After spending the rest of the last loop mentally preparing herself for the task ahead, Twilight Sparkle began the next by rolling onto her hooves with purpose, determined to succeed. The challenge wasn't just in being earnest about her objective, but being unwavering in her commitment to it. Because if Pinkie Pie was truly a victim, it could make all of the difference.
Upon seeing the pony in question approaching, she maintained her attention on her as she offhandedly told Spike, "Spike, I'm going to check out our accommodations. You can relax and have fun until I'm ready to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration."
While Spike expressed his confusion and tried to see past the after images, in order to find out what she was doing, she proceeded to walk toward Pinkie Pie. As she walked by her, she evenly said, "Follow me, please."
"Okie-dokie!" Pinkie Pie readily obliged, who simply turned about and picked up the pace until she was trotting beside Twilight Sparkle.
"I've decided to give you the benefit of the doubt," Twilight Sparkle began conversationally, gaze still ahead. "And I might have found a way to free you from your time loop."
"I doubt it," came the upbeat reply. "Ambrosia's pretty good, but it can't work miracles."
Twilight Sparkle looked askance with a slightly furrowed brow. "Ambrosia?"
"It's just a little thing another you engineered," Pinkie Pie casually answered. "It greatly enhances the consumer's mental capabilities for a couple of hours, and you designed it to have the perfect flavor profile for your palate."
"The cupcake?" Twilight Sparkle deduced.
"Mm-hm!" Pinkie Pie confirmed.
Twilight Sparkle was very tempted to get more details, about how to make Ambrosia in particular, but she restrained herself and returned her gaze to the fore. She had something more important to concern herself with, and couldn't afford to be distracted. Hopefully she would have the opportunity to bring the subject up again in the future.
A short time later, not long after the Golden Oaks library came into view, she noticed Rainbow Dash practicing her stunts. She couldn't help watching her, the pony who helped her realize the value of friendship. If not for simply being present, and being different in ways that she would have thought unimportant in the past, she wouldn't have seen more of the world open up and expand her horizons — starting with a pair of bookshelves that hid a secret room.
Of course, it was impossible to not think about the sonic rainboom, too. Until the princess had given it a name and described what it was, she'd never known about it. Now she knew that Rainbow Dash had done it the loop before last, and another time before that, which had played a pivotal role in how she, and five other ponies, had gotten their cutie marks. The fact that she had never encountered something like the sonic rainboom in a book, which seemed rare but hard to miss, was bizarre, and what made it even more so was how it hadn't drawn anyone's attention. With Rainbow Dash's interest in becoming a Wonderbolt especially, she would have expected her to be recruited and in the reserves by now, if not a regular member of the squad.
"That's because I did some meddling!" Pinkie Pie suddenly proclaimed, sounding triumphant.
After recovering from being startled, Twilight Sparkle swiftly gave her a dirty look and demanded, "Could you please respect the privacy of my thoughts?"
"Sorry," Pinkie Pie sheepishly replied, as she rubbed the back of her head. "Force of habit."
Once her anger passed, Twilight Sparkle's curiosity prompted her to ask, "Why did you 'meddle' with that?"
Pinkie Pie's expression darkened. "To save her from a terrible fate."
"...A terrible fate?" Twilight Sparkle echoed after hesitating, her worry for Rainbow Dash trumping any worry that she had over what she might learn.
After replying with a single, deliberate nod, with all cheer and lightheartedness absent, Pinkie Pie steadily said, "She becomes a marvel, then a celebrity in quick succession. For a short while she is able to repeat the sonic rainboom, until her ego swelled to an incredible size and pushed her heart aside, into the wrong place. Her insecurities came roaring back with this development, but for a while she is able to make excuses as to why she wouldn't perform a sonic rainboom, and is able to rest on her laurels."
"And during that time," she continued, voice and demeanor unchanging, and Twilight Sparkle morbidly rapt, "there were many ponies cozying up to her, with both mean-spirited and selfish desires. They tried to manipulate her, use her, and groom her to fit into their vision of the future. From this she eventually lost trust in everyone, becoming extremely cynical and unhappy. But that was nothing compared to what happened when she was old enough for the Wonderbolts to put her on the fast track to joining their ranks, with the expectation that she would add the sonic rainboom to their repertoire. She would fail to do it, no matter how much she desperately tried, until they ran out of patience and confront her about it."
"What happened?" Twilight Sparkle found herself asking in a quiet tone, without thought.
"I'd rather not say," Pinkie Pie simply stated. "Just trust me that things are much better this way."
With that said, her expression brightened and she proceeded to pronk ahead with renewed liveliness, toward the Golden Oaks library. Twilight Sparkle watched her go, maintaining her pace while she wondered about the amount of ponies Pinkie Pie had to manipulate in order to prevent the scenario that she had just described, and how she had accomplished it.
After a brief shake of her head, and reminding herself to tackle one issue at a time, she refocused on the conversation that was fast approaching as she followed Pinkie Pie into the library. When she closed the door behind her, she found Pinkie Pie standing in the center of the room, looking at her expectantly without showing any hint that she was being humored.
She took a calming breath before walking forward, until she was in the room proper. "I knew I would have my work cut out for me, if all you said was true: because, in addition to not having the magic prowess of Princess Celestia, I also had to approach the problem like somepony else, to avoid the failures another me would make. So... I took inspiration from a pony I recently met and looked for a solution that didn't require power and wasn't complicated."
"Oh?" Pinkie Pie replied, head cocked inquisitively. "Well, I'm not reading your mind, so maybe you'll actually surprise me."
Twilight Sparkle made a silent prayer before asking, "Are you happy?"
Pinkie Pie blinked her eyes owlishly. "Of course I'm happy. Why do you ask?"
"Because you said you tried to make everyone happy to end your time loop," Twilight Sparkle explained. "What if that included you, too?"
Chuckling with amusement, Pinkie Pie replied, "What makes you think I'm not happy?" She smiled broadly and pointed at her face. "Does this look like the face of an unhappy pony?"
Belatedly, Twilight Sparkle uncertainly answered, "I guess not?"
"You don't sound too sure," Pinkie Pie teasingly noted.
She proceeded to pull a hand mirror out of her mane and held its reflective surface in front of her face, but kept her attention on Twilight Sparkle as she confidently said, "Well, I just happen to be an expert on smiles," she switched her gaze to her reflection, "and this smile is..." Her pupils suddenly shrank and quivered. "This smile..."
"No," she whispered, which she repeated, and said louder, each time she tried another smile and looked from another angle. Eventually, she dropped onto her haunches, grasped the mirror tightly in both of her trembling hooves and stared, no longer trying to smile, her mane and tail straight and limp, and the color of her coat and hair dull. In disbelief, she quietly said, "I... When?" A few seconds later, she added, "How...?"
Taking a cautious step forward, Twilight Sparkle worriedly asked, "Are you alright?"
Dropping the mirror, Pinkie Pie tilted her head back and chuckled humorlessly, her eyes askew. "Nope! Never have been! Apparently I bought into my own act at some point!"
Her eyes closed before her whole body twinged, and Twilight Sparkle felt an indescribable change in the air, which raised her hackles. She watched Pinkie Pie nervously, not knowing what to expect after seeing her look so... deranged. Just as she began to consider if she should take her leave, she saw Pinkie Pie's diaphragm rhythmically spasm, accompanied by light snorts with each resulting exhale, as if she were laughing or crying — she couldn't tell which.
Pinkie Pie reopened her eyes when the spasms ceased, revealing that they were relatively dry and clear of redness as they properly focused on Twilight Sparkle. "Last time I asked, it was rhetorical," she began, with only a hint of emotion in her voice, "but now I actually want to know: what made you think I might not be happy?"
"Well..." Twilight Sparkle temporized, who felt uneasy under her gaze, which made it a little difficult for her to recall her reasoning. "I couldn't imagine being happy if I were in the position you claimed to be in. You also said that you had complete control over yourself, and that seemed to suggest that a lot of acting would be involved."
After staring for a bit, Pinkie Pie simultaneously released a sigh and slouched, which was quickly followed by her lowering her gaze and hanging her head. Softly, she said, "Pretty much. I had been traumatized even before my first reset. Once I was strong enough to overcome every single villain, I thought all I had to do was act like the pony I wanted to become, but..." She paused and clenched her eyes shut, as she tried to suppress the emotions that were welling up inside of her. "To be honest, I don't think I can be happy."
"Then don't think it," Twilight Sparkle said in a rush, completely out of her depth but knowing she had to say something. "We have time on our side, so it has to be possible."
Pinkie Pie raised her head and regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "'We?'"
Nodding her head resolutely, Twilight Sparkle firmly said, "I'm going to help."
Looking deathly serious, Pinkie Pie replied, "I don't need to read your mind to tell that you're reluctant to do that. Not just for me, but what that would entail for you."
"It doesn't matter," Twilight Sparkle stubbornly retorted, privately embarrassed that she had failed to hide her true feelings so easily. "I wasn't sure if I could deal with Nightmare Moon by myself, but I was still willing to try."
Pinkie Pie rose to all four hooves, her expression unchanged. "You can only say that because you don't fully understand what you're asking for."
Twilight Sparkle forced herself to remain calm and unwavering in the face of Pinkie Pie's demeanor, and spoke when she was sure her voice wouldn't reveal her disquiet. "Maybe it's for the best that I don't know."
Keeping her eyes trained on Twilight Sparkle's, Pinkie Pie approached her with deliberate steps. Twilight Sparkle's ears folded back, but she stood firm, even as Pinkie Pie entered her personal space and slowly leaned her face into her own, save for pulling her head back a bit at first. Pinkie Pie didn't stop until their foreheads and noses were touching, and their eyes dominated their field of vision.
Pinkie Pie quietly said, "I've already seen exactly what can happen to you when you focus on the same problem for several years without success, both in and out of a time loop, and the ultimate failure and guilt afterward isn't pretty either." She paused before continuing, the pleading tone in her voice reaching her eyes. "So, please, just move on. I don't want to see you go through something like that again, much less anything that comes anywhere near to what I've experienced."
She drew her head away and took a step back before levelly concluding, "It's my problem, and I've been dealing with it alone for a really long time, so don't worry about it. Like you said, time is on my side, so I'm sure I'll find a way to become happy one of these loops."
It was at that moment that Twilight Sparkle had an epiphany: Pinkie Pie was lonely. Not just from the natural consequences of her circumstances, but because she also pushed away those she cared about, so they didn't experience the same circumstances or burden themselves with a seemingly-impossible task. If not for the concern that was just expressed for her welfare, being told that she was important to her before, and the potential solution to her dilemma being refocused to her happiness, she wouldn't have figured out what the key issue was.
Upon seeing Twilight Sparkle's eyes widen, and pupils dilate, Pinkie Pie's ears drooped. Tiredly, she said, "I know that look..."
Twilight Sparkle ignored Pinkie Pie's remark and adamantly demanded, "Make it so my time loop begins and ends when yours does."
Her brazenness appeared to catch Pinkie Pie by surprise, but she was still able to quickly reply with, "Not gonna happen."
Frowning, Twilight Sparkle stubbornly replied, "I'm not trying to solve the same problem as my other selves. I was told to make friends, and I'm officially going to start with you."
"We're technically friends already," Pinkie Pie lightly responded, waving the idea aside with a hoof, "so there'd be no point."
Twilight Sparkle narrowed her eyes. "That's not true and you know it."
Pinkie Pie uncaringly shrugged her shoulders. "Doesn't matter. I'm not doing it."
Glaring at the uncooperative pony before her, Twilight Sparkle wrestled with her aggravation and subdued it before she felt composed enough to respond. With her voice soft and entreating, and eyes imploring, she said, "Pinkie Pie... 'A friend in need is a friend indeed.' Even I know that. If you truly consider me a friend, then allow me to help you."
Rearing back her head, as if slapped, Pinkie Pie angrily replied, "What do you think I'm trying to do for you?"
"This has nothing to do with me," Twilight Sparkle growled, her aggravation reignited. "You're the one who will have to live with the consequences of your actions. Whether you technically kill me now, or allow me to die naturally outside of a loop, I'll lose my memories of these experiences and carry on in ignorance within your loop, burden-free."
"And if you're wrong, what then?" She continued her offensive when Pinkie Pie didn't immediately respond, although more calmly. "You'll manipulate me so I'll approach you like this again? Will you be able to truly feel happy that way, knowing it's not sincere? Knowing that you rejected this me?"
She paused before tenderly finishing with, "But, more importantly, can you be happy when you're lonely?"
Pinkie Pie stared for a solid minute, her expression unreadable. Then her face fell, along with her ears, and she spoke quietly. "You'll have to lie and manipulate others, like me. Are you really okay with that? Like, really really?"
Twilight Sparkle hesitated before nodding her head once. While she did have unresolved issues about doing those things, a recent comment, made by the princess, offered some peace of mind. "All the world's a stage, right?"
"You'll—" Pinkie Pie's breath hitched, and her body began to tremor almost imperceptibly. "You'll have to be precise in what you say and do, and time them perfectly, because I'll rewind time and make you repeat yourself if you don't."
It took Twilight Sparkle even longer to nod her head this time. She could only hope that everything Pinkie Pie had said was true, regarding her being a victim and fighting against evildoers, so that particular ordeal would be worth it.
Pinkie Pie's bottom lip began to quiver, and her eyes moistened with unshed tears. Slowly, her hair began to recover its vitality, while both her hair and coat gradually regained their natural colors. "You're not going to like some of the things you're going to learn, and you'll have to trust me with a number of things that I'll insist you do, so... Are you sure?"
Seeing the transformation happening before her, along with Pinkie Pie's emotional state becoming more apparent, Twilight Sparkle couldn't help feeling the sting of tears herself. "I can't ignore a pony in need when they're right in front of me."
Pinkie Pie sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "No, you can't," she hiccuped, "can you?"
She paused when a growing warmth began to suffuse her flanks, so she directed her attention to one of her cutie marks, which had not only begun to glow but was becoming increasingly brighter as she watched. Comprehending what that must mean, a genuine smile blossomed for the first time in thousands of years, and she began to cry in earnest.
Before they were both completely enveloped in light, she turned to regard Twilight Sparkle, whose eyes were wide with shock and realization after turning away from one of her own flanks and seeing that she wasn't the only one experiencing this phenomenon, and wholeheartedly declared, "Twilight, you're the best friend a pony could—"
Then the world was washed away by the light.
When the white void retreated, Twilight Sparkle found herself in a familiar position: on her back and looking down at the sky. Confused, she rose to her hooves and looked around. What she quickly discovered was that nothing was moving, and no sound was being produced beyond herself. That is, until her ears picked up the sound of footfalls in the distance, which grew louder as they drew closer.
It didn't take her long to discover the source, when she caught sight of Pinkie Pie approaching her as she usually did. Uncertain as to what to expect, she turned to face her and waited for her to arrive. When she did, and proceeded to stand in front of her with an unassuming stare, she found it too awkward to remain silent.
However, when she opened her mouth to speak, Pinkie Pie dove forward and hugged the breath out of her. "I can't thank you enough for what you did," she said, voice laden with emotion. "I'm still having trouble believing that this is even real."
Once Twilight Sparkle had recovered enough to speak, she smiled warmly and returned the hug. "I'm just glad that I was able to help."
When it became clear that the hug was lasting longer than expected, all things considered, she cleared her throat and awkwardly inquired, "So, uh, what now?"
Pinkie Pie hastily disengaged and was just as quick to say something to divert attention away from what she just did, her voice raised louder than it needed to be. "Oh! Right! I guess now is as good a time as any to clean up your first mess!"
Confused, Twilight Sparkle asked, "Mess? What mess?"
Pointing toward the frozen scene nearby, Pinkie Pie affected irritation as she said, "All of these ponies are going to wait while they recover their eyesight, or get into accidents, and that's going to cause several problems down the line." Her expression lightened. "To fix it, all you have to do is go back to when you were still riding the chariot to Ponyville, make it clear that your focus is on Nightmare Moon instead of making friends, and don't be spontaneous and feel like blinding everypony anyway."
Twilight Sparkle regarded her with a half-lidded stare before releasing a sigh of resignation and saying, "Well, let's get this over with."
"That's the spirit!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "I would have been concerned if you were excited to do this."
Twilight Sparkle only had enough time to shake her head once before Pinkie Pie sidled up beside her, threw a foreleg over her withers, and sent them into the past.