101.1 (Indalecio)
The night prior to the Summer Sun Celebration had fallen, and Spike had managed to get Chiyo and Osaka away from the others. Spike closed the door on the party going on outside.
"The Summer Sun Celebration pre-party is usually livelier." Spike said to no one in particular as he turned to the duo. "I wanted to get you away for few minutes to go over your progress. You've been doing very well, but Nightmare Moon might be a bit scary. Not sure why I haven't mentioned it before, but Equestria is a sanctuary loop, so if you want me to take care of her, I can do that."
Chiyo looked visibly relieved. "Oh that.."
She was interrupted the sound of muffled speaking from the door. Osaka quietly opened it to reveal the forms of Sakaki, Kagura, Yomi and Tomi who had been listening behind the door.
"So how much did you hear?" said Spike after the remain four entered.
"Not much! Something about Nightmare...Moon..." said Kagura uncertainly.
"Chiyo has to fight her." Osaka idly commented.
"Ah! This must be like in one of those 'Filly From A Technological Kingdom' stories." Getting blank stares from everypony, Tomo continued. "You know? Princess from long-lost Technological Kingdom comes to Equestria to escape the villain that killed her family. But the villain chased after her, and now she's got to fight her. Or something like that."
A smug look rested on as her face she nodded to herself.
A bead of sweat appeared on Chiyo's face. "Right, something like that."
"Anyway, Short Stuff, you know we won't let you down!" said Kagura. There were similar expressions made by the other ponies.
"You guys!" Chiyo's eyes streamed with tears of joy.
"So what do we need to do?" Asked Yomi.
Spike who'd had a knowing smile on his face during the exchange spoke up. "Well. We'll need the Elements of Harmony. I can get those from their resting place pretty quickly. Nightmare Moon will appear during the Summer Sun Celebration. All you'll need to do is stand with Short Stuff as she introduces you as each of the Elements in turn. There are six of them Honesty, Generosity..."
"The night will last forever!" Lightning flashed, and thunder roared as Nightmare Moon spoke to the assembled ponies at the Summer Sun Celebration.
"Excuse me, your...highness. Why would you want to do that?" Asked Yomi as she and other sat at a large covered table.
"What?" asked Nightmare Moon incredulously.
"Well, you know. Wouldn't everything freeze to death eventually?"
Nightmare Moon seemed to consider that as she lazily waved her hoof around. "All right, a few hours of sunlight per day, but I'm being generous here."
A few of the ponies sighed in relief, but Chiyo and her friends bravely stood forward.
"I'm sorry, but we can't let you do that."
"And how are you going to stop me?" Cackled Nightmare Moon.
"With these!" The cover from the table was removed to reveal the stone forms of the Elements of Harmony.
"Crap!" Said a panicking Nightmare Moon. "I won't go back! You won't send me back!" A faint fog emerged from her mane swiftly covering the area.
There were gasps of shock that quickly became yawns as the assembled ponies quickly fell to the ground asleep.
"Hah! My Sleep Fog will do the trick. I..forgot..this..works..on..me..too. Whoever..heard..of..such..a..ridiculous..technique?" Nightmare Moon struggled to stay awake, but soon succumbed to her it as well.
It was at that moment that Spike walked in on the assembled ponies. In his claws were a bowl of salsa and a bag of chips. "All right, I brought the...chips?"
It had seemed like Tomo had been walking forever, but she finally reached her destination. The base of a large snow capped mountain and her goal. She took out a few bits from somewhere and inserted them into a slot in the mountain. She pressed a button and with a rumbling, a cubbyhole opened in the mountain. There was a click followed by a thunk, and liquid began squirting from the ceiling of the cubbyhole to Tomo's growing horror.
"Wait! Wait! Stop!" Tomo stuck her head in the cubbyhole and stuck out her tongue. As a few of the last drops reached her tongue, and she fell back in bliss at the heavenly nectar she tasted.
Her moment of ecstasy was cut short as a polite cough reached her ears. Yomi and Kagura, dressed as cops stood behind her disapprovingly.
"Drinking coffee without donuts? That's a misdemeanor! It's off to jail for you!"
"But I'm a cop too!" Tomo whined.
"That just makes it worse! That's a felony! Off with her head!"
All that was heard as they dragged her away was Tomo's cry of "Nooooooooo!"
Tomo landed in the oubliette with a thud. As she looked around, she saw that the only furniture present was a small prison cot which she promptly sat on.
She contemplated her failure. "All my life I just wanted ponies to take me seriously, but in the end I was just a clown." There was a flash of light from beneath her cot. She looked down to find a glowing thimble big enough to be a hat. She promptly put it on her head, and a smile grew on her face as her surroundings faded around her.
Osaka stood before the clay tennis court garden before her. It was planted entirely with a crop of eggplants. Each was labeled with the name of one her friends, but the largest was a dark, shiny one labeled with the name 'Nightmare Moon.' She wondered, with all the effort it would take, how she was ever going to harvest them all.
She sighed, and as she did so a small brown puppy walked up beside her. It spoke with Kyon's voice.
"You know you don't have to do that?"
Osaka sighed again. "I have to harvest all these eggplants. It's for my friends."
Osaka started on the first one, pulling at it with her teeth and telekinetic grip. Puppy Kyon shrugged, muttered something about how she was a 'troublesome girl' and moved to grab it with his teeth as well.
Soon, the whole field was cleared except for the Nightmare Moon Eggplant. A wave of ennui flashed over her, but she steeled her reserves and went after the last one. It took some effort, but the Eggplant started to move, and as it did so, it started to glow. The more Osaka pulled, the brighter it got, until finally she grabbed and with one final tug, it pulled free, the light growing brighter and brighter as her surroundings began to fade.
Yomi stood before the assembled crowd of flowers that had gathered at the base of the stage she was on. She looked at the ice cream cone mic mounted in front of her and started to sing, but her voice was off-key, and she had no rhythm. Why she expected to sing well, she wasn't sure, but the crowd ate it up.
They cried. "Bravo! Bravo! Encore! Encore!" Even as the flowers cried that, she noticed that they had started to wilt.
She blushed and turned around, wondering what to do. What had been behind her was a full length mirror, and in that mirror, instead of her reflection was Tomo's.
"Come on Curry! Sing some more! So what if a few flowers die? They obviously love it!"
She felt a flash of anger followed by shame shoot through her. She turned around to face the audience.
"I'm sorry everypony. My singing is horrible. I can't let you die because of my ego." She went up to the ice cream microphone and started licking it. As the ice cream started to be consumed and what was left became gradually brighter and brighter even as her surrounding began to fade away.
Kagura was back in school, and she'd forgotten her homework! Fortunately, she was in a fish school, and no fish cared. Kagura sighed in relief. They were on their way to visit the Great Butter Reef. As she swam along with the school, signs kept popping up. On her left, one said "Homework. This way!" On her right, another said, "Homework? We've got you covered." Each pointed away from the direction that the school was traveling on, and as she continued her journey, they only became more frequent and more insistent.
She turned and nudged one of her fellow fish, nodding and pointing a fin at the sign. "Hey! Is homework really important?"
It turned to her. "Glub."
Nodding, she continued with her journey. The school finally reached their destination, and Kagura caught sight of a glow coming from underneath a reef. Over there was an oyster, it halves wide open. In the center, was a chocolate malt ball. She reached out and grabbed it and as she did so it became brighter and brighter, and the world faded before her.
Sakaki was as free as a bird, because she was a bird. A plover bird to be precise. She flew across the savannah until she saw the object of her search. A great herd of cats was stampeding across the plains.
"What majestic beasts." She thought to herself.
She flitted from cat to cat, picking the gummy worms and honey ants out of the creature's coats. One, however, looked to be in pain; an old grey cat. It lifted its majestic mouth, and Sakaki bounced from tooth to tooth, pecking until his teeth were clean. But then she noticed something. In the back of the mouth was a chisel stuck between two of its teeth. She could get it, but it required sticking her head into the creature's mouth farther than she was comfortable.
Great roars of pain came from the beast, and she decided to chance it. She stuck her head and grabbed hold of the chisel, but her fears came to pass, and the mouth promptly closed. The chisel started to glow, but as she pulled on it, the mouth closed even further. She figured that if she let go of the chisel, she could probably back herself out. But the beast was in pain, and she wasn't the type to abandon an animal like that. She yanked with all her might, and the chisel came free just as her world faded around her.
Chiyo was on a large platform. It stood at the end of a large bridge situated in a very large vertical shaft. In front of her was a floating orange cat person of some sort, and more unusually, it wore a large, sinister, black helmet and cloak. Lastly, she seemed to have had her right front hoof cut off at some point. However it didn't hurt, and the creature in front of her had her full attention as it spoke in a deep, gravelly voice.
"Join me, Chiyo. Spike never told you what happened to your father."
"What?"
"Chiyo! I...AM...YOUR...FATHER!" It waved an appendage as if to mimic shaking a fist.
"Umm...that's not possible. I already have a father." As if to punctuate this, one of the panels on the vertical shaft slid open, and a dark blue unicorn appeared. "Hey Pumpkin!" He called and waved.
Chiyo waved back. "Hey Daddy!" The panel slid closed again.
"Well, I'll deal with him later." The Cat-like Dark Lord muttered to itself. "Nevertheless, I am your father, and you will join me! You don't yet realize your importance to Nightmare Moon. Together we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to Equestria!"
"I'll never join you!" Chiyo cried.
The panel slid open, and the blue unicorn appeared again. "Hang in there Chiyo!"
"Thanks Daddy!"
"You're alone! Your friends will not help you."
"Yes they will! I'll prove it you!" With that, she leaped off the platform and down the shaft. She was sucked into an air intake and after sliding here and there, finally fell out, landing on the bottom of an open umbrella sticking out from the underside of a giant dinosaur as it walked along. It was truly an enormous dinosaur, as all she could see were its legs and clouds as it walked along.
Chiyo began to feel afraid, but all she could do was trust in her friends.
Another panel slid open, and the blue unicorn popped up again, saying.
"Hang in there, Chiyo!"
"I'm trying daddy!"
The panel closed again.
Minutes passed, and she heard the whine of a rocket engine and a spaceship came into view, turning and then hovering underneath her. On top of the ship, a portal opened and a very shaggy Yomi appeared.
"We've got you Chiyo."
Chiyo leaped down, and along with Yomi entered the ship. As she entered the hatch, she noticed a wooden leg dangling from the side of the entry way to the ship. She grabbed it with her telekinesis and attached it to her leg. As she did do, the leg started growing brighter and brighter, even as the world started fading around her.
Chiyo was standing on the bridge of a spaceship. Well, it was a literal bridge, and she was standing on it, in space. Her friends were there with her.
A very shaggy looking Yomi tried to speak. "Raarrrgharagh!"
Tomo ribbed her. "Yomi, you've got marbles in your mouth."
Realization washed over Yomi, and she started spitting them out into the koi pond that was in front and below her.
"That's better."
"What's that space station ahead of us?" Asked Osaka.
"That's no space station! That's Nightmare Moon!"
The bridge pulled up next to a basketball sized metallic ball. A Mini Death Star. As they did so, their viewscreen lit up, and Nightmare Moon and Cat Vader hovering behind her appeared before them.
"Wanna race?" Nightmare Moon asked.
"We'll beat you!" Chiyo cried.
"Hah! In your dreams!"
A starting line appeared in space before them, and the announcer began a countdown.
"3..2..1..Go!"
The mini-death star took off in reverse, spiraling out of control. It finally stopped, and Nightmare Moon appeared on screen again.
"Had the silly thing in reverse."
The Mini-Death Star started moving again, but this time extremely slowly.
Cat Vader whispered something to her.
"What! I've got to switch it from automatic to manual?" Nightmare Moon pushed a button and the Mini Death Star shot forward, gaining incredible speed.
"After her! We can't let her win!" The space bridge shot forward as well, chasing after Nightmare Moon.
The chase took them past planets, past stars, past galaxies, but they couldn't catch her. Then Chiyo noticed that Sakaki was waving her legs frantically, trying to get her attention. She pointed down at the button on the bridge marked "Instant Win" that Chiyo then pushed. A rainbow beam of light shot out of the bridge, hitting the Mini Death Star, and the world faded to nothingness.
As the effects of the sleep technique wore off, the first thing Chiyo noticed was that she'd been laying on her rihttght hoof, cutting off all the blood supply to it. She shook it to relieve some of the numbness.
Around her, her friends were awakening from the sleep technique used by Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon herself, however, was nowhere to be found. In her place, was, as Spike had told her, the awakening form of Princess Luna.
It was at this point that Princess Celestia chose to make her appearance. As everypony bowed, Spike nudged Chiyo in the side and grinned. "Knew you could do it."
"Princess Luna, my dear sister, it has been so long and it is so good to see you. We were meant to rule Equestria together. Will you accept my friendship and join me at my side?"
"Oh Tia!" Princess Luna ran up to Celestia, doing the pony version of an embrace. In a soft voice, Celestia whispered six sweet little words into Luna's ears.
"You still owe me twenty bits."
"Ah, this sucks!" Cried Tomo. "You mean I won't remember any of this?" Spike had made a full explanation of the loops and their nature to the assembled ponies before him.
"Well, I'll remember." said Osaka.
"Me too." mentioned Chiyo.
"You'd better tell me about this when I finally start looping." Said a stern Tomo.
"Oh hey. Can you tell us about who we replaced?" Said Kagura suddenly.
Spike removed a large photo album.
"I can do even better."
As he flipped through the pages, there were 'Ohs' and 'Ahs' as Spike explained who the various ponies were until Tomo tapped a hoof at one in particular, a white unicorn with purple hair.
"She's really pretty. Who is she?"
"Rarity. My wife."
As the assembled ponies promptly face faulted, Spike rolled his eyes.
101.2 (Hubris Plus) (Continued From 85.13)
"So you're telling me," Rainbow Dash began as she and Fluttershy left Canterlot High, blithely ignoring the end of the day announcements over the intercom as usual. "That queen bitch of bitch mountain hugged you-"
"Well, I would never call her that..." The girl interjected.
"-then made a big key out of nothing-" Dash continued, barely noticing the interruption.
"Um, yes, that-"
"-and then ran out here and jumped into the school statue." She finished, gesticulating wildly to convey how ridiculous the whole thing sounded.
"That, um, about sums it up," Fluttershy answered quietly. "Unless I was seeing things, which could happen, you know how I can be. Maybe we should ask someone else? There were a lot of people there."
"...Nah, Shy, I believe ya. It's just, you know," she waved her arms for emphasis again. "Crazy." The pair soon came upon the statue, two girls already clustered around it.
"Look," Rarity said, prodding at the surface Sunset Shimmer had vanished through. "When you put your hand through, it turns into a... A thingy."
"That's a hoof, darlin'," Applejack informed her.
"Is it?" She answered thoughtfully. "I had no idea hooves could look so... Fabulous."
"Ah'll take yer word fer it," the farmer agreed.
"They laughed at me," came Lyra's bombastic proclamation from the school's entrance, the girl loaded down with so much recording gear that she needed Pinkie's guidance to stop her from running into people. "I told them, right when she first showed up, 'this girl doesn't know how to work doors or computers and has the worst handwriting any of us has seen since preschool. She's obviously an alien.' They laughed, called my theory a joke! Well who's laughing now?!"
"Oh, oh!" Pinkie answered, hopping up and down and waving a hand over her head. "Pick me, pick me! I know this one!"
"...Yes, Pinkie?"
"It's me, I'm laughing!" She punctuated the statement with a bout of maniacal laughter that would have done a Heterodyne proud.
"No, Pinkie," Lyra sighed in exasperation. "I'm laughing, because Sunset Shimmer was totally an alien the whole time!"
"I dunno, Lyra, what if she was a slider? Or a time traveler? Or a psychic?" She suddenly stopped to perform one of her patented enormous gasps. "What if she was the snarky ordinary one?!"
"And people call me crazy," Lyra muttered, forging ahead despite Pinkie having stopped and her own vision being blocked by the stack of equipment. It didn't take long for her to bump into an oblivious Rainbow Dash, who, along with Fluttershy, had gathered around the statue. Unbalanced as she was, that was all it took to make her topple forwards, her equipment tumbling to the ground and the four girls in front of her tumbling through the portal.
"Ah! Nonono," she panicked, staring at her scattered gear. "Not the camera, the AV club is gonna kill me! Pinkie, you gotta-" She looked up just in time to see a shock of pink hair pass through the base of the statue. "Pinkie?"
"Is it just me," Rainbow Dash groaned, "or did everything just taste like teal dubstep for a second?" After a few of the most confusing seconds of her life, she'd ended up lying on her back on something warm and lumpy, staring up at a stone ceiling. There was also a weird pinching sensation in her... Shoulders? She wanted to say shoulders.
"Sounded more like an ultraviolet tootsie roll to me, Dashy!" Pinkie proclaimed, her mess of pink hair bobbing in the periphery of Dash's vision as the premier party person bounced around the group.
"That's nice, Pi-" She was interrupted by a distinctly accented muffled shout from beneath her. "Uh, what was that, AJ?"
"Ah said," the farmer announced, heaving herself upwards and shaking the athlete from her back. "Get offa me, ya big galoot!" This was swiftly followed by a series of squeaked apologies as Fluttershy realized she was in the same position and hurriedly climbed off of Rarity.
"Uh, guys," Dash commented from her new position sprawled on the ground. "Why are you all horses?"
The group froze, except for Pinkie who it was widely agreed would explode if she stopped moving for over five seconds, before exploding in a flurry of sound and movement as they examined themselves and one another.
"Oh goodness, oh goodness, oh goodness..." Fluttershy repeated, eyes wide and wings subconsciously folding around her protectively.
"My fingers!" Rarity shrieked, holding a trembling hoof to one eye. "Where in heavens are my fingers?!"
"Omigosh, you guys, I have a tail!" Pinkie squealed enthusiastically, taking the opportunity to chase her new appendage in a tight circle.
"Aaahhhh!" Rainbow called out, scrambling to her hooves, "I can't play soccer like this! I don't even know if these count as arms!" She flailed her forehooves in the air and promptly fell flat on her face.
"Now everyone calm down!" Applejack shouted, rearing up and slamming her her forehooves into the stone floor.
"Calm down," Rarity scowled. "Calm down?! Applejack, we have been turned into horses!"
"Ponies," the farmer corrected.
"What." Rainbow deadpanned.
"Proportions ain't right fer a horse," she explained. "We're ponies."
"I don't care if we're one eyed one horned flying purple people eaters!" The fashionista shouted, "it sure looks strange to me!"
"Well," Applejack began. "I reckon yer right. But I also reckon that panickin' ain't gonna do any good either. We gotta take stock if we're gonna get outta this."
"Shous li a plah hu mi," Pinkie mumbled before a flummoxed Rainbow tugged the curly tail out of her mouth. "Sounds like a plan to me!" She repeated cheerfully.
"Alright," Rarity agreed after taking a few deep calming breaths. "That's reasonable. So. Where do we stand?"
"Right here, silly," the partier answered, waving a hoof at the room. It was a small chamber of undecorated stone that hadn't been used in some time if the thin layer of dust was anything to judge by. Aside from the large disturbance they had made upon arrival, the only marks were a set of tracks leading to the heavy wooden door that had been left ajar, its heavy padlock left dangling. Opposite the door was seemingly the only decoration in the room, an ornate standing mirror that cast the chamber in ethereal light.
"Ah'm just gonna take a flyin' leap," Applejack started, gesturing at the mirror. "An' say we probably came through that."
"Right," Dash followed up before trotting to the door. "And I think it's safe to say that Crazy McNutjob went this way." She nosed the door open and looked out into a hallway lined with dozens of similar doors.
"An' where do ya think yer goin'?" The farmer asked as the athlete took a step out.
"Ah come on, we've already been sent back in time to before horses evolved into people and lived in castles," Dash reasoned. "Might as well keep going."
"...First of all, you really must pay more attention in biology. And history," Rarity pointed out as the athlete grumbled about not needing any of that egghead stuff. "But I suppose you have a point. In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. In any case, I certainly don't intend to go through that again any time soon," she added, pointing to the mirror.
"Woo! Pony castle adventure!" Pinkie cheered.
"I, um, think we should just stay here," Fluttershy said quietly. "If you want to, I mean."
"Eh, that's fine," Dash waved off. "You can stick around and guard the portal, or something." She stepped out into the corridor, followed by a bouncing Pinkie and a Rarity who had sorted out walking elegantly on four legs surprisingly quickly. Applejack glanced between the door and the pegasus for a moment before offering Fluttershy an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, sugar cube, but those three are a heap more likely to run inta trouble out there than you are in here," she offered. "Sit tight and we'll be back in two shakes." The suddenly-a-yellow-pony fidgeted as the farmer left the room, biting her lip uncertainly, before bolting for the door.
"Wait for mee~ee!"
As it turned out, Fluttershy didn't have to go very far at all to find her friends. They were clustered just a few doors down, gathered round Rainbow Dash as she shakily raised herself from the floor.
"...Think we should take this slow, sugar cube," Applejack was saying.
"Uhg," Dash grumbled. "You girls know how I feel about the S-word."
"Be that as it may," Rarity admonished. "None of us quite know how this works, so I'll thank you to think of the rest of us before you go gallivanting off again."
"She seems to be doing fine," the athlete noted, pointing out Pinkie as she continued bouncing.
"Oh, this is easy," the unstoppable hyperactive dynamo explained. "It's just up-and-down and up-and-down and up-and-down and up-and-down and-" She took a moment to inhale a huge lungful of air," up-and-down! Walking is all kinds of hard. I mean, it's all front-left, rear-right, front-right, front-left, wait-I-think-missed-one." She crumpled into a giggling heap as she put action to her words.
"...Okay, point taken, we'll go... Not-so-fast," Dash relented, slumping slightly for a moment before continuing on at a more sedate pace. Whatever had transformed them had seen fit to grace them with enough muscle memory to get by so long as they didn't attempt anything too strenuous.
Which was why the group paused again not long after, having come upon the greatest challenge of their brief time as ponies.
Stairs.
"Do you think that, maybe, this is a good place to turn back?" Fluttershy queried, eying the steps uncertainly. Her attempts to focus on walking had been counterproductive and led to the most stumbling out of the rest.
"Guys," Rainbow rolled her eyes as she climbed the first few steps. "They're stairs, we'll be-" Her rear hooves, having reached the stairs, caught on the edge and tripped her. The others winced in unison at the crack! of her jaw colliding with the stone, followed by a series of smaller impacts as she backslid. "Gettin' real tired of this shit," she groaned.
"Oh, goodness!" Fluttershy fretted, wings quivering. "Rainbow, are you alright?"
"Fine, fine," the athlete brushed off as she got back to her hooves. She attempted to rub at her aching jaw with a forehoof, but the action nearly spilled her back onto the ground. "Uhg, come on!" She shouted, wings springing out in irritation. "Why is this so hard?! All I wanna do is," she gesticulated wildly at the cursed obstacle, "climb some stupid stairs!"
"Uh, Dash..." Applejack queried, looking up at her.
"What?!" The perturbed pegasus barked.
"You're, ah, flying darling," Rarity inserted.
"I'm doing what now?" Dash whipped her head around to stare at her flapping wings, which chose that moment to fold back to her sides. "Sooooo much hate," she groaned from her familiar position on the ground.
"Dashy!" Pinkie gasped, hopping over and hanging her face directly over her fallen friend's head. "That was the coolest most awesomest thing I've ever seen! Wait, omigosh," her eyes widened and she bounded over to Fluttershy. "You have wings too!" She enthused, pointing a hoof at the quivering appendages. "You should totally get up there and be all like woosh! and zoom!"
"Oh, I don't think I could possibly," the shy girl answered, shrinking in on herself as she cast uncertain glances between her wings and the other pegasus. "If she can't do it, then I certainly couldn't."
"Don't sell yourself short, Shy," the speedster admonished as she once again levered herself upright. Frowning, she rolled her shoulders in an attempt to loosen them up. "You're right, though. Probably gonna hold off on the aerial acrobatics for awhile."
"Perhaps we should turn back," Rarity considered.
"Ah, hooey," Applejack snorted, placing a hoof on the first step. "We went out that door a different species, ain't no sense turnin' back just 'cause we ran into a little trouble. We take this slow an' careful, an' there's no reason we can't keep goin'."
Nodding with various shades of conviction, excitement, and reluctance, the group mounted the stairs. Taking their time and watching their steps, they managed to reach the top and push their way through the door.
"I must say, Applejack," Rarity commented as she observed their new surroundings. "I'm glad we followed your advice. This is gorgeous."
The others could only nod in agreement. Where the torchlit corridor they'd started in had been strictly utilitarian, the grand hallway they now stood in was opulent beyond compare. White marble walls were punctuated by tall windows, scattering golden sunlight over beautifully patterned tiles that were polished to a mirror finish. Statues, vases, and beautifully flowering plants sat in alcoves set into the opposite wall. The ceiling, higher than even the gymnasium's, was gracefully arched and awash in reflected light. Dominating their view was a grand tapestry opposite the door, depicting a snow white horse in flight, her horn seeming to pierce the golden orb of the sun and prismatic mane streaming behind.
"Wow," Pinkie Pie whispered, her loss for words describing her awe better than any energetic proclamation.
"You can say that again," Dash agreed.
"Wow."
"It's beautiful," Fluttershy added, her own wonderment overshadowing any trepidation she might have felt.
"This here's worth the price o' admission all on its own," the farmer asserted. After a moment she shook her head and frowned slightly as she looked to either end of the hall. "Now which way did she-"
"You there!" Came an authoritative shout, and the girls' heads whipped around to find a white unicorn in golden plate trotting towards them. "What are you doing here?"
Rarity shook herself out of the shock, taking in the situation in an instant. Whatever her shape, reading others was a talent of hers. Even if she couldn't read pony body language quite so well as a human's, she could tell that the approaching stallion was more beleaguered than angry. Her compatriots on the other hand...
Applejack wore the same look she had whenever any of their parents found them doing something ill-advised, which meant she was going to spill everything. Rainbow Dash looked to have forgotten her recent coordination troubles and was raring for a fight. Fluttershy was trying to become as small as possible and was doing an admirable job of not attracting attention. Pinkie Pie...
She would admit that her powers of observation failed entirely on that count. Whatever the pinkette did, she gave it fifty-fifty odds on making things better or dooming them all.
Mentally bracing herself, she stepped forward with what grace she could muster from her unfamiliar body and attempted to project all the confidence of someone who had every right to be there.
"I'm dreadfully sorry, are we not supposed to be here? I'm afraid we must have wandered a bit, distracted as we were by this marvelous decor." She waved a hoof at the well polished surroundings that they'd just been gawking at.
"Sure you did," the guard snorted derisively as he drew up to them. He leveled a scrutinizing gaze at them before finally shrugging and turning around. "But I suppose there's no harm done. Come on, I'll take you back to the party."
Rarity saw Pinkie drawing in a huge breath at the p-word, and preemptively shoved a hoof in her mouth.
"Ah, yes, that would be lovely," she added swiftly. "We got rather turned around..."
The five followed the guard through the palace halls, trying to keep track of their path. Eventually they emerged into a large garden packed with ponies in fine dress mingling. The sun was just beginning to set and firefly lanterns fluttered to life to offer a gentle glow against the gathering dark.
"I don't want to catch you lot 'wandering' again," the stallion who had escorted them admonished. "The Princess was kind enough to allow the grounds to be used for the celebration in her absence, but the palace itself is for official business only, got it?"
"Of course, sir," Rarity agreed. "Once again, we are terribly sorry to have inconvenienced you. I'm sure you have much more important duties to be attending to than helping some lost girls find their way."
"Ha, don't worry about it," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck abashedly. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again. You ladies have fun."
"Alright," Applejack said quietly once the guard had gotten a little ways away. "Now we just gotta wait fer them ta let their guard down, an' we slip in an' get back ta the-"
"Sentry!" The guard barked, striking the back of an orange stallion's helmet with a hoof. "Are you out here to mingle!?"
"Sir no sir!"
"Then what is your job!?"
"Stand watch and keep civies out of the palace, sir!"
"So you do know what you're doing, you just aren't doing it! Look sharp and don't let this happen again. Since one pair of eyes apparently isn't good enough, I'm gonna go find some spares to lend a hoof. I find anypony who doesn't belong in there again and you're getting latrine duty until the Gala! Are we clear?"
"Sir yes sir!" The younger guard drew himself up and put on a show of sweeping his gaze across the party.
"Well, dang," Applejack muttered.
"Darling, you're staring," Rarity advised. It hadn't taken them long to realize that lurking near the palace doors was probably counter productive to getting the guards to relax. Lacking anything better to do, they'd wandered into the party. She and Rainbow Dash had wandered off along the edge of the crowd, curious but not quite adventurous enough to dive straight in.
"Those," the athlete bit out, raising a hoof at a trio of ponies in blue. "Are the Wonderbolts."
"I know you know more about the Wonderbolts than anyone living," the fashionista replied with a raised eyebrow. "But last I checked they weren't ponies. I don't think you can even fly a jet with hooves."
"Who said anything about jets?" Dash asked, flaring her wings. "I don't think they even need them. Besides, look at the hair. Mane. Whatever. Those are dead ringers for Spitfire and Soarin. And don't even get me started on the uniforms."
"U-uniforms?" Rarity stuttered, suddenly riveted on the pair of pegasi. "Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear-oh-dear-ohdearohdearohdear-" Her eyes snapped wildly between the stunt flyers and her own hooves.
"Uh, are you alright?" The athlete asked, waving a hoof before her eyes.
"No, Rainbow Dash, I am not alright!" She proclaimed before looking around nervously and leaning in to whisper. "We're naked!"
"Huh," the girl-turned-pony noted, twisting about to look at her flank. "How 'bout that."
"'How 'bout that'?!" Rarity hissed before throwing herself to the ground and covering her head with her hooves. "Of all the worst possible things, this is the worst worst possible thing!"
"Hey, is your friend there alright?" A third party inserted. Rainbow turned to face the interloper and suddenly found she needed to sit down.
"O-oh, yeah," she stammered at Soarin. "Just, you know, freaking out because she's meeting one of her idols and it's kinda blowing her mind!"
"Ha, don't worry about it, happens all the time." He dug through a pocket in his uniform and produced a pair of autographed photos that he hoofed over. "Always nice to meet a fan. You two have fun!" He waved jovially before trotting back over to Spitfire.
"Okay," Dash said, staring at the photo in her hooves. "I don't even care that everything is impossible. This is awesome."
"...And this, of course, is my wife Fleur," Fancy Pants introduced cheerfully.
"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you," Fluttershy greeted, gently bumping hooves with the elegant mare. It was odd. Most of the time meeting new people made her nervous and awkward, but here she was mingling and conversing with only the barest trace of worry. It was almost like she was in the shelter feeding the animals.
She blinked slowly at the thought. That must have been it. No one here really fit her mental picture of 'people', and they were all ever so friendly...
And she had the distinct urge to find a brush and distribute brushies to everypony.
This must be how Pinkie feels all the time, she thought with a giggle.
"And where do you come from?" Fleur asked, shaking her from her thoughts.
"Oh, I guess you could call me a transfer student," she answered smoothly. "I just got in today and..."
"Omigosh," Pinkie exclaimed after hastily consuming a slice of cake. "AJ, you gotta try some of these!" It had gotten past dinner time, and the pair of them had followed their stomachs to the refreshment table.
"All them desserts look a little frou-frou fer me," Applejack dismissed. Pinkie might have had a metabolism that ran entirely off of high fructose corn syrup, but the farmer required something a hair more substantial. "Where in tarnation are the pigs in blankets," she muttered as she examined the spread. "Only kind o' horse-de-vors Ah like."
"Oh, oh, how about these?" Applejack turned to see what had gotten the party girl all worked up and blinked as she saw the vibrant green stem with a few petals attached sticking out her mouth. She proceeded to slurp it up like a noodle.
"...Pinkie," she said slowly. "Ah don't think yer supposed ta eat the center piece."
"No, silly," Pinkie answered, pointing at a tray. "They're itty bitty daisy sandwiches! I totally thought they were some kind of weird salad arrangement, but nope! Totally daisies, and totally delicious!"
"Huh." The farmer pondered the tray a moment before reaching out with a hoof against her better judgement. This was shortly followed by her staring at her hoof in vague confusion before shrugging and awkwardly taking a sandwich with her teeth. "Not bad," she admitted a moment later.
"I know! Crazy right?"
"Let me get at one of them hay thingies," Applejack said, deciding she might as well just run with it.
"What's everyone gettin' all worked up over?" Dash asked as the crowd congregated in the east side of the gardens. Everyone seemed to be jockeying for position next to the railing overlooking the mountainside.
"Why, sunrise of course," Fancy Pants answered. Rarity had eventually gotten over her panic attack and joined Fluttershy in what appeared to be high culture.
"Sunrise," Applejack deadpanned.
"We've been up all night," Rarity noted.
"My parents are gonna kill me," Dash groaned.
"Oh yeah," Pinkie agreed with a cheerful disregard for consequences. "The Cakes are gonna flip. Totally worth it, though."
"Oh yes," Fluttershy agreed. "This has been wonderful."
"Heh, yeah, reckon so," the farmer agreed. Further conversation was cut off as the crowd's murmurings first rose and then cut off entirely. A moment later the entire group joined in a countdown.
"...Three! Two! One! Happy Solstice!" Exuberant shouts soon gave way to confused mumblings and checking of watches. As the seconds stretched longer and longer, panic began seeping in.
For the first time in a thousand years, the sun failed to rise.
Princess Celestia, widely agreed to be serenity incarnate, was struggling to maintain her composure. It had been difficult, facing what her sister had become, but she had braced herself. It had been worse, waiting imprisoned and knowing that her student was all that stood between her little ponies and the wrath of a tyrant, but she had endured. It had been glorious, retaking her freedom and knowing it meant Equestria was safe, but she contained her joy.
And then the pony before her had thrown back the hood of her cloak.
"Sunset Shimmer," she murmured. In all her planning, all her contingencies, all her dreams and nightmares of this day, she had never foreseen this.
"Princess," her former student answered quietly, refusing to meet her gaze. "I ran away to seek power. And... And I found it," she gave a strangled sob. "I found so much. But no matter how strong I got, no matter how far I went, all I really wanted was to come home." She pressed herself to the ground. "I'm s-so s-sorry!"
"I know not what her crimes were, sister," a voice she hadn't heard in a thousand years added. Luna limped towards them, a contrite expression written across her features. "But they cannot possibly equal my own. She held my darker self at bay while the Elements were gathered, which surely absolves any sins she might hold. Whatever quarrel you have, it is with me." The Princess of the night straightened and stared her elder sibling in the eye, but Celestia had long ago learned when her sister was putting on a brave face.
"Since I lost you," the solar diarch spoke. "All I've wanted was your return." Stepping between them, she curled her wings around the pair. "Both of you."
The royal carriage was just a bit cramped on its return trip to Canterlot. The royal sisters riding together was a given. Celestia had insisted that Sunset join them, despite the mare's insistence that she could get back on her own. She'd also insisted on taking Twilight with them, refusing to prioritize one student over the other.
It was a small favor that there'd been a second carriage on hand for the rest of the Element Bearers, or else they'd have had to start stacking ponies on top of each other to fit them all.
Luna's eyes had been darting about for the entire trip, drinking in the changes that had been made since her imprisonment. Suddenly, as they crossed onto the palace grounds, she found herself riveted upon a single sight.
"Sister," she said slowly. "Why have the ponies been doubled?"
"Oh, much more than doubled," Celestia chuckled. "There's been quite the population boom while you were gone."
"No, sister," Luna insisted, raising a hoof to point.
"Oh dear," the sun Princess exclaimed upon sighting the five perfect copies of the Bearers. "That is unusual." She twisted her head around and confirmed that the second chariot hadn't somehow beaten them to the palace. "Twilight, did your new friends happen to mention something about having identical twins in Canterlot?"
"No, Princess," Twilight answered as she raised an eyebrow in Sunset's direction. "I'm pretty sure they never mentioned anything like that." The pair of carriages descended at Celestia's signal, coming to a halt just before the crowd.
"Those portals usually close themselves..." Sunset mumbled sheepishly.
"Then these are your friends?" The solar princess asked. "The very counterparts of the Bearers, the odds must be astronomical..."
"Not exactly, Princess," the orange unicorn answered, lowering her eyes. She didn't get a chance to elaborate, as it was at that moment that a pink blur launched itself from the other chariot.
"Quick Twilight!" Pinkie shouted, having bowled over several ponies to tackle her counterpart. "Destroy us both before my evil twin dooms us all!"
"Pinkie," the scholar answered in exasperation. "She's not your evil twin."
"She's not?" Ponyville's premier party pony let loose a massive gasp. "But that must mean-"
"You're not the evil twin either," Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Oh. True neutral triplet? Lawful quintuplet?" The other Pinkie was wide eyed, head darting back and forth as she followed the exchange.
"I can assure you," the Anchor said with mock gravitas. "That the two of you have never shared a womb."
"Well," Pinkie answered sagely. "That can only mean one thing."
"Body-double double-party!" The pair of pinkettes chorused together, standing up and hooking forehooves around each other's shoulders as confetti showered the area.
While the duo had worked towards their inevitable declaration of intent to party, the other Bearers had made their way over to the group of doppelgangers as Twilight, Sunset, and the Princesses stood a little ways off.
"Yup," Rainbow declared after spending a few moments buzzing about her opposite number with a scrutinizing gaze. "I'm even more awesome from the outside."
"Heh, I'm not so bad myself," her counterpart agreed. The suspicious glare she'd been shooting her other self transmuted into a self satisfied smirk as she ran a hoof through her mane.
"Dash, could ya not compliment yerself like that?" The Element of Honesty asked even as her double looked her over. "It's just a mite weird."
"Nope," the ground bound pegasus countered. "That's weird." She raised a hoof towards the pair of pale yellow pegasi.
"Oh my goodness," the girl-turned-mare enthused as she stroked her counterpart's mane. "You are the most adorable thing I've ever seen." The other Fluttershy only squeaked in response, having gone stock still the instant touching had started.
"I'll just go rescue Fluttershy, shall I?"
"I'll just go pry off Fluttershy, shall I?"
The pair of Rarities blinked as they spoke simultaneously. They gave each other a measuring glance before shrugging and trotting over to their respective Fluttershys.
"I reckon I oughta warn y'all," the Applejack from beyond the mirror stated. "If yer intendin' ta use our faces as a vangard of alien invasion, y'all got another thing comin'."
"Funny," the native pony shot back. "I was jus' 'bout ta tell ya the same thing."
"You look like you're in a good mood, all things considered," Twilight noted, trotting over to her predecessor.
"It's just nice to see them getting along again," Sunset said with a sad little smile. "I know they're probably like this with you all the time, but the only time I've interacted with them was when I spent years systematically ruining their lives and driving them apart." She lowered her eyes and fidgeted awkwardly.
"Hey, none of that," the Anchor scolded, sitting down next to her and bumping shoulders. "I know it seems like a big deal now, but the fact that you care is proof that you're not that pony anymore. Besides," she teased, "I've been friends with much bigger monsters."
"Well," Sunset rolled her eyes. "Now you've gone and made me feel inadequate."
"Oh, it's true. I've even been friends with..." She leaned in conspiratorially and whispered "Prince Blueblood."
Sunset couldn't help but snort with laughter. Her first two Loops may have been all jumbled up in her mind, but she remembered Blueblood from both of them. "Yeah, I guess if anyone's gonna upstage a self-absorbed power-hungry princess-wannabe, it's gonna be him."
"Really, though, I'm glad to have you back. If you want, it shouldn't be too hard to move you into Ponyville."
"Thanks, but..." She looked over the five ponies that had followed her through the mirror and bit her lip thoughtfully. "I think I'll have to take a rain check on that."
"Are you certain you wish to do this?" Celestia asked as they entered the mirror's chamber. "You're more than welcome to stay at the palace. With Twilight moving to Ponyville you could even have your old rooms back."
"Thank you, Princess, but you're not the only person I've wronged." She looked meaningfully at the ponies following them through the door. "I've got a lot to make up for."
"Aw heck," Applejack answered, scuffing her hoof against the ground. "If Ah've learned anthin' today, it's that landin' on a new world with a weird body can be a mite stressful. I reckon I can see why ya'd go a little crazy."
"Yeah, the whole secretly-an-alien-pony-wizard thing?" Rainbow Dash added, "you're not as lame as I thought."
"We'll just have to throw a super-duper big party to let everypony know that-"
"Hold on," Twilight interrupted. The pink mare was wrapped in purple magic and floated out the door, soon replaced by her doppelganger. "Continue."
"Awww..." Came the twin cries as the pair's plans were foiled, but Pinkie perked up a moment later. "Still throwing that party!" Further musings on celebrations were cut off as a struggling Fluttershy was brought in by another cloud of magic.
"Please don't make me go," she pleaded. "I belong here!"
"I, um, suppose you could come back," the local Pegasus answered nervously from across the threshold. "If you tone it down. Just a little. Please?"
"Field trips aren't out of the question," Sunset agreed. A moment later Rarity, bringing up the rear, trotted over and whispered a question. "Yes, Rarity," she rolled her eyes. "Your clothes will come back when you go though the portal."
"I certainly don't see reason why you couldn't return to Equestria now and again," Celestia agreed. "In fact, I would very much like it if the both of you," she nodded to her students, "would send me reports on your studies in friendship."
"Of course, Princess, I'd be-"
It was at that moment that a mint green unicorn tumbled out of the mirror, trailing a rope that was fastened securely around her waist.
"Don't worry girls!" Lyra proclaimed, "I'm comin' for- Holy crap I'm a unicorn!"
"...I really need to remember to close doors behind me," Sunset lamented as she covered her face with a hoof.