//------------------------------//
// Prompt #458-Swift Response 
// Story: Ponywatching 
// by ThunderTempest 
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The Funny thing about dimensional travel, aside from the unpleasant sensation that felt like you were being drunk, was that time was no longer linear. One second stretched out to fill four minutes, and five hours could compress to less than a millisecond. Thus, As Twilight Sparkle vanished through the portal at the base of the statue, Spike diving after her, four minutes or five hours simultaneously passed as she made the transit back to Equestria. She couldn’t have known that barely a step behind her was the Canterlot High version of Pinkie Pie, who seemed to regard the whole experience of dimensional travel with the same unbridled joy that she did everything else.

But in a very odd twist of fate, or non-linear temporal time distortion, it was the Canterlot High version of Pinkie Pie who exited the mirror portal first, followed closely by Twilight Sparkle, and then Spike. Naturally, the other ponies in the room reacted appropriately to a second Pinkie Pie emerging out of the portal.  They sat stunned, too dumbfounded to even gather a coherent response when Twilight emerged out of the mirror.

“Pinkie Pie?” Twilight Sparkle and the Equestrian Pinkie Pie said, in perfect unison, staring at the new pony, who was adapting to life on four hooves surprisingly quickly. It was the four princesses who took the swiftest action, upon discovering that there was a being that did not belong in their dimension, and one that was a duplicate of an already existing pony. They hurried over to the ornate mirror, and found that the portal had closed. So, no way back for the Canterlot High Pinkie Pie through the portal.

As the three Princesses backed away from the now defunct mirror, they gathered over in the corner of the room to confer, while Twilight Sparkle enjoyed a happy reunion with her friends.

“We cannot simply leave this new Pinkie Pie here. Who knows what the repercussions of having a duplicate of anypony from another dimension in our plane?” spoke Luna, her voice soft, and eyes firm. “She must go back, as soon as possible.”

“We understand so little about this kind of magic. But the portal has closed, and that was the only link we had to that dimension,” said Cadence, nodding her agreement.

“It was the only stable link,” said Celestia at length, “there may be another way to send her back.” Luna and Cadence both stared at Celestia.

“Surely sister, you aren’t referring to Twilight’s Dimensional Communication Matrix? That thing was horrifically unstable at best, and purely dependant on Twilight herself. What’s more, it was only good for written communication, not transportation.”

“Neigh, Sister. Twilight lacks the required spell knowledge to sufficiantly transfer living matter safely across dimensions. And even if she did, she lacks the power. I highly doubt that even all four of us, working together could perform such a feat,” said Celestia, glancing over at her favourite student, “There is only one being in the entirety of Equestria with both the knowledge and the power to do such a thing even as a onetime event, let alone regularly.”

Cadence caught on first. “Discord.” Celestia gave a nod of assent at Cadence’s guess.

“Thou art mad,” Luna stated, slipping back into the formal speech of ages past from shock, “Thou hast gone senile if thou thinkest that he would willingly pass up such an opportunity for chaos, even reformed as he is.”

“What else would you suggest, then, sister? The portal will not open again for another thirty moons, and we do not want to delay that long unless we are left with no other option. That leaves Discord, the one being who we are the most certain possesses the required power and skill to do what we need to.”

“Why Luna, you’d think you don’t trust me. After all I did for you. I’m wounded.” The snide voice issued from a nearby pot, which suddenly had Discords’ likeness emblazoned on it.

“I don’t trust you,” replied Luna, as the spirit of Disharmony fully materialized in the room.

“Can you do it?” asked Cadence, “Can you send the second Pinkie Pie back to the dimension where she came from?” 

“Silly pink pony princess who I forget the name of, of course I can. The question that remains is, will you let me?”