'Are you ready?'
"No. But let's do this."
Pinkie took a deep breath to steady herself before she placed the helm over her head, her body erupting with power. She then turned to face her family, who were standing on the beach next to Star-Swirl. She tried not to look into her son's eyes, eyes that were pleading with her to let him go.
"Sorry, Lil' Cheese, but my answer is the same," Pinkie said.
"Come on mommy, I want to watch you save the world," Lil' Cheese pouted.
"I know, but it's safer for you to stay here," Pinkie explained. "Even with all of this power, I don't want to put either of you at any risk."
"She is making the right call. I wouldn't put it past Tirek to try to use one or both of you as hostages," Star-Swirl said. "Staying here is the safest option."
"What you're saying makes sense, but it still hurts to not be there for you," Cheese Sandwich muttered. He walked over to Pinkie and pulled her into a gently hug. "Stay safe. And Nabu, if anything happens to her, I will be coming for you."
'Your threat, while laughable, is noted,' Nabu replied.
"I will do my best to support her, but honestly, I will most likely being staying out of the way," Star-Swirl said.
"At least you can be there for her," Cheese gratefully replied.
'We are wasting time. Pinkie, it is time.'
Pinkie nodded before pulling her husband and son into one last hug, before she stood beside Star-Swirl. She closed her eyes as she imagined the castle where Tirek was and when she opened her eyes, the both of them were there. Yet something was off. Bot she and Star-Swirl could sense it.
"Where is the army? Where is the darkness?" Star-Swirl asked. The sun was rising right on time, none of Tirek's henchmen were there to fight them. Something had changed.
"Nabu, do you know what is going on?" Pinkie asked.
'I believe that I do. Once we get in there, I ask that you leave the talking to me,' Nabu instructed.
"Are you sure?" Pinkie asked, getting no reply. "Alright, I trust you. Lead the way."
Pinkie and Star-Swirl walked through the castle, running into no opposition whatsoever. It was only when the pair reached the doors to the main throne room that they took a moment to pause and share a look of concern. Then Pinkie held out her hoof and blasted open the doors.
Neither of them were ready for what they saw on the other side.
Sitting on the throne was Princess Celestia, with her sister sitting to her right. On her left was a princess that Pinkie had never seen before and next to her was a unicorn that made Pinkie's eyes tear up, even though she had no idea why. Floating near the ceiling was a being that Pinkie couldn't make heads or tails of, but upon laying eyes on him a wave of primordial anger burned through Nabu, and by extension, Pinkie.
But then Pinkie laid eyes on something that made her eyes go wide. In the corner of the room stood Tirek, encased in stone, with one last look of rage upon his face.
"So you are the being that Tirek feared. Greetings. I am Princess Celestia," Celestia said. The princess of the sun rose and bowed slightly to Pinkie, but Pinkie sensed some caution in her actions. "And I take it you have come here to defeat Tirek and free the world?"
"You guess right," the voice of Nabu said.
"Well then, I appreciate what you wished to do, but as you can see," Celestia said as she nodded to Tirek. "We have already bested him. But I've heard from Discord how you've been helping around the land, despite trying to hide your tracks to do so. And I appreciate that. So I want you to work alongside me. And together, we can make this world right again."
"Isn't this great, Nabu?" Pinkie softly said to Nabu. "Now we don't have to fight Tirek after all! The princesses already took care of him!"
"A tempting offer. But I will have to decline," Nabu answered. Celestia, Luna and Cadence's eyes went wide at his words. "This world was never meant to be. You all know that by now. It is unnatural, it is a fake and it is preventing the real world, the world that is supposed to be, from existing. I am not here to fix this world. I am here to restore order."
"So you refuse my generous offer?" Celestia asked in a low voice. Luna and Cadence both narrowed their eyes at Pinkie, while Twilight looked at both sides with growing concern.
"Generous offer? You mean to be another servant of yours?" Nabu asked. "No, fool, I do not believe In will be joining you. In fact..." Nabu then threw Pinkie's arms out to the side as he began to float in the air. "I believe that I will put a stop to you here and now."
"Nabu, what are you doing?" Pinkie said to the helm. "These are the princesses! They're on our side.
"Remember what I said when I first chose you? Out of everypony in this reality, only you retained what made you...you. And I checked every single being in this world. Including...all of them. There very first thing I told you Pinkie, was that this world...was wrong."
"Heh, and here I was hoping to study that helm and see just how your magical power worked," Celestia laughed, before her mane began to burn like a wildfire. Her eyes flashed red and a toothy grin spread across her face. Luna smirked as her horn began to glow. And even Cadence cracked her neck and aimed her horn at Nabu. Twilight stepped out of the way and placed herself behind Tirek.
"But if you are not with me, then you are against me. Just like Tirek. Just like that traitor I see hiding behind you," Celestia snarled. "So be it. If you will not willingly join my side...then I will take the helmet from you by force!"
"Hold it."
Both sides looked up to see Discord floating down in-between the middle of the battle, looking at Pinkie with a curious expression on his face. "Hi. I know this is supposed to be the part where the big battle takes place and everything, but...I just have to ask a question. Who are you, exactly? Because I've been getting vibes off of you that I've never sensed before and I just have to know."
"Of course you would not know. Such a young and arrogant god such as yourself would not bother learning, would he?" Nabu spat at Discord. "But I suppose it is time I educated you, God of Chaos. I am Nabu. The Lord of Order."
Even though no spell was cast, for a moment time came to a stop. Discord stared at the golden helm as the words that Nabu had spoken sunk into his very being. Then Discord let out a scream that was more fear than rage as he aimed his hands at Pinkie and unleashed chaos itself at her.
Pinkie's training kicked in and she created a barrier around herself, deflecting Discord's full power. Discord launch himself into the air and tore away the roof of the castle, turning the stone rook into millions of projectiles that he hurled towards Pinkie. She twisted her hoof slightly and the projectiles vanished into nothing, getting a snarl out of Discord.
Figuring that they were fighting now, Celestia, Luna and Cadence joined into the battle, the three roaring in unison as they unleashed their magic at Pinkie. Pinkie whipped around and raised an arm, creating a shield in the shape of an Ank to block their magical attacks. Celestia raised her horn to the sky and called upon the power of the sun, sending a beam of pure sunlight down towards Pinkie. All Pinkie did in response was look at the beam and it went dark.
Luna hurled the moon into the sky, creating an effect where it was both day and night. She reached out her power to the heavens and sent hundreds of stars hurtling down towards Pinkie. Pinkie responded by conjuring thousands of star shaped cookies which she fired back with, the two clashing in the sky and creating explosions that could be seen for miles.
Next was Cadence's turn. She slammed her hooves into the ground and created geyser of crystals, which rained down on Pinkie and Nabu. Neither bothered to get out of the way as the crystals shattered against the helm and suit, not leaving a mark on either.
"Celestia! Luna! With me!" Discord roared. The two princesses joined his side and combined their magic into his hands. He bellowed as he created an endless stream of chaos and light that enveloped the world and made nonsense of sense. Up became down, left became right and rational thought would only give a pony a headache. Nabu smirked at Discord's efforts before he slammed a single hoof on the ground, shattering Discord's spell and hurling the three against the castle wall.
"What in the name of heaven is this thing?!" Celestia roared. "Discord! Explain!"
"A Lord of Order. It's an actual Lord of Order," Discord muttered with fear. "What's it doing here? There aren't supposed to be any here. That's why I came out here, to get away from them. Did this one follow me or-"
"Your ego astounds me, Discord. I am not here for you. You are so weak that the Lord's of Order felt no need to go after you," Nabu said with a chuckle. "I am here because this world is not supposed to be. Nearly everything here is wrong. Especially all of you. And as for you, Discord, since I am already here...today will be your last."
"No...NO!" Discord roared. He summoned all of his might into his hands and lashed out with his power, striking Celestia, Luna and Cadence in the back. They screamed as power flooded through them before chaos took hold. The sky turned black and when Pinkie lifted her head, her eyes went wide at what she was looking at. Floating above them and blocking out the sun, were thousands of Celestia's, thousands of Luna's and thousands of Cadence's. All of them took aim at Pinkie, their horns glowing in unison with so much power and light that it looked like the stars themselves were taking aim at Pinkie.
"Nabu?" Pinkie asked.
'I have marked which are the real ones. The rest are nothing more than copies,' Nabu replied. 'Now then...end this.'
Pinkie nodded her head, closed her eyes and focused on what she wanted to happen, believing in herself that she could do it. She then clapped her hooves together...and wiped the army of princesses out of existence. Only the real Celestia, Luna and Cadence remained, and they gazed around with what had happened with disbelief and fear.
"Sister?" Luna asked.
"We have no choice. The Elements," Celestia replied. The two sisters floated side by side and summoned their greatest power. Six symbols of incredible power floated around them, creating a rainbow light brighter than the sun. The two princesses roared as they fired all of the Element's power towards Pinkie. Pinkie saw the oncoming power approach before she held up a single hoof...and unleashed a blast of golden magic so powerful that it shook the universe. The light ripped through the Elements power and cleaved in-between the princesses, missing them only because Pinkie willed it.
"That...that's not...that can't be..." Celestia whispered.
Pinkie extended a hoof towards the sky, creating chains that erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around the princesses and dragged them back down into the castle. She then cast a glance towards Discord and a moment later he was ensnared as well. She then floated down in front of them and tapped each of them on the forehead, before she landed on the ground.
"It's over," Pinkie sighed. She waved her hoof and brought the four of them before her, where they glared up at her.
"You have lost. Cease your struggling," Nabu instructed.
"How? How can you be this strong?!" Discord snarled. "I can warp reality! Time and space are my playthings! I cannot-"
"Be silent." Nabu glared at Discord and a moment later his mouth vanished. "You are a child learning how to walk in comparison to the Gods of Chaos that I have fought in the past. You are, to put it simply, a joke to me. All of you are."
Celestia's tried to summon her magic, but nothing happened. Nabu glared at her as she tried again. "What? What did you-?"
"I have taken your magic. All of yours," Nabu explained. The four sets of eyes went wide at his words.
"W-what are you going to do with us?" Luna asked. There was no more arrogance in her voice. Only fear.
"My plan is to erase you all from existence and restore the order of this world," Nabu said. He raised a hoof and pointed it at them as he did so, getting the four to close their eyes and look away.
"No."
The hoof came to a stop and magic ceased to flow through it. "Pinkie, release me. This is how it must be. We must restore the natural order. These four are not even the beings you know. They are imperfect copies of this tainted world. They are not meant to be."
"And yet here they are, cowering before you with the most genuine looks of fear I've ever seen," Pinkie replied. "These aren't just soulless copies. They're alive. They have dreams and doubts. Love and fear. I can see it. I see the emotion that flows through all of them. I see the will to live."
"They were created by chaotic forces. They are spawned of chaos. They upset the natural order. I will erase them."
"No. You won't."
Despite all of his infinite power, despite all of his billions of years of skill and training, despite his very will that could rend the heavens...Nabu found that Pinkie's body did not respond. His magic did not flow. Despite her being nothing more than a mere pony...Pinkie held Nabu back.
"We made a deal, Nabu. No controlling me. And no erasing. My body. My rules."
For a moment Nabu was tempted to turn this into a battle of wills, but with a shrug he relented control back to Pinkie. She would see what needed to be done in the end. He could wait a little longer.
"Do not worry," Pinkie said to the princesses and Discord. "I am not going to hurt you. But I cannot let you go around and harm others."
"So the host finally speaks," Discord muttered. "So then what are you going to do with us? Trap us in stone? Wipe out minds and make us your slaves? Come on, I'm dying to know."
"...nothing. You're free to go." Pinkie glanced at the chains and they vanished, freeing the princesses and Discord. They all looked at her like she was crazy as they slowly rose.
"You choose to release us? After we swore to destroy you and take your power?" Cadence asked warily.
"I've shown you can't beat me, even if you work together. Besides, I don't think you're bad ponies...and whatever Discord is. I've even returned your magic...as a show of faith," Pinkie pointed out. The four tried to use their magic and found it was back.
"And what about all of that talk earlier? About how we're not supposed to be and how Nabu would restore order?" Discord asked, keeping his distance.
"That's Nabu's order. That is not mine. And I'm the one behind the reigns of this cart," Pinkie said. "And I do plan to restore order. To fix this world. But I would rather do it without having to erase everypony. After all, a party's no fun if there's nopony there to party with. And there's nothing more I love than a party with friends."
"Pinkie?"
All eyes turned towards Twilight, who had moved out from behind Tirek and was walking towards them. "Pinkie...is that you?"
Pinkie reached up and removed the helm of Nabu, letting her mane spring back up. Twilight looked at her like she was seeing a ghost before racing forward and tackling the pink pony. "I...I can't believe it! It's you...the you I remember."
"Sorry to sound mean, but do I know you?" Pinkie asked.
"No...not in this reality," Twilight said as she wiped a few tears from her eyes. "But I remember you. The old you. And you're exactly like her. I'm so glad to see you again."
"And I'm glad to meet you. I hope we can be friends."
"The bestest."
"And now, one last thing to do," Pinkie said as she donned the helm once more. She then turned to look at Tirek and waved her hoof. The stone crumbled and Tirek was free. The others leapt back and tried to summon their magic, but Tirek held out a hand.
"Don't bother," Tirek said in a defeated tone. "I saw the whole battle. I know what would happen to me if I tried to fight back. I give." Tirek knelt down as he said this and hung his head. "It doesn't matter anyway. It's all over. I've failed."
"Failed? Failed to do what?" Pinkie asked.
"Failed? Oh no, my dear Tirek. You've succeeded far greater than you possibly could have known."
All eyes snapped around to look at the throne, where a being sat that no pony could have imagined. He wore a brownish cloak with a metal mask and had a body that was made entirely of light, with swirling symbols and what looked like universes spinning in him. But what put everypony on edge was the power they felt radiating from this being. A power that could possibly...rival Nabu's.
"For you have entertained me."