Ch. 5
Rock and Roll All Night
or: Climactic Confrontation
BY: cleverpun
As Luna opened her eyes, she could feel something gooey on her hoof.
“What is this pink substance?”
“Mmm, cake frosting!”
“Why am I standing on a cake?”
“Because you just crashed our party!”
“Party crashers!”
“Party crashers!”
“Party crashers!”
Luna finally bothered to scan her surroundings. She had aimed for Ponyville’s town square, and that’s where she had landed. But she had not expected the abundance of party decorations and baked confections. She had also not expected to land in the middle of a throng of ponies, all with equally bright pink hair. Their expressions were not reassuring; smiles that seemed painted on.
“Oh boy, this party is huge!” But Pinkie’s enthusiasm faded when she realized why the entire town was throwing a party together. “Oh….”
“It seems Twilight Sparkle and my sister were busy while you fetched me…. Stand down, all of you! We do not have any desire to harm our faithful subjects!”
“Well, they may be party crashers, but they could always join us….”
“Yes, the party crashers should join us!”
“Join us!”
“Join us!”
“Join us!”
“Join us!”
“Join us!”
“Do I really sound like that?”
“Enough of this; SLEEP!” Luna’s eyes began to glow, and a wave of dark blue energy gathered around her body before washing over the crowd. The magic radiated outward, reminiscent of a ripple, and each pony it struck became visibly drowsy. In no time at all the entire crowd was asleep.
“Wow, that was easy!”
“Where is the book with the memory spell in it?”
“It should still be at the library, but Twinkie and Celestia are probably there!”
“We do not have another option available.”
Luna and Pinkie began to cautiously walk toward the library, and after a few minutes, it seemed like they wouldn’t encounter any more resistance. The town was silent except for the echoes of Luna and Pinkie’s hooves.
Pinkie never had liked silence.
“Princess Luna, I know this is all my fault, and I just wanted… I just wanted to say I’m sorry. And to thank you for helping me.”
“Your apology is little comfort at the moment. And I am not just helping you, it is my duty to safeguard all denizens of Equestria. Although I have not encountered a mental threat of this scale since my sister and I fought Discord.”
“It’s not as bad as that…. Is it?”
Luna heard the disappointment and hurt in Pinkie’s voice, and regretted her comment, despite her anger at Pinkie.
“I did not mean— Did you hear that?”
Pinkie paused, and when the sound repeated it was unmistakable.
“Giggling. Normally that’s my favorite sound….”
“Just keep walking, but be on your guard.”
“Do you think some of the townsponies weren’t at that party?”
“It would seem not.”
A blue blur shot past Princess Luna, who promptly fell over from surprise. It rushed toward and over Pinkie, stopping a bit behind her. “Hi, Pinkie!”
“Hi Rainbow Dash! Boy, am I glad to see you!”
“Well, why wouldn’t you be? Haha! Except I’m going by Rainbow Pie now.”
Pinkie’s smile vanished.
“What’s the matter?”
“Uh… Rainbow, where’s the rest of our friends?”
“Why right behind you, silly!”
Pinkie turned back around and saw Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy standing there. Or rather, hopping in place.
“Hi, Pinkie!” All three said in unison.
“Oh, hi.”
“We were waiting for you to come back.”
“And you brought Princess Luna!”
“That’ll save us some work!”
“Like what we did to the town?”
“Twinkie told us her plan.”
“We were all skeptical at first, but she was pretty persuasive!”
All four of the ponies burst into loud laughter. Meanwhile, Luna had recovered her balance.
“The four of you, get out of our way. This mass brainwashing stops now.”
“Oh, Princess, you should know better than anyone why she did it.”
“It’s one thing to be liked—”
“But it’s another to be with your perfect match.”
“Imagine if the entire world was your soulmate.”
“If everyone got along without any effort at all.”
“If you never had to be alone.”
“If the entire world was just one big party.”
“Except you do not need to imagine it.”
“Once we’ve helped everyone, it’ll be a reality.”
The four ponies had started to close in on Luna.
“You are all insane! Friendship is not worth your individuality!”
“But we’re still ourselves!”
“We’re just also Pinkie!”
“I’ve never been happier!”
Rainbow Pie was right next to Luna’s face. “It’s easier if you don’t resist, Princess. Pinkie Promise.”
“Hmph.” Luna’s eyes began to glow. “How many of you did not resist?”
A dome of dark blue energy swirled out of Luna’s body, sending the four ponies smacking into various buildings.
“Could you be a teensy bit more gentle?”
“I barely even injured them. It was mostly a sleeping spell. Mostly. I might have used less force, had you not let them surround me.”
“I didn’t—”
“Never mind, let us go.”
The two of them continued towards the library, and before long they arrived.
Princess Celestia was waiting for them.
“Ah, sister! I had a feeling you would show up soon. Like how I’m waiting to meet you on the roof? Pretty dramatic and cool, am I right?” She let out a very uncharacteristic giggle as she stood up.
“Back away Pinkie Pie, I will handle this. Just keep an eye out for Twilight Sparkle.”
“Uhh, right.”
In a shower of gold light and confetti, Celestia vanished. Before Luna could react, she felt somepony’s breath on her neck.
“Boo.”
With more than a hint of surprise, Luna leapt away, and she and Celestia began to circle each other.
“Haha, gotcha!”
“You will have to do better than parlor tricks, sister. Just give up now; that pink mane looks terrible on you.”
“Don't be silly, sister, I can pull off any look! Besides, pink is my favorite color now.”
“Snap out of it, Celestia! We have a kingdom to run, duties to fulfill! You cannot let yourself give in to this... mental virus!”
“Oh, Luna, you don’t know what it’s like. You’ve been trapped on the moon for a thousand years; courtesy of me, as a matter of fact! The entire time you were gone, I was all by myself, running an entire kingdom full of ponies. The stress was absuuuuuuuurdddd. Taxes and laws, and the occasional Discord or changeling queen, not to mention the severe lack of good parties! Oh sure, I resisted when Twinkie hit me with that mind spell, but now that I’ve accepted it, I couldn’t be happier!”
“The twitch in your eye says otherwise.”
“There’s no need to resist, sister. I know you better than anyone. I know how much you crave acceptance. There is no harm in wanting to be liked.”
“I have had my mind taken from me before. Friends are the last thing it gave me.”
“It could be different this time. All you have to do is trust me.”
“You are not the Celestia I know. You are nothing but a… a monochrome zealot! You're stronger than this, I know you are. We are royalty! Nothing commands us, if we do not wish it."
“Surrender to it sister. If you want to resist, I can always help you along, for your own good! I’ve done it before after all!”
A bolt of golden energy shot out of Celestia’s body, and Luna only barely managed to deflect it with a shell of magical energy. Celestia fired another, and another, and another. Luna struggled to deflect each one, and the fusillade didn’t slow down.
“Sister, listen to me!” She had to shout over the sound of magic striking her barrier. “These thoughts are not your own! You always take pressure in stride, and you are already loved by every denizen of Equestria! Do not let some spell or mind trick convince you otherwise!”
The barrage of energy stopped, and as Luna lowered her magical shield she saw Celestia with a hoof to her head, slightly off-balance.
“No, it’s for the best this way. They keep telling me it’s for the best this way….”
“I know you are still in there, sister! You can fight this intrusion into your thoughts!” Luna began to slowly approach Celestia.
“Everypony living in harmony. That would be so wonderful wouldn’t it?”
“Everypony already lives in harmony! In the kingdom you have created! Where we rule together!”
“I’m happier like this…. They told me I was happier, they promised!”
“But are you? Is everypony else truly better off this way?”
“I…. I don’t….”
Luna put a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder.
“Celestia, look at me.”
Celestia turned to look at her sister, and as she did so Luna sent a large bolt of lightning through Celestia’s body. After a few violent spasms, the princess fell to the ground, unconscious.
“Uhh, wow, did you really need to do that?” Pinkie walked over to look at Celestia’s limp body.
“Do not worry, Pinkie Pie, she has handled much worse in our time. Now, where is—”
Before Luna finish her sentence of bolt of purple electricity arced toward her. Luna reflexively shoved Pinkie away, and then summoned a dome of energy around herself and her sister. The attack bounced off to the left, taking a chunk out of a nearby building.
Luna tracked the bolt’s path, and saw Twinkie charging at her. Luna fired a spell of her own, but a second before it hit, Twinkie vanished in a burst of purple light and confetti.
“Where did she—!” Twinkie tackled Luna from her left, and the two ponies fell to ground.
“Get off me this instant!” Luna began to cast another spell, but Twinkie had already shot a bolt of purple energy at her forehead. There was a massive shower of sparks as it struck Luna, but she couldn’t prevent the magic from seeping into her head.
“NO! I shall not be controlled again!”
“Trust me, Princess; you’ll like having Pinkie’s thoughts inside you.”
It’s true! Parties and cake and friendship and balloons!
“No! Get out!”
Why resist, Princess? Everything you ever wanted is just one memory away. Friends, fun, love, all you have to do is give in.
“I will not….”
Pinkie finally recovered from the surprise of being shoved and stood up. She saw Twinkie standing on top of Princess Luna’s stomach, their faces inches apart as a shower of blue and purple sparks flew off their horns. There was an unmistakable purple glow connecting Twinkie’s forehead to Luna’s.
Oh no! If I don’t stop Twinkie, her plan will succeed!
As Pinkie moved forward to help, another thought crossed her mind.
But…. If I don’t stop her our plan will succeed…
Her hoof hung in the air for a few seconds as doubt gripped her. She debated with herself, a thousand arguments racing through her head, but as she put her hoof down she realized what had to be done.
See, Princess? It’s just that easy!
“Please… stop….”
Twinkie leaned closer to Luna, amplifying her magic the last bit she needed to break Luna’s defenses. But seconds before she could, she felt a cake smack into her face. The force threw her off Luna, who stayed on the ground for a moment as the magic receded from her mind.
“I… what?”
Pinkie loaded another cake into her party cannon, and as Twinkie tried to get up, she felt more frosting slam into her leg.
“Luna, behind you!”
Luna shook her head and stood up. She turned to Twinkie, and her eyes flashed with magic.
“Sleep now.”
Twinkie’s eyes turned blue for a moment, and she promptly fell to the ground, unconscious.
Luna turned to Pinkie. “What was the name of that spellbook?”