//------------------------------// // Pinkie Pie 4th Wall Breaking Variety Show Recovery Part 2 // Story: Pinkie Pie's Fourth-Wall Breaking Variety Show // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// Timeline A The camera flickered back on. "But...we can't just..." Fluttershy said, looking to the plant. "Darlin..." Applejack said, getting her to look her in the eye. "Look...Ah admit, sometimes bein' humane is the right way tah deal with things, but is it bein' nice tah anypony this thing might hurt to let it run free? Or anycreature fer that matter." Fluttershy looked down, thinking. "...Couldn't Trixie and Twilight just shrink it down?" "I don't know if that'd work, spells like that tend to be hard to make last for good, at least for a unicorn," Twilight pointed out. 'Mom...I get it, you're kindness, Mercy is who you are...but this thing WANTS to eat ponies, I can tell. It won't stop...' Fluttershy sighed. "...I...I guess just knowing the cruel side of nature isn't enough to make accepting it easier..." "It shouldn't be easy, sugarcube, ever..." Applejack added, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "But if only there was some place it could belong...somewhere it'd have things other than ponies to...feed it..." Fluttershy muttered. "Relocation..." "But Everfree won't work," Twilight reminded. "And where else in Equestria could it go?" "...No where...Can you at least...do it quick?" "...I think me and Trixie can handle that, Fluttershy..." A few moments later, the pony eater was ash and Applejack was comforting a crying Fluttershy. "Being cruel to be kind...it still hurts..." "Mom...if it didn't, you'd be no better than I could've been," Fluttercruel pointed out. Fluttershy gave a sad smile. "...Thanks, Fluttercruel." -- Pinkie sighed. "Okay, I think we need something to lighten the mood, at least for the shadows..." Pinkie opened a portal to another dimension and peaked in. "Screech!" screamed a vampire fruit bat version of Fluttershy, hanging upside down from the ceiling of her cottage. "Oh! Sorry Pinkie!" said Fluttershy, taking over. "I'm just letting Flutterbat stretch her wings a little bit." "Mom!" shouted Fluttercruel, taking over. "When do I get control?" "Ten more minutes, dear, let your sister have her time." "Hey! Fluttershy! I brought you apple-" that universe's Pinkie Pie trotted in and blinked, looking at her other self. "Oh my gosh!...How are you still hanging from the ceiling if Fluttercruel is in control?" The grey pegasus blinked and fell to the ground due to talons disappearing. Pinkie silently closed the portal. "And I thought our universe was odd..." TIMELINE B "Maybe you can use your magic to shrink the plant back to it's normal size Twilight. That way it won't be able eat ponies anymore and we can just return it to the Everfree Forest." Suggested Spike. Twilight shook her head. "It is not that easy Spike. True, I could cast an -instantaneous- transmutation spell to try to shrink it down to a more manageable size. However, it would require an massive amount of magic for it too work properly, especially if the subject actively rejects the changes." "Well it is a good thing that Trixie is here to assist then." Trixie stated. Twilight forgot Trixie was also here. With her their combined magic perhaps this could work. "Ah don't know about this idea. What if Pinkie is right and something goes 'inexplicably and ironically wrong'? Asked Applejack. "But if it works we won't have to harm it. I say we should give it a try." Said Fluttershy. After a quick discussion the group of friends were in agreement. The pony eating plant held up another sign. "Don't I get a say in the matter?" Ignoring the plant's sign, the two bearers of the element of magic concentrated their magic on the huge Venus fly trap. The blue and violet auras swirled around together to form a small tornado around the plant which was helpless to do anything within its glass prison. After a few seconds the magic died down to revealed an angry Venus Fly Trap the size of an new born foal. "Way to go Twilight! I knew you could do it!" Cheered Spike. Trixie gave Spike a stern glare. "Oh and you too Trixie" Spike quickly added. Fluttershy flew over and remove the tiny glass container that held the equally tiny carnivorous plant. "There there don't be afraid." She picked the plant up. "I won't hurt you, I am just going help take you back to your home in the forest." "You better bring somepony with you." Twilight warned. She shuttered when she remember the cockatrice incident. "No worries. I will go. With me coming, we will be back in no time flat." Said Rainbow Dash. The athlete hastily pushed the flutters out the door while still grasping the plant. "Silly Dash. Time isn't flat. And it isn't round despite most clock being round. Which is really weird. No time is more like-" "a big of ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey...stuff." "I was going to say an ocean in a storm. But that works too. Hey wait a minute when did you get here?" Pinkie asked a brown coated stallion with an hour-glass cutie mark. "Exactly 10.3 seconds ago. As for why I am here, I was hoping to find Derpy. You wouldn't happen to have seen her have you?" "She was here to deliver an letter earlier but that was several hours ago...or 18 story sections ago." She whispered the last part to the camera. "Blast it, oh well thanks anyway. If she stops by again please tell her I am looking for her." Said the Doctor before running out of the studio. The wolf growled. "How dare he meddle with this world's timeline." But before he could chase after the insertion that had somehow eluded him for so long, Pinkie threw a squeak toy in front of him. It was in the shape of a cervicorn wearing a gaudy uniform. The wolf instantaneous forgot about his prey and started to happily chew on it. "Um talking about looking for somepony. Has anypony seen Applejack? I can't seem to find her?" Asked Rarity. Everypony and dragon looked around the studio for their friend but to no avail. Did she leave without telling anypony? Just then Spike found something laying on the Studio floor. "Hey isn't that AJ's hat?" Spike announced. "It is but where is Applejack? She would never abandon her hat willingly. She always has it on her head." Said Rarity. "Maybe she still is wearing it" Pinkie said. "Huh!? What do you mean Pinkie?" "Ah 'inexplicably and ironically wrong' that was what Pinkie said would happen if we used to magic to fix our problems. Don't you see Twilight that why we can't find Applejack ,the spell must have backfired and shrunk AJ to the size of an apple, just like the time with the the poison joke. She probably stuck underneath her hat or worse under our feet/hooves." Spike panicky checked his feet while the rest of the girls did the same, except for Twilight who simply let out a groan. "Spike don't be ridiculous. Trixie and I did not shrink Applejack. She probably remember she had something important to do and left in such a hurry she forgot her hat. Doesn't that sound more likely than a spell somehow hitting a pony when the target of the spell was on the other side of the studio." "Then explain why AJ's hat is moving." Spike pointed a finger at the shaking hat. "Ugh... but that is... impossible...how did...but....Applejack is that really you?" Some muffled sounds came from the hat. "I am so sorry Applejack. Please forgive me. I don't know what went wrong." "Trixie is even more sorry and hope you will forgive her. And please don't mention this to her sisters." "Don't mention what?" "That Trixie and Twilight accidentally shrunk AJ when only trying to shrink the pony-eating plant of course. Duh Applejack where have you been...wait Applejack!" Said Pinkie. Everypony turned around to see Applejack at the doorway being bear-hugged by Pinkie. "APPLEJACK" the rest shouted. "Ow not so loud. Ah was only gone for a few minutes didn't think y’all would miss me that much." "Where have you been Applejack we were worried about you" Asked Rarity. "Thought ah saw that changeling or whatever its called outside the studio and thought ah try catch to him/her. Darn varmint must have got away though." "But what I don't understand is if you are here then who is underneath you hat?" Asked Twilight. "Well only one way to find out." Pinkie walked over and picked up the stetson to reveal... ANGEL laughing on the floor. "Hmph I didn't think it was funny." Just then a familiar cyan Pegasus followed by a buttermilk Pegasus flew into the studio. "And we are back. Heh that has to be new record." "Oh hi Angel what are you doing here. I thought I asked you to stay at the cottage." Angel with a smirk proceeded to hop up into his caretaker's hooves. Fluttershy didn't seem to notice any of the angry glares directed at Angel for his prank. Pinkie looked at the camera. "Looks like the party is back on again" Timeline A Fluttershy said, "Girls, I think I need a little time . . . away from the party right now." Ever loyal Rainbow Dash said, "Mine if I come along?" "T-thank you Rainbow Dash." The two hugged and flew out of the studio. - Timeline Now Merged Rarity sighed, "At least that dreadful plant wasn't a school project for Sweetie Belle after all . . . what? I care about my little sister's academic achievements." Pinkie Pie went over the list, "Okay, so right now we have Blanky-" "Who?" The ponies all asked. The reality-error erasing beastie pup looked up. "Never mind. We have Twilight, me, Rarity, AJ, Trixie, Spike. YES! We're in the single digit safe zone." "Pinkie Pie, what do you mean safe zone?" Spike asked first. "Well, the audience might get confused if we have too many here at once." And Pinkie Pie knew the show might ground to a stop if there were too many characters to keep track of at once for the shadows to write. "I . . . GUESS that makes sense." Spike said. There was a knock at the door. Except it seemed to be coming from the opposite end of the studio. "I'll get that!" Pinkie Pie, her friends looked at each other as she pulled back a curtain, and drew a door on the wall, and opened it. - "Hello different version of my sister." the figure behind the door said, Pinkie, Pinkie felt her brain be reality contaminated and recognized her as Maud Pie. "Oh hello so your my sister in the Heart World." "Correct." "So did you get mention at your first appearance like the Heart World Shining?" "Actually i was first mention. in the children book Pinkie Pie and the Rockin' Ponypalooza. I was not mention by name but there was a passage alluding that the the eldest sister was keeping an eye at the family homestead." "OH yeah I heard about that it reveals ma's name is Cloudy Quartz and dads called Igneous (Iggy) Rock," Pinkie said "So why did you appear later in my first party....were we not close as children?" "Actually I was working a different part of the field." "That not dramatic," Pinkie said. "My apologies. If you excuse I have to go," Maud Hugged her alternate sister before leaving (She also left a rock candy necklace for her alternate sister) (which Blank Wolf pup promptly ate before Pinkie Pie could). "Continuity!" The pup said proudly. "WHAT-, was that all about?" Rarity asked as Pinkie Pie came out from behind the curtain. "Oh nothing!" Pinkie Pie grinned. Rarity said, "Well, if there are no objections I'm afraid I may wish to leave now to check on Sweetie Belle after her own plant tried to digest her. Are there no objections?" - Pinkie Pie went back to wrestling with the What-If machine, and Spike found the party snacks and started passing them around. That’s weird, thought Applejack, noticing a box of cupcakes. Eleven cupcakes in neat rows, fresh from the Cakes’ shop, with one empty space. Somepony must have already had a cupcake, but she couldn’t remember… Then her eyes widened as a small white wolf padded into her field of view, took a cupcake right out of the box in his jaws, and ate the snack in two chomps! “You! I remember you!” Of course… she must have forgotten, with all the excitement over the flytrap and all. “How’d you get in here?” The wolf pup seemed startled, then shook himself and gave a happy bark, trotting in a loop around her hooves and wagging his tail. “Don’t you give me that!” said AJ, deeply suspicious. “Ah know the difference between a dog and a wolf.” “That giant evil flytrap scared the willies out of me,” Twilight remarked, as if she’d completely failed to notice Applejack talking to a strange wolf in the middle of the studio. “It’s a good thing Stud Muffin was here to save us.” “Trixie thinks he’s so dreamy!” She and Twilight both sighed, practically melting to the floor. Applejack twitched. She could have sworn the wolf pup sat up straighter too, ears perked. “Stud.. Muffin?” “Our one and only alicorn prince!” said Pinkie enthusiastically. “Ooh ooh I hope he comes back soon!” “I wouldn’t count on that,” said Twilight, grinning cattily. “He went to escrow Rarity home, after all…” “What?!!!” Spike grabbed his head in his hands. “My Rarity!?? She wouldn’t! What’s he got that I haven’t got?” “Well, those muscles for a start.” “And that mane!” Trixie chimed in. “His deep blue eyes…” “Trixie is certain they are green.” “Blue and green!” Applejack opened her mouth to ask if everypony had gone plum crazy, but what came out was “Ah’d like to get him home, show him our new pig barn, and get down and dirty… if ya know what ah mean.” What?! No… this was all wrong! The wolf pup started growling. It got worse when the studio door opened and a handsome pony with sparkling blue and green eyes grinned in at them, so large that he had to duck to get his magnificent wings through the doorway. “Oh girls, I’m baaack….” Applejack realized with growing horror that she was about to gallop right across the stage and nuzzle into his handsome flank… The wolf pup *howled* and leapt, claws flashing. The “prince” barely had time for a strangled scream before… Applejack stood over by the box of cupcakes, and the others were gathered around the What-If machine, like nothing had happened… except for Pinkie Pie, who popped over to give a big cheer and toss the wolf pup another cupcake. “Good boy! Gosh, two in one episode! I’ve gotta get this place fumigated.” Applejack blinked slowly at the wolf pup, who looked back up at her, golden eyes catching the light. “Did you bring any cider, Pinkie? Ah could sure use some.” - "Uh." Pinkie Pie said. Considering the controversy that happened when she last offered her friends drinks, she wasn't eager to repeat it. "Sorry Applejack, I don't have any." Applejack grumbled, "Maybe I'll head back to the farm for a bit, time always seems to be weird whenever we have one of these parties. I'll be right back." AJ glared at the wolf, "And YOU better not cause any trouble! YA GOT ME?" Trixie and Twilight looked at each other, why was Applejack talking to thin air? "Applejack, having you been overworking yourself again? Maybe you need a vacation." Twilight asked worried. "Can ya see it?" "See what?" "The freaky wolf pup right there!" " . . . Uh, Applejack, there's nothing there." "How can ya NOT see it?" "Maybe one of my illusion spells misfired." Trixie thought. "GAG~! Now Ah really need a drink! Ah'll be right back!" Twilight whispered to Spike, "Go with her, if she starts acting 'Applebuck Season' get back here on the double." Spike saluted and shadowed after Applejack as they left. Pinkie Pie looked around. Now it was just her, the two elements of magic, and the wolf. "Wow. This party sure shrank fast." Pinkie Pie, not sure if she was happy or sad about that. "Don't worry Pinkie Pie, Trixie's sure the others will be back for the after-party soon enough." "I hope so." And the what-if machine flickered on. "HAIL QUEEN RARITY!" "WE LOVE YOU QUEEN RARITY!" "FOREVER REIGN QUEEN RARITY!" The crowd of ponies cheered for one of the six harmony queens. Glittering confetti showered down as her carried moved through the street of Manehatten. Rarity politely waved back at her adoring fans. Several former elites, were giving her the stink eye as her carriage finished passing, but they were drowned out by the horde of working class and formerly unemployed ponies (Rarity had ensured that wasn't one pony without a job in Equestria as part of her own economic plan, her word WAS the economy now). Before Queen Rarity, many of them had given up hope of ever having the amount of bits that were now equalized among the population each month. Many had toiled at low paying dead-end jobs as grunt labor. Now Queen Rarity ensured ALL were able to enjoy a healthy standard of living. The others were already here, but Rarity felt it was important for the Ponies of Manehatten got a chance to see their queens. Twilight had been hesitant and worried about taking the Elements out of Canterlot, but Rarity had insisted it was a sign of trust to their subjects, and they had to know their queens weren't coup up in Canterlot making dictations with no idea what was going on in Equestria, that was the first step towards tyranny. They were here for a reharmonization. Due to the ponies involved, Rarity had insisted on handling things besides the group use of the Elements herself. "COCO! YOU BACK STABBING LITTLE WITCH! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME?! I TAUGHT YOU EVERYTHING YOU KNOW YOU WORTHLESS FILLY! I TOOK YOU UNDER MY WING! WITHOUT ME YOU'D BE NOTHING! NOTHING!" Suri Polomare snarled. Coco Pommel sighed. "I couldn't take it anymore Suri. All the lies? All the cheating? All the stolen designs? The sleepless nights? The constant put downs? The way I was your shill for so many of them? I was got sick of it. I couldn't take it anymore. I'm sorry Suri. But you SERIOUSLY have something wrong with you." "IT'S EVERY PONY FOR HERSELF IN MANEHATTEN! IT'S WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO SURVIVE! Anything else is just fooling themselves! Ponies have their wits and are selfish or naive to how the real world works!!" "Not anymore." Queen Rarity said. Suri was dragged away by the two royal guards into the room where the others were waiting. "EVERYPONY FOR HERSELF! EVERYPONY FOR HERSELF! EVERYPONY FOR HERSELF!!!!" "I didn't tell her the WHOLE truth . . . Should I go in and be reharmonized with her?" Coco asked her queen. "Dear," Rarity said, "We're not lunatics, we hear out ponies." "Well . . . under Suri, I really began to believe what she thought, it was all about yourself, and only yourself, and so was everypony else but . . ." She looked into Rarity's eyes. "When you faced up to the Princesses to make Equestria a better place . . . you . . . you inspired me. I've been under Suri's hoof so long that it felt like going against what she said would be the said as challenging Celestia. But . . . but you . . . you weren't doing it for yourself. You were doing it for EVERYPONY! That took so much courage and . . . and if that kind of courage can exist, then I thought I had the courage to finally go against Suri too." Rarity ruffled the mare mane. "And you did a very brave thing Coco, thank you. Suri will be better soon, I promise." Coco prostrated herself. "Thank you, Your Majesty. Praise be to you." "Stop that." Rarity said. Coco looked up confused. "I'm not an Alicorn. I'm not a goddess. I'm not supposed to be worshipped. Myself and my friends are only someponies who did what they HAD TO do. Not what they WANTED to do. I NEVER wanted, and I STILL DON'T want Celestia and Luna frozen as statues. It kills Twilight a little inside each day they stay like that, just so we can have our chance to show Their Majesties that we're making things BETTER for ponies, not worse. But she knows it's for the good of EVERYPONY. Just like YOU DID Coco! You didn't WANT to face up to Suri, but you DID. If what WE DID makes us Queens, that makes YOU a queen yourself, and everypony when they do something they don't want to, but know it's for the better to do it." "Y-You mean it your majesty?" "PLEASE! Call me Rarity. All my friends do. And I'm happy to have YOU as a friend Coco, and I look forward to when I can have EVERYPONY call me Rarity." Coco blushed. One of the queen of harmony, the ones who had make Equestria the jewel it was meant to be, was telling HER that she was as strong as the queens themselves for standing up to Suri's bullying. "T-thank you." "Now now dear, this is something to be proud of, not everypony can stand up to what's wrong, do what's right, even if it's not 'correct' and be brave enough to face the consequences. And no, you don't look to be in any need of reharmonization to me. Can you please wait here while we make Suri whole?" Coco nodded. "Good filly. I promise we'll be right back out." A half hour later, Suri was on her hooves and knees crying her eyes out in front of Coco. "COCO I'M SO SORRY! I NEVER SHOULD HAVE TREATED YoU SO AWFULLY! YOU WEREN'T MY ASSISTANT! You . . . you were my PARTNER in everything we did, and I . . . I treated you like dirt. You put more effort into OUR projects than I did, and kept treating you as expendable! You're not! I'm sorry if I ever told you were! You're a wonderful designer! And all I did was belittle and use you! I used EVERYPONY! I could see that ponies helping ponies was more effort but paid off in the end, but I was too lazy to CARE! Betrayal was my bread and butter! I'm so sorry Coco! Please forgive me!" Suri sniffled at the little mare's hooves. Coco brought Suri into a hug. "It's okay Suri, you were sick before, you've been sick for a very long time. But now you're well and . . . if you really want to be partners now . . . I . . . I'd be happy to have you . .. as a friend." "F-friend?" "Yes. You're free Suri and . . . I'm so happy for you." Suri hugged her back. Suri then looked to Rarity (not wearing any of her regalia, and wore a simple (by Rarity standards) dress instead). "Queen Rarity, thank you . . . for making me whole. I REALLY WAS broken on the inside. I broke myself, but I couldn't FIX myself. Thank you. Please thank you." Suri said in genuine gratitude. Thinking of the years she had wasted letting her own special talent rot as she sponged off of others. Rarity bowed to the two ponies. "I'm just happy my friends and I were able to help a sick pony be well, and as it so happens . . . Canterlot might have an opening for the two of you . . ." Coco gasped. "R-really?" "You've shown more courage than many ponies I know Coco, that should be rewarded. I'll be happy to have you and Suri with me. She has her whole life ahead of her now." "I think I'm finally ready to HAVE a life instead of just stealing it from others." Suri sighed. "Thank you Rarity." Coco said. "What are friends for?" They all hugged. "Uh . . . I'm really having a hard time siding with pre-zapping Suri here," Pinkie Pie said. "And I'm having a harder time calling what Rarity did there . . . ya know, 'evil?'" - Twilight very carefully summoned a podium. She wasn't quite sure how to tackle this one, but she had some ideas of how to think about the situation. "Well Pinkie," she began. Suddenly, a letter flew into the studio. The wolf seemed to sense there was an insert being used somehow, but the letter landed in Pinkie's hoofs before he could snap at it. Pinkie looked it over. "Oh. It's from that shadow who critiques that we haven't seen in a long time. Well, let's see what he has to say about the situation." Dear Pinkie, I suppose you're wondering why I'm writing in regards to what Harmony Queen Rarity's actions were with that thieving designer from well, that place that you will never truly see in your world. Well, I may not think that Suri is right in her execution, but I can understand her perspective. You see, one thing that you as a small town pony may never quite understand (and that your world will never need to directly address due to the setting, tone and prosperity of your world) is the problem of the city and how it beats you down whenever you're looking to "make it big". I'm a performing pony of sorts as well. The problem is that in our world, so many of us think that we're gonna make it big in one or 2 places on our nation, and that we're gonna be able to charm, act, look, sing or move into the spotlight with ease. Yet with so may people trying to do that, so many of us end up disappointed. Either giving up, going somewhere else or scrounging about for whatever works in our area of choice. Or even going broke on account of a limited "supply" offered to us. What Suri reflects in talking about Manehattan is what's known as the "classic" mentality of how you're gonna make it in the big city. That sometimes to make it big and make it through, you have to depend only on yourself, because anything else will slow you down. THAT is what Suri's reflecting in her views. Self will to the highest degree. However, her big problem though is that she's taken that mantra of survival, and translated that into "any action that gets me ahead is the right action." which has given herself permission to act only with her own self interest in mind. In this mindset, she MUST steal, cheat and over work in order to get ahead. Otherwise, she'll be failing her goddess of success. In fact, in our world, we see too many broken shells of people who try this mindset and then fall hard without anyone to catch them when they slip up, get discovered or just get old. HOWEVER, this then loops around to the heart of the question that the harmony queens ask both us shadows and you. How often is it "right" to use the elements of harmony? While the traditional answer is typically "only in an emergency", the queens say that you should use them as often as you can in order to change pony's hearts to seeing the evils they've committed, or to wipe out the evils that plagued their world. What they then are working off of is the mentality that doing things "For their betterment" allows them to break through whatever boundaries they want. That their rights to keep discord locked away, spread harmony throughout the land and their rights as bearers overturn any other objection in regards to prudence, or trying to change ponies the "old fashioned way". They may put on faces saying that they don't take pleasure in imprisoning the princesses, but ultimately, they cannot let their utopian vision be stopped by any existing structures that they have. This is actually something that I cannot speak to properly, since in our world, only drugs and death could truly "force" someone to change, and even then, we all KNEW that it was artificial. But magical rainbows? That's a bit outside our normal moral framework. I suppose to give you the best perspective I can on the situation, I offer this. Is magically induced change a true change at all? Or is the only true change a mare can have is if they change themselves? Remember, the elements are partially laced with the powers of fauna luster. So is her will to empathy and life being used properly in their use here? If you can say yes, then perhaps there are bits of social change that you as the bearers can actually do. Is this something that you all would be willing to do in order to stop this kind of suffering in the world? The choice is yours. PS: In case this doesn't make it to you due to being way too long and twilighty, sorry. "Twilighty?" Twilight asked. Pinkie didn't immediately respond to that. Instead, she put down the letter, and began to think. - After thinking for a while, Pinkie Pie said, "Okay, this goes against my better judgement, but I think the What-If Machine should show us some more stuff about the Harmony Queens. We need to get a better idea of what they're really like." The What-If Machine whirred to life again right on cue. It was a bright and sunny day in Canterlot, in all of Equestria really. The six bearers of the Elements of Harmony sat around the round table. "So what's for lunch today? I hope it's cupcakes! It's always great to have cupcakes!" Pinkie Pie said. "Darling if it was up to you every meal would be cupcakes. And technically, they're desert dear, not a meal." Rarity corrected politely. "Oh, okay." Pinkie nodded. "Ah think Ah'll just go for some salad myself," AJ said. "I think I'll try that new Veggie Burger they've been talking about," RD spoke. "Uh, I'll just have whatever you girls are having," Fluttershy said. "Just a daisy sandwich for me will do," Twilight said, not even thinking about it. "So what's on the agenda today?" RD leaned back in her throne, covered in Wonderbolt's posters and sporting an eight speaker sound system and build in CD player and miniature TV and a soda dispenser. "Well now that we've burned Everfree Forest to the ground dears, I'd say it's time for replanting," Rarity said elegantly in her golden and diamond encrusted throne with red plush. "That was a great idea of mine wasn't it? Celestia should have done that forever ago!" RD said proudly. "That's why I'm Captain Of the Wonderbolts!" Queen Fluttershy leaned forward a bit in her simple wooden kitchen chair, "Uh, aren't you captain because you told them to make you captain?" "Like duh! But I did because I come up with great ideas like that!" Queen Rarity said, "Not as good as my redistribution of wealth plan. It's finally done. There's not a pony in Equestria who has more or less bits than anyone else now." "Uh, big sister," Said Sweetie Belle in a small voice, "I got the reports from the Reeducation School today. They had several new graduates today." "Thank you Sweetie! Those school were my best idea for Equestria ever! Isn't that right Applebloom? Your friend Twist is much better now she has pretty hair and has finally gotten rid of that lisp isn't she? And let's not get started on the work needed to be done on Snips and Snails." Applebloom just nodded, doing her hardest not to frown or think bad thoughts. "It did wonders for my parents and it does wonders for everypony else I'd say," Queen Rarity said proudly. "YEAH!" Queen Pinkie Pie hit a button on her own throne, today it was pink with polka dots. Confetti and sparkles exploded from several pipes on the garish monstrosity. "It calls for a celebration! What holiday is today?" Applebloom looked at a note pad. "Uh none?" "Oh! Well that's no good! We need to invent one! I got it! Donut Day!" "That was last month your Pinkieness." "Oh! Really? Too bad! Don't worry, just get the preparations ready! I'll think of something by the time they're ready." "Yes your Pinkieness." Applebloom just bowed. "Big sister," Applebloom said, "A pony in Manehatten said he thought the food was okay at a restaurant when he really hated it." "Burn down his house," Queen Applejack said without looking up from her lunch. She sat in a modest office chair. "Okay Big sister." "A mare slapped a stallion for saying a comment she didn't like." Sweetie Belle said looking at her list. Queen Fluttershy said, "Please see the mare has an anti-violence geass put on her. And have a geass place on the Stallion's voice so he can't talk please. It's for their own good. Can you see that's done, please girls?" "As you wish," Sweetie Belle said, doing her best not to sigh, not so much as twitch an eye. Keeping her face exactly as was expected. "Miss Cheerilee was heard crying in her house last evening in Ponyville," Applebloom read off the report. "Make her cupcakes." Queen Pinkie Pie said, "Make sure they're a kind she likes. She's not leaving the Happy House until she's eaten every last one, double the amount of Happy Sauce in them." "Yes your Pinkieness." "So Twilight, er, Queen Twilight," Spike said. "Spike, it's okay, you can still call me Twilight, we're friends remember?" "Oh, right yeah. Well... We finished burning those banned books from your newest list from every Library in Equestria. Including books on Alchemy, Zebra Voodoo, super-naturals, and styles of magic outside the main eight arts." "Good. Everypony's going to be cheering now all that irrational and absurd nonsense is gone. And magic's progress can march forward WITHOUT fictional schools of magic to distract everyone. Have anypony found practicing it brought for reeducation. We need to free their minds of all those lies," Twilight said proudly, sitting on Celestia's old throne. "Yes Twilight." "Big sister," Sweetie Belle said, "Don't you think we should let mom and dad out of that . .. school now? They're doing much better! They sure look pretty to me!" "Oh Sweetie Belle." Rarity patted her on the head. "You'll understand when you're a grown up. These things take time. They SAY they believe in beauty and equality, but they have to BELIEVE it too. Don't worry dear." Queen RD took a can from the soda dispenser on her throne only to realize it was empty. "HEY! HALF-PINT! I TOLD YOU TO KEEP THIS THING FULL!" She threw the last empty can at Scootaloo, hitting her square in the head. "Sorry Your Super-Duper-Awesome-Radicalness." Another can hit her in the face. "YOU LEFT OUT ULTRA-COOLNESS!" "OH! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Scootaloo said getting on all four knees bopping her head up and down. Her court jester costume was orange and blacks. "Oh dear, sounds like someone needs a strong dose of happy today." Queen Pinkie Pie said looking at Scootaloo. "Don't worry we'll fix you right up!" Queen Twilight meanwhile looked behind the throne at a pair of silver and golden statues. "I'm sure you've changed your mind about our new system by now Princess. It's much better this way. No chance for Alicorns to fight among themselves. Everything working perfectly. And all the things you couldn't do without ruining your image or having to go through all the red tape. I know you've realized and accepted the new system by now. I know you have." Twilight said smiling at the golden statue set in a gigantic clockwork system of gears and cogs manipulating the Royal Pony Sisters' magic to keep the sky running in perfect order. "Now let's get the important things out of the way." Queen Twilight said pushing a button next to her throne. This made a hole open up in the middle of the round table, bringing up a restrained Zecora and Lyra. Queen Twilight was happy they had gotten much better control of their Elements since the old days. They had made sure Trixie, Blueblood, Upper Crust, and the Flim Flam brothers were all kept comfortable. The process had left Trixie so brain damaged in particular she was practically a wind-up doll. Twilight still took time out each day to apologize to them. "Hello Zecora," Queen Twilight said politely. "Hello Lyra Heartstrings." "Please. Just do to me what you have to the sun, do not act as if this is fun." Zecora said simply keeping her head held high. "PLEASE! I Shouldn't be here!" Lyra begged. "Don't worry," Queen Twilight said, "We do this every day to cleanse ponies like you of disharmonious thoughts and feelings!" "And according to Bon-Bon," Queen Pinkie Pie said, "You've been cranky in the morning, telling lies about not being sad, AND this is your second reharmonization in two months! You should feel happy that Bon-Bon cares enough about you that she was willing to tell us." Lyra just cried. "Let's begin girls." Twilight said as the Elements of Harmony they all wore shone bright and became their rainbow that washed over the pony and zebra. Pinkie Pie said, "Okay, that gives us a better idea of how they act. So show of hooves. Who else thinks the Harmony Queens are going too far in their crusade?" The verdict was unanimous. Even the Blank Wolf Pup raised a claw in agreement. The what if machine flickered on again. - "What are you doing here?" Said the stallion whose house had just been burned down on order of the harmony queens for telling a lie. Queen Applejack said politely with several ponies behind here, "We burned your house down, and now we're going to help you rebuild it. Also, Twilight teleported all your furniture out before the flames caught." - "Well that's an interesting retcon," Pinkie Pie said. - "Oh Trixie!" "Oh Twilight!" Trixie freaked out and gave the what-if a good wack. "Oh Trixie!" "Oh Spike!" BOTH Trixie and Spike screamed and gave the machine another hit. "I now pronounce you mare, and mare, and mare, and mare, and dragon, and mare, and mare, and mare-" "ENOUGH!" Twilight shouted turning off the machine. She panted. "Look! I like you girls, but not in THAT WAY! I don't even swing that way!" "Neither does Trixie! Trixie loves you like the single sister she never got, but Trixie is not into that sort of thing." "And I was kinda hoping for a monoamorous thing with Rarity." Spike twiddled his thumb-claws. Pinkie Pie said, "At least it didn't show us a universes where a left for dead Trixie was made into the new Nightmare Queen by the Nightmare Minions after the old Nightmare Queen was defeated, but had really taken over Twilight's body and had corrupted the others, and then returned to reclaim her throne after Trixie had disposed of the others and the two had an epic battle over who would be the real Nightmare Queen." The others just stared at her. Pinkie Pie blinked, "What? . . . Oh. Sorry. Hey! Let's try the machine again! Maybe we'll get the universe where we all met as foals, where Discord wasn't really that bad to start out, and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna live among us disguised as normal ponies?" - The What-If machine wasn’t so cooperative, though… ---- When Nightmare Mirror looked directly into her eyes, it was hard to keep her legs from shaking. “Twilight Sparkle. Ah see you’ve come alone, with a clever idea. Just like ah’d expect from you. It won’t work, though.” Twilight stood her ground, defiant. “Don’t just write me off before I’ve even tried!” Was that a ghost of a smile on her corrupted friend’s face? “Try it, then.” Twilight assumed her best teacher’s pet pose. “This sentence is false…” The Nightmare gazed evenly at her. Twilight waited for Nightmare Mirror to grow confused, or contort in pain… she wasn’t sure what would happen exactly… but it was Twilight herself who was struck by sudden intolerable pressure, like a collar closing on her throat! No! She’d been so sure! She hadn’t told a lie, she hadn’t! The Nightmare’s eyes narrowed. The whole hall was covered in mirrors. Everywhere Twilight looked, those eyes stared back, boring into her. Say it, they demanded. Twilight couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe! Tell the Truth! Say it! Twilight spat out, “… is an example of a paradoxical statement which is properly neither true nor false!” The purple unicorn all but fell to the floor, gasping for air. The Nightmare spoke again. “Ah could have told you that Luna already done tried that, but you probably still would have tried anyway. Nearly got me, that first time. It was a good idea." Twilight stumbled to her hooves again. “We’ll stop you, somehow!” And once again, Twilight couldn’t leave it at that, couldn’t say something that she knew might not be true, especially not here, to Nightmare Mirror’s face. “I hope. I have faith that we’ll find some way, even though I have no idea now how we could possibly do that.” The compulsion faded, but she continued of her own will out of frustration. “Because you’re still our friend, even if you’ve become a monster.” Twilight Sparkle recoiled from her own words. She waited for the compulsion to make her correct what she'd said or take it back, but... nothing. It was true. She turned and fled the hall, ashamed. ---- “That was awful,” said Twilight quietly. “I’m glad our Applejack wasn’t here to see that.” Twilight lifted a hoof to shut the machine off… and Nightmare Mirror looked straight at her! “You there! You ponies watching from that other world.” Everypony yelped and jumped back a few paces. “No way, this can’t be happening!” said Spike. His eyes bugged out. “…would be a silly thing to say, because it clearly is happening.” The little dragon clapped his paws over his mouth. Ignoring that, the Nightmare spoke, “Ah see another Twilight Sparkle from yet another world coming to visit y’all. Don’t you believe her lies. Maybe ah can’t come over there and fix up your world full of little lies good and proper, but she’s coming with a lot bigger lies, so don’t you fall for it.” Pinkie Pie yanked the What-If machine’s power cord out of the socket. The wolf gave Pinkie Pie a look. "Hey! I've never said it DIDN'T have a power cord!" - "Spike! When did you get here?" "AJ said she'd be here in a minute. She asked me to go ahead. I offered to help with the choirs but she said she had a bad feeling about that." - Suddenly, a portal appeared, and a second Twilight Sparkle emerged - one who was similar, but different, and extremely familiar to all those present, as they had just had a glimpse of her world earlier. She said, "I'm afraid the Discords from multiple realities have joined forces and are threatening all of reality, and the only way to stop them is if multiple Elements of Harmony from multiple realities join forces." Twilight said, "Sorry, but we kind of got a warning that a Twilight Sparkle from another world would come and try to feed us a bunch of lies, so we're not falling for that trick. Besides, we already got a look at your world and your false harmony earlier, Queen Twilight Sparkle!" Queen Twilight Sparkle said, "If you had stopped with the part where you saw through my lie, I would have been content to leave you alone. But calling the harmony that I have helped maintain in my world false? I can't let that slide! I demand a magic duel!" Twilight thought to herself for a moment. "If we back down, we'll be conceding to her. But if she's anything like me, she'll have countermeasures for everything she'd know I'd do, because that's what I'd do if I were in her situation. What do I do?" Just then, a voice said, "Challenge accepted. But you will not be facing your counterpart. This is the One and Only Trixie's stage now!" Queen Twilight Sparkle said, "You're kidding. You're kidding, right? A mare who only has skill at stage magic, challenging me? You're quite clearly underestimating me, Trixie." Trixie said, "It seems to Trixie that if anything, you are the one underestimating her! But then again, Trixie can understand if you're scared!" This got a visible reaction from Queen Twilight Sparkle. "Why would I be scared of you?" Trixie grinned and said, "It's quite simple. If you are anything like this world's Twilight Sparkle, you would never set out to do anything without it being something on your checklist! No offense intended to this world's Twilight, but it is quite difficult for you to adapt to unexpected developments. Trixie, however, is quite good at doing just that!" Queen Twilight Sparkle said, "Fine. I'll take you on, if only to put you in your place. But first, answer one question for me. How did you recover from what Discord did to you?" Trixie said, "It's quite simple. She used friendship, and Trixie is not talking about the Elements of Harmony! She held out her hoof to give Trixie support when Trixie had fallen into the depths of despair. And in doing so, she allowed Trixie to be reborn as her true self! Now, prepare for battle, if you're truly not scared! For anything you can do, Trixie can do just as well!" ~ "OH THIS IS PERFECT!" Queen Twilight grinned and clapped. "You've made some real progress Trixie! Says 'as good as' opposed to 'better than'? That's the kind of attitude our kingdom needs! And you did a great job Twilight Sparkle! I couldn't have done better myself." "I know you couldn't have! You used the Elements to change ponies against their will." Twilight said. "Actually Twilight," Pinkie Pie hopping next to Twilight, "Isn't that kinda what you did? Didn't you say how what you were doing wasn't 'all that different from what Discord did?' That you were going into a pony's soul against their will and remaking them? Didn't Trixie say how she felt like she had DIED and become a different pony? Didn't you do it because it was for Trixie's own good, and because of the damage Discord has left behind that needed to be fixed? Because she was clearly tainted by disharmony and clearly wasn't thinking straight?" "P-Pinkie?! How could you know all that?!" "Audio Adaption." Pinkie Pie shrugged munching pop corn. "You're looking great Spike! Nice to see you're my number one assistant here too!" "Don't talk to me." "I'm sorry Spike . . . I sincerely, truly am. You'll always be family to me." "Uh, weren't you challenging Trixie to a petty pointless magic duel?" Trixie said. "Oh right! Sorry! A pity this is all happening in a quantum state of being or I could do some good here." The wolf growled. This Twilight Sparkle didn't belong here. She wasn't from this reality. But in the quantum state, she was granted limited protection. Queen Twilight quickly summoned some animals and did an infinitely loop symbol. -SPELL COPY!- Which Trixie was able to replicate perfectly. "You . . . the Element of Magic?" "Adaption! You really need to watch it Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said. "Oh right, thanks Pinkie Pie." "Welcome!" "Well, I regret even more this is all non-canon, or I could just use this knowledge to help my Trixie, oh well. Since you can just copy any spell I do, I'll just have to do what isn't covered in the spell itself." Queen Twilight then used her magic to create a dizzying mathematical equation above her head that made Trixie's head hurt just looking at it. Five minutes later had Trixie surrounded by a mountain of notes as she struggled to make heads or tails of the magical equation. "CARRY THE Y TRIXIE!" Twilight shouted. "No helping." Queen Twilight said. Then Pinkie Pie hopped onto stage, covered in ribbons and broccoli stuffed in her mouth that she finally managed to spit out. "Twilight! That wasn't me! Well, not the me you know really good! That's Queenie Pinkie Pie!" "Isn't it great how I've helped all of Equestria smile?" QUEEN Pinkie Pie said. Queen Twilight just HAD TO explain. "Didn't you wonder how we knew all this or how to plan this? OUR Pinkie Pie saw all this on HER What-If Machine for HER non-canon variety show!" Pinkie Pie finally got out of the ribbons. This were even tighter than when Nightmare Granfalloon did this to her in that one episode. "You have a variety show too?!" "A Queen's gotta have a hobby." Queen Twilight said, "I must confess, I'm not the Element of Honesty, and my Applejack isn't 'Nightmare Mirror' was it? She understands when some of us need to lie. So . . . without further adue." Four other ponies appeared. "Say hello to the other Harmony Queens." "This place is in serious need of a fixer upper." Said Queen Rarity. Queen Applejack just silently scanned everything. Queen Rainbow Dash flew above the other with her arms cross looking smug, in other words, normal Rainbow Dash. Queen Fluttershy said, "Oh my! Would you mind please not fight? I mean, if this is all not really happening, then can we all just get along?" "WAIT! You're saying the challenge to a magic duel was-" "Just a delaying tactic until the others could pass through. But I NEVER EXPECTED my opponent to be TRIXIE! And the magic duel was really plan B. I really was going to just turn around and leave, but you made it clear with your 'false harmony' that you needed to be taught a lesson. You call our harmony fake, but the Elements of Harmony have never forsaken us, they've never stopped working, we're STILL being true to our virtues! We're PROTECTING ponies from disharmony!" "Alright everypony! We're back so what's . . . " Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stared as they entered the door way. "Sweetie Belle is in bed at last so . . . " Rarity also entered and stopped. "Well, Ah figured since time seems ta stop here that Ah could take a rest, and do the rest of the choirs easy and . . ." AJ also stopped and stared. "COUNTER-PART BATTLE!" The two Pinkies Pies shouted at once. "We've already kicked the flanks of Evil Luna and Evil Cleestia and their Mean Six Good Squad! You girls ain't nothin'! Even if ya are totally awesome!" Said Queen RD as they fought. "Right back at ya!" "I don't want to fight you! But I have to help my friends!" Queen Fluttershy said. "I don't want to fight you! But I have to help my friends!" Fluttershy return. Then Fluttercruel took control. "ME ON THE OTHER HOOF!" She punched Queen Fluttershy across the face, and then again, the mare just stood there. "FIGHT BACK YOU COWARD!" "Not against my own flesh and blood." Queen Fluttershy said not even trying to defend herself. Fluttercruel found herself unable to beat up a mare who wasn't even trying to hit back. "Darling! I must say this violence is very unbecoming!" "Yes it is! But sometimes a lady must do what she must!" "I'm happy to see you're agreeing with us." Said Queen Rarity. "NO I'M NOT!" Said Rarity. Pinkie Pie and Queen Pinkie sat in the corner doing 'rock paper scissors' with their hooves. "Let's keep this level two spells, if we unleash the big guns, our friends could be harmed in the splash damage." Said Queen Twilight. "AGREED!" Twilight said, and the two began throwing 'rolling flames' and 'magic missile' and 'shocking hoof' and other lower level magic at one another to keep from blowing up the studio. Queen Applejack spoke, "Ya don't want lies? Ya want truth? HERE'S TRUTH! All dem baddies ya fought long and hard to beat? WE KICKED THEIR ASSES! Chrysalis? Sombra? Sunset Shimmer? The Nightmares Forces? Empress Luna and Empress Celestia? The Mean Six? The Plunder Seeds? Ah know most of 'dem names don't mean a thing ta ya, YET, but in other worlds were you struggled and had to go through some personal growth and junk to beat 'em? WE KICKED THEIR FLANKS IN MINUTES! ALL OF THEM! I spotted Chrysalis and we took care of her! Sunset? Little thief never stood a chance! Sombra? Blasted them to nothing the moment he showed his big shadow-self! No fuss, no muss!" The two orange earth ponies changes punches like no tomorrow, making the entire studio shake. "But . . . BUT THAT'S CHEATING!" Pinkie Pie said in dismay. "You can't just say 'let's quickly dispose of this annoying little canon conflict so I can tell the story I WANT to tell'! That's the MARY SUE WAY! That's the sign of a bad story! If you have canon events, you can just skip them and them give some references later, but you don't need to rewrite it so your possession Sues kick flank tra-la-la! That's not showing any respect to the source material or to the ordeal the versions of us had to go through in the heart world! If you're going to go by the stations of canon, and your heroes have leveled up, then there's no reason that the villains can't simply up the ante themselves too! Events don't happen in a vacuum!" Queen Applejack ignored her. "Snowflakes aren't made by hoof anymore and wasting bits and pony power, nor are rainbows or rain! Or the changing of the seasons! Winter Wrap Up? Running Of the Leaves? GONE GONE GONE! Like the big business holidays they were! We got rid of all that overwhelmingly stupid superfluous horseapples! " Applejack snarled. "HEY YOU FLANK HOLE! Winter Wrap Up and Running Of the Leafs are proud Ponyville traditions! Just because they're a more effective way to do something doesn't mean it's the RIGHT way! Which all of you seemed to have forgotten!" "IT'S WORTH IT!!!" "WAIT! Where did Trixie and Spike go?" Rarity asked. "We went to get some reinforcements." Spike said as they stepped out of the portal spell the harmony queens had unwittingly left, "Though I'm not sure if she's help or not. But it was the only other coordinate we could get." A large Alicorn Applejack stepped out this one with eyes like a dragon, a flowing mane evening light, and polished mirror barding dotted with green jewels shaped to look like eyes. "NIGHTMARE MIRROR!" Twilight Sparkle shouted. "Howdy." Said the Nightmare. "Don't get yer panties in a knot. Ah Pinkie Pie swore ta help take care of the six of hypocrite harmony queens right away, and leave without causin' no other 'help' or trouble. And unlike SOME PONIES!" Mirror opened a wing to show heart world AJ and the events of 'last round up', Ah don't go makin' a promise and abuse the wordin'. If not fer that promise Ah'd stuff the hard needed truth down ALL your gullets like ya deserve! But Ah'll take what Ah can get. Ah'm a mare of mah word, like an Apple should be, and Ah don't go twistin' mah world just ta get what Ah want. but right now Ah've got six cowards who have been hidin' from the truth." - A short while later, the Blank Wolf Pup sat by the portal, occasionally ducking a spell or a flying combatant. On the other side of the portal, in the Harmony Queens’ studio, another Blank Wolf Pup sat and watched, nearly identical to the first. As one, they sighed. “I hate crisis crossovers.” Pup One perked his ears. “Do you remember that café back in the Pack Mother’s realm?” Pup Two’s mouth watered. “Ah, those heavenly peppered steaks! I haven’t been there since the third age, at least.” Pup One stood. “Let’s go.” Pup Two frowned. “You do remember, do you not, that the Blank Wolf isn’t supposed to *want* things? Still… we aren’t needed at the moment. We can step out for a bit.” Pinkie Pie flew past, fighting with Pinkie Pie. Both ponies had golden glowing manes, hooves just a blur as they punched and kicked and blocked. Pup One twitched. “Let’s get out of here before the Mistress herself turns up.” They nodded to each other and melted into the shadows. - Queen Twilight Sparkle said, "You say we've been running from the truth? And what truth is that?" Nightmare Mirror said, "One of the truth's you've been running from is that you've gone too far in this crusade to enforce harmony." Queen Twilight Sparkle said, "Sometimes, the ends justify the means..." Nightmare Mirror's eyes narrowed, and Queen Twilight Sparkle was compelled to say, "...is the sort of excuse that former heroes use to justify using methods that they know are too extreme, and if someone says it to defend their actions, it usually means they've gone too far." Nightmare Mirror said, "And when you said that what you did to your world's Trixie was the same as what this world's Twilight did, you conveniently left out a few details that you knew would prove you wrong." Panting from the compulsion that had been used on her, Queen Twilight Sparkle said, "What are you talking about? We didn't ignore any details...." which caused her to be compelled to say, "...except for how we didn't even know our world's Trixie was still suffering, and just wanted to fix her attitude, which ultimately only left her even more traumatized from us trying to use the Elements of Harmony to force such a drastic change in her. This world's Twilight Sparkle, however, looked for this world's Trixie because she found out that she was still suffering, and after determining that there really was no other option, she carefully used a spell to enter Trixie's mind and treat the problem, like a doctor using a scalpel to perform surgery on a patient." By the time she was done, her face was pale, both from how much she had said in a single breath, and because she was realizing the implications of her words. "Have we really fallen that far?" Pinkie Pie said, "Normally I'd call unnecessary roughness on the way Nightmare Mirror is tearing into Queen Twilight Sparkle, but since it's the Harmony Queens who are on the receiving end, I think I'll let it slide. They really need this sort of humble pie." - Queen Applejack shook off her counterpart and pushed Queen Twilight aside. “Out of the way, sugar. Let me handle this.” The Nightmare gave a great “Hah!”, like shards of grinding broken glass. “You can’t handle the Truth.” “Oh, and you can, *Nightmare* Mirror? Ah know how this works… you can’t put words in my mouth if Ah only speak the truth. Ah think we Harmony Queens did what was best for Equestria! Sure, we done wrong… but we did it to stop worse wrongs." “You truly belive that. But have you examined your beliefs? Do you have the facts to back them up?” The Nightmare lit her horn, and Queen Fluttershy was forcibly dragged before them. “Let’s see, now… Funny, Ah don’t see your foal anywhere inside you. Oh, that’s right. You murdered her.” Queen Fluttershy recoiled. “We didn’t kill… her body… just… everything that made her who she was inside.” Her pupils shrank in horror. “We had to… we thought. She was Discord’s little monster, just waiting to stab us in the back… nrrrrrgh… for all we knew!” Nightmare Mirror turned her head, and there was the other Fluttershy, with tears streaming down her face. No… the yellow and pink pegasus half turned, making sure Queen Fluttershy could see Fluttercruel’s cutey mark. Fluttercruel however, looked into the Nightmare as well. "AND I WAS! I fully intended to murder Fluttershy's friends when she was asleep, and have her wake up, scream out in despair, and have me take over her body! When I realized I couldn't take control, I thought of a dozen ways I could drive my mother into despair so she'd break and I could slip into her horse-shoes, and indulge in every sick and ugly desire and impulse I had! I wanted to reenact 'Cupcakes!' I WAS A BUCKING MONSTER THAT NEEDED TO BE PUT DOWN! I WAS MY FATHER'S CHILD!!" For the first time in her entire existence, Fluttercruel broke down sobbing. "If I had been in Queen Mom's shoes I'd have never made me a clean slate, I'd have destroyed me utterly, and made sure no trace of me remained so I'd never get the chance to hurt ponies!" Fluttercruel opened her tear stained eyes in surprise when she felt a hug. It was Queen Fluttershy. Fluttercruel didn't try to push her away or scream at her. The one thing the nature of her existence had denied her forever, she was now being given, a hug from her mother. She didn't try to end it. Nightmare Mirror meanwhile, for the first time in her entire existence, felt regret, she hadn't meant for Fluttercruel to look into her eyes. She had made a promise. - Nightmare Mirror sighed. She couldn't undo her mistake, but she could mitigate its consequences. "But did you stay like that?" Fluttercruel said, "No, after I accidentally caused my Mom to become a Nightmare and got dragged off to Pony Hell, I didn't want to die without correcting my mistake. Even though it was painful, I managed to escape and help the others by awakening as an Element of Kindness." This caused the Harmony Queens to all gasp in surprise. Nightmare Mirror said, "And your cruelty is the reason you managed to awaken as the cruel side of Kindness. And you didn't even expect to survive helping the others purify your world's Fluttershy, but because she let you back into her body, you're still alive, and excepting the occasional prank, you don't do any of that stuff you originally wanted to do. While the apple didn't fall far from the tree regarding your mother, you couldn't be more different from what Discord would have wanted you to be if you tried." Queen Twilight said, "No way. A creature born of chaos, becoming an Element of Harmony? And she became an Element of Kindness because of her cruelty? I never would have imagined something like that could even be possible." - Queen Fluttershy said, "SEE?! I told you! We SHOULD use the Elements to reharmonize Discord too! And use THAT instead of . . . sending them, uh, wherever it is you keep sending the really really really really really really really really really bad ponies like Sombra." Queen Appplejack opened her mouth but Queen Rainbow Dash glared at her and closed her mouth. "UH-OH! The battery is dying again!" Pinkie PIe said in fear. Nightmare Mirror said, "Maybe an object lesson is needed here missy. Ya girls have gotten so self righteous. So sure of yerself. And so sure of each other. That can be taken too far girls." Mirror teleported next to the what-if machine. "Hey! Don't touch that!" Pinkie Pie said. Mirror looked it over, "A old TV set from another world with the radio tube filled with Truth?" "HEY! IT'S MORE THAN THAT! IT MIGHT BE ALIVE! AND DON'T PEEL BACK THE VEIL! IT LESSENS THE ENJOYMENT FOR READERS WHO LIKE THE MYSTERY!" Pinkie Pie said with conviction that what she said had been completely true. Then she began to sweat. "And . . . and . . . AND OTHERS LIKE being given lots and lots of details about the world. Blech!" Mirror cut herself, and not blood, but Truth bled form the frog of her hoof. And a drop fell into the machine and the machine came to life. ~~ "Stop! Please! Twilight why are you doing this?!" Princess Cadence cried as she was dragged away by the royal guards. A heart broken Shining Armor didn't even look at her. The doors slammed behind her. "Ya that was some mighty fine detective work Twili'!" AJ congratulated her. "I can't believe she had us all fooled." Fluttershy said. "But where's the real Cadence?" Shining Armor asked sadly. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll tell us sooner than later." Twilight said proud that all her friends had listened to everything she had said. "But I need some time to plan, can you girls come to my room later and help?" + "Now you're all my friends who will do as I say?" Twilight asked. "Yes." The five green eyes ponies smiled. "Good." She used an illusion spell to make their eyes appear normal. "Now we have lots to do to get everypony else ready to greet my extended family." "Anything you say Twilight!" They said happily to their friend, who they'd obey without question to the best of their ability. They needed to get their little sisters to be her friends too. Chrysalis grinned. All it took was a cheap spell to make Cadence's horn color appear difference, and some swooping in as the hero to 'expose' the 'impostor' and listening off happenstance as if they were concrete evidence, and everypony had bought it hook line and sinker, even Celestia now thought her niece had been replaced. With a magic damper on her horn and chained in the dungeon, the VERY REAL Cadence cried wish to escape this nightmare. Miles below her trapped in the crystal mines, the REAL Twilight Sparkle also cried. ~~ "And THAT is what being blind in yer own self righteousness gets ya! And what it'll get me one day, but a Nightmare is as a Nightmare does, ya girls have a choice!"