"Peace begins with a smile"
-Mother Theresa
“You are certain?”
Luna nodded her head, eyes cast to the ground. She was at war with herself and her mind was a battlefield with many opposing armies. She had told her sister everything, knowing the danger that now hung over Twilight Sparkle’s head; if they did not do something the mare would become the new embodiment of doubt and be forced to care out the tasks such a position held.
And yet another part of her raged that she was betraying her lost friend yet again by going to Celestia. She had stumbled upon the news and it was not hers to share. The others wouldn’t understand… they would see this as only a chance to save Twilight and nothing more. But for Luna, she could not help but wonder what would happen when Doubt left the world. Even if he could not remember his true self he was one of the Elements of Harmony. Would the other five fail without the 6th? Would they save Twilight for a terrible curse… only for her to die the moment Doubt did, her soul bound to his?
Still… by telling her sister did she not better ensure that Doubt would live? With the aid not one but two alicorns, a solution to Doubt’s potential death and, more importantly his faded memories, could be found.
It left her skull throbbing and her stomach pitching with grief.
“This is… troubling,” Celestia said. She did her best to appear dignified but was failing if only because it was hard to appear noble when one held court in a barn. Sweet Apple Acres was not Canterlot but it was the best the Princess could hope for… she did not feel up to the pomp and celebration that would come if she announced herself in Ponyville.
Cadence shook her head sadly, stepping away from Shining Armor, who was guarding the door, and addressing those in attendance. “It is a great shame.”
“A shame?” Twilight Velvet asked. “I assume you mean what he is trying to do to my daughter and not the death of that mirrored monster.” Cadence averted her eyes and Velvet’s brow creased. “How can you say that? Doubt has caused so much pain and misery in his long existence!”
"And felt even more," Cadence stated.
“Do you blame the fire for the sins of an arsonist?” Luna challenged.
“Do not deceive yourself,” Night Light said firmly. “Doubt is not a fire or a sword. He is not a tool. He is thinks and breaths and schemes like any other creature.” The stallion began to pace. “If you want to apply an analogy… he is a dog. A dangerous one at that. A dog can be blamed for attacking a pony… and Doubt can be blamed for his actions as well.”
“Am I to be blamed too, then?” Luna asked.
“Of course not!” Celestia exclaimed.
“I tried to kill you… Doubt wanted me to stop. He never wanted your death, my dear sister, but I did.”
“And you paid the price and are now pardoned.”
“Doubt was also punished for a 1000 years… and he has received nothing but us welcoming his death. He saved the world four times: He aided both you and Twilight in my and Discord's twin defeats. And what is his reward? To be forgotten, dismissed and his death treated as a paltry thing!”
Velvet shook her head, unable to comprehend what she was hearing. “Just over 12 hours ago you wanted to see him dead!”
“Rage is a funny thing… it burns quick and when it is gone the hard cold truth is revealed.” Luna sighed, wings tucked tight against her body. It was rare for her to feel her age but at this moment she realized just how much older she was than her little ponies. They could not afford to spend much time looking at the different sides of all matters because they would be dead soon enough.
“And what if he cannot help himself?” Cadence challenged. “Doubt is doubt. To ask him not to spread his influence as he does is to ask the sun not to shine.”
“The same could be said of Discord and he is trapped in stone,” Night offered. “Can the same not be done for Doubt?”
“DO NOT COMPARE HIM TO THAT BEAST!” Luna roared in fury. Her mind raced, memories of her sobbing in her chambers, feeling utterly alone until Doubt came and offered her...
'What... what had he offered me?' Luna wondered. 'Not doubt... but something else...'
Celestia looked at her sister, sadness radiating off of her much like warmth did from her sun. “Luna… I do not know what caused this change of heart and… and I am happy you feel mercy for Doubt. But we cannot waste time upon him when Twilight is in danger.”
Luna stared at her sister, her lips curling in disgust. “I’ve seen this play out before.”
“Excuse me?” Celestia said.
“1000 years ago I was the one proclaiming that the death of some was ok if the ends were worth it, just as you all are. And once again, sister, you refuse to pick a side until it is too late. You ignore the warning signs and then try to cover up your errors and let history forget that, despite what many may believe, the sun doesn’t set solely on your flank!”
“Luna!” Celestia snapped, frustration causing her to be much more harsh than she’d normally be.
“It is Nightmare Moon all over again!” Luna shouted. "Your blindness and stupidity are going to doom us again! Twilight was right: You did this to them! All of their lives... all of MY LIFE!" Luna stepped forward and Celestia was horrified to see her sister's eyes... weren't black. No corruption. No influence... this was all Luna. "YOU made us! Nightmare Moon, Doubt, Twilight... our sins lay squarely on your shoulders!"
“Enough!” Cadence shouted, startling all of them. “Please! This… This is getting us nowhere. We bicker and fight when we should be working to mend our relationship with Twilight.” The love goddess glared at all of them and each of the unicorns and alicorns looked with shame to the ground. “Have you all forgotten that?” Cadence, not caring for royal standing or proper decorum, lowered herself to the straw-strewn floor, laying her head down to rest. Though she did well to hide it, she was still weak from her captivity and much of her energy had been wasted that morning journeying to Twilight’s. “All of this started because ponies couldn’t remember what was important. Doubt’s name, Twilight’s record of honesty and trust… did we not agree not to play the blame game? And yet here we are, blaming Doubt. But doing so we forget about Twilight! Isn’t that right Shining?”
But Shining didn’t say a word… because Shining was long gone.
~MC~MC~MC~
“This doesn’t change anything,” Twilight said softly. “I don’t want to lead you on and make you think that things are going to go back to the way they were.”
Applejack nodded, trotting beside Twilight, feeling like a foal. Her friend towered over her, her great dark wings tucked against her sides and her shadow stretching out far behind her. It was a bittersweet moment for her: she had cleared the air with Twilight and gotten through the first wall the dark alicorn had built around her heart… but now Applejack found that there were still many more of them and any hopes of a speedy recovery were foolish.
“Everything has changed,” Twilight said simply, trotting down the street, Spike on her back going through their checklist. "Nothing will ever be the same."
“I can see that, Twi,” Applejack joked, glancing at Twilight's back.
Twilight smirked slightly. “Yeah… if any of you girls think for a moment I am giving up my wings, you’re nuts.”
Applejack nodded. “Don’t have the right to ask ya too.”
“You’re right… you don’t.” Twilight opened her mouth to say more, only to furrow her brow in confusion. “What the?”
Applejack blinked, just as surprised as Twilight at the sight before her: a massive banner hung over Sugarcube Corner proclaiming it closed for a ‘Private Party’.
“…I am just going to continue shopping,” Twilight muttered, not in the mood to deal with Pinkie Pie and her insanity.
However, the words had barely left her mouth before Twilight found herself snared by ropes, which tugged her into the bakery, leaving Spike and Applejack staring in shock.
Twilight’s horn glowed with white magic as she tried to figure out what was going on. She was surprised to find that the bakery was empty; not just of ponies but of tables, chairs… everything. If she hadn’t been able to see the walls Twilight would have thought that she had slipped into some strange void.
Twilight shook off the ropes that had snared her, unsure how they had managed to do that. Looking about the room in annoyance, Twilight turned only escape only to find the door was gone, replaced by unending wall.
Any other creature would have been terrified.
Twilight… was no longer any other creature.
“Please don’t use your secret dark chocolatey magic!” Pinkie Pie cried out from somewhere in the darkness.
“How about no?” Twilight complained, readying to blast a hole in the wall.
“But I have a whole thing planned to show you how much you much you mean to me!” Pinkie exclaimed from the darkness. “Please… just give me 5 minutes!”
“No.”
“Please?”
“No!”
“Please stay?”
“No!”
“Stay?”
“NO! NO! NO!”
“Please go?”
“NO!”
“So you’ll stay and let me do my presentation!”
“Yes!” Twilight shouted. “Wait… how did you…”
Pinkie giggled and Twilight could hear her bouncing around in the darkness. “That always works! Now then… Twilight Sparkle, this is my life!”
“You mean “This is Your Life”.”
“That’s what I said!”
“No… you are saying you are doing it about Pinkie Pie’s life… you are suppose to do it about my life.”
“Why would I do that? I mean, you already know about your life, right?”
Twilight grimaced, feeling a headache coming on. “Just… do your thing so I can leave, ok?”
“Okie Dokie!” Pinkie said happily. “This is my life, right now.” Twilight heard a whoosh and was confronted by something smacking her in the face. On pure reflect she jabbed her horn forward and, thankfully, found it wasn’t Pinkie’s skull that took the brunt of the attack but a simple balloon, which hung from the tip of her horn. She fired up her magic a bit brighter, the latex bubbling and melting under the heat as Twilight looked about.
She could see that the empty room was now filled with the makings of a party: balloons, streamers, a cake in the corner...
“Your life is a surprise party?” Twilight asked.
“No,” Pinkie said, startling the alicorn with just how quiet her voice was. “No. My life is a party without any lights.”
“I don’t understand,” Twilight said.
“I got my cutie mark when I saw Dashie’s rainbow! It made me smile and I wanted to smile forever and ever and ever!” For a second Pinkie’s voice returned to its bubbly self, but then within moments it was back to being sullen and quiet. “But I didn’t. I only smiled for… a few minutes. And I realized that it wasn’t fun to smile by yourself. When you are smiling by yourself it just isn’t fun. What is fun is sharing your smile with everyone else!”
“Pinkie…” Twilight said with a sigh.
But the pink mare wasn’t done. “So, I threw a party for my family and when they began smiling I was SOOOOOO happy! I mean, they were happy and I was happy and it was just so wonderful because we kept feeding off of each other, making each other happy!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Is that your excuse for abandoning me to plan a wedding? You wanted to make other ponies happy?”
“No!” Pinkie said in shock. “I’m not even talking about the wedding!”
Twilight glowered. “Then what… you think I need to have a party and it will make everything better?”
“No!” Pinkie said, clearly getting frustrated that Twilight wasn’t following what was, to the pink mare, flawless logic. “Twilight, this is what my life is like right now: a party with no light. And do you know why?”
“Because I am mad at you and refusing to play by your games.”
“…no, Twilight.” The dark alicorn jumped a bit when she realized Pinkie had moved to stand beside her. The earth pony’s mane and tail were flat and her eyes stared at the ground, tears glistening in the corners. “My world is dark because you aren’t happy.”
“Huh?” Twilight said, unable to understand her former friend’s logic.
“What good is a party, even if it makes me happy, if somepony I care about isn’t happy? What good are balloons or cake or anything like that if you are sad?”
“Pinkie…”
“I… I am sorry I made you sad, Twilight. I am sorry I took away your smile and you don’t laugh anymore. But you know what… I don’t care if you are some dark alicorn… I just want to know that you’re happy.”
“Even if that means I never talk to you again?” Twilight challenged. She took a step forward, lowering her head so she could look Pinkie directly in the eye. “What if I told you I was happy like this? That I have never been happier in my entire life and nothing you say will convince me otherwise?”
“I’ll be happy for you!” Pinkie said without a second thought.
“And if I told you that I want to stay in Ponyville but never talk to you again… never have a conversation with you or go to one of your parties? What then? What if you could see me every day and remember how we were… would you smile then?”
“Would you be happy?” Pinkie asked simply. “If that happened… would you be happy?” She smiled, placing her hoof over Twilight’s mouth before she could answer. “I just want to see ponies smile, Twilight. If talking to me hurts as bad as a skinned knee or a tummy ache, then don’t do it. I don’t ever want to hurt my friends!” Pinkie nodded her head, her mane poofing back up. “And if that means being by yourself, than that’s ok! You taught me that, Twilight.”
“So you’d be ok with that?” Twilight asked.
“Well… no. I’d miss you and I’d be sad for a while, but I’d be happy you were happy.” Pinkie grinned. “And I would wait for you to finally decide you could be my friend again… you think Mr. Doubt could make me a big alicorn pony too? That way, I can have plenty of time to plan a “Twilight Wants to Talk To Me Again” Party!”
Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle about that. However, one thing still bugged her. “Pinkie… why did you leave me after the rehearsal?”
Pinkie shrugged innocently. “Well, I saw Cadence was upset… well, not the real Cadence but the buggy Cadence who wasn’t really Cadence… you know, the one that was sucking your brother’s love like it was a yummy popsicle and then you went all ‘grrr’ on and she went ‘aaaaa!’ when you went ‘grrrr!’ and then-“
“I remember, Pinkie.” Twilight’s winged flexed slightly in annoyance. “But why did you go comfort her instead of me?”
“Well, I could tell that Cadence… the fake one… she wasn’t that strong emotionally. I mean, she was freaking out about things and getting all mad, which wasn’t how you described her so I figured she was getting stressed and letting things get to her. And I know you, Twilight... you’re strong! You’re the strongest pony I know! Not just in magic but emotionally too. Yeah, you get frazzled and upset but you always get your head back in the game and make things right. So, I had to pick between Cadence and you and I went with who I thought needed me more.” Pinkie lowered her head, scuffing the floor with her hoof. “I guess I screwed up though, huh? I wish I could be in two places at once, that way when I saw two ponies hurt I could be with both of them… could you use your magic and do that?” Pinkie looked up and was startled to see Twilight had tears in her eyes. “Twilight?”
“You… you went with Cadence... because you think I’m strong?”
“Of course! You’re strong and brave and smart and… and amazing! And that’s why I thought you’d be ok! And yeah, I was upset you hurt Cadence’s feelings so that’s why I didn’t smile or anything and that was wrong but if I knew you were really super duper upset and thought I hated you I would have stayed because I could never hate you and-Twilight?”
Twilight managed a flash a big smile before turning tail and running from the pink mare as fast as she could.
“She… she smiled,” Pinkie whispered. “I made her smile! I MADE HER SMILE!”
A tiny victory... but a victory none the less.