All around the room, various different bits and bobs were heaped into piles depending on an inferior method of organizing by ‘how dangerous does this look to you?’ With how many were scattered about in the ‘Please do not touch’ pile, anyone would have assumed that they had gotten a fair way down the list Twilight had given them.
They would be wrong.
Regardless, Applejack looked around the room and tried to spot any more traps hidden about. “Okay everypony, Twilight should be back any minute now. Did we get all the traps?”
Rarity, who took a moment to at least dunk herself in the castle’s baths before she started helping, wasn’t having much more luck, but her attention to detail was undoubtedly helping find any possible ones. “I think? It’s honestly hard to tell. There’s just so many of them!” The fashionista sighed and shook her head. “How angry did we all make Twilight for her to go to this extreme?”
Rainbow and the others all deadpanned at the white unicorn. “She was literally on fire.”
The fashion mare at least had the decency to blush in embarrassment at that. “Oh yes, right. I can’t believe I forgot that.”
Shrugging, the high flier looked to the side for a moment. “You were dunked in ice cream a moment ago. It’s a bit distracting.” Frowning, Rainbow pulled an oversized slingshot over to the ‘maybe less dangerous’ pile. “Seriously though, Twilight went a bit overboard with some of these. This is like, the tenth slingshot I’ve found!”
Applejack rubbed her head a bit and sighed. “Well, it’s not like we can blame Twilight for everything right now.” They all collectively sighed at the thought. The farmer rubbed the back of her head as she looked at one of the piles. “We did kinda cause a lot of trouble in the first place to earn it, what with our jumping to conclusions and all.”
Pinkie rolled her eyes and waved a hoof as she started climbing up one of the walls. “Pfft, I already learned my lesson about jumping to conclusions during the MMM Mystery!”
Rarity and Rainbow both blushed some and looked away. “Please don’t remind us of that fiasco... I can’t believe we acted so stupidly that day.”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head a bit and licked her lips. “It was a good cake though.”
Rarity face-hoofed. “Not the point, Rainbow. Not the point.”
It was a few minutes after they got back to work that Rainbow noticed a certain Pink mare was missing. “Hey, where’s Pinkie?”
A blur shot overhead.“Weeeeeeeeee!” Swinging overhead by a rope tied around her sides, the pink party planner soared like Supermare.
In their shock, her three friends stared up at her with jaws open. “P-Pinkie what are you doing!?” Rarity’s mane frazzled slightly as she screamed at her friend. Such an act was an absolute hazard to the pink mare’s safety!
The party planner disagreed and continued swinging while smiling down at them. “Well, some of the readers were complaining that I didn’t get caught in a trap the last chapter, and boy was some of them really going at it! So I thought I’d fix that and have some fun while doing it!”
Rainbow blinked in confusion before shaking her head for a moment. “Wait... what?”
Slipping out of the rope’s noose, somehow, Pinkie landed with a solid score of ten, next to a few levers that were on the wall. There were a few notes on them that said if you pulled them both, you’d get cuddles from cute puppies. “I also found Beary downstairs waiting at the bottom of the slide, and he said he’d catch me when I got down there. He also said something about Fluttershy being the one supposed to fly down the chute, but I’m pretty rusty on my Bearspeak and probably got it wrong. I’ll have to get Fluttershy to clarify that one for me later.”
Pinkie shot her forehoof into a nearby doorway and pulled Spike into the room, who looked around in confusion. “Wha?”
The Pink Menace put on a silly hat full of feathers before standing dramatically. “Pull the lever, Spike!”
The dazed dragon just shrugged and grabbed the lever on the right. “Uh... okay?”
With a pull of the lever, the floor next to Rarity fell down, and the mare almost lost her balance and fell in. “I am not falling for that a third time!”
Pinkie frowned and looked at the hole with a sigh. “Wrong-” Spike pulled the other lever and made the floor drop out from under Pinkie. “-Leveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!”
Rainbow face-hoofed this time as she rushed over to the hole and looked down, before glancing at the others. “Why would she willingly jump into a trap!?”
In the meantime, the pink mare slid down a winding chute, giggling and cheering as she went faster and faster. Occasionally, a small paper spider or bat would hang lazily from the ceiling of the tube, and the high speeds would make it look real, along with the added bonus of a spooky noise playing when they did. At the end of the ride, Pinkie was shot into the arms of Berry, who gave her a crushingly tight bear hug. “Again!”
Instead of doing as she asked, Berry started to carry her off, much to indignation. “Hey, the ride’s that way!” When he got to the other side of the room, there was a hole in the wall in which the bear placed her gently.
The elevator Pinkie found herself in only gave her enough time to blink before it shot up and into the room above. It then ejected her into a pet carrier and left her trapped inside next to Fluttershy’s giggling form. “Huh, so that’s what she had in mind.” Slipping her tongue through the bars, Pinkie undid the latch and crawled out easily. “There you go, Readers! I hope you enjoyed!” She gave a wave before picking up the still giggling Fluttershy, getting a fresh batch of squeals out of it, and pronking out of the room, back to the Mirror.
In the other room during all of this, however, Applejack sighed and rubbed her face. “Oh for the love of-- where’s the journal? Ah need to let Twilight know about this and ask why she even has that lever.”
Rainbow tapped the applebucker on the shoulder and pointed at the mirror. “Hey look, the Portal’s turning on!”
Rarity walked up to the others, taking note that Pinkie was behind them with a grin on her face and Fluttershy on her back. “Well, that works too I suppose.”
Twilight stepped back through and caught herself easily from falling onto her face. When her friends all ran up to her and started trying to make sure she wasn’t still upset though, she raised a hoof and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Stop. Just.... just stop.” The group collectively stopped and took a step back, allowing the alicorn to continue. “Firstly, I want to reiterate my apology from earlier. You all are my friends. And despite the fact that you all broke into a section of the castle I had to deem restricted due to the number of potentially volatile magical artifacts contained within, mirror excluded, I still shouldn’t have made my castle into a giant boobytrap to catch all of you.”
The resident wonderbolt blinked a bit and raised an eyebrow. “Wait, there are restricted parts of the castle?”
The princess looked directly into Rainbow’s eyes and gave her a narrow glare. “Yes, because despite me telling you repeatedly not to mess with the mirror, you specifically Rainbow, continued to try and cross through multiple times, and nearly broke five of the previously mentioned artifacts. When word got out that you were doing that, I had to make it where you needed my permission or presence to be inside certain rooms to keep the nobility from breathing down my neck about potential dangers to try and fail, at getting me removed from the throne.”
The flier once more had the decency to blush and rub the back of her head. “Oh uh... hehe, my bad?”
Applejack looked over in concern and confusion. “Wait, what makes ya say the nobles would have tried that at all?”
Twilight had to fight not to roll her eyes at the thought of Canterlot’s nobility. “Because despite how many centuries have passed, they still think that they hold so much ‘power’ amongst the government that they can get away with whatever they want half the time. And while they could ultimately petition Parliament in regards to the matter, the decision would finally fall on Celestia and Luna as they hold jurisdiction on such issues. I just didn’t want to deal with the paperwork and headaches it would cause, and picked the smaller pile that was adding restrictions to public access.”
Her friends all looked amongst each other before the farmer nodded. “Ah guess that makes sense.”
“That being said, my trip through the mirror just now helped me remember exactly why I reacted the way I did, as I got to see the fruits of all your labors in person, and talked with all your counterparts.” The princess took a deep breath and rubbed the sides of her head in an attempt to stop an oncoming headache. “I have to ask, why did you all think that breaking into a restricted section of the castle, disobeying a royal decree, yes, my decree is still considered royal even if I don't like being called princess all the time and hate making decrees, forging a royal document to do so, and almost causing an interdimensional incident, something I don’t even have a law for and will potentially have to write myself just because of this incident, was a good idea!?”
At the cowed looks her friends started to share, she moved her hoof to rub under her horn instead and freed the other one to point. “Alright then, let me elaborate the damages then, to give you all a clear idea of what you did.” She pointed her hoof at the prismatic pegasus first. “Rainbow’s counterpart is going to have a bruise on her stomach that will keep her benched for at least a week because of that kick you gave her.”
“Benched for a week!?” Rainbow’s eyes shrank to pinpricks as she stared in horror at the thought. “Geez, I knew I kicked her hard, but I didn’t think she’d go down that easy! She’s me for pony’s sake!”
“She’s also NOT A PEGASUS! She doesn’t exactly have the damage resistance that let you survive half your crashes.” Twilight added as she got her friend to lean back in shame and embarrassment, before turning to the apple farmer. “Applejack’s fight with herself destroyed the library of the school, and also left rope burns on both of her counterpart’s wrists and ankles.”
Applejack pulled her hat over her eyes and coughed into a hoof. “Ah uh... didn’t mean to? We kinda got so lost in the brawl I didn’t think about the damage to the room, and Ah guess ah might have made the rope a tad tighter than I should have.”
“Again. Damage, resistance!” The princess turned to the next pony in the row. “Rarity and her counterpart got into a catfight and nearly destroyed each other’s clothes and almost left each other nude in public. Something, I might add, that is a social taboo on that side, as nudists are far less common or acceptable.”
The fashionable mare paled, something quite impressive considering her coat. “I... Oh dear. Is it?” She put a hoof to her lips for a moment before grimacing at her reflection in the mirror. “We go without clothing so much I didn’t think about that at all. Maybe I should make something as an apology?”
Twilight let out a tired sigh and rubbed her head. “She would probably appreciate it, but please, don’t run off, I’m not done yet.” Looking at Fluttershy, the lavender alicorn frowned as another bout of giggles escaped the poor mare. “Fluttershy... didn’t do anything physical, actually, but when she stops giggling, I’m going to have to talk to her about threatening to send chaos gods across dimensional borders and the implications that can hold.”
The reactions to that made five pairs of eyes lock onto Twilight.
“Wait, what!?”
“Woah nelly...”
“Did she really!?”
“My goodness!”
“Fluttershy’s scary when she’s mad.”
Twilight ignored it for now and got to the last pony in line. “And both Pinkies just pranked Sunset. Her counterpart explained that to me as I was leaving, and the extent of ‘injury’ would be to her hair and the amounts of cake batter she’ll need to wash out. It was done in a rather intricate way, which was rather impressive, but portals to other dimensions are NOT to be used for pranks. and heavy artillery, even the less dangerous ones like your party cannon, are not allowed on school grounds in either world.”
The pink mare giggled along with Fluttershy as she put a hoof to her mouth. “It was pretty funny seeing Sunny’s face like that though. She was all,” Pinkie made a face of mock horror, somehow not knocking the butterscotch mare off her back, “and then she was all,” Fluttershy was plopped onto Rarity’s fainting couch as Pinkie dramatically leaned against it looking exasperated, “and when I was back from the other side I saw--”
Twilight stuck a hoof into the party planner’s mouth, deadpanning. “Pinkie, I’ll ask more on that later. I want to get this off my mind first.” Taking a deep breath as she stepped back, Twilight sat down and rubbed her head, disappointment in her eyes. “I just... I need to know why you all did this, and are forcing my hoof in punishing all of you. And don’t just say because you were mad at them, because I know you all wouldn’t do something this stupid without reason!”
Three of the four mares looked at each other, Pinkie being the exception before they could look back at their friend. “Well, it’s just, you see, um...”
Rainbow sighed and shook her head. “Oh for the love of- It’s because we did the same thing to you that they did to Sunset!”
Twilight blinked in surprise as she leaned back. “Huh?”
Ears folded, the rainbow mare stepped forward and had her head lowered. “Remember your brother’s wedding? How we all just ditched you because you were acting like a crazy mare, even when you were right all along?” Twilight gave a hesitant nod, which Rainbow took as a sign to continue. “I told myself if I ever abandoned a friend like that again I’d kick my own butt. Sunset didn’t even do anything but try to be a good friend and enjoy a slumber party, and then they left her for the Timberwolves on the flimsiest evidence I’d ever heard! When you told me about what happened, I was furious and frustrated and disappointed at me, er, her, whatever! She might be me from another dimension, but that still counts to what I said earlier!”
The proud pegasus finished her declaration with a stomp of her hoof, before pausing and looking at the others. “It does count, right?”
Chuckling a bit, Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ah think that one was might of a stretch there, sugar cube.” The farmer’s smirk fell quickly as she thought back on what she did and sighed. “But believe me, feeling’s mutual, even if Ah disagree about the wedding being similar. We at least had the excuse that Twilight freaks out when stressed and thought that’s what had happened. It don’t matter if she’s me from another dimension, that other me and Sunset were friends, and she deserved the benefit of the doubt.” The farm mare put a hoof to her chest and looked sternly at her reflection in the mirror, looking not at it but what it meant at that moment. “An Apple’s an Apple and Apples stick with their family and friends.”
She lowered her hoof as a thought popped up that made her blush and rub her cheek. “Though, uh... maybe Ah shoulda left it to her Granny to sort things out instead. That other me has a mean right hook.”
Rarity rubbed one of her hooves on her foreleg, looking down. “Our conversation did start out rather peacefully. I’m rather ashamed of myself for getting worked up about my attire, again. Destroying each other's outfits was so terribly uncouth of both of us. I acted incredibly unladylike.”
Pinkie glanced at her back, before noticing that Fluttershy was missing. Looking at the far door, she could see the pegasus trying to walk away on shaky legs. “Girls, Fluttershy trying to get out of the room!” She squinted as the wobbling of the mare’s legs started to grow worse. “I think she’s about to... yep she fainted. Wow, that’s a lot of tickling. ”
The Princess of Friendship smirked a bit at Pinkie’s antics as she shook her head. “As long as you all learned your lessons,” she paused as she looked at Pinkie as she poked and prodded the fallen pegasus, “I think?” Twilight looked at her friends one at a time as she headed to her desk, and started pulling out various files and documents. “I still have to figure out a proper punishment for all of you that would still be acceptable after all this happened as well, and thank Starlight for helping get my head on straight again while I’m at it.” She glanced at her friends and nodded to the door. “You’re going to be detained in the guestroom a few doors down until further notice, and again, I’m really sorry about all of this girls.”
Applejack adjusted her hat again as she headed to the door, pausing to give her friend a quick hug. “It ain’t like we got room to complain here.”
Rarity nodded as she followed behind. “Agreed.”
Rainbow gave a wave as she flew after them. “We’ll be waiting for you, Twilight.” Twilight was about to start when a gasp drew her attention to the far wall.
Pinkie was busy trying to drag the ordinarily weak and timid Fluttershy away from the levers on the wall. “Ack! Fluttershy stop! The puppies aren’t down there! T’was but a lie! A Lie!”
A chuckle escaped her throat as she lit her horn and teleported the two into the next room, before looking at the documents tiredly. “I’m going to need some help with this one.” She started to fill some details out, ones that wouldn’t affect the punishment itself, when an idea struck her. “Maybe I can write to Celestia about this and see what she thinks would be best? Another opinion would be-”
The portal whirled to life again, making the poor mare jump out of her skin as she turned around. Twilight’s jaw soon met the floor as Celestia walked through, and had her hooves pulled out from under her by the snare that her friends had failed to notice. The solar princess blinked in confusion for a moment before spotting the gobsmacked princess and smiling. “Oh, hello Twilight. How was your day?”
It took a moment before Twilight could find her voice. “C-Celestia!? What are you doing on the other side of the mirror!?”
Seemingly unfazed by the situation, Celestia continued as if it were a normal conversation. “Just checking on my little Sunshine. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her, I was starting to get worried. Especially after hearing back from the principal about that rather ridiculous scandal that happened.”
Twilight’s brain could only take so much, and she was very near her limit. “You and the principal talk to each other!?”
Looking at the rope around her hooves, Celestia hummed as she looked it over. “Rather simple trap you have here though. I would have expected more after all the times we worked on Ruby Goldenberg machines together.”
The lavender alicorn blushed as she looked over her shoulder. “W-well, um... about that.”
Closing her eyes and nodding, the princess of the sun smiled thoughtfully. “Still, I guess it worked regardless, seeing as you’ve caught me. I’ll have to let Luna know you’re part of our little contest!”
Twilight’s brain froze for a moment and had to reboot before she could respond. “Wait, WHAT!?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let you know the rules of our little game before either of us target you specifically.” Celestia’s horn glowed before she was released from the rope and landed on her hooves gracefully. “Before I go, may I ask a favor of you, Twilight?” Whether Twilight was standing still out of acknowledgment or bafflement could have been anyone’s guess. “Could you not tell Sunset I was over there? I was posing as my counterpart for the duration of my visit so she wouldn’t know.”
“S-Sure...” The lavender mare could only say that one word as she started staring blankly from the shock.
“Thank you, Twilight, truly.” The solar princess trotted over to the window and spread her wings. “Have a good day, Twilight!”
As Celestia flew off, she never noticed Twilight start twitching violently and falling over.