//------------------------------//
// The name is Build 
// Story: Forgotten tale of Equestria: Unity. Book 1 
// by Get_in_Gear 
//------------------------------//

A few days later, it was another beautiful morning in Ponyville. The weather promised to be warm, sunny and cloudless. Adults gradually left their homes and went to work, children hurried to school, stalls were slowly opening at the market ‒ the city was coming to life yet again. At an easy trot, Carrot Top was dragging a cart full of fresh carrots to her stall, when suddenly, running like crazy, a local human jumped over her. The yellow mare was prevented from being outraged by a rainbow whirlwind that swept through the air after him. The cart, rolling head over heels, scattered carrots all over the market and shattered into pieces.

Newt couldn't remember how long he'd been running, and he wondered how he wasn't exhausted yet, but he didn't dare to slow down.

“You can't escape your fate, Newt!” Rainbow Dash shouted to him from above.

The boy abruptly turned the corner shouting back, “Leave me alone, Rainbow Hitler!”

When Twilight made the discovery that stressful situations and strong emotions increase Hazard Level, she decided that physical activity should also help the cause. And it helped, slowly but surely, now Newt’s Hazard Level was two point five. It did not want to go any higher, and Rainbow Dash approached the issue with too much enthusiasm, bringing young men to physical and mental exhaustion. Sometimes he didn't have the strength to just walk to the library. Even today, when they were going to spend the day together, rainbow-maned pegasus did not find anything better than training, and Newt definitely did not sign up for this.

After another turn, which Rainbow flew safely due to her speed, Newt saw his salvation in the ‘Sugarcube Corner’. Almost knocking down the door, he literally fell inside, plopping loudly on the floor, which scared the hell out of the visitors. The boy was gasping for air like a stranded fish, his breathing was hoarse shallow and frequent, sweat trickled down his face in rivulets, and his tired muscles ached unbearably.

“Newt?” Pinkie Pie peeked out from behind the counter and immediately ran up to him. “What happened?” she asked worriedly.

The guy was about to squeeze out something articulate, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed a rainbow trail that flashed on the street, he crawled under the counter on all fours with the last of his strength.

“Oh, are you and Dashie playing hide-and-seek?” the pink pony's head suddenly appeared upside down, almost giving human a heart attack.

“Save me,” the boy whispered, pressing himself against the wooden wall, his heart skipping a beat when the doorbell rang.

Pinkie's hind hooves clicked in front of him.

“Hi, Dashie!” the party pony waved to her in greeting. “Have you decided to take a break from training with Newt?..” Pinkie did her best to look puzzled. “By the way, where is he? Shouldn't you spend time together today?”

“I'm looking for him myself,” the rainbow-maned mare snorted. “And I'm absolutely sure that he ran here. Have you seen him?”

“N-no, I haven’t.” sweat trickled down the pink pony's forehead, and her eyes darted from side to side.

Rainbow raised her left eyebrow and moved closer to the counter, glaring at her friend almost point-blank.

“Pinkie, you're a worse liar than Applejack. Where is he?”

“Oh, he...” Pinkie panicked more than ever, her eyes caught a glimpse of the man, who ran his fingers over his lips. “He’s putting on lipstick!” she said with a big smile.

“What?” Rainbow's bewilderment was comparable only to that of Newt’s.

When Pinkie realized what she just said, she looked down and glanced at the guy again, he waved his hands in front of him.

“He's swatting at flies!”

Newt jerked his thumb to the side, silently saying, “Take her away!”

“He's hitchhiking!”

The boy slapped his face and ran his palm over it.

“He’s... wiping the wall with his face?” now Pinkie herself was staring at him in disbelief.

“What are you looking at there?” Rainbow pushed her away and immediately beamed, while the human turned whiter than chalk. “Aha, gotcha!”

The pegasus fished him out from under the counter and dragged him along.

“Come on, slacker, you have twenty more laps around the Sweet Apple Acres and two hundred push-ups…” Newt struggled desperately. “And stop twitching, you are heavier than you seem.”

“Have fun!” the pink pony waved at them, giggling nervously.

“Pinkie, help me, you traitor!" the man screamed in a voice that was not his own.

And that’s after not long ago that he started to like the party pony.


***


The day before, it was Pinkie Pie's turn. Newt was going to the ‘Sugarcube Corner’ that day like he was going to hard labor. It was early in the morning, so there were no visitors yet, and the bakery greeted the human with a downright ominous silence. In addition to the above, the dim room, overturned chairs on the tables, wet stains on the floor (thank God, it was water) added to the feeling that a pink monster was hiding somewhere and is about to pounce.

Actually, the ‘monster’ did not take long to wait. Humming to herself, Pinkie Pie pranced out of the utility room and closed the door behind her.

“Oh, Newt, already here?” she exclaimed as if she hadn't expected him to arrive on time.

Even if the guy was a ‘night owl’, which sometimes you can hardly wake up, he was no stranger to the concepts of punctuality and ‘if you promised something, do it’.

“Well, are you ready to please Ponyville today with pastries from a human?” the pink pony was really glowing with enthusiasm, which cannot be said about Newt.

Actually, that's why he was here so early today ‒ to help Pinkie with the first batch of pastries. But whether from lack of sleep or from dislike for Pinkie Pie, the boy could not boast of reciprocal enthusiasm.

“Let's get this over with. If we start earlier, we'll finish earlier,” Newt grumped in response, not hiding his mood for today's pastime.

“Oh, no-no-no-no-no, that won't do!” Pinkie shook her head. “The dough loves smi-i-i-iles!” the pony put on her biggest smile, which, in Newt's opinion, was more frightening than infecting with joy. “If you cook the dough with such a sullen look, then the baking will be bad.” with these words, she began to push the human towards the kitchen with her head.

“Pinkie, the dough is the dough. It's inanimate!” in addition to the general discontent, irritability began to grow inside the boy.

“When you make dough, you put a piece of your soul into it,” the pink pony continued, simultaneously putting a chef's hat and an apron on the guy, which was clearly not the right size for him, “It's like your foal. It needs tenderness, care and smiles... but only in right proportions ‒ this is the most important thing!”

“Thanks for the vivid allegory,” Newt grumbled, removing the hat from his eyes and fighting the urge to ask if she really knows where children come from, “but I don't see how this will change anything.”

At this time, Pinkie laid out the necessary ingredients and kitchen utensils on the table and opened the cookbook to a random page.

“Just start, take the first step, as my grandmother used to say, ‘It's a strange thing, Pinkie, to go out of the door. It seems to you that you are near the house, and now you are already in the lair of a fire-breathing dragon,” the pink pony answered with a mysterious squint.

Now, directly at the kitchen table, Newt was not skeptical about the process, but rather fearful. Over the past couple of years in college, he practically did not cook anything for himself, preferring semi-finished products and hasty lunches. And it was a pity to waste the ingredients that someone paid for on culinary experiments, which may turn out to be unsuccessful.




All you have to do is take a cup of flour! 

Add it to the mix!




Of course, Pinkie couldn't do anything without songs. At the same time, she showed Newt how to mix correctly, in what proportions and what kind of appearance should be in the end. In the course of all this action, the kitchen, which was cleaned to a shine, was instantly covered with dough stains and traces of spilled flour, and the sink was bursting with dirty dishes. The first pancake, as they say, but this did not upset Newt too much, because it turned out better and better.




Now just take a little something sweet, not sour! 

A bit of salt, just a pinch! 



Baking these treats is such a cinch! 

Add a teaspoon of vanilla! 

Add a little more, and you count to four, 

And you never get your fill of... 



Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty! 

Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty! 

Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!




When the first batch was poured into molds and sent to the oven, Newt stared in horror at the timer ‒ twenty minutes. Such a seemingly small period of time dragged on at the speed of a snail. The boy walked back and forth in front of the stove and nervously chewed his nails, catching himself on the thought that he acts like a newly-made father in front of the delivery room.

When the timer chimed, Newt's heart skipped a beat. With trembling hands, he took a potholder, opened the lid of the oven and pulled out a couple of molds with steaming cupcakes. Surprisingly, they were burned only a little, but otherwise they looked almost like a picture in a book. For tasting, Newt and Pinkie took one and cut it in half, it's more convenient to keep it that way, because it's hot, and they made sure that it's not raw inside. Swallowing nervously, the boy took a bite from the edge…

Delicious!

Of course, it was like walking to Canterlot to get to Pinkie’s level, but it was not bad. And with the cream and sprinkles it even got better!

“Just today, hurry up to try the pastries from our local human!” Pinkie advertised later the products to the first visitors.

Some eagerly rushed to buy, others skeptically, but in the end everyone was satisfied, praising Newt's first attempts at baking. It was nice for the boy to look at the joyful residents of Ponyville, felt good inside.

Definitely the day was not in vain. Newt looked at the pink pony next to him, who was putting coins in the cash register and giving out orders. Yes, she can be excessively energetic, strange, annoying with her chatter, as well as a violation of the conceivable and unthinkable laws of physics and common sense... but she is the most positive person he ever met. One thing he could say for sure.

“You know, you're okay, Pinkie Pie.” Newt smiled.

“Thank you.” the pink pony smiled back. “So do you, when you're not grumbling like an old-timer.”

This statement initially put Newt in a stupor, but then he just laughed. It's not the first time he heard this from people, but from Pinkie's mouth it sounded like a compliment, not a reproach.


***


Newt didn't remember when he returned to the library, but he knows for sure that the first thing he did is plopping on the bed. And the next morning greeted him with the feeling that no matter how much he slept, it would not be enough. The muscles were bound by soreness and weakness, there was heaviness and a slight fog in his head, as if the boy had not trained to exhaustion the day before, but drank as if there’s no tomorrow.

At breakfast, he barely exchanged a few words with Twilight and Spike, dozing off and picking at the fried eggs with a fork, almost untouched. There was no appetite, as well as the mood to do anything at all. Newt didn't remember who he had planned to spend time with today, and if he did, he would have postponed it indefinitely. Twilight's voice brought him out of his trance:

“Newt, can I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?” the boy muttered, without taking his eyes off the plate.

“Can you go to Applejack's and get some pies from her?”

Finally, Newt looked up from his plate and stared as if through Twilight.

“Why can't Spike do it?”

“I... um.” the dragon looked down.

“I'll need Spike in the library,” Twilight said in a slightly trembling voice. “Please?”

“Alright.” Newt put down his fork and silently headed for the exit.

Today, the weather team decided to cover the sky with clouds, as if to match the mood of a human. The young men did not remember whether it was promised to rain today or not, and it did not matter to him. The prospect of getting a little wet was the least of his worries. Hunched over, hands in the pockets of his shorts, Newt walked sullenly to the Sweet Apple Acres, not noticing anyone or anything around. Inwardly, he cursed everything that came to mind: Rainbow Dash, who clearly could not correlate the physical capabilities of a pony and a human; his own Hazard Level, which seemed to froze at two and five, otherwise perhaps this rainbow-maned Gregg Berhalter would have leave him alone; and why the hell Twilight needs these damn pies today?!

‘Why don't they want to leave me alone?’ Newt asked himself. ‘Am I asking too much? Just a little time for myself!’

In the next second, as if from a memory lapse, the man was in front of the door of the Apple house. After a short knock, several seconds passed before footsteps were heard. When the door opened, it was none other than Applejack who stood on the threshold.

“Oh, Newt, hello, come on in!” the farmer pony’s eyes lit up, and she hurriedly let the guest into the house, escorting him to the kitchen. “You're just in time.”

Nothing has changed in the Apple house since the last visit here. Everything is modest, but with taste, and there are signs of apples everywhere to remind you where you are, in case you already forgot. Big Mac, apparently, managed the household, Apple Bloom, of course, at school, so there was no one in the house except ginger pony and Granny Smith. In the kitchen, there were five freshly baked fragrant apple pies on the table, which, apparently, Newt was going to take to the library. Without saying a word, the boy just put it on top of each other and took it in his hands.

“Newt, why are yer not yerself today, neither ruddy, nor alive?” the elder Apple said, looking up from the oven.

Applejack seemed to have only just paid attention to the state of the human and became noticeably sad herself.

“Rainbow must have squeezed all the juice out of him again,” the farmer pony said, remembering when she had exhausted herself.

“Atta boy!” the reaction of Granny Smith led the audience into a stupor. “Just appeared in Equestria and already hooked up with a mare, but not just anypony…”

“Not in this sense!” Newt and Applejack exclaimed in unison, the boy even briefly came out of despondency, which was replaced by embarrassment and irritation.

He headed for the exit as quickly as possible.

“I think Twilight says thank you,” Newt muttered as he crossed the threshold.

On the way back, the young men stared unseeingly in front of him again, wanting to get to the library as soon as possible. Probably, if a meteorite fell next to him right now, he would not blink an eye. Once in town, Newt did not pay any attention to the fact that the town was suddenly empty, he did not even give it a second thought. As if on autopilot, he went from point A to point B.

And here it is, the cherished door to the abode of dusty old volumes and fancy words! Holding a stack of pies from the bottom with one hand, Newt opened the door with the other, not paying due attention again to the fact that the room inside the Golden Oak was suddenly plunged into pitch darkness. And just as suddenly, as soon as the man's foot crossed the threshold, the light came on, illuminating the crowd of town ponies, who exclaimed:

“SURPRISE!”

Colorful garlands hung along the walls, and a banner reading ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ was placed across the entire width of the room, colorful balloons, confetti and tinsel flew into the air, and someone blew the party whistles.

Newt jumped in surprise, slipped on the door mat, and the pies in his hands flew into the air. Then everything happened as if in slow motion: the boy, under the gasps of the ponies, sprawled on the floor, hitting his back painfully, and the apple pies, turning over in the air, fell on him like an airstrike.

BOOM! BANG! TINK! CRACK!

There was a pregnant pause.

Newt, as if paralyzed, lay on the floor, feeling Granny Smith's culinary masterpieces spread with a sweet mass over his face and clothes (Rarity had already plopped down on her fainting couch that came from nowhere). Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack, the last one was walking right behind Newt some distance away, rushed to pick the boy up from the floor. The pie mold peeled away from his face, clattering on the floor. Newt looked like a mess: his hair was stuck together, pieces of dough and stuffing stuck to his face, and his once-clean clothes were covered with wet dark spots.

In the silence that hung there was a barely suppressed giggle, which turned into a full-fledged laughter. Pinkie Pie rolled on the floor and pounded her hoof, unable to stop. The ponies around looked at her some with surprise, some with condemnation, and someone began to giggle softly. Looking at her, Newt felt the morning melancholy in him instantly disappear. It was the last drop in his metaphorical thicket of patience, and a mixture of fatigue, irritation, humiliation and resentment poured over the edges.

“WHAT'S SO FUNNY, YOU IDIOT?!”

The laughter died down instantly turning to a proper silence in the library; the pink pony stopped rolling on the floor and stared at him with eyes the size of saucers.

“Do you think it's funny when someone is in an awkward situation? Is it funny when someone is hurt?!” the jam on the boy’s face was bubbling like on a stove. “Is this the Element of Laughter that you represent?!”

Newt also said a lot of unpleasant and even obscene things. With each word, his voice grew louder, each new gesture with his hands seemed more aggressive, each step he took more and more dominated the defenseless pony. And now, standing close, he seemed not a confused weak human, but a terrifying and bloodthirsty manticore. A dam suddenly appeared on the stormy river of human sayings, when Pinkie sniffed, and tears poured out of her eyes in a fountain. She took off, rushed past the guy to the exit, knocking him down again, and sped off in an unknown direction.

Newt was lying on the floor, but that didn't make him any angrier. On the contrary, there was no trace of anger left, and a feeling of guilt and shame prickled in his heart. After all, what Newt couldn't bear was seeing a girl crying, especially if she was crying because of him.

“Pinkie, wait!” the rest of the Mane Six rushed after her in pursuit.

Newt jumped to his feet and hurried after them, wiping jam from his face with his sleeve as he ran. Naturally, he couldn't keep up with the ponies, so he fell behind very quickly, but he still tried his best. And Pinkie Pie could compete in speed with Rainbow Dash or Applejack when she wanted, so the others had little more success catching up with her.

Soon Pinkie was simply lost from sight.

Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy were standing in the middle of the street and looked around in confusion when Newt caught up with them on his last breath and doubled over.

“Rainbow, try looking for her from above again,” Twilight said, the blue pegasus nodded silently and soared into the sky.

When the boy caught his breath and raised his head, he met four pairs of disapproving looks.

“Lad, you’ve had a few too many just now,” Applejack said first.

“You may not have been completely wrong, but it was too much,” Fluttershy added a little more quietly, but no less sternly.

“That's no way to treat a lady!” Rarity snorted and turned up her nose.

Twilight was also about to say a few pleasantries to Newt, but Rainbow Dash interrupted her, “I see her! She's in the Everfree Forest!”

The ponies immediately took off and ran in the indicated direction. Newt seemed to have a second wind, because he found the strength to run again. Or was it just the desire to apologize to Pinkie Pie that motivated him?

When the ponies and the human were on the edge of the forest, they heard a heart-rending scream, “HELP!!!”

“Pinkie, we're coming, hold on!” Twilight shouted back.

“What could have happened? We are on the outskirts of the forest, even timber wolves don't come here!” Applejack voiced the general thought, maneuvering with the others between the trees and breaking through the bushes.

“What's the difference? Our friend is in trouble!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed from above.

Breaking through another bush, the ponies and the human were at the clearing, where they saw a familiar figure in scarlet armor. Blood Stalk with one hand was holding Pinkie Pie, who was kicking wildly.

“Let her go!” Twilight shouted.

The Serpent slowly turned his head in their direction and lazily raised his hand with a pistol. Twilight reacted immediately and tried to take the gun away with her magic before it was aimed at them. And she even managed to stop Stalk’s hand, but not for long. After flickering a couple of times, the magic dissipated. Blood Stalk continued to raise his hand, as if he didn't notice Twilight's efforts.

“What?!” Twilight was prevented from being surprised for too long by two shots, at the last moment she created a magic shield, which the plasma charges collided with.

For Stalk, this served as a sufficient distraction, as he let out a jet of black smoke from the gun, disappearing with Pinkie Pie, but before that he waved his hand as if saying goodbye.

When Twilight dropped the magic shield, Newt rushed to the Serpent.

“Pinkie!!!” the boy shouted, making a jump right into the smoke.

His hands only groped air, the last thing that disappeared in the thick smoke was the gleam of a turquoise visor, and the man, after making several coups, sprawled on the ground. Newt coughed from the smoke that got into his mouth and slammed his fist on the ground in anger, growling in despair.

He not only offended Pinkie Pie, but also gave Stalk the opportunity to kidnap her.

But the question is why?


***


Whether you guessed it or not, Blood Stalk tried to remain stoic in any life situation. Only now, at this very moment, he was experiencing an emotion known to everyone on the path of life.

Annoyance.

The Serpent was the one who considered the unsuccessful outcome of the experiment to be the result nevertheless... But not when nothing happens!

He looked from the bio-chamber, which contained the Element of Laughter, to the computer monitor and thoughtfully rubbed the bridge of his nose, which, of course, he could not reach because of the helmet. The pink pony had not turned into a Smash, and her Hazard Level was still impossible to determine.

NOTHING has changed!

How is this possible? What is he missing?

“Sir?” one of the Gas Masks addressed him. “Should we repeat the instillation?”

It cost Stalk a huge effort not to break the monitor with the scientist's head. But, as I already said, he always tried to keep his composure in everything and not lose face in front of his subordinates.

“Drain the medium from the chamber,” Stalk ordered.

The scientist nodded silently and pressed a couple of buttons. The liquid flowed out of the bio-chamber through special tubes, then it assumed a horizontal position, and with a hiss of air, the lid fell back. Blood Stalk walked slowly to the open bio-chamber and stared at the pink pony in silence. The Element of Laughter no longer tried to resist or scream. She was unnaturally calm for a prisoner.

“If you wanted to treat me with a hookah, you could just say so.” what unsettled Stalk the most is a fact that she was also mocking him. “But I have a complaint to your hookah man: he overdid it with mint... And your place is too uncomfortable. Not everyone, you know, likes to be tied up and surrounded by strange machines. And the uniform of the service staff is frightening…”

Blood Stalk had heard a lot about the oddity of the party pony, but at the moment he could not decide whether she was still mocking him or got sawdust for brains.

“I'm sorry, but I won't even give two stars to your establishment...”

The Serpent wasn’t listening anymore, he went back to the computer and fiercely began to search for something in it.

“Hey, I'm talking to you!” Pinkie Pie shouted, the mask muffling her voice, which Stalk was infinitely glad of. “Since you failed to impress me, then your idea is doomed to failure from the very beginning.”

Stalk once again studied her profile in detail and came across one little detail that intrigued him very much. He grunted enthusiastically and returned to the bio-chamber.

“Since we have already finished the revision, can you let me go? Otherwise, my friends will come here and your ‘Book of complaints and suggestions’ will be filled from cover to cover...

Stalk knocked on the wall of the bio-chamber to shut her up.

“No one will come for you,” Blood Stalk said, mincing every word, but at the same time maintaining a neutral tone. “No one knows where you are, and no one will be able to find you. You are completely alone here and no one will help you.”

“Ha!” Pinkie chuckled. “You probably don't know Twilight. She's incredibly smart and will be able to find me in no time.”

“I wonder how will she do it? the Serpent propped his chin on his palm in feigned interest. “This facility is located deep underground and protected from any detection magic. Not to mention the fact that outsider won’t be able to enter here, and the sign posts are not installed anywhere.”

“Heh-heh-heh, silly,” the pink pony smiled smugly, “your machines can't beat a genius like Twilight. And in the Everfree Forest your conspiracy was simply terrible,” she said the last phrase, stretching the word ‘terrible’.

”Since you are so sure of this, let's wait for your friends together,” said Blood Stalk as if he found a lost foal and offered to wait for its mother.

Several ponies in white protective suits and gas masks were grouped near the bio-chamber, waiting for order.

”Untie her and take to the test subject room. And treat the guest nicely, we are not savages here,” the Serpent said, moving away in an unknown direction.

The scientists cautiously began to unstrap the belts and pull the pink pony out of the bio-chamber. Whether because of an argument with Stalk, or because of complete confidence in her friends, Pinkie Pie did not resist or express dissatisfaction at all, even when she was dragged somewhere by force.

The test subject room was small and snow-white, there were only a spring bed with fresh starched linen, a small table screwed into the wall, a sink and a toilet.

The door behind the party pony slammed shut and the lock clicked. The silence was deafening for Pinkie Pie, because she was so used already to the hustle and bustle of the pony scientists, the flickering lights and the squeaking of strange devices, the hiss of pneumatic devices. Something scuffed on the floor, and Pinkie turned to see a tray with what appeared to be vegetable soup, a couple slices of bread and a glass of juice pushed through the hole at the bottom of the door. The pink pony shook her head and headed for the bed. Jumping on it, she stared at the door, expecting that at any moment her friends would come to her rescue. She won't be here for too long, right?


***


There was no clock in the room, so it was hard to tell if a minute, half an hour or an hour had passed. But when a tray of food was pushed through the door for the second time, it was probably time for dinner. Pinkie wanted to ignore the second meal, but the persistent sucking in the pit of her stomach forced her to abandon this idea. For dinner they brought a plate of macaroni with cheese and a cup of tea with a bun. After finishing the simple meal in one bite Pinkie handed the tray back.

When the pink pony began to yawn, she realized that several more hours had passed, and it was already time to go to bed. There was no commotion, no shouting, and no panic outside the door during all this time.

The rest of the Mane Six are getting late.

“No biggie, it's just that this station is far-far away and they need time. The girls will definitely save me,” Pinkie Pie told herself, falling asleep.

The next day she was woken up by a tray of food that was pushed under the door. A bowl of oatmeal porridge, a stack of cookies and a cup of tea ‒ not the most favorite dish, but the menu was not offered here.

At some point, the pink pony just got bored. She called long and hard for someone, looking out of the tiny square window in the door, but no one came. Pounding on the door insistently, she also failed to attract attention to herself. The silence began to weigh on her ears, and the walls seemed to narrow, making the room even smaller. But, fortunately, there was a lot of stuff in Pinkie Pie's mane. In a few hours, a hurricane seemed to have swept through the small snow-white room, polished to a shine: now children's drawings with colored crayons were dotted on the walls, confetti and tinsel were lying on the floor, and in the epicenter of this mess a pink pony was checkmating an imaginary rival, or rather herself.

No one paid any attention to Pinkie's pampering either, even the one who brought the food did not stay near the door for a long time. Little did the party pony know that her room was surrounded by a sound-proof enchantment, so she rather saved herself from the oppressive silence than irritated someone and attracted attention to herself.

At some point, the usually bubbling energy began to run out. Playing chess, cards and tic-tac-toe with yourself is fun, but eventually boring. Dinner had been swallowed a minute earlier, so it’s a waste of time to wait for the locals until morning. That evening, Pinkie Pie looked at the now decorated wall for a long time. One of the drawings (probably in the style of expressionism) depicted our Mane Six before emitting a rainbow ray. Elements of Harmony. Parts of whole. Always together.

Always… Together... 

‘What if Blood Stalk is right and they'll never find me?’ Pinkie shuddered at her own thoughts. ‘Why did he kidnap me in the first place? What was he trying to do?’ I wonder why she didn't ask that question earlier. ‘The same thing he did to Newt...?’

At the memory of the human, the pink pony remembered their last conversation, and tears came to her eyes again. Pinkie was sad not because of what he said (although it was hurtful), but because she really behaved incorrectly. Considers herself a friend of everyone, but at the same time did not help a friend in pain… Can she even call herself a ‘friend’ now?.. Not just to Newt, but to anyone?

With heavy thoughts, she fell into a deep sleep.

It was as if a second later Pinkie Pie woke up to the fact that someone was shaking her. Her eyelids barely opened, and her head was buzzing. The internal clock told the pink pony that it was the middle of the night. Who would want to wake her up? Turning her head with difficulty, through her bleary eyes, she saw Blood Stalk sitting on the bed.

“Wakie-wakie, eggs ‘n bakey” the Serpent sang, finally removing his hand from the pony's side.

In any other case, Pinkie would have been scared, but either drowsiness or unshakable confidence did not constrict a single muscle on her face. She already had her back turned to Stalk and also turned her head to the opposite wall.

“It's not very polite to talk to someone with your back turned,” Stalk said reproachfully.

“What do you want?” Pinkie Pie asked calmly and with certain indifference, without turning her head.

“How unfriendly,” said Stalk with mock resentment. “And here I thought you could use some company. I suppose, it's boring to be alone in four walls? No one to talk to, nothing to entertain yourself with, and the unknown is unnerving… Depressing perspective, isn't it?” with the last phrase he seemed to want to get under Pinkie's skin, but she did not succumb to provocation, on the contrary ‒ she was even angered by this feigned empathy.

“You can enjoy your mockery while you can.” Pinkie finally turned her head and grinned at him. “Soon Twilight will leave no stone unturned here, and you will say goodbye to another of your stations.”

“And where is she?” Blood Stalk spread his hands. “Are you sure they're even looking for you?”

“They are my friends! Of course they're looking for me!” Pinkie turned abruptly and got out of bed. “You may not understand, but I know it perfectly well.”

For a while she stared very intently at Blood Stalk, at the place where his eyes approximately should be and persistently tried to see something there, but could not see anything.

“You said that Twilight is a genius. If that's the case, then right now you should be free with your friends. Isn't that right?”

His voice... this voice was cold, so emotionless that the poor pony almost shivered.

“I think I'll ask you this question again. Are you sure they're even looking for you?

For a second, just for one second, Pinkie was confused. The very thought of it terrified her, but the faith in her friends did not leave her. It seemed that the previously fading flame of hope flared up with a new force.

“Yes! Pinkie Pie shouted. She had never been so sure of anything in her life as she was now. This fire, the fire of hope, could be seen by everyone who has eyes. The flame of hope burned brighter than the Sun itself.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Blood Stalk started laughing. It seemed to pony that he was laughing with all his heart, if he even has one. He laughed from the bottom of his soul, if such a thing can exist at all. Even though the pink pony had never heard such a laugh, she knew for sure that it was so. She was puzzled… confused. He was laughing at her, so pure and so sincere that she didn't know how to react. What can she say?

“Why are you laughing?! Don't laugh!” Pinkie was screaming. Crying, she shouted after him as he left through the open door, “Don't laugh at me!” the door closed. “Don't laugh!”

Satisfied, Blood Stalk continued his way in a great mood, for the first time in so long you could see a sincere wide smile on his face.

“Laughter is really a terrible weapon.”

A day passed, then another, then a third. Pinkie Pie had stopped crying. Her tears were over. But bad thoughts were still swarming in her head. In this deafening silence, they became louder and louder, angrier and angrier, more and more sad. It was as if the howling dead souls had gathered around Pinkie in the cemetery. Every day the pony lost her colors. Then, with each passing hour, her mane became straighter. And finally, every minute she was getting grayer and grayer. An exhausted, emotionless, lonely little pony... got lost.

When the door opened again, she no longer reacted to anything, just lay there and did not move.

“So, little chatterbox, let's repeat our experiment, shall we?


***


The past week was a living Hell for the residents of Ponyville.

Pinkie Pie was abducted, but neither her trace nor the trace of the kidnapper was ever found. Search teams were created, which combed every centimeter of the Everfree Forest and the surrounding area. Messages were sent to neighboring towns, in which the procedure was repeated, but the outcome was always the same ‒ not a single hint, not a single message.

Twilight Sparkle has already forgotten what a sleep is. With heavy bags under her eyes and a coffee pot under her hoof, she tore through the heavy volume after volume, looking for a new ways to find her friend. She hoped to find at least an approximate location with the help of Pinkie's hair, the map and the enchanted spinning top. But the top only jumped on the map like a mountain goat.

Perhaps, vainly alicorn expected that everything would be so simple. She still couldn't wrap her head around the incident in the Everfree Forest. Blood Stalk's suit and weapons create interference in the magic field! This is not something impossible, but a very ancient and very complex enchantment that could not be carried out by everyone. So, wherever Pinkie Pie is now, this place is protected from detection.

Twilight grumbled and threw away another book that wasn't useful. Over the past years, she has had many stressful situations when it seemed that there was no solution, although some of these situations were nothing but her OCD paranoia… But there’s really none! She tried everything she could, but it was no use! So now what? Alicorn didn't want to give up, but what can she do?

The others were doing no better. With each new search party, the mood of the ponies fell more and more, and hope hung in the balance. Newt had the worst of it. He was already consumed by guilt and anxiety, and the town ponies did not improve the situation either.

Exactly like humans! Ponies, as it turns out, also liked to poke their hooves and look for the guilty ones. Newt did not deny his guilt at all, he was crammed into search teams and tried to help in every possible way, but in the process he caught sidelong glances, heard whispers behind his back and condemning statements in his address. The rest of the Mane Six were divided into two camps: Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow avoided him; Twilight and Applejack were polite and cold.

By the evening of the seventh day, everyone was exhausted. Each new search ended in disappointment and frustration. The unknown forced them to build thousands of assumptions, one worse than the other, but no one, alas, could jump above his head. Twilight sent letters to Princess Celestia every day, but she, apparently, could do little more, and the result was just as disappointing.

That evening, the remaining of Mane Six and Newt were sitting in the library. Spike was no less exhausted, because he had to clean up the mess arranged by Twilight every day almost every minute, even the help of Owlicious only slightly simplified his task. Those present, without saying a word, tried to have a dinner, but a piece did not fit in the throat. The only positive thing was that there was a kind of truce between Newt and the girls. If Blood Stalk had originally intended to kidnap Pinkie Pie, he would have done it anyway, he was just given a lucky chance, that's all.

Newt didn’t feel too pleased.

Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had neither strength nor desire to go home, so they all stayed the night at Twilight. Everyone's sleep that night was shallow and restless.


***


The next morning, the sun barely appeared over the horizon, and no one was sleeping in the library. However, I did not want to get up either: the fatigue that had accumulated over the past week simply did not allow me to do this. So for some time those present continued to lie in a half-dozen state, while the sun rose higher and higher.

The ponies, the human and the dragon would have spent the rest of the day like this, but suddenly there was a crash and screams from the street. Fully awake, those present rushed out into the street. The town ponies were rushing away in panic, the reason did not take long to wait.

“What's that thing?” Applejack pointed a hoof at a strange tall black creature.

It walked on two thin legs, and was very skinny itself, a pair of long spider-like hands ended in three fingers with long claws, and instead of a face it had a sad white theatrical mask with blue drops of tears painted on it. The creature made a terrible sound like a distorted crying, it smashed everything indiscriminately and attacked the ponies that caught its eye.

“I thought she'd be happy to come home.”

The ponies, the human, and the dragon looked up sharply and saw Blood Stalk, who was sitting on a branch, swinging his legs.

“You!” Rainbow Dash snarled.

“Where's Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked, almost growling.

“Right in front of you,” the Serpent indifferently pointed at the creature that looks like a doll.

Hearts of our heroes sank into their stomachs, their eyes became the size of saucers from shock, and a startled sigh escaped from their mouths.

“What... what did you do to her?!” Rarity screamed, barely holding back tears.

“This is what happens when Hazard Level is insufficient to tolerate the instillation of Nebula Gas,” Stalk replied, ignoring the frowns, bared teeth and readiness to pounce.

“You little!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed and flew towards him.

At the last moment, Stalk, holding on to the branch with the bends of his knees, leaned back and jumped down from the tree, and the pegasus crashed into the trunk. As soon as Stalk landed, Twilight fired a magic arrow at him. With one swing of the Steam Blade, he parried the attack, and alicorn used several more attacking spells, but only pushed the Serpent away without causing him obvious harm. As if losing patience, Blood Stalk flipped the toggle switch on the blade and turned the valve twice. 

“ELEK STEAM!” announced the sword.

Lightning sparked on the surface of the blade, the Serpent swung the sword, sending a massive electric charge towards Twilight and her friends. Alicorn created a magic shield, when the lightning collided with it, she had to strain to hold it. The charge crackled deafeningly for several seconds before disappearing. 

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” said Blood Stalk, as if to children. “I think, you should save the town, not fight with me.”

As if Twilight had just remembered about the monster terrorizing Ponyville. She gave Stalk a withering look and beckoned the rest of the Mane Six to follow her.

“We're not done yet!” Rainbow spat at Stalk, rubbing her bruised forehead and heading after the others.

Newt remained where he was, fists clenched, teeth bared, puffing and glaring at Stalk with a hateful look. He had never hated anyone like this before, not even Caleb Wilson.

“I'm getting goosebumps already. Would you stop looking at me like that?”

This creature (certainly not a human or a pony) did something to him, hurt his friend, and also has enough conscience (or lack of it) to mock and clown around!

A friend?

It might be a strong word, but Newt couldn't deny that he had become attached to the Mane Six over the past time. They helped him in everything, promoted socialization in Ponyville, and in general did not leave him alone to survive in this world. It's worth a lot. Therefore, he will repay them in the same way: he will do everything for the sake of his friends.

“GIVE HER BACK!” Newt growled, sputtering.

“I'm sorry, but it's impossible,” Blood Stalk replied emotionlessly. “You see, the experiment conducted with you turned out to be very successful and it gave me brilliant ideas. I remembered the result of a very old research and decided to repeat it with minor improvements. As you can see, it’s a brilliant success. The little pony turned into a synthesis of her worries, fears, and phobias. This is called a Smash. And this is irreversible.” with each sentence, his voice became harder, colder and more mysterious. It was as if he was sharing a revelation with him. “Although, who knows? This experiment is a trial, the results are not collected. Anything can happen. Maybe she will explode in a couple of minutes.” at the end, Stalk spread his hands, as if he wanted to show his ignorance.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Newt literally broke off the chain and, forgetting about past experience and the instinct of self-preservation, attacked the Serpent with his fists.

Naturally, since he did not act methodically, but purely on emotions, his attacks were random and predictable. Stalk didn't even try to attack back, he just blocked the blows and dodged, which made the rage in Newt boil like magma. He wanted to protect his friends. He wanted to teach a lesson to the one who hurt them, but could not match his opponent. Your own weakness is so annoying!

“It's not something personal anymore!” Newt said through his teeth between blows. “You did something to me and this could remain between you and me.” just when the boy started to run out of breath, it was like a second wind woke up in him. “But you hurt my friend... and this is unforgivable!” the blows suddenly began to break through the block and hit the armor. “I don't know who you are, but be sure I'll find out, and then… I WILL CRUSH YOU!”

Newt put his maximum strength and hatred into the last blow. His fist collided with Stalk's breastplate. At the point of impact, the air seemed to heat up, and the force threw the Serpent away, causing him to fall backwards. Newt, panting, stood with his fist outstretched, not believing his own eyes.

“Hazard Level three point zero,” Blood Stalk said slowly, grunting and getting to his feet. ”You're finally awake, Newt!” he said solemnly, spreading his hands.

For a moment, the boy was lost in confusion. He examined himself: neither the second pair of hands nor the third eye. Nothing had changed, and he did not feel particularly different.

“Are you still mocking me?” Newt hissed, his rage rising with renewed vigor. “Fucking with me, you bastard?!”

The guy attacked Stalk again with his fists. He did not resist and seemed to allow himself to be beaten. Newt’s hands were already starting to hurt, and his knuckles were knocked into the blood, but the adrenaline served as a good painkiller. At some point, apparently, the Serpent ran out of patience. Suddenly, he blocked a right hook, grabbed the boy by the neck with his other hand and abruptly threw him to the side. The human hit his back against a tree and fell flat on the ground. The impact knocked all the air out of his lungs. Newt assumed the fetal position and began to gasp for air, like a stranded fish.

“Well, diaper baby, have you finished your little tantrum?” Stalk asked mockingly.

Newt was able to breathe again, but he was still lying on the ground and glaring at the Serpent.

“While you're fooling around here, your friends have a problem.”

Only now the boy saw in the distance how the girls were desperately fighting with the monster. Twilight's spells didn't work on him, only angered it more. The Elements were more likely to discourage it from further destruction and attacks on residents than to cause him real harm. Or did they deliberately not attack in full force, because they believed that Pinkie Pie was still in there?

“Magic does not work on Smash, and simple brute force will also achieve little.” said Stalk, closely watching the battle.

Newt struggled to his feet, holding onto his bruised ribcage.

“And why are you telling me all this?” the boy gritted out.

“Because your finest hour has come.” Blood Stalk turned to face him again.

“Mine? And what can I do if even Twilight can't?”

“That's why it was necessary for you to reach the Hazard Level of three point zero.” the Serpent fired a jet of smoke from a pistol into his left hand, and a moment later a small black suitcase turned out to be in it. “Only you can beat the Smash and return your friend to her former state.”

“Return?” Newt was speechless for a moment and stared at Stalk with a dazed look. “Um... ah... wait, you just said…”

“I know what I said,” Stalk grumbled, lowering the suitcase to the ground and squatting down. “I lied about that. But it was for a good cause.”

Stalk clicked the rivets and opened the lid. At the bottom of the suitcase was an incomprehensible device. It was black, had two slots in the front, next to which there was something like a small turbine, and a pair of gears and several silver tubes under it. There was also a small crank lever on the side of the device. On the inside of the lid were several colorful bottles, similar to the one that Newt inserted into that smartphone. However, for some reason, the blue and red ones were separate from the others. They were the ones that Blood Stalk extracted along with this device.

The Serpent approached Newt and put the device to his midsection, forcing the boy to recoil, a yellow belt flew out of a strange mechanism on the side and wrapped around the human’s waist. The device made a strange sound, as if it was activated. Next, Stalk took one bottle in each hand, shook them slightly and turned the caps forward. Turning the red bottle upside down, he inserted it into the right slot, next to the turbine.

“RABBIT” a voice came from the device, a hologram appeared in the air in front of the slot, repeating the image on the bottle in the form of a rabbit's head.

The blue bottle went to the remaining slot.

“TANK” the same thing happened with this bottle.

Then the holograms mixed, forming the letters "R/T", and the belt announced:

“BEST MATCH!”

The turbine began to change color from red to blue, like a Christmas garland, and music similar to the noise of some mechanism sounded from the device.

All this time, Newt stood rooted to the spot, staring at the belt with his mouth open.

“What's that supposed to be?” he finally found his voice.

“This is the quintessence of my genius and the alpha of the ‘Kamen Rider Project’. I present to you... the Build Driver!” the Serpent announced solemnly.

Newt didn't say a word, but his face clearly showed a sarcastic statement ‘This surely speak volumes’.

“What am I supposed to do with it?” this phrase was no less sarcastic.

“Have you ever played with Jack-in-the-box? The principle is the same: turn the lever all the way.”

“And then what?”

“You'll see.” Stalk was about to leave, but suddenly turned around, “Oh, and don't forget to say ‘Henshin’.”

“What?”

“You’re on your own now. Ciao.” and again Stalk disappeared into the smoke, leaving a puzzled Newt, who quickly looked from Smash to the belt. The girls were already noticeably exhausted, and the monster was becoming more and more frantic.

‘Okay, here goes nothing.’ with this thought, the boy grabbed the lever with his right hand and began to turn it forward.

The lever turned at first with some resistance, but then, as if greased at the last moment, it began to rotate much easier. The turbine turned with it, the device vibrated, as if dozens of gears and pistons were in motion in it. And the music that the belt issued with the first turn of the lever was replaced by a mixture of the sound of pistons and electronic music.

Newt suddenly released the lever when two transparent plastic tubes came out of the belt under the bottles, one of which bent forward, and the other snaked back, something red flowed down one, blue on the other. Steel parts and pipes burst out of the ground, forming a frame around the human. And the plastic tubes, combined with the frame, formed something similar to the plastic sprues from the model kit. From the liquid that flowed through the tubes, armor pieces in red and blue were formed in the center of sprues.

“ARE YOU READY?” was heard from the belt when the incomprehensible construction was completed.

“Ready for what?” Newt asked, looking at the formed structure around him in confusion, and then remembered what Stalk said to him. “H-henshin?”

As soon as he said this word, the sprues slid down the tubes, the boy only had time to gasp when the structures slammed into him, donning him in a suit of armor. The sprues disappeared, and several jets of steam came out of the cracks in the armor.

“HAGANE  NO MOONSAULT! RABBIT-TANK!.. Yeah!”* announced the belt to the accompaniment of techno-rock music.

Newt looked at himself from head to toe, dumbfounded. The armor he was now wearing consisted of red and blue segments with black ones between. There was a large spring on the left thigh, and a tank treads on the right foot. On the helmet, the left visor was in the shape of a rabbit, and the right one in the shape of a tank. From the inside, the helmet reminded the one of Iron Man’s: it was as if boy was looking not through lenses, but at a small screen with system messages on the sides. An inscription appeared briefly in the center at the top: ‘Build System Online’.

The monster that the remaining of Mane Six were fighting came into Newt's field of vision, young men gathered his thoughts, decided to leave self-admiration for later, and rushed to help at full speed. Although the armor was not heavy, there was a slight overweight to the left side. What surprised human the most was the speed with which he moved, as if in one moment he became an Olympic marathon runner. When Smash dropped Applejack and was about to strike with its claws, Newt jumped up, punching the monster with his left hand. The blow threw the monster a couple of meters away and knocked it over.

“Twilight, girls, take the town folk to a safe place!” Newt commanded, not taking his eyes off Smash, who had already recovered. “Leave it to me!”

“Newt?” Rainbow exclaimed in disbelief. “Where did you get that?”

“I'll explain later! Do what I say!” the guy got into fight with the monster again.

“How will you do it?” Twilight shouted, but decided to leave the question rhetorical.

Just because she saw how Newt's simple physical attacks caused more damage to the monster than her magic. The monster doll was waving its claws furiously, but the guy easily dodged them, launching counterattacks.

Newt would never call himself a trained fighter, as he usually didn’t get into fight, but now, in a fight with Smash, it was as if he had awakened reflexes that had not been there before. At some point, out of the corner of his eye, the boy saw a system message: ‘Available Weapon: Drill Crusher’. And he didn't notice how he read it out loud. Two transparent tubes reappeared from the belt, from which something similar to a sword was formed in front of Newt, only instead of a blade it had a large conical drill bit.

“DRILL CRUSHER!” a voice came from a strange weapon that seemed to hang in the air waiting for it to be picked up.

So Newt did, at the last moment repelling the monster's attack with a slash, he dodged another monster’s attack with its claws and stabbed Smash in the chest, then, taking advantage of the monster's confusion, struck it with a cross-shaped slash.

Pale green gas began to evaporate from the surface of the doll's body, the monster, as if disoriented, staggered from side to side, and its crying began to resemble cries of despair.

“Pinkie,” Newt called her, “I know you're still in there.”

Smash stopped and turned to him, falling silent.

“You are a strong pony, fight!” the boy exclaimed, slowly coming closer. “It's not you! You would never want to destroy Ponyville and attack your friends!”

There was a short pause, after which the monster suddenly screamed and inflicted probably the strongest attack with its claws, from which Newt flew several meters away, tumbling. A system message about significant damage to the breastplate appeared before his eyes.

“Usually, it works,” Newt said in disbelief.

The monster ran towards him. An image of a Drill Sword appeared on the screen, the animation showed that it has another mode. Where an ordinary sword has a cross-guard, there was a connector for a bottle on one side, and a connector into which an inverted drill can be inserted on the other. Newt rolled to the side, dodging the monster, grabbed the Drill Crusher that he had dropped during the fall, and switched it to Gun Mode. A plasma projectile knocked the monster to the ground again. Another system message appeared in front of the boy's eyes: ‘Turn the lever again for the final attack’.

‘The final attack?’ Newt stared in fright at the monster, which barely got to its feet and was clearly not going to resist.

Only you can stop the Smash and return your friend to her former state.

Newt gathered all his determination and grabbed the lever on his belt.

“I hope it works.”

Again, a mixture of the sound of pistons and electronic music, but now the guy's body was covered with red and blue energy, and the spring on his left leg shrank.

“READY?! GO!” the belt exclaimed.

Pushing off with his left foot from the ground, Newt jumped high into the air before flying forward. He extended his right leg and got into position for a kick.

“VORTEX FINISH!.. YAY!” 

The treads on his right shoe moved. When Newt collided with Smash, the treads grinded against its body igniting sparks, and the strike with a massive explosion threw the monster away.

The world was plunged into a snow-white void…


***


Pinkie Pie, gray, malnourished, with a straight mane, sat with her head down in the middle of a white void. There was the sound of someone's feet splashing on the water nearby, but she didn't pay attention.

“Pinkie Pie!”

This voice… She slowly turned her head and stared blankly at Newt, who was breathing heavily, as if he had just gone through another execution with Rainbow Dash’s training. But he was smiling, and his eyes were shining either with joy or with tears.

“I finally found you!”

Pinkie turned away from him and stared at her reflection in the water under her hooves.

“Have you been looking for me?” she said quietly and emotionlessly.

“Well, of course! The girls and I’ve been restless for a week trying to find you!”

“Why all of sudden?” she asked, still without emotion. “I annoy everyone, I talk incessantly, and the ponies laugh not WITH me, but AT me, because all I do is make a fool of myself.”

“Who told you that?” Newt asked worriedly.

“You!” for the first time, emotions appeared in her speech. “And you're right! I'm annoying, stupid, useless, dimwit freak!..”

“STOP IT!” Newt jumped up to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him.

Tears were pouring out of the poor pony's eyes in a stormy stream. And Newt let out a few stingy male tears, barely restraining himself from crying with her.

“And what's worse ‒ I'm a terrible friend!” pink pony said through sobs.

“Pinkie, please forgive me!”

Pony stopped crying for a moment:

“What?”

“I'm sorry for what I said to you. It wasn't true!” Newt held her face in his hands so not to break eye contact. “People also tend to say thing they don’t mean when they are angry. It's just ... Rainbow Dash was overly persistent in her training, not thinking that it was physically too much for me. I understand that she meant well, but I was physically and mentally exhausted. I just wasn't up to a surprise party, and that little incident pushed me over the edge…” the boy paused to sigh. “I didn't want to hurt you. And I certainly don't consider you a bad friend! Yes, you can be annoying and pesky, but we are all not without quirks. Do you remember how you said that I grumble like an old-timer?” pony nodded silently, the corners of her mouth slightly raised. “That's what I'm all about, always dissatisfied with something,” Newt remarked, not without self-irony. “But friends should not be similar in everything, they find a common ground despite the differences.”

“Friends?” Pinkie Pie looked hopefully at the human, life appeared in her eyes, and the fur became a couple of tones brighter.

“Of course.” Newt put his arms around her and held her tight. “If you ever start to doubt yourself, remember that you are an Element of Laughter, and this says a lot. You make the ponies around you happy...” the boy pulled away and looked into her eyes. “You're a wonderful friend, Pinkie Pie... my friend.”

The pink pony smiled, sniffing, and there were still tears in the corners of her eyes, but they were already tears of joy. Suddenly for himself, Newt stretched out his hand and poked her nose with his finger, saying, “Boop”.

Pinkie squinted at her nose in disbelief, which made her face look ridiculous. Newt couldn't help but laugh softly. The party pony looked at him for a few seconds, puzzled, as if she didn't know how to react to this. But in the end, she relaxed and let go of her worries, laughing along with him…


***


Newt dropped to the ground and laid the fallen monster on his lap. Smash began to emit a green glow, deforming until it shrank and acquired the external features of a pony. The glow gathered in a small ball in Pinkie Pie's chest and left her body. Having risen a couple of meters above the ground, the ball changed its shape, the glow disappeared, and a small pale pink bottle appeared to the world, similar to those that were in the Build Driver. It fell to the ground next to the unconscious body of the pink pony. Newt picked it up, it had a picture of a birthday cake with three candles on it. He was prevented from thinking about it for too long by the remaining of Mane Six who ran up to them.

“Is she alive?” Fluttershy asked, startled.

The pink pony's chest was heaving, and her pulse, although slightly slowed, was also there.

“Yeah, just unconscious,” Newt said.

A system message appeared before his eyes: ‘For detransformation, remove the Full Bottles from the belt and turn the caps to the sides’. The boy did so, the armor disintegrated into thousands of red and blue particles, which quickly disappeared into thin air. The ponies looked from the belt, to him, and to the bottles in his hands.

They all had a lot of questions.


***


“SURPRISE!” the crowd of Ponyville residents exclaimed.

Colorful garlands hung along the walls, and a banner reading ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ was placed across the entire width of the room. Colorful balloons, confetti and tinsel flew into the air, and someone blew the party whistles.

Newt shyly covered his face with his hand.

“You guys! You shouldn’t have…”

“Not another word!” Pinkie Pie sang, handing him a glass of punch. “I promised to give you a welcome party, and, as you know, Pinkie-promise cannot be broken!”

She happily galloped off into the crowd, offering everyone a punch. Newt, lazily sipping his drink, watched her with a mixture of worry and surprise. A couple of days passed, almost all this time Pinkie Pie, as if in a coma, lay unconscious. And when she woke up, she did not remember anything from the moment of the incident at the first party. She forgave Newt and, to the surprise of everyone, almost instantly became… Pinkie again. The terrible metamorphosis had not left any other visible changes on her, and the Hazard Level scanner again gave an error when trying to scan her.

‘It's probably for the best that she doesn't remember anything,’ Newt sighed to himself.

“And now it's time for PINA-A-A-A-A-A-ATA!” the party pony shouted loudly.

The ponies immediately crowded around her, and Newt did not stay in the tail. The answers to the questions will wait until tomorrow. And today they are having fun!


***


Blood Stalk, sprawled in a chair, thoughtfully examined the images of the embodiments of the Elements of Harmony.

“So they can create Full Bottles... Omoshiroi**,” he drawled excitedly. “What kind of Bottles will be obtained from the others?”

* jap. 'Fullmetal Moonsault!' Rabbit-Tank!.. Yeah! 
** jap. 'Interesting'