//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two: The Party 
// Story: Pantheon 
// by criticalmess 
//------------------------------//


--PANTHEON--
Chapter Two: The Party


Twilight kept her eyes peeled as she made her way through the deserted streets of Ponyville. The sky showed no indication that it would change anytime soon, the pale light still bathing Ponyville in its faint glow. The air was stagnant and cold, chilling Twilight as she walked. She shivered and continued on her way, still glancing around at the town.

Twilight was shocked how much it had changed, and yet was so familiar. Here and there were signs of familiar landmarks: a familiar building, a familiar stall, a familiar tree. And yet as she continued to walk the streets, she saw more and more signs of what she could only describe as a war. Cobblestones were ripped up in places, as though by explosions. Buildings had boarded-up windows with blackened windowsills. From over the top of a house, Twilight could see the tip of Carousel Boutique, its spire leaning at an unnatural angle. And amongst all of this destruction, Sugarcube Corner was untouched.

"How did you do it Pinkie?" Twilight muttered as she trotted up to the door. Quietly she reached a hoof up to the door and, finding it unlocked, pushed.

She was suddenly faced by a storm of confetti exploding in her face. Music, completely absent before Twilight opened the door, blared loudly and brightly. The warm glow of candlelight flooded out of the open door. The sound of happy ponies sang and laughed from deep inside. Twilight stumbled backward under this bright assault, landing at the periphery of the light streaming out of Sugarcube Corner.

Twilight stared, mouth agape into the sweets shop, the confetti falling around her. Twilight blinked and cautiously stepped into the storeroom. It was just a bright as she remembered it, with cupcakes and sugary treats galore lining the shelves. Bright candles illuminated the store with a healthy light not unlike the glow of the noonday sun.  Voices clamored behind the door to the kitchen, as it seemed a hundred happy ponies were in the midst of a massive party.

As Twilight cautiously approached the door, it swung open. Mr. Cake, a bright smile on his face, quickly zipped in and closed the door shut behind him. He whistled a happy tune and trotted over to a stack of freshly-baked muffins sitting atop the counter.

"Mr. Cake!" Twilight approached the orange pony, smiling politely, "You don't know how glad I am to...."

Mr. Cake spun around and beamed, "Oh Twilight, you're back!" His voice was bright and uplifting, the words seeming to dance around in the air. "Come on in, I'll tell Pinkie."

"Yes, I'm sorry I left," Twilight apologized quickly as Mr. Cake turned back to the door, "but what's going on?"

"What do you think, Twilight?" Mr. Cake laughed and pushed open the door, "A party!"

Twilight gaped at what was once the Sugarcube Corner Kitchen. The room had expanded into a massive ballroom filled with laughing ponies. A high vaulted ceiling towered overhead, every nook illuminated by multicolored candles. Streamers hung from the rafters, and balloons hovered just below the ceiling. More banners and balloons were strung along otherwise bare walls, causing a massive clash of color across the entire room. Scattered amongst crowds of ponies was a chaotic assortment of tables, apple-bobbing cauldrons, dance floors, record players, games stations, and all sorts of party paraphernalia that Twilight had never seen before.

"How did...?" Twilight gasped and looked back to Mr. Cake, only to find that he had vanished into the multicolored crowd. In it she could recognize many of the ponies from around Ponyville. Berry Punch was lounging by a table, chatting with Carrot Top. Lyra and Bon Bon were engaged in a determined dance-off a few feet away from Aloe and Lotus, who were swaying and singing along to whatever song was being played in that corner of the room.

Twilight cautiously stepped into the mêlée of a party and suddenly found herself lost. No matter where she turned, how well she tried to mark her steps, she constantly found herself treading over ground she had already been. Quickly she started feeling disoriented and confused, trapped in an ever-shifting maze composed of partying ponies.

By the third time she passed Colgate bobbing for apples, she finally noticed something was following her. She spun around but only caught a slight hint of pink in her peripheral vision. Twilight tried to stand her ground, but an over-excited Aloe and Lotus accidentally thrust her towards a buffet table piled high with cookies and brownies. Trying to stabilize herself, Twilight leaned against the table and found herself looking across at Mrs. Cake, who was busily piling more cookies onto the table.

"Mrs. Cake." Twilight gasped. "I take it Pinkie Pie is behind..." she  gestured at the massive party, "...this."

Mr. Cake smiled cheerfully and dumped a pile of sugar cookies onto the table. "Oh, of course dearie. Isn't this the best party ever?"

"Er, yes, I suppose it is." Twilight nodded slowly. "Do you happen to know where she is, by any chance?"

"Don't worry," Mrs. Cake giggled and stepped back into the whirling crowd, "she'll find you."

"Wait!" Twilight attempted to follow her but somehow found herself thrust into the middle of a conga line. The ponies in front of and behind her laughed uncontrollably as Twilight struggled to extract herself. Eventually she found an opening and leapt out, only to fall onto a dance floor. Ponies thrashing about wildly, thrusting their hooves in the air to the beat DJ-PON3 was dropping, pushed Twilight to and fro. The hapless purple unicorn stumbled and tumbled her way out of the dance party with much difficulty and found herself once again next to Colgate.

"How am I supposed to find Pinkie like this?" Twilight gasped and fell down next to the cauldron.

"Say the magic word, silly!"

Twilight jumped back to her feet at the sound of a familiar bubbly voice coming from the cauldron. Immediately she leaned over only to see a faint ripple in the otherwise untouched surface.

"Okay." Twilight called out to the crowd. Slowly she turned on the spot, eyes peeled for any sign of Pinkie. "It's... please?"

"Nope!"

Twilight twisted to the left, only catching a flash of pink from the depths of the crowd. "Party?"

"That was last Tuesday's, silly!"

Twilight spun continued to spin slowly, crouching slightly in preparation. "Okay... oatmeal?"

"Are you crazy?"

Twilight jumped forward at the sound of Pinkie's bubbly giggling and was rewarded by the faintest brush of pink mane, but that seemed to disappear into the crowd. Twilight groaned and shook her head. "Pinkie, I give up. What is it?"

"SURPRISE!"

Twilight was thrown off her hooves as a large mass of pink shot up from the floor and into her face. The pony appeared to spring from nowhere, and Twilight was lifted off of her hooves by a large stretch of fur beneath her. Twilight gasped into the pink mane that dominated her vision and filled her nostrils with the smell of cotton candy. After a moment of struggling, Twilight felt the glow of magic envelop her and hoist her out of the pink mane.

"Pinkie!" Twilight said with relief. "You're..."

Twilight froze as she was levitated to face Pinkie's grinning face. The unicorn's mouth suddenly dropped to the ground and her pupils contracted to pinpricks. Somewhere in Twilight's mind, the little pony responsible for rational thought threw his hooves up in desperation.

"...an alicorn." Twilight finished, her voice cracking.

One of Pinkie's ears flopped down as she cocked her head in confusion. "Alicorn, what's that?"

But Twilight was too stunned to reply. Pinkie had grown to a massive size, easily matching Princess Celestia in stature. A pair of pink wings stood at attention by her side, twitching restlessly every once in a while. From her head a large horn stood proudly; Twilight could feel the raw magical energy radiating from it and enveloping her levitating form. Her mane had exploded into an incredible cascade of cotton candy, crackling with some chaotic charge. Two regal eyes stared into Twilight's, sparkling with an energy that reached deep down into Pinkie Pie's soul.

Twilight's stupor lasted all of ten seconds before she was snapped back to reality by a bowl of punch being dumped onto her head. "Feeling better, Twilight?" Pinkie asked brightly, "You were all funky-dunky for a while there, so I thought, 'looks like you need some sugar,' because whenever I feel funky-dunky, I just get some sugar so I..."

"Pinkie!" Twilight cut off the pink alicorn's gibberish with an exhasperated shout. "How?"

"Oh, well sugar gives you lost of nervous energy. I don't know how, only that it does, you should know the sciencey stuff better than I d-"

"No, Pinkie." Twilight shook her head and gestured a hoof at Pinkie Pie. "How did you... that? All of that?" Twilight's mouth opened and closed several times as Pinkie stared back uncomprehendingly. "The wings! The horn!"

"OOOOOooooohhhh!" Pinkie leaned her head back and nodded, understandingly. "Oh, you mean how I became a Princess." Pinkie lowered Twilight back to the ground and smiled. "It just happened."

Twilight blinked. "It just happened?"

"Yep! Just happened! One day, poof!" Pinkie's wings flared out suddenly, knocking aside a smiling Mayor. "These were here! And this!" Pinkie gestured up to her horn and giggled.

"So you woke up as an ali-... Princess?"

Pinkie scratched her chin with her hoof. "Hmm, I don't remember, but it was definitely a surprise." Pinkie looked back down at Twilight and smiled. "But really, that's all in the past. I'm Pinkie Pie, the Party Princess now!" Pinkie flared out her wings again and raised her hooves in the air. "Isn't that just great, Twilight?" Pinkie leaned down to Twilight and before the unicorn could reply, Pinkie suddenly gasped. "Ohmygosh!" she squealed and bounced up and down, causing her hair to spark wildly, "You're back, Twilight!"

"Yes, yes I am." Twilight smiled nervously, backing away from the bouncing alicorn.

"This deserves a party!" Pinkie squealed joyfully and flung herself into the air, her wings stretching out majestically as she did so. "Hay everypony, Twilight's back!"

Around her, Twilight watched as every happy face was fixed on her. Without so much as batting an eye, the ponies grinned and all applauded her and cheered her name. Twilight tried to open her mouth to protest, but two ponies flanked her and grabbed her. Despite her struggles, Twilight founder herself thrown into the air as all around ponies cheered exuberantly.

"Enjoy the party, Twilight!" Pinkie cheered and flew off to the other side of the room, "I'll go get the cake!"

Twilight finally pulled herself from her beaming captors and stumbled back into the crowd. A cacophony of voices assaulted her, asking her thousands upon thousands of questions. Words stumbled over each other as Twilight backed away from the unwanted attention. Somehow, she managed to lose them by diving under a record player and inexplicably reemerging next to Colgate and her cauldron. Panting, Twilight leaned over the cauldron and stared at Colgate.

"Okay," Twilight gasped, muttering to herself, "Pinkie Pie's an alicorn so that explains the party. Why is she an alicorn?" Twilight shook her head. "Question for another time. Right now, I need to learn what I missed while I was gone."

Twilight turned her head and watched as Colgate lifted her head from the water with an apple clenched between her teeth. Giggling like a little filly, Colgate dropped the apple next to her and looked up at Twilight. "Oh, hi Twilight!" She beamed and waved a hoof. "Where have you been?"

"I'm figuring that out myself right now." Twilight smiled slightly. "Colgate, what's been happening recently?"

Colgate blinked and smiled. "I've been bobbing for apples!"

Twilight frowned. "Yes, but what else?"

Colgate continued to smile, "Yesterday, I was on the dance floor."

"Yesterday?" Twilight's eyes furrowed in suspicion. "Colgate, there was a party yesterday too?"

"Yep!" Colgate nodded. "Pinkie always throws the best parties."

"I wouldn't know what I'd do without them!" Berry Punch trotted up to the cauldron and beamed at Twilight. "They're always so amazing."

Twilight turned to Berry Punch. "Berry, what's happened recently? And I mean outside, not during the party."

"Out..." Berry Punch blinked and smiled. "Huh, I don't remember. Silly me!"

Twilight leaned in. "You don't remember what's happening outside? The sun and moon? The cold?"

"Why worry about that?" Colgate shook a hoof at Twilight. "It's so nice in here."

"Colgate, Berry," Twilight looked between the two ponies seriously. "How long have you been here?"

Both ponies blinked and looked at each other. For the briefest moment there was a glimmer of something in their eyes, shining faintly through their happy demeanor. They turned back to Twilight, smiling broadly, and replied in unison, "We don't remember."

Twilight backed away from the cauldron. "How long has Pinkie been throwing this party?"

"We don't know."

Twilight backed up even further, running into a thin, gangly pony. She turned around to see Mr. Cake balancing a plate of sodas on his head. Smiling, he leaned down, offering one to Twilight.

Twilight leaned in a whispered. "Mr. Cake, how long have you been here?"

"Since the beginning, I think." Mr. Cake laughed, raising his head again. "Don't really remember when that was. It's been a while."

"Can you at least guess," Twilight pleaded, "please?"

"Hmm..." Mr. Cake scratched his chin. "I think... maybe a few months."

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise. "Months?!" She whispered harshly.

Mr. Cake grinned and stared into Twilight's eyes. "Well, yes. The party was just so amazing, well, we couldn't let it stop! Pinkie just kept coming up with more reasons to party; she's really good at that. More and more ponies kept stopping by and..."

Twilight cut him off and leaned in even further, examining his eyes. "Mr. Cake, when did you last sleep?"

Mr. Cake smiled. "I don't remember."

Twilight stared into Mr. Cake's eyes and knew that deep down he was lying. While everything looked great on the outside, from up close everything looked terrible. His eyes were sagging with heavy lids; it looked as though he had not slept for weeks. And yet he was as energetic as though he had slept all night and had a nice cup of tea when he woke up. Looking even further, however, Twilight found something else in his eyes. Beyond the sparkle of happiness that shone like a little star, Twilight could see an odd film. It lay deep within their eyes, right at the very edge of consciousness, but it hung there flat and lifeless.

A dead look, like the eyes of a zombie.

"I mean, why worry about the outside world?" Colgate approached Twilight and put a hoof around her shoulder. Instinctively, Twilight jerked away, heart hammering in her chest.

"The party's rocking in here!" Berry Punch approached smiling.

"Pinkie always throws the best parties." Lyra added.

"We never want to leave!" Bon-Bon giggled.

"Outside is terrible."

"It's awesome in here."

"It's so warm."

"I'm happy."

Twilight spun around as ponies completely surrounded her, their smiling faces seemingly chiseled onto their happy faces. Zombie-like, they stood there swaying, grinning away in the midst of the mad eternal party. Twilight turned to face Mr. Cake, who smiled and offered her a drink again.

"Join the party Twilight." Mr. Cake said brightly. At once all of the ponies began clamoring again.

"Wanna play Pin the Tail on the Pony, Twilight?"

"I have a piñata over her, Twilight."

"Come try these cupcakes, Twilight."

"Twilight, come bob for apples with me."

"Over here, Twilight."

"Let's dance, Twilight."

"Let's play a game, Twilight."

"Come on, Twilight."

"Help me, Twilight."

"Let's go, Twilight."

"Twilight."

"Twilight!"

"Twilight?"

Twilight stepped back as the pink alicorn suddenly appeared in her field of vision. Grinning brightly, Pinkie Pie stood right in front of the stunned purple unicorn. She pulled from behind her a massive chocolate cake decorated with swirls of purple and blue frosting. Neatly written on the side in white frosting was Welcome Home Twilight.

"Come on, Twilight!" Pinkie grinned, "The party's waiting just for you."

Twilight stepped back, only to be confronted with the densely-packed crowd of ponies. Twilight tried to push her way out but they stood there, giggling, laughing, smiling. Every single one of them had that faint shadow lurking behind their joyous faces.

Twilight froze as she felt an aura of energy build behind her. Fearfully, she turned back to Pinkie Pie and felt the waves of energy reach out from her pink form and gingerly touch Twilight. The feeling was far different from typical magic, which was cool but sparkling with energy. This force dwarfed the magic power even Celestia could ever wield, but it was wild, untamed. The energy was twisting, writhing, boiling...

...Burning