//------------------------------// // Twilight Sparkle Ch 5 - Pink Anomaly // Story: The Conquering of Love // by Littlecolt //------------------------------// Book One: Twilight Sparkle Chapter Five - Pink Anomaly The three ponies walked into Pinkie Pie's room in Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie closed the door behind them and walked over to the corner where the device Twilight had seen earlier was still humming. “So what, exactly, is that thing, Pinkie?” asked Twilight as she stepped slowly towards it. The machine was tall and rectangular with several different colored glass panels which could be looked through. Behind each pane of glass was a crystal held in place by what looked like jeweler's settings. Sparks would occasionally fire along the settings, illuminating the colorful crystals. Pinkie turned to Twilight and lowered her eyes. “This is the Colorscope. Well, actually, it's making the Colorscope... I think,” said Pinkie. “Right, okay, but what is that, exactly?” asked Twilight, still not understanding the situation. Celestia just stood back from the two, watching quietly. “Well, I'm not sure, actually,” said Pinkie, “I just somehow knew how to make this thing. Getting the parts was so easy, too! Downright creepy, I tell you.” “Creepy?” asked Twilight, “Why is that? Where'd you get all the parts?” “Mostly from the Jeweler,” said Pinkie, “and it's creepy because everypony in town is so happy to give you whatever you need for free, you just have to ask. I originally asked the Jeweler if I could borrow some things, but he insisted that I take them, and as many as I need, even gemstones.” “That is strange,” said Twilight. “It's because of what I mentioned earlier, Twilight. About the way things here are crafted to make you happy,” said Celestia. “Make you happy?” asked Pinkie, “More like suspicious.” “Right, but anyway, you got the parts, and then what happened?” asked Twilight. “Remember when I said I had powers earlier, Twilight?” asked Pinkie, turning back towards the machine. “Yeah, that was just a minute ago. What kind of powers?” replied Twilight. Pinkie breathed in deeply, closed her eyes, and concentrated. From her forehead, a glow appeared, outlining the unmistakable shape of a horn. Longer than a unicorn's, and glowing a radiant shade of pink. She lowered her head and pushed the phantom horn up against one of the panels. A spark of energy arched between the horn's tip and the crystal within. Twilight just stared, dumbfounded at the Earth pony's display. “Pinkie, how are you...” Twilight started, but was cut off by Celestia, who stepped forward. “This is my doing. I am sorry if it took you by surprise, Pinkie Pie. You were the only one I could count on for this,” she said, her eyes trained to the ground. Pinkie turned and smiled at Celestia. A tear started to form in her eye. “Oh, good,” said Pinkie, “I thought something was wrong with me. I didn’t recognize you before, but why are you disguised like that, Princess?” Celestia smiled and laughed to herself. “I suppose it's only natural that you can recognize me since I've given you some of my powers,” she said, “So now I will tell you both what this is all about.” The three sat down in front of the machine, and Celestia began to explain. “There's actually one little piece of information that you still don't know, Pinkie. I am not sure how I should even begin to tell you,” said Celestia, not looking at Pinkie. Twilight could tell what the Princess was getting at. It could only be the fact that the entire world they were in, including Pinkie Pie, was just a dream. That Pinkie wasn't really Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie, this place...” started Celestia, but Twilight interrupted. “Pinkie Pie...” Twilight started, nervously, “You know how dear all of you are to me. You're all my very best friends, and I have a place for you all deep in my heart.” “Yeah.” said Pinkie, swallowing hard as she sensed the grave tone of Twilight's voice. “You know that you will always have a place in my heart. That I love you, Pinkie Pie. You make me smile, and laugh, and make every day like a celebration,” said Twilight, her voice cracking as she held back her tears. Pinkie smiled and nodded her head slowly. “Pinkie, this place, the people here, even you... this is all from that place in my heart. This entire world is...” Twilight said, her voice finally giving way as she began to cry. Pinkie reached out and embraced her friend, her own tears silently falling. “What I'm trying to say is...” said Twilight, but Pinkie's hoof pressed against her lips to stop her from saying any more. Pinkie looked into Twilight's eyes, blinking away her tears and smiling. “I knew things seemed strange around here,” said Pinkie. “Please, Twilight, you don't have to say any more. The fact that I'm here right now with you just means you love me that much... right?” Twilight smiled a bittersweet smile back at her friend, and nodded her head. “And besides!” said Pinkie, leaning back against the machine, “Once this baby is done, we'll be able to save our friends!” Twilight smiled and wiped away her tears. “So, how exactly does this thing help us do that?” asked Twilight. “Well, I will tell you,” started Pinkie, pausing for a moment. Twilight leaned her head towards Pinkie, paying close attention. “I don't know!” said Pinkie, as she struck a pose. Twilight fell forward onto the floor. “I can explain that,” said Celestia, wiping away her own tears. She rose, walked over to the machine, and started to explain. “The machine is making a special lens out of crystals. Specifically, a multicolored lens with each color of the rainbow. With this lens mounted into something that you can wear over your eyes, Twilight, you will be able to see the true spectrum of colors within the dream world. It is very subtle, but the colors in this world are slightly incorrect. It's a natural occurrence. Dreams should be relaxing, and the mind's eye softens everything. However, this dream world is being manipulated from outside. If we can find a spot where there are colors that are out of place, that is likely the main point of entry for the interference. It is the key to getting out of here. The lens will allow us to find a small tear in the fabric of the dream, and from that tear, we should be able to see where we must go next.” Twilight and Pinkie Pie blinked and nodded their heads as they took in everything the Princess said. “What then, though?” asked Twilight, “What will happen?” “You know that Chrysalis is feeding upon the energy of our happiness and love,” said Celestia. “You saw the streams of energy in the throne room, did you not?” Twilight nodded her head. “What!” shouted Pinkie Pie. “Chrysalis is feeding on our love?” Twilight and Celestia looked at Pinkie. “I thought you understood the situation!” they both said in unison. “Oh, yeah, kind of, I guess,” said Pinkie sheepishly. “I thought we were just in a dream world, I didn't know we were trapped in here by that changeling! Oh, she's good!” Twilight and Celestia sighed, and then all three of them laughed as Celestia continued her explanation. “Those streams of energy all converge before being consumed. Just as emotion can be carried within that flow of energy, so too can consciousness. From the tear in the dream, we will be able to traverse the energy flow and enter a different dream. A dream of one of the others who are imprisoned. Within that dream, we will have to find out whose dream it is, locate them, and bring their minds back to reality. This is how we will simultaneously escape from her control and finally defeat her.” “How can we defeat her, though?” asked Twilight as she realized she hadn't considered that problem. “She was already so powerful, and she's gaining power so fast, there's no way we'll be able to stand up to her or her army!” “This is where we actually have an advantage, Twilight,” said Celestia, a smile crossing her face. “You see, dreams are very strange. Time doesn't work the same in here. The entire time we've been in here, everything that's happened so far, has been but a matter of minutes outside of the dream. Possibly even just a matter of seconds.” Twilight's eyes lit up in understanding. “So she hasn't had much time to gain power at all, has she?” Twilight asked. Celestia shook her head, but then stopped and looked into Twilight's eyes. “When we go into the dreams of others, you must be prepared for anything. Not everyone's dreams will be as stable as yours. Also, since you awoke once for several minutes before being placed back into a new dream, the others have had much more time in their dreams. It's impossible to tell how much time may have passed for them in their dreams. I fear for Rainbow Dash, especially. Her mind likely races as fast as her body. From what I could gleam from her essence within the flow, she is pouring out energy at an alarming rate.” Twilight stared back into Celestia's eyes silently, her mind now full of worries for Rainbow Dash, and even more worries that Chrysalis may be getting far more power than she had thought just a moment ago. “We have to go to her first, then! We have to put an end to that before it's too late!” said Twilight, determined to minimize her friends being used like that. Celestia shook her head. “It is impossible to know whose dream we are entering, Twilight. The only reason I was able to get to you was because you woke up, and I could sense the break in your energy flow.” Twilight sat and sighed in frustration. “When will the lens be ready?” asked Twilight. “It should be ready by tonight,” said Pinkie, “I just need to go get a few more things from the Jeweler.” Twilight laughed. “Well, from what you told me earlier, that doesn't sound like it will be hard.” Pinkie frowned. “It's not funny, it's creepy!” she said, preparing to head back downstairs. “We should stay here, Twilight,” said Celestia. “It would be wise to avoid any further complications from the ponies in town.” “Why is Pinkie Pie the exception, though?” asked Twilight, still not completely understanding that problem. “Yeah, why is that, anyway?” asked Pinkie as she slid her saddle bags onto her back. “It's a mystery I can only hope to some day understand, you two,” said Celestia as she shrugged her shoulders. “It could be some sort of extra-sensory perception, or some sort of latent unicorn powers. Do you have any distant unicorn relatives?” Pinkie frowned. “I have no idea,” she said. “There's a lot of things I can't remember. If I'm a part of Twilight's dream, I guess I only really know what Twilight knows, right?” Celestia and Twilight nodded, as if Pinkie had said something quite profound. With that, Pinkie winked at the two and walked out the door to head to the jewel shop. The day rolled on and turned into evening. Pinkie returned without incident, her bags full of metal plates and other jewelers' items and tools. Pinkie was able to use her phantom alicorn horn to manipulate the items, and began to create a visor that would fit on Twilight's head. Celestia and Twilight took turns feeding magic into the machine as the crystals inside slowly molded and shaved down into finely curved rectangular lenses. Finally, the machine stopped and the panels opened, allowing the completed lenses to be removed. Pinkie carefully set each lens into the completed visor. It was a lovely piece of headgear. The edges were lined with gold, and each lens fit perfectly into the neighboring lens, forming a long, curved screen of colors. Each lens had a gold stem coming up from the top of it, all of which converged to the upper part of the visor where a gold-lined opening for Twilight's horn sat as the center of the piece. Pinkie levitated the item in the air in front of Twilight and demonstrated how it could be folded onto itself to easily fit inside a saddle bag. Pinkie then raised another item, this one a lot smaller, with a pink gem set on the end of it. The device sat neatly in Twilight's ear. “I don't know if this one will work, Twilight, but with these magic powers I now have, I had some sort of intuition, like I knew I could make this work. It's a way to communicate,” Pinkie said nervously. “Communicate?” questioned Twilight. “If I'm just a figment of your imagination, just a part of your dream, then I'm actually inside of you,” said Pinkie, a grin plastered on her face. “Pretty creepy, huh?” Twilight laughed. “So this thing might let me keep communicating with you even when I am in another dream world?” “Exactly! Maybe! I hope!” said Pinkie, triumphantly. “I want to help you, but I know I won't be able to go with you. This way, I can keep helping somehow!” “Pinkie, we don't even know if this world will exist anymore once we leave it,” said Twilight, shaking her head. “I know, but, I just can't stand it when I think of you needing my help when I can't be there for you!” said Pinkie. Her lower lip stiffened as she kept herself from crying again. Twilight smiled and placed the communicator in her pack. “I hope it works, Pinkie. I truly do,” said Twilight. “Well, then,” said Celestia, “are you two ready to go? We need to find that tear as soon as possible.” Pinkie and Twilight nodded in unison. “Okay,” said Twilight, “Here goes.” She slipped the Colorscope onto her head. Her horn began to glow, and the lenses lit up. She looked around the room, and her jaw gaped open. “It's beautiful,” she said, “but just a little unnerving...”