupid yet. I think we can begin soon… but I’ll let you get all cleaned up first,” Minerva turned, slowly walking out, “I’ll be in the entrance,” she snapped as an electric razor fell into Pinkamena’s hands, “here, on the house. Do at least consider shaving something.”
Pinkamena simply rolled her eyes as the taller woman walked off. She looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn’t that hairy. Rarity loved calling her looks “non-traditional beauty” so clearly she was appealing to someone.
Walking back to the front of the library, she watched as Minerva flipped through a book, tossing it back into place as she saw her approach. “Now that you’re all woken up and fresh, I think I can get down to business,” Minerva said, stretching.
“...” Pinkamena was ready for anything.
“I’ll be giving you a task soon, I expect you to get that task done. If not, it’s back to the room and I’ll make sure that you hate every second there more than you already did,”
“...And when will you give me this task exactly?”
“Very soon. You’ll know exactly when, dear. Behave til then!” with that, she vanished into thin air, leaving Pinkamena alone once more. Or at least until the door to the library opened.
“Yo, don’t mind me. Just getting my phone. Forgot it here,” Grey said, walking by and heading further in.
Pinkamena simply nodded, sighing as she closed the door behind her. She was still trying her best to comprehend everything. “Sorry about breaking in last night. Didn’t mean for that!” She called after Grey, walking to the doorway she had headed down.
“Yeah yeah, water under the bridge Diane,” Grey said, walking back, phone in tow. She sighed, checking the time. “and my break officially begins: now. You don’t need me to pick up lunch for you, do you?”
Before Pinkamena could respond, a note fell into her hand.
A Twister is coming. Save Ponyville from destruction. You have 15 minutes. Fail, and face erasure .
“...What’s that supposed to-” before Grey could finish her question, the two of them were knocked back by the front door being blown to pieces, bits of wood flying everywhere.
Slowly sitting up and looking through the door, Pinkamena could see the glowing barrel of a tank pointing right into the library. She felt a sharp sting in her right hand as she looked and saw a timer counting down from 15 minutes.
The tank quickly turned it’s barrel and sped off, with Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie quickly in tow. “U-uh hey… Grey? H-how long is your break exactly?”
“...F-fifteen minutes… why?”
---
“Ooo, I’ve never seen a tank like that one before!” Pinkie eagerly said, skipping to keep up with Rainbow Dash. “Wonder who’s piloting it!”
“Man, and here I was hoping that today could just be a day where I could do some workouts and maybe chill by the lake!” Rainbow Dash complained, sounding more annoyed than anything else.
“Hey, knuckleheads! You can bitch and moan all ya want after we stop the giant war machine!” Applejack yelled at them, doing her best to find a spot to lasso onto.
The tank was unlike anything any of them had seen before, having more spacing in its armor with a heavy purple glow pouring out from it. The barrel was able to move around freely, seemingly not slow to control in the slightest, it moving rather quickly on it’s four extended treads.
“What the hell is going on?!” Pinkamena asked, catching up to the three.
“Hey again other me! Don’t worry too much, we’ve got this!” Pinkie said, waving as she pulled out her party cannon. “Dashie! I’ll launch you onto that thing!”
Dash smirked as she quickly leapt into the cannon, readying herself as Pinkie aimed and fired for the top of the rampaging machine. Though even she seemed to miscalculate the speed of the thing as she shot Rainbow more towards the front of the thing, causing her to grab onto the barrel of the tank. “Oops! Don’t let go Rainbow!”
“Yeah, I’ll try!” Dash called out, grabbing on tight as she was swung round and round. “…no, wait wait!” next thing she knew, she was being smashed through the walls of houses as buildings as the machine’s top spun round and round.
Pinkamena couldn’t believe what she was seeing or what she was doing. Nothing felt real anymore. It was like seeing the rainboom overhead, being in the presence of Nightmare Moon, and feeling the element of laughter course through her body. Was she supposed to be the one that stopped this thing?! Or was she just supposed to help stop it?!
“Hey! Pinkamena, you got any ideas?” Applejack called out to her, snapping her out of her stupor.
“Try shooting me at the top! Let me get in and stop the driver!” Pinkamena called out, quickly getting into the cannon and prepping herself for launch. She hadn’t done a party cannon launch in ages, but it was worth a shot!
Thankfully, second time was the charm as she landed on the tank with a heavy thud. Her chest hurt like hell, but she had victims that kicked harder than that! Her hands could feel the indents of the hatch, but something wasn’t right… he top felt… weird. It wasn’t cold metal, but rather a weird warm putty like feeling. The top had been coated in some kind of synthetic material. It was almost like a fake skin layer or the like. “What the hell is this thing…”
She grabbed on tight as the top began to spin around again, now making her look ahead to see that a giant magical wall had been erected. She could also see that shining diamonds and other jewels were sticking out of the road with Twilight, Rarity and a few others that she didn’t recognize standing behind the wall. If the tank could at least be slowed down or stopped in it’s tracks, she could properly claw through this top layer and make her way in!
Then, the tank jumped high into the sky above the town. Pinkamena could see everyone get tinier and tinier as could easily make out the markings this thing had made around town…
She then lost her grip and fell from the tank, crashing through the roof of a house and hitting the ground hard. Slipping out of consciousness as her eyes slowly shut to pitch black.
---
“Hey, what the hell is going on exactly?!” Melody asked, helping Grey to her feet as she watched the tank zoom by the entrance to the library, with others behind it.
“I… I don’t know. That thing just blasted open the door to this place and then that new girl I told you about ran off after asking me about my break!” Grey explained, leaning on her for support. “…we need to find her, quickly.”
“What, why?! S-shouldn’t we just wait here away from the blast zone and let the elements deal with this?”
“I know we should do that, but I get the feeling that her asking about how long my break was means we don’t have much time! Come on, you got here on your cycle right?” Grey took a second to catch her breath, thinking more. “I’ve got an idea on what that thing is doing, I’ll explain as we look for her.”
“You better be right on this, Grey!” The two got on Melody’s yellow motorcycle and sped off, looking for Pinkamena.
---
“...Pinkie Pie? A-are you alright?” The voice Pinkamena knew she didn’t want to hear filled her head as she slowly sat back up, looking at seeing Scootaloo looking down at her. She looked older… as expected.
“Hey…” She glanced at her hand. 7 minutes left. Damn it. “Listen, Scoots, I gotta go. Nice seeing ya, talk to you again never for your own sake,” she said, getting to her feet and looking around. She was in the kitchen. She ran to a set of drawers and began rummaging through them.
“U-um, Pinkie, are you alright? I’ve never seen your hair look like that! What’s with the thing going through town? Are you gonna be alright?” Scootaloo was launching questions at max speed as Pinkamena rummaged through the drawers. She knew it wasn’t her Scoot… but she still missed this kinda stuff.
She smiled as she pulled out a nice and sharp looking kitchen knife, gripping it tight. “Best way to put it, I’m not your Pinkie. I’m dealing with what’s going on in town, and don’t you ever worry about me, kid. You worry about people that actually matter to you and everything will turn out just fine,” she said, running past and out the door, heading back towards the path of the tank. The thing seemed to be going faster, with Twilight and Rainbow Dash being the ones giving being on top of the thing a shot.
“A-are you sure you’re alright?” Scootaloo asked, watching all of this happen, before being pulled away by her aunts. Pinkamena watched the three run off to safety. She was just happy to see her with adults that actually gave a damn about Scoots.
“Diane! Get on!” Grey called out, sliding to a stop in front of her with Melody at the front. “You need to stop that thing, right?”
“Y-yeah!” Without another word, Pinkamena awkwardly saddled onto the bike as the three sped off… in the opposite direction that the tank was going, “Wait, what are you-”
“I think this thing’s going on a set path! If it’s getting faster, it’s easier to try and get it from the front than behind!”
“Either we get you on there, or you become like a bug on the windshield!” Melody added, kicking up the bikes speed as she drove next to the tank’s markings on the road. “So, you get on that thing one way or another, right?”
After a few long seconds, the tank was seen coming closer. Looking at her hand, she saw she only had a good five minutes left. Just as she was ready to jump… she was quickly lifted into the air and dropped on the top of the tank, seeing Twilight looking up at her from the front of the machine. “Hey, sorry your first day here is like this! This kinda stuff doesn’t happen in town that often, I swea-” she was then hit in the side of the head by the tank’s barrel and tumbling and rolling into the road next to them.
Pinkamena took a deep breath, looking at the skin-like top layer of the tank. She closed her eyes before opening them and seeing herself in front of a bare, heaving chest. She looked at the knife in her hand and smiled. Back to work.
Cutting and cutting, she easily got the layer away and into the crevices of a hatch. It took some pulling and heaving, but soon it finally popped open, basically sucking her in headfirst as she fell in.
“Hey, dumbass, what the hell do you think you’re do… ing…” Pinkamena trailed off as she saw there was no driver, but rather a large console bank of buttons and displays, with wires all connected to a large, pulsing, purple crystal.
She had no idea what was going on, but she didn’t have the time to try and think. She had to act on her instincts. She grabbed the crystal, pulling it away from the wires as hard as she possibly could. The buttons started changing colors and the screens were flashing warning signs, as she heard the tank’s cannon fire off more and more rapidly. She could feel fluids pooling at her feet. Just what the hell was this thing exactly?!
With one final pull, the crystal came loose, shattering into bits and causing the tank to finally come grinding to a halt. It also sent Pinkamena to go head first into some of the monitors… but hey, it was dealt with, right?
Looking at her hand, she was relieved to see the countdown was gone. She had done it… good. She rubbed her forehead, noting a slight cut from where it had hit the monitor. Nothing that would stick, thankfully.
She slowly pulled herself out from the hatch to see the others below, most of them seemingly arguing with a group of what looked like researchers?
“What in the name of Tartarus did you think would come from setting up a weapon’s research center near a town like this?!” Twilight asked, directing her question towards a svelte woman with bright blue hair and glasses.
“P-Princess Twilight, we didn’t mean for this to happen! I swear it! Cloudburst and I designed this thing to be tested in the desert, not in town! The launch happened without any manual input!” A young man with messy black hair explained, sweat pouring down his face in buckets.
“Maximus speaks the truth. This was never intended. We had reserved land ready to move this thing to when it started up out of nowhere. Our deepest apologies. We’re still still working out the kinks of self-sustaining magic, as you can clearly tell,” Cloudburst added, bowing her head in shame.
“...Self-sustaining magic? You were able to get a working prototype of self-sustaining magic?” Twilight’s anger seemed to slowly turn to interest and fascination as she pulled the two closer to learn more.
The third researcher watched this and rolled her eyes, scoffing. She slowly approached Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “Hey, you’re Rainbow and Applejack, right?” she asked, looking at them.
“Yep. You one of the people behind this thing?” Dash asked, several ice packs taped to various points on her body.
”Nah. I’m just required to be part of the group. Don’t do well in making tech stuff. I just test the explosions. Name’s Kickback. Can I request something from you two?” she asked.
The two glanced at each other before looking up at her, “uh.. sure, what is it?”
“One day, I wanna fight the both of you. With all your power.”
Rainbow Dash smiled at this.
Pinkamena slowly made her way past the three and saw Grey and Melody resting in the shade in front of the record shop. “Hey. Thanks for that.”
Grey shrugged, looking at the others. “Eh. I think I kinda knew I’d have to help with some kind of do or die event in this town.”
“It was either gonna be something like this or another bugbear attack,” Melody said, walking up to Pinkamena and shaking her hand, “Name’s Melody Black by the way.”
“Pinkamena Diane Pie. No relation to who you’re thinking of,” Pinkamena responded, slowly shaking it. Her mind was a mess with various thoughts and no idea how to respond to it all, if she was being honest. Nothing really felt real at the moment, and her body didn’t feel as much pain as it probably should’ve at the moment.
‘See, I can’t-!’ Music played from the speakers of the record store, getting her attention. An all-too-familiar voice started to play.
“Ladies and Gentlemen of Equestria, welcome back to Junk Garage, your premiere show of news, music and more!”
Pinkamena sighed to herself as she leaned up against the wall and slowly sunk to the ground.
“I’m your conductor at the top of the junk heap, Minerva. Let’s start with the big news, the halting of a rampaging tank in Ponyville just seconds before this show starts to air. Once again, I cannot say thank you to Princess Twilight and her friends enough.”
Cloudburst looked at the record store where the broadcast was coming from and scoffed, “trash heap is the nicest way to describe it…” she muttered under her breath.
“Looking at videos of the thing going throughout the town, I must say I’m amazed at how hi-tech it looks.”
“As we enter into the hot and crowded summer season, it’s things like this that remind me of how fast we’re moving. It may be too fast for some, even.”
“So as we move on ahead into unknown territory, I have but one question:”
‘Ladies and gentlemen, introducing…’
“Will you evolve and survive, or will you fail and perish?”
Pinkamena now was starting to get why she was brought back.