//------------------------------//
//  Cutie Mark Crusaders' Journal of the unexplained 13 
// Story: Pinkie Pie's Fourth-Wall Breaking Variety Show 
// by Alex Warlorn 
//------------------------------//


Mtangalion

Three more pairs of little ears perked up at the mention of cookies. "That sounds great!" said Sweetie Belle. "I always forget to bake us some snacks for the road." Everyone immediately took two steps back from her, even the zebras. "What? Oh, come on! I never got to try out the gingerbread recipe that Chryssy taught me."

Bareedina chuckled, bringing them a tray balanced on her back. "We don't know any changeling sweets, but we might have these acorn cookies for good fillies and colts to eat."

A little later, Button Mash was slurping on a juice box thoughtfully while he finished his cookie. "Even if the mystery is solved, that 2/3 in my collection log is just gonna keep bugging me. I wonder if we'll ever find out more about the first journal and the pony who wrote it."

That gave Apple Bloom an idea. She approached the cauldron, looking at the swirling colors inside. "Um, Miss Zecora, may I..."

"Possibly, this is unwise," said Zecora. "But very well, we shall give it a try." She ran a hoof along the edge of both journals, then sprinkled the dust into the churning brew.

Bareedina pressed the long wooden spoon into Apple Bloom's hoof. "Don't just look at the colors of the brew. Look at the magic around you!"

"Look at the magic?" Apple Bloom reached for the goggles on her forehead and pushed them down over her eyes, tweaking the lenses again. "Huh... neat!"

"Stir slowly to the left and slowly to the right," said Bareedina, guiding Apple Bloom's hoof with her own. "Now thump the cauldron, to get those bubbles out of our sight!"

The image floating in the cauldron began to clear...



Flim gave their wagon a magical charge, and then a good swift kick to get the steam engine running again. "Let's hoof it, brother of mine!"

Flam trotted to catch up, hopping onto the wagon alongside him. "Oh, but we'll be in so much trouble for jumping bail!" he lamented. He laughed and levitated the two magical tracking shackles that were supposed to be secured around their left hind legs. "Whoops!" He lobbed them into the bushes beside the road out of Hoofington. "Perhaps we won't!"

Flim grinned and held onto his hat as the wagon picked up speed. "Everything still here?"

Flam dug through the junk box mounted on the wagon. "Yes... no, yes... blast, Trixie must have confiscated our parasprites... wait... Where it is? Where's the journal?!"

Flim thumped him lightly. "Would you relax?" He took off his hat, turning it over to show that it was empty, then waved a hoof over it and pulled out a journal with a brass hoofprint and the number one. "Really, brother. So sentimental about this old thing?"

"I am not!" retorted Flam. "It's priceless, that's all! Valuable knowledge and one of a kind!" He sighed wistfully. "I wonder what old Flummox would think if he saw us now."

Flim snorted. "He'd probably tell us to stop ripping off the idiots of Equestria and get a real job."

Flam rolled his eyes, flipping through the journal. "As if! Ah, what do mine eyes spy here? The Cavern of Lucifel and Nature Walk?" His eyebrows shot up. "Eh, can't be any worse than Trixie's dad's jail..."




"So now you know," mused Zecora. "Perhaps, with that, it's best to let it go..."

Kendell2

"I hope they learn from meeting a nice deity this time..." said Sweetie, remembering Nature Walk.

Also, she now remember Button Mash had made his own species on their world as well, which went along well with Applebloom's as they were also wolves...only more solar related and white and orange, and much more playful.

Applebloom looked to Zecora. "Will you be safe around here tonight? With all the weirdness stuff? Ah me we just respawn but..."

Zecora gave a reassuring smile. "For me do not fear, for long I have lived here. This is not the first strange time I have lived through, we have already made many a brew."

Bareedina nodded. "Speaking of which our little friends, take some things before again your adventure begins."

Zecora gave them some potions, in particular some healing ones. As well as some stink bombs to chase off monsters.

"Take in the adventure that awaits you tonight, for while it will have its frights, will be one you can't have again. While staying too long could be a sin, make sure you experience enough to feel content, because afterwards gone forever the opportunity is bent," said Zecora, the foals nodded, acknowledging the need for balance there. "We know the thrill of somewhere new, so we hope it will be satisfying for you."

Alex Warlorn

Apple Bloom looked back at the blue prints that didn't make much sense on their own. She had an idea. She flipped through the other journal, and found similar blue prints, and put them side by side. 

"It's a map!"

"To the first journal?" Button Mash said tilting his head at the picture. 

"It's not exactly around the bend, 
I sense once found, this night will end." Zecora said. 

"... Through the Fair of Carnival Kat, and with key in hand, the forgotten mansion is where the last journal was hidden. If you truly desire knowledge." Apple Bloom read. 

Bareedina said darkly. 
"Be forewarned my little foals
you won't be the only yours to pay the tolls." 

"Nothing sucks more than a video game where you have to use knowledge you couldn't possibly have in game to win." Button Mash groaned. 

Scootaloo said, "I'm not scared, I'm game, I'm sure we won't need to respawn for this."

Sweetie said, "Don't jynx it." 

Apple Bloom and Zecora hugged. 

Bareedina bid the foals fair well. 
"Beware the master of the carnival, 
Tis not somepony beaten with an arsenal." 

Taking both journals, the foals made their way through the Everfree...

"I just hope when this is all over, we don't get eaten by some giant hungry flower because we got too used to Luna's spell." Sweetie said. 

"Maybe I should play some rogue likes while I'm at it." Button Mash said. 

"Welcome one! Welcome all! To the Everfree Carnival!" 

= Carnival Night Zone, Act 1 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles =

It was a green earth mare with white hair, and a spider web cutie mark. She was wearing a white suit with red lines. Somethings about her seemed 'wrong.' 

"Welcome girls! Or should I say, 'welcome back', well, not these yous, but this isn't the first time 'you' have come to my carnival. Though none of you have left." She gestured inside. 

The walls of the carnival were simple canvas and polls. Inside... the CMC+1's jaws dropped. 

They saw themselves... over and over and over. 

On stage, was a foursome of belly dancers. They were all in their late teenage years, and looked like a cross between a pony a human. They were dressed in jewelry that resembled swim suits and long silky loincloths and veils. All four were girls and busty. They moved with alluring grace and beauty, never tiring, that would have made any stallion's eyes glued to them. The girls' recognized their own cutie marks if the fur and manes weren't a dead give away. Button Mash felt very uncomfortable seeing the anthro mare with a cross control pad cutie mark and long orange hair looking perfectly at home with her fellow dancers. 

There was also a 'test your strength' totem pole. It was composed of four sections. Each one a wooden abstract carving of a grinning wide eyed foal, sitting on each of each other in the classic 'wise monkeys' poses. Colt Button was at the bottom, followed by Sweetie, then Apple Bloom, with Scootaloo at the top. 

The foals didn't feel THAT surprised when they saw the merry-go-round, with shining plastic versions of themselves the pole, blissfully smiling. There was the twist however of them being built like centaurs, but with their upper bodies looking like the anthros. 'At least I'm still a boy.' Button Mash observed. 

There was also a set of four wood carving of the four foals with their mouths open wide and looking eager, at the back of a shooting range with a set of squirt guns on the stall's counter. 

In the neighboring stall was four bean bags, each in the likeness of one of the CMC+1, their expressions mocking whoever wanted to take a shot at them almost sneering 'Can't hit us! Nya nya!' Also on the prize rack were plushes of the foals, reaching out and just wanting a happy boy or girl to snuggle with. 

At the center of the carnival were four crystal clear light bulbs spread out like compass points. Each other shaped like one of the CMC+1, the hollow glass sculptures frozen in mid-dance, lighting shining from within over the rest of the night carnival. 

Inside a tent that was larger on the inside than a outside, there were more entertainers to be seen. 

The first foursome of foals might have been almost normal. Except for their iris' having no centers and having a sparkle to them. And their manes and tails now having yellow, blue, and red streak to them. And their cutie marks now all had happy faces on them and rainbow colors. And the make up that hopefully was just make up their faces. Button Mash's was pixel lated little square and wearing a colorful plumber's outfit. Scootaloo was wearing a pink and silly looking version of a Wonderbolt's uniform. Sweetie was wearing a garish and over the top of one of her sister's dresses. Apple Bloom was dressed like a clown hobo. 

They performed an endless parade of antics for an audience of ghostly figures.

Above them on a high wire (with a safety net of course), was all four foals perform beautiful acrobatic performances. Scootaloo actually had her wings strapped to her back to keep her from cheating. They spun and bounced off drums carefully placed, and caught glowing floating trapeze grips and swung around. All were wearing sparkling leotards, Scootaloo's was a blue one, Sweetie a red one, Apple Button a green one, and Button Mash a purple one. Sweetie and Button were in particular in sync with each other. Sweetie unfurling a pair of cloth costume butterfly wings to add to the show. 

Finally... there was a lone Button Mash in a typical lion tamer's outfit with a black hat, red tuxedo, and a whip and a chair. In front of him was a snarling chimera. The snake was orange with a purple pattern on her back. The goal white with a violet mane. and the tiger was yellow with red strips. 

No need to eat and sleep, and not wanting to anyway. Thank the trans-paradoxial nature of the place. Or maybe there was some place hidden where they did eat and sleep? 

"So many versions of us... just here... forever? Never seein' our families again? And not even mindin'?" 

"Your natural adventures are... to be frank kid, self contained, so sorry... your absence... isn't gonna cause the collapse of Equestria or allow the Windigos to return. And besides... the contract comes with a sub-clause that your loved ones are unaware they're missing a loved one if you so chose so they don't have to suffer for it. And to be frank kids, filling in your absence is a lot easier than it sounds. Live with it. You could cut out all the episodes... of events, in Ponyville, focused on you, and nothing major would change. Besides, I AM running a carnival, their families are free to visit them, those who decide to let their families remember them. And they're all happy, cross that thingie that might be my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." 

"How can you DO this?" Button Mash asked, himself not sure what he meant. 

Easy, they're all under contract." The green mare unrolled a scroll.

Sweetie blasted the green mare's contract with the Spell of Destruction... it bounced off and vaporized a tree that had been hatefully impotently plotting the end of all animals. 

"You see? The contract's LEGAL. Binding, and unbreakable, even for Sun-Butt herself. Or Truth-Butt. Or, you get the idea. You don't think I write up a magical contract for my employees if others could just BULLY their way through it, did you?" 

"WHAT are you?!" Scootaloo asked. 

"Maybe I'm just a crazy pony who dove too deep into black magic. Maybe I'm the bastard spawn of a Draconequus and an Outer God. Maybe my birth the inspiration for Queen Chrysalis' 'we all came from a mutant tree that fed on flies and pony corpses' myth. Maybe I'm a spirit of the Everfree who punishes children who lose their way. Maybe I provide escape for those who wish to escape the world. Maybe I'm just razzing you. 

"The REAL question is... can you girls make it to the other side of my carnival this time? The only key to the mansion will appear from its random relocating unbreakable trans-space bubble only if you make it to the other side. Personally I'm excited to see if you manage it this time. Or if the charms of my carnival will be ensnare you again." Carnival Cat took out a bag of popcorn. "Step right up, I'd charge you to enter, but at this point I think your employee discount lets you in free. Oh, and don't get cheeky and just fly or walk around, you have to go THROUGH the carnival for the key to appear." 

"All these times before, and we didn't make it through?" Sweetie asked rather worried.

"Actually, quite a few times at least one of you made it through... but you didn't want to leave your friends behind, and decided to join them of your own free will, and let the next versions of you have a shot at it."

"Oh."

"Well, this time is gonna be the time we ALL make it through!" Apple Bloom led. 

"It never stops being adorable every time you say that." Carnival Cat grinned. "Even if you do make it to the mansion, there's plenty of respawning waiting for you there too, be sure to send me a picture of you four as maids. Good luck."

The CMC stepped into the carnival, a straight midway with an unlocked opening on the other side waiting for them.

Alex Warlorn

= Circus - Anodyne = 

"Don't worry girls," Apple Bloom said, "With my googles and our experience with the temptation of bein' Nightmares, there's no way we're gonna fall for any temptations of this place!" 

-Five Minutes Later-

"I! The brave Sir Button! Along with my trust steed Apple! Have defeated the fearsome and totally awesome Scoota-Dragon, and rescued Princess Sweetie!" 

The brave knight in armor (not in his underwear as he got the power up) and the pretty princess in the cone hat kissed, and a pretty heart appeared above them. A mundane yellow horse stood loyally by her knight. While a large orange dragon lay twitching on the ground. 

The words, 

YOU WON! CONGRATULATIONS! FREE GAME! 

Hung in the sky. As the cut scene and end credits finished, the four quickly got back in position for the next player. 

The CMC+1 in Apple Bloom's bedroom looked at the what-if machine showing them the new arcade game 'Scoota-Dragon's Lair' in the Carnival of Temptation. 

"Ah can't believe it." Sweetie Belle said. 

"Yeah, I"m the player character, why is Scootaloo the title character?" Button Mash said. 

"What about Legend of Cadence?" Sweetie asked.

"Oh right. Sorry, lost my head there."

Apple Bloom hugged herself and shuddered. Carnival Cat hadn't been lying, even if her whole reason for existing had been to carry Button Mash around as the player told her to, she'd never felt so perfectly whole. 

-One Trek Later-

"That look on your faces, Ah, the previous yous gave you their experiences... I don't know I'm impressed you have the guts to try again, or if some part of you wants to join my Carnival too. Well, maybe you'll have better luck this time. But I could use some plastic cupids for my tunnel of love if you're interested! I hear you girls have experience with that!"

"We ain't fallin' fer yer mind magic."

"Pst. A contract is invalid unless it's signed willingly without outside threat. I don't do hypnosis or mind control for those who become part of my carnival... I'm just that good at selling it. They're MY family now, and they have no one to blame but themselves. You don't HAVE to keep coming back here, but you want that last journal, you want to know the whole story. There's no cockatrice waiting for you at the entrance if you turn around, but if you keep going forward, what happens was because you chose to keep going forward. And the tunnel of love IS open... And there's plenty more where that came from... You'd make great cute little plastic cupids ... But I'll let the tunnel speak for itself if you want to give it a try... "

The CMC+1 entered the carnival again, a straight and narrow path right to the other end like before. 

Alex Warlorn

As the cutie mark crusaders engaged in their final adventure that night in Everfree Forest... Fluttershy was interrupted by a rapping at her door. 

Fluttershy was never one to turn down guests, even if Fluttercruel just wanted whoever was out there to go away. They were already asleep, and the rude knocking had awakened them.

Still... "The knocking will wake up the animals..." Fluttershy yawned. 

Fluttershy trustingly opened the door... and came forth a lanky green pegasus stallion. His mane was blond and done up in a bun. His eyes grayish purple. His cutie mark wsa a pink feather lazily drifting on a breeze. He also had a five o'clock shadow (how did that even work when ponies had fur?). He had a duffle bag with him. 

"Hey big sister, you don't mind your little brother crashes here for a spell do ya? I know you wouldn't." The stallion said pushing the confused and bewildered Fluttershy aside. 

He took out a set of bunnie garden gnomes and placed them on the table, followed by a framed portrait of himself. Like a sack potatoes potatoes he planted himself on the couch. "I'd like cinimon toast and a glass of orange juice with three ice cubs and one scrambled egg for breakfast sis, and not too early, gotcha?"

Fluttershy's eyes only got wider and wider. 

"W-why do I feel like I've been here before?"

"In the living room or this situation?" Fluttercruel asked in a reflective silver teapot. 

Fluttershy was fairly certain she didn't HAVE a brother, little or otherwise... 

Still... Fluttershy was certain she'd been in this situation before... her, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash... three perfect big brothers... she remembered... but... this was making her dizzy... It had something to do with Rarity's big sister? 

"Ah-ha! I knew I sensed something!" Pinkie Pie appeared in the nightly doorway. 

"HEY! Sprinkle Pie! How's it hangin'? Wanna throw a midnight welcome-to-staying-at-yer-generous-big-sister's party?"

"It's PINKIE Pie, and I'm afraid I have to put that party on the back burner for now." Pinkie Pie said uncharacteristically curt. "And who are you?"

"Pinkster! Surely you recognize the Zephster! It's me, Zephyr Breeze!" He said, his butt filling the curves and crevices of the could. "So Rainbows comin' by too? She still totally into me? I mean, she becomes the best flyer in Equestria just for me, and she still plays hard to get!" He said with more confidence in that statement then should have been chemically possible. 

Pinkie Pie's eyes narrowed. "Suddenly close relative, main character love interest, suddenly begin main character's achievement?" Pinkie Pie took out her Anti-Marey-Sue Bazooka. 

"Whao, is that a new party cannon? Totally radical design dudette."

"Yes, hold still and I'll show how it works."

"Kay."

Pinkie Pie began also checking her Marey Sue detector. 
"Let's see, primary Traits:
Slug.
Sponge.
Loafer. 
Leech. 
Moocher. 
Sandpaper. 
Parasite.
Underachiever. 
The Thing That Would Not Leave. 
Delusions of grandeur. 
Out of place hairdo. 

Pinkie Pie blinked. "If this guy is a Marey-Sue, he's the most pathetic one I've ever seen, and I don't mean 'super powered up to beat Mecha Draconzilla in hoof to hoof combat overpowered pathetic."

"HEY! I could totally do that if I wanted to! ... Uh, Mecha Draconzilla isn't around here is he?" 

"-And I don't mean pathetic as in 'feel sorry for me!' 'oh I'm so sad!' 'I'm super extra mega-special and it's a curse' either."

"Like, I'm right here ya know! Is this about that make-it-yourself costume convention? It's not my fault the guy who was supposed to make my costume for me was too busy." He said with absolute sincerity. "My costume of The Sentipony, with the power of a thousand exploding sun, would've been awesome!" 

"Oh! Sorry Zephyr!" Fluttershy apologized.

"So when do I get to meet this cute little niece I've heard so much about? I'm not changing any diapers."

'Let me change his face!' 

'No dear!'

"Okay, either you're a parody-sue, or somepony tried to create marey-sue and they ran out of juice."

"Hey! Sentipony's not a Marey-Sue! I wrote a ton of Power Ponies' stories with Sentipony back in the day... I never finished any cause they were so awesome no ending could do them justice."

"Uh, Pinkie Pie... I'm not sure I remember having a little brother before, but I remember NOT having a big brother before ... and, my head gets all dizzy... Is something wrong?"

"Well, LITTLE brother and not big brother? That's odd. Still... Let me check with Dashie." Pinkie Pie zipped off... a minute later, a loud voice was heard from Rainbow Dash's floating house. 

"I DO NOT LIKE THAT LOSER!" It echoed. Raising complaints from many ponies trying to sleep! 

"Geeze, she's REALLY playing hard to get. But I know she shares my love of siestas." 

"So uh... little brother? How long do you plan on uh... staying?"

"Just till I get my hooves back in order, or mom and dad get over the nonsense of not recognizing me and letting me stay as usual... "

"Do you have a job?"

"Oh I've had plenty, none were really up to my standards though... And seriously none of them really spoke to me..." 

"Well, I know some fillies who know a lot about cutie marks, they've tried lots of things too, maybe they can help."

"In the morning big sister... the Z-Stallion's gotta get his z's, ya know?" 

Pinkie Pie continued to just stare at the lazy stallion on Fluttershy's couch, not sure what he was. And wondering if the Mary Sue big brothers had returned. Light-Barrier! Uniquely Belle! Zooming Confidence! But hadn't they all been used as raw material that had fused with Big Mac inside that Rarity costume that nearly erased him from existence and replaced him with Rarity's big sister instead until they used the mirror pool to allow them both to exist? 

Fluttershy memories were feeling more confusing by the minute. And why did the name Zooming Confidence pop into her head and fill her with dread? Still... why would she feel memories creeping into her head of a brother who was like a leech if they were meant to inspire in her nothing but loving devotion? And why would she know that? AGH! Memories slipped in and out of her head, replacing and moving about old ones. 

And Fluttercruel wanted to punch this parasite's face in almost like an instinctive reflex.

 MtangaLion

There was a sudden flash-pop of teleportation, and Veritas appeared in Fluttershy's living room, looking a little winded. She had her horns, wings, and barding, the whole nine yards. She'd even brought a small white puppy with her.

"The varmint's already here? Aw, horseapples..." Veritas went right to Fluttershy, putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "Ah'm real sorry, sugarcube. Ah meant to come and ask, not just let him show up out of the blue, but you wouldn't believe how busy Ah've been tonight. Ah only just got Dr. Moon Shadow settled in with Twi, too." She glanced at the front door, suddenly a bit sheepish. "Oh, right. Sorry about just bargin' on in."

Pinkie was still giving Zephyr Breeze the not-nice-at-all eye, but Fluttershy was instantly drawn to the puppy. "Oh my! This isn't Winona... what's your name, little guy?" The puppy yipped and bowed. Fluttershy looked to Veritas.

"He ain't rightly mine," Veritas was quick to say. "Ah'm looking after him for a friend."

"Good boy," said Pinkie Pie. "Oh yes, that's a good boy! Want a cupcake?" The puppy seemed torn between bowing to Pinkie Pie too, or wolfing down the sugary treat, but eating the cupcake quickly won.

Fluttershy shifted subtly. "Mom, that isn't an ordinary dog," hissed Fluttercruel quietly.

And Fluttershy sighed. "I know, dear. I think I'm starting to understand what this is about, just a little."

Veritas nodded somberly. "The Shadows went and saddled ya with a whole new family, Flutters. Not Marey-Sues... they're your real parents and little brother... if ya want them to be."

Fluttershy only looked more confused. "But... Pardon me, Applejack... I'm trying the best I can to understand all this, but... how could we have new parents and still be... well... us?" 

"Describe your parents to me," said Veritas simply. "Pretend like Ah've never met 'em."

Fluttershy blinked. "Well... my father is really quiet like me, but my mother is almost as large as Big Mac, and she's loud and confident and always knows what to do... I've always wished I could be more like her... wait, that isn't right... my father is a former Hurricane Guard, and the tallest pegasus I know. My mother's the shy one..." She started to tremble.

Veritas hugged Fluttershy soothingly. She *didn't* drape a mirror-feathered wing over her friend... the honest truth wasn't very comforting at times like these. "Your parents weren't in Fate's narrative before. Now they are... and that's probably gonna stick, regardless. Your brother, though... you don't like him very much, Ah gather."

"Zephyr is just so... frustrating!" admitted Fluttershy.

Fluttercruel took control and started pacing. "I hate him! He's lazy, manipulative, and good for nothing! You can make that horrible pony not have been our brother, can't you Princess? Do it! Do it now!" She grabbed one of the pictures of himself that Zephyr had hung on their wall, and drew her hoof back to throw and smash it.

She froze, and Fluttershy set the framed picture down... but not very gently. "Applejack, what... um... what would happen to Zephyr if he wasn't our brother any more?"

The puppy stalked over towards the couch where Zephyr slept and lowered his little head threateningly, snarling.

"Nothing would 'happen' to him," said Veritas. "Ever. He'd never have existed."

Alex Warlorn

Fluttershy gasped. "But that inequine!" 

"It's not like he'll feel anything. Heck, him popping out of existence would make the world a better place." Fluttercruel said. 

"YOUNG MARE! I don't want another word out of you tonight!" Fluttershy barked at her other self. "If you should as open your mouth, it's straight to the bar of soap for you!" 

zaku789

"In fact, out of all ponies I find you're being hypocritical about this." Fluttershy said frowning.

"Excuse me!?" Fluttercruel said shocked.

"Don't get me wrong Fluttercruel, I care for you dearly, but you are a handful. Not to mention the fact you cause more trouble in the beginning of our relationship then I am comfortable with, but I tolerated it and look at us now, were right as rain. I admit my feeling about Zephyr are complicated but I am willing to accept them, and if possible help change him for the better like you did to me and vice-versa," Fluttershy finished.

Fluttercruel fell silent at that.

"Be that as it may Fluttershy-" Applejack begin to say.

"No, let me finish." Fluttershy stated "I don't know if it's cause I raised Fluttercruel for so long or this is what it's like being a big sister, but I do not want him erased. I may hate the way he acts, but at the same time I do care for him and see his potential."

"Is that yer opinion on the matter?" Applejack stated.

"Yes." Fluttershy said assertively.

".... Very well. Blanky get away from him," Applejack said.

Blanky gave a incredulous look but did what Applejack asked.

"But Fluttershy! He so annoying!" Pinkie Pie stated.

"I know he is, but that no excuse to erase somepony," Fluttershy said calmly. "He may not be the sibling I want, but I can be the sibling he needs."

MtangaLion

"Ah had a feeling it'd go this way. Alrighty, then." Veritas spread her wings, aligning her mirror feathers so that Fluttershy saw her own face reflected in them, and somehow, Fluttercruel beside her.

Veritas took a deep breath, then Spoke. "Zephyr Breeze was, is, and will be Fluttershy's younger brother." Reality seemed to shift and settle around her words. "Fluttershy's parents are two kind and gentle souls who had to be accidentally locked in a closet for three hours before they confessed their love, much less kissed." She smirked mildly. "Rainbow Dash knows Zephyr well, though she kinda wishes she didn't. This is true, and no one who ain't a deity remembers it was ever any different."

Blanky tilted his head, then licked Zephyr's hoof instead of biting it, making the sleeping stallion giggle. Pinkie slipped off the Bray-Ban sunglasses she'd put on... for some unaccountable reason.

While the Flutters were still a little dazed, Applejack cleared her throat. "So, any time you want to toughen up that shiftless brother of yours with some *real* honest hard labor, just give him to Big Mac and me. We'll make a real stallion out of him for ya."

Fluttershy blinked. "Oh! That's... actually a really tempting offer, but... please let me try to help him in my own way first. I am his big sister, after all."

Applejack tipped her hat. "True enough, family comes first. Ah'll just be on my way, then." She stepped outside, with Blanky happily trotting beside her. Suddenly, she stopped and facehoofed. "Dang it! Now we're stuck with 'peeved' being a bad word."

There was a loud gasp inside the cottage, and Fluttershy opened a window. "Applejack, I'm surprised at you! Some of my animal friends have very sensitive ears!"



Far away in Columbia, Gilda snickered, recalling that time she pushed Zephyr Breeze off a cloud for getting fresh with her. "I wonder how the Shys are doing these days. Maybe next leave..."

Kendell2

Applebloom looked through the two journals they already possessed as they tried to avoid temptation, looking for possible advice on surviving this. She blinked, coming across a spell seal that the word 'The' at the top in the second journal. The seal was incomplete. She flipped through the third journal, and found another part of the seal and the word 'Gate' at the top. The illustrations depicted the gate to the carnival.

"What are you doing, Applebloom?" asked Scootaloo as Sweetie was convincing Button not to fall for a game trap.

"Seeing if there's anything in these journals tah help us through it..." she remembered the two pages and flipped through again. "...Ah feel like we're playin' her game too much."

"Well we kinda NEED to," said Scootaloo.

"Yeah, but do yah really think she'll just let us go scotfree if we win?" Applebloom asked. 

Scootaloo blinked. "...Good point..."

"So Ah'm being a bit proactive, and maybe find a way to crew her plans over a bit more..." the farm filly replied...then found something that peaked her interest. "'Draconequi are vulnerable to ice because their magic has no effect on something made from nothing. As Dark Magic is in the realm of Nature's Fury, many beings of Dark Magic are also vulnerable to similar things...'" She recalled that Cat had said that she might be half draconequus or a dark magic thing. She flipped through several pages and gasped.

She raised the book up and looked around, finding a 'Winter Wonder Land attraction' that matched an illustration in the book with a picture of a strange machine. "...Ah think Ah've got an idea. Follow meh..."

The rest of the group looked to each other but followed. Inside was the most beautiful winter landscape they'd ever seen with the snowmen and other things, including a set of themselves, dancing.

"Come join us! Here every day is a snowday!" the sang.

A snowman through a snowball at Scootaloo. The pegasus instinctively reached down to make one of her own and throw it back, but Applebloom put a hoof on her shoulder. "Not why we're here."

It was definitely tempting, everything looked so fun and the idea of an eternal snowday was definitely tempting to any filly. 

"Besides, snow every day means no summer!" Applebloom pointed out. To her working on the farm was FUN, so she had a bit of inbuilt resistance to it.

The others gasped and shook their heads.

"So why ARE we here?" Scootaloo asked.

Applebloom adjusted her goggles and noticed something at the very back. She lead the way over to it where the snow seemed to be it's strongest and wiped snow off of a strange machine. It was large and blue in color, with a golden thing that reminded her of a tuba on top.

"What IS that thing?" asked Scootaloo.

"What we really came in here for..." said Applebloom. She looked at another page in the book listed as 'Bound Spirit Summoning'. She put a hoof in front of it and moved it around in a circle while focusing, forming a golden seal shaped like an eye.

A ghost looking like a large penguin, wearing a blue tuxedo and a golden crown emerged from the machine. He looked down at the foals. "Hello, little ponies."

"Who are you?" Scootaloo asked.

"I am King Chalatan, long ago I attempted to freeze the world to make it a utopia for my kind, seeing all creatures but those who could survive ice and frost as inferior...until I allowed my hate to nearly rob me of the thing that meant most to me in the world. My son," the Penguin King explained, looking guilty. "Seeing the price of my hatred, I changed my ways."

"Reminds me of the Windigos," said Sweetie Belle.

"Similar, yes."

"Ghosts only stick around if they've got unfinished business," Applebloom explained. "What's yours?"

King Chalatan gave a sigh. "While I used my magic for evil, I did hope the spell I created could one day be put to good use. However, my son knew not hatred for anything, so I could not teach him. Nor was I...so cold as to force it upon him."

"Hatred?" Button Mash asked.

"Yes. I developed a spell that turns the users hatred into...well," King Chalatan turned to a tree and gave an icy glare, blue beams of magic shooting from his eyes and freezing the tree solid. 

"Whao..." the four foals replied.

"Unfortunately, this Carnival Cat creature found my machine and bound it, and me, to her will. The only way I can ever hope to be free is to complete my unfinished business so I may pass on," King Chalatan explained.

"But how could we do that?" asked Scootaloo. 

"Sweetie Belle," Applebloom said. "Your good with dark magic, maybe you can learn his spell?"

Sweetie Belle blinked. "Yeah, maybe I could. I do know some hatred magic already."

King Chalatan kneeled next to her. "You really want to learn my spell, young filly?" he asked. She nodded. The old ghost smiled. "Very well..."

He stood beside her and turned to a tree. "Already knowing some dark magic is a good start. But how you channel this magic is different. I'm aware that you unicorns use your horns, and while you need to use it this way as well, you need to channel that magic by directing your hate. Of course like all Dark Magic, this magic has the possibility to control you if you do not control it...as it once did me. So be careful WHAT you channel your hate of."

"Got it," Sweetie Belle said, focusing.

The various snow creatures seemed to realize what they were doing and come at them. "We'll hold them!" said Scootaloo, kicking one back.

"Alright, now imagine this tree is something you hate, something you despise. And use that hatred to power your magic, and put all of that into your glare," King Chalatan explained. "And remember, once you freeze something with this power, positive emotions are the easiest way to reverse the ice magic."

Sweetie tried once, but the spell shorted out in her horn before it could channel to her eyes.

Applebloom punched through a snowman's chest. "There's a lot of these things!"

Sweetie tried again, only this time, the beam fizzled out an inch from her eyes. 

Button Mash grabed a stick and used it as a sword. "They just keep coming!"

Third try got closer, but still not there. Sweetie panted.

"Sweetie! These things don't want to stop!" Applebloom yelled, the group looking about to be overrun.

Sweetie mentally put an image of Kabuto on the tree. Followed by Cat herself. Then she went deeper, thinking of how much she HATED the act of harming others for the sake of fun...and the beams of icy blue magic shot out of her eyes and turned the tree to ice. 

"Good! You did it!" King Chalatan exclaimed, looking proud.

Sweetie spun around, freezing the snow monsters solid with the spell, blinking when her eyes would've passed over her friends to avoid hitting them too.

"I did it..." Sweetie panted.

King Chalatan gave a bow. "Thank you, my little pony...at last, somepony with a good heart can use my spell for a noble cause."

Sweetie Belle bowed. "Thank you, King Chalatan. I'll only use it for good."

A holy light came from above and Starlight Angel descended, holding out a hoof. King Chalatan waved farewell to the foals and took it in his flipper. "Son, I'm coming...at last..."

As the Penguin King disappeared into the afterlife, the machine sputtered and died, the indoor snow storm stopping. 

"Sweetie, only use that on Cat when we get to the end, we don't want to tip our hoof," said Applebloom.

"Okay...Oh no..." said Sweetie, pointing and noticing four particular ice monsters. "I froze US too!"

"Remember what the King said?" Applebloom asked. The group nodded...and each hugged one of their friends' alternate selves and thought of their love for each other.

The ice melted, freeing the cursed CMC.

"...Ah feel...warm..." said the cursed Applebloom.

"I think I really missed it..." said Scootaloo's cursed alternate self. 

Sweetie and Button's curse selves nodded. "...I'm tired of snow days..." Sweetie said.

"Besides...the machine's broken," said Scootaloo prime. "Which means..."

A contract appeared above each of the cursed CMC and burned away, the quartet waving as they vanished back into their own world.

The castle suddenly began to shudder and collapse. 

"Run! Let's get out of here!" Applebloom yelled as they made a run for exit, making it out right as it imploded in on itself.

Alex Warlorn

The green mare appeared in a burst of bats and smoke. 

"You... stole some of my family from me." What shocked Apple Bloom more than anything was the pain of loss in the monster's voice and she glared angrily at the foals. 

Apple Bloom looked through the second journal, and naturally found something related to something that had already happened.

Every outer-concept is so alien to each other, they are a family-without-family. And they are destine to seek surrogates.

The green mare sighed and rubbed her eyebrows. "But seriously... if you wanted to wreck stuff... I have a house that rebuilds itself into a different shape each time so trashing it never gets boring. ... I have to give credit where credit is due... I didn't see that coming... You didn't break any rules I set. Even if you just destroyed one of my most beautiful attractions. Just remember, a carnival without attractions is no carnival, and if they're no carnival, you can't get to the other side for the key to appear so don't get cheeky. 

"Unless you're DONE and just want to go home and face tomorrow. But if this adventure means that much to you. So stay on the straight and narrow if you can. But temptation is always there."

She vanished in a swirl of bats and smoke again. 

"Yo!" Said a generic mechanical boxing kangaroo robot in a boxing right over. "Wand of Grogar was the best Legend of Cadence game ever! Rainbow Dash will never become a Wonderbolt. Peers and oranges, are much better for you than apples. And Rarity's dresses SUCK!"

Five minutes later, four foals in Apple Bloom's bedroom watched four flesh and blood boxing kangaroos. One yellow, one brown, one white, and one orange, with red, orange, violet, and purple boxing gloves. Having trashed the robot, and were practicing their boxing moves on each other in a perfectly civilized sportsmare like manner, eagerly awaiting customers to challenge them. 

"Well, Rarity did threaten to ship me to Astraila when I was six," Sweetie Belle admitted.

"At least they're not animatrionics," Scootaloo said.

"What's so bad about that?" Button Mash asked. Then blushed and added. "Uh, anymore than the rest?"

"Just cliche."

"At this rate we're gonna end up everythin' under the moon." Apple Bloom sighed. 

The four made their way back to the carnival. 

The four saw a Scootaloo who looked like a cross between a hawk and a pony. She had no forelegs, but two VERY VERY large wings, and her rear legs were like talons, and she had a beak. 

She was looking at the boxing kangaroos. 

"I was SURE they were the ones who were gonna make it through." 

"Well, they didn't, pay up Scoots," said a Sweetie Belle who was adorably dressed like a fortune teller. 

The side-show Scootaloo casually tossed a bit to Sweetie that she caught. 

Meanwhile, a mare with twisted proportions and hair that looked like clouds with swirl eyes floated to the entrance to the face flying on her propeller. Her cutie mark was a screw and a baseball. She tossed the green mare a bit and tried out the 'strongest mare' attraction, before moving onto the games to win a complete set of happy plushie CMC+1 to take home for her toybox. 

"Diamond Tiara's mom?" Apple Bloom whispered. 

"This is A Screwball, not YOUR Screwball, multi-verse theory's a nag. And my carnival's become a bit of a multi-versal singularity. I think. Even I'm not sure how it works. She's not related to Diamond Tiara like yours is." Said the green mare.

"Why isn't she gettin' zapped inta stuff?" Apple Bloom wanted to know. 

"She's just here to have a fun time, she's not trying to challenge her temptations to get the key."

"Meow." Rubbed a flurry brown cat with a strapped on beanie. He rubbed again the gypsy Sweetie who picked him oh. "Oh Button, you think these four will the ones to make it all the way through? Betting five bits? I'll see that." She said to her familiar. 

"I'll see it too!" Said the sideshow Scootaloo.

"Ah'm betting they're the ones to get made plastic cherubs for the tunnel of love, that place has been needin' some Cutie Mark Crusaders in it for a long while now," said an Apple Bloom dressed like Flim and Flam. "Ah bet four bits." 

The Carnival CMC continued to make bets on how far these latest ones would get.

Zaku789

"I know I shouldn't worry about it, but I find it weird different versions of us are betting about the different ways we might fail," Sweetie belle said disturbed.

"I'm more worried about where we're going," Scootaloo said. "I know that we're suppose get to the other side but who knows what final attraction she has placed to make sure we're stuck doing this for a long time."

"She got a point. Heck there's a chance that this might turn into a huge shoot the shaggy diamond dog thing," Button pointed out.

"I don't think so... she wants us to give in by choice, and something tells me pulling a trick like making it seem like a waste at the end would ruin that, heck for all we know the contracts would become null and void for all of our counterparts if that were to happen," Apple Bloom said.

"Fair point, but that means what Scootaloo said is true. Whatever's at the near end won't deter us but it will definitely try and tempt us more than any of these attractions have," Button Mash stated.

MtangaLion

"Maybe we should just not even look at them," mused Scootaloo, as they kept walking through the carnival. "We can't get tempted by those bucked up exhibits if we don't see them in the first place."

Apple Bloom frowned. "Scootaloo, language."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "What? It's not like I said peeved." She froze, putting a hoof over her mouth, and the others gasped, glaring at her. "Right, moving on. Just walk on past... whoa, is that Diamond Tiara?!"

Sweetie Belle looked back and gulped. "Not the Diamond Tiara we know... I hope..."

Diamond Tiara was sitting in a throne that would have made Princess Celestia's look humble. Her nose was weirdly upturned, like a pig's snout, and she wore plastic carnival wings and a horn, and a fancy royal robe. "Subjects!" she shouted nasally. "Tell me how great I am!"

Copies of the Crusaders trotted out, bowing and scraping. Their eyes were flat and blank, like shiny buttons.

"You're the best, Princess Diamond," droned the other Apple Bloom.

"We love you, Princess Diamond!" said the other Scootaloo.

The other Sweetie Belle grovelled and kissed Diamond's hoof. "Everything is so much better, now that we finally admitted that you're richer and more important than all of us commoners put together."

"Serving you is so much better than being made fun of and all alone, every day," cried the other Button Mash.

The real CMC+1 recoiled... and Diamond Tiara finally noticed them. "Well, well! Obviously, you're better than those pathetic ponies. I know... you could be princesses too! Princess Animatia Erroria! Princess Liza Doolots!"

Tootsie Flute and Alula appeared in fancy swirls of glitter and ribbons, wearing fake plastic wings and a fake plastic horn respectively, and magical filly outfits. They held out boxes with more plastic wings and horns.

"You'll love being a princess!" said Tootsie. "Princesses do anything they want, eat whatever they want, and don't have to go to school."

Alula beamed, nodding! "They're friends with everypony and always save the day!"

The Crusaders backed away uncomfortably. "Somehow..." said Sweetie Belle.

"Ah'm not tempted," said Apple Bloom. "Not one bit."

Scootaloo hoof-shrugged. "That's not what being a princess is like. We'd know."

The voice of the green mare giggled from off in the distance. "Aw, you don't like it? When I heard about uncle Discord's fine work in that other world, I just had to have a little exhibit of my own."

"I wonder," mused Button Mash, as they hurried on their way. "What if we became Alicorns again? Real Alicorns, not those phonies." The others stopped in their tracks, surprised, and Button looked over his shoulder and turned around when he realized they weren't following. "Think about it. We'd already have everything we want. We could waltz right on through and not be tempted by anything!"

"Ah don't know," said Apple Bloom. "Could we even do... that?"

The carnival was gone. Apple Bloom was standing in her mindscape again... and she barely recognized the place. Instead of the Apple family home, her mind looked like the wondrous workshop that she was already dreaming about building someday, and where the big comfy bed with a snuggle pile full of her sleeping shapeshift forms used to be...

One pony yawned and stretched in the bed, a tall, strong mare with yellow fur and a long red mane. She rolled over and yawned, dislodging the covers enough to reveal a long horn and wings. "Mmm... time to get up already? Just five more minutes, sis..." The Alicorn snuggled deeper into the covers, smiling.

There was an electronic monitor attached to the foot of the bed, like something a hospital might have, but it showed a single long bar labelled "LIMIT BREAK," and it was flashing and almost full.

Apple Bloom backed out of her mindscape quickly and quietly. "And, um... even if we could *all* do that..." She felt a little queasy, even misleading her friends that little bit. "Remember Princess Luna? Alicorns can fall too. What if that evil mare got a Nightmare under one of her contracts?"

Sweetie bit her lip. "I think you're right. I have a feeling we're not going to get another do-over when it comes to ascension."

Zaku789

there was a strange dripping sounded like a groan.

"Oh c'mon how was that groan-worthy?" Sweetie Belle asked annoyed to the others. But she noted they had shocked looks on their faces. "What are you all staring at?" Sweetie Belle asked. All of them raised a hoof and pointed. Sweetie belle looked and gasped at the sight of what looks like a formless puddle of black slime repairing one of the stalls (one of the few that didn't had them as part of the attractions).

"Oh I see you spotted Sludge," Carnival Cat cackled.

"S-sludge?" Applebloom said disturbed.

"Yes, the creature's name is Sludge, don't wear it out. I use her mostly for ride maintenance, security, etc." Carnival Cat stated.

"S-security?"

"Oh relax you're not in trouble. Don't get me wrong, I'm still pissed at what your previous selves did, but they used that loophole perfectly. Which means your safe from Sludge as she only goes for the rule-breakers."

"And what happens to those who break the rule and get caught by Sludge?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well.... let's just say Sludge is not just made of oil and put it like that," Carnival Cat grinned as she disappeared.

"Mental note, avoid Sludge at all costs," Button Mash muttered with the others agreeing as they walked past the slime creature.

Kendell2


Scootaloo blinked, swearing she saw a pink mare with a yellow mane and a trio of sunglasses for her Cutie Mark standing next to one of the booths, but she vanished when she blinked. "What the..." She trotted over to it.

"Knock down the bottles and win the prize!" said the pony at the booth, who, to her unease, was a version of Sweetie Belle who was a sea pony sitting in a tub and holding a cute stuffed sea pony. "But remember to choose wisely! You might not like what the prize you get is!"

Scootaloo blinked, seeing the strange mare again, nodding, only to be gone when she blinked again. "Eh, why not? I love a challenge!"

She took one of the balls, took aim at the bottles and threw it, hitting the bottles dead center and scattering them.

"Congratulations! You won!" said Sea Pony!Sweetie. "Pick a prize! But choose wisely! You only get one choice!"

Scootaloo looked over the prizes and was amazed! There were so many cool prizes! Including one that was a stuffed Rainbow Dash! And a big ferocious dragon! There were video games and so many other things...but then her eyes fell on something odd: a pair of simple white rimmed sunglasses with blue lens. They were so plain, not super cool...but her mind flashed back to the mare she'd seen. 'Sunglasses, maybe this was...'

The little pegasus bit her lip. 'Oh man...' The other prizes were so tempting...tempting... 'Wait a minute...'

She looked to the other Sweetie Belle, a sea pony holding a stuffed sea pony...

Scootaloo's look resolved. "...The sunglasses."

"Are you sure? You'd love being a dragon! I mean having a dragon!" the cursed Sweetie Belle said.

"Yeah, I'm sure..." Being a dragon DID tempt her...but something told her that weird mare lead her over here for a REASON.

Sea Pony Sweetie...gave a smile. "You chose...wisely."

A dragon Scootaloo holding a dragon plushie flew in and grabbed the glasses, handing them over.

Scootaloo looked at them...and hesitantly put them on. When she did, the entire world became as bright as day. "What the-"

"Those are very special sunglasses."

Scootaloo jumped, seeing the strange mare standing right next to her. She blinked, taking the glasses off, but no longer being able to see or hear her. She put them back on...and then she could. "They are?"

The mare nodded. "Yes. Your friend's glasses are a valuable tool, but those glasses allow you to see and interact with...other plains that she cannot, because they are DIFFERENT truthes. It can come in very handy. Especially in a place like this."

"Really? Thanks, Miss...Uh..."

"Shady," said the mare, giving a smile. "And thank you, for being willing, in another time and place, to give my son and...great grand daughter a chance after all they put you through. For that, I felt you earned something..." 

Scootaloo blinked as the mare faded away to both her normal vision and the glasses.

Scootaloo trotted back over to her friends. "Won these glasses, don't worry, they're not cursed..." the pegasus then blinked. "Uh, Applebloom, why is there a filly behind you?"

Applebloom blinked, looking behind her. "Uh...no there ain't..."

"With these there is..." said Scootaloo, taking the glasses off and on. "She's grey with a yellow mane and glowing yellow eyes. Her cutie mark's a...magnifying glass, I think."

Applebloom's eyes went wide and she spun around, adjusting her glasses. "Ruby?"

"She just said 'Tell Applebloom I'm always watching over her'..." Scootaloo explained, then shrugged. She then looked around and noticed something. She trotted over to what LOOKED like open air and seemed to open a door in reality itself to reveal four tokens labeled 'Freebee.' Her friend's jaws dropped.

"What are these?" asked Scootaloo, pulling them out.

The green mare suddenly appeared out of bats, looking like someone who's game got derailed. "No fair! You weren't supposed to find those!"

"Why not?" asked Scootaloo.

"Those are Freebee tokens. It means if one of you falls for temptation, whoever owns it can trade the token in to 'get out of jail free' and keep what you took without being stuck with me forever, but I was saving them for this game I had later where only one of you could win one!" Cat accused, sounding more like a child than a mare for the moment.

"Well I don't remember any rule against me using them if I found them, and I found them with something I won fair and square," Scootaloo countered.

"...Fine, I GUESS that makes sense...You'll waste it eventually anyway," Cat said, putting back on her cheerful demeanor. "...Have fun..." she said, vanishing into thin air.

"We'd better save these," Scootaloo said, giving each of her friends one of the Freebee Tokens.


OOC: One thing to remember: even the original song describes Carnival Cat as a manchild. 

Once more, using something I wanted to have them find at some point and seemed like a good place.

For reference: Shady's magic glasses were in the comics and let her see things no one else could.

Alex Warlorn

The green mare popped in front of the foals again. 

"And just so you know some ground rules, after a set of you have given into temptation at one of the attractions, no version of you can be put under contract on that same attraction... Though there's the slight loop hole that if a opening is made..."

"WAIT!" Sweetie said. "What about those selves of ours who were praising Diamond Tiara? Weren't Alula and Tootsie trying to tempt us?"

"Cross what I think is my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye: those four of you were FAKES. Nothing but sawdust and cloth, and that's all they ever were. They're just puppets. They don't even have souls. It was Diamond Tiara and co who fell for temptation in that exhibit."

"Oh." Sweetie said.

"Also, the Tunnel of Love lets you skip a huge chunk of the attractions, though it's off the straight and narrow."

"Ya REALLY want us to give in inside that tunnel don't you?" Apple Bloom said. 

"Even if you four finally fill the empty roles, the next four of you to come along will have a free trip through most of the fair."

"Because the tunnel of love without cupids is a sad and empty place. You might as well call it the tunnel of loveless relationships. My dad's side of the family actually relates to Venus, the alicorn of love, in their own way, and so do I. I have a separate contract with her so it's okay. So if you feel like becoming plastic living totems to her, well, feel free. You four will be making happy couples and rekindling old relationships in no time! ... What? I AM running a carnival here, I can't go employing EVERYPONY who visits, how would I get any repeat customers? Well, besides from you... " The green mare gestured at the tunnel of love and vanished in her mass of bats. 

Zaku789

"S-should we do it, take the tunnel of love I mean?" Button Mash asked. "We have the tokens and she did says it's a get out of jail free card."

"But what if she's lying?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"If she was lyin' she would've done so when we found those tokens in the first place," Applebloom said.

"So you're saying she wants a fair game?" Scootaloo questioned.

"Either that or she's upset that what she had planned for later was ruined and let it slip," Applebloom stated. The others could agree to that. Carnival Cat has shown to be marechild, a psychopathic marechild but still a marechild all-together.

"Still though.... it kinda smells like a trap, and that's saying something considering what we know about this place." Sweetie Bell stated.

Tangalion

Two boats floated at the boarding area of the Tunnel of Love, ready to go. Button Mash hopped into the first boat, then took Sweetie's hoof like a gentlecolt as she stepped in beside him, nuzzling. Then Scootaloo and Apple Bloom piled into the same boat, spoiling the mood.

"Aw," whined Button. "Couldn't you girls ride the other boat?"

The boat started to move by itself, gliding on into the dark tunnel. "Maybe next time," said Scootaloo. "You know, when we're not in an *evil carnival* that's trying to get us!"

A light came on, revealing the first exhibit on the left... Button Mash as a handsome, full-grown stallion in a tuxedo, dancing with Sweetie Belle as a mare in one of Rarity's finest silk gowns. They danced slowly and gazed deep into each other's eyes. 

The real Button and Sweetie stared, then looked to each other, their breath taken away. 

The grown-up Button looked at them. "You remember what it was like being older, don't you? Why wait? Just hop right in the Warp Pipe and get straight to the good stuff." They started kissing.

Button and Sweetie blushed, leaning further and further forward until it seemed like they would fall right into the water. Scootaloo had to shove a wing in their faces, blocking their view. 

"Or maybe," said the fake Button Mash, "you still want to shop around a bit... unlock some different scenarios!" He trotted into the next exhibit, and started kissing with a grownup Apple Bloom. The muscular farm mare was a little taller than Button, despite being an earth pony.

In the boat, Apple Bloom gawked at the scene, and couldn't look the real Button in the eyes. "Nope! Ah never even thought about Button like that. Until now... dangit!"

Lights illuminated an exhibit on the right. Scootaloo twitched. "Wait, is that Upbeat?" The fusion of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle was nuzzling a dark brown earth pony stallion with a yellow and red mane."

Button Mash stared. "Is that what me and Bloom would look like fused together?"

The stallion grinned at them. "Got it in one. Hi, Ah'm High Score. Nice ta meet ya."

"Okay, enough of us!" bellowed Scootaloo. "Can we move on, please?"

The boat went around a bend, passing beneath an illuminated sign that proclaimed "Hall of Big Macintosh."

A copy of Rarity was embracing Big Mac, nuzzling into his mane. "Finally, I have you all to myself."

Red Gala was kissing another Big Mac. "I always knew we were meant to be together..."

Princess Luna was kissing with an Alicorn Big Mac. "Our love will last... FOREVER! Mwahahaha!"

A slyly grinning Octavia was embracing an elegant, slim Big Mac wearing well-tailored Canterlot fashions. "I can't believe you actually picked me. Don't think I'm letting you go!"

Sweetcream Scoops was nuzzling with Big Mac *and* Caramel *and* Shining Armor... *AND* seven adorable foals playing at their hooves. She looked exhausted, but happy. "I really didn't think this through, but I don't regret it!"

Apple Bloom buried her face in her hooves. "Ah can't look... Ugh, why!?"

The green mare's voice spoke from a tinny speaker. "You're in a boat, duh! What better place for shipping? Just remember, if you want your brains thoroughly bleached of everything you've seen here, don't hesitate to sign those contracts in the pocket up front!"

The boat floated out of that hall, and into a cavern filled with a miniature city. Tiny wind-up ponies galloped around in a panic, and the city was half-smashed and dancing with illusionary magic flames... because two giant dragons were trampling it underpaw. "Heh, this pathetic city's just about used up," said Garble. "Come on, Scootaloo! Let's grow even bigger before we burn and loot the next one!"

"As my Dragon Lord commands," purred the orange and purple dragoness, rubbing against him. 

Garble turned to look right at Scootaloo. "Part of you still WANTS this. Doesn't it?"

Scootaloo gripped the boat railing tight enough to splinter it. She actually started growing bigger and scalier...

Button Mash grabbed a rolled up newspaper out of his inventory and booped Scootaloo on the nose. "No! You've gotta control it."

Scootaloo shook herself, just a pegasus filly again. "R-right! Thanks, Button."

The tinny speaker clicked again. "I know I should have made the boats only big enough for two."

The boat went around yet another bend, into the Hall of Special Friends. Scootaloo groaned. "This can't be good."

Lyra and Bon Bon were heaping praise on each other, telling each other what special friends they were. Octavia and Vinyl were playing a bizarre duet with cello and synthesizer. Gilda and Rainbow Dash went zipping through the clouds too fast racing, and crashed into a cloud together, laughing and slapping each other on the back.

Button scratched his mane with a hoof. "So, why's this in the Tunnel of Love?"

"We shouldn't think about that," chanted Sweetie Belle. "We shouldn't think about that. We shouldn't..."

In the last exhibit on the right, a huge orange and gold wolf wearing a Stetson was leaning against a great white-furred wolf. They were howling at the moon together.

Apple Bloom blinked. "But... that ain't a what-if. That really happened. Ahhhh! Ah'm too young to be an aunt!"

The boat pitilessly continued around the next corner...

Alex Warlorn

The girls spotted another display, Apple Bloom saw her brother AGAIN in a tuxedo, except, the mare in the wedding dress was, "Agh! Her?!"

It was the green mare.

Her voice over the loud speaker came. "Sure. It's easier to count what mares AREN'T in love with that hunk of a stallion! Seriously, your big brother is hot!" A ringing was heard over the speaker. "Oops! Let me take this. Hello. Hello Auntie in law! Yes yes, I remember Venus, if these four fall for temptation inside the tunnel we get co-custody of them as family. I don't break deals. And the Tunnel is my masterpiece, to be honest, after it, the rest of the fair is chump change in comparison. Oops! Is this thing on!" 

A small poof appeared in front of Apple Bloom. It was connection to her camera. HER CAMERA! After all this time she'd nearly forgotten it!

"Consider that a freebie kid! No strings attached! Full color update to that little grainy camera of yours! Kinda looses the found footage vibe, but when you girls and colt become employees for my tunnel of love, I want it recorded in full color for posterity!"

"But if we fall for temptation, and then go on the ride again to take us straight to the end of the park... wouldn't we find it boring?" Button asked.

"Hey! If you can't enjoy a ride twice, then it's a lousy ride." Said the voice over the speaker.

Then soft romantic music began to play over the speaker. The CMC+1 had to admit it did help them relax whether they liked it or not... and they liked it. 

Then there was a WEIRD exhibit of Twilight as a cross between an minotaur and a monkey, (human) and she was at a high school dance with a blue haired guy. 

Next showed Apple Bloom dueling with Lance the colt again, next she was dancing with what looked like a earth pony boy Scootaloo. In the back of Apple Bloom's mind she couldn't help but think, this place DID look kinda empty without any cupids... how did she know what those were? Little angels who helps ponies fall in love, maybe... in this tunnel, she knew the term. She WOULD be cute as a living molded plastic cherub.