She had seen chaos. Faced down the source of it’s machinations. Watched as the very foundations of her world were flipped on their heads. She had overcome and order restored.
She was no stranger to mayhem. It’s in the very nature of ponies, to panic and ultimately bring about wonton destruction. They have worked themselves into a frenzy over and over again. She had been calm and made them see reason.
But this… this was just ludicrous. She just couldn’t understand it. Half of Ponyville lay in ruin, the other half was ablaze. Ponies were frolicking, laughing, and enjoying life, while monsters of all shapes and sizes ran in mortal terror for their lives.
The truly strange part, Discord was trying to bring back order while Celestia, the princess of Equestria, her mentor, merely sat there and watched. “Would you like some popcorn!”
Sometime ago Nightmare Moon had come prancing around like a cat. That had freaked her out until Luna came over and hugged her. Then Nightmare hissed and ran away, with Luna barking in hot pursuit.
Enemies from her past decided today was a great day to show up.
Chrysalis had showed up singing about love, and changed anyone into what ever they wanted. Fluttershy became a tree, Derpy an uneatable muffin, Lyra was what she called a human. For some reason ‘he’ found that incredibly funny. And, the list goes on.
Sombra came spreading sunshine and daisies. He would build staircases and podiums for any who wanted it. Rainbow Dash received more than a few.
Tirek scared her half to death, right before he started turning every pony he came into contact with into alicorns. Now there were princesses, and princes for just about everything under the sun. One for carrots, one for pies, two for cakes, a rose princess, and so on, and so on.
Her world wasn’t crumbling, or fading. It had imploded only to explode, and then for the fun of it, imploded again.
And there, at the epicenter of it all, the bane of her existence. Just standing there, looking all innocent and doe-eyed, as if to say he neither knew what happened nor how it came to this.
Her eye-twitched, how did it come to this? Where did they go wrong?
It all started out innocently enough, with but a question, a simple, simple question. How the worlds can be so easily undone.
Earlier that same day, the second day since Ranma arrived in Ponyville…
“WAIT!” screamed Pinkie Pie. “You left everyone hanging with me and Hildy last chapter. The masses want to know, what the hay?”
Fine, yesterday just after Pinkie tackled a tenth dimensional being, who was using a seventh dimensional pocket to spy on the group of ponies…
So the pink menace…
“Hey!”
The pink menace was hold the chibi form of the Diamakaicho, and squeezing the ever-loving stuffing out of her.
Hild turned to Pinkie, “how’d you find me, dear?” the last word was spoke a little too sweetly.
“Oh, that’s easy! My Pinkie sense was saying someone was watching us while hiding, so I looked around until I found a place that I saw that I couldn’t see so I looked in there and there you were, and I was so happy I just had to give you a hug. Then the author tried to skip this and I thought the readers would be upset and that made me sad to think that they might be sad, so I made sure that the author made sure to add this part before explaining the insanity that hits Ponyville tomorrow,” everyone just sat there and blinked trying to put together what Pinkie just said. After a moment of that fruitless endeavor they shook their heads and went back to the task at hand.
“Hild-sama, it’s so nice to see you again,” Kasumi said as she bowed respectfully.
“You’re a demon,” this exclamation was followed by an explosion.
“You really shouldn’t try to channel unicorn magic in an earth pony body, dear,” Hild told Twilight in a motherly way. “When it destabilizes it will give you such a headache.”
“Um,” Nabiki began a little nervously, “if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here?” After a pause she added, “you’re not going to do anything drastic, are you?”
“Sorry to disappoint, but shortly after I made Nightmare Moon, little Discy’s lawyers got upset,” Hild pouted. “They didn‘t want me to interfere. ‘Just because he’s in stone doesn’t mean he can’t spread chaos,’ and it might not have helped that I may have broken a few dozen elder rules and laws. But seriously, what are laws but to be broken. So, I’m only limited to sit and watch. And really, where talking Ranma Saotome, THE Ranma Saotome, what more do I need to do but watch?” She said innocently as an atmosphere of foreboding descended on the gathered and Ranma sighed in resignation.
“Yay, you’ll be staying, that means so much,” Pinkie said as she once again hugged the chibi Hild. She suddenly turned Hild around and stared her straight in the eye, “But, no more hiding okay? I‘m sure no one will mind you being around.” After thinking a moment she side up to her and staged whispered conspiratorially, “maybe just for Luna, at least until she becomes your friend.”
“Maybe not no one,” Hild answered indicating the still dazed Twilight.
The next morning, Ranma’s second day in Ponyville, hours before the mayhem…
Twilight awoke and immediately jumped out of her bed in a panic. Checking herself over thoroughly she noted, one unicorn horn, two pegasi wings, and the most important a distinct lack of male parts. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, she realized she was in her room, and it was all a bad, very bad dream.
There was no alicorn changeling things, no high level demons, no sentient magical curses, and absolute no chaos (outside the Ponyville usual). All was right with the world.
“A-a-achoo!”
…
…
…
The scream that followed has been censored to prevent permanent damage to the audiences’ ears. Five minutes later.
In the dinning hall Spike and Kasumi were both fidgeting a little at the scream.
“You two might not want to be near her for a bit,” Ranma stated to which they both of them gave her a look that said ‘why.’ “Right now she’s venting her rage at the circumstances, anyone she can find might get the bad end of it. Give her a few minutes and her fury will be redirected at me.”
They both looked at her incredulously, until after a few minutes they heard what sounded like a stampede.
“You,” Twilight accused, “what did you do to me?”
“Me,” Ranma answered innocently. “All I did was tell you I was telling the truth and warn you not to mess with dangerous magic. I believe you chose to ignore both.”
“You, you, you… argh!” Twilight steamed.
“I’ve never seen Twilight like this,” Spike commented. “She’s been annoyed with Discord and frustrated with Pinkie but this is on a whole new level.”
“It’s so nice to see Ranma making friends with Twilight,” Kasumi stated. Both Spike and Twilight looked at her as if she grew a second head on her tail that was singing polka, off key.
“I’m pretty sure that Twilight hates her guts,” Spike pointed out.
“Exactly!” exclaimed Kasumi. “She isn’t trying to kill him, so obviously they’re friends,” she stop for a second to think. “That’s how it usually works.”
Twilight was speechless. “Let me get this straight, anyone not trying to kill her is her friend?” Spike asked.
As Kasumi and Nabiki nodded, “that’s how it works for me,” Pinkie exclaimed from the chandelier before disappearing.
“But, what… huh?” it took a few moments for Spike and Twilight to minds back on track. “But, that’s not how friendships worked,” they both thought.
“So… what are you planning on doing today?” ask Twilight of her house guests, through grit teeth.
“Spike agreed to show me around town and introduce me to some of the locals,” Kasumi said barely able to contain her glee.
“I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind, showing me how to use some magic?” asked Nabiki. “I’m a little new to having a horn,” after a moment a thought occurred to her and she started blushing.
“Maybe later, I can have Rainbow Dash teach me how to fly,” Kasumi mumbled to herself.
“Me, I was planning on doing some training,” answered Ranma. “I’m not entirely use to this body yet.”
“Training? Training in what?” asked Twilight.
“Martial arts,” the three Nerimans said in unison before braking out in laughter.
It started off simple enough there was an explosion in the Everfree Forest. It shook Ponyville and the surrounding areas for a few miles. The residents held their breathe and waited. When no further destruction was forthcoming they past it off as just a minor occurrence of the forest.
Then a few hours later the parasprites came. As they descended, the flowers bloomed, harvests came early, and oven were mysteriously fill with baked goods. The ponies were too shocked to panic.
And it only got worst from there.
A scheduled shower ran into problems as the houses and any nonliving thing the rain touch burst into flames. It took them a few minutes to figure out the water had become combustible.
The unicorn’s that tried to help out, ran into a similar problem. When they used their magic to try to repair the buildings, some of the more normal stuff, or just lift anything in their magic it just disintegrated.
Within the hour monster started appearing from the Everfree. Hydras were chase by prancing foals, timber wolves ran from dancing ponies, and manticores tried to flee from the shuffling elders.
That was when they began to show up.
Starlight Glimmer declaring individuality boosts morale and happiness. Chrysalis singing songs of love and joy. Sombra preaching peace and liberty. Finally, Tirek giving out power like it was candy.
All her worst nightmares had come true. But, they had been twisted into some sick parody of what they were. There was only one hope to save the day.
As Celestia appeared, Twilight sighed in relieve, “PRINCESS, I really need your help!”
“If this has anything to do with that abomination that pretends to be magic or its host, you can count me out,” Celestia stated to a horrified Twilight.
“But… but,” Twilight stammered.
“Don’t worry,” Celestia used her horn to summon Discord, “I’m sure he won’t mind keeping it from getting to far out of hand.”
“Now Celly, why would I mess with this piece of artwork,” Discord asked.
“Discord, you couldn’t help with my sister and my problem, ahem,” Celestia blushed. “So if her ‘problem’ is involved, there would be little you could do. Besides these things tend to sort themselves out. So, I merely suggest that while you enjoy it, just keep from being dangerous.”
“Dangerous, DANGEROUS, I’m sorry princess but if you hadn’t noticed there are monsters and fires running free!!!” screamed Twilight.
“Twilight, dear, if you keep screaming like that you’ll scratch your throat raw. Now if you look around, you’d notice that though there is a lot of destruction, no ones live is in jeopardy, there isn’t even any injuries. In fact though there’s a lot of chaos it seems to be avoiding actually hurting anyone which is why I’m asking Discord if he wouldn’t mind making sure it stays that way.” She looked at Twilight with smile and asked, “Now would you like some popcorn?”
Twilight just sat there eye twitching, and mouth agape, “I think you broke her, Celly.”
“Oh my!”
Somewhere nearby, Kasumi fainted, and began twitching in fangasm.
“What did you do?” Twilight was practically snarling at Ranma.
“I didn’t do nothing,” complained Ranma. “I been passed out for the last few hours.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight yelled in frustration.
“Well, I was practicing in that forest you told me about, when a branch I landed on snapped. Next thing I know I’m in the middle of this field of blue flowers.” After moments thought she added, “it felt kinda weird like something was messing with the curse. Then boom, there’s this big explosion and the next thing I remember is waking up a few minutes. I heard the…” waves her hooves around, “whatever you call this and came to see what was up.”
Twilight’s eye began twitching, “you mean all off this, is because you took a roll in Poison Joke, and your curse acted up.” She threw her hooves up in defeat.
“So you know how to fix this?” Ranma asked hopefully.
“Yes, you just need to take a bath in a brew of herbs,” said a second Twilight to the right of Ranma.
“WHO ARE YOU???” screamed the first Twilight.
“Oh! I guess I’m the first to show up,” stated the new Twilight. “Let’s see, what did she say… oh yes, I’m a temporal clone from a few minutes from now.” The two just stared at her. “Time just seems to being sporadic here and there. No reason to panic, just get her,” pointed to Ranma, “to the spar, for a Poison Joke Special.”
“Just make sure you go straight on Main,” said a third Twilight.
“Oh, a right on Mare St.,” said a fourth Twilight.
“And, you absolutely can’t forget that left turn at Albuquerque,” reminded a fifth Twilight.
Just as Twilight was getting confused, and long after Ranma already was, there was a pull. Then…
Splash, and Ranma found herself in a spa bath in an unfamiliar building. “wha…” they both began before all the memories of their temporal clones slammed into their heads, and with a massive migraine they passed happily into unconsciousness.