Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic
The Revenge of Harmony
Two royal guards walked through the palace gardens as they did their rounds. “So what happened at the Gala?” the changeling guard asked.
The unicorn guard shrugged. “I decided to keep to the day watch so I wasn’t there. You should ask some of the guys on Captain Luna’s team, whenever they wake up.”
The changeling guard smiled. “I heard Corporal Blueblood was there last night. Maybe we can ask him?” she suggested.
The other guard shrugged again. “Sure, why not?” he mumbled. They went around the corner and marched back to Blueblood’s location.
The Corporal yawned and rubbed at his eyes. Another guard was talking to him. “Sir, you should really get some rest.”
Corporal Blueblood sleepily shook his head. “No. A guard should always be vigilant. I must stay awake for whenever my king needs me. ‘Sides, the day shift is my shift.”
“Come on sir. We only need a few guards here. Nothing ever happens in these gardens anyway,” the guard said before she walked away to continue her rounds. The unicorn and changeling guards went to talk to Blueblood next. “Good morning sir,” they said, saluting. “How was last night’s Gala?”
Corporal Blueblood sighed. “A disaster. King Sombra informed me that he, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Captain Luna, and the Elements Bearers all fell under a twisted spell. It made them kick out the more esteemed guests of the Gala and made them act foolishly. Our Majesties, Our Captain, and the Elements have all returned to normal, thankfully.”
“Rough night, huh?” The changeling guard smiled sympathetically. “You wanna get some rest? We can cover for you.”
Corporal Blueblood shook his head. “I must remain vigilant.”
The unicorn whispered to his companion, “He just wants Captain Luna to promote him.” She quietly giggled before putting her ‘serious guard’ expression back on.
“Corporal Blueblood, good morning! How are you and your team doing today?” The three guards snapped to attention and bowed before Prince Shining Armor as he strolled into the gardens. “At ease soldiers,” the prince said.
Corporal Blueblood straightened up. “Good morning Prince Shining. We are doing great, thank you for asking. How was last night’s Gala for you?”
Prince Shining sighed. “Exhausting. Some crazy friend of the Element Bearers stalked me all night. She’s a very nice, beautiful mare. But she just wouldn’t leave me alone!”
“With respect sir, if this lady was as excellent as you say then why were you avoiding her? She sounds wonderful,” Corporal Blueblood said.
Prince Shining shook his head. “From what Sparky – um, I mean Princess Twilight – told me, Miss Rarity is interested in fashion and a lot of other things I couldn’t even begin to understand. With no common interests, it wouldn’t work between us.
“Well surely you must have found another girl to converse with?” Corporal Blueblood asked. He waved a hoof, dismissing the other guards and sending them out to resume their patrols.
“I did have a talk with Countess Cadance,” Prince Shining said. “She invited me for dinner too, I think. She seemed nice.”
“Well there you go sir!” Corporal Blueblood smiled. “Don’t you worry about us now, you should be getting ready for your dinner with her.”
Prince Shining chuckled. “It’s only 7:24. I haven’t even gotten breakfast yet. I wanted to check on you first, Captain Luna told me you had some unusual dreams after last night.”
“As I said sir, don’t worry about me.”
“Right. …Pardon me Corporal but…do you mind if I walk with you? So it can feel like I’m on patrol?” Prince Shining asked.
“Certainly sir. Out of curiosity though, why?” Corporal Blueblood asked as he led the prince around the garden.
“I used to be a royal guard too. I managed to climb the ranks until I became Captain. You probably didn’t know that though, it was many years before my little sister became Princess and my family became members of royalty. Well over hundreds of years by now,” Prince Shining explained.
“Really? What was the royal guard like back then?” Corporal Blueblood paused and stammered out, “Oh, f-forgive me Prince Shining, I-I didn’t mean to imply…”
Prince Shining chuckled. “It’s alright Blueblood. You can say I’m old, even if I haven’t actually aged much. The joys of crystal sleep,” he muttered sarcastically. “To answer your question, there aren’t actually too many differences.”
Corporal Blueblood nodded as they continued to patrol the palace gardens. A minute later he tried to resume the conversation. “I heard Miss Applejewel was there last night. Did you meet her?”
“Yeah, but we didn’t talk much,” Prince Shining said, shivering a little. “There’s something odd about that mare, I don’t know what though. Maybe I’m just naturally paranoid around shadowy, mystery-type people.”
“Ah. So uh…have you been to the Big Apple yet?” Blueblood asked.
“Ding, ding, ding-a-ding, a-ling.”
“Well Princess Twilight, I, and my parents were there during a diplomatic visit, ” Prince Shining said. “But by the time we’d finished meeting with the mayor and celebrities and so on, I didn’t have much time to see the sights.”
“Ding, ding, a-ling, ding, a-ling, a ding, ding, da-ding.”
“What about you Blueblood? Have you ever been there?” Prince Shining asked.
Corporal Blueblood held up a hoof to stop the prince from continuing. “Wait. What is that?”
Ding, ding, a-ling, a-ling, a ding, ding, ding, a ding, da-ling…
“…My name is Pinkie Pie…and I am here to say…”
The prince and corporal listened carefully. There was another voice in the gardens. The voice whispered, yet the sound carried throughout the garden until it reached their ears. The voice was feminine but it also sounded unbelievably raspy.
“…I’m gonna make you smile…”
*Clank*
The two unicorns froze. That noise sounded like an armored royal guard falling to the floor.
“…And I will brighten up your day-aaay…”
The next thing they heard was a whoosh, followed by the smell of burning grass.
“Sir, stick close to me,” Corporal Blueblood said. Prince Shining nodded as his horn glowed with pinkish-red magic. Blueblood’s own horn glowed as they cautiously made their way towards the disturbance. There was an intruder in the royal gardens.
They turned around a corner to see that a topiary bush made to look like a Diamond Dog was burning. The prince and corporal both cast a spell to put out the fire.
“…It doesn’t matter now…if you are sad or blue…”
“The voice went that way! Guards! If you can hear me, there’s an intruder somewhere! Find them!” Prince Shining ordered loudly.
“You heard the prince! Stand your ground!” Corporal Blueblood barked out. Nobody answered them. They quickly, yet cautiously chased after the voice.
“…‘Cause cheering up my friends is just what Pinkie's here to do…‘cause I love to make you smile…”
*Clank*
“…Smile…”
*Clank*
“…Smile…”
*Clank*
“…Yes I do…”
Both the prince and the corporal swallowed their fears and marched on. They had rushed through every inch of the gardens and they hadn’t seen anyone else. Whoever or whatever this intruder was, it was picking off the guards one by one.
“…It fills my heart with sunshine all the while…yes it does…”
A loud noise and a bright light went off somewhere in the garden, followed by a crunch. It sounded like a guard had been blasted into a tree. Shining and Blueblood turned around and ran toward the noise.
"…‘Cause all I really need’s a smile…”
*Clank*. They chased after another fallen guard.
“…Smile…”
*Clank*. That last one was much closer.
“…Smile…”
*Clank*
Prince Shining immediately screeched to a halt. That last clank came from right behind him. His eyes frantically darted all over the place, searching for the intruder. Still no sign of their attacker, but the fallen guard was still there.
“Blueblood?” He hurried over and knelt down beside the corporal. He could see Blueblood’s rising and falling chest; could hear Blueblood’s breathing. He was still alive. The other guards were probably still alive too then, just missing…probably.
"Blueblood, get up," Prince Shining ordered. He rolled over Blueblood’s body with his magic to examine the rest of him. When he saw Blueblood’s face he immediately jumped back, terrified by what he saw.
“…From these happy…”
The voice was right behind him. Prince Shining spun around to face his attacker, horn glowing with power.
The intruder calmly walked toward him. But the way she moved made it appear more like she was floating. She was a bright pink earth pony mare. A layer of dust coated her body, as if she had been trapped under layers of stone for years. Her mane and tail were both dark pink, her mane hanging limply against her face. She smiled a huge, happy grin. Her blue eyes twinkled, filled with great happiness…mixed with great anger.
“…Friends of mine.”
“Hello…friend,” the mare said to Shining with a big smile. She waved a hoof over his face and the world faded around him.
Gilda sat up on the cloud she had previously been napping on. Naptime was over so she got up and stretched her limbs out, giving her tail and wings a shake. She flapped her wings and took to the air once more. She then folded her wings and swooped toward the ground. Once she had picked up enough speed she opened her wings again to try and catch the wind.
Unfortunately, her form was a little off for the trick she’d been planning. She stumbled in the air before she flapped her wings again to steer herself back in the right direction. She grumbled and landed on another cloud to plan out another attempt.
A few minutes went by before she figured out what went wrong. Gilda took a deep breath, cracking her talons to loosen up her joints. Once her talons gave a satisfying pop, she flexed her wings again, crouched low as she got into position and then…
“Um, excuse me? Gilda?” Gilda glanced over her shoulder to see Mayor Derpy flapping her wings and hovering in the air, staring at her.
“Oh, hey mayor. ‘Sup?” Gilda said.
“What are you trying to do?” Mayor Derpy asked.
“Just trying to master an old trick of mine,” Gilda said as she focused her gaze back onto the sky. “Now that Cloudsdale is all cleaned up, The Best Young Fliers competition should be starting any day now. Gotta be ready for it. What can I help ya with?”
“Oh, have you seen Rainbow Dash?” Mayor Derpy asked. “There’s something going on with some of the clouds and I wanted to ask her opinion."
Gilda blinked. “Miss mayor, I thought I was the go-to gal when it came to weather management.”
“Well it’s just that Rainbow Dash could probably clear the clouds faster and um…” Mayor Derpy trailed off as she realized her mistake. Her eyes flickered to the irritated expression on Gilda’s face.
“You saying I ain’t fast?” Gilda growled
“No! No, no, no, I’m not saying that!” Mayor Derpy assured her. “It’s just…you’re busy with your training for the Best Fliers completion and um…” she trailed off with a nervous smile.
Gilda rolled her eyes but managed a smile. “Whatever, it’s cool. I know you didn’t mean it. I’ll find Dash for ya.”
“Okay!” Mayor Derpy said cheerfully. “Just tell Dash about the weird clouds and see what she thinks. And whatever it is, I’m sure you can handle it! Just ask her opinion and um…” the mayor’s voice faded away from her as Gilda flew off in search of Rainbow Dash.
She found her friend napping on a pink cloud. “Hey Dash! Rise and shine!” Gilda yelled in her ear.
Rainbow bolted up from the cloud, wide-awake and confused. Her eyes darted around before focusing on Gilda. “What’d you do that for?!”
“Um, sorry?” Gilda said. “You okay?”
Rainbow shook her head. “Yeah, just…weird dream. This flying mustached rabbit with an alligator’s body was chasing me.”
Gilda stared at her friend. “Did you fall asleep anywhere near the Chaos Corner? Guys around here get weird dreams whenever they’re near Discord’s house.”
Rainbow rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “That’s probably it.” She yawned, and then quickly sat up. “‘Kay I’m up now. What did you need G?”
“The mayor said there’s something weird with the weather, asked us to check it out. Speaking of which,” Gilda pointed at the pink cloud Rainbow was on. “What’s up with this?”
Rainbow stared down at the cloud. “Huh. It wasn’t like this when I started napping.” She pulled out a piece of the cloud and brought it up to her muzzle. She sniffed it and gave it a lick. “Cotton candy?”
Gilda’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.” She ripped out a piece of the cloud and licked it. “Heh, ain’t that something? Now I know what the problem is, Discord’s probably messing around with the weather.” Gilda chuckled before she hopped off the cloud and hovered in the air. “Don’t worry Dash, I got this. I’ll talk with Discord and get him to sort it out. See you later!” She waved and flew off towards the Chaos Corner.
Rainbow waved to her and stared back down at the cloud. She shrugged and decided that as long as she was awake, might as well practice for the upcoming Best Young Fliers competition. Rainbow opened her wings to take to the air…
“HI!”
Rainbow screamed and jumped away from the pegasus that had just appeared out of nowhere.
“Hello! Did I scare you? Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh, huh, huh?”
As the mare talked, Rainbow examined the mysterious pegasus. Her coat was bright white, while her incredibly puffy mane and tail were a brilliant shade of yellow. Her voice was bubbly and cheerful. The really strange part about her was that the pegasus was hovering upside-down in the air.
“Ooh! Ooh, ooh, do you like my cloud?” The upside-down mare asked with a huge grin.
“This is yours?” Rainbow asked, pointing at the cotton candy cloud.
“Yep!” The white pegasus giggled. “And you haven’t even seen the best part yet! Watch!” She flew over to its side, still flying upside-down, and kicked the cloud. The pink cloud rumbled and began pouring rain. Except it wasn’t rain at all.
The white pegasus flew under the cloud and began gulping down the chocolate milk that the cloud was spewing with great gusto. “Soooo gooood!” She gargled out between gulps of chocolate milk rain. “And it gets better!” The white pegasus gave the cloud another kick and it began spewing out whipped cream.
“Whipped cream lightning!” she cheered. “I mean, what kind of psycho makes the clouds rain chocolate milk without whipped cream lightning to go with it? That’s insanity!”
Rainbow shook her head in confusion. “If that’s your cloud, how did you get it to do this in the first place?”
“I used pegasus magic, duh! Our special talent is flying and controlling weather, isn’t it?”
“Um, well-”
“Speaking of special talents, wanna guess what mine is? I plan parties! I’m the super-duper best party planner in all of Everfree! You ain’t ever had a friend quite like me!” the upside-down pegasus sang.
Rainbow chuckled. The white mare’s enthusiasm was infectious. “Heh, you’re funny. So, are you visiting Peaceville or are you moving in?” The white pegasus nodded her head vigorously. Taking that as a yes to the second option, Rainbow continued. “I don’t think any of my friends have birthdays coming up soon but you’ll be the first one I call if I ever need a party planner.”
The upside-down pegasus twisted her body until she was hovering right-side up. She bounced on the transformed candy cloud and cheered. “Friends? I love friends! Can I meet your friends? Can I? Oh, please, please, please?”
Rainbow chuckled again. “Sure! Follow me. Name’s Rainbow Dash! The fastest, most awesome pegasus in all of Peaceville!”
The white mare’s grin widened. “Rainbow Dash,” she said as if rolling the name on her tongue, and immensely enjoying the taste of that name.
“Uh, yeah? That’s me. What’s your name?”
“Oh, you can call me Surprise!”
Rainbow chuckled. “Surprise, huh? How’d you ever get a name like that?” she asked sarcastically as she turned around and flew towards Peaceville.
As Surprise eyed Rainbow’s back, her white coat started to turn pink. “You’re about to find out,” Surprise said as she waved a hoof.
Sunset Shimmer walked over to her next customer, carrying a quartz crystal in her magic. “Okay, here it is. You know, as much as I appreciate your business Screwball, I wouldn’t mind if you went for something stronger.
Screwball was a purplish-pink earth pony with a swirly purple-white mane and tail. She wore her favourite yellow-green propeller beanie and a very thick pair of glasses.
Instead of responding to Sunset’s offer, Screwball grabbed the crystal out of Sunset’s magic. She took off her glasses, revealing her pure white eyes. Screwball took the quartz crystal and held them close to her eyes. A few seconds later, purple irises and white pupils appeared in the center of her previously blank eyes. Screwball smiled as the quartz restored her sight.
They both heard a crash coming from farther away in Clear Crystal Caverns. Sunset’s magic reached out and levitated a sheepish Diamond Tiara towards them. “Oh, hey there Sunset! Um…listen, if you come across anything glowing today, I just want you to know that it was like that when I-”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “You’re not fooling anyone Diamond.”
Diamond grumbled. “Fine.” She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out some money. “This should cover what I broke.”
“Thank you,” Sunset said. She levitated Diamond back down and released her telekinetic hold. “What do ya think?” she asked, gesturing toward Screwball’s eyes.
“Looks great!” Diamond said. Screwball smiled at the compliment before happily skipping away. Diamond glanced at Sunset, her smile fading. “Isn’t there a way to make her eyes stay normal longer?”
Sunset sighed. “Sorry Diamond. There’s only so many things that crystals can do, and she’s not comfortable using other methods.”
Diamond frowned in confusion. “Couldn’t someone like Trixie or Discord cast a spell to fix her eyes?”
“Discord could fix them easily enough, but he has trouble making his magic permanent. Any magic user could probably fix her eyes for about a month before she loses her irises again.”
“I don’t get it. What kind of condition causes you to lose your eyes like that anyway?”
“It’s not like the whole eye is lost, just the iris and pupil,” Sunset explained. “See the way it works is-”
“Sunset!” Diamond and Sunset turned around to see Gilda flying towards them, with an irritated Nightmare Moon and Smog plus an amused Discord following behind her. “Can you please talk to him?”
“Talk to him about what?” Sunset asked.
“Well ladies, it’s a rather interesting tale,” Discord said as he reached up and grabbed a cotton candy cloud and began eating it. In between slurps he said, “I woke up this morning to find that some of my ‘chores’ had started without me. The weather is magically delicious, there are ponies falling into hilarious pranks left and right, chaotic fun for the whole family! And I didn’t even have to lift a finger!”
As Discord swallowed the candy cloud he added, “Also the weeds from before have sprouted again. Sorry Sunny.”
“So you’re saying that you – Discord, the master of abnormality and random – you have nothing do with this? And you expect us to believe that?” Smog asked.
Discord smiled as apple, orange, ice cream, and banana cream pie trees sprouted all over the crystal cavern. “Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love what’s happening, but I couldn't possibly take responsibility.”
Nightmare rolled her eyes. “Well if you didn’t do this then who did?”
Discord shrugged. “Haven’t the foggiest idea.” Somewhere a foghorn sounded off. “Ooh, excellent timing! Whoever they are, I’d personally like to congratulate them on a job well done.”
“Does that mean you’re not going to fix all this?” Nightmare asked.
“…Do I have to?” he whined.
Smog patted Discord on the back. “Look, we really like all the jokes and shenanigans you create. But only when they’re confined in the Chaos Corner.”
Discord gave Smog a glare. “Jokes? Shenanigans? Confined?”
“Er, sorry. Let me rephrase that,” Smog suggested. But before he could elaborate, his mouth bulged and he spat out a letter from King Sombra.
Feeling on edge from the unexplainable randomness that was occurring, Nightmare took the scroll from Smog. “Dear Nightmare Moon. Emergency. Gather Element bearers and come to Crystal Castle throne room immediately. I will explain once you arrive. Hurry. King Sombra,” she read out loud.
“An immediate summons? This sounds serious,” Smog said nervously.
“I’m gonna run and grab my armor real quick. Sunset, take Diamond back home. The rest of you find Chrysalis, Gilda, and Trixie. Meet back outside the library once you find them,” Nightmare ordered. She then grabbed Smog in her magic and teleported back to the library.
“Hey! Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo called out as she knocked on the front door of the Carousel of Wonders. “You gotta see this!”
Apple Bloom waited patiently, if uneasily beside her. She glanced behind them and examined the strange phenomenon happening around them. Flowers were sprouting out of the ground and out of the building walls, cupcakes and pastries blossoming out of the petals.
“HI!”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both jumped at the sudden shout. They looked in the Carousel’s doorway to see a white-coated, yellow-haired pegasus. She was wearing a big grin and a purple dress with images of blue balloons sewn into the fabric.
“Hello! You can call me Surprise! What’re your names? Do you two like parties? Who am I kidding, who doesn’t love parties?!”
“Pardon me Miss Surprise,” Rarity said as she walked out the door too. “Good morning Apple Bloom, Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle will be down in a moment so…goodness! What is happening to Peaceville?” Rarity exclaimed.
Scootaloo stared at her in shock. “There’s chocolate and candy pouring outta the sky and bursting outta the ground! It’s been going on all morning, how have you not seen this?!”
Sweetie Belle walked out of the door to join her friends, then gasped at the candy wonderland was growing within Peaceville. “Whoa!”
“I know! Come on! Let’s go pig out!” Scootaloo cheered…or rather oinked. For some reason, her muzzle and been turned into a pig’s snout.
“What in tarnation?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“Oops,” Surprise whispered. There was a tiny flash of light and Scootaloo’s snout turned back into a muzzle.
Sweetie and Scootaloo both blinked in confusion, before shrugging and running off to gorge themselves on sweets. “Come on Apple Bloom! You coming?” Sweetie asked.
“Um, don’t worry. Ah’ll catch up with y’all in a bit,” Apple Bloom said. As her friends ran off, she walked inside the Carousel of Wonders to see Surprise trying on another dress.
“I really want to say thanks again. So…Rarity, thanks again!” Surprise sang, rolling the name on her tongue.
“Oh, you’re most welcome Surprise,” Rarity giggled. “I must say, your energy is infectious!”
Surprise gasped. “Oh no! I’m not making you sick, am I?”
“No, no. An expression. I’m simply saying that your happiness is making me happy.”
Surprise giggled. “Aw shucks! You’re so nice to me Rarity!”
“Um, Rarity?” Apple Bloom spoke up. “Have ya seen Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Snips, Snails, or Twist around? Ah can’t find them anywhere.”
“Oh, they’re probably out enjoying the lovely weather. You should be out with your friends too Apple Bloom,” Rarity said as she straightened out a ribbon on Surprise’s dress.
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Are ya saying yer okay with Sweetie eating chocolate and stuff that’s just falling outta the sky?”
Rarity blinked and gave her head a small shake. “I-I…well yes? Why wouldn’t I be okay with that?”
“Rarity?” Surprise spoke up. “About what we were discussing earlier, what else can you tell me about the Element bearers? I want the party I’m planning for them to be super duper awesome amazing!”
Rarity turned back to Surprise. “Hmm…there’s not much else to tell. I told you about Nightmare Moon, Smog, Sunset Shimmer, Gilda, Trixie, Chrysalis, Angle, and Discord…oh! There’s Discord’s pet Windigo too! His name’s Polaris, I believe.”
“Thank you so much Rarity!” Surprise said. “You’re so helpful and so generous. And very pretty too.”
Rarity blushed. “Oh, do stop that…or don't, whichever you prefer.
Apple Bloom stared at Surprise. “Pardon me, Surprise was it? Have we met before? Ya look an’ sound real familiar.”
Surprise giggled. “Who knows? Maybe we’ve met in a past life or something? Wouldn’t that be cool?” Surprise paused for a moment and glanced back at the clock hanging on the wall. “Gosh, have we been talking that long Rarity? Times flies when you’re having fun!” Surprise giggled as the clock sprouted wings.
Apple Bloom’s gaze traveled downward and stopped on Surprise’s front left hoof. “No way…” she whispered.
Surprise cheerfully examined her hoof as it turned pink. “Well, this has all been very fun Rarity. But if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a very BIG party to throw!”
Surprise smiled at Rarity and Apple Bloom, and waved a hoof.
“Check,” Nightmare said as she straightened her armor and helmet. She glanced at Smog, wearing his armor. “And check. Okay Discord, go for it.”
Discord snapped his fingers and teleported himself and the other Elements straight to the king’s throne room. There King Sombra and Princess Twilight waited for them.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” King Sombra muttered as he paced. “If anything, I had hoped our dear Captain’s sister would return instead. But this…”
“Don’t worry,” Princess Twilight said, smiling nervously. “I believe the Elements will be able to save the day. We can throw a party in their honour afterwards!”
“King Sombra!” Nightmare called out.
The king and princess looked up at them. “Thank you Nightmare Moon. Thank you all,” King Sombra sighed heavily.
“What is this about King Sombra?” Nightmare asked. “Does this have anything to do with the weird candy growing all over Peaceville?”
King Sombra blinked in shock, his eyes widened. “…Discord, please tell me-”
“It’s not me!” Discord protested.
“Peaceville already?” The horrified King Sombra whispered. “She’s moving fast.” He looked back at them and spoke louder. “Originally I had called you here because all of our guards just vanished a few hours ago. I was wary at first, but it seems I was right to be worried. All of you follow us please.”
King Sombra led them down a very long hallway toward a large vault door at the end. Along the walls were stained-glass windows depicting notable moments in the history of Everfree.
“Ooh, look! That one shows the origin of Heart’s Warming Eve, when the Fire of Friendship spell was first cast,” Chrysalis said as they passed a window depicting several figures and ghostly Windigos surrounding a heart-shaped flame.
“Neat. And there’s Lord Tirek’s first meeting with the people of Everfree,” Sunset pointed out as they passed a stained-glass window of the red centaur surrounded by ponies.
Princess Twilight smiled. “I know. There’s so much history in this hall alone. It’s all so cool!” she said, giggling.
“Please pay attention. This is a matter of great importance. Nightmare, do you remember when we covered the history of the draconequui?” King Sombra asked.
Nightmare nodded. “Yes. I read that most of them vanished hundreds of years ago.”
“I remember you saying that before we met Discord,” Smog added, recalling their first day in Peaceville.
“There is a reason they vanished,” King Sombra said grimly. “A long time ago, a pink earth pony stole the powers of several draconequui and used their combined powers to unleash such chaos that no draconequus has ever been able to match it.
“She went by many names. We called her Pinkamania Disaster Pie.”
Smog snorted. “Are we supposed to take a name like that seriously?”
King Sombra glared at him. “This isn’t a joke! The Pink One is a threat unlike anything Everfree has ever fought before! Only the combined might of the Elements of Redemption were able to imprison her. But since Princess Twilight and I are no longer connected to the Elements we can’t do it again. That’s why we’ve summoned you here. We need you to use the Elements once more and defeat the Trickster!”
Smog shrugged. “I dunno. None of us have seen this ‘Trickster’ yet, but all she seems to have done is create candy clouds and trees that grow cupcakes instead of fruit. I say let her stay.”
“I never thought I would ever be opposed to the idea of chaos, but I believe our dear king may be right about this,” Discord said, uncharacteristically grim. “Now correct me if I’m wrong – please correct me if I’m wrong – but did you say this pony can steal the powers of a draconequus?”
King Sombra nodded. “I’m glad that you understand how serious the situation is.” He turned to face the large golden door at the end of the hallway that he had led them down. “Princess Twilight Sparkle? If you could unlock the vault please?”
“Um, there’s a problem with that. It’s already unlocked,” the princess pointed out.
King Sombra’s eyes widened in fear. “No…” His magic extended into the vault. He levitated a jeweled box from inside and brought it out towards them. The box opened to reveal not the Elements of Redemption, but something else entirely.
“Hey, isn’t that the memory potion that Zecora showed us?” Sunset asked.
“Looks like,” Nightmare said. She levitated the glowing, bubbling white potion from the box with her magic. She set the potion down on the floor and picked at a note that was wrapped around the potion bottle.
“It says: To find the missing Elements, just make sense of this change of events,” she read aloud. She put the note down and looked at the bottle. “I think we’re supposed to watch the vision that comes out of this potion.”
Sunset frowned and raised her hoof. “Yeah um, I’m just gonna cut in and say this has trap written all over it!”
“I’m with Sunny on this one,” Gilda added. Chrysalis nodded.
Trixie eyed the potion warily. “Trixie also agrees.”
Princess Twilight groaned. “Come on guys! The note says we need this to find the missing Elements. But if the rest of you are so worried, I’ll take the potion!”
“Sparkle, don’t do this,” King Sombra warned. But the princess had already encased the potion in a pinkish-purple aura. She levitated the magical liquid out of the bottle and a bright cloud of energy filled the room as the vision began.
“Sunny! Discord! You made it!” They all turned around to see Screwball happily hovering in the midair, the propeller on her beanie hat spinning.
“Screwball? What are you doing here?” Sunset asked.
“And…is there something different about you? New haircut? New pair of eyes, perhaps?” Discord said.
Screwball’s eyes had changed. Large purple irises with white swirls for pupils circled around and around in her sclera. Screwball giggled. “Isn’t it wonderful?” she said, spinning in the air. “I can see perfectly and speak clearly! Princess Pinkie Pie fixed my eyes and my voice! May she be praised!”
King Sombra growled. "She's been brainwashed."
"Oh, don't be so grumpy mister King! Pinkie Pie's new reign comes with free chaos cupcakes. Free Chaos Cupcakes!"
"Please," Discord snorted. "I hand those out everyday."
“Even if the Trickster healed you, she will turn against you eventually! She’s just using you! Don’t do this!” King Sombra growled.
“Aw, don’t be like that,” Screwball said. “I’m not here to cause any trouble. I’m just the narrator right now.”
King Sombra growled again as his horn charged with power. But Princess Twilight held up a hoof and tried to placate him. “Wait. Let’s hear what she has to say.”
Screwball smiled as the vision shifted from a field of endless white space to an old farm. She began narrating, “The story of Pinkamena Diane Pie, or Pinkie Pie as she’s commonly known as, began over hundreds of years ago. She grew up with her parents and siblings on a rock farm. They spent their days working the fields. There was no talking. There was no smiling. There were only rocks.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “A rock farm? Do you mean like a crystal farm?”
King Sombra shook his head. “No. Back in those days I was still studying magic and I had not yet cast the spell that grew the crystals you are familiar with. I believe in those days, gems and crystals were grown inside of rocks and then aged. At least…I think that’s how it works.” Everyone else gave him a look. “What? How else would someone farm rocks?”
Princess Twilight smiled kindly as she took a step towards Discord. “I think your guess was close enough. I’ve learned a few things about rock farms.”
“Look! There she is!” Screwball cheered, pointing at a family of earth ponies. There was a grayish brown stallion walking next a greenish gray mare. There were also two gray fillies following a bouncing pink filly with puffy hair and a cutie mark in the form of three colourful balloons.
“Hurry up! You’ll love this!” the pink filly cheered.
“Now hold yer horses, Pinkamena Diane Pie!” the mare said sternly. “We’re a’ coming!”
The pink filly giggled. “You said ‘hold yer horses’! He, he!”
The stallion shook his head. “Pinkamena, what’s gotten into ya?”
“You’ll see! Oh, and could you pretty please call me Pinkie Pie? It sounds cuter when it’s shortened!” The filly Pinkie giggled and bounced again.
Pinkie’s family followed her into the farm’s silo. Upon seeing what was inside it, her family could only stare in shock. The entire silo was decorated with balloons, streamers, tables, chairs, cakes, fruit punch, and all sorts of party paraphernalia.
“Surprise!” the young Pinkie cheered. “Ya like it? It’s called a party!”
Pinkie’s mother and father stared at everything around them, their mouths twitching. The gray fillies just blinked in confusion. Pinkie smiled widely while patiently awaiting an answer, confident that her family would love the party.
“Pinkamena, what in tarnation were ya thinking?! What’s all this junk?” her mother said sternly.
Pinkie’s smiled faded. “W-what?”
“We don’t have time for this nonsense, Pinkamena.” her father said, frowning at her. “We’re meant ta be harvesting the rocks from the south field, not cleaning up after yer mess.”
“Mess?” Pinkie asked quietly, her puffy mane losing its puffiness.
“Get this cleaned up and then get yer chores done,” her mother ordered. “We won’t ask ya a second time Pinkamena!”
Her father rolled his eyes. “Really, where'd ya get such an idea?”
“I-I met this really cool pegasus named Firefly,” Pinkie said. “She did this neat trick with a rainbow and it was so wonderful and it made me smile and…”
“Yer forbidden from seeing that pegasus, ya hear? I don’t want you talking with any weirdos,” her mother said.
“I thought it looked nice,” one of the gray fillies whispered. Pinkie smiled a little at that.
“Then ya can help her cleanup Maud. We don’t got time for this,” Pinkie’s father said.
As the other three ponies left and Maud began to pull down some of the balloons, Pinkie sat down on the floor. “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” she whispered to herself, confused and hurt.
The vision shifted again. An older (yet still cutie marked) Pinkie bounced into an unfamiliar town and knocked on the front door of the first house she saw. An earth pony mare opened the door and looked at Pinkie. “Yes? Can I help you?” That was all Pinkie needed to hear before she burst into song and dance.
“This is your singing telegram
I hope it finds you well!
You're invited to a party
'Cause I think you're really swell!”
But before Pinkie could sing anymore, the other mare interrupted her. “A party? I don’t have time for those! Ugh, teenagers!” She scowled and slammed the door in Pinkie’s face.
Pinkie stared at the door in hurt confusion before she frowned and walked away. “Eh, who needs her? I’ll just invite other ponies to my party. One’s who aren’t fun-hating grumpy-pants!” With that, Pinkie ran up to the next house and knocked again.
The vision shifted again. This time it showed Pinkie inside a small bakery. A sign reading ‘Pies for Everypony!’ hung on the wall. Pinkie had set up another party, with more balloons, streamers, and food. But there was no one else inside. Pinkie sat all alone at a table, muttering quietly.
“I don’t understand. What am I doing wrong? Why…why don’t they like my parties?” Pinkie sniffled as a few tears fell out of her eyes and splashed onto the cupcake in front of her.
Fortunately, Pinkie’s quiet sobbing was interrupted by a knock at the door. A big grin instantly blossomed on Pinkie’s face. “Guest? Do I have a guest? Ooh, who could it be?!” She bolted toward the door and flung it open. “Welcome new friends! I welcome everypony to…you’re not a pony...”
“I’m not? What a relief to hear! Between you and me, the ponies of this town are rather boring!” the female draconequus said. There were notable similarities between her and Discord, but several differences as well. She had flowing white hair instead of a beard or bushy eyebrows. She had a white tiger’s paw instead a lion’s, with a very long alligator’s tail instead of a snake tail. Owl feathers and pink polka dots covered in chest.
The draconequus giggled. “Come now my dear, it’s rude to stare.”
“Oh! I’m sorry. I’ve just never seen a pony like you before.” Pinkie smiled sheepishly.
“I should hope not Miss Pie! I am a draconequus. A spirit of pure chaos, and quite a beautiful spirit, don’t you agree? You may call me Babel,” the draconequus said, batting her eyelashes.
“Granny?” Discord blurted out as they watched the vision.
King Sombra nodded. “Ah yes, I remember Miss Babel. Charming creature.”
“Well now, this is a party, correct? Then let’s party!” Babel declared.
The vision sped up rapidly as Pinkie and Babel partied for over 12 hours. By the time the vision slowed down again, it appeared that Babel had enjoyed the party immensely. All of the food was gone, streamers were strewn about everywhere, turnips and rocks were dancing on the tables, and bags of flours danced on the ceiling.
Pinkie had collapsed onto the floor in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. “This is so cool! I’ve never had so much fun in my life! This is the best day of my life!”
Babel smiled. “The best day of your life so far.” She slithered up and hovered in midair. “Oh, it’s so refreshing to meet a pony who understands the wonders of being wild!” She grinned at Pinkie, a mischievous fire filling her eyes. “Oh yes. I see potential in you, little one. Because of that potential, and because I want us to be the best of friends, I want to give you a present.”
“Present? Ooh, I love presents!” Pinkie beamed. “Oh, but you don’t have to. It’s enough that you’re my friend!”
“I want to though! Pinkie, lemme tell you something. Creatures like us, we don’t belong with normal people,” Babel said, spitting out the word normal like it left a bad taste. “We have a higher calling! A duty to makes things interesting, to give life purpose! We need to inject some chaos into the otherwise dull lives of ponies.”
“Chaos? I dunno,” Pinkie fidgeted uncomfortably. “Wouldn’t that hurt somepony?”
“Oh please, my dear. Never confuse chaos with disorder. Disorder is all about mindless destruction and pointless cruelty. Also, that jerk steals all my cookies at every family reunion. No. True chaos spirits are all about being random. We don’t care if we break the rules. We just wanna have fun!”
Babel raised her eagle claw and tiger paw, levitating Pinkie off the floor. “So what say you, Pinkie? Will you accept my gift?”
Pinkie paused, scratching her head as she thought. She then grinned and nodded energetically. “Okie Dokie Lokie!”
“Excellent!” Babel snapped her fingers and formed a glowing ball of pulsing, golden energy. She pulled Pinkie’s mouth open and shoved the ball inside her. Pinkie hiccupped and shivered as the chaotic energy filled her. Wings and antlers sprouted on her back and head, while tentacles and claws took the place of her limbs. Her body went through several rapid changes, before returning itself to a normal pony body.
Babel nodded. “That’s a tiny piece of my own power you have now. Use it wisely. …Or don’t, I’ve stopped caring. Toddles!” Babel snapped her fingers again and vanished.
Pinkie stared at the spot Babel had been. Her ears twitched as she heard something whispering to her. Pinkie held up her left foreleg and stuck her hoof in her mouth. She blew onto it and the hoof on her right foreleg instantly grew fingers.
“Ooh. Very nice,” Discord said.
The other ponies watching the vision cringed in horror. “That’s gonna haunt Trixie’s nightmares,” Trixie muttered.
“Ooh!” Pinkie stared at her newly grown fingers, wiggling them all over the place. She snapped her fingers and cotton candy appeared, hovering in front of her face. Pinkie cheered and stretched out her tongue to grab it, her tongue much longer than it was before.
Screwball continued her narration as the vision changed. “Pinkie put her new powers to good use, conjuring up all sorts of food and games to improve the lives of ponies everywhere.” Screwball’s smile faded. “But sadly, ponies fear what they don’t understand. They dislike anything that is alien or unnatural, even if it’s friendly. Ponies were afraid of draconequui, and they began to fear Pinkie too. One day, Pinkie threw another party than nopony showed up for. Emphasis on nopony.”
There was a knock at the front door of Pinkie’s bakery. Pinkie opened the door to reveal a male draconequus. This one had a beard that grew out and wrapped around his neck like a scarf, a tortoise shell on his back, and wings in the sides of his head.
“Good evening, madam! My name is Anarchy. I heard you were throwing a party!” he said with a dramatic bow.
Pinkie stared at him for several seconds, before grinning widely. “We’d be honoured to have you. Come on in.”
Screwball giggled as the vision sped up. “Draconequui are very intelligent, but even they can be fooled. Over many months, draconequui continued to be the only creatures interested in Pinkie’s parties. They loved her games so much, they gave Pinkie a portion of their own power. Afterwards, those draconequui would leave Everfree once they’d learned that nothing was as fun as Pinkie’s parties in the old kingdom. So they traveled to other lands.”
Screwball gave Nightmare and Sombra a look. “Pinkie never stole the powers of draconequui; she was given the power freely. Of course…she never stopped to tell anyone what was happening. Every draconequus Pinkie met; they all thought that Pinkie was just a powerless earth pony. It got to the point were Pinkie Pie became very powerful. More powerful than anypony could imagine.”
Screwball smirked as the vision showed a brief glimpse of Pinkie meeting a younger and taller Tirek. “Of course, the rumors had to come from somewhere. Lord Tirek’s brother, Scorpan, showed Pinkie how to steal magic from other creatures because he too thought Pinkie was defenseless. And there was the odd event where Pinkie was forced to steal magic from some rather dangerous monsters. It really couldn’t be avoided. As she grew older, Pinkie gained a very grand reputation.
“All these events and much more lead to the day when Pinkie traveled to early Peaceville.”
The vision shifted again to show a unicorn sitting in what looked like an older, cleaner, yet less organized version of the Peaceville library. The unicorn mare had a white coat with a pink mane and tail. She was reading a book hovering in front of her when someone knocked at the door. “It’s open!” she called out.
*BOOM*
The unicorn jumped back as the door was flung off its hinges and hurtled towards her. Before it could hit her, the door transformed into a pile of harmless confetti. At least it looked harmless until the confetti sprung to life and quickly coiled around her, tying the unicorn up.
That’s when her attacker floated into the library. Pinkie looked just as pony as ever, but the way she carried herself was different. She walked on her hind legs just like Discord, or rather she floated through the air like Discord. She wore a dark pink dress and a black cape with pink lining, plus gold bracelets around her hooves. She took a long sip from a glass of apple cider she carried with her, her fingers drumming against the glass. Her cutie mark remained, but now the balloons were a dark purple.
“Well, well,” Pinkie giggled, smiling at all the books around her. She floated toward Twinkle and said, “Hi there. I’m Pinkie Pie. You’re Twinkle, right?”
Twinkle shuddered and flinched away from Pinkie. “P-please have mercy P-Pink One. W-whatever I-I’ve done to offend you I-I didn’t mean it.”
Pinkie rolled her eyes and smiled calmly. “Oh stop being such a silly filly. I don't know what you’ve heard about me, but I’m really nice once you get to know me.”
Pinkie picked at her cape before dropping it and glancing back at Twinkle. “Sorry if I spooked you. But it’s like my friends always tell me: Always make a big entrance. Now then, I'd like your help with finding something. If you’re not tied up with anything.” Pinkie snapped her fingers and the confetti that was restraining Twinkle sprung off her and turned back into a door, locking itself back in its proper place.
“W-what do you need my help with?” Twinkle whispered fearfully.
Pinkie snapped her fingers and dozens of books flew off the shelves and floated around her, forming a sphere of books. “I’m looking for some friends of mine. I need contact info, records, genealogy, and anything else we can find.” As she talked dozens of extra eyes appeared along Pinkie’s body. The eyes scanned the other books that floated around Pinkie as she softly hummed. "I know you...I'll know what you do...You'll love me at once...the way we did once upon a..."
The eyes blinked and all focused on Twinkle, who shuddered at their stare. “Oops! I’m sorry, I’m not scaring you, am I?” Pinkie asked. She snapped her fingers and the extra eyes faded away along with the music-playing orb of light, taking the music with it. “Sorry, I’m such a silly filly. Help me find what I’m looking for and then I’ll get out of your mane.”
The vision shifted again to show Twinkle nervously skimming through scroll after scroll and book after book. Pinkie was still hovering off the ground, although her dress and black cape were gone. Pinkie slammed the book she was reading shut in frustration and teleported in front of Twinkle, startling her. “Why haven’t we found anything?!” she growled. Her pink tail had turned into a long green dragon’s tail, angrily swishing about in the air.
“I-I-I’m sorry P-Pink One,” Twinkle whispered. “I’ve done my best with t-the information y-you’ve given, b-but I c-can’t find anything.”
Pinkie floated away from Twinkle and sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a meanie-pants about it. It doesn’t help that their names are...I just…!” Pinkie shut her eyes tightly in anger and concentration. “Their faces...names...they're all blurry! I remember…Midnight Twinkle? No…Midnight Sparked? Rainboom Zoom? No…Rainboom Crash?”
Pinkie floated around the room, her tail turning back into a pink puffy one as she muttered. “Orange Head? No…Apple-Hat? Gemstone? Uncommon-ity? Flitter-cry? Butterfly?”
As Pinkie grew more and more upset, Twinkle spoke up. “I know what you’ve described about them. I-I may have found something about Midnight. The closest match I can find is m-my cousin, Sparkle. I think she’s studying somewhere in the Crystal Empire with her friend Sombra. She sounds like the Midnight you described, but p-please whatever you do…”
Pinkie zipped right into Twinkle’s face, smiling hopefully. “You found one? That’s great! What about the others?”
Twinkle cringed and shrunk away. “F-forgive me Pink One. That’s all I’ve got; no other records. I don’t know any other ponies that match the descriptions you gave me. It’s p-possible that your friends…don’t exist.”
“W-what?” Pinkie whispered, her smile gone. Her mane grew bigger for a second before her mane and tail popped. A sound like a balloon deflating filled the room as Pinkie’s normally puffy hair fell limply against her face. “Oh no,” she whispered. “My friends don’t exist?”
Pinkie stared at the floor in sorrow for several long minutes. Eventually Twinkle forced a very nervous smile on her face and said, “Well if that’s all you needed then I’m afraid it’s time for me to close up the library for the night. Could you please leave…please?”
Pinkie nodded sadly and snapped her fingers, teleporting out of the library and putting all the books back in place.
The vision shifted again to show Pinkie calmly walking into a bar, her hair still flat and her expression still unhappy. The fingers on her hooves were gone. “Afternoon everypony,” she said to the room.
The ponies in the room stared in shock and fear at Pinkie, but settled down once they noticed that she didn’t seem to have much energy. Pinkie walked over to the counter, sat up on a stool, and ordered. “Apple cider or chocolate milk. Whatever,” she whispered as she stared at the table.
The stallion running the bar hurriedly got her order, while ponies at other tables whispered.
“You’ll want to hear what these say,” Screwball said. She pointed at two mares and one stallion talking at a table behind Pinkie. The stallion had a brown coat and white hair. The two mares both had blond manes and fancy dresses. The only difference between them was their coats, one bright pink and the other baby blue. “The pink one is Rose Garden, the blue one is Golden Glitter, and the stallion is Warning Voice,” Screwball informed them.
As Pinkie drank her cider, Rose Garden whispered to her friend. “By the sun. Is that who I think it is?”
Golden Glitter nodded. “Yes. She does look like the Trickster.”
Warning Voice spoke up. “Um, ladies? Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about her when she’s sitting right over there.”
“Shut your cowardly mouth Warning,” Rose hissed at him. “We're talking.” She turned back to Golden. “Have you heard about some of the things she’s done?”
Golden nodded. “Indeed. At her best that Trickster is an irritating chatterbox and at her worst she’s a menace to society!”
Pinkie whimpered as she overheard them whisper. Tears were falling out of her eyes and - due to her chaotic powers - were forming a mini-waterfall.
Rose scowled. “What is she even doing in a respectable town like ours?”
“I heard from Twinkle that she was looking for her friends. Look, can we please go now?” Warning whispered anxiously as he glanced at Pinkie.
“Friends? Who would want to be friends with a freak like Pinkamania?” Golden said.
Pinkie stopped crying immediately at that. Her head snapped up as she stared straight ahead at the wall. Drops of tears were no longer falling out of her glowing red eyes. Instead drops of fire dripped out and splashed onto the bar counter, the flames licking at the wood but not entirely consuming it yet. Lastly, her cutie mark disappeared.
King Sombra smacked his head and groaned. “Fool.” Princess Twilight nodded in agreement as she stepped closer to Discord.
“I…I better be going,” Warning said as he bolted out of the room, running for his life.
“Oh, that little…get back here you spineless stallion!” Rose yelled at his retreating form.
Pinkie smirked. She waved her hoof and a rainbow-coloured, glowing ball of light appeared. The ball began to play a different kind of music.
“Pardon me ladies!” Pinkie said as she spun around to face them. Her eyes were once again blue and her mouth was stretched into a big creepy smile.
King Sombra’s eyes widened in fear. “Oh no…”
Pinkie escaped gravity’s hold on her and floated over to the table. “I couldn’t help but overhear you two talking about me. Well, now you get to talk TO me!” She giggled.
“Um…yes…” Rose said, staring at Pinkie.
“Hey, look at what I can do with my hooves!” Pinkie sang as she regrew her fingers. “Neat, huh?”
Golden didn’t trust herself to speak, looking more like she wanted to vomit, so she just nodded.
“So what brings you girls to this wonderful town?” Pinkie asked as she snapped her fingers and refilled their glasses.
“I’m vising m-my cousin. S-she’s an apple farmer. She uh…she farms apples,” Rose said.
Pinkie giggled. “I love apples! That taste so good in pies and cakes and all sorts of appletastic treats! And you?” she asked Golden.
“My…my mother is a cloth maker,” Golden said. “I help her with designs. We travel from town to town and sell our goods.”
Pinkie nodded. “That’s all very nice.” She stared at the ceiling for a minute before looking back at the mares. “I overheard what you were saying about me. You know, I’m not the same simple farm filly I used to be. Ponies hear about me but they always focus on the negative stuff. They focus on the lies, bunch of lying Liar Mc-Pants-on-Fires. They all treat me like a monster, even though I haven’t done anything wrong...yet.”
Pinkie raised her hoof and levitated both Rose and Golden into the air. The music playing ball of light turned a darker colour as the music grew angrier, to reflect Pinkie’s mood.
“But now, I have remembered who I am and what I can do. I’m Pinkie Pie. I do whatever I want. I’ve never let the laws of physics stop me before. Now I’m not gonna let anypony stop me.”
With a flick of Pinkie’s fingers, Rose and Golden were both blasted out of the bar. Pinkie smiled calmly as every mug or glass in the bar shattered at her mental command. “I think this is the part where you all run away,” she suggested to the bar ponies. They were already well past that; they all screamed, panicked, and ran out of the bar as fast as they could.
As ponies screamed all around her, Pinkie calmly teleported herself right into the Town Square and shouted, “Come on everypony! You like parties? Oh that’s right, you guys don’t like anything fun! But what about bubbles? You gotta love bubbles!”
Pinkie inhaled a huge gulp of air and then exhaled. Huge streams of glowing bubbles blasted out of her mouth. The thousands of bubbles Pinkie created flew all over town, capturing any pony or living creature they came into contact with. Pinkie flexed her fingers and the captured ponies were all brought towards her. The terrified and helpless ponies all stared at her.
Pinkie sighed in mock-sadness. “Well, you’ve done it. You made me angry. You didn’t think, you just messed with the Pink. And now I’ve decided, I don’t care anymore. You don’t like parties? Fine. You don’t want to be my friend? Fine. I’m throwing myself a party now. I’ll have a ‘Pinkie Party of One’. And guess what? You losers aren’t invited. Now then…”
Pinkie picked a spot on the ground and started bouncing. The earth beneath her began to transform, taking on a pink checker board-like appearance. The dirt and grass wobbled like jelly. Pinkie bounced higher and higher on the trampoline-like ground. With one final bounce she leaped high into the air, before crashing back down.
“GET OUT!”
As she landed, the transformed earth sent out a tremendous shockwave at Pinkie’s command. Grass, rock, and dirt spiraled out like ripples and waves that pushed all the bubbled-trapped ponies out of its way. The earth wave didn’t stop until all other ponies were banished out of the village.
Seeing that she was completely alone, Pinkie then slammed her hooves onto the ground and unleashed the full extent of her powers. Pink fire blazed around the town, buildings sprouted legs and began to walk around, lampposts began dancing with each other, black and pink clouds formed overhead sending out bolts of lightning that turned into apple trees and giant strawberries that started yodeling, sentient rainbows with arms popped into existence and started sword-fighting with each other, fish, cows, and raccoons swam through the air, books grew arms and began hitting each other, and crystals, cakes, pies, and desserts of all kinds grew out of everything.
Pinkie flew high into the air and spread her hooves wide. A large force field formed around the village, keeping everyone else out of her newly conquered home. And lastly, Pinkie snapped her fingers to create a humongous mansion made entirely of gingerbread, chocolate and candy. As Pinkie floated towards the roof of her gingerbread mansion, a golden throne manifested on the roof with pink balloons tied around the armrests.
Pinkie sat in the throne and calmly watched the chaos unfold around her with crossed forelegs and an evil grin. And with that the music stopped playing and the vision faded away.
The Element bearers were completely speechless. After several long seconds of silence, Smog spoke up. “Well that's…ominous.”
Nightmare frowned. “Well, we know what we’re up against now. But we still don’t know where Pinkie is or where the Elements are.”
“Sombra!”
They all turned around to see Spike in his smaller form flying towards them. He folded his wings and touched down in front of them. Spike growled, “Why did you not inform me that the Pink One had returned?! You fool! Sparky has been missing all day! Before I assumed that she was off studying but it appears that she is truly…”
Spike trailed off as he glanced at the nervously smiling Princess Twilight. “Ooh, uh…hi there Spike! I didn’t mean to worry you, I’m fine. We were just…”
“TRICKSTER!” Spike roared as he ripped off the charmed amulet around his neck. The magic suppressing his strength instantly faded as Spike began to grow and transform back into his more powerful body.
But the transformation was not instantaneous. While Spike grew, ‘Princess Twilight’ took advantage of the distraction. She leapt at Discord and wrapped her hooves around his neck. As Discord choked and struggled to be released, both he and ‘Twilight’ began to glow. ‘Twilight’ opened her mouth as Discord’s mouth was forced open to. Dark purple, gold, and plaid-coloured magic spilled out of Discord’s mouth and into the false Twilight’s as she drained him of his magic.
By the time Spike had transformed back into himself, Discord was powerless. ‘Twilight’ turned around and shed her disguise, revealing a puffy haired and very happy Pinkie Pie. Her fur and hair was pink again, but she kept the horn and wings of an alicorn.
Screwball bowed. “My princess,” she whispered in awe.
“Wow Spike! Look how big you’ve grown!” Pinkie said. “I remember when you were just a tiny thing!”
“You DARE to steal the treasure I love most away from me? You DARE to steal MY Twilight Sparkle? Prepare to BURN!”
Spike roared and blew a heavy stream of fire at Pinkie. But the chaotic Pink One just smirked and waved her hoof, turning Spike’s deadly fire blast into a stream of bubbles. “Aw, poor widdle Spikey-Wikey! He thinks he can beat me,” Pinkie giggled.
Spike roared again and charged at Pinkie in an attempt to crush her with his claws. But with a wave of her hoof, Pinkie, Spike, and Screwball all vanished.
“NO! SPIKE!” Smog cried. “He...he was everything a dragon aspired to be!”
King Sombra growled. “After showing us that vision, there’s no way Pinkamania would just disappear like that. Show yourself Trickster!”
Laughter filled the room. Pinkie spoke, her voice appearing to come from every direction. “Oh, I think I showed enough during that vision. Remind me to throw a party for that zebra friend of yours, she sounds like fun!”
The king and Element bearers glanced all over the room, but they couldn’t find the Trickster's hiding spot.
“Aw, now why are you mad at me Sombra? I mean, I think I have more of a reason to be mad. You and the others turned me into stone and I was stuck like that for a reeeeeaaaaallllly long time. And I was completely awake too! Hundreds of years with nothing but my thoughts to have fun with, hundreds of years where the last bits of my sanity went bye-bye! ‘Course, I never had much sanity to begin with!” Pinkie giggled. “Still, I was trapped for a while. Ya know, if you’d done that to somebody else they might devote their existence to getting revenge! You’re lucky I’m such a nice pony!”
“Enough games Trickster!” King Sombra shouted. “What have you done with the Elements? What have you done with all those you've kidnapped?”
Pinkie’s voice giggled. “Straight to my game, huh? Okie Dokie Lokie! You read the first part of my riddle before you saw the vision. Here’s the rest: Twists and turns make up a deceptive plan. So we’ll find the Elements back where it ALL began.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sunset asked as Pinkie’s presence vanished. “Twists and turns and ending up back where we started?”
“Twists and turns?” Nightmare muttered as she paced around the room. She glanced out a window and spotted the palace garden’s labyrinth. “What about in there? Looks like the perfect place to hide the Elements!”
Sunset frowned. “Or a perfect place for a trap. That labyrinth wasn’t there last night at the Gala. Besides, twists and turns are part of a deception, remember? It’ll be the last line that tells us where the Elements are.”
“Where it all began? What about the castle of the Royal Family? Back in the Equestria forest, where it all began for us?” Trixie said.
“Trixie, that’s brilliant!” Nightmare declared.
“Uh, Moony? We have a problem,” Discord said. Ever since Pinkie stole his powers too, he’d been snapping his fingers the entire time waiting for something to happen. The depressed Discord grumbled. “Without my powers I can’t teleport us all into the woods. And if you think we’re walking to the Equestria castle, you’re crazier than I am!”
“Not a problem,” King Sombra said. “I can combine my magic with Nightmare’s, Sunset’s, Trixie’s and Chrysalis’ magic. That should teleport you all safely into the heart of the Equestria forest where the castle is.”
Nightmare nodded. “Smog, you stay here with the king.”
“Oh no you don't! I'm going with you!” Smog said.
Nightmare scowled. “Smog, do NOT argue with me on this!”
“…Fine,” Smog sighed. He knew that tone meant Nightmare wouldn't change her mind.
“Good luck, my friends. The fate of our kingdom is in your hooves and claws,” King Sombra said. He then combined his magic with that of the other magic-users and teleported them to the castle of the Royal Family.
“Well, here we are. Back where it all started. At the spooky castle in the spooky forest,” Chrysalis said as they gazed at the entrance to the ancient castle of the Royal Family.
“Aw, don’t worry about that. We know what to look for this time,” Gilda said as she flapped her wings and flew into the castle. “I’ll just do a quick fly-through and we’ll find those Elements in no time!” she bragged.
“SURPRISE!” Bright flashes of light caused Gilda’s wings to vanish, sending the poor griffon crashing onto the ground. More flashes of light caused Trixie’s and Sunset’s horns to vanish. Nightmare and Chrysalis also lost their wings and horns. The girls all screamed, understandably scared.
Another flash of light teleported Pinkie Pie right in front of them, laughing hysterically. Her pink wings and horn from earlier were gone; instead she was once again wearing her dark pink dress and black and pink cape.
Pinkie’s laughter faded into giggles as she conjured a microphone into her grasp. “Gooooood afternoon and welcome everybody to Pinkie Pie’s Maze of Mystery!” she sang as confetti rained down on them. Applause could be heard coming from nearby rainbow-coloured orbs. “We’ve got a great show for you today folks! Who are my lucky victims – I mean, contestants – today? Why, it’s the Everfree heroes themselves! Let’s talk with their leader!” She floated over to Nightmare and held up the microphone. “So Nightmare Moon, are you ready to play?”
“Give us our wings and horns back!” Nightmare demanded.
“And my chaos!” Discord added.
“Ooh, right to the game’s rules, huh? I like it!” Pinkie grinned. “Okie Dokie Lokie! The first rule of this game is no magic for any of you. I’m the Games Master, so I still keep my magic obviously. The second rule is that all of you are split up once you enter the maze. You’ll meet each other at the end. You’ll also receive your wings, horns, and magic back at the end of the game; whether you win or lose. BUT, if any of you attempt to use magic during the game, then it's game over. And I win!” Pinkie sang.
“What maze?” Sunset asked.
“The one I’m creating right now inside the Royal Family’s Castle, silly filly!” Pinkie said as she snapped her fingers. “Good luck everybody!” She snapped her fingers again and teleported the Element bearers to separate entrances of the newly formed Ancient Castle Labyrinth.
Pinkie focused on the audience. “Are you guys excited? I know I'm excited! Stay tuned, we’ll be right back after the commercial break! …Except there are no commercial breaks! On with the show!”
Gilda struggled to keep her cool as she climbed up an upside-down staircase. “Come on Gilda. You’ve hung out at the Chaos Corner plenty of times. This isn’t any different from Discord’s tricks. You can win this!”
“Yay! Woo! Go Gilda Go!” Pinkie cheered as she appeared in front of Gilda, wearing a cheerleader uniform and waving pom-poms.
“Dweeb!” Gilda roared as she launched herself at Pinkie, before remembering she’d been climbing an upside-down staircase and crashing onto the floor below.
“Ouch.” Pinkie winced. Her dress and black cape replaced her cheerleader's uniform in a flash of light. “Belly flop. That’s gotta hurt. Need some help down there?”
“Get lost Stinky Pie!” Gilda growled before walking away.
But Pinkie teleported in front of her. “Aw, no need to be mean! I’m just here to chat. Why are you being such a grump?”
“You stole our wings and horns!” Gilda said, jabbing a talon at Pinkie.
Pinkie smiled. “True. But look at it this way: Better I took your wings and horns and not your lungs and hearts.”
Gilda froze and stared at Pinkie as what she said sank in, finally realizing what she was dealing with.
“What, you actually think that? I’m not really going to do that, silly griffy!” Pinkie said with a calm smile. “You goofballs might think I’m a monster for some goofy reason; that’s your opinion. But please believe me when I say that Pinkie Pie NEVER kills anyone. And if people tell you different then they’re wrong.” Pinkie crossed her forelegs and nodded sagely.
“What do you want with us?” Gilda asked.
Pinkie smiled. “I just want to talk. Nothing wrong with that, right?”
“Who are you trying to fool?” Gilda growled.
Pinkie chuckled. “Who are you trying to fool?” she shot back. Pinkie circled around Gilda. “What do you do for the Elements? Really? All your friends have super special skills with their magic. What do you do?”
“I’m the fastest flier in Everfree!” Gilda boasted.
“Faster than Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie asked. Gilda paused at that. “Speaking of Dashie, you hang out with her a lot. It’s always Gilda and Dash, never just Gilda.”
Gilda's eyes twitched. “I do stuff by myself lots of times! Listen dweeb, I don’t care if Dash is faster than me.”
“Would you care if she became a Shadowbolt and you didn’t?” Pinkie asked. “Would you care if Dash was chosen to be the Element of Zeal and Loyalty and not you? Would you care if your friends didn’t need you?”
Gilda flinched. “My friends need me. I’m…I’m Gilda. T-the greatest flier in…”
Pinkie levitated the griffon up and gave her a hug. “Aw, poor gloomy Gilda. Don’t worry your pretty little head. Your auntie Pinkie Pie will take care of you. Come on now, give me a smile,” Pinkie said as she snapped her fingers.
“Ha! The story that Trixie will have once we defeat this Trickster Demon!” Trixie said as she searched through the labyrinth. “I can see it now: The Elements of Redemption with the Great and Powerful Trixie triumphant in the face of-”
“Hello!” Pinkie sang as she appeared in front of Trixie. “Talking to yourself? I love doing that! I talk with the voices in my head all the time. Between you and me, they’re quite the chatterboxes.”
Trixie jumped back and struck a heroic pose. “We meet again Pink One! Prepare to lose to the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
“Hmm. Wouldn’t that be Great and Powerless Trixie? You not having your horn.” Pinkie smiled. “Does it bother you that all your friends are more powerful than you’ll ever be?”
Trixie paused in her boasting. As Trixie prepared to challenge her to a battle of wits, Pinkie got ready to snap her fingers.
“Well, first round’s over and two players are out!” Pinkie informed her audience. “Are you guys enjoying the show?” She held up her microphone to the cheering audience of magical orbs. “I thought so! Now while the other contestants wander aimlessly, let’s listen to what a member of our audience has to say.”
Pinkie snapped her fingers and Apple Bloom appeared, hovering in front of her. Pinkie held up the microphone to her. “Howdy! How are you doing? Enjoying the show?”
Apple Bloom stared into Pinkie’s eyes. “Look Surprise, Pinkie, whoever ya are…”
“It’s Pinkie Pie, Miss Apple Bloom,” Pinkie cheerfully said.
“Ah kinda figured. Please Pinkie Pie, the Elements didn’t do nothing wrong. Just let them go. Please!”
Pinkie shook her head sadly before pasting a smile back on her face. “Isn’t she adorable ladies and gentle-creatures? Well that’s enough of that. Let’s check back with our contestants!”
Sunset navigated through the labyrinth quickly. “Gotta give her credit, the Trickster’s maze is tougher than most.”
“Why, thank you Sunny!” Pinkie said as she appeared in front of Sunset.
Sunset blinked in surprise before walking around Pinkie and continuing her path through the maze. “Oh no you don’t. I know a trap when I see one.”
Pinkie floated after her. “Of course you know! Such a smart little Sunny. I can see why King Sombra picked you as his student before he taught Nightmare. What was that like? Being the student to a powerful unicorn king?”
“I’m not talking to you,” Sunset said.
“Sure you are, silly filly! Tell me, why did you go back home to be a crystal farmer?”
“So that I didn’t take advantage of King Sombra’s knowledge. So that I didn’t turn into a power-hungry maniac like you,” Sunset answered.
Pinkie giggled. “Really? That old argument? You automatically think that being powerful means always being the bad guy? That anyone who works hard to become famous is just greedy? What does that say about your friends? What does that say about anyone who ever accomplished anything?"
Sunset paused as Pinkie’s words sank in. “You seem to have given a lot of thought about this.”
Pinkie shrugged. “I was trapped in stone for hundreds of years. Nothing much to do but think.”
Sunset shook her head. “I’m not falling for your tricks.”
Pinkie shook her head and snapped her fingers. “A stormy frown doesn’t suit you. Every Sun I drew when I was a filly, I drew with a smile.”
Chrysalis slowly crept through the castle maze. “This isn’t so bad. It's like the hives back in the Badlands."
“Queen Chrysalis! You have to help me!” Chrysalis gasped and ran after the direction that voice came from. Around the corner she found a wounded changeling kneeling on the ground.
“Oh dear. What happened to you?” Chrysalis asked as she helped him up.
“Oh it was awful!” the changeling cried. “I was left behind by my friends too, just like you.”
“Hey now, cheer up,” Chrysalis said. “I'm certain they're doing their best to find you.”
“Well, I’m sure they are. But nopony’s perfect, ya know?”
Chrysalis paused. She frowned at the changeling and asked, “Why do you have pink eyes instead of blue eyes like most changelings?”
The changeling smiled sheepishly. “Because we’re shape shifters?”
Chrysalis hissed as she grabbed the ‘changeling’. “Don’t lie to me. I know a lie when I hear one.”
The changeling grinned as his black chitin turned into her pink fur. “You’re right, you would know. I’ve seen all sorts of changelings today. Some of them were meanies, but tons of them were super nice. But nice or mean, all changelings are liars,” Pinkie said.
“That’s not true!” Chrysalis argued.
Pinkie patted her on the head. “Hey, it’s okay. Sometimes a lie is easier to take, I understand. Especially the lies you tell yourself.”
“What are you talking about?” Chrysalis asked.
“Well I know I’d be upset in your case. The changeling queens in the Badlands can act however they want. But out in the city, you need to act like you’re weak and helpless so that ponies don’t call you a parasite.”
Chrysalis flinched at that word. “That’s not true.”
“Poor Chrysie. We all need to have friends and family. People who love us. But you need that love most, because you literally can’t survive without it." Pinkie snapped her fingers. “But you don't have to worry now. You’ll have so much love, it will be impossible for you to stop smiling.”
Discord ran through the maze, swatting at the buzzing pink clouds that chased him. “My apologies, but I don’t have time for this!”
The pink clouds twisted and transformed into Pinkie, causing Discord to stop running. “What’s the matter Discord? I thought you appreciated a little chaos.”
Discord growled and snapped his fingers. When nothing happened he glared at Pinkie. “See?! Do you see what you’ve done to me?! Oh, you and I could have built something wonderful. We could have been King and Queen of all things chaotic and random. I would have been proud to call you my friend.”
Pinkie blinked in surprise. “R-really?” she asked.
“Well not NOW! You stole my magic, you’ve hurt my friends, and let’s not forget you stole my magic!”
Pinkie smirked. “Funny. You and I have the same powers; I just have more of it. You’re the most powerful member in your little group and yet what has it earned you? You can just wish away all your problems...except the big ones. You couldn’t wish away Eternal Twilight, Rainbow Dash, a Windigo herd, Spike, Eternity, or any other big threat. It hurts when your friends never treat you seriously; it hurts when you’re labeled as comic relief, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t play mind games with me! And don’t change the subject!” Discord demanded. “You stole our magic!”
“Is that why you’re all frowny-faced? I can fix that.” Pinkie snapped her fingers and formed a pulsing, glowing ball of purplish-plaid magic in her hooves. “Every rule has an exception. I’ll give you your magic back if you challenge me to a goof off. A chaotic duel. If you beat me then you can continue the game with the help of your magic. Shouldn’t take too long to find the Elements after that. But if I beat you, it counts as breaking the rules and I win the game.”
Discord stared at his magic. Pinkie smiled and offered the ball of reality-warping power to him. “Come on. You know you want it.”
Discord didn’t hesitate. He grabbed his power and quickly swallowed it, grinning as he found his chaotic powers restored. He immediately began the duel by firing deadly lightning bolts at Pinkie from his fingertips, until Pinkie’s entire form disappeared behind a cloud of magic.
“HA!” Discord cheered as he snapped his fingers, suddenly wearing a red and purple superhero costume. “And again, HA! Who’s laughing now?”
The cloud of magic laughed and laughed before it reformed into Pinkie. “Ooh, ooh! I am, I am!”
Discord growled and instantly summoned a sword, pointing it at Pinkie. “Shall we begin then?”
“He, he! I must admit your party tricks are funny!” Pinkie sang. She snapped his fingers and turned Discord’s hero costume into a magician’s costume.
“I bet under that hat, you’ve got a bunny!” Discord ripped the magician’s hat off his head. A huge rabbit with fangs jumped out and kicked Discord.
As Discord banished the bunny away with a snap of his fingers, giant cards appeared over his head and flattened him against the ground. Pinkie levitated and shuffled the cards, giggling as she saw the Joker card.
“Now here’s your chance
To get the best of me.
Hope your hand is hot!”
She flipped the cards and sent a Discord spinning out of them, a jester hat placed on his head.
“Come on Discord
Let’s see what you’ve got!” Pinkie sang as she snapped her fingers.
Nightmare ran through the labyrinth like the wind, gasping for breath. “Must…find…friends. As a team…we’re unstoppable. My friends…won’t fail me.”
Nightmare jumped as she heard an explosion. The whole castle shook as hundreds of explosions went off. Then, all was quiet. “…By the night, what was that?!”
“I’ll tell you what it was!” Pinkie sang as she appeared in front of Nightmare. “Somebody broke the no magic rule! Game Over!”
“NO!” Nightmare cried. She angrily charged at Pinkie, but the Trickster just dodged out of the way.
Pinkie giggled. “There’s no need to be a sore loser. I’ll give you your magic back if you just give me a second.”
“I’m not a sore loser! You weren't playing by the rules!” Nightmare jabbed a hoof at Pinkie.
Pinkie laughed. “Well, duh! They’re MY rules."
“Give me back my friends and the Elements!” Nightmare demanded. “I know they’re in this labyrinth!”
Pinkie giggled. “Well your friends are, yes. But when did I say the Elements were in here?”
Nightmare frowned. “You said ‘we’ll find the Elements back where it all began.’ We found the Elements in this castle, back where it all began.”
Pinkie grinned. “You were close! Very good guess. But I actually meant in here.” She snapped her fingers and summoned a book. “The Elements of Forgiveness: A Reference Guide.”
Nightmare stared at the book. “What?”
“It was under ‘E’! In your library!” Pinkie sang. She opened the book to reveal the Elements tucked away in a hollowed out section. Nightmare quickly grabbed at the Elements, but Pinkie snapped her fingers and sent the Elements somewhere else.
“Well folks, our contestants lost the game. But they’re not going home with nothing! Let’s see what Nightmare’s won.” Pinkie snapped her fingers, summoning the Elements of Love and Knowledge and giving them to Nightmare. “Here, you can hold onto these until I need them.”
Nightmare looked ready to strangle Pinkie. Not that she could, though. Nightmare glared at the floor, fully aware that she was powerless in this situation. “Fine, you win. Now let my friends go.”
“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie snapped her fingers and teleported them both to Peaceville. Nightmare gasped as she saw her friends, the Cutie Mark Destroyers, and dozens of royal guards all lying on the ground.
“What did you do to them?” Nightmare cried as she ran to Smog’s side.
Pinkie giggled. “The same thing I’ll do to you. I gave them exactly what they wanted. Don't worry, they’re all healthy and happy. Especially happy.”
Nightmare put her ear to Smog’s chest. She could hear him breathing, meaning he was still alive. But other than that Smog wasn’t moving. She rolled him over to look at his face. What she saw made her gasp.
Smog’s eyes were wide and unblinking. His mouth was forcibly stretched into a huge smile. He didn’t show any other signs of movement. Pinkie twirled her fingers and caused the other bodies to roll over, revealing that they all had the same wide eyes and forced grins.
“…What have you done?” Nightmare asked.
“It’s not as bad as it looks. They don’t need to eat, drink, or blink like this. My magic is keeping them alive and asleep. They’re all having very happy dreams, and I wanted it to show," Pinkie explained.
Nightmare glared at Pinkie. “You won’t get away with this.”
Pinkie smiled sadly. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry it had to happen like this Luna.”
Nightmare blinked in confusion. “Luna?”
Pinkie smiled and whispered in her ear. "You’ve won all your tests, you escaped every trap. Now it’s time for you to take a nap. I’m happy we got to party, I’m sad to see you leave so soon. But now at last, it’s time to say Goodnight to Nightmare Moon."
“Smile.” Pinkie snapped her fingers and Nightmare felt the hex stab through her. Nightmare’s whole body stiffened as if it was being turned to stone. Her eyes bulged and her lips forced themselves to stretch into a wide smile. Nightmare’s body froze and she fell to the ground, caught in a deep dream-filled sleep.
Pinkie sighed happily as she observed the sleeping creatures all around her. “Well...if anyone needs me, I'll be outside in the chocolate puddles with a giant swizzle straw.” With that, Pinkie snapped her fingers and vanished.
To be Continued…