Attention everyone!

Just so everyone is on the up-and-up, due to a miscommunication with The Abyss as per the starting of his turn, we're granting him an extra day so that he'll have the same, fair amount of time to write his continuation of the story. In other words, we're adding a courtesy day to the schedule which will bump the remaining participants forward one day. If someone happens to get their turn done early (say, on their first day), then this courtesy day can be swallowed and we can resume our original order of go.

I'll adjust the schedule on the original post to reflect this change.

If this messes anyone else's schedules/lives up, please let me know and I'll make sure that everyone is fairly accommodated.

Happy weekend everyone!

5074577
This may sound stupid coming from me, seeing as I've already taken my turn. But thanks for letting everyone know Timaeus!
Good luck The Abyss, can't wait to see what you come up with

Abyss couldn't make it. Something about not understanding how collabs work or whatever.

Anyway, here's my contribution to this shindig, Gdocs says it's 931 werds:

Twilight’s hoof met her face with a groan.

“Shoulda seen your face.” Rainbow snickered uncontrollably. “Besides, if someone’s going to write me having a crush on one of my friends, you’re the one I’d pick too.”

Twilight blinked, pulling her hoof away to stare at Rainbow. There was no shortage of mirth in her expression, but as the foalish glee subsided, a hint of sincerity remained in Rainbow’s gaze.

Before she could speak, a hoof began to bash against the door. The buzzing of insectoid wings could clearly be heard between each shattering crack. Twilight and Rainbow leapt to their hooves in a flash.

“Rainbow, help me block the door!” Twilight shouted as the pink aura of her magic grabbed an armchair and slammed it against the splintering wood.

“On it!” Rainbow spun around the room, leaving a brilliant contrail as she snatched up an ottoman, two lamps, and an end table. She flung them atop the makeshift barricade as the door cracked down the middle and began to push into the room.

“Okay, think Sparkle, think.” Twilight gritted her teeth as her horn flared and the carpet around the pile of furniture grew, snaking out long fibrous tendrils that gripped chair legs and lamp stems. “We’ve broken the enchantment on ourselves, but whatever spell it is that this Edge Lord pony cast is still going on.”

Rainbow grunted, her wings beating the air furiously as she shoved the full might of her thrust capability against the pile of furniture. “So how do we stop it?”

“I don’t know! I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything.” Twilight pressed her back against the barricade, digging in with her rear hooves to add whatever force she could. “Sombra and Queen Chrysalis must just be part of the spell. Cadance too, unless she had her foal a month early and didn’t tell me.”

Twilight flipped over, pushing with her forehooves and aiming her horn at the door as it let out another loud creak. “Even Fluttershy might be a figment of the spell. She only showed up for when this last panel started, and when has she ever been interested in Daring Do before?”

“Hey, yeah. That is all kinds of weird.” Rainbow wiped a sheen of sweat from her forehead. “So what does that all mean for us getting out of here? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re still in trouble!”

“I know! I know! If only we had more time!” Twilight’s eyes flared wide open. “Time! That’s it!”

“What’s it?!” Rainbow growled as a pair of black, swiss cheese hooves started to poke through the splintered door and pawed at the furniture beyond.

“Time! Starlight modified Star Swirl’s time travel spell so that it could alter the past!”

“But I thought she needed our friendship map thingy to make it work!”

Twilight’s horn went off in a bright pink flash, and one of the invading hooves pulled back through the door with a yelp and a trail of smoke. “No, she needed the map in order to travel to different locations in the past. But we don’t need to go anywhere else, we’re already here!”

Rainbow let out a squawk as Twilight grabbed her around the barrel.

“Hold on tight! We’re going back in time!”

Rainbow wrapped her hooves tight around Twilight as the door burst open and the barricade exploded in a flash of green. As half a lamp sailed in their direction, Rainbow huddled closer to Twilight. Sight, sound, smell, taste, and even feeling all turned pink.

---

“—nbow!”

Pink had faded to black, and black had given way to purple. The purple darkened, but the black didn’t return. Instead, Rainbow felt a pair of lips pressed against her own. It would have been pleasant except for the air being blown forcefully into her lungs.

There was only one thing to do at a time like that, so Rainbow coughed and spluttered and curled up into a ball.

“Oh, thank the stars!” Twilight wrapped four legs and two wings around her, burying her muzzle into her mane.

“Gah! What happened?!” Rainbow’s wings attempted to flare, but they were pinned against Twilight’s barrel.

Twilight pointed a hoof at half a broken lamp lying beside them. “We had a stowaway and you got hit in the head. You were passed out when we landed and I almost couldn’t get you to let go of me in time to save you.”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head, wincing as she felt a rather large lump forming. “Not very high on the awesome or cool scale, but at least I got a kiss out of it.”

Twilight buried her face against Rainbow’s shoulder with a soft groan. “If you’re okay to crack jokes, you should be okay to walk. Let’s make sure we landed where we meant to.” She stood up and helped Rainbow to her hooves as well.

After a few shaky steps down the hall, Twilight stretched out a wing and drew Rainbow close, supporting a little of her weight. Rainbow mumbled a word of thanks as the two of them stepped out into the convention hall.

A cacophony of voices filled the air as vendors and fans alike conversed and conducted business. No hint of any disaster seemed apparent.

“This is definitely Do-con.” Rainbow said, her free wing flicking the air.

“But when?” Twilight replied as she peered around for a clock or any other way to tell the time. “We’ve got to stop Edge Lord, but who knows if we have hours, or just minutes.”

5081309

Totally forgot to post this, but unfortunately Abyss was not able to complete his contribution to the story in the time given and we had to move forward in our queue. Everyone welcome Jondor and his segment of the story!

And look at that, it's early March 1. Looks like we can continue on with the original schedule as posted.

5081309

Abyss couldn't make it. Something about not understanding how collabs work or whatever.

Oh, I'm soooo sorry for having to deal with real life. You know, I had a gut feeling you'd try to say some shit about me. How petty can you get?

5081348
This isn't meant as a retort, but I feel it does need to be said. Seeing as how literally every member of this collab is a real, breathing person, I think it's fair to say all of us have "real lives". We all have to jockey our time and figure out how to finish things we agreed to be a part of while also handling our day to day activities. You are not unique in that aspect. The simple fact of the matter here is that you agreed to be a part of the group project, and then you backed out with an excuse, the actual reasoning being irrelevant. Things can happen, this is true, but when we fail to do the things we have agreed to do and be a part of, it makes it harder and causes more issues for the other people who now have to step up and find new solutions. If you don't go in for work one day, and you don't deliver the mail you were supposed to, now someone else has to cover that route; the mail doesn't just not get delivered. And when asked why it happened, if you said "I couldn't do what I agreed to because I have a real life", ... I mean, doesn't that sound a little whiny to you? Perhaps that's just me, but I don't think so.

5081468 Like I had mentioned to Tim in a PM, real life has kept me rather busy lately. I didn't go into detail, nor shall I go into it here, but some very personal issues have kept me from doing anything productive lately. I know that's a bit of a shitty excuse, but I don't like going into very personal stuff with complete strangers on the internet.

5081468 Nor has Abyss been the only one to back out.

5081491 And considering this, I vote for calm.

5081501 Heh, nice video. Reminds me of the time I used to play in the jazz band.

Alto/baritone saxophone best instruments.

Hi.
First things first. Even though I immensely enjoy TwiDash stories, I intentionally avoid posting in this group due to a plethora of personal and public reasons, that I'd rather avoid going into great depths. People who know me are very much aware of the reason why is that so. But in this case, I'll only be throwing in a comment (or two, depends on the feedback). After that, I'll disappear into the shadows once again.

5081348

Oh, I'm soooo sorry for having to deal with real life. You know, I had a gut feeling you'd try to say some shit about me. How petty can you get?

Abyss, contrary to your belief, nobody is out to get you. Not me, not Babs, not Jondor, not anyone that I can think of off the top of my head. And there are plenty of people that I think of, believe it or not.

But I digress. I'm not commenting to damage your reputation or whatever. I'm commenting because you're butthurt again because someone called you out for your actions. You signed up for this, and when your number came up, you did nothing. Even after when the organizer publicly announced the delay, you did nothing.

No apology, no "Hey guys, RL jumped into my schedule, can you please continue without me?" And then you cry when someone scolds you for that.

Responsibility is what cool kids do these days. Try some.

~Twi

5081594 lol

Let's, um...let's all calm down for a minute here, please.

This is a community game, and has been from the start. Communities are big places, and I understand and sympathize that not everyone in said community gets along with everyone else all the time. If peeps got beef, they gots beef, and I am the wrong person to try and judge anyone for having grudges or whatever.

But this thread's for the game itself. If people want to talk about the direction of the collab story, individual entries, etc. in between entries being posted, that's all totally fine, but let's try to keep it generally civil and in good humor. If a peep gots beef, take that beef somewhere else. Might I suggest a barbecue. Mmmm, steaks.

I'm hungry.

5081613 Gotcha. I'm gonna go buy some steaks now. New York Strip sound good?

5081613
5081619
Calm'N'Ribeye checking in.

5081613
This reminds me of an old porno I watched as a wee lass. Some old Boy Scout Master is trying to sell Boy Scout bread, or something stupid like that. The conversation turns to what kind of sandwiches they like. Woman looks directly at the camera and says "I want BEEF!" and then proceeds to go down on the poor man.

I just wanted to post so I could see the awesome group tag next to my name, and have nothing worthwhile to contribute to this discussion. Everything that needs to be said has been said ... sorta.

For the record, I hate all of you.

5084005
what did I do?

5081348
Twilight-the-Pony is right. Nobody is out to get you dude, chillax. sweet Celestia you sound like me. I can identify with the whole real life thing... it can be tough, I kinda know how you feel... I almost missed my entry.
I made it with like 10 minutes to spare... then had to make overtime edits because it didn't copy correctly from word.
In all honesty though... how hard is it to just say: sorry guys, I couldn't get it done. (FYI: not trying to sound like a dick)

5081613
I'm hungry too...

...
...
...
on second thought... I'll just get some chili dogs.

5081309
Uuummm.. is it weird that i knew Starlights' time spell, would somehow show up... even tho i skipped doing it myself?
anyway, nice entry... I enjoyed it.

PHEW! I MADE THE DEADLINE! Anyways, here's my part of the story focusing on getting more Twidash action in the mix. Looking forward to seeing what the next writer after me comes up with!

Rainbow’s hoof connected with the back of Twilight’s head causing the alicorn to give a pained ‘eep’ and glare daggers at her prismatic maned friend. “What the hay was the for Rainbow?!” Twilight angrily demanded, rubbing her head where Rainbow had headslapped her.

“It’s only eleven thirty Twi, so we still have sixty minutes before fanfic alley opens up.” Rainbow grinned excitedly and began trotting through the Daring Do Convention. “So while we wait for fanfic alley to open up we might as well enjoy ourselves again.”

Twilight trotted up to Rainbow shaking her head in disbelief at her friend’s words, but mostly because it still hurt. “Rainbow, we have to find and stop Edge Lord before that...MMPH?!” A cyan hoof pressed against Twilight mouth stopping her next words.

“Twi, think about this for a sec. You’re an evil-not to mention extremely bad fanfic writer-with a plan to use a spell to activate a story that potentially destroys Equestria, would you wait out in the open to do that, or hide until the very last moment when fanfic alley opens?”

Twilight pulled away from Rainbow’s hoof and glared at the pegasus. “Rainbow, we still have to try and stop him before then.”

“Twi, we don’t know where this Edge Lord is at the moment, but we know where he’s going to be in the next hour. So we wait until its ten minutes before fanfic alley opens up and then lie in wait for the bad guy to show up. In the mean time, let’s enjoys ourselves some more.”

Twilight hated to admit but she found Rainbow’s reasoning to be right. If they spent the next hour looking for Edge Lord in places where he wasn’t, they might miss him and he would then be able to activate the fanfic spell without being stopped. Not only that, he was no doubt keeping an weary lookout for her and Rainbow Dash and if he saw them acting suspiciously he might abandon his plan to activate the fanfic spell until a later date. So it was in their best interests-not to mention the fate of Equestria’s best interest-to act normally and catch Edge Lord at the perfect time. With a sigh of frustration Twilight walked to Rainbow who busy browsing through a stall selling Daring Do merchandise.

“Hey Twi! Chesk this out!”

Twilight suddenly found her vision blocked by Rainbow shoving a book in her face. “Rainbow, you’ve already got that book, not to mention the entire Daring Do series!”

Rainbow suddenly looked offended and sh held the book close to her chest nuzzling it as though it was a newborn foal. “This isn’t just any Daring Do book, Twilight. This is a rare, extended first edition, signed by Daring Do herself!”

“It also cost two hundred and fifty bits...” Twilight deadpanned pointing at the price tag.

Rainbow looked absolutely crushed. “Damn it...” Rainbow muttered returning the book to its stand looking as though she was parting with a piece of her soul.

Twilight gave Rainbow’s mane a comforting ruffle. “I’m there is other Daring Do merchandise you can buy.”

Rainbow sniffled and with a longing look at the book she trotted away. The two mare walked in silence observing and purchasing Daring Do merchandise for several moments until Twilight suddenly spoke up. “D-did you really mean it when you said you’d ship you and I together in a bad shipfic?”

Rainbow grinned at Twilight. “Totally, where ever you go world-ending trouble always seems to follow you. Just think of all the action I could get being with you!”

Twilight stared at her, and Rainbow’s face suddenly became a dark red as she replayed that sentence through her head. “Nice Dash.” Twilight said smirking playfully. “It’s great to know you’d love being with me just for all the action you’d get.”

Rainbow face-hoofed. “That came out so wrong.” Twilight’s vision was suddenly blocked by Rainbow’s smirking face and teasing bedroom eyes. “Besides, you seemed to enjoy all the action we’ve been through together...”

Twilight’s whole face suddenly became a bright red beacon as her mind automatically went to the innuendo in Rainbow’s sentence. “S-stop that,” Twilight muttered walking past Rainbow really wishing her face would stop blushing brightly at the metal images she was processing right now.

The still snickering Rainbow easily caught up with Twilight. “Seriously though, I’d love us to be...”

Twilight suddenly came to a stop and pointed to a dark hooded pony walking through the crowds of ponies. “There’s Edge Lord! We can stop him now before he activates the fanfic spell!”

yeah... sorry to the next writer...

Looking back, there were a few things Twilight would have done a bit differently.

For one, she probably wouldn’t have yelled incredibly obvious intentions to haymaker the particular enemy in question across the entire convention hall.

For another, she probably should have stopped staring at Rainbow’s flank when she charged at Edge Lord. It certainly didn’t help when she aimed her counterspell.

She most certainly would have thought to have brought a jug of bleach for the nonsense she saw thanks to her missed spell.

The candy changeling conga line.

The mass yodeling contest, led by Sombra.

The part where Edge Lord waved around a sword that was so horribly overdesigned he couldn’t even actually lift it from the ground.

...In her defense, it was a really nice flank.

Still, what was done was done. And by that, she meant that it was incredibly good the time travel spell wasn’t a one-and-done deal, because it’d taken her nearly five additional tries.

Rainbow...was not helping.

“Geez, Twi. I know I’ve got a rocking flank, but how many times did you miss?”

“Rainbow.”

“I mean, the one before this you hit a goat at the other end of the hall!”

“Rainbow.”

“And then the time before that you accidentally turned the mare next to Edgey McSwordylord into an eggplant--”

“Rainbow we are in front of an entire convention we will talk about your flank later.”

Rainbow blinked, her smile vanishing as she looked around and saw the entire contingent of very sweaty, very nerdy ponies staring and whispering. Some were taking pictures.

“Eheh…” Rainbow chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “....Promotional stunt?”
Twilight rolled her eyes and grabbed Rainbow with her magic, hauling her forward while another aura dragged along a very well-restrained Edge Lord.

“You have given them quite enough fanfic ideas, thank you. You probably just created like, twelve more Edge Lords with that little conversation. Happy?”

Rainbow looked awkwardly towards the ground as she was forcefully marched away from the site of their latest villain takedown.

“Sorry. Guess I got a bit carried away. Sorry, Twi. I know you weren’t really staring at my flank.”

“Now, I never said that.” Twilight smirked, refusing to make eye contact with Rainbow.

Rainbow, for her part, found her jaw so far down on the floor that you could fit twice as many ball gags as they had jammed into Edge Lord’s muzzle.

“I...but you….but you were….”

“I was what, Rainbow?”

“You can’t say something like that! I mean, I can, because I’m me, but...you’re you! An egghead? How the hell did you just outflirt ME!?”

“Who says I was flirting with you?”

“But you just said…!”

“Said what?”

“You….you…”

Dash sputtered helplessly for a few more moments, before sighing and sagging significantly.

“You’re not going to tell me whether that was serious or not, are you?”

“Oh look, you CAN learn.” Twilight thwicked Rainbow’s snout with her tail with a chuckle.

“Ponyfeathers.”

“Y’know, I think I lost a tooth.”

“Huh?” Rainbow blinked, the glass in her hooves pausing halfway to her mouth. “Oh. Well, Edge Lord’s goons did smack you pretty hard.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, futilely trying to force herself to stop tounging her teeth. She made a mental note to ask Zecora about that remedy Apple Bloom had once mentioned. “I’m quite sure it’s your fault, Rainbow.”

“Mine?”

Twilight rubbed her cheek. “You punch hard. What’re your hooves made of, rock?”

Rainbow had the decency to blush. “I said I was sorry. I couldn’t really think of what else to do to snap you out of that!”

“Right. Of course not.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s always act first, think later with you.”

“It’s worked so far!” Rainbow retorted, slamming her drink onto the counter. “You just can’t admit you can’t think of anything else I could’ve done.”

Twilight sputtered. “That’s not the point! And yeah, it works, but I don’t know how you and Applejack do it without getting seriously hurt! You and AJ get your ass kicked every time!” Twilight said. "No offense, sir.”

“None taken,” the donkey replied, nursing his drink and trying to ignore the two mares sitting next to him.

“Maybe we’re just that good, did you ever think of that? If I’m not working, I’m training. Or I’m with you and the girls, fighting to save the world. That’s a lot of survival skills!” Rainbow paused, a hoof in the air. “And I guess AJ farms apples a lot. Now that I think of it, how the hay are she and her brother so strong? Do they lace their apples with steroids or something?”

“What?” Twilight blinked. “No! At least, I don’t think so! I might have to test that later… But that’s besides the point! Don’t try to change the subject.”

“I’m not! I’m not even sure what we’re even talking about!”

Twilight jabbed Rainbow’s chest with a hoof. “About you! About your daredevil attitude whenever we face danger! About rushing in without giving it any thought!”

“Oh, come off it. If we waited for your plans every time, we’d never get anything done!”

Twilight groaned. “That’s because I’m careful, Dash. It never hurts to be careful!”

“Ha.” Rainbow snorted. “It does if you never get to do anything.”

“Haven’t you heard the saying ‘Discretion is the better part of valor?’” Twilight paused. “Actually, don’t answer that. I forgot who I was talking to.”

“Hey! I do know. Daring Do said it, right?” Rainbow frowned as Twilight put her head in her hooves. “What?”

“No. Just no. It’s much older than that. It means exactly what I’m talking about. It’s better to be careful and think before you act than it is to be brave and take risks. Unnecessary risks. Stupid risks.”

“Whaddya mean, stupi-”

“Didn’t you hear what Edge Lord had written? He was going to rip your wings off! He was going to kill you. Several times!”

Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s cool, right? We stopped him. Tossed him in jail and all that.”

Twilight let out a strangled scream of frustration. “That- But- Argh!”

Rainbow inched back, her eyes wide. Maybe this was more serious than she thought. “Okay, what is going on with you? You’re never like this.” She squinted. “Did Sombra get you again?”

Twilight glared. “Are my eyes green? And hazy?”

“No…?”

“Then no. I’m not. I’m just angry.”

“But why? What did I do?”

“Because I’m worried about you, Dash!” Twilight yelled, stopping all conversation in the bar. “Every time we all rush in, I’m worried about you. About everyone. About how someday, we might fight something that really fights back. And there’d be nothing I could do to stop it.” She lifted a hoof, stopping Dash before she spoke. “I know what you’re gonna say. Applejack’s got your back. We all do. And you’re right. We usually do.” Twilight smiled, but could feel the tears forming at the corner of her eyes. She looked at the floor, unable to look Rainbow in the eye. “But what about the day where we’re just a second too slow, Dash? I can’t lose you girls. I can’t lose you. Especially not you.”

Rainbow stared, speechless. For once in her life, she couldn’t think of a snappy comeback. Or anything, really. So she said the next best thing. “You really like my flank that much, huh?”

Despite herself, Twilight couldn’t stop the snort of laughter. “Yeah.” She sniffed. “So what?”

“So, uh. I think I just thought of a different way I could’ve stopped you back then.”

Blinking away tears, Twilight looked up. “Wha-” her eyes widened as Rainbow’s lips made contact with her own.

For a few blissful seconds, everything was right in the world. Unfortunately, that’s when the cheers and whistles began.

The pair opened their eyes and leaned away from each other, remembering far too late that they were in a very public bar. Her face on fire, Twilight floated over a few bits to the bartender, and stood up to leave. “I, uh. Let’s go somewhere less public.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow coughed. “Sure.”

As they stood outside the bar, Rainbow glanced at Twilight. They smiled as their eyes met, and trotted off together towards their hotel, the convention’s yellow banner still flying in the wind. “Y’know, I just thought of something.” She said, increasing her speed.

“What?” Twilight asked. “Why are we running?”

“Where the hay is Fluttershy!?"

912 words! And no appledash. I'll leave that to someone else to do :P

5095612 I'm sure you had to fight the strong desire for Applejack to show up, lasso the two of them together, and cart them off to the barn.

5095612

And no appledash. I'll leave that to someone else to do

I know just the guy: Michael McDoesntexist

5099928

5099935
You'll see.

5099942

We can only hope that Moff won't betray us to your sinister cause.

>says one of the admins of the AppleDash group

“Where the hay is Fluttershy!?"

What if she EXPLODED!?

5101394

We'll just have to wait for Moff's installment to find out!

People, meet the edges of your seats.

Alright everyone, GMP is here! Sorry for posting this close to the deadline, but this past week at work ate up a lot of my writing time. Without further adieu, here we go!

“Twi, get the door!”

“On it!”

A purple glow encased the convention hall’s main doors and shoved them open in front of Rainbow, who bounded through the entryway at a full gallop. Twilight followed only a few paces behind as they charged into the lobby and skidded to a halt.

Rainbow quickly scanned the room. “Okay, now where did she go? She stepped forward and cupped her wings around her muzzle “Fluttershy! Hey, Flutter—”

“Shh! Rainbow!” Twilight clamped Rainbow’s mouth with a bit of magic. “Keep it down!”

Rainbow growled her annoyance, but relented at Twilight’s stern glare. A second later the magic released, and Rainbow rubbed at her jaw with a wing. “Okay, okay… now what was that about, Twi?”

“Because,” Twilight replied, “Fluttershy’s likely too far away to hear us, and we don’t know if it’s safe yet.”

“Safe? Why wouldn’t it be safe, Twilight? You do remember—” Rainbow paused when Twilight shushed her again, and she forced her voice lower. “Ugh, fine. Look, we already saved the day, right? That Edge Lord guy is tied up and headed to jail, the bad fanfic illusions have stopped, and everypony thinks we’re heroes.”

“That’s great, Dash, but…” Twilight spoke quietly as she scanned the room with her magic. “...we’re still missing Fluttershy, and for all we know, she ran away straight into trouble of her own. Besides, you remember what happened to Compass Rose near the end of Skyscraper Showdown, right? Daring and Rose were separated, and Daring had to go save her from a group of Caballeron’s goons at the last second?”

Rainbow furrowed her brow in thought, then sighed. “Yeah, good point. So where do we start then? This place is huge.”

“Where we last saw Fluttershy.” Twilight answered. “Which was…”

Rainbow’s face lit up instantly. “In the main hallway! Right where I captured Ahuizotl’s masked henchpony.” She turned to her left and bolted down the corridor. “This way!”

They raced through the labyrinth of hallways and reception areas as they made their way toward the east wing of the convention hall. Twilight had to put nearly all of her energy into matching Rainbow’s pace, though a small part of her mind was quite content to enjoy the view nonetheless. And after that kiss, the view from back here’s never been so intriguing...

So intriguing, that she missed a sudden left turn by Rainbow, and had to use her wings to keep herself from sliding out of control in an attempt to catch back up.

A few minutes later, Twilight and Rainbow rounded a final corner and slowed to a trot as they entered the east wing of the hall.

“Wow, what a mess…” Twilight muttered. Rainbow added a small whistle of her own as they looked around.

Activity was returning to the hallways and ponies were filing in and out of the various conference rooms that were marked as panel rooms. Yet signs of their earlier struggles were still visible. Magic scorch marks dotted walls and ceilings, and large chunks of blackened wallboard lay in a pile near a trash can. A few maintenance ponies weaved past them, each pushing a fully laden cart of tools.

“Let’s see, I think we had him cornered over there.” Twilight pointed with a wing, then took the lead down the right side of the hallway. They rounded a familiar corner and abruptly stopped. “What the—”

Rainbow came around a second later and yelped at the sight. “Luna’s moons, what are you doing?”

Another maintenance pony, this one a tan earth pony stallion, looked up and caught sight of them, then abruptly cut power to the vacuum cleaner in front of him. “Huh? You ladies need somethin’?”

Twilight worked her jaw for a second before words could come out. “Y-you… you’re vacuuming?”

“Well yeah, of course,” he replied. “Con staff said some hooligans came through and made a mess, and there was a big pile of dust here, so…”

Twilight and Rainbow shared mortified looks, each fumbling for something, anything to say. Rainbow finally broke the awkward silence. “Y-yeah, um… of course! Heh, why would you leave a mess lying around, right? U-uh, well then, have fun, I guess.”

“Yeah, I’ll get on that, thanks.” He flipped the vacuum back on, and they watched in silent horror as the last remains of that pony were sucked up, along with a gum wrapper and a few balls of lint.

Twilight nudged Rainbow over to the far side of the hallway. “Well, that’s one piece of my mind I’ll never get back.” Rainbow looked over her shoulder and shivered, then turned back to Twilight.

“You’re telling me. Still, we know Fluttershy ran from here when whatshisface turned to ash. Let’s see…” she scanned the hallway in both directions “Aha!” She pointed a hoof at the farthest end of the hallway. “She flew off that way and made that right turn.”

They took off at a canter, and quickly found themselves in a short hallway at the far end of the convention’s reserved area. A restroom was to their right, a water fountain to their left, and a set of double doors at the end of the path. They stepped up to the doors. Twilight raised a hoof to the handle when abrupt sounds came through the door.

“Hey! Get back here!”

Rainbow turned white as a ghost. “Twi… is that...?”

“Take that!”

Now Twilight mirrored Rainbow’s worried look. “Yeah, that’s Fluttershy…” A loud crashing sound filtered through the closed door, startling them both.

“Oh, you’re gonna get it now, little missy!” A stallion’s voice, followed by many whoops and cheers.

“What the hay’s going on in there?” Rainbow asked between clenched teeth.

“Oh? Then show me what you’ve got! Or can’t you perform under pressure?”

An even louder chorus of cheers and taunts came from inside. Twilight’s face went from pale white to apple-red in an instant. “I-I, um… sounds like a fight, I think?”

“Depending on the type of fight, we might definitely need to join in…” Rainbow smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Unless you would prefer a more personal duel later…”

Twilight blushed even harder but fought it back down. “Rainbow! Not now! Let’s just… argh, we can’t do anything if we stand out here all day! Fluttershy might be in danger!

She lit her horn and wrapped the door handle in her magic. “On three. One… two…”

Dash stepped back and readied herself.

“Three!”

Dash burst through the door and came to an immediate halt.

“Dear Celestia… Um, Twi, you gotta see this.”

Soo.... uhhh... I did a thing... for the thing... we're doing... yeah. First bit of writing I'd done in... months. Felt good.

Twilight Sparkle had seen many things in her life. Corrupted alicorns, chaotic gods, even a greed-grown dragon. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she passed through those double doors. What was once a simple panel room, with a modest stage and rows upon rows of chairs, had become anything but. The stage had become a make-sift boxing ring, complete with ropes made from any scrap of cloth that could be found. The chairs had all been knocked aside or downright torn apart for spare parts and the table had been re-purposed as a ramp into the ring.

But, what was even more surprising than the room itself were the occupants. On the farthest side from the door, two Ahuizotl's faced off against three Daring Do's while a Changeling army seemed to charge endlessly into battle only to be run off by an Ahuizotl and Daring Do team. Against the left wall a veritable army of Bat Ponies faced off against Daring Do, who was hogtied and strung up by the rafters. On the right wall was a Discord-coloured mess while a nameless, no-doubt Mary-Sue red-and-black alicorn faced off against Nightmare Moon and a quite obviously corrupted Daring Do.

In the farthest, darkest corner came the lewd sounds of some more.... sensual acts between characters. In the middle of it all, wearing a luchador mask with her long pink hair done up in a ponytail, was Fluttershy. Currently sitting on King Sombra while he all but begged her to release his foreleg from the painful-looking angle she held it at.

“Where's all that big talk now, huh?” Fluttershy taunted, shifting and pushing her knee into the small of Sombra's back. “You sound like a frightened filly! Come on! Get up!”

Twilight blinked.

Rainbow blinked.

They looked to each other, then back out the door behind them, silently debating whether or not they should even acknowledge what was going on in front of them.

Rainbow cleared her throat. “Hey... Twi? I... uh... I think Edge Lord might have used that spell on a few... dozen... other fanfics....”

“Oh! Daring~” Rainbow's voice moaned out from the dark - and worryingly damp - corner.

“Nope!” Rainbow turned away and marched back out the door. “Nope. Not today. Not ever. Nope!”

“Rainbow!” Twilight called, quickly curring the pegasus off before she coud leave. “We need-”

Rainbow shoved a hoof in Twilight's mouth, shaking her head. “Twilight, listen. I've never thought about it before, but this-” she motioned to the chaos of the surprisingly large panel room. “-has got me thinking. You know? Life's short, and there's a lot of things to see in that short time.”

“Oh, Rainbow, YES!” Daring Do's voice called, sending a shutter down Rainbow's back.

“I could have lived a million years without ever wanting to see what's going on in this room right now.”

Forcefully shoving the hoof from her lips, Twilight's eyes hardened into a determined look – even as she heard Fluttershy cry out; “Who's next? Who wants to learn what means to be truly dominated?”

“Rainbow, we need to stop this. Who knows what could happen if this isn't contained!”

Rainbow opened her mouth to argue, then looked over her shoulder – just in time to see a red-and-black unicorn grow wings and defeat King Sombra, Nightmare Moon, and Chrysalis simultaneously with a single blast of magic. She sighed. “Fine... and I suppose we should... err... 'save' Fluttershy too.”

“So, what's the plan.”

“Well...” Twilight trailed off, her brow creasing in thought. A moment passed, then two, and eventually her shoulders sagged. “I have no idea....”

“Well that's just great!” Rainbow shouted, her wings spreading and beating against the air a few times. “How the heck are we supposed to stop this?”

Just then, a large window materialized on one of the walls – which Twilight was sure didn't lead to the outside – and in shattered as yet another Daring Do swung in on a vine. Another Ahuizotl followed, adding yet more chaos to the insanity.

“First... we should figure out who's real,” Twilight announced thoughtfully, nodding her head once in confirmation. “I think we can assume Fluttershy is, but if anypony else from the convention wandered in here they'd be captured by the spell too, so it'll be hard to tell who's real and who's just a character from a story.

“And then?”

“Then...” Twilight sighed and shook her head. “Then I come up with step 2 and we go from there.”

764 words according to office. This has been one wild, plot-hole-filled ride, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. So, how are they gonna get out of this one? I DUNNO! But I don't have to, because my turn's over. Have fun!

5109055

“Oh, Rainbow, YES!” Daring Do's voice called, sending a shutter down Rainbow's back.

(shudder, btw)

5109394

Maybe the force of the voice threw a window shutter and it hit Dash's back. You never know.

This fic has gotten weird. Like, really weird and I'm not sorry for the part I played in it.

Edge Lord is best villain.

5109394

Oh come on. I can't believe I'm already being checked.... that's usually 5109554's thing

5110069
You still haven't changed the spelling of cannon to canon in your vampire fic summary.

5110098

Oh? Haven't I? I must have forgotten. It's not like I left it there just for you, or anything,...

5110159
Your sarcasm is not lost on me, and I figured as much.

I mean, who am I to question the great writers of our time, like Kodeake or 5ever?

But seriously, that thing keeps me up at night.

Here we go! 1250 words, so rather long, but I tried not to move things forward too much. Hopefully y'all enjoy, and good luck to Ceffyl Dwr! (Which is a neat name.)

“Well, there’s no use waiting around,” Rainbow said. “Let’s go get Fluttershy!” She leapt into the air, poising herself to speed into the center of the room, where Fluttershy continued to taunt the fictional onlookers from atop her perch on one of the many King Sombras.

“Wait!” Twilight cried, grabbing Rainbow in her magic. “Rainbow Dash! Do you not listen to a word I say? What if we get wrapped up in the magic when we enter the room?”

Rainbow’s eyes unfocused for a moment and her muscles went slack. “I hadn’t thought about that,” she mused.

“I know you didn’t!” Twilight said, her eyeballs nearly popping out of her skull. “Haven’t I told you to stop charging into danger enough times today?” Rainbow blushed and looked down.

“Okay, okay, sorry, Twi,” she said. “So what should we do?”

Twilight stepped back out of the room, pulling Rainbow Dash along with her. She shut the door. “Well, the biggest question I have is why we haven’t noticed the effects of all these other spells before. After all, we went back in time to stop Edge Lord. Everything going on in that room theoretically happened in every other timeline we’ve experienced so far today.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s really neat and all,” Dash said, “but is it really important right now? We just need to figure out how to stop the spell and—” she grimaced, “—get rid of all those gross fanfiction characters.”

“That is our focus, Rainbow, but if we can understand why everything in that room is staying in that room, we might be able to use the magic against itself.” Twilight straightened her back and spread her wings, closing her eyes to focus. “After all, any mage that could sustain an enchantment powerful enough to create that many facsimiles—or even multiple such enchantments at once—is obviously a force to be reckoned with. Honesty, I’m not so sure this even is the work of Edge Lord.”

Rainbow’s face twisted. “If it isn’t Edge Lord, who could it be? How many ponies could there possibly be in Equestria who are that good at magic?”

Twilight frowned. “I don’t know, but that really isn’t important right now. Give me a minute while I inspect these spells. Hopefully a few basic tests should be all it takes for me to understand the details of what exactly is going on here.” She turned from Rainbow back to the door, closing her eyes once again and furrowing her brow yet further. She lit her horn and began to concentrate intensely, calling to mind the first of the potential litany of magical tests she could use to analyze the mess in the room before her.

Rainbow Dash looked on, growing more bored by the second. Her eyes began to wander—swoosh! down the tail, up (boop!) past the Cutie Mark, momentarily tangled in the mane—before finally coming to rest on Twilight’s nose. It really was rather bruised, maybe even a little bit bloody. Rainbow sort of regretted that. I coulda hit her somewhere less obvious, she thought. Back of the head, maybe, right behind her ear? That probably would’ve done the job better too, and I wouldn’t have messed her face up quite so much. How is anypony gonna take her seriously as a princess if she has a bloody nose? Though maybe it woulda been too much in the back of the head, I might’ve given her a concussion or something. That really would’ve made being a princess hard. Rainbow Dash was far more familiar with the feeling of being concussed than she’d like; a few too many missed landings and unnoticed trees at high speed had made sure of that.

Dash was jolted from her reverie by the sight of a purple hoof flashing back and forth across her vision. “Rainbow? Rainbow Dash? You in there?” Twilight said, a note of worry coming into her voice.

“Huh? Yeah? What?” Dash said, sputtering a little. That was the most thinking I’ve done in weeks, Dash considered. “What is it? Did you figure it out?”

“I think I have,” Twilight said. Rainbow’s face brightened. “But it’s not good news,” Twilight said.

“Oh?” Rainbow said, the tentative smile leaving her lips.

“The answer is nothing. There’s absolutely nothing keeping all that bad fanfiction magic in. As best I can tell, we’ve just been getting lucky this whole time,” Twilight said. Rainbow noticed that she hadn’t unfurrowed her eyebrows; if anything, Twilight’s face had become more scrunched up than it had been before she started her magic. Acting purely on instinct, Rainbow went up on her back hooves and wings and reached out to Twilight’s face, pulling on her cheeks.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Twilight asked, stepping back a little.

“You were frowning so hard I was worried your face would get stuck like that,” Rainbow Dash said. She grinned. “You’re way too pretty for that, so I figured I’d help out.” Twilight’s expression finally broke and a tiny smile adorned her lips. Got her, Dash thought. “So we’ve just been getting lucky this whole time. Luck’s my middle name! What I want to know is, what do we do about it?”

Twilight took a deep breath to steady herself. “Well, while I was inspecting the fanfiction spells, I figured out their operating principle—in this case, the thing that lets them control ponies’ minds as well as create the facsimiles. And I’ve figured out a way to ward us from the effects—without anypony having to punch anypony else in the head,” she said, smirking at Rainbow, who snickered back despite her earlier thoughts.

“Well, hit me with it! We need to go rescue Fluttershy before she gets her hooves on another real pony instead of one of the fakes,” Rainbow said, lowering her chest close to the floor and wiggling her tail. Twilight lit her horn once again.

“The last thing I figured out is how to tell the difference between a facsimile and a mind-controlled pony,” Twilight said, as she and Rainbow began to glow the same purple as her magic. “Unfortunately, there’s another piece of...bad. Bad news. There. Remember the changeling invasion?” Twilight asked, as the light came to a bright shine. Rainbow felt her whole body tingling with the spell.

“Which part? It lasted sort of a long time,” Rainbow replied.

“When we were trying to fight our way to the Elements, and Pinkie grabbed me by the tail, and, uh…” Twilight trailed off, a bit embarrassed. The light vanished with an audible pop, the ward spell complete.

Rainbow Dash grinned again. “Are you saying I get to use you like a minigun? Like when Daring tears that trap out of the wall and uses it against Ahuizotl in Daring Do and the Marvelous Mausoleum Mechanism?”

“...Yes. It’s gonna be a pretty strong spell, beam only, I haven’t had time to refine it, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to stand the whole time, or even aim, necessarily, so…” Twilight said, her face growing redder by the word.

Rainbow stood, sauntering over to the mare that had kissed her for the first time just that afternoon. She went up on her hind legs again, balancing with her wings like she had before. One leg around Twilight’s neck and under the forearm, for support…

...and the other right at the base of her tail.

Twilight shivered.

Rainbow Dash drew sunglasses from nowhere, flapped a few steps forward, and kicked the doors in.

“Let’s do this.”

(Don't worry about the anatomy of how this would work I invoke Rule of Funny (I hope it's funny))

5116833
I never knew I needed the image of Rainbow Dash in sunglasses wielding a Twilight-gun until now.

If only I could art.

5117313
To be honest, when I wrote it I was thinking more about the meaning and less about the way it would look, but now that you mention it I too desperately want to see this dream realized.

5116833 That last part... I just had to laugh. HARD.

I've been quiet through the last entries lately...

5119752
Precisely!

uhm, is today 21?

5122173 oh... alright can't wait!

An-ta-go-nist! An-ta-go-nist! Been a couple drabbles since we had one for sure.

Wait, Timmy-Tim's next? *Checks the calendar* Huh. I thought Timaeus was the one after Bradel. Anyways, cant wait!

5123515 ... Okay...

5123261

. . . I'll admit, that twist caught me by surprise. And here I thought I've seen everything from this story.

Alright. Time to do my brainstorming and frantic writing sometime tomorrow. New antagonist to play with. Choices to be made.

Sorry for the close call; took me longer than expected to get discharged (bloody pneumonia).

Suddenly me bemoaning papers and end-of-term projects seems significantly less complain-worthy. Solid job, by the way!

Welp, time to finish that entry for that writing contest in foalcon...

5123261

You know you're a university student when you finish with five minutes to spare. Things got tight, so I make no promise for the quality of what you're about to read.

“‘Rewrite the final act?’” Rainbow Dash echoed. Her eyes stayed trained on Daring Do and she kept pace with Twilight as they backed up a step for every one her hero took towards them. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Aw, come on, Dash,” Daring said, venom oozing off of her words. The amulet around her neck glowed a deep, angry red and she bared her teeth in a smile. “I thought you were my biggest fan. You’ve read all of my books. What do you think I meant?”

This was not right. This could not be right.

Part of Rainbow hoped that this was all some prank. There was no way one of her biggest heroes was behind everything. She searched her face, looking for any sign that this was a mistake. Those could have been contacts making her eyes seem all red. Special effects had gotten pretty good lately—maybe there was a machine making those crackles of lightning arc between her wings.

Her eyes met Rainbow’s, and all that Rainbow saw reflected in them was something dark and twisted. But it was still Daring. It was still Daring closing the distance between them. It was still Daring who wanted to hurt them.

“Why?” Twilight asked from beside her. A quick glance to her side showed Rainbow that her head was lowered and her horn aglow. For a brief second their eyes met as Twilight scanned around the room. There was strength in those eyes and a warmth she’d come to know well over the years. But there was also fear in them. They were both tired and maybe even outmatched.

Not that any of that mattered, though. When she met Twilight’s eyes, a rush of defiance swelled up in her chest and she couldn’t help but grin.

After everything they’ve been through today, they were not going to lose now. The promise of dinner, possibly by candlelight, hung in Rainbow’s mind. And everything after . . . well, she’d just have to make it that far first.

“Why?” Daring threw her head back and laughed. “Why do you think, Princess? I’m cleaning out the competition.”

“What?!” Rainbow gawped.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Twilight grumbled, rubbing the bridge of her muzzle. “What do you mean, ‘competition?’”

“Her,” Daring hissed, red-tinted eyes narrowing at Rainbow. Despite herself, she felt her wings tremble. “Her and everything she’s done. Do you know what ponies thought of my last book?”

“Uh . . .” Rainbow blinked. “Didn’t they love it?”

“Oh, yes.” Daring ground her teeth and stomped forward, the impact of her hoof making the linoleum floor crack and splinter. “You know what they loved the most? You. For months I’d wake up and there’d be this stack of letters from fans asking about you. When will Rainbow Dash come back? Is she getting her own spin-off series? Oh my gosh, Rainbow Dash is just so cool!”

Both Twilight and Rainbow winced at the force of her voice.

“Do you know what that’s like?” With a flap of Daring’s wings, a gust of gale-force wind howled through the room. Chairs flew and crashed against the wall as the doors were swung shut with a resounding boom. “Everything I’ve done—Every time I saved the world and then you waltz along and stick your nose where it doesn’t belong and then everypony just loves you!”

“It’s not like I planned it that way!” Rainbow said, finding her footing after the gust of wind forced her and Twilight to their haunches. “Besides, I helped you beat Ahuizotl! Twilight, too!”

“Precisely,” Daring purred, low and dangerous. “Before you, I didn’t need any help. I did things on my own. I didn’t need friends like you do. What are you without them?”

Twilight puffed up beside her, squaring her stance and unfurling her wings. A small spark of pride made her stand just a little taller when Twilight met Daring’s gaze without hesitation. “Stop this, Daring. This isn’t you.”

“Oh, but I think it’s the most me I’ve been!” Daring’s smile was wide and manic and looked flat-out wrong. “It’s certainly the most fun I’ve been in a long time!”

“It isn’t, it’s the Alicorn Amulet around your neck,” Twilight said, eyes darting around the room. A soft gasp escaped her lips. Flicking Rainbow’s haunches with her tail, she glanced from her to the ceiling.

Rainbow looked up.

Rainbow fought to keep her grin down.

Hanging above them, the chandelier was still intact and Daring had stopped walking right underneath it. It was almost comically convenient, but Rainbow wasn’t about to complain.

“The amulet?” Daring cackled, spreading her wings wide. Red lightning danced between her outstretched wingtips. “All this has given me is more power than I’ve ever dreamed of.”

“You’re wrong,” Twilight insisted. “All it’s done is twist and warp your mind. It’s taking every bad thought you’ve ever had and is just making them worse. It’s consuming you, Daring. You’ve got to fight it.”

Daring’s lip curled. “Nah, I think I’d rather take care of you.”

“No dice, Do,” Rainbow said, smirking down at the possessed pegasus. She winked at Twilight and bent her legs, getting ready for takeoff. “I’ve got a hot date with a princess. You ruined DoCon, but you’re not ruining that, too!”

In the blink of an eye, Rainbow was airborne, a rainbow streak left in her wake. As Daring turned to zap her out of the air, Rainbow watched with a grin as Twilight’s magic severed the rope holding the chandelier aloft, sending it plummeting down on top of Daring.

She would wake up with one heck of a headache, but she would be fine.

Twilight and Rainbow’s eyes met again, and Rainbow beamed. Best almost girlfriend ever.

973 words according to google docs.

TAG, Bradel's it!

5131939
Excellent motive speech! You really pulled it off.
Now all that's left is to see whether or not Bradel lets that chandelier hit the ground where it ought to...

5132530
Wow, that took a lot of catch-up, and now I have to crank out something in the next three hours—or maybe more if I pretend I live on the international dateline? Or is there a timezone this contest is focused on? Anyway, writing time, and y'all will have to see how it goes! Thankfully, I've got friends I can plagiarize unpublished ideas from.

5137812

We're not too set on a hard deadline here. If you end up needing to take a few extra hours tomorrow morning, no one is going to lose their head over it.

1097 words. Enjoy, y'all.

As Twilight watched the chandelier drop, time slowed to a crawl. Daring’s head turned upward, and the ruby heart of the Alicorn Amulet blazed with an unnatural light. Twilight saw Daring’s wings stretch to the sides, watched as her legs flexed for a practiced leap. Daring had escaped so many traps in her years of adventuring. A knot of panic formed in Twilight’s stomach—she would escape from this, too, wouldn’t she?

The chandelier smashed against the red shag carpeting of the panel room, pinning Daring to the ground. A torn scrap of brass from the wreck of tangled metal pierced her left wing, prompting a scream of pain.

No, Daring Do would not escape.

The Alicorn Amulet fell away from Daring’s neck. Had it been broken by another part of the chandelier? Twilight couldn’t tell. The light from the oddly-cut ruby flickered twice, then faded.

Rainbow landed next to Twilight, wearing a wide grin. “That was awesome. Nice work, Twi!”

Twilight didn’t smile. She stared at the wreck of the panel room, tasting a hint of bile as she surveyed the damage. Broken tables. Twisted metal chairs. Shattered glass. Wrecked AV equipment. Part of her was overwhelmed by an inexpressible sadness.

Suspiciously, another part of her was not.

“You’re right, it was awesome!” Twilight turned to her gorgeous, rainbow-maned friend and her heart skipped a beat. “Do you want to go somewhere and make out?”

Rainbow appeared to think about her answer for something in the neighborhood of three seconds. “Sure.”

* * *

A breathless twenty minutes later, Twilight found that her sense of unease still hadn’t lifted. She shoved herself back from Rainbow for a moment. She turned her head to survey the room again. (They hadn’t gone very far.) “I don’t like this.”

“You… you don’t?” The pain in Rainbow’s voice was obvious.

“No, I feel like we’re missing something.”

“I thought you said you didn’t want to go all the way—not until we’d gotten to know each other better, though I still think we know each other plenty.”

“That’s…” Twilight turned to look at Rainbow again, and she could feel her brain congealing into a pulpy mass of love and desire. “Ohhhh, Rainbow.”

Rainbow leaned in and pressed her muzzle against Twilight’s. There was some tongue action.

“Gah!” Twilight wrenched herself back again, and turned her head to make sure she couldn’t see the other mare. It was difficult. “No! That’s not what I meant! I mean… Doesn’t it still feel like we’re… I don’t know, like we’re acting out of character or something?”

Rainbow stroked a hoof through Twilight’s mane, responding in a sultry voice. “Nothing in my life has ever felt this right, Eggy-kins.”

Twilight swatted Rainbow’s hoof away from her. “That’s what I mean! You don’t talk like that! You should be talking about the Wonderbolts, or how awesome Daring Do conventions are, or…”

A weak groan sounded from somewhere nearby. Twilight gasped.

“Rainbow, we almost killed Daring Do! We have to help h—” Twilight barely caught herself from turning back toward her friend. Her friend. She and Rainbow were friends, she reminded herself. Good friends. Good, good friends who might occasionally enjoy some kissing, or light petting, or—

Daring’s voice was weak, almost too faint to hear. “Rainbow…”

“But we won, Twilight. This is the part of the story where we get to, like, make out and wait for the Navy to pick up our space capsule.”

Twilight bit her lip and snuck a quick glance at Rainbow out of the corner of her eye. She needed to judge the distance right.

“C’mon, Twily-bee, let’s make out some more.”

Twilight sighed. Well, it’s worked up until now, right? It’s probably our best bet. Hell, why not?

Twilight punched Rainbow Dash as hard as she could.

Four minutes of yelling followed. Nothing said was important to the story.

Eventually, Rainbow and Twilight crowded around the injured, barely-conscious form of Daring Do, trying to extricate her from the ruins of the chandelier without causing any further injuries.

“It’s…” Daring coughed. “It’s a Xoloitzcuintle Making Quill. That must be what’s causing this. Rainbow, you have to find it and break it.”

“It’s a what?” Rainbow cocked her head and stared at Daring, letting a tangled hunk of brass drop back to the carpet.

“Xoloitzcuintle… Making Quill,” Daring wheezed, and then fell unconscious.

“Well, that’s inconvenient.” Rainbow frowned down at the battered, snoring pegasus.

Twilight tapped a hoof against her chin. “The Xoloitzcuinto were an ancient ovine tribe, famous for their love of melodrama and their ability to make sentient artifacts.”

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “And that helps us because…”

“Because,” Twilight said, feeling a sudden surge of excitement in her chest, “that explains exactly what’s been happening! Edge Lord wasn’t the culprit! He must have found some sort of ancient artifact, and it was manipulating him into telling horrible stories. Then the quill’s magic must have allowed those spells to bleed into our world! But Xoloitzcuintle artifacts are semi-sentient, so when the quill lost Edge Lord, it must have latched onto some other source of bad fiction ideas! Some source—” Twilight paused to survey the carnage around her and wipe the residue of some of Rainbow’s kisses off her muzzle. “—that really wants to see elaborate action sequences, and that wants the two of us to hook up.”

“That sounds… uh…”

Twilight turned to stare at Rainbow, feeling a rising sense of dread.

“What are you staring at me for? You don’t think I—”

“Rainbow! You must have the quill!”

“Hey! No! I mean, I like writing, and… I mean, I do think you’re kinda cute, but I swear, this has got nothing to do with me. After the last couple years, I’m pretty sure I’d know if some evil magical force was controlling my actions or drawing its power from me, okay? We’ve been through a lot.”

“You think I’m cute?” Twilight couldn’t stop herself from blushing.

“Yeah, well… We can talk about that later, okay? I mean, maybe it’s just this stupid quill thing talking, right?” Rainbow rubbed her cheek distractedly, right where Twilight had punched her.

“...okay. But you’re sure you don’t have the quill?”

“Why do you think I— Hey, you’re the egghead here, and I know you like to write. Are you sure you don’t have the quill?”

“Absolutely not! Why would I want to write about… I mean…”

Two minutes of silence followed. This, too, was unimportant to the story.