It was the knocking that woke Twilight.
It was midnight. Why someone was knocking on her door at midnight was beyond her, and she’d just gotten to sleep. She glanced out the window, seeing Pinkie in front of the door, standing in the rain, mane flattened. Whatever she wanted, it looked serious. She stumbled downstairs, still half-asleep, and grabbed the door with her magic, yanking it open. Pinkie just stood there, staring. Twilight started to talk in an attempt to get Pinkie to respond.
“Pinkie, are you-“
“I’m dying.”
That simple sentence, those two words, completely silenced Twilight. She didn’t know what to say. She’d never been in any situation like this. What made it worse was the way Pinkie had said it. There was no panic, no worry, no anything. Her voice remained completely neutral. Pinkie noticed Twilight wasn’t going to respond anytime soon and decided to elaborate.
“It was a toxin. A natural one, produced by about three, no, four plants in the Everfree. I didn’t know Golden Rose was one of those. Last time I trust a guide book written in Canterlot.” She smiled as she said this, despite the grim message. She continued, “Should take about, I don’t know, half an hour to take effect, attack the heart, and…” she trailed off.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because there’s something you need to see. And it can’t wait. Could you do me a favour and get Applejack, and meet me back at Sugarcube Corner in five minutes.” With that, she sprinted away, not even waiting for a response.
It was the knocking that woke Applejack.
“What in tarnation?” she grumbled as she stumbled down the hall to the front door, noting that nopony else seemed to have been awoken by whoever was mad enough to knock on the front door at two minutes past midnight. She opened the door and was greeted by a flash of purple light, and a sickening falling sensation. When her vision returned, she found herself in Sugarcube Corner, the lights turned off, and Twilight getting up off the floor.
“Twi’, do you mind explaining what the hay you’re doing waking me up in the middle of the night and teleportin’ me to Sugarcube Corner. I’m pretty sure-“
“Pinkie’s dying.”
The same words had an almost identical effect on Applejack. She just stared at Twilight, as if she’d grown an extra head.
“Pinkie? We’re here. Where are you?” Twilight called out.
“In the basement. Come dow-AAAAGH!” Pinkie screamed. Twilight and Applejack both darted into the basement, where Pinkie was in the middle of a pile of boxes, pulling herself up. She saw her friends and gave them a weak smile. “Turns out, only had a couple of minutes. Whadda you know?”
“Pinkie, why are you down here?” Twilight asked.
“Help me find a particular crate, about my size. It’s got ‘Pinkie’s Property’ written on it.”
The three of them got to work, and it wasn’t long before Applejack called out, “Found it! Over here.” Pinkie and Twilight rushed over, and Pinkie nodded. She extended a pink hoof, and pulled back the front before stumbling in. The two remaining ponies glanced at each other in puzzlement before following the pink earth pony into the way too small box. And then both quickly ran out again.
“Pinkie, how is this even possible?”
Applejack and Twilight had been walking in and out of the box for the past half a minute, trying to comprehend what they were seeing. On the outside, it looked barely big enough to hold a single pony. But on the inside, it was bigger than the main room in the library. The walls and roof were made of a pink stone, and the floor was an ever-changing disco floor. In the centre laid a large column, surrounded by six panels with hundreds of knobs, levers and buttons. In Twilights mind, there was no way this could have been possible, even with all the magic of Princess Celestia.
“Ah, just a bit of quasi-dimensional engineering. How’s your Advanced Multi-Dimensional Studies?”
“Pinkie, as much as Twi’ here might want to know about this here box, I think we should be discussing what you said,” Applejack interrupted, before Twilight could respond. Pinkie lowered her head.
“Right. I’m dying. That’s all there is to i-AUGH!” She collapsed in pain. Applejack and Twilight both darted forwards, but Pinkie waved a hoof at them. “Stay back! The toxin’s attacking my hearts, and trying to kill me. Doing a good job of it, too. I’ll try to hold it off as much as I can, but-AAAH! I can’t hold it off forever. I need you to do something.”
“What? Call a doctor?”
“Doctor… No. Look, I’ll try to explain as best as I can, but I haven’t got much time. Here’s the basic thing. I’m not a pony.”
“What do you mean, you’re not a pony? I can see you’re one,” Applejack said, “Look Pinkie, if this is a prank, it’s gone on long enough.”
“It’s not a prank. I wish it was. But I’m serious, I’m not a pony. I’m… I can’t hold it off any longer. Just… get back. And I’m sorry I have to go. Hope the new me’s as good as the current me.” Her head and her hooves started glowing, a gold gas-like substance coming off of them. “Goodbye Twilight, Applejack. Thanks… for everything.”
Her hooves shot out from under her, spilling golden light everywhere. A stream of the light flowed from each of the hooves and her face, obscuring her from sight. Applejack and Twilight looked at the glowing pony with terror written on their faces, unsure of what was going on. After a long minute or two, the lights faded to reveal a distinctly not-Pinkie pony.
The new pony was slightly taller than Pinkie was, but thinner too. She had a red coat with an orange mane and tail that came down into a ponytail, similar to Applejack. Her cutie mark was identical to Pinkies, but with the colours switched around. A red horn rested on top of her head, marking her as a unicorn. Her grey eyes opened as she got up. She opened her mouth and…
“Okay, there we… Ooh, new voice. That’s… new. Right, so,” she glanced at her back, “not a pegasus, damn it! Oh oh oh! A unicorn! That’s very new. Never been a unicorn before. Now, let’s see… there’s something I need right now… something very important… Oh that’s right!” The strange unicorn looked at the silent Twilight and Applejack.
“Can you get me a cup of coffee?”
And with that, she collapsed.