//------------------------------//
// An Imaginary Confrontation 
// Story: Only an Imaginary Friend 
// by i_am_the_jam 
//------------------------------//


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An Imaginary Confrontation


Nopony saw Imaginary the following day, which was Sunday. Big Macintosh and Bulk Biceps speculated that he was up in Canterlot visiting other friends, which was corroborated by Pip Squeak’s parents, who theorised that he might have gone to see a movie or a play.
Which was beneficial for him, because it gave time for all the ponies who were ticked off at him to cool off.
Dame Pie and Dame Dash, being very close friends with the other Knights of Harmony, naturally told them everything that happened on their pseudo-date the previous night, with the expected exaggerations, which were, naturally, attenuated by Dame Sparkle and her deductive analysis.
Even so, Imaginary’s behaviour and accusations sent ripples through the group of friends, and they eventually reached Big Macintosh and Bulk Biceps.

And, naturally, they were more than shocked and ticked off at their friend.
However, unlike Dame Dash and Dame Pie, they were patient, and so they asked the Knights of Harmony to be patient as well.
Imaginary would eventually wink into Ponyville once more.
And wink in he did; the following Monday afternoon, to once again pick up his nephew from school.

As the pinto colt trotted up to him, he saw Big Macintosh and Bulk Biceps approach. “Ah, good afternoon, my friends. You know, I left Town Hall rather suddenly because of my unexpected ‘date’, so I didn’t stick around to see how much money you two managed to bring in. What were your final bids?”
The earth pony and the pegasus said nothing.
The unicorn turned and was about to repeat his question, but it was then when he saw that all of the six Knights of Harmony were approaching him as well.
Glancing around, he also noticed that neither Big Macintosh’s little sister nor Bulk Biceps’ son were there yet.
And being the smart unicorn he was, he deduced what was going to happen now: “Pip, go play with your friends for a bit. It seems that the big ponies need to have a talk with me.”
The pinto colt looked up at him and wondered, “Uncle, you’re not in trouble, are you?”
Imaginary sighed and replied, “It’s nothing we big ponies can’t handle. Now run off and I’ll go get you in a trifle, okay?”
Pip Squeak shrugged, and his stubby legs carried him to the park, where a few other foals were playing.

A few moments later, he turned to his friends and asked, “So, Mr. Biceps, how much money in total did you have to pay Mr. Apple on your lost bet?”
Neither stallion replied at his question, but instead, Dame Sparkle suddenly winked in front of the brown unicorn, and began, “Mr. Imaginary, yesterday morning my two friends, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, met with the rest of us to talk about how our dates went. And, I’m sad to say that what they had to say about you was…less than what we had hoped for, considering all the nice things Applejack and Big Macintosh have mentioned about you before.”
Imaginary just looked at her and replied, “I don’t understand, Dame Sparkle. Are they complaining that they didn’t have to pay one cent for me because I paid for my bid in their stead, or that I got them home safely via winking?”
“No, Mr. Imaginary, they’re complaining that they had the worst date of their lives when they went out with you.”
“Ah, it’s that type of a complaint. Well, Dame, Sparkle, perhaps it was because they’re simply not compatible with me, because that night the three of us discovered that we all had extremely different tastes and opinions about what a date should be like. But to tell you the truth, wasn’t the date irrelevant in the first place?”
Twilight blinked. “What do you mean, ‘irrelevant’? That was point of the whole charity auction!!”
“Not quite, Dame Sparkle. The point of the auction was to raise money for the orphanage, and from what I hear, they raked in quite a lot more than they expected, thanks to the generosity of the wonderful mares of this town, including Dame Dash and Dame Pie, not to mention the generous stallions who went out of their way to match their winning bids. I simply happened to go out of my way to pay for my own bid, and, by the auction’s rules, I wasn’t technically bound to go on a date with them anyway. But really, Dame Sparkle, you do know that the auction had no say about how the dates should go, except that they were to end at midnight, which mine did, despite it not being bound to the rules. But was my date the only ‘disastrous’ date of them all? Is that why you’re singling me out, despite the fact that the orphanage got more money than was actually bid on me?”
The purple unicorn snorted. “That’s not the point!! Sure, the orphanage got enough funds for a year and a half now, but even if you paid for yourself, you still took Dash and Pinkie on a wild goose chase and not only did you refuse to answer every single question that they asked you, you had the nerve to accuse Rainbow Dash of tribalism!!! Look, I don’t know how the dating scene is in Canterlot right now, but did you even make an effort to at least give Dash and Pinkie a nice date? Even if they didn’t pay anything for you, they still went out of their way to go on a date with you, and the way you treated them…” she sighed, “It wasn’t fair to them, you know.”
For a while, Imaginary said nothing, and just looked at leader of the Knights of Harmony. Then he glanced at his friends, and then at the two mares in question, who were glaring at him in a very creepy way. Dame Pie’s eyes, however, made him shiver, and he knew better than to turn and look at Dame Fluttershy in the eye, despite her remaining behind the rest of her friends.
“Okay, you got me, Most Excellent Knights of Harmony, you got me. The reason why our date turned out to be a disaster was because, as a nerd, I’ve hardly ever been on dates, therefore, I’m…rather clumsy and disaster-prone—thanks to my poor telekinesis—when it comes to being around mares. And as I told Dame Pie and Dame Dash, I wasn’t expecting any mare to make a single bid on me, much less agree to go out on a date with me.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped, along with Rarity’s, Applejack’s, and Fluttershy’s.
“So when out of nowhere, two of the six most powerful non-alicorn mares in Equestria suddenly wanted me to give them a good time for the night, well, I panicked, can you blame me?”
“And your accusations of tribalism?”
“Well, you could attribute that to ‘panic talk’—”
“Panic talk, mah flank,” snorted Big Macintosh, suddenly stepping up and pressing his forehead against Imaginary’s. “Ah know yew t’be more than polite t’everypony around yew, an’ that naght was NOT how yew normally behave, panic or not! Ah’ve seen you in ‘panicky situations’, an’ th’ LASS’ thing yew would do would be t’go around in circles an’ be all rude ‘bout it! Now, whut’s really th’ problem here, Imaginary??”
Imaginary didn’t blink or even flinch at the huge earth pony’s demanding question. He just stood there for a moment, and then replied, “Well, you do have to consider one thing, Mr. Apple: the last panicky situation we were in didn’t involve mares, and I had the advantage of having two wing ponies with me. And Saturday night, I was not with one, but two mares, let alone two Knights of Harmony. I…fell apart, unfortunately,” he said oddly calmly. “I know you and Mr. Biceps thought I was ready to start dating again, and I thought I was too. Sadly…the disastrous date proved the three of us wrong…and sadly, two of the Knights of Harmony were unfortunately caught up in that.”
Big Macintosh blinked. “Wait…is that why yew didn’t answer every question in yer form?”
“That, and I also kept getting interrupted,” he glared at Dame Pie and Dame Dash again. “But for the most part, yes, I wasn’t comfortable in revealing every single detail about myself to a townful of mares whom I hardly know. Which is why I got very suspicious when they started shouting high bids at me anyway. Your grandmother didn’t have anything to do with that, did she?”
Here, the huge stallion faltered, but as an Apple, he couldn’t exactly lie smoothly about it. “Uh…well, she kinda knows most o’ th’ stallions an’ colts in town; she juss’ gave a nudge or two t’th’ other mares ‘cus she sorta knows whut th’ stallions were worth…including yew,” he glared at Imaginary again, “from what Ah’ve told her, at least.”
“Well, I suppose I should thank her for that, and I will, don’t worry. Her heart was in the right place, but considering that I’m just a pencil-pusher from Canterlot and suddenly two Champions of Equestria suddenly want a date with me…it…really was too much, too soon.”

Big Macintosh and Bulk Biceps stood back a bit.
Could Imaginary be right?

However, Twilight refused to drop the issue. “Now that you mention that, Mr. Imaginary,” she said, now with her anger gone, much to Dame Pie and Dame Dash’s chagrin, “there is another issue that we want to talk to you about. We know you’ve heard about all the adventures we’ve been in and how we became Champions and Knights, and we know that you were raised in Canterlot and so you’ve been taught to be as polite as possible, and much more to ponies in our position…but we can’t help but notice that you tend to…shall we say, distance yourself from us. We may be the Knights of Harmony, but we’re more than that. When we’re not off on adventures, we’re very much just run-of-the-mill ponies, like you. I may be Princess Celestia’s Personal Student, but I’m also a librarian. Rarity is a fashionista, but she’s a seamstress—and big sister—first. Applejack is a warrior, but she has never stopped being a farmer. Rainbow is the fastest pony in Equestria, but she is also a Weather Supervisor. Fluttershy may wrestle bears and cockatrices—”
“Um…Twilight…”
“—but she’s still a very shy veterinarian. And Pinkie Pie, as crazy as she might be, hasn’t stopped being a baker, and just recently she became a foalsitter. In Canterlot, we may be ‘superheroes’, if you will, but here in Ponyville, life goes on normally, or as normal as it can get with the usual crazy situation that pops up just about every week.”
Imaginary sat on his haunches, breathed deeply, and replied, “I understand that you six haven’t forgotten your roots, despite the greatness that you have achieved, and the greatness that has been imposed on you, but from my perspective, not only are the six of you ‘superheroes’…the six of you are…stars, practically.”
“Stars?” asked Rarity, intrigued by his description. “Well, I don’t know if we should argue with that, wouldn’t you say so, Twilight?”
The purple unicorn thought for a moment—
“Guys, I just want to clarify…”
—and said, “Wait, you think the six of us are…unreachable? Held aloft beyond everypony else? Shining as a work of art, but so far away that it is unthinkable to even consider trying to interact with them? Only to be used as guides for orientation and navigation? Appearing only when most ponies are gone, and as such, only studied by a hoofful of ponies? Arranged to the—”
Imaginary quickly lifted a hoof to halt her description. “That…is more or less my definition, yes. And not only that: the six of you have been entrusted with a great power, and are close friends with other great powers, such as the Princesses. What’s more, Dame Belle is an entrepreneur, but she’s hardly defenceless, as she proved at the last Gala, and when she was captured by Diamond Dogs. Dame Apple is a land baroness, and could very likely squash me like a bug if she tried. Dame Fluttershy may be shy, but she has made adult dragons cry.”
“But…Mr. Imaginary, concerning bears…”
“Dame Dash has the entire weather team at her disposal. Dame Pie has…uncanny abilities. And you, Dame Sparkle, your brother is the captain of the Royal Guard, and not only are you the Princess’ student, you’re her personal friend as well…so if something goes wrong when dealing with any of you, there are plenty of very powerful ponies who are going to be very angry with the culprit, and thusly, deal with him accordingly. I mean, the Apple family alone is very protective of each other, am I right, Mr. Apple?”
Big Macintosh sighed, but he had to nod in agreement.
“They watch out for each other, and will not hesitate to keep a very close eye on whoever decides to date any one of them, even though they can take care of themselves more than anypony, and even more Dame Apple…um…Dame Applejack, who could buck a pony in two if he even breathed at her the wrong way.”
“Well, sure, but—”
“And that’s just on the issue of friendship,” this time he didn’t let A.J. finish, “There’s also the issue that the six of you are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, which have been used, on average, once per year since they were recovered, to solve national emergencies. The six of you plainly know that you are now one of Equestria’s main lines of defence, which is why the Crown has plenty of reasons to keep you safe from harm, lest any one or more Elements of Harmony be impaired in performing her duty in case of another national emergency. So if anypony, or anyone, should so much as lift a hoof against you or even harm one hair on you, it would provoke a national crisis, and the culprit would be labelled as a traitor, or at the very least, an Enemy of the State. So when you add all of that up, a run-of-the-mill stallion like me can’t help but feel…” he sighed, “…intimidated, by who you are, and who you know, and what you’ve done, and what you can do, and who can come to your rescue with just one Dragonfire Instant Message. The six of you have done so much to help the Princesses and Equestria in general…so yes, you’ve become stars, and as such, the six of you deserve stars to be your Very Special Someponies: stallions who are able to achieve amazing things the same way as you six have, stallions who can keep up with your power and exploits…and due to my defective telekinesis, I don’t exactly ‘qualify’ for that position. And because no one wants to take the risk of causing you harm, even accidentally, that is why every available stallion—and two percent of the available mares—are giving you a very wide berth. If the six of you are stars, it’s because it’s the Crown who has placed you there, very much for Equestria’s sake.”
“Oh my,” said Rarity, in an abrupt realisation. “That…that would explain…that explains a few uncanny similarities of our dates!!!”
“Your dates, Dame Belle?”
“My stallion never seemed to relax at all, he let me make all the decisions of the date, and he seemed to be in a very big hurry to get me home! We got back to the Boutique at 5 minutes past midnight, and he wouldn’t stop apologising about it!” She shook her head. “No wonder he galloped off so quickly! He thought he had offended me!”
Dame Sparkle blinked, “The stallion I bought took me dancing, and it all seemed to go well, but Imaginary’s reasons would explain why he was practically ten lengths away from me throughout the whole dance…and he got me home at 11:45…and also left in a very big hurry…”
“Poindexter couldn’t talk without stuttering,” said Fluttershy. “At the restaurant he kept hiding behind the menu, he couldn’t stop sweating, and he hyperventilated several times…and he took me home at 11 but left me at the bridge near my house before he ran off…I thought he needed to get home to take some medication. But concerning my ‘bear wrestling’, I just want to say that…”
“Dagnabbit!” The land baroness stomped hard enough to crack the hard soil. “No wonder mah date never got within 10 feet o’ me! He thought…” Applejack paused, calmed down, and turned to Imaginary, “…he…did he really think Ah was gonna buck him clear t’Appleloosa if’n he even looked at me th’ wrong way??”
“Or he thought your brother would, Dame Apple. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Apple?”
Big Macintosh just backed further away.
“You’re part of a very wonderful, loving, tightly-knit, and protective family, Dame Apple. I’m quite sure you felt the exact same way for your brother the way he did for you the moment you knew that he was on a date that night, right?”
Applejack glared at Imaginary and pointed at him for a moment, but said nothing. Her hoof trembled slightly, and then her muzzle scrunched up.
Slowly, she put her hoof down, lowered her ears, relaxed her nose, and sighed.

It was very, very difficult for an Apple to lie.

Imaginary continued, “It’s almost impossible to not be afraid of the six of you. I’m surprised all of you were even at the auction, too. That’s why—”
“—you didn’t expect to be bid on?” Twilight asked, deducing his conclusion.
“Yes.”
“And much less be bid on by two Knights of Harmony?”
“Yes.”
“Which is why you panicked and deliberately sabotaged your own date because you were afraid of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie?”
“For the most part, yes.”
“Because your telekinesis is not up to par, and so you thought that your telekinesis was going to act up during dinner and cause an even more disastrous scene?”
“Yes.”
“Which would have prompted them to ask for our help, and that would have brought on very dire consequences for you?”
“You got that right again.”
“You…truly thought that you weren’t good enough for any of us?”
“It…wouldn’t have been fair to any of you, Dame Sparkle. The six of you deserve the best, and I, for one, know that I won’t be able to reach the level you deserve.”
“So you said what you said last night…in order to distance yourself further from us, or at least from Pinkie and Dash. If things had gone worse…you are certain that we would have retaliated very seriously, or even our families and the Princesses.”
Imaginary closed his eyes and sighed. Then he turned to the mares in question, and replied, “In a nutshell. Like I told Pip, nothing gets past you, Dame Sparkle.”

Neither Rainbow Dash nor Pinkie Pie had anything to say in rebuttal to that. Instead, Pinkie just whispered something to Rainbow and the two slowly backed away.

With the situation apparently explained and defused, the rest of the ponies relaxed. Twilight rubbed her face again and said, “I’m…sorry for confronting you this way, Mr. Imaginary—”
“Don’t be. Like I said before, you are watching out for each other, so it’s understandable that you came to their aid when you heard about what happened Saturday night. To tell you the truth, I was expecting this confrontation to happen early yesterday.”
“Yeah, but we couldn’t find yew, Sugarcube,” said Dame Apple.
“No?” He thought for a moment. “Oh, that’s right; I didn’t tell my sister where I was going yesterday. I was going to hit the gym, but Saturday’s run and teleportations had me quite exhausted. Instead I spent most of the day sleeping and catching up on a few novels in my basement. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” The unicorn stallion turned and shouted, “Pip!!! Time to go!!!!”
“Mr. Imaginary, before you go…”
“Wait!!!”
He raised an eyebrow, “Yes, Dame Sparkle?”
“Um, look, before you go…well, you mentioned that because your telekinesis isn’t what it should be, you feel that you’re…well…‘lacking’…in abilities. But if you don’t mind me asking, exactly what do you find difficult with telekinesis? I mean, that trick you do with Pip…”
As Pip ran back, Imaginary explained, “Well, for starters, I can handle large objects, especially in times of panic, like during that avalanche. What I lack is fine tuning. And if you look closely…”
Pip ran up, accelerated, and once more Imaginary used his magic to launch him onto his back.
Suddenly Twilight’s face lit up. “Of course!!! You didn’t actually use telekinesis, you used a force field to catapult Pip from the ground to your back!”
“Wow, you were right, Uncle, nothing gets past Dame Sparkle,” said Pip, bouncing on Imaginary’s back.

Twilight facehooved. Ugh, not you too…

The stallion laughed, “The hard part was getting him to learn how to propel himself and do the summersaults.”
Twilight tapped her chin with her hoof for a moment, and asked, “What I find difficult to understand now is how you have trouble with fine telekinesis, but you have no trouble with shielding, illusion, and teleportation, when fine telekinesis requires much less hornpower…tell me, Mr. Imaginary, how did you achieve your proficiency in long range and multiple teleporting?”
“Well, Dame Sparkle, it turns out that it was part of my special talent…”

A short distance away, the two “scorned” mares were conspiring:
Pinkie giggled and whispered to Rainbow Dash, “Hey, remember when Apple Bloom used that loop-de-hoop to give Twilight a mane cut that looked exactly like Rarity’s?”
Rainbow chortled, “Ha, yeah! Spike couldn’t get his eyes off her!”
“Well, we don’t have a steel ring from an old barrel right now, but we do have a rather large horseshoe…” She held aloft the item in question in her hoof.
The blue mare stared at the horseshoe. “Whoa, where did you get that?”
Pinkie giggled, “I have emergency horseshoes stashed all over—”
“—Ponyville in case of a horseshoe emergency, yes, stupid me, forget I asked. But you want to give Twilight another weird mane cut?”
“Oh, nooooo…I only want to know what Imaginary would look like if he combed his mane sideways!” she snorted, trying to keep quiet. She hoofed over the horseshoe, which was large enough to fit a Saddle Arabian horse. “Here. You’re very good at horseshoe tossing, so I’m sure you’ll be able to make it spin around Imaginary’s horn like Apple Bloom did with Twilight’s!”
“He he he, of course I am!!” Rainbow Dash took the horseshoe and set it up in her hoof, and slowly turned toward Imaginary, who was about 10 metres away from her. “Now, cover me, Pinkie, we don’t want him to see it until the last moment…”

“…of course, the increased load does put a larger strain on the teleportation, but as you said, Dame Sparkle, it’s like exercising a muscle: do it enough times and soon you’re practically doing it out of instinct.”
“But with a longer distance, aren’t you worried about appearing in the middle of an object, Mr. Imaginary?”
“Oh, I know all about the risks, but what no pony has told you is that if it’s such a terrible risk, then why has no unicorn ever fused him or herself with the air that they’re appearing in? That’s why I first studied the safety algorithm for teleporting in the rain, then added my own algorithm to the sub-iteration of the Exit Routine, which adds to the failsafe setup that prevents the body from fusing with the air, so that now it includes all type of matter as well, besides water.”
“Wait, you’ve managed to add an all-inclusive failsafe sub-spell? But isn’t that even more draining?”
“By definition, yes, but it would only become problematic if you are completely unfamiliar with the place you’re aiming at, say, in the middle of a crowd. You might end up 10 metres away from the spot you had in mind because it was the closest point available that had enough room for you to fit in. Of course, I can’t teleport from here to Vanhoover…just yet,” he chuckled, “my font isn’t large enough.”
“It’s already large if you are able to teleport all the way to Canterlot without problems. But I do wonder why you have so much trouble with simple telekinesis.”
“My professors ruled it as a learning disability, much like dyslexia. I myself aren’t sure, but I’m hoping that later on I’ll find out how to finally get it right.”
Twilight stood deep in thought, hoof in chin, for a moment, and then asked, “Is it okay if I observe you while you try telekinesis? Maybe I’ll be able to see if anything is out of the ordinary. And I have equipment in the library for further analysis.”
“I’m not sure what else you’d be able to see, after all, my parents spent a lot of money on doctors to find out what was wrong…still, with you being the Element of Magic, I wouldn’t be surprised if you actually found out.”
“Please,” she lowered her ears, “I appreciate the compliment, but I really don’t feel comfortable with others just saying that I’m very powerful.”
“Of course. But you do have to admit, an Ursa Minor floating asleep in the middle of the night from Ponyville to the Everfree is not something the average unicorn can do. Tartarus, not even I can do that!”
“Uh…yes, but it was still quite a strain for me to do that, it almost gave me an aneurysm! I’m surprised I didn’t lose consciousness, either, and I think I even felt a nosebleed coming on, which was the very least I expected. Um…okay…” she quickly changed the subject, “Ah, here’s what you can do. Pip, can you get off his back for a moment?”
“Sure thing, Dame Sparkle.” With a small hop, the pinto colt jumped to the ground.
Before the two males could ask her what her idea was, Twilight continued, “Mr. Imaginary, you’re currently very familiar with Pip’s weight and mass, and thus you can catapult him on your back, and teleport with him without any strain whatsoever. So, with that knowledge, could you try using your telekinesis and lift him, and just move him up and down in a straight line?”
Pip Squeak bounced with excitement, “Oh boy! Is this going to be different than just bouncing on your force field, Uncle?”
Imaginary chuckled, “Oh yes, very different, Pip. Now, you’re going to feel a slight tingle all over…” and he whispered to Dame Sparkle, “…but I know I’m going to get a migraine in a little while…”
“Not if we can figure out what is wrong,” she replied. “Now, just try, gently.”
The red-brown stallion set his front hooves apart, lowered his head, narrowed his eyes, and his horn glowed with his gold-earth magic. Moments later, Pip Squeak also glowed, and after a few seconds, his stubby hooves slowly broke contact with the ground, but only by a centimetre or two.
The colt giggled as he felt magic envelop him. And when he saw his uncle struggling, he began to cheer him on, “You can do it, Uncle!! You stopped all those logs; I know you can lift me!!!”
“Yes…!” he replied, “But as I said before, you’re heavier than you look!!!”
Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Bulk Biceps, now curious about this experiment, also approached and encouraged their friend as well.
“Is this diffrn’t from whut yer friend taught yew?” asked the land baron.
“N…no…not really…”
“Maybe it’s all in your head,” snorted Bulk playfully, “but then again, that’s where your horn is,” he chuckled.
Imaginary pressed on, and he was very clearly struggling: not 10 seconds after starting the spell, he started to sweat.

His horn shone brighter.
And brighter.

Twilight looked closer at his horn and the aura both there and around Pip. “That’s a lot of hornpower you’re expending, Mr. Imaginary. I wonder if the problem is with breaking an earth pony’s contact with the soil…”
“It’s not breaking the contact,” he grunted, “It’s just trying to get my nephew off the—”

[PONG!!!!]
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaa………”

A horseshoe suddenly hit Imaginary’s horn and spun around it a few times.
Pip Squeak was suddenly launched straight up, ascending several hundred metres.
Imaginary’s magic burst from his horn and rebounded into it several times in less than one second.

And the brown unicorn collapsed on his side, groaning with PAIN…

“PIP!!!” yelled Bulk, and shot after the tiny colt, who got tinier the higher he ascended, leaving behind the other unicorns and earth ponies, staring at the scene in terror.

[ZOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!]

The huge white pegasus suddenly spun out of control, as a smaller yellow blur shot past him, and the wake caused a sudden turbulence that left him disoriented for several seconds. Bulk Biceps managed to recover from his spinout before losing altitude, and he quickly searched for Imaginary’s nephew above him.
What he found instead, however, made him drop his jaw.
Fluttershy had been the one who shot past him, and it was she who had caught the pinto colt. Currently, she was slowly descending, and speaking quietly to the foal in between gasps, “Now……don’t be scared……Pip……I’ve got you……we’re almost……at the ground now……and there’s no need to cry—”
What Fluttershy forgot was that Pip Squeak had been the only foal to approach Princess Luna on Nightmare Night.
Which was why he was yelling, “YOU DID IT, UNCLE!!! YOU LIFTED ME WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY UP IN THE AIR!!!! WAIT UNTIL THOSE BULLIES ‘EAR ABOUT THIS!!! DO IT AGAIN, UNCLE, DO IT AGAIN!!!!”

Meanwhile, two mares were, literally, rolling on the ground, laughing.
And laughing.
And laughing.
And laughing.
And laughing some more.

“RAINBOW DASH!!! PINKIE PIE!!! WHAT THE TARTARUS DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING????!!!!”
The rainbow mare tried to reply in the middle of her guffaws, “Hey—A HA HA!—chillax, Twilight! HA HA HA HA!!—We were just trying to—A HA HA HA HA!—give your friend here—A HA HA HA HA!—a new manecut the way Apple Bloom did to you! HA HA HA HA HA!!!”
“YOU HIT HIS HORN!!!”
Rainbow Dash stopped rolling and giggled, “So? What’s the big deal? Don’t you hit your horn all the time? I hit my wings all the time and that doesn’t stop me from flying, A HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”
Rarity stomped up and pressed her forehead against Rainbow Dash’s, “Are you two mentally deficient?? Hasn’t anypony ever told you anything about unicorn horns??”
Pinkie Pie, rolling on the ground, replied, “That it’s where your magic comes out from?”
Suddenly both pranksters were held up to Twilight’s face, surrounded by a purple glow. “You IDIOTS!! You never hit a unicorn horn, and much less when the unicorn is casting a spell!!!”
Calming down a trifle, Rainbow Dash replied, “Geez, Twilight, it’s not like we broke his horn or anything—”

“U…Uncle?”

The two pranksters saw Fluttershy land very heavily with Pip Squeak, who immediately galloped to his fallen relative, just when Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Bulk Biceps got to him to try to offer assistance. The Knight of Kindness, however, just lowered her head and let her wings sag while she tried to catch her breath.
Twilight continued, “You…you two don’t get it, do you?? Hitting a horn right when the unicorn is casting a spell is like…” she struggled to find an equivalent, “like…kicking…a stallion……….in between the legs!!!”

Big Macintosh, Bulk Biceps, and Pip Squeak winced.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie suddenly hushed.
The unicorn stallion had his trembling front hooves pressed against his temples; he was wallowing helplessly on the ground, unable to stop groaning.
And his groaning got louder.

And louder.

The pranksters were suddenly dropped to the ground.

“Um…oops?” said Pinkie, now quite scared.
“Pinkie, do you know what the term ‘aggravated magical assault and battery with a blunt object’ means?” asked Rarity.
“Um…not yet?”
“Then let’s hope Imaginary is as forgiving as I think he is.” Twilight and Rarity turned to the fallen unicorn and gently cast on him some pain relieving spells, hoping they would ease his torture—
“Oh, Faust! His horn has a DENT! Quick, Rarity, help me get him to the hospital!!!”
Effortlessly, Rarity encased Imaginary with her magic, only up to his neck in order to avoid touching his horn, and lifted him up.
“Miss Fluttershy, please take Pip Squeak home, an’ tell his parents that Imaginary had an accident. A.J., take A.B. back t’th’ farm. Bulk, get yer kid, and Ah’ll meet yew at th’ hospital.”
“Sure thing!” replied the white pegasus. “Fluttershy, LET’S GO!!!” he roared, snapping the mare out of her shock.
“Oh, right…right…” She grabbed the pinto colt once more, and with great effort, flew off.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, could only stare with horror and shock as their friends flew and galloped off in opposite directions.

And then an even greater terror filled them when they heard Pip Squeak’s panicked cries fade away as he was flown home, “……Uuuuuuunncle……!!!!”

Moments later, the two pranksters were left alone.

Completely alone…