//------------------------------// // When It Hits The Fans // Story: Magical Mystery Drama // by AstroStar //------------------------------// After being changed back to her normal unicorn self thanks to Celestia, Trixie joined the group as they made their way towards the library. They had all decided that it was best to make Twilight as comfortable as possible. The recently transformed alicorn was still out cold and Celestia volunteered to carry her back to her student's home. "So you mean to say that was the real Alicorn Amulet this whole time?" Trixie asked as she entered the library. She was still trying to get up to speed with the events of the evening. A few nods confirmed her query. It became clear that the stressful evening had worn everypony out. "Yes, and now we have to figure out a way to write it into the show by next week," Rainbow Dash added. "Not to mention that whole making Twilight Sparkle a princess thing, not that that’s important at all," Discord shrugged. "Needless to say, we’ve had a bit of a night so far," Pinkie sighed in defeat. Fluttershy turned to Princess Celestia, still carrying Twilight on her back. "How is Twilight, your highness?" Celestia took a look at her student. "She’s asleep now. I’ll go and tuck her into her bed in case she wakes up." Celestia began to make her way up the stairs towards Twilight's bedroom. Before she made her way however, Luna caught up with her. "Sister, are you really sure about all this?" Luna whispered. "Do you really think Twilight Sparkle is ready to become a princess," the princess of the night whispered. "The Alicorn Amulet seemed to think so. Do you think this is a bad idea?" Luna hesitated for a moment. "Well… I’m not going to object. Twilight seems like a natural choice, but… this happened so fast. I’m not sure if she’s still over the shock." "I know, which is why I’ll stay at her bedside. She’ll need all the support she can get." "I’ll stay downstairs. Let me know if anything changes." Celestia nodded. "Don’t worry Luna, I will." Celestia and Spike take Twilight upstairs to her bedroom. Luna watched them disappear up the stairs before she returned to the others in the library's main hall. Twilight's five friends, Trixie, Minty, Discord and Chrysalis, still in Twilight's unicorn form, had all settled on the floor after what had been a very shocking, exhausting night. Discord had produced some tea for everypony to drink. "I just don't believe it. Twilight? A princess?" Fluttershy asked in disbelief. Applejack shook her head, taking a sip of her tea. "I know sugarcube. It sounds so weird. This is gonna take some getting used to." Rainbow Dash was thinking outloud, trying to wrap her head around what was going on. "Princess Twilight Sparkle. Ugh, it sounds like a really bad Mary-Sue character." "How is it that a filly Rarity becomes a princess in the third generation, but the genuine fashionista doesn’t?" Rarity asked to nopony in particular. "I think there are more important matters at hoof Rarity," the still-unicorn form of Twilight Sparkle pointed out. Rarity answered absent-mindedly. "Ok, Twilight… wait, Twilight's supposed to be upstairs, right?" Applejack politely tapped the Twilight-shaped changeling on the shoulder. "Don’t mean to sound rude Chrysalis, but could you stop being Twilight, sugarcube? It’s getting mighty confusing." Chrysalis put a hoof on her chin in deep thought. After a short while, she willed herself into another transformation. After a flash, she stood in her new form. A purple unicorn with a dark purple and violet mane and tail with the same star-shaped cutie mark just like before. But this form had a larger build, had a shorter mane and tail, and a sharper, squared muzzle. She wasn't Twilight Sparkle anymore. She was Twilight Sparkle as a stallion. "Is this better?" the stallion Twilight asked. Every mare in the room blushed a deep crimson at the sight of this male version of their best friend. Trixie in particular had to struggle to keep from fainting to the ground. "Um… actually I think that one’s even worse!" squeaked Fluttershy. "Now that would bring about some chaos. Why didn't I think of that?" Discord chuckled. The male Twilight frowned. A flash suddenly surrounded him and second later, he was replaced by Chrysalis' regular form. "You ponies are no fun," Chrysalis grumbled. Trixie tried to compose herself from the shock as best as she could. "Um, wasn’t there a crisis we needed to solve right now?" the magician asked sheepishly. "Well I guess we could talk about the how to fix everything in the show," Minty shrugged. Rainbow Dash sighed. "I’m sorry, but I can’t think about the show right now. One of my closest friends might become a princess! What’s going to happen if she says yes?" "Is she going to have to leave Ponyville because of this?" Rarity wondered. Fluttershy gasped. "But, whose gonna take care of the library?" A sudden chilling thought ran through Applejack. Her blood running cold for a second. "If she’s an alicorn and a princess, does that mean…. she’s gonna outlive us?" Nopony said anything. Nopony wanted to say anything in response to that thought. Eventually, Luna decided to try to diffuse everypony's current fears. "We can ask my sister when she returns, but I can assure you that despite what you may think right now, everything will not be as bad as you currently think." Applejack slowly took her hat off her head and clutched it tight against her chest. "Ah hope so…" the cowpony quietly said. The room stayed quiet for a long time as the somber thought sunk in. After a very long, uncomfortable silence, Twilight's in-show rival spoke up, as a more positive thought ran through her mind. "You know, if there is anypony in Equestria that does deserve this, it’s Twilight Sparkle," Trixie admitted. Rainbow Dash let out a small laugh. "I know what you mean. She is usually the one we all turn to whenever a problem arrives." "That’s who she is," Pinkie agreed. "Whenever there is a problem, Twilight goes out of her way to make sure the problem gets solved." "Even when nopony is listening to her, she’ll get after a crisis and solve it," Applejack added. "She tries very her best for us. For everypony," Fluttershy smiled, happy that she could call this pony her friend. Pinkie nodded slowly. "Yeah… she really does." "Not even chaos and disorder can sway her too far from doing what’s right for her friends," Discord reluctantly pointed out, remembering how his very first encounter with the then-unicorn ended. Considering these new points, Pinkie found herself conflicted. No matter what her senses told her about the show and pleasing the fans, her heart kept telling her that she should leave the events of this night alone and let Twilight become an alicorn princess. A year ago, she would have listened to her mind and do whatever was necessary to keep the show going. But now, she was listening to her heart. "This goes against everything about maintaining status quo, but… the more I think about it… the more I think I’m in favor for all this." Pinkie found herself saying. Her other friends looked down to the ground as they considered their own feelings on the subject. Rainbow Dash was the first one to speak up. "You know, me too," the cyan pegasus nodded. "She would make a wonderful princess," Fluttershy added. "Well... it would be nice to be a close acquaintance with a royal figure…" Rarity sheepishly decided. Applejack only shook her head in disbelief. "Ah even told that bit about destinies and such. Who would have ever thought…" Hearing this verdict, Minty flashed a big smile. "Well it sounds like we’re in agreement about Twilight being a princess, right." "Yeah... I guess we are..." Pinkie found herself staring down to the floor somberly again, despite her decision. This caused Discord to turn to the pink party pony in concern. "You are happy for Twilight, right?" the draconequs asked. Pinkie shook her head. "I am, really! I hope all the best for her! But... I still don’t know what to do about the show... or the fans." "You still have no idea how to solve this yet, do you?" Chrysalis hypothesized. "Even if I did, there's nothing we can do can fix this," Pinkie admitted. She hung her head low and dejectedly slumped down to the floor. "At any rate, it doesn't matter anymore. It's too late. Hasbro has probably let the word out that Twilight has wings. In fact, they might have already made her a princess too behind our backs, and that means that the fans most likely know what's about to happen! There’s no way the fans will ever accept this no matter what we try." Everypony looked at each other with deep concern. Needless to say the show remained a primary concern, but now their thought are now focused on the well being of the bearer of the Element of Laughter. "Are you going to be ok, Pinkie?" Trixie asked, echoing the worried concerns of the rest of the group. "Considering the fact that my best friend could have gotten hurt a lot worse from a dangerous artifact tonight, not to mention the company that we owe our existence to stabbed us in the back by hijacking the episode, and the fact that the fans that we love so much would be ready to turn their back on us because we made Twilight a princess, I think I’m far from ok now." Pinkie had to fight back tears as she finished her rant. Minty placed her hooves on Pinkie's shoulders. "It was just an accident. There was no way you could have known any of this would happen!" "Hasbro probably didn’t know what really happened," Fluttershy pointed out. "Besides, an alicorn Twilight toy does sound like a really great idea… I want one." Fluttershy nervously pawed the ground as she confessed her feelings on the potential merchandising issues. "I wish the fans were just as forgiving as you, Fluttershy, but the damage is already done," Pinkie sighed. "Just the very idea of Twilight becoming an alicorn or a princess is enough to make a lot of them tune out." "So you’re saying that no matter what we try, we can never patch things up with the fans?" Applejack asked. Pinkie shook her head. "Not if we’ve lost their trust. It’s just like I always say. Losing a friend’s trust is the fastest way to lose a friend." "FOREVERRRR!!!!" A second Pinkie Pie shouted, appearing suddenly from right under the first Pinkie Pie. The original Pinkie jumped back in surprise. "Chrysalis! Stop that!" Luna shouted to the duplicate. In a flash, the Pinkie clone transformed back into Queen Chrysalis. "Come on, I always wanted to do that!" Chrysalis protested. Pinkie gathered her senses after the sudden shock. Now I remember why I stopped doing that gag. she thought. Luna sighed at the distraction. This whole night had been an ordeal to say the least. Ironically, it felt that this night was indeed lasting forever. Thankfully this night would eventually end. That fact made Luna suddenly aware that everyone had been up for a while now thanks to this crisis, and it was clear that fatigue was beginning to settle in. "Listen, I know everypony has been up quite a while now. Perhaps a good night’s rest will help ease out troubled minds." Luna suggested. "I like that idea," Rainbow Dash yawned. "Man, I’m so out of it I don’t think I’ll make it back home!" "Why don’t we all sleep here tonight?" Trixie offered. "That way we be here for Twilight, and we can get right back solving all this as soon as we wake up." "Nothing’s wrong with that," Applejack agreed. "Although I really wish I could go back to the farm and get my sleeping bag." "Allow me," Discord offered, and with a snap, everypony found themselves wrapped in their own sleeping bags in true slumber party fashion. "Well, I guess... good night everypony." Fluttershy yawned. They all said their goodnights while the settled into their sleeping bags for the night. As always Luna remained awake, fulfilling her duties as the guardian of the night. It didn't take long until she found that all but one the visitors had fallen asleep, for as much as she wanted too, there was still too much on Pinkie Pie's mind to allow her to sleep. ~~~~~ Twilight stood behind the palace curtain eagerly anticipating Celestia to announce her to Equestria. She definitely looked the part of a princess, with her crown, her royal gown and of course those wings she had inadvertently given herself. And now, the moment had finally come where her mentor would introduce to Canterlot and the rest of Equestria as their new princess. "Fillies and Gentlecolts, may I present to you, for the very first time, Princess Twilight Sparkle!" The curtain pulled back and Twilight slowly walked onto the balcony overlooking the massive courtyard where all the ponies had assembled. She had her eyes closed, eager to hear the massive cheers the crowd would give her. But the cheers never came. Confused, Twilight opened her eyes and gasped in shock. The courtyard was packed and crowded like she had expected. However none of these creatures were ponies. They were all standing on two legs, many of them were even wearing clothing that had pictures of her and her friends on them. Some even went as far as dressing up as her friends. These wern't ponies. They were the bronies! And they all were looking at her in a deep sense of shock. After a few moments of stunned silence, the brony crowd broke out in a vicious chorus of boos and hisses. "What kind of bull crap is this?" "Princess? Seriously?" "Twilight? How could you!!!" "Hey everyone, guess what? It's G3 all over again!!!" "How could they ruin something so special?" "My head cannon! My poor, poor head cannon!" "Aaaand, they've jumped the shark" "I can't believe they sold out like this! What were they thinking?" Twilight stood shocked at the mass rejection that was taking place before her eyes. She was especially saddened by some of the more vulgar cat calls that were thrown around by the crowd. She watched helplessly as all the bronies began to turn away, having had enough of the fraud in front of them. Twilight reached out in vain. "No wait! Don't go! I can explain this! This was just an accident, I... I didn't want to become a princess..." Her rebuttals fell on deaf's ears. Soon, the courtyard was left completely empty. "But... why?" Twilight said, frozen stiff at how everyone had turned. She heard a couple of hoofsteps behind her. She turned around to see not only her mentor, but also one of her very best friends, Pinkie Pie. Twilight became worried as she noticed their expressions. Celestia had a look of resigned defeat on her face, while Pinkie looked as if she had been betrayed in the worst way possible. "Equestria... has been forgotten," Princess Celestia announced sadly. Before Twilight knew it, the entire ground shook violently. A major earthquake? No this was something else. Something worse. Twilight looked towards the horizon, where she could see Ponyville, and the village that she had called home was vanishing before her eyes, line by line. Within moments, Ponyville was erased and a white void was left in it wake. A void that was rapidly approaching her. She turned back to see her mentor and screamed in terror. Princess Celestia was becoming undone too, as if a giant eraser was going over her form. The sun goddess closed her eyes and shed a tear as she too was erased from existence. Seconds later, the same process began to happen to Pinkie Pie, hot tears streaming down her anguished face. "I trusted you, Twilight! How could you do this to me?!? I trusted you!!!" she shouted as she vanished into oblivion. "Pinkie!!!" Twilight tried to run to where Pinkie once stood. However she found herself unable to move. She looked down and let out a silent scream. Her hooves were disappearing, being undone line by agonizing line. This was it. It was all over. Everything she knew. Everyone she loved. All of it was vanishing. Equestria was being erased. And it was all her fault. Tears began to flow freely down her face as the void reached her torso, slowly making its way to her head. There was only one thing going through her mind while the mysterious force purged her from existence. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry........" ***** "... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." "Twilight! Wake up! You're having a bad dream!" Spike shook the librarian, hoping to wake her from whatever hell she had created for her self. A few shakes later, Twilight suddenly shot back awake, her eyes still filled with tears. She looked around her room, taking quick inventory that everything was still in place. She breathed a mental sigh of relief when she determined that nothing had been erased. Everything was still in place. She turned to see that not only Spike was there as well, but Princess Celestia too, fully confirming that the horrible dream never happened. However, after such a horrific nightmare, she found herself leaping off of her bed and straight into her mentor's hooves. She clutched her with all her might, never wanting to let her go. "Oh, Celestia. I had a horrible nightmare," she sobbed. "Whatever it was, I can assure you that it never happened," Celestia reassured her frightened pupil. "But you were... and Pinkie... and everypony... and it was all my fault!" Twilight choked out in between sobs. Spike was quick to give the rattled alicorn a big hug. "Twilight, it's over. You're back in the library now. And so is everypony else. They're sleeping downstairs now." Twilight allowed to lose herself in the warm embrace of her mentor and her assistant. "Thank you." She simply said. After a few moments of comfort, she turned to her mentor, remembering what had transpired before she had blacked out. "You were serious about making me a princess, weren't you?" "Yes I was," Celestia nodded. "But, I... I can’t be a princess!" Twilight stammered. "I’m not princess material! I’m nothing special, I’m just a student!!!" Celestia knelt down and gave her protege a soft reassuring nuzzle. "You musn’t sell yourself short like that. You are an exceptional pony. Even more than you realize." Twilight lowered her head. "But… this is all so sudden. I mean, just a few hours ago everything was fine. And now I…" Celestia exhaled. "I know this is all overwhelming, and I sincerely apologize for putting you in this position so suddenly. But you must know that this was something I had been considering for some time. Although in normal course of events, I would have left the decision up to you and then the transformation would have occurred had you accepted. I guess, the Alicorn Amulet made the decision for us." "So… what happens now?" "In the case of becoming a princess, the decision is still yours to make," Celestia explained. "Whether you accept or decline my offer, I’ll understand. However, turning you back into a normal unicorn is going to be more problematic. More than likely, you’ll remain an alicorn." That last sentance hit Twilight hard. She laid herself down on the ground, losing hope that a quick fix was still possible. "Nothing’s ever going to be the same anymore, will it?" she thought out loud. "Nothing ever remains the same, you know. That's just the way life is," Celestia pointed out. Twilight nodded silently. She then looked up towards her window besides her bed, which currently had a clear view of the crescent moon. She made her way back to her bed and gazed out the window. "What about our friends..." she wondered. "You need not worry about your friends," Celestia began to argue. "I'm sure they..." "It's not just them!" Twilight interrupted, her voice becoming more frantic. "But what about the fans? What about the show? If they stop watching us because of me…" "Twilight…" Celestia reached out in concern. Twilight lowered her head. "If you don’t mind, your highness, I need some time to think." Despite the sudden dismissal, Princess Celestia nodded in quiet understandment. She slowly turned back to rejoin the others downstairs, leaving her protege and her dragon assistant alone. Spike wasn't sure how to approach the whole situation thus far. However, with Celestia now out of the room, he found an opportunity to talk to Twilight, even though he wasn't sure if he should at the moment. "Do you want me to leave too?" he asked. Twilight quickly shook her head. "Actually, Spike? Would you mind staying here for now?" He didn't needed to be told twice. He climbed up on the bed and embraced her. "For what its worth, I’ll still be here no matter what," he reassured Twilight.. "Thanks Spike. I don't know what I would do without you." Twilight took another look out her window, then she looked back at herself and those stupid wings that were ruining everything. She sighed. "I’ve really done it now, have I?" "You didn’t know that all this was going to happen. None of us did." "But the episode. We worked so hard on it, and now thanks to me, everything’s ruined. Pinkie probably hates me for all this." "Stop being so hard on yourself, Twilight." "I can’t help it. You know how much work she puts into the show, and you saw how proud she was during this last one. And I wrecked it…. just like I did last summer." Twilight tried to shake away that memory of last summer's rerun fiasco. She still couldn't believe she had that nervous breakdown, and she still couldn't believe that she had it on live television. "Everything turned out ok that time, remember?" Tears began to well up in Twilight's eyes again. "But there’s no way things will be fine now. You know how much Pinkie loves the fans. I’ll never forgive myself if I’m the reason why the fans abandon us…" The alicorn buried her head in her hooves. Spike gingerly placed his hand on her shoulder in a attempt to comfort her. "It’ll be Ok, Twilight. Everything is going to be just fine." Spike said softly. Twilight shook her head. "No, everything's not fine. It'll never be fine again." Through tear-filled eyes, Twilight gazed out the window and into the night sky. "What am I going to do?" ~~~~~ It was no use. No matter how hard she tried, there was just no way Pinkie was falling asleep. There was just too much on her mind. Twilight's accident, her possible royal ascension, and most worryingly the state of the show and the fans. Even as she lay in bed, Hasbro was spreading the word of the appearance of Twilight the Alicorn in the upcoming season finale, meaning that the fans were also finding out the new twist as well. Pinkie shuddered to think about the barrage of comments that was more than likely flooding their message forums at the moment. She sighed in frustration. How in Equestria were they supposed to manage this problem? I know it's late, but maybe I just need a walk to clear my head, she finally decided. Getting up as quietly as she could so that her friends' slumbers weren't disrupted, Pinkie got up out of her sleeping bag and made her way out of the library and into the Ponyville night. The quaint village was so different at night. Normally the streets and buildings were full of ponies going about their daily business. There was almost always something keeping the streets busy, from a couple chatting about their dinner plans to Pinkie herself leading the whole place in a rousing rendition of the 'Smile Song'. However the streets were now empty and quiet, with every Ponyville citizen fast asleep. Seeing Ponyville at night was a calming, yet creepy sight for Pinkie. She continued her walk until she came across her own home base, Sugarcube Corner... and its lights were on and loud music was blaring from the inside? "What the...? We weren't supposed to have a party going on this late. And who in their right mind threw a party and not invite Pinkie Pie?" Pinkie quickly went up to the candy shop's front door and opened it. She was immediately showered with balloons, confetti and noise makers. After quickly shaking off the loud welcome, she then stood face to face with a white pegasus who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She had a poofy blond mane and tail, and had three purple baloons for a cutie mark. "SURPRISE!!!" the pegasus shouted. In actuality, the visitor's appearance was not all that shocking to Pinkie. It was Surprise that was the inspiration for her erratic, high-octane behavior on the show. She remembered that in order to keep her around after the old Ponyville vanished, Lauren had to merge her spirit with the spirit of her own creation, Surprise, to create the Pinkie Pie she currently was. The two spirits were one nowadays, but Pinkie still occasionally saw Surprise in her dreams once in a while. "Surprise? What are you doing here? I though I only see you in my dreams," Pinkie asked. "Duh! You are having a dream, silly!!!" Surprise grinned. Pinkie took a quick look at her surroundings. "But, why does everything feel so real?" Surprise put a hoof to her chin. "Considering that there was already a dream sequence earlier in the chapter, I guess making this sequence emulate real life more than the last one would help balance things out in terms of story pacing and tone." Pinkie arched an eyebrow. "Uh, dream sequence? Story? What are you talking about." The white pegasus gasped as she realized what she had done. "Uh oh! I think I broke the wrong fourth wall!" "You... wait, what?!?" Surprise began to pace back and forth in panic, trying to comprehend the consequences of what she had done. "How does that even work? Breaking the fourth wall in a story that already breaks the fourth wall. Did I just break the 8th wall? Or maybe that was the 16th wall? Is there even a trope for that? Oh, I hope I didn't accidentally divide by zero back there!" "Let's not worry about any of that, Ok Surprise?" Pinkie suggested. "Ok, but watch out for any stray black holes. I think we're in unchartered territory here." Pinkie could only facehoof. She was completely confused as to which tangent the pegasus was going on, which was an impressive feat considering confusing Pinkie Pie was very hard to do in the first place. At least now she could better relate to Twilight's plight from "Feeling Pinkie Keen" a bit. She shook her head and tried to reassess her situation. "Okay, so if this is a dream sequence, then I'm still back in the library then, right?" "Sounds right to me!" Pinkie took a deep breath. "Ok, at least I'm back on track in some way." "Well getting back to the story, you seemed a little down lately Pinkie. So I threw this party to cheer you up!" "Thanks, Surprise. I guess I have a lot on my mind right now." "Is it about Twilight? I don’t know why you can be sad about that though. She looks really cool! I mean she’s an alicorn!!! Oh, you know what? This calls for an ALICORN PARTY!!!" "Actually, I'm not worried about Twilight," Pinkie pointed out. "I'm sure she'll be able to handle this." Surprise's expression dropped slightly. "So… no alicorn party?" "No alicorn party…. yet. At any rate, I’m way more worried about the show, and the fans…" Surprise heaved a big sigh of relief. "Oh them? For a moment there I thought it was serious." "It is serious! Without the fans, we wouldn’t even be here! If they get angry because of this, they’ll never forgive us! They might even stop watching!" "So, we’re making this show just to make the fans happy?" Surprise asked. "Well, that's what I've been trying to do. But this whole alicorn thing is making it really hard to do that." "Is it really that important to try to please every fan, Pinkie?" Pinkie breathed in a deep sigh. "I… ever since G3, I just wanted the fans to like us. I tried everything I could back then to do that, and I failed. But I got a second chance, and I vowed to myself I would never lose a single fan ever again. I just hate the idea of losing fans... losing our friends…" Surprise smiled sympathetically at the pink pony. Pinkie Pie did have some abandonment issues that she still needed to deal with. "You know, that’s kind of silly if you think about it," Surprise began to point out. "How is that silly?" "Pinkie, fans leave all the time. Sometimes they leave if they don’t like the show anymore, but other times it just can’t be helped. They have to leave because their lives had gotten too busy, or they had to move away and they can’t watch the show anymore, and… sadly some of them leave because they passed away." Pinkie remained silent. Death was a topic she wishes she'd never have to deal with on the show. Surprise continued on. "Even if you have the greatest show in the world, you will lose fans for one reason or another. That’s just the way things are." "So what am I supposed to do?" "Well there's gotta be another reason why you make the show. It's not just about the fans right?" Surprise then pointed to the kitchen where Pinkie had been preparing some of the treats for the big wrap party. In particular, she guided Pinkie over to one of the main cakes she had prepared. It was a simple one layer cake that had the iconic picture of her and her friends from the show's intro frosted on it. Pinkie had made it for a special surprise post-wrap-up-party party for just her friends and no pony else. A smile slowly appeared on Pinkie's face as she noticed the picture of her friends. "Well, the fans are important…" Pinkie began to realize. "But at the same time… I like working on the show because I get to do it with my very best friends. And we have a ton of fun putting it together." "And are you proud of it?" "Of course I am! We put in a lot of time, effort, and care in every episode we do. And we work hard to make sure that the episodes come out as good as anypony can make them." "And everything turns out all right?" Pinkie gave a small nod. "It really does. When it all comes together like it does, it just makes me feel really happy. Doesn't matter if it's for one fan or a million. That feeling I get when we wrap up a really great episode is... magical." "Well, it sounds like you don’t have anything to worry about then!" Surprise smiled. "Huh?" "All I can say is trust your instincts, Pinkie. Just go with what you feel you think would work for the show. And in a situation like this, it’s best not to worry about things beyond your control. Besides, I have a hunch that even though there’s gonna be a lot of shock at Twilight being alicorned, most fans will roll with it. She is still the same egghead on the inside, after all?" "That's why the fans love her," Pinkie admitted. "That's why... I love her." Surprise leaned into Pinkie, grinning a really cheeky smile. "Oh, I never knew you thought about her that way before, Pinkie!" "Oh... OH!!!" Pinkie began to blush as she realized what Surprise was implying. "I just meant I love her as a friend, ok? A friend. I'm not romantically interested at all." "Oh, well I always knew you were saving yourself for Big Macintosh." "Eeep!" Pinkie Pie let her inner Fluttershy out as she squeaked out in surprise and ducked underneath the nearest chair. Surprise doubled over in laughter over the flustered pony's antics. "That wasn't funny, Surprise!" Pinkie frowned. The white pegasus gathered herself. "I'm sorry, but you look so cute when you get embarrassed. I promise I won't do that again. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Surprise recited, miming the motions of the Pinkie Promise. "That's a relief," Pinkie sighed. "At any rate, do you feel better, Pinkie?" It took her a short while, but Pinkie finally nodded. "Yes. I really do." "Don't worry Pinkie, everything's going to be just fine." "Is it just me, or has everypony been saying that a lot lately?" Pinkie wondered. Surprise shrugged. "I dunno. Must be the theme of the story... mmph!!!" the white pegasus covered her own mouth again. "Wrong fourth wall?" Pinkie guessed. "Wrong fourth wall." Surprise confirmed. "Oookay, maybe I should wake myself up now. This dream sequence is getting way too meta even for my tastes," Pinkie decided. "I think that's a good idea," Surprise nodded emphatically. Before it was time to go, Pinkie ran over and gave her spirit companion a big hug. "Thanks, Surprise." "Don't forget about that alicorn party!" "Don't worry. I won't forget!" As the two embraced, a warm light enveloped them, willing Pinkie Pie back to the waking world. ~~~~~ Morning came all too quickly as far as anyone in the library was concerned. Everpony would have rather stayed in bed than face a brand new day. But nonetheless a new day had arrived, and with it, bringing everyone closer and closer to the airing of the unfinished Season 3 finale. Celestia found herself exhausted after raising the sun as she had spent the whole night with Twilight, so she excused herself to rest for a little bit that morning. Slowly, everypony began to wake up as the new day begun. Minty volunteered to be the first one to get up last night in order to open Sugarcube Corner while Pinkie stayed behind and work on the show. Luna, Discord, and Chrysalis prepared breakfast for the others as they woke up. Luna looked up the stairs. She began to worry, there had been no sign of Twilight since her sister came down from her room last night. She decided to keep her concerns to herself for the time being. It was Pinkie Pie who was the last to arise. She greeted her friends with a smile that seemed to be brighter than the sun itself. "Good morning everypony!" she shouted. "You seem a bit too happy today," Rainbow Dash grumbled, still half asleep. "Aren't you still worried about the show? And about the fans?" Rarity pondered. "I think I’ve got my mind around this whole situation now," Pinkie replied. That bit of news caught shocked Applejack. "Now there's a 180 from last night. What's so different now?" Pinkie smirked. She produced a pair of sunglasses out of nowhere. "Let's just say I had a..." Pinkie put on the shades. "...surprise visit." "Yay!" Fluttershy cheered. A louder, longer, more appropriate 'YEAH!' might have worked better in that scenario, but Celestia and Twilight needed their rest and Fluttershy didn't want to disturb them. "Well, it looks like Pinkie Pie is acting like Pinkie Pie again," Trixie commented. "Perhaps we can return to the situation at hoof?" "Right! Fixing the show. So, have you finally decided what we are going to do about the fans, Pinkie?" Discord asked. "Unfortunately, we can't do much of anything about the fans," Pinkie explained, putting her sunglasses away. "Besides, we can't waste too much time on them. I think the most important thing now is to figure out how to explain Twilight becoming an alicorn in the context of the show. If we do a well enough job, then I think the fans will accept it." "If you say so," Applejack replied. Discord arched an eyebrow at Pinkie's choice. But he decided that she was right. Fixing the show was first priority. "In that case, does anyone have any ideas on how to write this in the show?" Discord asked the group. Luna rested her head on top of her hooves, deep in thought. "Well, since it’s too late to plan an entire episode for this, maybe we can find a way to incorporate this into what we already have for the episode." Chrysalis turned to the stars of the show. "By the way, we forgot to ask. What have you guys shot so far?" "Well, we’ve done everything up until the part where our cutie marks get switched back," Rainbow Dash explained. "The last thing we shot was the 'True, True Friend' song number," Rarity pointed out. Pinkie massaged her forehead as a big question began to rack her mind. "So, how do we go from that point to Twilight becoming an alicorn?" Everyone was lost in thought for a few moments before Fluttershy offered a suggestion. "Well, we all still have our elements in the show, right? What if the elements react like the Alicorn Amulet did?" "That's a bang up idea, Fluttershy!!!" Applejack nodded. "But, what would cause the elements to react like that?" Luna asked. Trixie shrugged. "Maybe because Twilight fixed the destinies of the other elements, the other elements then react to fulfill the destiny of the element of magic." "I like that thought…" Discord said, stroking his beard. Chrysalis decided to object. "It's a great idea and all, but it seems to be missing… something…" "More importantly, what are we to do about the rest of the episode? We are short one big musical number now!" Rarity pointed out. "How about I throw Twilight an alicorn party!" Pinkie offered. "We spend the rest of the episode with the party and we end it with Twilight making a speech thanking everypony and thanking her closest friends." "Um… not to be rude… but wouldn’t that be a… letdown after the whole cutie mark switch?" Fluttershy meekly objected. Rainbow Dash nodded. "Fluttershy’s right. The episode has been awesome so far. We have to end it strong!" "I know, Dashie. But I don’t think we’ll have the time to plan another…" "Excuse me everypony…" a small voice interrupted from the staircase. Everyone looked to see Twilight Sparkle and Spike had finally woken up and had rejoined the group. However, everyone was also quick to notice that the two of them looked very sad. Spike seemed to be trying his very best not to cry in front of the group. "Twilight! Did we wake you up?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight shook her head slowly. "No, you didn’t." Princess Luna's heart sank. She immediately felt that something was not right. "What seems to be the matter?" the night princess asked carefully. "Princess Luna? Could you please go and get Princess Celestia? I have... something important I need to tell her," Twilight sadly said, her voice barely keeping it together. Luna bit her lower lip. "She is resting right now, but if it is important, then I shall go fetch her." Luna turned to fetch her big sister, a sense of dread coming over her as she did. Discord felt it too. Despite his in-show reputation, he really cared for those troublesome ponies. And it was clear that something was very, very wrong. "Does this have to do with Celestia’s offer?" Discord guessed. Twilight slowly nodded. "I’m going to tell her that I will have to respectfully decline the offer." "You what?!?" Trixie shouted in disbelief. The others also shared a similar shocked expression. "Twilight? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! You’ve earned it!" Rarity shouted. Twilight shook her head. Tears began to flow from her eyes. "No I didn't! This was a mistake! It never should have happened. And I can’t let you guys live with something that was my fault. I’ve damaged the show beyond repair and I have to set things right, to make everything normal again." Pinkie wasn't liking where this was going, but she had to ask anyway. "What are you talking about?" Twilight closed her eyes in shame. "I’m sorry everyone. But I’ve decided to leave the show and move back to Canterlot."