//------------------------------// // Ep.3 - Questions by the Cartload, Answers Out of Stock! // Story: Queen of Games // by Insanity the Wonderful //------------------------------// At the most isolated table in the outdoor seating section of one of Ponyville's restaurants, a blindingly all white, yet with a mane that was slightly darker, unicorn mare with a cutie mark resembling a black-colored pyramid was leaning back in a chair, using her magic to throw a fork in the air, and then catching it when it came back down. she stopped when she noticed an all black mare, with a slightly lighter mane, and the same cutie mark in white came around the corner of the restaurant and sat at her table, dropping a bag beside her. The lighter palette spoke first. "No hello? Typical sour stuff. You need to enjoy days like this. be happy for once." she laughed lightly at the dark mare's rolling eyes. "It's nice to see you again." Her new company scoffed. "Here. You're not gonna believe who's holding the puzzle." She pulled a picture out of her bag and threw it on the table. The picture featured a lavender mare walking next to a small green and purple dragon, and a golden pyramid hanging from her neck. "You think it's her?" The white mare asked, looking for certainty. "No, I know for a fact that it's her. I saw her win a Dark Game with my own eyes, so I'm also sure that she's the one who solved it." "She actually played a Dark Game? Wow. Wait, did you see her solve it?" The mare with the black coat groaned. "No, I lost track of it when Celestia sent it away. I reached Ponyville the day of her visit. Should've known who she would send it to." The white mare laughed. "Yeah, really. Nice work." She pretended to act serious. "But now that we know, shall we intercept?" The black mare leaned back in her chair. "Naturally." using her magic, she opened her saddlebag which was placed next to her, and lifted out a large golden ankh, the tip of which seemed to have teeth like a key. === Questions by the Cartload, Answers Out of Stock! === The banner that had been hanging on the wall lost one of its corners, causing it to drift down to the floor. Congratulations on Getting Well! still appeared as it had landed face up. "Good night, Pinkie, it was a lot of fun!" Twilight waved goodbye to the host as she trotted through the front door. "See ya, Twilight! Thanks for coming!" After she returned the wave, Pinkie turned around to speak to the guest of honor, who had been patiently waiting to give her gratitude. "Thank you so much, Pinkie, I really appreciate your parties. This one was even better than the others." Pinkie sprang up in amazement. "WOW!! Better than your 'Get Well' party and 'Good Work on Getting Better' party!?" Fluttershy nodded. Pinkie Pie found ground again. "AWWWWW YEAH!! Still got it! Thanks Fluttershy!" Fluttershy giggled at her ecstatic friend. "You're welcome. See you tomorrow, Pinkie." Pinkie nodded. "Yep, another fun day awaits!" As Fluttershy exited Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie had already begun to clean up, once again insisting to her friends that she would do it herself. Even the party pony enjoyed silence and solitude. For that reason she was just a tad disappointed when two potential customers walked in. Yet she was still happy to provide service. "Hello ma'am and ma'am and welcome to Sugarcube Corner. Please excuse the mess, we recently finished a party, but we are still open." The white mare stepped forward. "Well thank you so much for allowing us in. I'm Posi, and this is my sister Nega. We happened to notice Twilight Sparkle leaving just a few moments ago, is she a friend of yours? We're not from around here." Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yep! That's my good friend Twilight, why do you ask?" Posi laughed. "Oh no reason... say, would you like to see something cool?" Pinkie's eyes widened. "Oh yes I would!" Posi smirked as she moved aside to let her sister step forward. Nega pulled the golden key out of her bag and held it in front of Pinkie. "You know what this is?" Pinkie narrowed her eyes. "hmmm... if I had to guess... it's a thing." Pinkie blinked "Wow, I actually don't know! Cool! What is it!?" Nega growled with annoyance. As Pinkie was distracted, she had been using her magic to move the key towards Pinkie's forehead. When it finally touched, she turned it on its tip, as if opening a lock. A bright flash of light shot from the ankh-styled key, and suddenly the sisters were gone, and Pinkie was left standing dead still. --- The two mares appeared in a dark hallway, the only light coming from the crack of a nearby door. Posi stretched out her legs, sighing in boredom when she was done. "Okay, let's see her mind room." Nega waved her hoof to indicate that she was giving her sister the honors. Posi shifted over to the door that was letting light out. On the door was a seal, depicting three inflated balloons. She bumped the door with her fore hoof, with caused it to swing open. "I'm so shocked..." Nega said sarcastically. The mares looked inside the room. Upon first glance they could tell the room looked exactly like a party. "Wow, We've seen one track minds before but... wow." Posi could only laugh at the environment. "Aw... It's such a happy place. I wish we didn't have to mess it up. Oh well, crying shame... Wait, what is that?" Posi pointed to the large glass cabinet at the back of the room. The darker mare trotted over to it, peeking through the glass. "Pictures... Like, a thousand of them. Of other ponies. Lots of other ponies." Posi ran though her memory. "Uh, I forget what that means." "Framed pictures indicate love or admiration, and the display case indicates value." she suddenly looked down, scanning the handles for the display doors. "It's locked, too. These ponies are precious to her... oh no." Nega grew nervous. "What is it?" "Look, right there." She pointed to the biggest picture, sitting in the exact center. When Posi reached the cabinet, she realized that her sister had the right to be upset. It was a group photo of Pinkie and her five best friends, including Twilight. Nega hit the case with her hoof, which hadn't even shook the glass. She recoiled in pain as a result of the unsuccessful energy transfer. "Ugh! What are we supposed to do now? There's no way we can tamper with their relationship!... YO! Are you listening to me?" The bright mare had been staring out the door for the entire rant. Posi shook out of her trance. "Oh... um... no, but... what is that?" "Okay, seriously, that's like the third time you've asked that, do you just never remember anything?" Her normally happy sister wasn't. "Shut up and look!" Nega realized that she was actually being serious. She turned her attention to the doorway, and soon noticed the peculiar shape on the hallway wall. "I think..." She rushed over to the door frame, screeching to a stop when she found her guess to be true. "...It's a second door." "What!? No, everypony has only one! How can there be two?" Nega spun around. "If I knew, would I be surprised!?" She turned back around and moved to open the door. Posi reached out to stop her sister but fell short. The braver mare noticed a seal on the second door. This one depicted a pile of rocks. She turned the handle of the door, pushing it open slowly. As the light of the first room began to illuminate the darkness of the second, suddenly the silhouette of a pony appeared, standing still in the middle of the room. The instance of her appearance caused Nega to take a cautionary step back, as Posi grabbed her sister for safety. The light became clearer on the face of the pony, reveling to the mares that the pony was Pinkie Pie. Though the Pinkie standing in front of them was a less vibrant pink, and her mane was down and perfectly straight. The new Pinkie smirked. "So... Somepony's come to visit me in my mind room." The intruding mares remained quiet for a few seconds. Posi tapped her sister on the shoulder, and she turned to meet her eyes. "Is this multiple personality disorder?" Nega remained silent a little longer out of fear for her own answer. "No... Multiple personalities divide the same room like drawing a chalk line. This... is an entirely different pony." Pinkie smirk grew wider at the well-informed answer. "Why are you two disturbing my solitude? Can't you see I'm having a party?" She presented the space behind her, which had brightened up enough for Posi and Nega to see. "You're having a party with rocks and flour? And... is that a turnip? Where are there even turnips anymore?" Nega regained some of her cool. "So, who are you really, then?" "Oh you can still refer to me as Pinkie, though I like to differentiate myself from the 'normal Pinkie' by using her childhood name, Pinkamena. Not that it matters. I'll never be free from this cage again." Pinkamena turned around towards her party of one, sitting at the head of the table, and swinging her hind legs on top of it. An idea was forming in Nega's head, one that she hoped would help get her and Posi past the locked cabinet. As she was deep in thought, her once again bouncy sister shuffled over towards Pinkamena. "You know... Even though you and Pinkie seem to be polar opposites like Nega and I, you both still have a big thing for parties. Isn't that kind of crazy?" Pinkamena broke out into laughter. "This is Pinkie's head, we're all crazy here." Nega grabbed her sister and shifted her away. "Pinkamena, I think I have a great idea." The somber Pinkie seemed careless, rocking back and forth in her seat. "Oh, yeah? What?" "How about Posi and I free you? Forever." Pinkamena stopped. She turned seriously towards the uninvited unicorns. "Keep talking." Nega took a confident step forward. "Posi and I have the ability to alter mind rooms, and we can release you, for now. In exchange, we need to you toy with the emotions of one of Pinkie Pie's friends, Twilight Sparkle. Just follow our instructions and you'll be free, so long as it works. You'll never hear from us or Pinkie ever again." Pinkamena considered the deal. But a weird detail caught her attention. "So long as what works?" Nega realized that she had released a lot of information, and was thinking of a cover-up, but was interrupted by laughter. "Oh I get it. You're trying to activate the puzzle. Ha! Why not just steal it?" "We're not thieves, our intentions are more complex than you can understand right now." "Really? Not thieves? Well you do the breaking and entering bit real well." Posi jumped in front of Nega, taking the attention of the room. "One sec! How do you know stuff about the puzzle? Who are you, really?" Pinkamena smirked. "It's too complex for you to understand right now. But I accept. I'll activate the puzzle if you can promise me freedom." Nega nodded. "I swear you will be freed." Pinkamena smiled. "Then let's get me some fresh air!" "You stop right there!" The three conspiring mares spun around to see Pinkie Pie standing triumphantly in the doorway. Nega was annoyed. "Okay, no. You can't be here. No way. This whole mind is impossible." Pinkie sighed. "You're so negative." Suddenly she gasped. "Oh, I get it now!" She broke into laughter, but when she saw her other self again, she stopped. "I told you to behave." Posi fell down laughing. "You know that you have an imposter living in your head!? You're so weird!" She continued laughing, even Nega smiled. "How did you get in here?" She asked impatiently. Pinkie thought for a second. "Well see, I imagine this door to my head, and then I open it, and that takes me here. I do it all the time, cause why bother having a mind room if you don't use it?" Posi caught her breath, only to comment, "makes sense." Nega sighed. "Doesn't make sense how she's physically able to enter her own mind." Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "Then how did you get in here?" Posi's horn flared, and the golden ankh appeared in the air. "We have a way of getting into ponies' heads." Pinkamena looked at the key in shock, yet evened her expression before anypony noticed that she recognized it. She was fed up with waiting to be released. "Hurry this up, I'm tired of being in here." "No! Please don't let her out. I don't know much about her but I know she's not nice, she'll do serious damage, and she'll betray you when she gets the chance." The other pink pony let out a single chuckle. "So? They need me." Nega raised a hoof. "Technically, no. We don't need you, we could use another one of Twilight's friends, but your attitude and willingness are beautifully helpful. But we can still control you outside of this mind, don't forget that... considering that you plan on betraying us." Pinkamena sneered at the black mare. Nega turned towards Pinkie. "Just as we can control you in here." Both mares sighed, causing them to look at each other, both eyes full of dislike for the other. Pinkie sighed sadly. "I shouldn't have let you out that day." Pinkamena laughed before turning angry. "You've never let me out! That one time was you acting like me! You just didn't realize it because you're out of your mind!" Pinkie scoffed, her attitude suddenly changing. "Uh, I'm in my mind right now, aren't I? Hel-lo!?" Pinkamena chuckled. "I guess you're right, but you won't be so jokey when I'm done with Twilight." Her expression deadened. "You're not hurting Twilight!" Pinkie slammed a hoof into the ground, with unexpected firmness. "You're not in control anymore!" Pinkamena returned the hoof stomp. "Actually..." Posi interjected, holding the key in her aura, "We are." The key emitted a flash of light, and engulfed the whole room. When the illumination died down, Pinkie found that she was alone with Nega. "One more thing." The meddling mare intended to clarify. "What happens next is based on your behavior. Let us work and Twilight may move on relatively unharmed. But try to stop us, and things for Twilight may become a little... painful." Pinkie started to tear up. "No, don't hurt her! I'll stay in my mind room... I promise..." Nega disappeared in a flash of light. Pinkie lowered her head and started to cry softly, out of worry for her friend. --- A bright surge of light filled Sugarcube Corner, and the scheming sisters phased into the room. Pinkie's body began to twitch as her hair expanded, to the point where it popped and went straight. Her blank face moved around, loosening out. Finally, she sighed. "So... let's get this party started." "Not so fast, friend." Posi raised her hoof to Pinkie Fake's chest. Pinkamena narrowed her eyes. "What?" "We're going for an unnoticed deal here, so you kind of have to look like Pinkie Pie for a little bit." Pinkamena almost snarled. "What does it matter if I'm not going to act like her, anyway? And I don't plan on sticking around when this is over, so there's no reason." Nega shook her head. "You're not off to a good start." She turned to her sister, who was holding the golden key. "I can tell that this probably isn't going to work." Turning to Pinkamena, "The puzzle activates by emotion. Betrayal and heartache are among the strongest feelings there are." Pinkamena cut in. "So is anger." Nega nodded. "Too strong, the emotions I said will make her feel weak, so when the spirit... okay, you know what? It doesn't matter. Just do it our way and this will be easier." Pinkamena groaned, moving towards the bathroom to inflate her mane. When she closed the door, Posi slid into her sister. "What was that about? Why didn't you explain it would make her stronger?" Nega rested her head on Posi's shoulder, obviously drained of energy after dealing with the drama from the events of a few minutes ago. "I'm trying to limit her knowledge of the puzzle, she clearly doesn't know as much as she wants us to think." Posi thought to herself for a few seconds. "...How can you tell?" Nega picked her head up. "I could tell as soon as she said 'activate' the puzzle... she thinks that it's a device or something." Posi nodded. "I get it. All the more important that we make her listen to us, then." --- The three mares trotted down the street casually, approaching Twilight's library. "So how should we start?" "Uh... something simple, like... insult her manestyle or... something." Posi raised an eyebrow. "I... can't believe that's the best you could come up with." She shrugged. "Yeah, I don't know, I'm kind of- hey! What are you doing!?" "You really should've seen this coming." Pinkamena trotted up to the library's front door and turned away. She reared up her hind legs and bucked in the door, breaking it off the hinges and shocking the pony inside. "Pinkie! What are you doing!?" Pinkamena trotted over to Pinkie's friend, and when she reached the paralyzed mare she struck her on the side of the head with her hoof. Twilight was knocked to the floor. Posi and Nega were looking in through the broken doorway. "Well? What are you waiting for? Surprised to see me? Come out and face your old friend!" The Sennen Puzzle glowed. Pinkamena watched casually as Twilight's physical features changed in front of her. A swirling black mist engulfed Twilight for a few seconds. The ball unraveled into strips of smoke and dissipated. Twilight was standing upright, casting an annoyed stare at the pony who just knocked her down. "I thought I'd never be surprised by your actions again. It's nice to see that old dogs can learn new tricks. I hope you've enjoyed your time outside the Ring, because believe me you'll soon be seeing a lot more of it." Looking through the door frame, Nega whispered, "How could they know each other?" Pinkamena smirked. "The ring is gone, your highness. What's your backup plan?" Twilight let her gaze wander, contemplating her next action. "I'm going to imprison you again." She smiled with an evil passion. "It's game time." The intruder exhaled, as if anticipating the moment. "You're damn right it is." "So..." Twilight started as the room filled with black aura. "I think I have a good one." Just when the darkness had the two almost fully surrounded, Posi and Nega's horns flared a light blue mist, and the two were suddenly alone with the dueling mares in the darkness, yet invisible to them. They watched a multitude of objects appear around them. Cages, both on the ground and hanging from chains attached to nothing, ropes, snares, and even large gaps in the floor started to form, almost right under Posi, who jumped to the side in time. When the room settled, Twilight spoke. "The game is to trap the other before they get you." Pinkamena laughed heartily. "You're something else. Let's go already." "Game start." Almost instantly, Pinkamena jumped exceptionally high up, grabbing one of the floating chains that held a cage just about over Twilight, who hadn't even moved yet. She swung her weight on the chain and bucked the cage loose when it aired over Twilight. The cage landed right on its mark, earning a confident "ha!" from Pinkamena. She let go of the chain and fell down onto her hooves to look at her catch. The moment she realized the cage was empty, she felt an agonizing crack on the left side of her head, sending her both flying then sliding to the edge of a pit. She stumbled around on the floor trying to regain her senses. She couldn't see out of her left eye, and there was a ringing in her ear, but despite that, she saw Twilight standing where she just was, looking calmly at the cage. She could hear Twilight speak with a muffle. "I figured I owed you that." Pinkamena shook her mind into focus, then took off into the dark. Twilight followed. So did the sisters. "Oh I'm getting tired of this." Posi whined. "Every time something happens, something else happens that's more interesting or pertinent." Nega rolled her eyes. "So what? Keep up, we made a mess here." The chased continued through the endless nowhere, until Twilight lost sight of her pray. She looked around and listened, but found no trace of her enemy. Her attention was suddenly taken by her necklace. It was glowing a a strange flickering manner that Twilight decided to ignore until later. She waited in place, feeling oddly safe, and had a thought in her mind as she stood motionless. You are not in control, Councilmare. I will not abdicate or submit to your ways, I do not follow you. You heed to me. Twilight suddenly realized she was remembering a very old conversation. Her mouth curved into a unique smile. She took a few steps back and sat down, right under a cage, paying no attention to her surrounding. Pinkamena groaned, watching the mare from a cage top some distance away. "What are you doing? Ugh... I hate you so much." She made her way silently across the cages, approaching Twilight cautiously. Her face throbbed, and she was mad. After all this time and tension, The mare sat there, seemingly uninterested in the whole of it all, the centuries of incarceration and the challenge of life and death. She hated the arrogance, and wanted to knock it right out of Twilight's face, repeatedly. Pinkamena let out a thirsty scream, pouncing towards Twilight. Twilight chuckled. She slammed into the floor right where there should've been Twilight, and she cried out in pain as the force tortured her body. As she whimpered, she heard a voice by her ear. "You're not smart enough to have power, only dangerous enough to have a cell." Twilight's horn flared, and the cage that had been directly over Twilight now fell over Pinkamena, trapping her. Pinkamena started laughing as she struggled to stand. Twilight looked at her seriously. "Anything you want to say before you go back in there?" She pointed to Pinkie's head. She smiled. "There's always next time." Twilight stood face to face with her adversary when her horn lit, sending a beam into Pinkie's forehead, when it went out, she moaned for a few seconds, before her mane popped into disarray and she vanished from the darkness. Twilight turned around and looked directly towards Posi and Nega. "I hope you two learned something from this." She vanished instantly as the darkness began to quickly unravel. The sisters found themselves back in the library next to two unconscious mares. They stood silent for a while. Nega sighed in preparation. "Ok, I'm gonna wipe Pinkie's memory, and then we have to get out of here, go back home and think what to do next." Posi just nodded. --- Twilight and Pinkie moaned into consciousness on the library floor. "Uh..." Twilight moaned. "Did it happen again? Oh, what happened to the door!?... ow." She rubbed her head. Pinkie sat up, massaging her own head. "I don't know... but it feels like somepony smacked me then made me fall two stories flat on my stomach." Twilight's eyes shifted downwards, catching the glow of the puzzle fade at the last second. Her eyes went wide. "The puzzle! It did something again! Pinkie, what happened!?" Pinkie Pie shook the pain right off. "Um, ok, uh... first... uh..." She stood silent, not being able to find a place to start. Then she just looked at Twilight calmly. "I don't know how I got here." Twilight groaned. "We have amnesia again? No! How am I supposed to learn about the puzzle if I never remember what happens?" Pinkie pondered the situation. "Maybe we can make some sort of log to gather information when weird things happen and check for relevancy." Twilight stood astounded. "Pinkie, that was... unexpected." Pinkie usually enjoyed shocking Twilight, but this time she seem a little troubled. "Twilight... I'm not stupid, you know. Just because I like being fun and crazy doesn't mean I don't know how to be serious." Twilight felt a bit blindsided by the confession. All the times of saying 'she just being Pinkie Pie' now came up in her mind, and she wondered if it maybe wasn't the first time Pinkie felt unappreciated. She nodded her head. "I know you're not stupid, Pinkie. I'm sorry for making you feel that way. That really is a great idea though. We should start right now... if you'll help me." Any signs that Pinkie was upset vanished. "Of course I'll help!" She stuttered. "Uh, actually I can't really help that much. Like you said, anamanamesia." Twilight had a soft smile at the return of her friend's usual behavior. But she couldn't help feeling upset at the fact that once more questions would be left unanswered. She noticed Pinkie was smiling at her. "Don't let missing answers discourage you, Twilight. If you know you don't have them, at least you know they exist!" --- The sun was low in the sky, waiting to be lowered by the princess to start the shift into night. On the outskirts of Ponyville, the two sisters contemplated their actions. "We can't be that stupid again." Nega was resting her head in her hooves. "She played us like fools." Posi sighed. "I wish I could say it wasn't that bad, but... yeah we screwed up." Nega groaned in frustration. "We released an obviously untrustworthy mare out of a special prison we knew nothing about to target another mare who she clearly had a violent interest in. We didn't just 'screw up', we put the world in danger." Posi sighed once more. "So what do we do now?" The black mare thought to herself for a moment. "We should ask Mom."